it is not true Valour at least it is no part of the Motive wherewith it ought to be animated that is the preferring the Sense of true Honour before our own Lives According to these Principles though the Saying of Agesilaus was excellent when to one who demanded of him how he came to perform such great Exploits he answered It was by despising Death Yet not to abuse this noble Thought it is necessary that we add another Saying of Cato the Elder who tells us In the Perils of War he makes a great Difference between those that love Vertue and those who are weary of their Lives Indeed it must be the Love of Vertue that animates Valour and the principal Wheel that puts it into its due Motions Zeal for Justice ought not only to be the Pretence but the Cause of War And a Prince is obliged to have the same Motive in prosecuting his Enemies by his Arms as in arraigning Offenders by his Laws for his Enemies are looked upon as convicted Criminals the Declaration of War is their Sentence of Condemnation and because this Sentence cannot be so easily executed as the others he sends his Armies to be his Sheriffs and Executioners And the same Effect which the Punishment of a private Criminal hath on a Nation the Punishment of a Nation hath on the Universe or as we may say in the great Republick of the World CHAP. V. Examples against the strange Errour of those who believe the exact Practice of Justice to be an Obstacle to Valour AND yet notwithstanding all this some Men there are in the World who imagine that the exact practising of Justice is an Obstacle to Valour If in the fixed Humour whereinto this fundamental Errour hath cast their Minds they are not capable to be disabused by Reasons they ought to be cured by Examples Marcus Aurelius is the most famous amongst the Emperors for Vertue purely Humane St. Lewis is the most renowned amongst all Kings for Christian Piety They were both very valiant St. Lewis was the first that descended from Ship-board into Egypt in the sight of the Enemy he fought with incredible Obstinacy in that Fight where he lost his Liberty And during his Imprisonment he discovered such a noble Assurance of Mind that the Prince of the Barbarians being near Death the Admiration that they had for the Vertue of their generous Captive put them upon Deliberation whether they should not chuse him for their Sovereign As for Marcus Aurelius he ended his Days in an Expedition in Almaigne He underwent all the Duties of a Soldier and a Captain and had made great Advances if he had not been surprized by Death The Example of this Prince and that of his Son do well demonstrate that Justice is serviceable to Valour instead of being prejudicial to it and that that Courage which is not founded in the Love of Vertue is obnoxious to great Disorders Commodus the Son of Aurelius had been carefully educated by his Father with all the Exactness imaginable This Education was in him joyned with an auspicious Birth he had a vast Genius he was strong dexterous and of a good Mind and nothing was wanting to make him a great Prince but his Will to be so His Father had no sooner rendred up his Life but he thinks of nothing more than returning to Rome though one might have well represented to him that Rome was every where where the Emperor was He abandons an assured Victory and patching up a dishonourable Peace with the Alemaignes sets forward for Italy without being at the Pains to consider whether it would not beget ill Impressions of his Conduct in the Beginning of his Reign We come now from seeing an old Emperor who had rather die under his Military Labours in the Bed of Honour than quit the Design he had formed and we see after him a young Prince full of Vigour who to wind himself out of the Fatigues of War eschews an Enterprize to which the Memory of his Father and his own Honour should have engaged him Instead of embracing a lawful Occasion for the Acquests of Glory he rather chose to expose himself to the View of the Romans in the Equipage of a Gladiator and by throwing of Darts to kill Panthers or Lions in an Amphitheatre CHAP. VI. Why it is that at this Day all the World hath not the Opinion they ought to have upon the Obligation of joyning Justice to Valour IF all Men at this Day have not the Opinion they ought to have of their being obliged to joyn Valour with this other Vertue which is the Rule of all Morality perhaps it comes from hence that in this Monarchy as in many others they have made a Separation of the Gown from the Sword as if they were distinct Functions and do not think it proper that the same Men might be Magistrates and Captains too It is true the Sovereign Administration of Laws and Arms resides in the Person of the Prince but it is in no other properly but in him that this Union is to be found And yet in some sort he hath declared himself for the Military Employment since he every Day bears the Badges of it and even in the actual Administration of Justice he wears a Sword by his Side But the Ancients did not determine of Things after this Rule Amongst them the Charge of Consul that of Praetor and many others were no less for the Wars than for Peace Insomuch that there were some that in a Moment passed from the Tribunal to the Camp and after having heard Causes pleaded and been Pleaders themselves were sent to command and to fight in the Army Fabritius was a Man of an undaunted Spirit Both the Cato's were exceeding valiant And the same Justice which restrained them from suffering their Judgments to be corrupted excited them not to suffer themselves to be vanquished in Battels We find the like Examples in the Graecian History Phocion and Aristides had no less of Courage than Integrity They gave to Aristides the Surname of Just they might as well have given him the Surname of Valiant 'T is true he never commanded the Army in Chief but he distinguished himself in all the Wars where he served either as a Soldier or as an Officer and he behaved himself admirably well in the Battels of Marathron Salamine and Platea Now in the Republicks of Greece no manner of Profession could exempt a Man from his Service in the Wars or at least was incompatible with Arms. We could name Philosophers who have joyned Justice with Valour Socrates saved Alcibiades in a Battel and darting himself through the thickest of his Enemies rescued him out of their Hands Zenophon after the Death of Clearchus was one of the Captains in that famous Retreat which amongst the Criticks in the Art of War passeth for one of the finest Master-pieces that ever was performed CHAP. VII What is the Extent of Military Obedience AS it is an important Thing SIR for
those who are destined to command Armies to know to what Point they may extend this Command and because You purpose Your self to learn under the Orders of the King Your Father who teacheth the Art of Conquering and of being victorious we must not forget to remark in this Discourse what is the Extent of Military Obedience It hath sometimes been a Question Whether Justice obligeth a Soldier to deliver up himself to a certain and inevitable Death when his Commander puts him upon it Some answer to this First That it is very difficult to find any Case so deplorable but that there may be some possibility of escaping For after the Example of Alexander when he threw himself into the City of the Oxydracians And after that of Horatius Cocles who singly stopped an Army of Enemies till the Bridge was broken down and then all wounded as he was leaped with his Arms into Tyber and saved himself by swimming There hardly seems a Danger so visible and so pressing where a Man may not see some Glimmerings of Hope But although we should take this Supposition in the Extent of its Rigour yet we ought not to doubt but that a Soldier who hath received his Commands must follow the Orders given him though it were certain that in the executing it or in the endeavouring to do it it would cost him his Life The same Principle which wills us to hazard Life for the Preservation of Honour commands us to sacrifice it for the same Reason since if Honour were not more valuable than Life we should not only not sacrifice it for the Preservation of Honour but should not think it needful to hazard it Besides a private Man is in respect of the Publick as a Member is in respect of the Body And it happens sometimes that for the Preservation of the Body we not only apply painful Remedies to the Part affected but we wholly cut it off This Reasoning is confirmed by Examples As by that of Leonidas who with his Three Hundred Lacedaemonians as we have mentioned in this Discourse being at the Streights of Thermopylae to oppose the greatest Army that ever was when he knew that this dreadful Army was ready to fall upon him saith he to his Soldiers Come my Friends let us dine now we shall sup in the other World The Roman History relates an Action very like this and of an equal Number of Men in the War against the Carthaginians But if some will insist upon that which I just now hinted that it may be these valiant Men in these Rencounters did not look upon their Deaths as altogether infallible yet there were others who did actually devote themselves to Death as Decius amongst the Romans and Codrus and Menecheus amongst the Greeks And in our Modern Histories we find Commanders of Ships who being pursued and sore pressed without being either able to defend or save themselves have put Fire to the Powder and blown themselves up that so neither they nor their Ship might fall as a Prey into the Hands of their Enemies CHAP. VIII Whether one may be dispensed with from following an Order in War when he sees in not following it he shall bring greater Advantage to his Side IT hath also been a Question If after a Military Order is given out he who received it may disobey it when he sees in not following it he shall do a greater piece of Service for his Party and that he shall be certain to accomplish a Victory A like Question to this hath been propounded in reference to Friendship They demand If a Man being charged by his Friend to do a Thing whether he be obliged precisely to keep close to that which was prescribed him or whether he may take another Course when he assuredly knows that by this Means he shall farther serve his Friend who hath put his Concerns into his Hands Many have thought that he may do it But in the mean Time they give us these two Cautions First To see if the Course which we steer and which we preferr before the other doth prevail so much over that which we have Orders to follow that this Advantage be so considerable as to make a Compensation for the Liberty we give our selves to forsake the Will and Commands of a Friend in his proper Interests They advise us also to take care with whom we have to do For if we should have to do with a stiff and self-conceited Person wholly abounding in his own Sense he will neither take our good Intentions nor our good Success for Reason but on such Occasions interprets all sorts of Addresses as Shifts to cover unfaithfulness Then we must serve him according to his Humour and not run the Risk of losing his Friendship Some have extended this Question to the Commands which we receive from our Superiors in which we must affirm that the securest Way is not to set up ones self as an Umpire of their Will and that there happen very few Occasions where he may be allowed to pass the Limits of a blind Obedience Aulus Gellius who sometimes makes Remarks particular enough upon Things of Antiquity relates how that Crassus going into Asia with his Army and being desirous to besiege a Place stood in want of a long and strong Beam to make one of those Engines which the Ancients called Baleares Battering-Rams and with which they used to batter Towns He passing by Athens took notice of a Beam which was in the Gate and which he believed would exactly fit his purpose he wrote to the Architect of the Athenians to send it to him The Architect who was an able Artist knowing for what Design he intended it sent him another which he judged most proper for his purpose Crassus calls him before him and demanded of him Why he did not exactly follow his Orders Whatever Reason the Man alledged to justifie himself he caused him to be punished in the sight of his Army Behold one who was rigorous to Extremity We may say this Roman used him as he would have dealt with a Soldier who had disobeyed his Orders and that he pursued the Severity of Military Discipline Indeed in War we must obey punctually And when Orders are given out nothing can dispense with the Obligation we have to submit to them This Maxim is sounded first upon this That we ought never to do a positive Evil for any Good that may happen thereby And Disobedience in Matters of Discipline is an essential Crime On the other side We must keep up this Rigour to the heighth otherwise the Consequence would be dangerous if by one single Exception we should open a Door to Disobedience and if we should give place to imagine that there are Reasons after a General hath given his Orders which will leave one at liberty to follow or not to follow them The Notions which the Stoick Philosophers had of Valour accords very well with this Principle Through all the Extent of Morality they
Insomuch that God is in our Souls he acts immediately there and it belongs to him to do that which he pleaseth They deceive themselves extreamly who imagine that in making these Reflections on the Dependence of Men's Valour it should be capable to abate their Courage rather than to add more Assurance to it For as it is in Civil Societies the Power of our Friends creates in us rather Confidence than Fear so the Divine Omnipotence is so far from abating the Courage of those Persons that acknowledge and adore it that it elevates and confirms it And certainly I believe that all the Exhortations that ever have been made or ever shall be made to excite Men to Valour have not so much Force as one Sentence of the Old Testament alledged by St. Paul If God be for us who can be against us And that other in the Gospel Fear not them that can kill the Body but cannot destroy the Soul CHAP. XII What is the End of Valiant Actions AMongst the Circumstances which attend Actions the most essential of all is the End What is the End of the Actions of Valour The Pagans have propounded Glory for its End Christian Morality advanceth higher and to conceive aright of the Grandeur and Solidity of the Sentiments she inspires upon this Subject it is needful for us to consider it is in Valour as it is in other Vertues and that Military Actions ought to be ranked amongst the good Works to which the Reward of Heaven is promised There is in them this in particular that they are not only more painful and difficult than the others but they oftentimes put a Period to the Life of him that performs them and so he embraceth Death in the actual Exercise of Vertue If a Man closeth up his Life stretching out his Hands to assist the Poor and in the very Act of Alms-deeds and Charity or if he render up his Soul at the Foot of the Altar whilst he is applying himself to the Invocation and Adoration of God such a Death will with Reason be accounted as a Favour and will give us advantageous Thoughts of the Salvation of this Man We ought to have the same Opinion of a Death which happens in Military Expeditions And to make the Reflection more agreeable to this Notion it is not necessary that it must be a War waged against Infidels it is sufficient that in respect of the Prince the War be just and in respect of the Subjects that they are commanded by their Prince Then we may say that Death is a Sacrifice and he that suffers it is a Victim It will be objected without doubt that this Sacrifice may not be pleasing to God because it may suffer that Death and yet otherwise be in an ill State I agree it But this is not a Case peculiar to Valour only seeing that it may be also that he who dies in the actual Exercise of Alms-giving or of Prayer yet may not die in a good Disposition of Conscience There is only one Difference to be observed That Alms-giving and Prayer do not in themselves expose a Man's Life to Hazard but Military Actions are accompanied with Dangers and it is their very Business to encounter them Insomuch that we may soberly conclude thereupon that a Soldier is particularly obliged to take care of his Conscience and in that he is exposed to Death hourly he ought always to be well prepared to die daily It is not necessary to make a farther Research what is the End of valiant Actions it is the same as of other vertuous Actions Valour propounds no less an Aim than the noblest of all Conquests that of Heaven She propounds an Immortality that is not feigned nor metaphorical as is that of Fame but a Life truly eternal and truly happy As to that other Immortality such as it is I mean the Glory which springs from Valour we must see of what Dispositions Christian Princes ought to be in this Respect I remember I have read a Notion in the Writings of an Ancient Father which at the first surprized me but it was very solid and very necessary upon this Occasion He preached to his People after this manner Have a Care of my Reputation It is your Interest rather than mine so to do I have no need of it for my self but I have need of it for you So a Prince stands in no need of Honour for himself He shall not be judged of God by his Reputation but by his Vertue He hath only need of it for his People to maintain his Subjects in their Duty to hinder his Enemies from undertaking any Thing against them and in a Word for a Thousand Things important to the Publick We cannot doubt then but that the Reputation of Kings is capable of producing great Effects be it either in Peace or War But all this hath no farther Regard to a Prince but during his Life Ought he then to neglect a Reputation which shall endure after Death No he ought not to neglect it but on the contrary to desire it not for himself but for others Which is the Motive we have formerly touched at and appears here to be manifestly true Indeed St. Lewis would not be e'er the less happy in Heaven though all the World were ignorant of the Actions he did on the Earth and we never had known he was valiant or that he had made War in Africa or had suffered Death as a Martyr It is not then a Felicity to St. Lewis that History speaks of him but it is an Happiness for those who are now living It is an Happiness in particular to You SIR who are animated by this Example and find in a Stem of your August Family the most perfect Model that the Church hath propounded for Princes As we may see by this that the Glory of great Kings produceth great Effects which are not confined within the Limits of their Days so we cannot deny but that they may propound to themselves to do such Actions which will never be forgotten and the Memoires of their Vertue will procure a continued and perpetual Benefit to the World We shall be yet more convinced of the Truth of this Maxim if we consider that there is a Proportion altogether equal between the Times and Places And as when a Christian Prince desires to be known out of his own Kingdom it is to render himself profitable to Strangers as well as to his Subjects In like manner when he desires to be famed after his Death it is to this End that after having served his own Generation he will be yet farther serviceable to Posterity CHAP. XIII Valour ought to be accompanied with Generosity WHen one is animated from so noble a Principle and hath propounded to himself so excellent an End he sometimes prohibits himself the Use of those Things which in themselves are allowable It is not enough to satisfie our selves that we are far from being guided by unjust Maxims but we
they were brought forth No Breezes refresh so sweetly as one's native Air no Mansion is so pleasant as that which is situated in a Man 's own Country Those who are born under the Freezings of the North or the Scorchings of the Line would not exchange their Dwellings for the most temperate Climate in the World The Original Cause of War seems then to proceed from the Ambition Men generally have for Superiority in Matters of Valour This Desire is from Time to Time kept awake in the Minds of People and hath carried them on to fight one against another without any other Consideration Hence it oftentimes comes to pass that the Conqueror doth not care to keep his Conquests entire but is contented with a Tribute an Homage or a bare Acknowledgment that the Vanquished make that they have been surmounted purely by the Force of his Arms. We do not believe that the Goths Huns and Vandals those Hurricanes of Nations which made an Inundation into the Roman Empire were animated by this Motive It may be they did not believe it themselves But this is not the first Time that a Passion has been eagerly pursued without being understood by him that followed it It happens oftentimes that these Springs play and move in the Bottom of our Hearts and our Hearts not perceive them And it is very probable that Nature being as it were jealous of her self endeavours to shew it in some of her Operations wherein she hath better succeeded than in others and so pushed on those fierce Nations to make them appear more courageous than those that were subdued by them Moreover when we speak of the Alaric's and the Attila's there is a Thought darts in upon us which entirely takes us up We are well pleased that History hath not forgotten them as not deserving to be confounded with the Lumber of the Crowd Whatever Opinion we may have of them otherwise yet we never think of them with such mean and slighty Thoughts as we commonly have for Things base and vile Those very Persons which have an Horrour for them yet can detest them without despising them They are compared to Torrents and Lightnings They look upon them as Serpents who raise themselves up towards the Sky and not as mere crawling Vermin In short If we observe in them something Barbarous yet we also find something I know not what of Great These Men have celebrated themselves by their Boldness they have forced Fame to immortalize them they have ravished an Esteem from those very Nations they have ransacked and by invading of Empires they have usurped to an Admiration It was for this Reason that the Romans who treated all other Nations as Barbarians except the Graecians and the Ancient Graecians who looked upon all the World besides as barbarians not excepting the Romans put a great Difference both the one and the other between those which they called Barbarians They spoke with Contempt of the Syrians and Egyptians because they looked upon them as Cowards but they spake of the Gauls with Esteem because they accounted them valiant This fierce and undaunted Nation whose Country France then was serves me for an Example to justifie the Notion which I have been pursuing One of the Ancients hath made this Remark That the Destruction of Rome had been infallible if the Gauls would have attacked her during the Time she made War against the Carthaginians or against the Italians But in regard Rome had the Weight of other Wars upon her Shoulders and other Enemies to grapple with the Gauls stood by as Neuters and Spectators of the Event without taking either Side But afterwards when they saw her free and dis-engaged either through Conquest or Treaty then they poured themselves into Italy and made that terrible Irruption called Tumultus Gallicus which alarm'd the whole World to take up Arms and to defend themselves against such formidable Enemies Was not this a visible Affectation of Valour They would overcome yet not so but that their Victory should be wholly attributed to their Courage And they had assuredly been victorious had they but equalized the Romans in Discipline as they surpassed them in Valour CHAP. XIII History recounts the Actions of Valour more exactly than other Things HIstory takes more Care to circumstantiate the Actions of Valour than those of other Vertues When she falls upon a Siege or a set Battel she makes a Stand and would have us do so too and look every Way about us She frequently spends more Time in describing one Day 's Battel than in the Journals of a Ten Years Peace When she meets with any memorable Event she makes a punctual Description of the Place where it happened represents to us the regular Motions of the Troops reports the Harangues of the Generals marks out the exact Time when the Signal was given she observes the several Companies and their Movements both in the On-set and in the Defence she numbers the Slain and gives us an Account of the Prisoners In short she waits Step by Step on the Conquerors and the Conquered and as if there were nothing else in the World but those Armies which were engaged she forgets all the rest of Mankind only to describe this Battel Now she doth not take this Pains out of Ostentation but rather out of Necessity And we shall find she hath Reason for this Exactness if we call to mind that Set Battels have caused the Revolutions of Empires and have put Changes upon the Face of the World In effect At such a Time the Soldiers carry in their Hands the Destiny of Nations And it often comes to pass that on the Success of one good or ill Day hath depended the Prosperity or Misery of many succeeding Ages And as History is more exact in these Descriptions so we are apt most especially to apply our selves to them We consider with Attention the immortal Impressions which they leave upon our Minds Painting takes us up more entirely in Picture and Landskips of this nature than in others It cannot represent to us a more agreeable Object than an Hero in a Battel And we take extream Pleasure either to behold Achilles giving Chase to the Trojans or a Scipio fighting under the Walls of Carthage But we think it does not concern us neither do we with any Pleasure stay to consider whether Achilles as Story saith was as beautiful as he was valiant or whether Heaven had blessed Scipio with a Majestick Body worthy so great a Soul We love to see Charles the Eighth in his Heroick Posture though his Stature and his Presence were little taking or advantageous We should love to see Agesilaus presented to the Life if possible and in his natural Shapes but that he had expresly forbidden while he lived that any should draw his Portraicture or erect his Statue CHAP. XIV Although Justice be the Principal of Vertues yet Men honour Valour more than Justice And the Reason of this their Conduct IT is the Opinion
Mark Anthony at the Beginning of the Wars was more beloved by the Soldiers than any General of his Time Of which he had good Experience After he had lost a Battel which forced him to quit Italy he re-established his Fortune amongst the Gauls and by his Presence drew over to him the Roman Legions who instead of fighting him as they had Orders submitted themselves to his Conduct This very General saw all these Troops desert him and go over to Augustus after he had made a shameful and effeminate Retreat from the Battel of Actium We will relate one Thing which though it seems not very important as being but the Action of a private Person yet it serves to confirm the Truth of this Notion that I am upon Augustus for the accomplishing of what he had begun quits Rome a Year after this fatal Battel and being gone into Egypt he besiegeth the Enemy in Alexandria a Roman Soldier under Anthony so highly signalized himself in a Sally that Mark Anthony caused him to sup with him at his own Table and Cleopatra presented him with an Head-piece and Breast-plate of Gold Yet notwithstanding though this Soldier was so magnificently recompenced the Night following he deserts Anthony and goes over to Augustus's Camp I alledge not this Example in any wise to excuse such base Ingratitude but to let you see the Danger a Man exposeth himself to of being abandoned when he hath given Cause but to question his Want of Resolution But if Valour be necessary to a Prince to keep what he hath gotten it is yet much more necessary to put him in possession of what belongs to him He must not think or expect in an ordinary Way that the State will render up their Forts at least unless they are forced to it or are in fear of being so they will not part with them as long as they have a Prospect of Power to keep them It is to no purpose to send Ambassadors to alledge Reasons they will counter-plead them with Reasons or contrary Pretences And when the Demand he makes is very pressing he will at last receive an Answer like to that of the Lacedaemonian Captain the King of Persia wrote to him Send me your Arms He returns him this blunt Answer viz. Come and fetch them CHAP. XVI The same Reflections pursued IF it be a Truth to say generally speaking that Things are preserved by the same Means by which they have been acquired we cannot doubt then but that Courage is highly instrumental for the Preserving seeing it is necessary to the Raising it self and that the greatest Fortunes in all Ages have been wrought out by Valour Amongst the Roman Emperors some from the lowest Rank have arrived to the Purple Many others were private Men before they were Princes The Empire was a long time exposed either as the Reward of Courage or as a Prey to Ambition which without Courage is altogether vain and impotent In Truth the first Six Caesars succeeded each other by the Rights of Blood or Adoption Vespasian and some others had their Children for their Successors But how came Vespasian himself to the Throne How came Galba Trajan and Severus to the Sovereignty Severus above all others is the greatest Instance of the Effects which are produced by Courage He had to contest with puissant Rivals and of the Four Pretenders to the Empire he was looked upon to be the weakest yet by his Valour he surmounted his Competitors he flew to and fro from one End of the Empire to another with an Impetuosity always victorious Whether he were in the Eastern Parts or in our Countries Westward he atchieved such great Things that it was the Opinion of a judicious Historian that his Actions were not inferiour to those of Caesar But to come nearer to our own Times Have we not seen an obscure Person a Man sprung from nothing or as we sometimes phrase it a Son of the Earth who routed the Turks and brought away their Sultan Prisoner He rendred himself Master of all Persia and of all the Indies and so far advanced his Victories that some pretend Tamerlain no less a Conqueror than Alexander On the one side if he did not possess himself of Greece and the Provinces bordering the Hellespont yet on the other side he passed the River Ganges and extends his Conquest as far as the Sun-rising His Memory is at this Day had in great Veneration amongst the Nations which he subdued and notwithstanding the Meanness of his Birth many of the Asiatick Princes count it an Honour to be descended from him CHAP. XVII The Commonwealth of the Lacedaemonians maintained it self a long Time by the Laws of Lycurgus which chiefly related to War THE Lacedaemonian Commonwealth subsisted a long Time that is to say more than Five Hundred Years in great Splendour She became more formidable than either Athens or Thebes and was considered as the Terrour or Support of Greece according as her Neighbours were her Enemies or Allies During so long a Time she never wanted Enemies in Greece or Asia and the Wars she sustained were extreamly dangerous Besides she had but a small Extent of Ground and her Capital City was without Walls but she maintained her self by her Valour The Laws of Lycurgus which chiefly related to the Affairs of War had render'd her invincible so that she was never observed to fall from this her Puissance till Riches which were the Spoils of their Conquests corrupted them through Avarice and softned them through Pleasures the Republick of Carthage ended sooner than that of Rome for it was destroyed by it but then she began to be a Commonwealth sooner so that her Continuance was no less And in her we shall find an Example like to that we have been relating The Laws indeed of the Carthaginians were near a-kin to those of the Lacedaemonians And there were three Sorts of People as Aristotle remarks in his Politicks that were guided almost by the same Form of Government the Carthaginians the Lacedaemonians and the Candiots These last were also very valiant and by that Means they long flourished CHAP. XVIII The long Duration of Monarchy comes from Valour BUT the Duration of these States comes not near Monarchy Next to the Succours of Divine Providence which is the principal cause of its Conservation we may not referr it to Humane Prudence since it must be granted that this Vertue is not always found in any one particular Nation It must be attributed to Valour Perhaps in the longest Succession of Kings there is but few of them that History reproacheth for Want of Courage and yet the Historians profess an Impartiality both to the Good and Bad. If we trace the Lines of remotest Monarchies as far as we do ours or those most near we shall not find one Kingdom where Courage hath been wanting And though some Kings have not been always Victorious but they have been always Valiant and if Fortune had been but as constant
to them as Nature they would have left nothing for their Successours to do now but might have made themselves Masters of the Universe The Misfortunes of King John obliged Charles his Son not to hazard a second Disgrace but that Prince who in this then shewed his Prudence had before given Proof of his Courage Lewis the Eleventh who towards the Latter End of his Days had abandoned his Soul to the melancholy Terrours and Apprehensions of Death never gave Testimony of such terrifying Fears in all his Wars And one might have seen him give Personal Proofs of his Valour at the Battle of Montlheri Henry the Third had won three Victories before he was King which gives us to observe that it was his Slothfulness and not his Cowardice which was the Cause of his unhappy Reign He feared not the Danger of War but he dreaded the Labour of it He had been well satisfied to have fought every Year a Battle provided that after the Fight was over he might have been permitted to spend the rest of the Year in Idleness These are they whom Calumny may take occasion to asperse and yet they are free from this Fault of Cowardice The rest claim our Elogies rather than need our Apologies Prosperity sometimes failed them in the Event and Prudence was sometimes wanting in the Enterprize but their Courage never failed neither in the Enterprize nor in the Event There were no Adventures happened to them wherein their Valour was not shewed forth Kings are not made Prisoners of War so long as they remain in their Palaces But if any of them in commanding their Armies do fall into the Hands of their Enemies who manage the War by their Lieutenants it is plain that at the same Time they are vanquished they have appeared more courageous than their Conquerours Such have been the Princes from whom some are descended who have no reason to blush for their Ancestors nor themselves in Reading their History They are found in their proper Place when seated on their Throne And that they were altogether worthy of proceeding their Successours who have since had better Fortune Whose Destinies may raise in us a Compassion for them but will never cause us to be ashamed of them CHAP. XIX The Empire of the Ancient Persians was soon expired as also that of the Graecians And the Reasons thereof AND as some Kings have been always Valiant so have their Subjects never basely degenerated from the Principle of Courage So that we need not wonder that Monarchy hath preserved it self during the Course of so many Ages and that she promiseth her self a Duration equal to that of the Universe On the contrary the Empire of the Ancient Persians did not long subsist because Cyrus had those for his Successors which were not worthy of him They had more of Vanity than Valour They moved indeed with innumerable Armies they poured forth Soldiers by the Millions and with a ridiculous Arrogance vaunted that they would shovel Mountains into the Sea and lay Fetters upon the Ocean and yet after all these dreadful Cracks they were beaten sunk and chased by the little Republicks of Greece However we may say that Darius in whom this Empire expired was not defective in Courage but he had not so much as his Enemy seeing that though he was far stronger than he yet nevertheless he was surmounted by him When his famous Conqueror was dead without Children the Principal of his Captains became Kings One had Macedonia for his Part another Syria a Third Egypt But all these blazing Sovereignties not falling into Hands strong enough to sustain them were soon extinguished Perseus the last King of the Macedonians was but the Seventh in Succession from Antigonus The Seleucides which had Syria continued no long Time And the Ptolemey's whose Kingdom was the last which was reduced to a Province held not Egypt above two Ages Their Misfortunes came from a Defect of Valour Perseus of whom we have been speaking instead of shewing the Courage of a King after his Defeat carried himself with so much Baseness that the General of the Roman Army was ashamed of him when he came from the Battel apprehending that it would not be any Glory for him to conquer such a Man And when he saw him prostrate himself unworthily at his Feet Ah! saith he Do not dishonour my Victory And yet this Carriage was less to be blamed if possible than that of Antiochus of the Race of the Seleucides to whom the Romans sent Popilius to command him to depart out of a Country whereinto he had entred with his main Army So soon as he saw the Ambassador a-far off going over his Camp he humbly salutes him The Ambassador with a Fierceness not to be endured comes up to him without returning him any Salute and delivers him a Letter from the Senate Antiochus after he had read it told him He would deliberate upon whas was to be done Popilius presently making a Circle about this Prince with a Wand that he then had in his Hand said to him Deliberate if you will but before you go out of this Circle I expect your Answer Here You may behold a perfect Coward A King who in the midst of his Army had received such unworthy Carriage from an Envoy instead of being inspired with a just Indignation consulted only his own Fears and answered He would do what the Romans should desire of him As for Ptolemy can any one be guilty of a more sordid and treacherous Action than his when he sacrificed the greatest Infortunate to his infamous Politicks And the better to make his Court to Caesar makes him a Present of the Head of Pompey All these Princes so little worthy of their Sovereignty did but possess part of the Conquests of Alexander What became of Persia after the Death of this great Monarch There were but two Divisions made of those great Conquests one by Perdiccas and the other by Antipater It was in the second Division that Babylon fell to Seleucus He afterwards gained the Army of Nicanor Governor of Media and being also assured of Persia it was the best Division seeing that his Empire extended it self from the Egean Sea even to the Indies But at last all these Successors of Alexander and their Descendants not knowing how to agree amongst themselves nor how to conquer one another it happened that during their Dissensions a valiant Parthian named Arsaces mounts the Throne and became the Founder of one of the most puissant and illustrious Families that History presents to our Remembrance This Noble Family was not eclipsed as others were with the Rays of the Roman Splendor She gave Kings to the Eastern Nations and investing her self during so many Ages with Sovereign Power was never the Subject but always the Rival of that ambitious Republick These were the Princes called the Arsacides from the Name of their illustrious Founder who created so much Trouble to the Romans and abated their Pride by the
to remark in this Discourse that we are to suppose some Proportion between the Forces In Moral Discourses these sort of Suppositions must always be granted and though they are not expresly contained yet they are to be supplied by an equitable Construction In effect We know very well that the Lacedaemonians were cut in pieces by the Persians at the Streights of Thermopylae But what could Three Hundred Soldiers do against an Army of more than Ten Hundred Thousand They did all that Men could do they sold their Lives at a dear Rate slew a vast Number of Persians and put their Main Body into Disorder insomuch that the King of Sparta pushed on to the very Tent of Xerxes But they fore-saw well enough that they should be over-powred by a Multitude And they might have said then what some have made them say since Diutius possunt perire quam nos vincere We suppose then that there should be amongst the Forces either if not an entire Equality yet at least some Proportion If we rest upon this Foundation the Reflections that we have made will be acknowledged to be true and we shall find that it is humanely impossible that courageous People should be surmounted by others and that Valour should not render her self Mistress of the World CHAP. XXII A Prince may be considered in reference to Five Sorts of Persons And to maintain himself in all these different Respects he hath need of Valour BUT we must dwell a little longer upon these Considerations which ought to be the more agreeable to a valiant Prince seeing that we are naturally pleased to apply Inclination to Duty and to do that by the free and ingenuous Motions of our Souls out of Choice which we are obliged to do out of Necessity A King may then be considered in reference to Five Sorts of Persons of Soldiers of Subjects of Allies of Enemies and of those which are purely Strangers without any of those other Respects When he renders himself illustrious by true Valour he inspires into his Soldiers Courage into his Subjects Affection into his Allies Confidence into his Enemies Fear and into all others Esteem and Respect The Roman Dictator never fought but with the Infantry to let them understand that Danger was equal to him with his Troops and renouncing all Possibility of a Retreat he did not divide his Thoughts between Conquering and Fleeing but between Victory or Death A Graecian Captain leading his Soldiers through a very difficult Pass where they were to climb a steep Hill which he had already gained marching at the Head of them he exhorts them not to be dis-heartned at the Difficulties but to do their best Endeavours to follow him He that was the foremost of them answered him You speak freely Sir and to your own Sence You are on horse-back I am on foot and besides I carry a very heavy Buckler The Captain hearing this a lights immediately from his Horse gives the Soldier his Hand and carries his Buckler for him This soon wrought a wonderful Emulation amongst the rest who when they were got to the Top of the Hill reproached the Soldier for his Insolence and conjured their Officer to give him back his Buckler and to mount his Horse This Captain was not a Prince I leave You to consider how passionately the Soldiers had been affected if a Sovereign had done such an Action When a Soldier sees that his Prince exposeth his Royal Person this Sight cannot but strangely animate him and force from him such Reflections as these Behold a Prince who hath a Crown to lose and yet hazards his Life Why should I then who am but a Soldier of Fortune and who have no Estate but my Sword why I say should I study to save my inconsiderable self after so great an Example As for his other Subjects who are not engaged in Military Service they have also sensible Considerations which extreamly touch them They consider they are at Ease and Security in their own Houses during the Time that their Prince to maintain them in their Tranquility undergoes a Thousand Fatigues and is confronted by a Thousand Dangers They think with themselves that he is not obliged but that he may stay at home in his Palace and enjoy his Royal Repose but yet he will command his Armies himself and will not be diverted from this Design neither for the Hazards he must run nor for the Pains he must endure It is impossible but that such Considerations which are inspired even by common Sence should be presented to their Minds and enter into the Bottom of their Souls and fill them full with Love Zeal and Gratitude for the Person of their Sovereign Who does not presently see the Effects which the Valour of a Prince will produce in the Spirits of his Allies by their confiding in him And in those of his Enemies by their Fears The Principle we have setled upon the Difference between Policy and Morality obligeth us to believe that Alliances between States are rather founded upon Interests than any private Friendship They never seek for Alliances but with those who are capable to serve or to hurt them The Ancient Persians knew well how to make use of this Distinction When an Ambassador was sent to them from the Lacedaemonians they entertained him with another manner of Reception than the Envoys which came from the other Republicks of Greece What shall we say of those wonderful Effects which the Reputation of valiant Princes hath produced and whereof History hath furnished us with such a Multitude of Examples It has happened a Thousand Times that their very Names only have caused Forts to be speedily surrendred which were able to have maintained a long Siege and have put to flight those Armies which had Forces sufficient to have overcome the Pursuers As to those who are neither Soldiers nor Subjects neither Allies nor Enemies to a valiant Prince they entertain the Noise of his Renown and the News of his Exploits with Admiration they have no Thoughts to engage in any War against him but rather to seek the Aids of his Protection They are afraid of becoming his Enemies and covet nothing more than to be his Allies Nay they even wish sometimes to be his Soldiers or his Subjects that they might participate of his Glory They offer up a Thousand Vows to Heaven for such a Prince of their own and when they cannot obtain one like him they are so far transported as to wish that he were their Master CHAP. XXIII If a Prince when he is engaged in a War be bound to do it in Person IT is little to the purpose to say that the King may wage War by his Lieutenants For besides that no Person can ever be so well assured of the Fidelity that others have for him as he is assured of the Fidelity that he has for himself the Prince is the Soul of the Army his Presence is that Plastick Power which inspires Life Activity
Exploits in their other Actions but in many Things will discover that they are tainted with the low Opinions and Errours of vulgar Souls It will appear that they were raised not by their Vertue but their Fortune In short There will many Occasions happen where their Weakness will betray their Dignity It is Admiration and not Pity that the Grandeur of Kings calls for Nothing is more undecent than to shed Tears upon a Throne nothing is so contemptible as a puling Sovereign Monarchs ought not to appear intimidated Crest-fallen or surprized They should settle their Minds in such a fixed State as not to stand in need of Consolation or if they do need it they ought to seek for it as one once said in the Bosom of the Commonwealth When a Prince is of this Disposition he renders his Life truly easie and finds not only Repose but Joy in the midst of Labours It sweetens the Bitterness of Adventures though never so vexatious it turns all the Thorns of the Crown into fragrant Flowers I thought it my Duty not to forget these Reflections in this Discourse although it was designed particularly to consider Valour in reference to the Profession of War wherein if I conformed my self to our Modern Way yet I am not very far wandred from the Maxims of the Ancient Moralists In short Those who have handled Valour in the largest Extent yet will be sure to inform us that Military Courage is the principal Part of it and that it shines brightest above all in the Occasions of War where the most apparent Dangers reign rampant and which are big with Things most capable to inspire Fear So that Valour above all relates to War as War does to Fighting which is the End of the Functions of that Discipline The Roman Soldiers were never idle they underwent more Pains than the most laborious Mechanicks and by this Means they arrived at those great Performances the Memory and Footsteps whereof astonish us at this Day But they laboured as Soldiers not as Mechanicks and never quitted the Military Character Hence it was that Corbulon was so severe that he punished a Soldier with Death because he was carrying Earth without having his Sword on Hence it was that the Obligation of Fighting never ceased until the Military Oath was altogether broken whereas before they might have been discharged from other Obligations To understand this well we must remember that the Romans had two sorts of Conge's or Dismission from the Wars One which they called Missio and that permitted the Soldiers totally to quit the Wars and to return to their own Homes The other they called Exauctoratio which dispensed with the Soldiers from their Military Employments but still they were obliged not to be far distant from the Army Those who had this sort of License lived out of the Precincts of the Camp they lived after what manner they pleased so long as they had nothing actually to do against the Enemy but when Occasion presented it self they joyned with the other Roman Soldiers who lodged in the Camp and all engaged together in the Battel CHAP. XXVI The Pleasures of Princes are Military Pleasures 'T IS from this Relation that Valour hath to War and War to Battel that the noblest Games have in all Times been the Representations of that Profession and of this Vertue There was never any Thing so celebrated in the World as the Olympian Games there used to be a general Concourse of all Greece and he who won the Prize not only made his Entrance as it were in Triumph into the Town where he was born but he had this farther Honour done him that the Year of his Victory bore his Name for the Annals were directed after this manner The Year wherein such an one was Victor in the Olympick Games it happened that We cannot doubt but that the Representations of Valour and War were very lively in the Solemnities of these Games 'T was for this Reason that after they were ended there appeared a War-horse in the midst of the Course One of the Ancients hath observed that for the same Reason the Exercise of Wrestling always went before that of Running because Wrestling represents the hot Engagement of the Fight as the Race represents the Pursuit The Romans that their Spectacula might the better resemble War would have them all to be dangerous and bloody not only in the private Combats of the Gladiators but also in those they called the Naumachies which were the Representations of Sea-Fights The most famous of all was that which was given them by the Emperor Claudius They filled an immense Space with Water which represented the Sea and caused an Hundred Ships to be floating thereon which were Manned with Twenty Thousand Malefactors or as one may say Slaves of Torment This Multitude thus condemned to kill one another might have been capable of acting strange Things had they once turned their Despair against the Spectators But to prevent such an Attempt this artificial Lake was hemm'd in with another Army and over those Troops ranged in Battalia sat the Emperor and his Courtiers in the highest Places of the Amphitheatre Then the Signal was given and these Hundred Ships being divided into two Fleets came to grapple and entred into a stiff and bloody Engagement We must confess these Sights were very inhumane the Lives of Men are too precious to be sported away and to be sacrificed to a Diversion Princes have wisely renounced these sorts of Pleasures and those which they have retained are purely military Hunting is a kind of War The Carousels Tilts and Tournaments are the Images of Combats The Shews in the Theatre have something of this and commonly act some Hero who hath been famous for Valour Besides in the most profound Peace the Prince appears in the Equipage of War he is surrounded with his Troops of Guards those with whom he frequently converseth are the Officers which command them they exercise their Soldiers before his Face they every Day demand the Word of him they daily render him an Account of their Functions and entertain him with nothing so much as what relates to their own Profession When he makes a Journey it is rather the March of an Army than a Progress The Order they then observe is not much different from the Military Discipline The Entries which he makes into the Towns are like to the Intradoes of a Conqueror they salute him by the Mouths of their Canons and whole Vollies complement his Welcome they erect Triumphal Arches for him and strew his Way with Palms and Lawrels Thus the Fortune of a Prince continually advertiseth him that he ought to be valiant insomuch that if he fail in this Vertue he can take no Pleasure in any Thing about him and so not taking any Pleasure he must needs be miserable CHAP. XXVII Every Vertue hath a Pleasure which is proper to it But this of Valour is the most sensible of all BUT if he delight in the
Images and Representations of Valour without loving Valour it self he will be always deprived of the Joy that attends this Vertue Every Vertue is accompanied with a Pleasure which is peculiar and proper to it and if she meets sometimes with Thorns yet she never fails to crown her self with Flowers and her Actions are all agreeable of themselves or to use the Expressions of some of the Ancients on this Argument voluptuous All the Philosophers have owned this for a Truth not excepting those whose Maxims were the most cried down One cannot do a greater Injury to Vertue than in establishing Pleasure to be the End of Man Yet notwithstanding those Persons who speak after this manner will give us leave to search for Pleasure in the Exercises of Valour According to this Principle generally acknowledged true Liberality in dispensing her Gifts never sustains Loss she pays her self by her own Hands in procuring the Pleasure which she relisheth and though she may meet with ungrateful Wretches which are but too common in the World yet she sees they do themselves the Wrong and is sorry for them without complaining of them One may say the same of all the other Vertues Valour is that which hath the most sensible Pleasure and which triumphs not only with the greatest Majesty but with the most affable Gentleness Nature or rather Providence will have it so to sweeten the Labours of a Vertue the most painful and to keep us from being discouraged at the Sight of the Fatigues which accompany it and the Dangers which surround it But Christian Morality furnisheth us with a famous Instance on this Subject She includes Martyrdom under the Notion of Valour and considers them who have suffered as Champions or as Heroes victorious over Pain and Death The First Fruits of the Joys of Heaven never appear so visible as in the Martyrs who went to the Dens Stakes and Gibbets with a smiling Countenance and who felt Transports of Joy in the midst of their Torments Although they frequently received extraordinary Assistances from Almighty God yet let us not doubt but that the inward Satisfaction of Soul which attends vertuous Actions did contribute much to this their Behaviour But now to speak here only of Military Valour I believe I ought not to forget what one once said of Valour That it was the only Vertue which had a kind of Fury with it And it is remarkable that those Things to which the Philosophers have attributed Fury are accompanied with greater Pleasure than all others Poesie is of this Number We must grant that this is that Part of Learning which is sweet and charming We may say in a manner that Valour is amongst the Vertues as Poesie is amongst the Sciences She has her Inspirations and her Enthusiasms too She elevates and soars above Nature it self And indeed doth there not seem something more than humane in the famous Camillus who was called the Second Founder of Rome who when his Thigh was pierced with an Arrow he wrested it out of the Wound himself and after this as if he had been cured on the sudden or that he never minded it he falls upon the Enemy and continues the Battel Brasidas the Lacedaemonian did something more he not only drew out the Dart which had entred his Body but revenged his Wound by the Death of his Enemy that gave it It is reported that two Armies being engaged there happened an Earthquake where the Field of Battel was and the Soldiers perceived it not as if they all had been under an Alienation of Mind and were as we may say possessed with the Daemon of War it was not possible for them to regard any other Thing than the Action they were engaged in and the Means of carrying the Victory There are yet other Reasons of this extraordinary Pleasure which Valour bestows upon those who follow her Impulses and practise the Exercises thereof First The Grandeur of the Effects which she produceth as the Taking of Towns and Provinces the Subversion or Elevation of Empires and in a Word the Catastrophe's which happen upon the Theatre of War where we not only see Men who represent Kings but where Kings themselves are Actors Besides Vertues are agreeable and pleasant in that they make us victorious either over others or over our selves Over our selves in surmounting our Passions over others in abhorring the bad Examples or in advancing us above the Good All the Victories of the other Vertues are obscure in Comparison to those of Valour which shews that she must be Mistress of all other Passions less generous since that maugre their Counsel she exposeth her self to the most terrible of all Things She not only keeps at a Distance from the Examples of Cowards but her very Presence puts them to flight and forcing the Resistance of others she reaps those Advantages whereof our Eyes are Witnesses In short she opens a large Field to all the other Vertues and furnisheth us with a copious Argument to exercise Justice Liberality Clemency and Moderation on Insomuch that the Pleasures which accompany them being joyned together the Result is a Joy the greatness whereof is scarcely to be conceived and never to be expressed The End of the First Book CHAP. I. Valour ought to be accompanied with Justice PLutarch saith there is a great Difference between valiant Men. If he makes this Difference to consist in the Degree that they are more or less valiant there is nothing of Difficulty in it Or if he understands it of the Manner of making War we should easily apprehend his Sense But he doth not mean so neither He placeth this Difference in the Valour it self and he alledgeth the Example of Alcibiades and Epaminondas as of two Men valiant to the highest Pitch But they were not so after the same manner In the mean Time Morality teacheth us that Valour is one and the same and consequently it must be said that between two valiant Men considered purely as valiant there is rather a Resemblance than any Opposition To give a true Sense then to the Maxim of Plutarch it is necessary that we ground it upon the Circumstances which ought to accompany Valour The Example of these two Men which he propounds leads us naturally to this Explication Epaminondas was a Person of a sincere Probity and his Valour was animated by this Motive On the other side Alcibiades sacrificed all to his Ambition and the better to accomplish his Ends never examined whether the Means were just or unjust This appears not only by the Conduct of his whole Life but by an Expression that fell from him once at Pericles's House whither he went to give him a Visit When they told him he was not to be spoke with for that he was busie in making up his Accounts for the Athenians saith he Would not he do better to study a Way how not to give up his Accounts Now though this Athenian had a most daring Courage and had signalized
referr the Design of Things to Prudence the Distribution to Justice and the Execution to Valour Seeing then the proper Office of Valour is to execute she must be content with her own Function and may always suppose that there have been Consults enough preparatory for her and besides that she is not answerable for the Miscarriages of Deliberations Other Authors to shew the Connexion of Vertues have established this for a Maxim That an Action can never be vertuous if it be not done with Discretion Equity Moderation and Resolution And according to this Prospect they have assigned to every Vertue a general Quality as Discretion to Prudence Equity to Justice Moderation to Temperance and Resolution to Valour We have no need to examine this Principle in all its Circumstances It is enough for this Reflection that since Resolution is the Character of Valour a Soldier must give Testimony of it in keeping himself indispensably tied to Discipline and in never starting aside from the Duties of Military Obedience CHAP. IX It is an Errour to believe that the Profession of a Soldier is condemned by the Christian Religion If Anger be permitted in Battel in what manner one ought to behave himself against a Friend on the contrary Party when one meets him in the Fight I Thought it needful here to touch that Scruple so weakly grounded which makes some Men believe that the Military Profession stands condemned by Religion In this they are condemned themselves not only by the History of so many Wars which are related in the Scriptures but also by that remarkable Place in the Gospel where the Soldiers consulted the Forerunner of Jesus Christ He doth not exhort them to quit their Employment but to be contented with their Pay and not to mutiny Here then is no Subject of Doubt as there may be in that famous Dispute which hath divided the Ancient Philosophers and it consists in this Whether Anger be forbidden in Battels as a Passion altogether evil Or whether it may be allowed as an Instrument of Valour This last Opinion hath prevailed the Lyceum is more followed in this Point than the Porticus and we believe as there are commendable Desires wise Fears and innocent Joys and Sorrows so there are lawful Anger 's and in just Wars we may make use of this Passion to inflame or as Aristotle speaks to whet our Courage What shall we say to this other Question which hath been propounded by the Ancients that is In what manner we are to behave our selves against a Friend who is of the contrary Party and with whom we meet in Battel Must we avoid him or fight him We shall not undertake to decide a Difficulty which so many great Men have left undecided Let us forbear searching to the Bottom of this Question for fear of finding Reasons contrary to a Sentiment which seems so humane And let us preserve Respect for Friendship which is a Vertue it self or the most honourable of all Things in the World next to Vertue CHAP. X. Necessary Reflections upon Rashness WHen Valour is regulated by Justice she is far enough from Rashness For if a Prince be prodigal of his Life he is unjust to his People and he ought sometimes to regard Temerity under this Notion For if it be considered as a piece of Injustice it appears more condemnable than if it be considered but as a piece of Imprudence That a Prince therefore may not become guilty of rash Actions he ought to have something else in his Eye besides Perils because one must not seek out Dangers for Danger 's sake And if one do expose himself to the Hardships of War it is not simply to expose himself and no more but for the avoiding of some eminent Damage or the obtaining some great Advantage The Action of a Prince then ought to have this End viz. A Reference to the Success of his Arms which is possible important and conformable to his Rank He fails in the first Condition which is Possibility if he does as Alexander did when he threw himself from the Top of the Walls into an Enemy's City For Could he pretend to take it alone He fails to observe the second Condition which is Importance if he doth as the same Prince did when during the Siege of Tyre he drew out a small Detachment of his Army for I know not what Expedition against the Arabians which was neither necessary for him nor worthy of him It is our next Business to consider that an Action may be possible and important and yet not be proper to the Quality of him that would execute it Nothing is more possible than to gain Forts by springing of Mines and sometimes nothing is more important than to use those Means but we must not thence conclude that the King ought to go himself to lodge the Miner I see it would be impossible to enumerate the particular Things which are fit to be acted by a Prince in the Wars and which are not so But it seems to me that we may establish this as a general Maxim That a Prince ought not to expose himself to Danger but in such Actions where his Command is requisite If he knows a Fort well it is to ordain in what manner it shall be besieged If he visit the Trenches it is there also to dispose his Orders And if he appear in Battel it is not there chiefly to imbrue his Sword in the Blood of some Soldiers for the killing of three or four Men is not sufficient to turn a Battel but it is here he ought to have his Eyes move through the whole to shoot his Orders and Directions every where and to be as the Soul to his whole Army We distinguish between two sorts of Temerity one a particular the other a general Rashness One consists in the hazarding our selves upon Occasion against the Rules of Military Prudence the other is when we engage in a War far above our Force or without being well prepared as they say Caesar did in his Wars against Alexandria Some distinguish also betwixt the Temerity of the Enterprize and the Temerity of the Execution which are not altogether the same as those we have mentioned although they come very near to them Common Sense gives us sufficiently to understand these Differences It will be more important for us to consider the Causes of this Temerity and they are the false Admiration of rash Enterprizes or Executions when they have succeeded and a mistaken Contempt of Conducts conformable to the Maxims of War when they seem not to have enough of Bravery and Resolution We may see this manifestly verified in a Conduct quite contrary which Marcellus and Fabius once followed one called the Sword and the other the Buckler of the Romans I should wander too far if I should examine the Lives of these two Men to make particular Remarks of this Diversity and Opposition It is sufficient to say that Fabius was truly the Buckler of Rome and