A judge is a doom, whose breath is mortal upon the breach of law, where criminal offences must be cut off from a commonwealth.  He is a sword of justice in the hand of a king, and an eye of wisdom in the walk of a kingdom.  His study is a square for the keeping of proportion betwixt command and obedience, that the king may keep his crown on his head, and the subject his head on his shoulders.  He is feared but of the foolish, and cursed but of the wicked; but of the wise honoured, and of the gracious beloved.  He is a surveyor of rights and revenger of wrongs, and in the judgment of truth the honour of justice.  In sum, his word is law, his power grace, his labour peace, and his desert honour.

AN UNWORTHY JUDGE.

An unworthy judge is the grief of justice in the error of judgment, when through ignorance or will the death of innocency lies upon the breath of opinion.  He is the disgrace of law in the desert of knowledge, and the plague of power in the misery of oppression.  He is more moral than divine in the nature of policy, and more judicious than just in the carriage of his conceit.  His charity is cold when partiality is resolved; when the doom of life lies on the verdict of a jury, with a stern look he frighteth an offender and gives little comfort to a poor man’s cause.  The golden weight overweighs his grace, when angels play the devils in the hearts of his people.  In sum, where Christ is preached he hath no place in His Church; and in this kingdom out of doubt God will not suffer any such devil to bear sway.

A WORTHY KNIGHT.

A worthy knight 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 soldiers, in the court grace to his followers, in the city reputation to his person, and in the country honour to his house.  His sword and his horse make his way to his house, and his armour of best proof is an undaunted spirit.  The music of his delight is the trumpet and the drum, and the paradise of his eye is an army defeated; the relief of the oppressed makes his conquest honourable, and the pardon of the submissive makes him famous in mercy.  He is in nature mild and in spirit stout, in reason judicious, and in all honourable.  In sum, he is a yeoman’s commander and a gentleman’s superior, a nobleman’s companion and a prince’s worthy favourite.

AN UNWORTHY KNIGHT.

An unworthy knight is the defect of nature in the title of honour, when to maintain valour his spurs have no rowels nor his sword a point.  His apparel is of proof, that may wear like his armour, or like an old ensign that hath his honour in rags.  It may be he is the tailor’s trouble in fitting an ill shape, or a mercer’s wonder in wearing of silk.  In the court he stands for a cipher,