hold it fit to begin vpon this ground saying that Adulation generally is an honour which either deseruedly or vndeseruedly is giuen by the inferior vnto the superior to the end to please him for his owne benefit or interest And this for the present shall bee the definition the which wee leaue to examine as not proper to this place and only tie the consideration to our purpose wee say also that commendations or praise is an honour done with wordes and vnder this kinde flatterie is contained whereof we must speake in this place supposing it to be a false praise amplified to the end aforesaid the which because it is little to purpose in this our treatise we will heere serue our turnes only with the first part wherein the most inward and essentiall nature thereof is contained that is that it is a Commendation then will wee examine the differences which are false or amplified Insomuch then as it is Praise or Commendation it is necessary that it fall vpon some good part in the Prince since the obiect of praise is good parts The good parts because it is now no time to play the Phylosopher wee say are of three sorts of the minde the body and the externall The good parts of the minde are vertue and the naturall powers and faculties because we doe not onely praise temperance fortitude liberalitie c. but a pregnant and quicke vnderstanding a vigilant and prouident minde and because these are sometimes the efficient cause or cause conseruant of the outward parts it followeth that praising the externall parts wee commend also the causes of them But to conclude the principall commendations and most of all to be desired is that of the vertues of the mind true it is that these are not of all men alike prised and esteemed there being many who had rather be commended for wealth power and honour than for wisedome magnanimity and beneficence nay there be some so blind of vnderstanding that had rather be accompted faire comely agile and gallant of body than more or as learned as Aristotle or eloquent as Cicero and who doubteth but that it was more gratefull and pleasing to Nero the praise of his singing than whatsoeuer other commendation either of temperance modesty or iustice And questionlesse if any man should take vpon him to adde vnto the female sex all those commendations and applauses that pleasing eloquence could figure or paint out but would abate their beauty out of it I thinke there is none but knowes how welcome and how gratefull such honor should be to any woman Wherefore though the true and reall commendations is principally to be attributed to the aboue named good parts it is notwithstanding very necessary if the courtier will commend with profit to be pleasing that he praise that whereunto he sees the Prince most inclined and best to satisfie himselfe vrging this as a thing of most speciall importance aiding himselfe with the knowledge of his nature custome and inclination There is yet an other aduertisement of great consequence for the better vnderstanding whereof we say thus that it is cleere praise and commendation is naturally desired of euery man the reason is because there is in all men an innated desire of perfection the which not alone in it selfe is most acceptable and gratefull but with a particular pleasure makes those things to bee receiued which giue testimony thereof no otherwise thā as we see that the comming to passe of such things which we haue longingly desired not only to be pleasing vnto vs but withall euen the messenger of such newes is very acceptable and oftentimes munificently rewarded for his tidings and therefore by the same reason whosoeuer commendeth vs as a witnesse of our perfection is beloued of vs. But as in all ratifications false testimonies are by vs greatly hated in like manner are vntrue commendours who once knowen for such doe highly displease vs because we seeme not to receiue commendations or testimony of any perfection which we know to be farre from vs but rather an vpbraiding that wee are not such as they would make vs seeme to bee besides the deformity of the falshood which is discouered in them whereupon we gather the small confidence that wee may giue vnto them in any other thing as false and mendacious besides the disgrace they fall into as base and vulgar persons Of all this thus much may be gathered that we must not only be considerate in cōmending not to incur suspition of falshood but withall that it is not alwaies true that Galba is reported to say in Tacitus that adulatio erga Principem quemcumque sine affectu peragitur Flattery or assentation to what Prince soeuer is done without affect Wherefore we say that the commendations being to bee credited it is necessary to ground the same vpon some vertue or good part really and in trueth existing in the Prince or at least in opinion thought to be in him and what commendable parts are in the prince hee may easily know who hath that notice of him as we suppose the Courtier should haue but of which of them the Prince makes most esteeme must by obseruance bee learned noting that for the most part we thinke our selues best indued with those things whereof we make profession the musitian of singing well the Philosopher of the perfect knowledge of naturall causes the Souldier of the arte of warre wherein being praised we easily beleeue it willingly accept it Those which are proper to a Prince are wisedome iustice magnificence riches power glory and such like vertues and qualities belonging to a person of so high degree from whence groweth an affect which wee call veneration which doth meet or encounter his perfection and is as a testimony as wee haue said of praise and should say of all honour of the good parts which we esteem to be in him the which testimony by how much it is giuen in greatnesse by so much is it thought his abilities and qualities doe exceed Of this kinde is that of Seianus when he saith Se ita insueuisse vt spes votaque sua non priùs ad Deos quà m ad principum aures conferret The great signes and expectation of Tiberius had framed such a custome in him that he would not sooner offer vp his hopes and vowes to the gods than vnto the eares of Princes the which adulation could not with more cunning haue beene set downe because hee doth not only compare but preferres his Prince before the gods in a thing easily to be credited and so shewing that which is too common in experience that there bee some so affectionate deuote in their Princes seruice that forgetting their due recourse to God lay the whole burden of their hopes vpon the fauour of their Lord. But because what hath beene said hitherto consisteth in the credit and testimony that the person of the Prince and his vertues or good parts do yeeld we must
reasoning the Courtier vseth many or few words if few he doth not fit his Lords intention who many times giues him this accesse for entertainment of the time which he desireth In this case to walke too warily besides that it makes a shew either of a seuere or a dissembled nature it giues no pleasing gust but breeds a diffidence if many wordes a prouident and wittie Prince such as we suppose the Prince worthie to bee serued by our Courtier instructed in this art will easily see into his manners and affections which happily with more profit might haue been concealed nor can this be but very hardly holpen because the Courtier being to make answer to demands and to persist in his discourse so long as it shall please the Prince it is almost impossible to go so couertly to worke that truth it selfe glides not or glanceth out sometime And surely as loue is a most sweet torture which oftentimes vnlockes the cabinet of closeth secrets wherupon they are wont to say that il caldo del letto dilegua souuente il ghiaccio della taciturnita The heat of the bed oft-times doth thaw the Ise of secrecie which husbands should in many things conceale So from a minde not well established and made immoueable against the windes of Courtly ambition the pleasure of the masters conference steales many things from the seruant which to their greater profit should haue beene better kept But for all this there are on the part affirmatiue more liuely reasons and of greater force because for certainty amongst all the passages offered to the Princes fauour there is not one of them that by a more plaine and easie way doth lead to our desired end than this because it doth intrinsecate and make familiar yet so far foorth as a modest seruant may bee with a reuerenced master It giues fit occasion opportunity to beare his humors and affections and to giue an earnest taste of our owne proper vertue and valor a thing not of small regard with those who consider how many are in Court who through want of that commoditie to make their talent known vnto their Prince keepe the same buried in sterilitie Besides the reputation which it brings is held inestimable not alone because making profit of the Princes iudgement hee cannot but bee commended also who is thought worthy his domesticke and familiar speech But yet much more in this that because the Courtiers reputation consisting in the fauor of the Prince which in respect of other fauors we may terme abilitie and power to pleasure others it is most cleere that this is chiefly expected from those who haue libertie of often conference and by consequence fit times to present the petitions and requests of other men But aboue all the rest more estimable is the facilitie which groweth thereby to diue and sound into the deepest thoghts affections of his Lord and to shew in himselfe a disposition and nature pliable and conformable thereunto To this purpose I must not leaue to note that for oftentimes in reasoning and like conference the quicke and liuely sharpnesse of the wit or else the dulnesse and pouerty of spirit is discouered it is a most necessarie obseruance to marke and search of what kinde that of the Princes is heerein because though it seeme verie reasonable that by how much the more the officers are of spirit life and capable of euerie command by so much they should bee more respected and held more deare yet shall you finde some kind of Princes that as they will flie the extremity of folly in followers so are they better pleased with a mediocrity indifferency then with this singularitie and superexcellency Mark what Cornelius Tacitus speaketh of Poppaeus Sabinus Is modicus originis prencipum amicitia consulatum ac triumphale decus adeptus maximisque prouincijs per quatuor viginti annos impositus nullam ob eximiam artem sed quod par negotijs neque supra erat He was but of meane parentage yet through the fauour of Princes that is of Augustus and Tiberius he obtained the honour of Consulship and triumphed being gouernour of many great prouinces for foure and twentie yeares not for any great skill that abounded in him hauing so much as was only equall to his imploiments and no more And this groweth either of feare lest from these excellent wits some thing might be plotted against their gouernment or of shame to be vnder them in vertue ouer whom they are in fortune or lest their actions should bee censured and their affections knowen though arteficially shadowed Or suspecting to want rewards answerable to their deserts and which might satisfy their expectation knowing that high spirits aime not at base and vulgar marks Or in fine for some other hard and impenetrable cause It is therefore manifest that it behoueth the Courtier to be well aduised and with circumspection to proceed and present himselfe with such maner of speech vnto the Prince as he perceiueth may please his humour whereupon confidence will easily succeed by vertue and meanes whereof many imploiments not belonging to his charge shall be conferred vpon him and next by consequence the chiefest secrets according to the qualities which by little and little the Prince shall discouer in him and this is the way and meanes to enlarge the confines of his particular seruice in the Court next vnto the which followeth in proportionable course the possession of that fauour which with so great labour is procured Therefore as this occasion is greatly to be desired so is it necessary to teach the meanes to make vse therof which we will diligently doe when we shall by answer haue cleered the difficulties on the contrary part set downe in the beginning To the first therfore we say that of two euils it is good to auoide the worst wherefore the apparent fauour of a Princes conference may breed enuy yet is this much better then by such scruple or feare to lose the occasion of greatest efficacy that is to insinuate himselfe into the fauour of his lord which a long and tedious course of seruitude can afford besides that multa experiendo fiunt quae segnibus ardua videantur Many things by aduenture are brought to passe which vnto the slothfull cowards doe seeme hard And who well obserueth the courses of principalities and courts shall finde that true which Tacitus saith Dommandi spes in arduo vbi sis ingressus adesse studia ministros steps to soueraignety are hard but once entred vpon both fauourers furtherers and followers are present but especially particularly vnto those who are not sorted onely with fortune and audacity but guided accompanied with iudgment and wisedome Thus much we say when enuy cannot be conquered vnto which purpose wee will heereafter giue more necessary aduertizements To that difficulty of hatred of easie growth by the opinion of reports and bad offices we say that who will be friend to all pleasing
worke no lesse erroneously than those of other arts called Coniecturall Wherefore if after the obseruance of the aboue noted aduertisements that fauor or grace shall not bee obteined or that which is much worse if by any accident it shuld be lost so that assuredly there were discouered small satisfaction in the Prince it resteth that for the ful accomplishment perfecting of this worke we should set downe in this case what wee thinke considerable and necessarie therein for the Courtiers benefit And questionlesse there cannot be a greater torment to the hart of him that serueth then to see himselfe slightly regarded or beloued of his Lord and this accident particularly worketh greatest effects in those who haue not their mindes armed with naturall magnanimity or vertuous education but are rather of a disdainefull spirit not able to endure the conforming of their affections to the prescript rule or square of an other mans opinion will or direction especially in the maner of his liuing either in peaceable quietnesse or vnquiet businesse whereupon it followeth many times the resolutions of such men in these cases are verie strange and vnconsiderate Wherefore in this so doubtfull a passage to conduct him foorth by the guidance of wise and fruitfull counsell we first say that as in bodily sicknesses the cause knowen remedies for the cure therof are easily applied so must the Courtier so much as in him is diligently seeke out the occasion that moueth his Prince or Lord to bee angry or not well disposed towards him to the end either by himselfe or by meanes of some other to moue him therein yet so that it fall not within the preiudice of his principal designes as before hath beene handled because then it should be better to leaue the seruice by crauing licence to depart But because it is a saying Che piaga per allentar d'arco non sana That the vnbending of the bow is no healing of the wound so is it not enough many times to remoue the cause of this displeasure for the minde notwithstanding remaines still exulcerate and greeued It is necessary therefore not onely to remooue the cause of this anger but to proceed in the obseruance of those aduertisements which the Rhetoritians teach for the lenefying and appeasing of minds once mooued as humiliation acknowledging of the errour accusing himselfe crauing pardon offring himselfe readie to all satisfaction and continuing with all patience in these courses hee may make it apparent how much he valueth the fauor loue of his Prince with the sorrow hee sustaineth for his displeasure for this anger growing of an offence which conteineth a neglect by these foresaid demonstrations such a counterpoise may bee made in opinion to be thought despised and disgraced that in the end it may bring the Prince to put on a more gentle and pacified minde towards the Courtier so that this offence and cause of badde satisfaction haue not taken such roote that it prooue rather a hatred then a dislike because that in such case as to a more greeuous maladie a more potent medicine is necessarie the which manie times the Courtier by no means of obsequious diligence shal be able to finde whereupon hee must haue recourse to the helpe of intercession and mediation by some others as the Princes kindred his friends and other Courtiers in greatest fauour But if none of these courses can stay the wrath nor appease the same so that the hope of recouerie of fauour be wholly extinct the End and Scope of his seruice being taken away it necessarily followeth that the societie also betweene the Prince and the Courtier should be dissolued by his abandoning and leauing of the seruice This resolution must bee taken but vpon vrgent necessitie for that otherwise it would come seldome to passe but that the Courtier should incur great detriment either by opinion of some speciall want in him and chiefly in those that haue liued in greatest fauour or of some rash presumption as supposing nothing can coequall his deserts or of an inconstancie of nature which will neuer continue long in one course or finally by the losse of a Princes protection besides his time it may be the flower of his age vainely spent and to small purpose things all of them of speciall regard and estimation But when the case is desperate it shall bee better to bestow the remnant of his life in some other seruice or imploiment then vnfruitfully to serue where he may sooner expect a sudden discharge than hope to compasse any of those Ends which whosoeuer serueth in Court doth aime at and propound * ⎠* FINIS Ann. 4. Idem 14. Ann. 4. Ann. 4. Ann. 15. Ann. 4. Ann. 4. Lib. 1. hist Lib. 15. Ann. Lib. 1. hist Lib. 1. hist Lib. 4. Ann. Tac. lib. 4. hist Lib. 15. Ann. Lib. 14. Ann. 4. Lib. 4. Ann. Tac. ann lib. 3. Ann. 3. Lib. 4. Ann. Ann. l. 4. Tacit. hist li. 4. Tacit. li. 1. Ann. 14. ann Ann. 4. lib. 4. Tac. in vit Cor. Agri. Tac. lib. 13. ann Lib. 1. hist. Tac. lib. â— anâ— Lib. 2. hist. Lib. 14. â—nn