dangerous deuises that are bred in their mindes and in their time breake out I would haue this imitation to bee the remedie for this so great an ill for neither penalties nor feare of punishment will doe any good vpon them For hee that will not forbeare to sinne for feare of Gods Law will hardly refraine from mans Let Kings therefore say and doe those things that they would haue their Subiects say and doe And let their fauourites and those that are nearest about them runne the like course and let it extend to the better sort and those that are of ranke and qualitie for by this meane it will descend to those likewise that are of meaner condition and then shall they see how much more good it will worke then either lawes or punishment And this is the more naturall of the two for the one is founded vpon imitation and the other grounded vpon feare And men doe more easily imitate those better things which they see actually put in execution then depart from those worser things which they either heare or know to be prohibited And when they shall see that their superiours and those that are in place and authoritie command one thing and doe another they neither dread their threatnings nor obey their commandements For perceiuing that they doe but imitate their actions they perswade themselues that none can without blushing punish the same sinne in them Salust did aduise Caesar in the entrance to his Empire that if he would order his commonwealth aright he should first of all begin with reformation in himselfe and his as Pliny saith Vita Principis censura est eaque perpetua ad hanc dirigimur Plin. Jun. lib. Epist ad semp Rufum ad hanc conuertimur The life of a Prince is a perpetuall censure and according thereunto doe we guide and gouerne our selues And let it not seeme vnto any that this remedie of the imitation of Kings is slow and long and will aske a great deale of time for where there is met together as it were in it's center whatsoeuer may corrupt and hurt that which is capable of being corrupted when as neither Kings nor their Lawes are able to hinder it in vaine is it indeuoured or to be imagined that that may bee cured in a few yeares which hath layen sicke so many But till such time as men grow vp like new plants and haue accustomed themselues to vertue to the end that through the tendernesse of their youth they may not grow awry Being therein likewise holpen by the example of their betters for there is not any Artifice so powerfull and effectuall as that of imitation which I now speake of for it being a cure so conformable vnto nature it will worke by degrees whereof we shall not know the benefit till we haue enioyed it And because there are both diseased persons Chrysost hom 19. in Gen. and diseases as Saint Chrysostome hath obserued which are neither remedied by sweet potions nor purged away by bitter pills A maine reason whereof is because they themselues are not willing to be cured nor will admit of the example of Kings nor the feare of their Lawes it is fit this other remedie should be vsed of punishment and chastisement without dissimulation For many times the motiue of sinning is the facilitie of forgiuing And it is a knowne case that people by punishment become obedient but by pardoning proud and insolent The ill and vicious are so possessed and inabled in their vices by their long continuance that if Kings should not shew some mettall and courage they would possesse the world and carry all things away before them in that violent manner that the good should not be able to liue amongst thē Bald. in l. Prouinciarum C de ferijs By chastising the bad saith Baldus the good liue in safety And for this cause and not in vaine according to Plato and others were Lawes instituted and regall power the stroke of the sword the discipline of the Clergie and the common hangmans whip all of them as necessary for mans life as those 4. Elements by which we liue breathe Let Kings take this from me and beleeue it That that commonwealth is in great danger where the Kings reputation goes decaying and the force of Iustice looseth it's strength For thereby vices assume licence vnto themselues and their owners perseuere and go on in them Here a remisse Prince is a sharpe sword and doth neuer more grieuously punish then when hee doth most pardon Punishment and chastisement onely offend the delinquent but remission la ley al Rey y la Grey the Law King and people By remission Lawes and Kings grow in contempt and the whole commonwealth infected Whereas by chastisement the Law is obeyed and kept the King feared and honoured and the kingdome maintained in peace and iustice I doe not treat here of those cruell and rigorous punishments which some seuere Iudges inflict for remedies and cures of so much rigour are violent and do sooner kill and make an end of their Subiects then heale and recouer them by little and little Wherefore in point of correction a commonwealth must vse a great deale of caution and prudence And for that hee who pretends by maine strength to resist the furious current of a swift riuer or by roughnesse to tame a head-strong horse shall shew himselfe as insolent as impertinent rigour with gentlenesse and iustice with mercie will doe well which if they go not hand in hand and kisse each other they are both but the occasion of greater corruption For it is an erronious discourse in those that thinke that publike conseruation consisteth in the execution of cruell chastisements and sharpe and rigorous sentences bee they of death or otherwise For these doe rather dispeople and desolate then correct and amend a kingdome And as it is a signe of bad Physitians or of a corrupt and infectious aire to see many fall sicke and dye so likewise is it of carelesse Ministers and ill preuention and of a contagious corruption of vices and euill manners when there are many criminall iudgements many punishments and cruell chastisements And who is he that knowes the principall cause thereof it may bee this or it may bee that or all together howsoeuer I am sure it is all ill And in a word so great so vniuersall and so pernicious an ill that if Christian Kings carry not a very watchfull eye ouer their Subiects manners in not suffering them to flie out they shall not when they would be able to refraine them and remedie what is amisse for euill custome being once habituated according vnto Galen and others is an acquired nature and engendreth an habite which being mans naturall inclination carries him along after it and so great is his inclination to delights and so many the prouocations and ill examples which draw him thereunto and poure oyle as it were vpon that fire that if there be not the
2. Que el Rey es Vicario de dios para hazer iusticia en to dos los cosas That a King is Gods Vicar for to doe iustice in all Causes Answering to that his owne saying By me Kings reigne c. Which is as if he should haue said That their power is deriued from God as from the first and primary cause The signification likewise of this word King or Rex is and me thinks farre better declared if we shall but refer i'ts originall to another word of the primitiue Language where the Hebrew word Raga signifies amongst other it's significations To feede And in this sense it is to be found in many places of holy Scripture And from this Raga is deriued Rex Rego or Regno And Regere and Pascere amongst the Poets and euen also amongst the Prophets are promiscuously vsed Homer Virgil and Dauid put no difference betwixt Reges and Pastores styling Kings Shepheards Shepheards Kings And therefore in the 23. Psalme Psal 23. where the vulgar Latine reades Dominus regit me S. Ieromes Translation hath it Dominus pascit me The Lord is my Shepheard therefore can I lack nothing he shall feede me in a greene pasture and leade me forth besides the waters of comfort And Homer he styles a King Pastorem populi the Shepheard of his people in regard of that sweetnesse of Command wherewith he gouerneth them and the gentle hand that hee carries ouer them feeding but not fleecing of them Xenophon saith that the actions of a good shepheard are like vnto those of a good King So that the name of King doth not onely signifie him that ruleth but him that ruleth like a shepheard And the better to instruct vs herein the Prophet Isaiah speaking of that which the true Christian King our Sauiour should doe when he should come into the world saith Sicut Pastor gregem suum pascet Isai 40.11 in brachio suo congregabit agnos in sinu suo levabit foetas ipsa portabit Hee shall feede his flocke like a shepheard hee shall gather the Lambes with his armes and carry them in his bosome and shall guide them with young He shall perfectly performe all the Offices of a shepheard by feeding of his sheepe and by bearing them if neede be vpon his shoulders And of the selfe same King Ezech. 34.23 Christ God said in respect of his people Ipse pascet eos ipse erit eis in pastorem I will set vp a shepheard ouer them and he shall feed them And in the next words following he cals him ioyntly King and shepheard Servus meus David Rex super eos Pastor unus erit omnium eorum My seruant Dauid shall bee the Prince amongst them and they shall all haue but one shepheard And they shall dwell safely in the wildernesse and sleepe in the woods and none shall make them affraid And for the clearer signification hereof the first Kings that God made choise of and commanded to be anoynted hee tooke them from amidst their flocks The one they sought after the other they found feeding of his flocke The Prophet Samuel whom God commanded to annoynt for King one of the sons of Ishai hauing seene the elder and the other seuen all goodly handsome men of a good disposition had no great liking to any one of them but asked their father Whether he had no more children but those And he said vnto him Adhuc reliquus est parvulus 1 Kings 16 11. pascit oves There remaineth yet a little one behind that keepeth the sheepe And the Prophet willed him that he should send for him for we will not sit downe till he become hither shewing that to be a shepheard and to feed the flock was the best Symbole and most proper Embleme of a King And therfore I would haue no man to imagine that which Philon did feare that when we come to make a King we must take away the Crooke and put the Scepter in his hand The Office of a King I tell you and the Arte of ruling will require a great deale of study and experience For to gouerne the bigger sort of beastes and those that are of greatest price a man must first haue learned to haue gouerned the lesser It is not meete to Popp into great places vnexperienced persons and such as know not what belongs vnto businesse nor the weight of the charge that they are to take vpon them For indeede great Matters are not handsomely carryed nor well managed but by such as haue beene formerly imployed in businesses of an inferiour and lower nature And this choyse which God made of Dauid iumpes with this our intent He doth not say De post fottantibus accepit eum pascere Iacob Servum suum Israel haereditatem suam that he tooke him on the sodaine from the sheepefold and presently clapp't a Crowne vpon his Head but first bred him vp to feede the house of Iacob and his family and that he should exercise himselfe therein For a well ordered house and a family that is well gouerned is the Modell and Image of a Common-wealth And domesticall authoritie resembleth Regall power And the good guidance of a particular house is the Exemplary and true patterne of a publicke State It imbraceth and comprehendeth in it all the sorts of good gouernment It doth treate and set in order those things that appertaine to Policie Conseruation and the direction of Men as well in regard of Commanding as obeying What other thing is a house with his family but a little Citie And â—hat a Citie but a great House Many houses make a Citie And many Cities make a kingdome And in point of gouernment they onely differ in greatnesse for howbeit in the one they are busied more and in the other lesse yet they tend all to one end which is the common good And therefore S. Paul and other Saints and wise men are of opinion that hee that knowes not how to gouerne his own house well will hardly gouerne another mans The Emperour Alexander Severus visiting the Roman Senate did inquire how the Senators did rule and gouerne their owne priuate Houses and families and sayd That that man who knew not how to command his wife and his Children to follow his owne businesses to make prouision for his house and to gouerne his familie it were a madnesse to recommend vnto that man the gouernment of the Common-wealth Amongst those the famous Gouernours Cato the Roman was preferred before Aristides the Grecian because the former was a great Pater familias or father of a familie and the latter was noted to be defectiue in that kinde So that the life of a shepheard is the Counterfeit or Picture of gouernment as is to be seene by his assistance in his Office in the care of the wellfare of his flocke in the obligation of the Account that he is to make in the offence that he is to finde by Wolues and Theeues
vphodeth Kingdomes without which they cannot long last and continue For God will most iustly punish them by taking those from them which they haue if they dissimulate iniustices and if they suffer themselues to be carryed away contrary to all right and reason and permit notorious faults to passe without punishment Other faults are not so much risented in Kings and Kingdomes are content to tolerate them be they neuer so great But should they haue neuer so many other good partes if they be faulty in this which is of so great importance they shall presently see and perceiue a publicke face of sorrow and a generall discontent in all their subiects And God oftentimes makes it a meanes for the punishment and amendment of Kings and Kingdomes It is the saying of Iesus the sonne of Syrach That by Counsaile Eccl. 10.8 and Iustice Kingdomes are maintained And for default thereof Scepters and Crownes are lost and Kingdomes transferred from one people to another And those brought to serue which were borne to command But the King that administreth Iustice without respect of persons shall haue his succession perpetuall for that is the very ground and foundation of a Throne royall Prou. 25.5 Aufer impietatem de vultu regis et firmahitur Iustitia thronus eius Take away the wicked from the King and his throne shall be established in righteousnes That is His Issue his House and his Kingdome Iustice is that which foundeth Kingdomes which enlargeth them and conserueth them That which establisheth peace and resisteth warre Without it there is neither King nor Kingdome nor Common-wealthe nor Citie nor any other Communitie which can be conserued And all whatsoeuer that haue beene ruined and destroyed hath beene for want of Iustice For this cause the Kings of Egypt and in imiâ—â—tion of them some others did which all good Kings ought to do sweare their Presidents Ministers and Magistrates that they should not obay their mandatums nor execute their orders and decrees if they found in them that they commanded any thing contrary vnto Iustice and the Lawes of the Kingdome Philip the Faire King of France and his successor Charles the seuenth enacted a Law that the Iudges should make no reckoning of the Kings Letters nor those his royall scedules vnlesse they seemed vnto them to be iust and lawfull The Catholike Kings Don Fernando and Donna Isabella and their Nephew Charles the fift by their well ordained Lawes Magistracies and Tribunals of so much power and authoritie exceeded all before them that fauoured Iustice Which were augmented and inlarged by King Philip the second who was more particularly zealous of Iustice And his sonne King Philip the third was a great fauourer and louer of Iustice and obseruer of the Lawes submitting vnto them his person and his goods Who might very well say that which the Emperour Traiane said conferring great power on his Gouernour in Rome Thou shalt vse this sword in our name and for Vs as long as we shall command that which is iust and against vs if we shall command the contrarie For it is alwayes to be presumed of the Intention of Kings that they euermore command Iustice to be done but neuer the contrary though it make against themselues Dauid gaue thankes vnto God that hee had set him in the way of Iustice that is That he had giuen him an vpright heart and informed his vnderstanding with so right a rule that it inclined his disposition to doe iustice though it were against himselfe The cause saith Diuus Thomas why God for so many yeares did inlarge the Empire and Monarchie of the Romanes with so much power so much treasure and so many great victories was for that their rectitude and iustice which they obserued towards all But in that instant that they fell from this their Empire likewise began to fall Of these Examples all Histories both humane and diuine are very full yet all will not serue the turne they doe little or no good Let Gods mercie supply this defect and worke this good And let not the poore bee discouraged and disheartened but let them comfort and cheere vp themselues with this that their righteousnesse and their patience shall not perish for euer God hath spoke the word and he will keepe it Psal 10.17.18.20 The poore saith the Psalmist shall not alwayes be forgotten nor shall the hope of the afflicted perish for euer For he will take the matter into his owne hands and will breake the arme of the wicked and malitious and will helpe the fatherlesse and poore vnto their right that the man of earth bee no more exalted against them Woe vnto those that are rulers of the people Woe vnto those that are vniust Kings Which make Lawes like Spiders cobwebbs whereinto little starueling flies fall and die but your fat Bulls of Basan breake through and beare them away in triumph on their hornes But that wee may touch no more vpon this string we will here holde our hand and and goe on in treating of Iustice and it's parts A matter no lesse profitable then necessary for Kings and their Ministers CHAP. XXI Of the Parts of Iustice in common and in particular of Iustice commutatiue D. Tho. 1. p q. 21 artic 1 â— 2 q. 61. art 3 â—oâ—o de Iustitia iust lib. 3. Arist 5. Ethic. cap. 2.1 Mat. 5.20 6. 1. TO the end that we may proceede with more distinction and clearenesse in this Chapter we are to presuppose with Diuus Thomas and others that Iustice may be sayd to be in Common two manner of wayes First of all vnder this generall name of Iustice is comprehended all kinde of vertue thereof in this sense saith the Philosopher that Iustitia est omnis virtus Iustice includeth in it selfe all sortes of vertues whatsoeuer so that a iust Man and a vertuous man is all one And in this sense Christ conceiu'd it when he said Nisi abundauerit Iustitia Except your righteousnesse exceede c. And in another place Attendite ne iustitiam vestram faciatis coram hominibus Take heede that yee doe not boast your righteousnesse before men to be seene of them Of iustice considered thus in the generall we will not now treate of in this place for in rigour and strictnesse this is not true iustice though it haue some similitude therewith Now Iustice is taken after another manner for a particular virtue To wit that which is one of the foure Cardinall vertues which hath for it's obiect and end as we shall tell you by and by to giue vnto euery man that which is his right and his due Of this which is properly Iustice do we here meane to treate of whose Excellencies all bookes are full and whereof the Ancients said That it is a celestiall and diuine vertue seated by God in the mindes of men Vlpian saith That it is Constans et perpetua voluntas quae tribuit cuique suum A constant and perpetuall Will
Lib. 1. ff De Iust iâ— attributing to euery man his owne Plato he goes a little farther adding that it is singulare et vnicum donum c. The onely singular gift the greatest good that God communicated vnto Mortalls here vpon earth For from thence ariseth Peace Concord This is it's worke the end it pretendeth According to that of Esay Opus iustitiae pax Esay 32.17 And the worke of iustice shal be peace euen the worke of Iustice and quietnesse and assurance for euer And God himselfe the Author Cause fountain of Iustice the first Title name that he tooke when he created the world before that hee had created Angels men and Beastes was that of Iudge Wherby we are to vnderstand that there was a Iudge and Iustice in the world before any other thing was created For to haue created a world without a Iudge or iustice to gouerne it and to punish humane excesses and disorders had beene to make a denne of Thiefes and Robbers For all Kingdomes and Common-wealths without Iustice saith Saint Austen had beene nothing else but so many Armies of Out-Lawes Rebells and high-way Robbers Aug. lib. 4. de ciuit Dei cap. 14. Remota Iustitia quid sunt regna nisi magna latrocinia Take away Iustice and what are kingdomes but Latrocinatious all kind of theft's spoyles and rogueries Certaine it is that the first Iudge and Minister of Iustice that was in the world was God himselfe who appointed Lawes and Precepts who did rule and gouerne without Kings or other their substitutes till Noahs time who was the first Gouernour of his people to whom he gaue order that he should liue in iustice and righteousnesse doing the like afterwards to Moses and after him to his annoynted Kings And therefore Esay stiles him Legislatorem a Law-giuer Dominus Legifer noster The Lord is our Iudge the Lord is our Law-giuer the Lord is our King he will saue vs. c. And then in those dayes by the sole power hand of their Kings was Iustice administred And they were called Iudges because they did iudge according to the Lawes Isidor lib. Etymol And they tooke this name from Iustice it selfe Iudex dictus est quasi ius dicens populo non ergò est Iudex si iustitia in eo non est He is called Iudge of iudging the people vprightly And he is no Iudge if Iustice be not in him His Obiect is Ius or that which is iust and lawfull And his office to offend no man to doe right vnto all to giue euery one that which is his and what of right belongs vnto him This Iustice hath power to determine how how much and when the good are to be rewarded and the bad punished it is the harmonie of all good gouernment and whereby the world is sustained and wherewith as with meate and drinke the life of man is preserued And if Iustice should faile the world would presently returne to that Chaos and confusion wherein it was at the first And for that this Vertue is so necessary for mans life Aug. de Doctr. Christ Saint Austen saith that your ancient Kings did build and consecrate a Temple thereunto And that on the high Altar there were ingrauen certaine Letters which spake thus Iustice that is vpright and free from loue or hatred is the strongest chaine that a Kingdome hath Which suteth with that Aristeas in Hist which one of the seuentie Interpreters told King Ptolomy as Aristeas reporteth it who being demanded by him how he might sustaine himselfe in his Kingdome and hold concord and good correspondencie with so great a multitude and varietie of men as were therein replyed By preseruing Iustice and giuing to euery one what was fitting and not otherwise And this is so manifest a truth that Plutarch affirmeth That not Iupiter himselfe though the greatest of the Pagan Gods could be a good Gouernor without Iustice Ambr. lib. 2. in Luc. Aug. lib. de duâ—de abus In it saith S. Ambrose is found the Concordancie of all vertues without it there is neither consonancy nor harmony It is the Mistresse of Mans life the extirper of Vice the mother of peace the defence of the Kingdome the treasure of a Common-wealth the ioy of men the comfort of the poore the cure of the sicke Cicero lib. 31 de Officijs Plut in Moral lib. de Doctr. priâ— Lact. Tirmâ—lib 3 cap. 22. lib. lib. 5. cap 5. Scot. lib. 4. Distin 46. q. 3. Anselm in Prosolog Plutarc in Agesilao and the medicine of the soule Cicero calls her the Queene and Lady of the Vertues Plutarke would haue her to be in respect of the rest as the Sunne amongst the Starres Firmianus affirmeth that shee is the mother of them all And as the Mother is before the Daughters So Iustice hath the precedencie of all other Vertues Scotus surnamed the Subtile together with Anselmus say that if betweene Gods iustice and mercie there were any precedencie Iustice would haue the prime place In fine it is the foundation and ground of all other vertues and by which all ought to bee regulated and ordred And we cannot indeare it more then in saying That if Iustice should fayle all the Vertues would fayle And if that onely be kept there will be litle neede of the other So said King Agesilaus And it is Aristotles Tenent Arist 3. Top. cap. 2. 1. That if Iustice were publickly and truly administred Fortitude and other the Vertues would be superfluous For one not iniurying another all would be peace loue and charitie And it is a vertue very naturall vnto Man who in his owne nature abhorreth Vice and loueth goodnesse and what is honest And therefore amongst other things that are controuerted Cicero saith Cicero lib. 1. de Leg that there is not any thing more certaine to be knowne then that Man was borne for to doe Iustice It is she that ordaines things for the common good and the good of our neighbour And by how much the common is greater then the particular So much doth this Vertue exceede others that are ordayned to a particular person or a mans owne selfe Finally it is very necessary for the conseruation of the body and the Saluation of the Soule S. Tho. 2. â— q. So. Art 1. Diuus Thomas and others whose names I silence say That 24. Vertues side and take part with her which they tearme Adiutrices Helpers which doe serue and accompany her in all her Actions And making vse of them as of Counsaylours and Aduisers she determines what is iust the good which is to be followed and the ill which is to be auoided there being nothing that hath not neede of it's fauour Gregor 6. quae tuâ—r modis 11. q. 3. de re iud in 6. cap. 1. and helpe For according to Saint Gregory it hath foure most potent opposites which make the rod of Iustice to bow and turne
crooked and to falsifie the tongue and beame of the ballance To wit Hatred Fauour Feare and Interest Now Iustice is diuided into two parts which are the honour of God and the loue of our neighbour Aristotle did likewise consider two other parts of Iustice One common which is ordayned for the Common-wealth and the other particular which is instituted for our neighbour Which by another name they call Equitie which man vsing with reason deales so with others as he would be dealt withall himselfe vpon the Common which imbraceth includeth all the rest Patri de Reg. lib. 8. Tit. 2. Patritius founded his Common-wealth And Plato his vpon the particular Others diuide it into foure parts or species into Diuine Naturall Ciuill and Iudiciall Which the Schoolemen do define and declare at large vnto whom I remit the Reader But laying aside these diuisions Scolastici cum D. Tho. 2.2 q 80 art 1. which make not for our purpose the most proper and essentiall diuision of Iustice is into Commutatiue and Distributiue Which as Diuus Thomas saith are the partes Subiectiuae or subiectiue parts of this Iustice that is to say it 's essential Species And therfore we will treate of these two and that very briefly And first in the first place of the Commutatiue and in the second of the distributiue Iustice Commutatiue Contractiue or Venditiue for all these names your Authors giue it for the matter of Commutations Arist 10. Met Tit. 18. Contracts and Sales wherein it is exercised is considered betwixt two party and party which are a part of that whole body of the Common-wealth which giue and take betweene themselues by way of Contract or Sale It 's end and obiect is equalitie and proportion betweene that which is giuen and that which is receiued without respect vnto the persons which buy and sell but to that which is contracted solde or commutated that there may be an equalitie and proportion had betwixt that which is giuen and taken And when in this there is a defection it is contrary to Commutatiue Iustice The distributiue is considered betweene the whole and it's parts The. Medium of this Vertue doth not consist in the equaltie of thing to thing but of the things to the persons for as one person surpasseth another so the thing which is giuen to such a person exceedeth that part which is giuen to another person So that there is an equalitie of proportion betweene that which is more and that which is lesse but not an equalitie of quantitie to wit So much to the one as to the other For those which in a Common-wealth are not equall in dignitie and desert ought not equally to enioy the Common goods thereof when they are reparted and diuided by the hand of distributiue Iustice As we shall shew you by and by when we come to speake of the Commutatiue which treates of equalizing and according that which mens disordinate appetites and boundlesse couetousnesse doth disconcerte and put out of order euery one being desirous to vsurpe that for himselfe which of right appertaines and belongs to another whence arise your cosenages and deceits in humane Contracts and whence doe resulte those contentions dissensions and sutes in Law And to occurre and meete with these inconueniences from the Alcalde of the poorest Village to the highest and supremest Tribunall those pretenders may appeale if they cannot obtaine Iustice in those inferiour Courts And therefore in Castile in the Counsell Royal it is called by way of excellencie Conscio de Iusticia The Counsel of Iustice And in all well ordred Monarchies and Common-wealths Exod. 18. Deut. 1. there is euermore carefull prouision made for this necessitie dispersing in diuers Tribunalls the fittest men for administring Iustice as we haue formerly related of that great Law-giuer Moses And in the second booke of the Chro. it is said of King Iehosaphat that he appointed Audiences and Tribunalls in all the principall Cities of his kingdome and those euer at their very gates and entrance that the Negociants and suitors might the more easily meete with the Ministers of Iustice for this is the chiefest prouision which a King should make for kis Kingdome indearing to them all the faithfull administration thereof and that with such graue words and such effectuall reasons that they deserue to be written in golden Letters vpon all the seates Tribunalls of your Iudges 2 Chron. 19.6 Videte quid faciatis non enim hominis exercetis iudicium sed Domini Et quodcunque iudicaueritis in vos redundabit Sit timor domini vobiscum cum diligentia cuncta facite non est enim apud dominum deum nostrum iniquitas nec personarum acceptio nec cupido munerum Take heede what ye doe for yee execute not the iudgement of man but of the Lord and he will be with yee in the cause and iudgement Wherefore now let the feare of the Lord be vpon yee Take heede and doe it for there is no iniquitie with the Lord our God neither respect of persons nor receiuing of reward The first thing that he admonisheth them of is Videte quid faciatis Take heede what yee doe Looke well about yee and haue an eye to what ye doe Heare see and consider take time and leysure be not ouer-hasty in sentencing a sute till yee haue studied the case well and throughly and are able as well to satisfie others as your selues Vsing that care and circumspection Iob. 29.16 as did that iust man Iob. Causam quam nesciebam diligentissime inuestigabam When I knew not the cause I sought it out diligently As if his life had lyen vpon it Alciat saith That the Tribunes had at the gates of their houses the Image of a King sitting in his throane hauing hands but no eyes And certaine Statuas about him seeming to be Iudges hauing eyes but no hands Whereby they declared the Office of a King and the duty of Iudges painting him with hands and them without them but with as many eyes as that fabulous Argos had or like vnto those Mysticall beastes Apoc. 4.7 which Saint Iohn saw full of eyes within and on euery side To shew that they should study see and examine causes and all whatsoeuer passeth in the Common-wealth and to informe the King thereof who is to haue hands and Armes courage and power for execution Againe that good King puts them in minde that it is not mans but Gods Office that they take in hand whose proper Office is to iudge And therefore in the Scripture your Iudges are called Gods And since that they are his Lieuetenants let them labour for to doe Iustice as God himselfe doth For I must be so bold as to tell them that there is a reuiewing of the businesse and a place of Appealing in the supreame Counsell of his diuine Iustice And there the Party pretending doth not deposite his thousand and fiue hundred ducats but the Iudge who lyes
is the naturall miserie of great and powerfull persons that Enuie and Greatnesse go alwayes hand in hand the one still accompanying the other And there is not any poyson like vnto it which moues and stirres vp such violent pangs and passions in the stomacke and more especially if it worke vpon the priuacie and inwardnesse of Fauourites with their Kings as if that it selfe were not a true and sufficient strong poyson Seeing that it is held for certaine that one word of a King nay which is more one angry looke or bended brow hath sent many a Fauourite to his graue For as Salomon saith the life of the Subiect depends on the countenance of the King And if we will not beleeue him let vs see and obserue how many Fauourites escape which doe not dye of that wound or the feare thereof and more particularly with those Kings which are of that condition as one said that there is not two fingers breadth betweene their smile and their sword to the end that this their priuacie might bee had in the lesse esteeme For your best Fauourites are but like your better sort of fruits which are soonest subiect to be worme-eaten For Enuie is a very worme and hath the same qualities as a worme hath and spreads it selfe so farre that it extends it selfe euen to those that haue beene benefited by the Fauourite the couetousnesse and risentment of that which they doe not receiue working more vpon them then the Law of thankfulnesse or of a gratefull acknowledgement for that which they haue receiued So that wee may say That few are they who loue those from whose hand they haue receiued some good because it was no greater And those that haue receiued none that they are therein iniured and wronged So that to qualifie and temper this inconuenience it shall be wisedome in Fauourites and it will concerne them to vse all the meanes they can deuise to effect it to procure to bee wellbeloued And no lesse in Kings to seeke out such as are modest louing affable vertuous honest well beloued and of a gratefull and thankfull disposition CHAP. XXXV How Kings ought to carry themselues towards their Fauourites FOr to resolue this Question and to giue satisfaction to that which is here proposed in this Chapter it being a matter of so tender and dangerous a touch I will first lay for my foundation a true point of doctrine in naturall Philosophie celebrated with that sentence of the glorious Saint Austen Amor meus pondus meum illo feror quocunque feror The plummet which peaseth man and the wings wherewith the heart makes it's flight is loue which doth leade the dance to all the other passions of the soule And as those that saile in a deepe sea with full sailes runne on their course without any danger but when they draw neare the shore they take them downe and ruffle them that they may not runne their ship vpon some shelfe or split it selfe against some rocke so likewise when the heart is lifted vp vnto the loue of God which is infinite goodnesse it may without perill plough the seas of this world and with full sayles cut the Maine without danger of shelues quick-sands or rockes For according to that saying of the glorious Saint Bernard as the cause of our louing God is God himselfe so the measure of louing him is to loue him without measure Causa diligendi Deum Deus est modus dilectionis fine modo diligere As the cause of our loue is infinite so must it be without taxe or limitation wherein there can be no excesse But when the heart drawes but little water and touches too close vpon these things of the earth which haue their goodnesse much limited it will be high time and very fit and conuenient to strike the sayles of our loue and to go on with a great deale of caution and consideration lest this our vessell should sticke in the sands neuer to bee gotten out againe or fall vpon some rocke or other of vnaduisednesse and indiscretion And this is so certaine a truth that albeit the loue to our parents be so naturall and obligatory and so giuen vs in charge by God with the promises of so many blessings on those children which shall cumply with this loue and with so many threatnings on those that shall faile therein yet notwithstanding God himselfe will that therein there should be a limitation and moderation Mat. 10.37 Qui amat patrem aut matrem plus quam me non est me diguus He that loueth father or mother more then me is not worthy of me And the common old Adage saith That friendship must go no further then vsque ad aras and stop there And howbeit some would haue the limit which is here put to loue to be Death I say that it's limit is Reason and obedience to Gods Commandements For when our Loue shall come to encounter with them it is to make a stand and go no further Our second ground or foundation whereon we shall build is this That in Kings next vnto the loue of God and his Christian Religion no loue ought to be like vnto that which they ought to beare vnto their kingdomes and common-wealths for the end for which Kings were first instituted and ordained was the common good of their kingdomes And as children haue a naturall obligation to loue their parents because from them they haue receiued their naturall being so Kings owe the like to their kingdomes and Commonwealths because next vnder God they gaue them their being of Kings and that power and authoritie whereby they were to protect defend and augment them Vpon these grounds and foundations must that loue and friendship be laid which is to be held with Fauourites Louing them and giuing them power and authoritie conformable to that which for this end shall be thought most conuenient Senec. lib. 1. Epist 3. For albeit they as Seneca saith keepe the key of their Kings heart and in matters of secresie and benefits are preferred before the rest yet this must be done with a Christian kinde of prudence and discretion Hauing euermore an especiall care that the force of his loue be not so violent and so boundlesse that to giue content to one sole Fauourite hee discontent all the rest of his Subiects and to shew himselfe faithfull and true vnto him breake that faith and truth which he owes vnto God and his diuine Law And that he proceed likewise therein with that freedome and libertie that his Loue may not passe the bounds of reason nor bee like some ships that are runne on ground so surely setled that he cannot get off when hee will and to turne that loue into hatred and a full determination and resolution of punishment when the faults of a Fauourite shall deserue his iust displeasure Non habitabit in medio domus meae Psal 101.7 qui facit superbiam c. Whoso hath a proud looke and an
himselfe liberall solicitous peaceable patient louing kinde and courteous towards all All of them qualities that conserue a Kings fauour and gaine the peoples good will A Fauourite must be modest affable and affoord a courteous hearing vnto all men Besides it is a part of Iustice so to doe and a very necessarie meanes to come to the knowledge of all things and to be the better prouided against whatsoeuer shall occurre Whereas on the contrary to looke to be intreated and sued vnto and not easie to bee spoken withall argues a kinde of pride and statelinesse which all abhorre This is the doctrine of Tacitus citing the example of Seianus the Emperour Tiberius his great Fauourite who being growne into grace with him the better to conserue himselfe therein forthwith endeauoured to fauour and pleasure all your principall and noble persons in their pretensions For in all occurrences he conceiued hee might expect more kindnesse from them then from the baser and meaner sort of people whereby he came to bee loued of the one and feared of the other and by all of them to be serued and obeyed Insomuch that there was not any one who did not seeke vnto him to mediate and make intercession for them with Tiberius And howbeit he was not ignorant that hee was superiour to them all and inferiour to none yet did he neuer grow neglectfull of his humble carriage and reuerent respect to his Prince and a due regard vnto all Hitherto hee proceeded fairely and went on well and may serue for a patterne and example for Fauourites but in the rest for a prouiso and admonition for Kings For after that ambition and couetousnesse entred into his heart that consuming moath and deuouring worme of all goodnesse he presently procured the charge or place of Praefectus Praetorius or Captainship of the Guard and within a short time grew to be so absolute therein that he became as it were Lord and Master of his Prince and crusht all that stood in his way or might be of any impediment to his priuacie He sought alwayes to bee with him lest others might creepe in betwixt him and home and possesse his place still humbly beseeching him that he would imploy him in businesses of greatest danger and trouble and such as might redound most to the benefit of the Emperours life and state A maine point wherewith to oblige his Prince vnto him and to make him the more acceptable in his sight For those that are nearest about Kings and are in greatest fauour with him ought in the greatest dangers to set their foot formost and to be the forwardest aduenturers He did seeke to ouercome Art by Art inducing Tiberius to retire himselfe to places of pleasure that were remote and farre from Court to the end that whilest he was recreating himselfe abroad he might dispose of him as it pleased him He told him that solitude was the best and onely course for the resoluing of the graue and weighty affaires of the Empire which otherwise by diuersion might receiue the same hurt and hinderance as they were wont to haue heretofore And what with this and with giuing him to vnderstand that he would quit him of all the ordinarie cares and troubles of Court most men vsually desiring to shunne trouble and to take their ease and pleasure hee perswaded him to go to Capri that hee in the meane while might rule and gouerne all And in the end grew to be so great and powerfull and to take such state vpon him that hee would not giue audience to any reducing them to those tearmes that they should speake and negociate by writing to the end that nothing might bee treated or resolued of without his priuie saying That by reducing businesses to papers and memorialls answer might bee giuen vnto them with more deliberation and better consideration then by word of mouth A meere Artifice cunning trick of his own inuention to make himselfe absolute Master of all and which is more of the heart of his Prince God deliuer vs from such ambitious interessed and couetous Ministers whose maine care is their owne particular and to heape vp riches for himselfe and his and make it their whole study and onely end to keepe and continue themselues in their kings grace and fauour and to deale with their Prince as the Ante doth with the corne which that it may not grow againe and that hee may the better and more conueniently make profit thereof presently eates out the heart of it God likewise free Kings from this base subiection and insensibilitie and from men of that qualitie and condition which desire to rule and command all For the one cannot escape a storme and the other must runne great hazard of being drowned therein Let the last aduertisement bee the example of a great Fauourite whose name is Aurelius Cassidorus borne in the Prouince of Calabria and highly aduanced in Magistracies and Gouernments of both Empires Rome and Constantinople who being renowned for his cheualrie and noble feates of armes defended the Islands of Sicily and Calabria from many and those very powerfull enemies In his younger yeares he attained to all the liberall arts in that perfection that hee made the present and succeeding times to admire him And for his great parts and abilities was entertained by Theodoricus King of the Ostro-Gothes hee was receiued into his seruice and grew so farre into his fauour by reason of his vnderstanding wisedome and dextrousnesse in treating businesses that he first of all made him his Secretarie in which Office he behaued himselfe so well that by degrees he went climbing vp to the high Offices and dignities in the State which in those dayes were not conferred out of fauour but meere desert From being Secretary he came to bee Lord Chancellour and Senatour in the Citie of Rauenna being honoured besides with diuerse offices in the Kings Court Afterwards he was made Viceroy of the Prouinces of Sicilia and Calabria and for addition of honour had the title of Patâ—â—â—â—e giuen him which in those dayes was in great esteeme Hee was Lord Treasurer and Master of the Palace which was as it were a superintendent ouer the Palatines being an order of Knights and Gentlemen that had Offices and other preâ—etainences in Court He held the dignitie of Prafectâ—us Praetorius being as it were the second person of the King to whom the weightiest businesses of peace and warre were remitted and what therein he determined and resolued vpon was receiued as an oracle that could not erre Though now adayes little credit is giuen to the words of great persons and powerfull Ministers and not without cause for that many of them say and do not promise much and performe little And your Fauourites which haue great both place and power about their Kings are in such good opinion and credit likewise with the world that they presently beleeue whatsoeuer they say and see what they professe is approued by them as if it were