from a friendlie hand from those whom a man is inclined to loue without this occasion and contrarily it is a griefe to be obliged vnto him whom a man likes not and to whom he would not willingly be indebted Such benefits also are welcome that come from the hand of him that is any way bound to the receiuer for heere is a kind of iustice and they bind lesse Those good deeds that are done in necessities and great extremities carie with them a greater force they make a man forget all iniuries and offences past if there were any and binde more strongly as contrarilie the deniall in such a case is very iniurious and makes a man forget all benefits past Such benefits likewise as may be requited with the like are more gladly receiued than their contraries which ingender a kind of hate for he that findeth himselfe wholly bound without any power or possibility of repaiment as often as he seeth his benefactour hee thinkes hee sees a testimony of his inabilitie or ingratitude and it is irksome to his heart There are some benefits the more honest and gratious they are the more burthensome are they to the receiuer if he be a man of credit as they that tie the conscience and the will for they lock faster keepe a man in his right memorie and some feare of forgetfulnesse and failing his promise A man is a safer prisoner vnder his word than vnder locke and keie It is better to be tied by ciuill and publicke bands than by the law of honestie and conscience two notaries are better than one I trust your word and your faith and conscience heere is more honour done to the receiuer but yet constraint fastneth solliciteth and presseth much more and heere is more safety to the lender and a man carrieth himselfe more carelesly because he doubteth not but that the law and those outward ties will awaken him when the time shall serue Where there is constraint the will is more loose where there is lesse constraint the will hath lesse libertie quod me ius coget vix a voluntate impetrem From a benefit proceeds an obligation and from it a benefit 16 Obligation the mother and daughter of a benefit or good turne and so it is both the child and the father the effect and the cause and there is a twofold obligation actiue and passiue Parents princes and superiours by the dutie of their charge are bound to do good vnto those that are committed and commended vnto them either by law or by nature and generally all men that haue means are bound to releeue those that are in want or anie affliction whatsoeuer by the command of nature Behold heere the first obligation afterwards from benefits or good turnes whether they be due and sprining from this first obligation or free and pure merits ariseth the second obligation and discharge whereby the receiuers are bound to an acknowledgement and thankfull requitall All this is signified by Hesiodus who hath made the Graces three in number holding each other by the hands The first obligation is discharged by the good offices of euerie one that is in anie charge which shall presentlie be discoursed 17 The first obligation and mother of in the second part which concerneth particular duties but yet this obligation is strengthened and weakned and lesned accidentallie by the conditions and actions of those that are the receiuers For their offences ingratitudes and vnworthinesse doe in a maner discharge those that are bound to haue care of them and a man may almost say as much of their naturall defects too A man may iustly with lesse affection loue that child that kinsman that subiect that is not onelie wicked and vnworthie but foule misshapen crooked vnfortunate ill borne God himselfe hath abated him much from their naturall price and estimation but yet a man must in this abatement of affection keepe a iustice and a moderation for this concerneth not the helpes and succors of necessitie and those offices that are due by publike reason but onlie that attention and affection which is in the inward obligation The second obligation which ariseth from benefits is that 18 The second obligation which is thankfulnes which we are to handle concerning which we must at this time set down some rules 1. the law of dutifull acknowledgement thankfulnesse is naturall witnesse beasts themselues not only priuat and domesticall but cruell and sauage among whom there are many excellent examples of this acknowledgement as of the Lion towards the Roman slaue Officia etiam ferae sentiunt Secondly it is a certaine act of vertue and a testimony of a good mind and therefore it is more to be esteemed than bountie or benefit which many times proceeds from abundance from power loue of a mans proper interest and very seldome from pure vertue whereas thankfulnesse springeth alwaies from a good heart and therefore howsoeuer the benefit may be more to be desired yet kinde acknowledgement is farre more commendable Thirdly it is an easie thing yea a pleasant and that is in the power of euery man There is nothing more easie than to doe according to nature nothing more pleasing than to be free from bands and to be at liberty By that which hath beene spoken it is easie to see how base and vilanous a vice forgetfulnesse and ingratitude is 19 Of ingratitude how vnpleasing and odious vnto all men Dixeris maledicta cuncta cum ingratum hominem dixeris It is against nature and therefore Plato speaking of his disciple Aristotle calleth him an vngratefull mule It is likewise without all excuse and cannot come but from a wicked nature graue vitium intolerabile quod dissociat homines Reuenge which followeth an iniury Senec. as ingratitude a good turne is much more strong and pressing for an iniurie inforceth more than a benefit altius iniuriae quà m merita descendunt it is a very violent passion but yet nothing so base so deformed a vice as ingratitude It is like those euils that a man hath that are not dangerous but yet are more grieuous and painful than they that are mortall In reuenge there is some shew of iustice and a man hides not himselfe to worke his will therein but in ingratitude there is nothing but base dishonesty and shame Thankefulnesse or acknowledgement that it may be such 20 Rules of thankfulnes as it should bee must haue these conditions First hee must gratiously receiue a benefit with an amiable and cheerefull visage and speech qui gratè beneficium accepit primam eius pensionem soluit Secondly he must neuer forget it Ingratissimus Senec. omnium qui oblitus nusquam enim gratus fieri potest cut totum beneficium elapsum est The third office is to publish it ingenui Idem pudoris est fateri per quos profecerimus haec quasi merces authoris As a man hath found the heart and the hand of another
so high as when it is most deiected So that it must needs be miserable because to be happy it must be as it were lost and without it selfe This toucheth not in any sort the diuine disposition for God can to whom and when it pleaseth him reueale himselfe man in the meane time continuing setled in his sense and vnderstanding as the scripture makes mention of Moyses and diuers others 16 To conclude can there be a greater fault in iudgement than not to esteeme of iudgement not to exercise it and to preferre the memory and imagination or fantasie before it We see those great goodly and learned orations discourses lectures sermons bookes which are so much esteemed and admired written by men of greatest learning in this age I except some few what are they all but a heape and collection of allegations and the labours of other men a worke of memory and reading and a thing very easie being all culled and disposed to their hands and heereof are so many bookes composed with some few poynts handled with a good instruction or two a worke of imagination and heere is all This is many times a vanity and there appeareth not in it any sparke of iudgement or excellent vertue so likewise the authours themselues are many times weake and common in iudgement and in will corrupted how much better is it to heare a countrey swaine or a merchant talking in his counting-house discoursing of many goodly propositions and verities plainely and truely without arte or forme and giuing good and wholesome counsell out of a sound strong and solide iudgement In the will there are as many or rather more miseries and 11 Of the Will more miserable they are without number among which these following are some few of them 1 To be willing rather to seeme an honest man than to be and rather to be such to another than to himselfe 2 To be farre more ready and willing to reuenge an offence than to acknowledge a good turne in such sort that it is a corsiue to his heart to acknowledge pleasure and gaine to reuenge a proofe of a malignant nature gratia oneri est vltio in quaestu habetur 3 To be more apt to hate than to loue to slaunder than to commend to feede more willingly and with greater pleasure vpon the euill than the good of another to enlarge it more to display it more in his discourse and the exercise of his stile witnesse Lawyers Oratours and Poets who in reciting the good of any man are idle eloquent in euill The words inuentions figures to speake ill to scoffe are farre otherwise more rich more emphaticall and significant than to prayse or speake well 4 To flye from euill to doe what is good not properly for the good effect by naturall reason and for the loue of vertue but for some other strange consideration sometimes base and idle of gaine and profit vaine-glory hope feare of custome company and to be briefe not simply for himselfe and his duty but for some other outward occasion and circumstance all are honest men by occasion and accident And this is the reason why they are such vnequally diuersly not perpetually constantly vniformely 5 To loue him the lesse whom we haue offended and that because we haue offended him a strange thing and which proceedeth not alwayes from feare that he will take occasion to be reuenged for it may be he wisheth vs neuer the worse but it is because his presence doth accuse vs and brings to memory our fault and indiscretion And if the offendour loue not the offended the worse it is because the offence he committed was against his will for commonly he that hath a will to offend loues him the lesse whom he hath offended Chi offende mai non perdona He that offends neuer forgiues 6 As much may be sayd of him to whom we are much bound for courtesies receiued his presence is a burthen vnto vs he putteth vs in minde of our band and duty he reprocheth vnto vs our ingratitude and inabilities and we wish he were not so we were discharged of that duty Villaines by nature Quidam quo plus debent magis oderunt leue aes alienum debitorem facit graue inimicum 7 To take pleasure in the euill hurt and danger of another to greeue and repine at his good aduancement prosperitie I meane when it is without cause of hatred or priuate quarrell for it is another thing when it proceedeth from the ill desert of a man I speake heere of that common and naturall condition whereby without any particular malice men of indifferent honestie take pleasure to see others aduenture their fortunes at sea and are vexed to see them thriue better than themselues or that fortune should smile more vpon others than them and make themselues merry with the sorrow of another this is a token of a malitious seed in vs. To conclude that I may yet shew you how great our 12 The conclusion of these spirituall miseries misery is let me tell you that the world is replenished with three sorts of people who take vp much roome therein and carry a great sway both in number and reputation the superstitious formalists Pedanties who notwithstanding they are in diuers subiects iurisdictions and theaters the three principall religion life or conuersation and doctrine yet they are all of one stamp weake spirits ill borne or very ill instructed a very dangerous kind of people in iudgement and touched with a disease incurable It is lost labour to speake to these kind of people or to perswade them to change their minds for they account themselues the best and wisest in the world opinatiue obstinacie is there in his proper seate he that is once stricken and touched to the quick with any of these euils there is little hope of his recouery Who is there more sottish and withall more braine-sick and heady than these kind of people Two things there are that doe much hinder them as hath been spoken naturall imbecillitie and incapacitie and afterwards an anticipated opinion to do as well and better than others I do heere but name them and point them with the finger for afterwards in their places heere quoted their faults shall be shewed more at large The Superstitious iniurious to God and enemies to true religion couer themselues with the cloke of pietie zeale and 1 Superstitious See Lib. 2. Cap. 5. loue towards God euen to the punishing and tormenting of themselues more than is needfull thinking thereby to merit much and that God is not only pleased therewith but indebted vnto them for the rest What would you do to these kind of people If you tell them that they do more than they need and that they receiue things with the left hand in not vnderstanding them aright they will not beleeue you but tell you that their intent is good whereby they thinke to saue themselues and that they do it for deuotion Howsoeuer they
foure principall and princely vertues 3 Especially 4. vertues in principalitie And therefore that great Prince Augustus was wont to say that Pietie and Iustice did deifie Princes And Seneca saith that clemencie agreeth better with a Prince than any other The pietie of a soueraigne consisteth in his care for the maintenance and preseruation of religion as the protector thereof This maketh for his owne honor and preseruation of himselfe for they that feare God dare not attempt nay thinke of any thing either against their Prince who is the image of God vpon earth or against the state For as Lactantius doth many times teach it is a religion that maintaineth humane societie which cannot otherwise subsist and would soone be filled with all maner of wickednes and sauage cruelties if the respect and feare of religion did not bridle men and keepe them in order The state of the Romans did increase and flourish more by religion saith Cicero himselfe than by all other meanes Wherefore a Prince must take care and endeuor that religion be preserued in it puritie according to the ancient lawes and ceremonies of the countrie and hinder all innouation and controuersies therein roughlie chastising those that goe about to breake the peace thereof For doubtlesse change in religion and a wrong done thereunto draweth with it a change and declination in the Common-wealth Dion as Mecenas well discourseth to Augustus After pietie commeth Iustice without which states are but 4 Iustice. robberies which a Prince must keepe and practise both in himselfe and others In himselfe for he must detest all those tyrannicall barbarous speeches which dispence with soueraignes quitting them from all lawes reason equitie obligation which tell them that they are not bound vnto any other dutie than to their owne willes and pleasures that there is no law for them that all is good and iust that serueth their turnes that their equitie is their force their dutie is in their power Principi leges nemo scripsit licet si libet In summa fortuna Plin. Pan. Tacitus Senec. in tr id aequius quod validius nihil iniustum quod fructuosum Sanctitas pietas fides priuata bona sunt quà iuuat reges eant And he must oppose against them those excellent and holy counsels of the wise that he that hath most power in him to breake lawes should take most care to keepe them and liue most in order The greatest power should be the streightest bridle the rule of power is dutie minimum decet liberè cui Senec. Euripides nimium licet non fas potentes posse fieri quod nefas The Prince then must first be iust keeping well and inuiolablie his faith the foundation of iustice to all and euery one whosoeuer he be Then he must cause that his iustice be kept and maintained in others for it is his proper charge and for that cause he is installed He must vnderstand the causes and the persons giue vnto euery one that which appertaineth to him iustly according to the lawes without delay labyrinths of suits and controuersies inuolution of processe abolishing that villanous and pernitious mysterie of pleading which is an open fayre or marchandize a lawfull and honorable robberie concessum latrocinium auoiding the multiplicitie of lawes and ordinances a testimonie of a sicke Common-weale Corruptissimae Colum. Tacit. reipublicae plurimae leges as medicines and plaisters of a bodie ill disposed and all this to the end that that which is established by good lawes be not destroyed by too many Plin. Pan. lawes But you must know that the iustice vertue and probitie of a soueraigne goeth after another maner than that of An aduertisement priuate men it hath a gate more large and more free by reason of the great weight and dangerous charge which he carieth and swayeth for which cause it is fit to march with a pase which seemeth to others vneasie and irregular but yet is necessarie and lawfull for him He must sometimes step aside and goe out of the way mingle prudence with iustice and as they say couer himselfe with the skin of the Lion if that of the Foxe serue not the turne But this is not alwaies to be done and in all cases but with these three conditions that it be for the euident and important necessitie of the weale-publike For the weale-pub that is to say of the State and of the Prince which are things conioyned vnto which he must runne this is a naturall obligation and not to be dispensed with and to procure the good of the Common-weale is but to do his dutie Salus populi suprema lex esto That it be to defend and not to offend to preserue himselfe and not to increase his greatnes to saue and shield himselfe For defence and conseruation either from deceits and subtilties or from wicked and dangerous enterprises and not to practise them It is lawfull by subtiltie to preuent subtiltie and among foxes to counterfet the foxe The world is full of arte and malicious cousenage and by deceits and cunning subtilties states are commonlie ouerthrowne saith Aristotle Why then should it not be lawfull nay why should it not be necessarie to hinder and to diuert such euill and to saue the weale-publike by the selfe-same meanes that others would vndermine and ouerthrow it Alwaies to deale simplie and plainly with such people and to follow the streight line of true reason and equitie were many times to betray the State and to vndo it Thirdly it must be with discretion to the end that others abuse it not and such as are wicked take from thence occasion 5 Discreetly without wickednes to giue credit and countenance to their owne wickednes For it is neuer permitted to leaue vertue and honestie to follow vice and dishonestie There is no composition or compensation betwixt these two extremities And therefore away with all iniustice treacherie treason and disloyaltie Cursed be the doctrine of those who teach as hath beene said that all things are good and lawfull for soueraignes but yet it is sometimes necessarie and required that he mingle profit with honestie and that he enter into composition with both He must neuer turne his back to honestie but yet sometimes goe about and coast it employing therein his skill and cunning which is good honest and lawfull as saith that great S. Basil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and doing for the weale-publike as mothers and physitians who feede their children and sick with faire speeches deceiue them for their health To be brief doing that closely which he may not do openly ioyne wisdome to valor arte and spirit where nature and the hand sufficeth not be as Pindarus saith a Lyon in his blowes a Fox in his counsell a Doue and a Serpent as diuine veritie speaketh And to this matter more distinctly there is required in a soueraigne distrust and that he keepe himselfe close yet so as
trueth is multitude of yeeres and beleeuers now fooles do win the game sanitatis patrocinium est insanientium turba It is a very difficult thing for a man to resolue and settle his iudgement against the common opinion All this may easily appeare by those many impostures and fooleries which we haue seene to go for miracles and rauish the whole world with admiration but instantly extinguished by some accident or by the exact inquirie of such as are quicke sighted who haue cleered and discouered the cousenage which if they had had but time to ripen and to haue fortified in nature they had continued for euer beene generally receiued and adored And euen such are diuers others which by the fauour of Fortune haue passed for currant and gained publike beliefe whereunto men afterwards accommodate themselues without any farther desire to know the thing in it first forme and originall nusquam ad liquidum fama perducitur And this is the reason why there are so many kinds of religions in the world so many superstitious customes of the Pagans which are yet remaining euen in Christendome and concerning which we can not wholly assure the people By this whole discourse we see what we are and to what we tend since we are lead by such guides The fift and last Consideration of Man by those varieties and great differences that are in him and their comparisons CHAP. XLI Of the difference and inequalitie of men in generall THere is nothing in this lower world wherein there is found so great difference as amongst men and where the differences are so distant and diuers in one and the same subiect and kinde If a man should beleeue Plinie Herodotus Plutarch there are shapes of men in some countreys that haue very little resemblance with ours and some that are of a mixt and doubtfull kind betwixt men and beasts There are some countreys where men are without heads carrying their eyes and mouthes in their brests where they are Hermaphrodites where they go with foure feet where they haue one eye in the forehead and a head liker to a dogs head than a mans where they are fish from the nauell downwards and liue in the water where their women beare children at fiue yeeres of age and liue but eight where they haue their head and forhead so hard that iron can not pierce them where they doe naturally change into wolues and other beasts and afterwards into men again where they are without a mouth nourishing themselues with the smell of certaine odours where they yeeld a seed that is blacke where they are verie little and dwarfs where they are very great and giants where they goe alwayes naked where they are all hairie where they speake not but liue in woods like beasts hidden in caues and hollow trees And in our times we haue discouered seene with the eye and touched with our fingers where the men are without beards without vse of fire corne wine where that is held to be the greatest beautie which we account the greatest deformitie as hath beene sayd before Touching the diuersitie of maners we shall speake elswhere And to omit many of these strange wonderments we know that as touching the visage it is impossible to find two in all things alike it may fall out that we may mistake and take the one for the other because of the great resemblance that may be betweene two but this must be in the absence of the one for in the presence of them both it is easie to note a difference though a man know not how to expresse it In the soules of men there is a farre greater difference for it is not only greater without comparison betwixt a man and a man than betwixt a beast and a beast but there is greater difference betwixt a man and a man than a man and a beast for an excellent beast comes neerer to a man of the basest sort and degree than that man to another great and excellent personage This great difference of men proceedeth from the inward qualities and from the spirit where there are so many parts so many iurisdictions so many degrees beyond number that it is an infinit thing to consider We must now at the last learne to know man by those distinctions and differences that are in him which are diuers according to the many parts in man many reasons and meanes to compare and consider of him We will heere set downe fiue principall vnto which all the rest may be referred and generally all that is in man Spirit bodie naturall acquired publike priuate apparent secret and so this fift and last consideration of man shall haue fiue parts which are fiue great and capitall distinctions of men that is to say The first naturall essentiall and vniuersall of all men soule and bodie The second naturall and essentiall principally and in some sort acquired of the force and sufficiencie of the spirit The third accidentall of the estate condition and dutie of man drawen from superioritie and inferioritie The fourth accidentall of the condition and profession of life The fift and last of the fauours and disfauours of Nature and of Fortune CHAP. XLII The first distinction and difference of men naturall and essentiall drawen from the diuers situation of the world THe first most notable and vniuersall distinction of men 1 The diuersitie of men proceedeth from the diuers situatiō of the world which concerneth the soule and body and whole essence of man is taken and drawne from the diuers site of the world according to which the aspect and influence of heauen and the sunne the aire the climate the countrie are diuers So likewise not only the colour the feature the complexion the countenance the manners are diuers but also the faculties of the soule plaga coeli non solùm ad robur corporum sed animorum facit Athenis tenue caelum ex quo etiam acutiores Attici crassum Thebis ideo pingues Thebani valentes And therefore Plato thāked God that he was an Athenian and not a Theban As fruites and beasts are diuers according to the diuers countries wherein they are so men are borne more and lesse warlike iust temperate docible religious chaste ingenious good obedient beautifull sound strong And this is the reason why Cyrus would not agree to the Persians to abandon their sharp and hillie countrie to goe to another more plaine and pleasant saying that fat countries and delicate made men soft and effeminate and fertile grounds barren and infertile spirits Following this foundation we may in grosse diuide the world into three parts and all men into three kinds of nature 2 The diuision of the world into three parts we will make three generall situations of the world which are the two extremities South and North and the middle betwixt them both euery part and situation shall haue sixtie degrees The Southerne part which is vnder the Aequator hath thirtie degrees on this side
of the wiues are kept apart and carrie in some places the titles of lawfull wiues in others of concubines and their children are onely pensioners The vse of repudiation in like sort is different for with 12 Repudiation diuers some as the Hebrewes Greeks Armenians the cause of the separation is not expressed and it is not permitted to retake the wife once repudiated but yet lawfull to marry another But by the law of Mahumet the separation is made by the Iudge with knowledge taken of the cause except it be by mutuall consent which must be adulterie sterilitie incompatibilitie of humours an enterprise on his or hir part against the life of each other things directly and especiallie contrarie to the state and institution of mariage and it is lawfull to retake one another as often as they shall thinke good The former seemeth to be the better because it bridleth proud women and ouer-sharp and bitter husbands The second which is to expresse the cause dishonoureth the parties discouereth many things which should be hid And if it fall out that the cause be not sufficientlie verified and that they must continue together poysonings and murthers doe commonly ensue many times vnknowne vnto men as it was discouered at Rome before the vse of repudiation where a woman being apprehended for poysoning of her husband accused others and they others too to the number of threescore and ten which were all executed for the same offence But the worst law of all others hath beene that the adulterer escapeth almost euery where without punishment of death and all that is laid vpoÌ„ him is diuorce separation of companie brought in by Iustinian a man whollie possessed by his wife who caused whatsoeuer lawes to passe that might make for the aduantage of women From hence doth arise a danger of perpetuall adulterie desire of the death of the one partie the offender is not punished the innocent iniured remaineth without amends The dutie of maried folke See Lib. 3. Cap. 12. CHAP. XLVII Of Parents and Children THere are many sorts and degrees of authoritie and humane power Publicke and Priuate but there is none 1 Fatherly power more naturall nor greater than that of the father ouer his children I say father because the mother who is subiect vnto hir husband cannot properly haue hir children in hir power and subiection but it hath not been alwayes and in all places alike In former times almost euery where it was absolute and vniuersall ouer the life and death the libertie the goods the honor the actions and cariages of their children as to plead to marie to get goods as namely with the Romans by the expresse law of Romulus parentum in liberos omne ius esto relegendi vendendi occidendi except only children vnder Dion Halic li 2. antiq Rom l. in â—uis ff de lib. post Aul. Gell. lib. 20. Lib. 8. Eth. cap. 20. Lib 6. Bel. Gal. Prosper Aquitan in Epist Sigism the age of three yeares who as yet could not offend either in word or deede which law was afterwards renued by the law of the twelue tables by which the father was allowed to sell his children to the third time with the Persians according to Aristotle the ancient French as Caesar and Prosper affirme with the Muscouits and Tartars who might sell their children to the fourth time And it should seeme by that fact of Abraham going about to kill his sonne that this power was likewise vnder the law of nature for if it had been against his dutie and without the power of the father he had neuer consented thereunto neither had hee euer thought that it was God that commanded him to do it if it had beene against nature And therefore we see that Isaac made no resistance nor alledged his innocencie knowing that it was in the power of his father which derogateth not in any sort from the greatnesse of the faith of Abraham because he would not sacrifice his sonne by vertue of his right or power nor for any demerit of Isaac but only to obey the commandement of God So likewise it was in force by the law of Moyses though somewhat Deut. 21. moderated So that we see what this power hath been in ancient times in the greatest part of the world and which endured vnto the time of the Romane Emperours With the Greeks it was not so great and absolute nor with the Egyptians neuerthelesse if it fell out that the father had killed his sonnes wrongfully and without cause he had no other punishment but to be shut vp three daies together with the dead bodie Now the reasons and fruits of so great and absolute a power 2 The reasons and fruits thereof of fathers ouer their children necessarie for the culture of good maners the chasing away of vice and the publike good were first to holde the children in awe and dutie and secondly because there are many great faults in children that would escape vnpunished to the great preiudice of the weale publike if the knowledge and punishment of them were but in the hand of publike authoritie whether it be because they are domesticall and secret or because there is no man that will prosecute against them for the parents who know them and are interessed in them will not discredit them besides that there are many vices and insolencies that are neuer punished by iustice Adde heereunto that there are many things to be tried and many differences betwixt parents and children brothers and sisters touching their goods or other matters which are not fit to be published which are extinct and buried by this fatherly authoritie And the law did alwayes suppose that the father would neuer abuse this authoritie because of that great loue which he naturally carrieth to his children incompatible with crueltie which is the cause that in stead of punishing them with rigour they rather become intercessours for them when they are in danger of the law and there can be no greater torment to them than to see their children in paine And it falleth out very seldome or neuer that this power is put in practise without very great occasion so that it was rather a scarcrow to children and very profitable than a rigour in good earnest Now this fatherly power as ouer-sharpe and dangerous is almost of it selfe lost and abolished for it hath rather hapned 3 The declination by a kinde of discontinuance than any expresse law and it beganne to decline at the comming of the Romane Emperours for from the time of Augustus or shortly after it was no more in force whereby children became so desperate and insolent against their parents that Seneca speaking to Nero Lib. 1. de Clem. sayd That hee had seene more paricides punished in fiue yeeres past than had beene in seuen hundred yeeres before that is to say since the foundation of Rome In former times if it fell out that the father killed his
children he was not punished Salust in bel Catil Valer. Maxim as we may see by the example of Fuluius the Senator who killed his sonne because he was a partner in the conspiracie of Catiline and of diuers other Senatours who haue made criminall processe against their children in their owne houses and haue condemned them to death as Cassius Tratius or to perpetuall exile as Manlius Torquatus his sonne Sillanus There were afterwards lawes ordeined that inioyned the father to present vnto the Iudge his children offending that they might be punished and that the Iudge should pronounce such a sentence as the father thought fit which is still a kinde of footstep of antiquitie and going about to take away the power of the father they durst not doe it but by halfes and not altogether and openly These latter lawes come somewhat neere the law of Moyses which would That at the only complaint of the father made before the Iudge without any other knowledge taken of the cause the rebellious and contumacious childe should be stoned to death requiring the presence of the Iudge to the end the punishment should not be done in secret or in choler but exemplarilie So that according to Moyses this fatherly power was more free and greater than it hath beene after the time of the Emperours but afterwards vnder Constantine the Great and Theodosius and finally vnder Iustinian it was almost altogether extinct From whence it is that children haue learned to denie their obedience to their parents their goods their aide yea to wage law against them a shamefull thing to see our Courts full of these cases Yea they haue beene dispensed heerewith vnder pretext of deuotion and offerings as with the Iewes before Christ wherwith he reprocheth them Matt. 15. and afterwards in Christianitie according to the opinion of some yea it hath beene lawfull to kill them either in their owne defence or if they were enemies to the Common-weale although to say the truth there should neuer because iust enough for a sonne to kill his father Nullum tantum scelus admitti potest a patre quod sit parricidio vindicandum nullum scelus rationem habet Now we feele not what mischiefe and preiudice hath hapned to the world by the abolishing and extinction of this fatherly power The Common-weales wherein it hath beene in force haue alwayes flourished If there were any danger or euill in it it might in some sort be ruled and moderated but vtterly to abolish it as now it is is neither honest nor expedient but hurtfull and inconuenient as hath beene sayd Of the reciprocall duty of parents and children See Lib. 3. Cap. 14. CHAP. XLVIII Lords and slaues Masters and seruants THe vse of slaues and the full and absolute power of Lords and Masters ouer them although it be a thing common 1 The vse of slaues vniuersall and against nature thorowout the world and at all times except within these foure hundred yeeres in which time it hath somewhat decayed though of late it reuiue againe yet it is a thing both monstrous and ignominious in the nature of man and such as is not found in beasts themselues who consent not to the captiuitie of their like neither actiuely nor passiuely The law of Moyses hath permitted this as other things ad duritiam cordis eorum but not such as hath beene elswhere for it was neither so great nor so absolute nor perpetuall but moderated within the compasse of seuen yeeres at the most Christianitie hath left it finding it vniuersall in all places as likewise to obey idolatrous Princes and Masters and such like matters as could not at the first attempt and altogether be extinguished they haue abolished There are foure sorts Naturall that is slaues borne Enforced 2 Distinction and made by right of warre Iust termed slaues by punishment by reason of some offence or debt whereby they are slaues to their Creditors at the most for seuen yeeres according to the law of the Iewes but alwayes vntill paiment and restitution be made in other places Voluntaries whereof there are many sorts as they that cast the dice for it or sell Tacit. de mort German their libertie for money as long sithence it was the custome in Almaigne and now likewise in some parts of Christendom where they do giue and vow themselues to another for euer as the Iewes were woont to practise who at the gate bored a hole in their eare in token of perpetuall seruitude And this kind of voluntarie captiuitie is the strangest of all the rest and almost against nature It is couetousnesse that is the cause of slaues enforced and lewdnesse the cause of voluntaries They that are Lords and 3 The cause of Slaues Masters haue hoped for more gaine and profit by keeping than by killing them and indeed the fairest possessions and the richest commodities were in former times slaues By this meanes Crassus became the richest among the Romanes who had besides those that serued him fiue hundred slaues who euery day brought gaine and commoditie by their gainefull artes and mysteries and afterwards when he had made what profit by them he could he got much by the sale of them It is a strange thing to reade of those cruelties practised by Lords vpon their slaues euen by the approbation and permission 4 The cruelties of Lords against their slaues of the lawes themselues They haue made them to till the earth being chained together as the manner is in Barbary at this day they lodge them in holes and ditches and being old or impotent and so vnprofitable they sell them or drowne them and cast them into lakes to feed their fish withall They kill them not only for the least fault that is as the breaking of a glasse but for the least suspition yea for their owne pleasure and pastime as Flaminius did one of the honestest men of his time And to giue delight vnto the people they were constrained in their publicke Theaters to kill one another If a Master hapned to be killed in his house by whomsoeuer the innocent slaues were all put to death insomuch that Pedonius the Romane being slaine although the murtherer were knowne yet by the order of the Senat foure hundred of his slaues were put to death On the other side it is a thing as strange to heare of the rebellions insurrections and cruelties of slaues against their 5 The cruelties of Slaues against their Lords Lords when they haue beene able to worke their reuenge not only in particular by surprise and treason as it fell out one night in the Citie of Tyre but in set battaile both by sea and land from whence the prouerb is So many slaues so many enemies Now as Christian religion and afterwards Mahumetisme 6 Diminution of Slaues did increase the number of slaues did decrease and seruitude did cease insomuch that the Christians and afterwards the Turks like apes imitating them gaue
yong actiue the ordinarie view of so many accidents and spectacles libertie and conuersation without arte a manly fashion of life without ceremonie the varietie of diuers actions a couragious harmonie of warlike musike which entertaines vs and stirres our blood our eares our soule those warlike commotions which rauish vs with their horror and feare that confused tempest of sounds and cries that fearefull ordering of so many thousands of men with so much furie ardour and courage But on the other side a man may say that the arte and experience of vndoing one another of killing ruinating destroying 2 The dispraise our owne proper kinde seemes to be vnnaturall and to proceed from an alienation of our sense and vnderstanding it is a great testimonie of our weaknesse and imperfection and it is not found in beasts themselues in whom the image of nature continueth farre more entire What follie what rage is it to make such commotions to torment so many people to runne thorow so many dangers and hazzards both by sea and land for a thing so vncertaine and doubtfull as the issue of warre to runne with such greedinesse and fiercenesse after death which is easily found euery where and without hope of sepulture to kill those he hates not nor euer saw But whence proceedeth this great furie and ardor for it is not for any offence committed What frensie and madnesse is this for a man to abandon his owne bodie his time his rest his life his libertie and to leaue it to the mercie of another to expose himselfe to the losse of his owne members and to that which is a thousand times worse than death fire and sword to be troden to be pinched with hot iron to be cut to be torne in pieces broken and put to the gallies for euer And all this to serue the passion of another for a cause which a man knowes not to be iust and which is commonly vniust for warres are commonly vniust and for him whom a man knowes not who takes so little care for him that fights for him that he will be content to mount vpon his dead bodie to helpe his owne stature that he may see the farther I speake not heere of the dutie of subiects towards their Prince and countrey but of voluntaries and mercenarie souldiers The fift and last distinction and difference of men drawen from the fauors and disfauors of Nature and Fortune THE PREFACE THis last distinction and difference is apparent enough and sufficiently knowen and hath many members and considerations but may all be reduced to two heads which a man may call with the vulgar sort Felicitie or good fortune and Infelicitie or ill fortune Greatnesse or littlenesse To Felicitie and greatnesse belong health beautie and the other goods of the bodie libertie nobilitie honor dignitie science riches credit friends To Infelicitie or littlenesse belong all the contraries which are priuations of the other good things From these things doth arise a very great difference because a man is happie in one of these or in two or in three and not in the rest and that more or lesse by infinite degrees few or none at all are happie or vnhappie in them all He that hath the greatest part of these goods and especially three Nobilitie Dignitie or Authoritie and riches is accounted great he that hath not any of these three little But many haue but one or two and are accounted midlings betwixt the great and the little We must speake a little of them all Of Health beautie and other naturall goods of the bodie Chap. 11. hath been spoken before as likewise of their contraries Chap. 6. Sicknesse Griefe CHAP. LVIII Of Libertie and Seruitude LIbertie is accounted by some a souereigne good and Seruitude an extreame euill insomuch that many haue chosen rather to die a cruell death than to be made slaues or to see either the publike good or their owne priuate indangered But of this there may be too much and of these too manie as of all other things There is a twofolde libertie the true which is of the minde or spirit and is in the power of euery one and can not be taken away nor indamaged by another nor by Fortune it selfe contrariwise the seruitude of the spirit is the most miserable of all others to serue our owne affections to suffer our selues to be deuoured by our owne passions to be led by opinions ô pitifull captiuitie The corporall libertie is a good greatly to be esteemed but subiect to Fortune and it is neither iust nor reasonable if it be not by reason of some other circumstance that it should be preferred before life it selfe as some of the ancients haue done who haue rather made choice of death than to lose it and it was accounted a great vertue in them so great an euill was seruitude thought to be Seruitus obedientia est fracti animi abiecti arbitrio carentis suo Many great and wise men haue serued Regulus Valerianus Plato Diogenes euen those that were wicked and yet dishonoured not their owne condition but continued in effect and truth more free than their masters CHAP. LIX Nobilitie NObilitie is a qualitie euery where not common but honourable brought in and established with great reason and for publike vtilitie It is diuers diuersly taken and vnderstood and according to diuers nations and iudgements it hath diuers kindes According The description of nobilitie to the generall and common opinion and custome it is a qualitie of a race or stocke Aristotle saith that it is the antiquitie of a race and of riches Plutarch calleth it the vertue of a race 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 meaning thereby a certaine habit and qualitie continued in the linage What this qualitie or vertue is all are not wholly of one accord sauing in this that it is profitable to the weale-publike For to some and the greater part this qualitie is militarie to others it is politike literarie of those that are wise palatine of the officers of the Prince But the militarie hath the aduantage aboue the rest for besides the seruice which it yeeldeth to the weale-publike as the rest do it is painfull laborious dangerous whereby it is accounted more worthy and commendable So hath it caried with vs by excellencie the honourable title of Valour There must then according to this opinion be two things in true and perfect nobilitie profession of this vertue and qualitie profitable to the common-weale which is as the forme and the race as the subiect and matter that is to say a long continuance of this qualitie by many degrees and races and time out of mind whereby they are called in our language Gentlemen that is to say of a race house familie carying of long time the same name and the same profession For he is truely and entirely noble who maketh a singular profession of publick vertue seruing his Prince and Countrie and being descended of parents and ancestors
made asport and play game of shame want sicknesse griefes tortures death They did not only contemne patiently endure and vanquish all asperities and difficulties but they fought them they tooke pleasure and delight in them and all to keepe their vertue in breath and in action which made them not only firme constant graue and seuere as Cato and the Stoickes but cheerefull merry wanton and if a man may so say foole-hardy too By the comparison of these three together it seemeth to some who vnderstand not the height and value of the third that the second which we call vertue by reason of the difficulties dangers endeuours thereof carrieth the honour and that as Metellus said to doe euill is an idle and a base thing to doe good where there is neither paine nor danger is a common thing and too easie but to doe good where there is danger and paine is the part of an honest man and of vertue it is the mot of that diuine Philosopher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But to speake in truth that which it is besides that difficultie as elswhere hath beene said is no true not iust and lawfull cause why a thing should be the more esteemed it is certaine that in the like thing the natural is more worth than the acquired that it is far more noble more excellent and diuine to worke by nature than by Art easily equally vniformedly than painfully vnequally with doubt and danger God is good after the first maner that is the naturall and essentiall goodnesse we dare not call him vertuous nor the Angels and spirits fortunate they are called good But because vertue maketh a greater clamor and stirre and worketh with greater vehemencie than goodnesse it is more admired and esteemed of the vulgar sort who are but foolish iudges but wrongfully For these great exalters and extravagant productions which seeme to be all zeale and fire are no part of the play and do not in any sore appertaine to true honesty they are rather maladies and furious entrances faire distant from that wisdome we here require which is sweet equal vniforme Thus much be spoken in grosse of honestie for the parts thereof and the duties shall be handled in the third booken especiallie in the vertue of Iustice I will heere adde a word or two according to promise to rebate and blunt the point of detraction and to stay the plaints of those that dislike that I attribute so much to nature although it be God as hath been said and this booke speaketh not but of the naturall and humane as if that were all and there were nothing else to be required Wherefore besides all that hath been said there remaineth yet one thing to make this worke complete and perfect and that is the grace of God whereby this honestie goodnes vertue hath life is brought forth in his due tune and receiueth it last and perfect portraict it is eleuated christned crowned that is to say accepted verified approued by God and made after a sort worthie it due reward Honestie is like to a good Organist who toucheth well and truly according to arte the grace and spirit of God is the blast and wind which expresseth the touch giueth life and maketh the instrument to speake and to make a pleasant melodie Now this good consisteth not in long discourse precepts and instructions neither is it attained by our owne proper act and labour it is a free gift from aboue whereof it taketh the name Grace but we must desire it aske implore it both humblie and ardentlie O God vouchsafe of thy infinit goodnesse to looke vpon me with the eye of thy clemencie to accept to like of my desire mine essaye my little worke which comes originallie from thee by that obligation and instruction which thou hast giuen me in the law of nature which thou hast planted in me to the end it may returne vnto thee and that thou mayest end that thou hast begun that so thou mayest be both my α and ω Sprinckle me with thy grace keepe me and account me thine and so forth The better to obteine it that is to say to incline God vnto vs is this Art 14. honestie as hath been said in the Preface whither that I may not iterate it I resend the reader the matter being well prepared is the fitter for the 〈◊〉 the grace it is not contrarie neither doth it enforce or destroy nature but sweetly it releeueth and perfecteth it so that it must not oppose it selfe therevnto as to it contrarie but put it on as a crowne They are both of God they must not therefore be confounded euery one hath his iurisdiction his action apart The organist and he that worketh at the bellowes are two so are honestie and grace the action good in it selfe naturally rhorhlly humainly and that by grace made acceptable That may well be without this and hath his worth as in those philosophers great men in times past admirable in nature and in all kind of morall vertue and is likewise found in misbeleeuers or Infidels but this cannot be without that no more than the couering the crowne and perfection can be without the entire bodie The player or organist may in euery point exercise his arte without the bellowes-blower and so likewise honestie without grace It is true that this cannot be but aes sonans and cymbulum tinniens but this requireth that â— wherein I see many to mistake themselues very grossely who neuer haue any taste or do euer conceiue the image of true honestle and continue puffed vp with a perswasion of grace which they thinke to practise to attract to attaine by certaine easie idle meanes after the maner of the Pharisies where with they rest contented not troubling themselues any further for the true honestie promotiper saltum Masters without apprentiship Doctours and nobles in parchment Now I see many of these kind of people in the would but very few such as Aristides Bhocion Cato Regulus Socrates Scipio Epaminondas that is to say professors of an exact true and solid morall vertue and philosophicall probitie That complaint and reproch so frequent of the soueraigne Doctor of the truth against hypocriticall Pharifies will alwaies haue place for such people will neuer be wanting no not amongst the Censors and refourcers of the world Now hauing spoken much of honestie we must likewise in a word or two touch the contrarie the reunto Wickednes iâ—s against nature it is foule deformed and vnprofitable it offendeth euery good iudgement fit breedeth a 17 The description of wickednes hatred of it selfe being well knowen whereupon some haue said that it was bred and brought forth by idlenesse and ignorance Againe wickednes ingendreth offence and repentance in the soule which like an vlcer in the flesh eateth and fretteth it malice and mischiefe buildeth vp torments against it selfe malitia ipsa maximam partem veneni sui bibit malum consilium consultori possimum like
states THE PREFACE THis doctrine belongeth to souereignes and gouernours of states It is vncertaine infinite difficult and almost impossible to be ranged into order to be limited and prescribed by rules and precepts but wee must endeuour to giue some small light and briefe instruction thereof Wee may referre this whole doctrine to two principall heads which are the two duties of a souereigne The one comprehendeth and intreateth of the props and pillars of a state principall essentiall parts of publike gouernment as the bones and sinewes of this great bodie to the end that a souereigne may prouide for himselfe and his state which are seuen principall that is to say knowledge of the state vertue maners and fashions counsels treasure forces and armes alliances The three first are in the person of the souereigne the fourth in him and neere him the three latter without him The other is to act well to employ and to make vse of the aforesaid meanes that is to say in grosse and in a word well to gouerne and maintaine himselfe in authoritie and the loue both of his subiects and of strangers but distinctly this part is twofold peaceable and militarie Behold heere summarily and grossely the worke cut out and the first great draughts that are to be handled heereafter We will diuide then this politicke matter and of state into two parts the first shall be of prouision that is to say of the seuen necessarie things the second and which presupposeth the first shall be of the action of the prince This matter is excellently handled by Lipsius according as he thought good the marrow of his booke is heere I haue not taken nor wholly followed his method nor his order as you may already see in this generall diuision and more you shall heereafter I haue likewise left somewhat of his and added something of my owne and other mens CHAP. II. The first part of this politicke prudence and gouernment of state which is of prouision THe first thing that is required before all others is the knowledge of the state for the first rule of all prudence 1 The chiefe point of this prouision to know the state consisteth in knowledge as hath beene said in the second booke The first in all things is to know with whom a man hath to deale For in as much as this ruling and moderating prudence of states which is a knowledge and sufficiency to gouerne in publike is a thing relatiue which is handled betweene the souereigne and the subiects the first dutie and office thereof is in the knowledge of the two parts that is of the people and the souereigntie that is to say of the state First then the humours and natures of the people must bee knowne This knowledge formeth and giueth aduice vnto him that should gouerne them The nature of the people in generall hath beene described at large in the first booke light inconstant mutinous vaine a louer of nouelties fierce and insupportable in prosperitie cowardly and deiected in aduersitie but it must likewise be knowne in particular so many cities and persons so many diuers humours There are people cholericke audacious warriers fearefull giuen to wine subiect to women some more than others noscenda natura vulgi est quibus modis temperanter habeatur And in this sense is that saying of the wise to be vnderstood He that hath not obeied cannot tell how to command nemo bene imperat nisi qui ante paruerit imperio Not because soueraignes Senec. should or can alwaies take vpon them the name of subiects for many are borne kings and princes and many states are successiue but that he that wil wel command should acquaint himselfe with the humors and willes of his subiects as if himselfe were of their ranke and in their place He must likewise know the nature of the state not only in generall such as it hath beene described but in particular that which hee hath now in hand the forme establishment birth thereof that is to say whether it be old or new fallen by succession or by election obtained by the lawes or by armes of what extent it is what neighbours meanes power it hath For according to these and other circumstances hee must diuerslie manage the scepter loose and straiten the raines of his gouernment After this knowledge of the state which is as a preamble 2 The second head of this prouision is vertue the first of those things that are required is vertue necessary in a soueraigne as well for himselfe as for the state It is first necessary and conuenient that hee that is aboue all should bee better than all according to the saying of Cyrus And then it standeth him vpon for his credit and reputation For common fame and report gathereth and spreadeth abroad the speeches and actions of him that gouerneth Hee is in the eie of all and can no more hide himselfe than the sun and therefore what good or ill soeuer he doth shall not want meanes to blasen it shall bee talked of enough And it importeth him much both in respect of himselfe and his state that his subiects haue a good opinion of him Now a soueraigne ought not only in himselfe and in his life and conuersation to be vertuous but he must likewise endeuour that his subiects be like vnto himselfe For as all the wisest of the world haue euer taught a state a city a company cannot long continue nor Salust ad Caesar prosper where vertue is banished and they do grosly aequiuocate who thinke that princes are so much the more assured in their states by how much the more wicked their subiects are because say they they are more proper and as it were borne to seruitude and the yoke patientiores seruitutis quos Plin. Pan. non decet nisi esse seruos For contrarily wicked men beare their yoke impatientlie and they that are good and debonaire feare much more than their cause is Pessimus quisque asperrime Salust ad Caesar rectorem patitur Contrà facile imperium in bonos qui metuentes magis quà m metuendi Now the most powerfull meanes to induce them and to forme them vnto vertue is the example of the Prince for as experience telleth vs all men doe frame themselues to the paterne and modell of the Prince The reason is because example presseth more than law It is a mute law which carieth more credit than a commaund nec tam imperio Pli. Paneg. nobis opus quà m exemplo mitius iubetur exemplo Now the eyes and thoughts of the lesser are alwaies vpon the great they admire and simplie beleeue that all is good and excellent that they do and on the other side they that commaund thinke they sufficientlie enioyne and bind their inferiors to imitate them by acting only Vertue then is honorable and profitable in a soueraigne yea all vertue But especiallie and aboue all Pietie Iustice Valour Clemencie These are the
take vpon it the guardianship protection of the bodie So farre should it be from seruing the bodie which is the most base vniust shamefull and burthensome seruitude that is that it should assist counsell it and be as a husband vnto it So that it oweth thereunto care not seruice It must handle it as a lord not as a tyrant nourish it not pamper it giuing it to vnderstand that it liueth not for it but that it cannot liue heere below without it This is an instruction to the workeman to know how to vse and make vse of his instruments And it is likewise no small aduantage to a man to know how to vse his bodie and to make it a fit instrument for the exercise of vertue Finallie the bodie is preserued in good estate by moderate nourishment and orderly exercise How the spirit must haue a part and beare it companie in those pleasures that belong vnto it hath been said before and shall heereafter be set downe in the vertue of temperance Touching goods and the dutie of euery man in this case there are many and diuers offices for to gather riches to keep them to husband them to employ them to yeeld vnto them all that is fit are different sciences One is wise in the one of them that in the other vnderstandeth nothing neither is it fit he should The acquisition of riches hath more parts than the rest The employment is more glorious and ambitious The preseruation and custodie which is proper to the woman is the arbour to couer them These are two extremities alike vitious to loue and affect riches to hate and reiect them By riches I vnderstand that which is more than enough and more than is needfull A wise man will do neither of both according to that wish and praier of Salomon Giue me neither riches nor pouertie but he will hold them in their place esteeming them as they are a thing of it selfe indifferent matter of good and euill and to many good things commodious The euils and miseries that follow the affecting and hating of them haue been spoken of before Now in fiue words we set downe a rule touching a mediocritie therein 1. To desire them but not to loue them sapiens non amat diuitias sed mauult As a little man and weake of bodie would willinglie be higher and stronger but this his desire is without care or paine vnto himselfe seeking that without passion which nature desireth and fortune knoweth not how to take from him 2. And much lesse to seeke them at the cost and dammage of another or by arte and bad and base meanes to the end no man should complaine or enuie his gaines 3. When they come vpon him entring at an honest gate not to reiect them but cheerfullie to accept them and to receiue them into his house not his heart into his possession not his loue as being vnworthie thereof 4. When he possesseth them to employ them honestlie and discreetlie to the good of other men that their departure may at the least be as honest as their entrance 5. If they happen to depart without leaue be lost or stollen from him that he be not sorrowfull but that he suffer them to depart with themselues without any thing of his si diuitiae effluxerint non auferent nisi semetipsas To conclude he deserueth not to be accepted of God and is vnworthie his loue and the profession of vertue that makes account of the riches of this world Aude hospes contemnere te quoque dignum singe deo Of the iustice and dutie of man towards man An aduertisment THis dutie is great and hath many parts we will reduce them to two great ones In the first we will place the generall simple and common duties required in all and euery one towards all and euery one whether in heart word or deed which are amitie faith veritie and free admonition good deeds humanitie liberalitie acknowledgement or thankfulnes In the second shall be the speciall duties required for some speciall and expresse reason and obligation betweene certaine persons as betweene a man and his wife parents and children masters and seruants princes and subiects magistrates the great and powerfull and the lesse The first part which is of the generall and common duties of all towards all and first CHAP. VII Of loue or friendship AMitie is a sacred flame kindled in our breasts first by nature and hath expressed it first heate betweene the husband 1 The description and the wife parents and children brothers and sisters and afterwards growing cold hath recouered heate by arte and the inuention of alliances companies fraternities colleges and communities But forasmuch as in all this being diuided into many parts it was weakned and mingled with other profitable pleasant considerations to the end it might restrengthen it selfe and grow more feruent it hath recollected it selfe and vnited it owne forces into a narrower roome betwixt two true friends And this is perfect amitie which is so much more feruent and spirituall than other by how much the heart is hotter than the liuer and the bloud than the vaines Amitie is the soule and life of the world more necessarie say the wise than fire and water amicitia necessitudo amici necessary it is the summe the staffe the salt of our life for without it all is darknes and there is no ioy no stay no taste of life amicitia iustitiae consors naturae vinculum ciuitatis praefidium senectutis solatium vitae humanae portus ea omnia constant discordia cadunt And we must not thinke that friendship 3 How necessary to the weale-pub is profitable and delightfull to priuat men only for it is more commodious to the weale-publike it is the true nursing mother of humane societie the preseruer of states and policies Neither is it suspected nor displeaseth any but tyrants and monsters not because they honor not it in their hearts but because they cannot be of that number for only friendship sufficeth to preserue the world And if it were euery where in force there would be no need of a law which hath not been ordained but as a help and as a second remedie for want of friendship to the end it might enforce and constraine by the authoritie thereof that which for loue and friendship should be freelie and voluntarie but howsoeuer the law taketh place farre below friendship For friendship ruleth the heart the tongue the hand the will and the effects the law cannot prouide but for that which is without This is the reason why Aristotle said That good law-makers haue euer had more care of friendship than of iustice And because the law and iustice do many times lose their credit the third remedie and least of all hath been in armes and force altogether contrarie to the former which is friendship Thus we see by degrees the three meanes of publike gouerment But loue or friendship is worth more than the
diuers things passe more strange more great And in this sense it was that wise Socrates called himselfe a citizen of the world And contrarily there is not any thing that doth more depraue and enthraule the minde of man than to make him taste and vnderstand but one certaine opinion beleefe and maner of life What greater follie or weakenesse can there be than to thinke that all the world walketh beleeueth speaketh doth liueth and dieth according to the maner of his countrey like those barde block-heads who when they heare one recite the maners and opinions of forraine countries very different and contrarie to theirs they tremble for feare and beleeue them not or else doe absurdly condemne them as barbarous so much are they enthralled and tied to their cradell a kinde of people brought vp as they say in a bottle that neuer saw any thing but through a hole Now this vniuersall spirit must be attained by the diligence of the master or teacher afterwards by trauell and communication with strangers and the reading of bookes and the histories of all nations Finally he must teach him to take nothing vpon credit and by authoritie this is to make himselfe a beast and to suffer himselfe to be ledde by the nose like an oxe but to examine all things with reason to propose all things and then to giue him leaue to chuse And if he know not how to chuse but doubt which perhaps is the better sounder and surer course to teach him likewise to resolue of nothing of himselfe but rather to distrust his owne iudgement After the minde comes the body whereof there must likewise be a care taken at one and the same instant with the spirit 32 An aduisement touching the body not making two works thereof Both of them make an entire man Now a master must endeuour to keepe his childe free from delicacie and pride in apparrell in sleeping eating drinking he must bring him vp hardly to labour and pains accustome him to heat and cold winde and weather yea and vnto hazards too harden his muscles and his sinewes as well as his minde to labour and then to paine and griefe too For the first disposeth to the second Labor callum obducit dolori To be briefe he must endeuour to make him lustie and vigorous indifferent to all kinde of viands All this serueth not onely for his health but for publike affaires and seruices We come now to the third head which concerneth maners wherein both body and soule haue a part This is twofold 33 3 An aduisement touching maners To hinder the euill to ingraft and to nourish the good The first is the more necessarie and therefore the greater care and heed must be taken It must therefore be done in time for there is no time too speedy to hinder the birth and growth of ill maners and conditions especially these following which are to be feared in youth To lie a base vice of seruants and slaues of a licentious and fearefull minde the cause whereof ariseth many times 1 Euill maners from bad and rude instruction A sottish shame and weaknesse whereby they seeke to hide themselues hold downe their heads blush at euerie question that is proposed cannot indure a correction or a sharpe word without a strange alteration of countenance Nature doth many times beare a great sway heerein but it must be corrected by studie All affectation and singularitie in habit cariage gate speech gesture and all other things this is a testimonie of vanitie and vaine-glory and marreth all the rest euen that which is good Licet sapere sine pompa sine inuidia But aboue all choler sullennesse obstinacie and therefore it is very necessarie that a childe neuer haue his will by such froward meanes and that he learne and finde that these qualities are altogether vnprofitable and bootlesse yea base and villanous and for this cause he must neuer be flattered for that marreth and corrupteth him teacheth him to be sullen and froward if he haue not his will and in the end maketh him insolent that a man shall neuer worke any good vpon him Nihil magis reddit iracundos quà m educatio mollis blanda By the selfesame meanes a man must ingraft into him 34 Good maners good and honest maners And first instruct him to feare and reuerence God to tremble vnder that infinite and inuisible maiestie to speake seldome and soberly of God of his power eternitie wisdome will and of his works not indifferently and vpon all occasions but fearefully with shame and reuerence Not to be ouer scrupulous in the mysteries and points of religion but to conforme himselfe to the gouernment and discipline of the church Secondly to replenish and cherish his heart with ingenuitie freedome candor integritie and to teach him to be an honest man out of an honorable and honest minde not seruilely and mechanically for feare or hope of any honour or profit or other consideration than vertue it selfe These two are especially for himselfe For another and the company with whom he conuerseth he must worke in him a sweet kinde of affabilitie to accommodate himselfe to all kinde of people to all fashions Omnis Aristippum decuit color status res Heerein Alcibiades was excellent That he learne how to be able and to know how to doe all things yea excesse and licentious behauiours if need be but that he loue to doe onely that which is good That he refraine to doe euill not for want of courage nor strength nor knowledge but will Multum interest virùm peccare quis nolit aut nesciat Modestly whereby he contesteth not nor tieth himselfe either to all as to the greatest and most respectiue persons or such as are his inferiors either in condition or sufficiencie nor See Lib. 2. cap. 9. defendeth any thing obstinately with affirmatiue resolute commanding words but sweet submisse and moderate specches Hereof hath beene spoken else-where And thus the three heads of the duties of parents towards their children are dispatched The fourth concerneth their affection and communication with them when they are great and capable of that wherunto 36 The fourth part touching the dutie of parents they were instructed We know that affection is reciprocall and naturall betwixt parents and their children but that of parents towards their children is farre more strong and more naturall because it is giuen by nature to loue those things that are comming on to the maintenance and continuance The loue of parēts greater than the loue of children of the world especiallie those in whom a man doth liue when he is dead That of children towards their parents is retrograde and therefore it goeth not so stronglie nor so naturallie and it seemeth rather to be the paiment of a debt and a thankfull acknowledgement of a benefit receiued than a pure free simple and naturall loue Moreouer he that giueth and doth good loueth more than he that receiueth and is
S. Basil affirmeth feed and nourish In examer their old dames couer them with their feathers when they fall from them and couple themselues together to carrie them vpon their backs Loue furnisheth them with this arte This example is so liuely and so significant that the dutie of children towards their parents hath beene signified by the qualitie of this creature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reciconiare And the Hebrewes call this bird for this cause chasida that is to saie Leuit. 11. the debonaire the charitable bird We haue likewise notable examples heere amongst men Cymon the sonne of great Miltiades whose father dying in prison as some say for debt and not hauing wherewithall to burie his bodie much lesse to redeeme it being arested for the debt whilest it was caried to the buriall according to the lawes of that country Cymon sold himselfe and his libertie for money to prouide for his funerall He with his plentie and goods relieued not his father but with his libertie which is deerer than all goods yea and life too He helped not his father liuing and in necessitie but dead and being no more a father nor a man What had he done to succour his father liuing wanting and requiring his helpe This is an excellent president We haue two the like examples euen in the weake and feeble sex of women of two daughters which haue nourished and giuen sucke the one to the father the other to hir mother being prisoners and condemned to die by famine the ordinarie punishment of the ancients It seemeth in some sort a thing against nature that the mother should be nourished with the daughters milke but this is truely according to nature yea those first lawes that the daughter should nourish her mother The fourth is not to doe to attempt or enterprise any thing of weight or importance without the aduice consent and approbation of parents and especially in mariage The fift is mildly and gently to endure the vices imperfections and testie and impatient humors of parents their seueritie and rigour Manlius hath made good proofe heereof for the Tribune Pomponius hauing accused the father of this Manlius in the presence of the people of many crimes and amongst others that he ouer cruelly handled his sonne enforcing him to till the earth the sonne goeth to the Tribune and finding him in his bedde putting the point of his dagger to his throat inforced him to sweare that he should desist from that pursuit he made against his father desiring rather to indure his fathers rigour than to see him troubled for it A childe shall finde no difficultie in these fiue duties if he consider how chargeable he hath been to his parents and with what care and affection he hath beene brought vp But he shall neuer know it well vntill he haue children of his owne as hee that was found to ride vpon a hobbie-horse playing with his children entreated him that so tooke him to hold his peace vntill he were himselfe a father reputing him till then no indifferent iudge in this action CHAP. XV. The dutie of Masters and seruants HEere commeth the third and last part of priuate and domesticall iustice which is the duties of masters and seruants Touching which it is necessarie to know the distinction of seruants for they are principally three sorts That is to say of slaues whereof all the world hath beene full in former time and is at this present except a part of Europe and no place more free than heere about France they haue no power neither in their bodies nor goods but are wholly their masters who may giue lend sell resell exchange and vse them as beasts of seruice Of these hath beene spoken of at large There are inferiour seruants and seruants free people masters of their persons and goods yea they cannot bargaine or otherwise doe any thing to the preiudice of their owne libertie But they owe honour obedience and serue vntill such times and vpon such conditions as they haue promised and their masters haue power to command correct and chastise them with moderation and discretion There are also mercenaries which are lesse subiect they owe no seruice nor obedience but onely worke and labour for money and they haue no authoritie in commanding or correcting them The duties of masters towards their seruants as well of slaues as inferior seruants are not to handle them cruellie remembring they are men and of the same nature with vs but onely fortune hath put a difference which is euer variable and sporteth it selfe in making great men little and little great And therefore the difference is not so great so much to contemne them Sunt homines contubernales humiles Senec. amici conserui aequè fortunae subiecti To handle seruants gently seeking rather to be beloued than feared is the testimonie of a good nature to vse them roughly and too seuerely proceedeth from a crabbed and cruell minde and that he beareth the same disposition towards all other men but want of power hindereth the execution thereof They ought to instruct them with godly and religious counsell and those things that are requisite for their health and safety The duties of seruants are to honour and feare their masters whatsoeuer they be and to yeeld them obedience and fidelitie seruing them not for gaine or onely outwardly and for countenance but heartily seriously for conscience sake and without dissimulation We read of most worthie noble and generous seruices performed in former times by some towards their masters euen to the engaging and hazard of their liues for their masters safegard and honour CHAP. XVI The dutie of Soueraignes and Subiects OF Princes and Soueraignes their descriptions notes humours markes and discommodities hath beene discoursed in the first booke chap. 49. Their dutie to gouerne the common-wealth hath beene spoken at large in this present booke chap. 2. and 3. which is of politike prudence yet we will touch a little heere the heads and generall points of their dutie The Soueraigne as the meane betweene God and the people 1 The dutie of Soueraignes and debtour to these two ought alwaies remember that he is the liuely image the officer and lieutenant generall of the great God his soueraigne and to the people a perfect mirrour a bright beame a cleere looking glasse an eleuated theater for euerie one to behold a fountaine where all refresh themselues a spurre to vertue and who doth not any good that is not famous and put in the register of perpetuall memorie He ought then first of all to feare and honour God to To be religious be deuout religious to obserue pietie not onely for himselfe and for conscience sake as euery other man but for his state and as he is a soueraigne The pietie which we heere require in a prince is the care he ought to haue and to shew for the conseruation of religion and the ancient lawes and ceremonies of the countrey prouiding by lawes
common saying tyrannicallie it is then also to be distinguished for it may be so three waies and euery one requireth particular consideration The Heerof see aboue Chap. 4. in Chap. of tyrannie and rebellion one is in violating the lawes of God and nature that is to say against the religion of the countrie the commaundement of God inforcing and constraining their consciences In this case he ought not to yeeld any dutie or obedience following those diuine axiomes That we ought rather obey God than men and feare him more that commaundeth the intire man than those that haue power but ouer the least part Yet he ought not to oppose himselfe against him by violence or sinister meanes which is another extremitie but to obserue the middle way which is either to flie or suffer fugere aut pati these two remedies named by the doctrine of veritie in the like extremities 2. The other lesse euill which concerneth not the consciences but only the bodies and the goods is an abuse to subiects denying them iustice imprisoning their persons and depriuing them of their goods In the which case he ought with patience and acknowledgement of the wrath of God yeeld these three duties following honor obedience vowes and prayers and to be mindfull of three things that all power and authoritie is from God and whosoeuer resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God principi summum rorum indicium dij dederunt Subditis obsequij gloria relicta est bonos principes voto expetere quale scunque tolerare And Tacit. he ought not to obey a superior because he is worthie and worthilie commaundeth but because he is a superior not for that he is good but because he is true and lawfull There is great difference betweene true and good euery one ought to obey the law not because it is good and iust but simplie because it is the law 2. That God causeth an hypocrite to raigne for the sinnes of the people though he reserue him for a day of his furie that the wicked prince is the instrument of his iustice the which we ought to indure as other euils which the heauens do send vs quomodo sterilitatem aut nimios imbres caetera naturae mala sic luxū auaritiam dominantium tolerare Tacit. 3. The examples of Saul Nabuchodonoser of many Emperours before Constantine and others since him as cruell tyrants as might be towards whom neuerthelesse these three duties haue been obserued by good men and enioined them by the Prophets and learned men of those daies according to the oracle of the great Doctour of truth which inferreth an obedience to them which sit in the seate of gouernment notwithstanding they oppresse vs with insupportable burthens and their gouernment be euill The third concerneth the whole state when he would change or ruinate it seeking to make it electiue hereditarie or of an Aristocracie or Democracie a Monarchie or otherwise And in this case he ought to withstand and hinder their proceedings either by way of iustice or otherwise for he is not master of the state but only a gardian and a suertie But these affaires belong not to all but to the tutours and mainteiners of the state or those that are interessed therein as Electours of electiue states or Princes apparent in hereditarie states or states generall that haue fundamentall lawes And this is the only case wherein it is lawfull to resist a tyrant And all this is said of subiects who are neuer permitted to attempt any thing against a soueraigne Prince for what cause L. Cogitationis ff de poen L. Si quis non dicam c. de sacros Eccles soeuer and the lawes say that he deserueth death who attempteth or giueth counsell and which intendeth or only thinketh it But it is honorable for a stranger yea it is most noble and heroicall in a prince by warlike means to defend a people vniustlie oppressed and to free them from tyrannie as Hercules did and afterward Dion Timoleon and Tamberlaine prince of the Tartars who ouercame Baiazeth the Turkish Emperour and besieged Constantinople These are the duties of subiects towards their liuing soueraignes 12 Examinations of Soueraignes after their death But it is a point of iustice to examine their life after they are dead This is a custome iust and very profitable which benefiteth much those nations where it is obserued and which all good Princes doe desire who haue cause to complaine that a man handleth the memorie of the wicked as well as theirs Soueraignes are companions if not masters of the lawes for seeing iustice cannot touch their liues there is reason it taketh hold of their reputation and the goods of their successours We owe reuerence and dutie equallie to all kings in respect of their dignitie and office but inward estimation and affection to their vertue We patientlie indure them though vnworthie as they are We conceale their vices for their authoritie and publike order where we liue hath neede of our common help but after they are gone there is no reason to reiect iustice and the libertie of expressing our true thoughts yea it is a very excellent and profitable example that we manifest to the posteritie faithfullie to obey a Master or Lord whose imperfections are well knowne They who for some priuat dutie commit a wicked prince to memorie do priuat iustice to the publike hurt O excellent lesson for a successour if it were well obserued CHAP. XVII The dutie of Magistrates GOod people in a common-wealth would loue better to 1 For what cause Magistrates are allowed of inioy ease of contentment which good and excellent spirits know how to giue themselues in consideration of the goods of nature and the effects of God than to vndertake publike charges were it not that they feare to be ill gouerned and by the wicked and therefore they consent to be magistrates but to hunt and follow publike charges especiallie the iudgement seat is base and vile and condemned by all good lawes yea euen of the heathen witnesse the law Iulia de ambitu vnworthie a person of honour and a man cannot better expresse his insufficiencie than by seeking for it But it is most base and vile by briberie or money to purchase them and there is no merchandize more hatefull and contemptible than it for it necessarily followeth that he which buieth in grosse selleth by retaile Whereupon the Emperour Seuerus speaking against the like inconuenience saith Lamprid. That a man can not iustly condemne him which selleth that he bought Euen as a man apparrelleth himselfe and putteth on his 2 How a magistrate ought to prepare himself before he take the charge best habit before he departeth his house to appeare in publike so before a man vndertake publike charge he ought priuately to examine himselfe to learne to rule his passions and well to settle and establish his minde A man bringeth not to the turney a raw
This is to aske counsell when it is too late Sera in fundo parsimonia it is to play the good husband when there is nothing left but bare walles to make his market when the faire is ended It is a good thing for a man not to accustome himselfe to a delicate diet lest when he shall happen to be depriued therof his bodie grow out of order and his spirit languish and faint and contrarily to vse himselfe to a grosser kinde of sustenance both because they make a man more strong and healthfull and because they are more easily gotten CHAP. XL. Ofriot and excesse in apparell and ornaments and of frugalitie IT hath beene said before that garments are not naturall nor necessarie to a man but artificiall inuented and vsed onely by him in the world Now inasmuch as they are artificiall for it is the maner of things artificiall to varie and multiplie without end and measure simplicitie being a friend vnto nature they are extended and multiplied into so many inuentions for to what other end are there so many occupations and traffiques in the world but for the couering and decking of our bodies dissolutions and corruptions insomuch that it is no more an excuse and couering of our defects and necessities but a nest of all maner of vices vexillum superbiae nidus luxuriae the subiect of riot and quarrels for from hence did first begin the proprietie of things mine and thine and in the greatest communities or fellowships that are apparell is alwaies proper which is signified by this word disrobe It is a vice very familiar and proper vnto women I meane excesse in apparell a true testimonie of their weaknesse being glad to winne credit and commendations by these small and slender accidents because they know themselues to be too weake and vnable to purchase credit and reputation by better meanes for such as are vertuous care least for such vanities By the lawes of the Lacedemonians it was not permitted to any to weare garments of rich and costly colours but to common women That was their part as vertue and honour belonged vnto others Now the true and lawfull vse of apparrell is to couer our selues against winde and weather and the rigour of the aire and should neuer be vsed to other end and therefore as they should not be excessiue nor sumptuous so should they not be too base and beggerly Nec affectatae sordes nec exquisitae munditiae Caligula was as a laughing stocke to all that beheld him by reason of the dissolute fashion of his apparell Augustus was commended for his modestie CHAP. XLI Carnall pleasure Chastitie Continencie COntinencie is a thing verie difficult and must haue a carefull and a painfull guard It is no easie matter wholly 1 See the chap. 24. to resist nature which in this is most strong and most ardent And this is the greatest commendation that it hath that there is difficultie in it as for the rest it is without action and without fruite it is a priuation a not doing paine without profit and therefore sterilitie is signified by virginitie I speake heere of simple continencie and onely in it selfe which is a thing altogether barren vnprofitable and hardly commendable no more than not to play the glutton not to be drunken and not of Christian continencie which to make it a vertue hath two things in it a deliberate purpose alwaies to keepe it and that it be for Gods cause Non hoc in virginibus August praedicamus quòd sint virgines sed quòd deo dicatae witnesse the Vestalles and the fiue foolish virgins shut out of doores and therefore it is a common errour and a vanitie to call continent women honest women and honorable as if it were a vertue and there were an honor due vnto him that doth no euill doth nothing against his dutie Why should not continent men in like sort haue the title of honestie and honour There is more reason for it because there is more difficultie they are more hot more hardie they haue more occasions better meanes So vnlikely is it that honour should be due vnto him that doth no euill that it is not due vnto him that doth good but onely as hath beene said to him that is profitable to the Lib. 1. ca. 60. weale-publike and where there is labour difficultie danger And how many continent persons are there stuft with other vices or at least that are not touched with vaine-glory and presumption whereby tickling themselues with a good opinion of themselues they are readie to iudge and condemne others And by experience wee see in many women how dearly they sell it vnto their husbands for dislodging the diuell from that place where they rowe and establishing the point of honor as in it proper throne they make it to mount more high and to appeare in the head to make him belieue that it is not any lower elsewhere If neuerthelesse this flattering word honor serue to make them more carefull of their dutie I care not much if I allow of it Vanitie it selfe serues for some vse and simple incontinencie and sole in it selfe is none of the greatest faults no more than others that are purely corporall and which nature committeth in hir actions either by excesse or defect without malice That which discrediteth it and makes it more dangerous is that it is almost neuer alone but is commonlie accompanied and followed with other greater faults infected with the wicked and base circumstances of prohibited persons times places practised by wicked meanes lies impostures subornations treasons besides the losse of time distractions of those functions from whence it proceedeth by great and grieuous scandals And because this is a violent passion and likewise deceitfull 3 An aduisement we must arme our selues against it and be wary in descrying the baits thereof and the more it flattereth vs the more distrust it for it would willinglie embrace vs to strangle vs it pampereth vs with honie to glut vs with gall and therefore let vs consider as much that the beautie of another is a thing that is without vs and that as soone it turneth to our euill as our good that it is but a flower that passeth a small thing and almost nothing but the colour of a body and acknowledging in beautie the delicate hand of nature we must prise it as the sunne and moone for the excellencie that is in it and comming to the fruition thereof by all honest meanes alwaies remember that the immoderate vse of this pleasure consumeth the body effeminateth the soule weakneth the spirit and that many by giuing themselues ouermuch thereunto haue lost some their life some their fortune some their spirit and contrarily that there is greater pleasure and glory in vanquishing pleasure than in possessing it that the continencie of Alexander and of Scipio hath beene more highlie commended than the beautifull countenances of those yong damsels that they tooke captiues There are many