him as it pleased him He told him that solitude was the best and onely course for the resoluing of the graue and weighty affaires of the Empire which otherwise by diuersion might receiue the same hurt and hinderance as they were wont to haue heretofore And what with this and with giuing him to vnderstand that he would quit him of all the ordinarie cares and troubles of Court most men vsually desiring to shunne trouble and to take their ease and pleasure hee perswaded him to go to Capri that hee in the meane while might rule and gouerne all And in the end grew to be so great and powerfull and to take such state vpon him that hee would not giue audience to any reducing them to those tearmes that they should speake and negociate by writing to the end that nothing might bee treated or resolued of without his priuie saying That by reducing businesses to papers and memorialls answer might bee giuen vnto them with more deliberation and better consideration then by word of mouth A meere Artifice cunning trick of his own inuention to make himselfe absolute Master of all and which is more of the heart of his Prince God deliuer vs from such ambitious interessed and couetous Ministers whose maine care is their owne particular and to heape vp riches for himselfe and his and make it their whole study and onely end to keepe and continue themselues in their kings grace and fauour and to deale with their Prince as the Ante doth with the corne which that it may not grow againe and that hee may the better and more conueniently make profit thereof presently eates out the heart of it God likewise free Kings from this base subiection and insensibilitie and from men of that qualitie and condition which desire to rule and command all For the one cannot escape a storme and the other must runne great hazard of being drowned therein Let the last aduertisement bee the example of a great Fauourite whose name is Aurelius Cassidorus borne in the Prouince of Calabria and highly aduanced in Magistracies and Gouernments of both Empires Rome and Constantinople who being renowned for his cheualrie and noble feates of armes defended the Islands of Sicily and Calabria from many and those very powerfull enemies In his younger yeares he attained to all the liberall arts in that perfection that hee made the present and succeeding times to admire him And for his great parts and abilities was entertained by Theodoricus King of the Ostro-Gothes hee was receiued into his seruice and grew so farre into his fauour by reason of his vnderstanding wisedome and dextrousnesse in treating businesses that he first of all made him his Secretarie in which Office he behaued himselfe so well that by degrees he went climbing vp to the high Offices and dignities in the State which in those dayes were not conferred out of fauour but meere desert From being Secretary he came to bee Lord Chancellour and Senatour in the Citie of Rauenna being honoured besides with diuerse offices in the Kings Court Afterwards he was made Viceroy of the Prouinces of Sicilia and Calabria and for addition of honour had the title of Patritius giuen him which in those dayes was in great esteeme Hee was Lord Treasurer and Master of the Palace which was as it were a superintendent ouer the Palatines being an order of Knights and Gentlemen that had Offices and other preheminences in Court He held the dignitie of Praefectus Praetorius being as it were the second person of the King to whom the weightiest businesses of peace and warre were remitted and what therein he determined and resolued vpon was receiued as an oracle that could not erre Though now adayes little credit is giuen to the words of great persons and powerfull Ministers and not without cause for that many of them say and do not promise much and performe little And your Fauourites which haue great both place and power about their Kings are in such good opinion and credit likewise with the world that they presently beleeue whatsoeuer they say and see what they professe is approued by them as if it were a sentence pronounced from the mouth of a most iust Iudge And therefore they ought well and wisely to consider what they speake and not to inlarge themselues in words putting those that are pretenders in great good hopes Which if they shall not afterwards take effect will proue to bee no other then that faire and beautifull fruite whose sight pleaseth the eye but whose taste killeth the body In conclusion this Fauourite by round after round clambred vp to all the honourablest offices and greatest dignities of the kingdome He came to bee Consull which charge hee administred with extraordinary integritie and vertue All the Magistracies Offices and Gouernments which he held were but as so many steps one to the other which the Princes vnder whom he serued went still increasing and augmenting For he carried himselfe so wisely and discreetly in them that there was not that office that hee bore which did not make him the meritour and deseruer of another farre greater and better then it And all did acknowledge and confesse that his merits and deserts were farre greater then all the offices put together which hee enioyed and administred In those whom he represented and recommended to his King to the end that his Maiestie might conferre some one fauour or another vpon them he euermore had an eye to the necessitie of the office and the qualitie of the person Things wherein Fauourites ought to bee very carefull when they imploy their fauour in furthering any man as whether they be moued thereunto vpon a iust or ill affection or by the sole vertue and merit of the person c. And not to thinke with themselues that because they are in great grace and fauour with their King that it is lawfull for them to violate the Law of Iustice which ought to bee equall to all which in eyes not blinded with passion and couetousnesse she her selfe makes it plainly appeare and to thrust the better deseruer besides that dignitie and office which is due vnto him Which is a Law that obligeth all for that it is a naturall obligation and hath all the Lawes of reason on it's side which are more powerfull then either the will of Kings or their Fauourites The not keeping whereof is but a large and swift running fountaine of complaints and distasts The one to see themselues reiected and excluded from publike honours The other to see them put forward whom nature hath not adopted nor learning nor vertue but either good or bad diligences And that these shall haue preferments and get the start of other men it is because either loue or interest makes them to be held more worth when as the other onely for that they are not in the like fauour or not so fit for their ends for Fauourites fauour few saue such as will bee instruments of their wills
he must also doe it by himselfe For neither that great Gouernor of Gods people Moses nor any other after him is in all the whole body of the Bible to be found that euer yet condemned the occupation of iudging the people to bee vnworthy royall Maiestie nor contrarie to the reputation of a King I know no other preiudice in it saue that it is impossible for one sole man to vndergoe so great a taske And this impossibilitie ariseth from the multitude of subiects and in that case they aduise That a King should not wholly take away his hand from the doing of Iustice but that the lesser and more ordinary businesses hee should remit and referr them to different Ministers and the weightier causes take to his owne charge and be present in person when they come to be sit vpon and determined as formerly haue done the wisest and greatest Monarkes that euer were in the world Who did euer equall King Salomon in wisedome greatnesse and Maiestie yet did hee hold it no disgrace vnto him to humble himselfe to heare suitors iudge their causes and to doe them Iustice. The Kings of the Hebrew people were called Iudges because they did glorie in nothing so much as to heare and iudge the people And in all Nations this hath alwayes beene the principall Office appertaining vnto Kings And the Holy Ghost saith That the King that faithfully iudgeth the poore his throne shall be established for euer §. III. That it much importeth Kings to haue the good Loue and affection of their Subiects KIngs as already hath beene sayd are the Heads of their Kingdomes Their Estates serue them as Members Without which it is impossible they should be that which their name speakes them And therefore it is not onely conuenient but necessarie that they should seeke to gaine the good wills of all suting themselues though they force their owne to the nature of their subiects and beholding them as if they were his children Which is the best course to keepe them well affected and contented and to be beloued and obayed by them Which they may easily doe if they will but thinke themselues that they are sheepheards and fathers of those people which God hath recommended vnto them easing them of those wrongs and grieuances which they vniustly suffer laying no more vpon them then they are able to beare suffring them when reason shall require to take their ease and their quiet and helping to sustaine them when they grow poore and are decayd Plato tells vs That for a Prince to be good and to be beloued of all hee must bestow all his loue and his whole heart vpon the Common-wealth his will on the Gods his secret on his friends and his Time on businesses For by thus reparting himselfe with all he shall haue a part in all by all of them comming to vnite themselues with him Onely in this good Correspondency of Loue betweene Kings and their subiects wise Periander placeth all the safetie and good fortune of Kings and Kingdomes Agesilaus King of Lacedaemon was once askt the question How a King might liue secure For that it is oftentimes seene that neither multitude of seruants nor a guard of Halbardiers can defend them from violence To which demand hee returned this answer Si suis populis ita imperet vt parentes filijs If he so rule ouer his people as a father doth ouer his children The King that loueth his subiects and is againe beloued by them neede no guarde they are his guard For Loue where it is true and faithfull plainesheth the knottiest peece of timber smootheth the roughest and most vnhewen disposition and makes all faire safe and peaceable It is a most strong wall and more durable yea then Kings themselues With this no difficulty can offer it selfe vnto them which they may not ouercome no danger whose impetuousnesse they may not oppose no command which they will not obay For as Kings desire no more of their subiects but to be well serued by them so subiects pretend nothing from their Kings but to be beloued by them And indeede the one dependeth on the other For if a King loue not his subiects he shall neither be well serued beloued nor obayed by them And as little if he loue himselfe too much For the more care he takes of himselfe and attends his owne particular so much the more his subiects loue departs from him For the harmonie of a Common-wealth consisteth in that all should liue by the Kings fauour and they by their subiects loue For they ought to be vigilant in all that belongs to their seruice and Kings most watchfull in that which concernes their generall good So that none is to haue lesse part in the King then the King himselfe And because it is impossible to content all by reason not onely of their different but contrary natures it is necessary at least to content the most There are two differences of States or two sorts of people to be considered in a Kingdome The Citizens or which comprehendeth all the common people Or your Peeres and such as either are persons of Title or aspire to be It shall be good discretion prudence to procure to content the people especially in a Kings first entrance into his raigne in that which is reasonable and honest And if their demaunds shall be otherwise to dissemble with them and to take time to consider of it and so by little and litle let their blood goe cooling This was the Counsayle of your olde Counsailours Which had it beene followed by that young King Rehoboam his people had not rebelled against him nor hee in the beginning of his Empire before he was scarce warme in his throne haue lost ten Tribes of the Twelue The Common people are alwayes grumbling and complayning and ready to runne into rebellion as being fearelesse in regard of their multitude and carelesse for that they haue little or nothing to loose The Minor Plinie after that hee had made a large Catalogue of the naturall vertues of the Emperour Traiane after that he had shewen what great account he made of the Common people he sayth Let not a Prince deceiue himselfe in thinking that hee is not to make any reckoning of the common people for without them he cannot sustaine nor defend his Empyre And in vaine shall hee procure other helpe for that were to seeke to liue with a head without a body which besides that it were monstrous it must needes toter and tumble downe with it's owne weight because it hath nothing to beare it vp And if Kings will needes know what kinde of thing the Common people is and what able to doe vpon all changes and alterations let them take into their consideration that which passed at the arraignment and death of our Sauiour Christ where there was not that Rule of reason of State in the vilest manner which was not then practized And the first stone that the Princes of the
what is hidden there And therefore he must haue such a secret heart as S. Austen speakes of Coraltum That is Cor secretum or as others reade it profundâ—m an inscrutable heart or so deepe that none shall be able to diue into it And some compare a kings heart vnto punctum a little point or pricke which to diuide or to draw any thing out of it is if not impossible at least very difficult The heart of a king must be closed and shut vp like this punctum whence there shal be an impossibility or at least a great deale of difficulty in extracting any one word or secret recoÌ„mended vnto him Salomon sayth That the hearts of Kings are in the hands of God and are guided directed by him And that therfore their secretes mysteries are not to be divulged and made common no not to his neerest Minions and Fauourites when at most but to some one particular priuado and that vpon very good iust cause Our Sauiour Christ once vpon necessary occasioÌ„ discouered a secret to his great Priuado or fauourite S. Iohn but it was with these circumstances That thee told it him in his eare forbidding him to speake therof vnto any And because neither by signes or any other outward demonstration he might make it knowen he bound vp all his senses in a deepe and profound sleepe to the end that by none of them he might expresse that which it behooued him to conceale Great is the importancie of secrecie the authoritie which it giues to the iudgements motiues of those that gouerne For if all might know the causes which moue a Prince to make this or that prouision to giue this this or iudgement to pardon or to punish to craue or to giue many censures wold passe vpoÌ„ it it might cause many scandalls alterations in a CoÌ„mon-wealth And therfore it much concerneth so supreme a Maiesty not to suffer the secret which is shut vp in his bosome to be published to the world And in some cases it may come to be a morâ—al sin when such things as are aduertised a king such Memorials as are giuen him firmed signed with this or that mans hand he shal shew them to the parties whom they touch and concerne be they sters or fauourites in regard of the great hurt opposition and dissention which there-fro may arise But hee may doe this in case it may well sort with the secret it selfe to take out the pithe and substance of it and without shewing any firme or vttring any word whereby the Author may be knowen and shew it to the Delinquent if so he thinke fit for his correction and amendment And when hee findes that to be true which hath beene told him and that it cannot be denyed let him apply a due and fitting remedy For many times Dissimulation in the Prince not seeming to take notice of a fault causeth but the more dissolutenesse in the subiect This is so farre forth as concerneth Kings for whom may suffice that aduice of Caelius Rodiginus who tells them more at large how considerate they ought to be in this particular For many Cities and Kingdomes haue beene lost and ouerthrowen for want of secrecie But let vs now begin to speake of Ministers and Secretaries of State in whom vsually lyes the greater fault And to whom by their Office secrecie more properly belongs The name it selfe expresing as much For out of that obligation which they haue to be secret they are called Secretaries and are the Archiues and Cabinets of the secrets of the King and the kingdom Though this name through the soothing and flattery of your suitors hath falsely extended it selfe to those which neither keepe secret nor treate of such businesses as require secrecie And it is fit that these names should not be thus confounded or that that Honor and Title should be giuen to him to whom by Office it not appertaineth Secretaryes I say shut vp with that secrecie as was that booke of those secret Mysteries which Saint Iohn found sealed with seuen seales which none but the King himselfe could open Sacramentum Regis bonum est sayd the Angel Raphael to Toby opera autem Dei reuelare honorificum est It is good to keepe close the secret of a King but it is honourable to reueale the worke of God Which is as much to say as that the determinations of a King should be kept secret but that the effects and execution of them should be published and made manifest when it is fitting for the seruice of God and the Kingdome For a Kings secret is his heart and till that God shall moue him to expresse it by some outward worke there is no reason that any one else should discouer it To reueale a secret is by the Lawes of God and Nature and by all men generally condemned and all Lawes and Nations doe seuerely punish the same for the great hurt and many inconueniences that may follow thereupon The Lawes they are defrauded the resolutions of Kings they are hindred their enemies they are aduertised their friends they are offended mens mindes they are perturbed kingdomes they are altered peace that is lost the delinquents they are not punished And lastly all publicke and priuate businesses are ouerthrowen And there is not any thing that goes crosse or amisse in a State or that miscarryes or is lost but by the reuealing of the secrets of Kings and of their Counsells As that great Chancellour Gerson told the King of France touching the ill successe of some things in his time for that some of his Ministers did publish that which was treated and determined at the Counsell-Table And the like befell Enrique King of Portugall Who because hee was deafe they were faigne to speake so loud vnto him that all men might heare what they said Valerius Maximus much commendeth the secrecie of the Romane Senate and says that for this cause that Consistorie was held in high esteeme and that it was a great occasion of inlarging their Empire And they and the Persians did keepe with that faith the secrets of their Kings that there was no feare of plumping them or being able to draw any thing from them no not so much as the least word whereby to discouer the businesse Vse together with the feare of punishment and hazard of their liues had so settled and confirmed this silence in them For they did punish no offence with greater rigour then that of vnfaithfullnesse in matters of secrecie and with a great deale of reason because it is in so neere a degree vnto Treason and I thinke I should not say amisse if I stiled it in the highest Regis proditor Patriae euer for aestimandus est saith Osorius such aone is to be held a Traytour to the King and a subuerter of the state A Law of the Partida sayth That those Counsellours which reueale their Kings secretes commit
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 similiancie 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 greâ—ter 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
or otherwise For these doe rather dispeople and desolate then correct and amend a kingdome And as it is a signe of bad Physitians or of a corrupt and infectious aire to see many fall sicke and dye so likewise is it of carelesse Ministers and ill preuention and of a contagious corruption of vices and euill manners when there are many criminall iudgements many punishments and cruell chastisements And who is he that knowes the principall cause thereof it may bee this or it may bee that or all together howsoeuer I am sure it is all ill And in a word so great so vniuersall and so pernicious an ill that if Christian Kings carry not a very watchfull eye ouer their Subiects manners in not suffering them to flie out they shall not when they would be able to refraine them and remedie what is amisse for euill custome being once habituated according vnto Galen and others is an acquired nature and engendreth an habite which being mans naturall inclination carries him along after it and so great is his inclination to delights and so many the prouocations and ill examples which draw him thereunto and poure oyle as it were vpon that fire that if there be not the more diligence and care vsed in the quenching of it it must necessarily spread it selfe abroad and extend it selfe daily more and more and more especially into those Cities and countries where there is much commerce and trading in Merchandise and in the Courts of Kings where there is such a concourse of diuerse and sundrie nations there being not any one of them which hath not it's proper and peculiar vertues as also it 's proper and peculiar vices Their vertues men hardly take hold on but their vices those cleaue easily vnto them of themselues and by this their Commerce and Trading remaine engrauen in their hearts And what was before but an inclination being now become a custome vice engendreth vice and one appetite maketh way for another Lycurgus saith That it more importeth a State to see that it's Cities bee not infected with the ill customes and manners of Strangers then to preserue them from the plague the pestilence or other the like contagious diseases For these Time asswageth and consumeth but those are with time increased and augmented Three Embassadours of the Cretans each of them being of a different Sect made their ioynt entrance into Rome The Senate gaue them audience And Cato being there whom for his great authoritie they did much reuerence and was indeed as an Oracle amongst them gaue his vote and opinion that hee would haue them dâ—spatcht thence with all possible speed before the corruption of their manners should corrupt the Romane Common-wealth This care ought Kings to take and so much the rather for that they haue neuer a Cato that will tell them neuer a Councellour that will aduise them that in no kinde of manner nor vpon any occasion whatsoeuer ought they either in their Court or kingdome suffer any man no though hee be an Ambassadour to reside there being different in his Religion manners and Ceremonies For their treating and conuersing with vs serues to no other purpose but to bring in vices and banish vertues to worke vpon weake and wauering mindes and to draw the naturall Subiects of another Prince from Gods true worship and due obseruance of his diuine Law And this was the care of the Ancients of those times who would neuer giue consent and allowance that there should bee any thing intertained or receiued into their commonwealths whereby mens mindes might grow cold or be withdrawne in any one point or tittle from the worship and adoration of their Gods And very fit for these times were that Law of the Persians which did punish him with death that should bring in any new vse or strange custome And the Cretans did in their ordinarie Letanies desire that no new custome might enter into their city which is as a contagious disease and cleaueth as close as the plague or pestilence Nor did the Lawes of Egypt permit any new tune in their Musicke or any new kinde of song vnlesse they were first examined by those that were in place of gouernment For as Plato affirmeth a Commonwealth as well as Musicke admitteth changes And that for the auoiding of this mischiefe it ought not to be permitted that there should be introduced any new kinde of tunes or Musicke together wherewith mens mindes receiue some change and alteration Aristotle did aduise those that would bee vertuous that they should not vse Musicke nor musicall instruments to incite them to be vicious For Musicke being a diuine gift and very powerfull to moue the hearts of men and to perswade the thing that is sung if they accustome themselues to play and sing holy lessons honest songs they therby accustome themselues to be honest and vertuous And therefore anciently your Kings as Dauid the Prophets and Priests the better to apply themselues to contemplation did vse Musicke wherewith they suspended their senses and remained as it were swallowed vp in God In a word many men haue therewith beene robbed of their soules and of their honours and daily much hurt doth ensue thereby For it is able to doe much and greate is the force and power which it hath ouer mens manners And if you will not beleeue me obserue but the hurt which your new wanton tunes together with the lasciuious wordes and gesticulations vsed in them haue wrought of late amongst not onely the common but better sort of people Now to shut vp all that hath beene said in three points First of all I say that it much importeth that a Prince bee good in himselfe for that all men make their Imitation after that patterne that hee sets before them And for this cause God placed him in so high and eminent a place to the end that by the resplendour of his vertues hee should giue light to the whole kingdome and that both by his life and example he should exemplifie and indoctrinate his Subiects for it is not onely included in the name and office of King to rule and gouerne the kingdome by good and wholsome Lawes but likewise to teach and instruct the people by his vertues This ought to bee say Socrates and Plato the end and ayme of Kings to direct their Subiects in the truth they practising it first themselues which is the strongest and forciblest argument to perswade it For the execution of that which is perswaded and commanded doth secure the passage doth make the worke sauourie and doth facilitate the trouble Secondly to the end that the Lawes may bee the better kept Kings must obey and keepe them for it will seeme an vniust thing in them to establish and ordaine that which themselues will not keepe and obserue They must doe as Lycurgus did who neuer enacted any thing which he himselfe did not punctually performe And it was a Romane Edict Vse el Rey de la Ley
and aboue all what may make most for their good and aduantage That they be wise discreet experienced patient without passion disinteressed and more zealous of the publike good then of their priuate profit For if they shall regard their owne interest and proper commoditie they are neither good for the seruice of their Kings nor for the gouernment of the commonwealth For in going about to measure out their priuacie by the yard of their particular profit they will make merchandise of all and their doing good to others shall bee for the benefiting of themselues Nothing comming vnder their hands whereof that they may not be accounted bad Cookes they will not licke their owne fingers The clingenst and strongest affection is that of couetousnesse it is like the headâ—ch which hindereth the free vse of mans faculties and senses not suffering him to doe any thing that is good And though it bee true that there are other vices of greater offence to God and more hurtfull to a mans neighbour yet this hath I know not what mischiefe in it and more particularly in publike persons which doth shew it selfe more openly then all the rest and doth breede and nourish other sinnes as the roote doth the tree Radix omnium malorum cupiditas Quidam appetentes errauerunt à fide Couetousnesse of money is the roote of all euill Which while some lusted after they erred from the faith and tangled themselues with many sorrowes Ex auaritia profecto saith Saint Ambrose septem nequitiae procreantur scilicet Proditio fraus fallacia periurium inquietudo violentia contra misericordiam obduratio There are seuen kinde of sinnes that proceed from couetousnesse viz. Treason Fraud deceit Periury Inquietude Violence and which shuts the doore to all pitie and compassion Hardnesse of heart Vpon this foundation of couetousnesse is built whatsoeuer tyrannicall imagination and many through it haue and doe daily loose the faith and that loyaltie which is due vnto God and their Kings Auri cupiditas saith the same Saint materia est perfidiae The loue of gold is the cause of the losse of faith When this pulls a Fauourite it easily drawes him aside and carries him headlong to all these vices for it is of more force then the Load-ston and drawes him more after them then that doth the iron And is holpen on the more by the winde of vanitie and ambition The Philosopher Herâ—â—litus saith That those that serue Vanity and Couetousnesse suddenly depart from Truth and Iustice and hold that onely for iust and most right which is directed aright to their owne priuate interest And this onely doe they make their aime in all whatsoeuer they aduise their King as was to be seene in that so often repeated case of King Assuerus with his great Fauourite Amann of whom hee demanded what grace and fauour should bee showne to that Subiect whom for his good seruices hee desired to honour Whereupon the winde of vaine-glory working in the head of him and thinking this could be no man but himselfe shewed himselfe very magnificent and liberall in ordaining the honours and fauours that were to be done vnto him The vaine conceit of a couetous man cuts out for himselfe large thongs out of another mans leather And when hee growes a little warme in the King his Masters bosome poore snake as hee was with a false and feigned loue hee goes hunting after his commoditie and this failing his loue also faileth For his heart stretcheth it selfe no farther to loue then what his hands câ—n come to take hold on Elpan comido y la compania desecha saith the Prouerbe No longer Cake nâ— longer company Of such friends as these the Prophet Michah bids vs beware For no friend that seeketh his owne gaine can euer according vnto Aristotle be faithfull and loyall to his King Let Kings I say consider once againe and haue an especiall care that those Fauourites whom hee maketh choice of for his friends be out of his owne proper election and approued by his owne minde and by the opinion and fame of their vertue and not intertaining them at any time by the sole intercession of others especially such as are great and powerfull nor let them suffer themselues to be carried away with the secret considerations of those familiar and particular persons which are about them nor by the insinuating and soothing perswasions of your flatterers and Sycophants Who as they are men worke vpon discourse and corporall meanes altogether framing them in order to their owne ends Let them not giue beliefe and credit vnto them but to the common fame and good report that goes of them and thereon let them place their eares and their vnderstanding For as Tacitus saith that is it which vsually makes the best choice For it is not to bee doubted but that concerning such a ones vertues or goodnesse we ought rather to giue credit to the generall report then to the voices of one or two For one may easily bee deceiued and deceiue others by his tricks and his particular interest but neuer yet could one deceiue all nor is it possible that all should in that their approbation deceiue another As for those other seruants which are to attend and waight vpon the Kings person more for dignitie of place and for outward apparence and ostentation of greatnesse then for vse and conueniencie which likewise in their kinde are very necessarie let Kings a Gods name receiue them into their seruice either vpon the intercession of others or out of other particular respects For in this there is little hazard and may easily chop and change them if they proue not good and fit for their turne But in the choice of the former a great deale of care must be taken for the choppâ—ng and changing of them is very dangerous and vnlesse there be very great cause for the doing of it it breeds an opinion of inconstancie which as it cannot but be hurtfull vnto all so is it of great dishonour vnto Kings much weakening their authoritie But say there be iust cause of remouing them why it is but as a Vomite which howbeit it be true that it remoueth the malignant humour and expells it from the stomacke yet withall it carries the good likewise away with it and makes an end of that Subiect it works vpon if it be too often vsed For our horses wee seeke bits and bridles wherewith to make them to go well and handsomely and if with those they do not raigne and carry themselues according to our mind we take others and when we finde once that they are fitted as wee would haue them we neuer chop nor change but still vse the same In like manner it is not good to chop and change either Fauourites or priuie Councellours too often but to seeke out such as are fit for their turne and to carry such a hand ouer them as to bridle their insolencie and to reyne them in hard if they
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 are fastened to be melted by that very Sunne that gaue them their first warmth and light and by their fall to be left an example to the world to terrifie others And in case for some especiall respect Kings shall resolue with themselues that all the beames of their greatnesse shall illighten and giue life to one particular person let the foundation of their fauours bee layed vpon those qualities desarts and seruices which ought to concurre on those persons on whom they purpose thus to particularize Kings likewise are to consider the Petitions of those that sue vnto them which is my second obseruation and taught by Christ himselfe Potestis bibere calicem quem ego bibiturus sâ—m Can ye drinke of the cup that I drinke of Iudging by himselfe in this demand which hee makes to these his Fauourites who so rashly and vnaduisedly came vnto him to petition him for the two principall places that for to possesse them they should haue all sufficient and requisite necessaries vpon which point Christ examines them and the like examination ought Kings to make of those qualities specified by vs touching both Pretenders and Fauourites The third thing which I recommend to your consideration and which Christ teacheth Kings is the great caution and warinesse which they are to vse in not being too facile in granting all that their Fauourites shall require of them Which is to bee gathered out of the last words of this his answer Non est meum dare vobis It is not mine to giue Which to my seeming soundeth thus It will not stand with my truth and iustice to giue for kindreds-sake or other humane respects that which my eternall Father hath prepared for those which deserue best Kings ought to bee very circumspect in promising and not ouer easie in granting for if he shall be facile in granting what others shall desire hee may haue cause to repent himselfe and if he promiseth hee looseth his liberty A great gentleman of qualitie whom King Philip the second much fauoured for his worthy parts and great abilities talking one day with him and walking a good while with his Maiestie after that hee had discoursed with him of diuers things to the Kings so great good content and liking that hee thought with himselfe that there was now a faire occasion offered vnto him to propound vnto him as he did a businesse of his owne He told a friend of his anon after that hee came from him that in that very instant he proposed it he cast such a strange and austere looke towards him as if hee had neuer seene him before Which was no want of affection in the King towards him for hee had had many sufficient testimonies thereof but because it was fitting for so wise and prudent a King to haue that circumspection lest this his affection might minister occasion vnto him to call his discretion in question in granting or not granting that which either is not or at least shall seeme vnto him not to be conuenient for him For Kings must haue recourse to these two things To haue a good and safe conscience with God and intire â—â—â—horitie and good opinion with men For with none doth that holy and prudent counsell of Saint Paul suite more properly then with them Prouidemus bona non solum coram Deo sed etiam coram hominibus Prouiding for honest things not onely in the sight of the Lord but in the sight of men Which cannot be when as Fauourites either doe all what they list of themselues or get their Kings to doe it for them When the Sensitiue appetite effecteth whatsoeuer it affecteth the vnderstanding which is the soules king remaines oppressed and disgraced and with that soule note which the kingly Prophet Dauid giues it Homo cum in honore esset non intellexit comparatus est iumentis insipientibus similis factus est illis Man being in honour hath no vnderstanding he is like the beasts that perish And therefore when Kings out of their particular affection or for the auoiding of trouble and the fuller inioying of their ease and pleasure shall giue absolute power to their Fauourites to doe and vndoe as they please presently one blot or other which they will hardly euer get out will bee laid vpon their royall persons Nor need wee here to relate the hurt which comes thereby and the occasion which it giues vnto the Subiects neither to thnke nor speake of their Princes with that respect which is fitting especially when the Fauourites are none of those which helpe to beare the weight and burthen of businesses but shake them off from their owne shoulders and lay them vpon other that are fitted to their hand and of whom they rest well assured that they will doe nothing but what they will haue them to doe working their will and pleasure in all that they are able And this is not that which Kings and Commonwealths need but it much importeth that their Fauourites should bee of that good and quicke dispatch in businesses that all the people might loue them for it for from the contrary great inconueniences are wont to arise When the Shechemites were so vnmannerly and vnciuill in their language against their King Abimilech amongst other things which they vttered and alledged against him they said this in scorne of him Nunquid non est filius Ierobael constituit Principem Zabul seruum suum super viros Hemor patris Sichem cur ergo seruiemus ei Who is Abimelech that we should serue him Is not he the sonne of Ierubbaal and Zebul his Officer why should wee serue him c. They tooke it very ill that the King should raise his seruant Zabul to thaâ— heighth of honour and greatnesse that he should be made Prince as it were ouer all the people of Hemor and Sichem And howbeit the naturall obligation which Subiects owe to their Kings is so great that they are bound to obey them in all that which is not against God And that it is a token of great noblenes to suffer with a good courage whatsoeuer burthens be they neuer so heauy which they lay vpon them yet notwithstanding they haue no such obligation to their Fauorites For they may for their pleasure or their profit substitute other their Fauourites and oblige the people that they either negociate with or buy
at As also his Councels ordained by him either for the inlarging or shortning of his hand in these his expences So that hauing still before his eyes the wealth and substance of his Empire he might alwayes see how the world went and how to make his best benefit thereof for the conseruing and vpholding of his Empire Such a Register or rent-rolâ— as this much importeth Kings It is said of that wise and prudent King Don Philip the second that in his time he had such another as was this And the like ought all Kings to haue and at all times but more especially when their power is lessened their rents diminished their forces wasted and those of their enemies augmented For we see the like care to bee taken in particular houses and therefore ought much more to bee looked into in Monarchies which are composed of all those houses and families amongst which that which spends beyonds it's meanes consumes it selfe For supposing such a one hath an 100. V. Ducats of rent or set reuenue and that euery yeare ten thousand more is spent then the rent comes to in a few yeares all will come to nothing and by running still on in debt and taking no course to come out of it by liuing still at the same height he must bee inforced in the end to sell and deliuer ouer the luster maiestie and greatnesse of his house to other families which were before little better then dust taken out of the dunghill And most certaine it is that they that will not cast vp their accounts and looke throughly into their estates and see in what state they are must bee either men that are willing to vndoe themselues and their whole posteritie and must bee either Atheists or almost as bad if not worse meere Epicures who carry in their mouths and in their hearts those words of your vnthriftie gallants Comedamus bibamus cras enim moriemur Let vs eate and drinke for to morrow we shall dye Your Atheists they propose an end vnto themselues thinking by this their prodigalitie to procure vnto themselues an immortalitie of fame But these and the like who so inconsiderately runne out of all are carelesse and negligent euen of this taking care onely to eate and to drinke and to feast one another without so much as thinking that there is another world or any honour or fame in this And spending their whole life in belly cheare and bezeling they are neuer satisfied but call in still for more till their crawes be ready to cracke And notwithstanding the excessiue rents which some Kings haue and the great store of treasure that comes to their coffers besides the Tributes Taxes Imposts and Subsedies that are duely payed them they are neuer out of debt the Crowne-land lying impawned for the payment thereof and that for no small summes of money Ordinary expences are ill husbanded extraordinary worse payed The Cities they are consumed Trading decayed the Subiects out of breath and purse and by hauing too much imposed vpon them are growne like ouer-laboured oxen so poore and so weake that they are no longer able to beare so great a burthen And yet all this to them though the Subiect infinitely suffer is no more then a drop of water throwne into the sea nor makes no more shew Which sea though it swallow vp all the fountaines of the earth all the brookes and all the great and principall riuers and lesser springs and this daily and hourely and at all times yet we see the Sea is neuer a whit the more increased nor growes greater one yeare then another But what should bee the cause of this let your Naturalists and your Kings render such reasons as pleaseth them in their excuse for mine owne part I am of opinion that the Kings Exchequer is not well ordered making him not onely a small but a bad account That there is a great deale of disorder in the laying out of those monies whereof much might bee saued if there were some orderly course taken for the dispending of them and imploying them for their Kings best aduantage And I feare me which I could wish were causelesse that a great part of this water which should come directly to the Kings owne cisterne passeth through broken pipes that is through the hands of euill Ministers which soake and sucke vnto themselues a great part thereof and no man the wiser where the leake is till it discouer it selfe But it is now high time to grow to an end and I will conclude this Aduertisement with that common Prouerbe which speaketh thus Quien mucho abarca poco aprieta The ouer-griping hand holds but little suting with that of ours All couet all loose Or answering to that which that great Courtier and Fauourite Maecenas said That great treasures and riches are both more and better heaped vp and receiue a fairer accumulation by spending little then by scraping much CHAP. XXXVIII Aduertisements for Fauourites and Councellers of State THe Aduertisements for Fauourites are these the first That they doe not priuar too much who pretend their Kings fauour and that they doe not beare themselues too high thereupon nor suffer themselues to bee attended with a great traine of followers thereby to make publike demonstration of their greatnesse Boast not thy selfe too much nor seeme thou ouer vaine saith the holy Ghost to the Fauourite Ne gloriosus appareas coram Rege Put not forth thy selfe in the presence of the King For there is neither that State nor Prince of that dull patience that doth not in the end grow iealous and fearefull of the great power and authoritie of Fauourites and more especially if they once begin to waxe insolent and abuse this their greatnesse For Kings are Companions and fellow-seruants with vs in their affections and naturall passions nay by their leaue bee it spoken more subiect then we are vnto them saue that they suppresse them more in outward shew and make not that exteriour demonstration of them in regard of that diuinitie which they pretend and represent And all of them will be Masters of their entire will and absolute power And that Fauourite is fouly deceiued and in a strange kinde of errour who in Court by his secret plots and close conueyance pretendeth to possesse his Kings heart if hee conceiue by this course to be the more secure For very dangerous is that fauour and place which is built vpon such a foundation and very ticklish the state of a Fauourite when a King carries such respect vnto him And the reason of this danger is drawne from mans nature it selfe which cannot but in Kings be of farre greater force and strength for there is not that man liuing which doth not hate and abhorre subiection And this is so certaine a truth that I perswade my selfe that I may truly giue this censure and that I am no whit mistaken therein that the reason why Kings doe more willingly make and raise vp men vnto honour
POLICIE VNVEILED VVHEREIN MAY BE LEARNED The Order of true Policie in Kingdomes and Common-wealths The Matters of Iustice and Governement The Addresses Maxims and Reasons of STATE The Science of governing well a People And where the Subject may learne true Obedience unto their Kings Princes and Soveraignes Written in Spanish and translated into English by I. M. of Magdalen Hall in OXFORD LONDON Printed by Thomas Harper for Richard Collins and are to be sold at his Shop in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Three Kings 1632. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE IAMES HAY EARLE OF Carlile Viscount Doncaster Lord HAY of Sauley Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber to our Soueraigne Lord King CHARLES Knight of the most Noble order of the Garter and one of the Lords of his Maiesties most Honorable Priuy Councell Right Honourable KNowing no man better verst in publique affayres then your selfe I could not more fitly addresse this Discourse then to you without the rifling of any particular mans merit for I may ascribe as much to the praise of your exercise as any can assume to his priuate Notions or Publique Obseruations To speake the story of your true and ingenious acts in forraigne and in those forraigne the most subtile and actiue parts would rather seeme a Tract then a Dedication of a Booke but here you are onely Patron though I know you might by your naturall gifts and obseruations be Author of a farre better piece You haue been long the intrusted seruant of your Prince which should employ you the darling of his people and truly you ought to bee so whilst Truth relates the story of deseruing men or Honesty reads their merit What and whose worke of politique gouernment this is your eyes may at leysure looke ouer while your quicker eyes I meane your discerning minde may perhaps correct yet I hope not chide his labour who was willing though not able to serue you in a piece worthy your obseruation If in the translation there be any thing that hath forsaken the Originall it was intention and not negligence of which there needs no accompt My good Lord there is nothing left but to implore your pardon for the preferring this worke which if it shall appeare vnworthy your graue perusall yet at the least forgiue his intention who conceiued it a direct way of expressing himselfe to be Your Honours truely deuoted EDWARD BLOVNT THE AVTHORS EPISTLE DEDICATOrie to the King of SPAINE Sir THe cause why the Ancients by fire signifie Loue is for that this Element is the hardest to be hid For the more a man seekes to couer it the more it discouers it selfe and blabbs the place where it is Of this quality is Loue and truly participateth of the nature of fire I came saith our Sauiour Christ to put fire into the world And the holy Ghost which is the true God of Loue came and shewed it selfe in the shape and figure of fire So that Loue is a kinde of extraordinary actiue fire Nor can it where soeuer it be be hid or idle Operatur magna si est saith Saint Gregory si autem non operatur amor non est Loue will be alwayes in action alwayes in working it worketh by benefits it worketh by good workes and by friendly offices and charitable seruices And when it cannot worke what it would or when the subiect whereon it would worke hath no need thereof it supplyeth that defect with good desires and words God who needeth not the seruice of any contents himselfe with this in those that are his seruants accepting when they can no more the will for the deed And the Kings which here vpon earth represent his person doe not require tribute and seruice saue onely in that which euery one is able to giue That which I am able to affoord and doe here offer vnto your Maiestie forced thereunto by the loue of my seruice howbeit my desire hath euermore had a larger extent is onely a parcell of words which if they proceed from the soule and come truly and sincerely from the heart are of some worth and estimation and perhaps vpon occasion may proue likewise profitable and aduantagious Howsoeuer it may serue at least to expresse that my seruice and deuotion which euer hath beene is and shall be ready prest to serue your Maiestie And I am willing to shew it in this little that I may not wholly seeme vnprofitable And therefore with this affection of Loue sutable to my subiect ouercomming those feares which are wont and not without reason to withhold those that treate with great Kings Princes and Monarckes and write of such and the like subiects I presume to aduertise them and in this paper to propone vnto them that which I finde written of those that are past and gone and seemeth very fit and conuenient for the conseruation and augmentation of the authoriâ—y and greatnesse of those that are now liuing and present amongst vs and will with all possible breuity procure a full resolution and distinction herein And as Seneca saith Totum comprehendere sub exiguo To comprise much vnder a little For as that is the better sort of money which in the matter is the lesser but the greater in value so likewise that Learning is the best which is briefe in words and large in sentences It is Maximus his counsell that Multa magna breuiter sunt dicenda Matters that are many and great are briefly to be deliuered For this breuities sake therefore as also for the greatnesse of your Maiesties employments and the great burthen of so many weighty businesses that lye vpon you I will not here interpose any large discourses and long disputations wherewith to entertaine and spend the time but briefe certaine and generall Doctrines such as are of most profit comprehend most subiects and may be applyed to particular both persons and things all taken out of the Politicks the law of nature and men that are Statists and no way contrary to the Law of God and Christian Religion As likewise out of ancient Philosophers and wise men both Lawyers and Law-makers Accompanied wholly for to giue credit to the cause and that the subiect may not be disesteemed as an egge of mine owne hatching with the examples of Kings and Emperours if the examples of Kings may moue Kings and with those which cannot but moue bee esteemed and beleeued being drawne out of the holy Scripture Which being well obserued and put in execution by Kings they shall obtaine that end for which they were intended To wit to maintaine and preserue their Kingdomes in peace and iustice Reade it therefore I beseech your Maiestie and take it to heart for it is a piece of worke that is directed to the seruice of Kings of their Fauourites and Ministers And let them not say that they are Metaphysicall and impracticable things or in a manner meere impossibilites but rather that they are very conformable to our possibilitie and practised by our
iustice in all Causes Answering to that his owne saying By me Kings reigne c. Which is as if he should haue said That their power is deriued from God as from the first and primary cause The signification likewise of this word King or Rex is and me thinks farre better declared if we shall but refer i'ts originall to another word of the primitiue Language where the Hebrew word Raga signifies amongst other it's significations To feede And in this sense it is to be found in many places of holy Scripture And from this Raga is deriued Rex Rego or Regno And Regere and Pascere amongst the Poets and euen also amongst the Prophets are promiscuously vsed Homer Virgil and Dauid put no difference betwixt Reges and Pastores styling Kings Shepheards Shepheards Kings And therefore in the 23. Psalme where the vulgar Latine reades Dominus regit me S. Ieromes Translation hath it Dominus pascit me The Lord is my Shepheard therefore can I lack nothing he shall fâ—ede me in a greene pasture and leade me forth besides the waters of comfort And Homer he styles a King Pastorem populi the Shepheard of his people in regard of that sweetnesse of Command wherewith he gouerneth them and the gentle hand that hee carries ouer them feeding but not fleecing of them Xenophon saith that the actions of a good shepheard are like vnto those of a good King So that the name of King doth not onely signifie him that ruleth but him that ruleth like a shepheard And the better to instruct vs herein the Prophet Isaiah speaking of that which the true Christian King our Sauiour should doe when he should come into the world saith Sicut Pastor gregem suum pascet in brachio suo congregabit agnos in sinn suo levabit foetas ipsa portabit Hee shall feede his flocke like a shepheard hee shall gather the Lambes with his armes and carry them in his bosome and shall guide them with young He shall perfectly performe all the Offices of a shepheard by feeding of his sheepe and by bearing them if neede be vpon his shoulders And of the selfe same King Christ God said in respect of his people Ipse pisect eos ipse erit eis in pastorem I will set vp a shepheard ouer them and he shall seed them And in the next words following he cals him ioyntly King and shepheard Servus meus David Rex super eos Pastor unus erii omnium eorum My seruant Dauid shall bee the Prince amongst them and they shall all haue but one shepheard And they shall dwell safely in the wildernesse and sleepe in the woods and none shall make them affraid And for the clearer signification hereof the first Kings that God made choise of and commanded to be anoynted hee tooke them from amidst their flâ—cks The one they sought after the other they found feeding of his flocke The Prophet Samuel whom God commanded to annoynt for King one of the sons of Ishai hauing scene the elder and the other seuen all goodly handsome men of a good disposition had no great liking to any one of them but asked their father Whether he had no more children but those And he said vnto him Adhuc reliquus est parvâ—lus pascit oves There remaineth yet a little one behind that keepeth the sheepe And the Prophet willed him that he should send for him for we will not sit downe till he be come hither shewing that to be a shepheard and to feed the flock was the best Symbole and most proper Embleme of a King And therfore I would haue no man to imagine that which Philon did feare that when we come to make a King we must take away the Crooke and put the Scepter in his hand The Office of a King I tell you and the Arte of ruling will require a great deale of study and experience For to gouerne the bigger sort of beastes and those that are of greatest price a man must first haue learned to â—aue gouerned the lesser It is not meete to Popp into great places vnexperienced persons and such as know not what belongs vnto businesse nor the weight of the charge that they are to take vpon them For indeede great Matters are not handsomely carryed nor well managed but by such as haue beene formerly imployed in businesses of an inferiour and lower nature And this choyse which God made of Dauid iumpes with this our intent He doth not say that he tooke him on the sodaine from the sheepefold and presently clapp't a Crowne vpon his Head but first bred him vp to feede the house of Iacob and his family and that he should exercise himselfe therein For a well ordered house and a family that is well gouerned is the Modell and Image of a Common-wealth And domesticall authoritie resembleth Regall power And the good guidance of a particular house is the Exemplary and true patterne of a publicke State It imbraceth and comprehendeth in it all the sorts of good gouernment It doth treate and set in order those things that appertaine to Policie Conseruation and the direction of Men as well in regard of Commanding as obeying What other thing is a house with his family but a little Citie And what a Citie but a great House Many houses make a Citie And many Cities make a kingdome And in point of gouernment ihey onely dâ—ffer in greatnesse for howbeit in the one they are busied more and in the other lesse yet they tend all to one end which is the common good And therefore S. Paul and other Saints and wise men are of opinion that hee that knowes not how to gouerne his own house well will hardly gouerne another mans The Emperour Alexander Severus visiting the Roman Senate did inquire how the Senators did rule and gouerne their owne priuate Houses and families and sayd That that man who knew not how to command his wife and his Children to follow his owne businesses to make prouision for his house and to gouerne his familie it were a madnesse to recommend vnto that man the gouernment of the Common-wealth Amongst those the famous Gouernours Cato the Roman was preferred before Aristides the Grecian because the former was a great Pater familias or father of a familie and the latter was noted to be defectiue in that kinde So that the life of a shepheard is the Counterfeit or Picture of gouernment as is to be seene by his assistance in his Office in the care of the wellfare of his flocke in the obligation of the Account that he is to make in the offence that he is to finde by Wolues and Theeues and in the solicitude and watchfullnesse which those ordinary dangers doe require wherein his flocke stands and more especially when the shepheard is wanting vnto them And it is so proper vnto a King to feede his flocke that when our Sauiour Christ fed that multitude of people which followed him in
the desert they no sooner saw that he had satisfied them but they were desirous to make him a King and to clap the Crowne on his head And for this cause in the 3. Chapter of Esay he that saw he was vnprouided of bread would not accept the Votes of the people that were willing to nominate him for their King saying thus vnto them Non sum medicus in domo mea non est panis neque vestimentum nolite constituere me principem populi There is no bread in my house nor cloathing I cannot be an helper vnto yee therefore make me no Prince of the people And therefore with very good reason and with a great deale of proprietie a King and a Shepheard is all one In the Greeke tongue a King is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quasi basis fundamentum populi As if hee were the basis and foundation of the people And of your Kings sayth Rabbi Abraham those words are to bee vnderstood of Iob Qui portant orbem Who sustaine the weight of a kingdome and beare the loade thereof vpon their shoulders And a Hierogliffe heereof is the Crowne which they weare vpon their head in manner of a Citie circled about with Townes and battlements signifying thereby that the strong brayne and the good and wise head and sound sconce of a King doth fortifie and vphold the whole weitht and burthen of all the Cities of his kingdome And this is S. Gregories Interpretation vpon of his place Some others conceiue that this name was giuen it in consideration of that creature called the Basiliske who is the king of the venomous creatures and hath this euil qualitie with him that he kills with his lookes onely And doe not the kings sometimes kill their fauourites and those that are neerest about them with the knit of the brow and a sower looke And some such Kings there be or at least haue beene in the world that take it offensiuely if their frownes and disfauours doe not kill like poyson But this Etymologie hath little ground for it For the Greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which in that language signifies a king is much different from that of Bisiliscus a Basiliscke For it is more proper to Kings to cure and heale then to kill and slay As the forecited place of Esay teacheth vs where he that would not take the Crowne vpon him excuses himselfe not onely for that he had not bread to feede others but also because he was not a Physitian Non sum Medicus in domo mea non est panis presuposing that a good King ought to be a Physitian to his people and ought to helpe and feede his subiects And the sayd Prophet when in the person of Christ he relateth how the eternall Father had annoynted him and Crowned him for King saith spiritus domini super me eò quod vnxerit me vt mederer contritis corde And Christ himselfe being calumniated by the Pharisees because he did conuerse and eat with Publicans and Sinners hee made them this answer Non est opus valentibus medicus sed malè habentibus They that bee whole neede not the Physitian but they that be sicke Patricius Senensis calls Kings and Princes Medicos vniuersales reip Vniuersall Physitians of the Common-wealth And S. Austen tell vs that to them appertaineth the remedy of all the sicke and the cure of all the diseases and other those crosse and repugnant humours which reigne in a Kingdome and to apply a medicine to euery particular person agreeable to that humour wherein hee is peccant And the Office of a shepheard which is so proper vnto Kings as already hath beene said hath with it this obligation to cure his flocke And therefore in the 34 of Ezechiel God doth lay a heauie Taxe vpon those shepheards because they were faulty in this their Office of Curing Quod infirmuÌ„ fuit non consolidastis quod aegrotum nonsanaest is c. The diseased haue yee not strengthened neither haue yee healed that which was sicke neither haue yee bound vp that which was broken neither haue yee brought againe that which was driuen away neither haue yee sought that which was lost but with force and with crueltie haue yee ruled them yee eat the fat and yee cloath ye with the Wooll yee kill them that are fed but yee feede not the flocke And heere that third signification sutes well with this name of King which is the same as Father As appeareth in that of Genesis where the Sâ—chemites called their King Abimilech which is as much to say As my Father or my Lord And anciently their Kings were called Patres reip Fathers of their Common-wealths And hence is it that King Theodoricus defining the Maiestie royall of Kings as Cassiodorus reporteth it speakes thus Princeps est Pastor publicus Communis A King is the publicke and common shepheard Nor is a King any other thing but the publicke and common Father of the Common-wealth And because the Office of a King hath such similiancie with that of a Father Plato stiles a King Patrem familias A father of a familie And Xenophon the Philosopher affirmeth Bonus Princeps nihil differt à bono patre That a good Prince differs nothing from a good Father The onely difference is in this That the one hath fewer the other more vnder his Empire Command And certainly it is most sutable vnto reason that this Title of Father be giuen vnto Kings because they ought to be such towards their subiects and kingdomes carrying a fatherly affection and prouidence towards their wellfare and preseruation For reigning or bearing rule saith Homer is nothing else but a paternall gouernment like that of a father ouer his owne children Ipsum namque regnum imperium est suapte natura paternum There is no better habit of gouerning then to haue a King cloath himselfe with the loue of a father and to haue that care of his subiects as if they were so many children of his owne loynes The affection of a father towards his children his care that they shall lacke nothing and to be one and the same towards them all carrieth a great proportion with a Kings pietie towards his subiects Hee is called a Father so that the very name obligeth him to answer this signification in workes not in word but to shew himselfe a true father indeed Againe for that this name father is very proper vnto Kings if wee shall well and truly weigh it amongst all other Attributes and Epithites of Maiestie and Signorie it is the greatest vnder which all other names are comprehended as the Species vnder their Genus being subordinate thereunto Father is aboue the Title of King Lord Master Captaine and the like In a word it is a name aboue all other names that denotate Signorie and prouidence Antiquitie when it was willing to throw it's greatest Honour vpon an Emperour it called him
will he trust only to his own opinion but calleth another vnto him aduiseth with him takes his Counsaile and puts himselfe vnder his cure Eurigius king of the Gothes said in the Toletane Councell That euen those workes which in themselues were very good and did much import the Common-wealth wereby no means to be done or put in execution without the Counsaile of those that were good Ministers and well affected to the State vpon paine not onely of losse of discretion but to be condemned as the onely ouerthrowers of the Action Things being so various and so many and weighty the businesses as are those which come vnder the hands of Kings and craue their care to bee treated of the successe of them must needs run a great deale of danger when there precedeth not some diligent and mature Counsaile Kings I assure you had neede haue good both Counsailours and Counsaile hauing so many eyes as they haue vpon them some of iealousie and some of enuie so many that goe about to deceiue and doe deceiue them and many that doe not loue them as they ought I say they had neede of good both Counsailours and Counsaile and such a Councell as is more close and priuate as that of the Councell of State and sometimes and in some cases with a little more restriction and reseruednesse making choise of one two or more of their faithfullest and sufficientest Counsellours with whom they may freely Communicate their greater and lesser affaires and be resolued by them in matters of greater moment and such as importe their own proper preseruation and the augmentation of their Kingdome such as the Historians of Augustus paint forth vnto vs which kinde of course the Princes before and since his time haue taken and now at this present doe From the poorest Plowman to the Potent'st Prince from the meanest Shepheard to the mightiest Monarke there is a necessitie of this Counsaile And in effect euery one as hee can comformable to his Estate and calling must Consult with his Wife his Sonne his Friend or himselfe if his fortune afford him not a Companion whom he may trust or make his Confident How much doth it concerne Kings who possessing such great Estates and being subiect to so many Accidents haue need of a more perfect and Complete Councel And not any thing so much importeth them for the conseruation and augmentation of their Kingdomes as to haue about them iust prudent dis-interessed persons to aduise them with a great deale of faithfullnesse and loue and with free libertie of Language to represent the truth of that which to them and their Common-wealth is most fitting and conuenient Who for this purpose are as necessarie as great treasures and mighty Armies That holy King Dauid was more a fraid of the aduise of one wise Counsellour which his son Absolon had with him then of all the Men of Warre that followed him and his fortunes Plutarke and Aristole floute at Fortune in businesses that succeede well when men doe gouerne themselues by good Counsell And for this cause they stiled Counsaile the eye of those things that are to come because of it's foresight And for that wee haue treated heeretofore of the qualities of all sortes of Counsailours I now say That with much deliberation and aduise Kings are to make choise of those persons which are to aduise and Counsaile them For from their hitting or missing the marke resulteth the vniuersall good or ill of the whole Kingdome It is the common receiued opinion That the maturest and soundest Counsaile is to be found in those men that are growne wise by their Age and experience which is the naturall Daughter of Time and the Mother of good Counsaile Tempus enim multam variam doctrinam parit It is Euripides his saying Suting with that of Iob In antiquis est sapientia in multo tempore prudentia In the ancient is wisedome and in much time prudence Long time is a great Master which doth graduate men in the knowledge of things and makes them wary prudent and circumspect which is much if not wholly wanting in young men And therefore Aristotle saith of them that they are not good for Counsaile because Wit more then Wisedome in them hath it's force and Vigour Et tenero tractari pectore nescit saith Claudian And S. Ierome is of the minde that young Witts cannot weild weighty matters And that their Counsailes are rash and dangerous like vnto that they gaue King Rehoboam By whose inconsiderate aduise hee lost his Kingdome The same course hauing cost others as deare as is proued vnto vs out of S. Austen And therefore the Grecians Romans Lacedemonians Carthaginians and other Common-wealthes which were good obseruers of their Lawes and Customes did ordaine That a young man how wise so euer hee might seeme to be and of neuer so good and approued iudgement should not be admitted to the Counsell Table till he were past 50. yeares of Age who being adorned with Vertue and experience might assure them that hee would keepe a Decorum in all his Actions and performe his dutie in euery respect Lex erat sayth Heraclides ne quis natus infrà quinquaginta vel magistratum gerat vel Legationem obiret In fine for Councell Seneca and Baldus affirme That the very shadow of an old man is better then the eloquence of a young man But because good Counsailes are not in our hands but in Gods hands who as Dauid saith Dissipat consilia gentium reprobat consilia principum The Lord bringeth the Counsaile of the Heathen to nought hee maketh the deuises of Princes of none effect And the wisest of Kings tells vs. Non est sapientia non est prudentia non est consilium contra Dominum There is no Wisedome no vnderstanding no Counsell against the Lord. And in humane things there are so many Contingencies that mans wisedome is not alwaies sufficient to determine the best nor to hit aright in his Counsailes vnlesse the Holy Ghost be interuenient interpose it selfe and assist in them For let Priuie-Counsellours beate out their braines with plodding and plotting let them be neuer so vigilant neuer so studious they shall erre in their ayme and shoote beside the butt if hee direct not the arrow of their Councell and wisedome if he do not in Secret illighten their hearts illuminate their vnderstanding and dictate vnto them what they are to doe Which is done by the infusiue gift of the Holy Spirit co-operating in vs which is a diuine impulsion which doth eleuate raise vp our vnderstanding to hit the white and to choose that according to the rule the Diuine Law which is fit to be followed as also to be avoided And this is the gift of Councell giuen by God vnto his friends and such as serue him truly to the end that by his helpe they may light aright vpon that which of themselues they could neuer come
and white-liuerd persons are not fit Ministers for a State Noli quaerere sieri iudex nisi vale-as virtute irrumpere iniquitates He that hath not a face to out-face a Lye and to defend the truth let him neuer take vpon him the Office of a Minister of Iustice. In the booke of Daniel it is storyed that King Nabucodonozor was resolued to haue done some cruell chastisement vpon his Princes and Counsellours for that hauing asked them the Interpretation of a troublesome dreame hee had none of them could declare the meaning of it And howbeit they told him that they could not tell what to make of it plainly confessed the truth yet notwithstanding the King conceiued that hee had good reason to except against them For thought hee if you know it and for feare will not tell it me yee are Cowards And if you know it not yee are ignorant and either of these is a great fault in Counsailours afford sufficient cause why ye should be punished in that yee would offer to take that Office vpon yee which first of all hath neede of stoutnesse of courage and secondly to be learned and expert in so many and various things as a King hath occasion to vse yee in And therefore that wise Iethro after the word Viros Men puts sapientes Wise Or as the 70. and others translate it potentes sortes Because in Ministers and Counsellours of State strength courage constancie and wisedome should walke hand in hand The Courts and Pallaces of Kings and Princes that which they are least stored with all is Truth They scarce know her face nay not so much as of what colour or complexion shee is the onley Minions there made of being flatteries and lyes A wise and stout man is daunted with nothing is neuer troubled nor altered he stands vpon his own worth and sinceritie is Lord and Master of his reason he speakes with libertie and freedome hee represents the truth to his King and maintaines it Pie quedo as they say stiffely and stoutly without respect to any thing no not so much as his owne proper life hee ouerthrowes plots discouers the impostures deceits and Lyes of flatterers for the which he had neede of courage and wisedome Now let vs see what that wisedome is which a King is to require in his Ministers Not worldly wisedome wherof S. Bernard saith That those which inioy it boasting themselues thereof very wisely goe to Hell The question that I aske is Whether they should be Philosophers Diuines or Lawyers or in what kinde of faculties they should be wise Heereunto first I answer that questionlesse it would be a great helpe to the making of a good Counsellour to bee seene in these Sciences and to haue spent some time of study in them But in case they haue no skill in these it shall suffice that they are wise in that which belongeth vnto that Ministry for which they are nominated and called to wit To be a Counsailour which is a person that is fit sufficient and able for that charge which he is to administer That hee haue a nimble wit and quicke apprehension for without that the rest serues to little purpose Whereas he that is furnished therewith with a little helpe attaineth to much He knowes things past vnderstands the present and giues his iudgement of things to come That hee be well read in ancient and moderne Histories wherein are contained the sentences and opinions of wise men of elder times by which they ordred their Common-wealths and maintained them in Peace For this kinde of reading doth indoctrinate more in a day then Experience hath taught others in many yeares which must by no meanes be wanting in a Counsellour for that ordinarily in them are found Prudence Authoritie and Experience That he haue happy memorie which is the Archiue of the Sciences and Treasure of Truths for without it to reade and studie is as they say Coger aqua en vn harnero to gather water in a fiue and it importeth much in regard of the diuersitie of businesses and persons with whom hee is to treate That hee haue trauailed and seene forraine Countries That hee be skill'd in the Languages and haue in all of them the Arte and garbe of speaking and discoursing well That he more esteeme the seruice of his King and the publicke good then his own priuate gaine That hee be courteous humble affable and yet of a good spirit That hee lend an attentiue eare and that hee keepe that gate open for great and small rich and poor But aboue all these he must be of approued vertue for without it all the rest are of no esteeme Hee that shall haue more or lesse of these qualities which are for all in Common shall bee the more or lesse sufficient Counsellour As for Vice-royes Gouernours Ambassadors and other great Gouernments of the Kingdome such are to be chosen who together with the foresaid quaâ—ities haue studied and spent some yeares in the Schoole of experience and hauing beene conuersant at the Kings elbow aâ—d in his Courte and Counsailes not only for the greatnesse of those mindes and stomacks which are bred there a necessary qualitie for to occupie great places and not to bee bred vp with a poore portion of Treating and Vnderstanding which begets mindes according to the same measure but likewise because there by their Treating with Kings Princes and other great persons assisting them in their Counsells and graue consultations communicating with great Ministers and Counsellours of State diuerse cases and businesses the Practick of all affaires is thereby the more and better apprehended As your practitioners in Physicke by conferring with great Physitians He therefore that shall haue both Learning and Experience shall amongst all men be the most remarkable But Quis est hic laudabimus eum Shew mee this Man and we will commend him For Mans life is short the Arte long and experience hard to be atchieued But to summe vp this discourse and giue an ende thereunto I say That he that is to bee made a Counsellour of Warre should therein haue beene exercised many yeares And that he that is of the Councell of State should haue a full knowledge of all and should be very dextrous in matters of gouernment both publike and particular and well verst in military discipline because hee is to consult both of warre and peace Which because they are things so opposite and contrary a man cannot iudge well in the one vnlesse he know and vnderstand aright the other As wee shall shew heereafter when we shall more in particular treate of this Counsell Other qualities are competible more in especiall to Iudges Iustices and Presidents to whom that particularly appertaineth which is deliuered in that word Sapientes That they well vnderstand the facultie of the Lawes and that corresponding with their name they be Iuris-prudentes well seene in all matters carrying an euen hand towards all and administring Iustice without partialitie
of trading that there are few or none but take notice of it They haue the slight of hand and like Gypsies haue a fine facilitie in deceiuing and not hard to be wrought vpon to gaine by this vngodly course And looke what businesse they labour to effect they are vsually the least iustifiable And if they are disposed to fauour this man or that cause and will but set their friends and wits roundly to worke and doe their best they will shrewdly put a Iudge to his shiftes and driue him to that streight that Iustice shall hardly escape a fall I would haue iudges therefore with their hands off and their eyes out least that befall them which did a couple of their place and qualitie who came to see the Processe of a famous but false and loose woman who perceiuing that the reasons of the Relator did worke little vpon them appealed para vista de ojos that shee might appeare face to face and in her information when shee came Ore tenus shee cunningly discouered her beautie by a carelesse letting fall of her mantle and so bewitched them therewith that allowing for good those powerfull witnesses of her eyes and face they released her and gaue her for free But to say the truth it was her loosenesse that freed her and their lightnesse that condemned them making that fault light which before weighed heauie And how shal he freely administer Iustice who hath his heart captiuated and in the power of him and her that can turne and winde him which way they list and wrest him from goodnesse More Iudges haue bin vndone by Lightnesse then by Cruelty The one begetteth feare the other contempt And by the way let them take this lesson a long with them that not onely in reality of truth they conserue their credit without spot but likewise in apparance procure to giue such good Examples that the world may not iustly charge them no not with so much as a discomposed looke neither in the open streete nor Court of Iustice for euery bend from their brow or euery smile from their countenance is the Common peoples Almanack wher-by they make coniecture whether it is like to be faire or fowle weather reading in the face fauour to one and rigour to another Wherefore as their place is great so is their perill The way is slippery wherein they tread and therfore had need looke well to their feete Woe be vnto that Iudge which seeth and seeth not sees the best and followes the worst suffering his reason to be subdued by passion and himselfe by one poore slender haire of a handsome woman to be led by the nose whether shee will leade him For a good face is a tacite kinde of recommendation a faire superscription and a silent deceit which troubles the clearenesse of the minde making white appeare to be blacke and what is iust to be vniust which was the cause why God commanded the Iudges of Israel that they should remoue their eies from the persons of those that were brought before them and place them wholly on the matter which they were to iudge And for the same reason did the Iudges of Areopagus heare all sortes of causes were they ciuill or criminall in the darke by putting out the Candles And your Athenians did sentence their sutes behind certaine Curtaines which might hinder their sight The Lacedemonians they were a little stricter laced for they did not onely deny eyes to those that went to Law and sued in their courtes but also debard them of eares and because they would prohibit them the power of informing the iustnesse of their cause but that they should make their Plea by writing Ne si coram iudicibus loquerenâ—ur facilius eos fletibus aut actionibus â—fficacique modo dicendi demulcerent Least if themselues should be permitted to speake before the Iudges they might the more easily soften and mollifie their hearts by their teares action and words And it seemeth that God doth approue for the better this manner of iudging when he saith Non secundum visionem oculorum iudicabit nec secundum auditum aurium arguet He shall not iudge after the sight of his eyes neither reproue after the hearing of his eare Sed judicabit in justitia pauperes arguet in aequitate pro mansuetis terrae But with righteousnesse shall hee iudge the poore and reproue with equitie for the meeke of the earth With iustice and truth hee must reproue and confound those who with fictions with colours and studied artifices pretend to make that iust or probable which hath no shew of iustice or truth For there are some Lawyers so full of Quirkes and subtilties that they wrest the true sence and meaning of the Lawes striuing to bring them to their bent haling them as they say by the haire to that part whereunto themselues are willing to incline either to that which a fauourite or powerfull person pretendeth or to him that will bribe most whereby suites in Law are made euerlasting much mony is consumed mens States miserably wasted or at least the true knowledge of the cause obscured as well de facto as de jure both in matter of fact and of Law A Iudge therefore ought to be very attentiue to all businesses that are brought before him and to haue Lynx his eyes to watch whether the Torrent will tend of a Pleader transported with affection and of a cauillous Relator armed with a 100. Witty quillets subtill and acute Allegations wherewith they shadow the light and scatter cloudes of darkenesse ouer the cause that is pleaded Hee that is set ouer others must haue wisedome and courage to make resistance against them and to disarme them rebutting the blow by his Arguments and with the true and solide sence of the Lawes themselues And therefore Ecclesiasticus would not haue that man to take vpon him to be a Iudge that hath not spirit and mettall in him to contest with the stoutest of them and to doe Iustice Secundum allegata probata according to all right and law For many times there is more cunning and wisedome required for to vndoe those knots and to facilitate those difficulties which these wrangling Lawyers put in their Plea then to resolue the doubt in the Case it selfe And if hee be to deale with persons of power and great Courtiers he must either breake through this net which they pitch for him with force or with some slight or other seeke to auoyd it rather then that fauour and power on the one side or subtill shiftes and Law quirkes on the other should stifle Iustice. For in these cases it is written Dissolue colligationes impietatis Loose the bands of wickednesse to vndoe the heauie burthens and to let the oppressed goe free For the sonne of God himselfe to be an example vnto Iudges did proceede in this manner with the Diuell For this purpose saith S. Iohn was the Sonne of God manifested that
caused to be beheaded Plato would make it arul'd case That that Iudge should dye the death that should take a bribe yet notwithstanding neither the feare of death of iudgement nor of hell it selfe is sufficient to represse the loue of money Disputante Paulo de judicio futuro tremefactus est Felix Paul reasoning of the iudgement to come Felix trembled who was President or Ruler of Cesarea And yet the feare of that terrible day of iudgement was not able to bridle his Couetousnesse He trembled for feare and yet his eyes and heart were placed vpon that money which hee hoped to receiue from that blessed Apostle Feare is not of force to detaine the Couetous For Couetousnesse is a huge great riuer which if it once begin to make it's Current bee it which way it will there is no withholding of it If you stop it's course one way it breakes out another way So it did with that naughty Prophet who hasted with great furie to curse Gods people that he might finger his promised gold And though an Angell stood before him and stopp't his way hee tooke another way and brake through thicke and thin as they say that hee might not loose his reward so farre saith Iosephus did the promises and gifts of the Moabites preuaile with him that hee chose rather for his priuate interest to please a King of the earth then him of Heauen The Kings of Spaine haue likewise made some Lawes with very sharpe and rigorous punishments but all not worth a pinne because they are not executed So that this bad custome alone is of more force then all the lawes These are written with inke on paper Those with letters of gold on the heart The Lawes threaten with roughnesse and rigour Money perswades with softnesse and gentlenesse and carryes mens mindes after it without contradiction The Lawes haue few to defend them to put them in execution But this euill custome is of more force then the Law hath stronger Abettors In a word terrible are the forces and skirmishes of this foule assaulting vice become now as it were naturall vnto vs and more vsed in these then any other Times whatsoeuer Demosthenes ask't the Athenians those which are may aske of those that haue bin what were in those times which are not in these And himselfe makes the answer That one thing was now wanting vnto them whereby those that liu'd then alwayes went away with the victory mainned their libertie Which was The perpetuall hatred which they bore vnto those who suffered themselues to be corrupted with mony In stead whereof it is now come to that passe that to receiue a bribe is onely a nine dayes wonder if the same be confest it is made a matter of laughter if proued he that receiues receiues a pardon for it and he that informes sent away with a flea in his eare and in stead of a reward receiues a round checke for his labour growes a hated man and troublesome member in a Common-wealth But vnfortunate is that Common-wealth where Corruption liues vncontrolled And because this Vice goes daily taking deepe roote and grows still stronger and stronger inuenting new impudencies new slightes and subtilties it is needefull that Kings should hunt Counter and finde out some new Tricke to take these olde ones in the Trap. And this one me thinks would be a pretty remedy for this disease That a Law were made That of all those that should be nominated for Ministers and Officers publike and particular in any Tribunall or Ministry what soeuer as well of Iustice and gouernment as of the publike Treasurie there should an Inuentorie be taken by some deputed for that purpose of all their rents and goods moueable and vnmoueable and when they are to take their oath as the fashion is at their entrance into their Office the said Inuentory should be presented in open Court and there they made to sweare and take a solemne oath that this is a true Inuentorie and that their Estate is thus and thus neither more nor lesse or much there abouts to the end that when their states come to be increased and their wealth makes a great noyse in the world it may vpon better inquirie be knowen how and which way they came by it For experience daily teacheth vs that your Iudges your Exchequer men and other publike Officers enter into the Office with little and goe out with much And I would that the Kings Atturney generall or one of like nature should enter an Action against all those Augmentations of their Estates whereof they should not be able to render a good Account I could likewise wish that they might be sworne to that Law of Theodosius That they neither gaue nor promised by themselues or by any other person or persons any thing at all for the foresaid Offices Neither that they shall receiue any thing of free gift be it offred with neuer so good a will Which oath the Ancient Romans swore vnto And if at any time it shall be proued against them that they haue either giuen or taken that they incurre the punishment of priuation of Office and Confiscation of goods And this Course being taken these cannot offend againe and if their dealing hath beene vpright and faire as good men will not refuse a iust tryall but rather out of loue to goodnesse imbrace it God forbid but they should bee well rewarded by the State for their good and faithfull seruice And this is no new doctrine but shall finde it if we looke backe to former times practised long a goe And the Emperour Antoninus Pius did likewise ordaine that all Liuetenants and Gouerners before they went to serue in their Residencies and Offices they should bring in an Inuentorie of all they had that when the time of their Gouernment was expired by coating and comparing the one with the other they might see how and in what manner they thriued thereupon Audist is saith he Praefectum Praetorij nostri antè Triduum quà m fieret mendicum pauperem sed subitò diuitem factum Vndè quaeso nisi de visceribus Reip. qui ob hanc causam Prouincias sibi datas credunt vt luxurientur diuites fiant c. You haue heard that our Praetorian Praefect some few dayes since was a very beggar but now sodainely become rich Whence I pray should this come but from out the bowells of the Common-wealth who for this cause thinke Prouinces are committed vnto them that they may therein riot and grow rich Setting at nought the Lawes the respect vnto their Kings their feare towards God and the shame of the world Truly saith Plato that publike Minister may be had in suspicion who in his office is growne rich For he that only gets by lawfull meanes can hardly liue at so high a rate as some of his fellowes doe build such sumptuous and costly houses and leaue so faire and great an
without respect to any mans person or dignitie they should equally iudge all For they hauing as they haue heere vpon earth the power of God they ought not to feare any other but him He that preuaricates Iustice in relation to great persons makes them greater and more powerfull then God who giues vs this short but stoute Lesson Feare not him that can kill the body and take away thy life but feare thou him that can kill the soule and depriue thee of lifeeuerlasting And in another place he saith Thou shalt not forsake the poore for feare of the rich nor iudge vniustly nor doe the thing that is vnequall for feare of the powerfull but keepe iustice in it's true weight and measure without any humane respect or vaine â—eare King Iehosaphat aduiseth the Iudges of Israel that in their iudgements they feare none but God alone and all the Law-giuers as Lycurgus Solon Numa and a number of others together with the chiefest of all Moses who gouerned Common-wealths and made Lawes founded them with Religion and the feare of God These are the first and last Letters of the Lawes of Christian gouernment wherewith that wise King did summe vp the booke of those which hee made for the gouernment of Men. Deum time mandata eius obserua hoc est omnis homo Feare God and keepe his Commandements for this is the whole dutie of man With this he receiueth the stabilitie and permanencie of man The contrary whereof is to be a beast and worse then a beast According to that of S. Bernard Ergo si hoc est omnis homo absque hoc nihil est homo If this be the whole duty of man without this man is nothing But as a man that hath no vse of reason breakes all lawes Facile deuiat à justitia qui in causis non Deum sed homines formidat He easily swarues from Iustice which in causes feareth not God but Man I will heere conclude with that which Esay saith A wonderfull Counsellour is the mighty God And he is to be our chiefe Counsellour and more inward with vs then any King or Counsellour And Kings and Counsellours are to craue his Councell For Councell being his gift he doth not communicate the samâ— to any saue such as loue and feare him and take Councell of his diuine Law As did that holy King Consilium meum Iustificationes tuae Let euery one enter into his Councell of knowledge let him consult himselfe the best that he can yet when he hath done all that he can let him aduise with the Law of God For if he do not know well how to aduise himselfe how shall he giue Counsaile to others And he that knowes not how to rule gouern himselfe how shall he command a whole kingdome Qui sibi nequam est cui alij bonus crit He that is euill to himselfe to whom will hee be good Alexander said He hated that wise man that was not wise for himselfe CHAP. XI Of other Courses and meanes which Kings may take for the notice of such persons in whom the said Qualities concurre ONe of the greatest mischiefes incident vnto Kingdomes is That Kings haue not true notice giuen them of worthy persons for to imploy them in his seruice A great cause whereof is that your vndeseruing or at least lesse sufficient are clapt in betwixt them and home Those are the men that are most intermitted take most vpon them and procure by their Negociating and Plotting to occupie the best places and not contenting themselues therewith seeke to shut the doore against men of merit and to keepe them out to the end that their owne defects by this course may receiue the lesse discouery For this is the nature of things opposite each to other that the neerer they are one to the other the more excellent lays it's Contraryes defect the more open Now to occurre to this mischiefe wise Iethro aduised his sonne in Law that he should seeke out men of good parts and choose them as we sâ—yd before from amongst all the people And we shall better perceiue what that Counsaile comprehendeth if we will but consider that other place of Deuteronomy Where Moses discoursing with the people what diligence he had vsed on his part it is there mentioned that he spake vnto them and admonished them to the end that the Election of the Ministers might take the better that they themselues likewise would vse their diligences and then giue him notice of those persons which they held in greatest esteeme amongst them and were in the generall opinion the ablest men Date ex vobis â—iros sapientes gnaros quorum Conuersatio sit probata in Tribubus vestris vt ponam eos vobis Principes Take yee wise men and vnderstanding and knowen amongst your Tribes and I will make them Rulers ouer you And indeed the best and surest course that Kings can take to come to that notice or knowledge they desire is to lay holde on those persons whose approbation is so notorious that all the people giue good Testimonie of them For as a wise man hath well obserued the generall opinion is that Touchstone which proueth or reproueth For it cannot be that One should deceiue All. And happily from hence grew that Common Adage Vox populi vox Dei The Peoples voyce is Gods voyce We must giue Credit to the fame and report that goes of Men. For as Tacitus saith she sometimes makes the choyse of Ministers it being his meaning that this satisfaction should be giuen to the people that those that are to gouerne them should be chosen and elected by that common fame and good report that goes of them And heere by the way let me tell you that it is not much amisse that some Offices and Preferments be in a dissembled kinde of disguise purposely published before they be bestowed to see how it will be intertained and receiued by the people to whom it is fit some satisfaction should be giuen as being the body that is to be commanded This is a Trick of State whereof vpon some occasions Fernando surnamed the Wise made good Vse For when he was to goe any great Voiage vndertake any Warre or attempt some new Enterprise or any other action of importance he would not publish nor iustifie the same to the world till he had vsed some art and cunning imploying some persons fit for that purpose before his designes were throughly vnderstood to giue it out That the King should do well to make such or such a waâ—re to make this or that prouision for this or that reason So that first of all the vulgar were made acquainted therewith and rested satisfied with the reasons that were rendred for it And then afterwards it comming to be published that the King had done or would doe such a thing it is incredible to beleeue with how much ioy loue and applause of the people and whole
so not complying as indeed they cannot with their obligation businesses are retarded and goe not on in that good way as they should and both they themselues and they that put them into these places liue with little or no securitie of conscience But if it be the Kings will and pleasure and that hee thinke it fit for his greater satisfaction that some one particular man that is eminent in the profession of that businesse which is to be treated shall treate thereof and shall see and peruse it a gods name if he will haue it so let his will be fulfilled yet with all let his Maiestie take his opinion as of a particular person and hauing receiued it let it be disputed discussed and debated by the body of the Councell such as haue beene beaten in these kinde of businesses and are throughly acquainted with these matters for by this meanes that which is pretended shall the better be effected and many the fore-mentioned inconueniences be excused Amongst those Ancient Romans when that Common-wealth was sole Mistris of all the world and when it was likewise vnder the Empire and Command of one onely Monarke we neuer read that it euer admitted of more then the Ordinary Councells for the dispatch of businesses Augustus Caesar a Prince of excellent prudence and his great Minion Mecaenas in matter of Counsaile can sufficiently confirme this Doctrine being that he himselfe was one of those that treated businesses in the ordinary Councells And he had a respect and consideration thereunto in that extraordinary cause of Piso touching the death of Gerâ—onicus wherein the iudgement of the people and the Senate was so much interessed Tiâ—erius the Emperour who was one of the subtilest and craftiest Princes that euer the Roman Empire knew would not for all his great strength of wit cunning dissimulation wherein he was his Arts-Master venter vpon any innouation farther then this to passe ouer his opinion to this or that other Councell but neuer appointed any particular Iunta for the same as one who knew very well that onely in so doing he should haue but laded his own shoulders with the weightinesse of the Case and the successe of the Cause Onely your Iuntas are to be vsed vpon some great and extraordinary occasion and not vpon euery trifling businesse as is now and hath these many yeares beene in vse much more time being imployed in particular Iuntas then publicke Councells touching the peâ—sons of these Councells If the number be not sufficient for the dispatch of businesses let it rather be increased then that by this other course he that is Master and Lord of all should likewise make himselfe Master of all wrongs and grieuances and of that which the aggrieued will conceiue of him which hatching imagination of theirs will bring forth that Cocatrice of Kings most venemous hatred By that which wee haue both read seene and heard it is easie to be collected that this was meerely an Introduction of the Ambitious who indeauoured by this meanes to haue all things passe through their hands and depend vpon their will And this as if it had beene a thing of inheritance hath gon along in descent from one age to another euen to these our present times That particular Councell which Kings formerly had and in effect all of them still haue that more reserued secret Councell with whom they communicate their in wardest thoughts let it a Gods name be superiour to all the rest which supplying as in those three potentiae or faculties the very place and soule as it were of the Prince it is very fit and conuenient that it should iudge of the actions and Resolutions of all your Ordinary Councells and that they should all wayte vpon this and attend their pleasure and that they should likewise treate of all those great businesses which the Ancient and more especially Augustus Caesar called Arcanaimpery Misteries of State and secrets of the kingdome But for the rest let them be left to their Ordinary Councells for so shall they receiue quicker dispatch and all sutes be more easily ended and things carryed with lesse labour of the one and fewer complaints of the other And let it likewise suffice euen the greatest intermedlers of these Ministers that they haue a hand in publicke businesses without offering for their priuate interest to draw things out of their ordinary course and Common tracke whereinto they were put making themselues thereby hated and abhorred of all those that haue any thing to doe with them For at last they will come to sent and winde out their driftes to know all their doublings and shiftings and to watch them at euery turne and when they haue them at aduantage neuer poore Hare was so hardly followed by Hounds as these will be pursu'd to death by them whom the others powerfullnesse with his Prince did seeke to crush and keepe vnder It were well that these great Ministers would weigh and consider with themselues that as they haue their hands already too full of worke so haue they more complaints against them then they would willingly heare of and more enuie at the heeles of them then they can well shake of and therefore if they were wise they would anoyd as much as in them lyes to draw these mischiefes more and more vpon themselues In great resolutions indeed Kings are not to giue way that they should be taken out of the Councells of State and warre nor yet that they should be conluded without them For the gâ—ory of all good successefull Actions shall be his as hauing their reuolution and motion from him as from their Primum Moâ—ile Nor is it any wisedome in a King to lay the misfortunes and vnhappy Accidents that may befall a State vpon his owne shoulders Which will be qualified for such by his Priuy Counsellours as finding themselues iustly offended in that hee hath not imparted his minde vnto them nor communicated with them in the Common wealths affaires especially if they be of consequence The principall cause why there was ordained a Councell of State was That it might serue to helpe the king whom principally this Body representeth to beare the Popular charge which euermore iudgeth of things by the euents and though now and then they fall out ill and the people thereupon ready to murmure and mutinie yet are they the better bridled and appeased by the power and authoritie of these Counsellours The Office of a King hath trouble inough with it burthen inough and therefore they should not aduise him to lay more vpon himselfe without lawfull and necessary cause And because when I treated of the qâ—alitâ—es of Counselours I reserued those for this place which more properly appertaine vnto them that are of this Counsell I will breifely deliuer what they are and how necessarie for those that are elected thereunto And I will content my selâ—e with no lesse then those of that great Common-wealths man and Counsel our Pericles And besides to those
and Earth and reuenge thou those the open wrongs that are offred vnto vs. And these Petitions commonly finde there such quicke dispatch that presently hee nominateth Captaines leuieth forces and formeth a mightie Armie of enemies to disturbe and destroy that kingdome And though some may conceiue that the cause of those and the like troubles are the crosse Incounters of Kings and Princes amongst themselues or the greedy desire of warre for spoyle and pillage which pardoneth no manner of persons yet in realtie of truth it is not so but the wrongs of Ministers exercised vpon the poore the fatherlesse and the widowe are the occasion that huge and powerfull Hostes of enemies in their reuenge enter the gates of a Kingdome and make wast and hauocke thereof For this cause were the Amalechites captiuated and put to the sword and for the same likewise the soldiers entred into Iudaea and sackt it Whence we draw this cleare and conclusiue truth that the best and the safest course to conserue a kingdome to gaine others and to abound in riches is to vndoe wrongs done not to dissemble iniuries to punish thefts and robberies and to execute iustice towards all Iuitium viae bonae facere institiam The first step to goodnesse is to doe Iustice. For without it the foot that sets forward falls backward and a King hath not where withall to relye on his power his forces his wisedome and experience in gouernment if he be defectiue in this For kingdomes last no longer then Iustice lasteth in them And true it is that there is no winde shut vp in the bowells of the earth which causeth therein such violent effects of Earth-quakes as in those kingdomes which thinke themselues surest and firmest doe the complaints and greiuous sighes of the wronged poore And therefore let none whatsoeuer be they Kings great Ministers or Counsellours of State slightly reckon of the cries of the poore For they referring their reuenge to God they draw him downe from Heauen to right their quarrell And the basest and most barbarous man in the world when he sees himselfe wronged and can finde none vpon earth to pleade his cause or to doe him right he presently lifts vp his eyes vnto Heauen and makes his addresse vnto God assuring himselfe that his helpe will come from thence And it was well said of a Wise man That the wronged are like vnto those that are ready to be drowned who if they fasten vpon any thing neuer let it goe so these men when they are in danger to be sunke by being forcibly kept vnder water by the oppressours hand lay fast hold on complaints cryes sighes and teares as the last remedy allotted them by God who saith That he will heare the petitions and receiue the Memorialls of the afflicted which are written with teares A maxilla enim a scendunt vsque ad caelum For from the cheeke they ascend vp to heauen They trill downe the cheekes till they fall to the ground and from thence they mount vp as high as Heauen for being water they rise as much as they fall And when God sees they haue reason on their side and that they onely call vnto him for iustice it being so proper an Attribute vnto him in the end he grants and signes their request Nor is it much that he should shew them this fauour his bowells being moued to compassion in seeing his creatures in such extremities of affliction Let Kings therefore beware and take heede and their Ministers bethinke themselues that in such a case an Inundation of teares is of more force and more danger then that of the swiftest Torrent vpon a mighty flood CHAP. XVIII Of the sense of hearing And of the Audiences which Kings ought to giue PVrsuing stil the Metaphore of the head whereon hitherto we haue insisted occasion is now offred vnto vs to treat of the sense of Hearing which hath some certaine excellencies aboue the rest For thereby we come to vnderstand the hidden secrets of the heart and the most inward thoughts of the Soule which being clad and apparrelled with that out-side and exterior part the Voyce and put vpon the Hearing of that person with whom we talke and discourse it knoweth that which the vnderstanding of neither Men nor Angels once is able to comprehend And that which we haue spoken of the sence of the sight ought likewise to be said of this For as far forth as is the perceiuing of a Voyce or some other noyse or sound by the hearing so farre is it common as well to brutes beastes as to Men. But it is proper only vnto Man by hearing a significatiue voyce to discourse thereof and to vnderstand the inward conceipt of him that speaketh And from hence will we draw what ought to be heard by the Head of a Common-wealth who is not onely to content himselfe with hearing the bare externall Voyce but to heare it in such maner as the holy Scripture telleth vs God heareth the voyces of those which call vpon him in the time of their trouble which is a vsuall and plaine kinde of Language in the Diuine Writt And when it is sayd that God heareth vs it is ioyntly sayd that he graunteth our petition Whereof many Testimonies are found in the Psalmes of Dauid and in diuerse other places Cùm inuocarem exaudiuit me Deus iustitiae meae Dominus exaudiet me cum clamauero ad cum c. The God of my righteousnesse heard me when I called vpon him And anone after The Lord will heare when I call vnto him In the twentie one of Genesis it is there twice repeated that God heard the voyce of Agars childe who was Abrahams bond-woman which the mother had left all alone in the wildernesse of Bersheba vnder a certaine tree and sitting downe ouer against him a farre off about a bow-shoote that shee might not see him perish for want of water Dixit enim non videbo morienâ—em puerum For shee said I will not see the death of the childe In the very next Verse following a double mention is made That God heard the voyce of the childe Which was in effect to say that he did releiue him and refresh his thirsty Souâ—e and granted that which the infant and his mother desired And the Apostle Saint Paul in that Epistle which hee wrote to the Hebrewes saith of our Sauiour Christ That Offerens preces ad deum cum clamore valido et lachrymis exauditus est pro sua reuerentia Offring vp prayers and supplications to God the father with strong crying and teares he was also heard in that which he feared Which was all one as if he should haue said That his father dispatcht him and granted what he petitioned in that his prayer So that in rigour of holy Writ Gods Hearing and Gods Granting is all one But in that common Commerce with men and in that style which Kings and their Ministers vse it is not so For
they heare and hearing answer that they haue heard that which they neuer meane to grant And there is no worse Answer for a suitor then to make this answer to his petition That it hath beene heard And it is very fit that they should reply in this kinde of phrase for thereby is giuen to be vnderstood the great obligation they haue to heare as well those that haue iustice as those that pretend to haue it although they haue it not In signification whereof the two eares are placed on the two contrarie sides of the head one opposite to the other because affording one eare to the Plaintiffe we must reserue the other for the defendant And because God would haue it so that Hearing should be the ordinary meanes for the receiuing of the diuine Light and attaining to the knowledge of those supreme truthes by so superexcellent and high a gift as that of faith Quomodo credent ei quem non crediderunt How shall they beleeue in him of whom they haue not heard As also that Kings may haue an intire light of humane Truthes it is requisite that they should lend a willing eare to those that craâ—e Audience of them For in this sense of all other saith Saint Bernard Truth hath it's seate and Mansion In auditu veritas Truth is in Hearing And in example of this hee alleageth that which passed betwixt good old Isaac and his two sonnes Esau and Iacob who by reason of his olde age fayling very much in all the rest of his senses that of his hearing continued still in it's full perfection The other deceiu'd him and this onely told him the Truth Vox quidem vox Iacob manus autem manus sunt Esau. The voyce is Iacobs voyce but the hands are the hands of Esau. Wherein he was out In Gods Schoole where faith isprofessed great reckoning is made of Hearing Quia fides ex auditu Because faith comes by hearing For a man may heare and beleeue though he cannot see But in the Schoole of the world we must haue all these and all is little inough We must see heare and beleeue And when Kings haue both seene and heard and throughly informed themselues of the whole State of the busines that they may not be deceiued in their iudgement then let them presently proceede to touch it as we say with the hand to fall roundly to worke and in that maner and forme as shall seeme most fitting to finish and make an end of it Dominus de coelo in terram aspexit vt audiret gemitus compeditorum c. The Lord looked downe from the height of his Sanctuary Out of the Heauen did the Lord behold the earth that he might heare the mourning of the prisoner and deliuer the children of death This looking downe of the Lord from the highest Heauens and from the throne of his glory vpon the earth to heare the grieuous groâ—nings and pitifull complaints of poore wretched creatures which call and cry vnto him for iustice should my thinkes be an admirable good lesson for Kings that they should loose somewhat of their sportes and recreations and of that which delighteth the eye and the eare to bestow them both on those who humbâ—y petition him that he will be pleased to both see and heare their cause Of Philip King of Macedon though some put it vpon Demetrius it is reported by Plutarke in his life that going one day abroad to take his pleasure and pastime an olde woman came vnto him besought him to heare her and to do her Iustice. But he excusing himselfe and telling her he was not now at leysure to heare her shee made answer Proinde nec Rex quidem esse velis Sir if you be not at leysure to heare your subiects will not giue them leaue to speake vnto you leaue to be king for there is no reason he should be a king that cannot finde a time to cumply with his dutie Conuinced with this reason without any more adoe he presently gaue a gracious Audience not onely to her but many moe besides For Kings which doe not heare by consequence do not vnderstand And not vnderstanding they cannot gouerne And not gouerning they neither are nor can be Kings The Cretans painted their God Iupiter without eares because he was that supreme king that gaue lawes and iudged all And therefore ought to cary an equall eare indifferently to heare all parties after one and the same selfe manner Other some did allow him eares but so placed them withall that they might heare those least that were behinde him Which was held a fault in their God as likewise it is in King not to heare any but those that stand before them or side by side are still weighting at their elbow Kings should heare as many as they possibly can and which is the onely comfort of suitors in that gratious and pleasing kinde of maner that no man should depart discontented from their feete being a maine fundamentall cause to make all men to loue reuerence and esteeme them and likewise to oblige Princes to lend the more willing and patient eare to their subiects And of this subiect Pliny in commendation of his Emperour Traiane tells vs that amidst so many cares of so great an Empire as his was he spent a great part of the day in giuing Audience and with such stilnes and quietnes as if he had beene idle or had nothing to doe And that he knowing the content that his subiects tooke in their often seeing of him and speaking with him so much the more liberally and longer he afforded them occasion and place for to inioy this their content For nothing doth so much please and satisfie the heart of a Prince as to conceiue that he is beloued and generally well affected of all his subiects Let a King then this course being taken perswade himselfe that his people loueth him and desireth to see him and to speake dayly if it were possible with him And that they take a great deale of comfort that they haue seene him and he heard them And that of two things which all desire To wit To be heard and relieued The first intertaines and comfortes the suitor and makes him with a cheerefull minde to hope well of the second Let him heare though it be but as he passes by from place to place and let him not let any day passe without giuing ordinary Audience at a set hower and for a set time And in case any shall require a more particular and priuate Audience a gods name let him grant it them For euery one of these to conceiue the worst cannot deceiue him aboue once And it is to be supposed that they will not be so vnciuill or so foolishly indiscreete as to craue the Kings priuate eare but in a case of necessitie or where there is some especiall cause or extraordinary reason for it And I farther affirme that Audience being giuen in this
themselues wronged and their worth vnderualewed to haue all one Audience with the ordinary sorte of people So that with one the same Act he discontents all of them Let there be dayes houres appointed for the one the other naturalls strangers let euery man know his set day and houre For this being without distinction what doth it serue for but multitude and confusion And to haue all of all sortes to assist there continually to heare and nourish the Complaints of particular persons and to make report thereof by Letters to their seuerall nations and Countries and to put a Glosse vpon them to shew their owne wit And though this at the first sight may seeme to be a thing of small importance yet such a time may be taken that it may proue a matter of great consequence CHAP. XIX He goes on with the same matter Treating of the Audiences of Ministers and Counsellours KIngs saith Xenophon haue many eares For they heare by their owne and by those of their Fauourites Ministers Counsellours And it is no more then they stand in neede of For they must heare all Great and Small Naturall and Stranger without acceptation of persons these as well as those and deny no man their eares lest they giue them iust cause to grieue and complaine that for them onely there is neither King Fauourite nor Minister to haue accesse vnto This Rapsodye and multitude of eares and the difference between the one and the other King Dauid giues vs to vnderstand in that his Audience which he crau'd of God Domine Exaudi orationem meam â—uribus percipe obsecrationem meam Heare my prayer O Lord bow downe thine eare and hearkeâ— vnto my supplication He saith Heare me O Lord but how or in what maner With thine eares I beseech thee Tell me thou holy king why dost thou say with thine eares Might not that phrase of speech beene spared Or wouldst thou happely that God should heare thee with his eyes or his mouth No certainly But because it is a vsuall custome with Kings that gouerne great Monarchies who by reason of the varietie and multitude of businesses cannot by themselues giue eare vnto all and informe themselues of the truth to remit part of them to others that they may heare the Parties and informing themselues of the busines may send it afterwards to the Consulta there to be debated One comes with his Memoriall to the King The King wills him to speake vnto the President or to such a Secretary that he may inform But Dauid here saith Remit me not O Lord vnto any other for remissions are remissions the very word telling vs that to remit a busines is to make it remisse and slow and that there is vsed therein so much remission that a mans life is oftentimes ended before his busines Auribus percipe Doe thou thy selfe heare me with thine owne eares without remitting me to the hearing of others But to heare all and in all partes without remission to other mens eares who can doe this saue onely God And for my part I am of opinion that they alluded vnto this who as wee told you painted their God without eares for to giue vs thereby to vnderstand that it is peculiar onely vnto God to heare without eares and to heare all without standing in neede of other Oydos or Oydores For such a necessitie were in God a defect But in Kings it were a defect to doe otherwise for they are notable to heare all of themselues and therfore must of force make vse of other mens eares And therefore as Nature in Mans body hath disposed different Members necessary for it's proper conseruation as the eyes to see the eares to heare the tongue to talke the hands to worke the feete to walke and all of them to assist to the Empire of the soule So in like manner this Mysticall body of the Common-wealth whereof the King is the soule and Head must haue it's members which are those his Ministers which are Subiect to the Empire of their king by whom hee disposeth and executeth all that which doth conuene for it's Gouernment conseruation and augmentation Aristotle renders the reason why your huge and extraordinary tall men are but weake And as I take it it is this The rationall Soule saith he is solely one indiuisible and of a limited vertue or power and that it cannot attayne to that strength and force as to giue vigour to those partes that are so farre distant and remote in a body beyond measure great Now if the body of this Monarchie be so vaste and exceeding great and goes dayly increasing more and more and that the Soule of the King which is to gouerne it to animate it and to giue it life doth not increase nor is multiplyed nor augmented at least in it's Ministers How is it possible that a King of himselfe alone should bee able to afford assistance to all And to giue life and being to so many partes and members that are set so far assunder so great is the Office of a king especially if he be Master of many Kingdomes that it is too great a Compasse for one mans reach and it is not one man alone that can fill and occupie a whole Kingdome and be present in all it's partes And therefore of force he must make vse of other folkes helpe and more particularly of those which serue him instead of eares such as are all your superiour Ministers of Counsells These great Officers are called in the Spanish Oydores of Oyr To heare And the eares of the head are câ—lled Oydoras of their hearing And your Iudges of the land Oydores Hearers of Mens causes And as they are alike in name so ought they likewise to be alike in Office and to resemble the Originall which it representeth to the life and it 's true nature Now what Office is most proper and most naturall to the eares you will all grant mee that it is to heare alwayes neuer to be shut Your eyes haue their port-cullis which they open or shut as they see cause The mouth hath the like But the eares like bountifull house keepers haue their doores still open and those leafes which they haue on either side are neuer shut neuer so much as once wagge And it is Pliny's obseruation That onely man of all 〈◊〉 creatures hath his eares immobile and with out any the least mouing And Horace holdes it an ill signe to wagg them but a worse to stop them Sicut aspides surdae obturantes aures suas Like deafe adders stopping their eares that they may not heare sicut Aspides which are fierce and cruell creatures and of whom it is sayd that they are borne as deafe as a doore naile and to this their naturall deafenes they adde another that is artificiall whereby they grow more deafe by poysoning that part and by winding their tayle close about their head and sometimes laying the one
is to retarde their Consultations to shew themselues thicke of hearing to haue their eares shut or rather the Oydores themselues shut vp and not to be spoken withall Some would faine excuse these Audiences with the impertinencies of those that craue them which sometimes are very large and tedious and to as little purpose as they are too too importune vnseasonable But to this answere That your high and eminent places bring with them this trouble and charge And as the Apostle Saint Paul said that it is a great token of prudence to know how to beare with the foolish and to haue suffrance and patience with those that are none of the wisest Libenter enim suffertis insipientes cum sitis ipsi sapientes For ye suffer fooles gladly because that ve are wise And because he that is most wise is most offended with ignorance let him know that he meriteth much in dissembling it when it is fitting so to doe for to say the truth as the same Apostle affirmeth Gods good and faithfull Ministers haue obligation both to the Wise and to the foolish Sapientibus insipientibus debitorsum 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 womon of Tecoa spake vnto King Dauid and how importunate and tedious she was in telling here tale and withall the Kings great patience in hearing her out and his not being offended 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 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 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 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 Vis non timere potestatem Bonum facinon enim fine 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. 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
in regard of that great vigilancie which Kings ought to haue in executing Iustice and in seeing and knowing what passeth in the kingdome for kingdomes for this cause are content to become subiect vnto them out of a confidence they haue that they shall be protected by them This is the thing saith Osorius that Kings must looke vnto This must be their cheife care and study In studium iustitiae omnes regis curae et cogitationes omnes labores atque vigiliae omnia denique studia consumenda sunt Eâ— namque à principio Reges creauit The doing or not doing of Iustice is that which either sets vp or puls downe Kings And that King must make a new conquest of Kingdomes If those which he hath already gained be not conserued and defended by the force and power of Iustice which is the maine pillar and onely prop to speake of that vpholdeth Kingdomes without which they cannot long last and continue For God will most iustly punish them by taking those from them which they haue if they dissimulate iniustices and if they suffer themselues to be carryed away contrary to all right and reason and permit notorious faults to passe without punishment Other faults are not so much risented in Kings and Kingdomes are content to tolerate them be they neuer so great But should they haue neuer so many other good partes if they be faulty in this which is of so great importance they shall presently see and perceiue a publicke face of sorrow and a generall discontent in all their subiects And God oftentimes makes it a meanes for the punishment and amendment of Kings and Kingdomes It is the saying of Iesus the sonne of Syrach That by Counsaile and Iustice Kingdomes are maintained And for default thereof Scepters and Crownes are lost and Kingdomes transferred from one people to another And those brought to serue which were borne to command But the King that administreth Iustice without respect of persons shall haue his succession perpetuall for that is the very ground and foundation of a Throne royall Aufer impietatem de vultu regis et firmâ—bitur Iustitia thronus eius Take away the wicked from the King and his throne shall be established in righteousnes That is His Issue his House and his Kingdome Iustice is that which foundeth Kingdomes which enlargeth them and conserueth them That which establisheth peace and resisteth warre Without it there is neither King nor Kingdome nor Common-wealth nor Citie nor any other Communitie which can be conserued And all whatsoeuer that haue beene ruined and destroyed hath beene for want of Iustice. For this cause the Kings of Egypt and in imitation of them some others did which all good Kings ought to do sweare their Presidents Ministers and Magistrates that they should not obay their mandatums nor execute their orders and decrees if they found in them that they commanded any thing contrary vnto Iustice and the Lawes of the Kingdome Philip the Faire King of France and his successor Charles the seuenth enacted a Law that the Iudges should make no reckoning of the Kings Letters nor those his royall scedules vnlesse they seemed vnto them to be iust and lawfull The Catholike Kings Don Fernando and Donna Isabella and their Nephew Charles the fift by their well ordained Lawes Magistracies and Tribunals of so much power and authoritie exceeded all before them that fauoured Iustice. Which were augmented and inlarged by King Philip the second who was more particularly zealous of Iustice. And his sonne King Philip the third was a great fauourer and louer of Iustice and obseruer of the Lawes submitting vnto them his person and his goods Who might very well say that which the Emperour Traiane said conferring great power on his Gouernour in Rome Thou shalt vse this sword in our name and for Vs as long as we shall command that which is iust and against vs if we shall command the contrarie For it is alwayes to be presumed of the Intention of Kings that they euermore command Iustice to be done but neuer the contrary though it make against themselues Dauid gaue thankes vnto God that hee had set him in the way of Iustice that is That he had giuen him an vpright heart and informed his vnderstanding with so right a rule that it inclined his disposition to doe iustice though it were against himselfe The cause saith Diuus Thomas why God for so many yeares did inlarge the Empire and Monarchie of the Romanes with so much power so much treasure and so many great victories was for that their rectitude and iustice which they obserued towards all But in that instant that they fell from this their Empire likewise began to fall Of these Examples all Histories both humane and diuine are very full yet all will not serue the turne they doe little or no good Let Gods mercie supply this defect and worke this good And let not the poore bee discouraged and disheartened but let them comfort and cheere vp themselues with this that their righteousnesse and their patience shall not perish for euer God hath spoke the word and he will keepe it The poore saith the Psalmist shall not alwayes be forgotten nor shall the hope of the afflicted perish for euer For he will take the matter into his owne hands and will breake the arme of the wicked and malitious and will helpe the fatherlesse and poore vnto their right that the man of earth bee no more exalted against them Woe vnto those that are rules of the people Woe vnto those that are vniust Kings Which make Lawes like Spiders cobwebbs whereinto little starueling flies fall and die but your fat Bulls of Basan breake through and beare them away in triumph on their homes But that wee may touch no more vpon this string we will here holde our hand and and goe on in treating of Iustice and it's parts A matter no lesse profitable then necessary for Kings and their Ministers CHAP. XXI Of the Parts of Iustice in common and in particular of Iustice commutatiue TO the end that we may proceede with more distinction and clearenesse in this Chapter we are to presuppose with Diuus Thomas and others that Iustice may be sayd to be in Common two manner of wayes First of all vnder this generall name of Iustice is comprehended all kinde of vertue thereof in this sense saith the Philosopher that Iustitia est omnis virtus Iustice includeth in it selfe all sortes of vertues whatsoeuer so that a iust Man and a vertuous man is all one And in this sense Christ conceiu'd it when he said Nisi abuâ—dâ—uerit Iustitia Except your righteousnesse exceede c. And in another place Attendite ne iustitiam vestram faciatis coram hominibuâ— Take heede that yee doe not boast your righteousnesse before men to be seene of them Of iustice considered thus in the generall we will not now treate of in this place for in rigour and
according to Saint Gregory it hath foure most potent opposites which make the rod of Iustice to bow and turne crooked and to falsifie the tongue and beame of the ballance To wit Hatred Fauour Feare and Interest Now Iustice is diuided into two parts which are the honour of God and the loue of our neighbour Aristotle did likewise consider two other parts of Iustice. One common which is ordayned for the Common-wealth and the other particular which is instituted for our neighbour Which by another name they call Equitie which man vsing with reason dea'es so with others as he would be dealt withall himselfe vpon the Common which imbraceth includeth all the rest Patritius founded his Common-wealth And Plaâ—o his vpon the particular Others diuide it into foure parts or species into Diuine Naturall Ciuill and Iudiciall Which the Schoolmen do define and declare at large vnto whom I remit the Reader But laying aside these diuisions which make not for our purpose the most proper and essentiall diuision of Iustice is into Commutatiue and Distributiue Which as Diuus Thomas saith are the partes Subiâ—ctiuae or subiectiue parts of this Iustice that is to say it 's essential Species And therefore we will treate of these two and that very briefly And first in the first place of the Commutatiue and in the second of the distributiue Iustice Commutatiue Contractiue or Venditiue for all these names your Authors giue it for the matter of Commutations Contracts and Sales wherein it is exercised is considered betwixt two party and party which are a part of that whole body of the Common-wealth which giue and take betweene themselues by way of Contract or Sale It 's end and obiect is equalitie and proportion betweene that which is giuen and that which is receiued without respect vnto the persons which buy and sell but to that which is contracted solde or commutated that there may be an equalitie and proportion had betwixt that which is giuen and taken And when in this there is a defection it is contrary to Commutatiue Iustice. The distributiue is considered betweene the whole and it's parts The Medium of this Vertue doth not consist in the equaltie of thing to thing but of the things to the persons for as one person surpasseth another so the thing which is giuen to such a person exceedeth that part which is giuen to another person So that there is an equalitie of proportion betweene that which is more and that which is lesse but not an equalitie of quantitie to wit So much to the one as to the other For those which in a Common-wealth are not equall in dignitie and desert ought not equally to enioy the Common goods thereof when they are reparted and diuided by the hand of distributiue Iustice As we shall shew you by and by when we come to speake of the Commutatiue which treates of equalizing and according that whch mens disordinate appetites and boundlesse couetousnesse doth disconcerte and put out of order euery one being desirous to vsurpe that for himselfe which of right appertaines and belongs to another whence arise your cosenages and deceits in humane Contracts and whence doe resulte those contentions dissensions and sutes in Law And to occurre and meete with these inconueniences from the Alcalde of the poorest Village to the highest and supremest Tribunall those pretenders may appeale if they cannot obtaine Iustice in those inferiour Courts And therefore in Castile in the Counsell Royal it is called by way of excellencie Conseiode Iusticia The Counsel of Iustice. And in all well ordred Monarchies and Common-wealths there is euermore carefull prouision made for this necessitie dispersing in diuers Tribunalls the fittest men for administring Iustice as we haue formerly related of that great Law-giuer Moses And in the second booke of the Chro. it is said of King Iehosâ—phat that he appointed Audiences and Tribunalls in all the principall Cities of his kingdome and those euer at their very gates and entrance that the Negociants and suitors might the more easily meete with the Ministers of Iustice for this is the chiefest prouision which a King should make for kis Kingdome indearing to them all the faithfull administration thereof and that with such graue words and such effectuall reasons that they deserue to be written in golden Letters vpon all the seates Tribunalls of your Iudges Videte quid faciatis non enim hominis exercetis iudicium sed Domini Et quodcunque indicaueritis in vos redundabit Sit timor domini vobiscum cum diligentia cuncta facite non est enim apud dominum deum nostrum iniquitas nec personarum acceptio nec cupido munerum Take heede what ye doe for yee execute not the iudgement of man but of the Lord and he will be with yee in the cause and iudgement Wherefore now let the feare of the Lord be vpon yee Take heede and doe it for there is no iniquitie with the Lord our God neither respect of persons nor receiuing of reward The first thing that he admonisheth them of is Videte quid faciatâ—s Take heede what yee doe Looke well about yee and haue an eye to what ye doe Heare see and consider take time and leysure be not ouer-hasty in sentencing a sute till yee haue studied the case well and throughly and are able as well to satisfie others as your selues Vsing that care and circumspection as did that iust man Iob. Causam quam nesoiebam diligentissime inuestigabam When I knew not the cause I sought it out diligently As if his life had lyen vpon it Alciat saith That the Tribunes had at the gates of their houses the Image of a King sitting in his throane hauing hands but no eyes And certaine Statuas about him seeming to be Iudges hauing eyes but no hands Whereby they declared the Office of a King and the duty of Iudges painting him with hands and them without them but with as many eyes as that fabulous Argos had or like vnto those Mysticall beastes which Saint Iohn saw full of eyes within and on euery side To shew that they should study see and examine causes and all whatsoeuer passeth in the Common-wealth and to informe the King thereof who is to haue hands and Armes courage and power for execution Againe that good King puts them in minde that it is not mans but Gods Office that they take in hand whose proper Office is to iudge And therefore in the Scripture your Iudges are called Gods And since that they are his Lieuetenants let them labour for to doe Iustice as God himselfe doth For I must be so bold as to tell them that there is a reuiewing of the businesse and a place of Appealing in the supreme Counsell of his diuine Iustice. And there the Party pretending doth not deposite his thousand and fiue hundred ducats but the Iudge who lyes at stake for it and if he shall Iudge amisse he is
to pay all costes and charges and sute of Courte Quodounque iudicaueritis sayth that good King in vos redundabit Whatsoeuer yee shall iudge it shall light vpon your selfes He threatneth that which God deliuereth in the booke of Wisedome to the Kings and Iudges of the earth Audite ergo Roges intelligite Iudices terrae Heare me yee that rule and gouerne the world and yee that glory in the multitude of nations that are subiect vnto you vnderstand that the power that yee haue is from God and that he is to make a Quaere and inquire of your Actions and thoughts And for that being his Ministers ye haue not iudged according to his will nor kept his lawes nor done Iustice Horrendae citò apparebit vobis Horibly and sodainly will he appeare vnto you He that is most low shall finde mercie with him but the mighty shall be mightily tormented All these are the wordes of the wisedome of Salomon and which are not to escape the memorie of Kings and their Ministers And Iehosophat as a remedie vnto all prescribeth vnto his Iudges and Counsellours one good Counsayle and sound aduise which is this That in all the sentences they shall pronounce that they set before their eyes the feare of God For as both Saint Chrysostome and S. Austin affirme it is easie for him to swarue from Iustice who feareth not God in what he doth As likewise that they should dispatch businesses with diligence For there are some that indeauour to eternize sutes And why they doe so God the world knowes Bribery and Corruption are the Remoras that stop the course of Iustice and the cause that sutes are so long depending before they be brought to a conclusion to the confusion and vndoing of those that follow them who are faine by deferring to deferring and putting ouer from hearing to hearing to sell their very clothes from their backs to wage Law And when at last with much adoe they haue sentence past on their side they are neuer a whit the better for it but is conuerted into gall and bitternesse for that his sute hath cost him seuentimes more then it was worth To such Iudges as these suteth that of the Prophet Amos Conuertistis in amaritudinem Iudicium fructum iustitiae in Absinthium Yee haue turned iudgement into gall and the fruit of righteousnesse into worme-wood Furthermore saith that good King Consider that yee occupie Gods place who wrongeth no man nor is an Accepter of Persons Yee must administer Iustice equally to all giuing to euery one that which is his and of right belongs vnto him without any other humane respect For Iustice acknowledgeth neither Father nor Mother nor friend but meere Truth Cleon tooke leaue of his friends when he was made a Iudge And Themistocles refused Magistracie saying That he would not possesse that place where his friends could not be in better condition with him then his foes Lastly he tels them that he would not haue them to be couetous nor receiuers of rewards And therfore are they pictu'rd without hands because they should not haue the faculty and gift of taking Non accipies personam nec munera It is Moses his Aduise in Deuteronomy Wrest not thou the Law nor respect any person neither take reward For the reward blindeth the eyes of the wise peruerteth the words of the Iust. Iustice should be like vnto the sunne whose light costes vs nothing and is neither bought nor solde Non licet indiâ—i saith Saint Austin vendere iustum indicium It becomes not a iudge to sell iust iudgement All this appertaineth to Commutatiue Iustice And to that obligation likewise which kings haue to cumply with whatsoeuer bargaines or contracts haue bin formally made without acceptation of persons for he is not to regard them but the truth To this Iustice appertaineth likewise the giuing and paying of soldiers their reward and their pay For they doe tacitely make a contract with their Prince to serue him in that Ministry for so many Ducatts a month And this is due vnto them in all Iustice right For otherwise there should not be an equalitie betweene a Souldiers paines and his pay Nor ought hee to put them off with delayes remitting the remuneration of their seruice to other Ministers seeing that they serue them in their owne persons and that the obligation is reciprocall And therefore a certaine bolde Soldier tolde Augustus Caesar who thought he had done him a great fauour in recommending him by a fauourit of his to those of the Counsel of warr that they might heare him and doe him Iustice Sir said he when your Honor and Authoritie ran so much hazard and your person put to great perill did I depute another in my place to fight for me And therewith all vnbuttoning his dublet be shew'd him the wounds which he had receiued in his body in his defence By which he obliged him to heare his cause himselfe to giue present order that he should be well and truly payd And when they in the seruice of their king shall do more then they are bound vnto aâ—some which vnder-go braue and noble attempts ieoparding their fifes in such kinde of desperate enterprises howbeit commutatiue Iustice obligeth not to giue them more then their ordinary pay yet in a iust gratification it is required of Kings that they should reward and honour them according to the qualitie of their persons and seruices For a Qiust King ought not to leaue any seruice vnrewarded nor any fault vnpunished For Praemium Pâ—na Reward and Punishment are those two Plummets which keepe the clock of the Common-wealth in good Order But to giue a conclusion to this first part I say That Iustice ought to be in all and with all all equall and compleat And for this cause she is called Flos a flower Giuing vs thereby to vnderstand that to all she should be Florida fresh and flourishing Not being like a dry rotten sticke to some and full of sweetenesse to others And as in a tree after the flower followes the fruit So likewise is to be conceiued that in kings and Iudges this Vertue is not true if it consist onely in the leafe and the flower and doe not come to beare fruit And therefore in the sacred Scripture those that doe not as well in deede as in shew truly vprightly administer â—ustice are called Hypocrites for that they haue no more of Kings and Iudges then the bare name Title They ought to be Vina Lex and Ius animâ—tum the very life and soule of the Law that Men may come vnto them not as to a Man but as to equitie and iustice it selfe They must haue their plummet their Lines runne euen and Ieuell towards all Their Vare or rod of Iustice must not be too short for some too long for other some Let Right strike the stroake let no man be deny'd Iustice. For this is to
a vertue Heroicall and worthy Kings Which if it be fayling in ether of these the one or the other it shall merit no such name as you shall see by and by when we come to conclude this discourse wherein we aduertise those that giue that it shall be much prudence and make likewise much for the good of the party himselfe that receiueth to goe leysurely along with him in these Mercedes and fauours For this difference I finde to be betweene offences and punishments fauours and benefits that the first are done but once because in discretion they will not goe dayly nourishing the passion of those who receiue the harme thereby and stand in feare lest the like ill might happen vnto them selues As for the second it is fitting that they be done often giuing now a little and then a little that it may the better penetrate the palate and please the taste of him that receiueth them As in our bodily meates and drinkes bit after bit draught after draught agrees better with our health and taste then grosse feeding and full cups Besides this faire and frequent distribution cannot but cause a more settled loue in those persons on whom they are bestowed as also in those who liue in expectation of the like CHAP. XXIII How and in what sort Limitation in giuing may sute with the Greatnesse of Kings NOw I see the reply and the Argument which may be made against that which we haue mentioned in the former Chapter For this same sising of Kings fauours and these same short bounds of bounty wherein some would shut them vp seemeth no way compatible with the authoritie and greatnesse of Kings Especially on such occasions wherein they are forced to bestow them vpon persons that are deseruingly qualified for them and that haue done notable seruices who are not to be gratified with small gifts nor may that seeme to bee much which is giuen but once First of all I answer hereunto that it stands with good reason that they who haue spent their meanes and the better and greater part of their liues in the seruice of their King and Common-wealth should be recompensed according to the qualitie of their persons and seruices when Kings are well able to doe it without putting themselues in necessitie or charging their subiects which they too vsually doe with extraordinary Impositions And if it be well considered the maine drift of our former Chapter was that things might be so ordred that Kings might haue wherewithall to giue vpon such like occasions That therefore which I say is this That they ought to holde their hand in those Gifts which they giue meerely vpon their owne pleasure and humour that they may the better cumply with those which lye vpon them by way of obligation For they that haue vnder their charge and Command such a multitude and number of subiects it is not meete that they should conferre many and great fauours vpon a few and few or none vpon many shewing grace vnto some with that which in Iustice is due vnto others whose often sweats perpetuall labour and extreame neede serue now for riches regalos intertainments and annuall rents to those who in all the whole course of their life neuer knew what it was to moyle and toyle or to take any paines for the Common-wealth Nay which is more and it grieueth my soule to speake it the sweat and blood of poore labouring men is conuerted into rose water for to feede their delightes and pleasures and that in such wastfull riotous loose intertainments as certainely beseemeth not Christians but Epicures and Sardanapalians who did denie the immortalitie of the soule Woe vnto them saith God that are at ease in Syon woe vnto you great Potentates and Rulers ouer the people who enter in state into the Temples and goe thence in pompe who delight in lasciuiousnesse lying vpon bedds of yuory who eate the Lambes of the flock the Calfes out of the stall who drink wine in bowles and annoynt themselues with the chiefe oyntments who sing to the sound of the Violls and inuent to themselues instruments of Musicke no man in the meane while being sorie for the afflictions of Ioseph or taking pitie and compassion of those poore miserable wretches who must wring and smart to maintaine these their idle and vnnecessary vanities But the world will be altred with these men one day and a time shall come wherein as that Princely Prophet saith Laetabitur justus cum viderit vindictam manus suas lauabit in sanguine peccatorum The righteous shall reioyce when hee seeth the vengeance he shall wash his hands in the blood of the wicked And men shall say Verily there is fruit for the righteous doubtlesse there is a God that iudgeth in the earth Then shall Lazarus reioyce and be glad in Abrahams bosome and the rich Glutton lying in Hell shall begg a dropp of cold water and haue no body to giue it him And if any man should say vnto me that the Grandeza and Greatnesse of Kings requireth that great rewards should be giuen both to the one and the other My answer vnto him is That nothing better becommeth Kings for the conseruing of their Greatnesse then to know that they are but men and that they cannot stand in Competition with God whose fountaine of riches is infinite and is able to fill and satisfie all and neuer can be drawne dry though it be imparted and distributed to neuer so many Whereas that of men is but like vnto the water of a Cisterne which by being communicated to many is diminished and exhausted King Nabucodonosor and other Kings of whose falls there is mention made in the Scripture for default of this knowledg fel from their estates And let that tree whose top touched heauen and whose boughes did ouerspread the whole world whereof wee so lately made mention serue now the second time for an Example which going about to imbrace all in it 's owne armes and to giue sustenance in aboundance to all and pretending to exalt it selfe as high as heauen did pay the price of this it's pride autoritie and Signorie and did so farre prouoke Gods anger against it that hee commanded it to bee hewen down that being layd leuell with the earth it might acknowledge how much limited and how short was it's power Sithence therfore that it is not possible for Kings to vse much liberalitie and bounty towards all there is a great deale of reason why they should forbeare voluntary Donatiues for to discharge obligatory paiments whereunto in rigour of Iustice he is strictly bound The Apostle Saint Iames saith That the debtes which are due vnto them that haue done seruice cry vnto God and that the teares of the poore ascend vp vnto Heauen to the end that from thence may come forth a writ of Execution against those that haue beene the cause thereof And your Catholike and Christian Kings are not to place their
fellowes Nonne decem mundati sunt Et nouem vbi sunt Non est inuentus qui rediret dares gloriam Deo nisi hic Alienigena Are there not ten cleansed But where are the nine There is none found that returned to giue God prayse saue this stranger In Kings Pallaces your strangers and those that are newly come to Court are your onely thankfull men For those that are well acquainted with the Court familiarly attend the person of the King and are still assistent vnto him vpon all occasion neuer acknowledge the fauours that are done them bee they neuer so great They are alwayes crauing but are neuer satisfied they swallow downe whole riuers and wonder not at it they thinke all Iordan is too little for them and that they shall no soner open their mouth but they must presently sup it vp And the reason hereof is because they verily perswade themselues that all whatsoeuer you giue them be it neuer so much is due vnto them for their seruices and their dayly Assistencies I therefore say and therein say but the trut That one of the greatest happinesses that can befall Kings is to be serued by noble persons and men of honour gente granada as the Spaniards tearme them iolly strong lusty people proper comely men and persons of best and most account both for riches and honour But this is the mischeife of it that this golde which should make such a glorious shew in Court and shine both in honour and goodnesse is canckred and rusted by Auarice and Ambition which eates into all mens mindes and wholly possesseth them So that from the highest to the lowest they are all well read in the Schoole of Couetousnesse Dissimulation and deceit And your Priests and those that weare Miters on their heads are not in this kinde the meanest Schollers amongst them All complaine they are not rewarded that they haue nothing giuen them if they haue any thing giuen them they thinke it is all too litle And betwixt this their complayning their thankefull acceptance there is set vp such a strong partition that it neither suffereth them to acknowledge a benefit nor to intertaine it with that thankfullnesse as they ought All now a dayes attend their own interest and not their kings seruice Who may say that of them which God spake by Malachie Who is there euen among you that would shut the doores of my house or kindle but a coale on mine Altar in vaine Not one I assure you but will be well payd for his paines There is not that Sexton that Cloyster Cleanser nor scullion of the Kitchen but will haue good wages other ayudes de costa or by-helps This great traine saith Seneca of seruants and Attendants seeke not so much after a Master as Money a friend as a fortune Miserable is the condition of kings whom none loue for themselues but for their owne ends and the good they expect from them so that this their priuate interest fayling them their seruices faile with it likewise faileth so says S. Isidore that loue Loyalty which is due vnto them Non sunt fideles quos munus non gratia copulat nam citò deserunt nisi semper accipiant Those whom Lucre not Loue linketh cannot bee faithfull For vnlesse they be still on the taking hand they vanish and are quickly gone Yet is it not my intent and purpose in that which I haue sayd to condemne those who demaund their pay and satisfaction for their seruices to relieue their necessities For therein they doe but vse that lawfull course which is appointed for them by way of petition Howbeit Aristotle Plato and other Philosophers would haue subiects to be solicitous not in sueing but in seruing And I farther affirme that Princes are to take it to their charge to content those that haue done them good seruice it being the principall Office of distributiue Iustice carefully vigilantly to distribute riches and honours to those that haue deserued them And this vndoubtedly is one of the most effectuall meanes for the good gouernment of a Common-wealth For as those three diuine vertues Faith Hope and Loue are increased and augmented by praying vnto God so on the contrarie are they lessned and diminished by sueing vnto Men. For when subiects serue and not sueing obtaine that which they deserue humane Faith Hope and Loue is augmented in them because thereby they are taught to rely on the vertue and wisedome of their Soueraigne who applyes himselfe to euery mans meritts and the iustnesse and vprightnesse of his cause For which cause they will loue him much but much more when he giues without being importuned with petitions And it seemeeth vnto them that hee giues not more willingly then he doth wisely in applying himselfe onely to reason and Iustice and not to the importunate Petitions of Pretenders And therefore Kings are not to content themselues onely with paying that which they owe and to doe mercedes and fauours to them that serue them but that these should likewise goe accompanied with Loue and Good Will for with remuneration are the seruices requited and with Loue are they obliged to doe them still more and better seruice In that Case which the Scripture recounteth of King Assuerus who one night being not able to sleep and take his rest commanded Lights to be brought in and some that were about him to take that booke and read vnto him wherein were written the notable things that past in his raigne and amongst the rest there was mention made of a great peece of seruice which Mardochee did him freeing him from that death which two of his Eunuches had plotted against him by discouering this their treason demanded of those there present What honour and dignitie hath beene giuen to Mordochee for this his fidelitie towards me and the good seruice he hath done mee And the Kings seruants that ministred vnto him sayd There is nothing done for him Whereupon he presently bestowed vpon him such great honors and dignities that vnlesse he should haue giuen him his kingdome he could not well haue giuen him more Thus was this good seruant rewarded honoured and graced by his Lord and Master who without being importuned gratiously called his good seruices to remembrance and honoured him aboue all the Princes of his Kingdome And I could wish that all that are rewarded by their Kings might receiue their recompence vpon the like good tearmes of Reason and Iustice. But now a dayes poore and slender seruices the more is the pitie finde copious and plentifull rewards and those ordinarily accompanied with ingratitude A thing which Nature it selfe abhorreth And which tyes Gods hands from giuing who is so liberall and so rich and dryes vp that ouerflowing fountaine of his boundlesse mercies from affording vs any farther fauour or Comfort CHAP. XXIIII Of the repartment and Diuision which is to be vsed in the Conferring of Offices And of the knowledge of such persons as
Scribes and Pharisees moued against him was the people for they knew well enough that without them they could not awe and feare Pilate nor moue him by their accusations and false witnesses to condemne him In the next place they had recourse to the particular conueniency of the Iudge that he should not be a friend vnto Caesar but should loose his loue if vpon this occasion the people should rise and rebell by which tricke they inclined him to their partie and wrought him to preferre his priuate Interest before publicke Iustice and his owne preseruation before that which was both honest and reasonable Againe it is more secure to procure the fauour and loue of the people and more easie to effect his purpose by them More secure because without their loue and assistance no alteration in the state can take effect This their loue doth vphold Kings and gets them the opinion of good and vertuous Princes This qualifieth all wrongs or makes the offenders pay soundly for them against whom none dare seeme to be singular Lastly for that the common people hauing onely respect to their particular profit their own priuate Interest cannot desire nor pretend that which your greater Peeres and principall men of the State do who alwayes out of their ambition aspire to more and stand beaâ—ing their braines how they may compasse that which their imagination tells them they want And by so much the more doth this their Ambition increase in how much the greater place they are and in a neere possibilitie of that which they desire I sayd before more easie because the people content themselâ—es with aequalitie and his likewise makes well for Kings with the administration of Iustice with common ease and rest with plenty and with the mildenesse gentlenesse and peaceablenesse of him that ruleth ouer them Now that Kings may procure this popular loue it is fit they should make choyse of such Ministers as are well beloued of the people that will heare them with patience comfort and hearten them vp that they may the more willingly beare the burthens that are laid vpon them the Tributes Taxes and troubles of the Kingdome which in the end must light all vpon them For it is not to be doubted and experience teacheth the truth of it That the Ministers and seruants of a Prince make him either beloued or hated And all their defects or Vertues turne to his hurt or profit And let not Kings make slight reckoning thereof nor let them colour it ouer with Reasons of State For he that once begins to be hated out of an ill conceiued opinion they charge him withall that is either well or ill done For there is nothing be it neuer so good which being ill interpreted may not change it's first qualiâ—â—e in the eyes of men who iudge things by apparences Which is another principall cause why Princes ought to procure the loue of the people For in conclusion most certaine it is that the Common people is not onely the Iudge of Kings but is their Attourny also whose censure none of them can escape And is that Minister which God makes choyse of for to punish them in their name and fame which is the greatest of all Temporall punishments Suting with that which we sayd heeretofore of the voyce of the people that it is the voyce of God For his diuine Maiestie vseth this as a meanes to torment those who haue no other superiour vpon earth And therefore it behoueth them to preuent this mischiefe and to winne vnto them the peoples affection by as many wayes as possibly they can deuise as by their owne proper person with some with other some by their fauourites and familiar friends and with all by their Ministers For there is not such a Tully nor Demosthenes withall their eloquence for to prayse or disprayse the Actions of a King either to salue or condemne them as is the peoples loue or hatred A great cause likewise of procuring this loue and to winne the hearts of the people to giue them all good content will be if Kings would be but pleased who are Lords of many Kingdomes and Prouinces to haue neere about them naturall Ministers and Counsaylours of all the sayd seuerall Kingdomes and Prouinces For Common-wealths kingdomes risent it exceedingly to see themselues cast out of administration and gouernment when they doe not see at the Kings elbow or in his Counsell any one of their own nation and countrie conceiuing that they doe either basely esteeme of them or that they dare not trust them Whence the one ingendreth hatred and the other desireth libertie Let a King therefore consider with himselfe that hee is a publicke person and that he ought not to make himselfe particular that he is a naturall Citizen of all his Kingdomes and Prouinces and therefore ought not willingly to make himselfe a stranger to any one of them That he is a father to them all therfore must not shew himself a Step-father to any And therefore let him still haue some one naturall childe of euery Prouince in his Councel For it is a great vnhapines to a kingdome not to haue any one childe of theirs amongst so many by the Kings side with whom the Naturalls thereof may holde the better correspondencie For these more speedily with more diligence and loue treate and dispatch their businesses then strangers either can or will who must be sued vnto and will do nothing but vpon earnest intreaty or by force and compulsion or like good wary Merchants by trading for ready mony Let Kings weigh with themselues that it is as naturall a worke in them to afforde fauour vnto all as in a tree to afford fruit And it is a great glorie to a king to oblige all nations to loue him For that King much deceiueth himselfe who will make himselfe King of this or that Prouince and no more Sithence that God himselfe whom he representeth on earth professes himselfe to be Lord of t'one and t'other and of all And therefore hee that is Lord of many should not throw all his loue and affection on a few Let him in such sort conferre his fauours on the one that he may not giue occasion of affront and disgrace to the other For these generall fauours make much for the honor and estimation of Kings It faring with them as it doth with those trees when all sorts of passengers goe gathering inioying their fruits I say farther that for the augmentation and conseruation of the loue of Common-wealths and Kingdomes towards their Kings a maine and principall point which oâ—ght to be esteemed in more then other great treasures it will be very conuenient and is the Counsayle of persons of great prudencie throughly acquainted with Kings and Kingdomes that they should haue some person or persons of these good parts and qualities To wit Men of good naturall abilities of great wisedom to whom in particular they should ommit the care to
heare those that are wronged and male-content For the graces and fauours of Kings as proceeding from humane power which cannot doe all it would haue euermore beene lesse in number then the pretenders And therefore must of force follow that there must needs bee a great number of discontented persons in all Kingdomes euen in the best and most sweetely gouerned Some holding themselues wronged induced thereunto by their own opinion others by disfauours Some by bad dispatch others by delayes And some and those perhapps the most by finding themselues deceiued in their pretensions A thing that ought much to be thought on though there be few that take pleasure to heare on that eare These men I say troubled with cares and transported with passion thrust themselues into all Companies great and small high and low entring into discourse with Male-Contents and laying open their wounds vnto them which kinde of men I would haue to be kindly dealt withall that the Kings Ministers should giue them the hearing that they should temper and allay this their passion that they should hearten and encourage them and indeede make shew in some things to goe hand in hand with them though it be in some sort against their king and Master seeking reasons to maintaine their part and that hee cannot blame them if they complaine hauing so much cause laying the fault either on the iniquitie of the times or the carelessenesse of those through whose fingers these things were to passe and that as it was no fault of the Kings for not hauing beene truly informed so can hee not but rest well assured of their good bowells and sound intention to his Maiestie and the State This is a cunning artifice and admirable art against that deadly poyson of those mens hatred and discontent which repute themselues wronged and disgraced And the better will this take with them if this care be committed to such either person or persons that are well liked and beloued of the people and haue together with their naturall grace the grace of heauen a gift which Kings can neither giue nor take away howbeit they giue that grace and fauour whence resulteth the peoples respect For it will not alwayes serue the turne to bee beloued of all nor will this generall loue sometimes excuse him from being hated of many And therefore in this the grace of heauen must bee sought after and such a man made choyse of as hath this naturall gift for by the helpe thereof hee shall be the better beloued and ouer them all haue the more commaund This Counsayle was well esteemed and approued by that wise and prudent King Don Philip the second as a very necessary conuenient meanes for to temper mens mindes to get generall notice of all that passeth either in word or deed and thereupon be able to giue all possible remedie thereunto And this aduice pleased him so well that hee committed the execution thereof to him that gaue it him and purposely remitted some businesses vnto him that he might haue the better occasion to sound mens mindes and to effect what he pretended by that kinde of course And in short time gaue good satisfaction by the proofe and made knowen to his Maiestie how much good was inclosed in this Artifice for the conseruation of Kings and Kingdomes §. IIII. Of the sagacitie sharpenesse of wit and quicknesse of apprehension which Kings ought to haue GEnebrard and other graue Authors say That this statly Tower and nose of the Spouse whereof wee discourse signifieth those which gouerne the Church or the Kingdome and such as excell the rest in vnderstanding iudgement sagacitie and prudence The Egyptians likewise in their Hieroglyphicks by a high rising nose vnderstand a wise and sage minde that hath an eye vnto dangers fore-sees mischiefes and takes order for them in time that it may not be ouertaken by them And such a one as this a King ought to haue And certaine it is that if that olde Serpent had not had that hap in that first deceit exercised on our first Mother Eue it had beene needelesse for one man to watch another and to be so wary and circumspect as now they are But because he with such great craft and subtletie did powre forth this his poyson into the originall fountaine of our nature it was necessary that against this his venome we should take this Antidote and Treacle for a preseruatiue and preuent one poyson by another And as Treacle being made of poyson serues as a remedie against poyson it selfe so for to resist that poyson which that Serpent by his subtletie scattred and spred abroad amongst vs it is needefull that men following the Counsayle which our Sauiour Christ gaue vnto his Disciples Be yee wise as Serpents and harmelesse as Doues should ioyne these two together For of these two is made that fine Treacle whereof we intend to speake Not of simplicitie alone nor prudence alone but of both together This is that true and perfect Confection for prudence without a sound and harmelesse Intention is but meere craft and subtletie as Aristotle sayth and produceth nothing but trickes and deuises to delude and deceiue And a plaine and sincere intention deuoyd of prudence doth but deceiue and damnifie a mans selfe I meane particular persons For in Kings this want of warinesse and prudent sagacitie will procure greater hurt to the generall affayres of the Common wealth Too notorious and well knowen is that sentence of the glorious S. Ierome Sancta rusticitas solum sibi prodest Holy plainenesse and simplicitie doth onely profit a mans selfe That is some particular person But Kings besides their good intention and sinceritie of minde must haue prudence sagacitie for to resist the plots and traps of the ambitious who still lye in wayte watching a fit occasion for to deceiue them vnlesse they be minded to loose their reputation their authoritie and their Kingdome all at once This is not a Prognostication broached out of mine owne braine but vented by the holy ghost That an imprudent King shall ruine a Kingdome Rex insipiens perdet populam suum An vnwise King destroyeth his people The Prophet Esay after he had made a recapitulation of the graces and gifts of wisedome vnderstanding counsayle might knowledge and diuerse other wherewith the holy-Ghost was to adorne the person of our Sauiour Christ that King of Kings and liuely patterne and true example of all good Kings sayth Et replebit eum spiritus timoris Domini And the spirit of the fear of the Lord shall rest vpon him Now the Hebrew Rabins whom Pagninus and Vatablus follow reade Olfactio odoratus eius erit cum timore Domini The pleasant sent of his sweete odour shall be with the feare of the Lord. That is to say Together with the feare of the Lord and all other vertues hee shall haue an admirable vnderstanding and a dainty delicate iudgement Odorari faciam eum I will make him
out of bad successes future warnings is admirable discretion Ex praeteritis conijcientes iudicamus sayth Aristotle By coniecturing of things past wee come to make our iudgement of things to come And it is a very good course to diuine by that which is past and in Kings exceeding necessary to draw experience from some times for other some And to beware as they say not onely by other mens harmes but likewise by their owne For let a man be neuer so wary neuer so circumspect and let him watch and looke about as if his life lay on it hee must either fall or hath fallen at some one time or other or hath err'd in this or that particular whereby his designes haue beene frustrated or hath seene or read the downe falls of others And therfore shall be shew himselfe very discreet if hee shall gather a Doctrine out of these and make such good vse of them that they may serue vnto him for a warning Castigasti me Domine eruditus sum O Lord thou hast chastised mee and after that I was instructed For as it is in the Prouerb Delos escarmentados salen los arteros No men are more their Craft-Masters then those that haue bin most bitten Nor is it much that a man of reason and vnderstanding discoursing with himselfe of forepassed passages should benefit himselfe by comparing cases past with cases present and by experience and knowledge of those which heretofore haue beene remedilesse hee may apply remedy to those which threaten future mischiefe Sithence that brute beastes as it is obserued by S. Isidore and Polybius who haue no discourse but onely a naturall instinct leading them to their conseruation make vse of the like kinde of Accidents not onely when they themselues fall into some quack-mire or otherwise haue runne the danger of this baite or that net but euen then also when they see others fall before them they hang an arse and will not easily suffer themselues to be drawne into the like danger but hold that place euer after in suspicion where they haue seene their fellowes indangered and shunne all that they can that hole or bog whereinto they haue once either fallen or beene myred And shall not men of vnderstanding and good discourse which heare and see what other men suffer as likewise the great hurt which they themselues haue receiued by the like cause shall not they I say grow wise by other mens harmes and their owne shall not they seeke to shunne and auoyd as much as in them lies the like inconueniences but that some pleasing thing shall bee no sooner propounded vnto them but forthwith they will suffer themselues to fall into the pit and to be taken in the snare that lyes before them and will not offer to fly therfro nor forbeare to eate of that deceiuing foode whereunto they are inuited and know for certaine that neuer any did come off with safety He that by the forepassed Accidents and falls of others or of himselfe doth not take aduise and warning the name of beast nay of a senselesse creature will better befit him then of a discreete and well-aduised man This is that complaint which Moses made of that foolish people Vtinam saperent intelligerent acnouissima prouiderent Would to God that they would call to minde and make vse of the so many and various successes which they haue seene and past through and that quoting the present with the past they would be prouident in that which is to come especially since the wise man sayth That the thing that hath beene is that which shall be and that which is done is that which shall be done and that there is no new thing vnder the Sunne Let the conclusion therefore of this discourse be first That it is not heere required of a discreete King that he should beare about him in his â—leeue good lucke and drawe out when he listeth a faire lot and a certaine and happy successe in all his businesses for this is only and wholy in Gods hands and not in his And therefore to require any such thing of him were great indiscretion but that hee should enter into them if time will giue him leaue with sound aduise and mature deliberation and to intertaine them till hee be able to bring his purposes to passe And si sit periculum in mora If there be danger in delay and that they will not suffer the deferring let him call to minde the successe of former businesses and let him well consider with himselfe what in like cases hath vsually succeeded and accordingly let him settle in the present and prouide in the future that which is most fitting euermore hauing respect to the iustnesse of his cause relying altogether vpon God and humbly beseeching him that hee will direct him in all his wayes For as it is in the Prouerbs Cor hominis disponit viam suam sed Domini est dirigere gressus eius A mans heart deuiseth his way but the Lord directeth his steps Suting with that common saying Homo proponit Deus disponit Man purposeth but God disposeth The second thing required of him is That hee looke well about him that he diligently obserue the maner of gouernment throughout his whole kingdome and that he haue a watchfull eye on his publike Ministers and Counsailours of State and more particularly vpon those that are in highest place and authoritie and haue his eare most And that hee likewise labour to know the qualities conditions and naturall dispositions of those that now are and to conferre and compare them with those of former times that hee hath seene and knowen or hath heard and read of in Histories to the ende that by the knowledge of the affections and naturall inclinations of those hee may prognosticate the end whereunto these tend and by those passages and proiects of precedent times make a diuination of the designes of the present For this prudentia in principe quodammodo diuinatio est This prudence and discretion in a Prince is a kinde of diuination And let them not tell mee that mens manners are changed with their names nor their naturall inclinations with the declination of times and that there is no correspondency betwixt those that are now and those of olde for as Cornelius Tacitus saith who was a singular Master in this science speaking of his owne times in respect of the former the men are other but now their manners They are now as they were then and then as now Well may it be that for some considerations men may represse and couer their affections moreat one time then another but not that they are not one and the same those of this time and that and that early or late they doe not the same worke they antiently did For from one and the same causes it must necessarily follow that we must see one and the same effects Let Kings therefore see once more I speake it and consider
well the estate wherein stand the affaires of their Kingdome how it is in the gouernment in their Ministers and their Counsellours what their affections naturall inclinations passions ambitions desires and the like and make a iudgement of the one and the other of the present and the past and they shall finde that these and those great small and all one with another tread in one and the same steps and ayme all at that faire white of their owne black and fowle Interest And weighing likewise with themselues that some if not most of those Kings and Monarkes that haue gone along in that track and held the like course of gouernment and made vse of the like Ministers either haue beene ruined thereby or brought neere vnto it let them stand aloofe from it or them or ought else whatsoeuer whereby they may either see or know other their predecessours haue beene vtterly ouerthrowne For most certaine it is that by the effects of Cases past we may know what were the causes of them and how in the like the like may likewise succeede The science and knowledge of Kings is like vnto that of Astrologie wherein are better skill'd those of latter then former times in regard of those many proofes and experiences which they haue seene heard and read Historie therefore and experience being the fountaines of humane wisedome Princes ought to peruse Histories and procure to know how it hath succeeded with others that thereby they may take aduice and warning in cases to come and from this experience and knowledge of mens naturall inclinations and affections to draw thence a doctrine for to moderate their owne and to know other mens dispositions and withall to take notice that the naturall dispositions of the men of these times are not more strong and able to resist their appetites but are more weake in the naturall and lesse perfect in the spirituall then those of our Ancestors Whence that followeth which wee said before that by the Knowledge of the past wee may prognosticate of the present if wee haue once seene and made triall that it fell out so with other men of the like state and condition So that it may be collected by what hath hitherto beene deliuered how necessarie it is that a King or supreme Lord should exercise himselfe for some few yeeres in the studie of the various Lections of Histories and may if he will come by them to know the customes and inclinations of forraigne nations as well of those that are free States as those that are vnder subiection with whom he must indure so many demaunds and Answeres To the end that the varietie of Accidents may no whit afflict nor trouble him For it were a kinde of disparagement to a great Prince to admire any noueltie whatsoeuer or to seeme a stranger to the strangest Accidents that shall occurre vnto him And hee must necessarily suffer this and other great inconueniences and deceits in matters of State if hee be not well aduanced in the knowledge of them and with the people with whom hee is to treat For many are they that pretend to deceiue him and will not suffer the truth to come to his eares in it's naked nature but shadowed with some colour as shall make best for their pretension For to cut off which mischiefe histories serue the turne which supply the want of experience and set before his eyes in a short peece of paper the successes of an age so large and of such a length that many liues cannot reach thereunto A thing very necessary in Kings whereby to finde themselues prepared for the present and prouided for the future For hee that hath still before his eyes what is past is seldome deceiued in that which is to come And hee that shall turne ouer the Histories of former times shall meete with the nouelties of the present as also with those truths which Sycophants conceale and such as are not flatterers dare not to tell him Onely Histories without feare or dread speake plaine language to Kings and yet remaine as whole sound and intire as they were before Another point of Discretion is That for as much as the aduice and wisdome and more particularly in Kings and persons of great name and ranke is great they should not intermeddle in small matters not shew themselues in your lesser occasions where the glory is none and the losse of reputation great not onely if they be ouercome but also if they doe not ouercome to their great aduantage They ought not likewise lightly and without very good ground to thrust themselues into businesses of great consequence and of that danger and difficultie that they shall not afterwards know well how to winde themselues out of them For it argues but a small talent of wisedome to know dangers then onely when a man is in the midst of them And sauours of much leuitie to put himselfe desperately vpon cases of aduenture And this is no other Counsayle then that which a very graue and wise man gaue the Emperour Vespasian deseruing to be written in letters of gold and in the Cabbinies of Kings Qui magnarum rerum consilia suscipiunt aestimare debent an quod inchoatur reip vtile ipsis gloriosum aut promptum effectu aut certè non arduumsit They that aduise and consult the vndertaking of great enterprises ought to weigh and consider with themselues whether that they goe about be profitable or no for the common-wealth honourable for themselues or whether it may easily be effected or at least without any great difficultie And this is a Lecture which Christ reades vnto all aduising vs that before wee begin any busines of importance wee enter into an account and reckoning with our selues whether wee bee able to goe through with it or noe and when hauing well weighted the difficulties dangeres and expences wee must bee at wee shall finde it to be of more charge then profit to let it alone So shall wee rid our selues of a great deale of care and excuse the murmurings and censure of the people who will much risent it that in businesses wherein the wealth peace and reputation of a Kingdome is interessed Kings should aduenture for the gaining of a little to put themselues in hazard of loosing much As likewise because thereby is giuen occasion of measuring the extent and limits of the power of Kings and of plainely manifesting to the open view of the world that they cannot alwayes doe what they would nor against whom they will and therefore must not giue way that men should enter into iudgement that their power cannot reach whither they themselues will haue it but ought alwayes and by all meanes they can to maintaine the credite and estimation of their power and greatnesse The words of our Sauiour Christ are these Which of you disposed to build a Tower sitteth not downe before and counteth the cost whether he haue sufficient to performe it Lest after hee hath laid
moderation Insomuch that they being to repart and diuide the time betweene themselues and the Common-wealth they should so employ it that it might not be wanting vnto them for their businesses nor super-abound vnto them for their Vices Yet for all this doe not I pretend it being the least part of my meaning to take from Kings their intertainments but rather much desire that they would take them with moderation and without neglecting businesses of State and after that they shall haue fully cumply'de with the Common-wealths affayres To the end that all the world may see that these their pleasures are not as principall but accessary and as an ayuda de costa an ayde and helpe the better to beare their trouble to wade through that wearisomenesse which the continuall assistâ—nce on graue and weighty occasions causeth Intertainments and sports must be like vnto salt wherewith if â—our meâ—te be sprinckled but a little and in a moderate kinde of manner it makes them sauoury and seasons them in that good sort that they doe not onely relish but digest the better and breede better nutriment But if your hand be too heauy and that you lay on loade as they say without measure or moderation it marrs your meate and makes it sower and vnsauory And for mine owne part I am of opinionâ— thâ—t there was neuer any time wherein Kings had more cause or greater obligation to moderate their pleasure then at this present it being the onely thing that is now in request amongst your great persons and the onely talke that passeth amongst them how they shall passe the time My thinkes that time is here represented vnto me which the Apostle Saint Paul inspired by the Holy Ghost did prophecie foretell vnto vs That in the last dayes perillous times shall come which are now wholly and truly ours wherein men shall be louers of their owne selues and their pleasures more then louers of God and shall regard more their owne particular then either their neighbour â—ustice or the coÌ„mon good In a word they shall take more care to fulfill their lusts and their delights then to please God and therefore shall fall into innumerable sinnes The Apostle Saint Peter and Saint Iude doe much indeare the great euills which vsually arise from corporall pleasures the terrible chasticements which are reserued for those that giue themselues over vnto them The vniust sayth Saint Peter the Lord will reserue vnto the day of iudgement to be punished but cheifly them that walke after the flesh in the lust of vncleannesse that are presumptuous selfe willed c. And Iude hee pronounces condemnation against those vngodly men that turne the grace of God into lasciuiousnesse c. And this hath and doth still increase dayly in such sort that the madnesse and dotage of those wicked times seemeth to be againe renewed in the world mentioned in the booke of Wisedome where a companie of gallants and boone-Companions banketting and making merry amongst themselues vttred this Epicuraean Exiguum cum taedio est Tempus vitae nostrae Our life is short and tedious and in the death of man there is no remedy neither was there any knowen to haue returned from the graue c. Venite â—rgò fruamur bonis quaesunt Come on therefore let vs inioy the good things that are present Let vs eate and drinke quaffe and carowse and be merry and let vs speedily vse the creatures like as in youth Vinâ— pretioso vnguentis nos impleamus Let vs fill our selues with costly wines and oyntments Let vs be puruayours and Caterers to our owne bodies let vs prouide the pleasingest obiects for our eyes the sauourest meates for our tastes the sweetest Musicke for our eares the softest silkes for our feeling and the daintiest perfumes for our smelling Coronemus nos rosis antequam marcescant nullum pratum sit quod non pertranseat luxuriâ— nostra Let vs Crowne our selues with rose-budds before they bee withered And let no flower of the spring passe by vs. Let none of vs goe with out his part of voluptuousnesse and let vs leaue tokens of our ioyfullnesse in euery place Let God doe what hee list in Heauen and let vs laugh and be merry here on earth We haue but a little time to liue let vs therefore take our pleasures while wee may This is all the care the wantons of this world take who do not thinke that there in an eternitie onely they study how they may best inioy themselues and their pleasures not once dreaming that there is a God or a iudgement to come to make them stand in awe of him but as men that make a scoffe and iest of that other world and that other life they wholly wed themselues to this Making that good which Salomon sayd Quod non esset homini bonum sub sole nisi quod comederet biberet atque gauderet Man hath no better thing vnder the Sunne then to eate and to drink and to be merry A Language onely beseeming such men as are to be carbonadoed for hel and made a dish for the Diuell for their disseruice towards God and their seruice to their belly Which kind of men Saint Paul lamenteth with teares flowing from his heart as being enemies to the Crosse of Christ and abhorred of God and his Saints CHAP. XXVIII When and at what time sports and pastimes are worthyest reprehension in Kings TO euery thing there is a season saith the Wiseman There is a time to weepe and a time to laugh A time for recreation and a time for labour Tempus plangendi Tempus saltandi Tempus amplexandi Tempus longe fieri ab amplexibus A time to mourne and a time to dance A time to imbrace and a time to refraine from imbracing The Chalde Paraphrase reades Opportunitas omni rei There is an opportunitie or fit season for euery thing And this opportunitie is a great matter in all whatsoeuer wee doe for it teacheth vs to take our due time and season To weepe when we should laugh is a ridiculous thing And to laugh when wee should shed teares is no lesse For Kings to play away so many thousand Ducatts and to spend I know not what meerely for their owne pleasure whilest their souldiers are ready to perish through hunger for want of pay and their house-hold Seruants runne in debt because they cannot receiue their wages in due time this sorteth not with that rule which the wise man would haue vs to obserue And is it not I pray you a disproportionable and vnseasonable thing to spend the time in intertainments and sports which is due vnto publicke causes and businesses of State In the second booke of the Kings is set downe a notable case wherewith God was highly offended And the case was this Factum est autem vertente anno eo tempore quo solent Reges ad bella procedere misit Dauid Ioab
heauinesse Hence againe hee that saith I sayd of laughter it is mad And of mirth what doth it And that hee sayth yet once againe The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning but the heart of fooles is in the house of mirth But continuing our discourse concerning Kings and things so generally receiued and intertained as sports pastimes and temporall delights rigorous is that qualification which the greatest and most approued qualifiers of Heauen and earth haue left firmed signed vnto vs with their owne handes and names That mirrour of Wisdome King Salomon or to say better the Holy Ghost speaking by him Our Sauiour Iesus Christ the true wisedom of his father and that great Bishop and Doctor of the Church S. Gregorie plainely tell vs That those delights and merriments which are so well receiued in the world are but lyes and mocks and prognostications of euils to come and that they haue their reception and residence in the hearts of fooles and that they remaine banished from those that are truly wise These Authenticall persons haue sayd it and all the Saints of God haue confirmed the same both by example and doctrine And I whilest I am now writing of this subiect though the meanest of a thousand am verily perswaded that my pen cannot doe better seruice then to iustifie Gods cause and to make the faults of Kings the more without excuse and to let the mighty know that they shall be mightily punished And since that I cannot take away the vse of these things giue me leaue to aduise you of the abuse and if it shall not be of force to worke an amendment yet let it so farre preuaile with you as to put you out of your error And to take it into your consideration that in the way to Heauen you are to meete and incounter with many dangers and that the Diuell is wonderfull busie and carefuâ—l in setting of his gynn's and his sâ—ares without our laying in the way these new stumbling blocks to breake our own necks and to make the way more dangerous and to adde new occasions of sinning whereby to put the businesse of our Saluation in the more contingencie and hazard Here might I take occasion to say something of that Temperance which should temper and moderate the excesses of the tast Whereof we will speake when we come to treate of the sence of Touching And now let vs passe to another Ministrie which likewise belongs vnto the Tast from the Office and function of the Tongue it being one of it's principall properties to speake deuided by these insuing Paragrahpes §. I. Of the Language and Truth which Kings and wherewith Kings are to treate and to be treated with THe braine as Minister to all the rest of the sences sends to the Tongue two sorts of members the one soft and smooth for to tast our meates withall and to know and distinguish as already hath beene sayd the seuerall sorts of sauours and relishes which the Taste intertaineth The other somewhat more stiffe and strong for to turne and winde the tongue and to moue it with that nimble motion as wee see as likewise to hold backe the spring and to restraine and lock it fast when it is not fitting for the tongue to speake This is the Master-key as we may tearme it and the ordinary Mistresse of Nature which by the helpe of one onely Instrument performeth diuerse Offices As of the Ayre to refrigerate and coole the heart to refresh and comfort it and to make it breathe the better and with the more ease and likewise to forme our words for without it it is as impossible to speake as without breath to winde a Horne or blow to play vpon the Fiâ—e The tongue serues vs for our taste it serues to turne and roll our meate vp and downe in our mouth it serues to cleanse the roofe thereof gummâ—s and teeth it serues vs to talke withall and to vtter those conceits which are hatched in the braine which is it's most proper Office And though it be written of some that they haue spoken without a tongue yet this is the vsuall meanes of vtterance and the ordinary instrument wherwith we pronounce our words which are the thoughts Interpreters I omit here to treate of good or better language or whether this or that ought to be in greatest request since the Master himselfe of Eloquence saith That in euery part and place wee are to speake with those words which are there vnderstood And that such a people or such a Nation is Lord of a Language and may by a kinde of prerogatiue power either coyne new or call in old words It being like vnto money of seuerall Kingdomes and Prouinces that being currant in one Countrie which will not passe in another And therefore that language ought to be spoken by vs which is generally approued and commonly vsed and receiued And therefore many times men alter the fashion of their Language as they do of their cloathes And wee our selues finde that in this our Spanish tongue wee haue made almost as many changes and alterations as we haue of our garments and are able to make two such different languages that the one should not vnderstand the other For wee make such hast to inuent new words and to take them vpon loane from other Languages that thinking thereby to inrich it we come to loose and forget our own naturall Language So different is it to some mens seeming in these from what it was informer times For the Spanish tongue in it selfe is an humble and lowly language if they had not painted it ouer and adulterated it with new words Not considering in the meane while with themselues that the best Language according vnto Tully is that which wee haue beene taught by our Mothers and which chaste Matrones and those that haue beene well bred speake familiarly at home in their owne houses And the reason of it is for that they hauing not gone abroad out of their owne Countrie to forraine nations nor treated and conuersed with strangers they conserue the naturall phrase and speech of their own Towne or Country without sophisticating their Language with new words or those that are not of ordinary vse And therefore it is fitting that wee should speake in that which is most passable and which is best vnderstood vsing sober proper and plaine words for words were ordayned to that end that they might be well vnderstood He speakes best and in the best Language that is best vnderstood not hee that shall speake in an vncoâ—th stile and in words that are neither in vse nor easie to be vnderstood It is a common saying with vs Delos antiquos auemos de imitar las virtudes y delos modernos el Lenguaje Wee are to imitate the ancient in their vertues and the Moderne in their Language And Quintilian tells vs Loquendum vt vulgus sentiendum vt pauci We must speake with the many but thinke
bold to tell it him And only Solon did the like with king Croesus Seldom times doth the truth enter into the Kings priuy-chamber and when it enters they scare expresse it in that bare and naked maner as did Iohn Baptist. And for this cause did Demetrius the Philosopher wish king Ptolomie to reade bookes Histories which treated of Precepts for Kings and Captaines for they would tell him that which none durst deliuer vnto him Socrates sayd That there was not any one that made open protestation to speake the truth that attained as he did to the age of 70. yeares And certaine it is that Kings cannot indure to heare those plaine and naked truths which the common people and other their subiects are able to tel them and proue vnto them nor must they that are in place presume to vtter them for feare of indangering their authoritie and reputation And therefore it is fit that they should haue some such persons about them which should both heare and vnderstand them and take their time to informe them of them And this is a rul'd Case taken out of those great Instructions and wise Aphorismes which Mecaenas gaue to Augustus worthy to be taken notice of and to be kept and obserued as coming from so great a Counsailour and proposed to a Prince who was so wise in this kinde To wit That Kings ought to giue libertie and way that their subiects vpon occasion might be admitted to tell them the Truth assuring them on their part that they will not bee offended with that which they shall say vnto them For it is permitted vnto a Physician to prescribe corrasiues and to cut away the dead flesh till it come to the quicke And it may as well be lawfull for a good subiect a faithfull Minister and Counseller of state to speake freely vnto his King with respect and reuerence to their royall dignitie the truth of that they thinke and to condemne him in his iudgement or otherwise when he shall goe about to doe any thing contrary to Iustice and reason Nor ought this to seeme oftensiue to any man nor to the King himselfe who if he haue a Christian feeling will approue in his minde vnderstanding the reasons that they shall represent vnto him so that if he be willing to heare the truths they shall tel him it may turne much to his profit And if he like not well of it there is no harme done neither doth he receiue any preiudice by it And if he shall thinke it fit for the furthering of his ends to follow the Counsaile of any let him coÌ„mend honour that person For by that plot which he shall haue deuised inuented he shall gaine honour and greatnesse by it And it is meete conuenient that he should incourage both him and others with thankes and rewards Because this is the sunne which giues life and the heaâ—e which warmes good wits and makes them actiue nimble And in case he shall not admit of his aduise let him not disgrace him nor finde fault with him for his good will and the desire that he hath to do him seruice But like a great Prince wherein he shall shew his goodnesse let his eye rather looke on the good desire and affection wherewith he doth it then on the effect thereof As likewise because others may not be disheartned for there is not any the poorest plante that hath not some vertue in it nor any brayne so barrene whence at one time or other some fruite may not be gathered for the publickegood I conclude then this first point of that plaine and sincere truth which Kings are to treate and wherewith they are to be treated in signifying vnto them that their own and the Kingdomes safety relyes on searching out the truth and in hauing those about them which will freely speake it a thing so necessarie for to gouerne vprightly and to reward him though it cost him well that shall tell him For Kings shall meete with few that will tell it them as they say for a song For considering the danger whereinto they put themselues by speaking the truth it costes them much And it is an old and ancient kinde of cosenage and deceit which Kings and Princes suffer in not hearing truthes contenting themselues with applause and adulation of that only which pleaseth their humour though it be in thingâ— of much importance and such as neerely concerne them A notable example whereof we haue in the Tri-partite Historie reported by Sozomenus of the Emperour Constantine the great who being one day desirous of make triaâ—l of the integritie and truth of those that seru'd him hee called them all before him and toâ—d them My good friends it is now many yeares that I haue liued vnder the obseruance of the Christian Law but now I grow weary of it for it is a very painefull and troublesome thing to submit our necke to the yoake of the Gospell and to submit ouâ— selfe to a Law that will not allow vs so much libertie as to swarue one tittle from it I pray you let me haue your opinions in it for we for our part are resoâ—ued what we will doe When the Emperour had thus exprest himselfe those that were flatterers Sycophants and time pleasers sayd vnto him Wee thinke your Maiestie shall doe well in so doing and wee shall be obedient to what you shall ordaine therein But those good and faithfull seruants which desired the good and prosperous estate of their Prince both in soule and body humbly besought him on their knees saying Sir For Gods honour and your own doe not doe so vile a thing for it is neither fitting nor lawfull nor shall wee follow you therein or serue you one day longer Then did the Emperour know by this which were good seruants and of greatest trust and presently dismiâ—sed the other Credens nunquam eos circa principem suum fore dâ—bitos qui suerunt Dei sui sic paratissimi proditores Perswading himselfe that they would neuer be faithfull to their Prince that would so soone turne traytours vnto God And if Kings would know how true this is and the errour wherein they liue by hauing the truth kept from them let them at some one time or other when they see fit make shew to affect the contrary to that which before they were hot vpon and did earnestly desire and then shall they see that those very men which approued the one will likewise make good the other and then will they know how in the one or in the other nay in all they are deceiued by them or at least that they dare not plainely and simply tell him that truth which their hearts thinke If they be Ministers and Counsellours of State if they once finde out their Kings homour and the ayre that most delightes his eare they play vpon that string If they be bed-chamber men or the like familiar Attendants about his person they haue naturally a
and his word holdes the hearts of men in his hand is Master of all their wealth and all because they rest assured that they may confidently relye vpon his faith and word Wheras by the contrary hath insued the destruction of Common-wealths the distrustfullnesse of their subiects the scorne and contempt of their enemies and the iealousie of their friends and confederates who all hang and depend vpon the truth of his words and the performance of his Contracts And this being once lost with it hee looseth his credit and after that all goes to wracke with it For Malignitas saith the Wise man enertet sedes potentium Malignitie or ill-mindednesse which is nothing else but a Lye or deceit shall ouerthrowe the seates of the Mighty And Cicero saith That it is a most wicked and abhominable thing to breake that word which conserueth a sociable life betwixt man and man For as Aristotle affirmeth Pacts and Couenants being broaken violated there is taken away from amongst men the vse trading and commerce of things These and the like effects cause in a King either the keeping or loosing of his Credit But of no lesse importance is that third point which followeth in the next place concerning secrecie § III. Of that secrecie which Kings and their Ministers ought to keepe IT is likewise the Tongues Office to holde it's peace And as it is not of the least difficultie so in nothing more doth mans wisedome and prudence shew it selfe Plato will not haue him held to be a wise man that knowes not how to hold his peace Diogenes Laertius that there is no greater token of a Foole then to be loose-tongued and lauish of talke Nâ—minem stultum tacere posse It is impossible for a foole to hold his peace The Ancient esteem'd him a God vpon earth that was a friend to silence representing him in a creature of that Region which hath no tongue Implying thereby that that man is the liuely image and true picture of God whose discretion teacheth him how when and where to holde his peace Alluding happily vnto that of Dauid who finding eyes eares and hands in God seemeth not to finde that hee had a tongue For as hee is God he neuer spake but once Semel locutus est Deus God hath spoaken once And the Spouse speaketh much of all the parts of her beloued but of his Tongue as if hee had no such thing And he that shall not speake a word out of season nor say any more then what is fitting it may bee sayd of that man that hee hath no Tongue And therefore did that holy King Dauid so often beg of God that hee would open his mouth with his owne hand and so order his Tongue that he might not speake but when he would haue him and that he would teach him what and how to speake Illius labia aperit saith S. Austen qui non solum quod loquâ—tur sed etiam quandò vbi cuiloquatur attendit God opens that mans lips who attendeth not onely what he speaketh but also when where and to whom he speaketh Merito igitur sapiens est addeth the same holy father qui accipit a Domino quo tempore loquendum sit Deseruedly therefore is he to be held a wise man which receiueth instruction from the Lord when he ought to speake And the Scripture saith Vir sapiens tacebit vsque ad tempus A wise man will holde his peace till hee see his time Nay Christ himselfe that King of Kings saith of himselfe by the Prophet Esay that his eternall Father gaue him an exceeding wise and prudent tongue Dedit mihi Dominus linguam eruditam The Lord God hath giuen me a learned tongue Or as the Hebrew renders it Eruditiorum The tongue of the learned Not an ordinary tongue but such a Tongue wherin was to be found the wisedome and prudence of all the wise men of the world and from whence all might learne Vt sciam sustentare eum qui lapsus est verbo That I may know how to vphold him that hath slipt in his word Or as the 70. translate it Vt sciam quando oporteat loqui verbum That I should know how to speake a word in season to him that is weary So that a wise discreete and prudent Tongue and such a one as is giuen by God is that which knowes when to speake and when to hold it's peace Teaching Kings who are in a manner Gods at least Gods Liuetenants should in this particular imitate him That they should haue a wise Tongue to know when to open the doore of the lips and when to shut them what to vtter and what to conceale For this is the Learning and wisedome of the Tongue either to speake or be silent as shall sute best with time and occasion Tempus tacendi tempus loquendi It is Salomons A time to keepe silence and a time to speake And in Kings this is so much the more important by how much the more graue and weighty are those businesses which are treated with them For it doth not onely benefit them in not hauing their purposes preuented nor their designes ouerthrowne but likewise winn's them much authoritie and credit For the world will stand as it were astonished and amazed and men will wonder at that which they both doe and say and out of euery kinde of gesture or word of theirs will make a Mystery deliuer their iudgements and draw thence a thousand discourses all which are but cranes and pullyes to make them mount higher in opinion and reputation Likewise when Ministers shall take notice that their King knowes how to heare and how to hold his peace and in it's due time to execute his intentions they liue in a great deale the more awe and feare lest such and such things wherein they doe amisse might come to his knowledge And when they see that he knowes how to conceale a secret till it 's fit time and season it keepes them within their Compasse and is the only bridle that restraines them from doing ill either by way of oppression whereunto great Ministers are too much subiect or otherwise And therefore it shall much concerne a King not onely to be secret in those things which might cause some inconuenience if he should speake of them and make them knowen but also in those things which bring no profit by their publication For if they shall once perceiue that their King cannot conceale what is deliuered vnto him vnder the seale of silence in preiudice of this or that particular party no man will dare to informe and aduise him of that which may redound to Gods seruice and the good of the Common-wealth And so like bad gamesters they will for want of keeping close their cardes let their contrary winne the game by discouering their hand A Kings hâ—art should be so deepe and profound that none should be able to pry into it nor to know
detrahentem audire quid horum damnabilius sit non facile dixerim To detract or to heare him that detracteth which is the more damnable I cannot easily define But more especially in Kings persons of authoritie who with a blast only of their breath or with a sower looke may make them hold their peace I leaue the charge of this vnto them and charge their consciencs with it And for the discharge of mine owne I will now aduertise them of another sort of people whom for their tongue and talke none can exceede §. IIII. Of Flatterers and their Flatteries AMongst those infinite hurtes and mischiefes which an euill tongue causeth one amongst the rest and not the least is that of Adulation and flattery Which is so much the greater by how much the more dissembled and feigned it is The sacred Scripture tearmes it absolutely a sinne and says that a flatterer is absolutely a sinner So some doe paraphrase vpon that Verse Oleum autem peccatoris The oyle or balme of a sinner For in it is included all sortes of sinne whatsoeuer and aboue all a great neglect and contempt of God for although this be to be seene in all kinde of sinnes yet doth it more particularly expresse it selfe in those which draw not with them any delight which they doe as it were vnprofitably and sine pretio for it brings them no profit at all vnlesse when most a little Vanitie which they more esteeme then God These that they may gaine the kings elbowe or that they may not bee put from it speake alwayes vnto him in fauour of that which hee desireth and all their Artifice and cunning is to conceale the Truth and that the doore may be shut against him that may tell it him or those that know not like themselues how to please the Kings palate And being confident that they will giue eare to euery word which they speake they lay falsehoods and lyes athwart their way fathering such Actions of Prowesse and valour vpon Kings that they haue much adoe to for-beare laughing that heare their folly For there are some prayses that are dis-prayses and redound much to the disgrace and dishonour of Princes For by those vntruths wherewith they sooth and flatter them they breed suspition of that good which is in them And because they make pleasing the marke whereat they shoote they neuer looke whether it be a lye or a truth which they deliuer nor haue an eye more vnto good then ill iuste or vniust against God or his neighbour all is one Cannonizing their King for 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 deceitful 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 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 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
against these false friends these domesticke enemies for those their soft words oyled ouer with adulation are those darts and brasse Ordnance wherewith they kill and slay Molliti sunt sermones eius super â—leum ipsi sunt iacula The words of his mouth were smoother then butter but warre was in his heart his words were softer then oyle yet were they drawen swords They are men that carry two faces vnder one hood they are counterfaite doblones that haue two seuerall stampes but neither of them golde which God abhorreth and throwes them a thousand Leagues off from him such is the hatred hee beares vnto them Spiritus enim sanctus effugiet fictum For the holy Spirit of discipline will fly deceit and will not abide when vnrighteousnesse commeth in Therein teaching discreete Kings how they ought to avoyde this kinde of vaine men and dissembling dispositions whose pills of poyson are confectioned with Sugar and fairely but falsely gilded ouer The Emperour Tiberius was such an enemie vnto them and to whatsoeuer did sauour of flattery that neuer either in publicke or in secret did hee giue way to intertayning any speech with them and held those hearts to be base and vile which did vse the like feigned courtesies And the two Seueri Alexander Septimus did seuerely prosecute these beasts and pursued them to the death as most mischeiuous to a Common-wealth Theodoricus stabd one of his seruants because thinking thereby to please him and to curry fauour with him he had changed his Religion And the Athenians beheaded an Embassadour of theirs whom they imployed to the King of Persia because in an insinuating and flattering kinde of fashion hee made his entrance when hee came to haue his Audience with great submissions and thereupon enacted a Law whereby they condemned flatterers to death And the Emperours Arcadius and Honorius ordeyned the like in their Lawes And good King Dauid did well instruct Kings how they were to deale with these Traytors in that rigorous chasticement which hee exercised on an Amalakite who thought to winne his fauour by bringing him newes of Sauls death whom presently there vpon the place in his own presence hee caused to be slaine This kingly Prophet did hate them exceedingly and was much the more wary and heedefull of them as being the Diuells Ministers and being instructed by him in the trade of counterfeite gilding and laying oyle colours on rusty yron wherein hee had so played the cunning merchant with our first parents met with such good and rich Indyes And therefore did so earnestly beg of God that not one drop of that oyle of these Traders with Hell might touch his head Oleum autem peâ—catoris non impinguet capuâ— meum Let not their precious oyle make fatte my head For that soft and sweete oyntment of theirs is full of poyson Others translate it Non srangat Let it not breake my head For though their words seeme to be like oyle or Balsamum that is powred forth yet are they sharpe arrowes and deadly Darts This oyle or Balsamum saith Casiodorus is flatterie which is an inuention of the Diuells to bereaue men of their sences He tooke this course with the first of men and neither hath nor will giue ouer till hee haue made an end if hee can with the last For great is that vngodly gaine which hee maketh by this kinde of merchandise With this pleasant bath and mouth-oyntment hee came to our first parents and began to smooth and annoynt them with his inticing flatteries telling them that they should be no whit inferiour vnto God if they would but taste of the forbidden fruit They vnfortunate therein beleeu'd it And who is he that knowes not what a bad bargaine they made of it and what great losse they sustained And what an ill market they make and what they loose by their trading who by these fomentations suffer the crowne of their head to be annoynted The fall of that Prince is very neere at hand if not very certaine that lets his eares lye open to the like lyes for by listning vnto Sycophants and Flatterers good kings haue become bad and by dancing after their pipe and gouerning themselues by their aduise Kings and kingdomes haue come to ruine Commodum iuuenem imperatorem perdiderunt saith Herodian They vndid thereby the young Emperour Commodus They likewise saith Plutarke were the cause of the disastrous death of Iulius Caesar and of diuerse others And as some wise and holy Saints haue obserued many more Kings and kingdomes haue beene vndone by flatterers then by the warrs for they are the rootes and beginning of all mischiefes and all the publicke miseries of Common-wealths are to be attributed vnto them Let Kings in this particular be well aduised and not suffer themselues to be deceiued nor to haue dust throwen in their eyes that they may not see the hurt which flattery causeth S. Ierom saith that it is an vnlucky starre and an vnfortunat fate or Constellation that thus leades the soule and heart aside with flatteries and carries them which way they list For although by fits we see the face of our owne shame vn-masked and know our selues to be vnworthy of what we heare yet inwardly wee reioyce thereat like vnto those who by fortune-tellers being told their good fortune take pleasure in hearing of it though they finde it afterwards to bee bad The remedy against this is that which the Holy Ghost setteth downe vnto vs. To wit That wee should sowe our eares with bushes and thornes that they may paine and pricke his tongue that shall come to court them with flatteries Let Kings haue reprehension and chasticement in readinesse against these plotters and impostors Plus enim persequitur lingua adulatoris quà m manus interfectoris For a flatterers tongue does more harme then a murderers hand Seneca in his Epistles tells vs how exceedingly Alexander the Great was incensed against his friends because they tolde him that hee was the Sonne of a God Hee told them they ly'd And hee was in the right For all that flatter lye and that is not to be beleeu'd which they say but that which euery man knowes of himselfe and what his owne conscience dictates vnto him And what good doth their commendation doe mee if that accuse mee And in case that they doe not doe this base office but that they themselues sooth vp themselues and beleeue that of themselues which they are not this of all other adulation is the worst and the most incurable because it ariseth from selfe-loue and a proper estimation of our owne worth which is that inward flatterer which we all beare about vs in our owne bosomes and are willing to intertane his false perswasions For hee that is flattered by another doth sometimes know that all is Lyes and adulation which they tell him and makes a game and scoffe of it which hee doth not doe when it proceedes
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 dangerous deuises that are bred in their mindes and in their time breake out I would haue this imitation to bee the remedie for this so great an ill for neither penalties nor feare of punishment will doe any good vpon them For hee that will not forbeare to sinne for feare of Gods Law will hardly refraine from mans Let Kings therefore say and doe those things that they would haue their Subiects say and doe And let their fauourites and those that are nearest about them runne the like course and let it extend to the better sort and those that are of ranke and qualitie for by this meane it will descend to those likewise that are of meaner condition and then shall they see how much more good it will worke then either lawes or punishment And this is the more naturall of the two for the one is founded vpon imitation and the other grounded vpon feare And men doe more easily imitate those better things which they see actually put in execution then depart from those worser things which they either heare or know to be prohibited And when they shall see that their superiours and those that are in place and authoritie command one thing and doe another they neither dread their threatnings nor obey their commandements For perceiuing that they doe but imitate their actions they perswade themselues that none can without blushing punish the same sinne in them Salust did aduise Caesar in the entrance to his Empire that if he would order his commonwealth aright he should first of all begin with reformation in himselfe and his as Pliny saith Vita Principis censura est eaque perpetua ad hanc dirigimur ad hanc conuertimur The life of a Prince is a perpetuall censure and according thereunto doe we guide and gouerne our selues And let it not seeme vnto any that this remedie of the imitation of Kings is slow and long and will aske a great deale of time for where there is met together as it were in it's center whatsoeuer may corrupt and hurt that which is capable of being corrupted when as neither Kings nor their Lawes are able to hinder it in vaine is it indeuoured or to be imagined that that may bee cured in a few yeares which hath layen sicke so many But till such time as men grow vp like new plants and haue accustomed themselues to vertue to the end that through the tendernesse of their youth they may not grow awry Being therein likewise holpen by the example of their betters for there is not any Artifice so powerfull and effectuall as that of imitation which I now speake of for it being a cure so conformable vnto nature it will worke by degrees whereof we shall not know the benefit till we haue enioyed it And because there are both diseased persons and diseases as Saint Chrysostome hath obserued which are neither remedied by sweet potions nor purged away by bitter pills A maine reason whereof is because they themselues are not willing to be cured nor will admit of the example of Kings nor the feare of their Lawes it is fit this other remedie should be vsed of punishment and chastisement without dissimulation For many times the motiue of sinning is the facilitie of forgiuing And it is a knowne case that people by punishment become obedient but by pardoning proud and insolent The ill and vicious are so possessed and inabled in their vices by their long continuance that if Kings should not shew some mettall and courage they would possesse the world and carry all things away before them in that violent manner that the good should not be able to liue amongst thē By chastising the bad saith Baldus the good liue in safety And for this cause and not in vaine according to Plato and others were Lawes instituted and regall power the stroke of the sword the discipline of the Clergie and the common hangmans whip all of them as necessary for mans life as those 4. Elements by which we liue breathe Let Kings take this from me and beleeue it That that commonwealth is in great danger where the Kings reputation goes decaying and the force of Iustice looseth it's strength For thereby vices assume licence vnto themselues and their owners perseuere and go on in them Here a remisse Prince is a sharpe sword and doth neuer more grieuously punish then when hee doth most pardon Punishment and chastisement onely offend the delinquent but remission la ley al Rey y la Grey the Law King and people By remission Lawes and Kings grow in contempt and the whole commonwealth infected Whereas by chastisement the Law is obeyed and kept the King feared and honoured and the kingdome maintained in peace and iustice I doe not treat here of those cruell and rigorous punishments which some seuere Iudges inflict for remedies and cures of so much rigour are violent and do sooner kill and make an end of their Subiects then heale and recouer them by little and little Wherefore in point of correction a commonwealth must vse a great deale of caution and prudence And for that hee who pretends by maine strength to resist the furious current of a swift riuer or by roughnesse to tame a head-strong horse shall shew himselfe as insolent as impertinent rigour with gentlenesse and iustice with mercie will doe well which if they go not hand in hand and kisse each other they are both but the occasion of greater corruption For it is an erronious discourse in those that thinke that publike conseruation consisteth in the execution of cruell chastisements and sharpe and rigorous sentences bee they of death
Offices wherein to imploy them But I do not speake this as inferring thereby that there should bee so many but that at least for the foresaid reasons there should bee some And in conclusion more then one because it will bee more easie to negotiate with them and lesse costly and troublesome and bee a meanes that the Prince may be the better eased and freed in great part of those cares and troubles which otherwise must needs weary him out and worke his vnrest and disquiet For his body is not made of brasse nor can he occurre to all occasions Besides being more then one their competition will make them the more both carefull and fearefull as knowing that in case they shall grow carelesse there are persons enough besides of sufficiencie to supply their place Whereas the opinion and conceit of the contrary puffes him vp with pride and vndoes it's Master For they fondly and foolishly perswade themselues that their King and Master cannot liue and subsist without the assistance of their wit and that there is not that fault they commit but must be forgiuen them out of the necessitie of their seruice Forgetting in the meane while that their King may imagine them to bee dead and how that in such a case though it grieue him yet must hee prouide himselfe of others Let Kings therefore bee beaten from this their errour for he that shall otherwise aduise them and seeke to be the onely man in their fauour and seruice and take vnto himselfe both the right side and the left thrusting all others from thence and gouerning both high and low letting nothing escape his fingers which hee pretendeth out of the necessary vse of his person and so absolutely to become Master of their wills and to haue that hand ouer their Kings that they must not looke vpon any but with their Fauorites eyes such a Fauourite I say pretends to tyrannize a kingdome and by little and little will go crushing the Princes of the bloud the ancient Nobilitie and such as are of power to stand in their way thrusting this man out of Court to day and that other to morrow that hee alone may rule all without any contradiction or opposition in the world Let euery man say or thinke as they list for mine owne part I am perswaded that this is his maine end and drift And the cause thereof is his feare of falling knowing besides his owne consciousnes that there are not onely one or two but many in Court that are able to supply his place and farre better deseruing then himselfe Your Alchymists make gold But how Onely in the colour they will not let it come to the Touch nor any other reall Essay neither will they endure to haue it compared with any other minerall gold for feare lest it should bee discouered that theirs hath no more but a bare shew and apparence Let Princes therefore assure themselues that those Fauourites are but Alchimists that will not admit of any other companie as being priuie to themselues that their vnderstanding is not such pure gold that it can abide the Touch nor any reall Essay But say it should passe for currant and that their mindes were all made of pure gold me thinkes they should aduise and consider with themselues that those that are ingenious and wise men will therefore the rather desire that there should be many for by comparing the one with the other the true light shineth the more and makes it selfe knowne whether it be so or no. And onely your fooles and such as are vnworthy of that they possesse are iealous of that good which they feare to loose when by comparing they shall come to be knowne God did not in vaine place so many members in mans bodie and most of them double had it not beene thereby to teach vs that many are needfull in humane actions and that one is not able to doe all without an infinite deale of toyle extraordinary spending of his spirits and the sudden wasting and consuming of his body And here will suite very well to this our purpose that which Tiberius affirmed when feigning not to bee willing to accept of the Empire hee said going about the bush to discouer the mindes of the Romane Nobilitie and Senate that he alone of himselfe was not sufficient nor yet with the helpe of another for so great a gouernment Whereupon Salustius Crispus taking his Qu a great Fauourite of his starts mee vp and makes me a long Harenga or artificiall oration shewing that Signiorie and Empire could not well consist without being conferred vpon one particular person which is the maine foundation and ground-worke of the good and safetie of a Monarchicall gouernment and that therein himselfe if no body else would take the paines would bee as it were another Ioseph his faithfull Viceâ—gerent lest the resolution of things depending on the will of many it might cause a distraction in businesses either by way of competition or of passion In conclusion after Tiberius had heard this and had throughly sounded their mindes he took occasion to tell them That in such a Citie as Rome was sustained and vpheld by so many and such illustrious persons it was not fit that the businesses of State should be remitted to one man alone for many would much more easily execute the offices and affaires of the commonwealth by a fellow-bearing of the burthen For as vnitie in some degrees is both profitable and pleasing so in other some it is hatefull and preiudiciall And therefore out of this consideration I say That a King as the supreme person and principall Head of a kingdome ought to be one alone For the couetousnesse of ruling being insatiable and the nature of power incommunicable it is not possible that two Princes of equall authoritie should continue any long time but both of them suffer in the end or at least the businesses that are committed to their charge But for Fauourites there may bee two or three or more the vnitie remaining reserued for the greater and supremer person And likewise this pluralitie will not be much amisse for if any one of them shall by some accident faile there be others whom the King knoweth and they know him that are fit for his seruice and that haue good experience and knowledge of businesses and all such matters as are current and passable in the commonwealth without being driuen to seeke out new Ministers or to instruct them what to doe in a time of necessitie when things go not well but stand in ill Tearmes laying otherwise hold on the first that offer themselues vnto them to the ouerthrowing of the businesses in hand and the proper hurt and dammage of their Lord and Master at whose cost and by meere erring in great matters they must come to get their learning Let Kings a Gods name reserue for themselues those businesses that are of greatest importance for in this likewise must there bee a setled course and order
as is in all well gouerned kingdomes Referring as we said before to the ordinary Councells and Tribunalls ordinary businesses consulting with their Kings those that are of most importance And these Kings by themselues as before mentioned ought to dispatch if therein they be not hindered by default of their health and not to remit and referre them to their Fauourites who in matter of Iustice were it but distributiue should haue no lande of power For thereby they oppresse those Tribunalls and seates of iustice together with their Ministers and Officers who for that they know they must haue much dependancy on the Fauourite if he shall haue a hand in Courts of Iustice and distribution of Offices cannot but remaine much oppressed and debarred of their libertie and the more if they haue any pretension for their owne interest or increasing of their estate and honour And the reason of all this will plainly appeare if wee will but weigh those words of the wise man Per me Reges regnant Legum conditores iusta decernunt Through me Kings raigne Through mee Councellours make iust Lawes Whereby is giuen to vnderstand the particular fauour which God giues to the lawfull Kings and Gouernours of their kingdomes and commonwealths to hit right in that which appertaineth vnto gouernment And therefore was it well said of that wise King Salomon Diuinatio in labijs Regis in iudicio non errabit os eius Prophecie is in the lippes of the King his mouth shall not go wrong in iudgement And your Diuines are of opinion that Kings haue more helpe and aide from their Angels of guard then other men haue And besides all this the publike prayers that are poured forth throughout all their kingdomes and Prouinces are of most great vse for Gods illightning of their vnderstanding And therefore for these reasons aforesaid although your Fauourites and more secret Councellours of State may be very learned and wise vnderstanding men yet is there a great deale of reason why in graue and weightie causes they should craue and attend their Kings opinion esteeming it as the more certaine being it comes from a head so much fauoured by God and so well assisted and strengthened on all sides Which doth not concurre in Fauourites for God hath not made that promise vnto them as he hath vnto Kings nor peraduenture doe they deserue it And if he bee the sole and onely Fauourite much lesse can hee presume that either his opinion or paines can be greater or surer then that of so many learned Councellours and Councells that haue met and sate thereupon and haue spent so much time and studie in State-affaires Nor is it to bee imagined that when Councellours doe consult and craue their Kings opinion and resolution that they doe it to that end that they should receiue it from another inferiour person whom let Kings loue them neuer so much or conferre all that they can vpon them they cannot giue them more vnderstanding or more knowledge nor a better minde and disposition then what they haue already for this is reserued for God onely as also it properly belongeth vnto him to giue light vnto Kings that they may giue a fitting and direct answer to that point wherein they are consulted who alwayes supplyes them with that knowledge which is needfull for them if they shall but begge it at his hands and make good vse thereof Hence are two things inferred which are very sure and true The first That Kings are bound in conscience to attend in their owne person graue and weightie businesses for that this is their principall office which is euidently proued by this reason Whosoeuer beares an Office and hath salarie for the same is thereby obliged to cumply fully therewith Sub poena peccati vpon penaltie of sinning And by so much the more grieuous shall the sinne be by how much the greater is the Office and by how much the more the stipend is augmented Now Kings you will confesse vnto me haue the greater office and greater stipend in all things and therefore shall they more grieuously sinne if they do not cumply therewith And this is made good in the sixth of Wisedome wherein these very words it is expresly said Potentes potenter tormenta patientur fortioribus fortior instat cruciatio A sharpe punishment shall be to them that be in high places and the mighty shall bee mightily tormented The second That Fauourites are obliged on paine of the said penaltie to serue their Kings in their owne persons well and faithfully in those businesses which they shall commit to their charge and that in taking their pleasure and ease more then their Kings themselues and substituting others to performe that trust and charge which is put vpon them they cannot iustly enioy that authoritie nor those interests and profits which doe result from their priuacie And let they themselues tell me what title they haue to enioy so much as they doe when they take lesse paines then their Kings but pleasure more And to conclude with that which is here questioned in this Chapter I say That admitting Fauourites to bee such as they ought to be it is fit notwithstanding that there should be more then one or two For thereby Kings shall haue the more helpe and out of that emulation and zeale which is wont to bee amongst them each of them will striue to bee more considerate and better aduised in commanding others and in begging and applying things to himselfe and his owne priuate profit and more solicitous in doing seruice to the State lest others might get the start of him in his Kings fauour And howbeit the name of fauourite seemeth not to indure a companion yet if they fixe their eyes on that which they ought which is the common good of the common-wealth and the seruice of their Kings it would neuer grieue them that there should bee others to assist for the same end and purpose but like that great Fauourite and friend of God Moses they would say Vtinam omnes prophetarent Would to God they did all prophecie CHAP. XXXIIII Of the Conditions and Qualities of Fauourites SVpposing that that then which hath beene said in the former Chapters and that Kings are to haue such persons about them who with proprietie may hold the name of friends for such qualitie and condition must they be of who possesse the bosome and soule of their Master by the communication of the greatest and most secret affaires and performe the office of Fauourites For although it be true that it cannot properly be said that Kings haue friends for that all saue of their owne ranke are inferiour vnto them yet is it likewise true that the holy Scripture as we shewed you before stiles Fauourites friends For the force of loue is of that great power that it remoueth and lifteth vp things from their point and center giuing the name of friend to a seruant and subiect Qui diligit cordis
of his Subiects and to shew himselfe faithfull and true vnto him breake that faith and truth which he owes vnto God and his diuine Law And that he proceed likewise therein with that freedome and libertie that his Loue may not passe the bounds of reason nor bee like some ships that are runne on ground so surely setled that he cannot get off when hee will and to turne that loue into hatred and a full determination and resolution of punishment when the faults of a Fauourite shall deserue his iust displeasure Non habitabit in medio domus meae qui facit superbiam c. Whoso hath a proud looke and an 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 Mardoche 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 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 Nem◠saith Saint Paul animam suam odio habet sed nutrit fouet eam 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 A criter 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 Potest is 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 and on my left hand is not mine to giue but it shall bee giuen vnto them for whom it is prepared And how beit 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
out their negociation of them The History of King Don Iuan the second of Castile doth affoord sufficient examples of the great persecutions that followed by letting that his Fauourite haue so great a hand in businesses For the people seeing their King so led by the nose as it were and to yeeld to all that he would haue him doe were verily perswaded that he was bewitch't for he had such power ouer the will vnderstanding of the King that he neither vnderstood what he gaue nor knew not how or at least had not the face to deny him any thing that hee was willing either to aske or take whilst like the vnthankfull yuie he went sucking away all the iuyce and sappe of the tree all that good Kings wealth and substance his being his authoritie and little lesse then his kingdome And lost by this meanes so much of his authoritie that some of the Grandes of the kingdome and the Infantes his brethren and the Kings of Aragon and Nauarre betooke them to their Armes and made warre against him he seeing himselfe vpon some occasions disobeyed by his sonne and Prince and forsaken of his wife and Queene Whereupon grew many ciuill broyles and all vnder the title and pretext of recouering their libertie and of pulling their neckes from vnder the yoke of that slauery and subiection wherein they were rendering that reason in their excuse which all the whole kingdome could but take notice of That all businesses past through his Fauourites hands and that the King did not negociate in his owne person The prosecution whereof I remit to those Histories that make mention thereof And it cannot bee denyed that this Fauourite notwithstanding had many good things in him that might very well deserue his Kings loue for he had serued him valiantly in great and vrgent occasions and had put his person and life in perill for his sake But as his priuacie and fauour went increasing so with it increased his ambition and couetousnesse and that in that high degree that he grew hatefull to the whole kingdome and in the end no lesse odious to the King himselfe who comming at length vnto himselfe fell into the account of those damages and losses which he had receiued in his kingdome both in his reputation and authoritie by putting the reines wholly into his hands taking thereby too much libertie to himselfe and ruling the State as he listed The Grandes represented to his Maiestie the abuses that insued thereupon as the ingrossing of the greater Offices and selling of the lesser and ouerswaying the Courts of Iustice And vsing many other effectuall perswasions grounded vpon other iust complaints proposing for remedie and redresse thereof the interest profit that might accrew vnto him by calling him to account and that he might thereby get into his hands an infinite deale of treasure the King liked very well of their propositions and admitting their reasons he fell off from his Fauourite waging warre against him with his owne money wherewith hee thought if neede should serue to sustaine and vphold himselfe This slippery footing haue all those things which haue not their hold-fast in God For they turne to the hurt of those that put their trust in them And it is his mercie to mankinde that they should pay for it in this life howsoeuer they speed in the life to come which we will leaue to Gods iustice and the strict account that will be taken of them In conclusion this great Fauourite dyed being fallen from his priuacie with his Prince depriued of all that wealth and treasure which he had so greedily scraped together ending his life with a great deale of sorrow and discontent and to the great reioycing of his opposites Though this did not serue for a warning to those that came after him but without feare of the like terrible and desperate falls they ranne themselues out of breath in the pursuite of the like priuacie Saint Iohn Baptist we know was Christs great Fauourite and the Gospell stiles him to be Amicus Sponsi the friend of the Bridegroome But his great goodnesse and holinesse of life did the more gloriously shew it selfe in this that by how much the more Christ did in-greaten and authorize him by so much the more did hee lessen and humiliate himselfe and laboured by all possible meanes by diminishing his owne to increase the authoritie and credit of his Lord and Master saying Illum oportet crescere me autem minui He must increase but I must decrease And this is that glasse wherein the Fauourites of Kings are to looke taking into their consideration that by how much the more they seeke to greaten themselues in making ostentation of their power and authoritie by so much the more they lessen and dis-authorise that of their Kings with whom is so dangerous any whatsoeuer shew or shadow of equalitie or competition that euen in the highest top of priuacie the more certaine and lesse reparable vsually is the fall How iocond and how well contented went Haman out of the palace when Queene Esther inuited him to dine with the King and her selfe When loe the very next day after they draggd him from that banquet and royall Table to the gallowes And therefore let no man trust or relye on the fauour of Kings be he neuer so rich or neuer so fortunate for in them it is ordinarily seene that all these faire shewes are commonly conuerted into manifest demonstrations of hatred Out of all this that hitherto hath beene said let Fauourites make vnto themselues this vse and instruction to know the danger and slipperinesse of the place wherein they stand euen then when they finde themselues most of all inthronized For most true is that saying of Fulmen petit culmen The highest Towers and the highest hills are most of all subiect to Ioues thunder-bolts and lightning And let Kings likewise take this into their consideration by way of aduice That when they shall haue found their Fauourites to be furnished with those qualities before specified and that they are such that thereby they may merit their grace and fauour and so great both place and part in their heart it stands with very good reason that they shouâ—d bee honoured by them with particular mercedes and fauours because they helpe them to beare the burthen of their cares and are exposed to great dangers and greater enuyings as it happened to that great Fauourite of the King of Persia whom the Princes of his kingdome did pretend to remoue from the Kings elbow and to put him in the denne amidst the Lions that by them hee might be there rent in peeces Whereof no other cause could be found against him but his Kings fauour bearing enuie to his priuacie that common Moath to high places from which none be he neuer so good neuer so honest can escape For it is very naturall in men to risent that hee should out-strip them who but yesterday was their
in the same streake or line with his Master For if God who surpasseth in glory and from whom it is impossible to take the least atome thereof and is able to turne all that he hath created into dust will not admit of a companion in matter of adoration and worship How much more will Kings of the earth bee offended and how ill must they take it that any Subiect should equall his shoulder or share with him in his greatnesse being his honour is so shortned and his power so limited For if out of their loue to the person of the Fauourite they beare with him for a while either for to shew themselues thankfull for his good seruices or haply to make him the instrument to worke their reuenge on others Yet these affections and proofes which I speake of being once passed ouer there enters presently in the place thereof a naturalâ—â—â— are and iealousie of their authority and greatnesse which doth much more sway with them then the loue and affection which they beare to the Fauourites person Enuie likewise she comes in and playes her part which is a neare neighbour and still ready at hand in Princes Courts and Pallaces as if she were Attorney generall of all those great places and â—omes forth her venome secretly lying in waite and watching her time to doe mischiefe stabbing suddenly deaths wound being giuen before it be dream't on and great is the hurt which this so neare a neighbour to the Kings elbow doth and out of an in-bredspleene aymeth at nothing more then the downfall of Fauourites Complaints and grieuances they also make their appearance in Court being the maine witnesses that Enuie and Passion bring into the Court to make good their plea. Next after these comes in the respect not to say the feare of those that are discontented in all states for no King will be willing that their Subiects vpon this ground should build their rebellion and cause an alteration in the kingdome and will be as loath to bee ball'd on by grieued and discontented persons vpon iustly pretended complaints nor will he be so vnwise for feare of other claps to fauour one to offend many All of them being shrewd blowes for to allay if not quell the courage of the most passionate King towards his dearest Fauourite and are such fierce and terrible conflicts that they tosse his iudgement to and fro with farre greater violence then a strong raging winde doth the waues of the Sea Gouernours and such as sit at the sterne of a Common-wealth and such vnto whom Kings haue deliuered vp the keyes of their heart and hold the rudder of the Monarchie in their hands to steare and shape their course as they will themselues there is no question to bee made of it but that they are in great danger vpon euery storme thâ—t shall arise for looke what misfortune shall befall the Commonwealth the blame shall be laid vpon them and the fault imputed either to their ill counsell or their ignorance or their passion For ordinarily nay I may say continually the misfortunes and ill successes of Kings and kingdomes I say the cause of them is attributed to those that are nearest and dearest about the Kings person and possesse the highest places And euery one running along with the common opinion and few are they which haue not a smacke or taste thereof laboureth to lay the fault on his neighbour though he be of his owne proper flesh and bloud And this is an inheritance which wee haue from our father Adam And no man is ashamed thereof for we are all of vs his heires and therefore ought to endeuour as much as in them lies that the peace and quiet of the kingdome bee not disturbed or troubled in the time of their gouernment As well for their glorie and reputation to haue in all their proceedings carried themselues in such sort that no ill accident hath betided them or any maine disgrace as also for the not subiecting of themselues to the vncertaine chances of fortune which are ordinary vpon euery alteration and may serue to worke their ruine and perdition Let therefore those haue an eye I say it and say it againe that are Priuie-Councellours to their King and more particularly the Fauourite to whom hee shall haue deliuered vp the possession of his heart that the aduice and counsell which they shall giue vnto him bee good pure and cleare water issuing from forth a pure cleane and disinteressed bosome Such is the water saith Aristotle as is the earth through which it passeth if through mynes of brimstone it scaldes and burnes if through craggy rocks it cooles and stupefies and if through salt-pits it is brinish and brackish The like iudgement may wee make of counsell if it proceed from a breast and heart that is foule and filthy it teacheth filthinesse if from a pure and cleane honestie and cleannesse if from a libeâ—â—ll it doth good vnto all if from a couetous it aduiseth nothing but gripping and wring ng of the Subiect So that counsell is figured forth vnto vs in water which in it's softnesse sauour colour and sent is perfectly knowne whether the myne be good or bad through which it passeth And such is their opinion and that which they aduise as is the humour that is predominant in their stomacke Euerie one casts his eye vpon his owne particular approuing and accounting that for iust which tends to his profit and condemning the contrary God deliuer Kings from such Councellours and let them take heed that they doe not erre in their aduise and in those medicines and remedies which â—hey prescribe vnto their Kings for it is as it were a remediâ—â—â—â—nd irrecouerable errour and theirs must bee the fault and many times the punishment but alwayes the note and infamie of their Kings erring Nor let those that haue the Kings eare make a mockerie of my words for it is a very dangerous and ticklish place that they possesse Where to erre is an easie thing but to hit right hard and euen then when they least thinke of it their preciousest Iewells their richest Mettalls and their greatest treasures are turned into coales and the like trash like those moneyes of your Hobgoblins Fairies and Robin good-fellowes It is an old thred-bare saying That ill counsell turnes to the Councellours owne hurt Consilium malum consultori pessimum saith Plutarch And the holy Ghost That the first with whom ill counsell meets is it's Authour Facienti nequissimum consilium super eum deuoluitur For as he that casteth a stone on high it shall fall vpon his owne head And as hee that smiteth with guile woundeth himselfe And whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein And he that layeth a stone in his neighbours way shall stumble thereon And he that layeth a snare for another shall be taken in it himselfe so whoso giueth a wicked noysome counsell it shall come vpon himselfe and he shall not know from whence Wicked counsell