opinion in the Prince of want of iudgement in knowing what 's conuenient or els that which is more perillous a doubt or supect of dissimulation and by consequence an effect of hatred or scorne not alone with the Prince but with the Courtiers also who take no pleasure that any man should be ouer-diligent or in apparence too-too passionate in the Princes seruice Next not to giue matter of iest by beeing seene beyond all termes of modestie or decorum to become like an inamoured louer in the seruice of his Lord. This affection which is an excesse consisteth in nothing else than in making the shew before named with greater ardencie and more earnestlie than is fit either in the action which requireth no such diligent affect or at least not of him that doth it but of persons more inwardlie conioint and of the Princes confidents or in respect of the place and time as where the Masters eye is present or els such persons as necessarily or in all likelihood will giue him notice of the same it should be coniectured that therefore he doth exceed in shew thereof the which by so much the more growes odious by how much it is discouered to be done for his own profit and commodity and the more ridiculous being knowen the effect of a weak iudgement to obserue decorum in himselfe or in his actions place or time other circumstances al which proceed from a plebean and a seruile mind But on the other side it seemeth such demonstration and shew is done with reason and conueniency when in the execution of that which to our proper charge belongeth we do so much as is thought fit and necessarie and besides that perceiuing in the Prince a desire that the action be reiterated or that a greater diligence be vsed therein we endeuour fully to satisfie him shewing to do the same not only without any grudge or murmuring but with a willingnes and pleasure though it may be inwardly it be grieuous and displeasing and therefore we must not attend til by command the Prince discouer his desire but diuing as it were into his minde make an incounter with his pleasure preuenting the discouery because the Prince by nature earnestlie desiring his proper seruice which consisting in the Courtiers diligence of necessitie taketh pleasure to see him not liberall alone but prodigall if we may say so in an earnest curiosity and desire to consume himselfe for his absolute and compleat satisfaction And in this sort wee must thinke the Courtier exactly doth performe his duty in his particular charge from whence there is hope offered him when time shall serue to propagate and enlarge his confines within the which his office is restrained it being verie likelie that the Prince being satisfied of his abilitie and readinesse in his priuat office will giue a passage and entrance vnto greater affaires which shall be the fruit to haue performed his dutie as was requisit by reason of the place he beareth in the Court. CHAP. XI Of voluntary or assistant seruice BVt if notwithstanding all this diligent obseruation of the things aboue saide the Prince shall affoord vnto the Courtier no more fauour then is iustly answerable to his particular seruice it is fit hee seeke out other meanes for his promotion and to say trueth whosoeuer will haue a greater reward then which of due belongs vnto him it seemeth very requisite that he doe also some thing more then that which of right apperteines to him wherefore hee must not onely endeuour himselfe diligently to satisfie his owne charge or place but to imploy himselfe withall in some other things whereby the Prince may make coniecture of the Courtiers loue and incessant will to doe him seruice Yet true it is that heerein wee must be very circumspect because to insinuate or thrust himselfe into other mens charges without order from the Prince should be a rashnesse and presumption wherefore hee shall note that there are certeine endeuors to this purpose very fit as those which not onely are not hatefull but very acceptable Chiefly this assistance seemeth to be in places where the being is both honorable and commodious to the Prince and these are in the forechamber or that of the Presence where manie strangers meeting either by occasion of businesse or other complement it cannot but be very gratefull vnto the Prince to see it well frequented with his seruants creatures fauorites by whom they are receaued honored enterteined and in the end brought before him In like sort when he feedeth it cannot but be pleasing vnto him to bee incircled with manie attendants As also in his visitations or if hee chance to goe abroad to haue many about him assuredly will be very acceptable aswell for their readinesse vpon any occasion that may be offred as by the honorable respect which he receaueth not so much by the multitude which is a sign of magnificence as by their diligent seruice which argueth a liberal and beneficiall minde in him wherefore the Courtier must not thinke it tedious or time lost to be present vpon such occasions the which thing will make so much the greater impression if such be his office as by vertue thereof he may well be excused because by how much lesse hee is bound thereunto the greater note is taken of his affection This then is the benefit which is gotten by this attendance or assistance which in summe is the Princes satisfaction but the fruit which it bringeth with it is of much more importance by the occasions which are offered of infinite consequence in this arte for that by this attendance in place where he is often subiect to the eie of the Prince he winneth euery day a greater familiaritie and accustoming his sight to the obiect of his person the Courtier doth stil keepe himself in a fresh remembrance besides all this manie times there falleth out occasion of businesse in some matters the execution wherof either in their own nature or for want of time or other cause is not committed to those to whom in Court it doth properly belong but to such whom chance or choice made present and although this belong not to their office as hath beene said yet yeelding satisfaction by the dexterous performance thereof it mooueeth in the Prince a thought and will choicely or by name to command him at an other time and in the end to possesse him wholy with that charge I leaue to speak of the accidents which may fall out by one whereof or very few of them the entire fauour may bee obteined It is most cleere that Seianus by many sleights made conquest of Tiberius loue yet that accident of falling of the grott or caue whose ruins he held vp defending the life of his Prince with perill of his owne did so farre aduance his fauour that afterwards euen at his pleasure they might dispose of him But amongst the rest of al these there are two most important benefits by this diligent
that by this action there springeth an especiall beneuolence in the benefactor towards the fauourite as his creature and as it were worke of his hands as his testimonie of the practise of a vertuous action or deed For if Nature herselfe brought not forth the effect of this loue for the reason alleadged election and free choice doubtlesse would produce the same because who doth not perceiue how simple he should be who by many benefits hauing obliged one vnto him would voluntarily make choise to lose him Wherefore it is not true that Satias capiat Principem quod omnia tribuerit the Prince is at a stand hauing giuen as much as he can Neither is it true also that the Courtier hauing receiued so many benefits of his Prince that there is no more place of further expectation should bee a cause on the Courtiers part to make that potentiae sint raro sempiternae great fauours should be seldome euerlasting For albeit Tacitus in another place saith beneficia eousque gratae sunt dum videntur exolui posse vbi multum anteuenêre pro gratia odium redditur good turnes are so far acceptable as there is possibility of requital when they grow greater in stead of thanks hatred is returned Yet it proueth false in true nobilitie and gratefull mindes in whom loue and regard to benefactors groweth in true counterpoise with the grace and benefits receiued or rather doth surpasse it for hee who can not with effects be correspondent to the fauour done must yet at least deuise to make some shew of an inward gratuitie and as wrath is not contented to manifest the wrong in that measure it receiueth it but in desire of reuenge reteineth a farre greater scope in like sort that facultie wherein thankfulnesse and gratitude reside doth not desire by nature which makes vs euer striue to be more than other men onely to giue equall recompense with the benefit but much more then what hath beene receiued supplying want of outward meanes with abundance of inward good wil so that in loue he answereth not alone in iust proportion to his dutie but by the foresaid reason endeuours to outstrip the same Thus much is sayd to shew the falshood of that reason the which though it should be granted the cause would easily appeare whereby seruants sometimes euen voluntarily depriue themselues of that fauour which they reteine with Princes But there resteth yet a doubt how it comes to passe that so often times the fauorites fall in dsgrace with their Lords and this is that which for the most part is common whereof the examples of Seianus of Crispus Salustius and Moecenas set downe by Tacitus giue euident testimonie Whereupon it appeareth that in reason we can not rest our selues vpon these causes and that therefore it were necessary we see if there be any others yet more true and of greater consideration which we will endeuour to discouer in the processe of our discourse saying in the meane time that the originall of the foresayd losse may grow either from the Prince or from the Courtiers comprehending vnder the same name aswell the kindred as the Priences friends the reasons as it shall appeare seruing all alike and therefore we must aduert both what must be obserued with the Prince and what likewise with the Courtiers peaceably and without danger to keepe that fauor which with so great paines and industrie hath beene procured CHAP. XXIX What is to be obserued with the Prince for the continuing in his fauour THere are three thinges which seeme necessarie to bee obserued with the Prince the first is that the fauor being obteined by diligence and satisfaction giuen in seruice he perseuere and goe forward in the same with the same termes The which thing not onely by those of meane capacitie but by great Courtiers many times to their greater detriment is neglected Tacitus saith of Seianus that nimia fortuna socors factus est ouer-great fortune had made him negligent a thing for two reasons very dangerous first the heat of your seruice relenting the Princes loue cannot but grow luke-warme next because by this meanes you giue occasion to some other more diligent and carefull to make his entry wherefore it followeth necessarily in no case to leaue off anie vsuall obseruances nor at anie time to make shew of lesse feruencie in seruice which is very requisite because if the hope of fauour be the cause of a diligent and commendable seruice by how much more ought the secure possession of the same cause the continuance therein The second aduertisement is no more to shew then to be in deed an vpright and honorable man I meane for no priuate respect to bee inticed to abuse the fauour of his lord either by making sale thereof by vniust oppressions or offering violence to please the vnbridled appetites of other men and such like to the damage and preiudice of any man because such like actions can by no means be pleasing to the Prince aswell for the discouerie of an euill qualitie in him that performeth them of whom it is to be coniectured he cannot in reason bee assured as for the wound that by so bad a friend he receaueth in his reputation whereof how much Princes make account or at least ought to esteeme Tacitus teacheth saying Caetera principibus statim adesse vnum insatiabiliter parandum prosperam sui memoriam Princes are in possession of all other things at their will but one thing they must insatiablie seeke after that is to leaue a happie memorie behind them And more plainely in an other place Caeteris mortalibus in eo stare consilia quid sibi conducere putent Principum diuersam esse sortem quibus praecipua rerum ad famam dirigenda other mens consultations only tend to their profit but it falleth out otherwise with Princes whose actions chiefly are to bee directed to fame and reputation The third last obseruation in this point is not one iot to diminish the reuerence and duty towards the Prince nor because of speciall confidence to presume to vse familiaritie And for certeine I haue bene aduertised by a most inward fauorite of a great Prince in Italy that by this one obseruation hee profited much and that the same Prince vsed publikely to say that in so manie occasions of familiaritie he seemed still more fresh like one but newly entred into his seruice the reason heereof is because obsequious reuerence is at all times pleasing as witnessing a superioritie in the person to whom it is vsed And as affectation is to be eschewed so to arrogate or attribute too much can by no meanes bee pleasing to the Prince for as before vpon other occasion wee haue alledged Quemadmodum pessimis principibus sine fine dominatio ita quamuis egregijs modus libertatis placet As a continuall rule is pleasing euen to the woorst Emperours so no lesse pleasing is a modest kinde of plainnesse euen to the greatest
cause in the beginning were Societies instituted in the which if euery one should worke for his owne good without respecting that of his fellow doubtlesse they should be vaine and friutlesse Wherefore in these it is behooffull not to worke for proper commoditie but for publike benefit for that in this maner euery one as interessed doe agree to effect and facilize the obtaining of that good which is desired The end then of euery Society is the common good of those who are comprehended therin The respect and relation of him that commandeth towards him that serueth I dare not call it a Societie for such is the inequalitie of the termes that by many wise men the seruant is held the Commanders instrument whereby it followeth that among them there is no other end than the good of the master knowing it to be cleere that we can not distinguish the end of the instrument from that of the agent which mooues the same Heere-hence it followeth further that the Seruant oweth all his actions as a seruant vnto his Master and the Master nothing vnto his seruant and that therefore receiuing any benefit from the commander or Master he is by far more bound than by seruing he can oblige the other since in seruing he doth but the actions of an instrument the which are to be acknowledged from the agent but in receiuing of a benefit he hath the same from another as from an affected cause From the same principle many excellent and important consequences might be deduced the which notwithstanding I will reserue as for a place more fit in that part of actiue Philosophie which conteineth precepts of Oeconomicall prudence In the meane time wee say That not entreating heere of naturall or violent seruitude but of voluntary and electiue seruice it seemeth and not without reason it may pretend to haue in some sort the qualitie and nature of a Societie and that by consequence we may attribute vnto it for the end thereof a kinde of communion of good And certeinly that heerein the seruice due to the Master is most considerable may be gathered by what alreadie hath beene sayd as also by weying or iudging of their mutuall bonds for if any demand What is the seruants duetie or bond there is none I thinke that will not answer To serue his lord and master But on the other side seeking what is the Masters dutie we shall finde it To benefit the seruant according to his merit So that by this mutuall obligation these two termes Master and Seruant are vnited together in a societie the which as hath already been sayd hath for the end a common profit This granted it seemeth that the Masters scope or end is the seruants benefit and that of the Seruant the Masters seruice since their duties haue these references And if it be so there groweth a doubt how it may be verified that euery one worketh for his peculiar profit or that this is the naturall inclination of euerie man and of all working things But it is answered that the ends are of two sorts either desired or intended by themselues or by accident and caused by another Whereby it followeth that two which between themselues seeme contrary may desire one thing without repugnancy as in this present case it happeneth For the seruant desireth for himselfe and worketh for his proper benefit mooued vnto it by a naturall instinct but by accident and for this cause desireth and worketh in the seruice of his Lord since that from hence finallie hee draweth the profit and commodity which he longeth after whereby there is no contradiction at all that the seruant should haue for his end his proper benefit and withall the seruice of his Master Yet this doth not wholly resolue the propounded doubt because it seemeth that if the true and principall end of the seruant be his owne proper commoditie we might say that his dutie were to worke not for his Masters seruice but for his owne profit and therefore this is by euery man with great reason reiected Wherefore wee say that a seruant may two wayes be considered either as he is sociable or as he is associated if as sociable without doubt the end of his actions is his proper benefit if as associated by the bond of duty which bindes him his End is the seruice of his Master Or if in other termes we wil say the same thing that is that the seruant hath two Ends or Respects one which moueth him to contraâ—… this societie and this out of aâ—… question and resolutely is his proper benefit the other is the end of the societie and this doubtlesse is the commoditie or seruice of the master though not disbanded or disioyned from the profit of the seruant by the participation that this habitude or respect of societie hath betweene the Master and the seruant the which as it is said endeth alwaies in a common profit To conclude then and to reserue that vnto another place which heere as not so proper we will but briefly touch We say That the end for the which the Courtier voluntarilie submits his necke vnto the yoke of seruitude is his owne profit for the which as his end principally intended he both laboureth and endureth much But his end as a Courtier obliged in societie and duetie of seruitude is the seruice of his Lord the which he vseth as a meanes vnto the former and more principall which is his proper benefit with the intercourse of fauour which followeth the actuall seruice For the Courtier first of all longeth after his owne profit but not able otherwise to compasse the same than by the loue and fauour of his Prince he propoundeth his seruice and diligently working therein obteineth his fauour which breedeth his owne profit and commoditie aboue all other things by him desired It appeareth then that the ends or scopes that the Courtier hath are three that is his proper interest and this is that which chiefly he endeuoureth next the fauour of the Prince as the cause of his first end and then the seruice of the Prince as the efficient cause of that fauour But because these things haue in themselues some difficulties a larger declaration is necessary CHAP. II. A declaration of the foresaid ends PRoper interest Seruice and the Princes fauour are as it is said the Courtiers ends of the which his proper interest is the first and by it selfe desired the others by accident and as meanes Now what is meant by this terme fauour is so manifest that it needs no other explication but those of proper interest and the Princes seruice are not so well vnderstood both the one the other terme conteining many things vnto the which it may be the end and dutie of a Courtier doth not extend Let vs first then consider the Seruice and say thus There is no doubt but the Prince hath diuers and many sorts of men which serue him as the souldiers in the war the Magistrates in
not vnprofitable CHAP. XXII Meanes how to distinguish and come to the knowledge of these trials IF these assaies shall be made by Princes of small experience it will bee no great labour for the Courtier to discouer them but because wee haue presupposed he is to deale with a person circumspect and caurelous we say that the first difficultie is to haue a feeling that he is felt or rather to vnderstand and peize the full waight and meaning of euery word the Prince shall speake it being cleere that discourses to this end will passe vailed vnder figuratiue and ambiguous speeches not much vnlike to Oracles concluding with such obscuritie and clowdinesse that the disciphering and conceit of them wil be very difficil to him whom nature hath not giuen a wit more pregnant sharpe and prouident than to the ordinarie Wherefore this first point falls out within the compasse of our arte because to be heedy watchfull is not a thing that precepts can affoord if nature list not to be bountifull But vnderstanding the force of the wordes and perceiuing this treaty is but to tempt Art herein may yeeld great help in discouery betweene a true and fained triall that is which of them the Prince doth to the end to vse the Courtiers helpe therein if happily he accept the charge and which of them but for discouerie of his inclinations and affections First therfore when the Prince purposeth but to feele or vndermine his desire is onely the knowledge of the Courtiers intentions whereupon because he hath the greater interest he doth it with the more regard and lesse feare but hauing a minde actually to command and impose some charge from which the Courtier may perchance retire himselfe hee tries him then more bashfully and more warily heereof it follows that these Soundings are made with more circumspection and more obscuritie so that not finding the foord pasable it shall be in the Princes power to step backe without danger of discouerie The other Vnderminings which are vndertaken by distimulation falsly are only done to winne the knowledge of the Courtiers nature albeit they are no lesse by a wise Prince to be handled with great dexteritie arte yet because the impulsiue cause bindes not so much they are done somewhat more plainlie This is then a probable signe how to distinguish of like soundings or trials But who would doe it yet more exactly it is necessary he consider foure things that is the nature and inclination of the Prince the quality of the thing whereof the taste is giuen the present occasion in respect of the Prince and the actions by himselfe committed in that Court How to come to the Princes nature and inclination vnlesse I be deceiued hath sufficiently in his place beene declared before To vnderstand the qualitie of the thing cannot bee of that difficulty that there should neede many precepts and lesse doth it belong to this arte to set them down but thus much may be said that the nature and quality of the thing being perfectly knowen wee must conferre the same with the propensity and inclination of the Prince meditating whether any such disposition may in any likely-hood ingender in him such a cogitation or desire of the same or such like thing For example who knowing the nature of the Prince to bee sterne seuere temperatly giuen to his affairs abhorring detesting lasciuious pleasures should finde him make a triall in motion of amorous thoughts and passions of loue might well suspect this motion to bee false for that comparing the cause with the nature of the Prince he should not finde that sympathie or correspondence that belongs Howbeit to this consideration it were fit to ioyne that of accidents or occasions because many times a naturall disposition by some euent or other chance may be so changed that who hath not speciall regard thereunto shall often be deceiued as if to a Prince of a quiet pleasing nature forgetfull of wrongs there were some notable iniury offered whereby hee should bee much ingaged or stained in reputation if hee should not by his best indeuours procure reuenge or were it for some other speciall cause he must put on reuenge hee should bee mightily deceiued who either not knowing or not aduertising such accidents should ground his iudgement only in cōparing of the thing that is reuenge with the nature of the Prince Wherefore the knowledge of occasions and of accidents which intercur is very necessary for distinction of these feeling motions And this may be obteined by a curious obseruation the which leauing as impertinent to search the secrets of his Prince as a most profitable quality is highly to bee commended in the Courtier for by knowing many things he shall with the more facility take the better resolutions in many cases And therefore we may not let slip in his fit place to set downe the meanes how with ease to come to the knowledge of all that is done and said in Court The consideration of the Courtiers proper actions is also no lesse needfull in this distinction for that either they are such as easily discouer his inward affections and naturall inclinations are taken as open and free or else such as giue a shew of dissimulation and seeme not of themselues sufficient to discouer his intentions Who then hath shewed himselfe free and plaine hath no reason to suspect that he is felt or vndermined for his minde or dispositions sake already presupposed to bee knowen by his actions but rather to finde how he is inclined in the acceptance or refusall of the execution of that charge which may be imposed vpon him On the other side who hath carried himselfe circumspectly hath more reason to beleeue that the Prince doth sound him to finde the depth of his conceits and humour yet heere we may not let to say but that these plaine and open Courtiers may be tasted too either in things wherin they are already known as inclining and disposed or in their contraries In those then wherin their diisposition is already knowen it is most true these trials cannot be for their discouery but it may well fall out in that which is the contrary because though it seeme very probable that the contrary disposition takes away all confidence to receiue any benefit by their seruice notwithstanding who is in a longing desire vseth by all circumstances to giue his hope an easie passage not to finde a contradiction and to conclude in the selfe same things may false alarmes and trials be made For our minde being so full of lurking corners a man can neuer so well assure himselfe of anothers outward thoughts that some scruple or ambiguitie will not still remain But here we must make a distinction because things openly professed are either commendable or wicked if they be bad t is plaine that for such we must take the disposition of the courtier that professeth them as his actions shew for for he should be too great an
worke no lesse erroneously than those of other arts called Coniecturall Wherefore if after the obseruance of the aboue noted aduertisements that fauor or grace shall not bee obteined or that which is much worse if by any accident it shuld be lost so that assuredly there were discouered small satisfaction in the Prince it resteth that for the ful accomplishment perfecting of this worke we should set downe in this case what wee thinke considerable and necessarie therein for the Courtiers benefit And questionlesse there cannot be a greater torment to the hart of him that serueth then to see himselfe slightly regarded or beloued of his Lord and this accident particularly worketh greatest effects in those who haue not their mindes armed with naturall magnanimity or vertuous education but are rather of a disdainefull spirit not able to endure the conforming of their affections to the prescript rule or square of an other mans opinion will or direction especially in the maner of his liuing either in peaceable quietnesse or vnquiet businesse whereupon it followeth many times the resolutions of such men in these cases are verie strange and vnconsiderate Wherefore in this so doubtfull a passage to conduct him foorth by the guidance of wise and fruitfull counsell we first say that as in bodily sicknesses the cause knowen remedies for the cure therof are easily applied so must the Courtier so much as in him is diligently seeke out the occasion that moueth his Prince or Lord to bee angry or not well disposed towards him to the end either by himselfe or by meanes of some other to moue him therein yet so that it fall not within the preiudice of his principal designes as before hath beene handled because then it should be better to leaue the seruice by crauing licence to depart But because it is a saying Che piaga per allentar d'arco non sana That the vnbending of the bow is no healing of the wound so is it not enough many times to remoue the cause of this displeasure for the minde notwithstanding remaines still exulcerate and greeued It is necessary therefore not onely to remooue the cause of this anger but to proceed in the obseruance of those aduertisements which the Rhetoritians teach for the lenefying and appeasing of minds once mooued as humiliation acknowledging of the errour accusing himselfe crauing pardon offring himselfe readie to all satisfaction and continuing with all patience in these courses hee may make it apparent how much he valueth the fauor loue of his Prince with the sorrow hee sustaineth for his displeasure for this anger growing of an offence which conteineth a neglect by these foresaid demonstrations such a counterpoise may bee made in opinion to be thought despised and disgraced that in the end it may bring the Prince to put on a more gentle and pacified minde towards the Courtier so that this offence and cause of badde satisfaction haue not taken such roote that it prooue rather a hatred then a dislike because that in such case as to a more greeuous maladie a more potent medicine is necessarie the which manie times the Courtier by no means of obsequious diligence shal be able to finde whereupon hee must haue recourse to the helpe of intercession and mediation by some others as the Princes kindred his friends and other Courtiers in greatest fauour But if none of these courses can stay the wrath nor appease the same so that the hope of recouerie of fauour be wholly extinct the End and Scope of his seruice being taken away it necessarily followeth that the societie also betweene the Prince and the Courtier should be dissolued by his abandoning and leauing of the seruice This resolution must bee taken but vpon vrgent necessitie for that otherwise it would come seldome to passe but that the Courtier should incur great detriment either by opinion of some speciall want in him and chiefly in those that haue liued in greatest fauour or of some rash presumption as supposing nothing can coequall his deserts or of an inconstancie of nature which will neuer continue long in one course or finally by the losse of a Princes protection besides his time it may be the flower of his age vainely spent and to small purpose things all of them of speciall regard and estimation But when the case is desperate it shall bee better to bestow the remnant of his life in some other seruice or imploiment then vnfruitfully to serue where he may sooner expect a sudden discharge than hope to compasse any of those Ends which whosoeuer serueth in Court doth aime at and propound * ⎠* FINIS Ann. 4. Idem 14. Ann. 4. Ann. 4. Ann. 15. Ann. 4. Ann. 4. Lib. 1. hist Lib. 15. Ann. Lib. 1. hist Lib. 1. hist Lib. 4. Ann. Tac. lib. 4. hist Lib. 15. Ann. Lib. 14. Ann. 4. Lib. 4. Ann. Tac. ann lib. 3. Ann. 3. Lib. 4. Ann. Ann. l. 4. Tacit. hist li. 4. Tacit. li. 1. Ann. 14. ann Ann. 4. lib. 4. Tac. in vit Cor. Agri. Tac. lib. 13. ann Lib. 1. hist. Tac. lib. â— anâ— Lib. 2. hist. Lib. 14. â—nn