John Trapp on Ecclesiastes 10:17

Verſ. 17. Bleſſed art thou O Land, &c.] Ita nati eſtis ut bona malaque veſtra ad Remp. pertineant. You Governours are of ſuch condition, as that your good or evil deeds are of publick concernment, ſaith hee in Tacitus. Annal. lib. 4. It is either weal or woe with the Land, as it is well or ill governed.

When thy King is the Son of Nobles] Well-born, and yet better bred: Princeps bonis moribus & liberaliter inſtitutus. Hieron. in loc. Speed. for elſe they will bee noti magis quam nobiles, notable, or notorious, but not Noble. Our Henry the Firſt (ſirnamed Beauclark) was often heard to ſay, that an unlearned King was no better than a crowned Aſs. Sure it is, that royalty without righteouſneſs is but eminent diſhonour, gilded rottenneſs, golden damnation. Godly men are the excellent Ones of the Earth, Pſal. 16. the Beraeans were more Noble, or better Gentlemen, than thoſe of Theſſalonica, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Act. 17.11 non per civilem dignitatem, ſed per ſpiritualem dignationem, not by civil, but by ſpiritual dignity; without which, riches, revenue, retinue, high birth, &c. are but ſhadows and ſhapes of Nobleneſſe. Since thou haſt been precious in my ſight, thou haſt been honourable, ſaith God, (Iſa. 43.4.) who is the top of good mens kin, as Religion is the root. But for want of this it was that Jehoiakim, though royally deſcended, is likened to an Aſſe, Jer. 22.19. and Antiochus, though a mighty Monarch, is called a vile perſon, Dan. 11.

And thy Princes eat in due ſeaſon, for ſtrength, &c.] Being modeſt and moderate, not diffluent and debauched. Great men ſhould not cater for the fleſh, Rom. 13. ult. but ſo ſerve the body, that the body politick may bee ſerved by it, and the Lord by both. Did e[illegible: 1 letter]er any one ſee King Deiotarus dancing or drunken? ſaith Cicero: and this hee holds to be a ſingular commendation.Orat. pro Rege Deiotaro. See Prov. 31.3, 4, &c. with Notes: See my common place of Abſtinence.