win the fauor of the people who had such men in estimation he had of them ordinarily with him For it is better that a prince should be an hipocrit than a despiser of good and vertuous things because such maner of counterfaiting and countenancing of good things doth secretly bring with it in time an affection of louing them and a willingnesse to accustome himselfe to them in earnest The emperor Adrian had vertuous and wise men and learned Philosophers alwaies about his person as well in time of peace as of warre because the wise men taught to liue well and the Philosophers to gouerne well For as Alexander Seuerus said of trusting too much to a mans owne wit commeth commonly labour and losse but of taking other mens aduise followeth ordinarilie verie great fruit Insomuch that whensoeuer hee had any matter to set in order concerning the common-weale hee consulted of it aforehand with men of skill and experience afore he did put it in execution and such maner of men did alwaies follow him among whom was one Vlpian a Lawier Yea and when he went a walking or a hunting he would neuer bee without three or foure of the greatest personages and best experienced of his house to the intent he would not be without counsell if any matter of importance should come suddenly vpon him and that the sight of such men neere about him might keepe him from presuming to doe any vnhonourable fact Antigonus the second was woont to say when Zeno the Philosopher was dead That he was bereft of the Theatre and stage of his honourable deeds because hee was woont to referre all his actions to the iudgement of that good man And if wee will descend into our owne histories we shall see what profit redounded to S. Lois by being conuersant with men of Religion For in so much as his mother had accompanied him with such folke from his infancie he ceassed not to hold on afterward in the same trade and maner of life wherein he had bin trained vp insomuch that all his whole life was nothing else but a mirrour of holinesse CHAP. XV. That the Prince which will be well obayed must shew good example in him selfe to his subiects THat which I haue spoken of Religion and Superstition is inough notwithstanding that it be too little as in respect of the things themselues Now remaineth the winding vp of the matter and to end this booke withall I am to shew in few words what it is that vpholdeth both the prince and his subiects in all honour and honestie especially in the case of Religion namely the good Example which the prince giueth vnto his subiects For it serueth him aboue all things in the world to make him to be obayed and therewithal accustometh him to the loue of all honest things though at the beginning he had no such will as I haue said afore And it prouoketh the subiects to follow their princes example whom they see to be giuen to all vertuous things and chiefly when he is giuen to religion For a prince cannot raigne if his subiects be without religion considering that in taking away religion ye take away obedience to the prince Therefore to hold the people in religion there is nothing like vnto Example And as a certaine Poet saith Lawes and proclamations haue not so great force to procure obedience as hath the life of the gouernour because the people being subiect to alteration doe chaunge with the prince If the prince be deuout and religious the people will be deuout also if he be superstitious they become superstitious too if he be giuen to vice so will they be also if he be good they abide good likewise because there is not any thing that doth so much induce vs to doe well as the innocencie and goodnesse of the prince or iudge as saith Cassiodorus For who will be afraid to doe wickedlie when he seeth his lord doe as himselfe dooth In vaine doth that prince foad himselfe with suretie of state who is couetous ambitious and vniust For men are then afraid to doe amisse when they thinke that it displeaseth their iudge And as Cicero saith in his third booke of Lawes A prince doth not so much harme in the very sinning although it be a great harme in deed as he doth in making others to follow the example of his vices And we see commonly that looke what alteration soeuer happens in the prince the same ensueth also in his people For the change of conuersation of life in great personages is wont to worke a change in the maners of the people for that they keepe not their vices alonly to themselues but doe shead them out vpon their subiects so as the hurt which they doe is not only in that they corrupt themselues but also in that they corrupt others doing more euill by their example than by their bare sinne For as much therefore as the well-aduised prince is as a cresset vpon a bushell or rather vpon a high towre to giue light to all parts hee ought to shine among his subiects and to excell them in all deeds of vertue and godlinesse For as saith Cicero in his Inuectiues he is to applie himselfe not only to their minds but also to their eies And like as a small blemish in a mans face disgraceth him more than a great scarre in all the rest of his body euen so a small fault sheweth it selfe great in a prince whose life men behold in the open light And as Saluian Bishop of Marsels saith The offence is the greater where there is the greater prerogatiue That is the cause why Dauid was punished by the death of his sonne after that God had taken away his sinne namely as the text saith For that he caused the enemies to blaspheme the name of the Lord. So great is an offence in a publike person For he that doth euill without giuing cause of offence vnto others damneth but himselfe but he that giueth euill example vnto others and causeth mo for to sinne must beare their penaltie because he is the cause of their euill Plato in his Lawes saith That nothing doth more easily change laws than the example of princes so that a tyrant may in short time alter the lawes For whether he intend to lead to vertue or to vice he himselfe must first trace the way vnto others by allowing the one and disallowing the other and by dispising such as obay him not And therefore he said in another place That such as kings and gouernors are such are their people Wherein he agreeth with Ecclesiasticus who saith That such as the iudge of a people is such are his ministers and such as the ruler of a citie is such are his citizens Varia Mesa writing to Heliogabalus admonished him after this maner To reforme others it behooueth you first to reforme your selfe and to chastise others you must first chastise your selfe For euerie person be he
Samuel whose vniust behauior caused the Iews to demaund a King Here is a faire field offred me for the discoursing of this matter on either side but it shall suffice me to haue had this speech following at a glaunce CHAP. V. Whether it be better to haue a king by Succession or by Election SOme there are that demaund whether it be more behoofull and expedient for the welfare of a people to haue a king by Election or by Succession For if ye proceed by Election it is to be presumed that ye will choose the best namely such a one as hath made good proofe of himselfe and is knowne to be wise fortunat and valeant Or if ye let it goe by Succession it may be that the king shall be yoong of small experience and of little vnderstanding And therefore Alexander knowing the dutie of a king said He would leaue his kingdome to the worthiest Pirrhus being asked of his children to whom he would leaue his kingdome answered To him that of you all hath the sharpest sword as if he should say to him that is the most valeant Whosoeuer would maintaine this opinion should haue reasons enow to vphold and defend it Yet notwithstanding we ought to rest vpon the custome of the country and not to swarue from it Such as are wont to choose their king do well and worthily therein And yet the granting of a kingdome to goe by Succesion which also is a very generall custome in most countries is not to be misliked For oftentimes it falleth out that Elections are a cause of many warres as we haue seene in the Romane emperors On the other side when the kingdome goeth by succession there is no quarrell or ciull warre because it is knowne who ought to be king For that cause did Geâ—srike appoint by his will that his children should exceed one another in the kingdome so that after the death of his eldest sonne dying without issue the eldest next him should succeede And as long as that order was obserued among them the kingdome continued in the race of Gensrike as witnesseth Iordane in his historie of the Gothes Moreouer a father is desirous to leaue all things in best order to his children the which thing tendeth alwaies to the publike commoditie Contrariwise they that are chosen endeuor rather to diminish than to enlarge their kingdomes because they shall not leaue them to their heires and therefore they labor to draw all things to their owne peculiar profit that they may leaue to their familie some frute of the kingdome wherto they were come and therwithall they be bound to fauor and recompence their Electors which cannot be done without expenses and charges to the common-weale And it will not serue the purpose to say that oftentimes it falleth out that kings are yoong and vnder age and consequentlie without authoritie and without abilitie to gouerne themselues and much lesse their people or else that they be witlesse or out of their wits which is worse For it is well knowne that nothing is so well ordered in this world nor any law so well stablished which may not admit some inconuenience But in this case the incounenience is such as may easily be remedied For if a king be yoong he hath a Counsell by whom oftentimes he ruleth better than some old man that will needs do all things on his owne head as we read of Iosias who was crowned at seuen yeares of age and raigned forty yeares in which time he did not any thing which was not to be done so as the minoritie of his age made him not to be the lesse honored regarded Herof we haue record in little Europus king of Macedonia the presence of whom notwithstanding that he lay in his cradle caused his subiects to win the battell and the Macedonians said all with one voice That when they fled afore they wanted not corage but their king in whose presence they fought as manfully as if he had beene of discretion to haue marked them that did well And although we haue somtimes had warres by reason of the minoritie and debilitie of our kings as it happened in the times of S. Lewis of Charles the sixt and lastly of the late king Charles whom God pardon yet may we well avow that we neuer had so much harme therby as the Romans had by their wicked emperors that came in by Election yea euen by the best taught of them as Heliogabalus was who being trained vp in all duties of honor and godlinesse by Varia Mesa did neuerthelesse become one of the wickedst creatures vnder the sunne And therefore we may well say that it commeth of Gods will who according to his threatning of the Israelites in old time sendeth vs babes or fooles to be our gouernors when he listeth to punish vs and oftentimes princes well brought vp but yet abiding in their wicked and il-disposed nature such as were Tiberius Nero Caligula and infinit other mo Neuerthelesse there is this difference that the king which is of tender yeares or simple-witted hath his counsell which notwithstanding that they be oftentimes at ods among themselues omit not for all that to giue him good counsel in most things But as for the Prince that is of a froward nature he beleueth nothing but that which is of his own head neither giueth he himselfe to any thing else than to do mischeefe I know wel that the minoritie of a prince is oftentimes the cause of many dissentions partakings for the gouernmeÌ„t and that men stand not in so great awe of him as of an elder person that is well aduised But yet the state of the time and of affaires doth more in that behalfe than all other things For if they happen vnder a prince that is yong or simple-witted they procure great tragedies and yet for all that they faile not to step in also euen vnder a king that is man-growne and well aduised If Robert of Artois who was the cause of all the misfortune that we had in France by the Englishmen had beene in the time of a young prince men would haue said that the small regard which he had of the princes age had made him to despise him And yet neuerthelesse hauing to do with a king of full age and well experienced aforehand he forbare not for all that to make open warre vpon him and to cause the English men to come into France vpon a choler and despite for that Philip of Valois had adiudged the earledome of Artoys to his aunt The king of Nauar had to do with a king of sufficient years with such a one as had not then tasted of such misfortune as he felt afterward by experience and yet notwithstanding hee forbare not to giue many proud attempts against him to slea his constable and to refuse to be at his commaundement vntill the king had giuen him his sonne the earle of Aniou in hostage At such
common-weale as he shewed anon after in the warres that he had against Silla But Agustus would rather haue priuiledged men from paying of subsidies discharged thē of tallages than to haue made thē free of the citty of Rome for he could not abide that the right of citizenship should be brought in smal estimation by becōming too common Neither ought the changing of lawes to be excused by this saying of Plato That at the first making of lawes there may be some things which the magistrats that succeede afterward may well amend vntill that by good aduisement and experience they see what is best to be allowed And in another place he saith againe it is not men but fortune and the enterchange of things that make lawes For either nessessitie or force and violence of war subuert states and alter lawes so likewise plagues tempests sicknesses and incōmodities of many years continuance do cause very great changes and alterations For no doubt but the thing which is set downe for a law is to be debated long time to be altered if ther by any incōuenience therin as the citisens of Locres did who admitted men to deuise new laws howbeit with halters about their necks to be hanged for their labour if their lawes were found to be euill But when a law is once alowed by long experience and custome it is not in any wife to be chaunged but vpon extreame necessitie which is aboue all law Also it is certaine that many new lawes are to be made vpon the alteration of a state But when the lawes are once stablished with the state they cannot be altered without iniurie to the state exept it be vpon very vrgent and needfull cause For the politik laws that are made for the mainteinance of a state tend not to any other end saith Plato than to rule and commaund and not to be subiect As for the lawes of nature they ought to be kept most streightly For as Iustinian saith forasmuch as the law of nature is giuen vs by the prouidence of God it ought to abide firme and vnmutable But the politicall law is to be chaunged oftentimes as we shall shew hereafter And because that among men there be some monsters that is to say men that sin against nature and make warre against it it is meet that the soueraigne magistrat which is set in that dignitie of purpose to encounter against monsters as Hercules did and to defend the poore from the violence of the greater sort should cause an equalitie of iustice to be obserued among his subiects For when the poore is oppressed by the rich it is wrong of the which wrong proceedeth discontentmēt which oftentimes breeds a hatred towards the prince and finally a rebelling against him Wisely therefore did Theopompus answer to one that demaunded of him by what meanes a prince might liue in suertie by suffering his friends quoth he to doe al things that are reasonable taking heed therewithall that his subiects be not misused nor wronged For many princes haue bin ouerthrowne for suffering their seruants to do all maner of wrongs and iniuries whereof we haue a notable example in Philip king of Macedonie who was slaine by Pausanias for refusing to heare his complaint and to doe him iustice against one that had committed a rape vpon him For the very dutie of a prince consisteth in doing iustice For as Cicero saith in his books of Duties the first chusing of kings was for the estimation which men had of them that they were good and iust men such as by defending the poore from the rich and the weake from the mightie would hold them both in concord and quietnes Plutarke in the life of Cato saith that folke giue greater credit and authoritie to good iusticers than to any others For they not only honour them as they doe the valeant ne haue them in admiration as they haue the sage and wise but they doe also loue them and put their trust and confidence in them whereas of them that be not such they distrust the one sort and feare the other Moreouer they be of opinion that valeantnesse and wisdome come rather of nature than of good will persuading themselues that the one is but a quicknes and finesse of wit and the other but a certaine stoutnesse of heart that commeth of nature wheras eueryman may be iust at leastwise if he will Wherefore they that will gouern well saith Cicero must obserue two precepts of Platos wherof the one is to haue good regard of the welfare of their subiects imploying all their deuises and doings to that end and leauing their owne peculiar profit in respect of that and the other is to haue such a care of the whole body of the common-weale that in defending any one part therof the residue be not neglected For like as a tutorship so the charge of a kingdome is to be administred to the benefit of those that are vnder the charge and not of them that haue the charge And they that are carefull of one part and carelesse of another doe bring sedition quarelling and discord into the kingdome or common-weale which is the ruine of realmes and common-weales Wherfore the dutie of a good king is not only to doe no wrong to his subiects himselfe but also to restrain others from doing them wrong and to straine himselfe to the vttermost of his power to do right either in his own person or by his substituts to such as seeke iustice at his hand For the greatest good that can be done to any people is to doe them right and to punish such as doe them wrong And in that case the king must be like vnto the law which accepteth no person ne punisheth for displeasure but iudgeth according to right euen so princes must not suffer themselues to be caried away with fauor hatred or anger but must minister iustice indifferently to al men But oftentimes they ouershoot themselues and step aside from the path of iustice to pleasure their courtiers not considering that their so doing breedeth to themselues great dishonor and in their people great discontentment Aristides would neuer make aliance with any man in administring the common-weale because he would not doe wrong vnto any man at the pleasure of those to whom he were alied nor yet greeue them by refusing any thing that they might require at his hand Cato of Vtica was so seuere a iusticer that he swarued not any way for any fauor or pitie insomuch that sometimes he would speake against Pompey as well as with him And when Pompey thanked him for that which he had done for him he told him that in any good cause he wold be his freind and not otherwise Philip was desired by one Harpalus one in greatest fauour with him to call before him a certaine case to the intent that his kinsman for whom he made the sute might not be diffamed To
he will not haue vs to vse abundance of words as Ecclesiasticus saith in the fifth chapter that it is the property of fooles to vse manie words vnto God and that the multitude of words without reason betoken a foolish praier And our Lord will not haue vs to pray after the maner of the Heathen who thinke they shall be heard for the multitude of their words For as S. Paul saith in the second to the Corinthians The kingdome of God consisteth not in words As touching the maner of speaking Cicero shews it vs briefly in his Duties saying That in talking a man must not be too stiffe of opinion but must suffer euery man to speake in his turne and consider whereof he speaketh so as if it be a matter of earnest it be done with grauitie or if it be a matter of mirth it be done cheerfully and in any wise a man must not speake without the bounds of reason For as saith Euripides In the end euery vnbridled toung shall find it selfe vnfortunate and the great talker hath this inconuenience that he is not euer beleeued and yet our speaking is to the end that we would haue our sayings beleeued Plutarch speaking of a babler in his treatise of too much speaking saith That as corne shut vp in a moist vessell increaseth in measure but impaireth in goodnes euen so doth a babler For he increaceth much his words by putting them forth but his so doing bereaueth them of all power to persuade And as it is held for a truth that the seed of such as companie with women too much is not of strength to beget children so the words of great talkers is barreine and fruitlesse And like as in our bodies the parts that are infected and diseased do alwaies draw to them the corrupt humors of the parts next vnto them so the tongue of a great babler being as it were in the whot fit of a burning feuer doth alwaies gather togither and draw vnto it some secret lurking euill He that will see the mischiefes that haue happened to many men by too much speaking and the meane to remedie the same let him reade the treatise of Plutarch concerning too much speaking where he treateth of it so largely that nothing can be added vnto it and also Erasmus booke of the Tongue Neuerthelesse I may say in generall that to keepe a mans selfe from the vice of the tongue he must eschue curiositie lying flatterie mockerie slaundering and tale bearing I call curiositie or inquisitiuenes a discouering of things that are to be kept secret For commonly it commeth to passe that he which is desirous to know too much is a great babler And that is the cause why a certaine great Poet counselleth vs to shun inquisitiue folke because he is a great babler and the property of a great babler is io bewray secrets to sow discord to make quarrels to offend freinds and to make enemies The fashion of inquisitiue folks is to learne mens pedegrees the vices of their races the doings of their houses the faults that befall in mens families what the neighbour oweth and how he gouerneth his wife also to silch letters to stand listening by mens wals to herken what they say to marke diligently what seruants and chambermaids do or say if he see a woman passe through the streets to enquire whēce she coms if he see men talke in secret to learne wherof they speake To be short as Plutarch saith in his booke of Inquisitiuenes they be like to pullerie which as long as they haue a graine to eat do neuer leaue scraping in the dunghill to haue one little graine of corne more so the inquisitiue folke in stead of setting their minds vpon histories and good doings and other needfull things the which are not forbidden to be enquired of do fall to gathering and hoording vp the euill of some house In this case the Athenians shewed themselues to be good men to Philip and little inquisitiue of houshold secrets For hauing intercepted his courriers they opened all his letters and read them sauing those that were written vnto him by his wife Olimpias the which they sent vnto him closed and vnbroken vp as they were Lisimachus demanded of Philippides what he would haue of him ask what you wil sir qd he so it be no secret because that commonly men conceale not any thing but that which is euil and that is the thing that the vnderminer is inquisitiue of And like as the spondgie places of leather do draw into them the worst of the leather so the inquisitiue eares do draw all the matters that are to be had Therefore the law of the Locrians was good which amerced the partie at a good fine that enquired after newes And like as cookes to stirre coles well in their kitchins desire but good store of flesh meates and fisshermen good store of fish so the inquisitiue sort desire abundance of mischieues great numbers of dealings store of nouelties and great chaunges that they may haue wherewith to hunt and kill The remedy of inquisitiuenes is neither to here nor to see the things that belong not vnto vs. For the eie is one of the hands of curiositie is matched with blabbing that is to wit with babling out againe as sayth Plutarch in his treatise of the Fruit of foes As for the Lier he hath no need of eies for he forgeth what he listeth of whome Horace speaking sayth That he that can forget that which he neuer saw and hath no skill to conceale things committed to him in secret is a naughtie fellow and to be taken heed of Lying is a vice detested of God and man as I will declare anon after I haue treated of the seueral sorts of lying For this vice should seeme to be common to all men considering how Dauid saith that all men are liers And so it might seeme that this vice were in some sort excusable vntill we consider that the word Lie is taken in diuers significations Mercurie in his chap. of vnderstanding saith that lying is the foundation and substance of all vice and therefore sinne is termed nothing and leasing or lying because it consisteth of not-being or of bereauing and all not being or bereauing is out of the truth which truth is God and whatsoeuet is out of the truth is leasing And therfore saint Austen in his fourteenth booke of the Citie of God saith That the man which liueth after himselfe that is to say after his owne imagination and not according to Gods ordinance which is the truth doth surely liue in leasing because he liueth according to himselfe and not in such sort as he was created to liue And although a man liue well yet do we say that he is subiect to leasing by way of priuation of the truth which priuation he is runne into by the sinne of Adam For there is not one that doth good no
being angrie for their sakes that haue receiued any wrong or harme Alexander from his very youth did burne with desire to go to warre and to do some exploit of armes The which thing Aristotle perceiuing to turne him away from it told him that he must tarie till he were of age Nay quoth Alexander for if I tarie so long I am afraid that the great hardinesse and forwardnesse which is now in my youth will then be quite gone and this vehement desire giueth the greater force to our doings Yet notwithstanding these reasons cannot moue vs to thinke but that all perturbations are attainted with vice and this aboue al others For as Cicero saith in his Duties A man cannot do wel and aduisedly with anger For that which is don with a trobled mind cannot bee done steadily nor be allowed of them that see it And as saith Theodericke writing to Iohn the consull of Champaine Cholericke persons haue no feeling of the thing that is iust neither seeke they any moderation of their reuenge For this cause Saint Paule in his Epistle to the Romans biddeth vs giue place vnto wrath and to let it vanish away waiting for the iudgement of God And Saint Iames in his Epistle saith That the anger of man performeth not the righteousnesse of God that is to say hindereth the accomplishment of Gods worke in vs. And Saluian bishop of Marsels saith That wrath is the mother of hatred And therefore the Lord would in any wise exclude anger for feare least anger should breed hatred And for that cause he said in Saint Matthew That whosoeuer is angry with his brother is worthie to be punished in iudgement Salomon saith in his Prouerbs That a stone is heauie and sand is weightie but the wrath of a foole is heauier than they both I confesse that oft-times it incrocheth vpon good dispositions as euill weeds do vpon good grounds but the diligence of the good husband doth easily destroy them to make roome for good corne and good hearbs And as touching that Aristotle saith That anger must be vsed as a souldier he meaneth a certaine kindly and princely coragiousnes which maketh men to follow a braue and difficult obiect as I haue said alreadie of Alexanders forwardnes which prouoked him to warre For such a boiling forwardnesse sauoureth more of noblenesse of mind than of wrath And whereas Saint Iohn Chrisostome saith That anger is behoofful that is ment for the punishing of faults But as he saith in the same place That is not properly wrath or anger but a care a wisdome and an orderly disposition as the father that is angrie with his childs fault for the care that he hath of him And whereas some say That anger hath a kind of noble-mindednesse and of resemblance vnto prowes it is like as if a man should say that a man which is sicke of a feuer were well dsposed because he doth some parts of a lustie man in his fits which he could not doe if he were in health Euen so is it saith he with anger which giueth a man a certaine forwardnesse that oftentimes is taken for prowesse and yet is so farre off from sauouring of prowesse and true forwardnesse that contrariwise it rather proceedeth of weaknesse and feeblenesse than of hardinesse as witnesseth Plutarch making this cōparison Like as the swelling and puffing vp of the flesh betokeneth a great sorenesse in the flesh so in tender minds the more they relent and yeeld vnto sorow the more abundance of cholericknesse doe they cast foorth arguing the greater imbecilitie That is the cause why women are commonly more treaf and testie than men and sick-men than men in health and old men than men that are in the flower of their youth and men in aduersitie than men in prosperitie But to subdue anger is a point of prowesse and noble-mindednesse as saith Plutarch in the life of Dion the proofe whereof is shewed not in bearing a mans selfe modestly towards his friends or toward honest men but in the gentle forgiuing of them that haue offended him in his meeld releasing of his displeasure That is the cause why Salomon saith It is better for a man to bridle his wrath than to win a citie And if a man will say That irefulnesse is as it were the sinues of the soule in the opinion of Plutarch he should rather liken it vnto the crampe which retcheth a man out or draweth him in with so much the greater vehemencie as it is the more desirous to reuenge And as the same authour saith in the life of Coriolanus Anger seemeth to be magnanimity because it hath a desire to ouercome and will not yeeld to any man and yet for all that it is but a feeblenes the which thrusteth the choler forth as the weakest and most passionate part of the soule no lesse than a corrupt matter of an impostume They that haue vpheld that cholericke persons are apt to learne haue added that they were not fit for gouernment and therefore that the Lacedemonians praied dayly vnto God to inable them to beare wrongs esteeming that person vnworthie to be in authoritie or to deale in great affairs that is subiect to anger That is the cause why Chilo the Lacedemonian being asked by his brother why he was not made a iudge as well as he answered It was because he could skill to beare wrongs patiently that were done vnto him which thing his brother could not do as who would say He is not worthie to be a magistrat which cannot beare iniuries and discountenance them There is a Greeke prouerbe which saith That a prince must heare both the iust and vniust And as Lois the eleuenth said He that can no skill to dissemble can no skill to reigne For they that run headily vpon their owne opinions and will not yeeld to any other do in the end become desolate But they that will liue among men and haue to do in matters of state must of necessitie become patient or else they shall haue few to follow them or rather they shall be vtterly forsaken One asked a philosopher wherefote he durst not medle with the publike affairs It is not quoth he because I am afraid of them but because I am afraid of my selfe whereby he gaue inckling of his owne ouer-great cholericknes which he knew to be cleane contrarie to the managing of publike affairs Another asked one why he liked not to teach children because quoth he I like not my selfe meaning that he was too cholericke to teach children For as Plutarch saith Men are not woont to draw a fresh cheese with a hooke but as for the cholericke they draw not but brooze breake and shatter in peeces and in stead of drawing do thrust off children from comming to learning Coriolanus was a great personage and but for his choler one of the forwardest in Rome But that did raigne so sore in him that it made him
emperor was entered into Italie And this slacknesse of his saued the citie Padoa and a good part of the state of Venice And had the Venetians beene warriers and well prouided they had put king Lois to a plunge For they had as then no mo but him to deale with so that his league did him small seruice The duke of Burgoine should haue ioyned with the king of England to inuade the countrie of king Lois the eleuenth but he lingred so long at the siege of Nuis that the king of England was faine to returne and make peace as I haue said alreadie The league of the Spanish king and the Venetians against the Turke turned by and by into smoke by reason of distrust that rose betwixt them notwithstanding that the Turke was ouercome vpon the sea by the confederats at Lepanto Many times did the Italians and Spaniards ioyntly conspire to driue the Frenchmen out of Italie But one while the Spaniards departed from the confederacie another while the Pope shrunke backe and another while the Venetians fell in with vs which was a cause that we held our footing stil notwithstanding their leagues These examples with a hundred others which I leaue for briefnesse sake may warne vs that a puissant and well aduised prince shall neuer want means to disseuer such as confederat themselues against him CHAP. II. Of Gouernors sent into the frontiers of countries and whether they should be changed or suffered to continue still WHen a prince hath associated himselfe with his friends and neighbors to defend himselfe or to assaile his enemies It behoueth him to take order for his frontiers and to prouide himselfe of a good wise and valiant chieftaine to lie ordinarilie with a good number of souldiers in the prouince that is most subiect to the inuasion of enemies But here some man might demaund whether such a Gouernour or chieftaine ought neuer to be chaunged or whether he ought to be chaunged as the pretors proconsuls and presidents of prouinces were among the Romans I haue declared in the title of Iustice that the emperour Alexander Seuerus chaunged his officers oft and that Augustus altered not the custome of the Romans in sending senators into prouinces for a certaine time Aristotle in his bookes of Common-weale matters reproued the Candiots for suffering one of their magistrats whom they called Consuls to be perpetuall whereas they should haue beene shifted from time to time And it is not to be doubted but that that maner of dealing was verie behooffull in a Common-weale where euerie man lookes to beare office of honour which few should haue enioyed if the charge of gouernment should haue beene tied to one alone to occupie the place of many good citizens who could haue discharged the office as well as he And thereof would haue ensued a great inconuenience namely that an armie being gouerned ouerlong by one citizen would haue growne partiall in his behalfe and not haue acknowledged any other for their head than him vnder whom they had so long serued Moreouer the Generall or chiefe captaine of an armie that shall haue continued so long together in office would become so rich and increased in honour that he could not find in his heart to liue as meane citizen afterward Whervpon it would follow of necessitie that the citizens should fall to warre among themselues That was the cause that Silla and Marius found men at their deuotion whch durst maintaine their ambition against the welfare of the common-weale The prorogation of the fiue yeares which was giuen to Iulius Caesar for the gouerning of the Gauls and the ouer-great number of offices of honour that were bestowed vpon Pompey were the cause of the ruine of Rome For there was not in his time any goodly enterprise whereof he was not the executor And although there was great reason that the Senate should prorogue the consull Philoes authoritie before Palepolis and likewise of Lucullus Metellus without sending Pompey to be successor to the one and Marius to be successor to the other Yet had it beene better for the common-weale to haue forborne that gaine and to haue left the warre vnfinished than to haue suffered the seed of tyrannie to grow vp to the ouerthrow of the publike-weale And I maruell not that Epaminâ—ndas was put to his necke-verse for executing the Pretorship contrarie to the law but onely three moneths beyond his appointed tearme though in that while he finished the war that had bin begun and deliuered the Thebans from bondage For as on the one side the greatnesse of the benefit encountered the law so on the other side there was as an apparant breach of the law which might procure great preiudice in time to come Now in a free citie this ouer-great mightines is to be feared and therefore it is no wonder though Publicola was in good time redoubted of the Romans and compelled to shew that he ment to make himselfe equall with the meanest And in mine opinion the Ostracisme of Athens which afterward was mocked at for banishing a fellow that was nought worth was not without great reason For had not the excellent citizens beene brideled by exile they would at length haue growne so proud that they would haue made themselues kings and maisters of the citie as Pericles might well haue done if he had beene of an ambitious mind and as others did afterward that were meaner than he And therefore I make no doubt of it but that in common-weals there ought to be no such thing But in Monarchies where one alone commaundeth it is better to set a gouernor or viceroy that shall continue there all his life After that maner haue our kings done in Piemont with happie successe But if the people of the prouinces make any complaints of the couetousnesse of their Gouernour or of his extortion and great crueltie or if the prince doubt of his loyaltie in such cases the prince must reuoke him and send a new in his roome Consaluo was called home from Naples by the king of Aragon who was so iealous of him that he feared least he should abuse his authoritie and defeat him of the realme But if a Gouernour be not too full of vice it is much better that he continue still For he shall learne how to behaue himselfe towards the men of his prouince by acquainting himselfe long time with their humors And for his knowledge of the countrie he shall do goodlier exploits than a new lieutenant could do besids that he shall be more loued and regarded of the Souldiers with whom he shall haue spent his yong yeares CHAP. III. Of a Lieutenant-generall and that there behoueth no mo but one to commaund an armie FOrasmuch as a prince cannot be alway with his armie it behoueth him to choose some excellent captaine to haue the commaunding thereof Now it may be demanded whether it were better to appoint two or three to that charge or to be contented with
this celler or warehouse whatsoeuer he listeth to choose For it is farre easier to take in one place the wares that come from diuerse parts of the world than to go seeke them a farre off and in places dispersed And yet is it to no purpose to seeke them all in one place vnlesse they be sorted out aforehand so as a man may put his hand to whatsoeuer he requireth For that cause it behoued me to vse a method in referring euery hystorie to his proper place There are many other points of warre to be found in hystories the which my hast to make an end of this my discourse causeth me to let alone and to content my selfe for this present to haue declared vnto you the things that I haue drawn out of Plutarch Thucidides and some other authours that came to my remembrance Also I haue left many which you may see in the Mounsieur de Langies Discipline of warre Of others I will say as an euil painter That they lie hid behind the Cipres cloth As touching the feats of warre of our dayes I will not presume to speake of them because they which are yet aliue haue seene the practising of a great part of them and can better and more particularly report them than they be written And to say the truth when I considered the feats of warre of these times I find them so honorable that they be nothing inferior to those of old time But it is better to leaue the reporting of them to those that were at the doing of them than to speake of them like a clearke of armes for feare least it be said vnto me That the things were not so done as they be written The which I doubt not but men will thinke euen of those also which I haue here alledged But they be drawne out of such authors as for their antiquitie and authoritie haue purchased prescription against all reproches FINIS †Alexander the great Arist. lib. 9. of matters of gouernment Isocrates in his Panathe What Policie is Cicero in his booke of the ends of good and euill Our life cannot be without Dutie Cicero in the ends of good and euil men The definition of Dutie Two sortes of Duetie Men are beholders of heauenlie thinges Cicero in his second booke of the nature of the Gods The louing of our neighbor is the fulfilling of the law â—n his 13 book of the citie of God Histories â—erue for good instruction The definition of a Prince Plutarch in the life of Pelopidas The prince is as a God among men A prince should not be bare of treasure What an emperour is The qualities of a good emperour Kings are heardmen and sheepheards of their people What a king is A king must commaund his subiects as a father doth his children * The iust coÌ„maundement of the prince and the iust obedience of the subiects are answerable either to other cannot be separated The marke of a tyrant A Kingdome Tyrannie The way to winne loue Vniustice is the cause of the alteration of states The kingdome that is maintained by friendly dealing is stronger than that which is vpheld by force No castle so strong as good will The best Bulwarke is the peoples loue The praise of Aristâ—cracie Kings do not so easily resâ—st their lusts as priuat persons doe The coÌ„mendation of the state of a kingdome Sole gouernment maketh men insolent Kingdomes haue passed al other states of gouernment both in largenesse of dominion in length of time A commendation of the popular state People are more tractable hauing a head than being without a head The reward of such as serue in popular state In the citie of Athens wise men propouÌ„d and fooles iudge Whether dissention be requisite in a common weale or no. The friendship of Caesar and Pompey was the ouerthrow of the common-weale Great dissention between ouer-great personages is dangerous to a state The absolute gouernment is best and most certain The Athenians had many Captains Kingdomes haue been of longer continuance and made greater conquests than any other state of gouernment Of a Tyrant A Tyrant sildome leaueth his kingdom to his posteritie Why Tyrants are murthered rather than priuat householdâ—rs being both of them wicked Nembroth the first King Elections are causes of great warres In the kingdome that goes by inheritance there is no cause of warre A King that is vnder age ruleth by his counsell Wicked kings are sent of God for the sins of the people The state of the time and of affaires causeth ciuill warres Priuat quarrels caused the wars vnder Charles the sixt The hearts of kings are in the hand of God Princes cannot be vertuous vnlesse they be learned Good bringing vp moderateth mens affections Good Education altereth a mans euill disposition Wild horses become good by well handling Good Education in youth is the root of all goodensse A young prince of neuer so good a nature shall hardly doe any great thing being not trained vp in vertue By what means a yong prince is to be drawne to learning and vertue The rod and correction giue wisdome Why many princes begin well and end ill Children are to be kept from the company of flatterers The hating of lies The best way to learne rule is first to obay Euery man is desirous to be the chiefe of his profession The pains that Demosthenes tooke to become an Orator The way to learning is to descend into a mans selfe A prince ought to consider his owne abilitie A prince must be affable retaining the maiestie of his person and state A prince ought to be a Warriour The enemies of peace are ouercome by warre Warre must not be made but for to establish peace Kings haue lost their states for want of applying themselues to the warres Captains despise them that loue not chiluarie It is no reason that the man that is well armed should yeeld to him that is vnarmed The things that are to be done in war are to be learned afore haÌ„d at leisure Princes must inure themselues their subiects to the exercise of arms Whether the common people be to bee trained to the wars or no. A profitable discourse concerning Philopoemen What the souereigne good is Wherin the happinesse of princes may consist To become happy we must seeke perfection Felicitie lieth in all vertuous actions Riches without vertue be like a feast without any man to eat it Which are the true riches Of profit Of Pleasure Pleasure is to be considered by hir going away The pleasure that commeth of the beholding of the things that are done in a Common-weale A good name is a sweet sent or sauor The wise saying of king Ferdinand All princes are iealous of their honor Men must be such as they would seeme to be A doer of good to others is esteemed as a God The pleasure of princes consisteth in honor A definition of Vertue A diuision of Vertue Vertue is the Art of al our whole life
behauior And as saith Plutarch in the life of Pompey the disagreement of two mightie citizens that are at variance among themselues vpholds the common weale in equall ballance like a staffe that is equallie charged at both the ends so as it cannot sway one way or other But come they once to ioine in one body to knit themselues together in one then it maketh so great an inclination or sway as no man can withsâ—and insomuch that in the end they turne all things vpside downe therfore vnto such as went about complaining that the quarrell enmitie of Caesar and Pompey had ouerthrowne the common-weale Cato said that they ouershot themselues very greatly in saying so because it was not their discord and enmitie but rather their friendship and good agreement that was the first and principall cause therof When Pope Iuly had made a league with the Venetians and the king of Arragon against the Frenchmen many men commended his dealing as wherby he meant to driue away the Frenchmen at the costs of the Spaniards in hope to driue away the Spaniards afterward when they had bin tired already by the Frenchmen But the best aduised sort found this counsell to be pernicious vnto Italy saying that sith it was the hard hap of Italy to haue both the ends thereof possessed by straungers it was better for the countrie to haue them both continue there still because that as long as the one king was able to weigh euen with the other those that were not yet entered into bondage should be able to maintaine their owne libertie than that the Italians should be at warres among themselues by means whereof so long as such warres continued the parties that were yet whole and sound should be torne in pieces by sacking burning and other miserable inconueniences and finally he that gained the goale would punish the whole country with the harder and irkesomer bondage That was the cause why Pope Clement turned to the French kings side bearing himselfe in hand that as long as the emperour and the king continued both in Italy the Apostolike sea should be vpheld by the power of either of theÌ„ and therfore he would not suffer the kingdome of Naples and the duchie of Millan to fall both into one hand Small dissentions forasmuch as they be intermingled both with perill and profit cannot ouerthrow a state but when the dissention is great and betweene great persons it maketh strange tragedies as did the dissentions betweene Marius and Silla Pompey and Caesar. For hauing once gained and drawne vnto them the whole citie of Rome and hauing weapon in hand and men of warre at commaundement they could hardly eschew that their discord should not procure the ruine of the state The enmitie that was betweene Aristides and Themistocles had like to haue ouerthrowne the state of Athens and when vpon a time they had nothing preuailed in an assembly by their quarelings Themistocles returning thence in a great rage said that the common-weale of Athens could not continue in good state vnlesse that he himselfe and Aristides were both cast downe The enuie that some citizens bare vnto Alcibiades was a cause of the destruction of Athens Likewise the state of Florence was in short time ouerthrowne by such partakings The Romanes in time of danger chose a dictator that had soueraign authoritie but he was not to continue any long time for feare least his ouer-great authoririe should turne into tyranny When Cicero was Consull there was giuen vnto him a greater authoritie than ordinarie in these words namelie That he should haue a speciall care of the common-weale that it incurred not any danger and this was at such time as they perceiued the conspiracie of Catilin to hang ouer their heads Cicero in this his time of authoritie did put many noble men of Rome to death being first atteinted and conuicted of high treason which thing he could not otherwise haue done The Senat perceiuing that the magistrats of Rome did not their duties and that all went to hauoke determined to chuse Pompey to be Consul alone to reforme the common-weale and of that mind also were Bibulus and the yonger Cato howbeit that they liked not of Pompeys behauior and trade of life saying it was much better to haue a Magistrat be what he be may than to haue none at all And this their vsing of the absolute maner of gouernment by one alone in the times of danger doth shew that they liked better of it and esteemed it to be better and more certaine than the maner of gouernment that was in Athens and that they abhorred not so much the thing it selfe as the name thereof Also Mithridates king of Pontus said That the Romanes hated their kings because they were such as they were ashamed of as namely Shepheards Bird-gazers Sooth-sayers Outlawes Bondmen and which was the fairest title of all Vain-glorious and Proud The Carthaginenses likewise had but one Generall captaine of warre whom they changed oftentimes Contrariwise the Athenians chose many captains at once to lead their forces of warre In respect whereof Alexander maruelled how the Athenians could find euery yeare ten captains seing that he himselfe in al his lands could find but one good captain which was Parmenio Also we see that common-weales haue not made so great conquests as Monarchies haue done except the common-weale of Rome which brought all kingdomes vnder the dominion thereof But for that one common-weale ye haue many kingdomes which haue had greater possessions and haue kept them a longer time As for example the kingdome of Assyria had mo Kingdomes and countries vnder the dominion thereof than euer had the citie of Rome The Romane empire lasted partly at Rome and partly at Constantinople about fifteene hundred yeares The Empire of Almaine which began vnder Otho the second about two hundred yeares after the coronation of Charlemaine hath continued vnto this day but yet in some things it sauoreth of the Aristocracie The kingdome of France hath endured about a twelue hundred yeares As for the dominion of Venice the gouernment wherof is an Aristocracie is the Paragon of all Common-weales in the world as which alonely may vant that it hath maintained his state the longest time of all others howbeit with such good lawes as were able to preserue it as they well shewed vnto one of their citizens whom they dispatched out of his life without speaking any word vnto him only because he was of authoritie and credit to appease a certaine sedition or mutinie among the men of warre in their citie And to say the truth the thing that ouerthrew the state of Rome was the ouer-great authoritie which they suffered their citizens to beare Now then as a good king is a right excellent thing so when he becommeth a tyrant he is as excessiue a mischiefe For the man that is set in that authoritie hath power ouer mens persons to dispose of them at his
are tickled with some pleasure therof which being entered in at the eies or the eares taketh such root in the heart that it is hard to put it away againe For that cause when Sophocles beheld a faire yoong boy and commended his beautie one told him That it became him to haue not onely chast hands but also chast eies Candaules king of Lidia hauing a ladie of most excellēt beautie to his wife shewed her naked to a friend of his named Gyges but the sight of hir so inflamed the heart of Gyges that he murthered the king to marrie hir The people of Bisance being besieged of Philip sent Ambassadors vnto him to know what iniurie he pretended to be done by them And he sent them back againe without any good answer saying that they were great fools like to one that hauing a faire wife demanded of them that resorted often to hir wherfore they came thither meaning that the beautie of their town made him desirous to win it And for that cause doth our Lord and lawgiuer say that he which lusteth after a woman sinneth as much as if he had to do with hir by reason of the consent which he hath giuen to the sinne the performance wherof ingendereth death For when lust is once entred in it is hard to keepe the rest from following after or at leastwise to forbeare to giue attempt to obtaine the rest as the iudges did to Susan Dauid to Bersabee and Tarquin to Lucreece Well may we hear see and smel a far off but we cannot touch or tast but the things that are neere at hand And that is the cause that we haue most delectation by those feelings Moreouer nature hath conueied into them all the pleasantnes that she could to the intent that that pleasure should maintaine al liuing wights which cannot liue but by eating and drinking nor be increased and continued without the act of copulation specially the brute beasts which would neither feede nor ingender if they were not prouoked therto by nature And as touching hounds which follow freshly vpon the sent of things it is not for any pleasure that they haue in the hunting but for the pleasure which they haue to eat it The lion taketh no delight in the lowing of a bugle or an oxe nor in the sight of a goodlie stagge otherwise than by accident that is to say for that he hopeth that it is meat prepared for him to dine vpon Therfore I say that temperance consisteth chiefly and most peculiarly in eating and drinking and in vse of women And as Plato saith Al things seeme to depend cheifly vpon three necessities and inward desires of the which being well ordered springeth the vertue of temperance or contrariwise the vice of intemperance if they be vnrulie Two of them be in al liuing wights as soone as they be borne namely the desire to eat and to drink and because euery liuing creature hath a naturall appetite euen from his very birth therefore is hee carried vnto it euen with a violent and forcible desire and cannot abide to heare him that shall tell him he must doe otherwise But the third necessitie lust or pregnant desire which serueth for propagation and generation commeth a certaine time after and yet it burneth men with a hote furie and carrieth them with a wonderfull loosenesse These three diseases enforcing vs after that maner to the things that we most like of must be turned to the better by feare by law and by true reason S. Ierome writing to Furia sayth That this lust is harder to subdue that the others because it is within vs whereas other sinnes are without vs. As for example Niggardlinesse may be laid downe by casting vp a mans purse a farre of the railer is corrected if he be commanded to hold his peace a man may in lesse than an houre change rich aparell into meane only the desire which God hath endued vs withall for procreation doth by a certaine constraint of nature run to carnall copulation Wherefore great diligence is to be vsed for the vanquishing of nature that in the flesh a man may not liue fleshly Some haue taken Temperance more largely as Anaoharsis the Scythian who said that a man ought to haue stay of his toung of his bellie and of the priuie parts Which thing Plato hath declared more largely in his Phoedon saying of the inordinat appetits of Intemperance that there be diuerse sorts of names of them according as they themselues are diuers For the lust of things aboue the nauell concerning foode is called gluttony and he that is possessed of that vice is called a glutton he that is ouermaistered with drinking is called a drunkard that which forceth a man to the pleasute and ouerliking of a beautifull visage and surmounteth reason in the desire thereof is called loue and the like may we say of all lust that ouermaistreth the opinion which tendeth to well doing Pythagoras said that we must chiefly moderat these things namely the belly sleepe the desire of the flesh and choler wherof I will speake particularly hereafter after that I haue exhorted princes to Temperance generally as to the vertue which is most necessarie For the desire of honour may lead a prince to prowesse and withdraw him from cowardlines but it is hard to reclaime him from couetousnes For the desire of hauing more is the ordinarie vice of princes and great lords so that if they desire women banquets or feasts no man pulleth them back but rather flatterers allure them thereunto Wherfore it standeth them on hand to withdraw themselues from them and to beare in mind that a man may be temperat without danger but he cannot attaine to prowesse without putting himselfe in perill of warre And the cause why valeantnes is preferred before Temperance is that valeantnes is the harder to attaine vnto But to haue the traine of vertues which consist in the sensitiue appetit Temperance will obtaine more than valeantnes which is peculiar to those that are hardie and is hard by reason of the perill wherwith it is matched But this vertue of Temperance is easie and void of all perill and consisteth but in the contempt of voluptuousnes the which as S. Iohn Chrisostome saith in his xxij Homilie Is like a dog if you driue him away he is gone if yee make much of him he will abide with you Democritus saith that Temperance increaseth the pleasure of things Which thing Epicurus considering who placed all mans pleasure in voluptuousnes dranke nothing but water ne ate other than crible bread saying that he did it according to his profession because it liked him better to eat little and to vse meats that were least delicat And yet neuerthelesse he gaue himselfe to Temperance granting the thing in effect which he denied in his words namly that vertue was the chief cause of pleasure Also it is most commonly said that ther is not a better
haue slender wits Therefore we call him a glutton which eateth either too much or too hastilie or oftener than he needeth besides his ordinarie meales or that seeketh delicate and daintie meats And we call him a drunkard which drinketh out of measure For to drinke wine moderatly is not forbidden And as Anacharsis said The first draught serueth for health the second for pleasure the third for shame and the fourth for madnesse For as Herodotus saith Drunkennes putteth a man out of his wits and makes him mad Moyses forbiddeth the priests to drinke wine or any other drinke that may make men drunken during the time that they were in their course of sacrifising Plato in his common-weale forbiddeth magistrats wine during the time of the executing of their office and also children vntill they be eighteene yeares old for feare of putting fire to fire For great heed ought to be taken that we driue not youth into a setled disposition of furie And after that time he will haue them to vse wine moderatly And when they be come to fortie years then they may drinke the more liberally as a remedie against the waywardnesse of old age And in the same booke He that is full of wine sayth he both draweth and is drawne hither and thither And therefore a drunkard as a man besides himselfe is vnmeete for generation because it is likely that his procreation shall be vnequall crooked and vnstable as well in members as in maners And therefore he saith That a drunkard being set in any state of gouernment whatsoeuer it be vndoeth and marreth all whether it be ship or armed chariot or any other thing whereof he hath the guiding and gouernment The Carthaginenses prohibited wine to their magistrats and men of warre and so doth also Mahomet to all those that hold of his law It was felonie for the magistrats of Locres to drinke wine without the licence of a Phisition And the yong Romans dranke no wine afore they were twentie yeeres old Atheneus saith That the Greeks neuer dranke wine without water and that sometimes they put fiue glasses of water to one of wine and sometime but two of water to foure of wine Hesiodus will haue men to put three parts of water to one of wine Sophocles mocked the poet Aeschylus for that he neuer wrote but when he was well drunken For although he write well saith he yet writeth he vnaduisedlie Aristophanes termed wine the milke of Venus because it prouoketh men to lecherie And Horace saith That a cup of wine is the companion of Venus And for that cause a certaine Iewish sect called Esseans who were holier and of better conuersation than the Pharisees or than the Saduces who were heretikes abstained from wine and women as witnesseth Iosephus in his Antiquities Osee saith That wine and fornication bereaue men of their harts that is to wit of right vnderstanding and discretion For wine hideth and darkeneth wisdome And Salomon in the the 23 of the Prouerbs saith That the drunkard and the glutton shall become poore And in another place Who saith he haue misfortune who haue sorrow who haue trouble who haue sighing who haue stripes without cause and who haue â—aintnes of eyes Euen they that sit at the wine and straine themselues to emptie the cuppes Wine is alluring but in the end it stingeth like a serpent and leaueth his sting behind him like an aspworme At that time thine eies shall see strangers and thy hart shall vtter fond things Plinie in the 14 booke of his naturall Historie saith among other things that it maketh the eies water the hands quiuering the nights vnquiet lewd dreames a stinking breath in the morning and vtter forgetfulnesse of all things Moderate wine helpeth concoction and the sinewes and abundance thereof hurteth them Esau by his gluttonie lost his birthright Noe by his drunkennesse became a laughing stocke to his owne children and Lot delt shamefully with his owne daughters Betweene a drunken man and a mad man is small difference And as Crysippus saith Drunkennesse is a peti-madnesse as we read of Alexander who in his drunkennesse was commonly furious And as Strabo saith Like as a small wind doth easily carie him away that is swaieng forward alredie so a little greef doth easily make him mad that hath taken in too much wine And Sophocles saith A drunken man is easily caried away with choler and hath no vnderstanding whereby it commeth to passe that when he hath rashly discharged his tongue he is constrained afterward whether he will or no to heare of it at their hands of whom he railed in his lustinesse For who so euill speaketh saith Hesiodus shall shortly after heare more of it than he had spoken Theognis saith That as gold is tried by fire so is a mans mind by wine For wine bereaueth him of all knowledge and consequently of all aduisement and meane to dissemble so as it is ill done to commit anie secrets to a drunkard If a drunkard offended in his drunkennesse Pittacus would haue him punished with double punishment that he should the rather abstaine from drunkennesse The Romans did put them out of the Senate that were drunkards In old time a man could not put away his wife except she had beene an adultresse a witch or a wine drinker To eschue this vice we will take the remedie of Anacharsis who counselled them that were subiect to that vice to behold how drunken men behaued themselues or rather as Pithagoras said to bethinke them of the things that a drunken man hath done That was the cause why the Lacedemonians made their bondslaues drunken that their yong folk might learne to hate drunkennesse when they saw those poore soules out of their wits and scorned at all hands Furthermore it is to be considered what mischiefs haue come of drunkennesse whereof all stories are full as how the armie of Thomiris was discomfited by Cyrus for that they hauing drunke too much were laid downe and falne a sleepe How the citie Abida in Mesopotamia was lost by drunkennesse because the men that were set to gard the tower of Hipponomethere hauing drunke too much were falne into so deep a sleepe that they were surprised by their enemies and slaine afore they could awake In general for frugality we must haue the vertue of Temperance before our eies which warneth vs to follow reason and to eschue superfluitie of eating and drinking vnder colour that we haue whereof to make good cheere and say as Alcamenes did who being vpbraided that he liued so sparingly and poorely for the riches that he had said That he which hath great reuenues ought to liue according to reason and not at his pleasure For frugalitie doth alway well beseeme a Prince so long as it proceed not of nigardship Our former kings lost their kingdome through following their delights King Charles the seuenth who was woont to sup with three yong pigeons
countries To beare and forbeare The vntemperat man is vniust After what maner pleasure is to be â—ought The difference of the fiue sences Concupiscence the cause of verie great sins Temperance consisteth most in eating and drinking and in vse of women The lust of women is within vs and therfore hard to oueâ—come Coâ—â—tousnes an ordinary fault in princes Wherin Temperance consisteth Voluptuousnes like to a dog Temperance increaseth pleasure A notable precept for Temperance What pleasure is to be sought Voluptuousnes maketh men nice and effeminat Lacedemonians trained vp from the shell in TemperaÌ„ce Quintius won mo cities by Temperance than by the sword Demetrius expâ—lâ—ed for 〈…〉 The sober maÌ„ hath his wit the more at will Cicero in his Tuscâ—lan questions A man of moderat diet prolongeth his life A poore table is the mother of health Of feasts and baâ—quets The Sobrietie of the Lacedemonians A spare diet is the Schoolmistâ—es of wiâ—e counsell The sawces of the Lacedemonians The pampering of the body sâ—arueth the soule A fat belly afordeth not a good wit A Glutton A Drunkard The drunkard is vnmâ—et to beget childreÌ„ Wine is the milk of Venuâ— Wine dimmeth and ouercommeth wisdome The inconueniences of drinking too much Drunkennesse is a peti-madnesse A mans disposition is bewrayed by wine A remedie for drunkennesse Of the sobrietie of diuerse princes The way to eschew gluttonie Through disorder of diet we depriue our selues of the health which we pray for The greatest personages haue eschued mariage and women The continencie of Xenocrates The continencie of Ioseph The prodigious lechery of a certaine Spaniaâ—d The profit of chastitie and the harme of vnchastitie Women shorten mens liues The lawes of Solon and Licurgus concerning mariage Incontinencie maketh men to grow out of kind The Continencie of Scipio The Continency of Alexander Many examples of the chastitie of princes The good turne that Alexander the sonne of Amintas did The punishment of adulterie The means to remedie Incontinencie Cicero in his Cato Of the veiling of maidens and maried women Sight is an intisement to adulterie Speeches is an other inticement By a mans speech is his disposition knowne Law makers ought to banish all filthie talke out of their coÌ„mon-weals The ornaments of a good woman A woman in stripping her selfe out of her clothes strippeth her selfe of all shamefastnes The greatest speakers be not the greatest doers Secrecie a most behooffull thing to a frato An orator is known by his speaking and a philosopher by his silence in due time He that giueth a man eare inuiteth him to speake The man that speaketh little shall be honoured Many words are not without fault The vices of the toung punished aboue all vices amoÌ„g the Persians He cannot wel speake that cannot skill to hold his peace Euill words corrupt good maners Of the maner of speaking The vnbridled toung findeth euer misâ—ortune The words of great talkers are vnfruitfull Of curiositie The property of a babler Men conceale not any thing but that which is euill The law of the Locrians The remedy of curiositie The lier Lying is the foundation and substance of all vice The first sort of lies The second sort of lying The third sort of leasing The maners of liers are without honor A theefe is better than a her The benefit of suffeâ—ing 〈◊〉 in princes courts Lying lips become nor a prince All good men hate lying He that is mutable in words deludeth princes Why the Persians hate 〈◊〉 debters We must not eat with the slaunderer The man that accustometh himself to euil speaking shall receiue no instruction The tale bâ—â—â—er setteth princes at variance Railing and slandering do bring foorth vnrecoÌ„cilable enmitie A backbiter cannot be reclaimed Wrong returneth to him that telleth it A wicked life draweth wroÌ„gs vnto it Princes must not haue tickle toungs not ticklish eares Of mockers and scornets Scornfulnesse procureth a prince the ill will of his people Admonishâ—ments must be tempered with some sweetnesse 〈◊〉 â—asting Ieaâ—â—iâ—g doth ill beseeme a great lord Of the flatterer The allurements of flatterers are more daungâ—rous than the wounds of foes The prince that loueth flatterie loueth not the truth Two sorts of flatterers The flatterer seeketh but credit The description of a flatterer The talebearer or backbiter Talebearers were first brought vp by euill princes Anger vnseparably matched with rashnes Impatiency Meeldnesse and clemeÌ„cy and the difference betwixt them What anger is The leauing of wicked men vnpunished is cruelty against good men Of clemency or mercy Examples of clemency or mercy It is in our owne power to haue good or ill report He that most can least should in seeking reuenge The meeldnes of Dauid Meeldnes wel beseemeth kings and great states The benefit of meeldnes Two sorts of cholerik persons An argument of the cholericke Câ—olericke pursons aptest for learning Cholâ—ricknes is a token of a readie wit Arguments against choler That which is done through perturbation cannot be don steadily Anger is the mother of hatred Cholericknes procedeth of weaknes of the mind To subdue anger is a point of a noble and valiant corage Irefulnes likened to the crampe Cholerick persons vnfit for gouernment That man is vnworthie of authoritie which cannot beare iniuries The vnpatient are forsaken or else haue few followres The cholerick are vnmeete to teach children Anger is a medly of all the passions of the mind Anger a furor of short continuance The inconuenience that insueth of cholerickneâ— The praise of meeknesse Anger dangerous in a prince Among princes men are oft condemned afore ought be prooued against them Remedies against anger The first remedie Naturally we couet reuenge and esteeme wrongs to be greater than they be Reason must be applied to anger The troubled mind heareth not what is said without The second remediâ—â— The third remedie The fourth remedie The fift remedie The sixt remedie The seuenth remedie Of manslaughter Bloudie men shall not liue out halfe their dayes Anger causeth the ouerthrow of cities The eight remedie A prince is pacified with patience A mild toung breaketh all hardnesse The choleâ—iknes of Marius and Syllâ— A man may command anger seeing it harbereth within him Anger impaireth the health both of bodie and soule Reason staieth the first brunts The prince that is valiant is esteemed and had in feare The art of war vpholdeth the coÌ„mon-weale Nothing is done which had not ben 〈…〉 In maâ—ters of 〈…〉 hours 〈…〉 The way to disiâ—ine leagues Leaguers respect their owne peculiar profit Leagues broken by diuers means The drawing backe of one leaguer disappointeth the whole leâ—gue The danger of suffering one gouernor continually in a prouince Too great a mightinesse is daungerous in a coÌ„monweale In monarchies needeth no chaunge of gouernors It is not good to haue many commaunders in an armie It is hard for two generals to agree in one armie There must be no equals to the generall in an armie For gentlenes and courtesie For rigor and crueltie Nothing