A line of life Pointing at the immortalitie of a vertuous name.

A line of life Pointing at the immortalitie of a vertuous name.

Table of contents

Title page

WISE, and therein NOBLE.

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LINEA VITAE: A Line of Life.

The Corollarie.

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A LINE OF LIFE. Pointing at the Immortalitie of a Vertuous NAME.

Printed by W. S. for N. Butter, and are to be sold at his shop neere Saint A [...]stens gate. 1620.

WISE, and therein NOBLE.

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AMbition beeing sooner discouered by acting then plotting, can rarely personate practise in studie, vnlesse the Arts themselues, which in themselues are liberall, should [...] too curiously censured, too inquisitiuely confined. [Page] It is an easie vanity, in these dayes of libertie, to be a conceited Interpreter, but a difficult commendation to bee a serious Author: for whatsoeuer is at all times honestly intended, oftentimes is too largely construed. Generall collections meet (not seldome) with particular applications, and those so dangerous, that it is more safe more wis [...] to professe a free silence, then a necessarie industrie. Here in this (scarce an) handfull of discourse, is deciphered, not what any [Page] personally is, but what any personally may be: to the intent, that by the view of others wounds, we might prouide playsters and cures for our owne, if occasion impose them. It is true, that all men are not borne in one, the same, or the like puritie of qualitie or condition; for in some, Custome is so become another Nature, that Reason, is not the mistresse, but the seruant, not the directresse but the foyle to their passions. Folly is a sale-able merchandise, whose factour, youth is [Page] not so allowedly profest in young men, as pleasure in men of any age: yet are the ruines, the calamities, the wofull experiences of sundrie presidents and samplars of indiscretion and weakenesse (euen in noted, and sometimes in great ones) so apparent, so daily, that no Antidote against the infection, disease, leprosie of so increasing an euill can be reputed superfluous. For my part, I ingeniously acknowledge, that hitherto (how euer the course hath proued a barre to my thrift, yet) I [Page] neuer fawned vpon any mans Fortunes, whose person and merit I preferred not. Neither hath any court-ship of applause, set me in a higher straine, a higher pinnacle of opinion, then seuerest Approbation might make warrantable. Howbeit euen in these few lines that follow, my ayme hath not beene so grossely leuelled, that I meant to chuse euery Reader for my Patron: considering that none can challenge any interest herein from me (vnlesse he challenge it [Page] by way of an vsurped impropriation) whom I my selfe doe not out of some certaine knowledge and allowance of Desert, as it were poynt out and at, with my finger, and confesse that Hic est, it is this one and onely. By which marke, I can deny no man (not guiltie to himselfe of a selfe-unworthinesse) to call it his owne: at least, none of those, who freely returne the defects to their proper owner, and the benefit (if any may be) of this little worke to their own vse and themselues. So [Page] much it is to bee presumed, the verie taliarie Law may require and obtaine. In all things, no one thing can more requisitely bee obserued to be practised, then The Golden Meane: The exemplification whereof, howeuer heretofore attributed, I dare not so poorely vnder-value my selfe and labours, as not to call mine. But if I should farther exceede, I might exceede that meane, which I haue endeuoured to commend. Let him that is wise, and therein noble, assume [Page] properly to himselfe this interest, that I cannot distrust the successefull acceptation, where the sacrifice is a thriftie loue; the Patron a great man good (for to be truly good is to be great) And the Presentor, a feodarie to such as are maisters not more of their own Fortunes then their owne affections.

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Aestatis occasum hau [...]d aegre tulit vnquám Temperata Hyems. IO. FORD.

LINEA VITAE: A Line of Life.

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TO liue, and to liue well, are distinct in thēselues, so peculiarly as is the ACTOR and the ACTION. All men couet the former, as if it were the totall [Page] and souereigne felicitie of a humane condition: And some few pursue the latter, because it giues an eternity to their blessednesse. The difference between those: two is, Life desired for the only benefit of liuing, feares to dye, for such men that so liue, when they dye, both dye finally & dye all: But a good Life aymes at another mark; for such men as indeauour to liue well, liue with an expectation of death, and they when they dye, dye to liue, [Page] and liue for euer. In this respect hath death (be [...]ng the parting of a precious Ghest from a ruinous Inne, the soule [...]rom the bodie) beene [...]y the Ancients, styled a Hauen of safetie, a finishing of Pilgrimages, [...] resting from trauaile, [...] passage to glorie. Eue [...]ie man that most shuns [...]t (and he most shunnes [...]t that most feares it) [...]unnes notwithstanding wilfully to meet it, euen [...]hen posting to it, when [...]ee abhorres it: for (the comparison is liuely & [...]emarkeable) as he who [Page] in a Shippe, directs his course to some Port; whether he stand, walk, reuell, sleepe, lie downe, or any way else dispose himself, is notwithstanding alwaies driuen on to the period of his voyage: So in this Ship of our mortalitie, howsoeuer wee limit our courses, or are suited in any fortune of prosperitie or lownesse, in this great Sea of the World; yet by the violence and perpetuall motion of time, are we compeld to pace onward to the last and long home of our [Page] graues, and then the victorie of Life is concluded in the victory of our ends.

It is granted in Philosophie, Arist. in 1. Ethic. l. Cicer. in off. that Action is the Crowne of Vertue. It cannot in reason (the light of Philosophie) be denied, that perseuerance is the Crowne of Action: and then Diuinitie the Queene of Nature will confirme, that sufferance is the Crowne of perseuerance. For to be vertuous without the testimonie of imployment, is as a rich Minerall in the heart of the [Page] Earth, vn-vseful because vnknowne; yet to bee vertuously imployed, and not to continue, is like a swift runner for a Prize, who can with ease gaine it from others, but slothfully sitteth downe in the middle way; but to perseuere in well-doing without a sence of a dutie, only with hope of reward, is like an Indian Dromedarie, that gallops to his common Inne, prickt on-wardes with the desire of Prouender. It is beast-like not to differ from beasts, aswell in the abuse of reason,[Page]as it would bee in the defect.

ACTION, PERSEVERANCE IN ACTION, SVFFERANCE IN PERSEVERANCE, are the three golden linkes that furnish vp the richest Chain wherwith a good man can bee adorned; They are a tripartite counterpawne, wherby wee hold the possession of life, whose Charter or Poll Deed (as they terme it) are youth till twentie, manhood till fortie, olde age till our end. And hee who beginnes not in the spring [Page] of his minoritie to bud forth fruits of vertuous hopes, or hopefull deserts, which may ripen in the Summer of confirmed manhood; rarely or neuer yeelds the crop of a plentifull memory in his age, but preuents the winter of his last houre, in the barren Autume of his worst houre, by making an euen reckoning with time misspent, dying without any Issue to inherit his remembrance or commē dation.

Heere is then a preparation made to the [Page] ground-worke & foundation wheron the structure and faire building of a minde nobly furnisht must stand: which for the perpetuitie and glorie of so lasting a monument, cannot altogether vnfitly bee applyed to a LINE OF LIFE. For whosoeuer shall leuell & square his whole course by this iust proportion, shall (as by a [...]ine) bee led not only to vnwinde himselfe from out the Labyrinth and Maze of this naturall & troublesome Race of frailtie, but to flie vp in [Page] the middle path, the via lactea of immortalitie in his name on Earth, to the Throne of life, and perfection in his whole man, and to an immortalitie that cannot bee changed.

Deceiuing and deceiueable Palmesters, who will vndertake by the view of the hand, to bee as expert in foretelling the course of life to come to others, as they are ignorant of their own in themselues, haue framed and found out three chiefe lines in the hand, wherby to diuine [Page] future euents; The line of life, The middle na [...]urall line, and the table [...]ine. According to the fresh colour or palenes, [...]ength or shortnesse, bredth or narrownesse, straitnesse or obliquitie, continuance or inter [...]issiō of either of these, [...]hey presume to censure [...]he manners, the infirmities, the qualities, the verie power of Life or Death of the person. But the line of life is the eminent mark they must be directed by, to the per [...]ection of their Masterpiece. All which, are as [Page] far from truth as wonder; onely it is true and wonderfull, that any ignorance can be so deluded. Another line of life is the most certaine and infallible rule, which wee as we are men, and more then men; Christians, & more then Christians, the image of our maker; must take our leuel by. Neither is iudgement to be giuen by the ordinary lineaments of the furniture of Nature, but by the noble indowments of the mind, whose ornaments or ruines are then most apparently [Page] goodly or miserable, when as the actions we doe, are the euidences of a primitiue puritie; or a deriuatiue deprauation. Here is a great labour to indure, a great strength in that labour to conquer, a great Resolution in that strength to triumph, requisite, before wee can climbe the almost impregnable and inaccessible toppe of glorie; which they that haue attempted haue found, & they that haue found haue enioyed to their own happines and wonder [Page] of imitation.

RESOLVTION is the plotter and the Actor, nay, it is both the plot and the Act it selfe that must prompt vs how to doe, aswell as it must point vs out what to do before wee can as much as take into the hands of our purposed constancie, this line which must direct vs to life, & make vs to liue.

Whatsoeuer therefore in those briefe ensuing collections is inserted, to patterne and personate an excellent man, must be concluded and [Page] vnderstood for methods sake in this one only attribute, RESOLVTION. For by it are exemplified the perfections of the minde, consisting in the whole furniture of an enriched soule; and to it are referred the noblest actions, which are the externall arguments and proofes of the treasure within: For as it is a State Maxime in Policie, that Force abroad in Warre is of no force, but rather Rashnesse then Souldierie, vnlesse there bee counsell peaceably at home to direct for expedition: [Page] so are all actions of Resolution in the Oeconomie and household gouernment of a mans owne particular priuate wealth, but shining follies, vnlesse there bee a consultation first held within him for determining the commoditie, the conueniencie and commendation of such actions, aswell in doing, as when they are done.

Order in euerie taske is for conceipt easiest, for demonstration playnest, for Imitation surest. Let vs then take [Page] [...]nto our consideration [...]his Line of Life, and trace the way wherein wee are to trauaile, keeping our eye on the Compasse whereby we may runne to the Paradise of memorable happinesse. And first it is to be obserued, That Resolution hath three branches; The one concerns a mans owne particular person for the carriage of himselfe in his proper dutie, and such an one is knowne by none other [...]ote, then in beeing A MAN: Another concernes a mans imployment [Page] in affaires for his Countrey, Prince, and Common-wealth, and such a one as is knowne by the generall name of A PVBLIKE MAN. The last concernes a mans voluntarie traffique in ciuill causes without the imposition of authoritie, only vrged on to performe the offices of a friend, as a priuate Statist to seuerall ends, all tending to goodnes and vertue; and such a one is euer to be call'd a GOOD MAN. In euerie one of those there is a plentifull imployment [Page] presenting it selfe to the liberall choyce for ennobling themselues with publique honors, or gayning them the truest honour A deserued fame, which is one (if worthie) of the best and highest rewards of vertue.

Superfluous it were and vnnecessarie,Of the first, a man. to enter into the contentious lists of diuided Philosophers, or vnreconciled Schoolemen, for the absolute and punctuall definition of man; Since, it sufficeth vs to be assured that he [Page] is mainely and yet pithily distinguish't from all other created substances in the only possession of a reasonable soule. This royall prerogatiue alone poynts him to be noblest of creatures; and to speak truth, in an assertion not to be gain-said, he containes the summary of all the great world, in the little world of himselfe. As then the Fabricke of the globe of the earth would of necessitie runne to the confusion out of which it was first refined, if [Page] there were not a great and watchfull prouidence, to measure it in the iust ballance of preseruing and sustayning; so consequently, without question, the frame of our humane composition, must preposterously sinke vnder its owne burthen, if warie and prudent direction, as well in manners as in deedes, restraine it not from the dissolution and wracke, the procliuitie of corrupted Nature doth hourely slide into.

A mans minde is the Cicero Arist. [Page] man himselfe (said the Romane Orator) and the chiefest of the Grecian Naturalists, was confident to auerre, that the temperature of the minde followed the temperature of the body. It were a Lesson worthie to bee cond, if eyther of those rules may be positiuely receiued: For out of the first, as any man feeles his inclinations and affections, thereafter let him iudge himselfe to bee such a man. Out of the latter it may be gathered, how easie it [Page] were, for euerie man to be his owne Schoolemaster, in the conformation or reformation of his life, without other tutour then himselfe.

Socrates his speech of the vse of mirrours or looking glasses, concludes whatsoeuer can bee ranged in many wordes of this subiect, and is therefore notoriously vsefull, and vsefully notable; When thou viewest thy selfe in a mirrour, (said that wise man) surueyest thy complexion, thy proportion, [Page] if thy face be more faire, louely, and sweeter then others, thy bodie straighter, thy lineaments perfecter; cōsider how much more thou art bound by that, to match those blessings of Nature, with the accomplishment of more noble qualities, then others of a courser mould. If on the other side, thou perceiue thy face deformed, thy body crooked, thy outward constitution vnsightly or mishapen; by so much the more hast thou reason [Page] to liue a good life, that thereby concord of vertuous conditions may supply the defects of Nature, and make thee more beautifull inwardly to the eye of iudgement, then outwardly thou couldst haue beene to the eyes of popular delight.

In short, to be a man, the first branch of resolution is to know, feele, and moderate affections, which like traitors, and disturbers of peace, rise vp to alter & quite change the Lawes of reason, by working in [Page] the feeble, and oftentimes the sounder parts, an innouation of folly. Hee can seldome be a flourishing member of a bodie politique, and so a publique deseruing man; but more rarely, scantly euer, a reconciler of diuisions, and so a ciuill good man for others, that begins not betimes to discharge his owne dutie to himselfe. The old Prouerbe was, (and it is lamentable, to speake with truth, and say it is) that A man is a beast to a man;Homo homini lupus. but it must be of necessitie [Page] granted, when a man to himselfe is a Monster, or more prouerbially, a Deuill.

It is said of CAIVS CVRIO,Villeius Pat [...]r [...]. lib. 2. that hee was a man most wittily wicked, and most singularly eloquent in mischiefe against the Common-wealth. What rarities were here loft? (like a Diamond set in a rushen ring:) How much better had it been for him, to haue had a duller braine, if better imployed, and a slower tongue, if auaileable for the publique good? Euery [Page] man should in his owne person, endeuour and striue to be like Catoes Orator, a goodman, and expert in pleading, Fabius, orat. lib. 12. cap. 1. First good, then expert; For of so much richer price is vertue then Art. Art without vertue being like the Cantharides, Plin. lib. 11. cap. 35. whose wings puld off, they haue prettie colours to please the eye, but poisonous substances to be receiued into the stomack. How easie it is to guild a rotten post, to paint a Sepulcher, to varnish an ill meaning, is soone resolued: [Page] Many men can speake well, few men will doe well; The reason, for that we couet to be thought what wee are not, and yet continue to be what wee are ashamed to be thought. The excellēcy of goodnesse is apparent mainly in this one poynt, that euen those who least practise it in outward appearance, cunningly labour to make it the marke whereto all their actions (how foule soeuer in the issue) leuell at. It was truely obserued by a [Page] graue Author, That there was neuer any publique mischiefe attempted in a State by euen Atheists, or very incarnate Deuils, but Religion was their colour to effect it; at least a shew of some false zeale in as false a worship. For there must be an intention of vertue in the worst actions, otherwise they could neuer haue passage by any publique approbation; Insomuch, that hypocrisie is reputed the surest & the safest ground of pollicie.

[Page]By this appeareth the richnesse of vertue, that euen such as most oppose it, must and are compelled to acknowledge it for best. In like manner, euery man in his particular to distinguish his actions, is in his knowledge guiltie and conscious of what he doth or should doe. We were not borne to feed, sleepe, and spinne out our webbe of life in the delicate softnesse of vanitie, or sloath; wee were not borne to trafique in follies, and to make merchandize of [Page] our sensualities; wee were not borne to reuel in the apishnesse of ridiculous expence of time; wee were not borne to be Panders to to that great Whore of a declyning Reason, bewitching pleasure: we were not borne to laugh at our owne securitie, but to bewayle it; we were not borne to liue for our selues, but to our selues; as we were not on the other side borne to dye to our selues, but for our selues. We must learne to reioyce in true goodnesse, [Page] not vain delights: For as we cannot iudge him to haue a light heart alwaies, that somtimes laughes (for euen in laughter there is a sadnesse,) so wee must not imitate by any outward demeanor, to bewray the minoritie of our Resolution, except we would be as childish in vnderstanding as in action.

What infinite inticers hath a man as he is a meere man, to withdraw him from an erected heart? As the temptation of a reputed [Page] beautie, the inuitement of a presented honour, the bewitching of an inforced wealth, the Lethargie and disease of an infectious Court-grace; yet all and euerie one of these (with what other appendances soeuer belonging vnto them) are (if not wisely made vse of) but glorious snares, dangerous baites, golden poysons, dreaming distructions, snares to intrappe the mightinesse of constancie; Baites to deceiue the constancie of manhood, [Page] poysons to corrupt the manhood of Resolution; destruction to quite cast away the Resolution of a iust desert.

Now for a mans carriage in his particular dutie, what can hee determine of, since he hath not more himselfe, and his own affections to assault and batter his Resolution in the path of Vertue, then a world of presidents, of partners, of helpers, to perswade and draw him on to the full measure of an vnworthy life. It is a labor [Page] wel worthy a Chronicle (and chronicled will bee in a perpetuall memorie) to withstand the seuere assault of Folly, pressing on with so infinite an Armie of followers and admirers as shee is accompanyed with: what can one priuate man do against such a multitude of temptations? Either hee must consent to doe as they doe; or dissent and hate them: if consent, hee is mischieuous with many; if dissent, vertuous by himselfe; and the last is without controuersie [Page] the best. Since neuer to haue seene euill is no praise to well doing; but where the Actours of Mischiefe are a Nation, there and amongst them to liue well is a Crowne of immortall commendation.

A Golden Axiome there was registred amongst the Ciuilians in the daies of Iustinian: That it was not conuenient for any man to pry and looke after what was done at Rome, but to examine iustly what ought there to bee done. Rome was then the Mart of [Page] the World, all sorts of euery people came thither, from thence to receiue the Oracles of life (as they might bee termed:) yet doth it not follow that any one man with the multitude, should runne to Rome, to sucke the infection of dissolute intemperature. Vanity most commonly rides coach't in the high way, the beaten way, the common way; But Vertue and Moderation walkes alone. It may be said, what profit can redound, what commendation, what reward, for [Page] one man to bee singular against many? O the profit is infinite, the commendation memorable, the reward immortall. It is true the olde Greeke Prouerbe concluded, that one man was no man; yet with their most approoued Authours, by the verie word MANY, were the worst sort of people vnderstood, and by FEW the best. For certainely there is not any allurement could lull men in the mist of their misdeeds, so much as those two pestilent yoke-fellowes [Page] and twinnes of confusion, The multitude of offenders, and the libertie of offending. They are both Examples and Schoolemasters, to teach euen the very ignorant (whose simplicitie else might be their excuse) to do what (if others did not) they might accidentally slide into, but not so eagerly pursue.

To conclude this point, it may somewhat too truly be said, though not by way of discouragement, yet of caueat, what by the procliuitie [Page] and pronenesse of our frailtie is warrantable; Let no man bee too confident of his owne merit, The best doe erre: Let no man relye too much on his owne Iudgement, the wisest are deceiued: yet let euery man so conceiue of himselfe, that he may indeuour to bee such a one, as distrust shal not make him carelesse, or confidence secure.

It followes that the very consideration of being men, should somwhat rectifie our crooked inclinations, and [Page] ennoble our actions to keepe vs worthy of the priuiledge wee haue aboue beasts: otherwise only to be a man in substance and name, is no more glorie then to bee knowne and distinguished from a very beast in nature.

Presidents from Antiquitie may plentifully be borrowed, to set before vs what some men haue beene, not as they were Commanders, or employed for the Commonwealth; but as they were Commanders of their owne infirmities, [Page] and employed for the Cōmonwealth of their own particular persons. Epaminondas amongst the Thebanes, is worthy of note and memorie euen to our Ages, and those that shall succeed vs:Plutarch. in Apotheg. Hee (as the Philosopher recordeth) chose rather to bee moderate alone, then madde with the multitude; chusing at all times to consult with himselfe in excellent things, not with his Countreymen to giue Lust, Dalliance, Effeminate softnes a Regiment in the Kingdome of his [Page] thoughts; no not of his thoughts,Cicero de leg. lib. 3. much lesse of his Actions. Phocion among the Athenians, Iuuenal. Sat. 14. Brutus among the Romanes, are for their particular cariage of themselues as they were only men, well worthy of all remembrance: And the sententious Seneca is bold to say,Epist. 98. that all Ages will euer hatch and bring forth many such as Clodius, (a man bent to mischiefe) but rarely any Age another Cato, a man so sincere, so free from corruption, and so seuere a Censurer of himselfe.

[Page]But what need we to search histories of other times, or the deserts of another Nation, when in our owne Land, in our owne dayes, wee might easily patterne what a man should bee or not bee, by what others haue bin? Among many, two of late times are iustly examined; not as they were different in fortune, in yeares, in degree, but as they differed in the vse of the gifts of their mind. The first was IOHN, the last and yongest Lord HARRINGTON, whose rare [Page] and admirable course of life (not as he was a Noble man, for then indeed it were miraculous, but as a man,) deserues all prayse and imitation from all. Of whome it may without flatterie (for what benefit can accrue to flatter the dead?) or affection bee said, That He amongst a World of men attayned euen in his youth, not only to grauitie in his behauiour, to wisedome in his vnderstanding, to ripenesse in his carriage, to discretion in his discourse, but to perfection [Page] in his action: A man wel-deseruing euen the testimonie of a religious learned Diuine.

But for that his owne merit is his best commendation, and questionlesse his furest reward for morall gifts: let him rest in his peace whilest the next is to bee obserued.

SIR WALTIR RAVLEIGH may be a second President, a mā known, and wel-deseruing to be knowne; A man endued not with common endowments, being stored with the best of Natures [Page] furniture, taught much by much experience, experienc'd in both fortunes so feelingly and apparently, that it may truly bee controuerted whether hee were more happie or miserable; yet beholde in him the strange Character of a meere man, a man subiect to as many changes of resolution, as resolute to bee the instrument of change: Politique, and yet in Policie so vnsteddie, that his too much apprehension was the foile of his iudgement. For what man soeuer [...] [Page] hend all what the former Discourse hath amplified;Sene [...] Epist. 128. Namely that the only felicitie of a good life, depends in doing all things freely, by beeing content with what wee haue (for wee speake of a morall man.) This is to remember that we are mortall, that our dayes passe on, and our life slides away without recouerie.

Great is the taske,Of the second branch, A Publike man. the labour painfull, the discharge full of danger, & the dāgers full of Enuy, that he must of necessitie vndergoe, that like a [Page] blaze vpon a Mountain, stands neerest in grace to his Prince: or like a vigilant Sentinell in a Watch-tower, busies and weakens his owne naturall and vitall spirits, to administer Equalitie and Iustice to all, according to the requisition of his office.

It is lamentable and much to bee pittyed, when places of Authority in a Cōmonwealth, are disposed of to some, whose vnworthinesse or disabilitie brings a scandall, a scorne, and a reproch to both the place [Page] and the Minister.

The best Law-makers amongst the Ancients,Plato 3.6. & 12. de leg. & 7. de Repub. Arist. 5. & 6. Po [...]it. Isocrat. in Pan. were so curious in their choice of men in Office in the Commonwealth, that precisely and peremptorily, they repu [...]ed that STATE plagued, whipped, tormented, wounded, yea wounded to death, where the subordinate Gouernours were not aswell vnblemished in their liues and actions, as in their names and reputation.

A PVBLIKE MAN hath not more neede to be Bonus Ciuis, a good [Page] Statist, then Bonus Vir, good in himselfe; a very faire and large Line is limmed out to square by it, a direct path that leades to a vertuous Name, if a man acquite himselfe nobly, iustly, and wisely, in well steering the Helme of State that he sits at; otherwise his Honours are a burthen, his Height a Curse; his Fauours a Destruction, his Life a Death, and his Death a Misery: A Misery in respect of his after Defamation, aswell as of his after accompt.

[Page]Far from the present purpose it is to diue into the depth of Policie, or to set downe any positiue rules, what a right Statesman should be; for that were with Phormio the Philosopher to read a Lecture of Souldierie to Hannibal the most cunningest Warriour of his time; & consequently as Phormio was by Hannibal to be iustly laughed at, so aswell might Seneca haue written to Nero the Art of Crueltie; or Cicero to his brother Quintus the Commendation of Anger. [Page] The summe of these briefe Collections, is intended to recreate the minde, not to informe Knowledge in practice; but to conforme Practice to Knowledge: Whereto no indeauor can bee found more requisite, more auaileable, then an vndeceiuing lesson of an impartiall obseruation; wherin if our studies erre not with many and those most approued, thus we haue obserued.

Two sorts of publike men.First, of publique men there are two generall sorts; The one, [Page] such as by the speciall fauour of their Prince (which sauour cannot ordinarily be conferred without some mayne and euident note of desert) haue beene raised, to a supereminent ranck of honour, and so by degrees (as it for the most part alwayes happens) to speciall places of weightie imployment in the common wealth. The other sort are such as the Prince according to his iudgement, hath out of their owne sufficiencie, aduaunced to particular [Page] offices, whether for administration of iustice, for execution of Law, for necessitie of seruice, and the like, being according to their education and studie, enabled for the discharge of those places of authoritie; and these two are the onely chiefe and principall members of imploiment, vnder that head of whose politike bodie they are the most vsefull & stirring members.

Against both those publique persons, there are two capitall and [Page]deadly opposites (if it were possible) to becharme their resolutions, and blot out their name from the LINE OF LIFE, by which they should bee led to the endlesse immortalitie of an immortalitie, in an euer-flourishing commendation. The first are poysoners of vertue, the betrayers of goodnesse, the bloudsuckers of innocencie: The latter, the close deaths-men of merit, the plotters against honestie, and the executioners of honors; They [Page] are in two words discouered, Blandientes & Saeuientes, Flatterers, and priuie Murtherers. It is a disputable question, and well worthie a canuase and discussion in the schools, to decide which of the two doe the greatest iniurie to noble personages. How be it most apparent it is, that enuie, the inseparable companiō tha [...] accompanies the vertuous, doeth not worke more mischiefe for the finall ouerthrow of a noble and deseruing man, thē Flattery doth, [Page] for driuing that noble and deseruing man into the snares of enuie. No man can be, or should be reputed a God; and then how easie it is for any man of the choycest temper, of the soundest apprehension, of the gracefullest education, of the sincerest austeritie of life; how easie it is for him to fall into many errours, into many vnbecomming follies, into many passions, and affections: his onely being a man is both sufficient proofe, and yet sufficient excuse. [Page] The eloquentest and grauest Diuine of all the Ancients,Augustine. confest out of his owne experience, Non est mihi vicinior hostis memet ipso: that he had not a more neere enemie to him then himselfe. For he that hath about him his frailtie to corrupt him, a World to besot him, an aduersarie to terrifie him; and lastly, a death to deuoure him: how should hee but bee inueigled with the inticements of the two first, and so consequently consent to the vnsteadinesse [Page] of his temptation before he be drawne to a serious consideration of the danger of the two last? Especially as wee are men, being not onely subiect to the lapses and vanities of men, but as we are eminent men, in grace and fauour, in prioritie of titles, of place, & of command; hauing men to sooth vs vp in the maintenance and countenancing of those euils, which else doubtlesse, could not at one time or other, but appeare before vs in their own vglinesse and deformitie.

[Page] A Flatterer is the onely pestilent bawd to great mens shames; the nurse to their wantonnesse; the fuell to their lusts; and with his poyson of artificiall villanie, most times doth set an edge vnto their ryot, which otherwise would be blunted and rebated in the detestation of their owne violent posting to a violent confusion. Not vnwisely did a wise man compare a flattering Language to a silken halter, Diog. Laert. in vita Diog. which is soft because silken, but strangling [Page] because a halter. The words wherewith those Panders of Vice doe perswade, are not so louely, as the matters they dawbe ouer with their adulations, are abhominable. That is a bitter sweetnesse which is onely delicious to the pallate, and to the stomacke deadly. It is reported,Plin. hist. lib. 8. cap. 17. that all beasts are wonderfully delighted with the sent of the breath of the Panther, a beast fierce and cruell by nature; but that they are else afrighted with the sternenesse of [Page] his lookes: For which cause, the Panther when he hunts his prey, hiding his grimme visage, with the sweetnesse of his breath, allures the other beastes vnto him, who being come within his reach, hee rends and cruelly doth dilaniate them. Euen so, those Patrons and minions of false pleasures, the Flatterers that they may prey vpon the credulitie of the abused GREAT ONES, imitate the Panthers, extenuating, and as much as in them lyes, [Page] hiding the grossenesse, the vglinesse, the deformitie of those follyes they perswade vnto; and with a false glosse, varnishing and setting out the Paradise of vncontrolled pleasures, to the ruine oft times of the informed, and glorie of their owne impietie.

In such a MIGHTIE MAN inticed to ouerrule his Reason, nay ouer-beare it, by giuing scope to his licentious eye, first to see, then to delight in, lastly, to couet a chaste beauty? Alasse, [Page] how many swarms of dependants, being creatures to his greatnesse, will not onely tell him, mocke him, and harden him in a readie and pregnant deceipt, that loue is courtly, and women were in their creation ordained to be wooed, and to be won; but also what numbers of them, will thrust themselues into imploiment and seruile action, to effect the lewdnesse of desire, to corrupt with promises, with guifts, with perswasions, with threatnings, [Page] with intreaties, to force a Rape on Vertue, and adulterate the chaste bosome of spotlesse simplicitie? A folly is commited, how sleight are they ready to proue it, how sedulous to sleighten, how damnably disposed to make it nothing? Insomuch as those vipers of humanitie, are fitly to be termed, the mans whore, and the womans knaue . Is such a mightie one affected to such a suite, as the graunt and possession of it will draw a curse vpon his head by [Page] a generall voyce, of a generall smart and detriment to the Commonwealth? How suddenly will those wilde beasts, labour to assure him, that the multitudes loue is wonne by keeping them in awe; not by giuing way to their giddinesse by any affabilitie? Will another aduaunce an vnworthy Court-Ape, and oppresse a desertfull hope? It were too tedious to recite, what incessant approbations will bee repeated by these Anthropophagi, Those [Page] men-eaters, to make a golden calfe an Idoll, and a neglected merite a laughter? That such a kinde of monsters, may appeare in their likenesse, as monstrous as in effect they are; It is worthie obseruation, to see how when any man, who whiles hee stood chiefe in the Princes fauour, they honoured as an earthly God, yet being declyned from his Princes estimation, it is worthie to be noted how speedily, how swiftly, how maliciously those cankers [Page] of a State will not onely fall off, will not onely dispise, will not onely deride, but also oppose themselues against the partie dista [...]ted.

As many subtill practizers of infamie, haue other subordinate ministers of publique office and imployment in a Common-wealth, to betray them to their ruine; yet euer and anon, they like inchanted glasses, set them on fire with the false light of concealement and extenuation. Let it be [Page] spoken with some authority, borrowed from experience of the elder times, that men in high places, are like some hopelesse marriners, set to sea in a leaking vessel: there is no safetie, no securitie, no comfort, no content in greatnesse, vnlesse it be most constantly armed in the defensiue armor of a selfe-worthie resolution; especially when their places they hold, are hourely subiect to innouation, as their names (if they preuent not their dangers by [Page] leauing them, and their liues at once) are to reproach, and the libertie of malice.

Flatterie to either publique persons, is not more inductious on the one side, then enuie on the other is vigilant. Great men are by great men (not good men by good men) narrowly sifted; their liues, their actions, their demeanors examined; for that their places and honours are hunted after, as the Beazar for his preseruatiues; And then the least blemish, [Page] the least slide, the least error, the least offence, is exasperated, made capitall; the dangers ensuing euer prooue (like the wound of an enemies sword) mortall, and many times deadly. Now in this case, when the eye of iudgement is awakened, Flatterie is discouered to be but an Inmate to Enuie; an Inmate, at least, consulting together though not dwelling together, the one, being Catarer to the others bloudie banquet; And some wise [Page] men haue been perswaded, that the pestilence, the rigour of Law, Famine, Sicknes, or War, haue not deuour'd more great ones then Flattery and Enuie.

Much amisse, & from the purpose it cannot bee, to giue instance in three publike Presidents, of three famous Nations; all chancing within the compasse of twentie yeares. In England not long agoe, a man supereminent in Honours, desertfull in many Seruices, indeared to a vertuous and [Page] a wise Queene, ELIZABETH of glorious memorie, and eternall happinesse: A man too publikely beloued, and too confident of the loue he held, ROBERT EARLE OF ESSEX, and Earle Marshall of the Kingdome; He, euen he that was thought too high to fall, and too fixed to bee remoued; in a verie handfull of time, felt the misery of Greatnesse, by relying on such as flattered and enuyed his Greatnesse. His end was their end, and the execution of Law, is a witnesse [Page] in him to Posteritie, how a publike person is not at any time longer happie, then hee preserues his happinesse with a Resolution that depends vpon the guard of innocēcie & goodnes.

CHARLES DVKE OF BYRON in France, not long after him, ranne the same Fate; A Prince that was reputed the inuincible Fortresse to his King & Countrey: great in desert, and too great in his Greatnesse; not managing the fiery chariot of his guiding the Sunne of that Climate [Page] with moderation; gaue testimonie by an imposed and inexpected end, how a publike man in Authoritie, sits but in Commission on his own Delinquencie, longer then Resolution in noble actions leuels at the immortalitie of A Line of life.

Lastly, SIR IOHN VANOLDEN BARNEVELT in the Netherlands, (whose ashes are scarce yet colde) is and will bee a liuely president of the mutabilitie of Greatnesse. Hee was the only one that traffiqued [Page] in the Coūsels of forreine Princes, had factors in all Courts, Intelligencers amongst all Christian nations; stood as the ORACLE of the Prouinces, and was euen the Moderator of Policies of all sorts: was reputed to bee second to none on Earth for soundnesse of Designes; was indeed his Countreyes both Mynion, Mirror, and Wonder; yet enforcing his publike Authoritie, too much to bee seruant to his priuate Ambition; hee left the Tongue of [Page] Iustice to proclayme that long life, and a peacefull death are not granted or held by the Charter of Honours, except vertuous RESOLVTION renew the Patent, at a daily expence of proficiencie in goodnesse.

Others fresh in memorie might bee inserted, but these are yet bleeding in the wounds which they haue giuen themselues, and some now liuing to this day; who both haue had, and doe enioy as great Honours, and are therefore [Page] as incident to as many wofull changes, but that they wisely prouide to proppe their greatnesse with many greater deserts.

Here is in Text Letters layd before vs, the hazard, perill and casualty of A PVBLIKE MAN: the possibilitie what Miserie, Calamity, Ruine, Greatnesse and Popularitie may winde him into. Heere is decyphered the vnauoydable and incessant Persecutors of their Honors and Ioyes: Flatterie and Enuie two ancient [Page]Courtiers. It comes now to conclusion, that it cannot be denyed, but those publike men haue (notwithstanding these) chiefe and immediate meanes in their owne powers, if they well and nobly order their courses to make their Countrey their Debtors, and to enroll their names in the glorious Register of an euer-memorable Glorie: especially if they be not too partially doting on euery commendable Vertue, which in priuate men is reputed as it is, a Vertue; but in [Page] them a Miracle. Certainly (without disparagement to desert in great men) there are many particular persons, fit for publike imployments, whose ablenesse and sufficiencie, is no way inferiour to the prayses of the mightiest, but that they are clouded in their lownesse, & obscured in their priuatnesse, but else would & could giue testimony to the World, that all fulnesse and perfection is not confined to Eminence and Authoritie.

A PVBLIKE MAN, [Page] therefore, shunning the Adulation of a Parasite (which hee may easily discouer, if hee wisely examine his merit with their Hyperbolical insinuations,) then keeping an euen course in the processe of lawfull and iust actions, auoyding the toyles, snares and trappes of the enuious, cannot chuse in his own lifetime, but build a monument, to which the Triumph and Trophies of his memorie, shall giue a longer life then the perpetuitie of stone, Marble or Brasse can [Page] preserue. Otherwise if they stand not on the guard of their owne Pietie and Wisedome, they will vpon trifles sometime or other bee quarrelled against and euicted. Neyther may they imagine that any one taint (howsoeuer they would bee contented to winke at it in themselues, supposing it to be (as perhaps it is) little, and not worthy reprehension) can escape vnespyed. For the Morall of the Poets Fiction is a goodly Lesson for their instruction. It [Page] is said that Thetis the Mother of Achilles, drencht him being an Infant in the Stygian Waters, that thereby, his whole bodie might bee made invulnerable: but see the seueritie of Fate, for euen in that part of the heele that his Mother held him by, was hee shot by the Arrow of Paris, of which wound he dyed. In like case, may euery Statesman bee like Achilles in the generall body of his Actions, impassible and secure from any assault of wilfull and grosse ennormitie: [Page] yet if he giue way to but one handfull (as it may be termed) of Folly, not becomming the grauity and greatnes of his Calling; hee shall soone meete with some watchfull Paris, some industrious Flatterer, or ouer-busie enuious Cō petitour, that will take aduantage of his weaknesse, and wound his infirmitie to the ruine of his Honours, if not to the ieopardy of his life.

The period of all shal be knit vp, with the aduise of a famous learned & Philosopher:Sen. Epi. 23 & as he [Page] wrote to his familiar friend, let vs transcribe to men in Authoritie; Let a publike man reioyce in the true pleasures of a constant Resolution, not in the deceiuable pleasures of vanitie and fondnesse. By a good conscience, honest counsells, and iust actions, the true good is acquired. Other moment any delights only supple the forehead, not vnburthen and solace the heart. They are nothing, alasse they are nothing, it is the minde must be well disposed, it is the minde must bee confident: it is the mind aboue all things[Page]must be rectified; and the true comfort is not easily attayned, and yet with more difficulty retayned. But hee, he who directs all his whole priuate life in hononurable proiections, cannot any way misse our LINE OF LIFE, which points at the immortalitie of a vertuous name by profitably discharging the burthen of such imployments as are vsually imposed vpon those, whom their callings haue entitled Publike men.

Of the 3 branch, A good Man.A GOOD MAN is the last branch of Resolution, [Page] and by him is meant (as is said before) such a man, as doth (beside the care he hath of himselfe in particular) attend all his drifts and actions, to bee a seruant for others, for the good of others, as if it were his owne. School-boyes newly trayned vp in the Principles of Grammer can resolue what a good man is, or who? Who? Qui consulta patrum, qui leges iura (que) seruat. Such an one, as not indeed singly obserues what he should doe, but doth euen that which [Page] hee obserues hee should doe. This man not only liues, but liues well, remembring alwayes the old adage; that God is the rewarder of Aduerbes not of Nownes. His intents are without the hypocrisie of applause, his deedes without the mercenary expectation of reward, the issue of both is, all his workes are crown'd in themselues, and yet crowne not him, for that hee loues Vertue for it selfe. This man neuer flatters Folly in greatnesse, but rather pitties, [Page] and in pittie striues to redresse the greatnesse of Folly. This man neuer enuies the eminence of Authoritie, nor feares the Enuious: His reprehensiōs are balms, his Prayses Glories, and he is as thankfull to bee rebuked, as to bee cherished. From such a Man all things are to be gratfully accepted: His desire to doe good to all, hath not a like successe to all (notwithstanding in him to will is commendable, and not to be able to doe, pardonable.) For it is not only the [Page] propertie of true Vertue, but also of true Friendship, as well to admonish, as to bee admonished: For amongst good men those things are euer well taken that are well meant; yet euen this man (that vncompeld, vn-required, not exacted, interposes himselfe to set at vnitie the disorders of others not so inclinable to goodnesse, is not free from enmity, with those whom in a general care, he labours to deserue as friends. The Reason, Flattery procures friēds,[Page]Truth hatred. How? Truth Hatred? Yes, for from Truth is Hatred borne, which is the poyson of Friendship, as Laelius wel obserued:Cic [...]r [...] de Amicit. But what ensues? Hee whose eares are so fortified, and barrocaded against the admitment of Truth, that from his Friend he wil not heare the Truth, this mans safetie is desperat: wherfore if any one will only relish words of Downe and Honey, as if wee loued to speake nothing but pure Roses (as the Prouerbe is:) let such a [Page] one learn from the skilfull Artists of Nature,Plin. hist. lib. 11. cap. 6 that the Bees doe annoint their Hiues with the iuyce of the bitterest Weeds, against the greedinesse of other Beasts. Let him learne from the skilfullest Phisicians, that the healthfullest Medicines smart most in the Wound. Let him learne from the Prince of Philosophie,Arist. Eth. lib. 3. that Anger was giuen to men by Nature, (as hee writes) as a Whetstone of Valour; and then he cānot but consider, that any paines which a good [Page]Man vndergoes for reconciliation, be they either by way of admonition or reprehension, tend both to one end, that hee may make all like vnto himselfe, that is, Good Men.

This very word (GOOD) implyes a description in it selfe, more pithy, more patheticall, then by any familiar exemplification can bee made manifest: Such a man, as makes the generall commoditie, his particular benefit, may not vnfitly bee stiled a PRIVATE STATESMAN: [Page] His endeuours are publike, the vse publike, the profit publike, the commendation publike: But the person priuate; the Resolution priuate, the end priuate, and the reward peculiar.

It is impossible, that the wretched and auaricious banking vp of wealth, can draw him into a conceipt, that hee can euer make friends of mony after his death; considering that the World was created for the vse of men, and men created into the World [Page] to vse it, not to enioy it. This mans bounty is giuing, not lending; and his giuing, is free, not reserued: He cherisheth Learning in the Learned, and incourageth the Learned to the loue of Learning by cherishing them; He heartneth the vpright in Iustice, & ratifies Iustice in the vpright; He helpes the distressed with counsell, and approoues the proceedings of wise Counsellors. He is a patterne to all what they should bee, as to himselfe what he is.

[Page]Finally, try all his desires, his actions are the seasoners of his speeches, as his profession is of his actions. Hee is a Physitian to other mens affections as to his own, by comprimitting such passions as runne into an insurrection, by strengthening such as decline, by suppling such as are inflamed, by restrayning such as would runne out, by purging such as ouerabound. His Ambition climbes to none other cure then to heale the wounded, not to wound [Page] the whole; beeing neither so vnwise to doe any thing that he ought not to doe, nor so vnhappy to doe any thing what hee does not. His singular misfortune is,Velleius hist. Rom. lib. 2. that (with Drusus an excellent man) he attempts many times with a more honest and good mind, then good fortune and successe; insomuch, as it often comes to passe, that other mens mischiefes are preferred before his Vertues: yet still as he is a good Man, iniuries can no more discourage him, then applause [Page] can ouer-weene him.

Euen this man hath his particular aduersaries to threaten him, and (if it could be possible) to terrifie him, and deter him from the soliditie of his temper: Scandal to defame him, and imposture to traduce him: Flatterie and enuie are not a more pestilent broode, set in armes against a publique man, then those two miscreant monsters are against a good man. But is his resolution any way infracted, for that [Page] some refractaries are (like Knights of the post) hired to witnesse against him? Doubtlesse no, but much the rather confirmed to run by a LINE OF LIFE, to the Goale of Life. His owne solace is to him, as an inexpugnable castle of strength, against all the forcible assaults of diuellish cō plots, built onely vpon this foundation, that he is conscious to himselfe of an vnforced sinceritie: With the Poet he can resolue: [...]orat. lib. 1. Epist. 1. Hic murus aheneus esto, nil conscire[Page]sibi, his integritie to him is a Brazen wall; And with the Orator,Cicer. quaest. Tusc. lib. 2. he assures himselfe, that nullum theatrum virtuti maius conscientiâ, Vertue hath not a more illustrious and eminent Theatre to act on, then her owne conscience. Socrates (a good man, if a meere morrall man may be termed so) beeing scurrilously by Aristophanes the Poet,In Comaed. [...] derided before the people;Plat. apol. Socrat. and by Anytus and Melytus vniustly accused before the Iudges, as a trifler, [Page] a master of follies, a corrupter of youth, a sower of impieties, answered; If their alledged imputations be true, we will amend them; if false, they pertaine not to vs. It was a noble constancie and resolution of a wise man,Diog Laert. in vita Socrat. that he (inlightned with the only beames of nature) was so moderate and discreet. The good man here personated (inspired with a farre richer & diuiner knowledge then humanitie) cannot but asmuch exceede Soerates in those [Page] vertues of resolution, as Socrates did his aduersaries in modestie and moderation.

Kings and mightie Monarches, as they are first mouers to all subordinate ministers, of what ranke or imploiments soeuer, within their proper dominions, are indeed publike persons; But as one king traffiques with another, another, and another, either for repressing of hostilitie, inlarging a confederacie, confirming an Amitie, setling a peace, supplanting [Page] an heresie, and such like, not immediately concerning his owne particular, or his peoples; but for moderating the differences betweene other Princes: In this respect euen Kings and priuate men, and so their actions belong wholly and onely to themselues; printing the royalty of their goodnes, in an immortalitie of a vertuous and euerlasting name, by which they iustly lay a claime to the Style of good men: which attribute doth more glorifie [Page] their desert, then the mightinesse of their thrones can their glories.

In which respect, our SOVERAIGNE LORD AND KING that now is, [...]. lib. 2. hath worthily chronicled his Grand-fathers remembrance, which was (as hee best witnesseth) called The poore mans King. A title of so inestimable a wealth, that the riches of many Kingdomes are of too low & meane a value, to purchase the dignitie and honour of this onely Style, The [Page]poore mans King.

The famous and most excellent commendation of A GOOD MAN, cannot be more expresly exemplified in any president or myrrour, by all the instances of former times, nor shall be euer (farre, farre be [...] seruilitie or insinuation) ouer-paralleled by any age succeeding, then in the person of IAMES the King of great Britaine presently here reigning ouer vs A good man, so well deseruing (from all gratefull memorie) seruice [Page] and honour, that not to doe him seruice is an ingratitude to the greatnesse of his goodnesse; and not to doe him all honour, an ingratitude to the goodnesse of his greatnesse. A good man, that euen with his entrance to the Crowne, did not more bring peace to all Christian nations, yea almost to all Nations of the Westerne World, then since the whole course of his glorious reigne, hath preserued peace amongst them. A Good man, who hath [Page] thus long sought as an equall and vpright moderatour to decide, discusse, conclude, and determine all differences between his neighbouring Princes and fellowes in Empire. A good man, of whom it may be verified, that he is BONORVM MAXIMVS, and MAGNORVM OPTIMVS. A good man, that loues not vertue for the name of vertue onely, but for the substance and realitie. A good man, whom neither scandal can any way impeach of Iniustice, [Page] tyrannie, ignorance; nor imposture traduce, to a neglect of merite in the desertfull, to leuitie in affections, to surqu [...]drie in passions, to intention of inclyning to folly, or declyning from reall worth; which as an heditarie inheritance, and a fee simple by nature and education, hee retaynes in himselfe, to the wonder and admiration of all, that may emulously imitate him, neuer perfectly equall him. Questionlesse, the Chronicles, that [Page] shall hereafter report the Annalls of his life and Actions, shall doe infinite iniurie to the incomparable monuments of his name, if they Style him, as some would wish, IAMES THE GREAT, or as others indeuour, IAMES THE PEACEABLE, or as not a few hope, IAMES THE LEARNED. For to those titles haue the Greekes in Alexander, the Romans in Augustus, the Germans in Charles the Fift, the French men in Charlemaine, and [Page] Henrie the Fourth, Father to their present King, attayned: But if he shall be reported in his Style to be, as in his owne worthinesse hee may iustly challenge; he must then be styled, as by the approbation of all that truely know him, he is knowne to be IAMES THE GOOD. Let the summe of this branch of Resolution, which is indeed Corona operis, the summe of the whole sum, bee concluded: That this onely patterne, as he is onely inferior on earth [Page] to God, who is BONVM SVMMVM, the chiefe and soueraigne good; so the distinction betweene his great Master and him (whose Vicegerent he is) consists in this (with reuerence to the diuine Maiestie be it spoken) That as God (whom to call good is but an improprietie of description) is not singly bonus good, but Bonitas goodnesse, in abstracto, (as the Schoole-men speake:) So vnder the great KING OF KINGS, this King of [Page] men is substitute to his King, with this vp-shut; The one is foreuer the King of goodnesse; and our King on earth, not onely a good King, but a good man; Such a good man as doth himselfe run, and teacheth by his example, others securely and readily to runne, by his Line of Life, to the immortalitie of a vertuous name. A priuate man, A publique man, A good man, haue beene here particularly deciphered & discoursed. It comes to conclusion, that hee, [Page] who desires either in his owne person to be renowned; for the generall prosperitie of the Common-wealth, to be eternized; or for the cō munitie of his friends, or any whom hee will make his friends, remē bred; in the Diaries of posteritie, must first lay the foundation of a willingnesse, from thence proceed to a desire, frō thēce to a delight, from a delight to practise, from practise to a constant perseuerance in noble actions. And then such a man, howsoeuer, [Page] he liue, shall neuer misse to end his dayes, before his honors and the honours of his name can end, for they shal know no end; and yet euen in death, and after death, ouer-liue all his enemies, in the immortall spring of a most glorious memorie; which is the most precious Crowne and reward of A most precious Line of Life.

[Page]

The Corollarie.

IN the view of the precedent Argument, somewhat (perhaps) too lamely hath the Progresse of a Mans Life (in any Fate) been traced; wherein still the course, like a Pilot sayling for his safetie and wel-fare, hath alwayes had an eie, to the North-Starre of Vertue: without which, men cannot but suffer shipwrack on the Land, aswell as Mariners on the Sea. Such as haue proofes in their [Page] owne persons and experiences of both fortunes, haue past through their dangers of their beeing MEN, as they were first priuat; before they entred: and from their entrance waded, into the Labyrinth of Greatnesse and Imployment, from whence they becam Publike mē. Now thē somwhat boldly (yet the boldnes is a presūption of loue, not loue of presumption) may bee intimated; that howsoeuer, any great or popular person, (for to such doth this application [Page] properly appertaine, howbeit free from any particularity except particularly challenged) in a peculiar examination of himselfe cannot chuse, but find, that he hath encountred many Oppositions of Youth, (euen in graue yeares) and frailtie (in graue actions:) yet hauing at any time, by any casualtie, a happinesse (danger it selfe is a happinesse if rightly made vse of, otherwise a miserie) to account with his expence of time: hee cannot vpon indifferent [Page] and euen reckoning, instead of impayring his Honours but aduance them: he cannot, if hee account faithfully, instead of making the World his Confessour, but confesse his owne Noblenesse; and therevpon He will find, that the toyle in common affaires, is but trash and bondage, compared to the sweete repose of the minde, and the goodly Contemplation of a mans peace with Himselfe. All glory whether it consist of profits or preferments, is WITHOVT, [Page] and therefore makes nothing to the essence of true happinesse: But the feeling of a resolued constancie is WITHIN, and euer keepes a Feast in a mans soundest content. One pregnant and notable Samplar deserues an eye of Iudgement to be fixed on it. Demosthenes after a long gouernment at his pleasure in the Common-wealth (vpon what consideration, He Himselfe knew best, and States-men may easily guesse at,) is reported to confesse to his friends, [Page] who came to visit him: That if at the Beginning,Plutarch. in vit. Demost. Two Waies had bin proposed before him; the one leading to the Tribunall of Authoritie, the other to his Graue; If Hee could by inspiration, haue fore-knowne the Euils, the Terrors, the Calumnies, the Enuies, the Contentions, the Dangers, that men in such places, must customarily meet with; that Hee would much rather with alacritie, haue posted on to his Sepulcher then to his Greatnesse. [Page] Brutus when Hee determined his owne end,Dion. hist. Rom. lib. 47. cried out with Hercules: O wretched and miserable power of man, thou wert nothing but a name, yet I imbraced thee as a glorious worke, but thou wert a Bond-slaue to Fortune.

It is superfluous to inlarge (or comment vpon) the Sufferings of those famous Men: Euery mans owne talent of Wisdome, and share of tryall, may with not much difficultie, conster the sence of their meanings. A good Man is [Page] the man, that euen the greatest or lowest should both bee, and resolue to be. And this much may be confidently auerred; That men of eminent commands, are not in generall more feared in the tyde of their greatnesse, then beloued, in the ebbe of that greatnesse, if they beare it with moderation. Statists honoured or fauoured, (for fauour and honour are for the most part inseparable) haue the eyes of the World vpon their carriage, in the carriage eyther of [Page] their glories or deiections: It is not to bee doubted (which is a singular comfort) but any sequestration from a woonted height, is only but a tryall; for beeing managed with humblenesse and gratitude, it may ennoble the Patients (for their owne particulars) to demeane themselues excellently, in the places they had before (may bee) somewhat too neglectfully discharged. Alwayes there is a Rule in obseruation, positiue and memorable; that an interposition [Page] or ecclipse of eminence, must not so make a man vndervalue his owne Desert, but that a Noble Resolution, should still vphold its owne worth, in deseruing well; if wee ayme and intend to repute & vse Honours, but as instrumentall causes of vertuous effects in Actions. To all such as so doe, (and all should so doe that are worthy to bee such,) a seruice not to be neglected is a proper debt: especially from inferiour Ministers to those, whose Creation, [Page] hath not more giuen them the prerogatiues of being men, then the vertuous Resolution, leading them by A LINE OF LIFE, hath adorned them, with the iust, knowne and glorious Titles of beeing Good Men.

VADVM non transeat excors.

FINIS.

Information about this book

Title statement

A line of life Pointing at the immortalitie of a vertuous name.

Ford, John, 1586-ca. 1640.

Edition statement

1620

Publication

Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

Place of publication

Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) :

Date

2003-01 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1).

ID [DLPS]

A01053

ID [STC]

STC 11162

ID [STC]

ESTC S114264

ID [EEBO-CITATION]

99849490

ID [PROQUEST]

99849490

ID [VID]

14640

Availability

This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal. The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

Series

Early English books online.

Notes

(EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A01053)

Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 14640)

Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1475-1640 ; 925:11)

Source

— A line of life Pointing at the immortalitie of a vertuous name., Ford, John, 1586-ca. 1640..

Extent

[12], 127 [i.e. 129] [1] p.

Printed by W[illiam] S[tansby] for N[athaniel] Butter, and are to be sold at his shop, neere Saint Austens gate,. [London] :: 1620.. (Dedication signed: Io. Ford.) (Printer's and publisher's names from STC.) (Page 129 misnumbered 127.) (Imperfect; lacking leaf D1.) (Reproduction of the original in the British Library.)

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