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spirit_n	degree_n	general_n	great_a	47	3	2.1572	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62424	The annals and history of Cornelius Tacitus his account of the antient Germans, and the life of Agricola / made English by several hands ; with the political reflecions and historical notes of Monsieur Amelot De La Houffay and the learned Sir Henry Savile.; Works. 1698	Tacitus, Cornelius.; Lipsius, Justus, 1547-1606.; Dryden, John, 1631-1700.; Bromley, William, 1664-1732.; Potenger, John, 1647-1733.	1698 (1698)	Wing T101; ESTC R17150	606,117	529

three Mu●al and fourteen Civick had never but one Ob●idional Crown The Civick was of Oak or Holm and was given for saving the Life of a Citizen and killing him who was going to take it away The Mural and the Camp or Trench Cr●●m was given to those who first mounted the Breach or Forced the Enemy's Camp Which was represented by Battlements or Pallisadoes engraved on these Crowns They who obtain'd an Ovation i. e. The lesser Triumph wore a Myrtle Crown on their Heads Paterculus saith that Agrippa Son-in-Law to Augustus was the first Roman who was honoured with a Naval Crown Hist. 2. Ch. 87. This sort of Crown had for distinction the Beaks of Ships engraved round it whence it was called Corona 〈◊〉 The Romans saith Cobrera used Crowns of Grass and Wood and rings of Iron to exclude mercenary rewards by separating Profit from Glory and to engrave the Love of Virtue on their Hearts with the graving Instrument of Honour Ch. 12. of the 8th Book of his History Rewards of this kind saith a Modern Author have no bounds because the Royal Power is a Fountain whence new Honours and new Dignities incessantly spring as Rays of Light every moment emane from the Sun which are so far from exhausting that they increase its light Chap. 9. of the Politicks of France and other Military H●nours 1 It is not the matter of the Gift which is regarded in these rewards but the Opinion which Men have of them Their Esteem is not paid to the Mettal of the Collar of the Crown or of the Cross but to the Reason for which they are given Thus it signifies little whether these Exterior Marks be of Gold Silver Brass Wood or Stuff These are Arms of Inquest which by exciting the Curiosity of those that see them draw Respect and Admiration on him that wears them T. Labienus having given Golden Bracelets a Military Gift which Soldiers wore on the left Arm to a Trooper who had perform'd some great actions Scipio said to this Trooper for whom he had a great Esteem You have the share of a rich Man as much as to say You have not the share of a Soldier The Trooper blushing at this Raillery went and threw this Present at the Feet of Labienus after which Scipio his General having sent him Bracelets of Silver he esteem'd himself highly honour'd therewith An instance that it is easie for Princes to reward their Soldiers and Servants ●t a Cheap Rate and that brave Men set a Greater Value upon that which honours them than upon that which enriches them Sebastian King of Portugal presenting a Sword set with precious Stones to the young Duke of Pastrana the Son of Ruy Gomez de Silva Prince of Eboli this Duke who was but fifteen years old immediately unsheath'd it and touching the Blade without regarding the precious Stones said It is very good Cabrera Chap. 10. Lib. 11. of his Philip II. To conclude Princes give what value they please to things and Iron and Lead are more precions in their hands when they know how seasonably to make use of them than Gold is in the hands of Subjects If the shameful Hair of a Lady of Bruges hath served for the Occasion and Institution of an Order of which the Kings of Spain and the Emperors of Germany think it a Glory to wear the Collar what is there so Base and Vile which may not furnish Princes with an inexhaustible Fund wherewith to recompence Great Men. which Armenius ridicul'd as base prizes of Slavery X. Whereupon they begin to be hot Flavius extols the Roman Grandeur and the Power of the Emperor His Severity towards those that are Conquer'd and his Clemency towards those that submit and that his Wife and his Son were well treated Arminius on the other hand insists on the Rights of his Countrey their ancient Liberty the Tutelar Gods of Germany and adds that it was their common Mother's request as well as his own that he would at last chuse rather to be the General of his own Nation than the Deserter and the Traytor of it They proceeded by degrees to bitter reproaches 1 The Interviews of Great Men do rather exasperate than sweeten their Spirits for there is always something said either by themselves or by those that accompany them whence they take an occasion to part Enemies and had certainly come to blows notwithstanding the River was betwixt them had not Stertinius ran and held Flavius who in a Rage 2 Even those who have renounc'd their Honour and who glory in their Wickedness are offended when they are call'd Traytors Flavius had patiently endur'd the cutting Raillery of Arminius who had reproach'd him with being a Slave of the Romans irridente Arminio vilia servitii pretia but so soon as his Brother call'd him Traytor he could no longer dissemble and had it not been for Stertinius who stopt him by main force he was going to revenge the Affron I cannot omit here the Answer of one Iohn Bravo when he was on the Scaffold to be beheaded at these Words of the Sentence a est●s Cavalleros por traidores which the Executioner pronounc'd with a loud Voice he cry'd out You Lie in that and all those who make you say it A Heat which did not indeed discover a Contrite Heart but it shew'd at least one that was but little stained with the Guilt of Treason Which are the words of Don Iuan Antonio de Vera in the Epitome of the life of Charles the Fifth call'd for his Horse and Arms. Arminius on the other side with a Menacing Countenance was heard to Challenge us to a Battel for he spake several words in Latin having formerly serv'd in the Roman Army as a Commander of some Auxiliaries of his own Nation XI The next Day the German Army was drawn up in Battel on the other side of the Weser Germanicus thinking it not prudence in a General to hazard the Legions 1 A good General ought never to hazard a Battel till he hath put all things in good order To begin to be in a Condition not to be Conquer'd is to begin to Conquer Lewis XI saith Commines understood this Point very well He was slow in Undertaking but when once he undertook he took such care for every thing that it was a very great chance if he did not succeed in his Enterprize Lib. 2. Cap. 13. Prosper Colonna and the Duke of Alva who took him for his Patern would never give their Enemies Battel till they were sure of gaining it Ste th● first Note of the 40th Article of the first Book Henry the IV. having sent to demand Battel of the Dukes of Parma and Maine the first answered the Herald they are the Words of Chancellor de Chiverny that the King of Spain had sent him to prevent the Alteration of the Catholick Religion in France and to raise the Siege of Paris As for the Former he had already done it and for the Latter

not to regard Dreams too much so neither ought we wholly to slight them especially when they nearly relate to the present State of Affairs for the Contempt of them is the cause that we neglect to apply Remedies to those Evils whereof they are the Fore-runners There is a prudent Mean betwixt Superstition and Incredulity which commonly proceeds from Self Love which always flatters us rather than from a true Solidity of Spirit The Queen Margaret makes a Reflection which is of great weight Some saith she hold That God doth in an especial manner protect the Great and that to Minds in which there shines some uncommon Excellency he gives by good Genius's some secret W●rnings of Accidents that are like to happen to them either of Good or Evil as to the Queen my Mother who the Night before the unfortunate Race dream'd That she saw the late King my Father wounded in the Eye as it happen'd and a●ter she awaked desired him several times not to run that Day ... Being dangerously sick at Metz and having about her Bed the King Charles my Brother my Sister and my Brother of Lorraine and many Ladies and Princesses she cried out as if she had seen the Battel of Iarna● See how they 〈◊〉 away my Son hath the Victory behold in this Lane the Prince of Conde dead All that were there believed that she raved But the Night after Monsieur de Losses bringing her the News of it I knew it well enough said she did I not see it yesterday Then they perceived that it was not the raving of a Feaver but a particular Notice which God gives to illustrious and extraordinary Persons And for my self I own that I was never near any signal Accident either Unfortunate or Prosperous of which I had not some Advertisement either by Dream or otherwise and may well say this Vers● Of my Good or my Evil My Mind is my Oracle L. 1. of her Memoirs implor'd his Assistance t Two or three Months before the Death of Henry the Fourth the Queen his Wife being in Bed with him saw in a Dream a Man who stabb'd him to Death with a Knife The News of his Death flew to Lisle in Flanders to Antwerp to Bois-le-Duc and to Mastri●h ten Days before it happen'd For it often comes to pass that the News precedes the Accident On the Eve of his Death as he a●●isted at the Coronation of the Queen a Maid named Iane Arnaud seeing him said to her Sisters Behold a dead Man who resembles the King who are buried here The Day that he was stain several Billets were thrown into his Chamber which all gave him warning of his Fate But he neglected all this as Caesar did and perished like him Homer saith That as the Dreams of common People are to be slighted because of the Weakness of their Brain on the contrary there ought to be a great Regard had to those of Persons who have the Management of State Affairs because they arise from their Experience and the continual Reflection which they make upon the great Events of Civil Life L. 2. of the Iliads Cabrera saith That Ioan of Austria Mother of Sebastian King of Portugal being with Child of him thought that one Night she saw enter into her Chamber a great many Moors clad in Habits of divers Colours The first Presage of what was to besal this Prince at the Battel of Al●asar in A●rick His Philip II. l. 11. c. 10. but that he far from answering his Request had push'd him backward At break of Day the Legions plac'd on the Wings forsook their Post whether through Fear or Disobedience is uncertain and precipitately rang'd themselves in Battel beyond the Morats Arminius did not immediately charge them though nothing hinder'd but when he saw their Baggage fasten'd in the Mire and sticking in the Ditches the Soldiers out of their Ranks and only sollicitous how to save themselves as commonly it happens on such Occasions when the Commanders are ill obey'd he encourag'd the Germans to the Charge calling to them with rep●ated Cries Behold Varus and his Legions who are offering themselves to be once more vanquish●d Having said this he forc'd through our Battalions with the flower of his Troops and charg'd impetuously on our Horse who sliding on their own Blood and floundring in the Mud of the Morats cast their Riders to the Ground and then running furiously through the Ranks crush'd those to Death who were already fallen and threw down others whom they met That which gave us the greatest Trouble was the defence of our Eagles which could not be carried into the Combat because of the multitude of Darts which were continually lanc'd against the Bearers nor yet fasten'd in the Ground by reason of the Marshes While Cecina with great Courage sustain'd this unequal Fight his Horse was kill'd under him and himself upon the point of being taken if the First Legion had not hasten'd to his Succour On the other side the Enemy was so greedy of the Spoil that they intermitted the Slaughter to seize the Prey This Covetousness of theirs was the safety of the Legions for it gave them the opportunity of making their Retreat 2 The greediness of Soldiers who are commonly more intent upon Enriching themselves than upon Fighting is the cause that there is scare ever a compleat Victory This is an Evil that seems to be without Remedy seeing that after so many Ages the Prudence and Severity of Princes and Generals have not been able to put a stop to it at the close of Day into a Plain where the Footing was ●irm and the Ground solid But the end of their Miseries was not yet come They were of necessity to make new Palisades and new Retrenchments though they had lost the greatest part of their Instruments which were to be employ'd in casting up the Earth and cutting of the Turfs They wanted Tents to receive the weary Soldiers and Salves to dress the Wounded Their Food which they divided into Portions was soak'd in Mire and Blood and they deplor'd that fatal Night which only hid them till the approach of Day which was to be the last to so many Thousands of valiant Men 3 Reflections of this kind do Soldiers no good because they serve only to abate their Courage witness the false Alarm spoken of in the following Chapter LX. By chance a Horse who was broken loose from his Standing and terrifi'd with the Cries of his Pursue●s bore down those whom he encounter'd in his way The whole Camp possess'd with a panick Fear took th● Alarm every one believing that the Germans 1 When an Army hath been beaten it is very subject to take false Alarms And it is on these Occasions saith Xenophon that a General is much perplex'd for the more he encourages his Soldiers the greater they imagin is the Danger Quanto magis j●beat illos bo no esse animo tanto existimabunt in majore se esse

cannot take away and likewise against that of the Publick where more Persons would be gratified and requited if Places were Triennial as in Spain The Fable of the Fox which being fallen into a Pit where the Flies sorely stung and tormented him refused the assistance of the Hedghog who proffered to drive them away Because saith he if you drive away these others will come half starv'd and exhaust all the Blood I have left This Fable I say which Tiberius alledged as a Reason on which his Maxim was founded concludes nothing in favour of Governments for Life because the Fear of being no more employed and the hope of rising from one Post to another more considerable will serve as a Curb and Restraint to Triennial Officers Besides such a frequent Removal inclines People to bear the more patiently with the Governours they dislike in hopes of better e're long Cardinal Richelieu contends for the Custom of France that is to say for Governments during Life but I may say that in this matter he was influenced by the consideration rather of the Ministry he was invested withal than of the Publick for seeing the Governments were disposed of absolutely at his Pleasure 't was his Interest they should be Perpetual because his Relatives and Dependants on whom he bestowed the most Valuable might then render him more puissant and favourable in the Provinces where they commanded than they possibly could d● in case their Administration had been only Triennial And this is so true that if we compare the Arguments he offers for one and the other in the Second Section of the Fifth Chapter in the First Part of his Politick Testament it will be easie to discern that the practice of Spain in changing Governours so often did not to himself appear altogether so pernicious for France as he was willing to have it thought in this place Insomuch that had he remained Bishop of Luson or Secretary of State he had been able as well to defend the contrary Opinion which he in part inclines to towards the close of the same Paragraph where he thus speaks I am not afraid to say it is better in this particular to keep to the Usage of France than to imitate that of Spain which nevertheless ●s grounded on such Policy and Reason with respect to the largeness of its Territories that although it cannot be conveniently reduced to Practice in this Realm yet in my Iudgment it would do well to be observed in such parts of Lorrain and Italy as shall continue under the Dominion of France I conclude therefore agreeably with him That since Countries remote from the Residence of their Princes require change of Governours because continuance for Life may make them have a mind to throw off the relation of Subjects or Subordinates and set up for Supream and Masters of themselves the Custom of Spain will become absolutely necessary to France if she go on to extend her Frontiers in the Possession of those Places they held whether Military or Civil r Cato the Censor's saying was That to continue the same Persons long in Offices did demonstrate either that the Commonwealth afforded few that were fit or that they made small account of Magistrates Various Reasons are assign'd for this Some affirm That to spare himself the Care and Trouble of a second Choice he kept constant to the first Others say That it was to advance as few as possible he could 2 A bad Policy this For a Prince who prefers few of his Subjects hath not only few Dependents but always many Enemies that is to say as many as deserve to be intrusted or considered and are not Thus plurality of Places is as opposite to the true Interest of the Prince as plurality of Benefices is to that of the Church I shall here remark by the way That the principal Support of the Regal Authority in France is the great number of its Officers And Augustus of old had never multiplied Offices but the better to secure his Authority by a multitude of Magistrates and Expectants Commines speaking of the last Duke of Burgundy says his Favours were not well placed because he was willing every one should share in them Chap. 9. lib. 5. of his Memoirs Some have believ'd that as he had a quick and piercing Wit so his Iudgment was always in suspence for as he could not suffer the Extremities of Vice so neither did he love extraordinary and shining Virtues Being jealous of his Authority he fear'd great Men 3 A Person of ordinary Parts and a moderate Capacity is more likely to make his Fortunes with Princes than one of a sublime and great Wit For all Superiority being ungrateful to them and they being ambitious to be accounted Chief and Best at every Thing will never love nor consequently prefer a Man whose Understanding seems larger and more penetrating than their own The Letters of Anthony Perez contain a great deal to this purpose Among others there is one directed to a Grand Privado wherein he thus speaks when the Holy Spirit says Seem not wise in the Presence of a King he meant not to say Be not wise but Seem not to be so as if he had used these Words Conceal thy Parts and thy Prudence shew not thy Intellectuals Prince Rui Gomez de Silva the greatest Master in this Art that has appeared for these many Ages told me he learned this Rule from a mighty Favourite of the Kings of Portugal and that in all the Advices he gave and in all the Consultations he at any time had with his Prince he took care to carry himself with all the Wariness and Circumspection he possibly could ... He further added That he so contrived the Matter that the good Success of his Counsels might seem to be only the effect of Chance and not the return of any Care he had to please him or of an intent Application to his Business but he seem'd ●o carry himself like those Gamesters who in Play depend more on the favour of Fortune than their Skill On this Subject continued he the same Prince related to me what passed one day between Emanuel King of Portugal and Count Lewis de Silveira The King having received a Dispatch from the Pope composed with great exactness sends for the Count and commands him to draw up an Answer whilst he himself was making another for he had a strong inclination to be an Orator and indeed was so The Count obeys but first declares his Reluctancy to enter Competition with his Master and the next day he brings his Paper to the King who after he had heard it was loth to read his own but when the Count had prevailed with him to read it the King acknowledging the Count's Answer to be the better would have that sent to the Pope and not his own The Count at his return home orders two Horses to be saddled for his two Sons and went immediately with them And when

This Duke says De Maurier paid Respect to Virtue in an Enemy and a Rebel and not content to Esteem him in his Heart he raised him a Mausoleum Dans la Preface de ses Memoires de Hollande Philip II. of Spain after he cut off Don Iuan de la Nuca's Head who took up Arms in the Defence of the Priviledges of Arragon ordered his Body to be carried to the Burial Place of his Ancestors by ten Noble Persons to pay Respect to his Worth whose Person he had punished Ch. 10. des dits des faits de Philippe II. The Images of Twenty Noble Houses were carried before her Body among which were those of the Mantii Quincti and others of their Rank But Cassius and Brutus were the more remembred because their Images 8 The Glory of Great Persons depends not on the Humour nor Ill Will of Princes They are gro●●y mistaken that think that the Suppression of their Images or Praises can bury their Memory in Eternal Oblivion Princes can make Men hold their Tongues but cannot make them forget the good Actions of those have deserved Universal Applause The Complaisance every Man has for his Prince suspends for a time Commendation and Honours that are due to them but when he is Dead Liberty succeeds Restraint and revenges upon the Memory of the Oppressor the Injustice done to those that are oppressed were not seen there The End of the First Volume THE Life of AGRICOLA By IOHN POTENGER Esq I. IT has been usual heretofore to transmit the Deeds and Manners of famous Men to Posterity neither is it omitted in our Times tho' the Age is very careless of its own Transactions as often as any great and noble Virtue proves so transcendent as to ba●fle Envy and prevent Ignorance Vices equally common to great and little Cities But as our Predecessors were apparently more prone to Actions worthy to be recorded so every celebrated Wit was induced by the meer Reward of doing well to an impartial Publication of their Virtues Nay many have thought ●it to be their own Historians not through Arroganc● but a just Assurance of their good Behaviour Neither is it any Discredit or Objection to the Memoirs of Rutilius or Scaurus that they were written by their own Hands so highly is Virtue esteemed when frequently practised But I who am about to write the Life of a dead Man have need of Pardon which I should not crave were I not to write in Times so malignant towards the Virtuous II. We have read of Arulenus Rusticus and Herenius Senicen made Capital Offenders the one for praising Priscus Heluidius the other for commending Petus Thrasea nay the Books as well as the Authors were executed A Triumvirate being appointed to burn those Monuments of famous Men in the Publick Assembly and in the open Market believing by their Flames the Peoples Freedom of Speech the Liberty of the Senate and the good Conscience of Mankind would be destroyed And by the Expulsion of Wise Men and the Banishment of honest Arts Goodness it self would be extirpated We have given ample Proofs of our Patience for as the former Age saw the End of Liberty so we have the Extremity of Servitude being deprived by frequent Inquisitions of the Commerce of the Ear and Tongue so that we had lost our Memory with our Voice could we as easily forget as be silent III. Now at last our Spirits are revived But if in the beginning of this blessed Age Nerva Caesar has reconciled two former Opposites Liberty and Sovereignty and Caesar Trajan daily increases our Happiness under Kingly Government so that we have not only fair Hopes and a longing Desire but a strong Assurance of the Publick Safety Yet such is the Infirmity of Human Nature Remedies work slower than the Disease And as our Bodies that grow by degrees quickly perish so it is easier to suppress than restore Wit and Learning there being a kind of Charm in Idleness that makes Sloth which was at first troublesome turn to Delight What if for fifteen Years a large Space of Human Life many have fallen by Accident but the more Eminent by the Cruelty of the Prince Yet some of us have not only survived our Contemporaries but if I may so speak our selves so many Years being substracted from the middle part of our Age in which if young we grow old if old we 're passing in silence to the last Period of our Lives But I shall without Regret endeavour tho' in a rude Style to relate our past Misery and our present Happiness And I hope this Account being dedicated to the Memory of my Father-in-Law Agricola will for its Piety merit Pardon if not Praise IV. Cnaeus Iulius Agricola was born in the Ancient and Famous Colenny of Forium Iulium Both his Grandfathers were Procurators to their Prince the noble Imploy of a Roman Knight His Father Iulius Graecinus was a Senator eminent for Wisdom and Eloquence good Qualities that provoked the Rage of Caius Caesar who put him to death for refusing to implead Marcus Silanus He being bred up under the Wing of a tender Mother Iulia Procilla a Woman of a singular Chastity pass'd his Minority in acquiring Virtues sutable to his Age. He was not only guarded from the Allurements of the Vicious by a natural Probity but by having in his tender Years Massilia the Seat and Mistress of his Studies a Place that had exactly temper'd a Provincial Parsimony with a Graecian A●●ability I well remember he frequently would relate how eagerly he was bent in his Youth on the Study of Philosophy and the Law more then was allowed a Roman Senator But his Mother's Prudence corrected this irregular Heat His high Spirit made him more vehement than cautious in the Pursuit of Glory and Renown But Age and Experience made him more temperate but what was most difficult he continued to bound his Desires with Discretion V. He made his first Campaign with great Approbation under Suetonius Paullinus in Britain a diligent and good-natur'd General who did him the Honour to choose him for his Comrade Agricola did not like other Gallants make War the Business of Love and Courtship He was not addicted to Rambling and Pleasure so as to have the Title without the Skill of a Tribune but spent his time in discovering the Country in making himself known to the Army and being informed by the Skilful still following the Brave never attempting any thing out of Ostentation or declining any Attempt for Fear Never were Affairs in Brit●in more desperate Our old Souldiers slain our Colonies burnt our Army intercepted and we forced first to fight for Safety and then for Victory These Exploits by which the Province was recover'd tho' acted by the Advice or Conduct of another were the General 's Glory and made our young Souldier more emulous as well as more experienced his Soul being fired with an Ambition of Military Fame which was very disagreeable to those Times in