success in his Affairs was grown up to an abundance of wealth while he was at Florence a young man presented himself to him asking him an Alms for Gods sake Frescobald beheld the ragged stripling and in despight of his tatters reading in his countenance some significations of Virtue was moved with pity and demanded his Country and name I am said he of England my name is Thomas Cromwell my Father meaning his Father in Law is a poor man a Clothshearer I am strayed from my Country and am now come into Italy with the French Army who were overthrown at Gatylion where I was Page to a Foot Soldler odrrying after him his Pike and Burganet Frescobald partly in pity of his condition and partly in love to the English Nation amongst whom he had received some Civilities took him into his House made him his Guest and at his departure gave him a Horse new Apparel and sixteen Duckets of Gold in his Purse Cromwell giving him hearty thanks returned into his Country where in process of time he became in such favour with King Henry the Eighth that he raised him to the dignity of Lord High Chancellor of England In the mean time Fresbobald by several great losses was become poor but remembring that some English Merchants owed him fifteen thousand Duckets he came to London to seek after it not thinking of what had passed betwixt Cromwell and him but travelling earnestly about his business he accidentally met with the Lord Chancellor as he was riding to Court as soon as the Lord Cromwell saw him he thought he should be the Merchant of Florence of whose liberality he had tasted in times past immediately he alights imbraces him and with a broken voice scarce refraining from Tears he demanded if he were not Francis Frescobald the Florentine yes Sir said he and your humble Servant my Servant said Cromwell no as you have not been my Servant in times past so will I not now account you any other than my great and especial Friend assuring you that I have just reason to be sorry that you knowing what I am or at least what I should be yet would not let me understand your arrival in this Country had I known it I would have certainly paid part of that debt which I confess I owe you but thanks be to God that I have yet time Well Sir in conclusion you are heartily welcome but having now weighty affairs in my Princes Cause you must excuse me that I can stay no longer with you therefore at this time I take my leave desiring you with the faithful mind of a Friend that you forget not to dine with me this day at my House Frescoblad wonders who this Lord should be at last after some pause he remembers him to be the same whom he had relieved at Florence he therefore repairs to his House not a little rejoyced and walking in the outward Court attended his return the Lord Cromwell came soon after and was no sooner dismounted but he again imbraced him with so friendly a countenance as the Lord Admiral and other Nobles then in his company much wondred at he turning back and holding Frescobald by the hand Do you not wonder my Lords said he that I seem so glad to see this man this is he by whose means I have attained to my present Degree and therewith related all that had passed betwixt them then holding him still by the hand he led him to the room where he dined and seated him next to himself the Lords being departed he desired to know what occasion had brought him to London Frescobald in few words truly opened his case to him to which Cromwell returned Things that are already past Mr. Frescobald can by no power or policy of Man be recalled yet is not your sorrow so peculiar to your self but that by the bond of mutual love I am able to bear a part therein whereby in this your distress you may receive some Consolation it is fit I should repay some part of that debt wherein I stand bound to you as it is the part of a thankful man to do and I further promise you upon the word of a true Friend that during this life and state of mine I will not fail to do for you in any thing wherein my Authority may prevail Then taking him by the hand he led him into a Chamber and commanding all to depart he locked the door then opening a Chest he first took out sixteen Duckets and delivering them to Frescobald My Friend said he here is your Money you lent me at my departure from Florence here are ten more bestowed upon mine Apparel with ten more you disbursed for the Horse I rode upon but considering you are a Merchant it does not seem honest to me to return your Money without some consideration for the long detaining of it take you therefore these four Bags in every of which is four hundred Duckets to receive and enjoy from the hand of your assured Friend The modesty of Frescobald would have refused them but Cromwell forced them upon him this done he caused him to give him the names of all his Debtors and the Sums they owed the List he delivered to one of his Servants and charged him to find out the men if they were within any part of the Kingdom and strictly to charge them to make payment within fifteen days or else to abide the hazard of his displeasure the Servant so well performed the command of his Master that in a very short time the whole Sum was paid in during all this time Frescobald lodged in the Lord Chancellors House who gave him the entertainment he deserved and oft-times persuaded him to continue in England offering to lend him sixty Thousand Duckets for four years if he would stay and make his Bank in London but he desired to return into his own Country which he did with the great favour of the Lord Cromwell and there richly arrived but he enjoyed his wealth but a short time for the first year after his return he died Clarks Lives p. 42. CXVII Not many years since in the Kingdom of Naples a young Merchant named Oliverio fell desperately in love with the Countess of Castelnovo and laid siege to her Chastity for a good while and the Count going to his Country House and taking his Countess and Family along with him the Marquess being still more inflamed goes into the Country one day hard by a Hawking and le ts fly his Hawk into Count Castlenovo's Garden where it chanced that he and his Countess were walking the Marquess made bold to follow his Hawk and the Count with very high Civilities did welcome him and caused a Banquet to be presently provided where he and his Lady entertained him when he was gone the Count began to commend him telling his Wife That he was one of the most hopeful Noblemen and of the most excellent accomplishments of any in the whole Kingdom of Naples These
himself yet he rated the Bassa with sharp language What saies he dost thou think it handsome to complain thus grievously of my Son Knowest thou not that both thy self and this Wife of thine are my Slaves and accordingly at my dispose If therefore my Son has imbraced her and followed the inclinations of his mind he has but imbraced a Slave of mine and having my approbation he hath committed no fault at all think of this and go thy way and leave the rest to my self This he said in defence of his absolute Empire but being unsatisfied in his mind and vexed at the thing he first sends for his Son examines him touching the Fact and he having confessed it he dismissed him with outragious Language and threatnings three days after when paternal love to his Son and Justice had striven in his Breast love to Justice having gained the Superiority and Victory he commanded his Mutes to strangle his Son Mustapha with a Bowstring that by his death he might make amends to injured and violated Chastity Turkish Hist p. 411. LXXXIV King Henry the second of France commanded that an Italian Lacky should be put into Prison without telling why whereupon the Judges set him at liberty having first delivered their opinion to the King who again commanded that he should be put to death having as he said taken him faulty in a foul and heinous Crime which he would not have to be divulged yet the Judges for all this would not condemn him but set open the Prison doors to let him go forth it is true that the King caused him to be taken afterwards and thrown into the River Seine and drowned without any form of Law to avoid Tumult but the Judges would not condemn a Person where no proof was made that he was guilty Camerarius Medit. p. 472. LXXXV Otho the first Emperor of Germany being upon a Military expedition a Woman threw her self at his feet beseeching a just revenge according to the Laws upon a Person who had committed a Rape upon her the Emperor being in hast referred the hearing of the cause till his return But who then replied the Woman shall recall unto your Majesties mind the horrid injury that hath been done to me The Emperor looking up to a Church there by This Church saith he shall be a witness betwixt me and thee that I will do thee Justice and so dismissing her he with his retinue set forward at his return seeing the Church he called to mind the Complaint and caused the Woman to be summoned before him who at her appearance thus bespake him Dread Soveraign the man of whom I heretofore complained is now my Husband I have since had a Child by him and have forgiven him the injury not so said the Emperor by the head of Otho he shall suffer for it for a collusion among your selves doth not make void the Laws And so he caused his head to be struck off Lonic Theat p. 475. LXXXVI Chabot was Admiral to King Francis the first of France a man most nobly descended of great Valour and in high favour with his Prince but as in other men the Passion of love grows cold and wears out by time so the Kings affection being changed toward the Admiral had charged him with some Offences which he had formerly committed The Admiral presuming upon the great good Services he had done the King in Piemont and in the defence of Marseilles against the Emperor gave the King other language than became him and desired nothing so much as a publick Tryal hereupon the King gave commission to the Chancellor Poyet as President and other Judges upon an information of the Kings Advocate to question the Admirals life the Chancellor being an ambitious man and of a large conscience hoping to please the King wrought so cunningly upon some of the Judges threatned others so severely and drew in the rest with fair promises that though nothing could be proved against the Admiral worthy of the Kings displeasure yet the Chancellor subscribed and got others to subscribe to the forfeiture of his Estate Offices and Liberty though not able to prevail against his Life But the King hating Falshood and though to any that should bewail the Admirals Calamity it might have been answered that he was tryed according to his own desire by the Laws of his Country and the Judges of Parliament yet I say the King made his Justice surmount his other Passions and gave back the Admiral his Honour his Offices his Estate his Liberty and caused the wicked Poyet his Chancellor to be Indicted Arraigned Degraded and Condemned Rawleighs Hist World p. 471. LXXXVII Totilas King of the Goths was complained to by a Calabrian that one of his Lifeguard had ravished his Daughter upon which the accused was immediately sent to Prison the King resolving to punish him as the Fact deserved but the Soldiers came about him desiring that their Fellow-Soldier a man of known Valour might be delivered back to them Upon which Totilas sharply reproved them What would you have said he know you not that without Justice neither any Civil nor Military Government is able to subsist do not you remember what slaughters and Calamities the Nation of the Goths underwent through the injustice of Theodahadas I am now your King and in the maintenance of Justice we have regained our ancient Fortune and Glory would you now lose all for the sake of one Villain Look to your selves ye Soldiers but for my part I proclaim it aloud being careless of what shall happen thereupon that I will not suffer it and if you are resolved to do so then first strike at me behold a Body and a Breast ready for your stroke The Soldiers were so moved at this Speech that they deserted their Client the King sent for the man from Prison condemned him to death and gave his Estate to the injured and violated Woman Lipsius Monit p. 250. LXXXVIII In the Reign of King James 1612. June 25. the Lord Sanquer a Nobleman of Scotland having upon private revenge suborned Robert Carlile to murther John Turner a Fencing Master thought by his greatness to have carried it off but the King respecting nothing so much as Justice would not suffer Nobility to be a shelter to Villany but according to the Law upon June 29. the said Lord Sanquer having been Arraigned and Condemned by the name of John Creighton Esquire was executed before Westminster-Hall Gate where he died very penitent Bakers Chronicle p. 464. LXXXIX The Chronicle of Alexandria relateth an admirable passage of Theodorick King of the Romans Juvenilis a Widow made her complaint that a Suit of hers in Court was drawn out for the space of 3 years which might have been dispatched in few days The King demanded who were her Judges she named them they were sent unto and commanded to give all the speedy expedition that was possible to this Womans Cause which they did and in two days determined it
taken Marcus Brutus nor shall ever any Enemy take him the Gods are more just than to permit fortune to trample upon so much virtue he will be found to be alive or at least dead in such manner as is worthy of him but 't is I that have imposed upon your Soldiers and I am here ready to undergo all the severity I shall be adjudged to for it All that were present were aftonished Antonius turning to them that had brought him You are displeased Fellow-Soldiers said he because you supppose you are deceived but make account with your selves that you have met with a more precious prize than that which you sought after for whilst you sought for an Enemy you have brought me a Friend I am not resolved what I should do with Brutus alive but I had rather obtain such Friends than Enemies Having so said he imbraced Lucilius and then committed him to one of his Familiars and afterward found him upon all occasions as firm and faithful to himself as he had been to Brutus Plutarchs Lives 1007. CXI One Menippus relates in Lucian how that one day seeing a man comely and of eminent condition passing along in a Goach with a Woman extreamly unhandsome he was much amazed and said he could not understand why a man of prime Quality and so brave a presence should be seen to stir abroad in the company of a Monster hereupon one that followed the Coach overhearing him said Sir you seem to wonder at what you now see but if I tell you the causes and circumstances thereof you will much more admire know this Gentleman whom you see in the Coach is called Zenothemis and horn in the City of Marseilles where he heretofore contracted a firm amity and Friendship with a Neighbour of his named Menecrates who was at this time one of the chief men of the City as well in Wealth as Dignities but as all things in the world are exposed to the inconstancy of Fortune it happened that as it 's thought having given a false Sentenâ—e he was degraded of Honour and all his Goods were confiscated every man avoyded him as a Monster in this change of Fortune but Zenothemis his good Friend as if he had loved miseries not men more esteemed him in his adversity than he had done in prosperity and bringing him to his House shewed him huge Treasures conjured him to share them with him since such were the Laws of Friendship the other weeping for Joy to see himself thus entertained in such sharp necessities said he was not so apprehensive of the want of worldly wealth as of the burthen he had in a Daughter ripe for Marriage and willing enough but blemished with deformities She was saith the History but half a Woman a body mishapen limping and blear-eyed a Face disfigured and besides she had the falling sickness with horrible Convulsions Nevertheless this noble heart said unto him Trouble not your self about the Marriage of your Daughter for I will be her Husband the other astonished at such goodness God forbid said he that I should lay such a burthen upon you No no replied the other she shall be mine and instantly he married her making great Feasts at the Nuptial being married he honoureth her with much regard and makes it his glory to shew her in the best company as a Trophy of his Friendship In the end she brought him a Son who restored his Grand-father to his Estate and was the Honour of his Family Gausins Holy Court p. 47. CXII Eudamidas the Corinthian had Araeteus the Corinthian and Charixenus the Sycionian for his Friends they were both rich whereas he was exceeding poor he departing this life left a Will ridiculous perhaps to some wherein was thus written I Eudamidas give and bequeath to Araeteus my Mother to be kept and fostered in her old Age as also my Daughter to Charixenus to be Married with a Dowry as great as he can afford but if any thing in the mean time happen to fall out to any of these men my Will is that the other shall perform that which he should have done had he lived This Testament being read they who knew the poverty of Eudamidas but not his Friendship with these men accounted it all as meer jest and sport no man that was present but departed laughing at the Legacies which Araeteus and Charixenus were to receive but these Executors as soon as they heard it came presently acknowledging and ratifying what was commanded in the Will Charixenus died within five days after Araeteus his excellent Successor took upon him both the one and the others charge kept the Mother of Eudamidas as soon as might be he disposed of his Daughter in Marriage and of five Talents which his Estate amounted to he gave two of them as a Portion with his own Daughter and two more with the Daughter of his Friend and would needs have their Nuptials solemnized in one and the same day Lonic Theat p. 425. CXIII Alexander the Great was so true a lover of Ephestion that in his life-time he had him alwaies near him made him acquainted with the nearest and weightiest of his secrets and when he was dead bewailed him with abundant Tears he hanged up Glaucus his Phyfician for being absent when he took that which hastened his end in token of heavy mourning he caused the Battlements of the City Walls to be pluckt down and the Manes of Mules and Horses to be cut off he bestowed ten thousand Talents on his Funeral and that he might not want Attendants to wait upon him in the other world he in superstitious Cruelty caused some Thousands of men to be slain even the whole Cassean Nation at once Elian. Var. Hist lib. 7. CXIV At Rome saith Camerarius there are to be seen these Verses ingraven about an Urn or Tomb-stone Vrna brevis geminum quamvis tenet ista cadaver Attamen in Coelo Spiritus Vnus adest Viximus Vnanimes Luciusque Flavius idem Sensus amor studium vita duobus erat Though both our Ashes this Urn doth inclose Yet as one Soul in Heaven we repose Lucius and Flavius living had one mind One Will one Love and to one Course inclin'd CXV Lastly Let us give some examples of the grateful disposition of divers Persons Gratitude is justly held to be the Mother of all other Virtues seeing from this one Fountain many other streams do flow as Reverence and due respect to Masters and Governours Friendship among Men Love to our Country Piety to our Parents and Religion toward God as therefore the Ingrateful are every where hated as being suspected to be guilty of every other Vice so on the contrary Grateful Persons are esteemed of all men as having by their Gratitude put in security as it were that they are not without some measure of every other Virtue CXVI There was a Merchant in Florence whose name was Francis Frescobald of a Noble Family and liberal mind who through a prosperous
continued there eight months before he was Absolved at the end whereof he said to one about him Truly I will go and see what Pennance my Pastor will lay upon me for mine offence and so he went to the Church door where St. Ambrose was and intreated him to absolve him But what Repentance have you shew'd said the Bishop for so hainous an Offence And with what Salve have you healed so mortal a wound You said the Emperor are to instruct and shew me what I am to do and you shall see I will accomplish what you shall prescribe The Bishop seeing the Emp. Mildness and Humility and judging it sufficient pennance that he had been so long Excommunicated courteously replied Your Pennance Theodosius shall be this that seeing in your hasty fury you committed such an horrid Murther you shall presently establish a Law that no man whom you shall adjudge to die shall be executed within thirty days after you have pronounced the Sentence at the end of which time you shall either ratify or disannul your Sentence as you shall see cause The Emperor immediately caused this Law to be written and proclaimed which he ever after observed and whereof much good ensued and so being absolved he came into the Church prayed and received the Sacrament and ever after loved St. Ambrose very dearly and used his Council in many matters and for his Companies sake he continued in Millain the remainder of his life Clarks Lives p. 20. XXXVII It is reported by Gualter Mapes an old Historian of ours who lived four hundred years since that King Edward the first of England and Leoline Prince of Wales being at an interview at or near Aust upon Severn in Glocestershire and the Prince being sent for but refusing to come the King would needs go over to him which Leoline perceiving went up to the Arms in water and laying hold on the Kings Boat would have carried the King out upon his Sholders adding That his Humility and Wisdom had triumphed over his pride and folly and thereupon was reconciled to him and did his homage Burtons Melanch p. 307. XXXVIII After what manner Humility and Compassion doth sometimes meet with unexpected rewards methinks is prettily represented by Vrsinus Velius in the following Verses A Fisher angling in a Brook With a strong line and baited Hook When he for his wish'd Prey did pull It happen'd he brought up a Skull Of one before drown'd which imprest A Pious Motion in his Breast Thinks he since I such leisure have Vpon it I 'le bestow a Grave For what did unto it befal May chance to any of us all He takes it wraps it in his Coat And bears it to a place remote To bury it and then digs deep Because the Earth it safe should keep And lo in digging he espies Where a great heap of Treasure lies For Heaven do's never prove ingrate To such as are Commiserate XXXIX Alphonsus the most noble King of Arragon Naples and Sicily as he passed through Campania lighted by accident upon a Muleteer whose Mule overladen with Corn stuck in the Mire nor was he able with all his strength to deliver her thence the Muleteer beseeched all that passed by to help him but in vain at last the King himself dismounts from his Horse and was so good an help to the poor man that he freed his Beast when he knew it was the King falling on his knees he begged his pardon the King with courteous words dismist him this may seem a thing of small moment yet hereby several People of Campania became reconciled to the King This same Prince being informed by his Vice-Roy at Naples that in his absence one of those two mighty Ships which he had built and which seemed like Mountains by the negligence of the Seamen had taken fire and was burnt down he told the Messenger That he well knew that Ship though great and magnificent would yet after some years be corrupted or perish by some accident or other and that therefore the Vice-Roy if he were wise would bear that misfortune with an equal mind as he himself did By this may be discovered the humility and patience likewise of this great Personage which are both very excellent Accomplishments but especially when they have been improved so far as to repress our rising Passions in the midst of injurious Provocations and under great losses and injuries received in bearing patiently reproofs from Inferiors and likewise in supporting men in the midst of the most exquisite torments and hardships of all which we have divers instances in History and shall relate some of each particular XXXIX Philip King of Macedon had one Nicanor that went about rayling against him whereupon his Courtiers persuaded him to punish him severely for it to whom Philip answered Nicanor is none of the worst of my Subjects I must rather therefore observe and see whether I have not committed any evil whereby I have given him cause to speak so evil of me And making serious inquiry he found that there was a certain poor man who had deserved well of him to whom he had never given a reward whereupon he made him large satisfaction and the poor man did every where extol his goodness and bounty then said Philip to his Attendants You see my Friends it is in our own power either to be spoken well or ill of The Peleponesians who had received many and great favours from King Philip yet hated him spoke evil of him and when he came to the Olympick Games hissed at him whereupon his Friends stirred him up to revenge but he mildly answered them saying If they do thus when I do them good what would they do if I should do them hurt At another time the Athenians sending Ambassadors to request some favours of him he entertained them courteously and granted their requests asking them if there were any thing else wherein he might gratify the Athenians to which one of them answered Yes truly if thou wilt hang thy self This exceedingly inraged Philips Courtiers but he without being moved sent them away courteously only bidding them tell the Athenians That they who spake such things were far weaker than those who could hear and bear them patiently He used to say That he was beholding to the Athenian Orators who by their reproaches made him better whilst he was forced by his Actions to confute their slanders and make them Lyars As King Philip besieged the City of Methon and was walking about to view the Walls one shot an Arrow at him from thence whereby he put out his right Eye which yet he took so patiently that when the Citizens a few days after sent out to treat with him about the surrender he gave them honourable terms and after they had put the City into his hands took no revenge on them for the loss of his Eye In one Battle having taken a considerable number of Prisoners he was himself in Person to see them sold as he sate in
his Chair his Cloths were turned up or tucked up higher than was decent or seemly when one of the Prisoners who was upon sale cryed out unto him Good my Lord I beseech you parden me and suffer me not to be sold amongst the rest for I am a Friend of yours and so I was to your Father before you I pray thee good Fellow said Prilip whence grew this great Friendship betwixt us and how comes it about Sir said the Prisoner I would gladly give you an account of that privately in your Ear Then Philip commanded he should be brought unto him who thus whispered in his Ear Sir I pray you let down your Maritle a little lower before for sitting thus in the posture as you do you discover that which is not meet to be seen hereupon Philip spake aloud to his Officers Let this man said he he set at liberty for in truth he is one of our good Friends and wisheth us well though I either knew it not before or at least had forgotten it A poor old Woman came to him one time and desired him to take notice of her Cause when she had often interrupted him with her clamours in this manner the King at last told her he was not at leisure to hear her No said she be not then at leisure to be King Philip for some time considered of the Speech and presently he heard both her and others that came with complaints to him Plutarchs Morals XL. Pyrrhus King of Epirus was advised to put an idle Fellow out of the City who spake nothing but evil against him he replied It 's better to keep him here still speaking evil of us but to a few but if we drive him away he will speak evil of us every where At another time several young men were brought to him who in their drink spoke very vilely and basely of him Pyrrhus asked them whether the Complaint were true or not It is true said one of them if it please your Grace and had not our Wine failed us we had spoken a great deal more Pyrrhus laughing at this answer dismissed them without punishment Plutarchs Lives XLI Antigonus the Successor of Alexander the Great lay long sick of a lingering disease and afterwards when he was recovered well again We have gotten no harm said he by this sickness for it hath taught me not to be so proud by putting me in mind that I am but a mortal man Antigonus once in Winter time was driven to incamp in a place destitute of all provisions necessary for the life of man by occasion whereof certain Soldiers not knowing that he was so nigh unto them spake very presumptuously of him and reviled him to purpose but he opening the Cloth or Curtain of his Pavillion with his walking Staff If said he you go not farther off to rail at me I will make you to repent it and so withdrew himself Plutarchs Morals XLII King Robert was one of the greatest Kings of France on a time he surprized a Rogue who had cut away half of his Cloak furred with Ermines to whom yet so taken and in an Act so insufferably presumptuous he did no further evil but only said mildly to him Save thy self and leave the rest of my Cloak for another who may have need of it Causins H. Cour. XLIII Casimer King of Poland intending to divert himself called a Knight one of his Domestick Servants to him inviting him to play with him at Dice they did so and Fortune was favourable one while to one and then to the other so that having spent much time in gaining little upon each other and it being grown far in the night it was agreed to set the whole sum in controversy upon one single cast of the Dice Casimer proved the more fortunate and drew all the mony to him the Knight displeased and incensed at his bad fortune in the heat of his impatience falls upon the King and with his fist strikes him over the mouth It is a capital Crime for the Servant to strike his Lord and the same also his Prince but though all present were inraged at this unsufferable action yet he escaped by the benefit of the night though not so but that he was seized in the morning brought back and set in the presence of Casimer to receive his Sentence he having well weighed the matter brake into this wise Speech My Friends this man is less guilty than my self nay whatever is ill done is on my part Heat and sudden Passion which sometimes oversways even wise men did transport him and moved both his mind and hand to do as he did But why did I give the cause Why unmindful of my place and dignity did I play with him as my equal And therefore says he to the Knight take not only my Pardon but my Thanks too for by a profitable correction thou hast taught me that hereafter I should do nothing which is unworthy of a Prince but retain my self in the just limits of decency and gravity Having said this he freely dismissed him Lipsius Monit XLIV Frederick was made Bishop of Vtricht and at the Feast the Emperor Lodovicus Pius sitting at his right hand admonished him that being mindful of the profession he had newly taken upon him he would deal justly and as in the sight of God in the way of his vocation without respect of Persons Your Majesty gives me good advice said the Bishop but will you please to tell me whether I had best begin with this Fish upon my Trencher at the Head or the Tail At the head said the Emperor for that is the more Noble part Then Sir said the Bishop in the first place do you renounce that Incestuous Marriage you have contracted with Judith the Emperor took this reprehension so well that he dismissed her accordingly Polybius p. 223. XLV Alexander the Great having taken a famous Pyrate and being about to condemn him to death asked him Why dost thou trouble the Seas And why said he dost thou trouble the whole world I with one ship seek my Adventures and therefore am called a Pyrate thou with a great Army warrest against Nations and therefore art called an Emperor so that there is no difference betwixt us but in the name Alexander was so well pleased with this his freedom of Speech that in consideration of what he had said he dismissed him without inflicting any punishment upon him Chetwind Hist Collect. XLVI There came a young man to Rome who in the opinion of all men exceedingly resembled Augustus Caesar the Emperor whereof he being informed sent for him being in presence he asked him if his Mother had never been at Rome the Stranger answered No but his Father had the Emperor took patiently this sharp reply and sent him away without harm Polythron p. 147. XLVII Marcus Antonius Pius the Emperor used to take well the free and merry Jests of his Friends even such as seemed to be uttered with
him condemned him to death the Executioner being in readiness and he stretching forth his Neck to receive the stroke of the Ax behold in the very instant his Comerade appears in the place whereupon the Centurion who had the charge of the Execution commands the Executioner to forbear and carries back the condemned Soldier to Piso toge her with his Comerade thereby to manifest his innocency and the whole Army waited on them with joyful Acclamations But Piso in a rage gets him up to the Tribunal and condemns both the Soldiers the one for returning without his Comerade and the other for not returning with him and lastly he likewise condemns the Centurion for staying the Execution without Warrant which was given him in charge and thus three suffered death for the innocency of one Causins Holy Court XVII Mahomet the Great first Emperor of the Tarks after the winning of Constantinople fell in love with a most beautiful young Greekish Lady called Irene upon whose incomparable Perfections he so much doted that he gave himself wholly up to her love but when he heard his Captains and chief Officers murmured at it he appointed them all to meet him in his great Hall and commanding Irene to dress and adorn her self in all her Jewels and most gorgeous Apparel not acquainting her in the least with any part of his design taking her by the hand he led this Miracle of Beauty into the midst of his Nobles and Bassa's who dazled with the brightness of this illustrious Lady acknowledged their Errour professing that their Emperor had just cause to pass his time in solacing himself with so peerless a Paragon but he on a sudden twisting his left hand in the soft curls of her hair and with the other drawing out his sharp Scimeter at one blow he struck off her Head from her Shoulders and so at once made an end of his love and her life leaving all the Assistants in a fearful amaze and horror of an act of that Cruelty Turkish Hist p. 351. XVIII Vladus Dracula as soon as he had gained the Kingdom of Moldavia he chose out a multitude of Spear-men as the Guard of his Body after which inviting as many as were eminent in Authority in that Country to come to him he singled out from them all that he thought did not love him or had any inclination to a change all these together with their whole Families he empaled upon sharp stakes sparing neither the innocent age of young Children the weak Sex of Women nor the obscure condition of Servants the Stakes and place where they were set took up the space of seventeen furlongs in length and seven furlongs in breadth and the number of those that were thus murdered and in this barbarous manner were said to be no less than twenty Thousand Idem p. 363. XIX Johannes Basilides Emperor of Russia in 1569. Used for his Recreation to cause noble and well deserving Persons to be sewed up in the skins of Bears and then himself set Mastiss upon them which cruelly tore them in pieces he often invited Michael his Father in Law to banquet with him and then sent him home to his â—…ily through the snow having first caused him to be stript stark naked sometimes he shut him up in a room in his own House till he was almost famished causing four Bears of Extraordinary bigness to be tyed at the door to keep all Provisions from him these Bears he at other times would let loose among the People especially when they were going to Church and when any were killed by them he said His Sons had taken great pleasure in the sport and that they were happy who perished in this manner since it was no small diversion to himself Upon a mere suspition which he had conceived against the City of Novogorod he entred the same and caused to be slain and thrown into the River two thousand seven hundred and seventy Persons without any respect of Age Quality or Sex besides an Infinite number of poor People who were trampled to death by a Party of his Horse and there were so many bodies cast into the River of Volga that being stopped therewith it overflowed the Neighbouring fields the Plague which followed this Butchery was so great that no body venturing to bring provisions into the City the Inhabitants were forced to feed on the dead Carcases The Tyrant took a pretence from this inhumanity to cause all those that had escaped the Plague Famine and his former cruelty to be cut in pieces The Arch-Bishop of this place having escaped the first fury of the Souldiers either as an acknowledgment of the favour or to flatter the Tyrant entertained him at a great Feast in his Archiepiscopal Pallace whither the Duke failed not to come with his Guards about him but while they were at dinner he sent to plunder the rich Temple of St. Sophia and seized on all the treasures which had been brought thither and to other Churches as to places of safety After dinner he caused the Arch-Bishops Pallace to be in like manner Pillaged and then told the Arch-Bishop That it would now be ridiculous for him to act the Prelate since he had not wherewithal to support the dignity of his place that he must put off his rich habit which henceforth would be but troublesome to him and that he would bestow on him a bagpipe and a Bear which he should lead up and down and teach it to dance to get money that he must resolve to marry and that all the other Prelates and Abbots that were about the City should be invited to the Wedding setting down a precise Sum of money which each of them should present to the new married Couple And there were none of them but brought what they had made a shift to save thinking the poor Arch-Bishop should have had it but the Tyrant took all the money and causing a white Mare to be brought he said to the Arch-Bishop This is thy Wife get upon her and go to Mosco the poor Arch-Bishop was forced to obey and as soon as he was mounted they tyed his legs under the Mares belly and thenhung about his neck some Pipes a Fiddle and a Tymbrel and would needs make him to play on the Pipes all the other Abbots and Monks who were present were either cut in peices or with Pikes and Halberds forced into the the River this Tyrant had a particular longing for the money of one Theodore Sircon a rich Merchant whereupon he sent for him to his Camp at Novogorod and having fastened a Rope about his wast he commanded him to be cast into the River drawing him from one side to the other till he was ready to give up the Ghost then he asked him what he had seen under water the Merchant stoutly answered That he had seen a great number of Devils carrying the Dukes Soul with them into Hell the Tyrant replyed Thou art in the right but it 's just I