Samuel whose vniust behauior caused the Iews to demaund a King Here is a faire field offred me for the discoursing of this matter on either side but it shall suffice me to haue had this speech following at a glaunce CHAP. V. Whether it be better to haue a king by Succession or by Election SOme there are that demaund whether it be more behoofull and expedient for the welfare of a people to haue a king by Election or by Succession For if ye proceed by Election it is to be presumed that ye will choose the best namely such a one as hath made good proofe of himselfe and is knowne to be wise fortunat and valeant Or if ye let it goe by Succession it may be that the king shall be yoong of small experience and of little vnderstanding And therefore Alexander knowing the dutie of a king said He would leaue his kingdome to the worthiest Pirrhus being asked of his children to whom he would leaue his kingdome answered To him that of you all hath the sharpest sword as if he should say to him that is the most valeant Whosoeuer would maintaine this opinion should haue reasons enow to vphold and defend it Yet notwithstanding we ought to rest vpon the custome of the country and not to swarue from it Such as are wont to choose their king do well and worthily therein And yet the granting of a kingdome to goe by Succesion which also is a very generall custome in most countries is not to be misliked For oftentimes it falleth out that Elections are a cause of many warres as we haue seene in the Romane emperors On the other side when the kingdome goeth by succession there is no quarrell or ciull warre because it is knowne who ought to be king For that cause did Geâ—srike appoint by his will that his children should exceed one another in the kingdome so that after the death of his eldest sonne dying without issue the eldest next him should succeede And as long as that order was obserued among them the kingdome continued in the race of Gensrike as witnesseth Iordane in his historie of the Gothes Moreouer a father is desirous to leaue all things in best order to his children the which thing tendeth alwaies to the publike commoditie Contrariwise they that are chosen endeuor rather to diminish than to enlarge their kingdomes because they shall not leaue them to their heires and therefore they labor to draw all things to their owne peculiar profit that they may leaue to their familie some frute of the kingdome wherto they were come and therwithall they be bound to fauor and recompence their Electors which cannot be done without expenses and charges to the common-weale And it will not serue the purpose to say that oftentimes it falleth out that kings are yoong and vnder age and consequentlie without authoritie and without abilitie to gouerne themselues and much lesse their people or else that they be witlesse or out of their wits which is worse For it is well knowne that nothing is so well ordered in this world nor any law so well stablished which may not admit some inconuenience But in this case the incounenience is such as may easily be remedied For if a king be yoong he hath a Counsell by whom oftentimes he ruleth better than some old man that will needs do all things on his owne head as we read of Iosias who was crowned at seuen yeares of age and raigned forty yeares in which time he did not any thing which was not to be done so as the minoritie of his age made him not to be the lesse honored regarded Herof we haue record in little Europus king of Macedonia the presence of whom notwithstanding that he lay in his cradle caused his subiects to win the battell and the Macedonians said all with one voice That when they fled afore they wanted not corage but their king in whose presence they fought as manfully as if he had beene of discretion to haue marked them that did well And although we haue somtimes had warres by reason of the minoritie and debilitie of our kings as it happened in the times of S. Lewis of Charles the sixt and lastly of the late king Charles whom God pardon yet may we well avow that we neuer had so much harme therby as the Romans had by their wicked emperors that came in by Election yea euen by the best taught of them as Heliogabalus was who being trained vp in all duties of honor and godlinesse by Varia Mesa did neuerthelesse become one of the wickedst creatures vnder the sunne And therefore we may well say that it commeth of Gods will who according to his threatning of the Israelites in old time sendeth vs babes or fooles to be our gouernors when he listeth to punish vs and oftentimes princes well brought vp but yet abiding in their wicked and il-disposed nature such as were Tiberius Nero Caligula and infinit other mo Neuerthelesse there is this difference that the king which is of tender yeares or simple-witted hath his counsell which notwithstanding that they be oftentimes at ods among themselues omit not for all that to giue him good counsel in most things But as for the Prince that is of a froward nature he beleueth nothing but that which is of his own head neither giueth he himselfe to any thing else than to do mischeefe I know wel that the minoritie of a prince is oftentimes the cause of many dissentions partakings for the gouernmeÌ„t and that men stand not in so great awe of him as of an elder person that is well aduised But yet the state of the time and of affaires doth more in that behalfe than all other things For if they happen vnder a prince that is yong or simple-witted they procure great tragedies and yet for all that they faile not to step in also euen vnder a king that is man-growne and well aduised If Robert of Artois who was the cause of all the misfortune that we had in France by the Englishmen had beene in the time of a young prince men would haue said that the small regard which he had of the princes age had made him to despise him And yet neuerthelesse hauing to do with a king of full age and well experienced aforehand he forbare not for all that to make open warre vpon him and to cause the English men to come into France vpon a choler and despite for that Philip of Valois had adiudged the earledome of Artoys to his aunt The king of Nauar had to do with a king of sufficient years with such a one as had not then tasted of such misfortune as he felt afterward by experience and yet notwithstanding hee forbare not to giue many proud attempts against him to slea his constable and to refuse to be at his commaundement vntill the king had giuen him his sonne the earle of Aniou in hostage At such
the sixt which is the greatest dignitie is that the wise commaund the ignorant and the seuenth is that which commeth by lot and by the grace of God so as he that is chosen by lot commandeth and raigneth and he that faileth of it is bound to obay Cicero speaking of Pompey saith that a good emperor that is to say a good Generall of a field must haue the skill of chiualrie and feats of arms vertue authoritie and felicitie He must be painfull in affaires hardy in daungers skilfull in deuising things quicke in performing and of good prouidence to foresee Titus Liuius saith that the great Captaine Hanniball was wonderful hardy in putting himselfe to the perils of warre and very resolute in the middest of danger that neither his body nor his minde were fore-wearied with trauel that he patiently abode both heat and cold alike that he measured his eating and drinking rather by naturall appetite than by pleasure that for sleeping or waking he made no difference betweene day and night but looke what time remained vnto him from doing of his businesse he bestowed it in taking his rest not vpon a soft featherbed in some place far from noise but ordinarily lying vpon the ground couered with a souldiers cassocke among the warders the whole troops of the men of armes When he went among the horsemen or the footemen he marched alwaies formost and was the first that gaue the onset and when the fight was ended he was the hindermost in the retreit Plutarch treating of Sertorius saith that in matters ciuile he was gentle and courteous and in matters of warre he was of great fiercenesse and forecast He was neuer seene surprised with feare or ioy but like as in most perill he was void of feare so in his prosperity he was very moderate He gaue not place in hardinesse to any of his time nor for valiantnesse in fighting nor for setled resolution in all suddaine aduentures When any enterprise was to be done that required good aduise or skill to choose the aduantage of some place of strong scituation to lodge in or to giue battell or to passe a riuer or to shift off some mishap that for the doing thereof there behoued great sleight or the working of some policie and the giuing of some gleeke to the enemie in due time place he was a most excellent crafts-maister Besides all this he was liberall magnificent in rewarding honorable deeds of arms and meeld and mercifull in punishing misdeeds He was not subiect to his bellie neither did he drinke out of measure no not euen when he had no businesse to do In time of most vacation he was wont from his very youth to put himselfe to great trauell to make long iourneis to passe many nights together without sleepe to eate little to be contented with such meats as came first to hand And whē he was at leisure he was alwaies either riding or hunting or running or walking abroad in the fields I haue inserted this the more at length to the intent it may serue for a patterne to Princes that intend to prosper and to performe their charge happily Now let vs come to a king The Latine word Rego whereof commeth Rex which betokeneth a king signifieth to rule or gouerne And so a king is nothing else but a ruler or gouerner of people Likewise Homer termeth him sometime the Garnisher and sometime the heardman or sheepheard of the people because he ought to be carefull for his people as the sheepheard is for his sheepe and to watch ouer them as the sheepheard doth ouer his flocke that no man doe them wrong And as Plutarch saith a good prince is like a sheepheards dogge which is alwaies in feare not for himselfe but least the wolfe should fall vpon the sheepe and so is a good Prince in feare not for himselfe but least any euill should befall his subiects Aristotle in his third booke of matters of State saith There are foure sorts of kingdomes the first is where the king hath no soueraigne authoritie further than in matters of warre and in sacrifising of which sort were the kings of Sparta or Lacedemon and this maner of kingdome is as a perpetuall captaineship matched with souereigne authoritie of life and death such as Agamemnon had who did put vp iniuries when he sate at counsell but had power to put whom he listed to death when he was in armes And of such kingdomes some goe by inheritance and other some by election The second sort of kingdomes are those that goe both by inheritance and election the which notwithstanding approcheth vnto tyrannie sauing that the keeping thereof is king-like that is to say the kinges are garded by their owne subiects whereas the tyrants are garded by strangers And the kings commaund by law and are obayed with good will wheras the tyrants raigne altogether by constraint Insomuch that the one sort are garded by their owne citizens or countrimen and the other by strangers against the countrimen The third is Barbarous not for that it is against law but for that it is not in custome of which sort was the gouernment of the Mitylenians which chose Pittacus against their banished persōs And the fourth sort is that which was vsed in the time of the noble princes whom the Greeks called Heroes who vsurped not dominion by force but had it bestowed vpon them by the people of good will deliuered ouer afterward lawfully to their successors They intended to the warres and to church-matters and therewithall iudged matters of controuersie Of these foure sorts of kingdomes he maketh a fift which is when one commaundeth absolutely This kind agreeth most to our time specially in this country where the king commaundeth absolutely howbeit without infringing the law for then were it not king-like but tyran-like And according to Aristotle when a Prince reigneth without law it is all one as if a wild beast reigned A King then is a soueraigne Prince that reigneth ouer a people not seeking his own peculiar profit but the profit of his subiects This maner of reigning is like to houshold gouernment for although the maister of the house do ouer-rule his traine and his seruaunts at his pleasure yet notwithstanding he regardeth aboue all things the welfare of his familie euen so a good king is to haue an eye most principally to the welfare and benefit of his houshold namely of his subiects For vpon them dependeth his owne welfare as the welfare of the maister of a household dependeth vpon his meiny and seruants One being asked vpon a time what a prince was to doe that he might raigne wel said He must commaund his subiects as a father commaundeth his children for the father commaundeth not his children any thing but that which is for their welfare In this respect Homer called Iupiter Father of Gods and men according to the saying of our Lord who hath taught vs to call the soueraigne
pleasure as Samuel told the Israelits when they chose their first king And as sayd Othanes he peruerteth the lawes and the customs of the countrie he rauisheth women and he putteth folke to death without sentence of condemnation If ye commend him modestly he is discontented that ye doe it not excessiuely and if you commend him out of measure he is offended as though ye did it of flatterie Policrates the tyrant of the Isle of Samos made warre vpon all his neighbours without any respect saying that he pleasured his friend the more in restoring to him that which he had taken from him than if he had not taken ought from him first Neuerthelesse it behoueth a Prince to thinke that if he forget himselfe and doe not his dutie ne performeth his charge as he ought to do besides that he shal yeeld an account for it before him that gaue him that charge he shall not leaue his kingdome to his posteritie Which thing Denis the tyrant of Siracuse did his son to vnderstand rebuking him for the adulteries and other crimes that he had committed and declaring vnto him that he himselfe had not vsed such maner of dealing when he was of that age Whereunto his sonne answered him that he had not had a king to his father neither shall you quoth his father haue a king to your son except you doe better And as he had said so it came to passe Peter king of Castile for his tyrannie and wicked demeanor towards his subiects was first driuen out of his realme by his bastard-brother aided with the helpe of such as hated Peter and afterward when he had recouered it againe by the means of the blacke Prince as soone as his brother the bastard came againe with any force all the countrie reuolted from him to the bastard and the Spaniards that were with him would neither put on armor nor mount on horse-backe at his commaundement by reason whereof he was faine to craue succour of strangers and yet notwithstanding he lost the battell with the battell both his kingdome and his life Alfons the yonger king of Naples hauing done many tyrannicall deeds fled dishonorably out of his kingdome at the comming of Charles the 8. king of France and as Guicciardine reporteth being tormented with the sting of his owne conscience found no rest of mind day nor night for a night-times those whom he had wronged appeared vnto him in his sleepe a day-times he saw his people making insurrectiō against him to be reuenged His son also to whom he left the kingdome felt himselfe pinched with the sins of his predecessors for the Neapolitanes forsooke him as wel as his father turned to the French kings side We see what befell to Roboam the son of king Salomon for exacting too much vpon his subiects to the duke of Guyen commonly called the blacke Prince for raising a fowage in the country of Aquitane Marcus Aurelius said that the cause why God suffered wicked Princes to be murthered rather than other wicked men is for that the priuat mans naughtinesse hurteth but himselfe and his owne familie for want of abilitie to extend his naughtinesse any further but the Prince that is tyrannous and wicked ouerthroweth the whole Common-weale To conclude the tyrannicall dominion is very dangerfull and noisome to all the people but the kingdome that is gouerned according to law passeth all other states of gouernment be it in comfort of the people or in the durablenesse of itselfe or in making of great conquests CHAP. IIII. Whether the State of a Kingdome or the State of a Publike-weale be the antienter MAnie be of opinion that the Kinglie authoritie had his beginning from the people and that the state of a Publike-weale was afore the state of a King Of that opinion is Cicero in his bookes of Duties saying that Kings were chosen at the first for the good opinion that men had of them And in another place he saith That when folke found themselues harried and troden vnderfoot by the richersort they were constrained to haue recourse to some man of excellent prowesse to defend them from the oppression of the mightier sort and to maintaine both great and small in a kind of equalitie Of the same opinion likewise is Aristotle Because the men of old time saith he were benefactors to the communaltie either by the inuention and practise of arts or by making warres in their behalf or by assembling them together into corporations and by allotting them their territories the multitude did willinglie create them Kings so they conueyed their kingdomes ouer by succession to their posterities Plinie saith that the Athenians were the first that brought vp the popular gouernment which neuerthelesse had been vsed long afore by the Iewes as Iosephus witnesseth in his books of their antiquities Indeede Thucidides in his first booke of the warres of Peloponnesus saith that when the countrie of Greece was become rich by reason of the nauigations there stept vp euerie day new tyrants in the cities by reason of the greatnesse of their reuenues For afore that time the kings came in by Succession and had their authorities prerogatiues and preheminences limited Whereby he doth vs to vnderstand that kingdomes were afore common-weales as indeed there is great likelihood that the state of a king was the foremost And it is not to be doubted but the first men that were after the the floud when the earth was repeopled againe did rule the lands which they possessed first in their owne housholds and afterward when they were increased in gouerning the whole off-spring that came of their race as we see was done by Sem Cham Iaphet Ianus Gomer Samothes and such others of whom some reigned in the West and some in the East And Nembroth of Chams linage was the first that troubled his neighbours by making warre vpon them and the first that made himselfe a king as S. Iohn Chrisostome affirmeth vpon the ninth of Genesis For afore that time time there could be no king because there were no store of people to be subiects Also Abraham hauing a great houshold tooke three hundred and eighteene of his owne men and pursuing those that had spoiled Lot discomfited them The fathers of old time therefore hauing many slaues and seruants which were multiplied afterward with the increase of their issue had them at commaundement as a King hath his subiects And of this opinion seemeth Iustine to be in his abridgement of Trogus Pompeius who saith in his first booke That at the beginning euery nation and euerie citie was gouerned by kings and that such as had none of their owne did chuse one either for the good opinion which they had of the person whom they chose or for some good turne which they had receiued at his hand or else for that they felt themselues misused by their head whom they themselues had set ouer them as it befell by the sonnes of
Sâ—lomon in his Prouerbs Blessed is the man that alwaies standeth in feare but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischiefe S. Paul willeth vs to go through with our saluation with feare and terror and he would not haue vs to be too skilful And in the xj of Esai it is written that the spirit of the feare of God shall rest vpon the blossome of the roote of Iesse And in the lxvj chapter Whom shall I regard saith the Lord but him that is meeld and gentle and standeth in feare of my words And in the xxvj At the feare of thee we haue conceiued and brought forth the spirit of saluation And in the xxxiij Psalme Ye righteous feare ye the Lord. And in the xviij Psalme The feare of the Lord endureth for euer And as S. Ierome saith Feare is the keeper of al vertues and the true way is to feare the power of God Homer in his Iliads bringeth in Helen vsing these termes to king Priam Surely deare Lord and father in law I doe both feare you and honor you because we ordinarily reuerence those whom we feare And therefore neere to the common hall of the Ephores in Sparta there was a chappell dedicated to Feare for feare doth alwaies accompany shame Also it is a very commendable thing to be affraid of vnhonesty and yet not to be afraid to be counted vnhonest As for example when one vpon a time vpbraided Xenophanes the son of Lagus that he was fearefull and durst not play at dice I confesse quoth he that I am not only fearefull but also exceeding fearefull but that is but in things vnhonest For honourable is that feare that restraineth a man from doing euill As touching meekenesse or meeldnesse it beseemeth a prince very well For it maketh him gentle courteous and affable And it is one of the three vertues which Dauid would haue in a king For in the xliiij Psalme Ride on saith he and raigne because of thy meekenesse iustice and truth And this vertue is contrarie to choleriknesse hastinesse or fumishnesse which ought to be far off from a prince as the which doth too much blind him and bereaue him of reason and iudgement But to be angrie with leaudnesse and leaud persons is very well done prouided that it be not in such sort as it extend to sinne according to this saying of the Psalmist Be angrie but sinne not in your hearts And for as much as I will treat hereof more largely when I come to speake of anger or wrath and of meeldnesse or meekâ—nesse I will content my selfe for the present to haue shewed the passions of the mind as it were at a glance which though they seeme at the first blush to encounter against vertue be such neuerthelesse as a well-disposed mind may greatly helpe it selfe by them and make them to serue to very good end and so alter the shape of them as that the thing which seemed euill shall fall out to be good and commendable CHAP. XI Whether Vertue and Honestie be to be seperated from profit in matters of gouernment or state BVt I feare least by standing too long vpon matter of Manners I forslow the matters of State and that in going about to make a prince vertuous I make him a prince misaduised For oftentimes the managing of publike affairs is such that he must rather haue regard of the present case how to wind himselfe out of the briers and to get out of some shrewd pinch than to stand musing vpoÌ„ vertue because that they which do so busie their heads doe often times suffer their state to be lost If Brutus that conspired against Caesar had not bene too spice-conscienst saying it was not lawfull to kill any other than a tyrant but had beleeued the counsell of Cassius he had not left Antonie the tyrants friend behind by whose death the common-weale had bene discharged of al danger In so much that one little sparke of conscience procured vnto Brutus the losse both of his owne life and of the libertie of his countrie The first Brutus did not so for it liked him better to vse crueltie in putting his own childreÌ„ to death than to leaue any little match of conspiracie against the state and this barbarous crueltie and vnkindnesse of his saued the common-weale When Cabades king of Persia was cast in prison by his subiects that had rebelled against him and chosen one Blases in his steede this Blases entered into counsell what was to be done with Cabades The most part were of opinion that he should not be put to death but that he should be kept in prison Othersome gaue counsell that he should be dispatched among whom Gusanascades one of the greatest lords deliuering his opinion shewed them a little pen-knife wherewith he was wont to pare his nailes and said vnto them Ye see this little cuttle this same may now without any paine and without any danger doe that which twentie thousand men cannot doe hereafter And euen so it came to passe in deed For Cabades getting out of prison recouered his kingdome and putting out Blases eies with scalding oyle laid him in prison and put Gusanascades to death Theodatus king of the Gothes was loath to kill Amalasont being an honourable and vertuous princesse and wife of Theoderik and mother of Athalarik but in the end he dispatched hir at the persuasion of such as told him that his life could not else bee in safetie Theophrast reporteth of Aristides that in priuate cases betweene man and man he was a perfect vpright and iust-dealing man but in matters of gouernment concerning the common-weale he did many things according to the necessitie of the time The Athenians in the conference which they had with the Melians said that the Lacedemonians vsed much vertue among themselues and in the things that concerned their lawes and customes at home but in their behauior towards strangers they were a people that esteemed that to be most honest and reasonable which was most for their profit Euphemeus an Athenian said to the Camerins that the man which raigneth by tyrannie and a citie that hath an empire deeme nothing vnhonest that may be for their profit nor account a-any thing theirs which is not safe guarded and in all cases they esteeme others to be their friends or foes according to the occasion of time and dealings Plutarch speaking of Marius saith he made reckoning of iustice when it was for his owne behoofe and tooke profit both for iustice and honor not considering that truth is more strong and mightie than falshood but measuring the valew of them both by the profit that might rise thereof and saying that when a lions skin will not sted a mans turne he must take vnto it the skin of a fox This hath bin the cause that the best aduised which haue written of gouernment and they also which haue practised it haue not stood so much vpon vertue as vpon the occurrence of
he should send them home to Rome without doing them any displeasure thinking that for so notable a benefit they would of enemies become thensfoorth good and faithfull friends And when he saw that this counsell liked not the Samnits he counselled them to put them all to the sword without sparing any one of them for he thought that so great a losse would so greatly weaken the Romans as they shold not be able to recouer themselues a long time after This opinion seemed also ouer-cruell and so they chose a meane way which was to saue the Romanes liues and to bereaue them of their armour and weapon and of their stuffe with some other conditions which afterward was the confusion of the Samnits Likewise the Euthalibians committed a great ouersight in that they dispatched not the Persians when they had them shut vp almost after the aforesaid maner or sent them not home in friendly sort but did neither of both For they sent them away without hurt but they compelled Perosas the king of Persia to adore their king and to promise them vpon his oath neuer to make war on them afterward Neuerthelesse as soone as Perosas was deliuered of the danger he made sharper warre vpon them than he had done afore in reuenge of the iniutie and dishonour that they had done vnto him For in matter of state a prince must either deserue well of his enemies by some singular courtesie or make cleane riddance of them if it lie in his hand to doe it I would alway counsell him to follow courtesie But yet he may haue to doe with such kind of men that it shall stand him on hand to vse rigour rather than gentlenes as is to be seene in the deed of queene Thomiris where albeit that the reuenge of hir sonnes death prouoked hir to kill Cirus yet was it moreouer expedient also for hir state to doe it in such sort as she did For a prince that commeth out of a farre countrie to conquer a realme whereunto hee cannot pretend any right will not lightly be paied with such clemencie For his intent is to possesse himselfe of it by some means or other and oftentimes for the bringing therof to passe to make vtter slaughter and destruction of the inhabitants thereof as the children of Israell did when they came into the land of Promise Well might Charles Martell haue done all the courtesies that could be vnto the Sarsines but yet would not that haue made them forbeare to inuade the realme of France And therefore the best way was to fight it out with them and to ouerthrow them vtterly If Aetius being aided by the Frenchmen had not fought with Attila to the vtterance in France it had beene vnpossible for him to haue got him thence by faire means and yet because he made not cleane riddance of him a man may see what mischiefe came of it It is noted as a fault in Constantine that when he had vanquished the Vandales Sweuians and Alanes he pursued not his victorie in putting them all to the sword but gaue them respit to resemble themselues againe whereby they became as strong as he Darius offered Alexander his daughter a very beautifull Lady with six millions of monie and the one halfe of Asia but Alexander would not admit that honourable offer because his couetousnesse was vnmeasurable By reason whereof had good fortune gon on Darius side he had plaied an vnwise part if he had not slaine Alexander and all his armie without mercie Manfred king of Naples was willing to haue made peace with Charles duke of Aniou but Charles would neuer hearken vnto it because he grounded his right vpon the sword and was bent to be king of Naples whatsoeuer it did cost him Courtesie and clemencie are to be vsed among neighbours that striue but for their bounds for hatred or for honour For they that are so vanquished are alwaies mindful of the courtesie that hath beene done vnto them and of the means to requite it whereof in the fourth booke of Kings the sixt chapter we haue a notable example ' in the king of Israel who by the aduise of the prophet Elizeus in steed of putting the Assyrians his enemies to death which were come to seeke him caused them to be entertained with all kind of good cheere and sent them home without doing them any harme by means whereof whereas they had bin his sworne enemies he made them his good friends So also did Ptolomie who hauing ouercome Demetrius and put his host to flight at the citie Gaza restored him his treasure and all his stuffe with eight thousand prisoners saying that he stroue not with him for honour and empire And Demetrius receiuing those things at his hand prayed God he might not continue long his debter for that courtesie and euen so it came to passe For anon after Demetrius ouercame Ptolomie and hauing taken his treasure also seuen thousand prisoners sent all home againe to him and moreouer gaue presents to euerie of the prisoners whom he sent backe The case standeth otherwise with him that commeth a farre off to make conquest of a countrie For his intent is to dispossesse them against whom he maketh warre and to make cleane riddance of them as we haue seene in the Saxons Englishmen Burgonions Frenchmen Turks Gothes and Lumbards who haue continued owners of the lands which they inuaded And if they had not had the vpper hand of fortune doubtlesse not so much as one had bin fuffered to escape That is the cause why the pope after that Charles of Aniou had gotten the vpper hand of Conradine and the Sweuians councelled him to cut off Conradines head sending him word in a word or twaine of latin That the life of Conradine was the death of Charles and the death of Conradine was Charles his life But sauing the reuerence of the pope and of duke Charles albeit this way seemed most profitable yet ought it not to haue bin followed because it was scarce honorable seeing that Conradine had escaped the furie of the battell and his quarrell was iust in recouery of his kingdome which his base brother Manfred had first vsurped from him and Charles had woone away from Manfred Such man-slaughters done vpon quiet determination and out of the heat of conflict in battell are disallowed both of God and man In confirmation whereof I must needs alleage a certaine text out of the third chapter of the second booke of Samuel There were in Iury two braue captaines named Abner and Amasa which had borne arms for king Saul against Dauid and Dauid after Sauls death had pardoned them But Ioab Dauids constable being ouer-zealous of his maisters honour forbare not for all that to kill them both which doing of his Dauid so greatly misliked that he protested before God and the people that he was guiltlesse of their blood And to shew that he was so vnfainedly although he punished it not
during his life yet did he take order for the punishing thereof afore his decease saying thus vnto Salomon his sonne Thou knowest what Ioab did vnto the captaines of the host of Israell namely vnto Abner and Amasa whom he slew and shed their blood in peace as it had beene in warre and put the blood of battell vpon his girdle that was vpon his reins looke therefore that thou deale with him according to thy wisedome and suffer not his hoare head to goe downe to his graue in peace Dauid beeing persecuted by Saul had him at an aduantage when he found him in the caue and might very well haue done him displeasure but would not But had that good politike fellow Ioab bin there he would no more haue suffered Saul to escape than he suffered Absolon Now to come againe to our matter like as God gaue the victorie at that time to the aforesaid duke Charles so at another time he made his heire the prince of Salerne to loose the field and to be taken and condemned to haue his head stricken off as the said Conradine had had afore And when this sentence was pronounced vpon him which was on a Friday he answered he was contented to take his death with patience for the loue of him which suffered death on the like day But when Constance the queene heard of this his answer she said that for the loue of him which had suffered death for vs she was determined to shew mercy to the prince and without doing him any further harme she sent him to Cataloine to the king hir husband full sore against the peoples will who would haue had him put to death In which action we haue to consider one notable thing namely that Charles who had slaine Manfred in battell and put to death both Conradine and his cosen the duke of Austrich vnder forme of iustice could not keepe his kingdome so long time to his posteritie as the heire femall of Manfred did by vsing fauor and mercie But when a stranger hauing no former quarrell comes with a great number of men to inuade a countrie I beleeue it shal be well done of him that getteth the victorie to let none of his enemies escape least their inlargement prouoke them to set a new voyage abroche as the Frenchmen did in Gallia and the Gothes in Italy Againe there is no loue or kindnesse to be hoped for at such folks hands But out of that case I see not that crueltie ought to be vsed for the maintaining of any state and as for to leaue vertue for profit it ought not to be so much as once thought Augustus for the better assuring of his state caused Cesarion the sonne of Iulius and Cleopatra to be slaine It may be perchance that in so doing he delt for his profit but surelie he delt not vertuously Contrariwise Sextus Pompeius who had the staffe in his owne hand to haue killed Augustus and Antonie his enemies delt honorably in letting them goe but to his owne destruction which thing he chose rather to doe than to falsifie his faith as I will declare anon more at large I could alleage many mo examples of euill princes which haue finished their daies in wretchednesse and lost their kingdomes or at the leastwise their children after them whom I will omit for briefnesse sake speaking but only of Caesar Borgia that we may see whether such a prince can be had in estimation I am well assured that to lay the foundation of his principalitie which came to him but by fortune as they say he had many things to do the which he brought al to passe by his wit But yet can I not allow that maner of dealing For he caused the Columnians to be destroyed by the Vrsines and afterward dispatched the Vrsines too for feare least they should take part against him He vsed the helpe of the Frenchmen to get possession of Romania and afterward draue them out when he was peaceably setled in it To purchase the peoples fauour he executed rigorous iustice vpon theeues robbers and extortionors and for the doing thereof he set vp a very good and seuere Iusticer named Remy Orke Afterward perceiuing that his ouer-rigorous iustice procured him some hatred to root that conceit out of their imaginations and to shew that that came not of him but of his officer he made maister Remy Orke to be cut in two pieces and to be laid in an open place with a bloodie knife by him I see not wherein this duke Valentine is to be allowed I beleeue he was well aduised what he did and assaied all the means he could to make his owne profit but that profit was vtterly seperated from vertue What policie was it to kill folke by trecherous sleights and treason which had neuer trespassed him either in word or deed What a reward was that for a iudge to receiue for doing his duetie and for seruing him faithfullie If such princes may bee allowed then shall murther and frawd be no vice so it bring profit And then let vs take Socrates his saying the contrary way and say that vertue ought to attend vpon profit And so should it follow of consequence that whosoeuer could deale most for his owne profit should be the best and honestest man But all the paine that this wretched prince tooke to stablish his state stood him in small steed For he vtterly forwent it and was deceiued himselfe as he had deceiued others Thucidides in his historie interlaceth a notable saying of the Corinthians which was spoken to the counsell of the Athenians If a man will say saith he that that which we say is very reasonable but that the opinion of the other side is the more profitable if there be warre we answere that the more vprightly men walke in all things the more is it commonly for their profit Therefore it is most expedient for a prince that wil not faile of his purpose to fix his eye continually vpōn vertue and to set it before him as his marke to shoot at and to assure himselfe that he cannot haue profit without vertue Vpon a time Themistocles told the Athenians that he had a way to make them great yea and lords of all Greece but that the same was not to be imparted to any mo than one least it should be knowne Hereupon the Athenians chose Aristides to take notice of his deuice Vnto whom Themistocles declared that the nauie of the Lacedemonians might easily be set on fire whereby it would be an easie matter to vanquish them When Aristides had heard the counsell of Themistocles he went vp into the pulpit with great expectation of the Athenians and told them that Themistocles had giuen a woonderous behooffull and profitable counsell but it was not honest whereupon the Athenians without hearing any further what it was disallowed the counsell of Themistocles as not good At such time as Pirrhus made warre with the Romans one of
in their being and state without calling vpon God considering that it is through his fauour and goodnesse that all things abide in their perfection as Philo saith in his third booke of the life of Moses In so much that a gouernour of people cannot haue a greater good thing in this world nor a thing more beseeming his maiestie than Religion and that it is the greatest honour that can be for him to stand in aw of God the which dutie vttereth it selfe in godlinesse and religion For thereby he honoreth God and is honored of God and hath an entrance into all vertues The same author expounding Genesis saith that by the tree of life is betokened the greatest of all vertues namely Godlinesse the which maketh the soule immortall Wherevnto accordeth S. Ambrose in the sixt of his Epistles where he sayth that the tree of life is the root of godlinesse and that to doe due honour and seruice to our Lord and God is the verie substance of our life And Mercurie saith that by Religion man is replenished with all good things and made to abound in heauenly vnderstanding The emperour Theodosius was woont to say that by Religion peace is maintained and enemies in war time put to flight Whosoeuer then will attaine to vertue and to the souereigne good cannot come to it but by Religion and by seeking it at Gods hand who hath promised to graunt vs whatsoeuer wee aske with a good heart so it be rightfull For God liketh well of such as call vpon him with a true heart saith Dauid in the hundred and foure and forteeth Psalme bringeth to passe the desires of them that feare and loue him heareth their cries saueth them and keepeth them Hee that loueth God sayth Ecclesiasticus shall be heard when he praieth for his sinnes so as he shall abstaine from them and he shal be heard in his daily praier And as Plato sayth in his fourth booke of Lawes A good man ought that man to bee which shall offer sacrifice vnto God and be present at the diuine ceremonies and there is not any thing more beautifull more expedient more behoofful to a happie life nor more beseeming a man than to giue himselfe to the seruing of God and to the maâ—ing of oblations praiers and supplications vnto God And the same Plato saith in his Theetetus That mans felicitie consisteth in Religion to Godward which is the greatest vertue that can be among men And as saith Xenophon in his first booke of the trainment of Cirus It is easier to obtaine any thing at the hand either of God or of man by honouring them in our prosperitie than by praying and suing vnto them in our aduersitie Now then in treating of vertues it behoueth vs as saith Iamblichus in speaking of mysteries to begin at the best and most pretious which is Religion and the seruice of God a naturall propertie as saith Proclus that is incident to al men and is essentiall in man Religion and godlinesse are wel neere both one For godlines as saith Mercurie the great is nothing els but the knowledge of God and Religion is the knowledge of the ceremonies belonging to the worship of God Plutarch saith in the life of Paulus Aemilius That Religion is the skill how to serue God And Cicero in his Rhetorike saith That it is the bringer of the ceremonies concerning the things that belong to the God-head so as there is no great difference betwixt the one and the other According to Festus Pompeius We call those Religious which can skill what is to be done and what is to be left vndone Godlinesse then or Religion is the seruice which we do vnto God in worshipping him as altogither good almightie and the author and creator of all things In this acknowledgement did Abel make his offerings and Enos begin to call vpon God Afterward Moses brought the law of God to the children of Israel written in two tables wherof the first concerneth Religion the honor that ought to be yeelded vnto God and the other concerneth our dutie towards our neighbour commaunding vs to beleeue in God only to loue him with all our heart to worship him only and none other to giue no honour to any thing wrought by mens hands nor to any other creature but only to the liuing God to forbeare to take his name in vaine by swearing by it and much more by forswearing and to take one day of rest in the weeke to dedicate the same vnto God and to cease from all worke and to intend to the seruing of him And secondly he commaundeth vs to honor our father and mother to abstaine from murther theft sals-witnessing whoredome and the coueting of any thing whatsoeuer Now we find that not only the Israelits who had the law written but also the heathen which had it not did wholly obserue it as we shall see by this discourse chiefly in the case of Religion We see what is written therof by such as had not the knowledge of God reuealed vnto them as namely how diuinely the great Mercurie hath written thereof and how his Pimander reuealeth wonderfull secrets vnto him which are so conformable to our misteries that they seeme to be drawne out of the same fountaine And the thing that is most wonderfull is that he speaketh of the three persons as if he had bin instructed thereof by the writings of the gospell and specially of the wisdome whom he calleth the sonne of God to whom he attributeth the creating of all things according to that which S. Iohn saith therof in the beginning of his Gospell Next vnto Mercurie followeth Plato who for that cause is called the diuine And after them haue followed many other Philosophers as is to be seen by their writings by the things which S. Austin of Eugubie hath painfully gathered into his books which he hath made of continuall Philosophie The Sabines worshipped God in three persons naming the one Holie the other Fidius and the third Semipater And in their oths they did commonly put Fidius in the middest as who would say that vnder that name they coÌ„prehended al the three persons wherof came their great oth of Medius fidius Numa Pompilius king of Romanes was not of opinion that there were so many gods as he himselfe forged after the example of others For he wrote against such vngodlinesse which books being found after his death were burned by commaundement of the Senate as contrarie to the worshipping of many gods which follie there was no way as then to put out of their heads wherein Numa did verie ill in that he had leuer to sticke to the Superstition of the multitude than to tell them his mind without dissimulation how he made idols neuerthelesse the people were forbidden to beleeue that God had the shape of beast or man insomuch that in those first times there was not in Rome any image of God either painted carued or cast in mould
win the fauor of the people who had such men in estimation he had of them ordinarily with him For it is better that a prince should be an hipocrit than a despiser of good and vertuous things because such maner of counterfaiting and countenancing of good things doth secretly bring with it in time an affection of louing them and a willingnesse to accustome himselfe to them in earnest The emperor Adrian had vertuous and wise men and learned Philosophers alwaies about his person as well in time of peace as of warre because the wise men taught to liue well and the Philosophers to gouerne well For as Alexander Seuerus said of trusting too much to a mans owne wit commeth commonly labour and losse but of taking other mens aduise followeth ordinarilie verie great fruit Insomuch that whensoeuer hee had any matter to set in order concerning the common-weale hee consulted of it aforehand with men of skill and experience afore he did put it in execution and such maner of men did alwaies follow him among whom was one Vlpian a Lawier Yea and when he went a walking or a hunting he would neuer bee without three or foure of the greatest personages and best experienced of his house to the intent he would not be without counsell if any matter of importance should come suddenly vpon him and that the sight of such men neere about him might keepe him from presuming to doe any vnhonourable fact Antigonus the second was woont to say when Zeno the Philosopher was dead That he was bereft of the Theatre and stage of his honourable deeds because hee was woont to referre all his actions to the iudgement of that good man And if wee will descend into our owne histories we shall see what profit redounded to S. Lois by being conuersant with men of Religion For in so much as his mother had accompanied him with such folke from his infancie he ceassed not to hold on afterward in the same trade and maner of life wherein he had bin trained vp insomuch that all his whole life was nothing else but a mirrour of holinesse CHAP. XV. That the Prince which will be well obayed must shew good example in him selfe to his subiects THat which I haue spoken of Religion and Superstition is inough notwithstanding that it be too little as in respect of the things themselues Now remaineth the winding vp of the matter and to end this booke withall I am to shew in few words what it is that vpholdeth both the prince and his subiects in all honour and honestie especially in the case of Religion namely the good Example which the prince giueth vnto his subiects For it serueth him aboue all things in the world to make him to be obayed and therewithal accustometh him to the loue of all honest things though at the beginning he had no such will as I haue said afore And it prouoketh the subiects to follow their princes example whom they see to be giuen to all vertuous things and chiefly when he is giuen to religion For a prince cannot raigne if his subiects be without religion considering that in taking away religion ye take away obedience to the prince Therefore to hold the people in religion there is nothing like vnto Example And as a certaine Poet saith Lawes and proclamations haue not so great force to procure obedience as hath the life of the gouernour because the people being subiect to alteration doe chaunge with the prince If the prince be deuout and religious the people will be deuout also if he be superstitious they become superstitious too if he be giuen to vice so will they be also if he be good they abide good likewise because there is not any thing that doth so much induce vs to doe well as the innocencie and goodnesse of the prince or iudge as saith Cassiodorus For who will be afraid to doe wickedlie when he seeth his lord doe as himselfe dooth In vaine doth that prince foad himselfe with suretie of state who is couetous ambitious and vniust For men are then afraid to doe amisse when they thinke that it displeaseth their iudge And as Cicero saith in his third booke of Lawes A prince doth not so much harme in the very sinning although it be a great harme in deed as he doth in making others to follow the example of his vices And we see commonly that looke what alteration soeuer happens in the prince the same ensueth also in his people For the change of conuersation of life in great personages is wont to worke a change in the maners of the people for that they keepe not their vices alonly to themselues but doe shead them out vpon their subiects so as the hurt which they doe is not only in that they corrupt themselues but also in that they corrupt others doing more euill by their example than by their bare sinne For as much therefore as the well-aduised prince is as a cresset vpon a bushell or rather vpon a high towre to giue light to all parts hee ought to shine among his subiects and to excell them in all deeds of vertue and godlinesse For as saith Cicero in his Inuectiues he is to applie himselfe not only to their minds but also to their eies And like as a small blemish in a mans face disgraceth him more than a great scarre in all the rest of his body euen so a small fault sheweth it selfe great in a prince whose life men behold in the open light And as Saluian Bishop of Marsels saith The offence is the greater where there is the greater prerogatiue That is the cause why Dauid was punished by the death of his sonne after that God had taken away his sinne namely as the text saith For that he caused the enemies to blaspheme the name of the Lord. So great is an offence in a publike person For he that doth euill without giuing cause of offence vnto others damneth but himselfe but he that giueth euill example vnto others and causeth mo for to sinne must beare their penaltie because he is the cause of their euill Plato in his Lawes saith That nothing doth more easily change laws than the example of princes so that a tyrant may in short time alter the lawes For whether he intend to lead to vertue or to vice he himselfe must first trace the way vnto others by allowing the one and disallowing the other and by dispising such as obay him not And therefore he said in another place That such as kings and gouernors are such are their people Wherein he agreeth with Ecclesiasticus who saith That such as the iudge of a people is such are his ministers and such as the ruler of a citie is such are his citizens Varia Mesa writing to Heliogabalus admonished him after this maner To reforme others it behooueth you first to reforme your selfe and to chastise others you must first chastise your selfe For euerie person be he
kind of life and by that means desire new lawes and set their minds vpon all maner of innouations Sauly king of Scythia did put Anacharsis to death for offering sacrifice to Berecinthia the mother of the gods after the maner of the Greeks Also Scylus king of Scythia because he wore apparell after the Greeke fashion sacrificed secretly after the maner of Greece as soone as he was discouered was deposed for so doing and in the end being taken in battell had his head struck off and his brother Octumusades was set vp in his place so greatly hated they strange fashions and feared in any case to alter their old customs Now if Plato was afraid of alteration in so small things what shall we say to such princes as daily do abrogat laws for their friends and seruants sakes for their owne peculiar profit or pleasure make no reckoning of the vpholding and maintaining of thē Agesilaus being otherwise a good prince and a seuere obseruer of the laws of his countrie was worthily blamed for fauouring his friends in cases of iustice For he said that the obseruing of the rigor of iustice in matters where friends were to bee touched was but a cloke wherwith to couer such as lifted not to do their friends good And in very deed he acquitted Phebidas who had taken the suburbs of Thebes and Sphodrias who wēt about to haue taken the hauen of Pyrey by stealth at such time as they were at peace with the Athenians By which vniust dealing of his the state of the Lacedemonians was ouerthrown So was the citie of Rome also sacked by the Gauls for that the Romans did thē not iustice nor made thē reasonable amends for the wrong that had bin done to them by Quintus Fabius Ambustus Pompey was misliked of many good men and ill spoken of on their behalfe because hee himselfe hauing by decree forbidden the open commending of such as were accused by order of law so long as their case depended in triall entered one day into the court commended Plancus that had bin accused Insomuch that Cato being one of the iudges stopt his ears with both his hands saieng it was not lawful for him to heare an accused person commended seeing it was forbidden by the laws How much more wisely dealt the king of Locres who hauing made a law that adulterers should haue their eies put out and finding his own son to haue transgressed the law would not suffer him to be dispensed with but in the end whē he was vrged by his people to pardō the offence which thing of himselfe he would not graunt yet somwhat to satisfie their request and withall to keepe the law also he caused one of his owne eies and another of his sonnes eies to be put out Plutarch sayth in the life of Aristides that whensoeuer the case concerned iustice friendship could beare no sway with Aristides no not euen for his friends nor enmitie prouoke him against his enemies For law ought to bee ministred vprightly and neuer to be broken vnlesse necessitie which is without law enforce thereto And yet euen then also it ought to bee done so discreetly as it may not seeme to be touched accordingly as the Lacedemonians did who when they had lost a great battell brake the law of Lycurgus in not punishing them with a kind of infamie worse than death that had fled from the field because that if they should so haue punished them they should haue had but few left to defend their countrie And yet notwithstanding to the end they might not seeme to despise their lawes what need soeuer constrained them Agesilaus not intending to doe it directly made proclamation that the law of Lycurgus should take no place vntill the next morrow and in the meane while that present day he inrolled the fugitiues againe to the defence of their countrie But in Rome where there was no scarcitie of men they made so small account of them that euen after the battell of Cannas they would not ransome 8000 men whome Hannibal had put to their ransome The foresayd Lacedemonians being requested by Cirus king of Persia and other their confederats to send them Lisander to be admirall of their fleet if they intended the well proceeding of their affairs because they should doe all things with the better courage vnder his gouernance refused to giue Lisander the title of Admirall giuing it vnto another made him cheefe ouerseer of the sea-matters taking from him but only the name and giuing him in effect the whole authoritie in all things Artaxerxes surnamed the Long-hand king of Persia being a meeld and gracious prince although he thought the law of his predecessors to be ouer-rigorous that punished such with whipping and with death as had lost a battel whether it were through their owne default or no yet neuerthelesse would not breake it directly but ordained that the offender should be stripped and that his clothes should bee scourged with rods in steed of his backe and that his hat should be striken off in steed of the striking off his head The Thebans were yet more rigorous howbeit that in the end they dispensed with the law For when Epaminondas had fortunately begun warres against the Lacedemonians and saw that he could not otherwise bring them to end because that by the law he was to giue ouer his charge by reason that the time of his commission was expired he so dealt with his fellow-commissioners that contrarie to the law he made them presume to continue in office yet foure months longer within which time the Lacedemonians were vtterly vanquished and ouerthrowne And when Epaminondas was areigned for transgressing the law for making his fellow-cōmissioners to transgresse it likewise he confessed himself to haue deserued death for disobaieng the law praying the Thebans that in recompence of all the seruices that he had done to them they would after his death let write vpon his tombe That Epaminondas had ben put to death for compelling the Thebanes to vanquish the Lacedemonians whom afore that day they neuer durst looke vpon in the face By which meanes he not only procured the sauing of his life but also the accepting in good woorth of all the things that he had done Marius vsed the like presuming beyond the law in in his iornie against the Cimbrians where he made a thousand strangers freedenisons of Rome for their valiant behauiour in that battell And when he was accused thereof to the senat he made answer that by reason of the great noise of the battel he could not heare what the lawes cōmaunded or prohibited Wherein Marius could not be deemed to haue done well For although it was a point of iustice to reward good and valeant men yet ought it not to haue bene done with the ouerthrow of law as it was then done by him not of any necessitie but rather to haue the men of war at his deuotion than for any good to the
not that one should su◠for it but made the suters themselues to come to his presence as well to gratifie them himselfe as also to know whom he gratified For he that receiueth not the benefit at the princes owne hand thinketh himselfe beholden to none but vnto him by whome he had it as wee haue found by experience in this our realme of Fraunce within this fiftie or threescore yeares LEt vs come now to the iustice of war which ought to be like the same that we haue spoken of and consisteth in penalties and rewards namely in punishing the wicked and in recompensing the good and valeant men with honour and regard For honour nourisheth the liberall arts and vertue In which behalfe the emperor Adrian did so greatly excell that he was both feared and loued of all his men of war feared because he chastised them and beloued because he paid them well Vpon a time one demaunded of Lisander What maner of common-weale hee liked best That qd he wherein both the valeant and the cowards are rewarded according to their deserts as who would say that vertue is furthered by reward and that men of no value are spurred vp to doe well by the shame and reproch which they receiue by doing amisse and in being despised Ennius Priscus demaunded of Traian What was the cause that hee was better beloued of the people than his predecessors Because qd he that commonly I pardon such as offend me and neuer forget them that doe me seruice But afore I speake of rewarding or recompensing we must know what is the law and discipline of arms wherof the first and principall point that is to wit to doe no man wrong dependeth vpon naturall iustice And yet-notwithstanding this seemeth so strange among vs that the cheefe and principall point of warlike behauiour seemeth to consist in pilling swearing rauishing robbing and that a souldier cannot be esteemed a gallant fellow vnlesse he be furnished with those goodly vertues Contrariwise if the Romans had any souldiers that were neuer so little giuen to loosenesse they would not vse their seruice no not euen in most extreme necessitie as is to be seen by the doings of Metellus in Affrike and of Scipio in Spain making more account of one legion that liued after the law and order of war than of ten that were out of order Now the lawes of armes were diuers according to the diuersities of the captains that haue had the leading of Armies The first consisteth in the obedience of the men of warre For as saith Plato it auaileth not to haue a good captaine vnlesse the souldiers bee discreet and obedient because the vertue of well-obeieng hath as great need of a gentle nature and of the helpe of good trainment as the princely vertue of commaunding All other precepts tend generally to naturall iustice the which will not haue wrong done to any man Alexander being aduertised that two souldiers which serued vnder Parmenio had rauished the wiues of certaine souldiers strangers wrate vnto Parmenio to informe him therof charging him that if he found it to be so he should put both the souldiers to death as wild beasts bred to the destruction of men When the Romanes marched vnder the leading of Marcus Scaurus there was found in their trenches at their departure thence a tree hanging ful of fruit so great conscience made they to take any thing that was not their owne And if any man went aside in any field farme or grange at such time as the campe marched he was punished immediatly and it was demaunded of him if he could find in his heart that a man should doe as much in his lands Whersoeuer Bellisarius went with his armie he restrained his men from doing wrong to laborers and husbandmen insomuch that they durst not eat the apples and peares that hung vpon the trees After the death of Campson the Soldan of Aegypt Selim king of Turks being possessed of Damasco and the rest of the cities of Syria would not suffer his men of war to come within them but lodged his camp by the wals of the towne and of all the time that he was there there was not any guard set to keepe the goodly and fruitfull Gardens that were without the citie because the rigorous iustice that Selim executed restrained the Turks from misdoing wherthrough the whole armie found themselues well apaid For they neuer wanted victuals but had plentie and aboundance of all things Traian caused a captaine to be banished for killing a husbandmans Oxen without need and awarded the husbandman for amends to haue the captaines horse and armor and also his quarters wages Tamerlane king of Tartarians made a souldier of his to be put to death for taking but a cheese from a poore woman Totilas was so seuere in the discipline of war that he would not leaue any one misdeed vnpunished He that rauished any woman was punished with death or at least wise forfaited his goods the which were giuen to the partie that was outraged Insomuch that he passed by the cities and townes that were in friendship and league with him without doing them any harme saying that kingdomes and empires were easily lost if they were not maintained by iustice Which thing Iustinian found to be very true who through the vniustice and disorder of his captaines lost the empyre of Italy Paulus Emilius was a sterne obseruer of the law of arms not seeking to purchase the loue of his souldiers by pleasing them but shewing them himselfe from point to point how auailable the ordinances of war were And this his austeritie and terriblenesse towards them that were disobedient and transgressed the law of arms vpheld the commonweale vnappaired For he was of opinion that to vanquish a mans enemies by force of arms is as ye would say but an accessorie or income in comparison of the well ordering and winning of a mans countrymen by good discipline The Lawes of arms haue bin diuerse according to the diuersitie of captaines the which we may learne in one word of the best and most valeant emperours that euer haue bin Iulius Caesar would make countenance as though he saw not the faults of his souldiers and let them goe vnpunished so long as they tended not to mutinie or that they forsooke not their ensigne and in those cases he neuer pardoned thē Insomuch that in the time of the ciuil wars he cashed a whole legion at once notwithstanding that he stood as then in great need of them and ere euer he would admit them againe he ceassed not till he had punished the misdoers Among the Aegyptians they that had disobayed their captains were noted with a reproch worse than death Augustus was so seuere towards such as recoiled in battel or disobayed his commaundements that he would put euery tenth man of them to death and vnto them that had done lesse faults he would giue barly bread in steed of wheaten
and readie to giue battell he maruelled that they gaue themselues to feasting to haunting of the theatres and to make pastimes in the fields and gardens This doing of his proceeded of nothing else but of an inordinat and vnreasonable enuie that fretted his braine the which he shewed sufficiently towards the noblemen in bereauing theÌ„ of their cote-armors and of the antient cognisances of their houses And if hee spied any faire boies that had faire haire he caused the hinder parts of their heads to be shauen And he was so spitefull that he enuied euen Homer the greatest Poet that euer was insomuch that being determined vpon a time to abolish the remembrance of him he said he might well haue as much power as Plato to weed him out of his common-wealth Alexanders enuie was the chiefe cause of the death of Clitus For hee so enuied the high exploits of Philip his father that he fell into a rage when any man compared him with him Lisander accompanying Agesilaus in the voaige into Asia was so honored of the men of Asia because he had had the gouernment of them aforetimes that in comparison of him they made no reckoning of the king by reason wherof Agesilaus bare him such enuie that in all that voiage he committed not any honourable charge vnto him but emploied him about such things as a man would not haue emploied the meanest of Sparta and it was thought that that would haue cost the citie of Lacedemon deerly For had not death preuented Lisander he would haue ouerthrowne the king Enuie made Socrates to be put to death and Aristides Themistocles and others to be banished Also it was the death of Coriolane because the chiefe princes of the Volses enuied his vertue and his greatnesse And by his death the Volses were vanquished of the Romanes Through enuie Dion was slaine by Calippus and Sertorius by Perpenna and by their death were they themselues vanquished and disappointed of the fruit of their former enterprises The enuie that was rooted betweene Themistocles and Aristides hindered the Athenians from doing many goodly enterprises insomuch that Themistocles said that it was vnpossible for the affairs of the common-weale of Athens to prosper vntill they were both of them cast into the barather which was a deepe dungeon whereinto men were throwne headlong that were condemned to death And no doubt but the affairs of Greece had gone to wrack if Aristides had continued his enuie against Themistocles But when he saw the danger whereinto all Greece was like to fall if hee and Themistocles did not agree he bespake him after this manner Themistocles if we be both wise it is high time for vs to leaue the vaine spight and iealosie which we haue hitherto borne one against another and to take vp a strife that may be to the honor and welfare of vs both that is to wit which of vs shall doe his dutie best for the safegard of Greece you in commaunding and doing the office of a good captaine and I in counselling you and in executing your commandements Hereunto Themistocles answered I am displeased Aristides in this that you haue shewed your selfe a better man than I but sith the case standeth so that the honor of breaking the yce is due to you for prouoking me to so honourable and commendable a contention I wil strain my selfe henceforth to out go you by good continuance The enuie that was borne to Peter Saderin Gonfaâ—â—nnier of Florence for the great credit and authoritie that he had in that citie caused the returne of the Medices and the vtter ruine of the common-weale Now we must consider what remedies there be to defend a man from this maladie that a man may not be enuious nor enuied As touching the first the curing therof is by the contrarie that is to say by being meeld gentle and charitable for he that loueth men cannot enuie them And that is the cause why we be commanded to loue our neighbor as our selues to the end we be not enuious against him but rather glad when he hath good successe in his affairs And as S. Paule saith in the 12 to the Romans Reioice with them that reioice and weepe with them that weepe and beare well in mind that enuie doth more harme to the enuious man himselfe than to the partie whom he enuieth remembring how Salomon in the seuenteene of the Prouerbs saith That he which reioiceth at another mans fall shal not be vnpunished And in the four and twentith of the Prouerbs he saith Reioice not wheÌ„thine enemy hath a fall neither be thou glad that he stumbleth least perchance the Lord doe see it and be displeased therat and turne away his wrath from him If this be spoken of enemies what ought we to do concerning freinds I will not alledge the infinit precepts and examples touched by Diuines I will take but the only example of the Heathen Aristides of whom I haue spoken When his enemie Themistocles was banished he neither spake ne did any thing to his preiudice or disaduaÌ„tage neither reioiced he any more to see his enemie in aduersitie than if he had neuer enuied his prosperitie Enuie is eschewed or diminished by modestie as when a man that is praised chalengeth not such honour to himselfe but referreth it ouer to those that praise him Wherof we haue example in Pirrhus who after many victories when his men of war called him Eagle I am qd he an eagle by your means being caried vp by your knighthood and chiualrie as the eagle is caried vp by his fethers and so he cast back the honor and title to his men of war So also did Philip abase the praise that was giuen vnto him for his beautie his eloquence and his good skil in hunting saying that the one belonged to women the other to sophists and the third to sponges Othersome doe attribute this answer to his enemie Demosthenes Contrariwise Alexander for enforcing men to worship him and to esteeme him as a god began to be hated in his campe Augustus disallowing al such doings of Alexander did the cleane contrarie For when he was entred into Rome in triumph as lord of the whole world in peaceable possession and one in a certaine comedie said O good lord and euery man turned that word vnto Augustus flattering him and clapping their hands for ioy he gaue a token presently that he liked not of it and the next morning made prohibitions that men should not vse the terme of lord vnto him neither permitted he any man no not euen his owne children to call him by that name either in iest or in good earnest There is another way to auoid enuie which was practised by Dennis the tirant which is that he aduanced a man that was wicked and hated of the people and when he was asked why he did so because quoth he I will haue a man in my realme that may be more hated than my selfe Caesar Borgia to auoid
meane betweene fearefulnesse and fooâ— hardinesse for it represâ—eth feare and moderateth boldnesse True it is that it is harder to restraine feare than to moderat boldnesse For to abide daunger time and custome be requisit for the enduring of the inconuenience but when a thing is to be aduentured vpon it is done vpon the sodaine and with a speedinesse the which is easier to be moderated than feare Therefore the state of Prowesse consisteth chiefly in the contempt of greefe and death And that man is counted a man of noble courage which when an honest or honourable death is offered vnto him is nothing afraid of it But for to put a mans selfe in daunger vpon a brunt of sorrow or anger cannot as saith Aristotle bee counted valiantnesse Fearefulnesse is the contrarie to valiantnesse and a corruption of the lawfull iudgement concerning the things that are to be feared or not feared or rather an ignorance of that which is to be feared or not feared Aristotle saith It is a vice of the couragious wherethrough a man trembleth for feare of danger specially of death beleeuing that it is more commendable to saue life by any maner of means than to die honestlie And as saith Ecclesiasticus Like as chaffe and dust in the aire cannot stand against the force of wind so a cowardly heart in the conceit of a foole cannot stand against the violence of feare Generally we feare all that is euill for feare is an expectation of euill as of pouertie sicknesse and such other things whereof we be afraid because of their hurtfulnesse The bold man is cleane contrarie to the fearfull for he is not afraid neither of death nor any other thing He doth not offer but rather cast himself headloÌ„g into danger afore danger come oft-times in danger he is lasie repenteth him that he hath cast himselfe into it But the man of prowesse is cold afore he vndertaketh but ready and sharpe in doing vndertaking Which thing Thucidides declareth sitly and elegantly in saying thus This we haue aboue all others that not only we be hardie but also we deliberate of the things whch we be to take in hand wheras others are bold through ignorance and lasie and slow to vndertake by reason of their vncertain conâ—ultations But those men are aboue all others most excellent who hauing foreconsidered both the good and the euil the pleasure and the displeasure doe not for all that shrinke away from danger On a time one prâ—ised in Catoes presence a rash-naâ—die man for a valiant man of war whervnto Cato answered There was great odswhether a man made great account of vertue or none account at all of his life esteeming those men to be of noble courage not which despised their life without purpose but rather which made so great account of vertue that in respect of that they passed not for life At what time Epaminondas besieged Sparta and was gotten by force into the towne a certaine Lacedemonian named Isadas being not only vnsurnished of armor to defend him but also of apparell came annointed all ouer his bodie with oile as one readie to wrestle and holding in the one hand his Partisane and in his other a sword went and thrust himselfe into the presse of them that sought laying about him and beating downe all his enemies that he found afore him and yet was neuer wouÌ„ded himselfe Afterward the Ephories gaue him a crown in honor of his prowesse but they amerced him by by at a fine of an hundred crowns for being so rash as to hazard himselfe in the peril of battel without armor to defend him Cicero in his Duties saith That we must not shew our selues cowardly for feare of danger and yet we must refraine from thrusting our selues into danger but if necessitie require we must not make account of death And therfore when the Lacedemonians were afraid least some hurt might befall them for refusing to take part with king Philip Dannudas said vnto theÌ„ Yee halfe men what harme can befall vs which passe not for death According to some men there are seuen sorts of valiantnesse which we may rather tearme Visors of valiantnesse For they haue a resemblance of prowesse but if ye plucke off their masks ye shall find them an other thing than they seemed The first fort is termed ciuil which is when a man hazardeth himself for the honor dishonor penalties set downe by the laws vnto such as mis-behaue themselues in war or otherwise This sorth hath more likelihood thaÌ„ the rest because the feare of transgressing the lawes is a certaine kind of prowesse And as Plutarch saith in the life of 〈◊〉 It seemeth that the men of old time tooke 〈…〉 not an vrter priuaâ—â—on of 〈…〉 reproch and a dread of dishonour because that commonly they that are most afraid to transgresse lawes are safest when they be to encounter with the enemie And they that stand not in feare to haue any reproch are not carefull to endure any aduersities Socrates said That Prowesse is a skill and that many are not noble-minded for want of knowing what it is For this cause lawes are verie needfull to set euerie man in his dutie but they cannot make a coward hardie no more than the punishing of lewd men by laws can make all men good But they hold all men to their duties so as good men hate sin for vertues sake and euil men are warie to offend for feare of punishment but no whit doth that change their disposition vnto euill Also the law may enforce a fearfull man to a aduenture but it dischargeth him not of his inclination And as there be some bodies stronger than othersome so also be some minds stronger by nature to endure casualties than othersome Another kind is called Slauish which is when neither for honour nor for dishonour but for necessities sake a man becommeth couragious for necessitie maketh euen cowards couragious as saith Salust or else for feare of punishment as when Iulian the emperour in a battell against the Persians slew tenne of the first that ran away to restraine the rest from doing the like For that punishment compelled them to sight whether they would or no. And William Conquerour duke of Normandie who caused his ships to bee set on fire as soone as he was landed in England to take from his people all other hope of safetie than only in the sword For the greatest meane of safety is to bee out of hope of safetie The third sort is called Warlike which is when we see men of war that are expert in arms doe deeds that seeme to be of hardinesse to such as haue not the experience and yet they faile not to retire when they see the danger And that also cannot be called Valiantnesse no more than mareners can be called Valiant for they being accustomed to tempest doe lesse feare them than doth the man of greatest
And in verie deed they were verie secret in all their enterprises as we read of their victorie which they had against the Persians which was knowne of in Rome afore it was vnderstood there that the warre was begun Quintus Fabius Maximus was rebuked by the consull for giuing intelligence out of the counsell of the third warre in Affricke For there is not a more behooffull thing to a state than Secrecie Pythagoras enioyned silence to his disciples aboue all things And good cause why For speech bewraieth what a man is as saith Ecclesiasticus Periander one day demaunded of Solon whether he held his peace for want of abilitie to speake or follie A foole quoth Solon cannot hold his peace for the heart of the foole saith Ecclesiasticus is in his mouth and the mouth of the wise in his heart Therefore when Socrates saw an ignorant person sit mute at the table Thou hast quoth he but this one token of a learned man And as Salomon saith in the sixteenth of his Prouerbs The man that is of vnderstanding and skill is sober in speech yea and the foole while he holdeth his peace is counted wise but he is to be hated which is shamelesse in speaking and which for a drop of wit flasheth out a whole flood of words Macrobius saith That an orator is seene by his speech and a philosopher also is knowne by his holding of his peace and by his speaking in their due times And that could Isocrates well skill to tell one which at a banquet desired him to say somewhat of the art of eloquence For he answered him after this maner I know not quoth he what time and place require to be said and that which I know is not meet for this time and place For as the sonne of Sirach saith Some man holds his peace because he discerneth the conuenient time And therupon it commeth that in the thirteenth of the Prouerbs Salomon teacheth vs that he which keepeth his mouth keepeth his soule and that he which openeth his lips rashly shall feele hurt by it And in the twelfth he saith That he which keepeth his tongue keepeth his soule from sorrow and that he which bableth many words woundeth his own soule Againe in the same chapter he saith That rash speaking is like the sting of an aspworme but the toung of the wise is health And therefore he counselleth vs to hedge vp our eares with thornes and not to hearken to a wicked tongue and to set a doore to our mouths and a locke to our eares because that he which giueth eare to a man inuiteth him to speake as S. Ambrose saith in his Duties And Mercurie in the tenth chapter of his Pimander saith That the religious man is he which neither speaketh much nor heareth many things and that he which intendeth to hearing and speaking fighteth with his own shadow cōsidering that God is neither spoken nor heard that is to say cannot be expressed neither by word nor by hearing who aboue all things will haue vs to yeeld account of our idle words Sirach in his 20. chapter saith That he is to be hated which is shamelesse in speaking And in the 21. chapter A babler defileth his owne soule and shal be hated where he dwelleth but the man that speaketh litle and is well aduised shall be had in honour Who art thou O man saith the Psalmist that desirest to liue long and to see good daies Keepe thy tongue from euill and thy lips from speaking guile And therfore he praieth God especially to set a watch before his mouth And Ecclesiasticus saith thus Who shall giue a watch to my mouth and set a seale vpon my lips that I fall not by meane thereof and that my tongue destroy me not And in another place Weigh thy words quoth he and put a bridle on thy tongue and consider aforehand least thou sin with thy tongue for in many words must needs be some fault And as Salomon saith in the third of the Prouerbs The tongue reueleth secrets but he that is of a faithfull heart keepeth things close And in the twelfth A man shall be had in estimation for his wise mouth for a wise heart saith Salomon in the sixt of the Prouerbs guideth the mouth discreetly and shall put learning vpon his lips But vpon the lips of the froward there is as it were a burning fire He that cannot refraine from speaking is like a citie that is open without walles When the Lacedemonians sat downe to their meals the eldest of the companie pointing to the doore said vnto them all Let no word go out yonder meaning that if anie thing were spoken freely at the table it ought not to be blabbed out abrode Sabellicus in the fourth Aenead of his fourth booke saith That in old time it was the custome of the Persians to concele and keepe close all secrets as a thing inioyned them by their ancient discipline vpon pain of their liues And no vice was rather punished among thē than the vice of the tongue for they deemed thē worthie of great punishmēt which could not hold their tongues seeing that nature hath made it most easie for man to do For as Ouid saith what lesse pains can we take than to hold our tongues Pittacus saith in his Sentences That that man cannot speake which cannot skill to hold his peace Vnto a certain gouernor of a prouince that demaūded of Demonax how he might wel keepe his province Demonax said It should be easie to him if he restrained his choler and hearkened much and spake little Among the vices of Thersites Homer blameth chiefly his ouermuch babling The Psalmist to shew the danger of the tongue saith That mens teeth are weapons and their tongues arrowes and sharpe kniues which may do much good and much euill after as they be applied the one way or the other The king of Aegypt sent Pittacus a mutton desiring him to put asunder the good flesh from the bad Pittacus sent him backe the tongue as the instrument of the greatest good and of the greatest euill that is done in the world For as Salomon saith Both life and death are in the power of the tongue Saint Iames in his canonicall Epistle saith That though the tongue be but a smal member yet it doth great things and is like the helue of a ship to the whole bodie and like a bridle by the which being in the horses mouth we turne his whole bodie which way we will And a ship how great soeuer it bee yet is it ruled by a small peece of timber Saint Iohn Chrisostome in his two and twentith Homilie to the people warrieth them that they should not vndo themselues by their tongues For it is the tongue that marreth the whole body and when the bodie is corrupted the mind must needs be corrupted to For euil words corrupt good maners Yea and in our daily praiers which we make vnto God