MAY it please your diminu­tive eminence, permit a devoted lo­ver [Page 2] of your concise di­mensions, to present very lowly, as most fit­ting to your person, (in remembrance of this New-yeare) a small Token of my unparralleld affecti­on. Confesse I must Compendious SIR my gift is fomewha [...] of the least, but my hope is, being there in so like your selfe [Page 3] it will not displease you. And if, whatsoever is received, is received according to the measure or size of the receiver, be a true rule in Phy­losophy; then, bootlesse had it beene for your Obsequious Hand-maid, to have meditated any Present for size Greater; since how great soever, it would have beene but as ve­ry [Page 4] little, your selfe so very little, being the receiver: Nor is your littlenesse (mistake me not) mentioned as any derogation to worth: Diamonds of most precious value, are but little in substance: And if it might not ap­peare in me presump­tion to trouble you with further Dis­course, I could with [Page 5] easie, or no labour, prove things little to bee farre better then things that are Great.

Is not a Microcosme better then a Macro­cosme, the little-world, Man, then the Great world, Earth? nay Man the lesser world is, Lord of the Greater; and in the Greater world, which is the Creators Libra­ry, (the severall Crea­tures [Page 6] being as so ma­ny Bookes in it) have wee not rarer Docu­ments from the little decimo-sexto's, the Ant and Dove, then from the Great Folio's, the Elephant and Whale? Recollect your me­mory of the ancient times, who was it pre­sently after the Flood of Ducalion and Pyrrha violated the Golden [Page 7] Age, vitiated those most candid manners of men, but the Great Gyants, cloud aspi­ring Enceladus, hun­dred-handed Gyges, big-bon'd Porphyrion, and massie Tytius? per­ceive you not the fruites of Greatnesse? how it swelled them with pride, and puf­fed them up so high, as to dare wage warre [Page 8] even with Heaven? On the contrary, who sees not the sweete ef­fects of littlenesse [...] how humble and lowly it makes you, how farre from pride, for the World cannot but te­stify, you have ever see­med little in your owne eyes: I passe over (for brevities sake) the in­numerous impieties & immense cruelties [Page 9] of those Great ones, Saul and Goliah, onely adding for observa­tion, this latter was vanquished by little David. Turne from sa­cred to prophane Hi­stories, little Vlysses stood the Grecians at the expugnation of Troy in more steede then Great Aiax with all his might. Ma­ny others famous in [Page 10] their times, as Lycur­gus and Solon for Law, this of Athens; the o­ther of Sparta: Demo­sthenes and Hortensius for eloquence; this of Rome, the other of Greece; Miltiades and Themistocles for Va­lour, both of Greece? Virgil and Horace for Poetry both of Rome, with that excellent Historian Salust, whom [Page 11] antiquity hath deli­vered to bee men of very little stature. And that men of little sta­ture should bee both more valiant and wi­ser then men of Great, sufficient reasons may be fetched, even from Nature: For seeing that those which are little have all their members contracted, and as it were closer [Page 12] knitted and ioyned together, but those which are Great have theirs more spread a­broad and severed; it is necessary, that in thē forces united, and neerer gathered, ren­der the structure of their bodies, more vi­gorous and agile; and in these, being scatte­red, make their bo­dies lesse valid, a [...] [Page 13] also ponderous and burthensome: and whereas the two man­sions of Wisedome are the heart, and the braine, which in short and little bodies are not so farre distant from each other as in Long and Great; by consequence it is un­deniably evident, that the littler sort must be wiser then the Great: [Page 14] and indeed the Grea­ter sort of people in the World generally, what are they? but vaine and idle, and therefore in ordinary discourse, we ever di­stinguish them from the better sort, which by consequence will fall out to bee those which are the lesser.

And as men that are little are very excel­lent: [Page 15] So likewise that which is excellent in or about men is very little: Wit, the thing so admired, is not that in men very lit­tle? Money, the thing so desired, though a man have much, yet he esteemes it as little; and things ever are to be iudged as they are valued: Is not ho­nesty in men very lit­tle? [Page 16] when Sophistry hath fled the schooles, and is become a shop­keeper, and Trades­men think if they lose their lying, they lose their living: Looke for obedience, of things the best, is it not lit­tle? when Princes commands are rather questioned then o­beyed. Looke for Ma­lice, of things the [Page 17] worst, is it not very Great? when Fooles had rather spēd much in Law, then forgive somewhat in charity. Whose desires more rectified then the de­sires of a moderate man? and he desires but little. Is there any thing more sought, and lesse found then content? yet Nature (the Mother of us all) is content with a [Page 18] little. Little is the rule of iudgement, for wee commonly use to say, (Ex pede Herculem) you may iudge by a little of the whole: Little is the onely dis­course of wise men, they talke but little: the best remedy for sicke men, for they eate but little: and to speak truth little is the delight of most men, [Page 19] for what do men take more pleasure in, then the reall courtesies of a friend, and are not the reall courtesies of friends, now a dayes very little: On the other side, how many hopeful yong Heires have Great Estates un­done? (but if not through the possessing of a Great estate, yet I am sure, through the wan­ting [Page 20] of a little wit.) How odious doth Co­vetousnesse render a man in the eye of the wise. and what is Co­vetousnesse bu [...] a Great desire and Longing af­ter Much? you have seene, Sir, the commo­dity of little, and dis­commodity of Great at Large in others; in briefe, take notice of them in your selfe: [Page 21] Had you beene Bigge and Great ten to one you never had proo­ved a Courtier; 'twas onely your littlenesse preferr'd you. Accor­ding to these rules I cannot conceive how any iudicious indiffe­rent man can deny little to bee better then Great: Never­thelesse (such are the high-flowne times) [Page 22] this modest opinion is peremtorily op­posed by those whose high towring and ambitious thoughts vainely aime at Great­nesse; who crush the little ones that are un­der them, crouch to all Great ones above them; are your friend in a complement, but not in a businesse; fa­miliarly give you the [Page 23] hand without the heart, skuller-like rowing towards West­minster looke towards the Bridge, pretend one thing, intend a­nother; who if but once in an age, and that too by chance; they do you a trifling courtesie, no gratui­ty will satisfie, if not Great; for if little, they disdaine it, though [Page 24] seemingly accept it their mad humour be­ing, to account all Great things amiable, little things despica­ble. But to convince those men (for your little sake) of their er­rour, which is no little one, but like them­selves, very Great; what Gassendus in his Booke of Paradoxes against Aristotelians, [Page 25] saith of Court male-contents: Improbant aulam in qua tamen con­senescunt, They speake ill of the Court, and yet are so troublesome, as to live and dye there: So may bee said of these; how happens it, Great Estates which (as all things Great else) be­like they so love, they so oft part with, and exclaime against little, [Page 26] when as they keep lit­tle? or what is it that feeds or clothes them their future hopes, which are so Great, or their present reve­nues which are lit­tle? & then too, is not one bird in the hand worth two in the bush, their lit­tle possessions more cōfortable then their Great expectations of I know not what [Page 27] which because they looke after I know not why, they may obtaine I know not when. In the fan­cy of a man not ac­quainted through ob­servation with the absurdities of the World, it would raise a combustion to immagine there were beeing such a crue of Heri­tiques: [Page 28] for is it not very plaine and evi­dent, performances are better then pro­mises, and are not promises Great, per­formances but little? Why, every ordinary Gallant almost you meete with wil rise up an argument in this, for in his easie ambling Discourse you shall find though [Page 29] he cannot speak much to the purpose, yet he can speake little to the purpose, and is not that which is to the purpose better then that which is not? 'Tis true, the Vulgar people of the World, are likewise of opi­nion with the former. But wrong not your selfe (most perfect abridg­ment of Nature) so as [Page 30] to bee led by the in­constant opinions of the vulgar, who ac­count this a Paradox, which is most Ortho­dox; little better then Great: the vulgar, that Hydra-headed multi­tude whose very rea­sons (not much unlike those in their shops, fraile ones) because of their rarity wi [...]h them are to bee sus­pected, [Page 31] but as for their obstinat tenents of all wisedomes fol­lowers to be detested & abhorred. I wil not deny but that there may be some oblique, seeming-faire, colou­rable reasons pitti­fully forced by them for the inveagling of men to bestow credit on their poore assertion, yet it can [Page 32] never bee beaten in­to my braine but that they may bee gently confuted in it by their owne home-spun Proverbs. A Great Head is signe of a little wit; that's one of them; then I demand, which is better, a Great Head without a little wit, or a little wit with­out a Great Head? [Page 33] for any Head will serve with a little wit, better then a Great Head without any Wit: Another of them is this: A little head is signe of a Great Wit: Which (but by granting their assertion, Great is better then little) confutes their asserti­on, and proveth little better then Great: [Page 34] For if a Great Wit bee found in a little head, then a little head must be better then a Great Head, because it containes the better, that is, the Greater Wit; and if a little wit bee found in a Great Head, then a lit­tle wit must needes be better then a Great Wit, because it gro­weth in a better soyle, [Page 35] the Greater Head: I hope therefore that as they will not de­ny to turne up­on them their owne proverbiall weapon, Too much of one thing is good for nothing: so beeing thus con­vict, they cannot but confesse, A lit­tle of every thing is excellent in all things. I, but they never [Page 36] thought (because it was generally re­ceived) there were any reasons to the cōtrary; there would bee a great scarsity of reasons sure in the World, if there were no other then those they could think of; and though they doe not perceive a reason why little should be better then Great; [Page 37] there may bee a rea­son which they doe not perceive; well though they have lived in ignorance, it were to bee wished they would give us some hope, they meant not to dye so, by recanting their er­rour.

What though little better then Great, seeme to the vulgar [Page 38] a Paradoxe? may it be ever the lesse Or­thodoxe, considering all things are not as they seeme? as for exam­ple, some men want not onely that which they have not, but also that which they have: This seems to be an incon­gruous speech, and yet though seeming so, it is not so, for it is verified of the [Page 39] Covetous. One would thinke this to bee an absurd saying: If hee bee a foole hee is a wise man; if hee bee a wise man hee is a foole, yet though seeming so, it is not so, for it is ve­rified (as a Philoso­pher avouch'd it) of a man that is silent. How confident are men in beleeving the [Page 40] world is very bigge, and that the Sea is of an unk [...]owne pro­fund [...]y, when as the World is but a d [...]yes walke [...] the Sunne goes about it in 24 houres, and the Sea which men thinke so deepe is but shal­low, for 'tis but a stones cast to the bot­tome. The Impuri­tans of the time who [Page 41] set their Sermons on the tenters, and use most prolixe and long winded senten­ces, casting their au­ditory into a holy nap, through the il­nesse of their matter, and waking them a­gaine by the shril­nesse of their cla­mour, may be (happi­ly) by wise men cen­sured to do it out of [Page 42] tedious ignorance, & 'tis a grave coniec­ture: yet (under fa­vour) wise men are but men, and may mistake, for it is out of conscience to al­low long measure to their course ware: If then speeches which seeme improper, yet may bee nothing lesse, and many men, even wise­men, [Page 43] have beene, are dayly, and to the worlds end more or lesse will be mi­staken in their opini­ons; why may not little bee better then Great, although it seeme not so, or though some men (re­puted in other things very Wise) have thought to the con­trary.

[Page 44]And if a man but seriously observe, hee shall finde very few things such as they seeme: and by reason wise men also have their weake times, their verdict to bee no sufficient argu­ment to command universall beliefe, e­specially where rea­son is pregnant with probable proofes on [Page 45] the adverse side, add to this, diffidence be­ing so necessary a part of wisedome.

Besides, admit this position little better then Great, seeme ve­ry strange, yet stran­ger then this have bin admitted, after a rati­onall examination, and therefore why not this upon the like consideration? [Page 46] When I had one servant, I had a servant; when I had two servants, I had halfe a servant; when I had three, I had never a one: this speech I pre­sume may be belee­ved to be a very mad one, and yet it is a most wise one; for 'tis resolved thus: A Master having but one servant, thought him over-burthened [Page 47] with work, and ther­fore tooke another to helpe him, (now hee had two) but each so trusted to the others observance, that they were often missing, and the worke not done; he chose ano­ther, (so he had three) and was then worse served then before: All things at Sea are mad: This saying like­wise [Page 48] I presume would bee reputed a very mad one (especially by Sea-faring men, they would storme at it) and yet why may not it bee a most true one? The Ship is mad, for it never stands still: The Ma­riners are mad to ex­pose themselves to such imminent dan­gers: The Waters are [Page 49] raging mad in perpe­tuall motion; and the Windes are as mad as the rest, they know not whence they come, nor whither they would goe. Was not the quadrature of the circle maintained by men of approved iudgement Hippocra­tes Chius among the ancient, and by Oron­tius Finaeus among [Page 50] the moderne? Did not that excellent Phi­losopher Copernicus af­firme the earth wee stand on did not stand still, but move circularly? the good old man was to bee commended in that he dealt roundly with the world, and told them the truth of his opinion, which (hap­pily) was the opinion [Page 51] of truth: for why may not the Earth moove, we departing from the Heavens, and they stand still, as well as the Earth bee thought to stand still, and the heavens moving, seeme to depart us? Did not Pythagoras avouch the Spheares to be musicall? but our soules locked up in our bodies, for the present can not [Page 52] heare the Harmony? such Musick certaine­ly there is, the like was never heard of. And Lucian, that splen­did wit, did in his Iudgement beleeve, that the soules of gri­ping Vsurers (if they had any) at their Deaths, for certaine thousands of Yeeres transmigrated into the bodies of Asses, [Page 53] and why should not others beleeve it? it were but fitting, that poore men with whip and cudgell might take their penny­worths out of them.

And not onely mens Opinions, but like­wise many of their Actions demonstrate All things are not as they seeme: For what think you of him who made [Page 54] diligent search at all the Innes of the Towne to finde his yong ches­nut colour'd Gelding, with a Starre in his fore-head, and a white foote, when as the knave had none, but came thither a foote: of another, who going to the Faire, after hee stately stalked thorow the chiefe Streets, cheapning Orient Iew­els, [Page 55] choise pictures, new-fashion'd plate, rich hangings, and the dearest imbroide­ries, departed home with the buying only of a woodden dish: or of a third, who go­ing to their shops that sell costly appar­rell, calls confidently to see a suit of an hun­dred pounds, and when they were a­greed [Page 56] of the price, quarrels with his boy for following him without his purse.

Nor is this ve­rified onely in such Peripateticall mad­caps, but in contem­plating Philosophers, in conquering Com­manders: Did not Diogenes, seeing a com­pany of unskilful Ar­chers shooting (that [Page 57] he might save him­selfe from the Ar­rowes) runne and stand at the marke, that in his knowledge being, and in suc­cesse proving, though not so to standers by at first seeming, the onely place of safety. Did not Bessus a Cap­taine, who thought for feare with his company to have fled; [Page 58] mistaking his way, runne headlong with them upon his ene­mies, & so gave them a famous overthrow, his side by that means getting the day: If errours in wars bee the way to get Conquests, and shooting-markes be places for men to stand at for safety, the former proved in the happy successe of a [Page 59] Commander, the lat­ter ratified in the wise choyse of a Phy­losopher, & such a one as Alexander vouchsa­fed to say; If I were not Alexander, I would bee Diogenes: doubtlesse then the World is in credit ingaged to re­cant many of its cre­dulous customes; (cu­stome without verity be­ing but an old heresie) [Page 60] that so men being dis­burthened of those Great errours where­with their opinions have beene loaded so long, they may prove more capable of the entertainmēt of truth and her propositions, of which one of the most refinedst is this now treated of, little better then Great: which now for any to deny [Page 61] as impossible, could be reputed no lesse then presumptuous ob­stinacy, since so really hath been demonstra­ted, All things are not as they seeme, by various Arguments, fetched from the speeches, o­pinions, and actions of the better sort of men.

And not only some particular persons in [Page 62] their speeches, opini­ons, and actions, but whole professions, nay flourishing Nations by their apparant cu­stomes demonstrate this assertion: First, for Professions; who seeme more devout then Clergy-men? or who seeme to take more delight in Law then Lawyers? or in medicines then Phy­sitians? [Page 63] and yet (ac­cording to the saying of a learned Arch-bi­shop of Florence) Law­yers goe not to Law, Physitians take no physick, and some Di­vines are scarce good Christians. Secondly for Nations, it is the fashion of the women of Muscovy, to love that Husband best which beateth them [Page 64] most, and to thinke themselves never lo­ved or regarded, un­lesse they be two or three times a day wel favouredly swadled. In Tartaria a man sees not her he intends to wed, till they be mar­ried, but hearing a good report of the young woman, solli­cits her father for her; If he be willing they [Page 65] meete at the Chan­cell of the Church in which there is a par­tition, through a hole whereof hee puts his hand, and taketh his wife by hers; then her mother with a sharpe instrument all to bee pricketh his hand, if he let her goe they deeme it a refu­sall, but if hee hold her fast and wring her [Page 66] by the hand till shee squeake, then is he ac­counted a most lo­ving husband, and her friends reioyce for her happy match.

In generall to con­clude, have you not heard of men that stumble at strawes, and leap over blocks: Of Democritus a Phy­losopher, who having put his eyes out, that [Page 67] hee might the better contemplate, yet saw more then all Greece: and in that Greece that there was never lesse wisedome then in the time of the se­ven Wise men, of Bru­tus when hee seemed maddest was the wi­sest of the Tarquines; and of one Supputius who to converse but with one Wise man, [Page 68] travelled all over Eu­rope, which men thought so full of them, and yet re­turned without his errand, and could find none. Omne meum, & nihil meum, that saying of Macrobius is not so knowne as true. Is it not true, that when Princes (prompted by Heaven) confer digni­ty on excelling men, [Page 69] though the Greater sort thinke the Honor onely doth accrue to the receivers, yet the wiser few in their hearts confesse, and then in their tongues to the world expresse it chiefly to bee in the givers. A man may see much, and yet per­ceive little; a strange position, and yet veri­fied of a weake Tra­veller. [Page 70] A man may be seene abroad, and yet walke invisible; and un­usuall speech, and yet verified of an able re­served man. One may have bad policy in him, & yet be a good man; a suspected sen­tence, and yet verified of a faithful profound Statist, (that hath by Art his Engines to fore-see forraigne mis­chiefes, [Page 71] and prevent them, to the advan­tage of his Masters honour, not one­ly dexterity, when they are fallen, to shift them, to his Masters content) for bad po­licy may bee in the knowledge of good men, but in the prac­tice of wicked. Some man payes not so much for any thing, [Page 72] as for that which is given him; an unlike­ly, yet a certaine truth: for it is knowne of the generous, who by taking a courtesie, parts with that hee ac­counts most deare, his liberty: I could bee yet infinite in instan­ces, (most Honour'd Sir) but that I study brevi­ty, that I may like you in all things: I [Page 73] presume any cleare iudgement may have satisfaction by these, so as not any way to offer to deny, since so many things are not as they seeme (e­specially adding to consideration things more unlikely are true, as for a creature to eate iron, as the E­stridge; or to live in fire, as the Salamander) [Page 74] but that it is in it selfe possible, little may be, and upon reasons al­leadged probable, lit­tle is, better then Great.

When the Lapidaries digge in the earth, what is al their pains for, but to finde par­vum in Magno, a little of gold in a Great deale of Ground; and if Great were so excellēt as men doe fancie it, [Page 75] yet you may finde Magnum in parvo that Great excellency in sūdry little things. We know there are foure parts of the World, and among them Eu­rope the least; yet in fertility of grounds, variety of people and kingdomes, and in the flourishing wits of most learned men, it surpasses the Grea­test, [Page 76] nay them all: In Europe how little was Rome, yet shee hath visited Europe, Asia, and Africke with wars and victories, and to the whole world given Lawes & command. Among beasts what more va­liant then the Lyon? who compared with a Bull, Horse or Ele­phant is but little; or [Page 77] if it be obiected, a Ly­on is somewhat Great, it must be confessed a Cocke is wondrous little, at whose crow­ing the Lyon for all his Great valour will tremble. Quid solertius prudentia apum? parvae sunt. Quid labori­osius diligentia formica­rum? parvae sunt. Quid subtilius ingenio aranea­rum? parvae sunt. (as [Page 78] the Orator aptly. A­mong the chirping Quiristers of the Aire, those which sing swee­test or flie swiftest, are of birds the least. What excellent soule-ravishing notes heare we from a little Nigh­tingall?

And as on things lit­tle, Nature hath besto­wed a kind of excel­lency, for which they [Page 79] become so admired: so with that excel­lency, potency, least they should be despi­sed, and utility that they might be desired of all. The potency of little appeares, in that life it selfe de­pendeth but on a small thread, and the least gnat in the aire can choake one, as it did a Pope of Rome; [Page 80] a little haire in Milke strangle one, as it did a Councellor in Rome; a little stone of a Rai­sin stop ones breath, as it did the Poeti­call pipe of Anacreon: and well knowne it is by men experien­ced in Histories, how Themistocles little ar­my overcame Xerxes Great Hoast. And can any thing bee more [Page 81] cōmodious for Schol­lers and Travellers, then little maps in which are perfectly delineated the Grea­test Kingdomes? But why call we any king­dome Great, when as all things in the World, as it selfe, are very little? Alcibiades braggeth of his lands, Socrates reacheth him a Mappe, bids him [Page 82] demonstrate where they lye; alas hee could not finde them, nor scarce discerne Athens it selfe, it was so small a poynt in re­spect of the World, & the World is but as a point in respect of Heaven, & Heaven being finite, is but as a little point compared to its maker, which is infi­nite. The Sunne how [Page 83] Bigge in compasse so­ever it bee in it selfe, it is the pleasure of Heaven to shew it to us according to the smalnesse of a peck: and those coelestiall Glo­wormes the Starres, we [...]ee but as little pib­bles. What so vexes the Sea, and makes it roare, but its Great­nesse? how angry and furious grows it, even [Page 84] to the losse of many mens lives, when the Winde presumes to puffe it into Bigge-swelling waves; where­as let it have but its owne liberty in a vent, how swiftly runs it, as eager of lessening it selfe, and though imprisoned, y [...]t through naturall pollicy it secretly undermines by de­grees [Page 85] those bankes which violently keep it in its full Greatnesse, as endeavouring ever to bee little. What though Rivers so com­modious to common­wealths be very Great, yet the Spring-head from whence they flow are but little. Flumina Magna vides parvis de fontibus orta, Ovid. The Cloudes [Page 86] weepe not downe their gratefull teares in Great Floods, but by droppes. Great and High Mountaines, na­tures Bulwarkes, cast up (as the Spaniard saies) at God Almigh­ties owne charges; what are they but heaps of rubbish, and offals left of the crea­tion of the World, as so many warts or [Page 87] pimples, disfiguring the smooth face of the earth? the difficulty of their ascent, the hor­ridnesse of their crags, the wildnesse of their inhabitants (beasts or people) the chilnesse of their frosty toppes; with the inhospitable barrennesse of their rugged sides leave of­ten an imputation of poverty & barbarous­nes [Page 88] to that Coūtry that hath most of them: Whereas the low val­lies are most pleasant, most fruitfull, most hospitable, enriching the inhabitants, refre­shed with wholesome springs, beautified with curious struc­tures; among which likewise the Cedar­built Pallace is oft strucke with thunder, [Page 89] when the shrubby cottage is secure.

Would a man live happily and well? let him ever be getting a little, for Horace saith: Vivitur parvo bene. Is he not yet content, but would live better? let him still continue his endeavours of get­ting, though never so little, for Claudian saith: Vivitur exiguo melius: [Page 90] Nay, little is so lovely, that wee should not onely endeavour for it, as a thing necessa­ry (for is it not most necessary every one should have a little?) but reioyce in it as a thing pleasant; and Great is so cumber­some, that we should not onely not desire it, but flie from it, and both these prooved [Page 91] out of Catullus. Quod nimium est fugito, parvo gaudere memento.

But you perhaps (Sir) may demand, is a lit­tle wit better then a Great Wit? or a little estate, better then a Great Estate? or little honesty, better then Great Honesty? or lit­tle knowledge, better then Great Knowledge? I will not presume, [Page 92] being of the weaker Sexe (admired Sir) herein to decide a­ny thing; onely bee your selfe the iudge: The Philosopher saith, There is no Great Wit without a mixture of madnesse; then pro­bably (by the rule of contraries) no little wit without a mixture of prudence; now iudge you which is better, [Page 93] to bee with a Great Wit madde, or with a little wit wise? As for Estates, the practice of the World (contrary to their opinions) in effect maintaines the af­firmative; for every man possessing a Great Estate accounts mo­ney but as durt, but when once by any ca­sualtie it becōes little, [Page 94] then he makes much of it: Yet howsoever, grant a Great Estate were better, yet all know it is commonly gained but by degrees, that is, by little and lit­tle. A Lord who hath Great Revenues, is oft found melancholy, sighing; when his hi­red Groome (who has little or nothing) is blithe, whistling. As [Page 95] for honesty, whereso­ever it is found, it is (I confesse) very ex­cellent; yet more ex­cellent (likely) where it causeth, besides love, admiration; then where it barely moves affection: We love it in good men, we both love and wonder to discover it in knaves; now is not good mens honesty very [Page 96] Great? and finde wee not it in knaves very little? Lastly, how lit­tle knowledge is better then Great, may bee thus demonstrated, the Greatest-Clerkes are not the wisest men.

Little childrē (as most innocent) best for imi­tation; little women (as most nimble-spi­rited) best for genera­tion; little men (as [Page 97] most witty) best for negotiation. Aske e­very Schoole-boy, and he can tell you, parvi penditur honestas, ho­nesty it selfe is but of little account: Aske the tradesman, and he will tell you, that a short terme is better then a Long Vacation: Aske the Scholler, and hee will tell you, nothing is better then Wisedome, [Page 98] and then aske any Courtier, whether lit­tle be not better then nothing.

Goe on, goe on therefore, (diminutive Sir) with the guide of Honour, and service of Fortune, your loveli­nesse being such, as no man can disdaine to serve you, your little­nesse such, as no man needes to feare you, the [Page 99] first having put you without hatred, the latter below envy: Your little low person (me thinkes) is natures humble pulpit, out of which shee reads gra­ces diviner lectures to High-aspiring Mortals: and whereas some in the world (wedded to errour) may fondly i­magine your residence at Court, to bee rather [Page 100] for wonder and merri­ment, then for any use or service; you may require from them no lesse satisfaction then a publique recantati­on: For as it hath beene the custome of famous Princes to use (at chiefe times) some ceremony which represented some hid­den Morall: as at the Court of Bel-gian Da­vid, [Page 101] or Prester Iohn, the powerfullest Po­tentate in all Africke, the first Dish served in at their Festivalls is a Deaths-head; and it hath beene in use, that the Coronation of Kings was celebrated at the Sepulcher of their Fathers; and the Pope at his Inaugura­ [...]ion hath 4. Marble stones presented unto [Page 102] out of which he choo­seth his toombe-stone: So (at all times) the re­sidence of dwarfes in Courts hath a two­fold Representment, Theologicall, and Politi­call, the first to the So­veraigne, the second, to the Subiect: For the first, as Philip King of Macedon betimes every morning had a little boy came unto him, and [Page 103] cryed, Philippe, memen­to te esse mortalem, O Philip, remember how thou art mortall: So little dwarfes (boyes in pro­portion, though per­chance men in discre­tion) being about a Monarch, though si­lent, yet their very persons (being with Princes of the same na­turall extraction) are as a voice crying, Rex, [Page 104] memento te esse minimum: O King remember how thou art little, borne like others little, to teach thee to Heaven, humility, to Earth, humanity: For the se­cond, the civill re­gard in relation to the subiect: the resi­dence of dwarfes a­bout Monarchs hath beene by those who are grounded Politi­cians [Page 105] accounted em­blemattically necessary, to denote those who desire to approach neere Princes ought not to bee ambitious of any Greatnesse in themselves, but to ac­knowledge all their Court-lustre is but a beame of the Royall Sunne their Master, which when, and to whom, he please hee [Page 106] can send forth or with­draw.

Minde not, minde not therefore (most per­fect abridgement of Na­ture) the Great neg­lect which the igno­rant vulgar cast upon littlenesse, considering it hath made you an at­tendant of Princes, & is in it selfe so full of worth, that for it onely you were thus prefer­red. [Page 107] And though it seemes a meere rid­dle to say, You are al­waies at Court, and yet are very little there; yet your person makes it so famous a one, that were Homer alive, and had his eyes againe, a­gain he would by this loose them, or else weepe them out, that he lost them before by that lowsy one of Fi­shermen [Page 108] (Quod capi­mus perdimus, Quod non capimus tenemus: What wee take wee loose, what wee take not wee keepe) and missed the happy aenigma of your ad­mired corpusculum. And since little is prooved better then Great, lit­tle Schoole-boyes (I doubt not) will wise­ly relinquish their old theame-exordium: [Page 109] Vt olim Alexander ille Magnus Macedonum Rex: and learning out by enquiry some of your splendid deeds, will learnedly front their exercises thus, Ut nuper Galfredus ille par­vus Britanniae pumilio. Certainely if there be any thing in the World worth the re­lying on, it is very little; no Great or Long [Page 110] happinesse here to bee expected, but very little and short. When one's undone by fire or shipwrack, or goods taken by Pyrats, what sets him up but the Kings Breve. briefe? and alas, how would many a poore Knight live, if he had not a little to keepe him? Consider little morally, and ver­tue is in the meane; [Page 111] consider little theolo­gically, and the whole Church is but a little flocke; consider little civilly, and who dare deny, (I assume spi­rit from truth) but that the little prince is a better man then the Kings Greatest Subiect? Nay, the King him­selfe, who is Gods E­pilogue, and mans Prologue, take him [Page 112] in the better conside­ration, with God, he is minor; take him in the other, with man, he is Maior; for so Tertulli­an, Imperator est Maior omnibus, solo Deo minor: A King is Greater then all others, lesse onely then God. And I will for e­ver heartily pray Hea­ven blesse our Queene, because she hath made the Kingdome happy [Page 113] by bringing his Maie­sty so many little ones.

In short, who desireth not in debt to be as lit­tle as may bee? and what a rare temper is it in men of desart not to bee ambitious of Greatnes? & even in the Highest matters which men attempt, how commonly the most doe come short, and in their Greatest busi­nesse [Page 114] effect but little. And therefore as it was said of Scipio that he was nunquam mi­nus solus, quam cum solus, never lesse alone, then when alone: so it may be said of you (excellent abstract of Greatnesse) that you are nunquam minus parvus, quam cum parvus, never lesse little, then when little. I hope you will pardon me, [Page 115] if in my stile I have u­sed a little boldnesse, and familiarity, you knowing it to bee so commendable, and that it is Nimia Fa­miliaritas, Great Boldnes onely which breedeth cōtempt; especially since you are no stranger, but of my owne Countrie, an English­man, though some (iudging by your sta­ture) [Page 116] have taken you to bee a Low-country-man. Many merry New-yeares are wished unto you, by

If the Great Length of my Letter hath molested your more serious Af­faires, you may thence gather the con­venience of little; and yet that it might not displease, I appointed it (by my servant Microphilus) to be writ­ten in your owne hand.