spilling of the bloode or the tearing and vnlacing of his members they gessed and diuined of that which should happen concerning those things about which they consulted In a certaine part of the kingdome of Persia they vse this When they that dwell in that Countrey goe to aske counsell of the Priestes vpon that which they determine to doo the Priests hold in their hands the booke which is commonly called the booke of Lots or Fortune and according to that which they find written in that booke they answer them that come to consult with them It séemeth that the Booke of Lots or Fortune wherewith they deceiue the ignorant Comminaltie was brought out of Persia wherefore the Inquisitors did with great reason forbid the same Booke of Fortunes to be read that they which are of little vnderstanding might not be deceiued by it 6 Séeing that counsels and the successe of those thinges which are consulted proceede as we haue saide from the holie Ghost it is conuenient that all Counsellers before they beginne to consult should humblie request and beséeche the holie Ghost with great deuotion and humilitie to direct them in their way and leade them in their consultations saying that seruice which is properlie belonging vnto the holie Ghost And if the shortnes of the time permit it not they ought to sing the Himne of the holy Ghost as it is rehearsed in the Church Come holie Ghost c. And unitating King Dauid saie Lord mine eyes looke vp and trust in thee thou shalt deliuer me out of the snares c. King Dauid saith not that he looked to his féete to deliuer them from the snares but that he lifted his eyes vp to the Lorde that he should deliuer him and found himselfe not deceiued as he afterwarde mentioneth O Lord my soule hath escaped as the byrd out of the snares of the Hunters and the snares were broken in péeces Plato dooth counsel vs that we should continuallie beséech God that it wold please him to direct that which we shall doo vnto his holie seruice For it is he that by the means of the Angels sheweth vnto vs what we ought to doo For this is an euerlasting truth confirmed with perpetuall experience that in the most harde and difficult things of all mans life where the wit of man is most blind and doth most want counsell and forces there dooth the diuine wisedome of the Lord shew it selfe most cléerely wonderfullie That great Iudith with a noble and excellent mind said vnto those that were besieged in the Cittie of Bethulia And now who are you that haue tempted GOD this day and will bind the counsels of the Lord our God And so she rebuked the faintnes of the Gouerners of Bethulia For it is a token signe of great weakenes and ignorance in a man to doo all matters according to his own wisdome and humane counsels It were better and safer to desire the Lord that he wold be our guide in all our actions and counsels for he will direct vs in the readie path shew vs which waie is best séeing that he neuer fayleth to aide those y t powre forth their praiers vnto him Those Angels that by the commaundement of God aide and helpe men in their waies and rule the actions of vertuous Princes are comprehended vnder those companies which are called Dominions and Principalities as Dionysius Arcopagita saith 7 And the better to bring this to passe which we saie we ought to doo according to the commaundements of our Sauiour and Lord Jesus Christ who neither deceiueth himselfe nor can not deceiue them vnto whom he giueth counsell For from him floweth the spring of vnderstanding and knowledge and he is the author and cause of all goodnes From him doth it proceede that Counsellers be good he is the cause why Kings gouerne their kingdoms well and minister iustice And this did King Salomon aske of the Lord saying Lord send me thy wisdome downe out of thy holie heauens and sende her from the throne of thy Maiestie that she may be with me and labour that I may know what is acceptable in thy sight If those that in olde times past worshipped Idols asked counsell of them and the deuil to deceiue them used many kinds of Oracles and prophecies as I wrote more at large in my Bookes of pollicies and Common-wealths it is more theÌ„ reason that we which serue and worship Christ the redéemer of the worlde should humblie offer our prayers to his holines and request him that it wold please him of his goodnes to fauour helpe vs in all our counsels And no doubt seeing the holie Ghost is he that beadeth vs in all our actions he will choose that for vs which shall best please his holines And that counsell which we choose through his inspiration is the best and which most appertaineth vnto vs. 8 The night time is very fit to consult And for this cause did the Grecians call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to be wise For when the Counsellers assemble together to confer about matters in the night time those things in which men be commonly occupied by day doo not hinder or trouble them and with the stilnes of the night as Virgil saith all things are quiet Homere to she we that the silent night time was most commodious to consult said that it did not become Princes to sléepe all the night who ought to consult vpon matters concerning the Common-wealth And for because y t when a man is not withdrawne from his booke neither by his busines nor by any other meanes it greatly confirmeth his memorie and profiteth him much for the inuention and contemplation of that which he searcheth and learneth no doubt but the quiet still night which cutteth of all occasions that may hinder a man is the fittest and best time to studie in especially because the minde at that tune is more frée and readier to muse and consider of euerie thing 9 First of all before the Counsellers beginne to consult they ought to sée that no man be in place that may heare that which is spoken off in their consultations After that the Ambassadors of King Tarquinius had conspired with the Sonnes of Brutus and other young Gentlemen to restore Tarquinius to his kingdome they solemnized their conspiration with the death of a man whose bloode they dranke and touched his enentrailes that they might by that ceremonie binde theÌ„selues to keepe counsell and helpe one another And to doo this they assembled together in a desert house where no body did dwell But as it fell out by chaunce a certaine Seruant called Vindicius was in the same house who séeing them enter in on the suddaine in great haste could not gette â—ut but spying a large Larget in one of the corners of the Chamber presentlie fell to the ground and couered himselfe with its and so he lay verie secretlie and saw
his Treasurie that he might haue the ouersight gouernment of such matters as did belong vnto the rents reuenewes and substance of his Maiestie The Emperour answered that he knewe he well deserued to haue him doo him a pleasure but yet neuerthelesse if he should grant him that request he should giue all the world occasion to talke for séeing he knew not how to vse his own substāce he shold much lesse know howe to rule gouerne the store of the whole Common-wealth But to return to the purpose that the Counsellers of Princes may according to their duetie serue their Princes well and faithfully it is conuenient that as wel those that be learned and lettered as they that be craftie subtile should haue a good a pure a sound and a sincere conscience and that they should be as our Lord and Sauior Jesus Christ teacheth wise as Serpents and innocent as Dooues for it is not profitable for the Common-wealth that Princes should haue such men to their Counsellers as be subtile malicious And if this be manifest that all Common weales be conserued by Religion and true worshipping of God no doubt but they will be better conserued as Laurentius Grimaldus saith if Princes admit learned and vertuous Prelats to their counsels vnto whō our Lord and Sauior Jesus Christ committed the charge of Christian soules the administration of his holy Sacraments and the deliuering and preaching of his word that they might with their zealous prayers and supplications continually request and beséech the Lord to augment and conserue the Common-weale publique And if the Romans Grecians Egiptians and all other Nations which serued the deuill and worshipped Idols did admit their Priestes vnto their counsels and gouernment of their Common-weales by what great reason then ought Christian Princes in the gouernment of the Common-wealth to take counsell and aduise of the Priests of God and the Ministers of his holy word The Emperour Charles the fift said that learned and vertuous Prelats séemed very well in the counsels of Princes because they did represent the Ecclesiasticall estate which was the foundation of all Common-weales and because that the Prelats being in the counsels of Princes all matters which in them were handled might be dispatched to the seruice and glory of God The tenth discourse whether it be more profitable to the Common-wealth to haue a good Prince and ill Counsellers or an ill Prince and good Counsellers ELius Lampridius affirmeth that it is better for the Common-wealth that the Prince should be naught the Counsellers good then the Prince good and the Counsellers naught For a great deale sooner is one changed by the example and counsel of a great many then a great many by the example and counsell of one And for this cause the Counsellers of Princes ought to be vertuous of good behauiour honest in life and estranged from all couetousnesse and humane pretences louing the Common-wealth and their King whose authoritie and estimation they ought to make account of aboue all other worldlie things This which Elius Lampridius saith holds in those Princes that folow that which their Counsellers aduise them to doo and not in those who will haue that their Counsellers shal approoue and allow all whatsoeuer they say o◠like though the same be manifestlie hurtfull and preiudiciall to the Common-wealth These as King Antiochus said are so nice wanton arrogant and proude that they will neuer heare any true tale nor take any counsell but will haue that all men shall like with their actions and allow all their sayings◠and by gestures demeanures and moouing of their bodies their subtiltie of wit and greatnes of iudgment were meruallous that euerie one should saie Et cum spiritu tuo Demetrius Phalerius to shunne this inconueniente counselleth Ptolemey the King of Egipt that he should reade Bookes which treated of Kings and Common-weales For in reading of such bookes he should find many things which his Counsellers and familiars durst not tell him Isocrates exhorteth and counselleth Kings to choose vertuous and faithfull Coūsellers and that they should many times request them not to fauour or praise that which they said but to tell them the truth and freely shewe them what they ought to doo concerning that about which they consult And by this meanes euerie Prince should haue Counsellers that would haue a regarde of his estate and publique profit of the Common-wealth Iohn the second King of Portugall would not bestow a certaine dignitie vnto some that requested it of him saying that he would giue it vnto one of his Subiects that neuer spake any thing vnto him in all his life which pleased his humour but that which he knewe to be profitable both vnto him and to the Common-wealth Don Alonso the twelfth of that name King of Castile entering into the house of counsell sate in his Chayre of estate holding in his right hand the sword wherewith he was dubbed Knight and in his left hand the royall crowne and beeing thus set he requested those of his Counsell that they should freely tell him what they thought and in such order counsell him that the maiestie and honour of his crowne might euer remaine inuiolable and the power of his sword might daily rather increase then diminish 2 Don Francisco de Almeida Viceroy of the Eastern Indies béeing informed that some of his Captaines which he admitted to his counsell had giuen foorth spéeches how that they did not fréely open their minds vnto him because they feared least if they shold haue vttered any thing cōtrary to his humor he would haue béen offended with them tooke occasion to talk with those of his Counsell among many other things which he mentioned vnto them tolde them that one of the greatest sins which men might commit against God and their Prince was not to make him acquainted with their opinions and not freely to shewe him what they thinke concerning that about which they consult For so they offend the Lorde in that they denie the iudgment and vnderstanding wherewith it pleased his diuine maiestie to endue enrich them and against their Prince vndoubtedly they commit a kind of treason And because men erre more often through mallice then ignoraunce those cleane vnspotted and free counsails which God inspireth are better safer and surer then those that are giuen vnto hope of gaine or some other vngodly pretence and respect of feare loue or anger For men commonly by reason of some perturbation or indignation and wrath wherewith they be mooued against others knowe not what they doo and like men distracted and rauished of all their sences doo all things ouer-thwartlie and otherwise then they ought Isocrates counselleth those that will take aduise about some thing to breake the matter vnto those of whom they take counsel as if it were concerning some other body and not pertaining vnto them themselues For so by thys meanes
sonne Absolon he praied to God that the counsell of Achitophel might not be beléeued Achitophel was so wise in those counsels which he gaue as wel whē he serued Dauid as when he folowed Absolon that they rather séemed to be prophecies reuealed by GOD then humane counsels And for this cause king Dauid much more feared the counsels of Achitophel then the battails and ambushes of Absolon And to the end he might make frustrate the coūsel which Achitophel gaue to Absolon he said vnto Chusai the Archite who came to serue him that he should folow Absolon and say vnto him I will be thy seruant O king and I will serue thée as in times past I haue serued thy father that if Absolon did admit him to his counsaile he should crosse all that euer Achitophel counsailed Absolon By the meanes of the Priestes who were called Sadoch and Abiathar Chusai did the same which king Dauid commaunded him and presented himselfe before Absolon who asking him why he folowed not his friend Dauid he answered Lord I folow thée and will serue thee because GOD and the people haue chosen thée to be the King Absolon beléeued that to be true which Chusai said And wheras Achitophel counselled that he might be suffered to choose out twelue thousand men and so set vpon king Dauid and easilie ouercome him and those who folowed him because they were all of them very wearie and full of feare Chusai crossed his counsel and vrged Absolon to the contrarie So that Absolon and those that were with him liked and approoued Chusai his counsell Then Achitophel séeing that Absolon would not follow the counsell that he gaue him hanged himselfe Héerein is it manifestlie séene that it is an ordinarie rule of Gods prouidence alwaies when through his secret iudgments he will punish the faults and sinnes of men that first they loose their vnderstanding to the end that they may not vnderstand nor iudge of the truth and besides to make those whom he will correct and punish the more miserable and wretched he suffereth as Velleyus Paterculus saith the ill successe of the matter to be attributed and imputed vnto the fault and error of those whom he will punish and he blindeth the vnderstanding of men to the end they should not oppose themselues against him and séeketh all meanes that are necessarilie required to bring that to passe which he will haue And as it is commonlie said to shun that which fortune and chance will haue is the readie waie to find it as it is séene in that which hapened to Ioseph and his brethren 4 The Prophet Esay did not without great cause ioyne the spirit of Fortitude with the spirit of Counsel for litle profiteth counsell if vertue and strength be wanting to execute that which by counsell is determined And because of those that neither can nor know how to execute Cornelius Tacitus saith That when matters goe to wracke euerie man commaunds but no man taketh in hand to bring that to effect which is commaunded Iphicrates béeing asked why he would not encounter with the enemie he answered because he saw many commaund but few obey And because of these that cannot tel how to bring such matters to effect as is by counsell concluded the holie Scripture saith That the time of child-bedde draweth néere and the mother hath no strength to be brought to bedde And this is vnderstood by the Fable of the Rats which were in counsell which of them should hang the bell on the Cat. And by our Spanish prouerbe Qui en da el conseio de el vencerio He that doth counsell giue to anie thing Meanes let him shew compasse the same to bring Salust saith that first we ought to consult of matters and afterward execute y e same which is decréed with a sesonable and ripe haste He would haue that those things which are counsailed should be executed after such an order that the execution be done in due time and place And this is it that Salust calleth Mature facere to wit that it be neither greene nor rotten And after this order doo Aulus Gellius and Macrobius declare that of Virgil Maturate fugam as if Neptune had said to y e winds that they should so get them gone that neither rushing awaie with too much haste nor with too much slownes staying on the Seas too long they should not hurt or indomage the Troyan ships The Emperour Charles the fift vsed to say that the affaires of Princes did consist in two things in counsell and execution Whereof the first required good iudgment but the latter great fidelitie and that slownes was the soule of counsell and haste the soule of execution and that both of thē together were the Quintessence of wise Princes And that counsell required a singuler wit and rare iudgment and the putting of matters in execution demaunded fit oportunitie with occasion proportionable and much fidelitie 5 It chanceth verie seldome that both wit to discourse of those things which are in counsell iudgment to put the same in execution which is decréed doo both together concurre in one person Captaine Picinino was of verie weak smal iudgment in counselling but verie readie in executing of those things which in the counsels were determined and seemed rather to be caried with force and furie then moued by reason or iudgment He was also most fortunate in all things which he tooke in hand Frauncis the first of that name king of Fraunce in counsailing went beyond all his Counsellers especially in matters touching warre but in executing was nothing comparable vnto them Clement the seuenth Pope excéeded euerie one in counsel but in execution was inferior to al those that were of his Counsell The holie Scripture mentioneth that king Dauid was wise in that he spake and strong in that which he did and that he was faire and that God fauoured him To be able to discourse well vpon matters which are in counsell and not to know how to put the same in execution procéedeth from a braue wit but simple wisedom And execution without counsell or iudgment commeth of great wisedom and smal wit because he that putteth any thing in execution ought to be indued with singuler wisedom to execute the same wel which is determined There haue béene manie Princes who as I haue written more at large in the Treatise which I intituled Of the institution of Princes were verie apt and wittie in all Artes and Sciences but yet of small iudgment in gouerning their kingdoms and albeit they were verie ingenious and prompt yet were they nothing wise And many because they cannot tell how to resolue thēselues in such things as they consult vppon they conclude not but as Cornelius Tacitus saith they leaue such things as they cannot nor know not how to resolue themselues in vnto Fortune staying and expecting the successe and euent of them 6 Because the holie Ghost is
counsell of them that know more than himself doth goe most astray And for this cause said king Salomon My Sonne doo nothing of importance without aduisement so shall it not repent thee after the déed That men might vnderstande how necessary it is vnto a Prince to be counselled of wise men the Poets fained that Iupiter tooke counsel of Prometheus For they that gouerne Common-wealths cannot rule them wel if they take not aduisement with persons that know and vnderstande what is conuenient to be doone for the welfare of the Common-wealth Howe much men ought to esteeme of that which wise men say Aristotle sufficiently sheweth affirming that we ought not to aske account of the sayings of wise men for the eyes of their vnderstanding are cleane pure and cléere by reason of their knowledge and learning and they discerne the truth in euery matter which we cannot sée for as Eustacius saith the Sciences take away the rust from the eyes of the soule the sences and the bodie as Uineger scoureth the rust from the stéele being rubbed til it be cleane and shining Claudius Cottereus makes mention of certain Princes that gouerned their Common-wealths well by the counsell of wise men 3 The third qualitie that a Counseller ought to haue is age that he be of ancient yeeres because olde men haue seene much The Lawes of Statuts say that in tract of time prudence authoritie and experience of all thinges that are to be doone is gotten Aristotle saith boyes are not able and sufficient to giue counsell because their wit and iudgment beginneth to take force and vigour Fredericus Furius will haue that the Counsellers of Princes be not vnder thirtie yeeres of age nor aboue threescore for from the thirtith yeere downwards mens vnderstanding is not yet setled their experience is small their presumption much their heate great their thoughts lostie their naturall weakenes much neither can they keepe due grauitie and besides all this the people trusteth them not but murmureth against them Let them lie at Schooles let them trauaile to see Countries manners and gouernments let them learne tongues let them folow the Campe and haunt the Court let them take paines in learning all such thinges are conuenient to be knowne vnto the Counseller of a Prince Though young men commonly be not endewed with perfect iudgment and for this cause the Law graunteth them the benefite Derestitutione in integrum the Lacedemonians would not admit them to sit in publique counsell neither came they to common places where Courts were kept and the Senators assembled together nor yet were they present in the Congregation of the Elders tyll they were thirtie yeeres old and what euer they had to doo in such assemblies they folowed it by their Freendes and Kinsemen Fredericus Furius denieth not that many yong men haue better iudgment cleerer vnderstanding then many olde men and that the abilitie and wisedome ought more to be regarded then the age As may be seene by Papirius Praetextatus vnto whom being but a youth it was granted that he might were the garment which men of full yeeres did were and was called Praetexta or togapraetexta the Robe which the cheefe Officers and Senators wore And this honor was doone vnto the youth because comming with his Father into the Senate he would not discouer and reueale those matters that he hearde there discussed 4 As touching olde men Fredericus Furius would haue that those which are aboue thréescore yéeres of age should returne home vnto their houses liue in rest quietnes discharge their consciences and thinke how they may die well He wold also haue that the Princes should according to the custome of Rome giue them honors priuiledges preferments preheminences pensions and rents according to euery ones deserts as vnto them that are discharged from publique affaires not admitting them to their counsels For when they be once past the sixtith yere their memory faileth their vnderstanding wauereth their experience turneth into stubbornnes and obstinacie their naturall heate is but little and therefore they let occasions slip béeing offered their thoughts be wearied they cannot trauel and to conclude such men are an impediment and charge to the Court But to returne to the purpose séeing that the vertue and gift of counselling well commeth not from age but from wit iudgment and wisedom that euery one hath we ought not so much to respect the age of men as their abilitie which is knowne by their words and déeds For the words as our Redéemer and Lord Jesus Christ saith represent y t which is in the hart Socrates béeing asked what he thought of a certaine man answered that after he had hearde him speake he would tell his minde of him S. Paule calleth them that speake without iudgment tingling bels When Iohn de Mena would praise Don Aluara de luna high Constable of Castile he sayde Tentalo Tenta lo ex platica alguna Try him try him with some talke or communication and that with great reason For words saith Aristotle shew that which is in the minde And though old men be aboue thréescore yeres of age yet want they not vnderstanding they be more wise then yong men This Homer sheweth where he saith that King Agamemnon wished rather for tenne ancient men as Nestor was to be his Counsellers at the winning of Troy then ten yong men like to Achilles And that Agamemnon said true it is séene by the most excellent Don Hernando de Toledo Duke Dalua who in wisedome experience of many affaires supplied the turnes of tenne Nestors in counselling the great Monarch of Spayne the Catholick king Phillip 5 We may see how necessarie olde men are to giue counsell by this that y e Lawes of Greece ordained that those should be admitted to be Counsellers that were past fiftie yéeres of age Solon seeing that the flatterie of Pisistratus wherwith he abused the people of Athens was openly discouered and known to pretende no other thing then to vsurpe the Empire and to bring the gouernment of the Common-wealth vnto the rule of one man onely himselfe and that no man durst take vppon him to resist and hinder him he himselfe fetching his weapons out and laying them in the streete before his doore called all the Citizens to helpe him And Pisistratus sending vnto him to know vpō what assurance he durst be so bold to doo such things he aunswered vpon olde age which alwaies is most readie to giue counsaile in matters of waight and importance For it is frée as Plato saith from those affections and passions which trouble and molest youth King Agis béeing in Archadia with his Armie and readio to pitch the field with his enemies there was an ancient Lacedemonian that cryed out a loude that he should consider that one sore was not to be cured by another Signifying by this that he might haue gone away from the
which was so couered that no man could perceiue in which place of the boxe the voices were cast because they would not haue any one to know to whom they gaue their voices in election of Officers 16 Plutarch asketh why Pythagoras did forbid that any man should kéepe Swallowes in his house and he answereth because they be very vnthankfull byrdes and will not become tame howe much soeuer a man maketh of them But Piâ—rius Valerius saith because they bring no profit at all vnto those houses in which they build their nests And the Author Ad Herennium affirmeth because after the same order as fayned and false Friends in time of aduersitie forsake them whose fréends they professed themselues to be in time of prosperitie so the Swallowes come in the beginning of the Sommer as soone as the Winter draweth on they leaue vs and flie vnto other Countreyes But I thinke that the same which Pythagoras said may be vnderstood as Aristotle tooke it because it is good for no man to haue talkitiue persons in his house Many other examples could I shew both of men and women that smothered in silence such things as were committed to their secrecie but because they be knowne vnto all men and I haue set them down in the Booke which I wrote of wise and craftie counsels I will not heare stand vpon them 17 The tenth qualitie which king Salomon would haue a Counseller to haue is that he be not enuious or owe any man ill will for how is it possible that he shold giue good counsell to a man whom he hateth and cannot abide Of the enuious this prouerbe in Spayne is vsed El cauallo Argel ni en el ni cabe el The enuious Horse call'd Argel none Will let on him to ride Nor any neere him for to come The same Horse can abide for the conuersation of the enuious is so contagious and infectious that the Spanyards vsed this old saying Ni el embidioso medro ni el que cabe el biuio An enuious man could neuer prosper well Nor any one that neere by him doth dwell And to be bréefe hatred is a vice that came foorth of hell and it was the cause wherefore the deuill deceiued Adam and Eue councelling them to eate of the fruite of that Trée which God forbad them to touch King Salomon saith that we ought to choose one Counseller out of a thousand he would haue only to take counsell but of one man for that among a thousande wee should choose one For that is farre better vnderstood which is enquired of by many then by a few and in déede it is thought that foure are many It lyeth and dependeth vpon euery Prince his pleasure to haue more or fewer Counsellers The Emperour Alexander Seuerus as we haue said before he published or proclaimed any Lawes which he had ordained to be kept he deliuered them to twenty most learned Lawyers and fifty most excellent men to consult of them This cannot in any case be denied that it is safer to consult with a great many then with a few for as Aristotle saith when many gather together if they be not rude and grosse felowes the one doth confer with the other and that which one knoweth is ioyned with that which the other knoweth For GOD did put a light in euery mans vnderstanding whereby he might know the trueth The qualities which Plato would haue a Counseller to haue PLato saith that Counsellers which will consult well ought to be frée from affections and passions For delight and greefe are two contrarie and foolish Counsellers And as Virgil saith loue and anger ouerthrow mans vnderstanding Salust affirmeth that all men that deliberate vpon doubtfull matters ought not to be mooued with fréendship anger or mercie for in those matters where they varie and contende the minde can hardly perceiue the truth Neither was there euer any one that did attend both his owne disordered will and the publique profit also for whereunto a mans will is most enclined to that doth his wit most apply it selfe if the will ouercome it ruleth and reason hath no power for the desire that a man hath to attaine vnto that which he pretendeth blindeth his vnderstanding And so doth feare also as Cornelius Tacitus affirmeth so that fearefull men cannot gouerne well nor counsell that which is profitable to the Common-wealth for feare doth not let them iudge fréely And as those that stande by and sée others play can better iudge of the Game then they that play themselues for as the gaine which they that play hope to get by their game blindeth them not euen so they that iudge and counsell ought to be frée from passions which trouble the vnderstanding and suffereth it not to picke and choose out that which is best When the Areopagites in Athens assembled together to iudge the Crier called vnto them with a loude voice that they should iudge without any respect of affection at all The Emperour Charles the fift wished that his Counsellers should lay aside all dissimulation respects which might moue them before they entred to consult that they might fréely vnderstand iudge what were most profitable for the Common-wealth Plato writing vnto the freends of Dion affirmeth that they which vse theÌ„selues to eate much cannot be wise though they be neuer so ingenious and wittie King Salomon saith A wofull kingdome is the same where he that ruleth it is a child and the Princes that are with him are belly-maisters or as some interpret it Sorrowfull is that Countrey where he that ruleth it is a childe and they that gouerne it are drunkardes The reason is because Gluttons and drunkards are not wise and that as Plutarch saith they that accustome themselues to haue their bodies filled with meate corrupt mar their iudgment in such manner that they are profitable neither to gouerne the affaires of the Common-wealth nor yet to doo any other good thing but euen as brute beastes to loose the vse of reason and abuse the gifts of GOD which ought to be taken with great deuotion and reuerence The qualities which Thucidites said that a Counseller ought to haue THucidites ascribeth foure things vnto Counsellers which they ought to haue to be able to giue good counsell in matters concerning the Common-wealth The first is that they vnderstand that which is consulted For hardly can blinde men as Aristotle saith iudge of coullours Plato saith that this is the most important thing that a Counseller ought to haue Socrates said that euery man was eloquent in the Aâ—te which he knew And king Salomon affirmeth that euery man is skilfull in the Arte which he vnderstandeth The seconde qualitie which Thucidites saith that a CouÌ„seller ought to haue is that he be not ouercome either with money which is giuen him or promises which are
concerning conscience and iustice and the craftie vnlearned to recouer Rents and to dispatch such busines as pertaine to the substance of the Common-wealth neither as Plato saith doo subtile vnskilfull men suffice to gouerne the Common-wealth well nor they that spend their life time in studie And experience teacheth that Princes further their estate no lesse with the subtiltie of the vnlearned then with the learning of Schollers for they that apply themselues to learning are but little skilled in action and practice and knowe not howe to contriue the affaires of the Common-wealth And as Quintilian and Plinie say more profiteth practise without science thē science without practise Learned men be verie doubtfull and perplext in giuing their resolutions of those matters vpon which they cōsult for they find many difficulties and ambiguities and many inconueniences which make them to stand in great perplexitie full of imaginations and respects which doo not profit at all Homer going about to describe a wise prudent expert and an absolute Prince such an one as he fained Vlysses to be saith not that he deliuered himselfe out of so many troubles and dangers in which he oft found himselfe because he was learned or brought vppe in good literature at schooles or because he had spent much time in haunting those Vniuersities that florished in his time but for that he was verie wittie watchfull and subtile could quicklie and readilie perceiue and fore-sée how things would fall out 4 The Gouernours of the Cittie of Norimberge admit no learned men to enter in the counsell to consult vppon matters concerning the Common-wealth but they haue som excellent men that be verie well learned and great Schollers of whom they take aduise vpon such matters as are mooued in the counsell And the Vrsins in Italie doo not permit that any learned men should gouerne the Common-wealth This statute as Pope Pius saith is like to that statute in the Cittie Ephesus which did not consent that any vertuous man brought vppe in learning should liue there and for this cause they banished Hermodorus the Philosopher who béeing sent into exile left Ephesus and came to Rome and caused the Romans to establish the Lawes of the twelue Tables And Pope Pius saith that those Princes that expell learned men from their counsels resemble the Gouernours of Ephesus To be short no man can denie but that Princes haue great necessitie to vse the seruice of learned men and Schollers to helpe and assist them in the gouernment of the people which is committed to their charge as Iethro counselled Moses to do for by reason of the great and manifold busines which they haue they are not able to minister iustice themselues vnto their Subiects without the helpe and seruice of wise and learned men that vnderstande and knowe what is profitable and necessarie for the Common-wealth conformable to the Lawes ordinances by which it is gouerned And that the Counsellers of Princes may performe their duetie accordinglie it is conuenient they shold giue themselues to the reading of many Histories and Chronicles that when they consult they may turn that to their profit which hath in like matters succéeded and fallen out at diuers times and in sundry places For they that haue séene little and know no more thē they haue séene are but children in respect of them that haue read much and as Iob saith they that haue onely experience of thēselues are not confirmed by the example of others that went before them are but of yesterdaie Plato reporteth that a certaine Egiptian Philosopher saide vnto Solon that the Philosophers of Greece were as children in comparison to thē of Egipt because the Egiptian Philosophers were verie ancient and had long time before giuen themselues to the contemplation consideration of diuine and naturall things The difference betwéene them that haue séene and also read and heard many things and those that know no more then they haue séene which for the most part is but little is this that they which haue séene read and heard many things may fréelie speake in all places concerning all matters And for this cause it is commonlie said that three sorts of men may discourse fréelie Old men at home young mē abroad and men of great reading euery where 5 My intent is not to prooue that it is not necessarie for Princes to haue learned men to giue them counsell séeing that they haue such great néed of men that can examine and waigh whether that which is consulted be conformable to iustice and reason but that which I say tendeth to this end that men may well enough be learned without haunting many Uniuersities or continuing long in Schooles to take degrées become Maisters Licentiats Bachelers and Doctors for there haue béene many men in the worlde that haue béene excellent fine Schollers and wonderfull well learned that were not either Bachelers Licentiats Maisters or Doctors created in the Vniuersities of their time for the degrees which nowe a daies are giuen in Vniuersities vnto them that studie in them tooke beginning but seuen hundred yéeres agoe and in déede many labour more to be Doctors and Graduats then learned as I writt more at large in my treatise of Schooles and Readers Therefore men may verie well become learned and be good Schollers without béeing Bachelers Maisters Licentiates or Doctors if in stéed of spending the time in such exercises and passetemps as be but little profitable to the Common-welth they did read Histories and Treatises concerning Princes and Common-weales but especially such Bookes and discourses that treate of things touching the Princes of their own Countrey and those Princes whom they serue séeing they ought to counsel them according to that which they find and read in such discourses Histories and Chronicles for neither Acurtius nor Bernard teach them any such thing Men may also be learned as Euripides and Plato say by béeing conuersant with men of vnderstanding and literature for thereby of rude and vnlearned men they become skilfull and prudent and by this meanes they come to be acquainted with the Lawes by which y e Common-wealth is ruled to giue counsel according as the Lawes ordaine and commaund in so much that though men be subtile craftie and watchful yet be they no whit the better for that to rule Countries for gouernment doth not procéed from wilines and subtiltie but from vertue and iustice 6 Isocrates counselleth Princes to enquire whether the Counsellers of whom they take aduice were good Husbands and had the wit and wisedome how to vse their thrift and how to bestow their own substance for he that cannot rule and gouerne matters pertaining to his owne substance will neuer be able well to rule other mens things There was once a certain Gentleman which being very vnthriftie yet thinking his deserts great requested the Emperour Charles the fift to pleasure him with an Office in
desend thēselues at home then to inuade their enemies Countrey But Scipio said that it was more conuenient for the Common-wealth to warre in Carthage then in Italie Furthermore they that consult ere they determine to maintaine warre either at home or abroad ought to consider whether it be profitable for the estate of the Countrey to make war at all For though it lie in the power of men to beginne warre yet cannot they obtain victorie at their pleasure and y t commonly many thinges fall out in warfare which men can neither sée nor imagine and yet the warre it selfe the enemies and the successe shew teach what ought to be doone and for this cause it is said that counsaile is taken in the field And though the matters that concerne warre may be communicated and talked of among many yet they ought to be deliberated vpon but by a fewe for els they would be discouered before they were determined Also they that consult vpon matters touching warre ought to consider whether it be profitable for the Common-wealth that their Generals Souldiers should be strangers or naturall borne Subiects The Carthagineans did not onely take strange Souldiers into their seruice but did also elect strange Captaines as they did in the warres which they waged against the Romans choosing Xantippus a Lacedaemonian to be the Generall of their Armie Many Common-weales after that their Captaines were ouercome they vanquished their enemies by the seruice of strange Captaines as the Chalcedonians did with Brasidas the Sicilians with Gylippus the Asians with Lysander Callicratides and Agathocles Captaines of Lacedaemonia And if it chaunce y t any strange Captains doo tyrannise ouer the Common-weales which they ayde as they of the house of Othoman did that happeneth héerof that they which requested them to helpe them are not able to withstand their forces and to defend themselues against thē The Romans to shunne this inconuenience would not consent that they which came to succour or helpe them should be mightier then themselues 10 Princes ought not to committe the administration of the warre vnto any person whom they haue offended for such a one to reuenge the inturie offered vnto him wold cast away the Armie Marius had after such order compassed Hasdruball a noble Captain of Carthage that he was driuen either to fight with disaduantage or die for hunger but Hasdruball did hold him so cunninglie with certaine parleyes of agréement that he gotte out of his reache and so Marius was frustrated of the occasion which was offered him to ouerthrow his enemie which thing when it was knowne in Rome did redownd to his great discredit both with the Senate and the people and euery one through all the Cittie spake verie much euill of him Within a while after Marius béeing made Consull and going to make warre vpon the enemie Fabius Maximus saide vnto him that before he came to the day appointed for the field he shoulde see what forces the enemies had and that he should not rashlie hazard the Armie and aduenture the libertie of Rome Vnto whō Marius answered that as soone as he came by the enemie hee had fullie determined to encounter with him and béeing asked why he said because he knew that if he ouercame the enemy he should recouer the glorie which he had lost in Spayne and if that his owne Armie were ouerthrowne dispersed and put to flight he shoulde be reuenged of the iniurie which was offered him by that Cittie and those Cittizens which so vnthankfullie had offended him Princes ought also to consider the necesitie which they haue to make warre and to vnderstande what prouision they ought to make against occasion be offered them to make warre that if any strangers goe about to molest them they may defend thēselues by force of Armes and not be vanquished for there is no Prince so great mightie and strong but some or other may set vpon him And as our olde Castilian prouerbe goeth Muchas vezes chicas piedras aballam grandes carreras Little stones oft times we see Way downe the greatest Apple tree And if a Prince be of so little vnderstanding that he must be ruled by that which the Captaines say he is their seruaunt and putteth himselfe into daunger either that the Captaines know not what they doo or that they doo not so faithfully dilligently as they ought 11 Those Princes that determine to make warre ought to imitate the Catholicke King Don Hernando the first of that name King of Castile who as it were standing on hie in his Towre a farre of espied and watched the successe and euent of the wars which the Christian Princes made among thēselues to succour and ayde them that were weakest and not to suffer their power to increase in Italie that pretended to make themselues Lordes ouer it neither did hee enter league with those Princes that were confederated together if he could reape no profit thereby and for this cause he would not wage war with Lewes King of Fraunce when Pope Iulius the Emperour and the Zwitcers warred against him for he thought that he should receiue no profit by weakning the Kingdome of Fraunce with the augmentation of those that did persecute it But when hée saw that the King of Fraunce would increase his estate and inlarge his kingdome by making warre against the kingdome of Naples he entered league with the Emperour and the King of England against the King of Fraunce Finally such Princes as enter league with other Kings ought to consider whether it be better for them to maintaine that peace which they enioy or to wage warres as King Mithridates wrote to King Arsaces and whether the warres be iust and such as thereby they may haue profit and atchiue honour glory and renowne The Romans as Appian reporteth woulde not accept many Subiects that offered themselues vnto thē because they were pore and if could not any way redounde vnto their profit to haue thē vnder their subiection Many other examples precepts rules considerations and instructions coulde I giue and aleage but because I writte of them in my bookes of Militarie discipline I willinglie heere omitte them The fifteenth discourse concerning peace WE haue said that the Counsell of estate is called the Counsell of peace because their principall intent that assemble in that Counsell is to procure that y e people may liue in peace and if they make warre if is to defend themselues from the iniurie of those that trouble molest them And to signifie this the Romans accustomed to were the Millitarie ring on the left hand in which they did beare their shielde and not on y e right hand in which they held their sworde for they thought it more necessarie for a well instituted Common-wealth to defende themselues then to offend others The Spartans demaunded of those that returned from warres whether they had lost theyr shielde for they thought it more not to loose
that follow not this doctrine God visiteth with calamities and aduersities which hee sendeth vnto them to cause them to turne frō their wickednes and to obey his commandements That which we say of Christian Princes is also to be vnderstoode of those iust and vertuous Princes whom God doth crosse with mis-fortunes troubles that they may be suffering them patientlie deserue that glorie which God giueth vnto thē that serue him To be pressed with miserie plague famine fire and warre is common both to good and wicked men but onely good vertuous men die in the seruice of our Lorde and Sauiour Jesus Christ bearing his crosse on their shoulders for as the kingly Prophet saith precious in y e sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints 3 God also destroieth Cōmon-weales by appointing children to rule ouer them as the Prophet Esay saith and I will appoint children to be their Princes and babes shal rule ouerthem For sorrowfull as King Salomon saith is that Kingdome in which the Prince that ruleth it is a Childe and they that giue him counsaile and gouerne him are giuen to theyr lustes and pleasures and also the Prophet Hoseas saith that when God is angrie and will punish the people for their sinnes which they commit he appointeth children to be their Princes The Romans in theyr processions beséeched God continuallie that it would please him to be so fauourable vnto them as not to appoint Children that shoulde be gouerned by Tutors and Protectors to rule ouer them But yet as King Salomon saith better is a poore and wise Childe then an olde and foolish King which will be no more admonished for olde fooles are in the Scriptures called children of an hundred yeeres of age GOD doth also chastice the Common-weales giuing them base and vile persons that shall put their hands to the wherue as the Scriptures say handle the spyndle Which thing is properly belonging vnto women as Homer doth giue vs to vnderstand when be bringeth Telemachus speaking thus to his Mother 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But home to doe your busines may you hie Your spynning and your distaffe to applie And eake your Maydes vnto their taskes to tie And therefore in warres they were wont to put spyndles and distaues in those Souldiers hands that were cowards and dastards for such men are rather to be termed women then men GOD doth also chastice Common-weales giuing them rashe Prelats learned men without harts and without courage vnskilfull Phisitions vnconscionable and vnlearned Judges and vnprofitable people that stand the Common-welth in no stéed but to eate and to drinke the foode and the sustenance which the earth bringeth foorth as the idle and wandering persons doe which waste and spoile the Common-welth more then the Fly called Locusta which burneth Corne with touching and denoureth the residue and they doo the Common-wealth no good at all and be lesse profitable then the labouring beastes that with drawing and bearing helpe to maintaine the Common-wealth and for this cause doth Plato safe that no Cittie can be termed happie in which many poore idle and loytering persons liue who béeing able to worke will rather begge and so committe all kind of wickednes to maintain themselues Furthermore God chastiseth Common-weales if those that liue in them vse to deceiue one another and for loue of money commit iniquitie by reason whereof God translateth the kingdom from one people to another Againe God dooth chastice Common-weales if they that gouerne beare rule ouer them permitte men to sinne publiquelie for that were to bring the people againe to Egipt and for this cause dooth God punish Common-weales with all those cursses plagues which the Scripture saith shall come on them that will not obey the voyce of the Lorde and keepe his commaundements and ordinaunces Besides Common-weales perrish and decay if any factions and diuisions raigne in them for factious and dissentions persons disquiet the Common-wealth and taking aduauntage by the malice of a few and the ignoraunce of manie disturbe and endomage the Common-wealth to encrease and augment theyr owne commoditie for as our Spanish prouerbe saith Rio buelto gananciaes de pescadores The laded Riuer gaines Yeelds for the fishers paynes Factions and diuisions were cause of the destruction of the Empire of Rome as may be seene in the dissentions which grew in Rome because of the Lawes Agraria which caused great alterations at euerie time that the people of Rome did intend to establish it in that Cittie this Lawe Agraria had two especiall clauses the one ordained that no Cittizen might possesse more then a certaine number of Akers of lande the other that all what soeuer was gotten from the enemies should be equallie deuided among the people of Rome and this Lawe was verie hurtfull to the Noble men for it depriued them of their goods and hindered them from increasing their welth and riches But the Noble men opposing themselues sought one remedie or other to put down this Law and either they brought an Armie of man out of the Cittie or they caused that when one Tribune did propose the Lawe another shoulde contrarie him or they graunted part of the Lawe or they sent people to inhabit that place which should haue beene distributed among the people of Rome to be short howe hurtfull it is to fauour and maintaine scismes and partialities in a Common-wealth may be seene in that many Common weales haue béene therby destroied and ouerthrowne and therefore Plato calleth dissentions and factions poyson that spoyleth and destroyeth Common-weales To make an end those Common-weales that are gouerned by the people perrish and decay if one man continue long in the gouernment and this was the cause of the destruction of Rome as may be noted in Iulius Caesar who tyrannised though notwithstanding Cato Vticensis wiselie diuining and coniecturing the euent of the matter contraried the people of Rome in that they did appoint Iulius Caesar to continue in the generallship longger then his day before prefixed saying that they gaue the Armes and weapons vnto him that with them should destroy them Unto which Pompey who at that time fauoured Iulius Caesar answered that Cato by saying so did nothingels but giue thē occasion to suspect that he owed Iulius Caesar a grudg and that which he said himselfe did procéed of freendshippe Againe the people of Rome hauing appointed the Trybunes or Protectors of the Commons to continue in their Office the second yeere because they thought that they were very sufficient to withstand the ambition of the Noble men and to maintain the libertie and benefite of the Common people against theyr power the Senate because they would not serme to haue lesse power and authoritie then the people would haue had Lucius Quintius who at that time was to giue ouer his Consulship to some other to continue in his
Office and be Consull an other yeeere but Lucius Quintius contraried the Senate in that saying that naughtie examples ought to be shunned not multiplied and increased with another farre worse example and would haue them to choose newe Consuls Lastly Common-weales perrish and decay if they that beare rule ouer them be young men little experienced in gouernment and the people that liue in them is verie riche for it is naturall vnto them to be carelesse negligent and vicious if they be welthie and vnlesse necessitie vrge them to labor they will neuer take paines Finallie Counsellers of Princes ought to consider that commonly sixe things cause Common-weales to decay The first and cheefe cause of the destruction of a Common-welth is contempt when men are little accounted or esteemed of The second is couetousnes or inordinate desire of other mens goods The third is inordinate delectation in worldlie thinges when men will fulfill their pleasure and doo all thinges according to their owne will The fourth is disobedience when men transgresse the Lawes wilfullie The fift is crueltie when they that beare rule exercise tyrannie And the sixt and last is want of freends when men haue not freends to giue them counsaile The seuenteenth discourse How and wherewith Common-weales be increased COmmon weales are made bigger and greater thrée maner of waies The first is by manner of league or alliance to be in league with diuers other Cōmon-weales which all of them be one as rich as mightie and as great as an other and in all points equall so that none of them haue any aduantage of the other and when any of them conquer any place they make the rest partakers of the conquest as the Suicers do in Heluecia and as the Aguei and Ethoti did in Greece The seconde manner to augment Common-weales is also by way of alliance but in such sorte that they haue the chéefe authoritie rule and gouernment and the tytle of all the enterprises this maner is the best and was vsed of the Romans for they kéeping the emperial seate and tytle of commaund to them selues theyr alliants depriued of all power and authoritie of themselues by their owne sweat and blood became subiect vnto them seeing they were compassed about and oppressed on the suddaine by such a mightie Cittie as Rome was and of alliants and companions became subiects and bond-men not béeing able to defende themselues by reason that they had increased augmented and aduaunced the Romaine Empire with their owne forces The third and last manner for Common-weales to be augmented and enlarged is to make them whom they ouercome not fellowes but subiects as the Spartans did but of all thrée this is least profitable if they be not able to keepe and gouerne those Citties which they conquer For it is commonlie sayd that he that conquereth an Empire and forces withal becommeth mightie but hee that atchiueth an Empire without forces must néedes decay The Romans to augment theyr Common-wealth did imitate them that prune Trees who to make a Tree grow and bring forth fruite in time doo cut off the first boughes that the vertue of that plant may remaine in the stemme and by reason thereof greener and more fruitfull boughes may spring out of it And that this manner to enlarge an Empire or dominion is good and necessaire may be prooued by the example of Sparta and Athens which beeing two Common-weales very strong mightie well Armed and established with most excellent and perfect Lawes could neuer reache or attaine to that greatnes vnto which the Empire of Rome was aduaunced And yet did Rome séeme to be more ful of disordered and seditsous troubles and contentions yea and nothing setled in such good order and fashion as those two other Common-weales Sparta and Athens whereof no other reason can be alleaged then that which is alreadie giuen for Rome because it had augmented the body of the Citty by those two waies which we haue shewed could gather together eyght twentie thousand men for their defence and Sparta and Athens neuer coulde goe beyond the number of twentie thousand each of them And this came not because Rome was scituated in a better place then Sparta or Athens but by reason that a different kinde of procéeding was vsed in the erecting and establishing of those Common-weales for Lycurgus the first founder of the Spartane Common-wealth thinking that nothing coulde so easilie innouate or abrogate his Lawes as the mixture and confusion of newe Inhabitants he bethought himselfe all meanes possible howe he might bring to passe that no Straungers shoulde come to dwell in Sparta or be conuersant in it and therefore he ordained that in his Common-weale no money should be vsed but of Copper because no man should haue any mind to come and dwel in that Cittie or to bring any Merchandize or wares thether from fortaine Countries And for this cause the companie of the Cittizens could neuer be increased And because al our actions imitate nature and it is impossible that a little thin stocke should support or holde vp a great thicke branche therefore a small and weake Common-welth cannot ouercome and vanquish great and mightie Citties and kingdomes that are more puissaunt and stronger then it is and if it doe conquer any then it fareth with it as it doth with thin and smal siemms that haue grosse boughes braunches so that the smallest wind that is doth blowe them downe and ouerturne them as it hapned with Sparta which hauing taken all the Citties of Grecce by force Thebes no sooner rebelled but all the other Citties did rise with them against her and so the stocke remained without braunches which thing could not befall on Rome because the stocke was so grosse that it was able to beare vppe and to support the waight of any braunche 5 Common-weales be also augmented by fauouring the Inhabitans for when they that dwell in them may liue fréelie out of bondage and be Maisters and Lordes of their owne substaunce and such goods as they get by their labor and trauaile they multiply and increase their riches as well in husbandrie and tillage as in Artes handicrafts trades and Merchandize for euery one doth with a good will increase and heape vppe those goods which hee hopeth that hee may enioy after he hath got them And by this it commeth to passe that men so earnestlie striue and contend one with an other who may best regarde both his owne commoditie the publique profit also But contrarilie in those Countries and Prouinces that are oppressed with ouer many tributes and ouercharged with excessiue tols the people thinke vpon nothing but how they may liue idle and make good cheere vppon the Kinges cost The Ethiopians haue much fruitfull lande which might bring foorth a wonderfull deale of excellent fruite but by reason of the excessiue tols and vnreasonable tribute which they pay they will not take pains to labour and husband more