still forward to those that are before him and it is a greater griefe vnto him to suffer one to go beyond him than it is pleasure vnto him to leaue a thousand behind him Habet hoc vitium omnis ambitio non respicit It is twofolde Seneca the one of glory and honor the other of greatnesse and command that is profitable to the world and in some sense permitted as shall be proued this pernitious The seed and root of ambition is naturall in vs. There is a 2 It is natural prouerbe that saith That Nature is content with a little and another quite contrarie That Nature is neuer satisfied neuer content but it still desireth hath a will to mount higher and to enrich it selfe and it goeth not a slow pace neither but with a loose bridle it runneth headlong to greatnesse and glorie Natura nostra imperij est auida ad implendum cupiditatem praeceps And with such force and violence doe some men runne that they breake their owne necks as many great men haue done euen at the dawning as it were and vpon the point of entrance and full fruition of that greatnesse which hath cost them so deare It is a naturall and very powerfull passion and in the end is the last that leaueth vs and therefore one calleth it The shirt of the soule because it is the last vice it putteth off Etiam sapientibus cupido gloriae nouissima Tacitus exuitur Ambition as it is the strongest and most powerfull passion that is so is it the most noble and haughty the force and puissance The force and primacy thereof thereof is shewed in that it mastereth and surmounteth all other things euen the strongest of the world yea all other passions and affections euen loue it selfe which seemeth neuerthelesse to contend with it for the Primacy As we may see in all the great men of the world Alexander Scipio Pompey and many other who haue couragiously refused to touch the most beautifull damosels that were in their power burning neuerthelesse with ambition yea that victory they had ouer loue serued their ambition especially in Caesar For neuer was there a man more giuen to amorous delights euen of all sexes and all sorts of people witnesse so many exploits both at Rome and in strange countries nor more carefull and curious in adorning his person yet ambition did alwaies so carry him that for his amorous pleasures hee neuer lost an houre of time which he might employ to the inlargement of his greatnesse for ambition had the soueraigne place in him and did fully possesse him We see on the other side that in Marcus Antonius and others the force of loue hath made them to forget the care and conduct of their affaires But yet both of them being weighed in equall ballance ambition carieth away the price They that hold that loue is the stronger say that both the soule and the body the whole man is possessed by it yea that health it selfe dependeth thereupon But contrariwise it seemeth that ambition is the stronger because it is altogether spirituall And in as much as loue possesseth the body it is therefore the more weake because it is subiect to saciety and therefore capable of remedies both corporall naturall and strange as experience sheweth of many who by diuers meanes haue alaied yea quite extinguished the force and fury of this passion but ambition is not capable of saciety yea it is sharpned by the fruition of that it desireth and there is no way to extinguish it being altogether in the soule it selfe and in the reason It doth likewise vanquish loue and robbeth it not onlie of it health and tranquillity for glory tranquillity are things 4 The care of life that cannot lodge together but also of it owne proper life as Agrippina the mother of Nero doth plainly proue who desiring and consulting with others to make hir sonne Emperour and vnderstanding that it could not bee done but with the losse of her owne life she answered as if ambition it selfe had spoken it Occidar modò imperet Thirdly Ambition enforceth all the lawes and conscience it selfe the learned haue said of ambition that it is the part 5 The lawes of euery honest man alwaies to obey the lawes except it bee in a case of soueraignty for a kingdome which only deserueth a dispensation being so dainty a morsell that it cannot but breake a mans fast Si violandum est ius regnandi caussa violandum est in caeteris pietatem colas It likewise trampleth vnder foote and contemneth the reuerence 6 Religion respect of religion witnesse Ieroboam Mahumet who neuer tooke thought for religion but tolerated all religions so he might raigne and all those arch-hereticks who haue liked better to be chiefe leaders in errours and lies with a thousand disorders than to be disciples of the trueth and therfore saith the Apostle that they that suffer themselues to 1. Tim. 6. bee puffed vp with this passion and affection make shipwracke and wander from the faith piercing themselues thorow with many sorowes To be short it offereth violence euen to the lawes of Nature it selfe This hath beene the cause of so many murders 7 It enforceth Nature of parents infants brothers witnesse Absalon Abimelech Athalias Romulus Sei King of the Persians who killed both his father and brother Soliman the Great Turke his two brothers So that nothing is able to resist the force of ambition it beats all to the ground so high and haughtie is it It lodgeth only in great mindes euen in the Angels themselues Ambition is not the vice or passion of base companions 8 It is a lofty passion nor of common or small attempts and dayly enterprises Renowne and glorie doth not prostitute it selfe to so base a price it pursueth not those things that are simply and solely good and profitable but those that are rare high difficult strange and vnusuall That great thirst after honour and reputation that casts downe a man and makes him a begger and to ducke and stoop to all sorts of people by all means yea the most abiect at what base price soeuer is vile and dishonourable it is a shame and dishonour so to be honoured A man must not be greedie of greater glorie than he is capable of and to swell and to be puffed vp for euery good and profitable action is to shew his taile while hee lifts vp his head Ambition hath many and diuers waies and is practised by diuers meanes there is one way strait and open such as 9 It hath diuers waies Alexander Caesar Themistocles tooke there is another oblique and hidden which many philosophers and professors of pietie haue taken who goe forwards by going backward goe before others by going behind them not vnlike to wierdrawers who draw and goe backward they would faine be glorious by contemning glory And to say the trueth there is greater glory in
of the wiues are kept apart and carrie in some places the titles of lawfull wiues in others of concubines and their children are onely pensioners The vse of repudiation in like sort is different for with 12 Repudiation diuers some as the Hebrewes Greeks Armenians the cause of the separation is not expressed and it is not permitted to retake the wife once repudiated but yet lawfull to marry another But by the law of Mahumet the separation is made by the Iudge with knowledge taken of the cause except it be by mutuall consent which must be adulterie sterilitie incompatibilitie of humours an enterprise on his or hir part against the life of each other things directly and especiallie contrarie to the state and institution of mariage and it is lawfull to retake one another as often as they shall thinke good The former seemeth to be the better because it bridleth proud women and ouer-sharp and bitter husbands The second which is to expresse the cause dishonoureth the parties discouereth many things which should be hid And if it fall out that the cause be not sufficientlie verified and that they must continue together poysonings and murthers doe commonly ensue many times vnknowne vnto men as it was discouered at Rome before the vse of repudiation where a woman being apprehended for poysoning of her husband accused others and they others too to the number of threescore and ten which were all executed for the same offence But the worst law of all others hath beene that the adulterer escapeth almost euery where without punishment of death and all that is laid vpoÌ„ him is diuorce separation of companie brought in by Iustinian a man whollie possessed by his wife who caused whatsoeuer lawes to passe that might make for the aduantage of women From hence doth arise a danger of perpetuall adulterie desire of the death of the one partie the offender is not punished the innocent iniured remaineth without amends The dutie of maried folke See Lib. 3. Cap. 12. CHAP. XLVII Of Parents and Children THere are many sorts and degrees of authoritie and humane power Publicke and Priuate but there is none 1 Fatherly power more naturall nor greater than that of the father ouer his children I say father because the mother who is subiect vnto hir husband cannot properly haue hir children in hir power and subiection but it hath not been alwayes and in all places alike In former times almost euery where it was absolute and vniuersall ouer the life and death the libertie the goods the honor the actions and cariages of their children as to plead to marie to get goods as namely with the Romans by the expresse law of Romulus parentum in liberos omne ius esto relegendi vendendi occidendi except only children vnder Dion Halic li 2. antiq Rom l. in â—uis ff de lib. post Aul. Gell. lib. 20. Lib. 8. Eth. cap. 20. Lib 6. Bel. Gal. Prosper Aquitan in Epist Sigism the age of three yeares who as yet could not offend either in word or deede which law was afterwards renued by the law of the twelue tables by which the father was allowed to sell his children to the third time with the Persians according to Aristotle the ancient French as Caesar and Prosper affirme with the Muscouits and Tartars who might sell their children to the fourth time And it should seeme by that fact of Abraham going about to kill his sonne that this power was likewise vnder the law of nature for if it had been against his dutie and without the power of the father he had neuer consented thereunto neither had hee euer thought that it was God that commanded him to do it if it had beene against nature And therefore we see that Isaac made no resistance nor alledged his innocencie knowing that it was in the power of his father which derogateth not in any sort from the greatnesse of the faith of Abraham because he would not sacrifice his sonne by vertue of his right or power nor for any demerit of Isaac but only to obey the commandement of God So likewise it was in force by the law of Moyses though somewhat Deut. 21. moderated So that we see what this power hath been in ancient times in the greatest part of the world and which endured vnto the time of the Romane Emperours With the Greeks it was not so great and absolute nor with the Egyptians neuerthelesse if it fell out that the father had killed his sonnes wrongfully and without cause he had no other punishment but to be shut vp three daies together with the dead bodie Now the reasons and fruits of so great and absolute a power 2 The reasons and fruits thereof of fathers ouer their children necessarie for the culture of good maners the chasing away of vice and the publike good were first to holde the children in awe and dutie and secondly because there are many great faults in children that would escape vnpunished to the great preiudice of the weale publike if the knowledge and punishment of them were but in the hand of publike authoritie whether it be because they are domesticall and secret or because there is no man that will prosecute against them for the parents who know them and are interessed in them will not discredit them besides that there are many vices and insolencies that are neuer punished by iustice Adde heereunto that there are many things to be tried and many differences betwixt parents and children brothers and sisters touching their goods or other matters which are not fit to be published which are extinct and buried by this fatherly authoritie And the law did alwayes suppose that the father would neuer abuse this authoritie because of that great loue which he naturally carrieth to his children incompatible with crueltie which is the cause that in stead of punishing them with rigour they rather become intercessours for them when they are in danger of the law and there can be no greater torment to them than to see their children in paine And it falleth out very seldome or neuer that this power is put in practise without very great occasion so that it was rather a scarcrow to children and very profitable than a rigour in good earnest Now this fatherly power as ouer-sharpe and dangerous is almost of it selfe lost and abolished for it hath rather hapned 3 The declination by a kinde of discontinuance than any expresse law and it beganne to decline at the comming of the Romane Emperours for from the time of Augustus or shortly after it was no more in force whereby children became so desperate and insolent against their parents that Seneca speaking to Nero Lib. 1. de Clem. sayd That hee had seene more paricides punished in fiue yeeres past than had beene in seuen hundred yeeres before that is to say since the foundation of Rome In former times if it fell out that the father killed his
the end to assaile too The bitings of dying beasts are mortall Fractis rebus violentior vltima virtus And againe the issue is alwaies vncertaine Melior tutiorque certa pax sperata victoria illa in tua haec in decrum manu est And many times the poison lieth in the taile and the more fauourable fortune is the more it is to bee feared Nemo se tuto diu periculis offerre tam crebris potest But it is truly honorable it is a glory hauing a victorie in his hands Honorable to be facill and easily perswaded vnto peace it is to make knowen that he vndertaketh a warre iustly and doth wisely finish it And contrarilie to refuse it and afterwards by some ill successe to repent the refusall it is very dishonourable and will be said that glory hath vndone him Hee refused peace S. Bernard and would haue honour and so hath lost them both But hee must offer a gratious and a debonaire peace to the end it may be durable For if it be ouer rough and cruell at the first aduantage that may be offered the vanquished will reuolt Si bonam de deritis fidam perpetuam si malam haud diuturnam Liuius It is as great greatnesse to shew as much lenitie towards the suppliant vanquished as valour against the enemie The Romanes did verie well put this in practise and it did them no harme CHAP. IIII. Of that prudence which is required in difficult affaires and ill accidents publicke and priuate THE PREFACE HAuing spoken of that politicke prudence required in a soueraigne for the cariage of himselfe and his good gouernment wee will heere seuerally speake of that prudence that is necessarie for the preseruation of himselfe and the remedying of those affaires and difficult and dangerous accidents which may happen either to himselfe or his particular subiects First these affaires and accidents are very diuers they are either publike or particular either to come and such as threaten The diuision of this matter by distinction of the accidents vs or present and pressing vs the one are onely doubtfull and ambiguous the other dangerous and important because of their violence And they that are the greater and more difficult are either secret and hid and they are two that is to say conspiracy against the person of the Prince or the state and treason against the places and companies or manifest and open and these are of diuers sorts For they bee either without forme of warre and certaine order as popular commotions for small and light occasions factions and leagues betweene subiects of the one against the other in small and great number great or little seditions of the people against the prince or magistrate rebellion against the authoritie and head of the Prince or they are ripe and formed into a warre and are called ciuill warres which are of so many kindes as the aboue named troubles and commotions which are the causes foundations and seedes of them but haue growen and are come into consequence and continuance Of them all wee will speake distinctly and wee will giue aduice and counsell as well to soueraignes as particular persons great and small how to carrie themselues wisely therein I. Of the euils and accidents that doe threaten vs. IN those crosse and contrarie accidents whereunto wee are subiect there are two diuers maners of cariage they may be both good according to the diuers natures both of the accidents and of those to whom they happen The one is strongly to contest and to oppose a mans selfe against the accident to remoue all things that may hinder the diuerting thereof or at least to blunt the point to dead the blow thereof either to escape it or to force it This requireth a strong and obstinate mind and hath need of hard and painfull care The other is incontinently to take and receiue these accidents at the woorst and to resolue himselfe to beare them sweetly and patiently and in the meane time to attend peaceablie whatsoeuer shall happen without tormenting himselfe or hindering it The former studieth how to range the accidents this himselfe That seemeth to be more couragious this more sure That continueth in suspence is tossed betweene feare and hope this putteth himselfe into safetie and lieth so low that he cannot fall lower The lowest march is the surest and the seat of constancie That laboureth to escape this to suffer and many times this maketh the better bargaine Often times it falleth out that there is greater inconuenience and losse in pleading and contending than in losing in flying for safety than in suffering A couetous man tormenteth himselfe more than a poore a zealous than a cuckold In the former prudence is more requisite because hee is in action in this patience But what hindreth but that a man may performe both in order and that where prudence and vigilancie can do nothing there patience may succeed Doubtlesse in publike euils a man must assay the first which such are bound to do as haue the charge and can do it in particular let euerie one chuse the best II. Of euils and accidents present pressing and extreame THe proper meanes to lighten euils and to sweeten passions is not for a man to oppose himselfe for opposition enflameth and increaseth them much more A man by the iealousie of contention and contradiction sharpneth and stirreth the euill but it is either in diuerting them else-where as Physitians vse to doe who knowing not how to purge and wholly to cure a disease seeke to diuert it into some other part lesse dangerous which must be done sweetly and insensiblie This is an excellent remedie against all euils and which is practised in all things if a man marke it well whereby we are made to swallow the sowrest morsels yea death it selfe and that insensiblie abducendus animus est ad alia studia curas negotia loci denique mutatione tanquam aegroti non conualescentes saepe curandus est As a man counselleth those that are to passe ouer some fearefull deepe place either to shut or to diuert their eies When a man hath occasion to launce a sore in a child he flattereth him and withdraweth his mind to some other matter A man must practise the experiment and subtiltie of Hypomenes who being to runne with Atlanta a damsell of excellent beautie and to lose his life if he lost the goale to marrie the damsell if he woon it furnished himselfe with three faire apples of gold which at diuers times he let fall to stay the course of the damsell whilest she tooke them vp and so by diuerting hir get the aduantage of hir and gained hir selfe so if the consideration of some present vnhappie accident or the memorie of any that is past do much afflict vs or some violent passion which a man cannot tame do moue and torment vs we must change and turne our thoughts to some thing else and substitute vnto our selues some
freedome and libertie to all those that were of their religion in such sort that about the twelue hundred yeare there were almost no slaues in the world but where these two religions had no authoritie But as the number of slaues diminished the number of beggers and vagabonds increased for so many slaues being 7 The increase of poore people and vagabonds set at libertie come from the houses and subiection of their Lords not hauing wherewithall to liue and perhaps hauing children too filled the world with poore people This pouertie made them returne to seruitude and to become 8 Returne to seruitude voluntarie slaues paying changing selling their libertie to the end they might haue their maintenance and life assured and be quit of the burthen of their children Besides this cause and this voluntarie seruitude the world is returned to the vse of slaues because the Christians and Turks alwaies mainteining warres one against the other as likewise against the Gentiles both orientall and occidentall although by the example of the Iewes they haue no slaues of their owne nation yet they haue of others whom though they turne to their religion they hold slaues by force The power and authoritie of masters ouer their seruants is not very great nor imperious and in no sort can be preiudiciall to the libertie of seruants only they may chastise and correct them with discretion and moderation This power is much lesse ouer those that are mercenarie ouer whom they haue neither power nor correction The dutie of Masters and Seruants See lib. 3. cap. 15. CHAP. XLIX Of the State Soueraigntie Soueraignes HAuing spoken of priuate power we come to the publicke 1 The description and necessitie of the state that of the state The state that is to say Rule dominion or a certaine order in commanding and obeying is the prop the cement and the soule of humane things It is the bond of societie which cannot otherwise subsist It is the vitall spirit whereby so many millions of men doe breath and the whole nature of things Now notwithstanding it be the piller and prop of all yet it is a thing not so sure very difficult subiect to changes arduuin 2 The nature of the state Tacit. subiectum fortunae cuncta regendi onus which declineth and sometimes falleth by hidden and vnknowne causes and that altogether at an instant from the highest step to the lowest and not by degrees as it vseth to be long arising It is likewise exposed to the hatred both of great and small wherby it is gauled subiect to ambushments vnderminings and dangers which hapneth likewise many times by the corrupt and wicked manners of the soueraignes and the nature of the soueraigntie which we are about to describe Soueraigntie is a perpetuall and absolute power without constraint either of time or condition It consisteth in a power 3 The description of soueraigntie to giue lawes to all in generall and to euery one in particular without the consent of any other or the gift of any person And as another saith to derogate from the common law Soueraigntie is so called and absolute because it is not subiect to any humane lawes no not his owne For it is against nature to giue lawes vnto all and to command himselfe in a thing that dependeth vpon his will Nulla obligatio consistere potest quae a voluntate promittent is statum capit nor of another whether liuing or of his predecessors or the countrie Soueraigne power is compared to fire to the sea to a wilde beast it is a hard matter to tame it to handle it it will not be crost nor offended but being is very dangerous potestas res est quae moneri docerique non vult castigationem aegrè ferat The marks and properties thereof are to iudge the last appeales to ordaine lawes in time of peace and warre to create 4 The properties and appoint magistrates and officers to giue graces and dispensations against the law to impose tributes to appoint money to receiue homages ambassages oathes But all this is comprehended vnder the absolute power to giue and make lawes according to their pleasure Other marks there are of lesse weight as the law of the sea and shipwracke confiscation for treason power to change the tongue title of Maiestie Greatnes and Soueraigntie is so much desired of all because all the good that is in it appeareth outwardly and all the ill is altogether inward As also because to commaund others is a thing as beautifull and diuine as great and difficult and for this cause they are esteemed and reuerenced for more than men Which beliefe in the people and credit of theirs is very necessarie and commodious to extort from the people due respect and obedience the nource of peace and quietnes But in the end they prooue to be men cast in the same mould that other men are and many times worse borne and worse qualified in nature than many of the common sort of people It seemeth that their actions because they are weightie and important doe proceed from weightie and important causes but they are nothing and of the same condition that other mens are The same occasion that breeds a brawle betwixt vs and our neighbour is ground enough of a warre betwixt Princes and that offence for which a Lackey deserues a whipping lighting vpon a King is the ruine of a whole prouince They will as lightly as we and we as they but they can do more than we the selfe-same appetites moue a flie and an elephant Finally besides these passions defects and naturall conditions which they haue common with the meanest of those that doe adore them they haue likewise vices and discommodities which their greatnes and soueraigntie beares them out in peculiar vnto themselues The ordinarie maners of great personages are vntamed 6 The maners of Soueraignes pride durus est veri insolens ad recta flecti regius non vult tumor violence too licentious id esse regni maximum pignus putant si quicquid alijs non licet solis licet quod non potest vult posse qui nimium potest Their mott that best pleaseth them is Senec. Tacit. quod libet licet suspition icalousie suapte natura potentiae anxij yea euen of their owne infants suspectus semper inuisusque dominantibus quisquis proximus destinatur adeo vt displiceant etiam ciuilia filiorum ingenia whereby it falleth out that they are many times in alarum and feare ingenia regum prona ad formidinem The aduantages of Kings and soueraigne Princes aboue 7 The miseries and discommodities their people which seeme so great and glittering are indeed but light and almost imaginarie but they are repayed with great true and solid disaduantages and inconueniences The name and title of a soueraigne the shew and outside is beautifull pleasant and ambitious but the burthen and the inside is hard difficult and yrksome There
that wisdome and sottish simplicitie do meete in one and the same point touching the bearing and suffering of humane actions It is then very dangerous to iudge of the probitie or improbitie of a man by his actions we must sound him within from what foundation these motions doe arise wicked men performe many times many good and excellent actions and both good and euill preserue themselues alike from doing euill oderunt peccare boni mali To discouer therefore and to know which is the true Honestie we must not stay in the outward action that is but the signe the simplest token and many times a cloke and maske to couer villanie we must penetrate into the inward part and know the motiue which causeth the strings to play which is the soule and the life that giueth motion to all It is that whereby we must iudge it is that wherein euery man should prouide to be good and entire and that which we seeke That honestie which is commonly accounted true and so much preached and commended of the world whereof they 3 Vulgar honestie and according to the stile of the world make expresse profession who haue the title and publike reputation to be men of honestie and setled constancie is scholasticall and pedanticall seruant to the lawes enforced by hope and feare acquired learned and practised out of a submission too a consideration of the religion lawes customes commaunds of superiors other mens examples subiect to prescript formes effeminate fearefull and troubled with scruples and doubts sunt quibus innocentia nisi metu non placet which is not only in respect of the world diuers and variable according to the diuersitie of religions lawes examples formes for the iurisdictions changing the motions must likewise alter but also in it selfe vnequall wauering deambulatorie according to the accesse recesse and successe of the affaires the occasions which are presented the persons with whom a man hath to do as a ship driuen with the winds and the oares is caried away with an vnequall tottering pase with many blowes blasts and billows To be breefe these are honest men by accident and occasion by outward and strange euents and not in veritie and essence they vnderstand it not and therefore it is easie to discouer them and to conuince them by shaking of a little their bridle and sounding them somewhat nearer but aboue all by that inequalitie and diuersitie which is found in them for in one and the same action they will giue diuers iudgements and cary themselues altogether after a diuers fashion going sometimes a slow pase sometimes running a maine gallop This vnequall diuersitie proceedeth from this that the outward occasions which moue and stirre them do either puffe them vp multiplie and increase them or make them luke-warme and deiect them more or lesse like accidents quae recipiunt magis minus Now that true honestie which I require in him that will be wise is free manly and generous pleasant and cheerefull equall 4 The description of true honestie vniforme and constant which marcheth with a stayed pase stately and hawtie going alwaies his owne way neither looking on this side or behind him without staying or altering his pase or gate for the wind the times the occasions which are changed but that is not I meane in iudgement and will that is in the soule where honestie resideth and hath it seate For outward actions especiallie the publike haue another iurisdiction as shall be said in his place This honestie I will describe in this place giuing you first to vnderstand that following the designment of this booke declared in the Preface I speake of humane honestie and wisdome as it is humane whereby a man is called an honest man and a wise and not of Christian though in the end I may chaunce to speake a word or two thereof The iurisdiction of this honestie is Nature which bindeth 5 Nature enioyneth honestie euery man to be and to make himselfe such as he ought that is to say to conforme and rule himselfe according vnto it Nature is together both a mistris which enioyneth and commaundeth honestie and a law and instruction which teacheth it vnto vs. As touching the first there is a naturall obligation inward and vniuersall in euery man to be honest iust vpright following the intention of his author and maker A man ought not to attend or seeke any other cause obligation instinct or motiue of this honestie and he can neuer know how to haue a more iust and lawfull more powerfull more ancient it is altogether as soone as himselfe borne with himselfe Euery man should be or should desire to be an honest man because he is a man and he that takes no care to be such is a monster renounceth himselfe belieth destroyeth himselfe by right he is no more a man and in effect should desist to be a man It is necessarie that honestie grow in him by himselfe that is to say by that inward instinct which God hath put in him and not from any other outward and strange cause any occasion or induction A man will not out of a iust and regular will any thing that is depraued or corrupt or other than it owne nature requireth it implieth a contradiction to desire or accept a thing and nothing to care whether it be worth the caring for a man would haue all his parts good and sound his bodie his head his eies his iudgement his memorie yea his hose and shooes and why will he not like wise haue his will and his conscience good that is to say be whollie good and sound I will therefore that he be good and haue his will firme and resolued to equity and honesty for the loue of himselfe and because he is a man knowing that he can be no other without the renouncing and destruction of himselfe and so his honesty shall be proper inward essentiall euen as his owne essence is vnto him and he vnto himselfe It must not then be for any outward consideration and proceeding from without whatsoeuer it bee for such a cause being accidentall and outward may happen to faile grow weake and alter and consequently all that honesty that is grounded thereupon must doe the like If he be an honest man for honour or reputation or other recompence being in a solitary place where he hath no hope to be knowen hee either ceaseth to be honest or putteth it in practise very coldly and negligently If for feare of the lawes magistrates punishments if he can deceiue the lawes circumuent the iudges auoid or disprooue the proofes and hide himselfe from the knowledge of another there is an end of his honesty And this honestie is but fraile occasioned accidentall and miserable and yet it is that which is in authoritie and vse no man knowes of any other there is not an honest man but such as is enforced or inuited by some cause or occasion nemo gratis bonus est Now
vs in such sort that it maketh vs beleeue that what is without the bounds thereof is without the bounds of reason and there is nothing good and iust but what it approueth ratione non componimur Senec. sed consuetudine abducimur honestius putamus quod frequentius recti apud nos locum tenet error vbi publicus factus This is tolerable with idiots and the vulgar sort who wanting sufficiencie to looke into the depth of things to trie and to iudge do well to hold and settle themselues to that which is commonlie held and receiued but to wise men who play another part it is a base thing to suffer themselues to be caried with customes Now the aduice which I heere giue vnto him that would be wise is to keepe and obserue both in word and deede the 7 An aduice lawes customes which he findeth established in the countrie where he is and in like maner to respect and obey the magistrates and all superiors but alwaies with a noble spirit and after a generous maner and not seruilely pedanticallie superstitiously and withall not taking offence nor lightly condemning other strange lawes and customes but freely and soundly iudging and examining the one and the other as hath been said and not binding his iudgement and beleefe but vnto reason only Heereof a word or two In the first place according to all the wisest the rule of rules and the generall law of lawes is to follow and obserue 1 Lawes and customes are to be obserued the lawes and customes of the countrie where he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 auoyding carefullie all singularitie and strange extrauagant particularitie different from the common and ordinarie for whatsoeuer it be it alwaies hurteth and woundeth another is suspected of follie hypocrisie ambitious passion though perhaps it proceede from a sicke and weake soule Non conturbabit sapiens publicos mores nec populum in se nouitate vitae conuertet We must alwaies walke vnder the couert of the lawes customes superiours without disputation or tergiuersation without vndertaking sometimes to dispence with the lawes sometimes like a frugall seruant to enhaunce the price But that it be which is the second rule out of a good mind and after a good maner nobly and wisely neither for the loue 2 Not for their iustice and equity nor feare of them nor for the iustice or equitie that is in them nor for feare of that punishment that may follow for not obeiing them to be briefe not of superstition nor constrained scrupulous fearefull seruitude eadem quae populus sed non eodem modo nec eodem proposito faciet sapiens but freely and simply for publike reuerence and for their authoritie Lawes and customes are maintained in credit not because they are iust and good but because they are lawes and customes this is the mysticall foundation of their authoritie they haue no other and so is it with superiours because they are superiours quia supra Cathedram sedent not because they are vertuous and honest quae faciunt nolite facere Hee that obeyeth them for any other cause obeyeth them not because hee should this is an euill and a dangerous subiect it is not true obedience which must be pure and simple vnde vocatur depositio discretionis mera executio abnegatio sui Now to goe about to measure one obedience by the iustice and goodnesse of lawes and superiours were by submitting them to our iudgement to serue them with processe and to call our obedience into doubt and disputation and consequently the state and the policie according to the inconstancie and diuersitie of iudgements How many vniust and strange lawes are there in the world not only in the particular iudgements of men but of vniuersall reason wherewith the world hath liued a long time in continuall peace and rest with as great satisfaction as if they had beene very iust and reasonable And he that should goe about to change or mend them would be accounted an enemie to the weale-publike and neuer bee admitted The nature of man doth accommodate it selfe to all with the times and hauing once caught his fish it is an act of hostilitie to goe about to alter any thing we must leaue the world where it is these trouble-houses and newfangled spirits vnder a pretext of reformation marre all All change and alteration of lawes beleefes customes and Against innouatours obseruances is very dangerous and yeeldeth alwaies more euill than good it bringeth with it certaine and present euils for a good that is vncertaine and to come Innouatours haue alwaies glorious and plausible titles but they are but the more suspected and they cannot escape the note of ambitious presumption in that they thinke to see more cleerely than others and that to establish their opinions the state policie peace and publike quiet must be turned topsy turuy I will not say for all this that hath beene said before that 3 Strange things are not lightly to be condemned we must absolutely obey all lawes all commandements of superiours for such as a man knoweth euidently to be either against God or nature hee is not to obey and yet not to rebell and to trouble the state how he should gouerne himselfe in such a case shall be taught heereafter in the obedience due vnto princes for to say the truth this inconuenience and infelicitie is rather and more common in the commandements of princes than in the lawes neither is it sufficient to obey the lawes and superiours because of their worth and merrit nor seruilely and for feare as the common and prophane sort doe but a wise man doth nothing by force or feare soli hoc sapienti contingit vt nil faciat inuitus recta sequitur gaudet officio he doth that which he should and keepes the lawes not for feare of them but for the loue of himselfe being iealous of his dutie he hath not to doe with the lawes to doe well that is that wherein he differeth from the common sort who cannot do well nor know what they ought to do without lawes at iusto sapienti non est lex posita By right a wise man is aboue the lawes but in outward and publike effect he is their voluntarie and free obedient subiect In the third place thereof it is an act of lightnesse and iniurious presumption yea a testimonie of weakenesse and insufficiencie to condemne that which agreeth not with the law and custome of his countrie This proceedeth either from want of leasure or sufficiencie to consider the reasons and grounds of others this is to wrong and shame his owne iudgement whereby he is enforced many times to recant and not to remember that the nature of man is capable of all things It is to suffer the eie of his spirit to be hood winked and brought asleepe by a long custome and prescription to haue power ouer iudgement Finally it is the office of a generous spirit and
indebted And therefore a father and euery agent that doth good to another loueth more than he is beloued The reasons of this proposition are many All loue to be which being is exercised and demonstrated in motion and action Now he that giueth and doth good to another is after a sort in him that receiueth He that giueth and doth good to another doth that which is honest and honorable he that receiueth doth none of this honestie is for the first profit for the second Now honestie is farre more worthie firme stable amiable than profit which in a moment vanisheth Againe those things are most beloued that cost vs most that is dearest vnto vs which we come more dearely by Now to beget to nourish to bring vp is a matter of greater charge than to receiue all these This loue of parents is two-fold though alwaies naturall yet after a diuers maner the one is simplie and vniuersallie 37 The loue of parents twofold naturall and as a simple instinct which is common with beasts according to which parents loue and cherish their children though deformed stammering halting milke-sops and vse them like moppets or little apes This loue is not truly humane Man indued with reason must not seruilelie subiect himselfe vnto nature as beasts do but follow it more noblie with discourse of reason The other then is more humane and reasonable whereby a man loueth his children more or lesse according to that measure wherein he seeth the seeds and sparks of vertue goodnes and towardlinesse to arise and spring vp in them Some there are who being besotted and caried with the former kind of affection haue but little of this and neuer complaining of the charge so long as their children are but small complaine thereof when they come to their growth begin to profit It seemeth that they are in a sort offended and vexed to see them to grow and set forward in honest courses that they may become honest men These parents are brutish and inhumane Now according to this second true and fatherlie loue in 38 Of the true fatherly loue in communicating with his children being come to yeares of discretion the well gouerning thereof parents should receiue their children if they be capable into their societie and partnership in their goods admit them to their counsell intelligence the knowledge and course of their domesticall affaires as also to the communication of their designements opinions and thoughts yea consent and contribute to their honest recreations and pastimes as the case shall require alwaies reseruing their ranke and authoritie For wee condemne the austere lordlike and imperious countenance and cariage of those that neuer looke vpon their children nor speake vnto them but with authoritie will not be called fathers but lords though God himselfe refuse not this name of father neuer caring for the hartie loue of their children so they may be feared reuerenced and adored And for this cause they giue vnto them sparinglie keepe them in want that they may the better keepe them in awe and obedience euer threatning them some small pittance by their last will when they depart out of this life Now this is a sottish vaine and ridiculous foolerie It is to distrust their owne proper true and naturall authoritie to get an artificiall And it is the way to deceiue themselues and to grow into contempt which is cleane contrarie to that they pretend It causeth their children to carie themselues cunninglie with them and to conspire and find meanes how to deceiue them For parents should in good time frame their minds to dutie by reason and not haue recourse to these meanes more tyrannous than fatherlie Errat longè mea quidem sententia Qui imperium credit esse grauius aut stabilius Vi quod sit quà m illud quod amicitia adiungitur In the last disposition of our goods the best and surest way is to follow the lawes customes of the countrie The lawes 39 The vsage of them in their last willes according to the lawes haue better prouided for it than we and it is a safer course to suffer them to faile in some thing than to aduenture vpon our owne defects in our owne proper choice It is to abuse that libertie we haue therein to serue our foolish fantasies and priuat passions like those that suffer themselues to be caried by the vnwonted officious actions and flatteries of those that are present who make vse of their last willes and testaments either by gratifying or chastising the actions of those that pretend interest therein A man must conforme himselfe to reason and common custome heerin which is wiser than we are and the surer way We come now to the dutie of children towards their parents 40 Of the dutie of children towards their parēts so naturall and so religious and which ought to be done vnto them not as vnto pure and simple men but demi-gods earthlie mortall visible gods And this is the reason why Philo the Iew said that the commandement touching the dutie of children was written the one halfe in the first table which conteined the commandements that concerne our dutie towards God and the other halfe in the second table wherein are the commandements that concerne our neighbour as being halfe diuine and halfe humane This dutie likewise is so certaine so due and requisite that it may not be dispensed withall by any other dutie or loue whatsoeuer be it neuer so great For if it shall happen that a man see his father and his sonne so indangered at one and the same instant as that he cannot rescue and succour them both he must forsake his sonne and goe to his father though his loue towards his sonne be greater as before hath beene said And the reason is because the dutie of a sonne towards his father is more ancient and hath the greater priuiledge and cannot be abrogated by any later dutie 41 This dutie consisteth in fiue points Now this dutie consisteth in fiue points comprehended in this word Honour thy father and thy mother The first is reuerence not only in outward gesture and countenance but also inward which is that high and holy opinion and esteeme that a childe ought to haue of his parents as the authors and originall causes of his being and of his good a qualitie that makes them resemble God himselfe The second is obedience euen to the roughest and hardest 2 Ier. 35. commands of a father according to the example of the Rechabites who to obey the command of their father neuer dranke wine in all their liues Nay more than that Isaac refused not to yeeld his necke to the sword of his father The third is to succour their parents in all their needs and necessities to nourish them in their old age their impotency and want to giue them their assistance in all their affaires We haue an example and paterne heereof euen in beasts In the Storke whose little ones as
penalties and punishments that the religion be neither changed troubled nor innouated This is a thing that highly redoundeth to his honour and securitie for all doe reuerence and more willingly obey and more slowly attempt or enterprise any thing against him whom they see feareth God and beleeue to be in his protection and safegard vna custodia pietas pium virum Mercur. Trism nec malus genius nec fatum deuincit Deus enim eripit eum ab omni malo And also to the good of the state for as all the wisest haue said Religion is the band and cement of humane societie The Prince ought also to be subiect and inuiolablie to obserue 2 To obserue the lawes of superiors and cause to be obserued the lawes of God and nature which are not to be dispensed with and he that infringeth them is not only accounted a tyrant but a monster Concerning the people he ought first to keepe his couenants 3 To keepe his promise and promises be it with subiects or others with whom he is interessed or hath to do This equitie is both naturall and vniuersall God himselfe keepeth his promise Moreouer the prince is the pledge and formall warrant of the law and those mutuall bargaines of his subiects He ought then aboue all to keepe his faith there being nothing more odious in a prince than breach of promise and periurie and therefore it was well said that a man ought to put it among those casuall cases if the prince do abiure or reuoke his promise and that the contrarie is not to be presumed Yea he ought to obserue those promises and bargaines of his predecessors especiallie if he be their heire or if they be for the benefit and welfare of the common-wealth Also he may relieue himselfe of his vnreasonable contracts and promises vnaduisedlie made euen as for the selfe-same causes priuat men are releeued by the benefit of the prince He ought also to remember that although he be aboue the law I meane the ciuill and humane as the Creator is aboue 4 To obserue the lawes the creature for the law is the worke of the prince and which he may change and abrogate at his pleasure it is the proper right of the soueraigntie neuerthelesse though it be in force and authoritie he ought to keepe it to liue to conuerse and iudge according vnto it and it would be a dishonor and a very euill example to contradict it and as it were falsifie it Great Augustus hauing done something against the law by his owne proper acte would needs die for griefe Lycurgus Agesilaus Seleucus haue left three notable examples in this point and to their cost Thirdly the prince oweth iustice to all his subiects and he ought to measure his puissance and power by the rule of 5 To do iustice iustice This is the proper vertue of a prince trulie royall and princelike whereof it was rightlie said by an old man to king Philip that delayed him iustice saying he had no leisure That he should then desist leaue off to be king But Demetriu sped not so well who was dispossest of his realme by his subiects for casting from a bridge into the riuer many of their petitions without answere or doing them iustice Finally the prince ought to loue cherish to be vigilant and carefull of his state as the husband of the wife the father of 6 To take care and affect the common good his children the shepheard of his flock hauing alwaies before his eies the profit and quiet of his subiects The prosperitie and welfare of the state is the end and contentment of a good prince vt respub opibus firma copijs locuples gloria ampla virtute Senec. honesta sit The prince that tieth himselfe to himselfe abuseth himselfe for he is not his owne man neither is the state his but he is the states He is a Lord not to domineere but to defend Cui non ciuium seruitus tradita sed tutela to attend to watch to the end his vigilance may secure his sleeping subiects his trauell may giue them rest his prouidence may maintaine their prosperitie his industrie may continue their delights his businesse their leisure their vacation and that all his subiects may vnderstand and know that he is as much for them as he is aboue them To be such and to discharge his dutie well he ought to demeane and carie himselfe as hath bin said at large in the second and third chapter of this booke that is to say to furnish himselfe of good counsell of treasure and sufficient strength within his state to fortifie himselfe with alliance and forraine friends to be readie and to command both in peace and war by this meanes he may be both loued and feared And to conteine all in a few words he must loue God aboue all things be aduised in his enterprises valiant in attempts faithfull and firme in his word wise in counsell carefull of his subiects helpfull to his friends terrible to his enemies pitifull to the afflicted gentle and curteous to good people seuere to the wicked and iust and vpright towards all The dutie of subiects consisteth in three points to yeeld due honor to their princes as to those that carie the image of 9 The dutie of subiects God ordeined and established by him therfore they are most wicked who detract or slaunder such were the seed of Cham and Chanaan 2. To be obedient vnder which is conteined Exod. 12. many duties as to goe to the warres to pay tributes and imposts imposed vpon them by their authoritie 3. To wish them all prosperitie and happinesse and to pray for them But the question is Whether a man ought to yeeld these 10 Whether it be lawfull to lay violēt hands vpon the person of a tyrant A double tyrant The entrāce three duties generallie to all princes if they be wicked or tyrants This controuersie cannot be decided in a word and therefore wee must distinguish The prince is a tyrant and wicked either in the entrance or execution of his gouernmēt If in the entrance that is to say that he treacherouslie inuadeth and by his owne force and powerfull authoritie gaines the soueraigntie without any right be he otherwise good or euill for this cause he ought to be accounted a tyrant without all doubt we ought to resist him either by way of iustice if there be opportunitie place or by surprise and the Grecians saith Cicero ordeined in former times rewards and honors for those that deliuered the common-wealth from seruitude and oppression Neither can it be said to be a resisting of the prince either by iustice or surprise since he is neither receiued nor acknowledged to be a prince If in the execution that is to say that his entrance be rightfull 2 In the execution three waies and iust but that he carieth himselfe imperiouslie cruellie wickedlie and according to the