Juftice, like lightning, ever fhould appear
To few mens ruin, but to all men's fear.
Swenam, the Woman-Hater.
With an equal fcale
He weighs th'offences betwixt man and man ;
He is not fo footh'd with adulation,
Nor mov'd with tears, to wreft the course of juftice
Into an unjuft current, t' opprefs th' innocent;
Nor does he make the laws
Punish the man, but in the man the cause.
When just revenge hath a right level made,
Home to the head fhe may the arrow bring;
And when provoked juftice draws her blade,
Into the fire fhe will the fcabbard fling.
Juftice and fin fhould keep an equal race;
If fins do gallop, justice must not pace.
Aleyn's Henry VII. This noble youth, a ftranger t' every thing But gallantry; ignorant in our laws and customs, Has made perchance,
In ftrange feverity, a forfeit of himself;
Bat fhould you take it,
The gods when he is gone, will fure revenge it:
If from the ftalk you pull this bud of virtue,
Before it has fpread, and fhewn itself abroad,
You do an injury to all mankind;
And publick mifchief, cannot be private justice.
The mifer's gold, the painted cloud
Of titles, that make vain men proud;
The courtier's pomp, or glorious fear
Got by a foldier in the war;
Can hold no weight with his brave mind,
That ftudies to preferve mankind.
Sir W. Davenant's News from Plymouth.
Thou may'it not these condemn, and thofe abfolve.
Juftice, when equal fcales fhe holds, is blind;
Nor cruelty, nor mercy change her mind :
When fome escape for that which others die,
Mercy to those, to thefe is cruelty.
A fine and flender net the spider weaves,
Which little and flight animals receives;
And if the catch a common bee or fly,
They with a piteous groan and murmur die ;
But if a wasp or hornet she entrap,
They tear her cords, like Sampson, and escape:
So like a flie, the poor offender dies;
But like the wafp, the rich escapes, and flies.
Justice must be from violence exempt;
But fraud's her only object of contempt:
Fraud in the Fox, force in the lion dwells;
But juftice both from human hearts expells;
But he's the greatest monster, without doubt,
Who is a wolf within, a fheep without.
ND fince the definition of a king,
Is for to have of people governance,
Addrefs thee first, above all other thing,
To put thy body to fuch ordinance,
That thy virtue, thine honour may advance;
For how fhould princes govern their regions,
That cannot duly guide their own perfons?
Among all other paftime and pleasure,
Now in thine adolefcent yeares young,
Wouldst thou each day ftudy but half an hour
The regiment of princely governing;
To thy people it were a pleasant thing:
VOL. II.
There might'st thou find thine own vocation,
How thou should'st use the scepter, fword, and crown.
Sir David Lindsay.
Let justice mix'd with mercy them amend ; -
Have thou their hearts, thou haft enough to spend:
And by the contrair, thou'rt but king of bone,
From time that their heartes, are from thee gone.
Abuse of pow'r abafeth princes all.
In throne on earth, a prince as god doth fit;
And as a god, no justice should omit.
Right is of itself moft ftrong;'
No kingdom got by cunning, can stand long.
Marlo's Luft's Dominion. 1. But who dares tell a prince he goes afide? 2. His confcience beft, if wisdom were his guide : 1. But they are great, and may do what they will : 2. Great, if much good not great, if they do ill: 1. But we muft yield to what princes will have. 2. He is no prince, that is affection's flave. I. Be what he will, his pow'r is over-ftrong. 2. Heav'ns will not fuffer fin to flourish long.
'Tis greater care, to keep, than get a crown.
Virtue doth raise by small degrees you fee:
Where in a moment fortune cafts us down.
And furely thofe that live in greatest place,
Muft take great care, to be fuch as they seem:
They are not princes, whom fole titles grace;
Our princely virtues, we should most esteem.
The love of kings is like the blowing of
Winds, which whistle sometimes gently among
The leaves, and ftraightway turn the trees up by
The roots; or fire, which warmeth afar off,
And burneth near hand; or the fea, which makes
Men hoife their fails in a flattering calm,
And to cut their mafts in a rough ftorm. They
Place affection by times, by policy,
By appointment; if they frown, who dares call
Them unconftant? if bewray fecrets, who
Will term them untrue? if they fall to other
Loves, who trembles not, if he call them unfaithful?
In kings there can be no love, but to queens:
For as near muft they meet in majesty,
As they do in affection.
It is requifite to ftand aloof from
King's love, Jove, and lightning.
Lilly's Alexander and Campafpe.
Kings are earth's gods: In vice their law's their will;
And if Jove ftray, who dares fay, Jove doth ill.
Shakespear's Pericles.
It is the curfe of kings, to be attended
By flaves, that take their humours for a warrant,
To break into the bloody house of life;
And, on the winking of authority,
To understand a law, to know the meaning
Of dang'rous majefty; when, perchance it frowns
More upon humour, than advis'd respect.
Shakespear's King John.
Why doth the crown lie there upon his pillow,
Being fo troublesome a bed-fellow ?
O polifh'd perturbation! golden care!
That keep'it the ports of flumber open wide
To many a watchful night: Sleep with it now!
Yet not fo found, and half fo deeply fweet,
As he, whose brow, with homely biggen bound,
Snores out the watch of night. O majesty,
When thou doft pinch thy bearer, thou doft fit
Like a rich armour worn in heat of day,
That fcalds with fafety !
Shakespear's Second Part of King Henry IV. When the Romans firft did yield themselves To one man's pow'r, they did not mean their lives,
Their fortunes and their liberties should be
His abfolute spoil, as purchas'd by the sword.
Jobnfon's Sejanus. :
Men are deceiv'd, who think there can be thrall
Beneath a virtuous prince. Wish'd liberty
Ne'er lovelier looks than under fuch a crown.
But, when his grace is merely but lip-good;
And that, no longer than he airs himself
Abroad in publick; there, to feem to shun
The strokes and ftripes of flatt'rers, which within
Are letchery unto him, and fo feed
His brutish fenfe with their afflicting found;
As, dead to virtue, he permits himself
Be carry'd like a pitcher by the ears,
To ev'ry act of vice: this is a cafe,
Deferves our fear; and doth prefage the nigh
And close approach of blood, and tyranny.
She tells him first, that kings
Are here on earth the most confpicuous things:
That they, by heav'n, are plac'd upon his throne,
To rule like heav'n; and have no more their own,
As they are men, than men: That all they do,
Though hid at home, abroad is fearch'd into :
And being once found out, difcover'd lies
Unto as many envies there, as eyes:
That princes, fince they know it is their fate,
Oft-times to have the fecrets of their state
Betray'd to fame; fhould take more care, and fear
In publick acts, what face and form they bear.
For though by right, and benefit of times,
He own'd their crowns, he would not so their crimes:
He knew, that princes who had fold their fame
To their voluptuous lufts, had loft their name:
And that no wretch was more unbleft than he,
Whofe neceffary good 'twas now to be
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