English thus Thou lyest yet I beleeue thee still I prayse thy rimes though they be ill Thou sing'st and strait I eccho thee Each health thou drinkest is pledged by me Thou crackst full loud and sowre dost vent I heare no sound nor smell no sent Playest thou with mee at any game I purposely doe loose the same Some trickes there are which thou dost act I neither doe nor tell the fact Thou nought auailest me for all this Sayest when thou diest thou wilt not misse To recompence mee Therefore I Will aske but this that thou would'st die And Terence likewise paints vs out his fashion of life and meanes of liuing as followeth Omnia habeo nec quicquaÌ„ habeo nihil cuÌ„ est nihil desit tameÌ„ But by what meanes He tels you Est genus hominum qui esse primos se omnium volunt Nec sunt hos sector Hiscâ—ogo non paro me vt rideant Sed his vltro arrideo eorum ingenia admiror simul Quicquid dicunt laudo iâ—rursum si negant laudo id quoque Negat quis nego ait aiâ— Postremo imperaut egomet mihâ— Omnia assentari is quaestâ— nunc est multo vberrimus In English thus I all things haue wher each thing seemeth scant Though nought I haue yet nothing do I vant By this meanes Some men most complete do theÌ„selues esteeme But yet in truth they are not what they seeme These I obserue yet keepe my selfe thus free That sure they shall not fasten iests on me I smile at them and eke their wits admire Speake they t' is good the same that I desire If they vnsay what they affirmed before It s better still I le praise them euermore Affirme denie as they say so say I And this I hold besâ— thriuing Policy Pliny writes that there are a kind of creature called Androgyni of a double nature resembling both sexes male and female Flatterers are of a double shape as well as these though not in their bodie yet in their mindes Foâ— sometimes they are valiant sometimes cowardly sometimes Philosophers sometimes fooles sometimes pleasant sometimeâ— sad sometimes friendes sometimes enemies For as the parties with whom they deale doe change or as their fortunes doe change so doe they Carisophus Dionysius his flatterer was of this kind who seeing Dionysius in company laughing and very merry hee laughed too though he knew not the cause Dionysius perceiuing it asked him why he laughed because said he I thinke that which moues you to laughter is worth laughing at And this for the most part is the signe of a flatterer Sometimes also it is the marke of a foole This flattery is the sweet baite of enuie the cloake of malice the great pestilence of the world a monster vgly to behold if it might be seene very dangerous to trust if it might bee knowne It hath as many heads as Hydra to inuent wickednesse as many hands as Briaraeus to commit euill as many eyes as Argos to behold vengeance as swift legs as Thalus to goe to naughtinesse entring into euery mans house with a toung as sweete as hony hauing his heart as bitter as gal of whom the old Prouerbe is spoken Mel in ore verba lactis fel in corde frausin factis This flatterer is one as Ouid saith that denieth with the negatiue and affirmeth with the affirmatiue weepeth with him that is sad and laugheth with him that is mery As somtimes Clisophus when his master Philip king of Macedonia and father to Alexander the Great halted because hee had the gout hee would halt likewise and when the King was merry in his drinke Clisophus would not bee sad and whatsoeuer Philip did take in hand Clisophus would maintaine Aristippus the Philosopher could better please King Dionysius with adulation then Dion the Siracusan could pleasure him with Philosophy truth Cleo could better accomplish the desire and lust of Alexander with forged flattery then Calistenes his counseller could preuaile with him by his counsell Who could moue Caesar to any thing so much as Curio the Parasite not Pompeius his sonne in law nor his onely daughter Iulia nor all the Senators of Rome might make Caesar friend or foe so much as Curio These kind of men deale with vs as Achabs false Prophets dealt with him for they assured him of great lucke and good fortune to come but it fell out otherwise euen so they vse to flatter vs and put vs in hope of verie good fortune successe to come and in the meane while they passe with silence the truth present Adulatoris verba saith one sunt iniquitas dolus The words of a flatterer are wickednesse and deceit it is a cancred disease and such a one as groweth vpon vs and though at the first it seeme but little yet for all that it taketh deepe hold and payes vs home at the latter end These are the Sirens that with their sweet inchaunting musicke cause some to fall vpon Scylla some vpoÌ„ Charibdis These are the whores daughters of Megara soothing men in their faults as they did the daughters of Proserpina These are the infernall Priestes disswading from all good proposed and from all right intended and from any thing that is pleasing to God But contrarily perswaders of all vncleannesse wickednesse obscoenitie and iniustice and as one saith well Incipiunt â placebo sed in fine sepeliunt in peccatis There are of this wicked crew some sorts who so they may please care neither why nor what they praise Salomon counts these no fit Company for vs. The wounds of a louer are faithfull but the kisses of an enemie are to be shunned He also telles the flatterers their reward He that praiseth his friend with a loud voyce rising earely in the morning it shall be counted to him as a curse And these flatterers for the most part vse this trade eyther for hope of fauour or gaine and therefore you shall finde theÌ„ most commonly in the company of such men as are in dignitie and place wherefore as one saith well These sort of flatterers are worse then crowes for they feede onely vpon dead carrion but these vpon liuing men For as no vermine will breede where they finde no warmth no vulture sleepe where there is no prey no flies swarme where there is no flesh no pilgrime creepe where there is no Crosse so there is no Parasite or flatterer wil lurke where he findes no gaine And in these flatterers you may obserue two great faults The first is whatsoeuer they praise say or do they do it ficte non vere fainedly not from the heart and therefore they are a dissembling vnthankful kind of people Secondly whatsoeuer they say or do they doe it not to the glorie of God or good of their neighbour but to their owne priuate ends and in this respect they are seruile And certainly these kind of people are most hurtfull wicked wherefore I could wish that all men were
and that any thing is to be gotten by leauing his olde friend he will not only leaue him but turne to his enemy and do him all the mischiefe that hee can but for his new great Master whatsoeuer he either likes or dislikes approues or disauows loues or hates he is of the same minde Againe at any publicke Assembly where many are to speake of some one matter whatsoeuer the flatterer speaketh it is to please some priuate person not for the publicke profite making sure that his great Master shal haue first spoken that he may be sure not to differ from him but that whatsoeuer he hath spoken be it good or badde may by him bee applauded and if that in any thing that he hath spoken before any thing hath slipt from him that hath not pleased he thanks his Reformer and his note is quite changed and as it were out of his great loue will extoll this man beyond measure for things that peraduenture deserue reproofe and do like him that went about to perswade Iustinian the Emperour that he should neuer die but be carried to heauen with his naturall bodie in the flesh Or like Varus Seminê° the great Orator who amongst many other his flattering speeches to Augustus said that they who called him Caesar knew not his greatnesse and they that called him not Caesar were ignorant of his humanity This man you shall alwaies find to be in a vniformity with al your conditions do you but sometimes alter your course in shew you shall finde him to goe as the winde doth lie and if you change into formes neuer so contrary he will change too for he hath no vniforme aequality in all his actions and intentions because he hath no permaneÌ„t seat of his manners no setled opinon in any thing because he hath wholly set himselfe ouer to content and please others no vniforme course of life because he is neuer like himselfe but variable and changeable from one forme to another But this is somewhat open and plaine flattery and therefore doth the lesse hurt because it is sooner found out and auoyded But there are other flatterers more cunning and therefore more dangerous For plaine flatterie is easily discerned as plainely to affirme or denie according as another doth the same so that any may see this fellowe plainely when perhaps he cannot discerne the other who when hee flatters seemes to reproue and when hee most flatters seemes to be most opposite against it therefore this fellow we had neede to be most carefull of and to search narrowly into all his shifts and deuices lest he deceiue vs. Of this sort was Agis Argiuus a cunning flatterer who seeing Alexander to bestow great gifts and rewards on a certaine ridiculous fellow exclaimed that it was a very absurd thing for Alexander to bestow giftes on such a fellow as this Alexander hearing his voyce demanded what he said Indeede saith hee I must needs confesse that I cannot endure to see that all yee that are descended from Iupiter should be so much delighted and taken with flatterers For as Iupiter had Vulcan for his foole and Hercules Cercopes and Bacchus tooke great delight in Syllanus euen so such as these are in account and respected by you Tacitus also recites a very good example of a flatterer in this kinde Tiberius the Emperor comming into the Senate there rose vp a certain flatterer who said it was fit that euery one should speake freely and in things belonging to the Republique no man ought to hold his peace Tiberius and all the rest expected what he should say Heare saith he Caesar a thing that we much blame in you though none dare confesse it openly you spend your selfe too much for vs wearing your bodie with daily and nightly labors in cares for the Republique neuer respecting your owne health and safety but our good and profite This kind of flatterie which comes so neere to the colour of franckenesse and libertie of speech is indeede most dangerous For who knowes not that franknesse and liberty of speech is a remedy against flattery and it that which should be remedy against it be vsed as a meanes to flatter withall it cannot bee but very dangerous and these that doe thus if they finde out any petty faults they keepe a great coile and cry out against vs for them but if wee haue neuer so many great grosse faults those they winke at Which kind of flattery as Plutarch saith may very well be compared to Hercules in a play with his great club which shewes to bee heauy and massy though indeede it be but light filled with nothing but wool or such like stuffe Euen so this kind of free speech which a flatterer vseth will bee found to bee light and of no force to giue a blow as for example if your clothes be not of the new fashion or your beard not of the new cut your band not stiffe enough your pecadill ill made your cloke not brusht or the like here they wil find great fault with you for neglecting your self that haue so handsome proportionable a body being so carelesse to set it forth But say that a man should set nought by his parents neglect his children abuse his wife despise his kinred spend wastfully and consume his goods none of all these would touch or moue him here hee is mute hath not a word to say these hee will take no knowledge of nor reproue and amongst these sort of flatterers they are most cunning who reproue men for the contrary vices to those that are in them and so still feede them in their owne as to a miser if they can by any meanes spie any sparke of spending for as the Prouerbe saith Whose feast so great as a misers presently with great ferueÌ„cy they blame him for his great spending and prodigality and for that hee hath so little care of his owne estate To a slaÌ„derer whose pleasure delight is through spite and enuy to backe-bite and wrong his neighbour if so bee that at any one time he chance to coÌ„mend some worthy person they presently in a great seeming rage say thus vnto them This is a fault you euer haue to coÌ„meÌ„d persons of no worth why should you coÌ„mend him what good haue you euer receiued by him or what good parts doe you know in him and the like againe if there be any variance betweene friends brethren or kinsfolkes they seeke not to appease or remedie it but still stir the coles saying thus It is well enough you will neuer see nor know who you are you are the cause of all your selfe selfe doe selfe haue you were alwayes so plyable and so submisse toward them that you are nowe but right serued And thus after this manner those vices that wee haue inhabitant within vs they seeke to ingraffe and settle for euer remouing There are some other flatterers as cunning in their kinde as these some will not praise a
of Achilles mind who as Homer reportes Hated not the gates of Hell so much as he did them that spake otherwise then they thinke But what minde soeuer we are of wee had need thus to hate them for they are of this nature that though they be reiected they will please though they be thrust out of doores they will be receiued againe they are such as hang vpon vs while our fortunes bee good but if they change then they leaue vs and therefore they are vnprofitable and wicked companions Of this sort were the Eunuches of Iezabel who whilst she was in prosperity serued and followed her with great diligence care but whē she was in aduersity King Iehu had no sooner said the word Cast her downe but they cast her downe They are most diligent obseruers of the time then to vent their flatterie when men are most likely to giue eare vnto them and therefore then aboue all times wee need to be most watchfull ouer them for if they take but the least hold they will hardly loose againe Dolus saith S. Augustine duplicat cor adulatio duplicat linguam deceit makes a double heart flattery makes a double tongue these two in this vice can not bee separated for where the tongue saith one thing and the heart thinketh another when the heart thinks one thing the tongue speaketh an other or as one saith wel When the thoughtes goe West and the tongue East there is the disease Therefore flattery cannot consist without dissimulation nor dissimulation without flatterie Now seeing flatterers are so smooth and false a kind of people to deceiue and intrappe vs wee neede to bee verie carefull in the choyse of our companie our friendes and our Counsellers and to choose such as are Timentes Deum veritatem amantes Fearers of GOD and louers of the truth such as so desire to please their friends that they may be thereby profited and not hurt such as with the Apostle Had rather please God then men And seeing is is hard to find out such a one let vs follow the counsel of a wise man Amici tibi sint multi consiliarius autem vnus though our friendes be many let our counsellers be but few And let them be such as are haters of this detestable vice which Diogenes calleth Lethale mulsum poyson in a cup of Gold a beautifull whore faire without but foule within and which Tully cals Mercenarium praeconium Simonides compares these kinde of men to cookes who do sweeten with sawces those kind of meats w ch of themselues be bitter sharp euē so flatterers verbis coquinarijs that I may vse the prouerb do sooth vs in those things which indeed ought to be rebuked and reprooued and with their well cooked and drest words doe as it were make vs to haue so good an opinion of our selues that wee count those things to be vertues in vs which indeed are vices and worthy of much reproofe for it is a nurse to sinne and the practisers of it are hatefull seruile base Quintus Curtius saith that more kings and kingdomes are ouerthrowne by this close flattery then by publike enemies It is a poyson dangerous to euery particular person but indeede farre more dangerous to the person of a king and state It is worse then false witnesse for that corrupts not the Iudge but deceiues him only causing him to giue an ill sentence against his will and iudgement but this corruptes the iudgement inchauntes the Spirit and make vs vnapt to be further instructed in any good If the corruption of this vice once take footing in any great man this mischiefe necessarily followes that all that liue about him if they desire to bee in grace and fauour must necessarily be flatterers it being a thing as pernicious as truth is excellent for it is the corruption of truth and a base vice as ill beseeming a man as impudencye a woman O sucking Serpent of cankred malice whose best fruit is death danger If king Antigonus had knowne the flattery of his fained friend Apollophanes he had not bene deceiued as hee was if king Astyages had throughly knowne Harpages his seruāt he had not beene so shamefully murdred amongest the Parthians How did Aeneas the Troian Prince deceiue Queene Dido but with flattery How did Demopon the Graecian beguile Queene Phillis but with adulation And how many such Kinges Queenes and great persons haue bene allured by this faire speech flattery we haue it recorded and that in such it still runnes the same current experience wil shew Who murthered Caesar that worthy Emperour in the Senate house at Rome Brutus and Cassius those flatterers that he loued most Who poisoned that mighty conquerer Alexander in midst of his triumphes at Babylon Those that flattered him most his owne cupbearer Iola his kinsman Antipater Who betrayed that famous Romane Cicero vnto his great enemy Marcus Antonius euen Popilius whom before Cicero had defended saued from death And finally who betrayed Christ both God and man vnto the Scribes and Pharises His own purse bearer that flattering Iudas embracing kissing him as flatterers vse to doe This flattery was the first vndoer of vs al and the diuell the serpent put it in vre to deceiue Eue for where is there greater deceit practised then where courtesie is most tendred where more falshoode tried then where trust is most reposed This is our domesticall enemy and it hath a poyson though the poyson be hid for it hurts most where it is least feared These flatterers are the greatest nuslers vp of pride that can be these be they that go vnder the name of friends therefore should be a meanes to withdraw vs from vice whereas by their flattring praises they increase settle them in vs like those that Ezekiel speaks of who sowe pillowes vnder our armeholes and with their faire words and flattering speeches so please vs that we may sin more sweetly To these as the Prophet saith so say I Woe vnto them for as oyle cause th◠fire to flame so this flattery doth minister nourishment food vnto errours Wherfore it is very dangerous to beleeue a flatterer for vnder the person of a sweete friend he is a most bitter enemy who increases all vices settles them in vs either by consent approbation or extenuation as calling anger seuerity fury zeale rashnesse boldnesse pride fortitude pusillanimitie humility couetousnesse parcimony or the like These are the chaffe that God will separate from the good corne at the latter day and these kind of men we need carefully to auoid as hypocrites deceiuers and impostures These are the diuels Angels that can transforme themselues into Angels of light such as onely haue the outward shew of good but are most vile and dangerous This flattery hath onely in the frontispice of it the name of friendship for it is onely outwardly in shew not inwardly in the heart And it
this is so great an aduersary to a good conscience that when she is about to play her iust part of accusation he stops her mouth with good termes and well neare strangles her with shifts with well painted and dissembled perswasions for poison is not giuen vs but in a sweet potion We like well to be praised but it would bee farre better if wee would seek to deserue those praises What was it that made Ptolemaeus to put on the masque or as it were the habit of a piper What was it that caused Nero Caesar to mount vp the stage act Tragedies with a visard on his face and buskins on his legs was it not the praise of Flatteries If he be drunken you honor him with the name of Bacchus the God of wine and if he doe but wrastle or try any feats of actiuity they stile him with the glorious addition Hercules What thinke you are you not perswaded that by this grosse flattery men are brought to great dishonour and shame yes certaine it is the only way to cast vs head-long into mischieuous sinfull and ridiculous actions for we suffering our selues to be flattered that once taking hold of vs our estate is so dangerous that wee are made certainly to beleeue and make account of our chiefest vices as our greatest vertues and account vertue to be vice so that it is vnpossible for any good man to winne his fauour from whence as I said before this Prouerbe comes Obsequium amicos veritas odium parit The reason is this by reason that now we for the most part do seek such as please our humors and blame vs least contemne the other for he alwaies praises his Lords vice with resemblance of some vertue neare vnto it but the true friend neuer seeks to smooth vp our faults but laies them open vnto vs thereby that wee might more easily see our vices and amend them Happy are they that haue such friends and they most vnhappy that giue eare vnto these false deceauers Wherefore we neede to withstand it in the beginning for it is so dangerous that whomsoeuer is willing to be soothed vp it hurts not only for the present but leaues the relikes and remainder of it in our minds that although they be gone from vs yet still the ill remaines with vs like them who heare Musicke though that be ended yet carry with them the harmonious sweetnes of the sound that takes impression in their minds euen so the wicked and flattering praises of flatterers remaine longer with vs then the time of our hearing them and as it is not easie to put out of our minds a sweet and pleasant sound and although sometimes wee forget it yet oftentimes it comes into our head againe so fareth it with flatterers wee should therefore bee deafe to their ill voices auoide them in the beginning We had all need to bee carefull of this both fathers and children for they waying the old age of the one and youth of the other present to both by their lewd wicked coūcell an ineuitable baite namely pleasure wherewith for the most part they are sure to be caught and seeing that if it once but take hold it is so dangerous and if so dangerous to all then in a farre greater measure more dangerous to youth therfore all fathers need to be most carefull in the bringing vp of their children to keepe such out of their society and company for there are no kinde of men doe more hurt to them then these flatterers Fathers exhort their sonnes to sobriety these to drunkennes Fathers perswade to labour trauell these to play and idlenesse Fathers perswade chastity cōtinency these prouoke lust and loosenesse of life Fathers perswade sparing thriftinesse these spending wastfulnesse And thus you see how Fathers good hopes are bereaued by these wicked and cursed generation Hypocrites pretending friendship but full of false and deceiptfull dealing those as sooth flatter the rich contemne and despise the poore such as are so base that though they bee free borne yet choose voluntarily to be slaues Therefore all fathers shall doe well to keepe their children from these who are enough to corrupt mar and spoile the best natures in the world a people that are hurtfull and dangerous to al sorts of men deceiuing the credulous back biting the absent They are the only snare that wisemē are deceiued w th al I now speak not of the palpablest sort of flatterers but they who make lest shew of it to them are most dangerous Such as cloke their flattery vnder shew of friendship as in prouocation of mirth officiousnes in our busines in conformity of manners all which in a true friend are tokēs of friendship and loue but in him are only the shadowes of friendship and loue that he may thereby the more cunningly and craftily deceiue those he hath to do withall These kinde of men are like the Dog of a certaine sheepheard who was set by his Master to keepe sheepe and before him seemed to bee very carefull in the looking to them and therefore by the sheepheard was kept very well to the end hee should not neede to feede vpon his sheepe and by him was put only in trust and yet for al this the dog at his fittest time killed stale the sheep The sheep heard at last found it out and threatned to kill his dog who thus pleaded for himselfe saying you will not hurt me for I am one of your houshold seruants you should rather be reuenged of the wolfe that cōtinually doth you this hurt and dammage Nay quoth the sheepeheard I thinke you more worthy of punishment then hee for he professes open warre vnto me but you vnder pretext of loue and friendship continually decrease my flocke By this fable you may see that they farre more deserue to be punished who hurt vs vnder shew of loue then they who denounce publike enmity vnto vs the one we know his ill mind vnto vs but the other we take for our friend though indeed he bee farre otherwise and comes no more neare it then like glasse a thing of no regard which resembles christall a matter of great worth so he by his flattery which is vile and wicked only imitates friendship which is precious and deare and now the reason why flattery is so hardly discerned is this because that in euery motion of the mind it is glosingly entermingled with friendship though if you truly vnmaske him they haue no resemblāce And yet for all this it is strange to see how wonderfully wise and great men are ouercome by this and deceiued As for example Nero who whē Tyridates his enimy and Prince of Armenia was conquered by Corbulon and brought vnto him Hee falling downe vpon his knees said I Tyridates nephew of Arsacus brother to King Vologesus and Pacorus am your seruant came hither to worship you my Lord and God as the Sunne for you
are my fate and fortune This his flattery did so far worke with Nero that he did not only restore him to his former Kingdome but also sent him away laden with many giftes which as my author saith amounted to the summe of two million of crownes Thus you see that these flatterers as they are hurtfull to all and profitable to none yet of all sorts of men most dangerous to Princes and yet by them chiefly accepted For these great men it now adaies being such a means to get credit and preferment shall haue their kinsfolkes friends and principall officers who professe this mysterie and such as they could not well auoid if they would By such as these was Alexander that great King and Philosopher deceiued for by these they are so assaulted that though they withstand it yet it pleaseth and though they oppose themselus against it yet they cā hardly shut it out of doores Vnde saepe exclusa nouissime recipitur but now these great persons are so farre from auoiding it that whatsoeuer they do they will do it vncontrouled whatsoeuer comes into their heads they will headlong goe through with all and whatsoeuer they doe by these flatterers you are sure to be soothed vp so that these are his only cōpanions councellors and friends none but these or such as these custome hath brought him to that habit that he will endure to haue about him who vnder the shape of humanity beare sway and rule for who is now more made off then hee that ought least to bee esteemed Who is now more trusted then he that deceiueth soonest VVho is heard more at all times then he that ought least to come in sight at any time who hath more of all men then hee that deserues least of all men and to conclude who is more beloued in euery place then hee that ought most to bee hated in all places The Medes and Persians who kneeled vnto Alexander and made him the sonne of Iupiter were more esteemed for their flattery then the nobles of Macedonia for their truth These kind of men are not only dangerous to great men but women also had neede to haue an antidote against them for to them this is exceeding dangerous and no more ordinary way to corrupt their chastity thē by this means by feeding and entertayning them with the commendation of their personage beauty behauiour discourse or the like for they by their naturall inclination are full of vanity and desirous of praise Moreouer what hath done greater hurt to commonwealths then these flatterers therfore these generation of vipers ought to be extirped and rooted out The Citty Troy which Agamemnon in ten whole yeares could not subdue poore Sinon with his flattery allured the minde of King Priamus deceiued the Nobles and intised the Cittizens by his adulation to their vtter confusion and ruine That auncient and renowmed Citty of Babylon when King Darius with all the power of Persia lōg wars losse of men his owne strength force was not able to vanquish any part of it then Sopyrus a Cittizen borne through forged faith and filed flattery betrayed the Citty vnto king Darius That famous Citty of Olinthus which the puissant Prince Philip of Macedon could neuer destroy yet Lasthenes with flattery ouercame gaue them to their enimies hands King Philip. To speake of the most ancient Lacedemonians for their wars the most famous and worthy people of the world whom neither Medes Persians Macedonians nor all Greece could vanquish before are now deceiued by the flattery of Phrenitius The people of Samos were deceiued by false Apollonius Menelaus was beguiled by the flattery of Paris Dion of Syracusa was slaine by his flattering friend Calicrates Thus you may see how flattery and adulation is to Princes and Prouinces vtter ruine desolation and decay By flattering of the Prince they leade and keep him in his vices and errors to his great shame by flattering of the people they make themselues popular and so by that meanes striue to deuise a way to set themselues vp by the deposing of their lawfull Prince Therfore Princes neede to be very carefull neither to suffer flatterers about themselues nor allow any to make themselues popular by flattering of the people VVhat a shame was it thinke you to Edward the second to suffer such a base fellow as Pierce Gauestone wholly to rule and gouerne him what credit was it for the same King to suffer himselfe to be led away to all wickednesse by two lewd wicked fellowes Spencers both the Father and the Sonne But Princes must haue a double care not only to keepe themselues from being flattered but their people also and to obserue who seeke popularity of their people for this is a true maxime that whatsoeuer subiect doth seeke popularity doth neuer desire it with any good and honest intent VVhat was Absolons meanes in his treason against his father was it not his making himselfe popular by flattering of the people if you reade the story you will say so Vers. 2. And Absolon rose vp early and stood hard by the entring in of the gate and euery man that had any matters came to the King for iudgement Him did Absolon call vnto him and say Of what Citie art thou And he answered thy seruant is of one of the Tribes of Israel 3. Then Absolon said vnto him See thy matters are good and righteous but there is no man deputed of the King to heare thee 4. Absolon said moreouer Oh that I were made Iudge in the land that euery man which hath any matter or controuersie might come to me that I might doe him iustice 5. And when any man came neere vnto him and did him obeysance he put forth his hand and tooke him and kissed him 6. And on this manner did Absolon to all Israell that came to the King for iudgement so Absolon stole the hearts of the men of Israell What was it that raised Caesar to that great height and dignity that he was in Suetonius reports that it was by his exceeding great popularity in winning the hearts of the people What was it that set vp Henry Bullingbrooke in stead of the lawfull King Was it not his flattering and soothing vp of the people What was it that set vp Richard the third that Tyrant and vsurper Was it not his flattering pleasing of the people the like being done by his friends the flattering Oration of the Duke of Buckingham and a Sermon of Doctor Shawe Thus you see you shall hardly finde any treason eyther against Prince or State but this was the chiefe way and meanes and this being so dangerous as I said before so I say againe euery King that desires his safetie neede to be as carefull as he can not to suffer any subiect to make himselfe popular by flattering of the people How dangerous this is to all estates Prince and people Countrey and Citie man and woman it hath already
man himselfe but inuēt some good thing which he faines hee heard some body speaking of him abroade which he will say he was very glad to heare herein imitating the Rhetoricians who many times in their Orations vse the third person for the first another will inuent some ill which hee faines he heard spoken of you which when hee tels you you knowing it to be vntrue and denying it then hee takes liberty to praise you falling into your commendations shewing how farre you euer were from such and such vices as hee reports you were taxed withall others if a man bee giuen to any vices they will not commend them but approue them by discōmending the cōtrary vertues as calling temperance rusticity and such as liue within their estates misers and so forward towards the maintayning of any vice they thinke a man hath a mind to One that is well conceipted of himselfe and his owne iudgement thus they assaile They will make an errand to him for his coūsaile in some waighty affaires or busines of theirs as esteeming his wit and iudgement farre aboue their owne and his opinion being heard be it what it will he will fall into admiration of him preferring his counsaile opinion before any that hee hath heard But if a man suspect this in any one the way to finde him out is this to giue him some absurd counsaile he shall finde he comes prepared to commend it whatsoeuer it be Therefore all these flatterers let vs auoide and bee carefull in the choise of our friends lest in stead of an honest friend we find a false flatterer and that we be not deceiued let vs obserue the difference betwixt them both Friendship takes no pleasure to bee imployed in ill and dishonest actions but in any thing that may be for the profit and good of his friend none so willing as hee But the flatterer is quite contrary whose friendship is farre worse then open enmity for from them we may get or gaine somthing but from the flatterer nothing is to bee gotten but reproch mischiefe and dammage Therefore it is not good to keepe such friends as shall raise themselues by our fall hurt nor such as loue our meate and meanes in a higher degree then they loue our selues for none of these sort lōger then our purse perswades them will bee your friends But he that is a true friend hath his affection grounded vpon loue and vertue and no waues of contrary ill fortune will alter or stir him Where as the flatterer leaues vs in the lurch flies to our aduersaries and commonly is the chiefe cause of our ruine and destruction Againe a true friend imitates not all he seeth his friend doe nor commends any thing but that which is good wheras a flatterer contrariwise like a Camelion that can turne himselfe to all colours but white can frame himselfe to any thing but good A friend orders frames all his actions to the good of his friend but a flatterer bends all his actions to his own proper good A true friend modestly blames his friends vices in his presence and praises his vertues in his absence but a flatterer alwaies exaltes him in his presence rather for his vices then his vertues behinde his backe blames him and defames him makes his vaunts that hee only possesseth him gouernes him at his pleasure and makes him doe what he will The true friend serues for a healthfull medicine but the flatterer is as a sweet poison A true friend preserues a man in his estate and wealth but a flatterer precipitates him to ruine and destruction Flattery for the most parte respectes it owne particular benefit and thereby is knowne but friendshippe seeketh not the good of it selfe The Flatterer is diuers in his iudgements like waxe or a looking Glasse that receiues many formes he is a Camelion a Polypus faine to praise or dispraise alwayes commodating himselfe to the mind of him hee Flattereth A friend is firme and constant a Flatterer vexeth himselfe too violently in all that hee doth in the viewe and knowledge of him hee Flattereth euer praising and offering his seruice Non imitatur amicitiam sed praeterit he hath no moderation in his outward actions and contrariwise inwardly hee hath no affection which are conditions quite contrarie to a true friend A flatterer alwayes giues the victorie to him he Flatters alwayes applauding hauing no other end then to please whereas a true friende respectes not so much how he may please as how hee may profit A friend alwayes respectes procures and attempts that which is reason honestie and dutie The flatterer that which belongs to passion and pleasure and that which is already a malady in the minde of him that is flattered therfore he is a friend to licentiousnesse and an enemie to all plaine dealing and honesty Euery man by nature hath these two parts within him the one part is giuen to truth and honestie the other to vntruth and withall passionate the true friend euer assisteth the better part in giuing counsell and comfort the Flatterer applyeth himselfe to the other part which is voide of reason and full of passion still feeding and pleasing it by deuising some vicious and dishonest pleasures that they quite diuert it from the rule of reason and they are like some kind of meat which neither breedeth good blood nor engendreth spirits nor addes vigor nor strength to any man but all the good they doe is either to prouoke lust or breede some fogges rotten humours that are neither fast nor sound So if a man looke narrowly to a Flatterer he shall neuer find any good to com from him but find them to be sowers of dissensiō breeders of enuie exasperaters of men to lewdnes nursers of prodigalitie perswaders to diffidence and distrust in our friends to base and seruile timiditie alwayes making vs worse and apt to conceiue ill still soothing vs vp in our owne ill humors Art thou angrie with one punish him saith he hast thou a minde to any thing buy it and no more a doe Desirest thou this or that wench spare no cost for her saith hee winne her and weare her Suspectest thou any thing beleeue it confidently saith he And thus he behaues himselfe still soothing vs in those things that we haue but the least inclination vnto For the Office which a Flatterer seemeth to performe hath in it nothing true nothing iust nothing simple nothing liberall for it desires onely to be employed in shamefull and dishonest actions friendship only in honest ones a Flatterer seekes to pleasure vs in those thinges that are vniust And thus you see a man cannot both be a friend and a flatterer that is as much as if I should say a friend and no friend for one friend is to stand to another to assist him in doing not in misdoing in consulting and not in complotting conspiring In bearing witnesse with him of the trueth and not in circumuenting