66 great a preffure, he was willing that his Lordship should have power given him to take what provifions the country would afford for his "prefent maintenance and recruit; to which "his Lordship made this reply: I humbly thank your Majefty, but my Caftle will not ftand "long if it leanes upon the countrey. I had "rather be brought to a morfel of bread, than 66 any morfels of bread fhould be brought me to "entertain your Majefty." 66 APOPHTH. XIV. "The Marquifs had a mind to tell the King "(as handfomely as he could) of fome of his (as he thought) faults; and thus he contrives "his plot. Against the time that his Majesty "was wont to give his Lordship a vifit, as he "commonly used to do after dinner, his Lord ship had the book of John Gower lying be"fore him on the table. The King cafting his ' eye upon the book, told the Marquifs that he "had never feen it before. Oh, faid the Marquifs, it is the book of books, which if your Majefty had been well verfed in, it would "have made you a King of Kings. Why fo, cc my Lord? faid the King. Why, faid the Marquifs, here is fet down how Ariftotle brought up and inftructed Alexander the Great in all the rudiments and principles be longing to a Prince. And under the perfons "of Alexander and Ariftotle he read the King "fuch "fuch a leffon, that all the ftanders-by were "amazed at the boldness; and the King, fup pofing that he had gone further than his "text would have given him leave, asked the ' Marquifs if he had his leffon by heart, or whe"ther he fpake out of the book. The Marquifs "replied, Sir, if you could read my heart, it may “be you may find it there; or, if your Majesty 66 please to get it by heart, I will lend you my "book; which latter proffer the King accepted "of, and did borrow it. Nay, faid the Marquifs, "I will lend it to your Majefty upon these con"ditions: first, that you read it; fecondly, that you make use of it. But perceiving how that "fome of the new-made Lords fretted and bit their "thumbs at certain paffages of the Marquifs's "discourse, he thought a little to please his Ma 66 jefty, though he difpleafed them the more, "who were fo much difpleafed already. Pro"testing unto his Majesty, that no one was fo “much for the abfolute power of a King as "Ariftotle; defiring the book out of the King's hand, he told his Majefty, that he could fhew "him a remarkable paffage to that purpose, turning to that place that has this verfe: 66 "A King can kill, a King can fave, "And more than that a King can do. "There were then divers new made Lords who "fhrunk out of the room; which the King ob"ferving, told the Marquifs, My Lord at this "rate you will drive away all my Nobility. The "Marquifs replyed, I protest unto your Majesty, "I am as new a made Lord as any of them all; "but I was never called knave and rogue fo "much in all my life as I have been fince I re"ceived this laft honour, and why should not "they bear their shares ?" "Speaking of the antient House of Peers, "that were nearly melted with the Houfe of "Commons during the civil wars, without con fequence and without weight, he said, Oh, "when the nobleft and highest element courts "the noise of the waves, (the truest emblem of "the madness of the people,) and when the "higheft region ftoops unto the lower, and the "loweft gets into the highest feat, what can be "expected but a chaos of confufion and diffo"lution of the univerfe? I do believe that they "are fo near unto their end, that as weak as I "am, there is phyfic to be had, if a man could "find it, to prolong my days, that I might outlive their honours." "Whilft he was under the cuftody of the "Black Rod, for his loyalty to his Sovereign, * and the resistance that he made to the forces of "the Parliament, he faid to a friend of his one day, Lord blefs us, what a fearfull thing was "this Black Rod when I heard of it at firft! It "did fo run in my mind, that it made an afflic"tion out of mine own imaginations; but "when I spoke with the man, I found him a very civil gentleman, but I faw no black rod. "So, if we would not let these troubles and ap"prehenfions. of ours be made worse by our 66 own apprehenfions, no rods would be black." "When he was told upon his death-bed that "leave was given by the Parliament that he 66 might be buried in Windsor Castle, where (as "the Editor of the Apophthegms fays) there is a peculiar vault for the family within the great Chapel, and wherein divers of his an"cestors lie buried, he cried out with great "fprightliness of manner, Why God bless us "all! why then I fhall have a better castle when "I am dead, than they took from me whilst I "was alive." Dr. Baylie, Dean of Wells, published in 1649 "The Conference; or, Heads of a Converfation "between the late Charles the First and the "Marquis of Worcester, concerning the Ca"tholics and Proteftants, that took place when "the King was at Raglon Castle in 1646.” The Marquis being a Catholic of course exalted the decifions of the Church above the conclufions of reafon; and in one part of the Conference the dialogue proceeded thus: "Marquifs.-Your Majefty has forgotten the "monies which came unto you from unknown "hands, and were brought unto you by un"known faces, when you promifed you would "never forfake your unknown friends. You "have forgotten the miraculous bleffings of the "Almighty upon thofe beginnings; and how you discountenanced, diftrufted, and difre garded, aye and difgraced the Catholiques all along, and at laft vowed an extirpation of << them. Doth not your Majefty fee clearly "how that in the two great battailles, the North "and Nafeby, God fhewed figns of his dif"pleasure? When in the firft, your enemies were even at your mercy, confufion fell upon .. you, and you loft the day; like a man that "fhould fo wound his enemies that he could "fcarce ftand, and afterwards his own fword "fhould fly out of the hilt, and leave the ftrong and fkillfull to the mercy of his falling ene"mies and in the fecond, (and I fear me the laft battaile that e'er you'll fight,) whilft your "men were crying Victory! and I hear they "had reafon to do fo, your fword broke in the "aire, which made you a fugitive to your flying "enemies. Sir, pray pardon my boldnesse, for 6 it |