THE Court Of Honour Or, The virtuous Protestant's Looking-Glass: BEING The True and Lively Characters( or Descriptions of the Chief and most Noble Worthies that maintain any Pious Princes Crown, or make Happy a Kingdom: With their several Qualifications, Dignities and titles. Wherein Good Kings may View their own Images, virtuous Noblemen see their own Pictures, Subjects learn Loyal Obedience, and all sorts of Men, behold( as in a mirror) their own Excellencies and Graces, Vices or Defects: To Persevere in the One, and forsake the other. depiction of a king depiction of a prince I. A Worthy KING. II. A Worthy PRINCE. III. A Worthy COUNSELLOR. IV. A Worthy Nobleman. V. A Worthy BISHOP or MINISTER. VI. A Worthy JUDGE. VII. A Worthy Knight and Commander in the wars. VIII. A Worthy Gentleman. IX. A Worthy LAWYER. X. A Worthy SOULDIER. XI. A Worthy physician. The like not Extant. depiction of a worthy (counsellor or nobleman) depiction of a worthy (knight or soldier) Written by a Royalist, a Person of Quality: One that fears God, and Honoureth the King. With God Save the King, Preserve his Crown, Defend the Church, Tread Rebels Down. Allowance. Printed by A. Purslow, and Tho. holy. 1679. A Worthy KING. HE is the figure of God, in the nature of government, and the chief of man, the Churches champion, and natures honour: heavens quintessence, earths magnificence, a director of the Law, and the strength of the same, the sword of Justice, and the sceptre of mercy, the glass of grace, and the eye of honour, he is the searcher out of treason, and the terror of traitors, but he is the life of loyalty, his command is general, his frown is death, and his favour is life, his charge is his subjects, his care is their safety, his pleasure their peace, and his joy their love, he is not to be paralleled, because that he is without equality, and the prerogative of his Crown may not be contradicted, he is the Lords anointed, and therefore must not be touched, he is the head of the public body, and therefore must be preserved, he is the scour of sin, and the blessing of grace, Gods Vice-Roy over his people, and under him sumpream head and Governor, his safety must be his counsellors care, and his health his subjects prayer, his pleasure his peers comfort, and his content his Kingdoms gladness, his presence must be reverenced, his person attended, his Court must be adorned, and his state maintained, his bosom must not be searched into, his will not disobeyed, his wants must not be unsupplyed, nor his place unregarded, he is more than a man, although not a God, and next unto God to be honoured above all men. ( A Worthy Prince) such is our KING, whom God long preserve. HE is the hope of a Kingdom, and the richest jewel in the Kings Crown, the fairest Flower in the Nations Garden, the Ioy of nature in the hope of honour, he is the love of wisdom, and the life of worthiness, in the secret carriage of his hearts intentions, until his designs come to action, and so to perfection, he seems but as a dumb show to the worlds imagination, in his wisdom he startles the stupid of their expectation by his valour and by his virtue be subjects the hearts of ambition, and wins the love of the most noble, and by his own bounty he binds the most sufficient, he is the Christial-Glass where nature may behold her comfort, and the Book of Reason, where virtue may red her honour, he is the Morning-Starr that hath light from the Sun, and the blessed fruit of the three of Earths paradise, he is the study of the wise in the state of honour, and in the subject of Learning, he is the History of admiration, he is in the note of Wisdom, the aim of honour, and in the honour of virtue, the hope of a Kingdom. A Worthy Privy-Coursellour. He is the pillar of a Realm, in whose wisdom and care, next under God& the King, stands the safety of a Kingdom, he is a watch-Tower to give warning of the enemy, to discover treason,& apprehended the traitors, and bring them to condign punishment, he is the hand of providence, for the preservation of the state and Kingdom, he is an Oracle in the Kings Ear, and a sword in the Kings hand, an even weight in the balance of Justice, and a light of grace in the love of truth, he is an eye of care in the course of Law, and a heart of love in his service to his sovereign, a mind of honor in the order of his service, and a brain of invention for the good of the Comonwealth, his place is powerful, his service is faithful, and his honour ought to be proportionable to his great employment, he is a fixed Planet amongst the Stars of the Firmament, which through the clouds in the air shows the greatness of his light, and the goodness of his Influence. A Worthy Noble Man. He is the mark of honour, the eye of wisdom, in the observation of desert sees the fruit of grace, he is the Orient pearl that reason polisheth, for the beauty of nature, and the Diamond spark where Divine graces gives virtue honour, he is the note Book of Mortal Discipline, where the conscience of care may find the true Courtier, he is the nurse of hospitality, and the relief of necessity, the love of charity, and the life of bounty, he is learnings grace, and valours famed, wisdoms fruit, and k ndness love, he is the true Fawlkon that feeds on no Carrion, and the generous stead that will be no Hackney, the true Dolphin that fears not the Whale, and the true Man of God that fears not the Devil, he is the Darling of nature, in reasons Philosophy, the Load-stone of light, in loves Astronomy, the ravishing sweet in the music of honour, and the Golden Number in Graces arithmetic. A Worthy Bishop or Minister. He is an Ambassador from God unto men, in the midst of War to make a treaty of peace, who with a pronunciation of a general pardon upon a general and a particular confession of sin, the fruit of Repentance and faith in the merits of Christ, gives a full assurance of comfort, he brings tidings from Heaven of happiness to the worse upon earth, he is the silver Trumpet in the music of Love, where faith hath a life that never faileth the beloved, he is the director of Life in the Laws of God, and the true chirurgeon of the Soul in lancing the sores of sin, the terror of the reprobate in pronouncing of their damnation, and the joy of the faithful in the assurance of their salvation, he is in the nature of grace worthy of honor, and in the measure of life worthy of love, he is a continual agent betwixt God and man, and the preaching of his Word, and praying for his people, is as well his delight as employment. A Worthy JUDGE. He is a doom, whose breath is mortal upon the breach of the Law, where treason must receive its reward, and malefactors that act against the Law he cuteth off from the Common wealth, he is the sword of Iustice in the hand of the King, and the eye of wisdom in the circuit of a Kingdom, his study is a most true square for the keeping of a due proportion betwixt command and obedience, that the King may in the more safety keep the Crown on his head, and the Subject his head on his shoulders, he is feared of none but of the foolish, and cursed of none but the wicked, but of the Wise he is honoured, and of the gracious he is beloved, he is a surveyor of rights, and a revenger of wrongs, and in the Iudgement of truth, the honour of Iustice, his words are Law, his power grace, his labour peace, and his desert honour. A worthy Knight and Commander in the Wars. He is a spirit of proof, in the advancement of virtue, by the desert of honour, in the eye of Majesty, in the field he gives courage to his souldiers, in the Court he gives grace to his followers, in the City reputation to his person, and in the country honour to his House and Family, his sword and his horse make his way to his house, and his armor of proof is his undaunted spirit, the music of his delight is the sound of the Trumpet, and the rattling of the warlike Drum, and the paradise of his eye is his enemies army defeated, the oppresseds relief makes his conquest honourable,& pardoning the submissive, makes him as famous for mercy, as courage, he is in Nature mildred, and in Spirit stout, in Reason judicious, and in all honourable; He is a Yeomans commander, and a gentlemans Superior, A Noble mans companion, and the King and Kingdoms worthy Favourite. A Worthy GENTLEMAN. He is a true Branch of the three of honour, whose fruits are the actions of virtue, as pleasing to the eye of Judgement, as tastful to the spirit of Understanding; whatsoever he doth it is not forced, except it be evil, which either through ignorance, unwillingly, or through compulsion unwillingly, he falls upon: He is in nature kind, and in demeanour courteous, in alleagence strict, and in Religion zealous; in service faithful, and in rewarding bountiful: He is Woven by the spirit of Wisdom, to adorn the court of Honour: his Apparel is for the most part, more comely then costly, and his diet more wholesome then excessive; his exercise more healthful then painful, and his Study more for knowledge then for pride: his Love not wanton nor common, his gifts neither niggardly nor yet prodigal, and his carriage is neither Apish nor Sullen; he is an approver of his pedigree, by the Nobleness of his passage, and in the course of his life, an example to his posterity. A Worthy LAWYER. He is the Student of knowledge, how to bring controversies to a conclusion of peace, and out of respect unto Understanding, he divides time into Uses, and cases into Instructions, he lays open obscurities and is praised for his Speech of truth; he pleads much in Forma Pauperis, for small Fees, he is a means for the preservation of Titles, and the holding of possessions, and a great instrument of peace, in the Iudgement of Impartiality, he is the Clyants hope in his causes pleading, and his hearts comfort in a most happy Issue, he is a finder out of tricks in the craft of evil consciences, and the joy of the distressed in the relief of Justice, he is a maker of peace amongst the Spirits of the contentious, and a contriver of quietness in the Execution of the Law. A Worthy soldier. HE is the Child of Valour, who was born for the service of a pure and just necessity, and for to bear the Ensign of honour: In the actions of worth, he is the dyer of the earth with Blood, and the ruin of the erections of Pride, the refeller of Rebellion, and the chastizer of the Rebells: He is the watch of Wit, in the advantage of time, and the Executioner of wrath upon the wilful offender: He disputes questions with the point of his Sword, and prefers death to Indignities: He is a lion to Ambition, and a Lamb to Submission; he hath hope fast by the hand, and treads upon the head of fear; he is the Kings Champion and the Kingdoms guard, pieces preserver and Rebellion terror; he makes the horse trample at the sound of the Trumpet, and leads on to the battle, as if that he was going to a breakfast, he knows not the nature of cowardice, for his rest is set upon resolution, his strongest Fortification is his mind, which beats off the assaults of idle humours, and his life is the passage of danger, where an undaunted spirit stoops to no Fortune; with his Armies he wins his Arms, and by his desert in the field, his honour in the Court, in the truest Manhood, he is the truest man, and in the creation of honour the most worthy Creature. A Worthy physician. HE is the Enemy of Sickness, in the purging of nature from corruption, his action is most in the feeling of Pulses, and his discourse is chiefly of the nature of Diseases; he is a diligent seacher out of simples, and accordingly makes his compositions; he persuades abstenence and patience for the benefit of health, while purging and bleeding are the chief courses of his Counsel. The Apothecary and the chirurgeon are his two attendants, with whom confering upon time, grows then temperate in his cures, surfeits and wantonness are great agents for his employment, when by the secret of his Skill, out of others weakness he gathers his own strength; he is a most necessary member for an unnecessary malady, for to find out the Disease and cure the diseased. By what hath been said, it is most undoubtedly the best and most surest government that is under God governed, by one single person, that is to say, one King, which ruleth only for the good of his people, and that kind of government hath been best approved of in all ages, hath longest continued, and is most ancient, for who can deny but that all things both in heaven& earth are governed by one God, by one perpetual order, and by one Providence, one Sun ruleth over the day and one Moon over the night. Let us well observe the little Bee, which of of all other creatures is to be admired,& seemeth to be a perpetual figure of just government, which having amongst them one principal Bee for their governor, which excelleth all other in greatness, yet hath he no sting, but in him is more knowledge then in all the rest, for if the day following shall be fair and dry, in the morning early he calleth them, making a noise as it were the sound of a horn or Trumpet, then do all the residue prepare them to labour, gathering nothing but what shall be sweet and profitable. The Captain himself laboureth not, but all the other for him, he only seeth that no drone nor unprofitable Bee enter into the Hive and consume the honey gathered by the other, and if so, presently expelleth them from their common-wealth. The Philosopher saith, that the universal School of all the world, is the person and Court of a Prince, and that the prince is a strong wall for the defence of the truth, and that the Counsellors and household-servants of the prince being well tried, and also the head Officers and Judges, and all other that have Authority, rightly chosen and instructed by the just example of the princes Court, how quickly then will the whole Common-wealth be brought into good order, all men delighting in the virtue, and praising the beauty and the commodity thereof in their Superiors; also rejoicing at the affabillity and gentleness of so pious, valours, and virtuous, noble Prince, dreading his severity, bringing virtue into custom, that such vices as before seemed but little, then become loathsome, filthy, and detestable. Plato saith, that except Wise men be made Governours, man-kind shall never have quiet rest; nor virtue be able to defend her self against her Enemies; and Alex Severus saith, that those that are put into a authority by the King, ought to be such as were never infamed with any notable 'vice, and that therewith they be sufficiently furnished with Wisdom and Gravity, voided of all private affections, as fear, Averice, and flattery; who like chirurgeons, shall neither for honour nor affection, forbear with corrisive and sharp Medicines to draw out the festered and stinking Coars of old Marmotes and invetrate Sores, engendered by the long custom of 'vice. And Plutarch saith, That it behoveth a prince to take good heed to his Counsellors, that he may know whom to trust, saying, Happy is that prince, and glorious is that Common-wealth that hath Young men to travail, and ancient persons for to give Counsel: Happy is that Kingdom where those that are in Authority, temper it with wisdom and purity of life and conversation; The King that is merciful, his Estate shall prosper, and his wisdom shall greatly help him at his need: his Subjects shall rejoice in him, his reign shall prosper, and his estate shall continue long in Renown and glory. Next under God, is the King; who is so gr at a Father as he? who is Father of a whole country, that is to say, of them that be Fathers, &c. FINIS.