their backes The third thing is that they must seeke their masters profite and commoditie more than their owne and take good heede that no harme losse or trouble come vnto them And if any goe about to procure any such thing they must vndertake the defence thereof diligently euen to the hazarding of their liues if neede bee The last point which good seruauntes are to keepe is to vse a double silence the first that they replie not againe to their masters commaundementes although sometymes they suppose that they know better what is to be done than they that commaund them The second that they reueale not to others their masters secretes nor sowe them out of his house To be short we cannot giue them better instruction than that of Saint Paule saying Seruauntes be obedient vnto them that are your masters according to the fleshe in all things not with eye-seruice as men-pleasers but in singlenes of hart fearing GOD. And whatsoeuer ye doe doe it hartilie as to the Lorde and not vnto men knowyng that of the Lord yee shall receiue the reward of the inheritaunce for yee serue the Lorde Christ. And else-where he exhorteth them againe to be subiect to their masters and to please them in all thinges not aunswering agayne neyther pickers but that they shewe all good faithfulnesse that they may adorne the doctrine of GOD our Sauiour in all thinges Nowe for examples to all seruauntes that are desirous to effect their dutie towards their masters we will propound two the one olde the other of late yeeres which giue sufficient testimonie of a sonne-like rather than of a seruile affection Antonius beyng ouercome of Augustus and dispairing of his safetie vrged the promise of Eros his seruant in whom he trusted bicause he had giuen his faith long before that hee would kill him when he required the same at his hands But the seruaunt drawyng his sword and holding it out as though hee would haue killed him turned his face on the one side and thrust it into himselfe cleane through his bodie Maurice duke of Saxonie beyng in Hungarie against the Turke and walking out of the campe onely with his seruaunt was set vpon by certaine Turkes and his horse being slaine he was throwen to the ground But his seruaunt cast himselfe vpon him couered and defended him with his bodie sustained and kept backe the enimies vntil certaine horsemen came and saued the Prince but died himselfe not long after beyng wounded on euery side Therefore to ende our present discourse let vs learne that it is a great and commendable vertue and beseeming euery good and gentle nature to know how to obey well and to giue honour and seruice to those that occupie the degree of fathers lordes and masters ouer vs as also to loue our brethren with an indissoluble loue to reuerence one an other the younger honouring the elder and the elder yeelding all dueties of sincere loue to the younger Let vs not be lesse afrayd of the curse repeated so often in the Scripture against disobedient children than the auncients were of that lawe which condemned them to be stoned to death when they would not obey the voyce of their Parents nor harken vnto them when they instructed them but let vs much more feare that punishment which will continue for euer where there will be weepyng and gnashing of teeth Of the education and instruction of Children Chap. 51. ARAM. WHen we intreated of the duetie of a father of a familie towards his children we sayd that the chief marke whereat he ought to aime was to make them honest and good of condition which was to be performed by instruction and good bringing vp in the knowledge and exercise of vertue Now bicause the chiefe foundation of a happy life is good instruction begun in youth so that if the infancie of any bee well brought vp as Plato saith the rest of his life cannot but be good we ought as I thinke my Companions to take this matter againe in hand to follow and handle it more at large to the ende to prouoke Fathers and all such as haue authoritie ouer the younger sort to bee carefull and diligent in the well ordering of the seede of youth which is the spring and roote of all prosperitie both publike and priuate ACHITOB. We must not saith Plato be more carefull of any thing whatsoeuer than of the good education of children For if vpon their good bringing vp they become moderate and stayed men they will easily discerne euerie thing that is good And if good wits haue like education they will growe from better to better euerie day ASER. The beginning middle and ending of a happie life saith Plutarke consisteth in good education and bringing vp But it belongeth to thee AMANA to instruct vs in this so excellent a matter AMANA As a man cannot reape good wheate if he hath not sowen good seede nor gather good fruit of his trees if he had no care at the beginning to dresse them well nor to graft them with good sciences afterward so the corruption of mans nature which of it selfe is more enclined to euill than to good hindreth vertue from taking sure footing and roote in the soules of men if they be not from their very youth well and diligently instructed stirred vp and pricked forward to that which is honest and decent And truely that common-wealth is most miserable wherein this tillage of infancie is neglected For from this fountaine proceede rebellions seditions open murders contempt of lawes and commandemeâ—ts of princes pollings briberies heresies and Atheisme Therefore nothing was more esteemed from time to time among the auncients than the institution of youth which Plato calleth Discipline whereby children are led to this reason not to follow any thing but that which the lawe commaundeth and alloweth for good The monarchie of the Persians the common-wealth of the Lacedemonians and since that also of the Romans had certaine lawes compelling fathers to prouide that their children might be instructed not suffering them to be cast away and corrupted to the detriment of the common-wealth Amongst other lawes there was one called Falcidia whereby it was enacted that the child should be admonished for the first offence chastised for the second and for the third hanged and his father banished as if he had been partaker in the fault for want of good education and instruction of his sonne Heretofore we heard many testimonies of the care and trauell which famous and woorthie men tooke to instruct their children themselues Traian the emperour and after him Adrian at their owne costes and charges caused fiue thousand noble mens children of Rome to be brought vp in learning vertue and feates of armes Our auncient kings knowyng how necessarie this education of youth was builded long agoe and caused to bee framed so many goodly Colledges as we see in the Vniuersities of France yea the monasteries
the humble and beateth downe the proud Of Shame Shamefastnesse and of Dishonor Chap. 24. AMANA HItherto we haue briefly intreated of those principall points which respect the vertue of Temperancie and the vice of Intemperance contrary vnto it Neuerthelesse for the finishing of our dayes worke I thinke we are to consider what shame and shamefastnes are which as the Philosophers say are ioyned with this vertue of Temperance For the more we loue glory and honor the more we feare and labor to eschew shame dishonor Now seeing we haue been taught where to seek for true glory and honor we shal receiue no lesse profit if we learne wherein we ought to feare shame and dishonor ARAM. There is saith Cicero a certain shame bashfulnes in Temperance which is the gardian of all the vertues deserueth great commendation being also a most goodly ornament to the whole life as that which fashioneth it according to the patern of decencie honestie ACHITOB. Two things saith Plato are very wel able to direct his life that is to liue vertuously namelie shame of dishonest things desire of those things that are good vertuous Let vs therfore heare ASER discourse more amplie of that which is here propounded vnto vs. ASER. As we see that a good ground although it be fat and fertill bringeth foorth notwithstanding naughty and wild plants so a good nature although it be endued with many great perfections is yet neuer without some shame And this of it selfe seemeth to be a hurtful passion in the soule albeit it may easily by the means of vertue be dressed and made profitable if we cure it of all feare of reproch by doing that which is good decent and honest and contrarywise suffer it to augment and to strengthen it self more and more when occasion either of doing ill or of speaking approouing and counsailing any thing that is against the dutie of a good man shal be offred Honest shame and shamefastnes saith Quintilian is the mother of all good counsaile the right Gardian of dutie the mistresse of innocencie well liked of hir neerest friends in all places at all tymes courteously intertained of strangers as that which hath a fauorable countenance Honest shame being as Cicero saith the moderator of concupiscences procureth vnto vs a stedfast and commendable authoritie amongst al men Hesiodus calleth it the hostesse of iustice Of this Socrates spake when he sayd that vertuous shame beseemed youth I looke for small goodnes of a yong man saith Seneca except of such a one as blusheth after he hath offended For he that blusheth saith Menander is not voyd of all good nature Therefore shamefastnes is to be nourished and much made of For so long as it remaineth in any mans spirite there is good hope to be conceiued of him Many haue shrunke through feare of shame with whom no reason or torment could in any sort preuaile A wicked mā saith Euripides hath no shame in him Shamefastnes saith one of the Ancients is sister to continencie and companion of chastitie yea by means of hir societie and fellowship chastitie is in greater safetie A fault is lessened through shame as it is made greater by contention and shame mollifieth the hart of a Iudge but impudencie prouoketh him to anger He that is touched to the quicke through a sharpe reprehension for the reformation of his maners and yet is nothing restrayned thereby nor full of sweate and blushing for shame which causeth heate to ascend into the face of euery one well borne but remaineth inflexible and vnmooueable smiling and iesting thereat such a one I say giueth a great argument of a very blockish and senceles nature which is ashamed of nothing by reason of his long custome and confirmation in doing of euill To sinne saith Diodorus the Athenian is a thing naturally ingrafted in men neither was there euer any law so rigorous that could staie the course thereof although new paines and punishments were dailye added to offences to see if men might bee drawne from vice through feare of them But some gather boldnes through pouertie others because of their riches become insolent ambitious and couetous and others haue other passions and occasions which mooue and induce them to do ill Now to turne these aside to make them fruitles there is no better way than deepely to imprint in our soules the feare of perpetuall shame and infamie which are the inseparable companions of all wickednes and corrupt dealings And as often as we commit any fault through frailtie we must togither with repentance imprint in our memorie a long remembrance thereof yea we must lay it often before our eies as also the shame and dishonor that might haue ensued thereof vnto vs to this end that afterward we may be the better kept backe and more aduised in the like matters Heerin let vs follow the example of wayfaring men that haue stumbled against a stone and of Pilots that haue brused their ships against a rocke who being mindfull of their mishap are all their life time greatly afraid not onely of those stones and rocks which were the causes of their euils but also of all such as resemble them There was a prohibition as Aulus Gellius writeth that no yoong Romane should dare to enter into a strumpets house but with his face couered and if it so fell out that any man was so shameles as to come out of that place vncouered he was as seuerely punished as if he had committed some forced adulterie And truly when one is ashamed that he hath offended we are to hope well of his amendment Now as shame of euill seruing for a bridle to vice is commendable so that shame wherein want of prudence and of wisedome beareth sway is euil and very hurtfull not onely to those that are touched therewith but oftentimes procureth great euils to Comminalties and Common-wealths Whereof those men haue too great experience that liue vnder such Gouernors Magistrats and Iudges as of a foolish basenes and cowardlines of mind either for feare to displease the greatest or to be blamed and reprooued of an ignorant multitude bow and bend to another mans becke against right and equitie as though they were ashamed to do wel Whereupon thinking to eschew a light and smal reproch they fall into a perpetuall note of infamie and dishonor not beeing able to declare more plainly the smalnes of their courage which fitly resembleth a weake temperature of the bodie vnable to resist heate and cold than in consenting to euill bicause they dare not gainesay least they should be misliked But Seneca saith that he is no meete scholler of Philosophie who cannot contemne a foolish shame And this causeth farre greater mischiefes when the soueraigne Princes of any estate are intangled therwith Which may be verified of them if through ouer great bountie and simplicity void of prudence they wholy giue ouer themselues to their pleasure that haue
eies those vertuous and learned instructions that are drawen out of the fountains of arts and disciplines This mooued Antigonus king of Macedonia to write thus to Zeno the philosopher I am assured that I excell thee in the goods and fauour of fortune and in the renowne of such things but I know withall that thou art far aboue me and goest beyond me in that true felicitie which consisteth in the knowledge and discipline of studies Therefore I desire earnestly that thou wouldest come vnto me wherein I pray thee denie me not that I may enioie thy conuersation and companie as well for mine owne profit as for the profit of all the Macedonians my subjects For he that instructeth a prince doth also profit as many as are vnder his charge This selfsame loue of knowledge was the cause that all the festiuall ornaments of that great louer of vertue Ptolomie Philadelphus king of Egypt were graue questions as well of pietic as of phlosophic which he propounded to be handled and concluded by those learned men whom he ordinarily maintained in his traine Sir the example of these two noble kings shining wholy in you who greatly loue and fauour learning and the professors thereof and open the gate of that holie and vertuous discipline which was so much cherished by ancient men that they might daily be instructed the better in the dutie of their charges doth promise to your good subjects and vassals that by the grace of God they shall see vnder your raigne the euill of those sinister effects defaced which haue issued from these long troubles and ciuill wars Whereof all men haue conceiued a more certaine hope bicause they see that you labor with a holie zeale and good affection to restore pietie and iustice to their former strength and beautie which were in a maner buried in France and that you haue gloriously crowned that worke which that great king Francis your grandfather did happily begin to the end that arts and sciences might flourish in this kingdome The diner of that prince of famous memorie was a second table of Salomon vnto which resorted from euerie nation such as were best learned that they might reape profit and instruction Yours Sir being compassed about with those who in your presence daily discourse of and heare discoursed many graue and goodly matters seemeth to be a schoole erected to teach men that are born to vertue And for my selfe hauing so good hap during the assemblie of your Estates at Blois as to be made partaker of the fruit gathered thereof it came in my mind to offer vnto your Maiestie a dish of diuers fruits which I gathered in a Platonicall garden or orchard otherwise called an ACADEMIE where I was not long since with certaine yoong Gentlemen of Aniou my companions discoursing togither of the institution in good maners and of the means how all estates and conditions may liue well and happily And although a thousand thoughts came then into my mind to hinder my purpose as the small authoritie which youth may or ought to haue in counsell amongst ancient men the greatnes of the matter subject propounded to be handled by yeeres of so small experience the forgetfulnes of the best foundations of their discourses which for want of a rich and happie memorie might be in me my iudgement not sound ynough and my profession vnfit to set them downe in good order briefly the consideration of your naturall disposition and rare vertue and of the learning which you receiue both by reading good authors and by your familiar communication with learned and great personages that are neere about your Maiestie whereby I seemed to oppose the light of an obscure day full of clouds and darknes to the bright beames of a very cleere shining sunne and to take in hand as we say to teach Minerua I say all these reasons being but of too great waight to make me change my opinon yet calling to mind manie goodlie and graue sentences taken out of sundry Greeke and Latine Philosophers as also the woorthie examples of the liues of ancient Sages and famous men wherewith these discourses were inriched which might in delighting your noble mind renew your memorie with those notable sayings in the praise of vertue and dispraise of vice which you alwaies loued to heave and considering also that the bounty of Artaxerxes that great Monarke of the Persians was reuiued in you who receiued with a cheerfull countenance a present of water of a poore laborer when he had no need of it thinking it to be as great an act of magnanimitie to take in good part and to receiue cheerfully small presents offered with a hartie and good affection as to giue great things liberally I ouercame whatsoeuer would haue staied me in mine enterprise For I assured my selfe thus much of your bountifull roiall greatnes which I craue in most humble maner that you would measure the gift and offer of this my small labor not according to the desert thereof or by the person of one of your basest seruants and subjects who presenteth in vnto you but according to the excellencie of those things which you shall see handled in this Academie and according to the seruiceable and most affectionate desire wherewith I dedicate and consecrate both goods and life to your seruice I beseeth God Sir to preserue your Maiestie in great prosperitie increase of honor and continuance of a long and happie life At Barre in the moneth of Februarie 1577. Your most humble and most obedient seruant and subject Peter de la Primaudaye THE AVTHOR TO THE READER THE PHILOSOPHERS teach vs by their writings and experience doth better shew it vnto vs that to couet and desire is proper to the soule and that from thence all the affections and desires of men proceede which draw them hither and thither diuersly that they may attaine to that thing which they thinke is able to lead them to the enioying of some good wherby they may line a contented and happie life Which felicitie the most part of men through a false opinion or ignorance rather of that which is good and by following the inclination of their corrupted nature do seeke and labor to finde in humane and earthlie things as in riches glorie honor and pleasure But for a smuch as the enioying of these things doth not bring with it sufficient cause of contentation they perceiue themselues alwaies depriued of the end of their desires and are constrained to wander all their life time beyond all bounds and measure according to the rashnes and inconstancie of their lusts And although they reioice for a little while at euerie new change yet presently they loath the selfe-same thing which not long before they earnestly desired Their owne estate alwaies seemeth vnto them to be woorst and euerie present condition of life to be burdensome From one estate they seeke after another so that now they withdraw themselues from the seruice of princes and
with two of his friends and with seuen slaues Cato the elder visiting the prouinces of his gouernment tooke but three seruants with him Nowe a daies we see that the least accounted gentleman amongst vs thinketh it a cracking of his credite to ride so ill furnished And yet the most part euen of the greatest neuer make any great inquirie how their traine defray their charges But howsoeuer they may say that they know not of the excesse and riot committed vnder their authoritie and in their seruice yet they are not thereby excused For we ought carefully to beware that no man abuse our name Now if princes and gouernours of Commonwealths in steede of abridging superfluous charges take delight therein themselues from thence proceedeth the necessitie of charging and ouercharging their people with imposts and subsidies to maintaine their excesse and in the end commeth the ouerthrow and subuersion both of the one and the other But they ought rather both to abstaine from such vanities themselues and also to seeke by all meanes to banish them from their subiects and where their owne example and bodilie punishments are not sufficient for this purpose there ought they to lay great imposts vpon all such things as serue but to spill and corrupt their subiects Such things are all exquisite dainties and prouocations of appetite all sorts of toies and trifles perfumes cloth of gold and siluer silkes sypers networks lace wouen works all works of gold siluer and inammell all kind of superfluous apparel with colours of skarlet crimson and such like the forbidding whereof hitherto hath profited little For the nature of men is such that they find nothing more sweete and acceptable than that which is straightly forbidden them so that the more superfluities are prohibited the more they are desired especially of foolish men of such as are vainely brought vp Therefore it were good to raise the price of these things so high by meanes of imposts that none but rich men and daintie folks may vse them And such subsidies would asmuch set forward the glorie of God the profite of the common wealth the desire of good men and reliefe of the poore as many others now vsed are quite contrary hereunto Then these speeches would no more be so common amongst vs as now we heare them daily vttered by our Courtiers We will say they keep company and be seen amongst the greatest be esteemed thereafter If we spend not freely men will make no account of vs. It is our honor and greatnes and the way to procure glory and renowne to our houses and families But I would gladly tell a great number of them that they would be very much troubled to make answer to a law made by Amasis king of Egypt and after established in Athens by Solon whereby it was enacted that euery one should yeerely make it appeere vnto his Prouost or Bailie how he liued and if he approoued not his maner trade of life to be iust and reasonable he was condemned to die If in like case these great spenders were to giue an account from whence they receiue wherewith to satisfie their pride and vanities a man should find that their purchase as we say is far better vnto thē than their rents that they commit a thousand wrongs and detestable vices to make supply to their lauish expences As for them that haue goods lawfully gotten yet in spending of them wastfully they giue sufficient testimonie that they care seeke for nothing but a vaine and vanishing glory which oftentimes contrary to their expectation is waited vpon with great infamie and with the certaintie of perpetual punishment And in the meane while they neglect that glorie which is eternall and always profitable which they should enioy by well vsing and not by mispending their goods whereof they are but Gardians and Stewards must one day yeeld vp an account of them O witlesse man sayd one of the ancient Sages what will the remembraunce of vaine glory profite thee if thou art tormented and vexed where thou art and praised where thou art not This deserueth a longer continuance of speech but we may hereafter discourse thereof more at large In the meane tyme let vs note an other mischief which commonly followeth superfluitie of expences namely pouertie whereinto many rich men fall before they be aware and are then verie much grieued therewith and not able to beare it But the shame and reproch thereof is yet greater because they fell into it by their own folly and misgouernment Therefore to the end we walke not in such a slipperie way which in the beginning is large and pleasant but yet leadeth the trauailer vnto a down-fall frō which he can neuer escape let vs leaue and forsake the discipline and life of Epicures and beware that our pallate and toong be not more sensible than our hart Let vs lead a life woorthy an honest Academie and beseeming the doctrine of the ancient Sages that is a simple sober and modest life adorned with temperance and continence knowing that diet and decking of the body ought as Cicero saith to be referred to health and strength not to pleasure and delight and that all outward excesse is a witnesse of the incontinencie of the soule And for the perfection of all that lasting and ineuitable miserie which belongeth to them that are giuen to voluptuousnes and superfluitie let vs heare that sentence of scripture and feare least we be comprehended vnder the iudgement thereof Continuall miserie and mourning be vpon you that haue liued in pleasure on the earth and in wantonnesse and haue nourished your harts as in a day of slaughter The ende of the fift daies worke THE SIXT DAIES WORKE Of Ambition Chap. 21. ASER. AS often as I remember the strāge tragedie of the Romane Emperors since the time that the Empire was mounted vp to the verie top height of hir greatnes vntill hir declination according to the vncertaintie of all humane things and how within the space of one hundred yeeres wherein there were three skore and thirteene emperors onely three of them died of sicknesse in their beds all the rest by violent death I cannot sufficiently admire considering the inconstancie and short continuance of so great a gouernment which cannot but be well known to euery one the folly of men which commonly affecteth them with an vnmeasurable desire to rule whereby they are all their life time slaues to ambition which is one point of the vice of intemperance whereof we spake yesterday And thus in my opinion we are to begin our days worke with the description of this pernitious passion AMANA It is natural in man the greater his stomack is the more to labor to excel others which is accompanied with an exceeding desire to rule whereupon he is easily driuen forward to do vniustly if by wisdom he be not moderated ARAM. Ambition and contention for honour saith
such as wil cause thē to buy the violating of so holy a thing very deerly seeing they spare not him who calleth himself equitie iustice it selfe Further if as histories teach vs some haue been so wretched miserable as to giue themselues to the Art of Necromancie and to contract with the deuill that they might come to soueraigne power and authoritie what other thing how strange soeuer it be will not they vndertake that suffer themselues to be wholy caried away with this vice of ambition It is ambitiō that setteth the sonne against the father and imboldeneth him to seeke his destruction of whom he holdeth his life Henry the fift by force depriued his father from the Empire caused him to die miserably in prison Fredericke the third after he had raigned thirtie yeeres was miserably strangled by Manfroy his bastard sonne whom he had made prince of Tarentum And after he had committed this Parricide he poisoned his brother Conradus lawfull inheritor to Fredericke that he might make himselfe king of Naples Antoninus Geta brothers successors in the Empire to Seuerus their father could not suffer one another to enioy so large a Monarchie for Antoninus slew his brother Geta with a dagger that himself might rule alone Solyman king of the Turkes grandfather to him that now raigneth when he heard the loud acclamations and shoutes for ioy which all his armie made to Sultan Mustapha his sonne returning out of Persia after he had caused him to be strangled in his outward chamber and presently to be cast out dead before his whole armie he made this speech to be published with a loud voice that there was but one God in heauen and one Sultan vpon earth Within two dayes he put to death Sultan Soba bicause he wept for his brother and Sultan Mahomet his third sonne bicause he fled for feare leauing one onely aliue to auoid the inconueniencie of many Lordes These are but of the smaller fruits of this wild plant of ambition in respects of those that cause men to put innocents to death that themselues may take surer footing to growe vp and encrease And no doubt but for the most part iust punishment for example to mē foloweth such an ambitious passion whereof there are infinite examples both in the Greeke and Latin histories Marcus Crassus a Romane Consul and the richest man in his time not contenting himself with many goodly victories gotten by him but burning with an excessiue ambition and desire of new triumphes and being iealous of Caesars glory obtained by his great feats of armes presumed at the age of three score yeeres to vndertake the warre agaynst Arsaces king of the Parthians contrary to the will of the Senate feeding himselfe with vaine hope which led him to a shameful death ioyned with publike losse and calamitie For being ouercome and his armie discomfited he was miserably slaine with twentie thousand of his men tenne thousand taken prisoners Marius hauing passed through al the degrees of honor and been six times Consul which neuer any Romane before was not content with all this would notwithstanding take vnto himselfe the charge of the warre against Mithridates which fell to Sylla by lot euen then when he was weakened with olde age thinking with himselfe to get the Consulship the seuenth time and to continue that soueraigne authoritie in his owne person But this was the cause of his vtter ouerthrow of that slaughter wherby all Italy Spaine were imbrued with bloud by Sylla the popular estate brought in the end to extreme tyrannie Spurius Melius a Senator of Rome was murthered for his ambition and his house rased by Cincinnatus the Dictator because he sought by meanes of a certain distribution of wheate to make himself king of Rome Marcus Manlius was also vpon the like occasion throwen downe headlong from the toppe of a rocke Therefore it appeereth sufficiently vnto vs how pernitious this vice of ambition is in the soules of great men and worthy of perpetuall blame And although the matter be not of so great waight when they that follow this vicious passion are but meane men and of small account yet we are to know that all they depart farre from dutie and honestie who for the obtaining of glorie and renowne shew themselues inflamed and desirous to excel others in all those things which they ought to haue common together for the mutuall aide and comfort of euery one Onely we must seeke without pride and enuie after excellencie and preferment in that which is vertuous and profitable for humain societie contenting our selues notwithstanding with that which we are able to performe so we shall neuer be blamed but iustly may we be condemned if we vndertake that which is aboue our strēgth Especially let our desires and passions giue place to the benefit of the Common-wealth as heretofore Cretes and Hermias two great men of Magnesia delt one towards an other Their citie being besieged by Mithridates themselues hauing before been at great strife for honor preheminence Cretes offered Hermias to let him haue the charge of captaine generall in the meane time he would depart the citie or if he had rather depart that he should leaue that office to him This offer he made lest if both of them should be together their ielousie might breed some mischief to their countrey Hermias seeing the honest offer of his companion and knowing him to be more expert in feats of war willingly surrendred the authority of cōmanding vnto him Now to end our present discourse let vs learne to know their outragious folly who for imaginarie honors and those of so smal continuance that the wise mā compareth them to smoke dispersed of the wind desire nothing more than to run out the race of their days in continuall miseries and calamities trauels and cares depriuing themselues of all libertie and which is worse pawning their soules to an eternall and most miserable thraldome Thus let vs detest ambition which is an infinite euil and companion of pride so much hated of God and men Let vs consider a little that point of Philosophy which we find written by Traian to Plutarke I enuie sayd this good prince Cincinnatus Scipio Africanus and Marcus Portius more for their contempt of offices than for the victories which they haue gotten bicause a conqueror is for the most part in fortunes power but the contempt and refusall of offices and honours consisteth onely in prudence Let vs marke well the example of the emperor Flauius Vespasianus who being admonished by his friends to beware of one Metius Pomposianus bicause it was a common rumor that he should one day be emperor was so farre from procuring him any harme or displeasure or from hating or enuying him as it is the propertie of ambitious men to feare aboue all things least their estate be touched bicause they would raigne alone that
of their falling out otherwise so that a man may well say that such a thing came to him by Fortune which falleth out besides his thought when he vndertaketh any worke with deliberation Epicurus said that Fortune was such a cause as agreed neither to persons times or manners Theophrastus speaking of Fortune saith that she looketh not whereat she shooteth that oftentimes she delighteth in taking away that which is gotten with very great paine but especially in ouerturning those felicities which as men think are best staied and assured Iuuenal saith that when it pleaseth hir she maketh a Consul of a Rhetoritian likewise cleane contrary hauing this propertie in hir to reioice greatly in the varietie of chances to deride all the deuices of men oftener lifting vp into the place of soueraigne authoritie such as are vnwoorthy thereof than those that deserue the same Amongst the Ancients the Romanes honoured Fortune more than all the rest esteeming of hir saith Pindarus as of the patron nurse vpholder of the citie of Rome They builded for hir many sumptuous Temples wherein she was adored vnder sundry names honorable titles for a Goddesse of singular power insomuch that they thought themselues more beholding to hir for the greatnes prosperity of their Empire than to vertue Sylla hauing attained to the soueraigne authoritie of a Monarch and of Dictator yeelded himselfe all his actions to the fauor of Fortune saying that he reputed himselfe to be Fortunes child and thereupon tooke vnto him the surname of Happie Which opinion seemeth to haue preuailed greatly with him in causing him after he had committed infinite proscriptions murders cruelties voluntarily without feare to giue ouer the Dictatorship to lead the rest of his yeeres in all assurance quietnes as a priuate man to passe repasse through all Italy without any gard euen in the midst of them whome he had so much offended We read also that when Mithridates king of Pontus wrote vnto him concerning the war which he had vndertaken against him saying that he maruelled how Sylla durst buckle with his great fortune especially knowing that she had not deceiued him at any time whereas she neuer knew Sylla Consul he returned this answer For this selfe same reason thou shalt now see how Fortune doing hir dutie will take hir leaue of thee to come to mee Iulius Caesar gaue a certaine argument of the assurance he had in Fortune when entring vpon the sea in a little Fregate in a very tempestuous weather and the Pilot making some doubt of waighing vp the Anchor he sayde thus vnto him Be not afrayde my friende for thou cariest Caesar and his Fortune Augustus his successour sending his Nephew to the warre wished that he might be as valiant as Scipio as well beloued as Pompey and as fortunate as himselfe attributing to Fortune as a principall worke the honour of making him so great as he was To this purpose also it is reported that great acquaintance and familiaritie growing betweene Augustus and Antonius his Companion in the Empire they often passed away the time togither with sundrie sortes of plaies and pastimes wherein Antonius alwayes went away vanquished Whereupon one of his familiar friendes well seene in the arte of Diuination tooke occasion many tymes to vtter his mind vnto him in these or the like speeches Sir what do you so neere this yoong man Separate your selfe farre from him Your fame is greater than his you are elder than he you command moe men than he you are better exercised in feates of Armes you haue greater experience but your familiar spirite feareth his and your fortune which of it selfe is great flattereth his and if you sequester not your selfe farre from him she will forsake you and goe to him Thus we see what great estimation the Romanes had of Fortune yea they stood in so great awe of hir power that Paulus Aemilius that great Captaine sayd that amongst humane things he neuer feared any one of them but amongst diuine things he alwaies stoode in great feare of Fortune as of hir in whome there was small trust to be placed bicause of hir inconstancie and mutable varietie whereby she neuer vseth to gratifie men so liberally or to bestow such absolute prosperitie vpon them but that some enuie is mingled withall Oh deceitfull Fortune said Demetrius thou art easily found but hardly auoyded They that haue laboured most in painting out this fained Goddesse say that she hath a swift pace a loftie mind and a hawtie hope They giue hir light wings a globe vnder hir feete and in hir hand a horne of abundance full of all such heauenlie and earthlie things as are exquisite and pretious which she poureth foorth liberally when and where she pleaseth Some put a wheele into hir hands which she turneth about continually whereby that part which is aboue is presently turned downeward therby giuing vs to vnderstand that from hir highest preferment she throweth downe in one instant such as are most happy into the gulfe of miserie In a word we may well compare hir to a glasse which the brighter it is the sooner it is broken dasht in peeces Histories the treasurie of antiquitie set before our eies innumerable examples of common and contrary effects which are wrought by this inconstant Fortune and those oftentimes practised vpon the same persons whome of smal she hath made very great and after taken them downe lower yea made them more miserable if I may so speake than they were at their beginning Hannibal that renowmed Captaine of the Carthaginians that redouted enimy of the Romanes after notable victories obtained sundry times against thē was in the ende vtterly ouerthrowen and compelled to flie hither and thither and to haue recourse to forraine princes into whose armes he cast himselfe for the safetie of his person and after long wandring being old spent he setled himselfe with the king of Bithynia But Titus Flaminius whom the Romanes had sent embassador to that king required to haue him that he might put him to death For quoth he as long as he liueth he will be a fire for the Romane empire which wanteth but some one or other to kindle it When he was in the vigor and strength of his age neither his hand nor his body had procured so great damage to the Romanes as his good vnderstanding and sufficiencie in the arte of warre had done being ioined with the hatred he bare them Which is nothing diminished through old age neither yet through the alteration of his estate and fortune bicause the nature and qualitie of maners continueth alwaies Hannibal being aduertised of this request of Titus stieped poison in a cup of drinke which he had kept a long time against an extremitie But before he dranke thereof he vttred these wordes Go to let vs deliuer the people of Rome from this great care
the constitutions of lawes aswell in the gathering of their duties and tributes as in their manner of life They vsed the seruice of Noble mens and of Princes children onely who were of the age of twentie yeeres and were instructed in all sciences The reason whereof was that the king being pricked forward with the sight of thē that were about him might beware how he committed any thing woorthie of reproch And truly there is nothing that corrupteth Princes so much as vitious seruants who seeke to please their sensuall desires and affections When the king arose in the morning he was bound first to take and receiue all the letters and requests that were brought vnto him that answering necessarie matters first all his affaires might be guided by order and reason Then he went to the Temple to offer sacrifice to the gods where the Prelate and chiefe Priest after the sacrifice and praiers were ended rehearsed with a loud voice in the presence of the people what vertues were in the king what reuerence and religion towardes the gods was in him and what clemencie and humanitie towards men Moreouer he told that he was continent iust noble-minded true liberall one that brideled his desires and punished malefactors with a more mild and light punishment than the greatnes of their sinne and offence required rewarding also his subiects with graces gifts that were greater than their deserts This done he exhorted the king to a happie life agreeable to the gods and likewise to good manners by following after honor and vertue and therewithall propounded vnto him certaine examples of the excellent deedes of ancient kings thereby to prouoke him the rather therunto These kings liued with simple meates as with veale birds for all dishes they kept very exactly all the lawes and ordinances of their countrie in euery point of their life which was no lesse directed euen in the least things than the simplest of their subiects And truly so long as the kings of Egypt were such zealous obseruers of their lawes and of iustice raigned peaceably among their subiects they brought many strang nations into their subiection gathered togither infinite riches whereby they adorned their countrie with great buildings and sumptuous works and decked their townes with many gifts and benefits The Barbarian kingdomes were the second kinde of Monarchy namely the ancient Monarchies of the Assyrians Medes and Persians whose Princes vsurped Lordlie rule ouer their goods and persons and gouerned their subiects as a father of a familie doth his slaues Which kind of gouernment sauoureth more of a tyrannie than of a kingdome besides it is directly against the law of nature which keepeth euery one in his libertie and in the possession of his owne goods Notwithstanding when by the law of Arms and of iust warre a Prince is made Lord ouer any people they properly belong to him that conquereth and they that are ouercome are made his slaues by the ancient consent of all nations and this maketh the difference betweene the Lord-like Monarchy and a tyrannic which abuseth free subiects as slaues Of this second kinde of Monarchy was the kingdome of Persia as Plato writeth vnder Cambyses Xerxes and other kings vntill the last Darius For vsurping more absolute authoritie to rule than was conuenient they began to contemne their Vassals and to account of them as of slaues and putting no more confidence in them they intertained into their seruice mercenarie souldiors and strangers whereby they made their owne subiects vnfit for warre and so in the end lost their estate when it seemed to haue attained to the top of worldlie prosperitie Such is the estate of the Turke at this day wherein he is sole Lord commanding ouer his subiects in rigorous manner aswell ouer the Musulmans as Christians and Iewes He vseth in his principall affaires which concerne peace and warre and matters of gouernment the seruice of runnagate slaues whom he placeth in authoritie changeth or deposeth as he thinks good without peril and enuie yea he strangleth them vpon the least suspition or dislike conceiued of them not sparing his owne children and others of his blood if they anger him So did Sultan Solyman deale with Hibrahim Bascha who was almost of equall authoritie with him insomuch that he was there called the Seignour king of the Ianitzaries the Bascha and king of the men of Armes Neuertheles in one night wherin he made him stay sup with him lie in his owne chamber he caused him to be slaine and his bodie to be cast into the sea The morrow after he seazed vpon his goods as confiscate and caried them away and yet no man euer knewe the cause of his death except it were this that he was growne too great and consequently suspected of his maister who was a Tyrant rather than a King Likewise he keepeth in his hands all the Lordships of his kingdome which he distributeth to men of warre who are charged to maintaine a certaine number of men of Armes and of horses according to the rate of their reuenew and when it pleaseth him he taketh them away againe Neither is there any man in all the countries vnder his obedience that possesseth Townes Castles and Villages or dwelleth in strong houses or that dare build higher than one storie or than a Dooue-house The great Knes or Duke of Moscouia exceedeth for seueritie and rigour of commanding all the Monarchs in the world hauing obtained such authoritie ouer his subiects both Ecclesiasticall and secular that he may dispose of their goods and liues at his pleasure so that none dare gainesay him in any thing They confesse publikely that the will of their prince is the will of God and that whatsoeuer he doth is done by the will of God The king of Ethiopia is also a Lordlike Monarch hauing as Paulus Iouius affirmeth 50. kings no lesse subiect vnto him than slaues And Frauncis Aluarez writeth that he hath seene the great Chancellour of that countrie scourged starke naked with other Lords as the very slaues of the prince wherein they thinke themselues greatly honoured The Emperour Charles the fift hauing brought vnder his obedience the kingdome of Peru made himselfe soueraigne Lord thereof in regard of goods which the subiects haue not but as they farme them or for terme of life at the most The third kind of Monarchy whereof the Ancients made mention was that of Lacedemonia wherein the king had not absolute power but in time of warre out of the countrie and a certaine preheminence ouer the sacrifices We made mention of their gouernment before The first kings in Rome were sacrificers also and afterward the emperors called themselues Pontifices that is chiefe bishops and those of Constantinople were consecrated as our kings of Frāce are In like maner the Caliphaes of the Sarasins were kings and chiefe bishops in their religion the
otherwise thou shalt not be accounted a king but a tyrant c. I leaue the rest of the clauses in his Testament Moreouer liberalitie wel vsed as we haue els-where handled the same is a very comely ornament for a Prince Socrates said that it was the dutie of a good king to be beneficiall to his friends and of his enemies to make good friends to which purpose nothing will helpe him more than liberalitie Neither must he be only liberal but magnifical also and sumptuous prouided alwaies that of magnifical he become not prodigal which would soone make him an exactor and in the end a tyrant But a soueraigne Prince must especially haue an eie to this that the rewards of vertue due to woorthy men be preferred before all his gifts and good turnes and that he recompence such as haue deserued any thing before he giue to them that haue deserued nothing For an vngratefull Prince will hardly retaine an honourable and vertuous man any long time in his seruice Neither is the estimation of a reward and of a good-turne all one bicause a reward is giuen for desert and a benefite by grace Besides a Prince must be alwaies true and as good as his promise that men may giue greater credite to his bare word than to another mans oath For it ought to bee as an Oracle which looseth his dignitie when men haue conceiued such an euill opinion of him that he may not be beleeued vnles he sweare And if he pawne his faith at any time he must account it sacred and inuiolable bicause faith is the foundation and staie of iustice vpon which the estate of great men is grounded as we discoursed else-where That saying of Theopompus King of Sparta is also to be well noted by the Prince When a friende of his asked him how a king might keepe his kingdome in safetie he answered By granting libertie to his friends freely to tell him the truth He must take their aduice in doubfull matters that he may gouern his estate more assuredly waighing and iudging of their opinions with great prudence Neither must he thinke them his best seruants that praise all his sayings and dooings but those that with modestie reprooue his faults he must discerne wisely betweene them that cunningly flatter him and those that loue and serue him faithfully that wicked men may not be in greater credite with him than good men For this cause also he must carefully enquire after his houshold seruants and familiar friends that he may knowe them well bicause all other men will take him to be such a one as they are with whome he conuerseth ordinarily Osiris King of Egypt had for his Armes a Scepter with an eye in the toppe of it noting thereby the wisedome that ought to be in a king namely that it belongeth not to one that wandereth out of his way to direct others that seeth not to guide that knoweth nothing to teach and that will not obeye reason to command Likewise in all his actions he must vse reason as a heauenlie guide hauing chased away the perturbations of his soule and esteeme it a greater and more royall matter to command himselfe than others He must thinke that it is the true and proper office of a king not to submit him-selfe to his pleasures but to containe his owne affections rather than his subiects Further he must vse to take pleasure in those exercises which may procure him honour and cause him to appeere better to the worlde He must not seeke for reputation in vile things which men of base estate and naughtie behauior commonly practise but follow after vertue onely wherein wicked persons haue no part Let him remember alwaies that he is a King and therefore that he must striue to doe nothing vnwoorthie so high a dignitie but continue his memorie by valiant and noble acts This is that wherein one of the wise Interpreters knew wel how to instruct K. Ptolemy who demanded of him how he might behaue himselfe that neither idlenes nor pleasures might distract him It is said he in thine owne power as long as thou commandest ouer a great kingdome and hast so many great affaires to manage continually which will not suffer thee to distract thy mind vpon other matters If priuate men borne to vertue are willing many times to die that they may purchase honour much more ought kinges to doe those thinges which will procure them honour feare and estimation euery where during their life also through their brightnes shine a great while after their death Moreouer a prince must be warlike and skilfull in warfare prouiding carefully all things necessarie for warre and yet he must loue peace and vsurpe nothing that belongeth to another man contrary to right nor enter into warre but to repell violence in extreame necessitie Aboue all things he must feare ciuill dissentions as most pernitious to his Estate and take aduice prudently concerning the meanes wherby all occasions of their entrance may be taken from his people Heerein learning will helpe him well and the knowledge of histories which set before his eies the aduentures that haue befallen both small and great and cal to his remembrance the times past whereby he may better prouide for the time to come Vnto which if he adde the counsell of wise men as we haue already touched he shall knowe more perfectly whatsoeuer concerneth the good of his estate But aboue all he must knowe howe to make choice of men and not thinke them wise that dispute curiously of small things but those that speake very aptly of great matters Neither let him account those men best and worthiest of credite that haue gotten most authoritie but trie and indge them by their profitable works namely if he see that they giue him wise and free counsell according as occasions concurre and affaires require and then let him alwaies with speed execute those things which by their counsell he findeth good and necessary For the conclusion therefore of our present discourse we will comprehend the office and dutie of a good Prince in fewe words namely if he serue God in sinceritie and puritie of hart if he inquire diligently after the truth of his word and cause his subiects to liue thereafter if he prouide for their profit redresse their miseries and ease them of oppression exaction and polling If he be pliable to heare the requests complaints of the lest indifferent and moderate in answering them ready to distribute right to euery one by propounding reward for vertue and punishment for vice If he be prudent in his enterprises bold in his exploits modest in prosperitie cōstant in aduersitie stedfast in word wise in counsail briefly if he gouerne in such sort and raigne so well that all his subiects may haue what to imitate and straungers to commend The ende of the fifteenth daies worke THE SIXTEENTH DAIES WORKE Of a Councell and
paterne of warre but that it did helpe him greatly to iudge of the nature and seate of those places which he frequented in his countreys And bicause all landes are like in some things the perfect knowledge of one countrey which often vse of hunting bringeth may helpe one to iudge well of an other Publius Decius Tribune of the souldioures in the armie which Cornelius the Consull led against the Samnites beholding the Romane host brought into a valley where they might easily be enclosed of the enimies went to the Consull and sayd Doe you marke O Cornelius the toppe of this mountaine aboue our enimie It is the fortresse of our hope and safetie if we make haste to take it seeyng the blind Samnites haue forsaken it We see then how profitable yea how necessarie it is for a captaine to know the beyng and nature of countreys which helpeth a mā much in that principall point touched before by me namely to compel his enimies to fight when he perceiueth that he is the stronger and hath the aduantage of them if he be the weaker to keep himself from such places where he may be cōpelled therunto This is that wherby Caius Marius who was sixe times Consull got the renowne to be one of the greatest captains in his time For although he were Generall of many armies and fought three great battels yet was he so warie in all his enterprises that hee neuer gaue his enimies occasion to set vpon him and to force him to fight And that was a notable aunswere which he made to the Generall of his enimies who willed him to come out of his campe to battell if he were such a great captain as men reported him to be Not so quoth he but if thou art the great captaine compell me to it whether I will or no. This is one thing also wherein the Head of an armie must be very vigilant that all secrecies be closely kept among the captaines of his host For great affaires neuer haue good successe when they are discouered before they take effect To this purpose Suetonius saith that no man euer heard Iulius Caesar say To morrow we will do that and to day this thing but we will doe this nowe and as for to morrow we will consider what is then to be done And Plutarke saith in his treatise of Policie that Lucius Metellus beyng demaunded by a Captaine of his when hee would giue battell sayde If I were sure that my shirte knew the least thought in my hart I woulde presently burne it and neuer weare any other Therefore affaires of warre may be handled and debated of by many but the resolution of them must be done secretly and knowen of few men otherwise they would be sooner disclosed and published than concluded Notwithstanding it is very necessarie that the General should oftentymes call a councell so that it be of expert and ancient men and of such as are prudent and voyde of rashnesse But in all cases of necessitie a man must not stand long in seeking for reason but suddenly set vpon them For many tymes sundry captaines haue vndone themselues in warres vpon no other occasion but bicause they lingred in taking counsel when they should without losse of tyme haue wrought some notable enterprise Moreouer for the instruction and patterne of the dutie and office of a good Head and captaine of an armie we can alleage none more woorthy to be imitated than Cato of Vtica a Consul of Rome who had the guiding of a legion when he first tooke charge vpon him For from that tyme forward he thought that it was not roial or magnificall to be vertuous alone being but one body therfore he studied to make all that were vnder his charge like himselfe Which that he might bring to passe he took not frō them the feare of his authoritie but added reason thereunto shewing and teaching them their dutie in euery point and always ioyning to his exhortations reward for those that did well and punishment for such as did euill So that it was hard to say whether he had made them more apt for peace or for warre more valiant or more iust bicause they were so stout and eger against their enimies and so gentle and gracious to their friends so feareful to do euil and so ready to obtaine honor The vertue of Pompey is also worthy to be followed of euery great captain f or the temperance that was in him for his skil in armes eloquence in speech fidelitie in word as also bicause he was to be spoken with and so louingly entertained euery one And if with these things the example of the same Cato be followed in his prudent liberalitie and diuision of the spoils and riches of the enimies that captaine that so behaueth himself shal deserue eternal praise and please all those that follow him For when this vertuous captaine had taken many townes in Spaine he neuer reserued more for himselfe than what he did eate and drinke there He deliuered to euery one of his souldiors a pound waight of siluer saying that it was better that many should returne to their houses from the warre with siluer than a few with gold and as for the captains he sayd that during their charges and gouernements they should not grow and increase in any thing but in honor and glory For the conclusion therefore of our speech we note that a Generall of an army desirous to bee obeyed which is necessarie must behaue himselfe so that his souldiors may thinke him woorthy to prouide and care for their necessary affaires Which thing will come to passe when they see that he is courageous carefull that he keepeth his place and the maiestie of his degree well that he punisheth offenders and laboureth not his men in vaine but is liberall and performeth his promises made vnto them Of the choice of Souldiors of the maner how to exhort them to fight and how victory is to be vsed Chap. 70. ACHITOB A Gamemnon generall Captaine of the Graecians before Troy speaking of Achilles and being grieued bicause he refused to succour them hauing been offended by him sayd That a man beloued of God is in the place of many men in a campe and far better than a whole company that is vnruly and cannot be gouerned but with great paine and care This reason was the cause that good men heretofore were greatly honored in war and much sought after by great captaines bicause they were very religious and vndertooke nothing before they had prayed to their gods and offered sacrifices after the maner of their countrey Also after they had done some great exploite they were not slouthful to giue thē thanks by offrings and hymnes song to their praise But all these good considerations haue no more place amongst vs than the rest of their warlike discipline principally in that no regard is had what maner of men