not that one should su◠for it but made the suters themselues to come to his presence as well to gratifie them himselfe as also to know whom he gratified For he that receiueth not the benefit at the princes owne hand thinketh himselfe beholden to none but vnto him by whome he had it as wee haue found by experience in this our realme of Fraunce within this fiftie or threescore yeares LEt vs come now to the iustice of war which ought to be like the same that we haue spoken of and consisteth in penalties and rewards namely in punishing the wicked and in recompensing the good and valeant men with honour and regard For honour nourisheth the liberall arts and vertue In which behalfe the emperor Adrian did so greatly excell that he was both feared and loued of all his men of war feared because he chastised them and beloued because he paid them well Vpon a time one demaunded of Lisander What maner of common-weale hee liked best That qd he wherein both the valeant and the cowards are rewarded according to their deserts as who would say that vertue is furthered by reward and that men of no value are spurred vp to doe well by the shame and reproch which they receiue by doing amisse and in being despised Ennius Priscus demaunded of Traian What was the cause that hee was better beloued of the people than his predecessors Because qd he that commonly I pardon such as offend me and neuer forget them that doe me seruice But afore I speake of rewarding or recompensing we must know what is the law and discipline of arms wherof the first and principall point that is to wit to doe no man wrong dependeth vpon naturall iustice And yet-notwithstanding this seemeth so strange among vs that the cheefe and principall point of warlike behauiour seemeth to consist in pilling swearing rauishing robbing and that a souldier cannot be esteemed a gallant fellow vnlesse he be furnished with those goodly vertues Contrariwise if the Romans had any souldiers that were neuer so little giuen to loosenesse they would not vse their seruice no not euen in most extreme necessitie as is to be seen by the doings of Metellus in Affrike and of Scipio in Spain making more account of one legion that liued after the law and order of war than of ten that were out of order Now the lawes of armes were diuers according to the diuersities of the captains that haue had the leading of Armies The first consisteth in the obedience of the men of warre For as saith Plato it auaileth not to haue a good captaine vnlesse the souldiers bee discreet and obedient because the vertue of well-obeieng hath as great need of a gentle nature and of the helpe of good trainment as the princely vertue of commaunding All other precepts tend generally to naturall iustice the which will not haue wrong done to any man Alexander being aduertised that two souldiers which serued vnder Parmenio had rauished the wiues of certaine souldiers strangers wrate vnto Parmenio to informe him therof charging him that if he found it to be so he should put both the souldiers to death as wild beasts bred to the destruction of men When the Romanes marched vnder the leading of Marcus Scaurus there was found in their trenches at their departure thence a tree hanging ful of fruit so great conscience made they to take any thing that was not their owne And if any man went aside in any field farme or grange at such time as the campe marched he was punished immediatly and it was demaunded of him if he could find in his heart that a man should doe as much in his lands Whersoeuer Bellisarius went with his armie he restrained his men from doing wrong to laborers and husbandmen insomuch that they durst not eat the apples and peares that hung vpon the trees After the death of Campson the Soldan of Aegypt Selim king of Turks being possessed of Damasco and the rest of the cities of Syria would not suffer his men of war to come within them but lodged his camp by the wals of the towne and of all the time that he was there there was not any guard set to keepe the goodly and fruitfull Gardens that were without the citie because the rigorous iustice that Selim executed restrained the Turks from misdoing wherthrough the whole armie found themselues well apaid For they neuer wanted victuals but had plentie and aboundance of all things Traian caused a captaine to be banished for killing a husbandmans Oxen without need and awarded the husbandman for amends to haue the captaines horse and armor and also his quarters wages Tamerlane king of Tartarians made a souldier of his to be put to death for taking but a cheese from a poore woman Totilas was so seuere in the discipline of war that he would not leaue any one misdeed vnpunished He that rauished any woman was punished with death or at least wise forfaited his goods the which were giuen to the partie that was outraged Insomuch that he passed by the cities and townes that were in friendship and league with him without doing them any harme saying that kingdomes and empires were easily lost if they were not maintained by iustice Which thing Iustinian found to be very true who through the vniustice and disorder of his captaines lost the empyre of Italy Paulus Emilius was a sterne obseruer of the law of arms not seeking to purchase the loue of his souldiers by pleasing them but shewing them himselfe from point to point how auailable the ordinances of war were And this his austeritie and terriblenesse towards them that were disobedient and transgressed the law of arms vpheld the commonweale vnappaired For he was of opinion that to vanquish a mans enemies by force of arms is as ye would say but an accessorie or income in comparison of the well ordering and winning of a mans countrymen by good discipline The Lawes of arms haue bin diuerse according to the diuersitie of captaines the which we may learne in one word of the best and most valeant emperours that euer haue bin Iulius Caesar would make countenance as though he saw not the faults of his souldiers and let them goe vnpunished so long as they tended not to mutinie or that they forsooke not their ensigne and in those cases he neuer pardoned thē Insomuch that in the time of the ciuil wars he cashed a whole legion at once notwithstanding that he stood as then in great need of them and ere euer he would admit them againe he ceassed not till he had punished the misdoers Among the Aegyptians they that had disobayed their captains were noted with a reproch worse than death Augustus was so seuere towards such as recoiled in battel or disobayed his commaundements that he would put euery tenth man of them to death and vnto them that had done lesse faults he would giue barly bread in steed of wheaten
vpon Hanniball yet notwithstanding had not the foresight of Fabius ben the valeancy of Marcellus had serued the Romans to small purpose But Hanniball hauing two valeant captains vpon him at once of two diuerse humours was sore incumbered how to deale with them For when Marcellus had lost a battell Fabius was readie at hand to stop Hanniball from passing any further And in this case seeing the Romans were able to maintaine two armies and it stoode them on hand to conquer or at leastwise to recouer that which they had lost at the iourny of Cannas they were not misaduised in their counsell to chuse these two braue captains of so differing humors to the intent that the continuall fighting of the one might wearie Hanniball and the lingering of Fabius might ouerthrow him But this is not easie for all men to do and specially for theÌ„ that haue not their people trained to the wars as the Romans had who sent them out of Rome as it were by swarms After whose example the prince that is able to leuie store of men and well trained needeth not to be afraid to giue battell to vncumber himselfe of a noisome enemie that cannot be driuen away but by fight The Romans did so against the Gaules and Germaines against Pyrrhus and against Hanniball So did Charles Martell against the Sarzins and Philip of Valois against king Eâ—ward But when a prince sees that fortune is against him then must he alter his manner of dealing as Charles the fifth did against the Englishmen For the former victories that they had obtained against the Frenchmen had taught him to seeke the oportunitie of time For sith the former way auailed him not it behoued him to try another The Gaules were valeant and furious in fight and therfore Cneus Sulpicius did well to protract time with them Hanniball was inuincible in Italie and therefore Fabius did wisely in trying another way and Scipio did boldly and valeantly in making warre in Affricke to turne him away from Italie If Manfred had taken the aduauntage of time at Naples he had done wel for he had cut the combes of the Fenchmen who are furious and almost vnpregnable at the first brunt and had in short time brought Charles to vtter want of vittels and monie Contrariwise it stood Conradine on hand to giue battell to Charles duke of Aniou as he did For he was to reconquer the countrie And Charles of Aniou being but a new conquerour and as yet scarce well assured of his kingdome was not to haue refused him neither did he For there are times and seasons which permit not delay but require of necessitie the hazarding of a battel In our ciuill warres we haue seene two captains that haue vsed means cleane contrarie one to another and yet the purpose and resolution of either of them was commendable and had come afterward to a good end if it had been ripe The duke of Guise a braue and valeant captaine if euer any were sought battell by all the means he couâ—d and could not away with lingering delaies the which he did not without great reason For first he ment to alay the fire which he saw increasing in such sort as it would be hard to quench if it were once throughly kindled in all parts Againe he feared least the prolonging of time would increase the contrary side and that many would incline that way if it were not preuented by destroying the chiefe leaders of that part by a bloody battel And as for winning therof he thought himselfe sure of it For although the contrary party had the choise of the souldiers of the old bands yet had he not such a number of horsmen as the duke of Guise led the which alone might be a cause of victorie for the footmen do nothing without horsmen Moreouer he had a great number of Suislers and a goodly bâ—nd of French harquebuzers store of ordnance seeld peeces and whatsoeuer else is requisit in an army roiall whereas the other side was but an army patched vp howbeit that there were some good and well practised captains and valiant souldiers Contrariwise Monsieur de Tauanes perceiuing that there behoued many battels to be giuen for the vtter defeating of the contrary side though it be better to delay the time and that the king should by length of time bereaue them of the countrie that they had conquered forasmuch as he had sufficient wherewith to hold out the war at length which abilitie they had not who oftentimes wanted monie and men of war to be at commandement of the ring leader because the most part serued of good will and could not enforce vs to hazard a battell but to their owne great disaduantage And if that maner had continued any longer than it did they had ben brought to a great afterdeale CHAP. IX Whether it be possible for two armies lodged one neere another to keepe themselues from being inforced to fight whether they will or no. WE haue seene the profit that commeth of waiting to take the oportunity of time and of ouermatching the enemy by long delay and protracting of time but yet there remaineth a doubt concerning the possibilitie thereof whether it lie in a mans power to refuse to come to battell when he is neere his enemie and marcheth side by side with him They that hold the opinion that a man cannot be enforced to battell alledge the examples of Cneus Sulpicius against the Gaules of Fabius Maximus against Hannibal of Pericles against the Lacedemonians of Charles the fifth against Edward king of England of the constable of France at Auignion of the duke of Alua at Naples against the duke of Guise and of diuers others who by delay of time brought the enterprises of their enemies to nothing and were neuer enforced to come to handstrokes On the contrarie part they that haue hazarded a battell in their owne countrie haue found themselues ill apaid as Craesus against Cyrus Darius against Alexander Philip of Valois against king Edward and many others aforealledged whom we forbeare to speake of to auoid tediousnes But these examples are not able to proue that a captaine cannot be compelled to fight whether he will or no. For when a conquering enemie commeth strongly into a countrie he may compell you to come to battell or else to flee or else to shut vp your selfe in some citie which are dishonourable points and of dangerous consequence The duke of Saxonie meant to haue wone time of the emperour Charles the fifth after that maner vpon trust of the great riuer Albis that was betweene the two camps but the emperour found a foord the which was shewed him by a miller whereat he passed some of the troops of his horsmen and the residue did so much by swimming and by boats that they got land on the side where their enemies lay Philip king of Macedonie the father and Perses his son encamped themselues vpon a mountaine wherunto there
by oath betweene him and his people will beare cannot be done with honor Besides that the impouerishing of his subiects is the impouerishing of himselfe because his treasure is in their goods yea and in the end for all his exacting he findeth himselfe no more eased than those that content themselues with the meane Nero Domitian Caligula and other wicked Emperors found not themselues any whit the richer for all the charges that they laid vpon their people neither gained they any thing by it but infamie with losse both of life and Empire On the contrarie part Traian Antonine and other good emperors liued in honor and loue of their subiects left behind them immortall praise and got more reputation than those monsters of mankind Those good princes loued their people and kept themselues well from incroching vpon their neighbours and yet they could well skill how to chastise them when they durst enterprise any warre against them Albeit that Augustus was the happiest prince of all the world yet would he not make any warre or put his fortune in triall all his life long For after he had once obtained to sit in peace he busied not his head about the getting of one foot of land more mocking at great Alexander whom it greeued to consider what he should doe when he had conquered the whole world as who would say there were not as much paine or more in the well keeping of things as is in the getting of them King Pirrhus got inough but he lost as fast as got and his couetousnesse was not so strong and gaping after the things that he hoped for as he was forgetfull to set sure guard vpon that which he had gotten In respect whereof Antigonus likened him to a plaier at dice whom the dice fauored verie much but he could no skill to make his hand of his good chaunce The good husbandrie that Augustus and other good emperors vsed was to entertaine men of warre to pay them well their wages to make them obserue the law of arms to doe iustice to the people to ease them of their subsidies impositions and to beautifie the citie of Rome with temples goodly buildings The wise king of France did the like amōg whom by the common voice of the people Lewis the eleuenth did beare away the bel as who by the common consent of al men was called The father of the people The great warres which he had in Italy for his duchie of Millan could not make him to ouercharge his people he demaunded not any subsidies of them to inrich perticular persons he encreaced not his tallages for all the warres he had to be short he esteemed notary riches or any conquest to be greater than to win the good will of his subiects and to see them rich whereby he left a woonderfull treasure to his successor wherwith he could wel helpe himselfe in his affairs Thus ye see wherein consisteth a princes profit namely in keeping and defending well his lands and subiects and sometime in enlarging his bounds when hee is driuen to enter into armes for his owne defence Wherein if there be profit surely there is also no lesse pleasure For the commendation that is gotten by well gouerning doth woonderfully content a noble-minded prince whereof I am now to speake as of the thing that most rauisheth our minds and draweth vs most vnto it I wil not speake here after the maner of the Stoiks who hauing no regard to our maner of speech vphold by many good reasons that the thing which is good is faire and that the thing which is euill is foule and that there is not only other good or any other pleasure than vertue which of it selfe alone sufficeth to the making of a happie life as Cicero hath proued in his Paradoxes But I will speake after the maner of the Academiks who vnto the goods of the mind haue added the goods of the body and of fortune as helpes to lead a happie life But all the difficultie is to find this pleasure For the couetous man deemeth it a great pleasure to be shut vp alone in a chamber with a great heape of monie The ambitious esteemeth it a great pleasure to haue a great traine of men following him Another thinks it a pleasure to sit at banquet laughing incessantly and making good cheare To be short euery man measureth this pleasure after his owne fancie howbeit that that vvhich is pleasure to some is displeasure to other some And that is because this pleasure proceedeth not from the fountaine of vertue but from the well of voluptuousnesse which ingendreth deceitfull lusts in vs after the manner of such as haue the hungry disease and the consumption who are alwaies hungry by reason of a certaine sharpe and biting humour which causeth hunger and an vnordinate appetite And like as some women when they be with child delight to eat naughtie meats euen so the diseased mind by reason of the voluptuous humour that is therin seeketh the things that are noisome to it and whereof they be soone wearie Insomuch that whosoeuer looketh neerly into the matter shall find that the things which are commonly esteemed for pleasure doe oftentimes turne to displeasure This caused Plato to say that we must behold pleasure not at hir comming towards vs but at hir going away from vs. For when we looke vpon hir at hir first comming in sight nothing is so beautifull but at hir going away shee is as foule and loathsome to behold as is possible And as Varia Mesa said vnto the emperor Heliogabalus Naturally vice delighteth the body when it is in committing but by and by after ensueth repentance in the necke of it But as for vertue besides that it displeaseth not the bodie it leaueth alwaies a good tast and contentment behind it which endureth perpetually And how much soeuer a prince would plunge himselfe in all manner of worldly pleasure he could not haue the aduantage thereof so much as a subiect of his that were of some meane wealth For such a one may haue as great pleasure as a king in eating and drinking in apparell and lodging for his owne person in hunting at his pleasure in musicke and in all other delights Againe because a prince hath greater conceits than a common person hee taketh no great pleasure in such thinges but serueth is turne with them as we doe with sleepe to refresh and recreat his spirits that haue bene ouerstrained in matters of state and for that cause hee laugheth hee plaieth he daunceth But if he should bee demaunded vvherein he taketh most pleasure I beleeue he would answer with Alexander That he could not find a finer song or a pleasanter musicke than to heare the singing of his owne praises nor haue a more goodly exercise or a more delightfull pastime than to gouerne his kingdome well and as Plutarke sayth in his treatise intitled Whether an old foreworne man ought to deale in matters of a
Monarch I meane the aeternall God Our father and not our king and our Lord whereby he teacheth vs that the true soueraigntie is that which resembleth the soueraigntie of fathers and that the true subiects are those that resemble children All such as haue written of gouernment say that a kingdome well ordered consisteth but in two points namely in the iust commaundement of the Prince and in the due obedience of the subiects And if either of them both faile it is like the separation of the soule and the body in the life of man as king Francis the first right excellently declared to the men of Rochell in the yeare of our Lord fiue hundred forty three Isocrates in the instruction which he giueth to Nicocles saith thus It is to no purpose for you to haue faire horses and faire hounds if ye take no pleasure of them ne loue them so is it also to no purpose for a prince to haue such subiects as he desireth if he take no pleasure in dealing well with them And as the same author saith Those kingdomes and states of gouernment continue long which are charie ouer the welfare of their people The treasure of a good prince that loueth his subiects is in the houses of his subiects and it is a common saying That the pouertie of a prince appeareth by the pouertie of his subiects but when they be well at ease and wealthie then is the prince to be deemed rich Therefore the marke of a tyrant whom Homer termeth A deuourer of his people is to be seene in the pouertie of the subiects for that he fleeceth them to enrich those that are about him namely the ministers of his pleasures and of his euil lusts which thing causeth all men to hate him and to shun him as a witlesse beast so that for his reward he hath the indignation of God and hatred of man a short life and a perpetuall shame wheras the reward of a good Prince that keepeth the laws honoreth vprightnesse and iudgeth according to iustice is to liue and raigne long time as Moses affirmeth Which thing Philo laying foorth at large saith That although a prince die in body yet liueth he still for euer by his vertues which cannot be abolished or defaced by death A kingdome therefore is a publike state wherin one only commandeth hauing respect to the common-weale The contrary whereof is Tyrannie which is a monarchie that respecteth alonly the profit of the monarch The state of a king because it respecteth the common profit by that means draweth the hearts of the people vnto it is durable and is vpheld by the only friendship of the subiects Contrarywise because a Tyrant is like a roaring lion and a hunger-staruen beare as Salomon saith in his Prouerbs and in that respect is not ordinarily beloued of his people nor of any good men therefore he is faine to keepe a gard of strangers about him to make men feare him and obay him by force which force of his maketh him the more behated For the maintaining of which guard he is faine to be at great charges which is a cause that he becommeth the more odious by his charging and greeuing of the people And therefore a certaine Gymnosophist of India being asked of Alexander by what means he might make himselfe most beloued answered wisely By being very good and by dealing so as men should not stand in feare of him For feare is an ill preseruer of the thing that is to continue And it is apparent that such men endure but a little while for as soone as the patience of the people beginneth to faile by and by those princes loose their children and their state as it befell to Denis the tyrant of Siracuse and diuers other like For as saith Ecclesiasticus a kingdome is transferred from one nation to another for the vniustice the iniuries the extortions and the fraudes that are diuersly cōmitted Paulus Iouius speaking of Ismael Sophie saith That after he had recouered his grādfathers kingdome by the fauor of the prouinces that were greatly affectioned towards him he released the tribute incōtinently being alwais of opinion that the good will of men which is easily wone by liberality iustice was the surest strength of a kingdome and to his seeming it was not the part of a good king but of a proud Potentate and new vpstart to raigne lord-like ouer the only goods of his people when the hearts of them all were estranged from him by the grieuousnesse of tributes Therfore I will conclude that the kingdome which is maintained by fauorable means is much more strong and durable than that which is vpheld by force Which thing Philip king of Macedonia perceiuing sought by al means he could to continue in friendship with the Greeks notwithstnading that he was oftentimes constrained to vse force in bereauing them of their liberty And vpon a time when he was councelled by his faithfullest seruants to set Garrisons in all the cities of Greece that he had conquered he would not take knowledge of it saying he had leuer to be esteemed a good man for a long time than to be king or a lord for a short time because he thought that the soueraigntie which is held by loue is durable whereas the soueraignty that is held by violence terror cannot continue any long time At another time hauing gotten the possession of a certain place in Peloponnesus he deliberated a long time whether he should keepe it or leaue it to the Messenians wherein he asked the aduice of Aratus and Demetrius The opinion of Demetrius was That he shuld hold fast the Oxe by both the hornes meaning that he should easily keepe the country of Peloponnesus if he had the said towne which was called Ithomata together with Acrocorinth which he had already But Aratus after long thinking vpon the matter said thus Sir the Phocenses haue many cities and so haue also the Acarnanians all wel fortified as wel in the firme land as vpon the Sea-cost of all these you shall not enioy any and yet notwithstanding they faile not to doe whatsoeuer you commaund them without compulsion The outlawes are in the rocks and mountaines and there they hold themselues strong but vnto a king there is no castle more strong and sure than good will Also counsell was giuen to Antigonus to place a good garison in Athens to keepe it from reuolting any more and to make it as a bulwarke against all Greece but he answered That there was not a better bulwarke than the loue of the people And as Plutarch saith in the life of Aratus The surest guard that a great lord can haue is the true and constant good will of his subiects For when the nobilitie communalty of a country are wont to be afraid not of him but for him that gouerneth them then doth he see with many eies and heare with many eares and perceiueth
behauior And as saith Plutarch in the life of Pompey the disagreement of two mightie citizens that are at variance among themselues vpholds the common weale in equall ballance like a staffe that is equallie charged at both the ends so as it cannot sway one way or other But come they once to ioine in one body to knit themselues together in one then it maketh so great an inclination or sway as no man can withsâ—and insomuch that in the end they turne all things vpside downe therfore vnto such as went about complaining that the quarrell enmitie of Caesar and Pompey had ouerthrowne the common-weale Cato said that they ouershot themselues very greatly in saying so because it was not their discord and enmitie but rather their friendship and good agreement that was the first and principall cause therof When Pope Iuly had made a league with the Venetians and the king of Arragon against the Frenchmen many men commended his dealing as wherby he meant to driue away the Frenchmen at the costs of the Spaniards in hope to driue away the Spaniards afterward when they had bin tired already by the Frenchmen But the best aduised sort found this counsell to be pernicious vnto Italy saying that sith it was the hard hap of Italy to haue both the ends thereof possessed by straungers it was better for the countrie to haue them both continue there still because that as long as the one king was able to weigh euen with the other those that were not yet entered into bondage should be able to maintaine their owne libertie than that the Italians should be at warres among themselues by means whereof so long as such warres continued the parties that were yet whole and sound should be torne in pieces by sacking burning and other miserable inconueniences and finally he that gained the goale would punish the whole country with the harder and irkesomer bondage That was the cause why Pope Clement turned to the French kings side bearing himselfe in hand that as long as the emperour and the king continued both in Italy the Apostolike sea should be vpheld by the power of either of theÌ„ and therfore he would not suffer the kingdome of Naples and the duchie of Millan to fall both into one hand Small dissentions forasmuch as they be intermingled both with perill and profit cannot ouerthrow a state but when the dissention is great and betweene great persons it maketh strange tragedies as did the dissentions betweene Marius and Silla Pompey and Caesar. For hauing once gained and drawne vnto them the whole citie of Rome and hauing weapon in hand and men of warre at commaundement they could hardly eschew that their discord should not procure the ruine of the state The enmitie that was betweene Aristides and Themistocles had like to haue ouerthrowne the state of Athens and when vpon a time they had nothing preuailed in an assembly by their quarelings Themistocles returning thence in a great rage said that the common-weale of Athens could not continue in good state vnlesse that he himselfe and Aristides were both cast downe The enuie that some citizens bare vnto Alcibiades was a cause of the destruction of Athens Likewise the state of Florence was in short time ouerthrowne by such partakings The Romanes in time of danger chose a dictator that had soueraign authoritie but he was not to continue any long time for feare least his ouer-great authoririe should turne into tyranny When Cicero was Consull there was giuen vnto him a greater authoritie than ordinarie in these words namelie That he should haue a speciall care of the common-weale that it incurred not any danger and this was at such time as they perceiued the conspiracie of Catilin to hang ouer their heads Cicero in this his time of authoritie did put many noble men of Rome to death being first atteinted and conuicted of high treason which thing he could not otherwise haue done The Senat perceiuing that the magistrats of Rome did not their duties and that all went to hauoke determined to chuse Pompey to be Consul alone to reforme the common-weale and of that mind also were Bibulus and the yonger Cato howbeit that they liked not of Pompeys behauior and trade of life saying it was much better to haue a Magistrat be what he be may than to haue none at all And this their vsing of the absolute maner of gouernment by one alone in the times of danger doth shew that they liked better of it and esteemed it to be better and more certaine than the maner of gouernment that was in Athens and that they abhorred not so much the thing it selfe as the name thereof Also Mithridates king of Pontus said That the Romanes hated their kings because they were such as they were ashamed of as namely Shepheards Bird-gazers Sooth-sayers Outlawes Bondmen and which was the fairest title of all Vain-glorious and Proud The Carthaginenses likewise had but one Generall captaine of warre whom they changed oftentimes Contrariwise the Athenians chose many captains at once to lead their forces of warre In respect whereof Alexander maruelled how the Athenians could find euery yeare ten captains seing that he himselfe in al his lands could find but one good captain which was Parmenio Also we see that common-weales haue not made so great conquests as Monarchies haue done except the common-weale of Rome which brought all kingdomes vnder the dominion thereof But for that one common-weale ye haue many kingdomes which haue had greater possessions and haue kept them a longer time As for example the kingdome of Assyria had mo Kingdomes and countries vnder the dominion thereof than euer had the citie of Rome The Romane empire lasted partly at Rome and partly at Constantinople about fifteene hundred yeares The Empire of Almaine which began vnder Otho the second about two hundred yeares after the coronation of Charlemaine hath continued vnto this day but yet in some things it sauoreth of the Aristocracie The kingdome of France hath endured about a twelue hundred yeares As for the dominion of Venice the gouernment wherof is an Aristocracie is the Paragon of all Common-weales in the world as which alonely may vant that it hath maintained his state the longest time of all others howbeit with such good lawes as were able to preserue it as they well shewed vnto one of their citizens whom they dispatched out of his life without speaking any word vnto him only because he was of authoritie and credit to appease a certaine sedition or mutinie among the men of warre in their citie And to say the truth the thing that ouerthrew the state of Rome was the ouer-great authoritie which they suffered their citizens to beare Now then as a good king is a right excellent thing so when he becommeth a tyrant he is as excessiue a mischiefe For the man that is set in that authoritie hath power ouer mens persons to dispose of them at his
together with those ceremonies of theirs such as they were they had Religion also in singular reuerence and estimation insomuch that they would rather doe against their lawes than falsifie their oth because they deemed it a hainouser matter to offend God than to offend man So deeply had they Religion that is to say The loue and feare of God imprinted in their hearts without which a prince or a common-weale can neuer prosper For as Machiauel saith in the first booke of his discourse a little better than he speaks in his booke of a Prince whēsoeuer the fear of God once faileth needs must the kingdom decay Paul cōmandeth vs to honor the king because he hath his power of God Now if we ought to honor the king in respect of the power which he hath from God what ought the king himselfe to doe to whom God is so gratious as to place him in that dignitie and to make so many men obedient vnto him Certes seeing he is the image of God the least that he can doe is to lift vp the eies of his mind to behold him whom he representeth to worship that heauenly mirror wherin by looking on himselfe he must needs behold the goodnesse and maiestie of God S. Iohn Chrisostome writing vpon these words of Genesis God made man after his owne image and likenesse saith it is meant of the image of soueraigntie For like as God commaundeth all men so man commaundeth all the liuing things that God hath put into this world A prince commaundeth all inferior persons and God commaundeth the prince Which thing Dauid acknowledging in the 118 Psalm saith that he praised the Lord seuen times a day He had good store of businesse to doe but yet could they not turne him from the seruing of God As proud and high minded a prince as great Alexander was yet the first thing that he did euerie day after he was vp was to doe sacrifice to the gods There haue bin few princes which haue not at least wise pretended to be religious or bin religious indeed But there is as much difference betweene the one and the other as there is betweeene truth and vntruth or betweene the soule and the body Yet notwithstanding seeing that they which haue not any zeale of religion cannot forbeare the pretence therof it declareth vnto vs that religion is a thing most requisit for the maintenance of a state because men are of opinion that the prince which is religious is so guided by Gods hand that he cānot do amisse which causeth them to reuerence him obay him the more easily And to say truth we see not only that kings haue bin maintained vpheld by religion but also that princes haue obtained kingdomes and empires by religion As for example Numa the second king of Romanes being a Sabine borne was sought and sent for by the citie of Rome to be made king of Romans because they saw him wholly giuen to religion persuading thēselues that they could not speed amis if they were gouerned by a deuout and religious prince And in very deed it fell out according to their hope For he did so much that that people being then barbarous altogither giuen to the wars without law without religion attained to that greatnesse of state which we haue seen since wheras it had bin vnpossible for a warlik nation as that was to haue escaped frō vndoing thēselues had they not bin bridled by religiō the only means to hold the cruellest people of the world in peace and in obedience to the Magistrate That was the cause which moued Alexander to name himselfe the sonne of Iupiter For as Plutarch saith he was not so presumptuous to imagine that he was begotten of a god but he serued his owne turne with it to hold men vnder the yoke of obedience by the opinion of such diuine nature which hee by that means imprinted in them like as in his ceremonies also he had the feat to reuiue the foretellings of his soothsaiers which thing he shewed specialle at the siege of Tyre For wheras his soothsaier had assured him that he should take the citie before the end of that present month and euery man laughed at it because it was the last day of the month and the citie was impregnable he putting all his forces in a readines for the assault made proclamation that that day should be reckoned but for the 28 day of the moneth yet notwithstanding gaue present assault to the citie and wan it out of hand contrarie to his hope The emperor Charles the fift vsed the like feat whē he arriued at S. Lawrencis in Prouince For he considered that it was the 25 of Iuly which is S. Iames day and because he had landed in Affrike the same day twelue-month the yeare before he made great vaunt of his fortunat and happy lucke and handsell in arriuing the same day in France saying that his voiage was miraculously guided and directed by the will of God the disposer and orderer of humane affairs and that as on the like day he had put the Turke to flight at Argier so hee hoped to doe as much to the French king through the direction and fauor of God seeing they were arriued in France on the same day and vnder the same head Constantine made himselfe great by imbracing the Christian religion as the Ecclesiasticall historie witnesseth vnto vs. The thing that serued Pepins turne most was that he was reported to be religious and beloued of religious men because he had caused the churches to be reedified which had bin beaten down by the Sarzins and had restalled the bishops of Reines Orleans in their sees frō which they had bin put by his father and had restored the tenths to the clergie that Charls Martel had takē away giuen to his men of warre And to compasse his enterprise with the more ease he helped himselfe at his need with Religion that is to say by the Pope without whom he had come short of his purpose For the Pope dispensed with the Frenchmen for their oth which they had made to Childerik comming himselfe personably into France did put the realme into Pepins hand Which thing the Frenchmen had neuer agreed vnto as our histories beare witnesse if it had not bin vnder the cloke of Religion and by authoritie of the partie whom they deemed to haue power to dispence with mens consciences The same Religion made Charlemaine emperour and diuers persons kings of Naples and Sicilie by deposing the true heirs Religion gaue the kingdome of Ierusalem to Godfrey of Bulleine and made the Christians to trauell ouer seas and lands to conquer the holy land vnderzeale of Religion Vnder pretence of Religion and of an excommunication the kingdome of Nauarre was wrongfullie seazed by the Spaniards The kings of Persia lost their kingdome through disagreement in Religion and the Sophy because he was found deuout
so keeping and maintaining euery mans profit in peculiar as may best stand with the conseruation of the whole Men in old time said that Righteousnesse was a goddesse sitting at Iupiters seat Hesiodus saith she was borne of Iupiter and Homer saith she was borne of all the gods To be short all the Heathen said it was a Heauenly vertue wherein they agree with this vvhich S. Peter saith in his second epistle We looke for the new Earth and new Heauens wherein righteousnesse dwelleth And as Plato saith in his Common-weale Righteousnesse is the greatest good thing that euer God bestowed vpon vs as whereof hee himselfe is the very author and first ground wherein he speaketh diuinely and agreeable to the commaundment of our Lord Iesus who willeth vs to seeke the kingdome of God his righteousnes because if we so do we shall not want any thing And Dauid counselleth vs to offer vnto him the sacrifice of Righteousnesse S. Paul in the epistle to the Romans opposeth vnrighteousnesse against righteousnesse so as the contrarie to righteousnesse is euill For as sayth saint Ierome vvriting to the daughter of Morris Righteousnesse is nothing else but the eschewing of sinne and the eschewing of sinne is the keeping of the commaundements of Gods law And therefore Ecclesiasticus saith thus Turne away from thine vnrighteous deeds and turne againe vnto the Lord. And in the Prouerbs Righteousnesse saith Salomon exalteth a whole nation but sinne is a reproch vnto people And in the fourteenth Psalme it is sayd Thou hatest Vnrighteousnesse Now then Righteousnesse is the vertue of the soule and Vnrighteousnesse is the vice therof the procurer of death And as Philo saith Vnrighteousnesse is the linage and off-spring of vice And this vice bringeth with it paine and trauell according to this saying of Dauid in the seuenth Psalme Behold he trauelleth with vnrighteousnesse and wickednesse Plato in his Common-wealth saith that to order or dispose to commaund to counsell or aduise such other things are properties peculiar to the soule so as an euill soule miscommaundeth misordereth and miscouncelleth and contrariwise a good soule doth all things well which it doth And like as a man is esteemed to be in health when his body is altogether disposed according to the order of nature and contrariwise to be out of health when the parts of his body be infected and all goes contrarie to the order of nature euen so to doe righteously is nothing else but to keepe the parts of the soule in such order as they may both commaund and obey according to the true rule of Nature The same author saith in his Protagoras That righteousnesse and holinesse are both one or at least wise they be vertues very like one another In so much that such as righteousnesse is such also is holinesse and such as holinesse is such also is righteousnesse And in his Theetetus he sayth That he which is the holiest amongst vs is likest vnto God accordingly as our Lord teacheth vs in his Euangelist Matthew saieng Follow ye the example of your heauenly father The dutie of Righteousnesse is to liue honestly without hurting any man and as sayth Iustinian to yeeld to euery man that which belongeth vnto him Cicero in his Duties setteth down two sorts therof the fiâ—st is that a maÌ„ should hurt no man vnprouoked by iniurie and wrong first done vnto him the which thing notwithstanding is forbidden by God as in respect of reuenge hath also ben put in practise by diuers heathen men The second is that we vse coÌ„mon things as coÌ„mon and priuat things as priuat But according to christianitie Righteousnes consisteth in two precepts wherof the first is to loue God and the second is to loue our neighbor and on that dependeth al that is written in the law the Prophets In the first consisteth the diuine and coÌ„templatiue righteousnes and in the latter consisteth the distributiue righteousnesse For it is not inough for a man to honour God to feare him and to abstaine from euill except he also doe good and be helpefull to his neighbour and by the word Neighbor I meane all men specialy those that are good For as saith Pithagoras we ought to esteeme more of a righteous stranger than of a kinsman or countriman that is vnhonest Which thing our Lord hath told vs more expresly in saieng He that doth the will of God is my kinsman my brother and my mother And also in another place by the parable of the Samaritan that had shewed himselfe to be the wounded Iewes neighbor in very deed by setting him vpon his horse and by hauing a speciall care of him wherein he and not the priests and Pharisies that made none account of the wounded man had done the dutie of Righteousnesse Wherby it appeareth the righteous man takes pains rather for other men than for himselfe and had leuer to forgo some part of his owne goods than to diminish another mans Now therefore when men instruct the ignorant releeue the poore yeeld to their neighbors that which belongs vnto theÌ„ by helping them with thing at their need when the great personages oppres not their inferiors nor the king his subiects then may it be said that righteousnes raigneth in that couÌ„trie And if euery man would liue after manner there should need neither law nor magistrat For as saith Menander Their owne manners should be as lawes But for as much as few men doe giue themselues to righteousnesse there must of necessitie be laws and magistrats to enforce such vnto righteousnesse as will not be righteous for loue and to that end are kings and rulers ordained of God For as saint Paule sayth the king is Gods lieutenant on earth the maintainer of righteousnes and as it were his chancelor so as they which require iustice at his hand resort not vnto him as to a man but as to the very righteousnes it self wherof he is the dealer forth through the wil of God according to this saieng of SalomoÌ„ in the booke of Wisdome By me kings reigne and counsellors determine right By me princes rule and all lords iudge their lands Not without cause therefore did Homer call kings the disciples of Iupiter as who would say they learned of God to do iustice Dauid vseth termes yet of more force and calleth them Gods which doe iustice honoring them with the name of their charge which is of God And Philo calleth them Gods lieutenants and vicegerents in cases concerning iustice And in the 6 chapter of the booke of Wisdome Vnto you kings do I speake saith Salomon harken vnto me ye gouernors of people and you that glorie in the multitude of natioÌ„s For your authoritie is giuen you of the Lord and your power coÌ„meth from the highest who wil examin your works and diligently search your thoughts because you being ministers of his kingdome haue not iudged vprightly nor kept the law of righteousnes Therefore will he
his sweet sleepe through feare or hope For the affectionat minding of riches saith Ecclesâ—asticus pineth the flesh and the carke therof bereaueth a man of sleepe The same Horace writing to Crispus Salustius saith That that man is rich not which is a great king but which hath his lusts in subiection and that the thirst of him which is diseased with the dropsie is not to be stanched but by drawing the waterie humor out of the veins and by remouing the cause out of the disease Here by it is easie to decide the other question namely By what means a man may become rich For Socrates teacheth it in one word saying Ye shal easily become rich if you impouerish your lusts and desire Epicurus said That he that will make a man rich must not increase his goods but diminish his lusts For there is no riches so great as contentment And therfore the Philosopher Crates beholding how folke did buy and sell in the market said These folke are counted happie because they doe things contrarie one to another and I thinke my selfe happie that I haue rid my hands of buying and selling The true way then to become rich is to couet nought and to be vnmindfull of gaine specially of vnhonest gaine for that is no better than losse as saith Hesiodus For like as the liberall man is loued of all men according to this saying of Salomon in the nineteenth of his Prouerbs Euery man is a friend to him that giueth so the couetous person is hated of all men For the one helpeth the poore with his goods the other is loth to giue any thing In this respect Socrates said that a man must not require either talke to a dead man or a good turne of a nigard But there is nothing so royall and princely as to doe good vnto many as saith Cicero in his booke of Duties And it is found that there is more pleasure in giuing than in taking as saith S. Paul and also Hesiodus in his booke of Works and Daies And Ecclesiasticus saith Let not thy hand be open to receiue and shut to giue Dauid esteemeth him happie that lendeth and hath pitie of the poore saying That he shall euer haue wherwith to doe good without failing but he that stoppeth his eares at the cry of the needie shall crie himselfe and not be heard The same doth Salomon also say in the xxj of the Prouerbs And the Psalmist saith thus I haue bin young and now am old yet saw I neuer the righteous man forsaken nor his seed driuen to begge their bread but hee is still giuing lending and releeuing and his of-spring is seene to grow in good fortune and foyzon On the contrarie part The vnrighteous shall be driuen for verie hunger to borrow and not be able to pay but the righteous shall haue wherwith to shew their burning charitie Virgil in his sixth booke of Aenaeas putteth those persons in hell which haue done no good to their friends kins-folke and neighbours but haue bin wholly wedded to their riches without imparting them to other folks Acheius king of Elis was slaine by his owne subiects for couetousnes for his ouer-charging them with impositions Ochus king of Persia was blamed for that by reason of couetousnes he would neuer go into the country of Persland because that by the law of the realme he was bound to giue to euery woman that had born children one French crowne and to euerie woman with child two The only vice that Vespasian had was that he was extreamly couetous deuised many taxes moreouer bought things to sell theÌ„ again dealing more neerly for gain than a poore man would haue done which was great pitie for this emperors other vertues were defaced by that vice wherof princes ought to be wel ware For as Plutarch saith neuer shall any ciuil matter proceed wel without iustice without refraining from the lust desire of getting Hereby we see that as liberalitie is called iustice so couetousnes is nothing els but vniustice the which Bion the Sophist termed the principall towne of all vngratiousnes And Timon said That couetousnes ambitioÌ„ are the grounds of al mischiefe S. Paul in his first Epistle to Timothie calleth it The root of all euill saith That such as are wedded to it are falne from the faith Whosoeuer hath an ambitious or a couetous mind saith Euripides sauoreth not of any iust thing neither desireth he it and moreouer he is cumbersome to his friends and the whole citie where he dwelleth I am of opinion saith the same Euripides in his Heraclides that the righteous man is borne â—o the benefit of his neighbour but as for him that hath his heart turned away vnto gain he is vprofitable to his friends and hard to be delt with Salomon is the 15 of his Prouerbs saith That he which is giueÌ„ to couetousnes troubleth his own house but he that hateth gifts shall liue for gifts do blind the wise And in the 29 he saith That vnder a good king the land shall â—lourish but vnder a king that is couetous or loueth impositions it shall soon be destroied And in the xxiij againe he saith Labor not to be rich neither cast thine eies vpon the riches which thou caÌ„st not haue For they make theÌ„selues wings like eagles and flie vp into the aire that is to say they vanish away Againe in the xxviij he saith The faithfull man shall haue aboundance of blessings but he that hasteth to be rich shall not be guiltlesse neither knoweth he what want shall befall him The oracle of Apollo had foretold that Sparta should not perish but by couetousnesse and so it came to passe In like maner befell it to the citie of Athens For about the end of the wars of Peloponnesus Amintas began to corrupt the iudges with bribes and thence foorth they neuer prospered No other thing was the ruine of Rome Which thing Iugurth perceiuing who had bribed a great part of the senat with his monie said this O faire citie set to sale if a chapman were to be found for thee Plutarch in the life of Coriolane saith That after that bribes began once to preuaile in the election of officers it passed from hand to hand euen to the senators and iudges and from the iudges to the men of war insomuch that in the end it caused the common-weale to be reduced to a Monarchie and brought euen the men of arms themselues in subiection to monie so as the Pretorian souldiers sold the empire to them that paid faire gold for it and proceeded so far as to set it to open sale by the drum to him that offered most and was the last chapman CHAP. V. That Gentlenesse and Courtesie be needfull in the ordering of affairs the contraries whereunto be sternnesse and roughnesse OF Liberalitie proceedeth courtesie and Gentlenesse or rather Liberalitie proceedeth of kind-heartednesse and good will for as saith S. Paul in
it is doubted whether it be more daungerous to loose a battell at home oâ— in a forrain countrie Monsieur de Langey in his Discipline of warre is of opinion that it is lesse daunger for a captaine to fight in his owne countrie if he be a man of power as the king of Fraunce is than to fight in a straunge countrie And hereunto I will adde that which Paulus Iouius saith in his hystorie where he demaundeth Why Ismael Sophie king of Persland did let slip so faire an occasion of inuading the kingdome of Selim emperour of the Turks at such time as Selim was so sore incombred in Egypt The reason is that the king of Persia hath not sufficient power to make warre out of his owne countrie vpon so mightie a prince as the Turke is considering that the noble men and gentlemen in whom coÌ„sisteth a great part of the Persian strength are loth to go to the wars out of their countrie because they serue at their owne charges But when the case concerneth the defence of the realme and that they be to fight in that behalfe they imploy themselues wholy thereunto managing the warre fiercely and behauing themselues valiantly Also we haue seene how the Parthians afore them neuer passed so much to conquer out of their owne realme as to keepe their owne at home and that they haue discomfited all the armies of the Romans that euer came against them Neither hath the common saying beene verified of them That the assailants haue euer more courage than the defendants For that is not euer true Besides that there be means to assure the natural subiects by shewing them that the quarrell is iust and holy which men vndertake in defence of their countrie which ought to haue more force than the couetous hope of enriching mens selues by other mens losse And if it be said That the assailant bereaueth the prince defendant of the commodities which he had afore of his subiects to helpe himselfe withall because his subiects are destroyed A man may answer That the losse of goods turneth not the hearts and affections of the subiects away from theiâ— prince but contrariwise the harme that they recâ—yue maketh them fiercer against their enemies Whereas it is alledged That a prince dareth not to leuie mony of his subiects nor to taxe them at his will because of the neernesse of the enemie to whom they might yeeld themselues if they were molested by their prince Monsieur de Langey answereth thereunto That that prerogatiue cannot be taken from a priuce so long as his lands and friends be not taken from him as appeareth by the succours which the kings of Fraunce haue had of their subiects against the Englishmen and against the men of Nauarre True it is that he excludeth tyrannie saying That if a prince should misuse his subiects and outrage them for euery trifle he might doubt whether he should be well followed well obeyed of his people or no. And as for that which is said That the assâ—ilants being in a strange countrie do make necessitie a vertue because they be driueÌ„ to open the waies by force of armes The same necessitie lieth also vpon the defendants whom it standeth on hand to fight stoutly because they be in daunger to endure many mo things than the assailants For the raunsome or the prison makes their budget good for the assailants but the defendants lose their goods and the honor of their wiues and children and moreouer looke for perpetual bondage with an infinit number of other mischiefs Furthermore he that is assailed may wait vpon his enemies to his great aduauntage and distresse them with famin without perill of enduring any scarcitie his owne side and therwithall he may the better withstand the enterprises of his enemies by reason that he hath better knowledge of the countrie and of the passages Besides that he may assemble great coÌ„panies of men in few houres because there is not any subiect of his that is not readie at need to fight in his owne defence And if the defendant do chaunce to take a foile in his owne countrie he will relieue himselfe againe within few dayes to be at the pursute and new succours shall not need to come to him from farre To be short the defendant needeth to hazard but a peece of his force But if the assailant lose he putteth hir men and the goods and wel-â—are of himselfe and his subiects in perill though he be out of his owne countrie considering that if he be taken he must either continue a prisoner all his life time or else accomplish the will of his conquerour Yet notwithhanding for all the good reasons of Monsieur de Langey a learned and valeant knight and of great experience in feats of armes I will follow the opinion of them that say That it is better to go fight with a mans enemie farre from home than to tarrie his comming home to him Craesus counselled Cyrus not to tarrie for the Massagets in his owne countrie but to giue them battell in their owne because quoth he if you should lose one battell in your owne countrie you should be in daunger being once chased to lose your whole countrie for the Massagets hauing gotten the victorie will pursue it and enter into your prouinces And if ye win the battell you shall not gaine thereby an inch of land But if ye ouercome them in their owne land you may follow your good fortune and be master of the whole realme of Thomiris This fashion did the Romans vse who were the most politike and best aduised men in war-matters that euer were in the world For they neuer suffered the enemie to approch neare their gates but encountered him aloofe Which thing Hanniball knowing well by the proofe that he himselfe had had of their policies and â—orce counselled Antiochuâ— not to tarry the comming of the Romans into his country but to go and assail them in their owne because that out of their owne countrie they were inuincible And in verie deed they were euer assailants and seldome times defendants At the beginning when their territory was verie small they went made war vpon the Fidenats Crustuminians Samâ—ates Falisks and other neighbor-people from whom they alway got the victorie And whensoeuer they were assailed it was to their extreme daunger As for example When Horatius Cocles sought vpon the bridge of the citie and sustained the whole force of the enemie while the bridge was â—ut asunder behind him wherwith he fell into the Tiber and by that means saued the citie Also they were in extreme daunger against Porsenna and the Volses and they were faine to employ all their priests and all the women of the citie to raise the siege of Coriolanus who our of all question had made himself master of the towne if the intreatance of his mother had not letted him It was neuer in their power to ouercome Hannibal in