heed that he turn it to no evil use. There is virtue in stones and
in herbs, but word has virtue more than any earthly thing. But the
word must not be discordant with the thought, as when Uluxes by his
eloquence persuaded Anthenor to betray to him the city of Troy. Words
are both evil and good, they make friend of foe and foe of friend.
For a true example of Rhetoric read how Julius and the consul Cithero
pleaded against one another when the treason of Catiline was discovered.
1641-5397. PRACTIC. This has three divisions, Ethics, Economics and
Politics. A king must learn the first in order that he may rule himself
in the way of good living, the second teaches him how to order his
household, and the third how to govern his kingdom. (1641-1710.)
1711-1984. The first point of Policy is TRUTH, which above all things
ought to be found in a king; and this is in part signified by the
jewels of his crown.
To show thee that Truth is the sovereign virtue of all, I will tell
thee a tale. (1711-1782.)
_King, Wine, Woman and Truth._ Daires, Soldan of Perce, had three wise
men about his chamber, Arpaghes, Manachaz and Zorobabel. To them he
put the question, which is strongest, wine, woman, or a king. Of this
they disputed in turn, and Arpaghes said, ‘A king is the strongest,
for he has power over men and can raise them up and cast them down:
also he alone stands free from the law.’ Manachaz said, ‘Wine is the
strongest, for this takes reason away from the wise and makes the fool
seem learned, this turns cowardice to courage and avarice to largess.’
Zorobabel said, ‘Women are the strongest, for the king and all other
men come of women and bow to the love of women,’ and he told how he had
seen Cirus upon his throne overcome by the love of Apemen, daughter
of Besazis, so that she did with him what she would. Women too make
men desire honour, and woman is next to God the greatest help of man,
as _Alceste_, wife of Ametus, gave her life to save her husband. Thus
Zorobabel told his opinion, but nevertheless he said that above all
these the mightiest of all earthly things is Truth: and so the question
was concluded, and Zorobabel was most commended for his judgement.
(1783-1984.)
1985-2694. LARGESS is the second point of Policy. A king must be
free from the vices both of Avarice and of Prodigality. As Aristotle
taught by the ill example of the king of Chaldee, he must spend his
own substance and not that of his people, he must do justice before he
makes gifts, and his gifts must be to those who have deserved them.
(1985-2060.)
_Julius and the poor Knight._ A knight came to plead his cause at
Rome, where the Emperor Julius was in presence; but he could get no
advocate, because he was poor. He prayed for justice to the Emperor,
and Julius assigned him an advocate. The knight was angry, and said,
‘When I was with thee in Afric, I fought myself and put no man in my
stead: and so thou here shouldest speak for me thyself.’ Julius took
his cause in hand; and thus every worthy king should help his servants
when in need. (2061-2114.)
_Antigonus and Cinichus._ A king should know how much to give. A poor
knight asked King Antigonus for a great sum, and he replied, ‘That is
too much for thee to ask’: then when the knight asked a very small
gift, he said, ‘That is too little for me to give.’
Kings must not exceed the due measure in giving, and especially they
ought not to give to flatterers, who offend against God, against the
prince and against the people. Yet flattery is always found in the
courts of kings. (2115-2216.)
_Diogenes and Aristippus._ Two Philosophers went from Carthage to
Athens to learn, and thence returned again. The one, Diogenes, was
content to dwell apart and study, the other, Arisippus, went to court
and got honour and wealth by flattery. Diogenes was gathering herbs in
his garden and washing them in the river, when Arisippus passed by with
a company, and said, ‘If thou hadst known how to make thyself pleasing
to thy prince, there would have been no need for thee to pick herbs.’
The other replied, ‘If thou hadst known how to pick herbs, there would
have been no need for thee to make thyself pleasing by thy flatteries.’
(2217-2317.)
But the example of Arisippus is chiefly followed, and flattery is that
which makes men beloved. [Dante the poet said once to a flatterer,
‘Thou hast many more servants than I, for a poet cannot find how to
feed and clothe himself, but a flatterer may rule and lead a king
and all his land.’] There was a custom among the Romans, which was
established against flattery, as follows. (2318-2354.)
_Roman Triumph._ When an Emperor had a triumph after victory, he went
in pomp with four white horses and the nobles of the land before and
behind him: but one sat with him in his car, who said continually,
‘Know thyself, and remember that good fortune is only for a time.’
Moreover he and every other man might speak whatever truth he knew to
the Emperor, whether good or bad. (2355-2411.)
_The Emperor and his Masons._ Again, when an Emperor was enthroned, his
masons came to ask him how he would have the stone made for his tomb.
There was no flattery then, to deceive princes. (2412-2448.)
_Caesar’s Answer._ One came and did reverence to Cesar, as if he were a
god: then he came and sat down by his side as an equal. ‘If thou art a
god,’ he said, ‘I have done well in worshipping thee, but if a man, in
sitting by thy side.’ Cesar answered that he was a fool, and had done
ill in one of two things, either in sitting by the side of his god or
in worshipping a mere man. They that heard this took it as a lesson
against flattery. (2449-2490.)
The king who bestows his goods upon flatterers does harm to himself
and his land. There is an example in the Bible. (2491-2526.)
_Ahab and Micaiah._ 1 Kings xxii. (2527-2694.)
2695-3102. JUSTICE is the third point of Policy. A land is nothing
without men, and men cannot be without law. It is for the king above
all others to guide the law, and though he is above the law, yet he
must not do things which are against it. He must make his own life
right towards God, and then endeavour to rule his people rightly, and
he must see that his judges are both wise and true. (2695-2764.)
_Maximin_, when he appointed a judge, inquired carefully whether
he were virtuous or no. Thus the course of law was not hindered by
coveitise. (2765-2782.)
_Gaius Fabricius_, consul of Rome, when the Samnites brought him gold,
tried it with taste and smell, and said he knew not for what it would
serve. It was better, he said, to rule the men who had the gold, than
to possess gold and lose the liberty to be just. (2783-2817.)
In those times none was preferred to the office of judge unless he were
a friend to the common right. (2818-2832.)
_Conrad_ ordered matters so that in his time no man durst set aside the
law for gold. (2833-2844.)
_Carmidotoire_ the consul slew himself rather than allow his own law to
be broken, when by inadvertence he had come armed to the Senate-house.
(2845-2888.)
_Cambyses_ flayed a corrupt judge, and nailed his skin upon the chair
where his son was set to judge in his place. (2889-2904.)
_Ligurgius_, prince of Athens, having established good laws in his
city, took an oath from the citizens that they would change nothing
during his absence; and so he departed, never to return, desiring that
Athens might still enjoy good laws. (2917-3028.)
_The first Lawgivers._ The names of those who first made laws ought to
be handed down to fame. They are Moses, Mercurius, Neuma Pompilius,
Ligurgius, Foroneus, Romulus. Kings ought to be led by law, and it is a
scandal to a king if the law be not executed. (3029-3102.)
3103-4214. The fourth point of Policy is PITY. This is the virtue by
which the King of kings was moved when he sent his Son down to this
earth. Every subject should fear his king, and every king should have
mercy on his people. [The apostle James says that he who shows no pity
shall find none. Cassodre says that the kingdom is safe where pity
dwells. Tullius that the king who is overcome by pity bears a shield
of victory. We read how a knight appealed from the wrath of Alexander
to his pity and so obtained grace. (3149*-3179*.)] Constantine said,
‘He who is a servant to pity, is worthy to rule all else.’ Troian said
that he desired his people to obey him rather from love than fear.
(3103-3162.)
[_The Pagan and the Jew._ Two travellers went through the desert
together, and each asked the other of his belief. The one said, ‘I am a
Pagan, and by my faith I ought to love all men alike and do to others
as I would they should do to me.’ The other, ‘I am a Jew, and by my
faith I ought to be true to no man, except he be a Jew, as I am.’ The
day was hot and the Pagan rode on an ass with his baggage, while the
Jew went on foot. The Jew asked the Pagan to let him ease his weariness
by riding, and the other assented. So they went on, but when the Pagan
desired his ass back, the Jew rode on, saying that thus he did his duty
by his law. The Pagan prayed to God to judge his quarrel, and going on
further he found the Jew slain by a lion and the ass with the baggage
standing by him. Thus a man may know how the pitiful man deserves pity,
and that lack of pity is the cause of evil. (3207*-3360*.)]
_Codrus_, king of Athens, having a war, was informed by Apollo that
either he must perish in the battle or his people be discomfited. He
had pity upon his people and gave his life for them. Where have we such
kings now? (3163-3214.)
_Pompey_ had war against the king of Ermenie, and having taken him
captive, he gave him his crown again and restored him to his kingdom.
(3215-3248.)
Cruelty is the opposite of Pity. (3249-3266.)
_Leoncius_ the tyrant cruelly cut off the nose and lips of the merciful
Justinian: he was so served himself by Tiberius, and Justinian was
restored to the empire. (3267-3294.)
_Siculus_ the cruel king caused Berillus to make a bull of brass,
within which men should be burnt to death. Berillus was himself the
first who suffered this torture. (3295-3332.)
_Dionys_ fed his horses on man’s flesh and was slain by Hercules.
(3341-3354.)
_Lichaon_ devoured the bodies of his guests and was changed into a
wolf. (3355-3369.)
Tyranny may not last. The Lion will not slay the man who falls down
before him to entreat mercy, and how then ought a Prince to destroy the
man who asks his mercy? Yet some tyrants have been so cruel that Pity
cannot move them. (3370-3416.)
_Spertachus_, a warrior and a cruel man, made war on the queen
Thameris, and having taken her son prisoner, he slew him without mercy.
The queen gathered a power and took the tyrant in an ambush. Then she
filled a vessel with the blood of his princes and cast him therein,
bidding him drink his fill of blood. (3417-3513.)
A king, however, must not fail to slay in the cause of Justice, and he
must be a champion of his people without any weak pity. If he fears
without cause, he is like those in the fable who were in dread when the
Mountain was in labour, and at length it brought forth a mouse.
As there is a time for peace, so there is also a time for war, and
here too virtue stands between two extremes, between foolish pity and
rash cruelty. Of men who have undertaken war for a righteous cause
there are examples in the Bible, and of those I will tell thee one.
(3514-3626.)
_Story of Gideon._ Judges vii. (3627-3806.)
_Saul and Agag._ Saul failed to obey God’s command to slay Agag,
showing pity wrongfully: therefore he lost his life and his kingdom.
(3807-3845.)
On the other hand _Salomon_ obeyed his father David’s command in
slaying Joab, and yet he showed mercy in his reign and wrought no
tyranny. Also he was wise and had worthy men about him, and there is
nothing better for a ruler than Wisdom. Salomon asked for this gift
from God, and this it is which a king chiefly needs in order to hold
the balance even between Justice and Pity. (3846-3944.)
_Courtiers and Fool._ Lucius, king of Rome, asked his steward and his
chamberlain what men said about him. The steward merely flattered in
his reply, but the chamberlain answered that people thought he would be
a worthy king if he had good counsellors. The fool, who played with his
bauble by the fire, laughed at both, and said, ‘If the king were wise,
the council would not be bad.’ Thus the king was instructed and put
away his bad counsellors. (3945-4010.)
_Folly of Rehoboam._ 1 Kings xii. 1-20. (4027-4129.)
Counsel of young men thus leads to ruin. There is a question whether it
is better that the king be wise or his council. The answer is that it
is better to have wise counsellors. (4130-4180.)
The Emperor _Anthonius_ said he would rather have one of his subjects
saved than a thousand of his enemies slain. Mercy mingled with justice
is the foundation of every king’s rule. Thus I have spoken of four
points, Truth, Largess, Pity and Justice. There is yet a fifth.
(4181-4214.)
4215-5397. CHASTITY, the fifth point of Policy. The male is made for
the female, but one must not desire many. A man must keep the troth he
has plighted in marriage, and this all the more in the high and holy
estate of a king.
Aristotle advised Alexander to frequent the company of fair women, but
not to beguile himself with them. For it is not they who beguile the
men, but the men beguile themselves. The water is not to blame if a man
drown himself in it, nor the gold if men covet it. It is by nature that
a man loves, but not by nature that he loses his wits: that is like
frost in July or hose worn over the shoe. Yet great princes have been
thus misled. (4215-4312.)
_Sardanapalus_ lost his kingdom and his honour, because he became
effeminate in his lusts. (4313-4343.)
_David_, however, though he loved many women, preserved the honour of
knighthood. (4344-4360.)
_Cyrus_ had a war with the _Lydians_, and he could not conquer them.
Then, feigning, he made a perpetual peace with them, and they fell into
idleness and fleshly lust, so that he subdued them easily. (4361-4405.)
_Balaam_ advised king Amalech to send fair women among the Hebrews, and
these led them into lust, so that they were discomfited in battle, till
Phinees caused them to amend their ways. (4406-4445.)
This virtue of Chastity belongs especially to a king.
_Salomon_ took wives of sundry nations and did idolatry in his folly.
Therefore after his death his kingdom was divided.
_Antonie_, son of Severus, gave an evil example of lust; and the tale
which here follows will show what is the end of tyranny and lechery.
(4446-4592.)
_Tarquin_ the tyrant had many sons, and among them Arrons. He had a war
with the Gabiens, and to their city Arrons went, showing wounds which
he said he had received from his father and brethren. They took him as
their leader, and he by his father’s advice cut off the heads of their
chief men, and so the Romans conquered the city. They made a solemn
sacrifice in the temple of Phebus, and a serpent came and devoured the
offerings and quenched the fires. Phebus said that this was for the sin
and pride of Tarquin and his son, and that he who should first kiss his
mother, should avenge the wrong. Brutus fell to the ground and kissed
his mother Earth. (4593-4753.)
Tarquin had a war afterwards with Ardea, and they were long at the
siege. A dispute arose between Arrons and Collatin as to the virtue of
their wives, and they rode to Rome to see how they were employed. At
the palace they found the wife of Arrons full of mirth and thinking
nothing of her husband; at the house of Collatin, Lucrece was working
with her women and praying for her husband’s return. Arrons was smitten
with love of her, and returning again the next day he ravished her. She
on the morrow called her husband and her father, with whom came Brutus,
and told them her tale. Refusing their forgiveness she slew herself,
and they took the body into the market-place, where Brutus told the
tale to the people. They remembered also the former evil doings of
Tarquin and his son, and sent both into exile. (4754-5130.)
_Virginia._ When Appius Claudius was governor of Rome, he set his
desire upon a gentle maid, daughter of Livius Virginius, and he caused
his brother Marcus to claim her unrightfully as his slave. Her father
was with the host, but he rode hastily to Rome; and when Appius
adjudged her to his brother against the law, finding that he could
save her from dishonour in no other way, he thrust her through with
his sword and made his way back to the host. Thus the tyranny came to
men’s ears and the unrighteous king was deposed by the common consent.
(5131-5306.)
As an example of chastity in marriage we read the story of _Sarra_ the
daughter of Raguel. Seven men who married her were strangled by the
fiend Asmod, because they took her only for lust; but Thobie, taught by
Raphael, had his will and yet kept the law of marriage. God has bound
beasts by the law of nature only, but men must follow also the law of
reason and do no lechery. Thus the philosopher taught to Alexander.
(5307-5397.)
I thank you, father. The tales sound in my ears, but my heart is
elsewhere; for nothing can make me forget my love. Leave all else
therefore, and let us return to our shrift.
Yes, my son, there is one point more, and this is the last. (5398-5438.)
LIB. VIII.
1-198. LAWS OF MARRIAGE. God created Adam and Eve to repair the loss
of Lucifer and his angels, and bade them increase and multiply. In
the first generation by God’s law brother and sister were joined in
marriage, then afterwards cousin wedded cousin, as in the time of
Habraham and Jacob. At last under Christian law Marriage was forbidden
also in the third degree. Yet some men take no heed to kinship or
religion, but go as a cock among the hens and as a stallion among the
mares. Such love may be sweet at first, but afterwards it is bitter.
199-2008. EXAMPLES OF INCEST. _Caligula_ the Roman Emperor bereft his
three sisters of their virginity: therefore God bereft him of his life
and of his empire.
_Amon_ lay with his sister Thamar, and Absolon his brother took
vengeance upon him.
_Lot_ lay with his daughters, and the stocks which came from them were
not good.
Thus if a man so set his love, he will afterwards sorely repent it; and
of this I think to tell a tale which is long to hear. (199-270.)
_Apollonius of Tyre._ In a Chronicle called Pantheon I read how king
Antiochus ravished his daughter and lived with her in sin. To hinder
her marriage, he proposed a problem to those who sought her love,
and if a man failed to resolve it, he must lose his head. At length
came the Prince Apollinus of Tyre, and the king proposed to him the
question. He saw too clearly what the riddle meant, and Antiochus
fearing shame put off the time of his reply for thirty days. (271-439.)
The Prince feared his vengeance and fled home to Tyre, and thence
he departed secretly in a ship laden with wheat. Antiochus sent one
Taliart in all haste to Tyre, with command to make away with the Prince
by poison. Finding that Apollinus had fled, he returned.
In the meantime the Prince came to Tharsis, and took lodging there
with one Strangulio and his wife Dionise. The city was suffering
famine, and Apollinus gave them his wheat as a free gift, in return for
which they set up a statue of him in the common place. (440-570.)
A man came to him from Tyre and reported that king Antiochus desired
to slay him. He was afraid and fled thence again by ship. A storm came
upon him and the ship was wrecked: Apollinus alone came alive to land.
A fisherman helped him and directed him to the town of Pentapolim,
where he found the people gathered to see games, and the king and queen
of the country there present. (571-695.)
He surpassed all others in the games, and the king called him to supper
in his hall. At supper he was sad and ate nothing, and the king sent to
him his daughter to console him. To her he told his name and country,
and with that he let the tears run down his cheeks. She fetched a
harp and sang to it, and he took it from her hand and played and sang
divinely. They all saw that he was of gentle blood. (696-799.)
The king’s daughter desired her father that he might be her teacher,
and in the course of time she turned with all her heart to love of him.
She so lost her appetite for meat and drink and sleep that she was in
danger of her life.
Three sons of princes demanded her in marriage, and she by letter
informed her father how the matter stood: if she might not have
Apollinus, she would have none other. (800-911.)
The king sent for Apollinus and showed him his daughter’s letter. He
assented gladly, and the marriage took place with great festivity. Soon
after this men came from Tyre reporting that Antiochus and his daughter
were dead, having been both struck by lightning, and entreating him to
return to his own people. All were rejoiced to hear that the king’s
daughter had married so worthy a prince. (912-1019.)
Apollinus sailed away with his wife, she being with child. A storm
arose and she began to be in travail. In anguish she was delivered of a
maid child, but she herself lay dead. (1020-1058.)
Apollinus sorrowed as never man sorrowed before, but the master of the
ship required that the dead body be cast out of the ship, because the
sea will not hold within itself any dead creature, and the ship would
be driven on the shore if the body remained within her. They made
therefore a coffer closely bound with iron and covered with pitch, in
which they placed the corpse, with gold and jewels, and with a letter
praying that she might receive burial; and so they cast it overboard.
Apollinus in the meantime sailed first to Tharsis. (1059-1150.)
The coffer was cast up at Ephesim and was found by Cerymon, a great
physician. He by his art restored the seeming corpse to life, and she
took upon herself the rule of religion and dwelt with other women in
the temple of Diane. (1151-1271.)
Apollinus coming to Tharsis entrusted his infant daughter Thaise to
the care of Strangulio and Dionise, and so he sailed on to Tyre. This
daughter, until she was fourteen years old, grew up with the daughter
of Strangulio, but Thaise was preferred to the other in all places
where they went, and Dionise was therefore wroth. She bade her bondman
Theophilus take Thaise down to the shore of the sea and there slay her.
He brought her to the sea, but her cry called forth pirates from their
hiding-place, who carried her with them away to Mitelene and sold her
to Leonin, master of a brothel. (1272-1423.)
The young men who came to her were moved by compassion and did her no
wrong, so that Leonin sent his own servant in to her. She entreated to
be permitted to make gain for him in some other way, and being taken
from the brothel and placed in security, she taught such things as
gentlewomen desire to learn, and her name went forth over all the land.
(1424-1497.)
Theophilus reported that he had slain Thaise, and Dionise, pretending
that she had died suddenly, made a great funeral and set up a tomb
with an epitaph. After this, Apollinus came to seek for his daughter
at Tharsis, and hearing that she was dead, he put forth to sea again
in grievous sorrow. He lay weeping alone in the darkness of the ship’s
hold, until under stress of storm they came to Mitelene. (1498-1617.)
Hearing of his grief, the lord of the city, Athenagoras, sent Thaise
to comfort him. He at first rejected all her consolation, but
then to his joy discovered that she was the daughter for whom he
mourned. Athenagoras asked for her in marriage and was wedded to her.
(1618-1776.)
They went forth all together with intent to avenge the treason at
Tharsis, but Apollinus was warned in a dream to go to Ephesim, and
there in the temple of Diane he found the wife whom he supposed to have
been dead. Thence they voyaged to Tyre and were received with joy.
Athenagoras and Thaise were there crowned king and queen, and Apollinus
sailed away and took due vengeance upon Strangulio and Dionise.
(1777-1962.)
When this was done, a letter came to him from Pentapolim, praying him
to come and receive that kingdom, since the king was dead. They had a
good voyage thither, and he and his wife were crowned there and led
their life happily. (1963-2008.)
Thus, my son, thou mayest see how it is with those that love in a good
manner, but it is not love when men take their lust like beasts.
2029-3172. CONCLUSION. Father, I may acquit myself in this, but I
entreat your counsel as to what way I shall follow in my love.