by Humilitie The lowly heart and repentant soule are an acceptable sacrifice vnto God as witnesseth vnto vs the parable of the Publicane who went home iustified by humilitie and for acknowledging himselfe a sinner in accusing himselfe to God of which accusation ensewed immediatly reward cleane contrarie to the iudgements of men vvho vpon accusation and confession doe by and by giue death And therfore that we may be iustified vve be commanded to tell our sinnes and in old time as Macrobius reporteth the priest afore he made sacrifice to his idols confessed that he vvas a sinner and thereat began his ceremonies as we also doe in our religion Our Lord commaunded his disciples to say that vvhen they had done all maner of good they vvere vnprofitable seruants to the end they should not seeme to haue any trust in their good vvorks Wherewith agreeth the doctrine of Plato the heathen Philosopher Whosoeuer saith he vvill be good must beleeue that hee is euill Philo expounding the lawes of Moses which ordaine aboue all things That men should abstaine from Pride telling vs that it is only God that inableth vs to vtter our power saith that he which hath receiued strength and power of Gods meere gift and bethinketh himselfe of the weakenes that was in â—im afore he enioied that grace wil put away that prowd stomack and yeeld thanks to him that is the cause of his better state Now then the mind that acknowledgeth the grace that is giuen vnto him is enemie to pride whereas the vnthankfull is linked in with pride Salomon forbids vs to iustifie our selues before the Lord likewise Dauid shunneth to enter into iudgement with the Lord saieng that no man shal be iustified before him which is to be vnderstood of trusting to any other thing than only Gods mercie Humble your selues saith S. Iames in the presence of God and he will exalt you And S. Peter Be ye apparelled with humilitie for God resisteth the prowd and giueth grace to the lowly Philo sayth That the prowd person prouoketh God to wrath Also Moses giueth him no temporall punishmeÌ„t but reserueth him to Gods iudgement because Pride is a sinne of the soule which is not seene and perceiued but of God If we speake of the righteousnesse that is to be vsed towards men it is hard for a prince to applie himselfe thereto vnlesse he be humble For this vertue maketh a prince meeke readie to heare poore mens requests and to doe them reason and loath to giue eare to flatterers and tale-bearers it skorneth not any man but maketh account both of poore and rich behauing it selfe louingly and gently towards both giuing easie accesse vnto either of them Iob among his complaints protesteth that he neuer despised the iudgement of his seruants were they man or woman but esteemed of them as of himselfe But hee that is too high-minded will heare none but slatterers and tale-bearers hee regardeth no counsell he despiseth the poore he disdaineth euery man and easily taketh leaue to do wrong and iniurie according to this saieng of Dauid The froward are set on fire through their pride to trouble the lowly that maketh small account of himselfe To be short hee is full of vainglorie enuie and trouble according vnto this saieng of Salomon Among the prowd there is alway debate Plato in his Lawes sayth That hee which is prowd of his riches honour burneth with a glorieng in himselfe as though he needed no prince or guide beating himselfe on hand that hee is able enough of himselfe is by and by forsaken of God and so left and then finding as verie fooles as himselfe hee triumpheth and turmoileth all things seeming vnto many not to be a man to be despised But within a while after being punished by Gods iust iudgement he ouerthroweth himselfe his house and his whole common-weale Also there is another spice of pride wheÌ„ yoong men despise their elders beleeue not their couÌ„cell For it is a yoong mans dutie saith Cicero in his booke of Duties to yeeld honor to his auntients which thing was inuiolably obserued in Aegypt and Lacedemon whervpon rose the prouerb It would doe a man good to be old in Sparta Of the said vice springeth the disobedience of some yoong folkes to their fathers and mothers contrarie to Moses precept which commaundeth the honouring of the father and mother with promise of reward In the temple of Eleusis there were but three precepts set downe to be read of all men the first concerned the praising of God the second the honoring of father mother and the third the forbearing to eat flesh And as Cicero saith in his Duties youth is first of all to be enioyned modestie and kindnesse towards their father and mother Plato in his fourth booke of Lawes doth in honor such as seeke to please God in two things first in worshipping God with praiers sacrifices and secondly in honoring their father and mother and he saith That the child ought to beleeue that all that euer hee hath belongeth to those that bred and brought him vp so as he ought to succour them with al his goods whether they be of fortune of the bodie or of the mind and to recompence them in their old age for the things which they haue endured for them in their yonger years to be short that they ought to yeeld them reuerence both in word and deed and to giue place vnto them in all their doings both in word and deed and to thinke that a father is not anâ—rie without a cause when he perceiueth that his sonne doth him wrong Generally we may well say That all disobedience and all mis-behauior commeth of pride as S. Iohn Chrisostome witnesseth in his 45 Homilie and S. Luke speaking of the rich man who was damned for taking too much delight in his riches and braue apparell and for his despising of the poore Salomon in the 17 of the Prouerbs saith That proud froward and skornfull are the names of him that dealeth arrogantlie with anger For bloudshed is in the report of the proud and their curse is greeuous to heare saith Ecclesiastiâ—us As for Ambition no doubt but it proceedeth of Pride for it is nothing else but a desire to be great and to be had in honor Antonie the meeke said It was vnossible for that man to gouerne a countrie well which was atteinted with pride and ambition My meaning is not in speaking of pride and ambition to take from a yoong man the desire of honour and a vertuous emulation that may make him to glorie and delight in his wel-doing For as saith Theophrast by the report of Plutarch in the life of Agis vertues doe bud and flourish in that age and take the deeper root for the praises that are giuen vnto them proceeding still in growing and increasing after the measure of the growing of their care and courage But wheras too much is dangerous of itselfe
whereof the first consisteth in the worshipping of God and in the louing of him with all our heart for it is reason that we should yeeld him faith and alleageance for our creatiō and for the great number of so many good things which we receiue dailie at his hand seing that we peculiarly of all other liuing wights are beholders of the heauenly things that are aboue The other is for the instruction and stablishment of the common conuersation wherein consisteth the dutie of a christian which is to loue his neighbour as himself For as saith S. Paule to the Romanes it is a fulfilling of the law of God and a confirming of the law of nature which will not haue a man to doe that to an other which he would not haue done to himselfe And he that keepeth this precept cannot do amisse For it is very certaine that no man hateth his own flesh ne procureth any euill to himselfe and therfore he vvill not do any such thing to his neighbour Now then we need not to be taught what is Vprightnesse Valeantnesse and Staiednesse for he that keepeth the said precept will not do any vnright But forasmuch as our own nature by reason of the corruption thereof maketh vs to step out of the right vvay if vve will come into the true path againe it be houeth vs of necessitie to peruse the law and the commaundements and to treat of the vertues which are termed Cardinall namely Wisedome Vprightnesse Valeantnesse and Temperance or Staiednesse and of the branches depending vpon them the which S. Austine doth allegoricallie terme the foure streames that watered the earthly Paradise in old time and daily still watereth the little world of them that liue well and to see how good princes haue practised them and how euill princes for want of making account of them haue found themselues ill apaid to the end vve may make our profit of histories and not make them as a matter of course but as a good and wholsome instruction Howbeit ere we enter into that matter it behoueth vs to know vvhat a Prince a King an Emperour and a soueraigne Lord is CHAP. II. Of a Prince a King an Emperour and a soueraigne Lord. WE cannot enioy the goods which God hath giuen vs on this earth except there be a iustice a law and a prince as Plutarch teacheth vs in his booke concerning the education of princes Iustice is the end of the law law is the workmanship of the prince and the prince is the workmanship of God that ruleth all who hath no need of a Phidias For he himselfe behaueth himselfe as God And like as God hath set the Sunne and the Moone in the skye as a goodly resemblance of his Godhead so a Prince in a common-weale is the light of the common-weale and the image of God who vvorshipping God maintaineth iustice that is to say vttereth foorth the reason of God that is to weet Gods minde A Prince then is a magistrate that hath soueraigne power to commaund those ouer vvhom he hath charge And vnder this generall terme of Prince I comprehend kings emperours dukes earles marquises and gouernors of cities and common-weales The men of old time called him a Prince which excelled other men in discretion and wisedome For like as to make a fortunate voyage by sea there behoueth a good Pilot that is a man of courage and good skill so to the well gouerning of subiects there behoueth a good Prince And therefore we may say that that prince is the chiefe and most excellent of all which for the preheminence of his wisdome and worthinesse commaundeth all others It is the first and chiefest law of nature that he which is vnable to gard and defend himselfe should submit himselfe to him that is able and hath wherewith to do it and such a one doe we tearme a chiefe man or a prince who ought to be esteemed as a God among men as Aristotle saith in his third booke of matters of state or at least wise as next vnto God as Tertullian saith vnto Scapula and such a one ought all others to obay as a person that hath the authoritie of God as saith S. Paule Homer termeth princes Diogenes and Diotrophes that is to say Bred and brought vp of Iupiter And Cicero in his common weale saith That the gouerners and keepers of townes and citties doe come from heauen and shal returne thither againe when they haue done their dueties And in another place describing a good Prince he saith that he ought to despise all pleasures and not yeeld to his owne lust nor be needy of gold and siluer For the needinesse of the Prince is but a deuiser of subsidies as the Empresse Sophia said to Tiberius Constantine Also he ought to be more mindfull of his peoples profit than of his own pleasure And to conclude in a word a prince ought to imprint in his heart the saying of Adrian the emperor to the Senate namely That he ought to behaue himselfe after such a sort in his gouernmēt as euerie man might perceiue that he sought the benefit of his people not of himselfe Also men cal them Princes which are of the blood royal stand in possibilitie to succeed to the crowne and generally all soueraigne magistrats as dukes marquises earles and other chiefe lords of which sort there are in Italy and Germanie which haue soueraigne authoritie and owe no more to the emperour but only their mouth and their hands But the greatest and excellentest magistrats are the kings and emperours An Emperour is a terme of warre borrowed of the Romanes for in their language the word Imper◠signifieth to commaund And albeit that in their armies the Romanes had captaines whom they called Emperors which commaunded absolutely and were obayed as kings yet did not any man vsurpe or take to himselfe that title of Emperor vnlesse he had done some notable exploit of warre Insomuch that Crassus was counted a man but of base minde and small courage and of slender hope to atchieue any great or haughty matters that could finde in his heart to be named emperor for taking a silly towne called Zenodotia Afterward when the state of the common weale was chaunged by reason of the ciuill warres and reduced into a Monarchie the successors of Iulius Caesar knowing how odious the name of king was to the Romanes would not take that title vnto them but contenting themselues with the effect therof they named themselues Emperors which among vs is as much to say as chiefe leaders or Generals of an armie or host of men Plato in his booke of Lawes teacheth vs seuen sorts of ruling or commanding the first is that the father commaundeth his children the second that the valeant noble-minded commaund the weake and baseminded the third that the elder sort command the yoonger the fourth that the maisters commaund the seruants the fift that the mightier commaunds the feebler
pleasure as Samuel told the Israelits when they chose their first king And as sayd Othanes he peruerteth the lawes and the customs of the countrie he rauisheth women and he putteth folke to death without sentence of condemnation If ye commend him modestly he is discontented that ye doe it not excessiuely and if you commend him out of measure he is offended as though ye did it of flatterie Policrates the tyrant of the Isle of Samos made warre vpon all his neighbours without any respect saying that he pleasured his friend the more in restoring to him that which he had taken from him than if he had not taken ought from him first Neuerthelesse it behoueth a Prince to thinke that if he forget himselfe and doe not his dutie ne performeth his charge as he ought to do besides that he shal yeeld an account for it before him that gaue him that charge he shall not leaue his kingdome to his posteritie Which thing Denis the tyrant of Siracuse did his son to vnderstand rebuking him for the adulteries and other crimes that he had committed and declaring vnto him that he himselfe had not vsed such maner of dealing when he was of that age Whereunto his sonne answered him that he had not had a king to his father neither shall you quoth his father haue a king to your son except you doe better And as he had said so it came to passe Peter king of Castile for his tyrannie and wicked demeanor towards his subiects was first driuen out of his realme by his bastard-brother aided with the helpe of such as hated Peter and afterward when he had recouered it againe by the means of the blacke Prince as soone as his brother the bastard came againe with any force all the countrie reuolted from him to the bastard and the Spaniards that were with him would neither put on armor nor mount on horse-backe at his commaundement by reason whereof he was faine to craue succour of strangers and yet notwithstanding he lost the battell with the battell both his kingdome and his life Alfons the yonger king of Naples hauing done many tyrannicall deeds fled dishonorably out of his kingdome at the comming of Charles the 8. king of France and as Guicciardine reporteth being tormented with the sting of his owne conscience found no rest of mind day nor night for a night-times those whom he had wronged appeared vnto him in his sleepe a day-times he saw his people making insurrectiō against him to be reuenged His son also to whom he left the kingdome felt himselfe pinched with the sins of his predecessors for the Neapolitanes forsooke him as wel as his father turned to the French kings side We see what befell to Roboam the son of king Salomon for exacting too much vpon his subiects to the duke of Guyen commonly called the blacke Prince for raising a fowage in the country of Aquitane Marcus Aurelius said that the cause why God suffered wicked Princes to be murthered rather than other wicked men is for that the priuat mans naughtinesse hurteth but himselfe and his owne familie for want of abilitie to extend his naughtinesse any further but the Prince that is tyrannous and wicked ouerthroweth the whole Common-weale To conclude the tyrannicall dominion is very dangerfull and noisome to all the people but the kingdome that is gouerned according to law passeth all other states of gouernment be it in comfort of the people or in the durablenesse of itselfe or in making of great conquests CHAP. IIII. Whether the State of a Kingdome or the State of a Publike-weale be the antienter MAnie be of opinion that the Kinglie authoritie had his beginning from the people and that the state of a Publike-weale was afore the state of a King Of that opinion is Cicero in his bookes of Duties saying that Kings were chosen at the first for the good opinion that men had of them And in another place he saith That when folke found themselues harried and troden vnderfoot by the richersort they were constrained to haue recourse to some man of excellent prowesse to defend them from the oppression of the mightier sort and to maintaine both great and small in a kind of equalitie Of the same opinion likewise is Aristotle Because the men of old time saith he were benefactors to the communaltie either by the inuention and practise of arts or by making warres in their behalf or by assembling them together into corporations and by allotting them their territories the multitude did willinglie create them Kings so they conueyed their kingdomes ouer by succession to their posterities Plinie saith that the Athenians were the first that brought vp the popular gouernment which neuerthelesse had been vsed long afore by the Iewes as Iosephus witnesseth in his books of their antiquities Indeede Thucidides in his first booke of the warres of Peloponnesus saith that when the countrie of Greece was become rich by reason of the nauigations there stept vp euerie day new tyrants in the cities by reason of the greatnesse of their reuenues For afore that time the kings came in by Succession and had their authorities prerogatiues and preheminences limited Whereby he doth vs to vnderstand that kingdomes were afore common-weales as indeed there is great likelihood that the state of a king was the foremost And it is not to be doubted but the first men that were after the the floud when the earth was repeopled againe did rule the lands which they possessed first in their owne housholds and afterward when they were increased in gouerning the whole off-spring that came of their race as we see was done by Sem Cham Iaphet Ianus Gomer Samothes and such others of whom some reigned in the West and some in the East And Nembroth of Chams linage was the first that troubled his neighbours by making warre vpon them and the first that made himselfe a king as S. Iohn Chrisostome affirmeth vpon the ninth of Genesis For afore that time time there could be no king because there were no store of people to be subiects Also Abraham hauing a great houshold tooke three hundred and eighteene of his owne men and pursuing those that had spoiled Lot discomfited them The fathers of old time therefore hauing many slaues and seruants which were multiplied afterward with the increase of their issue had them at commaundement as a King hath his subiects And of this opinion seemeth Iustine to be in his abridgement of Trogus Pompeius who saith in his first booke That at the beginning euery nation and euerie citie was gouerned by kings and that such as had none of their owne did chuse one either for the good opinion which they had of the person whom they chose or for some good turne which they had receiued at his hand or else for that they felt themselues misused by their head whom they themselues had set ouer them as it befell by the sonnes of
in examining his life notwithstanding that there is no comparison betweene mouable goods and a friend For a friend may helpe a prince both with counsell and comfort and also greatly aduance his profit as Zopirus did vnto king Darius vnto whom he recouered Babilon And therefore Darius said That he had leuer haue one Zopirus than to take tenne Babilons and that he wished hee had as many Megabisusses as there be kernels in a Pomgarnet For this cause were Pilades and Orestes exalted to the skies by the Poets and Damon and Pithias Pithagorians by the Historiographers And among others we must not let passe the friendship of Seruius Terentius towards Brutus For when Brutus should haue beene put to death this Terentius affirmed himselfe to be he and would haue bin killed for him in the darkenesse of the place neuerthelesse being discerned who he was he was suffered to liue whether he would or no. Neither is the wiâ—ely loue of one Hostes the wife of a Moore to be passed ouer in silence who seing hir husband dead absteined from food nine daies together that she might be buried with him Timagenides seing the citie of Thebes besieged for his sake chose rather to yeeld himselfe to the rest of the Greeks who were desirous of him than to abide the burning spoiling and sacking of his country Also there were a couple of Lacedemonians which offered to goe to the king of Persia to be put to torture for the rest of their countriemen who had killed the kings Embassadors But yet the loue of certaine Frenchmen towards their country shall put to silence the fables of Orestes and Pilades and whatsoeuer is reported of the Curtiusses and Deciusses of Rome When the king of England refused to take Callis to mercie except they would deliuer him six Burgesses of the towne with halters about their necks to doe his pleasure with them the people being assembled into one place and hearing this sentence fell to weeping Then stept vp among them one Eustace of S. Peters one of the richest men of all the town and told them that he would not suffer such a number of people to perish but would rather giue himselfe to the death for their safety than see them die for hunger or be slaine with the sword After him followed another named Iohn Daire and foure mo of the richest in Calis who vowed themselues euerychone to the death for the safegard of their people S. Ambrose in his second booke of Virgins reporteth a notable storie of a maid and a young souldier who offered themselues to die either for the other The maid was condemned either to doe sacrifice to the idols or else to be made a brothel in the stewes She vtterly refusing to doe sacrifice to the idols was led forthwith to the stewes where after she had made hir praiers vnto God there was brought vnto hir a young souldiour who altering his former purpose which he had to haue defiled her praied her to take his apparell and he would put on hirs that by that means shee might go hir waies vnknowne and so be saued When she was departed out of the brothel-house there came in other yoong men in hope to haue had their pleasure of that faire damsel But in hir stead they found the man and thought shee had bene turned into that shape by miracle In the end when the conueiance was discouered the yoong man was carried to be punished wherof the mayd hearing presented hirselfe to baile him body for body that he might escape but the yoong man would in no wise heare of that affirming that iudgement was giuen against him and not against hir The maid replied that he was there but as a pledge and that the sentence which was giuen against him ought to be executed vpon hirselfe To conclude they disputed so wel the one against the other that with their consents they were both put to death Let this be spoken as by the way because occasion thereof was offered He that is desirous to see more let him read Aristotles Morals Lucians Toxaris and Ciceros Laelius Now let vs proceed to Hope which is an affection wel beseeming a Prince When Alexander hauing of a bountifull mind giuen all to his friends was asked what should remaine to himselfe Hope quoth he because he hoped to get much more And this Hope is grounded vpon a certaine noblenesse of courage I know well inough that some Hope is but the dreaming of a man when he is awake for commonly we misse of the thing that we behight our selues Neuerthelesse I say that the valiant and well aduised prince sildome fayleth of his hope when it is grounded vpon reason and good fortune Philo sayth that Hope is the fountaine of all sorts and trades of life The merchant traffiqueth in hope of gaine the marener in hope to benefit himselfe by his sayling the ambitious in hope of glorie and honour and to attaine to these ends euery of them doth take maruellous pains The hope of the happie state draweth men to vertue But indeed the true and only hope is to hope in God as in him that is our Creator and is sufficient of himselfe alone to keepe vs safe and sound Afterward commeth Despaire or Distrust the contrary to Hope which may bee taken doublewise either as when a prince hauing lost a battell and broken his force letteth all go without consulting or taking aduice what to do through Despaire seeketh no remedie which oft befalleth for want of courage to maintaine the which nothing is comparable to stoutnesse of mind The other sort is not properly Despaire but a behauior proceeding of humilitie which maketh vs that we be not ouer-hastie in hoping for great and high things the which is conuenient enough for a prince for it restreineth him from hazarding himselfe and from vndertaking too great and hard things after the maner of Dauid who reioiceth that hee had not enterprised things ouer-great and exceeding his power In this case both Hope and Distrust are well befitting a king For the one maketh him to enterprise great things the other to moderat them in such sort as he vndertake not any thing aboue his abilitie or aboue that which he ought for to do so proceedeth either of vndiscreetnes or of rage or of some other inordinat passion Fearfulnesse and Foole-hardinesse are the two faultie extremities which inclose Prowes or valeantnesse of courage wherof I will speake more largely hereafter For whosoeuer through the greatnes of his courage doth put himselfe in perill yea euen of certaine death for a good cause he is to be esteemed hardie valeant and manly-minded And surely the Fearefull is worse than the Foole-hardie For as Thucidides saith Feare doth not only bereaue a man of his memorie but also of his strength and impeacheth the execution of the thing that he had determined Neuerthelesse the feare to do euil is euermore wel-beseeming according to this saying of
too soft nor too rigorous inpunishing but as the cause deserueth For he must not affect the glorie of meeldnesse or of seueritie but when he hath wel considered the case he must doe iustice as the case requireth vsing mercie and gentlenesse in small matters and shewing seueritie of law in great crimes howbeit alwaies with some temperance of gentlenesse For as Theodorike was woont to say It is the propertie of a good and gracious prince not to be desirous to punish offences but to take them away least by punishing them too eagerly or by ouerpassing them too meeldly he be deemed vnaduised and carelesse of the execution of iustice S. Iohn Chrysostome saith That iustice without mercie is not iustice but crueltie and that mercie without iustice is not mercie but folly And to my seeming Suetonius hath no great likelihood of reason to commend Augustus for mercifull in that to saue a manifest parricide from casting into the water in a sacke as was wont to be done to such as had confessed themselues guiltie of that fault he asked him after this maner I beleeue thou hast not murthered thy father For he that iustifieth the wicked and hee that condemneth the guiltlesse are both of them abhominable to the Lord saith Salomon in his Prouerbs And aboue all things as saith Cicero in his booke of Duties he must beware that the punishment be not too great for the offence and that where many bee partakers of one crime one be not sore punished and another sleightly passed ouer CHAP. IIII. That a prince ought to be liberall and to shun niggardship and prodigalitie THus much in few words concerning iustice the which Cicero diuideth into two namely into that which is tearmed by the generall name of Righteousnesse into that which is tearmed Liberalitie accordingly as the holy scripture doth ordinarily take righteousnesse for the liberalitie that is vsed towards the needie the which we call Alms or Charitie He hath dispersed giuen vnto the poore saith the Psalmist and his righteousnesse endureth for euer that is to say He will continue still to shew himselfe righteous and he shall haue wherin to execute his liberalitie all the daies of his life And S. Paule in his second Epistle to the Corinthians prayeth God to encrease the reuenues of their righteousnesse that is to say of their liberalitie or bounteousnesse And in the one and twentith of the Prouerbs He that followeth righteousnesse and mercie saith Salomon He that is kind-hearted and pitifull to the poore shall find life righteousnesse and glorie And in the same place The righteous giueth saith he and spareth not Now therfore I must speake more particularly of the distributiue righteousnesse which is called Liberalitie and is as it were the meane betwixt niggardlinesse and prodigalitie a vertue well-beseeming a rich man For as saith Plato He that hath store of goods if he make others partakers with him is to be honoured as a great man but specially it most beseemeth a prince as who is better able to put it in vse than any priuat persons For Liberalitie vndoeth liberalitie because that the more a man vseth it the more he abateth his abilitie of vsing it towards many A king who hath great reuenues may honourably vse it in his life without abating the meane to doe good to such as deserue it Therefore Plutarch in his booke of the Fortunatnesse and vertue of Alexander saith That as the fruits of the earth grow faire by the temperatnesse of the aire euen so good wits are furthered by the liberalitie honourable countenaunce and courtesie of a king and that on the contrarie part they droope and decay through his niggardship displeasure and hard-dealing For the very dutie of a king said Agesilaus is to doe good vnto many Ptolomaeus Lagus said It was a more goodly and princely thing to enrich other men than to enrich himselfe according to S. Paules saying That it is better to giue than to take And Fabricius had leuer to haue at commaundement men that were well monied than the monie it selfe Dennis the tyrant of Siracuse offered presents to the ambassadours of Corinth the which they refused saying That the law of their countrie forbad them to take ought of any prince whatsoeuer Wherevnto hee answered Surelie yee doe amisse O yee Corinthians in that yee bereaue princes of the best thing that they haue For there is not any other meane to take away the misliking of so great a power than by courtesie and liberalitie Alexander was woont to say That there was not a better hoording vp of treasure than in the purses of his friends because they will yeeld it him againe whensoeuer hee needeth it Now then this vertue doth maruellously well beseeme a prince because he hath wherwith to put it in vre and yet neuerthelesse it ceasseth not to be in the mind of a poore man also For a man is not to be deemed liberall for his great gifts but for the will that he hath to do good For a poore man may be more liberall than a rich although he giue far lesse without comparison than the rich because liberalitie like as all other vertues proceedeth chiefly from the disposition or inclination that a man hath to giue As for example the poore widow that did put the two mites into the offering box was esteemed to haue giuen more than al the rich men though the thing she gaue was nothing in cōparison of the gifts of other men For liberalitie consisteth not in the greatnes of the gifts but in the maner of the giuing And he is liberall which giueth according to his abilitie vnto good men and vpon good causes This vertue represseth nigardship and moderateth prodigalitie causing a man to vse his goods and his money aright The meane to vse these well consisteth in three points The first is in taking a mans owne money where he ought to take it and hereunto maketh the good husbanding of him that spareth his reuenue to spend it to good purpose For he that hath not wherewith to maintain his expenses doth amisse in making large expenses at other mens cost and he that hath it doth amisse if he spend it not because there is not any thing that winneth a prince so much the fauor of his people as liberalitie doth Dennis the tyrant intēding to try his son furnished him with much costly stuffe iewels and vessell both of gold and siluer of great price And when long time after he had espied that the plate remained with him still he taunted him saieng that he had not a princely hart sith he had not made him friends with his plate hauing such abundāce for he was of opinion that such gifts would haue gotten his son good will at all mens hands For as Salomon saith in the xix of the prouerbs euery man is a friend to the man that giueth And in the chapter going afore he saith That a mans
in all other things it is most pestilent and deadlie in the ambition of those that put themselues in the managing of publike affaires We see how Alexanders ambitioÌ„ wrought the ruine of all Asia for one Alexander that made profit of his ambition howbeit with the losse of his reputation among all good men infinit numbers were brought to ruine as Pompey Caesar Crassus Mariw and others innumerable Pâ—â—rhus might haue bin a great prince if he had not bin too ambitious and it had bin better for him to haue credited the counsell of inâ—as who being desirous to haue diuerted him from his voiage into Italic asked him to what purpose that so far voiage shuld serue him for the getting of one citie Whervnto he answered That froÌ„ Tarent he would go to Rome And when you haue taken Rome quoth Ciâ—â—as what will you doe then We will goe to Sicilie answered Pirrhus And when we haue done with Sicilie whether shall wee then Wee will to Carthage said Pirrhus And when Carthage is become yours what will you doe then I will make my selfe quoth he lord of all Greece And when we haue done al this what shal we do afterward TheÌ„ wil we rest our selues qd Pirrhus make good cheer And what letteth quoth Cineas that we should not fal presently to this making of good cheere sith we haue inough wherwith to do it Princes therfore must not only beware of ambition but also withdraw themselues from all ambitious persons For they be neuer satisfied And as Plutarch saith in the life of Silla Pride and ambition are two vices that neuer wex old and are very daungerous to a state like as it is daungerous to saile in a ship where the pilots be at strife who shall gouerne it Ambitions is neuer without quarrelling for euerie man fals to heauing at other and seeks to take his fellowes place As for example Pompey to take Lucullussis Marius to take Metellussis and Silla to heaue out Marius vntill in the end they brought the state to ruine As for Enuie no doubt but it proceedeth of pride as Alexander shewed very well who would needs be the perfectest of all men and was sorâ—e that his father did so many goodly exploits esteeming it as a bereauing him of occasion to purchase himselfe reputation Hee would not that Aristoâ—le should publish the books that he had taught him to the end that he himselfe might passe all others in skill and in feats of war Now as pride is the first and greatest sinne so also commonly it seeketh not any other than the most excellent things be it in vertue in prosperitie in riches or in dignitie And therfore Salust said That pride is the ordinary vice of nobilitie and Claudian That it cometh ordinarily in prosperitie For aduersitie pouertie and sickenesse do light he cut off the occasions of arrogancie and there is nothing worse than a poore maÌ„ that is proud as Salomon saith in his Prouerbs Darius the father of Xerxes said That aduersities and troubles make a man the wiser Antigonus seeing himselfe sicklie commended his sickenesse saying that it had done him great good by teaching him not to aduance himselfe aboue measure considering his infirmitie It is no small benefit when a small disease driueth away a great And therfore Dauid boasteth in the 119 Psalme That God had done him a great good â—â—ne in bringing him low And a little after Afore I was afflicted saith he I went astray but now I keepe thy word now lord I acknowledge that thy iudgements are iust that thou hast humbled me of very loue that is to say thou hast afflicted me to a good end And in the 131 Psalm Lord I 〈◊〉 not high-minded I haue no lostie looks I haue not delt in thingâ— that are greater and more wonderfull than becoÌ„meth me Secondly the vertuous and wise are more assailed with pride than are the vicious and the painfull more than the idle And therfore S. Pâ—ule said That God had giuen him an angel of Satans to bullet him least he shuld be puffed vp with his reuelations For the mischiefe of pride comes of ouerfulnesse And as S. Iohn Chrisostome saith in his homilie of Humilitie Like as too much eating ingendreth an inflammation of humors in our bodies which inflammation breedeth the ague and of the ague often commeth death euen so is it with pride which commeth not but of too much ease too much welfare The same author in the same place saith That other vices steale vpon vs when we be idle and negligent but this vice presseth assaulteth vs wheÌ„ we be doing good And like as they that intend to goe vpon a cord doe by and by fall and breake their neckes it their sight goe astray neuer so little so they that walke in this life doe cast themselues downe headlong out of hand if they take not great heed to themselues For the way of this cord is without all comparison far more narrow streight out than the other for so much as it mounteth vp vnto heauen and therfore it is the more danger to slip or to misse footing because the feare is woonderfull to them that are mounted so high whereof there is but onely one remedie which is neuer to looke downeward for feare of dazeling Hee maketh yet one other goodlie similitude saying That like as Sea-rouers passe not to assaile merchants when they set out of the hauen to fetch merchandise but when they come loaden home so when the mischieuous enemie seeth our ship full of precious sâ—ones of all sorts of godlinesse then doth he bend all his force to light vs of our treasure to sinke vs in the hauens mouth and to leaue vs starke naked vpon the strond And as saith S. Ambrose in his epistle which he writeth to the virgin Demetrias Satan watcheth to cast in a collup of pride in place of our deuotion And hee findeth not a better occasion to tempt vs than by our vertues which are the cause why we be of good right commended After that maner befell it to Osias king of Iuda a good man for in the end his heart was puffed vp and he would needs offer sacrifice to God whervpon ensued that he was by and by punished with a leprosie Through pride ouerweening Dathan Coree and Abiron moued sedition against Moses and would needs be equall with him but the earth swallowed them vp quicke Herod taking pleasure in the flatterie of the people which said That his words were the voice of God and not of man was eaten vp of lice so odious is that vice vnto God Thereof it commeth that it is said not that God forsaketh the proud but that he resisteth them to shew that he will fight against them with his power so greatly doth he abhorre that vice according to this saying of the Psalmist Thou didst cast them downe when they aduanced themselues Virgill seemeth to approch hereunto when he saith
were faine to accept such conditions as their conquerours would giue vnto them Alexander would neuer giue himselfe to loue vntill he was lord of Asia for feare of being vanquished And therefore he would not see the wife and daughters of Darius for feare to be caught in loue by them saying commonly that the ladies of Persia were eye-sores vnto him And albeit that vain-glorie made him so to do for feare least he should haue beene hindered in his enterprise yet he saw well that a man which doth such things could not prosper And as long as he set not his mind that way his affaires went well and he purchased great praise yea euen at the hand of Darius himselfe who hearing of a truth how the world went with his wife and children besought God that he might haue none other successour but Alexander Thus ye see how Continencie doth good both to bodie â—oul worldly state that is to say euen to the getting of kingdoms and empires whereof there be so many examples that a man cannot reckon them vp without wearying of his readers I will but onely set downe the Continencie of Scipio towards Indibilis because comparison is made betweene that and Alexanders Now therefore Scipio hauing by the law of armes taken prisoner the wife of one Indibilis a noble man of Spaine and a great enemie of thâ— Romans a woman of rare beautie with diuers other faire ladies and gentlewomen of Spaine would not shut his eies but would haue a â—ight of them And after courteous entertaining of them sent them home to Indibilis without doing any wrong to their honor For which courtesie Indibilis finding himselfe infinitly bound vnto Scipio turned to the Romans with mo than fiue hundred Spaniards and was the cause that Scipio became maister of the whole countrie There haue bin few good captains which haue not abhorred if not simple fornication yet at leastwise adulterie sauing only Iulius Caesar who alwaies entertained some other mens wiues But he was punished by the sonne of one whom he held in adulterie who slue him in the senat And when he entred into any citie the souldiers would say Ye chiefe men of the towne keepe well your wiues for we bring vnto you the bald aduouterer Alexander shewed himselfe more staied in that respect for he would doe no wrong neither to mens wiues nor to their Lemans Vpon a time hauing long waited for a certaine woman when she was come and he had asked her why she came so late she answered because I was faine to tarie till my husband was abed Which thing Alexander hearing commanded his men to conuey her home againe out of hand saying that through their default it wanted but little that he had become an Adulterer He did as much to Antipater For seeing a faire wench that Antipater kept come to feast he began to cast a fancie to her But vnderstanding that she was Antipaters Noughty fellow quoth he why takest thou not this wench hence which enforceth wrong to be done vnto Antipater Francis Sforcia duke of Millane being offred a very faire woman whom he had taken to lie withall perceiued that as soone as he would haue come neere her she began to weepe and prayd the duke that he would not touch her but that he would send her back to her husband who also was a prisoner Of whose request the duke had such regard that hee cast himselfe downe from the bed for feare of touching her and deliuered her againe to hir husband the next morow Dennis the tyrant rebuked his sonne sharply for an adultery which he had committed asking him if he had euer seen him do the like When his sonne had answered no for he had not a king to his father hee could well skill to foretell him what would come of it that is to wit that he also should not haue a sonne that should be a king after him vnlesse hee changed his manners as I haue sayd in my first booke Agesilaus one day refused a kisse whereat when all men maruelled he said He had rather to fight against such affections than to take a good citie well fortified and well manned with men of war Alexander rebuked Cassander very sharply for kissing and was angrie wirh Philoxenus for seeming to inuite him to vnhonest things by his letters Antiochus beholding a very beautifull religious woman that was vowed to Diana was by and by surprised with her loue and for feare least ouer-great loue might inforce him to some incest hee went his way by and by out of the place for doubt least he should doe any thing that might not become him Heliogabalus not only defloured but also married a virgine vestall saieng it was reason that priests should marie nuns because that in times past he had ben priest to the sunne But he was so wicked that the rememberance of him ought to be wiped out of the world When Pompey had put Mithridates to flight he would not touch his concubines but sent them all home to their friends Iulian would not see the goodly ladies of Persia that were his captiues for feare least he should be taken in loue with them but sent them home euery chone Selim the emperor of the Turks did as much in the same countrie For when he had wonne the field against the sophie he found many noble women in his campe whom he sent home without touching them or without taking any ransome for them Dioclesian hauing taken the wife and daughters of the king of Persia did as Alexander had done Which deed caused the Persians to render vnto the Romans all that euer they had taken from them Totilas king of the Easterngoths hauing taken Naples and many Roman ladies that were there sent them all home to their friends without doing or suffering any wrong to be done vnto them He that would here reherse the tragicall histories that haue ensued of Adultrie should be faine to make a whole booke by itselfe Let vs but only bethinke vs of the euening-worke of Sicilie which befell vnto vs Frenchmen more for our incontinencie than for any thing else and let that be added vnto it which was done by Alexander the sonne of Amyntas vnto the Persians Amintas made a banket to the Persians whereat were present the noblemens wiues of Macedonie Whom when the Persians had before them they would aproch vnto them insomuch that when they were set downe by them they began to feele their brests and to doe diuers vnseemely things vnto them Wherat Alexander being extreamly grieued did neuerthelesse set a good countenance vpon the matter and told them that he would make them cheere to the full Whereupon when bed-time drue nigh he desired that the ladies might go aside to wash themselues and they should come againe by and by vnto them Anon the ladies departed in whose stead yong men attired like women were brought in to the banquet at whose comming the Persians began immediatly to