both waking and sleeping keepes his eyes open The Holy Ghost saith That a wise man hath his eyes in his head Eccl. 2.14 Sapientis oculi in capite eius And it seemeth that by Contrapositions he would giue vs thereby to vnderstand that a foole hath his eyes in his feete Which as they discouer but little so are they lyable to a thousand offences and deceits But the wise man beholds from high and as from a watch-Tower discouers things a farre off and is thereby better able to take notice of them and more punctually to comply with his obligation to the state and to that which neede shall require in those accidents that may occurre This is that sight which as before hath beene said befitteth Kings for that they are the Heads of their Common-wealths and therefore are to reserue for their own view those the more weighty businesses of their subiects there being a great deale of reason that they should see them as they say with their owne eyes For this end are those Visitations ordayned and those Entrances in State which Kings are wont to make into the Cities and Prouinces of their Kingdomes When the arrogant and vaine presumption of men grew to that passe that for to celebrate their name they went about to build that proud Tower of Babel with intent to touch euen heauen it selfe with the top thereof and to liue free from all feare of a second flood that sacred Historie tells vs Descendit autem Dominus vt videret Ciuitatem Gen. 11.5 Turim quam aedificauerint filij Adam That the Lord came downe to see the Citie and tower which the sonnes of men builded God came down himself to see this their so great insollencie that he might punish them accordingly as he did with such a confusion of languages that one could not vnderstand another and were amongst themselues as so many strangers without being able to communicate and conuerse together so that they were driuen to diuide themselues into different Countries and were scattred from thence vpon all the earth And in the said Historie of Genesis we read that when that abhominable filthines of the Sodomites grew to that highth of impudencie that it prouoked God vnto Wrath and in a manner bound him to consume them with fire from heauen he vttered vnto Abraham these words worthy the noting Gen. 18.20 Clamor Sodomorum Gomorrhaeorum multiplicat in est peccatum eorum aggrauiatum est nimis Descendam videbo vtrum clamorem qui venit ad me opere compleuerint an non est ita vt sciam Because the cry of Sodome and Gomorrha is great and because their sinne is exceeding grieuous I will goe downe now and see whether they haue done altogether according to the cry which is come vnto me And if not that I may know As if he should haue sayd Howbeit the abomination of these accursed Sodomites and Gomorrhaeans hath so farre increased that it doth cry aloud vnto me for vengeance and chasticement and hath pierced the heauens and come vnto mine eares yet notwithstanding because it is a thing that concernes a whole Common-wealth and a busines of that weight as to deserue exemplary punishment I will goe downe and see whether it be so or no as the report goes of it Though most certaine it is that God hath no need to come downe from heauen to take a particular viewe of the things of this world for he is present in all places here there and euery where he filleth all seeth all and with his infinite wisedome comprehendeth all But the Scripture speakes in this kinde of language that it may accommodate it self to the stile and capacitie of men for to instruct Kings in this place that graue and weighty businesses they are not to transferre them ouer vnto others but of and by themselues to see and looke vnto them nor ought they too be to facile in giuing credit to fame and report especially of the vulgar without hauing first fully informed himselfe thereof and that by themselues they should be able to dis-deceiue themselues and to see and consider things with attention and with a desire to search out the truth and to rectifie what is amisse In the Kingdomes of Castile there is a very commendable custome and of great authoritie and Maiestie worthy those most prudent Kings which first ordeyned it And this is that Consulta which euery friday towards the Euening the President of Castile makes with those of his Maiesties Councell Royall wherein an Account is giuen vnto his Maiestie of all the weightiest businesses and wherein the opinion and the authoritie Royall is necessarie And this is not without example in the sacred Scripture For in the first chapter of Deut. it is written That when that great Law-giuer Moses had named for good and quicke dispatch such Counsellours as before specified giuing them in charge what they were to keepe and obserue and how to administer Iustice with equalitie and without exception of persons he told them Quod si difficile vobis visum aliquid fuerit Deut. 1.17 referte ad me ego audiam The cause that is too hard for you bring vnto me and I will heare it You shall consult with me in that case that I may heare it and take such course therein as is fitting And if to this so commendable a Consulta of euery Friday weekely there should bee added another Meeting some certaine dayes in the yeare to the end that the President and those of the Kings Camaera should carry with them the Consulta of the Offices and should treate and conferre thereof by word of mouth with our Lord the King it would be one of the most important things in the iudgement and opinion of many graue men whom I haue consulted with in this particular that could be or-ordained for the good of these Kingdomes Whereby many of those inconueniences would be auoyded which wise and Christian Counsellours haue found out by many yeares experience And none of the meanest amongst the rest is the remitting by writing so weightie and important a thing as the Election of Officers recommending the same to a dead Letter which can make no replie And that paper which passeth through so many hands cannot come so clean as it shuld but be sullyed especially if it come to such hands as are not clean but corrupted with gifts presents And because this Course is taken the loue respect due to their Kings is lost who like Creatures to their Creator ought to acknowledge al that they haue from his hands Wheras now they giue this respect vnto his Maiesties Ministers with whom they haue held correspondency as knowing that their Prouision must solely passe through their hands and that their good or bad dispatch consistes in them or in a lesse full or more effectuall Relation inclosed in the paper of their Consulta Which cannot be carryed thus when the President and those of
occasion suffers it selfe to be led away by hatred and reuenge presently falls to taking of stones in their hands tearing vp the pibbles in the streetes as Cicero sets downe vnto vs that in the popular assemblies of Rome it so fell out that oftentimes they drew their naked swordes that the stones were seene to flye about their eares on all sides And when this head-strong multitude hath once broken the reines there is no keeping of them in nor can the wit of man deuise how to bridle them In a Monarchy the Monarke In an Aristocratia your Noble-men are supreme Iudges and Arbitrators and by this their supreme and absolute power they many times compose the differences of the subiects But in a Democratia and Popular Estate they are the supreme power and they themselues bandy one against another the fire of faction setting them in a consuming flame without acknowledging any superiour to decide the quarrell and compose their differences And therefore Aristotle sayd That there was not any Tyrannie either greater or more pernicious then that of an intire Communaltie which of it selfe is inclined to crueltie The Monarchy or Kingdome is freer from these burning feuers and by all is ranked in the best place and is stiffely maintained by the grauest Authors Of this onely shall I treate at this present It is called a Monarchy of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which in Greeke signifieth One and of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the same with Prince which is as if we should say a Principalitie or a Kingdome where one alone is hee that commands and gouernes and the rest all obey All these three kindes of Popular Aristocraticall and Monarchicall gouernments were vsed in Greece and more particularly in Rome But Rome neuer came to be Mistresse of the World till shee was reduced to a Monarchie in the time of Caesar Augustus There are found therein 8. differences of States Husbandmen Trades-men Merchants Souldiers Iudges Cleargie-men the Nobility and the King which to speake more properly and as in diuers places it is deliuered by the blessed Apostle S. Paul is a Misticall Body which we call a Kingdome with it's Head For a king is the supreme Lord subiect onely vnto God That in S. Augustines and Diuus Thomas his opinion Aug. lib. 2. de Ciuit. Dei D. Tho. de regim li. 1. cap. 2. Arist Pol. 3. cap. 5. 10. Plat. Dial. de repub Prou. 8.15 as also sundry other Authors of diuers faculties amongst which are Aristotle and Plato the most excellent gouernment is that which acknowledgeth a Superior one King and one Head For all naturall and good gouernment proceedeth from One and that which comes neerest vnto Vnitie hath most similitude with that which is diuine and is by much the most perfect By God Kings reigne according to that of the wise man Per me reges regnant Per me Principes imperant By me Kings reigne and Princes decree iustice And God being one and most simple in his Being and Nature the Head of all the whole Vniuerse by Whom and Which all is gouerned with admirable and ineffable prouidence and is the Idea of all good and perfect gouernment it is not a thing to be doubted but that that shall be amongst vs the best which is most agreeable with his And if the Members of the body being many and bearing different Offices therein admit to be gouerned by a Head and that God and Nature hath so ordained it Why should not a Monarchicall gouernment be the best Most certaine therefore is it that it is mainely to be preferred before the other two Some will haue this Monarchicall gouerment to be the most ancient and that it had it's beginning from Cain Adams eldest sonne who was the first that did gather people together built Cities and did shut them vp and fortifie them with walls After the flood Nimrod the sonne of Chus and nephew vnto Cham Beros lib. 4. de Flor. Cald. secundum Philon. de Antiq. a man of valour and amongst those of those times the most able and strongest man was the first that reduced men to liue in a Communitie and to be obedient to one only King possessing himselfe of the Kingdome and Signorie of the World And before these euen in the very beginning of the Creation God began to establish this gouernment forme of a Commonwealth Act 17.26 For as S. Paul saith God would that all Mankinde should descend from one Man And Gods chosen people did euermore maintaine a Monarchie and did ordaine that the Supreme power should reside and remaine in One. The first gouernours of the world were Monarkes did gouerne with this Title all the Common-wealthes of the World haue generally desired to be gouerned by one king As appeareth by those of the Gentiles euery particular state hauing his peculiar King And were it not a great monstrousnesse in nature that one body should haue two Heads Much more were it that one kingdome should be gouerned by two persons Vnitie is the Author of much good and Pluralitie the causer of much ill The Roman Commonwealth did suffer much miserie and calamitie not because all would not obey One but because many would command All. And therforein their greater necessities they did create a Dictator so called because all did obay whatsoeuer he dictated and sayd vnto them For they knew well enough and did clearely and plainely perceiue That in the Empire of One the authoritie was the greater greater the obedience freer their determinations firmer their Councells speedier their resolutions and more prompt the execution of their designes In a word Command Signorie and Supreme power does better in one head then in many And therefore all doe vnanimously and vndoubtedly conclude That the Monarchie is the ancientst and the durablest of all other and it 's gouernment the best yet would I haue it to helpe it selfe with the Aristocratia in that which may be vsefull for it's aduantage That in regard of it's strength and execution doth by it's greater Vnion and force excell the rest This other which is composed of a few noble wise and vertuous persons because it consistes of more hath the more intirenesse prudence and wisedome and by conioyning and intermixing the one with the other resulteth a perfect absolute gouernment So that a Monarchy that it may not degenerate must not goe loose and absolute for Command is a madd-man and power Lunaticke but must be tyed to the Lawes as far forth as it is comprehended vnder the Law And in things particular and temporall must haue reference to the body of the Councell seruing as the brace or ioyning peece of timber betweene a Monarchie an Aristocracie which is the assistance and aduise of the chiefer and wiser sort For from a Monarchy not thus well and orderly tempred arise great errours in gouernment little satisfaction to the State and many distastes amongst those that are gouerned All men that
and in the solicitude and watchfullnesse which those ordinary dangers doe require wherein his flocke stands and more especially when the shepheard is wanting vnto them And it is so proper vnto a King to feede his flocke that when our Sauiour Christ fed that multitude of people which followed him in the desert Iohn 6.15 they no sooner saw that he had satisfied them but they were desirous to make him a King Esay 3. and to clap the Crowne on his head And for this cause in the 3. Chapter of Esay he that saw he was vnprouided of bread would not accept the Votes of the people that were willing to nominate him for their King saying thus vnto them Non sum medicus in domo mea non est panis neque vestimentum nolite constituere me principem populi There is no bread in my house nor cloathing I cannot be an helper vnto yee therefore make me no Prince of the people And therefore with very good reason and with a great deale of proprietie a King and a Shepheard is all one In the Greeke tongue a King is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quasi basis fundamentum populi As if hee were the basis and foundation of the people And of your Kings sayth Rabbi Abraham those words are to bee vnderstood of Iob Qui portant orbem Who sustaine the weight of a kingdome and beare the loade thereof vpon their shoulders And a Hierogliffe heereof is the Crowne which they weare vpon their head in manner of a Citie circled about with Towres and battlements signifying thereby that the strong brayne and the good and wise head Greg in Iob. and sound sconce of a King doth fortifie and vphold the whole weight and burthen of all the Cities of his kingdome And this is S. Gregories Interpretation vpon this place Some others conceiue that this name was giuen it in consideration of that creature called the Basiliske who is the king of the venomous creatures and hath this euil qualitie with him that he kills with his lookes onely And doe not the kings sometimes kill their fauourites and those that are neerest about them with the knit of the brow and a sower looke And some such Kings there be or at least haue beene in the world that take it offensiuely if their frownes and disfauours doe not kill like poyson But this Etymologie hath little ground for it For the Greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which in that language signifies a king is much different from that of Basiliscus a Basiliscke For it is more proper to Kings to cure and heale then to kill and slay As the forecited place of Esay teacheth vs where he that would not take the Crowne vpon him excuses himselfe not onely for that he had not bread to feede others but also because he was not a Physitian Non sum Medicus in domo mea non est panis presuposing that a good King ought to be a Physitian to his people and ought to helpe and feede his subiects And the sayd Prophet when in the person of Christ he relateth how the eternall Father had annoynted him and Crowned him for King saith spiritus domini super me Esay 16. eò quod vnxerit me vt mederer contritis corde And Christ himselfe being calumniated by the Pharisees because he did conuerse and eat with Publicans and Sinners hee made them this answer Mat. 9.12 Non est opus valentibus medicus sed malè habentibus They that bee whole neede not the Physitian but they that be sicke Patricius Senensis calls Kings and Princes Medicos vniuersales reip Vniuersall Physitians of the Common-wealth And S. Austen tell vs that to them appertaineth the remedy of all the sicke and the cure of all the diseases and other those crosse and repugnant humours which reigne in a Kingdome and to apply a medicine to euery particular person agreeable to that humour wherein hee is peccant And the Office of a shepheard which is so proper vnto Kings as already hath beene said hath with it this obligation to cure his flocke And therefore in the 34. of Ezechiel God doth lay a heauie Taxe vpon those shepheards because they were faulty in this their Office of Curing Quod infirmū fuit non consolidastis Ezech. 34.4 quod aegrotum non sanastis c. The diseased haue yee not strengthened neither haue yee healed that which was sicke neither haue yee bound vp that which was broken neither haue yee brought againe that which was driuen away neither haue yee sought that which was lost but with force and with crueltie haue yee ruled them yee eat the fat and yee cloath ye with the Wooll yee kill them that are fed but yee feede not the flocke And heere that third signification sutes well with this name of King which is the same as Father Gen. 20. Iudg. 8. As appeareth in that of Genesis where the Sichemites called their King Abimilech which is as much to say As my Father or my Lord And anciently their Kings were called Patres reip Fathers of their Common-wealths And hence is it that King Theodoricus defining the Maiestie royall of Kings as Cassiodorus reporteth it speakes thus Cassio lib. 4. epist 42. Princeps est Pastor publicus Communis A King is the publicke and common shepheard Nor is a King any other thing but the publicke and common Father of the Common-wealth And because the Office of a King hath such similiancie with that of a Father Plato stiles a King Patrem familias A father of a familie And Xenophon the Philosopher affirmeth Bonus Princeps nihil differt à bono patre That a good Prince differs nothing from a good Father The onely difference is in this That the one hath fewer the other more vnder his Empire Command And certainly it is most sutable vnto reason that this Title of Father be giuen vnto Kings because they ought to be such towards their subiects and kingdomes carrying a fatherly affection and prouidence towards their wellfare and preseruation For reigning Homer or bearing rule saith Homer is nothing else but a paternall gouernment like that of a father ouer his owne children Ipsum namque regnum imperium est suapte natura paternum There is no better habit of gouerning then to haue a King cloath himselfe with the loue of a father and to haue that care of his subiects as if they were so many children of his owne loynes The affection of a father towards his children his care that they shall lacke nothing and to be one and the same towards them all carrieth a great proportion with a Kings pietie towards his subiects Hee is called a Father so that the very name obligeth him to answer this signification in workes not in word but to shew himselfe a true father indeed Againe for that this name father is very proper vnto Kings if wee shall well and truly weigh it amongst
couetousnesse they in no manner of wise discharge their Consciences in making such remitments and references but ought rather to reserue the dispatch therof vnto themselues or to remit them to such Ministers that are able to giue good satisfaction therein and of whose goodnesse and sufficiencie the world rendreth publicke Testimony In a word I am of opinion that to remit businesses is a matter of necessity in regard of the shortnesse of our vnderstanding which is imbroiled and mightily hindred with this multiplicitie of affayres and oftentimes choaked and stifled and made defectiue in those matters that are most necessary And as for our bodily strength the force thereof is so small and so weake that we had neede to preserue the same by easing it of that burthen which is too heauy for it to beare Yet withall there must a great care be had that these remitments be not made meerely that the King might liue at ease and be idle but because weighty businesses and such as haue neede of new Examination and new diligencies doe require it or because the King as already hath beene sayd may haue some lawfull impediment Let Kings haue recourse vnto God and he will illighten them and their faces shall not suffer confusion Psal 2.10 nor their Kingdomes see alterations ruines nor destructions Erudimini qui iudicatis terram Be wise therefore yee Kings be learned yee Iudges of the earth CHAP. XVI Of the Sence of the sight That is Of those businesses which Kings ought to reserue for their own view and dispatch with their owne hands ARistotle saith that the soule is Arist 3. de anim Text. 37. lâ—ct 13. D. Tho. Vniuersae creaturae homo est praestantissimus vt inter membra oculus D. Chrys in Hom. 15. in Ioan Quodam modo dum omnia in a manner all things in regard of the Vnderstanding which in it comprehendeth all whatsoeuer And the same may likewise be said of the sence of the sight wherin is cyphred the greatnesse of the Vniuerse for therein is inclosed all whatsoeuer is visible in the world as the Heauens the Earth Elements Birdes Plants Beastes c. And all that be it more or lesse enters into our Soule by this doore It is the most principal part of the head the most artificiall the most excellent and most precious of all other the Sences because it 's action is more liuely and spirit-full and giues vs more to know and vnderstand the differences of things By the eyes are manifested a great part of the affections and passions of the Minde In oculis animus inhabitat The mindes habitation saith Pliny is in the eyes In them is seated Clemencie Mercy Anger Hatred Loue Sorow Ioy and the like Ex visu Plin. lib. 11. c. 31. Eccl. 19.26 cognoscitur vir We may know a man by his lookes As whether he be wise or foolish simple or malitious c. These are those windowes by which the light entreth into the Vnderstanding and which shew the good or bad disposition both of body and Soule And there are not some wanting who affirme that they are the first which God and Nature delineate and paint forth in that tender paste and soft dough of the Creature as being the most principall the most beautifull and the most delicate And therefore that Diuine Artizan did place a greater gard about that for it's safetie then about all the rest And therfore Aristotle saith That we make more reckoning of this sence then of all the other It 's Site or place which is the highest and most eminent in the head doth declare it's greater dignitie and is in man as is the Sunne and Moone in the world Quod sol Ambr lib. 6. Exam. luna in Coelo hoc sunt oculi in homine saith S. Ambrose The vse of the sight is two-fold One materiall and grosse which only attendeth things as they thus materially represent themselues without making any farther discourse or Consideration And this kind of seeing is common to all creatures both rationall and irrationall indewed with or without reason The other is more eleuated and more spirituall and flies a higher pitch as when it discernes things with Aduice and discourse and when it perceiues what that is that it sees and this appertaineth onely vnto Man But in Kings and those that are good Gouernours the consideration thereof must extend it selfe a great deale farther As to treate of the remedy which those things require and stand in neede of which they haue seene But not like those Kings that visited holy Iob who although they saw him and were seuen dayes with him yet did they not see what they saw My meaning is That albeit they did see the great affliction and extreme miserie wherein poore Iob was their eyes passed it slightly ouer they did not dwell vpon it nor tooke any course to giue him remedie And when this is not done their seeing is no seeing but are like vnto those spoken of by the Psalmist That haue eyes and see not Dull Idolls To this purpose there is a prety place in the first of the Machabees where after the Author hath made report of the great wickednesse and Tyrannies which that accursed King Antiochus and his Ministers exercised in Ierusalem and in other Cities and Townes of the Kingdome of Iudaea of that great Captaine Mattathias and his fiue Sonnes hee speaketh thus Hi vederunt mala quae fiebant in populo Iuda in Ierusalem which the vulgar renders thus Now when they saw the blasphemies 1. Mac. 2.6 which were committed in Iuda and Ierusalem These saith he saw the euills that were committed in Ierusalem And my thinkes here must the question be asked Why all they of that Common-wealth suffering so many oppressions and so many afflictions in their Houses in their own Persons those of their children onely Mattathias and his Sonnes are here said to haue seene these euills and these blasphemies The answer hereunto makes notably for our purpose because it expresseth that which we go inforcing To wit That to see businesses is truely and properly to vnderstand them and to put our helping hand vnto them And because Mattathias and his Sonnes were the onely men that were sensible of the hard measure they receiued and the first that rose vp and opposed themselues against the furie of the Tyrant for the remedying their so many and so great Calamities that sacred Historian saith That they onely had eyes and saw the affliction of Gods people This kinde of sight best be fitteth Kings as they are heads of their Kingdomes and Common-wealthes and it is likewise necessary that they haue their sight Large Cleare and Sharpe that they may reach to see euen those things that are most secret and most remote as doth that princely birde the Eagle which houering aloft in the ayre descryes the fishes that are in the deepe Or be like vnto that Maiesticall Creature the Lyon who
vphodeth Kingdomes without which they cannot long last and continue For God will most iustly punish them by taking those from them which they haue if they dissimulate iniustices and if they suffer themselues to be carryed away contrary to all right and reason and permit notorious faults to passe without punishment Other faults are not so much risented in Kings and Kingdomes are content to tolerate them be they neuer so great But should they haue neuer so many other good partes if they be faulty in this which is of so great importance they shall presently see and perceiue a publicke face of sorrow and a generall discontent in all their subiects And God oftentimes makes it a meanes for the punishment and amendment of Kings and Kingdomes It is the saying of Iesus the sonne of Syrach That by Counsaile Eccl. 10.8 and Iustice Kingdomes are maintained And for default thereof Scepters and Crownes are lost and Kingdomes transferred from one people to another And those brought to serue which were borne to command But the King that administreth Iustice without respect of persons shall haue his succession perpetuall for that is the very ground and foundation of a Throne royall Prou. 25.5 Aufer impietatem de vultu regis et firmahitur Iustitia thronus eius Take away the wicked from the King and his throne shall be established in righteousnes That is His Issue his House and his Kingdome Iustice is that which foundeth Kingdomes which enlargeth them and conserueth them That which establisheth peace and resisteth warre Without it there is neither King nor Kingdome nor Common-wealthe nor Citie nor any other Communitie which can be conserued And all whatsoeuer that haue beene ruined and destroyed hath beene for want of Iustice For this cause the Kings of Egypt and in imiâ—â—tion of them some others did which all good Kings ought to do sweare their Presidents Ministers and Magistrates that they should not obay their mandatums nor execute their orders and decrees if they found in them that they commanded any thing contrary vnto Iustice and the Lawes of the Kingdome Philip the Faire King of France and his successor Charles the seuenth enacted a Law that the Iudges should make no reckoning of the Kings Letters nor those his royall scedules vnlesse they seemed vnto them to be iust and lawfull The Catholike Kings Don Fernando and Donna Isabella and their Nephew Charles the fift by their well ordained Lawes Magistracies and Tribunals of so much power and authoritie exceeded all before them that fauoured Iustice Which were augmented and inlarged by King Philip the second who was more particularly zealous of Iustice And his sonne King Philip the third was a great fauourer and louer of Iustice and obseruer of the Lawes submitting vnto them his person and his goods Who might very well say that which the Emperour Traiane said conferring great power on his Gouernour in Rome Thou shalt vse this sword in our name and for Vs as long as we shall command that which is iust and against vs if we shall command the contrarie For it is alwayes to be presumed of the Intention of Kings that they euermore command Iustice to be done but neuer the contrary though it make against themselues Dauid gaue thankes vnto God that hee had set him in the way of Iustice that is That he had giuen him an vpright heart and informed his vnderstanding with so right a rule that it inclined his disposition to doe iustice though it were against himselfe The cause saith Diuus Thomas why God for so many yeares did inlarge the Empire and Monarchie of the Romanes with so much power so much treasure and so many great victories was for that their rectitude and iustice which they obserued towards all But in that instant that they fell from this their Empire likewise began to fall Of these Examples all Histories both humane and diuine are very full yet all will not serue the turne they doe little or no good Let Gods mercie supply this defect and worke this good And let not the poore bee discouraged and disheartened but let them comfort and cheere vp themselues with this that their righteousnesse and their patience shall not perish for euer God hath spoke the word and he will keepe it Psal 10.17.18.20 The poore saith the Psalmist shall not alwayes be forgotten nor shall the hope of the afflicted perish for euer For he will take the matter into his owne hands and will breake the arme of the wicked and malitious and will helpe the fatherlesse and poore vnto their right that the man of earth bee no more exalted against them Woe vnto those that are rulers of the people Woe vnto those that are vniust Kings Which make Lawes like Spiders cobwebbs whereinto little starueling flies fall and die but your fat Bulls of Basan breake through and beare them away in triumph on their hornes But that wee may touch no more vpon this string we will here holde our hand and and goe on in treating of Iustice and it's parts A matter no lesse profitable then necessary for Kings and their Ministers CHAP. XXI Of the Parts of Iustice in common and in particular of Iustice commutatiue D. Tho. 1. p q. 21 artic 1 â— 2 q. 61. art 3 â—oâ—o de Iustitia iust lib. 3. Arist 5. Ethic. cap. 2.1 Mat. 5.20 6. 1. TO the end that we may proceede with more distinction and clearenesse in this Chapter we are to presuppose with Diuus Thomas and others that Iustice may be sayd to be in Common two manner of wayes First of all vnder this generall name of Iustice is comprehended all kinde of vertue thereof in this sense saith the Philosopher that Iustitia est omnis virtus Iustice includeth in it selfe all sortes of vertues whatsoeuer so that a iust Man and a vertuous man is all one And in this sense Christ conceiu'd it when he said Nisi abundauerit Iustitia Except your righteousnesse exceede c. And in another place Attendite ne iustitiam vestram faciatis coram hominibus Take heede that yee doe not boast your righteousnesse before men to be seene of them Of iustice considered thus in the generall we will not now treate of in this place for in rigour and strictnesse this is not true iustice though it haue some similitude therewith Now Iustice is taken after another manner for a particular virtue To wit that which is one of the foure Cardinall vertues which hath for it's obiect and end as we shall tell you by and by to giue vnto euery man that which is his right and his due Of this which is properly Iustice do we here meane to treate of whose Excellencies all bookes are full and whereof the Ancients said That it is a celestiall and diuine vertue seated by God in the mindes of men Vlpian saith That it is Constans et perpetua voluntas quae tribuit cuique suum A constant and perpetuall Will
crooked and to falsifie the tongue and beame of the ballance To wit Hatred Fauour Feare and Interest Now Iustice is diuided into two parts which are the honour of God and the loue of our neighbour Aristotle did likewise consider two other parts of Iustice One common which is ordayned for the Common-wealth and the other particular which is instituted for our neighbour Which by another name they call Equitie which man vsing with reason deales so with others as he would be dealt withall himselfe vpon the Common which imbraceth includeth all the rest Patri de Reg. lib. 8. Tit. 2. Patritius founded his Common-wealth And Plato his vpon the particular Others diuide it into foure parts or species into Diuine Naturall Ciuill and Iudiciall Which the Schoolemen do define and declare at large vnto whom I remit the Reader But laying aside these diuisions Scolastici cum D. Tho. 2.2 q 80 art 1. which make not for our purpose the most proper and essentiall diuision of Iustice is into Commutatiue and Distributiue Which as Diuus Thomas saith are the partes Subiectiuae or subiectiue parts of this Iustice that is to say it 's essential Species And therfore we will treate of these two and that very briefly And first in the first place of the Commutatiue and in the second of the distributiue Iustice Commutatiue Contractiue or Venditiue for all these names your Authors giue it for the matter of Commutations Arist 10. Met Tit. 18. Contracts and Sales wherein it is exercised is considered betwixt two party and party which are a part of that whole body of the Common-wealth which giue and take betweene themselues by way of Contract or Sale It 's end and obiect is equalitie and proportion betweene that which is giuen and that which is receiued without respect vnto the persons which buy and sell but to that which is contracted solde or commutated that there may be an equalitie and proportion had betwixt that which is giuen and taken And when in this there is a defection it is contrary to Commutatiue Iustice The distributiue is considered betweene the whole and it's parts The. Medium of this Vertue doth not consist in the equaltie of thing to thing but of the things to the persons for as one person surpasseth another so the thing which is giuen to such a person exceedeth that part which is giuen to another person So that there is an equalitie of proportion betweene that which is more and that which is lesse but not an equalitie of quantitie to wit So much to the one as to the other For those which in a Common-wealth are not equall in dignitie and desert ought not equally to enioy the Common goods thereof when they are reparted and diuided by the hand of distributiue Iustice As we shall shew you by and by when we come to speake of the Commutatiue which treates of equalizing and according that which mens disordinate appetites and boundlesse couetousnesse doth disconcerte and put out of order euery one being desirous to vsurpe that for himselfe which of right appertaines and belongs to another whence arise your cosenages and deceits in humane Contracts and whence doe resulte those contentions dissensions and sutes in Law And to occurre and meete with these inconueniences from the Alcalde of the poorest Village to the highest and supremest Tribunall those pretenders may appeale if they cannot obtaine Iustice in those inferiour Courts And therefore in Castile in the Counsell Royal it is called by way of excellencie Conscio de Iusticia The Counsel of Iustice And in all well ordred Monarchies and Common-wealths Exod. 18. Deut. 1. there is euermore carefull prouision made for this necessitie dispersing in diuers Tribunalls the fittest men for administring Iustice as we haue formerly related of that great Law-giuer Moses And in the second booke of the Chro. it is said of King Iehosaphat that he appointed Audiences and Tribunalls in all the principall Cities of his kingdome and those euer at their very gates and entrance that the Negociants and suitors might the more easily meete with the Ministers of Iustice for this is the chiefest prouision which a King should make for kis Kingdome indearing to them all the faithfull administration thereof and that with such graue words and such effectuall reasons that they deserue to be written in golden Letters vpon all the seates Tribunalls of your Iudges 2 Chron. 19.6 Videte quid faciatis non enim hominis exercetis iudicium sed Domini Et quodcunque iudicaueritis in vos redundabit Sit timor domini vobiscum cum diligentia cuncta facite non est enim apud dominum deum nostrum iniquitas nec personarum acceptio nec cupido munerum Take heede what ye doe for yee execute not the iudgement of man but of the Lord and he will be with yee in the cause and iudgement Wherefore now let the feare of the Lord be vpon yee Take heede and doe it for there is no iniquitie with the Lord our God neither respect of persons nor receiuing of reward The first thing that he admonisheth them of is Videte quid faciatis Take heede what yee doe Looke well about yee and haue an eye to what ye doe Heare see and consider take time and leysure be not ouer-hasty in sentencing a sute till yee haue studied the case well and throughly and are able as well to satisfie others as your selues Vsing that care and circumspection Iob. 29.16 as did that iust man Iob. Causam quam nesciebam diligentissime inuestigabam When I knew not the cause I sought it out diligently As if his life had lyen vpon it Alciat saith That the Tribunes had at the gates of their houses the Image of a King sitting in his throane hauing hands but no eyes And certaine Statuas about him seeming to be Iudges hauing eyes but no hands Whereby they declared the Office of a King and the duty of Iudges painting him with hands and them without them but with as many eyes as that fabulous Argos had or like vnto those Mysticall beastes Apoc. 4.7 which Saint Iohn saw full of eyes within and on euery side To shew that they should study see and examine causes and all whatsoeuer passeth in the Common-wealth and to informe the King thereof who is to haue hands and Armes courage and power for execution Againe that good King puts them in minde that it is not mans but Gods Office that they take in hand whose proper Office is to iudge And therefore in the Scripture your Iudges are called Gods And since that they are his Lieuetenants let them labour for to doe Iustice as God himselfe doth For I must be so bold as to tell them that there is a reuiewing of the businesse and a place of Appealing in the supreame Counsell of his diuine Iustice And there the Party pretending doth not deposite his thousand and fiue hundred ducats but the Iudge who lyes
esteeme and made it the top of their glory for by this meanes they came to be as great in the loue of their subiects as in their rule and Command Of whose examples humane Histories are full but I shall only cite those are that Diuine which neither adde nor diminish by indeering things more then they deserue Where it is storyed of that great Captaine and Gouernour of Gods people that he was of the mildest and peaceablest condition and of so soft and sweete a â—â—ture that the world afforded not his like Erat Moses vir mitissimus Num. 12.3 super omnes hâ—mines qui morabantur in terra Moses was very meeke aboue all the men which were vpon the face of the earth And he of all other had most neede of this most noble qualitie for to beare with the bitter taunts and reproachfull words of that stiffe-necked and vnthankfull people And this is indeared by Saint Ambrose Ambr. lib. 2. Offi. cap. 7. and Philo Iudaeus both of them affirming That towards God onely hee shewd himselfe as stout as a Lyon and full of courage resisting the vengeance that God would haue taken of his people but with them was as meeke and gentle as a Lambe A generous breast and the courteous and plaine carriage of Kings ouercometh all pacifieth all and leuelleth the vneuenest and crookedest dispositions Which we may well exemplifie in Iacob and Dauid Of the former the Scripture saith Gen. 27.11 Erat homo lenis He was a smoth man He was smooth in his countenance sweete in his conuersation and naturally of a generous and peaceable condition Now see what he got by this Hee gayned his fathers blessing his brothers birth right his Vnckles daughters and wealth and the good will and loue of all men And of Dauid it is sayd Erat rufus pulcher aspectu facieque decera 1 King 16.12 That hee was ruddy and withall of a beautifull countenance and goodly to looke to He was of a louely and gracious aspect milde affable and aboue all a great friend vnto goodnesse and well doing onely with his pleasing presence hee drew the eyes of all the people after him who ioyed in the sight of him And with this did he winne their hearts got their good wills and gayned the kingdome When by a good and painefull industrie and a sweet behauiour the hearts are first seazed on it is an easie matter to conquer Kingdomes In the sacred Historie of the Machabees 1 Macab â— are recounted the heroyicall Acts which that great Captaine Iudas and his brethren atcheiued in Spaine the Kings and Kingdomes which they subdued the 〈◊〉 which they conquered and made tributary to their Empire and the great treasure of gold and siluer which they purchased And all this they effected by their good Counsayle gentlenesse and patience giuing Kings thereby to vnderstand that if they be of a meeke peaceable and noble condition they shall be Lords and Masters of mens wealths and hearts And this made Polibius to say that a courteous and peaceable King conquers all with quietnesse euery man being willing to yeelde and submit himselfe to a soft and generous disposition that is free from anger and full of clemencie And this is that Legacie which God allotted and left vnto them long agoe in the olde Testament Mansueti haereditabunt terram Psal 37.11 The meeke shall inherit the earth And afterwards in the new Testament he renewes this promise Ipsi possidebunt terram Mat. 5.5 They shall inherit the earth They shall be Lords of the earth That is of the men vpon earth and of their possessions For by this earth which God promiseth vnto them S. Bernard vnderstands the same earth whereof men are formed And it is vsuall in Scripture to call men earth And thereby is likewise vnderstood that of this world which wee heere inhabit the possessions thereof it 's gouernment Scepter and Monarchie for all this is but a Patrimonie bequeathed to a kinde smooth and louing nature The best Titles that a King can present before God for to pretend the preseruation and perpetuitie of his Kingdome are meekenesse and gentlenesse These Dauid represented vnto him when hee petitioned him that hee would be pleased to continue and confirme his kingdome in his sonne Memento Domine Dauid Psal 131.1 omnis mansuetudinis eius Lord remember Dauid and all his lowly carriage Whose heart was not haughty nor his eyes lofty but behaued and quieted himselfe as a childe that is weaned of his Mother And presently God collated this benefit vpon him saying Com cumpleti fuerint dies tui susâ—â—â—bo semen tuum post â—e 2 King 7.12 firmâ—bo regnam eius When thy dayes be fullfilled and thou shalt sleepe with thy fathers I will set vp thy seede after thee which shall proceede out of thy bowells and I will establish his Kingdome Such effects doth the smooth breast and soft heart of a King worke And this is so sure a Tenet that for to keepe a Kingdome secure and to be Lord of many moe there needeth no other claime then that which Loue and Gentlenesse maketh For in regard that the heart of man is generous it will not be led by the necke with a halter nor will subiects long indure the yoake of a Tyrannizing and proud Lord whereas on the contrary they are easily led a long by a smooth and gentle hand And reason teacheth vs as much for by how much the more easily is the heart of man moued by conueniences then by menaces by faire meanes then by foule by so much the better is it to gouerne by meekenesse and gentlenesse then by force and rigour Whence we draw this Conclusion That too much sharpnesse and excesse of rigour in a Prince procureth hatred and affabilitie and clemencie Loue. Which is that which Kings ought most to seeke after as by and by we shall shew vnto you when wee come to tell you that these two qualities of blandure and clemencie so befitting a supreme Lord are quite contrarie to that good expedition of Iustice and that integritie which God doth require in a Iudge whom hee willeth and commaundeth That in matter of iudgement hee shall not pittie the case of the poore According to which Instruction it of force followeth that a King must represent two contrary persons that of a kinde and pittifull Father and that of a iust and angry Iudge For if in his owne nature hee be kinde and tender hearted there is not that offender which will not be set free by the power of Intreaties and Teares weapons wherewith the hardest and cruellest hearts suffer themselues to be ouercome And if he be otherwise what can the delinquents hopes end in but death and despaire Againe if he be vertuous and seuere it is impossible that he should not hate the vicious and grow into choller when hee shall heare of their cruell outrages and insolencies Now Hier. Sup. Ierom.
22. Aug. lib. 5. de Ciuit. cap. 24. Isid lib. 3. Sent. cap. 52. S. Th. 2. 2. q. 137 art 2. ad 2. what remedy in this case is to be vsed Saint Ierom and Saint Austen are of opinion that a King by his owne person is to punish and premiate to execute chasticement with iustice and to mitigate it with mercy Nor is it vnworthy our consideration nor lyable to inconueniencie that a King should represent two persons so contrary in shew as iudging with Iustice and Mercie For two vertues cannot bee contrary And as the Saints and holy Doctors say and they are in the right Mercie doth not hinder the execution of Iustice but it moderateth the crueltie of the punishment And it is very necessary in a good Iudge that hee should haue a true and faithfull paire of balance in his hands and in either scale to put rigor and equitie that hee may know how to correct the one by the other The Kings of Portugall especially Don Iuan the third did vse to iudge Capitall crimes accompanied with his Councell and were alway accounted fathers of the people because with them Iustice and Mercie walked hand in hand shewing themselues iust in punishing the fault and mercifull in mitigating the punishment By which meanes they were of all both feared and beloued And let not Kings perswade themselues that this doth lessen their authoritie and take of from their greatnesse but giues an addition and the oftner they sit in iudgement they shall doe God the more seruice and the Kingdome more good And in conscience the surest and safest course for that reciprocall obligation which is between the King and his subiects For they owe obedience seruice and acknowledgement to him as their Lord and Master And he vnto them Iustice Defence and Protection For to this end and purpose doe they pay him so many great Tributes and Taxes Nor is it enough for him to doe it by others but he must also doe it by himselfe For neither that great Gouernor of Gods people Moses nor any other after him is in all the whole body of the Bible to be found that euer yet condemned the occupation of iudging the people to bee vnworthy royall Maiestie nor contrarie to the reputation of a King I know no other preiudice in it saue that it is impossible for one sole man to vndergoe so great a taske And this impossibilitie ariseth from the multitude of subiects and in that case they aduise That a King should not wholly take away his hand from the doing of Iustice but that the lesser and more ordinary businesses hee should remit and referr them to different Ministers and the weightier causes take to his owne charge and be present in person when they come to be sit vpon and determined as formerly haue done the wisest and greatest Monarkes that euer were in the world Who did euer equall King Salomon in wisedome greatnesse and Maiestie yet did hee hold it no disgrace vnto him to humble himselfe to heare suitors iudge their causes and to doe them Iustice The Kings of the Hebrew people were called Iudges because they did glorie in nothing so much as to heare and iudge the people And in all Nations this hath alwayes beene the principall Office appertaining vnto Kings And the Holy Ghost saith That the King Prou. 29.14 that faithfully iudgeth the poore his throne shall be established for euer §. III. That it much importeth Kings to haue the good Loue and affection of their Subiects KIngs as already hath beene sayd are the Heads of their Kingdomes Their Estates serue them as Members Without which it is impossible they should be that which their name speakes them And therefore it is not onely conuenient but necessarie that they should seeke to gaine the good wills of all suting themselues though they force their owne to the nature of their subiects and beholding them as if they were his children Which is the best course to keepe them well affected and contented and to be beloued and obayed by them Which they may easily doe if they will but thinke themselues that they are sheepheards and fathers of those people which God hath recommended vnto them easing them of those wrongs and grieuances which they vniustly suffer laying no more vpon them then they are able to beare suffring them when reason shall require to take their ease and their quiet and helping to sustaine them when they grow poore and are decayd Plato tells vs That for a Prince to be good and to be beloued of all hee must bestow all his loue and his whole heart vpon the Common-wealth his will on the Gods his secret on his friends and his Time on businesses For by thus reparting himselfe with all he shall haue a part in all by all of them comming to vnite themselues with him Onely in this good Correspondency of Loue betweene Kings and their subiects wise Periander placeth all the safetie and good fortune of Kings and Kingdomes Agesilaus King of Lacedaemon was once askt the question How a King might liue secure For that it is oftentimes seene that neither multitude of seruants nor a guard of Halbardiers can defend them from violence To which demand hee returned this answer Si suis populis ita imperet vt parentes filijs If he so rule ouer his people as a father doth ouer his children The King that loueth his subiects and is againe beloued by them neede no guarde they are his guard For Loue where it is true and faithfull plainesheth the knottiest peece of timber smootheth the roughest and most vnhewen disposition and makes all faire safe and peaceable It is a most strong wall and more durable yea then Kings themselues With this no difficulty can offer it selfe vnto them which they may not ouercome no danger whose impetuousnesse they may not oppose no command which they will not obay For as Kings desire no more of their subiects but to be well serued by them so subiects pretend nothing from their Kings but to be beloued by them And indeede the one dependeth on the other For if a King loue not his subiects he shall neither be well serued beloued nor obayed by them And as little if he loue himselfe too much For the more care he takes of himselfe and attends his owne particular so much the more his subiects loue departs from him For the harmonie of a Common-wealth consisteth in that all should liue by the Kings fauour and they by their subiects loue For they ought to be vigilant in all that belongs to their seruice and Kings most watchfull in that which concernes their generall good So that none is to haue lesse part in the King then the King himselfe And because it is impossible to content all by reason not onely of their different but contrary natures it is necessary at least to content the most There are two differences of States or two sorts of people to be considered in a
voluptuousnesse and let vs leaue tokens of our ioyfullnesse in euery place Let God doe what hee list in Heauen and let vs laugh and be merry here on earth We haue but a little time to liue let vs therefore take our pleasures while wee may This is all the care the wantons of this world take who do not thinke that there in an eternitie onely they study how they may best inioy themselues and their pleasures not once dreaming that there is a God or a iudgement to come to make them stand in awe of him but as men that make a scoffe and iest of that other world and that other life they wholly wed themselues to this Making that good which Salomon sayd Eccl. 8.15 Quod non esset homini bonum sub sole nisi quod comederet biberet atque gauderet Man hath no better thing vnder the Sunne then to eate and to drink and to be merry A Language onely beseeming such men as are to be carbonadoed for hel and made a dish for the Diuell for their disseruice towards God and their seruice to their belly Which kind of men Saint Paul lamenteth with teares flowing from his heart as being enemies to the Crosse of Christ and abhorred of God and his Saints CHAP. XXVIII When and at what time sports and pastimes are worthyest reprehension in Kings TO euery thing there is a season saith the Wiseman There is a time to weepe and a time to laugh A time for recreation and a time for labour Tempus plangendi Tempus saltandi Tempus amplexandi Eccl. 3.5 Tempus longe fieri ab amplexibus A time to mourne and a time to dance A time to imbrace and a time to refraine from imbracing The Chalde Paraphrase reades Opportunitas omni rei There is an opportunitie or fit season for euery thing And this opportunitie is a great matter in all whatsoeuer wee doe for it teacheth vs to take our due time and season To weepe when we should laugh is a ridiculous thing And to laugh when wee should shed teares is no lesse For Kings to play away so many thousand Ducatts and to spend I know not what meerely for their owne pleasure whilest their souldiers are ready to perish through hunger for want of pay and their house-hold Seruants runne in debt because they cannot receiue their wages in due time this sorteth not with that rule which the wise man would haue vs to obserue And is it not I pray you a disproportionable and vnseasonable thing to spend the time in intertainments and sports which is due vnto publicke causes and businesses of State In the second booke of the Kings is set downe a notable case wherewith God was highly offended And the case was this Factum est autem vertente anno eo tempore quo solent Reges ad bella procedere misit Dauid Ioab seruos suos cum eo 2 King â—1 1 et vniuersum Israel et vastauerunt filios Ammon et obsederum Rabaa Dauid autem remansis in Hierusalem Dum hac agerentur accidit vt surgeret Dauid de strato sâ—â— post meridiem et deambularet in solario demus regiae viditque mulierem se lauantem ex aduerso super solarium suum c. And it came to passe that after the yeare was expired at the time when Kings goe forth to battel that Dauid sent Ioab and his seruants with him and all Israel and they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Rabbah But Dauid tarryed still at Ierusalem And it came to passe in an Euening tyde that Dauid arose from his bed and walked vpon the roofe of the Kings house and from the roofe hee saw a woman washing her selfe and the woman was very beautifull to looke vpon c. What a companie of aggrauating circumstances did heere precede the sinne of Dauid It fell out about that time of the yeare when Kings vsed to goe into the field against their enemies and to muster vp their souldiars But instead of going himselfe in person hee sent forth his Captaine Ioab with all the choyse men of Israel himselfe remaining in the meane while sporting and recreating himselfe in his princely Pallace And not thinking on those cares which so dangerous a warre did at that time require hee rose one day after dinner from his Table and went to walke in a gallerie or Tarras that lay open to the Sunne and from thence it was his chance to espie Vriahs wife washing and bathing of her selfe in a place of the like nature right ouer against him who likewise on her part gaue occasion to this sinne for that her husband being abroad in the warres and exposing himselfe to so many troubles and perills she should take pleasure in washing her hayre and in the curious decking and dressing her person in a place from whence shee might be so easily seene Whom he no sooner saw but coueted and no soner made loue vnto but he inioyed her And that he might possesse her with the more safety and cloake the adulterie the better and the childe wherewith all shee went hee gaue order for the making away of her husband vpon the neck whereof an infinite number of other euills did insue When Kings wage warre and their subiects fight their battailes hazarding therein their liues or when any other common calamities happen as of Famine or Pestilence in their Kingdomes they are not them to follow their pleasures and intertainments but to abstaine from them and to shew and make knowen to the world that they haue a fellow feeling of these common euills and generall afflictions For so did the King of Niniue as soone as hee was informed what the Prophet Ionas had preached in his Court threatning them with the punishment which God would send vpon that Citie And the holy Scripture saith That the King himselfe was the first man that forsooke his pleasures layd his roabe from him and couered him with sack-cloath and sate in ashes and caused it to be proclaimed through Nineue saying Let neither man Ionah 3.6 nor beast heard nor flocke tast any thing let them not feede nor drinke water But let man and beast be couered with sack-cloath and cry mightily vnto God yea let them turne euery one from his euill way and from the violence that is in their hands c. And this was the Course that hee tooke for to appease Gods anger When King Dauid heard of the great slaughter which the Pestilence had wrought in his Kingdome sorrowing exceedingly that the Plague was so hot amongst his people and shewing that it grieued his very heart and soule hee cryed out vnto the Lord 2 King 24.17 and sayd Ego sum qui peccaui ego qui iniquè egi c. Vertatur obsecro manus tua contra me et contra domum patris mei I haue sinned and I haue done wickedly but these sheepe what haue they done Let thine hand I pray be against me and against
them not only the good wills and affections of their equals but euen of Kings themselues And when these abilities are so extraordinary and aduantagious no man can deeme it inconuenient that Kings should more particularly and in a more extraordinary manner apply their affection vnto them Nay it would rather lay a spot and blemish vpon them if notice should be taken that they equally entertaine all or not esteeme and prize them most that merit most to be esteemed For in all good reason there is no greater inequality then to equall all alike Plato said very well That there is not any virtue of that force and efficacie for to catch and steale away mens hearts Nor herein doe we need the testimonies of Philosophers for the holy Ghost saith Vt mors est dilectio loue is strong as death The coales thereof are coales of fire which hath a most vehement flame it beares all away before it And in this its force and strength friendship and loue are much alike And building on this ground I say That very well there may be said to bee friendship betweene a King and a Fauorite for that their soules haue in their birth and beginning or as I may say their first originall equall noblenesse And your noblest friendship proceeds from the soule Very famous and much celebrated was that friendship betwixt Prince Ionathan the onely heire of the kingdome and that worthy noble Dauid And so great was the loue that was betweene them that the sacred Scripture saith 1. Reg. 18.2 That anima Ionathae conglutinata erat animae Dauid dilexit eum Ionathas quasi animam suam The soule of Ionathan was knit with the soule of Dauid and that Ionathan loued him as his owne soule And I further affirme that it is very fit and conuenient that Kings should loue those with aduantage that haue the aduantage of others in vertue wisedome and learning And such should be those that serue and attend the persons of Princes for ordinarily out of that Nursery are these plants your Fauourites drawne When Nabuchadnezzar King of Babilon besieged and tooke by force of armes the Citie of Ierusalem he carried away from thence great spoiles of gold and siluer but that which hee much more prized then all this Treasure were the sonnes of the chiefest Noblemen and such as were lineally descended of the Kings of that kingdome and gaue especiall order that they should choose and cull out those that had the best and ablest parts both of nature and acquisition those that were of the best disposition the most learned and best taught to the end that being accompanied with these good qualities they might merit to attend in the Court and Chamber of the King Dan. 1.3 Et ait Rex Asphenez Praeposito Eunuchorum vt introduceret de filijs Israel de semine Regio Tyrannorum pueros in quibus nulla esset macula decoros forma eruditos omni sapientia cautos scientia doctos disciplina qui possent stare in palatio Regis And the King spake vnto Ashpenez the Master of his Eunuchs that hee should bring certaine of the children of Israel and of the Kings seed and of the Princes Children in whom was no blemish but well-fauoured and skilfull in all wisedome and cunning in knowledge and vnderstanding Science and such as had abilitie in them to stand in the Kings palace And this election fell out so luckily and proued to be of that profit and benefit that amongst those which indewed with these qualities were made choice of for to serue the King there were three of them did excell but one more then all the rest not onely in vertue but in the knowledge likewise of secret businesses and matters of State and gouernment which was Daniel who so well deserued to be a Fauourite to those Kings of Babylon and more especially to Darius that hee did not content himselfe with making him onely a priuie Councellour but the prime man amongst them For hauing set ouer the kingdome an 120. Princes which should bee ouer the whole kingdome and ouer these three Presidents of whom Daniel was first that the Princes might giue account vnto them that the King might haue no damage And as hee was the greatest Subiect and Fauourite in the world so was hee superiour in the vertues and qualities of his person Igitur Daniel superabat omnes Principes satrapas quia Spiritus Domini amplior erat in illo Dan. 6.3 Therefore was Daniel preferred before the Presidents and Princes because an excellent spirit was in him The holy Scripture likewise tells vs that Ioseph was such a Fauourite of King Pharaoh that hee gaue him absolute power ouer all his kingdome and commanded that in publike pompe he should ride in the Kings owne Chariot and in his owne seate and haue a Crier go before to proclaime the fauour that the King was pleased to doe him Dixit quoque Rex Aegypti ad Ioseph Gen. 41.44 Ego sum Pharaoh absque tuo imperio non mouebit quisquam manum aut pedem in omni terra And Pharaoh said vnto Ioseph I am Pharaoh and without thee shall no man lift vp his hand or foot in all the land of Aegypt And well did hee deserue this honour for by his great industrie and wisedome he freed that King and kingdome from that terrible famine besides those many other great and troublesome imployments wherein he was busied for the space of seuen yeares together In the fourth booke of kings we reade that Naaman who was Captaine of the host of the King of Syria was the onely Fauourite of the King Erat vir magnus apud Dominum suum honoratum 4. Reg. 5.1 Hee was a great man with his Master and honourable And rendering the reason of this his great priuacie with his King and the honour he had done him it is there specified Per illum enim dedit dominus salutem Syriae erat enim vir fortis Because by him the Lord had giuen deliuerance vnto Syria and was also a mighty man in valour For all the life and soule that kingdome had came from him God vsing him as his instrument for his puisance and prudence And when Fauourites are of these aduantagtous abilities those reasons and inconueniences doe cease before mentioned touching the disequalitie of Kings with their Inferiours For vertue hath this excellence and preheminence that from the very dust of the earth it doth lift vp men vnto honour and doth raise them to that height that it equalls them and sets them cheeke by iole with the greatest Princes in the world Eccl 11.1 Sapientia humiliati exaltabit caput illius in medio magnatum considere illum faciet Wisedome lifteth vp the head of him that is of low degree and maketh him to sit among great men Anna that was mother to that great Priest and Prophet Samuel amongst other things which shee sung in the praise
and vrgent occasions fall speedily to worke themselues without any further consultation but in ordinarie diseases heare resolue and consult with others Againe let Fauourites for their learning reade the Histories and peruse the generall booke of Time and they shall there finde a thousand of these examples and other as many faire warnings worthy their sight and knowledge for the admonishing of men for to feare their priuacie with Kings and to tremble at humane prosperitie and the securitie wherein they liue And hee that shall diligently reade these things will seeke to come fairely off from these his high fortunes and fauours For ordinarily from a prosperous and high-raised estate great disasters haue had their beginning as from your highest places come your greatest falls And peraduenture because this desenganno and dis-deceiuing of our selues doth so much import mankinde and that men might liue in this feare God hath and doth permit of such like examples and admonitions And it may likewise be beleeued that such violent and sudden accidents haue not onely happened through the default of those that fall or for want of wisedome but by a diuine prouidence and permission for their owne particular sinnes or for that God was willing as being the master workeman and onely Potter of these our earthen vessells to breake these with a rodde of iron and to choose others for vessells of honour through which the holy liquor of his Gospell and other good graces might be poured forth and diffused throughout the world CHAP. XXXIII Whether it be fit for Kings to haue any more then one Fauourite THe name wherewith the Greekes named God is deriued from a word which signifies to see So that to say God is to say Hee that sees For as the Apostle Saint Paul and faith teacheth vs all is subiect to Gods view and vnto Kings who are his Lieutenants here vpon earth nothing can conuene so well with them as to seeme to the world to haue so quicke and large a fight that they may see all whatsoeuer mans capacitie is able to reach vnto And because they cannot doe this alone by themselues Xenophon said very well and wisely that it was needfull that they should haue other eyes whereunto to trust as much as vnto their owne and to see as it were by spectacles for Kings are so vnhappy that they cannot come to see all without them And those as the same Philosopher said are those friends and Fauourites who are to see and know that which passeth in the world as also what is needfull in common-wealths and to giue notice thereof vnto their Kings and to helpe them to ordaine and execute that which is fitting and conuenient And Fauourites being intertained as we said before for this end and for the publike good of the common-wealth it is requisite that Kings should not haue one onely but many One day some about the person of Alexander the Great shewed him a maruellous faire Pomegranate which being cut in two discouered a great company of kernels and one of them asking him of what he would wish to haue such store as of those Pomegranate kernels which appeared vnto him He answered that he would wish that hee might haue so many Zopiri This Zopirus being a Fauourite of his and one that was very faithfull vnto him and of great abilities For it is not contrary to royall greatnesse to haue many but very necessary for the better dispatch of businesses For if they should passe onely through the hands of the Prince their dispatch would bee very slow and subiect likewise to many errours whereinto they would ordinarily runne for want of their care and assistance Darius King of Persia tooke three Fauourites vnto him to whom the rest of the Princes rendered an account of all the affaires of the kingdome And from the beginning of the world euen to this present time Kings haue had some more and others lesse For this must be regulated and ordered according to the greatnesse of the kingdomes For by how much the more they are in number and greatnesse so much the more increase haue those weightie affaires which are necessarily to haue their recourse to their royall persons and according to the measure of them is there an addition to be made of those that are to assist and attend businesses to passe through all to prouide for all and in all places The people of Israel when Moses gouerned them were all ioyntly together in one body in forme of an Armie and all that made not vp so much as a meane kingdome and they remaining as then they did without possessions incamped in a desart and being all Israelites it seemeth in all likelihood that their ordinary businesses could not be either so many or so great as those which are incident to a King who is Lord and Master of diuers kingdomes and Prouinces and of sundry seuerall Nations And yet notwithstanding that great Gouernour Moses by negoâ—ating from morning vntill night without diuerting himselfe could not giue conuenient dispatch vnto all but was forced as is before specified to take vnto him no lesse then seuenty assistants all chosen men and endewed with those good qualities whereof we now treate Let Kings therefore haue many for to aide and helpe them and let them be the Ministers of his minde and the Conducts whereby to conuay his will and pleasure to his Subiects For in the administration of publike affaires it is euermore to bee indeauoured that many beare a part therein As well for the common satisfaction that shall thereby be giuen vnto all as also for that they may be able to make the better account of all businesses bee they neuer so many And likewise for that few being instructed and experienced in them occasion may not bee giuen that those failing the commonwealth and publike gouernment may thereby incurre any danger This was Augustus his conceit deliuered by Suetonius which that he might the better execute and that his bounty might inlarge it selfe towards the more persons he inuented new publike Offices wherein to imploy them But I do not speake this as inferring thereby that there should bee so many but that at least for the foresaid reasons there should bee some And in conclusion more then one because it will bee more easie to negotiate with them and lesse costly and troublesome and bee a meanes that the Prince may be the better eased and freed in great part of those cares and troubles which otherwise must needs weary him out and worke his vnrest and disquiet For his body is not made of brasse nor can he occurre to all occasion Besides being more then one their competition will make them the more both carefull and fearefull as knowing that in case they shall grow carelesse there are persons enough besides of sufficiencie to supply their place Whereas the opinion and conceit of the contrary puffes him vp with pride and vndoes it's Master For they fondly and foolishly perswade themselues
diuided through diuers parts of the world by seas and enemies in the midst thereof should striue and indeauour by all possible meanes to make himselfe likewise Lord and Master of the sea for thereby shall he come to bee Lord and Master of the Land And an absolute dispenser of those things wherewith we sustaine our selues and liue For by the helpe of Nauigation we passe from one part to another and communicate of what they haue by way of commerce or otherwise And by this meanes is made of many Prouinces and kingdomes yea euen of the whole world one sole Citie and commonwealth This was the counsell of Themistocles and Plutarch makes it good saying Let no man deceiue himselfe in imagining with himselfe that Armies will suffice for to conserue himselfe and to make himselfe Lord of those kingdomes and Prouinces that haue the Sea to friend For if he be not likewise prouided and well furnished with a strong fleete at Sea howbeit hee may with a Land-armie ouercome the naturalls of those kingdomes or Prouinces yet it is impossible for him without the other to make an intire conquest and to go through with that which hee pretendeth That disposeth the Land to his will and giueth Lawes thereunto The Carthaginians saith Polibius were not ignorant of what great consequence this was for all kinde of businesses and therefore aduiseth That that which a Prince ought to procure whereby to come to be a great Monarch is by a strong Nauy to make himselfe Lord of the Sea For there are not any forces that worke such strange and great effects or so much import as these And all your Ancients held it for a Maxime that without the command at Sea there was nothing safe or secure on the Land Archidamus a great Captaine and King of the Lacedemonians was wont to say That those that are to deale with a strong enemie being powerfull at sea need not to put themselues vpon the ficklenesse of fortune but to place all their care in maintaining their Nauie for with this alone will they be able to wearie out the enemie to quit him of the succour of their friends to debarre him of Nauigation and of the commodities thereof and vtterly by this to vndoe him And which may seeme a thing impossible be able to beleaguer and girt in a whole kingdome and to take it forcing it by famine and other wants as if it were onely one single Citie that were besieged For that as Tacitus saith a strong fleete at sea is the Castle and Magasine of victualls And therefore the Empire and Signiorie of the Sea by a powerfull and commanding Nauy is held to bee of much more power and safetie then your Land-armies or Citie-garisons which of force must in the end yeeld vnto him which shall become Master of their ports and thereby hinder them of all commerce and traffique and humane communicatâ—on And this was the aduice which that great Monarch and Emperour Charles the fifth gaue likewise vnto his sonne to whom hee left so many and such great kingdomes so farre distant and diuided one from another with such large and deepe seas Hee saith he that is or will bee Master of them must haue his fleetes still in a readinesse well fitted and furnished as well with good tall ships well rigg'd and mann'd and all other necessary prouision as with store of Gallies for the safeguard and defence of his subiects as also to resist and offend Turkes Moores and Pyrats because he cannot repose any confidence or assurance in those Leagues and Truces which he shall make with them With this shall hee keepe them all in awe when they shall see his great forces at Sea by which he may as it were in an instant from all parts send succours and reliefe and whatsoeuer else shall bee needfull And it will bee no lesse then a hard rayne and cruell strong curbe for to bridle and restraine the sinister intents and vaine pretensions of such as shall plot strange proiects dangerous designes and scandalous attempts And vtterly to discourage them from vndergoing any enterprise or to vndertake any action of aduenture with hope of recouering such Townes or Prouinces as they haue lost or by landing of their men to encroach vpon new And say they should serue for no other vse saue to hinder the excursions of Pyrats and Sea-rouers in these our seas onely in regard of that it could not choose but bee a matter of mighty consequence and of wonderfull great importance considering the daily incursions losses flaughters the continuall captiuatings and robberies which they vsually commit vpon these our Coasts so that if there were not a fitting preparation and sufficient defence of ships and Gallies it were impossible for vs to occurre against those necessities and to bee prouided against those new and strange accidents which may offer themselues in those Estates kingdomes and Signiories Seas Coasts frontiers ports promontories Castles and forts which we hold in them Which by this our continuall nauigation and prouision of good shipping are well man'd and victualled and sufficiently prouided of armes munition and whatsoeuer else is necessarie in fit and conuenient both time and manner against all occasions Whereby the enemie perceiuing how well they are prouided for them dare not approach those places nor touch vpon them Besides this easie and short aduice there are many other causes that may moue vs not to be wanting herein In a word it will put the enemy into a continuall care and driue him to take a different resolution in those his ill-grounded motiues and pretensions And howbeit it be true that the charge is great so likewise great losses are thereby excused and some such sometimes as can neuer bee repaired So that there is no passing to and fro without nauigation and the vsing and maintaining of these fleetes They are the words of that victorious Emperour which no King for want of experience should dis-esteeme And for the better and fuller prouision in this kinde it is very fit that these Fleetes should haue their particular rent approprietated vnto them and that it should not vpon no occasion whatsoeuer be spent or laid out in any other thing For a set and deputed treasure for this purpose or the like is that which most importeth for the good dispatch of businesses and that they may bee done in their due time and with lesse charge and more profit This course did the Grecians take and after them the Romanes And of Augustus Caesar both Suetonius and Dyon report that he was the first inuenter of a perpetuall militarie treasure raised out of a certaine kind of Tributes which out of his owne curiositie he had sought and found out For Souldiers and warlike prouisions in your great Empires require a particular treasure wherewith to be payed which must not in any hand be otherwise imployed nor go intermixed with those other expences Hauing persons of much experience and honestie appointed for the good
haue had the estimation of sound iudgements and accounted wise in all kind of faculties haue held this to be the best and perfectest gouernment and with out it neuer Citie nor kingdome hath beene taken to be well gouerned Your good Kings and great Gouernours haue euer fauoured this Course whereas on the contrarie your bad kings and euill Gouernours transported with their pride haue runne another way And therefore in conformitie heereunto I dare confidently affirme if a Monarke be hee what he will be shall resolue businesses alone on his own head how wise soeuer he thinke himself without hauing recourse to his Councell or against the opinion of his Counsellours although he do Acertar and hit right in his resolutions yet therein he breakes the bounds of a Monarchie and enters into those of a Tyranny Of whose Examples and the euill successes insuing thereupon the Histories are full But one shall serue instead of many And that shall be of Tarquinius Superbus taken out of the first Booke of Titus Liuius Liv. lib. 1. who out of his great pride and haughtinesse of minde that he might rule all himselfe and haue none else to haue a hand in any businesse made it his Master peece to weaken the authority of the Roman Senate in lessening the number of Senatours Which he purposely did that he wholy and solely by himselfe might determine all whatsoeuer that occurred in the kingdome In this Monarchie or Kingdome there are three parts or parties to be considered of whom principally we are to treate The King The Ministers and the Vassalls And if in a humane body the Anatomie consideration of the Head be the nicest subtillest and most difficult what difficultie will it not be and what a daintie hand will it not require to touch talke and treate of a king who is the head of the Commonwealth And hence I inferre that for to treate of Kings and to prescribe them Precepts and Documents touching a Kingdome he ought to be such a wise King as was Salomon Who considering the difficulties and dangers which may in this matter offer themselues aduiseth all without any difference that they should not seeme to be desirous to seeme wise before their Temporall kings For no man howsoeuer fulfill'd with wisedome is speaking in his kings presence secure and safe Penes Regem noli velle videri sapiens Eccl. 7.5 Boast not thy wisedome in the presence of the King The reason is for that he that is the supreme soueraigne in Temporall power whom all acknowledge and obey as their Superiour risenteth it much to see himselfe inferiour in a thing of so greate esteeme as is wisedome and discretion Xenophon laying his foundation on this opinion introduceth Cambises instructing his sonne Cyrus King of Persia how he ought to carry himself in his Kingdome As also Alexander who receiued his Militarie Precepts from his father Philip and not from any other that was inferiour vnto him It is written of Agasicles king of the Lacedemonians that he refused to learne Philosophie of a famous Philosopher of those times it seeming vnto him that being a king it was not fitting he should be his Scholler whose sonne he was not As if he should haue sayd That he onely by a naturall obligation acknowledged him alone and that he contented himselfe with that which he had learned from him and would not acknowledge any other inferiour vnto him in birth though neuer so much before him in learning and knowledge But this difficulty I purpose to ouercome by proposing in this my Treatise vnto kings not mine owne Reasons nor those which I might draw from great Philosophers and humane Histories but from the words of God and of his Saints and from Histories Diuine and Canonicall whose Instructions kings may not disdaine nor take it as an affront to submit themselues thereunto be they being Christians neuer so powerfull neuer so supreme because the Author that dictates these Lessons vnto them is the Holy-Ghost And if I shall at any time alleage the Examples of heathen Kings and shall make some good benefit of Antiquitie and serue my selfe with the sentences of Philosophers that were strangers vnto Gods people it shall be very sparingly and as it comes in my way and as one that ceazeth vpon his owne goods if he fortune to light vpon them and taketh them from those that vniustly detaine and possesse them CHAP. II. What the name of King signifieth THis name of King in Diuine and humane Letters is very ancient and so old as is the first Man For in Gods creating of him euen before that there were many Men he made him King ouer all the beastes of the field And it is a most noble Appellatiue and that which is better and more neerely representeth vnto vs the Maiestie of God who very frequently in the holy Scriptures and with much propriety is called King And it is the common opinion of the Wisest that it signifieth one that rules and gouernes being deduced from the Latine word Regere which is to rule or gouerne Reges à regendo dicti sunt saith S. Isidore Ideò quilibet rectè faciendo regis nomen tenet sed peccando amittit And considering with more attention this it 's true Etymologie he is properly sayd to be a King who ouer mastring his passions doth first rule and gouerne himselfe cumplying as he ought with the obligations of his Estate without offence either to God or his neighbour and next hath a care to rule others and to procure all he can that all may doe the like And he that shall do the contrary laying his foundation on humane wisedom and reason of State regardeth more his own temporall commoditie and proper Interest then the good of the Commonwealth This suteth not with the name he holdeth nor may he be called a king neither is he so for himselfe nor for others because he neither knowes to rule himselfe nor others Malus si regnet saith S. Austen servus est Aug lib. 4. de Civit. Dei cap. 2. He hath the Appellation and honourable name of a king but in very truth see how many vices reigne in him so many times is hee a servant nay a very slaue It was the aduice of Agapitus to Iustinian the Emperour that he should haue an eye ouer himselfe and looke well to his actions for albeit he were a King and a great Prince yet the Title of King did then convene to him when he should be Master of himselfe and curbing his unruly appetites should of a King become a Vassall to Reason and Iustice Hee that is good and iust is a God vpon earth and from thence is the name of King deriued vnto him and is his Vicar in all causes for to maintaine his Subiects in Iustice and Truth by his Empire and Command and to sustaine all things in Order Policie and Peace And therefore a Law of the Partida sayes thus Lib. 2. lib. 7. Tit. 1. part
2. Que el Rey es Vicario de dios para hazer iusticia en to dos los cosas That a King is Gods Vicar for to doe iustice in all Causes Answering to that his owne saying By me Kings reigne c. Which is as if he should haue said That their power is deriued from God as from the first and primary cause The signification likewise of this word King or Rex is and me thinks farre better declared if we shall but refer i'ts originall to another word of the primitiue Language where the Hebrew word Raga signifies amongst other it's significations To feede And in this sense it is to be found in many places of holy Scripture And from this Raga is deriued Rex Rego or Regno And Regere and Pascere amongst the Poets and euen also amongst the Prophets are promiscuously vsed Homer Virgil and Dauid put no difference betwixt Reges and Pastores styling Kings Shepheards Shepheards Kings And therefore in the 23. Psalme Psal 23. where the vulgar Latine reades Dominus regit me S. Ieromes Translation hath it Dominus pascit me The Lord is my Shepheard therefore can I lack nothing he shall feede me in a greene pasture and leade me forth besides the waters of comfort And Homer he styles a King Pastorem populi the Shepheard of his people in regard of that sweetnesse of Command wherewith he gouerneth them and the gentle hand that hee carries ouer them feeding but not fleecing of them Xenophon saith that the actions of a good shepheard are like vnto those of a good King So that the name of King doth not onely signifie him that ruleth but him that ruleth like a shepheard And the better to instruct vs herein the Prophet Isaiah speaking of that which the true Christian King our Sauiour should doe when he should come into the world saith Sicut Pastor gregem suum pascet Isai 40.11 in brachio suo congregabit agnos in sinu suo levabit foetas ipsa portabit Hee shall feede his flocke like a shepheard hee shall gather the Lambes with his armes and carry them in his bosome and shall guide them with young He shall perfectly performe all the Offices of a shepheard by feeding of his sheepe and by bearing them if neede be vpon his shoulders And of the selfe same King Ezech. 34.23 Christ God said in respect of his people Ipse pascet eos ipse erit eis in pastorem I will set vp a shepheard ouer them and he shall feed them And in the next words following he cals him ioyntly King and shepheard Servus meus David Rex super eos Pastor unus erit omnium eorum My seruant Dauid shall bee the Prince amongst them and they shall all haue but one shepheard And they shall dwell safely in the wildernesse and sleepe in the woods and none shall make them affraid And for the clearer signification hereof the first Kings that God made choise of and commanded to be anoynted hee tooke them from amidst their flocks The one they sought after the other they found feeding of his flocke The Prophet Samuel whom God commanded to annoynt for King one of the sons of Ishai hauing seene the elder and the other seuen all goodly handsome men of a good disposition had no great liking to any one of them but asked their father Whether he had no more children but those And he said vnto him Adhuc reliquus est parvulus 1 Kings 16 11. pascit oves There remaineth yet a little one behind that keepeth the sheepe And the Prophet willed him that he should send for him for we will not sit downe till he become hither shewing that to be a shepheard and to feed the flock was the best Symbole and most proper Embleme of a King And therfore I would haue no man to imagine that which Philon did feare that when we come to make a King we must take away the Crooke and put the Scepter in his hand The Office of a King I tell you and the Arte of ruling will require a great deale of study and experience For to gouerne the bigger sort of beastes and those that are of greatest price a man must first haue learned to haue gouerned the lesser It is not meete to Popp into great places vnexperienced persons and such as know not what belongs vnto businesse nor the weight of the charge that they are to take vpon them For indeede great Matters are not handsomely carryed nor well managed but by such as haue beene formerly imployed in businesses of an inferiour and lower nature And this choyse which God made of Dauid iumpes with this our intent He doth not say De post fottantibus accepit eum pascere Iacob Servum suum Israel haereditatem suam that he tooke him on the sodaine from the sheepefold and presently clapp't a Crowne vpon his Head but first bred him vp to feede the house of Iacob and his family and that he should exercise himselfe therein For a well ordered house and a family that is well gouerned is the Modell and Image of a Common-wealth And domesticall authoritie resembleth Regall power And the good guidance of a particular house is the Exemplary and true patterne of a publicke State It imbraceth and comprehendeth in it all the sorts of good gouernment It doth treate and set in order those things that appertaine to Policie Conseruation and the direction of Men as well in regard of Commanding as obeying What other thing is a house with his family but a little Citie And â—hat a Citie but a great House Many houses make a Citie And many Cities make a kingdome And in point of gouernment they onely differ in greatnesse for howbeit in the one they are busied more and in the other lesse yet they tend all to one end which is the common good And therefore S. Paul and other Saints and wise men are of opinion that hee that knowes not how to gouerne his own house well will hardly gouerne another mans The Emperour Alexander Severus visiting the Roman Senate did inquire how the Senators did rule and gouerne their owne priuate Houses and families and sayd That that man who knew not how to command his wife and his Children to follow his owne businesses to make prouision for his house and to gouerne his familie it were a madnesse to recommend vnto that man the gouernment of the Common-wealth Amongst those the famous Gouernours Cato the Roman was preferred before Aristides the Grecian because the former was a great Pater familias or father of a familie and the latter was noted to be defectiue in that kinde So that the life of a shepheard is the Counterfeit or Picture of gouernment as is to be seene by his assistance in his Office in the care of the wellfare of his flocke in the obligation of the Account that he is to make in the offence that he is to finde by Wolues and Theeues
Seneshalls or Lord high Stewards of the Kings House Who were such absolute Lords and of that vnlimited power that they ruled the roste and did what they list leauing the poore seely King nothing saue onely the bare Title who sitting in a Chaire with his Perriwigge and his long beard represented the person of a King making the world beleeue that hee gaue Audience to all Ambassadours that came from forraigne parts and gaue them their answers and dispatches when they were to returne But in very truth he sayd no more vnto them saue what hee had beene taught or had by writing beene powred into him making shew as if all this had beene done out of his owne Head So that these kinde of Kings had nothing of the Power-Royall but the vnprofitable name of King and inutile throne of State and a personated Maiestie that lay open to nothing but scorne and derision For the true kings and those that commanded all were those their Minions and Fauorites who oppressed the other by their potencie and kept them in awe Of a King of Samaria God sayd That hee was no more but paululum spumae a froathy bubble Which being beheld a far off seemeth to be something but when you draw neere and touch it it is nothing Simia in tecto Rex fatuus in solio suo He is like vnto an Ape on the house-toppe who vsing the apparances and gestures of a man is taken for such a one by them that know him not Iust so is a foolish King vpon his Throne your Ape likewise serueth to entertaine children and to make them sport And a King causeth laughter in those who behold him stript of the actions of a King without authoritie and without gouernment A King appareled in Purple and sitting with great Maiestie in his Throne answereable to his greatnesse seemeth in shew graue seuere and terrible but in effect nothing Like vnto the Picture of that Grecians limming which being placed on high and beheld from a farre seemed to be a very good Peece But when you came neerer vnto it and viewed it well it was full of Blots and Blurs and very course stuffe A King vnder his Canopie or Princely Pall expresseth a great deale of outward State and Maiestie but himselfe being narrowly lookt into is no better then the blurred Character of a King Simulachra gentium Dauid calleth those Kings that are Kings onely in name Or as the Hebrew renders it Imago fictilis contrita An image of crack't earth which leaketh in a thousand places A vaine Idoll which representeth much yet is no other then a false and lying shadow And that name doth very well sute with them which Eliphas falsly put vpon Iob Iob. 4.19 who being so good and so iust a man did mocke at him vpbrayding him that his foundation was in the dust that he was not a man of any solid and sound iudgement but onely had some certaine exteriour apparences calling him Mimicoleon which is a kinde of creature which in Latin they call Formicaleo Because it hath a monstrous kinde of Composture in the one halfe part of the body representing a fierce Lyon which was alwayes the Hierogliffe of a King and in the other halfe an Ante or Pismire which signifieth a weake thing and without any substance Authoritie Name Throne and Maiestie doth well become Lyons and powerfull Princes And hitherto it is well But when we looke on the other halfe and see the being and substance of a Pismire that goes hard There haue beene Kings who with their very name onely haue strooke the world into a feare and terrour But they themselues had no substance in them and were in their Kingdome no better then Ants and Pismires Great in name and Office but poore in action Let euery King then acknowledge himselfe to be an Officer and not onely to bee a priuate but a publicke Officer and a superintendent in all Offices whatsoeuer For in all hee is bound both to speake and doe S Austen and D. Thomas expounding that place of Saint Paul Aug. D. Tho. in Epis. 1. ad Tim. 3. which treates of Episcopall Dignitie say That the Latin word Episcopus is compounded in the Greeke of two words being in signification the same with Superintendens The name of Bishop of King and of whatsoeuer other superior is a name that comprehendeth Superintendencie and assistance in all Offices This the royall Scepter signifieth exercised by Kings in their publicke acts a Ceremonie vsed by the Aegyptians but borrowed from the Hebrews who for to expresse the obligation of a good King did paint an open eye placed alofte vpon the top of a rod in forme of a Scepter signifying in the one the great power that a King hath and the prouidence and vigilancie which hee is to haue In the other that he doe not onely content himselfe in possessing this supreme power and in holding this high and eminent place and so lye downe and sleepe and take his ease as if there were no more to bee done but hee must bee the first in gouernment the first in Councell and all in all Offices hauing a watchfull eye in viewing and reuiewing how euery publicke Minister performes his duty In signification whereof Ieremie saw the like rod Ier. 1. v. 12. when God asking him what hee saw hee sayd Virgam Vigilantem ego video Well hast thou seene and verily I say vnto thee That I who am the head will watch ouer my body I that am the shepheard will watch ouer my sheepe And I that am a King and Monarke will watch without wearinesse ouer all my Inferiours The Chalde translates it Regem festinantem a King that goes in hast For though hee haue eyes and see yet if he betake him to his ease be lull'd asleepe with his delightes and pleasures and doth not bestirre himselfe visiting this and that other place and seeke to see and know all the good and euill which passeth in his Kingdome hee is as if hee were not Let him bethinke himselfe that he is a Head and the Head of a Lyon which sleepes with his eyes open That he is that rodde which hath eyes and watcheth Let him therefore open his eyes and not sleepe trusting to those that perhaps are blinde or like Moles haue no eyes at all or if they haue any vse them no farther then for their own priuate profit And therein they are quicke sighted These haue the eyes of the Kyte and other your birdes of rapine but it were better that they had no eyes at all then haue them all for themselues CHAP. IIII. Of the Office of Kings HAuing proued that the name of King is not of Dignitie onely but likewise of Occupation and Office it is fit that we should now treate of the qualities and partes thereof For the better vnderstanding whereof wee must follow the Metaphor or resemblance of Mans body whereof the Apostle S. Paul made vse thereby to giue vs
punished with whom the fault is truly found For when the subiects iust Complaints are not heard besides that his conscience is charged and clogg'd therewith the Ministers themselues become thereby much more absolute and more insolently Imperious Insomuch that the subiect seeing that they are neither heard nor eased of their grieuances they grow desperate And what fruites despaire bring forth I neede not tell kings that know either men or bookes There is not in holy Scripture any one thing more often repeated then the particular care which God hath of the oppressed In the seuenty second Psalme where the Greatnesses of King Salomon are set forth but more particularly those magnificencies of that true King Salomon Iesus Christ whose figure he was amongst other his Excellencies for the which he ought to be much estemed beloued and adored of all the Kings of the earth and serued by all the nations of the world this which followeth is not the least Psal 72.11 Adorabunt eum omnes reges terrae omnes gentes seruient ei quia liberauit pauperem à potente pauperem cui non erat adiutor All Kings shall worship him all nations shall serue him For he shall deliuer the poore when he cryeth the needy also and him that hath no helper And in another place he makes the like repetition Ex vsuris iniquitate redimet animas eorum Propter miseriam inopum et gemitum pauperum Psal 12.5 nunc exurgam dicit dominus Now for the oppression of the needy and for the sighes of the poore I will vp sayth the Lord and will set at libertie him whom the wicked hath snared And in the first Chap. of Esay it seemeth that God doth proclaime a plenary Indulgence and full Iubile vnto those Kings and Gouernours who apply themselues to the easing of the oppressed Isay 1.18 Subuenite oppresso iudicate populo defendite viduam et venite arguite me dicit dominus si fuerint peccata vestra vt coccineum quasi nix dealb ab untur at si fuerint rubra quasi vermiculus velut lana alba erunt Relieue the oppressed iudge the fatherlesse and defend the widowe though your sinnes were as crymson they shall be made white as snow though they were red like skarlet they shall be as wool you see then that all sinnes are forgiuen that King that is a Louer of Iustice and a friend vnto the poore and needy that takes paines in relieuing the oppressed and in defending the widowe and protecting the distressed They may stand with God in iudgement alleage for themselues his Iustice his righteousnesse who haue dealt iustly vprightly with their subiects and mantained the weake and needy against those powerfull Tyrants which seeke to swallow them vp as your greater fishes doe the lesser Qui deuorant plebem meam Psal 14.4 sicut escam panis Who eate vp my people as they eate bread And howbeit Iustice ought to be one and the same both to poore and rich yet God doth more particularly recommend vnto their care and charge that of the poore For as it is in the Prouerb Quiebra sa soga por lo mas delgado Where the corde is slendrest there it breaketh soonest For a powerfull man will defend himselfe by his power and great men by their greatnesse And would to God that they had no more to backe them then a iust defence for then the poore should not neede to stand in feare of them But that is now to passeable in these times which the Apostle Saint Iames found fault with in his Iam. 2.6 Quod diuites per potentiam opprimunt vos et ipsi trahunt vos ad iudicium That the rich oppresse the poore by tyrannie and draw them before the iudgement-seates When Kings doe cumply with this their obligation when they free the oppressed and defend the wronged Orphane and Widowe God sends downe vpon them his light his grace and other extraordinary gifts whereby they and their states are conserued and maintayned Whose ruine and perdition doth euermore succeede through the default of him that gouerneth for if Kings would gouerne according vnto equitie and iustice they and their kingdomes should be as it were in a manner perpetuall and immortall For as it is in the Prouerbs of Salomon Rex Prou. 29.14 qui iudicat in veritate pauperes Thronus eius in aeternum firmabitur A King that iudgeth the poore in truth his throne shall be established for euer Whereas on the contrary most certaine it is that the King and kingdome haue but a short continuance where the Iudges and Ministers are swayed by passion and thereby the subiects abused It is the saying of the holy Ghost Eccl. 10.8 Regnum à gente in gentem transfertur propter iniustitias et iniurias et contumelias et dolos Because of vnrighteous dealing and wrongs and riches gotten by deceit the Kingdome is transferred from one people to another No one thing drawes such assured and apparent perils of warre vpon kingdomes as the wrongs that are dâ—ne to the poorer sort of subiects Clamor eorum in aures domini Exercituum introiuit Iam. 5.4 The cryes of them haue entred into the eares of the Lord of Hosts And there before his Counsell of Warre they present their Memorialls and their Petitions with such a loud language and discomposed deliuery that they pierce through his eares when they call vpon him saying since thou art the Lord God of Hoasts raise thou Armies both in Heauen and Earth and reuenge thou those the open wrongs that are offred vnto vs. And these Petitions commonly finde there such quicke dispatch that presently hee nominateth Captaines leuieth forces and formeth a mightie Armie of enemies to disturbe and destroy that kingdome And though some may conceiue that the cause of those and the like troubles are the crosse Incounters of Kings and Princes amongst themselues or the greedy desire of warre for spoyle and pillage which pardoneth no manner of persons yet in realtie of truth it is not so but the wrongs of Ministers exercised vpon the poore the fatherlesse and the widowe are the occasion that huge and powerfull Hostes of enemies in their reuenge enter the gates of a Kingdome and make wast and hauocke thereof For this cause were the Amalechites captiuated and put to the sword and for the same likewise the soldiers entred into Iudaea and sackt it Whence we draw this cleare and conclusiue truth that the best and the safest course to conserue a kingdome to gaine others and to abound in riches is to vndoe wrongs done not to dissemble iniuries to punish thefts and robberies and to execute iustice towards all Initium viae bonae Prou 16.51 facere iustitiam The first step to goodnesse is to doe Iustice For without it the foot that sets forward falls backward and a King hath not where withall to relye on his power his forces his wisedome and experience in gouernment
autoritie and Signorie and did so farre prouoke Gods anger against it that hee commanded it to bee hewen down that being layd leuell with the earth it might acknowledge how much limited and how short was it's power Sithence therfore that it is not possible for Kings to vse much liberalitie and bounty towards all there is a great deale of reason why they should forbeare voluntary Donatiues for to discharge obligatory paiments whereunto in rigour of Iustice he is strictly bound Iames. 5.4 The Apostle Saint Iames saith That the debtes which are due vnto them that haue done seruice cry vnto God and that the teares of the poore ascend vp vnto Heauen to the end that from thence may come forth a writ of Execution against those that haue beene the cause thereof And your Catholike and Christian King are not to place their greatnesse and authoritie on that as did your Heathen Kings and those that were without the light of faith Who pretended nothing else in their gifts and fauours but vaine-glory and the idle applause of the world According to that saying of our Sauiour Iesus Christ Luk. 22.25 Reges gentium dominanturâ—orum quipotestatem habent super eos benefici vocantur The Kings of the Gentiles raigne ouer them and they that beare rule ouer them are called Bountifull True authoritie and Greatnesse doth not consist in Magnificencies and Prodigalities which are not regular and ruled by reason Which requireth to cumply first with what is due and that neither Kings nor their subiects should thrust themselues inâ— necessity and want to satisfie the ambition and couetousnesse of those who as Salomon sayth like vnto Horse-leaches Prou. 30.15 Semper dicunt Affer Affer still cry Giue Giue That which distributiue Iustice requireth is That Kings should repart the common goods of the Republicke conformeable to the meritts and seruices of euery one preferring alwayes the publicke before any particular good and ioyntly with this that they goe clinching the hand for a while that they may afterwards stretch it out more at large when it shall be fitting for them so to doe And this is Liberalitie that vertuous and noble Meane betweene those vicious Extreames Auarice and Prodigalitie When our Sauiour Christ had sufficiently fed that great multitude which followed him into the desert they no sooner found themselues full but they presently resolued amongst themselues to make him their king And this their determination grew from two things which they saw to bee in him The one his noble disposition in affording them such free and plentifull intertainment The other for his great prudence and good gouerment in giuing order that the peeces of bread and other the fragments that were left Iohn 6.13 should be gathered vp Colligite quâ— superouerunt fragmeta ne pereant Gather vp the broaken meate which remayneth that nothing be lost Nor did he doe this that he had neede to set it vp or keep it to serue at some othere time vpon the like occasion for he could as often as he would haue made bread of stones but to instruct and teach Kings to knowe both to spend and saue to giue and hoord vp where how and when it is fitting in regard that their power is limited Moreouer Kings are to consider that they who at one clap receiue much from them grow so fat and pursie that they are not able to serue and follow them as they were wont and sometimes they retire themselues and nere returne againe to see either King or Court vnlesse meere Couetousnesse and greedinesse of gaine draw them thither to beg more and more Gen. 8.7 to cramme their purses Being like vnto that Crowe which Noah sent out of the Arke who as soone as he had found firme footing and whereon to feede his fill neuer came back again Kings Palaces are like Noahs Arke where there is a great diuersitie in the Conditions of men and generally you shall meete there with more Crowes then Doues And here I will with your good leaue take a little libertie to diuert my selfe from the Testimonies of Holy Scripture to those of Great Kings and Monarckes some of one nation and some of another And the first that I shall begin withall shall be king Don Alonso of Sicily who walking along by the Sea-side caused many gobbets of flesh some great and some small mingled one amongst another to be brought vnto him and still as the Crowes which were many came about him to some hee threw out the lesser to other the larger morsells Those that went away with the great gobbets came no more in sight but fled their way but those that had but a small pittance and were not so full gorged they followed the King whether so euer he went and neuer forsooke him Who tolde those that were then about him In this my Masters yee may see how much it importeth Kings to distribute their fauours with moderation and temper Philip King of Macedon did much reprehend his sonne Alexander for being too lauish of his fauours and too excessiue in his giftes Telling him that thereby hee peruerted the mindes of those that were to serue him who in stead of seruing him with that loue loyalty which in duty they were bound vnto they would now onely serue him for their owne particular interest and proper commoditie making by this meanes affection and fidelitie become a kinde of trading and merchandizing And certainely so it is that when mens mindes make interest their Aime and daily to get more and more they become saleable and tender their seruice to those that wil giue them most And they which doe thus accustome themselues to craue and take the loue of friendship and that thankefull acknowledgement which is due to the Doner is turned into interessed Loue which is called by the name of Concupisence And are as the Comicke Poet saith like vnto those lewd huswifes which Amore carent munus amantis amant Loue not so much the man as his money nor his person as his purse You shall seldome see a man that is as they say a Pediguenno a crauing Companion one that is still begging one thing or other that hath not some touch of Couetousnesse and some tincture more or lesse of vnthankefullnesse For in regard that these men loue themselues and their owne interest so well they haue not one drop of loue left for others and if any doe remaine they conferre it on a third person through whose hands that which they pretend is to passe And the King and Prince to whom all is due rest depriued of two things that are the most substantiall and of most importance for the conseruation perpetuation and augmentation of his Kingdome which are their subiects Loue and Thankes For the truest kinde of Raigning and the likest to Gods kingdome is to gaine the heartes of their subiects and to make themselues as much as in them lyes Lordes and Masters of their good Wills
should haue giuen him his kingdome he could not well haue giuen him more Thus was this good seruant rewarded honoured and graced by his Lord and Master who without being importuned gratiously called his good seruices to remembrance and honoured him aboue all the Princes of his Kingdome And I could wish that all that are rewarded by their Kings might receiue their recompence vpon the like good tearmes of Reason and Iustice But now a dayes poore and slender seruices the more is the pitie finde copious and plentifull rewards and those ordinarily accompanied with ingratitude A thing which Nature it selfe abhorreth And which tyes Gods hands from giuing who is so liberall and so rich and dryes vp that ouerflowing fountaine of his boundlesse mercies from affording vs any farther fauour or Comfort CHAP. XXIIII Of the repartment and Diuision which is to be vsed in the Conferring of Offices And of the knowledge of such persons as ought to bee nominated for the sayd Offices Arist lib. 8 â—th cap. 10. LEt vs consider a King saith the Philosopher in his Kingdome as we would a father of many children in his familie Societas enim Patris ad filios Regni prae se fert effigiem The societie of a father towards his children represents the true forme of a kingdome Let any man compare the power royall to what hee will and according to Aristotles opinion hee shall finde no one thing that doth fit so well with it or giues it so much fullnesse as the Title of father who day and night beates his braines and imployes all his whole study on that which is most fitting for his children regarding more the good which hee may bee able to doe them then any profit that he expects to receiue from them How many times whilest his children are a bed and a sleepe doth the father lye awake casting and deuising with himselfe how he may mantayne them and better them in their Estate What a deale of care doth hee take to get his daughter a good Husband who is dearer vnto him then himselfe Great is his care but much more ought the care of a king to bee in giuing to their kingdome good faithfull and diligent Ministers to the end that they may doe all possible diligences as hath beene sayd heeretofore fixing alwayes their eyes on the Common good and directing likewise their owne particular in the same way That which I would say to expresse it in plainer termes is this That they are not to subiect the Offices to the commoditie of the men but to seeke out men that are fit and sufficient for them When Saul was resolued to recommend vnto Dauid that Duell or single Combat against the Gyant Goliah the better to accommodate him as also therein to honour him the more hee put his owne rayment vpon him and an helment of brasse vpon his head and a brigandine and all the rest of his owne compleat Armour but Dauid who was a man of little stature and not accustomed to be shut vp in harnesse found the weight thereof to be too heauie for him and very troublesome to his body yet notwithstanding to obey the Kings Command and that hee might not seeme to reiect the honour the king was pleased to doe him hee was willing to make tryall Si armatus posset incedere Whether hee could goe in it or no for he had neuer proued it But when hee found hee could hardly goe in it and that he had not the free libertie and command of his body hee sayd vnto the King 1. Kings 17.29 Non possum sic incedere quia non vsum habeo I cannot goe with these for I am not accumstomed And therefore rather made choyse to betake himselfe to his sheepheards staffe his stones and his sling which he knew well how to vse then to put on the Kings royall rayment together with his rich Armour and afterward to giue an ill account of what was committed vnto him But where shall you meete with the man in these dayes that is like vnto Dauid Nor is it fit for Kings in this particular to imitate Saul for we dayly see notable Losses in matters of Warre and Peace by accommodating and honouring such persons with Offices as had neuer beene trayned vp in them wanting that sufficiencie of knowledge which is fitting for the administration of them As for your Prebends and other Ecclesiasticall Dignities whose nomination appertaineth vnto Kings they had neede take the greater care therein by so much the more by how much spirituall things are of more importance then Temporall Your ancient Canons and Councells will bee your direction in this case and teach yee what yee are to doe and doe inforce it with such weighty and effectuall reasons that they are worthy to be read and considered by Kings when they make the like Elections or Nominations to the end that they may not erre therein And heere will I bring to their remembrance that which God did when that famous and ancient Tabernacle was to be built Exod. 31.4 which was to be a figure of his holy Church Who as the Scripture tells vs nominated Bezaleel a curious workeman in all manner of workemanship whom he filled with his holy Spirit and indewed him with wisedome and knowledge from heauen that hee might finish that worke and bring it to perfection God himselfe hauing drawen the plot and being the chiefe and principall Contriuer thereof And if for that dead Edifice for which humane skill and dexteritie might seeme to haue beene sufficient there was made choice of a man of such singular wisedome and such admirable partes as is there mentioned in Exodus for the gouernment of a kingdome for the ordring of a Common-wealth for to put euery thing in it's right place and to administer Iustice equally to all giuing euery one that which is his things all of them of such great importance and which doe so much beautifie and grace this mysticall body of the Church what ministers will it bee necessary that Kings should seeke out and inquire after Namely Men that are full of the spirit of God wise vnderstanding men good Christians and adorned with all manner of Vertues And if they will not beleeue me let them looke vpon that first Election which the Apostles made when Iudas turned Apostata despayr'd and hung himselfe In which Election they made choyse of Saint Mathias a man well knowen as one that had beene bred vp amongst them and from whom they had receiued very good satisfaction Oportet ex his viris Act. 1.21 qui nobiscum sunt congregati in omni tempore quo dominus c. Testem resurrectionis eius nobiscum fieri vnum ex istis Wherefore of these men which haue accompanied with vs all the time that the Lord Iesus was conuersant amongst vs c. Must one of them be made a Witnesse with vs of his Resurrection I say that when Kings finde sufficient partes and aduantagious abilities
of his intent suffice to execute his rashnesse in the meanes vnlesse hee first ballance the businesse and see which way the scale will incline as to see how farre hee may rely vpon the loue of his subiects and how the end may sorte with his designes lest the danger of the scandall disobedience may proue to bee greater then the profit that can arise from the execution of Iustice For in such cases it is great wisedome in a King to conforme himselfe according to the times And that that which at one time is worthy of punishment should be dissembled and reserued to be punished at another time Which course as Saluste reporteth was in Catilines time taken with that great and powerfull Courtier Crassus Salust In Anthem Quomodo oportet Isid lib. 3. Senten cap. 50. The Emperour Iustinian hee likewise aymes at this marke And it is the Counsayle which S. Isidore giues vnto Kings The like did King Dauid when Ioab so treacherously slew Abner Onely to some few that were very inward with him he discouered the reason that mooued him to dissemble the matter and not to punish him with death for the present telling them with a great deale of griefe Ego autem adhuc delicatus sum vnctus Rex 2. Reg. 3.39 I am this day weake or as the Hebrew renders it tender though annoynted King As if he should haue sayd To see the affaires of my Crowne and Kingdome in that tender and ticklish estate wherein they stand obligeth me not to make that demonstration of rigour and iustice as the heynousnesse of this fact doth require But the Lord shall reward the doer of euill accordding vnto his wickednesse Tribuat dominus facienti malum iuxta malitiam suam Here is much to be considered the great care which this King tooke in concealing his purpose from the people till some better occasion were offred For if he should haue declared himselfe before and manifested his meaning to the world hee might haue put the whole Campe in danger of Mutining or at least to haue shewd themselues in defence of their Captaine This perill he ouerpast by his great prudence dissembling the matter for that time and deferring it till the last vp-shut when now the businesses of the Kingdome were better settled For the most important point in gouernment is to make vse of Time and occasion facilitating with silence and dissimulation those orders and decrees which doe crosse the peoples humour or that stand not with his liking that is powerfull with them For if they should be divulged before their due time and season they would serue for nothing else but to incense mens mindes and peraduenture to turne them against himselfe Which certainly might well haue beene Dauids case with Ioab if hee had shewed himselfe offended and openly vented his spleene against him whilest he had his sword in his hand and stood so fayre in the peoples affection who in that hurre might haue done God he knowes what for the aduancing of his ambitious ends In such cases it is great prudence in a Prince contineuing still firme and constant in his purpose to benefit himselfe by dissimulation waiting for a fit time and season when without danger hee may vnmaske himselfe and with the safety of his realme and person put his resolution in execution A word well kept and fittly spoken is saith Salomon like apples of gold Prou. 25.11 in pictures of siluer which doth not onely shine and giue a glorious luster but worketh it's effect and discouereth the art and cunning of it's Master And King Dauid hauing heard the reproachfull words and reuiling tearmes which Shimei to the very face of him and in a loud voyce vttred in the presence of those that were with him wisely dissembled his rayling and was angry with Abishai because he was earnest with him that hee might presently take due chasticement of him and reuenge the great affront hee had done him and would by no meanes giue consent that any one of all his Army should once moue or stirre against him For that holy King thought it fit in his wisedome to leaue him to that occasion which hee afterwards specified to his sonne Salomon that he might teach Kings these two things First to relye on God and to attend his leasure who will doe that for them which they cannot doe for themselues As he did in that known case of Moses brothers murmuring against him which hee himselfe so mildely and fayrely dissembled But God to whose account runn's the honour of his Ministers tooke the cause into his owne hands Secondly That it is not fit to be solicitous in appointing Iudges and Informers at all howers and in all places against such as in some occasions assume libertie of speech and freely vtter their mindes For as another sayd In free places and persons that are likewise free-borne wee cannot at all times exercise that slauery vpon them as to clap a Locke and chaine vpon their tongues Who could haue done this better then that omnipotent King Christ Iesus when those licentious and loose-tongued Libertines reproached him with such sharpe bitter Tauâ—ts as toucht him to the quick in his honour and yet euen then with what a royall minde and princely reportment did he carry himselfe in those few milde and moderate words which he spake vnto them Kings ought not to expresse any alteration turbation or discomposure for those things which they see nor to be startled euery foote with that which they heare nor to shew themselues offended at that which is muttred and murmured of them But let them a god's name mend that which is amisse and then their muttering and murmuring will cease of it selfe Heere likewise Kings are taught not to be curious inquirers after those that speake ill of them nor to giue eare to euery idle complaint For if it be once perceiued that their eares irche after this infinite will the number of Delators and Informers be In the raigne of Tiberius and of Nero more then in any other were these Sycophants and priuie Accusers fauoured and things were then so glazed ouer that they had set spies that should curiously obserue the semblance which euery one made of his Actions euen to the knitting of the brow biting the lip or the like which kind of carriage seru'd as a condemnation and was seuerely punished But it is fitter for Tyrants then Christian Kings to stand thus in feare of the tongues of the vulgar it being the part of a magnanimous minde to know how to forget and forgiue iniuries especially those of the tongue to whose iurisdiction the most powerfull are most subiect And if they should reuenge this wrong vpon account the number would be so great and rise to such an infinite sum that they may quickly being their Monarchie to an end That which most importeth for their own and their Empires quiet is to shake all kinde of suspition out of their minde and whatsoeuer
nihil permanere sub sole Behold all was vanitie vexation of spirit and there was no profit vnder the sunne Who could more giue themselues to their delightes and pleasures then those whom the booke of Wisedome speaketh of who with such a deale of care and greedinesse did runne after all the content that the world could afford Yet they say and confesse that they were so vaine and so false and such a wearisomnesse vnto them that they were quite tyred out with them and are now in hell for their labour and shall continue there for euer Thirdly I say That to the end our sports and intertainments may be the more pleasing vnto vs it is fit that they should be vsed with much moderation and very seldome Feastings and banquetings when they are too frequent and too ordinary they cause a wearinesse and loathing And as the glorious S. Ambrose wisely saith Gratiores post famem epulae fiunt quae assiduitate viluerant Feastings please most after fasting which by assiduitie and continuance grow into contempt And here by the way occasion may be taken to aduise kings of the remedy which they ought to apply in matter of Playes Interludes as wel in the quality of that which is represented as in the requency wherewith they are vsed Comedies being now as common as our meate drinke But I see that that succeedeth now which did in those more ancient times Which though they were often banished out of Rome yet the times altering they came to be introduced and brought in again And King Philip the second who is now in glory in the latter yeares of his raigne did wholy prohibite them and for the better furthering of this his determination he had many and those very effectuall reasons for it And that which of late hath beene obserued is That neuer in any time hath there beene seene so much loosenesse and shamelesnesse in youth as since the time they haue beene dayly permitted to be playd and represented on the stage and in those places where is the greatest Audience there is the greatest dissolutenesse of manners especially among your younger sort of people For those their words Accents Tunes Songs wanton carriage of the body idle gestures and actions performed with so much artifice and cunning is no other thing as the Prophet sayd but to sow tares and vicious weedes in good ground whence they ought with much care to be rooted out And very blinde is that man which doth not see the danger that there is in prouoking and stirring vp wanton blood with such lasciuious behauiour being able enough of it selfe to awaken the appetite of sensualitie Euen those dishonest pictures which neither speake nor moue doe catch and lay hold on our eyes and dragge the Soule after them especially if they be drawen to the life and haue the true postures and expressions of a wanton woman Questionlesse they cannot choose but leaue a liuely impression in the Soule And I know not I confesse what worke of pietie or of charitable Almes for Hospitalls to which vse a great part of the Stage-Players gaynes goe can recompence this harme For of more weight and moment is one sinne of theirs which is there committed then all the Almes that are giuen throughout the whole world And we know it is the Apostles rule That we are not either to doe or permit an euill that good may come thereof And that which I know is That they which enter in there doe not come thither to giue an Almes but for those ends and purposes which haue beene sufficiently deliuered and reprehended by many holy Doctours and famous Preachers Nor doth it boote them to say That the people that spend their time in seing of Comedies are there met together to see a harmelesse Interlude Which were they not shut vp in that open Assembly would perhaps be wandring abroad committing worse sinnes which by this Intercourse are excused for in this one particular in this very thing is it plainely to be perceiued how bad Playes be since for their defence they haue neede of the fauour of avoyding a greater euill And in realitie of truth they doe not excuse or diuert sinnes but sinnes are there rather learned the spectators carrying them away with them conceiued in their minds by the ones vaine apprehension and the others fowle and wanton representation and anon after bring forth monstrous birthes And in very truth the troubles and temporall scourges of warre famine and pestilence the many Cities that are battred and beaten downe to the ground and destroyed the persecution and the continuall wants and necessities of these Kingdomes doe not require so many and such contents and reioycings Eccl. 22.6 Musica in luctu importuna narratio saith the Holy Ghost Musick in mourning is as a tale out of season Besides we are to vnderstand that God sendeth these his scourges that wee may feele his stripes and repent and amend our sinfull liues And therefore the Prophet Esay representeth the wrath which God had conceiued against his people because they were not sensible of his chasticements Et non est reuersus ad percutientem se et Dominum non inquifierunt The people turneth not vnto him that smiteth them neither doe they seeke the Lord of Hostes Haue yee seene the like dullnesse in any nation That God chastising them they will not so much as turne backe their eyes and craue pardon and forgiuenes of him that is whipping of them and goes increasing their punishment There is no demonstration of sorrow in them but they goe on still in their pleasures and delights Isay 22.12 Vocauit Dominus Deus ad fletum ad planctum ad caluitiem ad cingulum sacci et eccè gaudium et laetitia occidere vitulos et iugulare arietes comedere carnes et bibere vinum Comedamus et bibamus cras enim moriemur The Lord God of Hostes calls to weeping and to mourning and to baldnesse and to girding with sack cloth and behold ioy and gladnesse slaying oxen and killing sheepe eating flesh and drinking wine Let vs eate and drinke for to morrow we shall dye God hauing called them to repentance with a desire to pardon them they answer him with quite contrary exercises and in stead of weeping fal into extraordinary laughing and in stead of sack-cloath put on rich and glorious apparrel and in stead of fasting betake themselues to feasting in stead of sobbs and sighes to sports and pleasures Which preposterous kinde of course did offend God in that high degree that he threatned to shut the gate of mercy against those that shut the doore of their hearts against sorrow and repentance Et reuelata est in auribus meis vox Domini Ibi. 14 non dimittetur iniquitas haec vobis donec moriamur dicit Dominus And it was reuealed in mine eares by the Lord of Hosts Surely this iniquitie shall not be purged from you till yee dye saith
Cities and Kingdomes haue beene lost and ouerthrowen for want of secrecie But let vs now begin to speake of Ministers and Secretaries of State in whom vsually lyes the greater fault And to whom by their Office secrecie more properly belongs The name it selfe expresing as much For out of that obligation which they haue to be secret they are called Secretaries and are the Archiues and Cabinets of the secrets of the King and the kingdom Though this name through the soothing and flattery of your suitors He means the Escrinanos and Notaries of Spaine hath falsely extended it selfe to those which neither keepe secret nor treate of such businesses as require secrecie And it is fit that these names should not be thus confounded or that that Honor and Title should be giuen to him to whom by Office it not appertaineth Secretaryes I say shut vp with that secrecie Apoc. 5.1 as was that booke of those secret Mysteries which Saint Iohn found sealed with seuen seales which none Tobit 12.7 but the King himselfe could open Sacramentum Regis bonum est sayd the Angel Raphael to Toby opera autem Dei reuelare honorificum est It is good to keepe close the secret of a King but it is honourable to reueale the worke of God Which is as much to say as that the determinations of a King should be kept secret but that the effects and execution of them should be published and made manifest when it is fitting for the seruice of God and the Kingdome For a Kings secret is his heart and till that God shall moue him to expresse it by some outward worke there is no reason that any one else should discouer it To reueale a secret is by the Lawes of God and Nature and by all men generally condemned and all Lawes and Nations doe seuerely punish the same for the great hurt and many inconueniences that may follow thereupon The Lawes they are defrauded the resolutions of Kings they are hindred their enemies they are aduertised their friends they are offended mens mindes they are perturbed kingdomes they are altered peace that is lost the delinquents they are not punished And lastly all publicke and priuate businesses are ouerthrowen And there is not any thing that goes crosse or amisse in a State or that miscarryes or is lost but by the reuealing of the secrets of Kings and of their Counsells As that great Chancellour Gerson told the King of France touching the ill successe of some things in his time for that some of his Ministers did publish that which was treated and determined at the Counsell-Table And the like befell Enrique King of Portugall Who because hee was deafe they were faigne to speake so loud vnto him Valer. lib. 2. Mirabi Caepola Simancus de rep lib 7 cap. 14. cap. 15. that all men might heare what they said Valerius Maximus much commendeth the secrecie of the Romane Senate and says that for this cause that Consistorie was held in high esteeme and that it was a great occasion of inlarging their Empire And they and the Persians did keepe with that faith the secrets of their Kings that there was no feare of plumping them or being able to draw any thing from them no not so much as the least word whereby to discouer the businesse Vse together with the feare of punishment and hazard of their liues had so settled and confirmed this silence in them For they did punish no offence with greater rigour then that of vnfaithfullnesse in matters of secrecie and with a great deale of reason because it is in so neere a degree vnto Treason and I thinke I should not say amisse if I stiled it in the highest Oser lib. 8. de Regis institutione Regis proditor Patriae euersor astimandus est saith Osorius such a one is to be hled a Traytour to the King and a subuerter of the state A Law of the Partida sayth Ley. 5. Tit. 9. p. 2. in fine Ibi. Faria traycion Excepto encaso detraycion y heregia culo qual por dottrina de santo Thomas se puedes dist 21. dist 10. q. 2. artic 3. q. 1. ad 2 L. 5. Tit. lib. 2. That those Counsellours which reueale their Kings secretes commit treason yea though secrecie be not inionyed them nor they charged there with But hee that takes an oath to be secret and reuealeth any thing contrary thereunto besides that he is a periur'd and infamous person hee sinnes mortally and is bound to satisfaction of all the harme that shall happen thereby and incurres the punishment of depriuation of his Office For if hee be sworne to secrecie or bee made a Secretary and hath silence for the seale of his Office he is iustly depriued thereof if he vse it amisse And the Law of the Recopilation saith that hee is lyable to that punishment which the King will inflict vpon him according to the qualitie of the offence or the hurt thereby receiued And the Imperiall Law chapter the first Quibus modis feudum amittit that hee shall loose the see which hee holdes of his Lord. Plutarke reporteth of Philipides that he being in great grace and fauour with Lysimachus King of Lacademonia begged no other boone of him but this That he would not recommend any secret vnto him As one that knew very well that saying of one of the wise men of Greece That there was not any thing of more difficultie then to be silent in matters of secrecie As also for that it being communicated to others though it come to be discouered by anothers fault and none of his yet the imputation is laid as well vpon him that was silent as on him that reuealed and so must suffer for another mans errour And in case any man shall incurre any iust suspition thereof let the King withdraw his fauour from him dismisse him the Court and put another in his place that shall be more secret for that which they most pretend is their fidelitie in this point And howbeit they haue neuer so many other vertues and good abilities yet wanting this they want all and are of no vse no more then were those vessells in Gods House which had no Couers to their mouthes For such open vessells are they that cannot keepe close a secret and altogether vnworthy the seruice of kings The substance and vertue of your flowres goes out in vapours and exhalations of the Lymbecke And heate passeth out through the mouth of the fornace and a secret from betweene the lipps of a Foole it being a kinde of disease amongst those that know least to talke most and to vent through their mouth whatsoeuer they haue in their heart In ore fatuorum Eccl. 21.26 Cor illorum sayth the Wise man in corde sapientium os illorum The heart of fooles is in their mouth but the mouth of the wise is in their hearts Cogitauerunt Psal 72. et locuti sunt Looke what a Foole hath
Question which is disputed and doubted of by some and may likewise serue for an Auiso vnto Kings whether it be better that the great Lords should be farre off from them or neare about them The Emperour Charles the fifth of famous memory amongst other Aduertisements which hee gaue to his sonne Philip one was That he should not let the great offices of the kingdome nor places of great command rest any long time in one mans hands nor should put his Grandes and great Lords into them but Gentlemen of good qualitie such as were creatures of his owne making And as for his Grandes hee should honour them with some places and offices neare about his person which would be a greater grace both to himselfe and his Court. Others are of a quite contrary opinion and alledge reasons for the maintenance thereof Great men they say if they be not like those little ones which Christ speaketh of are ordinarily of an extraordinary spirit and endeauour all they can increase of honour till they come to occupie the highest place And then will it bee seene of what little esteeme are those great fauours which they haue already receiued There is not that friendship that kindred nor any other bond be it neuer so strong which is not broken through the greedy ambition of ascending to some higher throne For to bee a King saith Euripides all Law is broken For this Appetite is of that force and strength that it breaketh all Lawes both Diuine and Humane For proofe whereof they cite many examples which I purposely omit that I may not offend and tire out the Reader All of them admonishing Kings that they should throughly weigh and consider where and in what places they put them For if they be neare about their royall person it is the torment of Tantalus vnto them to see the warre and the fruit so neare their mouth that greatnesse and power I meane and not to enioy it Which will but prouoke a more hungry appetite in those which doe not possesse it and will breake through hedge and ditch and runne as they say through fire and water transported with this so faire and beautifull a prize as is set before their eyes neuer being at quiet till they come to enioy it For there is not that loue to any thing here vpon earth which doth so much alter suspend and seaze on the minde and heart of man as that of ruling and commanding and to grow great therein And when they see things succeed not according to their minde yet at least in satisfaction of their enuie they will be well content that the waters should be troubled and the world be turned topsie-turuy taking pleasure therein though it be to their owne hurt And what King can secure himselfe that such ambitious persons being neare about him will not at one time or other attempt their ends For greatnesse say they after that it is once possessed quits the memory of the meanes whereby it came to bee so great and findes a thousand excuses for it's weaknesse in offending And the rather for that ill vse hath taught all men this lesson That the reputation of an honest man is not to be preferred before his proper profit and greatnesse Lastly they say That he that ouercommeth and makes good his clayme by his sword needeth not to study excuses and to make Apologies let those doe that that haue the worst end of the staffe and stand at the mercy of the Conquerour In conclusion they resolue this question thus That it is very fit that your great Noble-men should rather liue farre from Court then neare about their King For all of them will be of good vse for the gouernment of Prouinces and Armies whereby both the one and the other will be secured And when they cannot content them in all that they would haue they may entertaine them with these which will be a good meanes to diuert their thoughts and to bridle those Prouinces that are committed to their charge with whom the Maiestie and greatnesse of their Gouernours will be able to doe much And there they are not of that danger For in kingdomes by succession and well setled and where there is no colour of wresting the Scepter out of the bloud-royall there is no feare of trusting the Grandes and great Noblemen with these kinde of Gouernments but it is rather requisite that it should be so For like vnto starres in heauen and their influences on earth they serue for ornament and conuersation in those kingdomes and Prouinces wherein there are ancient and noble Houses for which they are to seeke out men of Noble bloud and good qualitie and of knowne greatnesse to bee conuersant amongst them For the Nobilitie of those kingdomes and Prouinces will thinke themselues not well dealt withall if they shall haue but an ordinary man set ouer them to be their Gouernour be he neuer so wise or neuer so valiant For being that they are to attend all at the gates of him that holdeth that place they may esteeme it as an iniurie to see themselues obliged to acknowledge homage vnto him whom out of that place they would sence vouchsafe him their companie Besides that greatnesse and largenesse of minde and heart that knowes not how to shrinke or be deiected with aduerse fortune a thing so necessary in him that gouernes will sooner bee found in these then men of meaner ranke For as Saint Ierome saith hee that owes much to his bloud and familie will alwayes beare that obligation about him and neuer faile therein Againe he that is borne to command will be lesse insolent in his gouernment as hauing that noble qualitie from his cradle And the people on the other side will more willingly obey him whom they haue alwayes knowne to haue liued in honour and greatnesse And his example will bee of greater importance to reforme the disorders and abuses that shall there be offered Ouer and aboue they further adde That your Grandes and great Noblemen may and haue obligation to content themselues with their present estate if they will but weigh the difference of that it was with that which it is now did not men that are now in honour grow forgetfull of their former meane condition That grieuing them more which falls short of their desire then that doth please and content them which fortune hath with so liberall a hand bestowed on them For no man rests contented with his present estate and condition nor doe we esteeme that so much which wee possesse as the lacke of that we desire doth torment vs. And therefore doe they say that they are not so good to be about Kings and more particularly those which are so qualified for they are like a lingâ—ing kinde of Caleature or aguish Feuer which makes an end of vs before we are a ware of it working it's effect before wee can looke into the cause Or like vnto the hand in a Clocke or Dyall which tells
because in it's administration it is an Office so full of difficulties the Apostle S. Paul admonisheth all the faithfull that they alwayes make earnest Prayers for them which is still vsed to this day in all your Catholike Churches Moreouer that the name of a King is the name of an Office Refran El beneficio se da por el oficio it is confirmed by that common saying Beneficium datur propter Officium And therefore Kings being so greatly benefitted not onely by those great Tributes which are giuen them by the Common-wealth but likewise by those which they receiue from the Benefices and Rents of the Church it is an vndoubted truth that they haue an Office and of Offices the greatest and for this cause the whole Kingdome doth so freely and liberally contribute vnto them Which is specified by S. Paul in a Letter of his which hee wrote vnto the Romans Rom. 13.6 Ideò tributa praestatis c. For this cause pay you Tribute also For they are Gods Ministers attending continually vpon this very thing c. Kingdomes doe not pay their taxes idly and in vaine So many sessements so many Subsedies so many impositions so many great rentes so much authoritie so high a Title and so great a Dignitie is not giuen without charge and trouble In vaine should they haue the name of Kings if they had not whom to rule and gouerne And therefore this obligation lyes vpon them In multitudine populi dignitas regis The honour of a King is in the multitude of his People So great a dignitie so great reuenewes such a deale of Greatnesse Maiestie and Honour with a perpetuall Cense and rate vpon his Subiects Lands and Goods binde him to rule and gouerne his States conseruing them by Peace and Iustice Let Kings therefore know that they are to serue their kingdomes being they are so well payd for their paines and that they beare an Office which tyes them necessarily to this trouble Rom. 12.8 Qui praeest in solicitudine saith S. Paul He that ruleth with diligence This is the Title and name of King and of him that gouernes Not of him that goes before others onely in his Honour and his pleasure but of him that excells others in his solicitude and his care Let them not thinke that they are Kings onely in name and representation and that they are not bound to any more but to bee adored and reuerenced and to represent the person royall with a good grace and to carry themselues with a soueraigne kind of State and Maiestie like some of those Kings of the Medes and Persians which were no more then meere shadowes of Kings so wholy neglectfull were they of their office as if they had beene no such manner of Men. There is not any thing more dead and of lesse substance then the image of a shadow which neither waggs arme nor head but at the Motion of that which causeth it Exod. 20. God Commanded his people that they should not make any grauen Image nor any feigned Pictures or counterfeit paintings which shew a hand where there is none discouer a face where there is none and represent a body where there is none expressing therein actions to the life as if the Image or Picture did see and speake For God is no friend of feigned figures of painted men nor of Kings that are onely so in shape and proportion being in fashion like vnto those Psal 135. 16. of whom Dauid sayd Os habent non loquuntur oculos habent non videbunt c. They haue mouths but speake not eyes haue they but they see not They haue eares but heare not and hands haue they but handle not And to what vse I pray serues all this They are no more then meere Idolls of Stone which haue no more in them of Kings but onely an externall representation To be all name and authoritie and to be Men in nothing else doe not sute well together Woe to the Idoll Shepheard saith Zacharie that leaueth the flocke Zach. 11.17 The sword shall be vpon his arme and vpon his right eye His arme shall be cleane dryed vp and his right eye shall be vtterly darkeneds it is written in the Reuelation Nomen habes quod viuas Apoc. 3.1 mortuus es Thou hast a name that thou liuest and art dead The names which God setteth vpon Kings are like vnto the Title of a Booke which in few words containeth all that is therein This name of King is giuen by God vnto Kings and therein includeth all that which this their Office tyes them to doe And if their workes and actions doe not answer with their name and Title it is as if one should say yea with his Mouth and by making Signes say no with his head What a iest and mockerie is this How shall such a one bee truely vnderstood It were Cosenage and deceit in that Golde beater who writes vpon his Signe Heere is fine gold to be sold when indeed it is but Orpine and base gold for Painters The name of King is not an Attribute of Idlenesse A person regall must haue reall performance As his name soundeth so let him serue in his place it is the people that proclaime the King but it is the King that must proclaime his loue to the people Hee that hath the name of ruling and gouerning a Gods name let him rule and gouerne They are not to be Reyes de anillo as it is in the Prouerb that is to say nominall Kings only praeter nomen nihil hauing nothing else in them In France there was a time when their kings had nothing but the bare name of Kings their Liuetenants Generall gouerning and Commanding all whilest they like so many beastes did busie themselues in nothing else but following the delights and pleasures of Gluttonie and Wantonnesse And because it might be known and appeare to the people that they were aliue for they neuer came abroad once a yeare they made shew of themselues on the first day of May in the Market-place of Paris sitting in a chaire of State on a throne royall like your kings amongst your Stage-players and there in reuerence they bowed their bodies vnto them and presented them with giftes and they againe conferred some fauours on such as they though fit And because you may see the miserie whereunto they were brought Eynardus in the beginning of that Historie which he writes of the life of Charles the Great says That those Kings in those dayes had no valour in them in the world made no shew of Noblenesse nor gaue so much as a tast of any inclination thereunto but had onely the empty and naked name of King For in very deede they were not Kings nor had actually and effectually any hand in the gouernment of the State or the wealth and riches of the Kingdome for they were wholly possessed by the Praesecti Palatij whom they called
a wise man which receiueth instruction from the Lord when he ought to speake And the Scripture saith Vir sapiens tacebit vsque ad tempus A wise man will holde his peace till hee see his time Nay Christ himselfe that King of Kings saith of himselfe by the Prophet Esay Isay 50.4 that his eternall Father gaue him an exceeding wise and prudent tongue Dedit mihi Dominus linguam eruditam The Lord God hath giuen me a learned tongue Or as the Hebrew renders it Eruditiorum The tongue of the learned Not an ordinary tongue but such a Tongue wherin was to be found the wisedome and prudence of all the wise men of the world and from whence all might learne Vt sciam sustentare eum qui lapsus est verbo That I may know how to vphold him that hath slipt in his word Or as the 70. translate it Vt sciam quando oporteat loqui verbum That I should know how to speake a word in season to him that is weary So that a wise discreete and prudent Tongue and such a one as is giuen by God is that which knowes when to speake and when to hold it's peace Teaching Kings who are in a manner Gods at least Gods Liuetenants should in this particular imitate him That they should haue a wise Tongue to know when to open the doore of the lips and when to shut them what to vtter and what to conceale For this is the Learning and wisedome of the Tongue either to speake or be silent as shall fute best with time and occasion Tempus tacendi tempus loquendi It is Salomons Eccl. 3.7 A time to keepe silence and a time to speake And in Kings this is so much the more important by how much the more graue and weighty are those businesses which are treated with them For it doth not onely benefit them in not hauing their purposes preuented not their designes ouerthrowne but likewise winn's them much authoritie and credit For the world will stand as it were astonished and amazed and men will wonder at that which they both doe and say and out of euery kinde of gesture or word of theirs will make a Mystery deliuer their iudgements and draw thence a thousand discourses all which are but cranes and pullyes to make them mount higher in opinion and reputation Likewise when Ministers shall take notice that their King knowes how to heare and how to hold his peace and in it's due time to execute his intentions they liue in a great deale the more awe and feare lest such and such things wherein they doe amisse might come to his knowledge And when they see that he knowes how to conceale a secret till it 's fit time and season it keepes them within their Compasse and is the only bridle that restraines them from doing ill either by way of oppression whereunto great Ministers are too much subiect or otherwise And therefore it shall much concerne a King not onely to be secret in those things which might cause some inconuenience if he should speake of them and make them knowen but also in those things which bring no profit by their publication For if they shall once perceiue that their King cannot conceale what is deliuered vnto him vnder the seale of silence in preiudice of this or that particular party no man will date to informe and aduise him of that which may redound to Gods seruice and the good of the Common-wealth And so like bad gamesters they will for want of keeping close their cardes let their contrary winne the game by discouering their hand A Kings heart should be so deepe and profound that none should be able to pry into it not to know what is hidden there And therefore he must haue such a secret heart as S. Austen speakes of August Psal 63. ver 7. Coraltum That is Cor secretum or as others reade it profundum an inscrutable heart or so deepe that none shall be able to diue into it And some compare a kings heart vnto punctum a little point or pricke which to diuide or to draw any thing out of it is if not impossible at least very difficult The heart of a king must be closed and shut vp like this punctum whence there shal be an impossibility or at least a great deale of difficulty Prou. 21.1 in extracting any one word or secret recōmended vnto him Salomon sayth That the hearts of Kings are in the hands of God and are guided directed by him And that therfore their secretes mysteries are not to be divulged and made common no not to his neerest Minions and Fauourites when at most but to some one particular priuado and that vpon very good iust cause Our Sauiour Christ once vpon necessary occasiō discouered a secret to his great Priuado or fauourite S. Iohn but it was with these circumstances That hee told it him in his eare forbidding him to speake therof vnto any And because neither by signes or any other outward demonstration he might make it knowen he bound vp all his senses in a deepe and profound sleepe to the end that by none of them he might expresse that which it behooued him to conceale Great is the importancie of secrecie the authoritie which it giues to the iudgements motiues of those that gouerne For if all might know the causes which moue a Prince to make this or that prouision to giue this this or iudgement to pardon or to punish to craue or to giue many censures wold passe vpō it it might cause many scandalls alterations in a Cōmon wealth And therfore it much concerneth so supreme a Maiesty not to suffer the secret which is shut vp in his bosome to be published to the world And in some cases it may come to be a mortal sin when such things as are aduertised a king such Memorials as are giuen him firmed signed with this or that mans hand he shal shew them to the parties whom they touch and concerne be they Ministers or fauourites in regard of the great hurt opposition and dissention which there-fro may arise But hee may doe this in case it may well sort with the secret it selfe to take out the pithe and substance of it and without shewing any firme or vttring any word whereby the Author may be knowen and shew it to the Delinquent if so he thinke fit for his correction and amendment And when hee findes that to be true which hath beene told him and that it cannot be denyed let him apply a due and fitting remedy For many times Dissimulation in the Prince not seeming to take notice of a fault causeth but the more dissolutenesse in the subiect This is so farre forth as concerneth Kings Caelius Lib. 13. Lectio antiq c. 5. for whom may suffice that aduice of Caelius Rodiginus who tells them more at large how considerate they ought to be in this particular For many