becommeth thereby diuine noble wise and prouident But happilie some man may demaunde what common weale that is which shoulde bee committed to this wiseman or Diuine Philosopher which doubte doth not arise from the name of common weale being a certaine order among the inhabitants abiding in one cytie but of the diuersitie and difference of the common weales For as mens manners delightes and estates bee diuers so also is the gouernment of common weales manifould And though the end of euery of them is but one thinge that is to say good or wel beeing which consisteth in the felicitie of men and euery state doth labour to attaine yet are the meanes of aspiring to that happines diuers and so consequently lawes and customes of sondry sortes are by them vsed For who so shall conferre the lawes of Hippâ—dâ—mus framed for the Miletians with those of Miâ—â—s made for the Candians or will compare the ordinances of â—icâ—rgâ—s with the decrees of Solon the one writing the gouernment of the Lacedemonians the other of the Athenians shall easily conceiue their lawes to be most diuers their Magistrates vnlike and the forme of their states farre discrepant The seauen wife men also Thales except who refused to intermedle in the common weale brought in sundry exercises sundrie lawes and sundry gouernments according to the qualitie of the peoples capacitie and their owne fancies by sundry orders and â—ses did execute them Which varietie of gouerments haue ministred matter of much controuersy contrarietie of opinions In so much as the learned men both in our vniuersities forraine schooles haue presumed to dispute how many sortes of common-weales there are and which of them ought deseruinglie to be mostâ— commended and imbraâ—â—ds Plato and Aristotle in that matter do seeme to haue excelled all others For they with great iudgement and respect to the nature of men and the Regions of the world haue learnedlie allotted lawes and gouerments agreable with the disposition and humor of the places Following therefore the opinion of these Philosophers we will first frame three sortes of common weales The first is called Monarchia the second Aristocratia and the third Democratia The Latines haue named them Râ—gnum Optimatum principatus and Popular is respâ—â—â— God by his heauenly prouidence hath appointed that the powers of mans minde shoulde rest in three sundry partes of his bodie seeming thereby to represent three Idaeas or formes of commonweales appointing reason as King to haue his abiding in the heade hiest part as onely Lorde and Prince to commaund all The second part as vigilant and readie to obey hee hath placed neere vnto it in the breaste making the same as a companion and helper vnto the heade Plato calleth it vis irascendi and affectuum sedes The thirde resembling a multitude witlesse frowarde and full of sensuall desires hee hath harboured beneath the hearte secluded farre from both the other In these parts of our soule as in an image wee may beholde three formes of commonweales The highest hath the place of king as destined and appoynted to commaunde all the seconde though in place inferiour yet in quality is of no lesse regarde beeing well obeyed For where reason ruleth without the guarde and ayde of the affections all actions are weake and without force Euen so a Senate not assisted by reason which partlie as Captayne and partly as Soldiour in all actions and consultations is vsed becommeth fearefull and effeminate Aristotle hath therefore deuided the power of reason making one parte absolute and standing vppon it selfe the other as it were depending and seruing like vnto a sonne that obeyeth his Father Which Titus Liuius hath well expressed in setting forth the error of Minutius in his vnaduised fight against Hanibal which Fabius doth reprehend in these wordes O souldiours quoth hee I haue often hearde that who so can by himselfe rightly iudge is to be moste honoured next vnto him are they that obey the good aduise of others But hee that can neyther councell himselfe nor knoweth howe to followe an other mans aduise is of all others of least wisedome and capacitie As touching the Optimatie it hath not onely the force of reason but in all actions is helped and incouraged by the affections as the Poets haue written Non hic â—ine numine diuum furit The thirde parte of mans minde resembleth a popular gouerment wherein the multitude hath authoritie to heare all matters and determine all lawes many contentions and discordes doe there ensue like vnto the nature of men licentions and proane to lust containing such life as accordeth with reason and vertue Aristotle doth also write that the image of commonweales may be found in priuate families For the authoritie of the father ouer his children may be likened to principalitie because the children are the fathers charge He alone must prouide for them all and their faultes are by him rather chastised then seuerely punished In like manner ought a good king to behaue himselfe towarde his subiectes Therefore Iupiter the God of Gods and men is by Homer called Father The husbandes authoritie ouer his wife may be compared to the Optimatie For the husband ought to gouerne his wife according to iustice and commaunde her to doe thinges honest The populer state is likened to brotherly societie For they ought to liue in equality differing onely in the degrees of age But as the Father that vseth his children wickedly cruelly and vnnaturally is reputed a tyrant and no father Euen so a king that studieth for priuate commodity oppressing his subiectes contemning his lawes and liuing dishonorably doth lose the name of a King and is called a Tyrante Also a husband and wife liuing in discorde eyther through negligence or wilfulnesse reiecting the care of their children and householde doe thereby abuse their authoritie and become vnworthy the name of naturall parentes In like manner brethren disagreeing and quarrelling neglecting the common profite and giuing themselues to slouth or lasciuious life are not to be accounted brethren Thus it appeareth that through the default and imperfection of gouernours true commonweales be conuerted into false and contrarie gouerments The Monarchie or kingdome becommeth a Tyrannie The Optimatie is reduced vnder the authoritie of a fewe The popular common weale is conuerted into plebeiall insolencie Pollicie which the Graecians call Politeia and is by Plato and Aristotle sometimes called Respublica popularis may be referred to all kindes of commonweales well gouerned because that worde is vniuersall and includeth all ciuill gouernment Plato addeth a seuenth kinde of gouernment that is to witt A King subiect to his lawes making a Monarchie of two sortes and consequently framing two Kinges the one bounde and confined the other free and not restrayned to anie lawe This is the opinion of Plato touching Monarchie The power authoritie saith he of one Prince gouerning with good lawes is among the sixe kindes of commonweales the best
and licentiousnes is beastly and proper to men of basest condition That which resteth in action vnlesse it be also accompanied with wisedome and vertue proueth improfitable and is subiect to great vices and imperfections That which is imployed in contemplation not beieng ioyned with some action becommeth vaine and without effect For as men that earnestly behold the brightnes of the sunne with the vehement heat and light thereof are made blinde Euen so the minde of man continually wrought with imagimations speculation of hie mysteries doth become dull heauy and languishing Who so therefore desireth to liue vertuously and happely must participate both of the ciuill and philosophicall liues which are action and contemplation The mixture of which two doth make man to be like vnto GOD blessed and fortunate For hee that vseth his minde to the cogitation of thinges diuine is thereby made moste acceptable to GOD who doth greatelye esteeme of those men that liue according to the spirite and reason because it appeareth thereby that they labour to bee like vnto him who is also a spirite and thinges of one nature doe willinglye conioyne in loue They that vnto speculation doe adde honest action may also bee called diuine and happye There is nothing more apparante then that GOD among manie other graces hath giuen reason vnto men as a gifte most singular to the ende that through vertue thereof hee may beholde the nature of all thinges aswell coelestiall as terrestriall and therewith honour reuerence and loue him Who so therefore beeing mindefull of GOD and natures benefites doth well employe this heauenlie gifte of reason and both in action and contemplation imitate the eternall GOD doth thereby become as his childe and is holden as a God among men Contrariwise such as doe forget nature and humanitie delighting onelye in sensualitie neclecting or vtterlye forsaking reason are accounted to haue of men nothing but the face and name because the true and proper nature of man is in them wanting Heereof proceedeth the diuersitie of men that through the exercise of reason and vertue some are borne free noble wise and fitt to gouerne others slaues rusticall and witlesse destined to seruitude and bondage Euerye societie of men doth also willinglie obeye the wisest aduauncing them to offices and honours with greate respecte and reuerence Plato writeth that God in the creation of mens natures hath taken such order as in the generation of those that are apte to gouerne hee hath mixed golde To them that are destined to assiste the gouernours hee hath put siluer And with the nature of Plowe-men and Artizanes Brasse and Iron is compounded Which similitude Aristotle doth applye to the manners vertues and capacities of men For albeit that euerie man naturally desireth his children might resemble himselfe Yet doth it often happen that of golde commeth siluer and of siluer some mettell of other nature God hath therefore commaunded Princes to vndestande the nature of their thildren to the ende thaâ— they whose disposition is like vnto Iron should be conuerted to gold or that prouing impossible he hath willed the gouerment shoulde be to others allotted It hath beene also oraculously prophycied that those Cities which are gouerned with Brasse and Iron shoulde perish and come to confusion Xenocrates appointeth the first parte of mans life to the exercise of vertue the second to good health the third to honest pleasure and the fourth to the gathering of riches iustly As without vertue mans life is vile so is it without health weake and feeble For the minde shut vp within a sickly bodie doth languish and become disable to performe his owne duetie All men therefore through force of good lawes ought be trained vnto happy life for by such meanes common-weales become good and blessed Let vs nowe consider with which of these three states first remembred the diuine and happy life doth best agree which beeing knowen the face and forme of a perfect common-weale is easily discerned To the election of kinges men are induced by their vertue and beholding their egregious actes For whensoeuer we see a man to excell in those thinges wee accounte him as a God among men and forthwith consent to make him king following the common prouerbe Rexeris sirecte facies Because that gouerment is iust where the gouernour is vertuous commaunding himselfe and ruling his subiectes not as as Maister gouerneth his seruantes but as a father ruleth his children The Athenians as Demosthenes in his oration against Neaera writeth when Theseus had framed their commonweale were wonte to choose some one of the vertuous number and by holding vp their handes elected him Kinge In olde time the election of kinges was among all people holden a thing diuine and holy Romulus after the sight of twelue Rauens as Liuius sayeth or rather because the lightning had pearced his bodie from the lefte to the right side as Dionisius writeth was by diuination chosen king which was the respecte that by lawe it was prouided that no man shoulde take vppon him any magistracie or be made kinge without diuination In so much as that ordinance called Ius Auspiciorum was obeyed and religiouslye obserued The authoritie of kinges hath euer beene accounted a thing diuine for Homer and Isocrates affirme that hee who gouerneth alone doth reprepresent a diuine maiesty The kinges of Persia were honoured as Gods and the people beleeued their authoritie to be the onelie defendour and mainteynour of the commonweale The anciente Latines called their Kinges Indigetes that is to saye deified as Eneas and Romulus were whose bodies after death coulde neuer be founde The election of kinges was in time paste proper to the moste vertuous people vnto whome the gouernment of Tyrantes was odious Yea the ancient lawe of God doth as it were allowe or rather commende the gouernment of one An Optimatie consisteth of vertuous Citizens who deserue commendation in respecte of vertue because they gouerne the commonweale as becommeth good men in no wise digressing from the rule and line of lawe In popular commonweales all thinges be contrarilie handled for libertie beeing the ende thereof the state is ruled according to will and popular furie most commonly without vertue and reason In such Cities men are called good because they are profitable to the commonweale not for that they are indued with honestie which confisteth in action of vertue So as vertue is measured not by honestie but by common profite and libertie For popular iustice called Ius populare is where the honours are giuen not according to vertue of him that receiueth them but the number of those that giue them who thinke those thinges not to bee iust which by iustice ought be but that which to the greatest number doth seeme iust esteeming that also to be honourable which by popular fame is accounted glorious Therefore although in all sortes of commonweales the lawes of vertue are sometimes peruerted yet doth the same most commonly
happen in popular states For if any good man liuing there shall happen to mislike the plebeyall life and doth labour by admonishing reprehending and correcting the Citizens to reduce them to honesty and vertue he is forthwith iudged an enemie to liberty and by the law Ostracismo arested and many times put to death With this kind of persecution many notable Citizens inhabiting the popular states of Graecia were afflicted as Cymon Aristides Thucydides Socrates Themistocles and Damon also in Rome Camillus and Scipio were in like manner handled The fame of Aristides is of all posterity worthy to be remēbred he being a man singularly vertuous wise for his integrity of life honest cōuersatiō was with the assent of all men surnamed Iustus At such time as the law Ostracismas was vsed in Athens a certaine rude rustical felow bearing a scrol of paper in his hand hapned to mete him with great earnestnes required that the name of Aristides might be therin writtē Aristides much marueiling thereat asked whether any man had euer beene by him iniured no quoth hee but I cannot in anye wise indure thy surname of Iustus Cicero reporteth that at such time as the Ephesi banished their Prince Hermodorus they pronounced this sentence Let none of vs excell an other but if anye so doe let him no longer heere dwell but inhabite elsewhere O moste straunge customes of popular commonweales Plato vseth that speach before of vs remembred that no state doth continue beeing gouerned with Iron or Brasse that is to say by foolish men borne rather to obey then commaunde For they after some fortunate successe of warre taking vnto them loftie mindes haue at hande tutors and popular Captaines to extoll and commende their vertue Then after long hunger allured with the sweete baite of glory they reiect the authoritie of their leaders and all wise men taking the gouerment wholy into their owne handes directing the same by their owne willes and discretion which is the cause that such common-weales are not of long continuance For through diuersitie of minds those men become voyde of councell and after much insolencie contention and faction they yeelde their obedience eyther to a fewe or some one mightie personage So did the people of Athens which beeing author of the victorie by sea against the Medians puffed vp with pride of that fortune stirred greate troubles and seditions in that state and all good Citizens laboured in vaine to preuente that mischiefe Also the originall of popular states doth sometimes proceede of Rebellion attempted against the nobilitie as it many times happened in Rome when the people tooke armes against the Kings and Senate Sometimes also the cause of such popular gouerment proceedeth through good successe of some action enterprised by the people Who taking vppon them the minde of Lordes doe vsurpe the state as did the Athenians when they had vanquished the Medians and as the Romaines hauing ouerthrowne the Carthaginenses The same also otherwhiles chanseth when the people is made desperate by tyrannie of their Prince and gouernours for then by force of armes or oppression of their king they frame a forme of gouernment among themselues which in our dayes the Swisseis haue done A popular state established with good lawes is manie times gouerned iustlie and poletiquelye but the same wanting lawes or consente of the people doth not merite the name of a commonweale Of the Oligarchia or Tyrannie I meane not to entreate because such gouerment is in all respectes vniuste contrarie to vertue and ciuill life The excellencie of euerie people or commonweale may be knowen by the gouermente lawes and liberties thereof For those people are accounted the beste which within a good commonweale doe liue with iustice and libertye and they deserue the more commendation that doe continue the same with most constancie and longe preseuerance which thinges are thought chiefly to appertaine to the antiquity of men liuing in honour and nobilitie The Lacedemonians are highly praised for hauing continued seauen hundred years without any alteration of their customs their lawes or their gouerment But the Venetians haue in that respect deserued greater glory because they till these our daies haue cōstantly liued in one forme of gouerment by the space of a thousand years or more Thus haue we discoursed the diuers formes of commonweales with the natures disposition of men there liuing Among them as easely appeareth the Principalitie and Optimatie are the best This for that therein most good men doe exercise the publique functions and that because the publique commoditie is preserued by one with generall consente of minde So as if any doe excell the reste to him the commonweale is committed In these two states men doe liue best because the order of them doth not onely preserue Cities but also make the Citizens happie Some men haue thought the moste perfect commonweale should be tempered and framed of all the three estates Which is the cause that they preferre the Lacedemonian gouerment being compounded of the nobilitie which was the Senators of the authoritie of one which was the King and of the people which were the Ephori For they were alwaies chosen among the number of popular men Polibius extolleth the Romane state because it consisted of the King the Nobilitie and the people supposing that the king for feare of the people coulde not become insolente and the people durste not disobeye him in respecte of the Senate Which forme of commonweale was with good reason accounted most iust For as perfect harmonie is compounded of treble meane and base tewnes euen so a good commonweale and the surest agreement amongest men is as Cicero saith made by mixture of the best the meane and the base people We are also of opinion that commonweale is perfect which containeth good and vertuous subiectes and is gouerned by a king a Senate and consent of the people wishing the King should obserue his lawes and doe those thinges which be honourable and agreeable to the aduise of his councell For the lawe is most perfect reason whereunto whosoeuer obeyeth doth seeme a God among men Wee wish likewise that all Councellors should be men of much vertue for they being a meane betwixt the king and people may the rather giue councell by what meanes the state may be safely gouerned The authoritie of Councellors consisteth in consulting iudging and commaunding The king vseth these men as friendes and Councellors imploying their vertue and aduise in matters of most difficulty which is the cause that men say the king hath many hands many eyes and many feete Moreouer for that it seemeth a thing rather diuine their humaine that one man alone should gouerne the whole state it is necessary to haue the aide of many others yet referring the determination to the king alone all things are like to proceede well But he that doth manage all matters without Councel trusting only to
make warre at home Certainely it standeth the commonweale vpon to prouide by lawe that soldiers may be compelled to honest life and feared from offending others For there is nothing more terrible then iniurie armed The boldnes of soldiers not bridled by lawe doth passe on so farre forward as may eyther subuert the state or inforce the good and modest subiectes yea iustice it selfe to obey Armes which we read heeretofore happened among the Romaines where the soldiers for diuers yeares hauing authoritie to choose the Emperours vsurped the State when neyther the Senate the people nor the lawe coulde by any meanes resist their insolency But of soldiers we haue perhappes to long discoursed That commonweale is temperate and iust where the Prince and Citizens therein doe liue temperately iustly which things are brought to passe by the execution of lawes For they onely are the directors aswell of life as honest liuing From this fountaine are sprong lawes to reforme superfluitie in building apparrell and festing with all others apertaining to excesse Also from temperancie other ordinances doe proceed belonging to iudgements whereof the foundation is iustice a vertue giuing to euery man that which is his owne As touching the goods of body and fortune they shall be plentifull in those common-weales where the subiectes be healthie strong valiant rich honourable and glorious Of all which things in the ende of this worke we will more at large entreate Thus haue we alreadie discoursed what a commonweale is and wherein the felicitie thereof consisteth It remaineth now to speake of the Citizens happie life whereby shall be conceiued in what artes and sciences our Counsellor ought be instructed to enioy both priuate and publique felicitie To the perfection of man three things as the Philosopher affirmeth are required that is to say Nature Custome and Reason As touching Nature to be thereby good and happy it resteth not in our power but in the gift of God For whomsoeuer he blesseth is by the instinct of Nature good wise and of perfect iudgement It many times also happeneth that as one man begetteth an other one beast an other so of wise and good ancestors wise good posterity doth desceÌ„d which nature alwaies indeuoreth to bring to passe but not therin preuailing appeareth how corruptible our nature is either through education or to speake in Christian wise through the sin of our forefathers whoÌ„ the bad Angel diuerted corrupted Wherfore nature hath only left in vs certain sparks wherwith to kindle our inclinatioÌ„ to vertue become apt for all things the rest is performed by reason art vse It behoueth man therfore to cleaue fast vnto that nature which is good at his hand desire felicity perfectioÌ„ The chife duty of man is to know that his originall proceedeth froÌ„ God froÌ„ him to haue receiued reason wherby he resembleth his maker But for that the reason of man is shut vp within the body as a prison wherby it knoweth not it self It behoueth the minde to breake forth from that place of restrainte and winne libertie whereby it may behold know and perceiue howe much it resembleth God For man is most properly so called when he liueth according to that part of the minde which is partaker of reason and is furthest remoued from pleasing obedience of the bodie Learning therefore is to be desired of men sith thereby reason and the perfection thereof is chiefly obtained For as nature vnlesse it be perfect wanteth her good so the good of man is not absolute vnlesse therein be perfect reason which being in man is called God Nature Lawe Vertue and goodnes Whereupon may be inferred that such learning is requisite as bringeth with it vnderstanding and knowledge of God Nature Lawes Vertues and all good things This learning is called Philosophy the eternall and immortall gift of God instructing vs in the knowledge of all things both diuine and humane and conteyneth the skill whereby to know the beginning of vertue and vice with the nature of all other things So that whosoeuer shall as in a glasse looke therein may see the formes the Images and Idaeas of euery thing â—hal well neere behold the counterfeit of his owne body and minde It was therfore not without cause of Cicero called the vniuersall knowledge the guide of life the sercher of vertue the expulser of vice the medicine and health of the soule For there is nothing in this worlde to be done or thought eyther in Court or Iudgement be it great or small which proceedeth not from Philosophie as mother of all Counsels actions and resolutions whom if in all thy wordes and workes thou doest followe whatsoeuer thou shalt speake or doe will be wise discreete diuine and in all respects perfect For in whatsoeuer commonweale the Prince that raigneth is a Philosopher or counselled by Philosophers there is seldome any warre sedition hate discord or violence of euill men But now me thinks I heare some one saying doest thou Sir Philosopher think that the felicitie of commonweales and the wisedome of Kings Princes doth proceede from thy lasie discipline For that arte of thine is rather to be tearmed the science of prating then a knowledge whereby men attaine vnto felicitie How doest thou dare infect the common-weale with those things which will be the destruction thereof and as thou hast filled the scholes with contention and scoulding so wilt thou deuide the state into sundrye seditions which discorde in scholes may be without bloode disputed yet thinkest thou that in a commonweale they can bee without blowes determined Howe shall the happinesse of commonweales be conserued by Philosophers whose opinions are diuers doubtfull and contrarie Whether shall our state trustvnto the Epicuâ—e the Peripateticke or the Stoicke Who contend not onely for the confines but the very possession of felicitie And they that are not agreed what is the chiefe good do they not discent vpon the whole substance of Philosophy For who so knoweth not what is the chiefe good must of force be ignorant what course oâ— life to leade I doe therefore thinke that the teachers of such doctrines who trust onelie vnto Philosophie as the Tabernacle of their life are rather to be remoued then receiued to gouerne the commonweale For what doest thou thinke will be said or done where Philosophers consulte of warre and peace of lawes and iudgementes Surely they will imagine themselues to sit in Counsell of Cyclops and Giantes and thinke Armes alreadie in hande so soone as they heare the warâ—â— consulted vppon Is it reasonable that he shoulde be a lawe-maker that obeyeth no lawe but that which he prescribeth to himselfe vsing onely his owne reason or rather his owne priuate opinion accounting all others as beasts himselfe onely excepted Iâ— not this the guise of your philosophicall flocke What thinke ye of Diogones Zeno Epictetuâ— and many others would you wish such wise men to be Princes
he ought likewise to know not onely those meanes wherby the state may be ornified increased preserued but also how the same may be weakned hindred or subuerted For as that Pilot is not accounted perfect skilfull who knoweth only how to sayle keepe course in quiet seas but he that by his Art vnderstaÌ„deth the nature force of tempests winds storms how to eschew perils by his art saue the ship tormented with fury of wind water leading hir to haâ—borow hauen of safetie euen so the wisdome of a Counsellor gouerning a quiet and peaceable state deserueth praise yet much lesse then he who finding the same wrought with windes of sedition and afflicted with stormes of great dissention restoreth it vnto good and desired pacification making the people contented tractable peaceable and voyde of perturbation Themistocles is much commended for reducing the Athenians being then sauage and simple to liue in the Citie and subiect themselues to lawes But much more ought Solon to be praised who finding the Citie disturbed with rebellion and ciuill warre reduced it to vnion reestablishing the lawe and confirming the Magistrates Neyther doe I thinke that Camillus for hauing deliuered Rome from the Galli is lesse to be honoured then Romulus that first builded the Citie Or is not Cicero to be preferred before the Fabii he hauing recouered Rome from the wicked hand of Catiline and they vndertaking a domesticall warre against the Veienti Pompeius loued the commonweale but Cicero preserued it so as Pompeius might say that vnlesse Cicero had preserued the state he should haue wanted place where to triumph Therefore Cicero would sometimes gloriously say that others had done things honorably but the thanks for conseruation of the state was due vnto himselfe Who thinketh the vertue of Caesar or Pompeie to be compared with the vertue of Scipio Africanus yet did they most notable actes for their countrie but he finding the same broken weake and as it were within one daies space to become subiect to the Armes of Haniball did not onely rescue and recouer it but also increased and inlarged it which proueth the saying true Non minor est virtus quam querere parta tueri Cyrus in conquering kingdomes was happy but in holding them vnhappy he knewe the arte to winne but was ignorant how to keepe And surely those daies wherein we are preserued ought be to vs more deere then that wherein we were borne Likewise they doe better deserue of mankinde whose wisedome hath deuised the welfare of men then they from whome their generation or conception proceedeth I doe therefore wish the Counsellor to be indued with such knowledge as consulteth not onely vpon things present but also foreseeth things to come comprehending in minde the whole state diligently considering all the chances perils mutations and inclinations thereof wherby he shall with more facilitie conceiue the mischieues which happen and eyther by foreseeing diuert them or being growen extirpe them Neyther doe I thinke fit that our Counsellor should be igorant in the gouerment of other states for by such examples he may conceiue the lawes wherewith they are gouerned the manners they haue vsed in what sort they haue beene altered amended and preserued Likewise with what authoritie each lawe is made what is the order of their publique Counsels with the duetie belonging to euery of them what libertie dignitie authoritie and iurisdiction appertaineth to euerie common-weale In this our state for so much as the Senate is a meane betwixt the king and people it behoueth euery Senator to know what is the maiesty of a king his greathes and iurisdiction and likewise what is the right and libertie of subiectes because the king and people many times contende one against the other the one desiring immesurable libertie the other affecting oppression The intemperate contention of those humors doe greatly afflict the commonweale For if the one doth preuaile he putteth on the person of a Tyrant or if the other be victorious thereof are engendred as many thousande Tyrantes as heads of men The tyrannie of many is alwaies more cruell then of one For the one taketh ende eyther by death or by sacietie of commaunding but the insolent and insatiable licentiousnes of the multitude doth feede the vaine of tyrannie the venome whereof doth long after infecte their posteritie Therefore the Senate ought be exceeding diligent in preseruing the libertie due and common to euerie one and from that meane place as from a watching house or tower to foresee the welfare of all and take order that through sedition or contention the commonweale be not indemnyfied For the Senate is a iudge betwixt force and feare libertie and seruitude the king and people Tyrantes were wonte to vse certaine sleightes in arming themselues against the liberty of people First by remouing all good and wise men with euerie other person hauing power in the state because the vertue of good men is to Tyrantes suspected and that one compell the rest eyther by feare or force to become seruile and they themselues to doe all things according to their owne lust and pleasure Such counsell Periander gaue vnto Thrasibulus perswading him to cut of the highest spikes of corne meaning be should put the most noble Athenians to death The like subtiltie was followed by Sextus Tarquinius the sonne of Lucius He being suborned by his father pretending to be banished fled fraudulently vnto the Gabii where hauing so much acquaintance and friendship as he thought suffized sent secretly vnto his father to knowe what his pleasure was shoulde be done who leading the messenger into the garden there walked and in his presence with his staffe strake of the heads of all the Dazles which being reported to his sonne he put the chiefe noble men of Gabia to death by force and iniustice vsurping the commonweale and liberty The Tyrants doe also oftentimes inhibite the societie of Subiects their meetings their conferences conuentions feastings and the studie of honest disciplines Tyrantes also many times doe sowe discord among the people to the ende that filled with hate and priuate displeasure they may dispose themselues to warre and sedition and thereby be impouerished and being poore and the warre ended the offenders are forced to pay for pardon so that euery way fleesed of their riches and made needie they doe become base minded and vnsit to defende both liberty and well doing These and many such like things the Counsellor ought indeuor himselfe to knowe and by foresight prouide that the commonweale be not by those meanes afflicted Let him likewise vnderstand that the office of a king is not to care or studie so much for his owne priuate profit as the common commoditie of his subiectes to obserue his lawes to preserue the rights and liberty of the people and to maintaine the authority and reputation of his counsell For kings were instituted to aid good men against the wicked and vngodly and to
by force to haue libertie to desire and doe allthinges that is not by law and reason forbidden to defend their law and libertie from Tyrants to be partakers of the Parliaments to beleue the King of highest authority the Councell of greatest vnderstanding For where the Senate is Lord of publique Councelles and all thinges by it determined are of other estates of men obeyed where libertie is in the people authoritie in the King the Councell in the Senate there is the best temperature of libertie and equalitie chiefelie if the lawes be alwaies obeyed The Counsellor ought likewise to foresee that the commonweale be not molested with any sedition for in times of such troubles the life of men is miserable and vnhappie There is nothing so deuine humaine holie or religious that sedition doth not contataminate disturbe and subuert That is the poyson of all states which maketh the greatest dominions small and mortall The causes of sedition in all commonweales are more then the witt and reason of man can imagine Wherefore continuall watch ought to be lest the mischiefe begun should more and more increase The mindes of great men much honoured in the state must be reconciled for the discords of mightie personages doe drawe the whole commonweale of small beginnings most miserable euentes doe follow In appeasing sedition two things are chiefly to be obserued that is in what sorte men are disposed to rebellion and for what causes It happeneth sometimes that mens mindes are moued with furie desire feare anger or such like affections eyther else they are drawen with couetise gaine contempt iniurie disdaine honour and sometimes with religion Sedition doth also follow where one part of the people doth gaine great reputation and authoritie ouer the rest and by some prosperous successe beeing insolente desire to be aduanced aboue others as the Areopagi among the Athenians and the noble men of the Argiui who hauing victorie of the Lacedemonians sought to reiect the popular gouernment Also the multitude of Siracusa puffed vp with pride of their prosperous warre vppon the Athenians changed their state from a Democratie to an Ochlocratie In Rome likewise the multitude not induring the dignitie of the Senate made manie motions and in the ende created Tribunes by whose furie and insolency the authoritie of the Senate was diminished and by sedition and troubles brought the state to vtter destructioÌ„ Sedition doth also sometimes happen in the commonweale by reason one man doth exercise diuers offices which thing is perilous in euery state for that others doe seeme thereby defrauded and iudged vnworthy of honour Let each man therefore content himselfe with one office so shall the state haue many ministers with diligence to attende the well doing thereof Yet is it sometimes profitable that in small commonweales one man shoulde exercise diuers offices but in great states the same vseth to moue sedition A Counsellor therefore ought foresee chiefly in extirpation of seditions that nothing be done contrary to the ordinances lawes and customes preuenting all disorders in due time for mischiefe growing by little and little is not easely perceiued but hauing gained force it sheweth it selfe and cannot be lightly suppressed He ought also not to be ouer credulous of perswasions craftely inuented to abuse the people which are many times deuised by popular men and flatterers who louing innouation dare enterprise any thing to make them owners of their desire and resting in that minde they conspyre against the prosperitie of good men cloaking their vice with the rashnesse and fury of people which flame and insolency not being quenched in time doth commonly runne so farre as with the fire thereof the whole state is consumed The commonweale therefore requireth the Counsell of some notable and diuine man in whome it may reposethe care of hir happines and welldoing By his directions and gouernment all perils seditions discordes mutations and inclinations may he suppressed and therby enioy a happy peace and tranquility Whosoeuer endeuoreth himselfe to be such a one it behoueth him to be prudent iust valiant and temperate for from those fower vertues all humaine things wordes and workes doe proceede Surely wisedome is a great singular vertue so great as I know not any thing in this world that may be therunto compared For without it the other vertues can neither be exercised nor coÌ„prehended which is the cause that Socrates though therin he dâ—â—enteth froÌ„ Aristotle doth call PrudeÌ„ce the only vertue meaning as I think that without Prudence no vertue can be or continue Bion thought that Prudence excelled all other vertues as far as the sight doth exceed all the other senses affirming moreouer that vertue to be as proper to olde men as strength or currage was to yoong men Wherfore we will that our Senator should be indued with this vertue for he can neyther say or doe any thing worthy his commendation and age if the same be not as with a sawse seasoned with wisedome But what this prudence is and wherein it consisteth it seemeth necessary we shoulde heere declare The Latines haue called this vertue Prudentia of prouidendo because through it the minde doth foresee things to come disposeth of things present and remembreth things passed For he that thinketh not of things past forgetteth his life and he that foreseeth not things to come is subiect to many perils and vnaduisedly falleth into euery misaduenture Prudence as Cicero saith is the knowledge of things good euill and indifferent consisting wholly in the chosing and knowing what is to be desired or eschewed and as Aristotle thinketh it is an habit coupled with perfect reason apt for good action and is exercised in those things which may happen to men well or euill Therefore Theoricall wisedome doth differ from Prudence because that passeth not the boundes of contemplation and this is wholly giuen to action and humaine busines Moreouer this kinde of wisedome needeth counsell and fortune to defend those things wherein it delighteth because it is occupied in certaine and no variable sciences which is the cause that Geometricians Mathematicians with all the crew of naturall and solitarie Philosophers are men learned and skilfull but not prudent In like manner Diogenes Zenocrates Chrysippus Carneades Democritus Metrocles Aristippus Anaxagoras and Thales were men of great knowledge but not prudent because their manner of wisedome or Philosophy was different from true prudence being ignorant in those things which were profitable for themselues and others delighting in matters secret hidden and obscure which sciences although they be good and notable yet vnprofitable and impertinent to humaine felicitie Because prudence consisteth in those things whereof deliberation and counsell is to be taken but if those contemplatiue Philosophers had not estranged themselues from the conuersation and actions of men but beene employed in the affayres of gouernment as was Pericles Solon Lycurgus Plato Demosthenes Cato Cicero and others they had no
to Iupiter his familie to Ceres and his children sold Seruiliuâ— Isaurâ—cus after he had beene Consull chanced to walke in the streat in a straight place was mett by a horseman who did not alight to doe him reuerence for which act the said horseman was bound to appeare before the Iudges who with great indignation did condemne him Because they thought that he who did not honour vnto authoritie and the magistrates was readie to aduenture euery mischiefe By the law called Lex honoria it was prouided that no man should doe iniurie to any Senator for he that so did should be reputed a traitor offendor not onely against the gouernours but also the Senators being reputed as members of the lawe Therefore it was not lawfull to offer them any indignitie by deed word or writing The ornaments or rewards of honour due vnto the Senators of Rome were as Cicero writeth the place authoritie domesticall splendor fame and fauour in forraine countries robes of honour sadels of state armes bondels of rods commandements in the armies in warre and prouinces I omit to speake of images made of stone and brasse chariots and diuerse other things to long to be recited which are at large described in a booke intituled desenatu Romane lately written by Ioannes Samoseius a man not onely skilfull in the Romaine antiquities but also in euery other more commendable learning Counsellors are therefore to be honoured in the commonweale not onely by hauing precedence of place going and sitting but with all other markes and badges of praise and reuerence So oft as Augustus Caesar came into the Senate he vsed to salute euery Senator by name also going from thence he left them sitting in their place and so without more ceremony said farewell Adrianus the Emperour seeing a man of his whom he greatly fauoured to walk cheek by cheek in the middest of two Senators commaunded an other of his seruantes to strike him on the face because he vsed not the reuerence due vnto Senators In Athens a crowne was the rewarde due The science of gouernment proceedeth from God Wherein a wise man is like vnto god The best thing in man is reason Publike gouerment to be considered in two sortes The world a Citie commoÌ„ to all creatures Philosophy of two sortes Contemplation without action improfitable Philosophers men most fit to gouerne commenweales Phiosohy in priuate men improfitable What a commonweale is The gouerment of commonweales diuers The deuision of common-weales Reason without the affections feable Common-weales resembled to priuate families By euill gouerment common-weales are chaunged The opinion of Plato touching kinges Euery gouerment ought be framed according to the men and place What sorts of men are fit for euerye kinde of coÌ„monweales What people doe most willingly obey the king The people of Asia naturally seruile The best common weale is where the people be best ordered The felicitie of man wheâ—in it consisteth Mans life of three sortes Reason the most precious gift Why some are free and others borne to bondage Diuersitie of mens natures How mans life is imployed What things are chiefly considered in the election of kinges The authoritie of kinges diuine Optimacy Popular states Aristides The originall causes of states popular The vertue of euery people knowen by the lawes and gouerment Lacedemonians Venetians The forme of the Lacedemonian commonweale The Romane state A perfect coÌ„monweale The authority of CouÌ„cellors The necessity of CouÌ„cellors Orde popularis Merchantes Artizans and seruants repulsed from gouerment Six things in all states required The com consisteth of sixe sortes of meÌ„ Two sortes of men onely fit for the places of gouerment The office of meane subiectes The office of Priestes Ordinances of plato touching Priesthood Among what sort of men Priestes should be chosen Plato his commoÌ„weale The Athenian coÌ„monweale The Lacedemonian commonweale The Romane Monarchie The Empyre of Germany The French Monarchie The Monarchy of Spayne The Monarchy of Polonia The kingdome of England The Venetian state In euerie coÌ„ monweale three things required The office of Magistrates Lawe the soule of coÌ„monweals What knowledges ought be in Councellors VVhat magistrates are most profitable in the state The office of Kinges A Senate in al coÌ„monweales of much necessitie The originall of Counsellors VVhat a Senate is VVhat sort of men ought to be made Senators VVhereof the Senators be so named The duetie of Senators The Councellor must be of naturall birth The loue of our country naturall Strangers suspected in the coÌ„monweale What a Citizen is Who is called a Citizen in states popular Who is called a Citizen in A Monarchie or an Aristocratie Whereof the king is called Rex Who is a Citizen in an Oligarchia Who weare Citizens in Rome Two sortes of Citizens The Councellor must be of the number of Noble Citizens To the perfection of a Noble CitizeÌ„ three things required Nobilitie for vertue Nobilitie by descent The Rhodian lawe Nobilitie ciuill Badges and Armes of Nobilitie Consultation to be preferred before action The vertue of a good Citizen and the vertue of a good man is diuers The felicitie of common-weales and men as one thing By what meanes the commoÌ„weale is madeÌ„ happy By what meane the commoÌ„weale is made wise By what meane the commoÌ„weale is valient The office of Soldiers By what meane the commoÌ„weale is made temperate iust By what meanes the commoÌ„weale is made strong and fortunate To the perfection of man three thinges required The office of man Wherein the perfection of man coÌ„sisteth By what studies the perfection of man is attained Philosophie The profit that proceedeth of Philosophie What kinde Philosophers are vnfit to gouerne What Philosophers are fit for gouerment Good education the roote of wisedome The Com. must be carefull in the education of youth The Lacedemonian education The Romane education The education of Graecia The office of learned men Education of children Philosophy of two kindes Two kindes of felicity What 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 for a Counsellor The knowledge of histories Politicall knowledge Trauell in forraine nations What to be obserued in trauell Osiris Geography and Cosmography Things to be knowen of three sortes In what sorte priuate Philosophers be profitable VVhich is the true Philosophy Eloquence What law is The Lacedemonian discip ine The Graecian discipline Mans life miserable Vulgar ordinary wisedome The golden worlde Who those were that restored the golden world VVho is without Philosophie wise Philosophy The Counsellor must not be solitarie The election of magistrates The duetie of a good magistrate Ambitious men punishable Couetiousnes perilous to the commoÌ„weale Magistracy ought be giuen to vertuous men with out respect of riches Euill magistrates the confusion of coÌ„monweals In the election of Counsellors three things to be considered Popular libertie The AtheniaÌ„ coÌ„monweale What kinde of Democracy is iust Democracy inconstant Who are chosen magistrates in an Oligarchia VVhat kinde of magistrates are chosen in Monarchies and Aristocraties
whatsoeuer hath heeretofore beene spoken knowen or founde eyther by learning of schooles by Councels in commonweales by pollicy in gouernmente by forraine experience by the Histories touching the qualitie and perfection of a Councellor And as Plato hath set downe those things which he thought fittest for the felicitie of his Citie the like will we doe in the discription of our Councellor and imagining to haue mett with wise men of all nations Cities and common-weales repayring to a market of wisedome we will take from euery one such vertues customes lawes and dueties as seemeth to vs most excellent and therewith furnish our Councellor But for so much as through the diuersitie of commonweales it seemeth that the quality and offices of Councellors be diuers we haue iudged that forme of commonweale to be of all others most iust and indifferent where the Kinges authoritie and the peoples power by the councellors wisedome and aduise is qualefied We haue therefore thought fitt first to discourse the diuersitie of commonweales as well in kinde as forme of their felicitie of the happinesse of subiectes of the education and instruction of a Councellor to the ende he may the rather vnderstand the state where he gouerneth and be skilfull in the precepts of vertue So as in that sort furnished he may direct his life in all honesty and deseruingly be aduanced to a charge of so greate honour and reputation And we will that the vertues of our Councellor be such as are not onelie profitable for the gouerment of one state but shall be of that excelencie as the same may be practised in the proceedings of all others For we haue learned of Plato that those commonweales be moste happy which are gouerned by Phylosophers or where the gouernours are wholy disposed to the studie of Philosophie Therefore from such a wise man and such a ciuill science wee haue determined to take matter whereof to frame our excellent Councellor Among all creatures contayned within the circle of the earth that which we call man is the chiefest and of most reputation For he alone of all other liuing thinges of what nature so euer is made not onely an inhabitant and Citizen of the world but also a Lorde and Prince therein Which authoritie honour and greatnesse from God the supreame gouernour of heauen and earth is giuen who hath also vouchsafed to receiue him as it were a companion in the gouerment of this vniuersall Citie common to God and men adorning him with diuine vnderstanding to the end that through his godly reason and councell this worldly Empyre might be wisely holily and iustly gouerned The cause of this societie betwixt GOD and men proceedeth from reason which beeing perfect doth make men like vnto God and seeme as it were mortall Gods whereof may be conceiued that betwixt God and men some affinitie aliance or kinred remaineth Notwithstanding without the presence of God no reason is good and perfect for the diuine seedes beeing sowen in mens bodies so much thereof as happeneth into the handes of good till-men doth bring forth fruite according to him that did sowe them but of the rest beeing handled by euill husbandry doth like vnto corne sowen in barren soyle become brâ—mbles and within short space decay and die Man therefore knowing himselfe and conceiuing that within him all things are diuine shall be perswaded that his minde and reason doth represent an holy Image and must therefore continually indeuour to doe and imagine thinges worthie so heauenly a grace Thus beeing made of God his societie and reputed of his race and progenie it must needs be that in the gouernment of this world we haue from him him the authoritie of rule and commaunding Sith then he is the author and director and that our beeing proceedeth from him as the creator of all thinges euery councell lawe and ordinance is at his handes to be required to the ende that this diuine worlde may be knowen and gouerned not by men but the will wisedome and prouidence of God For as brute beastes cannot without a heardman of other beastes be gouerned Euen so men by men without the guiding of GOD cannot be ruled For if it so happen that any man doth take in hande to gouerne without GOD that is to say without his diuine will wisedome and knowledge It must needs be that euery commonweale so gouerned and the life of euery priuate Citizen therein shall become vnhappy and miserable For in vaine it were to studie the welfare of any state if God be not the defendour and keeper thereof It may then be conceyued that all vertue and wisedome of man proceedeth from God which was the cause that our auncestors in times past were wont to dedicate publique temples to vertue faith concord wisedome and peace But are the Councels of gouermente to be asked of God or ought all requestes and prayers aswell for small as greate graces ascende vnto his heauenly hearing Yea surely So that our suite and prayers doe not discente form reason Good lawes therefore are obtayned at Gods handes by intercession of wise men and not by holding vppe the handes of fooles or be their lowde cries or prostrating their bodies vppon the earth For God is onely present with wise men and as Ouidius saith well Est Deus in 〈◊〉 agitante calescimus illo Spiritus hic sacrae lumina mentis habet The wisedome of GOD doth enter and possesse their mindes and as they doe honour it so dooth it honour them whereby they are made as it were Gods Without GOD no good or wise man liueth For hee onelye is prouidente politique and full of councell The wise man by his vertue resembleth the likenesse of God which proceedeth of perfect reason It behooueth vs therefore not as some men teach onely to be men and vnderstand things humaine and mortall but also if possiblie it may bee excell all mortalitie and liue according to that parte which is in vs moste excellente But what is that which in man is moste excellente surelye reason by meane whereof wee knowe God vse vertue imbrace good and eschewe euill This is that which maketh men perfect wise valiant and iust Thus it appeareth that through diuine reason the worlde is gouerned by man It shall therefore behooue him in all his proceedings of gouerment to follow the direction thereof and as of a diuine Oracle in all his councels lawes cogitations to pray for the grace and assistance of the almighty wherby he shal gouern all things wisely godly iustly For as the reason in God is the law most supreame So the reason of a wise man being perfect may be called God or law In respect wherof the Lacedemonians called those men Gods whom for wisedome iustice they thought to excell all others And as such a one Homer describeth Hector saying Non hominis certe mortalis filius ille Esse videtur sed diâ—â— semine natus Who so therefore obeyeth reason and by
ordinarie reasonable and according to the custome of men yet accompayning the fame with Philosophicall histories The forme of our perfect commonweale was described in the ancient Athenian Monarchie That people being dispersed and like vnto beastes wandring in the field were first by Cecrope and after by Theseus constrained to inhabite a Citie which was then called Cecropiae and since named Athens and at length reduced to a kingdome descended to their posterity But what authority the Senate vnder those kings had which order did represent the Optimatie by reason the time is long since passed and few writers haue therof written cannot be to vs apparantly knowen yet must we beleeue that those kinges had about them wise men whose councell they imployed in gouerning The kinges of that age as Thucidides affirmeth did rule by consent of the people and with their suffrages determined many thinges whereof themselues were doubtfull Yet that gouerment indured not but was through tract of time which alterâ—th all things committed to the multitude whose force and power vtterly subuerted the commonweale The Lacedemonian state as is before said seemed to containe all three sortes of gouerment that is the King the Nobilitie and people What shoulde I say of the Romanes Shall I not call those times golden when kinges were content to be Councelled Romulia as Liuiâ— writeth being by consent both of Gods and men elected king notwithstanding the state was then little refused to gouerne the same alone calling vnto him an hundred Senators for his assistance whom eyther in respect of their age or vertue he called fathers And least the people should hold themselues ill satisfied and defrauded of all honours and thereby hatred might ensue eyther towards the King or Senate he made them capable of the iudiciall offices and suffered them to haue voyces in determining warre and concluding of peace with many other priuiledges And wolde God that forme of commonweale had still continued in Rome For then so great effusion of blood had not beene made in the aspyring to liberty and extending the boundes of the Romane Empyre Neyther shoulde the happines of that state haue beene with so many seditions disturbed whereby scarsly at any time it hath liued in peace But let vs now consider of commonweales in our age we see that the Empyre of Germanie consisteth of the Emperour the Princes and the people That state beeing gouerned by diuers potentates and the pollecy drawne into sundry gouermentes cannot easely be described The french Monarchie hath in it a king who ruleth at his owne discretion and although his authoritie be not confined to lawe yet against lawe and honour he doth not anything but liueth as a iust and honourable Prince In that kingdome the noble men whom they call peares represent an Optimatie the people is deuided into three sortes Gentlemen Priestes and popular multitude and a choise number compounded of these three and assembled by the kings commandement doe determine of matters which in the commonweale are of most importance This Councell was anciently called Pauceltium as the Aetâ—oli named their generall assemblie Panaetolium or as the vniuersall Councels of Ionia was termed Panionium In Spayne the king hath authority soueraigne the Councel royall resembleth the Optimatie and the three chiefe orders of knighthood may be likened to the popular state For the order of S. â—ago Callatraua Alâ—antara assembled with the king do determine of matters most important The kingdome of Polonia doth also consist of the said three sortes that is the king nobility and people But it is to be noted that this word people includeth only knights and gentlemen The liberty fellowship of those orders is so great as the king without aduise of his couÌ„cel their authority doth not any thing neither caâ— the couÌ„cel determine without the allowance of the King and consent of the people In that kingdome the lawes are of so great force as euery man religiously sweareth to keepe and obserue them and ifcontrarie to that othe any thing be done the same is accounted iniust and impious That othe which they sweare for the obseruation of their lawes and liberty is in their language called Captue which signifieth in Latine Tegmen capitis for as the heade is kept from cold by being couered so through vertue of that othe their lawes liberty and welfare is conserued because in maintayning thereof no good man feareth to aduenture his life against Tyrants and all others that labour to violate the boundes of publique liberty and happinesse That people therefore doe liue in great liberty beeing perswaded that to liue according to lawe is indeed perfect freedome In that kingdome the Prince gouerneth by lawes and proceedeth not according to will In making of warre or concluding of peace he vseth the aduise of his Councell neuer transgressing the lawes which worketh this effect that among the people the kinges person is not onely highly honoured but also for a God rightly reuerenced and adored For who is he that would not entirely loue honour and reuerence that Prince who in gouerning is of one selfe minde with the lawe contented to be led by the line of reason directing his doings according to the expert wisdome of his Councellors If authority be thus vsed what consent loue and mutuall affection doth it make among subiectes To conclude the king of Polonia seemeth such a Prince as Plato Aristotle Xenophon and other law-makers haue wished to be in commonweales as nature and God himselfe doth allowe The Senate doth in that state represent the Optimatie and hath as is aforesaid great authority For being chosen amongest the most graue and wise gentlemen they onely with the king doe consult of the commonweale Their authority is not vnlike to the Homotimâ— in Persia or the Ephori in Lacedemonia The gentlemen of Polonia doe represent the popular state for in them consisteth a great part of the gouerment and they are as a Seminarie from whence Councellors and Kinges are taken The kingdome of Brytannie now called England obeyeth one King who choseth his Councellors vnto whome the rest of the Nobility and popular order being ioyned doe make one common Councell which in their language is called Parliament The Venetian state seemeth framed after the same fashion but they within the name of people doe onely include Gentlemen and Citizens taking great heede least any other should vsurpe that title because they onely are capable of the magistracie Out of that number the Senate is chosen which representeth an Optimatie and is as foundation of that state The Duke is also elected of that number resembling a king And surely there is no Monarchie or commonweale that can compare with it for quiet gouerment and longe continuance whether the cause thereof proceedeth from God from fortune from the obseruation of Iustice or from the naturall seate of that Citie I neede not nowe to discourse But true it is
that all occasions of ciuill discention and subuersion are remooued Of good commonweales let this we haue sayde suffice and consider what are those thinges that doe chiefly make them perfect and happie In euery good and perfect commonweale three thinges are specially required that is to say Magistrates lawes and ciuill discipline for without these no Citie nor societie of men coulde euer be preserued The office of Magistrates is to rule and commaund the people to doe those thinges that be iust profitable and agreeable to lawe and reason Cicero no lesse learnedly then eloquently saith that as the lawes gouerne the Magistrates so the Magistrates ought to gouerne the people and the Magistrate may be iustly called the liuing lawe and the lawe a dombe Magistrate Hee therefore in all commonweales is of greate necessitie for without his wisedome councell fidelitie and discretion no state can stande nor be gouerned whereof also the state and order of euerye commonweale may be knowen As the shippe in tempestious seas is endangered and many time drowned vnlesse by the labour and industrie of the mariners it be saued So the commonweale tormented with tempest of seditions and discord must perish if through the diligence and wisedome of the Magistrates it be not preserued Or as mans bodie is ruled by reason so euery Citie and societie of men must of necessitie containe a soule which is the lawe to be thereby gouerned and that lawe proceedeth from the reason councell and iudgement of wise men For where no lawes nor Magistrates are there no God no men nor no society can be continued The true law of man is reason which wisemen doe giue vnto themselues others receiue from the Magistrates perswading them to eschue things forbidden by law no lesse then if the same were contrary to reason They therfore that in wisdom discretion do excell others are as is aforesaid made of golden or siluer nature because they can deserue best of mans society are to be aboue others aduanced For as Cities well walled and fortefied are thereby defended from the fury of enemies So tranquilitie and happie life is by the councell of wise men preserued Therfore it behooueth them first to be indued with such vertues as may make the commonweale happy then that they be affectionate to the state and liue therein contented to the ende they attempt no innouation and lastly that they be authorised to execute those thinges which they thinke profitable for the commonweale For so shall they commaund with more reputation and the subiectes more willingly obey them Surely whosoeuer shall without indignitie aspyre to the place of supreme gouerment hath neede to vse great art and singular wisedome For such a one is to gouerne not one onely house not one onely famely not one onely wife not one onely rase of children but the commonweale deuided into infinite and contrarie humors of men which by his wisedome must be reduced to one consent equality and concord Moreouer for somuch as in commonweales there are three degrees of magistrates among whom the king holdeth the most supreame place next vnto him is the Senate and the third is distributed to the people what profit may be reaped of euery of them let vs now consider The kinges authority contayneth great vertue high vnderstanding and diuine wisedome for as God is prince of the vniuersall world so is the King Lord of the whole commonweale It behooueth him therefore to gouerne iustlie and godlie because in the commonweale he is accounted the Lieuetenant of God For the Councell wisedome and knowledge of kinges is not their owne but giuen them of God Also for somuch as no king can with his diligence and onely wisedome equally gouerne the whole state for it is rather the vertue of God then man exactlye to know all thinges apperteyning to good gouerment they haue therfore vsed to call vnto their assistance some wise men whereby the common-weale might be the better gouerned Those men beeing as a meane betwixt the king and the people doe on the one side know the office of the king and on the other what are the customes and lawes belonging to the people thereof conceiuing what ought be done for preseruation of the kinges honour and what apperteyneth to the profitt of the commonweale people We thereof inferre that these magistrates or councellors are of all other most able to stand the coÌ„monweale in stead The king being but one onely man cannot looke vnto all thinges and sometimes it happeneth that eyther by giuing liberty to his appetites or yeelding to his affections hee is seduced from true reason and the ignorant multitude being as they say without head or discretion cannot be capable of that knowledge Yet the Senate being chosen and made of vertuous wise and expert men may from their place as from a watch-tower looke about and prouide thinges needefull for the state preuenting all seditions tumultes and perils that can be attempted which is the respect there is not skantlie any commonweale which vseth not to commit eyther the whole or the greatest charge of gouernment to the Senate For albeit they were indeede called Kings who first assembled the habitation of men into Cities liuing before sauagely dispersed in woods and fieldes yet with that course of gouernment the kings could not alone retayne them in obedience Neyther did the authority and wisdome of one Prince suffise when the mindes of men were reduced to ciuilitie and their wonted bestialitie reiected It therefore behoued kings to be accompanied with the Councell of wisemen to the ende the commoweale might be the better gouerned which we reade was done by Romulus For he supposing that the gouernment of one without aduise of Counsell would proue eyther perilous odious or without grauitie did call vnto his assistance a hundreth Senators whome eyther in respect of their age or wisedome he named Fathers The like was done by Theopompus king of Sparta who appoynted the Ephorâ— giuing them great authoritie in the state whereat his wife offended and saying that he â—ad thereby diminished the power of his posteritie in that kingdome answered that it was enlarged and strengthened being perswaded that thorough Counsell and authoritie of the Senate the state wold be exceedingly encreased and inforced Whereby it appeareth that the aduice of Counsellors were from the beginning by kings embraced and all men haue thought those resolutions to be most firme and assured which were by Councell and wisedome of the Senate digested I call that a Senate which is the chiefe magistracie appoynted to giue Counsell and gouerne the state And consequently the Senator is a man lawfully elected into the number authorised to counsell gouerne the commonweale It hath therefore alwaies beene that the order of Counsellors was framed of the most discreet wise and noble sort of subiectesâ— because there is not any society of men so barbarous but desireth the gouernment should
an insolent plebeyall domination It also sometimes happeneth that men blinded with loue of riches and wealth doe chose rich men onely to be gouerners and keepers of common libertie supposing them to be most worthy and fit to beare office in the state Such a commonweale is called the authoritie of a fewe or an Oligarchia for those Citizens doe beare the soucraigne offices who are aboue the rest of most wealth and substance The Senators and other Magistrates in that state are partly by election partly by lot and partly by generall consent and sometime by a fewe created And because the choise is made according to mens riches each man indeuoreth himselfe not to attaine vertue but welth knowing the offices are as it were thereunto due In such commonweales so greate veneration and worship is giuen to riches as there is nothing so holie so godlie or religious that couetousnesse the fatall plague of all gouermentes cannot violate and subuerte They that in the election of Magistrates doe onely respect vertue and by it doe measure the felicitie of the state doe inhabite kingdomes or Optimaties For those that obey Kinges whether they be by election or naturall discent the people beleeue them aboue all other men to be most diuine most wise and most worthy And they that desire to be gouerned not by one alone but diuers doe in election of their gouernours obserue the like reason Because among those men choise is made of the best most iust and sufficient persons to be Magistrates without attributing any thing to lot or fortune for each man examineth his owne iudgement touching the vertue of them whome they desire to aduance which is a respect of singular commendation in the bestowing of honours For as the Poet saith it is a great matter to be poynted out with the finger euerie one saying this is he Wheresoeuer chance hath more power then reason there is little place left for vertue Yet doe I not in a free state mislike the suffrage of chance that goeth before or followeth the iudgement of good men touching particular mens vertue For in that cōmonweale where is most plenty of good men there to admit chance for iudge of each mans worthines may be thought reasonable By that meanes men in office shall account themselues the most worthie Citizens knowing they are aduanced aswell by the iudgement of good men as the sentence of fortune This order of election is obserued by the Venetians The like institution Solon did make in Athens for chosing the 500 Senators For out of euery Tribe was chosen so many as were thought fit to become Senators whose names they vsed to put into one Pott and into an other Pott as many beanes the one halfe white the other halfe blacke then so many as happened vpon the white beanes were pronounced Senatos and those that lighted vpon the blacke beanes as repulced returned home without office Therefore Thucydides called that Counsell Senatum a Faba Among the Romaines sometime Lordes of the whole worlde the Senators were chosen diuers waies according to the diuersitie of times For eyther they were chosen by the Kings Consuls Dictators Tribunes of the people Censors or Chieftaines In all which elections till the time of Augustus no mention is made of lottings but the vertue fame familie age order office before borne wealth and profession were chiefly respected Nowe for so much as there is nothing more excellent nor more diuine then vertue we thinke expedient that in the choise of Counsellors chiefe regard must be had thereunto because through it Counsellors be made iust valiant and wise It behoueth all Magistrats in euery well gouerned commonweale to be indued with vertues and chiefly those that are aspired to the dignity of Cousellors For Counsellors be reputed the defenders of lawes the moderators of liberty and conseruers of the whole commonweale And as the commonweale is many times infected and corrupeed by the vices and wickednes of Magistrates so is the same corrected and repaired by their vertues Neyther is the mischiefe of their faultes so great as that many others will imitate those euill examples Such are the people of euery state as are the manners of those that gouerne and what mutation of manners the Prince vseth the same is by the subiectes followed Plato most excellently and wisely saith that the estate of commonweales is changed like vnto the alteration of musitions voyces But it was better said of one other that the change of a Princes life the alteration of maners in great Magistrates would also change the māners customs institutions rights the cōmonweale it selfe And truely I think that euil Princes do deserue worst of the cōmonweale not in that they do euill-themselues but that thereby all others become infected and therefore the vices are noe so hurtful as are their vicious exsamples Such men therefore as not onely with their owne actions but their examples doe preiudice the state are most seuerely to be punished How is it possible for any man to perswade others to vertue and obseruation of lawe himselfe liuing otherwise The Romaines laughed Scylla to scorne that being a man most intemperate and delighting in licenciousnes did notwithstanding vse to exhorte and compell others to sobrietie temperance and frugalitie Who woulde not also finde faulte with Lysander though he did contrarie to Scylla allowe those vices in the Citizens from which himselfe refrained But Lycurgus is in deede iustlie to be commended because he neuer commanded others to doe any thing which himselfe would not first doe and firmely obserue Therefore they vnto whome the commonweale hath giuen authoritie to choose Counsellors and other Magistrates ought to be of greate iudgement and high wisedome For they shoulde electe those whome they thinke to excell all others in witt wisedome iudgement vertue and good action I doe therefore greatly dislike the popular order of lotting to finde out men fitt for this purpose because the people by helpe thereof desiring to preserue their equalitie and libertie doe incurre such errour as they commonly choose men most vnworthy the name and vertue of a Senator Wherefore they ought in preferuing of libertie to be most carefull of that which might chiefly profit the commonweale not giuing in respect of commaunding and obeying by turne the gouernment to the slouthfull and foolish sort for euery man liueth with equalitie enough in the state so long as the same be gouerned by the wisest discretest and grauest Citizens We therefore determine that election of Counsellors is most perfect which proceedeth from men excelling in wisedome and iustice because they being vertuous cannot permit any thing iniust eyther in themselues or in the commonweale In this our estate being gouerned by a King a Senate and people some man may doubt whether the Senators ought be chosen by diuers or one alone Where diuers haue authority to choose eyther all subiects are included or part
of them as in a popular state the one and in an Optimatie the other is vsed Which so euer of them doth claime right of electio must of necessity disdaine the other for the people doe affect liberty the noblemen desire authority Wherefore eyther they fall into sedition one against the other 〈◊〉 agree by law or consent that eyther of them shall enioy the liberty of election And though it so doe â—â—â—ne to passe yet will if not be long before they returne to their former discention For euery one knowing he hath gotten a partiall iudge of his vertue wisdâ—â—â— beleeuing himselfe to be disdained of the contrary faction practiseth â—aâ—red conspitacy in the state reiecting the ornaments of verâ—ue trusting to â—oâ—â—ed friends studieth ambitously by followers corruption to aspire unto authority what cannot be attained vnto by vertue he extorteth by force and violence So as good subiectes are by euill oppressed and in place of iustice vertue and wisedome deceipt fraud vice iniustice doe gouerne all Surely it is a thing most perilous that the magistrates of any state should be chosen by the multitude which is no reasonable of indifferent iudge of menworthines For many times eyther it enuieth or fauoureth those vnto whome they giue their libertie not iudging according to reason but is often moued by fauour or drawen with desire to honour those that ambitiously labour to aspyre And to conclude whensoeuer the multitude doe make choise the same is not performed according to discretion knowledge and iudgement but fury and rashnes There is not as Tully saith any Counsell Reason Iudgement or diligence in the base people and wise men haue euer thought good to suffer those things which the people doe but not euer to commende their doings The multitude haue alwaies had the desire but not the iudgement to bestow the dignities for their voyces are wonne by flattery not gained by desert This custome being by lawe or vse allowed in other common-weales shall not be admitted in our state forwe recommend the election of our Counsellor to one alone being of all men iudged for vertue wisdome knowledge most worthy thinking that one may more easely then many eschew those perils which happen in chosing Counsellors But let him to whome this authority belongeth receiue the same as giuen him by lawe or consent of the people not aspyre therto by force corruption or Tyranny The custome of free people in the election of their Senators vnto whome they commit their welfare is to chose them among themselues or else to giue that authoritie of election to an other which we reade the Romaines sometimes to haue done who did not theÌ„selues choose the Senate as they did other magistrates but committed the doing thereof to one man alone of most excellencie good life manners authoritie wisedome and iudgement Romulus the first father of that Citie elected a hundred Senators which custome was vsed by the other kings succeeding But when the kings through the insolent gouernment of Tarquintus were remoued this power of election according to the qualitie of time was somewhat altered yet not giuen to many For till the state returned to a Monarchie the Senators were chosen eyther by the Consuls the Censor the dictator or cheiftaine Our ancestors haue most discretely brought that custome of the Romaines into this commonweale giuing vnto the Kinge power and authority to make choise of Counsellors and be an onely iudge of each mans vertue electing those whome for age wisedome and nobilitie he thought worthie We therefore doe determine the power and right of electing Counsellors to appertaine onely vnto the king wherein his greatest wisedome and iudgement ought be employed not calling any to Counsell for skill in domesticall affaires for riches gained by agriculture nor for skill in architecture but for wisedome in gouernment of the commonweale for preseruation of Subiects and knowledge in good and wholsome lawes If our bodies be diseased with sicknes we consult with learned Phisitions or if we want garments or howses we seeke for skillfull Artificers why should we not also as a thing of most importance looke out and choose such men to gouerne the people and commonweale whose wisedome can conserue the same in peace and tranquilitie It therefore behoueth a Prince in the choise of such men to vse the whole force of his capacitie wisedome and diligence For he is not onely to see that in the Counsellor there be those partes whereof we haue spoken to wit that he be a naturall subiect well borne and bred and indued with those artes and disciplines which are thought worthy a ciuill man destined to gouerne the state but he must also consider the quality of his manners fame famelie age and vertue It is moreouer to be knowen in what office or seruices the Counsellor before his election hath bene vsed and with how much endeuour fidelity wisedome and diligence he hath serued For from some other place of imployment the Counsellor ought be chosen which the Romaines vsed electing their Senators onely out of that number whome they called Patres which was as it were the nourserie of Counsellors To be short whosoeuer choseth Counsellors ought aboue all to lay before his eyes the profit of the commonweale whereby he shall easely conceiue what men and Counsellors the state wanteth and how much or little euerie one can helpe how great a burthen each man can beare and what is to waighty for his force Let vs hereafter discourse wherein all these thinges consist what good the state receiueth by a Counsellors wisedome and what dueties he is bound vnto By that which hath beene alreadie saide the King may sufficiently conceiue what things are considerable to knowe a perfect Counsellor and likewise a Counsellor shall finde what is to be obserued and vsed in gouerning But lest the discourse of this institution should seeme ouer long we thinke fit to speake of those qualities in one other booke following for not werying the readers minde with many wordes and thereby become ouer tedious Finis Libri Primi ⧠The second Booke WE haue as I hope in the former Booke sufficientlie at large discoursed of the first principles appertayning to the Counsellors dignitie how many kindes of commonweale there is and which of them ought be accounted most perfect We haue also laide the foundation of ciuill felicitie which is in the societie of men a thing most notable and diuine Nowe our entent is in this booke to set downe those vertues which are required not onely in a newe magistrate but an olde and expert Counsellor so shall the science of gouernment be complete perfect and fully finished First it behoueth a Counsellor to know the forme of that common-weale wherin he is to giue counsell and be a minister what people what lawes liberties are therunto belonging what manners are there vsed by what discipline vse and custome the state is gouerned
them was giuen absolute power to reuenge iniuries preserue liberty and beiudges of each mans vertues and vices A good king ought therefore to haue no lesse care of those he gouerneth then hath the shepheard of his flocke that is to make them blessed and happy Homer calleth king Agomemnon the sheepheard of people whom Plato doth imitate calling him sheepheard and keeper of mankinde Moreouer a king ought to gouerne his people Not as maisters doe their seruants but as the father ruleth his children Wherefore as it is the part of good parents sometimes to rebuke their children sometimes to admonish and cherish them and sometimes also to correct and punish them So shoulde a Prince behaue himselfe towardes his subiectes as well for the peoples preseruation as the safetie of the commonweale shewing himselfe sometimes seuere sometimes gentle and placable defending and enlarging the common profit with no lesse care then a father prouideth for the sustentation of his children Thus appeareth the difference betwixt kinges and Tyrantes the one doth care for the common commoditie the other studieth onely for priuate profitte The ende of the Tyrants indeuour is voluptuousnes but the ende of a kinges studie is honour To excell in riches is proper to Tyrants but a kings chiefe desire is honour A Tyrant desireth the ayde of strangers but a king is garded with his owne subiectes Alfonsus king of Arragon being asked which of his subiectes he helde most deare answered I loue them better that wish me well then those that feare me which seemeth reasonable because feare is accompanied with hatered A King therefore should be no more safe by defence of Armes then loue good will and fidelitie of subiectes He is also to be honored as the minister of publique Counsell the defender of lawes and conseruer of common right and liberty For better performing of all which offices he shall doe well to harken to the aduise of his Counsellors and as his parentes loue and honour them Traianus that great Emperour of the world vsed continually to call the Senate his father For like as the father doth foretell his sonne of those things he thinkes profitable so doth a Senate Counsell the king howe the state may be preserued and by what lawes and orders it shoulde be gouerned Of these and other thinges appertayning to the office of a king or that haue beene receiued by lawe vse or custome a Counsellor ought to be fully enformed The popular sorte of men is for the most parte mutable by reason of the diuersitie of their ages For of them some being young some olde and some of middle age it must needs be that great dissentions should arise euery man hauing a will and opinion diuers from others and because they are all free men each man frameth his life and manners according to his owne fancie supposing there is libertie where all men doe that which they lust and like The diuersitie of manners doth breede among them varietie of mindes and thereof doth followe sundry iudgementes touching the state lawe and liberty whereof hate displeasure and seditions doe ensue so as all men are not equallie affected to the common-weale Those that be honestlie brought vp naturally good and well trained in learning not surious nor voluptuous not womannish or licentiously giuen are most willing obseruers of lawes rights concord and ciuill society not sweruing as men say one inch from the rules of vertue fidelity glory of their ancestors because they keepe and retaine all those things as inheritance descended from their forefathers That sorte of men is in the commonweale to be reputed good subiectes But they whose follie hath bene nourished by domesticall libertie being borne at home and not trained vp abroad wherby they haue neuer seene done or heard any thing notable magnificent or noble are to be thought persons seditious crastie and perilous subiectes yet would they be called and thought good honest quiet and modest notwithstanding the contempt they haue to imitate honestmen And to the ende they shoulde not be thought blockheades and fit for nothing deuise some new practise to gaine themselues fame glory and commendation And it commeth many times to passe that pretending the patronage of liberty by publique perswasion and furie they take matters in hande in apparance godlie but in trueth profane And if any of them be by birth or education apt for sedition and excell the rest in witt and eloquence they offer themselues vnto the ignorant sort to be captaines and reformers of lawes religion and order conspiring against the King the Counsell and all good subiectes as men that had taken in hand the renouation of the whole commonweale Such men were of the Romanes called Plebicolae who to saue themselues from some punishment which before they deserued doe take vpon thē the name of defending libertie stirring newe troubles and alterations in the state eyther else moued by some sodaine furie of minde doeperswade the people to discorde and sedition or else hauing intangled or rather prodigally consumed their inheritance and substance desirous to haue fellowes in miserie and perish rather publiquely then alone were alwaies wont to attempt rebellion Of such disposition were the Romaines called Gracchus Clodius Catiline And in Athens Calistines with many others As the bodie of our commonweale consisteth in the coniunction of three estates whose vniuersall consent and temperature doth make it most perfect and happy so if the same bodie be deuided or dismembred that state becommeth of all others the mostlame imperfect and infortunate For all other commonweales are subiect to one onely mutation because they rest vpon one onely simple gouernment But our state being mixed and made of three must of force be subiect to as many conuersions and inclinations If the king abuseth his office the state hath one Tyrant if the Senate so doe there are diuers Tyrants But if the power of people doth surpasse the authority and force of both the other then the commonweale is afflicted with an infinite number of most pernicious Tyrants Wherefore if in such a State the office libertie dignitie authoritie and iurisdiction of euery of them be not confined and bound by lawes certaine so as both by feare and punishment they be compelled to obserue lawe and liue honestlie all good men shall there in vaine looke for quietnes The proper office of a Consellor as Cicero saith is to imagine he beareth the person of the state the reputation whereof he is bound to maintaine to obserue the lawes set forth the proceedinges and be mindfull of things committed to his fidelitie Also it becommeth him as a priuate man to liue in equality with other subiects neither debasing nor extolling him selfe and to desire onely those things in the common-weale which be peaceable and honest so shall euerie one performe the true duetie of a good and loyall subiect It also becommeth subiects moderately to vse their libertie For as Quintius saide temperate
libertie is profitable to euery Citie but ouermuch libertie is euill and maketh men headdie or desperate To suppresse the licentiousnes of euill subiects seueritie of lawe is required Therefore it behoueth the state to foresee that through not punishing of euill mens offences the good subiects be forced to suffer at their handes For the common-weale ought be accounted the possession of good and not of euill men Moreouer it cannot be but in euery commonweale seditions and motions will arise and Hannibal said there was no great Citie that could liue long in quiet vnlesse it had some enemies abroade because otherwise domesticall foes would therein arise And as mightie bodies seeme assured from externall harme so are they euer bourdened with their owne waight Besides that sith we are men we must not as the Comoedian saith thinke our selues free from any misaduenture that may happen to mankind For although we be wise prouident and good yet are we men and by instinct of nature lesse proan to vertue then vice and in like sort there is no Citie that wanteth wicked vicious and disorderly people Therefore whensoeuer the floode of troubles doth happen to arise in the state the office of a Counsellor as Cicero saith is patiently to indure the peoples wilfulnesse to winne the heartes of those that are vnasiured keepe them that are alreadie wonne appease the offended and aboue all prouide that the worst sort may not in any thing haue the aduantage It is not also amisse that sometimes he winke and seeme not to see so that those faultes whereat he winketh doe proceede rather of errour then wilfulnesse But to pardon such as voluntarilie haue offended or committed any impious act against the commonweale the honest orders of men or the lawe is not onely to be thought pernicious but also wicked and detestable Wherefore in suppressing so great a furie and rashnesse of mens fancies the Counsellor ought to employ great wisedome and diligence and let him therein chiefly vse those two precepts which Cicero reciteth from the mouth of Plato the one is that alwaies he looke well vnto the common profit referring thereunto all his actions and forget euery priuate respect the other is to be carefull for the whole bodie of the commonweale least in taking the protection of part he doth abandon the rest For who so defendeth one onely sort of men doth induce hatred and sedition which two plagues doe debilitate and subuert the state He ought therefore to be as carefull of the people as of the King of the nobilitie as of the meaner sort of the rich as of the poore of the wise as the simple and so consequently of all sortes and estates of men The omission of which rule was that which afflicted the Athenians and filled Rome with sedition tumults and ciuill warres Let him therefore in al things obserue indifferencie and equalitie for thereby the commonweale shalbe assured and the people in good will loue and peace preserued In that state where small respect is borne vnto equalitie there quarrell contention and enmitie doe dailie arise which commeth to passe for that men equall do aspyre to things vnequall or vnequall men to things equal But men of one fortune do best consort together and like will to like as the prouerbe saith They therfore that excell others in riches or birth are not to be preferred neyther are they to be equally esteemed who are equall in liberty but those that excell others in vertue are to be accounted both superiors and equals that is in respect of law or number as the Arithmetricians call it they are equall but in dignitie they are superiour because in the bestowing of honours vertue is chiefly respected For who so is most vertuous dedeserueth most honour and glorie and this equalitie because it is measured by reason and iudgement is called Geometricall I doe therefore thinke fit that the Senator should obserue both equalities In the distribution of iustice and conseruation of libertie he is to be towards all men indifferent For whom the law hath made equall ought to liue in rule and libertie neither giuing nor taking from one more then an other as the line of law doth direct him The rule of which equalitie is easely obserued For the condition thereof is in all commonweales prescribed which is that each man should enioy so much as by lawe custome or conuention to him appertaineth wherin heede must be taken that neither wealth powre or parentage be respected but that aswell the poore as rich the noble as ignoble may be equally iudged As touching equalitie according to the iudgement of reason whereby men would be preferred and honoured more then others is not so easelie discerned For to iudge of each mans valewe wisedome and vertue with the honours to them due is rather proper to a deuine then humaine wit The reason thereof is we are often deceiued in our opinion of that which is accoūted good neither be we euer vpright Iudges of other mens deseruing Herein therfore resteth the difficultie for who so can truely iudge of mens vertue shall therby shew himself rather a God then man In conclusion the commonweale is not preserued by any vertue more then that who so then in gouerning is a iust iudge of ech mans value vertue for it resteth in his censure knoweth also vnto whose hands to commit or not cōmit the state whom to loue and whom to hate whom to reward and whom to punish shall make the gouernment most quiet but not knowing so to do the same becommeth of all other the most wicked corruptible and disordered Therefore in popular commonweales where the multitude is rude and ignorant of discourse and reason the people are rewarded and punished by lot for they pray God that each man may find fortune according to his merit Notwithstanding for so much as the temeritie of lotting obeyeth rather to fortune then reason in the conseruation of equalitie we allowe of wisedome and humaine pollecie to be Iudge rather then fortune With which vertues if the Counsellor be indued he shal easelie discern what ought in all things to be done And therein he shall imitate the duetie of a good husband For he hauing within his house diuerse honest persons esteemeth one for his age an other for his vertue a third for his condition So the Counsellor in the commonweale should haue respect to each mans age vertue condition and calling He must also vnderstand the right liberty of people which as they think do consist chiefly in being capable of the offices to haue power to make correct lawes to speake freely in matters that concerne liberty law or iniury not to be arrested or imprisoned without order of lawe or authoritie nor be vniustly iudged robbed or forced to pay tribute They desire moreouer not to obey officers contrarie to lawe not to be hurt of those that be more mightie nor be oppressed