RIght honourable, and the reſt, you are now come to convey me to my death: I am willing to die, which is a thing no more than all our Predeceſſours have done, and a debt that our Poſteritie muſt in their due time diſcharge, which ſince it can be no way avoyded, it ought the leſſe to be feared; for that which is common to all, ought not to be intollerable to any: It is the law of nature, the tribute of the fleſh, a remedy from all worldly cares and troubles; and to the truly penitent, a perfect path to bleſſedneſſe: And there is but one death, though ſeverall wayes unto it: Mine is not naturall, but enforced by the Law & Juſtice: It hath been ſaid that the Lawes vex only the meaner ſort of people, but the mighty are able to withſtand them: It is not ſo with me, for to the Law I ſubmit my ſelfe, and confeſſe that I receive nothing but Juſtice: For he that politikly intendeth good to a Common-wealth, may be called a juſt man, but he that practiſeth either for his owne profit, or any other ſiniſter ends, may bee well tearmed a Delinquent perſon; Neither is delay in puniſhment any priviledge for pardon. And moreover, I ingenuouſly confeſſe with Cicero, that the death of the bad, is the ſafety of the good that be alive.

Let no man truſt either in the favour of his Prince, the friendſhip and conſanguinity of his Peeres, much leſſe in his owne wiſedome & knowledge, of which I ingenuouſly confeſſe I have been too confident. Kings, as they are men before God, ſo they are gods before men, and I may ſay with a great man once in this Kingdome, had I ſtrived to obey my God as faithfully, as I ſought to honour my King diligently, I had ſtood, and not fallen. Moſt happie and fortunate is that Prince, who is as much for his juſtice feared, as for his goodneſſe beloved: For the greater that Princes are in power above other, the more they ought in vertue to excell other; and ſuch is the Royall Soveraigne whom I late ſerved.

For my Peeres, the correſpondence that I had with them during my proſperitie, was to me verie delightfull and pleaſing, and here they have commiſerated my ruine, I have plentifully found, who (for the moſt generous of them) I may boldly ſay, though they have deteſted the fact, yet they have pitied the perſon delinquent; The firſt in their loyalty, the laſt in their charity: Ingenuouſly confeſſing, that never any ſubject, or Peere of my ranke had ever that helpe of Counſell, that benefit of time, or a more free and legall tryall than I have had: In the like whereof, none of my predeceſſours hath had ſo much favour from his Prince, ſo much ſufferance from the people; in which I comprehend the underſtanding Commons, not the many headed monſter, Multitude; But I have offended▪ am ſentenced, & muſt now ſuffer.

And for my too much confidence in my ſuppoſed wiſedome and knowledge, therein have beene the moſt deceived: For hee is wiſe to himſelfe that knowes by others faults to correct his own offences: To be truely wiſe is to be Secretaries to ourſelves, For it is meere folly to reveale our intimate thoughts to ſtrangers: Wiſedome is the moſt precious Gem with which the mind can be adorned, and learning the moſt famous thing for which a man ought to bee eſteemed, and true wiſedome teacheth us to doe well, as to ſpeake well: In the firſt I have failed, for the wiſedome of man is fooliſhneſse with God.

For knowledge, it is a thing indifferent both to good and evil, but the beſt knowledge is for a man, to know himſelfe; hee that doth ſo, ſhall eſteeme of himſelfe but little, for hee conſidereth from whence he came, and whereto he muſt go, he regardeth not the vaine pleaſures of this life, hee exalteth God, and ſtrives to live in his fear; But he that knoweth not himſelfe, is wilfull in his owne wayes, unprofitable in his life, infortunate in his death, and ſo am I. But the reaſon why I ſought to attaine unto it, was this: I have read that he that knoweth not that which hee ought to know, is a bruit beaſt amongſt men: Hee that knoweth more than he ought to know, is a man amongſt beaſts: But he that knoweth all that may be known, is a God amongſt men. To this I much aſpired, in this I much failed; Vanitie of vanities, all is but vanitie.

I have heard the people clamour and cry out, ſaying, That through my occaſion the times are bad, I wiſh that when I am dead they may prove better: Moſt true it is, that there is at this time a great ſtorme impending (God in his mercie avert it.) And ſince it is my particular lot, like Ionah, to be caſt into the ſea, I ſhall thinke my life well ſpent, to appeaſe Gods wrath, and ſatisfie the peoples malice.

O what is eloquence more than aire? faſhioned with an articulate and diſtinct ſound, when it is a ſpeciall vertue to ſpeake little and well, and ſilence is oft the beſt oratorie; For fooles in their dumbneſſe may bee accounted wiſe: It hath power to make a good matter ſeeme bad, and a bad cauſe appeare good: But mine was to mee unprofitable, and like the Cypreſſe trees, which are great and tall, but altogether without fruit.

What is honour? but the firſt ſtep to diſquietneſſe, and power is ſtill waited on by envie, neither hath it any priviledge againſt in famie. It is held to be the chiefe part of honour, for a man to joyne to his office and calling, curtiſie, and affabilitie, commiſeration, and pitie: For thereby he draweth to him with a kind of compulſion, the hearts of the multitude. But that was the leaſt part of my ſtudie, which now makes mee call to minde, that the greater the perſons are in authority, the ſooner they are catcht in any delinquencie, and the ſmalleſt crimes are thought to be capitall, the ſmalleſt ſpot ſeemes great in the fineſt linnen, and the leaſt flaw is ſooneſt found in the richeſt Diamond. But high and noble ſpirits finding themſelves wounded, grieve not ſo much at their owne paine and perplexitie, as at the deriſion and ſcofs of their enemy: But for mine own part, though I might have manie in my life, I hope to finde none in my death.

Amongſt other things which pollute and contaminate the mindes of great ſpirits, there is none more hainous than ambition, which is ſeldome unaccompanied with Avarice: Such, to poſſeſſe their ends, care not to violate the Lawes of Religion, and Reaſon, and to breake the bonds of Modeſtie and equitie, with the neareſt tyes of Conſanguinitie, and Amitie; Of which as I have beene guiltie, ſo I crave at Gods hands forgiveneſſe. It is a maxime in Philoſophy, that ambitious men can never bee good Counſellours to Princes; The deſire of having more is common to great Lords, and a deſire of Rule, a great cauſe of their ruine.

My Lords, I am now the hopeleſſe Preſident, may I bee to you all an happy example: For ambition devoureth gold, and drinketh bloud, and climbeth ſo high by other mens heads, that at the length in the fall, it breaketh its owne neck: therefore it is better to live in humble content, than in high care and trouble: For more precious is want with honeſtie, than wealth with infamy: For what are wee but meere vapours, which in a ſerene element aſcend high, and upon an inſtant, like ſmoak, vaniſh into nothing: Or like ſhips without Pilots, toſt up & down upon the ſeas by contrary winds, and tempeſts. But the good husbandman thinkes better of thoſe eares of corne, which bow downe, and grow crooked, than thoſe which are ſtreight and upright, becauſe he is aſſured to finde more ſtore of grain in the one, than in the other. This all men know, yet of this, how few make uſe: The defect whereof muſt bee now my paine: May my ſuffering prove to others profit.

For what hath now the favour of my Prince, the familiaritie with my Peeres, the volubility of a tongue, the ſtrength of my memorie, my learning, or knowledge, my honours, or offices, my power, or potencie, my riches, and treaſure, (all theſe the eſpeciall gifts, both of Nature, and Fortune) what have all theſe profited mee? Bleſſings I acknowledge, though by God beſtowed upon man; yet not all of them together upon many: Yet by the divine providence, the moſt of them met in me: Of which had I made happie uſe, I might ſtill have flouriſht, who now am forc'd immaturely to fall.

I now could wiſh, (but that utinam is too late) that God with his outward goodneſſe towards me, had ſo commixed his inward grace, that I had chuſed the medium path, neither inclining to the right hand, nor deviating to the left; but like Icarus with my waxen wings, fearing by too low a flight to moyſten them with the waves: I ſoared too high, and too neare the Sun, by which they being melted; I ayming at the higheſt, am precipitated to the loweſt: and am made a wretched prey to the waters: But I who before built my houſe upon the ſand, have now ſetled my hopes upon the Rocke my Saviour: By whoſe only merites my ſole truſt is, that whatſoever becomes of my bodie, yet in this boſome my ſoule may bee Sanctuaried.