and lawes to runne in contempt And both the one and the other is to be founde fault with if it be not tempered Saul was reprehended of God because hee slewe not Amelec And the Prophet sayd to Achab that he should die because hee had pardoned Benadad the King of Siria who had deserued death as also because he caused Naboth to be murthered The holie scripture doth also teache vs that the wrath of God is appeased by the punishment of the wicked and that his vengeance extendeth ouer all people for their iniquitie and contrariewise his blessing doeth spreade it selfe vppon whome soeuer hee chasteneth The wicked shalbe afraide and kept backe but the righteous shal bee preserued from the contagion of them that worke iniquitie For this cause the booke of the lawe founde againe in the time of Iosias is called the booke of the alliance of the Lorde the which hee commaunded the Priestes to deliuer to the King Samuel followinge this rule put it into the handes of Saul and according vnto the tenure thereof Iosias yeelded himselfe the feodarie and vassal of the Lorde Likewise the lawe which was giuen in the Arke was called the couenant of the Lorde And Salomon saide vnto God Lord thou hast chosen mee to raigne ouer thy people and to iudge ouer thy sonnes and daughters For this cause our Kings were euer willing that none should regarde the pardones they yeelded if they were grounded vppon so yll a foundation As also Micheas the Prophet detesteth and curseth in the name of God all such as obey the wicked ordinances of Kinges who for this cause haue had especiall care and commaundement to administer iustice esteeming themselues rather armed with the sworde to chastise the wicked then to repulse their enimies and are the ministers of God for the peoples benefite as the Apostle sayeth And to this ende they establish good and learned Iudges in all places that are voyde of passions if they followe the lawes otherwise they shoulde bringe into the flocke the Wolfe which they ought to chase away and render themselues culpable of the death of those innocentes that such pardoned men shoulde kill and so grace should neuer be without crueltie CHAP. XXVI The definition of Lying THE Philosophers were neuer wont to content themselues in declaring the propertie of vertues except they opposed vnto them their contrarie vice to the ende that the lothsomnes thereof being wel regarded the other mought be found more agreable So haue we of purpose discoursed of the trueth before we com to shew the vice of lying the which we may define by a contrary significatiō vnto the truth whē one speaketh of things vncertain contrarie to that which one knoweth making thē seeme other then they are S. Augustin writeth to Cōsentius that it is a false significatiō of spech with a wil to deceiue And when one speaketh more or lesse then is in deede it is a member of iniustice turning topsie turuie all humane societie and the amitie due vnto our neighbour for since that speach is giuen vnto vs to make manifest what we thinke and to instruct his vnderstanding of whome wee speake It is a foule fault to abuse it and to behaue our selues in other sort towardes our neighbour then we willingly woulde he shoulde towardes vs for as much as hee which desireth and expecteth from vs the trueth is deceiued and led into an errour and hauing afterwardes in time discouered the lye he will no more beleeue vs and wee shal lose the meanes to be able to instruct for euer For lyars only gaine this that albeit they say and speake the trueth yet shal they neuer be beleeued And in the holy scripture idolatrie hipocrisie superstition false weights false measures and al cosinages are called lying to the end that by so disformed a name we should the rather eschewe them The lyar is detested of God and called double of heart and toung because he speaketh one thing and doeth an other And for verie good respect sundrie of the auncient doctors haue written that the trueth being depraued there are ingendred an infinite number of absurdities heresies scismes and contentions And Socrates was wont to saye that it proceeded from a good will to enforce it selfe to remoue the foolish opinions of men and that it was not possible for him to approue a lye nor to dissemble the trueth And Homer writeth of the great and valiant Captaine Achilles that he did more hate and abhorre lying then hell or death And it is written in the olde and newe testament that God doeth abhorre all lying and that the true are gratious in his sight yea that a theefe is better than a man that is accustomed to lye And lying is contrarie to nature ayded by reason and seruaunt or handmayd to the trueth It is writen in Leuiticus Yee shall not steale neither deale falsly neither lye one to another CHAP. XXVII The effectes of Lying PHilo in his first booke of the contemplatiue life setteth downe all kind of wickednes to proceede from lying as all good doth from the trueth And if wee wel consider the causes of the seditions troubles heresies and quarels which alter whole estates publike quiet and mans conuersation we shall finde all to proceede from the infected fountaine of lying And that Achab and the most part of the Kings of Israel the Emperours Nero Commodus Maximinus Iulius Valencius and sundrie other as well of olde time as of ours haue thereby beene ruyned Gehazi the seruant of Elisha was stroken with a leprosie Ananias Saphira fell downe dead Haman was hanged on the tree he had prepared for Mardocheus The hande of Ieroboam was dryed vp Craesus King of Lidia draue awaye Solon reiecting the trueth he had tolde him which for all that afterwardes saued his life and Dionisius the tyrant of Sicil not being able to make his profite of that which Plato had declared vnto him nor to wash away the stayne of tyrannie was constrained in his banishment to confesse that that which he had hearde of Plato made him the better able to carrie so great a change Thorough a lye Ioseph was cast in prison and S. Chrisostome sent into banishment and an infinite number of other holy and great personages haue beene maruelously afflicted and manie realmes and common wealthes haue euen had the verie beginning of their ruine from thence The saide Chrisostome in the 28. Homelie vppon Iohn sayeth that nothing is so vnfirme or vnconstant as lying for what ayde or piller so euer it can come by it weakeneth so as it causeth it to fall of it selfe CHAP. 28. The punishments of Lying IT is written in the Prouerbs He that speaketh lyes shal not escape and in the booke of wisedome The mouth that speaketh lies slayeth the soule and in Ecclesiasticus The condition of liars are vnhonest and their shame is euer with them
that hee had gotten such an opinion to be counted true that euery one trusted him and referred himselfe vnto him Which was likewise said of Demonar in the time of the Emperour Adrian And our chronicles doe greatly prayse king Iohn for that he was open neuer making shewe of louing him whom in deede he did not Titus Liuius in the 5. booke of his fourth Decade and fourth of his 5. made a great matter that the Romaines kept their faith exactly And in the first booke of his first Decade he writeth that fayth and a single othe all feare of lawes and chastisementes not thought on gouerned the whole Citie to which he attributed the course of all their great prosperities Attilius chose rather to returne backe to tormentes and death prepared for him than to breake his fayth And when Antiochus woulde haue vsurped Aegypt vppon Ptolomie Epiphanes whose protection the Romaynes had alreadie taken vppon them they sent vnto him Popilius who made a circle about the sayde Antiochus and constrayned him before hee departed to promise him that he should enterprise nothing ouer their sayde pupill Wee reade of manie other kinges and common-wealthes that in their differences referred themselues to the people of Rome Cato as Plutarke hath written hauing layde to Murena his charge that he bought the voyces of the people the better to attaine to the Consulship went here and there gathering his profes and according to the custome of the Romaines had on the defendants behalfe certaine gardes which followed him euerie where marking what he did for the better instructiō of his bill These watchmē would often aske him if that day he ment to search out ought that appertayned to his accusation if he saide no then they departed whereuppon is growne this prouerbe when one telleth a thing that seemeth strange this is not to bee beleeued though Cato himselfe should tell it And Plinie in his preface describeth the opinion was then had of his manhood and innocencie which sayth he caused Cicero to crie out O gentle Cato howe happy art thou to haue beene such a one that neuer man yet durst presume to sollicite thee in any dishonest cause or contrarie to dutie He writeth also of Scipio surnamed Asiaticus for to haue subdued Natolie being called before the Tribunes Gracchus being one whom he held for his enimie that he had such an assurance in his speech that his very enimies were sufficiēt witnes of his manhood And in Lacedemon whē there was one that was knowen to be a dissolute person and a lyar that he had proposed a very profitable aduise necessary for that time yet was it cleane reiected of the people And the Ephores hauing chosē a Senator that was very true commanded him continually to propose vnto them like councell whereby they might restore their cōmonwealth as it were from an vncleane and foule vessell into a pure neate Cicero in his oration he made for Balbus maketh mention of an honorable person who being called into the Senate at Athenes to depose touching some matter the senators would by no meanes haue him take the accustomed othe knowing him to be a vertuous honest man Such an efficacy hath the opiniō of māhood in a personage accoūted true Xerxes Ariamenes in the great controuersie which was betweene thē for the kingdome of Persia referred thēselues to their vncle Artebanus to whose iudgement they stood I could here recken many forraine Princes who in time past haue had such an opinion of the court of Parlement of Paris composed of graue learned and reuerent counsellers chosen according to the right and ordinances that they haue had recourse thyther as to a temple of iustice We read of the Emperour Frederic the second and certaine kings of Fraunce that they haue beene so greatly esteemed of their subiects that in steede of fine gold they haue receiued lethermonie others haue borowed great sums with good liking which they haue restored againe as soone as conueniently they were able This is the meanes which Cirus sheweth in Xenophon and Zonare to Cresus wherby they may obtaine what they wil of their subiects when they haue once gayned an opinion to be accounted trew he sayth likewise that their treasors cōsist most in enriching of their friends without caring for any other gardes We haue seene what credit by this meanes the great kinges Francis and Henrie obtained thoroughout all Europe and what losse and dishonour such haue receiued as both before and since haue fayled of their promise I will not here omit howe Pharamonde our first king was named VVarmond which signifieth truth And a man is not able to declare what profit and solace he which is true bringeth to euerie man as ending of suits in lawe enmities discordes and other seedes of mischiefes dispersed through a countrey by the reuealing of the truth which he discouereth his wordes being receiued as an oracle And Xenophon in his seuenth booke of young Cirus sheweth that the bare worde of such a man preuaileth more then other mens constraint threates or punishment and gaineth more by his bare promise then other doe by their rewardes He sayth moreouer that there is no greater nor more excellent riches especially to a Prince then vertue iustice and greatnesse of courage because such can nether want friendes nor ought else CHAP. 9. That it behooueth to keepe promise with instruction not to make it with ones disaduantage and not to giue place to the importunate TItus Liuius in his third booke of his first decade declareth what great dammage ensueth him who breaketh his faith and looseth his credit for the societie of men is only maintained by dewe keeping of promises And al good Princes haue esteemed that their authoritie puissaunce and safetie dependeth thereon Hereupon Isocrates wrote to King Nicocles that he should be founde true of his worde in all his promises in sort that one shoulde giue greater credite to his bare worde then to others othes And the wise man writeth in the Prouerbes that VVeldoing and fayth conserueth a Princes estate but a lying talke becommeth him not Himselfe is the onely preseruour of fayth among his subiectes and their debtour for iustice Dion reciteth that the Emperour Marcus Antonius was wont to say that it was a verie lamentable thing that a mans faith should be violat or suspected without which nought can be assured King Attalus in his death bed warned Eumenes his sonne to esteeme fidelitie the good opinion of his subiectes the chiefest parte of the inheritance he could leaue him And Sueton praised Caesar for that hee kept his faith with his enimies though they broke theirs with him For as Cicinnatus said in Titus Liuius a man must not offende led by an other mans example And Dion reporteth of Augustus that hauing made proclamation that he woulde giue fiue and twentie thousand
before that to the Earle of S. Pol was vanquished and all yl hap accompanied him euer after Hildebran otherwise named Gregorie the seuenth sware an accorde with the Emperour Henrie the fourth from whome as soone as he was departed he created Rodolph Emperour who afterwards was ouercome by the said Henrie and seeing his hand cut off said vnto the Bishops Beholde the hande which I did lift vp when I made the othe of fidelitie to the Emperour And anon after he dyed the said Pope was deposed put to flight Which ought to serue for an example to great personages to hold their promises I will not here forget what we haue seene of our time happen to Christierne king of Danemarke who for hauing broken his faith giuen to his subiectes was depriued his realme and afterwardes liued miserably for al the succours which he receiued from Charles the fift Emperour As also the histories recite of one Richard who caused his nephewes to be murthered and his neaces to be declared bastardes to make him selfe king of England but he was afterwarde vanquished and put to flight by one as then scarce knowen I omit sundrie examples set foorth by Boccace in nine bookes which hee wrote touching the misaduentures of notable personages which euerie one may reade And could here touch that which Plutarch writeth of Catoes opposing him selfe to the sacrifices which they would make for the victorie obtained by Caesar against the Almaines meaning that they ought to had deliuered it for them whome he had outragiouslie wronged and contrarie to the peace they had made with the people of Rome to the ende to cast vppon him alone the fault they had committed in violating their faith And without searching of any further examples thorough the folliciting of Cardinall Caraffe sent from Pope Paul the thirde thorough other mens ambition was there broken a most honorable truce and thereby a great warre vndertaken which had verie yll successe I passe ouer in scilence the great calamities ruynes dissipations disorders excesse losses dissolutions subuersions of states rauishments mischiefes happened in Christendome since thirtie yeres past thorough a dispensation which men take to vyolate their faith promise and Edictes And wee haue verie great occasion to beseeche God that hee will giue remedie thereto and hinder these defiances euill fortunes diuisions and stormes which as yet are like to happen And albeit that according to Bias opinion no excuse is to be receiued to make one able to breake his promise neuerthelesse he ought not to bee accused for a lyar who maye not lawfully keepe it for some iust occasion afterwardes happened vnto him As if a mad man shoulde demaunde the sworde which hee had giuen another to keepe or if a more mightie man shoulde oppose him selfe or if by that means another would attempt against his person or estate which did promise or if thee keeping of his promise should turne him to any great dishonor mischiefe errour fraude or any other preiudice not to be recouered For matters not alreadie in practise strange and newe require a newe counsell according to the saying of the lawers who euen dispense with a promise after an oth taken And often times men promise with an intent to accōplish that which lyeth not in their power through an indispositiō or matter fallen out of more great importance As the vowe and promise which Iephthe made ought to be otherwise interpreted And as Alexander did hauing promised he woulde slaye the first that should come out of the town killed an asse in lieu of him that led her as by equitie the rigour of a lawe is often times moderated And auncient men haue saide that Necessitie is the mother of dispensation It is likewise excusable if any preiudice or interest happen not thorough the not accomplishing of a promise CHAP. XI Effects of the truth with exhortation not to change the statutes or lawes and not to daunce vpon holydayes praise of French men a solution of that for which they are blamed IF the light of the truth take frō vs the vaile which blemisheth our iudgement wee shall modestly behaue our selues without any colour or disguising in our wordes habites or anie other our actions We shal knowe how we ought to render vnto God al reuerence obedience trust prayers actions of thankesgiuing and praise with peace in our spirits and how we ought to honour loue serue and succour all kind of persons We shal be readie to obey our King his lawes and Magistrates and wisely to commaund ouer subiectes wee shall haue sufficient of little magnanimitie easie accesse humanitie a nature not dissembling nor fained constancie in our counsels and enterprises with a resolution alwayes to do that which our duetie commaundeth we shall not be dissolute in pleasures nor insolent in prosperitie nor too much carried away with our passions wee shal contemne death and the dangers thereof in respect of a better life we shal lose no hart in aduersitie we shall rightfully followe what either is to be chosen or left treading vpon the thornes of this life without pricking vs and vpon Scorpions without feeling their venome as it is written in Ezekiel And would to God that al French men might so know the beautie of this trueth that they might become amorous thereof altogither cast off their lying vnconstancie to the end they might no more be cast in the teeth with not performing their promises that the citie of Paris might of euerie one be called the citie of truth as the Prophet Zecariah called the citie of Ierusalem and according to his vision God placed a woman in the middest of the Ephah named Iniquitie vpon the mouth whereof he cast a weight of lead because she should not escape Or as Philip king of Macedon assembled togither the most wicked persons and furthest from correction of al his subiects and put them into a town which he builded of purpose and named it Poneropolis that is the citie of wicked persons So that there mought be sent inclosed in some one place in France al such as do delight in inconstancie lightnes falshod against promise and trueth seditions lyings pilling extortion knauerie cousinage pernitious inuentions murthers reproches and periuries to the ende that the rest might liue in greater honor peace reputation credit Nowe standing not at all vpon the praise which proceedeth from the beginning auncestors of Frenchmen not being pertinent hereunto may easily be seen in the hystoriographers I wil thus much say for Frenchmē that if we consider their antiquitie pietie valour manhod courage humanitie mercie gentlenes dexteritie quicknesse of spirit and al other their vertues and perfections they giue place to no nation vnder the Sunne whatsoeuer but rather excelleth it as a Frenche man said to the Embassadours of Rome in Titus Liuius And there be diuers graue writers
and of good credit which attribute vnto them a gentle heart fauourable courteous religious vpright vertuous louing one eche other and keeping their faith more constantly then any other people and they haue beene called the inuincible and most noble And if they haue any imperfections at al as no man is without yet are they couered with an infinite number of vertues for as much as reason causeth them to tame and subdue this liuelinesse promptnes and heate which they haue naturally And histories are full of the prowesse of our auncestours who with their victorious hande haue runne ouer wel-neare the whole worlde setting downe orders and lawes to all prouinces there plantinge the memorie of their name and markes of their Empire Italie which speaketh of enuie hath beene well coursed and tamed and sundrie other countries as well in Europe as Asia haue hence beene peopled and receiued their gouernours And an infinite number of Emperours Princes and prouinces haue had recourse vnto them for their owne assurance and haue lefte behinde them moste notable monumentes of their gouernement and iustice to the profite of manie prouinces This woulde gladsomly encourage mee particularly to declare and make recytall of the most famous in all disciplines and knowledge of tongues sciences of a great number of Martyrs which haue suffered for the testimonie of the faith of excellent Emperours Captains and souldiars that wee might well compare to the moste valiant that euer was during the verie flower of the Romanes and Greekes I will not forget what Iulius Caesar in the sixth of his Comentaries and Tacitus hath written that the French men haue farre surpassed the Almaines in prowesse valor and courtesie and haue euer had the first starte of them Salust in the ende of the warre of Iugurth writeth that the auncient Romanes and such as haue beene since haue euer had this opinion that by their owne valour they easily attained to the ende of all other nations but that with the Frenche men they stroue for their owne safetie and not for honour And it is not to be red in al histories of any people that hath attained to their valour and dexteritie nor whose conquestes were more wonderfull expeditions more remarqueable and successe of their battailes more happie and pollicie or lawes better ordayned or pietie bountie and religion better nor their vnitie greater And there is no nation whose brightnesse is not darkened and obscured thorough the high shyning of the glorie of the French men But to satisfie what the sayde Caesar hath written that Frenchemen are soudeine headie desirous of nouelties and deliberatinge vppon vncertaine purposes and coyners of affaires of importance whereupon they must needes quickely repent themselues Other historiographers strangers condemne them of lightnesse And the Emperour Charles the fifth saide to the Kinges Ambassador the which before that hee had proposed to the Consistorie of Rome that he was nowise able to assure himselfe of the French because they began manie things but brought nothing to ende and did no otherwise by their wordes then by their garmentes which they disguised into so manie fashions as one day they were of one minde and tomorrow of another And that a bodie could not beleeue ought except he sawe it done and that if they did anie good at all it was by bountie for the great desire they had to drawe others to their owne aduantage And that they had euer their foote and their wit in the aire their purposes more changeable then the winde And further discharging his choler at that time as the Embassadour him selfe tolde me he greatly blamed the diuersitie and changing of Edicts and ordinances which wee handle so yll and publish so lightly that anon after wee are constrained to change them being a cause that they were so little made account of And then in his passion hee repeated certaine places wherein he thought some words wanted which speach of his notwithstanding he afterwardes excused And in trueth Plato did not amisse compare how manie more tauernes so manie more drinkers The number of Phisitions the encrease of diseases The more accompt the iustice is made of the more sutes So the more lawes the more corruption as daily experience doth teach vs profiting vs no more then great varietie of Medicines doth to a verie weake stomach And in the time of the Emperours Caligula Claudus were manie lawes made and yet tyrannie and corruption tooke neuer more place If youth were well taught in Princes courtes vniuersities scholes but constancie grauitie the trueth they should be a great deale better receiued and strangers woulde more assure themselues of our promises and then mought we wel say of France as S. Ierom attributed vnto it that it were a countrie refyned and purged of monsters I will not here sylently passe ouer to this purpose that counsel which the Princes of Persia Media gaue to King Darius as the Prophet Daniel witnesseth that he should be founde true and neuer change a lawe which was once made according to the custome of the Medes and Persians which altereth not It is also written in the booke of Hester that the writings written in the K. name and sealed with the Kings ring may no man reuoke Diodorus and Demosthenes tel of certaine people that no man mought so much as speak of the change of a lawe except he wore a halter with which he was hanged if his opinion tooke not place So greatly in auncient time did they detest all changes and nouelties The citizens of Marseilles were much renowned by Cicero and Titus Liuius for that they remained constant in their lawes customes and fashions without changing ought yea and as a great treasor they kept their olde sworde of iustice in the smallest matters to shewe howe much they honoured antiquitie And for the like constancie haue the Romanes receiued great glorie And Paulus Aemilius writeth that the Frenche men euer tooke great heede that nought in their lawes and customes shoulde be changed And greatly was Lycurgus praised for that after he had brought the Lacedemonians to receiue his lawes he made them all sweare that they shoulde alter no one iotte of them during his absence and after that neuer retourned into his countrie againe which caused it to fare much the better with them For as Plato hath written in the seuenth of his lawes and Xenophon likewise Change in all matters except they be mischieuous is most daungerous beit in the dyet of the bodie or in manners And according to the olde prouerbe A man shoulde not awake a sleeping Dogge And euerie knowen euill to which a man is vsed is tollerable as Titus Liuius writeth And Aristotle in his Politickes sheweth it is much better to beare with some imperfections faultes in lawes Magistrates if they be not too notorious then in thinking to change them to ruyne a whole estate which
daunger hauing taken away all those whome either we ought to reuerence or mought iustly feare A Lacedemonian captain answered to the complaint of a Athenian If the Athenians tooke good heede to what they did they should neuer be troubled nor neede to care what the Spartiates reported of them Contrariwise friendes I meane without flatterie or disguising declare freely what they thinke amisse and il beseeming Which mooued Euripides to exhort men to get such friendes as would not spare them As Diogenes saide that other dogges vsed to bite their enemies but he his friendes for their owne good And such an amitie which is a beneuolence a conformitie of wils and pleasures and a desire of the good of an other ioyned with vertue is as som haue said a beast of the company but not of the troupe because there be very few true friends And Menander sayde not without cause that he was happye that could meet but with the shadow of his friend who is called by Ecclesiasticus a tresure and the medicine of life A man must not shake euery man by the hand as Pithagoras sayd Plato wisely discoursed how the greatest of all euilles doth spring vp with vs and that we desire not to be deliuered of it to wit that euery man loueth him selfe delighteth in his owne opinions because loue is blinde and one easely deceaueth him selfe in what he loueth being preuented and abused thorough fansies before conceaued Therefore he sayde it was very requisite to shunne this foolish loue which taketh from vs our iudgement And the similitude which Demosthenes made is very true that as the payne in the eyes hindreth one from seeinge what lieth before his feete so the first conceates and fansies obfu scate the vnderstanding Wherefore to the ende we may see the naked truth we must be voyde of all passions louing to heare of our faultes and to bee corrected which the wise man esteemeth as a chayne of gold about ones necke and ought rather to desire it might proceede from our friendes then from our enemies because wee must eschew vice led therevnto thorough vertue and shame and not by the contrarie way or by feare And it is a great deale better to abstaine from doing ill following the counsel of our frends then to repent our selues for hauing done ill when we see our selues accused and blamed by our enemies and such warninges as goe before disorders are a great deale more fit and render better fruite then such as follow after CHAP. 17. That it is needfull to read histories there to see the truth which one is afraid to speake with aduise vpon the reading of all bookes and of the conquestes of French men of the meanes to keepe them and to assure a victorie of the dutie of a captaine and of that which is to be considered in examples and alterations DEmetrius gaue counsell to Kinge Ptolome that hee shoulde diligently reade such bookes as intreated of the gouernmentes of kingdomes and segnuries to the end he might be instructed in those thinges which men dare not so freelie deliuer them selues to princes for the penne is of a more free condition then the tongue We reade likewise how the Catoes Aemiles Scipios Caesars and sundry other Emperours haue beene so studious in readinge of them that they haue copied out with their owne hande whole histories and euen them selues composed suche as were in their owne time And haue bene more curious to haue of them in their handes then their swoordes by their sides to the ende to ioyne the written discipline of war with the practise of the wars For this cause Alphonsus sayd of Qu. Cursius that he was soner healed by his history then his Phisitions and that he tooke counsell of the dead Which Ferdinand king of Spaine likewise said by Titus Liuius And the reading of Xenophon moued Scipio to vndertake those prowesses which he performed And the great Selim hauing caused Iulius Caesars commentaries to be translated into his owne tong and heard them by imitating of him he knew the greatest parte of Asia and Africa And the sayd Iulius endeuoured altogeather to imitate Alexander who likewise set Achilles before him selfe as an example And the Emperour Charles the fift had in hand the historie of Philip of Commines Laurence of Medices surnamed the father of learning recouered his health in reading the historye of Conradus the Emperour who resolued to make Guelphe the Duke of Bauire to dye and to ruine both the place and the inhabitantes of the citie which hee had longe time besieged in the ende ouercome with the intercessions of the weomen of the citie suffered them to depart their liues and baggage saued with all that they could carrye vpon their owne sholders but leauing all their goods they carried their Duke their husbandes fathers children and friendes as many as they were able of which the said Conrade conceaued such contentment that hee gaue pardon both vnto his enemie and all the rest And if the Fabians and Scipioes as Polibus and Salustus haue witnessed haue beene greatly enflamed to vertue when they haue beheld the statuas and monumentes of their auncestours and by the remembraunce of the high feates of armes which they moste prosperously haue atchieued this flame encreased in the heartes of generous personnes and was not quenched vntill such time as their vertue had equalled their glorye and high renowne and if Themistocles sayde that the victories and trophees of the Miltiades kept him that he could not sleepe how much more ought it to pricke vs forwarde when we reade in histories of the prowesses and magnanimous feates that haue beene consecrated to immortalitie and more liuely representing such manners counsels occasions and meanes as haue beene helde in enterprises and executions of braue attemptes togeather with the euentes the better to resolue in all affayres and to iudge what we ought to follow or flye in like occurrence of humaine accidentes And there maye Princes learne without hasarde expense or daunger how deeply they are charged and the better impresse within their memorye the preceptes eyther of politicke lawes or of the art of warre then they shoulde doe in Philosophers bookes seeing what praises are gyuen to the well doers and what blame and punishment to the wicked as in the middle of a Theatre And they are awakened to take the way of vertue as out of a trompet of honour and the seedes thereof are taken out of the valour and gentlenesse of oure auncestours And albeit there be great difference betweene the actions of our auncestours and ours yet we ought to follow and practise according to the reason by which they haue guyded their inuentions carrying the like spirite iudgement and hardinesse that they did And since that as Seneca hath written in the firste booke of his Epistles if one haue a minde to doe ill and espieth one present by him that
of speech that will not holde his peace for feare of any when it should be time to speake and you shall finde in him such a courage and vertue as Diogenes the Cinike had that is to say a Dogge louer of mankind and this dogge shal be capable of reason that for your sake will barke against any other and against you to if you doe ought woorthy of blame euer for all that vsing prudence and discretion and hauing regarde to the time and season when he ought to performe his duetie Then Titus prayde him he would with speede bestowe that dogge vppon him that was so compagnable and loyall to whom he would giue leaue not only to barke when he should doe ought worthie of reprehension but also to bite him if he sawe him doe any thing vnworthy his aucthoritie He likewise neuer vsed such violence crueltie or tyrannie as did his brother Domitian For in trueth when the people of Rome and other nations yeelded the soueraigne power and right which they had vnto Monarches they neuer ment to put their liberty into their hands that would rather vse violence and passion then reason and equitie but to yeelde themselues to the tuition of such a one as would gouerne according to lawes reason and iustice And it is not possible that this first ordinance could be made without the consent of the subiectes for otherwise it could not be grounded vpon a lawfull Empire or kingdome but vpon an vnlawfull and tyrannicall vsurpation and it is necessarie that such a consent should retaine the nature of a contract in good fayth and a bonde counterchangable As wee see it in like sorte practised at this day in the greatest part of kingdomes and Empires that are in Christendom that it is the only foundation which mainteyneth them as Plutarke writeth the posts pillars which vpholde an estate Neither are Princes able without necessitie to dispence with the othe they take at their coronation and with the obligation which they owe to God and their subiects And according as Aristotle Herodotus Tacitus Demosthenes and Cicero haue written the first souerainitie proceeded from the good will and well liking of such as for their commoditie quiet and suertie submitted themselues to such as excelled in heroical prowes the better to be able to maintayne their ciuill societie thorough lawes And that he in whom was not founde the cause of this originall and image of safetie iustice clemencie and diuine bountie was a person vnworthie of such honour causing an infection to the body of the whole publicke weale And most notable is the saying of king Cyrus that it appertayned to none to cōmand but such as excelled their subiects in bountie goods of the minde The great King of Sparta Agesilaus aunswered those that so highly commended the magnificence greatnesse of the K. of Persia VVherefore is he greater then I except he be more iust then I For a king ought to cause him selfe to be loued and admired of his subiectes thorough the vertuous examples of his good life And Plutarke in the life of Pirrhus writeth that the Kinges tooke an oth that they should gouerne according to their lawes and that in so doing the people would obey thē Now we must needes confesse that they are giuen of God who as Daniel witnesseth establisheth and putteth downe Kings And Ieremiah writeth that he will bestowe kingdomes on whom it him best liketh And God sayth in the Prouerbes Through me kings raygne and Princes iudge the earth and if they do not he threatneth them in Iob that he will loose their celer and guirde their loynes with a girdle And the Queene of Saba sayde to Salomon that God had set him in his throne as Kinge insteede of the Lorde God to execute iudgement and iustice The which more plainely Salomon speaketh in his booke of wisedome Lorde thou hast choosen me to rule ouer thy people and to iudge thy sonnes daughters And the people is called the heritage of the Lorde and the King the gouernour of this heritage the guide light of Gods people And Aristotle in the fift booke of his Politiques sheweth that kinges often times tooke certaine offycers to conteine them in their duetie as did the Ephores about the kinges of Sparta The which Caesar declareth was greatly obserued among the Gaulois yeelding an example of Ambiorix and Vercingentorix The oth the greatest part that the Christian kings toke was I will minister lawe iustice protection aright to euery one And Zonarus wrote after Xenephon that the kings of Persia shewed them selues more subiect to lawes thē Lords had more feare shame to breake the lawes then the people had to be punished what they had offended And God instructing Ioshua what he shuld do aboue all things cōmanded him that the booke of the lawe should not depart out of his mouth but that he shuld meditate therin day night that he might obserue and doe according to all that is written therein For then should hee make his way prosperous and haue good successe Then it followeth in the text that the people promised to obey him in all As Xenophon writing of the commonwealth of the Lacedemonians sayth that monthly the kings did sweare to guide thēselues according to the lawes and the Ephores toke oth in the peoples behalfe that vpon that cōdition they would maintaine thē And S. Paul saith that euery power is of God whose seruants they are for the benefit of their subiects consequently they are bound to follow his wil rule giuē by Moses And the meanes which are of succession or election depend of the diuine prouidence which causeth thē to prosper Dauid hūbled himselfe to what was his dutie office making alliance with the deputies of the people and describeth the dutie of a good king in the 72.82 101. Psalmes And whilest he Salomon Ioas Ezechias other liued wel they continually prospered but falling from that fell into many miseries Pericles was cōmended for that as often as he put on his gowne he saide vnto himselfe remember that thou dost cōmand ouer a free nation ouer Athenians and ouer Greekes The which christian Princes haue more occasion to speak and obserue Agapet sayd of Iustinian that he maystred his pleasures being adorned with the crowne of temperaunce and clad with the purple of iustice And Ammian writeth that a Kingdome or Dukedome is nought else then the care of an others safetie and that where the lawe doth not gouerne there ruyne is at hande As Antiochus sayde to his sonne Demetrius that their kingdome was a noble slauerie And Plutarke in the life of Nicias reciteth the sayinge of Agamemnon in Euripides VVe liue to outwarde shew in greatnesse state and might Yet in effect we are you knowe but peoples seruants right Titus Liuius writeth that the Carthaginians punished their rulers
when they followed any euill counsell albeit it succeeded wel the which was long time obserued in the kingdome of Persia For as Brutus wrote vnto Cicero a man once placed in great dignitie hath more to do to mainetaine the grace and reputation which he hath alreadie gotten then he which doth but beginne to get Euen as King Philip aunswered Arpalus who greatly did importunate him to reuerse a suite that a kinsman of his had in the law it were better that thy Cosen in the estate which he is in be defamed through his owne outragiousnesse then that I who am a King commaunding ouer so great a countrey should giue cause to my subiects to speake euill of me for hauing done so great iniustice eyther in fauour of him or thee As also the great Kinge Artaxerxes gaue a great summe of money to a gentleman of his chamber in steede of a suyte he besought at his handes which well hee mought not graunt saying that for giuing that he should not be the lesse rich but if he had yeelded to what he vniustly craued hee should haue beene lesse esteemed and not haue performed the dutie of a good King which aboue all thinges ought to haue in price iustice and equitie For as Pliny declared vnto Traian his Master The life of a Prince is a censure that is to saye the rule the square the frame and forme of an honeste life according to which their subiectes frame the manner of their life and order their families and rather from the life of Princes doe subiectes take their paterne and examples then from their lawes This was it which moued Isocrates to write vnto Nicocles it serueth to proue that thou hast wel gouerned if thou see thy subiectes become more modest and riche vnder thy Empire For the subiectes followe the example of their Princes as certaine flowers turne according to the Sunne And Theodoric the K. of the Goths wrote vnto the Senate of Rome that the course of nature would fayle before the people would bee other then their Prince And Claudian was of opinion that the edictes and lawes were not so well able to amende and temper the maners and hearts of the people as did the good life of their gouerners And in Hosea it is written that there shalbe like people like Priest Xenophon in the eight of his Pedion writeth that subiectes are as it were enforced to doe well when they see their Princes temperate not giuen to vniustice and for the most parte fashion themselues according to their moulde For this cause great personages haue the more neede to haue good counsellours about them whose vnderstanding mouthes eyes and eares maye serue them to make them better able to acquite themselues of their charge as Aristotle saith And it were to be wished that they were not corrupt but wel remember what Plinie the yonger wrote vnto Traian that a Prince ought onely to wil that which he may Quintus Cursius writeth that a Prince rather ought to imploy his time and to spende in getting and maintaining a wise counseler about him then in conquests Anthonie the Emperour onely amended his manners by the report of those as he had sent about the citie to vnderstande what was saide of him And the Emperour Theodosius the second copyed out with his owne hande al the new testament and red euery day one Chapter and made his prayers and soung Psalmes togither with his wife and sisters And many haue commended the custome of diuers of our Kinges and especially saint Lewes who when they rose out of their bed kneeled downe thanking God that he had preserued them that night beseeching him to pardon them their sinnes for his mercies sake and to continue them in his holie custodie and fauour to the ende that without offending of him they might employ all the daye to his honour and acquite themselues of the charge which he had bestowed on them And they caused a Chapter of the Bible or some other good booke to be red while they apparelled them selues the better to teache them to gouerne For to rule is as much to saye as to amende what is amisse or awrie And in Deutronomie it is commaunded the King to haue the booke of the lawe and to read therin al the dayes of his life as aboue wee haue noted was enioyned to Iosua And it is written in Iob that wee shoulde enquire of the former age and search of our fathers because of our ignorance And in the Prouerbes Where no Councell is the people fall but where manye Councellors are there is health And that health commeth from manie Councellors but good councel proceedeth from God And wee see by sundrie histories that such Emperours as haue contemned the Senate haue had a verie euil ende And that some of our Kinges though they were but of meane capacitie yet so guyded themselues thorough Counsell that they atchieued great matters And Thucidides called them bondmen slaues and of verie base mindes that were led by lewde Councell Edward King of Englande saide of King Charles the fifth surnamed the wise that hee feared more the learning and remembrances of that wise King then he did the puissant armies of his predecessour And K. Lewys the eleuenth sayde it was as much as to fish with a hook of golde to sende an armie beyonde the mountaines where the losse is assuredly greater then can be the profit Agamemnon said in Homer that hee had rather choose two like vnto his old counsellor Nestor then so manye Achilles or Aiax Darius King of the Persians and Medes made great account of Daniel Pericles had about him Anaxagoras Cato Anthenodorus Scipio hauing in charge and beeing appointed to goe looke and sounde out what iustice raigned through the worlde presently sent to fetch Panetius and oftentimes serued his turne through the councel of Lelius Iulius Caesar tooke aduise of Aristo Augustus of Mecenas Pompeye of Cratippus Nero al the fiue first yeres of his Empire wisely conducted him selfe through the counsell of Seneca Marcus Antonius had Apollodorus Demetrius Crates of whome he was wont to say that hee conned small thankes to his businesse and affaires which so much hindered him from sooner hauinge attained to knowledge Pyrrhus sayde likewise of Cineas his councellor that hee more esteemed his eloquence then the valour of all his Captaines Alexander the great had in high estimation Anaxarques and Aristotle to whome he confessed that hee owed no lesse vnto them then to his owne father hauing of the one receiued life but of the other to be able to liue well and that the best munition weapons and maintainance of warre that he had were the discourses hee had learned of Philosophie and the preceptes touching the assurance of fearing nought and the diligence in differring nothing that was to be done Cyrus vsed the counsell of Xenophon Craesus King of Lydia
render them back againe And so by the ordinances of the kings Charles 6 9. Philip 6. Iohn 2. Charles 5.6 8. such alienations were reuoked And at an assembly of the three estates holdē at Tours the said Charles the 8 being himself present sundry alienations made by Lewys the 11. were repealed And sundry places that he had bestowed vpon Tanored du Chastel his chiefe mignion were taken away frō him The like was renewed at the last parliament holden at Orleans Hence came the order decree concluded in the treasurie chamber Too large excessiue gifts must be caled back I wil not here omit how sundry authors haue written of the kings of Persia that euery one had one of his chamber ordained of purpose to come euery day verie early into his chamber say vnto him Arise Mileach prouide for the affaires which the great god hath committed to thy charge The which we read was in like sort vsed by Philip k. of Macedon And sundry kings haue bin called some Philadelphes that is to say louers of their brethren others Euergetes that is to say Benefactors Soter swyor Eupater good father Theophiles louers of God others fauorable shephards fathers of the people by sundry other names mētioned in the former Chapter proper to good Princes And yet we see in sundry ancient stāps of Augustus Nerua Traian Lewys the 12. others how great account they made of the names of protectors fathers of the people Quintus Cursius recyteth how Alexander bosted vanted of himself that in all his actions he estemed himself in the theater of the whole world The which Cicero in like sort saith ought to take place in al Magistrates to the end they may guide themselues the more wisely Spartianus Suetonus Lampridius write how Tiberius Claudus Alexander seuerus Adrian the Emperors oftē went to the Senate called to their councell not their fauorits but men learned graue wel experienced and of a good conscience and that there ensued lesse danger if the counsellors were vertuous and the Prince wicked than if the Prince were good and they of his councell nought Wee may neuerthelesse iustly complaine at this present as Carneades sayed of his time howe the children of Kinges and great Lordes learne nothing aright but to ryde well and manage their horses which knowe not howe to flatter or spare the great more then the simple In Aegypt they pictured their God osyris with an eye vppon a Scepter vnderstanding by the eye the prouidence and knowledge of the trueth and by the Scepter authoritie and power And manie haue thought the custome that is obserued in France to make our Kings kisse the booke of the holie Euangelistes is to admonish them to honour and followe the trueth Men of olde time painted Pallas armed hauing a cocke vppon her helmet as gouerning as well ouer learning as warre For manie haue the nobilitie not so accomplished as their calling required except they intermingled learning with armes knowledge wisedome and skill in hystories and the Mathematiques mixt with valour and actiuitie The Emperour Charles the fifth oftentimes was much greeued that hee neuer learned Latine and confessed hee had great hinderances thereby as also did Hannibal And they which haue not beene learned haue runne into the common errour and haue suffered themselues to bee blindfolded to the ende they mought not further search into that which shoulde giue vnto them great iudgement and ornament And if I were not afrayde I shoulde be too tedious I coulde reckon most notable verie preiudiciall faultes which sundrie great Captaines gouernours and Kinges haue committed thorough a fonde opinion they conceiued of their owne sufficiencie and for lacke of demaunding counsell of them that were about them more aduised and experienced I will content my selfe with one example recited by some hystoriographers of the late lorde of Lautrec viceroy for the King in the kingdome of Naples who was so selfe willed in his opinions that hee had rather misse his enterprise then bee helped by the counsell of other Captaines To whome the losse of the sayde kingdome and of all Italie was attributed Pope Alexander the sixth was greatlye blamed by Guichardin for the same fault who writeth that hee neuer consulted but commaunded Xerxes King of Persia hauing determined to inuade Greece sayde vnto his counsell I haue assembled you togither to the ende it may not be thought that I haue vndertaken this enterprise on my owne braine but I will that without either further deliberating or diswading you obey Hee went awaye likewise faster then he entred in and receiued there a verie great dishonor and irrecouerable losse There be but too manie examples of our time whosoeuer would cote them that are able to teache great personages to distrust of their owne senses wittes aduise sufficiencie and to vndertake nothing without good deliberation least they repent themselues long after as it often happeneth And in Titus Liuius he which only foloweth his owne opinion is rather iudged presumptuous then wise for a man is not able continually of himselfe to consider and knowe al things or among many contrarie reasons to discerne the best In which wisedome is required that a man be not deceaued through an vnfaithful counsellor who tendeth nought els then his owne particular interest And the counsel of the wise carrieth greater commoditie then of the imprudent For this cause Princes ought to take in good part when they shalbee aduised by their Chancelers and soueraigne Courts according to their dueties for the preseruation of their honor and benefite of their affaires and not to thinke that they pretende to make doubt of their power but to esteem their good will when they see they iudge but according to iustice equitie and benefite of the common wealth opposing themselues to the importunities false suggestions and disguisings of the courtiars In which the saide Princes do repose themselues and relye vppon the conscience fidelitie allegeance and othe of their officers according as the lawyers and Emperours haue left behinde them written in the ciuil lawe and our Kings in their ordinances especially Philip le Bel Charles 7. and Lewys the twelfth and by the lawe inuiolably kept in Aegypt as Plutarque sayeth and I els where haue recyted And if Princes take in better part the counsel of their Phisition to shunne and hate intemperance and meates offensiue to the stomache then of a flatterer who shorteneth their dayes so ought they to esteeme of their officers which haue the lawes in estimation and iust gouernement which leadeth to a happie end without listening vnto such as desire an vnbrydeled power which turneth vpside downe all lawes pollicie iustice order and states For this cause our Kings haue likewise ordained that no regarde shoulde bee had to their letters if they were not sealed with the great seale
rebuked vice Sundry Emperours haue done the like We haue sundry examples in the scriptures of Baasha for killing the Prophet Iehu because he tolde him the truth Likewise of Achab Asa Ioas and Ozias 1. King 22.2 Paral. 18.16.24 26. of Sedichias of Ioachim and of the princes of Iuda Ierem. 23.32 38. But as the wise man saith in the Prouerbes in the end he shall be conned more thanke which rebuketh then he that deceaueth by flattery Notwithstanding euery man according as his vocation the times the persons and places will permit him ought to declare the truth to such as he seeth neede with an intention to profit instruct thē without any choler disdain immodesty or other passiō mingling with the bitternes of reprehension the sweetnes of some praises A man ought likewise to consider that the egernes and sharpnes of biting wordes especially spoken to one that is in aduersity profiteth nothing being a kinde of incontinencie of a tong mingled with malignitye and a will to iniury carrying a very declaration of enmitye which is the cause that they which vse it hurt them selues As did Antiphon about Dyonisius the tyraunt where a dispute beeing helde betweene them what brasse was best he aunswered that whereof the Athenians made the statuas of Armodius and Aristogiton for this soure aunswer caused him to be put to death And as Plutarque sayde in the life of Phocion euen as the honye which is sweete of his owne nature engendreth greefe and payne beeing applyed to partes infected so doe true admonitions the more prouoke such as are in misery if they bee not well sweetned and mingled with pitye and consolation Clytus an auncient Captaine of Alexanders maye serue for an example who was slayne for vsinge too arrogant an admonition In lyke sort one ought not at the boarde to vse such reprehensions as make men knitte the browes forgetting the occasion and place of pleasure and there is required a dexteritie as it is written of Socrates who beeinge desired at a feaste to speake and discourse of his arte it is not now time sayde he to discourse of what I knowe and in that for which the tyme now serueth I am no whit skilfull in And when Damaratus was arryued in Macedonia during the time that king Philip was fallen out with his Wyfe and Sonne the kinge hauinge saluted and embraced him demaunded of him if the Greekes agreed well one with an other Demaratus who was verye familiar with him aunsweared it becommeth you very well O kinge to enquire of the concorde of the Athenians and Peloponesians in the meane time suffer your owne house to be so full of discord and diuision A captiue which the sayde Philip caused to be solde to him that woulde giue moste bad him in his eare to let downe the fore part of his robe because hee shewed what was not comelye to bee discouered the whiche was the cause of his deliuerie An other beeing taken for a spie sayde vnto him that he came to espie his follye in that without necessity he put both his realme and life in hasard Some haue compared reprehensions to the remedies of the splene which ought to be souer and sharpe so truth told in fit oportunitie is profitable and is of such force as Eschines saide that shee surpassed all the cogitations of man And Menander wrote that shee commeth into light although shee be not sought for and defendeth her selfe easely against all the deceates craftinesse and wilines of men And in the disputation that was held before Darius truth was found the greatest and most strong for euer S. Augustin in the citie of God lib. 2. c. 19 calleth her an eternall victorye and in the question 108 ex vtr he sayth that It is better to be ouercome of the truth then to be willing to surmount her in vaine To which purpose may very well serue the summarie description of the table which Apelles painted after he was eschaped out of a false accusation and an extreame daunger He had pictured a Iudge with the eares of an Asse hauing on the one side two Ladies Ignoraunce and Suspition before him stood false accusation with a countenaunce full of rage and furie holding in the left hande a burning torche and with the right pulled a young man by the heare lifting vp his eyes and handes to heauen neare vnto whome was a man painted looking pale earthly and a squint which was enuie two damsels followed false Accusation named Treason and Deceat behind whome stoode a Ladye all wailing and mourning which was Repentaunce which fastened her eye sight vppon a verye fayre Lady intituled Truth declaring by this picture to all Princes and Iudges that they ought not too lightly to beleeue As Alexander closing one of his eares to an accuser sayde he kept the other for him which was accused And it was commaunded Moyses straightlye to forbid the children of Israell lying false accusation and malitious detraction and cause them to keepe iustice equalitie and truth I will not heare omit the aduertisement giuen by wise Plato commended so much by Plutarque that when one founde anye committing anye fault he ought to discende into him selfe and say priuatelye vnto him selfe Am not I such a one To the ende wee may auoyde the like errours When in like sort we woulde iustifie our selues for anye reprehension we mought praye him that did it to reserue that freedome of speach againste he committed a fault him selfe And it was not sayde amisse of them of olde time that the beginning to liue well and repulse ignoraunce was to be reprehended mocked and blamed Sainct Basyl for this cause named reprehension the healing of the soule and in the Prouerbes 25. it is called an ornament of fine gold And in the 29. it is written a man that hardeneth his neck when he is rebuked shall suddainly be destroyed can not be cured And Dauid Psal 41. sayd that it was like the precious baulme We read euen of the Emperours Philip Theodosius and Valentinian that they did great penitence after they were admonished as also did Dauid and other kinges being reprehended by the Prophetes And Sainct Augustine in his booke of recantations acknowledged how he had erred But as Plato sayd that Speusippus corrected other by the example of his owne life so men ought to esteeme those reprehensions that are made without a word speaking thorough a single life irreprehensible and vertuous CHAP. 24. That anger hindereth the truth of the euilles which it bringes with it and of the meanes to resist it PHisitions esteeme the sicknesse very daungerous when the face is disfigured The which we maye saye of choler which altereth the countenaunce speach and all the sences of man It hath beene termed a fury darkning iudgement And as in the darke a man is not able to discerne his kinsman or friende from his enemye so amidst the
goods melt away as snowe This is it which Salomon meaneth in the ende of his first chapter of Prouerbs that the prosperitie of fooles destroyeth them I will not here forget what S. Chrisostome writeth of vppon the fift of the first to the Corinthians that a little gayne fraudulently gotten is often times the occasion of the losse of great wealth though well come by And in vaine do men locke their chestes with cheynes springes padlockes when they haue enclosed therein deceat a most violent theife which desperseth what euer it findeth within the coffer We read in histories and in Daniel the miserable ende of manye and among other of Nabuchodonosor and of Alexander the great who left nothing to their heyres but their wickednes We read likewise in the Prouerbes that the riches of the wicked auaile not in the day of wrath and that the breade of deceat is sweet to a man but afterwarde his mouth shal be filled with grauell And that the roberie of the wicked shal destroy them For iustice beeinge remoued euery state falleth to ruine and an inheritaunce hastely purchased shall not be blessed And God sayth by Ieremie that as the Partrich gathereth the young which she hath not brought foorth so he that getteth riches and not by right shal leaue them in the middest of his dayes and at his ende shalbe a foole And he pronounceth a cursse on his head that buildeth his house by vnrighteousnesse And in Tobie and some of the Psalmes a little is more worth with right then much heaped vp in iniquitye And it hath not without cause beene saide in auncient time that whatsoeuer vice buildeth it destroyeth Which beeing well considered it ought to stirre vp all maner of persons who wil not degenerate from the auncient nobilitie which hath taken foot and sure foundation vpon vertue to be true and kepe their promises what soeuer should chaunce to happen and not to seeke ought but by honest meanes For if you will exempt iustice and truth out of a gouernment it is then no more then a very robbing as Sainct Augustin affirmeth And for as much as the inconstancy of Princes and almost of al other kind of men is sufficiently apparant and sundry inconueniences haue ensewed where too much trust hath bin yeelded the wiser sort and best aduised haue stoode vppon their garde haue not been too light of beliefe and haue so prouided that men shall not easelie breake their faith with them or surprise them I thinke likewise that they haue heald a verye absurde opinion that commende crueltie in gouernours For he which delighteth in taxing can neuer be beloued or esteemed of I coulde answere them as king Alphonsus did that such men deserued to be gouerned by Lions Beares Dragons and such like beastes For as Salomon writeth the Kinges throne shal be established with mercie the which togeather with subiectes loue and iustice is the very chaine that holdeth togeather and maintaineth an estate and not force feare or great gardes as Dion declareth in Plutarque God beeing willing to make him knowne to Moyses calleth him selfe the Lord the Lord strong mercifull and gratious slow to anger and aboundaunt in goodnes and truth And the Grecians called the king of their Gods Melchins that is to say sweete as hony And the Athenians called him Memactis that is to say succourable And the holy scripture and sundrye Philosophers calleth him a Father a shepheard a refuge and protectour of his people For to murther and torment is the office of a Diuell of furie of a hangman not of a king or honest man And subiects ought otherwise to be accounted of then as slaues as Bartole in his treatise de regimine ciuitatis declareth it vpon the seuenth of Deutronomy where kinges are exhorted not to lift their harts vp aboue their brethren amonge which God had made choyce of them For the puissance of a father as Martian the Lawyer wrote l. s de paracid consisteth in pietie and mercy no whit at all in rigor It is written in the second of the kings how the cruell Senacherib after the angell had put to death 155000. of his men was himselfe slaine by his owne children And in the same booke he writeth of sundry kings and queenes abandoned of God pilled and murthered for their cruelty Like ende had Ptolome surnamed the lightning Ptolome Lamious that is to say the babler Cambises killed him selfe with his owne swoorde Xerxes was slaine by his vncle Seleucus Nicanor killed by Ptolome Kerapnos Antiochus Ierax surnamed the sacre because he liued vppon pillage was in like sort slaine as also was Seleucus surnamed the lightning because of his violence Antiochus the great pilling of the temple was slaine of his people as were Epiphanes and Eupator the histories are full of an infinite number of others which had like ende for their crueltye and couetousnes A man may see in an apology of Saint Ciprian against Demetrian the names of those which persecuted the church and how they haue beene punished holding it for a maxime that there was neuer no crueltye vsed against the Christian church that was not in shorte tyme after reuenged Aristotle exhorted Alexander to doe good to euery one and not to be cruell rather to be praised for his clemency then conquestes It is written of Theodosius that when he deliuered his swoord to his Constable he willed him to vse it only against malefactours and if he commaunded any thing cruell or vniust then hee should draw it againste him selfe As also the kinges of Aegipt would sweare their Iudges that they shoulde not obeye them in ought they demaunded of cruell vniust or against the lawes The like did Antiochus also write to the Cities vnder his obedience that they should obey and keepe such his commaundementes as oppressed none Antonius Pius held opinion of Scipio Africane that he rather chose to preserue one of his subiects then slay one thousand of his enemies Which I greatly wish all kinges would obserue Marecellinus termeth the vice of crueltye the boche of the soule proceedinge from the feeblenes and basenes of the hart And the sayd Antoninus sayd that nothing rendreth an Emperor more famous among al natiōs then clemency vpon this and graciousnes is the assurance of the publike weale founded as Valerius Publicola repeateth in Titus Liuius and Plutarque And Antigonus was wont to say that Clemency worketh more then violence One of the interpreters of the Bible councelled Ptolome to vse patience and longe sufferinge imitatinge the sweetnesse of God to the ende hee mought reigne well And Marrinus the Emperour wrote to the Senate what good is there in Nobilitye if a Princes hart be not replenished with bountye and sweetnesse toward his subiectes Plutarque mentioneth of the great captaine Pericles that when his friendes came to visite him in his sickenesse and had put him in minde
often times the ignorant and vnconstant do turne the scriptures to their owne ruyne as our Sauiour and S. Peter witnesse so is it very requisite that in the reading thereof men carry a sounde iudgement and certaine bookes to be forbidden to be reade of euery one and not to giue stronge meate vnto such as haue neede of milke and in this poynt is it very conuenient to followe the decree of the Councell of Trent in those places where it is receiued and the instruction of their Curate and Pastor Gregorie Nazianzene in his apologie maketh mention of the custome of the Hebrewes who neuer accustomed all ages to euery kinde of doctrine nor reuealed their secretes but to suche as were of a sounde iudgement The which S. Ierome marketh well in the beginning of Ezechiel and S. Ambrose vpon the 35. Psalme and S. Augustine li. de spir lit alleage for example the Cantickes which some for their owne pleasure haue very disorderly applyed I leaue to the iudgement of euery man whether we haue nowe lesse occasion then had the Prophetes to complaine of some pastors which they termed by the name of theeues wolues dumbe dogges seducers idoles couetous voluptuous hypocrits and by sundry other most detestable names The dreame or vision of S. Anthonie where hee imagined he sawe certaine swyne and moyles defiling the aultar is verified in this time Our dutie is to beseeche at Gods handes that it well please him to sende vs such as be good that they may search nought else then his glorie and nourish their flocke with good holsome food For from thence as Plinie doth witnesse commeth the good wooll that is to say good life S. Augustine commended the saying of Socrates that both God and man will be serued as he commaundeth The which he applyeth to the seruice of the trewe God who commaundeth that nothing be eyther added or diminished vnto his worde And sayth that for this cause the Romanes allowed the seruice of all gods hauing for that ende builded a Temple to all gods called Pantheon and yet would neuer receaue the trewe to wit the God of the Hebrewes Because if they had serued him otherwise then he commaunded they had not serued him at all but their owne fictions if they had done as he had ordeined then had they cleane reiected and set aside all other Gods For the principall seruice of God consisteth in obedience as Samuel sayde vnto Saul The Prophets called it a spirituall chastitie not to swarue therefrom nor to thinke that whatsoeuer wee finde good in our owne eyes pleaseth him And as Nahas the Ammonite woulde by no meanes receiue them of Iabes a citie in Iudea which he had beseaged to his mercie vntill he had put out their right eye And when the Philistins had subdued the children of Israell they disarmed them euen to their kniues So did that Apostata Emperour Iulian Dioclesian and other who studied in what they coulde to make the Christians continue in ignoraunce and blindnesse neuer enquiring of the will of GOD or order of the primatiue Churche and vnder a great payne made them to be disarmed of that worde which the scripture calleth the knife of the spirite Iosephus lib. 2. contra Apionem setteth downe the custome which the Iewes obserued euerie weeke in reading of the holie scripture so as eache man vnderstoode it and knewe it by heart The which Socrates lib. 5. cap. 22. sheweth was also obserued in Alexandria and it maye bee seene by that which is written of our Sauiour Luke 4. Actes 5. 1. Tim. 4 When in the time of Iosias 2. Kinges 21 the booke of the lawe after it had long lyne hydde was founde againe he made great estimation thereof and sayde vnto the Priestes Goe yee and enquire of the Lorde for me and for the people and for all Iudah concerning the wordes of this booke that is founde for great is the wrath of the Lorde that is kindled agaynst vs because our fathers haue not obeyed the wordes of this booke to doe according to all that which is written therein for vs. We must likewise imagine that such as haue taken vppon them to teach the way to that happinesse which all men couet to attayne vnto haue beene but counterfayte except they haue layde the foundation out of the holy and Canonicall scriptures and the lyes wherein their fathers liued ledde them into erroure according as Amos wrote We ought therefore often to praye vnto God with Dauid Salomon and Saint Paule that he will giue vs wisedome and vnderstandinge and open our eyes that we may followe that which may be most agreeable vnto him without deceiuing of our selues Saint Ierome in his Epistle to Laeta sayeth excellently well that reading ought to followe prayer and prayer reading A man might verye well impute the cause that so manie prouinces haue beene made subiecte vnto the tyrannie of the Turke so many disorders corruptions warres seditions maladies murthers and other calamities haue happened to the contempt of this worde according to which a man will not reforme his life nor his strange opinions nor supporte one an other knowing that this worde teacheth nought else then peace concord and amitie and that we may be wise as serpentes which to saue their heade laye open their bodie and with their tayle stop their eare against the enchanter So let vs spare nothing for the mayntenance of this doctrine so long a goe left vnto vs without dissolutenesse sectes or discentions for there is nothing so well established which discorde can not ransacke and as Saint Augustine sayth very well the knowledge of the trewe doctrine humilitie and patience entertayneth concorde And Quintius Capitolius in Titus Liuius sayth that partialitie poysoneth and infecteth common-wealthes making such as would gayne saye not to consider what is most expedient as we finde by experience in France and haue too many examples both at home and abroade The Emperour Maximilian the seconde had often in his mouth that it was a greenous sinne and errour to raygne ouer mens consciences as the lawes carryed it I can here affirme that if men did knowe the truth and the happinesse which followeth the knowledge of trewe religion the voluptuous man would there searche his pleasures the couetous his wealth the ambitious his glorye the onely meane which can fill their heart and satisfie their desire and it serueth vs for a guyde to leade vs vnto God whereas the false doeth cleane withholde vs from him CHAP. XXXI That those which deferre their amendment doe wrappe them selues in a daungerous lie WE haue alreadie shewed that if they which name themselues Christians would but follow their profession vice should not raigne so plentifully For who so would beleeue the promises of God and setle therein a full assurance and consider what a great blessing is prepared for such as feare him and what euerlasting punishment
learning he hath And Alexander saide that those discourses which hee had learned in Philosophie made him much more valiant aduised and assured as wel in warres as all other enterprises And not without cause Menander called ignorance a voluntarie misfortune and Seneca esteemed the vnwise man to be vnthankful of small assurance and angrie with his owne selfe One tolde Alphonsus that a King of Spaine saide that a Prince ought not to bee endued with learning then hee cryed out that it was the voyce of a beafe and not of a man And termed ignorant Kinges crowned Asses saying that by bookes men learned armes and shoulde thereby knowe more then their experience woulde teache them in a thousande yeares And the Emperour Sigismonde perswaded a Countie Palatine that was alreadie well stricken in yeares to learne Latin Petrarque rehearseth of one Robert King of Sicile that he was wont to saye hee had rather bee depriued of his Realme then of his learning And wee read in sundrie hystories that it hath beene inflicted to manie as a punishment that they shoulde not bee admitted to learning And it was not without cause saide of them in olde time that nothing was more pernitious then an ignorant man in aucthoritie as I coulde shewe by many examples and the deliberations of the ignorant can not bee but verie ambiguous slowe and without effecte Sundrie haue blamed Leonce the Emperour for that hee coulde neither write nor reade and Pope Paul the seconde for that hee hated such as were learned Pope Celestine the fifte deposed himselfe by reason of his ignorance And the Emperour Iulian to the ende hee mought molest the Christians forbad them the reading of all good bookes But the good Emperours and Kinges haue founded Colleges and Traian founde fiue thousande children at schoole thereby to driue awaye and banish the vice of ignorance And for the moste parte al Princes haue ayded themselues by learning or at the least made shewe of esteeming it Aristotle sayde that it were better to begge and be needie then vnlearned because the one hath neede of humanitie the other of money which may more easily bee recouered Hee sayde likewise as Plato and Demanes that there was as much difference betweene a learned man and an ignorant as betweene a liue and a dead a whole and a sicke a blinde and one of cleere sight or as betweene the Gods and men This made Menander to write that learning encreased and doubled the sight Yet men ought not to esteeme one that hath red much except he waxe the better thereby no more then as a bath which serueth to nothing except it bee cleansed And if wee bee accustomed in a Barbers chaire to beholde our selues in a glasse much more ought wee by a lesson sermon or lecture to examine our selues and see how our spirite is purged of sinne and howe much we thereby grow better And we must togither with a good nature ioyn the contemplation of learning the better to informe vs of our dutie afterwards to put in vse practise that good which we haue learned for as Plato wrote The end of Philosophie and of our studies is that by the searche which we haue made of naturall things wee may bee lead to the knowledge of God and vse that light which is bestowed vpon vs to conduct our life to pietie all good workes and vertue Euen Demosthenes wrote to a friend of his that he was glad hee followed Philosophie which detested all vnhonest gaine and deceite and whose finall scope was vertue and iustice The which with much more certaintie wee may auerre of the holy scripture wherein we ought to exercise our selues for feare of falling into that threatening which God pronounced by his Prophet because thou hast reiected knowledge therefore I wil cast thee off S. Augustin handling that place of S. Paul to the Romanes where he speaketh of the ignorance of the Iewes writeth that in them which would not vnderstand or knowe ignorance was a sinne but in them which were not able nor had the meanes how to knowe or vnderstand it was the paine of sinne So the not knowing of God or of our selues before wee were instructed by the worde of God was the payne of sinne vnto condemnation but after we haue hearde the word ignorance is of it selfe a most grieuous sinne For as S. Bernard writeth they which are ignorant and either for negligence or slothfulnes doe not learne or for shame enquire not out the trueth are voide of all excuse And if the Aegyptians counted it a moste intollerable calamitie to endure but for three dayes the darknesse which God sent vnto them by Moses how much more ought wee to be afraide when we remaine all our life long in the night of ignorance I could to this ende alledge sundrie examples of inconueniences that haue ensued through ignorance of the natural causes of the Eclipse of the Moone and Sunne of the impressions which are fashioned in the aire and of a superstitious feare of the Celestial signes and how by the ignorance of the Mathematikes of Cosmographie Chorographie and Geographie they haue not beene able to knowe their way nor to iudge of the heighth of a wall to be scalled nor of the passages riuers marishes and proper places to pitch a campe or retire themselues into and howe much sundrie historiographers haue failed herein but that I may not bee too tedious I wil referre the reader to the Greeke Latine and Frenche histories For this cause wee ought to enforce our selues to learne and to profit in the knowledge of the trueth that that in Ieremiah may not be reproched vnto vs You haue eyes see not and haue eares and heare not CHAP. XXXIII That one ought not rashly to borrowe money nor aunswere for another man for feare of lying IT is greatly to be presumed that the principal cause which moued them of olde time to councel a man not to be suretie for an other nor to borrowe money without verie vrgent necessitie or good pawne for the repaiment was for feare one should be founde a lyar which is a vice accompanied with impudencie and vniustice The Persians in like sort as Herodotus witnesseth blamed greatly two sinnes the one of owing the other of lying The which also moued Alexander the great after the victorie which he obtained against Darius to pay and aquite his souldiers debtes and Sophie the wife of Iustin to answere sundrie debts of the subiects of the Empire out of her owne coffers and Solon at Athens to establish an abolishing of al debtes which he termed by a word which signified a diminutiō of charge and sundrie other to doe the like in Lacedemon and Nehemiah to restore againe the burthens exactions And in Deuteronomie euerie seuenth yeare called the yeare of freedome debts could no more be demaunded to the ende this vice of
care is to bee taken for the hanging and adorning of the palace of the soule then of the outwarde And the same Philosopher did not muche out of the waye warne vs that wee shoulde take heede that the skirt of our garments shoulde not carrie a stinche of life CHAP. XXXVI Of backebyters mockers and euill speakers and why the Comedians stage players and Iugglers haue beene reiected WE haue heretofore shewed that our mouth ought to serue our neighbour as wel to preserue him in honor as in profit and for that our Lord God commaundeth that wee should neither deale falsly nor lye one to another He forbiddeth vs either to depraue or deceiue any for deprauing backbiting is an enimie vnto the trueth to the weale honour of our neighbor forbidden by God in the commandement of not bearing false witnes hath euer bin accounted as manslaughter stealing away of the renowne which we ought to esteeme according to the saying of the wise man aboue great riches Plato in his common wealth greatly praised the lawes of Lidia which punished backbiters as murtherers neither doe wee want sundrie examples which shew what mischiefe hath ensued through backbyting Wee haue one in Hester c. 3. of the mischiefe which Haman pursued against the Iewes which K. Ahashueroh of Doeg which through his backbiting was the cause of the death of 85. persons that did wear a lynen Ephod sundrie other myseries And Dauid did attribute vnto slanderers al the euil which Saul had wrought against him The backbiter is in degree neare vnto the flatterer hurteth three persons the absent of whom he speaketh the present which giueth eare vnto him himselfe And it is written in Ecclesiast that hatred enmitie reproch attendeth the backbiter And S. Paul writeth that railers shal not inherit the kingdome of God to the Ephesians Let al bitternes anger wrath crying euil speaking be put away from you with al malitiousnes Be ye courteous one to another tender harted forgiuing one another euen as God for Christes sake forgaue you Solon being demanded what was more cutting then a knife answered a slaunderous toung the which Dauid calleth a sharpe razor and hot burning coales The same writeth S. Iames in his Epistle more at large And as it is taken for a signe of health so is it a signe of a sound vnderstanding to be exempt from al words that may do harme And not without cause said Salomon that death life are in the power of the tongue more perish thereby then by the sword And addeth that he which keepeth his tongue keepeth his life S. Augustin sheweth that the truth hath written in our hearts this commandement Do vnto an other as thou wouldst be done vnto thy selfe And S. Ierom vppon Isaiah in like sort saith euen as wee woulde not that men shoulde speake euil of vs no more ought we to depraue our neighbour S. Paul willeth vs not so much as to eat or drink with the railers and so did S. Iames. Al kind of mockerie ought also to be shunned which is a reproch couered with some fault and which accustometh the mocker to raile lie moueth more then an iniurie when it proceedeth from a wil to outrage a malice without necessitie The which moued some to terme it an artificial iniurie Salomon writeth in his prouerbs that God doth abhorre al mockers the which Isaiah comprehendeth C. 38. 57. The lieutenant of K. Darius put to death one of his soldiars which had railed vpon Alexander saiing that the part of a soldiar was to fight not to raile Antigonus caused one to dye for the like cause and they of Alexandria were well chastised by Vespasian and diuers children were torne in peeces for mockinge of Elisha with wylde beares At the least wee ought to resemble the Phisitiōs which Hipocrates made to sweare that they shoulde not bewraye the secrete and hidden faultes and euils And Saint Gregorie in his Morals compareth the backebiter vnto him which bloweth the powder that flasheth into his owne eyes and hindereth his seeing For this cause ought wee to followe the councel giuen vnto vs by Saint Peter that laying aside all malitiousnesse and all guile and dissimulation and enuie and all euil speaking as newe borne babes wee desire the milke of the worde that wee may growe thereby And aboue all thinges followinge the councell of Demosthenes wee must take heede of speaking yll of the absent or giuing eare vnto the backebiters as Alexander Seuerus was wont to saye and doe And for as much as comedies are compounded of fixions fables and lyes they haue of diuers beene reiected As touchinge Playes they are full of filthie wordes which woulde not become verie lacqueys and courtisanes and haue sundrie inuentions which infect the spirite and replenish it with vnchaste whorishe cosening deceitfull wanton and mischeeuous passions Atheneus writinge of the inuention of a Comedie and tragedie sayeth that they haue euer been inuented in a time of vintage drunkennesse And for that besides all these inconueniences Comedians and stage players doe often times enuie and gnawe at the honor of another and to please the vulgar people set before them sundrie lies teach much dissolutenes and deceit by this meanes turning vpside downe all discipline and good manners many cities wel gouerned would neuer at any time intertaine thē And the citie of Marseilles hath beene maruelously praised in auncient time for that she alwaies reiected such kind of people And the Emperours Augustus Anthony Frederick the first and Henry the thirde caused them to be driuen out of their Empire And the Tribunes banished one Neuius out of Rome And S. Chrisostome in his 17 homilie vpon S. Matth. saith that there is no peril vppon the sea so dangerous as are the Theaters and places of Commedies playes and declareth at large what dissolutenes disorder factions mischiefes inconueniences haue ensued thereby The like doth Seneca declare in his first Epistle of the first booke Caelius Rodiginus in his 5. booke 7. Chapter And S. Augustine in his Citie of God commendeth Scipio for that he forbad the vse of any such pastimes as an enimie to al vertue honesty And saieth that the diuels vnder the similitude of false gods erected them The Lacedemonians also would neuer permit such playes acts for feare somewhat might be imprinted into the peoples brest cōtrary to the lawes truth For as the Apostle writeth Euil words corrupt good manners And this caused the good king S. Louis to banish them out of his court And S. Ierom towards the end of his first booke against Iouinian writeth that tragedies are ful of contempt of mariage good lawes And Seneca wisely wrote in his Epistles that it is verie daungerous
Diodorus Valerius Soranus K. Seleucus A vvord escapeth the mouth returneth not Fuluius Qu. Curtius lib. 4. Amasis king of Egypt The tong the best and vvorst peece of the body Prou. 13.3 The seat and piece of the tongue Homer Phocion spoke better then Demosthenes Pericles Zeno Drunkennes subiect vnto much babling The Pie consecrated to Bacchus Eccle. 22 Cato of the Greekes and Romanes Caesar Comment lib. 6 Counterfaite nevves To be silent is dangerous Circumstances of time and place to speake By friends enemies truth is discerned from falshood Xenophon Philip King of Macedon The profite vvhich men reap by their enemies Scipio The profite of friendes Euripides Diogenes Amitie Menander Eccles 6.16 Pithagoras Plato Loue of it selfe is blind The similitude of Demosthenes To be warned by our freindes Knowledge of histories necessary for princes To take couÌ„sell of the deade Caesars commentaries translated by the commauÌ„dement of Selim The loue the weomen of Bavire bare to their husbandes The monuments of our auncestors inflame vs to vertue Themistocles awaked through the trophees of the Miltiades Feare of blame and dishonor causeth the wicked to refraine Custome of Aegipt Diod. lib. 2â— cap. 3 Charlemagne Songs containing the high enterprises of vertuous persons Bardes Tyme left Fables and olde vvyfes tales Prudence required in reading histories All prophane authors write not trulie A reader of histories must not be too quicke of beliefe nor too credulous The holy Scripture the rule of all thinges VVhat vvriters soonest to be credited Enemies enuying the frenche Affections passions of men staine the trueth Not to iudge things according to the euent To make conquests assured Comment li. 6 Men differ from beasts by reason Cassiod lib. 1. Causes of losses More laudable to keepe then to gette Vse practise Aug. cap. 131 mor. epise Mens vvritings in all points can not be true The beginninges and motife causes of al things as to be considered To prayse and thanke God for our good successe Rom. 15.4 VVhatsoeuer is vvritten ought to serue for one learning Examples Mutations is common vveales This life but a sorrovvfull exile Prases deceaue men Statuas throvvne dovvne and broken Honours refused by Theopompus Niger Bracidas Antigonus Sigismond Iustinian Titus Fabritius Timoleon Antisthenes Galien Offices and dignities called charges Honours Glory The temple of glory adioyning to that of vertue Epictetus Cicero Salomon Ecclesiasticus 10. Marius Maiestie pictured Cato A knight Maximilian Honour to be accepted Youth stirred vp to vertue through praise Pope Iohn 23 Themistocles Remedy against praise and glorie Psal 62.9 144.4 Plutarque Gracchi Demosthenes The Lye Titus Fabius Ecclesiasticus Plato Cato Lucretia A good conscience K. Demetrius Marius VVarly discipline Vengeaunce reserued to god Trueth in Policies and gouernments Ierem. 3. Luke 1. Phil. 3.8 Philosophers of olde tyme haue not attained to the light of the trueth Tales The ignoraÌ„ce of the Philosophers Mans soueraigne good The Philosophers coÌ„forts Holy scripture Psal 119. Homers Nepenthes Seneca Horace reproued Phylosophie the loue of wisedom Aristotle reprehended Physis Iob. The lyfe of the Paganes The promises of God are certaine Chrysostome Rom. 1.22 The lamentation of Socrates Iob. 14.6 Sophisters Lib. 10. Cap. 2 de ciuit Dei Against Atheists and Epicures VVhy God ordained princes Kings children Scipio K. Lewys 11. K. Lewys 12. Dyonisius the tyrant of Sicil The coÌ„plaint of Gordian Dyoclesian Emperours Hester 16.6 Flatterers coÌ„pared to the Syrenes K. Antiochus Eugenes pope K. Lewys the grosse K. Lewys 12. Ptolome Charles the 4 and 5. Seleucus Adrian Pope Traian emperour Homer 2. iliad An arte of great difficultie to commaunde and rule vvell Dioclesian The miserable lyfe of tyrants vvicked princes Wisd 17.10 Guichard lib. 1 of Naples Plutarque Demosthenes The duety of a good prince Claudius emperour Dispensing vvith holy ordinances Comment lib. 7 L. 5. Si contra ius L. 5. de Thesau L. x. C. Selling offices Suppressing of offices Frontiers highe vvayes Superfluous ordinances Offices requiring great vvisedome Equalitie to be obserued 2. Cor. 15. Edicts of religion made for necessity Christians in Turkie The Edict of the emperour Charles the 5. at Ausbourgh Ferdinando Maximilian Philibert D. of Savoy Demosthenes Acts. 5.38 Tvvo things vvhich subuert empyres Pensions to Straungers Alexander seuerus Traynes of princes Galba Seneca Cassiod lib. 4. Tiberius Pertinax Money The testameÌ„t of K S. Lewys Iulian the emperour pardoneth the Alexandrians The bulle of the supper The instructions Basil gaue to his sonne Leo emperour Agesilaus contrary to many Tyrants The holy ordinance of Antony emperour The oth the emperours tak at their coronation Procurers generall Conduits of cities Guardes not necessarie for good Kings L. 4. c. 4 l. 9 c. 21. 〈◊〉 ciuit Dei K. Philip de Valois Arist lib. 3 c. 6 Theodosius Melchisedec Abimilec The causes of the alteration of states The Condition of princes vncertain Psal 107.40 Iob. 12.18 Deut. 18 11 Leuit. 20.6 Ier. 15.4 Tirannical Licence Flatterers of Court Micheas 2.3 Caligula his vvishe Horat. ode 2. lib. 3. Dyonisius Damocles Seuerus Ouinius Varus 1. Sam. 8.11 Deioces Theodosius Fortune like a glasse Isocrates Theopompus Solon Titus Apollonius Cinike People yealding their right The othe princes take at their coronation The cause of the creation of kings Agesilaus Kinges giuen of God Dan. 2.21 Pro. 8.16 Iob. 13.18 2. Chron. 9.8 1. Sam. 9.2 Sa. 6 21. 1. Chron. 19. 2. Kings 19.11.20.35 Polit. lib. 5. ch 21. 3 ch 7. The oth of Christian princes Zonar lib. 3. cap. 11. Ioshua 1.8 Kings of Lacedemon Rom. 13.1 Deuter. 17. 2. Sam. 6. Pericles Iustinian Antiochus K. Philip. K. Artaxerxes The life of princes a rule Isocrates In Cassiodorus Claudian Hos 4.9 Xenophon â—ib 2. Polit. ch 12. Plynye Q. Cursius Anthony Theodoricus 2 A landable custome of S. Lewys and other kings Deuter. 17.19 Iob. 8.8 Pro. 1.35 11.14 24 6. Councell Thucidides K. Charles the vvyse K. Lewys 11. Princes who euer had especiall care to retaine about their persons such as vver the vvisest to couÌ„sell them the better in the managinges of the affairs of their kingdomes Platoes image exected Theodosius councelled by S. Ambrose L. digna vo â— A vvise prince rendreth him selfe subiect to lavves Zaleueus Charondas Manlius K. Antigonus Nothing lavvfull that is not honest Plato Tacitus lib. 3. Diod. lib. 2. c 2. Good lavves are the soules of common vvealths Traian Faithful and true freinds most profitable Naughtie foolish ministers to princes very pernitious Xenophon Mignions of courte A good admonition of Charles 8. Meanes to meete vvith the auarice of the Courtiers Basil emperour of Constantinople The ordinances of the kings of France Trop donne soit repete The Larum of the K. of Persia Surnames of good Kings Alexander Spartianus Suetonius Lampridius Garneades The image of Osyris Kings kisse the booke of the holy Euangelists The picture of Pallas Nobility ought to be learned Charles 5. Paulus