from idlenesse the seminary of all wickednesse * 27. Dignitates immoderatè exercuit Hee exercised the dignities which hee purchased with excessive usury It is a principle amongst hucksters and such as have dealings in the World that they that buy deare must sell deare It holds in spirituall preferments hee that emptieth his bags in buying of dignities will fill them againe in selling of Benefices and poling of under Officers it was so in the dayes of Richard the First when William Longshampe Bishop of Ely lived and long before him in the dayes of William Rufus when the munke of Malmsbury exclaimed proh dolor Ecclesiae nummis venduntur aere and it will ever bee so Aristotle seems to uphold the trade Consentaneum est saith hee ut ij qui emunt magistratus quaestui habere assuescant remp cum â—d eos largitionibus ascenderunt it is good reason that hee that buyes authority should make some profit of his authority but let us take heed how wee follow Aristotles consentaneum lest wee partake of the Bishop of Ely his supplicium Of the excessive pride and oppression and of the fall of the Bishop of Ely vid. Mat. Paris Anno 1190. in R. 7. Polid l. 14. * 28 Quidam comes Warwicensis ab Ed. 4 An Earle of Warwick raised to such a heighth of power by King Edw. the 4. This is the great Earle of Warwick that set up and pul'd down Kings Richard Nevill the son of Richard Nevill Lord Chancellour and Earle of Salisbury he was Lord high Chamberlain Constable of Dover Castle Lord Warden of the Cinqueâ—orts and Admirall and indeed had the whole power of the Kingdome in his hands I may well say the whole power for he had not only the command of the Ports and Navy but hee had the command of the hearts of the people insomuch that they that knew him say quocunque ille inclinaret populus aut saltem major pars populi inclinabat which way soever hee went as a torrent hee drew the people along with him and to give him his due fuit verè nobilis quasi prae aliis notabilis nam ab ineunte aetate as Historians report of him non solum veris virtutibus mirabilis sed etiam artâ— quadam in ostentatione earum virtutum compositus hee was truly noble for from his childhood hee had not only rare and admirable gifts of nature but hee had art and eloquence to expresse them by meanes whereof hee grew gracious in the sight of the people amongst other his vertues he had two most eminent Magnanimity and Liberality which will win the heart of an enemy his Liberality he dayly shewed in his hospitality his Magnanimity and valour as at divers other times so especially at the first battell at St. Albons Anno. 1455. ubi ille primus omnium regios milites praelio lacessit as my Authour saith where hee himselfe made the first assault against the Kings Army and after a doubtfull warlike dispute which continued for the space of three or foure houres prevailed and slew Henry Lord Piercy the second Earle of Northumberland the Lord Clifford and the Duke of Sommerset Edmond Beauford that Duke of Somerset qui tot annos pro patria strenâ—è pugnasset adversus Francos that adventured himselfe many yeares against the French in the behalfe of his Country miserabile sanè spectaculum quod à suis civibus occideretur as that Authour saith a sad spectacle that he that so often adventured himself for his country should be killed by his country men but in abattell when all parties are in the higth of fury there is no distinction the Earle buried him nobly which was as much honour as hee could doe to one that fought against him the Earle married Anne the Sister and Heire of Henry Duke of Warwick King of the Isle of Wight and the favorite of King Henry the sixt who dyed at Hanly where hee was borne being now the Inheritance of the (g) Sir Iohn Russel of Strencham was Mr. of the Horse to Rich. the Second and many descâ—nts before him was there one Tho. Russel of Strencham the Family quarters many Coates but the paternall Coat as I take it is argent a Cheurom between three Crosses Crosses Sables Russels of Strensham I cannot say the most eminent house of that name but this I say that I cannot finde others peradventure may any family of that name more ancient I will not except the most eminent in whose right hee was Earle of Warwick and had a massy estate by her hee had issue two daughters Isabell and Ann whom hee married into the Royall blood Isabell to George Duke of Clarence the brother of King Edward the fourth the eldest sonne of King Henry the sixt who was slaine after the battell at Tewxbury and afterwards to Richard e This honour is aptly compared to Sejanus his horse Tho. of Woodst Duke of Gloucest was strangled at Callis An. 1397. Tho. L. Spencer Earle of Gloucest was beeheaded at Bristoll An. 1400. Humfrey Duke of Gloucest was strangled in the Abby of St Edinbury An. 1446. Richard Duke of Glou. was slaine at Bosw an 1485. Duke of Gloucester who was slaine at Bosworth this man notwithstanding hee had been thus advanced fell off from the King and the cause of his revolt was for that he being sent into France to treat of a marriage for the King the King in the meane while married with the Lady Grey which the Earle taking to heart conceiving it to be a great wrong unto him to bee so deluded confederated with George Duke of Clarence his sonne in law to set King Henry the sixt at liberty being then in the Tower of London but it is conceived that this was but a pretence and that their intention was to settle the Crown upon the Duke for it is not probable or credible that the Duke would ever agree to settle the Crown out of his owne house upon the house of Lancaster and hereupon there was a bloody battell fought at Danes-moore not farr from Banbury and was called Edgcote field where the Kings Army was defeated and not long after the King taken prisoner at Wolney a village neare to Northampton and conveyed to Warwick Castle and from thence to Middlenam Castle in Yorkshire out of which hee escaped gathered new forces and at Stamford in Lincolneshire encountred and overcame the Earle and made him fly for succour into France but not long after the Earle returned and having assistance from the King of France put the King to the worst made him forsake the Kingdom and fly for reliefe to the Duke of Burgondy which Commines imputes to the Kings credulity in relying too much upon the Marquesse Mountacute who when hee had most need of him revolted to his brother but not long after the King returned and upon an Easter day after a bloody fight at Barnet the King prevailed and slew both the brothers the Earle and the Marquesse which
est 23 Plautianus was apprehended and being convicted by the Command of Anthony in the presence of Severus was put to death Vnto these Roman examples I will add one of the Graecians with Philip of Macedon the last King of that name There was a young man called Apelles that was so powerfull that hee might more properly bee called a King then a Favorite for that every City in Greece more observed and feared him then they did the King the King therefore by the advice of Aratus taking it to heart that this man looked after nothing more then the Empire * 24 Authoritatem omnem momento ademit 24 on a suddaine cast him off whereupon hee was thrown into Prison and shortly after put to death Polybius writing this History takes occasion to shew how happy and unhappy they that live in Princes Courts may be in a very moment of time he compares them unto suffrages which are accustomed to be given in Common-councells for as in Counsells saith hee it is in the power of the Senators to give Brasse or Silver so in the Courts of Princes it is in the power of the Prince to give honor or dishonor to make their servants either happy or miserable Hiero King of Syracuse in Sicilie when he dyed left his Kingdome to Hieronymo his Nephew and for that he was a child hee appoynted fifteene to see him vertuously educated amongst whom was Andronorus his sonne in law but the King was scant laid in his grave but Andronorus ambitious of Command eased the rest of that office of trust which was committed unto them affirming that Hieronymo was old and able enough himselfe to governe the Kingdome but by waving of the office which to him with others was joyntly committed hee got all the power into his own hand Hieronymo being young and vitiously addicted fell into all manner of evill courses and suddainly came to an untimely end Vpon whose death Andronorus possessed himselfe of the Tower and a great part of the City and fortified it with Garrisons for he he thought it more safe to run with the current and to yeild himselfe into the hands of the Senate though his Wife the daughter of King Hiero mad after Soveraignty often put him in minde to the end to encourage him to proceede in the course hee was in of what Dionysius was used to say that a man needed not to saddle a horse to leave a Kingdome hee might doe it well enough on foot intimating that it is an easie thing when a man will to part with a fortune but not easie to attaine unto it yet I say he thought it more safe for the present to submit o the Senate who made him one of their pretors but * 25 Nulla quies inâ—st animo dominandi Iibidine capto 5 his thoughts bein once possessed with a desire of Soveraignty he could not finde contentment in any thing else * 29 Vxore illum praesertim instigante 26 his wife principally animating him thereunto t lling him that now is the time if ever to stirr in it whilst the waters are troubled whilst the Souldiers are ready to accept of better pay then the Kings and whilst Hannibals Captaines are there ready to further his designe Which perswasion so prevailed with him that a second time hee took it into consideration how he might attaine to the Kingdome which being discovered he together with Themistius to whom hee had disclosed the whole matter was in the Senate house put to death Wee will passe from hence to the Historyes of other Countreyes and Ages Richard the first King of England reposed so much trust in William Bishop of Ely as that hee made him Chancellour of England Keeper of his great seale and Lieuetenant of the Tower of London at the same time hee prevailed with the Pope to make him Legat à Latere of England France and Jreland and when hee was to passe the Seas to wage Warr with the Saracens he left the Government of the Kingdome wholly to him and gave this charge to his Subjects that as they loved him and his Kingdome and as they desired to live in peace and prosperity and to enjoy their Possessions in safety that they would shew themselves obedient to his trusty and well-beloved Chancellour in all things that he should direct them that did concern him as if that hee were personally present so this man is now the greatest man in all the Western parts being in the Kings absence the Metropolitan of all England * 27 Dignitates quas pretio com paraverat immodetatè exercuit 27 hee executed the Diginities which hee purchased at deare rates with excessive cruelty and oppression and all respect of honesty set apart bent his thoughts only how he might fill the baggs again which hee had emptied to attain unto them he turned Vsurer and executed the office of Legat à latere which cost him a thousand pound with such cruelty that he became a burthen and eyesore to all the clergy of England he seldome rid with a lesse number then fifteene hundred of the Clergy to attend him and a band of Souldiers as if he had been a King as my Author saith and not a Bishop he was attended by the Sons of the Nobility whom he married to his kindred and happy did he think himselfe that could be gracious in his eyes there was no Land to be sold which he bought not no Church or Dignity void which he did not either bestow upon his friends or himselfe the keeping of all Castles and Townes by one meanes or other he engrossed and prevail'd so by his power that hee did what he would and no man durst once open his mouth to contradict him in any thing But it so happened that Iohn Earle of Mortaigne the Kings Brother calling the Peeres together to consult of the affaires of the State sent for this man likewise assuring him that he should safely come and goe but he suspecting them instead of coming unto them betooke himselfe for refuge to the Tower of London whereupon it was agreed by the Lords that he by whom the Church of God and People had received so much detriment should no longer govern in the Kingdom This Chancellour and his Adherents had so deceived the Kingdom of the Treasury that there was scarce any man that wore a girdle that had any silver in it any woman a chaine any Noble man a ring or any Iew had mony and indeed scarce any thing of worth was left in the Kingdome The Kings Treasury was emptied and nothing but the keyes and empty vessells found there The State of the Kingdome standing thus it was decreed that he should take an oath to relinquish all the power he had not to beare any sway any longer in the Government of the Common-wealth and to yeild up all the Castles that were committed to his charge especially the Tower of London These things hee put in pledges to
performe and left his Office of Legate à latere which he executed a yeare and a halfe to the great prejudice of the Church of England and the sea of Rome at last he put off his accustomed habit and in a womans apparell hee determined to crosse the Seas but at Dover his dalliance with a wench being discovered by a Marriner he was hill at beaten and afterwards drag'd through the streets to prison from whence as soon as he was fully delivered he most ignominiously and basely stole into Normandy his end was the more miserable by how much his fortunes were the greater Afterwards there * 28 Fuit quidam Comes Warwicensis qui à Rege E. 4. â—summam potestatem erectus oral 28 was an Earle of Warwick in the same Kingdome that was raised to such a height both of power and Estate by King Edward the fourth that he was not afraid to lay violent hands upon the Queenes Father and with many of his children and nearest friends to put him to death he placed such Officers about the King as he thought would do him best service and in the end took him Prisoner But not longe after the King escaping into Burgondy being assisted by Charles the then Duke he returned home overcame the Earle and made him fly for succour into France the Earle thence returning being assisted with divers Attendants put the King to the worst and made him fly into Holland for succour A second time the King returning being assisted by the aforesaid Duke set upon him overcame him and slew him with his Brother and many others In the Raign of King Henrâ— the eighth there was one named * 29 Tho. Wolsâ—us sub H. 8. 29 Thomas Wolsey that was very great with the King a man meanly descended but so proud and haughty that he became an eyesore not only to the Peeres and Nobility but even the King himselfe By the Kings speciall grace and favour he was promoted to the highest dignities to be Arch-Bishoh of York Bishop of Winchester to be a Cardinall to be sent Ambassadour and indeed next to the King to beare the greatest sway in the Kingdom but amongst other acts of his this was not the least that brought him in disgrace when King Henry began to distast Queene Catherine and to dote upon Anne of Boloyne this man undertook to procure a dispensation from the Pope which taking not so well as the King and he thought it would have done by degrees he fell out of the Kings favour and being apprehended by Thomas Duke of Norfolk was banished the Court and confined to his Bishoprick of Winchester which hee taking to heart with very griefe dyed The Kingdome of France will afford us many Examples in this kinde and amongst those it is reported of the Earle of S. Paul that having been advanced by Lewis the eleventh to bee Constable of France and to many other honours and preferments out of which he raised a very great revenue that in the end he somuch forgate himselfe that he studyed how to make the King stand in awe of him and for that purpose * 30 Mediocriter se gessit inter tres principes 30 he ever carried himselfe indifferently between the King his Master the King of England and the Duke of Burgondy one while standing for the one another while for the other ever desiring to keepe them at variance that so the one or the other might still stand in need of him And so it happened that the King his Master desiring to speak with him hee would not come unto him but with a power able to withstand him if occasion were offered he met him upon a Bridg where he talked with him as sawsily as if he had been his equall and familiar supposing that to be the way to preserve and increase the power he had obtained but he was deceived for all men seeing his malepertnesse and insolency were offended at him and studyed how to pull him down And it so happened that coming to the Duke of Burgondy upon safe conduct the Duke apprehended him and sent him to the King his Master with all such Letters as he had formerly written to him against the King Vpon which being araigned as also upon such Letters as he had written unto the King of England was thereupon condemned his estate confiscated and he put to death In the same Kingdome under Philip the faire one Taggerrandus Marrianus attained to so much power that nothing was done in the Kingdome without his approbation * 31 Peculatus accusatus suspendio affectus est 31 yet this man for robbing the Kings Treasures was accused condemned and hang'd * 32 Petrus Landaicus apud ducem Britaniae potens 32 Peter Landais likewise with the Duke of Brittaine attained to the like favour yet by the violence of the multitude he was taken from the Duke and judicially condemned and hanged as Paulus Aemilius in his History of France relates the story To passe over into Spaine in the Kingdom of Castile there was * 33 Alvarus de Lunâ 33 Alvarus de Luna borne in Arragon of a Noble house but a Bastard borne out of Wedlocke that grew to such a heighth of power with King John that no man in the Kingdome was so powerfull as he he tooke armes against John King of Navarre and used all meanes to oppresse Henry Knight of the order of Saint James but it so fell out that the Queen opposing him by the assistance of the second King of Navarre and Henry Knight of the order they surprized the King and compelled Alvarus to live upon his owne possessions and happy had hee beene if hee could have so contented himselfe but hee that once tasted of the sweetnesse of Soveraignty can hardly finde contentment in a private life hee begins then a second time to bethink himselfe how hee might attaine to his former height from which hee was throwne downe hee sets the King at liberty installs him in the Kingdome sits at the sterne keeps under his Enemies and incenses the King against them but this prosperity continued not and brought him to an untimely death for when as by the Kings speciall Commandement one of the Nobility delivered a message unto him which was not pleasing he caused the Messenger to be throwne out of the window for the which the King did afterwards ever more hate him then he did formerly love him for caused him to be apprehended and being judicially condemned to be put to death Vnto the former I will adde the Example of a Germane out of the seventh book of the Annals of Aventinus With Rudolfe Palsgrave of Rheyne and Duke of Bavaria there was Ortho Crondorser in the greatest grace and favour he came of meane Parentage and comming to Court by his double diligence in readily observing and gravely executing whatsoever was committed to his charge within a very short time became very gracious in the eyes of the Prince by
Prince and them Such Councellours had Rehoboam King of the Jews who when hls Subjects complained unto him of heavy burthens laid upon them by his Father by the advise of his Councell answered them that his little finger should lie more heavy upon them then all his Fathers body my Father chastned you with whips but I will chasten you with Scorpions such a kinde of fellow was Nicholas Gara a Count Palatine of the Kingdome of Hungarie who being exceeding powerfull with Queene Mary the daughter of Lewis the first gave his Counsell that she should not suffer her Peers to become too powerfull as wee hear'd before but how his Counsell took effect I have before remembred and what befell to the Councellours of Rehoboam every one can tell Sleidan reports that William Poyets the French Kings Chancellour was by the Kings speciall command taken out of his bed and cast into Prison with the generall applause of the people for that during the foure yeares that hee held his office he had offended all sorts of people Such is generally the end of these sort of people for when the Prince is once fully informed of their conditions to satisfie the people they punish them to their ruine and destruction Examples hereof wee have in Cleander Peter Lindais George Peiras and others concerning whom Philip Comines demands this queston and gives this answer who dares saith hee enquire into the actions of these Grandees who dare call them in question who dare bee the Iudge to execute judgement upon them if they offend the answer is the inquisition will bee the lamentation and cries of the people whom they have mercilesly opprest and trampled upon in every kind the teares of the Widowes and Orphans whose Husbands and Fathers they have put to death and generally all they whom they have persecuted either in their Bodies or Estates these will bring in an inquisition against them and deliver them over to receive their doom of him who is the onely true judge that will not peradvanture expect any other evidence but will punish them in this life so much hath Philip Comines * 50 Lex talionis 50 the Law of Talio is justly inflicted upon them It is good justice that they who have despised and contumeliously behaved themselves to wards others should be despised and contumeliously handled by others that they who proudly insulted over others should be reproachfully spoken of by others that they who by rapine and fraud have gotten the Estates of others should suddainly have their Estates by others taken from them that they that shewed no mercy should expect no mercy that they that commanded others to bee dragg'd to execution should bee dragg'd themselves that they that caused others that stood for the Church to be put to death should in the Church bee put to death themselves that they that endeavoured to deprive the Subject of his rights and priviledges should not onely lose the benefit of them but the benefit of the Law of Nations that they that caused others to bee put to death against the Law should before they bee heard or accused be put to death themselves that they which caused the rigour of the Law to be inflicted upon others should have the same measure measured unto them as is reported of * 51 Perillus. 51 Perillus who was the first that felt the punishment of the torment that hee himselfe invented These punishments doe not onely belong unto them that attaine unto their greatnesse by undue meanes but likewise unto them who being deservedly preferred do in the due execution of their places misbehave themselves for * 52 Non sufficet bene coepisse 52 it is not sufficient to begin well but wee must prosecute our good beginnings with sutable proceedings which is a very hard thing for him to do who hath attained to a great fortune for * 53 Fortuna est coena eos efficet caecos quoâ—om plexa est 53 fortune being blind her selfe makes them blinde likewise for the most part whom shee doteth upon and favoureth for while we are lulled asleep in her lap we grow carelesse and give occasion to such as love us not to circumvent us so as when there is no other cause yet too too great prosperity willl finde in it selfe sufficient cause to bring us to our graves with shame and ignorance Therefore it is no wonder if such as have power to doe what they will standing in feare of none become proud and insolent and have their imperfections made knowne unto the world for being on high they can do nothing but notice is taken of it whereas if they lived in a mean rank their faults would passe unregarded our nature is such there is no good thing in the world but it abuseth but most of all the prosperity and good fortunes wee injoy And why because our wils being prone to all wickednesse our prosperity adds spurs unto it and doth not onely move but continually administer occasion unto us to satisfie our unbridled lusts and affections Such as have attained to the greatest favour with their Princes by reason of their daily familiarity with them have in the end become most odious and contemptible in their height Sejanus Tiberius onely minion for the time for that he stiled himselfe Emperour and Tiberius governour of a poore Island Tiberius hated and detested the servant that hath beene delicately brought up from a Childe will challenge to himselfe the priviledge of a sonne at last saith Solomon For presuming upon the favour of their Princes they make them the subject of laughter neglect their commands vilifie them and mocke them assuming the honour of what is done to themselves attributing nothing to the power of the Prince So Joab slew Absalom the sonne of King David with his owne hand of his owne accord without the Kings approbation And though it was told him when hee was about to doe the deed that it was the Kings will to have his life saved and that he would call him to an account for it yet hee went on grieving the perplext King with most unbeseeming and unmannerly tearms but such things as these Princes forget not but keep them in a Register Tacitus reports how that Pallas through his pride exceeding the bounds of a free man drew hatred upon himselfe and how that Narcissus for that hee slew Messalina the Wife of Claudius without his consent put Claudius into a kinde of a phrensie and made him in passion say that Narcissus durst never attempt those things upon his Wife though she had deserved it unlesse that hee had first despised her Husband Such another was the Earle of St. Paul that was Constable of France of whom I have spoken before who upon all occasions relying on the favour of the Duke of Burgondy and the King of England would rise in rebellion against his Prince and that his power and greatnesse might still continue together with his stipends from the King
which were exceeding great hee ever laboured to keep the King in Warr that so he might be beholding to him to assist him when occasion offered it selfe for he together with his associats did rather aime at their private good then the good of their Countrey But these and the like devises as they are most ridiculous in themselves so they are to none more pernicious then to the Projectors as is manifested in the History of the Constable before mentioned most exactly written by Philip Commines Nicholas Picunnes Generall of the Army of Philip Duke of Millane after that he had brought the Earle of Francisfort and the Army of his confederates into such a straight that he was assured of the victory he broke forth into such a height of insolency that forgetting himselfe and the charge that was committed unto him he calls to minde how long he had served the Duke in the Warrs and that during all that time he had not gotten so much land in his service as would cover his body when he was dead and therefore he began to expostulate what reward should be given for all his services and because it lay in his powet to deliver into the Dukes hands the whole Conntrey of Lumbardy and all those Enemies that did oppresse him he required of the Duke as a reward for his service the City of Placentia the which unlesse hee would grant hee plainly told him he would return home and leave the field this mans insolency so much offended the Duke that rather then he should have his will he was content to leave an assured victory so suffered himselfe to be carried away with the insolency of this man whom no danger or feare of Enemies could ever move a jot wherefore hee concluded Peace with the Earle and commanded Pricinius with his Army to quit the Country accusing fortune as a step-dame whereas there was no fault in her but in Pricinius insolency Tacitus reports of Lentulus Getulicus being made Generall over the Army of the upper part of Germany and being suspected and accused by reason of the inward familiarity between him and Sejanus was so bold as to send Letters unto Caesar shewing that the familiarity between him and Sejanus was not occasioned of his own head but by the advice of Tiberius and therefore it was nor strange but that he as well as Tiberius might be deceived neither could that be imputed unto him as an errour of wilfulnesse for that he ever carried an honest heart to him and resolved ever so to do though he had been often tempted to quit his allegiance and could endure no more to heare that Sejanus should succeed in the Empire then he could endure to heare of his damnation But in conclusion Tiberius and Getulicus made a League as it were that Tiberius should enjoy his Dominions and Getulicus his Province Tacitus affirmes that the bold menacing Epistles which Getulicus writ unto Tiberius did him no hurt at all for Tiberius wisely considering in what case hee stood how he was growen old and not beloved of his Subjects and that he had not power of himselfe suffered him alone of all Sejanus his adherents to live in peace and enjoy his favour But without doubt this did much trouble Tiberius that was of a cholerick disposition and a high spirit and if hee had lived long he would have called him to an account but hee considered that Getulicus lived farr from him and what hee writ proceeded from the bottome of a good conscience and out of an honest heart There is another thing that doth commonly happen to such as are grown proud with prosperity that the same cruelty which they have without controule executed upon their equals and inferiours in the end they execute upon their Soveraign Experience hereof we have in England in Richard Nevill Earle of Warwick who being highly advanced by the King after that he had compassed the death of the Queenes Father her children and many others that were neare and deare unto the King at last was not afraid to rise in Rebellion against the King wherefore * 54 Ne quempiam suorum nimia potestate afficeret 54 Moecaenas wisely counselled Augustus that he should not suffer any of his Subjects to grow too great least thereby they should grow so powerfull as to dare to attempt any thing against him There are others that carry themselves more moderately and warily that relinquish the service of their Prince that raignes and follow and adore the rising Sunne apply themselves to him that is to succeede in the Empire as Macro did but these kinde of people never continue long in favour for by their behaviour to the former Prince they are deservedly had in suspition by the later and undergoe the punishment in his time which they deserved in his praedecessours peradventure they which saucily upbraid their Prince as Clytus did Alexander with what they have deserved are not so much to be condemned as the former that abandon their service yet it is most distastefull to a Prince to be told of any such thing for that they are more pleased in hearing what rewards they have conferred then in hearing what any man hath deserved The deserts of a Subject are so long acceptable to the Prince as it is in the Princes power when hee will to come out of his debt but when he thinkes he hath deserved so much that hee cannot well requite him then doth hee requite him with perpetuall hatred for this very cause did Adrianus Caesar remove Tatianus and his fellow from their jurisdiction and government to whom he was indebted as much as his Empire came to as Spartianus saith but it was imputed to their popularity and if there were no other cause to make a man hatefull in the eyes of his Prince this alone were sufficient for there is no Prince of so poore a spirit or slender capacity that will indure such malepert fellowes for it is naturally ingrafted into Princes not to suffer an equall or a competitor And there is good cause why such men should be ever had in suspition and be neglected by them for that they are easily corrupted and drawn into Rebellion and it is wonderfull to see how that they who have attained to the greatest favour with their Princes are ever buzzing into their eares that they should not suffer their Subjects to grow too great and how in the mean time they so dote upon them that they doe not perceive that they alone are the men of whom they admonish the Prince to have an eye but in the end the Prince by one meanes or other being made sensible of the burthen hee beareth and being weary of them casts them down and if there were no other motive to induce them therunto the too much liberty those men do assume to themselves of doing what they wil and the fear they stād in by reason of them were sufficient to occasion their removall this was the cause why
the French Knig Lewis the eleventh after he changed his bed-chamber men and others that waited upon him was used to answer all such as taxed him for it that nature delighted in novelties many other causes may be added as the naturall inclination and disposition of man and accidents which do often fall out which doe alter and change the minde of the Prince as Spartianus affirmes that Adrianus the Emperour had an open eare to heare any thing that could be told him of them unto whom he professed the greatest love wherefore all those that he most affected and advanced to the highest degree of Honour in the end he esteemed no better then enemies so Henry the third King of England esteemed of * 57 Hugo de Burgo pro to justiâ—iarius Angliae sub H. 3. 57 Hugo de Burgo cheife Justice of England being one that deserved well both of King and Common-wealth who for the love that he bore unto him and to the safty of the Realme did incurr the displeasure of all the Nobility of the Kingdom for by instigation of Peter Bishop of Winchester he did not only withdraw his affections from him but deprived him of his office and persecuted him with all extremitie But most memorable are the examples of the Earle Vlrick Cilensis and Vlrick Eizingerus in the Country of Austria when Ladislaus sonne of Alburt King of Hungary and Bohemia and Arch-Duke of Austria took upon him the Government of the Kingdome during his minority both the King and Kingdome were in the power of the Earle who being an eyesore to many especially to Vlricus Eizingerus a man most powerfull with the King he privily acquainted him how odiour the Earle was among many of the inhabitants of Austria and unlesse hee did take some course with him hee did verily perswade himselfe they would rise in rebellion for that hee injuriously took from them their mony pillaged the Common-wealth filled his own emptied the Kings Treasury and I may Boldly say his power was so great that he ruled as King and did what he would only he left the bare title of King unto the King There is nothing that makes us more degenerate from our selves and transgresse the lawes of God and men then ambition it was not enough for him to enjoy the second place of the Kingdom but he must covet after the first neither is it a marvell that he that of late would not endure an equall should not now admit of a Superiour wherefote Vlricus perswaded the King speedily to banish him the Court who departed thence with four Knights only left his place to Eizingerus * 58 Cum quatuor tantum militibus insultante plebe vix manibus temperante ex urbe proficiscitur 58 the people rejoycing thereat and hardly forbearing to lay violent hands upon him But this Eizingerus not long after being complayned of to the King by Pancratius Plankenstanius the King before the yeare came about sent for the Earle and honourably received him and restored him to his former dignity Eizingerus left the Court with much grace and favour wisely yeilded unto the times and betooke himselfe to live upon his own Possessions and it is said that the Earle did much applaud him for so doing for that hee had learned by his own example that the minds of Monarks are carried hither and thither in a moment which Gerardus de Roo taking into consideration commended the saying of him who compared the Minions of Princes unto counters with which wee cast account which being removed from place to place stand sometimes for much sometimes for little and sometimes for nothing A cause likewise wherefore Princes doe withdraw their affections from their Minions is to give their Subjects satisfaction whom they have grieved and oppressed examples whereof we have before alledged unto which we may add the example of Duke Borgio Valentino whom Nicholas Machivell hath remembred who after that hee had reduced Flaminia to his obedience hee made Remerus Orcus a cruell man and a great undertaker governour thereof who so carried the matter that in a short time hee had every man at his beck yet not without a great deale of cruelty which drew the hatred of all men upon him insomuch that the Duke to winn their hearts againe was faine to acquaint them that if any exorbitances were committed in Flaminia by Orcus it was done of his own accord without his consent or approbation and so he took that occasion early in the morning to have his body divided into two parts and girding a sword by his side with a wooden scabberd exposed him to the view of the multitude in the market place which when the people saw they went home every one well satisfied Envy is ever an attendant of such a man and not undeservedly for whosoever is advanced by meer favour without any desert of his owne or approbation of the people to have rule and authority over others of more worth the people will hate and despise for the favour of a Prince is like unto a faire Virgin whom many affect and will not indure that she should looke more favourably walke or talke more frequently with any then with themselves so that between men of this condition there is seldome or never any true friendship or familiarity for upon every light occasion they study how to bring one another in disgrace Tully well saith there is no faith or friendship observed when a Kingdome is at stake for whatsoever is of that nature that many may contend for yet but one can injoy The contention is great but faith and honesty little hee that dotes upon one seems to neglect all others And hee is a very bold Prince as Christopher Besoldus observes that for the love of one will draw the hatred of the multitude upon him Examples hereof we have before alledged in Nicolas Gara Count Palatine of Hungary and in others and during the raigne of the French King Henry the second in Amiralius Comestabilius and the Chancellour who having attained to the chiefest degrees of honour envied each others prosperity How incertaine the condition of mortall men is upon Earth Sleidan hath sufficiently shewed by his owne example And who is ignorant of the civill Warres which have been in France both in the dayes of our progenitors and in our owne memories for this cause onely that the government of the Kingdome hath been committed unto such unto whom it did not belong This Hanniball the great Captaine of the Carthaginians found to be true by wofull experience for he being forced to leave his Country betook himselfe to Antiochus King of Asia who so well behaved himselfe during the time that he was with him that within a very short time hee became very gracious in his eyes therefore when the King made warre against the Romanes hee would have made him commander of his fleet had not Thoas Aâ—tolus disswaded him to the coÌ„trary saying it was too much honor unto him
Agrippa Seneca Maecenas Byrrhus whom we have before remembred did hee will doe his uttermost endeavour to perswade the Prince above and before all things in the world to look after that which tends to his own honour and the good of the Common-Wealth for as it is no way profitable to the stomack if at one meale it shall be so glutted that it be ready to burst or in a few daies so much meate be thrown into it as will serve for six months so it is no way profitable to a Prince at once to take all mens estates to himselfe and to care more that hee may have much then well to have gotten it and to enjoy it long therefore if thou wouldst well consider of it thou shalt finde that there are none that do more endammage the Prince then they that do advise him to intend his own private good and indeed if thou wouldst search into it thou shalt see that those men doe not look so much after his private good as the good of themselves and therefore by all manner of meanes they seek his favour but they that seek not somuch their owne good as the good of the Commonwealth have ever a care that as well the people as the Prince without whom he is but a single man may flourish and prosper for the head cannot be perfect if the other members of the body be impotent and not able to performe their proper office Of this Seneca in his Tragedy entituled Octavia takes notice saying * 87 Pulchrum est eminere intervâ—ros illustres 87 It is a famous worthy thing Amidst renowned Lords alone to ring And wisely to care your Country for to save And well your selfe to captive folke behave From cruell brutish slaughter to abstaine And void of mood to wreake your angry paine And to the world a quiet calm to give That all your age the people in peace may live This is a worthy praise without all crime This is the path to Heaven whereby we clime This then is the scope of all that a Princes servant ought so indifferently to carry himselfe between him and his people that as he honours and loves the Prince so he should the people yet not for their sakes but for his therefore let him alwayes be carefull that he may not justly be taxed as Seneca was that he drew the hearts of the Citizens fron the Prince to himselfe for as it * 88 Civilia in genia filiorum regnantibus displicent 88 is distastfull to Princes to see their sonnes have popular wits so it is to see their servants and this he shall bee sure to doe and keep himselfe from all suspition if he follow the Example of Agrippa and so honour his Prince that he may be sure that he studies nothing more then his safety and honour and above all things let him have a special care that he do not provoke him in word or deed for * 89 Pertinax memoria est verborum acerborum 89 bitter words take a deep impression in the mindes of great persons and the deeds which ensue thereupon strike more deep into them and though they doe not for the present either take notice of them or at least revenge them yet when any small occasion is given they are called to remembrance and when they little dream of it they are severely punished for them Joab slew Absalon contrary to the command of the King his father and afterwards seeing him condole his death sharply with menaces upbraided him which the King took very ill and although hee did not at that time inflict any punishment upon him yet upon his death-bed he commanded his sonne to punish him and without doubt for that cause though he did not then expresse it The same doth Alexander the great confesse in the case of Philotas this man saith hee when I writ unto him out of love and familiarity to acquaint him what fortune had befallen me by the oracle of Jupiter Hammon he was so bold as to answer my Letter that he was glad to heare that the gods had accepted me to be one of their company but yet I must have compassion of them that live under me the gods doe not as men doe they give and take nothing from any man these are markes of a minde long ago estranged from me and of a man that envies to see my prosperity which griefe my Souldiers so long as they could for the love they bore unto Philotas prevailed with me to conceal The very same thing doth Chalchas testifie in Homer now saith he doth Jupiter give reines unto his power and now doth hee persecute with eagernesse the man of low degree and though for a time he concealed his wrath and made a faire shew yet afterwards it returned into his bosome againe and would not be satisfied untill it had revenged it selfe Therefore I say he must have a speciall care that hee doe not provoke his Prince with any harsh language especially that hee doe not carry himselfe so that his Prince shall stand in feare of him which wee have before observed to be a great fault in the Earle of St. Paullont of Commines and in Joab that threatned the King that unlesse hee would observe him the people would renounce their Allegiance unto him therefore Philip Commines saith that if that he had a friend he would advise him to carry himselfe so that his Master might love him not feare him for that he never knew man of whom his Master stood in feare that sped not ill in the end Examples whereof wee have very many This presumtion oftentimes proceedeth of the good service he hath done for he thinks his experience so great that hee cannot bee spared and his deserts such that his Master ought to bear all things at his hands but Princes on the contrary side both say and think that hee is bound to doe him service and desire nothing more then to be rid of such malepert fellows and he alledgeth a saying of the King his Master that good servicâ—s sometimes undoe a man and are recompenced with great ingratitude not alwayes by the Masters forgetfulnesse but sometimes by the servants owne fault who presuming upon their good service behave themselves arrogantly either towards their Masters or their fellowes and further touching those that come to court this was his opinion that he is more hapier that receiveth a benefit of the Prince he serveth without any great desert wherby he standeth bound to his Prince then he that hath done so great service that his Prince seemeth indebted to him adding that hee for his part loved those better that were bound to him then they to whom hee was bound Againe let not the servant of a Prince opprobriously be bragging and boasting of his owne merits nor in other affaires be troublesome to him but let him containe himselfe within the bounds of modesty and assume rather too little then too much unto himselfe Quintus Curtius
Tac. l. 2. Hist * 19. Polycletus Patrobios aequabat No way inferiour to the Polecleti and Patrobii the most notorious villanes amongst the Romanes Polycletes was a notorious theife depopulabatur spoliabat quicquid occurrebat as saith Dion hee spoyled whatsoever came in his way hee lived in the daies of Nero. vid. Dion Cas l. 63. Patrobius was one of Neros freemen praefectus ludorum gladiatorum the chief man amongst the hacksters and fencers who for the notorious villanies he committed in the daies of Nero was by Galba put to death vid. Dion ibid. * 20. Nisi Perennis antea tractasset Commodus would not endure to heare of any thing unlesse it had been first told unto Perennis Qui statuit aliquid parte inaudita altera aequum licet statuerit haud aequus est saith the heathen tragaedian in his Medaea he that gives judgement before hee hath heard both parties though his judgment bee just yet hee is unjust to heare well is a prime quality in a Prince for by hearing all parties the truth comes to light Alexander is commended in e Plutar. in Alex. Plutarch for that he would never deliver his judgement before hee had heard all parties gold is not discerned from Alchymy but by the touch or truth from falshood judgement is the touchstone to try both and hearing and seeing are the lights by which it discerneth wherefore in those Common-Wealths where the generall Counsells consist of three Estates Monarchicall Aristocricall and Democricall the Princes have ever been pleased to allow freedom of speech to the Aristocricall and Democricall reserving to themselves the power of ratifying or disallowing what they heare and for that Commodus would not endure to heare but by Perennis he run himselfe upon a rock vid. Lamprid. Dion Nic. Herod in Commodo * 21. Persuasit Commodo ut deliciis vacret Perennis perswaded the Emperour to take his delights and to leave the cares of the Empire unto him It is incident to men of low degree to look upon great Persons with squint eyes especially upon such as are in most grace and favour with their Princes and if the Common Wealth flourish they may perchance gain some honour and reputation thereby but if it doe not they are sure to beare the whole burthen of it f Dion Ca. lib. 72. Milites quotiès iis aliquid parùm ex sententia eveniret conjecta in Perennem culpa gravitèr irascebantur as often as any thing fell out among the souldiers contrary to their expectation they were offended with Perennis as if he had been the onely man that had been the cause thereof Cum Comm odus cum tricentis concubinis quas ex matronarum meretricum que delectu habuerat trecentisque aliis puberibus in palatio in convivio bacchabatur when Commodus swilled himselfe in pleasure with six hundred Concubines Perenius must bee the cause of it hee perswaded him to take his pleasure and leave the cares of the Empire unto him cum Commodus sororem suam Lucillam compressisset posteá occidit cum uni ex concubinis matris nomen imposuit uxoris cum deprehensam in adulterio exegit exactam relegavit occidit when Commodus defloured his Sister Lucilla and after put her to death when he familiarly called one of his Concubines his mother and his wife and after finding her to bee false unto him made her away Perenius must still bee the cause of all hee swayes the Scepter and puts to death whom he will Perenius was guilty of many crimes I make no doubt but whether hee were guilty of all the crimes laid to his charge I make a great doubt * 22. Prefecturas pro libitu vendit Cleander sold all Offices of Command Cleander as Herodian observes was a Phrygian by birth being a Country of that part of Asia that borders upon Bithynia and became so gracious with Commodus that hee had not onely the command of him but of the Souldiery and the whole Empire praetores aâ— arbitrium Cleandrâ— sunt retenti aut occiâ— ad cujus nutum etiam libertini in Senatum patritios electi fuêre at his disposall were all Praetorships and places of honour whom he affected were chosen and whom hee distasted were kept back and what became of him vid. Herod l. 1. Lamp in Commodo * 23. Convictus jussu Antonii Plantianus being convicted by the Command of Antony was put to death The conviction was suddaine young Antony demands of him what he can say to these two articles venista ad Imperatorem minimé accitus deinde quid haec lorica vult quis ad coenam commessationemque armatus venit Sir you came to the Emperour in an Evening before you were sent for then you came armed to him doe men use to come to the Emperours table armed this was his charge and before hee could give an answer Anthony commands them that were present strictis gladiis obtruncare ut hostem manifestarium who run their swords through him and after cast his body forth into the high way ad vulgi ludibrium vid. Herodia lib. 3. Observations upon the death of Plautianus It is observed by Bodin that in a tyrannicall government the Princes Will is a Law stat pro ratione voluntas Anthony commanded the people to kill Plautianus and they readily observed him faciebant quod decebat sed non quomodo decebat they paid him the wages that was due unto him but not according to the Law in setled governments it favours of Barbarisme to butcher any man in times of Peace wherefore Iulian the Apostate though a Tyrant in other things in this deserved commendation that hee would nâ—ver condemne any man before hee had heard him what hee could say for himselfe Commines in his fift book whom Lipsius commends for the most authentick writer prefers the government of England before the government of all the Kingdomes of the World We never heare in our coasts for which we are bound to praise God of any such Barbarisme let the offender be never so great or his offence so grievous yet he shall receive an honourable triall by men aequall to himselfe in every degree and receive his doome according to the Law * 24. Authoritatem omnem momento adimit On a suddaine Philip cast off Apelles â—olib â— 5 Histo Po ybius hath one remarkable passage of Apelles when hee returned from Challis a City neare unto Lesbos of which hee was governour to King Philips Court attended with a great traine of the Nobility thinking to have had accesse to the King as hee was used to have janitor exspectare illum jussit dicens occupatum esse in praesentia regem the Porter was so bold as to tell him Sir you must stay the King is busie which when hee heard to proceed from the Porter haesitabundus aliquando constitit moestus inops consilii stood still amazed for the time as if he had been bereaft of his
ended the controversy and as the losse of the other battell was the revolting of the Marquesse Mountacute from the King to his brother so the losse of this was the revolt of the Duke of Clarence the Earle to the King his brother Some say that after the battell was ended Richard then Duke of Gloucester slew King Henry the sixth in the field with his own hands but that is a mistaking for Richard Duke of Gloucester did not kill Henry the sixth after the battell at Barnet but he killed Edward the fifth his eldest sonne after the battell at Tewxbury with his own hands for without doubt Henry the sixth was murdered in the Tower of London whose death was much lamented for hee was a good man though not so good a King fuit vir miti simplici ingenio qui pacem bello honestum utili anteponebat quo nemo probiùs nemo castiùs nemo sanctiùs vixit non inhiabat opes nec sitiebat honores ast animae tantûm saluti studebat he was a plaine dealing man one that preferred peacâ— before warre and honesty before profit that was honest chaste and religious beyond comparison that was neither coveteous or ambitious but addicted himself wholly to the study of Divinity as the Historians that write of those times say but in another manner do they speak of his Wife they say that shee was bello metuenda virago as Ovid speakes of Pallas foemina virilium operum plena gloria appetens that she had a manly courage and was thirsty after soveraignty that she was the cause of all her husbands troubles that shee was taken at the battell at Teuxbury that shee was ransomed by her Father and dyed in her own Country beyond the Seas vid. Commin lib. 3. Polid. lib. 23. * 29. Wolsaeus apud Henricum octavum Tho. Wolsey very gracious with the King Thomas Wolsey was the sonne of a meane man in Ipswich in the County of Suffolke ubi magnificae structurae fundamentae postea locavit he was bred up in Magdalen Colledge in Oxon and was a Schoole-Master after of the Schoole there who having the Tutelage of three of the Marquesse Dorsets Sonnes the Marquesse gratified him with the Benefice of Lymminghton which was his first preferment afterwards hee made in to (k) The posterity of Sir Richard Namphant remaines to this day in Worcestershire The family quarters 5. Coates The First Sables a Cheveron Ermine between three dexter-wings argent The Second argent 3. Foxes passant a zure The Third Checkie or and Sables a chiefe argent Gutty The Fourth argent a Lyon Rampant Gules between a bordure Sables Besanty The Fifth parted per Pale Argent and Gules by the name of Fleet. Sir Richard Nanphant then Treasurer of Callis a man in great account with King Henry the seventh and became his Chaplaine who finding his abilities being grown in yeares committed a great part of the burthen of his office to his care and at last for the good service that he did him preferred him to be one of the Kings Chaplaines not long after by meanes of the Lord Lovell and Doctor Fox then Bishop of Winchester who were the most potent men with the King hee was sent Ambassadour into Flanders to Maximilian the Emperour in which Ambassage he behaved himself so discreetly that the King at his returne rewarded him with the Deanery of Lincoln and afterwards made him his Almoner which were as I conceive all the preferments that he had in the dayes of King Henry the Seventh but soone after in the dayes of King Henry the Eighth hee became to bee one of the Privy Councell and to be so gracious with him that he sent him twice into Flanders upon Embassages to Charles the Fift and once into France to Francis the First After hee made him Bishop of Turney Bishop of Lincolne Arch-Bishop of Yorke Abbot of Saint Albones Chancellour of England and the receiver of the profits of the Bishoprick of Bathe and Wels Worcester and Hereford and as if all these preferments had not been sufficient to support the magnificence of a Priest hee being legate a latere by expresse Authority from the Pope got into his hands opes praedia quadraginta monasteriorum ut eorum emolumenta in collegiis extruendis impenderet of which the King took advantage for seeing the Crowes were gone corvorum nidos penitus distruendos esse curavit ne iterum ad cohabitandum convolent hee took care to have their nests thrown downe that they might never come thither againe to take up their residence and so pull'd downe the monasteries which might have stood a great deale ' longer had not the Pope and Cardinall opened that gap and shewed the King the way by which mean which Polydore termes singulare nefas hee obtained so great a revennue that they which were most intimate with him and best knew his estate report quod annui proventus plures fuerant quam fi omnes hujus regni Episcoporum atque etiam Decanorum possessiones hodiernae in unum aliquem conferrentur that his yearly commings in did amount unto more then the revennues of all the Bishopricks and Deaneries in England but how did hee imploy this great revennue hee was no miser or hoorder nec erat tam studiosus in rebus comparandis quam liberalis in clargiendis neither was hee so carefull to get as willing to disburse for having got this immense estate into his hands immediately his thoughts run how to dispose of it and first the Muses came into his minde the advancement of Learning and therefore his first designe was to build two famous Colledges one in Ipswick the other in Oxford the one being the place where hee was borne the other where hee was bred he aid the foundation but I know not why he was prevented so that he could not finish them the one continues the other is demolisht That in Oxford he Christned with his owne name and nam'd it the Cardinals Colledge but that name continued not long but it received another name and was called Regium Collegium Kings Colledge yet that name continued not long for the King not willing to assume the honour to himselfe to be the founder of a Colledge which was founded by another entituled it Aedes Christi Christ Church which name it still retaines This the Cardinall intended to have made a Colledge beyond comparison for had he had his liberty to have gone on and finished the other parts of it proportionable to the Kitching which rather resembles Vnde fuit quod quidam satyriceÌ„ scripsit quod animus erat in patinis popinam â—â—erfecit Collegium incoepit dinastae habitationem quam obsonatorum apothecam there is no Colledge in Christendome that would have been comparable to it for magnificence but one thing unhappily fell out upon the Tower in the great Quadrangle where the Ensignes both of the King and Cardinall were engraven in stone the Cardinals had the precedencie as
too high a pitch but had confined himselfe within a meane if one man might have deserved so mâ—ch as he had hee might have deserved it for that I cannot finde that ever hee reflected his thoughts upon himselfe to rayse any house of his name but ever sent forth his Treasure in handfulls that came in in spoonesulls and what he had the King knew the Kingdome knew because he exposed it daily to view hee that diligently reades this story will find that the King from the beginning used the Cardinall but as a sponge vid. Godw. de Epis Angl. G. Cavend in vita Wolsaei Polyd. lib. 27. m. H. S. Thu. lib. 1. * 30 Inter tres Principes Hee carried himselfe indifferently between the King his Master the King of England and the Duke of Burgondy Never did the Kingdome of France produce a more turbulent spirit then this Constable hee was the only Incendiary between the King his Master the King of England and the Duke of Burgondy and his ambition ever was rather to bee feared then loved for which hee grew a Odimus accipitrem qui semper vivit in armis contemptible and his death often threatned before it happened Commines writing of the tumultuous broyles that hapned between these Princes shews that there were two principall motives that occasioned the Constable and the Duke of Guyen to kindle the fire one was their own safety for they did conceive if there were a peace concluded that either the one or the other would fall fowle upon them the other was to compell the Duke of Burgondy by a War if they could not otherwise prevaile to marry his daughter being his daughter and heire to the Duke of Guyen and these designes were manifested to the Duke of Burgondy upon the delivering up of St. Quintins and Amiens to the King for the Duke beeng much troubled for the losse of these townes in a friendly manner writ unto the Constable not to presse a Warr being that there was no defiance offered unto whom the Constable perceiving that hee stood in feare of him which was the thing hee aymed at returned a peremptory answer to this effect that there was but one way for him to help himselfe which was to bestow his daughter upon the Duke of Guyen which if hee would doe not onely the said Duke but divers other Lords would declare themselves for him against the King and hee would redeliver St. Quintins and Amiens unto him and assist him with all his power otherwise hee would pursue the War which answere the Duke having received resolved to undergoe any misery rather then to have his daughter taken from him in that way and thereupon forthwith acquainted the King with those and the like letters which he had sent to the King of England who immediately revived the agreement made at Bonvines concerning the death of the Constable Of the letters which the Constable sent to the Duke of Burgondy and the King of England see Commines lib. 4. c. how the agreement at Bonvines was afterwards ratified and hee delivered by the Duke of Burgondy comming to him upon safe conduct see Commin lib. 4. See more of the Constable in the generall History of France in Lewis the 11. * 31. Peculasus accusatus suspendio affectus Enguerrande for robbing the Kings Treasure was accused and hanged Enguerrande was Earle of Longuevill and Superintendent of the Treasure under Philip the fourth called the fair and did him good service but Charles the Kings brother conceiving inplacable hatred against him in the beginning of the raign of Lewis Hutin accused him for robbing the Kings Treasure and gave this in evidence against him rerum vires nervusque pecunia est te interrogo Enguerranâ— cujusnam pecunia arcaque recondita clausaque cupiditati tuae fuerit non interrogo quam amplum patrimonium relictam tibi a Parentibus fuit tu te creasti tu te genuisti ingredere fiscum Regis inopiam invenies ingredere aedes istius gurgitis gazam Persicam invenies an virtute parta quae virtus in tali monstro potest esse and upon this evidence prevailed to have him hanged upon a gallowes set up at Mountfalcon See Paul Aemil. lib. 8. * 32. Petrus Laudoicus apud ducem Britaniae Peter Landais was in the like favour with the Duke of Britaine Peter Landais was the sonne of a very meane man of Vitry in Britanny and came to the Court very poore whom the Duke at the first imployed to carry his amorous Letters to his Ladies after made him the Master of his Wardresse then his Treasurer and in the end his power was so great that he did in a manner what he would hee was the man that caused the Duke to suffer Chauvin his Chancellour to dye miserably in prison of hunger and cold which so incensed the Nobility that they resolved to ease the Duke of him whereupon John of Chalon Prince of Orange and son to one of the Dukes Sisters and John of Rieux Marshall of Britanny and one of the greatest men in Court together with the Nobility resolved to surprise him in the Castle of Naâ—â—s or wheresoever they could finde him though in the Dukes presence which they performed And so Peter was arraigned condemned and hanged priusquam causam sciret dux as Paulus Aemilius hath it Vid Paul Aemil. l. 10. c. 8. supplem ad lib. 6. Com. Observations There is no man so vile and contemptible in the world but is good to some body this Peter that was thus hanged did one of the greatest curtesies to King Hen. the 7th that ever was done to him When King Edw. the Fourth sent unto Francis Duke of Brittany Doctor Stillington with others-laden with Gold to request him to deliver unto them the Earle of Richmond being his Prisoner upon pretence to unite the two houses by an alliance the Duke conceiving that hee intended to marry Elizabeth his Eldest Daughter unto him without any scruple took their Gold and delivered him but being informed afterwards by Peter his favourite that it was but a pretence and that hee meant to cut off his head sent him post after them who finding them at Saint Mallo staying for a winde took a course to have the Earle conveyed into the Sanctuary there yet possessed the Doctor and his fellowes that hee had no hand in it but that hee escaped of himselfe and when they prest to have him redelivered hee told them it could not be without his Masters consent and that they should very speedily know his minde therein So Peter sent to the Duke and the Duke sent a peremptory answer that hee had once delivered him and being that through their negligence they had suffred him to take Sanctuary hee would not take him out but would keep him there or in his own Palace for them so Peter cosened them of their mony and adventure as he had cosened his Master all his life time and sent them home without either
Non sufficit benè caepisse It is not sufficient to begin well If hee that plants a vineyard be not as carefull to hedge it in as hee was to plante it he shall receive but little fruit of his labour if he that builds a ship bee not as carefull to furnish it with tacklings as hee was to build it his ship will doe him but little service if he that wins a Castle be not as provident in the keeping of it as hee was in the getting it had been better for him in the beginning to have sate still and done nothing in vaine doe wee plow sowe reap thrash winnowe and bring our corne unto the mill if the mill be out of order and shall spoyle it after so much paines taken finis coronat opus if Nero his last daies had been like to his quinquennium hee had been one of the most renowned Princes of the world if Tiberius had ended his raign as he began hee had excelled Augustus but because they desisted the wayes of vertue their faults were more conspicuous and it had been better for them never to have known them then having known them to abandon them againe so as it is not sufficient to begin well * 53. Fortuna caeca nos efficit caecos Fortune being blinde blindeth them whom shee doteth upon The Heathens of old time deified fortune under which name they comprehended worldly prosperity for a blinde Goddesse that sits at the doore of felicity and keeps out mortals from comming to the tables of the Gods k Improba non novit leges fortunae illa odit plerumque bonos blanditur iniquis that rules upon earth without reason and understanding that makes fooles her favorites and wisemen her vassals that is as variable as the Moon and whom at first shee most affecteth at last she most neglecteth that begets children like herself mad and blinde and brutish lifteth them up to the clouds where shee suffers them for a time to domineere over the inferiour bodyes and afterwards to make her selfe merry throwes them down with a vengeance and sits laughing at them Ridendo fallere novi Sub risus specie deprimo quem que mei * 54. Ne quenquam suorum Mecenas counselled Augustus not to suffer any of his Peeres to grow too great It hath been a custome amongst the Turks as we may read in their generall History in the raign of Amurath the third for the Princes assoone as they have been Crowned to put to death their younger brethren that so the eyes of their Subjects may wholly bee fixt upon them in other Countryes it hath been a custome to oppresse and keep under the Nobility for feare of Rebellion but these bloody and barbarous customes have been used only amongst barbarous men in debellatis regionibus and in Countryes that have been conquered but in every Christian settled Common-wealth the Peers are to the Prince as the stars to the firmament their greatnesse is his glory for the greater they are the greater must hee needs bee that commands them it was the common saying of Ptolomy King of Egypt quod regalius est super divites dominari quam divitem fore when Maximilian the Emperour would at any time set forth the glory and magnificence of the Romane Empire he was used to say that the Emperour of Germany was Rex regum for that hee had a superintendency over such as had power to make lawes raise Souldiers and coyne mony whereas other Princes had not so when a controversy grew between two great Lords upon this occasion quod alter altero potiorem se esse dixisset that the one should say hee was a better man then the other it was thus decided that the one should acknowledge that the other commanded better men then he The wise King saith in multitudine populi consistit dignitas Regis in the multitude of Subjects consisteth the glory of a Prince n Huc valdè pertinet illud Castilionis si Circe aliqua Gallos omnes in feras commutaret nonne Gallorum Regem Principem despicatissimum diceres etiamsi imperium in tot belluas haberet e contâ— a si omnia armenta quae in montibus circumvagantur in potentes sapientes transfererntuâ— nonnè pastores harum belluarum tanquam dominos poâ—entissimos aestimares it is as true in magnitudine populi in the greatnesse of Subjects consisteth the glory of a Prince every meane cotrager hath pira cerasa Peares and Cherryes in his Orchard but every meane Cottager hath not Palmas Cedros Palme and Cedar trees every meane Gentleman hath his horses and dogs but noâ— his Pumiliones Leones Tigres his Dwarfs Lyons and Tigers m Animalia rara apud principes olim in pretio fuere Dicitur de Ludovico ii quod valde operosus erat in raris animalibus comparandis e Britannia canes grandi pecunia summa comparabat ex Sicilia mulos a Neapoli spetiosos equos ab Africa genus parvulorum leonum Com. lib. 9. these rarityes are ensignes of greatnesse and provided for Princes an great personages Every petty Prince and meane Lord hath the command of macellarios usurarios ferrarios of Butchers Brookers and Braziers but every meane Lord hath not a command of a loyall gentry and prudent nobility Renegathoes are fit attendants for Turkes and Tyrants but for Christian Princes Potentes Nobiles Ier. 1. Lam. 15. wherefore the Prophet Jeremy doth not complaine in his lamentations that God tooke from him his macellrios vel usurarios sed abstulit magnificos meos de medio mei hee took his nobles from him but yet as it is in the naturall body if the foot shall swell and equalise the head in greatnesse there is a depravation of nature and a deformity in the body so it is in the politique if any one of the Peeres shall so farre out-strip his fellowes in magnificence that the rest must depend upon him here are two Sunnes in the Firmament and this body is out of order wherefore Maecenas wisely councelled Augustus that hee should not suffer any of his Peeres to grow too great what inconveniences have growen by suffering of Peers to grow too great see Com. lib. 3. of the Earle of Warwick lib. 4. Of the Constable of France Iean du Seres Of the Majors of the Kings Palace in Clotaire Clovis 2. Thiarry 2. Childerick 5. and in Pippin and Dion Case of Sejan lib. 57 59. * 55. Galfridus Iustitiarius Angliae Geffry a Iustitiary of England by reason of his allies was more feared then beloved of the King Offences are sometimes taken not given Matthew Paris speaking of this Iustitiary giveth this Encomium of him that he was firmissima regni columna and that after his death the Kingdome was quasi navis sine gubernaculo Mat. Paris in Ioh An. 1213. * 56. Fatum potentiae est quod raro sempiterna It is destinated unto greatnesse not to be of long continuance The world by the
ancients is aptly termed a game of inconstancy wherein there is nothing but shufling and cutting the Card that now is on the top anon is in the bottome anon discarded Tib who whilome rul'd as Commanders the next dealing if trump withdraw his Colours are of no better esteem then a common Card vix horae momentum nonnunquam inter est inter solium solitudinem saith Seneca heur malheur se suivent tour a tour good lucke and bad follow each other turne by turne O dii boni saith the Orator quid est in hominis vita diu O good God what is there of any continuance in the World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as are most powerfull with their Princes are aptly compared to counters which now stand for a â—ound anon for a Cipher every mortall thing is fading fleeting and transitory n De Ludovico iidicitur quod dicere solebat naturaÌ„ hominis novitate delectari ideoque crebro mutasse cubicularios Com. lib. 9. The mindes of men are desirous of changes and alterations and those whom we now most affect anon after wee most neglect Besides the many examples which our author hath set forth see one memorable one in the generall History of the Turkes in the raigne of Solyman the magnificent of Abrahem the Visier Basse President of the Councell * 57. Hugo de Burgo proto-justitiarius Angliae Hugh de Burge chiefe Iustice of England Invidia virtutis comes besides the testimony which our Authour hath given of Hugh de Burgh Matthew Paris goes further and saith that hee was miles strenuus fidelis Constable of Dover Castle which hee stoutly defended against Lewis of France and the Barons of England in the behalfe of the King who when Lewis sent unto him after the Kings death Mat. Par. in Ioh. An. 1213. to have him deliver up the Castle with large promises that he would make him one of his Councell and confer upon him many honours returned this answer though the King bee dead yet he hath left behinde him filios filias qui ei debent succedere and that to the uttermost of his power hee would in their behalfe defend and keep it Mat. Par. in H. 3. initio ne illud turpiter reddendo notam proditionis incurreret yet notwithstanding by the instigation of Peter Bishop of Winchester the King did not onely withdraw his affections from him and deprive him of his Offices but prosecuted him with all severity * 58. Plebe vix manibus temperante The people hardly forbearing to lay hands upon him Demosthenes being banisht Athens lifting up his hands towards the City made a bitter invective against it saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O Minerva that hast the government of the City committed unto thee why dost thou harbor within thee three most insufferable beasts the Nightbird the Dragon and the Common-people hee rankes the multitude in Athens with the most unlucky creatures and not without cause 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the common sort of people in Athens are a most ingratefull and barborous kinde of people persecuting them most that have most deserved of them nullum fretum nullus Euripus tantas tam varias habet agitationes fluctuum the Sea doth not so often ebbe and flow as the unstable multitude change their mindes if one sheep transgresse the bounds of the pasture all the rest will follow after and for no other reason but because hee went before When Earle Vlrick Ciliensis was banisht by Ladislaus the peoples hatred was such unto him that had not the Marquesse of Brandenburgh brought him to the Gates of Vienna the people would have stoned him yet when the King the next yeare received him into favour againe Aeneas Sil. Hist Europ c. 22. eadem plebs as Aeneas Sylvius observes quae paulo ante lâ—tum lapides in fugientem jactare tentavit sternere viam floribus qua redeunti transitus fuit non dubitavit the very same people that threw dirt in his face the yeare before strowed flowers in his way the yeare after When the Nobility of Hungary deposed Maria and set up Carolus Parvus the common people cried susus colus sunt arma mulierum imperium mulieri non aliter quam clitella bovi convenit down with her down with her for that it is against the Law of nature that men should bee subject unto women Spindles and Distaffes doe better become women then Scepters yet not long after as soone as ever hee was Crowned Bons dec 3. lib. 1. â—eruÌ„ Hungar they fell off from him quem iniquè as saith Bonfinius imprudenterque multitudo affectavit mutatis subinde animis oderit whom not long before they so much affected without any reason within a short time after they hated and neglected cum fortuna statque caditque fides populi * 59 Inquilini sui putant juris esse Natives thinke it their Birth right to be governed by men of their owne Nation Some have been of opinion that there is no better way to advance the good of a City then to open the gates to let in strangers into it for that therby the City is empeopled which is the glory of a City but these men neither tooke into their consideration either that of Eunius Moribus antiquis res stat Romana virisque that thereby the foundation of the City the ancient Lawes and Customes are endangered for that strangers desire to be governed by their own Lawes or the seditious and tumultuous Insurrections which thereby usually are occasioned for that Natives will not endure that strangers should carry away the fat and sweetnesse of their Countrey or the Lawes of Lycurgus who by his Lawes advenas in urbe residentes abegit ne alieujus noxae doctores forent others have gone further and have thought it a speciall meanes to advance the good of a City to suffer strangers to execute places of authority there because thereby correspondency is kept with Forraigne Nations but King James utterly opposeth it and therefore amongst many other things which hee giveth in charge to Prince Henry in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee giveth him this Caveat cavendum est ut ne peregrino homini publicum mupus committas and Lipsius shewes the inconveniences thereby saith hee the Prince draws much hatred upon himselfe for when the Natives of a Countrey where many able men are to be found doe perceive the Prince to preferre strangers before others they doe alien their affections from them and oftentimes betake themselves to the service of Forraine Princes Again the Commonwealth cannot bee well governed for that it is impossible that strangers should know the manners and conditions of the people or the state of the Common-Wealth in any degree like unto Natives or if they did yet generally they fayle in fidelity and true affection nam qui potest in alienam remp benè agere in qua illud semper
cogita sanctè item Spartam nactus hanc orna * 80. Cogitet multa sibi non licere It is not lawfull for him to do many things Omnia non pariter rerum sunt omnibus apta saith the Poet Prop. lib. 3. Non omnia omnibus decora as saith the Orator As there are severall Estates and degrees in the world so there are severall and particular actions incident to each degree and those things which may be done by men of one degree with praise and commendation cannot bee done by men of another degree without disparagement When the Duke of Orleans Lewis the 12. came to bee King of France Amiâ—at lib. 5 polit disseâ—t certain ill-disposed Courtiers told him that now hee had opportunity to revenge the many wrongs which were done unto him when hee was Duke of Orleans to whom hee most Princely answered non decet Galloâ—um Regem injurias ducis Aureliensum vinâ—icare that it was not fit for the King of France to revenge the wrongs done to the Duke of Orleans When as Aristides sate as judge between two Plut. in Aristides one of the parties to incense him against his adversary told him that hee had not only wronged him but Aristides also to whom Aristides like himselfe answered that hee came not thither to revenge any wrong done to himselfe but to do him right When Parmenio would have had Alexander to have done something which was more fit for a private man to do then a Prince he gave him this answer ego id agerem si essem Parmenio I would do it if I were Parmenio but being that I am Alexander it stands not with my honour to doe it Plut. in praecept polit Themistocles after that he had obtained a famous victory against his enemies walking up and down amongst the dead corps espied a chaine of gold about one of their necks and wished him that was not Themistocles to take it of Polybius being in a dump Seneca to rouse up his spirits set upon him thus remember your selfe I pray you doe not shew your selfe so indiscreete as to hurt your selfe to no purpose quid tam humile aut tam muliebre quam dolore consumere Senec. ad Polib it is sufficient that you loved your friend whilst hee lived and performed all friendly offices for him and exprest as much at his death the World hath a great opinion of you for you worth and valour and exspects that you should shew your selfe more manly a common Souldier may quit the field having receiv'd but a scar and no notice taken of him but for you to shew your self so pusillanimous for so light a wound will be a great dishonor to you nam multa tibi non licent quae hominibus in angulo jacentibus licent * 81. Non ob propriam virtutem Thou shouldst never think that thou art raised for any worth of thine When the Painter saw a Phantastick admiring his owne Picture and preferring the workmanship thereof before the workmanship of all his other pictures told him that hee did much wonder that it being so excellent a piece did not sell better that Alexanders picture did usually bring him so much mony Hectors so much Ajax so much but as for his no man would give any thing for it there is nothiâ—g so prejudiciall to the servants of Princes as an over weaning opinion of their own worth nam quantum sibi ipsissimi videntur tantum a Rege vilissimi tenentur for the more highly they doe esteeme of themselves the more vilely do they appeare in their Princes eyes for that they generally as Commines hath it do more affect them on whom they have conferred honours without any desert then they who having deserved well think them bound to reward them Lewis the eleventh took great delight to make himselfe merry with these kinde of men who having at one time received a great Summe of mony was pleased to the end to stirre them up to ask what hee should doe with all that mony and where are now all my servants and followers to whom I owe any thing it were good for them to come whilst I have it in my Treasury of which his words the alarum being given the Courtiers came in as the hawk to the lure every one hoping to get something and when the King beheld one above the rest max mè hiautem quasi oculis pecuniam devorantem looking upon his mony as if he would have devoured it with his eyes askt him what hast thou to say Sir an 't please you quoth he I have been your Falchoner so long and the hawks that have been commended to my charge have been as good as any Prince in Christendome ever had but they cost me a great deale of mony and a great deale of paines another shewed what service hee had done and a third what hee had done extolling themselves to the highest the King having heard them all his Chancellour standing by him askt him what saist thou my Chancellour truly Sir quoth hee plùs recepi quam promeruerim nec ulla de re magis sollicitus sum quam ut regiae tuae munificentiae responderem I have received more of your highnesse then I have deserved neither doth any thing in the World more trouble me then that I cannot tell how to deserve so much as I have received well quoth the King do thou take the mony as for these fellowes erit alia exspectanda occasio they shall stay untill another time Here wee finde that verified in the fable of Narcissus who admiring his owne shadow pined away wherefore Amiratus most religiously admonisheth them upon whom the Prince hath cast a more gracious aspect then upon their fellowes never to ascribe any thing to themselves or their owne merit but to the providence of God who hath been pleased to encline the affections of the Prince more towards them then towards other men * 82. Tametsi Burrhus Though Burrhus had promised yet hee did not performe Melius est vota stultae promissionis non implere quam crimen admittere though Nero had commanded and Burrhus had promised to kill Agrippina yet hee did not performe Castilio puts the case whether a servant bee bound to obey his Master in all his commands and the answer is negative cum jubet ea quae in prima tabula vetat deus aut vetat ea quaejubet deus non est observandus if he commands those things which by the law of God are prohibited or prohibite those things which by the law of God are commanded hee is not to bee obeyed so did the Mid wives refuse to kill the Children of the Hebrews according to the command of King Pharaoh Exod. the 1. so did the three children refuse to worship the golden Image which Nebuchadnezar had set up so did Obadiah refuse to obey the Command of Jezabell in killing of the Prophets 1 Kings 18. and so did Mathias refuse to obey the
was not ignorant when he gave that in charge to his sonnes upon his death-bed to undertake noble atchievements and therby erect to themselves Monuments more durable then the iron and adamant Pulchrum est eminere inter viros illustres * 88. Displicent civilia ingenia filiorum That is distastfull to Princes to see their sonnes have popular wits As the greatnesse of Subjects is the Glory of Princes so popularity in Subjects is distastfull to them When the people began to honour Sejanus in the same degree as they did Tiberius then did Tiberius abhorre Sejanus the glory of the Sunne is not eclipsed by the Moones being in her Complement but by her Interposition the greatnesse of Subjects is no eclipse of Soveraignty but when the Subject shall stand betweene the Prince and the people and divert the affections of the people from him that causeth an eclipse wherefore it is distastfull to Princes to see their sonnes have popular wits * 89. Pertinax memoria verborum acerborum Bitter words make a deepe impression in the minds of great persons The use of speech and reason is proper unto mankinde onely other Creatures expresse themselves in confused sounds the Lyon roares the Horse neighes the Deare brayes the Cow lowes man onely being indued with reason either delights the hearer with the melody of his speech or offends him with the harshnesse of it Speech by the Graecians is aptly termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the light of the minde for as by the light of the Sunne which they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the light of life wee see the superficies of the earth So by the light of our words are our intellectualls discerned If they are milde and gentle they are Ensignes of contentment in the mind and prevaile much if bitter and harsh they are Ensignes of discontentment in the minde and provoke much Johannes Salisburiensis hath a Tale of a Lion lib. 5. c. 17. who being set apart to devoure Andronicus instead of devouring him licked and kissed him and why because hee spake milde unto him and when time was pull'd a Thorne out of his foot this Appion sayes hee saw amongst other sights which he saw at Rome As courteous entertainments allay the fury of great spirits so sharp reproofes kindle and inflame them and though for a time they may seeme to bury the fire in the ashes of oblivion yet in the end it will breake forth and burne the incendiaries witnesse those bold speeches of Gallus to Tiberius Tac. lib. 1. Annal. when the Senate was pleased in all humility after the death of Augustus to intreat Tiberius to take upon him the charge of the Empire and when as he modestly answered that the charge of the whole would be too great a burthen to him and that hee would willingly accept of any one part of it Gallus malepertly and sawcily stands up and would needs know of him quam partem reip mandari voluit of which though Tiberius took no notice for the present yet he conceived implacable hatred against him and although afterwards Gallus would have excused it and magnified Tiberius for the noble acts which hee did in the dayes of Augustus Gallus verificatum invenit illud Virgilii Iudicium Paridis maâ—et alta mente repostum proverbum facilius est evocare daemoneÌ„ qua abigere yet he could never win his favour againe Witnesse likewise those speeches which the Constable of France used to the Earle of Embercourt when the Ambassadors of the King of France and the Duke of Burgundy met together to conclude a peace between them the Constable with others being assigned for the King and the Chancellour of Burgundy and the Earle of Embercourt for the Duke it fell out that in the parly the Constable gave the Earle of Embercourt the lye which as Comines sayes Summam extremam perniciem ei attulit for when the Duke of Burgundy had notice of it taking it as it was ndeed as a wrong done to himselfe the Earle representing his person he revived the agreement at Bonvines concerning the death of thâ— Constable and put that in execution witnesse likewise those speeches which Enguerande gave to Charles the brother of Philip the fair there being some difference betweene two Peeres of France Enguerande standing for the one and Charles for the other in debating of the matter both being in the height of choler Enguerande gave Charles the lye which as Paulus Aemilius sayes Nobilitati omni vulnere gravius and which in the dayes of Lewis Hutin cost him his life for though that was not urged against him yet that did incense Charles and occasioned him to accuse him de crimine peculatus wherefore Comines gives this Caveat Lib. 3. lib. 5. Qui sunt in magno loco apud principem cavere debent ne quid atrocius dicant And Lipsius this Cavete vos caniculae periculosum est leonem vellicare beware how yee awake a sleeping Lyon especially yee that serve your Prince in any high places * 90. Commemoratio meritorum gravis It was fatall to Clitus and Philotas that Alexander heard that they boasted of the good service which they had done him It is observed of yong children quò celerius loquuntur tardius gradiuntur that the sooner their speech comes to them the longer it is before they goe And of the Cedars quo magìs florent eo minus fructus ferunt that the more gloriously they appeare to the eye the lesse fruit they beare the Frenchman sayes les grand diseurs sont sovent les petit faisours the greatest praters are for the most part the least actors as the greatest barkers are the worst biters Dolia plena cient nullum pulsata fragorem At digito tactum vas quod inane sonat The emptiest vessels and shallowest currents make the greatest noyse The Mousecatcher with his traps Altissima flumina minimo sono labuÌ„tur Curt. and the Carman with his coales will make the streets ring of them when the Merchant deales in silence without any noyse Wise men doe and say little Fooles brag and babble and doe little * Ostentatio est certum signum levitatis stultitiae nam quo quisque minus valet magis se dilatat ostentatione Cicero Res ipsa loquatur nobis tacentibus saith Seneca a servant of a Prince should be no Rodomontado for by talking too much hee loseth the honour due unto him What a shame was it to Terentius Varro to give forth at the Battell of Cannas that the same day that he displayed his Ensigne against the Carthaginians hee would utterly defeat them and to suffer himselfe to be shamefully beaten by them Liv. lib. 2. dec 3. as Livy hath it And what a dishonour was it to the Lord Tremoile to write unto Lewis the 12. that hee would deliver Maximilian la Sforza into his hands as before he had delivered Ludovick his Father in the end to be beaten by him with
the wise King who was a great dealer in them hath sufficiently shewed out of his owne experience hee that kept for his pleasure 700 Wives and 300 Concubines that had the rarest Musitians of both sexes 1 Reg. 10. â—â—1 that had his Vineyards gardens orchards fishponds and whatsoever else could be thought upon to please the sences in a most exquisite manner that had an Estate that exceeded all the Princes of that Age 2 Câ—ron â— having his very footsteps made of beaten Gold by whom silver by reason of the abundance of it was esteemed no better then Stones that was honoured a d sought unto by all the Princes of the earth for his wisedome and magnificence delivers this opinion of these so choice and much desired commodities Ecclesiastes 1.2 vanity of vanities and all is vanity Saint Paul values them according to their worth I have not esteemed saith he the riches of the world better then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil. 3.8 dung dung indeed they are or very little better if wee duly consider of what materials those merchandises that are so highly prized are composed what are the precious stones of which there is so great an opinion but the froth and superfluity of the Sea coagulated esteemed onely for rarity and of no use nor in the eye of our law valuable and what is Gold and Silver but earth refined what are Silkes and Velvets but the excrements of wormes woven and knit together by poor labouring men what are those rich furs of Martins Sables and Ermines but the skins of little beasts esteemed onely for rarity and in no degree so usefull as are the skins of sheep and oxen what is the finest Scarlet Cloth but the woole of sheep painted over with an artifitiall dye to please the eye onely what are the sumptuous buildings of the world but heaps of wood and stone laid together by a company of poore labouring men set apart in the Common-Wealth to gather sticks and stones and to pile them handsomely together what is beauty but a flower subject to the blasting of every winde and to be defaced by the scratch of a hand or pin and what is honour without virtue but a puffe a smoke a bubble a nothing Saint Austin desirous to suppresse the market where these Commodities are uttered in some indignation thus informes against it O vile and miserable world whose vexations are certaine whose pleasures uncertaine whose troubles are durable whose joyes momentary whose torments insufferable whose gifts contemptible whose promises prodigall whose performances base and miserable who despisest them that love thee and beguilest them that trust thee It is extreme folly for a man to dote upon a woman that hath neither portion or proportion nor yet any good quality or condition in her but for a man to settle his affections upon earth and stones upon dung and excrements and upon things of the like nature is extreme madnesse God hath given dominion unto man over all the sublunary Creatures and hath placed him in degree little inferiour to the Angels to the end that hee should look upwards and settle his affections upon heavenly things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quia sursü oculos tollit and for him to lose that soveraignty which God hath given him by making himself too familiar with these base earthly commodities savours of brutishnesse and pusilanimity Love is of a transcendent nature and is cast away where it cannot be requited with love againe love thy Lord thy God and thy Neighbour as thy selfe because they are able to render unto thee love for love like for like but despise the world and the vanities thereof because they are trash and dung and cannot in any degree recompence compence thy love There were upon a time two Gentlemen that much frequented one Inne upon the rode the one was very prodigall in his expenses the other provident and it fell out at last that hee that was so profuse fell into poverty and comming to his Inne hee enquired for his old hoste who being told by his servants who hee was and having notice before that hee was in wants came unto him but lookt upon him as strangely as Nabal did upon King Davids Servants the Gentleman wondring at it askt him whether hee did not know him 1 Sam. 25.10 truly Sir quoth the hoste I think I have seene you but where and when I cannot call to minde I have beene an old guest to your house replied the Gentleman it may bee so quoth the hoste many honest Gentlemen frequent my house whom I know not the Gentleman desirous to make himselfe knowne unto him askt him whether hee did not know such a one yes very well he 's an honest stout Gentleman and whensoever hee comes to my house hee brings mony in his purse and paies well I marvaile said the Gentleman that you should so well remember him and forget mee for wee two often met here together and were merry now the truth is hee had good cause to remember the other for whensoever hee found him false in his bills hee would send for him and cudgell him handsomely and at one time above the rest finding the totals to exceed the particulars in his bils hee broke his pate and cut his nose into the bargain which gave him just occasion to remember him and to commend him for an honest stout Gentleman and that he paid him well if the other had paid him after the same manner he would not so soone have forgotten him non est hic habitandi locus sed commorandi diversorium saith the orator there is no place for us here to settle our selves but as an Inne to rest for a short space so the Apostle Heb. 13.14 Psal 39.14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we have here no continuing City but wee seek for one to come so the Prophet David 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am a Sojourner as all my fathers were the life of man is a meere pilgrimage from the wombe to the tombe we take our journey the world is our Inne where as Pilgrims we take up our lodging for a few dayes and then come to our long home Now if in this our pilgrimage we spend our dayes in pleasure and vaine delights as soone as we are gone we are forgotten but if wee husband our time well and manfully subdue our unruly affections by withdrawing our eyes from those allurements and tickling delights which Dalilae our hostesse presents unto us and suffer her not by her flatteries and enchantments to deceive us then shall wee bee remembred with praise and commendation in our Inne at our journeys end and ever after Oingnes vilain il vous poindra poindrez vilain il vouz oindra saith Rab. annoint a villaine and he will annoy and sting thee but sting and annoy him and hee will annoint thee the way to make a knave know himselfe is to neglect him and the way to have honour in the world is