after they have acted this Part some Weeks they call their Nephews to the Administration of Affairs to gratifie as they say the Ambassadors of Princes for whom it would be inconvenient to treat always with the Pope himself in Person whereas treating with their Nephews they discharge their Office with less Ceremony and consequently with greater Liberty and Confidence and his Refusals 'T is undoubted that Haterius going to the Palace to ask his Pardon wanted but little of being slain by the Soldiers of the Guard as he was embracing the Knees of Tiberius who slipping at that instant happen'd to fall as he was going forward 7 When a great Man is fallen under the Hatred of his Prince Accidents are imputed to him for Crimes as well as voluntary Faults Besides there are always at Court Persons who are ready to dispatch those whose Death they know will be pleasing to the Prince whether by chance or having his Legs entangled with the Hands of Haterius But the Risque which so great a Personage had run abated nothing of his Resentment Haterius continued still obnoxious to his Anger till the Empress whose Protection he had sought interceding in his Favour by force of Prayers obtain'd his Pardon VIII The Flatteries of the Senate were yet more excessive in relation to Livia Some of them voting her the Title of Mother x Which was as much as to say the Empress-Mother by way of Excellence and Distinction Others that of Mother of her Country And many of them were likewise for passing a Decree that to the Name of Caesar should be added the Son of Iulia But Tiberius replied to all these That they ought not to confer Honours on Women too lavishly 1 Kings are obliged as all other Men to honour their Mothers and to have all the Complaisance for them that domestick and civil Decency require but as for Honours which properly belong to Majesty or which are of dangerous consequence they ought not to permit them to be decreed to their Mothers Salomon seeing his Mother coming to him rose up to meet her and caused her to â—it on a separate Throne at his Right Hand but as soon as she had asked Abishag in Marriage for Adoâ—â—jah Salomon's elder Brother he said to her Why do you not ask the Kingdom for him also And was so far from granting her Request which was very imprudent that he put Adonijah to death as a Traitor who aspired to the Crown by marrying the Companion of his Father's Bed 1 Kings ch 2. In Poland they crown the Queen but take no Oath of Allegiance to her for the State allows her no Iurisdiction Martin Cromer lib. 2. of Poland That for himself he would use the same Moderation in those which were propos'd for him 2 Princes who will retrench superfluous Titles and moderate thâ— Vanity of their Subjects ought to begin with themselves And this is what Philip the Second did to give Life and Vigour to the famous Ordinance of 1586 entituled Pragmatica where he commanded all those who should hereafter write to him to give him no other Title in the beginâ—ing of their Letters than Senor nor any other Compliment in the end than this Form Dios guarde la Catolica Persona de Vuestra Magestad and after that the Subscription in the most simple manner viz. only the Name of him that writes without the flourish of Your most humble and most obedient Subject and Servant And for the Superscription these Words Al Rey nuestro Senor Cabrera saith that Philip made this Ordinance that Ambition and Flattery might not come to usurp Divine Titles and to set his Subjects an Example in all his Grants and Letters Patents he stiled himself only Don Filipe c. without assuming the Sirnames of Magnificent Triumphant Invincible which the Kings Alphonso the Sixth and Seventh his Predecessors had used cap. 21. lib. 12. of his History See Note 1. Article 38. Lib. 4. of these Annals Which he said out of Envy to his Mother whose Elevation he regarded as a Lessening to his own Authority He would not that even a Lictour y i. e. An Usher or Mace-bearer to walk before her should be decreed for her and hindred the erecting of an Altar in memory of her Adoption into the Iulian Family and forbad them to ascribe to her any other Honour of the like Nature But he ask'd the Proconsular Power for Germanicus and sent him the Decree by some of the Senate who were also commission'd to comfort him for the Death of Augustus 3 A Prince who is disappointed of the Succession of a State whereof he is the lawful Heir hath much greater need to be comforted upon the account of the Injustice that is done him than for the Death of him that hath done it The Reason why he requir'd not the same Honours for his Son Drusus was because he was then in Rome and besides was design'd Consul He afterwards nam'd twelve Pretors which was the Number establish'd by Augustus 4 A wise Prince ought never to alter the Rules made by his Prededecessor if he is one whose Memory is had in Veneration by the People or if he doth it Prudence requires that it be not in the beginning of his Reign which is always the time wherein he is most exposed to Censure Lewis the Twelâ—th saith Commines took possession of the Kingdom without making any Alterations in the Pensions for that Year which had yet six Months to come He displaced few Officers and said That he would keep every Man in his Post and in his Estate And all this was very becoming him Cap. ult of his Memoirs and the Senate requesting him to create more 5 The multiplication of the Officers of Iustice tends always to the Ruine of the People Whereas it seems probable that Affairs would be dispatched with more expedition by a great number of Officers than by a small on the contrary they are spun out without end because there are more People who have an Interest to protract them that they may subsist thereby especially when Offices are venal For according to the common saying He that buys Iustice in Gross will sell it by Retail he took a Solemn Oath never to exceed that Number IX It was now that the Assembly z The Assembly where they chose the Magistrates called Comitia a 〈◊〉 vâ—l comeundo which was held in the Field of Mars for electing Magistrates was for the first time transferr'd from the Field of Mars to the Senate For though formerly the Emperour had manag'd all Affairs of Consequence according to his Pleasure yet some Things were still permitted to be done by the Intrigues and Suffrages a Romulus divided the People into three Tribes as the City was then divided into three Quarters which Number gave occasion to the Name of of Tribe He afterwards divided these Tribes into thirty Curiae or Classes The elder Tarquin doubled these Tribes
his own Words Commines utterly blames the Iourney which Alphonso V. King of Portugal made into France to procure assistance against Isabella Queen of Castille and Ferdinand of Aragon her Husband who had usurp'd this Crown from his Niece For during his long stay in France which was above a Year his affairs in Castille were chang'd where the Lords of the Kingdom who were almost all of his Party before his absence made their terms with Ferdinand and Isabella being weary of expecting succours from France and his return But that which he adds shews to what Princes expose themselves who go into another's Dominions The King of Portugal 's End saith he was that he suspected that the King Lewis XI had a design to seize him and deliver him up to his Enemy the King of Castile For this reason he disguised himself a third time being resolved to go away to Rome and to retire into a Monastery For he was asham'd to return into Castille or Portugal without having done any thing in France whither he went against the Opinion of many of his Council In this Habit he was taken by one Robinet le Beuf And half a Page after This King endeavour'd to marry his Niece to the Dauphine now Charles VIII in which he could not succeed Insomuch that his coming into France was to his great Prejudice and Trouble and was the Cause that he died soon after his return into Portugal His Memoris Lib. 5. Cap. 7. Paul Piasecki speaking of the Death of Cardinal Iohn Albert Brother to Uladisâ—aus King of Poland who travelâ—'d into Italy saith That the wisest Lords of the Kingdom condemn'd this Passion for travell as a thing unbecoming and alway fatal to great Princes and especially to the Sons of Kings Proceres prudentiores talem peregrinationem Princibus majoris nominis praecipue Regum filiis indignam improbabant And in the Margent Peregrinatio filiis Regum indecora periculosa In Chronico ad annum 1634. Add hereto That for the most part Princes return dissatisfy'd with those whose Countreys they have visited because almost always part of the Honours which they pretend to are contested with them For which reason most have had recourse to the Expedient of being Incognito during their stay in Foreign Countreys or their passage through them By opening the Publick Granaries he brought down the Price of Corn did many Popular things went abroad without Guards 2 Persons placed in high stations ought never to appear in publick without the Exterior Marks of their Power for although Authority is not in the Ensigns yet they are the Ensigns which attract the Veneration of the People to the Magistrates And it was partly for this Reason that they call'd the Duties which they render'd to the Emperors at Rome purpuram adorare And Mamertinus saith That the Guards which environ good Princes are not for the Defence of their Bodies but only to give some lustre to Majesty Non custodiae corporis sunt sed quidam imperatoriae majestatis solemnis ornatus Paneg. Iuliaâ—â— It is therefore becoming Princes and Great Magistrates to support Majesty by Exteriour Splendor which makes Admiration and Respect enter by the Eyes Commines speaking of the Interview of our Lewis XI and Henry IV. King of Castile saith That the Castilians made a Iest of Lewis because he was in a mean Habit and wore a Pitiful Hat with a Leaden Image on the top of it saying That it was for Covetousness And some lines after he saith That the Burgundians contemned the little train of the Emperor Frederick III. and the sorry Cloaths of the Germans His Meâ—oirs l. 2. c. 8. An instance that Princes and consequently Magistrates also have need to go with an Equipage suitable to their Grandeur if they will be respected Pagliari saith That that which obliged Pope Gregory XIV to give the red Cap to Cardinal Monks was that during his Cardinalship he had often observed the little respect that was given and even the Indignities which were sometimes offer'd to these venerable Prelates in the throng of great Ceremonies because having black Caps they were not sufficiently distinguish'd Observation 213. And it was for the same Reason that the late King gave the Pectoral Cross to the Bishops of France who it is said are beholding to the rudeness of the Swiss for it in Sandals b The Romans wore Buskins which reach'd up to the Calf of the Leg but the Graecians wore Shoes made almost like Slippers which left the upper part of the Foot uncover'd and in a Graecian Habit in imitation of Scipio who is said to have done the same in Sicily in the heat of the Carthaginian War Tiberius made some gentle Reflections on his Habit but severely reprimanded him for entring Alexandria without the Prince's Permission which was contrary to the Order of Augustus For Augustus amongst other Secrets of State had prohibited any Senators or Roman Knights that were of the Illustrious Rank to go into Aegypt without a Pass from the Emperor 3 Germanicus's intentions were good but his Imprudence brought them under suspicion His going into Aegypt without leave from Tiberius taught the Great Men of Rome to contemn the Prohibition of Augustus The opening of the Publick Granaries the affecting to go abroad without the Rods might very well appear criminal to Tiberius there being no vertues more dangerous than those which may create a Desire in an Unsteady and Changeable People to receive for their Master him who hath them for fear lest any one by making himself Master of that Province which having the Keys both of the Sea and Land c Aegypt is environ'd on the South with steep Mountains which serve for Walls and Bulwarks to it On the West and the East with Mountains and Desarts and on the North with a Sea that hath no Road nor Harbours Which makes it Inaccessible on all sides and consequently easie to defend Augustus who knew all the Conveniencies of this Province which was a Granary to Rome and all Italy would debar all the Great Men from acquaintance with it for fear lest any of them should take a Resolution to make himself Master thereof And this Vespasian did when he rebell'd against Vitellius Sciens Aegyptum plurimam esse partem imperii saith Iosephus eaque si potitus soret Vitellium dejiciendum sperabat Cogitabat etiam propugnacula sibi fore illam regionem adversus incerta fortunae nam terra difficilis accessu marique importuosa est Belli Iudaici l. 5. might be easily defended by a small Force against Numerous Armies should starve Italy 4 The Knowledge of the Situation and the Commodities of his Provinces and of the Manners of their Inhabitants is very necessary for a Prince for without this he will often be deceiv'd in the Choice of his Governors and send into a Province a Person who will raise nothing but Troubles there whereas if he had been sent into another he might
Donna Anna the Queen of Spain that Philip II. had disappointed her of the Regency by the Will which he had made at Badajoz this Princess who thought her self excluded for want of Love and Esteem did not cease to make complaints which soon after cost Don Antonio his Life Cabrara in his History Chap. 3. Lib. 12. and c. 2. l. 13. He must never trust a Secret to a Person who is infinitely below him for such is the case of Great Ones that they reckon it a dishonour to stand in awe of their Inferiors and a ridiculous Folly to be afraid of disobliging him to whom they told a thing which may be for his advantage to reveal Antony Pepez says that the Tongue is that part of Man which the Ladies are most set against because of the Secret which they wou'd have kept and which they are afraid shou'd be discover'd Men have more reason to be cautious but especially they who live at Court or who converse with the Court Ladies ought to be more jealous of a Womans Tongue and even of their own Wife's than of their most dangerous Enemies But however it was Tiberius was scarcely enter'd into Illyria when he was speedily recall'd by Letters from his Mother and it is not known for certain whether or no he found Augustus yet living m Paterculus says that Tiberius came to Nola before the Death of Augustus and that they had also some discourse together Chap. 123. when he arriv'd at Nola. For Livia had order'd the Corps du Guard to be all under Arms at every Avenue of the Palace and the Town and caus'd reports to be hourly spread of the Emperor's amendment till having all things in a readiness which the present Conjunction cou'd require She declar'd at once the Death of Augustus n Suetonius says that Tiberius wou'd not publish the Death of Augustus till he had caused the Young Agrippa to be assassinated In Tiberio and the Accession of Tiberius to the Empire o At the Age of Fifty five years The Reign of TIBERIUS Beginning in the Year of Rome 767. I. THE first Action of the New Reign was thâ— Murder of Agrippa Posthumus 1 A Prince who sheds the Royal Blood gives an Example of most dangerous consequence The Queen of Naples Ioan I. says Ammirato when she caus'd Andrew her Husband to be strangled taught Charles III. when he had it in his power to strangle her also And after he had taken from the Queen his Mother her Crown and Life he also lost his own Crown and Life by the hands of the Hungarians who were taught by the example which he had given them Discourse 7. of the 17 Book of his Commentary upon Tacitus There are many Politicians says Cabrera who say on the contrary that 't is difficult to keep in Prison Princes of the Royal Blood and that when they are dead they don't bite which is the reason why Charles of Anjou that is Charles I. King of Naples put to death Conradin the Nephew of Manfrede his Predecessor But Aragon did not want Heirs who happily recover'd the Kingdom and who condemn'd to death the Son of Charles And though this Sentence was not executed for Constance the Eldest Daughter of Manfrede and Wife of Peter III. King of Aragon was more generous than Charles I. yet the innocent Conradin was reveng'd by that mark of Infamy which his blood imprinted upon the House of Anjou Philip II. provided for the safety and preservation of Queen Mary of England his Wife in opposing the execution of the Sentence of Death given against Elizabeth his Sister-in-Law for the Prince who puts those of his own blood into the hands of the Executioner whâ—ts the Sword against himself Chap. 10. of Book 1. and 5 of Book 2. of his History of Philip II. Henry IV. would never consent to the Death of Charles of Valois Count of Aâ—vergne who conspir'd against him saying that he ought to have a respect for the blood of Kings and Mr. Villeroy one of his Ministers said well to the same purpose that when the Question was put concerning the Life of Princes of the Blood the Prince ought for Counsel to hear nature only Burnet has declared that the Death of the Queen of Scotland was the greatest Blot of Queen Elizabeth's reign And I wonder that Pope Sixtus V. who knew so well how to teach others to give respect to Royal Majesty should envy this Queen the Happiness and Honour to have a Crown'd Head fall at her feet And never was a Dream more full of instruction than that Ladies who usually lay in the Chamber of Queen Elizabeth and who the Night before that Execution awak'd in a Fright crying out that she saw the Head of Mary Stuart cut off and that they would also have cut off the Head of Queen Elizabeth with the same Axe Lâ—ti Book 3. of part 2. of the Life of Sixtus V. who unarm'd as he was and wholly Ignorant of the design was not without some difficulty slain by a Centurion hardned in blood Tiberius was silent of this matter in the Senate feigning a Command from his Father Augustus wherein he had order'd the Officer of the Guard to murther the Young Man immediately after his own decease 'T is undoubted that Augustus had often and that with bitterness complain'd in the Senate of his Manners and had also exacted a Decree from them to authorize his Banishment Yet he had never proceeded to so much cruelty as to compass the Death of any of his Relations Nor is it credible that he would command his Grandson to be murder'd to secure the safety of his Son-in-Law The suspicion fell more naturally on Tiberius and Livia for hastning the Death of a Young Man obnoxious to the hatred of the first through fear of a Competitor o Paul Piasecki says in his Chronicle that Constance of Austria the Second Wife of Sigismond III. King of Poland used all her Interest to get her Eldest Son Iohn Casimir to be chosen King and her Son-in-Law and Nephew Uâ—adislaus excluded who being the Eldest Son of the King according to the Law and Custom of the Country was to be preferr'd before all others Another Polonian says Nec unquam committunt quin hic eligatur cui ipso jure debetur successio Krzistanowiâ— in his description of the Government of â—â—land and of the last through the inbred malice of Step-mother When the Centurion according to Military Custom told Tiberius that he had perform'd his orders his answer was that he had given him no such Commission 2 'T is the Custom of Princes in hurtful cases to throw the Odium upon their Ministers Anthony Perez who found it so by sad experience in the Murder of Iohn of Escovedo which Philip II. gave leave to be enquir'd into says that Princes are advis'd to keep a Council of State to clear themselves of all unlucky accidents Queen Elizabeth imprison'd the Secretary
Henry Cardinal King of Portugal died the same hour in which he was born 68 years before had finish'd his Life The number of his Consulships was extoll'd likewise which equall'd those of Valerius Corvinus and Caius Marius c Paterculus says that he was Consul eleven times and refused to be Consul any more Book 2. Chap. 89. Now Marius had been Consul seven times and Corvinus six both together that had enjoy'd the Tribunitial Power without Intermission 37 Years had been saluted Emperor d That is Victorious General or Great Captain Tacitus says that 't is an honour which Armies formerly gave to their Captains when they were over-joy'd for having gain'd a Victory So that at the same time there were many Emperors who did not take place of one another At the end of the 3 Book of his Annals one and twenty times Besides a multitude of other Honours which had been heap'd upon him or invented for him But the Politicians examin'd the conduct of his Life after another manner Some said that his filial Piety to Caesar the necessity of Affairs and the importance of the Laws had hurry'd him into a Civil War 1 We must not always ascribe to Princes the Cause of publick Evils for sometimes the Times contribute more to them than the Men. A Prince who at his accession to the Throne finds the Kingdom in disorder and upon the brink of ruine must of necessity use violent Remedies to give Life again to the Laws to root out dissentions and to set the Government upon a right foot which cou'd not possibly be manag'd with the Forms of Iustice though the Cause was honest That he had consented to many violent proceedings of Anthony and e 'T is true says Paterculus they reviv'd again the Proscription which had been begun by Sylla but this was not approved of by 〈◊〉 though being single against two he could not oppose the Fury of 〈◊〉 and Lepidus joyn'd together Lepidus 2 Sometimes Princes shut their Eyes that they may not see the Oppressions and Crimes they would be obliged to punish if their Eyes were open There are times when rigour wou'd be pâ—ejudicial to their Affairs and particularly in the midst of a Civil War when 't is dangerous to encrease the Number of Male-Contents because he had need of their assistance to revenge the Murther of his Father That Lepidus being grown Effeminate by the Sloath of a Private Life Anthony drown'd in his debauches and the Common-Wealth torn in pieces by the Discord of her Citizens there was no other Remedy left in Nature but the Government of a single Person which notwithstanding Augustus had never taken up the Title f Paterculus says that Caesar was become odious from the day he assisted at the Feast of the Lupercalia when Mark Anthony his Coleague in the Consulship put upon his Head a Royal Diadem for Caesar refused it in such a manner as shewed that though the Action was rash yet it had not much displeased him Hist. 2. Chap. 56. Besides he happen'd to say before that they must take care how they spoke to him for the future and that he meant what he said should be a Law Suetonius in his Life of King 3 A Prince ought to forbear to assume new Titles and Honours for instead of gaining by the new Power he pretends to he runs the risque of losing that which no body denied him Augustus a wise Prince was cautious of taking the Title which a Thought of only cost his Predecessor his Life or of Dictator 4 The Dictatorship being an image of the ancient Regal Power Augustus would never accept it to shew that he avoided whatsoever had made his Uncle odious Ovid makes the reign of Augustus and Romulus to oppose each other as Liberty and Sovereign Power Tiâ— domini nomen says he to Romulus principis ille gerit but contented himself to be call'd Prince of the Senate That the Empire was owing to him for being surrounded by the Ocean g The Roman Empire was bounded on the West by the Ocean on the North by the Danube and the Rhine on the East by the Euphrates and the Tygris on the South by the Mountain Atlaâ— and remote Rivers 5 The greatest Contests which happen among Princes arise upon the subject of limits especially when their Lands lie one among the others as those of the Dukes of Savoy and Mantua in Montferrat of the King of Spain and of the Dukedome of Venice in the Milaneze of the same Republick and of the Grand Signior in Dalmatia and in the Islands of the Levant On the contrary when Kingdoms are divided by the Sea by Mountains or by strong Forts which hinder a Passage Princes have less disputes with one another That the Provinces the Legions and the Naval Force were well united the Citizens obedient to the Laws the Allies in terms of dutiful respect and the Town adorn'd with stately Buildings that it was to be acknowledg'd he sometimes made use of Severity and Force but very rarely and always for preservation of the Publick Safety h Paterculus says that Augustus was resolved to refuse the Dictatorship when the People offer'd it to him Chap. 89. On the other side it was alledg'd that the boasted Piety of a Son to a Father and the Necessities of a Common-Wealth were only his pretext 6 The actions of great Princes have always been liable to the Peoples censure how wise soever they may have been the Speculative have ever been able to give probable reasons for their conduct nor do the Male-contents and the Envious ever want matter to deâ—ame them When Philip II. caused his Son Don Carlos to be arrested all the Courtiers spoke of it as their inclinations led them for the Father or the Son Some call'd him Prudent and others Severe because his Sport and his Revenge met together Cabrera Chap. 22. the 7th Book of his History Commines paints Iohn II. King of Portugal as a Cruel and Barbarous Prince because he kill'd his Coâ—in-German the Duke of Viseu and cut off the Head of the Duke of Bragance Brother to the Queen his Wife Chap. 17. of the last Book of his Memoirs On the contrary Mariana says that he was a lover of â—ustice and the Great Men of the Kingdom hated him because he seiz'd the Criminals who withdrew for shelter into their Territories and Castles And as for the Dukes of Viseu and Bragance who had both conspired against the Person of the King and his Kingdom I believe Commines would have agreed with Mariana if he more narrowly examin'd this matter Chap. 23. of the 14th Book and the 11th of the 26 Book of the History Where by the way we may observe that the Resemblance between Vice and Virtue often causes the Common People to confound and blend 'em together giving to both the Name which belongs to its contrary that through an insatiable desire of reigning he
he was in the Fields he saith to them My Children seek ye your Livelihood and I mine there is no farther means of living here for the King knows that I am wiser than himself Don Iuan Antonio de Vera who relates the same thing in the First Discourse of his Ambassador seems to say and believe that it is a Fable but be it so or no it is still very Instructive and as he was jealous of his own Reputation and of the publick Honour he rejected those who pass'd for Scandalous or Insufficient s These three Reasons says Scipio Amirato preceeded from his Vices The first from Laziness the second from Malice and the third from a mixture of Laziness and Folly For if he liked not to employ debâ—uched Persons he should have concerned himself to find out those that were good and if he was afraid of virtuous and great Men let him have but changed often and he had been secure In the last Discourse of the First Book of his Commentaries Commines says All crafty Princes are jealous that all great Princes are so and particularly wise ones and such as have made many Enemies and injured many as Tiberius had done Ch. 7. l. 6. of his Memoirs Yet Iealousies are to be admitted with Slowness and Deliberatiâ—â— for to be too much addicted to Iealousie is not well L. 3. ch 5. In short his Irresolution was so great that he gave Governments to some such Persons as he had absolutely determin'd should never leave the Town to take possession of them LXXV As to the Assemblies which were held for the Election of Consuls I have nothing to affirm for certain either in the time of Tiberius or after it So great is the Difference which is found not only in the Relations of Historians but also in his own Speeches Sometimes without naming the Candidates for the Consulship he describ'd them by their Birth by their Manners and by the number of Years which they had serv'd in War Sometimes omitting even those Descriptions he desir'd the Pretenders not to trouble the Assemblies with their Intrigues promising his own particular Care in their Concerns And sometimes he said That no Competitors had presented themselves to him but only they whose Names he had deliver'd to the Consuls yet that others were not debarr'd t Tacitus saith Posse proâ—iteri Profiteri therefore was what we call to stand for an Office oâ— to get his Name put into the List. Quaesturam petentes saith Paterculus quos indignâ—s judicavit profiteri 〈◊〉 Hist. 2. cap. 92. That is to say the Consul forbid some of those who pretended to the Questorship to give in their Names because he believed them unworthy of it from pretending to that Dignity who either conâ—ided in their own Merits or in the Favour of the Senate Specious Words 1 The Words of Princes seldom agree with their Actions and most frequently they act directly contrary to what they say but either void of Meaning or full of Cunning and couch'd under a flattering shew of Freedom to break out afterwards with greater danger of a worse Servitude THE ANNALS OF Cornelius Tacitus From the Death of AUGUSTUS Book II. Vol. I. IN the Consulship of Sisenna Statilius Taurus and of Lucius Scribonius Libo a War began in the Kingdoms of the East and the Roman Provinces on that side whereof the Parthians were the occasion 1 As soon as a Powerful Prince hath taken Arms the War spreads it self as it were by contagion into all the Neighbouring States Some arm for their own safety others for the defence of the weaker side others follow the fortune of the Stronger either that they may have a share in the Spoils of the Conquered or that they might not themselves fall a Prey to the Conqueror Thus there needs but one unquiet Prince to trouble a whole World For saith Commâ—nes although in the beginning there are but two oâ— three Princes or inferior persons before the Feast hath lasted two years all the Neighbours are invited to it Cap. 8. Lib. 3. who having desir'd and received Vonones from Rome for their King afterwards despis'd him as a Foreigner although he was of the Family of the 2 The People look upon those Princes as Strangers who have had a Foreign Education Indeed Education is a second Birth The first forms the Body but the second forms the Manners It is of little Importance to Subjects that the Body of the Prince is Foreign but it is of great Importance to them that his Manners be not so forasmuch as it is not the Body but the Mind that governs Cicero saith That the Romans freely tolerated Sacrifices after the Graecian fashion provided that the Ceremonies thereof were performed by a Roman Citizen ut Deos immortales scientia peregrina externa mente domestica civili precarentur Pro. Corn. Balbo The Dutch would never permit Philip-William of Nassaw Prince of Orange the Eldest Son of their Deliverer to reside in their Countrey till after the Truce was made with the Spaniards for he having been almost thirty years a Prisoner in Spain they believed his humour to be Spanish For the same reason Princes ought not to absent themselves any long time from their Dominions because it is believed at their return that they bring Outlandish humours with them Arsacidae a Which is as much as to say of the Royal Family of the Parthians which began with two Brothers named Arsaces and Tâ—ridates who threw off the Yoke of the Selucidae He had been given as an Hostage to Augustus by Phraates b Iustin saith That when Vonones was put into the hands of Augustus this Prince said that the Kingdom of the Parthians would in â—ime become a Part of the Roman Empire if the Romans gave Kings to the Parthians Iuris Romanorum futuram Parthiam affâ—rmans si ejus regnum muneris ejus â—uisseâ— Lib. 42. who notwithstanding he had repuls'd the Roman Armies and Generals paid all the respect and submission imaginable to Augustus c In the interview which Caius Caesar and Phraates had on the Euphrates this King passed over first to the Bank on which Caius was and afterwards Caius to the Bank on which the King was Paterc Hist. 2. Cap. 101. and sent some of his Children d Four Sons and four Grandsons as a Pledge of his Friendship not so much out of fear of us as because he distrusted the Fidelity of his own Subjects 3 A Prince who is not beloved by his Subjects ought to avoid as much as possibly he can engaging in War or having any misunderstanding with his Neighbours Lewis XI saith Commines would put nothing to hazard and he did so not only for fear of the Duke of Burgundy but also out of an apprehension of Seditions that might break out in France if he should happen to lose a Battel for he knew that he was not much beloved by his Subjects and
serve our Country And some lines after he concludes with these words Therefore our Author unjustly blames Maroboduus since in my Opinion there is no less glory for a Man to be a Good Husband of his Life to serve God his Country and his Friends and to reserve himself for a better Fortune than to run into Battels and throw it away to acquire Glory which like smoke is carried away by a Blast of Wind. But this Consideration which is the 145. of the Second Part is fitter for Monks and Tradesmen than for Princes and Noblemen to whom War is the most Natural Employment Catualda had the same Fate and no other refuge for being expell'd not long after by the Hermunduri under their General Vibilius he was received by the Romans who sent him to Forum Iulii a Colony of Gallia Narbonensis And lest the Barbarous People who came with these two Princes might raise any Disturbances in these Provinces which were in perfect quiet they were transplanted beyond the Danube betwixt the River Marus and Cusus and Vannius of the Nation of the Quadi was set over them as King LXV The Senate having at the same time receiv'd the News that Germanicus had made Artaxias King of Armenia they decreed that he and Drusus should enter the City in Ovation and that Arches with their Statues should be built on both sides of the Temple of Mars the Avenger And Tiberius being better pleas'd that he had made Peace by his Prudence 1 A Prince who understands Negotiations as Tiberius did ought always to prefer the way of Treaties to that of Aâ—ms It is certainly more honour for him to overcome his Enemies by Skill than by Force A Gascon Gentleman who was in the Service of Edward King of England on occasion of the Peace of Pâ—quigny said That his Master had gain'd Nine Battels in Person but that what we made him lose by this Peace which drove the English out of France brought him greater Shame and Loss than the other Nine which hâ— had gain'd had acquir'd him Honour and Advantage Commines l. 4. c. 10. of his Memoirs Queen Margaret speaking of the Peace which the Duke of Alensoâ— made at Neraâ— with the King of Navarre and the Huguenots on his Party My Brother said she having made a Peace to the Satisfaction of the King and all the Catholicks and not less to the Contentment of the Huguenots return'd thence into France with as much Honour and Glory for having compos'd so great Troubles as from all the Victories which he had obtain'd by Arms. Memoirs l. 3. than if he had ended the War with the Sword employs the same Artifices against Rhescuporis King of Thrace After the Death of Rhoemetalces who was in possession of the whole Countrey Augustus had divided it betwixt his Brother Rhescuporis and his Son Cotys In which division thâ— Arrable-Land the Cities and the Parts adjoyning to Greece fell to Cotys's share the Wild uncultivated Parts and which border'd on Enemies to Rhescuporis The tempers of these two Kings were as different the Former being Mild and Complaisant the Latter Covetous Ambitious and Cruel However they liv'd at first in an appearance of Friendship But in a while Rhescuporis pass'd his Bounds usurp'd upon Cotys and stuck not sometimes to use Force where he found Resistance but this he did by wary and slow Methods in the Reign of Augustus who he feared would revenge the Injustice as he was the Founder of these two Kingdoms But when he heard of his Death he sent Troops of Robbers and demolished some of his Castles to give an occasion for War LXVI Tiberius who feared nothing more than new Troubles dispatches away a Centurion with a Message to the two Kings enjoyning them not to decide their Quarrel by the Sword 1 Divisions never began in a Country saith Commines but they have proved destructive in the end and very difficult to extinguish Lib. 4. Cap. 9. For a King to nourish Divisions betwixt Princes and Persons of Virtue and Courage is to kindle a Fire in his House for sometimes one or the other will say The King is against us and under this Pretence will think of fortifying themselves and making Alliances with his Enemies l. 6. c. ult And whilst one of the Parties takes Arms against the Prince he is always ill obey'd by the other who thinking that he stands in great need of them sets their Services at the higher price Thus a Powerâ—ul King ought never to suffer the Princes who are his Vassals or Neighbours to go to War for the Fire comes to spread it self thence into his Dominions On the contrary he ought to assume the Office or an Arbitrator or a Mediator betwixt the Parties and threaten to declare against him who will not hearken to Peace Cotys immediately disbands the Army he had raised and Rhescuporis with a feign'd Submission desir'd that they might have an Enterview and terminate their Differences by Treaty and what with the Easie Compliance of the one and the Fraudulent Compliance of the other they soon adjusted not only the Time and Place of their Treaty but also the Conditions of their Agreement Rhescuporis under colour of ratifying the Agreement with greater Ceremony makes a Feast which he protracts till Midnight and then puts Cotys in Chains 2 A wise Prince ought never to put himself into the hands of another with whom he hath great Interests depending He that goes to meet another can't be reasonably secur'd by any Promises Oaths or Passports Safe Conducts are as feeble Arms against Force as Paper is against Iron And Iulius II. before he was Pope said often That they were great Fools who exchanged Liberty and Life for a Dead Beast's Skin * Apology for the Council of Pisa. The Duke of Bâ—rgundy wrote to Lewis XI a large Letter with his own hand giving him security to come and to return and the King took no guaâ—d with him but would rely entirely upon the security given by the Duke Commines l. 2. c. 5. Notwithstanding the Duke order'd the Gates of the City and of the Castle of Peronne to be shut saying That the King was come thither to betray him and these Gates were shut three days during which time the Duke did not see the King nor did any of the King's Servants enter into the Castle but through the Wicket of the Gate Chap. 7. and 9. of the same Book This Duke when he was only Count de Charolois committed the â—ame Error by suffering himself to be insensibly led on by the King with whom he walked to a Place call'd the Boulevart or Bulwark through which People enter into Paris for which he was much blamed by the Count de S. Pol and by the Mareschal de Burgundy who put him in mind of the Misfortune that happen'd to his Grandfather King Charles the Seventh at Montereau-faut-Yonne To which Reprimand the Duke return'd this Answer Don't rebuke me for I know very
Father whose Corps in the mean time he would not forsake s Because Augustus dying at Nola aâ— Tacitus says at the end of the Abridgment of his Life he would in honour accompany his body to Rome and that all the part to which he pretended in the Publick Administration was no more than what was reducible to that Edict t Iohn Freinshemius gives another sense to this passage neque abscedere a corpore idque unum ex publicis muneribus usurpare making Tiberius say that by this assembling the Senate he did not pretend to a Superiority over it or over any Senator but only to acquit himself of his duty to his Father and that for the future he would not take upon him to give any more commands And in the Examen of the Translators of Tacitus which is at the end of his Paraphrase he says most Interpreters understand these words abscedere a corpore of the Body of Augustus but I understand 'em of the Body of the Senate In which he had followed Dati who renders them thus Ne voleva egli en cio partirsi dalla volonta de gli altera Senatori And Rodolphus the Master who interprets them in these terms to be inseparably united to the body of the Senate Yet after the Death of Augustus it was his Custom to give the word to the Praetorian Cohorts to be attended by Soldiers and no part of the State belonging to an Emperor was wanting to him Whether he walk'd the Streets or went to the Senate his Guards follow'd him He had also written to the Armies in the style of Emperour and Successor and all without the least Ambiguity or Hesitation unless it were when he spoke in Senate 3 He acted the part of a Republican in the Senate because that was the only place where there yet remain'd any shadow of the ancient Liberty The principal Cause of his dissimulation 4 'T is the Interest of Courtiers to discover the Sentiments of the Prince in the beginning of his Reign to know how to behave themselves towards him but 't is the Interest of the Prince not to reveal or declare any thing in his affairs that may exercise their Curiosity For if they are before hand in discovering what is in his breast he will never come to know what is in their hearts Lleva la ventaja says a Spanish Proverb el que vee el juego al companero was that he fear'd Germanicus who commanded so many Legions assur'd of succour from all the Allies and lov'd even to Idolatry by the Roman People would rather chuse to enjoy the Empire in present than to attend it from his Death Neither was there wanting a mixture of Vain-Glory in these proceedings for he affected to have it thought that he was Elected by the Common-Wealth 5 In an Elective Empire the Prince ought always to declare that he holds the Kingdom from them who have a right to Elect though he obtained it by other means for otherwise he will be accounted an Usurper and a declar'd Enemy to the publick Liberty and by consequence his Life will be always in danger Nothing can be said more judicious nor more agreeable to a Republick or to an Elective State than that which Galba said of his Election to the Empire Under the reigns of Tiberius Caligula and Claudius said he the Roman Common-Wealth has been as the Patrimony and Inheritance of one Family alone but I who have been call'd to the Empire by the consent of the Gods and of Men can say that I have restored Liberty to the Common-Wealth because Election has begun again in my Person and that if the vast body of the Empire could be content to be govern'd by a single Person I should be the Man who would revive the ancient Common-Wealth rather than introduc'd by the Artiâ—ices of a Woman 6 In times past the great Men thought it a dishonour to be obliged to Women for their Fortune as if they had been preferr'd by their Favour rather than by their own Merit But at this day we are not so nice in that respect The Ruelle advances far more than the Sword and the adoption of an old doting Man It was afterwards discover'd also that this Irresolution which he shew'd tended to sound the Affections of the Great towards him for he study'd their Countenance and their Words to make them guilty afterwards whom he purpos'd to destroy III. The first time he came into the Senate he would permit no other business to come on than only what related to the Funeral of his Father 1 The Prince who Honours and requires others to honour the Memory and Ashes of his Predecessors gives an example to his Successors which obliges them to pay him the same respect after his death Suetonius relates that 't was said Caesar had secured his own Statues and Images from being broken by restoring the Statues of Sylla and Pompey which the People had thrown down during the Civil Wars In Poland the King elect is not crown'd till the dead King be buried Piasecki in his Chronicle which is probably done out of respect to the dead who surâ—enders not the Crown till he has received burial For the King Elect does not act as King nor Seals the Letters he writes to Foreign Princes with the Arms of the Kingdom till after his Coronation Philip II. King of Spain built and founded the Monastery of S. Laurence of the Escurial to be the burying place of the Emperor Charles V. his Father and of the Empress Issabella his Mother and all their Posterity as he expresly declares in the act of the Foundation reported by Cabrera Chap. II. of book 6. of his History Before he left Portugal he staid three days at the Monastery of Beleâ— which is a little place of Lisbon and caused to be interr'd the Bodies of the Kings Sebastian and Henry and of twenty other Princes the Children and Grand-Children of King Emanuel which had been buried apart in divers Convents being willing to make at least this acknowledgment to twenty two Heirs who had given place to him to succeed in this Kingdom Spanish Relation of the Interment of Philip in Portugal Chap. 16. and Conestagio Book 9. of the Union of Portugal and Castile whose Testament was brought thither by the Vestals By it Tiberius and Livia were declar'd his Heirs Livia was adopted also into the Iulian Family and honour'd with the Title of Augusta u That is with the Name of Empress and with the Title of Majesty which she had not while her Husband was living In the second Degree were rank'd his Grand-Children and their Descendants in the third the Greatest of the Romans not out of Affection for he hated most of them but out of Ostentation 2 In Princes Clemency is often an effect of their Vanity or of their good Nature to be admir'd by Posterity x We see here says Pagliari what slips
He had exercised this Sovereign Power with Augustus before his 〈◊〉 to Rhodes Paterculus Hist. 2. cap. 99. had cast out some Words concerning his Humour and the Oddness of his Manners which seeming to Excuse did in effect Reproach them 12 This manner of Accusing while we Excuse is very much in fashion with Courtiers who according to the Florenâ—iâ—e Proverb have Honey in the Mouth and a Razor under the Girdle V. The Funerals of Augustus being ended there was a Temple and Divine Worship decreed for him and that being done earnest Supplications were address'd to Tiberius who on his side spoke ambiguously concerning the Greatness of the Empire and the Diffidence he had of his own Abilities Saying That nothing but the Soul and Genius of Augustus could support so great a Burden of Affairs 1 The Prince who immediately succeeds a Predecessor who hath performed great Things doth himself an Honour in exalting him for besides that it is believed that the Esteem that he hath for him will spur him on to the â—mitation of him he becomes himself more wonderful and more venerable to his Subjects when he equals him or excels him Tiberius was not inferior to Aâ—gustuâ— in Understanding and Experience The Day that Charles the Fifth had â—bâ—icated the Kingdom of Sâ—ain his Son Philip said in his Speech That the Emperor laid an heavy Weight upon him That he would not accept of a Crown which stood in need of the Prudence and Experience of his Imperial Majesty were it not to contribute to thâ— Preservation of so invaluable a Life Concluding that â—e would endeavour to imitate some of his Virtueâ— since to imitate them all was a Thing impossible for the most perfect Man in the World Cabrera lib 1. cap. 7. oâ— his History and that having sustain'd some part of them during the Life of the Emperour 2 It would be a great Advantage to the Children of Sovereig◠〈◊〉 if their Fathers would themselves take pains to instruct them I mean those who are to succeed them for from whom shall they learn the Art of Government if not from him who Governs And how can they be able to Govern when they ascend the Throne if they have never been admitted to any Knowledge of the Affairs of their State It must pass through the Hands of interessed Ministers who will make their Advantage of their Prince's Ignorance to render themselves more necessary and who to maintain themselves in the Power they have gotten will never let him see Aâ—â—airs but on that side which may give him a disgust of Business On the contrary a Prince who hath had some share in the Government in his Father's Life-time enters trained up and accustomed to act the difficult part of a King I don't pretend to say that a King ought to trouble himself to teach him a thousand Things which belong to the Office and Duty of a Praeceptor Majus aliquid exceâ—sius a Principâ— postulatur But setting Iealouâ—ie aâ—ide he cannot fairly dispense with himself from tâ—aching him 〈◊〉 Maxims which are as the Principles and the Springs of Government and which Tacitus calls Arcana Dominationis And as the Children of Sovereign Princes saith Cabrera have been accustomed to believe themselves above the Laws they have absolute need of the Instructions of their Fathers for besides the Impressions which Blood and the Majesty of Sovereign Power make upon them there are none but their Fathers who have the Authority to command them and the Means to make themselves obeyed cap. 8. lib. 1. of his History he was sensible by his own Experience how difficult and dangerous it was to charge his Shoulders with the Weight of Government That in a City which abounded with the Choice of great and able Persons all Things ought not to be intrusted to the Management of one since Publick Functions were better exercis'd when many join'd their Cares and Labours 3 It is very necessary for a Prince saith Commines to have several Persons of his Council because the wisest sometimes err and they help to set one another right l. 2. c. 2. The chief Point is to know how to chuse them well and to employ every one according to the Nature and Degree of their Abilities But there was more of Ostentation than of upright Meaning in these Discourses And besides if Tiberius whether by Nature or by Custom spoke obscurely even on those Subjects where he had no occasion to dissemble his Words at this time became more intricate and doubtful when he studied altogether to disguise his Thoughts Then the Senators who were all equally afraid of seeming to divine his Meaning broke out into Tears Complaints and Vows holding out their Hands to the Gods and to the Image of Augustus and embracing the Knees of Tiberius till he commanded a Register s Sueton calls this Registry Ratâ—â—narium i. e. an Inventory or a Iourâ—al to be brought written by the Hand of Augustus 4 Although Princes have Secretaries whose Hand might save them the trouble of Writing it is so far from being beneath them to write themselves Memoirs of this kind which Tacitus calls Dominationis Arcana that on the contrary it would be Imprudence in them to commit them to the Ears and Hand of another There is no Secretary nor Confident whosoever he be that ought to be admitted to the Knowledge of these Secrets A Prince who is guilty of this Oversight will become precarioâ—â— to such a Subject Edward the Sixth King of England wrote himself the Iournal of his Life whereof the three last Years are extant So that if this Prince who died at Sixteen had lived longer and continued his Labour he would have proved a very great Man In Portugal they have an Office which they call Escrivaon dâ— puridade as much as to say The Writer or Register of the Confidence or of the Secrets And Mariana often makes use of this Word in this sense when he saith Communicar sus consejos y puridades As this is the most important place of the Kingdom and which hath never been held by any other but by the chief Minister it is probable that it was erected on purpose to write the Secrets of the King's Cabinet and thence to prepare Memoirs of State Iohn the Second King of Portugal and Ferdinand the Fifth King of Arragon and Castille wrote them themselves and containing a Particular of the Publick Revenues with a Roll of the Names of Citizens and Allies which serv'd in the Armies of the Tributary Kingdoms of the Conquer'd Provinces of the Naval Strength of the Imposts and all the Pensions and Expences which were charg'd on the Commonwealth To which Augustus whether out of Fear for the Empire which had receiv'd so great a Blow in Germany or out of Iealousie lest some of his Successors should have the Glory of extending the Roman Conquests farther than himself added the Advice of Restraining the Empire within the present Limits
1 Kings saith Salust are more aâ—raid or Men of Virtue and Merit than of ill Men. 〈◊〉 boni quâ—m 〈◊〉 suspectiores sunt sâ—mperque his 〈◊〉 virâ—us sormidâ—losa est In Calilina Tiberius was well perswaded of what Agrippa had said to Augustus That a Man of great Underâ—â—anding and great Courage could â—ot but be a Lover of Liberty and in his Heart an Enemy to an absolute Master Diâ—n lib. 52. Commines saith that Lewis the Eleventh â—eared all Men but especially those who were worthy to be in Authority Memoirs l. 6. c. 12. Besides that Augustus in one of the last Discourses which he held speaking of those who would refuse the Empire though capable of Ruling it or who would be Ambitious of it though uncapable of Governing or who at once would be capable of Governing and desirous of the Government said That Lepidus would be worthy of it without wishing for 2 A Prince can never give better sustructions to his Successor than to â—ark out what great Men he ought 〈◊〉 distrust This Knowledge is the most necessary thing to a Prince when he 〈◊〉 ascends the Throne and 〈◊〉 much the 〈◊〉 because it is in the â—â—ginning that he is most eaâ—â—â—y deceived and the great Men most 〈◊〉 to make their Atâ—â—mpts upon an Authority that is not yet well eâ—tablished In the last Counsels which David on his Death-bed gave to his Son Salomon he advised him not to let 〈◊〉 go to the Grave in peace who had 〈◊〉 two just Men Almer and 〈◊〉 to bring to the Grave with blood the hoar Head of Shimei who had dared to curse him and to causâ— the Sons of Barzillai to eat at his own Table who had â—urnished him with Provisions and other Necessaries for his whole Army when he fled before Absalom 1 Kings chap. 2. Francis the First in the last Hours of his Life advised his Son Henry not to admit the House of Lorrain to any share of the Government foretelling that the Guises would be the Ruine of the Valois Counsel that would have saved France from many Wars and Calamities had Henry the Second been wise enough to have made use of it On the contrary Philip the Second employed all those Ministers which Charles the Fifth recommended to him when he resigned the Crown of Spain and especially the Duke d'Alva the Bishop of Arras who was afterwards Granvelle Diego de Bargâ—â— Francis de Eraso and Gonzalo Peres the Father of Anthony who was so famous for his Misfortunes And this he did with so much the more success because Charles the Fifth by a secret Memoir which he had sent him had fully informed him of the true Character of their Minds and of the difference of their Interests This was a Paper of so excellent Instructions saith the Commander of Vera that if Tiberius had made thâ— like Tacitus would have given him Immortal Praises Epitâ—me of the Life of Charles the Fifth and Cabrera cap. 7. lib. 1. of his History Burnet saith that Edward the Sixth King of England wrote in a Book the Portraitures of the Lord-Lieutenants of his Counties and of the principal Magistrates of his Kingdom with all the Particulars that he was told of them Part. 2. l. 1. of his History Certainly he had in this â—ound the Secrets of knowing every thing and consequently of being well served it that Asinius would be desirous of it without deserving it that Aâ—â—untius neither was unworthy of it nor would fail to lay hold of the first Occasion 3 Ambition Merit Courage and Opportunity are all that are necessary to make a Usurper A Subject who hath been esteemed worthy to Govern by a Prince who hath excelled in the Arts of Government will always be suspected by the Successor of that Prince and which is worse will fall a Sacrifice if the Prince be of a sanguinary Temper It was never doubted but Ferdinand d'Avalos Marquis de Pesquera who commanded the Army of Charles the Fifth in Italy was disposed to accept of the Kingdom of Naples which Francis Sforsa Duke of Milain in the Name of the Pope and the Venetians offered him with the Title of Captain-General of the Italian League for he was a long time in Treaty with Ierom Moron who was this Duke's chief Minister And that he afterwards discovered all to the Emperour was an effect of the difficulty of the Enterprize rather than of his Fidelity which Charles the Fifth ever after suspected to seize it â— Concerning the two first of these 't is agreed on all Hands but some in stead of Arruntius have nam'd Cneius Piso. Certain it is that all of them excepting Lepidus perish'd afterwards by Tiberius under the supposition of several Crimes Quintus Haterius and Mamercus Scaurus incurr'd likewise the Displeasure of that suspicious Soul The first for asking him How long O Caesar wilt thou suffer the Commonwealth to be without a Head 4 Subjects cannot reproach their Prince more than to complain that the State is without a Head and consequently fallen into an Anarchy From the moment that a Prince ascends the Throne he ought to set upon Action and not to give his Subjects space to doubt whether they have a Master Anthony Perez said That the King and Kingdom make a Marriage that the King is the Husband and the Kingdom the Wife and that a Kingdom is a Widow that hath nor a laborious and vigilant King The other for saying It was to be hop'd that the Suit of the Senate would not be unprofitable because when the Consuls propos'd him to them for Emperour he interpos'd not his Tribunitial Power to resist the Motion He reprehended Haterius on the spot but he said not a Word in reply to Scaurus against whom he was more deeply u Because he discovered that all Tiberius's refusals of the Empire were not in earnest whereas Haterius seemed to be perswaded that his Refusal was sincere when he conjured him not to suffer the Commonwealth to be longer without a Head which was also an oblique way of flattering Tiberius intimating thereby that the Senate was not the Head of the Empire offended 5 Silence is the most certain sign of a deep Resentment for whereas the Mouth gives the Heart vent Silence nourishes in it Hatred and the desire of Revenge Tacitus saith that Agricola was a little too sharp in his Repâ—imands but that afterwards there remained no more in his Breast so that none had any jealousie of his Silence At length being tir'd with hearing the general Complaints and Murmurs and the Remonstrances of each Man in particular he unbent somewhat of his Stiffness not to the degree of declaring that he would accept the Empire but only as he said to put an end to their Requests 6 Most Popes use this Policy at first they seem not willing to hear any mention made of a Cardinal Nephew or of the Acquisition of Principalities or Duchies for their Kindred but
of some other Places was the cause that Charles of France his Brother lost the Duchy of Normandy to the great Displeasure of the Duke of Burgandy who had made him give him this great Apanage ch 15. of the same Book The said Lescun obtained afterwards the Government of Guâ—enne of one of the Castles of Bourdeaux the Government of Blaie of Bayonne of Dax and of St. Sever the Earldom of Comminges the Order of the King Eighty thousand Crowns in ready Money and Six thousand Livres in Pension to have Peace with the Duke of Britany because so powerful a Duke managed by such a Man was to be feared l. 3. c. 11. Garter Herald of England being come into France to declare War against Lewis if he did not surrender the Kingdom to the King of England immediately received a Reward from the King's hands for the Promise he made to endeavour an Accommodation between the two Kings l. 4. c. 15. The three Ambassadors from England who concluded this Agreement had great Presents in ready Money and Plate and each of them Two thousand Crowns Pension c. 8. of the same Book A Gascon Gentleman Lewis de Bretailles who was much troubled at the Peace made between France and England received a Thousand Crowns from King Lewis the Eleventh after he had had the Honour to dine with him to prevent him from telling the King of England his Master that the French laugh'd in their Sleeves for having driven the English out of France by a Treaty of Peace and by some Presents ch 10. of the same Book deserve it singly 3 There are few People who are Proof against the Charms of Interest During the War of Paris all the Generals of the Sling were meditating on their particular Accommodation and each had his secret Correspondence with the Court to make his Conditions the better The Counsellor Brousell grew tractable and 〈◊〉 after he had a secret Promise of the Government of the Basâ—ille for his eldest Son Memoirs of the Minority of Lewis the Fourtâ—â—nth The Sieur de Villeroy saith the Chancellor de Riverny was engaged as far as any in the League notwithstanding he quitted it by a particular Treaty which he made for himself and afterwards returned to serve the King in his former Office of Secretary of State In his Memoirs These Words having once shaken their Resolution 4 One Man of Parts is enough to reduce a whole Multitude to Obedience Every Thing puts Fear into People who are in Sedition when their first Heat is over and a wise Man comes to deal with them who excites in them the Desire of Impunity which according to Tacitus baâ—â—â—es all the Enterprizes which are formed against a Prince and cast a Distrust into them of each other the Love of their Prince re-enter'd into them by degrees the Legions separate and the new Soldiers divide from the Veterans They forsake the Gates and replace their Eagles by themselves which they had shuffl'd together in the beginning of the Mutiny XXIII At break of Day Drusus calls the General Assembly and though he had not the Gift of Speaking well yet his Discourse had in it a certain Air of Greatness inborn to those of Noble Blood 1 There is an Eloquence of the Looks of the Gesture of the Countenance which oftentimes prevails more than that of the greatest Orators Subjects don't so much regard what their Prince says to them as the manner after which he speaks it every thing that he saith is effectual if he knows how to speak with Majesty He ought to speak not as one who is about to Perswade but as one who hath a Right to Command and is able to make himself be Obeyed highly condemns the past Proceedings and extols the present He tells them he is not capable of Fear and that by consequence he is not to be mov'd with Threatnings 2 The Minister whom a Prince sends to suppress a Sedition or a Revolt of Soldiers ought to take care of nothing more than of doing any Thing or suffering any Word to slip from him that may be taken for a sign of Fear For if once they come to perceive that he hath Fear they shall impute it to the Knowledge which they will believe he hath of the Weakness of the Prince rather than to his own want of Courage or Resolution What Commines saith upon the occasion of the Town of Nanci surrendred to the Duke of Lorraine by a Lord of the House of Crouy named de Bievres who commanded in it for the Duke of Burgundy shews oâ— what Importance it is to be firm and resolved amongst Soldiers The English saith he tired because the Duke of Burgundy delayed so long to relieve them began to murmur and to despair of Succours and told the Lord de Bievres that they would Capitulatâ— without him if he did not Capitulate Although he was a good Officer yet he had so little Resolution as to use Intreaties and Remonstrances and if he had spoken mâ—re boldly I believe that it had been taken better from him for the next Day or two Days after the Place was surrendred the Duke of Burgundy came well accompanied as the Occasion required Memoirs l. 5. c. 5. In great Dangers a General ought to put on a better Countenance it is not always amiss to fear but it is always unbecoming not to know how to conceal it A Captain 's Countenance ought to be armed with Dissimulation as his Body with Steel otherwise he will 〈◊〉 betrayed sooner by his Eyes than by his Soldiers that if he finds in them due Repentance and Respect he will write to his Father in their behalf and inclinâ— him to receive their Petition and graciously to answer it Accordingly at their Request the fore-mention'd Blesus Lucius Apronius a Roman Knight of the Cohort of Drusus and Iustus Catonius Captain of the first Century b i.e. Captain of the first Century or Company of the Band or Manipule which as I have already said consisted of two Centuries or Companies and consequently had two Captains or Centurions And by centuriones primorum ordinum Tacitus means those whom we cast Eldest Captains are sent to Tiberius After this a Council of War was held where their Iudgments were divided Some were of Opinion that the Soldiers should be mildly Treated till the return of their Deputies otheâ—â—s thought it more adviseable to use Rigour there being no Moderation to be expected from a Multitude 3 Shame is a Passion that is not to be found in the Multitude but to compensate this they are mightily subject to Fear Thus Rigour hath the same Effect upon them that the Point of Honour hath upon particular Persons which makes it self formidale when it fears nothing and which may â—afely be despis'd when timorous That Terrour was to be imprinted in them while they were yet fill'd with Superstition and that they were to be made sensible they had
was left to him that Henry the Third nourished Vipers in his Bosom that if he any longer deferred the Remedy of the Evils which threatned him he would see his Fault when it was too late It is worth observing by the way that Coloma himself believed that the Duke of Guise had sold himself to the King of Spain when he saith That the Commander Iohn Morâ—o who managed the Money which Philip the Second distâ—ibuted in France so entirely gained this Duke that he became wholly Spanish L. 3. of the same History and above all by giving them their Discharge so soon Yet he was not wanting to relate to the Senate his Exploits and to give large Commendations to his Valour but in Terms too much affected and labour'd to be thought sincere q It was his Desire that they should believe that he exceeded in the Praises of Germanicus thereby to lessen all the great Things which he had said of him Pessâ—mum inimicorum genus laudantes He spoke more sparingly of Drusus and of the Success of his Voyage into Illyria but it was with more Frankness and more Love and besides he order'd the same Conditions to be made for the Legions in Pannonia which Germanicus had granted to his own XLVI In the same Year died Iulia the Daughter of Augustus r Iulia saith Paterculus utterly forgetting that she was Augustus's Daughter and Tiberius's Wife gave herself up to all manner of Debaucheries which a Woman was capable of how shameful and infamous soever She measured the Greatness of her Fortune by Licentiousness and Impunity Her Adulterers were Iulius Antonius the Son of Mark Anthony and Husband of Marcella Augâ—stus's Niece Quintius Crispinus Appius Claudius Semproâ—ius Gracchus and Scipio besides some others of less Quality Hist. 2. c. 100. She had four Children by Agrippa her second Husband three Sons and one Daughter who inherited her Name and her Manners Sueton saith That when she was the Wife of Marcâ—llus she had a great Passion for Tiberius as it is the way of Coâ—ueâ—s and lewd Women always to love another better than their own Husband Seneca saith That Augustus perceiving too late the Error he had committed in publishing the Infamy of his Daughter by banishing her said with Grief That all this would not haâ—e 〈◊〉 him iâ— Agrippa or 〈◊〉 had been alive whom for her Incontinence he had formerly confin'd to the Isle of Pandataria s Now Pianosa in the Bay of Poâ—zzoli and afterwards to Rhegium near the Coast of Sicily During the Life of Caius and Lucius Agrippa her Sons she had been given in second Marriage to Tiberius whom she despis'd as a Man below her Quality 1 Unequal Marriages are almost always unfortunate especially those of Gentlemen with Princesses of the Royal Blood For commonly these Princesses will make up this Inequality at the Expence of the Honour or the Estate of their Husbands And it is of them that it is truly said That Majesty and Love never dwell together Add hereto that the infinite Respect which they exact upon the account of their Rank is insupportable to Husbands who have reason to be highly displeased at Irregularities which they dare not take notice of We ought therefore to observe the Precept of the Wise Man of Greece who advises not to marry a Wife of too great Riches or too high a Birth for fear of having a Master in stead of a Companion or as an old Poet said wittily for fear of meeting with a Husband in stead of a Wife and this was the principal Occasion of the Retirement of Tiberius to Rhodes But when he succeeded to the Empire not content to behold her banish'd dishonour'd and by the Death of Agrippa Posthumus depriv'd not only of all Hopes but of all Support he caus'd her to die in Want and Misery imagining that the distance of the Place to which she was banish'd would hide the manner of her Death Sempronius Gracchus was likewise slain on her Account Gracchus who was of a ready Wit and Eloquent with Cunning and Insinuation had debauch'd Iulia during her Marriage with Agrippa and his Gallantry with that Lady ended not with her first Husband's Death for he continu'd her perpetual Adulterer even after her Marriage with Tiberius He was continually provoking her against her Husband and encourag'd her to Disobedience It was also thought that he was the Author of those Letters which she writ to her Father against Tiberius and which occasion'd his Disgrace For these Reasons he was confin'd to an African Island call'd Cercina where he remain'd in Exile 14 Years He was found by the Soldiers who were sent to kill him on a Prominence at a little distance from the Shore and presaging no Good from their Arrival He desir'd some little Time to write his Last Will to his Wife Alliaria after which he freely offer'd them his Head A Constancy not unworthy of the Sempronian Name though he had degenerated from it by the Voluptuousness of his Life 2 Men are never throughly known till their Deaths All the Stains of a Voluptuous and Irregular Life are effaced by a Generous Death The Count de Chalais did himself as great Honour by his Death at which he called upon God to the Twentieth Stroke of the Thirty six that he received from the Executioner's Hand an extraordinary Thing as the Disorders of his Life and his Conspiracy against the King had dishonoured him Letters of the 19th of August 1626. Tome I. of the Memoirs of Cardinal Richelieu Don Rodrigo Calderon the Favourite of Philip the Third King of Spain by the Heroick Constancy of his Death turned the Hatred under which he lay into Esteem and Compassion Savadra Empr. 33. Un bel morir saith Petrarch tutta la vita honora Some have written that those Soldiers were not sent from Rome but from Lucius Asprenas Proconsul of Africa on whom Tiberius thought in vain to have cast the Odium of that Murder 3 How desirous soever Princes are to throw upon others the Hatred of the violent Resolutions which are executed against Great Men they are always believed to be the Authors thereof when they let those Persons go unpunished who have put them in execution After that Peter the Cruel had secretly put to Death Iohn Nugnez de Prado Grand Master of Calatrava this King saith Mariana expressed Grief for it to avoid the Hatred and the Insamy which would be upon him by the unjust Death of a Lord whose greatest Crime was his Friendship with a disgrac'd Favourite But when he made no inquiry and consequently inflicted no Punishment for so horrid a Fact the whole Kingdom believed that what all Pâ—â—ple before suspected of the King was a Truth which admitted of no Doubt History of Spain lib. 16. cap. 18. XLVII This Year was also made Remarkable by the Institution of new Ceremonies for there was establish'd at this time a College of Priests in Honour of Augustus in
particularly by the Great Men. And he hath often said to me that he should find it if his affairs went ill Ch. 1. Lib. 2. of his Memoirs II. After the Death of Phraates and the two succeeding Kings the Principal Men amongst them being weary of domestick slaughters 1 To preserve Peace in a Monarchical State it is necessary that the Great Men intermeddle not with the Administration of Affairs for their ambition never suffers them to agree together The weaker desiring an Equality and the more powerful not being contented with that they perpetually bandy into Factions one against another so that the State is torn with their quarrels until a Prince comes who hath the Courage and the Skill to resume all the Authority which both sides have usurped sent Ambassadors to Rome to demand Vonones the Eldest of his Sons Tiberius looking on this to be much for his honour 2 The greatest Honour that a Foreign Nation can do to a Prince is to be willing to receive a King from his hands especially when it is a Nation equal or very near equal in power as the Parthians were to the Romans Sociis virium aemulis saith Tacitus cedentibusque per reve rentiam Ann. 12. i. e. The Parthians who do not give place to the Romans but out of Respect and Friendship sent him away with rich presents and the Barbarous People receiv'd him with joy as they usually do new Kings 3 A new Reign saith Cabrera or a new Minister always pleaseth the People best who in this cross the Custom that is almost Universal to praise the past and condemn the present As the Successor differs from his Predecessor either in Age or Manners how good qualities soever the Predecessor had he that succeeds is always more acceptable People grow weary of and in time disrelish every thing and particularly every thing that is Uniform the same kind of Dish served up two days successively becomes insipid a way that is all even and alike tires if it be long Lib. 7. Cap. ult Cardinal Delfin said one day to me that at Rome no Popes were hated more than those who reigned long and that la longhezza del dominare it was the Expression he used made a good Pope as insupportable as a Bad one But they soon began to be asham'd 4 Tacitus saith that the Parthians regretted their Princes when they were absent and disliked them when they were present Parthos absentiunâ— aequos praesentibus mobiles Ann. 6. By the first Vonones who had been so long absent ought to have been very agreeable to them at his return but by the second he could not fail of soon experiencing their Inconstancy Besides it is common for Men to have a good Opinion of the Absent majora credi de absentibus Hist. 2. and to find themselves deceived when they see them because it is much easier to form a great Idea of those whom we love before we know them than it is to answer a great Expectation when we arâ— known that they had so far degenerated as to go to another World for a King that had been trained up in the Arts of their Enemies and that the Kingdom of the Arsacidae was thereby esteem'd and dispos'd of as a Roman Province Where said they is the Glory of those that slew Crassus e He was slain with the greatest part of the Roman Army by the Cavalry of King Oâ—odes the Father of Phraates and the Parthians were going to posses themselves of Syria whereof he was Governor if Calus Cassius who served in the Roman Army in the Quality of Quâ—estor had not prevented them Paterc Cap. 46. Lib. 2. and put Anthony f Having entred Armenia with 16 Legions he marched through Media in order to attack the Parthians But as he advanced in the Enemy's Country 〈◊〉 met 〈◊〉 King of the Parthians and Artavasdes King of Media who hinder'd him from passing the Euphrates and defeated his Lieutenant Oppius Statianus with two Legions and all the Cavalry which he had under his Command Afterwards he was forced to raise the Siege of Praaspes the Capital City of Media and to send to beg Peace of Phraates who gave it him on such Conditions as used to be impos'd on the 〈…〉 Lib. 42. Anthony saith Paterculus stuck not to call his 〈…〉 because he had escaped out of the hands of his Enemies with his 〈◊〉 although he had lost the fourth part of his Army all his Baggage and Artillery Chap. 82. to flight if the Parthians are to be govern'd by one that hath been so many years a Slave to the Roman Emperor He himself heightned their Indignation and Contempt by differing so much from the Manners of his Ancestors loving neither 5 According to Xenophon Hunting is the truest Image of War for there is nothing to be seen in War which is not seen in Hunting and consequently Hunting is the most profitable Diversion that a Prince can take who deâ—igns to be a great Captain David offering himself to Saul to fight with Goliah alledges as a Proof of his Courage and of his Experience that he had pursued the Lyon and the Bear and that he had strangled and slew them in stopping their mouths with his hands â— Sam. 17. An instance of the Reâ—emblance that there is betwixt Hunting and War Commines saith that of all Diversions Lewis XI took the greatest Delight in Hunting but that he scarce returned from it but he was angry with somebody For it is a thing saith he that is not always â—anag'd to please those who are the Principal Persons in the Field An Observation for Princes who love this Diversion and for those who accompany them at it Chap. 13. Book 6. of his Memoirs Hunting g 〈◊〉 in the Preface to his Cataline reckons Hunting amongst â—ervile 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 Non fuit consilium socordia atque defidia bonum otiuâ— conterere neque vero agrum colendo aut venando servilibus officiis intentum aetatem aegere Reasoning in this like a Roman for in his time the Romans did not hunt and it is taken notice of by Suâ—tonius that Tiberius branded a Commander of a Legion with infamy for sending some Soldiers a Hunting Here we ought to observe that Republicans have never been great Hunters because they are always taken up with affairs of Government So we are not to wonder if the Nobleâ—Venetians are neither Hunters nor Soldiers They don't so much as understand how to sit a Horse for besides that they have no Horses in their City they don't care to be Horsemen because they dont make War but by Sea all their Military Land-Offices being given to Strangers Cabrera calls Hunting a Royal Exercise Real exercicio de la casa and saith that Philip II. took great delight in it Chap. of his History nor Horses 6 In a Nation such as the Parthians whose whole strength â—ay in Cavalry a King cannot have a greater Fault than not
for trying the Government of a Woman named Erato whom they soon laid aside 2 Gynecocracy is the Worst of all Governments For this Sex saith Tacitus is not only weak and voluptuous and consequently unfit for the Management of Affairs of State but besides is Cruel Untractable and desirous infinitely to extend its Power if its Ambition be not restâ—â—in'd The Prophet Isaiah Ch. 3. threatens the Iews with the Government of Children and with that of Women as with two equal Curses So that we are not to wonder if 〈◊〉 is so odious in those very 〈◊〉 where Women have right of Succession nor why divers Nations have for ever excluded them from the Throne and thus being in an unsettled and confus'd Condition 3 Anarchy is the most miserable Condition that a Kingdom oâ— a Common-Wealth can fall into and it is the only plague that can make the loss of a Female Government regreted For it is impossible for Civil 〈◊〉 to subâ—ist without a Master and without Laws And this is the râ—ason that Anarchy hath been always of short duration and rather without a Master than in Liberty they offer the Crown to exil'd Vonones 4 A State however it changes the Form of its Government sooner or later will return to that which it had in its Original The first Goverâ—ment to a Body-Politick is what the Natural Air is to a Humane body But as soon as Artabanus threatned him and it appeared that there was little reliance on the Armenians and as little expectation of assistance from the Romans who could not defend him unless they would engage in a War against the Parthians he retires to Creticus Silanus the Governor of Syria who although he had invited him set a Guard upon him as soon as he came leaving him however the Title and the State of a King 5 It is not the Royal Title or 〈◊〉 that make a King but the Authority The Majesty is in the Functions not in the Ornaments and it is 〈◊〉 this reason that the Title of 〈◊〉 dâ—d not belong to the Senate oâ— Rome although it had all the exterior Marks of it as the Rods the Purple Robe the Ivory-Chair c. but to the People in whom the Supreme Power resided Witness the Form of Words which was pronounced with a loud voice at the opening of all the Assemblies Velitis Iubeatis Quirites which is the Appellation they gave the People in their Assemblies Cabrera saith that Philip II. having marry'd Mary Queen of England and received from his Father the Renunciation of the Kingdom of Naples on the score of this Marriage took it very ill that his Father kept the Administration and the Revenues of it and the more because he was hereby King of Naples and of England only in Title and Name There were also some Englishmen who gave him no other Title but that of the Queens Husband Chap. 5 and 7. Lib. 1. of his History The Earls of Egmond and Horn having been arrested by the Duke of Alva without the privity of the Dutchess of 〈◊〉 Governess the Low-Countreys this Princess who saw that the Duke besides his large power had secret Orders which leâ—t her 〈◊〉 more than the Name of Governess desir'd leave of Philip II. to retire out of these Provinces saying that it was neither for his Service nor her Honour whom he was pleas'd to call his Sister to continue there with a Title without Authority Strada Lib. 6. of Hist. 1. Decad. How he endeavour'd to escape from this Pageant-Royalty we will relate in its proper place 6 A Prince who is dispossess'd of his Dominions doth not willingly continue in the hands of him who hath goâ— possession of them how well soever he is treated by him For this is to adorn with his presence the Conqueror's or the Usurper's Triumph Ferdinand the Catholick assigned Lands and Revenues to Boabdiles whose Kingdom of Granada he had Conquered or Usurped but this Prince soon passed into Africk For saith Mariana those who have seen themselves Kings have not constancy or paâ—ience enough to lead a Private Life Ch. 18. Book 25. of his History of Spain V. But these troubles in the East were no unwelcome News to Tiberius since they gave him a fair Pretence to draw off Germanicus from the Legions that had been accustom'd to his 1 How great soever the Fidelity of a Subject appears to be to whom an Army or a Province hath offered the Sovereignty it is prudence in a Prince under some specious pretence to remove him from this Army or Province for feaâ— lest the Infidelity of others and opportunity may at last inspire him with a desire to accept what may be again offer'd him The Mutineers of Germanicus's Legions had offer'd Germanicus their service being resolved to follow his Fortune if he would seize the Empire Ann. â— and consequently Tiberius had reason to be jealous of the Fidelity of Germanicus and of the Affection which these Legions had for him and Agâ—ippinae who was continually giving them largesse The Satisfaction which the Neapoliâ—ans had in the Goveâ—nment of Gonsalo Hernandez whom they styled by way of Eminence the Great Captain was the principal Cause of the Resolution that Ferdinand the Catholick took to make him return into Spain with hopes of being rewarded with the Office of Grand Master of the Order of St. Iamâ—s which was the highest Honour in the Kingdom command m Philip II. dealt with his Nephew Alexander Farnese almost after the same manner He sent him into France to the assistance of the League whilst his presence was absolutely necessary in the Low-Countreys where he had begun to re-establish the Royal Authority having obliged the Arch-Duke Matthias to return into Germany the Duke of Alonson into 〈◊〉 the Earl of Liecester into England and the Prince of Orange into Holland For his absence gave the Rebels new strength and was the Cause that they recovered a great part of what they had loâ—t So that Don Carlos Coloma had good reason to say that Philip II. acted herein against all the Rules of Policy Lib. 2 and 3. of his Wars of Flanders and to expose him at once to Hazards and Treachery in Provinces where he was a Stranger But the more he was hated by his Uncle and loved by the Soldiers the more he endeavoured to put an end to this War by a Decisive Battel in order to which he consider'd well with himself the Methods of Fighting and what had succeeded well or ill with him after three years War in this Country He found that the Germans were always beaten in pitch'd Battels and on even Ground that their advantages lay in Woods and Marshes in short Summers and early Winters That his Soldiers were more troubled at their long marches and the loss of their Arms than for the Wounds they had receiv'd That the Gauls were weary of furnishing Horses That his long train of Carriages was much exposed to
the Tiberius of our Kings obtain'd his ends of the King of England and the Dukes of Normandy of Britany of Burgundy and of the Dutchess of Savoy who were all in a Confederacy against him by as many Particular Treaties which baâ—â—led all their ill designs After the Death of the Duke of Burgunay he Re-united to his Crown Peronne Mondidier Roie Arras Hesdin and Boâ—logne by gaining the Lord of Cordes who was Governor thereof And Coâ—â—â—ines saith that he could not in a long time have done thaâ— by Force which he did by secret ln telligence by the means of this Lord Lib. 5. Cap. 15. 16. And of all the Persons that I ever knew Lewis XI was the most dextrous in getting himself out of the Briars in times oâ— Adversity and in gaining to his interest a Man that could serve or hurt him Lib. 1. Cap. 10. It was by this way that he oblig'd the Sigambri p The People of Guelderland and Friesâ—and to submit the Suâ—vi and King Marobodâ—â—s to accept a Peace That now the Romans were reveng'd and their Honour repair'd the Cherusci and the other rebellious Nations might be securely left to worry one another by Domestick Quarrels Germanicus desiring one Year more to compleat his Undertaking 3 Iealous and Suspicious Princes as Tiberius was had rather lose a certain Good than to be oblig'd for it to a Captain whose Glory gives them jealousie They love Conquests very well but commonly they cannot enduâ—e the Conquerors Cardinal Richelieu said that there is no Prince in a worse Condition than â—e who instead of governing himself with respect to the Publick Interests hath Passion for his Guide and who being not able always to do himself the things which he is obliged to is uneasie to let them be done by another and that to be capable to suffer himself to be served is not one of the least Qualities which a great King can have Chap. 6. de la 1 partie de son Testament Pol. Observe by the way the Malignity of Tiberius He calls Germaniâ—us to the Enjoyment of the Consulship and to the Honour of a Triumph before he had compleated the Conquest of Germany to turn that into Grace and Favour to him which he was upon the Point of meriting under the Title of a Reward By this advance he chang'd the Obligation and would have that appear to be the Effect of Paternal Kindness which was Tyrannical injustice Tiberius more briskly attacks his Modesty with the Offer of a New Consulship which he was to execute at Rome in Person adding That if the War should continue he ought to leave it as a Scene of Glory for his Brother Drusus who now the Empire had no other Enemies could not acquire the Title of Imperator nor merit a Triumph unless in the German War 4 Thus Princes endeavour to justifie their Resolutions by specâ—ous Reasons notwithstanding they have power to command absolutely Modesty serves for a Cover of the Injustice Germanicus press'd it no farther though he knew well enough 5 The more insight we have into the Thoughts of Princes the less we ought to discover it for nothing offends them more than to shew them that we are more cunning than themselves Part of our respect saith Tacitus consists in feigning that we understand nothing of their Artifices Intelligebantur artes sed pars obsequii in â—o ne depreâ—enderentur Hist. that these were no other than specious Pretences and that he was recall'd through Envy when he was at the very Point of accomplishing his glorious Enterprizes q Philip II. of Spain a Prince who had much of Tiberius in him dealt almost in the same manner with his Brother Don Iohn of Austria in giving the Command of the Army in the War of Grenada to Don Lewis Fejarâ—o Marquis of Vâ—lez under colour of â—asing Don Iohn who had the whole weight of the Government of this Kingdom upon him but in truth to take out of his hands the Glory of reducing the Rebels which were already much weakned Dâ—â—go de Mendoza Cap. â— Lib. 3. of the War of Grenada XXVII About the same time Libâ— Drusus of the Family of the Scribonii was accus'd of a Conspiracy against the Government I shall give an exact Account of the Rise Progress and Issue of this Affair because this was the first time those pernicious Practices were set on foot which for a long time after afflicted the State and prey'd on the very Vitals of it Firmius Catus a Senator and an intimate Friend of Libo puts this imprudent Young-man who was apt enough to be amused with vain Hopes r Monsieur de Cinqmars Grand-Ecuier of France much resembled Libâ— but with this Difference that Libo was ruin'd by the Treachery of his Confident whereas Monsieur de Cinqmars ruin'd his Confident Monsieur 〈…〉 a Man of as great Virtue as Caâ—us was of Villâ—â—y upon trinketting with Astrologers Magicians and Interpreters of Dreams 1 The Predictions of Astrologers and Fortune-tellers have in all times been fatal to Great Men who havâ— given credit to them for either they have render'd them suspected to their Prince as Persons who build their hopes on Revolutions and Opportunities which they wait for or they have engaged them in Unfortunate Enterprizes of which they would have never dreamt if their Credulity had not blinded them Mariana relates a remarkable Instance of this in Don Diego Duke of Viseu who being at the Head of a Conspiracy against Iohn II. King of Portugal had the Confidence or rather Rashness to go to the King who sent for him being persuaded that he should escape so great a Danger because it had been predicted to him that he should reign and that if the King seized him he should be succour'd in the very nick of time by all the Great Men that were engag'd in the Conspiracy But he was mistaken in his reasoning for the King stabb'd him with his own hand saying to him Go and tell the Duke of Braganza the issue of the Plot which he laid Whereupon Mariana concludes with the Words of Tacitus That Astrologers are a Generation of Men â—it only to abuse Great Persons by Vain and Flattering Promises who have and always will find Belief and Applause in all Countrys notwithstanding their Lies are so common and so well known to all the World Lib. 24. Cap. ult of his History 'T is true saith Father Paul these Predictions sometimes come to pass by Chance or by some other secret Cause but most commonly they are the Cause that a great many Credulous People run themselves upoâ— ruine Hist. of the Council of Trent Lib. 5. To conclude it looks as if God permitted Great Men to be beset by Astrologers to humble them for he hath always sent them so many Disgraces and Afflictions as these Raâ—cally Cheats have promised them Grandeurs and Successes These study only to make them Prognosticks which set them above the
with safety When Ferdinand the Catholick came to take possession of his Kingdom of Spain he said to Doâ— Antonio de la Cueva who notwithstanding he had receiv'd many favours from him preferr'd Philip I. King of Castile before him Whâ— could have thought Don Antonio that you would have abandon'd me on this Occasion But Sir reply'd La Câ—eva who could have thought that a very old King had longer to live than a Young one and that Philip fresh and blooming like a Rose was tâ— wither and die in three days â—Such is the Method of all Courtiers they adore the Rising and turn their backs on the Declining Prince Epitome of the Life of Charles V. and Lib. 3. of the Life of the Great Captain But when Tiberius came to the Empire upon the Extinction of the Family of the Caesars he wheedles Archelaus by his Mother's Letters to come to Rome who not dissembling her Son's displeasure assur'd him withal that he would pardon him upon his Submission 4 Princes who have been neglected despised or persecuted by the Favourites or Ministers of their Predecessors rarely forgive them when they come to reign As soon as the Cardinal Henry of Portugal came to the Throne he abandon'd all the Ministers of King Sebastian and all the Principal Officers of the Crown who little thinking that he who was so old would survive Sebastian who was Young and who had no great Esteen or Affection for him had not paid him that respect which was due to his Rank Hist. of thâ— Union of Protugal with Castile Lib. 3. He not suspecting Treachery or not daring to shew his suspicions if he did for fear of the Emperor's Power hastens to Rome when meeting with a rough Reception from Tiberius and an Accusation against him in the Senate he soon ended his Days whether by a Natural or a Voluntary Death is not certain not that he was believ'd to be conscious of those Crimes charg'd upon him which were meer â—ictions but because he was broken with Age and Grief and a Treatment that is unusual to Kings to whom a Moderate Fortune is unsupportable so little able are they to bear Contempt and Misery 5 Things that are tolerable appear insupportable to Kings and those which are really rough and hard to bear are almost always mortal to them Commines comparing the Evils which Lewis XI had made many persons suffer with those which he suffer'd himself before his Death saith that his were neither so great nor of so long continuance but besides that he was in a higher Station in the World than those he had treated ill the little that he suffer'd against his Nature and against what he was accustom'd to was harder for him to bear And four Pages after speaking of his Physician who handled him in the rudest manner This was saith he a great Purgatory to him in this World considering the Obâ—dience which he had had from so many good and great Men. His Memoirs lib. 6. cap. 12. His Kingdom was reduc'd into the Form of a Province and Tiberius declar'd that by the Addition of the Revenues of it Rome should be eas'd of one half of the Tax of the hundredth Penny e Establish'd by Augustus about the Year 760. 〈◊〉 is â—poken of at the â—nd of the first Book of the Annals impos'd on all Commodities that were sold and that for the future no more than the two Hundredth should be paid The Death of Antiochus King of Comagena and of philopator King of Cilicia which happen'd both about the same time produc'd great disorders in those Nations some desiring to be govern'd by Kings of their own others to be Subject to the Roman Empire The Provinces of Syria and Iudaea groaning under the Burden of Taâ—es petition'd to be discharg'd of part of them XLIV He acquainted the Senate with those Affairs and with the State of Armenia of which I have given an account before telling them withal that the Troubles of the East could not be compos'd without the Presence and Conduct of Germanicus 1 When a Great Man iâ— so belov'd of the People that the Prince is Iealous of him but dares not shew his resentment of it the most common expedient is to give him some remote Government or some splendid Embassy to with-draw him from the Eyes and the Applause of the People under a pretence that none but he is capable of that Employment For if the Prince hath â— Design to destory him he easily finds ways for it by the advantage of his distance which prevents the People from knowing the Orders that he sends who was the fittest Person for this Expedition Drusus being too young and himself in his declining years 2 There are some Employments for which a good Understanding with a long Experience is sufficient but there are others for which vigour of body is also necessary Philibert-Emanuel Duke of Savoy said that a General of an Army ought to be of a middle Age betwixt Manhood and Old Age that he might be capable of being sometimes Marcellus and sometimes Fabius That is to say to know how to wait for Opportunities as the Latter and to fight as the Former Charles V. said of a Count of Feria that by his Prudence 〈◊〉 commandâ—d as a Captain and that his Vigour made him sight as a Common Soldier Epitome of his Life Upon which the Senate decreed Germanicus all the Provinces beyond the Seas with a more absolute Power than those Governors who obtain'd them by Lot or by the Prince's Nomination But Tiberius had first recall'd Creticus Silanus from Syria because he was ally'd to Germanicus 3 There is nothing more dangerous than to give two Neighbouring Governments to two Men betwixt whom there is a Close tye of Kindred Friendship or Interests for it is to give them an opportunity to act by concert and to rebel against the Prince Lewis XI having agreed by the Treaty of 〈◊〉 to give for Appanage to his Brother Charles Champagne Brie and some neighbouring Places was careful enough not to accomplish this Treâ—ty which left him to the Discretion of Charles and of the Duke of Bâ—rgundy For the situation of Champague and Brie was convenient for them both and Charles might upon a Days notice have succours from 〈◊〉 the two Countreys joyning together So that Lewis chose rather to give him Guienâ—e with 〈◊〉 although this Partition was of much greater value than that of Brie and Champagne being resolv'd that his Brother and the Duke should not be so near Neighbours Comminâ—s lib. 2. cap. ult of his Memoirs by the Contract of the Daughter of the Former to Nero the Eldest Son of the Latter and had put Cneius Piso in his Place a Man of a Violent and Untractable temper that inherited all the Haughtiness of his Father Piso who had been so zealous and vigorous a Supporter of the Civil War against Caesar when it was reviv'd in Africk who follow'd the Party
to be the truest Reading for Piso having answer'd with so little respect to Germanicus whose dissembled anger he could not be ignorant of Germanicus had no reason any longer to dissemble his Anger towards a Man who did not dissemble his towards him After which Piso came seldom to Germanicus's Tribunal and when ever he did assist he appear'd with a â—our Countenance and always dissented from him in his Opinion 4 It is a strange thing that Princes must suffer for the Misunderstanding that is between their Ministers and that the Publick Affairs must be sacrific'd to their Private Quarrels Are there not frequently seen in a Council Persons who give their Opinion not to counsel the Prince but to contradict their Rival not to follow a good Opinion but to make an ill one pass if they can Princes are very much concern'd to remedy this Disorder And when they were invited by the King of the Nabathaeans to a Feast at which Golden Crowns of great weight were presented to Germanicus and Agrippiâ—a and light ones to Piso and the rest of the Guests He said aloud That this Feast was made for the Son of a Roman Prince a Tacitus hath said in one of the foregoing Paragraphs that Piso hardly gave place to Tiberius and that he look'd on his Sons as his Inâ—eriors So that nothing could affront him more than to make so great a Difference betwixt Germanicus and him And by saying that Germanicus was the Son of a Roman Prince and not of a Parthian King He intimated that Tiberius was no more than a Prince of a Common-Wealth and not a Sovereign as the King of the Parthians and that consequently Germanicus transgress'd the bounds of an Aristocratical Equality by accepting a Crown of greater value than was given to the rest of the Guests and not of a Parthian King And throwing aside his Crown inveighed against Luxury 5 If they had presented Piso with a Crown like Germanicus's we may believe he would not have rejected it nor made an Invective against Luxury But because he was noâ— made Equal to Germanicus he thought fit to take upon him a Mask of Modesty to put a better Colour on his Resentment And observe here the Nature of most of our Censors and Reformers They declaim against Great Men because they can't be as great as they They despise the Honours that are given them because they would have greater than are due to them So that we may say of them what Alexander said of Antipater his Father's Minister That if they are modest in their Cloâ—ths they are all Purple within which Gâ—rmanicus bore with patience though he was sensible of the Affront LIX It was about this time that Ambassadors came from Artabanus King of the Parthians representing that their Master desir'd to renew the Friendship and League with the Romans and that in honour to Germanicus he would come as far as the Banks of Euphrates But in the mean time he intreated that Vonones might not be suffer'd to continue in Syria lest so near a Residence might give him opportunity to sollicite the Great Men of his Kingdom to an Insurrection As to the League betwixt the Romans and the Parthians Germanicus return'd an answer suitable to the Dignity of the Subject but as to the King 's coming and the Honour he had done him he expressed himself with great Modesty and Respect 1 The Audience of Ambassadors is one of the most Difficult things which a Prince hath to do for it is not enough that he hear with Modesty and Attention but it behoves him also to answer with Prudence and Constancy as well to remember what he is himself as what the Prince is who treats with him and to manage the Ambassador so well that of a Publick Witness and a Spy he may make a Friend and a true Mediator of him Commines saith That Lewis XI dismissed Ambassadors with such good Words and such handsome Presents that they always went away pleas'd from him and disâ—embled to their Masters what they knew for the sake of the Proâ—it which they gain'd thereby Memoirs Lib. 5. Cap. 14. I have read in a History of Venice that the principal Cause which moved that Senate immediately to acknowledge Henry IV. for King of France was the Relation which was sent them by the Senator Iohn Moâ—enique who was their Ambassador at the Court of Henry III. when he was murther'd Commines saith That to give audience to Ambassadors the Prince ought to be well Dress'd and well-inform'd of what he is to say l. 3. c. 8. He remov'd Vonones to Pompeiopolis a Maritime Town of Cilicia which he did not so much to comply with the request of Artabanus as to mortifie Piso 2 There are many Faults and Mal-administrations which would remain unpunish'd if the Officers who commit them were not hated by those who punish them If Germanicus had not hated Piso and his Wife he possibly would never have removed Vonones from Syria who in all appearance endeavour'd by the Presents he made to Plancina to corrupt the Fidelity of Piso to set him at Liberty Witness the attempt which he made for it in Cilicia under favour of a Hunting Match as Tacitus relates in the 69 Paragraph of this Book Which shews that Artabanus had good reason to demand the removal of Vonones to whom Vonones was very acceptable upon the account of the many Favours and Presents wherewith he had oblig'd Plancina The Year 772. after the Building of the City LX. In the Consulship of M. Silanus and L. Norbanus Germanicus takes a Iourney into Aegypt under colour of taking care of the Province but in truth to see the Antiquities of the Country 1 Princes who have large Dominions ought not to travel into other Countreys because they have more work at home than they can ever do and in my Opinion the use of Embasâ—ys was introduc'd to save them this trouble or rather to teach them the Obligation they lie under to provide for the Necessities of their People whose repose absolutely depends on their Presence A Prince who travells into a Foreign Countrey soon loses the Affectious of his Subjects for besides that he neglects the Administration of Affairs they are displeas'd at the great Expences which he is oblig'd to be at to appear Liberal and Magnificent to Strangers A Point of Honour that draws upon him more curses from his own People than he gets applause from those whom he Enriches An able Ambassador of Savoy told me more than once that Duke Charles-Emanuel had been at such excessive Expences in his Iourney which he took into France about the End of the last Age that he was straitned thereby above fifteen years and that if in 1612 he had been Master of the Money which he had left there he would have had thrice as much as he needed to have obtain'd the Empire in opposition to the whole House of Austr a. These were
have govern'd with applause For instance If the King of Spain should send into Catalonia and Sâ—ciâ—y which are two fierce Nations and whose Obedience is as it were Arbitrary Viceroys who would take the same Courses that the Viceroys of Naples and the Governors of Milan do he would immediately lose these Provinces where there is nothing but Bones for the Spanish Ministers to gnaw upon LXI But Germanicus who did not yet know that his Iourney had given Offence went up the River Nile having Embark'd at Canopus a Town built by the Spartaâ—â— in Memory of a Captain of a Ship of that Name who was buried there when Mâ—nelaus in his return to Greece was driven back by contrary Winds to the Coasts of Lybia The Mouth of the River that is next to Canopus is consecrated to Hercules who as the Inhabitants affirm was a Native of their Countrey and the first of all who bore that Name with which the rest were honoured after him because they follow'd him in the same Paths of Valour He afterwards viewed the great Ruines of Thebes where there were yet remaining some Inscriptions engraven on Obelisks in Aegyptian Letters which describ'd its ancient Grandeur One of the Eldest Priests who was order'd to interpret it reported That it formerly contain'd seven hundred thousand Men of an age able to bear Arms and that with an Army of that Number King Rhameses conquer'd Libya Aethiopia the Medes and Persians Bactriania and Scythia and all the Countrey which is inhabited by the Syrians Armenians and their Neighbours the Cappadocians extending from the Bithynian Sea on one side to the Lycian on the other There was also read an account of the Tributes imposed on the Nations what weight of Gold and Silver what Numbers of Horses and Arms for War How much Ivory and Perfumes for Oblations to the Temples and what quantities of Corn and other Necessaries of Life each Nation paid which equall'd in Magnificence and Value the Tributes that are now imposed either by the Parthian or the Roman Empire LXII But Germanicus was led on with a Desire of seeing other Miracles whereof the Principal were the Statue of Memnon cut in Stone which gave a Sound like that of a Humane Voice when the Rays of the Sun stâ—uck upon it Pyramids as high as Mountains rais'd in moving and almost unpassable Sands 1 It is common for great Princes to raise Magnificent Edifices in Desart and dry Places and which by their situation seem to be Uninhabitable to make their Power appear the greater and to shew that every thing yields to their Fortune Philip II. had this Prospect when he chose the pitiful Village of the Escurial to build there the Famous Monastery which bears this Name and which the Spaniards call the Eighth Wonder of the World although an old Alcada aged â—ourscore years answer'd an Officer who ask'd him in the King's Name his Opinion of it That the King was going to make a Nest of Caterpillars who would devour the whole Country Cabrera c. 11. l 6. of his History by the Emulation and Wealth of their Kings Lakes cut in the Ground for the reception of the Waters of the Nile when it overflows and in other places Caverns so deep that their bottoms cannot be sounded From hence he went to Elephantine and Syene heretofore the Boundaries of the Roman Empire which now extends to the Red Sea LXIII Whilst Germanicus pass'd the Summer in Progresses Drusus acquired no small Glory amongst the Germans by fomenting their Division 1 It is true sign of the Destruction of a Country when those divide and abandon one another who ought to be united Memoirs l. 2. c. 1. Dum singuli pugnant universi vincuntur saith Tacitus in Agricola The Landtgrave of Hesse who commanded the Army of the League of Smalcald against Charles V. had reason to say to the Conâ—ederate Cities through which he pass'd My Friends let every Fox keep his Tail to let them understand that the League could not subsist but by their common agreement Epitomy of the Life of C. V. There can't be better Counsel than what the Lord Contay gave the C. de Charolois who took it very ill that the Lords of the League of the Publick Good held a Council amongst themselves without calling him to it Bear it patiently said Contay for if you displease them they will make their Peace with King Lewis more advantageously than you as you are the Strongest so you ought to be the Wisest Beware therefore of dividing them and use your ulmost industry to maintain a good Correspondence betwixt them and your self Memoirs of Commines l. 1. c. 12. and persuaded them that now Maroboduus d With what Prudence and Conduct saith Paterculus Tiberius by the Ministry of his son Drusus forced Marcâ—odâ—us to quit the Kingdom which he had Invaded and wherein he hid himself as Serpents do in the Bowels of the Earth Hist. 2. Cap. 129. Lewis XI took almost the same Method against the Duke of Burgundy not only by Separating from him all his Allies Edward King of England Gelasius Duke of Milan who had before left the Alliance of the King for that of the Duke of Burgundy Renatus King of Sicily who design'd to have made him his Heir and to put Provence into his hands the Dutchess of Savoy the King's Sister who saith Commines was so much in the Duke's Interest that the Duke disposed of the House of Savoy as of his own but also by raising him up new Enemies as the Swiss who beat him in two Battels and the Cittes of Basil Strasbourg Nuremburg and Francsort who enter'd into an Alliance with the Swiâ—s and to injure him was thought enough to get their own Pardoâ— His Memoirs Lib. 5. Cap. 1. 2. was already weakned they ought to follow their blow till he was entirely ruin'd 2 This Example sheweth that there is scarce any such thing as good Faith among Princes and that the Leagues and Confederacies which they enter into are rather sâ—ares which they lay for one another than Ties of Friendship Commonly the Weakest joyns himself with the Strongest only to make himself more considerable to his Neighbours and his Enemies and this was the Motive of Maroboduus who by his Alliance with the Romans hoped to become more formidable to the Cheruâ—ci and to his Rival Arminius The Strongest on the contrary allies himself with the Weaker under colour to protect and defend him but in truth to lay the Yoke of Slavery upon him as soon as he can find an Opportunity to do it And this is what Tiberius did with respect to Maroboduus in sending Drusus into Germany to sign a League with him Thus it may be truly said That Lâ—â—gues make more noise than they do service That they have more of Appearance and Ostentation than of Reality and Strength and that in fine they rather hasten the Ruine of the Weaker or the less Politick than they do retard or
continuing her Voyage notwithstanding the Severities of the Winter and Storms at Sea arrived at last at Corfu an Island opposite to the Ports of Calabria She staid there a few days to quiet her Mind divided betwixt Grief and Impatience Upon the News of her coming Germanicus's Friends and the Soldiers that had served under him and many Strangers also some out of Duty and others following either for Company or Curiosity flocked from the Neighbouring Places to Brindâ—si a Or Brundusium an Archiepiscopal City in the Kingdom of Naples wâ—â—ch has a strong Castle and safe Harbour and lies upon the Adriatick Sea where she was expected as the nearest and safest Port. As soon as the Ships were discerned at Sea not only the Haven and Shores but the Walls Houses and other Places as far as could be seen were filled with Mourners enquiring oâ—ten whether they should receive her with Silence or Acclamation Neither were they determined which was properest when the Fleet came in not rowing briskly as they used to do but slowly and with Sorrow in their Countenances When she came with her two Children on Shore carrying her Husbands Urn and her Eyes fixt on the Ground there was an universal Lamentation so that you could not distinguish the Grief of Relations from Strangers nor the Mens from the Womens only theirs who met Agrippina being fresh exceeded those came with her which a long Affliction had spent II. Tiberius sent two Companies of his Guards to meet them ordering the Magistrates of Apulia Calabria and Campania to pay their last Respects to the Memory of his Son The Tribunes and Centurions therefore carried the Ashes the Banners were rolled up and with the reversed Fasces went before In all the Colonies as they passed the People in Mourning and the Nobles in their Purple Habits according to the Wealth of the Place burnt Perfumes and other things that add to Funeral Solemnities Those that lived out of the Road met them in great numbers and shewed their Grief 1 However magnificent and extraordinary the Funerals of a Prince are nothing does more Honour to his Memory than the Grief of the People that lament the loss of him The History of Portugal says That upon the Death of Iohn II. all the Kingdom went into Mourning and at Lisbon the Barbers were â—orbid Shaving any Person for 6 Months which was never done for any King before Dialogo quarto Varia Historia c. 11. not only by their Lamentations and Confused Cries but by their Sacrifices to the Infernal Gods Drusus went to Terracina with Germanicus his Children that were at Rome and Claudius his Brother The Year of the City 773. The Consuls M. Valerius and M. Aurelius who then entred on their Office with a great number of the People filled the way without observing any order 2 At the Funerals of Princes it is an infallible sign of great Affliction when the great Men and Magistrates decline those Honours that are due to their Rank Now the Masters of Ceremonies have more to do to regulate the Claims of Officers and to adjust the Disputes among Great Men than in all the other Parts of their Office So that Princes Funerals are oftner memorable for the Disorders that happen at them than for the Universal Affliction every one bewailing the loss of Germanicus as he saw good for there was no Flattery in this Mourning and all knew Tiberius rejoyced at Germanicus's Death tho' he pretended to be troubled for it III. Tiberius and his Mother forbore appearing in publick believing it a lessening to Majesty to grieve publickly 3 The Laws of Nature are the same to Princes as the rest of Mankind Grief for their Children and Princes of their Blood is not unbecoming them provided it does not degenerate into Weakness nor Excess Henry III. of France in my Opinion little regarded his Dignity when he assisted at the Interrment of Cardinal Biragne in the Habit of a Penitent and it looks as if he had forgot he was a King when he kissed the Bodies of Quelus and Maugiron his Favourites Iournal de son Regne 1578. or perhaps fearing lest the People by their Looks should discover their Dissimulation b Cabrera speaking of the Funerals of Don Carlos says That Cardinal Espinosa attended the Body only to the Church Door because he would not be at the Ceremony of the Service pretending himself indisposed tho' he might with more Truth have said it was because his being there would have displeased the King who was not sorry for his Death The 5th Chapter in the 8th Book of his History I find not in any Registers of the City or our Histories that Antonia had any particular share in this Solemnity tho' Agrippina Drusus and Claudius are named with other Relations It may be she was prevented by Sickness or so overcome with Affliction she had not the Courage to see the Funerals of her Son 4 Of all the Duties of Nature there is not any a good Mother is less obliged to observe than that of assisting at her Son's Funerals Upon such an Occasion she is too much afflicted to behold what will only encrease her Sorrow or to endeavour appearing unconcern'd when it will bring her natural affection in question tho' I should rather believe she was kept at home by Tiberius and Livia that they might seem all equallyâ—afflicted and to have it believed the Grandmother and Uncle kept in upon the Mothers Example 5 A Prince that is not afflicted but rather rejoices at the Death of one whom the People regret acts more wisely in not appearing at his Funerals for fear it be discover'd that his Sorrow is only â—eigned or that he is displeased at the Honour paid to the Memory of one he always Hated IV. The day the Ashes were laid in Augustus's Tomb there was sometimes a profound Silence and at others great Lamentation the Streets full of People and the Campus Martius of lighted Torches The Soldiers in Arms the Magistrates without their Habits the People ranked by their Tribes cryed out All was lost beyond Recovery and in this they were so bold you would have thought they had forgot their Governors c In the 18th chapter of 1 Kings 't is said Saul began to hate David mortally after the Women of Israel sang and played before him for his overcoming Goliah and their using these Words Saul hath killed his Thousands but David his Ten Thousands Why have they said he ascribed unto David Ten Thousand and to me that am their King only a Thousand and what can he have more save the Kingdom This Song was rather a Satyr against Saul than any thing else What Mortification was it to Henry III. to understand that the Preachers at Paris Preached as if they had no King but that it was through the Courage and Constancy of the Duke of Guise the Ark fell not into the Hands of the Philistines and that Heresie Triumphed not
over Religion Iournal du Regne d' Henry III. 1587. But nothing went nearer Tiberius than the great Affection of the People for Agrippina whom they called The Glory of their Country 6 Those Commendations the People give to one of Royal Birth whose Merit or Power create a Iealousie in the Prince always cost him dear for they not only lose him his Prince's Favour but make the Prince desire to get rid of one to whom the People give the Preference Witness Saul who would kill David because the Women of Israel were so indiscreet as to compare them The Acclamations of the Parisians in Favour of the Duke of Guise that Day he received the Blessed Sword Sixtus Quintus had sent him by a Bishop raised the Iealousie and Suspicion of Henry III. against him And not without Cause for the Ceremony was performed with as much Preparation and Pomp as a King's Coronation 1587. Besides Tiberius whose Maxim it was To moderate the Honours done to Women and even those to his Mother who had given him the Empire could not forbear being much displeased with Agrippina whom the People so much adored the only Blood of Augustus and the last Remains of ancient Probity and prayed the Gods her Children might survive their Enemies V. Some thought these Funerals not pompous enough and compared them with those Augustus made for Drusus Germanicus's Father For he went in the middle of Winter to Pavia and attended the Body to Rome upon the Herse were the Images of the Claudii and Livii d The Latin says Iuliorum but that is a transposing the Letters of Liviorum For at publick Funerals they carried only the Images of their Ancestors The Iulii were not related to Drusius but the Livii were by his Mother And it appears not that the Images of the Livii were omitted in that Ceremony His Funeral-Oration was spoke in the Place of Publick Assemblies he was praised in the Rostra e Rostra a goodly fair Edifice in which was an Orator's Pulpit deck'd and beautify'd with the Beaks of many Ships which the Romans took from the People of Antium in a memorable Sea-â—ight and from thence in Latin Rostra hath this Place taken its Name and all Honours done him that either our Ancestors or latter times have invented But Germanicus wanted those that are due to every noble Roman It signified little said they that his Body was burnt without Ceremony in a Foreign Country considering the Difficulty of bringing it so far home but he should have had the greater Honours afterwards in lieu of those this Accident deprived him His Brother went but one Day 's Iourny to meet the Body and his Uncle only to the Gates What is become of the Ancient Customs Why was not his Effigies f The word Effigies ought not to be used here says Fremont de Ablancourt because it is not spoken here of any thing set up and that word cannot properly be used but on such an occasion Nevertheless his Uncle uses this very word in his Translation The late Monsieur Ogier has the same word in his Funeral-Oration upon Lewis XIII when he speaks of the Monuments of the Kings at St. Dennis carried and Verses sung in Honour of his Memory Why was he not praised and lamented with the usual Ceremonies of Mourning 1 If Princes are not really concerned for the Death of those that have done important Service to the Publick they ought at least to seem so And that Tacitus means by these Words Doloris imitâ—menta When the Duke d' Alva died at Lisbon the Portuguese thought it strange that their new King Phillip II. should appear the next day in publick contrary to the Custom of their Kings who upon the Death of their Ministers and others of inferiour Rank that had faithfully served the Crown kept up some days And to make an odious Comparison some remembred that Emanuel his Mother's Brother lockt up himself for three days upon the Death of a famous Pilor Livre 9. de Histoire de l'Union du Portugal a la Castille VI. These Discourses were carried to Tiberius and to put a stop to them he declares by an Edict That many Illustrious Persons had died in the Service of the Commonwealth but none had been so passionately regretted This was commendable both in him and them if a Mean was observed That the same things were not becoming Princes and private Men 2 It is no wonder the Iudgments of the People are for the most part contrary to those of their Princes For the People not being able to discern right would have the Prince espouse their Passions and accommodate himself to their Humour and he on the contrary would have them leave the Government to him without judging what they understand not The People are not capable of knowing what is fitting or not fitting for the Prince when a weak Prince generally knows what is agreeable to or unbecoming his Dignity for a People that Command the World and those that Govern Petty Commonwealths That the Season for Sorrow is when Grief is fresh but after three Months 't was reasonable to lay it aside as Caesar did upon the Death of his only Daughter and Augustus after he had lost his Children 3 When the Prince would justifie an Action which he knows the People do or may interpret amiss he cannot do it better than by the Example of his immediate Predecessors for the later the Example is it makes the greater Impression on those to whom it is brought That it was not necessary to give ancienter Instances how the People had bore with Constancy the Defeat of their Armies g The loss of the Battels of Cremera and Allia both fought on the 17th of Iuly in different Years and four others that of Ticinum Techia Lago di Perugia and Cannae where so many Roman Knights were killed that Hannibal sent to Carthage two Bushels full of Rings an Account of the number of the Slain by that of their Rings the Death of their Generals h Of the Scipio's in Spain and so many others and the entire Extinction of many noble Families i All the Fabii who were 306 near Relations perished in one Ambuscade the Tuscans had said for them near the River Cremera but by good Fortune there was one staid at home because of his being very young who restored the Family That Princes are Mortal but the Commonwealth Eternal 4 Kingdoms says Ant. Perez are in respect of Kings the same as Species are to their Individuals The Philosophers say the Species are Eternal because naturally they never end though Individuals perish like Accidents Kings make not Kingdoms but Kingdoms make Kings Dans ses secondes Lettres that they should therefore return to their ordinary Employments and enjoy themselves at the Megalensian Games k Games instituted in Honour of the great Goddess called by the Romans Magna Mater Her Statue was brought in great
〈◊〉 his Slave who had a piece of Silver with 〈◊〉 Image upon it 〈◊〉 Vie d'Apollonius and Patrons with Words and Blows Therefore C. Sestius a Senator spoke to this Effect That indeed Princes were like Gods but the Gods heard only just Prayers That neither the Capitol nor Temples of the City were a Refuge to any for their Crimes 1 Sanctuaries were instituted for those who desire the help of the Law but not for such as make it their Business to injure others There was an end of the Laws if Anna Rufilla whom he Condemned for Fraud might threaten and reproach him before the Senate and in publick and not be questioned for it because she had Caesar's Image before her f Suetonius says The Senate forbid their laying hold on the Statâ—es and Images Condemning those to the Mines that should do so to injure otherâ— Daâ—s la Vie de Tibere Chap. 37. Others delivered themselves to the same purpose but some with warmth beseeching Drusus to inflict some exemplary punishment on her so she was called for Convicted and Condemned to Prison XXXIX At Drusus's Request Considuus Aequus and Celius Cursor two Roman Knights were condemned by the Senate for falsly accusing Magius Cecilianus the Praetor of High-Treason These Matters were to Drusus's Honour 2 A Prince cannot gain himself more Love and Respect than by speedy Iustice. There cannot be a better Action than that of Iohn III. of Portugal who being before the Altar to Communicate a Gentleman coming in cried out aloud to the Priest that held the Host to dâ—fer the Communion till the King had heard him and done him Iustice and this good Prince did not Communicate till he had done it See the Treatise Intituled Audiencia de Principes for by his means Conversation was made free and safe and his Father 's secret Designs qualified They found no Fault with his Riots thinking it better for one of his Age to spend the Day in the publick Shews g It is in Latin Aediâ—â—cationibus but the Commentators think it ought raâ—â—er to be Editionibus and the Night in Revels than to live Solitary 3 Solitudo does Princes no good especially when they are young It only makes them cruel â—antastical untractable and averse to those Duties that belong to Sovereigâ—ty I cannot give here a better instance of the mischief of Solitude in the Education of Princes than that of Iohn II. King of Castile according to the Description of the judicious Mariana All the Virtues of this king says he were obscured by the little care he took of his Affairs and the Government He gave no Audience willingly nor never any but in haste He had no great Capacity nor a Head fit for Affairs of State That brought his Courtiers into Favour and particularly Alvaro de Luna who began to be more familiar with him than all the rest Queen Catherine his Mother had good Reason to drive this Favourite from Court and send him back into his own Country but sâ—ewed little Wisdom in keeping her son shut up in a House for six years together without suffering him to go out or any Person to visit him besides some Domesticks of the Court. Whereby she pretended to prevent the Grandees making themselves Masters of him and Innovations in the Kingdom A misâ—rable Education for a King an unworthy thing not to allow a Prince liberty to speak to see or be seen but to keep him in a Cage to make him cruel and violent and to mew him up that was born for Labour and the Fatigues of War Why would she soften and emasculate his Courage who ought to be day and night on his guard and watch over all the Parts of his State Certainly such an Education will bring great Mischiefs upon the Subjects of any Kingdom For the Prince's manly Age will be like his Infancy he will pass the best of his Days in dishonourable Pleasures and Idleness as Iohn II. did For after the Death of Queen Catherine his Carriage was always like a Child and as if he had never seen Light The multitude of Affairs troubled him and perplexed his Head Therefore he was always governed by his Courtierâ— to the great prejudice of his States which were in perpetual Commotions Mariana says too he was subject to Startings which would take him all of a sudden and his Caresses were all out of Season so that he was more despised than feared Chap. 11. du 20. liv de son Hist. d'Esp The Life Henry III. of France led after his Minions had persuaded him not to appear any more to his Subjects but to be shut up from them like the Kings of the East had the same Effects His Desires says the Chancellor Chivergny shewed his Iudgment was not as it used to be that he was too much locked up and involved in other Pleasure his Minions had engaged him And I shall take the liberty to say that foreseeing long before his Death 4 years at least how impossible it was for him not to fall into some great Misfortune I often laid before him the great Injury he did himself and the Evil he and his State would undoubtedly receive Daâ—s ses Memoires without Pleasures 4 A Prince should have some Relaxation from his serious Affairs and after he has been at the Head of his Army It is not possible the Soul should be always bent to grave and painful Administrations without any Refreshment or the Diversion of other more agreeable Thoughts Titus who is recommended for one of the wisest Princes ever governed was desperately in love with Berenice but his Love never hindred his Business Harangue de M. d'Aubray dans la Satyre Menippâ—e and to let Melancholly prevail upon him and draw him into ill Practices and Devices For Tiberius and the Informers gave disquiet enough Ancarius Priscus accused Cesius Cordus Proconsul of Crete of Extortion and of Treason too a Supplement in all Accusations 5 When all Crimes are turned to Treason 't is a certain sign of a Tyrannical Government and that a Prince sacrifices Iustice to his Interest XL. Tiberius displeased with the Iudges for acquitting Antistius Verus one of the chief Lords of Macedonia of Adultery sent for him to Rome to answer for Treason 6 When a Prince sets up new Accusations against a great Man that the Iudges acquit of what he is charged with 't is plain he resolves to destroy him as an Accomplice with Rescuporis in his Designs of making War upon us when he had slain his Brother Cotis He was Banished h Aquâ— ignis interdictio was the Phrase used in Banishment which was not a Punishment immediately but by consequence For the forbidding the use of Water and Fire which were necessary for Life the Condemned Person was obliged to leave his Country into an Island 7 The less Evidence there is against a man the more severely is be treated if it be for
Cardinal Richlieu to apply your self to those great matters concern your State and despise the lesser as unworthy your Care and Thoughts You will not only be â—ar from receiving any Advantage from employing your self in things not considerable but on the contrary much Damage by diverting you from others that are better and also because little Thorns being more apt to prick than bigger which are more easily perceived it were impossible to prevent Discontents uâ—eless to your Affairs and very coâ—trary to your Health Chap. 5. de la premiere partie de son Testament Politique Something more is expected from a Prince and when every man assumes to himself the Praise of what is well done the blame of what succeeds not falls upon him alone Where shall I begin to Reform Shall it be your large and spacioâ—s Country Seats The multitude of your Servants of several Nations The Quantities of your Silver and Gold y The way Hâ—nry III. of Castile took to put down Excess in Entertainments desâ—rvâ—s to be mentioned here as a great instance of what a Prince may do that has Wit and Courage One day when his Table was ill served he was told The Grandees of his Kingdom lived much better and that there was nothing so Magnificent as the Entâ—rtainments they gave one another The same day he had notice the Archbishop of Toledo gave a Supper to several Lords he went in Disguise and saw the Magnificence of the Entertainment where nothing was wanting and what was worse he heard them relate their great Estates and the Pensions they held out of the King'â— Demeasâ—s The next morning he caused a Report to be spread That he was Sick and would make his Will upon which they all went to Court About Noon he came into the Room where he usually gave Audience and they waited â—or him and as soon as he sate down he directed his Discourse to the Archbishop and asked him how many Kings of Castille he had known and asked all the same Question Some said they had known three others four others five c. How can that be says the King when I have known twenty at my Age. And seeing them surprised at what he said he proceeded 'T is you my Lords are the Kings to the great Damage of this Kingdom and Dishoâ—our of your King but I will prevent your Reign continuing long and carrying the Merriment any farther you make of me The Archbishop threw himselâ— at his Feet and asked Pardon as did also the rest The King gave them their Lives but made them Prisoners till they restored the Castles they held of the Crown and all they had got from the last Kings An Action that gained him so much Glory and Authority that the great Men were never so humble and obedient Besides it brought him in suâ—h a Treasure that he left a great Sum behind him without over-charging his People Mariana Chap. 14. du Liv. 9. de son Histoire d'Espagne 'T is observable tâ—o the King did this at 15 or 16 years of Age. He was called Henry thâ— Inâ—irm because of his Sickly Countenance but deserved the Title of Henry tâ—e Brave and Valiant for his Courage Which Example plainly shews as Richlieu says Kings can do any thing when constant and resolute and that those things which seem the most difficult and almost impossible are so only because of the negligence and indifference of their Execuâ—ion Your painted Tables and brasen Statâ—es of exquisite Work The promisâ—uous Habits of Men and Women Or the Extravagances of the Women only in their Iewels for which our Money is carried away to Foreigners and Strangers I am not ignorant you blame these things at your Entertainments and a mean is wished for But if a Law should be made against them and punishments appointed those that complain now will cry out that the City is subverted the Destruction of the Nobility sought for and none free from those Crimes But we see old Maladies are not to be Cured without sharp and harsh Remedies 1 Desperate Diseases must have desperate Cures A corrupt Mind is not to be regulated with gentle Methods when inflamed by inordinate Appetites So many Laws framed by our Ancestors so many by Augustus have only given greater Establishment to our Luxury the former have been forgot the latter which is worse have been contemned 2 There is no Remedy when Vice is turned into Virtue Then we are to accommodate our selves to Hippocrateâ—'s Aphorism to administer no Remedies where Diseases are desperate For when we love what is not yet forbid we fear it may be but when we transgress the Laws and are not punished there is neither Fear nor Shame left 3 While Abuses are tolerated Men observe some Rules of Decency because they fear if they take too much liberty the Prince or Magistrate will Reform them But iâ— a Reformer wants Power to make himself Obeyed as it sometimes happens or wants Courage to punish the Great Men who are commonly the first that break new Regulations the Examples of such Impunity opens the Door to Contempt and from Contempt they go insensibly to Licentiousness Therefore a Prince should noâ— meddle with Reformation if he finds himself wanting in Power or of a Temper to be wrought upon by Intercessions or if he will Reform should take a Resolution to be inexorable as Sixâ—us V. was when any dared to break his Laws Why was Frugality formerly used because every Man moderated his Desires we had only one City and our Dominions not reaching out of Italy we had not the same Provocations by Foreign Conquests we learn the use of Foreign Commodities by Civil Wars our own z Patercuâ—us imputes the Luxury of Rome to the two Scipio's surnamed Aâ—ricans The 〈◊〉 says he openâ—d the way to the Roman Gâ—eatness â—ut the other to their Luxury For when Rome no longer sâ—ared Carthage which was burnt they leâ—t not their Virtue by degrees as before but run impeâ—â—ously into all Pleasures and Vices The antient Discipline was despited and gave way to new Customs and all the City turned presently from their Vigilance to Laziness from Warlike Exercises to Looseness and from Laboâ—â— to Idleness At last the publick Magnificence was succeeded with the wastful Expences of particular Men. Au Commencement du Liv. 2. de son Epitome That which the Ediles complain of is a small matter in comparison of others 4 Some People think all is lost if what offends them is not immediately Remedied but a Prince should not be drawn away by anothers Passion He is to forâ—see the Inconveniences may arise from the Refâ—rmation is desired and to consider well if he can undertake it with success so that he may satisfie more than he shall displease For so you see the Wisdoâ— of a Reâ—ormer But no man puts us in mind that Italy wants the support of other Countries that the Liâ—e of the People of Rome is tossed with the
Iustice. Epist. 1. lib. 7. Neither was any Authority able to suppress the Seditions of the People protecting Villanies as much as the Rites of the Gods 1 As Princes are obliged to establish the true Worship of God they ought to be careful to banish false Appearances which are to the preâ—udice of States For we may truly say That Supperstition and Hypocrisie are often coverings to wicked Designs Chap. 1. de la seconde Partie du Testament Politique The Conspiracy of the Marchioness de Verneuil against Henry IV. of France was contrived by a Capuchin called Father Arcange under pretence of Confession which cover'd the frequent private Conversations he had with her and the Count a 〈◊〉 her Brother who pretended he had â—aken a Resolution to become a Capachin It was therefore ordain'd the Cities should send their Deputies with their Privileges Some voluntarily quitted them as Usurp'd others justified theirs on old Superstitions or an account of Services to the People of Rome The Pomp of that Day was great in shew when the Senate consider'd the Grants of their Ancestors the Agreements of Confederates the Decrees of the Kings before the Roman Power prevail'd there and the Religion of the Gods being at the Will of the Senate to confirm or alter them as formerly they had done LXII The Ephâ—sians appeared first setting forth That Diana and Apollo were not Born in the Island of Delos as was commonly believed that in their Country was the River Cenchiris and a Wood called Ortygia where Latona leaning on an Olive-Tree which yet remains there was delivered of these two Deities and that the Wood was Sacred by the Command of the Gods And that Apollo after he had killed the Cyclopes fled thither from Iupiter's Anger That Bacchils when he conquered the Amazons pardoned those that humbling themselves took hold on the Altar That Hercules added to the Rites of that Temple after he was Master of Lydia and their Priviledges were not lessened when under the Dominion of the Persians and afterwards the Macedonians preserved them LXIII Next the Magnesians insisted on the Constitutions of L. Scipio and L. Silla who conquered Antiochus and Mithridates and in acknowledgement of the Felicity and Valour of the Magnesians commanded Diana Lucofryne's Temple should be inviolable Then the People of Aphrodisium and Stratonica produced a Decree of Caesar the Dictator i During the Civil War betwixt him and Pompey and another since of Augustus for the Services done them and opposing an Invasion of the Parthians never departing from their Fidelity to the Romans Those worshipped Venus these Iupiter and Diana surnamed Trivia From Hierocesarea was brought greater Antiquity they having a Temple dedicated by K. Cyrus to Diana Persica and that Perpeâ—â—a Isauricus and many other Emperors had not only acknowledged this Temple for Sacred and Inviolable but the Country two miles about it The Cyprians pretended Franchises for three Temples whereof the ancientest was built by Aerias and conâ—ecrated to Venus Paphia k So nameâ— because this Temple was within the City of Pâ—phos now called Baâ—â—o the second dedicated by his Son Amathus to Venus Amathusia l There was in this Island a Place called Amatonte now Limisso but it is little more than a Village and the other to Iupiter Salaminius built by Teucer m He called this Temple of Iupiter Salamine in Honour of his Country when he fled from his Father Telamon LXIV The other Ambassadors had their Audiences too but the Senate growing weary with hearing so many and their Canvasings a Commission was given to the Consuls to examine their Titles and make a Report They made it very favourable for a Temple at Pergamuâ—â— dedicated to Esculapius n The Church of Orleâ—nâ— is the most â—amous and authentick Sanctâ—ary now in France and it may be in Europe The Priviledge the Bishops have upon their Entry to fâ—ee all the Criminals that 〈◊〉 thither from all Parts of the Kingdom except Traitoâ—s has been preserved by a Possession and uninterrâ—pted Enjoyment ever since S. Aignan and confirmed by the Consent of all the Kings of France and allowance of all the Couâ—ts and Magistrâ—â—es of the Kingdom that have never disputed this Right So the Learned Historian Adrian Valois has reason to wonder at the neglect of the People oâ— Orleans who â—east and celebrate by a general Procession the 8th of May because on that day they were deliveâ—ed â—rom a Siege of the English 1429. and seast not on the 14th of Iune the day their Ancestors drove out 〈◊〉 and the Huns that closely Beâ—ieged them Quem diem si quâ—ndo forte celebrare voluerint scianâ— anno 451. 18 Kal. Iulii qui est Iunii dies quarâ—â—â—â— decimus Hunnos urbe expulsos ac majores suos captivitaâ—e miserâ 〈◊〉 vinculis esse liberâ—tos Notitia Galliâ—rum â—it Genabum but that the Claims of the rest were grounded on obscure beginnings 1 There are a great many Priviledges and Exemptions of which we may say as a Doctor did of Constantine's Donation That it was read by the Blind heard by the Deaf and related by the Dumb. If according to Cardinal Perrâ—n all the Letters of the Pope's were forg'd by the Monks in â—â—â—â—lemaine's time there is great Reason to believe they are the Authors of the greatest part of their Registers by reason of their Antiquity Smyrna and Tenedos pretended both an Oracle of Apollo that commanded one of them to Dedicate a Temple to Venus Stratonicis the others a Statue and Temple to Neptune Those of Sardis and Miletum insisted on later Grants one of Alexander in Honour of Diana the other of Darius in Honour of Apollo The Cretensians desired the Image of Augustus might have some Priviledge Upon the whole the Senate made several Decrees whereby great Honours were allowed but Moderation 2 Princes should religiously forbear violating the Rights of the Church but when they degenerate and are abused they are obliged to apply necessary Remedies Theodorick King of Italy commanded the Magistrates to protect the Church and maintain it in its Rights without prejudice to his Authority Salvâ Civilitate says Cassiodore And it was in this Sense that Charles V. coming to be Crown'd Emperor in Italy answered the Pope's Legats that received him at Genoua That he would never Violate the Rights and Priviledges of the Church but so as to support those of the Empire without suffering the Church to change them Saaveâ—ra empresa 94. Don Iuan Antonio de Vera daâ—â— I'Epitome de sa Vie The Immunity the Ecclesiasticks have is good to Priviledge but not exempt them from their Duty it is to straiten the Circumference in which they are to live and not to give them head nor to suffer them to exceed those bounds of Modesty are requisite for their State prescribed to all commanding them to have the same in Tables of Brass and set them up in some publick Place in the Temples to