thing vncumbered vnwithered vnpainted vndisguised vnmovable vnueiled apparant comprehensible of it selfe vnchangeably good and spiritual Wherin the antient Philosophers agree with vs saying that we haue but a shadow of the Truth that the pure Truth is in heauen Truth saith Menander is an inhabitant of heauen and dwelleth with the gods And the Persians worshipped a great God which in body resembled the light and in soule the Truth as who would say that God was light and Truth Therefore of all the things that are on earth none as saith Mercurie in the xv of his Pimander can be called truth but only an imitation of the truth And whē the wit receiueth influence from aboue then doth it imitate the truth for without inworking from aboue it abideth in vntruth like as the shape of a man in a painted table representeth a very bodie but is not a body indeed as the eye imagineth it to be in so much that although it seeme verily to haue eyes and eares yet it neither seeth nor heareth at all euen so the things that men behold with their eies are but leasings Men beare themselues on hand that they see the truth but in very deed they be but lies For truth cannot be vpon earth but yet it may be that some men to whom God hath giuen power to see diuine things do vnderstand the truth howbeit that is not the truth of speaking and vnderstanding things as they be indeed For the very truth is the souereigne Good and true things are the effects thereof which are the off-springs or imps of truth In so much that the truth which remaineth with vs in this world is but a countershape and shadow of the very truth the which we follow when wee forbeare frawd lying and deceit and proceed in good faithfull dealing truth and loialtie according to this saying of the Psalmist The works of Gods hands are truth and vprightnes that is to say Faithfulnesse his commandements are made in truth that is to say in substantiall Faithfulnesse which kepeth truth euermore that is to say which alwaies keepeth promise The beginning of his word is Truth that is to say his word is a grounded stablenesse And in another place All thy commaundements sayth he be Truth For as sayth Pindar to be true of heart is the ground and foundation of all vertue And therefore Dauid praieth God not to take the word of Truth out of his mouth And in the fourteenth Psalme he sayth thus Lord who shall dwell on thy holy hill he that dealeth iustly with his neighbour and speaketh the truth from his heart and beareth true witnesse Wherein we haue to consider that hee matcheth Righteousnesse and Truth together as who would say he esteemeth a soothfast man to be a righteous man and a righteous man to bee a soothfast man and hardly indeed can they be seuered according to this saying of Dauid in the 119 Psalme Thou hast commaunded vprightnesse and truth aboue all things Thou shalt haue folke at thy commaundement because of thy meekenesse vprightnesse and truth The kings throne that iudgeth folke with truth shall be stablished for euer And Salomon in his Prouerbs sayth That he which speaketh the truth vttereth righteousnesse And in another place he saith That meeldnesse and truth vphold and maintaine a king When Iethro councelled Moses to disburden himselfe of the paine of iudging perticular cases he aduised him to chuse such men as were wise true of their word and fearing God as who would say that the maintenance of iustice depended vpon truth After which maner Marcus Aurelius said That in an honest woman truth chastitie ought to be matched togither and it was neuer seene but the woman that was true of word was also chast and that the liar was sildome chast And as Varia Mesa was wont to say It is no lesse shame for women that are come of good houses to be liars than to be vnchast Socrates would that a prince should aboue all things be true of his word to the end that his bare word might be more esteemed than another mans oths And Cicero in one of his orations saith That he which shrinketh from the truth will passe as little to forsweare himselfe as to make a lie And in another place he saith that truth is of so great might that it cannot be vanquished by any subtiltie or wilinesse whatsoeuer and that it is a sufficient defence to it selfe though it haue no man of law to plead for it Euripides saith That the word of truth is plaine and needeth no interpreter And Salomon saith that the lip of truth is euer steadie but the toung of falshood is euer variable In all thy works let the word of truth goe before thee saith the son of Sirach in his third chapter Pithagoras said That when we exercise truth we follow the foot-steps of God Plato in his fift booke of Laws saith That truth is the guid to all goodnesse be it towards God or towards man that whosoeuer wil be happie must be partaker therof and that by that means he shall be worthie to be beleeued and contrariwise that he shal be vnworthie of credit which loueth to lie He that bare the office of lord chiefe iustice in Aegypt did weare an image of truth hanging at his brest which image of truth was had in singular estimation of the Druides also The men of old time painted their God Pan with two faces meaning thereby that he had skill both of good and euill of truth and falshood taking the face on the forpart to represent truth the which they painted faire beautiful and amiable and the face on the back-part to betokenfalshood the which they portraied soule ilfauored and ouglie like vnto a Goat or some other brute beast of purpose to shew the difference that is betweene truth and vntruth CHAP. XIIII Of Religion and Superstition IN handling the fore-said question so well discussed by Cicero in his books of Duties and well debated among such as haue to deale with matters of state I haue told you heretofore that Machiauell held this erronious opinion That a prince was of necessitie to deale contrarie to faithfulnesse and Religion for the mainteinance of his estate Of Faithfulnesse I haue spoken sufficiēt alreadie now remaineth to enquire of Religion because in some respects it is an appendant of our discourse or to say truly all that euer we haue treated of hitherto and all that euer we shall treat of hereafter depēdeth vpon that For it is the ring-leader of al vertues as the but wherat al they do shoot without the which neither prince nor any other person whatsoeuer can be wise vertuous or happy or do any thing that shal be ought-worth but religion is of it selfe behofful profitable to al thing as saith S. Paul in his epistle to Timothie For it is vnpossible that any of the things which are in nature should continue
he will not haue vs to vse abundance of words as Ecclesiasticus saith in the fifth chapter that it is the property of fooles to vse manie words vnto God and that the multitude of words without reason betoken a foolish praier And our Lord will not haue vs to pray after the maner of the Heathen who thinke they shall be heard for the multitude of their words For as S. Paul saith in the second to the Corinthians The kingdome of God consisteth not in words As touching the maner of speaking Cicero shews it vs briefly in his Duties saying That in talking a man must not be too stiffe of opinion but must suffer euery man to speake in his turne and consider whereof he speaketh so as if it be a matter of earnest it be done with grauitie or if it be a matter of mirth it be done cheerfully and in any wise a man must not speake without the bounds of reason For as saith Euripides In the end euery vnbridled toung shall find it selfe vnfortunate and the great talker hath this inconuenience that he is not euer beleeued and yet our speaking is to the end that we would haue our sayings beleeued Plutarch speaking of a babler in his treatise of too much speaking saith That as corne shut vp in a moist vessell increaseth in measure but impaireth in goodnes euen so doth a babler For he increaceth much his words by putting them forth but his so doing bereaueth them of all power to persuade And as it is held for a truth that the seed of such as companie with women too much is not of strength to beget children so the words of great talkers is barreine and fruitlesse And like as in our bodies the parts that are infected and diseased do alwaies draw to them the corrupt humors of the parts next vnto them so the tongue of a great babler being as it were in the whot fit of a burning feuer doth alwaies gather togither and draw vnto it some secret lurking euill He that will see the mischiefes that haue happened to many men by too much speaking and the meane to remedie the same let him reade the treatise of Plutarch concerning too much speaking where he treateth of it so largely that nothing can be added vnto it and also Erasmus booke of the Tongue Neuerthelesse I may say in generall that to keepe a mans selfe from the vice of the tongue he must eschue curiositie lying flatterie mockerie slaundering and tale bearing I call curiositie or inquisitiuenes a discouering of things that are to be kept secret For commonly it commeth to passe that he which is desirous to know too much is a great babler And that is the cause why a certaine great Poet counselleth vs to shun inquisitiue folke because he is a great babler and the property of a great babler is io bewray secrets to sow discord to make quarrels to offend freinds and to make enemies The fashion of inquisitiue folks is to learne mens pedegrees the vices of their races the doings of their houses the faults that befall in mens families what the neighbour oweth and how he gouerneth his wife also to silch letters to stand listening by mens wals to herken what they say to marke diligently what seruants and chambermaids do or say if he see a woman passe through the streets to enquire whēce she coms if he see men talke in secret to learne wherof they speake To be short as Plutarch saith in his booke of Inquisitiuenes they be like to pullerie which as long as they haue a graine to eat do neuer leaue scraping in the dunghill to haue one little graine of corne more so the inquisitiue folke in stead of setting their minds vpon histories and good doings and other needfull things the which are not forbidden to be enquired of do fall to gathering and hoording vp the euill of some house In this case the Athenians shewed themselues to be good men to Philip and little inquisitiue of houshold secrets For hauing intercepted his courriers they opened all his letters and read them sauing those that were written vnto him by his wife Olimpias the which they sent vnto him closed and vnbroken vp as they were Lisimachus demanded of Philippides what he would haue of him ask what you wil sir qd he so it be no secret because that commonly men conceale not any thing but that which is euil and that is the thing that the vnderminer is inquisitiue of And like as the spondgie places of leather do draw into them the worst of the leather so the inquisitiue eares do draw all the matters that are to be had Therefore the law of the Locrians was good which amerced the partie at a good fine that enquired after newes And like as cookes to stirre coles well in their kitchins desire but good store of flesh meates and fisshermen good store of fish so the inquisitiue sort desire abundance of mischieues great numbers of dealings store of nouelties and great chaunges that they may haue wherewith to hunt and kill The remedy of inquisitiuenes is neither to here nor to see the things that belong not vnto vs. For the eie is one of the hands of curiositie is matched with blabbing that is to wit with babling out againe as sayth Plutarch in his treatise of the Fruit of foes As for the Lier he hath no need of eies for he forgeth what he listeth of whome Horace speaking sayth That he that can forget that which he neuer saw and hath no skill to conceale things committed to him in secret is a naughtie fellow and to be taken heed of Lying is a vice detested of God and man as I will declare anon after I haue treated of the seueral sorts of lying For this vice should seeme to be common to all men considering how Dauid saith that all men are liers And so it might seeme that this vice were in some sort excusable vntill we consider that the word Lie is taken in diuers significations Mercurie in his chap. of vnderstanding saith that lying is the foundation and substance of all vice and therefore sinne is termed nothing and leasing or lying because it consisteth of not-being or of bereauing and all not being or bereauing is out of the truth which truth is God and whatsoeuet is out of the truth is leasing And therfore saint Austen in his fourteenth booke of the Citie of God saith That the man which liueth after himselfe that is to say after his owne imagination and not according to Gods ordinance which is the truth doth surely liue in leasing because he liueth according to himselfe and not in such sort as he was created to liue And although a man liue well yet do we say that he is subiect to leasing by way of priuation of the truth which priuation he is runne into by the sinne of Adam For there is not one that doth good no
effect and who dissembling his purpose intended to take the place of Dennis and to do as much as he sent messengers to Timoleon desiring him not to passe his men into Sicilie because the warre began to draw to an end and the Carthagenenses with whom he had secret intelligence would not that his men should passe into Sicilie but that he himselfe should come alone to aid them with his counsell in such affairs as should be offered to deale in And because he doubted least Temoleon would not consent to his request he had desired the Carthaginenses who lay neare vnto the hauen of Rhegium with twentie gallies to stop his passage ouer and to fight with him if he attempted to enter by force Timâ—leon seemed to like well of the saying of the messengers neuerthelesse he said it behoued him for his discharge to haue the same decreed in the assemblie of the Rhegians and in their presence as of them that were friends to them both The which thing he did of set purpose to hide his owne intent the better by making the Rhegians priuie to the matter The next day all the parties met in the Mootehall where the whole day was purposely spent in talke that Timoleons gallies might haue leysure to prepare themselues vnsuspected of the Carthaginenses forasmuch as they saw Timoleon present with them Who assoon as he vnderstood that his gallies were departed all sauing one that staid behind for him went his way secretly through the prease by the Rhegians who being secretly made priuie to the matter by him had staid him from speaking any more And so embarking himselfe without any disturbance he arriued within lesse than an houre at Tauromenion where Andromachus waited for him Sylla in the ciuill warres seeing his enemies to be many in number thought it stood him on hand to vse policie as well as force Wherupon he solicited Scipio one of the consuls to come to agreement with him the which thing Scipio refused not Hereupon many goings and commings were about the matter because Sylla protracted the conclusion verie long finding still some occasion of delay that in the meane while his souldiers who were made and accustomed to such policies as well as their captaine might practise with Scipios souldiers to forsake him For they going into Scipios campe inueigled some of his men with mony some with promises and other some with necessitie so that in the end when this practising had continued a certaine time Sylla approched to their campe with twentie Antsignes where his souldiers fell to saluting Scipios and they saluting them again turned and yeelded themselues vnto them so as Scipio abode alone in his tent where he was taken and not suffred to go away any more Thus like the fowler with his fine birds made to the stale Sylla with his twentie Antsignes drew fortie Antsignes of his enemies into his net whom he led all into his owne campe Which thing when Carbo saw he said That in Sylla he had to deale with a fox and lion both togither and that the fox did him more harme than the lion The emperour Iulian to keepe himselfe from being disappointed of the number of prisoners that he demaunded vsed such a policie as this to the Almans whom he had vanquished and to whom he had graunted peace vpon condition that they should deliuer him all such prisoners as they had of his For doubting least they would not deliuer him all but keepe some good number of them he demaunded of euerie of them that were escaped and saued out of prison what were the names of them that were prisoners because it could not lightly be but that they were either of kin or of alliance or neighbours or friends vnto them and he wrate their names in a paper In the meane season the ambassadours came with their prisoners of whom Iulian caused the names to be set downe in writing and the secretaries conferring the one paper with the other marked those whom the ambassadours mentioned not and named them secretly to the emperor behind him The emperor began to be angrie with the ambassadours for that they had not brought him all his prisoners telling them that they had kept backe such and such of such a citie or towne naming them all by their names whereat the Almans were sore abashed supposing that it came by reuelation from God Whereupon they failed not to deliuer all Triuulce perceiuing the garrison of Millan and specially the Millaners themselues to be astonished at the comming of Maximilian and the Swissers into Lumbardie bethought himselfe of this policie to put a suspition into the emperours head of some cause of distrust in the Swissers He wrate letters with his owne hand and sealed them with his seale to the chiefe leaders and captains of the Swissers that he might bring them in suspition with the emperour and sent them by a seruant of his owne that spake the Swissers tongue well By these letters he willed them to performe within two daies the thing that he and they were agreed vpon for he should then haue all things readie according to their platfourme The messenger offered himselfe of purpose be taken by the emperours scouts and being examined wherfore he came thither without the watchword he praied pardon promising to tel the truth and therupon confessed that he brought letters to the captains of the Swissers At that word his pardon was graunted him and he plucking off his neatherstocke tooke out the letters which were sowed in the sole of it the which were caried to the emperour immediatly When he had read them although he was in great perplexitie yet was he not of opinion that they should be shewed to the cardinall of Sion because he would not accuse a captaine of so great authoritie among the Swissers and much lesse cause them to be attached for feare of putting his affaires in daunger But in his heart he distrusting the disloyaltie of the Swissers he repassed the mountaines againe without making any further speech of it and returned home into Germanie Cyrus by the counsell of Croesus vsed this policie to saue Sardis from sacking He caused it to be cried by the sound of a trumpet That no man should conuey away the bootie because a tenth part thereof was to be giuen of necessitie to Iupiter And for that cause he set warders at euery gate to see that nothing should be conueyed away He did this to hold them at a bey for feare of som mutinie if he should haue taken it from them by force But when they saw the king did it of religion and deuotion they obeyed him without gainsaying by meanes whereof the greatest part of the goods of the citie was saued Thus haue you a part of the feats of warre of times past the which I thought good to adde vnto the antient quicke sayings and to the principall points of the goodliest hystories to the intent that a prince may find in one place and take out of
Two sorts of Appetites Of the reasonable Irefull and Lustful parts of the soule Vertue hath hir bounds but vice is infinit Why the way of Vertue is not so large as the way of Vice God selleth his benefits vnto men for trauell Men esteeme not princes but for their goodnesse A Gouernor ought to be skilfull in things belonging to the mind or soule Plutarch in the life of Pericles A good prince is desirous to resemble such as haue done vertuous deeds Plutarch in the life of Caâ—o Men make account of those whom they take to be vertuous A wise man being armed with vertue cannot be disarmed The priuat person is to do well by constraint of laws but the prince by the directioÌ„ of Vertue Plutarch in the life of Demetrius It is Ignorance not to know euill The one halfe of the Passions follow the Lustfull appetit and the other the Ireful This going before and comming after is not in respect of time and place but of order reason and dignitie That the passions being well taken are not euill Of loue A prince must loue the publike-weale What hatred becommeâ—h a prince In what maner a prince may be merrie and glad Psal. 15. Psal. 22. Of sadnesse sorrow and heauinesse Of friendship A prince ought to be very precise in chusing his friend Many examples of â—aithâ—ull friends Of Hope and Despaire Despaire or Distrust Of Fearfulnes and Foole hardinesse The true way is to feare the power of God A man ought to be angry at sinne Sometimes a State is preserued by Crueltie In state of gouernment things must oft be done according â—o the necessitie of the time The skin of a fox must be matched with the skin of a lion It is better to be poore than to doe wrong If profit be mingled with sinne we must let profit goe A case wherein the outward appearance of profit is followed Crueltie in defending is not vnhonest Enemies must either be won by some singular courtesie or dispatched with rigorous crueltie Crueltie is to be vsed against strangers that come to make conquest With whom courtesie and gentlenesse is to be vsed Wicked counsell giuen by the pope Man-slaughters committed vpon quiet deliberation are disallowed Dauids iudgement vpon Ioab for murthering Abner and Amasa The mercifull dealing of queene Constance Crueltie is not to be vsed for the mainteinance of a state Of Caesar Borgia There is no profit without vertue Wickednesse is not accompanied with honor The blame of Marius The definition of Faitâ— or Faithfulnesse Princes vse the termes of Peace War as they doe monie Men be deceiued by oathes Machiauel No good man will euer lie for any profit or aduantage A prince shuld haue skill of suttleties to saue himselfe from them but not to intangle others The noble answer of the Romane Consuls He sustains greater losse which looseth his credit than he that loseth the thing that was promised him Faith tieth the hands euen of enemies The faithfulnesse of king Lewis the xij A periured person and a liar are very nigh all one Of Othâ— The reuereÌ„ce of an oath The oath of Proculus An example of the despising of oths and vowes Promise is to be kept euen with the infidels Good princes ought to keep well their promises Euill counsell turneth to the hurt of him that counselleth it Not what men say but what they pretend is to be regarded There is great difference betwixt dissimulation and deceitfulnesse or guile To raigne is but a kind of honourable bondage Ronsard A prince is not to keepe his promise made by oth if it be against the dutie betweene man and man A subiect ought not to require any thing that is vnreasonable The man that granteth aduisedly and vpon leisurely deliberation ought noâ— to breake his promise To be true is the beginning of all Vertue Tbe maintenance of iustice dependeth vpon truth The woman that is true of word is also chast Truth is a sufficient defence to himselfe The estimation that men of old time had vnto truth Nothing can continue in his state without calling vpon God God is nere vnto them that call vpon him with a true heart Mans welfare consisteth in Religion A definition of Religion The Heathen kept the ten commaundements The Trinitie was knowne of Mercurie the great Numa Pompilius wrote against the multitude of Gods Of Swearing and of Oths. Of the sabbat day God accepteth not the offerings of the wicked Of Superstition Superstition slippeth down into the hearts of such as are ouerwhelmed with feare Where the feare of God wanteth the realme must needs decay Princes commaund â—en and God princes A prince can not forbeare Religion Religion maketh princes to be obayed Alexander called himselfe the sonne of Iupiter to keepe men vnder the yoke of obedience Constantine Pepin and Charlemaine became great by Religion The bountifulnesse of Philip Augustus to the Clergie The deuotion of Lucius Albinus a Commoner of Rome Scipio holden for religious and for one that consulted with God vpon his affairs The honour that Alexander Seuerus yeelded to Bishops The reuerence that men in old time did beare vnto Priests Selim liberall to the Christian Priests as to men vowed to the seruice of God Religiousnesse maketh Captaines to prosper The preheminence that Priesthood hath had Priests in old time priuiledged from taking an oth The emperors did wear the attire of the high Priests It was not lawfull for the high priest of the Romans to shead mans blood Emperors chastised by priests The feare that men had of excommunication in times past The answer of Lisander to a Priest that would haue had him to confesse his sin vnto him Pride vndoeth Religion The danger that hangeth vpon the touching of things dedicated to churches The dispraise of Hipocrisie A man may beguile the superstitious for the compassing of some commendable effect Du Bellay in his Ogdoads Minos king of Candie Diuers guiles of princes and captains Alexanders Tent or Pauilion The policie of Themistocles Superstition dangerous in a captaine Good captains haue eschewed to be superstitious The pleasant and cunning answer of Cassius Of the fallings of Iulius Caesar and king Edward the third to the ground Caesar and Sylla made small conscience of superstition The answer of Pericles Augustus wold not enterprise any thing on the Nones of any month A notable fault of the Lacedemonians The policie of Papirius Of such as haue fought vnluckily against bird-gazing No guile is to be vsed in religion The reward of the guilefull and wicked A prince ought not to be an Hipocrit Time causeth a man to loue the honest things which he did but counterfait at the first Of taking councell commeth great fruit Example in the prince himselfe serueth to make the prince to be obayed Take away religion and ye take away obedience A prince doth not so much harme by his sin in it selfe as by the example thereof vnto others A small sinne seemeth great in a prince The
POLITICKE MORAL AND MARTIAL Discourses Written in French by M. Iaques Hurault lord of Vieul and of Marais and one of the French kings priuie Councell Dedicated by the Author to the French-kings Maiestie And translated into English by Arthur Golding LONDON Printed by Adam Islip 1595. TO THE RIGHT HONOrable his singular good Lord William Lord Cobham L. warden of the Cinque ports knight of the most noble order of the Garter and one of her Maiesties most honourable priuie counsell long continuance of health with much increase of honour and prosperitie FOrasmuch as being vnknowne to your good Lordship otherwise than by report yet notwithstanding I haue tasted of your goodnes and fauour to my great comfort in my troubles of the which vvhen God vvil I hope I shall be vvell discharged I acknowledge my selfe more bound vnto your honour than any seruice or abilitie of mine can extend vnto And therefore to testifie my thankfull and dutifull mind towards you I haue presumed to dedicate this my labour to your Lordship And because it is a thing ingreffed by nature specially in those that are of best and noblest disposition to take delight in the hearing and reading of such things as are most proper and incident to their owne callings as whereof they haue best skill wherein they most excel therfore may most iustly chalenge to themselues the censure and iudgement of them I persuade myself that this my presumption wil not be vnacceptable or at leastwise will not seeme vntollerable in the sight of your good Lordship and of the residue of your most honorable sort calling both for the matter for the author therof For the matter in substāce is the due administration of state and chiefly of a kingdom both in peace war at home and abrode on the one side through the politike and vertuous gouernment of the partie that holds the scepter of soueraigntie with the loiall linking in of his magistrates and officers vnder him and on the otherside through the seruiceable willing and faithfull obedience of those whom God hath put in subiection to him a matter as of verie great importance and behoofe so also greatlie beseeming those whom GOD hath set in authoritie For of all the states and degrees which GOD hath ordeined for the well maintaining of this mortall life like as in highnesse of dignitie and honour and woorthinesse of preheminence none is comparable to the state of gouernment specially which is well and orderlie disposed so of all the formes of gouernment that haue beene in the world the Monarchie or Kingdome hath euer as well by common and continuall experience as also by the grounded iudgement of the best practised politicians and by the graue censure of the wisest men yea and euen by the ordinance approbation of God bin alwaies deemed and found to be most antient and sufficient most beneficial and behoofful most magnificent and honourable most stable and durable and consequently most happie and commendable as vvhich besides many other most excellent prerogatiues which I omit here doth most resemble the highest soueraigntie of God the onely one vniversall Monarch of the whole world and is most agreeable to the first originall patterne of souereigntie on earth I meane Adam whom God created but one to haue the dominion and lordship of all creatures vnder the cope of heauē The which being iustly forgone by that first mans disobedience God thought good in his wisdom to repair and set vp againe much more large and magnificent than afore in the person of one other man namely of our Lord Iesus Christ whom he hath made heir of all things giuing vnto him all power both in heauen and earth to reigne in glory euerlastingly world without end Who whē he was to come into the world in the last temporall Monarchie of the world did thus much further beautifie and commend the state of Monarchie by his comming in that he vouchsafed not to come afore such time as the state of Rome was brought into a Monarchie and setled in the gouernment of one sole soueraigne Such and so excellent is the matter whereof this booke doth treat The which was written in French by one Iaques Hurault lord of Vieul and Marrais an honourable personage and as may wel appeare by his handling of the matters here treated of of great learning iudgement experience and policie Who for his prudence grauitie and loialtie was admitted to be of the priuie counsell to his soueraigne lord and master the French king Wherby he had fit occasion and meanes to see into the states and forms of gouernmēt as well of forrein countries as of his owne and therefore might be the better able to discerne the truth of things and to deliuer his censure the more soundlie concerning the managing of publike affaires and matters of state But now to come home out of Fraunce into England and to applie the case more particularlie to our selues I am fullie resolued that if wee list to looke vpon things with right iudging eyes and to consider them with well aduised minds we shall plainlie see there was neuer anie nation vnder the sunne more bound to yeeld immortall thanks vnto God for their state Prince and soueraigne than we be for ours or to magnifie him more for the innumerable benefits receyued by that means than we be For first our state is that state which is most iustly deemed the best and most excellent namely a Monarchie or kingdome wherein one sole souereigne assisted with a most graue Senat of prudent and sage counsailors reigneth by wisedome and not by will by law and not by lust by loue and not by lordlinesse And vnlesse we will denie the thing which the world seeth and gladly honoureth and which we our selues haue continually found and felt in experience now by the space of xxxvi years and vpward to our inestimable good and comfort we must needs confesse that God hath giuen vs a prince in whose sacred person to speake the truth in as few words as so great a matter may permit there wanteth not anie heroicall vertue or gift of grace that may beseeme or adorne the maiestie of a kingdome the which thing is so much the more glorious and beautifull in her highnesse being both a woman and a virgin By whose means God hath also restored vnto vs the bright shining beames of his most holie Gospell late afore eclipsed with the foggie clouds of superstitious ignorāce and humane traditions and the true ancient and catholike religion borne down and in maner ouerwhelmed with the terrible stormes of cruell persecutions a benefit wherunto none other can be comparable in this world Of the which religion her Maiestie hath continually shewed her self not a bare professor but a most earnest and zealous follower and a most lightsome example to her subiects directing al her studies counsels and proceedings to the setting forth of Gods glorie as well by aduauncing and maintaining the same religiō
Sâ—lomon in his Prouerbs Blessed is the man that alwaies standeth in feare but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischiefe S. Paul willeth vs to go through with our saluation with feare and terror and he would not haue vs to be too skilful And in the xj of Esai it is written that the spirit of the feare of God shall rest vpon the blossome of the roote of Iesse And in the lxvj chapter Whom shall I regard saith the Lord but him that is meeld and gentle and standeth in feare of my words And in the xxvj At the feare of thee we haue conceiued and brought forth the spirit of saluation And in the xxxiij Psalme Ye righteous feare ye the Lord. And in the xviij Psalme The feare of the Lord endureth for euer And as S. Ierome saith Feare is the keeper of al vertues and the true way is to feare the power of God Homer in his Iliads bringeth in Helen vsing these termes to king Priam Surely deare Lord and father in law I doe both feare you and honor you because we ordinarily reuerence those whom we feare And therefore neere to the common hall of the Ephores in Sparta there was a chappell dedicated to Feare for feare doth alwaies accompany shame Also it is a very commendable thing to be affraid of vnhonesty and yet not to be afraid to be counted vnhonest As for example when one vpon a time vpbraided Xenophanes the son of Lagus that he was fearefull and durst not play at dice I confesse quoth he that I am not only fearefull but also exceeding fearefull but that is but in things vnhonest For honourable is that feare that restraineth a man from doing euill As touching meekenesse or meeldnesse it beseemeth a prince very well For it maketh him gentle courteous and affable And it is one of the three vertues which Dauid would haue in a king For in the xliiij Psalme Ride on saith he and raigne because of thy meekenesse iustice and truth And this vertue is contrarie to choleriknesse hastinesse or fumishnesse which ought to be far off from a prince as the which doth too much blind him and bereaue him of reason and iudgement But to be angrie with leaudnesse and leaud persons is very well done prouided that it be not in such sort as it extend to sinne according to this saying of the Psalmist Be angrie but sinne not in your hearts And for as much as I will treat hereof more largely when I come to speake of anger or wrath and of meeldnesse or meekâ—nesse I will content my selfe for the present to haue shewed the passions of the mind as it were at a glance which though they seeme at the first blush to encounter against vertue be such neuerthelesse as a well-disposed mind may greatly helpe it selfe by them and make them to serue to very good end and so alter the shape of them as that the thing which seemed euill shall fall out to be good and commendable CHAP. XI Whether Vertue and Honestie be to be seperated from profit in matters of gouernment or state BVt I feare least by standing too long vpon matter of Manners I forslow the matters of State and that in going about to make a prince vertuous I make him a prince misaduised For oftentimes the managing of publike affairs is such that he must rather haue regard of the present case how to wind himselfe out of the briers and to get out of some shrewd pinch than to stand musing vpoÌ„ vertue because that they which do so busie their heads doe often times suffer their state to be lost If Brutus that conspired against Caesar had not bene too spice-conscienst saying it was not lawfull to kill any other than a tyrant but had beleeued the counsell of Cassius he had not left Antonie the tyrants friend behind by whose death the common-weale had bene discharged of al danger In so much that one little sparke of conscience procured vnto Brutus the losse both of his owne life and of the libertie of his countrie The first Brutus did not so for it liked him better to vse crueltie in putting his own childreÌ„ to death than to leaue any little match of conspiracie against the state and this barbarous crueltie and vnkindnesse of his saued the common-weale When Cabades king of Persia was cast in prison by his subiects that had rebelled against him and chosen one Blases in his steede this Blases entered into counsell what was to be done with Cabades The most part were of opinion that he should not be put to death but that he should be kept in prison Othersome gaue counsell that he should be dispatched among whom Gusanascades one of the greatest lords deliuering his opinion shewed them a little pen-knife wherewith he was wont to pare his nailes and said vnto them Ye see this little cuttle this same may now without any paine and without any danger doe that which twentie thousand men cannot doe hereafter And euen so it came to passe in deed For Cabades getting out of prison recouered his kingdome and putting out Blases eies with scalding oyle laid him in prison and put Gusanascades to death Theodatus king of the Gothes was loath to kill Amalasont being an honourable and vertuous princesse and wife of Theoderik and mother of Athalarik but in the end he dispatched hir at the persuasion of such as told him that his life could not else bee in safetie Theophrast reporteth of Aristides that in priuate cases betweene man and man he was a perfect vpright and iust-dealing man but in matters of gouernment concerning the common-weale he did many things according to the necessitie of the time The Athenians in the conference which they had with the Melians said that the Lacedemonians vsed much vertue among themselues and in the things that concerned their lawes and customes at home but in their behauior towards strangers they were a people that esteemed that to be most honest and reasonable which was most for their profit Euphemeus an Athenian said to the Camerins that the man which raigneth by tyrannie and a citie that hath an empire deeme nothing vnhonest that may be for their profit nor account a-any thing theirs which is not safe guarded and in all cases they esteeme others to be their friends or foes according to the occasion of time and dealings Plutarch speaking of Marius saith he made reckoning of iustice when it was for his owne behoofe and tooke profit both for iustice and honor not considering that truth is more strong and mightie than falshood but measuring the valew of them both by the profit that might rise thereof and saying that when a lions skin will not sted a mans turne he must take vnto it the skin of a fox This hath bin the cause that the best aduised which haue written of gouernment and they also which haue practised it haue not stood so much vpon vertue as vpon the occurrence of
be sterne and somtimes to be meeld and after a sort to abay the people at least wise so it be with some maiesty to heare and see disorders to put vp wrongs without saying any thing to them and to say as Antigonus said to his sonne Art thou ignorant my son that our raigning is nothing else than a certaine glorious bondage Among the sumptuous he must be bountiful and with the moderat hee must vse moderation as Alcibiades could well skill to doe who by applying himselfe vnto the behauiors of all men and to the customes of all nations did purchase to himselfe their friendship Brutus plaied the disard to the intent that men should haue no mistrust of him nor be priuie to the greatnesse of his courage Clowis in not punishing a certaine souldier out of hand that had denied him the vessell of S. Remy did wisely for feare of a mutinie among the men of warre but yet he punished him afterward howbeit after a barbarous fashion in that he slew him with his owne hand Lewis the eleuenth did now and then heare himselfe il spoken of and wisely dissembled it Such dissimulation is needfull for a king and is expressed in the first booke of the Iliads of Homer vnder the person of Chalcas the soothsayer who durst not tell the truth before king Agamemnon nor from whence the plague proceeded that was as then in the campe of the Greeks vntill Achilles had vndertaken to warrant him For when a king quoth he is angrie although hee make no outward countenance thereof but dissemble it for the present time yet will he not faile to be auenged afterward When any great and princely personage Is stird to choler be it nere so small Though for the present he suppresse his rage Yet in his heart to the heat therof at all Abateth not no winke of sleepe can fall Within his eies vntill he doe espie Conuenient means to be reuenged by It is another maner of thing to pretend to be a man of honestie and to promise that which he intendeth not to performe for that is called guile or deceit and not dissimulation I know well that a prince for want of aduisement and consideration may make some oth which it were much better for him to breake than to keepe As for example Herod at the feast of his birth-day sware that he would giue his daughter whatsoeuer she would aske and she by hir mothers counsell asked the head of S. Iohn Babtist The king being sory that he had sworne but yet daring not falsifie his oth caused his head to be smitten off But had he bin a good man he would in that case haue broken his oth For in swearing to giue her any thing of how great value soeuer it were he meant not to giue hir the life of any good man And although he had so said yet was not the oth to haue bin of any value or effect being made against good behauior For the vow that is made against vpright and iust dealing is no vow at all neither ought it in any wise to be kept or performed In all cases where two incoÌ„ueniences offer theÌ„selues alway the least is to be chosen And therfore he should haue answered the faire lady as Agesilaus answered a friend of his that charged him with his promise in an vnreasonable thing that he demanded who refusing to graunt his request said If the thing that you require be rightful I promised it if it be vnrightful I promised it not And when it was replied that a prince ought to performe whatsoeuer he promiseth no more quoth he than the subiect ought to demaund any thing that is vnreasonable Herod therfore was no more bound by his generall promise to deliuer Iohn Baptists head than Agetus was to deliuer his wife to his friend Ariston vnder pretence of his oth For Ariston being in loue with the wife of Agetus a woman of excellent beautie found this fraud to get hir out of hir husbands hands He promised Agetus to giue him any one thing that he would chuse of all that euer he had praying him to doe the like for him againe Agetus not mistrusting that Ariston being a maried man would haue left his owne wife to take another mans agreed to his request and sware it Ariston discharged his owne promise out of hand and when it came to his turne to make his demaund he required the wife of Agetus who therupon affirmed that his meaning was to giue him any thing sauing hir Neuerthelesse although he was thus circumuented yet deliuered he hir for his oths sake making more account of his oth than did a certaine Romane in the like case who hauing sworne that he would neuer put away his wife did put hir away afterward being taken in adultrie howbeit not afore he had obtained a dispensation of his oth at the hands of the emperor Vespaâ—ian Which things serue well to shew in what estimation an oth was had in time past seeing that men would performe it notwithstanding that they were beguiled in the making therof Much lesse then is he to be excused which hauing aduisedly and vpon good deliberatioÌ„ granted a thing doth falsifie his promise vnder colour that it is against the benefit of his realme True it is that as Cicero saith in his books of duties if a man be drawne by deceit or driuen by feare to make any promise he is discharged therof but otherwise he ought to keepe it And he shall find that his affaires shal prosper better by keeping touch than by vsing deceit which illbeseemeth all men and chiefly those that are of greatest calling For as saith Thucidides deceit is alwaies more foule and shamefull than violence because violence is wrought by a kind of vertue and by authoritie but deceit proceedeth of very malice and mischieuousnesse CHAP. XIII of Truth FOr as much as I haue spoken of falshood and deceit against the which Mercurie the great opposeth truth to the intent we may be the more prouoked to keepe our faith and to performe our promises This place inuiteth me to speake a word or twaine by the way in commendation of Truth the which Plato termeth The wel-spring of all good things For as Plato saith in his Timaeus Like as without being there is no generation so without Truth there is no faithfulnesse And therefore Dauid doth ordinarilie take Truth for that same stedfastnesse which we haue in keeping our promise which wee call Faithfullnesse My meaning is not to speak here of the original truth for that resteth alonly in God accordingly as our Lord told the Iews That he was the light and the truth And this truth cannot be known of any but only of the father of Truth who is the euerlasting God as saith Origen For none but the father knoweth the son neither doth any but the sonne know the father And Mercurie in his chapter of Generation saith That the truth is a
sayd battel of Cannas how happeneth it that you come not to the Romans still Thinke you that wee be so leawd and so vnthankfull that we vvill not reward the vertue of our good friends according to their vvorthinesse vvhich is honoured euen of our enemies And after hee had imbraced him in his armes he presented him vvith a goodly horse of seruice for the wars and gaue him fiue hundred dragmaes Whereupon from that day foorth he neuer forsooke Marcellus but became very loiall and a most earnest discouerer of such as tooke part against the Romans Frederike the emperour and king of Naples minding to punish the rebels of Samimato made countenance as though he had not espied their conspiracie terming them euerywhere good and loiall subiects to the end that despaire should not cause them to enter into arms against him openly as the lords of Naples that followed the part of Conradine had done against Charles duke of Aniou For when they saw that Conradine was ouercome and that there was no hope for them to obtaine pardon at the hands of Charles of Aniou they fel to rebelling and fortified themselues in diuers places Likewise when people are to far inraged it is no time to punnish but rather to reconcile and appease When the Parisians rebelled for the aids to put them in feare men began to throw some of the rebels into the water But in steed of dismaieng them they burst out into greater furie than afore in so much that the executioners were faine to giue ouer their punishment for feare of increasing the commotion in steed of appeasing it Agesilaus hauing discouered a very dangerous conspiracie did put some of the traitors to death secretly without arraignment or indictment contrarie to the lawes of Lacedemon For vnto people that are set vpon mischiefe not onely ouer-rigorous iustice but also biting words are dangerfull considering that in time of trouble and in time of commotion one word or one letter may doe more harme than a notable iniutie shall doe another time And euen so besell it to Macrinus for a letter which hee wrate vnto Mesa wherein he told him that he had bought the emperorship of a sort of couetous souldiers that had no consideration of deserts but onely who would most giue With which words the men of warre being chafed did all sweare that it should cost Macrinus his head in recompence of the wrong that he had done them And so it came to passe indeed We haue spoken sufficiently of the discretion meeldnesse and vprightnesse which a prince ought to haue in cases of iustice for the well and worthie executing thereof But for as much as it is vnpossible for a prince to attend at al times to the doing of iustice he must needs do iustice by deputies and set men of good and honest reputation in his place to do right betweene partie and partie when coÌ„trouersies rise betwixt them as Moses did by the counsell of his father in law Iethro In the chusing of whome a prince may as far ouershoot himselfe as if he iudged all causes without any foreconsideration For he that maketh not choise of good iudges dooth great wrong to the common-weale No importunat sute no earnest intreatance no gifts that could be giuen no fauour no familiaritie could euer cause Alexander Scuerus to bestow any office of iustice vpon any man whome he deemed not fit â—or it and vertuous in the administration of it Such therefore should be chosen as are of skill and of good life and they ought to haue good wages and not to take any other thing than their ordinarie stipend allowed them by the prince Traian vsed that kind of dealing of whom it is written that he could not abide that iudges should take any thing for their hire but that they should be recoÌ„pensed at his hand according to their seruice and good dealing Adrian likewise enquired of the life conuersation of the senators and when he had in truth found any that was vertuous poore he increased his intertainment and gaue him rewards of his owne priuat goods Contrariwise when he found any to be giuen to vice he neuer left vntill he had driuen him out of the senat Now then the prince that will haue good iudges yea and good officers of all sorts must either honor them and reward them or else punish them according to their deserts As touching the honoring of them Augustus hath shewed vs an example therof who at his entering into the senat-house saluted all the senators and at his going out would not suffer any of them to rise vp to him Alexander Seuerus did greatly honour the presidents of the prouinces causing theÌ„ to sit with him in his chariot that men might see the honour that he yeelded to the ministers of iustice and that he might the more conueniently talke with them concerning the rule and gouernment wherof they had the charge He neither made nor punished any senator without the aduice of the whole senat And vpon a time when he saw a freeman of his walking betweene two senators he sent one to buffet him saieng it was vnseemly that he should presume to meddle among senators which might well haue bin their seruant Likewise the Emperour Claudius neuer dealt in any affaire of importance but in the senat Euen Tiberius himselfe had great regard of them and saluted them whensoeuer he passed by them And as touching the rewarding of them the foresaid Alexander may serue for an example to good princes For he did great good to iudges and rewarded them bountifully And being asked on a time why he did so As a prince quoth he neither ought nor in reason can be truly called a prince except he minister iustice so be ye sure that when I find an officer which doth his dutie in that behalfe I cannot pay or recompence him sufficiently That is the cause why I doe them so many courtesies besides that in making them rich I bereaue them of al cause to impouerish other men But like as a good iudge cannot be too much recoÌ„pensed so an euill iudge cannot be too much punished We haue a notable example knowne to all men concerning the punishment of the iudge whom Cambyses made to be flaine quick and with his skin curried caused the seat of iudgement to bee couered and made the same iudges son to sit as iudge on it that in ministring iustice he should bethinke him of his fathers punishment Albeit that Antonine was very pittifull yet was he very rigorous to iudges that did not their dutie insomuch that wheras in other cases he pardoned eueÌ„ the greeuousest offences in this case he punnished euen the lightest There was also another thing in him right worthie of commeÌ„dation in the execuâ—ion of iustice namely that to auoid confusion he caused al such to be dispatched out of hand as had any sute in the court And when any office was void he would