consider what appertains to your Degree and what is in your Power to the end there fall not from you any thing unbecoming your Royal Dignity either in Word or Deed you must also bear in mind that all your Subjects are discoursing still of you judging all your Steps and censuring your Courses Further consider how you are exposed to Flatterers who dive into your very Thoughts upon every Change of your Countenance and Carriage from which they will make use for their own ends but in this Great King you may well understand how to demean your self not submitting your Ear to any Person that may charm you with his Syren Flattery or disguise the Truth by Dissimulation since God hath endowed you with great Affability of Behaviour accompanied with Gravity and Dispatch The King then received this Answer with great Joy and Applause and gave all the Company leave to seek their Repose to prepare themselves for meeting at the Feast the day following which was ordered as the former They being met and the time presenting it self for Discourse as before the King made this Question to the first of those that had not yet spoken Fifteenth Question What thing is most difficult for a King The Resolution THat is to Command Himself and not to permit himself to be prevailed upon by any exorbitant Appetites or Passions for all Men have a certain Bent of Inclination by which they many times permit themselves to be led according as their Genius leads them some to Banquets and Riot others to Pastimes and Pleasures wherein the greatest part of the Multitude are immerc'd But Kings should have their Thoughts more elevated as being excited by great Honour and Glory to frame their Actions to Conquests and design the taking of Cities and reducing of Nations Nevertheless it is very commendable to keep a meaâ— and to conserve carefully what God hath and shall give you and not so much to affect what is out of reason or unworthy the high Glory of your Place To the other Sixteenth Question What means he hath to avoid the Envy of Any The Resolution IF before all things you bear in mind that Riches Honour and Greatness are the Gifts of God to Kings of which no Person hath true right to dispose Wherefore if any aim to partake of this glorious Prerogative to be un-envied he will never obtain his end for it is the gift of God alone To the other Seventeenth Question What he ought to do to oblige his Enemies The Resolution IF you become gracious and favourable towards all bountiful Persons without particular Respect of any likewise in what you receive from others not to shew your self ingrateful to the Services and good Offices you have received from them for that is a sign of the Grace of God To the other Eighteenth Question How he may continue in Glory and Honour The Resolution IF towards others and above all others you excell in Bounty and Magnificence accompanying the same with a good Grace never will Glory and Honour abandon you and it behoveth you still to pray to God that such Vertues may perpetually assist you To the other Nineteenth Question To what Persons he should dispence Honour The Resolution THey commonly judge Great King that we ought to dispense Honour where we especially love but for my part I am of Opinion that we ought to dispence all we can to the Envious and to be gracious and bountiful to them according to the utmost of our Power to the end that by such means they may be induced and won to do what is good and profitable in which Choice of our Favours we must implore the Aid of God who inspireth the Understanding to the end he may accomplish in us this Perfection To the other Twentieth Question What Persons he ought to gratifie The Resolution FAther and Mother Great King before all Persons for God hath annexed a great Commandment to the Duty we owe to our Father and Mother allowing after but a second place to Friends whom he hath stiled proportionable in Nature Further I esteem it Great King no small Happiness that you engage all the World to love you To the other One and twentieth Question What is more worthy than Beauty The Resolution THat is Piety for that is a Beauty excelling all other and its Force consisteth in Charity which is a Gift of God which you have and with it you will inherit all Vertue and all that is good To the other Two and twentieth Question By what means oâ—e may recover Greatdess and Glory once lost The Resolution THat is Great King if you are full of Benignity Affability and gracious to all the World which are things charming and attracting the Love of the People it is hard if you lose your Greatness On the other side great Preparations for War give great Assurance but those who fall into such Accidents it is necessary that they abstain from what occasioned them to fall into such Inconveniences and thenceforward they acquire Friends by giving themselves to the Exercise of Justice and Equity for good Works are the Gifts of God To the other Three and twentieth Question How he may live without Anxiety The Resolution IF you wrong no Man and relieve every one doing Justice to all the World for from so doing we reap such pleasant Fruits as we shall always live pleasantly Nevertheless we ought to crave of God that what Accidents happen contrary to Expectation bring us no Damage as Death Sicknesses and such like Inconveniences which can do you no harm if you are full of Piety To the other Four and Twentieth Question What thing in this World is worthy the greatest Honour The Resolution THat is to serve God not so much with Sacrifices or Oblations as with a pure Heart and a sincere Conscience and to conform your self to the Obedience of a simple and active Faith Which if you do Great King it will firmly imprint this Truth in your Heart That all you have done and shall do hereafter will be evident and appear to all the World After this past the King with a loud Voice saluted them all ascribing to them great Praise as did also the Assistants especially the Philosophers who were there present and not without Cause For these Persons were of great Authority in all their Speeches laying the Foundations of their Answers and Opinions alwayes in God This done the King returned to Feasting and Meriment The day following the Tables were covered in the same manner as before and all the Lords as before being set at Table the King taking his Opportunity of Devising began to interrogate those who followed the others in the foregoing day of answering and made this Question The twenty fifth Question I would know if Prudence may be taught The Resolution PRudence is a certain Dress and Ornament of the Soul flowing â—rom the Divine Power having this â—roperty to embrace what is good â—nd to refuse its contrary Six and twentieth Question
Cloven-foot its Import as also of the Chewing of the Cud which you inquir'd after assuring you that there is nothing ordained which is superfluous or improper for the forming of the Mind but by this Figurative Manner and Use he hath accommodated all things according to Truth Also the said Law-giver by a like Figure hath admonished us from falling into Injustice and Sin by the hearing or too much relying upon our Eloquence Prattle and Jesting which we may learn in the consideration of vile Beasts for the Weasels are of a filthy Complexion as also Rats and such like Creatures which he hath forbidden us to handle or touch For Rats they make all things foul infectious and hurtful and are not only pernicious to eat but wholly unprofitable to Man in all things And Weasels are a sort of Vermine which are yet fouler more infectious and the most filthy and impure of all those we speak of For they conceive by the Ear and bring forth their young by the Throat which is a thing detestable in Men in what they hear and report receiving by the Ear any cursed Folly to utter and be delivered of the same by the Tongue and Report and to exasperate the same by Words odious and bitter Of which oft times there arises cause of great Inconvenience and that which of it self is nauseous and loathsom they improve and amplify with an elaborate wicked Invention by all means possible Wherefore your King as we have heard justly causes such Men to be punished capitally I think said I then that by such you mean the Emphanists for the King punisheth those without Hope or Mercy by Process with Tortures and Sufferings and even with an ignominious Death They are the same said Eleazar for their Idleness and Negligence brings nothing to Men but Mischief and most dangerous Ruine and Destruction And likewise our Law commands to do no wrong or injury to any Person either by Word or Deed. See then how I advertise you in short and shew you that all our Demeanours by the Law are directed to Justice and Equity and that our holy Scriptures allow not any thing that in Appearance is evil nor ought to be done impertinently and with Choler But we are commanded that in all our Lives we demean our selves towards all Men in all our Conversations and Deportments justly and graciously as having always in Mind God for the great Judge of Secrets Now to whom could it seem otherwise but that Eleazar had well and pertinently spoken of those filthy Vermin Reptiles and of other Creatures also manifesting thereby very properly that all the Letter of the Law tended to no other end then Justice and to shape and fashion well the Manners and Dispositions of Men. Further he delivered himself concerning the Oblations of Calves of Sheep and of Goats raising thereupon a fair Discourse shewing that it was their custom to select such Beasts from the Folds and Herds as were Tractable and Tame to make them their Offerings to God never offering Sacrifice with wild or hurtful Beasts because those that made these Oblations and offered them should not entertain Savage Thoughts or be elated with intractable Pâ—ide but instructed by the Gentle and Innocent Nature of the Victims and that they should learn from such Instances to become Humble and Patient and in their Sacrificing to have their Minds erect as raised to God the Creator of all things Hitherto Philocrates I have framed to you by writing these memorable things considering the itch you have to learn and to know which I have done to the end that by this little you may understand the Majesty of the Law the Causes and Natural Considerations that are therein contained and now I will return from whence we have Digressed The Return of the Ambassadors to Alexandria with the Doctors of the Jews and how the King adored the Holy Law seven times with Tears in his Eyes ELEAZAR then after the Sacrifices were performed as was customary having chosen the Persons as is before specified to send unto the King he sent him also many rich Presents which indeed were very splendid When therefore we had tken leave and parted from him very friendly with his Salutation of Peace and were returned to Alexandria our arrival was forthwith made known to the King And soon after Andrea and my self entred into the Kings Hall and making most humble Reverence we presented to his Majesty the Letters of Eleazar Then the King overjoyed that the Event of this Voyage had succeeded so well having obtained the Persons much to be wisht for made the Croud of those that attended on their Petitions and Suits to quit the Place and commanded that the Iewish Doctors should immediately have notice to attend which was sooner than they expected For the Custom of the Country is when any Ambassadors arrive upon any Business they are sent about it is not permited them to be presented to the King unless they are Ambassadors from Kings or from very Honourable States and Republicks nor without great difficulty to have Audience till thirty dayes after their Arrival and sometimes longer as the King is pleased to make a Difference with regard to the Degree of those that sent them But the King having cleared the Place of those he judged not necessary to this Entertainment continued in the Hall expecting till the Doctors were presented to make their Obeysance Who being introduced did their Duties in delivering the Presents sent the King from Eleazar Likewise they Presented him with divers Skins of Parchment exceeding fine smooth and delicate bound up with a Binding very rare and uncommon In which Skins was the Divine Law of Moses in Letters of Gold and in the Hebrew Language a thing very curious to behold Upon their presenting them to the King sitting in his Chair of State the King presently turned towards them taking notice of them all one after another and then required of them the Volumes of the Law Then they unfolded the Rouls wrapt up in these Skins of Parchment or Vellam aforesaid Which the King seriously beholding remained as one transported a pretty space After which he adored the Holy Law seven times saying these Words We give you Thanks my Masters and much more him that sent you hither and the High God above all of whom these are the Sacred Words Then the said Doctors and all those who were attending the King let fall great Expressions of Joy with Acclamation and there fell Tears of Joy from the Kings Eyes as we see many times that exceeding Transports will draw Tears from the Eyes especially in Excesses of a more sublime and intellectual Nature Then the King required the Skins and Volumes of the Law should be folded up again which done he saluted the Doctors saying Reason requires grave Sirs that first we pay you Honour and Regard in as much as We were the Occasion of your coming hither for which cause we give you our Hand with
second of that Name Surnamed Philadelphus King of Aegypt of Phaenicia and of Cypres Son of the first Ptolomeus Son of Lagus began his Reign in the 271 year before the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. This Ptolomeus Philadelphus was endoctrined in the Science of good Letters by Strabo the Peripatetick in which he became so excellent that he was esteemed one of the most accomplish'd Princes of his Time but that which was in him the most admirable was the Bounty Debonarity Sweetness and Gentleness of his Spirit accommodated with the Manners and Complexions of all worthy and deserving Persons By this means he entred so far and before in the Grace of all the World that every one in his thought wish'd he were King And his Father knowing his right of Succession was to be so and rejoycing in his hopes of him made him to be crowned King and devested himself of all Authority without reserving any Power Right or Preheminence to himself only a Superintendency over the Guard of the King his Son glorifying to be Father of such a King For the admiration he had of his high Vertues kindled and gave occasion between them both of a most kind contention in mutual Offices the Son yielding to the Father and the Father to the Son in all and by all through instinct of Devotion and Piety so they gave lively touches one to the other in all reduceable fitting Offices which was cause that the People conceived a great Fidelity and Amity towards them so as it seemed even the Divine Providence prepared this Noble Spirit to introduce that great good amongst Humanes as to make them participants of the Laws and Divine Illuminations wherewith God had favoured the People of the Iews above all the Nations of the World And it seemeth that even then his Almightiness made a preparative for the Vocation of the Ethnicks and Gentiles by Communication so of his holy Law whereof Ptolomy was the ordained Minister to call the Seventy Interpreters into Aegypt to translate into the Greek Language which then was the most used and vulgar through the whole Universe So as I am amazed at some fanatical Spirits that hinder us from the Knowledge of God in not giving his Word in the Language of the People wheresoever as is appertaining to every one in Regard of Salvation I would ask those men what Language spake those Dames of Rome Paula Eustochina Melania Susanna Fabiola Demetria Furia Flavia Blesilla and others For the institution of whom Saint Hierom translated many Books of Holy Scriptures out of strange Tongues into Latin which was the natural Language of the said Ladies I would also know who was more Wise or better inspired then St. Hierom Further it seems they either are or would seem to be ignorant of the Institution of the Emperour Iustinian who ordained that those who sung in the Temples that they should sing high and so intelligible that all the People might understand them But to return to Ptolomy He undertook to erect a Library in the Capital City of his Realm Alexandria the Charge whereof he gave to Demetrius Phalerius a Prince and an Athenian Philosopher who erected it so sumptuously that there was not the like in all the World and it lasted until the first War of the Romans against the Alexandrians This King had to Wife Arsinoe to whom he caused a Statue to be raised in height four Cubits of one entire Stone call'd a Topaz the which had been given to Bernice the Mother of Ptolomy by a Prince named Philemon 2. Of Aristeus the Author of this History ARISTEVS the near Kinsman and Friend of King Ptolomeus Philadelphus is named by St. Hierom Ptolomei Hyperaspistes the Shield of the King or he that defends the King with his Shield or Bearer of the Shield Royal which seems to me that he held some such place about the King his Master as we call at this Day the Great Esquire of the Kings Body he was the Principal Sollicitor for the Liberty of the Iews that then were held Slaves throughout all the Dominions of Ptolomy for he made the first request for them and obtained it And for this cause he was sent Ambassadour with Andrea Prince of the Guards belonging to the King unto Hierusalem to deal with the High-Priest Eleazar who sent to the King Ptolomeus six Doctors of every Tribe to go on with the Translation and Version of the Holy Books of Moses He writ diligently his Voyage where he shews openly how and by what course those seventy two Interpreters behaved themselves in the said Books Some have been of Opinion that they Translated all the Bible but it is more likely to many that they Translated but the five Books that is Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers and Deuteronomy which they call the Pentateuck which is the Law of Moses for Aristeus speaks but of the Law of Moses and it is not likely that they touched the Books Historical nor the Prophets for if it had been so Aristeus would not have been silent thereof Moreover that which they Translated was finished in the space of seventy two dayes which is about two Months and a half and that 's a Time too small and therefore impossible to Translate all the Old Testament Nevertheless I am not ignorant that there was a turning of other Books of the Bible that go by the name of the seventy two Interpreters But I am perswaded that they were not then done in Egypt unless that after they were returned to Hierusalem they Translated the rest of the Holy Books although both in that and other Opinions I submit me to the deliberation of the Church from which I will not stray But however this Translation was manifestly Miraculous which is sufficiently shewed by that our Lord Jesus Christ and his Apostles in Allegations of the Law use the Version of these seventy two Interpreters I have spoken these few Words of Aristeus to the end the Reader shall not think that this is that Aristeus Proconensis that could be invisible when he listed making folks believe that he could dye and rise again when he would of whom speaks Suidas Herodotus Pliny and Plutarch in the Life of Romulus 3. Of Eleazer the High-Priest of the Jews ELeazar of whom Aristeus makes mention was brother of Simon surnamed the Just He after the decease of his Brother Simon in the year of the reign of Ptolomy first of that Name 35. was made chief of the Synagogue of the Iews by reason that Onias Son of Simon his Brother was uncapable of succeeding in his Father's Place as being under age This Eleazar therefore received the Honour that in his Time the Holy Translation of the Law was made by the seventy two Doctors that he seâ—t to Ptolomeus second of that Name King of Egypt as Aristeus hath left by Writing 4. Of Demetrius Phalerius DEmetrius Phalerius was an Athenian Orator and Philosopher as Cicero notes in the
Study esteeming no search more than how to excel one the other in accessible graciousness and sweetness of hearing and answering so that every one of them were esteemed of in their Tribe as men worthy to have Preheminence and Principality for the Vertue that was in them And it is worth the noting in what Honour they held Eleazar and in what Respect he held them For besides that he writ to the King to take care for their convenient return he recommended with a passionate desire and tender affection these reverent Persons to Andrea desiring with many Intreaties and Requests that we should with our Credits and Grace with the King open them a fair Access To which we made Answer that as these things were matters of our special Charge so we should be careful to Discharge our selves answerably with all due Care wherefore we desired he would be at ease in that point for they should therein be absolutely free I assure you said he I am upon this occasion in no little pain and not without just cause for I know the King a Prince so diligent a Lover of vertuous and worthy Persons and how industriously he seeks them that there is no place free from his desires when he hears where such are that excel or are remarkable for Wit or Learning And I have been informed that he useth to say what is most true that in such manner of men dwells and consists the strength and defence of his Kingdom and especially when he hath near about his person good store of Wise and Just men who have provident Counsel to give him lest all should miscarry Which I perceive well by those he hath pleased to send hither And we earnestly profess that we send not these persons to be assisting to him in the Affairs of his Government but for the Publick Profit and an Universal Good of all his people in which regard nothing ought to be refused nothing that we will not indure For though the form of Well Living consists in the observation and accomplishment of Moral Precepts and Constitutions Nevertheless it is better learn'd and taught by the Knowledge and Experience of the things themselves than in the abstracted nakedness of Words By this speech and such like we came to know what great affection Eleazar did bear to these Persons Of the Answers made by Eleazar upon certain points of the Law of Moses IT behoveth also we touch briefly the Answers Eleazar made us to our Questions For knowing the Iews with great nicety esteem the observances and differences of meats and drinks according to their Law and that of certain Beasts they esteem some unclean and infected We therefore enâ—uired saying since all things are of one and the same Creation and receive one and the same Substance whence is it that some are rejected as Infectious as well to Eat as to Touch so that as it should seem the Law treateth more Magisterially than Rationally Eleazar then Answered you know not said he what force and vertue Custome hath as to Well-Living and what Alterations and Changes she brings in Humane Affairs See we not that those who converse with the Evil let themselves looâ—e to a course of Corruption in Manners whereby they become Wretched all their lives after On the Contrary those that accustome and habituate themselves with the Wise and Intelligent although they are yet ignorant change from good to better and become happy and fortunate Which our Law-maker considering resolving all his Laws into Piety and Justice he hath not only taught us all we ought to do by Words but expressâ—d all by Instancâ—s and forbidding us to do Evil hath set before our Eyes the Causes why God hath created every thing First he hath taught that God is One and All by the Power of whom all things are Governed and Subsist and that He is present in all Places and without Whom nothing can remain in its Being be it never so Little and that Nothing can be hidden from Him whatsoever men do upon Earth never so Secretly even what men Do and Think within themselves or what they Plod and Contract one with another all is to Him notorious and Naked before his Eyes For He sees the things To Come as if they were Present Moreover he out of his gracious Goodness teacheth us that when any one sets himself to work Evil he may assure himself it cannot be Hidden and proposes thus by all the Law no other thing than to shew the Power and Strength of our good God Being then heedful of the begining of these things he sheweth that other People who have Opinion that there are many Gods are themselves more powerful than the Gods they by Folly adore For they affirm foolishly that the Images and Resemblances they frame of Stone or of Wood are the Representations and Shapes of those who have brought to light by their Inventions some Advantages to the Civil Affairs of Life and these they Worship prostrating themselves on their Knees before them But they are out of their right Wits and indeed out of themselves and if one demand of them what are their Inventions they alledge something produced from Nature as if it were indeed a thing produced created and composed by the fore-said Inventors although they never contributed thereto in which they sufficiently manifest their Perverseness and Stupidity For it is well known that if there be question of any good Invention that there may be found at this day Persons more learned more subtil and more quick to invent any Art then they have done who have been in times past yet they are not therefore adored as Gods although the Sage Greeks esteemed such Inventors worthy of Honour What should I speak of the Egyptians and their Neighbours who are herein madder than the others for these have some of them brought in Divine Worship to brute Beasts others unto Reptiles out of common Reason and all Understanding making Sacrifices to the Living and Dead immolating to them Victims Wherefore the Wise and Understanding Law-maker being instituted of God in the Knowledge of all things hath hedged us in and fortified us round as it were with a Trench and Palisado and distinguished us with a Wall of Iron to the end that being innocent in Soul and pure in Body we might not mingle our selves in any sort with other Nations and that rejecting all fond and vain Opinions we might adore one only GOD who hath power above all Creatures For this the Priests of the Egyptians Princes of the People although they fail in other things name us Men of GOD and agree with us in many things because other People have not this Religion to Adore one only God according to the Truth as we do For others give themselves over to Gormandisings and Drunkenness building upon Shadows amusing themselves with no other things but Pleasures and Belly-chear Of which there is no one of us hath so much as thought but all the course of
is not easily to be discerned and in the same it is needful to have Observation a long time for those who are near to a King aspire to make themselves rich and spare no means to get by his Favour great Profit and are naturally Traytors But God conduct Great King your Councel that they may sufficiently shew you who are those that perfectly love you To the other Three and fiftieth Question What is that which conserveth a Kingdom The Resolution THat is that the King take diligent care and give order that those who are in Office and have charge commit no undue things to the prejudice of the People The which you know very well how to perform for as it seemeth God hath given you a Spirit very excellent To the other Four and fiftieth Question By what means he might keep Grace and Honour The Resolution BY Vertue For she is the accomplishment of all great Works and trips up the Feet of Vice as you have long experimented by your excellent Bounty towards all Persons Which in you is a sign of the Gift of God To the other Five and fiftieth Question How in Time of War he might keep himself still in Tranquillity of Spirit The Resolution IF you propose in your Mind to give order that your Lieutenants and Captains commit nothing that is Evil but that they contend by Vertue one with another for the proof of their Vertue and further that they have in you a perfect Confidence that you will have their Domestick Affairs in a singular Respect if it happen that they lose their Lives for and in your Service By this means you shall have no Occasion to be troubled disposing all prudently by Divine Clemency which will inspire you to understand all that is good King Ptolomy receiving this Answer with great expressions of Joy with a chearful Countenance entreated them all to drink shewing extream Content and Satisfaction The seventh Day the Feast was prepared more great and more sumptuous than it had hitherto been because that many Ambassadours from Cities were arrived there Then all being set in their Order the King finding occasion to devise asked the first of those that had not yet spoken their Advise in this same manner Six and fiftieth Question How he might be resolved throughly by Reason and by Arguments The Resolution IF you weigh well the Propositions which you shall hold and the Persons which speak and the Subject whereof they treat and â—hat you often inform your self and that in divers manners and by long intervals of time of the estate of the above said Affairs For the Bounty of the Spirit is an extraordinary Gift of God by which one may easily know and discern all thingsâ— To the other Seven and fiftieth Question Wherefore is it that many cannot approach unto Vertue The Resolution BEcause Nature hath Created alâ— Humane Creatures subject to incontinence and prompt to Voluptuousness from whence Injusticâ— and Iniquity is ingendred and Avaâ—riciousness does greatly abound Buâ— the estate of Vertue whose Nature is fixed on things sublime casts away all those whom Voluptuousness doth cause to be alienated from her Foâ— she commends before all things thaâ— Justice and Magnanimity shall be observed the which God gives and is therefore the principal Author To the other Eight and fiftieth Question What is that which Kings ought to follow above all things The Resolution THat is the Laws To the end that they ruling the lives of â—ubjects by just and equitable Acts as we have heard you do Great â—ing you shall gain by this means â—â—mortal Memory if you follow the â—recepts and Commands of the most â—igh To the other Nine and Fiftieth Question Who are those that one ought to elect for Offices and Magistracies The Resolution THEY are those that are averse to all things unjust and â—â—at are imitators of your Actions and that being drawn with the sweetness of Vertue pursue incessantly after good Works that they may attain to Glory and Honour to which certainly O Worthy King still following Vertue you will aâ—â—tain For God is he that crowneâ— with Honour and Glory glorioâ—â— Justice To the other The Sixtieth Question What Persons ought one to choose for Captains The Resolution THose that do most exceed Justice and Magnanimity aâ—â— yet have more respect to the Livesâ— Men than to a bloody Victory Fâ—â— God is he from whom all Mortâ—â— receive infinite Goodness the whiâ—â— you shall excellently imitate if yâ—â— persist in doing good to your Suâ—â—jects To the other The One and Sixtieth Question Who is the Man worthy of Admiration The Resolution THat is he who doth highly abound in Glory and Greatness is opulent in Riches and sublime in Puissance yet nevertheless yields himself affable and kind just and equitable to every one as we have heard Great King you do and the same shall make you admired by every one For it is God that hath engraven this Sollicitude in your Heart To the other The Two and Sixtieth Question What behoveth him to exercise himself in when he is at leisure that he may not thereby be drowned in Sloth The Resolution IT is necessary with all imaginable care and diligence to consider the Discourse which offer concerning the form and manner of living which every one ought constantly to have before his Eyes Likewise to bear always in mind to whaâ— end Property and Vertue were alâ— things ordained Because in the saiâ— Discourse there is much good anâ— honest pastime conjoined to the inâ—crease of Knowledge For amongst little and vile things one finds maâ—ny times something that may pleasâ— him to choose and take for the reâ—â— Great King it seems well to uâ—â— God hath in a great measure so faâ—voured you that you will still bâ— electing all vertuous behaviour anâ— kindness by the great honour yoâ— bear to the study of Wisdom Tâ— the other The Three and Sixtieth Question In what things ought Kings most to employ their time The Resolution IN the knowledge of Histories and in reading Books which treat of Affairs that most often present themselves to him in which it is needful thatâ— he imploy much time It behoâ—eth moreover that he enquire for those Writings that teach to conserve Kingdoms and to correct the manners of men which to accomplish with such diligence as you do God will give prosperity to your Designs in which he will grant you â—n excellent Glory far above other Kings To the other The Four and Sixtieth Question What Persons ought one to invite to Banquets The Resolution ONe ought to call those which are desirous to learn and those who often think how the Affairs of a Kingdom ought to pass and that know how to recount the Lives of Princes for there is nothing more pleasant nor more delectable then such Company For they are those that are well instituted and instructed in the Beauty of Knowledge and have God in high Reverence The which thing it seems you do accomplish well
in charge was therein so careful that there was nothing made ready for the Kings Person but every day they had as much of the same to every single Person and he would once the day come to visit them with courtship in his own proper Person and they sometimes went to salute the King with great Reverence and so return'd to privacy Every Morning it was their Custom to make their Prayers to God after they had wash'd their Hands in the Sea as the Iews customarily use Lavations and then retir'd to their Readings and Interpretations I was so bold to ask them why they so washed their Hands before they made their Prayers to which demand they made this Answer that this washing of the hands did admonish them to do nothing wickedly but to devote all their Actions to Piety and Sanctity because that all the Works they did with their Hands might be effected according to Justice Truth and Cleanness as we have before said To conclude these Personages being in such Serenity of Air Beauty of dwelling Tranquility of Silence Pleasantness of Repose and Royal Entertainment finished the Work undertaken and which is a note of Admiration they had so expresly ordered it among themselves and followed it with such care and diligence that the Interpretation of the Law was fully finished in the space of 72 Dayes Demetrius then seeing the Translation and Interpretation of the Law was so well and happily brought to an end used means that the multitude of the Iews then being in Egypt might be convocated to the place where the Work was then perfected to whom he shewed how all things had been done beginning with all Circumstances of the Enterprize and all in the presence of the Interpreters To the King all the Multitude attributed great Praise and gave infinite thanks for being the mediate cause of so important a good and a benefit of such excellency Likewise they shared a part of the Honour to Demetrius intreating him to shew them that Favour as to have a Copy for their Princes for to haue their Advice and to deliberate upon the Profit or Damage that might arise upon the same In this sort was the Law reviewed re-known and received in the assembly of the Princes of the Iews and of the Multitude and of the Ambassadors of Towns And upon Proclamation made the seventy two Doctors being present that all was well and holily Translated and done after a most exquisite manner it was provided that nothing thereof should be changed and that all things should remain in the same estate without alteration of the least thing or tittle As the Translation was thus approved of all and the Decree made for the ratification of the same Demetrius commanded that according to their custom they should make Imprecations and Maledictions against those which should undertake or should presume to add any thing thereto or to transferr it otherwayes by changing effacing or ordering any thing whatsoever it were unto that which was so perfectly now written And when all was perfected and accomplished in this manner he adâ—ured the Iews to hold keep and preserve it inviolably for ever the which they promised to do with great Joy and Acclamation So Demetrius finding himself greatly satisfied especially because he had been a great Conductor of the Work and that he had given to the King such Content in the happy execution and accomplishment of his charge and of this his Felicity made great Complements to the King Who having after with great Diligence perus'd this Interpretation and considered the profundity of the Sence of the Law-maker which he admired with an astonished regard he said to Demetrius How comes it to pass that none of the Poets or Historians have put their Hands to this Law being it is a thing of so high and perfect Excellency To which Demetrius answered that no body never durst touch it as well for the reverence of the same as also that God had forbidden it so as some having presumed to attempt it have been chastised with Divine Punishment whereupon they have been constrained to desist from their enterprize For as testifieth Theopompus which by a recital of himself saith that presuming to transferr into his History some Secrets of the Holy Law he was afflicted more then 30 dayes following with a perturbation of his Understanding But calling upon God in the Intervals and Cessations of the most vehement fits of this his Malady it was told him in his sleep this Punishment was sent him from God for having presumed to prophane and falsifie things Sacred So by this Vision he was corrected repented and perfectly received his Sences again And said Demetrius upon mine own knowledge I affirm that Theodorus a Tragick Poet willing to usurp something from this Law therewith to enrich his Poesie lost his sight Nevertheless advising with himself and concluding that this his Audaciousness was the cause of his Blindness prayed to God for many dayes whereby he came again to Health The King saying that this was wisely spoken adored the Law Commanding that the Books of the same should be preserved the most curiously and carefully that might be possible and advising with the Interpreters benignely and graciously prayed them that when they were in Iudea they would often come and see him Finally he gave order that they should be honourably returned back and conducted into their Country promising them that how oft soever and when they pleased to return he would entertain them as his principal Friends so honouring them with fair Presents according to their Merits and commanding that all things should be made ready for the dispatch of their return using towards them all Royal Magnificence He gave to every one of them three rich Habilliments and two Talents of Gold and an excellent Cup of the weight of a Talent Moreover Furniture to furnish a Chamber over and above he sent to Eleazer ten Table-beds or Couches of ease which had the Feet of Silver and adorned with all that was necessary to the beautifying of them Further he sent him a Present of thirty Talents of Cilicia that is to say ten Robes whereof the one was of Purple and a fair Crown of an hundred Tunicks of Crespe of Viols of Basins and two Cups of Gold for the Sacrifices After he intreated Eleazar that when any of the said Doctors should desire rather to return to him then to remain in Hierusalem that he would not hinder them by any means for he protested he made great esteem of wise Mens Company and that he would spare for nothing to draw them to him In which he should best employ his Riches to all imaginable Content and Profit and not as some Prodigal Princes do in vain Trifles that profit nothing Behold here my Philocrates the Present which I promised you in which I hope you will take more Pleasure than in reading vain fabulous Narrations being that you use to whet and sharpen your Understanding in the Contemplation