contrarie haue thereby gained immortall praise and glorie Likewise there is no doubt at all but that the fathers kindnesse ought to exceed all other loue following the example of our maker who leaueth not to exercise his mercy together with his iustice and that it is so he many times punisheth sinnes both in this world and in the world to come moreouer we must not thinke any father so cruell to hurt his sonne in the little finger without feeling the griefe thereof himselfe in the middest of his heart and therefore it is a meere folly to teach fathers how they ought to loue their children since nature who is the mistresse of all humane creatures instructeth them therein sufficiently and as it is most certain that princes or such as rule are aboue all others bounden to be vertuous and that they are constituted as guides and examples for all their subiects to follow so can it not also be denied but that seueritie of iustice is more requisit in them then any of the other vertues if vertues may be feperated and he which will well consider my deed without passion shall find all the foure principall vertues therein to be obserued For first of all I haue done iustice in putting him to death who was not onely the death of an innocent or at the least the same that caused the mother to suffer her child to die but also such a one who defrauded a poore woman of part of her liuing in that he paied her not for the same which she brought to sell for her reliefe My prudence was shewed in putting him to death without any commotion of the people and in terrifieng all others from offending as also to take from euery malefactor all hope to escape iust punishment for their misdeeds My temperance I declared in causing the offender to die by the shortest and secretest maner of death that I could deuise thereby ridding him from the shame to be a spectacle vnto many And my fortitude was manifest in that I was able to ouercome the desire which I had to pardon him both the same and all other offences But in the end considering that the first princes are bound by their examples to stirre vp and prouoke their successors to execute iustice without partialitie I haue for that end sacrificed my will together with the life of my best beloued sonne because the euill customes of the former princes are turned into lawes by those which succeed them and those which are good are quite forgotten if they be not confirmed by verie memorable examples Therefore Saule did not amisse when hee would haue put his sonne Ionathas to death seeing law is to be administred vnto all alike for where exception of persons is respected there must needs corruption of iustice follow which marreth all for nothing can be permament which is corrupted True it is that he was my eldest sonne but being such a one as he was he neither ought to succeed me nor yet to liue any longer and accuse me no more of crueltie since to punish an euill doer is a deed of mercie for pittie without iustice is follie or rather iniquitie and the greater he is that offendeth the more seuere punishment he deserueth For the poore wretch or hee which is of base condition may excuse himselfe by his pouertie by want of instruction by ignorance by his lewd education and such other like reasons both vaine and friuolous but the offences of great personages is to bee attributed to nothing but to pride malice Neither is one death more shamefull then another but only that death where the partie is made a spectacle to the standers by for it is not the death but the offence that is shamefull And therefore in executing iustice I cannot be tearmed cruell vnto mine owne blood or my sonne nor vnto your Prince vnto the Kings daughter neither vnto our children for he not being such a one as hee ought to be was now no more to be regarded by any of vs but was no better then a thiefe and a murtherer Who is then so mad as to be called a grandfather father mother brother or a subiect to so vild a man Neither must these be the meanes to begin those good seruices that ought to be done vnto the crowne of France which was institituted and preserued hetherto by vertue It is a vaine thing to goe about to persuade fathers of the valor or worthinesse of their children seeing that for the most part they beleeue it more then is requisite and alwaies doe excuse their faults more then they ought of which sort I confesse my selfe haue beene one so long as there was any hope of amendment I assure you that a long time was my heart most greeuously perplexed before I could consent vnto the punishment death of my sonne But omitting all other circumstances I will shew you the reasons which moued me to put my sonne to death for the sonnes discredite must needes bee the fathers disgrace because they doe alwaies cocker their children but too much and therefore it was not without cause that the Romanes from whence all good lawes haue their beginning did giue vnto fathers all power ouer the life and death of their children knowing that without most iust occasion they would neuer put them to death No sonne could be more dear vnto me then mine eldest but equitie commandeth me to loue the Common wealth better which in no sort can be regarded when he which ruleth the same is not vertuous because none therein should be in safety if the prince were vicious My life and death is in the mercie of the kings Maiestie but to die I would not haue failed to doe that which I haue done being as we are mortall and death may only be delaied but not escaped Our life also is not to be measured by our years but by our deeds for he hath liued long inough who is by good men deemed most worthie of long life and he cannot die too soone who spendeth his life in wickednesse Wherefore it was no reason that my sonne should haue liued any longer and I would to God that so his reproch might die with him as I wish my renowne may liue after me Touching iudgement he which gouerneth the Commonwealth must needs be iudge in the same Such were the Dictators or Consuls amongst the Romanes and such at this day are kings and princes And Plato saith Happie is that countrie where Philosophers are kings and kings be Philosophers whereby it appeareth that rulers ought to bee iudges as you your selues doe confesse in saying that the king ought to haue iudged my son which indeed had ben reasonable if his Maiestie by his prerogatiue had not giuen me free authority in matter of iustice in such sort then as I am subiect to the iudgement of the king is my sonne subiect vnto mine and I am not to yeeld an account of my actions vnto any other then vnto his Maiestie
sifted out the truth which at the last by time is now brought to light as he hath ben cruel to torment and readie to execute these poore innocents neither had they died so shamefullie nor he liued to haue been charged for the crime of their death but who may henceforth beleeue that the verie wicked ones can be rightlie iudged when the good haue beene so wilfullie cast away Doe so much then O you rightful iudges that this vniust iudge may be no more neither of your number nor of the number of men vnlesse you will all be partakers both of his crime and of his dishonor The Answere OF a truth that Commonwealth is miserable where the iudges are such as you say and most happie where they doe in no sort swarue from the laws and customes long since allowed of which I haue wholly obserued and kept For the law commandeth and the custome is that euerie man suspected of crime whereof there is a verie apparent sufficient likelihood should be put vnto the racke although the iudge were neuar so well persuaded of his innocencie and confessing the same both vpon the racke and when he is taken off that then he should be punished surelie if I haue otherwise proceeded I am faultie but hauing not done amisse I accuse you for wronging me and require that you make me amends for dishonouring me consider that it is in a manner an offence for anie man to liue so loselie as that he may be suspected to be a malefactor such haue your kinsmen ben for they were not onlie suspected of me but generallie of all men and it may be of your selues for you neuer offered to approue their innocencie vntill after their death They should haue taken heed that they might not haue been suspected In Athens and Rome although Aristides and Cato had ben accused of murther yet neither the iudges nor the people would euer haue beleeued it so much is the opinion of a man his sinceritie able to do which good opinion was neuer had of your kinsmen moreouer they should not haue confessed the fact with their own mouths know you not that the iudge must not be partiall on neither side But he must iudge according to the witnesse of others and the prisoners owne confession complaine then vpon those who haue brought in such sufficient proofe as caused them to be racked complaine also vpon their impatience and cowardlinesse in that they would not indure the torture of the racke rather then die vpon the gallowes I know well inough what regard is to be had before we pronounce the sentence of death against anie man As concerning Nero it is well knowne that it was but hipocrisie in him although he seemed to haue a certaine horror when he signed the sentence of anie condemned man for afterwards it was apparently seene that he caused manie innocents and men of worth to die and I verilie beleeue that he would haue made no difficultie at al vnlesse the partie condemned had beene a notable wicked fellow for euerie one do loue such as are like vnto themselues I did not prolong the execution because I would not increase the affliction of the miserable by long imprisonment as all iudges doe who are not subiect to corruption for the prolonging of a malefactors life is both irksome and hurtfull vnto him To conclude let their processe be throughlie examined and if I haue done anie iniustice I do submit my selfe to be punished if not then I appoint these my accusers to be so serued Declamation 27. Of him that falling downe from the top of his house slew another man against whom the sonne of the slaine man demandeth iustice IT happened that in the countrie of the Switzers a certaine countrieman being got vpon the top of his house to see what reparation was wanting fell downe by mischance vpon another man who happened to walke vnder the same house with his fall he slew him but himselfe escaped The son of the dead man caused the other to be imprisoned and required that he might be put to death according to the law which saith that euerie mankiller ought to die and he would not take anie other amends or satisfaction the iudge of that place seeing his most cruell obstinacie gaue sentence that the said plaintife should ascend vp to the top of the same house and throwing himselfe downe vpon the defendant should kill him if he could The plaintife appealing before the Seignorie of Berne saith MY lords I beseech you to consider what men our iudges are who in steed of doing iustice for the death of one of your subiects will further ad therevnto the death of another or at the least compell him with the danger of his life to be the executioner of himselfe or of another or it may be of both twaine together which is a thing most abhominable and against all reason Who hath euer heard that the punishment of a murtherer hath ben executed in this sort And that there was euer anie honest man that on a suddaine was commanded to play the hangman and to performe an execution so strange They say that he fell downe by mischance as for me I thinke that he did willinglie throw himselfe downe vpon malice for els hee would at the least haue giuen warning vnto all men as his dutie was that he meant to goe vp to the top of his house that they might haue taken heed of anie inconuenience that might chance as wel by the falling of the tiles as of the like of this that now is happened but if it were true that hee fell by mischance why should not he haue beene slaine as well as my father Consider my lords that the malice of men was neuer so great as at this day it is and that they deuiâ—e manie means how they may hurt one another and especiallie those in whom malice is rooted which is neuer showne but when it maie doe most hurt The Answere COnsider my Lords the malice together with the ignorance of this man who heaping mischiefe vpon mischief would make of one mischance twaine Is it not inough that one honest man be dead But that another must against reason die also Must the Commonwealth be in such sort maintained Were it not better that this man should be preserued to helpe to defend the countrie if need were Do we not know that somtimes one man is more woorth then an hundred Is not he of the same lumpe as they were who in times past by their valiant deeds in armes were able to winne that libertie which we do now inioy Thanks be to God and to the inuiolable iustice of this most noble Senat Suffer not then my lords the will of this foolish malicious man to be fulfilled vnto whom the defendant hath offered such a satisfaction as is more then reasonable but he being void of all reason hath by his most greeuous obstinacie constrained vs to giue this sentence which was no lesse
may say that I speake with small respect vnto my lord but we protest that from henceforth we will neuer so account him and if wee cannot obtaine from the King the hoped remedie of our due reparation we make a vow that we our children parents kindred alies friends and whosoeuer els dependeth vpon vs will rather goe dwell amongst the Scithians or anie other more cruell nation then we will remain any longer vnder the gouernment of a man so infamous The earles Answere THe same Iustice mercie and Maiestie of the King which you imploy against me shall yeeld mee reason against all you and shall in my behalfe punish you for your no lesse vain then outragious and vnreuerent speeches wherefore I doe not refuse the iudgement of his Maiestie although the matter concerneth his highnes nothing at all in as much as those whom you speak of were no Gentlemen but robbers and theeues and for such haue I punished them and if anie would know why I did it not after the vsuall manner as there shall no reasons be wanting so am I not bound to tell them vnto anie but vnto such as it shall please my selfe therfore I will only say that they being in that sort put to death their ingrateful kindred towards me haue receiued lesse dishonour thereby then if they had beene made a publike spectacle to the people Likewise the nobilitie of Flanders are become so insolent as they stand in no aw at all of Iustice wherefore this Iustice no lesse suddaine then iust will make them to bethinke themselues twice before they will commit the like offence againe Moreouer you were resolued to saue them either by intreaties or otherwise therefore I desired to take away all occasion to ad vnto their death not onlie yours but also other mens destructions for he may be tearmed wise and vertuous which by one smal mischiefe can eschew farre greater mischances but he that dooth neuer so great good vnto the ingratefull receiueth nothing but hate and reproch for his reward euen so hath it happened to me herein If you who say that you are noble did know what nobilitie is and wherein it consisteth you would say that these robbers were no Gentlemen seeing that gentilitie cannot be grounded but only vpon vertue and as thereby the base borne attaine to nobilitie euen so he which continueth not therein loseth that nobilitie which his father hath left him to the intent that hee should bee vertuous for nothing is more pernicious in a Commonwealth then he who dooth falselie vsurpe the title of Nobility I do demand of you whether the sonne of a good musition may inherit his fathers cunning renoume chieflie to be a good musition without learning and thorowly exercising of musicke It seemeth not if then in an art of so small consequence a man cannot attaine vnto the fame or facultie of his father without he be the same in effect although it should not preiudice the Commonwealth in any sort how then can they inherit nobility who make no proofe therof by vertue by the which our ancestors haue gained it If nobility came but by descent it would be no lesse weake then of small continuance considering the multitude of those that die in the wars but vertue which doth thereby nobilitate others doth still maintain the same I haue then caused these villains to die secretly for the respect I had vnto their kindred who desired to remaine noble in following vertue for those which doe swarue from it a man may rightly say that nobility doth end in them and they which follow it cannot chuse but be noble indeed the which Cicero knew very well how to applie when Claudius said vnto him that he was no gentleman Truly said he in me doth the nobilitie of my race begin to bud as in you the gentrie of your stocke is alreadie blasted And since that I being so exceedingly bound vnto vertue as God hath made me by birth more noble and greater then any other of my countrie I haue done but my dutie in executing good speedie and short Iustice for Iustice surely is not the least kind of vertue and not to execute Iustice were cruelty wherefore I am not cruell much lesse a coward neither doe they speake the truth which doe say that I am an enemie to gentlemen or that I fear them but I am indeed an enemie to the vicious and I fear least they should hurt the good or that they should be corrupted by them now haue I been their executioner or hangman as you affirme but they themselues according to their deserts haue ben the butchers of their owne liues and were it otherwise yet is he rather a hangman which robbeth or killeth an honest man thē is he which executeth malefactors This Spanish pittie proceedeth of no other cause but onely for that they would not execute those which are of their profession yet to betray or murther good men they are nothing scrupulous The Prince of a countrie cannot shew anie better example then in performing Iustice the which I haue done And know you that the Iudges are not necessary but where the Prince is not present for proofe whereof Salomon himselfe iudged causes yet no other but the King can iudge me As for Flaminius he put a condemned man to death vpon pleasure onely to content an harlot but I haue executed foure to obserue Iustice But for any seruice that they might haue done for the King a man may as well say the like of all other theeues for such people can easilie assemble a great number of such worthlesse lewd fellows as they are Likewise it is not a small mischiefe that prodigalitie is wrongfully held for liberalitie as if the prodigall did not commit a thousand mischiefes to get wherewith to performe their follies as these foure did who by their prodigality became theeues Wherefore it may be affirmed that they and such as would maintaine them are those that esteeme vice to be vertue and villaines to be Gentlemen As for the small respect that you haue vsed in slandering me it is therein that I may shew my clemencie for it is true Magnanimitie to pardon great faults especially when none is offended therby by only he which pardoneth the same as I doe not only pardon you but also doe further beseech the King not to punish you because it may bee at your owne choice either to remaine in your countrie or to forsake the same not for that I care for such subiects as you are which disdaine me to be their lord but because I would not against my custome shew my selfe rigorous towards those who being ouercome by passiō do but offend me in words the rather because they which speake more then they should doe thereby but procure their owne shame And to conclude there is no reason that you should be beleeued concerning the dead But it may please the Kings Maiestie to bee better informed vpon this matter if it
his own accord he offered himselfe to abide any punishment yet were his torments aggrauated the more All these acts O Romans are most lamentable worthy of great compassion amongst men But yet the hatefull contempt which this monstrous man hath made of your authoritie is most detestable For as he was in acting the second execution at Callie when the miserable soules were not yet all bound to the stakes there came as it were by diuine grace and your goodnes letters from the Praetor and people of Rome to stay their execution neuerthelesse this man his rage alone preuailed more than did the clemencie of all the rest of you But what is this man who presumeth to be more wise and taketh greater authoritie vpon him then all the other Romanes besides Surely if crueltie be wisdome and presumption carrie authoritie hee hath reason But if humanity be decent for men and to thinke no better of himselfe then others be modestie he hath done amisse for hee is worse then a beast that thinketh himselfe better then any other man If it were lawfull I would faine know what moued him that he could not so much as stay this last cruell execution Or what hurt might haue happened vnto the Romans therby of whom we are the true though disobedient children since heretofore we freely gaue our selues all we possessed into their hands But if some amongst vs more ambitious then the rest vpon hope to command the weaker sort haue yeelded themselues vnto Hannibal was it conuenient that euen those who were displeased therewithall should die so cruelly without being admitted not so much as to speake for themselues Alas this crueltie is too extreame and so much the more in that it was done against the intention of the Senat people of Rome But God graunt that vnder the colour of this horrible deed there be not some secret hidden more pernicious and hurtfull vnto the Romans then euer our rebellion was I know besides the difficultie thereof how much all true Romane hearts doe detest such as do aspire to tyrannize ouer their owne countrey yet I may say that the deeds of Fuluius doe shew that he aimeth at that marke and it may be himselfe suspecteth that so much is alreadie knowne by him which was the only cause why he was vnwilling that the Capuans should be suffered to speake least some thing might haue beene disclosed vnto his preiudice the which I will not affirme because that if it were so it ought to be more then made manifest since that many haue not only bene suspected but also greeuously punished for matters lesse apparent then this And amongst others Coriolanus Manlius Spurius Cassius and Melius only for shewing themselues ouer liberall To conclude I feele my selfe so ouercharged with griefe as I am not able to speake in such sort as I ought pleading before this honorable Senat who may be pleased to beare with my weaknes considering that they neuer keepe decorum which are ouercharged with extream sorrow May it then please you most worthy Senators protectors of equitie by that little which I haue badly expressed to consider what might further be spoken vpon this matter by one who is free from all anguish and feare The Answere of M. Attilius in the absence of Fuluius I Thinke most graue Senators that these men here haue no other reason to complain of Fuluius but only because he hath saued the liues of too many of the Capuans For it is very certaine that after the taking or surrender of Capua Fuluius caused information to be made of all those that had borne any good will vnto the Romans and there were found no more then three silie women that is to say Vestia Oppia and Faucula Cluuia who by the hire of her bodie did secretly relieue the Romans that were in prison and the other did euery day offer sacrifice for the prospertie victory of the Romans The third being but a yong girle was the same that came vnto our campe and gaue intelligence that those Numidians which fained to be runne away from Capua were sent for spies and some of them were found with letters about them to carrie vnto Hannibal Touching the rest it may be said that although they were all guiltie yet did Fuluius cause those onely to die who surpassed the others in authoritie Wherfore Fuluius was no lesse mercifull vnto those whom he saued then iust vnto them that he executed But it is the manner of the wicked yea of the most part of men seldome to say more rightly none of their Citizens were worthie to liue so did Fuluius but well hauing seene with his eies your obstinacie in fighting your fauour to Hanniball and your hate to the Romans therevpon to execute iustice as also because the dignitie of the consulship carrieth with it the authoritie both of the Senate and people in such affaires where expedition is required and it is not for the offenders to demand an account of the iudges for the iustice which they haue executed but those who by their fauor are yet liuing ought rather to admire their most wonderfull mercie Say then that your cruelties haue bene the cause that Fuluius may yet be called more mercifull then iust Finally he is the man who leauing his Collegue hurt at the siege of Capua came with part of the armie to succour Rome and fight with Hanniball who was before our gates at your instance He it is who hath compelled you to submit your selues againe vnto the Romans And he it is who in the behalf of the people hath yet the power to punish you further Wherefore it is but follie to answere particularly to euery slaunderous supposition which you would assert against him since those that are conquered do neuer loue their conquerors Declamation 2. Of the first Earle of Flaunders who was accused to the French King for hanging his eldest son THe Flemmings write very obscurely in their Chronicles that their first Earle was named Leideric being the sonne of one Saluart a Foster of Flaunders and they say that the said Leideric while he was yet a Foster and comming to suruey his woods did find the French king his daughter bebloubered with tears because that in the said forrest some had murthered a Prince of England who had secretly stolen and carried her forth of France Which Princesse Leideric married and of her had seuen sons whom he caused to be all apparelled with garments the left side whereof was cloth of gold in honour of their mother and the right side was woollen cloth because himselfe was neither prince nor knight Now it happened that the said French king whose name they likewise tell not followed in chase of Hart euen vnto the cittie of Liste in Flaunders where the said Leideric dwelt with whom the king was lodged who thorowly viewing Leiderics children thought that they greatly resembled his daughters countenance and demanding for their mother he presently knew her for his lost
time he liued after their creation haue manifested the same to Menenius his sonne being the cause of his death with the griefe that hee tooke in seeing himselfe condemned by those who not long before durst not presume to consort with anie his fathers seruants I say this noble Agrippa died so poore that he left not onlie so much as to burie himselfe withall as it likewise chanced vnto manie others Behold then in whom the ambition and couetousnesse remaineth which you would impute to the Senators who as a candle do consume thēselues for the publick good whilst you which were it not for the office that the Senat hath bestowed vpon you should oftentimes haue no bread to put in your mouthes endeuour to persecute the Senat and destroy the people You accuse me to be the cause that the battaile was foughten so vnluckilie vnder the mountaine of Ianicola I submit my selfe to the report of the Senat and people whether my endeuor were wanting Menenius was condemned for not aiding the Fabians in the time of his consulship and I for fighting vnluckilie as if the one others fault proceeded not from the insolencie of the Tribuns who did so animate the people against the Senat as hardlie would they march vnder the Consuls but who knoweth not that the souldiors neuer doe anie good seruice if they loue not their leader who also can doe no worthie act if he be not thorowlie assured of the good will and obedience of his souldiours but concerning the Fabians they were cut in peeces in the field before the consull was aduertised that they were in anie danger yet was hee condemned vniustlie by you Is it not also manifest that you by your crossing hindering the enrolling the souldiosr haue ben the cause for the most part that succour hath come too late this is all the good that you doe in the Common-wealth O you Tribuns plagues of the same it is not before you who are vnworthie to take account of my actions as I will iustifie much lesse excuse my selfe condemne me if you can I speake not to the end to dissuade you I will not be ashamed to be the companion of so manie vertuous men whom you haue wrongfullie condemned but I do verilie assure you reuerend fathers that as much hangeth ouer the heads of euerie one of you vntill that the condemnation of such a one not more louing to the Common-wealth yet more happie then I do prouoke you not to endure anie more the insolencie of these heddie fellowes who doe onelie maintaine their authoritie they haue with the people in quarrelling with the worthiest Senators and you O people no lesse ingratefull then ignorant of the euill which threatneth you bee you full assured that these men will bring you to that passe that you will desire but neuer obtaine that the Senat may bee restored to their first authoritie The Answere IF the people should not haue some better head then yours it were better they had none at all for although euerie one liued after their own fantasie yet should it be lesse hurtfull for them then to bee led or gouerned by such a one as seeketh their destruction and it cannot bee said that the commendation or condemnation that the Senat deserueth by means of the election of the Tribuns is rightly due vnto them because the same election neuer was allowed by their good wils but being compelled they consented thervnto although in effect they were the cause that the people would both haue them and also obtained them For they vsing the people more rudely then slaues it caused them to looke vnto their owne safeties and to take vp armes and force the Senat to consent vnto the chusing of Tribuns to defend them from those who sought to tirannise ouer them neuerthelesse you would on the contrarie haue vs to serue the Senat and to consent that not onlie they should haue al the honor and profit of that which was gotten with the price of the peoples blood but also that they shold deuour the authors of their dignitie by imposition and vsuries bringing them into captiuitie for debts keeping them in prison and irons and tormenting them at their own pleasure Although you doe not acknowledge O you Senators how much you are beholding vnto the people yet remember onlie when you had need of their valour to confirme your authoritie or to defend you from the enemie how friendlie you could speake When Porsenna king of Tuscan came to besiege Rome to establish the Tarquins therein you then said that the people were oppressed that it were reason to discharge them from taxes that the custome of salt ought to bee taken away and to giue them corne in common since that they were at charge enough in begetting and bringing vp of their children for the warres but as soone as the siege was raised this consideration and liberalitie did vanish away both together King Tarquin being once dead then began you by little and little to vse those free people like slaues so as nothing remained vnto to them but the name of freedome but as in greatest harmes extreame remedies are sought so had the people or els the Senat perished without the mitigation of the Tribuns and it cannot bee denied but that otherwise the miserie of the people had alwaies encreased since that amongst seuē kings there was but one which was hurtfull vnto them and now hardlie can there bee found amongst a number of Senators one that is good or fauourable vnto them or if anie such bee yet dare they not make anie shew thereof for feare to displease others thereby and be called fauourers of the people as it happened to the Fabians who rather desired to die in fighting alone with the enemies then to bee odious to the Senat and not to bee able without danger to fauour the people tell vs onlie whether you are rulers or lords ouer the people and consider that if you bee their rulers you ow them equitie and iustice or if you will be their lords you ought to fauor and protect thē notwithstāding they can obtain nothing at your hands but by force you affirme that if we had not beene the confusion and weakenesse of the people would haue made them acknowledge their fault but you confesse not that the people might sooner bee able to make a new Senat then the Senat a people all these proofes are dangerous because they are extreame and vertue consisteth in a meane The kings haue honoured the Senat so also haue they not despised the people for without them the king could not bee and the first Senate was chosen from amongst them if Collatin were banished for his name onlie Why ought they not to bee condemned whose deeds deserue no lesse Trulie neither Consuls Senators nor Tribuns ought to be suffered if they doe not their dutie neither was it ingratitude to condemne the son of Agrippa but equitie and as there are but a few Senators who
suspect the same others to presume as much and some constantly to beleeue it for you being verie well knowne to bee both valiant and noble it may be supposed that without some particular respect you would not haue suffered not only the Common-wealth and your Collegue to be endangered but also you could hardlie haue indured the sight of the enemie without an extreame desire to fight with him Trulie Marcellus made manie Sallies and Skirmishes against the mind of that great Fabius but for all that he neuer left to aid him when need was so that by the wisedome of Fabius together with his zeale vnto the Commonwealth they were named he the buckler and Marcellus the sword of the Romans whereby it is apparently seene how happie and fruitfull the vnitie and agreement with Collegues is wherevnto I haue with all my power alwaies exhorted you yet was I neuerable to obtaine this good at your hands either for my selfe or his pride which he would attribute vnto me but it is the common custome of the wicked to slander others with those vices which they know to be in themselues and they imagine that of necessitie others are more addicted vnto them Whereupon they doe falsely affirm that they haue borne that respect vnto others which they themselues doe maliciously look for As touching that which Paulus Emilius did he performed his dutie in fighting with Varo being thereunto required as I would haue done the like with you if you had willed me or at the least if I had knowne that the enemies were come the which you might haue aduertised me of by one only man or twain without weakening your campe but I not knowing thereof how could I helpe you But onely suspitious of your meaning I will not say that I was in doubt that you had some intelligence with the enemies seeing that I cannot thinke so vild a part or so great a Treason could euer enter in the heart of a Roman but I may well say that I had great reason to suspect least those of the cittie perceiuing me goe vnto your aid might haue sallied foorth and charging vs behind haue discomfited our whole armie seeing that I knew your ouerthrow euen as soone as I knew that the enemies were come and there was neuer any man of sound iudgement that would lose the whole when he might saue the halfe the which was so well considered of our Senat that after the ouerthrow of Cannas Varo was more praised for returning home though flying then was Paulus Emilius for dying in the place moreouer it is a doubt whether he did well to fight against his mind with Varo seeing that it had ben better for him for the Commonwealth to haue ben lesse forward or at the least more slow for by that means al had not ben lost and it seemeth indeed that he condemned himself to haue erred greatly when he would rather die then accept the horse which Lentulus did offer vnto him to saue himselfe for it is a great rashnesse to bring men vnto the battaile without some great likelihood of victory the which I could not hope for not knowing that you should fight so long vntill you were quite ouerthrowne and then was it too late to send you my forces alreadie amazed with a noueltie being as suddain as it was vnfortunat and vnlooked for for who would euer thinke that you would haue ben so prowd or rash as to begin the battaile without aduertising vs Vs I say that should at the least haue ben companions of your danger I will not say of your glorie seeing the greatnesse of your courage could not indure it Furthermore as I am not ignorant why two Generals in an armie are chosen so do I in like sort know very well to our great disaduantage that you had a desire to vsurpe vnto your selfe alone the whole authoritie finally there is too much said in a matter so euident wherfore I submit my selfe vnto the iudgement of the Senat whether I was bound or whether I should haue done well to hazard the rest of the armie to remedie a mischiefe whereof I had no intelligence vntill it was quite remedilesse Declamation 19. Of one that being condemned appealed to a higher place and refuseth his first iudge being president thereof A Certaine inferiour iudge of a Prouince condemned a man to death who appealed from him to the court of Parlâ—ment neuerthelesse he deferred his comming thether so long as he could sometimes by faining to bee sicke and by such other meanes which succeeded so badly for him that the said iudge came to be President at the Parlament wherevnto the said offender had appealed Whervpon being brought thether he refused to be iudged by that new President saying YOu would then that I should appeale from Pilate to Pilate I will keepe me from that if iustice haue anie place for it cannot be tearmed an appeale to haue the same iudge from whom one appealeth Who knoweth not that he is the same man who to encrease his dignitie will nothing at all surceasse his iniustice but rather with his dignitie and authoritie will also increase an ill opinion towards me because I haue appealed from his iniustice for if he did me wrong when I might appeale from him what will he now doe if he may absolutely iudge me without contradiction As for me I doe firmely beleeue that with mine enemies coyne he hath bought this authoritie to the end that I might haue no other meanes to escape his vniust sentence I will not say that such places of authoritie ought not to be sold but I dare trulie auouch that there ought great heed to be taken vpon whom they are bestowed and so much the rather because being to continue in the same during their life they are the lesse subiect to correction and paying money therefore more subiect to corruption O happie is the countrie where the King maketh his abode as at Paris and the places thereabout for there those which deserue authoritie obtaine them for by the proofe of their capacitie fidelitie and good seruices done vnto the Kings Maiestie and to the Commonwealth they are prouided of such estates as they deserue or rather those places of authoritie are prouided for such men as know how to exercise them as they ought but here where we are farre from that princely light all is subiect to corruption and they doe not beare office which doe best deserue it but they which haue the most friends and the greatest purse so this my partiall iudge hath in one day obtained without any desert at all the dignitie of a President by his monie To auoid this corruption in Italie Spain Almaine Flanders and other Prouinces the iudges are only but for a yeare but after that the tearme is ended they are subiect to the like officers or vnto the Censure of other iudges such also was the custome of the Romans that so long time did flourish and yet should haue flourished if
Marius and Silla and afterwards Caesar and Pompey had not with other good customes caused this likewise to bee neglected for the Romane Empire which so many yeares before was famous did wholy decline when offices were more easily obtained by the wealthie then the vertuous but so long as the rich men did suffer themselues to be gouerned and iudged by the poore Fabricias and such others no kingdome was more happie and prosperous then the Romans Commonwealth The Venetians haue flourished almost a thousand and two hundred yeares by the like meanes in making more estimation of such Senators as were vertuous then of those that were rich who if they haue not vertue ioined with their riches do there neuer obtaine anie dignitie which is the cause that amongst them iustice is rightly administred and that the condemned doe neuer hope for anie redemption or fauour by appeales but because we are farre from the presence of the King from his Counsell and from the most worthie chiefe Court we in this our Prouince do see the iudges so corrupt or sometimes so ignorant that of an hundred appealants two doe not returne rightly iudged It were reason therfore that this our iudge were allowed some certaine time to learne of the Lords which haue of long time ben of this Parlement before he haue this authority to adiudge those appealants which haue appealed from himselfe truly I should thē be content to say that I haue appealed from him being vniust vnto himselfe being become iust but what assurance haue I now thereof Seeing that in authoritie which is indeed the touchstone to trie men withal the most part of them doe wax worse and euen as the waight of gold diminisheth being oftentimes rubbed vpon the touchstone so doth the consciences of such as are but slenderly indued with vertue decay by often changing of their dignities for if men did know or at the least would not dissemble how hard a thing it is to vse the office of a iudge there would be so few that would couet to buy that place as hardly should there bee any found that would bee desirous to take such authoritie vpon them Neuerthelesse this being not my iudge but mine aduersarie not content to haue adiudged me once would condemne me againe King Lewis the twelfth when one counsailed him to be reuenged on those which in times past had offended him answered that it was not the part of the king of France to reuenge the wrongs which were done vnto the Duke of Orleans which surely were both the words of a noble and mild prince but I find not any of these two parts in this new president but rather on the contrary it seemeth that he hath made himselfe president to cause those to die whom he hath wronged being but an inferiour iudge of whom I am one and he which is vnto him most odious The old prouerb saith That the ignorance of the iudge is oftentimes the cause of the calamititie of them that are accused O happy world wherein this Prouerbe was inuented if then the iudges did only offend through ignorance although the same be a fault great inough what shall we alasse say then in these daies Wherein malice exceedeth ignorance and that for the most part they harbor both together Or that which is worst of al if it may be lawfull to speak the truth that as the number of the skilfull encreaseth so the number of the good decreaseth and when that happeneth there can no good bee hoped for in the Common-wealth for there is nothing more dangerous in the world then to haue such a man in authoritie that is wise and wicked both together because that for euery purpose they haue examples very readie to prooue and persuade their wicked intentions to be lawfull like vnto this man who by his monie is made president Wherefore I doe rather submit my selfe vnto anie other iudge then vnto him whom I doe vtterly refuse The Answere IT is a common thing that such as are offenders doe hate and slander their iudges and the more iust they are the sooner doe they falsly accuse them of iniustice wherein they themselues doe make their crime more apparent for they would haue the iudges such as they are that they might pittie those that are like vnto themselues or at the least that they might be such as would be corrupted the which they cannot hope for in those that are iust wherefore they are driuen into despaire knowing that no punishment can hurt the desperate man as also that there shall not so much be inflicted vpon them as they doe deserue and so they vomit out their poison against the righteous iudge the which they doe the more boldlie because they know wel that for all their speech he wil be neuer a whit the more cruel vnto them but without any stearnnesse or malice wil iudge them according to the laws executing them rather with mercie then rigor neither shall the wicked be able to mooue his patience for he which perceiueth himselfe to be blamed truly is angrie and thinketh to be reuenged but on the contrarie he that knoweth his conscience cleare maketh no account of slaunderous speeches or if he chance at the first brunt to be angrie he doth presently bridle the same his anger by reason rather desiring to remaine such as he is then by rage or passion to become such a one as in ttuth he ought not to be I am the same man which he affirmeth me to be so also is he nothing amended since I condemned him I did neuer beare him anie ill will neither did he euer giue me occasion so to doe but truly I haue condemned him but with lesse rigor then his deserts required or the lawes commanded but why should not I bee odious vnto him whom I haue condemned to die Seeing that the Phisitions and Chirurgions who doe employ themselues to saue mens liues are oftentimes heartily lothed of them when either they touch their sores or will not suffer them to follow their noisome appetites but do rather appoint them to take good and and wholsome things the child and the seruant yea and the wife doe for the most part hate the father the master and the husband which chastise rebuke them how much more then doth the offender hate the iudge which condemneth him Seeing he wrongfully deemeth him to be the cause of the shame and punishment which he receiueth although himselfe be the occasion both of the one and the other euill Whereas he saith that I haue bought my office to hurt him there be some other proofes then his tongue to verifie the contrarie It is likewise apparently seene how he slandereth the most part of iudges It is a goodly matter indeed for an offender to censure the deeds of iudges and to discourse of equitie and iustice as also to dispute whether offices may be sold and whether officers ought to be yeerely chosen or not you are brought hether to be
in other mens matters as these doe who would persuade me that this exercrable offence should not once haue prouoked me to reuenge the which it hath not done but rather vnto a iust punishment of the malefactor for that is called reuenge which is done wittingly but that is punishment which is inforced through a most iust cause of disdaine or anger Some may say that euery punishment ought to be done with a setled mind without choler for feare of being ouer rigorous I do confesse it ought but who can also denie that the first motions of anger are not in our owne power Wherefore I would and it were also reasonable that these my ouer sharpe accusers had a true feeling of the wrong done vnto me and then they would iudge more modestly of their brother who hath done that which they ought to desire that is rooted out from amongst them a supersticious Diuine not only hurtfull to his friends but vnto all the Commonwealth Is it not too apparent that such people are puffed vp with ambition that they had rather see the death of a million of men then to suffer that by any it should be knowne that they haue failed one iot in their fond diuinations As he of Milan did who hauing foretold that at a certaine time he should perish by yron not finding any man that would kill him although he gaue them diuers occasions slew himselfe to verifie his prophesie so this my dead brother hauing foretold that by this my marriage a great mischance should happen vnto all our race had rather be the cause thereof himselfe not seeing any likelihood therein then to be esteemed vnskilfull in his art which is especially forbidden both by diuine and humane laws And then you say that you haue lost the best of your brethren me thinks that if he were the best then the rest should be nothing worth at all and you ought not to say that a iust cause of disdaine constraineth you to require the death of the third but rather an iniust hatred for were it not so from whence could such an inuectiue proceed to animate the iudges against me Had it not ben sufficient for you only to haue said this man here hath slain our two brethren for this and this cause wherevpon we demand iustice You say that you are partakers of the misfortunes of my marriage why doe you not rather say of the insolencie wickednesse and adulterie of Sadoc As also that I am vnworthie to be reckoned amongst your brethren truely hee neuer deserued to be accounted If offenders ought to be punished for an example I haue not done so bad as you say in punishing him suddainely For who was a more notorious offender then he You say that those which follow armes doe all become wicked men Abraham Moises Iosua and a number of others because they were valiant in armes were they the lesse righteous Moreouer the multitude of those which you alleage that haue slain their kindred maketh more for my commendation then my condemnation for you shall find that the most part of them had lesse cause to doe the same then I. Furthermore I cannot beleeue that either monie or desire of vainglory draweth men vnto the wars but rather a desire to maintaine lawfull and iust quarrels although euery Generall affirmeth it to be his owne Finally the wars hath ben in all ages Saint Iohn baptised the souldiors without forbidding them to vse the same art yea God hath many times commanded his people to vse it so that it may be iustly proued that wars is rather an occasion of vertue then vice Concerning the report of my wife this is not the first time that women haue ben beleeued in the like case wherefore seeing neither you nor I haue or can find any reproch in mine that may blemish her honor she is as well to be beleeued as othets and if as you say a woman cannot be forced then haue diuers heretofore ben wrongfully condemned for the like offence Truly the law had ben sufficient to haue punished Sadoc but if I had had such patience as was requisite what assurance should I haue had that hee would either haue come before the iustices or els if he had chanced into their hands that you would not all haue taken his part as you are now against me And as you say it is iniustice to pardon an offender so is it iustice to punish a wicked man as I haue done wherefore I haue not offended but only in that being iustly stirred vp to anger I haue defrauded the iudges of their authoritie of whom humbly beseeching pardon for this fault I do wholly submit my selfe vnto their mercie beseeching them also to defend me from your malice Declamation 22. Of him who after he had had his pleasure of a maid would haue forsaken her to haue married her sister A Yong Gentleman hauing had a quarrell a long time with a neighbour of his made an agreement with him vpon a condition that the said neighbour should giue him leaue to chuse one of his three daughters in marriage and allow him the tearme of one yeare to make his choice so that vnder this coulor being familiar with them all he got the eldest of them with child afterwards he would haue chosen the second wherevnto the neighbour opposed himselfe saying THou vngracious man how darest thou imagin such a wickednesse Or once behold me in the face hauing ben so treacherous and mischieuous to abuse that familiaritie which was granted vnto thee in signe of reconciliation vnder the which thou hast more harmed me in protesting thy selfe to be my friend then all thy weake forces had ben able to hurt me if thou hadst continued my mortall enemie O God is it possible that men may be so wicked That what they cannot doe by force they accomplish vnder the cloake of an honest friendship but why say I freindship When that is the greatest benefit that God hath giuen for the vse of man without the which this life should be full of bitternesse and sorrow But let vs come vnto the matter did not you make your choise when you had carnall copulation with my daughter Is not that the consummation of marriage Truly yes they were all three promised vnto you but in lying with this you haue had your choise and it is not verie likely that she would otherwise haue consented therevnto but you breaking promise with her would by that means be reuenged of me for all former enemities but if it be so that an ancient hatred preuaileth more with you then a new friendship I doe beseech you most worthie iudges that he may be punished which hath suborned seduced and abused hir that is his wiues sister for by our agreement he is bound to take one of the three moreouer let him be punished which hath so greeuously offended his father in law his mother in law and his sisters in law and finally contemning laws and all honestie hath
man may often receiue hurt by his neighbors how much more then by him that dwelleth in the same house with him In thinking to saue part of your abilitie you would blemish your whole honor for in pulling downe your habitation and letting the offenders stand whole it will be thought that you haue committed the crime that he is innocent because the same is done as much for a perpetuall memorie and reproch of the offence as for an example to others and the law was ordained for the strong houses no more then it was for those that were weake whose losse will be a lesse hurt vnto the Commonwealth Moreouer where the greater number is there do such faults happen the oftener as also because the common people are lesse afraid then the Noble to be conuinced of crime for as much as the fall of the great cannot chuse but be great and therefore the more to be feared and especially when it concerneth the losse of honor which is so hardlie to be gotten but being once lost sildome or neuer may it be recouered The augmenting of the gloses of the law cannot redound vnto the preiudice of iustice which is to correct or punish the wicked without anie respect at all if you haue nothing to doe with the fault of the offender no more also hath iustice to doe with the losse which you sustaine for dwelling so neere vnto him and you must not say that this void place shall serue for a lurking hole for theeues and such wicked people as walke by night for so long as iustice shal be trulie administred the number of such kind of people will be but small But why doe you not as well say that this place will serue for a terror vnto those which would commit the like offences seeing the token that iustice hath here left for the same and this must be especially remembred that there is no other bridle to restraine the wicked then the inuiolable execution of the laws yea it is the chiefest work of mercie to punish the wicked with rigor because that by the punishment of one an hundred are terrified wherefore we must not for some little particular losse neglect the common good and the rather because that for your losse you may seeke your remedy vpon the rest of his goods but should it be otherwise yet ought you to preferre iustice which is immortall as being the daughter of God before a little temporall goods Declamation 24. Of him who hauing lien with his bondwoman would neither manumise her nor consent that her sonne should be sold THe law in times past was such that if any man did lie with his bondwoman he was inioined to manumise or make her free Wherevpon it happened that a certaine man begot his bondwoman with child he being called before the Iustice did sweare that hee did not lie with her she being in trauell with her child swore he did the iudge the better to sift out the truth and to be assured whether the child were his commanded that he should be sold for a slaue the man lying in prison for debt vnto the which he would in no sort agree Wherevpon the iudge presumed that he was the father of the child and cōdemned him to manumise the mother The man appealeth saying IT is manifestly to be seene that the iudge is more caried away with passion then guided by iustice for first he would haue me to make my bondwoman free and yet she neuer requested me to doe it and next he hath constrained me to sweare thereby to exempt me from doing it but not content therewith hauing bethought himselfe vpon the speech of her being in trauaile of childbirth and it may be incited by himselfe would that there should be more credit giuen vnto the oath of a bondwoman then vnto his that is a Citizen free born and owner of the bondwoman who doubteth that she seeing her selfe fauoured of the iudge will not take an occasion to sweare an vntroth to gaine her freedome But must he beleeue her for all that When a slaue is taken for an offence if he saith his maister is partaker with him therin is he to be beleeued Do we not know that euery slaue hateth his maister But the passion of the iudge is verie manifest in this that amongst al the moueable goods which I haue he would needs cause this poore child to be sold who as yet cannot speake I gainsaying so great a crueltie he would inferre that I declare by the same that he is my sonne the which is not true but I am not so hard hearted neither do I hate the sillie creature born within my house so extreamely as I can without compassion see him seperated from his mother so yoong which is almost enough to kill him but what a iudge are you That in steed of exercising mercie wil hinder others from vsing it Whereby a man may easily know how vnwoorthie you are to execute the office of a iudge seeing that iustice and pittie ought to be ioined together as the body and soul which being separated one from another the bodie dieth euen so without mercie iustice dieth and as the dead bodie by corruption is turned vnto earth so is iustice without mercie changed into crueltie How long did the cittie of Rome flourish being grounded vpon pittie When in her beginning she receiued al nations which had elswhere no place of aboad And yet you would condemne me because I imbrace pittie in my heart which will neuer enter into yours otherwise you would comfort me being so miserable a prisoner as I am but to encrease the afliction of the afflicted you would not onlie cause that to be sold which he loueth but also would haue him manumise his onlie bondwoman from whom he might reape some profit by her seruice Yet if at the least you had willed the mother and the child to be sold both together your crueltie then should not seeme so manifest but like vnto Herod you haue a desire onlie to hurt the innocent and the prisoner notwithstanding I haue so great confidence in the equity of those who are more righteous thē you that they hauing iust pittie of the afflicted and innocent will condemne your crueltie The Answere VVEre you so honest a man as you should bee you might both be free from this punishmēt and I eased of that trauel which you haue put me vnto but how would you be esteemed iust and pitifull seeing that you your selfe doe giue men occasion not to thinke you so shewing your selfe to be either more slanderous then anie other or els trulie verie miserable Doe you not know that it is the greatest vertue that can be in the world for a man to bridle his tongue and that it oftentimes hurteth his own maister more then doth his enemies sword Wherefore I stand in doubt whether your malice or ignorance is greater but the one being neuer without the other I will onely say that you shew
I shall not fight except also you your selfe may command me to doe it for seeing the losse is more hurtfull vnto the people then to the Prince wherefore ought he to be the onlie iudge of a deed wherein the Generall profit or losse of the comminaltie consisteth For bee it losse or gaine the people must maintaine the Princes estate and especially when they lose most then are they most of all burthened with imposts and lendings to resist the enemie and to satisfie the Princes pleasure wherevpon it may be inferred that if I haue offended it is more to the preiudice of the people then the Prince notwithstanding I am content to submit my selfe vnto their iudgement trusting that they will haue no lesse respect to the seruices which heretofore I haue done and to those which hereafter I may yet doe then vnto the good meaning that I had to performe this last seruice well although God it may be for a greater good would not suffer me to haue the victorie being as likely as it was desired The Princes Answere YOur excuse aggrauateth your crime saieng that you did your dutie and yet despised his commandement whose mind therin you knew not Did you know the reason why he forbad you to fight Thinke you that he was altogether ignorant what the enemies were able to doe and that they might be ouercome rather by temporising then by anie stroke striking Doe you thinke your selfe wiser then that great Fabius who rather desired to be counted a coward then to lose the Romane Citizens who in that sort temporising with great patience was in the end the conqueror of that furious Hanniball Doe you not know that before a man can command he must know how to obey the which you had no desire to do You would willingly haue the souldiors obey you in doing badlie and you would not obey the Pirince in doing well what would they saie of you if they were liuing M. Manlius Torquatus Aulus Posthumus Tubero and Epaminundas they caused their owne sonnes to die for transgressing nay rather for fighting against their commandement yet had they the victorie O how happie was that world then when nothing was impossible vnto those warriors so well disciplined It is alwaies the custome of the rash and brainesicke men to attribute their faults to the will of God to fortune to the sinne of the people Prince or souldiors as you doe forgetting your owne together with your disobedience which being displeasing both to God and men can bring forth nothing that good is then you mocking the Prince after the battaile is lost doe demand whether you shall fight it alleaging so manie reasons it may be forged that it were impossible to lose it and that which is worst heaping sinne vpon sin you bring the princes authoritie in question and stirre vp the people against him but your owne reasons doe confound you for doe not all the members obey the head The head being greeued are not all the members pained Yea when manie members are lost the head still remaineth and taketh care to preserue the rest as hitherto I both haue and will still preserue my people God willing who are not so impudent as to desire to take an account of your faults knowing well that as that which concerneth the soule is referred vnto the diuine the diseases of the bodie to the phisition and controuersies for goods to the iustice so are matters of warres and the gouernement thereof referred to the prince but how can you doe them anie good seruice seeing that you haue done your best to ouerthrow thē for your owne pleasure Trulie I should haue thought you alone worthie to be my Lieutenant Generall if you had knowne how to obey me but not esteeming me for your Prince you cannot be my Lieutenant Doe you not know that in al affairs faults are not tollerable But especially in the warres where there needeth but one to ouerthrow all they are most hurtfull where haue you euer seene that it is lawfull for an offender to change or alter the lawes much more then is it for him to diminish or bring in question the authoritie of your Prince But what would not you haue ben bold to attempt if you had ben victor Surely nothing but euen to haue attempted to make your selfe King Finallie the people may remember both the good and bad seruices that you haue done and those which you may yet performe but as for me I doe award him to be punished who in stead of demanding mercie and pardon for his offence will procure a second destruction in changing of auncient customes whereby the people haue ben all hether happilie gouerned and preserued for there was neuer anie alteration of laws or customes without bringing a calamitie vpon that land wherein they were begun Declamation 26. Of those who were executed because they confessed that they had murthered a man afterward it was found that they were guiltles A Iudge vpon some likelihood caused two men suspected of murther to be racked they confesse the fact and are put to death Some certaine time after their execution he which was supposed to be murthered returned home whervpon the kinsmen of those that were executed accused the iudge saying ALasse how miserable is that Commonwealth where those that ought to administer iustice and defend the innocents doe in steed of protecting them frō danger put them to a most shamefull death which trulie proceedeth by the admitting of cruell and bloodie men to the seat of iustice who besides their wicked nature being accustomed to this vice would make vs to beleeue that iustice which ought to be the twinne sister vnto mercie consisteth in nothing but in barbarous crueltie such a man is this our worthie iudge who vnder the coulor of I know not what likelihood because he would not seeme to be idle hath tortured and tormēted two poore innocents in such sort that to escape from his hands they haue thought it a lesse hurt to die by the hands of the hangman then to remaine anie more at the discretion of such a iudge Surelie it were better to pardon two malefactors then to put to death one innocent but this man hath rather cause two innocents to die then he himselfe would not be an offender The ioints of euery righteous iudge ought to tremble the hairs of his head to stand vpright for feare yea the heart to faint when he thinketh that by the authoritie of his voice although neuer so iust one like vnto himself nay more resembling the image of God should be put to death Seeing the fault for which he dieth cannot be recompenced wherefore Nero who was accounted a monster for crueltie had yet a kind of horror when he signed anie sentence of death You will saie that they are put to death to terrifie others that are wickedlie minded I confesse it but the same ought to bee done vnto offenders Alasse if this iudge had beene as carefull to haue
priuiledges that he might redeeme his life for three thousand crownes the iudge caused him to be hanged and paied himselfe three thousand crownes for hauing put him to death his kindred appeale vnto the Prince and say MOst mightie and iust Prince the renowne of your equitie hath incited vs to become your most loiall most louing most humble most faithfull subiects and to chuse you for our soueraigne Prince and most redoubted lord whereby this good is happened vnto vs that we haue alwaies found in you such iustice and bountie as is requisite as also your Maiestie shall euer find in vs all dutifull obedience but what shall we saie Seeing that this happinesse of your good meaning is abused by the malice of your ministers and especiallie by the chiefest which is hee that ought to administer vnto vs iustice in your behalfe and to haue a respect that wee maie bee maintained in our rights priuiledges and customes according as it hath pleased your Maiestie to take your oath but he which is our iudge hath had iustice in derision and vnder the shaddow thereof hath committed crueltie for hauing condemned one of our Citizens to die for a manslaughter wee shewed him that which he ought not to be ignorant of that is to saie how our priuiledges doe permit that such a trespasse maie be satisfied with the paiment of three thousand crowns appliable according to the ordināces in such cases prouided whervpon he hath therby taken an occasion to put one of our Citizens to an ignominious death to the great dishonor of all his linage saieng that he shall be acquited in paieng the said forfeit as if there were no difference betweene the killing of a man in cold blood through a certaine malice or contempt especiallie in derision of iustice of the Commonwealth and of the lawes and priuiledges therof to cause one die shamefullie and cruelly by the hands of an hangman and the flaying of ones enemie by whom a man is prouoked therevnto through some wrong or other iust cause of malice But wherein you vniust iudge had this our Citizen offended you Seeing that you haue no part in the Commonwealth but like an hired seruant in a house you are to abide therein onelie the appointed time of your office which is giuen vnto you not to abolish our priuiledges but to maintaine them all the other Citizens were more interessed in this fact then you and neuethelesse you alone haue beene desirous of reuenge trulie crueltie becommeth no man but it is most odious in Princes and Iudges more then in anie others seeing that our Prince is altogether free from this vice ought not you to follow his example Or at the least you ought not to haue erred from the same so reprochfullie If too sharpe and rigorous laws are made more to terrifie men then to destroie them wherefore haue you rather desired to aggrauate our lawes then to performe them Who hath made you more wise then our Ancestors who haue inuented this priuiledge for the conseruation of the Citizens Doe you not know that iustice without mercie is iniustice How great crueltie is it then to turne mercie into rigor Most vniust is the sentence which preuenteth iudgement and such hath yours ben for crueltie depriued you of all iudgement when you pronounced the same Doe you not know that whilest you iudge other men God iudgeth you How would you doe then if hee should iudge you according to your your deserts But who hath mooued you to commit this new crueltie Doe you not know that all innouation of laws customes is no lesse dangerous then scandalous To conclude you haue offended the Prince in resisting of his oath and wronged his subiects in breaking their pruiledges both the one and the other offence deserueth death wherevpon we beseech you most righteous Prince that he which hath contemned your authoritie iustice and our priuiledges may bee punished that all the Iudges hereafter may thereby take an example Seeing that if our enemies had not giuen him the monie he would neuer haue purchased at so great a charge an vnlawful means to exercise his crueltie against your subiect and our priuiledges The Answere IF anie law be vniust or pernicious it is that which is not equall to all men but how can that be equall which causeth the greatest malefactors to escape for monie As this priuiledge doth allow which imboldeneth the rich that ought to succour the poore not only to wrong them but also to murther them because hee knoweth verie well that he shall be acquited for monie the which being paied he afterwards committeth a thousand mischiefs to get that which he hath spent into his purse againe for what wickednesse will not such a one be bold to commit that maketh no conscience to kill his equall Or it may be such a one as is better then himselfe But if the law or your priuiledge bee vniust then haue not I offended Or if I haue misdone in paieng the forfeiture I am acquited Why should he be punished which procureth the death of a malefactor Seeing that hee which murthereth an innocent is quit for monie Concerning the difference of cold blood and to cause one to die by the hands of the hangman that doth in no sort aggrauate the offence for being an offender he hath thereby had the better means to acknowledge his fault and to craue pardon of God especiallie to dispose of his worldlie cares and familie the which he gaue no leisure vnto the other to doe and for the reproch it consisteth not in the maner of the death but in the cause of the death For if anie man should be hanged for hauing done some good vnto his countrie his death should neuerthelesse be accounted honourable but he which is hurtfull vnto the Common-wealth although hee die in his bed amongst his kindred yet should his death be accounted odious It is not I then that am cause of his shame but the murther which he hath committed I confesse indeed that he neuer offended me but rather iustice so likewise I caused him not to die but to maintain equitie and not being able to doe it without disbursing of monie I did rather chuse to pay it then to leaue iustice vndone I haue not infringed or broken your priuiledge but onelie shewed that it is vnlawfull and that it ought to be amended I cannot tell whether your ancestors were more wise then I but I dare well say that they were rich men who without the consent of the poore men inuented this priuiledge for there was neuer anie tyrannie more manifest which your selues ought to abolish you being subiect to a most iust Prince therefore I desired to admonish you thereof at mine owne proper costs and charges Likewise I know that I am not the first which hath beene slandered for mine honest meaning in desiring to change wicked customes into good for Solon and Licurgus were not free from the like and before them Moises
thereof and they which will liue after their owne mind haue neuer inough of which number thou art one and that hath caused thee to cast away my son so miserablie for the which I demand iustice The Merchants Answere WHy doest thou persecute me O thou woman for a mischance that displeaseth mee no lesse then it doth thee If it were otherwise might not I haue kept this gold and haue made thee beleeue that thy son had ben run away from me Yea and that he had robbed me or els that hee had died by some other accident then couldest thou well haue indured thy sonnes losse together with thy poore life but indeed thou verifiest the old Prouerb which saith That a woman is extream in all things and that likewise shee commonly chuseth the worst whereby I might haue been better aduised when I told thee of this mishap being therfore no lesse sorrowfull then thy selfe for to say the truth it was a great lamentable mischance and now I doe verie well know how vnseemely it is for anie man to say I had not thought because euery wise man thinketh vpon euerie thing before hee doe anie thing Notwithstanding I dare affirme that few men would euer haue supposed that of a child there might be poyson made to kill men and surely I doubt whether thou art to bee blamed or no for bearing such a one for such children are begotten by vnlawfull coniunction when the woman is in her wicked disposition Furthermore if my son should haue persuaded mee to leaue him with that Turke I know not whether I should haue done it yea or no. Lastly I suffered him to doe what he would thinking it should haue beene for his profit and thine our deedes ought to bee measured by our good or bad meaning and not according to the euent therof and say not that a Turke dooth neuer buy a Christian to doe him anie good for manie slaues doe there become great lords and gouernors of Prouinces thy sonne would not credit my counsell and although I had not consented vnto his request yet would he haue left me to accomplish it the couetousnesse was in him and not in me hardlie may he bee either counselled or corrected that is naturallie enclined to wickednesse as hee was and I beleeue that hee had that from thee seeing that to the death of thy sonne thou wouldest ad the destruction of the dearest friend that thou hast in the wortd and who in stead of thy sonne and husband would bee the stay of thine age and alwaies helpefull vnto thee But it is trulie said women naturallie can neuer forgiue a fault nor acknowledge anie seruice or fauour that is done vnto thē Declamation 80. Of him that agreed to behead his father after his father refused to doe the like by him IT chanced that a father his son were both conuinced of treason for the which they were condemned to die neuertheles as they were readie to bee executed the Iudges being inclined to mercie rather then rigor were willing to saue one of them saying that the griefe which hee should haue that might see his kinsman die would serue for a sufficient punishment and to encrease the same they feigned that the one of them should be the others executioner they put it vnto their choice who should be the executioner and who the partie to be executed wherefore either of them striued a great while who should be the partie to be executed but in the end the son agreed to the death of his father and according to the decree would haue beheaded him the which the Iudges perceiuing they caused the execution to bee staied and pardoned the father and sent for the hangman to behead the sonne but the father defended him saying YOu ought not O you Iudges to pronounce your sentences in manner of a mockerie or by the ambiguitie or reuocation of them to increase the affliction of the afflicted vnder a coulour of moderating iustice with mercie if mine offence be not worthie of death why will you make me suffer many That is to say one in seeing the extremitie of the choice wherevnto you haue put vs another in contemning my life and offering vp my necke at naught to be cut of by my son and the third in seeing him to be condemned for being willing to accomplish your sentence If it bee a cruell deed to see a sonne execute his father that thereby hee might haue his owne life saued a greater cruelty would it be for the father to kill the sonne Wherefore O you Iudges you should not haue giuen so cruell a sentence but can you blame a child if to saue the prime time of his youth he doe not spare the withered age of his father whose yeares are not manie and they miserable For to say the truth age is an incurable maladie but although it were not yet sure griefe and dispaire would be my destruction if you haue anie children consider then what our miserie is And if you haue none learn of those which haue them what the affection of fathers towards their children is And then may you know that the extremitie of the choice which we haue beene put vnto without encreasing our miserie is sufficient to make vs seem more worthie of present pittie thē of further punishment Not in vain did Lisander of Sparta say vnto him that found him childishlie playing with his children I pray thee quoth hee doe not disclose this my follie at anie time vnlesse it be when thou hast children as wel as I for that discreet personage did very wel know that those which haue no children doe neuer know how great the father and childrens loue is one vnto another the which doth wax more feruent as our years and age increaseth wherefore it is no great wonder if my son hath consented to doe that which I could neuer agree vnto seeing that his yeares are all too yong as yet to vnderstand so wel as I what true affection meaneth therefore I cannot beleeue that he whom Manlius Torquatus caused to be beheaded to manifest his care in obseruing militarie discipline could assuredlie be his own son the which perchance himselfe did well vnderstand for that cause hee found occasion at one stroke to be both reuēged of the mother in grieuing her with the slaughter of her sonne the cause and witnesse of his sorrow and also by the same means to gaine an immortall memorie I say memorie because such kind of crueltie is not to be tearmed glorie But how many are there who for want of yeares and discretion haue conspired their fathers death and yet haue not beene compelled therevnto as this my sonne was but onlie either for the desire of rule or greedinesse of goods notwithstanding there was neuer anie father so cruell as to punish his sonne for all that except Herod that abhominable monster more cruell then anie brute beast But Dauid did not he weepe for his sonne Absolon by whom
he had receaued so manie detestable persecutions and iniuries Must there then be a quarrell taken because I haue ben more pittiful then my sonne who neuerthelesse would not do anie thing without my commandement by the dutie whcih he ought vnto me which hath chieflie induced him heretofore to commit that offence for which we are both condemned Lastlie reason willeth that your last sentence be not reuoked for no sentēce ought euer to be reuoked to the hinderance or preiudice of such as are to suffer if one of vs must die it is I that ought so to doe seeing that I was first born and being the elder I haue offended through malice but he through ignorance I willinglie and he in obeying me I then being the onlie cause that both hee and I haue offended it is requisit that I onlie should die for both our misdeeds and neuer imagine that my sonne doth for all that escape vnpunished for as all my miserie shall in my death haue an end so shall his calamitie in liuing together with his yeares dailie more and more increase as well in grieuing that hee hath offended the Commonwealth as that he hath ben constrained to kill his father by their commandement who ought to abhorre the onelie thought of so execrable a crueltie The answere of the Iudges OVr sentence was not pronounced by way of mockerie neither was it reuoked to encrease your miseries but onlie to know seeing you are both twaine worthie to die whether of you is most vnworthie to liue for mercie which assuageth Iustice ought alwaies to be extended towards him that is least culpable Wherefore finding your sonne more faultie then you we haue appointed him to die yet not by your hands for we know that the same were rather crueltie then iustice but we haue hereby made a certaine triall whether there were anie vertue remaining in him when in consenting vnto your death he hath bewraied his vngraciousnesse so that except you bee yet an enemie to your countrie you ought not to bewaile the death of a man so wicked or a sonne so worthlesse but we plainlie perceiue that euerie one fauoureth such as himselfe is and that you will neuer surceasse to hate the Commonwealth so that it will bee no great losse although you should as you say die with griefe for such a losse shall be more profitable to all then hurtfull to anie likewise of two wicked men we had rather saue him that by course of nature will die the soonest and which hath little time and lesse strength to accomplish his wicked purpose We haue children but if wee did know that they would euer bee like vnto you or your sonne wee would presentlie doe with them as wee will with him and as wee ought to doe with you they are to bee pittied which are poore and miserable not such as are wicked and malefactors for as to afflict the good it is an act of crueltie so to punish the bad is a deed of charitie we doe not cause your sonne to die for being willing to accomplish our sentence as you say but because he being alreadie worthie of death the same doth make him more worthie and wee doe saue you by our speciall grace because you would not kill him shewing your selfe at the least a better father then he is a sonne and the dutie which he ought vnto you can bee no excuse for him for it is verie apparent that he would hardlie euer haue obeied you had you commanded him to doe anie good true it is that neuer anie sentence is to bee reuoked to the hinderance of the good but as wee haue moderated the first to saue the life of one of you so is it lawful for vs now to applie the other in such sort that he may die which is most wicked Also the choice which we doe put you vnto cannot bee called crueltie seeing that it was not to that end that it should be so effected neither was the same anie suddaine inuention of our owne thoughts but it is to bee considered that the wickednes of malefactors causeth the iudges to inuent new extraordinary punishments thereby to represse vice the sooner To conclude if you thinke that we do you any wrong you may appeale vnto those who haue as great authoritie ouer vs as ouer you Declamation 81. Of a Chirurgion who murthered a man to see the mouing of a quicke heart THere was in Padua a most cunning Chirurgion excelling all others of his time who hauing made wonderfull experiences of his art for no lesse is the desire of cunning then is couetous of coine had also a wonderfull great desire to open a liue man that he might perfectly know the motion of the heart wherevpon hee made diuers and sundrie requests vnto the Senat of Venice that they would grant vnto him some condemned malefactor to make therewith this his desired experience but he could neuer obtaine the same at their hands for the Venetians are by nature not only pittifull but also somewhat supersticious But these refusals did but the more encrease the longing of this Chirurgion for to say the truth euery haulty spirit are in that like vnto women who doe for the most part couet after that which they are forbidden to touch So that hee being still in this rauing or rather longing there came vnto his doore a poore souldiour very well proportioned and of a sound bodie comming newly from the wars and demanded his almes of the Chirurgion who caused him to come in and cherished him secretly some three daies after his owne fantasie afterwards hauing brought him downe into a caue he caused him by certaine fellows hired for that purpose to be bound vnto a post and opening him aliue he saw that in him which he so greatly desired but as no murther can euer remaine vndisclosed long so it happened that one of his confederats was taken for some other crime and being vpon the racke he amongst other matters reuealed the murther which he his companions and the Chirurgion had committed wherevpon they were all taken and the Chirurgion confessed the fact saying TRue it is most iust Iudge and you worthie Senators that I haue ben the death of one man to saue the liues of an infinit number of others not onelie by the cures which I hope to performe during my life but by that which I will leaue behind mee in writing after my death wherefore it may bee said that hauing made an experience so notable and profitable I haue done worthilie but hauing killed a guiltles man I haue done wickedly I confesse it and would confesse to haue offended more hainouslie if I had not more then once intreated that to preuent a further mischiefe I might haue beene allowed to make this triall vpon some condemned malefactor the which I was neuer permitted to doe some one may answere must you therefore kill an innocent Or doe that by your owne authoritie which a whole Senate would neuer
spirit from the bodie which is so readie to effect the euill desires thereof Neither is that fit to be allowed which the people doe dislike altogether for it is the common opinion that the peoples voice proceedeth from Gods voice Moreouer if such faults should be borne withall it is to be feared that the people should not onlie be scandalized therby but also they might easilie immitate the same for there is no offence so great that findeth not some shew of a lawfull excuse when the Iudges are disposed to winke thereat But why doe I say onlie saue onelie because vices are vnpunished Let vs therefore doe well least this Commonwealth which hath flourished twelue hundered years through the good iustice obserued therin should decay if the same were now neglected for the same corruption which is in a bodie without a soule is in a Commonwealth without Iustice Consider then you worthie Iudge and Senators that neuer murtherer had his wil or intention good free or sincere as this fellow saith his is for the actions are alwaies witnesses of the intent and meaning of men Declamation 82. Of a rich man that compelled a poore man to giue him his daughter in marriage THe law appointeth that euery maiden that is taken by force or she whom one hath had at his pleasure by any manner of compulsion or abuse may either chuse the death of him who hath forced constrained or abused her or els he shall bee bound to take her to wife without anie portion at all to her mariage Wherevpon it happened that a rich man of Greece entreated a poore man of the same contrie three sundrie times to giue him his daughter for wife but the poor man would not within a short time after as hee went together with his daughter to goe to some place by sea the ship happened to wracke so that the poore man and his daughter saued themselues in a little Island belonging to the said rich man who at the same instant chanced to be there wherefore this occasion fitting to his desire hee friendly entertained the old man made him good cheare and again requested him to bestow his daughter vpon him the poore man made him no answere at all but wept the rich man finished the marriage with her the same euening euerie one being returned into the cittie the father would haue carried his daughter before the Magistrate but her husband would not consent that she should goe thether Wherevpon the poore man said vnto him LEt my daughter come before the Magistrat if thou be an honest man for if she bee thy wife what needest thou to feare But if thou hast constrained her why wilt not thou submit thy selfe vnto her choice thy feare accuseth thee and is a witnesse that thou didst take her against her will thou art no honest man if thou fearest that she will chuse thy death for he which forceth a maid cannot die too soone why doe you doubt if I haue giuen you my consent If I haue denied you why should you haue her Hauing demanded her of me when I was at libertie three seuerall times I did euerie time denie thee and the fourth time being in thy power not daring to refuse thee with my tongue I refused thee with mine eies and my teares seeing then that by two seuerall meanes thou wert refused and that no bodie agreed that thou shouldest haue her how canst thou denie that thou tookest her by force Alas I doe lesse grieue at my losse by sea then I am sorrie for the other which I haue suffered since my comming to shoare for betweene the time of my shipwracke and the forced marriage of my daughter there was not one night What sonne in law would not tarrie vntill his father in law had dried vp his teares But how should I trust thee with my daughter seeing thou darest not trust me Thy malice is an hinderance thereof for thou knowest verie well that thou art the cause of our shipwrack hauing made a fire not in the vsuall port of thine Island but in such a place where thou wert well assured the ship could not arriue without wracking so as not in the sea but in the countrie wee were cast away And I was twise cast away by the losse of my daughter euen when I was wet and being astonished with the sea and giddie with the wind and waues thou camest vnto me to request my daughter as a ship wracked man and a captiue I did my indeuour refusing that by my teares which being free I did with my tongue three times denie thee thou rich leacher but yet thou seing vs in such calamitie thoughtest once more to win vs to thy lure It must be knowne whether that may be called a mariage which is done in the nooke of an island being almost desert where none were present but a few people that escaped from shipwracke all our tears were tokens that wee desired no such thing They are arguments of vnwillingnesse and witnesses of the hearts sorrow no man weepeth for that which he desireth but teares are in steed of intreaties for those which are shamfaste and are ashamed to intreat Thou canst not then deny that thou tookest my daughter by force and it is the more likelie because thou wilt not submit thy selfe to law and stand to her choice whether shee will haue thee for her husband or no. The rich mans answere THou hast nothing to say nor anie thing to doe with my wife except it be to see her Neuerthelesse I refer it to her owne choice whether shee will goe to the Magistrate yea or no but I would not that it should bee at thine instance nor when thou wouldest for I doe verie well know that she was neuer content with those refusals that thou madest me therefore can it not bee said that I haue taken her against her will nor against thy liking for by the lawes silence is a consent concerning thy teares I tooke them for a good token beleeuing that they proceeded for ioy not only that thou haddest escaped drowning but to see that in so great miserie I did not yet disdaine to be thy sonne in law as also that thou wert ioiful to behold my constancie in louing thy daughter For teares are not as thou saiest alwaies signs of sadnesse but sometimes tokens of ioy and especially when they are accompanied with silence for sorrow inforceth a man to speake and ioy prouoketh silence As for the fire which thou saiest I did make to cause the ship wherein thou wast to bee cast away there is none but thou that cōplaineth thereof for euerie one knoweth that my sheepeheards made that fire for their commoditie without thinking to hurt anie man thereby And for the marriage it was solemnized as commodiouslie as the place could afford And it is not to be wondered at if one who hath long time loued most feruentlie did take the fruition of his loue as soone as possiblie he might for the