It was the fashion to flatter in those days, and King James had abundance of such incense offered to him, though according to Ben Jonson it was impossible to flatter so perfect a monarch. The dramatist addressed the following epigram To the Ghost of Martial (Ep. 36):
Martial, thou gav’st far nobler epigrams
To thy Domitian, than I can my James:
But in my royal subject I pass thee,
Thou flattered’st thine, mine cannot flatter’d be.
A thought which has been humorously expanded by Ben Jonson (Ep. 42):
Who says that Giles and Joan at discord be?
Th’ observing neighbours no such mood can see.
Indeed, poor Giles repents he married ever;
But that his Joan doth too. And Giles would never