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
should be made and that the King should take notice of this or that misdemeanour it shall be dawbd vp so handsomely such a faire varnish set vpon it and so ful of excuses that it will be all one as if he had neuer heard of it or any such thing bin at all Presuming that Kings rather then they will be troubled with businesses of clamour and noyse will for their owne ease slightly passe them ouer Wherein as they haue oftentimes found themselues so it is fit they should still be deceiued And truly to no man can with better Title his Entrance be giuen nor this golden key to the Kings Chamber be committed then to him who with the integritie and zeale of an Elias should trample and tread these Monsters vnder foote and roundly and throughly to take this care to task which without al doubt would be one of the gratefullest and most acceptable seruices which can be done vnto God both in matter of pietie and of pitie But what shall I say of the Kings happinesse in this case With nothing can he more secure his conscience then with this As one who is bound out of the duty of his place to haue a watchfull eye ouer all his Ministers but more narrowly and neerely to looke into the water of those that are the great Ones being likewise obliged graciously and patiently to heare those that shall complaine of them it not proceeding out of spleene and malice but out of a desire to iustâ—fie the truth to make good a good cause and that the fault mâ—y be punished with whom the fault is truly found For when the subiects iust Complaints are not heard besides that his conscience is charged and clogg'd therewith the Ministers themselues become thereby much more absolute and more insolently Imperious Insomuch that the subiect seeing that they are neither heard nor eased of their grieuances they grow desperate And what fruites despaire bring forth I neede not tell kings that know either men or bookes There is not in holy Scripture any one thing more often repeated then the particular care which God hath of the oppressed In the seuenty second Psalme where the Greatnesses of King Salomon are set forth but more particularly those magnificencies of that true King Salomon Iesus Christ whose figure he was amongst other his Excellencies for the which he ought to be much estemed beloued and adored of all the Kings of the earth and serued by all the nations of the world this which followeth is not the least Adorabunt eum omnes reges terrae omnes gentes seruient ei quia liberauit pauperem à potente paâ—perem cui non erat adiâ—tor All Kings shall worship him all nations shall serue him For he shall deliuer the poore when he cryeth the needy also and him that hath no helper And in another place he makes the like repetition Eâ— vsuris iniquitate redimet animas eorum Propter miseriam inopâ—m etgemitum pauperum nunc exurgam dicit dominus Now for the oppression of the needy and for the sighes of the poore I will vp sayth the Lord and will set at libertie him whom the wicked hath snared And in the first Chap. of Esay it seemeth that God doth proclaime a plenary Indulgence and full Iubile vnto those Kings and Gouernours who apply themselues to the easing of the oppressed Subuenite oppresso iudicate populo defendite viduam et venite arguite me dicit dominus si fuerint peccata vestra vt coccineum quasi nix dealb ab untur at si fuerint rubra quasi vermiculus velut lana alba erunt Relieue the oppressed iudge the fatherlesse and defend the widowe though your sinnes were as crymson they shaâ—l be made white as snow though they were red like skarlet they shall be as wool you see then that all sinnes are forgiuen that King that is a Louer of Iustice and a friend vnto the poore and needy that takes paines in relieuing the oppressed and in defending the widowe and protecting the distressed They may stand with God in iudgement alleage for themselues his Iustice his righteousnesse who haue dealt iustly vprightly with their subiects and mantained the weake and needy against those powerfull Tyrants which seeke to swallow them vp as your greater fishes doe the lesser Qui deuorant plebem meam siâ—ut escam panis Who eate vp my people as they eate bâ—ead And howbeit Iustice ought to be one and the same both to poore and rich yet God doth more particularly recommend vnto their care and charge that of the poore For as it is in the Prouerb Quiebra sa soga por lo mas delgado Where the corde is slendrest there it breaketh soonest For a powerfull man will defend himselfe by his power and great men by their greatnesse And would to God that they had no more to backe them then a iust defence for then the poore should not neede to stand in feare of them But that is now to passeable in these times which the Apostle Saint Iames found fault with in his Quod diâ—ites per potentiam opprimunt vos et ipsi trahunt vos ad iudicium That the rich oppresse the poore by tyrannie and draw them before the iudgement-seates When Kings doe cumply with this their obligation when they free the oppressed and defend the wronged Orphane and Widowe Godsends downe vpon them his light his grace and other extraordinary gifts whereby they and their states are conserued and maintayned Whose ruine and perdition doth euermore succeede through the default of him that gouerneth for if Kings would gouerne according vnto equitie and iustice they and their kingdomes should be as it were in a manner perpetuall and immortall For as it is in the Prouerbs of Salomon Rex qui indicat in veritate pauperes Thronus eius in aeternum firmabitur A King that iudgeth the poore in truth his throne shall be established for euer Whereas on the contrary most certaine it is that the King and kingdome haue but a short continuance where the Iudges and Ministers are swayed by passion and thereby the subiects abused It is the saying of the holy Ghost Regnum à gente in gentem transfertur propter iniustitias et iniurias et contumelias et dolos Because of vnrighteous dealing and wrongs and riches gotten by deceit the Kingdome is transferred from one people to another No one thing drawes such assured and apparent perils of warre vpon kingdomes as the wrongs that are done to the poorer sort of subiects Clamor eorum in aures domini Exercituumintroiuit The cryes of them haue entred into the eares of the Lord of Hosts And there before his Counsell of Warre they present their Memorialls and their Petitions with such a loud language and discomposed deliuery that they pierce through his eares when they call vpon him saying since thou art the Lord God of Hoasts raise thou Armies both in Heauen
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
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
the houses of Princes and great Persons these things are in greatest request Ecce qui in veste pretiosa sunt delicijs in domibus Regum sunt Behold they which are goâ—geously apparel ed and liue delicately are in Kings Courts So says our Sauiour Christ. And many dangers doe they runne who measure out all their life by the Compasse of Contents and passe times that goe cloathed in Silkes and Veluetts and are continually conuersant amidst the sweetest perfumes the purest Holland the finest Damaske and the richest c'oathes of Silke and Gold Yet for all this doe not I say That Princes and great Lords liuing in this State and Pompe cannot â—o nomâ—ne bee saued but to shew that in all Estates there is a great deale of danger but much more in your daintier and nicer sort of people Nor will I with all my force straine this vnto Kings as well witting what their Estate and Greatnesse doth admit and require And that as Nature did dâ—fference them from the rest both in blood and birth so likewise ought there to be a distinction in their diet raiment and in the furnâ—shing and adorning of their houses But I say that which cannot be denied that in excuse of this their state and conueniencie they take vnto themselues heerein too large a licence and passe to soone from the foote to the hand from the hand to the mouth making of an inch an ell and of an elll an Aker So hard a matter is it for great Princes to moderate themselues and vse a meane And that Heathen was not much wide of the marke who sayd in the Senate That that is an vnfortunate Estate that obligeth a man to liue alwayes vp to the eyes grazing in his pleasures and delightes And that it is a very bad Omen for a man to liue all his life time according to the sauour and guste of his palate Consuetudinem nullam peiorem esse quà m vt semper viuat quis ad voluptatem There is not any custome so bad as that of a mans liuâ—ng according to his owne pleasure Such men are rather to be pittied then enuied for there is not that hower of their contents and deâ—ightes which doth not pay it's tribute of teares and sorrow Onely for to please and satisfie this sense and to recreate that of the sight haue so many Artes beene inuented so many sorts of Trades and Trades-men set a worke so much varietie of fashions and costly cloathes such a world of curious Silkes Lawnes Cambricks and Hollands such large beds rich bedding sumptuous bed-steds so sensuall and so ouer nice and dainty that it may well be questioned whether is greater the costlinesse or the curiositie the richnesse or the ryot occasioned by them Nor which is the miserie of it is it yet known whether or how farre this Humour will extend it selfe But sure I am that thereby houses are disordred much monyes consumed ancient Inheritances solde away and a thousand other inconueniences introduced And to say the truth this sense hath not neede of so much nicetie but abuse hath now brought it to that passe that it hath no sooner a liking to a thing but it greedily runn's after it as a beast that is put into a fresh ground runnes vp and downe smelling out the choice grasse and will not bite but at the sweetest But he that doth Regalar and pamper vp this sense most doth most of all make it his enemie Which will neuer giue him ouer till it haue vndone him This is so large a Theame and so copious a subiect that if I should heere write and set downe all that which in this kinde would fairly offer it selfe I must be driuen much to inlarge my pen. But it is not my Intent to set my cloath on the Tenters nor in this little Loome to weaue large Histories and long discourses but onely to giue a short touch and away of the effects which this sence causeth and of the miseries and misfortunes which are incident to Touching and that all the worke paines which it does and takes for it's friends and best well-wishers is not so freely bestow'd nor that good assurance giuen thereof but that this it 's momentary pleasure makes quick payment in groanes in diseases and in Temporall and Eternall Death The condition of the obligation being drawen and signed by no worse a Scriuener then Saint Paul Si enim secundum carnem vixeritis morieimni For if yee liue after the flesh yee shall dye Wee haue examples of Kings good store and of ancient and moderne Kingdomes forraine and domestick The first shall be of Charles the 8. King of France in whom voluptuousnesse and delights wrought so great an alteration in that his most fortunate and happy entrance which hee made into Italy where without putting hand to his sword hee became Master of all the whole Kingdome of Naples and did so amuze and affright all the World that the Great Turke was afraid of being ouer-runne by him and many of his Commaunders which had the keeping of his Fortes on that Coast forsooke them and fled And if that King had but well followed that Enterprize hee had beene Lord of all Greece But being a young Gentileman hee suffered himselfe to be ouercome by the Dainties and Delicacies of that Countrie spending his Time in delightes banquets shewes maskings dancings and feastings So that hee who had so soone filled the world with feare was as soone ouercome by yeelding to the pleasure of this sense For hee and his did so glut themselues with the fruites of that Country and so followed the delights of the flesh that hauing entred victorious they became subiect and were subdued by that new and loathsome disease which possesseth the whole body and to dissemble it's name they call it Corrimiento which in plaine English is the French Pocks There and then it was where and when it first began to rage and from thence spred it selfe hither and thither and now is so generally knowen in all parts of the world and which by Touching onely cleaues close vnto man And this had it's roote and beginning in carnall delight as it was resolued in a Consultation of Physitians which King Don Alonso called together in Toledo which is another notable Example who hauing wonne that Citie from the Moores and many other places ioying themselues in the victorie layd aside their Armes and gaue themselues in that manner to their pleasures and delights that within a few dayes they were growen so lazye and so weake that they were not able to fight nor to beare armes against the enemie and being forced to take them vp in a certaine skirmish which they had neere vnto Veles they were ouerthrowen and shamefully put to flight leauing dead in the place the sonne of their King Who being very sensible of this so great an infamie consulted his Physicians what should be the cause of this so great a weakenesse both in the strength
Subiects treating them as if they were his children and procuring that not any one of them may depart discontented from his presence which would be the the onely Load-stone to draw all their loue and affection towards him So did that great Fauourite of the King of Syria Naaman whom all the people with a full and open mouth called Father corresponding with him in the loue of so many sonnes or children For those that are seated in so high a place haue great cause for many reasons to procure publike loue and together with the grace of their Prince to haue the good wills and affections of the people for this makes the other to be more durable and firme For this is the naturall miserie of great and powerfull persons that Enuie and Greatnesse go alwayes hand in hand the one still accompanying the other And there is not any poyson like vnto it which moues and stirres vp such violent pangs and passions in the stomacke and more especially if it worke vpon the priuacie and inwardnesse of Fauourites with their Kings as if that it selfe were not a true and sufficient strong poyson Seeing that it is held for certaine that one word of a King nay which is more one angry looke or bended brow hath sent many a Fauourite to his graue For as Salomon saith the life of the Subiect depends on the countenance of the King And if we will not beleeue him let vs see and obserue how many Fauourites escape which doe not dye of that wound or the feare thereof and more particularly with those Kings which are of that condition as one said that there is not two fingers breadth betweene their smile and their sword to the end that this their priuacie might bee had in the lesse esteeme For your best Fauourites are but like your better sort of fruits which are soonest subiect to be worme-eaten For Enuie is a very worme and hath the same qualities as a worme hath and spreads it selfe so farre that it extends it selfe euen to those that haue beene benefited by the Fauourite the couetousnesse and risentment of that which they doe not receiue working more vpon them then the Law of thankfulnesse or of a gratefull acknowledgement for that which they haue receiued So that wee may say That few are they who loue those from whose hand they haue receiued some good because it was no greater And those that haue receiued none that they are therein iniured and wronged So that to qualifie and temper this inconuenience it shall be wisedome in Fauourites and it will concerne them to vse all the meanes they can deuise to effect it to procure to bee wellbeloued And no lesse in Kings to seeke out such as are modest louing affable vertuous honest well beloued and of a gratefull and thankfull disposition CHAP. XXXV How Kings ought to carry themselues towards their Fauourites FOr to resolue this Question and to giue satisfaction to that which is here proposed in this Chapter it being a matter of so tender and dangerous a touch I will first lay for my foundation a true point of doctrine in naturall Philosophie celebrated with that sentence of the glorious Saint Austen Amor meus pondus meum illo feror quocunque feror The plummet which peaseth man and the wings wherewith the heart makes it's flight is loue which doth leade the dance to all the other passions of the soule And as those that saile in a deepe sea with full sailes runne on their course without any danger but when they draw neare the shore they take them downe and ruffle them that they may not runne their ship vpon some shelfe or split it selfe against some rocke so likewise when the heart is lifted vp vnto the loue of God which is infinite goodnesse it may without perill plough the seas of this world and with full sayles cut the Maine without danger of shelues quick-sands or rockes For according to that saying of the glorious Saint Bernard as the cause of our louing God is God himselfe so the measure of louing him is to loue him without measure Causa diligendi Deum Deus est modus dilectionis sine modo diligere As the cause of our loue is infinite so must it be without taxe or limitation wherein there can be no excesse But when the heart drawes but little water and touches too close vpon these things of the earth which haue their goodnesse much limited it will be high time and very fit and conuenient to strike the sayles of our loue and to go on with a great deale of caution and consideration lest this our vessell should sticke in the sands neuer to bee gotten out againe or fall vpon some rocke or other of vnaduisednesse and indiscretion And this is so certaine a truth that albeit the loue to our parents be so naturall and obligatory and so giuen vs in charge by God with the promises of so many blessings on those children which shall cumply with this loue and with so many threatnings on those that shall faile therein yet notwithstanding God himselfe will that therein there should be a limitation and moderation Qui amat patrem aut matrem plus quam me non est me dignus He that loueth father or mother more then me is not worthy of me And the common old Adage saith That friendship must go no further then vsque ad ar as and stop there And howbeit some would haue the limit which is here put to loue to be Death I say that it's limit is Reason and obedience to Gods Commandements For when our Loue shall come to encounter with them it is to make a stand and go no further Our second ground or foundation whereon we shall build is this That in Kings next vnto the loue of God and his Christian Religion no loue ought to be like vnto that which they ought to beare vnto their kingdomes and common-wealths for the end for which Kings were first instituted and ordained was the common good of their kingdomes And as children haue a naturall obligation to loue their parents because from them they haue receiued their naturall being so Kings owe the like to their kingdomes and Commonwealths because next vnder God they gaue them their being of Kings and that power and authoritie whereby they were to protect defend and augment them Vpon these grounds and foundations must that loue and friendship be laid which is to be held with Fauourites Louing them and giuing them power and authoritie conformable to that which for this end shall be thought most conuenient For albeit they as Seneca saith keepe the key of their Kings heart and in matters of secresie and benefits are preferred before the rest yet this must be done with a Christian kinde of prudence and discretion Hauing euermore an especiall care that the force of his loue be not so violent and so boundlesse that to giue content to one sole Fauourite hee discontent all the rest
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
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
he might destroy the workes of the Diuell Whereby he shewed no lesse courage then gained reputation And it is one of the most preiudiciall things that can befall Common-wealths to seeke to honour such persons in whom doe not concure those qualities nor the knowledge of such Ministers and giuing them the Title of Counsellours which haue neither that sufficiency of knowledge nor wisedome which is necessary for to giue a good and sound opinion in graue and weighty matters And as it were a foolish and vnaduised thing in him that hath neede of a payre of shoes to go to looke them at a Barbers and not at a shomakers shop so is the case alike when wee leaue wise and experienced men in a Common-wealth lurking in a corner and put those into eminent places which neither know how to begin nor end businesses nor what course in the world they are to take That which is fittest for them but much more for a King and kingdome is to let them alone in their ignorance Quia tu scientiam repulisti repellam ego te saith God Because thou hast reiected knowledge I will also reiect thee For one foolish Minister alone is an intolerable burthen for a Kingdome Arenam salem massam ferri facilius est ferre quam hominem imprudentem fatuum Sand and salt and a masse of yron is easier to be borne then a man without vnderstanding Three things saith hee which are the heauiest to beare are more easie to bee borne and with more patience to be indured then the imprudencies of an vnwise and foolish Minister CHAP. X. Hee continues the Discourse of the qualities of Ministers and Counsellours THe last words of Iethros Aduice were Et qui oderint Auaritiam hating Couetousnesse A qualitie no lesse necessary then those before specified The 70. Interpreters translate it Et qui odio habent superbiam Hating pride There are some men which rake vp a great deale of wealth and are couetous only to keepe and make the heape the bigger liuing for this cause miserably vnto themselues and deepely indebted to their backe and belly Others there are that scrape and scratch by hooke or by crooke all the money they can finger that they may afterwards prodigally spend it and maintaine their vaine pride and ostentation But in what sort so euer men be couetous sure I am That Couetousnesse is one of the worst notes and basest markes wherewith Kings Ministers and Counsailours of State can be branded Auaro nihil est Scelestius saith Ecclesiasticus There is not a more wicked thing then a couetous man And from those that are toucht with this infection Kings are to flye as from a plague or Pestilence and be very circumspect and wary that they be not admitted to the Councell Table and to remoue those from thence that haue receiued any bribe For it is an incurable disease a contagious corruption which like a Leprosie goes from one to another and clingeth close to the soule Besides to receiue is a sweete thing and leaues the hand so sauory and so well seasoned that it hath no sooner receiued one gift but it is presently ready for another a third a fourth and so in infinitum And the end of that which is past is but a disposition for that which is to come Like a hungry Curre who hath no sooner chopt vpone morsel but he is ready for another And he perhaps who at first was contented with a little could say Esto basta â—y sobra This is inough and too much afterwards much too much and more then too much will not satisfie his hungry mawe Infinita enim est et insatiabilis cupiditatis n-atura Infinite saith Aristotle and insatiable is the gut of couetousnesse And the Holy Ghost tells vs Auarus non implebitur pecunia He that loueth siluer shall not be satisfied with siluer nor he that loueth aboundance with increase For it is a kind of salte and brackish water wherewith couetous mans thirst cannot be quenched for when he hath taken this and that other and a world of things he gapes still for more He is better satisfied by denying him that which hee desireth then by giuing him that which he craueth And therefore publicke Ministers if wee will credit Diuinitie should be so noble and so free that they should not onely not be couetous but quite opposite thereunto and to hold a particular hatred and perpetuall enmitie with couetousnesse That they should not onely not receiue giftes and presents but that they should hate and abhorre them and cause those to be informed against that either shall giue a bribe or pretend to giue For most true is that saying of the sonne of Sirack Munera dona excaecant oculos Iudicum Presents and gifts blind the eyes of wise How sone is a couetous man blinded when he beholdes the baite of his Passion Nor is there any thing more often repeated in sacred and prophane writ then the putting vs in minde of force and efficacie which gifts haue to wrest Iustice and peruert iudgement Moses saith of them That they blinde the eyes of the wise and that they turne and winde the words of good men chopping and changing one for another to serue their purpose Qui quaerit Locupletari peruertit oculum suum The gift blindeth the wise and peruerteth the words of the righteous By which is vnderstood the Intention which is easily wrested when interest puts to a helping hand which is that Loade-stone which drawes the yron after it and causeth them to erre that suffer themselues to be carryed away therewith If a Iudge be couetously giuen he will soone varie his opinion and make no scruple to condemne the poore who hath nothing to giue him and absolue the rich who giues him all that hee hath For mony is an able Aduocate and pleads hard And Iustice sayth Isidore is strangled with gold The times are ill when that which cannot be obtained by Iustice must be procured by Money Fiue hundred yeares and more was Greece gouerned by Lycurgus his Lawes to the great happinesse of the Naturalls of that Countrie and admiration of strangers without the breach of any one Law by meanes whereof that Common-wealth was sustained with admirable peace and Iustice because priuate interest had no power with the Iudges of the Land But when money came to beare sway and that men tooke pleasure therein and made it their happinesse the Common-wealth was made vnhappy and the Lawes and Iustice were trodden vnder foote He saith the wise man that is greedy of gaine troubleth his own house Qui autem odit munera viuet But hee that hateth gifts shall liue And I doe not see how hee can liue who receiuing so much so often and of so many sees himselfe so laden and so inuironed and beset with obligations which are so opposite and contrary one to another I say contrary because the Pretenders are so amongst
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
Nabuchodonazars image but that all the whole body be one and the selfe same flesh and bone all of the same matter and informed with the same forme That bundle of sheafes which Ioseph saw his like the King-sheafe lifting vp his head higher then the rest and if we may beleeue the Rabbins reaching as high as heauen and those of his brethren prostrate on the ground doing homage thereunto is the Embleme of the body of a Councell it's President like vnto that of king Pharaoh And the sacred Text doth not say that that tall and high sheafe was different in matter from the rest but that all were of the same eare and stalke giuing vs thereby to vnderstand that he that is to be the Head or President of the whole body of a Councell though he be to be higher then the rest in the dignitie and hight of his Office yet for all this God would not that he should be made of any other kinde of matter then were the rest of the members That he should not besome great block-headed Lord or a man without wit or learning that in his carriage and manner of life he should seeme to be cut out of another peece of cloath but that hee should bee of the selfe same qualitie fashion and profession And that the President of euery Councell should be chosen from amongst the Counsailours themselues that they be moulded out of the same Masse and lumpe as well the feete as the head that there goe as we say but a payre of sheares betweene them and that they be clad all in one and the same liuerie And God giuing order to his Vice-roy and in it to all Kings how he was to choose a President that should be the Head and ruler ouer his people saith thus vnto him Eum constitues quem Dominus tuus elegerit de numero fratrum tuorum Thou shalt in any wise set him King ouer thee whom thy Lord thy God shall choose One from among thy brethren shalt thou set King ouer thee And howbeit God had heere exprest himselfe so plainely and that he himselfe had the nominating of the person and therefore there could be no errour in the Election yet it seemeth God was not satisfied heerewith but comes presently with another Prouiso and a second Mandatum saying Thou mayst not set a stranger ouer thee hominem alterius gentis which is not thy brother He must not be of another people or of another familie As if he should haue said not of another Councell Doubtlesse saith S. Chrysostome this is a businesse of great consequence and we are to insist much thereupon considering that God himselfe doth recommend and repeate it so often vnto vs to the end that it may be imprinted in the hearts of Kings And in Reason of State and matter of gouernment it is the greatest benefit they can do to their Kingdomes And therefore amongst other those great and many fauours which God promâ—sed to conferre vpon his people speaking vnto them in the similistude of the Vine he indeareth this as the greatest That he will set a guard about them and Gardiners or vineyard-keepers that shall be within the precincts thereof Dabo ei vinitores ex eodem loco I will giue her her Vineyards from thence and the valley of Achor for a doore of hope But my good Lord within the precincts of a Vineyard what can be had there but hedges and Vine-plants Had it not beene better to giue vnto this Vineyard a lusty strong Laborour to dresse and prune it and to keepe and defend it from passengers The Chalde â—xpounds this place very well For in stead of Vinitores he puts Gubernatores Which are Rulers and Presidents And for to be as they ought to be we haue said already that they should be vniforme with the members For if they be the Vine he must likewise be a Vine that must be â—â—eir Head Christ himselfe that he might be the Presiden◠〈◊〉 Head of that Apostolicall Councel where the Apostles were as tender plants and had the same proprieties made himselfe a Vine to conforme himselfe vnto them Ego sum vitis vera vos palmites I am the true Vine and yee the branches To the end that Kings may vnderstand and all the World may know of how great importance it is that the Members and Head Counsailours and Presidents should in their qualities and conditions be very conformable sithence that heerein he would not dispence with himselfe much lesse therefore with others and for this cause Presidents ought still to be chosen out of the same Councells Ex eodem loco eiusdem gentis de numero fratrum suorum Out of the same place the same people and from amongst their brethren And if Counsailours might haue the hope of such increase of honour in their persons it would make them much better then they are and they would study to win themselues credit and to cumply in all things with their obligation seruing with carefullnesse and satisfaction as well to give their Kings good content as that they againe might take notice thereof and in their greatest occasions imploy them in their seruice This rule did that great gouerner of Gods people Moses obserue who hauing as wee savd vsed diligence for to seeke out persons which might helpe him furnished with those qualites afore-mentioned made a distribution and diuision amongst them allotting them places and Offices answearable to their Talent And which is worthy the noting that as he himselfe affirmeth in another place the noblest and wisest amongst them he made rulers ouer the rest For when in noblemen concurre the qualities of wisedome and prudence and other the Vertues there is a great deale of reason nay a strong obligation lyes vpon it that Presidentships and the greatest dignities pâ—aces of honour should be bestowed vpon them especially when not degeneraâ—ing from the Vertue of their Ancestors but surpassing them therein they haue the aduantage of noblenesse of blood vpon which vertue like a Diamond set in gold shewes it selâ—e the better and appeares the more beautifull The words of that most wise Law-giuer wheron this discourse will be the better grounded are these Tuli de Tribubus vestris viros sapientes nobiles constitui eos Principes Tribunos Centuriones Quinquegenarios ac Decanos qui docerent vos singula I tooke the cheife of your Tribes wise men and knowen and made them Heads ouer ye Captaines ouer thousands and Captaines ouer hundreds and Captaines ouer fifties and Officers amongst your Tribes Out of euery Tribe he chose the worthiest and most sufficient men and made them Heads and Presidents in that gouernment And he that was so zealous of the Lawes and good gouernment valiant Mattathias in that prouision of Offices which he distributed at his death he said of Simon Scio quod vir consilij est ipsum audite semper And because he was so wise a Counsailour
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
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
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
Romane Senate did ordaine that the Consullship and other the chiefe Magistracies should not be giuen to any saue such as sued for them This Law at first was good for then none durst presume to sue for them but those who in the peoples opinion did well deserue them and tooke it for a great affront that they should receiue a deniall So that by this meanes euery one did labour by his noble Actions to deserue that Dignitie as also that all the people might thinke him worthy thereof Afterwards this proued to be a very pernicious Law for noâ— those who by their vertues and heroicall Acts did deserue this Honour but those that were the most powerfull did sue for it whilest others for feare of these durst not shew themselues in the busines and so were vtterly excluded from those honourable Offices This inconuenience was taken notice of and Publicola the Consull made a Law vpon paine of death wherewith he was to be punished who without approbation from the people of Rome should sue for any of the said Offices And likewise for the curbing of this Vice was the Calphurnian Law enacted But now for our finnes hath crept in amongst vs that Greekish infection wherof I Socrates saith that Ambition at that time was growen to that extreamitie and to that hight that in stead of putting ambitious pretenders to death those honourable places were not bestowed but vpon those which did shame-fully sue for them and could best negociate by their power purse or friends whichis was and will be an occasion in all times and places that with scandalous corruption and Simoniacall trading Offices and Benefices shall be giuen and solde to him that will giue most Not the better person but the better purse shall carry it The inconueniences that follow the so much fauouring of suitors and being vn-mindfull of those who tend nothing else but to serue and deserue well are very great and not vnknowen to all those that are Statists and good Common-wealths men And if the shortnesse which I desire to obserue in this Discourse did not hinder mee a large field would here discouer it selfe vnto me wherein to enter and expatiate my selfe and might take occasion to treate of the false hoods shiftes deceits and iniustices which are dayly vsed in such like pretensions and petitions which haue beene the cause of the destruction and ruine not only of particular Common wealthes but of whole Kingdomes And this which I speake is of so much truth that some of the Hebrew Doctors hold for certaine that the Monarchie of the House royall of Dauid was ouerthrowne by giuing credit to the malice and deceit of a couetous pretender and that of twelue Prouinces which his heyres possessed of those twelue Tribes two onely remayned intire vnto him The case was this King Dauid hauing in performance of that oath and promise which he had made vnto Ionathan giuen vnto his sonne Mephibosheth all those heredements messuage and goods which were King Sauls And commanding Ziba that hee and his sonnes and his seruants should serue him and till his land for him and bring him in foode to eate there entred into Ziba's minde a diuelish pretension to beg all Mephibosheths estate for himselfe And thereupon tooke hold of such an occasion as seemed fittest vnto him to worke this his treacherie and deceite When King Dauid fled from his sonne Absalon to the mountaines Ziba the seruant of Mephibosheth met him with a couple of Asses sadled and vpon them two hundred cakes of bread and an hundred bunches of Raysons and an hundred of dryed Figgs and a bottle of Wine and other the like commodities for the refreshing of Dauid and his followers And hauing a Lye ready at hand which he had thought on before hee castes himselfe downe at the Kings feete and telling him a thousand leasings raised false witnesse against Mephibosheth informing his Maiestie that Mephibosheth was in Ierusalem and tolde him This day shall the house of Israel restore mee the Kingdome of my father Is it euâ—n so sayd the King Behold Thine are all that pertained vnto Mephibosheth And truly this businesse was strangely carryed For notable was the facilitie where with the King gaue credit to the calumniation of this pretender and the remissenesse which he shew'd in punishing so loud a lye and so great a treason when the truth of the matter and the innocencie of Mephibosheth was afterwards made knowne vnto him And that which I conceiue concerning this point is That the cause why hee did not punish this so fowle a treacherie was Either for that he was conscious to himselfe of the fault which he had committed in hauing giuen such easie beliefe there vnto or for that the rootes of this suspicion and iealousie did remaine still deepely grounded in his heart For the calumnies and cautelous suggestions of Pretenders carry this mischiefe still with them that they pierce euen to the very heart and are hardly remooued from the minde of him that giues eare vnto them Verba susurronis quasi simplicia ipsa perueniunt ad intima cordis The words of a Tale-bearer are as flatterings and they goe downe into the bowells of the belly And therefore the Holy Ghost adviseth vs that when such men come to speake with vs in secret and to whisper things in our eare that wee should not hearken vnto them Quando submiserit vocem suam ne credid eris ei quoniam septem nequitiae sunt in corde illius Though hee speakes fauourably beleeue him not for there are seuen abhominations in his heart Which in plainer language speakes thus vnto vs When a flatterer shall talke vnto thee in a low voyce and whisper thee softely in thine eare that hee may not be heard of the standers by caste him out for an eare-wigg and doe not giue credit vnto him for there are seuen nay seuenty malitious purposes in that mans heart And it would be a great ioy and comfort vnto mee that God would discouer vnto Kings these persons and their diuelish practises that such base and vnworthy people might not vnder the colour and shew of good and worthy men thus abuse and deceiue them In a word mens hearts and their tongues doe not alwayes go together Nor is the speech and the thought all one Quia labia doloso in corde corde locuti sunt They speake deceitfully euery one with his neighbour flattering with their lippes and speake with a double heart But God destroy such deceitfull and lying tongues to the end that truth may finde entrance in the Courtes of Kings O how many inconueniences would be excused if those persons to whom the charge is committed of distributing Offices and rewarding of seruices would take the care to conferre them on those that deserue them and not on those that negociate and sue for them then would there not be so much libertie nor so many tricks vsed in petitioning nor so many Orators
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
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
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
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
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
two abuses great Monarchies haue beene ruined and ouerthrowne Let vs fall a little vpon the first wherein is such excesse and superfluitie in this age as neuer more Howbeit as it was not wanting to former times so was there a great deale of care taken for the reforming thereof Your Romanes made Lawes for to moderate the expences and excesses of apparrell and diet The imperiall Lawes of the kingdome and those of the Partida prohibite it and many other prematicas and Statute Lawes which haue beene made thereupon and confirmed by Act of Parliament And the sacred Scripture likewise in many places doth condemne it And therefore a remedie in this kinde if possibly it can bee procured is very needfull For excesse doth not serue so much for sustentation as for pompe and ostentation wherewith is fomented Ambition vaineglory concupiscence and dishonestie euen to the falling into those vices that were neuer before seene or vsed Their expence that increaseth and their substance decreaseth what wealth can a man haue that will suffice for the arraying and apparrelling of women as also for the clothing of men which is no lesse vicious and expencefull then theirs What doth it benefit vs that the riches of our times are greater then those of our predecessours if our expences be more excesssiue By running on in this lauish course great and ancient houses haue beene brought to nothing and new ones haue started vp in their roome borne and bred in bad Trades and worse manners who alwayes haue a smacke with them or some touch or other of their former meaner fortune And for this cause onely are there so many misfortunes and disorders in the houses of many your ordinary and common sort of people and euen in some of those that are of meaner ranke For they had rather perish and vndoe themselues then to be accounted needy and poore And without doubt the most of their substance is spent in meate and clothes Which vice shame would moderate in them But the feare of seeming to be oflesse abilitie then their neighbours hath quite altered the case and serues to helpe them on to their ruine For euery one counts it a disgrace vnto him that he shall not go as well clad as his neighbour and eate as good meate and drinke as good drinke as he doth though he pay soundly for it both in his honour and estate And hence proceede your briberies corruptions subornations and iniustice For necessitie the mother of vice and that which makes as we say the old wife trott putts them so hard to their shifts that for to free themselues from want there is not that wickednesse which they will not giue way vnto and all because they will not lacke these instruments of their gustes nor want the apparence of Maiestie in their houses And another no lesse mischiefe then the former is the inequalitie in the estates and qualities of the persons and the equalitie wherewith the said accoutrements both in meate and apparrell is vsed For as Plato saith in a well ordered commonwealth all ought to be equall And yet we see that meane women that haue neither meanes nor qualitie weare Kirtles Peticoates and Gownes of cloth of gold and rich imbroderies that Queenes can scarce weare better And as for our ordinary sort of men there are very few of them but will go in such good clothes that Kings can not bee better clad Of the Emperour Tiberius Caesar Tacitus reporteth that by a Decree of the Senate he did prohibite men the wearing of gownes of silke saying That they did disgrace themselues by putting on such an effeminate habite And of the Emperour Aurelius it is noted that hee did not onely not weare silke but would not so much as suffer any to be in his wardrope saying That hee would not buy clothes at the weight of gold And Lampridius saith That the first Emperour that euer had any Wardrobe was that wicked and luxâ—rious Emperour Heliogabalus Scipio Aphricanus and Alexander Magnus were very singular in this carelesse many weare whereof others are so curiously carefull And let vs say no more hereof then what Isocrates said writing to his King Haue a care saith he of the things of particular persons and thinke that those that liue at high and excessiue rates waste and spend out of thy treasure and that those that take paines to scrape vp a little mucke and to get into some wealth by their thrift are the onely men that sâ—ll your coffers and increase your treasure For the Subiects purse is as the Kings owne purse if he rule and gouerne well But when men shall not haue meanes sufficient for to supply that excesse in diet and clothes which vice and mans foolish pride hath introduced how is it possible that they should serue and assist their King in the necessary occasions of the kingdome it is impossible but that there must be a failing in the one being that the ends are so opposite How can they haue any heart or guste for the one hauing placed all their care and content in the other And questionlesse if these superfluities were taken away the Subiect would haue wealth enough and then it would neuer grieue them to part with part thereof to their Kings or to spend it in his seruice But that which is now permitted amongst vs is the same which the Romans permitted and procured in the Nations they had subdued for to consume and eate them out and to keepe them in the better obedience But in their owne commonwealth they did euermore feare it and seeke to excuse it What Prince hath there euer beene either of those that were held to be good or indifferent that did not treate of this remedie Not any Yet they did most of them erre in the manner Now to remedie this excesse experience hath and doth shew vnto vs that it is not the penaltie nor rigour of the Lawes and Statutes that our Ancestours seemed to haue erred in who by those penalties alone thought to amend these extrauagancies in their subiects But the cure of this exorbitancie is that which the Ancient did prescribe and we haue declared touching the example of Kings and of their imitation The desire of giuing them content is more powerfull with them then the feare of punishment This doctrine Tacitus taught rendering the reason of that temperance and moderation which was in the Emperour Vespasian his time in clothes and diet and in the vitious superfluitie of these vices And after that he hath gone varying from one reason to another he saith That this Prince was the principall Author of that sparingnesse and thriftinesse amongst the Romanes of those times in their wastfull expences by exercising himselfe in that their ancient manner of liuing in matter of maintenance apparell and the like And hence it succeeded that all his subiects did the like conforming themselues according to his fashion their respect to their Prince and their desire to imitate him preuailing more
with them then the punishment or feare of the Lawes And this is a sure and sound point of doctrine and of that great consequence that it neuer ought to slip out of the memorie and good liking of Kings and their principall Ministers as being the mirrour or looking glasse wherein the Subiects see and behold whether their manners be foule or faire become or not become them according to the liking which they take from their superiours Of Augustus Caesar Dion reporteth That because hee would not weare such clothes as were prohibited by his Lawes there was not a man in all his Empire that did offer to put them on Componitur Orbis saith Claudian Regis ad exemplar nec sic inflectere sensus Humanos edicta valent quà m vita regentis The whole world shapes and fashions it selfe according to the patterne their King sets before them nor can Edicts and Decrees worke so much vpon mens humours as the life of him that ruleth Of all the reasons whatsoeuer that the wit of man can deuise there is not any more effectuall to perswade hard and difficult things then the example of Kings Let therefore a Prince lay a more hard and cruell punishment vpon them then either imprisonment banishment or some sound fine or pecuniary mulct as not to doe them any grace or fauour or not to affoord a good looke on him that shall not imitate and follow his fashion For there is no man such a foole that will loose the fruite of his hope for not apparelling himselfe after this or that manner as he sees the Prince himselfe is contented to go Let Kings amend this fault in themselues and then his Peeres and other their inferiours will not be ashamed to imitate them I pray tell me if men of the baser and meaner condition should onely be those that were vicious in their meate and clothes who would imitate them therein Assuredly none All would be Noblemen or Gentlemen or at least seeme to be so in their fashion and apparrell howbeit they would bee lesse curious and dainty if they saw those that were noble or gentile go onely plaine and handsome That ancient Romane pure neate cleane and comely attire of those who conquered the world did then wholly loose it selfe when your great and Noble persons of that commonwealth left it off For in all things but more especially in those that are vicious men seeke to make a fairer shew then their estate will beare and thereby procure to content and please their Kings vnder whom they liue knowing that there is no intercession or fauour like vnto that as the 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
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
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
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
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
the Father of the Common-wealth Which was more then Caesar or Augustus and whatsoeuer other name most glorious in the world whether it were conferr'd vpon them either for to flatter them or to oblige them to those great effects which this name Father tyes them vnto In conclusion by this word Father it is giuen Kings to vnderstand what they ought to doe To wit That they are to rule gouerne and maintaine their Common-wealths and Kingdomes in Iustice and in Peace That they are to feede like good shepheards these their rationall sheepe That they are like skilfull Physitians to heale and cure their maladies And that they are to haue that care of their subiects as fathers haue of their children watching ouer them with prudence and with Loue respecting more them then themselues For Kings are more obliged to the Kingdome and the Common-wealth then vnto themselues For if we shall but looke into the Originall and Institution of a King and a kingdome we shall finde that a King was ordained for the good of the kingdome and not the kingdome for the good of the King CHAP. III. Whether the name of King be a name of Office LEt vs not detaine our selues in the ill apprehension of those who conceiue that the name of King is a Title onely of Honour and Dignitie and not of Charge and Office For if as wee said before in our 1. Chapter a King in a Common-wealth holdes that place as the Head doth in a humane body where all the Corporall Members haue their particular Offices and euen the most and most principall then most certaine it is that a King in his kingdome is to be the most Eminent in the Gouernment so that we are not only to acknowledge that a King is an Officiall but euen the greatest of all Officialls and that of all Offices his is the chiefest and of greatest dignitie Etenim sayth S. Chrysostome imperare non solum dignitas est imò ars est â—rtium omnium summa To rule is not onely a dignitie but an Art also and of all Artes the greatest Diuine Plato Diuus Thomas likewise affirme Inter omnes artes viuendi regendi ars amplior superior est The Art and office of gouerning a Common-wealth and a kingdome is a Regall knowledge a Princely science and which particularly appertaineth vnto Kings it is an Arte of Artes the most difficile to learne and the most dangerous to practise And Nazianzene renders the reason Quia inter omnes animantes homo maximè moribus varius voluntate diuersus Because amongst all liuing Creatures man is most various in his maners and most diuerse in his will He is most mutable in his opinions most deceitfull in his words of more colours foldings and doublings then any other creature whatsoeuer worst to be knowen and hardest to to be ruled and aboue all most ingrate and vnthankfull vnto him that is set in authority ouer him And Plato more particularly tells vs that he held it in a manner a thing impossible for any one to haue such a Wit that alone of himselfe he should be sufficient to gouerne well it being so hard a matter to do though a man haue neuer so good partes and abilities to performe that function Ptolomy King of Aegypt considering the great difficulties which accompanie gouerning and reigning began to weigh the qualitie of each difficultie and comparing some with other some he knew not which to ranke formost or to preferre before his fellow It seemed wonderfull hard vnto him to know the Talent and parts of persons for the conferring of Offices and places vpon them a businesse whereon good gouernment mainely dependeth Hee likewise found it as difficult to make good Lawes and Statutes As also to rule so many Townes and so many people as are listed vnder a Crowne and name of King As likewise to dresse so many dishes for so many different palates so many things to the gust and content of so many sundry wills and a thousand other difficulties which daily offer themselues in the ruling and gouerning of men For as Seneca saith Nullum animal maiori est arte tractandum quam homo There is not that creature like vnto Man for whose gouernment more Arte more prudence more wisedome more discretion and sagacitie is required No man can denie but that to beare on his shoulders the weight of a kingdome with obligation to attend on such and so great a diuersitie of things as of Peace and Warre and of so many graue and weightie businesse and of so great importance without fayling one point or tittle therein is an intollerable trouble a most heauy burthen and most difficult Office And in this respect so few haue there beene that haue knowne perfectly to cumply therewith And it is worthy our consideration that there being so many Histories and Bookes of the Liues of Kings and Emperours of the Gentiles there is not one amongst them all to be found who hath not bin noted of many faults Alexander the Great who for his famous Acts great Courage had the sirname giuen him of Great had many things in him worthy reprehension and vnbeseeming royall dignitie And howbeit Xenophon in his Cyropedia would giue vs to vnderstand that King Cyrus had all those vertues and greatnesses which are there represented vnto vs yet many wise men are of beliefe that that was no true History which he wrote of that King but an Idea or Patterne that Kings might draw from thence what they ought to bee Like vnto those Bookes of Cicero which he wrote de Oratore Who painteth forth the properties which hee that will be a good Orator ought to haue though that man was neuer yet found that had them Besides if we shall turne our eyes towards those ancient Kings of Gods people the sacred Scripture doth dis-deceiue vs. For out of the whole packe of them hee picks out but three onely that were good Praeter Dauid Ezechiam Iosiam â—omnes Reges peccatum commiserunt Excepting Dauid Ezechias and Iosias all the rest of the Kings committed sinne Not that these three had not their sinnes for the holy Scripture taxeth them of some and those no small ones but because they had not sinned in the Office of Kings And because in it's administration it is an Office so full of difficulties the Apostle S. Paul admonisheth all the faithfull that they alwayes make earnest Prayers for them which is still vsed to this day in all your Catholike Churches Moreouer that the name of a King is the name of an Office it is confirmed by that common saying Beneficium dâ—tur propter Officium And therefore Kings being so greatly benefitted not onely by those great Tributes which are giuen them by the Common-wealth but likewise by those which they receiue from the Benefices and Rents of the Church it is an vndoubted truth that they haue an Office and of Offices the greatest
and for this cause the whole Kingdome doth so freely and liberally contribute vnto them Which is specified by S. Paul in a Letter of his which hee wrote vnto the Romans Idâ—ò tributa praestatis c. For this cause pay you Tribute also For they are Gods Ministers attending continually vpon this very thing c. Kingdomes doe not pay their taxes idly and in vaine So many sessements so many Subsedies so many impositions so many great rentes so much authoritie so high a Title and so great a Dignitie is not giuen without charge and trouble In vaine should they haue the name of Kings if they had not whom to rule and gouerne And therefore this obligation lyes vpon them In multitudine populi dignitas regis The honour of a King is in the multitude of his People So great a dignitie so great reuenewes such a deale of Greatnesse Maiestie and Honour with a perpetuall Cense and rate vpon his Subiects Lands and Goods binde him to rule and gouerne his States conseruing them by Peace and Iustice. Let Kings therefore know that they are to serue their kingdomes being they are so well payd for their paines and that they beare an Office which tyes them necessarily to this trouble Qui praeest in solicitudine saith S. Paul He that ruleth with diligence This is the Title and name of King and of him that gouernes Not of him that goes before others onely in his Honour and his pleasure but of him that excells others in his solicitude and his care Let them not thinke that they are Kings onely in name and representation and that they are not bound to any more but to bee adored and reuerenced and to represent the person royall with a good grace and to carry themselues with a soueraigne kind of State and Maiestie like some of those Kings of the Medes and Persians which were no more then meere shadowes of Kings so wholy neglectfull were they of their office as if they had beene no such manner of Men. There is not any thing more dead and of lesse substance then the image of a shadow which neither waggs arme nor head but at the Motion of that which causeth it God Commanded his people that they should not make any grauen Image nor any feigned Pictures or counterfeit paintings which shew a hand where there is none discouer a face where there is none and represent a body where there is none expressing therein actions to the life as if the Image or Picture did see and speake For God is no friend of feigned figures of painted men nor of Kings that are onely so in shape and proportion being in fashion like vnto those of whom Dauid sayd Os habent non loquuntur oculos habent non videbunt c. They haue mouths but speake not eyes haue they but they see not They haue eares but heare not and hands haue they but handle not And to what vse I pray serues all this They are no more then meere Idolls of Stone which haue no more in them of Kings but onely an externall representation To be all name and authoritie and to be Men in nothing else doe not sute well together Woe to the Idoll Shepheard saith Zacharie that leaueth the flocke The sword shall be vpon his arme and vpon his right eye His arme shall be cleane dryed vp and his right eye shall be vtterly darkeneds it is written in the Reuelation Nomen habes quod viuas mortuus es Thou hast a name that thou liuest and art dead The names which God setteth vpon things are like vnto the Title of a Booke which in few words containeth all that is therein This name of King is giuen by God vnto Kings and therein includeth all that which this their Office tyes them to doe And if their workes and actions doe not answer with their name and Title it is as if one should say yea with his Mouth and by making Signes say no with his head What aiest and mockerie is this How shall such a one bee truely vnderstood It were Cosenage and deceit in that Golde beater who writes vpon his Signe Heere is fine gold to be sold when indeed it is but Orpine and base gold for Painters The name of King is not an Attribute of Idlenesse A person regall must haue reall performance As his name soundeth so let him serue in his place it is the people that proclaime the King but it is the King that must proclaime his loue to the people Hee that hath the name of ruling and gouerning a Gods name let him rule and gouerne They are not to be Reyes de anillo as it is in the Prouerb that is to say nominall Kings only praeter nomen nihil hauing nothing else in them In France there was a time when their kings had nothing but the bare name of Kings their Liuetenants Generall gouerning and Commanding all whilest they like so many beastes did busie themselues in nothing else but following the delights and pleasures of Gluttonie and Wantonnesse And because it might be known and appeare to the people that they were aliue for they neuer came abroad once a yeare they made shew of themselues on the first day of May in the Market-place of Paris sitting in a chaire of State on a throne royall like your kings amongst your Stage-players and there in reuerence they bowed their bodies vnto them and presented them with giftes and they againe conferred some fauours on such as they though fit And because you may see the miserie whereunto they were brought Eynardus in the beginning of that Historie which he writes of the life of Charles the Great says That those Kings in those dayes had no valour in them in the world made no shew of Noblenesse nor gaue so much as a tast of any inclination thereunto but had onely the empty and naked name of King For in very deede they were not Kings nor had actually and effectually any hand in the gouernment of the State or the wealth and riches of the Kingdome for they were wholly possessed by the Praefecti latij whom they called Seneshalls or Lord high Stewards of the Kings House Who were such absolute Lords and of that vnlimited power that they ruled the roste and did what they list leauing the poore seely King nothing saue onely the bare Title who sitting in a Chaire with his Perriwigge and his long beard represented the person of a King making the world beleeue that hee gaue Audience to all Ambassadours that came from forraigne parts and gaue them their answers and dispatches when they were to returne But in very truth he sayd no more vnto them saue what hee had beene taught or had by writing beene powred into him making shew as if all this had beene done out of his owne Head So that these kinde of Kings had nothing of the Power-Royall but the vnprofitable name of King and inutile