behauior And as saith Plutarch in the life of Pompey the disagreement of two mightie citizens that are at variance among themselues vpholds the common weale in equall ballance like a staffe that is equallie charged at both the ends so as it cannot sway one way or other But come they once to ioine in one body to knit themselues together in one then it maketh so great an inclination or sway as no man can withsâ—and insomuch that in the end they turne all things vpside downe therfore vnto such as went about complaining that the quarrell enmitie of Caesar and Pompey had ouerthrowne the common-weale Cato said that they ouershot themselues very greatly in saying so because it was not their discord and enmitie but rather their friendship and good agreement that was the first and principall cause therof When Pope Iuly had made a league with the Venetians and the king of Arragon against the Frenchmen many men commended his dealing as wherby he meant to driue away the Frenchmen at the costs of the Spaniards in hope to driue away the Spaniards afterward when they had bin tired already by the Frenchmen But the best aduised sort found this counsell to be pernicious vnto Italy saying that sith it was the hard hap of Italy to haue both the ends thereof possessed by straungers it was better for the countrie to haue them both continue there still because that as long as the one king was able to weigh euen with the other those that were not yet entered into bondage should be able to maintaine their owne libertie than that the Italians should be at warres among themselues by means whereof so long as such warres continued the parties that were yet whole and sound should be torne in pieces by sacking burning and other miserable inconueniences and finally he that gained the goale would punish the whole country with the harder and irkesomer bondage That was the cause why Pope Clement turned to the French kings side bearing himselfe in hand that as long as the emperour and the king continued both in Italy the Apostolike sea should be vpheld by the power of either of theÌ„ and therfore he would not suffer the kingdome of Naples and the duchie of Millan to fall both into one hand Small dissentions forasmuch as they be intermingled both with perill and profit cannot ouerthrow a state but when the dissention is great and betweene great persons it maketh strange tragedies as did the dissentions betweene Marius and Silla Pompey and Caesar. For hauing once gained and drawne vnto them the whole citie of Rome and hauing weapon in hand and men of warre at commaundement they could hardly eschew that their discord should not procure the ruine of the state The enmitie that was betweene Aristides and Themistocles had like to haue ouerthrowne the state of Athens and when vpon a time they had nothing preuailed in an assembly by their quarelings Themistocles returning thence in a great rage said that the common-weale of Athens could not continue in good state vnlesse that he himselfe and Aristides were both cast downe The enuie that some citizens bare vnto Alcibiades was a cause of the destruction of Athens Likewise the state of Florence was in short time ouerthrowne by such partakings The Romanes in time of danger chose a dictator that had soueraign authoritie but he was not to continue any long time for feare least his ouer-great authoririe should turne into tyranny When Cicero was Consull there was giuen vnto him a greater authoritie than ordinarie in these words namelie That he should haue a speciall care of the common-weale that it incurred not any danger and this was at such time as they perceiued the conspiracie of Catilin to hang ouer their heads Cicero in this his time of authoritie did put many noble men of Rome to death being first atteinted and conuicted of high treason which thing he could not otherwise haue done The Senat perceiuing that the magistrats of Rome did not their duties and that all went to hauoke determined to chuse Pompey to be Consul alone to reforme the common-weale and of that mind also were Bibulus and the yonger Cato howbeit that they liked not of Pompeys behauior and trade of life saying it was much better to haue a Magistrat be what he be may than to haue none at all And this their vsing of the absolute maner of gouernment by one alone in the times of danger doth shew that they liked better of it and esteemed it to be better and more certaine than the maner of gouernment that was in Athens and that they abhorred not so much the thing it selfe as the name thereof Also Mithridates king of Pontus said That the Romanes hated their kings because they were such as they were ashamed of as namely Shepheards Bird-gazers Sooth-sayers Outlawes Bondmen and which was the fairest title of all Vain-glorious and Proud The Carthaginenses likewise had but one Generall captaine of warre whom they changed oftentimes Contrariwise the Athenians chose many captains at once to lead their forces of warre In respect whereof Alexander maruelled how the Athenians could find euery yeare ten captains seing that he himselfe in al his lands could find but one good captain which was Parmenio Also we see that common-weales haue not made so great conquests as Monarchies haue done except the common-weale of Rome which brought all kingdomes vnder the dominion thereof But for that one common-weale ye haue many kingdomes which haue had greater possessions and haue kept them a longer time As for example the kingdome of Assyria had mo Kingdomes and countries vnder the dominion thereof than euer had the citie of Rome The Romane empire lasted partly at Rome and partly at Constantinople about fifteene hundred yeares The Empire of Almaine which began vnder Otho the second about two hundred yeares after the coronation of Charlemaine hath continued vnto this day but yet in some things it sauoreth of the Aristocracie The kingdome of France hath endured about a twelue hundred yeares As for the dominion of Venice the gouernment wherof is an Aristocracie is the Paragon of all Common-weales in the world as which alonely may vant that it hath maintained his state the longest time of all others howbeit with such good lawes as were able to preserue it as they well shewed vnto one of their citizens whom they dispatched out of his life without speaking any word vnto him only because he was of authoritie and credit to appease a certaine sedition or mutinie among the men of warre in their citie And to say the truth the thing that ouerthrew the state of Rome was the ouer-great authoritie which they suffered their citizens to beare Now then as a good king is a right excellent thing so when he becommeth a tyrant he is as excessiue a mischiefe For the man that is set in that authoritie hath power ouer mens persons to dispose of them at his
appeare vnto you with terror and that right soone For a very sore iudgement shall be executed vpon them that haue ben in authoritie And in Ieremie he sweareth that if princes execute not iustice their houses shal be left desolate Wherewith agreeth that which S. Remy said vnto king Clowis namely that the kingdome of France should continue so long as iustice raigned there Also Totilas king of the Goths said that all kingdomes and empires were easily destroied if they were not maintained by iustice and that as long as the Goths delt iustly their power was had in good reputation but when they fell once to couetousnes and to taking more than they ought to haue done by and by they came to decay through their owne discord among themselues A prince is called a liuing law on earth because that lawes speake not ne moue not but a prince is as a liuely law which speaketh and moueth from place to place putting the law in execution and appointing euery man what he should doe and thereof it commeth that we be said to doe men right Seeing then that a prince is the law it followeth that he must be iust and do iustice to his subiects in doing wherof the world receiueth very great good And as Aristotle saith in his mattets of state the iustice of the prince that raigneth is more profitable to his subiects than riches are S. Ciprian in his treatise of twelue abuses saith that the iustice of a king is the peace of his people the safegard of innocents the defence of his country the foyzon of his hand the reliefe of the poore and the hope of blessednesse to come to himselfe Salomon in the 20 of his prouerbs saith That a king sitting on his iudgement seat disperseth all iniquitie with his looke Hereby is nothing els meant but that he driueth away all naughtinesse by his only shewing of himselfe to his people by bearing a good countenance Howbeit the meaneth it of a good prince such a one as is an executer of iustice for such a one maketh the wicked to quake euen with his only look although this vertue ought to be chiefly and principally appropried to princes because kingdomes without iustice are but maintenaÌ„ces of mischiefe according to S. Austines saying in his ninth booke of the citie of God yetnotwithstanding it faileth not to be behooffull for all sorts of men yea euen for solitarie men as saith Cicero and for such as neuer goe abroad as well as for them that buy and sell bargaine and couenant which things cannot be done without vprightnesse the force wherof is such that euen they that liue of robbery and leaudnesse cannot continue without it in that it assureth the goods of the robbers vnto them In cities iustice procureth peace and equitie For as saith Dauid Righteousnes and peace imbrace one another In priuat houses it maintaineth mutuall loue concord betweene the man and wife good will of the seruants toward their master mistresse good vsage of the master towards his seruants Agathias said that the FreÌ„chmen became great by being iust vpright and charitable For iustice and charitie make a coÌ„monweale happie stable long lasting and hard to be surprised by enemies whereas a man may reckon vp a great sort that haue bin ouerthrowne by vniustice Of iustice or righteousnes are two sorts the one of the law and the other of equalitie That of the law is the more vniuersal as which comprehendeth al sorts of vertue and is that which in our English toung we properly call Righteousnesse For he that performeth the commaundements of the law is Righteous because he doth al the vertuous things commaunded in Gods law so as he is liberall lowly modest kind-hearted meeke peaceable and so forth When I say that a man is righteous I meane not that he is righteous before God otherwise than by grace and not by the law as S Paule teacheth vs in his epistles to the Romans and the Galathians saieng By the law shall no man be found righteous For the blessed â—ife consisteth in the forgiuenes of sinnes as Dauid declareth in the one and thirtith Psalme And therfore what good so euer we doe our Lord will haue vs to account our selues vnprofitable seruants The other sort of righteousnes is of equalitie and consisteth in dealing vprightly and in yeelding euery man that which belongeth vnto him the which in English we terme properly Vprightnes and Iust dealing And this kind of righteousnes is diuided againe into other two sorts whereof the one concerneth distributing and the other concerneth exchange This which coÌ„sisteth in matters of exchange serueth to make equalitie where vnequalitie seemeth to be and is occupied about buieng selling bartering and bargaining betweene man and man For we see that one man hath monie that another man wanteth who hath corne and wine here doth this kind of righteousnes procure an equalitie For the monied man giuing his monie receiueth corn for it that he wanted and the other giuing corne wine hauing more than he needed receiueth monie where of he had want Therfore when lending buieng intercoÌ„moning hiring morgaging such other things proceed duly without fraud then is a realme seene to prosper because right reigneth there The like wherof we see in our bodies the eye by the sight of it directeth our steps but cannot go it selfe the foot is able to go but it cannot see so as it carrieth the eye and the eye guideth it The hand wipeth the eye clean and the eye directeth it the feet beare vp the head and the head ruleth them and without that the body could not continue Euen so the body of a common-weale could not endure if euery man should not succour one another by such interchange The distributiue iustice which the king vseth toward his subiects coÌ„sisteth chiefly in distributing honor and promotion vnto theÌ„ according to euery mans desert Semblably in our bodies there reigneth a kind of iustice as for example we see how the heart giues life and mouing to al the members at leastwise according to most philosophers who hold opinion that the beginning of life and mouing is in the heart and likewise that sence is in the braine Wherefore it is requisit that as the heart for his excellencie reigneth as king ouer all the other members so he that is most excellent of al other men should haue the prerogatiue to coÌ„maund others that if he bee borne to haue gouernment he should make himselfe worthie of that charge For as Cicero saith in his Duties Those that at the first were chosen to bear rule were such as the people had great good opinioÌ„ of Others of whom Francis Petrarch is one diuide Righteousnes into 4 sorts namely Diuine which is sister to Wisdom wherthrough we beleeue in God and acknowledge him to be the creator of al things without whom we cannot do any thing It is he that directeth
prince and had borne the the title of Father to his people The other neuer attained so neere nor was so much beloued as he for all his liberalitie There is yet one other sort of recompence and that is of honour and profit matched togither when men attaine to dignities by degrees as when a meane souldier becommeth the leader of a squadron captaine master of the campe and colonell And when a man of arms mounteth by degrees to bee chiefe herbinger guidon ensigne lieutenant then chiefe of the companies great maister admirall marshall and so foorth Also to the intent that the prince forget not them that doe him seruice and deserue recompence because they bee so great a number that he shall not be of memorie sufficient to remember them all it behoueth to haue a booke or a paire of tables wherein to set downe the names of all such as doe him any notable seruice that he may reward them in due time and place as the emperors Charles the fift and Alexander Seuerus did who wrate downe those that did him seruice and the rewards which he had giuen to many of them And if in perusing his notes of remembrance he saw any man that had done him seruice and was not worthilie recompenced hee made him to come before him and asked of him why he had not sued for recompence willing him to sue boldly for any thing agreeable to his estate And for as much as it is an easie matter for a prince that hath so many subiects to recompence them all it behoueth him to take good heed that he bestow not two offices or mo vpon one man For in so doing he bereaueth himselfe of the meanes to recompence manie and is not so well serued as he else should be For as Alexander Seuerus was woont to say it is a hard matter that he which hath two charges at once should be able to vse them to his owne honor and his masters profit When I speake of the recompensing of Seruices my meaning is that it should be done measurably and not by putting men in trust with too great a charge nor by making them too mightie least perhapes they turne head against their maister For mightinesse ingendreth riches enuy and pride as it befell to Perennius who perceiuing himselfe to bee ouergreat and the ordering of all affairs to be in his owne hand conspired against the emperour Commodus his maister to whom he was beholden for al his welfare But his treason was bewraied and he punished according to his deserts We know what happened in Fraunce to the maires of the pallace which caused Consaluo to be called home out of Naples where he managed the king of Aragons affairs so wel and vnto whom the king his maister was beholden for the kingdome of Naples which thing was done for feare least he should haue seazed vpon the kingdom considering his credit his good gouernment and his experience in war There remaineth yet one doubt more concerning the execution of iustice to wit whether a prince for the benefit of his common-weale ought to chaunge his officers as they did in old time in Rome and in Athens If it be obiected that those were pulick-weales wherein euery man ruled by turne I wil oppose Alexander Seuerus a sage prince and such a one as minded not any thing but the publick-weale who also chaunged his officers saieng that when princes are gouerned continually by any one sort means are found by intreatance gifts and other corrupt dealings to peruert their good dispositions And peraduenture at that time Alexander had seene the inconueniences therof the which he meant to remedy or at leastwise to assay to remedy But in this manner of dealing there may be as great inconuenience as in the other namely that their king shal not haue them so well affectioned towards him as they ought to be For they that are accustomed to the seruice of a good prince do loue their maister far better than those that are but new come in And as the Prouerb saith A man must first know ere he can loue Besides this affection they be the better acquainted with his humors and the better experienced in his affaires For practise maketh men sufficient and the new come is as easie to be corrupted as the old seruitor when the way to corruption is once set open Moreouer they that come fresh try by al means to make their hand of the bountie and liberalitie of the prince insomuch that most commonly the oftner that there is a change the oftener the princes purse is emptied Record hereof is the fable of the flaine fox who would not suffer the flies to be driuen from him that had fed vpon him for seare least when they were gone there would come others fresh and fasting which would doe him more harme and paine than the former that were alreadie full Augustus altered not the maner of dealing which the Romans had vsed of sending senators into a prouince for a certaine time Neuerthelesse being disquieted by a feat that had bene done in Germanie to make all sure to hold the people of that prouince in obedience he would not haue the senators to remoue thence to the intent that the subiects should be held in obedience by men of experience that were alreadie acquainted with the people of that countrie And therefore it is best for all euents that a prince should not change his officers but that if any of them offend hee should well punish them as Augustus did a secretarie of his whose thighs hee caused to be broken because he had taken a bribe to shew a letter Lewis the twelfth king of France liued in all prosperitie because he was serued by the auntient officers of the crowne yea euen by those that had taken him prisoner in battell when he was duke of Orleans Contrariwise king Lewis the eleuenth was in hazard to haue lost his crowne by changing all new I graunt that the dealing of Alexander Seuerus was well to be admitted in cases of account where the prince hath more need of a man of honestie than a man of great skill Also the said good emperor permitted them not to continue in office aboue one yeare at once for feare least their ouer-long continuance in those dealings should make them theeues terming the offices of generall Receit a necessarie euill because that on the one part they cannot be forborne and on the other part they teach men to play the theeues Froissard saith that the earle of Fois of whome he maketh very great reckoning tooke twelue notable men to be of his Receits of whom two serued euery month and so from month to month other two by turns which alwaie yeelded their accounts to a controller in whom he put greatest trust To conclude this discourse the prince and he that is authorised vnder him to be a iudge must keepe well the precept of Martian namely that he be neither
it is doubted whether it be more daungerous to loose a battell at home oâ— in a forrain countrie Monsieur de Langey in his Discipline of warre is of opinion that it is lesse daunger for a captaine to fight in his owne countrie if he be a man of power as the king of Fraunce is than to fight in a straunge countrie And hereunto I will adde that which Paulus Iouius saith in his hystorie where he demaundeth Why Ismael Sophie king of Persland did let slip so faire an occasion of inuading the kingdome of Selim emperour of the Turks at such time as Selim was so sore incombred in Egypt The reason is that the king of Persia hath not sufficient power to make warre out of his owne countrie vpon so mightie a prince as the Turke is considering that the noble men and gentlemen in whom coÌ„sisteth a great part of the Persian strength are loth to go to the wars out of their countrie because they serue at their owne charges But when the case concerneth the defence of the realme and that they be to fight in that behalfe they imploy themselues wholy thereunto managing the warre fiercely and behauing themselues valiantly Also we haue seene how the Parthians afore them neuer passed so much to conquer out of their owne realme as to keepe their owne at home and that they haue discomfited all the armies of the Romans that euer came against them Neither hath the common saying beene verified of them That the assailants haue euer more courage than the defendants For that is not euer true Besides that there be means to assure the natural subiects by shewing them that the quarrell is iust and holy which men vndertake in defence of their countrie which ought to haue more force than the couetous hope of enriching mens selues by other mens losse And if it be said That the assailant bereaueth the prince defendant of the commodities which he had afore of his subiects to helpe himselfe withall because his subiects are destroyed A man may answer That the losse of goods turneth not the hearts and affections of the subiects away from theiâ— prince but contrariwise the harme that they recâ—yue maketh them fiercer against their enemies Whereas it is alledged That a prince dareth not to leuie mony of his subiects nor to taxe them at his will because of the neernesse of the enemie to whom they might yeeld themselues if they were molested by their prince Monsieur de Langey answereth thereunto That that prerogatiue cannot be taken from a priuce so long as his lands and friends be not taken from him as appeareth by the succours which the kings of Fraunce haue had of their subiects against the Englishmen and against the men of Nauarre True it is that he excludeth tyrannie saying That if a prince should misuse his subiects and outrage them for euery trifle he might doubt whether he should be well followed well obeyed of his people or no. And as for that which is said That the assâ—ilants being in a strange countrie do make necessitie a vertue because they be driueÌ„ to open the waies by force of armes The same necessitie lieth also vpon the defendants whom it standeth on hand to fight stoutly because they be in daunger to endure many mo things than the assailants For the raunsome or the prison makes their budget good for the assailants but the defendants lose their goods and the honor of their wiues and children and moreouer looke for perpetual bondage with an infinit number of other mischiefs Furthermore he that is assailed may wait vpon his enemies to his great aduauntage and distresse them with famin without perill of enduring any scarcitie his owne side and therwithall he may the better withstand the enterprises of his enemies by reason that he hath better knowledge of the countrie and of the passages Besides that he may assemble great coÌ„panies of men in few houres because there is not any subiect of his that is not readie at need to fight in his owne defence And if the defendant do chaunce to take a foile in his owne countrie he will relieue himselfe againe within few dayes to be at the pursute and new succours shall not need to come to him from farre To be short the defendant needeth to hazard but a peece of his force But if the assailant lose he putteth hir men and the goods and wel-â—are of himselfe and his subiects in perill though he be out of his owne countrie considering that if he be taken he must either continue a prisoner all his life time or else accomplish the will of his conquerour Yet notwithhanding for all the good reasons of Monsieur de Langey a learned and valeant knight and of great experience in feats of armes I will follow the opinion of them that say That it is better to go fight with a mans enemie farre from home than to tarrie his comming home to him Craesus counselled Cyrus not to tarrie for the Massagets in his owne countrie but to giue them battell in their owne because quoth he if you should lose one battell in your owne countrie you should be in daunger being once chased to lose your whole countrie for the Massagets hauing gotten the victorie will pursue it and enter into your prouinces And if ye win the battell you shall not gaine thereby an inch of land But if ye ouercome them in their owne land you may follow your good fortune and be master of the whole realme of Thomiris This fashion did the Romans vse who were the most politike and best aduised men in war-matters that euer were in the world For they neuer suffered the enemie to approch neare their gates but encountered him aloofe Which thing Hanniball knowing well by the proofe that he himselfe had had of their policies and â—orce counselled Antiochuâ— not to tarry the comming of the Romans into his country but to go and assail them in their owne because that out of their owne countrie they were inuincible And in verie deed they were euer assailants and seldome times defendants At the beginning when their territory was verie small they went made war vpon the Fidenats Crustuminians Samâ—ates Falisks and other neighbor-people from whom they alway got the victorie And whensoeuer they were assailed it was to their extreme daunger As for example When Horatius Cocles sought vpon the bridge of the citie and sustained the whole force of the enemie while the bridge was â—ut asunder behind him wherwith he fell into the Tiber and by that means saued the citie Also they were in extreme daunger against Porsenna and the Volses and they were faine to employ all their priests and all the women of the citie to raise the siege of Coriolanus who our of all question had made himself master of the towne if the intreatance of his mother had not letted him It was neuer in their power to ouercome Hannibal in