In Monarchies Aristocraties those are named Citizens that liue according to vertue And in the one onely good and vertuous men doe exercise the gouerment and in the other one alone for bounty excelling the rest doth commaund all who eyther a regendo or recte agendo is called Rex Those people which are naturally slaues or wicked doe for the most part obey Tyrants and that gouerment is called Imperium despoticum because they gouerne by will without lawe Such people are seruile barbarous and without vertue or honour Yet are not they to be accounted slaues that be oppressed with power ambition and couetousnesse of Tyrants if that therwith they be not base minded and vitious For we may read of many such that haue reuenged the seruitude both of their owne persons and of their country by sleying or expelling the Tyrants or not being able so to doe haue chosen rather to loose their liues then their liberty as in Rome Brutus Cato and many other had done In an Oligarchia because men are chiefly respected for their riches they who are most welthy will onely be reputed Citizens which kinde of men ought be holden dishonourable because they are carelesse of all vertue and studie for nothing else then how to become rich by what meane soeuer to the ende that not as wise and vertuous but as rich men they may aspyre to the offices and honours in the commonweale Among the Romaines there were diuers kindes of Citizens for some were called Municipes some Colâ—â—i and some Latini euery one retayning those conditions that were granted them by the people of Rome some were free some confederate and some stipendarie Some were made Citizens pleno iure which was by consent of voyces and they were capable of all honours or Iure honorario which were they that were onely admitted into the Citie without suffrage and for honours sake called Citizens as were the Company and Equiti Hee was also accounted a Citizen of Rome whose name was written in the Censors booke and was an householder in Rome By these thinges we haue sayde it appeareth that in all commonweales those are properly called Citizens that in their Citie haue right to beare office and giue suffrage in the state which priueledge who so wanteth is rather to be called an Inhabitante or Clyant then a Citizen In other thinges requisite to the perefction of a Citizen as vertue naturall byrth riches and Nobilitie the custome and lawe of euery state is to â—e obserued Of all these we will onely allowe of two sortes the one Noble the other plebeiall For euery Citie consisteth of the people and the multitude within the name of people as Caius the Doctor writeth all principall Citizens Noblemen Senators and Gentlemen are conteyned The worde plebeiall includeth the rest of the inhabitants and others that haue beeing within the state So as the one sort ought be called Citizens properly and the other so termed by imitation and courtesie But our Councellor shall be of the number of noble and free Citizens A noble Citizen taketh his title of that nobilitie which hath the originall of vertue which is partlie his owne and partlie as ornified and increased by the vertues and riches of his ancestors They therefore that aswell by their owne as their ancestors vertue be made noble are to be preferred honoured and reuerenced before others because of good parents good children are begotten as the Poet saith Fortes fortibus creantur bonis Est in iumentis est in equis patruÌ„ Virtus neâ— imbellet feroces Progenerant â—qâ—ilaeâ—o â—â—mbam To the perfection of a Noble Citizen as Aristotle saith three thinges are chiefely required good parentage riches and vertue Who so possesseth all those wanteth nothing appertayning to true and perfect nobilitie and such men were euer wonte to be called most Noble Citizens But because it seldome happeneth that one man can be owner of them all vertue alone doth chalenge as her right power to make men noble Touching riches and honour of ancestors as they doe ornifie Nobilitie so doe they greatly disgrace the beautie thereof in those that liue not vertuouslye For such men doe make the name of their ancestors obscure and through the vices of their posteritie they become vtterly vnknowne It is therefore better as Tullius saith to be noble by a mans owne vertue then by the opinion conceiued of his ancestors because the beginner of Nobilitie is most praise worthy Who so is descended from Noble parentes doth deferne vndoubtedly to be commended and honoured so that he doth endeuour himselfe to equall or excell the glorious actes and vertue of his ancestors And who would not greatly commend them for so doing declaring themselues thereby thankefull towardes their ancestors by not burying the faâ—e of the dead and increasing the same by their owne vertue yet liuing The lawe of the Rhodians seemeth commendable for therby it was enacted that those sonnes which followed not their fathers vertue but liued vitiously should be disinherited and their laâ—des giuen to the most vertuous of that rase not admitting any impious heire whatsoeuer It is an office of our fâ—ith and pietie to leaue vnto the posteritie of men a declaration howe mindfull and thankefull we are towardes our ancestors whose heirs we are not onely of their worldly goods but of their vertue glorie faith religion which is the true inheritance and may indeed be called the true possessions For it is not a Hall painted full of proude Armes or badges but vertue which maketh a man Noble As â—uuenall saith Tota licet veteres exornent vndique cerae Atria nobilitas solaâ—stâ—â— que vnica virtus For wheresoeuer vertue abideth in all estates the same is more praise worthy then fortune because it refuseth no man but may be by euery one embraced Cleantes was a poore water drawer and vertue found not Plato â—â—oble man but made him noble We câ—â—ld also tell that of diuers bond-men kinges haue beene descended and of kinges ofâ— spring some haue become bond-men such variety long tract of time bringeth and fortune turneth all thinges vpside downe Was not Agâ—thocles from a potter aduanced to be a king what was Romulus Tullius Hostilius Tarquinius Prâ—sâ—uâ— and all the progeny of Romanes wherof Iuuenall writeth thus Et tamen vt longe repetâ—â— longè que reuoluas Nomen ab infami gentem dedu cis Asylâ— Who is therfore a Gentleman he that by nature is made vertuous If any goodnes be in nobilitie it is as Boetius thinketh a certaine necessity imposed vppon Gentlemen that they should not degenerate from their ancestors Moreouer as the exercise of our qualities and actions are diuers so are the degrees of Nobility proceeding of vertue likewise diuers The Nobility of priuate men and all such as liue in contemplation may be called Philosophicall nobilitie but the same in those that eyther gaine glory by counselling the commonweale
die why should we not rather die to liue vertue hath giueÌ„ thee happy life thou shalt then die happie Therfore our whole endeuor studie ought be to attain vnto vertue wherof Philosophy is the nurse Tutresse for therby we shall either aspire hiest or at the least behold many vnder vs. It shall suffice that albeit we are inferior to the first yet we are equall to the second or third so shall we be chiefe of those that come after vs. Among things excellent those which be next the best are accounted great for he that caÌ„not aspire to the martiall glory of Achilles nedeth not be ashamed to receiue the praise due to Aiax or Diomedes or who so attaineth not the knowledg of Plato Lycurgus or Solon ought not therfore to be reckned without learning Many as is aforesaid haue gained the possession of wisedome and skill of gouerment not by reading the bookes of Philosophy but by the obseruation of their ancestors example custome experience domesticall discipline lawe manners and a certaine sagacitie of nature being somewhat graced with honest and liberall education Of such men in all commonweales many examples haue euer beene The Court is their learning and vse lawe ordinances which the customes of their forefathers haue taught them Demades a man very wise and well practised in state being asked what Tutor he had to instruct him wisedome answered The Tribunall of the Athenians thinking the Court and experience of things to excell all the precepts of Philosophie Neyther did the ancient Romanes frame their iust and honest forme of gouerment so much according to the bookes of Philosophers as their own naturall wits What should I say of our ancestors who deuised a commonweale not vnlike to the Romane state The discipline of Plato Licurgus Solon Aristotle and other most notable Philosophers and law-makers doe differ from the Polonians whose greatnes grew only by the vertue they receiued from themselues and not from bookes Their wisedome was to honour vertue and contrary to it neyther to doe or thinke any thing Therefore they vsed not their Kings and Senate to compound controuersies suppresse contentions or pronounce iudgements but to receiue from them examples and rules of vertue and as cheiftaines in warre follow them in defence of their countrie That olde worlde which the Poets called Golden produced a race of men of themselues most happy and wise and truely not vnlike for in that time of mans first age vertue onely raigning the misery of vices and wickednes was not knowen for they loued an vpright iust and simple life wherunto vertue and reason consenteth They were therfore inforced to vertue and honesty euen by the spurre of their owne nature fleing vice which because it was to them vnknowen might more easily be eschewed Of that time Ouidius Naso writeth most excellently Aurea prima sataest aetas quae vindice nullo Sponte sua sine lege fidem rectumque colebat Poena metusque aberant nec supplex turba timebat Iudicis ora sui sederant sine iudice tâ—ti But so soone as the sonne of trueth declined and with the cloudes of vices began to be darkned forthwith the minds of men fell into wicked nesse as desirous rather to knowe vice then vertue delighting in the one and shunning the other Then euery man armed himselfe against vertue thinking it was lawfull to offend others to liue vngodly abusing reason and employing it in euill exercises as the same Poet saith Protinus erupit venae peioris in aeuum Omne nefas fugêre pudor verumque fidesque In quorum subiére locum fraudesque dolique Insidiaeque vis amor sceleratus habendi And surely that floode and rage of wickednesse had vtterly drowned all mankind had not the force of nature and reason which remained in a few opposed it selfe against the fury of so great calamities Those fewe then as it were proclaminge warre with vice perswaded other men who then liued as bruite beasts to reduce themselues to humanity enforming them not onely by wordes but also by writing what was ciuilitie vertue and honour whereof grew lawes in Cities as a tutresse to good life So as men might there learne to thinke and doe those things which were honest iust and godly and to the ende those lawes might neuer perish they caused them to be written in bookes which are records of immortality and preseruers of eternall memory From hence the precepts of vertue did take their beginning and many volumes of manners and dueties of men haue bene written After them followed others who aspyred not onely to knowledge of the offices and dueties belonging to men but also serched the nature of all things This consideration of humaine nature and world vniuersall was in one worde by the Graecians called Sophia and the inuentors thereof were named Sophi who afterwardes more modestlie by example of Pithagoras called themselues Philosophers By this meane the light of reason and humaine nature which lay hidden and was made darke with cloudes of vice did recouer his vertue and brought vnto vs the knowledge both of diuine and humaine thinges Which knowledge is called Philosophie by the benefit whereof mortall men recouered the ancient vertue simplicitie innocency and happines Whosoeuer in those daies desired to liue honestlie and well flee vice and knowe vertue applied himselfe to reade the Philosophers bookes and marke their sayings as men that vtterly mistrusted their owne nature and witt infected with knowledge of vice euill education slouth delicacie Idlenes opiniatry and wicked conditions Thus was that golden world by Philosophers restored and the olde estate nature and felicity was recouered Therefore whosoeuer doth receiue from thence the precepts of vertue honest life and that ancient and golden humanity is made not onely ciuill and wise but also happy and most blessed All those that without Philosophy and learning are indeed wise doe attaine to their wisedome by one of these two waies The one by being indued with diuine nature the vertue whereof comprehendeth foreseeth and vnderstandeth all things In olde time amongest the Graecians Theseus and Cecrops and among the Latines Romulus and Numa gouerned commonweales not with Philosophy but were instructed by the celestiall Muses The second meane to gouerne without learning is to be perfect in forraine experience and a vigilant obseruer of ciuil cautions Such men if they be good and permit all things to be directed by lawe are praiseable albeit their wisedome is imperfect and subiect to many perils and mutations but if they be euill then are they so pernicious and hurtfull to the commonweale as nothing can be more Therefore Mitie said well that there was nothing more vniust then ignorant man for he not knowing the true rules of gouerment thinking that the experience of one court is the whole summe of ciuill discipline doth fill the state full of tumultes and seditions not conceiuing by what meanes reason cunning or counsell such mischiefe is happened
same is preserued by Councell Therefore to Soldiours and Councellors the conseruatition and authoritie of gouernment ought to bee committed To the inferiour officers which wee call Popularis ordo wee giue power to electe the greate Magistrates with other rightes belonging to publique libertie and felicitie Yet not to all men in generall but to euerye one in particular according to his vertue and office The younger sorte shall be imployed in warre because they are the strongest and of most force and the elders muste gouerne and directe as men of more wisedome and experience Of such distribution this good will ensue which in euerie commonweale is commendable and holie that men of grauitie and wisedome shall without iniurie to others exercise the soueraigne offices and the yonger sorte wanting experience shall not in those places intermeddle nor deale in the affayres of moste weight and greatest importance Amonge these degrees and sundrie sortes of men the order of Priesthoode hath the precedence because the same is imployed in the administration of diuine ceremonies The dignitie of that office hath alwayes beene holden moste holie for in AEgypte it is vnlawefull for anye Kinge to gouerne vnlesse hee bee also a Prieste Their duetie was to sacrifice to GOD for the peoples wellfare and pray for those thinges which were profitable aswell for priuate persons as the weale publique When Alcibiades was condemned by the Athenians order was taken that the religious people of eyther sexe shoulde curse him which one of them refused to doe saying they had entered Religion not to make vniuste but iuste prayers Plato in his common weale willeth that the election of Priestes shoulde be lefte vnto GOD to the ende that those whome hee thought fittest mighte by lotte and fortune aspyre vnto that dignitie Hee commaunded moreouer that those which were in election to bee chosen shoulde bee examined whether they were persons honeste sounde of good education and borne of noble parentage and whether they were free from murther and all other vices contrarye to Gods commaundementes Hee ordayned likewise that no Prieste shoulde exercise that function longer than one yeare nor be of lesse age then thirtie yeares These and such like ordinances of priesthoode Plato the wise Philosopher as it were by diuine inspiration hath written For they seeme to haue beene gathered rather from the Lawe of Moses then the discipline of Socrates This Phylosopher had his education among the Priestes of Egypte where hee learned such instructions as made his Philosophie so perfect that whatsoeuer proceeded from the mouth of Plato was accounted diuine Aristotle excludeth this spirituall minister from the administration of ciuill polecye giuing that authoritye to the well deseruing Citizens Seeing then it is nessarie that GOD shoulde bee serued and that the Citizens of authoritie as is aforesaide are of two sortes that is to witte Soldiours and Councellors it appeareth no bondeman Artizan Marchante or other person of base profession oughte be receiued into the ministerie but that euerye Prieste shall bee elected amonge the number of Soldiours or professors of learning and that with respecte of age and qualitie of bodie to the ende they maye bee fitte to exercise the office of that diuine callinge For it seemeth reasonable that those who in their youth haue carefully manfully employed themselues in the seruice of their commonweale beeing become weried and vnable for action should in their age be admitted to liue contemplatiuelie and die in Gods seruice Among those kinde of men therefore he commaundeth that the ministerie shoulde be distributed Of the Athieste we will say nothing neyther will we discourse of the Philosophers religions who though not so impiously yet otherwise then we do honour God Because ours is the true God the true religion and our ministers farre vnlike to theirs It hath beene also determined in schooles and Vniuersities that the most ancient and sincere religion shoulde be knowen to all men But in what sorte the Priestes of our commonweale ought to be chosen our intent is not heere to discourse neuerthelesse let vs consider whether they ought to be admitted to gouerne in the state or no. It seemeth apparantly that the Priestes in most ancient time were made by the author all good and first lawemaker Iesus Christ who beeing himselfe before all others a Priest according to the lawe of Melchisedech did thereby declare he was the head and foundation of that order that nothing was in heauen more holy nor in earth more diuine nor in the whole worlde better and to those men he gaue the knowledge and iudgement of that diuine lawe and ordinance It was therefore thought expedient profitable and necessary that the Princes of euerie commonweale should be accompanied and councelled with spirituall ministers and that not without cause For what is more worthy or in gouerment more iuste and godly then that those who be indued with wisedome not learned in the temple of Delphos but receiued from the heauenly spirite should execute the lawes thereof iustlie and holily Who so then doth banishe those men from the commonweale seemeth vniust barbarous vnexpert and no Citizen of our Christian state And iâ— euerie commonweale be conserued by the religion of God wherein the ministers haue moste knowledge those states seeme to doe most godly and iustly that in their gouerments haue imployed such councell as the Romanes the Egyptians the Iewes and many other haue heeretofore done To such men therefore God hath committed the welfare and felicitie of men Who is then so simple or sencelesse that thinketh not their councell necessary for the conseruation of libertie goods and fortune Heetherto wee haue declared which is the best commonweale and what order of life the Citizens thereof ought to embrace A commonweale then so framed accustomed to vertue and plentifully furnished with fortunes giftes doth seeme of all other thinges to be most noble most holy and most fortunate In the description whereof least we be thought to haue one selfe conceit with Plato so as what hath bene said of his commonweale may be likewise affirmed of ours that neuer any such thing is hath bene or can be it seemeth necessary to produce examples of those formes of gouerment And although our intent is not to abandon the reason of Philosophers yet wheÌ„soeuer they rely ouer much to their own wisedom as sometimes they doe esteeming more their priuate iudgement then the opinion of others our meaning is not to beleeue them For there be many things in their bookes and sayings which with the times present and vse of ciuill life are not in any wise conformable For if the Venetians the Scoises or Geneâ—oies should imitate the gouerment of Plato his commonweale in vaine they should doe it or if we did follow the ordinances of Cyrus written by Xenophon happely the same should not much informe our Princes Of other commonweales I speake not The description of that state which we intend to frame shalbe
and caues of contemplation This kinde of Philosophie although it be priuate yet may it greatly profitt the commonweale For they are not onelye to bee allowed whose knowledge doth gouerne the state but those also that in writinge doe leaue eternall Monumentes of their wisedome or that by their precepts doe instruct others in vertue and the knowledge of gouernment For out of their bookes we gather many thinges touching the lawes customes and felicity of the commonweale so that their studious quiet seemeth greatly to aide our action Such kinde of men were Theophrastus Heraclides Ponticus Dicaearchus Socrates and Pithagoras The schollers of Dicaearchus wrote a booke of the commonweale requiring the same might euery yeare be publiquely reade in Sparta and commaunded that all the youth of that Citie shoulde be at the reading present The preceptes of Philosophie are to bring vertue and knowledge into the mindes of men and not to maintaine disputation and contentions For in my iudgement all strife wrangling anger and euill speach are things vnworthy of Philosophie and I holde him vnwise that thinketh Philosophie to consist in wordes For constancie felicitie and honestie are in deede the true Philosophie because the other sciences are not vertues but the instrumentes and ornamentes of vertue Neyther doe I thinke it good that the mindes of men shoulde be drawen into fectes Wherefore first we will vtterly extirpe all Epicurisme out of our mindes because that knowledge supported of sensuall pleasure ought not to be in him whome we seeke and desire shoulde be a Cheiftiane in publique Counsell and gouernment With the Stoickes I finde no faulte yet doe I thinke them worthie to be dismissed as vnfit for the companie of our Counsellor Because as Cicero saith they affirme onely Philosophers to be wise and all others to be theeues enemies barbarous and madde men Neyther will they consent that there is any wise man liuing It were therefore absurde to admit him a Counsellor that thinketh no Counsellor to be wise a Citizen or a Free-man Betwixt the sectes of Stoickes and Peripatetickes touching this summum bonum discention hath euer beene but our intente is to concurre with the Peripatetickes because they are the more true Tutors of manners and vertue and out of that famelie perfect Citizens Emperours Kinges and Philosophers as out out of the Troian horse haue issued These most noble sciences and artes in a Senator shall be greatlie beautified and graced by eloquence which is is the true ornament of wisedome For without that we see all other thinges though commendable are as it were drowned An eloquent and excellent Oration made good and of honest conuersation For men are not onely to learne the skill of commaunding but also the order of obeying and that they ought aswell to honour and loue the Magistrates as performe their commaundements Which thing proceeding from the due execution of lawe the Counsellor must in that poynt endeuour himselfe to become a skilfull aud learned lawier The first degree to the attaining of vertue and honesty is to obey the lawes and Magistrates For the lawe of euery state is nothing else but vertue and good order of life reduced into rules certaine Theopompus king of Sparta being told that the Lacedemonian commonweale flourished because the kinges thereof were skilfull in gouerning answered no. But the reason therof is that the subiectes knowe well how to obey Among many other Lacedemonian disciplines the chiefe was as Plutarch reporteth to obey the lawes and magistrates to indure all trauell patiently and be perswaded to fight manfully and die willingly The like discipline was obserued in all other places of Graecia and therein the youth were exercised to the ende that through such instruction they might learne in time of warre to defend their country in time of peace to gouerne and such as liued in priuate life to imploy their leysure honestlie that is to wit in learning well gracing their iesture musicke painting and swimming deriding all those that were ignorant both in good letters and the skill of swimming A certaine Ciiizen of Thebes being asked how the state of euery commonweale might be preserued answered by the obseruation of iustice and chiefly where is discipline among young men and no couetousnes among olde men Great assuredly is the force of ciuill discipline in euery commonweale for through it euerie subiect is made apt for all kinde of vertue Yet is it a thing notable that some men with little or no studie vtterly voyde of arte nothing learned and such as neuer tasted of Philosophie nor scarsly euer heard thereof doe neuerthelesse seeme wise good iust and valiant bearing office gouerning ciuill affaires with great reputation Which so being may happily moue some men to require an other kinde of Philosophie reiecting that we haue spoken of supposing those preceptes vnfit for their yeares and capacities alledging the saying of Phisitions that Art is long but mans life short And Plato also that he is commonly called happy vnto whome in age or rather in the declination of life knowledge and true opinion of all things is granted Experience trieth what is best and time doth teach vs to be more wise I confesse wisedome is hardlie gotten and that which is most to be lamented the frailtie of mans life doth cause many impedimentes which hinder the attaining thereof Many there are whome fatall death in the middest of their life or rather sooner haue taken away Some also more willing to follow the delightes of bodie then the vertue of minde doe as it were from Scilla and Caribdis flee from knowledge as a hard and vnreasonable life What should I say of those that in dispite of Minerua are not content to doe or thinke any thing worthy Philosophie All which reasons albeit they do in some sort cut of our hope to attaine Philosophie and perfect wisedome yet ought they not vtterly discourage and make vs desperate For the length of mans life is not to be measured by number of daies but by vertue which wanting although thou suruiue the yeares of Nestor or the Phoenix age thy life shall be short miserable and vnhappy What harme is it for thee to die young if after this death vertue doth giue thee an other being Silenus the Poet taken by theeues and brought before King Midas wanting money wherewith to redeeme himselfe desired the king to grant him libertie offering in recompence therof to giue him a thing for his Maiesty more precious then any siluer or golde which gift pleasantly and truely he described in these wordes saying The greatest good that God can giue man is not to be borne the next is to die soone Which after he had by diuers reasons proued the king did not onely deliuer him but also rewarde him Who is he that desireth more this frayle miserable and incertaine life then the other blessed happie and eternall the possession wherof is gained by the exercise of true vertue we liue to
to Iupiter his familie to Ceres and his children sold Seruiliuâ— Isaurâ—cus after he had beene Consull chanced to walke in the streat in a straight place was mett by a horseman who did not alight to doe him reuerence for which act the said horseman was bound to appeare before the Iudges who with great indignation did condemne him Because they thought that he who did not honour vnto authoritie and the magistrates was readie to aduenture euery mischiefe By the law called Lex honoria it was prouided that no man should doe iniurie to any Senator for he that so did should be reputed a traitor offendor not onely against the gouernours but also the Senators being reputed as members of the lawe Therefore it was not lawfull to offer them any indignitie by deed word or writing The ornaments or rewards of honour due vnto the Senators of Rome were as Cicero writeth the place authoritie domesticall splendor fame and fauour in forraine countries robes of honour sadels of state armes bondels of rods commandements in the armies in warre and prouinces I omit to speake of images made of stone and brasse chariots and diuerse other things to long to be recited which are at large described in a booke intituled desenatu Romane lately written by Ioannes Samoseius a man not onely skilfull in the Romaine antiquities but also in euery other more commendable learning Counsellors are therefore to be honoured in the commonweale not onely by hauing precedence of place going and sitting but with all other markes and badges of praise and reuerence So oft as Augustus Caesar came into the Senate he vsed to salute euery Senator by name also going from thence he left them sitting in their place and so without more ceremony said farewell Adrianus the Emperour seeing a man of his whom he greatly fauoured to walk cheek by cheek in the middest of two Senators commaunded an other of his seruantes to strike him on the face because he vsed not the reuerence due vnto Senators In Athens a crowne was the rewarde due The science of gouernment proceedeth from God Wherein a wise man is like vnto god The best thing in man is reason Publike gouerment to be considered in two sortes The world a Citie commoÌ„ to all creatures Philosophy of two sortes Contemplation without action improfitable Philosophers men most fit to gouerne commenweales Phiosohy in priuate men improfitable What a commonweale is The gouerment of commonweales diuers The deuision of common-weales Reason without the affections feable Common-weales resembled to priuate families By euill gouerment common-weales are chaunged The opinion of Plato touching kinges Euery gouerment ought be framed according to the men and place What sorts of men are fit for euerye kinde of coÌ„monweales What people doe most willingly obey the king The people of Asia naturally seruile The best common weale is where the people be best ordered The felicitie of man wheâ—in it consisteth Mans life of three sortes Reason the most precious gift Why some are free and others borne to bondage Diuersitie of mens natures How mans life is imployed What things are chiefly considered in the election of kinges The authoritie of kinges diuine Optimacy Popular states Aristides The originall causes of states popular The vertue of euery people knowen by the lawes and gouerment Lacedemonians Venetians The forme of the Lacedemonian commonweale The Romane state A perfect coÌ„monweale The authority of CouÌ„cellors The necessity of CouÌ„cellors Orde popularis Merchantes Artizans and seruants repulsed from gouerment Six things in all states required The com consisteth of sixe sortes of meÌ„ Two sortes of men onely fit for the places of gouerment The office of meane subiectes The office of Priestes Ordinances of plato touching Priesthood Among what sort of men Priestes should be chosen Plato his commoÌ„weale The Athenian coÌ„monweale The Lacedemonian commonweale The Romane Monarchie The Empyre of Germany The French Monarchie The Monarchy of Spayne The Monarchy of Polonia The kingdome of England The Venetian state In euerie coÌ„ monweale three things required The office of Magistrates Lawe the soule of coÌ„monweals What knowledges ought be in Councellors VVhat magistrates are most profitable in the state The office of Kinges A Senate in al coÌ„monweales of much necessitie The originall of Counsellors VVhat a Senate is VVhat sort of men ought to be made Senators VVhereof the Senators be so named The duetie of Senators The Councellor must be of naturall birth The loue of our country naturall Strangers suspected in the coÌ„monweale What a Citizen is Who is called a Citizen in states popular Who is called a Citizen in A Monarchie or an Aristocratie Whereof the king is called Rex Who is a Citizen in an Oligarchia Who weare Citizens in Rome Two sortes of Citizens The Councellor must be of the number of Noble Citizens To the perfection of a Noble CitizeÌ„ three things required Nobilitie for vertue Nobilitie by descent The Rhodian lawe Nobilitie ciuill Badges and Armes of Nobilitie Consultation to be preferred before action The vertue of a good Citizen and the vertue of a good man is diuers The felicitie of common-weales and men as one thing By what meanes the commoÌ„weale is madeÌ„ happy By what meane the commoÌ„weale is made wise By what meane the commoÌ„weale is valient The office of Soldiers By what meane the commoÌ„weale is made temperate iust By what meanes the commoÌ„weale is made strong and fortunate To the perfection of man three thinges required The office of man Wherein the perfection of man coÌ„sisteth By what studies the perfection of man is attained Philosophie The profit that proceedeth of Philosophie What kinde Philosophers are vnfit to gouerne What Philosophers are fit for gouerment Good education the roote of wisedome The Com. must be carefull in the education of youth The Lacedemonian education The Romane education The education of Graecia The office of learned men Education of children Philosophy of two kindes Two kindes of felicity What 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 for a Counsellor The knowledge of histories Politicall knowledge Trauell in forraine nations What to be obserued in trauell Osiris Geography and Cosmography Things to be knowen of three sortes In what sorte priuate Philosophers be profitable VVhich is the true Philosophy Eloquence What law is The Lacedemonian discip ine The Graecian discipline Mans life miserable Vulgar ordinary wisedome The golden worlde Who those were that restored the golden world VVho is without Philosophie wise Philosophy The Counsellor must not be solitarie The election of magistrates The duetie of a good magistrate Ambitious men punishable Couetiousnes perilous to the commoÌ„weale Magistracy ought be giuen to vertuous men with out respect of riches Euill magistrates the confusion of coÌ„monweals In the election of Counsellors three things to be considered Popular libertie The AtheniaÌ„ coÌ„monweale What kinde of Democracy is iust Democracy inconstant Who are chosen magistrates in an Oligarchia VVhat kinde of magistrates are chosen in Monarchies and Aristocraties