Selected quad for the lemma: justice_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
justice_n	chief_a	lord_n	plea_n	5,523	5	9.8646	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A02299	Archontorologion, or The diall of princes containing the golden and famous booke of Marcus Aurelius, sometime Emperour of Rome. Declaring what excellcncy [sic] consisteth in a prince that is a good Christian: and what euils attend on him that is a cruell tirant. Written by the Reuerend Father in God, Don Antonio of Gueuara, Lord Bishop of Guadix; preacher and chronicler to the late mighty Emperour Charles the fift. First translated out of French by Thomas North, sonne to Sir Edward North, Lord North of Kirthling: and lately reperused, and corrected from many grosse imperfections. With addition of a fourth booke, stiled by the name of The fauoured courtier.; Relox de príncipes. English	Guevara, Antonio de, Bp., d. 1545?; Munday, Anthony, 1553-1633.; North, Thomas, Sir, 1535-1601?; Guevara, Antonio de, Bp., d. 1545? Aviso de privados. English.	1619 (1619)	STC 12430; ESTC S120712	985,362	801

ΑΡΧΟΝΤΟΡΟΛΟΓΙΟΝ OR THE DIALL OF PRINCES CONTAINING THE GOLDEN AND FAMOVS BOOKE OF MARCVS AVRELIVS Sometime Emperour of Rome DECLARING What Excellency consisteth in a Prince that is a good Christian And what euils attend on him that is a cruell Tirant WRITTEN By the Reuerend Father in God DON ANTONIO of Gueuara Lord Bishop of Guadix Preacher and Chronicler to the late mighty Emperour CHARLES the fift First translated out of French by THOMAS NORTH Sonne to Sir EDWARD NORTH Lord NORTH of Kirthling And lately reperused and corrected from many grosse imperfections With addition of a Fourth Booke stiled by the Name of The fauoured Courtier LONDON Imprinted by Bernard Alsop dwelling by Saint Annes Church neere Aldersgate 1619. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE SIR HENRY MOVNTAGVE Knight Lord Chiefe Iustice of the Pleas Holden before his most Royall Maiestie c THe Emperour Traiane Right Honourable writing a Letter to the Senate of Rome concerning the weightie and carefull condition of Princes among many other matters vsed these wordes of himselfe I doe freely confesse vnto you that since I tasted the cares and trauels attending on this Imperiall dignitie I haue repented a thousand times that euer I did vndertake it because if it bee accounted Honour to enioy an Empire there consisteth farre greater paine and labour to order and gouerne it as it ought to be But beside what enuie doth hee expose himselfe to multitude of mislikes that hath the charge of gouerning others If hee be iust hee is branded with cruelry if mercifull hee is contemned if beautifull tearmed lauish and prodigall if hee hoorde vp money then basely couetous if inclined to peace then hee is a coward If full of courage proudly anbitious if discreetly graue surly and scornefull if affably courteous silly and simple if affecting solitude a dissembling hypocrite if addicted to mirth and pleasure then wantonly dissolute In the end of all te worthy Emperour thus concluded Although willingly I accepted this high office at the first yet sorrow hath since made mee shrinke vnder so brdensom a charge For the Sea and dignitie are thinges pleasing to looke ●n but very perillous to meddle withall I haue alledged his example worthie Lord because present vnto your gracious acceptance his ancient and famous Booke called The Diall of Princes wherein is at lige and amply set downe what care and respect awayteth on the liues of Prin●●s and great persons for if they canot runne into the smallest errour but redoundeth to the hurt of many nor neglect their duty without other mens userie Then sayde the Philosopher well A Prince should not appropriate the Common-wealth to himselfe but shape himselfe wholy to the Common wealth And so much the rather because he standing accountable to no man in this Life ought to remember a farre stricter account before him that maketh no respect of Princes saue onely in this that they shall finde the Iudge the more seuere against them by how much they haue abused their place of eminencie as also their power and princely authority In the learned Discourses following set downe by that good Emperour Marcus Aurelius the honourable Argument of all this worke are three especiall duties and actions obserued necessarily required in an absolute and perfect Prince as namely In Ruling Iudging and Defending To rule by iust lawes and good Example To Iudge by Wisedome Prouidence and Iustice And Defend by valour care and vigilancy And this is that which the Spirit of God so often intimateth by the Prophet Ieremie ●ap 22. verse 3. To execute Iudgement and righteousnesse To deliuer the oppressed from the handes ●● the oppressour Not to vexe the Stanger fatherlesse or Widdow Neyther to doe violence or shedde the innocent bloud Into infinite other famous presidents for Princes I could enter and set them downe expressely but that I know they are so frequent to your Honour both in reading and memorie that it were as lost labour as to hold a burning Taper in the bright Sunne at Noone-day and therefore these few shall suffice Nor doe I dedicate this vnto your graue and learned iudgement as a new labour of mine owne or as a worke neuer seene before because it hath already past diuers impressions albeit not in so exact a maner nor with the like paines as hath now bin bestowed vpon it from many absurde and grosse imperfections and yet not so cleanely purged as I could wish it were nor as it shall bee if euer it come to the Presse againe Wherefore I humbly entreate your Honour to accept it as it is and as an oblation of my loue vnfainedly to you which gladly would shew it selfe by any possible meanes as time hereafter may better enable me Til when I remain ready at your Honours seruice to the very vtmost of my best abilitie Your Honors in all duty A. M. A GENER ALL PROLOGVE VPON THE BOOKE ENTITVLED THE DYALL OF PRINCES WITH THE FAmous Booke of MARCVS AVRELIVS Compyled by the Reuerend Father in GOD the Lord ANTONY of GVEVARA Byshop of Guadix Confessor and Chronicler to Charles the fifth Emperour of Rome vnto whom and to all other Princes and Noble-personages this worke was directed APolonius Thianeus disputing with the schollers of Hiareas said that among all the affections of nature nothing is more naturall then the desire that all haue to preserue life Omitting the dispute of these great Phylosophers herein wee our selues hereof haue daily proofe that to liue men do trauell to liue byrds do flie fishes do swimme and to liue beasts do hide themselues for feare of death Finally I say there is no liuing creature so brutish that hath not a naturall desire to liue If many of the auncient Paynims so little regarde life that of their owne free willes they offered themselues death they did it not for that they despised life but because they thought that for their little regarding life wee would more highly esteem their fame For wee see men of hauty courages seeke rather to winne a long-during-Fame then to saue a short lasting-life How loth men are to die is easily seen by the great paines they take to liue For it is a naturall thing to all mortall men to leaue their liues with sorrowe and take their deaths with feare Admit that all doe taste this corporall death and that generally both good and euill doe die yet is there great difference between the death of the one and the death of the other If the good desire to liue it is onely for the greater desire they haue to do more good but if the euill desire to liue it is for that they would abuse the world longer For the children of vanity call no time good but onely that wherein they liue according to their owne desires I let you vnderstand that are at this present and you also that shall come heereafter that I direct my writings vnto those which embrace vertue and not vnto such as are borne away with vice GOD

What is there to see but hath bin seene what to discouer but hath bin discouered what is there to read but hath bin read what to write but hath bin written what is there to knowe but hath bin knowne Now-adayes humaine malice is so experte men so well able and our wittes so subtill that wee want nothing to vnderstand neyther good nor euill And wee vndoe ourselues by seeking that vaine knowledge which is not necessary for our life No man vnder the pretence of ignoraunce can excuse his fault since all men know all men reade and all men learne that which is euident ●n this case as it shall appeare Suppose the Plough-man and the Learned-man do goe to the Law and you shall perceyue the Labourer vnder that simple garment to forge to his Counsellour halfe a dozen of malitious trickes to delude his aduersarie as finely as the other that is learned shall bee able to expound two or three Chapters of this booke If men would employ their knowledge to honesty wisedome patience and mercy it were well but I am sorry they know so much onely for that they subtilly deceiue and by vsury abuse their neighbours and keepe that they haue vniustly gotten and dayly getting more inuenting new trades Finally I say if they haue any knowledge it is not to amend their life but rather to encrease their goods If the deuil could sleep as mē do he might safely sleepe for whereas he waketh to deceyue vs wee wake to vndo our selues Well suppose that all this heretofore I haue sayde is true Let vs now leaue aside craft and take in hand knowledge The knowledge which we attaine to is small and that which wee should attain to so great that all that wee know is the least part of that wee are ignorant Euen as in things naturall the Elements haue their operations according to the varietie of time so morall Doctrines as the aged haue succeeded and sciences were discouered Truly all fruites come not together but when one fayleth another commeth in season I meane that neyther all the Doctors among the Christians nor all the Philosophers among the Gentiles were concurrant at one time but after the death of one good there came another better The chiefe wisdome which measured all thinges by iustice and dispearseth them according to his bounty will not that at one time they should bee all Wisemen and at another time all simple For it had not beene reason that one should haue had the fruit and the other the leaues The old world that ranne in Saturnes dayes otherwise called the golden world was of a truth much esteemed of them that saw it and greatlie commended of them that wrote of it That is to say it was not guided by the Sages which did guild it but because there was no euill men which did vnguilde it For as the experience of the meane estate and Nobility teacheth vs of one onely person dependeth as well the fame and renowne as the infamy of a whole house and parentage That age was called golden that is to say of gold and this our age is called yron that is to say of iron This difference was not for that gold then was found and now yron nor for that in this our age there is want of them that be sage but because the number of them surmounreth that be at this day malicious I confesse one thing and suppose many will fauour mee in the same Phauorin the Philosopher which was master to Aulus Gelius and his especiall friend saide oft-times that the Phylosophers in olde time were holden in reputation Because there were fewe teachers and many learners We now-adayes see the contrarie For infinite are they which presume to bee Maisters but fewe are they which humble themselues to be Schollers A man may know how little Wise-men are esteemed at this houre by the great veneration that the Phylosophers had in the olde time What a matter is it to see Homer amongst the Grecians Salomon amōgst the Hebrewes Lycurgus amongst the Lacedemonians Phoromeus also amongst the Greeks Ptolomeus amongst the Egiptians Liuius amongst the Romaines and Cicero likewise amongst the Latines Appolonius amongst the Indyans and Secundus amongst the Assyrians How happie were those Phylosophers to bee as they were in those dayes when the world was so full of simple personnes and so destitute of Sage men that there flocked great numbers out of diuers countreys and straunge Nations not onely to heare their doctrine but also to see theyr persons The glorious Saint Hierome in the prologue to the Byble sayth When Rome was in her prosperitie then wrote Titus Lyuius his deedes yet notwithstanding men came to Rome more to speake with Titus Linius then to see Rome or the high capitol therof Marcus Aurelius writing to his friend Pulio saide these wordes Thou shalt vnderstand my Friende I was not chosen Emperor for the Noble bloud of my predecessors nor for the fauour I had amongst them now present For there were in Rome of greater bloud and Riches then I but the Emperour Adrian my Maister set his eyes vpon mee and the Emperor Anthonie my Father in law chose mee for his Sonne in law for none other cause but for that they saw me a friend of the Sages and an enemie of the ignoraunt Happie was Rome to chuse so wise an Emperour and no lesse happie was he to attaine vnto so great an Empire Not for that hee was heire to his predecessours but for that hee gaue his minde to studie Truely if that Age were then happie to enioy his person no lesse happie shall ours bee now at this present to enjoy his doctrine Salust saith they deserued great glory which did worthie feates and no lesser merited they which wrote them in high stile What had Alexander the great bin if Quintus-Curtius had not written of him what of Vlysses if Homer had not bin borne what had Alcybiades bin if Zenophon had not exalted him what of Cyrus if the phylosopher Chilo had not put his actes in memorie what had been of Pyrrus king of the Epyrotes if Hermicles chronicles were not what had bin of Scipio the great Affricane if it had not bin for the Decades of Titus Liuius what had been of Traian if the renowmed Plutarch had not bin his friend what of Nerua and Anthonius the meeke if Phocion the Greeke had not made mention of them How should wee haue knowne the stoute courage of Caesar and the great prowesse of Pompeius if Lucanus had not written them what of the twelue Caesars if Suetonius Tranquillus had not compyled a booke of their liues And how should we haue knowne the antiquities of the Hebrues if the vpright Ioseph had not beene Who could haue knowne the comming of the Lombardes into Italie if Paulus Dyaconus had not writ it How could we haue knowne the comming in and the going out of the Gothes in Spayne if the curious Roderious had not showed it vnto

this wicked Prince Iustinian So that for himselfe hee procured riches and for the Diuel he cheapned soules For those that are once forsaken of the hand of GOD doe not onely become seruaunts of the Deuills but also labour to bring others to Hell Wherefore sithence the sinnes of men are diuers and the judgements of GOD kept secrete and yet the liuing God is so mercifull that notwithstanding his mercy would saue the soules he will also with iustice chastice the bodies And therefore seing the obstinacy of this Emperour to bee such that the longer he liued the more hee augmented his damnation the wrath of God lighted vpon him suddenly without any grudge or token of sicknesse this Emperour Iustinian was bereued of his sences and became a foole and because the matter was so sodaine it caused in Rome great feare and admiration for that the Prince was a foole and all the Empire chaunged And indeed this Emperour was so strucken that his life and folly ended both in one day For the diseases which God sendeth to Princes commeth not through fault of humours but through the corruption of manners Also there is no medicine that can resist it not yet any other thing that can remedy it The people perceyuing how the Emperour through his sinnes was according to the diuine pleasure become a foole agreede sith there was no remedie for his disease to choose some good person to whom the charge of the publike weale might be giuen for truely a man needeth great patience and wisdome to gouerne an other mans thē for that which is his own proper The lot befell to a Knight Tiberius so called a man for truth both chast iust profitable sage vertuous hardy mercifull charitable in feates of armes aduenturous and aboue all a good Christian And let not this thing bee little regarded that the Prince be a good Christian For there is no state so happy as that which is gouerned by a Prince of a good and faithfull conscience and because hee wanted no vertues to adorne a Prince hee was both feared of many and beloued of all Which thing ought not lightly to bee esteemed for it is the chiefest thing that belongeth to Princes that is to say for their gentle conuersation to bee beloued and for their vpright Iustice to be feared This Emperour Iustinian had a wife whose name was Sophia Augusta which was beautifull and sage and as touching her person of good renowne sufficient For women must take great respect lest they giue strāgers occasion to speake of them but notwithstanding all these things this Dame was noted of couetousnesse for shee toyled alwayes to hoarde vp money and delighted to see and tell it but to spend or giue it was alwaies her greatest griefe For couetous persons little regard to shorten their life so that they may augment their riches Tiberius Constantine as Gouernour of the Empire seeing the Empresse Sophia Augusta rich and desiring more the profite of the Common-wealth then the enrichment of himselfe or of any other did nothing else but build Monasteries repaire Hospitals marry Orphanes and redeeme Captiues For speaking according to the Christian lawes because that a man hath more then nenessary ought to bee employed to the vse of the poore and to works of mercy Finally this vertuous Prince did that which Christian Princes should doe and not as tyrants doe which made him of great excellency For the property of a Tyrant is to heape great treasures of other mens goods and afterward to spend and consume them viciously but Tiberius found them gathered together by one and hee dispersed them to many Sophia Augusta seeing Iustinian become a foole not knowing how to gette more money of the people nor how to robbe the rich and that Tiberius spent her riches without compassion partly to satisfie her sorrowfull heart and partly to see if in time to come shee could remedy it called one day Tiberius a part and spake vnto him these words in secret CHAP. XIIII Of the words the Empresse Sophia spake vnto Tiberius Constantinus then being gouernour of the Empire which onely tended to reproue him for that hee lauishly consumed the Treasure of the Empire gotten by her THou remembrest well Tiberius that thogh thou art now after Iustinian Gouernor of the Empire yet when thou wast in Alexandrie thou thoughtest very little to deserue it and if thou diddest thou thoughtest thou couldest not attaine vnto it For thou art a wise man and the sage man according to the little or much which fortune giueth him doth not raigne or slacke alwayes the bridle of his thoughts Those which haue a vaine hope and thorow power only will inforce fortune to bee fauourable vnto them shall liue alwayes a troubles me life For there is nothing that shortneth more the life of man then vain hope and idle thoughts Thou beeing such a man as thou art and so well willed and beloued of Iustinian my husband art demaunded of the Romane people and chosen by the Senate receyued by the Souldiers and all the Empire reioyce at thy election And thou oughtest not a little to regard it For the willes of all doe not alwayes fauour one I let thee to vnderstand Tiberius that it did not displease mee thou shouldest bee Emperour of Rome sith Iustinian was deposed and if I had perceyued that which I doe perceyue or had knowne that which I doe know I am certaine that I had neyther sayde with it nor against it For wee women are of so little credite that it preuayleth vs more To approue the least of that which other say then it doth to speake very well of our selues Sith Fortune hath brought thee to so high an estate I beseech thee admonish thee aduise thee that thou know how to keepe and gouerne thy selfe therein For to arise to honour It sufficeth the body to sweate water but to maintaine it it is necessary that the heart weepe bloud Thou knowest right well that to commaund more to doe more and to haue more then other as touching the affayres of Princes oftentimes is giuen more thorow worldly care then for the desert of the person And this God suffereth very often to the end wee may see those discend and fall thorow infamy whom we saw mount and prosper by pride Thou art a man and I a woman Thou hast wisdome and knowledge but I haue large and long experience and if thou knowest much I haue seene in the world enough but in faith for that I haue said I tell thee that men of thy sort are vndone in the Pallace of Princes by two wayes The one if they thinke they deserue much and they can doe little For haughty minds bring alwayes alteration in the heart The other is that one alone will command the Emperour and the Empire whereunto if any man come it is by great trauell and hee shall sustaine it with danger and shall possesse it but a short

that King should lose his own Realm by diuine iustice which will take other mens only through mans folly The King Dagobert assembling all the chiefest of his Realme to counsell it was agreede and concluded by all that hee alone in person should returne into France and for his reputation should leaue al the Army in Italy Whereof remayned captains Buccelinus and Amingus For itis better for a Prince to defend his Country by iustice then to conquer another by tyranny As this Army of Buccelinas was great so was he couragious and wrought mapy and great dammages in Italy especially in the land of Campagnia And worse then that al the riches that hee had sacked and al the captiues he had taken hee would neyther restore nor yet suffer them to be ransomed but so soone as hee tooke them he sent them vnto the King as one that shewed himselfe more desirous to rob and spoile then to fight and wage battell This Captaine Buccelinus then being in Campagnia retired into a place called Tarentum with all his army because of winter Narsetes suddenly came vpon him gaue him battell that was between them very cruell wherein Buccelinus was vanquished and left dead in the field amongst the other Captaines of Gaule Which newes brought to Amingus eares beeing the other Captaine of the Gaules and seeing his companion dead hee confedered with Auidinus Captaine of the Gothes and they together came against the Romaines which thing was not vnknowne to Narsetes to giue the battel neer to Caietto wheras those Captains were conquered and taken aliue Of whom Amingus was beheaded by the commandement of Narsetes Auidinus was sent by him prisoner to the Emperour of Constantinople The Captaine Narsetes wan another battell against Syndual King of Britons which came into Italy with a huge multitude of people to recouer the realme of Partinopilis which now we call Naples for he said it appertained vnto him of right as to one of the lynage of Hercules who in ancient time was King of that Realme This King Sindual within a time became friend vnto Narsetes and behaued himselfe outwardly as a friend and confederate but in secret conspired against the Romaines and would haue beene King of the Romanes and raigned alone in Italy through the which there sprang betweene him and Narsetes cruell wars wherein Fortune was a long time variable For there is not so aduenturous a Captaine to whom in long warres Fortune is alwayes prosperous Finally the King Sinduall and Narsetes agreed to hazard their men and also their liues in one day vnto the disctetion of Fortune so that both the armies ioined together and fought betweene Verona and Terento where King Sindual was conquered and taken aliue and the same day with out any delay was hanged openly And because that Narsetes was not acustomed to vse such cruelty against those that were ouercome and especially against Kinges and worthy Knights he commanded his title to bee set on the gibbet whereon the King hanged which said this A simple cord here stopt King Synduals breath By faultlesse doome of hie Narsetes hest Not that hee sought by warlike deedes his death But that in peace he did a traytorrest Such and many other battels and victories had this aduenturous and good Captaine not onely in the borders of Italy but also in Asia where for many yeares hee had the gouernment of the Country And as hee was a good Christian so Almighty God in all his affayres did prosper him After all these warres past Iustinian the yonger sent him to the kingdome of Constantinople to bee chiefe Gouernour of all those Prouinces although hee did well in warlike affayres yet hee did much better in the administration of the common-wealth For men that are accustomed to trauell in wars haue a good learning how to gouerne the people in peace For this occasion amongst all mortall men Narsetes was praysed and esteemed that is for his valiantnesse in the battells which hee ouercame for his riches through the spoyles that hee tooke and for the iustice he ministred to all men where he ruled Narsetes because hee was a Grecian borne was enuied of the Romanes chiefly because hee dayly encreased both his honour and riches For truly vertue honour and riches in a man are but a brand to light enuie to all the world And this was the occasion One day there came many noble Romaines to the Emperour Iustinian and to the Empresse Sophia Augusta to complaine of Narsetes and of his behauiour and gouerning and sayde these wordes vnto him wee let you know most noble Prince and Soueraigne Lady that wee had rather of the two to serue the Gothes then to obey the Greekes and wee speake this because that the Eunuch commaunded vs more to his owne seruice then hee doth to that of yours and the worst is that you know it not and if you know it at the least you doe not remedie it Chuse therefore one of these two things whether you wil deliuer vs from the gouernment of the Greeke or suffer that wee put Rome and our selues into the hands of the Gothes For it is lesse griefe for the Romaines to be subiect to a puissant King then to an effeminate Eunuch and tyrant Narsetes being present hearing those quarrels as they say said thus O noble Prince if I haue committed any euill it is vnpossible for mee to finde one that will doe mee good but if I haue done well no man shall be able to do me wrong The Empresse Sophia of long time before had hated Narsetes som sayde it was because he was an Eunuch other thinke it was because he was rich and some other iudge because hee was in greater authority in the Empire then shee Wherefore perceyuing shee had good occasion and opportunity for the same shee spake a word much to his reproach which was this Sith thou art an Eunuch Narsetes and not a man it is not fitte for thee to haue a mans office therfore I commaund thee to worke with my handmaides and there thou shalt serue to spin and weaue clothes Narsetes tooke this word heauily and truely it was with great spight spoken Wherefore he stoutly and couragiously spake vnto the Empresse Sophia these wordes and sayde I had rather most exccellent Princesse thou hadst chastised me as a Noble Dame then to haue reproued mee with a word as a simple woman but since it is so that you haue liberty and authority to commaund mee know you also that I haue the selfe same to obey you and therefore I take my leaue and now I goe to weaue my webbe which perhappes your selfe whilest you liue shal neuer vntwine Narsetes immediately went his way and came into Itaty vnto the City of Naples chiefe and head of Campagnia and from thence he dispatched his Ambassadours immediately to the King of Hungarie where the Lumbards at that time had theyr mantion place counselling them to forsake

remaine diseased and their vnderstanding blinded their memory dulled their sense corrupted their will hurted their reason subuerted and their good fame lost and worst of all the flesh remaineth alwayes flesh O how many young men are deceyued thinking that for to satisfie and by once engaging themselues to vices that from that time forwarde they shall cease to bee vicious the which thing not onely doth not profite them but also is very hurtfull vnto them For fire is not quenched with drye wood but with cold water But O God what shall wee doe since that now a dayes the Fathers doe as much esteeme their children for being fine and bolde minions among women as if they were verie profound in science or hardie in feates of Armes and that which is worst they oft times make more of their bastards gotten in adulterie then of their legitimate childe conceiued in matrimony What shall wee say then of mothers Truely I am ashamed for to speake it but they should bee more ashamed to doe it which is because they would not displease their husbands they hide the wickednesse of their children they put the children of their harlots to the Nurse they redeeme their gages they giue them money to play at dice they reconcile them to their fathers when they haue offended they borrow them money to redeeme them when they are indebted Finally they are makers of their bodies and vndoers of their soules I speake this insidently for that the masters would correct the children but the Fathers and mothers forbid them For it little auayleth for one to pricke the horse with the spurre when hee that sitteth vpon him holdeth him back with the bridle Therfore to our matter what shall we do to remedy this ill in the young man which in his flesh is vicious Truely I see no other remedie but with the moist earth to quench the flaming fire and to keepe him from the occasions of vice For in the warre honour by tarrying is obtained but in the vice of the flesh the victory by flying is obtayned The end of the second Booke THE THIRD BOOKE OF THE DIALL OF PRINCES WITH THE FAMOVS BOOKE OF MARCVS AVRELIVS WHERE HEE entreateth of the vertues which Princes ought to haue as Iustice Peace and Magnificence CHAP. I. How Princes and great Lordes ought to trauell to administer to all equall iustice EGidius Frigulus one of the most famous and renowmed Philosophers of Rome sayde that that betweene two of the Zodaicall signes Leo and Libra is a Virgine named Iustice the which in times past dwelled among men in earth and after that shee was of them neglected shee ascended vp to Heauen This Philosopher would let vs vnderstand that Iustice is so excellent a vertue that she passeth al mens capacitie since shee made heauen her mansion place and could finde no man in the whole earth that wold entertaine her in his house During the time they were chaste gentle pittifull patient embracers of vertue honest and true Iustice remayning in the earth with them but since they are conuerted vnto adulterers tyrants giuen to be proud vnpatient lyers and blasphemers shee determined to forsake them and to ascend vp into heauen So that this Philosopher concluded that for the wickednesse that men commit on earth Iustice hath leapt from them into Heauen Though this seeme to bee a Poeticall fiction yet it comprehendeth in it high and profound doctrine the which seemeth to be very cleare for where wee see iustice there are few theeues few murderers few tirants and few blasphemers Finally I say that in the house or Common wealth where Iustice remaineth a man can not committe vice and much lesse dissemble with the vicious Homer desirous to exalt justice could not tell what to say more but to call Kings the children of the great God Iupiter and that not for that naturalty they haue but for the office of iustice which they minister So that Homer concludeth that a man ought not to call iust Princes other but the children of God The diuiue Plato in the fourth booke of his common-wealth saieth that the chiefest gift God gaue to men is that they being as they be of such vile clay should bee gouerned by justice I would to GOD all those which reade this wryting vnderstoode right well that which Plato said For if men were not indued with reason and gouerned by iustice amongst all beasts none were so vnprofitable Let reason be taken from man wherwith he is indued and iustice whereby he is gouerned then shall men easily perceyue in what sort he will leade his life He cannot fight as the Elephant nor defend himselfe as the Tygre nor he can hunte as the Lyon neither labour as the Oxe and that wherby he should profite as I thinke is that he should eate Beares and Lyons in his life as now he shall be eaten of worms after his death All the Poets that inuented fictions all the Oratours which made Orations all the Philosophers which wrote books all the Sages which left vs their doctrines and all the Princes which instituted Lawes meant nothing else but to perswade vs to think how briefe and vnprofitable this life is and how necessary a thing iustice is therin For the filth and corruption which the bodie hath without the soule the selfe same hath the common-wealth without iustice Wee cannot denye but that the Romaines haue been prowde enuious adulterers shamelesse and ambicious but yet with all these faultes they haue beene great obseruers of iustice So that if God gaue them so manie Triumphs beeing loaden and enuironed with so many vices it was not for the vertues they had but for the great iustice which they did administer Plinie in his second booke saith that Democrites affirmed there were two gods which gouerned the vniuersall world that is to say Reward and Punishment Whereby wee may gather that nothing is more necessarie then true and right iustice For the one rewardeth the good and the other leaueth not vnpunished the euill Saint Austine in the first Booke De Ciuitate Dei saieth these words Iustice taken away what are Realmes but dennes of Theeues Truely hee had great reason For if there were no whips for vagabonds gags for blasphemers fines for periurie fires for heretiques sword for murderers galowes for theeues nor prisons for Rebells we may boldly say there would not bee so many Beasts on the mountains as there would be thieues in the Common-wealth In many things or in the greatest parte of the commonwealth wee see that Bread Wine Corn Fish Wool and other things necessary for the life of the people wanteth but we neuer saw but malicious men in euery place did abound Therefore I sweare vnto you that it were a good bargaine to chaunge all the wicked men in the commonwealth for one onely poore sheepe in the fielde In the Common-wealth wee see nought else but whipping daylie beheading slaying drowning hanging but notwithstanding this

chamber dores to him There are in the Court such hare-braines and vnvndiscreet persons that haue so little regard and respect to their honest hosts that they doe nothing in their lodgings but reuell and keepe ill rule and do euen what they list as though the house were theirs to commaund and not giuen them onely for lodging Whereof springs two exceeding euils the one that they offend God and the other that the Prince is also il serued For the house is not giuen them to commaund but onely appointed for them to lodge in We reade in the life of the Emperour Seuerus that he ordained in Rome that if the owner of the house did intreate his guest and stranger ill or that he did him hurt or displeasure the stranger should accuse him before the Iustice but in no wise braule nor quarrell with him in his owne house Plutarch in his Politikes also reciteth that in the Temples of the gods in the Realme of Dace there was no liberty or safety for malefactors saue in their their owne proper houses which serued them for their only refuge and inuiolable assurance for they thoght that within the entry and gates of the same none other but the Lords and Masters of the house might pretend any iurisdiction or Segnory Now if among the Daces no officer or Iustice could lay hold or punish any man so long as hee kept his house mee thinketh it is against all reason and humanity that the Courtier should once offer his host an iniurious or vnseemely word Plato being one day reproued of his friends for that hee would not rebuke his host Denis the Siracusian who at the first receyued him very courteouslie and afterwards vsed him ill answered them thus My friend to be angry with fools that shew vs pleasure to take reuenge of children whom wee haue brought vs to beate a woman with whom we must bee familiar and to braue and braule with those in whose houses we are lodged neyther the Philosophers of Greece ought to counsell him nor the noble heart once to thinke to doe it I cannot deny but that there are some hostes very rude and vnciuill that it is in maner an impossible thing to bring him to any honesty or ciuilitie Howbeit notwithstanding I would wish the noble and worthy Courtier to take in iest all the wrongs and iniuries done or sayde to him by his host or at the least to seeme as though he heard them not at all otherwise from the day the Courtier falleth out with him hee may euen withall thinke presently to depart his house and to seeke him a new lodging for hee can neuer bee quiet in his lodging where the goodman of the house and hee cannot agree And wheresoeuer the fine Courtier shall lodge let him neuer sticke at the charges of a locke to his chamber-dore a hatch to the window a degree or two to the stayres a rope for the well a harth to the Chimney nor for a casemēt to the window for these are but trifles and they cost little though he leaue them to the house yet with these trifles hee bindeth his host and makes him beholding vnto him Also hee may not forget somtime to send home cates to his hoast and to inuite him to dinner to him and likewise if his hoast did present him with any thing hee must accept it in very good part and thanke him much for it For other while by small presents great friendshippe is obtained The discreete Courtier must also forbid his Pages and seruants to come into his Hosts garden to spoyle his fruit or to gather his flowers to steale his hennes or to breake any thing of his That they pull not vp the pauements of the house paint his walles with coles or chalke that they robbe not his Doue-house nor make any noyse to steale his Coneyes to breake his glasse windows and to hurt or marre any thing about his house For if many times they refuse to lodge strangers in their houses it is not for want of lodging or that the Masters should comber them but for the displeasures and shrewde turnes they receyue by their pages and seruants daily Yet shall chance many times that a Citizen that hath a faire new house goodly white wals and trimly painted shall haue a Courtier come to lodge in his house that shal haue such a traine with him of seruants young children and their Nephewes which are so foolish proud and so rechles that they breake the formes throw downe Tables paint and bedawd the walls beate downe dores runne thorough the seelings steale the birdes and doe a thousand other mischiefes and vnhappy turnes so that the poore owner of the house had rather lodge an other time Egyptians beggers then such rude and harmeful Courtiers And therefore I haue seene in the Court by reason of the seruants disorder and ill rule the masters commonly ill lodged lodgings denied them or after they had them to bee quite taken from them One of the necessariest things a Courtier should haue is to keepe quiet and well conditioned seruants otherwise it is to bee thought as indeed the common saying is the house to be ill gouerned where the family seruants are so ill conditioned and disordered And touching this matter Aulus Gelius De Noctibus Atticis sayth that when Cornelius Gracchus was returned to Rome after hee had been Consull a great while in the Isles Baleares hee sayde these wordes before all the Senate You know Fathers Conscript I haue beene Chiefe Iustice and Consull thirteene yeares during all which time I sweare to you by the immortall Gods that to my knowledge I neuer did wrong to any mā neyther any seruant of mine displeasure to any nor done any thing that was not lawfull to bee done in the house where I lay Phalaris the tyrant when he receiued any displeasure of the Agrigentines hee caused his seruants to lodge in their houses with them for the one and the other were so wicked so vnthrifty such quarrellers and brawlers that he could not worke them a greater spight nor displeasure then for to lodge them here and there in their houses There bee also in the Court some Courtiers that are esteemed of euery man to bee of so euill behauiour and demeanour their seruants and family of such lewd and naughty conditions that their hosts are throughly resolued eyther not to receyue them into their houses or if they bee compelled to it to absent themselues for the time of their being there rather then to suffer such iniuries and wronges as they are sure they must take at their hands The Courtier must consider that sometimes hee hath need of a bottell of water to drinke a broom to sweepe his chamber a platter or dish to serue him withall of a Table cloth and napkins and of a towell for his hands and his face of a stoole to sit on and some kettle for the kitchin and in such case he should

times Princes are so earnest of their game and so desirous to kill that they hunt that they are wonte boldly to chase the beastes they hunt and pursue them so that oftentimes they lose the sight of the rest In such a case the good Courtier must euer haue his eyes vpon him and rather seeke to follow the King then to take pleasure in hunting of other beasts for in that case it shal be a better hunting for him to finde out the King and to be with him then he should take pleasure in being alone with the Hart. It may happen lightly that the king galloping his horse vpon the rockie stones he might stūble at such a stone as both the King and his horse should come to the ground and at that time it could not be but very profitable to the Courtier to bee present For it might so happen that by means of the Princes fall he being ready to helpe him he might thenceforth beginne to grow in fauour and credite with the Prince The most part of those that delight to goe a hunting are wont commonly to eate their meate greedily drinke out of measure and besides to shout and make a wonderful noise as they were out of their wits which thinges the graue and wise Courtier should not do for they are rather fit for vagabonds idle persons that set not by their honesty then they are for the honest Courtier that only desireth and endeauoreth by modesty wise behauiour to become great and in fauour CHAP. X. Of the great pains and troubles the Courtier hath that is toilde in sutes of Law and how hee must suffer and behaue himselfe with the Iudges THere are in the Court also diuers kindes of men that bee not Courtiers Princes seruants but only are Courtiers of necessity by reason of suites they haue with the counsell And these manner of Courtiers haue as much need of counsell as of helpe for hee that hath his goods in hazard hath also his life in ieopardy To speake of the diuers and subtill wayes of suffering it is no matter worthy to bee written with ynke but onely with liuely bloud For indeed if euery one of these suters were forced to abide for his faith and beleeue those paines troubles and sorrowes that he doth to recouer his goods as much cruelty as tortures should Vaglioditi and Grauata haue as euer had Rome in times past In my opinion I thinke it a hell to continue a long suter And surely we may beleeue yea and sweare to that the Martyrs executed in olde time in the Primitiue Church which were many in number did not suffer so much neyther felt such griefe to loose their life as doth now a daies an honest man to see himselfe depriued of all his faculties It is a great trouble and charge to recouer any thing but in the end of these two effects a wise man suffereth and feeleth more the displeasure he receyueth then he doth the goods hee spendeth And in my iudgement to striue and contend is nothing else but to bring matter to the hart to sigh and lament to the Eyes to weepe to the Feet to go to the Tongue to complaine to the handes to spend to intreat his Friendes to fauour his cause and to commaund his seruaunts to be carefull and diligent and his bodie to labour continually He that vnderstandeth not the conditions of contention I will let him know they are these which follow Of a rich man to become poore of a mery man to be made sad and Melancholie of a free man a bond-man of a liberall man a couetous man of a quiet man an vnquyet person and of a htaefull a desperate person How is it otherwise possible but that the haplesse Poore Suter must become desperate seeing the Iudge looketh vppon him with a frowning counteuaunce his goods to bee demaunded of him wrongfully and that now it is so long a time hee hath not bin at home and knoweth not as yet whether Sentence shall be giuen with him or against him And besides all this that the Pooreman in his lingring Sute hath spent so much that hee hath not left him sixe pence in his purse If any of these troubles be ynough to bring a man to his end much more shal they be to make the poore-man desperate and weary of his life So diuers are the effects and successes seene in matters of Sutes that many times there is no wit able to dyrect them nor goods to bring them to end Nay wee may boldly and truely say that the Lawes are so many diffuse of themselues and mens iudgements so simple to vnderstand them that at this day there is no Suite in the world so cleer but there is found another law to put that in doubt make it voyd And therfore the good and ill of the Suter consisteth not so much in the reason he hath as in the Law which the Iudge chuseth to giue iudgmēt of It is well that the Suter belieue and thinke that he hath right but the chiefest thing of importaunce is that the Iudge also desire that hee haue his right For that Iudge that fauoureth my cause and desireth to doe mee Iustice he will labour and study to seeke out some Law that shal serue my turn to restore mee againe to my right To contend is so profound a science that neither Socrates to the Athenians nor Solon to the Greeks nor Numa Pom pylius to the Romaines nor Prometheus to the Egiptians nor Lycurgus to the Lacedemonians nor Plato to his Disciples nor Apolonius to the Poets of Nemesis nor Hiarcus to the Indians could euer teach it them and much lesse could they tell how to finde anie way to write it in the bookes of their Common-wealth The cause why these famous men did not finde it was because this Science could not be learned by studying of diuers bookes nor by trauelling through diuers countreyes but onely by framing great Sutes and Processes and by infinite charge and expences of money Happie yea truly and most treble happie were those ages in which they neither knew nor yet could tell what strife or contention meant For indeede from that time hetherto the world hath fallen to decay and chiefly since men haue grown to quarrel and each one contēded with his neighbor Plato was wont to say that in that Commonweale where there were found many Physitians it was also an euident token that there were many vicious people and likewise we may say that in that Citie where there are manie Suters it is to bee thought it followes also that there are many yll disposed-people That onely may be called a blessed and fortunate Common Weale where men liue quietly and haue not to doe with Iustices nor Iudges for it is a true rule when Physitians are much frequented and Iudges much occupied that amongst that people there is little health and lesse quiet But to returne to the troubles of our

is also a great trouble and daungerous for a man to practise with new Iudges and to put their matters into their hands who onely were called to the place of a Iudge being thought learned and fitte for it and so brought to rule as a Magistrate For many times these young Iudges and new Physitians although they want not possible knowledge yet they may lacke a great deale of practise experience which is cause that one sort maketh many lose their liues before they doe come to rise in fame the other vndoe many a man in making him spēd all that euer he hath There is yet besides an other apparant daunger to haue to doe with these new and yong experienced iudges for when they come to sit newly in iudgement with their other brethren the Iudges hauing the lawe in their mouth to serue all turnes they doe but onely desire and study to winne fame and reputation amongst men and thereby to bee the better reputed of his brethren And for this cause only when they are assembled together in place of Iustice to giue iudgement of the pleas layde before them they doe not only inlarge themselues in alleadging many and diuers opinions of great learned men and booke cases So that the Hearers of them may rather thinke they haue studyed to shew their eloquence and learning then for to open the decision and iudgement of the cases they haue before them And for finall resolution I say that touching Pleas and Sutes I am of opinion that they should neyther truste the experience of the olde Iudge nor the learning and knowledge of the young But rather I reckon that man wise that seeketh by little and little to grow to an agreement with his aduersarie and that tarieth not many yeares to haue a lingring yea and possibly an vncertaine ende Also I would in some sort exhort the poore Plaintise not to bee ouer-curious to vnderstand the qualities of the iudge as a man would say If he be olde or young if he be learned or priuiledged if he be well studyed or but little if hee be a man of few or manie words if hee be afflicted or passionate tractable or selfe willed For possiblie beeing too inquisitiue to demaund of any of these things it might happen though hee did it vnawares yet hee should finde them afterwards all heaped togethers in the person of the Iudge to his hinderance and dammage in decyding his cause The wise Suter should not onely not seek to be inquisitiue of the iudge or his conditions but also if any man would seeme to tell him of him hee should giue no eare to him at all For if it come to the Iudges eares hee enquireth after his manner of liuing and condition hee will not onely be angry with him in his minde but will be also vnwilling to giue iudgement in his fauour The poore Siuter shall also meete with Terrible Iudges seuere intractable chollericke incommunicable and inexorable and yet for all this he may not looke vpon his nature nor condition but onely to regarde his good conscience For what neede hee care if the Iudge be of seuere and sharpe condition as long as he may be assured that hee is of good conscience It is as needefull for the vpright and good Iudge to haue a good and pure Conscience as it is to haue a skilfull head and iudgement in the Lawes For if he haue the one without the other hee may offend in malice and if hee haue that without the other hee may offend also in ignorance And if the suter come to speake with the Iudge and hee by chaunce finde him a sleepe hee must tarry till hee awake and if then hee will not or he cannot giue eare vnto him hee must bee contented And if he caused his man to say he were not within notwithstanding the suter saw him hee must dissemble it yea if the seruants giue him an ill answere he must take it in good worth For the wary and politike suter must not bee offended at any thing that is done or sayde to him till he see the definitiue sentence giuen with him or against him It is a maruellous trouble also to the suter to chuse his Counsellour for many times hee shall chuse one that shall want both law and conscience And some others shall chuse one that though on the one side hee lacke not Law yet on the other hee shall bee without both soule and conscience And this is apparantly seen that somtime for the gaine of twenty Nobles hee shall as willingly deny the truth and goe against his owne consciedce as at another time he will seeke for to maintaine Iustice It is true there are many other Counsellours also that are both wise and learned and yet notwithstanding they know the Law they can by no meanes frame it to his Clients case wanting deuice and conuayance to ioyne them together And so it happeneth many times that to compare it to his Clyants case hee conuaieth him so vnfitlie as of a plaine case it was before It is now made altogether a folde of infinite doubts I graunt that it is a great furtherance vnto the Clyants to haue a good and wise Counsellor but it is a great deale more for their profite if they can giue a sound and profound iudgement of his case For it is not ynough for the Counseller to bee able to expound the Law but it is behouefull for him to applie it to his purpose and to fit it to Time and Place according to the necessitie of his cause I haue knowne Counsellours my selfe that in their Chayres and Readings in their Halls haue seemed Eagles they haue flowne so high in their doctrine and interpretations but afterwards at the barre where they plead and in the face of their Court where they should best shewe themselues there they haue prooued themselues very capons And the onely cause of this is because they haue gotten by force of long trauell and continuall studie a knowledge to moote and read ordinarily their Book-cases in their chaires by common-practise and putting of them each to other But when they are taken out of common-trade and high beaten way and brought to a little path-way straighted to a Counsellers-room at the barre to pleade his Clyents strange and vnknowne case much contrarie to theyr Booke-cases before recited then stript of their common-knowledge and easie seate in chayre they stand now naked on their feete before the iudgement-seate like sense-lesse creatures voyde of reason and experience But now to supplye these imperfections of our rawe Counsellers and to further also our Clyents cause the better wee will that the Clyent be liberall and bountifull to his Counseller thereby the better to whette his wit and to make him also take paines to studie his ease throughly beeing true That the Counseller giueth Lawe as hee hath rewarde And that the Counseller also be carefull of his clyents cause and to goe through with that hee