An unworthy king is the usurper of power, where tyranny in authority
loseth the glory of majesty, while the fear of terror frighteneth love
from obedience; for when the lion plays with the wolf, the lamb dies
with the ewe. He is a messenger of wrath to be the scourge of sin, or
the trial of patience in the hearts of the religious. He is a warrant of
woe in the execution of his fury, and in his best temper a doubt of
grace. He is a dispeopler of his kingdom and a prey to his enemies, an
undelightful friend and a tormentor of himself. He knows no God, but
makes an idol of Nature, and useth reason but to the ruin of sense. His
care is but his will, his pleasure but his ease, his exercise but sin,
and his delight but inhuman. His heaven is his pleasure, and his gold is
his god. His presence is terrible, his countenance horrible, his words
uncomfortable, and his actions intolerable. In sum, he is the foil of a
crown, the disgrace of a court, the trouble of a council, and the plague
of a kingdom.