ESSAY. XLVI.
THen Vitellius, with Tears in his Eyes, alledging the antiquity of the Friendship contracted between 'em, repeating in the next place the good Services which Asiaticus had
The compleat courtier: or, The morals of the famous historian Cornelius Tacitus concerning flattery, &c. In above one hundred essays. Paraphras'd and illustrated with useful observations by the Sieur Amelo de la Houssaie and M. D'Ablancourt. Done out of French.
About this Item
- Title
- The compleat courtier: or, The morals of the famous historian Cornelius Tacitus concerning flattery, &c. In above one hundred essays. Paraphras'd and illustrated with useful observations by the Sieur Amelo de la Houssaie and M. D'Ablancourt. Done out of French.
- Author
- Tacitus, Cornelius.
- Publication
- London: Printed, and are to be sold by E. Rumball, at the Post-house in Russel-street in Covent-Garden,
- 1700.
- Rights/Permissions
-
To the extent possible under law, the Text Creation Partnership has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above, according to the terms of the CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). This waiver does not extend to any page images or other supplementary files associated with this work, which may be protected by copyright or other license restrictions. Please go to http://www.textcreationpartnership.org/ for more information.
- Subject terms
- Etiquette -- Early works to 1800.
- Link to this Item
-
http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A62449.0001.001
- Cite this Item
-
"The compleat courtier: or, The morals of the famous historian Cornelius Tacitus concerning flattery, &c. In above one hundred essays. Paraphras'd and illustrated with useful observations by the Sieur Amelo de la Houssaie and M. D'Ablancourt. Done out of French." In the digital collection Early English Books Online. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A62449.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 7, 2024.
Pages
Page 88
done the Commonweal, and his late Expedition against Brittain, or what∣ever else seem'd proper to raise Compassion, besought his Judges that he might have leave to choose his Death; and he was seconded by Claudius, who mov'd for the same Clemency.
Says D'Ablancourt, Vitellius in few words related the first beginning of their Friendship, and running over cursorily all the past Services which Asiaticus had done the Public, and particularly mentioning his last Enterprise against Brittain, he propos'd to permit him to make choice of his own Death; to which the Emperour consented, as a particular favour done him. Which latter words pass by the Ironie of Tacitus, who tells ye, that Claudius interceded for the same Cle∣mency.
I have already observ'd, that all Flat∣terers are naturally Cruel; nor need we a clearer Example, then this of Vitellius, to prove this Assertion. Messalina, the Emperour Claudius's Wife, caus'd Asia∣ticus to be accus'd of several Crimes a∣gainst the State, thirsting after his Life,
Page 89
and his delicious Gardens. Claudius con∣sulted Vitellius, Messalina's confident, and it may be, one of her Adulterers also: Vitellius therefore, that he might not lose her Favour, betrays his old Friend, and throws away his Life, under a pretended Mitigation of his Punishment. And thus you see the Trust of Courtiers Friend∣ship. Their Love and Friendship with∣out Hesitation plie to Interest. They readily bestow their Praises, and under∣mine your Life at the same time: They utter Clemency with their Lips, but Cruelty is in their Hearts.