thee King ouer all this Kingdome that thy Office ties thee to it 's generall gouernment Thou wast not made King to sleepe and take thine ease or to honour and authorize thy selfe by the dignitie Royall but that thou shouldest gouerne and maintaine the people in peace and iustice and that thou shouldest protect and defend them from their enemies Rex Eligitur non vt sui ipsius curam habeat sayth Socrates et sese molliter curet Sed vt per ipsum ij qui eligerunt bene beatéque viuant Kings are not chosen that their whole care should be for themselues to pamper the flesh and to liue nicely and daintily but that by him they who had elected him might liue well and happily vnder him They were not created nor introduced into the world for their owne commoditie and their owne pleasure and that all the good morsels should be for their owne trencher for if it should be so no man would willingly be subiect vnto them but for the publicke profit and common good of all his subiects for their happy gouernment for their safe protection their augmentation conseruation and in a word for their seruice and without any vnmannerlinesse we may well tearme it so for albeit in outward appearance the Scepter and the Crowne haue the face of Empire and Signiory yet in strictenesse and in rigour it is but the Office of a Seruant Servus Communis siuè Servus honoratus The Common-wealths seruant or a more honourable kind of Seruant This is the attribute which some giue vnto a king Quia à tota republica stipendia accipit vt serviat omnibus Because he receiues stipends from all that he may serue all And the Pope of Rome holds it no dishonour vnto him to be stiled Servus servorum Dei The Seruant of Gods seruants And howbeit anciently this name of seruant were infamous yet after that our Sauiour Christ had in his own person taken it vpon him it hath since beene accounted honorable And as it is not repugnant and contradictory to the Essence and nature of the sonne of God no more is it any preiudice or disparagement to the Maiestie and greatnesse of Kings And this was well vnderstood by Antigonus King of Macedonia who reprehending his sonne for carrying too hard a hand ouer his Subiects thus checkt his immoderate Empire An ignoras fili mi Regnum nostrum nobilem esse seruitutem Wootst thou not my sonne that our kingdome is a Noble seruitude Answering to that of Agamemnon We liue saith hee in the opinion of the world in much greatnesse and in high Estate Aelian de varia Hist lib. 2. but in effect are but seruants and slaues to our Vassals This is the Office of good Kings to serue in this honourable manner For in being Kings their Actions depend not on the sole will of their owne persons but of the Lawes and Statutes which they haue giuen and allowd of and those conditions wherewith they accepted this their Soueraigntie And though they should bee wanting to these which are no more then a humane Conuencion Couenant or agreement betwixt Prince and people yet may they not be defectiue in those which the naturall and diuine Law hath layd vpon them the Lady and Mistris as well of Kings as subiects All which are in a manner contained in those words of Ieremy Ier. 22.3 in which according to S. Ieromes opinion God sets downe the Office of Kings Facite iudicium iustitiam liberate vi oppressum de manu calumniatoris aduenam pupillum viduam nolite contristare neque opprimatis iniqué sanguinem innocentem ne effundatis Execute yee iudgement and righteousnesse and deliuer the spoyled out of the hand of the oppressour and doe no wrong doe no violence to the stranger the fatherlesse nor the widowe neither shed innocent blood c. This is the Summe wherein is cyphered vp the Office of a King These the Lawes of his Court whereby he is bound to mantaine in peace and Iustice the fatherlesse and the widowe the poore and the rich the mighty and the weake To his Account are put the Agrauios and wrongs which his Ministers doe vnto the one and the Iniustice which the other suffer The wretched estate of those that are necessited the cry of the distressed and the teares that are shed out of anguish of heart and a thousand other loades euen wane-loades of cares and obligations lye vpon the shoulders of him that is the Head and King of a kingdome And albeit he be the head in commanding and in gouerning yet in bearing if not often ouercharged therewith the heauie weight and loade of all hee must be the feete or supporters to beare the burthen of the whole body of the Common-wealth Of Kings and Monarkes the iust men Iob sayth that by reason of their Office Iob. 9.13 they carry like Porters the world on their shoulders vnder which burthen the proudest helpers must stoope In consideration whereof it is sayd in the booke of Wisedome In veste ponderis quam habebat summus sacerdos totus erat orbis terrarum In the long garment was the whole world The Latin translation In veste ponderis carryes more weight with it so that in taking vpon thee to be a King thou must make account to take so great a charge vpon thee and so heauie a load as the strongest Carte will hardly be able to beare it And this Moses knew well enough whom God hauing made his Vice-roy his Captaine Generall and sole Liuetenant in the Gouernment in stead of giuing him thankes for this so honourable a Charge committed vnto him made his moane and complaint for hauing layd so heauy a loade vpon his shoulders Numb 11. 11. Cur afflixisti seruum tuum Cur imposuisti pondus vniuersi populi huius super me Wherfore hast thou afflicted thy seruant And wherefore haue I not found fauour in thy sight that thou layest the burthen of all the people vpon me And proceedeth farther with his complaints saying Nunquid ego concepi omnem hanc multitudinem Aut genui eam Num. 11.12 vt dicas mihi Porta eos Haue I conceiued all this people Haue I begotten them that thou shouldest say vnto me Carry them in thy bosome as the nursing father beareth the sucking child c. Where it is worthy the noting That God said not any one such word vnto Moses But only commanded him that he should rule and gouerne his people that he should be their Captaine and their Leader And yet he heere sticks not to say that hee layd the burthen of all the people vpon him with this Motto added thereunto Porta eos Carry them c. A man would thinke hee complaineth heere without a Cause for God says no more vnto him but that hee be their Captaine and that hee take vpon him the rule Command and Gouernment of them But to this it is answered Al buen entendedor pocas palabras
praesunt For the hard-heartednesse and cruelty of those which were set in authoritie ouer them As if he should haue said The Affronts and Iniuries done by a Kings principall Officers are not so easily remedyed as those of particular men They require a powerfull hand they require Gods presence and assistance and will craue a Kings especiall care For your Councells cannot doe it nay are not able for to doe it of themselues alone be they the greatest and the highest in the Kingdom be they neuer so zealous of Iustice neuer such true louers thereof and neuer so desirous to doe right And the reason therof in my poore opinion is for that in regard the burthen of ordinary businesses is so great that only they are not able to attend the quitting of those agrauios and greiuances with that speedines and efficacie as were needefull but rather that they themselues without so much as once dreaming thereof doe vse to make them farre greater then otherwise they would bee for want of time and strength of body to cumply with so many and so great businesses And it oftentimes so commeth to passe that those that sue for reliefe in stead of being eased of their wrongs receiue further wrong either because they cannot finde fit place and time to be heard or because being heard they are soone forgot or because they that wrong them finde meanes to couer their faultes And if they cannot couer them and so should be lyable vnto punishment yet they that lent them their hand to lift them vp to the place wherein they are will likewise lend them a hand to defend their disorders And it hath beene already and is yet daily to be seene that a Iudge in Commission who for his wickednesse and euill dealing deserued exceeding great chastisement yet for that he hath his Patron and Angel of Guard for in your greater Tribunalls these are neuer wanting the businesse is husht and the party peccant neuer questioned And because he shall not be disgraced if the matter proue fowle against him by putting him out of his place he that tooke him into his protection will intercede in his behalfe to haue him remoued from that Office and preferred to a better A case certainly worthy both punishment and remedy if there be any vpon earth And if there be any helpe to be had it must be by the sight and presence of the King for without this it is not to be hoped for The Courtes of Kings much more then other places are full of humane respects and these haue taken so great a head and are growne so strong that in businesses they ouerthrow that which truth and iustice ought to vphold And therefore my aduise vnto Kings is that being they are men that are or may be free if they will themselues from these poore respectiue considerations and are supreme Lords and absolute soueraignes in their kingdomes they would be pleased to dis-agrauiate those that are iniuryed respecting onely wronged right and oppressed Truth But because such as are wronged and finde themselues agrieued haue not that easie accesse and entrance into Princes Courtes or to their persons either in regard of their great and weighty Imployments or some other lawfull Impediments it shall much importe that in their Courtes they should haue some person or persons of great zeale and approued vertue and prudence to whom those that are agrieued should haue recourse For many suffer much that cannot come to be admitted to the sight or speech of their King whereas if there should be a person appointed for to heare their Complaints they would cry out with open mouth for iustice and should be righted in their receiued wrongs And that person or persons thus deputed by their Maiesties hauing first well weighed and examined the reasons of their Complaints should afterwards represent the same vnto their Kings and giue them true information thereof to the end that they may forthwith by expresse Command put thereunto a speedy and fitting remedie And this I assure you would be a great bridle to restraine the insufferable insolencie and Auarice of Princes Ministers Who questionlesse would carry themselues much more fairely and vprightly when as they shall know that their disorders shall faithfully be represented Whereas on the contrarie it is not to be imagined with what a bold nay impudent daringnes they outface goodnesse when as they conceiue that of their kings which was vttred by that vnwise and foolish Atheist Psal 14.1 In corde suo non est deus The foole hath said in his heart there is no God Or that which those ignorant and troublesome friends of Iob breathed forth against God himselfe Circa cardines coeli perambulat Iob 22.14 nec nostra considerat He walketh in the Circle of heauen and the cloudes hide him that he cannot see and consider the things vpon earth Or which those other wicked Villaines vented Non videbit dominus neque intelliget Deus Iacob Psal 94.7 The Lord shall not see neither will the God of Iacob regard it So in like sorte say these bad Ministers Tush this shall neuer come to our Kings knowledge hee is taking his pleasure in his gardens he is thinking on his Hawking and Hunting or some other sports and pastimes to recreate himselfe withall nor shall Tricks and inuentions be wanting vnto vs to stop vp all the passages to his eares but say open way should be made and that the King should take notice of this or that misdemeanour it shall be dawbd vp so handsomely such a faire varnish set vpon it and so ful of excuses that it will be all one as if he had neuer heard of it or any such thing bin at all Presuming that Kings rather then they will be troubled with businesses of clamour and noyse will for their owne ease slightly passe them ouer Wherein as they haue oftentimes found themselues so it is fit they should still be deceiued And truly to no man can with better Title this Entrance be giuen nor this golden key to the Kings Chamber be committed then to him who with the integritie and zeale of an Elias should trample and tread these Monsters vnder foote and roundly and throughly to take this care to task which without al doubt would be one of the gratefullest and most acceptable seruices which can be done vnto God both in matter of pietie and of pitie But what shall I say of the Kings happinesse in this case With nothing can he more secure his conscience then with this As one who is bound out of the duty of his place to haue a watchfull eye ouer all his Ministers but more narrowly and neerely to looke into the water of those that are the great Ones being likewise obliged graciously and patiently to heare those that shall complaine of them it not proceeding out of spleene and malice but out of a desire to iustifie the truth to make good a good cause and that the fault may be
memorie which is the Archiue of the Sciences and Treasure of Truths for without it to reade and studie is as they say Coger aequa en vn harnero to gather water in a siue and it importeth much in regard of the diuersitie of businesses and persons with whom hee is to treate That hee haue trauailed and scene forraine Countries That hee be skill'd in the Languages and haue in all of them the Arte and garbe of speaking and discoursing well That he more esteeme the seruice of his King and the publicke good then his own priuate gaine That hee be courteous humble affable and yet of a good spirit That hee lend an attentiue care and that hee keepe that gate open for great and small rich and poore But aboue all these he must be of approued vertue for without it all the rest are of no esteeme Hee that shall haue more or lesse of these qualities which are for all in Common shall bee the more or lesse sufficient Counsellour As for Vice-royes Gouernours Ambassadors and other great Gouernments of the Kingdome such are to be chosen who together with the foresaid qualities haue studied and spent some yeares in the Schoole of experience and hauing beene conuersant at the Kings elbow and in his Courte and Counsailes not only for the greatnesse of those mindes and stomacks which are bred there a necessary qualitie for to occupie great places and not to bee bred vp with a poore portion of Treating and Vnderstanding which begets mindes according to the same measure but likewise because there by their Treating with Kings Princes and other great persons assisting them in their Counsells and graue consultations communicating with great Ministers and Counsellours of State diuerse cases and businesses the Practick of all affaires is thereby the more and better apprehended As your practitioners in Physicke by conferring with great Physitians He therefore that shall haue both Learning and Experience shall amongst all men be the most remarkable But Quis est hic laudabimus eum Shew mee this Man and we will commend him For Mans life is short the Arte long and experience hard to be atchieued But to summe vp this discourse and giue an ende thereunto I say That he that is to bee made a Counsellour of Warre should therein haue beene exercised many yeares And that he that is of the Councell of State should haue a full knowledge of all and should be very dextrous in matters of gouernment both publike and particular and well verst in military discipline because hee is to consult both of warre and peace Which because they are things so opposite and contrary a man cannot iudge well in the one vnlesse he know and vnderstand aright the other As wee shall shew heereafter when we shall more in particular treate of this Counsell Other qualities are competible more in especiall to Iudges Iustices and Presidents to whom that particularly appertaineth which is deliuered in that word Sapientes That they well vnderstand the facultie of the Lawes and that corresponding with their name they be Iuris-prudentes well seene in all matters carrying an euen hand towards all and administring Iustice without partialitie Deut. 16.18.19 Vt iudicent populum justo iudicio nec in alteram partem declinent nec accipiant personam nec munera That they may iudge the people with iust iudgement that they wrest not iudgement nor respect neither take a gift For this briberie and Corruption is that dust which blindes the Iudges and that plague which consumes a Common-wealth Moreouer they must bee wise men cleane and sound at heart and of much truth All of them qualities which all Nations required in their Ministers expressing them in their Herogliffes Diodor. Sic. lib. 2. rerum antiq cap. 1. Of the Aegyptians Diodorus Siculus reporteth That they had their Councell and Audience in a great Hall where there sate thirty Counsellors or Iudges Et in mediâ— iudicandi Princeps cuius a collo suspensa veritas penderet oculis esset sub clausis librorum numero circumstante And in the midst of them sate the President with his eyes shut a number of bookes standing round about him and Truth hanging about his necke Aelian de Var. Hist lib. 14. curiously cut as Aelian expresseth it in a Pectorall Saphire like vnto that which God fashioned for the adorning of his Minister and President Aaron wherein were ingrauen these words Hurim Thummim Exod. 28.30 Which some interprete to be Iudicium Veritas Iudgement and Truth But S. Ierome would haue it to signifie Doctrinam Veritatem Learning and Truth For these three things Iudgement Learning and Truth are much about one and in them consisteth the whole perfection of a Minister In quibus sit Veritas For in the brest of a good Iudge there must neither raigne passion nor affection but the pure Truth which hee cannot possibly avoyd vnlesse hee will wrong nature it selfe For our soule is naturally inclined to Truth And it is so proper to a wise and prudent Man that hee that doth not say it vnsaies himselfe And certaine it is that the gouernment of a Kingdome is so much the more good or ill by how much the truth therein hath more or lesse place For if businesses be not seasoned therewith as meates are with salt neither the poore shall be defended from the oppression of the rich nor the rich possesse their goods in safety men and womens honors shall runne danger and no one person can promise to himselfe securitie And therefore it is so much the more needfull that a iudge should treate Truth and desire that all should doe the like by how much the more are they that abhorre it and seeke to conceale it an olde disease which was almost borne with vs into the world And if Iudges shall not fauour Truth and plaine dealing treachery and Lying will reigne and beare rule Let Kings take heede how they choose men that are fearefull and timerous to be their Ministers who out of cowardize and pusillanimitie hide the Truth and dare not bring her forth to Light For as shee is the foundation of Iustice and Christian iudgement if a Iudge shall not loue it with his heart tracke the steps of it and draw it out of that darke dungeon wherein shee lyes Iustice will be in danger of being crush't and falshood will preuaile As in that peruerse Iudgement in Christes cause where the Iudge was so farre from being desirous to know the truth that hee did not know what kinde of thing it was And therefore demanded in the face of the open Court Quid est Veritas What is Truth To whom that diuine wisedome made no answer perceiuing him to be such a foole as to be ignorant of the first vndoubted Principle of Iustice and suffring himselfe to be carryed away with false accusations and feigned relations which had no bulke nor body in them no substance in the world nor any shew
saue of a poore shadow to be thus mis-led Librorum numero circumstante The President before specified had a great many of bookes about him To shew how much it importeth that Iudges and Presidents bee Learned and well read in the bookes of their facultie Epiphanius saith That hee saw a Statua of Truth which in it's forehead had two letters the first and the last of the Greeke Alphabet in it's mouth other two and other two in it's brest and so through all the parts of it's body to it 's very feete So that this was all enamelled with Letters as the other was rounded with bookes Thereby giuing vs to vnderstand that that Man which is truly the man he ought to be and is to aduise and gouerne others his head hands and feete must be stucke full of Letters He must be learned from the sole of the foote to the Crowne of the head full of Letters hee must bee for in the discourses of the Vnderstanding in the working of the hands and in the moouing of the feete wee may easily guesse whether a man be wise or no Whether he hath studied or doth studie For though a man be neuer so wise neuer so learned hee still forgetteth somewhat So that it is not enough for him to haue studyed but it is requisit that he still continue his study that hee may repayre with that which he learneth the losse of that which hee forgetteth As in a naturall body that by dayly eating and drinking is restored which is by our naturall heate consumed Et oculis esset subclausis His eyes which are the windowes by which Passion enters vnto the soule were shut Because hee should not be led away with the respect to those about him For hee must not haue an eye and respect to the Estate and condition of persons to doe more fauour when it comes to point of Iustice to one then another And for this reason the sayd Aegyptians did ordinarily paint Iustice without a Head The Head is the common seate of all the Sences signifying thereby that by no one sence a Iudge should open a doore to Passion but that he should place them all in heauen without respect to any thing vpon earth And this is not to respect persons but Iustice Plut. lib. 1. Stobaeus Serus 46. Plutarke in his Moralls reporteth of the Thebans That in their Courts of Iustice they had the Pictures drawne of certaine reuerend olde men sitting in their due order and in the midst the President all of them without hands and their eyes fixed on heauen To intimate that they should alwaies stand in the presence of the Lord from whence is to come that Light which is to cleare the eyes of their intentions avoyding to cast them downe towards the ground that the Vapour of humane respects which is raysed from thence may not cloude and darken the sight of their vnderstanding They must be olde and wise because they are to iudge with mature Counsaile which accompanyeth that age And as it is ordred by their Lawes they must haue neither eyes to see nor hands to receiue bribes And if they would cut off their wiues hands too the cause would be the better iustified For in them your bribes finde an open gate and are so easie to be knowne in this kind of trading that there are few or none but take notice of it They haue the slight of hand and like Gypsies haue a fine facilitie in deceiuing and not hard to be wrought vpon to gaine by this vngodly course And looke what businesse they labour to effect they are vsually the least iustifiable And if they are disposed to fauour this man or that cause and will but set their friends and wits roundly to worke and doe their best they will shrewdly put a Iudge to his shiftes and driue him to that streight that Iustice shall hardly escape a fall I would haue iudges therefore with their hands off and their eyes out least that befall them which did a couple of their place and qualitie who came to see the Processe of a famous but false and loose woman who perceiuing that the reasons of the Relator did worke little vpon them appealed para vista de ojos that shee might appeare face to face and in her information when shee came Ore tenus shee cunningly discouered her beautie by a carelesse letting fall of her mantle and so bewitched them therewith that allowing for good those powerfull witnesses of her eyes and face they released her and gaue her for free But to say the truth it was her loosenesse that freed her and their lightnesse that condemned them making that fault light which before weighed heauie And how shal he freely administer Iustice who hath his heart captiuated and in the power of him and her that can turne and winde him which way they list and wrest him from goodnesse More Iudges haue bin vndone by Lightnesse then by Cruelty The one begetteth feare the other contempt And by the way let them take this lesson a long with them that not onely in reality of truth they conserue their credit without spot but likewise in apparance procure to giue such good Examples that the world may not iustly charge them no not with so much as a discomposed looke neither in the open streete nor Court of Iustice for euery bend from their brow or euery smile from their countenance is the Common peoples Almanack wher-by they make coniecture whether it is like to be faire or fowle weather reading in the face fauour to one and rigour to another Wherefore as their place is great so is their perill The way is slippery wherein they tread and therfore had need looke well to their feete Woe be vnto that Iudge which seeth and seeth not sees the best and followes the worst suffering his reason to be subdued by passion and himselfe by one poore slender haire of a handsome woman to be led by the nose whether shee will leade him For a good face is a tacite kinde of recommendation a faire superscription and a silent deceit which troubles the clearenesse of the minde making white appeare to be blacke and what is iust Exod. 23.8 Leuit. 19.15 to be vniust which was the cause why God commanded the Iudges of Israel that they should remoue their eies from the persons of those that were brought before them and place them wholly on the matter which they were to iudge And for the same reason did the Iudges of Areopagus heare all sortes of causes were they ciuill or criminall in the darke by putting out the Candles And your Athenians did sentence their sutes behind certaine Curtaines which might hinder their sight The Lacedemonians they were a little stricter laced for they did not onely deny eyes to those that went to Law and sued in their courtes but also debard them of eares and because they would prohibit them the power of informing the iustnesse of their cause but
that they should make their Plea by writing Ne si coram iudicibus loquerentur facilius eos fletibus aut actionibus efficacique modo dicendi demulcerent Least if themselues should be permitted to speake before the Iudges they might the more easily soften and mollifie their hearts by their teares action and words And it seemeth that God doth approue for the better this manner of iudging when he saith Non secundum visionem oculorum iudicabit Isay 11.3 nec secundum auditum aurium arguet He shall not iudge after the sight of his eyes neither reproue after the hearing of his eare Sed judicabit in justitia pauperes arguet in aequitate pro mansuetis terrae But with righteousnesse shall hee iudge the poore and reproue with equitie for the meeke of the earth With iustice and truth hee must reproue and confound those who with fictions with colours and studied artifices pretend to make that iust or probable which hath no shew of iustice or truth For there are some Lawyers so full of Quirkes and subtilties that they wrest the true sence and meaning of the Lawes striuing to bring them to their bent haling them as they say by the haire to that part whereunto themselues are willing to incline either to that which a fauourite or powerfull person pretendeth or to him that will bribe most whereby suites in Law are made euerlasting much mony is consumed mens States miserably wasted or at least the true knowledge of the cause obscured as well de facto as de jure both in matter of fact and of Law A Iudge therefore ought to be very attentiue to all businesses that are brought before him and to haue Lynx his eyes to watch whether the Torrent will tend of a Pleader transported with affection and of a cauillous Relator armed with a 100. Witty quillets subtill and acute Allegations wherewith they shadow the light and scatter cloudes of darkenesse ouer the cause that is pleaded Hee that is set ouer others must haue wisedome and courage to make resistance against them and to disarme them rebutting the blow by his Arguments and with the true and solide sence of the Lawes themselues Eccl. 7. And therefore Ecclesiasticus would not haue that man to take vpon him to be a Iudge that hath not spirit and mettall in him to contest with the stoutest of them and to doe Iustice Secundum allegata probata according to all right and law For many times there is more cunning and wisedome required for to vndoe those knots and to facilitate those difficulties which these wrangling Lawyers put in their Plea then to resolue the doubt in the Case it selfe And if hee be to deale with persons of power and great Courtiers he must either breake through this net which they pitch for him with force or with some slight or other seeke to auoyd it rather then that fauour and power on the one side or subtill shiftes and Law quirkes on the other should stifle Iustice Isay 58.6 For in these cases it is written Dissolue colligationes impietatis Loose the bands of wickednesse to vndoe the heauie burthens and to let the oppressed goe free For the sonne of God himselfe to be an example vnto Iudges did proceede in this manner with the Diuell For this purpose saith S. Iohn was the Sonne of God manifested Iohn 3.8 that he might destroy the workes of the Diuell Whereby he shewed no lesse courage then gained reputation And it is one of the most preiudiciall things that can befall Common-wealths to seeke to honour such persons in whom doe not concure those qualities nor the knowledge of such Ministers and giuing them the Title of Counsellours which haue neither that sufficiency of knowledge nor wisedome which is necessary for to giue a good and sound opinion in graue and weighty matters And as it were a foolish and vnaduised thing in him that hath neede of a payre of shoes to go to looke them at a Barbers and not at a shomakers shop so is the case alike when wee leaue wise and experienced men in a Common-wealth lurking in a corner and put those into eminent places which neither know how to begin nor end businesses nor what course in the world they are to take That which is fittest for them but much more for a King and kingdome is to let them alone in their ignorance Quia tu scientiam repulisti Hose 4.6 repellam ego te saith God Because thou hast reiected knowledge I will also reiect thee For one foolish Minister alone is an intolerable burthen for a Kingdome Arenam salem Eccl. 22.15 massam ferri facilius est ferre quam hominem imprudentem fatuum Sand and salt and a masse of yron is easier to be borne then a man without vnderstanding Three things saith hee which are the heauiest to beare are more easie to bee borne and with more patience to be indured then the imprudencies of an vnwise and foolish Minister CHAP. X. Hee continues the Discourse of the qualities of Ministers and Counsellours THe last words of Iethros Aduice were Et qui oderint Auaritiam hating Couetousnesse A qualitie no lesse necessary then those before specified The 70. Interpreters translate it Et qui odio habent superbiam Hating pride There are some men which rake vp a great deale of wealth and are couetous only to keepe and make the heape the bigger liuing for this cause miserably vnto themselues and deepely indebted to their backe and belly Others there are that scrape and scratch by hooke or by crooke all the money they can finger that they may afterwards prodigally spend it and maintaine their vaine pride and ostentation But in what sort so euer men be couetous sure I am That Couetousnesse is one of the worst notes and basest markes wherewith Kings Ministers and Counsailours of State can be branded Auaro Eccl. 10.9 nihil est Scelestius saith Ecclesiasticus There is not a more wicked thing then a couetous man And from those that are toucht with this infection Kings are to flye as from a plague or Pestilence and be very circumspect and wary that they be not admitted to the Councell Table and to remoue those from thence that haue receiued any bribe For it is an incurable disease a contagious corruption which like a Leprosie goes from one to another and clingeth close to the soule Besides to receiue is a sweete thing and leaues the hand so sauory and so well seasoned that it hath no sooner receiued one gift but it is presently ready for another a third a fourth and so in infinitum And the end of that which is past is but a disposition for that which is to come Like a hungry Curre who hath no sooner chopt vp one morsel but he is ready for another And he perhaps who at first was contented with a little could say Esto basta y sobra This is inough and too
vnder a couple of Capons The Tribunes of the people of Rome a Magistracie ordained for defending of the Communaltie kept their gates still open that men at all houres might vpon all occasions come and treat with them If that young man Act. 22.21 which was Saint Pauls sisters sonne who heard the Conspiracie which the Iewes had plotted against him and went to giue aduise thereof to the Magistrate had not found such easie entrance into the Tribunes house as he did without doubt it had cost Paul his life For fourty men had taken a solemne oath to kil him as he came forth of prison to his Triall and bound themselues with a curse that they would neither eate not drinke till they had killed him Now when this young man came to the Chiefe Captaine and told him that he had something to say vnto him The Text there saith that the Captaine tooke him by the hand and went a part with him alone and asked him What hast thou to shew to me c. With this facilenes did the Ministers of that Heathen-people giue Audience How much more ought Christian Ministers to doe the like The open doore and the giuing of Audience in some open Hall or in some outward Court whereunto all are admitted to enter would giue much content vnto many but these close doores and close Audience to very few which is purposely done for to pleasure their friends and seruants for from this their hard accesse and difficile entrance they likewise make their gaine and are not ashamed now to demand that for a fee which if they were well serued should be recompenced with a halter And looke what I haue said of your Oydores which are your Iudges in Chanceries and other the chiefe Courtes of Iustice I say the like of other Ministers who though they haue not the same name yet doe they serue as eares to their king And then are their eares shut and growne deafe when they will not heare making thereby his Maiestie to be found fault withall to receiue a hard censure from his subiects when he is innocent blamelesse and drawing a thousand other mischiefes vpon the Common-wealth And it is a most shamefull thing and worthy reprehension redresse that when kings shall bee liberall in this kind their Ministers should be so short cutted and that a man should be at more cost and trouble to get Audience of them to negociate a busines then of the king himself And the mischiefe of it is that they procure and pretend now as in former times the greatest fauours the highest places honors dignities whilst in the mean while it is not thought vpon nor taken into consideratiō that besides the offence which is done herein vnto God the Common-wealth that it is one of the most preiudiciall things in the world for the quiet peace of States the conseruation of kingdomes And this was well vnderstood by Absolon the son of Dauid pretender to the Crowne of Israel Who perceiuing that the king his father through his great imployments in the Wars could not so well attend his giuing Audience to all his subiects and that they to whose charge care it was committed did not cumply therin with their obligation he placed himselfe at the entrance of the Citie whether the suitours repaired and seeing how much they distasted it that they had not that quicke Audience and dispatch as they expected and desired he insinuates himselfe into them and speaking very kindly 2 Sam. 15.3 and louingly vnto them he tolde them Videntur mihi Sermones tui boni iusti sed non est qui te audiat constitutus à Rege Thy matters are good and righteous but there is no man deputed of the King to heare thee And this is it that puts all out of frame and order O quoth he that I were made Iudge in the land that euery man which hath any matter of controuersie might come to me that I might doe him Iustice c. And it followeth anon after in the Text Quod solicitabat corda virorum That by this means he stale away the hearts of the men of Israel And that thereupon there shortly after insued a great rebellion which put the king the kingdom in great ieopardie Which may serue as a lesson for a good Minister to teach them what they ought to do not to think they do that which they ought when for fashion sake they giue short and crowding Audiences where that which enters in at one eare goes out as they say at another But that so much time should be allowed for the hearing of them as the qualitie off the busines shall require without cutting those off who go rendring their reasons For he that hath not the patience to heare them either he not vnderstandeth them or is afraid to meddle with them With this therefore I conclude this and the former discourse That the first Office of a King is To heare all his subiects And it being supposed that he alone cannot doe it it is fit he should haue Oydores that should heare for him and be his eares And for that as by the eares of the head there runn's along a certaine secret nerue by meanes wherof that which is heard is presently conuaied to the braine there to be registred and consulted on by the Common sense So these Oydores ought to holde their secret Consulta wherein they ought to make relation vnto the King of all that they haue heard But let them weigh with all what a short Cut it is from the eare to the braine and the small stay that is made in this Iourney or passage to the end that by this natural course which is so quicke speedy they may see their errour and perceiue what a great fault it is to retarde their Consultations to shew themselues thicke of hearing to haue their eares shut or rather the Oydores themselues shut vp and not to be spoken withall Some would faine excuse these Audiences with the impertinencies of those that craue them which sometimes are very large and tedious and to as little purpose as they are too too importune vnseasonable But to this answere That your high and eminent places bring with them this trouble and charge And as the Apostle Saint Paul said that it is a great token of prudence to know how to beare with the foolish and to haue suffrance and patience with those that are none of the wisest Libenter enim suffertis insipientes 2 Cor. 11.19 cum sitis ipsi sapientes For ye suffer fooles gladly because that ye are wise And because he that is most wise is most offended with ignorance let him know that he meriteth much in dissembling it when it is fitting so to doe for to say the truth as the same Apostle affirmeth Gods good and faithfull Ministers haue obligation both to the Wise and to the foolish Sapientibus insipientibus debitorsum
crooked and to falsifie the tongue and beame of the ballance To wit Hatred Fauour Feare and Interest Now Iustice is diuided into two parts which are the honour of God and the loue of our neighbour Aristotle did likewise consider two other parts of Iustice One common which is ordayned for the Common-wealth and the other particular which is instituted for our neighbour Which by another name they call Equitie which man vsing with reason deales so with others as he would be dealt withall himselfe vpon the Common which imbraceth includeth all the rest Patri de Reg. lib. 8. Tit. 2. Patritius founded his Common-wealth And Plato his vpon the particular Others diuide it into foure parts or species into Diuine Naturall Ciuill and Iudiciall Which the Schoolemen do define and declare at large vnto whom I remit the Reader But laying aside these diuisions Scolastici cum D. Tho. 2.2 q 80 art 1. which make not for our purpose the most proper and essentiall diuision of Iustice is into Commutatiue and Distributiue Which as Diuus Thomas saith are the partes Subiectiuae or subiectiue parts of this Iustice that is to say it 's essential Species And therfore we will treate of these two and that very briefly And first in the first place of the Commutatiue and in the second of the distributiue Iustice Commutatiue Contractiue or Venditiue for all these names your Authors giue it for the matter of Commutations Arist 10. Met Tit. 18. Contracts and Sales wherein it is exercised is considered betwixt two party and party which are a part of that whole body of the Common-wealth which giue and take betweene themselues by way of Contract or Sale It 's end and obiect is equalitie and proportion betweene that which is giuen and that which is receiued without respect vnto the persons which buy and sell but to that which is contracted solde or commutated that there may be an equalitie and proportion had betwixt that which is giuen and taken And when in this there is a defection it is contrary to Commutatiue Iustice The distributiue is considered betweene the whole and it's parts The. Medium of this Vertue doth not consist in the equaltie of thing to thing but of the things to the persons for as one person surpasseth another so the thing which is giuen to such a person exceedeth that part which is giuen to another person So that there is an equalitie of proportion betweene that which is more and that which is lesse but not an equalitie of quantitie to wit So much to the one as to the other For those which in a Common-wealth are not equall in dignitie and desert ought not equally to enioy the Common goods thereof when they are reparted and diuided by the hand of distributiue Iustice As we shall shew you by and by when we come to speake of the Commutatiue which treates of equalizing and according that which mens disordinate appetites and boundlesse couetousnesse doth disconcerte and put out of order euery one being desirous to vsurpe that for himselfe which of right appertaines and belongs to another whence arise your cosenages and deceits in humane Contracts and whence doe resulte those contentions dissensions and sutes in Law And to occurre and meete with these inconueniences from the Alcalde of the poorest Village to the highest and supremest Tribunall those pretenders may appeale if they cannot obtaine Iustice in those inferiour Courts And therefore in Castile in the Counsell Royal it is called by way of excellencie Conscio de Iusticia The Counsel of Iustice And in all well ordred Monarchies and Common-wealths Exod. 18. Deut. 1. there is euermore carefull prouision made for this necessitie dispersing in diuers Tribunalls the fittest men for administring Iustice as we haue formerly related of that great Law-giuer Moses And in the second booke of the Chro. it is said of King Iehosaphat that he appointed Audiences and Tribunalls in all the principall Cities of his kingdome and those euer at their very gates and entrance that the Negociants and suitors might the more easily meete with the Ministers of Iustice for this is the chiefest prouision which a King should make for kis Kingdome indearing to them all the faithfull administration thereof and that with such graue words and such effectuall reasons that they deserue to be written in golden Letters vpon all the seates Tribunalls of your Iudges 2 Chron. 19.6 Videte quid faciatis non enim hominis exercetis iudicium sed Domini Et quodcunque iudicaueritis in vos redundabit Sit timor domini vobiscum cum diligentia cuncta facite non est enim apud dominum deum nostrum iniquitas nec personarum acceptio nec cupido munerum Take heede what ye doe for yee execute not the iudgement of man but of the Lord and he will be with yee in the cause and iudgement Wherefore now let the feare of the Lord be vpon yee Take heede and doe it for there is no iniquitie with the Lord our God neither respect of persons nor receiuing of reward The first thing that he admonisheth them of is Videte quid faciatis Take heede what yee doe Looke well about yee and haue an eye to what ye doe Heare see and consider take time and leysure be not ouer-hasty in sentencing a sute till yee haue studied the case well and throughly and are able as well to satisfie others as your selues Vsing that care and circumspection Iob. 29.16 as did that iust man Iob. Causam quam nesciebam diligentissime inuestigabam When I knew not the cause I sought it out diligently As if his life had lyen vpon it Alciat saith That the Tribunes had at the gates of their houses the Image of a King sitting in his throane hauing hands but no eyes And certaine Statuas about him seeming to be Iudges hauing eyes but no hands Whereby they declared the Office of a King and the duty of Iudges painting him with hands and them without them but with as many eyes as that fabulous Argos had or like vnto those Mysticall beastes Apoc. 4.7 which Saint Iohn saw full of eyes within and on euery side To shew that they should study see and examine causes and all whatsoeuer passeth in the Common-wealth and to informe the King thereof who is to haue hands and Armes courage and power for execution Againe that good King puts them in minde that it is not mans but Gods Office that they take in hand whose proper Office is to iudge And therefore in the Scripture your Iudges are called Gods And since that they are his Lieuetenants let them labour for to doe Iustice as God himselfe doth For I must be so bold as to tell them that there is a reuiewing of the businesse and a place of Appealing in the supreame Counsell of his diuine Iustice And there the Party pretending doth not deposite his thousand and fiue hundred ducats but the Iudge who lyes
that their King and Master cannot liue and subsist without the assistance of their wit and that there is not that fault they commit but must be forgiuen them out of the necessitie of their seruice Forgetting in the meane while that their King may imagine them to bee dead and how that in such a case though it grieue him yet must hee prouide himselfe of others Let Kings therefore bee beaten from this their errour for he that shall otherwise aduise them and seeke to be the onely man in their fauour and seruice and take vnto himselfe both the right side and the left thrusting all others from thence and gouerning both high and low letting nothing escape his fingers which hee pretendeth out of the necessary vse of his person and so absolutely to become Master of their wills and to haue that hand ouer their Kings that they must not looke vpon any but with their Fauorites eyes such a Fauourite I say pretends to tyrannize a kingdome and by little and little will go crushing the Princes of the bloud the ancient Nobilitie and such as are of power to stand in their way thrusting this man out of Court to day and that other to morrow that hee alone may rule all without any contradiction or opposition in the world Let euery man say or thinke as they list for mine owne part I am perswaded that this is his maine end and drift And the cause thereof is his feare of falling knowing besides his owne consciousnes that there are not onely one or two but many in Court that are able to supply his place and farre better deseruing then himselfe Your Alchymists make gold But how Onely in the colour they will not let it come to the Touch nor any other reall Essay neither will they endure to haue it compared with any other minerall gold for feare lest it should bee discouered that theirs hath no more but a bare shew and apparence Let Princes therefore assure themselues that those Fauourites are but Alchimists that will not admit of any other companie as being priuie to themselues that their vnderstanding is not such pure gold that it can abide the Touch nor any reall Essay But say it should passe for currant and that their mindes were all made of pure gold me thinkes they should aduise and consider with themselues that those that are ingenious and wise men will therefore the rather desire that there should be many for by comparing the one with the other the true light shineth the more and makes it selfe knowne whether it be so or no. And onely your fooles and such as are vnworthy of that they possesse are iealous of that good which they feare to loose when by comparing they shall come to be knowne God did not in vaine place so many members in mans bodie and most of them double had it not beene thereby to teach vs that many are needfull in humane actions and that one is not able to doe all without an infinite deale of toyle extraordinary spending of his spirits and the sudden wasting and consuming of his body And here will suite very well to this our purpose that which Tiberius affirmed when feigning not to bee willing to accept of the Empire hee said going about the bush to discouer the mindes of the Romane Nobilitie and Senate that he alone of himselfe was not sufficient nor yet with the helpe of another for so great a gouernment Whereupon Salustius Crispus taking his Qu a great Fauourite of his starts mee vp and makes me a long Harenga or artificiall oration shewing that Signiorie and Empire could not well consist without being conferred vpon one particular person which is the maine foundation and ground-worke of the good and safetie of a Monarchicall gouernment and that therein himselfe if no body else would take the paines would bee as it were another Ioseph his faithfull Vice gerent lest the resolution of things depending on the will of many it might cause a distraction in businesses either by way of competition or of passion In conclusion after Tiberius had heard this and had throughly sounded their mindes he tooke occasion to tell them That in such a Citie as Rome was sustained and vpheld by so many and such illustrious persons it was not fit that the businesses of State should be remitted to one man alone for many would much more easily execute the offices and affaires of the commonwealth by a fellow-bearing of the burthen For as vnitie in some degrees is both profitable and pleasing so in other some it is hatefull and preiudiciall And therefore out of this consideration I say That a King as the supreme person and principall Head of a kingdome ought to be one alone For the couetousnesse of ruling being insatiable and the nature of power incommunicable it is not possible that two Princes of equall authoritie should continue any long time but both of them suffer in the end or at least the businesses that are committed to their charge But for Fauourites there may bee two or three or more the vnitie remaining reserued for the greater and supremer person And likewise this pluralitie will not be much amisse for if any one of them shall by some accident faile there be others whom the King knoweth and they know him that are fit for his seruice and that haue good experience and knowledge of businesses and all such matters as are current and passable in the commonwealth without being driuen to seeke out new Ministers or to instruct them what to doe in a time of necessitie when things go not well but stand in ill Tearmes laying otherwise hold on the first that offer themselues vnto them to the ouerthrowing of the businesses in hand and the proper hurt and dammage of their Lord and Master at whose cost and by meere erring in great matters they must come to get their learning Let Kings a Gods name reserue for themselues those businesses that are of greatest importance for in this likewise must there bee a setled course and order as is in all well gouerned kingdomes Referring as we said before to the ordinary Councells and Tribunalls ordinary businesses consulting with their Kings those that are of most importance And these Kings by themselues as before mentioned ought to dispatch if therein they be not hindered by default of their health and not to remit and referre them to their Fauourites who in matter of Iustice were it but distributiue should haue no kinde of power For thereby they oppresse those Tribunalls and seates of iustice together with their Ministers and Officers who for that they know they must haue much dependancy on the Fauourite if he shall haue a hand in Courts of Iustice and distribution of Offices cannot but remaine much oppressed and debarred of their libertie and the more if they haue any pretension for their owne interest or increasing of their estate and honour And the reason of all this will plainly appeare if wee
the face to deny him any thing that hee was willing either to aske or take whilst like the vnthankfull yuie he went sucking away all the iuyce and sappe of the tree all that good Kings wealth and substance his being his authoritie and little lesse then his kingdome And lost by this meanes so much of his authoritie that some of the Grandes of the kingdome and the Infantes his brethren and the Kings of Aragon and Nauarre betooke them to their Armes and made warre against him he seeing himselfe vpon some occasions disobeyed by his sonne and Prince and forsaken of his wife and Queene Whereupon grew many ciuill broyles and all vnder the title and pretext of recouering their libertie and of pulling their neckes from vnder the yoke of that slauery and subiection wherein they were rendering that reason in their excuse which all the whole kingdome could but take notice of That all businesses past through his Fauourites hands and that the King did not negociate in his owne person The prosecution whereof I remit to those Histories that make mention thereof And it cannot bee denyed that this Fauourite notwithstanding had many good things in him that might very well deserue his Kings loue for he had serued him valiantly in great and vrgent occasions and had put his person and life in perill for his sake But as his priuacie and fauour went increasing so with it increased his ambition and couetousnesse and that in that high degree that he grew hatefull to the whole kingdome and in the end no lesse odious to the King himselfe who comming at length vnto himselfe fell into the account of those damages and losses which he had receiued in his kingdome both in his reputation and authoritie by putting the reines wholly into his hands taking thereby too much libertie to himselfe and ruling the State as he listed The Grandes represented to his Maiestie the abuses that insued thereupon as the ingrossing of the greater Offices and selling of the lesser and ouerswaying the Courts of Iustice And vsing many other effectuall perswasions grounded vpon other iust complaints proposing for remedie and redresse thereof the interest profit that might accrew vnto him by calling him to account and that he might thereby get into his hands an infinite deale of treasure the King liked very well of their propositions and admitting their reasons he fell off from his Fauourite waging warre against him with his owne money wherewith hee thought if neede should serue to sustaine and vphold himselfe This slippery footing haue all those things which haue not their hold-fast in God For they turne to the hurt of those that put their trust in them And it is his mercie to mankinde that they should pay for it in this life howsoeuer they speed in the life to come which we will leaue to Gods iustice and the strict account that will be taken of them In conclusion this great Fauourite dyed being fallen from his priuacie with his Prince depriued of all that wealth and treasure which he had so greedily scraped together ending his life with a great deale of sorrow and discontent and to the great reioycing of his opposites Though this did not serue for a warning to those that came after him but without feare of the like terrible and desperate falls they ranne themselues out of breath in the pursuite of the like priuacie Ioh. 3.29 Saint Iohn Baptist we know was Christs great Fauourite and the Gospell stiles him to be Amicus Sponsi the friend of the Bridegroome But his great goodnesse and holinesse of life did the more gloriously shew it selfe in this that by how much the more Christ did in-greaten and authorize him by so much the more did hee lessen and humiliate himselfe and laboured by all possible meanes by diminishing his owne to increase the authoritie and credit of his Lord and Master saying Illum oportet crescere Ioh. 3.30 me autem minui He must increase but I must decrease And this is that glasse wherein the Fauourites of Kings are to looke taking into their consideration that by how much the more they seeke to greaten themselues in making ostentation of their power and authoritie by so much the more they lessen and dis-authorise that of their Kings with whom is so dangerous any whatsoeuer shew or shadow of equalitie or competition that euen in the highest top of priuacie the more certaine and lesse reparable vsually is the fall How iocond and how well contented went Haman out of the palace when Queene Esther inuited him to dine with the King and her selfe When loe the very next day after they draggd him from that banquet and royall Table to the gallowes And therefore let no man trust or relye on the fauour of Kings be he neuer so rich or neuer so fortunate for in them it is ordinarily seene that all these faire shewes are commonly conuerted into manifest demonstrations of hatred Out of all this that hitherto hath beene said let Fauourites make vnto themselues this vse and instruction to know the danger and slipperinesse of the place wherein they stand euen then when they finde themselues most of all inthronized For most true is that saying of Fulmen petit culmen The highest Towers and the highest hills are most of all subiect to Iones thunder-bolts and lightning And let Kings likewise take this into their consideration by way of aduice That when they shall haue found their Fauourites to be furnished with those qualities before specified and that they are such that thereby they may merit their grace and fauour and so great both place and part in their heart it stands with very good reason that they shou d bee honoured by them with particular mercedes and fauours because they helpe them to beare the burthen of their cares and are exposed to great dangers and greater enuyings as it happened to that great Fauourite of the King of Persia whom the Princes of his kingdome did pretend to remoue from the Kings elbow and to put him in the denne amidst the Lions that by them hee might be there rent in peeces Whereof no other cause could be found against him but his Kings fauour bearing enuie to his priuacie that common Moath to high places from which none be he neuer so good neuer so honest can escape For it is very naturall in men to risent that hee should out-strip them who but yesterday was their fellow and companion They hold that honour for an iniurie that is done to their equall and thinke themselues go backward and loose of their authoritie and reputation if another bee preferred before them Which is such an offence that God presently takes notice of it and passeth it not ouer without punishment For this priuacie with Kings is a thing of his disposing and for such ends as hee pretends and there is not any Subiect that rises to such great place but that he must passe through the weights and