Flatterers to be avoided. [ 1234]
WHen Xerxes with his multitudinous Army marched towards Greece, and asked of his Friends,* 1.1 What they feared most; and one said, That when the Greeks heard of his coming, they would fly away, before he could come near them; another said, He feared the ayr had not room enough for the arrowes of his Army; another feared, All Greece was not sufficient to quarter his Souldiers in; And then Damascerus the Philosopher said, He feared that all those Parasites would deceive him: And no wonder, For many Men have been eaten up, and cheated out of their whole estates by such dissembling and devouring Caterpillars: adulationis unctio est domorum emunctio, the oyl of Flattery hath soaked up many a good Fa∣mily; Plus nocet lingua adulatoris quà•• gladius persecutoris, saith another, A Flat∣terers tongue,* 1.2 doth more mischief then a Persecutors sword; so that better it were for Men to live 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, amongst Ravens, then 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, amongst Flatterers; For Ravens fe••d onely upon dead carcasses,* 1.3 and Flatter••rs feast upon living Men;* 1.4 they are therefore to be banished from our ears, or at the least no wayes trusted, and by no means countenanced; which if they be, it is to be feared they will not onely deceive us, but also destroy us, Prov. 26. 28. and mislead from the wayes of goodnesse.