HE that stands by and observes the supple Addresses and sedu­lous Applications of Courtiers, how greedily men Repu­ted wise, sell their Liberties, and Sacrifice their time, with what Patience they Undergo Attendance more Greivous than the toyle of Algier-Gally-Slaves or Popish Pilgrimages, will be ready to Imagine, that it must needs be some wondrous Mystery, which deserves such Superstition; nor can expect less than the Philoso­phers-Stone, where he sees so many Furnaces set on work, and so rare Alchymists Engag'd.

If he cast but a Superficial Eye on the Lofty Flights of the Favourites of Princes, how in Effect they manage all the Reins of the Common Wealth, though their Masters sit in the Saddle; how they give Laws to the people by Recommending Judges, nay Biass Religion it self by be­stowing Ecclesiastical Dignities and the Fattest Benefices, and make the bra­vest Swordmen kiss their Feet▪ since they can neither get, nor hold any Command of Honour or Profit, but through their good Graces.

He, I say that Remarques all this, and also how their seeming Virtues, and perhaps but imaginary Abilities, are Magnified, and Multiplyed, and even their Errours with Veneration Concealed, Extenuated or Justified; with what case they trample upon their Adversaries, and prefer their [Page 4] Dependants, how can he refrain from drawing at so tempting a Lottery, or escape those delicious Charms, which would almost delude a Stoick to mistake such a Fortune for his Summum Bonum.

But alas, these are only Outsides to Amuse the Ignorant, these stately Scntcheons serve but to hide a dead Corpse, and these excellent Odours to persume a Sepulchre; The Factions where with every Court and State is perpetually pregnant, the Envy and Emulation, which, though not so loud, is yet perhaps siercer than open [...]; the Spies which (like Eu­nuches in Turky) are there set upon all mens Actions, and the S [...]ppery paths on which they walk; the K [...]e [...] and Pestilent slanders against which Innocency it self is soarce Armour of Proof. These and a thousand other Inconveniencies are not presently discovered; And indeed, 'cis perhaps fit they should be Concealed, lest otherwise men of Sence and Integritie avoid Courts, as persons in debt do Prisons, and dread Great­ness like Infection.

Which would yet be more Apprehended, if they could have either the Prudence, or leisure to Reflect, How many persons that in a private Station were Honest, Just and Resolute Patriots, when once preferred to the Misfortune of being Great, have Abandoned all thoughts of the publique-weal: their Integrity Retired to give place to their Fortune, too Rank preferment stiffled their Honesty, and thence forward they aim'd only to Advance their own narrow Interest, and blow short-liv'd Sparks to warm their private fingers out of the Publique Ashes of their Ruined Country.

Their Innocency lasts scarce so long at Court, as the first man's did in the Terrestrtal Paradice. Though they were not wicked before, yet they believe they ought to become So, and therefore as the Foolish Wiseman of old flung all his Goods into the Sea, that he might more freely Philoso­phize: They resolve to rid themselves of their Consciences, that with less Encumbrance they may Manage the Affaires of State. They Conceit pride necessary to support their Dignity, and that should they not swell and look Big, their Condition would be nothing Chang'd, that Civi­lity would Reduce them to that Equality, whence they had fore'd them­selves with so much trouble; to avoid Contempt, not being able to ren­der themselves Respected, they study to make themselves feared. They esteem, that there is no way left to blot out the memory of their former Qualitie, but by the present Objects of their Tyranny, and that they shall not hinder the people from Laughing at their Infirmities, but by Imploying them to weep for their own Miseries, and complain of their Cruelties.

One would think it Bedlam-Folly, that men not unacquainted with History, and sufficiently warned by Experiences of their own times, should adventure on the very same Precipices, on which, All that went before them broke their Necks; But we must remember, that Ambition is as Blind as Love: They (like the famous fond Philosopher) are gazing at Stars till they tumble into the Ditch: Their Eyes are alwaies fixt on the Glittering Vanities above, suggested by a deluded Imagination, so they never look down on the Wrecks and Shattered Fortunes, and dismem­bred Bodies and forfeited Heads, and Infamous Memories of their Prede­cessors. For few have the Wisdom to foresee, how hard it is in Great­ness [Page 5] to pursue Honest and Safe Maxims, what Resolution is required for the Potent to be Innocent, what for did Interests they are fore'd to Es­pouse, and by what Insensible Degrees they are brought at last to swallow those Actions and Compliances without Reluctancy, which at first they look'd upon with Detestation; What long since was observed of Seja­nus, holds true of many latter Tympanies of Grandeur, that their favour is not to be purchased without some notable Crime; You must part with your Honour, nay your Soul, if you expect promotion from such Spirits: If this were sufficiently weighed, we may justly presume, such as have a stricct Regard to Honesty, would not so precipitate themselves into pub­lick Affairs, and stand gaping like greedy Camelions to be puffed up with the tainted Air of Haughty and Luxurious Courts, where Interest can scarcely be preserved (unless by Miracle) without a shipwrack of Con­science.

But (to make our approaches a little nearer) If it be so ticklish a thing for even a good man to abide long in Honour, without becoming like the Beast that perisbeth, and acting Dishonourable things, What then shall we say of those Portentous Meteors, that some times Blaze in that superi­our Orbe, noxious Exhalations drawn up by the wanton Beams of Favour, from the slime and filth of the World, and which presage more Calamities, than a Comet, to those Nations in which they appear? Insolent Giants I that Combate with displaied Colours, the Authority of the Fundamen­tal Laws, and all methods of Justice, who in the Government of a State produce a Design formed for its Ruin, who grow fat and Burly from the juice and substance of Exhausted Provinces, who build their own Houses with the Wrack and dissipation of a whole Kingdom. Princes and Great men would be happy, If without dying by Proxy, they could live in Person; They are born oft timos with excellent Qualities, and are Calm Seas, filled with Riches and Power, that might do good to all the World, if the Winds would but let them flow gently according to their own Nature. But as Extraordinary Beauties are Courted by vari­ety of Lovers, so such Exalted Conditions rarely want a swarm of Flatte­rers, meer Insects bred out of putrifaction by the warmth of Royal Sun­shine, that under the umbrage of Adorers, make themselves Masters, and by a colour of Service, exercise an Empire even over those that think they Command the Universe; whole sacred Names in such a Case become but a Pass-Port to Mischiefs; Their Authority a Sanctuary to Crimes; their Revenues but Tinder to Debauchery and supplies for Riot; Their Power an Instrument of Revenge, and a scourge and plague to those very people whom it ought to cherish and protect.

What shall we say of these Insufferable Grandees, who reck their Pri­vate Spleens, with the Hands and Arms of their Master? Who declare all those guilty of High Treason, who do not fall prostrate before them? who by Fatal Wars and dishonourable Treaties of Peace, by abandoning the true Interest of their Country, and playing the Mountebanks with the Body Politick, till they cast it at once into a Feavour, and a Consumption endeavour all they can to bring the people into Despair, and would gladly Reduce the honester sort of men to so miserable a Condition, as to be unable to save them­selves, but in a Revolt; That so they may palliate their own Villanies [Page 6] by others forc'd Disobedience, and trip off with the spoils of a Nation in a General Combustion of their own Kindling?

Observe them in Ancient History (for meddle not with our Times) They first Ruin the people, and then, if not themselves, their Masters, and many times bring Destruction on all three. Their Courses are all Violent and Domineering, they own no Laws but Will and Pleasure, their pace is always Full-speed, they whip and slash like Masters of a Bride­well, rather than persons intrusted with the Governance of Free-men. All to them is plunder, all is Prey: They cannot feed but on dead Bodies, they first Rifle the Ship they Sail in, and then wilfully strand Her, to con­ceal their own Robberies: Though they came only out of the Dirt, and to speak truly, are of Kin to no Body, yet they believe themselves the Heirs of all the World; There is no Officer of the Crown, no Governour of a Place, whose Succession they do not pretend unto; They think they are not in safety, so long as there is any man in Credit or Authority, that is not a Creature of their own Raising.

Such people commonly introduce themselves by Low means, and for the most part, such as are dishonest and Vile; they not seldom owe the Commencement of their Fortune to a well-Danc'd Saraband, to Agility of Body, to the Beauty of their face, or the interest of a Strumpet: They make themselves valued by shameful secret Services, whose payment is not publickly to be demanded. In a word, though wise Antiquity allow­ed no Entrance into the Temple of Honour, but through that of Virtue, yet these croud themselves into Credit by the Recommendation of Vice, their crimes which truly deserve the Halter and the Ax, are the sole Roun­dels▪ whereby they mount the Ladder of Towring preferment.

Nor is their progress unsuitable to their Rise, Their design being only to make complaisant propositions, they enquire not whether they profit or Incommode; If they do but please 'tis enough. They insinuate them­selves into their Masters Favour, by the Intelligence they endeavour to keep with his Passions. And having once possest themselves of his mind, they seize on all the Avenues, and leave not so much as an entrance for his Great or Privy Councel, nay, scarce for his Confessor: How weak and tender soever his inclinations may be to Evil, they water and Cultivate them with so much Art and Diligence, that presently there springs up a great-Tree from a little Seed, and a violent and Opinionated Habit, from a light Disposition.

These are the Petroniusses and the Tigillinusses about Nero; These are the Advocates of Voluptousness, the Pest of a Realm, and the Evil Genii of Kings.

'Tis Incredible to think how many Charms they use, without Imploy­ing those of Magick (of which yet the people forbear not to Accuse them.) How Ingenious are they to invent new pleasures to a Sated and dis­gusted Soul, and with what pungent sharpnesses do they awaken the sleep­ing Lusts, which Languish and can no more?

Yet do they not at the first onset become absolute Conquerours, but for a time dispute with Virtue, which shall gain the Ascendent in the Court of a Prince of Eighteen; Sometimes she gets the better, sometimes is Re­puls'd, so that for a short season there is a divided or Alternate Empire over his Affections; A king of Twylight between Good and Ill, just Go­vernment [Page 7] and Tyranny party perpale. Projects brave and good, are Resol­ved upon, but before they can come to Execution, the Humour is alte­red, good Councels are given, but e're they take Impression on his mind, a Debauch is contriv'd, which dashes them out of his Memory, and they are thought of no more. Honest Burrhus is hearkned to perhaps, but these Court-Earwigs will take care, he never shall be beleived.

However thus far, they are like Seneca's Ballance, and things are not yet grown desperate, but at last, they carry away all before them: The Epicure destroys as much in three days, as the Stoick built in five Years: Having undermined or stormed the Fortress, they by peicemeals disman­tle it, and undo the whole Frame: They assault their Masters good parts one after another, from petty Sallies of Humour and Sociable Revels, and a refreshing Glass and blushing Gallantries, they lead him on step by step to the utmost degrees of Debauchery, Adulteries, Perjuries, Cruelty and Tyranny.

At first they content themselves to breath in his Ears, that it is not necessary for a Prince to be so precisely Religious, so strictly Just, so nicely Temperate, or so very much an honest Man. That it's sufficient, if he is not Wicked, that Wine and Women were designed to sweeten the toils of Empire, and the Fair created on purpose for the diversion of the Great. That he would put himself to too much trouble to make himself beloved, that he only ought to prevent his being Hated: Or if that cannot be, to render himself Feared will do as well. That solid and perpetual Pro­bity is too heavy and too difficult, since its Umbrage and Counterfeit, hath no less splendor than the Original, and produceth the same Effects; that a vertuous action or two, kind and popular, (which is no great mat­ter of cost,) being fitly performed, may serve to entertain his Reputati­on; nor will they leave him in so fair away, After having made him esteem good, as an Indifferent thing, they make him approve Ill as rea­sonable, and afford Vice the colour of Virtue, and represent those things which are the shame of all the rest of mankind, as peculiar Ornaments of Majesty.

To authorize his worst Actions, great Examples shall not be wanting, they tell him, it is not in Turkey and amongst Barbarians that he is to look for Precedents, that all things are lawful to the Powerful, or at least any thing may be made appear to be so to the Simple. God's own people, the Holy Nation (say they) Sir, will furnish you with Instances more than enough. That very King that built the Temple, was also the Foun­der of a Seraglio, and we at this day see at Constantiople but a Copy of what was formerly to be seen at Jerusalem; you content your self even in the heat of full veins and vigour of youth with half a score or Forty or Fifty Women only, whereas he that was the wisest Prince the Earth could ever boast of, even the superlative Salomon, in his old Age had six hundred, which the holy Scripture implies to be Legitimate Wives, with­out reckoning those which were his Concubines; And have you not heard of the last will of his Father David, and of those Gallant things he commanded by his Testament? We shall not Exaggerate them, only beseech you to consider, by how many Deaths he counselled his Son to secure his own Life.

Nay Sir, since the Law of Grace, and amongst Christian Princes, you [Page 8] cannot find more Sweetness; you are nice perhaps to abandon a Child, or stagger to expose a Son that never disobliged you. But (to omit the practise of Mahumetans, and the modern Example of the most Catholick King in the unfortunate Don Carlos) The great Con­stantine, that most Holy, most Religious, and most Divine Emperour (as he hath been called by the mouth of Councils) did much more than this, For he caused his own Son to be put to death upon the first Suspition, which was falsly suggested to him. 'Tis true, he regreted his Execution and acknowledged his Innocency, but this acknowledgment came too late, and his Regret lasted but four and twenty hours; He thought him­self quit by causing a Statue to be erected in memory of the Deceased; with this Inscription, To my Son Chrispus, whom I caused to die Hujustly.

Do you reserve your absolute Authority? will you always stand upon Justice and Title, and vain punctilio's of Equity? Dare you not use Force, when the good of your Affaires requires it? The Example of the Mighty Charlemaign, who is one of the Saints of the Church, as well as one of the Nine Worthies, may secure you against all the Scruples your Consclence can make, he knew neither a better, nor greater Right, than that of Arms, the l'ommel of his Sword served him for his Seal and Signet. To this day there are Priviledges found granted, and Donations of Lands made, by that Good and Orthodox Emperour, Rowland and Oliver being present, sealed with the Pommel, and which he swore he would warrant with the Edge of the same Sword.

Would you rule Absolutely? At your pleasure leavy Taxes, and dis­pose of both the Goods and Lives of your Subjects? you shall therein do nothing New or Extraordinary. All the Mighty Monarchs of the East, have done it these many hundred [...]ears. And the most Christian King practises it at this day. Discover not so much weakness, as to regard the Sighs and Groans of your People, who are but animated Durt, prat­ling Beasts, Creatures design'd to be Slaves, as well by Nature as For­tune; What else were they Born for, what else are they good for, but to be Instruments of your Pleasures, and Sacrifices to your Glory? The only way to preserve your Authority, is to Curb the Vermine and keep them Miserable, do they Wince under your Rods, then scourge them with Scor­pions. Are they not your Vastals? Why then do they Complain? shall Slaves be allowed to Murmur and Capitulate? If their Tears grow trou­blesome, wash them away with their Blood.

There have been Favorites mentioned in Histories that have Instructed Princes, in these and the like Pernicious Lessons, and being at last tyred out with defending Crimes, with precedents, To excuse some new Un­parallel'd Extravagance, they freely have told their Prince, that when there was no Example to be found, he might make one. That what had formerly been Unheard of, would, being done, cease to be so: That it would be shameful for the Soveraign Authority to give an Account of any thing it Commands, and Misbecome him, who hath Armies and Fleets to maintain his Actions, to seek Words or Pretences either to disguise or Justify them.

There is not a man (this is the Language of the Sejanusses and the Plautusses) Innocent in all the parts of his Life, and who in his Soul [Page 9] Envies not his Superiours, and whom they Envy, they Hate. Therefore the Prince cannot but Condemn the Guilty, nor strike any but his Ene­mies; consequently he gratifies him, whom he bereaves only of his Goods. in that he takes not away his Honour and leaves him his Life. Honesty and Justice are virtues proper for Merchants and Lawyers, not for Sove­raignes; That to be Slaves to their words, is to Depose themselves, and abandon their Prerogatives, that even in Heaven (if there be any such place above a Ladies Lap) the Oaths of Princes are put in the same Scales with those of Lovers. That Jupiter Commands them to be thrown into the Wind, as things of no Obligation, and never to be regarded further than present Interest requires.

Thus in a way of fooling and telling of Fables, they perswade the Prince, that he is not obliged by his promises, nor ought to hearken to the Fancies of Preachers, or Dotages of Legislators, but stands Exempted by his Quality from all Laws Divine and Humane, nor is obliged by ties of Justice or Prudence: And that it belongs to him Jure Divino, to define unto men, what is Good or Ill, to declare unto the world, what for the furture he will have to be just or unjust, as well in Morality, as Policy.

Thus are Tyrants made, from this Stock Monsters are engendred, from such Commencements, we come to set Rome on fire, to Butcher the Senate, to dishonour Nature with Debauches, and declare War against it by Parricides. These wheedling Whisperers are the first Causes of so many Miseries, and did not these winds Blow, we should be sensible of none of these Tempests and Hurricanes, able to discompose the Harmony of the best setled Governments in the World.

Wherefore, since in the whole Bulk of sublunary Beings, there is no Good of so great use, and which so universally Communicates it self as a Good Prince, nor any [...] which disperseth it self further, or is more per­nicious than a bad one: Can there be any punishments great enough in all the extent of Humane Justice, for those who Change this Good into Ill; Who corrupt so Salutiferous and so excellent a thing? They had far bet­ter have poisoned all the Wells and all the Fountains in their Countries; nay should they infect the Rivers themselves, Water might be gotten from else where, even Heaven would still furnish us with some refreshing Drops: But here of necessity we must either Choak, or drink Poison; a­gainst these Domestick Ills, we are not permitted to use Foreign Reme­dies; We are obliged to continue Miserable by the Laws of our Religion, and to obey Furies and Madmen, not only out of Fear, but also for Con­science sake.

For which cause, since the persons of Princes whatsoever they be, ought to be Inviolabel and Sacred, and that the Characters of Gods finger makes an Impression, which we are to Reverence, on what matter soever it be Engraven, no wonder, if Subjects turn all their hatred against these Flatterers, which cast them into those miseries without Redemption: If they pursue with all manner of Execrations these evil Councellors which give them Ill Princes, which provoke Innocents to Murther, and good natures to Barbarous Cruelties: 'Tis their pernitious Advice, which occasions all fatal Resolutions. Their maxims of Fire and Blood assure and fortify Malice, when it is as yet timerous and doubtful, they sharpen what cuts, they precipitate what is falling, they encourage the [Page 10] Violent to run after the prey, they inflame the desires of the Avaricious to Invade their peoples Goods, and those of the Lascivious to Debauch their Daughters and ravish their Wives.

But if they meet with Natures, which are not susceptible of those strong Passions, and vvhich by their Complexions are in an equal degree distant from Vice and Virtue, if they light on those soft Princes, who are without sting or Spirit, and have small Inclinations to great and mighty Evils, but rather propense to Ease and Fffeminate delights, such as di­vide their time between the Cup and the Bed, and are more intent at the Theatre than the Councel Chamber. 'Tis still so much the Worse for those people, vvho live under them, for abusing the simplicity of their pliant Master, and taking the Advantage, vvhich their Spirit hath over his, they themselves Reign openly, and their unjust Dominion adds to the vveight of Tyranny, the shame that occurs from suffering it from a particular private Person and fellow Subject.

You cannot Imagin the Wiles and Artifices they use to attain hereunto, and totally to subject to themselves the Prince. Their method is to spur him vvith Glory in the Establishment of their Fortune. They give him to understand through several Trunks, that his Predecessors, vvho vvere nothing more powerful than He, made some far greater Creatures of their own, that'tis more safe to raise up New people, vvho have no dependance, and vvho shall only hold from his Majesty, than to use persons of Ancient Birth, and of known Probity, vvhose Affections and party may be alrea­dy made; That it concerns his Honour not to leave his vvorks Imperfect, but to labour for their Embellishment, after he has Established their Soli­dity. That he ought to put them in a Condition, that they may not be Ruin'd, but by themselves. That if he yields to the desires of his An­cient Nobility, vvho vvill indure no Companions; or if he consents to the Complaints and Petitions of his People, vvho are ever Enemies to all Growing Greatness, he vvill not for the future have the power to reward a Servant, or to gratify those that oblige him. But must live a Praecarious King, a meer Duke of Venice, a shadow of Royalty, and be fore'd to call an Assembly of the States, to dispose of the least Office in the Kingdom; Besides, they Represent, that he cannot Abandon a person vvho hath been so dear unto him, vvithout condemning the Conduct of many Years, and rendring a publick testimony either of past Blindness, or present fickle­ness. Nor wants this Argument its force, for'tis certain, that having begun to love any object for the Love of it self, time presently adds our own In­terest to the merit of the thing, the desire that we have that all the World should believe, that our Election was good, makes the action of necessity, which before was Voluntary, so that what hath been done a­gainst Reason, being not to be Justified, but by an headstrong Perseve­rance, we never think that we have done enough, and upon this fond conceit, though never so much Reason be offered to discontinue our Affection, yet it seems, we are obliged in point of Honour, to defend our Judgment.

Now, if these Temptations can shake stable minds, and sometimes make Wise men fail, we need not be Astonisht, if they easily overthrow Weak Princes, who make use only of borrowed Reason, and who will yield [Page 11] themselves to be perswaded by a very mean Eloquence, so it but suits with their already biasled Inclination.

And when once a Prince is Engaged in the making of this Subject (whom as much without Merit, as beyond Measure he dotes upon) Great, He speaks of him no more, but as his Enterprize, and the ut­most Effort of his Prerogative and creative Power, and so goes on in a blind Zeal, till without minding it, he even Adores what he hath made, like the Statuaries of Athens, who from their own handy-work chose their Gods; His thoughts which should be imployed for Glory, and the publick good of his Realm, and have no other Object, but the safety and wellfare of his people, are all at an end in this pitiful design, in blow­ing up a gaudy bubble of Honour, as vain and trivial, and yet no less Gay, than that which Children raise with a Quil from water and Soap; He o­pens to him all his Coffers, and pours out treasures on him as much in despight of others, as to benefit him; And at last when he hath confer­red on him all the Offices of the Kingdom, and all the Ornaments of his Crown, and has nothing left to give him but his own person, he surren­ders that too with so absolute and so total a Resignation, that in the very Monasteries, there is not an Example of a will more Subjected and more perfectly Renouncing it self.

Hence forwards he appears at Councill, but when his presence is ne­cessary to Authorize some Extravagant preresolv'd design, in the debate of which he never bore a part, and is content to shew himself for no other purpose, but to justify what those that advised him to it, are both affraid and ashamed to own; He is amuzed with petty Divertisements unwor­thy of his Condition and of his Age; They take from about him all that dare speak Truth, they Ruin under several pretences all that's Eminent and Virtuous in the State, and he Imagins because they tell him so, that all this is absolutely necessary for his Service, and the support of his Go­vernment; Thus Seneca must be Butcher'd before Nero could turn per­fect Monster, and Boctius banisht by Theodoricus, at the perswasion of his three fatal Favourites, because that good and wise Statesmen was an obstacle to their lewd designs.

To ruin honest Patriots that would stop the unhappy Torrent, slaun­ders are raised, and Calumnies advane'd, and false informations Encou­raged, they are seized, on general Rumours without specifying their Crime, and condemned unheard as Enemies to Religion and the State: Those that are Rich and peaceable are Entrapp'd by Informers and penal Edicts let loose upon them: Those whose past Services and undoubted Loyalty maintain them in repute, and whose fidelity is without Reproach, are employed in Chargeable, or put upon hazardous Attempts and un­grateful Offices, either that they may lose their Repntation or themselves. Some are driven away by an absolute Command to Retire, others Hono­rably Banisht by an Embassy, and in the room of all these, the ambitious domineering Cabal place persons at their own Devotion, who never look farther than their Benefactors, and stop at the next Cause of their For­tune, and therefore study to serve and advance their Interests, who raised them, not the Prince's though still they call themselves his Servants, and would be thought the greatest Zealots for his Honour.

Thus may an unfortunate Prince, come to be at the Mercy and Dis­cretion [Page 12] of his Favorite, he shall not cast a look, but presently a spy ren­ders the other an Account, nor utter one word, but what is told him a­gain, so that in the midst of his own Court, and amongst all his Guards, he shall be Invironed with none but Savages, that prey upon him, not having one faithful Tongue about him, that dare truly represent his peo­ples Sufferings, nor one honest Ear to whom he may tell his own: Be­sides he quickly becomes so far Engag'd, that there is no way for him to release himself, the other making all the World his Real Enemies, or sus­pected for such, that he may have none but him to trust: And by having long had the possession of Affairs, which he Communicates with none, he alone understanding all, and knowing the State, he at last becomes a necessary Evil, vvhich neither can the Prince be cured of, but by a dan­gerous Remedy.

After this manner, in an absolute Peace, being at amity with his Neighbours, no Foreign Enemy appearing on the Frontiers, without striking a Stroke, or having ventured farther than from the Palace to the Theatre, may a Prince insensibly fall into another Mans power, which after the defeat of an Army, is the worst thing that could happen; And to speak home, the Battel of Pavia, was not so fatal to Francis the First, nor the taking of Rome to Pope Clement the Seventh; For if their disgrace was great, it was not Voluntary, if they lost their Liberty, they in their Afflictions preserved the Glory of their Courage, and if they were taken Prisoners, 'twas by a great Emperour, who was their Enemy, and not by one of their Petty Subjects; There is no Captivity so miserable, so base, nor so Infamous, as that of a Prince who suffers himself to be shackled in his Cabinet, and by one of his own, he can never Exercise a more Cowardly patience, nor be more shamefully happy. Suppose a King should Eat his people to the very Bones, and live in his own State as in an Enemies Country, he would not so far estrange himself from the duty of his place, as when he obeys another; There is 'tis true, a vast difference betwixt Tyranny and Royalty, yet the former resembles the latter a great deal more than Servitude. It's at least some kind of Government, and one way of Commanding men, although a very ill one. But for a Soveraign to give up himself as a prey to three or four Petty Fellows, in the knowledge and Conduct of all his Affairs, certainly there cannot be a more miserable Interregnum, than such a Prince's Life, during which he doth nothing, and yet doth all those Evils which may happen to the People.

In this Condition he is civilly Dead, and hath as it were Deposed him­self, it is only his Effigies, which is used in publick, which out of custom, and for a show hath some Homages paid, and useless Congees made to it. But in effect Royalty is forsaken, and Favour only Courted, and a civil Idolatry committed: For as some superstitious Bigots say ten Ave-Maria's to one Pater Noster, and call an hundred times oftner upon St. Francis, than on our Saviour, so in this case, where one addresses himself to the King, forty suiters apply themselves to the Favorite; For indeed to go to the Prince without his mediation, would be a certain course to spoil your Business, though never so just in it self, or advantagious to the Publick.

What a brave thing it was in former times, to see a King of Castile [Page 13] who durst not walk abroad, nor put on a new Suite, without the per­mission of Alvares DeLuna; all favours which others demanded of his Majesty, he himself was obliged to obtain from him. The most he could do was to recommend their Petitions to his Favourite, and to do good Offices with him, for those whom he loved. How preposterous would it be to see such a Courtier, as he was, who revoked the Elections of his Prince, turn'd those out of their places, to whom his Master had granted them, nay proceeded to that height of Insolence, that he took it very ill, that his Master should once in his Life offer to read a paper, which he presented him to Sign, and complained that this was to up­braid his Fidelity, and forget his past Services.

But there are Shee-favourites as well as Bearded-ones; and though, this be the weaker-Sex, yet both their passions and Enchantments are the stronger of the two. Hercules and Achilles were not the only Hero's that truckled to the Distaff: Love has often govern'd the Politicks, and the fortune of a whole Kingdom become the pastime of a debauched Woman; For it's too true, that such persons have strangely derided the authority of the Laws, and the Majesty of Empire; More than once, they have tram­pled underfoot Crowns and Scepters, they have taken pleasure, and sported themselves with the Violation of Justice, and Gloried in their cruel Pride, in Afflicting and Rendring Humane kind Miserable: 'Tis not long since there appeared one of these Heroina's who was risen to so high a degree of Insolency, that having been sollicited about a certain Affair, which had been represented unto her, as just and facile to be done, that she might the more willingly Imploy her self therein, she an­swered with a fierceness worthy of her Sex and profession, That she used not her Credit so lavisbly, that another might serve in so slight an occasion, to do just and possible things, for her part. she accustomed her self only to undertake those which were Unjust and Impossible.

How many Mischiefs do you think follow such an one, how many Vi­olences are committed under the shadow of these fatal overgrown Med­lers? such a puffed up Succuba hath not a Groom or a Lackey, who be­lieves it not to be his Right and Priviledg to abuse at his pleasure any other Subject, and by alledging only that he belongs to such a agreat Mini­on, commits all Outrages with Impunity, affronts Justice, and dares tell you to your teeth, after he has Cheated and abused you never so grievously, that you are obliged, and ought to thank him for his Civi­lity, that he did not Murther you.

All this while, you will say, what is this to the Prince? And yet with all deference be it spoken, he cannot be said to be wholly Innocent of the miscarriages: His Ignorance is not Unblameable, his Patience herein is not Virtue, and the Disorders which either he knows not of, or which he Suffers, are imputed to him before God, even as if himself had done them, and therefore that Prince who was according to Gods own heart, in express terms desires him, and that in the fervency of his most ardent Prayers, that he would Cleanse him from seret faults, and acquit him from the sins of others; which last word Intimates, that Kings ought not to [Page 14] content themselves with a personal Innocency, that it is not enough for them to be Just, if they lose themselves, and destroy their people by the Injustice of their Ministers, which becomes their own, because they tolerate it, and Countenance it, by Conniving and not punishing it with so­verity. Qui non prohibet, quum potest, Jubet.

Not to multiply Examples: Can King Ahasuerus be justified, who in a moment abandoned to the Vengeance of a pernicious Haman, so many thousand innocent Lives, and those too of the Solect people of God, with­out inquiring into their Crimes, or making any Reflection on what he granted: He had doubtless no bloody design, nor any Imagination whi­ther that inhumane Commission he so readily delivered with his Royal Signet, would tend, and his ordinary idleness, or over conceit of the Justice and Prudence of his Favourite, suffered him not to take any fur­ther Cognizance of it, which rendred him doubly Culpable, to permit so many Murthers, and yet to be ignorant of it. For so, no less wittily, than judiciously, Seneca brings in Claudius in the other World, and some men Reproaching him with abundance of Murthers, done under his Name, who pleaded not Guilty, and protested he did not so much as know what they meant, nor ever heard of those sufferers Names before, upon which the Ghost of Augustius rose up, and said, Thou Miscreant, we talk not here of the slaghters thou hast committed, but of those thou hast not known: For it is a more shameful thing to a King to be Ignorant of the Evil that passes in his Kingdom, than to act it. Turpius ignorasti, quam occidisti.

Great Events are not always produced by great Causes. The Springs are hid which move these vast Machines of State, that externally appear, and when those Springs happen to be truly discovered, we are astonisht to see them so small and so weak, and half ashamed of the high opinion we had before conceived of them. A fit of Jealousie in an amorous In­trigue between two particular persons, hath more than once been the cause of a general War. A little reflective Joak uttered in a gay Hu­mour, an Affront to a Page, a Whisper and a Nod, a Tale told at the Kings going to Bed, is in appearance nothing, and yet this nothing, hath been the beginning of Tragedies, wherein a Sea of Blood hath been shed, and an hundred heads made fly. 'Tis but a Cloud which passes, a small stain in the corner of the Air, which vanishes rather than abides, and yet'tis this light Vapour, this almost imperceptible Cloud, which raiseth the most fatal Tempests, which shake almost the foundations of the Earth. The people when ever War is proclaimed, think it their Sove­raignes Interest, that 'tis to Revenge some insufferable Affronts, or have Reparations of vast damages sustained, that 'tis to prevent an Inva­sion, or secure their Tranquility, to encrease Traffick or force by Arms the necessary Conveniences of Peace: When in truth, perhaps all this Bussle and hazard, this Blood and Treasure consum'd, proceeds only from the Capricio's of two or three Pensionary Courtiers, that are content to hazard the Ruin of their own Master and Country to advance the de­signs of some powerful Neighbour, that underhand feeds them with Gold; Or from some other unthought of whim, if not altogether so base, more Ridiculous.

[Page 15] I doubt not, but the mighty Zerxes made most specious pretences to justifie his Arms, when he made his Inroad upon Greece, and his Mani­f [...]ste's told wonders of his Intentions; he had received (I'le warrant you) Injuries, which he was bound to Chastise, and had a Right which he was obliged to assert, so that he could not without diminution to his Glory refrain the Expedition; he forgot not to tell them, that he laboured for the Repose of the World, and to unite Europe with Asia, that he, the mighty Monarch of the East, came to Chastise the petty Tyrants, and that he came purely out of Compassion to the people, and offered them a rich Glorious Liberty, instead of a poor and shameful Servitude; There is no doubt, but he Falsified his design several ways, and perhaps swore, that it was immediately Inspir'd him from the Immortal Gods, and that the Sun himself was the Author of his March; Yet not withstanding all this Parade and colours of Justice and Religion, the bottom of the business was in truth only this, a Greck Physician, the Queens Domestick, having a mind to review the Port of Pyraeum, and taste the figs of Athens, put this fancy of War into his Mistresse's head, and got her to engage her Hus­band in the Attempt. So that the King of Kings, the Puissant Redoub­table Zerxes, rai [...]ed an Army of three hundred thousand Combatants, levell'd the Mountains, drank up Rivers, and overburden'd the Sea, &c. only to bring back a Mountebank into his own Countrey. Surely, surely the Quack might have gone the Journey with less expence and a smaller Equipage.

The Greek History affords us another notable Example in the King­dom of Macedonia. Long before the Birth of King Philip, there happen'd a famous Conspiracy, which of one State made two, and divided the Court, the Towns and the Families, upon the most trivial occasion imaginable; One Maleagar, Governour of a frontier-Town, and Gene­ral of the Cavalry, having an handsome Wife, and withall so good Natur'd, as seldom suffer'd any of her Lovers to die of despair. The King hearing of her Beauty and Gallantry, had a mind to give her a visit in private, but finding her no such exquisite Beauty, as Fame had repre­sented her to his fancy, he at first sight betrayed his Disgust, and presently went away in a Huff, which Affront our stately Dame, (who had no ill opinion of her own Merit,) resented so briskly, that from that very hour she vow'd Revenge: And not being able to effect it better, than by corrupting her Husbands fidelity, and debauching him from the ser­vice of his Master, she imployed all her Charms to that purpose, till at last by the continual Croakings of this Night-Raven, the poor man had lost his Reason, and forgot his Duty, and by this bosome Cockatrice became so Impoison'd, that he quitted the service of his King, and imbark'd himself in the party of a Tyrant, without knowing truly, what motion drove him, nor what passion he Reveng'd; He acted a part he under­stood not, and was but his Wives Soldier, when he thought he was the head of the Revolt.

'Tis undoubtedly a truth, that Kings cannot Reign without Mini­sters, and scarce less Certain, that they cannot live without Favourites: The wisest Princes in the World, the Augustusse's, and the Antonines, [Page 16] the Constantines, and the Theodosiusse's, if they should Revive, would once again, as vvell as formerly, give testimonies of Humane Affection, and might with reason love one man ( Caeterisparibus) rather than a­nother; For virtue is not so austere and Savage as to destroy Nature, nor do the Politicks oblige a Prince to divest himself of Humanity, his motions need only be Just and well Regulared; Let him shew his bounty and his Kindness to particular persons, let him enjoy his diversions, his Complacences, and his Friendships too, but still it were to be wisht he would observe a proportion and measure in the distribution of his Fa­vours. Let not Nero make his Horse a Consul, nor every Fidler a Mini­ster of State; Let not a mighty Monarch Debauch Nobility (the Screen of Majesty,) by conferring Honours on the Sons of Earth, and little peo­ple as void of Quality, as Merit; Let him not encourage Villany by pre­ferments, the proper Dowry of Virtue; nor impoverish the Publick, to make one man unmeasurably Rich. Let there be a man (the dictates both of Religion and Reason allow it) who is the Princes Confident, and on whom he may like the Sun, more peculiarly dart down his Beams, but let there not be any, who Day and Night besiegeth the King, who by a violent Usurpation (the most abhorrible Monopoly in Nature) appropri­ates him to himself: For he who Impales a Good which ought to be­long to the publick; attempts the same Injustice, as if he hid the Sun from all the World.

There is nothing that recommends a Prince's Judgment, or that is of more Importance to his safety, than a discreet Choice of his Ministers; A man cannot conduct a Boat, nor guide a Chariot, nor manage an Horse, without making use of Address and Method, and shall those who are to direct Mankind, jump into the Imploy, without any preparatory Dis­cipline? We come to the knowledg of Affaries, and the dexterity of ordering them, by Experience and Reason; a place does not presently make a man wiser than he was before; nor are we to expect Revelations, nor think Heaven obliged to endow a Prince's Ministers with the Spirit of well Governing, and render his precipitate Election valid and succesful by a sudden Illumination; Courtiers are the matter, and the Prince is the Artist, who can easily render this matter Fairer but not better than it is, he can add to it Colours and shape on the outside, but cannot give it any interiour Goodness. He can bestow the Office and the Title, but he cannot confer Qualifications, The knowledg of things past, the penetra­tion into things to come: That Light which disembroils the intrigues of the Court, the Science of making War, and the dexterity of treating Peace. In a word, he may make an Idol, but he can neither make a Spirit of it, nor an Able man.

Yet even in Christendom such Idols are to be seen, there have been al­ways unworthy persons happy; Monkies caressed in Kings Cabinets, and apparell'd in Cloth of Gold; There often happens an Authority, which is Blind and Dumb, which neither knows nor understands, which appears only and Dazles, pure refin'd Authority you may call it, for it has not any mixture of Virtue or Reason. There are Grandees, who are only remarkable by their Greatness, and their Greatness is all without [Page 17] them, They resemble certain fruitless Mountains in some parts of the World, which produce neither Herb, nor Plant, they seem to touch Heaven with their stately tops, yet serve the Earth for no Use, and therefore their Sterility makes their height accursed.

Princes therefore should make a strict inquiry into the Abilities and virtues of those they Imploy, they should not suffer themselves to be led by occasion, but take for their Instruments such as are able, not such as stand next, or first offer themselves, wherein too, they should regard not only a General Sufficiency, but a particular fitness for discharging those Charges in which they place them; They must not think an expert Souldier, that hath signalized himself in divers Battels, is therefore qualified to be sent on an Embassy, nor make an old Prodigal Lord, Trea­surer, and submit the Exchequer to his dispose, because having in his youth profus'd away all his own Estate, he now speaks admirably well of Frugality.

Nor should a Prince presently thrust into his Council all those whose Conversation is grateful to him; we ought to make a difference betwixt persons who delight us, and those who are profitable to us; betwixt the Recreations of the mind, and the necessities of the State; and if a Sove­raign take not special care in this Examen, he will commit irremediable Errours, and such whereby he may render not only his own Reign mise­rable, but also his memory accursed and reproached in Ages to come. He therefore ought not to follow his own private Affections or Inclinati­ons, but abandon all Capricio's and fantasies in this matter: Let him in other things Sport and div [...]rt himself as he pleaseth, but in a choice of so high Concernment, he must use the seuerity of his Judgment, and at first bring with him an indifferency of will; It ought to be a pure opera­tion of Reason, freed and dispoil'd of Love or Hate.

For the Mischiefs arising from ill Ministers are no less fatal, than Va­rious, part of which we have already Recounted, and to sum them up all, is almost as difficult, as to prevent them. If they are Ignorant, they Ruin the State, their Master and themselves, by their Weakness; If they are False and Treacherous, they set the Publick to Sale, and betray its Interest for Money. If they are men of ill Principles, they blow up their Prince to Vanity by Flatteries, and banish Truth from the Palace. They put him upon extravagant Designs, or endeavour to drown him in Voluptuousness; They exhaust the Royal Treasury by their profuse­ness, and strip poor People to the very Skin to feed their insatiable Ava­rice; they rob the Prince of his noblest and most stable Throne, the hearts of his Subjects, by creating fears and mutual Jealousies between them; and whilst with vain pretences and endeavours, no less impracticable, than Unjust, they would seem to make him more absolute than his Fore­fathers, they render him less Considerable at home, and consequently less Rever'd abroad, than any of his Ancestors, they manage Affairs ac­cording to their private Fancies, and hate publick Councils; having com­mitted Extravagances that render them liable to Justice, the rest of their life is spent not to serve their Master, but to save their own Necks, So that [Page 18] in all their following Councils they consult not his Advantage, but their own Defence, and make his Interests stoop to their Conveniences; what care they how much the people be provoked, they had rather their Country should be involv'd in all the miseries and desolations of a Civil War, or be made a Prey to a Foreign Invader, than they themselves brought to an Account before an Impartial Tribunal; since in the first Case, they hope to shift amongst the Croud, but in the second, can expect no­thing but certain Ruin, for their Conscious fears presage what will hap­pen; they know well enough, the ills they have done must be defended with greater, and if the Law live, they must die; wherefore these be­ing their Courses, and that the Plague causes not so great a desolation, as one of these accursed Favourites, it might be wisht, that this Prayer might be added to all the publick Litanies of Christians, Lord turn a­way from all States an Evil, which is the cause of so many other Evils: Deny not Soveraign Princes the Spirit of Conduct, which is fit for them to Govern by: Give them understanding enough to Council themselves well, and to Chuse their Counsellors as they ought.

To Conclude, As the first advances of Ill Court-Favourites are com­monly base and shameful, their progress Vile, wicked and destructive, their short Continuances attended with Hazards and Anxieties, so their Eclipses are ever more fatal, and their falls desperate, they are Generally surprized with Ruin, and their defeat is like that of Forlorn Troops, cut in peices before they can Rally, or be reinforc'd. Private men oftimes fall upon their Leggs and find Friends to releive, at least to Commiserate them, and Bankrupt Merchants, are daily seen to rise again like Phoenixes out of their own dust, but with Courtiers and Satesmen there are no de­grees of Misfortune; Those Ladders they clamber'd up with so much Sweat, address and difficulty, upon the smallest miss-step, serve but to render their precipitation more notorious; when they are hurl'd down from all those bubled Glories, their best comfort is not to Survive their destiny, and their greatest misery is, when they outlive themselves, to see their Families Buried in their Ruins, and all the advantages of their Honour and Fortune turn'd against them, like an Army dissipated with the fury of its own Cannon; Then too late, they find themselves forsaken of all those Alliances, which they had with so much subtilty contracted, vainly Imagining to have laid a Foundation of everlasting Greatness: Their Cobweb policies are unravel'd in a moment, for no sooner do they begin to decline, but their most obliged Creatures shun them most, and like Haman's Wife are the first Harbingers of their Ruin. Those that were raised by their Countenance, not daring to own any Love or Ho­nour to their persons, lest they should be involv'd in their Ruin, by be­ing at least suspected, as concern'd in their Crimes; their own Servants conclude it but Justice, as well as Prudence, to expose their faults; Their Enemies triumph over them, and even their Friends think it Charity enough to afford them an insulting Pity, and the people, who with rea­son universally hated, but feared them before, are now priviledg'd to Curse them; nay the Prince himself, in whose service perhaps they wounded their Consciences, and for whose pleasures they Bleed, uses them but as the skreen of Envy, and hoping with their Ruin to gratify many, [Page 19] and please all, gives them up, when he cannot in prudence longer sup­port them, as a propitiatory Sacrifice to the enraged Multitude, and be­comes as inexorable to their Petitions, as they had been formerly to the more just Requests of others in distress.

In fine, having long since forfeited their Innocency (the sweet retreat of oppressed Virtue) they at last find no Sanctuary sufficient to protect them, but are precipitated out of the World, loaded with Guilt and shame, and the Ruins of Nations, and the destruction of their Masters, and the Execrations of all Mankind.