a Saint though they know the contrary These saith Nazianzene are like to your Sorcerers of Egypt which were about Pharaohs person who with feigned Prodigies did pretend to ease his heart of that griefe which those plagues did cause in him Ambitious and proud men are these which thus resist the truth and that they may not fall from their bias oppose themselues to those that speake the truth and minde nothing else but to cast a fayre colour on those things whereunto they see their Prince stands affected They come of the race of your Cameleons which liue by the ayre and cloath themselues with the colour of that whereunto they approach neerest If they see the King troubled they are troubled if merry they are merry if sad they are sad Hauing their teares as neere at hand as their smiles for to deceiue him And the better to content him they change themselues into a thousand colours in all they imitate him in all doe they labour to represent him to the true life There is not that glasse which so liuely represents the face the semblance and actions of those that looke therein as the flatterer who is that shadow which alwayes followes the body of him hee flattereth doth his Kings countenance his motions his postures his gestures his saying and his doings For as they see him either say or doe so doe they Being like vnto the Echo which answereth to the last syllable of euery word that is voyced in the Ayre These are the Kings Echos which answer him in all not onely in that which the voyce soundeth but in that which they imagine to be to his liking Being herein very like vnto those lying Hypocrites which thinke one thing and make shew of another But they are presently discouered and this their second intention soone vnderstood which is To lye and flatter to make themselues gratious and to bring their businesses the better about though it be to the hurt of others With one single truth they will dawbe ouer a thousand lyes As perfumers doe a great deale of Leather with a little Ciuit. And thus soothing and suppling the eares of Princes with a subtill softenesse and deceitfull sweetnesse thy powre lyes into them and working them with a gentle hand they passe for truths Whilst these false perswaders falsifie the Truth and are worse members in a Common-wealth then those that falsifie the Kings Coine and sinne more grieuously then those that beare false witnesse For these by their testification deceiue onely the Iudge that is to sentence the cause but these with their faire and false flatteries not only cozen and deceiue Kings but corrupt and infect them make them to perseuere in their errours Per dulces sermones benedictiones Rom. 16.18 seducunt Corda innocentium saith S. Paul by good words and faire speeches they deceiue the hearts of the simple And therefore with the greater and more grieuous punishments ought they to be punished They are not so squezy stomackt as to make dainty of Lying nor make they any bones to tell an vntruth if thereby they thinke they may please And as soone will they lay hold on a Lye as a truth so as they rest well apayd therewith to whom they vent their flatterie and their Leasings And some are so trayned and bred vp to them that they take delight to heare them and doe as verily beleeue them as they doe their Creede And so close doth this falsehood cleaue vnto them that without any occasion or cause giuen they leane thereunto and stedfastly beleeue that they haue that goodnesse in them which they want and not that badnesse wherein they exceede For being sencelesse of their owne defects they no sooner heare themselues commended but they are presently puffed vp and conceit themselues to surpasse all other Princes And thus doe they liue all their life long deluded taking themselues to be othewise then they are being abused and vndone by Lyes and flatteries Whence it is now growne to be a Prouerb Princeps qui libenter audit verba mendacij Prou. 29.12 omnes Ministros habet impios If a Ruler hearken to Lyes all his seruants are wicked For euery man will frame his Tongue according to his eare and feede him with that fruit which they know best pleaseth his palate It being a dangerous disease in Kings not to indure the truth and as mortall in the subiects that they know not well how to acquaint them therewith The one because they minde no other thing The other because they dare not speake their minde Many seekeing to please them most to flatter them and some not to contradict them being loath to distast them of whose helpe fauour they may stand in neede hauing so much the kings eare and such great power in Court They know that the bread of Lyes is sauory and that flatterers are too well heard that they buzze into Kings eares a thousand fictions and falsehoods which they themselues inuent and by their smooth carriage of them perswade them to be truths And for that Kings vsually treate with few they cannot be informed of the truth and so are forced to beleeue those who of purpose seeke to deceiue them And therfore the wise men of Athens did set such a watch about their Kings that flatterers should not bee suffred to speake with them For these their smooth words their adulations and flatteries when they are once receiued by the eare do not slightly passe away entring in at one eare and going out at another but they cleaue vnto the Soule and make their way euen to the innermost part of the heart and there make their seate and abode Verba susurronis quasi simplicia Prou. 26.22 ipsa perueniunt ad intima cordis The words of a Tale-bearer carry a faire shew but they are as wounds and they goe downe into the innermost parts of the belly And albeit they be cast out and doe not wholy either possesse or perswade vs as knowing of what stampe they are and in what mould they are cast yet at least they leaue behind them a kinde of guste and content and with that wherewith they seeme to please they kill As water doth those that are sicke of a Hectick-feuer which they drinke with so much pleasure and swallow downe with so much greedinesse so these men come to tast that which turnes to their owne hurt Crossing the opinion of Iob who would haue none to tast that which being tasted should occasion his death Of your rich red wine the wise man saith that it is pleasant and sweete in the going downe but afterwards that it biteth and gnaweth in the belly like a Serpent In like manner soothing is very sweete and sauory and and seemeth least sower to those that are most powerfull and although they see the poyson that it is mingled with yet they drinke it downe with a good will and their seruants will be sure to serue them with the
Rom. 1.14 I am debtor both to the wise men and to the vnwise In the History of the Kings is set downe the dissimulation wherewith the women of Tecoa spake vnto King Dauid and how importunate and tedious she was in telling her tale and withall the Kings great patience in hearing her out and his not being offened with the craft and cunning wherewith shee came vnto him albeit the businesse was of that weight and moment that his great Captaine Ioab durst not propound it vnto him Audi tacens Eccl. 22.7 simul quaerens Giue eare and be still and when thou doubtest aske This Counsaile concerneth all but more particularly Kings and their Ministers who are to heare and be silent to aske and aske againe till they haue fully informed themselues of the truth of the case For this is rather an honour then dishonour vnto Kings and great Ministers Prou. 25.1 For as the holy Ghost saith Gloria regum est in vestigare sermonem The Kings honour is to search out a thing Of him that speaketh not nor asketh a question of him that speaketh it may be conceiued that he doth not heare him For these two sences are so neere of kinne that as the Philosopher obserueth he that is borne dumbe is also deafe And not onely this but likewise that the speech being taken away the hearing is lost with it The cause whereof according to Lactantius is for that the Organ by which the Ayre is receiued and wherewith the Voyce is formed holds such Correspondencie with that which goes vnto the hearing that if the first be shut or stopt the exercise of the second is likewise hindred Vpon information and hearing followeth in the next place doing of Iustice whereof we will treate in the Chapters following CHAP. XX. Of the Vertue of Iustice the naturall sister and Companion of Kings WEe told you in the former Chapter that Hearing was the precisest and directest meanes for the doing of Iustice And therefore falleth fitly out here to treate thereof Your Ancient Hieroglyfinists as also your Saints in their writings treating of this Vertue compare it to a payre of weights or scales with it's two ballances And it seemeth that Nature herselfe made this Ectypum or Exemplar this portrayture or delineation shadowing it out in euery one of vs by giuing vs two eares like vnto those two balances whose truth dependeth on the Examen or Aequilibrium that tongue or needle which stands vppermost in the beame of the ballance making my application in this maner that the two eares standing like two ballances on either side of the head they haue their rule of truth from the supremest and highest part thereof where stands the tongue or needle of reason and the iudgement of those things to their true weight and measure which are put into these Intellectaull ballances To discourse therefore of Iustice is very essentiall to that which hath already beene treated touching a Common-wealth For as we told you in our very first Chapter A Republick or Common-wealth is a Congregation of many men subiect to the same Lawes and Gouernment which is not possible to bee conserued if Iustice therein shall be wanting Which giues to euery one that which is his owne keepes men within the bounds of good Order and Discipline and bridles those by reason which transported by their vnruly appetites like headstrong iades would liue without it admitting no curbe no manner of controll but following that Law of Viuat qui vincit Let him weare a Crowne that winn's it If Men would but obserue that first rule of the Law natural consecrated by the mouth of our diuine Master Christ Quod tibi non vis Math. 7.12 alteri ne feceris Et quaecunque vultis vt faciant vobis homines eadem facite illis Offer not that to another which thou wouldst not haue donne to thy selfe And therefore whatsoeuer ye would that men should doe to you euen so doe yee to them There needed no other bullwarkes or fortifications to liue quietly and peaceably in the world But after this same Lolium crept in this Tare of Meum and Tuum the Cooler as Chrysostome calls it of Charitie the Seminarie of discordes and dissention and the fountaine of all mischiefe men found themselues obliged nay inforced to seeke out some such meanes or maner of liuing whereby euery one might quietly and peaceably inioy that which he held to be his owne And for this cause they resolued to leade a ioynt life together submitting themselues to one and the same Lawes and subiecting themselues to one and the same King who should likewise keepe and obserue them and by iustice conserue nourish and maintaine all other necessary vertues for the augmentation and conseruation of Common wealths And for this end was giuen vnto Kings that great power which they haue holding in one hand the ballance of Iustice and in the other the sword of power Which that naked weapon doth represent which is borne before them when they enter with authoritie and State into their Cities And alluding either vnto this or those ancient Insignia of your Iudges the Apostle Saint Paul saith Rom. 13.3 Vis non timere potestatem Bonum fac non enim sine causa gladium portat Wilt thou be without feare of the power Doe well For the Magistrate beareth not the sword for nought Herodotus tells vs that which Cicero deliuereth vnto vs. Cicero Eadem fuit legum constituendarum causa quae regum That one and the selfe same was the cause and Motiue of ordaining Lawes and Creating Kings Whence it followeth that there neither can be any Common-wealth without Iustice nor any one that can deserue to be a King vnlesse he maintaine and conserue it And though he may seeme to be a King yet in realitie of truth he is not Because he wants that principall attribute that should make him be so As a painted man which is no man cannot properly be said to be a Man The holy Scripture styles those Hypocrites which doe not administer Iustice for they haue no more in them of Kings then the apparent or outward shew as the Scepter and the Crowne and other their regall roabes and ornaments And it is worthy your consideration and it is no more then what their holy Doctors and learned Interpreters of diuine Letters haue obserued That a good King and Iustice are brothers and sisters and so neerely twinn'd that you can scarce make mention of the one without the other The Prophet Esay representing the feruent desire of all the world and the voyces and cryes of the Patriarkes who with such instance and earnestnesse did call for the comming of the Sonne of God saith Rorate coeli desuper Esay 45.2 nubes pluant iustum iustitia eriatur simul Ye heauens send the deaw from aboue and let the cloudes drop downe righteousnesse let the earth open and let saluation and Iustice growe forth let it
in those whom they know and haue neere about them and in their Court the Election may in all likely-hood seeme to light more safely and happely vpon them then any other For they who being still in our eye discouer no faultes it may be presumed that they haue not any For if they had in such persons they would hardly be hid And let this be exemplified in some nay many of those your pictures which being beheld a farre off seeme to be curious peeces but drawing neere vnto them appeare to be but course worke and discouer great faultes And therefore Diogenes sayd Prou. 17 2◠you must stand aloofe to looke vpon great Statuas And I say That he who in his speech seemeth to be wise and discreete ought to be taken for no lesse For by a mans silent reseruednesse and holding his peace it is not much if he passe for a wise man because the Holy-Ghost saith Stultus quoque si tacuerit sapiens reputabitur Euen a foole when he holdeth his peace is counted wise In like manner may he seeme to be a good Man that is a great way from vs because we neither see his deedes nor heare his words And peraduenture for this reason it was ordayned that the Pope could not be chosen vnlesse he had beene one of the number and fellowship of those Cardinalls there present at the time of the Election And when kings cannot meete with sufficient persons amongst those whom they know they must looke others out though they bee farther off For so did the wisest King that euer was King Salomon who vsed diligences out of his owne Kingdome for to seeke out the best Artificers and such as were the fittest and ablest men for the building of the Temple He could not content himselfe with good workemen onely but he sought out those likewise that were the best and the worthiest The like course ought Kings to take who alwayes in those Elections that they make for the building and vpholding of this Edifice of the Church should not content themselues with electing onely those that are good but in seeking out the best and the worthiest Whereby their Conscience shall rest the more secure and freer from opinion Whereas in doing the contrary those that are the wisest and the most learned affirme That their Conscience is not onely charged therewith but that they are likewise bound to the restitution of the robbery that is therein done to the Church And it is a lamentable thing that for to pleasure a priuate subiect that he may eate and drinke his fill and triumph in his pleasures a King should put himselfe in hazard of going to Hell But aboue all the foresayd diligences Kings ought to haue recourse vnto Prayers supplications beseeching Almightie God that he will illuminate their vnderstandings that they may elect the best For so did the Apostles who being to picke out two of of the best out of the whole pack of those that were there at the time when they were to proceede to the Election they betooke themselues to prayer vttering these words so full of meekenesse and humilitie Tu domine qui nosti corda omnium Act. 1.24 Ostende quem elegeris ex his duobus vnum accipere locum Ministerij huius Thou Lord which knowest the hearts of all men shew whether of these two thou hast chosen that hee may take the roome of this Administration and Apostleship For being that mens goodnesse and sufficiencie principally consisteth in the inwardst part of the heart which is so close and so subiect to change that God onely can truly know it it is fit that we should refer the Mayne of these our Elections to him to the end that they may be guided by his Holy Spirit and that hee may be the chiefe and principall Elector in them This which we haue said touching prouision of those that are knowen in Court it seemeth that it may open a gap for those that are tumultuous Pretenders and ambitious Courtiers to carry all before them and let nothing that falls scape their fingers For these are much better knowen then those wise and vertuous men who ordinarily liue retyred and attend more to the Complying with obligations of their profession and function then to the Compliments of those who spend their whole life in pretensions And it hapneth not once nor twice but dayly and ordinarily that they who follow the Court and frequent Princes Pallaces haue not so much followed their studies and frequented the schooles And few there are of them which take pleasure in reading of bookes to informe their knowledge and to supply that which is defectiue in them concerning the knowledge of businesses and the true vnderstanding and execution of their Offices But the miserie of it is that if a wise and prudent Man shall seeke to make his entrance and accesse to the King the Porters will shut the doore against him And fooles hauing such free entrance it is no wonder that wise men are kept out As it hapned to that wise Philosopher who being clad in a meane but honest habit pressed amongst the rest to the Kings Antecamera or with-drawing Chamber where hee vsed to giue Audience hauing very necessary occasion to speake vnto him But as hee offered to come in the Porter still clappt the doore against him and would not suffer him to enter Hee being a discreete man presently entred into the reckoning of it and seeing how the world went shifted himselfe out of the companie and changing his poore for a rich Habit and being in the fashion as others vse to be that are not knowen to make them selues knowen in Court way was made him and he presently let in And at his going in hee kissed his cloake and sayd Honoro honorantem me quia quod virtus non potuit vestis obtinuit I honour thee that hast honourd me for what vertue could not effect my costly cloathing hath obtained For he that is rich and well clad is commonly the best knowen and most respected Vir benè vestitus pro vestibus esse peritus Creditur à mille quamuis Idiota sit ille He that goes in gay Cloathes A wise man is held to be Though some know ther 's not so Arrant a Cocks-combe as he Et sapiens non accedit ad fores quas durus Ianitor obsidet But your Men that are wise discreete and vertuous beare not so base a minde as to go thither where they either know or haue cause to feare that they shall be debarr'd of entrance so that for the most part the most deseruing are the least knowen To this point therfore I reply that those men which are to be nominated for Offices and Dignities may be knowen two manner of wayes First by that good fame and report which goes of them and that opinion of vertue learning and wisedome which the world holdeth of them Which we may rightly compare to the sweete and fragrant odour of that pretious
course great and ancient houses haue beene brought to nothing and new ones haue started vp in their roome borne and bred in bad Trades and worse manners who alwayes haue a smacke with them or some touch or other of their former meaner fortune And for this cause onely are there so many misfortunes and disorders in the houses of many your ordinary and common sort of people and euen in some of those that are of meaner ranke For they had rather perish and vndoe themselues then to be accounted needy and poore And without doubt the most of their substance is spent in meate and clothes Which vice shame would moderate in them But the feare of seeming to be of lesse abilitie then their neighbours hath quite altered the case and serues to helpe them on to their ruine For euery one counts it a disgrace vnto him that he shall not go as well clad as his neighbour and eate as good meate and drinke as good drinke as he doth though he pay soundly for it both in his honour and estate And hence proceede your briberies corruptions subornations and iniustice For necessitie the mother of vice and that which makes as we say the old wife trott putts them so hard to their shifts that for to free themselues from want there is not that wickednesse which they will not giue way vnto and all because they will not lacke these instruments of their gustes nor want the apparence of Maiestie in their houses And another no lesse mischiefe then the former is the inequalitie in the estates and qualities of the persons and the equalitie wherewith the said accoutrements both in meate and apparrell is vsed For as Plato saith in a well ordered commonwealth all ought to be equall And yet we see that meane women that haue neither meanes nor qualitie weare Kittles Peticoates and Gownes of cloth of gold and rich imbroderies that Queenes can scarce weare better And as for our ordinary sort of men there are very few of them but will go in such good clothes that Kings can not bee better clad Of the Emperour Tiberius Caesar Tacitus reporteth that by a Decree of the Senate he did prohibite men the wearing of gownes of silke saying That they did disgrace themselues by putting on such an effeminate habite And of the Emperour Aurelius it is noted that hee did not onely not weare silke but would not so much as suffer any to be in his wardrope saying That hee would not buy clothes at the weight of gold And Lampridius saith That the first Emperour that euer had any Wardrobe was that wicked and luxurious Emperour Heliogabalus Scipio Aphricanus and Alexander Magnus were very singular in this carelesse manly weare whereof others are so curiously carefull And let vs say no more hereof then what Isocrates said writing to his King Haue a care saith he of the things of particular persons and thinke that those that liue at high and excessiue rates waste and spend out of thy treasure and that those that take paines to scrape vp a little mucke and to get into some wealth by their thrift are the onely men that fill your coffers and increase your treasure For the Subiects purse is as the Kings owne purse if he rule and gouerne well But when men shall not haue meanes sufficient for to supply that excesse in diet and clothes which vice and mans foolish pride hath introduced how is it possible that they should serue and assist their King in the necessary occasions of the kingdome it is impossible but that there must be a failing in the one being that the ends are so opposite How can they haue any heart or guste for the one hauing placed all their care and content in the other And questionlesse if these superfluities were taken away the Subiect would haue wealth enough and then it would neuer grieue them to part with part thereof to their Kings or to spend it in his seruice But that which is now permitted amongst vs is the same which the Romans permitted and procured in the Nations they had subdued for to consume and eate them out and to keepe them in the better obedience But in their owne commonwealth they did euermore feare it and seeke to excuse it What Prince hath there euer beene either of those that were held to be good or indifferent that did not treate of this remedie Not any Yet they did most of them erre in the manner Now to remedie this excesse experience hath and doth shew vnto vs that it is not the penaltie nor rigour of the Lawes and Statutes that our Ancestours seemed to haue erred in who by those penalties alone thought to amend these extrauagancies in their subiects But the cure of this exorbitancie is that which the Ancient did prescribe and we haue declared touching the example of Kings and of their imitation The desire of giuing them content is more powerfull with them then the feare of punishment This doctrine Tacitus taught rendering the reason of that temperance and moderation which was in the Emperour Vespasian his time in clothes and diet and in the vitious superfluitie of these vices And after that he hath gone varying from one reason to another he saith That this Prince was the principall Author of that sparingnesse and thriftinesse amongst the Romanes of those times in their wastfull expences by exercising himselfe in that their ancient manner of lining in matter of maintenance apparell and the like And hence it succeeded that all his subiects did the like conforming themselues according to his fashion their respect to their Prince and their desire to imitate him preuailing more with them then the punishment or feare of the Lawes And this is a sure and sound point of doctrine and of that great consequence that it neuer ought to slip out of the memorie and good liking of Kings and their principall Ministers as being the mirrour or looking glasse wherein the Subiects see and behold whether their manners be foule or faire become or not become them according to the liking which they take from their superiours Of Augustus Caesar Dion reporteth That because hee would not weare such clothes as were prohibited by his Lawes there was not a man in all his Empire that did offer to put them on Componitur Orbis saith Claudian Regis ad exemplar nec sic inflectere sensus Humanos edicta valent quà m vita regentis The whole world shapes and fashions it selfe according to the patterne their King sets before them nor can Edicts and Decrees worke so much vpon mens humours as the life of him that ruleth Of all the reasons whatsoeuer that the wit of man can deuise there is not any more effectuall to perswade hard and difficult things then the example of Kings Let therefore a Prince lay a more hard and cruell punishment vpon them then either imprisonment banishment or some sound fine or pecuniary mulct as not to doe them any grace or fauour or
not to affoord a good looke on him that shall not imitate and follow his fashion For there is no man such a foole that will loose the fruite of his hope for not apparelling himselfe after this or that manner as he sees the Prince himselfe is contented to go Let Kings amend this fault in themselues and then his Peeres and other their inferiours will not be ashamed to imitate them I pray tell me if men of the baser and meaner condition should onely be those that were vicious in their meate and clothes who would imitate them therein Assuredly none All would be Noblemen or Gentlemen or at least seeme to be so in their fashion and apparrell howbeit they would bee lesse curious and dainty if they saw those that were noble or gentile go onely plaine and handsome That ancient Romane pure neate cleane and comely attire of those who conquered the world did then wholly loose it selfe when your great and Noble persons of that commonwealth left it off For in all things but more especially in those that are vicious men seeke to make a fairer shew then their estate will beare and thereby procure to content and please their Kings vnder whom they liue knowing that there is no intercession or fauour like vnto that as the fimiliancie of manners and the kindred which this doth cause Let Kings by their example cut off the vse of costly clothes and sumptuous banquets and whatsoeuer in that kinde is vicious and superfluous and they shall straightway see how a great part of the greedinesse of gaine and couetousnesse of money will cease and many other euils and mischiefes which proceed from thence which would not be sought after nor esteemed were it not for the execution of the appetite and fulfilling of our pleasures And for this end and purpose money is kept with such great anxietie and trouble but procured and sought after with much more because it is the master and commander of all pleasures and delights whatsoeuer For which we will buy and sell and giue all that we haue The second point concerning vices and sinnes common and publike the hurt that comes thereby is well knowne both to God and man and is harder to be reformed then the former That is moderated either with age or necessitie but this neither necessitie nor time can lessen but with it increaseth and shooteth forth new sprigges and suckers neuer before seene nor vsed in the world against which neither suffice Lawes nor Statutes And that doctrine of Tacitus is now come to bee verified That there is not any greater signe of corruption of manners then multiplicitie of Lawes And we now liue in those dangerous times whereof Saint Paul speaketh and I know not whether I may be so bold as to say That it is likewise an argument or signe that the Subiect is neare it's end or at least daily growes decaying wherein these signes and tokens are to bee seene One disorder begetting another which is the order which Nature keepes with things that are to perish till at last all comes to ruine and this vniuersall fabricke sinkes to the bottome neuer more to be repaired I wot well that whilest there be men there must be vices and sinnes and that few or none will cease to bee that which they are in regard of humane weakenesse and mans propension and inclination to sinne and that there are not any remedies which will serue and turne wholly to cure and cut them off it being a thing impossible for that their beginning and cause doth proceed from Nature it selfe being corrupted That which the worth and wisedome of Kings and their Ministers may be able to effect is That they may daily proue lesse and lesse preiudiciall to the publike and that the dissembling of abuses in the beginning before they take head be not a cause of seeing our selues brought to that estate which Salust writeth Rome was found in in Catilines time there being so good cause for to feare it As also that they will draw after them Gods comminations and chastisements When a kingdome saith hee comes to the corruption of manners that men doe pamper and apparell themselues in curious manner like women and make no reckoning of their honestie but deale therewith as with any other thing that is vendible or set out to sale and that exquisite things for to please the palate are diligently sought after both by sea and land that they betake themselues to their ease and sleepe before the due time of their rest and sleepe be come that after their bellies be as full as euer they can hold they neuer cease crauing and cramming till it be noone that they doe not forbeare from eating and drinking till they be either hungry or thirsty not that they ease themselues out of wearinesse or keepe themselues warme against the extremity of the weather but that they do all these things out of viciousnesse and before there is neede well may that Empire be giuen for lost and that it is drawing neare to its last gaspe For the people thereof when their owne meanes shall faile them for to fulfil their appetites out of a thirsting and greedy desire of these things what mischiefes will not they moue or what villanies will not they attempt For the minde that hath beene ill and long accustomed to delights can hardly be without them And that they may enioy them by hooke or by crooke by one meanes or another though neuer so vniust and vnlawfull they will make a shift to get themselues into money though they spend it afterward idly vainly in that profuse and lauish manner for which they did intend it Let euery good King begge of God and let vs all ioyne in the same prayer that in our times it may not come to these termes and that Kings will striue and studie to quench these sparkes before they breake forth into a flame and to put out the fire whilest it is but newly kindled lest it take hold on the whole building and helpe come too late And because there are so many sortes of vices that it is not possible to procure an vniuersall cure for them all that which is likeliest to doe most good will bee that selfe same medicine mentioned before in dyet and apparrell to wit the good example of Kings and in imitation of them that of the great Lords of the land and those that are nearest in Court about their persons ioyning herewith the feare of their disfauour letting them both see and know that the vicious fall backward and the vertuous come forward in honour and that onely vertue is the true meanes and surest way to bring men to great place and preferrement in the commonwealth Let Kings hate these idle droanes these honey-suckers of other mens labours that liue all vpon the waste and spoile Which kinde of people euen in reason of state are not good for the quiet of a kingdome in regard of the euill cogitations and
high stomacke I will not suffer him Mine eyes looke vnto such as be faithfull in the land that they may dwell with mee And whoso leadeth a godly life he shall be my seruant but there shall no deceitfull person dwell in my house And he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight As likewise it is iust and meete that on the contrary hatred punishment and chastisement should be turned into amitie loue and friendship when the person hated shall deserue well And this is the meaning of that ancient Prouerbe Ama tanquam osurus odio habe tanquam amaturus The drift and scope of all which is this That when wee shall place our loue and affection vpon humane things it be done with aduisednesse considering how subiect they are to change and alteration So that that which to day deserues our loue may to morrow deserue our hate And on the contrary that which is disliked and abhorred may merit our loue and good esteeme And we haue hereof a very good example in the foresaid King Assuerus who so soone turned that loue which he bare vnto Haman into that hatred that hee caused him to be hanged vp and Mar doche that was condemned to the gallowes he raised vnto honour and put him into that place of priuacie and greatnesse which proud Haman so lately enioyed Nor can Fauourites haue cause to complaine if it be granted vnto them that their priuacie may reach so farre that their Kings may loue them as they do their owne royall persons But it is a doctrine receiued by all the Philosophers That the rule of that true friendship and loue which one man beareth vnto another is to be measured and considered by that which euery man beares vnto himselfe And that which equalls it selfe in this is very perfect loue Amicitiae lex prescribitur vt non minus Aug. lib. 1. Soliloq ca. 3. nec plus quisquam amicum suum quà m seipsum diligat The Law of friendship is that a man should not loue his friend lesse or more then himselfe Nemo saith Saint Paul animam suam odio habet sed nutrit fouet eam Ephes 5.29 No man euer yet hated his owne flesh but nourisheth and cherisheth it And yet notwithstanding this selfe-loue ought so to bee ordered by reason that whensoeuer it shall desire any thing contrarie thereunto it must sharply be denyed it Acriter reijciendus est saith the learned Saint Chrisostome In like manner when Fauourites shall craue or desire any thing contrary to reason or the publike good of the commonwealth they must bee denyed what they demand and Kings vpon those occasions must shew themselues seuere and austere towards them And this doctrine is so cleare and so plaine that our Sauiour Christ left it for a patterne vnto Princes in that answer of his which he gaue vnto his two kinsmen and Fauourites Iohn and Iames when hee told them Nescitis quid petatis Potestis bibere calicem c. Ye know not what ye aske Can ye drinke of the cup c. Non est meum dare vobis sed quibus paratum est à Patre meo To sit on my right hand Mark 20.37 and on my left hand is not mine to giue but it shall bee giuen vnto them for whom it is prepared And howbeit the words in this answer haue so many sundry expositions and diuers constructions as the Interpreters vpon this place doe render yet haue I noted three things therein worthy the consideration and of much conueniencie for Kings In the first place I obserue the tartnesse and sharpnesse of the answer together with the ill-aduised and indiscreete request of those two Fauourites set downe in these three words Nescitis quid petatis Ye know not what ye aske And when Fauourites shall not weigh and consider with themselues what and how they aske Let Kings bethinke themselues what and how they giue And let them not giue so much to one as may giue occasion to all the rest to murmure and complaine And let them likewise take into their consideration that the common condition of your Fauourites is like vnto that of other particular men still to desire to better themselues in their estate and degree And therefore it shall bee a great point of wisedome not to grant vnto them all that they shall aske as here our Sauiour Christ aduiseth Kings Wotting well that though they grant them their request yet are they not contented therewith but rather take heart and courage vnto them to craue more and more and with greater earnestnesse then they did before For Ambition and Couetousnesse are not satisfied nor slackened with abundance but are like vnto those that are sicke of the Dropsie who the more they drinke the more they thirst And besides this heaping of honour vpon honour and gift vpon gift hath a greater danger with it in regard of those persons that receiue them For most certaine it is that the appetite of man is Hydropicall which the more he drinketh the more he thirsteth and the more he getteth the more he desireth And Princes may giue so much that like Lucifer they may come at last to couet and desire that which their Kings possesse What an honorable creature was he and of what singular parts yet did he rebell against his Creator out of Enuie and Pride and onely occasioned through those many graces and fauours which God had enriched him withall And for that we are all of vs creatures the like may be feared from vs Being that we are not so incapable of this as was that Angell of that which hee desired And it is fit that wee should leaue our selues something to giue for ordinarily we do all of vs desire a qualitie wherewith mans appetite is well acquainted and which hath caused the greatest and the foulest falls For who is he that would not if he could haue command and be a King And wee ought likewise to keepe something in our hands to bestow that we may not grow weary of seruing being we can expect no further fauours nor looke for any more rewards For this also is very naturall and a fashion of ancient standing with most men to waxe weary of standing at a stay not contenting themselues to continue that grace place and rewards which they haue already acquired but hold that for an affront being now growne rich which before they would haue taken for a great fauour when they were poore Thus doe we grow vnthankfull and thus doe we grow forgetfull being vainly carried away with the conceit of what we are And we loose the sight of that low and meane estate wherein we were by being raised to that highth and eminencie wherein wee see our selues to bee seated A naturall fault in mans eye-sight which knowes not how to looke downeward and as vnwilling to looke backward but as much forward as you will But these forward birds doe well deserue to haue the waxe wherewith their wings