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MEn in Great Place, are thrice
Seruants: Seruants of the Soueraigne or State; Seruants of Fame; and Seruants of
Businesse. So as they haue no Freedome;
neither in their Persons; nor in their Actions; nor in their Times. It is a strange
desire, to seeke Power, and to lose Libertie;
Or to seeke Power ouer others, and to
loose Power ouer a Mans Selfe. The Rising vnto Place is Laborious; And by
Paines Men come to greater Paines; And
it is sometimes base; And by Indignities,
Men come to Dignities. The standing is
slippery, and the Regresse, is either a
downefall, or at least an Eclipse, which
is a Melancholy Thing. Cùm non sis, qui
fueris, non esse, cur velis viuere. Nay, retire
Men cannot, when they would; neither
will they, when it were Reason: But are
impatient of priuatenesse, euen in Age,
and Sicknesse, which require the Shadow:
Like old Townesmen, that will be still
sitting at their Street doore; though thereby they, offer Age to Scorne. Certainly
Great Persons, had need to borrow other
Mens Opinions; to thinke themselues
happy; For if they iudge by their owne
Feeling; they cannot finde it: But if they
thinke with themselues, what other men
thinke of them, and that other men
would faine be as they are, then they are
happy, as it were by report; When perhaps they finde the Contrary within. For
they are the first, that finde their owne
Griefs; though they be the last, that finde
their owne Faults. Certainly, Men in
Great Fortunes, are strangers to
themselues, and while they are in the pusle
of businesse, they haue no time to tend
their Health, either of Body, or Minde.
Illi Mors grauis incubat, qui notus nimis omnibus, ignotus moritur sibi. In Place, There
is License to doe Good, and Euill; wherof the latter is a Curse; For in Euill, the
best condition is, not to will; The Second,
not to Can. But Power to doe good, is
the true and lawfull End of Aspiring. For
good Thoughts ( though God accept
them, ) yet towards men, are little better
then good Dreames; Except they be put
in Act; And that cannot be without
Power, and Place; As the Vantage, and
Commanding Ground. Merit, and good
Works, is the End of Mans Motion; And
Conscience of the same, is the Accomplishment of Mans Rest. For if a Man,
can be Partaker of Gods Theater, he shall
likewise be Partaker of Gods Rest. Et
conuersus Deus, vt aspiceret Opera, quæ
fecerunt manus suæ, vidit quod omnia essent
bona nimis; And then the Sabbath. In the
Discharge of thy Place, set before thee
the best Examples; For Imitation, is a
Globe of Precepts. And after a time, set
before thee, thine owne Example; And
examine thy selfe strictly, whether thou
didst not best at first. Neglect not also
the Examples of those, that haue carried
themselues ill, in the same Place: Not to
set off thy selfe, by taxing their Memory;
but to direct thy selfe, what to auoid.
Reforme therfore, without Brauerie, or
Scandall, of former Times, and Persons;
but yet set it downe to thy selfe, as well to
create good Presidents, as to follow
them. Reduce things, to the first Institution, and obserue, wherin, and how,
they haue degenerate; but yet aske
Counsell of both Times; Of the Ancient Time, what is best; and of the Latter Time, what is fittest. Seeke to make
thy Course Regular; that Men may
know before hand, what they may expect: But be not too positiue, and peremptorie; And expresse thy selfe well,
when thou digressest from thy Rule.
Preserue the Right of thy Place; but stirre
not questions of Iurisdiction: And rather assume thy Right, in Silence, and
de facto, then voice it, with Claimes and
Challenges. Preserue likewise, the Rights
of Inferiour Places; And thinke it more
Honour to direct in chiefe, then to be
busie in all. Embrace, and inuite Helps,
and Aduices, touching the Execution of
thy Place; And doe not driue away such,
as bring thee Information, as Medlers;
but accept of them in good part. The vices of Authoritie are chiefly foure: Delaies; Corruption; Roughnesse; and Facilitie. For Delaies; Giue easie Accesse;
Keepe times appointed; Goe through
with that which is in hand; And interlace not businesse, but of necessitie. For
Corruption; Doe not onely binde thine
owne Hands, or thy Seruants hands, from
taking; but binde the hands of Sutours
also from offring. For Integritie vsed doth
the one; but Integritie professed, and
with a manifest detestation of Bribery,
doth the other. And auoid not onely the
Fault, but the Suspicion. Whosoeuer is
found variable, and changeth manifestly,
without manifest Cause, giueth Suspicion of Corruption. Therefore, alwayes,
when thou changest thine Opinion, or
Course, professe it plainly, and declare it,
together with the Reasons, that moue
thee to change; And doe not thinke to
steale it. A Seruant, or a Fauorite, if hee
be inward, and no other apparant Cause
of Esteeme, is commonly thought but a
By-way, to close Corruption. For Roughnesse; It is a needlesse cause of Discontent:
Seueritie breedeth Feare, but Roughnesse
breedeth Hate. Euen Reproofes from
Authoritie, ought to be Graue, and not
Taunting. As for Facilitie; It is worse
then Bribery. For Bribes come but now
and then; But if Importunitie, or Idle
Respects lead a Man, he shall neuer be
without. As Salomon saith; To respect
Persons, is not good; For such a man will
transgresse for a peece of Bread. It is most
true, that was anciently spoken; A place
sheweth the Man: And it sheweth some
to the better, and some to the worse:
Omnium consensu, capax Imperij, nisi imperasset; saith Tacitus of
Galba: but of Vespasian he
saith; Solus Imperantium Vespasianus mutatus in melius. Though the
one was meant of Sufficiencie, the other
of Manners, and Affection. It is an assured Signe, of a worthy and generous
Spirit, whom Honour amends. For Honour is, or should be, the Place of Vertue:
And as in Nature, Things moue violently to their Place, and calmely in their
Place: So Vertue in Ambition is violent, in Authoritie setled and calme.
All Rising to Great Place, is by a winding Staire: And if there be Factions,
it is good, to side a Mans selfe, whilest
hee is in the Rising: and to ballance
Himselfe, when hee is placed. Vse the
Memory of thy Predecessour fairely, and
tenderly; For if thou dost not, it is a
Debt, will sure be paid, when thou art
gone. If thou haue Colleagues, respect
them, and rather call them, when they
looke not for it, then exclude them,
when they haue reason to looke to be
called. Be not too sensible, or too remembring, of thy Place, in Conuersation, and priuate Answers to Suitors;
But let it rather be said; When he sits in
Place, he is another Man.
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