But, I must break off this treaty with a story related in Plutarch. The city of Athens was in a great strait, wherein they knew not what to do. Themistocles in this strait said he had something wherein to give his opinion, for the behoof of the state, but he thought it not fit to deliver himself publicly. Aristides, a man of great trust, is appointed to hear him privately, and to make an account as he thought meet. When Aristides came to make his report to the senate, he told them that Themistocles' advice was indeed profitable, but not honest, whereupon the people would not so much as hear it. There is much whispering of a treaty, they are not willing to speak publicly of it: hear them in private, and it may be the best advice shall be profitable, but not honest. If a treaty should be, let it be both profitable and honest, and no lover of peace will be against it. 7. Seeing the king is now upon the renewing of the covenants, it should be remembered that we enter into covenant, according to our profession therein, with reality, sincerity, and constancy, which are the qualifications of good covenanters. Many doubt of your reality in the covenant, let your sincerity and reality be evidenced by your stedfastness and constancy; for many have begun well, but have not been constant. In the sacred history of kings, we find a note upon kings according to their carriages: one of three sentences is written upon them. 1. Some kings have this written on them, "He did evil in the sight of the Lord." They neither begin well, nor end well; such an one was Ahaz, king of Judah, and divers others in that history. 2. Others have this written on them, "He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart." Such an one was Amaziah king of Judah. He was neither sincere nor constant: when God blessed him with victory against the Edomites, he fell foully from the true worship of God, and set up the gods of Edom. 3. A third sentence is written upon the godly kings of Judah, "He did right in the sight of the Lord, with a perfect heart." As Asa, Hezekiah, Jehoshaphat, and Josiah, they were both sincere and constant. Let us neither have the first nor the second, but the third written upon our king, "He did right in the sight of the Lord, with a perfect heart." Begin well, and continue constant. Before I close, I shall seek leave to lay before our young king, two examples to beware of, and one to follow. The two warning examples, one of them is in the text, another in our own history.