spilling of the bloode or the tearing and vnlacing of his members they gessed and diuined of that which should happen concerning those things about which they consulted In a certaine part of the kingdome of Persia they vse this When they that dwell in that Countrey goe to aske counsell of the Priestes vpon that which they determine to doo the Priests hold in their hands the booke which is commonly called the booke of Lots or Fortune and according to that which they find written in that booke they answer them that come to consult with them It séemeth that the Booke of Lots or Fortune wherewith they deceiue the ignorant Comminaltie was brought out of Persia wherefore the Inquisitors did with great reason forbid the same Booke of Fortunes to be read that they which are of little vnderstanding might not be deceiued by it 6 Séeing that counsels and the successe of those thinges which are consulted proceede as we haue saide from the holie Ghost it is conuenient that all Counsellers before they beginne to consult should humblie request and beséeche the holie Ghost with great deuotion and humilitie to direct them in their way and leade them in their consultations saying that seruice which is properlie belonging vnto the holie Ghost And if the shortnes of the time permit it not they ought to sing the Himne of the holy Ghost as it is rehearsed in the Church Come holie Ghost c. And unitating King Dauid saie Lord mine eyes looke vp and trust in thee thou shalt deliuer me out of the snares c. King Dauid saith not that he looked to his féete to deliuer them from the snares but that he lifted his eyes vp to the Lorde that he should deliuer him and found himselfe not deceiued as he afterwarde mentioneth O Lord my soule hath escaped as the byrd out of the snares of the Hunters and the snares were broken in péeces Plato dooth counsel vs that we should continuallie beséech God that it wold please him to direct that which we shall doo vnto his holie seruice For it is he that by the means of the Angels sheweth vnto vs what we ought to doo For this is an euerlasting truth confirmed with perpetuall experience that in the most harde and difficult things of all mans life where the wit of man is most blind and doth most want counsell and forces there dooth the diuine wisedome of the Lord shew it selfe most cléerely wonderfullie That great Iudith with a noble and excellent mind said vnto those that were besieged in the Cittie of Bethulia And now who are you that haue tempted GOD this day and will bind the counsels of the Lord our God And so she rebuked the faintnes of the Gouerners of Bethulia For it is a token signe of great weakenes and ignorance in a man to doo all matters according to his own wisdome and humane counsels It were better and safer to desire the Lord that he wold be our guide in all our actions and counsels for he will direct vs in the readie path shew vs which waie is best séeing that he neuer fayleth to aide those y t powre forth their praiers vnto him Those Angels that by the commaundement of God aide and helpe men in their waies and rule the actions of vertuous Princes are comprehended vnder those companies which are called Dominions and Principalities as Dionysius Arcopagita saith 7 And the better to bring this to passe which we saie we ought to doo according to the commaundements of our Sauiour and Lord Jesus Christ who neither deceiueth himselfe nor can not deceiue them vnto whom he giueth counsell For from him floweth the spring of vnderstanding and knowledge and he is the author and cause of all goodnes From him doth it proceede that Counsellers be good he is the cause why Kings gouerne their kingdoms well and minister iustice And this did King Salomon aske of the Lord saying Lord send me thy wisdome downe out of thy holie heauens and sende her from the throne of thy Maiestie that she may be with me and labour that I may know what is acceptable in thy sight If those that in olde times past worshipped Idols asked counsell of them and the deuil to deceiue them used many kinds of Oracles and prophecies as I wrote more at large in my Bookes of pollicies and Common-wealths it is more theÌ„ reason that we which serue and worship Christ the redéemer of the worlde should humblie offer our prayers to his holines and request him that it wold please him of his goodnes to fauour helpe vs in all our counsels And no doubt seeing the holie Ghost is he that beadeth vs in all our actions he will choose that for vs which shall best please his holines And that counsell which we choose through his inspiration is the best and which most appertaineth vnto vs. 8 The night time is very fit to consult And for this cause did the Grecians call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to be wise For when the Counsellers assemble together to confer about matters in the night time those things in which men be commonly occupied by day doo not hinder or trouble them and with the stilnes of the night as Virgil saith all things are quiet Homere to she we that the silent night time was most commodious to consult said that it did not become Princes to sléepe all the night who ought to consult vpon matters concerning the Common-wealth And for because y t when a man is not withdrawne from his booke neither by his busines nor by any other meanes it greatly confirmeth his memorie and profiteth him much for the inuention and contemplation of that which he searcheth and learneth no doubt but the quiet still night which cutteth of all occasions that may hinder a man is the fittest and best time to studie in especially because the minde at that tune is more frée and readier to muse and consider of euerie thing 9 First of all before the Counsellers beginne to consult they ought to sée that no man be in place that may heare that which is spoken off in their consultations After that the Ambassadors of King Tarquinius had conspired with the Sonnes of Brutus and other young Gentlemen to restore Tarquinius to his kingdome they solemnized their conspiration with the death of a man whose bloode they dranke and touched his enentrailes that they might by that ceremonie binde theÌ„selues to keepe counsell and helpe one another And to doo this they assembled together in a desert house where no body did dwell But as it fell out by chaunce a certaine Seruant called Vindicius was in the same house who séeing them enter in on the suddaine in great haste could not gette â—ut but spying a large Larget in one of the corners of the Chamber presentlie fell to the ground and couered himselfe with its and so he lay verie secretlie and saw
reuenged of him or because they loue the other and desire greatlie to haue him to be their King Certaine Cities in Asia did rebell by reason of y e hatred which they bore against Laodice and his sonne Seleucus and because of the affection with which they loued Bernice and his Sonne This pollicie Fernandus Cortes vsed in the Conquest of the Kingdome of Mexico making warre against King Motesuma with his owne Subiects that could not abide him 5 Many Princes haue atchiued many famous and excellent victories through the estimation credit and reputation of their own persons Alexander the great published that he was Sonne vnto Iupiter though he knew it was not so that those Nations vpon whō he made warre should yeeld and giue ouer their Countries vnto him If the Captaines and Generals of Armies be valiant and renowned they procure and obtayne freends and alliance and easilie atchiue victorie but if they be not famous they can hardly attaine good successe in theyr enterprises they are alwaies crossed with vnfortunate euents Some coūsaile Princes to see whether those Captaines which they choose for their warres be fortunate in those Martial enterprises which they vndertake for it is thought that Fortune as Salust saith preuaileth much in warfare But seeing that the people commonly call that fortune which by chaunce happeneth well or ill for which no reason can be giuen and this is vncertaine and variable no man can perswade himselfe that he shall alwaies haue prosperous lucke and for this cause was Fortune painted vpon a wheele which is euer turning Manie times Captains haue excellent good luck in one thing and verie badde fortune in another as Hanniball tolde Scipio and as Hanniball himselfe had tryed by experience Seeing that the euents of warres are so vncertain and variable wise and valiant Captaines ought to encrease the fame which is bruted abroade of their good lucke and prosperitie in theyr Martiall endeuours that they may encourage their souldiers to fight and they that are not fortunate ought to shewe vnto their Souldiers how inconstant and variable Fortune is and to perswade them that thence-forwarde all matters wyll succéede more happilie for the aduenture of war is vncertaine 6 The first thing that all Princes which make war ought to doo is to iustifie that warre which they take in hand that all men may knowe that they are bounde to fight by the necessitie which compelleth them to defende themselues and although their cause be good and grownded vppon reason and iustice yet they ought to accept any honest and lawfull condition of peace which their enemies doo offer them Againe Princes ought to consider that warres are commonly made either to recouer that which hath béene taken from them or to reuenge some iniurie that hath beene offered vnto them or because they desire to atchiue glorie and renowne or for ambition the first and seconde causes are iust the thirde is vniust and the fourth is tyrannie The Romans were alwaies verie carefull in iustifying the warres which they made with all dilligence possible which may be seene by this that the Embassadour of the Ile of Rhodes when he went about to praise the people of Rome saide in a certaine Oration which he made to the Senate that the Romans did not so much esteeme the conquest as the equitie of their cause and because in my booke of Militarie discipline I haue largely writtē how Princes ought to iustifie their wars I meane not heere to stand vpon it 7 They that consult vpon Martiall affaires ought to enquire when they be ouercome with their enemies whether the faulte was in the Captaines or in the common Souldiers or because it pleased God that though euery man did his duetie yet they shoulde be put to the worse and after the cause is knowne they ought to thinke vpon the remedie and to doe all things that are expedient to atchiue victorie of their enemies And if they vnderstande y t their enemies are stronger and that they must continue their warres it is better for them to defer the field as Fabius Maximus did then to enter battell to the manifest daunger of their whole Armie For with delaying the time they may ouercome and with giuing a rash onsette they shall be put to flight and as we of olde say in Castile Diez aunos de guerra y no vn dia de pelea that is Warres for tenne yeeres assay And battell but one day And because no Captaine howe wise soeuer he be can imagine and forecast all inconueniences which may fall out in war it is conuenient that euery Captain take counsaile with faithfull prudent and wise men and well experienced in warfare which may tell him the trueth without any deceite The Carthagenians did estéeme so much of counsaile in Militarie actions that they hanged those Captaines and Generals which ouer came their enemies without taking aduise The Venetians did not permitte their Generals to pitch a fielde with their enemies vnlesse the Prouisors which were sent to the wars with them did consent vnto it 8 Captaines and Generals shall obtaine the fauour and good will of the people if they minister iustice vnto them and permit not any one to offer them any iniurie or to take awaie their substance vniustly or to dishonor and discredit thē wrongfullie And as for the good will of the Souldiers the Captains may obtaine that by béeing valiant and liberall for these two vertues make a Captaine to be beloued And though it seeme a thing impossible that a Captaine shoulde be fauoured bothe of the people and his Souldiers also because the people wishe to keepe their goods and substaunce and the Souldiers desire to pill and robbe yet notwithstanding this hindereth not for they may well enough deale vprightlie with the people that are their owne freends and alliance and the Souldiours may rob pill slay and spoyle those that dwell in their enemies Countries Furthermore if by chaunce the Captaine be compelled by necessitie to aske some newe tribute to pay the charges of the warre he ought with moeke wordes and good reasons first to shew as Tullie saith the necessitie which at that instant vrgeth him to demaunde it and then he ought to let them vnderstand that it concerneth the whole Common-wealth and whē oportunitie serued he woulde repay that which they doe lende him Generals and Captaines of Armies ought to see that no idle persons and such as are vnapt for warre doo loyter in the Campe that each souldier imploy himselfe in all such things as are thought to be necessarie for the atchiuing of victorie 9 The Counsellers of Princes ought to examine whether it be more profitable for the Common-wealth to stay till the enemie come to make warre vppon them at home or whether it be better to assaile them in their Countrey This beeing disputed vppon in the Senate of Rome Fabius Maximus affirmed that it was better for them to
Roboam King of Ierusalem should not returne againe vnto theyr Lord to serue him That newe sects and herisies might not disquiet the Common-welth Mecenas counsailed Augustus Caesar that he should not permit any new Religion to be brought into the Common-wealth and Plato said that they which goe about to alter any thing concerning Religion and thinke not well of it ought to be put in prison and seuerely punished and no man ought to be suffered to communicate with them 18 Lastly King Salomon saith that Common-weales are translated from one people to another because of vnrighteous dealing and wrongs and riches gotten by deceit He saith also that when the righteous are in authoritie the people reioyce but when the wicked beareth rule the people sigh and when the wicked rise vp men hide themselues but when they perish the righteous increase And in the prosperitie of the righteous the Cittie reioyceth and when the wicked perrish there is ioy If therfore many Princes succéede in the Kingdome either because of the sins of the people or because they that beare rule are slowe and negligent in ministering iustice that Prince which doth iustice equallie vnto all men without exception of persons shall make his inheritance perpetuall for iustice is the foundation of euerie Kings throne and royall seate Finallie GOD doth often permitte that kingdomes be translated out of one gouernment into another by lawfull succession bothe for his owne glorie and augmentation of his holie seruice and also for the reparation and amplification of Christian Religion FINIS Esay 11. 2. Zacharie 3. 9. Matth. 21. 42 Psalme 118. 22. 1. Corin. 10. 4. Exodus 17. Zacharie 3. Nic. de lira supra 3. Zacha. Wisdom 9. Esay 3. Prouerb 3. 2. Regum 15. â— Regum 16. Gene. 41. Polienus sâ—ratage 19. In proaemio Catelin Lib. 10. cap. 11. Saturnal lib. 6 Lib. 1. Aeneid Sansouinus de dictis fac Imprat Car. 5. Garim prob 99. â— Regum â—â— Garim prob 99. Lib. 5. conâ—ilium cui impar est â—ato permittere Cap. 3. Iudith 8. Tob. 3. Esdras 4. Pâ—â—lâ—â— 32. Proâ—â—rb 21. Esay 8. â—â—b 5 Tob. 4. Psalme 54. Genesis 15. Franciscus Lotimus Considerat 319. Cornelius Tacit. Lib. 18. Publius Mimius nunquam periculum sine periculo vincitur Salust in Catelin Polidorus Virgilius in adagiis Prouerb 11. Lotimus considerat 330. Psalme 136. Lotimus considerat 331. Cornelius Tacitus Lib. 1. Lucan Lib. 1. Cor. Tacitus Liber 17. Dec. 3. lib. 3. Frasmus in adagâ—s Hernam de Pulga Epist 2. Antonius de Gauara 1. part Epistol Franciscus Lotinus 336. consideratione In illiad Ouid. in Metamorph. Libro 1. Aâ—ncid Lib. 1. â— tit 2. pâ—â—ti 3. In tractatu de 〈…〉 principâ—… Cap. 1. Eth. 3. mâ—gnorum morahum Lib. 2. Lib. 5. cap. 13. Histor Rom. In annotationibus add cap. 13. Platâ—r de virtut mor. In tractâ—â— conditionum impossibilium â—at quasi In tract Epit. mor. Iacob Fabr. i◠〈…〉 Arist lib. in cap. de pradentia Arist bb 1. Rhet. 3. Eth. lodoc Cli. vbi sup Arist vbisâ—p Arist Eth. 3. Author 40. cantronum ponitâ—o regulas quas sequi debet qui sit futurus prudens P. 2. cant 4. Plato Epist 1. Lib. 20. â— Seneca de beneficiis lib. 6. ca. 13 Lib. 10. interpre Plutarchus in libro quo pacto possis adulatorem ab amito cognoseere Gariuai lib. 15. Capit. 4. Lib. 1. Officio Salust in principio Catelin Herodorus lib. 7. Consilio 13. lib. 1 Consilio Saepe est olitor opportuna loquutus Lib. 3. de institut princip Franciscus Sansouinus de dictis fact Car. v. looper Lactantius Tirmianus lib. 5. cap. 10. Baldouinus ad edicta principium de Christianis Marsilius Patauinus alii quibus respondit Albertus Tigurius lib. Hierar Ecclesiast Cagnolus in procemio digastorum 9 Itaque in 131. Aelius Spattianê° in vita Antoni Matth. 10. Psalme 114. Capi. 4. de inre inâ—ando Lib. 1. de Clementia cap. 16. Suetonius Tran. in vita Augusti Dion Lib. 3. Aulus Gellius lib. 4. cap. 11. In titulo de controuersia â—eâ—â—h apud par cap. 1. Eccle. cap. 3â— Rhet. lib. 1. In tractatu de consilio consiliariis principum Seneca lib. 1. de benefici cap. 6. Nemo gratis bonus est Salust in Catelin Videant Consules nequid detrimenti respub capiat et potestas per Senatum more Romano magistratui max ima permittitur Cap. 9. de Institutione Christiani principis Rhet. Lib. 1. Lib. 6. Moral Lib. 6. capit 31. Antiq. lect Ecclesiast 19. 1. Iohn 4. Dempst Epist 1. Praeferri debet consilium quod cum Dei voluntate congruit Super. Math. 4. Roma 11. Psalme 35. Heâ—odot lib. 7. Erasmus in Apothekâ—â—a Pleâ—umque omnium temiretati c. Titus Liuiâ—s Lib. 38. In oâ—aâ— Ma. Seneca de beneficiis lib. 6. Capitulo 11. Tullius in oâ—â—t pro Rabit pâ—sth in Epistl ad Lentul Boaetius quem citat Accuitius in L. sed an vlâ—ra in sine â—â— Psalm 126. Ecclesiast 18. In libro 4. Virtut Aristo lib. 1. cap. 8. magn moral Discretio mater est omnium virtutum Aristo Eth. Libro 6. Seneca lib. 9. Epistl 68. Seneca lib. 1. Epistol 86. Anton. in sum part 4. tit cap. 14 Iodoc. Clichtouc ' in Introduc tionc Iacob Fabii in Ethic. Arist Ecclesiast 21. Capitulo 4. Ecclesiast 33. Claud. Cotor Lib 1. cap 2. de disciplin milit In 6. Ethic. alâ—isque in cocis Vbi supra Tit. 3. Lib. 2. in prolo statut Politic. Lib. 5. Capitul 8. In tractatu de constlio consiliariis princip Ff. de minorib 25. annis Plutarchus in vita Licurgi Aulus Gellius Lib. 1. cap. 23 Vbi supra Luke 6. Erasmus in Apothegma 1. Coâ—nt 13 In Libro â—◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plutarch num seni gerenda sit Respublica Vbi supra Iacobus Gracianus in prologo declaratione omniuÌ„ Plutarchi operum Moral Cicero in Catone Maiore Iliad 4. Odissi 2 Euripides 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In Menalipe vetus hoc dictum est opera quideÌ„ juniorum consilia autem senioâ—uÌ„ vim habert Diuus Ambrosius officiorum Lib. 2. cap. 2. Seniores consilio praeualeuâ— iuniores ministerio Phillippus de la Torre in Libro de institutione regis Christiani 1. Regum 18. Genesis 14 1. Regum 13. 4. Regum 5. 4. Regum 12. 2. Esdras 8. 2 â—sdras 5. Luke 10. Nicolaus de Lora in caput 10. Lucae Ecclesiast 30. Prouerb 17. Prouerb 11. Seneca in Libro de benefi velox consilium sequitur paenitentia Secundae curae sapientiores Nouerca consilij praecipitatio Lib. 22. Festinatio improuida est caeca Canis festinans caecos parit catulos Erasmus in Adagijs Anton. de Gueuara in Episto Prouer. 4 25 In lib. cui titul Dux itinerant In problemat â—â—ouerb 12. Lib. 2. capit 2. de officijs Ecclesiast 8. Prouerb 27. Polienus libro 1. stratage Libro â— Ecclesiast 27 Fredericus Furi vbâ— supra Erasm in Panegir
which was so couered that no man could perceiue in which place of the boxe the voices were cast because they would not haue any one to know to whom they gaue their voices in election of Officers 16 Plutarch asketh why Pythagoras did forbid that any man should kéepe Swallowes in his house and he answereth because they be very vnthankfull byrdes and will not become tame howe much soeuer a man maketh of them But Piâ—rius Valerius saith because they bring no profit at all vnto those houses in which they build their nests And the Author Ad Herennium affirmeth because after the same order as fayned and false Friends in time of aduersitie forsake them whose fréends they professed themselues to be in time of prosperitie so the Swallowes come in the beginning of the Sommer as soone as the Winter draweth on they leaue vs and flie vnto other Countreyes But I thinke that the same which Pythagoras said may be vnderstood as Aristotle tooke it because it is good for no man to haue talkitiue persons in his house Many other examples could I shew both of men and women that smothered in silence such things as were committed to their secrecie but because they be knowne vnto all men and I haue set them down in the Booke which I wrote of wise and craftie counsels I will not heare stand vpon them 17 The tenth qualitie which king Salomon would haue a Counseller to haue is that he be not enuious or owe any man ill will for how is it possible that he shold giue good counsell to a man whom he hateth and cannot abide Of the enuious this prouerbe in Spayne is vsed El cauallo Argel ni en el ni cabe el The enuious Horse call'd Argel none Will let on him to ride Nor any neere him for to come The same Horse can abide for the conuersation of the enuious is so contagious and infectious that the Spanyards vsed this old saying Ni el embidioso medro ni el que cabe el biuio An enuious man could neuer prosper well Nor any one that neere by him doth dwell And to be bréefe hatred is a vice that came foorth of hell and it was the cause wherefore the deuill deceiued Adam and Eue councelling them to eate of the fruite of that Trée which God forbad them to touch King Salomon saith that we ought to choose one Counseller out of a thousand he would haue only to take counsell but of one man for that among a thousande wee should choose one For that is farre better vnderstood which is enquired of by many then by a few and in déede it is thought that foure are many It lyeth and dependeth vpon euery Prince his pleasure to haue more or fewer Counsellers The Emperour Alexander Seuerus as we haue said before he published or proclaimed any Lawes which he had ordained to be kept he deliuered them to twenty most learned Lawyers and fifty most excellent men to consult of them This cannot in any case be denied that it is safer to consult with a great many then with a few for as Aristotle saith when many gather together if they be not rude and grosse felowes the one doth confer with the other and that which one knoweth is ioyned with that which the other knoweth For GOD did put a light in euery mans vnderstanding whereby he might know the trueth The qualities which Plato would haue a Counseller to haue PLato saith that Counsellers which will consult well ought to be frée from affections and passions For delight and greefe are two contrarie and foolish Counsellers And as Virgil saith loue and anger ouerthrow mans vnderstanding Salust affirmeth that all men that deliberate vpon doubtfull matters ought not to be mooued with fréendship anger or mercie for in those matters where they varie and contende the minde can hardly perceiue the truth Neither was there euer any one that did attend both his owne disordered will and the publique profit also for whereunto a mans will is most enclined to that doth his wit most apply it selfe if the will ouercome it ruleth and reason hath no power for the desire that a man hath to attaine vnto that which he pretendeth blindeth his vnderstanding And so doth feare also as Cornelius Tacitus affirmeth so that fearefull men cannot gouerne well nor counsell that which is profitable to the Common-wealth for feare doth not let them iudge fréely And as those that stande by and sée others play can better iudge of the Game then they that play themselues for as the gaine which they that play hope to get by their game blindeth them not euen so they that iudge and counsell ought to be frée from passions which trouble the vnderstanding and suffereth it not to picke and choose out that which is best When the Areopagites in Athens assembled together to iudge the Crier called vnto them with a loude voice that they should iudge without any respect of affection at all The Emperour Charles the fift wished that his Counsellers should lay aside all dissimulation respects which might moue them before they entred to consult that they might fréely vnderstand iudge what were most profitable for the Common-wealth Plato writing vnto the freends of Dion affirmeth that they which vse theÌ„selues to eate much cannot be wise though they be neuer so ingenious and wittie King Salomon saith A wofull kingdome is the same where he that ruleth it is a child and the Princes that are with him are belly-maisters or as some interpret it Sorrowfull is that Countrey where he that ruleth it is a childe and they that gouerne it are drunkardes The reason is because Gluttons and drunkards are not wise and that as Plutarch saith they that accustome themselues to haue their bodies filled with meate corrupt mar their iudgment in such manner that they are profitable neither to gouerne the affaires of the Common-wealth nor yet to doo any other good thing but euen as brute beastes to loose the vse of reason and abuse the gifts of GOD which ought to be taken with great deuotion and reuerence The qualities which Thucidites said that a Counseller ought to haue THucidites ascribeth foure things vnto Counsellers which they ought to haue to be able to giue good counsell in matters concerning the Common-wealth The first is that they vnderstand that which is consulted For hardly can blinde men as Aristotle saith iudge of coullours Plato saith that this is the most important thing that a Counseller ought to haue Socrates said that euery man was eloquent in the Aâ—te which he knew And king Salomon affirmeth that euery man is skilfull in the Arte which he vnderstandeth The seconde qualitie which Thucidites saith that a CouÌ„seller ought to haue is that he be not ouercome either with money which is giuen him or promises which are
poynt of wise men to giue good counsell not of those that be welthie And the Angell being demaunded by Tobias of what Tribe he was answered vnto him Doost thou séeke a stocke or familie or an hired man to goe with thy Sonne Though the vertue of counselling well consisteth more in wisedome then in wealth or nobilitie yet it is supposed that Gentlemen and rich men are commonly better brought vppe and instructed then others and that they doo better vnderstand and know what is belonging to the gouernment of the Common-wealth then men of base linage and small substance And to put the counsell and gouernment of the Common-wealth in the power of the Comminaltie were to take the eyes out of the head and place them in the taile as it is said that the Snakâ— did whereby he burst his head For because the eyes looke ouer the whole body God placed them in the heade and not in the other inferiour members seeing then that the Rich men Noble men are the head of the Common-wealth they ought to haue a regard ouer her counselling what is most profitable for the conseruation of the whole Common-wealth and gouernment of the same euen as the eyes looke to the whole bodie The Venetians admit not any of the common sort of people into their counsels nor yet to the gouerment of their Common-wealth neither doo they suffer any bastards to become CouÌ„sellers vnto the Duke though they be made legitimate neither may they be created Cardinals for these be the Pope his Counsellers Yet Princes commonly admit them vnto their couÌ„sels and commit the administration of publique affaires vnto theÌ„r for in that they be bastards that taketh not from them the iudgment and vnderstanding which God hath giuen them and there hath béene a great companie of bastards that haue béene verie excellent men and very profitable to their Common-weales as Polietus larglie prooueth by many examples No man ought to take counsell of those that may coÌ„maund him for then he is bound to doo that which they counsell him to doo Neither ought any man to take counsell of such men as take it in displeasure if men follow not their counsell thinking that he despiseth and contemneth them that will not doo as they counsell him But these are rather to be termed Maisters then Counsellers for it is the propertie of counsaile that he who asketh it may take it or leaue it and of dominion or signorie to obey and doo that which is commaunded 27 Princes ought to make election of Counsellers out of those nations which they gouerne for they that be naturallie borne in those Prouinces are better acquainted with y e estate of their Countrey then Strangers be And for this cause S. Bernard saith that the Cardinals who be Counsellers vnto the Pope ought to be chosen out of all Nations The Ciuil lawes ordaine that they which are of the Counsell-house should not leaue their own Countries for they as Gometius saith know and vnderstand the affaires of their Countrey better theÌ„ strangers Aristotle saith that some Common-weales ordained and decréed that none such as had their liuings and possessions in the borders of their enemies Countreyes should be admitted to the Counsell For such persons fearing to loose their goods wold not counsell that which were profitable for the Common-wealth Some will haue that the Counsellers of a Prince should haue all their liuings within the territorie and Lordship of the Prince whoÌ„ they serue for then they fearing least they should loose them if they counsell ill or otherwise offende their Prince and hauing no forraine place to flée to they are more carefull of their charge and dutie towards their Prince It concerneth euery Prince to haue such persons in his seruice as put all their hope in him and altogether depend vpon him that euen as those which passe ouer the Seas in some shippe looke vnto the same ship least they should loose their owne liues and substaunce so they that counsell Princes if their life and all their liuings consist in the Prince his welfare they wil giue him counsell with greater diligence care For the Common-wealths are like ships and vessels of the Sea in which they be carried that liue in them And by this meanes will the Counsellers take more héede of the publique profit and counsel that which is most conuenient for the Common-wealth séeing that their life and substance dependeth vpon that Prince his safetie whose Counsellers they be and that if the Prince decay they must fall to decay also If the Counsellers of Princes haue any lands or liuings in those Countryes against which their Lords will wage warre they ought to renounce them imitating the great Captain Goncalo Hernando de Cordoua who before he made war against the King of Naples being commaunded by the Catholick king Don Hernando to do it resigned al y e lands titles and estates he had in the kingdome of Naples Some braue and noble Captaines gaue their goods vnto the Common wealth because the enemies commaunded that it should be cryed through all their Campe that no one should doo any hurt or domage to the possessions of those Captaines against whom they warred by this means to make that the CoÌ„mon-weales vnto whome those Captaines serued should not trust them as I wrote more at large in the bookes whith I compiled of Militarie Discipline 28 The priuate Lawes of the Kingdome of Spayne â—aie that the Counsellers of the Prince ought to be of good wit and iudgment and learned and ancient men For prudence wisedome and authoritie and experience of all matters consist in continuance of time They ought to be such men as feare God and are alienated from all couetousnes and gréedines and such as loue to serue their Prince and séeke by all meanes possible how to further their Country Each Prince that maketh choise of Counsellers to be counselled by them ought to consider that nature bringeth foorth thrée sorts of men as Hesiodus saith Whereof the one sort is of them that through their owne naturall inclination perceiue and know what ought to be doone in the administration and gouernment of matters and that which they iudge they put it in vre without the aduisement teaching or helpe of any other person at all This state of men is the chiefe principall among all others and such men séeme to be sent by the prouidence of God to the profit welfare and conseruation of mans estate The other sort of men is of such persons as of their owne naturall inclinations cannot themselues iudge what is conuenient for them to order and dispose those affaires well that are committed to their gouernment but they be endued with such a naturall kinde of goodnes that they willingly learne of others that are wiser then themselues and obey them that giue them good counsell The third sort is of those persons that neither know
choise of to be his Counsellers and they ought not to admit any one vnto their counsel that hath no wit or iudgment for this were also as we haue before said of base common persons to take the eyes from the head place them in the féete as the snake c. Furthermore a Prince ought not to admit any Idiots and vnlearned men who know not how a Common-wealth ought to be gouerned vnto the Counsel for this were no lesse to take the eyes out of the head and place them in the féete then the other And the Counsellers of Princes séeing they be the eies of the Common-wealth ought to procure the publique benefit of the same and loue those that liue in it as their owne naturall sonnes and bretheren 7 The Ciuill Lawes ordaine that the Counsellers of Princes shall be guarded and had in great account of euery one to the ende that no iniurie may be offered vnto them for otherwise they dare not to shew their mindes fréely counsell that which they déeme to be most profitable for the Common-welth 8 They that kill Counsellers of Princes yea they that but intend to slea them though they kill them not committe high treason against the maiestie of the Prince and their goods are confiscate And this is to be vnderstood if they kill them for some cause pertaining to their Oâ—â—â—ce for if they kill them vpon some other priuate grudge they commit no treason but in the kingdome of Naples they commit high treason vpon what occasion soeuer they kill them And this Law was ordained by the Ladie Iane Quéene of Naples because one of her Counsell called Andreas de Isernia was slaine 9 The Counsellers of Princes may not be put to any torment but the Councellers of Citties are commonly racked and otherwise tormented 10 The Counsellers of the Prince may not procure any Office out of the Court without the Prince his leaue 11 If the Colledge of y â— Prince his Counsellers be dissolued the goods which the Colledge hath are to be giuen to the Counsellers and this is vnderstood of those goods that are giuen by them that founded y â— Colledge and not of those which the Colledge had of the Prince for such goods the Colledge beeing broke vppe returne againe to the Prince who gaue them 12 If the Counsellers of the Prince giue ouer their Office either because the Prince doth licence them to doo it or because he chooseth other Counsellers in their stéede yet whilst they liue they doo not loose their Priuiledges exemptions and prerogatiues which the Lawe graunteth to Counsellers of Princes This Priuiledge is graunted vnto them by reason of their dignitie and Office which they haue borne for which cause many things are permitted in Law But if the Prince expel them out of his counsell because they be vicious and wicked not content with such rewards and pensions which are allowed them but augmenting their stipend by bryberie and other vnlawfull meanes and so as Iohannes Andreas a famous Lawyer counselleth be put beside their Office that the Prince may make choise of vertuous iust and vpright men which will regarde the publique commoditie more then they then they that are so put out of theyr Office enioy not any of the Priuiledges or oxemptions which the Law graunteth vnto the Counsellers of Princes 13 The Counsellers of Princes are not bound to bring that money wherewith their Fathers bought them that dignitie in account at the distribution of the Childrens portions for that mony which was giuen for their Office is of the same nature as goods gotten in war termed Bonacastrentia which are not reckened as the Lawyers say In legitima that is as part of the Childes portion 14 If any Counseller die without an heire his goods shal not accrew fisco that is vnto the Kings Treasurie but vnto the Colledge of the Counsellers and not onely the Colledge but also the Counsellers wiues exclude the Kings Treasurie 15 Although Counsellers ordinarily may not renownce the habitation of their birth yet the Counsellers of Princes may because they haue their house and abiding place in the Courte neither may they depart thence without they get leaue of the Prince And if so be they doo leaue the Court without licence from the Prince then ought they to be rebuked and the stipend to be paid vnto them is to be kept backe for the time that they be or haue béen so absent For he cannot be said to be from the Court in the behalfe of the Common-welth who is not sent by the Prince but departeth without leaue This as Iohn Igneus saith belongeth to the honistie of a Counseller and seruire of the Prince not to depart from the Court or cease to counsell the Prince according as in duety he is bound to doo 16 If the Prince coÌ„maund any thing centrary to that which the Law ordaineth his Counsellers are not bounde to put the same in execution and they ought to let the Prince vnderstand why they obey not his commaund The Ciuill Lawes ordaine that the Prince his seruants and ministers shall not execute any thing which their Prince willeth theÌ„ to do if it be contrary to Law and iustice and that they shal let thirtie daies passe before they goe in hand with the execution of it that in the mean time the Prince his anger or passion may cease which mooued him to enioyne that which was vniust For all delaying all lingring and all prolonging of time which is doone to saue a mans life cannot thoose but be good as Iuuenall saith Nulla vnquam de morte hominis cunctatio sera est Athenodorus the Philosopher counselled Augustus Caesar that he should neuer say nor doo any thing when he was angry vnlesse he had first rehearsed the Gréeke Alphabet α. β. γ. c. King Antiochus wrote vnto all the Citties of his kingdom that they should not execute any of his commaunds which were against the right of the Lawes so they did make him acquainted why they delaied the execution therof I his which we say of Counsellers of Princes that they be not bounde to put any of theyr Prince his Commissions in practise if they agrée not with the sence of the Law taketh place except as some Doctors write this clause Motu proprio be added thereunto for that séemeth to be as forcible as if he should commaunde it againe Neuerthelesse because these clauses Motu proprio de certa scientia plennitudine potestatis are so ordinarily and that without the Princes commaund specified and set downe in all rescripts and Letters of Princes they prooue not that it is the Princes will and pleasure that that thing should be executed which is repugnant to the Law especiallie if it â—end to the hurt of some other For such clauses are to be vnderstoode according to that which the Lawes dispose and ordeine And though
so profitable for the Common-wealth and though they know not or vnderstand not what he saith nor what they gaine-saie As one did who chaunced to sléepe in the Counsaile-house when the Counsellers should giue their voices and béeing awaked by the other Counsellers asked what he thought of that vpon which they consulted rose vp béeing halfe a sléepe and not knowing what he said vttered these words My Lords I say the contrarie vnto all what soeuer Alimani hath sayde for he was his aduersarie But Alimani answered I haue said nothing Why then replyed the other I gaine-say al what euer thou shalt say Such men are very hurtfull to the Common-wealth 9 Though in witnesses the person that beareth witnes is more regarded then the testimonie which he giueth yet in counsaile we ought not so much to regarde the Counseller as his counsaile for the persons be in authoritie by reason of the counsails and not the counsails by reason of the persons And though it be true that they which are more experienced know better what is necessarie in euery thing then they which haue no skill at all yet ought euery prudent and wise man to heare the opinion and liking of manie For no one man as we haue said can know al that is required and oftentimes a simple fellow his aduice is as good as euer any was heard As I writt more at large in my booke of craftie prudent counsails And for this cause it is said of olde among vs in Spayne So elsayal ay al. that is Oft a ragged cloake Doth hyde a silken coate And Athenaeus sayth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And often simple men we see Speake things that to the purpose bee There was a certaine Prince that deuised how he might enter into Italie to make war and a Foole said vnto him Lord I beseech your maiestie to looke how you shall get out againe if neede force you to come backe out of the Countrey for there be many waies to get into it If Charles king of Fraunce had considered this he had not béen so troubled in fléeing out of Italie when his Armie was ouerthrown in the Riuer of Tarro The counsaile which the Foole gaue was like vnto that of the Foxe who would not enter into the Lyons Denne because he sawe the steppes of many that went in but of none that came forth againe Horace Quia me vestigia terrent Omnia te aduorsum spectantia nulla retrorsum Because I feare these foote-steps what they meane All tending towards thee none backe doe turne againe 10 The Lacedaemonians consulting vpon a matter of great importaunce a certaine Cittizen called Demosthenes béeing a wicked and vicious man gaue an aduice which was very conuenient and much to the purpose but they reiected it and elected one of the Elders to pronounce the same opinion in the verie same wordes as if one should powre out the liquour that was in a foule vessell into a pure and cleane vessell because it should be the better liked of the people And that they which were to giue their voices after him should allow and approoue that counsell séeing it was giuen by a sage and vertuous man 11 Counsellers ought to shew their mindes freely concerning that which is consulted though they know that the other Counsellers wil not approoue y e counsaile which they giue for as Tullie saith counsails ought not to be rebuked for the successe but for the reasons which are alledged to haue them folowed And they ought not to excuse themselues saying that they shall loose their credite if they counsell anie thing which will not be approoued so that it is more profitable and better for the Common-wealth to haue them accounted prudent and wise then mightie and puissant and they that wil haue theyr counsels followed seeme not so much to counsaile as to commaund 12 Many thinges though they doo no harme at the beginning neuerthelesse at the end they become very hurtfull and dangerous to the Common-wealth if they be suffered to take roote as Caâ—o Censorius saide in one of his Orations which he made in the Senate against the superfluous expenses of the women of Rome For there is no estate of men who if they be suffered to assemble and consult together secretly but they will shrâ—wdlie endomage the Common-wealth And as the same Caâ—o said in an Oration which he pronounced against those that were assembled together in Rome to celebrate the Feastes which they called Bacâ—hanalia those secrete méetings and congregations which when they beginne haue no forces and are very weake if they be dissembled and not looked to in time increase and growe in strength more and more and in such order augment dailie that it is a very difficult and harde matter â—â— repaire the harme which they doo especially in matters concerning Religion This is manifestlie séene in those which bring in newe sects which if they be not exâ—inguished and quenched at the first beginning as the fire when it beginneth to burne in time will gather so great forces that they quite disturbe and disquiet the whole Common-wealth Therfore it is necessary that before they take roote great care and diligence be taken to raâ—â— them out quite and not suffer them to take roote For they be easily remedied when they beginne but with much adoe when they grow dailie and encrease As Ouid affirmeth saying Principiis obsta sero medicina paratur Cum mala per longas conualâ—ere moras At first resist or els in vaine thy medcin comes too late When mischiefes gotten haue by long delayes a perfect state 13 Young men because theyr naturall complexion is hote and haue had but small experience of Fortunes gutles as Hanniball said to Scipio in consultation â—asilie incline to that which is more magnificent then sure not regarding what may succéede and follow But olde men because theyr naturall complexion is cold and haue oftentimes béene crossed with euents contrary to theyr expectation follow surer counsels then magnificent or honourable We ought therefore to temperate the vehemencie of youth with the wisedome of olde men and consider and examine what is said both of olde and young choosing that counsell which is safest and most profitable for the Com-wealth and when there is any doubt which counsell ought to be allowed then ought the olde mens aduice be approoued and put in practice Roboam King of Ierusalem lost the kingdome and dominion which he had ouer the twelue Tribes of Israell and onely two of them obeyed him the Tribe of Iuda and the Tribe of Beniamin and that because he had refused y e counsaile of the ancient Francis the King of Fraunce because he folowed the counsell of his Admirall who was a young man refusing the aduice which his aged Counsellers gaue him was ouerthrowne and taken prisoner in the battell of Pauia by the souldiours of the Emperour Charles the fift his
Armie 14 They which consult about any matter ought to follow that counsell which is least hurtful to the Common-welth for it is impossible in great enterprises to be deliuered from all dangers that are like to fall And for this cause it is commonly said Periculum periculo vincitur One danger is wonne by the other As wee haue in the beginning of this Treatise in more ample manner declared And he that neuer dooth aduenture can neuer loose nor gaine For after the danger commeth the profit and cowards because they greatly feare the euents of matters neuer atchiue haughtie enterprises If a man thinke that he may execute a thing without aduenturing he shall neuer bring any thing to passe For many times the successe faileth not onely of those things which we confidently and not without good reason hope for but also of those things which we thinke to haue wel prouided for as well in great and honorable enterprises as in smal and particular actions They therfore that coÌ„sult ought not to delay the execution of the same which is coÌ„cluded because there is danger in it if the profit be greater then the danger which is like to follow after the execution thereof 15 The Persians vsed to consult vpon all matters in theyr banquets when they did caâ—e and drinke and after they had ended theyr banquet they determined what they would haue put in execution And this they did because the Counsellers should freely shew their minds concerning that whereon they consulted For wine causeth men to speake the truth according to that In Vino veritas Alexander the great commaunded that those Ambassadors which came vnto him should be welcommed with great banquets made drunk because he might learne or sift out the right cause of their comming and about what matters they were sent vnto him The Germans assemble together to consult béeing all Armed and if they approoue that which was determined they shaked their Pykes and Launces for this was a token of agréement and consent and contrariwise if that which was consulted liked them not then they murmured and made a noyse and a confused cry Besides they consulted in banquets vpon matters concerning peace and warre because they thought that at such times they were not troubled with other cares they thought that at such times they were hotter and readier to take any enterprise in hande The people were not craftie nor malicious and the next day after they turned againe to consult vpon their affaires that they might conclude and determine what they should doe when as they could not faine or inuent They that liue in the Country of Phrigia eate and drink together vpon the cost and charges of the Common-wealth before they begin to consult for they are of opinion that eating and drinking in publique assemblies dooth reconcile them together that are at discord one with another and that it doth take away seueritie pride arrogancie and melancholie as things estranged from the ende for which banquets and feastes were ordained The Countie Ribadeo answered a certain Captain which came vnto him from his enemies to entreate him that they might eate and drinke together before the day which was appointed for the fielde that if he did eate and drink with him the desire which he had to buckle with him wold he taken from him 16 They that thinke that men ought in consultation to deliberate vpon on onely matter are greatly deceiued For often-times matters be of this qualitie that the one dependeth vpon the other and it is necessarie to consider the inconueniences which may follow that which is determined in the counsel and if they that consult know what is past and vnderstand what is present they may the better coniecture diuine what may fail out Demades saide that the Athenians resembled those that make no account of their health before they be sicke Demades saide this because the Athenians in their deliberations alwaies varied about that which was past not endeuouring to prooue what was necessarie to be doone It is said that they of Genoa in their counsels dispute vpon that which is past and the Florentines vpon that which is past and that which is present and the Venetians both vppon that which is past present and to come 17 It chaunceth many times when men consult that that thing which seemeth to be profitable for the Common-wealth doth happen to be very hurtfull preiudiciall As for example The Emperors of Greece called the Turks to ayde who afterward destroyed them and tooke the Empire from them In the yeere of our Lorde GOD 1513. foure Monarches entred league against the Venetians viz. Iulius Secundus Pope the Emperour Maximilian the Catholicke King Don Hernando and Lewes King of Fraunce And the Venecians though they were driuen to great necessitie yet would they neuer accept of the helpe and ayde which Selim the King of the Turks offered them who had sent them worde that he would defende them with all the power that he had But they feared least if he had once entred into Venice he would haue doone as his predecessours dealt with the Emperors of Constantinople Francis King of Fraunce in those warres which he made against the Emperour Charles the fift who as he often protested pretended no other thing then to conserue those estates patrimonies which by right and iustice were his owne tooke a great companie of Germains to helpe him and payed wages to all such as woulde come to helpe him against the Emperour which Souldiers afterward did him wonderfull much harme The same King of Fraunce brought the Armie of Soliman King of the Turkes to helpe him in those warres which he made against the Emperour Charles the fift and thereby did Christendome farre more harme then he did good to the kingdome of Fraunce Don Alonso King of Naples said that men were so hote to be reuenged on their enemies that they were like to the birds which for fighting one with another sawe not them that came to take them 18 The Counsellers of Princes ought in such manner to say their minds that they séeme not to contende in wordes but ought to séeke and pick out waies and meanes which they suppose to be more fitte and better to perswade that which they thinke to be profitable for the Common-wealth Some vppon subtiltie though they knowe what ought to be doone and what is best and most profitable yet they propose it after such a maner as if they doubted of it to the ende that they which heare them should not cease to enquire and examine what were conuenient to be doone and that if they happilie say any thing they might contrarie them and crosse that which they alledge Plinie counselleth them that would willinglie perswade any thing to imitate the Phisitions who with fine speeches swéet words and pleasant reasons perswade their Patients to take those medicines which they giue them Quintilian admonisheth
harmes of the Common-wealth are not taken away by chaunging the Officers and Magistrates vnlesse such persons succeede in the Offices that know how a Common-wealth ought to be gouerned 11 If any man obtaine the principallitie in a Cittie or estate and become cheefe of the place when his foundation is weake and he thinketh that hee shall not be able to kéepe the Common-wealth long in the same estate into which hee hath brought it theÌ„ that it may not returne into the former estate his best remedie were to change and alter all things to make newe gouernments new ordinaunces and newe Lawes and call them all by newe termes and new names and to take the authoritie from theÌ„ that were in dignitie and giue it to others to make new Officers newe Magistrates and new men and to make them that were poore rich and them that were rich poore and in a worde to alter and turno all things tâ—psie turuie by killing y e greatest heads those that haue most power as Periander couÌ„selled Thrasibulus and Tarquâ—â—â—us the prâ—udâ— counselled his sonne when he tooke the Cittie of the Gabians Besides this he ought to build vp new Citties and pul downe some old Citties and remoue the inhabitants of one Cittie into another and finally not to leaue any thing in that prouince which is not chaunged and altered and that in it there be no degree no order no estate or dignitie which he that hath it do not acknowledge that he doth enioy it by the graunt or gift of him that made himselfe Prince And thus did Phillip King of Macedon Father to Alexander the great make him selfe Lord ouer all Greece placing the men of one Prouince into another as Sheepheards driue a flocke of Sheepe out of one fâ—â—lde into another But this pollicie and manner of conseruation of arrestate is properly vsed by them that tyrannise ouer the Common-wealth For hauing not wherewithall to satisâ—fie them that follow them and to keepe them to their freendes that fauour them they robbe spoyle burne kill murther destroy ransacke and pull downe all thinges vsing most cruell remedies altogether contrarie to the puritie and sinceritie of Christian Religion which permitteth not that any man shold make himselfe by endomaging his neighbour and so commit mortall sinne wherefore euery one ought rather to be contented with a priuate life then desire a kingdome by destroying and vndooing so many men 12 If the gouernment of any Common-weale be altered out of one estate into another as for example out of a Democracie into an Oligarchie or out of an Oligarchie into a Monarchie it is expedient that the Lawes and ordinaunces of the estate be altered also As Brutus did when he cast the kings out of Rome and brought in the gouernment of the Consuls changing the kingdome into a Consulshippe and so the Common-wealth was gouerned by two Consuls and the choyse and election of the Magistrates was giuen to the people So like wise the Romaine Emperors after they became Lords ouer y e whole Empire by little and little altered and changed all the Lawes and ordinances by which the Common-wealth was gouerned during the Consulshippe accomodating and fitting the Lawes conformable to the estate which they woulde bring in and vse the Lawes as Phisitions vse medicines for it properly concerneth Lawes to cure the vices naughtie customs and dissolute manners which disquiet and molest the Common-wealth And as the Phisitions vse not to cure al diseases with one medicine and apply not the same medicine at all times but according to the strength or féeblenes of the sicke and other circumstaunces considered varie and alter their remedies and phisicke which they minister and in many sicknesses they deferre the cure till some other time rather then they woulde remedie them with manifest danger of life so it is a great deale better and more conuenient in gouernment to dissemble some thinges then to goe about to mende them with the losse damage of the whole Common-wealth This counsaile did Pompey the great thinke to vse in the warre which Iulius Caesar waged against the Common-welth and to maintaine that warre as Fabius Maximus maintained the warre which Hanniball made against Italie For in such enterprises and many other affaires the time doth dissolue and ouerthrow them and to goe about to dispatch and destroy them in haste were to spoile the Common-wealth 13 They erre greatly that thinke that the mixed bodies of Common-weales be cured by reducing them into their first originall for séeing that the mixed bodies are like to mens bodies which because they increase and decrease Children and babes ought to be cured one way young folkes another waie and olde men after another manner conformable to their age and complâ—rion for as the Phisitions say euerie daie some humour is ingendered in mans bodie which must be cured no lesse with preseruatiue medicines then curatiue that which ought to be considered in the rule and gouernment of a CoÌ„monweale is that great care be had of the publique commoditie and welfare of the whole bodie of the Common-wealth as the Phisitions haue of the soundnes wholesomnes of mans whole bodie when they cure and heale the sicke It is therefore expedient that they which gouerne Common-weales change and alter the Lawes and ordinances by which the CoÌ„mon-weales were ruled when they began and square them to the times in which the Common-weales increase and become greater and larger For a great Common-wealth cannot be conuenientlie maintained with the selfe same Lawes and ordinaunces with which it was maintained and gouerned when it was but little though notwithstanding that it be saide that Princes goe about to spoile and marre the estate when they begin to break the old lawes and rites and auncient customes vnder which men liued many yeeres for this holds not when necessitie requireth that the gouernment should be changed and squared to the present estate of the Common-wealth And as the Phisitions cutte or burne off one member of the bodie to saue the sicke mans life and as the skilfull Pilot casteth the wares Merchandise ouer-boorde to helpe the shippe out of the imminent danger and as the Sheepeheard hath the charge ouer y e whole flocke to cure it euen so it is conuenient that they which gouerne the Common-wealth should consider what vices and disorders disquiet and trouble it And euen as the dilligent and careful Labourer taketh great pains in weeding his Gardens and rooting out those hearbes which are rather hurtfull then wholesome vnto his groundes so they that rule and gouerne Common-weales ought to labour clensing them from all pernitious weedes of wickednes and naughtines which hurt theÌ„ for there is nothing more hurtfull and lesse profitable to the Common-wealth then to suffer dissolutnes of manners and pernitious customs to encrease and augment dailie which afterwards molest and vexe the Common-wealth And to bind euery man to liue politicklie and according to
men are very vnfortunate for if they contrarie and gainsay that which the other say they incur manifest daunger that the other ill Counsellers will spoile them and vndoe them And if they consent and agrée with them then they lay all the faulte of ill gouernment in them so that their liues honour credite and estimation is subiect to the will and pleasure of those that rule naughtilie And they that gouerne béeing men of small wisedom and knowing not what is belonging to the Common-wealth meruaile greatlie how the matter shoulde fall out infortunatlie whereas they might with greater reason maruell how it should fall out prosperously The people of Rome was so great and mightie that the Batani a fierce and hardie people though they were greatlie burthened and ouercharged by the Romans yet they durst not rebell But they that were in authoritie and did beare rule ouer them séeing that the Romaine Captaines offered theÌ„ great iniurie in ouercharging them with too much tole and tribute in the time that the forces of the Romaine Empire were deuided by reason that the Emperors of Rome waged wars against diuers Nations and whereas they ought to haue béene contented with the vnreasonable tributes which according to theyr owne pleasure were paid vnto them they were so vnwise and dealt so vnaduisedlie that they did not onelie more and more continually ouercharge them but also gaue them occasion to assemble together and séeke meanes to reuenge the iniuries which they offered vnto them by choosing olde and feeble men to be Souldiers that they might pay money to be dismissed and pressing faire boyes to satis-fie their execrable beastlines by abusing them whereuppon the Bataui determined to rebell against the Romans and deliuer theÌ„selues from the iniuries and mischieues that the Romaine Captaines did them and choosing a famous Captaine to be their Generall they fought against the Romans and did them much harme and so they did cast off that troublesome yoke of subiection and recouered their former libertie The Iewes had not forces enough to withstand the Romans as king Agrippa shewed in his OratioÌ„ which he made vnto them to perswade them that they shoulde not rebell But they not able to suffer the tyrannie greedines of the Romaine Captaines rebelled and so Ierusalem was destroied wherein God shewed his iust iudgment vpon the Iewes that they should receiue the punishment deserued by crucifying the Redéemer of the wolrd 17 Many thinke that the estate of the gouernment consisteth in hauing many Townes Places and Citties and therfore to reserue and keepe some place of their kingdome when their enemies sette vpon them they agrée to most vnreasonable conditions which are very harmefull and preiudiciall vnto them which they would not doo if they knew that the preseruation of their estate consisted in the gouernment authoritie and reputatioÌ„ that they haue and that though they loose some Fortresse Towne or Castle they may easilie recouer them againe from their enemies if they can tell how to defend themselues as the Romans did when they did driue Hanniball out of Italie notwithstanding that hee had possessed the Countrey and had béene Lorde ouer it sixteene yeeres long And they did not onely driue him out of Italie but also waged warre against Carthage and sent fresh Souldiers to their Arme which they had in Spayne and denounced newe warres against King Antiochus And they bought and sold those grounds lands and possessions which Hanniball had taken for the selfe-same pryce that they were rated at before So Charles King of Fraunce recouered his Countrey from the Englishmen who had almost taken his whole Kingdome from him The Venetians defended themselues against Iulius Secundê° Pope Maximilian the Emperour Lewes King of Fraunce and Hernando King of Castile They therefore that gouerne estates ought to imitate theÌ„ that playing at Chesse loose some one man or other thereby to win the Game and take the check to giue the mate This is to be vnderstood if the estate haue sufficient forces to defend it selfe for if it haue not it is better to make some honest agréement as our Lord and Sauiour Jesus Christ teacheth vs then to be quite destroied and loose all as it happened to the renowned Cittie Ierusalem and other famous Citties which by reason that their Gouernours did not knowe their weakenes were ouerthrowne and leuied with the ground 18 If they that gouerne any Common-wealth think that to defend themselues from their enemies least they should be subdued by them consisteth more in the forces that the CoÌ„mon-wealth hath then in the particular and priuate goods of those that liue in it they are farre deceiued For the goods haue their foundation in the Common-wealth and if they doo not help it both the goods and Common-wealth also goeth to wrack euen as that bodie in which each member onely procureth the conseruation of it selfe Therefore it is conuenient that as eache member doth put it selfe into danger to saue the head so those that liue in a Common-wealth should aduenture both life and goods to defend her séeing she is the head of all them that liue in her They ought moreouer to consider that many times CoÌ„mon-weales be ouerthrowne subdued by the enemie because the Cittizens béeing rich and the Common-wealth poore they will not succour and ayde her with their substaunce and as Titus Liuius saith nothing greeueth them but as farre as it toucheth their owne particular interest for that is it that all men most regard and we find by experience that men commoÌ„lie set more by their substaunce then by their credit and reputation as may be seene in y e Noble men of Rome who alwaies without any extraordinarie displeasure suffered the profite of the Common-wealth to be preferred before their owne honour and credite but concerning their wealth they did with great vehemencie and stiffnes resist against the Lawe Agraria for the distribution of the Landes among the people and wold not by any meanes permit that it shoulde be established whereby they wrought the ruine and destruction of Rome which began from the sons of Gracchus and continued thrée hundred yeres till Iulius Caesar tyrannised Some holde opinion that Common-weales to the ende they might be well gouerned ought to be rich and welthy but the Cittizens and people that liue in them poore The Marquis of Pescara going about to perswade the Emperor Charles the fift to take vppon him to be Lorde ouer all Italie tolde him that he had the King of Fraunce in his power and because the Common-weales of Italie were but poore he might easilie subdue it because they that liued in it would not spend theyr substaunce to defend their Countrey But the Emperour woulde not doo that which the Marquis requested of him because he alwaies did more respect the peace of all Christendome then his owne profit whereof he shewed a most liuely example in that he rendered the Dukedome of Milan vnto Frauncis Sforcia To the
desend thēselues at home then to inuade their enemies Countrey But Scipio said that it was more conuenient for the Common-wealth to warre in Carthage then in Italie Furthermore they that consult ere they determine to maintaine warre either at home or abroad ought to consider whether it be profitable for the estate of the Countrey to make war at all For though it lie in the power of men to beginne warre yet cannot they obtain victorie at their pleasure and y t commonly many thinges fall out in warfare which men can neither sée nor imagine and yet the warre it selfe the enemies and the successe shew teach what ought to be doone and for this cause it is said that counsaile is taken in the field And though the matters that concerne warre may be communicated and talked of among many yet they ought to be deliberated vpon but by a fewe for els they would be discouered before they were determined Also they that consult vpon matters touching warre ought to consider whether it be profitable for the Common-wealth that their Generals Souldiers should be strangers or naturall borne Subiects The Carthagineans did not onely take strange Souldiers into their seruice but did also elect strange Captaines as they did in the warres which they waged against the Romans choosing Xantippus a Lacedaemonian to be the Generall of their Armie Many Common-weales after that their Captaines were ouercome they vanquished their enemies by the seruice of strange Captaines as the Chalcedonians did with Brasidas the Sicilians with Gylippus the Asians with Lysander Callicratides and Agathocles Captaines of Lacedaemonia And if it chaunce y t any strange Captains doo tyrannise ouer the Common-weales which they ayde as they of the house of Othoman did that happeneth héerof that they which requested them to helpe them are not able to withstand their forces and to defend themselues against thē The Romans to shunne this inconuenience would not consent that they which came to succour or helpe them should be mightier then themselues 10 Princes ought not to committe the administration of the warre vnto any person whom they haue offended for such a one to reuenge the inturie offered vnto him wold cast away the Armie Marius had after such order compassed Hasdruball a noble Captain of Carthage that he was driuen either to fight with disaduantage or die for hunger but Hasdruball did hold him so cunninglie with certaine parleyes of agréement that he gotte out of his reache and so Marius was frustrated of the occasion which was offered him to ouerthrow his enemie which thing when it was knowne in Rome did redownd to his great discredit both with the Senate and the people and euery one through all the Cittie spake verie much euill of him Within a while after Marius béeing made Consull and going to make warre vpon the enemie Fabius Maximus saide vnto him that before he came to the day appointed for the field he shoulde see what forces the enemies had and that he should not rashlie hazard the Armie and aduenture the libertie of Rome Vnto whō Marius answered that as soone as he came by the enemie hee had fullie determined to encounter with him and béeing asked why he said because he knew that if he ouercame the enemy he should recouer the glorie which he had lost in Spayne and if that his owne Armie were ouerthrowne dispersed and put to flight he shoulde be reuenged of the iniurie which was offered him by that Cittie and those Cittizens which so vnthankfullie had offended him Princes ought also to consider the necesitie which they haue to make warre and to vnderstande what prouision they ought to make against occasion be offered them to make warre that if any strangers goe about to molest them they may defend thēselues by force of Armes and not be vanquished for there is no Prince so great mightie and strong but some or other may set vpon him And as our olde Castilian prouerbe goeth Muchas vezes chicas piedras aballam grandes carreras Little stones oft times we see Way downe the greatest Apple tree And if a Prince be of so little vnderstanding that he must be ruled by that which the Captaines say he is their seruaunt and putteth himselfe into daunger either that the Captaines know not what they doo or that they doo not so faithfully dilligently as they ought 11 Those Princes that determine to make warre ought to imitate the Catholicke King Don Hernando the first of that name King of Castile who as it were standing on hie in his Towre a farre of espied and watched the successe and euent of the wars which the Christian Princes made among thēselues to succour and ayde them that were weakest and not to suffer their power to increase in Italie that pretended to make themselues Lordes ouer it neither did hee enter league with those Princes that were confederated together if he could reape no profit thereby and for this cause he would not wage war with Lewes King of Fraunce when Pope Iulius the Emperour and the Zwitcers warred against him for he thought that he should receiue no profit by weakning the Kingdome of Fraunce with the augmentation of those that did persecute it But when hée saw that the King of Fraunce would increase his estate and inlarge his kingdome by making warre against the kingdome of Naples he entered league with the Emperour and the King of England against the King of Fraunce Finally such Princes as enter league with other Kings ought to consider whether it be better for them to maintaine that peace which they enioy or to wage warres as King Mithridates wrote to King Arsaces and whether the warres be iust and such as thereby they may haue profit and atchiue honour glory and renowne The Romans as Appian reporteth woulde not accept many Subiects that offered themselues vnto thē because they were pore and if could not any way redounde vnto their profit to haue thē vnder their subiection Many other examples precepts rules considerations and instructions coulde I giue and aleage but because I writte of them in my bookes of Militarie discipline I willinglie heere omitte them The fifteenth discourse concerning peace WE haue said that the Counsell of estate is called the Counsell of peace because their principall intent that assemble in that Counsell is to procure that y e people may liue in peace and if they make warre if is to defend themselues from the iniurie of those that trouble molest them And to signifie this the Romans accustomed to were the Millitarie ring on the left hand in which they did beare their shielde and not on y e right hand in which they held their sworde for they thought it more necessarie for a well instituted Common-wealth to defende themselues then to offend others The Spartans demaunded of those that returned from warres whether they had lost theyr shielde for they thought it more not to loose
rule their Subiects in peace ought not to suffer their people so to giue themselues to ease that they neuer be exercised or trained vppe in Armes for an vnarmed peace is very weake Gelon King of Sicilie being perswaded that those Common-weales in which the people were not exercised in Militarie practises could not long continue for peace vacation from labours and idlenes spoyle and consume them hee commaunded that it shoulde be published through all his Countrey that great necessitie vrged him to make warre and there withall commaunded that the people should presently be mustered and taught how to vse their weapons and after they had béene trained and some thing exercised in handling them he commaunded that they shoulde all of them be placed in order that they might goe with him to seeke the enemie but when they were all gone and asked where the enimies were with whem they should fight the King shewed the fieldes hils and valleys vnto thē saying that if they wold atchiue victory ouer their enemies they should labour in those groundes felling downe the Trées and digging out the stones that were in them for so dooing they shoulde vanquishe those deadly enimies Sloth and Idlenes which woulde ouerthrowe and destroy the whole Common-wealth if they were not in time expelled and no Nation durst make war vpon them seeing that they were practised in exercises of warre and accustomed to labour For as Titus Liuius saith the enemies themselues doo not the Common-wealth so much harme as delight and wantonnes Anncient olde men in their time painted the Goddesse Pallas in Compleate harnesse because they would haue men to vnderstand that the Artes and Sciences which florish in peace little profit vnlesse they be defended by Armes The Emperour Iustinian saith that Princes ought to be adorned with Armes and armed with Lawes that they may well gouerne the people that is committed vnto them The sixteenth discourse Howe and wherewith Common-Weales be augmented and wherewith they doe decay COunsellers of Princes especially they of the Counsell of the estate ought to vnderstande and know wherwith Common-weales be augmented and by what means they decaie again The famous S. Augustine saith that as the Phisitions cure sicke bodies by purging letting of blood and searing so God cureth the sinnes and vices of men with famine as dyets with plagues as purgations and with wars as letting of blood and searing The Prophet Esay saith God will chastice the people of Ierusalem with taking away the staie of bread and the staie of water The strong man and the man of warre the Judge and the Prophet the prudent and the aged the Captaines of fiftie and the honourable and the Counseller and the cunning Artificer and the eloquent man and hee will appoint children to be their Princes and babes shall rule ouer them and the people shal be oppressed one by an other and euery one by his neighbour the children shall presume against the auncient and those that are contemptible against those that are honourable God dooth also chastice Cōmon-weales and bringeth them to decay by suffering Pharaoes Nabuchadnezers Caligulaes Neroes Dyoclesians to gouerne because of the sins of the people and they stand him in stéede of Tormentors Attila was called the rod of God and Tamberlaine the wrath of God Those Princes which God will haue to serue him in stéed of Tormentors to punish the people who with their haynous sins offend him are as Cardinall Reginald Poole saith in the Oration which he made vnto Charles the fift concerning peace those that persecute the Church of God For GOD placeth not Christian Princes in authoritie to the ende they shoulde serue him in steede of Tormentors but that they should minister iustice equallie vnto al men and be as S. Paule saith Ministers of God imitating him and following him in vsing clemencie and béeing mercifull to the consolation and comfort of all the people but because the people repent not themselues of theyr sinnes and leaue not their wickednes and because as the holie Scriptures saie the measure of the Amorites is filled GOD sendeth them Princes that stand thē in steede of Tormentors but if they amēded their liues and enclined their harts to repentaunce as Niniuie did he wold pardon them For it is the propertie of his diuine Maiestie to pardon and shewe mercie vnto those that from the bottome of their hart doo cal vnto him and repent themselues of their sinnes And vnto those people which are iust and vertuous God giueth good Kings and such as doo the Common-wealth much good and are as Angels sent from heauen to conserue and defend her Therfore those Princes that doo not this accomplish not their dutie and cannot be properlie called Princes but equiuocally as a painted man is called a man The holie Scriptures call those Princes that doo not minister iustice vnto euery man according to the commandement of God hypocrites for they haue no princely thing in them but onely the name of Princes and béeing most cruell Wolues they be masked and disguised with tokens onelie and shewes of most mercifull Princes 2 God doth oftentimes permit that Princes should suffer many troubles and aduersities to turne them from their wicked liues and to shewe them that God dooth punish chastice Princes Kings Monarches and Emperours when they gouerne not their people as they ought according to the will and pleasure of the highest Monarch of the world After this manner saith the Prophet Daniel that God did shew vnto Nabuchadnezzar King of Babilon how that God is Lord of all kingdomes giueth them vnto whom he will and euen as Schoolmaisters correct their Schollers to make them to applie theyr bookes and duelie come to schoole so GOD dooth chastice the Princes of the earth that they may performe their duetie and vnderstand that the true beginning to gouerne well as well in time of peace as war consisteth in knowing that God Almightic is the Lord of all kingdomes and that the beginning of all knowledge and wisedome as King Salomon saith is the feare of the Lord and this is y e first lesson which they ought to learn that will follow him and the first shewe and token which they make in the schoole of his doctrine The feare of the Lorde is glorie and gladnes and reioycing and a ioyfall crowne And the feare of the Lord maketh a merrie hart and giueth gladnes and ioy and long life and who so feareth the Lord it shall goe well with him at the last and hee shall finde fauour in the day of his death The Prophet Dauid beeing taught by the holie Ghost saith Be wise now therefore ye Kinges be learned ye Judges of the earth serue the Lord in feare reioyce in trembling Kisse the Sonne least he be angry and ye perrish in the way when his wrath shall suddainlie burne blessed are al they that put their trust in him And those
that follow not this doctrine God visiteth with calamities and aduersities which hee sendeth vnto them to cause them to turne frō their wickednes and to obey his commandements That which we say of Christian Princes is also to be vnderstoode of those iust and vertuous Princes whom God doth crosse with mis-fortunes troubles that they may be suffering them patientlie deserue that glorie which God giueth vnto thē that serue him To be pressed with miserie plague famine fire and warre is common both to good and wicked men but onely good vertuous men die in the seruice of our Lorde and Sauiour Jesus Christ bearing his crosse on their shoulders for as the kingly Prophet saith precious in y e sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints 3 God also destroieth Cōmon-weales by appointing children to rule ouer them as the Prophet Esay saith and I will appoint children to be their Princes and babes shal rule ouerthem For sorrowfull as King Salomon saith is that Kingdome in which the Prince that ruleth it is a Childe and they that giue him counsaile and gouerne him are giuen to theyr lustes and pleasures and also the Prophet Hoseas saith that when God is angrie and will punish the people for their sinnes which they commit he appointeth children to be their Princes The Romans in theyr processions beséeched God continuallie that it would please him to be so fauourable vnto them as not to appoint Children that shoulde be gouerned by Tutors and Protectors to rule ouer them But yet as King Salomon saith better is a poore and wise Childe then an olde and foolish King which will be no more admonished for olde fooles are in the Scriptures called children of an hundred yeeres of age GOD doth also chastice the Common-weales giuing them base and vile persons that shall put their hands to the wherue as the Scriptures say handle the spyndle Which thing is properly belonging vnto women as Homer doth giue vs to vnderstand when be bringeth Telemachus speaking thus to his Mother 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But home to doe your busines may you hie Your spynning and your distaffe to applie And eake your Maydes vnto their taskes to tie And therefore in warres they were wont to put spyndles and distaues in those Souldiers hands that were cowards and dastards for such men are rather to be termed women then men GOD doth also chastice Common-weales giuing them rashe Prelats learned men without harts and without courage vnskilfull Phisitions vnconscionable and vnlearned Judges and vnprofitable people that stand the Common-welth in no stéed but to eate and to drinke the foode and the sustenance which the earth bringeth foorth as the idle and wandering persons doe which waste and spoile the Common-welth more then the Fly called Locusta which burneth Corne with touching and denoureth the residue and they doo the Common-wealth no good at all and be lesse profitable then the labouring beastes that with drawing and bearing helpe to maintaine the Common-wealth and for this cause doth Plato safe that no Cittie can be termed happie in which many poore idle and loytering persons liue who béeing able to worke will rather begge and so committe all kind of wickednes to maintain themselues Furthermore God chastiseth Common-weales if those that liue in them vse to deceiue one another and for loue of money commit iniquitie by reason whereof God translateth the kingdom from one people to another Againe God dooth chastice Common-weales if they that gouerne beare rule ouer them permitte men to sinne publiquelie for that were to bring the people againe to Egipt and for this cause dooth God punish Common-weales with all those cursses plagues which the Scripture saith shall come on them that will not obey the voyce of the Lorde and keepe his commaundements and ordinaunces Besides Common-weales perrish and decay if any factions and diuisions raigne in them for factious and dissentions persons disquiet the Common-wealth and taking aduauntage by the malice of a few and the ignoraunce of manie disturbe and endomage the Common-wealth to encrease and augment theyr owne commoditie for as our Spanish prouerbe saith Rio buelto gananciaes de pescadores The laded Riuer gaines Yeelds for the fishers paynes Factions and diuisions were cause of the destruction of the Empire of Rome as may be seene in the dissentions which grew in Rome because of the Lawes Agraria which caused great alterations at euerie time that the people of Rome did intend to establish it in that Cittie this Lawe Agraria had two especiall clauses the one ordained that no Cittizen might possesse more then a certaine number of Akers of lande the other that all what soeuer was gotten from the enemies should be equallie deuided among the people of Rome and this Lawe was verie hurtfull to the Noble men for it depriued them of their goods and hindered them from increasing their welth and riches But the Noble men opposing themselues sought one remedie or other to put down this Law and either they brought an Armie of man out of the Cittie or they caused that when one Tribune did propose the Lawe another shoulde contrarie him or they graunted part of the Lawe or they sent people to inhabit that place which should haue beene distributed among the people of Rome to be short howe hurtfull it is to fauour and maintaine scismes and partialities in a Common-wealth may be seene in that many Common weales haue béene therby destroied and ouerthrowne and therefore Plato calleth dissentions and factions poyson that spoyleth and destroyeth Common-weales To make an end those Common-weales that are gouerned by the people perrish and decay if one man continue long in the gouernment and this was the cause of the destruction of Rome as may be noted in Iulius Caesar who tyrannised though notwithstanding Cato Vticensis wiselie diuining and coniecturing the euent of the matter contraried the people of Rome in that they did appoint Iulius Caesar to continue in the generallship longger then his day before prefixed saying that they gaue the Armes and weapons vnto him that with them should destroy them Unto which Pompey who at that time fauoured Iulius Caesar answered that Cato by saying so did nothingels but giue thē occasion to suspect that he owed Iulius Caesar a grudg and that which he said himselfe did procéed of freendshippe Againe the people of Rome hauing appointed the Trybunes or Protectors of the Commons to continue in their Office the second yeere because they thought that they were very sufficient to withstand the ambition of the Noble men and to maintain the libertie and benefite of the Common people against theyr power the Senate because they would not serme to haue lesse power and authoritie then the people would haue had Lucius Quintius who at that time was to giue ouer his Consulship to some other to continue in his
ground then may suffice for theyr sustenaunce And because the King of China in the Prouince of Chapan taketh away the substaunce of the Crafts men if they be rich and if they will not giue it he doth commaunde them to be imprisoned none of those Prouinces will labour nor take paines to get more then they need for their maintainance And on the otherside because they that liue in China pay but small tribute they be very industrious and take wonderfull paines to heape vppe riches and loose nothing wherby they may reape any profit in so much that of the bones of dogges and other beastes they make little trifles for Children to play with and pay money for the ordure of the necessaries to dung and fatten their grounds Furthermore Common-weales be augmented and increased by ministring iustice equallie vnto all men not suffering any notorious offences to escape vnpunished and by hauing an especial regard of Religion For iustice Religion are the two principal pillers y t support al weales publicke without which no Cōmon-wealth can dure long or continue and with which little Common-weales be enlarged made bigger and great ones continue in their bignes as I writte more at large in my bookes De Politijs et rebus publicis Lastly Common-weales be increased and amplified by not suffering any one of thē that prouide them of maintenaunce and Merchandize to engrosse thinges that no man may sell or gaine but they for these men cause the Common-wealth neuer to be without famine and dearth Dionisius King of Sicilie banished a certaine Merchant because hee had bought vppe all the yron that was brought to Sicilie that he might sel it onelie and haue al the gaines to him selfe Finallie Common-weales he augmented and amplified by the carefulnes of Princes if they prouide all things necessarie for their Subiects euen as Sheepheards procure pasturing and folds for their shéepe shearing them as the Emperor Tiberius said and not fleaing them For as Socrates saide he is not a good Sheepheard that diminisheth his sheepe and dooth not let them waxe fatte Neither is he a good King who dooth not procure that his subiects and vassals liue in peace and become rich and wealthy and this is the amplification and augmentation which the Emperour Adrian saith that Princes ought to procure in those Common-weales which they gouerne 6 Euen as nature worketh in humane bodies and when it hath gathered much superfluous matter yet notwithstāding by purging restoreth them to their health againe so in mixed bodies when all Prouinces are full of Inhabitants in such maner that they cannot commodiously liue so many together nor goe to any other place because they be all inhabited and possessed although the Citties Countries be purged and clensed by plagues famine dearth and warres c. yet alwaies there remaine people enough to inhabit them againe The Britans report of their Countrey that it is so fruitful and their soile so fertile that vnlesse the plague did visite them sometimes they would eate one another To be shorte least Common-weales shoulde consume and decay by reason of the multitude of people that liue in them all the Nations of the worlde accustoined to scoure as it were and make them cleane sending forth some men to inhabite voide places and such Coūtries as they had taken from their enemies by warre And so they that did remaine in the Common-wealth might liue verie commodiduflie and the idle poore people and straying vagabunds had wherein to employ thēselues and where with to be sufficientlie maintained as I writte more copiouslie in my Bookes De Policijs siue Rebuspublicis in tractatibus de Conlonijs de pauperibus otiosis ae vagabundis The eighteenth discourse From whence it doth proceede that the Common-weales are changed out of one estate of gouernment into an other THe alteration of gouernment in a Cōmon-welth as Plato saith procéedeth from those y t gouerne it For séeing that these inferiour thinges are in perpetuall alteration they cannot be euerlasting but are changed out of one gouernment into another after men haue had experience of those inconueniences which were in the gouernment which they had at first To wit if the Common-wealth were gouerned by the people which estate of gouernment is called Democracia after they haue made tryall of those inconueniences which are in the Democratie or popular estate they bring in Aristocratia which is when the Common-wealth is gouerned by the Noble men or cheefe persons and after that they haue tried the Aristocracie they choose some principall person that may defend gouerne and protect them who oftentimes exerciseth tyrannie vppon them And because the ende of euery Common-wealth is to be well gouerned the gouernment thereof would be perpetuall if they that gouerne it were iust and vertuous and if all men wished to be ruled according to reason instice But because they who haue all the authoritie of the Commen-wealth exercise tyrannie vpon the people the Noble men and cheefe of the Realme rise against them and either kill them or cast them downe from theyr soueraigntie translating y e whole gouernment of the Common-wealth vnto themselues and vsurping all the authoritie which the Monarch had who ruled alone without péere And if chaunce these cheefe Noble men gouerne tyrannouslie then the people they arise against them and dispossesse them of the gouernment and will rather be ruled by one King then by many Peeres And this is the alteration which Common-weales commonlie sustaine returning to the beginning from whence they first beganne For Democracie chaungeth into Oligarchie which is when a few persons haue all the authoritie Oligarchie changeth into Monarchie or kingdome and the gouernment of the Kingdome or Monarchie decaying it turneth againe to the Oligarchie or Democracie and because the Democracie or popular estate hath assayed the inconueniences of the Oligarchie it runneth oftentimes into the vttermost of the Monarchie to be deliuered from the Oligarchie or gouernment of a fewe persons that haue all the authoritie Plato saith that the Common-wealthes are verie hardly brought out of tyrannie vnto a Kingdome and out of a Kingdom into the Democracie and out of the Democracie into the Oligarchie but to change the gouernment out of the Oligarchie into some other estate is most harde and difficult for they which hinder and let it are many and preuaile much 2 The most difficult reformation of all is to restore a Cōmon-wealth which is in subiection into a frée estate for the estate of the Common-wealth is soone altered but very hardlie reformed and restored to the former gouernment because people vpon small cause arise but are not so soone appeased especiallie if they once be giuen to liue dissoloutlie as it was séene in Rome when Brutus and Cassius went about to restore the Cittie vnto fréedome and though they were fauoured by manie both of the noblest and cheefest of the
be a King that vnder y e colour and pretence they might fréelie robbe and spotle or because the desire of rule as Cornelius Tacitus saith is the greatest desire of all And it maketh them that pretende to be Kinges as Euripides saith not to regard any thing that either the diuine or humane Lawes commaund affirming that to obtaine a Kingdome they may violate any Lawe according to the Castilian prouerbe Por ser rey se quiebra toda ley To winne a crowne All Lawes goe downe Not much vnlike vnto that which Euripides saith Si violandum est ius imperii causa violandū est If the Law may he transgressed it may be trans-gressed for a kingdom Which sentence of Euripides liked Iulius Caesar so well that hee repeated it oftentimes and in tirannizing the Common-weale did folow it 13 The ambitious which pretende to gouerne against reason and iustice doo commonlie imitate Absolon when he conspired against his father Dauid Which Absolon to bring that to passe which he desired founde no better meanes nor readyer way then to heare the complaints of the people to prouide for their necessities Hee receiued and entertained them very curteoustie that came to speake with him and salute him and hee asked them whence they were yea he embraced and kissed thē And to reconcile them vnto him and alienate them frō his Father he said vnto them your cause is iust but my Father is so negligent and carelesse in gouerning his people that hee hath not yet appointed any man to heare you he said also if it pleased God that I should raigne in Israell I would heare al your causes and decide your controuersies and I woulde doo iustice vnto euery man Such men take aduantage by the ignorance and small skill of the rude people who are alwaies readie and prompt as Cornelius Tacitus saith to followe the worst and wish that he shold liue who goeth about to kill them and that he should die that meaneth to saue their liues as the Jewes did when they cried to Pilat that he shoulde crucifie our Lorde and Sauiour Jesus Christ and deliuer Barabas vnto them These and such like pollicies are vsed by the ambitious when they tirannouslie vsurpe any kingdome with which wicked sleight they winne the fauour and harts of the Common people that with their helpe they may execute that which they wickedlie pretend gréedilie wish for for the malice of a fewe and the ignoraunce of many haue alwaies disquieted the Common-weales 14 There is no reason why Aristotle should reprehend his Maister Plato because in writing howe gouernments are changed he sette not downe the especiall and particular cause for the best gouernment of all is changed into another and the reason which Plato vseth to wit that all created thinges doe alter in time doth not proue the especiall proper cause of the alteration of the best gouernmēt into an other That Aristotle hath no reason in this may be manifestly séene in y t it was not Plato his intent in his bookes De repub to entreate of y e particular and especiall causes why gouernments alter but of the vniuersal and common causes for as strong healthful bodies fall sicke for common causes so Common-weales which are mixed bodies are trans-formed and changed by common causes The reuolutions of the heauens suffer nothing to continue still without corruption that are vnder the Orde of the Moone but all are subiect to alteration and corruption especiallie because those that rule and gouerne Common-weales are frée agents though notwithstanding some saie that séeing that those which gouerne the Common-wealth are not necessary but frée Agents the naturall Agents ought not to be respected for this doth not hinder that some gouernments are more easily transformed changed into others because they be more readie and more disposed to be trans-formed into some then into others whether the causes for which they be trans-formed and chaunged be vniuersall or particular And that Plato in his Bookes De Repub did not set downe the particuler causes why Common-weales were changed it was because hee imagining and sayning a certaine Common-wealth the Idea whereof is that which he writte in his bookes De Repub. he needed not to sette downe the particuler causes why Common-weales doe alter seeing that the vniuersall cause suffiseth So that as in healthfull and sound bodies the generall causes suffice to alter their health and soundnes so in a perfect Common-welth the reuolutions of the heauens doo suffise to alter and change them and Plato seeing he intreated not particularlie of one especiall kind of gouernment but generally of the Idaea or example of all Common-weales he needed not to sette downe the especiall and particular causes why the gouernments change and alter for seeing as we haue said that those which change them are free Agents it suffised to sette downe the generall and common causes for to shew how they are chaunged because the particular speciall causes of the alteration of gouernments though they procéede from frée Agents yet they be reduced vnto common and vniuersall causes By this is concluded that though the Kingdome and Tyrannie be contraries and as Aristotle saith differ greatlie yet neuerthelesse a kingdome is sooner trans-formed and changed into a Tyrannie then into an Aristocracie or Democracie for they are more distant and seperated from the kingdome then the Tyrannie which is vnder the same kinde in which the kingdom is Héereby may we cléerlie perceiue that Aristotle would rather find sault with his Master Plato as he doth in many other things then to solow and declare that which hee learned of him in the space of twentie yeres in which time he was his Scholler 15 And that all men may vnderstande that there was no cause why Aristotle should reprehende his Maister Plato touching the kinds and diuersities of Common-weales they ought to presuppose that Plato in his Bookes De republica setteth down the Idaea and forme of a well instituted Cōmon-wealth and in his Dialogue De regno he setteth down an Idaea or example of a good and iust King and conformable vnto y t which he treateth he doth distinguish the kindes or diuersities of the Common-weales respecting both the subiect and the intent of those that gouerne them The subiect is that those which gouerne be one a few or manie the end is that the Common-wealth should be well gouerned and the intent is that thing which they which rule them doo principallie pretend And the more these kindes of Common-weales doe imitate the Idaea which Plato setteth downe the better they be and the lesse they imitate them the worse they be Plato saith that they be the worse because he speaketh not of corrupt Common-weales and naughtie gouernments but of good Common-weales and those which imitate the Idaea which he setteth down respecting those Common-weales which are well gouerned of which be spake he erred not in saying
that those Common-weales which were most like to his Idaea were the best and that those which did lesse resemble it were not so good though Aristotle reprehending him saith that the corrupted Common-weales are not better some then other but that they are lesse naught some then others But Plato saith well for he maketh no comparison of corrupted Common-weales for hee accounteth not that a Common-weale which is corrupted but of good Common-weales of which hee speaketh and because the kingdome or Monarchie is most like vnto his Idaea of good gouernmēt he saith that it is the best politie of all and that the Democracie because it is most seperated from his Idaea of good gouernment then all the other it is the worst politie of all and that of all Common-weales that are well gouerned the Democracie is the worst and of all Common-weales that are naughtilie gouerned it is the best Plato saith this because séeing that all Common-weales are ill gouerned they which liue in that Cōmon-wealth which is gouerned by the people are more free and lesse oppressed by those that rule and gouerne them And vnderstanding that which Plato saith after this manner all Aristotles arguments and obiections which hee bringeth against him concerning the gouernments trans-formations of Common-weales are vaine and in effect Plato said the same which Aristotle to wit that the most principall and chéefest kinds or diuersities of gouernment are three the Monarchie Oligarchie and Democracie and that the Monarchie is the best gouernment and the Democracie the worst by reason of the vnconstancie and small skil of the people Tullie affirmeth that the Sea hath not so many tempests daungers troubles as the peoples election hath in which they choose ordaine and establish Officers and Magistrates to rule and gouerne them Demosthenes said that if he had known the malicious defractions forged crimes and craftie inuentions vnto which they that beare Office in the Common-weales which are ruled by the people are subiect and that two waies had béene shewed him the one to be an Officer and Partaker of the gouernment and y e other to incurre present death that hee wold rather haue chosen that way in which there was danger of death then to be in Office in a Democracie or Common-wealth gouerned by the people 16 The regiments are trans-formed and chaunged some into others according to the opinion of Plato the Monarchie and Kingdome into the Aristocracie which hee calleth the ambitious gouernment because they that gouerne desire and couet honours the Aristocracie is translated into the Oligarchie which is when a few gouerne whose principall intent is to be rich this estate is not so good as the ambitious gouernment for honor and glory is preferred before riches and the Oligarchie is changed into the Democracie Aristotle sayth that gouernments are altered either because they which preuaile most and are of greatest power oppresse the people or because they which are rich and of greatest authoritie will not suffer others though they be rich and honoured to gouerne the Common-wealth or because there are factions partialities among those that gouerne which of them shall be the chéefest or because they that gouerne will expell others that do gouern from the gouernment or because some of those that gouerne take aduantage by the fauour of the people for to tyrannize ouer the Common-wealth Polibius is of that opinion that mē after they assembled together liued polliticklie in ciuill gouernment and choose some that had most credit and authority among them to rule and defend them And these afterwards of Tutors and defenders became Traytors and Tyrants and the cheefest of thē not being able to suffer the tyrannie of those their naughtie Gouernours dispossessed thē of the gouernment and translated it vnto themselues making it an Aristocracie which kinde of gouernment was after the same order in time trans-formed into an Oligarchie This discourse of Polibius concerning the alteration transmutation of Common weales is like to that which some men say of riches and pouertie affirming that pouertie maketh men laborious industrius glad to trauaile and take paines by which diligence and industrie they attaine to riches by them they become vicious wicked and so by reason of their wickednes at length they fall into pouertie againe which constraineth them to take paines and be industrius as they were before The change of y e gouernment as Aristotle saith commeth by reason that they which gouerne are very absolute in commaunding nothing regarding reason or iustice but altogether tendering their own particular and priuate commoditie and herein differ Kings from Tyrants and a good regiment from a bad 17 And to conclude the gouernment in Common-weales are also changed and altered by sects and newe Religions for nothing doth more maintaine the estate of the Common-welth then Religion and for this cause they that will vsurpe any Kingdome or Monarchie take aduantage by Religion for with it they draw the people to obey them wherewith they disquiet the Common-weales and all customs are broken and factions seismes partialities and dissentions are brought in as may be seene in those that haue brought in newe sects and altered good customs into badde vnder pretence of Religion As Mahomet who with his wicked sect infected all the Arabians the Xequi Ismael with interpreting the Alcoran after a newe manner brought in the Empire which the Kings of Persia nowe holde In the time of the Emperour Alonso King of Castile a certaine man in Affrick called Aldemon son vnto a Gentleman did rebell because an other Moore that was one of his companions and a great Astrologian verie well skilled in his Arte had told him that he should once become a mightie man so that this same Astrologian began throughout all Affrick to preache and declare the Alcoran praysing his fellowe and companion Aldemon and making all the people to beleeue that he shold be a great Lord and thereby he gathered such a company together which followed Aldemon that it was a wonderfull matter to beholde them and at length the matter was brought to that passe that Aldemon with all them that followed him fought a battaile with Alboachi King of Arabia who at that time was Lord ouer Affricke and ouerthrewe him and slewe him in the conflict and so Aldemon was made King of Arabia and Lord of Affricke The Anabaptistes and such other pestilentiall Heretickes by misconstruing the holy Scripture and sophisticallie expounding Gods word haue infected many places with their pernicious sect and caused many alterations and hurlie-burlies in diuers Countries not without the great hurt and losse of many Christians King Ieroboam builded a Temple and in it sette vppe a golden Calfe making himselfe high Priest of Idolatrie which he did because by his own example he should drawe the people to commit Idolatry that committing Idolatrie the ten Tribes which had rebelled against