will he trust only to his own opinion but calleth another vnto him aduiseth with him takes his Counsaile and puts himselfe vnder his cure Eurigius king of the Gothes said in the Toletane Councell That euen those workes which in themselues were very good and did much import the Common-wealth wereby no means to be done or put in execution without the Counsaile of those that were good Ministers and well affected to the State vpon paine not onely of losse of discretion but to be condemned as the onely ouerthrowers of the Action Things being so various and so many and weighty the businesses as are those which come vnder the hands of Kings and craue their care to bee treated of the successe of them must needs run a great deale of danger when there precedeth not some diligent and mature Counsaile Kings I assure you had neede haue good both Counsailours and Counsaile hauing so many eyes as they haue vpon them some of iealousie and some of enuie so many that goe about to deceiue and doe deceiue them and many that doe not loue them as they ought I say they had neede of good both Counsailours and Counsaile and such a Councell as is more close and priuate as that of the Councell of State and sometimes and in some cases with a little more restriction and reseruednesse making choise of one two or more of their faithfullest and sufficientest Counsellours with whom they may freely Communicate their greater and lesser affaires and be resolued by them in matters of greater moment and such as importe their own proper preseruation and the augmentation of their Kingdome such as the Historians of Augustus paint forth vnto vs which kinde of course the Princes before and since his time haue taken and now at this present doe From the poorest Plowman to the Potent'st Prince from the meanest Shepheard to the mightiest Monarke there is a necessitie of this Counsaile And in effect euery one as hee can comformable to his Estate and calling must Consult with his Wife his Sonne his Friend or himselfe if his fortune afford him not a Companion whom he may trust or make his Confident How much doth it concerne Kings who possessing such great Estates and being subiect to so many Accidents haue need of a more perfect and Complete Councel And not any thing so much importeth them for the conseruation and augmentation of their Kingdomes as to haue about them iust prudent dis-interessed persons to aduise them with a great deale of faithfullnesse and loue and with free libertie of Language to represent the truth of that which to them and their Common-wealth is most fitting and conuenient Who for this purpose are as necessarie as great treasures and mighty Armies That holy King Dauid was more a fraid of the aduise of one wise Counsellour which his son Absolon had with him then of all the Men of Warre that followed him and his fortunes Plutarke and Aristole floute at Fortune in businesses that succeede well when men doe gouerne themselues by good Counsell And for this cause they stiled Counsaile the eye of those things that are to come because of it's foresight And for that wee haue treated heeretofore of the qualities of all sortes of Counsailours I now say That with much deliberation and aduise Kings are to make choise of those persons which are to aduise and Counsaile them For from their hitting or missing the marke resulteth the vniuersall good or ill of the whole Kingdome It is the common receiued opinion That the maturest and soundest Counsaile is to be found in those men that are growne wise by their Age and experience which is the naturall Daughter of Time and the Mother of good Counsaile Tempus enim multam variam doctrinam parit It is Euripides his saying Suting with that of Iob In antiquis est sapientia in multo tempore prudentia In the ancient is wisedome and in much time prudence Long time is a great Master which doth graduate men in the knowledge of things and makes them wary prudent and circumspect which is much if not wholly wanting in young men And therefore Aristotle saith of them that they are not good for Counsaile because Wit more then Wisedome in them hath it's force and Vigour Et tenero tractari pectore nescit saith Claudian And S. Ierome is of the minde that young Witts cannot weild weighty matters And that their Counsailes are rash and dangerous like vnto that they gaue King Rehoboam By whose inconsiderate aduise hee lost his Kingdome The same course hauing cost others as deare as is proued vnto vs out of S. Austen And therefore the Grecians Romans Lacedemonians Carthaginians and other Common-wealthes which were good obseruers of their Lawes and Customes did ordaine That a young man how wise so euer hee might seeme to be and of neuer so good and approued iudgement should not be admitted to the Counsell Table till he were past 50. yeares of Age who being adorned with Vertue and experience might assure them that hee would keepe a Decorum in all his Actions and performe his dutie in euery respect Lex erat sayth Heraclides ne quis natus infrà quinquaginta vel magistratum gerat vel Legationem obiret In fine for Councell Seneca and Baldus affirme That the very shadow of an old man is better then the eloquence of a young man But because good Counsailes are not in our hands but in Gods hands who as Dauid saith Dissipat consilia gentium reprobat consilia principum The Lord bringeth the Counsaile of the Heathen to nought hee maketh the deuises of Princes of none effect And the wisest of Kings tells vs. Non est sapientia non est prudentia non est consilium contra Dominum There is no Wisedome no vnderstanding no Counsell against the Lord. And in humane things there are so many Contingencies that mans wisedome is not alwaies sufficient to determine the best nor to hit aright in his Counsailes vnlesse the Holy Ghost be interuenient interpose it selfe and assist in them For let Priuie-Counsellours beate out their braines with plodding and plotting let them be neuer so vigilant neuer so studious they shall erre in their ayme and shoote beside the butt if hee direct not the arrow of their Councell and wisedome if he do not in Secret illighten their hearts illuminate their vnderstanding and dictate vnto them what they are to doe Which is done by the infusiue gift of the Holy Spirit co-operating in vs which is a diuine impulsion which doth eleuate raise vp our vnderstanding to hit the white and to choose that according to the rule the Diuine Law which is fit to be followed as also to be avoided And this is the gift of Councell giuen by God vnto his friends and such as serue him truly to the end that by his helpe they may light aright vpon that which of themselues they could neuer come
Offices wherein to imploy them But I do not speake this as inferring thereby that there should bee so many but that at least for the foresaid reasons there should bee some And in conclusion more then one because it will bee more easie to negotiate with them and lesse costly and troublesome and bee a meanes that the Prince may be the better eased and freed in great part of those cares and troubles which otherwise must needs weary him out and worke his vnrest and disquiet For his body is not made of brasse nor can he occurre to all occasions Besides being more then one their competition will make them the more both carefull and fearefull as knowing that in case they shall grow carelesse there are persons enough besides of sufficiencie to supply their place Whereas the opinion and conceit of the contrary puffes him vp with pride and vndoes it's Master For they fondly and foolishly perswade themselues that their King and Master cannot liue and subsist without the assistance of their wit and that there is not that fault they commit but must be forgiuen them out of the necessitie of their seruice Forgetting in the meane while that their King may imagine them to bee dead and how that in such a case though it grieue him yet must hee prouide himselfe of others Let Kings therefore bee beaten from this their errour for he that shall otherwise aduise them and seeke to be the onely man in their fauour and seruice and take vnto himselfe both the right side and the left thrusting all others from thence and gouerning both high and low letting nothing escape his fingers which hee pretendeth out of the necessary vse of his person and so absolutely to become Master of their wills and to haue that hand ouer their Kings that they must not looke vpon any but with their Fauorites eyes such a Fauourite I say pretends to tyrannize a kingdome and by little and little will go crushing the Princes of the bloud the ancient Nobilitie and such as are of power to stand in their way thrusting this man out of Court to day and that other to morrow that hee alone may rule all without any contradiction or opposition in the world Let euery man say or thinke as they list for mine owne part I am perswaded that this is his maine end and drift And the cause thereof is his feare of falling knowing besides his owne consciousnes that there are not onely one or two but many in Court that are able to supply his place and farre better deseruing then himselfe Your Alchymists make gold But how Onely in the colour they will not let it come to the Touch nor any other reall Essay neither will they endure to haue it compared with any other minerall gold for feare lest it should bee discouered that theirs hath no more but a bare shew and apparence Let Princes therefore assure themselues that those Fauourites are but Alchimists that will not admit of any other companie as being priuie to themselues that their vnderstanding is not such pure gold that it can abide the Touch nor any reall Essay But say it should passe for currant and that their mindes were all made of pure gold me thinkes they should aduise and consider with themselues that those that are ingenious and wise men will therefore the rather desire that there should be many for by comparing the one with the other the true light shineth the more and makes it selfe knowne whether it be so or no. And onely your fooles and such as are vnworthy of that they possesse are iealous of that good which they feare to loose when by comparing they shall come to be knowne God did not in vaine place so many members in mans bodie and most of them double had it not beene thereby to teach vs that many are needfull in humane actions and that one is not able to doe all without an infinite deale of toyle extraordinary spending of his spirits and the sudden wasting and consuming of his body And here will suite very well to this our purpose that which Tiberius affirmed when feigning not to bee willing to accept of the Empire hee said going about the bush to discouer the mindes of the Romane Nobilitie and Senate that he alone of himselfe was not sufficient nor yet with the helpe of another for so great a gouernment Whereupon Salustius Crispus taking his Qu a great Fauourite of his starts mee vp and makes me a long Harenga or artificiall oration shewing that Signiorie and Empire could not well consist without being conferred vpon one particular person which is the maine foundation and ground-worke of the good and safetie of a Monarchicall gouernment and that therein himselfe if no body else would take the paines would bee as it were another Ioseph his faithfull Viceâ—gerent lest the resolution of things depending on the will of many it might cause a distraction in businesses either by way of competition or of passion In conclusion after Tiberius had heard this and had throughly sounded their mindes he took occasion to tell them That in such a Citie as Rome was sustained and vpheld by so many and such illustrious persons it was not fit that the businesses of State should be remitted to one man alone for many would much more easily execute the offices and affaires of the commonwealth by a fellow-bearing of the burthen For as vnitie in some degrees is both profitable and pleasing so in other some it is hatefull and preiudiciall And therefore out of this consideration I say That a King as the supreme person and principall Head of a kingdome ought to be one alone For the couetousnesse of ruling being insatiable and the nature of power incommunicable it is not possible that two Princes of equall authoritie should continue any long time but both of them suffer in the end or at least the businesses that are committed to their charge But for Fauourites there may bee two or three or more the vnitie remaining reserued for the greater and supremer person And likewise this pluralitie will not be much amisse for if any one of them shall by some accident faile there be others whom the King knoweth and they know him that are fit for his seruice and that haue good experience and knowledge of businesses and all such matters as are current and passable in the commonwealth without being driuen to seeke out new Ministers or to instruct them what to doe in a time of necessitie when things go not well but stand in ill Tearmes laying otherwise hold on the first that offer themselues vnto them to the ouerthrowing of the businesses in hand and the proper hurt and dammage of their Lord and Master at whose cost and by meere erring in great matters they must come to get their learning Let Kings a Gods name reserue for themselues those businesses that are of greatest importance for in this likewise must there bee a setled course and order
there are some cases wherein Experience hath taught the profit that may be taken therefro for the vse and conseruation of mans life And on the other side there is nothing so precious so estimable and so wholsome which is alwayes and at all times profitable For there are some as also some infirmities which would proue mortall should they bee applyed vnto them And therefore mans prudence doth come to consist in this to know it's qualitie and to vnderstand aright the estate and complexion of the man and according thereunto to make vse thereof and of it's vertue And therefore hee that hath by his Kings fauour the supreme disposall of all let him consider and know either by himselfe or by others that are his confident friends being as free as free may bee from naturall affections the dispositions and inclinations of men and together with this the qualitie of the offices and persons which are to gouerne and bee gouerned and let him imply euery one in that for which hee shall bee found fit and good And keeping this course he shall cumply with his owne inclination and naturall desires And shall therein do his King and countrey good seruice But for a conclusion and vpshot of all that is past let those aduertisements serue which follow in the subsequent Chapter CHAP. XXXVII The Conclusion of the former Discourse with some Aduertisements for Kings and Fauourites ALL those that write of the qualities of a good Prince doe agree in this that he ought to haue his will free independent subiect onely to God and his diuine Law without subiecting or submitting it to any other loue For it booteth little that he be Lord of many kingdomes if he be a slaue to that which hee extremely loueth That he ought to bee of a good courage and of a sound and setled iungement not suffering a superiour or equall in his gouernment For as wee said in the beginning of this Discourse kingdomes are by so much the more sustained and augmented by how much the more neare they approach to the gouernment of one Whereas on the contrary they runne much hazard when the reynes of the Empire are diuided and put into seuerall hands The Romanes neuer enioyed so much peace and plenty as after that Augustus Caesar was declared sole Lord of the Empire without dependance on any other Which aduise amongst many other good instructions the Emperour Charles the fifth gaue likewise vnto the King his Sonne to wit That he should be a very precise louer of Truth That hee should not giue himselfe ouer vnto Idlenesse And that he should alwayes shew himselfe a free and independant King not onely in apparence but in substance For it is very proper vnto Kings to rule not to be ruled And to administer their kingdomes themselues by their owne will and not by anothers For he will not be said to be a King who being to command and correct all should easily suffer himselfe to be led away and gouerned by others And therefore it is fit that hee should alwayes stand vpon his owne bottome and in none of his actions expresse himselfe to depend on the aide and opinion of others For this were to acknowledge a Superiour or a Companion in gouernment and to discouer his owne weaknesse Infirma enim est potentia saith Patritius quae alienis viribus nititur That 's but a poore power that must bee vnder-propt by the strength of others In stead whereof I would haue him to fit in Councell and to treate and communicate businesses with such persons to whom it appertaineth as heretofore I said Saying onely now That that King is in a miserable and lamentable case that must depend on anothers helpe Vpon a certaine occasion Alexander the Great said Se malle mori quam regnarerogando That he had rather die then raigne by supplicating and intreating And no otherwise doth that King raigne who shewes himselfe a Coward and suffers the excellencie of his courage to bee ouerwhelmed and carried away with the current of hard and difficult things which many times offer themselues leauing the resolution of all to the mercie and fauour of others by whose helping hand it seemeth that he liueth and raigneth This said the Emperour Vespasian is to dye standing And as that King is dead which leaues that to another which hee can doe himselfe and which doth properly appertaine vnto his office and as he shall not truly cumply with his obligation if he should go about to draw solely to himselfe the gouernment of his whole kingdome much lesse in like manner shall he cumply therewith if hee should cast off all care from himselfe and relye wholly vpon others For Extreames in all things are ill And an extreme thing it were that hee should take vpon himselfe the whole weight and burthen of businesses and to haue all things passe through his owne hands it being likewise no lesse if he should shift off all from his owne shoulders and put his hand to nothing as did Vitellius and Iouinianus who did in such sort dis-loade themselues of their offices and ridde their hands of all matter of gouernment that all was ordered and gouerned by other mens arbitrement and none of theirs Of the former it is reported that he forgot that hee was Emperour And of the other that hee intended nothing but eating and drinking gaming and whoring So that both of them came to such miserable ends as their retchlesse and carelesse kinde of liuing had deserued Childericke King of France and third of that name is and not without iust cause condemned by the writers of those times for that hee did wholly quit himselfe of businesses and led so idle and vnprofitable a life that he tooke care of nothing recommending all to his great Fauourite Pipine who did rule and gouerne him as hee listed And there was not any meeting or conuersation throughout the kingdome wherein men did not mutter and murmure at it For their nimble and actiue nature could by no meanes indure that their King should be but the shadow of a King and stand for a Cypher sheltering himselfe vnder the shade of another Which could not choose considering how vsuall a thing it is but put spirit into Pipine and adde mettall to his power For it is very proper to the condition of men the more high they are in place and dignitie to desire the more honour and the more wealth There are but few of your great and powerfull persons which are not hydropicall and doe not thirst after new honours and new aduancements And some haue proceeded so farre in their pretensions that they haue presumed as this Fauourite did to quit the King of his Crowne Willingly hearkening vnto those flatterers about him which did whisper this in his eare and egge him on vnto it It likewise began to bee treated of amongst the great Lords of that kingdome How much better command and rule were in one Head then in two And how that
their nature and disposition then on the Law of obligation and thankfulnesse for these are but weake bonds and easily broken And because I know not whether I shall hereafter come to light vpon the like occasion I will here propose that Question which is disputed and doubted of by some and may likewise serue for an Auiso vnto Kings whether it be better that the great Lords should be farre off from them or neare about them The Emperour Charles the fifth of famous memory amongst other Aduertisements which hee gaue to his sonne Philip one was That he should not let the great offices of the kingdome nor places of great command rest any long time in one mans hands nor should put his Grandes and great Lords into them but Gentlemen of good qualitie such as were creatures of his owne making And as for his Grandes hee should honour them with some places and offices neare about his person which would be a greater grace both to himselfe and his Court. Others are of a quite contrary opinion and alledge reasons for the maintenance thereof Great men they say if they be not like those little ones which Christ speaketh of are ordinarily of an extraordinary spirit and endeauour all they can increase of honour till they come to occupie the highest place And then will it bee seene of what little esteeme are those great fauours which they haue already receiued There is not that friendship that kindred nor any other bond be it neuer so strong which is not broken through the greedy ambition of ascending to some higher throne For to bee a King saith Euripides all Law is broken For this Appetite is of that force and strength that it breaketh all Lawes both Diuine and Humane For proofe whereof they cite many examples which I purposely omit that I may not offend and tire out the Reader All of them admonishing Kings that they should throughly weigh and consider where and in what places they put them For if they be neare about their royall person it is the torment of Tantalus vnto them to see the water and the fruit so neare their mouth that greatnesse and power I meane and not to enioy it Which will but prouoke a more hungry appetite in those which doe not possesse it and will breake through hedge and ditch and runne as they say through fire and water transported with this so faire and beautifull a prize as is set before their eyes neuer being at quiet till they come to enioy it For there is not that loue to any thing here vpon earth which doth so much alter suspend and seaze on the minde and hâ—art of man as that of ruling and commanding and to grow great therein And when they see things succeed not according to their minde yet at least in satisfaction of their enuie they will be well content that the waters should be troubled and the world be turned topsie-turuy taking pleasure therein though it be to their owne hurt And what King can secure himselfe that such ambitious persons being neare about him will not at one time or other attempt their ends For greatnesse say they after that it is once possessed quits the memory of the meanes whereby it came to bee so great and findes a thousand excuses for it's weaknesse in offending And the rather for that ill vse hath taught all men this lesson That the reputation of an honest man is not to be preferred before his proper profit and greatnesse Lastly they say That he that ouercommeth and makes good his clayme by his sword needeth not to study excuses and to make Apologies let those doe that that haue the worst end of the staffe and stand at the mercy of the Conquerour In conclusion they resolue this question thus That it is very fit that your great Noble-men should rather liue farre from Court then neare about their King For all of them will be of good vse for the gouernment of Prouinces and Armies whereby both the one and the other will be secured And when they cannot content them in all that they would haue they may entertaine them with these which will be a good meanes to diuert their thoughts and to bridle those Prouinces that are committed to their charge with whom the Maiestie and greatnesse of their Gouernours will be able to doe much And there they are not of that danger For in kingdomes by succession and well setled and where there is no colour of wresting the Scepter out of the bloud-royall there is no feare of trusting the Grandes and great Noblemen with these kinde of Gouernments but it is rather requisite that it should be so For like vnto starres in heauen and their influences on earth they serue for ornament and conuersation in those kingdomes and Prouinces wherein there are ancient and noble Houses for which they are to seeke out men of Noble bloud and good qualitie and of knowne greatnesse to bee conuersant amongst them For the Nobilitie of those kingdomes and Prouinces will thinke themselues not well dealt withall if they shall haue but an ordinary man set ouer them to be their Gouernour be he neuer so wise or neuer so valiant For being that they are to attend all at the gates of him that holdeth that place they may esteeme it as an iniurie to see themselues obliged to acknowledge homage vnto him whom out of that place they would scarce vouchsafe him their companie Besides that greatnesse and largenesse of minde and heart that knowes not how to shrinke or be deiected with aduerse fortune a thing so necessary in him that gouernes will sooner bee found in these then men of meaner ranke For as Saint Ierome saith hee that owes much to his bloud and familie will alwayes beare that obligation about him and neuer faile therein Againe he that is borne to command will be lesse insolent in his gouernment as hauing that noble qualitie from his cradle And the people on the other side will more willingly obey him whom they haue alwayes knowne to haue liued in honour and greatnesse And his example will bee of greater importance to reforme the disorders and abuses that shall there be offered Ouer and aboue they further adde That your Grandes and great Noblemen may and haue obligation to content themselues with their present estate if they will but weigh the difference of that it was with that which it is now did not men that are now in honour grow forgetfull of their former meane condition That grieuing them more which falls short of their desire then that doth please and content them which fortune hath with so liberall a hand bestowed on them For no man rests contented with his present estate and condition nor doe we esteeme that so much which wee possesse as the lacke of that we desire doth torment vs. And therefore doe they say that they are not so good to be about Kings and more particularly those which are so qualified for they
knowledge of such persons as ought to be nominated for the said offiâ—es Chap. 25. Whether Honours Offices and dignities are to be conferred on those that sue for them Chap. 26. Of the sense of smelling that is of the prudence of Kings Paragraph 1. Of the Magnanimitie of minde which Kings ought to haue Paragraphe 2. Of the blandure gentlenesse and loue which Kings ought to haue Parag. 3. That it much importeth Kings to haue the good Loue and affection of their Subiects Parag. 4. Of sagacitie sharpnesse of wit and quicknesse of apprehension which Kings ought to haue Parag. 5. Of the Discretion which Kings ought to haue Chap. 27. Of the sense of Tasting and of the vertue of Temperance and how well it befitteth Kings Chap. 28. When and at what time sports and pastimes are worthiest reprehension in Kings Parag. 1. Of the Language and Truth which Kings and wherewith Kings are to treate and to be treated Parag. 2. That Kings ought to keepe their Faith and Word Parag. 3. Of that secrecie which Kings and their Ministers ought to keepe Parag. 4. Of Flatterers and their flatteries Chap. 29. Of the sense of Touching Parag. 1. Of Temperance Parag. 2. Of another remedie against Excesses and superfluities depending on the example of Kings Chap. 30. Whether it be fit for Kings to haue Fauourites Chap. 31. Of another sort of Fauourites Chap. 32 Whether it bee fit for Kings to haue any more then one Fauourite Chap. 33 Of the Conditions and Qualities of Fauourites Chap. 34 How Kings ought to carry themselues towards their Fauourites Chap. 35 Whether the Kinsfolke and Friends of Fauourites are to be excluded from Offices Chap. 36 The Conclusion of the former Discourse with some Aduertisements for Kings and Fauourites Chap. 37 Adâ—ertisements for Fauourites and Councellours of State SAP 6. V. 10. Ad vos O Reges sunt hi Sermones mei vt discatis sapientiam non excidatis Qui enim custodierint iusta iustè iustificabuntur qui didicerint iusta invenient quid respondeant VVISDOM 6. V. 10. Vnto you therefore o Kings doe I speake that yee may learne VVisedome and not goe amisse For they that keepe holinesse holily shall be holy and they that are learned there shall finde defence CHAP. 1. Wherein it is breifly treated what is comprehended in this Word Republicke together with it's Definition MAny and those of the grauest sorte that haue beene well versed in all kinde of Learning haue written of a Republicke or Common-wealth And hauâ— diuided and sub-diuided it into many and sundry species and defined it after diuerse and different maners A prolixe and tedious businesse and full of difficulties and farre wide of my pretension which is in few both words and reasons to describe a mysticall body with it's Head and principall members and the peculiar Offices belonging to euery one of them leauing to such as shall take pleasure therein the multitude of vnprofitable Questions the ornament of humane Eloquence and the Magazine of prophane histories being of little truth lesse efficacie And taking thence my beginning whence all begin To wit from the definition or Description I say with Aristotle and Plato That a Common-wealth is no other thing saue an Order of Citizens and Cities in which and amongst whom nothing is wanting that is necessary and needefull for the life of Man It is a iust gouernment and disposition of many families and of a Communitie amongst them with a superiour authoritie ouer them And it is a Congregation of many people vnited together fraternized with certaine Lawes and rules of gouernment And because I will not loose time in things not necessarie I omit that gouernment which the Greekes call Aristocratia which is the gouernment of the Nobility as it is with the Signorie of Venice And your Democratia which is popular and consistes of the Many as that of Genoa and the Cantons of the Switz Which though approued by many haue their inconueniences and those no small ones For the Nobilitie and powerfull persons if they not perseuere in the obseruance of the Lawes of good gouernment they presently grow to be couetous and are much subiect to Ambition And because they are but a few they feare the multitude and for to conserue themselues exercise cruelty whereby in the ende it turnes to a Tyrannie For as Mecoenas saith The state of a few Lords is the state of a few Tyrants And he that is the most powerfull the most ambitious and best befriended and respected of the people vpon the least dissension ioynes with the multitude which being it is naturally enuious mutable and a friend to innouation will with a great deale of facilitie ouerthrow the Common-wealth And say the Nobles do not side but agree amongst themselues yet cannot they but liue in feare of the infidelitie of the Vulgar for ordinarily those that haue a hand in the gouernment are more enuied then those that haue none at al. Besides it is a weake kind of gouernment nor is it possible that these few Lords can in large conquer conserue a great Empire as can a King or a Monarke because the forces are lesse vnited in them then in him And the people which is little interessed hath no share or part in those honourable places carry a Capital hatred to your great persons and are hardly drawn to such liberall Contributions as may sustaine a War and subdue kingdomes Your popular Estate in falling from that equality which it pretendeth is easily conuerted into a licentious libertie or rather loosenesse pulling down some setting vp others and is much subiect to Alterations through it's inconstancie weake head-pieces of the Popular For as Tully saith the sea hath not so many stormes perills tempestes as hath this kind of CoÌ„monwealth And of force euery one attending his owne proper good and priuate interest it must runne vpon one of these two rockes Either on the Tyrannie of him that is the strongest and vpheld by the fauour of the Maior part liftes vp himselfe aboue them all Or on the Plebeian gouernment then which none can be worse for all then falls into the hands of ignorant people who put ordinary people into the highest places of honour and command without any distinction or reckoning of rich noble wise or vertuous What good Counsaile or sound Aduise can all the Communaltie giue put all their braines together in a doubtfull case or businesse of importance when as Salomon saith there is scarce one to be found of a thousand of abilitie and sufficiencie in this kinde But put case that such a one may happily be found amongst them how shall he be heard with silence What patience will their eares lend him What secrecie will be had in that which is treated be it of Peace or War that it be not divulged before it 's due execution your Tumultes and seditions shall be more ordinary and greater then in other states because
and for this cause the whole Kingdome doth so freely and liberally contribute vnto them Which is specified by S. Paul in a Letter of his which hee wrote vnto the Romans Idâ—ò tributa praestatis c. For this cause pay you Tribute also For they are Gods Ministers attending continually vpon this very thing c. Kingdomes doe not pay their taxes idly and in vaine So many sessements so many Subsedies so many impositions so many great rentes so much authoritie so high a Title and so great a Dignitie is not giuen without charge and trouble In vaine should they haue the name of Kings if they had not whom to rule and gouerne And therefore this obligation lyes vpon them In multitudine populi dignitas regis The honour of a King is in the multitude of his People So great a dignitie so great reuenewes such a deale of Greatnesse Maiestie and Honour with a perpetuall Cense and rate vpon his Subiects Lands and Goods binde him to rule and gouerne his States conseruing them by Peace and Iustice. Let Kings therefore know that they are to serue their kingdomes being they are so well payd for their paines and that they beare an Office which tyes them necessarily to this trouble Qui praeest in solicitudine saith S. Paul He that ruleth with diligence This is the Title and name of King and of him that gouernes Not of him that goes before others onely in his Honour and his pleasure but of him that excells others in his solicitude and his care Let them not thinke that they are Kings onely in name and representation and that they are not bound to any more but to bee adored and reuerenced and to represent the person royall with a good grace and to carry themselues with a soueraigne kind of State and Maiestie like some of those Kings of the Medes and Persians which were no more then meere shadowes of Kings so wholy neglectfull were they of their office as if they had beene no such manner of Men. There is not any thing more dead and of lesse substance then the image of a shadow which neither waggs arme nor head but at the Motion of that which causeth it God Commanded his people that they should not make any grauen Image nor any feigned Pictures or counterfeit paintings which shew a hand where there is none discouer a face where there is none and represent a body where there is none expressing therein actions to the life as if the Image or Picture did see and speake For God is no friend of feigned figures of painted men nor of Kings that are onely so in shape and proportion being in fashion like vnto those of whom Dauid sayd Os habent non loquuntur oculos habent non videbunt c. They haue mouths but speake not eyes haue they but they see not They haue eares but heare not and hands haue they but handle not And to what vse I pray serues all this They are no more then meere Idolls of Stone which haue no more in them of Kings but onely an externall representation To be all name and authoritie and to be Men in nothing else doe not sute well together Woe to the Idoll Shepheard saith Zacharie that leaueth the flocke The sword shall be vpon his arme and vpon his right eye His arme shall be cleane dryed vp and his right eye shall be vtterly darkeneds it is written in the Reuelation Nomen habes quod viuas mortuus es Thou hast a name that thou liuest and art dead The names which God setteth vpon things are like vnto the Title of a Booke which in few words containeth all that is therein This name of King is giuen by God vnto Kings and therein includeth all that which this their Office tyes them to doe And if their workes and actions doe not answer with their name and Title it is as if one should say yea with his Mouth and by making Signes say no with his head What aiest and mockerie is this How shall such a one bee truely vnderstood It were Cosenage and deceit in that Golde beater who writes vpon his Signe Heere is fine gold to be sold when indeed it is but Orpine and base gold for Painters The name of King is not an Attribute of Idlenesse A person regall must haue reall performance As his name soundeth so let him serue in his place it is the people that proclaime the King but it is the King that must proclaime his loue to the people Hee that hath the name of ruling and gouerning a Gods name let him rule and gouerne They are not to be Reyes de anillo as it is in the Prouerb that is to say nominall Kings only praeter nomen nihil hauing nothing else in them In France there was a time when their kings had nothing but the bare name of Kings their Liuetenants Generall gouerning and Commanding all whilest they like so many beastes did busie themselues in nothing else but following the delights and pleasures of Gluttonie and Wantonnesse And because it might be known and appeare to the people that they were aliue for they neuer came abroad once a yeare they made shew of themselues on the first day of May in the Market-place of Paris sitting in a chaire of State on a throne royall like your kings amongst your Stage-players and there in reuerence they bowed their bodies vnto them and presented them with giftes and they againe conferred some fauours on such as they though fit And because you may see the miserie whereunto they were brought Eynardus in the beginning of that Historie which he writes of the life of Charles the Great says That those Kings in those dayes had no valour in them in the world made no shew of Noblenesse nor gaue so much as a tast of any inclination thereunto but had onely the empty and naked name of King For in very deede they were not Kings nor had actually and effectually any hand in the gouernment of the State or the wealth and riches of the Kingdome for they were wholly possessed by the Praefecti latij whom they called Seneshalls or Lord high Stewards of the Kings House Who were such absolute Lords and of that vnlimited power that they ruled the roste and did what they list leauing the poore seely King nothing saue onely the bare Title who sitting in a Chaire with his Perriwigge and his long beard represented the person of a King making the world beleeue that hee gaue Audience to all Ambassadours that came from forraigne parts and gaue them their answers and dispatches when they were to returne But in very truth he sayd no more vnto them saue what hee had beene taught or had by writing beene powred into him making shew as if all this had beene done out of his owne Head So that these kinde of Kings had nothing of the Power-Royall but the vnprofitable name of King and inutile
question that hath beene much sifted and winowed amongst your Morall Philosophers as also your Diuines whether Eâ—ection be formally a worke of the Vnderstanding or the Will Gregory Nyssenus saith That it is composed of both partes To wit of the Act of the Will and of the Vnderstanding And hee said well For therein is required both a fullnesse of Knowledge and a freenesse of Will And it is the Doctrine of Diuus Thomas who saith That it is not of the will alone but also of the Vnderstanding because the electiue Act of the Will conference consultation Iudgement is to precede which is the proper Act of the Vnderstanding But the mischiefe of it is That in Elections wee many times see the contrary and what a strange diuorcement and seperation there is heerein from this true Philosophie For that which now a dayes most of all discouers it selfe in these Elections is our proper gust will and affection And therefore to remedy so great a malady it shall be requisite that the Prince who desireth to tread sure to hit the marke he aymes at and to please God in those whom he electeth and calleth to his Counsell that hee follow the Example of our Sauiour Christ written for our instruction by the Euangelists S. Mathew and S. Luke who recounting the Election of S. Peter and of S. Andrew and other the Apostles as his principall Ministers there preceded a long and prolixe Oration or prayer full of feruour of zeale and of the Spirit and retyred himselfe into the desart and there fasted 40. dayes Et erat pernoctans in Oratione Dei And continued all night in prayer vnto God Which as S. Ambrose and other fathers haue well obserued Christ did not doe that hee had any neede of these Dispositions and Preambles for to iumpe right in that Election but to teach kings and all other Princes that if they will hit right in their Elections they are to vse the like Diligences They are by good and pious workes to procure this fauour at Gods hands and to direct all their actions to this end Nor would hee that this Election should be left wholly to the declaration of those Saints for our Sauiour did declare himselfe more particularly in the 10. of S. Luke Where speaking with the 70 Disciples which had nominated them he sayd vnto them Messis quidem multa operarij autem pauci rogate ergo Dominum Messis vt mittat operarios in messem suam The Haruest truly is great but the Labourers are few Pray yee therefore the Lord of the Haruest that hee would send forth Labourers into his Haruest And though in those former times these words were very seasonable yet now in this present age it 's necessitie is better knowne as likewise the truth thereof For the Haruests being so many and so great I meane so great and so many the varietie and multitude of important businesses for the welfare of the Common-wealth the Labourers are very few But to expresse my self a little more fully I say That very few are they that enter or seeke to enter into Offices for to labour and paines but for to liue at their pleasure to heape vp riches that they may increase the more in ambition and more freely take their ease The remedie of this consisteth in that which our Sauiour Christ commandeth vs To wit That we in defatigably pray vnto him that he will be pleased to send forth faithfull Ministers and good Labourers into his Common-wealth Ministers of knowen trust zeale vertue to whom may sute the name of Counsellours and not of Babblers of worthy men not of wordly men And kings to whom properly this Office of Election doth belong must put the more force insist the more in this prayer begging that which the wisest of Kings Salomon petitioned of God Da mihi sedium tuarum assistricem sapientiam vt mecum sit mecum laboret vt sciam quod sit acceptum coram te omni tempore O God of my fathers send me wisedome out of thy holy heauens and from the Throne of thy Glory that being present shee may labour with me that I may know what is pleasant vnto thee c. This wise and discreete king was not contented with that guide and light which humane wisedome might afford him but had recourse by prayer to that diuine Light and Wisedome which is that that guideth Kings without stumbling or feare of falling into errour For as Wisdome saith of her selfe Per me reges regnant c By me Kings reigne and Princes decree Iustice. As if shee should haue sayd By the hand and Light which I reach forth vnto Kings they goe rightly on in their iudgements and their Elections so that they reigne and conserue themselues in quiet possession of their Kingdomes The drift of my discourse is this That when a King shall come to elect and make choise of his Ministers his first care must be to pray heartily vnto God that hee will direct this his choise and election And so much the more diligence hee ought to vse therein by how much of more importance and of greater qualitie the Minister shall be that is to be imployed After Prayer which is diuine other humane diligences are to bee followed Whereof the chiefest is that the Prince informe himselfe of the good sufficiency the honest life and faire carriage of those whom hee is to choose And that heerein he may not be deceiued it is necessary that with Christ he goe vp vnto the Mount That is To eleuate his Consideration vnto God and to auoide vulgar opinions To strip himselfe of passion and not to strike hands with those that are not Gods friends To forget all kindred and Alliance Not to take in the infectious Ayre of fond affection Not to apply himselfe to that which the importunat intercessions and requests of a fauourite or kinsman shall seeke to draw from him for their priuate benefit Nor to hearken to the negotiation of cunning and subtile pretenders but onely to the good of the Common-wealth and the quicke dispatch of businesses and other the like offices that are to be exercised by men of their place And albeit it was my purpose not to serue my selfe in this discourse but with the Testimonies and Examples of holy Scripture and the Doctors that are Expositors thereupon Yet can I not omit to exemplifie heere in one of King Don Philip the second of this name whose soule doth rest in peace being that for his great prudence and zeale to Iustice and for his good gouernement all the Kings of the world may acknowledge him their Master The case is this A President of his time hauing proposed a Person for a place relating vnto him the qualities which concurred in him for the meriting thereof hee farther added That the Lady Infanta did much desire this prouision should bee made him Heereunto his Maiestie with a great deale of iudgement
and grauitie made answer Y miâ—hya que sabe desso What Has my Daughter a hand in this Can she iudge of his worth Giuing his President by this his Answer to vnderstand that he should not haue alleaged vnto him that for to make a good election which should passe the bounds of the consideration of those parts and qualities wherewith hee was to be furnished were his pretension neuer so much fauoured by the mediation and intercession of great persons And heereunto I farther adde that a king should in no hand content himselfe with the bare knowledge of those onely whom he knowes by sight and walke dayly vp and downe in his Court but that hee should take leysure to informe himselfe of as many as hee can and to follow the ancient custome in giuing order to his Generalls vice-Vice-kings Prelates and Gouernours of euery Prouince to giue him information of the best and sufficientst subiects that are in their Gouernment and that after due consultation had with them they should nominate three or foure vnto him that from amongst many good hee might choose the best And the rest to bee listed and taken notice of that vpon occasion they might receiue imployment From whence likewise this good will arise that All in all partes great and small will study the Science and Arte of good gouernment fly Vice and follow Vertue that they may in their due time be numbered amongst the Chosen Let a King goe Con su spassos contados as they say with a slow foote in those Elections which he is to make giuing way vnto Time and to information Which hee ought willingly to heare neither in all giuing credit to all nor being as many are too incredulous Let him remit things to Tryall and Examination it being a thing needefull for him so to doe For if it be not wisedome to lend a facile eare to all that we heare for the wise man saith Qui citò credit leuis est corde So likewise doth it betoken little prudence to liue alwaies suspicious and distrustfull Something must be left to Experience But to come to the qualifying of persons if the one's qualities be of ten the other of nine quilates and all of them necessarie for the Office of a Counsellour the first ought to be preferred though the other out strip him in Estate in fauour in riches and greatnesse For in that Ministry there ought respect to be had onely to the aduantages of sufficiencie and not of power Nor seruices albeit two be equall in sufficiencie must loose their place and right But that hee who hath done the greater seruices for his King and Countrie ought to bee preferred before the other Now there is this difference amongst many others betwixt a good Prince and him that is not so that a good Prince conferrs his Offices according to the sufficiencie and vertue of the Minister he maketh choise of the other vpon fauour and humane respects vsing therein his power but not attending distributiue Iustice which rewardeth euery one according to his deserts without respect either vnto persons or particular intents CHAP. IX Of the Qualities which Kings are to consider in those whom they are to make choise of for Ministers and Counsellours WE may very well answer that which is heere questioned with that which is recounted in the 18. Chapter of Exodus where it is said That Iethro seeing his son in law Moses wearyed and tyred out in the gouernment of that great body of Gods people and that it was more then one mans worke to giue sufficient dispatch to so many businesses did aduise him to choose but a certaine number of Ministers and Counsellours that might helpe to ease him of that burthen which was too heauy for his shoulders Vltra vires 〈◊〉 est negotium solus illud noâ— poteris sustinere This thing is too heauy for thee Thou art not able to performe it thy selfe alone Cadendo cades saith another Letter By falling thou shalt fall and all this people that is with thee Daras de ojos as they say à cada passo Thou must looke well about thee And ioyntly with this hee propounded the qualities which hee ought to consider in those whom hee was to choose for that Ministrie Proinde ex omni plebe viros sapientes timentes deum in quibus sit veritas Or as another letter hath it Viros veridicos qui oderint avaritiam Thou shalt prouide out of all the people able men such as feare God men of truth hating Couetousnesse c. Now let vs goe pondering euery word in particuler and in them the qualities of Ministers The first is Prouide Which signifieth not onely to prouide but to fore-see and consider For the election of a Minister is a businesse of great prouidence and consideration and the most important and necessarie for a King in matter of gouernment On the good or bad Election of Counsellours dependeth the whole honour and profit both of King and Kingdome And he that erres in this must necessarily erre in all For the spring of a fountaine being spoyled all the water is spoiled And a King failing in this Principle all goes to destruction For without doubt all good dispatch growes from the force and vertue of good Counsaiâ—e Then therefore is a King held to be wise and prudent when he hath wife and prudent Counsailours Hee succeedeth well with all his Intentions and inioyeth same credit and reputation both with his subiects and with strangers Of the one he is beloued and obayed and of the other dreâ—ded and feared and of all esteemed and commended The whole kingdome resteth contented and satisfied And though in something hee sometâ—me erre none will beleeue it But when Priuie-Counsailours are no such manner of men all murmur and proclaime to the world That there is not an able man in all the Counsell and if in some one thing or other hee hap to haue good successe few or none will giue credit thereunto but rather conceiue it was done by Chance The sacred Text says farther De omni plebe Out of all the People As if he should haue said out of all the 12. Tribes or families of this people thereby to giue vs to vnderstand That for to make a good Election it is requisit that there should not remaine a nooke or corner in all his kingdomes where diligence should not be vsed as before hath beene sayd to search out the fittest Ministers And likewise it may in this word be giuen vs to vnderstand that in matter of Election wee are not to haue respect to Linage Kindred or Parentage but to vertue sufficiencie and courage accompained with other good qualities which adapt a man to be a Counsellour And therefore it is said anon after Viros sapientes Wisemen men of vnderstanding heads and stout hearts which dare boldly and plainely to speake the truth and to maintaine and put it in execution when they see fit time for your pusillanimous
goods may doe much in authorizing or disauthorizing not onely all that they doe but euen the Prince himselfe Hence will issue this other benefit that a great part of your Audiences too ordinary arrouble with Kings will be much lessened whereby they shall be the more disoccupied and recouer greater force and strength for to treat of waightier affaires not wasting and spending to times in matters of lesser moment And this bad and old custome ought to haue it's leggs broken and heereafter be disinabled for attributing vnto Kings those resolutions that are disagreeable and displeasing to the people For albeit those ineuitable offences and distastes which sometimes cannot be auoyded ought to be indured and passed ouer with dissimulation for the publicke good yet is it not safe to procure them for euery particular thing nor that all men should know that all their dammages and hinderances proceede from the supreme 〈◊〉 of the King And it is as olde as vsuall a fashion with your Ministers when the people murmure at them I cannot tell whether it 〈◊〉 with that wisedome and loyaltie which they owe to their King to lay the fault on their superiour and the people easily intertaineth it and apprehends it to be so Whereupon they throw all the stones that they can at him and although they cannot reach him yet is it not fit that they should grow to that insolency and contempt Let Kings by all possible meanes excuse those Iuntas or References which haue lately beene introduced for the deciding of businesses a thing as ill receiued in common as desired by the Ministers and that for many reasons First that the people and the Parties may not thinke or say that it is done to oppresse them by putting businesses out of their Course and recommending them to a few selected persons that they may so end them as he desireth who hath the nominating of them Secondly that they may not draw vpon themselues the hatred and burthen of those resolutions they shall take if they shall be either in offence and distast of the people or of the Partie whom it concerneth Thirdly because there is no cause or reason why they that are trusted with all other publike businesses should not likwise be trusted with particular greiuances Fourthly be cause your ordinary Councels haue more experience of those businesses which they treate dayly then your Iuntas haue which are formed of different Councels wherin vsually there are many which scarce know the first Principles of that wherof they are to treate must be guided directedby those which are taken out of that Councell which is acquainted with these kind of businesses Or if they will not confesse this by their ignorance and by their Competition they deferre at least if not vtterly ouerthrow the resolution that should be taken in the businesse For being as they are composed of different Tribunalls they neither loue nor trust one another neither know they how to yeeld each to other but grow stiffe obstinate and attend onely to shew their wit learning vpon those that are vnuerst in those affaires Whilest in the meane while it succeedeth with mens businesses as it doth with those diseases and sicknesses which are discust and debated by many Physitians who whilst they are diuided in opinion and one would haue this and another that the time of the cure is past Fiftly for the credit and authoritie of the King as also of the Councels themselues for when that which belongs to these Counsailours and their President is taken out of their hands by artifice and cunning and is recommended to others in no hand can be excused the note and suspition that either the King hath erred in the Election which he made of these his Counsellours or that they do not do their duty because that which did properly appertaine vnto them is taken from them and put ouer to others And as it should be a fault in a Prince not to trust his Ministers if they deserue to be trusted so is it likewise if they dismerit that trust to continue them in that place And therefore that Minister from whom there can be had no good satisfaction let him be put out of his Office For to keepe him in it argues either weaknesse in a Prince or an euill Conscience Sixtly That that may not by your Discoursists and Wits as they call them whereof Kings Courts are full diuine afore hand what is treated in those Iuntas which are no sooner had but the end of them is knowne a thing which cannot but be of infinite inconuenience for all affaires and more particularly in those which as they are of more importance so doe they require more reseruednesse Seuenthly because Ministers may haue time and place for to heare Negotiants which they cannot haue nor be able to remedy matters nor to vnderstand them vnlesse they may haue the hearing of them And though this complaint be without fault on the Counsailours part I am sure it is not without punishment of those that are to negociate with them And lastly because it is a great errour and intolerable burthen to tye two or three to the dispatch of many businesses of peaâ—e and of warre of the Exchequer of the state and of diuers other things which dayly offer themselues for as experience teacheth reason requireth and inconuenience proclaimes it it is impossible to giue a good issue and dispatch to all nay scarce to the least part of businesses For a man is not made of brasse that hee should be able to indure the trouble of so many Iuntas at least his spirits will be so spent that he will be able to doe little seruice in those that are last treated Counsaiâ—ours know not like Angels Diuino intuitu but as Men by way of discourse and in this they are tyred out and ouer-wrought and it is not possible that at the latter end of the day they should be so quicke and nimble as at the first hower after they haue taken paines all 〈◊〉 day long For this vertue is granted to spirits which know and comprehend things without measure or wearisomnesse Mans vnderstanding is finite and hee said not ill that said The sence which is occupied in many things is weakened by euery one of them And in that repartment and diuision which that Euangelicall father of his familie made of the Talents amongst his seruants he gaue vnto euery one of them Secundum propriam virtutem He measured their abilities and conformable thereunto imposed a charge vpon them How many doe groane vnder the burthen of those offices which they beare without being able to vndergoe them yet will not they leaue these because their ambition does not leaue them But rather applying themselues to the gust and Palate of their King and out of a disordinate desire they haue to grow still greater and greater they are well content with loade vpon loade and neuer cry Ho because they neuer thinke they haue enough And
to the redressing of that oppression And I verily perswade my selfe that all good Kings wouâ—d doe the like if they should see their subiects ready to fall into their enemies hands with whom they wage open warre But from those more close and secret enemies which are together with vs subiects Citizens neighbours Countrymen and Ministers of the same Kings and of whom there is held so much trust and confidence who goes about to free the wronged What reparation is there for receiued iniuries Are they not much greater then those that the Philistims offered to Gods people and more remedilesse As for professed Enemies against them we may make open resistance and euery man that is not vnnaturall or a Traytour to his Country will put to his helping hand and seeke to repell force by force reuenge the wrongs that are done them But for these our domestick enemies these our home-borne foes feigned friends who vnder the shew of friendship and vnder cloake and colour of being the Kings Ministers oppresse the poore and such as haue little power to oppose their greatnesse who shall be able to resist them If he that suffers shall pretend to doe it doth he not put himselfe in manifest danger of suffring much more if not of loosing all that hel hath And it is worthy your consideration that in those words related in Exodus it is not said that God went down to see and remedy the wrongs which that Tyrant king Pharaoh did vnto the children of Israel but that which was offred them by his chiefe Ministers Propter duritiem eorum qui praesunt For the hard-heartednesse and cruelty of those which were set in authoritie ouer them As if he should haue said The Affronts and Iniuries done by a Kings principall Officers are not so easily remedyed as those of particular men They require a powerfull hand they require Gods presence and assistance and will craue a Kings especiall care For your Councells cannot doe it nay are not able for to doe it of themselues alone be they the greatest and the highest in the Kingdom be they neuer so zealous of Iustice neuer such true louers thereof and neuer so desirous to doe right And the reason therof in my poore opinion is for that in regard the burthen of ordinary businesses is so great that only they are not able to attend the quitting of those agrauios and greiuances with that speedines and efficacie as were needefull but rather that they themselues without so much as once dreaming thereof doe vse to make them farre greater then otherwise they would bee for want of time and strength of body to cumply with so many and so great businesses And it oftentimes so commeth to passe that those that â—ue for reliefe in stead of being eased of their wrongs receiue further wrong either because they cannot finde fit place and time to be heard or because being heard they are soone forgot or because they that wrong them finde meanes to couer their faultes And if they cannot couer them and so should be lyable vnto punishment yet they that lent them their hand to lift them vp to the place wherein they are will likewise lend them a hand to defend their disorders And it hath beene already and is yet daily to be seene that a Iudge in Commission who for his wickednesse and euill dealing deserued exceeding great chastisement yet for that he hath this Patron and Angel of Guard for in your greater Tribunalls these are neuer wanting the businesse is husht and the party peccant neuer questioned And because he shall not be disgraced if the matter proue fowle against him by putting him out of his place he that tooke him into his protection will intercede in his behalfe to haue him remoued from that Office and preferred to a better A case certainly worthy both punishment and remedy if there be any vpon earth And if there be any helpe to be had it must be by the sight and presence of the King for without this it is not to be hoped for The Courtes of Kings much more then other places are full of humane respects and these haue taken so great a head and are growne so strong that in businesses they ouerthrow that which truth and iustice ought to vphold And therefore my aduise vnto Kings is that being they are men that are or may be free if they will themselues from these poore respectiue considerations and are supreme Lords and absolute soueraignes in their kingdomes they would be pleased to dis-agrauiate those that are iniuryed respecting onely wronged right and oppressed Truth But because such as are wronged and finde themselues agrieued haue not that easie accesse and entrance into Princes Courtes or to their persons either in regard of their great and weighty Imployments or some other lawfull Impediments it shall much importe that in their Courtes they should haue some person or persons of great zeale and approued vertue and prudence to whom those that are agrieued should haue recourse For many suffer much that cannot come to be admitted to the sight or speech of their King whereas if there should be a person appointed for to heare their Complaints they would cry out with open mouth for iustice and should be righted in their receiued wrongs And that person or persons thus deputed by their Maiesties hauing first well weighed and examined the reasons of their Complaints should afterwards represent the same vnto their Kings and giue them true information thereof to the end that they may forthwith by expresse Command put thereunto a speedy and fitting remedie And this I assure you would be a great bridle to restraine the insufferable insolencie and Auarice of Princes Ministers Who questionlesse would carry themselues much more fairely and vprightly when as they shall know that their disorders shall faithfully be represented Whereas on the contrarie it is not to be imagined with what a bold nay impudent daringnes they outface goodnesse when as they conceiue that of their kings which was vttred by that vnwise and foolish Atheist In corde suo non est deus The foole hath said in his heart there is no God Or that which those ignorant and troublesome friends of Iob breathed forth against God himselfe Circa cardines coeli perambulat nec nostra considerat He walketh in the Circle of heauen and the cloudes hide him that he cannot see and consider the things vpon earth Or which those other wicked Villaines vented Non videbit dominus neque intelliget Deus Iacob The Lord shall not see neither will the God of Iacob regard it So in like sorte say these bad Ministers Tush this shall neuer come to our Kings knowledge hee is taking his pleasure in his gardens he is thinking on his Hawking and Hunting or some other sports and pastimes to recreate himselfe withall nor shall Tricks and inuentions be wanting vnto vs to stop vp all the passages to his eares but say open way
according to Saint Gregory it hath foure most potent opposites which make the rod of Iustice to bow and turne crooked and to falsifie the tongue and beame of the ballance To wit Hatred Fauour Feare and Interest Now Iustice is diuided into two parts which are the honour of God and the loue of our neighbour Aristotle did likewise consider two other parts of Iustice. One common which is ordayned for the Common-wealth and the other particular which is instituted for our neighbour Which by another name they call Equitie which man vsing with reason dea'es so with others as he would be dealt withall himselfe vpon the Common which imbraceth includeth all the rest Patritius founded his Common-wealth And Plaâ—o his vpon the particular Others diuide it into foure parts or species into Diuine Naturall Ciuill and Iudiciall Which the Schoolmen do define and declare at large vnto whom I remit the Reader But laying aside these diuisions which make not for our purpose the most proper and essentiall diuision of Iustice is into Commutatiue and Distributiue Which as Diuus Thomas saith are the partes Subiâ—ctiuae or subiectiue parts of this Iustice that is to say it 's essential Species And therefore we will treate of these two and that very briefly And first in the first place of the Commutatiue and in the second of the distributiue Iustice Commutatiue Contractiue or Venditiue for all these names your Authors giue it for the matter of Commutations Contracts and Sales wherein it is exercised is considered betwixt two party and party which are a part of that whole body of the Common-wealth which giue and take betweene themselues by way of Contract or Sale It 's end and obiect is equalitie and proportion betweene that which is giuen and that which is receiued without respect vnto the persons which buy and sell but to that which is contracted solde or commutated that there may be an equalitie and proportion had betwixt that which is giuen and taken And when in this there is a defection it is contrary to Commutatiue Iustice. The distributiue is considered betweene the whole and it's parts The Medium of this Vertue doth not consist in the equaltie of thing to thing but of the things to the persons for as one person surpasseth another so the thing which is giuen to such a person exceedeth that part which is giuen to another person So that there is an equalitie of proportion betweene that which is more and that which is lesse but not an equalitie of quantitie to wit So much to the one as to the other For those which in a Common-wealth are not equall in dignitie and desert ought not equally to enioy the Common goods thereof when they are reparted and diuided by the hand of distributiue Iustice As we shall shew you by and by when we come to speake of the Commutatiue which treates of equalizing and according that whch mens disordinate appetites and boundlesse couetousnesse doth disconcerte and put out of order euery one being desirous to vsurpe that for himselfe which of right appertaines and belongs to another whence arise your cosenages and deceits in humane Contracts and whence doe resulte those contentions dissensions and sutes in Law And to occurre and meete with these inconueniences from the Alcalde of the poorest Village to the highest and supremest Tribunall those pretenders may appeale if they cannot obtaine Iustice in those inferiour Courts And therefore in Castile in the Counsell Royal it is called by way of excellencie Conseiode Iusticia The Counsel of Iustice. And in all well ordred Monarchies and Common-wealths there is euermore carefull prouision made for this necessitie dispersing in diuers Tribunalls the fittest men for administring Iustice as we haue formerly related of that great Law-giuer Moses And in the second booke of the Chro. it is said of King Iehosâ—phat that he appointed Audiences and Tribunalls in all the principall Cities of his kingdome and those euer at their very gates and entrance that the Negociants and suitors might the more easily meete with the Ministers of Iustice for this is the chiefest prouision which a King should make for kis Kingdome indearing to them all the faithfull administration thereof and that with such graue words and such effectuall reasons that they deserue to be written in golden Letters vpon all the seates Tribunalls of your Iudges Videte quid faciatis non enim hominis exercetis iudicium sed Domini Et quodcunque indicaueritis in vos redundabit Sit timor domini vobiscum cum diligentia cuncta facite non est enim apud dominum deum nostrum iniquitas nec personarum acceptio nec cupido munerum Take heede what ye doe for yee execute not the iudgement of man but of the Lord and he will be with yee in the cause and iudgement Wherefore now let the feare of the Lord be vpon yee Take heede and doe it for there is no iniquitie with the Lord our God neither respect of persons nor receiuing of reward The first thing that he admonisheth them of is Videte quid faciatâ—s Take heede what yee doe Looke well about yee and haue an eye to what ye doe Heare see and consider take time and leysure be not ouer-hasty in sentencing a sute till yee haue studied the case well and throughly and are able as well to satisfie others as your selues Vsing that care and circumspection as did that iust man Iob. Causam quam nesoiebam diligentissime inuestigabam When I knew not the cause I sought it out diligently As if his life had lyen vpon it Alciat saith That the Tribunes had at the gates of their houses the Image of a King sitting in his throane hauing hands but no eyes And certaine Statuas about him seeming to be Iudges hauing eyes but no hands Whereby they declared the Office of a King and the duty of Iudges painting him with hands and them without them but with as many eyes as that fabulous Argos had or like vnto those Mysticall beastes which Saint Iohn saw full of eyes within and on euery side To shew that they should study see and examine causes and all whatsoeuer passeth in the Common-wealth and to informe the King thereof who is to haue hands and Armes courage and power for execution Againe that good King puts them in minde that it is not mans but Gods Office that they take in hand whose proper Office is to iudge And therefore in the Scripture your Iudges are called Gods And since that they are his Lieuetenants let them labour for to doe Iustice as God himselfe doth For I must be so bold as to tell them that there is a reuiewing of the businesse and a place of Appealing in the supreme Counsell of his diuine Iustice. And there the Party pretending doth not deposite his thousand and fiue hundred ducats but the Iudge who lyes at stake for it and if he shall Iudge amisse he is
greatnesse and authoritie on that as did your Heathen Kings and those that were without the light of faith Who pretended nothing else in their gifts and fauours but vaine-glory and the idle applause of the world According to that saying of our Sauiour Iesus Christ. Reges gentium dominantur eorum quipotestatem habent super eos benefici vocantur The Kings of the Gentiles raigne ouer them and they that beare rule ouer them are called Bountifull True authoritie and Greatnesse doth not conâ—ist in Magnificencies and Prodigalities which are not regular and ruled by reason Which requireth to cumply first with what is due and that neither Kings nor their subiects should thrust themselues into necessity and want to satisfie the ambition and couetousnesse of those who as Salomon sayth like vnto Horse-leaches Semper dicunt Affer Affer still cry Giue Giue That which distributiue Iustice requireth is That Kings should repart the common goods of the Republicke conformeable to the meritts and seruices of euery one preferring alwayes the publicke before any particular good and ioyntly with this that they goe clinching the hand for a while that they may afterwards stretch it out more at large when it shall be fitting for them so to doe And this is Liberalitie that vertuous and noble Meane betweene those vicious Extreames Auarice and Prodigalitie When our Sauipur Christ had sufficiently fed that great multitude which followed him into the desert they no sooner found themselues full but they presently resolued amongst themselues to make him their king And this their determination grew from two things which they saw to bee in him The one his noble disposition in affording them such free and plentifull intertainment The other for his great prudence and good gouerment in giuing order that the peeces of bread and other the fragments that were left should be gathered vp Colligite quae super auerunt fragmeta ne pereant Gather vp the broaken meate which remayneth that nothing be lost Nor did he doe this that he had neede to set it vp or keep it to serue at some other time vpon the like occasion for he could as often as he would haue made bread of stones but to instruct and teach Kings to knowe both to spend and saue to giue and hoord vp where how and when it is fitting in regard that their power is limited Moreouer Kings are to consider that they who at one clap receiue much from them grow so fat and purâ—ie that they are not able to serue and follow them as they were wont and sometimes they retire themselues and nere returne againe to see either King or Court vnlesse meere Couetousnesse and greedinesse of gaine draw them thither to beg more and more to cramme their purses Being like vnto that Crowe which Noah sent out of the Arke who as soone as he had found firme footing and whereon to feede his fill neuer came back again Kings Palaces are like Noahs Arke where there is a great diuersitie in the Conditions of men and generally you shall meete there with more Crowes then Doues And here I will with your good leaue take a little libertie to diuert my selfe from the Testimonies of Holy Scripture to those of Great Kings and Monarckes some of one nation and some of another And the first that I shall begin withall shall be king Don Alonso of Sicily who walking along by the Sea-side caused many gobbets of flesh some great and some small mingled one amongst another to be brought vnto him and still as the Crowes which were many came about him to some hee threw out the lesser to other the larger morsells Those that went away with the great gobbets came no more in sight but fled their way but those that had but a small pittance and were not so full gorged they followed the King whether so euer he went and neuer forsooke him Who tolde those that were then about him In this my Masters yee may see how much it importeth Kings to distribute their fauours with moderation and temper Philip King of Macedon did much reprehend his sonne Alexander for being too lauish of his fauours and too excessiue in his giftes Telling him that thereby hee peruerted the mindes of those that were to serue him who in stead of seruing him with that loue loyalty which in duty they were bound vnto they would now onely serue him for their owne particular interest and proper commoditie making by this meanes affection and fidelitie become a kinde of trading and merchandizing And certainely so it is that when mens mindes make interest their Aime and daily to get more and more they become saleable and tender their seruice to those that wil giue them most And they which doe thus accustome themselues to craue and take the loue of friendship and that thankefull acknowledgement which is due to the Doner is turned into interessed Loue which is called by the name of Concupisence And are as the Comicke Poet saith like vnto those lewd huswifes which Amoreâ—carent munâ—â— amantis amant Loue not so much the man as his money nor his person as his purse You shall seldome see a man that is as they say a Pediguenâ—â— a crauing Companion one that is still begging one thing or other that hath not some touch of Couetousnesse and some tincture more or lesse of vnthankefullnesse For in regard that these men loue themselues and their owne interest so well they haue not one drop of loue left for others and if any doe remaine they conferre it on a third person through whose hands that which they pretend is to passe And the King and Prince to whom all is due rest depriued of two things that are the most substantiall and of most importance for the conseruation perpetuation and augmentation of his Kingdome which are their subiects Loue and Thankes For the truest kinde of Raigning and the likest to Gods kingdome is to gaine the heartes of their subiects and to make themselues as much as in them lyes Lordes and Masters of their good Wills And it is our dayly experience to see persons that haue beene highly and richly gratified and extraordinarily well rewarded to haue proud very vnthankfull For this fault great benefits haue with them and such as are dis-equall to the deserts of those persons that receiue them that they are not thankfully accepted of And those that are benefitted to the end that they may not bewray this their imperfection being such as it is no lesse then so great a sinne as ingratitude they soone learne to forget them but those that are conferred on others neuer slip out of their remembrance In a word of all that that is begg'd and of all them that begg few there are that forbeare to goe this way In confirmation whereof we may alleadge heere that question which Christ made to one of those ten Leapers which hee healed shewing himselfe not halfe well pleased with the rest of his
fellowes Nonne decem mundati sunt Et nouem vbi sunt Non est inuentus qui rediret dares gloriam Deo nisi hic Alienigena Are there not ten cleansed But where are the nine There is none found that returned to giue God prayse saue this stranger In Kings Pallaces your strangers and those that are newly come to Court are your onely thankfull men For those that are well acquainted with the Court familiarly attend the person of the King and are still assistent vnto him vpon all occasion neuer acknowledge the fauours that are done them bee they neuer so great They are alwayes crauing but are neuer satisfied they swallow downe whole riuers and wonder not at it they thinke all Iordan is too little for them and that they shall no soner open their mouth but they must presently sup it vp And the reason hereof is because they verily perswade themselues that all whatsoeuer you giue them be it neuer so much is due vnto them for their seruices and their dayly Assistencies I therefore say and therein say but the trut That one of the greatest happinesses that can befall Kings is to be serued by noble persons and men of honour gente granada as the Spaniards tearme them iolly strong lusty people proper comely men and persons of best and most account both for riches and honour But this is the mischeife of it that this golde which should make such a glorious shew in Court and shine both in honour and goodnesse is canckred and rusted by Auarice and Ambition which eates into all mens mindes and wholly possesseth them So that from the highest to the lowest they are all well read in the Schoole of Couetousnesse Dissimulation and deceit And your Priests and those that weare Miters on their heads are not in this kinde the meanest Schollers amongst them All complaine they are not rewarded that they haue nothing giuen them if they haue any thing giuen them they thinke it is all too litle And betwixt this their complayning their thankefull acceptance there is set vp such a strong partition that it neither suffereth them to acknowledge a benefit nor to intertaine it with that thankfullnesse as they ought All now a dayes attend their own interest and not their kings seruice Who may say that of them which God spake by Malachie Who is there euen among you that would shut the doores of my house or kindle but a coale on mine Altar in vaine Not one I assure you but will be well payd for his paines There is not that Sexton that Cloyster Cleanser nor scullion of the Kitchen but will haue good wages other ayudes de costa or by-helps This great traine saith Seneca of seruants and Attendants seeke not so much after a Master as Money a friend as a fortune Miserable is the condition of kings whom none loue for themselues but for their owne ends and the good they expect from them so that this their priuate interest fayling them their seruices faile with it likewise faileth so says S. Isidore that loue Loyalty which is due vnto them Non sunt fideles quos munus non gratia copulat nam citò deserunt nisi semper accipiant Those whom Lucre not Loue linketh cannot bee faithfull For vnlesse they be still on the taking hand they vanish and are quickly gone Yet is it not my intent and purpose in that which I haue sayd to condemne those who demaund their pay and satisfaction for their seruices to relieue their necessities For therein they doe but vse that lawfull course which is appointed for them by way of petition Howbeit Aristotle Plato and other Philosophers would haue subiects to be solicitous not in sueing but in seruing And I farther affirme that Princes are to take it to their charge to content those that haue done them good seruice it being the principall Office of distributiue Iustice carefully vigilantly to distribute riches and honours to those that haue deserued them And this vndoubtedly is one of the most effectuall meanes for the good gouernment of a Common-wealth For as those three diuine vertues Faith Hope and Loue are increased and augmented by praying vnto God so on the contrarie are they lessned and diminished by sueing vnto Men. For when subiects serue and not sueing obtaine that which they deserue humane Faith Hope and Loue is augmented in them because thereby they are taught to rely on the vertue and wisedome of their Soueraigne who applyes himselfe to euery mans meritts and the iustnesse and vprightnesse of his cause For which cause they will loue him much but much more when he giues without being importuned with petitions And it seemeeth vnto them that hee giues not more willingly then he doth wisely in applying himselfe onely to reason and Iustice and not to the importunate Petitions of Pretenders And therefore Kings are not to content themselues onely with paying that which they owe and to doe mercedes and fauours to them that serue them but that these should likewise goe accompanied with Loue and Good Will for with remuneration are the seruices requited and with Loue are they obliged to doe them still more and better seruice In that Case which the Scripture recounteth of King Assuerus who one night being not able to sleep and take his rest commanded Lights to be brought in and some that were about him to take that booke and read vnto him wherein were written the notable things that past in his raigne and amongst the rest there was mention made of a great peece of seruice which Mardochee did him freeing him from that death which two of his Eunuches had plotted against him by discouering this their treason demanded of those there present What honour and dignitie hath beene giuen to Mordochee for this his fidelitie towards me and the good seruice he hath done mee And the Kings seruants that ministred vnto him sayd There is nothing done for him Whereupon he presently bestowed vpon him such great honors and dignities that vnlesse he should haue giuen him his kingdome he could not well haue giuen him more Thus was this good seruant rewarded honoured and graced by his Lord and Master who without being importuned gratiously called his good seruices to remembrance and honoured him aboue all the Princes of his Kingdome And I could wish that all that are rewarded by their Kings might receiue their recompence vpon the like good tearmes of Reason and Iustice. But now a dayes poore and slender seruices the more is the pitie finde copious and plentifull rewards and those ordinarily accompanied with ingratitude A thing which Nature it selfe abhorreth And which tyes Gods hands from giuing who is so liberall and so rich and dryes vp that ouerflowing fountaine of his boundlesse mercies from affording vs any farther fauour or Comfort CHAP. XXIIII Of the repartment and Diuision which is to be vsed in the Conferring of Offices And of the knowledge of such persons as
and the good will and loue of all men And of Dauid it is sayd Erat rufus pulcher aspectu facieque decora That hee was ruddy and withall of a beautifull countenance and goodly to looke to He was of a louely and gracious aspect milde affable and aboue all a great friend vnto goodnesse and well doing onely with his pleasing presence hee drew the eyes of all the people after him who ioyed in the fight of him And with this did he winne their hearts got their good wills and gayned the kingdome When by a good and painefull industrie and a sweet behauiour the hearts are first seazed on it is an easie matter to conquer Kingdomes In the sacred Historie of the Machabees are recounted the heroyicall Acts which that great Captaine Iudas and his brethren atcheiued in Spaine the Kings and Kingdomes which they subdued the nations which they conquered and made tributary to their Empire and the great treasure of gold and siluer which they purchased And all this they effected by their good Counsayle gentlenesse and patience giuing Kings thereby to vnderstand that if they be of a meeke peaceable and noble condition they shall be Lords and Masters of mens wealths and hearts And this made Polibius to say that a courteous and peaceable King conquers all with quietnesse euery man being willing to yeelde and submit himselfe to a soft and generous disposition that is free from anger and full of clemencie And this is that Legacie which God allotted and left vnto them long agoe in the olde Testament Mansueti haereditabunt terram The meeke shall inherit the earth And afterwards in the new Testament he renewes this promise Ipsi possidebunt terram They shall inherit the earth They shall be Lords of the earth That is of the men vpon earth and of their possessions For by this earth which God promiseth vnto them S. Bernard vnderstands the same earth whereof men are formed And it is vsuall in Scripture to call men earth And thereby is likewise vnderstood that of this world which wee heere inhabit the possessions thereof it 's gouernment Scepter and Monarchie for all this is but a Patrimonie bequeathed to a kinde smooth and louing nature The best Titles that a King can present before God for to pretend the preseruation and perpetuitie of his Kingdome are meekenesse and gentlenesse These Dauid represented vnto him when hee petitioned him that hee would be pleased to continue and confirme his kingdome in his sonne Memento Domine Dauid omnis mansuetudinis eius Lord remember Dauid and all his lowly carriage Whose heart was not haughty nor his eyes lofty but behaued and quieted himselfe as a childe that is weaned of his Mother And presently God collated this benefit vpon him saying Com cumpleti suerint dies tui suscitabo semen tuum post te firmabo regnum eius When thy dayes be fullfilleâ— and thou shalt sleepe with thy fathers I will set vp thy seede after thee which shall proceede out of thy bowells and I will establish his Kingdome Such effects doth the smooth breast and soft heart of a King worke And this is so sure a Tenet that for to keepe a Kingdome secure and to be Lord of many moe there needeth no other claime then that which Loue and Gentlenesse maketh For in regard that the heart of man is generous it will not be led by the necke with a halter nor will subiects long indure the yoake of a Tyrannizing and proud Lord whereas on the contrary they are easily led a long by a smooth and gentle hand And reason teacheth vs as much for by how much the more easily is the heart of man moued by conueniences then by menaces by faire meanes then by foule by so much the better is it to gouerne by meekenesse and gentlenesse then by force and rigour Whence we draw this Conclusion That too much sharpnesse and excesse of rigour in a Prince procuteth hatred and affabilitie and clemencie Loue. Which is that which Kings ought most to seeke after as by and by we shall shew vnto you when wee come to tell you that these two qualities of blandure and clemencie so befitting a supreme Lord are quite contrarie to that good expedition of Iustice and that integritie which God doth require in a Iudge whom hee willeth and commaundeth That in matter of iudgement hee shall not pittie the case of the poore According to which Instruction it of force followeth that a King must represent two contrary persons that of a kind and pittifull Father and that of a iust and angry Iudge For if in his owne nature hee be kinde and tender hearted there is not that offender which will not be set free by the power of Intreaties and Teares weapons wherewith the hardest and cruellest hearts suffer themselues to be ouercome And if he be otherwise what can the delinquents hopes end in but death and despaire Againe if he be vertuous and seuere it is impossible that he should not hate the vicious and grow into choller when hee shall heare of their cruell outrages and insolencies Now what remedy in this case is to be vsed Saint Ierom and Saint Austen are of opinion that a King by his owne person is to punish and premiate to execute chasticement with iustice and to mitigate it with mercy Nor is it vnworthy our consideration nor lyable to inconueniencie that a King should represent two persons so contrary in shew as iudging with Iustice and Mercie For two vertues cannot bee contrary And as the Saints and holy Doctors say and they are in the right Mercie doth not hinder the execution of Iustice but it moderateth the crueltie of the punishment And it is very necessary in a good Iudge that hee should haue a true and faithfull paire of balance in his hands and in either scale to put rigor and equitie that hee may know how to correct the one by the other The Kings of Portugall especially Don Iuan the third did vse to iudge Capitall crimes accompanied with his Councell and were alway accounted fathers of the people because with them Iustice and Mercie walked hand in hand shewing themselues iust in punishing the fault and mercifull in mitigating the punishment By which meanes they were of all both feared and beloued And let not Kings perswade themselues that this doth lessen their authoritie and take of from their greatnesse but giues an addition and the oftner they sit in iudgement they shall doe God the more seruice and the Kingdome more good And in conscience the surest and safest course for that reciprocall obligation which is between the King and his subiects For they owe obedience seruice and acknowledgement to him as their Lord and Master And he vnto them Iustice Defence and Protection For to this end and purpose doe they pay him so many great Tributes and Taxes Nor is it enough for him to doe it by others but
strangers be feared esteemed for men of wisedome worth and prudence As it befell King Salomon at his first comming to the Crowne when the peopâ—e of Israel perceiued the discretion and prudence wherwith he had proceeded in deâ—iding that difference betweene the two women touching the liuing childe which each of them pretended Insomuch that when they saw how wisely how iustly it was carryed by him they shouted aâ—l for ioy saying surely the wisedom of God is in him And from thence forth they began to respect feare him Yet mistake me not I beseech yee For I do not say that Kings should desire that any ill should betide any man but that they ought may desire that some such occasion might be offered vnto them wherein they might shew their zeale and loue vnto Iustice and manifest to the world that they are wise enough of themselues to execute the same For there is nothing that makes a King more worthy of his Monarchie as to win by meanes of his good Counsel and gouerment greater credit and authoritie then what he had when he began first to gouern For a kingdome is only the gift of fortune but this other argues his owne wisedome and iudgement But that which I shall conclude this point withall is this That this prudence sagacitie of the Serpent so much commended by Christ ioyned with the Doues simplicitie produceth two effects of much importance in kings which are these Neither to deceiue nor to be deceiued Simplicitie is without welt or garde plaine true and knowes not how to deceiue any man Prudence on the other side is very wary circumspect and will not suffer her selfe to be deceiued by any man Nay it goes a little farther for it perfecteth the whole essence and being of prudence and causeth a certaine dexteritie in the dispatch of businesses which is a great help vnto Princes and is the only Mistris to make them to vnderstand iudge things aright And likewise to see and discerne them by outward actions and the exterior sences The eye the foote the hand shall not wag moue or stirre but it shal discouer the inward thought Lastly it is it 's proper office Reason assisting and the discourse of the vnderstanding to anticipate occasions and to diuert in time the euill that may happen For as Tully sayth and very truly Nihil turpius in sapiente est quam dicere non putaram Nor ought it to be the Language of kings to say I did not thinke on such a thing I did not dreame that things would haue fallen out thus thus or that I did not throughly vnderstand the busines For in Kings it is no lesse shame to suffer themselues to be deceiued or to be ouercome by Artes and tricks then to be subdued in the open field by force of Armes Kings therefore being necessarily to heare and negociate with so many and so sundry persons to free themselues from the slightes subtleties of some must make vse of this circumspection and sagacitie Homer representeth vnto vs a most prudent Prince who though vnlearned yet for that he was very crafty subtile did gouerne very well and freed himselfe from many great dangers Subtletie and Sagacity accompanied I say with a sound intention and a good conscience for that is it weâ— aime at in gouernment proceedeth not from sagacity and subtletie but from goodnesse and Iustice. §. V. Of the Discretion which Kings ought to haue VEnerable Beda and S Gregory say of the nose and it's nostrills that they are the Instrument or Conduite to conuay all sorts of sents vp to the head And that they are purposely placed in so high a Station that they may the better discerne the good and the bad And they signifie thereby the vertue of discretion which is the knowledge of good and ill and by Reasons helpe distinguisheth the one from the other Per nasum discretio exprimitur per quam virtutes eligimus delecta reprobamus By the nose is vnderstood discretion by which wee make choyse of vertue and reiect our pleasures And is of that great excellencie that the Ancient made her Reginam virtutum the Queene of the Vertues reducing all the rest vnto it Another call'd her the Mother A third the fountaine or well-spring of the Vertues A fourth will haue euery particular vertue to beare the name of Discretion And there is not one wanting who affirmeth that these did not hit the marke aright for farre better saith hee might they haue said that there is no vertue at all without discretion For albeit the Vertues in themselues be perfect and full and doe qualifie the person that possesseth them as Fortitude makes a man valiant Iustice makes a man iust Wisedome makes a man wise And so in the rest Yet if the vse of discretion be wanting to any one of these they loose their Punctum medium wherein they consist and light vpon the extreames So the Liberall turnes Prodigall the Valiant foole-hardy The wise imprudent and the Iust iniurious Discretio sayth S. Bernard omni virtuti ordinem ponit Discretion is the rule by which euery vertue is directed And in matter of Counsell the Vote of discretion strikes a great stroake for it distinguisheth falsehood from truth things certaine from things doubtfull and from amidst what is ill maketh choice of that which is good It qualifieth all things and puts them in their punto and proper being And the Philosopher sayth That it is a vertue proper vnto Kings Princes and Gouernours to whom by office it belongs to intermeddle and haue a hand in such a world of businesses as require their direction and discretion wherewith all they must help themselues for the better disposing and ordring to a good end the affayres of the Common-wealth It is a neere neighbour vnto prudence and bordreth much vpon her these vertues as we sayd before being so inchained and interlinked one with another that we cannot touch one peece without trenching vpon the other And are both so necessarie that though I should say neuer so much of them I could not out-speake them But to come to the point Let the first point of aduise and discretion in a King be not trust so much to his own wise and discretion as to forbeare out of a presumption of his owne sufficiencie to treate and Consult businesses with persons of prudence and vnderstanding For being that so and so various are the cases which dayly offer themselues vnto Kings and so graue and weighty the businesses whereof they treate they must be canuased to and fro and well and throughly debated for the better ordring and setting of them making former errours to serue as land-markes for the avoyding of those to come And like a wise and experienced Physitian let him apply that medicine there and in that case where for want thereof he had formerly erred Out of ignorance to draw knowledge out of errours certainties
out of bad successes future warnings is admirable discretion Ex praeteritis conijcientes iudicamus sayth Aristotle By coniecturing of things past wee come to make our iudgement of things to come And it is a very good course to diuine by that which is past and in Kings exceeding necessary to draw experience from some times for other some And to beware as they say not onely by other mens harmes but likewise by their owne For let a man be neuer so wary neuer so circumspect and let him watch and looke about as if his life lay on it hee must either fall or hath fallen at some one time or other or hath err'd in this or that particular whereby his designes haue beene frustrated or hath seene or read the downe falls of others And therfore shall be shew himselfe very discreet if hee shall gather a Doctrine out of these and make such good vse of them that they may serue vnto him for a warning Castigasti me Domine eruditus sum O Lord thou hast chastised mee and after that I was instructed For as it is in the Prouerb Delos escarmentados salen los arteros No men are more their Craft-Masters then those that haue bin most bitten Nor is it much that a man of reason and vnderstanding discoursing with himselfe of forepassed passages should benefit himselfe by comparing cases past with cases present and by experience and knowledge of those which heretofore haue beene remedilesse hee may apply remedy to those which threaten future mischiefe Sithence that brute beastes as it is obserued by S. Isidore and Polybius who haue no discourse but onely a naturall instinct leading them to their conseruation make vse of the like kinde of Accidents not onely when they themselues fall into some quack-mire or otherwise haue runne the danger of this baite or that net but euen then also when they see others fall before them they hang an arse and will not easily suffer themselues to be drawne into the like danger but hold that place euer after in suspicion where they haue seene their fellowes indangered and shunne all that they can that hole or bog whereinto they haue once either fallen or beene myred And shall not men of vnderstanding and good discourse which heare and see what other men suffer as likewise the great hurt which they themselues haue receiued by the like cause shall not they I say grow wise by other mens harmes and their owne shall not they seeke to shunne and auoyd as much as in them lies the like inconueniences but that some pleasing thing shall bee no sooner propounded vnto them but forthwith they will suffer themselues to fall into the pit and to be taken in the snare that lyes before them and will not offer to fly therfro nor forbeare to eate of that deceiuing foode whereunto they are inuited and know for certaine that neuer any did come off with safety He that by the forepassed Accidents and falls of others or of himselfe doth not take aduise and warning the name of beast nay of a senselesse creature will better befit him then of a discreete and well-aduised man This is that complaint which Moses made of that foolish people Vtinam saperent intelligerent acnouissima prouiderent Would to God that they would call to minde and make vse of the so many and various successes which they haue seene and past through and that quoting the present with the past they would be prouident in that which is to come especially since the wise man sayth That the thing that hath beene is that which shall be and that which is done is that which shall be done and that there is no new thing vnder the Sunne Let the conclusion therefore of this discourse be first That it is not heere required of a discreete King that he should beare about him in his â—leeue good lucke and drawe out when he listeth a faire lot and a certaine and happy successe in all his businesses for this is only and wholy in Gods hands and not in his And therefore to require any such thing of him were great indiscretion but that hee should enter into them if time will giue him leaue with sound aduise and mature deliberation and to intertaine them till hee be able to bring his purposes to passe And si sit periculum in mora If there be danger in delay and that they will not suffer the deferring let him call to minde the successe of former businesses and let him well consider with himselfe what in like cases hath vsually succeeded and accordingly let him settle in the present and prouide in the future that which is most fitting euermore hauing respect to the iustnesse of his cause relying altogether vpon God and humbly beseeching him that hee will direct him in all his wayes For as it is in the Prouerbs Cor hominis disponit viam suam sed Domini est dirigere gressus eius A mans heart deuiseth his way but the Lord directeth his steps Suting with that common saying Homo proponit Deus disponit Man purposeth but God disposeth The second thing required of him is That hee looke well about him that he diligently obserue the maner of gouernment throughout his whole kingdome and that he haue a watchfull eye on his publike Ministers and Counsailours of State and more particularly vpon those that are in highest place and authoritie and haue his eare most And that hee likewise labour to know the qualities conditions and naturall dispositions of those that now are and to conferre and compare them with those of former times that hee hath seene and knowen or hath heard and read of in Histories to the ende that by the knowledge of the affections and naturall inclinations of those hee may prognosticate the end whereunto these tend and by those passages and proiects of precedent times make a diuination of the designes of the present For this prudentia in principe quodammodo diuinatio est This prudence and discretion in a Prince is a kinde of diuination And let them not tell mee that mens manners are changed with their names nor their naturall inclinations with the declination of times and that there is no correspondency betwixt those that are now and those of olde for as Cornelius Tacitus saith who was a singular Master in this science speaking of his owne times in respect of the former the men are other but now their manners They are now as they were then and then as now Well may it be that for some considerations men may represse and couer their affections moreat one time then another but not that they are not one and the same those of this time and that and that early or late they doe not the same worke they antiently did For from one and the same causes it must necessarily follow that we must see one and the same effects Let Kings therefore see once more I speake it and consider
the houses of Princes and great Persons these things are in greatest request Ecce qui in veste pretiosa sunt delicijs in domibus Regum sunt Behold they which are goâ—geously apparel ed and liue delicately are in Kings Courts So says our Sauiour Christ. And many dangers doe they runne who measure out all their life by the Compasse of Contents and passe times that goe cloathed in Silkes and Veluetts and are continually conuersant amidst the sweetest perfumes the purest Holland the finest Damaske and the richest c'oathes of Silke and Gold Yet for all this doe not I say That Princes and great Lords liuing in this State and Pompe cannot â—o nomâ—ne bee saued but to shew that in all Estates there is a great deale of danger but much more in your daintier and nicer sort of people Nor will I with all my force straine this vnto Kings as well witting what their Estate and Greatnesse doth admit and require And that as Nature did dâ—fference them from the rest both in blood and birth so likewise ought there to be a distinction in their diet raiment and in the furnâ—shing and adorning of their houses But I say that which cannot be denied that in excuse of this their state and conueniencie they take vnto themselues heerein too large a licence and passe to soone from the foote to the hand from the hand to the mouth making of an inch an ell and of an elll an Aker So hard a matter is it for great Princes to moderate themselues and vse a meane And that Heathen was not much wide of the marke who sayd in the Senate That that is an vnfortunate Estate that obligeth a man to liue alwayes vp to the eyes grazing in his pleasures and delightes And that it is a very bad Omen for a man to liue all his life time according to the sauour and guste of his palate Consuetudinem nullam peiorem esse quà m vt semper viuat quis ad voluptatem There is not any custome so bad as that of a mans liuâ—ng according to his owne pleasure Such men are rather to be pittied then enuied for there is not that hower of their contents and deâ—ightes which doth not pay it's tribute of teares and sorrow Onely for to please and satisfie this sense and to recreate that of the sight haue so many Artes beene inuented so many sorts of Trades and Trades-men set a worke so much varietie of fashions and costly cloathes such a world of curious Silkes Lawnes Cambricks and Hollands such large beds rich bedding sumptuous bed-steds so sensuall and so ouer nice and dainty that it may well be questioned whether is greater the costlinesse or the curiositie the richnesse or the ryot occasioned by them Nor which is the miserie of it is it yet known whether or how farre this Humour will extend it selfe But sure I am that thereby houses are disordred much monyes consumed ancient Inheritances solde away and a thousand other inconueniences introduced And to say the truth this sense hath not neede of so much nicetie but abuse hath now brought it to that passe that it hath no sooner a liking to a thing but it greedily runn's after it as a beast that is put into a fresh ground runnes vp and downe smelling out the choice grasse and will not bite but at the sweetest But he that doth Regalar and pamper vp this sense most doth most of all make it his enemie Which will neuer giue him ouer till it haue vndone him This is so large a Theame and so copious a subiect that if I should heere write and set downe all that which in this kinde would fairly offer it selfe I must be driuen much to inlarge my pen. But it is not my Intent to set my cloath on the Tenters nor in this little Loome to weaue large Histories and long discourses but onely to giue a short touch and away of the effects which this sence causeth and of the miseries and misfortunes which are incident to Touching and that all the worke paines which it does and takes for it's friends and best well-wishers is not so freely bestow'd nor that good assurance giuen thereof but that this it 's momentary pleasure makes quick payment in groanes in diseases and in Temporall and Eternall Death The condition of the obligation being drawen and signed by no worse a Scriuener then Saint Paul Si enim secundum carnem vixeritis morieimni For if yee liue after the flesh yee shall dye Wee haue examples of Kings good store and of ancient and moderne Kingdomes forraine and domestick The first shall be of Charles the 8. King of France in whom voluptuousnesse and delights wrought so great an alteration in that his most fortunate and happy entrance which hee made into Italy where without putting hand to his sword hee became Master of all the whole Kingdome of Naples and did so amuze and affright all the World that the Great Turke was afraid of being ouer-runne by him and many of his Commaunders which had the keeping of his Fortes on that Coast forsooke them and fled And if that King had but well followed that Enterprize hee had beene Lord of all Greece But being a young Gentileman hee suffered himselfe to be ouercome by the Dainties and Delicacies of that Countrie spending his Time in delightes banquets shewes maskings dancings and feastings So that hee who had so soone filled the world with feare was as soone ouercome by yeelding to the pleasure of this sense For hee and his did so glut themselues with the fruites of that Country and so followed the delights of the flesh that hauing entred victorious they became subiect and were subdued by that new and loathsome disease which possesseth the whole body and to dissemble it's name they call it Corrimiento which in plaine English is the French Pocks There and then it was where and when it first began to rage and from thence spred it selfe hither and thither and now is so generally knowen in all parts of the world and which by Touching onely cleaues close vnto man And this had it's roote and beginning in carnall delight as it was resolued in a Consultation of Physitians which King Don Alonso called together in Toledo which is another notable Example who hauing wonne that Citie from the Moores and many other places ioying themselues in the victorie layd aside their Armes and gaue themselues in that manner to their pleasures and delights that within a few dayes they were growen so lazye and so weake that they were not able to fight nor to beare armes against the enemie and being forced to take them vp in a certaine skirmish which they had neere vnto Veles they were ouerthrowen and shamefully put to flight leauing dead in the place the sonne of their King Who being very sensible of this so great an infamie consulted his Physicians what should be the cause of this so great a weakenesse both in the strength
que hiziere para la grey Let the King that law keepe which he makes for his sheepe Lastly that they bee very carefull and watchfull ouer the whole kingdome but more particularly ouer the Court for from thence is diffused all the good or ill as likewise in curtalling the excesses of apparrell the superfluities of feasts and banquets of gaming of sports and pastimes of lightnesse in behauiour of licentiousnesse in courting of women and of those wastefull expences which might very well be excused in weddings in iewells and dressings both in the women and the men Then began Rome to grow ranke in Luxurie and prophanenesse when your gilded bed-steds your costly pauilions your stately canopies your ritch hangings your curious tables your glorious cupboords of plate your gybing Iesters and your various Instruments of Musicke were brought in which were then in great vse and request for to prouoke and stirre vp the appetite in those their tedious and sumptuous suppers as if for to go to hell there were neede of such a wind-lace or wheeling about the way being as it is so easie and direct that a man may go it blindfold Causes all of them of iust feare and fore-runners likewise of the ruine and perdition of any Monarchy whatsoeuer as they haue beene heretofore of others that haue been ouerthrowne by the like meanes But to conclude with this sense and to shut vp the doore likewise to all the rest wee are to presuppose that which is very common both in diuine and humane Letters That by the hands wherein particularly consists the Touching are vnderstood workes because they are the Instruments by which they are done Moses deliuering vnto vs that the Hebrewes did see the wonders which God had wrought in their fauour saith Viderunt manum magnam quam exercuerat Dominus They saw that great worke which the originall renders that great hand which the Lord exercised vpon the Aegyptians And besides this it hath another signification as is obserued by Pierius Valerianus an open hand being the Symbole of eloquence expressing that efficacy and perswasiue power that lies in well couched words Works and words being both very necessary in Kings Execution in the one and Elocution in the other And because all Princes cannot performe these offices of doing and saying by themselues they must haue another tongue and other hands by which they must speake and doe and the tongue whereby they must speake and the hands whereby they must touch and handle all things for their owne are not able to doe it must bee their fauourites Policratus in his booke directed to Traiane saith That your great Lords in Court and Kings fauourites are the hands of the kingdome And as in mans body they are naturally disposed and ready prepared for to succour and assist all the other members so they should be at hand for to helpe and reliue all the necessities of the kingdome and to be the formost in all dangers and a thousand other occasions that will offer themselues which neither are nor can bee wanting to Kings and kingdomes And therefore the Philosopher said of the hands that they are the Instrument of Instruments For without them nothing can be done neither can Kings of themselues do all They haue need of their Ministers and Fauourites which are their feet and their hands In the subsequent Chapters we shall discourse somewhat a little of them God grant that little or somewhat what ere it bee may worke some good And first of all we will treate whether it be fitting to haue Fauourites CHAP. XXXI Whether it be fit for Kings to haue Fauourites FAuourites being as they are the workmanship of Kings receiuing their forme and fashion from their good liking which creatures of their making wee haue mentioned in the former Chapter We shall handsomely fall here vpon that which in this is put to the question Nor is the answer thereunto very easie For a Fauourite being of the same nature as a particular friend and friendship being to bee inter aequales betweene those that are of equall condition it seemeth that those that are Subiects and seruants to their King and Master can not hold it with him whom they are to behold and treate with with a great deale of reuerence respecting alwayes his royall Maiestie which according to that other Poet No cabe en vn saco con el Amor is not in one and the same sacke with loue And without loue there is no friendship True it is that Aristotle and some other Philosophers affirme that this difference may easily bee reconciled forasmuch as hee that is in the higher and more eminent place may stoope so low and fashion himselfe in that euen measure to his Inferiour that they may both remaine vpon equall tearmes But this can hardly square and suite well with Kings towards their Fauourites For as it were an indecorum and vnseemely thing in a humane bodie that the head should abase it selfe and become equall with the shoulder so were it prodigious and monstrous that Kings which are Heads and hold that Soueraigntie which God hath giuen them should stoope so low to their Subiects that the eminencie should not appeare they haue ouer them And that other meanes which may be vsed in raysing a subiect or Fauorite to that hight that hee may be equall with his King bringeth with that a great inconuenience For a Crowne Scepter royall cannot endure any fellowship with equality And therefore these two meanes may pare and fit well with friends that hauing professed friendship when their estates were equall the one growes inferiour to the other eyther good fortune or good diligence hauing preferred his fellow and friend But with Kings there cannot be held this correspondency and equality And it is King Salomons counsaill who saith That it is not fitting for any man to entertaine friendship and communication with those that are too mighty Ditiori te ne socius fueris Quid communicabit cacabus ad â—llam Quando enim se colliserint confringetur Haue no fellowship with one that is mightier and richer then thy selfe For how agree the Kettle and the earthen Pot together For if the one bee smitten against the other it shall be broken And againe if you will but diligently obserue the sacred history of the Kings which were ouer Gods people you shall there finde little mention of Fauorites On the other side it will likewise seeme vnreasonable that kings should be debarr'd that without which to all mens seeming mans life cannot bee well past ouer â—Nemo sine amicis spectet viuere said the said Philosopher Let no man looke to liue without friends And the holy Scriptures are full of the commoditie and benefit which faithfull friends afford being as necessary for the life of man as fire and water and for no estate so important as for that of Kings who for that they haue so many so weighty and so secret businesses their estate were
and aboue all what may make most for their good and aduantage That they be wise discreet experienced patient without passion disinteressed and more zealous of the publike good then of their priuate profit For if they shall regard their owne interest and proper commoditie they are neither good for the seruice of their Kings nor for the gouernment of the commonwealth For in going about to measure out their priuacie by the yard of their particular profit they will make merchandise of all and their doing good to others shall bee for the benefiting of themselues Nothing comming vnder their hands whereof that they may not be accounted bad Cookes they will not licke their owne fingers The clingenst and strongest affection is that of couetousnesse it is like the headâ—ch which hindereth the free vse of mans faculties and senses not suffering him to doe any thing that is good And though it bee true that there are other vices of greater offence to God and more hurtfull to a mans neighbour yet this hath I know not what mischiefe in it and more particularly in publike persons which doth shew it selfe more openly then all the rest and doth breede and nourish other sinnes as the roote doth the tree Radix omnium malorum cupiditas Quidam appetentes errauerunt à fide Couetousnesse of money is the roote of all euill Which while some lusted after they erred from the faith and tangled themselues with many sorrowes Ex auaritia profecto saith Saint Ambrose septem nequitiae procreantur scilicet Proditio fraus fallacia periurium inquietudo violentia contra misericordiam obduratio There are seuen kinde of sinnes that proceed from couetousnesse viz. Treason Fraud deceit Periury Inquietude Violence and which shuts the doore to all pitie and compassion Hardnesse of heart Vpon this foundation of couetousnesse is built whatsoeuer tyrannicall imagination and many through it haue and doe daily loose the faith and that loyaltie which is due vnto God and their Kings Auri cupiditas saith the same Saint materia est perfidiae The loue of gold is the cause of the losse of faith When this pulls a Fauourite it easily drawes him aside and carries him headlong to all these vices for it is of more force then the Load-ston and drawes him more after them then that doth the iron And is holpen on the more by the winde of vanitie and ambition The Philosopher Herâ—â—litus saith That those that serue Vanity and Couetousnesse suddenly depart from Truth and Iustice and hold that onely for iust and most right which is directed aright to their owne priuate interest And this onely doe they make their aime in all whatsoeuer they aduise their King as was to be seene in that so often repeated case of King Assuerus with his great Fauourite Amann of whom hee demanded what grace and fauour should bee showne to that Subiect whom for his good seruices hee desired to honour Whereupon the winde of vaine-glory working in the head of him and thinking this could be no man but himselfe shewed himselfe very magnificent and liberall in ordaining the honours and fauours that were to be done vnto him The vaine conceit of a couetous man cuts out for himselfe large thongs out of another mans leather And when hee growes a little warme in the King his Masters bosome poore snake as hee was with a false and feigned loue hee goes hunting after his commoditie and this failing his loue also faileth For his heart stretcheth it selfe no farther to loue then what his hands câ—n come to take hold on Elpan comido y la compania desecha saith the Prouerbe No longer Cake nâ— longer company Of such friends as these the Prophet Michah bids vs beware For no friend that seeketh his owne gaine can euer according vnto Aristotle be faithfull and loyall to his King Let Kings I say consider once againe and haue an especiall care that those Fauourites whom hee maketh choice of for his friends be out of his owne proper election and approued by his owne minde and by the opinion and fame of their vertue and not intertaining them at any time by the sole intercession of others especially such as are great and powerfull nor let them suffer themselues to be carried away with the secret considerations of those familiar and particular persons which are about them nor by the insinuating and soothing perswasions of your flatterers and Sycophants Who as they are men worke vpon discourse and corporall meanes altogether framing them in order to their owne ends Let them not giue beliefe and credit vnto them but to the common fame and good report that goes of them and thereon let them place their eares and their vnderstanding For as Tacitus saith that is it which vsually makes the best choice For it is not to bee doubted but that concerning such a ones vertues or goodnesse we ought rather to giue credit to the generall report then to the voices of one or two For one may easily bee deceiued and deceiue others by his tricks and his particular interest but neuer yet could one deceiue all nor is it possible that all should in that their approbation deceiue another As for those other seruants which are to attend and waight vpon the Kings person more for dignitie of place and for outward apparence and ostentation of greatnesse then for vse and conueniencie which likewise in their kinde are very necessarie let Kings a Gods name receiue them into their seruice either vpon the intercession of others or out of other particular respects For in this there is little hazard and may easily chop and change them if they proue not good and fit for their turne But in the choice of the former a great deale of care must be taken for the choppâ—ng and changing of them is very dangerous and vnlesse there be very great cause for the doing of it it breeds an opinion of inconstancie which as it cannot but be hurtfull vnto all so is it of great dishonour vnto Kings much weakening their authoritie But say there be iust cause of remouing them why it is but as a Vomite which howbeit it be true that it remoueth the malignant humour and expells it from the stomacke yet withall it carries the good likewise away with it and makes an end of that Subiect it works vpon if it be too often vsed For our horses wee seeke bits and bridles wherewith to make them to go well and handsomely and if with those they do not raigne and carry themselues according to our mind we take others and when we finde once that they are fitted as wee would haue them we neuer chop nor change but still vse the same In like manner it is not good to chop and change either Fauourites or priuie Councellours too often but to seeke out such as are fit for their turne and to carry such a hand ouer them as to bridle their insolencie and to reyne them in hard if they
all kingdomes had euermore a desire to haue but one Prince And that all prudent and wise men haue in reason of State held this gouernment to be the best and surest and that it was not fit that the vniforme body of a commonwealth or kingdome should bee subiect and obedient to two Heads To wit that one should enioy the name and title of King and the other possesse the power And that it were better that all should obey one that had wisedome and experience and that had beene bred vp in businesses and the mannaging of State-affaires whereby to gouerne them in peace and Iustice. And sithence that in Pipine these qualities did concurre and that on him all the businesses of importance did depend it were good that hee should bee their King and that Childericke should take his ease and pleasure Hereupon they treated with Pipine who though hee gaue eare vnto what they said yet would not rashly aduenture himselfe to accept of the Crowne vnlesse Pope Zacharias might first be consulted therein Whereupon they sent their Embassadours who had instruction to render such reasons to the Pope that might moue him to approue thereof and iudging Childericke to bee vnfit for the gouernment might absolue the French of their oath which they had taken and that obedience which they ought to their King and that he should depriue him of the kingdome and further declare That since Pipine did rule and command all and had so many good indowments that hee might likewise be inuested with the title of King And the Archbishop of Maguncia was the man that was nominated to set the Crowne on his head and to declare him to bee King of all France Being thus back't they summoned a Parliament degraded the poore seely king and thrust him into a Monastery and Pipine was sworne and proclaimed King of those so many kingdomes and Signories as were then subiect to the Crowne of France Hence had it's first beginning and that hand and power giuen vnto Popes in so great a businesse as the setting vp and pulling downe of Kings and which is more of creating new Emperours and depriuing the old ones of their Empire Whereof there are many examples And that which this Pope did with that King who had no more then that vmbratill and apparent power other Popes afterwards did the like with Henries and Fredericks and other Tyrants of great puisance and power The one offend in the more the other in the lesse The one out of the ambition that they haue to bee Kings that they may command and doe all loose all and so go to hell And the other go the same way for that they will not bee as they should be Kings but giue themselues wholly vnto idlenesse It was the Emperour Galba's vtter ouerthrow that he had put the whole gouernment into onely three mens hands which he brought along with him possessing them with so much power that hee was not Master of himselfe depending still vpon their wil and through that great authoritie which they had they ouerthrew all whatsoeuer their King did ordaine thrusting their armes as we say vp to the elbowes in all affaires and making vse of their present fortune And for that this vnfortunate Emperour could take notice of no more then what hee had from them for none without their permission could or see or speake with him they made him to do that which that other Potter did who going about to make a pot to boyle meate in made a larre to put drinke in And he thinking to substitute Iudges that should administer Iustice appointed theeues in their place which robbed the Commonwealth All which was imputed vnto him And for that Vanity is the mother of so many vices all this their great fauour serued to no other vse but to cause their Soueraigne to commit many actions of iniustice and indiscretion and of vnheard of and vnthought of wrongs violently breaking through the ordinary course of Iustice. By which exorbitant proceedings this imprudent Emperour grew to be hated and abhorred of all and not being able longer to beare with him they depriued him at once of his life and Empire And these kinde of Caterpillars said the Emperour Sigismund make those Kings vnfortunate that put their affiance in them At this carelesse ward liued at first Agesilaus King of the Lacedemonians though afterwards like a wise Prince hee did rectifie this errour And the case was this Hee let his friend and Fauourite Lisander carry a great hand ouer him and did honour him in all that he could expressing alwayes much loue vnto him Lysander puft vp herewith tooke great state vpon him being attended with a great traine and manifesting in his very gate a kinde of extraordinary grauitie and Maiestie and all did so farre forth serue and obey him that it seemed he had vsurped the dignitie royall and the Empire leauing good honest Agesilaus onely the bare Titulary name of King Which his Maiestie taking into his consideration to the end that the people might not say that hee raigned by Lysanders helpe he withdrew the dispatch of businesses fromforth his hands and would not remit any thing vnto him and if he spake to him touching this or that businesse he made as if he did not heare him or not well vnderstand him dispatching all himselfe to the good contentment of his Subiects Hereupon Lysander began to cast vp his accounts with himselfe and forbore from that time forward to conferre fauours or to promise Offices and told such suiters as came vnto hâ—m that they should go themselues to petition the King and would by no meanes permit that they should accompany him to Court as before And yet notwithstanding all this he assisted very carefully in all such seruices as were by his Maiesty recommended vnto him without any the least shew of discontentment Within a while after occasion was offered vnto him to speake with the King and talking with him hee told him O King how well hast thou learned to make thy friends lesse yes quoth the King when they will make themselues too great The King played his part well so did the Fauourite and all ought to doe the like Kings must bore a hole in that ship with their owne hand to stop it's course when it hoyseth it's sayles too high and goes with too still a gale For the taking notice of their Fauourites ambition is that ballast which doth secure them against those their windes and puffes of vanitie Let then the first aduice and which is of greatest importance for Kings and Christian kingdomes bee that which amongst other the Catholicke King of Spaine and Emperour Charles the fifth left vnto his sonne King Philip the second wherein with many indeared and effectuall words he recommends vnto him the obseruing augmenting and defending of the Christian faith in all his kingdomes States and Signiories seuerely punishing with all rigâ—ur and iustice without exception of persons all such as
that which is commanded be good And being good why should it not be good for him to keepe it that commands it For as Baldus saith though the King be not lyable to the Law yet is hee lyable to the rules of reason This pious Emperour goes on and willeth his sonne that he should strictly recommend to his Vice-roys charge the protecting sheltring and relieuing of the poore the defending of the fatherlesse and widow and those that are destitute of friends and haue none to helpe them Whom some that are in place and authoritie are wont and I feare is too ordinary amongst them to disfauour and disesteeme them making little or no reckoning at all of them Being ignorant how vile and base a thing it is and how heroycall the contrary and how much in imitation of God to put forth a charitable and pitifull hand to him that is brought low and fallen into miserie assisting him in his afflictions and troubles freeing him from wrongs and iniuries whose shield and buckler he that gouernes ought to be And he closes vp this aduertisement with wishing him to be very carefull that his Viceroys and Gouernours exercise their offices as they ought and not to exceed the instructions that are giuen them nor to vsurpe beyond their authoritie giuing them this prouiso that in doing the contrary he shall thinke that he is ill serued by them and that hee giue order to haue it remedied and amended by his displeasure and their punishment And howbeit it be true that he ought not to giue credit to all the complaints which are made against such his Ministers which are seldome wanting yet in no hand that he should refuse to heare them and vnderstand them in forming himselfe fully of the truth For the not doing of it will but minister occasion vnto them to be more absolute and to the Subiects to grow desperate seeing themselues oppressed by iniustice and vnconscionable dealing Likewise when Kings send an Embassadour to another Prince they must looke well into the qualitie of the person whom they send For in such an Embassage he doth not onely treate of the businesses for which hee goes but likewise of the honour and authoritie of the King which sends him And therefore it is necessary that the persons that are nominated and declared to go on Embassage haue many of those qualities which we haue mentioned in Vice-roys and Councellours of State For if they shall not fill that place with the greatnesse of their good abilities it will be a great lessening to the credit and reputation of the King and the businesses will receiue much hinderance if not vtterly bee ouerthrowne The Romanes did make a mocke of the Teutones counting them no better then fooles for sending an Embassadour vnto them that was a block-head and of little or no experience Kings and great Princes all that from which glory and greatnesse resulteth vnto them they ought to doe it without any the least shew of vanitie accompanying it with such circumstances and consequencies that it may seeme onely to bee done for the common good the exaltation of the Commonwealth and the reputation of their Crowne In all times and places they must represent much authoritie grauitie and Maiestie in their persons and in their Treaties mixing it with affabilitie and courtesie To the end that by the one they may cause feare and respect and by the other quit and remoue that feare It is reported of Octauian the Emperour that all the Embassadours that appeared in his presence stood astonished betwixt feare and admiration but no sooner spake he vnto them but they were wonderfully taken with his words and did not then so much feare as affect him For albeit the Maiestie wherewith hee receiued them was exceeding great yet was his carriage towards them very affable and very courteous In these two vertues did excell that Catholicke King of Spaine Don Philip the second whom for the representing of Maiestie and regall authoritie none did excell and few equall And in the carriage and composition of his person there was no defect to bee found Vpon any accident that befell him were it good or bad fortunate or vnfortunate there was neuer any man that could perceiue in him so much as a discomposed countenance or any other the least alteration And hee may be truly said to be a man who is not proud in prosperitie nor impatient in aduersitie For it is a great signe of Noblenesse and the vndoubted marke of a royall minde and Princely courage not to loose himselfe in his aduerser fortunes but to shâ—w himselfe constant against fortune and to raise vp his spirits as this King did being neuer deiected with any outward Crosse or misfortune tha befell him He did neuer being therein like vnto Xenophons Cyrus shew an ill countenance or speake an ill word vnto any man Hee was not so affable and familiar with his Fauourites that any of them all durst presume to petitioâ— him in any thing that was vniust nor yet so austere and feuere towards others as to make them to forbeare to preferre a iust suite vnto him To his owne Subiects he was kinde to strangers noble but withall reseruing still his authoritie and greatnesse For Kings ought not to bee so harsh and intractable as to make themselues to bee abhorred nor so kinde and courteous as to cause themselues to be contemned Indeauouring all they can not to fall into the extreames by shewing too much loue to some and little or none at all to other some For too much seueritie ingendreth hatred and too much familiaritie breedeth contempt Let them generally beare themselues in that respectiue manner towards all that they honour the better loue the meaner sort and despise not the rest but as farre as they are able extend their grace and fauour vnto all For that being but little which they haue to giue in comparison of the many that are sutors and the great rewards which they pretend they rest better satisfied with those good words and mannerly answers that are giuen them then with those fauours that are done them For the generous hearts modest countenances and ingenious dispositions of those noble spirits which follow Princes Courts much more risent the disfauour that is done them in receiuing courtesies with disgrace then if they were denyed them And therefore it is good wholesome counsell and much importing Kings to returne a faire and equall answer vnto all according to each mans qualitie and merit and that they carry the same euen hand in the conferting of their fauours and in the manifestation of their loue And if they shall in a more particular manner expresse the same to some one particular person let him likewise more particularly deserue it For neuer shall that loue be stedfast where deserts are wanting in the partie beloued I shall likewise aduertise Kings that they doe not make such vse of this their great both office and power as to assume vnto
Vt iudicent populum justo iudicio nec in alteram partem declinent nec accipiant personam nec munera That they may iudge the people with iust iudgement that they wrest not iudgement nor respect neither take a gift For this briberie and Corruption is that dust which blindes the Iudges and that plague which consumes a Common-wealth Moreouer they must bee wise men cleane and sound at heart and of much truth All of them qualities which all Nations required in their Ministers expressing them in their Herogliffes Of the Aegyptians Diodorus Siculus reporteth That they had their Councell and Audience in a great Hall where there sate thirty Counsellors or Iudges Et in medio iudicandi Princeps cuius a collo suspensa veritas penderet oculis esset sub clausis librorum numero circumstante And in the midst of them sate the President with his eyes shut a number of bookes standing round about him and Truth hanging about his necke curiously cut as Aelian expresseth it in a Pectorall Saphire like vnto that which God fashioned for the adorning of his Minister and President Aaron wherein were ingrauen these words Hurim Thummim Which some interprete to be Iudicium Veritas Iudgement and Truth But S. Ierome would haue it to signifie Doctrinam Veritatem Learning and Truth For these three things Iudgement Learning and Truth are much about one and in them consisteth the whole perfection of a Minister In quibus sit Veritas For in the brest of a good Iudge there must neither raigne passion nor affection but the pure Truth which hee cannot possibly avoyd vnlesse hee will wrong nature it selfe For our soule is naturally inclined to Truth And it is so proper to a wise and prudent Man that hee that doth not say it vnsaies himselfe And certaine it is that the gouernment of a Kingdome is so much the more good or ill by how much the truth therein hath more or lesse place For if businesses be not seasoned therewith as meates are with salt neither the poore shall be defended from the oppression of the rich nor the rich possesse their goods in safety men and womens honors shall runne danger and no one person can promise to himselfe securitie And therefore it is so much the more needfull that a iudge should treate Truth and desire that all should doe the like by how much the more are they that abhorre it and seeke to conceale it an olde disease which was almost borne with vs into the world And if Iudges shall not fauour Truth and plaine dealing treachery and Lying will reigne and beare rule Let Kings take heede how they choose men that are fearefull and timerous to be their Ministers who out of cowardize and pusillanimitie hide the Truth and dare not bring her forth to Light For as shee is the foundation of Iustice and Christian iudgement if a Iudge shall not loue it with his heart tracke the steps of it and draw it out of that darke dungeon wherein shee lyes Iustice will be in danger of being crush't and falshood will preuaile As in that peruerse Iudgement in Christes cause where the Iudge was so farre from being desirous to know the truth that hee did not know what kinde of thing it was And therefore demanded in the face of the open Court Quid est Veritas What is Truth To whom that diuine wisedome made no answer perceiuing him to be such a foole as to be ignorant of the first vndoubted Principle of Iustice and suffring himselfe to be carryed away with false accusitions and feigned relations which had no bulke nor body in them no substance in the world nor any shew saue of a poore shadow to be thus mis-led Librorum numero circumstante The President before specified had a great many of bookes about him To shew how much it importeth that Iudges and Presidents bee Learned and well read in the bookes of their facultie Epiphanius saith That hee saw a Sâ—atua of Truth which in it's forehead had two letters the first and the last of the Greeke Alphabet in it's mouth other two and other two in it's brest and so through aâ—l the parts of it's body to it 's very feete So that this was all enamelled with Letters as the other was rounded with bookes Thereby giuing vs to vnderstand that that Man which is truly the man he ought to be and is to aduise and gouerne others his head hands and feete must be stucke full of Letters He must be learned from the sole of the foote to the Crowne of the head full of Letters hee must bee for in the discourses of the Vnderstanding in the working of the hands and in the moouing of the feete wee may easily guesse whether a man be wise or no Whether he hath studied or doth studie For though a man be neuer so wise neuer so learned hee still forgetteth somewhat So that it is not enough for him to haue studyed but it is requisit that he still continue his study that hee may repayre with that which he learneth the losse of that which hee forgetteth As in a naturall body that by dayly eating and drinking is restored which is by our naturall heate consumed Et oculis esset subclausis His eyes which are the windowes by which Passion enters vnto the soule were shut Because hee should not be led away with the respect to those about him For hee must not haue an eye and respect to the Estate and condition of persons to doe more fauour when it comes to point of Iustice to one then another And for this reason the sayd Aegyptians did ordinarily paint Iustice without a Head The Head is the common seate of all the Sences signifying thereby that by no one sence a Iudge should open a doore to Passion but that he should place them all in heauen without respect to any thing vpon earth And this is not to respect persons but Iustice. Plutarke in his Moralls reporteth of the Thebans That in their Courts of Iustice they had the Pictures drawne of certaine reuerend olde men sitting in their due order and in the midst the President all of them without hands and their eyes fixed on heauen To intimate that they should alwaies stand in the presence of the Lord from whence is to come that Light which is to cleare the eyes of their intentions avoyding to cast them downe towards the ground that the Vapour of humane respects which is raysed from thence may not cloude and darken the sight of their vnderstanding They must be olde and wise because they are to iudge with mature Counsaile which accompanyeth that age And as it is ordred by their Lawes they must haue neither eyes to see nor hands to receiue bribes And if they would cut off their wiues hands too the cause would be the better iustified For in them your bribes finde an open gate and are so easie to be knowne in this kind
gracious fauours vpon them And this is very necessary in all well ordred Common-wealth to the end that all might indeauour to take paines and study to deserue well For reward inciteth men to labour And as Salust saith were it not for hope of reward few or none would be good It makes much likewise for the honor and credit of Kings For in no one thing can they gaine themselues greater reputation then by honouring those that are good and vertuous The Romans had likewise another Councell which was called by the name of Censura or Reforming of manners which did not in the Common-wealth permit publicke delinquents which might cause either trouble or scandall to the State and to the end that such ill disposed persons might not escape punishment For where there is neither hope of reward nor feare of punishment there can we haue no good thing no Common-wealth nor no Congregation of men to last and continue when as the good and vertuous are not rewarded nor the lewd and seditious punished For if one part of the body be infirme and be not holpen in time the maladie extends it selfe and goes creeping and spreading it selfe ouer all the whole body And therefore it is sitting that Ministers should haue an eye to see what vices what disorders what ill corrupted manners disturbe and molest a Kingdome and to haue a care to cleanse and cure the Common-wealth of them dealing with them for the publicke good as wise Physitians do for the Bodyes-safety Who in the curing of infirmities for the securing of the whole cauterize this or that member and if neede be cut it off Now your infirmities and diseases which are quickly knowne are as easily cured a great meanes of the remedy resting in the discouerie but those which with time waxe olde grow in a manner incurable the Aliment and fomenting of them consisting most in their concealement For as in suffering and dissembling a fore it but rankles the more and of ill becomes worse So to beare with insolent offenders and to winke at their foule faultes is as if a man should fauour a wound too much wherby as it so do they daily grow worsâ— and worse For it is too too well knowne that to malignant dispositions the more lenitie is but the more licence of offending and open mercie proclaimed Crueltie Let the end of this discourse be that the Councells and Counsellers being seated and setled in the forme aforesaid the King likewise apply himselfe to treat truth with them and to deale plainely with them in whatsoeuer businesses shall offer themselues to be debated of And let him not perswade himselfe that there are too few of euery Councell for if they be chosen and selected men few will suffice and many serue to no other end but to trouble each other and to delay businesses For howbeit it be true that it is euermore good to heare the opinions of all for to ventilate and sifte out a cause throughly yet the determination ought to passe through the hands of a few but withall good and experienced persons that they may not erre in their sentence Of the Emperour Alexander Seuerus who was a man of singular wisdome it is reported that for the resolution of those businesses which he vndertooke he called onely vnto him such Counsellours to whom such businesse did more properly appertaine and had most knowledge and experience in that which was to be treated Vndè side Iure tractaretur solos doctos in consilum adhibebat Si verò de re militari milites veteres senes ac bene meritos locorum peritos c. So that if it were a Law-businesse he onely called the Learned in the Lawes to Councell if of warfare olde beaten Soldiers aged and well-deseruing Captaines and of approued experience in their place And so in the rest For as the Philosopher saith Impossibile est vel certè admodum difficile vt qui ipsa opera non tractat peritè valeat iudicare It is impossible or at least certainly very hard for to iudge iudiciously of those things wherein a man was neuer yet imployd But that which hath beene a mans Office and continuall Exercise in this he must needs be wise and cannot choose but speake well to the point Quilibet adea idoneus est in quibus sapit saith Plato Some there are that are wise but like the Troians too late They know what is to be done but are too long in doing it and therefore it is necessary to adde hands to Counsell and force to wisedome yet still allowing the Councell somuch time as things may come to their true ripenesse and maturitie For as it is in the Prouerbe Harto prestò se haze lo que bien se haze That is quickely done that is well done And very necessary is that pause and breathing wherewith Kings goe ripening great businesses And exceeding fit it is that they should goe soberly to worke take time and leasure inough and that in their consultations they should vse feete of leade but in the execution of them hands of steele Which being once well grounded and both the Conueniences and Inconueniences throughly weighed though in these great and weighty affaires there are neuer some wanting that will follow that part which hath least ground for it and yet perswade themselues that they onely are in the right and that all the reason in the world is on their side let them goe roundly to worke and after a concluded consultation let them shew themselues constant in the execution thereof For as another Philosopher said Cunctaâ—ter aggrediendum est negotium verùm in suscepto constanter perseuerandum A maine businesse must haue a slow motion but when the wheeles are once set a going they must neuer stand still till it haue finished it's intended worke And the Prophet Esay ioyned the spirit of fortitude to that of Councell For Counsaile little auaileth that is deuoid of force and strength to execute Vile est Consilium saith Pope Gregory cui robur fortitudinis deest That Counsaile is vile and base that wants true mettall Let Counsell I say be slow sauour of the lamp but let the Execution be quicke as lightening For as mortall are those wounds those diseases to which remedy is giuen too late as those to whom none is giuen at all To what end therefore I pray serue your Iuntas vpon Iuntas reference vpon reference your long and large Consultations your viewings and reuiewings if after all this great adoe all is roll'd and shut vp in paper Whereas in all reason nay and right too how much the more time there hath beene spent in consulting so much the more speede and force ought to be vsed in Execuâ—ing For on good Counsaile and quicke Execution consist your good ends and all prosperous successe CHAP. XIIII It is demanded by way of Question Whether Kings ought inuiolably to obserue the foresaid Order ARt is Natures Ape and
not forget whence he came and yet represent what he was caused to be set on his Court cupboord vessells of earth with this Letter Haeac fecimus These we once made and vessells of gold with this other Letter Ista facimus These we now make I say that it is a matter of much importance and I purposly forbeare to speake so much as I know in this point for the conseruation of Kingdomes As also how fit it is that their Maiesties both in regard of that respect which is due vnto Kings and to the right and true administration of Iustice should by their seueritie temper and moderate the excesse of those which cloath themselues with the Kings royall command as with a garment and beare themselues too insolently-high vpon the Title of their Offices and vnder colour and zeale to the seruice of their Kings will make themselues their Tutors Masters of their libertie Lords ouer their vassalls and sole Commanders of the whole Kingdome like vnto that great Leuiathan or huge Whale in the Sea of whom holy Iob saith Before his face is pouertie and want for he spoyleth and deuoureth all that stands in his way and trusteth that he can draw vp Iordan into his Mouth CHAP. XV. Whether it be fitting for Kings to vse much the remitting of businesses ALthough in the former Chapter something hath beene spoken which may tend to this Question yet shall it be necessary to answer heere thereunto in a more direct and clearer manner And howbeit the word remitting or referring doth seeme to notifie the care and poruidence which a Prince oweth vnto businesses certaine it is that it shall well beseeme him sometimes so to doe For amongst many other the miseries of humane nature this is one that it's forces as well internall as externall as well of the Soule as of the body are much limited and restrained and haue much need of many helpes Wherefore I say that Kings not being able as they are not to attend of themselues so many businesses as howerly occurre nor to comprehend so great variety and difference of things they ought to remit some nay many of them to persons deputed for their ease and discharge of their Consciences Let a King examine those businesses which are fit to be reserued for himselfe And those that hâ— cannot let him remit them vnto others because of himselfe he is not able to dispatch all of them And in fauour of this Doctrine we haue Iethro's Counsaile to his sonne in Law Moses Who seeing him so ouer imployed in the businesses of his people to his intollerable trouble said vnto him Stulto labore consumeris elige tibi Viros c. Thou wearyest thy selfe greatly and this people that is with thee prouide thee men c. I neede not repeate all vnto you hauing spoken thereof largely heeretofore I shall now therefore represent vnto you That there are two kinds of Remitting The one for to vnloade himselfe of that charge and trouble that he may liue himselfe at ease and out of his authoritie lay the burthen vpon others and command them to end such or such a businesse Which is now too commonly vsed and practised For euery one as much as in him lyes striues to be superiour in this kind Taking that to himselfe which is most pâ—easing and easiest for him and remitting the hardest and harshest to other mens hands And hence it hapneth that from the first remitting the King makes your poore Negocianâ—s like so many Tennis balls are tost from one to another Nay their fortune is farre worse for the Ball which is racketed by the one Player the other with great nimblenesse and care runnes forth to receiue it But the poore Negociant who in these Remitments serues in steed of the Ball they doe not onely not receiue him readily but shut the doore vpon him obliging him to solicite his entrance one while by fauour another while by giftes And although this be too vsuall a practise in all Tribunalls and with all Iudges and vpon all differences of businesses yet is it there most practised where matters of goods and Titles of Lands are treated wherein the Pretenders doe not only sweate and take a great deale of paines but are forced to pay as much for the dispatch of 10000. Marauedis as if they were so many Ducats And this may be confirmed with the example of a poore honest widow who as it is well known spent much time and that little mony which she had in Negociating the dispatch of a small debt And when after a long and tedious suite she had at last got an order against her Aduersarie yet was she neuer the neerer getting of her money for that it was ordred in Court that shee should be payd out of such Rents which vpon some pre-morgage or some other cunning Conueiance could not be recouered These remittings I doe not finde how they can be defended or salued in the Sacred Scripture But there are many reasons for the condemning of them and for the obliging of Kings to referre them The other kinde of remitting is When either the order and qualitie of the businesse or the lawfull Impediment of him that remitteth doth so require it For which we haue our Sauiour Christs warrant in that admirable Conuersion of the blessed Apostle S. Paul For albeit he himselfe by his powerfull hand threw him downe from of his horse and made him so farre forth to yeeld himselfe his that he vttered these wordes so full of submission Domine quid me vis facere Lord what wilt thou that I doe Yet did he not then giue him a present absolute Dispatch but remitted him ouer to another Disciple which was named Ananias It being held fit it should be so for those reasons which are rendred by the Saints and holy Fathers The like course hee tooke with Cornelius the Centurion in that great businesse of his Saluation putting him ouer to S. Peter And when he saw the Petition of those ten Lepers who besought him that he would make them whole how beit he granted them their request for the recouery of their health yet did he remit them ouer to the Priests and Commanded them to present themselues before them because in those kinde of infirmities they were to be Arbitrary Iudges what was to be done in that case And to the Disciples of Iohn Baptist which he sent vnto him when he was in prison to the end that they might informe themselues who he was and whether it was he that should come or were to looke for another He remitted them backe to their Master with this Answer Ite renunciate Ioanni quae audistis vidistis Goe and shew Iohn what things yee heare and see As he should haue said For as much as Iohn is my Voice by him is the truth to be declared which you seeke after touching the Diuinitie of my Person All these Remittings were plaine and dispatched without reply
course therein as is fitting And if to this so commendable a Consulta of euery Friday weekely there should bee added another Meeting some certaine dayes in the yeare to the end that the President and those of the Kings Camaera should carry with them the Consulta of the Offices and should treate and conferre thereof by word of mouth with our Lord the King it would be one of the most important things in the iudgement and opinion of many graue men whom I haue consulted with in this particular that could be or-ordained for the good of these Kingdomes Whereby many of those inconueniences would be auoyded which wise and Christian Counsellours haue found out by many yeares experience And none of the meanest amongst the rest is the remitting by writing so weightie and important a thing as the Election of Officers recommending the same to a dead Letter which can make no replie And that paper which passeth through so many hands cannot come so clean as it shuld but be sullyed especially if it come to such hands as are not clean but corrupted with gifts presents And because this Course is taken the loue respect due to their Kings is lost who like Creatures to their Creator ought to acknowledge althat thev hauâ— from his hands Wheras now they giue this respect vnto his Maiesties Ministers with whom they haue held correspondency as knowing that their Prouision must solely passe through their hands and that their good or bad dispatch consistes in them or in a lesse full or more effectuall Relation inclosed in the paper of their Consulta Which cannot be carryed thus when the President and those of the Camera shall haue propounded the same and deliuered their opinions in the presence of their King And questionlesse they that by this meanes shoulâ— be prouided for would esteeme in more and treat with more punctuality and truth the things appertaining to his Office considering that the King himselfe taketh particular knowledge of them For as we said before it is very meete and conuenient that Kings should know and communicate with if not all yet at least those who are to be placed in your greater kinde of Offices and dignities And amongst aâ—l other businesses this is that which with most reason doth require the Kings eyes and presence his remembrance and mature Counsaile For such are the Citizens as are their Gouernours and the Parishioners as their Pastors And though this perhaps cannot be performed so punctually and preciseâ—y as were to be wished yet at least it will be needfull that those persons of whom they take testimonie and receiue information in so graue and weighty a busines should be of that prudence learning and authoritie and so beyond all exception that the world which is apt to take exceptions may be perswaded that the Election could not but be passing good being that it past through such iudicious mens hands For whatsoeuer shall come forth decreed by them it is not fitting that it should bee subiect to their censures who either haue not the said qualities or are much inferiour in them or faile in their zeale to God or their Loyaltie and Loue to their King being Narcissus-like inamoured with their owne shadow and led away with the blindnesse of their passion Woe be vnto that Common-wealth King and Kingdome where one out of blindnesse or selfe willfull-nesse shall vndoe that which other men haue done with many and those the clearest eyes For as the Wise man saith Vnus acdificans vnus destruens quid prodest illis nisi labor When one buildeth and another breaketh downe what profit haue they then but labour CHAP. XVII Hee prosecuteth the same matter and shewes how Kings ought to carry themselues towards those that finde themselues aggrieued HAuing spoken of some Cases reserued for Kings and such as require their sight and presence it here now offers it selfe in this place to know how a King ought to carry himselfe towards those that finde themselues iniuryed and aggrieued And in the opinion of vnderstanding people it seemeth that nothing is more properly his then to quit wrongs and remooue iniuries For if we shall but consider that first beginning which Kings had that which the Ancient said of them and that which the holy Scripture teacheth vs wee shall finde that this Occupation is very properly theirs and that this Care appertaines of right to their greatnesse That most wise King Salomon in the fourth of Ecclesiastes saith That when he saw the teares of the Innocent and the wrongs they receiued and no body to helpe them or to speake so much as a good word for them it seemed a thing more terrible vnto him then to dye or neuer to haue beene borne Vidi calumnias quae sub caelo geruntur lachrymas innocentium neminem Consolatorum neque posse resistere eorum violentiae cunctorum auxilio destitutos laudaui magis mortuos quà m viuentes foeliciorem vtroque iudicaui qui nec dum natus est I turned and considered all the oppressions that are wrought vnder the sunne And behold the teares of the oppressed and none comforteth them And loe the strength is of the hand of them that oppresse them and none comforteth them Wherefore I praised the dead which now are dead aboue the liuing which are yet aliue And I count him better then them both which hath not yet beene And not onely King Salomon but euen God himselfe was so highly offended with those wrongs and oppressions which the children of Israel suffred in Egypt that he thought it a thing worthy his presence and his comming downe from heauen to see the same with his own eyes Vidi afflictionem populi mei in Egypto clamorem eius audiui propter duritiem eorum qui praesunt operibus et sciens dolorem eius descendi vt liberem eum I haue seene the trouble of my people which are in Egypt and haue heard their crie because of their Taske-Masters And for I know their sorrowes therefore I am come downe to deliuer them c. Teaching Kings That in matter of grieuances and oppression of the Innocent they are not content to themselues with remitting them ouer vnto others but to looke thereunto themselues And if need were to come from forth their princely pallaces and to forgoe for a while their pleasures and their ease till they haue reformed what is amisse The first words the diuine Scripture storieth which the first King whom God chose for his people said were these Quid habet populus quod plorat What ayleth this people that they weepe Who no soner saw himselfe Crowned King and put by Gods hand into the possession of that kingdom but applying himselfe to that which he ought first of all to doe as one of the mainest points of his dutie he hearkned vnto the cryes of the people who were oppressed by the Philistims and with great speede and feruent zeale did roundly set himselfe
they heare and hearing answer that they haue heard that which they neuer meane to grant And there is no worse Answer for a suitor then to make this answer to his petition That it hath beene heard And it is very fit that they should reply in this kinde of phrase for thereby is giuen to be vnderstood the great obligation they haue to heare as well those that haue iustice as those that pretend to haue it although they haue it not In signification whereof the two eares are placed on the two contrarie sides of the head one opposite to the other because affording one eare to the Plaintiffe we must reserue the other for the defendant And because God would haue it so that Hearing should be the ordinary meanes for the receiuing of the diuine Light and attaining to the knowledge of those supreme truthes by so superexcellent and high a gift as that of faith Quomodo credent ei quem non crediderunt How shall they beleeue in him of whom they haue not heard As also that Kings may haue an intire light of humane Truthes it is requisite that they should lend a willing eare to those that craâ—e Audience of them For in this sense of all other saith Saint Bernard Truth hath it's seate and Mansion In auditu veritas Truth is in Hearing And in example of this hee alleageth that which passed betwixt good old Isaac and his two sonnes Esau and Iacob who by reason of his olde age fayling very much in all the rest of his senses that of his hearing continued still in it's full perfection The other deceiu'd him and this onely told him the Truth Vox quidem vox Iacob manus autem manus sunt Esau. The voyce is Iacobs voyce but the hands are the hands of Esau. Wherein he was out In Gods Schoole where faith isprofessed great reckoning is made of Hearing Quia fides ex auditu Because faith comes by hearing For a man may heare and beleeue though he cannot see But in the Schoole of the world we must haue all these and all is little inough We must see heare and beleeue And when Kings haue both seene and heard and throughly informed themselues of the whole State of the busines that they may not be deceiued in their iudgement then let them presently proceede to touch it as we say with the hand to fall roundly to worke and in that maner and forme as shall seeme most fitting to finish and make an end of it Dominus de coelo in terram aspexit vt audiret gemitus compeditorum c. The Lord looked downe from the height of his Sanctuary Out of the Heauen did the Lord behold the earth that he might heare the mourning of the prisoner and deliuer the children of death This looking downe of the Lord from the highest Heauens and from the throne of his glory vpon the earth to heare the grieuous groâ—nings and pitifull complaints of poore wretched creatures which call and cry vnto him for iustice should my thinkes be an admirable good lesson for Kings that they should loose somewhat of their sportes and recreations and of that which delighteth the eye and the eare to bestow them both on those who humbâ—y petition him that he will be pleased to both see and heare their cause Of Philip King of Macedon though some put it vpon Demetrius it is reported by Plutarke in his life that going one day abroad to take his pleasure and pastime an olde woman came vnto him besought him to heare her and to do her Iustice. But he excusing himselfe and telling her he was not now at leysure to heare her shee made answer Proinde nec Rex quidem esse velis Sir if you be not at leysure to heare your subiects will not giue them leaue to speake vnto you leaue to be king for there is no reason he should be a king that cannot finde a time to cumply with his dutie Conuinced with this reason without any more adoe he presently gaue a gracious Audience not onely to her but many moe besides For Kings which doe not heare by consequence do not vnderstand And not vnderstanding they cannot gouerne And not gouerning they neither are nor can be Kings The Cretans painted their God Iupiter without eares because he was that supreme king that gaue lawes and iudged all And therefore ought to cary an equall eare indifferently to heare all parties after one and the same selfe manner Other some did allow him eares but so placed them withall that they might heare those least that were behinde him Which was held a fault in their God as likewise it is in King not to heare any but those that stand before them or side by side are still weighting at their elbow Kings should heare as many as they possibly can and which is the onely comfort of suitors in that gratious and pleasing kinde of maner that no man should depart discontented from their feete being a maine fundamentall cause to make all men to loue reuerence and esteeme them and likewise to oblige Princes to lend the more willing and patient eare to their subiects And of this subiect Pliny in commendation of his Emperour Traiane tells vs that amidst so many cares of so great an Empire as his was he spent a great part of the day in giuing Audience and with such stilnes and quietnes as if he had beene idle or had nothing to doe And that he knowing the content that his subiects tooke in their often seeing of him and speaking with him so much the more liberally and longer he afforded them occasion and place for to inioy this their content For nothing doth so much please and satisfie the heart of a Prince as to conceiue that he is beloued and generally well affected of all his subiects Let a King then this course being taken perswade himselfe that his people loueth him and desireth to see him and to speake dayly if it were possible with him And that they take a great deale of comfort that they haue seene him and he heard them And that of two things which all desire To wit To be heard and relieued The first intertaines and comfortes the suitor and makes him with a cheerefull minde to hope well of the second Let him heare though it be but as he passes by from place to place and let him not let any day passe without giuing ordinary Audience at a set hower and for a set time And in case any shall require a more particular and priuate Audience a gods name let him grant it them For euery one of these to conceiue the worst cannot deceiue him aboue once And it is to be supposed that they will not be so vnciuill or so foolishly indiscreete as to craue the Kings priuate eare but in a case of necessitie or where there is some especiall cause or extraordinary reason for it And I farther affirme that Audience being giuen in this
be Kings and Iudges this to be common fathers to all poore and rich great small meane and mighty Audite illos saith God et quod iustum est iudicate siue Ciuis illesit siue perigrinus nulla erit distantia personarum ita paruum audietis vt magnum nec accipietis cuiusquam personam quia dei iudicium est Heare the controuersies betweene your brethren and iudge righteously betweene euery man and his brother and the stranger that is with him Yee shall haue no respect of person in iudgement but shall heare the small as well as the great ye shall not feare the face of man for the Iudgement is Gods CHAP. XXII Of Iustice Distributiue IT appertayneth to distributiue Iustice as we told you in the former Chapter to repart and deuide in a conuenient and fitting manner the goods the honours dignities and Offices of the Common-wealth For as Dionysius saith Bonum est diffusiuum Good is a diffusiue kinde of thing it is a scatterer and of it selfe a spreader of it selfe And by how much the greater the good is by so much with the greater force doth it communicate it selfe And hence doth it come to passe that God is so liberall and so exceeding bountifull as he is that I may not say prodigall with men by communicating himselfe vnto them by all possible meanes euen to the communicating of himselfe by that most excellent and highest kinde of manner that he could possible deuise which was by giuing himselfe to himselfe and by submitting himselfe so low as to become true man that man might be exalted so high as to be made equall with God by that ineffable and diuine vnion which the Diuines call Hypostaticall So that you see that Good in it's owne condition nature hath this propertie with it to be communicable by so much the more by how much the more great it is And herein kings ought to be like vnto God whose place they supply hereon earth for certainly by so much the more properly shal they participate of good Kings by how much the more they shall haue of this Communicatiue qualitie And so much the neerer shall they resemble God with by how much the more liberalitie they shall repart and diffuse these outward goods whose distribution appertaineth vnto them And to him cannot the name of King truely sute who hath not alwayes a willing minde and as it were a longing desire to communicate himselfe Now for to temper and moderate this generall longing and inflamed desire this so naturall and proper an appetite of bestowing and diuiding the riches and common goods of the Common-wealth this part of Iustice which they call Distributiue was held the most necessary Which Aristotle says either is or ought to be in a King as in such a Lordly subiect and person to whom this repartition and communication properly belongeth Wherein aboue all other things Kings ought to vse most circumspection prudence and care for that therein they vsually suffer most cosenage and deceit For in regard that to giue is in it selfe so pleasing and delightfull a thing and so properly appertaining to their greatnesse and State they doe easily let loose the reines to this noble desire and send giftes this way and that way in such poste-baste that within a few dayes they run themselues out of all and draw dry not onely the Kings particular wealth and treasure but the riches of the whole kingdome were they neuer so great So that what is done in this kinde with so much content and pleasure ought to be done but now and then for such great courtesies and extraordinary kindnesses must not be made too common for feare of drawing on a dis-esteeme of them nor done but in their due time and season not vnaduisedly before hand and vpon no merit or desert but when others want and necessitie and his owne honour and noblenesse shall oblige him to expresse his bounty And in good sooth there is not any Moathe which doth so consume nor any Caterpiller or Grasse-hopper that doth so crop and destroy the power of well doing and the vertue of Liberalitie as the loose hand that can hold nothing and in a lauish and disproportionable manner scatters it's Donatiues with so vnequall a distribution that the dignitie of the gift is drowned in the indiscretion of the giuer And therefore as it is in the Spanish Prouerb which speakes very well to this purpose Para dar y tener seso es menester A very good braine it will craue to know when to spend when to saue Yet mistake me not I beseech you for it is no part of my meaning nor did it euer come within my thought or desire to perswade Kings to be close-fisted and couetous a Vice to be hated and abhorred in all men but in them much more That which I say is That to the end that may not be wanting vnto Kings which doth so much importe them and is so proper vnto them as to giue rewards and bestow fauours it is fit that they should doe these things so that they may be able to doe them often And according to the olde saying To giue so at one time as we may giue at another Your Trees in holy Scripture are sometimes taken for the Hieroglyffe or Embleme of Kings for that they are in some things like vnto them Wherof we shall speak hereafter But that which makes now for our present purpose is That the tree shewing such a largenes spreadingnes and bountifullnesse in discouering it's fruit through it's boughes and branches and it 's inuiting vs and presenting it's prouision vnto vs first in the flower and blossome to the end wee may come to gather that fruit which yearely it bringeth forth in it's due time and season and yet notwithstanding hideth and concealeth it's rootes all that it can because there lyes that fountaine from whence all this good doth spring As also for that if in that part it should suffer any hurt or detriment all the rest would cease nor would it flourish and fructifie any more And I am of opinion that when Kings cannot content themselues with conferring of fauors and bestowing of gifts out of those fruites and profits Which shall arise out of their yearely reuenewes but that the very rents rayzes and juros reales shall be giuen away in perpetuitie or for one or two lifes which is a kinde of rooting or grubbing vp of the tree the King shall thereby be disinabled and depriued for euer of the fruit of those mercedes and fauours which he might from time to time not onely yearely but daily and howerly haue afforded many of his good and well deseruing subiects As did that other who because they should not trouble him with comming vnto him to craue of the fruite of a very good tree which he had in his Garden caused it to bee rooted vp and to be sent amongst them to make their best of it whose fruite had he
vnderstood of Temporall goods as they are ordayned to a spirituall and super-naturall end But to aske of men produceth farre different effects And therefore we are to consider that for one of these two ends men may aske temporall things Either for to raise themselues or to remedie themselues Of the latter of these who demand their pay and satisfaction for their seruices for the remedying and relieuing of their necessities wee haue already said that they are not to bee blamed but in conscience and Iustice wee are to helpe them and make them due satisfaction in that which of right belongeth vnto them Of the former who seeke to rayse themselues they stand crouching and kneeling with cap in hand to obtaine their purpose being very dextrous and diligent in doing courtesies obsequious in their outward behauiour kissing the hand and making Congies downe to the ground and proâ—trating themselues at the feet of those who they thinke may doe them good dawbing their Compliments with base and seruile flatteries Of which kinde of men the Holy Ghost saith Est qui nequiter humiliate se interiora eius plena sunt dolo There is some that being about wicked purposes doe bow downe themselues whose inward parts burne altogether with deceit Being like vnto your birdes of rapine who though it be naturall vnto them to flye vp and downe in the ayre yet are content to stoope and abase themselues the better to seaze on their prey Which is euen to a letter or as they say to a haire the very same that Kings Dauid sayd Incliâ—auitse cadet cum dominatus fuerit pauperum He crowcheth and bowethâ— and therefore heapes of poore doe fall by his might Or as it is in the Originall vt dominetur pauperum He humbles himselfe that thereby he may grow great and come to domineere and swagger ouer the poore For all their reuerences and adorations serue to no other end but to raise themselues vpon the wings of their ambition that when they are in a good place they may stoope the freer to their pray So that those who but yesterday had them at their feete see them now towring ouer their heads and loose the sight of them whom they adore thus raysed as those before adored them when but lately lâ—ke poore snakes they licked the dust with their tongue and trayled their belly on the ground And growing now warme in the bosome of greatnesse sting those most who did most foster and cherish them And these men though they negociate well with men and get what they pretend yet doe they not obtaine any thing at Gods hands who neuer grants vnto them what they desire for such like ends According to that of Saint Iames ye aske and receiue not because ye aske amisse that ye might lay the same out on your pleasures Howbeit sometimes it is granted vnto them for their further punishment and chasticement For as S. Austen affirmeth Multa Deus concedit iratus quae negaret propitius God grant many things in his wrath which he denyes in his loue And that which is recounted of Augustus Caesar is not much amisse from the purpose who being importuned to bestow an Office vpon one who with great instance begged it of him would by no meanes giue it him but conferr'd it on another that neuer sued for it but did better deserue it And he alleadging the perseuerance of his petitions and complayning that he hauing beene so long and earnest a suitor he should bestow it vpon one that had neuer sought vnto him for it Caesar made him this answer Tâ—n eras dignus qui peteres ille qui acciperet Thou wast worthy to sue for it but hee to haue it There are some things which may be receiued which may not so well be sued for so saith Vlpian in a certaine Law of his Quaedam enim tametsi honestè accipiantur inhoneste tamen petuntur There are certaine things sayth he which albeit they may be honestly receiued yet may they be vnhonestly desired Kings are to bestow their fauours but others must not sue for them Hoc non peti sed praestari solere saith another Law it is fit good turnes should be done but not sued for to be done And it was the same mans saying Inuitum non ambientem esse ad rempublicam assumendum That he that was vnwilling to receiue honour not he that did ambitiously seek after it was to be preferred in the Common-wealth And trust me I cannot search into the reason why it should become a Custome not to giue but to those that aske For neither they that giue doe gaine thereby nor they that aske are bettred thereby For to giue is so much the more worthy prayse and thankes by how much the more liberally and freely it is giuen And the Prouerb saith Bis dat qui citò dat He doubles his gift that giues quickly Whereas he that stays looking and expecting to be sued vnto seemeth to giue with an ill will and not so freely as he should For as Seneca truly saith there is not any thing that costes a man dearer then that which is bought by intreaties and petitionings And therefore as often as either offices or Rents are bestow'd on those which deserue them without making suite for them the whole body of the Common-wealth doth commend and indeare the rectitude and iust dealing of the Doner And all good and vertuous men take heart and incouragement thereby and are fill'd with good hopes and those which are otherwise ashamed and confounded and becomes the meanes many times of making them turne ouer a new leafe and leaue their former lewd course of life But when this rigour and strictnesse is obserued of not giuing to him that asketh not though hee merit and deserue the same it seemeth to be made a meritorious cause to sue and to negociate and occasion giuen that more care should be placed in this then in deseruing well whereby mens mindes and courages haue their edge abated and are dishartened For to aske when it is not for the end aforesayd it draweth on this inconuenience with it Which is Aristotles opinion and is made good in all true reason of Morall Philosophy The Apostle S. Paul quoteth a sentence which our Sauiour Christ vsed often to repeate Beatius est magis dare quam accipere Farre more excellent and more prayse-worthy is it to giue then to take And if not to take be so good a thing much better shall it be not to aske for that this is the ordinary meanes to the other And herein did the Saints of God glorie much and Saint Paul saith of himselfe That he would rather liue by the labour of his hands then be importunate in crauing And that great Prophet Samuel that which he did most prize and iustifie himselfe of before the people was that hee had faithfully performed his function without crauing or taking any thing There was a time wherein the
moderation Insomuch that they being to repart and diuide the time betweene themselues and the Common-wealth they should so employ it that it might not be wanting vnto them for their businesses nor super-abound vnto them for their Vices Yet for all this doe not I pretend it being the least part of my meaning to take from Kings their intertainments but rather much desire that they would take them with moderation and without neglecting businesses of State and after that they shall haue fully cumply'de with the Common-wealths affayres To the end that all the world may see that these their pleasures are not as principall but accessary and as an ayuda de costa an ayde and helpe the better to beare their trouble to wade through that wearisomenesse which the continuall assistâ—nce on graue and weighty occasions causeth Intertainments and sports must be like vnto salt wherewith if â—our meâ—te be sprinckled but a little and in a moderate kinde of manner it makes them sauoury and seasons them in that good sort that they doe not onely relish but digest the better and breede better nutriment But if your hand be too heauy and that you lay on loade as they say without measure or moderation it marrs your meate and makes it sower and vnsauory And for mine owne part I am of opinionâ— thâ—t there was neuer any time wherein Kings had more cause or greater obligation to moderate their pleasure then at this present it being the onely thing that is now in request amongst your great persons and the onely talke that passeth amongst them how they shall passe the time My thinkes that time is here represented vnto me which the Apostle Saint Paul inspired by the Holy Ghost did prophecie foretell vnto vs That in the last dayes perillous times shall come which are now wholly and truly ours wherein men shall be louers of their owne selues and their pleasures more then louers of God and shall regard more their owne particular then either their neighbour â—ustice or the coÌ„mon good In a word they shall take more care to fulfill their lusts and their delights then to please God and therefore shall fall into innumerable sinnes The Apostle Saint Peter and Saint Iude doe much indeare the great euills which vsually arise from corporall pleasures the terrible chasticements which are reserued for those that giue themselues over vnto them The vniust sayth Saint Peter the Lord will reserue vnto the day of iudgement to be punished but cheifly them that walke after the flesh in the lust of vncleannesse that are presumptuous selfe willed c. And Iude hee pronounces condemnation against those vngodly men that turne the grace of God into lasciuiousnesse c. And this hath and doth still increase dayly in such sort that the madnesse and dotage of those wicked times seemeth to be againe renewed in the world mentioned in the booke of Wisedome where a companie of gallants and boone-Companions banketting and making merry amongst themselues vttred this Epicuraean Exiguum cum taedio est Tempus vitae nostrae Our life is short and tedious and in the death of man there is no remedy neither was there any knowen to haue returned from the graue c. Venite â—rgò fruamur bonis quaesunt Come on therefore let vs inioy the good things that are present Let vs eate and drinke quaffe and carowse and be merry and let vs speedily vse the creatures like as in youth Vinâ— pretioso vnguentis nos impleamus Let vs fill our selues with costly wines and oyntments Let vs be puruayours and Caterers to our owne bodies let vs prouide the pleasingest obiects for our eyes the sauourest meates for our tastes the sweetest Musicke for our eares the softest silkes for our feeling and the daintiest perfumes for our smelling Coronemus nos rosis antequam marcescant nullum pratum sit quod non pertranseat luxuriâ— nostra Let vs Crowne our selues with rose-budds before they bee withered And let no flower of the spring passe by vs. Let none of vs goe with out his part of voluptuousnesse and let vs leaue tokens of our ioyfullnesse in euery place Let God doe what hee list in Heauen and let vs laugh and be merry here on earth We haue but a little time to liue let vs therefore take our pleasures while wee may This is all the care the wantons of this world take who do not thinke that there in an eternitie onely they study how they may best inioy themselues and their pleasures not once dreaming that there is a God or a iudgement to come to make them stand in awe of him but as men that make a scoffe and iest of that other world and that other life they wholly wed themselues to this Making that good which Salomon sayd Quod non esset homini bonum sub sole nisi quod comederet biberet atque gauderet Man hath no better thing vnder the Sunne then to eate and to drink and to be merry A Language onely beseeming such men as are to be carbonadoed for hel and made a dish for the Diuell for their disseruice towards God and their seruice to their belly Which kind of men Saint Paul lamenteth with teares flowing from his heart as being enemies to the Crosse of Christ and abhorred of God and his Saints CHAP. XXVIII When and at what time sports and pastimes are worthyest reprehension in Kings TO euery thing there is a season saith the Wiseman There is a time to weepe and a time to laugh A time for recreation and a time for labour Tempus plangendi Tempus saltandi Tempus amplexandi Tempus longe fieri ab amplexibus A time to mourne and a time to dance A time to imbrace and a time to refraine from imbracing The Chalde Paraphrase reades Opportunitas omni rei There is an opportunitie or fit season for euery thing And this opportunitie is a great matter in all whatsoeuer wee doe for it teacheth vs to take our due time and season To weepe when we should laugh is a ridiculous thing And to laugh when wee should shed teares is no lesse For Kings to play away so many thousand Ducatts and to spend I know not what meerely for their owne pleasure whilest their souldiers are ready to perish through hunger for want of pay and their house-hold Seruants runne in debt because they cannot receiue their wages in due time this sorteth not with that rule which the wise man would haue vs to obserue And is it not I pray you a disproportionable and vnseasonable thing to spend the time in intertainments and sports which is due vnto publicke causes and businesses of State In the second booke of the Kings is set downe a notable case wherewith God was highly offended And the case was this Factum est autem vertente anno eo tempore quo solent Reges ad bella procedere misit Dauid Ioab
goe can recompence this harme For of more weight and moment is one sinne of theirs which is there committed then all the Almes that are giuen throughout the whole world And we know it is the Apostles rule That we are not either to doe or permit an euill that good may come thereof And that which I know is That they which enter in there doe not come thither to giue an Almes but for those ends and purposes which haue beene sufficiently deliuered and reprehended by many holy Doctours and famous Preachers Nor doth it boote them to say That the people that spend their time in seing of Comedies are there met together to see a harmelesse Interlude Which were they not shut vp in that open Assembly would perhaps be wandring abroad committing worse sinnes which by this Intercourse are excused for in this one particular in this very thing is it plainely to be perceiued how bad Playes be since for their defence they haue neede of the fauour of avoyding a greater euill And in realitie of truth they doe not excuse or diuert sinnes but sinnes are there rather learned the spectators carrying them away with them conceiued in their minds by the ones vaine apprehension and the others fowle and wanton representation and anon after bring forth monstrous birthes And in very truth the troubles and temporall scourges of warre famine and pestilence the many Cities that are battred and beaten downe â—o the ground and destroyed the persecution and the continuall wants and necessities of these Kingdomes doe not require so many and such contents and reioycings Musica in luctu importuna narratio saith the Holy Ghost Musick in mourning is as a tale out of season Besides we are to vnderstand that God sendeth these his scourges that wee may feele his stripes and repent and amend our sinfull liues And therefore the Prophet Esay representeth the wrath which God had conceiued against his people because they were not sensible of his chasticements Et non est reuersus ad percutientem se et Dominum non inquisierunt The people turneth not vnto him that smiteth them neither doe they seeke the Lord of Hostes. Haue yee seene the like dullnesse in any nation That God chastising them they wiâ—l not so much as turne backe their eyes and craue pardon and forgiuenes of him that is whipping of them and goes increasing their punishment There is no demonstration of 〈◊〉 wiâ—â— them but they goe on stâ—ll in their pleasures and delâ—ghts 〈◊〉 Dominus Deuâ— ad fletum ad planctum ad caluitiem ad cingulum sacci et eccè gaudium et laetiria occidere vitulos et iugulare arietes comedere carnes et bibere vinum Comedamus et bibamus cras enim morâ—emur The Lord God of Hostes calls to weeping and to mourning and to baldnesse and to girding with sack-cloth and behold ioy and gladnesse slaying oxen and killing sheepe eating flesh and drinking wine Let vs eate and drinke for to morrow we shall dye God hauing called them to repentance with a desire to pardon them they answer him with quite contrary exercises and in stead of weeping fal into extraordinary laughing and in stead of sack-cloath put on rich and glorious apparrel and in stead of fasting betake themselues to feasting in stead of sobbs and sighes to sports and pleasures Which preposterous kinde of course did offend God in that high degree that he threatned to shut the gate of mercy against those that shut the doore of their hearts against sorrow and repentance Et reuelata est in auribus meis vox Domini non dimittetur iniquitas haec vobis donec moriamur dicit Dominus And it was reuealed in mine eares by the Lord of Hosts Surely this iniquitie shall not be purged from you till yee dye saith the Lord of Hosts In the book of the Prouerbs God sheweth the like risentment in these words Quia vocaui et renuistis extendi manum meam et non fuit qui aspiceret despexistis omne consilium meum et increpationes meas neglexistis ego quoque in interitu vestro ridebo et subsannabo cùm vobis id quod timebatis aduâ—nerit Because I haue called and yee refused I also stretched out my hand and no man regarded But yee haue set at nought all my Counsayle and would none of my reproofe I also will laugh at your calamitie I will mock when your feare commeth Those whom neither faire words kind vsage louing inspirations nor the powerful hand of God stretched out to punishment cannot worke vpon nor moue to mourne nor to leaue off their sports and pleasures their discomposed mirth laughter the Lord saith that this their disâ—espectfullnesse of him and shamelâ—ssenes of their sins shal neuer be forgiuen them And in stead of mourning and grieuing for them hee will laugh them to scorne and make a mocke of them when he shall see them fallen into the anguishment and vexation of their perdition because they would not correspond with his gentle admonitions nor be reclaymed by those his fatherly chasticements which were for the calling of them home and to make them to returne from their euill waies And if besides all that hitherto hath been sayd wee shall but consider how deceitfull and vaine are these pastimes and delights we shall therewith likewise see what little reason Kings and men that are or at least ought to be in regard of the grauitie and greatnesse of their places of a constant and settled disposition to be carryed away with such idle toyes which presently dis-appeare and do not only not giue that fullnesse satisfaction which they promise but rather as vicious thirst hunger which ariseth from a corrupt and euil humour increaseth the more the more we either eate or drinke so these temporall delights the more we vse them the more in seeking after them doe we finde our selues mocked and deluded and the lesse satisfied Let vs conclude this point with the testimonie of our Sauiour Iesus Christ and of that most wise King Salomon and of Saint Gregorie the Great who citing both the other speakes thus Voluptatum nos fallaciae nulla decipiat nulla vana laetitia seducat in proximo namque est Iudex qui dixit Vae vobis qui ridetis nunc quia lugebitis et flebitis Hinc enim Salomon â—it Risus dolore miscebitur et extrema gaudijs luctus occupat Hinc iterum dicit Risum reputaui errorem et gaudio dixi Quid frustrà deciperis Hinc rursus ait Cor sapientium vbi tristitia est et cor stultorum vbi laetitia Let not the falsehood of pleasures deceiue vs nor vaine ioy seduce vs For there is a Iudge at hand that pronounceth this wofull sentence Woe vnto you that laugh now for yee shall mourne and weepe And hence is it that Salomon sayth Euen in laughter the heart is sorrowfull and the end of that mirth is
and his word holdes the hearts of men in his hand is Master of all their wealth and all because they rest assured that they may confidently relye vpon his faith and word Wheras by the contrary hath insued the destruction of Common-wealths the distrustfullnesse of their subiects the scorne and contempt of their enemies and the iealousie of their friends and confederates who all hang and depend vpon the truth of his words and the performance of his Contracts And this being once lost with it hee looseth his credit and after that all goes to wracke with it For Malignitas saith the Wise man enertet sedes potentium Malignitie or ill-mindednesse which is nothing else but a Lye or deceit shall ouerthrowe the seates of the Mighty And Cicero saith That it is a most wicked and abhominable thing to breake that word which conserueth a sociable life betwixt man and man For as Aristotle affirmeth Pacts and Couenants being broaken violated there is taken away from amongst men the vse trading and commerce of things These and the like effects cause in a King either the keeping or loosing of his Credit But of no lesse importance is that third point which followeth in the next place concerning secrecie § III. Of that secrecie which Kings and their Ministers ought to keepe IT is likewise the Tongues Office to holde it's peace And as it is not of the least difficultie so in nothing more doth mans wisedome and prudence shew it selfe Plato will not haue him held to be a wise man that knowes not how to hold his peace Diogenes Laertius that there is no greater token of a Foole then to be loose-tongued and lauish of talke Nâ—minem stultum tacere posse It is impossible for a foole to hold his peace The Ancient esteem'd him a God vpon earth that was a friend to silence representing him in a creature of that Region which hath no tongue Implying thereby that that man is the liuely image and true picture of God whose discretion teacheth him how when and where to holde his peace Alluding happily vnto that of Dauid who finding eyes eares and hands in God seemeth not to finde that hee had a tongue For as hee is God he neuer spake but once Semel locutus est Deus God hath spoaken once And the Spouse speaketh much of all the parts of her beloued but of his Tongue as if hee had no such thing And he that shall not speake a word out of season nor say any more then what is fitting it may bee sayd of that man that hee hath no Tongue And therefore did that holy King Dauid so often beg of God that hee would open his mouth with his owne hand and so order his Tongue that he might not speake but when he would haue him and that he would teach him what and how to speake Illius labia aperit saith S. Austen qui non solum quod loquâ—tur sed etiam quandò vbi cuiloquatur attendit God opens that mans lips who attendeth not onely what he speaketh but also when where and to whom he speaketh Merito igitur sapiens est addeth the same holy father qui accipit a Domino quo tempore loquendum sit Deseruedly therefore is he to be held a wise man which receiueth instruction from the Lord when he ought to speake And the Scripture saith Vir sapiens tacebit vsque ad tempus A wise man will holde his peace till hee see his time Nay Christ himselfe that King of Kings saith of himselfe by the Prophet Esay that his eternall Father gaue him an exceeding wise and prudent tongue Dedit mihi Dominus linguam eruditam The Lord God hath giuen me a learned tongue Or as the Hebrew renders it Eruditiorum The tongue of the learned Not an ordinary tongue but such a Tongue wherin was to be found the wisedome and prudence of all the wise men of the world and from whence all might learne Vt sciam sustentare eum qui lapsus est verbo That I may know how to vphold him that hath slipt in his word Or as the 70. translate it Vt sciam quando oporteat loqui verbum That I should know how to speake a word in season to him that is weary So that a wise discreete and prudent Tongue and such a one as is giuen by God is that which knowes when to speake and when to hold it's peace Teaching Kings who are in a manner Gods at least Gods Liuetenants should in this particular imitate him That they should haue a wise Tongue to know when to open the doore of the lips and when to shut them what to vtter and what to conceale For this is the Learning and wisedome of the Tongue either to speake or be silent as shall sute best with time and occasion Tempus tacendi tempus loquendi It is Salomons A time to keepe silence and a time to speake And in Kings this is so much the more important by how much the more graue and weighty are those businesses which are treated with them For it doth not onely benefit them in not hauing their purposes preuented nor their designes ouerthrowne but likewise winn's them much authoritie and credit For the world will stand as it were astonished and amazed and men will wonder at that which they both doe and say and out of euery kinde of gesture or word of theirs will make a Mystery deliuer their iudgements and draw thence a thousand discourses all which are but cranes and pullyes to make them mount higher in opinion and reputation Likewise when Ministers shall take notice that their King knowes how to heare and how to hold his peace and in it's due time to execute his intentions they liue in a great deale the more awe and feare lest such and such things wherein they doe amisse might come to his knowledge And when they see that he knowes how to conceale a secret till it 's fit time and season it keepes them within their Compasse and is the only bridle that restraines them from doing ill either by way of oppression whereunto great Ministers are too much subiect or otherwise And therefore it shall much concerne a King not onely to be secret in those things which might cause some inconuenience if he should speake of them and make them knowen but also in those things which bring no profit by their publication For if they shall once perceiue that their King cannot conceale what is deliuered vnto him vnder the seale of silence in preiudice of this or that particular party no man will dare to informe and aduise him of that which may redound to Gods seruice and the good of the Common-wealth And so like bad gamesters they will for want of keeping close their cardes let their contrary winne the game by discouering their hand A Kings hâ—art should be so deepe and profound that none should be able to pry into it nor to know
specified Per illumenim dedit dominus salutem Syriae erat enim vir fortis Because by him the Lord had giuen deliuerance vnto Syria and was also a mighty man in valour For all the life and soule that kingdome had came from him God vsing him as his instrument for his puisance and prudence And when Fauourites are of these aduantagious abilities those reasons and inconueniences doe cease before mentioned touching the disequalitie of Kings with their Inferiours For vertue hath this excellence and preheminence that from the very dust of the earth it doth lift vp men vnto honour and doth raise them to that height that it equalls them and sets them cheeke by â—ole with the greatest Princes in the world Sapientia humiliati exaltaâ—it caput illius in medio magnatum considere illum faciet Wisedome lifteth vp the head of him that is of low degree and maketh him to sit among great men Anna that was mother to that great Priest and Prophet Samuel amongst other things which shee sung in the praise of God and his great power this was one worthy the obseruation and well befitting the subiect we haue in hand Dominus suscitat de puluere egenum de stercore eleuat pauperem vt sedeat cum Principibus solium gloriae teneat The Lord raiseth the poore out of the dust and lifteth vp the begger from the dunghill to set him among Princes and to make them inherit the throne of glory The like note sings that Kingly Prophet Dauid Suscitans à terra inopem vt collocet eum cum Principibus populi sui He raiseth vp the poore out of the dust and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill And King Salomon his sonne seconds this of his father in this short Antheme Seruus sapiens dominabitur filijs stultis A wise seruant shall haue rule ouer a sonne that causeth shame So great is the force of wisedome and discretion that it doth not onely exalt and raise to greatnesse men that are free borne though in a poore meane cottage but brings euen the basest slaues to bee Lords ouer their owne Masters A certaine Philosopher being taken captiue was brought forth into the open Market to bee sold and they that were to buy him demanded of him what hee could doe He told them That the best thing that he was skild in was to command his Masters In many places of Scripture is repeated and confirmed the Testimonie of King Salomons great power and wisedome And amongst other things which are mentioned of the Maiestie of his house and Court it is said That therein he had a great many Princes whose names are registred in the third booke of the Kings And amongst them there is but one onely that is made remarkable by the name and title of the Kings Fauourite and friend Zabud filius Nathan amicus Regis And Zabud the sonne of Nathan was principall Officer and the Kings friend Some Translations in the place of principall Officer put Priest And these two titles of Priest and the Kings friend are therefore thus ioyned together that they may giue vs to vnderstand that the friendship and affection towards a Fauourite should take it's growth from that learning and vertue which is annexed to the state and condition of the Priest And in the first booke of the Chronicles in that Catalogue which is there made of those which bare principall offices in King Dauids Court it is onely said of Hushai the Archite that hee was the Kings companion And in the second booke of the Kings are set downe at large the great and many reasons why Hushai on his part might well deserue this Title Our Sauiour Christ likewise seemed to make shew of his more particular affection to Peter Iohn and Iames making choice of them from among the twelue to retire himselfe in priuate with them and to make them witnesses of his glorious transfiguration and afterwards of diuers other particular things Whence it seemeth that they might haue the name of Fauourites but not without great grounds and those extraordinary vertues wherein they out-shined others Howbeit the choise and election of this supreme King is not to bee ruled and measured out by that of the Kings of this world for they can not by the alone power of their loue better men nor affoord them necessary parts whereby to merit to bee their friends But this true King and Lord of all in placing his good will and affection on those whom hee is pleased to make choice of for his friends doth likewise indow and adorne them with strong abilities whereby to bee accounted worthy of his friendship and fauour Whereas with the Fauourites of the Kings of this world it fareth cleane contrary For those which before they were Fauourites were good and honest by their priuacie and great power with their King haue come to be starke nought and the more footing they haue in the Kings friendship they are vsually the lesse worthy of it Whereof we shall more in the Chapter following CHAP. XXXII Of another sort of Fauourites THose most learned bookes which the glorious Saint Austen writ De Ciuitate Dei lay before vs two sorts of loue That loue which man beareth vnto God euen to the contemning and despising of himselfe And from this is the constitution and fabricke of that holy Citie of Ierusalem vnder which name is vnderstood the good concord and agreement of the Christian Church and commonwealth as also of all Christian soules The other loue is that which euery one beareth to himselfe in that high manner and excesse that it reacheth euen to the contemning and despising of God And from this is built that City of Babylon which is as much to say as Confusion signifieth that which euery sinner hath within himself as also that which is in ill ordered commonwealths And therefore as wee said in the former Chapter that from those two Loues of friendship and concupiscence did issue forth two sorts of Fauourites The one good and profitable the other bad and couetous So considering Loue not in respect of outward things but in respect of it selfe it differenceth the vse of Fauourites according to the different meanes and ends wherewith and for which they are made choice of And the vse likewise which they make thereof when they see they are thus aduanced and receiued into fauour The meanes haue the denomination of their goodnesse or badnesse from their end Whence it followeth that when Kings shall make choice of their Fauorites by good meanes not out of a selfe-humour or womanish kinde of longing nor for to please his owne proper affection but that they may comply the better with those obligations which they haue to the good dispatch of businesse and to haue one to helpe them to beare the burthen that lâ—es vpon them As this end is good so of force must the meanes likewise bee For to obtaine good ends bad meanes are not taken
Subiects treating them as if they were his children and procuring that not any one of them may depart discontented from his presence which would be the the onely Load-stone to draw all their loue and affection towards him So did that great Fauourite of the King of Syria Naaman whom all the people with a full and open mouth called Father corresponding with him in the loue of so many sonnes or children For those that are seated in so high a place haue great cause for many reasons to procure publike loue and together with the grace of their Prince to haue the good wills and affections of the people for this makes the other to be more durable and firme For this is the naturall miserie of great and powerfull persons that Enuie and Greatnesse go alwayes hand in hand the one still accompanying the other And there is not any poyson like vnto it which moues and stirres vp such violent pangs and passions in the stomacke and more especially if it worke vpon the priuacie and inwardnesse of Fauourites with their Kings as if that it selfe were not a true and sufficient strong poyson Seeing that it is held for certaine that one word of a King nay which is more one angry looke or bended brow hath sent many a Fauourite to his graue For as Salomon saith the life of the Subiect depends on the countenance of the King And if we will not beleeue him let vs see and obserue how many Fauourites escape which doe not dye of that wound or the feare thereof and more particularly with those Kings which are of that condition as one said that there is not two fingers breadth betweene their smile and their sword to the end that this their priuacie might bee had in the lesse esteeme For your best Fauourites are but like your better sort of fruits which are soonest subiect to be worme-eaten For Enuie is a very worme and hath the same qualities as a worme hath and spreads it selfe so farre that it extends it selfe euen to those that haue beene benefited by the Fauourite the couetousnesse and risentment of that which they doe not receiue working more vpon them then the Law of thankfulnesse or of a gratefull acknowledgement for that which they haue receiued So that wee may say That few are they who loue those from whose hand they haue receiued some good because it was no greater And those that haue receiued none that they are therein iniured and wronged So that to qualifie and temper this inconuenience it shall be wisedome in Fauourites and it will concerne them to vse all the meanes they can deuise to effect it to procure to bee wellbeloued And no lesse in Kings to seeke out such as are modest louing affable vertuous honest well beloued and of a gratefull and thankfull disposition CHAP. XXXV How Kings ought to carry themselues towards their Fauourites FOr to resolue this Question and to giue satisfaction to that which is here proposed in this Chapter it being a matter of so tender and dangerous a touch I will first lay for my foundation a true point of doctrine in naturall Philosophie celebrated with that sentence of the glorious Saint Austen Amor meus pondus meum illo feror quocunque feror The plummet which peaseth man and the wings wherewith the heart makes it's flight is loue which doth leade the dance to all the other passions of the soule And as those that saile in a deepe sea with full sailes runne on their course without any danger but when they draw neare the shore they take them downe and ruffle them that they may not runne their ship vpon some shelfe or split it selfe against some rocke so likewise when the heart is lifted vp vnto the loue of God which is infinite goodnesse it may without perill plough the seas of this world and with full sayles cut the Maine without danger of shelues quick-sands or rockes For according to that saying of the glorious Saint Bernard as the cause of our louing God is God himselfe so the measure of louing him is to loue him without measure Causa diligendi Deum Deus est modus dilectionis sine modo diligere As the cause of our loue is infinite so must it be without taxe or limitation wherein there can be no excesse But when the heart drawes but little water and touches too close vpon these things of the earth which haue their goodnesse much limited it will be high time and very fit and conuenient to strike the sayles of our loue and to go on with a great deale of caution and consideration lest this our vessell should sticke in the sands neuer to bee gotten out againe or fall vpon some rocke or other of vnaduisednesse and indiscretion And this is so certaine a truth that albeit the loue to our parents be so naturall and obligatory and so giuen vs in charge by God with the promises of so many blessings on those children which shall cumply with this loue and with so many threatnings on those that shall faile therein yet notwithstanding God himselfe will that therein there should be a limitation and moderation Qui amat patrem aut matrem plus quam me non est me dignus He that loueth father or mother more then me is not worthy of me And the common old Adage saith That friendship must go no further then vsque ad ar as and stop there And howbeit some would haue the limit which is here put to loue to be Death I say that it's limit is Reason and obedience to Gods Commandements For when our Loue shall come to encounter with them it is to make a stand and go no further Our second ground or foundation whereon we shall build is this That in Kings next vnto the loue of God and his Christian Religion no loue ought to be like vnto that which they ought to beare vnto their kingdomes and common-wealths for the end for which Kings were first instituted and ordained was the common good of their kingdomes And as children haue a naturall obligation to loue their parents because from them they haue receiued their naturall being so Kings owe the like to their kingdomes and Commonwealths because next vnder God they gaue them their being of Kings and that power and authoritie whereby they were to protect defend and augment them Vpon these grounds and foundations must that loue and friendship be laid which is to be held with Fauourites Louing them and giuing them power and authoritie conformable to that which for this end shall be thought most conuenient For albeit they as Seneca saith keepe the key of their Kings heart and in matters of secresie and benefits are preferred before the rest yet this must be done with a Christian kinde of prudence and discretion Hauing euermore an especiall care that the force of his loue be not so violent and so boundlesse that to giue content to one sole Fauourite hee discontent all the rest
out their negociation of them The History of King Don Iuan the second of Castile doth affoord sufficient examples of the great persecutions that followed by letting that his Fauourite haue so great a hand in businesses For the people seeing their King so led by the nose as it were and to yeeld to all that he would haue him doe were verily perswaded that he was bewitch't for he had such power ouer the will vnderstanding of the King that he neither vnderstood what he gaue nor knew not how or at least had not the face to deny him any thing that hee was willing either to aske or take whilst like the vnthankfull yuie he went sucking away all the iuyce and sappe of the tree all that good Kings wealth and substance his being his authoritie and little lesse then his kingdome And lost by this meanes so much of his authoritie that some of the Grandes of the kingdome and the Infantes his brethren and the Kings of Aragon and Nauarre betooke them to their Armes and made warre against him he seeing himselfe vpon some occasions disobeyed by his sonne and Prince and forsaken of his wife and Queene Whereupon grew many ciuill broyles and all vnder the title and pretext of recouering their libertie and of pulling their neckes from vnder the yoke of that slauery and subiection wherein they were rendering that reason in their excuse which all the whole kingdome could but take notice of That all businesses past through his Fauourites hands and that the King did not negociate in his owne person The prosecution whereof I remit to those Histories that make mention thereof And it cannot bee denyed that this Fauourite notwithstanding had many good things in him that might very well deserue his Kings loue for he had serued him valiantly in great and vrgent occasions and had put his person and life in perill for his sake But as his priuacie and fauour went increasing so with it increased his ambition and couetousnesse and that in that high degree that he grew hatefull to the whole kingdome and in the end no lesse odious to the King himselfe who comming at length vnto himselfe fell into the account of those damages and losses which he had receiued in his kingdome both in his reputation and authoritie by putting the reines wholly into his hands taking thereby too much libertie to himselfe and ruling the State as he listed The Grandes represented to his Maiestie the abuses that insued thereupon as the ingrossing of the greater Offices and selling of the lesser and ouerswaying the Courts of Iustice And vsing many other effectuall perswasions grounded vpon other iust complaints proposing for remedie and redresse thereof the interest profit that might accrew vnto him by calling him to account and that he might thereby get into his hands an infinite deale of treasure the King liked very well of their propositions and admitting their reasons he fell off from his Fauourite waging warre against him with his owne money wherewith hee thought if neede should serue to sustaine and vphold himselfe This slippery footing haue all those things which haue not their hold-fast in God For they turne to the hurt of those that put their trust in them And it is his mercie to mankinde that they should pay for it in this life howsoeuer they speed in the life to come which we will leaue to Gods iustice and the strict account that will be taken of them In conclusion this great Fauourite dyed being fallen from his priuacie with his Prince depriued of all that wealth and treasure which he had so greedily scraped together ending his life with a great deale of sorrow and discontent and to the great reioycing of his opposites Though this did not serue for a warning to those that came after him but without feare of the like terrible and desperate falls they ranne themselues out of breath in the pursuite of the like priuacie Saint Iohn Baptist we know was Christs great Fauourite and the Gospell stiles him to be Amicus Sponsi the friend of the Bridegroome But his great goodnesse and holinesse of life did the more gloriously shew it selfe in this that by how much the more Christ did in-greaten and authorize him by so much the more did hee lessen and humiliate himselfe and laboured by all possible meanes by diminishing his owne to increase the authoritie and credit of his Lord and Master saying Illum oportet crescere me autem minui He must increase but I must decrease And this is that glasse wherein the Fauourites of Kings are to looke taking into their consideration that by how much the more they seeke to greaten themselues in making ostentation of their power and authoritie by so much the more they lessen and dis-authorise that of their Kings with whom is so dangerous any whatsoeuer shew or shadow of equalitie or competition that euen in the highest top of priuacie the more certaine and lesse reparable vsually is the fall How iocond and how well contented went Haman out of the palace when Queene Esther inuited him to dine with the King and her selfe When loe the very next day after they draggd him from that banquet and royall Table to the gallowes And therefore let no man trust or relye on the fauour of Kings be he neuer so rich or neuer so fortunate for in them it is ordinarily seene that all these faire shewes are commonly conuerted into manifest demonstrations of hatred Out of all this that hitherto hath beene said let Fauourites make vnto themselues this vse and instruction to know the danger and slipperinesse of the place wherein they stand euen then when they finde themselues most of all inthronized For most true is that saying of Fulmen petit culmen The highest Towers and the highest hills are most of all subiect to Ioues thunder-bolts and lightning And let Kings likewise take this into their consideration by way of aduice That when they shall haue found their Fauourites to be furnished with those qualities before specified and that they are such that thereby they may merit their grace and fauour and so great both place and part in their heart it stands with very good reason that they shouâ—d bee honoured by them with particular mercedes and fauours because they helpe them to beare the burthen of their cares and are exposed to great dangers and greater enuyings as it happened to that great Fauourite of the King of Persia whom the Princes of his kingdome did pretend to remoue from the Kings elbow and to put him in the denne amidst the Lions that by them hee might be there rent in peeces Whereof no other cause could be found against him but his Kings fauour bearing enuie to his priuacie that common Moath to high places from which none be he neuer so good neuer so honest can escape For it is very naturall in men to risent that hee should out-strip them who but yesterday was their
both his brothers Ionathan and Simeon Let vs draw then from this discourse and sound aduice of this Catholike Emperour how much it importeth Kings to maintaine their faith and Religion and to conserue and vphold the same in all their kingdomes and dominions Now for to conserue the faith it is likewise requisite that there be great care had in procuring that the commonwealth be purged and cleansed of it's vices and sinnes For as the Apostle Saint Paul saith when vices grow to that head and ranknesse that they come to make men to be of a bad and corrupt conscience they go disposing such to suffer shipwracke in the faith as it hath happened in these our times in many parts of Europe The second aduice that I shall giue vnto Kings is that they carry themselues so in the dispatch of businesses that notice may not bee taken that they are dispatched by any other arbitrement but their owne For most certaine it is that if it come to be knowne that all the Orders that come forth passe through the Fauourites hands and as hee shall giue direction they loose much of their force and efficacie and the King much of his reputation and credit His subiects will grow to contemne him and strangers will make little reckoning of him and many other mischiefes will ensue thereupon Amongst the Romanes it was held for a great affront and dishonour that the Emperour should dispatch as they say porcarta-pacio by a note booke or some penn'd thing for him or like some young practitioner in physicke by his Masters Recipes And therefore in those generall processions which they made they besought God that hee would not punish them by giuing them Princes which had need to be ruled and guided by Gouernours and Tutors For they knew well enough that when God is angry offended with the sinnes of the people he punisheth them by sending them Princes without knowledge and wisedome that are not able to gouerne of themselues but to doe as others shall aduise them Wherein they did confesse and acknowledge That to be a King consisteth in being knowne and reuerenced of all to be an independant Lord not relying vpon any other whose Mandates and Decrees all should subscribe vnto and obey whom all should seeke vnto with whom all should negociate that are pretenders from whose liberalitie resolution and will they onely should acknowledge all the graces and fauours that are done them and from no other hand For if they should giue way thereunto their Subiects will bee induced easily to beleeue that together with this they will giue away their greatnesse and minister occasion to loose that common loue and respect which solely and properly is due vnto them For Subiects vsually honour no other Sunne but that from which they receiue their light They naturally abhorre that man that does them hurt and loue that person who does them good bee he what hee will be good or bad all is one They call God Optimum maximum because he both doth and is able to do them good And he himselfe doth glory therein as being vnwilling that men should acknowledge the good they receiue from any other What wisedome then can there bee in that King that shall suffer a Fauourite to haue all the thankes and all the honour and glory of those fauours and rewards whereof he is the owner and donor Reseruing for himselfe nothing but the scorne and contempt of his Subiects then the which there is no miserie can be greater God forbid that Kings should permit any such lessening of their power and authoritie which is the necessariest thing that can bee for the conseruation of their estates and kingdomes Likewise in regard of their owne proper particular it will be a very good lesson for them for if their subiects are beholding for the good they receiue vnto another they will loue him more then them and when occasion shall serue will not sticke to shew it though it bee to their owne hurt Examples hereof there are good store amongst those ancient Kings and kingdomes of elder times that by this meanes haue beene ouerthrowne and brought to ruine We finde it storied that the Emperour Claudius at the intercession and instance of Agrippina made such a one Generall of his Army Cornelius Tacitus toucheth vpon this Mysterie and saith of him that hee was a man of much fame and renowne and very expert in militarie discipline yet knowing very well withall by whose good will and furtherance that command was conferred vpon him he could not when occasion should offer bee behinde hand for so great an honour done vnto him but recompence it to the vtmost of his power Such great places of imployment ought to be bestowed by no hand but by Kings and that immediately lest another may go away with the thankes And he shall doe well if hee take the like course in all other Offices that are in his gift for if it were possible it is fit that all should stand bound and obliged to him Let Kings likewise bee aduised that they carry a watchfull eye ouer those that are ambitious which are either so naturally or by conuersing and communicating with others are made so for this is an infectious disease and the more the more it taketh hold on great persons and men of an extraordinary spirit for they are as dangerous as theeues where there is store of treasure to bee had For questionlesse such kinde of men do vsually labour to increase their estate For it is very naturall to this passion as to those other affections neuer to giue ouer till they come to the end and full satisfaction of that which their appetite or desire representeth vnto them neither the Law of God nor of thankfulnesse sufficing to moderate their mindes and to keepe them within the due and lawfull bounds of their dutie In that houre and in that very instant of their rising nay before they come to that greatnesse there is little trust to be giuen vnto them for nothing workes vpon them but their proper honour and profit And all the rest they esteeme as nothing in comparison of bettring their owne fortune But if of necessitie some must bee raised to honour Si quem extollere oporteat saith the Philosopher non tamen eum qui sit moribus audax Nam huinsmodi homines aptissimi sunt ad inuadendum circa res omnes Let them not be of base and meane condition nor such as are naturally proud and haughty for being vainely transported with their fauour and priuacie they thinke with themselues that they haue already clapt a nayle in fortunes wheele and that they cannot fall from the top of their felicitie And being thus blinded with their ambition there is not any thing which they dare not aduenture on Let Kings therefore well weigh and consider with themselues what manner of men they put into great places and neare about their persons that they may relye more on the goodnesse of
though otherwise they bee of better parts better qualified and of stronger abilities are left vnrewarded and are quite forgotten And these that are thus made vp in haste and so suddenly raised from that nothing which they were to that greatnesse wherein they are must of force sometimes with the same haste and speedinesse though fore against their wills for the auoiding of inconueniences bee pulled downe from this their high seate and placed in some other that may seeme to sute better with them wherein the like suspition may iustly bee conceiued of their insufficiencie This great Fauourite had likewise so good a Head-peece and knew so well how to gouerne vpon all occasions and all the accidents of that age as well the good as bad the fortunate and vnfortunate successes of those times that howbeit many were the changes of those Kings yet was he still in the same height of esteeme was superiour vnto fortune being in all those alterations her Lord and Master All the Kings of the Gothes whom hee serued did him very particular fauours And although King Theodoricus was a very fortunate and valiant Prince yet did a great part of his happinesse and felicitie consist in this in hauing his Fauourite Cassiodorus alwayes at his elbow and in receiuing his good proiects and sound aduice which when occasion offered were neuer wanting vnto him That being according vnto Seneca the best part of counsell which comes in it's due time and season Whereas that comes too late and without any fruit which is not ready at hand For occasion whereunto wee must occurre oftentimes betakes her selfe to her wings and flies out of our reach if we be not quicke and nimble in laying hold on her foretop So that all the while that this Cassiodorus was in their seruice their kingdome and Signorie continued in a most flourishing estate So much can a man of such courage and counsell doe in a commonwealth For with such a Ministers presence all things stand vpright and go well and handsomely on but in his absence and when he is wanting all things go backward For being that all these things depend next after God on the worth and wisedome of him that hath the managing of them by his death or absence they runne a great hazard of miscarrying or suffer some great hurt or detriment as was to be seene in those successes of the Grecian Empire which no sooner was that great gouernour Alexander dead vnder whose protection it went increasing and liued in so much peace and securitie but it vanished like so much froath For of how much the more price and esteeme peace is by so much the more is it hazarded in the losse of those that maintaine and vphold it Now this so excellent and worthy a Minister when as nothing was wanting vnto him saue the putting on of a Kings Crowne refused it became a Friar and tooke vpon him the habite of the order of San Benito And did so exercise himselfe in continuall prayer and contemplation that euen whilest he liued here vpon earth they held him for a Saint And if he were so worthy a man in that age seruing the Kings of the earth with so much punctualitie and sinceritie it is not to be doubted but that hee was as precise in his sanctitie and holinesse of life when he rendred himselfe a slaue and seruant to his Lord and Master the King of heauen For your excellent wits which know how to make aduantage of all things and that nothing comes amisse vnto them when they are once resolued to serue God they do truly humble themselues and with a strong determination tread and trample the world vnder their feet and whatsoeuer therein is and imbrace and take hold on Christ. And being thus occupied in holy exercises laden with yeares hee departed out of this life to that which was eternall hauing inioyed some yeares of that quietude and abundance of peace wherewith he did essay to die well which being so dangerous so difficult and darke a passage too little care is commonly had therein hee passed from this short stride betwixt life and death to the eternitie of such an estate as we yet know not what it shall be the extreames being as we see so farre distant All that hath beene hitherto said both in generall and particular concerning a Monarchie and kingdome shall not be fruitlesse nor the time lost that hath beene spent in the writing or shall be spent in the reading of this Treatise if it be well and truly considered For by the perusall thereof Kings and Princes may come to know a thousand seuerall semblances of Ministers and disguised countenances of hypocriticall Courtiers and the diuers dispositions and humours as well of the ambitious as the couetous their affections conditions and naturall inclinations whether they be by nature of great and vnruly spirits or whether they bee by fortune put into great places For this without doubt changeth man from his first estate and apparrelleth him with other particular affections And in the true knowledge of these consisteth the augmentation conseruation and good gubernation of kingdomes and commonwealths as also the reputation credit opinion and authoritie of Kings In a word they may out of these doctrines and aduertisements collect and know how at one time the naturall dispositions customes and manners of the vulgar stand affected and how at another time those that are not so vulgar and of so low a ranke and how at all times to make vse of this knowledge for the better increasing and inlarging of their power and greatnesse and how and in what manner they are to carry themselues towards them as also those other that are to aide and assist in gouernment For there is not any thing of more price or more to be valued by Kings then this knowledge of the affections as well for the discerning those of others as the moderating of their owne And as it were to make a iudgement and to prognosticate by them the end of the actions of those that 〈◊〉 about and where they intend to make their stop and set vp their rest be they foes or friends And by the actions of those that are present be they Confederates Ministers and dependents their ends designes and preâ—ensions And particularly in those who cleaue closer to their Kings fortune then his person Points whereon doth hang the hinge and wherein are included and shut vp all both the particular and generall passages of gouernment and of that art and science which they call by the common name of Reason of State And although I know for certaine that there will not such be wanting that will laugh and scoffe at these my Politicall Aduertisements some because they would be accounted the onely men seene in this Science and would make themselues the onely admired men amongst the vulgar and that there is not any one that is a professour in that Art that vnderstandeth their plots and designes Others lesse malignant
now growne rich which before they would haue taken for a great fauour when they were poore Thus doe we grow vnthankfull and thus doe we grow forgetfull being vainly carried away with the conceit of what we are And we loose the sight of that low and meane estate wherein we were by being raised to that highth and eminencie wherein wee see our selues to bee seated A naturall fault in mans eye-sight which knowes not how to looke downeward and as vnwilling to looke backward but as much forward as you will But these forward birds doe well deserue to haue the waxe wherewith their wings are fastened to be melted by that very Sunne that gaue them their first warmth and light and by their fall to be left an example to the world to terrifie others And in case for some especiall respect Kings shall resolue with themselues that all the beames of their greatnesse shall illighten and giue life to one particular person let the foundation of their fauours bee layed vpon those qualities desarts and seruices which ought to concurre on those persons on whom they purpose thus to particularize Kings likewise are to consider the Petitions of those that sue vnto them which is my second obseruation and taught by Christ himselfe Potestis bibere calicem quem ego bibiturus sâ—m Can ye drinke of the cup that I drinke of Iudging by himselfe in this demand which hee makes to these his Fauourites who so rashly and vnaduisedly came vnto him to petition him for the two principall places that for to possesse them they should haue all sufficient and requisite necessaries vpon which point Christ examines them and the like examination ought Kings to make of those qualities specified by vs touching both Pretenders and Fauourites The third thing which I recommend to your consideration and which Christ teacheth Kings is the great caution and warinesse which they are to vse in not being too facile in granting all that their Fauourites shall require of them Which is to bee gathered out of the last words of this his answer Non est meum dare vobis It is not mine to giue Which to my seeming soundeth thus It will not stand with my truth and iustice to giue for kindreds-sake or other humane respects that which my eternall Father hath prepared for those which deserue best Kings ought to bee very circumspect in promising and not ouer easie in granting for if he shall be facile in granting what others shall desire hee may haue cause to repent himselfe and if he promiseth hee looseth his liberty A great gentleman of qualitie whom King Philip the second much fauoured for his worthy parts and great abilities talking one day with him and walking a good while with his Maiestie after that hee had discoursed with him of diuers things to the Kings so great good content and liking that hee thought with himselfe that there was now a faire occasion offered vnto him to propound vnto him as he did a businesse of his owne He told a friend of his anon after that hee came from him that in that very instant he proposed it he cast such a strange and austere looke towards him as if hee had neuer seene him before Which was no want of affection in the King towards him for hee had had many sufficient testimonies thereof but because it was fitting for so wise and prudent a King to haue that circumspection lest this his affection might minister occasion vnto him to call his discretion in question in granting or not granting that which either is not or at least shall seeme vnto him not to be conuenient for him For Kings must haue recourse to these two things To haue a good and safe conscience with God and intire â—â—â—horitie and good opinion with men For with none doth that holy and prudent counsell of Saint Paul suite more properly then with them Prouidemus bona non solum coram Deo sed etiam coram hominibus Prouiding for honest things not onely in the sight of the Lord but in the sight of men Which cannot be when as Fauourites either doe all what they list of themselues or get their Kings to doe it for them When the Sensitiue appetite effecteth whatsoeuer it affecteth the vnderstanding which is the soules king remaines oppressed and disgraced and with that soule note which the kingly Prophet Dauid giues it Homo cum in honore esset non intellexit comparatus est iumentis insipientibus similis factus est illis Man being in honour hath no vnderstanding he is like the beasts that perish And therefore when Kings out of their particular affection or for the auoiding of trouble and the fuller inioying of their ease and pleasure shall giue absolute power to their Fauourites to doe and vndoe as they please presently one blot or other which they will hardly euer get out will bee laid vpon their royall persons Nor need wee here to relate the hurt which comes thereby and the occasion which it giues vnto the Subiects neither to thnke nor speake of their Princes with that respect which is fitting especially when the Fauourites are none of those which helpe to beare the weight and burthen of businesses but shake them off from their owne shoulders and lay them vpon other that are fitted to their hand and of whom they rest well assured that they will doe nothing but what they will haue them to doe working their will and pleasure in all that they are able And this is not that which Kings and Commonwealths need but it much importeth that their Fauourites should bee of that good and quicke dispatch in businesses that all the people might loue them for it for from the contrary great inconueniences are wont to arise When the Shechemites were so vnmannerly and vnciuill in their language against their King Abimilech amongst other things which they vttered and alledged against him they said this in scorne of him Nunquid non est filius Ierobael constituit Principem Zabul seruum suum super viros Hemor patris Sichem cur ergo seruiemus ei Who is Abimelech that we should serue him Is not he the sonne of Ierubbaal and Zebul his Officer why should wee serue him c. They tooke it very ill that the King should raise his seruant Zabul to thaâ— heighth of honour and greatnesse that he should be made Prince as it were ouer all the people of Hemor and Sichem And howbeit the naturall obligation which Subiects owe to their Kings is so great that they are bound to obey them in all that which is not against God And that it is a token of great noblenes to suffer with a good courage whatsoeuer burthens be they neuer so heauy which they lay vpon them yet notwithstanding they haue no such obligation to their Fauorites For they may for their pleasure or their profit substitute other their Fauourites and oblige the people that they either negociate with or buy
are like a lingring kinde of Calenture or aguish Feuer which makes an end of vs before we are aware of it working it's effect before wee can looke into the cause Or like vnto the hand in a Clocke or Dyall which tells out the houre and strikes without perceiuing how it moues or goes Or like vnto those plants of your tallest trees which grow to their full height whilest neither our eyes nor our vnderstanding can scarce comprehend how this comes to passe so insensibly doth it sproute and shoot vp This is the question and these in briefe the conueniences which for mine owne part I know not what they are vnlesse such conueniences as are proper to euery one in their owne estate But be it as it may be and let them say what they list let Kings resolue by the illumination of that light which they haue from heauen on that which shall be best for them That which I say is this That it will well become them to liue with a great deale of warinesse and circumspection and not to trust or relye too much vpon fortune For this Lady howbeit sometimes shee suffers her selfe to bee commanded by them yet now and then she ouerrules them as she doth the rest And therefore it shall bee good discretion and prudence to feare both her and her frequent mutabilities and changings as it behoueth euery man to doe the like For she without any respect or distinction of persons will oftentimes lash out from that way and course wherein she is and runne a quite contrary bias and commit the current of those effects to time and Nature Let Kings likewise take heed that they doe not put offended persons into such places where they may reuenge themselues For a receiued wrong or iniurie leaues still some roots behinde which when occasion is offered will bud forth most bitter and venemous plants Nor are there any rewards or benefits be they neuer so great that can blot out the print of that impression which an iniurie stampeth in the minde and heart of man Courtesies are soone forgotten by them for it seemeth a troublesome thing vnto them to endure the weight and burthen of so great a debt and obligation but a receiued wrong or iniurie that shall euer be remembred because they hold reuenge to be the character of courage and the badge of a noble minde and braue spirit Puluere qui laedit scribit sed marmore laesus He that does a wrong writes it downe in dust but he that receiues it in marble Tacitus teacheth vs to know this minde of man and it's passions telling vs that the greatest and strongest inclination in man is to receiue satisfaction of the iniuries done vnto them for thankfulnesse lyes as a heauy loade vpon them whereas they make light of those benefits they receiue Esteeming the latter to be a diminution of their greatnesse and the former to wit reuenge to bee a great gaine vnto them for they imagine that they gaine thereby in their authoritie in their reputation and in the manifestation of their valour when the world shall take notice that they haue righted themselues Such as these can neither bee good as they are Fauourites nor as they are Councellers For out of the desire and pleasure they take in reuenge they will rather aduise that which shall seeme conuenient for the execution thereof then for the authoritie and profit of the Prince whom they aduise They will aduise him I say to venture himselfe vpon some voyage to enter into a warre to go himselfe into the field with a royall army or to vndergo some dangerous enterprise for the better effecting of their designes plotting a thousand mischiefes to bring him vnto ruine And let them say what they will yet shall they neuer perswade me that this proceeds out of the loue which they beare vnto their King and his increase of honour but out of hatred to his person their owne proper satisfaction thinking that by that meanes they may worke their reuenge And hereunto I adde that no man can bee found of so perfect a minde of so temperate a nature and so vertuous but that in the first place he will treate of his owne businesse and that treating of this particular the eye of his thought still ayming to hit this white will not sticke to aduenture any danger in hope of reuenge And therefore I shall aduise Kings that of necessitie must sometimes giue eare and credit to these or the like persons if they chance to bee preferred to great places that they be very carefull how farre forth they trust them for they are a dangerous kinde of people vnsafe and more couetous of their owne priuate interest then carefull of the publike perill or common hurt For this loue vnto themselues and hatred vnto others couered and strewed ouer with the cloud and ashes of iniuries and offences either receiued or conceiued doth reuiue and quicken the coales by those blasts of fauour and greatnesse that are blowne on them procuring though to others cost to vphold themselues therein and to ingage Kings in that which they pretend for their reuenge and satisfaction God shield and protect Kings from such persons as shall with the snake take vp their poyson againe to vent the venome of their rancour and reuenge vpon an old quarrell and let them likewise take heed how they imploy their forces and their power in countenancing and protecting those whom they haue offended and discontented This saith the said Emperour Charles the fifth is an aduice of great importance for the safetie quietude and good gouernment of kingdomes States and Signiories which for that they are so many so great and so farre distant one from another it is impossible that they should be visited by your selfe in person so often as is requisite And therefore I aduise you that you haue a great care that your Viceroyes and Gouernours that shall be sent thither be such and of such parts as shall conuene for such an imployment men of experience and conscience of wisedome prudence and discretion and well seene in matters of State and Gouernment Well disposed and free from couetousnesse briberie and corruption seeking out rather men for Offices then Offices for men Lastly let them be such persons from whom you may receiue that good satisfaction that by their residence there may bee found no misse of their Kings presence For this is properly to bee Vice-royes Moreouer you must instruct them in that which appertaineth vnto them for the good gouernment of the Commonwealth and those Subiects which are committed to their charge maintaining them in equall iustice and good manners giuing them good example by their owne blamelesse conuersation There is nothing that doth so much oblige Vassals and Subiects to keepe the Statutes and Lawes which are ordained as to see them well kept and obserued by their betters And so it is that it is vniustly commanded which hee that commands keepes not himselfe if