love The Ziphims go to Saul and advertise him that David is in their desarts and hee goes to seeke him with 3000. chosen souldiers SEe how the pride of Saul is not mitigated with the humility of David perhaps because the pride was joyned with interest and the humility with reputation The proud man becomes meeke not when his enemy hath humbled himselfe but when hee himselfe hath humbled him That humility that is begotten by feare doth ever mitigate the pride that is not brutish hee that beleeved otherwise might haply have beene deceiued by confounding the one with interest and the other with greatnesse of minde The proud man will have his enemy bow unto him but if then when hee boweth downe his deeds lift him up he doth not mitigate but rather exasperate him because insteed of magnifying him he doth afflict and confound him All the wise yea and wily men doe humble themselves to him that persecutes them when their humility encreaseth their reputation which it alwayes doth when seperated from dobilitie The greatest pride that may be found goes clad in the habit of humility and oftentimes is not discerned by others but him onely against whom it is imployed and because by the rest it is not discovered they cannot oppose against it without being blamed David being enformed of Sauls arrivall and having gotten some knowledge of his strength calls unto him Achimelech and Abishai askes them who will goe with mee into the army of Saul and Abishai answers I will goe WHen Princes conferre a degree of honour on a subject they will make choice themselves but in a matter of danger they use to leave him to his owne choice and whereas the subject thinkes to make his merit the greater by how much it is the more voluntary the Prince on the coÌ„trary sometimes holds himselfe lesse obliged to him whom he hath least obliged I blame not this proceeding so it bee not of purpose to avoid to bee beholding but to bee assured of the sufficiency and love of the subject To expose him to danger and to love him doe not very well agree To make one to offer himselfe in a voluntary manner is not sufficient argument of such affection if without much entreatie his offer bee accepted David and Abishai goe to the campe of Saul where they finde the Guard the King himselfe and all his souldiers asleepe THe Lord God ordinarily in the effects of the world suffers his hand to bee seene of them only that are very sharpe sighted because hee workes by naturall instruments yet sometimes also he will be seene even of those that are blinde because he workes by the supernaturall aâ—me of his Omnipotency When there are operations perceived to be contrary to the ordinary course that the watchfull are found sleeping that the prudent are overseene that the valiant are faint hearted there they that are well sighted may discerne the hidden finger of God who when hee intendeth the ruine of some house or kingdome or any other place takes from it those that might save it or otherwise alters them in such sort that they oppose not his designes sometimes also taking away the marke of naturall things hee sends an Angell to burne Cities to destroy Armies and raiseth up Captaines that with the light of a torch or a lampe make Cities fall downe and then there is no eye so blinde but seeth therein the Almighty hand of God Abishai would have slaine Saul David would not permit him but takes away his speare and his pot of water WHo will wonder at David that having beene as a Lion when hee slew the Giant Goliah he now shewes himselfe a lambe in suffering Saul to live if he were a figure of that God who to the sinner was a Lambe and a Lion to the Devill He that aimeth at a dignity in shewing himselfe faint-hearted in obtaining it will not prove couragious when he hath obtained it David did not forbeare to slay Saul for any reason of State but abstained from it for the reverence and feare of God Where hath that man beene found that knew this peece of policy at any time It is too finely wrought to be disdiscerned by the eyes of those that are blinded with the passions of desire to rule or revenge untill having obtained the dominion or the revenge they desired their eyes happily are cleered then they begin to consider that which they should have considered before they are afraid of the example which themselves have begotten whence it came to passe that many have revenged the death of those Princes of which themselves have beene the procurers They are terrified in their seat of State they hate their Scepter as if it threatned violent death to him that treads on it or hold it They stand in feare of the stars that rule over that kingdome as if the vanity of those were true as it is most false who have beleeved that the violent constellations of kingdomes with a very little helpe of the Kings Horoscope had the power to kill them David calleth out to Abner and reprooves him for not having kept the King duly I Know not whether this were good policy to provoke the Generall of the army but I know that Abner after the death of Saul was he that made all the warre against David He complaines againe to Saul of his being persecuted saying if God hath stirred thee up against me let him bee appeased with sacrifice if men have done it accursed bee they of God HE speakes not of appeasing men he knowes that malignity may be extinguished but never appealed and that no other sacrifice doth extinguish it but the suffering of himselfe to be extinct He that practiseth malignity is base he that gives eare to it is weake 't is not the part of a prudent or a wary man It is a sword that is sharpe on every side one cannot strike with it but is wounded himselfe hee is irkesome to those that heare him among whom while he seekes to endamage another hee loseth his owne reputation but yet he is hearkned to and why they hearken to him and how this is wrought I know not neither will I teach nor learne it For I hold the profession so infamous that if I did contemplate the means of the practice thereof I should accuse my selfe to bee guilty in the tribunall of detraction To teach others how to bee malicious is a great malignity and would bee a great madnesse in me I should sharpen that sword that hath wounded mee so oft and should make my selfe master of a profession which I never practised but passively Saul confesseth againe that he hath sinned and prayeth David to returne who answers Let one come to fetch the Kings speare but speakes not of his returning THe great favorites of Princes if they once fall they fall headlong they are gone they caÌ„not up againe The cause that shall separate them from their Lord must needs be great there is no returning The
W. Marshall sculpsit 〈◊〉 not my Anointed And do my Prophets no harme Psal 105. 15. London Printed for Humphrey Mosley 1648. Il Davide Perseguitato DAVID Persecuted VVritten in Italian BY The Marquesse Virgilio Malvezzi And done into English By ROBERT ASHLEY GENT. LONDON Printed for Humphrey Moseley at the signe of the Princes Armes in St Pauls Church yard 1650. DAVID Persecuted THEY that make a question whether it be true or no that God speakes any more to men or indeed that men have any more intelligence from God let them beleeve it for a certaine that hee speakes but they are too deafe to heare the language let them beleeve it for certaine that hee writes but they are too blinde to perceive the Character Hee that will understand his voyce hee that will read his letter let him betake himselfe to the Holy writ that is a Vocabulary which the Spirit of God hath left us to explaine his profound discourses by that is a key to disclose all those obscure letters that are directed to us from heaven Will you O Princes will you O people conceive what it is that God speakes when hee sends a pestilence when hee sends a famine when hee sends warre when hee brings estates to destruction or in hazard to be destroyed Goe runne over these names in the Vocabulary of the Almighty But the weake and weary eyes of our mind eschew the light of the truth they precipitate themselves into an abysse of miseries and among the obscurities of the night grope for the splendour of the sunne Thus wee renounce the prerogatives of the new law It is not the way to get forth of the Clouds in which the Israelites walked for men but to change them Those divine mysteries which they beheld only clouded up in darknesse are now most transparently observed in a cleare skie yet the causes of the Revolutions of States of the increase of one of the diminution of another of the fall of Princes of Famine of Pestilence of Warre were openly displayed to them and wee on the contrary envelop them in the obscuritie of a thousand ambiguities as if that were not true which the greatest Divines have told us that the Chastisements which came upon the Israelites befell them for our example God speaketh but once saith Iob and speaketh not againe the holy writ is that booke in which hee hath spoken there then ought to be searched the causes of good or bad events where clearly and for our sakes they are written To frame Politicke aphorismes to set downe rules for it taken from prophane authors is in a manner to pretend that mans will is necessarie and conducing Nay I could find in my heart to say that it is an undeifying of God and a deifying of the second causes He makes them serve his turne but them hee serves not Hee that in discussing upon naturall events brings in God only for a reason is but a poore Philosopher and hee that brings him not in in Inquiries of Politick occurrences is but a poore Christian when it is his pleasure that the fire which at one time scorched should at another coole hee must have recourse to his almighty power in working miracles but hee may very well without miracles give way that the same action which at one time hath reared up a Prince should at another sink him Our too leaden wings cannot eagle us up from this base earth wee walke in a gloomy aire without lifting up our eyes to that most glorious Sunne of the Empireum The Politick treatises of the Gentiles which are but earthly bring us back to earth in that they have in them but earthly causes but the holy instructions which are sent us from heaven producing heavenly causes bring us home to heaven O most benigne Lord may it please thee to give to drink of thy most cleare and living water this thirsty wretch who forsakes the stinking and muddy Cisternes of the Gentiles rather loathing them than satisfied with them If I knew not my selfe unworthy to bee taken out of the darknesse of my grosse ignorance I would most humbly and upon my knees intreat thee for one ray which like the dawning leading mee on to the most cleare Noone might at this present in some part draw mee out of the obscuritie of this dimme night that I might discover those deepe and profound mysteries which are concealed from the feeblenesse of our understandings The Prophet Samuel reproves Saul because that contrarie to Gods commandement hee had left Agag King of the Amalekites alive and had not slaine all his cattell THe disobedience of Saul gives the last turne to the wheele of his greatnesse It is a fire which consumeth crowns for they are soldred with obedience He knoweth not what belongs to matter of state that loseth this towards God hee teacheth others to forgoe it toward their superiours and as much as in him lyes destroyes the compacture of the universe Disobedience is the ofspring either of the arrogance of the braine or of the weaknesse of the senses either that men thinke to doe better than they are commanded or that they are inclined to doe worse In one of these the frailtie sometimes meets with compassion in the other the contempt alwaies provokes to vengeance This can never bee in regard of God because it is not possible to bee wiser than God and when it is practised among men although it may often seeme to produce good fruit yet is it alwayes naught as that which proceeds from an evill plant Well ordered Common-wealths have not forborne to punish it though prosperous victories ill disciplined bringing with them more dammage than defeatments doe Saul excuses himselfe in that the people had preserved the best of the spoile to sacrifice them to God Obedience is better than Sacrifice answers Samuel GOd had already ordained the Sacrifice when he had commanded that all the men and all the Cattell of the Amalekites should be slaine so many Priests they were that were appointed to kill them so many sacrifices as to bee killed There want not this day such Sauls that sacrifice to God the sacrifices of disobedience These golden mountaines heaped up with impiety that seemes sometimes to adorne them defile the altars of God they onely garnish the ambition of man Hee that thinks with these to pacifie his divine Majestie incenseth it as much as in him lyes with execrable blasphemie proclaimes that Majestie to bee most wicked and makes him partaker of his misdeeds as if hee were bound to bee appeased with him so hee may but have a share in the purchases of his villanies The Prophet replies Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord the Lord bath rejected thee from being King Saul sayes to him I have sinned return with mee that I may worship the Lord SEe the power of ambition which hath oftentimes more force upon the hearts of men than the Commandements of God have He makes as if he repented
Lord more than he and not that his Lord loves another more than himselfe This would bee a desire to tyrannize over the affections of Princes which men ought to reverence He that could make his love more fervent than that of the favorite might peradventure make himselfe the greater favorite but commonly men strive to unhorse him by malice and not by vertue because it is more easie to envy than to love Give me leave also further to affirme if without offence I may that it cannot be any blame to have a favorite unlesse men will say that Christ our Lord was to be blamed whose favorite was Saint Iohn One passing by chance neere unto Saul who longed to die and asked him whence he was and the other answering that hee was an Amalekite Saul prayeth him to kill him which hee excuseth O The unspeakable providence of God! he peradventure permitted not Saul to kill himselfe he consented that his sin should kill him One of the Amalekites whom against the will of God hee had saved alive God will have to put him to death That sinner spoke for al sinners spake divinely that said My sin is alwayes against me We have no enemies but we make some nor is Saul alone slaine by his sinne for there be but few men that are not also killed by theirs And it is very particular that one particular should kill them seeing it was the same that brought death into all the world O how pleasant and how profitable are the precepts of God! He is a Physitian under favour be it spoken not onely for the soule but for the body also He hath left us better rules in a few leaves to preserve our health than are contained in the great volumes of the bookes of the Gentiles King Saul dieth after he had reigned many yeeres and with the King dieth a great part of the people which had demanded a King FAvours are not therefore demanded of God that he may doe them but because he will doe them hee doth them by meanes of our prayers they are obtained with the Optative not with the Imperative mood Hee that will command them deserves then only to bee heard when it is to his harme to have beene heard to teach him that is God neither to bee taught nor to be commanded Wherefore then it was that Saul did lose his life and wherefore the Kingdome of Israel went out of his Progeny is easily resolved by them who omitting the manifold other causes have recourse to that alone which is the first and chiefe and prime cause from whose well all the rest proceed But why God willeth the destruction of Kings and Kingdomes would bee easie also to shew were it not the will of God is not alwayes effective but sometimes also permissive Hee wills that such as forsake him lose their kingdomes and that they that follow him obtaine them Moreover how and when it comes to passe that hee permitteth sometimes those that follow him to be abased and those that abandon him to bee exalted I doe not know and others peradventure know as little Those Princes then that are not in Gods favour let them alwayes feare how prosperous soever they are Being not able to alledge any cause of their happinesse they must needs be afraid if they be great they know not why they are so and it is to be doubted that such greatnesse cannot long endure whereof no cause can bee given for which it began He who hapning to come into the house of a fortunate man did suddenly depart thence certainly hee meant it not of them that God maketh happy and successefull but of those whom God permitteth so to be The ruine of Saul came peradventure of his owne great prosperity his being from a base estate exalted to a kingdome confirmed and setled therein with happy successe in stead of making him the more devout made him more confident yea more rash and unadvised Let us not make it lawfull to serve him the lesse who hath prospered us to the end wee should serve him the more as if the gifts or graces which God vouchsafeth us were but for our pleasure and not for his glory A great sort of men offend their God in their prosperity and pray unto him in their adversity yet is hee still the same God when he delivereth us out of misery and distresse and when he overturneth our fortunate courses and proceedings It may seeme peradventure that to deliver out of disasters doth more manifest the Divinity than to abase prosperous fortunes whence it is that men are more confident in his mercies than fearfull of his vengeance There is no man how wicked soever but doth some good thing whereunto he afterward ascribes the cause of his good successe and equivocating betweene the reward and the grace given him hath no feare of losing what he pretends to have deserved On the contrary there is no man so good but he committeth some evill whereunto for the most part he attributeth the cause of his misfortune and equivocating betweene Gods chastising and his exercising of him sends up sometimes his supplications to God when he should rather have sent thanksgivings as if the world which is the place of meriting and demeriting were the place also of rewarding and punishing To conclude let us pray his divine Majestie that he will be alwayes pleased to end the persecutions of the Davids with the death of the Sauls And all to the glory and honour of his great Name in which I end this Booke as I desire also to end my life FINIS Vid. Daâ—
Samuel when he saith How long wilt thou mourne for Saul God could not if one may say so endure his lamenting and not hearken to his suit These are those waters which in a manner offer violence to Heaven The Spirit of God moveth upon such waters and they make a river of oblivion in Paradise The tears which are shed the prayers which are said and the supplications which are sent up to God for others are as acceptable to God and more peradventure than if they were made for themselves They are esteemed of more merit at least in regard of the moralitie of the action Why thâ—â— doe some Princes perswade themselves that they satisfie the obligatios wherein they are obliged to some one when they yeeld him his suit which hee hath made for another Or to say more truly why doe some favourites beleeve that there is such an impiety in their Princes Let them call to minde that the office of a favourite is the office of an Angell and ought therefore to present the suits and supplications of the subjects to their Lord and to bring backe the gracious grants of the Lord unto the subjects he that doth the contrary is a Divell and no Angell Fill thy horne with oyle saith God to the Prophet and goe to Ishai the Bethleemite for amongst his sonnes I have provided mee a King Hee answers How can I goe for if Saul heare of it he will kill me THus he answereth not because he feareth death but because hee is desirous to doe service unto God he much prizes his life in that case wherein to die is not to obey Hence let those that are imployed by their Princes learne that the death of the servant is seldome the service of the Lord It ought indeed to bee received couragiously but never to bee encountred but when it is very usefull and when the dying is an obeying A man of worth is a high prized instrument of the greatnesse of his Prince if hee cares not to preserve himselfe for his owne sake yet hee ought to be careful of preservation for his Lord and Masters sake Every man that is fitted to die is not fit to doe service It is true also what I have said even in the common Souldier whose life rather than his brain is dedicated to the Princes service that he ought also to endevour to obey and not to die Hee that runnes headlong on death doth not spend his life to the advantage but casts it away to the losse of his Lord his service is to overcome and not to die and indeed they lose that are slaine To expose needlesly to death that body which can doe service to its Prince but whiles it lives is a most pernicious desire of vaine glory contrary to good policy against good military discipline and an affection full of deceit and flattery into which even the Generals whose life is most pretious doe often precipitate themselves as if it were a greater bravery to fight than to command But that Army is but in a bad taking pardon me this digression whose safety consisteth in the arme not in the braine of the Generall To know how to command well in warre is a part of the imaginative faculty The imagination to worke well requireth a good measure of heat whose contrary is feare which how little so ever it bee the other abates and how little so ever that abates the imagination is disturbed whence it comes to passe that to bee afraid and to command well cannot stand together But how many are there that incited more by Honour than by Courage do both fight and feare these may handle the sword well but yet not apt for command The heating of the braine is not in our owne power as is the managing of the hands wee have no command over that howsoever 〈…〉 dominion we have over 〈…〉 for otherwise 〈…〉 not blame 〈…〉 nature necessarily in us Thence it followes that there is no greater or surer signe of a brave courage than to command well in a battell where both Reputation and life yea and many times the State it selfe comes upon the stage The Lord willeth Samuel to take him a calfe out of the flock and to say that hee is come to doe sacrifice BEcause God could succour him by ordinarie meanes hee would not have recourse to extraordinary If hee should alwayes bee doing of miracles men would not thinke his Providence so great in creating the second causes and if hee never used miracles hee should not perhaps be knowne to bee Almightie Where God worketh many miracles there is commonly great need of them and where there is such need there is but little faith When hee is not knowne by his Impression stamp or Image which hee hath imprinted in the things by him created then he findeth it requisite to make himselfe seene in the workes of his Omnipotencie Samuel obeyeth the Lord goeth and calleth Ishai and his sonnes to the sacrifice and looking on Eliab supposeth him to bee the man whom hee should annoynt because hee is the tallest and the goodliest of person Had the Prophet beene of the opinion of those Philosophers who have censured men of great stature to bee void of wisdome hee would not at the first sight so much have respected the talnesse of stature I for my part am not of that opinion but doe hold it to bee most false IF those Philosophers beleeved the neerenesse of the braine to the stomack doth trouble the operations of the understanding and if they have also imagined to themselves that the vitall spirits which ascend from the heart may bee made animall spirits for the service and operation of the Braine are unapt for such effect unlesse they bee first somewhat cooled because of the incompatibilitie of wisedome with heat wherefore have they not also affirmed the taller sort of men to be wiser than the little as having their Braine farther distant from the perturbations of the stomack and their spirits not so hot by reason of their long way and larger distance from their Originall Peradventure they are deceived in that they beleeve that men are alwayes great by the forming Power through the superabundance of matter not observing that many times there concurreth with it as a principall Instrument the Quantitie of heat as it is commonly verified in those whose talnesse is accompanied with slendernesse It hath therefore been noted as a true observation that the tall men that have little heads and the little men which have great have more Braine than the rest which commeth to passe not as many have thought because the little head in the great body and the great in the little maketh a mediocrity in the ordinarie stature of men which is false if wee measure the mediocritie of the part in respect of the whole of which it is a part But because the little head in a great man is a signe that the extension did proceed of heat and by consequence that the
there would be no tides and ebbes in the world but hee that was once the greatest should alwayes so continue seeing hee could not be overcome by a lesser The Politicians would alleage Disdaine to be the cause hee that despiseth his enemie doth not strive with all his might but employing some part only and that with no great heed is often overcome by one who being weaker than hee opposeth him with the utmost of his strength and cunning One of the greatest errours that I have observed in great Potentates hath beene to see how applying their forces on an enterprise they have rather taken measure of the enemie than themselves opposing against him only so much of their strength as they conjectured to bee answerable to the present affaires and whereas with a greater power they might have beene sure of victory with an equall one they have either lost it or at least prolonged the warres with more expence of men and money It is very difficult to measure the proportion of things by their Beginnings Childrens garments must be allowed to be somewhat larger than themselves lest they growing greater the garments become too little It is enough for a meaner man if at the beginning hee bee enabled to resist a greater that so he may but get him reputation and by the meanes thereof hee can procure himselfe adherents and protectors The Giant was no sooner slaine but the Army of the Philistims being discomfited betakes it selfe to flight and the Israelites pursue and slay them THat Armie whose trust is in the straightnesse of some passage in the height of any situation in the strength of their Trenches in the valour of a man or in any one speciall thing of good defence is easily overcome by him who shall be assuredly perswaded that if he can but overthrow such a part or slay such a man or passe through the difficulties of such a hill or such fortifications he shall find no other resistance and therefore shall hee set forward very stoutly and couragiously Because men having once lost that by which they were confident they should overcome being dejected thinke there is nothing left that can defend them against the valour of their enemies But that Armie which relies upon it intire selfe equally throughout is in a manner invincible It may peradventure bee routed utterly discomfited it cannot Every one will fight to the Death because every one trusting in himselfe will not distrust of the victory untill he hath lost his life The slaughter being ended David returnes with the Giants head Saul enquires of Abner who he is Abner not knowing him goes to meet him and brings him unto Saul He askes him whose sonne hee is hee answers he is the Sonne of Ishai SEe how fading or how displeasing the memory of benefits is in Princes either Saul did not remember David or else hee was not willing to remember him Hee that but a little before had found so much favour in his sight hath now lost it both in his sight and memorie The memory of a benefit lasts well if it lasts as long as the benefit and the respect that is begotten thereby often dies before its Father If Reasons may bee rendered for the affection of a Prince towards a Courtier bee they drawne of Profit or out of Pleasure or whether accompanied with Honestie yet is it a thing but of small continuance If it follow Reason it formes a habit of which commeth satietie and if it be not grounded on Reason the ground of such affection faileth It is a vanity to thinke our selves able to yeeld a reason of the affectionate favours of Princes Those are great and slowly will they end for which there can no reason be given how they came to begin There are starres which incline them thereunto by their influences neither are those loves alwayes happie for neither are the aspects of these alwayes favourable In this manner haply that great scholler meant it though hee was not so understood when hee seemed to doubt whether any reason could be given of the Inclinations of Princes or whether they depended on the Course of their Nativitie And whereas in all other occurrents hee had shewed himselfe a friend unto reason hee never spake of this Argument or matter but made a present recourse unto Destinie which having once coupled and conjoyned with the course of the Nativity there is no doubt but he meant it by the operation of the starres Politicians may cease to teach the waies to obtaine the favour of Princes men must be borne to it not taught it A man may by his valour and wisedome make himselfe well esteemed but yet not beloved When hee had made an end of speaking the soule of Ionathan was knit with the soule of David in a knot of Amitie WOnderfull things are Friendship and Love whence they proceed with all respect and far from all presumption be it spoken men have not yet well declared for all their Philosophie Some have thought them to bee the daughters of Abundance and of Want but this were a taxing of Love and Amitie with imperfection and to deny the prime and chiefe love which wee call the holy spirit for in the three divine Persons there can bee no defect The rest of the Philosophers have deduced the originall from the similitude of the parties loving some from the Heaven some from the starres some from the temper some from the Manners some finally from the features yet peradventure they have all mistaken for if love came from the resemblance a man should rather love the male than the female and whereas Love is but seldome reciprocall it should be alwayes answered with like affection seeing one thing cannot be said to bee like another but that the other must also be like to it I beleeve that there are some Constellations conducing to Friendship and others to Love which produce in their subject a kind of lovely Character which commeth not of the Temper but rather of some I know not what celestiall impressions which the Heavens and starres with their operations have left imprinted in that tender body and that hee is most beloved that hath most thereof and that hee who hath lesse cannot be the object of Love but onely of good will or respect The reason whereof is because Beautie is the object of Love Yet not Beauty which is like unto ours but that which is greater otherwise there would not no not in Patria be any love towards God And if sometimes here we love our equall it is either because then wee see none more worthy or because wee doe not reflect thereon But onely that excellence which is in God is the adequate object of Love because that onely which is in God is the adequated object of our will and if wee could see him as hee is hee should infallibly make us love with him But because wee are here as but in Via he is not so represented to us we turne our
to be acquired so it is sometimes hurtfull because it cannot be laid aside David receives the sword of the Giant Goliah from the Priest and eats of the Shew-bread because hee found no other sword for his defence nor any other bread for his sustenance NEcessity enforceth him she sometimes makes that lawfull which at all times is not so It is a shield which being ill used workes the ruine of the world All misdeeds how hainous soever doe withdraw themselves out of the danger of the Law and in stead of being condemned to be borne withal are invested with the cloake of necessity there is no absolute necessity in man because he is a free agent if he suffer no outward violence hee hath none within him those which wee call necessities and which wee pretend that they free from the Law are made to be such by the Law They are necessary consequences by supposition having a conditionall antecedent for their foundation But the suppositions that are not authorized by the Law have no consistence for otherwise all the actions of men should bee lawfull seeing all might be necessary by supposing a conditionall antecedent before them out of which a necessary consequence should arise by supposition Therefore it is not true that necessity hath no Law but it is very true that the necessity which hath no Law is onely that which is an enemy to the Law David flies to King Achish but seeing himselfe and his vertues knowne being much afraid of his envie he faineth himselfe to bee mad and changeth his countenance before him HE that is borne into this great Theatre of the world ought to know how to suit himselfe into sundry habits that hee may bee enabled in this Comedy to represent many persons When a man sees himselfe persecuted by envy hee must like the shelfish fructified by the dew of Heaven cast away his pearle rather than bee a prey to those that have him in chase David puts on a forme of madnesse and by it brings Achish to put off his envie The countenance of the former is transformed before the eyes of the latter not that the effigies of the one is altered but the intellect of the other If it had pleased the Lord by his mercy and benignity to root up envy out of the world how many Davids would change their countenances in the presence of Achish But they that hate valor and vertue let them I beseech them tell me what thing it is they thinke they hate they hate even themselves Vertue cannot bee odious if it bee good it is faire also if it be faire it is the object of love and not of hatred The envious is an ignorant Painter or a malicious one who in drawing the vertue of others deformes it either he takes the perfections from it or addes imperfections to it and blames in another that which himselfe hath added of his owne to it or what he hath taken from it Yet this were not much if he did not also expose that picture to publike view that they who cannot see the originall might hate it Take away David out of my presence saith Achish Have I any need of mad-men THis King is one of those that when the time comes shall call themselves fooles for having beleeved wisemen to be fooles I know not which error to bee the greater either to thinke wise men to be fooles or to account fooles to bee wise men of this ignorance as out of a root arise all precipitated courses The most dangerous person that is represented and the greatest foole that can bee found is he that takes upon him to be wise David departs thence and saves himselfe in the cave of Adullam where his brethren and all his fathers house come unto him AS a foraigne warre is the onely remedy to unite the disordinate minds in Common wealths so are enmities and persecutions to make an attonement in families This is a true rule when the discords are not bloody and when proceeding no farther than to some high tearmes they are not growne to hatred Those brethren that in a sort would have hindered the fortune of David are they which now are willing to helpe him in his misery Base mindes applaud our felicities and abandon us in our disasters but they that are onely corrupted by envy retaining yet a kinde of generosity when their envy rather springs from desire of honour than malignity they run readily to assist their allies in their dangers and if they goe not to applaud them in their glory it is not for that they desire not to see them great but because they themselves would gladly be great The malecontented also gathered together to David and made him their Captaine IT is impossible but there should bee some such kinde of people in a State If the Prince be good then the evill are malecontent if he be evill the good are and some that are not displeased with the Princes government are so with their owne by which being ruinated and wasted when they have no hope in quiet courses they affect nothing but turbulencies The state ought to beware of 2. most potent enemies Hope and Despaire for these two extremes are they that molest it the greatest and the least of quality the one supposing that their good fortune calleth them to a better estate the other by their evill one are stirred to avoid the worst for this cause I suppose was that City preferred by a profest politike Writer which is inhabited by the middle sort of men The Prophet Gad adviseth David to depart to goe into the land of Iudah and Saul hearing that David was seene there complaineth greatly amongst his servants that David being not able to give them vineyards nor houses nor make them Commanders nor otherwise reward them should finde followers and he be abandoned PRinces do erre when they thinke their Rebels should not be followed in hope of reward I speake not of David who was a King and no Rebell one that was raised up and not risen against his Prince one that was flying from him and not contending against him The rewards expected of treachery are farre greater than those that are yeelded to fidelitie And what doe not they promise which promise that which is none of their owne what doe they not give before they bee well advised that it is their owne Disordinate minds are not content with ordinate rewards their troublesome heads account quietnesse their enemy and even those of a quiet disposition doe sometimes surfet of rest because the naturall desire of change makes felicity it selfe to be tedious The Subjects serving their Prince if they wil be rewarded oftentimes are driven to shew some excessive merit because there are few that thinke themselves bound to those whose service is bound to them but hee that followes a rebell hath already merited of him in that he followeth him That false proposition that to worke where one is obliged diminisheth his merit is both
pleased in him LOe here a means how one may lose his inward familiarity with a Prince and get not his favour The conspiracy of great ones where they beare great sway undoubtedly either doth ruine the favorite or trouble the state whensoever hee that is greatest with the Prince is not the greatest among them In such a case men would not bee ashamed to bow unto him to whom though hee were not the favorite he ought to bow and there would be opened unto them a cleere way without any dirty flattery or thorny danger to run a happy course betweene obsequiousnesse and odious liberty but this seldome or never happens whether by the cunning of Princes or by nature I know not This Art teacheth them that the greatest in the state may not be called into inward favour without danger of dominion from which hee is but one pace distant Nature teacheth to lift up the lowly and to beat down the mighty and this nature is dictated of God who raiseth the poore from the dunghill to place him among Princes even with the Princes of his people It is signified by the starres whose radiation is theÌ„ thought to be great powerfull and glorious which lifting men from low estate doth seat them with Princes It is finally manifested in the earth whiles it favourably cherisheth and raiseth up those plants that are not wrapt in gold that is resplendent but buried in the basenesse of the soile that is uncleane What instruction may then be giveÌ„ to favorites for eschewing the hatred of great ones The wittiest politician seems to commend such a subject as contenting himselfe to bee the greatest of the great ones in authority about the Princes cared not to exceed the meaner ones in dignity I take this to bee want of knowledge how to make ones best benefit of the fortunes that befall one or rather an abusing of them and that it is no way sufficient to extirpate envy which is rooted in favour and not in honour How many have beene seene to lose their favours with the Prince retaining still their dignity and of objects of envy to become the objects of compassion He that thinkes riches and honours are envied is deceived It is the command the applause and obsequiousnesse that they bring with them if these were separated from the King it were no desirable thing to be a King A very small reverence and a very little place is sufficient to satisfie what our bodies require but the whole world is not enough to quench the thirst of the minde which stands also with reason because the body may easily finde his object in a bodily world But the minde which is a spirit never findes it where there is no spirit It deceives it selfe sometimes in running with the body after some bodily thing as toward a proper object but no sooner is the same obtained but the errour is discovered Those pleasing tastes which some altogether sensuall doe account but as smoake which are the obsequiousnes the reverences the applauses these are the greatest food to the minde because these are the least corporeall There are a thousand other precepts written for favourites both to defend them from the hatred of the great and from every other occasion that might worke their overthrow Some also I could adde which are not mentioned by others but because they are all vaine and frivolous I will not fill up the page with such vanities and weaknesses I will say one only thing being the truest and securest course to maintaine himselfe in the Princes favour which may well be performed and may well be spoken of yet can it not be learnd nor taught which is to preserve alwaies the love of the Prince and the manner how to preserve it It is true that the favourite never falls without some cause but the same causes have not alway the same effects for sometimes they are surmounted by an affection greater than their owne if this stands firme and sure there can bee no danger if this shrinkes then the ruine is at hand not because he falls without cause but because 't is impossible not to give some cause and then the lesser have more force than at another time the greater would A constellation which would scarce have caused a simple terâ—ian in youth by consent of those that write these vanities in Astrology is sufficient to kill one in his decrepit age He that would not have his love decline let him hold both his eyes alwayes fixed upon the Prince never depart from him never seeke any other but him for as soone as he turnes his eyes to himselfe or others he is undone His greatnesse his affections his pleasures and delights must be in his Prince Neither let him thinke that by this meanes hee may misse of preferments but rather that hee shall bee sure of them and peradventure with lesse envy Hee that possesseth things that are subject to envy and takes no delight in them is rather to be pittied than envied But who is he that will doe so saving the man that is full of affection and most tenderly enamoured of his Lord It is a thing that cannot bee reduccd into Art though it bee easily knowne Affectation differs much from affection which if hee hath not let him not imitate for such imitations are odious in the schoole of love they that will maintaine themselves in the Princes favour with Art their Art failes them and they then faile with their Art David departs from the army and returnes with his men to Ziklag whereby they finde that the Amalekites have burnt the City and carried away all the inhabitants prisoners with Davids wives also and the people therewith enraged would have stoned him IT is no marvell that this multitude would have stoned innocent David men being angry seeke some subject on which they may discharge their passion yet if they finde not those that offend them they suppose whomsoever they meet to be the same yea and sometimes when there appeares before them no other on which they may revenge themselves they beat the pavement with their feet and the walls with their fists And this is no such folly as many doe imagine but an instinct of nature which feeling the heart suffocated by so great a quantity of fiery spirits seekes to ease her selfe by diverting some part of them in the exercising of some action The passions of the people are too distemperate going alwayes to extremes which is not proper to the people as they are a people but as they are a multitude in which every one hath his particular passion and participateth also with that of the others and with that participation increaseth his owne I have sometimes doubted but I say it is not a thing undoubted that in this increasing the contracting at least of the spirits hath some part considering that a multitude of people gathered together findes nothing to stay it from going whither it may goe without separating and whither