The mirror of fortune, or, The true characters of fate and destiny wherein is treated of the growth and fall of empires, the destruction of famous cities, the misfortunes of kings and other great men and the ill fate of virtuous and handsome ladies : whereunto is added Moral, politick, and natural reflection upon several subjects / written in French by Monsieur Chevreau : and newly translated into English by D. Decoisnon.

CHAP. III. Of some other Kings which have been depo∣sed from their Crowns.

THe Ancients have given us a Rose for the Emblem of beauty, because its co∣lour fades as soon as it is blown. The Moon because of its changes, and glass because of its brittleness, and many other such things, to shew us that those things which touch most our sight, ought not to touch our Souls, and that the best of them causeth our pitty, as well as our admiration and envy. Those that will but examine narrowly our conditions, will find that nature hath always been the same in all Men, that they are distinguisht but by qua∣lities and titles; that death makes them all equals, and that in which their grandeur is seen, often casteth them into miseries; in ef∣fect, we often see, that Fortune is so fickle to Kings, that the Man that found a Crown, had reason to say; O much more glorious then thou

art fortunate, if it could be known what misfor∣tunes thou bringst upon Men, whose ambition and courage are excited by thy glittering luster; there is no Man that would take thee up from the ground. Who would ever have thought, considering Evagoras and These, the one King of Cyprus, and the other of Egypt, that fate should have reduced them to suffer their common Enemy upon their Thrones; and to make unprofita∣ble wishes for their liberty. Notwithstanding, Artaxerxes King of Persia, calling to mind that they had assisted the Lacedemonians a∣gainst him, went to War with them with so good success, and so much obstinacy, that he forced the one to live as the meanest of his Servants, and the other to flye to the Ara∣bians Country, where his exile and his pover∣ty lasted as long as his life. Although Ariba was nearly related to Queen Olympias, and that he was King of the Epirotes, Philip King of Macedonia, took all away from him, even to his very hopes, which is the last thing that an unfortunate Man can loose; and made him sufficiently acknowledg, ethat in the pros∣perities of Fortune, the mind ought to arm itself against the injuries of it. Perseus ha∣ving gotten the Crown of Macedonia by an ho∣micide, had afterwards all the power of the Romans against him; but as he had already vanquished two of their Consuls; besides the

advantage of the scituation of the place, where he stood, he was of opinion, that he should also Triumph over Paul Aemilius, and that he should sustain that with glory, which he ac∣quired by a crime. Howsoever, his entrepri∣ses succeeded another way, he was forced to flye from the City Pydné, and that of Pella; and at last to Samothrace, whereof Cnejus Octa∣vius, Paul Aemilius his Lieutenant, pressed him in such sort, that he was forced to yield, and forced to confess openly, that Misfortunes were not so much casualties, as the essential part of Mens lives. Paul Aemilius could not behold his disgrace without tears; but when he saw him prostrate himself at his feet, with the meanness of a Subject, he beheld him with indignation, and changed his love into ha∣tred, and his mercy into vengeance. Thou shewest, said he, by thy shameful submission, that thy disgrace is rather the effect of thy weakness, then of thy ill fortune. In what∣soever Enemy magnanimity is found, it is al∣ways respected by the Romans, but though Cowardise is sometimes fortunate, it is despi∣sed by all Men; and thou makest me to doubt, which of the two hath most contributed to my Victory, my courage, or thy low spirit; go thy way, since thou art not worthy of the Ti∣tle of King, thou art unworthy of a Consuls love. Whosoever is a Coward, ought to have

no hopes, and whosoever acts like a Slave, deserveth to be so; This opinion was so strong in Paul Aemilius, that he made him follow his Charriot of Triumph like a Captive; the same hands that had borne a Scepter, bore Chains by his order; and this unfortunate Man was exiled in Albania, as if the Romans could not have suffered a Prince, which they had van∣quished without glory, because they had van∣quished him without danger. And that which is most deplorable, is, That two Children, who were not guilty of their Fathers Vice, yet had part in his confusion and fall; the one practi∣sed the Trade of a Goldsmith at Rome, the other, that of a Blacksmith, in Cicilia, to have at least a support for their lives. At that same time, Gentius King of the Illyrians, who had sided with him, had the same lowness, and the same disgrace, he kneeled on the ground be∣fore Anitius, thinking to obtain more by his submission, then by his ambition; but Anitius, who could not suffer the timerousness of a Wo∣man, in a Man of that Dignity, cast him into Prison immediately, and left him no other Consolation, but the memory he had, that he had been happy once. Demetrius, who with his Fathers old Souldiers, had Conquered the Kingdom of Macedonea, did his endeavor to secure himself against the Forces of Lisima∣chus; but because he had killed, by Treason,

Alexander, Cassanders Son, and that this blood unjustly spilt, cryed for vengeance, against this wicked Politick; he acknowledged, (but too late) that his Ambition had been the cause, both of his Greatness and his Destruction, and that his Crime, which had been the cause of his Joy, was become that of his Misfortunes, having not been able to overcome his Enemy by his Courage, he strived to do it by his Mi∣sery; after his defeat humbled himself before him, as if he would have put him in the mind, that the same disgrace might happen to him, and that there is often but one step, between Authority and Servitude: but Lisimachus, in lieu of being touched with his repentance and prayers, had him bound with great Chains, and confined him to an eternal prison, for his Palace and for his punishment. Penestus and Amynias, who having been Gards to Alexander the Great, were become his Successors, one in Babylon, and t'other in Bactria, did not long, keep themselves in the Conquests of their Ma∣ster, and had scarcely time to tast their felicity, because that Seleucus made War with them, that only ceased, by the taking from them their two Provinces. After the Lacedemonians had suffered without murmuring, the Tyranny of Alchimous, they did what lay in their power, to tame this Monster, which they had exalted but to their own Ruines; they gave him as much

respect and veneration, as if he had been their legitimate King, and shewed him, that nothing equalized his Cruelty, but their Pa∣tience: Being not willing to make use of Poi∣son against his person, they made use of their old Priviledges against his Maxims, but when they saw, that neither the fear of the gods, nor the consideration of the Laws, had any power over him, they were forced to depose him, and to choose Agesipolis, to be arbitra∣tor of their lives and liberties. Alchimeus, did not loose his courage, though he had lost this Kingdome; this new disorder gave him new hopes, and perswaded him that he could as well remedy as suffer his misfortune; and for all the violences which he practised against the Commonalty, he gained the Nobility to him by flatteries, returned to Sparta, made all his adversaries tributary to him, and shewed them that his absence and presence were both alike to be feared. By this means he got upon the Throne, banished the unfortunate Agesipolis, and constrained him to live in so great pover∣ty, that he could as hardly satisfie his hunger, as he could his toothsomness before. When the Romans were finishing the Conquest of the Asiaticks, Origiagotes, King of the Caboleni∣ans, and Gaudates King of the Coloscobogi∣us, in Bithiny, opposed generously Man∣lius's enterprise, and took the field together by a common interest, to let him understand,

that they had rather sell their liberty, then to give it away willingly. Never Vertue was more heroick then theirs, and never did any resolution appear to them more glorious and just. They lookt upon subjection to be the greatest of all evils, and independency the greatest of felicities; they perswaded them∣selves that Subjects and Slaves were both the same thing, and that it was better to dye then to obey. Although they shewed their genero∣sity in this Battle, the Victory declared it self on the Consul's side: these two Kings were made his Prisoners, and died miserably in Chains. After Antiochus death, the Dukes of Achaya and Messania, who of a long time dis∣puted together the Soveraignity, saw them∣selves forced to decide their differences by Arms, and to abandon their cause to the Ca∣prises of Fortune. The Duke of the Achay∣ans, Philomenus, did appear the valiantest, but not the most fortunate; for being fallen off of his Horse, he neither had time to recover himself, nor his Souldiers to whom this fall seemed to be theirs. The Messanians ran im∣mediately upon him to kill him: but the Ma∣jesty of his looks withheld their hands, and suspended for that time their resentments and vengeance; those whose fury was not satisfied by slaughter, took him, and treated him with∣out respect: they made him go about their

Town, in the greatest confusion in the World, and made a spectacle of him for a long time, in a publick place, that so the people might see Rebellion chained fast, and that every Man might look upon him with scorn and de∣rision, whom they could not look upon be∣fore, without fear and reverence. From that place he was carried to an obscure Prison, and as if they had been afraid of him, for all his Bonds, they made use of poison to make him away, and found still after his death, that his valor was living in his face. Two Princes of the Aequoissians, Graccus, and Cinelius, suf∣fered the same punishment and confusion un∣der two Consuls; the first died in Prison, and the other being perswaded that life, how∣soever miserable it is, is yet sweeter then an horrible death, became servant to him to whom he had been an ornament in his Triumph. Hath not Syphax been vanquished so by the Romans, in the behalf of Massinissa? his Wife imprisoned, and this Prince of Numidie made Captive, and so confounded, by a change so un∣expected, that he had been longer in misery, if the sorrow that killed him, had not sooner set him at liberty then his Enemies; and if the fear that he had to wear out his Chains, had not broken them? After the Romans had no more designes nor conquests to make, and that their Empire was become that of all the earth;

they imagined that there was not so much glory to keep things in ones possession, as to acquire them, and that rest ought to be at least, the fruit of their labors. This opinion, that bred in them slothfulness, awaked most part of the Nations afar off, and was so advanta∣gious to some, that it gave them time and courage to undertake all things for their liber∣ty. The Goths, under Alaricks Reign, were the first that ransackt all Italy, in the time of the Emperor Zenon, and made the rich Severin Captive, who in his disgrace could never find either Remedy or Consolation. Didier, who was amongst Christian Kings, the same thing that the Sun is amongst the Stars, and who by his Magnificence, had made himself as many Friends, as he had Neighbors; and Alyas did not believe, that Fortune could bring any al∣teration in his Dominions, and that her pow∣er which ordinarily casteth down, but those things which are before half ruined, could shake those which stood the fastest; for all that, Charlemain had no sooner marched his Forces in Lombardy, into the behalf of the Roman Church, but he defeated him, and made him flye to Apavia, with his Wife and Children, and there to expect how Hea∣ven would dispose of their lives, and his own.

Charlemaine besieged him, without giving him time to consider of it; took him by Fa∣mine,

and confined him to a long Imprison∣ment, from which he was brought forth to be carried into the Grave. Not long before this, Chilperic the third of that name, was reduced by Pepin, to dye in a Monastery; and as his Idleness had been the cause of his disaster, the same fault, joined with the Treason of Anselm, Bishop of Laon, was the misfortune of Charles Duke of Lorrain, that Hugh Capet was laden with Iron when he was ready to take possession of the Kingdom, which fell to him by the death of his brother. Salomon, King of Hungaria, whose tenderness made him pass for a woman, and who seem'd, in effect, to have been a Prince, but by the title of it, fled into Istrya, having not had courage enough to stay for a Combat with his Nephew Ladislaus, and dyed unhappy, by the opinion he had that all was lost that was ventured; and that it was alwayes the best way to avoid danger, rather than seek it. Guy of Lucignan, last Christian King of Jerusalem, was beaten away by the Arms of Saladin, out of this goodly Kingdom, which had been con∣quered under the conduct of Godfry of Bouil∣lon, and reduced to the necessity of retiring in∣to the Isle of Cyprus, by the favor of Richard King of England, there to lament till death, a loss after which he had no thought to live. Lewis, King of Jerusalem, expelled another

King of Cicilia of his own name, and pursued him with so much outrage, that he was forced to beg of him a small place of his own Coun∣trey to dwell in; his Misfortune being so great, that it constrain'd him to receive Laws in the same place where he imposed them before, and to be Vassal to those whom he had been Sove∣reign to. David King of Scotland, was kept ele∣ven years in Prison; and if Philip of Valois had not taken Arms for his liberty, against the English, we may not doubt but he would have dyed in servitude, and that his shame and his dayes would have had the same period. But this discourse of servitude is too long, we must pass from Grief, to Death: And since I have shew'd you some Kings in Prison, I will also shew you some a dying; that you may see that Fortune is no less ingenious in bringing Mur∣thers about, than it is in forging of Chains.