and lawes to runne in contempt And both the one and the other is to be founde fault with if it be not tempered Saul was reprehended of God because hee slewe not Amelec And the Prophet sayd to Achab that he should die because hee had pardoned Benadad the King of Siria who had deserued death as also because he caused Naboth to be murthered The holie scripture doth also teache vs that the wrath of God is appeased by the punishment of the wicked and that his vengeance extendeth ouer all people for their iniquitie and contrariewise his blessing doeth spreade it selfe vppon whome soeuer hee chasteneth The wicked shalbe afraide and kept backe but the righteous shal bee preserued from the contagion of them that worke iniquitie For this cause the booke of the lawe founde againe in the time of Iosias is called the booke of the alliance of the Lorde the which hee commaunded the Priestes to deliuer to the King Samuel followinge this rule put it into the handes of Saul and according vnto the tenure thereof Iosias yeelded himselfe the feodarie and vassal of the Lorde Likewise the lawe which was giuen in the Arke was called the couenant of the Lorde And Salomon saide vnto God Lord thou hast chosen mee to raigne ouer thy people and to iudge ouer thy sonnes and daughters For this cause our Kings were euer willing that none should regarde the pardones they yeelded if they were grounded vppon so yll a foundation As also Micheas the Prophet detesteth and curseth in the name of God all such as obey the wicked ordinances of Kinges who for this cause haue had especiall care and commaundement to administer iustice esteeming themselues rather armed with the sworde to chastise the wicked then to repulse their enimies and are the ministers of God for the peoples benefite as the Apostle sayeth And to this ende they establish good and learned Iudges in all places that are voyde of passions if they followe the lawes otherwise they shoulde bringe into the flocke the Wolfe which they ought to chase away and render themselues culpable of the death of those innocentes that such pardoned men shoulde kill and so grace should neuer be without crueltie CHAP. XXVI The definition of Lying THE Philosophers were neuer wont to content themselues in declaring the propertie of vertues except they opposed vnto them their contrarie vice to the ende that the lothsomnes thereof being wel regarded the other mought be found more agreable So haue we of purpose discoursed of the trueth before we com to shew the vice of lying the which we may define by a contrary significatiō vnto the truth whē one speaketh of things vncertain contrarie to that which one knoweth making thē seeme other then they are S. Augustin writeth to Cōsentius that it is a false significatiō of spech with a wil to deceiue And when one speaketh more or lesse then is in deede it is a member of iniustice turning topsie turuie all humane societie and the amitie due vnto our neighbour for since that speach is giuen vnto vs to make manifest what we thinke and to instruct his vnderstanding of whome wee speake It is a foule fault to abuse it and to behaue our selues in other sort towardes our neighbour then we willingly woulde he shoulde towardes vs for as much as hee which desireth and expecteth from vs the trueth is deceiued and led into an errour and hauing afterwardes in time discouered the lye he will no more beleeue vs and wee shal lose the meanes to be able to instruct for euer For lyars only gaine this that albeit they say and speake the trueth yet shal they neuer be beleeued And in the holy scripture idolatrie hipocrisie superstition false weights false measures and al cosinages are called lying to the end that by so disformed a name we should the rather eschewe them The lyar is detested of God and called double of heart and toung because he speaketh one thing and doeth an other And for verie good respect sundrie of the auncient doctors haue written that the trueth being depraued there are ingendred an infinite number of absurdities heresies scismes and contentions And Socrates was wont to saye that it proceeded from a good will to enforce it selfe to remoue the foolish opinions of men and that it was not possible for him to approue a lye nor to dissemble the trueth And Homer writeth of the great and valiant Captaine Achilles that he did more hate and abhorre lying then hell or death And it is written in the olde and newe testament that God doeth abhorre all lying and that the true are gratious in his sight yea that a theefe is better than a man that is accustomed to lye And lying is contrarie to nature ayded by reason and seruaunt or handmayd to the trueth It is writen in Leuiticus Yee shall not steale neither deale falsly neither lye one to another CHAP. XXVII The effectes of Lying PHilo in his first booke of the contemplatiue life setteth downe all kind of wickednes to proceede from lying as all good doth from the trueth And if wee wel consider the causes of the seditions troubles heresies and quarels which alter whole estates publike quiet and mans conuersation we shall finde all to proceede from the infected fountaine of lying And that Achab and the most part of the Kings of Israel the Emperours Nero Commodus Maximinus Iulius Valencius and sundrie other as well of olde time as of ours haue thereby beene ruyned Gehazi the seruant of Elisha was stroken with a leprosie Ananias Saphira fell downe dead Haman was hanged on the tree he had prepared for Mardocheus The hande of Ieroboam was dryed vp Craesus King of Lidia draue awaye Solon reiecting the trueth he had tolde him which for all that afterwardes saued his life and Dionisius the tyrant of Sicil not being able to make his profite of that which Plato had declared vnto him nor to wash away the stayne of tyrannie was constrained in his banishment to confesse that that which he had hearde of Plato made him the better able to carrie so great a change Thorough a lye Ioseph was cast in prison and S. Chrisostome sent into banishment and an infinite number of other holy and great personages haue beene maruelously afflicted and manie realmes and common wealthes haue euen had the verie beginning of their ruine from thence The saide Chrisostome in the 28. Homelie vppon Iohn sayeth that nothing is so vnfirme or vnconstant as lying for what ayde or piller so euer it can come by it weakeneth so as it causeth it to fall of it selfe CHAP. 28. The punishments of Lying IT is written in the Prouerbs He that speaketh lyes shal not escape and in the booke of wisedome The mouth that speaketh lies slayeth the soule and in Ecclesiasticus The condition of liars are vnhonest and their shame is euer with them
when they followed any euill counsell albeit it succeeded wel the which was long time obserued in the kingdome of Persia For as Brutus wrote vnto Cicero a man once placed in great dignitie hath more to do to mainetaine the grace and reputation which he hath alreadie gotten then he which doth but beginne to get Euen as King Philip aunswered Arpalus who greatly did importunate him to reuerse a suite that a kinsman of his had in the law it were better that thy Cosen in the estate which he is in be defamed through his owne outragiousnesse then that I who am a King commaunding ouer so great a countrey should giue cause to my subiects to speake euill of me for hauing done so great iniustice eyther in fauour of him or thee As also the great Kinge Artaxerxes gaue a great summe of money to a gentleman of his chamber in steede of a suyte he besought at his handes which well hee mought not graunt saying that for giuing that he should not be the lesse rich but if he had yeelded to what he vniustly craued hee should haue beene lesse esteemed and not haue performed the dutie of a good King which aboue all thinges ought to haue in price iustice and equitie For as Pliny declared vnto Traian his Master The life of a Prince is a censure that is to saye the rule the square the frame and forme of an honeste life according to which their subiectes frame the manner of their life and order their families and rather from the life of Princes doe subiectes take their paterne and examples then from their lawes This was it which moued Isocrates to write vnto Nicocles it serueth to proue that thou hast wel gouerned if thou see thy subiectes become more modest and riche vnder thy Empire For the subiectes followe the example of their Princes as certaine flowers turne according to the Sunne And Theodoric the K. of the Goths wrote vnto the Senate of Rome that the course of nature would fayle before the people would bee other then their Prince And Claudian was of opinion that the edictes and lawes were not so well able to amende and temper the maners and hearts of the people as did the good life of their gouerners And in Hosea it is written that there shalbe like people like Priest Xenophon in the eight of his Pedion writeth that subiectes are as it were enforced to doe well when they see their Princes temperate not giuen to vniustice and for the most parte fashion themselues according to their moulde For this cause great personages haue the more neede to haue good counsellours about them whose vnderstanding mouthes eyes and eares maye serue them to make them better able to acquite themselues of their charge as Aristotle saith And it were to be wished that they were not corrupt but wel remember what Plinie the yonger wrote vnto Traian that a Prince ought onely to wil that which he may Quintus Cursius writeth that a Prince rather ought to imploy his time and to spende in getting and maintaining a wise counseler about him then in conquests Anthonie the Emperour onely amended his manners by the report of those as he had sent about the citie to vnderstande what was saide of him And the Emperour Theodosius the second copyed out with his owne hande al the new testament and red euery day one Chapter and made his prayers and soung Psalmes togither with his wife and sisters And many haue commended the custome of diuers of our Kinges and especially saint Lewes who when they rose out of their bed kneeled downe thanking God that he had preserued them that night beseeching him to pardon them their sinnes for his mercies sake and to continue them in his holie custodie and fauour to the ende that without offending of him they might employ all the daye to his honour and acquite themselues of the charge which he had bestowed on them And they caused a Chapter of the Bible or some other good booke to be red while they apparelled them selues the better to teache them to gouerne For to rule is as much to saye as to amende what is amisse or awrie And in Deutronomie it is commaunded the King to haue the booke of the lawe and to read therin al the dayes of his life as aboue wee haue noted was enioyned to Iosua And it is written in Iob that wee shoulde enquire of the former age and search of our fathers because of our ignorance And in the Prouerbes Where no Councell is the people fall but where manye Councellors are there is health And that health commeth from manie Councellors but good councel proceedeth from God And wee see by sundrie histories that such Emperours as haue contemned the Senate haue had a verie euil ende And that some of our Kinges though they were but of meane capacitie yet so guyded themselues thorough Counsell that they atchieued great matters And Thucidides called them bondmen slaues and of verie base mindes that were led by lewde Councell Edward King of Englande saide of King Charles the fifth surnamed the wise that hee feared more the learning and remembrances of that wise King then he did the puissant armies of his predecessour And K. Lewys the eleuenth sayde it was as much as to fish with a hook of golde to sende an armie beyonde the mountaines where the losse is assuredly greater then can be the profit Agamemnon said in Homer that hee had rather choose two like vnto his old counsellor Nestor then so manye Achilles or Aiax Darius King of the Persians and Medes made great account of Daniel Pericles had about him Anaxagoras Cato Anthenodorus Scipio hauing in charge and beeing appointed to goe looke and sounde out what iustice raigned through the worlde presently sent to fetch Panetius and oftentimes serued his turne through the councel of Lelius Iulius Caesar tooke aduise of Aristo Augustus of Mecenas Pompeye of Cratippus Nero al the fiue first yeres of his Empire wisely conducted him selfe through the counsell of Seneca Marcus Antonius had Apollodorus Demetrius Crates of whome he was wont to say that hee conned small thankes to his businesse and affaires which so much hindered him from sooner hauinge attained to knowledge Pyrrhus sayde likewise of Cineas his councellor that hee more esteemed his eloquence then the valour of all his Captaines Alexander the great had in high estimation Anaxarques and Aristotle to whome he confessed that hee owed no lesse vnto them then to his owne father hauing of the one receiued life but of the other to be able to liue well and that the best munition weapons and maintainance of warre that he had were the discourses hee had learned of Philosophie and the preceptes touching the assurance of fearing nought and the diligence in differring nothing that was to be done Cyrus vsed the counsell of Xenophon Craesus King of Lydia
crownes to whosoeuer would present him with one that was the ringleader of certain theeues the same man presented him selfe obtained both the crownes his pardon Wee reade in sundrie places of Titus Liuius how the Romanes were euer verie curious in maintaining their promise Polibius being a Greeke writeth of them that their verie word was ynough among the Romans and in Greece although they had Notaries and seales oftentimes they broke their faith for which they were grieuously punished And in Iosua it is written that he kept his faith with the deceitfull Barbarians to the end saith he that the wrath of God should not be vpō his people because of the othe which they sware vnto him as it afterwards fel vpon al them of the house of Saul who were hanged for hauing vyolated their owne And the Prophet writing in his Psalmes of such conditions as the faithfull ought to be endued with insysteth greatly vpon this that they keeepe their promise yea though it were to their owne hinderance Cicero in his offices sheweth by many examples that ones faith is broken if one doe ought to the detriment therof what colour soeuer he will set vpon it But that we should not runne further hedlong into these inconueniences Seneca wrote that he which was not able to set light a sottish shame is no disciple of Philosophie Which opinion Brutus was likewise of as Plutarque writeth And it is an ouergreat fault in Princes either not to dare to refuse or too lightly to agree to whatsoeuer is demaunded of them which they ought to endeuour to refourm by custome proceeding from lesser things refusing greater It is also required that we promise not ought which proueth not to our aduantage or ought els that lyeth not in our power but diligently to take heede that we suffer not our selues to be enforced or led with a nyce shamefastnes which manie haue when they dare not contrarie or refuse to graunt what they are required for which oft times they much repent themselues as Zeno wisely did reprehend him who was not ashamed to require a matter both vniust vnreasonable And Rutilius to one that found fault that his friendship was so light set by as not to bee able to obtaine his request made answere But what haue I to do with thine if thou wouldest enforce me to do contrarie to al iustice And king Agesilaus said to certain importunate persons that a man ought not to demaund at a Kings hands ought that were vniust and being intreated by his father to giue iudgement in a cause contrarie to right he aunswered him you haue taught me from my youth to follow the lawes I wil yet now obey you in ought not iudging against them Alexander the great made the like aunswere to his mother adding further that shee asked to great a recompence for hauing borne him nine monethes and because of her yl cariage of her selfe when Antipater to whom Macedonia fel dyed he prayed his subiectes as Diodorus wrote neuer to leaue the managyng of affaires in the hands of a womā The Emperour Frederick said to certaine his minions about him that were verie importunate to get into their hands some of the auncient Domaine of the Empire that he rather chose to be accounted of smal liberalitie then periured They write as much of Sygismond CHAP. X. Examples of euils happened to breakers of promise and of that which dependeth thereupon THE examples of such miseries as they haue runne into which haue not performed their promises ought to make vs thinke their faultes more strange then we win for Titus Liuius recyteth of a Dictator of Albany who was drawne in peeces with foure horses for that he had broken his faith the citie of Albe was rased cleane downe and Carthage dissolued into ashes and the people of Capua murthered and kept in bondage He maketh likewise mention of sundrie ostages giuen in pledge for the better assurance of such treaties as passed thorough the Volsques Tarentines and others who were executed for the breache of promise their people made Zedechiah king of Iuda hauing rebelled contrarie to his promise was led captiue after that his sonnes were flaine before his eyes and had his owne eyes put out Caracalla the Emperour hauing pursued the king of Persia contrary to his promise was himselfe afterward slaine Iustinian hauing falsified his faith to the Bulgares was sent into banishment Cleomenes hauing made a league with the Argiens seeing that vnder the assurance therof they were lulled a sleepe murthered and imprisoned some of them neuertheles not being able to surprise the towne which was defended by the women ran mad killed himselfe The king of Hungarie Ladislaus after certaine victories obtained against Amurates made a most honorable truce during which hee suffered himselfe to be persuaded by the Cardinal Iulian Embassadour from Pope Eugenes to break it which was the cause why the said turke had a most memorable conquest and the said Ladislaus togither with the chiefe of his armie the said Cardinal were either slaine outright or stifeled within the marishes And after such time as he had thus falsified his faith there ensued an infinit number of mischiefes thorough out all Christendome And euen so went it with vs after we had conquered Milan and Naples for that we obserued not duelie the treatise which wee there promised And for the like cause before that happened the Scicilian Vespers and for that we rather gaue credite to Pope Clement the fourth then to the counsel of the Erle of Flanders Pope Adrian tooke a solemne othe to obserue the peace concluded with the Emperour Frederick and afterwardes breaking it as he dranke he was choaked with a flye It came in like sort to passe with Pope Alexander the sixth who tooke himselfe such poyson as he had prepared for the Cardinals he had inuited to supper And to Iulius the second who was wont to say that the treaties he concluded was but to abuse and ruine the one through the other Andronicus Conneus cleane contrarie to his faith giuen to the infants of Emanuel and to them of Nice vsurped the Empire but after sundrie other yll happes hee was soone after hung by the feete and hewen in peeces Loys Sforce vncle to Iohn Galleace inuested himselfe in the Duchie of Milan Hee likewise broke his promise made to King Francis He was afterwards carryed prisoner into France Michael Paleologue beeing chosen Emperour of the Greekes promised swore that he would render vp the Empire into the hands of Iohn Lascaris when he shoulde come of age but notwithstanding he stil helde it He died miserably to his posteritie ensued an infinite number of mischiefs was occasion of the first beginning of the Turkish Monarchie Charles duke of Burgondie hauing violated his faith promised to the Suissers and
in his actions then couragious It were very expedient that were practised which happened in our time in the yeare of our Lord one thousand fiue hundred fiftie and one betweene Gonstaue King of Sweden and the Moscouite where all those that were occasioners of the warre they had so lightly vndertaken were executed and put to death And not without cause did Pausanias call all the Captaines in the warre both Peloponesians and Greekes murtherers and destroyers of their countrey It is to be desired that the nobilitie of France would accustome themselues to modestie rule order constancie and to mortifie this their great heate to armes and warre vnnecessarie And as the Phisition preuenteth sickenesse thorough small preparatiues and apostumes so beginning with their lesser inclinations choler and passions they may the easilyer attaine to the ende of the more strong and consider that which is written in the life of Saint Augustine that hee would neuer pray for such as of their owne voluntarie motion had beene at a strange warre and greatly reproued as saint Cyprian did Donatus and others that killing of a priuate man was in perticuler punished but he who had slaine manie in warre was greatly praysed In Titus Liuius Scipio sheweth to King Masinissa that a man ought not so muche to doubt his enemies armed as those pleasures which render a man effeminate and vnconstant It was wisely sayde of an auntient man that the foundations of all counsels and actions ought to leane to pietie iustice and honestie without vsing of anie headinesse I woulde willingly giue that counsell to French men which Archidamus gaue vnto the Aeoliens meaning to ayde the Argians in their warre within a letter contayning onely these woordes Quietnesse is good And sayde vnto suche as praysed him for the victorye hee had obtayned agaynst the Argiens it had beene more worthe to haue ouercome them by wisedome then by force Xenophon writing of the actes of the Greekes sheweth that all wise men abstayne the moste they are able from warre albeit they haue thereunto iust occasion And that sayinge of sundrye Emperours was verye famous that warre ought not to bee taken in hande without great neede And the Emperour Augustus was woont to say that a warre which were good must be commaunded by the Goddes and iustified by Philosophers and wise olde men For the time seruing for lawes for armes is diuerse as Caesar sayd to Metelius And we haue had too good experience howe much God the weale publicke order and iustice hath beene offended herewith And warre hath beene called a gulfe of expence and a cruell tyrant ransacking the people and peace ordred with good pollicie as a good king moderating charge and excesse And as Horace feygneth that the place into which Eolus shut his windes being open the sea is troubled in euerie part so by the opening of warre partialitie insolencie and all vices manifest themselues And warres are nought else then a horrible punishment of a whole people a ruine of a whole countrey state and discipline And wisely did Spartian write howe Traian was neuer vanquished because he neuer vndertooke warre without iust cause The very which Titus Liuius declareth of the Romaines in the ende of the first Decade Otho the Emperour chose rather to die than to rayse a ciuill warre For which men likewise prayse Zeno the Emperour and Cicero in his Philippiques calleth him which is desirous thereof a detestable citizen I am also of opinion that the conuersation with the Muses and studie of good letters would render the nobilitie more aduised and constant as we haue well marked else where And am not of the Swissers minde which thinketh too much studie marreth the braine nor of the Almaynes who in the time of Galienus the Emperour after that the citie of Athenes was taken kept them from setting a fire a great heape of bookes they had there made saying let vs leaue them to the Greekes to the ende that applying themselues to them they may be lesse proper for the warre For the reading of good bookes as Alexander the great and diuerse other of the most valiant captaines sayde maketh the nobilitie more hardie and wise and contayneth them within the boundes of their dutie And what good nature soeuer a captaine be of he falleth into an infinite number of faults for want of reading of good books And that being true which diuerse haue written of Xenocrates that he did so pearce the heart of his auditors that of dissolute persons they became temperate and modest what ought wee to iudge of the instructions taken out of the holy letters And as some haue counselled before they sleepe they are to demaund of themselues a reason and account of that which they shall haue gayned of modestie grauitie constancie and facilitie of complexions It is written of Socrates that when he was drye he would neuer drinke but first he wold cast out the first bucket ful of water that he drew out of the well to the ende sayde he that he might accustome his sensuall appetite to attende the fit time and oportunitie of reason Theophrastus sayd that the soule payd well for her hyer to the bodie considering what shee there suffred But Plutarke writeth that the body hath good cause to cōplaine of the noyses which so greuous and troublesome a guest maketh him which notwithstanding is within the body as in a sepulcher or den which she ought to guide being before lightned by the truth and ruling her selfe according to it both in respect of her owne safetie and of her hostes I would also counsell them to shunne all dissolutenes be it in bitter or vilanous wordes vncomely garmentes and vnshamefast countenance For it is all one in what part soeuer of the bodie a man shew his vnshamefastnes vanitie pride and lightnesse And the Lacedemonians were highly commended because they banished a Milesian out of their citie for going too sumptuously appareled We ought also rather to desire to be vertuous then to seeme to vse wisedome and descretion in all assayes auoyding debates and selfewill without witnessing whether it be true or false not hurtfull following the precept of Epictetus in yeelding vnto the greater sort perswading the inferiours with sweetenesse and modestie consenting to the equall to the end to auoyde quarelles Aboue all thinges wee ought to enforce our selues to tame our couetous desires and concupiscences especially where libertie to take and enioye them is offred vnto vs and to accustome our selues to patience meekenesse in keeping vnder the desire of reuenge knowing as the great Monarch Alexander was woont to saye that it is a signe of a more heroycall heart and prayse worthye for a man that hath receaued an iniurie to pardon his enemie then to kill him or reuenge himselfe vpon him And that reuenge proceeded of a basenesse of minde and vertue consisted in matters hardly reached vnto And it
were penned vp who if they once goe abroad dyd much harme and oftentimes men were constrayned to kill them In the time of Augustus one Fuluius for hauing disclosed a secret to his wife caused themselues both to be put to death And Quintus Cursius sheweth what great punishmentes the Persians ordained for the like Amasis king of Egipt sent vnto Pittacus one of the seuen wise men of Greece that was come to see him a mutton willing him to send backe that peece which he accounted as best and that which he iudged to be the worst in steede of the two peeces so differing hee sent vnto him the tongue as the instrument both of the greatest good greatest harme that might be and that therein as it is sayd among great wits consisted moste excellent vertues and notorious vices as it is written in the Prouerbs that death and lyfe are in the power of the tongue and that he which keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soule from tribulations Let vs then I pray you consider that we haue two eyes and two eares but one onely tongue and that to inclosed within the teeth and lipps betweene the braine and the hart seruing as their truche man hauing aboue it the instrument of all the sences the eyes the eares and the nose obedient vnto reason to the end she put foorth nothing before shee haue taken counsell of the sayde sences her neighbours and of the inward faculties of the soule which are the vnderstanding and reason placed within the brayne whereby we maye easely iudge how faultye they are who are so lauishe of their tongue before they haue fully pondred and considered what they ought to speake Homer blamed Thersites for too much speaking and praysed Menelaus because he spoke little The which Plutarque did of Phocion by whom it was wrytten that he spoke better then Demosthenes because when he spoke in few wordes he comprehended much matter The sayd Demosthenes likewyse termed him the knife of his wordes And was wont to say that such as knew much spoke little Pericles before he mounted into his cheyre was wont to pray vnto God that no word might escape his mouth that serued not to the matter he had in hand And Zeno reproched a great prater in that his eares was founded vpon his tongue And to an other he sayd he was borne of a druncken father for drunckennes is myxed with this vice that it causeth one to speake more then appertayneth The Pye in this respect was consecrated to Bacchus Certayne of auncient tyme sayde that wine descending into the body caused the wordes to ascende Ecclesiasticus called the comprehending of much in little speach good musique We must then set before our tongue the bulwarke of reason which hindreth flowynge and the slypperinesse of inconstancie And as ryders when they breake their coultes firste teach them to haue a good mouth and obey the brydle so ought we to teach our children to heare much and speake little Cato sayde of the Greekes that their speach came but from the teeth outwarde but the Romanes spoke from the hart as Homer wryteth of Vlisses and in his youth he sayde hee refrayned from speach vntill he knew how to speake well and that it was the propertie of Lelius to speake too muche And if there proceeded but this benefite vnto a man which had once gayned this reputation to bee accounted discreete in his speach and true that he is beloued of God and men hee is honoured and beleeued in what so euer he sayth he goeth with his heade lyfted vppe and contrarywyse he which is once caught with a lye or is a pratler is hated blamed and destitute of friendes looseth his credite and meanes to teach it were sufficient to make vs to embrace the truth and shunne lying And whereas Caesar in his commentaries founde fault with the french men because they receaued for certayne such brutes as ranne vp and downe and vncertayne aduertisementes whereof shortlye after they repented as before I touched it were very requisite that that order which he then wryteth to haue beene obserued were at this present practised that hee which had learned ought that concerned the state shoulde presentlye make relation to the magistrate and not speake thereof to anye other personne for that sayth hee we haue often seene by experience that men beeing light and ignoraunt easelye made them selues afrayde with false and counterfaite newes which ledde them to a resolution to vndertake matters of importaunce and daungerous as wee haue sundrye examples of our tyme and all histories are full of the misfortunes which haue happened to such as haue spoken enterprised and beleeued too lightly Moreouer in some cases to bee silent is as daungerous as if anye knowe anye conspiracie agaynste their countrey or kinge or anye that mighte greatlye preiudice their neyghboure they ought to discouer it To them lykewyse whose dutie is to teach Vertue and reprehende vice and to preache silence is forbidden both by GOD and the lawes And as Saint Ambrose learnedlye wryteth if we muste render account to GOD for euerye idle worde so muste we lykewyse for our idle scilence if at anye tyme wee haue omitted accordinge to oure duetye to instruct or correct oure neighbour there by beeynge able to tourne him from his euill waye or errour Wee must lykewyse consider the time and place to speake or hold our peace as it is written that Socrates being requested at a feast that he would speake of his arte had reason to aunswere it is not now time for what I can doe and that which the time now requireth can I not doe CHAP. 16. That as well of friendes as enemies one should learne the truth DIuers haue written that the better to discern trueth from falshoode it were requisite to haue either very entire friendes or enemies for these meaning to anger one do vpraide and blame whatsoeuer seemeth vitious vnto them and as out of a watche discouer suche imperfections as oftentimes men doe not thinke on and so are a meanes that they are corrected As Xenophon writeth that a wise man is able to reape his profite by his enemies And Philp king of Macedon said that he was bound to the Athenians which reuiled him because they were an occasion to make him the more vertuous and aduised and enforced hym all hys life long both in his actions and wordes to make them lyers And in truth they are a cause that maketh men contain theyr fashions and maners as in a straight dyet And this habit that one vndertake nothing vpon the suddaine cleane taketh away all occasion from our enemies of mocking vs or reioysing For this cause Scipio answering them that immagined the estate of the Romanes to be in verie great suretie the Carthagenians being ouerthrowne and the Acheens subdued said Nay now are we in greatest
diuine race because God giueth particular graces to such as he setteth ouer others Horace likewise named Kings Diogenes that is to say the generatiō of Iupiter Diotrephes nourished by Iupiter Aristes of Iupiter which signifieth as Plato interpreteth the familiars disciple in politike sciences And Frederick is as much to say as the k. of peace And for as much as Artaxerxes Mnemon delighted in peace was affable and vertuous the rest of the Kings of Persia since his time haue beene called by his name And it is incredible howe so many should fall headlong into so great dishonors and misfortunes as we haue both seene and red of had the trueth beene laide open before them It is written that K. Lewys the eleuenth was wont to say that he found euery thing within his kingdome but only one which was trueth K. Lewys the twelueth permitted al commedians and stage players to speake freely and to reprehend such vices as were manifest to the ende they mought bee amended And saide that for his own part he knewe many things by them which he was not before witting of Dyonisius the tyrant of Sicille being retyred to Athens after he was depriued of his kingdome bewayled the estate of Princes but especially in that men neuer spoke freely vnto them and that the trueth was euer hidden and concealed from them The Emperours Gordian the younger and Dioclesian made the verie like complaint that euery thing was disguysed and coloured vnto them and that flatterers cast dust before their eyes making them beleeue the euill to be good That they were often times cosened and solde vnder hande that they put the sworde into the handes of furious magistrates and bestowed states honors vpon vnworthie couetous lewd persons That they were caused to turne the day into night and the night into day That they were altogither conuersant and brought vp in delicacies huntings and other pastimes whereby their mindes might be turned from remembring that charge which God had layde vppon them and all this were they brought to doe to the end that such flatterers as were about them might the better attaine to the depth of their deuises And that oftentimes they were but Emperours and Kings in name as if they had plaid their parte but vpon a stage or had beene commedians And that their counselors were the true actors and reped all the profit honor It is likewise written in the rest of Hester that they which deceitfully abuse the simplicitie and gentlenesse of Princes with lying tales make them selues partakers of innocent bloud and wrap them selues in calamities which can not be remedyed And flatterers haue beene compared to the Syrenes who thorough their singing entised all passengers vppon the sea that heard them to drawe neere vnto them Wee may verie well impute to such disguysinges the great expenses which the Emperoures Tiberius Nero Caligula Commodus Domitian Heliogabalus and sundrye others haue foolishlye spent vnder a colour of liberalitie and the better to maintaine their prodigalities put to death and impouerished many which prodigalitie we very well may terme a kinde of lying King Antiochus in hunting lost his way and was constrayned to retire to a poore Yeomans house of the countrey who not knowing tolde him all the faultes that he and his fauorites had committed to whom at his returne he declared that he neuer vnderstoode the trueth vntill that night and euer after he carryed himselfe most vertuously We reade of sundrie our kinges of France who haue done the like and of some Emperours who haue disguised themselues thereby the better to vnderstande what the people spake of them Platina writeth of Pope Eugenes howe he sent certaine rounde about the citie to espie what men most blamed eyther in him or his that it might be amended King Lewys the Grosse which builded S. Victors disguised himselfe often times the better to be informed of the truth And king Lewys the 12. as Charlemagne and Saint Lewys had doone before him tooke great pleasure to vnderstande the complaintes of his subiects applying thereto such remedie as their case required And for this cause hee obtayned the name of father of the people and his memorie is more famous to serue for an example to the posteritie then all the conquestes and victories of other kinges Sundrie of our kinges in the beginning were greatly blamed for that they suffered themselues to bee so muche gouerned by the principall of their court and some haue beene resembled to golden images that are guilded and shining without but within are full of rust cobwebbes and filthinesse For the crowne doth not take away the passions nor griefe of the spirites but rather doth it diminish the true pleasure As Ptolome seeing certaine fishers sporting themselues vpon the sea shore wished he were like one of them adding that monarchies are full of cares feares mistrustes and disguysed miseries Which also Charles the 4. and 5. Emperours were woont to say desyring to leade a priuate life Seleucus before that did the like adding that if hee shoulde cast his crowne into the high waye there would bee none founde that would take it vp knowing the charge and griefes that euer did accompany it And Pope Adrian sayde that he thought no estate so myserable nor so daungerous as his owne and that hee neuer enioyed a better or more pleasant time then when he was but a simple monke and Traian the Emperour wrote vnto the Senate of Rome that hauing nowe tasted the cares and paynes which the imperiall state led with it selfe he did a thousande times repent that euer he tooke it vpon him Homer fayneth all the gods to sleepe except Iupiter who was altogither exempt from sleepe Saint Chrisostome vpon the second to the Corinthians 15. homely sayd that to gouerne and cōmand wel was the greatest and most hard art of all as his fault is more daungerous which guideth the sterne then his which holdeth the owers It is written of Dioclesian that he was wont to say before his Empire that there was nothing so hard as to commaund well Yet many place therein their felicitie and acquit themselues with pleasure of the charge which God hath laide vpon them In my speech before I do not comprehend the wicked and tyrannicall Princes who as Tacitus writeth in the life of Tiberius are perpetually tormented and torne a sunder in their consciences yea and sundrie of them haue lamented the infamie they should endure which they saw very well men would doe vnto them after their death And alleadge the saying of Plato that if their soules could be discouered they should be seene full of stinching scarres and torne in peeces with a hidden yron that euer burneth them And as it is written in the booke of wisedome It is a feareful thing when malice is condemned by her owne testimonie and a conscience that is
of loosing all that he should be courteous gratious and graue that he should banish from his court all lewde counsellours such as charge the people with newe inuentions that his life should serue for an vnwritten lawe that he be such towardes his owne subiectes as hee would require of God to bee towardes him that hee manifest not him selfe eyther to sorrowefull or to ioyefull that by no meanes he sell his offyces for he that selleth them maketh sale of his owne subiectes Me thinketh wee ought in no wise to forget the commendation which Xenophon gaue to Kinge Agesilaus comparing him as contrarye to many tyrauntes that he euer measured his expenses with his reuenewe fearing least for the furnishing thereof he should doe ought that were vniust greatly delighting to see his subiectes rich and that they being valiant he commanded ouer valiant people that he esteemed it a greater prayse not to be ouercome with money pleasures and feare then to take by assault most strong cities that he shewed himself much to the people and courteously entreated euery one that had any supplycation or suite to make vnto him and as soone as he was able gaue order for the dispatch of whatsoeuer was proposed vnto him with reason The ordinance of Anthonye the Emperour was holy for his time that no tribute should bee exacted without the consent of the Senate and the people and also that it should not be employed to any vse but by their especiall aucthoritie For there must bee a Geometricall proportion kept betweene the King and the people And when he would wrest all vnto himselfe it is as the Emperours Traian Adrian were wont to say that when the spleene is swolne all the rest of the members waxe dry Among the othes which the Emperours make at their coronation one is that they shall lay no taxe or tribute without the consent of the estates of the Empire The which the kings of Polognia Hungary Inglande and Danemarc doe in like sort Thence proceeded the ordinance made by Philip de Valois and other of our Kinges And if such as are charged by vertue of their offyce to see the buildinges of Churches to be repayred the poore to be well vsed to hinder the excessiue fellings of Tymber to cause the good lawes to be put in execution to hold the Mercurials to controle each one would performe their dutie euery thing would prosper better The lawe which Titus Liuius and Plutarke writeth was practised at Rome were very profitable to be put in vre within the citie of Paris that all fountaynes which were drawne into particuler houses thorough fauour corruption or otherwise might be cleane stopped and placed in publicke places or out of the same houses that particuler persons might not be able to withdrawe the water in abusing the publicke benefite as they doe The saying of King Agis Agasicles and Titus the Emperour is worthy to be well cōsidered that a Prince may easily raigne without any guarde or weapons when he commaundeth ouer his subiectes as a father ouer his children vsinge them withall meekensse sweetenesse and clemencie For if a Prince tende to nought else then to maintayne him selfe and bring his people into slauerie there is no more anye name lefte of citie or people as Saint Augustine sayeth And it is not ynough that a Prince knoweth what establysheth preserueth or destroyeth seignuries if he doe not withholde or reiecte awaye cleane the cause and preuent troubles or if they doe chaunce to happen presently quench them with small dammage It were besides to be desired that they had a care to the mayntenaunce of godlinesse and religion of hospitales and schooles and that they put in execution what Kinge Philip de Valois sayde to the Archbyshoppes Byshoppes and Prelates of his Realme whome he had caused to assemble togeather that if they woulde correcte what were woorthie of amendment hee would alter nothing in the state of the Church but if they differred to doe it he would remedie it in such sorte as God thereby should be better serued the people contented and the nobilitie which so much complained thereof without cause giuen of offence It woulde also breede a verye great benefite if according to the ordinance of Charlemagne Lewys 12. Otho the first of Councels Decrees Cannons and the aduise of sundrie good Popes Diuines and Doctours they would institute into benefices the most learned men and of best life and which mought bee founde more agreeable to Ecclesiasticall functions and to the people not depending of one alone which careth for nought but to put in his coffers the yearely reuenewe which appertayneth according to the Cannons and meaning of such as were founders to other as well as to the poore and by this reformation would iustice be maintayned and a better order established thorough out For if the dewtie of a Magistrate bee to see that the people liue well and vertuously according to Aristotle his opinion in his Politiques religion is one of the greatest vertues As in like sorte Moses Iosua Samuel Dauid Salomon Aza Iosophat Ioab Ezechias Iosias and other greatly trauayled to refine the seruice of God And Saint Ambrose writeth that Theodosius when he dyed had a greater care of the Church then of his sickenesse And Socrates in the Proeme of the fifte booke of the Ecclesiasticall hystorie sheweth the great care that the Emperours euer since they became Christians tooke touching Ecclesiasticall affayres And the Diuines are of opinion that the name of Melchisedech King of Salem sheweth what kinges ought to be to wit kinges of iustice and peace And the worde Abimilech signifieth my father the kinge Sundrye haue likewise wished for the quiet of the commonwealth that Princes woulde ofte set before their eyes the causes by meanes whereof an estate is turned topsie turuie and chaunged according to the rules in the holye scripture and hystories thorough vice hatred which God carryeth to impietie idolatrie vniustice tyrannie sorcerie and whoredome And often times the enuie of such as gouerne their ambition desire of reuenge choler rashnesse obstinacie despite couetousnesse trust in their owne strength accompanied with hautinesse foolishe imitation and curiositie corrupteth their counselles and prouoketh them to stirre vp out of season what they should let lie in quyet And we in our owne time haue seene what troubles haue ensued hereon For which a good Prynce ought to prouide and if hee chaunce to forgette him selfe he ought to bee brought backe agayne thorough the gnawinges and bytinges of the sharpe teeth and smarting prickes of his conscience And hee ought well to weigh the threatninges conteyned and set foorth in the holy scripture and that which Seneca writeth that there is no tempest vpon the sea so soddaine nor waue that followeth one an other sooner then the condition of Princes is variable for that they are subiecte to dreadfull faules and chaunges And
is ordeyned for the wicked he would set all his care in seeking howe to please and obeye him which hath honoured him with so manifolde blessinges And this is the verye trewe cause that we so much lament their follye and miserie which doe euer deferre the amendment of their disordered life proceeding onely from their infidelitie and want of beleeuing of the threatninges of the iudgementes of God who will render to euery man according to his workes to whose selfe we must render account of all our ydle woordes thoughtes and affections Moreouer euery one knoweth that the houre of death is vncertaine and we indifferently see the young dye as well as the olde and that nothing is more common than suddaine death the which caused the great Philosopher Demonax to warne the Emperour Adrian and such as liued at their ease in no wise to forget howe in verye short time they should be no more And an other did often times put Kinge Philip in minde that he should remember he was a man And the Emperour Maximilian the firste did alwaies cause to be caried about with him among his robes whatsoeuer was necessarie for his buriall as one that was alwayes booted and readie to depart We must not excuse our selues with the patience bountie and mercie of God except we be determined to amende and thereby be drawen to repentance so much commaunded in the holy scriptures but still be afrayde of his iudgementes and call to minde that which is so often written that neither the vnrighteous neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor wantons nor buggerers nor theeues nor couetous nor dronkardes nor raylers nor extortioners nor murtherers nor gluttons nor such as are full of wrath Enuie contentions seditions or heresies shall inherite the kingdome of God And euery one shal reape what himself hath sowen And Saint Paule addeth that they which are of Christe haue crucified the fleshe togeather with the affections and concupiscence thereof Therefore Ecclesiasticus exhorteth vs to make no tarrying to turne vnto the Lorde and not to put off from day to day for suddenly shall the wrath of the Lorde breake foorth and in our securitie we shall be destroyed and perish in time of vengeance And the wisedome of God in the beginning of the preuerbes of Salomon doth amplye exhort vs to receaue in dewe time his correction not to reiect his councell and that the foolish are slayne thorough their ease but he which will obey shall dwel surely and rest without feare of euill Let vs consider that the most iust GOD doth recompence the good and punish the wicked and payeth not euerie night nor euerye Saterdaye but as Valerius sayeth counterpeaseth the slackenesse of his deferred punishment by the greeuousnes thereof when it commeth And the afflictions of this present time sent vnto the good to containe them in their dewtie are not worthie of the glorie which shalbe shewed vnto vs as S. Paul sayth And all the delights and pleasures of this life are turned into sowernesse and it is the act of a Christian to looke that at the houre of his death he runne to none but to God and himselfe nor take care of ought else For we shall haue enough to doe without taking such carke and care for the affayres of this world and to premeditate thereof giueth great aduantage Our sauiour in Saint Luke sayde vnto him which still delighteth himselfe in heaping vppe of riches O foole this night will they fetch away thy soule from thee then whose shall those thinges bee which thou hast prouided The prophetes and Apostles very often admonyshed vs to amende while there is time to the ende we should not tarrie vntill the gates of repentance were fast locked vp and barred The which our Sauiour would also teach vs by the parable of the foolishe virgins who were suddenly surprised and shutte out of the hall where the bridegrome made his feaste to the ende that after the confession of our sinnes we might runne to the promises and mercie of God and dispose our selues to a newe and holy life Isaiah warneth vs to seeke the Lorde while he may be founde and to call vpon him while he is neere and it is to be feared if we ouer slippe the oportunitie least hee will leaue vs. And if suche as search the riches and vanities of the worlde forget nothinge which may further them I praye you with what feruentnesse ought we to search God and our saluation Let vs take heede least that reprooche in Isayah be not cast in our teeth I haue spredde out my handes all the day vnto a rebellious people And Ieremiah writeth Thou hast striken them but they haue not sorrowed thou hast consumed them but they haue refused to receiue correction they haue made their faces harder than a stone and haue refused to returne For this cause Saint Paule to the Hebrewes putteth them in minde of that in the 95. Psalme To day if you will heare my voyce harden not your heartes The accustoming of our selues to sinne and the examples of other greatly harme vs. For when men see the elder sort to fayle then doth youth take example thereby and being ill brought vs followeth the same trayne all the rest of their life But by little and little this custome must be changed nothing is so hard as Seneca saith but the vnderstāding of man surmounteth it and is able to attayne what euer it seeketh Let vs call to minde what God sayth in Isayah Your refuge in falshoode shall be made voyde your couenaunt with death shall be disanulled and your agreement with hell shall not stande when a scourge shall runne ouer and passe thorough then shall yee be trodde downe by it Nowe therefore be no mockers Hearken ye and heare my voyce Hearken ye and heare my speeche And he sayeth in Ieremie Giue glorie to the Lorde your God before he bringe darkenesse and or euer your feete stumble in the darke mountaynes and whyles you looke for light hee turne it into the shadowe of death and make it as darkenesse Can the Blacke More change his skinne or the Leoparde his spottes Then may ye also doe good that are accustomed to doe euill We must then vndertake the good way guyded thereunto thorough the assistaunce of God and what diffycultie soeuer we finde yet to striue to come to our pretended ende and wee shall finde the pathes of iustice pleasant and easie We reade in hystories that sundrie Pagans haue ouercome their euill and naturall inclination and what ought a Christian to doe If riches honours and pleasures slacke vs let vs call to minde the sundrie threatninges in the holy scriptures agaynst the riche the proude and ambitious and haue all our owne greatnesse in suspition and enioy all thinges as not possessing them and let it be the least parte of our care the affayres of
this worlde We must remember howe Saint Paule prayeth vs to be reconciled to God to watch and be sober and to liue well whyle we haue the light and while it is called to daye not being able to assure our selues thereof in time to come And that wee may the better be brought thereto we must shunne all lewde companies and euill liuers and acquaint our selues with persons which haue the feare of God as Saint Paule warneth vs yea in no case to medle with men of euill life Let vs not then be Christians in name onely as we haue before declared and let vs be patient in aduersitie modest in prosperitie in our dewtie temperate in our life iust charitable towardes our neighbours towardes the poore sweete and tractable in our conuersation louing peace integritie and truth beseeching to this ende by earnest prayers the ayde of God thorough his holy spirite and imagining that wee are alwayes in the presence of God his holy saintes and Angels And since that we are the heires of God and coheyres with Christ Iesus the temple of the holy Ghost and fellowe Bourgeses with the saintes and seruantes of God let vs be ashamed to defile that temple and holy companie thorough the lewdenesse of our life And call to minde ouer and besides that we finde so much marked in the holy scriptures the excellent vertues of the heathen as the innocencie and abstinence of Aristides the integritie of Phocion the holinesse of Socrates the charitie of Cymon the tēperance of Camillus the thriftinesse of Curius the vprightnesse grauitie iustice and fayth of the Catoes yea the sobrietie of the very Turkes and an infinite number of examples so much recōmended vnto vs the which may make vs blush as our Sauiour said vnto the Iewes that they of Sodome Tyre and Sidon shalbe better entreated then they except they repented and amended their liues I knowe that therein lyeth great difficultie but a man must surmount all for the good that ensueth theron and as Cursius writeth Phisitions cure the greeuousest diseases by bitter and sharpe remedies And Cicero wrote vnto Octauian that men neuer applye salues to greeuous woundes but such as doe as much smart as profite And there is no good without paine Cicero likewise in some places and Plato in his Phedon in Gorgias and in Axiochus describe the strange kinde of punishmentes that are prepared for the wicked in the gayle of vengeance which he calleth Tartarus a place of darkenesse and torments and that the good are heaped vp with all happines prosperitie and sent to paradise or a garden which he setteth foorth to be the most pleasant that may be and termed to be the place of iudgment and the field of truth And in the tenth of his commonwealth he writeth that neither the paines nor rewardes in this world are ought either in number or greatnes in respect of what ech of thē are in an other life Whereof we are better certified in the holy scriptures to the end we should be reconciled vnto God without differring or longer wallowing in the filth of sinne for which we ought most earnest to beseech of him pardon disposing our selues wholy to obey him since that he is our father rendring vnto him all homage fealtie for whatsoeuer we hold of him in cheife calling vpō him in all our busines And since that he hath pomised to heare and prouide for all let vs not abuse his bountie but in dewe time reconcile our selues vnto him as Saint Paul exhorteth vs. I will not here forget the exhortation which our Sauiour maketh in Saint Luke Cap. 12. howe wee should haue our loynes guirde about and our lightes burning to be readie at the instant to performe what hee commaundeth vs our fayth being alwayes accompagned with this readie obedience as we see by experience in Abraham the father of the faythfull and in sundrie other whose names are celebrated in the 11. to the Hebrewes howe they left all respect of commoditie as soone as they were called This is that which we beseech at Gods handes in the Lords prayer that his will may be done in earth as it is in heauen as much to say as that he giue vs grace to be so prompt and ready to do his will as are the Angels that are in heauen who no sooner receiue any cōmandement from god but at the instant put it in execution For since that God is our soueraygne Lord which cōmandeth nothing that is not reasonable for their profit whom he will imploy in his seruice we ought not to cōsult or descant if we shuld obey what he cōmaundeth nor be more slacke or slowe to accomplish his will then are his creatures without soule which as it is written in sundry of the Psalmes and Prophetes leaue no one iot to doe in whatsoeuer their creator commaundeth them Our Sauiour Christ in Saint Luke sayde vnto him that was so readie to followe him marie vppon condition that he mought first goe vnto his owne house and take his leaue of such his friendes as were there No man which putteth his hande to the plough and looketh backe is apt for the kingdome of God And we must not as we haue sayde let slippe the oportunitie to doe well or receiue that good which God presenteth vnto vs when it is offred but to serue him readily for feare least if it be once lost it be no more possible to recouer it being as olde writers report bawlde behinde and not able to haue any fast holde layde thereon This is that which our Sauiour sayde speaking vnto the Iewes Yet a little whyle is the light with you walke while you haue light least the darkenesse come vppon you for he that walketh in the darke knoweth not whether he goeth Which afterwardes they had by experience good proofe of For by reason that they did not receiue this light which was then offered vnto them they were thereby depriued therof became most miserable not knowing the time of their visitatiō hauing reiected those benefits which God was willing to haue bestowed on them We reade in S. Matth. cap. 22. that such as were inuited to the marriage of the kings sonne excused themselues some alleadging their marchandise other their domesticall affaires other hinderances to be the cause The king being extremely angry with them for that they so little regarded the fauour honour which he had offred thē pronounced thē vnworthy of his liberality neuer after to be receiued into his house And in the 24. chap. of that gospel mention is made of the euil seruant which saide in his heart My Master doeth differ his comming let vs drinke eate and be merrie and in the meane time that hee was so carelesse came his maister and put him in the ranke of hipocrites where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth the which teacheth vs by no meanes to be slothfull as we haue in Ieremiah
learning he hath And Alexander saide that those discourses which hee had learned in Philosophie made him much more valiant aduised and assured as wel in warres as all other enterprises And not without cause Menander called ignorance a voluntarie misfortune and Seneca esteemed the vnwise man to be vnthankful of small assurance and angrie with his owne selfe One tolde Alphonsus that a King of Spaine saide that a Prince ought not to bee endued with learning then hee cryed out that it was the voyce of a beafe and not of a man And termed ignorant Kinges crowned Asses saying that by bookes men learned armes and shoulde thereby knowe more then their experience woulde teache them in a thousande yeares And the Emperour Sigismonde perswaded a Countie Palatine that was alreadie well stricken in yeares to learne Latin Petrarque rehearseth of one Robert King of Sicile that he was wont to saye hee had rather bee depriued of his Realme then of his learning And wee read in sundrie hystories that it hath beene inflicted to manie as a punishment that they shoulde not bee admitted to learning And it was not without cause saide of them in olde time that nothing was more pernitious then an ignorant man in aucthoritie as I coulde shewe by many examples and the deliberations of the ignorant can not bee but verie ambiguous slowe and without effecte Sundrie haue blamed Leonce the Emperour for that hee coulde neither write nor reade and Pope Paul the seconde for that hee hated such as were learned Pope Celestine the fifte deposed himselfe by reason of his ignorance And the Emperour Iulian to the ende hee mought molest the Christians forbad them the reading of all good bookes But the good Emperours and Kinges haue founded Colleges and Traian founde fiue thousande children at schoole thereby to driue awaye and banish the vice of ignorance And for the moste parte al Princes haue ayded themselues by learning or at the least made shewe of esteeming it Aristotle sayde that it were better to begge and be needie then vnlearned because the one hath neede of humanitie the other of money which may more easily bee recouered Hee sayde likewise as Plato and Demanes that there was as much difference betweene a learned man and an ignorant as betweene a liue and a dead a whole and a sicke a blinde and one of cleere sight or as betweene the Gods and men This made Menander to write that learning encreased and doubled the sight Yet men ought not to esteeme one that hath red much except he waxe the better thereby no more then as a bath which serueth to nothing except it bee cleansed And if wee bee accustomed in a Barbers chaire to beholde our selues in a glasse much more ought wee by a lesson sermon or lecture to examine our selues and see how our spirite is purged of sinne and howe much we thereby grow better And we must togither with a good nature ioyn the contemplation of learning the better to informe vs of our dutie afterwards to put in vse practise that good which we haue learned for as Plato wrote The end of Philosophie and of our studies is that by the searche which we haue made of naturall things wee may bee lead to the knowledge of God and vse that light which is bestowed vpon vs to conduct our life to pietie all good workes and vertue Euen Demosthenes wrote to a friend of his that he was glad hee followed Philosophie which detested all vnhonest gaine and deceite and whose finall scope was vertue and iustice The which with much more certaintie wee may auerre of the holy scripture wherein we ought to exercise our selues for feare of falling into that threatening which God pronounced by his Prophet because thou hast reiected knowledge therefore I wil cast thee off S. Augustin handling that place of S. Paul to the Romanes where he speaketh of the ignorance of the Iewes writeth that in them which would not vnderstand or knowe ignorance was a sinne but in them which were not able nor had the meanes how to knowe or vnderstand it was the paine of sinne So the not knowing of God or of our selues before wee were instructed by the worde of God was the payne of sinne vnto condemnation but after we haue hearde the word ignorance is of it selfe a most grieuous sinne For as S. Bernard writeth they which are ignorant and either for negligence or slothfulnes doe not learne or for shame enquire not out the trueth are voide of all excuse And if the Aegyptians counted it a moste intollerable calamitie to endure but for three dayes the darknesse which God sent vnto them by Moses how much more ought wee to be afraide when we remaine all our life long in the night of ignorance I could to this ende alledge sundrie examples of inconueniences that haue ensued through ignorance of the natural causes of the Eclipse of the Moone and Sunne of the impressions which are fashioned in the aire and of a superstitious feare of the Celestial signes and how by the ignorance of the Mathematikes of Cosmographie Chorographie and Geographie they haue not beene able to knowe their way nor to iudge of the heighth of a wall to be scalled nor of the passages riuers marishes and proper places to pitch a campe or retire themselues into and howe much sundrie historiographers haue failed herein but that I may not bee too tedious I wil referre the reader to the Greeke Latine and Frenche histories For this cause wee ought to enforce our selues to learne and to profit in the knowledge of the trueth that that in Ieremiah may not be reproched vnto vs You haue eyes see not and haue eares and heare not CHAP. XXXIII That one ought not rashly to borrowe money nor aunswere for another man for feare of lying IT is greatly to be presumed that the principal cause which moued them of olde time to councel a man not to be suretie for an other nor to borrowe money without verie vrgent necessitie or good pawne for the repaiment was for feare one should be founde a lyar which is a vice accompanied with impudencie and vniustice The Persians in like sort as Herodotus witnesseth blamed greatly two sinnes the one of owing the other of lying The which also moued Alexander the great after the victorie which he obtained against Darius to pay and aquite his souldiers debtes and Sophie the wife of Iustin to answere sundrie debts of the subiects of the Empire out of her owne coffers and Solon at Athens to establish an abolishing of al debtes which he termed by a word which signified a diminutiō of charge and sundrie other to doe the like in Lacedemon and Nehemiah to restore againe the burthens exactions And in Deuteronomie euerie seuenth yeare called the yeare of freedome debts could no more be demaunded to the ende this vice of
Iuno thorough her riches Mercury thorough his eloquence Venus thorough her nicenes Mars thorough his threats and the rest of the Gods hauing all conspired against Iupiter yet were not able to pull him out of heauen ment thereby that a man of vertue coulde by no meanes be turned a side from iustice It hath ben said of many that they which giue presents to iudges are most notably abused for the contrarye partye giueth likewise maketh the balance equall often time the veluet disgraceth the satyn the horse taketh away the force of the hacney and the chaine of gold couereth the ring And yet by the oth which iudges haue made to God to their king they are debtors of iustice without respect of persons so when they receaue presents they deceiue the pore suters and lie giuing them hope that their giftes shall preuaile with them For this cause Diodorus great estemed a picture which was within a chamber of the Palais of thirtye Iudges which were all without handes and the President loking onely vpon the image of truth which hôg about this neck K. Philip said to his son Alexander that he deceiued himselfe if he loked for fidelitye at their hands whō he had corrupted by mony And we must not maruel if the first day they be receiued in they be periured selling again what they haue bought exercising as it were the art of robbing throgh out the pallace presidial seats K. Agesilaus had once a custome to send a beuse to euery Senator of Lacedemon as soone as he was chosen in signe of his vertue The Ephores which were as ouerseers of euery one condēned him in a fine to the publike vse adding that it was because throgh such fauors he wēt practising gaining to himself alone those which ought to be cōmon to al. For as Hesiodus said iustice is a virgin vndeflowred alwaies lodged with honor reuerēce temperance publike vtility and hating al presents There are certaine old ordinances euen in Bourgundy which forbid al kind of presents to gouernors iudges K. S. Lewis made a most rigorous law which it were well if it were reuiued And in the Alcoran it is forbidden vpon paine of death that iudges receiue no presents And if we receiue what Plutarque teacheth instructing suche as manage the affaires of state that he which enricheth himself by the handling of publike causes and taketh presents is a committer of sacrilege an vnfaithful councelor a periured iudge a magistrate polluted and defiled with all the wickednes which man can commit and that which was saide that he which firste gaue mony to the people taught the true waye to ruine and confusion of a popular estate The sayde Plutarque in the lyfe of Pompe sheweth what mischiefe hath ensued thorough presents It was not without a mistery contained therein that at Thebes the Iudges and councellors were drawne without hands and the President blindfold to giue to wit that iustice ought not to be defiled fauourable nor corrupted thorough presentes And as the eares when they are full of bussing and noyse are not able comprehende what is sayd as Marius excused him selfe that the sounde of trompets made him that he could not heare the lawes So if there be any present which soundeth backe hardlye shall truth and iustice take place but rather fauour and iniustice The lawyers in the treaties de officio praesidis de officio proconsulis legati expresly forbad all gouernours and Iudges to receaue any present And so doth the law Cincia Isaiah complained that the princes were rebellious and companions of theiues euery one loueth giftes and followeth after rewardes and pronounceth a wo to them that spoile for they shall be spoiled In ancient time as sone as it was knowne that a Iudge had taken anye thing all the honor that in his whole life he could gaine was now cleane stained and loste And if it were but knowne in the Cantons of Surich or Berne that one of the councell had taken were it neuer so litle the best bargaine he could make were banishment God in Exodus forbiddeth to take rewarde for the rewarde blindeth the eyes of the wise and peruerteth the wordes of the iust The which also is repeated in 16. of Deutronomy And Samuel rendring an account of his whole life insisted principally in that he neuer receiued bribe to blind his eyes therewith his children were blamed for receiuing and were the cause of the chaunge of the state Iudas went and hong him selfe And Iob sayde that fire shall deuoure the houses of bribes and he whose handes are pure shall increase his strength And S. Ambrose vpon S. Luke sayth that euen as they that are in a traunce can not discerne thinges in such sort as they indeed are but onely the illusions and fansies of their passiōs so the thought of a gredy iudge wraped within the cordes of couetousnes fastened by the bonds of auarice neither seeth or thinketh of any thing but gold siluer and riches and all his study is but how to augment his wealth And Plato in his cōmon wealth calleth them drones which mar the hony and Pikes which deuour the rest of the fish The desire of these bribes proceed from a greedines which repugneth his fill whereas all other yeeld thervnto For it exerciseth the appetite taketh away the pleasure the childrē of such corrupt iudges do often times folow their trace Plato gaue counsel to accustome yong men in their infancy to think that it was not lawfull to haue or weare any gold to be decke their body with to the ende that when they came to the maniging of affayres they should not seeke to enrich them selues nor receaue bribes knowing that the inward gold which is vertue is proper vnto them But now we may say that we are in the golden age where no account is made but of golde and siluer And as one finding fault with the corrupt maners of the Athenians sayde that at Athenes all was honest so may one affirme now that of vice is made vertue Our auncient fathers had great reason to thinke it fit that there shoulde be an exercise to meete with couetousnesse and the greedinesse of hauing and receauinge bribes which was to abstaine from anye lawfull gaine to the ende men mought be accustomed to estrange them selues from all vniustice and vnlawfull taking of monye and from long continuance mought tame and chasten that greedinesse to gayne and get which thorough inough of other habites and actions is nourished and exercised alwayes to bee willinge to gayne impudentlye and seeketh after vniustice hardlye abstaining from autraging of any if any profit may thereby ensewe vnto them ready to take at all handes For as Ecclesiasticus writeth He that contemneth small thinges shall fall by little and little And according to the opinion of Isocrates the couetouse man at all assaies forsweareth
Diodorus Valerius Soranus K. Seleucus A vvord escapeth the mouth returneth not Fuluius Qu. Curtius lib. 4. Amasis king of Egypt The tong the best and vvorst peece of the body Prou. 13.3 The seat and piece of the tongue Homer Phocion spoke better then Demosthenes Pericles Zeno Drunkennes subiect vnto much babling The Pie consecrated to Bacchus Eccle. 22 Cato of the Greekes and Romanes Caesar Comment lib. 6 Counterfaite nevves To be silent is dangerous Circumstances of time and place to speake By friends enemies truth is discerned from falshood Xenophon Philip King of Macedon The profite vvhich men reap by their enemies Scipio The profite of friendes Euripides Diogenes Amitie Menander Eccles 6.16 Pithagoras Plato Loue of it selfe is blind The similitude of Demosthenes To be warned by our freindes Knowledge of histories necessary for princes To take couÌ„sell of the deade Caesars commentaries translated by the commauÌ„dement of Selim The loue the weomen of Bavire bare to their husbandes The monuments of our auncestors inflame vs to vertue Themistocles awaked through the trophees of the Miltiades Feare of blame and dishonor causeth the wicked to refraine Custome of Aegipt Diod. lib. 2â— cap. 3 Charlemagne Songs containing the high enterprises of vertuous persons Bardes Tyme left Fables and olde vvyfes tales Prudence required in reading histories All prophane authors write not trulie A reader of histories must not be too quicke of beliefe nor too credulous The holy Scripture the rule of all thinges VVhat vvriters soonest to be credited Enemies enuying the frenche Affections passions of men staine the trueth Not to iudge things according to the euent To make conquests assured Comment li. 6 Men differ from beasts by reason Cassiod lib. 1. Causes of losses More laudable to keepe then to gette Vse practise Aug. cap. 131 mor. epise Mens vvritings in all points can not be true The beginninges and motife causes of al things as to be considered To prayse and thanke God for our good successe Rom. 15.4 VVhatsoeuer is vvritten ought to serue for one learning Examples Mutations is common vveales This life but a sorrovvfull exile Prases deceaue men Statuas throvvne dovvne and broken Honours refused by Theopompus Niger Bracidas Antigonus Sigismond Iustinian Titus Fabritius Timoleon Antisthenes Galien Offices and dignities called charges Honours Glory The temple of glory adioyning to that of vertue Epictetus Cicero Salomon Ecclesiasticus 10. Marius Maiestie pictured Cato A knight Maximilian Honour to be accepted Youth stirred vp to vertue through praise Pope Iohn 23 Themistocles Remedy against praise and glorie Psal 62.9 144.4 Plutarque Gracchi Demosthenes The Lye Titus Fabius Ecclesiasticus Plato Cato Lucretia A good conscience K. Demetrius Marius VVarly discipline Vengeaunce reserued to god Trueth in Policies and gouernments Ierem. 3. Luke 1. Phil. 3.8 Philosophers of olde tyme haue not attained to the light of the trueth Tales The ignoraÌ„ce of the Philosophers Mans soueraigne good The Philosophers coÌ„forts Holy scripture Psal 119. Homers Nepenthes Seneca Horace reproued Phylosophie the loue of wisedom Aristotle reprehended Physis Iob. The lyfe of the Paganes The promises of God are certaine Chrysostome Rom. 1.22 The lamentation of Socrates Iob. 14.6 Sophisters Lib. 10. Cap. 2 de ciuit Dei Against Atheists and Epicures VVhy God ordained princes Kings children Scipio K. Lewys 11. K. Lewys 12. Dyonisius the tyrant of Sicil The coÌ„plaint of Gordian Dyoclesian Emperours Hester 16.6 Flatterers coÌ„pared to the Syrenes K. Antiochus Eugenes pope K. Lewys the grosse K. Lewys 12. Ptolome Charles the 4 and 5. Seleucus Adrian Pope Traian emperour Homer 2. iliad An arte of great difficultie to commaunde and rule vvell Dioclesian The miserable lyfe of tyrants vvicked princes Wisd 17.10 Guichard lib. 1 of Naples Plutarque Demosthenes The duety of a good prince Claudius emperour Dispensing vvith holy ordinances Comment lib. 7 L. 5. Si contra ius L. 5. de Thesau L. x. C. Selling offices Suppressing of offices Frontiers highe vvayes Superfluous ordinances Offices requiring great vvisedome Equalitie to be obserued 2. Cor. 15. Edicts of religion made for necessity Christians in Turkie The Edict of the emperour Charles the 5. at Ausbourgh Ferdinando Maximilian Philibert D. of Savoy Demosthenes Acts. 5.38 Tvvo things vvhich subuert empyres Pensions to Straungers Alexander seuerus Traynes of princes Galba Seneca Cassiod lib. 4. Tiberius Pertinax Money The testameÌ„t of K S. Lewys Iulian the emperour pardoneth the Alexandrians The bulle of the supper The instructions Basil gaue to his sonne Leo emperour Agesilaus contrary to many Tyrants The holy ordinance of Antony emperour The oth the emperours tak at their coronation Procurers generall Conduits of cities Guardes not necessarie for good Kings L. 4. c. 4 l. 9 c. 21. 〈◊〉 ciuit Dei K. Philip de Valois Arist lib. 3 c. 6 Theodosius Melchisedec Abimilec The causes of the alteration of states The Condition of princes vncertain Psal 107.40 Iob. 12.18 Deut. 18 11 Leuit. 20.6 Ier. 15.4 Tirannical Licence Flatterers of Court Micheas 2.3 Caligula his vvishe Horat. ode 2. lib. 3. Dyonisius Damocles Seuerus Ouinius Varus 1. Sam. 8.11 Deioces Theodosius Fortune like a glasse Isocrates Theopompus Solon Titus Apollonius Cinike People yealding their right The othe princes take at their coronation The cause of the creation of kings Agesilaus Kinges giuen of God Dan. 2.21 Pro. 8.16 Iob. 13.18 2. Chron. 9.8 1. Sam. 9.2 Sa. 6 21. 1. Chron. 19. 2. Kings 19.11.20.35 Polit. lib. 5. ch 21. 3 ch 7. The oth of Christian princes Zonar lib. 3. cap. 11. Ioshua 1.8 Kings of Lacedemon Rom. 13.1 Deuter. 17. 2. Sam. 6. Pericles Iustinian Antiochus K. Philip. K. Artaxerxes The life of princes a rule Isocrates In Cassiodorus Claudian Hos 4.9 Xenophon â—ib 2. Polit. ch 12. Plynye Q. Cursius Anthony Theodoricus 2 A landable custome of S. Lewys and other kings Deuter. 17.19 Iob. 8.8 Pro. 1.35 11.14 24 6. Councell Thucidides K. Charles the vvyse K. Lewys 11. Princes who euer had especiall care to retaine about their persons such as vver the vvisest to couÌ„sell them the better in the managinges of the affairs of their kingdomes Platoes image exected Theodosius councelled by S. Ambrose L. digna vo â— A vvise prince rendreth him selfe subiect to lavves Zaleueus Charondas Manlius K. Antigonus Nothing lavvfull that is not honest Plato Tacitus lib. 3. Diod. lib. 2. c 2. Good lavves are the soules of common vvealths Traian Faithful and true freinds most profitable Naughtie foolish ministers to princes very pernitious Xenophon Mignions of courte A good admonition of Charles 8. Meanes to meete vvith the auarice of the Courtiers Basil emperour of Constantinople The ordinances of the kings of France Trop donne soit repete The Larum of the K. of Persia Surnames of good Kings Alexander Spartianus Suetonius Lampridius Garneades The image of Osyris Kings kisse the booke of the holy Euangelists The picture of Pallas Nobility ought to be learned Charles 5. Paulus
the example of the pismire which prepareth her meate in sommer knowing that in winter she nether shall haue time nor leasure and likewise of the swallowe turtle and storke who obserue the time of their comming that they may not be preuented with colde which is so contrarie vnto their nature Our sauiour Iesus Christ in like sorte reprooueth the Scribes and Pharises for if men returne not vnto him and leaue their euill waye they haue occasion to feare his iustice For in the 13. of the Prophet Hosea he protesteth that the fault laye not in him that we are not saued and that none is the cause of our ruyne and destruction but our owne selues And we must not resemble them of whom it is sayde in the 24. of Saint Math. that they neuer beleeued they should be surprised or ouertaken For as S. Paul sayth in the first to the Thessalonians the daye of the Lorde shall come as a theefe in the night a fit houre to conuey ones selfe secretely into the house he doth meane to robbe and as the lightning which no sooner is perceiued then it vanisheth away We haue before greatly esteemed and commended Fabius Maximus for that by delay and temporising he cleane brake the furie of Hannibal but such wisedome preuaileth not with God in respect of whom nothing is more holsome then a readines to execute what he cōmaundeth which is not without very great reason and for the especiall good of such as obeye him In the first of Zephaniah God saith I will visite the men that are frosen in their dregges as much to say that they chose rather to lie wallowing in their fylth then to hasten the preuenting of the iudgement of God Let vs then cast away euery thing that presseth downe and the sinne which hangeth so fast on and let vs runne with patience the race which is set before vs and let vs so runne as we may carrie the price And let vs craue at Gods hande with the Psalmist that he will breake in sunder the corde which so fast tyeth vs and deliuer vs from all vayne desires slothfulnesse and delayes which are so daungerous Here I will craue of the reader if it please him to holde me excused in hauing beene so tedious in this discourse of so great weight and importance CHAP. XXXII That ignorance is a lye and the gappe of great inconuenience Plato in his second and seuenth booke of his common wealth writeth that ignorance is a spiritual lying which we ought to shunne And in Timeus he termeth it the sicknesse of the mind and the occasion of euil And in the tenth of his lawes He addeth that the soule receiuing and comprehending the diuine vnderstanding conducteth all thinges rightly and happily but if shee be once ioyned with ignorance shee worketh cleane contrarie and the vnderstanding is vnto the soule as the sight is vnto the bodie And in his discourse of the soueraigne good he saith that ignorance is a moste daungerous matter to fall into great personages which ought to serue as a light and example vnto the people And Pythagoras his counsell was that aboue all things wee should haue a care to keepe the bodie from diseases the soule from ignorance and the citie from sedition And Ecclesiasticus biddeth vs to be ashamed of the lies of our owne ignorance And Isaiah setteth it downe for the fountaine of al euils And as S. Ciril wrote there is no mischiefe which ignorance doeth not vndertake S. Augustine in his thirde booke of the citie of God was of the same opinion and placed it amidst the temporal paines of this life And from this lewd mother of ignorance haue two daughters issued to wit falshood and doubt This is the reason why Salomon sayeth in Ecclesiastes that the wise mans eyes are in his head but the foole walketh in darknesse For ignorance maketh one fearefull base minded vnconstant like vnto beastes and such as are dead and as Cleanthes was wont to saye suffereth it selfe to be deceiued and to deceiue besides it knoweth not how to vse that well which it possesseth It is rash taketh the false for the true the vncertaine for the certaine vice for vertue and as Menander saide it beleeueth not what it seeth For this cause k. Philip when he gaue his sonne Alexander to Aristotle to be instructed by him exhorted him in any wise to applye himselfe vnto Philosophie to the ende he should doe nothing whereof he mought repent Sundrie other haue likewise beene of opinion that knowledge was the true substance of felicitie and the efficient cause of wisedome profitable to all mankinde Salomon writeth that men are adorned and preserued by wisdome And from thence receiue infinite benefits and for the most part all great Captaines of auncient time were giuen to learning The Emperour Theodosius the second with his owne hande copied out all the newe testament and the Psalmes As Titus Vespasian did the whole hystorie of Iosephus and other al Homer It is written of Epaminondas who obtained so manie and great victories that he was instructed by the Phylosopher Licides and that through learning hee became much more valiant iust and modest The like hath beene reported of Iulius Caesar of Augustus of the Scipioes Fabius Catoes and that life without learning is but a verie death and as a man buryed while hee is yet liuinge For as a Philosopher sayed the vnderstandinge seeth heareth and liueth all the rest is blinde and deafe wanting reason And high dignities estates and riches doeth greatly blemish such as possesse them vnlesse trueth bee ioyned therewithall which causeth all to bee well vsed The Poets described one Tiphon an enimie to knowledge as a man puffed vp prowde and scattering all thinges by his ignorance for there is great difference betweene the iudgement contentment sight and feelinge of a learned man and of one that is ignorant As vppon a time that great painter ZeuZis not beeing able to satisfie himselfe in beholding the excellent workemanship of a Picture aunswered an ignorant man You woulde not demaunde of mee why I so much admyre it if you had my eyes which was the occasion that Plato saide that for to loue well vertue wisedome and the trueth Philosophicall eyes were required And it is written in Hosea that for lacke of knowledge the people were destroyed And Saint Paul exhorteth vs carefully to auoyde ignorance and diligently to search the knowledge of the will of God And the Prophet Ieremiah complaineth Shall they fall and not arise shall he turne away and not turne againe Wherefore is this people of Ierusalem turned backe by a perpetuall rebellion they gaue themselues to deceite and would not returne Pope Pius the seconde saide that his bookes were his treasor And a Philosopher beeing demaunded if the King of Persia were not most fortunate made aunswere I knowe not what vertue and