OBSERVATIONS ON A LIBEL. 455 



V. Of the cunning of the libeller, in palliation of 

 his malicious invectives against her majesty 

 and the state, with pretence of taxing only the 

 actions of the lord Burleigh. 



I cannot rightly call this point cunning in the 

 libeller, but rather good will to be cunning ; without 

 skill indeed or judgment : for finding that it hath 

 been the usual and ready practice of seditious sub 

 jects to plant and bend their invectives and clamours, 

 not against the sovereigns themselves, but against 

 some such as had grace with them, and authority 

 under them, he put in ure his learning in a wrong 

 and unproper case. For this hath some appearance 

 to cover undutiful invectives, when it is used against 

 favourites or new upstarts, and sudden-risen coun 

 sellors : but when it shall be practised against one 

 that hath been counsellor before her majesty s time, 

 and hath continued longer counsellor than any other 

 counsellor in Europe ; one that must needs have been 

 great if it were but by surviving alone, though he 

 had no other excellency ; one that hath passed the 

 degrees of honour with great travel and long time, 

 which quencheth always envy, except it be joined 

 with extreme malice ; then it appeareth manifestly 

 to be but a brick-wall at tennis to make the defama 

 tion and hatred rebound from the counsellor upon 

 the prince. And assuredly they be very simple to 

 think to abuse the world with those shifts ; since 

 every child can tell the fable, that the wolf s malice 

 was not to the shepherd, but to his dog. It is true, 

 that these men have altered their tune twice or 



