278                            OF VAIN-GLORY.
 

UN.

OF  VAIN-GLORY.

It was prettily devised of ^sop, " The fly sat upon
the axle-tree of the chariot wheel, and said, What a
dust do I raise !" So are there some vain persons,
that whatsoever goeth alone or moveth upon greater
means, if they have never so little hand in it, they
think it is they that carry it. They that are glorious
must needs be factious, for all bravery stands upon
comparisons. They must needs be violent, to make
good their own vaunts. Neither can they be secret,
and therefore not effectual; but according to the
French proverb, Beaucoup de bruit peu de fruit:
Much bruit, little fruit. Yet certainly there is use
of this quality in civil affairs. Where there is an
opinion and fame to be created, either of virtue or
greatness, these men are good trumpeters. Again,
as Titus LIvius noteth in the case of Antlochus and
the ^tollans, " There are sometimes great effects of
cross lies ;" as if a man that negotiates between two