iustice in all Causes Answering to that his owne saying By me Kings reigne c. Which is as if he should haue said That their power is deriued from God as from the first and primary cause The signification likewise of this word King or Rex is and me thinks farre better declared if we shall but refer i'ts originall to another word of the primitiue Language where the Hebrew word Raga signifies amongst other it's significations To feede And in this sense it is to be found in many places of holy Scripture And from this Raga is deriued Rex Rego or Regno And Regere and Pascere amongst the Poets and euen also amongst the Prophets are promiscuously vsed Homer Virgil and Dauid put no difference betwixt Reges and Pastores styling Kings Shepheards Shepheards Kings And therefore in the 23. Psalme where the vulgar Latine reades Dominus regit me S. Ieromes Translation hath it Dominus pascit me The Lord is my Shepheard therefore can I lack nothing he shall fâ—ede me in a greene pasture and leade me forth besides the waters of comfort And Homer he styles a King Pastorem populi the Shepheard of his people in regard of that sweetnesse of Command wherewith he gouerneth them and the gentle hand that hee carries ouer them feeding but not fleecing of them Xenophon saith that the actions of a good shepheard are like vnto those of a good King So that the name of King doth not onely signifie him that ruleth but him that ruleth like a shepheard And the better to instruct vs herein the Prophet Isaiah speaking of that which the true Christian King our Sauiour should doe when he should come into the world saith Sicut Pastor gregem suum pascet in brachio suo congregabit agnos in sinn suo levabit foetas ipsa portabit Hee shall feede his flocke like a shepheard hee shall gather the Lambes with his armes and carry them in his bosome and shall guide them with young He shall perfectly performe all the Offices of a shepheard by feeding of his sheepe and by bearing them if neede be vpon his shoulders And of the selfe same King Christ God said in respect of his people Ipse pisect eos ipse erit eis in pastorem I will set vp a shepheard ouer them and he shall seed them And in the next words following he cals him ioyntly King and shepheard Servus meus David Rex super eos Pastor unus erii omnium eorum My seruant Dauid shall bee the Prince amongst them and they shall all haue but one shepheard And they shall dwell safely in the wildernesse and sleepe in the woods and none shall make them affraid And for the clearer signification hereof the first Kings that God made choise of and commanded to be anoynted hee tooke them from amidst their flâ—cks The one they sought after the other they found feeding of his flocke The Prophet Samuel whom God commanded to annoynt for King one of the sons of Ishai hauing scene the elder and the other seuen all goodly handsome men of a good disposition had no great liking to any one of them but asked their father Whether he had no more children but those And he said vnto him Adhuc reliquus est parvâ—lus pascit oves There remaineth yet a little one behind that keepeth the sheepe And the Prophet willed him that he should send for him for we will not sit downe till he be come hither shewing that to be a shepheard and to feed the flock was the best Symbole and most proper Embleme of a King And therfore I would haue no man to imagine that which Philon did feare that when we come to make a King we must take away the Crooke and put the Scepter in his hand The Office of a King I tell you and the Arte of ruling will require a great deale of study and experience For to gouerne the bigger sort of beastes and those that are of greatest price a man must first haue learned to â—aue gouerned the lesser It is not meete to Popp into great places vnexperienced persons and such as know not what belongs vnto businesse nor the weight of the charge that they are to take vpon them For indeede great Matters are not handsomely carryed nor well managed but by such as haue beene formerly imployed in businesses of an inferiour and lower nature And this choyse which God made of Dauid iumpes with this our intent He doth not say that he tooke him on the sodaine from the sheepefold and presently clapp't a Crowne vpon his Head but first bred him vp to feede the house of Iacob and his family and that he should exercise himselfe therein For a well ordered house and a family that is well gouerned is the Modell and Image of a Common-wealth And domesticall authoritie resembleth Regall power And the good guidance of a particular house is the Exemplary and true patterne of a publicke State It imbraceth and comprehendeth in it all the sorts of good gouernment It doth treate and set in order those things that appertaine to Policie Conseruation and the direction of Men as well in regard of Commanding as obeying What other thing is a house with his family but a little Citie And what a Citie but a great House Many houses make a Citie And many Cities make a kingdome And in point of gouernment ihey onely dâ—ffer in greatnesse for howbeit in the one they are busied more and in the other lesse yet they tend all to one end which is the common good And therefore S. Paul and other Saints and wise men are of opinion that hee that knowes not how to gouerne his own house well will hardly gouerne another mans The Emperour Alexander Severus visiting the Roman Senate did inquire how the Senators did rule and gouerne their owne priuate Houses and families and sayd That that man who knew not how to command his wife and his Children to follow his owne businesses to make prouision for his house and to gouerne his familie it were a madnesse to recommend vnto that man the gouernment of the Common-wealth Amongst those the famous Gouernours Cato the Roman was preferred before Aristides the Grecian because the former was a great Pater familias or father of a familie and the latter was noted to be defectiue in that kinde So that the life of a shepheard is the Counterfeit or Picture of gouernment as is to be seene by his assistance in his Office in the care of the wellfare of his flocke in the obligation of the Account that he is to make in the offence that he is to finde by Wolues and Theeues and in the solicitude and watchfullnesse which those ordinary dangers doe require wherein his flocke stands and more especially when the shepheard is wanting vnto them And it is so proper vnto a King to feede his flocke that when our Sauiour Christ fed that multitude of people which followed him in
so not complying as indeed they cannot with their obligation businesses are retarded and goe not on in that good way as they should and both they themselues and they that put them into these places liue with little or no securitie of conscience But if it be the Kings will and pleasure and that hee thinke it fit for his greater satisfaction that some one particular man that is eminent in the profession of that businesse which is to be treated shall treate thereof and shall see and peruse it a gods name if he will haue it so let his will be fulfilled yet with all let his Maiestie take his opinion as of a particular person and hauing receiued it let it be disputed discussed and debated by the body of the Councell such as haue beene beaten in these kinde of businesses and are throughly acquainted with these matters for by this meanes that which is pretended shall the better be effected and many the fore-mentioned inconueniences be excused Amongst those Ancient Romans when that Common-wealth was sole Mistris of all the world and when it was likewise vnder the Empire and Command of one onely Monarke we neuer read that it euer admitted of more then the Ordinary Councells for the dispatch of businesses Augustus Caesar a Prince of excellent prudence and his great Minion Mecaenas in matter of Counsaile can sufficiently confirme this Doctrine being that he himselfe was one of those that treated businesses in the ordinary Councells And he had a respect and consideration thereunto in that extraordinary cause of Piso touching the death of Gerâ—onicus wherein the iudgement of the people and the Senate was so much interessed Tiâ—erius the Emperour who was one of the subtilest and craftiest Princes that euer the Roman Empire knew would not for all his great strength of wit cunning dissimulation wherein he was his Arts-Master venter vpon any innouation farther then this to passe ouer his opinion to this or that other Councell but neuer appointed any particular Iunta for the same as one who knew very well that onely in so doing he should haue but laded his own shoulders with the weightinesse of the Case and the successe of the Cause Onely your Iuntas are to be vsed vpon some great and extraordinary occasion and not vpon euery trifling businesse as is now and hath these many yeares beene in vse much more time being imployed in particular Iuntas then publicke Councells touching the peâ—sons of these Councells If the number be not sufficient for the dispatch of businesses let it rather be increased then that by this other course he that is Master and Lord of all should likewise make himselfe Master of all wrongs and grieuances and of that which the aggrieued will conceiue of him which hatching imagination of theirs will bring forth that Cocatrice of Kings most venemous hatred By that which wee haue both read seene and heard it is easie to be collected that this was meerely an Introduction of the Ambitious who indeauoured by this meanes to haue all things passe through their hands and depend vpon their will And this as if it had beene a thing of inheritance hath gon along in descent from one age to another euen to these our present times That particular Councell which Kings formerly had and in effect all of them still haue that more reserued secret Councell with whom they communicate their in wardest thoughts let it a Gods name be superiour to all the rest which supplying as in those three potentiae or faculties the very place and soule as it were of the Prince it is very fit and conuenient that it should iudge of the actions and Resolutions of all your Ordinary Councells and that they should all wayte vpon this and attend their pleasure and that they should likewise treate of all those great businesses which the Ancient and more especially Augustus Caesar called Arcanaimpery Misteries of State and secrets of the kingdome But for the rest let them be left to their Ordinary Councells for so shall they receiue quicker dispatch and all sutes be more easily ended and things carryed with lesse labour of the one and fewer complaints of the other And let it likewise suffice euen the greatest intermedlers of these Ministers that they haue a hand in publicke businesses without offering for their priuate interest to draw things out of their ordinary course and Common tracke whereinto they were put making themselues thereby hated and abhorred of all those that haue any thing to doe with them For at last they will come to sent and winde out their driftes to know all their doublings and shiftings and to watch them at euery turne and when they haue them at aduantage neuer poore Hare was so hardly followed by Hounds as these will be pursu'd to death by them whom the others powerfullnesse with his Prince did seeke to crush and keepe vnder It were well that these great Ministers would weigh and consider with themselues that as they haue their hands already too full of worke so haue they more complaints against them then they would willingly heare of and more enuie at the heeles of them then they can well shake of and therefore if they were wise they would anoyd as much as in them lyes to draw these mischiefes more and more vpon themselues In great resolutions indeed Kings are not to giue way that they should be taken out of the Councells of State and warre nor yet that they should be conluded without them For the gâ—ory of all good successefull Actions shall be his as hauing their reuolution and motion from him as from their Primum Moâ—ile Nor is it any wisedome in a King to lay the misfortunes and vnhappy Accidents that may befall a State vpon his owne shoulders Which will be qualified for such by his Priuy Counsellours as finding themselues iustly offended in that hee hath not imparted his minde vnto them nor communicated with them in the Common wealths affaires especially if they be of consequence The principall cause why there was ordained a Councell of State was That it might serue to helpe the king whom principally this Body representeth to beare the Popular charge which euermore iudgeth of things by the euents and though now and then they fall out ill and the people thereupon ready to murmure and mutinie yet are they the better bridled and appeased by the power and authoritie of these Counsellours The Office of a King hath trouble inough with it burthen inough and therefore they should not aduise him to lay more vpon himselfe without lawfull and necessary cause And because when I treated of the qâ—alitâ—es of Counselours I reserued those for this place which more properly appertaine vnto them that are of this Counsell I will breifely deliuer what they are and how necessarie for those that are elected thereunto And I will content my selâ—e with no lesse then those of that great Common-wealths man and Counsel our Pericles And besides to those
is to retarde their Consultations to shew themselues thicke of hearing to haue their eares shut or rather the Oydores themselues shut vp and not to be spoken withall Some would faine excuse these Audiences with the impertinencies of those that craue them which sometimes are very large and tedious and to as little purpose as they are too too importune vnseasonable But to this answere That your high and eminent places bring with them this trouble and charge And as the Apostle Saint Paul said that it is a great token of prudence to know how to beare with the foolish and to haue suffrance and patience with those that are none of the wisest Libenter enim suffertis insipientes cum sitis ipsi sapientes For ye suffer fooles gladly because that ve are wise And because he that is most wise is most offended with ignorance let him know that he meriteth much in dissembling it when it is fitting so to doe for to say the truth as the same Apostle affirmeth Gods good and faithfull Ministers haue obligation both to the Wise and to the foolish Sapientibus insipientibus debitorsum I am debtor both to the wise men and to the vnwise In the History of the Kings is set downe the dissimulation wherewith the womon of Tecoa spake vnto King Dauid and how importunate and tedious she was in telling here tale and withall the Kings great patience in hearing her out and his not being offended with the craft and cunning wherewith shee came vnto him albeit the businesse was of that weight and moment that his great Captaine Ioab durst not propound it vnto him Audi tacens simul quaerens Giue eare and be still and when thou doubtest aske This Counsaile concerneth all but more particularly Kings and their Ministers who are to heare and be silent to aske and aske againe till they haue fully informed themselues of the truth of the case For this is rather an honour then dishonour vnto Kings and great Ministers For as the holy Ghost saith Gloria regum est in vestigare sermonem The Kings honour is to search out a thing Of him that speaketh not nor asketh a question of him that speaketh it may be conceiued that he doth not heare him For these two sences are so neere of kinne that as the Philosopher obserueth he that is borne dumbe is also deafe And not onely this but likewise that the speech being taken away the hearing is lost with it The cause whereof according to Lactantius is for that the Organ by which the Ayre is receiued and wherewith the Voyce is formed holds such Correspondencie with that which goes vnto the hearing that if the first be shut or stopt the exercise of the second is likewise hindred Vpon information and hearing followeth in the next place doing of Iustice whereof we will treate in the Chapters following CHAP. XX. Of the Vertue of Iustice the naturall sister and Companion of Kings WEe told you in the former Chapter that Hearing was the precisest and directest meanes for the doing of Iustice. And therefore falleth fitly out here to treate thereof Your Ancient Hieroglyfinists as also your Saints in their writings treating of this Vertue compare it to a payre of weights or scales with it's two ballances And it seemeth that Nature herselfe made this Ectypum or Exemplar this portrayture or delineation shadowing it out in euery one of vs by giuing vs two eares like vnto those two balances whose truth dependeth on the Examen or Aequilibrium that tongue or needle which stands vppermost in the beame of the ballance making my application in this maner that the two eares standing like two ballances on either side of the head they haue their rule of truth from the supremest and highest part thereof where stands the tongue or needle of reason and the iudgement of those things to their true weight and measure which are put into these Intellectaull ballances To discourse therefore of Iustice is very essentiall to that which hath already beene treated touching a Common-wealth For as we told you in our very first Chapter A Republick or Common-wealth is a Congregation of many men subiect to the same Lawes and Gouernment which is not possible to bee conserued if Iustice therein shall be wanting Which giues to euery one that which is his owne keepes men within the bounds of good Order and Discipline and bridles those by reason which transported by their vnruly appetites like headstrong iades would liue without it admitting no curbe no manner of controll but following that Law of Viuat qui vincit Let him weare a Crowne that winn's it If Men would but obserue that first rule of the Law natural consecrated by the mouth of our diuine Master Christ. Quod tibi non vis alteri ne feceris Et quaecunque vultis vt faciant vobis homines eadem facite illis Offer not that to another which thou wouldst not haue donne to thy selfe And therefore whatsoeuer ye would that men should doe to you euen so doe yee to them There needed no other bullwarkes or fortifications to liue quietly and peaceably in the world But after this same Lolium crept in this Tare of Meum and Tuum the Cooler as Chrysostome calls it of Charitie the Seminarie of discordes and dissention and the fountaine of all mischiefe men found themselues obliged nay inforced to seeke out some such meanes or maner of liuing whereby euery one might quietly and peaceably inioy that which he held to be his owne And for this cause they resolued to leade a ioynt life together submitting themselues to one and the same Lawes and subiecting themselues to one and the same King who should likewise keepe and obserue them and by iustice conserue nourish and maintaine all other necessary vertues for the augmentation and conseruation of Common wealths And for this end was giuen vnto Kings that great power which they haue holding in one hand the ballance of Iustice and in the other the sword of power Which that naked weapon doth represent which is borne before them when they enter with authoritie and State into their Cities And alluding either vnto this or those ancient Insignia of your Iudges the Apostle Saint Paul saith Vis non timere potestatem Bonum facinon enim fine causa gladium portat Wilt thou be without feare of the power Doe well For the Magistrate beareth not the sword for nought Herodotus tells vs that which Cicero deliuereth vnto vs. Eadem fuit legum constituendarum causa quae regum That one and the selfe same was the cause and Motiue of ordaining Lawes and Creating Kings Whence it followeth that there neither can be any Common-wealth without Iustice nor any one that can deserue to be a King vnlesse he maintaine and conserue it And though he may seeme to be a King yet in realitie of truth he is not Because he wants that principall attribute that
in regard of that great vigilancie which Kings ought to haue in executing Iustice and in seeing and knowing what passeth in the kingdome for kingdomes for this cause are content to become subiect vnto them out of a confidence they haue that they shall be protected by them This is the thing saith Osorius that Kings must looke vnto This must be their cheife care and study In studium iustitiae omnes regis curae et cogitationes omnes labores atque vigiliae omnia denique studia consumenda sunt Eâ— namque à principio Reges creauit The doing or not doing of Iustice is that which either sets vp or puls downe Kings And that King must make a new conquest of Kingdomes If those which he hath already gained be not conserued and defended by the force and power of Iustice which is the maine pillar and onely prop to speake of that vpholdeth Kingdomes without which they cannot long last and continue For God will most iustly punish them by taking those from them which they haue if they dissimulate iniustices and if they suffer themselues to be carryed away contrary to all right and reason and permit notorious faults to passe without punishment Other faults are not so much risented in Kings and Kingdomes are content to tolerate them be they neuer so great But should they haue neuer so many other good partes if they be faulty in this which is of so great importance they shall presently see and perceiue a publicke face of sorrow and a generall discontent in all their subiects And God oftentimes makes it a meanes for the punishment and amendment of Kings and Kingdomes It is the saying of Iesus the sonne of Syrach That by Counsaile and Iustice Kingdomes are maintained And for default thereof Scepters and Crownes are lost and Kingdomes transferred from one people to another And those brought to serue which were borne to command But the King that administreth Iustice without respect of persons shall haue his succession perpetuall for that is the very ground and foundation of a Throne royall Aufer impietatem de vultu regis et firmâ—bitur Iustitia thronus eius Take away the wicked from the King and his throne shall be established in righteousnes That is His Issue his House and his Kingdome Iustice is that which foundeth Kingdomes which enlargeth them and conserueth them That which establisheth peace and resisteth warre Without it there is neither King nor Kingdome nor Common-wealth nor Citie nor any other Communitie which can be conserued And all whatsoeuer that haue beene ruined and destroyed hath beene for want of Iustice. For this cause the Kings of Egypt and in imitation of them some others did which all good Kings ought to do sweare their Presidents Ministers and Magistrates that they should not obay their mandatums nor execute their orders and decrees if they found in them that they commanded any thing contrary vnto Iustice and the Lawes of the Kingdome Philip the Faire King of France and his successor Charles the seuenth enacted a Law that the Iudges should make no reckoning of the Kings Letters nor those his royall scedules vnlesse they seemed vnto them to be iust and lawfull The Catholike Kings Don Fernando and Donna Isabella and their Nephew Charles the fift by their well ordained Lawes Magistracies and Tribunals of so much power and authoritie exceeded all before them that fauoured Iustice. Which were augmented and inlarged by King Philip the second who was more particularly zealous of Iustice. And his sonne King Philip the third was a great fauourer and louer of Iustice and obseruer of the Lawes submitting vnto them his person and his goods Who might very well say that which the Emperour Traiane said conferring great power on his Gouernour in Rome Thou shalt vse this sword in our name and for Vs as long as we shall command that which is iust and against vs if we shall command the contrarie For it is alwayes to be presumed of the Intention of Kings that they euermore command Iustice to be done but neuer the contrary though it make against themselues Dauid gaue thankes vnto God that hee had set him in the way of Iustice that is That he had giuen him an vpright heart and informed his vnderstanding with so right a rule that it inclined his disposition to doe iustice though it were against himselfe The cause saith Diuus Thomas why God for so many yeares did inlarge the Empire and Monarchie of the Romanes with so much power so much treasure and so many great victories was for that their rectitude and iustice which they obserued towards all But in that instant that they fell from this their Empire likewise began to fall Of these Examples all Histories both humane and diuine are very full yet all will not serue the turne they doe little or no good Let Gods mercie supply this defect and worke this good And let not the poore bee discouraged and disheartened but let them comfort and cheere vp themselues with this that their righteousnesse and their patience shall not perish for euer God hath spoke the word and he will keepe it The poore saith the Psalmist shall not alwayes be forgotten nor shall the hope of the afflicted perish for euer For he will take the matter into his owne hands and will breake the arme of the wicked and malitious and will helpe the fatherlesse and poore vnto their right that the man of earth bee no more exalted against them Woe vnto those that are rules of the people Woe vnto those that are vniust Kings Which make Lawes like Spiders cobwebbs whereinto little starueling flies fall and die but your fat Bulls of Basan breake through and beare them away in triumph on their homes But that wee may touch no more vpon this string we will here holde our hand and and goe on in treating of Iustice and it's parts A matter no lesse profitable then necessary for Kings and their Ministers CHAP. XXI Of the Parts of Iustice in common and in particular of Iustice commutatiue TO the end that we may proceede with more distinction and clearenesse in this Chapter we are to presuppose with Diuus Thomas and others that Iustice may be sayd to be in Common two manner of wayes First of all vnder this generall name of Iustice is comprehended all kinde of vertue thereof in this sense saith the Philosopher that Iustitia est omnis virtus Iustice includeth in it selfe all sortes of vertues whatsoeuer so that a iust Man and a vertuous man is all one And in this sense Christ conceiu'd it when he said Nisi abuâ—dâ—uerit Iustitia Except your righteousnesse exceede c. And in another place Attendite ne iustitiam vestram faciatis coram hominibuâ— Take heede that yee doe not boast your righteousnesse before men to be seene of them Of iustice considered thus in the generall we will not now treate of in this place for in rigour and
Offices wherein to imploy them But I do not speake this as inferring thereby that there should bee so many but that at least for the foresaid reasons there should bee some And in conclusion more then one because it will bee more easie to negotiate with them and lesse costly and troublesome and bee a meanes that the Prince may be the better eased and freed in great part of those cares and troubles which otherwise must needs weary him out and worke his vnrest and disquiet For his body is not made of brasse nor can he occurre to all occasions Besides being more then one their competition will make them the more both carefull and fearefull as knowing that in case they shall grow carelesse there are persons enough besides of sufficiencie to supply their place Whereas the opinion and conceit of the contrary puffes him vp with pride and vndoes it's Master For they fondly and foolishly perswade themselues that their King and Master cannot liue and subsist without the assistance of their wit and that there is not that fault they commit but must be forgiuen them out of the necessitie of their seruice Forgetting in the meane while that their King may imagine them to bee dead and how that in such a case though it grieue him yet must hee prouide himselfe of others Let Kings therefore bee beaten from this their errour for he that shall otherwise aduise them and seeke to be the onely man in their fauour and seruice and take vnto himselfe both the right side and the left thrusting all others from thence and gouerning both high and low letting nothing escape his fingers which hee pretendeth out of the necessary vse of his person and so absolutely to become Master of their wills and to haue that hand ouer their Kings that they must not looke vpon any but with their Fauorites eyes such a Fauourite I say pretends to tyrannize a kingdome and by little and little will go crushing the Princes of the bloud the ancient Nobilitie and such as are of power to stand in their way thrusting this man out of Court to day and that other to morrow that hee alone may rule all without any contradiction or opposition in the world Let euery man say or thinke as they list for mine owne part I am perswaded that this is his maine end and drift And the cause thereof is his feare of falling knowing besides his owne consciousnes that there are not onely one or two but many in Court that are able to supply his place and farre better deseruing then himselfe Your Alchymists make gold But how Onely in the colour they will not let it come to the Touch nor any other reall Essay neither will they endure to haue it compared with any other minerall gold for feare lest it should bee discouered that theirs hath no more but a bare shew and apparence Let Princes therefore assure themselues that those Fauourites are but Alchimists that will not admit of any other companie as being priuie to themselues that their vnderstanding is not such pure gold that it can abide the Touch nor any reall Essay But say it should passe for currant and that their mindes were all made of pure gold me thinkes they should aduise and consider with themselues that those that are ingenious and wise men will therefore the rather desire that there should be many for by comparing the one with the other the true light shineth the more and makes it selfe knowne whether it be so or no. And onely your fooles and such as are vnworthy of that they possesse are iealous of that good which they feare to loose when by comparing they shall come to be knowne God did not in vaine place so many members in mans bodie and most of them double had it not beene thereby to teach vs that many are needfull in humane actions and that one is not able to doe all without an infinite deale of toyle extraordinary spending of his spirits and the sudden wasting and consuming of his body And here will suite very well to this our purpose that which Tiberius affirmed when feigning not to bee willing to accept of the Empire hee said going about the bush to discouer the mindes of the Romane Nobilitie and Senate that he alone of himselfe was not sufficient nor yet with the helpe of another for so great a gouernment Whereupon Salustius Crispus taking his Qu a great Fauourite of his starts mee vp and makes me a long Harenga or artificiall oration shewing that Signiorie and Empire could not well consist without being conferred vpon one particular person which is the maine foundation and ground-worke of the good and safetie of a Monarchicall gouernment and that therein himselfe if no body else would take the paines would bee as it were another Ioseph his faithfull Viceâ—gerent lest the resolution of things depending on the will of many it might cause a distraction in businesses either by way of competition or of passion In conclusion after Tiberius had heard this and had throughly sounded their mindes he took occasion to tell them That in such a Citie as Rome was sustained and vpheld by so many and such illustrious persons it was not fit that the businesses of State should be remitted to one man alone for many would much more easily execute the offices and affaires of the commonwealth by a fellow-bearing of the burthen For as vnitie in some degrees is both profitable and pleasing so in other some it is hatefull and preiudiciall And therefore out of this consideration I say That a King as the supreme person and principall Head of a kingdome ought to be one alone For the couetousnesse of ruling being insatiable and the nature of power incommunicable it is not possible that two Princes of equall authoritie should continue any long time but both of them suffer in the end or at least the businesses that are committed to their charge But for Fauourites there may bee two or three or more the vnitie remaining reserued for the greater and supremer person And likewise this pluralitie will not be much amisse for if any one of them shall by some accident faile there be others whom the King knoweth and they know him that are fit for his seruice and that haue good experience and knowledge of businesses and all such matters as are current and passable in the commonwealth without being driuen to seeke out new Ministers or to instruct them what to doe in a time of necessitie when things go not well but stand in ill Tearmes laying otherwise hold on the first that offer themselues vnto them to the ouerthrowing of the businesses in hand and the proper hurt and dammage of their Lord and Master at whose cost and by meere erring in great matters they must come to get their learning Let Kings a Gods name reserue for themselues those businesses that are of greatest importance for in this likewise must there bee a setled course and order
Subiects treating them as if they were his children and procuring that not any one of them may depart discontented from his presence which would be the the onely Load-stone to draw all their loue and affection towards him So did that great Fauourite of the King of Syria Naaman whom all the people with a full and open mouth called Father corresponding with him in the loue of so many sonnes or children For those that are seated in so high a place haue great cause for many reasons to procure publike loue and together with the grace of their Prince to haue the good wills and affections of the people for this makes the other to be more durable and firme For this is the naturall miserie of great and powerfull persons that Enuie and Greatnesse go alwayes hand in hand the one still accompanying the other And there is not any poyson like vnto it which moues and stirres vp such violent pangs and passions in the stomacke and more especially if it worke vpon the priuacie and inwardnesse of Fauourites with their Kings as if that it selfe were not a true and sufficient strong poyson Seeing that it is held for certaine that one word of a King nay which is more one angry looke or bended brow hath sent many a Fauourite to his graue For as Salomon saith the life of the Subiect depends on the countenance of the King And if we will not beleeue him let vs see and obserue how many Fauourites escape which doe not dye of that wound or the feare thereof and more particularly with those Kings which are of that condition as one said that there is not two fingers breadth betweene their smile and their sword to the end that this their priuacie might bee had in the lesse esteeme For your best Fauourites are but like your better sort of fruits which are soonest subiect to be worme-eaten For Enuie is a very worme and hath the same qualities as a worme hath and spreads it selfe so farre that it extends it selfe euen to those that haue beene benefited by the Fauourite the couetousnesse and risentment of that which they doe not receiue working more vpon them then the Law of thankfulnesse or of a gratefull acknowledgement for that which they haue receiued So that wee may say That few are they who loue those from whose hand they haue receiued some good because it was no greater And those that haue receiued none that they are therein iniured and wronged So that to qualifie and temper this inconuenience it shall be wisedome in Fauourites and it will concerne them to vse all the meanes they can deuise to effect it to procure to bee wellbeloued And no lesse in Kings to seeke out such as are modest louing affable vertuous honest well beloued and of a gratefull and thankfull disposition CHAP. XXXV How Kings ought to carry themselues towards their Fauourites FOr to resolue this Question and to giue satisfaction to that which is here proposed in this Chapter it being a matter of so tender and dangerous a touch I will first lay for my foundation a true point of doctrine in naturall Philosophie celebrated with that sentence of the glorious Saint Austen Amor meus pondus meum illo feror quocunque feror The plummet which peaseth man and the wings wherewith the heart makes it's flight is loue which doth leade the dance to all the other passions of the soule And as those that saile in a deepe sea with full sailes runne on their course without any danger but when they draw neare the shore they take them downe and ruffle them that they may not runne their ship vpon some shelfe or split it selfe against some rocke so likewise when the heart is lifted vp vnto the loue of God which is infinite goodnesse it may without perill plough the seas of this world and with full sayles cut the Maine without danger of shelues quick-sands or rockes For according to that saying of the glorious Saint Bernard as the cause of our louing God is God himselfe so the measure of louing him is to loue him without measure Causa diligendi Deum Deus est modus dilectionis sine modo diligere As the cause of our loue is infinite so must it be without taxe or limitation wherein there can be no excesse But when the heart drawes but little water and touches too close vpon these things of the earth which haue their goodnesse much limited it will be high time and very fit and conuenient to strike the sayles of our loue and to go on with a great deale of caution and consideration lest this our vessell should sticke in the sands neuer to bee gotten out againe or fall vpon some rocke or other of vnaduisednesse and indiscretion And this is so certaine a truth that albeit the loue to our parents be so naturall and obligatory and so giuen vs in charge by God with the promises of so many blessings on those children which shall cumply with this loue and with so many threatnings on those that shall faile therein yet notwithstanding God himselfe will that therein there should be a limitation and moderation Qui amat patrem aut matrem plus quam me non est me dignus He that loueth father or mother more then me is not worthy of me And the common old Adage saith That friendship must go no further then vsque ad ar as and stop there And howbeit some would haue the limit which is here put to loue to be Death I say that it's limit is Reason and obedience to Gods Commandements For when our Loue shall come to encounter with them it is to make a stand and go no further Our second ground or foundation whereon we shall build is this That in Kings next vnto the loue of God and his Christian Religion no loue ought to be like vnto that which they ought to beare vnto their kingdomes and common-wealths for the end for which Kings were first instituted and ordained was the common good of their kingdomes And as children haue a naturall obligation to loue their parents because from them they haue receiued their naturall being so Kings owe the like to their kingdomes and Commonwealths because next vnder God they gaue them their being of Kings and that power and authoritie whereby they were to protect defend and augment them Vpon these grounds and foundations must that loue and friendship be laid which is to be held with Fauourites Louing them and giuing them power and authoritie conformable to that which for this end shall be thought most conuenient For albeit they as Seneca saith keepe the key of their Kings heart and in matters of secresie and benefits are preferred before the rest yet this must be done with a Christian kinde of prudence and discretion Hauing euermore an especiall care that the force of his loue be not so violent and so boundlesse that to giue content to one sole Fauourite hee discontent all the rest
out their negociation of them The History of King Don Iuan the second of Castile doth affoord sufficient examples of the great persecutions that followed by letting that his Fauourite haue so great a hand in businesses For the people seeing their King so led by the nose as it were and to yeeld to all that he would haue him doe were verily perswaded that he was bewitch't for he had such power ouer the will vnderstanding of the King that he neither vnderstood what he gaue nor knew not how or at least had not the face to deny him any thing that hee was willing either to aske or take whilst like the vnthankfull yuie he went sucking away all the iuyce and sappe of the tree all that good Kings wealth and substance his being his authoritie and little lesse then his kingdome And lost by this meanes so much of his authoritie that some of the Grandes of the kingdome and the Infantes his brethren and the Kings of Aragon and Nauarre betooke them to their Armes and made warre against him he seeing himselfe vpon some occasions disobeyed by his sonne and Prince and forsaken of his wife and Queene Whereupon grew many ciuill broyles and all vnder the title and pretext of recouering their libertie and of pulling their neckes from vnder the yoke of that slauery and subiection wherein they were rendering that reason in their excuse which all the whole kingdome could but take notice of That all businesses past through his Fauourites hands and that the King did not negociate in his owne person The prosecution whereof I remit to those Histories that make mention thereof And it cannot bee denyed that this Fauourite notwithstanding had many good things in him that might very well deserue his Kings loue for he had serued him valiantly in great and vrgent occasions and had put his person and life in perill for his sake But as his priuacie and fauour went increasing so with it increased his ambition and couetousnesse and that in that high degree that he grew hatefull to the whole kingdome and in the end no lesse odious to the King himselfe who comming at length vnto himselfe fell into the account of those damages and losses which he had receiued in his kingdome both in his reputation and authoritie by putting the reines wholly into his hands taking thereby too much libertie to himselfe and ruling the State as he listed The Grandes represented to his Maiestie the abuses that insued thereupon as the ingrossing of the greater Offices and selling of the lesser and ouerswaying the Courts of Iustice And vsing many other effectuall perswasions grounded vpon other iust complaints proposing for remedie and redresse thereof the interest profit that might accrew vnto him by calling him to account and that he might thereby get into his hands an infinite deale of treasure the King liked very well of their propositions and admitting their reasons he fell off from his Fauourite waging warre against him with his owne money wherewith hee thought if neede should serue to sustaine and vphold himselfe This slippery footing haue all those things which haue not their hold-fast in God For they turne to the hurt of those that put their trust in them And it is his mercie to mankinde that they should pay for it in this life howsoeuer they speed in the life to come which we will leaue to Gods iustice and the strict account that will be taken of them In conclusion this great Fauourite dyed being fallen from his priuacie with his Prince depriued of all that wealth and treasure which he had so greedily scraped together ending his life with a great deale of sorrow and discontent and to the great reioycing of his opposites Though this did not serue for a warning to those that came after him but without feare of the like terrible and desperate falls they ranne themselues out of breath in the pursuite of the like priuacie Saint Iohn Baptist we know was Christs great Fauourite and the Gospell stiles him to be Amicus Sponsi the friend of the Bridegroome But his great goodnesse and holinesse of life did the more gloriously shew it selfe in this that by how much the more Christ did in-greaten and authorize him by so much the more did hee lessen and humiliate himselfe and laboured by all possible meanes by diminishing his owne to increase the authoritie and credit of his Lord and Master saying Illum oportet crescere me autem minui He must increase but I must decrease And this is that glasse wherein the Fauourites of Kings are to looke taking into their consideration that by how much the more they seeke to greaten themselues in making ostentation of their power and authoritie by so much the more they lessen and dis-authorise that of their Kings with whom is so dangerous any whatsoeuer shew or shadow of equalitie or competition that euen in the highest top of priuacie the more certaine and lesse reparable vsually is the fall How iocond and how well contented went Haman out of the palace when Queene Esther inuited him to dine with the King and her selfe When loe the very next day after they draggd him from that banquet and royall Table to the gallowes And therefore let no man trust or relye on the fauour of Kings be he neuer so rich or neuer so fortunate for in them it is ordinarily seene that all these faire shewes are commonly conuerted into manifest demonstrations of hatred Out of all this that hitherto hath beene said let Fauourites make vnto themselues this vse and instruction to know the danger and slipperinesse of the place wherein they stand euen then when they finde themselues most of all inthronized For most true is that saying of Fulmen petit culmen The highest Towers and the highest hills are most of all subiect to Ioues thunder-bolts and lightning And let Kings likewise take this into their consideration by way of aduice That when they shall haue found their Fauourites to be furnished with those qualities before specified and that they are such that thereby they may merit their grace and fauour and so great both place and part in their heart it stands with very good reason that they shouâ—d bee honoured by them with particular mercedes and fauours because they helpe them to beare the burthen of their cares and are exposed to great dangers and greater enuyings as it happened to that great Fauourite of the King of Persia whom the Princes of his kingdome did pretend to remoue from the Kings elbow and to put him in the denne amidst the Lions that by them hee might be there rent in peeces Whereof no other cause could be found against him but his Kings fauour bearing enuie to his priuacie that common Moath to high places from which none be he neuer so good neuer so honest can escape For it is very naturall in men to risent that hee should out-strip them who but yesterday was their
both his brothers Ionathan and Simeon Let vs draw then from this discourse and sound aduice of this Catholike Emperour how much it importeth Kings to maintaine their faith and Religion and to conserue and vphold the same in all their kingdomes and dominions Now for to conserue the faith it is likewise requisite that there be great care had in procuring that the commonwealth be purged and cleansed of it's vices and sinnes For as the Apostle Saint Paul saith when vices grow to that head and ranknesse that they come to make men to be of a bad and corrupt conscience they go disposing such to suffer shipwracke in the faith as it hath happened in these our times in many parts of Europe The second aduice that I shall giue vnto Kings is that they carry themselues so in the dispatch of businesses that notice may not bee taken that they are dispatched by any other arbitrement but their owne For most certaine it is that if it come to be knowne that all the Orders that come forth passe through the Fauourites hands and as hee shall giue direction they loose much of their force and efficacie and the King much of his reputation and credit His subiects will grow to contemne him and strangers will make little reckoning of him and many other mischiefes will ensue thereupon Amongst the Romanes it was held for a great affront and dishonour that the Emperour should dispatch as they say porcarta-pacio by a note booke or some penn'd thing for him or like some young practitioner in physicke by his Masters Recipes And therefore in those generall processions which they made they besought God that hee would not punish them by giuing them Princes which had need to be ruled and guided by Gouernours and Tutors For they knew well enough that when God is angry offended with the sinnes of the people he punisheth them by sending them Princes without knowledge and wisedome that are not able to gouerne of themselues but to doe as others shall aduise them Wherein they did confesse and acknowledge That to be a King consisteth in being knowne and reuerenced of all to be an independant Lord not relying vpon any other whose Mandates and Decrees all should subscribe vnto and obey whom all should seeke vnto with whom all should negociate that are pretenders from whose liberalitie resolution and will they onely should acknowledge all the graces and fauours that are done them and from no other hand For if they should giue way thereunto their Subiects will bee induced easily to beleeue that together with this they will giue away their greatnesse and minister occasion to loose that common loue and respect which solely and properly is due vnto them For Subiects vsually honour no other Sunne but that from which they receiue their light They naturally abhorre that man that does them hurt and loue that person who does them good bee he what hee will be good or bad all is one They call God Optimum maximum because he both doth and is able to do them good And he himselfe doth glory therein as being vnwilling that men should acknowledge the good they receiue from any other What wisedome then can there bee in that King that shall suffer a Fauourite to haue all the thankes and all the honour and glory of those fauours and rewards whereof he is the owner and donor Reseruing for himselfe nothing but the scorne and contempt of his Subiects then the which there is no miserie can be greater God forbid that Kings should permit any such lessening of their power and authoritie which is the necessariest thing that can bee for the conseruation of their estates and kingdomes Likewise in regard of their owne proper particular it will be a very good lesson for them for if their subiects are beholding for the good they receiue vnto another they will loue him more then them and when occasion shall serue will not sticke to shew it though it bee to their owne hurt Examples hereof there are good store amongst those ancient Kings and kingdomes of elder times that by this meanes haue beene ouerthrowne and brought to ruine We finde it storied that the Emperour Claudius at the intercession and instance of Agrippina made such a one Generall of his Army Cornelius Tacitus toucheth vpon this Mysterie and saith of him that hee was a man of much fame and renowne and very expert in militarie discipline yet knowing very well withall by whose good will and furtherance that command was conferred vpon him he could not when occasion should offer bee behinde hand for so great an honour done vnto him but recompence it to the vtmost of his power Such great places of imployment ought to be bestowed by no hand but by Kings and that immediately lest another may go away with the thankes And he shall doe well if hee take the like course in all other Offices that are in his gift for if it were possible it is fit that all should stand bound and obliged to him Let Kings likewise bee aduised that they carry a watchfull eye ouer those that are ambitious which are either so naturally or by conuersing and communicating with others are made so for this is an infectious disease and the more the more it taketh hold on great persons and men of an extraordinary spirit for they are as dangerous as theeues where there is store of treasure to bee had For questionlesse such kinde of men do vsually labour to increase their estate For it is very naturall to this passion as to those other affections neuer to giue ouer till they come to the end and full satisfaction of that which their appetite or desire representeth vnto them neither the Law of God nor of thankfulnesse sufficing to moderate their mindes and to keepe them within the due and lawfull bounds of their dutie In that houre and in that very instant of their rising nay before they come to that greatnesse there is little trust to be giuen vnto them for nothing workes vpon them but their proper honour and profit And all the rest they esteeme as nothing in comparison of bettring their owne fortune But if of necessitie some must bee raised to honour Si quem extollere oporteat saith the Philosopher non tamen eum qui sit moribus audax Nam huinsmodi homines aptissimi sunt ad inuadendum circa res omnes Let them not be of base and meane condition nor such as are naturally proud and haughty for being vainely transported with their fauour and priuacie they thinke with themselues that they haue already clapt a nayle in fortunes wheele and that they cannot fall from the top of their felicitie And being thus blinded with their ambition there is not any thing which they dare not aduenture on Let Kings therefore well weigh and consider with themselues what manner of men they put into great places and neare about their persons that they may relye more on the goodnesse of
at As also his Councels ordained by him either for the inlarging or shortning of his hand in these his expences So that hauing still before his eyes the wealth and substance of his Empire he might alwayes see how the world went and how to make his best benefit thereof for the conseruing and vpholding of his Empire Such a Register or rent-rolâ— as this much importeth Kings It is said of that wise and prudent King Don Philip the second that in his time he had such another as was this And the like ought all Kings to haue and at all times but more especially when their power is lessened their rents diminished their forces wasted and those of their enemies augmented For we see the like care to bee taken in particular houses and therefore ought much more to bee looked into in Monarchies which are composed of all those houses and families amongst which that which spends beyonds it's meanes consumes it selfe For supposing such a one hath an 100. V. Ducats of rent or set reuenue and that euery yeare ten thousand more is spent then the rent comes to in a few yeares all will come to nothing and by running still on in debt and taking no course to come out of it by liuing still at the same height he must bee inforced in the end to sell and deliuer ouer the luster maiestie and greatnesse of his house to other families which were before little better then dust taken out of the dunghill And most certaine it is that they that will not cast vp their accounts and looke throughly into their estates and see in what state they are must bee either men that are willing to vndoe themselues and their whole posteritie and must bee either Atheists or almost as bad if not worse meere Epicures who carry in their mouths and in their hearts those words of your vnthriftie gallants Comedamus bibamus cras enim moriemur Let vs eate and drinke for to morrow we shall dye Your Atheists they propose an end vnto themselues thinking by this their prodigalitie to procure vnto themselues an immortalitie of fame But these and the like who so inconsiderately runne out of all are carelesse and negligent euen of this taking care onely to eate and to drinke and to feast one another without so much as thinking that there is another world or any honour or fame in this And spending their whole life in belly cheare and bezeling they are neuer satisfied but call in still for more till their crawes be ready to cracke And notwithstanding the excessiue rents which some Kings haue and the great store of treasure that comes to their coffers besides the Tributes Taxes Imposts and Subsedies that are duely payed them they are neuer out of debt the Crowne-land lying impawned for the payment thereof and that for no small summes of money Ordinary expences are ill husbanded extraordinary worse payed The Cities they are consumed Trading decayed the Subiects out of breath and purse and by hauing too much imposed vpon them are growne like ouer-laboured oxen so poore and so weake that they are no longer able to beare so great a burthen And yet all this to them though the Subiect infinitely suffer is no more then a drop of water throwne into the sea nor makes no more shew Which sea though it swallow vp all the fountaines of the earth all the brookes and all the great and principall riuers and lesser springs and this daily and hourely and at all times yet we see the Sea is neuer a whit the more increased nor growes greater one yeare then another But what should bee the cause of this let your Naturalists and your Kings render such reasons as pleaseth them in their excuse for mine owne part I am of opinion that the Kings Exchequer is not well ordered making him not onely a small but a bad account That there is a great deale of disorder in the laying out of those monies whereof much might bee saued if there were some orderly course taken for the dispending of them and imploying them for their Kings best aduantage And I feare me which I could wish were causelesse that a great part of this water which should come directly to the Kings owne cisterne passeth through broken pipes that is through the hands of euill Ministers which soake and sucke vnto themselues a great part thereof and no man the wiser where the leake is till it discouer it selfe But it is now high time to grow to an end and I will conclude this Aduertisement with that common Prouerbe which speaketh thus Quien mucho abarca poco aprieta The ouer-griping hand holds but little suting with that of ours All couet all loose Or answering to that which that great Courtier and Fauourite Maecenas said That great treasures and riches are both more and better heaped vp and receiue a fairer accumulation by spending little then by scraping much CHAP. XXXVIII Aduertisements for Fauourites and Councellers of State THe Aduertisements for Fauourites are these the first That they doe not priuar too much who pretend their Kings fauour and that they doe not beare themselues too high thereupon nor suffer themselues to bee attended with a great traine of followers thereby to make publike demonstration of their greatnesse Boast not thy selfe too much nor seeme thou ouer vaine saith the holy Ghost to the Fauourite Ne gloriosus appareas coram Rege Put not forth thy selfe in the presence of the King For there is neither that State nor Prince of that dull patience that doth not in the end grow iealous and fearefull of the great power and authoritie of Fauourites and more especially if they once begin to waxe insolent and abuse this their greatnesse For Kings are Companions and fellow-seruants with vs in their affections and naturall passions nay by their leaue bee it spoken more subiect then we are vnto them saue that they suppresse them more in outward shew and make not that exteriour demonstration of them in regard of that diuinitie which they pretend and represent And all of them will be Masters of their entire will and absolute power And that Fauourite is fouly deceiued and in a strange kinde of errour who in Court by his secret plots and close conueyance pretendeth to possesse his Kings heart if hee conceiue by this course to be the more secure For very dangerous is that fauour and place which is built vpon such a foundation and very ticklish the state of a Fauourite when a King carries such respect vnto him And the reason of this danger is drawne from mans nature it selfe which cannot but in Kings be of farre greater force and strength for there is not that man liuing which doth not hate and abhorre subiection And this is so certaine a truth that I perswade my selfe that I may truly giue this censure and that I am no whit mistaken therein that the reason why Kings doe more willingly make and raise vp men vnto honour
POLICIE VNVEILED VVHEREIN MAY BE LEARNED The Order of true Policie in Kingdomes and Common-wealths The Matters of Iustice and Governement The Addresses Maxims and Reasons of STATE The Science of governing well a People And where the Subject may learne true Obedience unto their Kings Princes and Soveraignes Written in Spanish and translated into English by I. M. of Magdalen Hall in OXFORD LONDON Printed by Thomas Harper for Richard Collins and are to be sold at his Shop in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Three Kings 1632. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE IAMES HAY EARLE OF Carlile Viscount Doncaster Lord HAY of Sauley Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber to our Soueraigne Lord King CHARLES Knight of the most Noble order of the Garter and one of the Lords of his Maiesties most Honorable Priuy Councell Right Honourable KNowing no man better verst in publique affayres then your selfe I could not more fitly addresse this Discourse then to you without the rifling of any particular mans merit for I may ascribe as much to the praise of your exercise as any can assume to his priuate Notions or Publique Obseruations To speake the story of your true and ingenious acts in forraigne and in those forraigne the most subtile and actiue parts would rather seeme a Tract then a Dedication of a Booke but here you are onely Patron though I know you might by your naturall gifts and obseruations be Author of a farre better piece You haue been long the intrusted seruant of your Prince which should employ you the darling of his people and truly you ought to bee so whilst Truth relates the story of deseruing men or Honesty reads their merit What and whose worke of politique gouernment this is your eyes may at leysure looke ouer while your quicker eyes I meane your discerning minde may perhaps correct yet I hope not chide his labour who was willing though not able to serue you in a piece worthy your obseruation If in the translation there be any thing that hath forsaken the Originall it was intention and not negligence of which there needs no accompt My good Lord there is nothing left but to implore your pardon for the preferring this worke which if it shall appeare vnworthy your graue perusall yet at the least forgiue his intention who conceiued it a direct way of expressing himselfe to be Your Honours truely deuoted EDWARD BLOVNT THE AVTHORS EPISTLE DEDICATOrie to the King of SPAINE Sir THe cause why the Ancients by fire signifie Loue is for that this Element is the hardest to be hid For the more a man seekes to couer it the more it discouers it selfe and blabbs the place where it is Of this quality is Loue and truly participateth of the nature of fire I came saith our Sauiour Christ to put fire into the world And the holy Ghost which is the true God of Loue came and shewed it selfe in the shape and figure of fire So that Loue is a kinde of extraordinary actiue fire Nor can it where soeuer it be be hid or idle Operatur magna si est saith Saint Gregory si autem non operatur amor non est Loue will be alwayes in action alwayes in working it worketh by benefits it worketh by good workes and by friendly offices and charitable seruices And when it cannot worke what it would or when the subiect whereon it would worke hath no need thereof it supplyeth that defect with good desires and words God who needeth not the seruice of any contents himselfe with this in those that are his seruants accepting when they can no more the will for the deed And the Kings which here vpon earth represent his person doe not require tribute and seruice saue onely in that which euery one is able to giue That which I am able to affoord and doe here offer vnto your Maiestie forced thereunto by the loue of my seruice howbeit my desire hath euermore had a larger extent is onely a parcell of words which if they proceed from the soule and come truly and sincerely from the heart are of some worth and estimation and perhaps vpon occasion may proue likewise profitable and aduantagious Howsoeuer it may serue at least to expresse that my seruice and deuotion which euer hath beene is and shall be ready prest to serue your Maiestie And I am willing to shew it in this little that I may not wholly seeme vnprofitable And therefore with this affection of Loue sutable to my subiect ouercomming those feares which are wont and not without reason to withhold those that treate with great Kings Princes and Monarckes and write of such and the like subiects I presume to aduertise them and in this paper to propone vnto them that which I finde written of those that are past and gone and seemeth very fit and conuenient for the conseruation and augmentation of the authoriâ—y and greatnesse of those that are now liuing and present amongst vs and will with all possible breuity procure a full resolution and distinction herein And as Seneca saith Totum comprehendere sub exiguo To comprise much vnder a little For as that is the better sort of money which in the matter is the lesser but the greater in value so likewise that Learning is the best which is briefe in words and large in sentences It is Maximus his counsell that Multa magna breuiter sunt dicenda Matters that are many and great are briefly to be deliuered For this breuities sake therefore as also for the greatnesse of your Maiesties employments and the great burthen of so many weighty businesses that lye vpon you I will not here interpose any large discourses and long disputations wherewith to entertaine and spend the time but briefe certaine and generall Doctrines such as are of most profit comprehend most subiects and may be applyed to particular both persons and things all taken out of the Politicks the law of nature and men that are Statists and no way contrary to the Law of God and Christian Religion As likewise out of ancient Philosophers and wise men both Lawyers and Law-makers Accompanied wholly for to giue credit to the cause and that the subiect may not be disesteemed as an egge of mine owne hatching with the examples of Kings and Emperours if the examples of Kings may moue Kings and with those which cannot but moue bee esteemed and beleeued being drawne out of the holy Scripture Which being well obserued and put in execution by Kings they shall obtaine that end for which they were intended To wit to maintaine and preserue their Kingdomes in peace and iustice Reade it therefore I beseech your Maiestie and take it to heart for it is a piece of worke that is directed to the seruice of Kings of their Fauourites and Ministers And let them not say that they are Metaphysicall and impracticable things or in a manner meere impossibilites but rather that they are very conformable to our possibilitie and practised by our
and for this cause the whole Kingdome doth so freely and liberally contribute vnto them Which is specified by S. Paul in a Letter of his which hee wrote vnto the Romans Idâ—ò tributa praestatis c. For this cause pay you Tribute also For they are Gods Ministers attending continually vpon this very thing c. Kingdomes doe not pay their taxes idly and in vaine So many sessements so many Subsedies so many impositions so many great rentes so much authoritie so high a Title and so great a Dignitie is not giuen without charge and trouble In vaine should they haue the name of Kings if they had not whom to rule and gouerne And therefore this obligation lyes vpon them In multitudine populi dignitas regis The honour of a King is in the multitude of his People So great a dignitie so great reuenewes such a deale of Greatnesse Maiestie and Honour with a perpetuall Cense and rate vpon his Subiects Lands and Goods binde him to rule and gouerne his States conseruing them by Peace and Iustice. Let Kings therefore know that they are to serue their kingdomes being they are so well payd for their paines and that they beare an Office which tyes them necessarily to this trouble Qui praeest in solicitudine saith S. Paul He that ruleth with diligence This is the Title and name of King and of him that gouernes Not of him that goes before others onely in his Honour and his pleasure but of him that excells others in his solicitude and his care Let them not thinke that they are Kings onely in name and representation and that they are not bound to any more but to bee adored and reuerenced and to represent the person royall with a good grace and to carry themselues with a soueraigne kind of State and Maiestie like some of those Kings of the Medes and Persians which were no more then meere shadowes of Kings so wholy neglectfull were they of their office as if they had beene no such manner of Men. There is not any thing more dead and of lesse substance then the image of a shadow which neither waggs arme nor head but at the Motion of that which causeth it God Commanded his people that they should not make any grauen Image nor any feigned Pictures or counterfeit paintings which shew a hand where there is none discouer a face where there is none and represent a body where there is none expressing therein actions to the life as if the Image or Picture did see and speake For God is no friend of feigned figures of painted men nor of Kings that are onely so in shape and proportion being in fashion like vnto those of whom Dauid sayd Os habent non loquuntur oculos habent non videbunt c. They haue mouths but speake not eyes haue they but they see not They haue eares but heare not and hands haue they but handle not And to what vse I pray serues all this They are no more then meere Idolls of Stone which haue no more in them of Kings but onely an externall representation To be all name and authoritie and to be Men in nothing else doe not sute well together Woe to the Idoll Shepheard saith Zacharie that leaueth the flocke The sword shall be vpon his arme and vpon his right eye His arme shall be cleane dryed vp and his right eye shall be vtterly darkeneds it is written in the Reuelation Nomen habes quod viuas mortuus es Thou hast a name that thou liuest and art dead The names which God setteth vpon things are like vnto the Title of a Booke which in few words containeth all that is therein This name of King is giuen by God vnto Kings and therein includeth all that which this their Office tyes them to doe And if their workes and actions doe not answer with their name and Title it is as if one should say yea with his Mouth and by making Signes say no with his head What aiest and mockerie is this How shall such a one bee truely vnderstood It were Cosenage and deceit in that Golde beater who writes vpon his Signe Heere is fine gold to be sold when indeed it is but Orpine and base gold for Painters The name of King is not an Attribute of Idlenesse A person regall must haue reall performance As his name soundeth so let him serue in his place it is the people that proclaime the King but it is the King that must proclaime his loue to the people Hee that hath the name of ruling and gouerning a Gods name let him rule and gouerne They are not to be Reyes de anillo as it is in the Prouerb that is to say nominall Kings only praeter nomen nihil hauing nothing else in them In France there was a time when their kings had nothing but the bare name of Kings their Liuetenants Generall gouerning and Commanding all whilest they like so many beastes did busie themselues in nothing else but following the delights and pleasures of Gluttonie and Wantonnesse And because it might be known and appeare to the people that they were aliue for they neuer came abroad once a yeare they made shew of themselues on the first day of May in the Market-place of Paris sitting in a chaire of State on a throne royall like your kings amongst your Stage-players and there in reuerence they bowed their bodies vnto them and presented them with giftes and they againe conferred some fauours on such as they though fit And because you may see the miserie whereunto they were brought Eynardus in the beginning of that Historie which he writes of the life of Charles the Great says That those Kings in those dayes had no valour in them in the world made no shew of Noblenesse nor gaue so much as a tast of any inclination thereunto but had onely the empty and naked name of King For in very deede they were not Kings nor had actually and effectually any hand in the gouernment of the State or the wealth and riches of the Kingdome for they were wholly possessed by the Praefecti latij whom they called Seneshalls or Lord high Stewards of the Kings House Who were such absolute Lords and of that vnlimited power that they ruled the roste and did what they list leauing the poore seely King nothing saue onely the bare Title who sitting in a Chaire with his Perriwigge and his long beard represented the person of a King making the world beleeue that hee gaue Audience to all Ambassadours that came from forraigne parts and gaue them their answers and dispatches when they were to returne But in very truth he sayd no more vnto them saue what hee had beene taught or had by writing beene powred into him making shew as if all this had beene done out of his owne Head So that these kinde of Kings had nothing of the Power-Royall but the vnprofitable name of King and inutile
throne of State and a personated Maiestie that lay open to nothing but scorne and derision For the ture kings and those that commanded all were those their Minions and Fauorites who oppressed the other by their potencie and kept them in awe Of a King of Samaria God sayd That hee was no more but paululum spumae a froathy bubble Which being beheld a far off seemeth to be something but when you draw neere and touch it it is nothing Simia in tecto Rex fatuus in solio suo He is like vnto an Ape on the house-toppe who vsing the apparances and gestures of a man is taken for such a one by them that know him not Iust so is a foolish King vpon his Throne your Ape likewise serueth to entertaine children and to make them sport And a King causeth laughter in those who behold him stript of the actions of a King without authoritie and without gouernment A King appareled in Purple and sitting with great Maiestie in his Throne answerable to his greatnesse seemeth in shew graue seuere and terrible but in effect nothing Like vnto the Picture of that Grecians limming which being placed on high and beheld from a farre seemed to be a very good Peece But when you came neerer vnto it and viewed it well it was full of Blots and Blurs and very course stuffe A King vnder his Canopie or Princely Pall expresseth a great deale of outward State and Maiestie but himselfe being narrowly lookt into is no better then the blurred Character of a King Simulachra gentium Dauid calleth those Kings that are Kings onely in name Or as the Hebrew renders it Imago fictilis contrita An image of crack't earth which leaketh in a thousand places A vaine Idoll which representeth much yet is no other then a false and lying shadow And that name doth very well sute with them which Eliphas falsly put vpon Iob who being so good and so iust a man did mocke at him vpbrayding him that his foundation was in the dust that he was not a man of any solid and sound iudgement but onely had some certaine exteriour apparences calling him Mimicoleon which is a kinde of creature which in Latin they call Formicaleo Because it hath a monstrous kinde of Composture in the one halfe part of the body representing a fierce Lyon which was alwayes the Hierogliffe of a King and in the other halfe an Ante or Pismire which signifieth a weake thing and without any substance Authoritie Name Throne and Maiestie doth well become Lyons and powerfull Princes And hitherto it is well But when we looke on the other halfe and see the being and substance of a Pismire that goes hard There haue beene Kings who with their very name onely haue strooke the world into a feare and terrour But they themselues had no substance in them and were in their Kingdome no better then Ants and Pismires Great in name and Office but poore in action Let euery King then acknowledge himselfe to be an Officer and not onely to bea a priuate but a publicke Officer and a superintendent in all Offices whatsoeuer For in all hee is bound both to speake and doe S Austen and D. Thomas expounding that place of Saint Paul which treates of Episcopall Dignitie say That the Latin word Episcopus is compounded in the Greeke of two words being in signification the same with Superintendens The name of Bishop of King and of whatsoeuer other superior is a name that comprehendeth Superintendencie and assistance in all Offices This the royall Scepter signifieth exercised by Kings in their publicke acts a Ceremonie vsed by the Aegyptians but borrowed from the Hebrews who for to expresse the obligation of a good King did paint and open eye placed alofte vpon the top of a rod in forme of a Scepter signifying in the one the great power that a King hath and the prouidence and vigilancie which hee is to haue In the other that he doe not onely content himselfe in possessing this supreme power and in holding this high and eminent place and so lye downe and sleepe and take his ease as if there were no more to bee done but hee must bee the first in gouernment the first in Councell and all in all Offices hauing a watchfull eye in viewing and reuiewing how euery publicke Minister performes his duty In signification whereof Ieremie saw the like rod when God asking him what hee saw hee sayd Virgam Vigilantem ego video Well hast thou seene and verily I say vnto thee That I who am the head will watch ouer my body I that am the shepheard will watch ouer my sheepe And I that am a King and Monarke will watch without wearinesse ouer all my Inferiours The Chalde translates it Regem festinantem a King that goes in hast For though hee haue eyes and see yet if he betake him to his ease be lull'd asleepe with his delightes and pleasures and doth not bestirre himselfe visiting this and that other place and seeke to see and know all the good and euill which passeth in his Kingdome hee is as if hee were not Let him bethinke himselfe that he is a Head and the Head of a Lyon which sleepes with his eyes open That he is that rodde which hath eyes and watcheth Let him therefore open his eyes and not sleepe trusting to those that perhaps are blinde or like Moles haue no eyes at all or if they haue any vse them no farther then for their own priuate profit And therein they are quicke sighted These haue the eyes of the Kyte and other your birdes of rapine but it were better that they had no eyes at all then haue them all for themselues CHAP. IIII. Of the Office of Kings HAuing proued that the name of King is not of Dignitie onely but likewise of Occupation and Office it is fit that we should now treate of the qualities and partes thereof For the better vnderstanding whereof wee must follow the Metaphor or resemblance of Mans body whereof the Apostle S. Paul made vse thereby to giue vs to vnderstand the place and Office which euery Member is to hold in the Common-wealth All the Members of the body saith he haue their particular Office but the Occupations and functions of euery one of them are diuerse and different The most important and of greatest Excellencie are those of the Head which is the superiour part of the bodie In which the Soule doth exercise her principall operations as those of the Vnderstanding and Will the instruments whereof haue their habitation in the head There is seated the Sensus Communis or Common-sense so called because it 's knowledge is common to all those obiects of the exteriour or outward sences There likewise is the Imaginatiue the Estimatiue the Phantasie and the Reminiscentia Corporall faculties which serue to those that are Spirituall as are the Vnderstanding and the Will In the Head are likewise placed the exteriour
estate behind him to his Heyre And he who heerein does more then he can will likewise do more then he ought For he that will seeke to out-doe his meanes will not sticke to out-doe his honestie In a word gifts haue euermore bred a iealousie of Corruption and in Iudges esteemed the foulest fault Oh of how little worth is a little gift and yet what a great hurt to a Ministers honour A gift saith Nazianzene is a secret Tyrant which doth subdue and tread all vnder foote And to giue is of all other the greatest Tyranny and the greatest violence It is Senecas Counsell That he that will inioy his owne freedome must not receiue anothers benefit Foâ— to giue is to in-slaue And the receiuer is the giuers slaue Gifts are but Gyues and chaines wrought of strong linkes The ending of one being the beginning of another And where the first ends the second begins And this as they say dispone la trabaion para otrâ—s muchos serues but as a Timber peece to couple and fasten many others Take heede therefore saith the Emperour Iustinian of receiuing giftes which quit our libertie blinde our vnderstanding incline our wills and defame our honour But make thou much of cleane hands for he that shall keepe his hands cleane and shall not suffer himselfe to be corrupted by priuate Interest shall haue much honour and fame in this life and a great place prouided for him in that other Qui excutit manus suas ab omni munere iste in excelsis habitabit Regem in decore suo videbunt oculi eius hee that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes hee shall dwell on high And his eyes shall see the King in his beauty All this and more shall they attaine to that are truly of pure heart and cleane hands All this say they that you say is true We confesse as much But withall we must tell you That that which we receiue is subsidium gratuitum a free gift a â—eere gratuitie with a great deale of loue and good liking of the Giuer And we affirme That all for the most part that is giuen is respectiue and is in that Predicament which the Logicians tearme Ad aliquid Whereby he that receiueth a courtesie is bound to returne a courtesie And those which giue hope to receiue from such Ministers that which they cannot iustly giue them With these conditions a gift is lawfull and esteemed to be lawfully receiued when it comes free vnclogg'd disinteressed without pretension and without respect of requitall or reference to any recompence or retribution That is a gift which goes dis-roabed of all respects which is neither a friend nor kindsman nor kindswoman of the party that giues it and hath no obligation no Interest no necessitie but is all pure loue and is freely giuen of grace onely to do him good that receiues it The rest is Vsurie Loane brâ—bery and hope of gaine And if they will see that this is true let them come downe from that high place wherein they are let a Visitation goe forth against them and they shaâ—l quickly see how euery man longs and desires that that may bee returned to the Owners which they haue got by foule play It is a great blindenesse in Ministers to imagine that what is giuen them proceedes from liberalitie and out of the good will and loue they beare vnto them God he knowes it is no such matter but what they do in this kinde is only to corrupt them and to oblige them to do that which they neither may nor ought Let them beleeue me and not deceiue themselues For to giue and receiue is a cunning peece of businesse a thing of great artifice wit and subtiltie and on whatsoeuer occasion it worketh it workes Miracles But in case gifts should not corrupt at least they appease and moue affection Being as that wise King Salomon saith like vnto the wâ—ues of the Sea which make the tallest ship to reele be she neuer so weâ—l ballasted And waues neuer come single Aâ—d if they be strong waues indeede they ouerturne her and sinke her in the Sea Repromâ—sâ—io nequiâ—â—â—ma mâ—ltos perdidit Commouit illos quasi fluctus maris Let them looke well to themselues that receiue gifts for they run a great deale of hazard let them take heede least some storme arise that may drowne their ship euen then as often hath beene seene when she is deepest and richest laden And let them not trust to their taking in secret nor of such and such a person for the Diuine Sunne of Iustice whom they offend will discouer and bring all to light And though no body should see or know it it is enough that God and his own Conscience knowes it which are two sure Witnesses besides many other which time will produce They likewise alleage That they haue leaue and licence of their Kings to receiue gifts Whereunto first of all I answer that it is not to be beleeued that Christian Kings will grant such Licences as these which are so preiudiciall pernicious scandalous and so contrary to the Common good and good gouernment of their Kingdomes Secondly I say speaking with that reuerence and respect which is due vnto the authoritie of Kings that it cannot be grounded on good Diuinitie that they may giue any such leaue or licence vnto their Ministers Againe they vrge that sometimes in some particular case gifts haue beene giuen to some great Priuado or fauourite of the King It may be so But sure I am that to no Counsellour of Iustice can it euer iustly be or may be done But because this will fall within the compasse of our insuing discourse I will cite those words Timentes Deum Fearing God Which follow anon after the beginning For well will it suite that with these we conclude this Chapter because the feare of God is the beginning of wisedome And from whence as from their fountaine are deriued all those other good qualities that are in man Timor Domini super omnia se superposuit There is none aboue him that feareth the Lord. Et beatus homo cui donatum est habere illum And happy is that man to whom it is giuen For he that hath the feare of God hath all the good that can be desired Plenitudo sapientiae est timere Deum To feare the Lord is fullnesse of wisedome He that would be a generall Scholler in all kinde of knowledge be well seene in all the Artes and Sciences and haue all those good parts and qualities combined and ioyned together let him loue and feare God For he that feares him and hath him alwayes before his eyes hath libertie and power to ouercome the feare and dread of the mightie whereof the World doth stand and all for want of this feare too much in awe Among the Lawes of Moses Iosephus relateth one wherein he willeth Iudes that they should aboue all things preferre Iustice and that
he made him President of the Councell Iudas Machabaeus fortis viribus à juuentute suâ— Iudas Machabaeus was a valiant man from his youth he had beene alwayes bred vp in the warres Sit vobis princeps militia and therefore he made him Generall of the Armie For as Plato saith Quilibet ad ea idoneus est inquibus sapit Euery man is fittest for those things wherin he hath best skill Now when kings shall haue found out such fit persons as haue bin by vs propounded they are to distribute order their Councells and Counsailours to appoint their President charging them to keepe euery one his proper place and Station that they enuy not one another nor sue to be preferred to a supremer Councell and to haue a care that each man in his owne Councell be rewarded according to his good seruices For it is impossible but that he that treateth in all businesses must needs erre in some nor can he that is ouer charged with businesses giue good satisfaction vnto all But there are some that loue to double their files would if they could haue a 100. Offices at once pretending that there is want of fit men for those Offices seeking that they may be doubled redoubled and quadrupled on themselues They are like vnto another Gerion of whom it is sayd that he is in Hell because hee would be Three instead of One What will become then of those that would be twenty yea a hundred nay inioy all the Offices in a Kingdome These had neede of another farre greater Hell if that be not hell enough they haue already With the foresayd distinction and diuision of Councell and Counsailours farre better and more speedily will businesses be dispatched and the King shall be at more ease in his person and more at quiet in Conscience And the Counsailours themselues shall leade an easier life haue lesse time of trouble and more to study on State-businesses whereby with moderate paines they shall giue a quicker Dispatch to those things which come vnder their debating Let this therfore serue as a Conclusion to this discourse that in no kinde of hand Offices be doubled vpon one particular person nor put out of their hinges by the passion or pretension of those that haue a hand therein nor let Counsellours bee chopt and changed from one place to another nor your Councells confounded For this argues but small satisfaction in the Ministers and much distrustfullnesse in the Prince But let vs passe on CHAP. XIII The Author prosecutes the same subiect and shewes how Kings ought to carry themselues with their Counsells and Counsailours THis Order being thus settled for Kings they likewise are to haue a care that they keepe it by not altering businesses nor remouing either them or the men therein imployed out of their proper places for from the trucking and bartring of these things from this chopping and changing great inconueniences and mightie troubles are wont to rise in gouernment What a strange thing would it be nay what would become of vs all if that order which God placed as we told you in this Machina of the World should he altred if the earth should get vp aboue the Ayre and the Ayre should passe beyond the Spheare of fire what were this but to destroy the World So good gouernment in like manner is destroyed by the Ambition and Couetousnesse of those who not contented with their imployments and places draw businesses out of their right Current for to make themselues Lords and Masters of all and to pursue by this meanes their idle vanities ambitious humours and particular interest The Holy Ghost in that Misticall booke of the Canticles compares the Gouernment of the Church to a well ordred Army or pâ—tch't field where the pikes are ranked on the one side the shot on the other the horse in a third and all the rest in their due places appointed for them And in this well ordring and marshalling of the Men consisteth the strength of an Army A Christian and Church like Common-wealth by the good order that is kept therein is as Terrible as an Army with banners to it's Enemies and as beautifull as Tirzah and comely as Ierusalem in the sight both of God and Man And when Kings do hit right the distribution of their Offices and in giuing to euery one that which is fitting for him according to his condition and qualitie most certaine it is that euery man shall get aduantage thereby and proue morè excellent in his proper place and Office then those can be who haue beene imployed in other Offices and places And that they who haue beene deputed to such a Councell and well exercised therein shall far better know what belongs thereunto then those that haue not had experience and knowledge thereof Euermore presupposing that with the foresayd care and diligence choise hath beene made of the most sufficient For which reason we are to giue credit to euery one in particular and to all ioyntly in their Ministries as to selected persons and such as are their crafts-Masters in these kinde of matters For as the holy Ghost saith Vnusquisque in arte sua sapiens est Euery one is wise in his owne Art Knowing therein both how to speake and do According to this ground Kings cannot doe any thing better or surer for the good gouernment of their Kingdomes and satisfaction of their Consciences then to giue credit to each Councell in that which appertaineth vnto them and to leaue vnto their ordinary Councellours and Councels the Dispatch of all your running businesses without any particular Consultation vnlesse it shall more neerely concerne the State whereof as the King ought onely to be the Iudge and to giue his resolution what he will haue therein to be done So likewise must he lend them his hand and authoritie as far forth as is fitting proportionable to the bulke and qualitie of their Office without which they cannot well exercise the same Where as not to giue them that which they iustly deserue is a great impediment to their cumplying with the occasion to which are the substantiall part of their obligation and giues occasion to others not to yeeld them obedience respect which are the raines of that bridle wherwith the people are to be restrained and ruled And together with this they themselues must helpe to sustaine the weight and charge of gouernment wherein they haue so great a portion The Emperour Charles the fift of glorious memorie was much commended for the great care he tooke in conseruing the authoritie of his Ministers And it is not to be doubted but those ancient graue Ministers whom the people reuerenceth and respecteth for the place wherein they are and for the opinion which they haue gained by their yeares and experience and for the authoritie they haue to do either well or ill and for that power they possesse and which the Lawes grant vnto them ouer mens liues and
imitates her all she can And by so much the more perfect an Artificer and more cunning workeman is he accounted who shall seeme to come neerest in his worke to that great Master and Maker of Nature and whatsoeuer is naturall wherein as hath already beene sayd is conserued and kept that firme and constant Law and first commandement which he imposed vpon all things in the beginning of their creation Who likewise hath and doth still keepe a wonderfull correspondency in those very things conseruing them in their operations working and operating continually by their meanes and helpe and honouring them with the name and essence of secundary Causes though he himselfe be the primary naturall cause in that working So hat the fire hath alwaies perfourmed that Office wherin God placed it to wit To burne or heate And when he hath beene pleased to worke these effects he hath made vse of them for that purpose as well vpon occasion of his wrath and chasticement as of his loue and cherishment When he was willing to destroy and consume those Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah he did not make vse of water but of fire which he sent among them to execute his iudgement vpon that occasion And for to Regular and make much of that Mirrour of patience Iob and to exercise him in that vertue Ignis cecidit è caelo tactas oues puerosque consumpsit The fire of God is fallen from heauen and hath burnt vp the sheepe and the seruants c. For to throw downe the house and at one blow to kill all his children that were met together to make merry he made vse of the Winde For to drowne the world he serued himselfe with the water and in the desert he drew water out of the Rocke to quench the thirst of his people and to preserue them from perishing So that Life Death and Health which God can giue solely of himselfe yet will he haue it be wrought by the helpe and meanes of those secundary naturall Causes And euen at the day of iudgement he will make vse of all these for the punishment of the wicked as we haue it set downe in the booke of Wisedome Et pugnabit cum illo orbis terrarum contrà insensatos And the world shall fight with him against the vnwise This order and naturall Law wherewith God conserueth and gouerneth the world Kings ought to imitate and follow in the gouernment of their Common-wealths giuing their Ministers iurisdiction and Authoritie proportionable to their Office without the which they cannot well exercise the same And as long as these his Ministers shall go on in an orderly Course or shall imitate in their constancie those naturall causes and shall be punctuall and faithfull in their Ministries the gouernment ought not to be altered or receiue any change But when they shall faile in their obligation another order must be taken with them And therfore I say that in some cases the best surest course that can be taken is That Kings proceede after another kinde of manner by being serued by other Ministers and Counsellers that they may comply with that which tends to the seruice of God and the good of their kingdomes Especially when as hath bin said Ministers abuse that power which is giuen them make it the meanes to afflict the good and to doe other wrongs and iniuries And this the sacred Scripture teacheth vs in that History of Daniel where it is reported that when Shadrach and his two Companions were cast into the fiery fournace the kings Ministers caused the fournace to be heated so hot that the flames of fire ascended some 49. Cubits high But by how much the more power the fire had for to burne those innocent children in that occasion by somuch the more to the greater astonishment of the standers by God slaked the force thereof causing that in that very place where for to consume these Saints the fire was most kindled a coole fresh ayre entred in and did refresh them And the King himselfe who came to see this wonder told them that he espied in the companie of these three children a fourth man which seemed to be like vnto the son of God For indeed so it was that this his Diuine goodnesses did not content it selfe with deading the force of that intensiue flame but made meanes by his Angell to come free these Innocents from that torment Therein instructing kings That albeit it be fit that ordinarily they should suffer businesse to passe by the hands of those Ministers to whom they belong yet when the subiect is extremly wronged iniustice offred by them against the Innocent Kings ought not to respect the Order and ordinary course of Law but to take another course with them and if neede be wholy to change and alter it and in his own proper person to direct things to their due ends taking from the fire it 's Actiuitie instead thereof senâ—ing a pleasing coole gale of wind as God did For experience teacheth vs that this ill seede or bad race of Ministers makes post-hast quickly ouerrunnes a Common-wealth as ill weedes doe a ground to the great dishonour of kings and diminution of their credit and to the notable dammage and destruction of kingdomes Oh how doth it discouer it selfe in these our vnhappy and miserable times how much more and how many Cubits higher then it was wont doth the fire of Ambition and Auarice mount in many Ministers who grow by this meanes to be so great and so high that they quite loose the sight of themselues and goe beyond the reach of their own knowledge being in a manner besides themselues puft vp with their promotion and the high places they possesse seeming to be another kind of men then they were wont to be And this their folly and madnesse extends it selfe so farre that they will not suffer themselues forsooth to be seene or knowne by those whom not long since God he knowes they adored as Gods but now are growne so proud and into so good a conceit of themselues that they thinke themselues to be something more then men Of these S Bernard giues this admirable good note You shall see saith he many in the Chruch of God as also in Kings Courts without noblenesse made noble and of poore become rich to be sodainly puffed vp with pride forgetting their former Estate to be ashamed of their Ancestors and disdainfull towards their poore kinsefolke and by a strong hand and with lyes and falshoods they seeke and procure that which Nature hath deny'd them and being not noble by birth nor innobled by vertue set a good face on the matter and by such art and cunning as they will vse would seeme to the world to be great Princes and to be well descended fetching their feigned Pedigrees as farre as Noahs flood Farre vnlike vnto him who by his vertue came from a Potter to be a King who that he might
and his Ministers exercised in Ierusalem and in other Cities and Townes of the Kingdome of Iudaea of that great Captaine Mattathias and his fiue Sonnes hee speaketh thus Hi vederunt mala quae fiebant in populo Iuda in Ierusalem which the vulgar renders thus Now when they saw the blasphemies which were committed in Iuda and Ierusalem These saith he saw the euills that were committed in Ierusalem And my thinkes here must the question be asked Why all they of that Common-wealth suffering so many oppressions and so many afflictions in their Houses in their own Persons those of their children onely Mattathias and his Sonnes are here said to haue seene these euills and these blasphemies The answer hereunto makes notably for our purpose because it expresseth that which we go inforcing â—To wit That to see businesses is truely and properly to vnderstand them and to put our helping hand vnto them And because Mattathias and his Sonnes were the onely men that were sensible of the hard measure they receiued and the first that rose vp and opposed themselues against the furie of the Tyrant for the remedying their so many and so great Calamities that sacred Historian saith That they onely had eyes and saw the affliction of Gods people This kinde of sight best be fitteth Kings as they are heads of their Kingdomes and Common-wealthes and it is likewise necessary that they haue their sight Large Cleare and Sharpe that they may reach to see euen those things that are most secret and most remote as doth that princely birde the Eagle which houering aloft in the ayre descryes the fishes that are in the deepe Or be like vnto that Maiesticall Creature the Lyon who both waking and sleeping keepes his eyes open The Holy Ghost saith That a wise man hath his eyes in his head Sapientis oculi in capite eius And it seemeth that by Contrapositions he would giue vs thereby to vnderstand that a foole hath his eyes in his feete Which as they discouer but little so are they lyable to a thousand offences and deceits But the wise man beholds from high and as from a watch-Tower discouers things a farre off and is thereby better able to take notice of them and more punctually to comply with his obligation to the state and to that which neede shall require in those accidents that may occurre This is that sight which as before hath beene said befitteth Kings for that they are the Heads of their Common-wealths and therefore are to reserue for their own view those the more weighty businesses of their subiects there being a great deale of reason that they should see them as they say with their owne eyes For this end are those Visitations ordayned and those Entrances in State which Kings are wont to make into the Cities and Prouinces of their Kingdomes When the arrogant and vaine presumption of men grew to that passe that for to celebrate their name they went about to build that proud Tower of Babel with intent to touch euen heauen it selfe with the top thereof and to liue free from all feare of a second â—lood that sacred Historie tells vs Descendit autem Dominus vt videret Ciuitatem Turim quam aedificauerint filij Adam That the Lord came downe to see the Citie and tower which the sonnes of men builded God came down himself to see this their so great insollencie that he might punish them accordingly as he did with such a confusion of languages that one could not vnderstand another and were amongst themselues as so many strangers without being able to communicate and conuerse together so that they were driuen to diuide themselues into different Countries and were scattred from thence vpon all the earth And in the said Historie of Genesis we read that when that abhominable filthines of the Sodomites grew to that highth of impudencie that it prouoked God vnto Wrath and in a manner bound him to consume them with fire from heauen he vttered vnto Abraham these words worthy the noting Clamor Sodomorum Gâ—morrhaeorum multiplicatus est peccatum eorum aggrauiAtum est nimis Descendam videbo vtrum clamorem qui venit ad me opere compleuerint an non est ita vt sciam Because the cry of Sodome and Gomorrha is great and because their sinne is exceeding grieuous I will goe downe now and see whether they haue done altogether according to the cry which is come vnto me And if not that I may know As if he should haue sayd Howbeit the abomination of these accursed Sodomites and Gomorrhaeans hath so farre increased that it doth cry aloud vnto me for vengeance and chasticement and hath pierced the heauens and come vnto mine eares yet notwithstanding because it is a thing that concernes a whole Common-wealth and a busines of that weight as to deserue exemplary punishment I will goe downe and see whether it be so or no as the report goes of it Though most certaine it is that God hath no need to come downe from heauen to take a particular viewe of the things of this world for he is present in all places here there and euery where he filleth all seeth all and with his infinite wisedome comprehendeth all But the Scripture speakes in this kinde of language that it may accommodate it self to the stile and capacitie of men for to instruct Kings in this place that graue and weighty businesses they are not to transferre them ouer vnto others but of and by themselues to see and looke vnto them nor ought they too be to facile in giuing credit to fame and report especially of the vulgar without hauing first fully informed himselfe thereof and that by themselues they should be able to dis-deceiue themselues and to see and consider things with attention and with a desire to search out the truth and to rectifie what is amisse In the Kingdomes of Castile there is a very commendable custome and of great authoritie and Maiestie worthy those most prudent Kings which first ordeyned it And this is that Consultâ— which euery friday towards the Euening the President of Castile makes with those of his Maiesties Councell Royall wherein an Account is giuen vnto his Maiestie of all the weightiest businesses and wherein the opinion and the authoritie Royall is necessarie And this is not without example in the sacred Scripture For in the first chapter of Deut. it is written That when that great Law-giuer Moses had named for good and quicke dispatch such Counsellours as before specified giuing them in charge what they were to keepe and obserue and how to administer Iustice with equalitie and without exception of persons he told them Quod si difficile vobis visum aliquid fuerit referte ad me ego audiam The cause that is too hard for you bring vnto me and I will heare it You shall consult with me in that case that I may heare it and take such
to the redressing of that oppression And I verily perswade my selfe that all good Kings wouâ—d doe the like if they should see their subiects ready to fall into their enemies hands with whom they wage open warre But from those more close and secret enemies which are together with vs subiects Citizens neighbours Countrymen and Ministers of the same Kings and of whom there is held so much trust and confidence who goes about to free the wronged What reparation is there for receiued iniuries Are they not much greater then those that the Philistims offered to Gods people and more remedilesse As for professed Enemies against them we may make open resistance and euery man that is not vnnaturall or a Traytour to his Country will put to his helping hand and seeke to repell force by force reuenge the wrongs that are done them But for these our domestick enemies these our home-borne foes feigned friends who vnder the shew of friendship and vnder cloake and colour of being the Kings Ministers oppresse the poore and such as haue little power to oppose their greatnesse who shall be able to resist them If he that suffers shall pretend to doe it doth he not put himselfe in manifest danger of suffring much more if not of loosing all that hel hath And it is worthy your consideration that in those words related in Exodus it is not said that God went down to see and remedy the wrongs which that Tyrant king Pharaoh did vnto the children of Israel but that which was offred them by his chiefe Ministers Propter duritiem eorum qui praesunt For the hard-heartednesse and cruelty of those which were set in authoritie ouer them As if he should haue said The Affronts and Iniuries done by a Kings principall Officers are not so easily remedyed as those of particular men They require a powerfull hand they require Gods presence and assistance and will craue a Kings especiall care For your Councells cannot doe it nay are not able for to doe it of themselues alone be they the greatest and the highest in the Kingdom be they neuer so zealous of Iustice neuer such true louers thereof and neuer so desirous to doe right And the reason therof in my poore opinion is for that in regard the burthen of ordinary businesses is so great that only they are not able to attend the quitting of those agrauios and greiuances with that speedines and efficacie as were needefull but rather that they themselues without so much as once dreaming thereof doe vse to make them farre greater then otherwise they would bee for want of time and strength of body to cumply with so many and so great businesses And it oftentimes so commeth to passe that those that â—ue for reliefe in stead of being eased of their wrongs receiue further wrong either because they cannot finde fit place and time to be heard or because being heard they are soone forgot or because they that wrong them finde meanes to couer their faultes And if they cannot couer them and so should be lyable vnto punishment yet they that lent them their hand to lift them vp to the place wherein they are will likewise lend them a hand to defend their disorders And it hath beene already and is yet daily to be seene that a Iudge in Commission who for his wickednesse and euill dealing deserued exceeding great chastisement yet for that he hath this Patron and Angel of Guard for in your greater Tribunalls these are neuer wanting the businesse is husht and the party peccant neuer questioned And because he shall not be disgraced if the matter proue fowle against him by putting him out of his place he that tooke him into his protection will intercede in his behalfe to haue him remoued from that Office and preferred to a better A case certainly worthy both punishment and remedy if there be any vpon earth And if there be any helpe to be had it must be by the sight and presence of the King for without this it is not to be hoped for The Courtes of Kings much more then other places are full of humane respects and these haue taken so great a head and are growne so strong that in businesses they ouerthrow that which truth and iustice ought to vphold And therefore my aduise vnto Kings is that being they are men that are or may be free if they will themselues from these poore respectiue considerations and are supreme Lords and absolute soueraignes in their kingdomes they would be pleased to dis-agrauiate those that are iniuryed respecting onely wronged right and oppressed Truth But because such as are wronged and finde themselues agrieued haue not that easie accesse and entrance into Princes Courtes or to their persons either in regard of their great and weighty Imployments or some other lawfull Impediments it shall much importe that in their Courtes they should haue some person or persons of great zeale and approued vertue and prudence to whom those that are agrieued should haue recourse For many suffer much that cannot come to be admitted to the sight or speech of their King whereas if there should be a person appointed for to heare their Complaints they would cry out with open mouth for iustice and should be righted in their receiued wrongs And that person or persons thus deputed by their Maiesties hauing first well weighed and examined the reasons of their Complaints should afterwards represent the same vnto their Kings and giue them true information thereof to the end that they may forthwith by expresse Command put thereunto a speedy and fitting remedie And this I assure you would be a great bridle to restraine the insufferable insolencie and Auarice of Princes Ministers Who questionlesse would carry themselues much more fairely and vprightly when as they shall know that their disorders shall faithfully be represented Whereas on the contrarie it is not to be imagined with what a bold nay impudent daringnes they outface goodnesse when as they conceiue that of their kings which was vttred by that vnwise and foolish Atheist In corde suo non est deus The foole hath said in his heart there is no God Or that which those ignorant and troublesome friends of Iob breathed forth against God himselfe Circa cardines coeli perambulat nec nostra considerat He walketh in the Circle of heauen and the cloudes hide him that he cannot see and consider the things vpon earth Or which those other wicked Villaines vented Non videbit dominus neque intelliget Deus Iacob The Lord shall not see neither will the God of Iacob regard it So in like sorte say these bad Ministers Tush this shall neuer come to our Kings knowledge hee is taking his pleasure in his gardens he is thinking on his Hawking and Hunting or some other sports and pastimes to recreate himselfe withall nor shall Tricks and inuentions be wanting vnto vs to stop vp all the passages to his eares but say open way
should make him be so As a painted man which is no man cannot properly be said to be a Man The holy Scripture styles those Hypocrites which doe not administer Iustice for they haue no more in them of Kings then the apparent or outward shew as the Scepter and the Crowne and other their regall roabes and ornaments And it is worthy your consideration and it is no more then what their holy Doctors and learned Interpreters of diuine Letters haue obserued That a good King and Iustice are brothers and sisters and so neerely twinn'd that you can scarce make mention of the one without the other The Prophet Esay representing the feruent desire of all the world and the voyces and cryes of the Patriarkes who with such instance and earnestnesse did call for the comming of tâ—-Sonne of God saith Rorate coeli desuper nubes plâ—nt iustum iustitia oriatur simul Ye heauens send the â—eaw from aboue and let the cloudes drop downe righteoâ—snesse let the earth open and let saluation and Iustice grâ—we forth let it bring them forth together And in another place as if God did answer these the desires of the Iust â—e sayth Ecce dies veniunt dicit dominus suscitabo Danâ—â— germen instum regnabit Rex Sapiens erit faciet udicium et iustitiam in terra Behold the dayes come â—â—ith the Lord that I will raise vnto Dauid a righteous â—â—nch and a King shall raigne and prosper and shall execâ—â— iudgement and Iustice in the earth And in the third bâ—â—ke of the Kings God being willing to grace and autorize the person of Salomon who was the Type figure of the true King of Kings our Sauiour Iesus Christ had no soner the Crowne set on his head the possession of the Kingdom settled vpon him buâ— there was presently offred and put into his hands a great occasion for to shew his prudence and wisedome and his great noblenesse and courage for to do iustice The Case was a common and knowen Case it was betwixt two women that were friends and Companions who leading a lewd and dishonest life were deliuered or brought to bed both at one time and sleeping together in one bed the one of them being oppressed with a heauie sleepe ouer-layd her childe and when she awaked shee found it to be dead And at the same instant without being felt or perceiued by her Companion she puts me the dead childe by her and tooke the liuing childe to her selfe But this theft could not be so couered for all her cunning carriage but that the other knew that the dead childe which was layd by her side was not hers but the liuing The other with a great deale of impudencie and dissimulation deny'de it And because they could not agree vpon the busines they resolued to goe to King Salomon before whom the busines was continued with the like stiffenesse and obstinate contestation giuing each oâ—â—er the Lye and other the like bold and vnciuill speeches as â— vsuall with such kinde of women The King finding no moâ—e proofe nor reason of credit in the one then the other commanded a caruing Knife to be brought into the open Couâ—â—e thaâ— diuiding the liuing childe in the midâ—st the one haâ—â— should be giuen to the one and the other to the other Thereuâ—on the true Mother trembling and quaking and feeling that knife a ready in her owne bowels which was to part her â—â—ilde in twaine besought the King that this his sentence migâ—t not be executed but that the childe might be deliuered oâ—r whole to the other Which being well weigh'd and consiâ—â—red by this wise King and good Iusticer he knew thereby that she was the true Mother and so gaue order that the childe should be restored vnto her And the holy Scripture saith That the same of this notable peece of Iustice was divulged farre and neere and that there grew thence a great respect in all the people of Israel towards this their most prudent King who had with so much iudgement and wisedome administred Iustice. Audiait itaque omnis Israel iudicium quod iudicasset Rex et timuerunt Regem videntes sapientiam Dei esse in illo ad faciendum iudicium All Israel heard the iudgement which the King had iudged and they feared the King for they saw that the wisedome of God was in him to doe Iustice. So that when they saw how iust a King he was and with what a deale of vprightnes he did administer Iustice the people shouted for ioy and cryed out that his wisdome was from heauen and though he were then very young they began to feare and reuerence him very much And therefore if a king will be beloued esteemed and respected of his subiects he must be a iust King For most certaine it is that if Kings will pretend honour authoritie credit estimation and respect they cannot take any better course for it then by giuing to euery one that which appertaineth vnto him with a iust hand Summum in regibus bonum est saith Saint Gregory iustitiam colere ac suae cuique iura seruare It is the greatest goodnesse and highest commendation in Kings to honour iustice and let euery man enioy his proper rightes and priuiledges And so it is that there is not any thing whereby Kings doe more gaine the Common voyce for the augmentation of their authoritie and increase of their Estates or that doth more incline the minds of their subiects to respect obedience then to know that they are wise sincere full of integrity of great zeale in the administratioÌ„ of Iustice. For then all wil willingly obay him heartily loue him liuing in an assured hope that all his actions wil be measured weighed and crownd with Equity and Iustice. Let therefore the Conclusion of this discourse be That according to Plato the greatest prayse that can be giuen to a King is in consideration of this Vertue for as wee will shew you by and by it imbraceth all vertues in it selfe And there is not any Title more honourable or that doth so quadrare so square and sute with a King as that of lust whereby a King is made as it were a God vpon earth and becomes like vnto him in rewarding and punishing Anaxagoras and Homer called Kings Iovis discipulos Iupiters Schollers because in imitation of the Gods they did administer Iustice. And anciently they were tearmed sacratissimi most sacred In effect Iustice is a vertue truely regall and most proper vnto Kings because it appertaines vnto them by Office and doth constitute them in their being of Kings for without it they cannot be And therfore your Aegyptian Theologians with one and the same symbole which was an open-Eye did signifie both a king and Iustice. For neither a king without it nor it without a King can performe their office And therefore Plato calls her the Ouerseer and the Reuenger of all things
a vertue Heroicall and worthy Kings Which if it be fayling in ether of these the one or the other it shall merit no such name as you shall see by and by when we come to conclude this discourse wherein we aduertise those that giue that it shall be much prudence and make likewise much for the good of the party himselfe that receiueth to goe leysurely along with him in these Mercedes and fauours For this difference I finde to be betweene offences and punishments fauours and benefits that the first are done but once because in discretion they will not goe dayly nourishing the passion of those who receiue the harme thereby and stand in feare lest the like ill might happen vnto them selues As for the second it is fitting that they be done often giuing now a little and then a little that it may the better penetrate the palate and please the taste of him that receiueth them As in our bodily meates and drinkes bit after bit draught after draught agrees better with our health and taste then grosse feeding and full cups Besides this faire and frequent distribution cannot but cause a more settled loue in those persons on whom they are bestowed as also in those who liue in expectation of the like CHAP. XXIII How and in what sort Limitation in giuing may sute with the Greatnesse of Kings NOw I see the reply and the Argument which may be made against that which we haue mentioned in the former Chapter For this same sising of Kings fauours and these same short bounds of bounty wherein some would shut them vp seemeth no way compatible with the authoritie and greatnesse of Kings Especially on such occasions wherein they are forced to bestow them vpon persons that are deseruingly qualified for them and that haue done notable seruices who are not to be gratified with small gifts nor may that seeme to bee much which is giuen but once First of all I answer hereunto that it stands with good reason that they who haue spent their meanes and the better and greater part of their liues in the seruice of their King and Common-wealth should be recompensed according to the qualitie of their persons and seruices when Kings are well able to doe it without putting themselues in necessitie or charging their subiects which they too vsually doe with extraordinary Impositions And if it be well considered the maine drift of our former Chapter was that things might be so ordred that Kings might haue wherewithall to giue vpon such like occasions That therefore which I say is this That they ought to holde their hand in those Gifts which they giue meerely vpon their owne pleasure and humour that they may the better cumply with those which lye vpon them by way of obligation For they that haue vnder their charge and Command such a multitude and number of subiects it is not meete that they should conferre many and great fauours vpon a few and few or none vpon many shewing grace vnto some with that which in Iustice is due vnto others whose often sweats perpetuall labour and extreame neede serue now for riches regalos intertainments and annuall rents to those who in all the whole course of their life neuer knew what it was to moyle and toyle or to take any paines for the Common-wealth Nay which is more and it grieueth my soule to speake it the sweat and blood of poore labouring men is conuerted into rose water for to feede their delightes and pleasures and that in such wastfull riotous loose intertainments as certainely beseemeth not Christians but Epicures and Sardanapalians who did denie the immortalitie of the soule Woe vnto them saith God that are at ease in Syon woe vnto you great Potentates and Rulers ouer the people who enter in state into the Temples and goe thence in pompe who delight in lasciuiousnesse lying vpon bedds of yuory who eate the Lambes of the flock the Calfes out of the stall who drink wine in bowles and annoynt themselues with the chiefe oyntments who sing to the sound of the Violls and inuent to themselues instruments of Musicke no man in the meane while being sorie for the afflictions of Ioseph or taking pitie and compassion of those poore miserable wretches who must wring and smart to maintaine these their idle and vnnecessary vanities But the world will be altred with these men one day and a time shall come wherein as that Princely Prophet saith Laetabitur justus cum viderit vindictam manus suas lauabit in sanguine peccatorum The righteous shall reioyce when hee seeth the vengeance he shall wash his hands in the blood of the wicked And men shall say Verily there is fruit for the righteous doubtlesse there is a God that iudgeth in the earth Then shall Lazarus reioyce and be glad in Abrahams bosome and the rich Glutton lying in Hell shall begg a dropp of cold water and haue no body to giue it him And if any man should say vnto me that the Grandeza and Greatnesse of Kings requireth that great rewards should be giuen both to the one and the other My answer vnto him is That nothing better becommeth Kings for the conseruing of their Greatnesse then to know that they are but men and that they cannot stand in Competition with God whose fountaine of riches is infinite and is able to fill and satisfie all and neuer can be drawne dry though it be imparted and distributed to neuer so many Whereas that of men is but like vnto the water of a Cisterne which by being communicated to many is diminished and exhausted King Nabucodonosor and other Kings of whose falls there is mention made in the Scripture for default of this knowledg fel from their estates And let that tree whose top touched heauen and whose boughes did ouerspread the whole world whereof wee so lately made mention serue now the second time for an Example which going about to imbrace all in it 's owne armes and to giue sustenance in aboundance to all and pretending to exalt it selfe as high as heauen did pay the price of this it's pride autoritie and Signorie and did so farre prouoke Gods anger against it that hee commanded it to bee hewen down that being layd leuell with the earth it might acknowledge how much limited and how short was it's power Sithence therfore that it is not possible for Kings to vse much liberalitie and bounty towards all there is a great deale of reason why they should forbeare voluntary Donatiues for to discharge obligatory paiments whereunto in rigour of Iustice he is strictly bound The Apostle Saint Iames saith That the debtes which are due vnto them that haue done seruice cry vnto God and that the teares of the poore ascend vp vnto Heauen to the end that from thence may come forth a writ of Execution against those that haue beene the cause thereof And your Catholike and Christian Kings are not to place their
greatnesse and authoritie on that as did your Heathen Kings and those that were without the light of faith Who pretended nothing else in their gifts and fauours but vaine-glory and the idle applause of the world According to that saying of our Sauiour Iesus Christ. Reges gentium dominantur eorum quipotestatem habent super eos benefici vocantur The Kings of the Gentiles raigne ouer them and they that beare rule ouer them are called Bountifull True authoritie and Greatnesse doth not conâ—ist in Magnificencies and Prodigalities which are not regular and ruled by reason Which requireth to cumply first with what is due and that neither Kings nor their subiects should thrust themselues into necessity and want to satisfie the ambition and couetousnesse of those who as Salomon sayth like vnto Horse-leaches Semper dicunt Affer Affer still cry Giue Giue That which distributiue Iustice requireth is That Kings should repart the common goods of the Republicke conformeable to the meritts and seruices of euery one preferring alwayes the publicke before any particular good and ioyntly with this that they goe clinching the hand for a while that they may afterwards stretch it out more at large when it shall be fitting for them so to doe And this is Liberalitie that vertuous and noble Meane betweene those vicious Extreames Auarice and Prodigalitie When our Sauipur Christ had sufficiently fed that great multitude which followed him into the desert they no sooner found themselues full but they presently resolued amongst themselues to make him their king And this their determination grew from two things which they saw to bee in him The one his noble disposition in affording them such free and plentifull intertainment The other for his great prudence and good gouerment in giuing order that the peeces of bread and other the fragments that were left should be gathered vp Colligite quae super auerunt fragmeta ne pereant Gather vp the broaken meate which remayneth that nothing be lost Nor did he doe this that he had neede to set it vp or keep it to serue at some other time vpon the like occasion for he could as often as he would haue made bread of stones but to instruct and teach Kings to knowe both to spend and saue to giue and hoord vp where how and when it is fitting in regard that their power is limited Moreouer Kings are to consider that they who at one clap receiue much from them grow so fat and purâ—ie that they are not able to serue and follow them as they were wont and sometimes they retire themselues and nere returne againe to see either King or Court vnlesse meere Couetousnesse and greedinesse of gaine draw them thither to beg more and more to cramme their purses Being like vnto that Crowe which Noah sent out of the Arke who as soone as he had found firme footing and whereon to feede his fill neuer came back again Kings Palaces are like Noahs Arke where there is a great diuersitie in the Conditions of men and generally you shall meete there with more Crowes then Doues And here I will with your good leaue take a little libertie to diuert my selfe from the Testimonies of Holy Scripture to those of Great Kings and Monarckes some of one nation and some of another And the first that I shall begin withall shall be king Don Alonso of Sicily who walking along by the Sea-side caused many gobbets of flesh some great and some small mingled one amongst another to be brought vnto him and still as the Crowes which were many came about him to some hee threw out the lesser to other the larger morsells Those that went away with the great gobbets came no more in sight but fled their way but those that had but a small pittance and were not so full gorged they followed the King whether so euer he went and neuer forsooke him Who tolde those that were then about him In this my Masters yee may see how much it importeth Kings to distribute their fauours with moderation and temper Philip King of Macedon did much reprehend his sonne Alexander for being too lauish of his fauours and too excessiue in his giftes Telling him that thereby hee peruerted the mindes of those that were to serue him who in stead of seruing him with that loue loyalty which in duty they were bound vnto they would now onely serue him for their owne particular interest and proper commoditie making by this meanes affection and fidelitie become a kinde of trading and merchandizing And certainely so it is that when mens mindes make interest their Aime and daily to get more and more they become saleable and tender their seruice to those that wil giue them most And they which doe thus accustome themselues to craue and take the loue of friendship and that thankefull acknowledgement which is due to the Doner is turned into interessed Loue which is called by the name of Concupisence And are as the Comicke Poet saith like vnto those lewd huswifes which Amoreâ—carent munâ—â— amantis amant Loue not so much the man as his money nor his person as his purse You shall seldome see a man that is as they say a Pediguenâ—â— a crauing Companion one that is still begging one thing or other that hath not some touch of Couetousnesse and some tincture more or lesse of vnthankefullnesse For in regard that these men loue themselues and their owne interest so well they haue not one drop of loue left for others and if any doe remaine they conferre it on a third person through whose hands that which they pretend is to passe And the King and Prince to whom all is due rest depriued of two things that are the most substantiall and of most importance for the conseruation perpetuation and augmentation of his Kingdome which are their subiects Loue and Thankes For the truest kinde of Raigning and the likest to Gods kingdome is to gaine the heartes of their subiects and to make themselues as much as in them lyes Lordes and Masters of their good Wills And it is our dayly experience to see persons that haue beene highly and richly gratified and extraordinarily well rewarded to haue proud very vnthankfull For this fault great benefits haue with them and such as are dis-equall to the deserts of those persons that receiue them that they are not thankfully accepted of And those that are benefitted to the end that they may not bewray this their imperfection being such as it is no lesse then so great a sinne as ingratitude they soone learne to forget them but those that are conferred on others neuer slip out of their remembrance In a word of all that that is begg'd and of all them that begg few there are that forbeare to goe this way In confirmation whereof we may alleadge heere that question which Christ made to one of those ten Leapers which hee healed shewing himselfe not halfe well pleased with the rest of his
to foresee that also which is to come And this prouidence circumspection or prudencie sound alike and are in a manner one and the same thing The Ancient did so artificially paint prudencie that shee seemed to looke euery way and to haue her eyes fixed on whatsoeuer did behold her For prudence as it is silent so it is searching nothing escapes her knowledge And it is a vertue that maketh Kings like vnto God For as hee by his diuine prouidence doth foresee all and gouerne all and hath all things present before him so they by their humane prudence which participateth of the diuine behold things past dispose of things present and prouide for things to come Some call her Filiam Dei Gods daughter because it seemed vnto them that shee had something of the Deitie in her that shee was his Minister in the creation of the world and disposition of all things and ought likewise to be the Mistris of Kings vpon all their occasions For as Aristotle and Plato avouch no man can gouerne well that is not prudent In ancient times the Common people were of opinion that Prudence was annexed vnto Kings and that they had a particular gift to fore-see that which was to come And such as were prouident and prudent they held to bee Diuine True it is that wisedome is the gift of God and wee must craue it of him as did Moses Ioshua Dauid Salomon and other wise Kings Which to obtaine wee must shunne and flye from sinne for it is impossible that hee should bee prudent that is not vertuous And so much hath a man of prudence as hee hath of vertue And according to this measure shall the authoritie credite and opinion bee which hee shall hold with the people The Offices and effects which Prudence doth and causeth are many And some of them are collected out of the many and various expositions which the Doctors attribute to this Tower and nose of the Spouse which we will goe disposing by it 's Paragraphes in this chapter §. I. Of the Magnanimitie of minde which Kings ought to haue BY this high Tower and nose of the Spouse some vnderstand the Pope Quia in facie Ecclesiae eminet Because he is an eminent man in the face of the Church But Rabbi Kymki and Philo Iudaeus will haue it by the selfe same reason to bee vnderstood of a King Adding withall that the nose doth betoken Maiestie Grauitie Longanimitie and excellencie of minde wherein a King ought to exceede all other And therefore the Persians would neuer choose him to be their King who had not a hooke nose like the Eagle well shap't and proportioned which is the ensigne of a magnanimous minde And hence it is that they say of the God of the Hebrewes that hee hath great and large nostrils So sounds that word of the Psalmist Longanimis multum misericors id est longus naribus The Lord is mercifull and gracious slow to anger and plentious in mercie that is Of wide nostrills full of sufferance and patience for the smoake of fury and choler doth not so soone runne vp the chimney as in those which haue straight and narrow nostrils who are soone hot and sodainely incensed to anger And the selfe same Philo saith that in the Leuiticall Law they were not admitted to the Preisthood who had either a little crooked or disproportioned nose as being lesse fit for that Ministery The one are hot and cholerick the other ill-inclined Those againe which haue too great a nose are naturally cruell and proude and these are mislik't of all but that as much commended which signifies magnanimitie bountifullnesse and generousnes and is of sufficient largenesse to suffer and dissemble anger and not to haue the chimney choaked with a little smoake A qualitie so much importing Kings that from thence did arise that Prouerb Qui nescit dissimulare nescit regnare Hee that knowes not how to dissemble knowes not how to rule And there was a King of late times which stickt not to say that hee would not haue his sonne know any more Learning then that which this sentence doth containe for that it was so good and profitable a Lesson for Princes Tiberius Caesar did glorie in no one thing more then in the Arte of Dissimulation wherein he was so excellent that neuer any vpon any though neuer so great occasions giuen by him could search into his intents or diue into his thoughts In the story of the Kings it is written That at the very same time that God commaunded the possession of the Kingdome to be giuen vnto Saul which was the first King he had nominated some ill disposed persons that were malitiously bent against him did murmure at him and speake ill of him seeming to scorne and set light by him But God had giuen him such a measure of wisedome and discretion that although all that they had sayd came to his eare Ipse verò dissimulabat se audire Yet hee held his peace and would not seeme to take notice of it For when Kings come newly to their Crownes and that the things of the Kingdome are not yet throughly settled it is great prudence to reserue with dissimulation the punishment of great persons that with better occasion and in a better coniuncture he may proceed against them as reason and Iustice shall require That King shall not be accounted wise that shall pretend execution of Iustice with the danger of Insurrections and seditions nor shall the iustification of his intent suffice to execute his rashnesse in the meanes vnlesse hee first ballance the businesse and see which way the scale will incline as to see how farre hee may rely vpon the loue of his subiects and how the end may sorte with his designes lest the danger of the scandall disobedience may proue to bee greater then the profit that can arise from the execution of Iustice. For in such cases it is great wisedome in a King to conforme himselfe according to the times And that that which at one time is worthy of punishment should be dissembled and reserued to be punished at another time Which course as Saluste reporteth was in Catilines time taken with that great and powerfull Courtier Crassus The Emperour Iustinian hee likewise aymes at this marke And it is the Counsayle which S. Isidore giues vnto Kings The like did King Dauid when Ioab so treacherously slew Abner Onely to some few that were very inward with him he discouered the reason that mooued him to dissemble the matter and not to punish him with death for the present telling them with a great deale of griefe Ego autem adhuc delicatus sum vnctus Rex I am this day weake or as the Hebrew renders it tender though annoynted King As if he should haue sayd To see the affaires of my Crowne and Kingdome in that tender and ticklish estate wherein they stand obligeth me not to make that demonstration of rigour
and the good will and loue of all men And of Dauid it is sayd Erat rufus pulcher aspectu facieque decora That hee was ruddy and withall of a beautifull countenance and goodly to looke to He was of a louely and gracious aspect milde affable and aboue all a great friend vnto goodnesse and well doing onely with his pleasing presence hee drew the eyes of all the people after him who ioyed in the fight of him And with this did he winne their hearts got their good wills and gayned the kingdome When by a good and painefull industrie and a sweet behauiour the hearts are first seazed on it is an easie matter to conquer Kingdomes In the sacred Historie of the Machabees are recounted the heroyicall Acts which that great Captaine Iudas and his brethren atcheiued in Spaine the Kings and Kingdomes which they subdued the nations which they conquered and made tributary to their Empire and the great treasure of gold and siluer which they purchased And all this they effected by their good Counsayle gentlenesse and patience giuing Kings thereby to vnderstand that if they be of a meeke peaceable and noble condition they shall be Lords and Masters of mens wealths and hearts And this made Polibius to say that a courteous and peaceable King conquers all with quietnesse euery man being willing to yeelde and submit himselfe to a soft and generous disposition that is free from anger and full of clemencie And this is that Legacie which God allotted and left vnto them long agoe in the olde Testament Mansueti haereditabunt terram The meeke shall inherit the earth And afterwards in the new Testament he renewes this promise Ipsi possidebunt terram They shall inherit the earth They shall be Lords of the earth That is of the men vpon earth and of their possessions For by this earth which God promiseth vnto them S. Bernard vnderstands the same earth whereof men are formed And it is vsuall in Scripture to call men earth And thereby is likewise vnderstood that of this world which wee heere inhabit the possessions thereof it 's gouernment Scepter and Monarchie for all this is but a Patrimonie bequeathed to a kinde smooth and louing nature The best Titles that a King can present before God for to pretend the preseruation and perpetuitie of his Kingdome are meekenesse and gentlenesse These Dauid represented vnto him when hee petitioned him that hee would be pleased to continue and confirme his kingdome in his sonne Memento Domine Dauid omnis mansuetudinis eius Lord remember Dauid and all his lowly carriage Whose heart was not haughty nor his eyes lofty but behaued and quieted himselfe as a childe that is weaned of his Mother And presently God collated this benefit vpon him saying Com cumpleti suerint dies tui suscitabo semen tuum post te firmabo regnum eius When thy dayes be fullfilleâ— and thou shalt sleepe with thy fathers I will set vp thy seede after thee which shall proceede out of thy bowells and I will establish his Kingdome Such effects doth the smooth breast and soft heart of a King worke And this is so sure a Tenet that for to keepe a Kingdome secure and to be Lord of many moe there needeth no other claime then that which Loue and Gentlenesse maketh For in regard that the heart of man is generous it will not be led by the necke with a halter nor will subiects long indure the yoake of a Tyrannizing and proud Lord whereas on the contrary they are easily led a long by a smooth and gentle hand And reason teacheth vs as much for by how much the more easily is the heart of man moued by conueniences then by menaces by faire meanes then by foule by so much the better is it to gouerne by meekenesse and gentlenesse then by force and rigour Whence we draw this Conclusion That too much sharpnesse and excesse of rigour in a Prince procuteth hatred and affabilitie and clemencie Loue. Which is that which Kings ought most to seeke after as by and by we shall shew vnto you when wee come to tell you that these two qualities of blandure and clemencie so befitting a supreme Lord are quite contrarie to that good expedition of Iustice and that integritie which God doth require in a Iudge whom hee willeth and commaundeth That in matter of iudgement hee shall not pittie the case of the poore According to which Instruction it of force followeth that a King must represent two contrary persons that of a kind and pittifull Father and that of a iust and angry Iudge For if in his owne nature hee be kinde and tender hearted there is not that offender which will not be set free by the power of Intreaties and Teares weapons wherewith the hardest and cruellest hearts suffer themselues to be ouercome And if he be otherwise what can the delinquents hopes end in but death and despaire Againe if he be vertuous and seuere it is impossible that he should not hate the vicious and grow into choller when hee shall heare of their cruell outrages and insolencies Now what remedy in this case is to be vsed Saint Ierom and Saint Austen are of opinion that a King by his owne person is to punish and premiate to execute chasticement with iustice and to mitigate it with mercy Nor is it vnworthy our consideration nor lyable to inconueniencie that a King should represent two persons so contrary in shew as iudging with Iustice and Mercie For two vertues cannot bee contrary And as the Saints and holy Doctors say and they are in the right Mercie doth not hinder the execution of Iustice but it moderateth the crueltie of the punishment And it is very necessary in a good Iudge that hee should haue a true and faithfull paire of balance in his hands and in either scale to put rigor and equitie that hee may know how to correct the one by the other The Kings of Portugall especially Don Iuan the third did vse to iudge Capitall crimes accompanied with his Councell and were alway accounted fathers of the people because with them Iustice and Mercie walked hand in hand shewing themselues iust in punishing the fault and mercifull in mitigating the punishment By which meanes they were of all both feared and beloued And let not Kings perswade themselues that this doth lessen their authoritie and take of from their greatnesse but giues an addition and the oftner they sit in iudgement they shall doe God the more seruice and the Kingdome more good And in conscience the surest and safest course for that reciprocall obligation which is between the King and his subiects For they owe obedience seruice and acknowledgement to him as their Lord and Master And he vnto them Iustice Defence and Protection For to this end and purpose doe they pay him so many great Tributes and Taxes Nor is it enough for him to doe it by others but
heare those that are wronged and male-content For the graces and fauours of Kings as proceeding from humane power which cannot doe all it would haue euermore beene lesse in number then the pretenders And therefore must of force follow that there must needs bee a great number of discontented persons in all Kingdomes euen in the best and most sweetely gouerned Some holding themselues wronged induced thereunto by their own opinion others by disfauours Some by bad dispatch others by delayes And some and those perhapps the most by finding themselues deceiued in their pretensions A thing that ought much to be thought on though there be few that take pleasure to heare on that eare These men I say troubled with cares and transported with passion thrust themselues into all Companies great and small high and low entring into discourse with Male-Contents and laying open their wounds vnto them which kinde of men I would haue to be kindly dealt withall that the Kings Ministers should giue them the hearing that they should temper and allay this their passion that they should hearten and encourage them and indeede make shew in some things to goe hand in hand with them though it be in some sort against their king and Master seeking reasons to maintaine their part and that hee cannot blame them if they complaine hauing so much cause laying the fault either on the iniquitie of the times or the carelessenesse of those through whose fingers these things were to passe and that as it was no fault of the Kings for not hauing beene truly informed so can hee not but rest well assured of their good bowells and sound intention to his Maiestie and the State This is a cunning artifice and admirable art against that deadly poyson of those mens hatred and discontent which repute themselues wronged and disgraced And the better will this take with them if this care be committed to such either person or persons that are well liked and beloued of the people and haue together with their naturall grace the grace of heauen a gift which Kings can neither giue nor take away howbeit they giue that grace and fauour whence resulteth the peoples respect For it will not alwayes serue the turne to bee beloued of all nor will this generall loue sometimes excuse him from being hated of many And therefore in this the grace of heauen must bee sought after and such a man made choyse of as hath this naturall gift for by the helpe thereof hee shall be the better beloued and ouer them all haue the more commaund This Counsayle was well esteemed and approued by that wise and prudent King Don Philip the second as a very necessary conuenient meanes for to temper mens mindes to get generall notice of all that passeth either in word or deed and thereupon be able to giue all possible remedie thereunto And this aduice pleased him so well that hee committed the execution thereof to him that gaue it him and purposely remitted some businesses vnto him that he might haue the better occasion to sound mens mindes and to effect what he pretended by that kinde of course And in short time gaue good satisfaction by the proofe and made knowen to his Maiestie how much good was inclosed in this Artifice for the conseruation of Kings and Kingdomes §. IIII. Of the sagacitie sharpenesse of wit and quicknesse of apprehension which Kings ought to haue GEnebrard and other graue Authors say That this statly Tower and nose of the Spouse whereof wee discourse signifieth those which gouerne the Church or the Kingdome and such as excell the rest in vnderstanding iudgement sagacitie and prudence The Egyptians likewise in their Hieroglyphicks by a high rising nose vnderstand a wise and sage minde that hath an eye vnto dangers fore-sees mischiefes and takes order for them in time that it may not be ouertaken by them And such a one as this a King ought to haue And certaine it is that if that olde Serpent had not had that hap in that first deceit exercised on our first Mother Eue it had beene needelesse for one man to watch another and to be so wary and circumspect as now they are But because he with such great craft and subtletie did powre forth this his poyson into the originall fountaine of our nature it was necessary that against this his venome we should take this Antidote and Treacle for a preseruatiue and preuent one poyson by another And as Treacle being made of poyson serues as a remedie against poyson it selfe so for to resist that poyson which that Serpent by his subtletie scattred and spred abroad amongst vs it is needefull that men following the Counsayle which our Sauiour Christ gaue vnto his Disciples Be yee wise as Serpents and harmelesse as Doues should ioyne these two together For of these two is made that fine Treacle whereof we intend to speake Not of simplicitie alone nor prudence alone but of both together This is that true and perfect Confection for prudence without a sound and harmelesse Intention is but meere craft and subtletie as Aristotle sayth and produceth nothing but trickes and deuises to delude and deceiue And a plaine and sincere intention deuoyd of prudence doth but deceiue and damnifie a mans selfe I meane particular persons For in Kings this want of warinesse and prudent sagacitie will procure greater hurt to the generall affayres of the Common wealth Too notorious and well knowen is that sentence of the glorious S. Ierome Sancta rusticitas solum sibi prodest Holy plainenesse and simplicitie doth onely profit a mans selfe That is some particular person But Kings besides their good intention and sinceritie of minde must haue prudence sagacitie for to resist the plots and traps of the ambitious who still lye in wayte watching a fit occasion for to deceiue them vnlesse they be minded to loose their reputation their authoritie and their Kingdome all at once This is not a Prognostication broached out of mine owne braine but vented by the holy ghost That an imprudent King shall ruine a Kingdome Rex insipiens perdet populam suum An vnwise King destroyeth his people The Prophet Esay after he had made a recapitulation of the graces and gifts of wisedome vnderstanding counsayle might knowledge and diuerse other wherewith the holy-Ghost was to adorne the person of our Sauiour Christ that King of Kings and liuely patterne and true example of all good Kings sayth Et replebit eum spiritus timoris Domini And the spirit of the fear of the Lord shall rest vpon him Now the Hebrew Rabins whom Pagninus and Vatablus follow reade Olfactio odoratus eius erit cum timore Domini The pleasant sent of his sweete odour shall be with the feare of the Lord. That is to say Together with the feare of the Lord and all other vertues hee shall haue an admirable vnderstanding and a dainty delicate iudgement Odorari faciam eum I will make him
strangers be feared esteemed for men of wisedome worth and prudence As it befell King Salomon at his first comming to the Crowne when the peopâ—e of Israel perceiued the discretion and prudence wherwith he had proceeded in deâ—iding that difference betweene the two women touching the liuing childe which each of them pretended Insomuch that when they saw how wisely how iustly it was carryed by him they shouted aâ—l for ioy saying surely the wisedom of God is in him And from thence forth they began to respect feare him Yet mistake me not I beseech yee For I do not say that Kings should desire that any ill should betide any man but that they ought may desire that some such occasion might be offered vnto them wherein they might shew their zeale and loue vnto Iustice and manifest to the world that they are wise enough of themselues to execute the same For there is nothing that makes a King more worthy of his Monarchie as to win by meanes of his good Counsel and gouerment greater credit and authoritie then what he had when he began first to gouern For a kingdome is only the gift of fortune but this other argues his owne wisedome and iudgement But that which I shall conclude this point withall is this That this prudence sagacitie of the Serpent so much commended by Christ ioyned with the Doues simplicitie produceth two effects of much importance in kings which are these Neither to deceiue nor to be deceiued Simplicitie is without welt or garde plaine true and knowes not how to deceiue any man Prudence on the other side is very wary circumspect and will not suffer her selfe to be deceiued by any man Nay it goes a little farther for it perfecteth the whole essence and being of prudence and causeth a certaine dexteritie in the dispatch of businesses which is a great help vnto Princes and is the only Mistris to make them to vnderstand iudge things aright And likewise to see and discerne them by outward actions and the exterior sences The eye the foote the hand shall not wag moue or stirre but it shal discouer the inward thought Lastly it is it 's proper office Reason assisting and the discourse of the vnderstanding to anticipate occasions and to diuert in time the euill that may happen For as Tully sayth and very truly Nihil turpius in sapiente est quam dicere non putaram Nor ought it to be the Language of kings to say I did not thinke on such a thing I did not dreame that things would haue fallen out thus thus or that I did not throughly vnderstand the busines For in Kings it is no lesse shame to suffer themselues to be deceiued or to be ouercome by Artes and tricks then to be subdued in the open field by force of Armes Kings therefore being necessarily to heare and negociate with so many and so sundry persons to free themselues from the slightes subtleties of some must make vse of this circumspection and sagacitie Homer representeth vnto vs a most prudent Prince who though vnlearned yet for that he was very crafty subtile did gouerne very well and freed himselfe from many great dangers Subtletie and Sagacity accompanied I say with a sound intention and a good conscience for that is it weâ— aime at in gouernment proceedeth not from sagacity and subtletie but from goodnesse and Iustice. §. V. Of the Discretion which Kings ought to haue VEnerable Beda and S Gregory say of the nose and it's nostrills that they are the Instrument or Conduite to conuay all sorts of sents vp to the head And that they are purposely placed in so high a Station that they may the better discerne the good and the bad And they signifie thereby the vertue of discretion which is the knowledge of good and ill and by Reasons helpe distinguisheth the one from the other Per nasum discretio exprimitur per quam virtutes eligimus delecta reprobamus By the nose is vnderstood discretion by which wee make choyse of vertue and reiect our pleasures And is of that great excellencie that the Ancient made her Reginam virtutum the Queene of the Vertues reducing all the rest vnto it Another call'd her the Mother A third the fountaine or well-spring of the Vertues A fourth will haue euery particular vertue to beare the name of Discretion And there is not one wanting who affirmeth that these did not hit the marke aright for farre better saith hee might they haue said that there is no vertue at all without discretion For albeit the Vertues in themselues be perfect and full and doe qualifie the person that possesseth them as Fortitude makes a man valiant Iustice makes a man iust Wisedome makes a man wise And so in the rest Yet if the vse of discretion be wanting to any one of these they loose their Punctum medium wherein they consist and light vpon the extreames So the Liberall turnes Prodigall the Valiant foole-hardy The wise imprudent and the Iust iniurious Discretio sayth S. Bernard omni virtuti ordinem ponit Discretion is the rule by which euery vertue is directed And in matter of Counsell the Vote of discretion strikes a great stroake for it distinguisheth falsehood from truth things certaine from things doubtfull and from amidst what is ill maketh choice of that which is good It qualifieth all things and puts them in their punto and proper being And the Philosopher sayth That it is a vertue proper vnto Kings Princes and Gouernours to whom by office it belongs to intermeddle and haue a hand in such a world of businesses as require their direction and discretion wherewith all they must help themselues for the better disposing and ordring to a good end the affayres of the Common-wealth It is a neere neighbour vnto prudence and bordreth much vpon her these vertues as we sayd before being so inchained and interlinked one with another that we cannot touch one peece without trenching vpon the other And are both so necessarie that though I should say neuer so much of them I could not out-speake them But to come to the point Let the first point of aduise and discretion in a King be not trust so much to his own wise and discretion as to forbeare out of a presumption of his owne sufficiencie to treate and Consult businesses with persons of prudence and vnderstanding For being that so and so various are the cases which dayly offer themselues vnto Kings and so graue and weighty the businesses whereof they treate they must be canuased to and fro and well and throughly debated for the better ordring and setting of them making former errours to serue as land-markes for the avoyding of those to come And like a wise and experienced Physitian let him apply that medicine there and in that case where for want thereof he had formerly erred Out of ignorance to draw knowledge out of errours certainties
the foundation and is not able to goe through with it all that behold him begin to mock him saying This man began to builde and was not able to make an end Or what King going to make warre against another King sitteth not downe first and casteth in his minde whether hee be able with ten thousand to meete him that commeth against him with twenty thousand c. The like I say of competitions whether this or that other doth this or that better Though it be in matters of recreation For all occasions of incounters with Kings are in any hand to be avoyded And it likewise seemeth ill in point of policie that they in any kinde should haue any competition with their vassalls And King Salomon sets it downe for a point of policie for that it is a thing vnworthy authoritie Royall It is a mans honour saith he to keepe himselfe from strife Alexander the Great being askt the question whether he would goe and sport himselfe at the Olympick games with the rest of the Great ones of his Court made answere yes if there were other Kings with whom I might contend Yet would I not haue Kings so farre to mistake mee as to vnderstand that they may not enterprise great things and haue competence with others that are as great or greater then themselues following their stepps and imitating their heroycall Actions nay it is a point rather of Discretion and wisedome in a prudent King to tread in the track of their Ancestors that walked in the right way and to set before their eyes the good things that they did that according thereunto they may take the like resolution in the like Cases The Romanes were so religious in the Precedents and Examples of their Predecessours that they made them the line and rule of all their Actions and made them as a Law to be kept and obserued and could not depart ther-fro without the fowle note of ignominie gouerning new enterprises by former old Actions Neither ought a King likewise to esteeme so meanely and so basely of himselfe as to thinke that hee is not able to doe as much as others haue done in times past For if they of olde had had that minde and conceit of themselues in calling to minde the braue and noble deedes which they haue either heard or read in Histories of their Ancestours they would not haue imitated them as many of them haue in their great and glorious Acts. And certaine it is that neuer any man did any such illustrious and heroycall Action heeretofore which might not be done by another And therfore the Actions of Kings being such as conduce to the seruice of God and the well-fare of the Common-wealth it will conuene very well the said circumstances being duly considered to commence and giue a beginning vnto them to the end that fortune or to say better God putting a helping hand to our good diligence and industrie may giue vnto them a full and perfect end It was the saying of King Agesilaus That fortune in great affayres and high enterprises neuer shew'd her selfe liberall and generous but when shee met with noble and generous mindes And it hath beene often seene that men loose at least let slip many things not because they are not able to atcheiue them but because they want courage to vndergoe them And let them not onely content themselues with the bare reading of them but endeuour to be like those famous Captaines in matter of warre those great Common-wealthes in matter of gouernment and those Christan Politicians in matter of State For examples perswade much And albeit that Homer saith that great enterprises are sooner spoken of then done easily vttered but hardly executed yet let Princes doe their best which will be no small matter For thereby their subiects will receiue benefit their successors beare them enuie and their enemies stand in feare of them Now let vs draw out of this discourse that discretion which is a vertue so necessary that when it is wanting good is conuerted into ill and vertue into Vice and where a man thought to winne fame in stead thereof growes infamous affronted and ashamed For discretion worketh in man that effect as salt doth in flesh which dryes vp the moysture drawes forth the blood and keepes it from corruption As doth salte so doth discretion keepe man free from perturbations or any vnseemelinesse and discomposure in any Action whatsoeuer he vndergoeth Christ recommended this vertue to his Disciples when hee commanded them to haue salte within themselues This was in the Gospell But long before in the Leuiticall Law it was commanded that euery Sacrifice should be saked with salte The wordes are these Euery oblation of thy meate offering shalt thou season with salt neither shalt thou suffer the salte of the Couenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering With all thine offring thou shalt offer salt Giuing vs thereby to vnderstand the wisedome and discretion wherewith hee would haue vs to serue him And Saint Paul chargeth vs not to vtter that word which shall not be seasoned with the salt of wisdome and discretion A qualitie very necessary and requisite in all but more particularly and without comparison with much more aduantage in Kings as hath wisely beene obserued by Anselmus and venerable Bede In that safe-conduct which Artaxerxes gaue vnto Esdras wherein was set downe in a list all the allowances that they were to make him and what prouisions he was to haue along with him and though in the rest there was a limitation Salverò absque mensura yet was hee to haue salte without measure Hee was not stinted in that For in all things belonging vnto Kings there is such a proportion taxe or measure set vpon them but there are no bounds no limitts to be set vpon their wisedome and discretion Let them a Gods name haue that without measure without limitation For let them haue neuer so much it is no more then they haue neede of God of his goodnesse giue them as much as is needefull for them and that shall suffice them And let vs extract this out of all that which hath beene said touching this sence of smelling that there are two sorts or two kindes of prudence according to S. Basil. The one good and the other bad The one of flesh and blood and the other of spirit and life Of the former doe the wise men of this world boast For they denominate that man to be wise that is crafty and subtill a slye cunning Companion that by ouer-reaching and damnifying his neighbour procures his owne priuate profit The one sayth Saint Paul kills the other quickens This brings death that life Nam prudentis carnis mors est prudentia autem spiritus pax vita For to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace Let that then be condemned for ill and let that suffice which hath beene spoken thereof And
seruos suos cum eo et vniuersum Israel et vastauerunt filios Ammon et obsederunt Rabâ—a Dauid autem remansit in Hierusalem Dum haec agerentur accidit vt surgeret Dauid de strato suo post meridiem et deambularet in solario domus regiae viditque mulieremse lauantem ex aduerso super solarium suum c. And it came to passe that after the yeare was expired at the time when Kings goe forth to battel that Dauid sent Ioab and his seruants with him and all Israel and they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Rabbah But Dauid tarryed still at Ierusalem And it came to passe in an Euening tyde that Dauid arose from his bed and walked vpon the roofe of the Kings house and from the roofe hee saw a woman washing her selfe and the woman was very beautifull to looke vpon c. What a companie of aggrauating circumstances did heere precede the sinne of Dauid It fell out about that time of the yeare when Kings vsed to goe into the field against their enemies and to muster vp their souldiars But instead of going himselfe in person hee sent forth his Captaine Ioab with all the choyse men of Israel himselfe remaining in the meane while sporting and recreating himselfe in his princely Pallace And not thinking on those cares which so dangerous a warre did at that time require hee rose one day after dinner from his Table and went to walke in a gallerie or Tarras that lay open to the Sunne and from thence it was his chance to espie Vriahs wife washing and bathing of her selfe in a place of the like nature right ouer against him who likewise on her part gaue occasion to this sinne for that her husband being abroad in the warres and exposing himselfe to so many troubles and perills she should take pleasure in washing her hayre and in the curious decking and dressing her person in a place from whence shee might be so easily seene Whom he no sooner saw but coueted and no soner made loue vnto but he inioyed her And that he might possesse her with the more safety and cloake the adulterie the better and the childe wherewithall shee went hee gaue order for the making away of her husband vpon the neck whereof an infinite number of other euills did insue When Kings wage warre and their subiects fight their battailes hazarding therein their liues or when any other common calamities happen as of Famine or Pestilence in their Kingdomes they are not then to follow their pleasures and intertainments but to abstaine from them and to shew and make knowen to the world that they haue a fellow-feeling of these common euills and generall afflictions For so did the King of Niniue as soone as hee was informed what the Prophet Ionas had preached in his Court threatning them with the punishment which God would send vpon that Citie And the holy Scripture saith That the King himselfe was the first man that forsooke his pleasures layd his roabe from him and couered him with sack-cloath and sate in ashes and caused it to be proclaimed through Nineue saying Let neither man nor beast heard nor flocke tast any thing let them not feede nor drinke water But let man and beast be couered with sack-cloath and cry mightily vnto God yea let them turne euery one from his euill way and from the violence that is in their hands c. And this was the Course that hee tooke for to appease Gods anger When King Dauid heard of the great slaughter which the Pestilence had wrought in his Kingdome sorrowing exceedingly that the Plague was so hot amongst his people and shewing that it grieued his very heart and soule hee cryed out vnto the Lord and sayd Ego sum qui peccaui ego qui iniquè egi c. Vertatur obsecro manus tua contra me et contra domum patris mei I haue sinned and I haue done wickedly but these sheepe what haue they done Let thine hand I pray be against me and against my fathers house King Ioram reigning in Israel there was so great a Famine and so fore a Death in that Kingdome that two women by consent did agree to kill their children and to eate them by turnes Which the King had no sooner heard of but that he was so inwardly grieued therewith that in expression of his sorrow he rent his garments according to the custome of the Hebrewes on such like sad occasions and put on sack-cloath within vpon his flesh Because Prince Ionathan did but dip the tippe of his rod in the hony-combe when as his father King Saul and all his men of warre were fighting against the Philistins God was much offended with it Thereby teaching Kings that on the like occasions they ought to be the first that should abstaine from their pleasures and delightes signified by the Hony-combe That valiant Captaine Vrias was a good master of this doctrine who being returned from the Armie to the Court called thither by the King would by no meanes be perswaded to goe home to his owne house to refresh himselfe and make merry with his wife though his Maiestie willed him so to doe And the reason which he rendred why he would not doe it was this Arca Dei et Iuda habitant in papilionibus c. The Arke and Israel and Iudah abiding in Tents and my Lord Ioab with the whole Army lying incamped in the open fields without any other shelter and being in that great danger that they are shall I then goe into mine house to eate and to drinke and to lye with my wise Per salutem tuam et per salutem animae tuae non faciam rem hanc As thou liuest and as thy soule liueth I will not doe this thing And not only in the common calamities of a whole Common-wealth but also in those particular ones of great persons that haue beene seruiceable to the state it is fit and requisit and well will it become Kings that they make shew of their sorrow by laying aside their feastings and all other kinde of solacings and mirthfull Intertainments When King Dauid vnderstood of the death of that braue Commander Abner he wept bitterly before the people and commanded that none should taste bread or ought else till the Sunne were downe saying vnto his seruants Num ignoratis quoniam princeps et Maximus cecidit hodiè in Israel Know yee not that there is a Prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel But some will say that we do not well in aduising Kings or the Common people on sad occasions to forbeare their sports and pastimes it seeming vnto them that they ought rather then to seeke after them for the diuerting of melancholy and banishing of sorrow Vrging Plutarkes authoritie who reprehendeth those men who when they are already merrily disposed hunt after intertainments and pastimes wishing them to doe that when they finde themselues sad and heauie for then
bold to tell it him And only Solon did the like with king Croesus Seldom times doth the truth enter into the Kings priuy-chamber and when it enters they scare expresse it in that bare and naked maner as did Iohn Baptist. And for this cause did Demetrius the Philosopher wish king Ptolomie to reade bookes Histories which treated of Precepts for Kings and Captaines for they would tell him that which none durst deliuer vnto him Socrates sayd That there was not any one that made open protestation to speake the truth that attained as he did to the age of 70. yeares And certaine it is that Kings cannot indure to heare those plaine and naked truths which the common people and other their subiects are able to tel them and proue vnto them nor must they that are in place presume to vtter them for feare of indangering their authoritie and reputation And therefore it is fit that they should haue some such persons about them which should both heare and vnderstand them and take their time to informe them of them And this is a rul'd Case taken out of those great Instructions and wise Aphorismes which Mecaenas gaue to Augustus worthy to be taken notice of and to be kept and obserued as coming from so great a Counsailour and proposed to a Prince who was so wise in this kinde To wit That Kings ought to giue libertie and way that their subiects vpon occasion might be admitted to tell them the Truth assuring them on their part that they will not bee offended with that which they shall say vnto them For it is permitted vnto a Physician to prescribe corrasiues and to cut away the dead flesh till it come to the quicke And it may as well be lawfull for a good subiect a faithfull Minister and Counseller of state to speake freely vnto his King with respect and reuerence to their royall dignitie the truth of that they thinke and to condemne him in his iudgement or otherwise when he shall goe about to doe any thing contrary to Iustice and reason Nor ought this to seeme oftensiue to any man nor to the King himselfe who if he haue a Christian feeling will approue in his minde vnderstanding the reasons that they shall represent vnto him so that if he be willing to heare the truths they shall tel him it may turne much to his profit And if he like not well of it there is no harme done neither doth he receiue any preiudice by it And if he shall thinke it fit for the furthering of his ends to follow the Counsaile of any let him coÌ„mend honour that person For by that plot which he shall haue deuised inuented he shall gaine honour and greatnesse by it And it is meete conuenient that he should incourage both him and others with thankes and rewards Because this is the sunne which giues life and the heaâ—e which warmes good wits and makes them actiue nimble And in case he shall not admit of his aduise let him not disgrace him nor finde fault with him for his good will and the desire that he hath to do him seruice But like a great Prince wherein he shall shew his goodnesse let his eye rather looke on the good desire and affection wherewith he doth it then on the effect thereof As likewise because others may not be disheartned for there is not any the poorest plante that hath not some vertue in it nor any brayne so barrene whence at one time or other some fruite may not be gathered for the publickegood I conclude then this first point of that plaine and sincere truth which Kings are to treate and wherewith they are to be treated in signifying vnto them that their own and the Kingdomes safety relyes on searching out the truth and in hauing those about them which will freely speake it a thing so necessarie for to gouerne vprightly and to reward him though it cost him well that shall tell him For Kings shall meete with few that will tell it them as they say for a song For considering the danger whereinto they put themselues by speaking the truth it costes them much And it is an old and ancient kinde of cosenage and deceit which Kings and Princes suffer in not hearing truthes contenting themselues with applause and adulation of that only which pleaseth their humour though it be in thingâ— of much importance and such as neerely concerne them A notable example whereof we haue in the Tri-partite Historie reported by Sozomenus of the Emperour Constantine the great who being one day desirous of make triaâ—l of the integritie and truth of those that seru'd him hee called them all before him and toâ—d them My good friends it is now many yeares that I haue liued vnder the obseruance of the Christian Law but now I grow weary of it for it is a very painefull and troublesome thing to submit our necke to the yoake of the Gospell and to submit ouâ— selfe to a Law that will not allow vs so much libertie as to swarue one tittle from it I pray you let me haue your opinions in it for we for our part are resoâ—ued what we will doe When the Emperour had thus exprest himselfe those that were flatterers Sycophants and time pleasers sayd vnto him Wee thinke your Maiestie shall doe well in so doing and wee shall be obedient to what you shall ordaine therein But those good and faithfull seruants which desired the good and prosperous estate of their Prince both in soule and body humbly besought him on their knees saying Sir For Gods honour and your own doe not doe so vile a thing for it is neither fitting nor lawfull nor shall wee follow you therein or serue you one day longer Then did the Emperour know by this which were good seruants and of greatest trust and presently dismiâ—sed the other Credens nunquam eos circa principem suum fore dâ—bitos qui suerunt Dei sui sic paratissimi proditores Perswading himselfe that they would neuer be faithfull to their Prince that would so soone turne traytours vnto God And if Kings would know how true this is and the errour wherein they liue by hauing the truth kept from them let them at some one time or other when they see fit make shew to affect the contrary to that which before they were hot vpon and did earnestly desire and then shall they see that those very men which approued the one will likewise make good the other and then will they know how in the one or in the other nay in all they are deceiued by them or at least that they dare not plainely and simply tell him that truth which their hearts thinke If they be Ministers and Counsellours of State if they once finde out their Kings homour and the ayre that most delightes his eare they play vpon that string If they be bed-chamber men or the like familiar Attendants about his person they haue naturally a
and his word holdes the hearts of men in his hand is Master of all their wealth and all because they rest assured that they may confidently relye vpon his faith and word Wheras by the contrary hath insued the destruction of Common-wealths the distrustfullnesse of their subiects the scorne and contempt of their enemies and the iealousie of their friends and confederates who all hang and depend vpon the truth of his words and the performance of his Contracts And this being once lost with it hee looseth his credit and after that all goes to wracke with it For Malignitas saith the Wise man enertet sedes potentium Malignitie or ill-mindednesse which is nothing else but a Lye or deceit shall ouerthrowe the seates of the Mighty And Cicero saith That it is a most wicked and abhominable thing to breake that word which conserueth a sociable life betwixt man and man For as Aristotle affirmeth Pacts and Couenants being broaken violated there is taken away from amongst men the vse trading and commerce of things These and the like effects cause in a King either the keeping or loosing of his Credit But of no lesse importance is that third point which followeth in the next place concerning secrecie § III. Of that secrecie which Kings and their Ministers ought to keepe IT is likewise the Tongues Office to holde it's peace And as it is not of the least difficultie so in nothing more doth mans wisedome and prudence shew it selfe Plato will not haue him held to be a wise man that knowes not how to hold his peace Diogenes Laertius that there is no greater token of a Foole then to be loose-tongued and lauish of talke Nâ—minem stultum tacere posse It is impossible for a foole to hold his peace The Ancient esteem'd him a God vpon earth that was a friend to silence representing him in a creature of that Region which hath no tongue Implying thereby that that man is the liuely image and true picture of God whose discretion teacheth him how when and where to holde his peace Alluding happily vnto that of Dauid who finding eyes eares and hands in God seemeth not to finde that hee had a tongue For as hee is God he neuer spake but once Semel locutus est Deus God hath spoaken once And the Spouse speaketh much of all the parts of her beloued but of his Tongue as if hee had no such thing And he that shall not speake a word out of season nor say any more then what is fitting it may bee sayd of that man that hee hath no Tongue And therefore did that holy King Dauid so often beg of God that hee would open his mouth with his owne hand and so order his Tongue that he might not speake but when he would haue him and that he would teach him what and how to speake Illius labia aperit saith S. Austen qui non solum quod loquâ—tur sed etiam quandò vbi cuiloquatur attendit God opens that mans lips who attendeth not onely what he speaketh but also when where and to whom he speaketh Merito igitur sapiens est addeth the same holy father qui accipit a Domino quo tempore loquendum sit Deseruedly therefore is he to be held a wise man which receiueth instruction from the Lord when he ought to speake And the Scripture saith Vir sapiens tacebit vsque ad tempus A wise man will holde his peace till hee see his time Nay Christ himselfe that King of Kings saith of himselfe by the Prophet Esay that his eternall Father gaue him an exceeding wise and prudent tongue Dedit mihi Dominus linguam eruditam The Lord God hath giuen me a learned tongue Or as the Hebrew renders it Eruditiorum The tongue of the learned Not an ordinary tongue but such a Tongue wherin was to be found the wisedome and prudence of all the wise men of the world and from whence all might learne Vt sciam sustentare eum qui lapsus est verbo That I may know how to vphold him that hath slipt in his word Or as the 70. translate it Vt sciam quando oporteat loqui verbum That I should know how to speake a word in season to him that is weary So that a wise discreete and prudent Tongue and such a one as is giuen by God is that which knowes when to speake and when to hold it's peace Teaching Kings who are in a manner Gods at least Gods Liuetenants should in this particular imitate him That they should haue a wise Tongue to know when to open the doore of the lips and when to shut them what to vtter and what to conceale For this is the Learning and wisedome of the Tongue either to speake or be silent as shall sute best with time and occasion Tempus tacendi tempus loquendi It is Salomons A time to keepe silence and a time to speake And in Kings this is so much the more important by how much the more graue and weighty are those businesses which are treated with them For it doth not onely benefit them in not hauing their purposes preuented nor their designes ouerthrowne but likewise winn's them much authoritie and credit For the world will stand as it were astonished and amazed and men will wonder at that which they both doe and say and out of euery kinde of gesture or word of theirs will make a Mystery deliuer their iudgements and draw thence a thousand discourses all which are but cranes and pullyes to make them mount higher in opinion and reputation Likewise when Ministers shall take notice that their King knowes how to heare and how to hold his peace and in it's due time to execute his intentions they liue in a great deale the more awe and feare lest such and such things wherein they doe amisse might come to his knowledge And when they see that he knowes how to conceale a secret till it 's fit time and season it keepes them within their Compasse and is the only bridle that restraines them from doing ill either by way of oppression whereunto great Ministers are too much subiect or otherwise And therefore it shall much concerne a King not onely to be secret in those things which might cause some inconuenience if he should speake of them and make them knowen but also in those things which bring no profit by their publication For if they shall once perceiue that their King cannot conceale what is deliuered vnto him vnder the seale of silence in preiudice of this or that particular party no man will dare to informe and aduise him of that which may redound to Gods seruice and the good of the Common-wealth And so like bad gamesters they will for want of keeping close their cardes let their contrary winne the game by discouering their hand A Kings hâ—art should be so deepe and profound that none should be able to pry into it nor to know
treason yea though secrecie be not inionyed them nor they charged there with But hee that takes an oath to be secret and reuealeth any thing contrary thereunto besides that he is a periur'd and infamous person hee sinnes mortally and is bound to satisfaction of all the harme that shall happen thereby and incurres the punishment of depriuation of his Office For if hee be sworne to secrecie or bee made a Secretary and hath silence for the seale of his Office he is iustly depriued thereof if he vse it amisse And the Law of the Recopilation saith that hee is lyable to that punishment which the King will inflict vpon him according to the qualitie of the offence or the hurt thereby receiued And the Imperiall Law chapter the first Quibus modis feudum amittit that hee shall loose the fee which hee holdes of his Lord. Plutarke reporteth of Philipides that he being in great grace and fauour with Lysimachus King of Lacaedemonia begged no other boone of him but this That he would not recommend any secret vnto him As one that knew very well that saying of one of the wise men of Greece That there was not any thing of more difficultie then to be silent in matters of secrecie As also for that it being communicated to others though it come to be discouered by anothers fault and none of his yet the imputation is laid as well vpon him that was silent as on him that reuealed and so must suffer for another mans errour And in case any man shall incurre any iust suspition thereof let the King withdraw his fauour from him dismisse him the Court and put another in his place that shall be more secret for that which they most pretend is their fidelitie in this point And howbeit they haue neuer so many other vertues and good abilities yet wanting this they want all and are of no vse no more then were those vessells in Gods House which had no Couers to their mouthes For such open vessells are they that cannot keepe close a secret and altogether vnworthy the seruice of kings The substance and vertue of your flowres goes out in vapours and exhalations of the Lymbecke And heate passeth out through the mouth of the fornace and a secret from betweene the lipps of a Foole it being a kinde of disease amongst those that know least to talke most and to vent through their mouth whatsoeuer they haue in their heart In ore fatuorum Cor illorum sayth the Wise man in corde sapientium os illorum The heart of fooles is in their mouth but the mouth of the wise is in their hearts Cogitauerunt et locuti sunt Looke what a Foole hath in his head hee will presently out with it But a wise man will not speake all that hee knowes And therefore your Naturallists say that Nature placed two vaines in the Tongue the one going to the heart the other to the braine To the end that that which remaines secret in the heart the Tongue should not vtter saue what reason and the vnderstanding haue first registred conformable to that Order which is betweene the faculties of the Soule and of the Body it being fit that the Imagination should first conceiue and the Tongue afterwards bring forth that thinke the other speake Not like vnto that foole who vnaduisedly and without premeditation went all day long babbling vp and downe Tota die iniustitiam cogitauit lingua tua Thy tongue all day-long deuiseth mischiefe That is whatsoeuer it imagineth it easily vttreth nay sometimes the Tongue speaketh without booke and runnes riot afore euer it is a ware But let vs conclude this with that of Salomon That Death and Life are in the power of the tongue A dangerous weapon in the hands of him that is not Master thereof and knowes not how to rule it For all Mans good or ill consisteth in the good or ill vse of this Instrument The well gouerning whereof is like a good Pilot that gouerneth a ship and the ill guiding of it like a dangerous rocke whereon men split their honour and often loose their liues And therefore the Diuell left patient Iob when all the rest of his body was wounded with sores his tongue whole and sound Not with intent to doe him any kindnesse therein but because hee knew very well that that alone was sufficient if hee were carelesse thereof for to make him loose his honour his life and his soule For all these lye in the power of the Tongue Qui in consideratus est ad loquendum sentiet mala He that openeth wide his lipps shall haue destruction And the plagues which shall befall him will bee so remedilesse that he shall not meete with any medicine to cure them Nor is there any defence against the carelesse negligences of a babbling tongue which are so many that the Holy Ghost stiles such a kinde of tongue the Vniuersitie or Schoole of wickednesse Vniuer sitas iniquitatis Wherein is read a Lecture of all the Vices Whereas on the contrary Vir prudens secreta non prodit Tacenda enim tacet et loquenda loquitur A wise man will not betray a secret But silenceth those things that are to be silenced and vttereth those things that are to be vttered It is worthy our weighing how much importeth the warinesse in our words for Gods honour and the Kings credit and authoritie which is much abused and lessened by futile and flippant tongues to the great hurt of a kingdome and the good gouernment of the Common-wealth And let Kings correct this so great a disorder in the disclosing closing of secrets either out of their respect to such and such persons or for their particular Interests or out of the weakenesse of a slippery tongue Let Priuie-Counsellours I say and Secretaries of State bridle their tongues If not let Kings if they can restraine them And if they cannot do it of themselues let them petition God as Dauid did In camo et fraeâ—o maxillas eorum constringe Hold in their mouth with bit and bridle For I am of Saint Iames his beliefe Nullus hominum domare potest The tongue can no man tame it is an vnruly euill I say moreouer that the harmes which the Tongue doth are so many and in such a diuerse manner that the euill consisteth not onely in speaking but many times likewise in being silent and saying nothing by forbearing to speake the truth in that which is fitting and when it ought to speake as already hath beene sayd and in not reprouing and amending his neighbour being obliged thereunto by the Law Naturall Diuine and Positiue And in not reprehending Murmurers and Backbiters for then for a man to hold his peace and not to checke them for it is to consent and concurre with them and to approue that which they say And S. Bernard tells vs that he cannot determine which of the two is worser Detrahere an t
detrahentem audire quid horum damnabilius sit non facile dixerim To detract or to heare him that detracteth which is the more damnable I cannot easily define But more especially in Kings persons of authoritie who with a blast only of their breath or with a sower looke may make them hold their peace I leaue the charge of this vnto them and charge their consciencs with it And for the discharge of mine owne I will now aduertise them of another sort of people whom for their tongue and talke none can exceede §. IIII. Of Flatterers and their Flatteries AMongst those infinite hurtes and mischiefes which an euill tongue causeth one amongst the rest and not the least is that of Adulation and flattery Which is so much the greater by how much the more dissembled and feigned it is The sacred Scripture tearmes it absolutely a sinne and says that a flatterer is absolutely a sinner So some doe paraphrase vpon that Verse Oleum autem peccatoris The oyle or balme of a sinner For in it is included all sortes of sinne whatsoeuer and aboue all a great neglect and contempt of God for although this be to be seene in all kinde of sinnes yet doth it more particularly expresse it selfe in those which draw not with them any delight which they doe as it were vnprofitably and sine pretio for it brings them no profit at all vnlesse when most a little Vanitie which they more esteeme then God These that they may gaine the kings elbowe or that they may not bee put from it speake alwayes vnto him in fauour of that which hee desireth and all their Artifice and cunning is to conceale the Truth and that the doore may be shut against him that may tell it him or those that know not like themselues how to please the Kings palate And being confident that they will giue eare to euery word which they speake they lay falsehoods and lyes athwart their way fathering such Actions of Prowesse and valour vpon Kings that they haue much adoe to for-beare laughing that heare their folly For there are some prayses that are dis-prayses and redound much to the disgrace and dishonour of Princes For by those vntruths wherewith they sooth and flatter them they breed suspition of that good which is in them And because they make pleasing the marke whereat they shoote they neuer looke whether it be a lye or a truth which they deliuer nor haue an eye more vnto good then ill iuste or vniust against God or his neighbour all is one Cannonizing their King for a Saint though they know the contrary These saith Nazianzene are like to your Sorcerers of Egypt which were about Pharaohs person who with feigned Prodigies did pretend to ease his heart of that griefe which those plagues did cause in him Ambitious and proud men are these which thus resist the truth and that they may not fall from their bias oppose themselues to those that speake the truth and minde nothing else but to cast a fayre colour on those things whereunto they see their Prince stands affected They come of the race of your Cameleons which liue by the ayre and cloath themselues with the colour of that whereunto they approach neerest If they see the King troubled they are troubled if merry they are merry if sad they are sad Hauing their teares as neere at hand as their smiles for to deceiue him And the better to content him they change themselues into a thousand colours in all they imitate him in all doe they labour to represent him to the true life There is not that glasse which so liuely represents the face the semblance and actions of those that looke therein as the flatterer who is that shadow which alwayes followes the body of him hee flattereth doth his Kings countenance his motions his postures his gestures his saying and his doings For as they see him either say or doe so doe they Being like vnto the Echo which answereth to the last syllable of euery word that is voyced in the Ayre These are the Kings Echos which answer him in all not onely in that which the voyce soundeth but in that which they imagine to be to his liking Being herein very like vnto those lying Hypocrites which thinke one thing and make shew of another But they are presently discouered and this their second intention soone vnderstood which is To lye and flatter to make themselues gratious and to bring their businesses the better about though it be to the hurt of others With one single truth they will dawbe ouer a thousand lyes As perfumers doe a great deale of Leather with a little Ciuit. And thus soothing and suppling the eares of Princes with a subtill softenesse and deceitful sweetnesse thy powre lyes into them and working them with a gentle hand they passe for truths Whilst these false perswaders falsifie the Truth and are worse members in a Common-wealth then those that falsifie the Kings Coine and sinne more grieuously then those that beare false witnesse For these by their testification deceiue onely the Iudge that is to sentence the cause but these with their faire and false flatteries not only cozen and deceiue Kings but corrupt and infect them make them to perseuere in their errours Per dulces sermones benedictiones seducunt Corda innocentium saith S. Paul by good words and faire speeches they deceiue the hearts of the simple And therefore with the greater and more grieuous punishments ought they to be punished They are not so squezy stomackt as to make dainty of Lying nor make they any bones to tell an vntruth if thereby they thinke they may please And as soone will they lay hold on a Lye as a truth so as they rest well apayd therewith to whom they vent their flatterie and their Leasings And some are so trayned and bred vp to them that they take delight to heare them and doe as verily beleeue them as they doe their Creede And so close doth this falsehood cleaue vnto them that without any occasion or cause giuen they leane thereunto and stedfastly beleeue that they haue that goodnesse in them which they want and not that badnesse wherein they exceede For being sencelesse of their owne defects they no sooner heare themselues commended but they are presently puffed vp and conceit themselues to surpasse all other Princes And thus doe they liue all their life long deluded taking themselues to be othewise then they are being abused and vndone by Lyes and flatteries Whence it is now growne to be a Prouerb Princeps qui libenter audit verba mendacij omnes Ministros habet impios If a Ruler hearken to Lyes all his seruants are wicked For euery man will frame his Tongue according to his eare and feede him with that fruit which they know best pleaseth his palate It being a dangerous disease in Kings not to indure the truth and as mortall in the subiects that they know not well
from himselfe but doth rather desire that all should fauour him in this his opinion And it is a strange thing and much to be wondred at that without himselfe and in another a man should so easily perceiue adulation and should not see it in himselfe But the reason of it is That some doe rest so well satisfied of themselues that all whatsoeuer they imagine in their owne conceit they opinion it to be truly in them and to be their due Let vs therefore conclude this discourse with aduising Kings that it is basenesse in a brest and heart that is truly noble and royall to suffer himselfe to be so lightly led away by men of such vile thoughts and base pretensions which follow more a Prince his fortune then his Person They feare not his hurt nor pittie his paines for that they are Traytours and easily vary from their faith and loyaltie and passe ouer to another They flatter this man and backbite that They sooth one and flout another Their tongues are like double sawes which sawe on both sides which comming and going cut wheresoeuer they come and slice and mince all that they light vpon not sparing any man There is no trusting of these men nor can we safely haue ought to doe with them for to serue their turne they haue still two contrary weapons ready at hand and with one and the same Prince make vse of them both One while they lye and another while speake truth but flatter in both Their tongue droppeth forth words of hony and their lips are canded with Sugar for they know that in Kings houses much sweete meates are spent and they hold him that shall season things with a contrary relish for their palate to be offensiue and troublesome and it will not goe downe with them so harsh doth it seeme vnto them in the swallowing King Ahab renders no other reason of his hatred towards the Prophet Micah but because hee did not speake pleasing things and such as did agree with his guste and palate for hee that is accustomed to this kinde of diet will hardly be brought to digest any other Quia non prophetat mihi bonum sed malum saith the text There is yet one man by whom wee may inquire of the Lord But I hate him for hee neuer prophesieth good vnto mee but alwayes euill Hee had signified some truthes vnto him but hee did not like well of them for those eares that haue beene accustomed to flatteries will hardly indure to be tolde their owne and to heare that which may dis-deceiue them and put them out of their errour But this wicked King payd the price of his â—olly at no lesse a rate then his life For these his false Prophets and flatterers led him along into the doores of death as fooles by faire words are led vnto the stocks But hee that is a good King will not suffer himselfe to be carried away with euery winde nor be moued with soothing and artificiall words and all such as are of a generous minde and of a graue and constant disposition and men of reckoning and authoritie are enemies to such kinde of lightnesse and meere strangers to all manner of leasings and adulation This being so wee ought not only to keepe the doores of our eares shut against these their accursed tongues but of our houses against these vaine and lying Sycophants and to desire of God that he will be pleased to illighten the vnderstanding of Kings and Princes that they may get at least out of this blindnesse wherein they liue and that he will free them from these eare-wiggs and incroaching flatterers who onely for to please and for their particular Interest celebrate their euill actions and approue for lawfull all their disordinate appetites Whilest they out of seelinesse or willfullnesse will not see the truth of that saying Qui te beatum dicunt ipsi te decipiunt c. They which call thee blessed cause thee to erre and destroy the way of thy pathes Lastly That wee may put an end to this discourse I say That there are another sort of flatterers which they call Iesters and men of pleasure very hurtfull and preiudiciall both in the Common-wealth and Kings Courtes And by so much the more by how much the more eare is giuen vnto them Their Laughters their applause their flatteries and their fooleries are all Lyes one word crossing another and their last reasons incountring with their first and by laying hold on all confound themselues in the end in all Their Office is to persecute the truth and wheresoeuer they are there is heard nothing but Musicke songs and inchantments of lyes and falsehoods wherewith they deceiue and fill mens heads with ayre Hee hath small store of braine saith a wise man which hearkens vnto such kinde of idle Companions who for that they finde they haue entrance into the Courtes and Palaces of Kings loose all shame and feare and assume vnto themselues the libertie to runne this large course of life whereby they thriue so well and get their bread with so much ease Salomon amongst those beasts which represent the Actions and gestures of men which liue by their trickes and sustaine themselues by their arte and industrie reckoneth vp the Ape And according to the Hebrew truth and Pagninuâ— his translation that word Stellio signifieth as much And saith thereof that it hath it's reception in Kings houses Stellio manibus nititur moratur in aedibus regis And thereby vnderstand this linage of mimick men which liue meerely by their industry exercising a thousand Apish gestures before Kings and Princes to please them all they can and to make them to laugh and be merry They are birdes of rapine hauing long bills and double pawes seazing on what they see and you must part with something to them either by faire meanes or by force vpon paine of putting you in feare that they will speake that of you which they doe of others These ill condition'd birdes are vsually bred in high places although like lewd women they stoope to all admit of all and take of all with a pretension to deceiue all fitting euery one according to his humour soothing that sinne whereunto they see the party most affected They are traytours of their tongue cogging Companions and lying Knaues who a man hath no sooner turned his backe but they scoffe most at him that giues them most and not onely rob him of his money but his honour and goe laughing away at their owne folly They are Rogues by consent Villaines by permission Knaues Cum priuilegio instruments of the Diuell and Hawkes-meate for Hell Deseruing to be banished for euer from the presence of Kings and men of authoritie But the greife of it is That the more they lye the more they are beleeued and the more impudently and vnciuilly they talke they are the better heard Vnhappy are they in themselues and as vnhappy they that heare them The one in
as is in all well gouerned kingdomes Referring as we said before to the ordinary Councells and Tribunalls ordinary businesses consulting with their Kings those that are of most importance And these Kings by themselues as before mentioned ought to dispatch if therein they be not hindered by default of their health and not to remit and referre them to their Fauourites who in matter of Iustice were it but distributiue should haue no lande of power For thereby they oppresse those Tribunalls and seates of iustice together with their Ministers and Officers who for that they know they must haue much dependancy on the Fauourite if he shall haue a hand in Courts of Iustice and distribution of Offices cannot but remaine much oppressed and debarred of their libertie and the more if they haue any pretension for their owne interest or increasing of their estate and honour And the reason of all this will plainly appeare if wee will but weigh those words of the wise man Per me Reges regnant Legum conditores iusta decernunt Through me Kings raigne Through mee Councellours make iust Lawes Whereby is giuen to vnderstand the particular fauour which God giues to the lawfull Kings and Gouernours of their kingdomes and commonwealths to hit right in that which appertaineth vnto gouernment And therefore was it well said of that wise King Salomon Diuinatio in labijs Regis in iudicio non errabit os eius Prophecie is in the lippes of the King his mouth shall not go wrong in iudgement And your Diuines are of opinion that Kings haue more helpe and aide from their Angels of guard then other men haue And besides all this the publike prayers that are poured forth throughout all their kingdomes and Prouinces are of most great vse for Gods illightning of their vnderstanding And therefore for these reasons aforesaid although your Fauourites and more secret Councellours of State may be very learned and wise vnderstanding men yet is there a great deale of reason why in graue and weightie causes they should craue and attend their Kings opinion esteeming it as the more certaine being it comes from a head so much fauoured by God and so well assisted and strengthened on all sides Which doth not concurre in Fauourites for God hath not made that promise vnto them as he hath vnto Kings nor peraduenture doe they deserue it And if he bee the sole and onely Fauourite much lesse can hee presume that either his opinion or paines can be greater or surer then that of so many learned Councellours and Councells that haue met and sate thereupon and haue spent so much time and studie in State-affaires Nor is it to bee imagined that when Councellours doe consult and craue their Kings opinion and resolution that they doe it to that end that they should receiue it from another inferiour person whom let Kings loue them neuer so much or conferre all that they can vpon them they cannot giue them more vnderstanding or more knowledge nor a better minde and disposition then what they haue already for this is reserued for God onely as also it properly belongeth vnto him to giue light vnto Kings that they may giue a fitting and direct answer to that point wherein they are consulted who alwayes supplyes them with that knowledge which is needfull for them if they shall but begge it at his hands and make good vse thereof Hence are two things inferred which are very sure and true The first That Kings are bound in conscience to attend in their owne person graue and weightie businesses for that this is their principall office which is euidently proued by this reason Whosoeuer beares an Office and hath salarie for the same is thereby obliged to cumply fully therewith Sub poena peccati vpon penaltie of sinning And by so much the more grieuous shall the sinne be by how much the greater is the Office and by how much the more the stipend is augmented Now Kings you will confesse vnto me haue the greater office and greater stipend in all things and therefore shall they more grieuously sinne if they do not cumply therewith And this is made good in the sixth of Wisedome wherein these very words it is expresly said Potentes potenter tormenta patientur fortioribus fortior instat cruciatio A sharpe punishment shall be to them that be in high places and the mighty shall bee mightily tormented The second That Fauourites are obliged on paine of the said penaltie to serue their Kings in their owne persons well and faithfully in those businesses which they shall commit to their charge and that in taking their pleasure and ease more then their Kings themselues and substituting others to performe that trust and charge which is put vpon them they cannot iustly enioy that authoritie nor those interests and profits which doe result from their priuacie And let they themselues tell me what title they haue to enioy so much as they doe when they take lesse paines then their Kings but pleasure more And to conclude with that which is here questioned in this Chapter I say That admitting Fauourites to bee such as they ought to be it is fit notwithstanding that there should be more then one or two For thereby Kings shall haue the more helpe and out of that emulation and zeale which is wont to bee amongst them each of them will striue to bee more considerate and better aduised in commanding others and in begging and applying things to himselfe and his owne priuate profit and more solicitous in doing seruice to the State lest others might get the start of him in his Kings fauour And howbeit the name of fauourite seemeth not to indure a companion yet if they fixe their eyes on that which they ought which is the common good of the common-wealth and the seruice of their Kings it would neuer grieue them that there should bee others to assist for the same end and purpose but like that great Fauourite and friend of God Moses they would say Vtinam omnes prophetarent Would to God they did all prophecie CHAP. XXXIIII Of the Conditions and Qualities of Fauourites SVpposing that that then which hath beene said in the former Chapters and that Kings are to haue such persons about them who with proprietie may hold the name of friends for such qualitie and condition must they be of who possesse the bosome and soule of their Master by the communication of the greatest and most secret affaires and performe the office of Fauourites For although it be true that it cannot properly be said that Kings haue friends for that all saue of their owne ranke are inferiour vnto them yet is it likewise true that the holy Scripture as we shewed you before stiles Fauourites friends For the force of loue is of that great power that it remoueth and lifteth vp things from their point and center giuing the name of friend to a seruant and subiect Qui diligit cordis
munditiam propter gratiam labiorum suorum habebit amicum Regem He that loueth purenesse of heart for the grace of his lippes the King shall bee his friend Aristotle doth admit betwixt the King and his subiect a certaine kinde of friendship howbeit and disparitie and inequalitie bee very great your Histories doe celebrate the friendships of great Princes held with their particular subiects And those which with other their equalls are called faithfull friends with Kings carry the name of Loyall-Subiects Which for that effect which wee pretend importeth little this altering or changing of the name That which most importeth and conueneth most is That we giue you some notice of those qualities which they ought to haue and of those signes whereby those may be knowne that are fittest and best for so great a Ministery There are two qualities amongst the rest which are precisely necessarie in a Fauourite And first I will set downe the first First of all then he must loue his King truly and must not suffer himselfe to be ouercome by couetousnesse and his owne priuate interest In the first particular all doe agree with Aristotle and Plato For no man can more faithfully giue counsell then hee that loues his King more then his gifts Which of all other is the most necessary to make one man trust another and to beleeue that which hee saith For who will not credit that man whom he knowes loues him and in all that he can seekes to procure his good without any respect to his owne particular interest He saith Saint Gregory that is fit to be a Fauourite must haue a loue that is full and dis-interessed Nullus fidelior tibi ad consulendum esse potest quam qui non tua sed te diligit No man can be more faithfull in aduising thee then he that loues not thine but thee This qualitie of Loue and friendship Nazianzene likewise handleth And a certaine Law of the Partida maketh mention thereof saying Que los que han de aconseiar los Reyes han de ser amigos bien entendidos yâ—de buen seso That those that are to counsell Kings must bee friends that haue beene throughly knowne and tried and that are of good vnderstanding and iudgement Salomon saith That hee is a true Fauourite indeed that studies to walke in cleannesse of heart and purenesse of tongue that is to say when hee shall place all his care in seruing his King with Loue and informing him nothing but what is truth and desiring him to walke in that way which shall make most for Gods seruice and the good of the kingdome Qualities sufficient for Fauourites to insinuate themselues into the grace and fauour of good Princes Saint Iohn in the Apocalypse sets before vs though somewhat darkly shadowed a picture of good Fauourites and Councellers Which were certaine old men clothed in white wearing Crownes on their heads To bee somewhat ancient and well stricken in yeares was a qualitie wont to be required in those that were to aduise Kings and giue them good counsell in regard of their great experience and mature iudgement which commonly accompanies such kinde of men And they are said to be clothed in white because this colour signifies a pure heart and a cleare conscience wherewith they ought to bee as it were apparrelled and adorned How can he giue good counsell that is not clothed in white That hath not Cor candidum a white and vpright heart pure and cleane from those affections and passions that may smuâ—t and sullye it And it is there likewise set downe that euery one of them had like a King a Crowne vpon his head To giue vs thereby to vnderstand that hee that is to giue counsell vnto Kings for the maintaining and vpholding of a kingdome and to remedy what is therein amisse may in some sort conceit himselfe to be a King my meaning is that he is to giue counsell as if hee himselfe were the King and to aduise for him as he would for himselfe were he in his place And that hee is to giue his vote and opinion as if the kingdome were his And to be so free from expecting or respecting his owne particular interest as if he were King himselfe Who neither expecteth nor pretendeth any merced or reward nor any addition of honour or otherwise in his kingdome for that hee hath already attained to the highest and supremest dignitie which is the Crowne In like manner Kings Fauourites and Counsellours should liue as free from pretensions as if hauing already got the Crowne they had nothing more to pretend Whose breast and bosome must be as white and as pure as whitenesse it selfe And will be the better able to iudge betwixt white and blacke right and wrong by reason of their many yeares and long experience This kinde of seruants and friends which must be the life and soule of their actions let Kings bee very carefull how they make choice of them and receiue them into fauour For there is not any one thing that doth so much manifest a Kings minde as the election which he makes of his Fauourites and Councellours of State For by them is his naturall inclination as well knowne as in a workeman by his manufactures is discouered the Art and Trade whereunto hee is most inclined And therefore I shall make bold to aduise Kings that they make such their Fauourites that are men of worth wise prudent dis-interessed and of a noble and generous disposition For by their choice men make iudgement of their King accordingly And likewise when the Kings grace and fauour shall fall vpon good Subiects his owne glory will be the greater Let Kings laying aside all affection choose such as are men of knowledge and experience and that are powerfull in perswading and disswading That know how to go in and out with good satisfaction amidst those so many so diuers and such important businesses as daily offer themselues and to giue good subtill and graue answers both by word of mouth and by writing to such Ambassadours and other great persons that shall come to treate and negociate with them That haue seene and read much and haue a generall knowledge in all things but more particularly in the countries and Prouinces that are vnder their Kings command That know what forces they are able to make and to vnderstand the strength as well of their friends as of their foes Let them be of a franke and liberall minde For this vertue the common people much loue and affect and are wonderfully well satisfied therewith And on the contrary couetousnesse is much hated and abhorred by them Let them I say bee bountifull and desirous to doe good to all in common and to euery one in particular In a word let them be men well knowne to be faithfull and trusty and such as loue their Kings so well as that they will preferre their authoritie and reputation before their owne and studie and endeuour in all
and aboue all what may make most for their good and aduantage That they be wise discreet experienced patient without passion disinteressed and more zealous of the publike good then of their priuate profit For if they shall regard their owne interest and proper commoditie they are neither good for the seruice of their Kings nor for the gouernment of the commonwealth For in going about to measure out their priuacie by the yard of their particular profit they will make merchandise of all and their doing good to others shall bee for the benefiting of themselues Nothing comming vnder their hands whereof that they may not be accounted bad Cookes they will not licke their owne fingers The clingenst and strongest affection is that of couetousnesse it is like the headâ—ch which hindereth the free vse of mans faculties and senses not suffering him to doe any thing that is good And though it bee true that there are other vices of greater offence to God and more hurtfull to a mans neighbour yet this hath I know not what mischiefe in it and more particularly in publike persons which doth shew it selfe more openly then all the rest and doth breede and nourish other sinnes as the roote doth the tree Radix omnium malorum cupiditas Quidam appetentes errauerunt à fide Couetousnesse of money is the roote of all euill Which while some lusted after they erred from the faith and tangled themselues with many sorrowes Ex auaritia profecto saith Saint Ambrose septem nequitiae procreantur scilicet Proditio fraus fallacia periurium inquietudo violentia contra misericordiam obduratio There are seuen kinde of sinnes that proceed from couetousnesse viz. Treason Fraud deceit Periury Inquietude Violence and which shuts the doore to all pitie and compassion Hardnesse of heart Vpon this foundation of couetousnesse is built whatsoeuer tyrannicall imagination and many through it haue and doe daily loose the faith and that loyaltie which is due vnto God and their Kings Auri cupiditas saith the same Saint materia est perfidiae The loue of gold is the cause of the losse of faith When this pulls a Fauourite it easily drawes him aside and carries him headlong to all these vices for it is of more force then the Load-ston and drawes him more after them then that doth the iron And is holpen on the more by the winde of vanitie and ambition The Philosopher Herâ—â—litus saith That those that serue Vanity and Couetousnesse suddenly depart from Truth and Iustice and hold that onely for iust and most right which is directed aright to their owne priuate interest And this onely doe they make their aime in all whatsoeuer they aduise their King as was to be seene in that so often repeated case of King Assuerus with his great Fauourite Amann of whom hee demanded what grace and fauour should bee showne to that Subiect whom for his good seruices hee desired to honour Whereupon the winde of vaine-glory working in the head of him and thinking this could be no man but himselfe shewed himselfe very magnificent and liberall in ordaining the honours and fauours that were to be done vnto him The vaine conceit of a couetous man cuts out for himselfe large thongs out of another mans leather And when hee growes a little warme in the King his Masters bosome poore snake as hee was with a false and feigned loue hee goes hunting after his commoditie and this failing his loue also faileth For his heart stretcheth it selfe no farther to loue then what his hands câ—n come to take hold on Elpan comido y la compania desecha saith the Prouerbe No longer Cake nâ— longer company Of such friends as these the Prophet Michah bids vs beware For no friend that seeketh his owne gaine can euer according vnto Aristotle be faithfull and loyall to his King Let Kings I say consider once againe and haue an especiall care that those Fauourites whom hee maketh choice of for his friends be out of his owne proper election and approued by his owne minde and by the opinion and fame of their vertue and not intertaining them at any time by the sole intercession of others especially such as are great and powerfull nor let them suffer themselues to be carried away with the secret considerations of those familiar and particular persons which are about them nor by the insinuating and soothing perswasions of your flatterers and Sycophants Who as they are men worke vpon discourse and corporall meanes altogether framing them in order to their owne ends Let them not giue beliefe and credit vnto them but to the common fame and good report that goes of them and thereon let them place their eares and their vnderstanding For as Tacitus saith that is it which vsually makes the best choice For it is not to bee doubted but that concerning such a ones vertues or goodnesse we ought rather to giue credit to the generall report then to the voices of one or two For one may easily bee deceiued and deceiue others by his tricks and his particular interest but neuer yet could one deceiue all nor is it possible that all should in that their approbation deceiue another As for those other seruants which are to attend and waight vpon the Kings person more for dignitie of place and for outward apparence and ostentation of greatnesse then for vse and conueniencie which likewise in their kinde are very necessarie let Kings a Gods name receiue them into their seruice either vpon the intercession of others or out of other particular respects For in this there is little hazard and may easily chop and change them if they proue not good and fit for their turne But in the choice of the former a great deale of care must be taken for the choppâ—ng and changing of them is very dangerous and vnlesse there be very great cause for the doing of it it breeds an opinion of inconstancie which as it cannot but be hurtfull vnto all so is it of great dishonour vnto Kings much weakening their authoritie But say there be iust cause of remouing them why it is but as a Vomite which howbeit it be true that it remoueth the malignant humour and expells it from the stomacke yet withall it carries the good likewise away with it and makes an end of that Subiect it works vpon if it be too often vsed For our horses wee seeke bits and bridles wherewith to make them to go well and handsomely and if with those they do not raigne and carry themselues according to our mind we take others and when we finde once that they are fitted as wee would haue them we neuer chop nor change but still vse the same In like manner it is not good to chop and change either Fauourites or priuie Councellours too often but to seeke out such as are fit for their turne and to carry such a hand ouer them as to bridle their insolencie and to reyne them in hard if they
now growne rich which before they would haue taken for a great fauour when they were poore Thus doe we grow vnthankfull and thus doe we grow forgetfull being vainly carried away with the conceit of what we are And we loose the sight of that low and meane estate wherein we were by being raised to that highth and eminencie wherein wee see our selues to bee seated A naturall fault in mans eye-sight which knowes not how to looke downeward and as vnwilling to looke backward but as much forward as you will But these forward birds doe well deserue to haue the waxe wherewith their wings are fastened to be melted by that very Sunne that gaue them their first warmth and light and by their fall to be left an example to the world to terrifie others And in case for some especiall respect Kings shall resolue with themselues that all the beames of their greatnesse shall illighten and giue life to one particular person let the foundation of their fauours bee layed vpon those qualities desarts and seruices which ought to concurre on those persons on whom they purpose thus to particularize Kings likewise are to consider the Petitions of those that sue vnto them which is my second obseruation and taught by Christ himselfe Potestis bibere calicem quem ego bibiturus sâ—m Can ye drinke of the cup that I drinke of Iudging by himselfe in this demand which hee makes to these his Fauourites who so rashly and vnaduisedly came vnto him to petition him for the two principall places that for to possesse them they should haue all sufficient and requisite necessaries vpon which point Christ examines them and the like examination ought Kings to make of those qualities specified by vs touching both Pretenders and Fauourites The third thing which I recommend to your consideration and which Christ teacheth Kings is the great caution and warinesse which they are to vse in not being too facile in granting all that their Fauourites shall require of them Which is to bee gathered out of the last words of this his answer Non est meum dare vobis It is not mine to giue Which to my seeming soundeth thus It will not stand with my truth and iustice to giue for kindreds-sake or other humane respects that which my eternall Father hath prepared for those which deserue best Kings ought to bee very circumspect in promising and not ouer easie in granting for if he shall be facile in granting what others shall desire hee may haue cause to repent himselfe and if he promiseth hee looseth his liberty A great gentleman of qualitie whom King Philip the second much fauoured for his worthy parts and great abilities talking one day with him and walking a good while with his Maiestie after that hee had discoursed with him of diuers things to the Kings so great good content and liking that hee thought with himselfe that there was now a faire occasion offered vnto him to propound vnto him as he did a businesse of his owne He told a friend of his anon after that hee came from him that in that very instant he proposed it he cast such a strange and austere looke towards him as if hee had neuer seene him before Which was no want of affection in the King towards him for hee had had many sufficient testimonies thereof but because it was fitting for so wise and prudent a King to haue that circumspection lest this his affection might minister occasion vnto him to call his discretion in question in granting or not granting that which either is not or at least shall seeme vnto him not to be conuenient for him For Kings must haue recourse to these two things To haue a good and safe conscience with God and intire â—â—â—horitie and good opinion with men For with none doth that holy and prudent counsell of Saint Paul suite more properly then with them Prouidemus bona non solum coram Deo sed etiam coram hominibus Prouiding for honest things not onely in the sight of the Lord but in the sight of men Which cannot be when as Fauourites either doe all what they list of themselues or get their Kings to doe it for them When the Sensitiue appetite effecteth whatsoeuer it affecteth the vnderstanding which is the soules king remaines oppressed and disgraced and with that soule note which the kingly Prophet Dauid giues it Homo cum in honore esset non intellexit comparatus est iumentis insipientibus similis factus est illis Man being in honour hath no vnderstanding he is like the beasts that perish And therefore when Kings out of their particular affection or for the auoiding of trouble and the fuller inioying of their ease and pleasure shall giue absolute power to their Fauourites to doe and vndoe as they please presently one blot or other which they will hardly euer get out will bee laid vpon their royall persons Nor need wee here to relate the hurt which comes thereby and the occasion which it giues vnto the Subiects neither to thnke nor speake of their Princes with that respect which is fitting especially when the Fauourites are none of those which helpe to beare the weight and burthen of businesses but shake them off from their owne shoulders and lay them vpon other that are fitted to their hand and of whom they rest well assured that they will doe nothing but what they will haue them to doe working their will and pleasure in all that they are able And this is not that which Kings and Commonwealths need but it much importeth that their Fauourites should bee of that good and quicke dispatch in businesses that all the people might loue them for it for from the contrary great inconueniences are wont to arise When the Shechemites were so vnmannerly and vnciuill in their language against their King Abimilech amongst other things which they vttered and alledged against him they said this in scorne of him Nunquid non est filius Ierobael constituit Principem Zabul seruum suum super viros Hemor patris Sichem cur ergo seruiemus ei Who is Abimelech that we should serue him Is not he the sonne of Ierubbaal and Zebul his Officer why should wee serue him c. They tooke it very ill that the King should raise his seruant Zabul to thaâ— heighth of honour and greatnesse that he should be made Prince as it were ouer all the people of Hemor and Sichem And howbeit the naturall obligation which Subiects owe to their Kings is so great that they are bound to obey them in all that which is not against God And that it is a token of great noblenes to suffer with a good courage whatsoeuer burthens be they neuer so heauy which they lay vpon them yet notwithstanding they haue no such obligation to their Fauorites For they may for their pleasure or their profit substitute other their Fauourites and oblige the people that they either negociate with or buy
fellow and companion They hold that honour for an iniurie that is done to their equall and thinke themselues go backward and loose of their authoritie and reputation if another bee preferred before them Which is such an offence that God presently takes notice of it and passeth it not ouer without punishment For this priuacie with Kings is a thing of his disposing and for such ends as hee pretends and there is not any Subiect that rises to such great place but that he must passe through the weights and ballance of his diuine prouidence who chooseth these and refuseth those vsing them as meanes to worke his secret ends Many saith Salomon seeke the Rulers fauour but euery mans iudgement commeth from the Lord. The election comes from God it is not so much the King that chooseth them as God who moues his heart thereunto And if he do vphold them with his powerfull hand in vaine is it for others to go about to trippe vp their heeles For as Saint Cyprian saith Calamitas sine remedio est odisse foelicem To hate an happy and fortunate man is a misfortune beyoâ—d all remedie it is a torment and putrefaction of the heart which is euer gnawing and martyring of the soule CHAP. XXXVI Whether the Kinsfolke and friends of Fauourites are to be excluded from Offices THis place requireth that we auerre that which amongst discreet persons and such as are zealous of the common good is vsually called in question and made a doubt To wit whether or no it be inconuenient that the Kinsfolke friends and followers of Kings Fauourites should bee put into places of Office and Gouernment For it cannot but seeme an vnreasonable thing that those who haue such parts and qualities as well deserue to bee employed in such places of charge and command should therefore onely and eo nomine bee excluded from them for that they haue alliance and friendship with the said Fauourites Being that this in it selfe is not ill Besides the loue and affection which Kings beare vnto their Fauourites cannot like your bad-made-clothes so shrinke vpon themselues or be so straight-laced that it shall not likewise extend it selfe to the friends and allyes of those to whom they professe so much loue Againe a good if not a greater part of these mens happinesse and content consisteth in being able to do good and to raise their friends But for the better satisfying of this doubt it is fit that we should first consider and distinguish of the qualitie of the persons of this Alliance and friendship with those Fauourites as also of the condition and qualitie of those offices For in your offices there are some of grace and some of Iustice. In the distribution of the former we are to looke no further then to grace and the Kings good will and pleasure In the latter to that distribution which is agreeable to distributiue Iustice. There is likewise a great difference in the persons For some are of better qualities and desarts then other some And these are in all prouisions that are made to be first preferred be they or be they not of kinne and acquaintance with the Fauourites And there are many good reasons that make for their part Others there are that are inferiour in merit and the foresaid qualities and these in no wise may or ought to be preferred for the kindred or friendship which they hold with Fauourites For it were a sinne of accepting of persons which is contrary to distributiue Iustice. Others there are that are euery way equall with the rest of the pretenders and on this Hinge hangs the force of the Question Now if they shall stand in this equalitie and vpon these equall tearmes with the rest in those qualities that are fitting for Office it seemeth that they should receiue some wrong in being excluded without any fault of theirs For it is no fault to bee the friend or kinsman of a Fauourite To this doubt the answer would be made the more difficult if your Fauourites through their too much ambition and couetousnesse had not taught vs the great inconueniences which result in a Common-wealth by opening this doore vnto them and conferring the said Offices on their friends and Allyes vnder colour and pretext that they are as well deseruing as others First of all for that Kings as Shepherds and common parents of the whole Commonwealth are to make a distribution of honours and of wealth equally reparting and diuiding them in that indifferent manner that they may reach to all houses and families or at least to extend tâ—em as farre as they are able Like a good Husbandman who that hee may haue a good and plentifull crop throwes and scatters his seed on this side and that side and euery where Secondly for that it is a very odious thing and which breedeth bad bloud and ingendreth ill humours in those who onely in regard of this their kindred and friendship see themselues depriued and debarred of that which they might otherwise challenge by desert And others on the other side when they see that they can neither come to be kinsmen nor friends nor of familiar acquaintance with Fauourites which are the references that must preferre them the first nature hauing denyed it them the other their bad fortune or the Fauourites disaffection seeing themselues hopelesse of all helpe and remedie either they runne themselues headlong into some desperate attempt or at least fall to flagge in their vertue either of which cannot choose but bee of great inconuenience to the Commonwealth Thirdly for that it is not fitting that Fauourites should come to be very powerfull either in their owne proper wealth and substance or in the greatnes and strength of their friends and Allies For the more they increase in these the more doe their Kings decrease and sometimes it hath beene seene to grow to that excesse that powerfull Princes haue seene or at least imagined themselues to be of lesser power then they could haue wisht it or had beene needfull to haue repressed and cut short the ambitious wings and high flowne insolencies of their Fauourites Fourthly for that vnder this colour occasion might bee giuen to Fauourites to dispose in such sort of the gouernment of kingdomes that Kings should not come to the knowledge of ought that passeth in them be it good or bad more then shall stand with the good liking of their Fauourites and make most for their owne ends So that neither those that are wronged shall finde meanes to bee righted nor those that are zealous of the common good and of their Kings authoritie and reputation be admitted to aduertise and giue notice vnto him of that which doth most concerne him For Kings by reason of their retirednesse cannot come to the full knowledge of all that passeth One of the things wherewith they charged that great Fauourite of King Don Iuan in that sentence which they pronounced against him was That hee had put into the offices of
that which is commanded be good And being good why should it not be good for him to keepe it that commands it For as Baldus saith though the King be not lyable to the Law yet is hee lyable to the rules of reason This pious Emperour goes on and willeth his sonne that he should strictly recommend to his Vice-roys charge the protecting sheltring and relieuing of the poore the defending of the fatherlesse and widow and those that are destitute of friends and haue none to helpe them Whom some that are in place and authoritie are wont and I feare is too ordinary amongst them to disfauour and disesteeme them making little or no reckoning at all of them Being ignorant how vile and base a thing it is and how heroycall the contrary and how much in imitation of God to put forth a charitable and pitifull hand to him that is brought low and fallen into miserie assisting him in his afflictions and troubles freeing him from wrongs and iniuries whose shield and buckler he that gouernes ought to be And he closes vp this aduertisement with wishing him to be very carefull that his Viceroys and Gouernours exercise their offices as they ought and not to exceed the instructions that are giuen them nor to vsurpe beyond their authoritie giuing them this prouiso that in doing the contrary he shall thinke that he is ill serued by them and that hee giue order to haue it remedied and amended by his displeasure and their punishment And howbeit it be true that he ought not to giue credit to all the complaints which are made against such his Ministers which are seldome wanting yet in no hand that he should refuse to heare them and vnderstand them in forming himselfe fully of the truth For the not doing of it will but minister occasion vnto them to be more absolute and to the Subiects to grow desperate seeing themselues oppressed by iniustice and vnconscionable dealing Likewise when Kings send an Embassadour to another Prince they must looke well into the qualitie of the person whom they send For in such an Embassage he doth not onely treate of the businesses for which hee goes but likewise of the honour and authoritie of the King which sends him And therefore it is necessary that the persons that are nominated and declared to go on Embassage haue many of those qualities which we haue mentioned in Vice-roys and Councellours of State For if they shall not fill that place with the greatnesse of their good abilities it will be a great lessening to the credit and reputation of the King and the businesses will receiue much hinderance if not vtterly bee ouerthrowne The Romanes did make a mocke of the Teutones counting them no better then fooles for sending an Embassadour vnto them that was a block-head and of little or no experience Kings and great Princes all that from which glory and greatnesse resulteth vnto them they ought to doe it without any the least shew of vanitie accompanying it with such circumstances and consequencies that it may seeme onely to bee done for the common good the exaltation of the Commonwealth and the reputation of their Crowne In all times and places they must represent much authoritie grauitie and Maiestie in their persons and in their Treaties mixing it with affabilitie and courtesie To the end that by the one they may cause feare and respect and by the other quit and remoue that feare It is reported of Octauian the Emperour that all the Embassadours that appeared in his presence stood astonished betwixt feare and admiration but no sooner spake he vnto them but they were wonderfully taken with his words and did not then so much feare as affect him For albeit the Maiestie wherewith hee receiued them was exceeding great yet was his carriage towards them very affable and very courteous In these two vertues did excell that Catholicke King of Spaine Don Philip the second whom for the representing of Maiestie and regall authoritie none did excell and few equall And in the carriage and composition of his person there was no defect to bee found Vpon any accident that befell him were it good or bad fortunate or vnfortunate there was neuer any man that could perceiue in him so much as a discomposed countenance or any other the least alteration And hee may be truly said to be a man who is not proud in prosperitie nor impatient in aduersitie For it is a great signe of Noblenesse and the vndoubted marke of a royall minde and Princely courage not to loose himselfe in his aduerser fortunes but to shâ—w himselfe constant against fortune and to raise vp his spirits as this King did being neuer deiected with any outward Crosse or misfortune tha befell him He did neuer being therein like vnto Xenophons Cyrus shew an ill countenance or speake an ill word vnto any man Hee was not so affable and familiar with his Fauourites that any of them all durst presume to petitioâ— him in any thing that was vniust nor yet so austere and feuere towards others as to make them to forbeare to preferre a iust suite vnto him To his owne Subiects he was kinde to strangers noble but withall reseruing still his authoritie and greatnesse For Kings ought not to bee so harsh and intractable as to make themselues to bee abhorred nor so kinde and courteous as to cause themselues to be contemned Indeauouring all they can not to fall into the extreames by shewing too much loue to some and little or none at all to other some For too much seueritie ingendreth hatred and too much familiaritie breedeth contempt Let them generally beare themselues in that respectiue manner towards all that they honour the better loue the meaner sort and despise not the rest but as farre as they are able extend their grace and fauour vnto all For that being but little which they haue to giue in comparison of the many that are sutors and the great rewards which they pretend they rest better satisfied with those good words and mannerly answers that are giuen them then with those fauours that are done them For the generous hearts modest countenances and ingenious dispositions of those noble spirits which follow Princes Courts much more risent the disfauour that is done them in receiuing courtesies with disgrace then if they were denyed them And therefore it is good wholesome counsell and much importing Kings to returne a faire and equall answer vnto all according to each mans qualitie and merit and that they carry the same euen hand in the conferting of their fauours and in the manifestation of their loue And if they shall in a more particular manner expresse the same to some one particular person let him likewise more particularly deserue it For neuer shall that loue be stedfast where deserts are wanting in the partie beloued I shall likewise aduertise Kings that they doe not make such vse of this their great both office and power as to assume vnto
is like a whirlwinde which turnes against himselfe causing a very dangerous tempest against that very place from whence it came And therefore he that giues counsell it importeth him much that he giue good and sound aduice for if it bee not good God doth permit that it maketh for their owne great hurt and perdition As it succeeded with those Princes of Babylon who so ill aduised their King against iust Daniel God so ordering the businesse that the same ill that they intended against him fell vpon themselues their wiues and their children When God is willing to put his armes athwart and to crosse wicked purposes little will auaile all the ill counsell in the world be the pate that hatcheth it as wise and as subtill as Achitophels As it fared with that great Fauourite of king Assuerus in that deuillish and malitious plot of his which he had imagined and contriued against poore honest Mardochee But this was to him elsuenno del perro as it is in the Fable like to the dogges dreame There was a dogge that did dreame that he was eating a good morsell of flesh and as he was chopping of it vp vttered some broken notes in his language of the great content that he tooke therein His Master seeing him in this manner takes vp a good cudgell and soundly lamm's him the dogge awakes findes himselfe deceiued and runnes whining away Haman carried away with the like conceit prepares a gallowes for Mardochee fiftie cubits high thinking thereon to hang him the next day but it was his ill lucke to supply the place himselfe Consilia enim saith Saint Basil quae contra bonos more 's dantur in propria capita eorum qui consulunt redundant Those counsels that are giuen contrary to good manners light vpon their heads that gaue them And therefore let Councellours bee well aduised what counsell they giue Aelian reporteth that there was a very ancient Law and duely kept in the kingdome of Persia that if any should aduise the King to any thing that was not beneficiall to his person and the commonwealth presently by the common Cryer his ill counsell was published and himselfe taken and stript and openly whipt vp and downe the streets And if there were such a Law in force here with vs and as duely obserued I assure my selfe that neither Kings would be so often deceiued as now they are nor would there be so many vndertakers and proiectors who impudently presume to put into their heads things that are so pernicious to their owne conscience and the publike good Supreme authoritie Kings neither ought to giue nor Fauourites take it Let them as much as they can conceale from the world that great grace and fauour wherein they stand with their King but if there shall bee an impossibilitie in that yet there is none in this to let pretenders know that all consisteth in the Prince and to referre the conferring of all benefits fauours and graces vnto him and to let him haue all the thankes in matter of pensions offices or rewards and to attribute vnto him all those successes that fall out well and happily and all other good and prudent resolutions and to free him from the blame of those that shall otherwise succeed To treate him with much reuerence and respect to beare him exceeding great loue And together with these to be wonderfull solicitous and carefull in all that shall concerne his seruice All of them being notable and necessarie qualities for to conserue Fauourites in their Kings grace and good opinion and to wedge their affection vnto them For loue must bee the doore by which the grace of a Prince is to enter For hee must loue that will bee beloued And hauing gained it by this meanes he must keepe and preserue it by reuerence and humilitie in his carriage and by being faithfull and diligent in his seruice All which will be lost by doing the contrary And not onely ought they to carry themselues thus towards their Kings but are also to esteeme and honour all of all estates in a fitting proportion according to euery mans qualitie and condition Shewing himselfe liberall solicitous peaceable patient louing kinde and courteous towards all All of them qualities that conserue a Kings fauour and gaine the peoples good will A Fauourite must be modest affable and affoord a courteous hearing vnto all men Besides it is a part of Iustice so to doe and a very necessarie meanes to come to the knowledge of all things and to be the better prouided against whatsoeuer shall occurre Whereas on the contrary to looke to be intreated and sued vnto and not easie to bee spoken withall argues a kinde of pride and statelinesse which all abhorre This is the doctrine of Tacitus citing the example of Seianus the Emperour Tiberius his great Fauourite who being growne into grace with him the better to conserue himselfe therein forthwith endeauoured to fauour and pleasure all your principall and noble persons in their pretensions For in all occurrences he conceiued hee might expect more kindnesse from them then from the baser and meaner sort of people whereby he came to bee loued of the one and feared of the other and by all of them to be serued and obeyed Insomuch that there was not any one who did not seeke vnto him to mediate and make intercession for them with Tiberius And howbeit he was not ignorant that hee was superiour to them all and inferiour to none yet did he neuer grow neglectfull of his humble carriage and reuerent respect to his Prince and a due regard vnto all Hitherto hee proceeded fairely and went on well and may serue for a patterne and example for Fauourites but in the rest for a prouiso and admonition for Kings For after that ambition and couetousnesse entred into his heart that consuming moath and deuouring worme of all goodnesse he presently procured the charge or place of Praefectus Praetorius or Captainship of the Guard and within a short time grew to be so absolute therein that he became as it were Lord and Master of his Prince and crusht all that stood in his way or might be of any impediment to his priuacie He sought alwayes to bee with him lest others might creepe in betwixt him and home and possesse his place still humbly beseeching him that he would imploy him in businesses of greatest danger and trouble and such as might redound most to the benefit of the Emperours life and state A maine point wherewith to oblige his Prince vnto him and to make him the more acceptable in his sight For those that are nearest about Kings and are in greatest fauour with him ought in the greatest dangers to set their foot formost and to be the forwardest aduenturers He did seeke to ouercome Art by Art inducing Tiberius to retire himselfe to places of pleasure that were remote and farre from Court to the end that whilest he was recreating himselfe abroad he might dispose of