Selected quad for the lemma: hand_n
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A59167
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Lucius Annæus Seneca, his first book of clemency written to Nero Cæsar.; De clementia. English. 1653
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Seneca, Lucius Annaeus, ca. 4 B.C.-65 A.D.
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1653
(1653)
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Wing S2510; ESTC R37363
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21,694
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48
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for the sick is nere the less commended By such as are in health so Clemency Though it be sought by them on whom does lie A guilt yet it is had in reverence By those who have committed no offence And guiltless men themselves nay stand in need Of mercy since some acts that do proceed From fortune are made faults and we may see Vertue as well as innocence set free By mercy for in lewd and wicked times Praise-worthy deeds are punished as crimes Besides most men may become innocent Yet t is not fit to forbear punishment To all because confusion and a source Of vices follow when we use remorse To good and bad and therefore it is fit To make a difference between a wit That 's curable and that which is past cure In pardoning this rule is alwaies sure Neither to be too rigid nor remiss Because no less a cruelty it is To pardon all then none we must observe A mean but yet because w' are apt to swerve It is the noblest error to incline To mercie when we pass the equall line But for the present these I 'le lay aside And the whole matter in three parts divide The first shall be a preface to the rest The second shall the nature manifest And qualitie of mercy for whereas Some vices do for vertues often pass They cannot be distinguish'd unless We by some markes the difference express In the third place we will inquire the way To get this vertue and to make it stay And then convert it to our present use For this is certaine that we cannot choose Among all sorts of vertues any one That more becomes a man for there is none More sweet and more humane and is not so To us alone who have been brought to know That man is found a sociable creature And molded for a common good by nature But even by those who give up man to pleasure And all their words and actions seem to measure By their own profit For if we desire Repose and rest this vertue will acquire That which we seek because it ever stands For peace and meekness and binds up our hands But yet ther 's none whom mercy so much graces As Kings and Princes for in publike places Power is a glory and an ornament Provided always that it be intent Upon the peoples safety but if power Be hurtfull like a plague it will devour No accident his greatness can remove Whom all men do confess to be above As well as for them and whose diligence They ever finde awake for the defence Of every one no less then the whole State Who when he comes abroad is not with hate Shun'd like some savage beast rousd from her den But gaz'd upon by multitudes of men Like a propitious star whose subjects strive That by their death he may be kept alive To rush between him and a Traitors sword And that their constant watchings may afford His person secure rest they stand about His gates by night to keep all danger out Nor is it without reason that such care Is used by men and nations every where To guard their Kings T is not a selfe-neglect Or folly that such multitudes protect And with destruction of their own uphold One head and that perhaps both weake and old For as the body is subservient Unto the soul and is more eminent By that and more conspicuous and though The soule lies close but where we do not know Yet do the hands and feet and eyes consent To serve her and the skin 's her muniment At her command we now lie down then run And if that shee be covetous we shun No sea adventures if ambitious T is then a brave and glorious act for us To thrust our hands into the flaming sire Or leap into a gulf if shee require Even so this vast and numerous multitude Which does within it but one soul include Is dayly guided by that spirit alone And governd by the reason of that one And should â—â—â—t counsell be forborn would straite Be ruind and distroye'd with it's own weight And therefore their own safety men regard When in the camp so many stand prepar'd Each striving for the front offers his brest To wounds lest th' Emprours standard be distrest He is the ciment that unites the State The vitall breath that does inanimate So many millions and without it they Would be a mutuall burthen and a pray While the King lives the people do accord But when he dies they live but by the sword That accident will end the Romanes peace And make so great a Nations fortune cease The people will remaine without that feare So long as they the bridle know to beare Which if they once shall break they will be shie To take 't againe though chance did throw it by The bond and tie of this great government Will into many peices soone be rent And Rome will finde by wanting that direction An equall end of rule and of subjection It is not any wonder then that Kings And Princes and each Magistrate that brings Peace to State should be belov'd above Our common parents whom we dearly love For if the publike be by honest men Priz'd 'bove their private it will follow then That he on whom the Common-wealth relies Should ever be most pretious in our eyes Caesar had heretofore within the State So wrapt himselfe that but to seperate 〈◊〉 was to destroy them both As his good Lay in their strength so in a chiefe theirs stood But loe this speach is longer than I meant And yet I 'm sure it meets with our intent For if as it appears thou art the soul The State the body then without controule Mercy is needfull for while thou doest spare Others thou spar'st thy selfe Then take thou care Even of ill subjects as of limbs decay'd And whensoever reason shall perswade To draw some blood let the incision be No more then needs Thus Clemency we see Is naturall to all men but renoun'd In Princes through whose powre it finds more ground To work on private rage extends not far The cruelty of Princes is a war For though all vertues do agree and none Is as the better and more honest known Yet some may better with some persons sute Courage becomes even those whose low repute Hath nothing under it for what 's more brave Than adverse fortune in contempt to have But yet this courage hath a larger place In a high fortune and receaves more grace From Courts than Cottages Mercy appeares In no house but it banishes all fears Yet t is more rare and therefore more admired In Princes Courts for what can be desired With greater wondermâ—â—â— than to behold A man whose wrath is not to be controld To whose grave sentence they forthwith submit That be condemn'd and dare not question it And who if furious passion him have seas'd May not intreated be to be appeas'd To see I say this man himselfe arrest And his vast power