that all occasions of ciuill discention and subuersion are remooued Of good commonweales let this we haue sayde suffice and consider what are those thinges that doe chiefly make them perfect and happie In euery good and perfect commonweale three thinges are specially required that is to say Magistrates lawes and ciuill discipline for without these no Citie nor societie of men coulde euer be preserued The office of Magistrates is to rule and commaund the people to doe those thinges that be iust profitable and agreeable to lawe and reason Cicero no lesse learnedly then eloquently saith that as the lawes gouerne the Magistrates so the Magistrates ought to gouerne the people and the Magistrate may be iustly called the liuing lawe and the lawe a dombe Magistrate Hee therefore in all commonweales is of greate necessitie for without his wisedome councell fidelitie and discretion no state can stande nor be gouerned whereof also the state and order of euerye commonweale may be knowen As the shippe in tempestious seas is endangered and many time drowned vnlesse by the labour and industrie of the mariners it be saued So the commonweale tormented with tempest of seditions and discord must perish if through the diligence and wisedome of the Magistrates it be not preserued Or as mans bodie is ruled by reason so euery Citie and societie of men must of necessitie containe a soule which is the lawe to be thereby gouerned and that lawe proceedeth from the reason councell and iudgement of wise men For where no lawes nor Magistrates are there no God no men nor no society can be continued The true law of man is reason which wisemen doe giue vnto themselues others receiue from the Magistrates perswading them to eschue things forbidden by law no lesse then if the same were contrary to reason They therfore that in wisdom discretion do excell others are as is aforesaid made of golden or siluer nature because they can deserue best of mans society are to be aboue others aduanced For as Cities well walled and fortefied are thereby defended from the fury of enemies So tranquilitie and happie life is by the councell of wise men preserued Therfore it behooueth them first to be indued with such vertues as may make the commonweale happy then that they be affectionate to the state and liue therein contented to the ende they attempt no innouation and lastly that they be authorised to execute those thinges which they thinke profitable for the commonweale For so shall they commaund with more reputation and the subiectes more willingly obey them Surely whosoeuer shall without indignitie aspyre to the place of supreme gouerment hath neede to vse great art and singular wisedome For such a one is to gouerne not one onely house not one onely famely not one onely wife not one onely rase of children but the commonweale deuided into infinite and contrarie humors of men which by his wisedome must be reduced to one consent equality and concord Moreouer for somuch as in commonweales there are three degrees of magistrates among whom the king holdeth the most supreame place next vnto him is the Senate and the third is distributed to the people what profit may be reaped of euery of them let vs now consider The kinges authority contayneth great vertue high vnderstanding and diuine wisedome for as God is prince of the vniuersall world so is the King Lord of the whole commonweale It behooueth him therefore to gouerne iustlie and godlie because in the commonweale he is accounted the Lieuetenant of God For the Councell wisedome and knowledge of kinges is not their owne but giuen them of God Also for somuch as no king can with his diligence and onely wisedome equally gouerne the whole state for it is rather the vertue of God then man exactlye to know all thinges apperteyning to good gouerment they haue therfore vsed to call vnto their assistance some wise men whereby the common-weale might be the better gouerned Those men beeing as a meane betwixt the king and the people doe on the one side know the office of the king and on the other what are the customes and lawes belonging to the people thereof conceiuing what ought be done for preseruation of the kinges honour and what apperteyneth to the profitt of the commonweale people We thereof inferre that these magistrates or councellors are of all other most able to stand the coÌ„monweale in stead The king being but one onely man cannot looke vnto all thinges and sometimes it happeneth that eyther by giuing liberty to his appetites or yeelding to his affections hee is seduced from true reason and the ignorant multitude being as they say without head or discretion cannot be capable of that knowledge Yet the Senate being chosen and made of vertuous wise and expert men may from their place as from a watch-tower looke about and prouide thinges needefull for the state preuenting all seditions tumultes and perils that can be attempted which is the respect there is not skantlie any commonweale which vseth not to commit eyther the whole or the greatest charge of gouernment to the Senate For albeit they were indeede called Kings who first assembled the habitation of men into Cities liuing before sauagely dispersed in woods and fieldes yet with that course of gouernment the kings could not alone retayne them in obedience Neyther did the authority and wisdome of one Prince suffise when the mindes of men were reduced to ciuilitie and their wonted bestialitie reiected It therefore behoued kings to be accompanied with the Councell of wisemen to the ende the commoweale might be the better gouerned which we reade was done by Romulus For he supposing that the gouernment of one without aduise of Counsell would proue eyther perilous odious or without grauitie did call vnto his assistance a hundreth Senators whome eyther in respect of their age or wisedome he named Fathers The like was done by Theopompus king of Sparta who appoynted the Ephorâ— giuing them great authoritie in the state whereat his wife offended and saying that he â—ad thereby diminished the power of his posteritie in that kingdome answered that it was enlarged and strengthened being perswaded that thorough Counsell and authoritie of the Senate the state wold be exceedingly encreased and inforced Whereby it appeareth that the aduice of Counsellors were from the beginning by kings embraced and all men haue thought those resolutions to be most firme and assured which were by Councell and wisedome of the Senate digested I call that a Senate which is the chiefe magistracie appoynted to giue Counsell and gouerne the state And consequently the Senator is a man lawfully elected into the number authorised to counsell gouerne the commonweale It hath therefore alwaies beene that the order of Counsellors was framed of the most discreet wise and noble sort of subiectesâ— because there is not any society of men so barbarous but desireth the gouernment should
ordinarie reasonable and according to the custome of men yet accompayning the fame with Philosophicall histories The forme of our perfect commonweale was described in the ancient Athenian Monarchie That people being dispersed and like vnto beastes wandring in the field were first by Cecrope and after by Theseus constrained to inhabite a Citie which was then called Cecropiae and since named Athens and at length reduced to a kingdome descended to their posterity But what authority the Senate vnder those kings had which order did represent the Optimatie by reason the time is long since passed and few writers haue therof written cannot be to vs apparantly knowen yet must we beleeue that those kinges had about them wise men whose councell they imployed in gouerning The kinges of that age as Thucidides affirmeth did rule by consent of the people and with their suffrages determined many thinges whereof themselues were doubtfull Yet that gouerment indured not but was through tract of time which alterâ—th all things committed to the multitude whose force and power vtterly subuerted the commonweale The Lacedemonian state as is before said seemed to containe all three sortes of gouerment that is the King the Nobilitie and people What shoulde I say of the Romanes Shall I not call those times golden when kinges were content to be Councelled Romulia as Liuiâ— writeth being by consent both of Gods and men elected king notwithstanding the state was then little refused to gouerne the same alone calling vnto him an hundred Senators for his assistance whom eyther in respect of their age or vertue he called fathers And least the people should hold themselues ill satisfied and defrauded of all honours and thereby hatred might ensue eyther towards the King or Senate he made them capable of the iudiciall offices and suffered them to haue voyces in determining warre and concluding of peace with many other priuiledges And wolde God that forme of commonweale had still continued in Rome For then so great effusion of blood had not beene made in the aspyring to liberty and extending the boundes of the Romane Empyre Neyther shoulde the happines of that state haue beene with so many seditions disturbed whereby scarsly at any time it hath liued in peace But let vs now consider of commonweales in our age we see that the Empyre of Germanie consisteth of the Emperour the Princes and the people That state beeing gouerned by diuers potentates and the pollecy drawne into sundry gouermentes cannot easely be described The french Monarchie hath in it a king who ruleth at his owne discretion and although his authoritie be not confined to lawe yet against lawe and honour he doth not anything but liueth as a iust and honourable Prince In that kingdome the noble men whom they call peares represent an Optimatie the people is deuided into three sortes Gentlemen Priestes and popular multitude and a choise number compounded of these three and assembled by the kings commandement doe determine of matters which in the commonweale are of most importance This Councell was anciently called Pauceltium as the Aetâ—oli named their generall assemblie Panaetolium or as the vniuersall Councels of Ionia was termed Panionium In Spayne the king hath authority soueraigne the Councel royall resembleth the Optimatie and the three chiefe orders of knighthood may be likened to the popular state For the order of S. â—ago Callatraua Alâ—antara assembled with the king do determine of matters most important The kingdome of Polonia doth also consist of the said three sortes that is the king nobility and people But it is to be noted that this word people includeth only knights and gentlemen The liberty fellowship of those orders is so great as the king without aduise of his couÌ„cel their authority doth not any thing neither caâ— the couÌ„cel determine without the allowance of the King and consent of the people In that kingdome the lawes are of so great force as euery man religiously sweareth to keepe and obserue them and ifcontrarie to that othe any thing be done the same is accounted iniust and impious That othe which they sweare for the obseruation of their lawes and liberty is in their language called Captue which signifieth in Latine Tegmen capitis for as the heade is kept from cold by being couered so through vertue of that othe their lawes liberty and welfare is conserued because in maintayning thereof no good man feareth to aduenture his life against Tyrants and all others that labour to violate the boundes of publique liberty and happinesse That people therefore doe liue in great liberty beeing perswaded that to liue according to lawe is indeed perfect freedome In that kingdome the Prince gouerneth by lawes and proceedeth not according to will In making of warre or concluding of peace he vseth the aduise of his Councell neuer transgressing the lawes which worketh this effect that among the people the kinges person is not onely highly honoured but also for a God rightly reuerenced and adored For who is he that would not entirely loue honour and reuerence that Prince who in gouerning is of one selfe minde with the lawe contented to be led by the line of reason directing his doings according to the expert wisdome of his Councellors If authority be thus vsed what consent loue and mutuall affection doth it make among subiectes To conclude the king of Polonia seemeth such a Prince as Plato Aristotle Xenophon and other law-makers haue wished to be in commonweales as nature and God himselfe doth allowe The Senate doth in that state represent the Optimatie and hath as is aforesaid great authority For being chosen amongest the most graue and wise gentlemen they onely with the king doe consult of the commonweale Their authority is not vnlike to the Homotimâ— in Persia or the Ephori in Lacedemonia The gentlemen of Polonia doe represent the popular state for in them consisteth a great part of the gouerment and they are as a Seminarie from whence Councellors and Kinges are taken The kingdome of Brytannie now called England obeyeth one King who choseth his Councellors vnto whome the rest of the Nobility and popular order being ioyned doe make one common Councell which in their language is called Parliament The Venetian state seemeth framed after the same fashion but they within the name of people doe onely include Gentlemen and Citizens taking great heede least any other should vsurpe that title because they onely are capable of the magistracie Out of that number the Senate is chosen which representeth an Optimatie and is as foundation of that state The Duke is also elected of that number resembling a king And surely there is no Monarchie or commonweale that can compare with it for quiet gouerment and longe continuance whether the cause thereof proceedeth from God from fortune from the obseruation of Iustice or from the naturall seate of that Citie I neede not nowe to discourse But true it is
rest in men of such vertue and thinketh it a thing honest and iust to obey them Among all sortes of men there is not any so wise and of such perfect and absolute vertue as is the Senator because all others eyther through want of yeares lacke of experience or inconstancie are for the most parte withdrawen from the best course of life but a Counsellor is not by any affections troubled by appetites transported nor by youth inueigled but by reason gouerned by Counsell directed and by agâ— made perfect Counsellors also in respect of their capacities reason Counsell iudgement and ripenes may be called Senators because in them all youthfull appetites and furies be decayed and the force of reason increased which being growen to perfection in men doth make them like vnto Gods Furthermore for somuch as there are as the Philosophers affirme in all things three degrees Great Small and Indifferent that is thought most perfect which doth participate of eyther So the Senator being as it were a meane betwixt the king and people may the better finde the perfection of all things and consider what are the offices of Kinges and what the dutie of people with the right liberties and lawes apperteyning to eyther least the people for want of good gouernment do coueâ— immoderate liberty or the King lacking aduise doe fall into tyrâ—nâ—y It behoueth the Counsellor to be of high wisedome great vnderstanding and much experience endeuouring himselfe to â—e carefull and vigilant for the well doing quiet and happinesse of all the commonweale which ought be the study of him that is of high capacity and supernaturall vnderstanding Scipio saith that as the ende of the Saylors endeuour is good passage the Physitions trauell tendeth to health and the captaynes labour to victorie so the happy life of subiectes their wealth their glory and vertue ought to be the endeuour of our Counsellor and from him as one amongst the rest of most singularity and perfection the same proceedeth We shall now therfore discourse what foundation of great wisedome hath and what exercises knowledge and vertue ought to be in a Counsellor which being knowen the waies and degrees wherby he may attayne to so excellent qualities shall be the more easie For as much as the foundation and roote of euery commonweale is the inhabitants thereof we will first aboue all thinges determine that our Councellor shall be naturally borne within that state where he gouerneth Because that birth and being doth not onely binde him but also leade him to beleeue it is honourable iust and necessary to spend his blood in defence of his country for the onely loue which men doe beare vnto their country doth exceede all other pietie And how is it possible that any man should not loue that country wherein he hath his parentes his children his neighbours and friends and that which hath freely giuen him life name and honour with euery other thing requirable eyther for delight or necessity Surely Nature hath so deepely and firmely planted in the mindes of men the loue to their country as neuer any good subiect did feare at necessary occasions to aduenture his life Yea we haue found the force therof to haue beene such as euen the wicked and most vnnaturall subiectes attempting the subuertion of their country at the onely sight of their naturall soyle haue stayed their handes from performing so wicked an enterprise Did not Veturia disswade her sonne Martius beseging Rome only by reducing to his memory the loue he ought to haue vnto his naturall country calling him impious and audacious for daring to disturbe that Citie wherein he was begotten and bred forgetting that within the walls thereof his mother wife children famelie and friendes liued Greate was the loue of Veturia towardes her country and no lesse was the pietie of Martius in pardoning his country which through the crueltie of the Tribunes at that time persecuting the Nobilitie had beene to him vnthankefull Sertorius in like manner desired Pompeius and Metellus to procure his reuocation saying he desired rather to be called an obscure Citizen of Rome then else where an Emperour Therfore Ouidius Naso the Poet saith truely Nescio qua natale solum dulcedine cunctos Ducit immemores non sinit esse sui Great is the obligation which bindeth vs to our country whereunto our goods and persons are as it were impawned Pythagoras as Plato saith beeing asked in what sorte a man shoulde be vngratefull to to country answered as to his mother because all iniuries are to be pardoned for our countries sake neyther is there anye offence so greate which the loue of our country ought not delaye and diminish Let our Councellor therefore be a subiect naturally borne sith no man of forraine birth ought be preferred to that dignitie because the Councell of strangers is accounted suspicious perilous and dangerous The Athenians therefore did not onely seclude all strangers from their Councels but also suffered them not to dwell within their Citie leaste by such meanes they might aspyre vnto the magistracie and induce the Citizens mindes to innouation whereby change of lawes customes manners and seditions might growe Which manner of proceeding we see the Venetians haue carefully obserued For among them greate heede is taken least anye vnder false tide shoulde intrude himselfe into that number which is capable of the gouerment Whereby all forenners and strangers bee vtterly excluded But happelye it may seeme considerable who those are which ought be called Citizens This worde Citizen hath beene aswell among Phylosophers as lawe-makers diuerselye defined Some haue called the whole number of Inhabitantes by the name of Citizens Others onely those that are descended of Noble and free Citizens Others haue called them Citizens who haue one of their parentes free borne within the Citie And some woulde that the Citizen shoulde fetch his Pedigree from his ancient grandfathers Some doe also thinke that strangers receiued into the societie of Citizens and naturallized shoulde be called Citizens Aristotle doth call them by the name of Citizens that are capable of the offices in the state and are descended of free and honest parentage Surelye the opinion of euerye of these touching the name of Citizen is not to be thought strange seeing that custome and lawe doth in euerye place giue direction what is to be done framing their reasons according to the qualitie of the state wherein they liue In popular states all they are commonly called Citizens that doe inhabite the Citie aswell poore as rich bad as good wise as learned not beeing bonde men for euerye one is capable of the gouernmente and liue all in one equalitie Of this nature was the Athenian commonweale so long as it was popularlye gouerned and in our dayes the Cantons of Switserlande doe obserue the same customes Diuers other cities in Germanie are called free where the inhabitantes doe liue popularly secluded from gentlemen noble citizens
In Monarchies Aristocraties those are named Citizens that liue according to vertue And in the one onely good and vertuous men doe exercise the gouerment and in the other one alone for bounty excelling the rest doth commaund all who eyther a regendo or recte agendo is called Rex Those people which are naturally slaues or wicked doe for the most part obey Tyrants and that gouerment is called Imperium despoticum because they gouerne by will without lawe Such people are seruile barbarous and without vertue or honour Yet are not they to be accounted slaues that be oppressed with power ambition and couetousnesse of Tyrants if that therwith they be not base minded and vitious For we may read of many such that haue reuenged the seruitude both of their owne persons and of their country by sleying or expelling the Tyrants or not being able so to doe haue chosen rather to loose their liues then their liberty as in Rome Brutus Cato and many other had done In an Oligarchia because men are chiefly respected for their riches they who are most welthy will onely be reputed Citizens which kinde of men ought be holden dishonourable because they are carelesse of all vertue and studie for nothing else then how to become rich by what meane soeuer to the ende that not as wise and vertuous but as rich men they may aspyre to the offices and honours in the commonweale Among the Romaines there were diuers kindes of Citizens for some were called Municipes some Colâ—â—i and some Latini euery one retayning those conditions that were granted them by the people of Rome some were free some confederate and some stipendarie Some were made Citizens pleno iure which was by consent of voyces and they were capable of all honours or Iure honorario which were they that were onely admitted into the Citie without suffrage and for honours sake called Citizens as were the Company and Equiti Hee was also accounted a Citizen of Rome whose name was written in the Censors booke and was an householder in Rome By these thinges we haue sayde it appeareth that in all commonweales those are properly called Citizens that in their Citie haue right to beare office and giue suffrage in the state which priueledge who so wanteth is rather to be called an Inhabitante or Clyant then a Citizen In other thinges requisite to the perefction of a Citizen as vertue naturall byrth riches and Nobilitie the custome and lawe of euery state is to â—e obserued Of all these we will onely allowe of two sortes the one Noble the other plebeiall For euery Citie consisteth of the people and the multitude within the name of people as Caius the Doctor writeth all principall Citizens Noblemen Senators and Gentlemen are conteyned The worde plebeiall includeth the rest of the inhabitants and others that haue beeing within the state So as the one sort ought be called Citizens properly and the other so termed by imitation and courtesie But our Councellor shall be of the number of noble and free Citizens A noble Citizen taketh his title of that nobilitie which hath the originall of vertue which is partlie his owne and partlie as ornified and increased by the vertues and riches of his ancestors They therefore that aswell by their owne as their ancestors vertue be made noble are to be preferred honoured and reuerenced before others because of good parents good children are begotten as the Poet saith Fortes fortibus creantur bonis Est in iumentis est in equis patruÌ„ Virtus neâ— imbellet feroces Progenerant â—qâ—ilaeâ—o â—â—mbam To the perfection of a Noble Citizen as Aristotle saith three thinges are chiefely required good parentage riches and vertue Who so possesseth all those wanteth nothing appertayning to true and perfect nobilitie and such men were euer wonte to be called most Noble Citizens But because it seldome happeneth that one man can be owner of them all vertue alone doth chalenge as her right power to make men noble Touching riches and honour of ancestors as they doe ornifie Nobilitie so doe they greatly disgrace the beautie thereof in those that liue not vertuouslye For such men doe make the name of their ancestors obscure and through the vices of their posteritie they become vtterly vnknowne It is therefore better as Tullius saith to be noble by a mans owne vertue then by the opinion conceiued of his ancestors because the beginner of Nobilitie is most praise worthy Who so is descended from Noble parentes doth deferne vndoubtedly to be commended and honoured so that he doth endeuour himselfe to equall or excell the glorious actes and vertue of his ancestors And who would not greatly commend them for so doing declaring themselues thereby thankefull towardes their ancestors by not burying the faâ—e of the dead and increasing the same by their owne vertue yet liuing The lawe of the Rhodians seemeth commendable for therby it was enacted that those sonnes which followed not their fathers vertue but liued vitiously should be disinherited and their laâ—des giuen to the most vertuous of that rase not admitting any impious heire whatsoeuer It is an office of our fâ—ith and pietie to leaue vnto the posteritie of men a declaration howe mindfull and thankefull we are towardes our ancestors whose heirs we are not onely of their worldly goods but of their vertue glorie faith religion which is the true inheritance and may indeed be called the true possessions For it is not a Hall painted full of proude Armes or badges but vertue which maketh a man Noble As â—uuenall saith Tota licet veteres exornent vndique cerae Atria nobilitas solaâ—stâ—â— que vnica virtus For wheresoeuer vertue abideth in all estates the same is more praise worthy then fortune because it refuseth no man but may be by euery one embraced Cleantes was a poore water drawer and vertue found not Plato â—â—oble man but made him noble We câ—â—ld also tell that of diuers bond-men kinges haue beene descended and of kinges ofâ— spring some haue become bond-men such variety long tract of time bringeth and fortune turneth all thinges vpside downe Was not Agâ—thocles from a potter aduanced to be a king what was Romulus Tullius Hostilius Tarquinius Prâ—sâ—uâ— and all the progeny of Romanes wherof Iuuenall writeth thus Et tamen vt longe repetâ—â— longè que reuoluas Nomen ab infami gentem dedu cis Asylâ— Who is therfore a Gentleman he that by nature is made vertuous If any goodnes be in nobilitie it is as Boetius thinketh a certaine necessity imposed vppon Gentlemen that they should not degenerate from their ancestors Moreouer as the exercise of our qualities and actions are diuers so are the degrees of Nobility proceeding of vertue likewise diuers The Nobility of priuate men and all such as liue in contemplation may be called Philosophicall nobilitie but the same in those that eyther gaine glory by counselling the commonweale
of them as in a popular state the one and in an Optimatie the other is vsed Which so euer of them doth claime right of electio must of necessity disdaine the other for the people doe affect liberty the noblemen desire authority Wherefore eyther they fall into sedition one against the other 〈◊〉 agree by law or consent that eyther of them shall enioy the liberty of election And though it so doe â—â—â—ne to passe yet will if not be long before they returne to their former discention For euery one knowing he hath gotten a partiall iudge of his vertue wisdâ—â—â— beleeuing himselfe to be disdained of the contrary faction practiseth â—aâ—red conspitacy in the state reiecting the ornaments of verâ—ue trusting to â—oâ—â—ed friends studieth ambitously by followers corruption to aspire unto authority what cannot be attained vnto by vertue he extorteth by force and violence So as good subiectes are by euill oppressed and in place of iustice vertue and wisedome deceipt fraud vice iniustice doe gouerne all Surely it is a thing most perilous that the magistrates of any state should be chosen by the multitude which is no reasonable of indifferent iudge of menworthines For many times eyther it enuieth or fauoureth those vnto whome they giue their libertie not iudging according to reason but is often moued by fauour or drawen with desire to honour those that ambitiously labour to aspyre And to conclude whensoeuer the multitude doe make choise the same is not performed according to discretion knowledge and iudgement but fury and rashnes There is not as Tully saith any Counsell Reason Iudgement or diligence in the base people and wise men haue euer thought good to suffer those things which the people doe but not euer to commende their doings The multitude haue alwaies had the desire but not the iudgement to bestow the dignities for their voyces are wonne by flattery not gained by desert This custome being by lawe or vse allowed in other common-weales shall not be admitted in our state forwe recommend the election of our Counsellor to one alone being of all men iudged for vertue wisdome knowledge most worthy thinking that one may more easely then many eschew those perils which happen in chosing Counsellors But let him to whome this authority belongeth receiue the same as giuen him by lawe or consent of the people not aspyre therto by force corruption or Tyranny The custome of free people in the election of their Senators vnto whome they commit their welfare is to chose them among themselues or else to giue that authoritie of election to an other which we reade the Romaines sometimes to haue done who did not theÌ„selues choose the Senate as they did other magistrates but committed the doing thereof to one man alone of most excellencie good life manners authoritie wisedome and iudgement Romulus the first father of that Citie elected a hundred Senators which custome was vsed by the other kings succeeding But when the kings through the insolent gouernment of Tarquintus were remoued this power of election according to the qualitie of time was somewhat altered yet not giuen to many For till the state returned to a Monarchie the Senators were chosen eyther by the Consuls the Censor the dictator or cheiftaine Our ancestors haue most discretely brought that custome of the Romaines into this commonweale giuing vnto the Kinge power and authority to make choise of Counsellors and be an onely iudge of each mans vertue electing those whome for age wisedome and nobilitie he thought worthie We therefore doe determine the power and right of electing Counsellors to appertaine onely vnto the king wherein his greatest wisedome and iudgement ought be employed not calling any to Counsell for skill in domesticall affaires for riches gained by agriculture nor for skill in architecture but for wisedome in gouernment of the commonweale for preseruation of Subiects and knowledge in good and wholsome lawes If our bodies be diseased with sicknes we consult with learned Phisitions or if we want garments or howses we seeke for skillfull Artificers why should we not also as a thing of most importance looke out and choose such men to gouerne the people and commonweale whose wisedome can conserue the same in peace and tranquilitie It therefore behoueth a Prince in the choise of such men to vse the whole force of his capacitie wisedome and diligence For he is not onely to see that in the Counsellor there be those partes whereof we haue spoken to wit that he be a naturall subiect well borne and bred and indued with those artes and disciplines which are thought worthy a ciuill man destined to gouerne the state but he must also consider the quality of his manners fame famelie age and vertue It is moreouer to be knowen in what office or seruices the Counsellor before his election hath bene vsed and with how much endeuour fidelity wisedome and diligence he hath serued For from some other place of imployment the Counsellor ought be chosen which the Romaines vsed electing their Senators onely out of that number whome they called Patres which was as it were the nourserie of Counsellors To be short whosoeuer choseth Counsellors ought aboue all to lay before his eyes the profit of the commonweale whereby he shall easely conceiue what men and Counsellors the state wanteth and how much or little euerie one can helpe how great a burthen each man can beare and what is to waighty for his force Let vs hereafter discourse wherein all these thinges consist what good the state receiueth by a Counsellors wisedome and what dueties he is bound vnto By that which hath beene alreadie saide the King may sufficiently conceiue what things are considerable to knowe a perfect Counsellor and likewise a Counsellor shall finde what is to be obserued and vsed in gouerning But lest the discourse of this institution should seeme ouer long we thinke fit to speake of those qualities in one other booke following for not werying the readers minde with many wordes and thereby become ouer tedious Finis Libri Primi ⧠The second Booke WE haue as I hope in the former Booke sufficientlie at large discoursed of the first principles appertayning to the Counsellors dignitie how many kindes of commonweale there is and which of them ought be accounted most perfect We haue also laide the foundation of ciuill felicitie which is in the societie of men a thing most notable and diuine Nowe our entent is in this booke to set downe those vertues which are required not onely in a newe magistrate but an olde and expert Counsellor so shall the science of gouernment be complete perfect and fully finished First it behoueth a Counsellor to know the forme of that common-weale wherin he is to giue counsell and be a minister what people what lawes liberties are therunto belonging what manners are there vsed by what discipline vse and custome the state is gouerned
men refused to haue any made of him saying he had rather men should aske why he had none then why he stood there For the honour due to vertue ought be perpetuall and euerlasting not fading or subiect to ruine Of three hundreth portractures set vp for king Demetrius not one was by time decayed nor by negligence defaced but in his owne life they were all turned vpside downe Yet a counsellor ought to desire glory as the most notable reward of vertue And he is in glory most excellent that passeth all others in vertue Thesius asked of the Gods three things that is good fortune want of inward sorrow and such glory as was neither false counterfeite nor fained Who so seeketh glorie for vertue and noble acts doth not commit any thing dishonourable eyther towards himselfe or others because he measureth his fame and dignitie by vertue and iudgement It is the propertie of men well borne and liberally brought vp to desire the good report of his countrey strangers friends and leaue good fame to his posteritie by consent of all honest people All men therefore but chiefly Counsellors must take heede least they make any euill impression to deface their good name or fame for seldome eyther in time present or age to come by vertue of posteritie it can be cancelled For time speaketh and fame is neuer silent also libertie of tongue remaineth to thinke and pronounce the sayings and actions of other men Moreouer we onely doe not reape the fruite of good fame but our neighbours friends and children are thereof partakers in so much as all people and their posteritie doe commend vs admyring our liues and extolling the time wherein we liued the commonweale where we gouerned and the lawes by vs ordained In our owne life time it behooueth vs to doe the like least vertue faith and religion doe seeme in vs altered and extinguished or that our posteritie should imagine that we did degenerate from the vertue of our ancestors or willingly reiected their precepts Fame is the ground of perpetuall commendation therefore let each man eschewe vice with the danger of disestimation for the losse of Fame and fidelitie are greater disaduentures then can be imagined It was prouided by lawe that no wan of corrupt fame should be chosen a Senator of Rome And he was holden of corrupt fame that had beene condemned for a diser a deceiuer of others a theese an vniust man a false performer of testaments a lyar an hereticke a banished man or knowne guiltie of any other enormitie whereby good fame was bleamished In Athens there was an order that the life of euery Senator before his creation should be examined Also Solon prouided by lawe that no man misliked of honest men or noted of dishonestie should be admitted a Senator Which kinde of men we also disalowe iudging them not onely vnfit for the place of Counsellors but also vnworthie the name of men Therefore the whole life of our Counsellor must be referred to vertue and honestie for of them all true glorie fame praise renowne and dignitie groweth Moreouer the vse of friends and neighbous doth greatly beautifie the honour of Counsellors sith they doe not onely make mans life happie but also comfortable For it is a singuler pleasure to cōmunicate our affaires with friends vsing their fidelitie and both in priuate publique buisines to be helped with their aide and assistance Alexander being asked where he would haue his treasure preserued answered amōg his friends because he thought good will to be the owner both of his and other mens riches Also to such a Counsellor as is desirous of posteritie a number of good and honest children are an inlargement of felicitie For men haue no treceiued from God any benefite so great as is ofspring and discent of children whereby we enioy immortall and eternall increase of life Bercilidas a chieftaine or gouernour in Sparta sitting at meate did forbid that the yonger sort should doe him reuerence reprouing himselfe of barrennesse because he had not begotten any children to doe them the like honour when they were olde In Rome the custome was that they who had furnished the commonweale with children should be after exempted from the payment of taxes and in token thereof those men were called Proletarij But let vs now speake of riches the possession wherof is for a Counsellor of singuler necessitie for money is not onely needed in priuate but also in publique affaires and without it he cannot performe any notable or vertuous action Maiestie without force is slenderly assured and wisedom without authoritie must yeeld to folly The opinion of Plato is that the gouernours of Cities should be neyther ouer rich nor ouer poore for the one doth make them cowardly slouthfull subiect to pleasures and desirous of nouelties the other maketh them silly weake and rusticall Therefore the wealth fit for a Counsellor should be sufficient for his degree and gotten without reproch Aristotle produceth two meanes of gaining riches whereof the one is according to nature and honestie the other against nature and dishonest The naturall meanes of getting is by agriculture hunting fishing fowling and such like which containe not in them any deceiptfull permutation Agriculture as Cicero affirmeth is of all other things the best the most profitable most pleasing and most worthie a free man Cato being asked by what meanes a man might soone become rich answered by feeding of cattell and being asked the second time said by well and fat feeding Whereby he seemed to thinke that riches gotten by tillage and nourishing beastes was of all other the most honest When the Romaines would commend any man they vsed to call him a good man and a good husband in so much as the Senators themselues liued in the countrey and at occasions were by pursuiuants called to the Citie Lutius Quintius Cincinnatus diuerse other notable men were called from the countrey to be made Dictators But it is to be thought that their dwelling the villages was rather for solace and recreation then for a-any necessitie wherein they liued Gaines against nature are all kind of craftes for lucre merchandise and vsurie because men doe therby seeke dishonest profit and be therein onely occupied Cato being asked what he thought of vsurie answered What is it to kill a man A Senator therefore must in no wise meddle with any dishonest gaine he must also auoide all base and fowle trauelingetting his riches for by such exercises the honour of a Counsellor is defiled It was therfore prouided in Rome that no Senator should be owner of any ship containing 300. Amphore because immoderate gaines was not in the noble men allowed Also it must needs be that those that binde themselues prentice to bace and soule gaines will not thinke vpon honest matters and be carefull of the commonweale therefore such Senators were deposed from the Romaine Senate All honest riches do seeme to consist in money