Bacon: SERMONES FIDELES

Salomon inquit, nomen bonum est instar unguenti fragrantis et pretiosi, neque dubito, quin tale futurum sit nomen tuum apud posteros. Etenim et fortuna et merita tua praecelluerunt, et videris ea plantasse, quae sint duratura. In lucem iam edere mihi visum est Delibationes meas, quae ex omnibus meis operibus fuerunt acceptissimae, quia forsitan videntur prae ceteris hominum negotia stringere, et in sinus fluere.

Solomon says, a good name is like a fragrant and precious unguent; nor do I doubt that such will be your name among posterity. For both fortune and your merits have excelled, and you seem to have planted those things which are to be enduring. It has now seemed good to me to bring into the light my Delibations, which, of all my works, have been the most acceptable, because perhaps they seem, before the rest, to touch closely the affairs of men, and to flow into the bosom.

Eas autem auxi et numero et pondere in tantum, ut plane opus novum sint. Consentaneum igitur duxi affectui et obligationi meae erga illustratissimam dominationem tuam, ut nomen tuum illius praefigam, tam in editione Anglica quam Latina. Etenim in bona spe sum volumen earum in Latinam (linguam scilicet universalem) versum posse durare, quamdiu libri et literae durent.

I have augmented them both in number and in weight to such a degree that they are plainly a new work. I have therefore judged it consonant with my affection and obligation toward your most illustrious Lordship to prefix your name to it, both in the English edition and the Latin. For I am in good hope that a volume of them translated into Latin (the universal tongue, namely) may endure as long as books and letters endure.

Instaurationem meam regi dicavi, Historiam Regni Henrici Septimi (quam etiam in Latinum verti), et portiones meas Naturalis Historiae principi. Has autem Delibationes illustrissimae dominationi tuae dico, cum sint ex fructibus optimis quos gratia divina calami mei laboribus indulgente exhibere potui. Deus illustrissimam dominationem tuam manu ducat.

I dedicated my Instauration to the king, the History of the Reign of Henry VII (which I also translated into Latin), and my portions of Natural History to the prince. But these Delibations I dedicate to your most illustrious lordship, since they are among the choicest fruits which, with divine grace indulging the labors of my pen, I was able to present. May God lead your most illustrious lordship by the hand.

Illustrissimae dominationis tuae servus devinctissimus et fidelis,

the most devoted and faithful servant of your most illustrious lordship,

FR. S. ALBAN.

BROTHER OF ST. ALBAN.

I. DE VERITATE

1. ON TRUTH

1. Quid est veritas? inquit Pilatus derisor, nec praestolari voluit reponsum. Certe sunt qui cogitationum vertigine delectantur, ac pro servitute habent fide fixa aut axiomatis constantibus constringi, liberi arbitrii usum in cogitando non minus quam in agendo affectantes.

1. What is truth? says Pilate the derider, nor did he wish to wait for an answer. Certainly there are those who take delight in the vertigo of cogitations, and who hold it to be servitude to be constrained by fixed faith or by constant axioms, aiming at the use of free will in thinking no less than in acting.

Cuiusmodi quidem sectae philosophorum licet defecerint, supersunt tamen ingenia quaedam ventosa et discursantia, quibus eaedem omnino venae, licet non pari cum antiquis copia sanguinis, repletae. Verum nec difficultas sola laborque quem homines subeunt in veritate invenienda, nec quae ex ea inventa cogitationibus imponitur captivitas, mendaciis favorem conciliat, sed ipsius mendacii naturalis (utcunque corruptus) amor. E recentiore Graecorum schola quidam, rem ad examen vocans, haeret attonitus dum excogitare nequit quorsum mortales amarent mendacium ipsius mendacii causa, cum nec voluptati sit, ut mendacia poetarum, nec utilitati, ut illa mercatorum.

Although sects of philosophers of this sort have indeed failed, there nevertheless remain certain windy and discursive wits, in whom the very same veins are filled, though not with a supply of blood equal to that of the ancients. But neither the mere difficulty and labor which men undergo in finding truth, nor the captivity imposed upon thoughts once it is found, conciliate favor to lies, but rather the natural (however corrupted) love of mendacity itself. From the more recent school of the Greeks someone, calling the matter to examination, stands astonished while he cannot devise to what end mortals would love a lie for the lie’s own sake, since it is neither for pleasure, like the lies of the poets, nor for utility, like those of merchants.

Sed nescio quomodo. Veritas ista (utpote nuda et manifesta lux diurna) personatas huius mundi fabulas ineptias non tam magnifice et eleganter ostendit quam taedae lucernaeque nocturnae. Ad unionis forsan valorem pervenire poterit veritas, quae per diem speciosissima apparet.

But somehow—I know not how. This truth (as being the naked and manifest light of day) does not display the masked fables and inanities of this world so magnificently and elegantly as do nocturnal torches and lamps. Perhaps truth may attain to the value of a pearl, which by day appears most beautiful.

Sed ad pretium adamantis aut carbunculi, qui lumine vario pulcherrime spendent, nunquam ascendet. Mixtura mendacii voluptatem semper auget. Ecquis dubitat si e mentibus hominum tollerentur opiniones vanae, spes blandae, aestimationes rerum falsae, imaginationes ad libitum, et id genus alia, quin multorum animi reliquerentur deiecti et marcidi, atrae bilis et languoris pleni, ac sibimetipsis ingrati ac displicentes?

But to the price of adamant or of carbuncle, which shine most beautifully with variegated light, it will never ascend. A mixture of mendacity always augments delectation. Does anyone doubt that, if from the minds of men vain opinions, bland hopes, false estimations of things, imaginations at pleasure, and other things of that kind were removed, the spirits of many would be left dejected and withered, full of black bile and languor, and ungrateful and displeased with themselves?

Patrum unus magna cum severitate poesin appellat vinum daemonum, eo quod phantasiam vanis impleat, licet poesis mendacii tantum umbra sit. Veruntamen non est mendacium mentem pertransiens quod officit, sed mendacium quod a mente imbibitur, nempe eius generis de quo ante diximus. Verum utcunque in depravatis hominum iudiciis et affectibus haec ita se habent, veritas tamen (qua sola se iudicat) docet veritatis inquisitionem, quae eam proci instar demeretur, veritatis cognitionem, quae praesentem eam sistit, et veritatis receptionem cum assensu, quae est ipsius fruitio et amplexus summum esse humanae naturae bonum.

One of the Fathers, with great severity, calls poetry the wine of demons, because it fills phantasy with vain things, although poetry is only the shadow of a lie. Nevertheless, it is not the lie passing through the mind that harms, but the lie that is imbibed by the mind, namely the sort of which we spoke above. But however these things stand in the depraved judgments and affections of men, truth nevertheless (by which alone it judges itself) teaches the inquiry of truth, which, like a suitor, wins her; the cognition of truth, which sets her as present; and the reception of truth with assent, which is the fruition and embrace of her—and the highest good of human nature.

2. Prima in operibus sex dierum creatura Dei fuit lux sensus, postrema lux rationis, quin et opus eius Sabbatho, quod deinceps perpetuo exercet, est spiritus sui illuminatio. Primo inspiravit lumen in faciem materiae vel molis indigestae; postea in faciem hominis; quin et usque semper lucem inspirat in faciem electorum. Poeta, qui sectam alioqui caeteris inferiorem ornavit, elegantissime dixit, suave est in litore stanti videre naves fluctibus exagitatas.

2. The first, in the works of the six days, of God’s creation was the light of sense, the last the light of reason; nay even his work on the Sabbath, which thenceforward he perpetually exercises, is the illumination of his spirit. At first he inspired light upon the face of matter or of the indigested mass; afterwards upon the face of man; and nay even unto this day he ever inspires light upon the face of the elect. The poet, who adorned a sect otherwise inferior to the rest, said most elegantly, it is sweet for one standing on the shore to see ships harried by the waves.

Suave ad arcis fenestram stanti praelium comissum eiusque varios eventus inferius spectare. Sed nulla voluptas aequiparari potest huic ipsi, nempe ut quis stet super clivum excelsum veritatis (collem certe inaccessibem, ubi aer semper liquidus est et serenus), atque inde errores, homines, palantes, caligines, et tempestates in convalle subiacente conspiciat, modo prospectus iste cum misericordia coniunctus sit, non cum timore aut superbia. Et hoc ipsum est coelo in terris frui, quando mens humana in charitate movetur, in providentia quiescit, et supra polos veritatis circumfertur.

It is sweet for one standing at a citadel’s window to behold a battle joined and its various outcomes below. But no pleasure can be equated to this very one, namely, that one should stand upon the lofty slope of truth (a hill indeed inaccessible, where the air is always limpid and serene), and from there look down on errors, men wandering, the caliginous mists, and the tempests in the valley lying beneath—provided that this prospect is conjoined with mercy, not with fear or pride. And this very thing is to enjoy heaven on earth, when the human mind is moved in charity, rests in providence, and is borne around above the poles of truth.

3. Iam vero, ut a theologica et philosophica veritate ad veritatem aut potius veracitatem in civibus negotiis transeamus, agnoscent vel ipsi qui eam non exercent apertam et minime fucatam in negotiis gerendis rationem praecipuum esse humanae naturae decus; mixturam autem falsi similem esse plumbeae materiae, quae efficit sane ut facilius cudi possit metallum, sed ita ut interim vilius fiat. Nam flexuosi isti et obliqui motus serpentum sunt, qui super ventrem suum gradiuntur, non pedibus incedunt. Non est vitium quod tanto hominem pudore obruit, quam si falsus vir perfidus inveniatur.

3. Now indeed, that we may pass from theological and philosophical truth to truth, or rather veracity, in civic affairs, even those who do not practice it will acknowledge that an open and least painted-over (unvarnished) manner of reason in conducting affairs is the chief ornament of human nature; but that a mixture of falsehood is like leaden material, which indeed makes the metal more easily wrought, yet in the meantime makes it baser. For those flexuous and oblique motions are of serpents, who go upon their belly, not walking with feet. There is no vice that overwhelms a man with so much shame as to be found a false, perfidious man.

Itaque acutissime Montaneus, rationem scrutatus cur mendacii vocabulum pro tanto haberetur opprobrio et contumelia, si res recte perpendatur (inquit), qui dicit hominem mentiri, eadem opera dicit eum adversus Deum audacem esse, adversus homines timidum. Mendax enim Deo insultat, homini se incurvat. Certe quam flagitiosa res sit falsitas et perfida nullo modo exprimi potest melius quam quod istis (quasi ultimis clamoribus) devocabuntur iudicia Dei in genus humanum.

Therefore, most acutely, Montaigne, having scrutinized the reason why the term “lying” is held as so great an opprobrium and contumely, if the matter be rightly weighed (he says), he who says that a man lies by the same act says that he is bold against God, timid toward men. For the liar insults God; to man he bends himself. Surely how flagitious a thing falsehood and perfidy is can in no way be expressed better than that by these (as if by last outcries) the judgments of God will be called down upon the human race.

Praedictum enim est Christum in adventu suo secundo non reperturum fidem super terram.

For it has been foretold that Christ, in his second advent, will not find faith upon the earth.

II. DE MORTE

2. ON DEATH

1. Metuunt homines mortem, ut pueri tenebras. Quemadmodum autem metus in pueris augeretur fabulosis quibusdam terriculamentis, ita et ille alter. Sane mortis meditatio, prout mors stipendium est peccati, et ad aliam vitam transitus, pia est et salubris.

1. Men fear death, as boys do the darkness. And just as fear in boys is heightened by certain fabulous bugbears, so too is that other. Truly, the meditation on death, insofar as death is the wages of sin and a passage to another life, is pious and salutary.

Metus vero eius, ut est naturae debitum, res est infirma et inanis. Inest tamen nonnunquam piis meditationibus fermentum aliquod vanitatis, necnon superstitionis. Praecipitur in libris nonnullis religiosorum qui tractant de mortificatione, ut recogitet secum homo quantus sit dolor cum vel minimus digiti articulus torquetur, atque inde aestimet quantus sit in morte cruciatus, ubi totum corpus corrumpitur et dissolvitur, cum tamen mors saepenumero transeat minore cum dolore quam sentitur in tortura membri.

But the fear of it, since it is nature’s due, is a weak and vain thing. Yet there is sometimes, within pious meditations, some leaven of vanity, and also of superstition. It is prescribed in certain books of religious who treat of mortification, that a man should reflect with himself how great the pain is when even the least joint of a finger is wracked, and from that let him estimate how great the cruciation is in death, where the whole body is corrupted and dissolved—although death very often passes with less pain than is felt in the torture of a single member.

Partes enim maxime vitales non sunt maxime sensitivae. Nec abs re dictum fuit ab illo, qui locutus est ut philosophus tantummodo et homo animalis, pompa mortis magis terret quam mors ipsa. Gemitus et singultus, membrorumque convulsiones, oris pallor, amici flentes et atrata funera, cum similibus, haec sunt quae mortem ostentant terribilem.

For the parts most vital are not the most sensitive. Nor was it said without point by the one who spoke as a philosopher only and a natural man, that the pomp of death frightens more than death itself. Groans and sobs, convulsions of the limbs, pallor of the face, friends weeping and black-draped funerals, with the like, these are the things that display death as terrible.

Observatione plane dignum est nullam esse animi passionem tam debilem quin superet et in ordinem redigat timorem mortis. Ideoque mors non est hostis adeo formidabilis, cum tam multos habeat homo circa se athletas qui in certamine illam vincant. Ultio de morte triumphat; amor eam parvi facit; honor ambit; metus ignominiae eligit; maeror ad eam confugit; metus anticipat.

It is plainly worthy of observation that there is no passion of the mind so feeble that it does not overcome and reduce to order the fear of death. And therefore death is not an enemy so formidable, since man has so many athletes around him who in the contest conquer it. Vengeance triumphs over death; love makes little of it; honor aspires to it; fear of ignominy chooses it; grief flees to it; fear anticipates it.

Imo legimus quod postquam Otho imperator seipsum interfecisset ipsa misericordia (quae affectus est omnium tenerrimus) multos provocarit ad commoriendum ex mera animi compassione erga dominum suum, ut fidissimos asseclas. Quin et addit Seneca fastidium et satietatem: cogita quam diu eadem feceris. Mori velle non tantum fortis aut miser, sed etiam fastidiosus potest.

Indeed we read that after Emperor Otho had killed himself, mercy itself (which is the tenderest of all affections) provoked many to die together out of pure compassion of mind toward their lord, as most faithful adherents. Nay more, Seneca also adds disgust and satiety: consider how long you have been doing the same things. To wish to die can belong not only to the brave or the wretched, but even to the fastidious.

Nec minus observatu dignum est quantillam mutationem in animo generoso et forti appropinquans mors efficere valeat: eosdem enim gerunt homines illi spiritus usque ad supremum momentum. Mortuus est Augustus Caesar voce certe urbana: Livia, coniugii nostri memor, vive et vale. Tiberius inter dissimulandum: ita enim de illo Tacitus, iam Tiberium vires et corpus, non dissimulatio, deserebant.

No less worthy of observation is how very small a mutation approaching death is able to effect in a generous and brave mind: for those men bear the same spirits right up to the final moment. Augustus Caesar died with a voice certainly urbane: “Livia, mindful of our marriage, live and farewell.” Tiberius in the midst of dissimulation—for thus about him Tacitus: “by now strength and body, not dissimulation, were deserting Tiberius.”

Vespasianus cum scommate, exonerans enim super sella, ut puto, Deus fio. Galba cum gnoma, feri, si ex re sit populi Romani, protendens simul collum. Septimius Severus inter expedienda negotia: adeste, si quid mihi restat agendum.

Vespasian with a scoff, exonerating himself upon the stool, as I think: I am becoming a god. Galba with a gnome: strike, if it be in the interest of the Roman people, at the same time stretching out his neck. Septimius Severus in the midst of business being expedited: be present, if anything remains for me to do.

Pariter et alii. Certe Stoici nimium insumpserunt operae in solatia mortis. Etenim grandi suo contra eum apparatu effecerunt ut terribilior videretur.

Likewise others as well. Certainly the Stoics expended too much effort on consolations of death; for indeed, by their own grand apparatus set against it, they brought it about that it seemed more terrible.

Rectius ille, qui finem vitae extremum inter munera ponit naturae. Aeque enim est naturale hominibus mori ac nasci, atque infans forsan non minorem sentit dolorem ex hoc quam ex illo. Qui moritur inter prosequendum magnum aliquod desiderium ita se habet ut vulneratus, sanguine adhuc fervente, qui plagam vix sentit.

More rightly is he who places the ultimate end of life among the gifts of nature. For it is equally natural for human beings to die as to be born, and perhaps an infant feels no less pain from the one than from the other. He who dies in the course of prosecuting some great desire is as one wounded, his blood still fervent, who scarcely feels the wound.

Itaque mens in aliquod bonum fixa et intenta a doloribus mortis se subducit. Verum enimvero super omnia suavissimum canticorum est illud, nunc dimittis, cum quis fines suos et expectationes honestas assectus fuerit. Hoc item in se habet mors, ut bonae famae ianuam aperiat et livorem extinguat: extinctus amabitur idem.

Accordingly, the mind, fixed and intent upon some good, withdraws itself from the pains of death. But indeed, above all, the sweetest of songs is that “now you dismiss,” when someone has attained his ends and honorable expectations. This too death has in itself: that it opens the door of good fame and extinguishes envy—the same man, once extinct, will be loved.

III. DE UNITATE ECCLESIAE

3. ON THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH

1. Cum religio sit praecipuum humanae societatis vinculum, par est ut et ipsa debitis verae unitatis et charitatis vinculis astringatur. Dissidia circa religionem mala erant, ethnicis incognita. Nec mirum, cum religio ethnicorum posita esset potius in ritibus et cultu deorum externo quam in constanti aliqua confessione et fide.

1. Since religion is the principal bond of human society, it is fitting that it too be bound by the due bonds of true unity and charity. Dissensions concerning religion were evils, unknown to the pagans. Nor is it a wonder, since the religion of the pagans was set rather in rites and in the external cult of the gods than in any steadfast confession and faith.

Facile enim coniicere cuiusmodi fuerit illorum fides, cum praecipui ecclesiae ipsorum doctores et patres fuerint poetae. Inter attributa autem veri Dei ponitur quod sit Deus zelotypus. Itaque cultus eius non fert mixturam, nec consortium.

For it is easy to conjecture what sort their faith was, since the principal doctors and fathers of their “church” were poets. Among the attributes, however, of the true God it is set down that He is a jealous God. Therefore His cult does not bear mixture, nor consortium.

Quamobrem pauca quaedam de unitatis in ecclesia dicimus: scilicet, quod sint eius fructus, qui limites, quibus denique modis concilietur. Unitatis fructus praecipui (praeterquam quod Deo summe placeat, id quod ante omnia poni debet) sunt duo. Alter respicit eos qui extra ecclesiam sunt, alter quos qui intera.

Wherefore we say a few things about unity in the church: namely, what its fruits are, what the limits, and by what methods, finally, it is conciliated. The chief fruits of unity (besides that it is supremely pleasing to God, which ought to be set before all things) are two. The one regards those who are outside the church, the other those who are within.

Quod ad priorem attinet, certum est longe maxima in ecclesia scandala esse haereses et schismata, ut quae etiam corruptelas morum superent. Quemadmodum enim in corpore naturali vulnera et solutio continuitatis genere peiora sunt quam humores putridi, similis est corporis spiritualis ratio. Adeo ut nihil reperiatur quod aeque homines ab ingressu in ecclesiam absterreat, aut iam receptos expellat, ac unitatis violatio.

As for the former, it is certain that by far the greatest scandals in the church are heresies and schisms, as those which even surpass the corruptions of morals. For just as in the natural body wounds and a solution of continuity are in kind worse than putrid humors, the case of the spiritual body is similar. To such a degree that nothing is found which equally deters men from entrance into the church, or expels those already received, as the violation of unity.

Itaque temporibus quibus illud increbescit, ut alii dicant, ecce in deserto, alii ecce in penetralibus, hoc est, dum quidam Christum quaerunt in haereticorum conciliabulis, quidam in facie ecclesiae externa, opus est prorsus ut illa vox aures hominum quasi perpetuo feriat, nolite exire. Doctor ille gentium, cuius vocatio et missio, propria et demandata, ei imposuit ut eorum qui extra ecclesiam fuerant curam gereret, inquit si ingrediatur coetus vestros infidelis quispiam aut idiota, et vos variis loquentes linguis audiat, annon vos insanire praedicabit? Neque sane multo melius se habet, cum athei et homines profani tantas in religione lites et opinionum dimicationes intueantur.

Therefore, in times when that grows rife, so that some say, “behold, in the desert,” others, “behold, in the inner chambers,” that is, while certain men seek Christ in the conventicles of heretics, others in the external face of the church, there is altogether need that that voice should, as it were, perpetually strike the ears of men, “do not go out.” That Doctor of the nations, whose calling and mission, both proper and entrusted, laid upon him the care of those who had been outside the church, says: If some unbeliever or unlearned person should enter your assemblies and hear you speaking in various tongues, will he not proclaim you to be insane? Nor indeed is the case much better when atheists and profane men behold so great quarrels in religion and combats of opinions.

Siquidem haec res ab ecclesia illos avertit, et in cathedra derisorum sedere facit. Levius quiddam videatur quam ut in tractatu tam serio citetur, deformitatem tamen rei egregie depingit: insignis quidam iocandi artifex in catologo librorum bibliothecae cuiusdam fabulosae inter caeteros cum hac inscriptione librum ponit, Saltationes Florales et Gesticulationes Haereticorum. Nemo enim est ex iis qui non peculiarem quendam motum corporis ridiculum et gestus deformitatem exhibeat, unde fieri non potest quin homines carnales et politici degeneres subsannent, qui facile in contemptum rerum sacrarum feruntur.

Surely this thing averts them from the church, and makes them sit in the chair of deriders. It may seem something too light to be cited in so serious a treatise; yet it excellently paints the deformity of the matter: a certain distinguished craftsman of jesting, in the catalogue of the books of a certain fabulous library, sets among the rest a book with this inscription, Floral Dances and Gesticulations of the Heretics. For there is none of them who does not exhibit a certain peculiar ridiculous movement of the body and a deformity of gestures, whence it cannot but be that carnal and political men, degenerate, sneer—men who are easily borne into contempt of sacred things.

Quantum ad fructus unitatis, qui ad eos qui intra sunt redundat, is uno verbo pax est, quae innumeras benedictiones complectitur. Etenim fidem stabilit, charitatem accendit. Quin et externa ecclesiae pax in pacem internam conscentia sensim distillat, laboresque scribentium et legentium controversias vertit in tractatus pietatis et mortificationis.

As far as the fruits of unity, which redound to those who are within, they are in one word peace, which embraces innumerable benedictions. For indeed it stabilizes faith, it kindles charity. Nay even the Church’s external peace, by consent, gradually distills into internal peace, and it turns the labors of writers and readers from controversies into treatises of piety and mortification.

2. Quantum ad terminos et limites unitatis, vera proculdubio et iusta eorum collocatio magni prorsus est ad omnia in religione momenti. Duo autem in iis statuendis videntur fieri excessus. Hominibus enim zelo fervidis omnis pacifationis mentio est odiosa.

2. As to the terms and limits of unity, the true and just placement of them is assuredly of very great moment for all things in religion. But in establishing them two excesses seem to occur. For to men fervid with zeal every mention of pacification is odious.

Numnam pax, Jehu? Quid tibi cum pace? Vade post me. Quasi pax nihil esset ad rem, sed sectae et partes.

Is it peace, Jehu? What have you to do with peace? Go after me. As though peace were nothing to the matter, but sects and parties.

Contra quidam tanquam Laodicenses, in caussis religionis tepidi, putant capita religionis nexu se commodo colligare posse per vias medias, et opiniones utrinque participantes, et reconciliationes ingeniosas, acsi pro arbitris se gerere vellent inter Deum et homines. Uterque excessus vitandus. Quod fiet, si foedus inter Christianos, ab ipso Servatore nostro descriptum, in clausulis illis quae primo intuitu inter se opponi viderentur perspicuam et planam interpretationem sortiatur, qui non nobiscum est, contra nos est, et rursus, qui contra nos non est, nobiscum est.

On the contrary, certain men, as if Laodiceans, tepid in causes of religion, think they can tie together the heads of religion by a convenient nexus through middle ways, with opinions sharing from both sides, and ingenious reconciliations, as if they wished to carry themselves as arbiters between God and men. Each excess is to be avoided. This will be achieved if the covenant among Christians, set forth by our very Savior, in those clauses which at first glance would seem to be opposed to one another, receives a perspicuous and plain interpretation: “he who is not with us is against us,” and again, “he who is not against us is with us.”

Hoc est, si capita religionis plane essentialia et fundamentalia rite discernantur et distinguantur a capitibus quae non sunt ex fide, sed ex opinione probabili et intentione sancta, propter ordinem et ecclesiae politiam sancita. Hoc vero plurimis videri possit triviale quiddam, in quo quis actum agat. Verum si hoc ipsum minore partium studio fieret, maiore etiam consensu reciperetur.

This is, if the articles of religion that are plainly essential and fundamental be duly discerned and distinguished from the heads that are not of faith, but are sanctioned, for the sake of order and the polity of the Church, by probable opinion and holy intention. This, to very many, may seem a trivial matter, in which one is merely doing what has already been done. Yet if this very thing were carried out with less party-spirit, it would be received with greater consensus as well.

In hac re consilii nonnihil impertiri visum est pro captus nostri tenuitate. Videndum est, ne homines ecclesiam Dei lacerent per duo controversiarum genera. Primum est cum controversiae materia levior est, nec tanta contentione quanta circa eam excitatur digna, contradictione sola inflammata.

In this matter it seemed good to impart somewhat of counsel, in proportion to the slenderness of our capacity. Care must be taken, lest men lacerate the Church of God by two genera of controversies. The first is when the materia of the controversy is lighter, nor deserving of so great a contention as is stirred up about it, inflamed by contradiction alone.

Quemadmodum enim acute et elegantere notum est ab uno ex Patribus, tunica Christi inconsutilis fuit, ac vestis ecclesiae versicolor. Unde praecipit, In veste varietas sit, scissura non sit. Differunt enim haud parum inter se unitas et uniformitas.

Just as, indeed, it has been acutely and elegantly noted by one of the Fathers, the tunic of Christ was seamless, and the garment of the church many-colored. Whence he enjoins, “In the garment let there be variety, let there be no rending.” For unity and uniformity differ not a little from one another.

Secundum est, cum materia quidem controversiae pondus habet, sed ad nimiam subtilitatem et obscuritatem redacta est; adeo ut ingeniosa quaedam res esse videatur potius quam solida. Videmus quandoque fieri ut quis doctus et intelligens homines imperitos de aliqua quaestione inter se litigantes audiat, atque perspicue advertat eos idem re ipsa sentiri et in unum convenire, quibus tamen ipsis nunquam dissidendi finis. Quod si hoc nonnunquam eveniat in exigua illa iudicii disparitate quae inter homines esse potest, annon credere par est Deum in coelis, qui corda scrutatur et novit, nos homines fragiles in aliquibus de quibus controversiam movemus idem revera sentire, et in ambobus benigne complacere?

The second is, when the matter of the controversy does indeed have weight, but has been reduced to excessive subtlety and obscurity; to such a degree that it seems to be something ingenious rather than solid. We sometimes see it happen that a learned and intelligent person listens to unskilled men litigating among themselves about some question, and clearly notices that they in reality hold the same view and converge into one, yet for these very persons there is never an end of dissension. And if this sometimes occurs in that slight disparity of judgment which can exist among men, is it not fitting to believe that God in the heavens, who searches and knows hearts, judges that we fragile humans in some things about which we raise controversy do in truth feel the same, and benignly is well-pleased with both?

Huiusmodi controversiarum natura et character optime a D. Paulo exprimitur in monito illo ac praecepto quod circa illud adhibet, devita profanas vocum novitates, et oppositiones falso nominis scientiae. Creant sibi homines oppositiones quae revera nullae sunt, easque in nova vocabula effingunt et cudunt, quae tam fixa sunt et invariabilia ut, ubi sensus vocabulum regere debeat, vocabulum imperet sensui. Sunt etiam, ut controversiarum, ita unitatis species duae quae adulterinae censeri possunt.

The nature and character of controversies of this sort are best expressed by St. Paul, in that monition and precept which he applies thereto: “avoid profane novelties of words, and the oppositions of science falsely so called.” Men create for themselves oppositions which in truth are none, and they shape and forge them into new vocables, which are so fixed and invariable that, where sense ought to rule the word, the word commands the sense. There are also, as of controversies, so too of unity, two species which may be reckoned adulterine.

Altera cum pax ignorantiae tantum implicitae innititur. Coloribus enim omnibus in tenebris bene convenit. Altera quae consuta est et sarcita ex positionibus ex diametro inter se contrariis in capitibus nimrum fundamentalibus.

Another is when peace relies upon merely implicit ignorance. For in darkness all colors agree well. Another is that which is sewn together and patched from positions diametrically contrary to each other in points, namely fundamental ones.

Veritas enim et falsitas similes sunt ferro et luto in digitis pedum imaginis quam in somnis vidit Nebuchadnezzar: adhaerare sane possunt, incorporari non possunt.
3. Iam, quatenus ad modos per quos conciliatur unitas, cavendum est hominibus ne dum unitatem religionis procurent et muniant, leges charitatis et societatis solvant et demoliantur. Inter Christianos duo tantum recipiuntur gladii, spiritualis nempe et temporalis.

For truth and falsity are like iron and clay in the toes of the feet of the image which Nebuchadnezzar saw in dreams: they can indeed adhere, they cannot be incorporated.
3. Now, so far as concerns the modes by which unity is conciliated, men must beware lest, while they procure and fortify the unity of religion, they loosen and demolish the laws of charity and of society. Among Christians only two swords are received, namely, the spiritual and the temporal.

Uterque autem suum habet locum et suo perfungitur munere in religione Christiana propaganda et protegenda. Sed neutiquam arripiendus est gladius tertius, qui est Mahumetis aut illi similis: hoc est, ut religionem bello propagemus, aut cruentis persecutionibus vim conscientiis inferamus, exceptis casibus scandali aperti et insolentis, blasphemiae, aut machinationis adversus statum civilem, ne dum ut foveantur seditiones, animentur coniurationes et rebelliones, gladius in manus populi transferatur, et similia. Quae omnia manifesto tendunt ad maiestatem imperii minuendam et auctoritatem magistratuum labefactandam, cum tamen omnis legitima potestas sit a Deo ordinata.

Each, moreover, has its own place and discharges its own function in propagating and protecting the Christian religion. But by no means is a third sword to be seized, which is that of Mahomet or similar to it: that is, that we should propagate religion by war, or by bloody persecutions inflict force upon consciences, except in cases of open and insolent scandal, blasphemy, or machination against the civil state, lest, while seditions are fostered, conspiracies and rebellions are animated, the sword be transferred into the hands of the populace, and the like. All which manifestly tend to the diminishing of the majesty of the empire and to the undermining of the authority of magistrates, whereas nevertheless every legitimate power is ordained by God.

Hoc enim nihil aliud est quam alteram ex tabulis legis in alteram allidere, et in tantum homines ut Christianos allidere ut interim obliti videamur quod sint homines. Lucretius poeta, cum sibi ante oculos poneret Agamemnonem filiam propriam immolantem, exclamat

For this is nothing else than to dash one of the tables of the law against the other, and to batter men in their capacity as Christians to such a degree that in the meantime we seem to have forgotten that they are men. The poet Lucretius, when he set before his eyes Agamemnon immolating his own daughter, exclaims

tantum relligio potuit suadere malorum.

So many evils could religion persuade.

Quid tandem dixisset, si et Laniena Parisiensis aut Coniuratio Pulveraria in Anglia innotuisset? Certe septies factus esset magis Epicureus et atheus quam fuit. Nam quemadmodum gladius temporalis non temere sed magno cum iudicio in casu religionis stringendus est, ita monstri simile est eum in manus populi tradi.

What, then, would he have said, if both the Parisian Butchery and the Powder Conspiracy in England had become known? Surely he would have been made seven times more Epicurean and atheist than he was. For just as the temporal sword is not to be drawn rashly but with great judgment in a case of religion, so it is monstrous for it to be handed over into the hands of the people.

Sibi habeant hoc Anabaptistae et huiusmodi Furiae. Certe insignis fuit illa blasphemia, cum diceret Diabolus ascendam, et ero similis altissimo. Sed adhuc maior blasphemia fuerit si quis Deum introducat dicentem descendam et ero similis principi tenebrarum.

Let the Anabaptists and Furies of this sort have this to themselves. Surely that blasphemy was notable, when the Devil said, “I will ascend, and I will be like the Most High.” But an even greater blasphemy would be if someone were to introduce God saying, “I will descend, and I will be like the prince of darkness.”

Quid autem hoc ab illo differt, si caussa religionis descendat et praecipitetur ad crudelia et execrabilia scelera principes trucidandi, in populorum vitas grassandi, et imperia funditus evertendi? Videtur quidem hoc perinde esse ac siquis descendentem faciat Spiritum Sanctum in specie non columbae sed vulturis aut corvi, aut ex navi ecclesiae erigeret vexillum piratarum et assassinorum. Quocirca iustum est, et id ipsum necessitas temporum flagitat, ut ecclesia doctrina sua et decretis suis, principes gladio, omnesque literae seu religiosae sint seu morales, caduceo suo in barathrum inferni damnent et detrudant in secula huiusmodi facta et doctrinas iis auctoritatem aliquam tribuentes, ut magna ex parte iam pridem factum est.

What, however, does this differ from that, if under the cause of religion one descends and is cast headlong into cruel and execrable crimes—slaughtering princes, making inroads upon the lives of peoples, and utterly overturning governments? This indeed seems just as if someone should make the Holy Spirit descend in the form not of a dove but of a vulture or a raven, or from the ship of the church should raise the standard of pirates and assassins. Wherefore it is just, and the necessity of the times itself demands it, that the church by her doctrine and her decrees, princes by the sword, and all letters, whether religious or moral, by their own caduceus, should condemn and thrust down into the barathrum of hell forever such deeds and the doctrines that attribute to them any authority—just as to a great extent long since was done.

Certe optandum esset ut in omnibus circa religionem consiliis ante oculos hominum praefigeretur monitum illud apostoli, ira hominum non implet iustitiam Dei. Atque, ut verum dicamus, optime et prudentissime observatum est ab uno ex Patribus, profundae sapientiae viro, nec minus ingenue et sincere ab eodem prolatum et evulgatum, eos qui conscientias premi iisque vim inferri suadent sub illo dogmate, cupiditates suas subtexere illamque rem sua interesse putare.

Surely it would be to be desired that in all counsels concerning religion there be set before the eyes of men that admonition of the Apostle, “the wrath of men does not fulfill the justice of God.” And, to tell the truth, it has been most well and most prudently observed by one of the Fathers, a man of profound wisdom, and no less ingenuously and sincerely by the same brought forth and published, that those who advise that consciences be pressed and that force be inflicted upon them, under that dogma, underweave their own cupidities and think that matter to be to their own interest.

IV. DE VINDICTA

4. ON VENGEANCE

1. Vindicta agrestis quaedam iusticia est quae, quo magis humana natura serpit, eo fortius legibus severis est evellenda. Etenim iniuria allata legem tantummodo violat, at reposita legem auctoritate sua plane spoliat. Certe in vindicanda iniuria aequalem se quis inimico suo sistit, in remittenda vero superiorem: regium enim est ignoscere.

1. Vengeance is a certain rustic justice which, the more it creeps in human nature, the more forcefully it must be uprooted by severe laws. For an injury inflicted violates only the law, but an injury repaid strips the law outright of its authority. Surely, in avenging an injury one sets oneself equal to one’s enemy; in remitting it, however, superior: for to forgive is regal.

Equidem memini dixisse Salomonem, honori est homini offensas praeterire. Quod iam praeteriit in integrum restitui non potest, at prudentes sat habent praesentia et futura curare. Nugantur igitur et se frustra conturbant qui praeteritarum rerum satagunt.

Indeed I remember that Solomon said, it is an honor for a man to pass over offenses. What has already passed cannot be restored to its integrity; but the prudent have enough to care for the present and the future. They trifle, therefore, and in vain throw themselves into confusion who fuss over past matters.

Iniuriam nemo iniuriae ipsius causa infert, verum ut ex ea lucri aliquid aut voluptatis aut honoris sibi conciliet. Cur igitur cuipiam succenseam quod se potius quam me diligat? Quod si quis ex malignitate mera sit iniuriosus, quid tum?

No one inflicts injury for the sake of injury itself, but rather so as to secure for himself some lucre or pleasure or honor from it. Why, then, should I be angry with anyone because he loves himself rather than me? But if someone is injurious out of mere malignity, what then?

Etiam spina et rubus pungunt et lacerant, quia natura sua. Vindictae praecipue excusationem merentur in iis iniuriis de quibus lege cautum non est. At simul prospiciat quis ut genus vindictae eiusmodi sit quod non sit legi obnoxium.

Even the thorn and the bramble prick and lacerate, for such is their nature. Acts of vengeance especially deserve excuse in those injuries for which provision has not been made by law. But at the same time let one see to it that the kind of vengeance be of such a sort as is not obnoxious to the law.

Alias ipse sibi poenam conduplicat, inimicus vero lucrum facit. Sunt qui inter sumendam vindictam cupiunt ut laesi intelligant unde malum illud sibi ingruerit. Nempe generosior est iste affectus.

At other times he doubles the punishment for himself, while the enemy indeed makes lucre. There are some who, in the very act of taking vengeance, desire that the injured may understand whence that evil has come upon them. Surely that sentiment is more generous.

Siquidem videntur illi non tam ipsa ultione delectari quam ut laesum facti sui poeniteat. At vili ingenio praediti et maliciosi instar sagittarum sunt quae per tenebras volant. Magnus dux Florentiae Cosmus acutissimum telum vibravit in amicos perfidos aut incuriosas.

Indeed, those men seem not so much to take delight in the vengeance itself as to want the offender to repent of his deed. But those endowed with a vile nature and malicious are like arrows that fly through the darkness. The Grand Duke of Florence Cosimo hurled a most sharp missile against perfidious or careless friends.

Legimus (inquit) et mandatum habemus ut inimicis nostris ignoscamus, at nuspiam legitur astringi nos ad ignoscendum amicis. Verum spiritus Iob loquitur meliora: Numnam (inquit) de manu Dei bona accipiemus, neque mala itidem quandoque sustinebimus? Quod etiam aliquo modo de amicis dici par est.

We read (he says) and have a mandate to forgive our enemies, but nowhere is it read that we are bound to forgive friends. Yet the spirit of Job speaks better: Shall we indeed (he says) receive good things from the hand of God, and not likewise at some time endure evils? Which also in some manner is fitting to be said of friends.

Hoc certissimum est, hominem qui vindictae studet sua vulnera refricare, quae alias, sibi relicta, sanari et consolidari potuissent. Ultiones publicae maxima ex parte prospere cedunt, quales erant propter caedem Caesaris, caedem Pertinacis, caedem Henrici Quarti magni illius Galliae regis, et aliorum complurium. At in vindictis privatis hoc minime tenet.

This is most certain: a man who is devoted to vengeance is re-opening his own wounds, which otherwise, if left to themselves, could have been healed and consolidated. Public revenges for the most part turn out prosperously, such as those for the murder of Caesar, the murder of Pertinax, the murder of Henry IV, that great king of France, and of several others. But in private revenges this holds least of all.

Quin potius homines vindicativi vitam fere agunt veneficarum, quae ut aliis sunt exitiabiles ita ipsae plerunque exitum infaustum sortiuntur.

Nay rather, vindictive men almost live the life of witches, who, just as they are deadly to others, so they themselves for the most part meet an unfortunate end.

V. DE REBUS ADVERSIS

5. ON ADVERSITIES

1. Grande prorus sonabat Seneca more Stoicorum cum diceret bona rerum secundarum optabilia, adversarum mirabilia. Certe si miraculum recte ponatur illud quod naturam superat, cernuntur miracula maxime in calamitatibus. At priorem illam sententiam magniloquentia superat alterum ex eius dictis, et excelsius quiddam est quam ethnico conveniat, vere magnum habere fragilitatem hominis, securitatem Dei.

1. Seneca sounded grand indeed in the manner of the Stoics when he said: the goods of favorable circumstances are desirable, of adverse circumstances miraculous. Certainly, if a miracle be rightly defined as that which surpasses nature, miracles are seen most of all in calamities. But in magniloquence another of his sayings surpasses that former sentence, and it is something loftier than befits a pagan: to deem truly great the fragility of man and the security of God.

Sane hoc dictum in poesi fuisset tolerabilius, ubi transcendentia ista magis probantur. Ac ut verum dicamus, poetae hoc intactum non reliquerunt. Eadem fere res est quae adumbratur in portentoso illo antiquorum commento quod mysterio videtur non carere, imo et statum Christianum non obscure referre, nimium de Hercule, qui dum ad solvenda Promethei vincula proficisceretur (in Prometheo autem figura naturae humanae repraesentatur) Oceani longitudinem in poculo figulino emensus est, ubi ad vivum Christiana constantia depingitur, quae in fragili carnis testa per mundi fluctus undique circumfusos navigat.

Surely this saying would have been more tolerable in poetry, where such transcendences are more approved. And, to speak the truth, the poets did not leave this untouched. Nearly the same thing is adumbrated in that portentous contrivance of the ancients, which seems not to be without mystery, nay even not obscurely to refer to the Christian state: namely about Hercules, who, while he was setting out to loosen the chains of Prometheus (but in Prometheus the figure of human nature is represented), traversed the length of the Ocean in a potter’s little cup; wherein Christian constancy is painted to the life, which, in the fragile shell of flesh, navigates through the waves of the world poured round on every side.

Verum ut a granditate verborum ad mediocritatem descendamus, rerum secundarum praecipua virtus est temperantia, adversarum fortitudo, quae in moralibus reputatur pro virtute maxime heroica. Quin et res prosperae ad veteris Testamenti benedictiones, adversae ad Novi beatitudines pertinent, quae et reipsa maiores sunt et clariorem divini favoris revelationem exhibent. Attamen etiam in veteri Testamento, si lyrae Davidis aures praebeas, plures invenias threnos quam exultationes.

But that we may descend from the grandeur of words to moderation, the chief virtue of prosperous circumstances is temperance, of adverse ones fortitude—which in moral matters is reckoned the most heroic virtue. Indeed, even prosperous things pertain to the blessings of the Old Testament, and adverse things to the Beatitudes of the New, which both in reality are greater and display a clearer revelation of divine favor. Yet even in the Old Testament, if you lend your ears to David’s lyre, you will find more threnodies than exultations.

Spiritus autum sancti calamus diffusius tractavit Iobi afflictiones quam faelicitatem Salomonis. Res prosperae non sine plurimis timoribus et molestiis transeunt, adversae itidem suis solatiis et spe non vacant. Videmus certe in acupictis melius placere cum imagines coloris lucidioris sunt, stamen autem telae coloris magis opaci, quam cum stamen ipsum spendidius est, imagines autem tenebrosiores.

The pen of the Holy Spirit, moreover, has treated the afflictions of Job more diffusely than the felicity of Solomon. Prosperous things do not pass without very many fears and annoyances, and adverse things likewise are not devoid of their consolations and hope. We certainly see in embroideries that they please better when the images are of a more lucid color, but the warp of the fabric is of a more opaque color, than when the warp itself is more splendid, but the images are darker.

Iudicium igitur capi potest quid cordi magis volupe sit ex eo quod oculos magis delectat. Habet certe virtus simile quiddam odoramentis quibusdam pretiosis, quae fragrantissima sunt aut incensa aut tusa. Nam fortuna prospera potissimum vitia hominum indicat, adversa virtutes.

A judgment, therefore, can be taken as to what is more pleasurable to the heart from that which more delights the eyes. Virtue certainly has something akin to certain precious aromatics, which are most fragrant either when burned or when crushed. For prosperous fortune chiefly indicates the vices of men, adverse fortune their virtues.

VI. DE DISSIMULATIONE ET SIMULATIONE

6. ON DISSIMULATION AND SIMULATION

1. Dissimulatio est artium civilium compendium quoddam et pars infirmior. Etenim et ingenium acre et robur animi constans ad hoc requiritur, ut quis sciat quando verum proferendum sit atque id facere audeat. Itaque inter inferiores politicos reponuntur, qui magni sunt simulatores.

1. Dissimulation is a certain compendium of the civil arts and the weaker part. For in fact both a keen wit and a constant strength of mind are required for this, that one know when the truth is to be brought forth and dare to do it. And so those who are great simulators are placed among inferior politicians.

2. Quod discrimen bene apud Tacitum Caesarem Augustum inter et Tiberium adnotatum est. Etenim de Livia sic ait, quod esset cum artibus mariti et simulatione filii bene composita, artes imperii Augusto, simulationem Tiberio attribuens. Idem alibi hisce verbis Mucianum inducit Vespasianum ad arma contra Vitellium sumenda hortantem: non adversus Augusti acerrimam mentem, nec adversus Tiberii cautissimam senectutem insurgimus.

2. Which distinction has been well noted by Tacitus between Caesar Augustus and Tiberius. For indeed he thus says about Livia, that she was well composed with the arts of her husband and the simulation of her son, attributing the arts of empire to Augustus, the simulation to Tiberius. The same elsewhere introduces Mucianus with these words, exhorting Vespasian to take up arms against Vitellius: we are not rising up against the keenest mind of Augustus, nor against the most cautious old age of Tiberius.

Quare hae facultates artium civilium et simulationum sunt prorsus distinguendae. Esto igitur ut sit faelicis ita quisquam acuminis tantaeque perspicaciae, ut distinguere queat quae palam facienda, quae occultanda, quae tanquam in crepusculo producenda, temporum etiam et personarum ratione pensistata (quae revera artes sunt politicae et civiles, ut Tacitus eas recte appellat), huic dissimulato impedimento erit. Quod siquis ad hunc iudicii et discretionis gradum ascendere non valeat, ei relinquitur, tanquam tutissimum, ut sit tectus et dissimulator.

Wherefore these faculties of the civil arts and of simulations are to be altogether distinguished. Let it be granted, then, that someone is of felicitous acumen and of such great perspicacity that he can discriminate which things are to be made public, which to be concealed, which to be brought forth as it were in twilight, with the consideration of times and persons also duly weighed (which are in truth political and civil arts, as Tacitus rightly calls them); for such a one, dissimulation will be an impediment. But if anyone is not able to ascend to this degree of judgment and discretion, there is left to him, as the safest course, to be covert and a dissembler.

Ubi enim in singulis non datur eligere, ibi in omnibus caute insistere tutissimum est. Caecutientibus enim lente movendum. Sane ubique reperias homines rerum tractandarum peritissimos omnes fere candorem, ingenuitatem et veracitatem in negotiis prae se tulisse.

For where in particulars it is not granted to choose, there it is safest to tread cautiously in all things. For the half-blind must move slowly. Indeed, everywhere you may find that men most expert in the handling of affairs have for the most part displayed candor, ingenuousness, and veracity in negotiations.

Verum simul erant tanquam equi bene docti et domiti, qui subito se sistere et se vertere norant. Quod si necessitas quaedam ingruat dissimulationem profundam postulans, tunc quidem opinio et fama de bona fide et veracitate eorum praeconcepta eos reddit prorsus invisibles.
3. Consilia et mentem tegendi aut velandi gradus sunt tres.

But at the same time they were like well-taught and tamed horses, who knew how suddenly to halt themselves and to turn themselves. But if a certain necessity should press in, demanding deep dissimulation, then indeed the opinion and fame preconceived about their good faith and veracity renders them altogether invisible.
3. The degrees of covering or veiling counsels and the mind are three.

Primus est taciturnitas, cum quis sensus animi sui premit, adeoque relinquit in aequilibrio ut in quam partem propendeat nemo facile coniecerit. Secundus dissimulatio in negativa, cum quis ex composito signa quaedam et indicia iacit se non eum esse qui revera est. Tertius simulatio in affirmativa, cum quis aperte fingit et praetexit se eum esse qui revera non est.

First is taciturnity, when someone suppresses the sentiments of his mind, and so leaves them in equilibrium that no one would easily conjecture to which side he inclines. Second is dissimulation in the negative, when someone by design casts certain signs and indications that he is not the one who he truly is. Third is simulation in the affirmative, when someone openly feigns and puts forward a pretext that he is the one who in truth he is not.

4. Quantum ad primum horum, taciturnitatem scilicet, ea est certe virtus confessoris. Atque profecto vir taciturnus multas audit confessiones. Quis enim garrulo et loquaci pectus suum recludet?

4. As to the first of these, namely taciturnity, this is surely the virtue of the confessor. And indeed a taciturn man hears many confessions. For who will open his heart to a garrulous and loquacious man?

Quod si quis famam habeat viri taciturni, facile aliorum animos reserabit, sicut aer clausus apertum sugit, atrque veluti delicta confiteri non ad aliquem finem collimat qui ad res civiles tendit, sed and conscientiam sublevandam. Ita certe homines taciturni ad multarum rerum notitiam simili de causa perveniunt, dum homines non tam impertire quam exonerare animum suum cupiant. Ut paucis dicamus, mysteria silentibus debentur.

But if someone have the reputation of a taciturn man, he will easily unseal the minds of others, just as confined air sucks at an opening; and, as it were, the confessing of offenses aims not at some end that tends to civil affairs, but at relieving the conscience. Thus indeed taciturn men come to the knowledge of many things for a similar cause, while people desire not so much to impart as to exonerate their mind. To say it in few words, mysteries are due to the silent.

Praeterea, si verum loquamur, etiam in animo, aeque ac in corpore, deformis et invenusta est nuditas, neque parvam addit reverentiam consiliis et factis hominum si minus pateant. At loquaces et futiles etiam leves sunt et creduli. Qui enim eloquitur quae scit effutiet etiam quae nescit.

Moreover, if we speak the truth, even in the mind, equally as in the body, nudity is deformed and uncomely, nor does it add a small reverence to the counsels and deeds of men if they are less patent. But the loquacious and the futile are also light and credulous. For he who speaks out what he knows will babble out even what he does not know.

Ponatur igitur pro certo habitum taciturnitatis virtutem esse politicam et moralem. Sed et illud addendum est, bonum esse homini ut vultus suus linguae officium non praeripiat. Nam revelatio animi ex vultu aut gestu magnus est defectus, et quaedam quasi proditio, eo magis quod saepenumero plus notatur et fidem facit quam verba.

Let it, therefore, be set for certain that the habit of taciturnity is a political and moral virtue. But this also must be added: it is good for a man that his countenance not preempt the office of the tongue. For the revelation of the mind from the face or from gesture is a great defect, and a kind of as‑it‑were betrayal, all the more because very often it is more noticed and wins more credence than words.

5. Quantum ad secundum, dissimulationem scilicet, ex necessitate quadam illa taciturnitatem sequitur. Adeo ut qui tectus esse vult dissimulator aliquatenus vel nolens evadat. Etenim astutiores sunt homines quam ut patiantur aliquem in aequilibrio se continere absque aliqua in alteram partem inclinationis suae declaratione.

5. As to the second point, namely dissimulation, by a certain necessity it follows upon taciturnity. So much so that he who wishes to be under cover ends up, to some extent, even unwillingly, a dissembler. For men are more astute than to allow anyone to keep himself in equilibrium without some declaration of his inclination to one side or the other.

In quaestionibus subtilibus eum obsidebunt, et allicient, et excutient, ut, nisi obfirmato et absurdo silentio se quis muniat, necesse ei fuerit se nonnihil prodere. Quinetiam si hoc non fecerit ex silentio ipso, aliquid coniecturae capient non minus quam ex verbis. Quod vero ad aequivocationes et oracula verborum attinet non poterunt illa diu valere, ita ut nemo tectus esse queat nisi aliquem dissimulationis gradum sibi indulgeat, quae nihil aliud est quam silentii quaedam appendix aut limbus.

In subtle questions they will besiege him, and allure, and shake him out, so that, unless one fortify himself by an obdurate and absurd silence, it will be necessary for him to betray himself somewhat. Nay even if he do not this, from the very silence they will take something of conjecture no less than from words. But as regards equivocations and the oracles of words, those will not be able to avail long, so that no one can be hidden unless he indulge himself some degree of dissimulation, which is nothing else than a certain appendix or hem of silence.

6. Quantum vero ad tertium gradum, nimirum simulationem et professionem falsam, illam magis vitiosam et minus politicam duco, nisi forte dignus vindice nodus inciderit. Itaque perpetua consuetudo simulandi vitium est, aut ex ingenii lubricitate quadam vel timiditate ortum, aut etiam ex animi constitutione quae vitio aliquo magno imbuta est. Quod, quia occultare oportet, simulationem etiam in aliis adhibere et exercere efficit, ne forte habitus ipse intercidat.

6. But as for the third degree, to wit simulation and false profession, I judge it more vicious and less politic, unless perchance a knot worthy of a vindicator should occur. Therefore a perpetual custom of dissembling is a vice, arising either from a certain slipperiness of disposition or from timidity, or even from a constitution of mind which is imbued with some great vice. Which, because it ought to be concealed, brings it about that one applies and practices simulation also in other matters, lest perhaps the very habit should lapse.

7. Commoda simulationis et dissimulationis tria. Primum est quod oppositionem amoliatur et homines imparatos aggrediatu. Ubi enim consilia cuiuspiam evulgata fuerint, adversari veluti tuba excitantur.

7. The advantages of simulation and dissimulation are three. The first is that it removes opposition and attacks men unprepared. For when the plans of someone have been divulged, adversaries are aroused as by a trumpet.

Secundum est quod in hominis potestate relinquit ut pedem referat et se absque existimationis suae iactura de negotio subducat. Si quis enim se manifesta declaratione obstringit, is cuneis quasi impactis includitur: aut pergendum est ei, aut turpiter desistendum. Tertium est quod ad aliena consilia detegenda viam aperiat.

The second is that it leaves it in a man’s power to draw back his foot and to withdraw himself from the business without the loss of his reputation. For if someone binds himself by a manifest declaration, he is shut in as if wedges had been driven home: either he must proceed, or he must shamefully desist. The third is that it opens a way to the uncovering of others’ counsels.

Etenim ei, qui sua consilia profert, non facile quis se adversarium profiteatur, verum assentabitur potius, et libertatem loquendi in libertatem cogitandi vertet. Itaque habetur apud Hispanos satis malignum adagium, dic mendacium, et veritatem erues, perinde ac si simulatio clavis esset ad secreta reseranda. Tria etiam sunt simulationis et dissimulationis incommoda, ut ex aequo res compensetur.

For indeed, to him who brings forth his own counsels, no one will readily profess himself an adversary; rather he will assent, and will turn the liberty of speaking into a liberty of thinking. And so there is held among the Spaniards a quite malign adage, say a lie, and you will unearth the truth, just as if simulation were a key for unlocking secrets. There are also three inconveniences of simulation and dissimulation, so that the matter may be compensated on equal terms.

Primum quod illa timiditatem arguant, id quod omnibus negotiis plumas vellit ne perniciter ad metam advolent. Secundum quod in ancipites cogitationes animos complurium coniiciant, qui fortasse alias cooperaturi fuissent et studio suo rem promoturi, unde sine socia et amica opera ad fines suos solus quis ambulet. Tertium est (idque maximum) quod praecipuo ad actiones organo hominem privet, nimirum fide.

First, that they bespeak timidity, which plucks the feathers from all undertakings lest they fly swiftly to the goal. Second, that they cast the minds of many into ambivalent thoughts, who perhaps otherwise would have cooperated and by their zeal have advanced the matter, whence, without companion and friendly assistance, one walks alone to his ends. Third (and this the greatest), that it deprives a man of the chief organ for actions, namely faith.

Optimum fuerit temperamentum si quis veracitatis famam obtineat, taciturnitatis habitum, dissimulationis usum tempestivum, et facultatem simulationis, ubi opus fuerit.

The optimum tempering would be, if one maintain a reputation for veracity, a habit of taciturnity, a seasonable use of dissimulation, and the faculty of simulation, where there is need.

VII. DE PARENTIBUS ET LIBERIS

7. ON PARENTS AND CHILDREN

1. Gaudia parentum occulta sunt, nec minus dolores eorum et metus. Illa certe verbis assequi nequeunt, hos autem proferre nolunt. Certe liberi labores humanos suaviores, verum infortunia amariora, reddunt.

1. The joys of parents are hidden, and no less their pains and fears. Those, to be sure, they cannot compass by words; these, however, they are unwilling to proffer. Certainly children render human labors sweeter, but misfortunes more bitter.

Curas vitae multiplicant, sed memoriam mortis mitigant. Aeternitas sobolis etiam brutis communis est, sed illa memoriae, meritorum, et operum, propria est hominibus. Atque videre sane est opera nobilissima et fundationes ab orbis profecta, quibus effigies animorum exhibere curae erat, cum corporis imaginibus destituerentur.

They multiply the cares of life, but mitigate the memory of death. The eternity of offspring is common even to brutes, but that of memory, of merits, and of works is proper to human beings. And indeed one may truly see most noble works and foundations set forth in the world, by which it was a concern to exhibit effigies of souls, when they were destitute of images of the body.

Adeo ut posteritati maxime studeant qui posteritate carent. Qui honores in familiam suam primi introducunt erga liberos indulgentissimi sunt. Intuentur siquidem eos non tantum ut continuationem speciei suae, sed ut rerum a se gestarum haeres, ideoque ut liberos et creaturas.

So much so that those who lack posterity are most devoted to posterity. Those who first introduce honors into their family are most indulgent toward their children. For indeed they regard them not only as the continuation of their species, but as the heir of the deeds done by themselves, and therefore as children and creatures.

Gradus affectuum in parentibus erga liberos diversos saepe dispares sunt, aliquando inique, ac potissimum in matre. Unde Salomon dicit, filius sapiens laetificat patrem, filius vero stultus moestitiae est matri suae. In domo foecunda et liberorum plena cernere quandoque est unum aut alterum ex senioribus pluris aestimari, atque ex iunioribus in deliciis esse, atque ex iunioribus in deliciis esse, sed in medio fortasse aliquos quasi oblivione transiri, qui nihilominus haud raro optimae indolis evadunt.

Degrees of affections in parents toward children, diverse, are often unequal, sometimes unjust, and most of all in the mother. Whence Solomon says, a wise son gladdens the father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother. In a fruitful house and full of children one sometimes sees one or another of the elders valued more, and some of the younger to be in high favor, and some of the younger to be in high favor, but in the middle perhaps some, as it were, to be passed over in oblivion, who nonetheless not rarely turn out of the best natural disposition.

Illiberalitas parentum erga liberos suos error est plane noxius. Nam eos reddit animo degeneres, fallaciis deditos, ignobilium consortio se delectantes, magisque ad luxum propensos quando rerum copiam adepti sint. Itaque optime succedit quando parentes suam apud liberos auctoritatem tuentur, crumenam laxant.

The illiberality of parents toward their own children is an error plainly noxious. For it makes them degenerate in spirit, devoted to deceptions, taking delight in the company of the ignoble, and more prone to luxury when they have obtained a plenty of means. Therefore things turn out best when parents maintain their authority with their children and loosen the purse-strings.

Invaluit tam apud parentes quod paedogogos et famulos mos quidem ineptus aemulationes inter fratres serendi et alendi, durante eorum pueritia. Quae saepenumero in discordias evadunt post aetatem virilem, et familias turbant. Itali non magnum ponunt discrimen inter liberos et nepotes aut cognatos, sed, modo sint e massa sanguinis, non multum pensi habent utrum sint e corpore proprio editi necne.

It has gained ground among parents, as well as tutors and servants, a truly inept custom of sowing and fostering emulations among brothers during their childhood. These very often pass into discords after the virile age, and they disturb households. The Italians place no great discrimination between children and grandchildren or cognates, but, provided they are of the mass of blood, they do not reckon much whether they have been brought forth from their own body or not.

Atque si verum dicendum sit, in natura non multum interest; adeo ut saepe videamus nepotem avunculo magis similem aut cognato quam parenti proprio, prout sanguis casu quodam derivatur. Curent parentes in tenera aetate filiorum suorum cui vitae generi illos destinent. Tum enim maxime sunt flexibiles et cerei.

And if the truth is to be said, in nature there is not much difference; to such a degree that we often see a grandson more similar to his maternal uncle or to a kinsman than to his own parent, just as the blood is by a certain chance derived. Let parents take care, in the tender age of their children, to what kind of life they destine them. For then they are especially flexible and wax-like.

Neque in hac electione respiciant nimis inclinationem filiorum ipsorum, quasi illud melius arrepturi sint ad quod maxime videntur propensi. Verum est, si affectus aut aptitudo puerorum sit erga aliquod studium insignis, non expedire ut quis naturae aut indoli repugnet. Sed ut plurimum praeceptum illud sanum est, optimum elige, suave et facile illud faciet consuetudo.

Nor in this selection should they look too much to the inclination of their own sons, as though they would seize upon that more successfully to which they seem most propense. It is true, if the affection or aptitude of the boys toward some study is remarkable, it is not expedient for one to resist nature or disposition. But for the most part that precept is sound: choose the best; custom will make it pleasant and easy.

Fratres iuniores plerunque sunt fortunae filii, sed raro aut nunquam prosperum sortiuntur exitum quando exhaeredantur seniores.

Younger brothers are for the most part the sons of Fortune, but they rarely or never obtain a prosperous outcome when the elders are disinherited.

VIII. DE NUPTIIS ET COELIBATU

8. ON MARRIAGES AND CELIBACY

1. Qui uxorem duxit et liberos suscepit, obsides fortunae dedit. Sunt enim magnorum conatuum impedimenta, sive ad virtutem tendat quis sive ad improbitatem. Certe praestantissima (ut alibi diximus) in usum reipublicae opera et merita a viris profecta sunt prole carentibus, qui tam affectu quam fortunis rempublicam connubio sibi iunxerunt et dotarunt.

1. He who has taken a wife and has begotten children has given hostages to fortune. For they are impediments to great endeavors, whether one tends toward virtue or toward depravity. Surely the most outstanding works and merits for the use of the republic (as we said elsewhere) have proceeded from men lacking offspring, who by wedlock joined the republic to themselves both with affection and with fortunes, and endowed it.

Attamen rationi videatur magis consentaneum ut qui liberos relinquunt maiorum futurorum temporum curarunt, ad quae satis norunt charissima illa sua pignora oportere transmitti. Sunt tamen qui, licet liberis careant, tamen memoriae suae incuriosi sunt et cogitationes vitae tantum curriculo terminant, et tempora futura ut ad se nihil pertinentia ducunt. Imo et alii nonnulli uxorem et liberos tantum in rationibus expensarum habent.

Yet it seems more consonant with reason that those who leave children behind have cared for the greater times to come, to which they know well that those most dear pledges of theirs ought to be transmitted. There are, however, those who, although they lack children, are nevertheless careless of their own memory, and confine their thoughts to the mere course of life, and reckon the future times as pertaining nothing to themselves. Nay, some others have wife and children only in the accounts of expenses.

Quinetiam reperiuntur aliqui fatui avari qui gloriantur fere se liberis carere, ut habeantur tanto ditiores. Audiverunt scilicet aliquos dicentes talis quispiam est ditissimus, alios autem subinferentes at liberis compluribus oneratur quasi divitiarum hoc esset decrementum. Verum coelibatus caussa maxime frequens est libertas, praesertim in quibusdam animis sibi complacentibus et phantasticis, qui omnis restrictionis sensum nacti sunt tam acutum ut cingula et periscelidas fere habeant pro vinculis et compedibus.

Moreover, there are found certain avaricious fools who almost boast that they are without children, so as to be accounted all the richer. They have, forsooth, heard some saying, “Such-and-such a man is richest,” while others subjoining, “but he is burdened with many children,” as though this were a diminution of riches. But the most frequent cause of celibacy is liberty, especially in certain self-pleasing and fantastical minds, who have gotten so acute a sense of every restriction that they almost take belts and garters for bonds and fetters.

Viri coelibes optimi sunt amici, optimi erga servos domini, servi etiam erga domini optimi, at non semper subditi optimi. Sunt enim ad fugam expediti, atque revera transfugae fere omnes suint eius conditionis. Vita coelebs ecclesiasticis bene convenit.

Celibate men are the best friends, the best masters toward their servants, even the best servants toward their masters, but not always the best subjects. For they are ready for flight, and indeed almost all deserters are of that condition. The celibate life suits ecclesiastics well.

Non enim facile quis irriget solum si prius stagni alicuius receptaculum interveniat. Iudicibus et magistratibus res est fere indifferens. Si enim faciles sint et corruptelis dediti, servum aliquem videas uxore multis modis ad huiusmodi lucra captanda deteriorem.

For one does not easily irrigate the soil, if first there intervenes the receptacle of some stagnant pool. To judges and magistrates the matter is almost indifferent; for if they are pliant and given over to corruptions, you may see some servant, in many ways, worse than a wife at snatching lucre of this kind.

Quod ad milites attinet, reperio certe duces apud exercitus suos concionantes illis in memoriam redigere solere charitates uxorum et liberorum. Reperio etiam nuptiarum contemptum apud Turcas milites vulgares reddere viliores. Sunt certe porro uxor et liberi disciplina quaedam humanitatis, et caelibes, etsi saepenumero magis sint munifici et charitativi quia fortunae eorum minus exhauriantur.

As regards soldiers, I certainly find that leaders, when haranguing before their armies, are accustomed to recall to them the affections of wives and children. I also find that contempt of nuptials among the Turks renders the common soldiers more base. Surely, moreover, wife and children are a certain discipline of humanity; and yet bachelors, although very often they are more munificent and charitable because their fortunes are less exhausted.

Sunt tamen ex altera parte magis crudeles et sine visceribus (idonei qui sint severi inquisitores), quia indulgentia et teneritudo affectuum suorum non tam saepe evocatur et excitatur. Naturae graves et consuetudine ductae, ideoque constantes, sunt plerunque uxoriae, ut de Ulysse perhibetur: vetulam suam praetulit immortalitate. Mulieres castae sunt plerunque superbae et protervae, merito pudicitiae suae elatae.

They are, however, on the other side, more cruel and without bowels (fit to be severe inquisitors), because the indulgence and tenderness of their affections are not so often evoked and excited. Grave natures and those led by custom, and therefore constant, are for the most part uxorious, as is reported of Ulysses: he preferred his old wife to immortality. Chaste women are for the most part proud and insolent, deservedly exalted by their own pudicity.

Inter vincula praestantissima castitatis et obsequii uxoris erga maritum illud censeri debet, si virum suum uxor prudentem putet, quod nunquam faciet si sum inveniat zelotypum. Uxores iuvenum dominae sunt, mediae aetatis sociae, senum nutrices. Adeo ut adsit ansa ad uxorem ducendam aetatibus singulis.

Among the most outstanding bonds of chastity and a wife’s obedience toward her husband, this ought to be reckoned: that the wife deem her husband prudent—something she will never do if she finds him jealous. The wives of young men are mistresses, of men in middle age companions, of old men nurses. Thus there is an occasion for taking a wife in each several age.

Inter sapientes tamen numeratus est ille, qui interrogatus quod esset tempus opportunum nuptiarum? respondit iuvenibus non adhuc, senibus non omnino. Saepe fit ut mariti deteriores bonas habeant uxores, sive hoc fiat quod hoc modo pretium addatur mariti benevolentiae per vices, sive quod uxores in patientia sua glorientur.

Yet he was numbered among the wise who, when asked what would be the opportune time for nuptials, replied: for the young, not yet; for the old, not at all. Often it happens that worse husbands have good wives, whether this happens because in this way value is added, by turns, to the husband’s benevolence, or because wives glory in their patience.

Hoc autem nunquam fallit, si huiusmodo mariti ab uxoribus ipsis expetiti et electi fuerunt contra consensum amicorum. Tunc enim animus iis semper adest ut stultitiae suae poenitere non videantur.

But this never fails, if husbands of this kind have been sought out and elected by the wives themselves, against the consensus of friends. For then spirit is always present to them, so that they may not seem to repent of their own folly.

IX. DE INVIDIA

9. ON ENVY

1. Ex affectibus nulli sunt qui existimantur fascinare praeter amorem et invidiam. Uterque acria progignit desideria, uterque se perniciter efformat in phantasias et suggestiones, atque uterque facile inscendit in oculos (praecipue quando obiectum adest). Quae omnia ad fascinationem faciunt, si modo fascinatio aliqua sit. Videmus etiam Scripturam invidiam, oculi mali nomine, insignire, atque astrologos malos astrorum astrorum influxus malignos aspectus vocare.

1. Of the affections there are none that are thought to bewitch except love and envy. Each begets sharp desires, each perniciously shapes itself into phantasies and suggestions, and each easily mounts into the eyes (especially when the object is present). All these things make for fascination, if indeed there be any fascination at all. We see also Scripture mark envy by the name of the evil eye, and astrologers call the bad influxes of the stars malignant aspects.

Ita ut agnosci ab omnibus videatur in invidia eiusque operatione eiaculatio quaedem et irradiatio ex oculis. Quin et nonnulli tam extiterunt curiosi ut notaverint tempora quibus ictus et percussio oculi invidi plurimum obest tum praecipue esse cum persona in quam invidia torquetur spectatur in gloria et triumpho. Etenim hoc mucronem invidiae acuit, atque insuper illis temporibus spiritus personae invisae prodeunt maxime in exteriora, unde ictui occurrunt.

It is thus that it seems to be recognized by all, in envy and its operation, that there is a certain ejaculation and irradiation from the eyes. Nay, some have been so curious that they have noted the times at which the blow and striking of the envious eye harms most, and that this is chiefly when the person toward whom envy is directed is beheld in glory and triumph. For this sharpens the point of envy, and moreover at those times the spirits of the person envied go forth most into the outer parts, whence they meet the stroke.

2. Verum, missis istis rebus curiosis (licet non indignis quae in considerationem veniant, sed loco idoneo), tractabimus hac tria: qui sint ad invidendum maxime proclives, qui sint invidiae maxime obnoxii, et quae sit differentia inter invidiam publicam et privatam. Qui virtutis ipse expers est, invidet virtuti alterius. Etenim animi hominum se pascunt et delectantur aut bono proprio aut malo alieno.

2. But, those curious matters being dismissed (though not unworthy to come into consideration, yet in a fitting place), we will treat these three things: who are most prone to envy, who are most obnoxious to envy, and what the difference is between public and private envy. He who is himself devoid of virtue envies the virtue of another. For indeed the minds of men feed and delight themselves either on their own good or on another’s ill.

Quique primo alimento caret, satiabit se secundo. Et qui nullo modo sperat se ad virtutem alterius pervenire posse, ipse fortunam eius libenter deprimit, ut minor intercedat disparitas.
3. Vir curiosus et se alienis rebus immiscens ut plurimum invidus est.

Whoever lacks the first nourishment will satiate himself with the second. And he who in no way hopes that he can attain to another’s virtue, himself gladly depresses that man’s fortune, so that a lesser disparity may intercede.
3. A curious man, and one who mixes himself into other people’s affairs, is for the most part envious.

Etenim de rebus alienis multum inquirere, neutiquam eo spectare possit, quod operosa sedulitas suis rebus conducat. Itaque fieri non potest quin huiusmodi vir scenicam quandam voluptatem capiat aliorum fortunas spectandi. Neque qui rebus propriis tantum intentus est segetem invidiae multam reperiet.

For indeed to inquire much into other people’s affairs can by no means have as its aim that painstaking assiduity should conduce to one’s own concerns. And so it cannot but be that a man of this sort takes a certain theatrical pleasure in viewing the fortunes of others. Nor will he who is intent only on his own affairs find a plentiful harvest of envy.

Invidia enim passio est cursitans et plateas terit, nec domi se continet: non est curiosus quin idem sit malevolens.
4. Viri natalibus nobiles invidiae erga novos homines notam subeunt. Etenim mutatur invervallum.

For envy is a passion running to and fro and wearing the streets, nor does it confine itself at home: there is no busybody who is not likewise malevolent.
4. Men noble by birth incur the mark of envy toward new men. For the interval is changed.

Et simile est hoc deceptioni visus, cum res retrocedere videantur, aliis se promoventibus.
5. Deformes, et eunuchi, et senes, et spurii invidi sunt. Etenim qui conditionem suam emendare nullo modo potest, conditionem alterius pro viribus suis labefactabit.

And this is similar to a deception of sight, when things seem to go backward, as others are promoting themselves.
5. The deformed, and eunuchs, and old men, and spurious (illegitimate) men are envious. For indeed he who can in no way amend his own condition will, to the extent of his powers, undermine another’s condition.

Nisi forte hi defectus in generosa et heroica ingenia inciderint, quae defectus proprius naturales in honoris sui incrementum vertere nitantur. Scilicet, ut fama hoc arripiat, eunuchum aut claudum tam magna perpetrasse, miraculi nimirum honore affectato, id quod event Narseti eunucho, et Agesilao, atque Tamberlani, qui claudi fuerunt.
6. Eadem fere ratio est hominum qui e calamitatibus resurgunt.

Unless perhaps these defects have fallen upon noble and heroic natures, which strive to turn their own natural defects into an increment of their honor. Namely, so that fame may seize upon this: that a eunuch or a lame man has accomplished things so great, with, assuredly, the honor of a miracle being aimed at—something which befell Narses the eunuch, and Agesilaus, and Tamerlane, who were lame.
6. Nearly the same rationale holds for men who rise again out of calamities.

Sunt enim plerunque temporibus infensi, atque alienas calamitates tanquam suarum molestiarum redemptiones gustant.
7. Qui in plurimis excellere contendunt, levitate et gloria vana moti, necesse est ut sint invidi. Ubique enim occurrunt obiecta invidiae, cum fieri nequeat quin aliqui in tot rebus illos superent.

For they are for the most part hostile to the times, and they savor others’ calamities as though redemptions of their own vexations.
7. Those who strive to excel in very many things, moved by levity and vain glory, must needs be envious. For everywhere occur objects of envy, since it cannot be but that some in so many matters surpass them.

Qui fuit character imperatoris Adriani, qui poetas, et pictores, et opifices alios in iis scilicet operibus quibus ipse praecellere gestiaebat, capitali quadam invidia prosequebatur.
8. Postremo propinqui, et collegae, et una educati ad invidendum aequalibus, cum evehuntur, proni sunt. Etenim exprobrat hoc illis fortunam propriam, eosque quasi digito monstrat, et frequenter eorum memoriam vellicat.

Such was the character of the emperor Hadrian, who pursued poets, and painters, and other artificers, in those works, namely, wherein he himself was eager to excel, with a certain capital envy.
8. Finally, kinsmen, and colleagues, and those brought up together are prone to envy their equals, when they are lifted up. For this reproaches to them their own fortune, and, as it were, points at them with a finger, and frequently tweaks their memory.

Quinetiam in aliorum notam haec fortunae collatio magis incurrit. Invidia autem autem a fama et sermonibus semper reflectitur et conduplicatur. Unde invidia Cainis erga fratrem Abelam malignior fuit, quia cum sacrificium Abelis magis acceptum Deo fuit, nemo inspexit.

And indeed, this comparison of fortune more incurs the censure of others. Envy, moreover, is always reflected back and doubled by fame and discourse. Whence the envy of Cain toward his brother Abel was more malignant, because, although Abel’s sacrifice was more acceptable to God, no one inspected it.

Atque haec de iis, qui ad invidendum proclives sunt.
9. Quantum ad illos qui invidiae magis aut minus obnoxii sunt, primo iis qui eminente virtute praediti sunt minus invidentur cum promoventur. Promotio enim eorum videtur ex debito.

And thus much about those who are prone to envy.
9. As for those who are more or less obnoxious to envy, first, those endowed with eminent virtue are less envied when they are promoted. For their promotion seems as due.

Debiti autem solutioni nemo invidet, sed largitioni supra meritum. Atque etiam invidia non sine comparatione est; ubi autem nullus comparationis gradus, nulla invidia. Itaque regibus non invidetur, nisi a regibus.

But no one envies the payment of a debt, only largess beyond desert. And also envy is not without comparison; where there is no degree of comparison, there is no envy. Therefore kings are not envied, except by kings.

Illud tamen observatione dignum est, personis indignis sub primum honoris sui ascensum maxime invideri, postea vero minus, ubi contra personae dignae et meritis insignes invidiam tum demum experiuntur, postquam fortunae eorum diutius duraverint. Etenim, licet virtus eorum eadem maneat, tamen minus sit illustris. Recentes enim oboriantur homines qui eam obscurant.

That, however, is worthy of observation: that unworthy persons, at the very first ascent of their honor, are most envied, but afterwards less; whereas, on the contrary, persons worthy and distinguished by merits then at length experience envy, after their fortunes have endured longer. Indeed, although their virtue remains the same, yet it is less illustrious. For recent men arise who obscure it.

10. Nobiles genere minus invidiae expositi sunt cum honoribus cumulantur. Etenim nihil aliud videtur quam debitum maioribus suis repensum. Praeterea parum fortunae eorum additum videtur.

10. Nobles by lineage are less exposed to envy when they are cumulated with honors. For indeed nothing else seems than a debt repaid to their ancestors. Moreover, little seems to have been added to their fortune.

Invidia autem, more radiorum solis, in clivo ardentior est quam in plano. Itaque eandem ob causam qui per gradus evehuntur minorem subeunt invidiam quam qui per saltum.
11. Qui cum honoribus suis coniunctos habent labores magnos, curas, et pericula, invidia minus laborant.

Envy, however, after the manner of the rays of the sun, is more ardent on a slope than on the plain. And so, for the same cause, those who are raised by steps incur less envy than those who by a leap.
11. Those who have great labors, cares, and dangers conjoined with their honors suffer less from envy.

Etenim existimant homines eos honores suos caro pretio emere, et misereri potius ipsorum nonnunquam incipiunt. Misericordia autem semper fere sanat invidiam. Itaque notabis plerunque ex viris politicis et honore fulgentibus magis sanos et sobrios semper querimonias fundere qualem vitam traducunt, canenes illud quanta patimur, non quod ita sentiant, sed quo invidiae aciem retundant.

For indeed men suppose that they purchase those honors of theirs at a dear price, and sometimes they begin rather to pity them. But mercy almost always heals envy. And so you will note for the most part that political men and those shining with honor, more sane and sober, are always pouring forth querimonies about what kind of life they lead, singing that “how much we suffer,” not because they so feel, but in order to blunt the edge of envy.

Verum hoc intelligi debet de negotiis quae huiusmodi viris imponuntur, non de iis quae ipse ad se attrahunt. Nihil enim invidiam magis suscitat quam ambitiosum et immodicum negotiorum monopolium. Nihilque e converso invidiam extinguit magis quam si quis in summis honoribus constitutus aliis officiariis inferioribus nihil detrahat.

But this must be understood of the affairs which are imposed upon men of this kind, not of those which they draw to themselves. For nothing more excites envy than an ambitious and immoderate monopoly of affairs; and nothing, conversely, more extinguishes envy than if someone, positioned in the highest honors, detracts nothing from other subordinate officials.

Hoc enim modo quot illi ministri sunt, tot se tegit umbraculis ab invidia.
12. Super omnia ,illi invidiam in se concitant maxime qui fortunarum suarum amplitudinem insolenter et tumide ostentant, nunquam sibi placentes nisi dum potentiam suam iactent vel per pompam exteriorem, vel triumphando de adversariis aut competitoribus suis deiectis. Ubi contra viri prudentes sacrificare quandoque invidiae ament, de industria interdum permittentes se vinci in rebus quae minus eius cordi sunt.

For in this way, as many ministers as he has, by just so many little sunshades he shelters himself from envy.
12. Above all ,those most stir envy up against themselves who insolently and tumidly ostentatiously display the amplitude of their fortunes, never pleasing themselves except while they vaunt their power either through exterior pomp, or by triumphing over their adversaries or competitors when cast down. Whereas, contrariwise, prudent men sometimes like to sacrifice to Envy, at times deliberately allowing themselves to be conquered in matters that are less dear to their heart.

Nihilominus illud verum est, potentiae ostentationem apertam et indissimulatam (modo absit arrogantia et gloria inanis) minore invidia laborare quam si callide et quasi furtim se notae subtrahat. Etenim hoc cum fit nihil aliud facit quis quam ut fortunam insimulet, quasi ipse sibi esset conscius indignitatis sui, unde alios ad sibi invidendum stimulat.
13. Postremo, ut huic parti finem imponamus, quemadmodum in principio diximus invidiae actum aliquid habere in se ex veneficio, ita non alia est invidiae curatio quam quae solet esse veneficii et incantationis.

Nevertheless this is true, that an open and undisguised ostentation of power (provided arrogance and vain-glory be absent) labors under less envy than if it should craftily and, as it were, by stealth withdraw itself from notice. For indeed, when this is done, one does nothing else than cast an imputation upon his fortune, as though he were conscious to himself of his own unworthiness, whence he goads others to envy him.
13. Finally, to put an end to this part: just as at the beginning we said that the act of envy has in itself something of poisoning, so there is no other cure of envy than that which is wont to be for poisoning and incantation.

Hoc est sortis translatio (ut vocant) et in alium remotio. Ad quem finem prudentiores ex honoratis semper in scenam introducunt aliquem in quem invidiam, in se alias incursuram, derivent, quandoque in ministros et servos, quandoque in collegas et socios, aut in alios quosdam eam reiicientes. Neque ad hunc usum unquam desunt personae aliquae violentae et temerariae quae, modo potentiam et negotia agitent, ea quovis periculo mercari non dubitent.

This is a translation of the lot (as they call it) and a removal onto another. To which end the more prudent among the honored always bring on stage someone onto whom they may divert the envy that would otherwise run against themselves, sometimes casting it upon ministers and servants, sometimes upon colleagues and partners, or upon certain others. Nor for this use are there ever lacking some violent and rash persons who, provided they stir power and business, do not hesitate to purchase them at whatever peril.

14. Iam vero, ut de publica invidia loquamur, ea saltem aliquid in se habet boni, ubi in privata invidia nihil prorsus inest boni. Publica enim invidia instar salubris ostracismi est, qui viros magnos supra modum excrescentes coercet, unde etiam praevo est viris praepotentibus ne se nimium efferant.
15. Hec invidia, quae mala contentatio modernis linguis appellatur (et in titulo de seditionibus plenius tractabitur), est in regnis et rebuspublicis contagioni non absimilis.

14. Now indeed, to speak about public envy, that at least has something of good in it, whereas in private envy there is absolutely nothing of good. For public envy is after the manner of a healthful ostracism, which restrains great men overgrowing beyond measure; whence also it is a forewarning to prepotent men not to exalt themselves too much.
15. This envy, which in the modern tongues is called malcontentation (and will be handled more fully under the title On Seditions), is in kingdoms and commonwealths not unlike a contagion.

Etenim sicut contagio in sanas partes serpit easque corrumpit, ita etiam, quando invidia statum occupaverit vel optima reipublicae mandata et instituta, in odium vertit et graveolentiam quandam. Itaque parum proficitur intermiscendo actiones gratas et populares odiosis. Etenim hoc ipsum inbecillitatem et invidiae metum arguit, quae tanto magis nocet ut fit etiam in contagionibus quae, si tibi ab iis metuas, facilius irruunt.

For indeed, just as contagion creeps into the sound parts and corrupts them, so also, when envy has seized the state, it turns even the best mandates and institutions of the republic into hatred and a certain rank odor. And so little is profited by intermixing agreeable and popular actions with odious ones. For this very thing argues weakness and fear of envy, which harms so much the more—as likewise happens in contagions—which, if you are afraid of them, rush upon you the more easily.

16. Ac publica ista invidia magis in regum officiarios et ministros involat quam in reges ipsos. Attamen ecce regulam quae vix fallit: si invidia quae ministro incumbit sit magna, caussa autem parva, aut si invidia quasi generalis sit et omnes status ministros complectatur, tunc invidia (etsi occulto) regem aut statum ipsum petit. Atque haec dicta sint de publica invidia aut contentione mala, atque de eius differentia ab invidia privata, quam priore loco tractavimus.

16. And that public envy fastens itself more upon the officers and ministers of kings than upon the kings themselves. Yet behold a rule that scarcely fails: if the envy that lies upon a minister be great, but the cause small; or if the envy be, as it were, general and embrace all the ministers of the state, then the envy (albeit covertly) strikes at the king or at the state itself. And let these things be said concerning public envy, or evil contention, and concerning its difference from private envy, which we treated in the former place.

17. Addemus etiam in genere de affectu invidiae hoc insuper, eum inter omnes affectus esse maxime importunum et assiduum. Etenim aliis affectibus excitandis subinde praebetur occasio. Recte autem dictum est invidiam festos dies non agere, quia semper materiam se exercendi reperit.

17. We will add also, in general, concerning the affect of envy this moreover: that among all affects it is the most importunate and assiduous. For to other affects an occasion is afforded from time to time for being excited. But it has been rightly said that envy keeps no feast-days, because it always finds matter for exercising itself.

Unde etiam observatum est amorem et invidiam maciem hominibus inducere, id quod alii affectus non faciunt, quoniam non continui sunt. Est etiam invidia affectuum vilissimus et pravissimus, quam ob causam proprium est attributum Diaboli qui dicitur invidus homo, qui zizanias inter triticum nocte seminavit. Quemadmodum etiam semper evenit ut invidia callide et in tenebris operetur ad praeiudicium cuiusvis rei optimae, veluti tritici.

Whence it has also been observed that love and envy induce leanness in men, which other affections do not, since they are not continuous. Envy, moreover, is the vilest and most depraved of affections, for which cause it is the proper attribute of the Devil, who is called the envious man, who by night sowed tares among the wheat. Just as it also always comes to pass that envy works craftily and in the dark to the prejudice of whatever is best, as of wheat.

X. DE AMORE

10. ON LOVE

1. Amori plus debet scena quam vita. Etenim in scena amor semper comoediae praebet argumentum, quandoque etiam et tragoediae. At in vita humana multum plerunque affert nocumenti, nunc ut Syrenum aliqua, aliquando ut Furiarum.

1. The stage owes more to Love than life does. For indeed on the stage love always provides the argument for comedy, sometimes even for tragedy. But in human life it generally brings much detriment, now like something of the Sirens, at times like that of the Furies.

Observare licet neminem ex viris magnis et illustribus fuisse (quorum extat memoria vel antiqua vel recens) qui adactus fuerit ad insanum illum gradum amoris. Unde constat animos magnos et negotia magna infirmam hanc passionem admittere. Excipere tamen oportet Marcum Antonium, imperii Romani duumvirum, et Appium Claudium decemvirum, legislatorum inter Romanos principem.

It may be observed that none among the great and illustrious men (whose memory stands either ancient or recent) was driven to that insane grade of love. Whence it is evident that great spirits and great enterprises do not admit this infirm passion. Yet one ought to except Marcus Antonius, a duumvir of the Roman Empire, and Appius Claudius, a decemvir, the chief among the legislators of the Romans.

Quorum prior fuit revera homo luxuriosus et voluptatibus deditus, alter autem vir fuit prudens et austerus. Unde quivis perspiciat amorem (quanquam rarius) aditum reperire posse non solum in cor apertum, sed et bene munitum, si diligenti custodia non asservetur. Abiectum siquidem et pusillanimum est illud Epicuri dictum satis magnum alter alteri theatrum sumus, quasi homo natus ad contemplationem coeli et coelestium idolum adorans minutum satageret, se submittendo, si non ori ut bruta, oculo tamen, certe ad altiora contemplanda dato.

Of whom the former was in truth a luxurious man and given over to pleasures, while the latter was a prudent and austere man. Whence anyone may perceive that love (although more rarely) can find an entrance not only into an open heart, but even into one well-fortified, if it be not kept with diligent guard. For abject indeed and pusillanimous is that saying of Epicurus, “we are a sufficiently great theater for one another,” as though man, born for the contemplation of heaven and the celestial things, should busy himself worshiping a diminutive idol, by submitting himself, if not to the mouth as the brutes, yet to the eye—surely given for the contemplation of higher things.

Mira res videbitur si passionis huius excessum perpendamus, ac quomodo ipsi rerum naturae et valori vero insultet, vel hoc ipso, quod hyperbole perpetua nulli rei conveniat praeterquam amori. Neque haec hyperbole solummodo in locutionis phrasi cernitur. Cum enim verissime dictum sit adulatorum principem, quocum caeteri adulatores minores conspirant, esse unumquemque sibi ipsi profecto amator, aliquid amplius est.

It will seem a wondrous thing if we weigh the excess of this passion, and how it insults the very nature of things and true value, even by this very fact, that perpetual hyperbole fits no thing except love. Nor is this hyperbole seen only in the phrase of locution. For since it has been most truly said that the chief of flatterers, with whom the other lesser flatterers conspire, is each person, assuredly, a lover of himself, there is something more.

Nunquam enim fuit quisquis adeo superbus qui seipsum tam absurde magnifecerit quam amator personam amatam. Recte itaque receptum est illud diverbium, amare et sapere vix Deo conceditur. Neque aliis tantummodo manifesta est haec phrenesis, personae autam amatae minime; sed et amatae potissimum, nisi amor sit reciprocus.

For never indeed was there anyone so proud who magnified himself so absurdly as a lover magnifies the beloved person. Rightly, therefore, that proverb has been received: to love and to be wise is scarcely granted even to God. Nor is this frenzy manifest only to others—by no means least to the person loved; indeed to the loved one most of all, unless the love is reciprocal.

Certissimum enim est amorem semper rependi aut amore mutuo aut contemptu intriseco et secreto. Quo magis cavendum est hominibus ab hac passione, quae non solum alias res perdit, sed et seipsam. Quae alia infert damna, belle illa exprimit poetarum fabula, eum scilicet qui Helenam praetulit Iunonis dona et Palladis amisisse.

For it is most certain that love is always repaid either by mutual love or by intrinsic and secret contempt. Wherefore men must the more beware of this passion, which not only destroys other things, but even itself. The other harms which it brings are nicely expressed by that fable of the poets, namely that the one who preferred Helen lost the gifts of Juno and of Pallas.

Quisquis enim amatoris affectibus nimis indulget, et divitiis et sapientiae nuncium remittit. Habet haec passio aestus suos in ipsis temporibus quibus animus maxime mollis est et infirmus, nimirum in rebus prosperis aut adversis, quanquam hoc posterius minus forsan observatum fuerit. Utraque enim tempestas amorem accendit, redditque flagrantiorem, unde evincitur esse stultitiae proles.

For whoever indulges too much the affections of a lover sends a notice of dismissal both to riches and to wisdom. This passion has its heats at the very times when the mind is most soft and infirm, namely in prosperous or in adverse circumstances, although the latter perhaps has been less observed. For each tempest kindles love and makes it more blazing, whence it is proved to be the offspring of folly.

Optime illi qui si amores omnino nequeant extrudere, eos tamen in ordinem redigunt, et a rebus seriis vitaeque negotiis segregant. Si enim illis amor se immisceat, turbat omnia, hominesque eo compellit ut fines suos recta petere non possint. Quicquid in re sit, viri militares amoribus dediti sunt, opinor non aliter quam vino.

Best are those who, if they cannot altogether expel loves, yet reduce them to order and segregate them from serious matters and the business of life. For if love intermix itself with these, it disturbs everything and drives men to the point that they cannot seek their ends straight. Whatever the case may be, military men are devoted to loves, I think, no otherwise than to wine.

Poscunt enim plerunque pericula compensationem voluptariam. Inest ingenio humano motus quidam arcanus et tacita inclinatio in amorem aliorem, qui si non insumatur in unum vel paucos, naturaliter se diffundit in plures, atque homines reddit humanos et charitativos, quemadmodum videre licet nonnunquam in monachis. Amor coniugalis genus humanum creat, amor socialis perficit, amor vero lascivus inficit et dehonestat.

For perils, for the most part, demand a pleasurable compensation. There is in human ingenium a certain arcane motion and a tacit inclination into love of others, which, if it be not expended upon one or a few, naturally diffuses itself into many, and makes men humane and charitable, as one may sometimes see among monks. Conjugal love creates the human race; social love perfects it; but lascivious love infects and disgraces it.

XI. DE MAGISTRATIBUS ET DIGNITATIBUS

11. ON MAGISTRATES AND DIGNITIES

1. Viri in magistratu collocati ter servi: servi principis vel politiae, servi famae, et servi negotiorum. Adeo ut libertate neutiquam fruantur, nec in personis, nec in actionibus, nec in temporibus suis. Mirum cupiditatis genus potestatem appetere, libertatem amittere, vel potestatem in alios ambire, potestatem in seipsum exuere.

1. Men placed in magistracy are thrice servants: servants of the prince or of the polity, servants of fame, and servants of business. So much so that they in no wise enjoy liberty, neither in their persons, nor in their actions, nor in their own times. A marvelous kind of cupidity: to appetite power, to lose liberty; or to canvass for power over others, to divest oneself of power over oneself.

Ascensus ad dignitates arduus est, et per labores pervenitur ad labores maiores. Saepe quoque indignitatibus non vacat, atque per indignitates pervenitur ad dignitates. Statio in dignitatibus res lubrica est, atque regressus aut praecipitium est aut saltem eclipsis, quae et ipsa triste quiddam et melancholicum, cum non sis qui fueris, non esse cur velis vivere.

Ascent to dignities is arduous, and through labors one comes to greater labors. Often too it is not without indignities, and through indignities one reaches dignities. Standing in dignities is a slippery affair, and the return is either a precipice or at least an eclipse, which itself is something sad and melancholic, since, when you are not who you once were, there is no reason why you should wish to live.

Imo nec regredi datur, etiamsi quis cupiat. Neque regredi volunt homines, cum ratio postulat ut id facerent. Verum impatientes manent vitae privatae, etiam cum senectus aut infirmitas ingruit, quae umbram et otium postulant, sicut oppidani senes qui ante ostium sedere volunt, licet se eo pacto derisui exponant.

Indeed, it is not even permitted to go back, even if someone should desire it. Nor are men willing to go back, when reason requires that they do so. Rather, they remain impatient of private life, even when senectitude or infirmity impends, which call for shade and leisure, like town-dwelling old men who wish to sit before the doorway, although in that way they expose themselves to derision.

Sane viris in magistratibus politis opus est ut aliorum opiniones mutuentur, quo seipsos beatos putent. Nam si iudicent ex sensu proprio, nihil huiusmodo reperient. verum quando secum cogitent quid alii de ipsis sentiant, et quam libenter alii conditiones cum illis permutare vellent, tum demum beati sunt tanquam rumore tenus, cum intus fortasse contrarium experiantur.

Surely for men in polished magistracies it is necessary that they borrow the opinions of others, whereby they may think themselves blessed. For if they judge by their own sense, they will discover nothing of this kind. but when they consider with themselves what others think about them, and how gladly others would wish to exchange conditions with them, then at last they are happy as it were only to the extent of rumor, while within perhaps they experience the contrary.

Siquidem dolores suos primi omnium sentiunt, licet culpas suas omnium novissimi. Certe viri potestatibus sublimes ipsi sibi ignoti sunt. Et dum negotiis distrahuntur, tempore carent quo sanitati aut corporis aut animae suae consulant.

Indeed they feel their pains first of all, though they are the very last to know their own faults. Certainly men exalted by powers are unknown to themselves. And while they are distracted by affairs, they lack the time in which to care for the health of either their body or their soul.

Illi mors gravis incubat,
Qui notus nimis omnibus
Ignotus moritur sibi.

A grave death broods upon him,
Who is too well-known to everyone
Unknown he dies to himself.

2. In potestatibus licentia magna datur et boni et mali. Quorum posterius pro maledicitone habendum. In malis enim optima conditio est nolle, proxima non posse.

2. In powers a great license is given both for good and for evil. Of which the latter is to be held as a malediction. For among evils the best condition is to be unwilling; the next, to be unable.

Certe potentia bene merendi verus est et legitimus ambitionis finis. Etenim bene cogitare, licet Deo acceptum sit, tamen versus homines non multo melius est quam bene somniare, nisi in actum producatur. Id autem fieri non potest sine munere aliquo publico et potestate, veluti solo superiore et elevato.

Surely the power of meriting well is the true and legitimate end of ambition. For to think well, although it be acceptable to God, yet toward men is not much better than to dream well, unless it be brought forth into act. But that cannot be done without some public office and power, as on superior and elevated ground.

Merita et opera bona sunt veri fines laborum hominis, atque eorundem conscientia perfectio humanae quietis. Et conversus Deus, ut aspiceret opera quae fecerunt manus suae, vidit quod omnia essent bona nimis. Tum sequitur Sabbatum.

Merits and good works are the true ends of a man’s labors, and the conscience of the same is the perfection of human quietude. And God, having turned to behold the works which his own hands had made, saw that all things were very good. Then the Sabbath follows.

In munere tuo perfugendo propone tibi exempla optima. Imitatio enim globus est praeceptorum. Et post tempus aliquod propone tibi exemplum proprium, et in teipsum stricte inquiras num non melius inceperis quam perstiteris.

In discharging your office set before yourself the best examples. For imitation is the aggregate of precepts. And after some time set before yourself your own example, and strictly inquire into yourself whether you have not begun better than you have persisted.

Neque rursus exempla eorum negligas, qui eodem munere praviter functi sunt, non ut teipsum eorum memoriam carpendo vendites, sed ut monearis quid evitare debeas. Institue igitur reformationem, sed absque elatione tui ipsius aut scandalo priorum temporum et personarum. Hoc tamen tibi constitutum sit, exempla praeclara non minus introducere quam imitare.

Nor yet neglect the examples of those who in the same office have performed wrongly, not in order that by carping at their memory you may sell yourself, but that you may be admonished what you ought to avoid. Institute therefore reformation, but without elation of yourself or scandal to former times and persons. Yet let this be constituted for you: to introduce illustrious examples no less than to imitate them.

Retrahe res ad primam earum institutionem, et circumspicias in quibus, et quibus modis, degeneraverint. Attamen utrunque tempus consulas: tum antiquius, ut cognoscas quid optimum fuerit, tum recentius, ut notes quid fuerit aptissimum. Contende ut quae agis pro potestate tanquem regulis quibusdam cohibeantur, ut hominibus tanquam digito monstres quid illis sit expectandum.

Draw things back to their first institution, and look around in what respects, and by what modes, they have degenerated. Yet consult both times: the earlier, that you may learn what was best; the more recent, that you may note what was most apt. Strive that the things you do, so far as lies in your power, be restrained as if by certain rules, so that you demonstrate to men, as with a finger, what they are to expect.

Neque tamen nimium sis pertinax aut peremptorius, atque semper cum a regula recesseris quid sit quod agas diligenter expone. Muneris tui iura constanter tueare, neque propterea lites te iurisdicitone facile move. Atque ita te geras ut potius iura tua assumas et exerceas tacite et de facto, quam ut quaestiones de iis cum strepitu suscites et agites.

Nor yet be too pertinacious or peremptory, and always, whenever you have receded from the rule, diligently set forth what it is that you are doing. Steadfastly defend the rights of your office, yet do not on that account readily set litigation in motion about your jurisdiction. And conduct yourself so as rather to assume and exercise your rights tacitly and de facto than to raise and agitate questions about them with clamor.

Iura etiam inferiorum munerum tibi subornitaorum defende, ac ne destitue, tibique maiori honori ducas rerum summas praescribere quam in omnibus satagere. Amplectere, imo invita qui tibi adiumento sint et informationi ad muneris tui executionem, neque abige eos qui operam suam ad hoc tibi deferunt tanquam se ingerentes, sed potius cum favore eos allicias et recipias.
3. Vitia in auctoritate utenda et exercenda sunt praecipue quatuor: mora nimia, corruptela, asperitas, et facilitas.

Defend also the rights of the inferior offices subordinated to you, and do not abandon them; and count it to yourself a greater honor to prescribe the main heads of matters than to be busy about everything. Embrace, nay invite, those who may be a help and an information to you for the execution of your office, nor drive away those who proffer their service to you for this as if thrusting themselves in, but rather attract them with favor and receive them.
3. The vices in authority, in its use and exercise, are chiefly four: excessive delay, corruption, asperity, and easiness.

Quantum ad moras, faciles aditus praebe; tempora praestituta serva; inchoata quae sunt perfice; neque negotia nova intermisce nisi urgeat necessitas. Quantum ad corruptelas, non solum manus tui ipsius et tuorum liga ne munera accipiantur, sed et iam manus supplicantium, ne ea offerantur. Prius horum praestat certe integritas adhibita, verum ea ipsa praedicata et ex professo, idque cum detestatione corruptelarum etiam posterius assequitur.

As regards delays, provide easy access; keep the appointed times; bring to completion the things that have been inchoated; and do not intermix new business unless necessity presses. As regards corruptions, bind not only your own hands and those of your people, that gifts not be accepted, but also the hands of the supplicants, that they not be offered. Of these, the former certainly excels when integrity is applied; yet that very integrity, being proclaimed and professed, and with a detestation of corruptions, achieves even the latter.

Neque tantum culpam, verum etiam suspicionem devita. Quicunque mutabiles sunt, et manifesto alterantur absque causa manifesta, iniiciunt suspicionem de corruptelis. Itaque perpetuo cum ab opinione tua quam declarasti, aut processu quem incepisti, deflectas, ingenue hoc ipsum profitere, simul et caussas quae te ad hoc commoverunt sedulo declares et inculces, neque rem suffurari te posse credas.

Avoid not only fault, but even suspicion. Whoever are changeable, and are manifestly altered without a manifest cause, inject suspicion of corruptions. Therefore, whenever you deflect from the opinion of yours which you have declared, or from the process which you have begun, candidly profess this very thing, and at the same time sedulously declare and inculcate the causes which moved you to this, and do not believe that you can steal the matter away.

Servus gratiosus et apud dominum potens, si non extet aliqua favoris caussa manifesta, reputatur plerunque nihil aliud quam via obliqua ad corruptelas. Quantum ad asperitatem, invidiam et malevolentiam parit illa, nihil inde metens. Severitas siquidem metum incutit, asperitas odium parit.

A favored servant, and powerful with his master, if there does not exist some manifest cause of favor, is commonly accounted nothing else than an oblique way to corruptions. As for asperity, it begets envy and malevolence, reaping nothing from it. For severity indeed instills fear; asperity begets hatred.

Etiam reprehensiones de loco superiore graves esse debent, non contumeliosae. Quantum ad facilitatem, ea corruptelis etiam deterior est. Corruptelae enim interdum et subinde tentantur, quod si quis importunitati pateat, aut respectibus levioribus ducatur, haec ei ubique aderint.

Even reprehensions from a higher place ought to be grave, not contumelious. As to easiness, it is even worse than corruptions. For corruptions are at times and again and again attempted; but if anyone stands open to importunity, or is led by lighter considerations, these will attend him everywhere.

Sicut ait Salomon, personas respicere non est bonum. Talis enim offendet pro buccella panis.
4. Verissimum sane quod a veteribus dictum est, magistratus virum indicat.

As Solomon says, to regard persons is not good. For such a one will offend for a mouthful of bread.
4. Most true indeed is what was said by the ancients: the magistracy indicates the man.

Alios autem indicat in melius, alios in peius. Omnium consensu capax imperii, nisi imperasset inquit Tacitus de Galba. Contra de Vespasiano idem, solus imperantium Vespanius mutatus in melius, licet alterum intelligat Tacitus de arte imperatoria, alterum de moribus et affectibus.

But it reveals some for the better, others for the worse. “By the consent of all, capable of empire, if he had not ruled,” says Tacitus about Galba. Conversely, about Vespasian the same writer: “Vespasian alone of emperors was changed for the better,” although Tacitus understands the one concerning the art of imperial command, the other concerning morals and affections.

Signum est luculentissimum indolis generosae si quis honoribus emendetur. Est enim honor, aut saltem esse debet, locus virtutis, atque quemadmodum in natura corpora moventur rapide ad locum, placide in loco, ita virtus in ambitu violentior est, in honore adepto sedatior. Ascensus omnis ad dignitatum fastigium incedit tanquam per scalam graduum flexuosam.

It is a most luculent sign of a generous nature if someone is amended by honors. For honor is, or at least ought to be, the seat of virtue; and just as in nature bodies are moved rapidly toward their place, placidly when in their place, so virtue is more violent in ambition, more sedate once honor has been obtained. Every ascent to the summit of dignities proceeds as if along a flexuous ladder of steps.

Atque, si factiones valeant, bonum fuerit alteri parti adhaerere dum quis honorem scandat, at se ad aequilibrium reducere postquam eundum fuerit confectus. Memoriam praedecessoris tui illaesam conserva. Hoc si non feceris, debitum tibi hoc a successore tuo rependetur.

And, if factions should have strength, it will be good to adhere to one party while one is scaling honor, but to bring oneself back to equilibrium after the going has been accomplished. Preserve the memory of your predecessor unscathed. If you do not do this, this due will be repaid to you by your successor.

Collegas etiam amice tracta, et potius advoca cum illud minime expectent quam exclude cum consentaneum fuerit eos advocari. Ne sis loci tui nimis memor, aut crebram de eo mentionem facias in quotidianis sermonibus aut conversatione privata, sed potius pradicetur de te alius prorsus vir est cum sedet et munus suum exercet.

Treat your colleagues also amicably, and rather call them in when they least expect it than exclude them when it would be consistent that they be called. Do not be too mindful of your station, nor make frequent mention of it in daily discourses or in private conversation, but rather let it be proclaimed of you: he is quite another man when he sits and exercises his office.

XII. DE AUDACIA

12. ON AUDACITY

1. In scholis tritum est dicterium, nec tamen sapientis observatione indignum. Interrogatus olim Demosthenes quaenam prima oratoris virtus, respondit actio. Quea secunda?

1. In the schools there is a trite witticism, yet not unworthy of a wise man’s observation. Asked once, Demosthenes—what was the first virtue of an orator?—answered: delivery (action). And what the second?

Actio. Quae tertia? Itidem respondit actio.

Action (delivery). Which is the third? Likewise he answered: action.

Ipse dixit qui rem optime noverat, nec tamen in eo quod laudabat multum naturae debebat. Mira certa res, illam oratoris partem quae non ultra corticem penetrat et histrionis potius virtus censenda est quam oratoris, in locum tam sublimen supra nobiliores illas partes, inventionis, elocutionis, et caeterarum extolli, imo quasi omne tulisset punctum, pene solam praedicari. Sed in promptu ratio est.

He himself said it, who knew the matter best, and yet in that which he was praising he did not owe much to nature. A marvelous thing indeed: that part of the orator which does not penetrate beyond the bark, and ought rather to be judged the virtue of an actor than of an orator, is exalted into so lofty a place above those more noble parts—Invention, Elocution, and the rest—nay, as if it had carried every point, is almost alone proclaimed. But the reason is ready at hand.

Inest enim natura humana plerunque plus stulti quam sapientis. Unde et facultates eae, quibus capitur pars illa in animis mortalium stulta, sunt omnium potentissimae. Huic mire convenit, et quasi parallela est, audacia in negotiis civilibus.

For in human nature there is for the most part more of the foolish than of the sapient. Whence also those faculties by which that foolish part in the souls of mortals is captured are the most powerful of all. To this there marvelously agrees, and is as it were parallel, audacity in civil affairs.

Quid in istis primum? Audacia. Quid secundum?

What is first among these? Audacity. What second?

Quid tertium? Audacia. Attamen utcunque ignorantiae et sordidi ingenii proles est audacia, caeterisque civilis scientiae partibus longe impar.

What is third? Audacity. Yet, in any case, audacity is the offspring of ignorance and of a sordid wit, and is far inferior to the other parts of civil science.

Sed nihilominus fascinat et captivos ducit eos qui vel iudicio infirmi sunt vel animo timidiores. Tales autem sunt hominum pars maxima. Quin et sapientibus ipsis, cum animis vacillent, vim iniicit.

But nonetheless it fascinates and leads captive those who are either weak in judgment or more timid in spirit. Such, moreover, are the greatest part of men. Nay, even upon the wise themselves, when their minds waver, it exerts force.

Idcirco videmus audaciam in democratiis plurimum valuisse, apud senatores vero et principes certe minus. Imo quando primo rebus gerendis admoventur audaces, plus possunt quam postea. Nam male pollicita praestat audacia.

Therefore we see that audacity has prevailed very greatly in democracies, but certainly less among senators and princes. Nay rather, when the bold are first applied to the conduct of affairs, they can do more than afterward. For audacity makes good what has been ill-promised.

Sane quemadmodum interveniunt agyrtae qui corpori naturali mederi profitentur, sic et corpori politico non desunt homines qui curationes vel difficillimas suscipient. Quibus forsan in paucis aliquibus experimentis faeliciter successit, sed, cum scientiae principia non gustarint, saepe excidunt. Imo videre est nonnunquam in hominem audacem miraculum illud Mahometis edentem.

Surely, just as there intervene quacks who profess to heal the natural body, so too for the political body there is no lack of men who will undertake cures even the most difficult. To whom perhaps it has succeeded happily in a few experiments, but, since they have not tasted the first principles of science, they often fall short. Nay rather, one may even see now and then in a bold man the exhibiting of that miracle of Mahomet.

Populo persuasit Mahometes se collem ad secum evocaturum, atque a summo eius iugo preces pro legis suae cultoribus oblaturum. Populus magna frequentia convenit. Collum ut ad se veniret iterumque iterumque vocavit Mahometes.

Muhammad persuaded the people that he would summon the hill to himself, and from the top of its ridge would offer prayers for the worshipers of his law. The people convened in great concourse. Muhammad called the hill again and again to come to him.

Sed cum collis immotus maneret, ille (nihil omnino pudefactus) inquit si collis ad Mahometem accedere nolit, ad collem ibit Mahometes. Sic et istiusmodi homines, quando ingentia quaedam in se susceperunt turpissimeque in iis defecerunt, tamen (si ad ipsum audaciae culmen pervenerunt) lusu rem excipient et se vertent, et nihil aliud. Hominibus profecto magno iudicio praeditis ludibrio sunt audaces, imo et apud ipsum vulgus audacia aliquid habet ridiculi.

But when the hill remained unmoved, he (not at all abashed) says: if the hill is unwilling to come to Mahomet, Mahomet will go to the hill. Thus too men of this sort, when they have undertaken certain immense things upon themselves and have most disgracefully failed in them, nevertheless (if they have reached the very summit of audacity) will catch the matter up with a jest and will turn themselves about, and nothing else. To men indeed endowed with great judgment, the audacious are a laughing-stock; nay, even among the very common crowd audacity has something of the ridiculous.

Nam si risus obiectum sit absurditas, ne dubites quin magna audacia semper secum habeat aliquid ridiculi. Neque fere iucundius est spectaculum quam videre in audace oris confusionem. Vultum enim tunc nanciscitur in se reductum, sed deformiter.

For if absurdity be the object of laughter, do not doubt that great audacity always carries with it something of the ridiculous. Nor is there a more pleasant spectacle than to see, in a bold man, the confusion of the face. For then he acquires a countenance drawn back into itself, but misshapen.

Nec aliter fieri potest. Nam in verecundantibus fluunt paulatim refluuntque spiritus. Sed audaces, quando tale quidpiam illis contigit, attoniti haerent, ut fit in schacciae ludo, quando non vincitur collusor sed torpet tantum motus.

Nor can it be otherwise. For in the modest the spirits little by little flow and flow back. But the bold, when something of this sort befalls them, stand thunderstruck, as happens in the game of chess, when the opponent is not conquered, but motion only grows torpid.

Atqui hoc postremum satyrae aptius quam seriae observationi. Illud vero animadvertendum, audaciam semper caecam esse. Discrimina enim et obstacula nulla videt.

But indeed, this last is more apt for satire than for serious observation. But this, truly, is to be noticed: that audacity is always blind. For it sees neither discriminations nor obstacles.

Quare in deliberando nocet, in exequendo iuvat. Adeo ut, si audaces tuto adhibere velis, summum illis imperium non deferas. Secundae classi annumerentur, et ab aliis regantur.

Wherefore in deliberation it harms, in execution it helps. So much so that, if you wish to employ the bold safely, you should not confer upon them the supreme command. Let them be numbered in the second class, and be governed by others.

Nam in consiliis capiendis pericula ante oculos habere bonum est, in executione autem oculos claudere oportet, nisi pericula valde magna fuerint.

For in the taking of counsel it is good to have the perils before one’s eyes; but in execution one ought to close one’s eyes, unless the perils are very great.

XIII. DE BONITATE ET BONITATE NATIVA

13. ON GOODNESS AND NATIVE GOODNESS

1. Bonitatem eo sensu accipio ut sit affectus qui hominum commoda studeat et bene velit, quam eandem Graeci philanthropiam vocant. Humanitatis autem vocabulum (prout vulgus ea utitur) levius aliquanto est atque angustius quam ut vim eius exprimat. Bonitatem scilicet appello affectum et habitum, bonitatem autem nativam inclinationem.

1. I take goodness in this sense: to be an affect that is zealous for the welfare of men and wishes them well, which the Greeks call philanthropy. But the word humanity (as the common crowd uses it) is somewhat too light and too narrow to express its force. By goodness I call an affect and a habit; but by native goodness, an inclination.

Bonitas vero inter omnes virtutes atque animi dignitates facile primas obtinet, cum sit ipsius divinae naturae adumbrata quaedam effigies et character. Qua e rebus sublata, homo animalis nihil aliud fuerit quam res inquieta, scelesta, misera, imo species quaedam noxiorum vermium. Bonitas moralis virtuti illi theologicae charitati respondet.

Goodness indeed, among all virtues and the dignities of the mind, easily holds first place, since it is an adumbrated effigy and character of the divine nature itself. With this removed from things, the animal man would be nothing other than a restless, wicked, wretched thing—nay rather, a certain species of noxious worms. Moral goodness corresponds to that theological virtue, charity.

Neque excessum quidem capit, aberrationem autem patitur. Immodica potentiae cupiditas angelos coelo deturbavit. Immodica scientiae cupiditas hominem Paradiso expulit.

Nor does it admit even of excess, but it does suffer aberration. Immoderate cupidity of power drove the angels from Heaven. Immoderate cupidity of knowledge expelled man from Paradise.

At in charitate non datur excessus, neque per eam aut angelus aut homo unquam periculum subire possit. Inclinatio autem ad bonitatem, altis defixa radicibus, naturae humanae insidet. Quae si benefaciendi materia aut occasione destituta non inveniat quo se exerceat in homines, deflectet certe in brutas animantes.

But in charity no excess is given, nor through it can either angel or man ever incur peril. The inclination toward goodness, fixed with deep roots, resides in human nature. Which, if, being destitute of the matter or the occasion of benefaction, it does not find where to exercise itself upon men, will surely deflect toward brute animals.

Quod in Turcis, gente utique saeva et fera, videre est, qui nihilominus erga bruta animalia misericordes sunt, et eleemosynas canibus et avibus distribuunt. Adeo ut (referente Busbequio) aurifex quidam Venetus Byzantii agens vix furorem populi effugerit quod avis cuiusdam rostri oblongi fauces inserto baculo diduxisset. Neque tamen erroribus suis vacat bonitatas haec et charitatis virtus.

Which is seen among the Turks, a nation assuredly savage and wild, who nonetheless are merciful toward brute animals, and distribute alms to dogs and birds. So much so that (Busbecq reporting) a certain Venetian goldsmith residing at Byzantium scarcely escaped the fury of the populace because he had, by inserting a stick, pried apart the throat of a certain bird with an oblong beak. Nor, however, is this goodness and virtue of charity free from its errors.

Nequam apud Italos iactatur proverbium, tanto buon, che val niente, adeo bonus, ut ad nihil bonus. Neque subveritus est Nicholaus Macciavellius literis concredere, idque disertis fere verbis, fidem Christianam homines probos et innocentes in praedam tyrannorum iniquitati dedisse. Quod ideo pronunciavit quia nulla usquam lex, nulla secta aut opinio, tam in immensum extulit bonitatem quam religio Christiana.

A base proverb is bandied among the Italians: “so good that he is worth nothing,” so good as to be good for nothing. Nor did Nicholas Machiavelli shrink from committing to letters—indeed in almost express words—that the Christian faith has delivered upright and innocent men as prey to the iniquity of tyrants. He pronounced this because no law anywhere, no sect or opinion, has exalted goodness to so immense a degree as the Christian religion.

Quo melius itaque, extra scandali adeoque periculi ictum et minas, tuti consistantes, operae precium erit nosse errores qui nos a recto tam insignis habitus tramite transvorsos agant. Ita aliorum bono studeas, ne te illorum interea aut vultibus aut voluntatibus mancipio dedas. Illud enim facilitatis atque mollitiei indicium est, quae honestam mentem in vincula captivam abducit.

Accordingly, the better—standing safe outside the stroke and threats of scandal and thus of peril—it will be worth the effort to know the errors that drive us crosswise from the straight path of so distinguished a habit. So strive for the good of others that you do not meanwhile hand yourself over as chattel to their faces or their wills. For that is a sign of facility and softness, which leads an honest mind away captive into chains.

Neque proiicias Aesopi gallo gemmam, cui gratius et felicius cederet granum hordei. Dei exemplum in hac re pro praecepto sibi sit, ille pluvia sua rigat, sole suo irradiat iustos iuxta ac iniustos. Non tamen omnes ex aequo aut opum imbre compluit aut honorum virtutumve splendore illustrat.

Nor should you fling a gem to Aesop’s cock, for whom a grain of barley would prove more gratifying and more felicitous. Let the example of God in this matter be a precept for you: he waters with his own rain, he irradiates with his own sun the just as well as the unjust. Yet he does not drench all equally with a shower of wealth, nor does he illustrate them with the splendor of honors or of virtues.

Communia quidem beneficia cuivis sunt communicanda, peculiaria vero paucis et cum delectu. Cave auten, ne dum effigiem sculpas archetypum destruas. Theologia quippe amorem nostri ipsius pro archetypum statuit, amorem proximi pro imitamento.

Common benefactions are indeed to be communicated to anyone, but peculiar ones to a few and with selectivity. Beware, lest while you sculpt the effigy you destroy the archetype. For theology sets the love of our very self as the archetype, the love of the neighbor as the imitation.

Vende omne quod habes atque elargire pauperibus, et sequere me. At noli omne quod habes vendere, nisi venias et sequaris me. Hoc est, nisi eiusmodi vitae institutum ingrediaris in quae, aeque ex parvis opibus ac ex magnis, poteris aliis benefacere. Secus dum rivos alis, fontem exhauris. Neque interea habitus tantum bonitatis reperitur ad rectae rationis normam applicatus, sed etiam in quibusdam hominibus reperitur indoles naturae ad eam propensa, uti e contra in aliis naturalis quaedam malignitas.

Sell all that you have and dispense largess to the poor, and follow me. But do not sell all that you have, unless you come and follow me. That is, unless you enter upon such an institute of life in which you will be able to do good to others equally from small means as from great. Otherwise, while you nourish the rivulets, you exhaust the fountain. Nor, meanwhile, is a habit of goodness only found as applied to the norm of right reason, but in certain men there is found also a natural indole propense toward it, just as, on the contrary, in others a certain natural malignity.

Sunt enim qui ex ingenii proprii instinctu adversentur aliorum bonum. Et levius quidem malignitatis genus in morositatem cedit, aut perversitatem, aut praecipitem opponendi et se in singulis difficilem praebendi libidinem, et similia. Gravius tamen illud atque altius ad invidiam producitur meramque malitiam.

There are, in fact, those who by the instinct of their own disposition oppose the good of others. And the lighter kind of malignity lapses into moroseness, or perversity, or a precipitate lust for opposing and for showing oneself difficult in particulars, and the like. The graver and deeper sort, however, is carried on to envy and to sheer malice.

Huiusmodi homines in alienis calamitatibus fere florent, easque semper aggravant. Non digni certe qui conferantur canibus illis qui Lazari delinguebant ulcera, sed muscis quae cruda quaeque et excoriata infestant. Non paucos reperias misanthropos, quibus volupe est deducere homines ad suspendii ramum, neque tamen arborem habent in hortis suis qualem Timon habuit.

Men of this sort commonly flourish in others’ calamities, and they always aggravate them. Surely not worthy to be compared to those dogs who were licking Lazarus’s sores, but to the flies that infest what is raw and what is excoriated. You would find not a few misanthropes, to whom it is a delight to lead men to the gallows’ branch, and yet they do not have in their gardens a tree such as Timon had.

Ingenia ita disposita non iniuria vocare licet humanae naturae vomicas et carcinomata. Sunt tamen haec ligna accommodatissima e quibus fiant Mercurii politici, similia lignis incurvis quae bene navigiis extruendis conveniunt, iactationi destinatis, non autem aedibus quae immotae manent. Partes autem et indicia bonitatis sunt plurima.

Dispositions so arranged may not unjustly be called the abscesses and carcinomata of human nature. Yet these are the most well‑adapted timbers out of which political Mercuries may be made, like curved woods which suit well for constructing ships—destined for tossing—not for houses which remain unmoved. But the parts and indications of goodness are very many.

Si quis se erga hospites et peregrinos benignum humanumque praebeat, arguit se mundi civem, sibique cor esse non instar insulae caeteris terris avulsae, sed continentis quae illis coniungitur. Si compatiatur afflictis, nobilitat sua praecordia, quae non secus atque celebrata illa arbor per sua vulnera balsamum exudat. Si facilis offensas remiserit, et delictorum gratiam fecerit, mentem indicat in alto positam esse, supra iniuriarum iactum et tela.

If anyone shows himself benign and humane toward guests and strangers, he proves himself a citizen of the world, and that his heart is not in the likeness of an island torn from the other lands, but of a continent that is joined to them. If he has compassion on the afflicted, he ennobles his inmost heart, which, just like that famed tree, through its wounds exudes balsam. If readily he forgives offenses and grants pardon for transgressions, he indicates that his mind is set on high, above the cast and missiles of wrongs.

Si pro modicis beneficiis gratum se exhibeat, argumento est pluris se aestimare hominum animos quam sarcinas. Supra omnia, si supremum illum sancti Pauli apostoli perfectionis fastigium sit consecutus, ut devoveat se atque anathemizat a Christo propter salutem fratrum, indicio est proxime illum accedere ad naturam divinam, et quodammodo Christo ipsi conformari.

If for modest benefits he shows himself grateful, it is evidence that he esteems the spirits of men more than the packs. Above all, if he has attained that supreme pinnacle of perfection of Saint Paul the Apostle, to devote himself and anathematize himself from Christ for the salvation of his brethren, it is an indication that he approaches most nearly to the divine nature, and in a certain manner is conformed to Christ himself.

XIV. DE NOBILITATE

14. ON NOBILITY

1. De nobilitate primum agamus ut est portio reipublicae, deinde ut est conditio hominum particularium. Monarchia, in qua nulli prorsus nobiles semper pura est et absoluta tyrannis. Cuiusmodi est imperium Turcicum.

1. Let us first treat of Nobility as it is a portion of the republic, then as it is the condition of particular men. A Monarchy in which there are absolutely no nobles is always pure and absolute tyranny. Such is the Turkish empire.

Dignitatem enim regalem diluit nobilitas et vulgi oculos a prosapia regia aliquantulum avocat. In democratia vero proceres interdum non disiderantur. Imo status ille popularis multo pacatior est atque minus factionibus et turbis obnoxius ubi non sunt stirpes nobilium.

For nobility dilutes the regal dignity and somewhat draws the eyes of the crowd away from the royal lineage. In a democracy, in truth, the grandees are sometimes not desired. Nay rather, that popular state is much more pacific and less subject to factions and tumults where there are no stirps of nobles.

Illic enim in res ipsas oculi hominum coniiciuntur, non in personas, vel si omnino in personas, id fit tanquam in maxime idoneas rebus gerendis, minime vero ut ratio habeatur insignium aut imaginum. Helvetiorum rempublicam satis florentem videmus, licet religionis pagorumque diversitas obstare videatur. Utilitas enim apud illos valet, non dignitas.

For there the eyes of men are cast upon the things themselves, not upon persons, or if upon persons at all, it is done as upon those most suitable for the managing of affairs, and least of all that regard be had to insignia or images. We see the commonwealth of the Helvetians quite flourishing, although the diversity of religion and of the cantons may seem to obstruct. For with them utility prevails, not dignity.

Illa gubernandi forma qua confederatae Belgarum provinciae utuntur certe eminet. Ubi enim paritas admittitur, ibi et consilia ineuntur aequabilius et tributa penduntur alacrius. Nobilium potentia et auctoritas in monarchia principi ipsi impertit splendorem, sed potestatem imminuit.

That form of governing which the confederated Belgic provinces use certainly stands out. For where parity is admitted, there both counsels are entered upon more equably and tributes are paid with greater alacrity. The power and authority of nobles in a monarchy impart splendor to the prince himself, but diminish his power.

Populi vero animos auget, fortunas illorum deprimit. Bene se res habet cum nobiles non sunt potentiores quam aut imperii aut iustitiae ratio postulat. In eo tamen dignitatis gradu sustineantur ut insolentia popularis illorum reverentia, tanquam obice, retundatur, antequam in regalem maiestatem se effundat.

But it augments the spirits of the people, it depresses their fortunes. The case stands well when the nobles are not more potent than either the rationale of the empire or of justice demands. Yet let them be sustained in such a grade of dignity that popular insolence may be blunted by the reverence for them, as by an obstacle, before it pours itself forth upon regal majesty.

Rursus numerosa nobilitas, quae plerunque minus potens est, statum prorsus depauperat. Hinc enim profusae expensae, atque insuper, cum necesse sit tractu temporis complures ex nobilibus indigos fieri, sequitur divortium quoddam sive malum temperamentum inter honores et pecunias.
2. Quod vero ad nobilitatem spectat in personis particularibus, venerationem certe habet videre castellum aut aedificium antiquum quod nulla ruina invasit, aut etiam annosam et proceram arborem solidem et integram.

Again, a numerous nobility, which for the most part is less powerful, utterly impoverishes the state. Hence, in fact, come lavish expenses; and moreover, since in the tract of time it must needs be that many of the nobles become indigent, there follows a certain divorce, or bad temperament, between honors and moneys.
2. But as regards nobility in particular persons, there is surely a veneration in seeing a castle or ancient edifice which no ruin has invaded, or even an aged and tall tree, solid and entire.

Quanto magis intueri antiquam nobilem prosapiam a fluctibus et procellis temporis illaesam. Nobilitas enim nova regiae potentiae opus est, antiqua vero temporis solius. Qui ad nobilitatis fastigium primi evehuntur virtutum claritudine plerunque posteris eminet, sed innocentia minime.

How much more to behold an ancient noble lineage, unharmed by the waves and tempests of time. For new nobility is a work of regal power, but old is of time alone. Those who are first lifted to the summit of nobility for the most part stand out to posterity by the brilliance of their virtues, but least of all by innocence.

Ad honores enim raro ascenditur nisi per mixturam bonarum et malarum artium. Aequum vero est ut virtutum suarum memoria usque ad posteros permanet, vitiorum vero una cum ipsis moriatur. Natalium splendor industriam plerunque minuit, atque qui minus est industrius alienae invidet diligentiae.

For honors one rarely ascends except through a mixture of good and bad arts. Yet it is equitable that the memory of one’s virtues should persist even to posterity, but that of one’s vices should die together with oneself. The splendor of birth commonly diminishes industry, and he who is less industrious envies another’s diligence.

Ad quod accedit, quod non datur quo possint ulterius nobiles promoveri. Qui vero in eodem loco haeret dum alii ascendunt, invidiae stimulis vix carebit. Contra nobilitas passivam invidiam omnino lenit, eo quod nobiles in honorum possessione nati videntur.

To which there is added that there is no means by which nobles can be promoted further. But he who sticks in the same place while others ascend will scarcely be free from the goads of envy. By contrast, nobility wholly soothes passive envy, since nobles seem to have been born in possession of honors.

Sane reges, quibus nobiles adsunt prudentes et capaces, negotia sua mollius fluere sentient, si eos potissimum adhibeant. Etenim erga huiusmodi proceres populus magis propendet, utpote natos quodammodo ad imperandum.

Surely kings, to whom there are nobles at hand, prudent and capable, will feel their affairs flow more smoothly, if they employ them above all. For toward magnates of this sort the people inclines more, as being in a certain way born to command.

XV. DE SEDITIONIBUS ET TURBIS

15. ON SEDITIONS AND TUMULTS

1. Magni refert ut pastores populi prognostica tempestatum politicarum sciant. Quae tunc maximae sunt cum res vergunt ad aequalitatem, non secus ac naturales tempestates circa aequinoctia invalescunt. Quemadmodum autem saepe videre est flatus ventorum cavos et veluti e longinquo, quin et similiter maris tumores occultos, ante procellam, idem evenit ingruentibus procellis politicis:

1. It matters greatly that the pastors of the people know the prognostics of political tempests. These are then greatest when affairs incline toward equality, just as natural tempests grow strong about the equinoxes. And just as one often sees hollow blasts of winds, as if from afar, and likewise the hidden swells of the sea, before the storm, the same occurs when political storms are bearing down:

Ille etiam caecos inflare tumultus
Saepe monet, fraudesque, et operta tumescere bella.

He too often warns that blind tumults inflate,
and that frauds and covert wars are swelling.

2. Famosi libelli, et licentiosi et mordaces sermones in status scandalum cum passim volitant et increbescunt, similiter novarum rerum rumores mendaces in regiminis dedecus undique iactati, et avide a populo excepti, sunt certe inter prognostica seditionum. Quo stemmate deducta sit fama, cum Virgilius depingeret, Gigantum sororem eam esse ponit:

2. Defamatory libels, and licentious and mordacious speeches, when they flit everywhere and grow rife to the scandal of the state; likewise lying rumors of new things, cast on every side to the disgrace of the regime and greedily received by the people, are surely among the prognostics of seditions. From what lineage Rumor is derived, when Vergil portrayed her, he sets her as the sister of the Giants:

Illam terra parens, ira irritata deorum,
Extremam (ut perhibent) Coeo Enceladoque sororem
Progenuit

Her Earth the parent, provoked by the wrath of the gods,
The last (as they report), sister to Coeus and Enceladus,
Brought forth

quasi famae fuissent seditionum praeteritarum reliquae. Verum sunt illae non minus seditionum futurarum praecursatrices. Recte tamen utcunque notatum est, inter seditiosos tumultus et seditiosos rumores nil aliud fere interesse nisi qualis est descrepantia inter fratrem et sororem, masculum et foeminam.

as if they were the remnants of past seditions. But in truth those are no less the precursors of future seditions. Yet it has been rightly, however, noted that between seditious tumults and seditious rumors there is almost nothing else of difference, save such as is the discrepancy between brother and sister, male and female.

Praesertim, si eo usque ingravescat malum ut actiones status laudatissimae, quae merito plausum vulgi mererentur et populi studia conciliare deberent, in deteriorem partem traducantur et sugillentur. Hoc enim invidiae molem grandem demonstrat, ut recte ait Tacitus conflata magna invidia, seu bene su male gesta premunt. Neque propterea sequitur quod famae istae inter turbarum signa numerentur, ideo earum suppressio severior remedium contra turbas praestare intelligeretur.

Especially if the evil should grow so far that the most lauded actions of the state, which by merit would deserve the applause of the crowd and ought to conciliate the enthusiasms of the people, are translated into a worse sense and stigmatized. For this shows a great mass of envy, as Tacitus rightly says: when great envy has been fused together, whether things are done well or ill, they press them down. Nor does it therefore follow that because such rumors are numbered among the signs of tumults, for that reason their harsher suppression should be understood to provide a remedy against tumults.

Nam ut plurimum contemptae facilius evanescunt, et conatus sedulus eas coercendi nihil aliud fere efficit quam ut durent magis.
3. Item illud genus obsequii in exequendis iussis de quo loquitur Tacitus pro suspecto habendum: erant in officio, sed tamen qui mallent mandata imperantium interpretari quam exequi. Mandata discutere, detractare, cavillationibus eluere, quid aliud sunt quam iugum iactare et inobedientiam tentare?

For, for the most part, when despised they vanish more easily, and the assiduous endeavor to restrain them brings about almost nothing else than that they endure more.
3. Likewise, that kind of obsequious compliance in executing orders of which Tacitus speaks is to be held suspect: they were under discipline, yet preferred to interpret the commands of the commanders rather than to execute them. To discuss the mandates, to carp at them, to explain them away with cavillations—what else is it than to shake the yoke and to attempt disobedience?

Praesertim ubi in istis disputationibus circa mandata, qui a parte mandatorum stant, loquuntur timide et molliuscule, qui autem adversantur audacius et contumacius.
4. Etiam (ut bene notat Macchiavellius) cum principes, qui se pro parentibus communibus gerere deberent, factioni alicui se adiungent, idem fit ac cum lembus inclinatione nimia in alterum latus evertitur. Hoc temporibus Henrici tertii Gallorum regis confirmatum est.

Especially when, in those disputations about the mandates, those who stand on the side of the issuers of the mandates speak timidly and somewhat softly, while those who oppose speak more boldly and more contumaciously.
4. Also (as Machiavelli rightly notes) when princes, who ought to conduct themselves as common parents, attach themselves to some faction, the same happens as when a skiff, by excessive inclination to one side, is overturned. This was confirmed in the times of Henry III, king of the French.

Ipse enim a principio in ligam pro extirpandis Protestantibus se recipi voluit. At paulo post eadem liga contra ipsum regem vertit. Cum enim auctoritas principis fit caussae cuiuspiam tanquam accessoria, et fortior insurgit aliqua obligatio quam vinculum imperii, reges incipiunt de possessione auctoritatis suae deiici.

For he himself from the beginning wished to betake himself into the league for extirpating the Protestants. But a little later the same league turned against the king himself. For when the authority of the prince becomes, as it were, an accessory to some cause, and some obligation arises stronger than the bond of sovereignty, kings begin to be cast out of the possession of their own authority.

5. Porro cum discordiae, et duellae, et factiones palam et audacter se ostentant, indicio est reverentiam erga principem exui. Motus enim procerum debent esse sicut motus planetarum sub primo mobile (iuxta opinionem receptam), qui rapide quidem circumferuntur secundum motum primi mobilis, leniter autem renituntur in motu proprio. Quare si viri primores et nobiles propriis motibus violenter rapiantur, et (ut scite Tacitus) liberius quam ut imperantium meminissent, orbes perturbari manifestum est.

5. Moreover, when discords, and duels, and factions display themselves openly and boldly, it is an indication that reverence toward the prince is being cast off. For the motions of the grandees ought to be like the motions of the planets under the first mobile (according to the received opinion), which indeed are swiftly carried around according to the motion of the first mobile, but gently resist in their own proper motion. Wherefore, if the leading men and nobles are violently swept along by their own motions, and (as Tacitus neatly says) with a freedom such that they forget those who rule, it is manifest that the orbits are being perturbed.

Reverentia enim id ipsum est quo reges a Deo accinguntur, qui eam aliquando disrumpere minitatur, solvam cingula regum.
6. Rursus, cum aliqua ex quatuor imperii columnis concutatur aut labefactetur (quae sunt religio, iusticia, consilium, opes), tum serenitas precibus imploranda est. Sed mittamus haec prognostica seditionum (circa quae nihilominus intervenent nonnulla quae iis tractandis maiorem lucem praebere possint in sequentibus), et primo de materia seditionum, postea de earum caussis et flabellis , ultimo de remediis nonnihil dicamus.

For reverence is that very thing with which kings are girded by God, who sometimes threatens to burst it, “I will loosen the girdles of kings.”
6. Again, when any of the four columns of empire is shaken or made to totter (which are religion, justice, counsel, wealth), then fair weather is to be implored by prayers. But let us dismiss these prognostics of seditions (about which, nevertheless, there will intervene some things which in what follows may afford greater light for handling them), and first let us say somewhat about the matter of seditions, afterward about their causes and bellows , lastly about the remedies.

7. Materiam seditionum expendere res est consideratione dignissima. Tutissima enim via seditiones evitandi (si tempora patiantur) est ut ipsam materiam e medio tollamus. Si enim fomes flammae paratis sit, scintillae quae incendium facient ex qua parte emicare possint nemo facile dixerit.

7. To weigh the material of seditions is a matter most worthy of consideration. For the safest way of avoiding seditions (if the times permit) is that we remove the material itself out of the way. For if the tinder of flame be ready, no one could easily say from what quarter the sparks which will make a conflagration may leap forth.

Seditionum materia duplex est, magna inopia et praesentium rerum taedium. Certissimum est tot esse pro turbis vota quot sunt hominum res attritae et decoctae fortunae. Unde illa Lucani observatio de statu imperii Romanae paulo ante bellum civile:

Sedition has a twofold material: great want and a tedium of present things. It is most certain that there are as many wishes for tumults as there are men’s affairs worn down and fortunes boiled away. Whence that observation of Lucan about the state of the Roman empire shortly before the civil war:

Hinc usura vorax rapidumque in tempore foenus.
Hinc concussa fides, et multis utile bellum.

Hence voracious usury, and rapid interest in season.
Hence shaken credit, and a war profitable to many.

8. Hoc ipsum multis utile bellum certum est indicium status ad commotiones et turbas dispositi. Tum si primorum hominum indigentia ac res accisae cum summa plebis inopia et paupertate iungantur, periculum imminet grave. Rebelliones enim quae a ventre ortum habent pessimae.

8. This very thing—a war useful to many—is a sure indication of a status disposed to commotions and tumults. Then, if the indigence of the foremost men and their cut‑down affairs are joined with the extreme want and poverty of the plebs, a grave danger impends. For rebellions that have their origin from the belly are the worst.

Quantum vero ad alienationes animorum et taedium rerum praesentium, sunt certe illa in corpore civili instar humorum maligniorum in corpore naturali, qui ad calorem praeternaturalem colligendum et inflammationes apti sunt. Nemo autem principum sui periculi magnitudinem metiatur ex eo, quod iusta sint aut iniusta illa quae animos populi alienant. Hoc enim esset vulgus rationis nimium capax putare, qui suo saepe recalcitrant commodo.

But as to the alienations of minds and the tedium of present affairs, these are assuredly in the civil body like more malignant humors in the natural body, which are apt to gather into a preternatural heat and inflammations. Yet let none of the princes measure the magnitude of his own peril from this, namely that the things which alienate the minds of the people are just or unjust. For that would be to suppose the vulgar multitude too capable of reason, who often are recalcitrant against their own advantage.

Neque etiam ex hoc quod gravaminia ex quibus invidia oritur grandia sint aut exigua. Malevolentiae enim ex omnibus istae periculosissimae sunt, ubi plus timetur quam sentitur. Dolendi modus, timendi non item.

Nor yet from this, whether the grievances from which envy arises are great or slight. For of all expressions of malevolence, those are the most perilous where more is feared than is felt. There is a measure to grieving; to fearing, not likewise.

Praeterea in maximis oppressionibus ea quae patientiam irritant etiam animos frangunt. At in timoribus dispar est ratio. Neque rursus princeps aut status alienationem animorum et invidiam grassantem minus pendat, quod aut saepius aut diutius illa fastidia animorum aestuarunt, neque quicquam inde detrimenti respublica cepit.

Moreover, in the greatest oppressions, those things which irritate patience also break spirits. But in fears the reckoning is different. Nor again should the prince or the state set less weight on the alienation of minds and envy running rampant, because those disgusts of minds have seethed either more often or for a longer time, and the commonwealth has taken no detriment therefrom.

Verum enim licet sit quod non omnis vapor in procellam desinat, ita vere dici potest ex altera parte, quod procellae, licet saepius pertranseant, tandem glomerantur et ruunt, atque secundum adagium illud Hispanicum, funiculus in fine levissima tensione rumpitur.
9. Caussae seditionum hae sunt: in rebus religionis innovata, tributa et census, legum et consuetudinum mutatio, immunitatum et privilegiorum violatio, oppressio universalis, indignorum ad honores et magistratus promotio, alienigenae, caritas annonae, milites incuriose dimissi, factiones factae desperatae. Quicquid denique populum offendit, simulque eos in caussa communi unit et conspirare facit.

But indeed, although it is true that not every vapor ends in a tempest, so on the other hand it can truly be said that tempests, although they more often pass through, at length are massed and rush down; and, according to that Spanish adage, the cord at the end is snapped by the very slightest tension.
9. The causes of seditions are these: innovations in matters of religion; taxes and assessments; change of laws and customs; violation of immunities and privileges; universal oppression; the promotion of the unworthy to honors and magistracies; foreigners; dearness of the grain-supply; soldiers carelessly discharged; factions rendered desperate. In fine, whatever offends the people, and at the same time unites them in a common cause and makes them conspire.

10. Quantum ad remedia. Preservativa quaedam confuse et in genere possunt assignari, de quibus disseremus. Curatio autem legitima morbo particulari aptari debet.

10. As to remedies. Certain preservatives can be assigned confusedly and in general, about which we shall discourse. But the legitimate cure ought to be fitted to the particular disease.

Itaque consiliis potius quam praecepto reliquenda.
11. Primum contra seditiones remedium et praeventio haec est, omni cum opera et diligentia caussam illam seditionum materialem, de qua dimixus amovere. paupertatem intelligo civium et inopiam.

Therefore they should be left to counsel rather than to precept.
11. The first remedy and prevention against seditions is this: with every effort and diligence to remove that material cause of seditions, of which we have spoken: I mean the poverty and want of the citizens.

Cui inservit commercii rationes bene liberare et bene librare, artifices et manufacturas introducere et fovere, desidiam et otium profligare, luxum et profusionem sumptuariis legibus coercere, solum et agros cultura lucrosissima subigere, rebus venalibus pretia iusta imponere, census et tributa moderari, et similia. In genere praecavendum ut incolarum multitudo (temporibus scilicet pacis, quando gladius nihil demetit) regni proventus, quibus ali possit, non excedat. Neque incolarum multitudo utrum superflua sit necne capitum numero solum censenda est.

To which it serves to free up and to well balance the accounts of commerce, to introduce and foster artisans and manufactures, to rout sloth and idleness, to restrain luxury and profusion by sumptuary laws, to bring the soil and fields under the most lucrative cultivation, to impose just prices upon saleable goods, to moderate census and tributes, and the like. In general it must be guarded against that the multitude of inhabitants (in times, namely, of peace, when the sword reaps nothing) should not exceed the produce of the realm, by which it can be sustained. Nor is the multitude of inhabitants, whether it be superfluous or not, to be reckoned solely by a head-count.

Sunto enim pauciores qui multum profundunt et parum lucrantur, plus illi atterent statum quam multo plures qui maiore parsimonia degunt, pecunias autem congerunt. Nobilium igitur et eminentioris dignitatis hominum numerus auctus, magis quam pro analogiae plebeiorum, celeriter statum depauperat. Quod etiam facit clerus numerosis.

Let there be fewer who pour forth much and gain little; those would wear down the state more than many more who live with greater parsimony and, moreover, heap up monies. Therefore, an increased number of nobles and of men of more eminent dignity impoverishes the state more quickly, beyond the proportion of the plebeians. This a numerous clergy also brings about.

Illi enim sorti reipublicae nihil addunt. Idem quoque fit, cum plures in literis educantur quam quibus victum suppeditare possint vocationes civiles.
12. Neque praetereundum est quod, cum omne publicae opulentiae augmentum ab exteris nationibus lucrifieri necesse sit (quicquid enim alicubi adiicitur, alibi detrahitur), tria tantum esse quas gens genti vendit, materiam mercium, manufacturam, et vecturam.

For they add nothing to the fortune of the commonwealth. The same also happens when more are educated in letters than those for whom the civil vocations can supply a livelihood.
12. Nor must it be passed over that, since every augmentation of public opulence must needs be gained from foreign nations (for whatever is added somewhere is subtracted elsewhere), there are only three things which a nation sells to a nation: the material of merchandise, the manufacture, and the carriage.

Quae quidem tres rotae, si recte progrediantur, aestus divitiarum erunt uberiores. Saepius autem contingit illud de quo loquitur poeta, materiam superabit opus, nempe ut manufactura et vectura materiae pretium excedat, et statum magis locupletet. Manifesti sunt huius rei testes inferioris Germaniae populus, qui quidem fodinas, non subterraneas sed supra terram prae omnibus gentibus habent ditissimas.

These three wheels, if they proceed rightly, will make the tides of riches more abundant. More often, however, that happens of which the poet speaks, the work will surpass the material, namely that manufacture and carriage exceed the price of the material, and enrich the state the more. Manifest witnesses of this are the people of Lower Germany, who indeed have mines—not subterranean but above ground—the richest before all nations.

13. Nihil autem prius debet esse aut consultius quam ut videat magistratuum prudentia, nec pecuniarum thesauri apud paucos recondantur. Aliter enim facile fuerit rempublicam inter magnas opes fame perire. Nummus autem instar fimi non fructificat, nisi per terram dispergatur.

13. Nothing, moreover, ought to be prior or more advised than that the prudence of the magistrates should see to it that the treasuries of money are not hidden among a few. Otherwise indeed it would easily be that the commonwealth, amid great riches, would perish by hunger. Money, however, in the likeness of manure does not fructify, unless it is scattered over the land.

Hoc praecipue efficitur supprimendo, aut saltem coercendo, voragines illas foeneris, monopoliorum, et latifundiorum in pascua conversorum, et similium.
14. Quantum ad sedandas animorum offensiones, aut saltem ad amolienda ea quae ab iis proveniunt pericula, duo sunt in omni statu (ut notum est) subditorum genera, proceres et plebes. Quaevis harum partium sola, si infensa sit, non magnum subest periculum.

This is brought about chiefly by suppressing, or at least restraining, those chasms of usury, monopolies, and latifundia converted into pasture, and the like.
14. As for soothing resentments of mind, or at least removing the dangers that arise from them, there are in every state (as is known) two classes of subjects, the nobles and the commons. Either of these parties by itself, if hostile, presents no great danger.

Tardi enim sunt populi motus, nisi a nobilibus incitentur. Nobiles autem invalidi, nisi vulgus sua sponte ad motus aptum et praedispositum sit. Tum periculum revera ingruit, cum potentiores expectent dum aquae moveantur apud vulgus, ut ita demum animos exulceratos prodere possint.

For the movements of the people are tardy, unless they are incited by the nobles. But the nobles are weak, unless the mob is of its own accord apt and predisposed to movements. Then danger truly presses on, when the more powerful wait until the waters are stirred among the crowd, so that only then they may be able to lay bare the exulcerated spirits.

Fingunt poetae coelicolas Iovem ut vincerent coniurasse. Quod ubi Iupiter accepisset, Minervae consilio Briareum centimanum accersivit, ut in suppetias ei veniret. Proculdubio hoc emblema monarchas monet quam tutum et salutare sit eis plebis studia conciliare et retinere.

Poets feign that the celestial inhabitants conspired to conquer Jove. When Jove learned this, by Minerva’s counsel he summoned Briareus the Hundred-Handed, that he might come to his succor. Beyond doubt this emblem warns monarchs how safe and salutary it is for them to conciliate and retain the plebs’ favor.

15. Licentiam nonnullam, sed moderatam, animis gravate affectis et malevolis indulgere, ut ebulliant eorum dolores et in fumos abeant (modo insolentia absit et audacia) utile sane est. Qui enim humores ad interiores partes retrovertit, et vulnus in viscera sanguinem refundere compellit, ulcera mortifera et exitiala apostema inducit.
16. Ad molliendos exacerbatos et malevolos animos, partes Epimethei etiam ad Prometheum rite transferri possint.

15. To indulge some license, but moderate, to minds grievously affected and malevolent, so that their pains may boil over and pass into smoke (provided insolence and audacity are absent), is assuredly useful. For whoever turns the humors back to the inner parts, and compels the blood of the wound to flow back into the vitals, produces deadly ulcers and destructive abscesses.
16. For the mollifying of exacerbated and malevolent minds, the parts of Epimetheus also may rightly be transferred to Prometheus.

Neque enim reperitur remedium utilius. Ubi mala et aerumnas evolare sensissit, operculum vasi festinus imposuit, et in imo dolii spem reservavit. Certe, politice et artificiose spem nutrire et iniicere, ac homines a spe alia in aliam circumducere, ex fortissimis est contra venenum malevolentiae antidotis.

For no remedy is found more useful. When he perceived the evils and hardships to be flying out, he swiftly set a lid upon the vessel, and at the bottom of the jar he reserved hope. Certainly, to nourish and instill hope, and to lead men from one hope to another, politically and artfully, is among the strongest antidotes against the venom of malevolence.

Neque certius est indicium prudentis regiminis et rerum administrationis, quam ubi homines spe continere possit, cum satisfaciendi copia non datur, atque ubi res tam provide tractantur ut nullum malum ita peremptorie imminere videatur, quin aliqua se ostendat spei rima ad evadendum. Quod eo minus difficile factu est, quia tam privatis hominibus quam factionibus sibi ipsis adulari insitum est, aut saltem ostentare in gloriam suam quod non omnino credunt.
17. Trita sane est sed praecellens periculorum, quae malevolentiae minantur, cautio, ut praevideatur ne sit caput aliquod ad quod populus infensus et exacerbatus confluere, et sub cuius praesidio in corpus aliquod coire, possit.

Nor is there a surer indication of prudent governance and administration of affairs than when it can hold men by hope, when the means of giving satisfaction are not afforded, and when matters are so providently handled that no evil seems to threaten so peremptorily but that some crack of hope shows itself for escape. Which is all the less difficult to do, because it is innate both in private men and in factions to flatter themselves, or at least to ostentate, for their own glory, what they do not altogether believe.
17. Hackneyed indeed, yet a pre-eminent precaution against the dangers which malevolence threatens, is to foresee that there be not some head to whom a people, hostile and exasperated, may flock, and under whose protection they could coalesce into some body.

Caput ego illum dico et ducem idoneum qui nobilitate et existimatione celebratur, quique apud malevolos acceptus est et gratiosus, atque ad quem ora et oculos convenerunt, quique etiam ipse in rebus suis privatis censetur offensus. Quod genus virorum aut statui conciliandum est, idque non perfunctorie sed solide, aut per alium aliquem ex iisdem partibus retundendum, qui illi alteri se opponat atque gratiam popularem in diversa trahat et secet.
18. Ubique hoc obtinet quod factiosas potentias et coitiones, quae contra gubernatorem imperii frontem contrahunt, inter se committere, aut saltem diffidentiam inter eas seminare, remedium haud contemnendum sit.

By “head” I mean that man and a fit leader who is celebrated for nobility and reputation, and who is acceptable and gracious among the malevolent, to whom faces and eyes have converged, and who himself, too, is reckoned as aggrieved in his private affairs. The sort of men of this kind must either be conciliated to the state, and that not perfunctorily but solidly, or else be blunted by means of some other person from the same party, who may set himself against that other and draw the popular favor in a different direction and divide it.
18. Everywhere this holds: that to set at odds among themselves the factious powers and coalitions which draw together a front against the governor of the commonwealth, or at least to sow distrust among them, is a remedy not to be contemned.

Etenim male admodum agitur cum republica si illi qui erga imperium bene affecti sunt discordiarum pleni existant, qui vero infensi et maligni arcte coniungantur.
19. Adnotavi saepius ingeniosa et arguta dicteria, quae principibus improvisio exciderunt, nonnunquam scintillas ad seditiones iniecisse. Exitiale sibi vulnus inflixit Caesar eo dicto, Sylla nescivit literas, dictare non potuit.

Indeed, it goes very ill with the commonwealth if those who are well disposed toward the imperium turn out to be full of discords, while those who are hostile and malign are tightly conjoined.
19. I have often noted that ingenious and sharp witticisms, which slipped unpremeditated from princes, have sometimes thrown sparks into seditions. Caesar inflicted on himself a deadly wound by that saying, “Sulla did not know his letters; he could not dictate.”

Spem enim omnem illud verbulum praescidit quam homines imbiberant, aliquando eum dictaturam depositurum. Perdidit seipsum Galba eo dicto, legi a se militem, non emi. Inde enim milites de donativis desperarunt.

For that little word cut off all hope which men had imbibed, that at some time he would lay down the dictatorship. Galba ruined himself by that saying, that a soldier is enlisted by him, not bought. For from that, the soldiers despaired of donatives.

Probus item propter eam vocem interiit, si vixero, non opus erit amplius Romano imperio militibus. Etenim ob haec verba milites animum desponderunt. Sunt et alia haud pauca eiusdem generis.

Probus likewise perished on account of that utterance: “If I live, there will no longer be need of soldiers for the Roman empire.” For on account of these words the soldiers lost heart. There are also not a few others of the same kind.

Interest sane principibus in rebus ambiguis et temporibus anxiis ut caveant quod dicant, praesertim in concisis his sententiis quae veluti spicula volitant, et ex secreto pectoris eorum emissa putantur. Longiores enim et productiores sermones obtusi sunt et minus notantur.
20. Postremo, in omnes eventus habeant circa se principes personas nonnullas militia et fortitudine spectatas ad reprimendas seditiones in primis motibus.

It truly concerns princes, in ambiguous matters and anxious times, to beware what they say, especially in these concise sentences which, as it were, fly like darts and are thought to have been sent forth from the secret of their breast. For longer and more protracted discourses are blunt and are less noted.
20. Finally, for all contingencies let princes have about them some persons proven in military service and fortitude, to repress seditions in their first stirrings.

Hoc enim si desit, magis trepidare solet in aulis principum cum turbae primo erumpunt quam par esset. Et status eo genere periculi laborat quod Tacitus illis verbis innuit, atque is habitus animorum fuit ut pessimum facinus auderent pauci, plures vellent, omnes paterentur. Isti autem militares viri fidi omnino esse debent et bonae existimationis, potius quam factiosi aut populares, et cum caeteris proceribus bene comparati.

This indeed, if it be lacking, there is wont to be more trepidation in the courts of princes when the crowds first burst forth than were fitting. And the situation labors under that kind of peril which Tacitus intimates in those words: that few would dare the worst deed, more would wish it, all would tolerate it. But those military men ought to be altogether faithful and of good reputation, rather than factious or popular, and well matched with the other grandees.

Aliter remedium morbo gravius.

Otherwise, the remedy is more grievous than the disease.

XVI. DE ATHEISMO

16. ON ATHEISM

1. Minus durum est credere portentosissimus fabulis Alcorani, Talmudi, aut legendae, quam credere huic universitatis rerum fabricae mentem non adesse. Itaque Deus nunquam edidit miraculum ad atheismum convincendum, quoniam opera eius ordinaria huic rei sufficiunt. Verum est tamen parum philosophiae naturalis homines inclinare in atheismum, at altiorem scientiam eos ad religionem circumagere.

1. It is less hard to believe the most portentous fables of the Alcoran, the Talmud, or the Legend, than to believe that to this fabric of the universe of things Mind is not present. Therefore God never produced a miracle to convince atheism, since his ordinary works suffice for this. It is true, however, that a little natural philosophy inclines men toward atheism, but higher science turns them back to religion.

Etenim intellectus humanus, dum caussas secundas intueretur sparsas, interdum iis acquiescere possit, nec ulterius penetrare. Verum cum tandem catenam earum connexarum inter se et confoederatarum contemplari pergat, necesse habet confugere ad providentiam et deitatem. Imo et illa schola quae praecipue accusatur atheismi, si quis vere rem introspiciat, religionem demonstrat clarissime, nempe schola Leucippi, Democriti, et Epicuri.

For indeed the human intellect, while it beholds second causes scattered, can sometimes acquiesce in them and not penetrate further. But when at length it proceeds to contemplate the chain of them, connected among themselves and confederated, it is compelled to take refuge in Providence and Deity. Nay, even that school which is chiefly accused of atheism, if one truly look into the matter, demonstrates religion most clearly—namely, the school of Leucippus, Democritus, and Epicurus.

Etenim longe verisimilius est quatuor elementa mutabilia et unam quintam essentiam immutabilem, recte ab aeterno locata, opus Deo non habere, quam exercitum atomorum et seminum infinitorum sine ordine fortuito vagantium hunc rerum ordinem et pulchritudinem progignere potuisse absque aedili quodam divino. Dicit Scriptura dixit insipiens in corde suio non est Deus. Non dicit cogitavit insipiens in corde suo.

For indeed it is far more verisimilar that the four mutable elements and a fifth essence immutable, rightly located from eternity, should have no need of God’s operation, than that a host of atoms and infinite seeds, wandering fortuitously without order, could have generated this order and beauty of things without some divine aedile. Scripture says, “The fool has said in his heart, There is no God.” It does not say, “The fool has thought in his heart.”

Adeo ut magis intra se hoc asserat tanquam rem quam lubens optaret, quam quod penitus hoc credat et sentiat. Nemo enim deos non esse credit, nisi cui deos non esse expedit. Nulla alia re sane magis convincitur atheismum labiis tantum insidere, cordi autem minime, quam hac, quod athei opinionem suam saepe praedicent et defendant ac si ipsi sibi diffiderent, aliorumque consensu refocillari cuperent.

To such a degree that he asserts this within himself rather as a thing which he would willingly desire than as something he thoroughly believes and feels. For no one believes that the gods do not exist, except one for whom it is expedient that the gods not exist. By no other thing, assuredly, is it more convincingly shown that atheism sits only upon the lips, and least of all in the heart, than by this: that atheists often proclaim and defend their opinion as if they were diffident of themselves, and wished to be refreshed by the consensus of others.

Quinetiam videas interdum atheos sibi discipulos comparare, ut aliae sectae faciunt. Imo, quod monstri simile est, quidam ex illis mortem et cruciatus subierunt potius quam opinionem suam retractare sustinerent, cum tamen, si ex animo sentirent nihile tale esse quale Deus, quid tandem de ea re satagerent? Epicuro imponitur eum existimationis suae conservandae gratia tenuisse quod existerent quidem beatae quaedam naturae, sed quae seipsis fruerentur, neque mundi administrationi se immiscerent.

Moreover, you may see atheists sometimes procuring disciples for themselves, as other sects do. Nay, and—what is like a monstrosity—certain of them have undergone death and torments rather than endure to retract their opinion; and yet, if from the heart they felt that nothing such as God exists, what, pray, would they be so anxious about in that matter? It is imputed to Epicurus that, for the sake of preserving his reputation, he maintained that there do indeed exist certain blessed natures, but that they enjoy themselves and do not meddle in the administration of the world.

In qua opinione aiunt eum tempori obsecutum, cum revera deos esse non putaret. Verum, ut videtur, minus iuste arguitur. Verba enim eius egregia sunt et divina, non deos vulgi negare profanum, sed vulgi opiniones diis applicare profanum.

In which opinion they say he complied with the times, whereas in truth he did not think that gods existed. But, as it seems, he is accused with less justice. For his words are outstanding and divine: it is not profane to deny the gods of the crowd, but to apply the crowd’s opinions to the gods is profane.

Plato ipse melius dicere non potuit. Unde videtur, licet audacia polleret ad divinam rerum admirationem pernegandam, eam tamen ad naturam eorum tollendam illi non suffecisse. Inde occidentales particularium deorum suorum nomina praedicant, etsi nomen nullum generale habeant quod Deum significet: exempli gratia, perinde ac ethnici nomina Iovis, Apollonis, Martis etc.

Plato himself could not have spoken better. Whence it seems that, although he was strong in audacity to deny the admiration of divine things, yet that did not suffice for him to abolish their nature. Hence the Westerners proclaim the names of their particular gods, even if they have no general name that signifies God: for example, just as the ethnics do the names of Jove, Apollo, Mars, etc.

in usu habuissent, voce autem qua Deum exprimerent caruissent. Quod satis indicio est populos maxime barbaros notionem rei habere, licet latitudinem eius con comprehendant. Adeo ut contra atheistas homines maxime ferini cum philosophorum subtilissimis militent.

they would have had these in use, but would have lacked a word by which to express God. Which is ample indication that the most barbarous peoples have a notion of the thing, although they do not comprehend its latitude. So much so that, against atheists, the most feral men fight on the same side as the most subtle philosophers.

Atheista contemplativus raro reperitur. Diagorus quis, Bion, et fortasse Lucianus atque alii pauci, qui tamen plures esse videntur quam sunt, quoniam omnibus qui religionem aliquam aut superstitionem impugnant a secta adversa solet inuri nomen et nota atheistarum. Sed magni revera atheistae sunt hypocritae, qui sacra perpetuo tractant, sed sine sensu.

The contemplative atheist is rarely found. Diagoras, Bion, and perhaps Lucian, and a few others, who nevertheless seem to be more numerous than they are, since upon all who impugn any religion or superstition the opposing sect is accustomed to brand the name and mark of atheists. But the great atheists, in truth, are the hypocrites, who perpetually handle sacred things, but without sense.

Adeo ut eos in fine cauterizatos evadere necesse sit. Caussae atheismi sunt divisiones circa religionem, si plures fuerint. Nam unica divisio zelum utriusque partis adauget, verum numerosae athiesmum introducunt.

So that it is necessary that they in the end emerge cauterized. The causes of atheism are divisions around religion, if they be multiple. For a single division augments the zeal of each party, but numerous ones introduce atheism.

Alia caussa sunt scandala sacerdotum, cum eo res redeat quo S. Bernardus, non est iam dicere, ut populus, sic sacerdos, quia nec sic populos, ut sacerdos. Tertia est consuetudo profana laudendi et iocandi in rebus sanctis, quae sensim reverentiam religionis atterit. Postremo ponuntur secula erudita, praesertim cum pace et rebus prosperis coniuncta.

Another cause is the scandals of the priests, when the matter comes back to that point which St. Bernard [remarked]: it is now no longer to be said, “like people, like priest,” for neither is the people such as the priest. The third is the profane custom of lauding and jesting in sacred matters, which gradually wears down the reverence of religion. Lastly, erudite ages are to be reckoned, especially when conjoined with peace and prosperous affairs.

etenim calamitates et adversa animos hominum ad religionem fortius flectunt. Qui deos negant nobilitatem generis humani destruunt. Nam certissimum est hominem brutis cognatum esse, quatenus ad corpus.

for indeed calamities and adversities bend the minds of men more strongly to religion. Those who deny the gods destroy the nobility of the human race. For it is most certain that man is cognate to the brutes, insofar as concerns the body.

Quod si, quatenus ad animam, non intercedat ei cognatio cum Deo, vilis est plane et ignobilis creatura. Destruunt quoque magnanimitatem et humanae naturae exaltationem. Cape enim exemplum a cane et observa quantos sibi assumat animal illud spiritus, et quantam generositatem induat, cum se ab homine (qui ei vice est Dei aut melioris naturae) impulsum perspiciat.

But if, so far as concerns the soul, no cognation with God intervenes for it, it is plainly a vile and ignoble creature. They also destroy magnanimity and the exaltation of human nature. For take an example from a dog and observe how much spirit that animal assumes to itself, and what nobility it puts on, when it perceives itself to be urged on by a man (who is to it in the place of God or of a better nature).

Quam fortitudinem liquido cernas tantam esse quantum creatura illa, absque fiducia melioris naturae quam propriae, aequare nullo modo possit. Similiter et homo, ubi innititur et spem collocat in divina providentia et gratia, fiduciam et vires colliget quales humana natura sibi relicta nequisset attingere. Quare, ut atheismus in omnibus odium meretur, ita et in hoc, quod privet naturam humanum facultate se ultra fragilitatem humanam attollendi.

You clearly discern that such fortitude is so great as that creature, without confidence in a nature better than its own, could in no way equal. Likewise, man also, when he leans and places his hope in divine providence and grace, will collect confidence and powers such as human nature, left to itself, could not have attained. Wherefore, just as atheism in all things merits hatred, so also in this: that it deprives human nature of the faculty of raising itself beyond human fragility.

Quemadmodum sit in personis individuis, similiter sit et in nationibus. Magnanimitatem Romanam nunquam gens aliqua aequavit. Audi igitur quid dicat Cicero: quam volumus licet, patres conscripti, nos amemus, tamen nec numero Hispanos, nec robore Gallos, nec calliditate Poenos, nec artibus Graecos, nec denique hoc ipso huius gentis et terrae domestico nativoque sensu Italos ipsos et Latinos, sed pietate ac religione, atque hac una sapientia, quod deorum immortalium numine omnia regi gubernarique perspeximus, omnes gentes nationesque superavimus.

As it is among individual persons, so likewise it is among nations. No nation has ever equaled Roman magnanimity. Hear, then, what Cicero says: although, as much as we wish, Conscript Fathers, we may love ourselves, yet neither in number do we surpass the Spaniards, nor in strength the Gauls, nor in shrewdness the Carthaginians, nor in arts the Greeks, nor, finally, in that very domestic and native sensibility of this people and land the Italians themselves and the Latins; but by piety and religion, and by this one wisdom—that we have perceived that all things are ruled and governed by the numen of the immortal gods—we have surpassed all peoples and nations.

XVII. DE SUPERSTITIONE

17. ON SUPERSTITION

1. Praestat nullam aut incertam de Deo habere opinionem, quam contumeliosam et Deo indignam. Alterum enim infidelitatis est, alterum impietatis et opprobrii. Ac superstitio certe divinitatis est dedecus.

1. It is better to have no opinion about God, or an uncertain one, than a contumelious and God-unworthy one. For the former is of unbelief, the latter of impiety and opprobrium. And surely superstition is a disgrace to divinity.

Plutarchus non abs re inquit mallem sane multo ut homines dicerent nunquam fuisse talem in rerum natura virum, qualis ferebatur Plutarchus, quam ut dicerent fuisse quendam Plutarchum qui liberos suos recens natos comedere et devorare solitus erat, quod poetae de Saturno memorant. Quemadmodum autem contumelia superstitionis ingravescit adversus Deum, ita et periculum maius ab illa incumbit hominibus. Atheismus non prorsus convellit dictamina sensus, non philosophiam, affectus naturales, leges, bonae famae desiderium.

Plutarch, not without reason, says: I would indeed much rather by far that men should say that there had never been such a man in the nature of things as the man who was reported to be Plutarch, than that they should say there had been a certain Plutarch who was accustomed to eat and devour his children newly born, which the poets relate about Saturn. And just as the contumely of superstition grows grievous against God, so too a greater peril from it presses upon men. Atheism does not altogether tear up the dictates of sense, nor philosophy, nor the natural affections, laws, the desire of good fame.

Quae omnia, licet religio abesset, morali cuidam virtuti externae conducere possunt. At superstitio haec omnia deiicit, et tyrannidem absolutam in animis hominum exercet. Itaque atheismus turbas in rebuspublicis raro ciet.

All these things, even if religion were absent, can conduce to a certain external moral virtue. But superstition casts all these things down, and exercises an absolute tyranny in the minds of men. Therefore atheism rarely stirs up tumults in commonwealths.

Homines enim cautos reddit, et securitati suae consulentes. Quin et videmus tempora ipsa in atheismum procliviora (qualia fuerunt Augusti Caesaris) tranquilla fuisse. At superstitio compluribus regnis et rebuspublicis ruinae fuit.

For it renders men cautious, and consulting their own security. Nay indeed, we even see that the times themselves more prone to atheism (such as those of Augustus Caesar) were tranquil. But superstition has been the ruin of many kingdoms and commonwealths.

Introducit enim novum primum mobile, quod omnes imperii sphaeras rapit. Magister superstitionis populus, atque in omni superstitione sapientes stultis obsequuntur, atque argumenta practicae succumbunt ordine perverso. Gravis fuit ille sermo quorundam praelatorum in concilio Tridentino, in quo doctrina theologorum scholasticorum plurimum potuit.

For it introduces a new primum mobile, which sweeps along all the spheres of dominion. The people is the master of superstition, and in every superstition the wise defer to the foolish, and arguments yield to practice, in a perverted order. Weighty was that address of certain prelates in the Council of Trent, in which the doctrine of the scholastic theologians prevailed very greatly.

Nimirum scholasticos astronomis similes fuisse, qui eccentricos circulos, et epicyclos, et huiusmodi orbium machinas finxerunt, quo phaenomena servarent, et si satis scirent nihil tale revera existere. Eodem modo etiam scholasticos complura subtilia et perplexa axiomata et theoremata invenisse, quo practicae ecclesiae caverent. Superstitionis caussae sunt grati et sensuales ritus ac ceremoniae; externae et Pharisaicae sanctitatis excessus; traditionum maior quam par fuerit reverentia, quae ecclesiam non potest non onerare; stratagemata praelatorum, quibus utuntur ad ambitionem propriam et lucrum; nimius intentionum bonarum favor, qui novitatibus et ethelothreskiis ianuam aperit; exemplorum importuna et inepta petito ab humanis quae in divina transferantur, quae necessario parit fantasiarum male cohaerentium mixturam; postremo tempora barbara cum calamitatibus et perturbationibus coniuncta.

Nay certainly, the scholastics were like the astronomers who feigned eccentric circles and epicycles and engines of the orbs of this sort in order to save the phenomena, even if they well knew that nothing of the kind really existed. In the same manner also the scholastics invented many subtle and perplexed axioms and theorems, so that the practice of the church might be safeguarded. The causes of superstition are pleasing and sensual rites and ceremonies; excesses of external and Pharisaic sanctity; a reverence for traditions greater than is meet, which cannot but load the church; the stratagems of prelates, which they employ for their own ambition and gain; an excessive favoring of good intentions, which opens the door to novelties and ethelothreskies; the unseasonable and inept borrowing of examples from human things which are transferred into divine things, which necessarily begets a mixture of ill-cohering fantasies; lastly, barbarous times conjoined with calamities and perturbations.

Superstitio sine velo deformis res est. Etenim, sicut simiae similitudo cum homine deformitatem addit, ita et superstitioni similitudo cum religione. Et quemadmodum cibi salubres corrumpuntur in vermiculos, ita ritus et formulae bonae et sanae corrumpuntur in obervantias pusillas et superfluas.

Superstition, without a veil, is a deformed thing. For indeed, just as the similitude of an ape with a man adds deformity, so too does the similitude with religion to superstition. And just as healthful foods are corrupted into maggots, so good and sound rites and formulas are corrupted into petty and superfluous observances.

Quin et non caret superstitione quandoque superstitionis fuga, cum se tanto saniorem et puriorem viam inire putent homines quanto a superstitionibus prius receptis longius deflexerint. Itaque curae esse debet in religione reformandi (ut fit in corpore purgando), ne sana cum corruptis simul evacuentur, quod fere fit ubi reformatio regitur a populo.

Nay, even the flight from superstition is sometimes not free of superstition, when men think that they enter a way the sounder and purer the farther they have turned aside from superstitions previously received. Therefore there ought to be care in the reformation of religion (as is done in purging the body), lest the sound be evacuated together with the corrupt—something that almost happens whenever reformation is governed by the people.

XVIII. DE PEREGRINATIONE IN PARTES EXTERAS

18. ON TRAVEL INTO FOREIGN PARTS

1. Peregrinatio in partes exteras in iunioribus pars institutionis est, in senioribus pars experientiae. Qui proficiscitur in partes exteras antequam in lingua gentis quam adit aliquos fecit progressus ad ludum grammaticum vadit, non ad peregrinandum. Ut adolescentes peregrinentur sub tutore aut servo aliquo experto, probo, modo talis sit qui linguam calleat, quique regionem illam ante adiverit, unde possit eos instruere quae in illa regione ubi peregrinantur digna spectatu et cognitu sint, quae amicitiae et familiaritates contrahendae, quae denique studia et disciplinae ibi vigeant.

1. Peregrination into foreign parts is, for the younger, a part of education; for the older, a part of experience. He who sets out into foreign parts before he has made some progress in the language of the nation he is to visit goes to the grammar school, not to peregrinate. Let adolescents travel under a tutor or some servant who is experienced and of probity—provided he be such a one as is master of the tongue, and who has previously visited that region—so that he can instruct them what in that region where they travel is worthy to behold and to know, what friendships and familiarities are to be contracted, and, finally, what studies and disciplines there flourish.

Aliter enim adolescentes peregrinabuntur cucullati et foras prospicient parum. Mirabile certe est, in navigationibus ubi nihil aspici datur praeter coelum et pontum, conficere consuesse homines diaria, verum in peregrinationibus per terram, in quibus tot res occurrunt observandae, plerunque hoc omitti, ac si fortuita magis in codicillos mererentur referri quam quae de industria observantur. Diaria igitur in usu sint.

For otherwise adolescents will peregrinate hooded and looking outwards little. It is certainly marvelous that on navigations, where nothing is given to be seen except heaven and the sea, people are accustomed to compose diaries, but on peregrinations by land, in which so many things occur that are to be observed, this is for the most part omitted—as if fortuitous things more deserved to be referred into little codicils than those which are observed by industry. Therefore let diaries be in use.

Res spectandae et observandae sunt istae: aulae principum, praesertim cum legatos exteros admittunt; iudicia et curiae, cum caussae perorantur, et similiter consistoria ecclesiastica; templa et monasteria, cum monumentis in illis extantibus; moenia et munitiones urbium et oppidorum; portus et sinus; antiquitates et ruinae; bibliothecae, collegia, disputationes, et praelectiones ubi habentur; naves et carinae; palatia et horti magnifici et amoeni prope urbes magnas; armaria; navalia, cellae et horrea publica; loci excambrii; bursae; cellae mercium; exercitia equitationum, muneris gladiatorii, militum delectus et instructio, cum similibus; comoediae, illae scilicet quae ad quas homines melioris notae spectatum veniunt; thesauri monilium et vestium; curiositates et raritates; denique quicquid in locis quae transeunt sit celebre aut memorabile. De his omnibus a tutoribus aut servis praedictis diligenter inquirendum. Quantum ad triumphos, saltationes sub larva, convivia, nuptias, funera, supplicia capitalia, et huiusmodi spectacula, non opus est ut reducantur hominibus in memoriam.

The things to be looked at and observed are these: the courts of princes, especially when they admit foreign legates; judicial trials and curiae, when causes are fully pleaded, and likewise ecclesiastical consistories; temples and monasteries, with the monuments standing in them; the walls and fortifications of cities and towns; ports and bays; antiquities and ruins; libraries, colleges, disputations, and lectures where they are held; ships and keels; palaces and gardens magnificent and pleasant near great cities; armories; dockyards, store-rooms and public granaries; places of exchange; bourses; warehouses of wares; exercises of horsemanship, of the gladiatorial craft, the muster and training of soldiers, with the like; comedies, namely those to which men of better note come to view; treasuries of jewels and garments; curiosities and rarities; finally, whatever in the places they pass through is famous or memorable. Concerning all these, diligent inquiry must be made from the aforesaid tutors or servants. As for triumphs, masked dances, banquets, weddings, funerals, capital punishments, and spectacles of this kind, there is no need that they be recalled to men’s memory.

Attamen non sunt certe illa prorsus negligenda. Si tibi cordi sit fructum peregrinationis adulescentis in compendium redigere, utque brevi spatio multum colligat, hoc faciendum praecipio. Primo (ut dictum est) in lingua aliquis profectus faciendus antequam proficiscatur.

Nevertheless, those things are certainly not to be altogether neglected. If it is dear to your heart to reduce the fruit of the adolescent’s peregrination into a compendium, and that he gather much in a brief span, I prescribe that this be done. First (as has been said) some progress in the language must be made before he sets out.

Tum adiungendus est servus aliquis aut tutor qui regionem pernorit, ut et iam dictum est. Habeat etiam praesto librum aliquem aut chartam chorographicam regionis illius ubi peregrinatur, quae instar clavis erit ad inquirendum. Conficiat etiam diarium.

Then some servant or tutor who has thoroughly learned the region must be attached, as has already been said. Let him also have at hand some book or a chorographic chart of that region in which he is traveling, which will serve as a kind of key for inquiry. Let him also compile a diary.

Ne moretur longius in una urbe aut oppido. Plus certe aut minus prout locus meretur, sed minime diu. Imo dum moratur in aliqua civitate aut oppido mutet saepius hospitium ex una parte oppidi in alteram.

Let him not linger longer in one city or town. Certainly stay more or less as the place merits, but by no means long. Nay rather, while he is staying in some city or town, let him change lodging more often, from one part of the town to the other.

Nam et hoc certe magnes est attrahendi familiaritates et consuetudines hominum complurium. Secludat se ut plurimum a consortio popularium suorum, atque in iis locis victitet ubi simul convivantur homines melioris notae ex natione ubi peregrinatur. Etiam cum de loco in locum itineratur, paret sibi literas commendatorias ad personam aliquam eminentiorem degentem in loco quo se transfert, ut eius favore et opera utatur in iis, quae spectare aut cognoscere desiderat.

For this too is certainly a magnet for attracting the familiarities and associations of many people. Let him for the most part seclude himself from the fellowship of his own countrymen, and live in those places where men of better note, from the nation in which he travels, banquet together. Also, when he journeys from place to place, let him procure for himself letters commendatory to some more eminent person residing in the place to which he transfers himself, that he may use his favor and assistance in those things which he desires to behold or to come to know.

Hoc modo peregrinationis utilitatem accelerare poterit. Quatenus ad familiaritates et amicitias quiae inter peregrinandum adiungendae sunt, utilissima omnium est illa secretariorum et ministrorum interiorum quibus legati utuntur. Hoc enim pacto in una regione peregrinando etiam plurium regionum notitiam et experientiam ad se attrahet et suget.

In this manner he will be able to accelerate the utility of peregrination. Insofar as concerns the familiarities and friendships that are to be adjoined while traveling, the most useful of all is that of the secretaries and inner ministers whom envoys employ. For by this method, by traveling in one region, he will even attract and suck in to himself the knowledge and experience of several regions.

Visitet etiam et adeat personas in unoquoque genere egregias, quae magni apud exteros nominis sunt, ut possit notare quomodo os, vultus, et corporis lineamenta et motus respondeant famae. Quantum ad rixas et simultates, cum cura et diligentia sunt illae vitandae. Oboriuntur saepissime circa amores, compotationes, praesidentiam, et verba contumeliosa.

Let him also visit and approach persons in each category who are outstanding, who are of great name among foreigners, that he may be able to note how the face, the countenance, and the lineaments and motions of the body answer to their fame. As for quarrels and enmities, with care and diligence they are to be avoided. They arise most often around loves, compotations, precedence, and contumelious words.

Et caveat imprimis quivis a consortio hominum iracundorum, et qui facile inimicitias suscipiunt. Illi enim eum suis immiscebunt contentionibus. Quando peregrinator domum revertitur, nihilominus regiones in quibus peregrinatus est non relinquat prorsus pone se. Verum conservet et colat amicitiam eorum cum quibus familiaritatem contraxit (iis dico qui sunt ex dignioribus) per literas.

And let each man, first and foremost, beware of the consort of irascible men and of those who easily take up enmities; for they will embroil him in their contentions. When a traveler returns home, nonetheless let him not leave the regions in which he has traveled wholly behind him; rather, let him preserve and cultivate the friendship of those with whom he has contracted familiarity (I mean those who are of the more distinguished) by letters.

Et peregrinatio sua potius manifestetur et appareat in sermonibus suis quam in vestitu aut gestu. Etiam in sermonibus suis potius meditetur quid sobrie respondeat, quam ad narrationes facilis et pronus sit. Illud etiam in eo sit conspicuum, quod mores patrios cum moribus exteris non commutaverit, sed potius quod consuetudines patrias iis quae peregre didicit tanquam floribus asperserit.

And let his pilgrimage rather be manifested and appear in his speech than in his dress or gesture. Also in his speech let him rather meditate what he may soberly answer, than be easy and prone to narrations. Let this likewise be conspicuous in him: that he has not exchanged the ancestral manners for foreign manners, but rather that he has sprinkled the native customs with those things which he learned abroad, as with flowers.

XIX. DE IMPERIO

19. ON COMMAND

1. Miser proculdubio est animi status pauca habere quae appetas, multa quae metuas. Attamen hoc ipsum regibus proprium est, qui in supremo gradu collocati non habent ad quod aspirent, id quod animos eorum reddit languidiores. Atque e contra habent phantasmata plurima periculorum et umbrarum volitantium, id quod animos eorum reddit minus serenos.

1. Wretched, beyond doubt, is the state of mind to have few things that you desire, and many that you fear. Yet this very thing is proper to kings, who, placed in the supreme rank, have nothing to which they may aspire, which renders their spirits more languid. And on the contrary they have a great many phantasms of dangers and of flitting shadows, which renders their minds less serene.

Hinc etiam emanat et alter ille effectus, quem Scriptura regibus tribuit, ut cor regis sit inscrutabile. Etenim suspicionum multitudo, et absentia affectus alicuius praedominantis qui reliquis imperet, cuiusvis animum reddit exploratu difficilem. Hinc quoque emanat et illud, quod reges saepenumero desideria sibi ipsis creent, atque ad nugas animum adiiciant: interdum ad aedificia extruenda, interdum ad ordinem aliquem aut collegium instituendum; interdum ad personam aliquam evehendam; interdum ad artem aliquam mechanicam aut manus excellentiam exercendam, ut Nero studuit pulsandae cytharae, Domitianus sagittis collimandis, Commodus gladiatoriae, Caracalla aurigationi.

Hence there also emanates that other effect which Scripture attributes to kings: that the heart of a king is inscrutable. For indeed the multitude of suspicions, and the absence of any predominant affection that might command the rest, renders anyone’s mind difficult to explore. Hence too there emanates this, that kings very often create desires for themselves, and apply their mind to trifles: sometimes to erecting edifices, sometimes to establishing some order or college; sometimes to promoting some person; sometimes to exercising some mechanical art or excellence of the hand, as Nero devoted himself to striking the cithara, Domitian to aiming with arrows, Commodus to the gladiatorial art, Caracalla to charioteering.

Hoc illis incredible videtur qui axioma illud non norunt, animum humanum magis exhilarari et refici progrediendo in rebus parvis quam consistendo in rebus grandibus. Videre etiam est reges, qui sub imperii sui initiis in victoriis et provinciis subiugandis maxime foelices fuerunt, cum vix possibile sit ut perpetuos progressus faciant, verum ut fortunam suam aliquando adversam et retrogradam experiantur, sub fine superstitiosos et melancholicos evasisse, uti contigit Alexandro Magno, Dioclesiano, ac nostra aetate Carolo Quinto et aliis. Qui enim progredi semper consuervit et in obicem tandem impingitur, sui ipsius favore excidit, neque amplius res est quae fuit.

To those who do not know that axiom, it seems incredible: that the human mind is more exhilarated and refreshed by progressing in small matters than by standing still in great ones. One may also see that kings who at the beginnings of their rule were most felicitous in victories and in subjugating provinces—since it is scarcely possible that they should make perpetual progresses, but rather that they should at times experience their fortune adverse and retrograde—have in the end turned out superstitious and melancholic; as befell Alexander the Great, Diocletian, and in our age Charles V and others. For he who has been accustomed always to advance and at length strikes upon an obstacle, falls out of favor with himself, and is no longer the thing he once was.

2. Dicamus nunc de vera imperii temperatura, quam servare res ardua est et rara. Etenim tam temperies quam intemperies ex contrariis consistunt. verum alia res est contraria miscere, alia alternare.

2. Let us now speak of the true temperament of empire, which to preserve is an arduous and rare matter. For both a temperate condition and an intemperate one consist of contraries. But it is one thing to mix contraries, another to alternate them.

Responsum Apollonii egregia prudentia plenum est. Interrogabat eum Vespasianus quid Neroni ruinam fuisset? Respondit Nero cytharam perite pulsare et accomodare novit, at in imperando chordas interdum nimium distendebat, interdum eas nimium relaxabat.

Apollonius’s response is full of eminent prudence. Vespasian asked him what had been Nero’s ruin. He replied that Nero knew how to strike and to tune the cithara skillfully, but in governing he sometimes stretched the strings too much, sometimes relaxed them too much.

Atque certissimum est nihil auctoritatem aeque destruere ac inaequalem et quasi subsultoriam atque intempestivam potentiae alternationem, nunc rigidius intensae, nunc laxius remissae.
3. Veruntamen et hoc verum est, moderni temporis prudentiam circa principum negotia tractanda in hoc potissimum versari, ut conquirantur magis et aptentur remedia et subterfugia malorum et periculorum cum ingruerint, quam ut prudentia solida et constanti depellantur et summoveantur antequam impendeant. Verum hoc nihil aliud est quam in agone cum fortuna experiri.

And it is most certain that nothing so destroys authority as an unequal and, so to speak, subsultory and untimely alternation of power—now strained too rigidly, now relaxed too loosely.
3. Nevertheless this also is true: the prudence of the modern time, in handling the affairs of princes, is occupied chiefly with this—that remedies and subterfuges against evils and dangers are rather sought out and fitted when they have rushed in, than that by solid and constant prudence they be driven off and removed before they threaten. But this is nothing else than to make trial in the agon with fortune.

Caveant autem homines, ne obdormiscant circa turbarum materias primas et inchoamenta. Nemo siquidem scintillam incendium parituram prohibere potest, nec regiones metiri unde eruptura sit. In principum negotiis interveniunt proculdubio multae difficultates et impedimenta, at saepenumero maxima impedimenta sunt principum ipsorum affectus et mores.

Let men beware, however, lest they fall asleep over the raw materials and inchoations of tumults. For no one can prevent a spark destined to beget a conflagration, nor can anyone measure the regions whence it is going to burst forth. In the affairs of princes there undoubtedly intervene many difficulties and impediments, but very often the greatest impediments are the affections and the mores of the princes themselves.

Etenim principibus frequenter accidit ut contradictoria plane appetant, sicut recte Tacitus: sunt plerunque rerum voluntates vehementes et inter se contrariae. At potentiae nimiae soloecismus est, credere se posse finem rei pro arbitrio assequi, neque tamen media procurare.
4. Regibus intercedit negotium cum nationibus vicinis, cum uxoribus propriis, cum liberis suis, cum praelatis et clero, cum proceribus regni, cum nobilibus secundae classis sive generosis, cum mercatoribus suis, cum plebe regni, cum militibus suis.

For indeed it frequently befalls princes to crave plainly contradictory things, as Tacitus rightly [says]: very often the wills in affairs are vehement and mutually contrary. But it is a solecism of excessive power to believe that one can attain the end of a matter at one’s pleasure, and yet not to procure the means.
4. Business intervenes for kings with neighboring nations, with their own wives, with their children, with prelates and the clergy, with the grandees of the realm, with nobles of the second class or gentry, with their merchants, with the commons of the realm, with their soldiery.

Atque a singulis horum impendent pericula, nisi adhibeatur cura.
5. Quod ad vicinos attinet, praescribi non potest regula aliqua certa cautionis propter occasionum varietate, unica excepta quae semper tenet. Ea est ut principes huic rei perpetuo inviglent ne quis ex vicinis in tantum excrescat (vel novis territorii augmentis, vel commercium ad se trahendo, vel proprius accedendo, et similibus) quo maiorem nanciscatur laedendi potestatem quam antea habuerat.

And from each of these dangers threaten, unless care be applied.
5. As regards neighbors, no certain rule of caution can be prescribed because of the variety of occasions, with a single exception that always holds. This is: that princes keep perpetual watch over this matter, lest any of the neighbors grow so far (either by new augmentations of territory, or by drawing commerce to himself, or by coming closer, and the like) as to acquire a greater power of injuring than he previously had.

Sane, durante triumviratu illo regum (Henrico Octavo Anglo, Francisco Primo Gallo, et Carolo Quinto Hispano) ea viguit inter ipsos diligentia ut nemo trium vel palmam terrae acquirere potuisset, quin reliqui duo statim rem ad aequilibrium deducerent, neque pacem foenore redimere sustinerent. Idemque praestabat foedus illud (cui Guicciardinus securitatem Italiae attribuit) ictum inter Ferdinandus regem Neapolitanum, Lorenzium de Medices, et Ludovicum Sforziam principes, alterum Florentiae, alterum Mediolani. Neque recipienda est opinio quorundam ex scholasticis, bellum iuste suscipi non posse, nisi ob iniuriam aut provocationem praecedentem.

Assuredly, during that triumvirate of kings (Henry VIII the Englishman, Francis I the Frenchman, and Charles V the Spaniard) such diligence flourished among them that none of the three could have acquired so much as a palm’s breadth of land without the remaining two immediately bringing the matter back to equilibrium, nor would they endure to redeem peace by usury. The same was effected by that league (to which Guicciardini attributes the security of Italy) struck between Ferdinand, king of Naples, Lorenzo de’ Medici, and Ludovico Sforza, princes—the one of Florence, the other of Milan. Nor is the opinion of certain of the scholastics to be admitted, that war cannot be justly undertaken unless on account of a preceding injury or provocation.

Siquidem iustus metus imminentis periculi, etsi violentia aliqua non praecesserit, proculdubio belli causa est competens et legitima.
6. Quantum ad uxores, extant exempla eius generis crudelia et atrocia. Livia infamis ob veneficium Augusti.

For a just fear of imminent peril, even if no violence has preceded, is without doubt a competent and legitimate cause of war.
6. As for wives, examples of that kind, cruel and atrocious, are extant. Livia, infamous on account of the poisoning of Augustus.

Roxolana, uxor Solymanni, perniciem intulit Mustaphae celeberrimo illi principi, atque alias successionem et domum mariti sui perturbavit. Edwardi Secundi regis Angliae uxor operam praebuit praecipuam in mariti sui de regno deturbatione et nece. Hoc genus periculi maxime timendum, cum reginae liberos ex priore marito susceperunt, aut in adulterio degunt.

Roxolana, wife of Solyman, brought destruction upon Mustapha, that most celebrated prince, and otherwise perturbed the succession and the house of her husband. The wife of Edward II, king of England, furnished principal assistance in the overthrow of her husband from the kingdom and in his killing. This kind of danger is most to be feared, when queens have borne children by a prior husband, or live in adultery.

7. Quantum ad liberos, ab iis etiam ortae tragoediae plurimae. Atque generaliter, suspiciones arreptae a patribus in filios suos infaustae extiterunt. Mustaphae (quem antea nominavimus) caedes stirpi Solymanni adeo fatalis fuit ut succession sultanorum usque in hodiernum diem pro suspecto habeatur, velut sanguinis ementiti, quia Solymus secundus putabatur supposititius.

7. As for children, from them too very many tragedies have arisen. And, generally, suspicions taken up by fathers against their own sons have proved ill-omened. The slaughter of Mustapha (whom we named before) was so fatal for the stock of Solyman that the succession of the sultans down to the present day is held suspect, as though of counterfeit blood, because Solymus II was thought to be supposititious.

Caedes etiam Crispi, principis summae spei, inflicta per patrem suam Constantinum Magnum similiter eius familiae fatalis sunt. Siquidem tam Constantinus quam Constans filii eius violenta morte perierunt, et Constantius, qui e filiis eius superstes fuit, decessit sane ex morbo, sed non nisi cum Iulianus contra eum arma cepisset. Caedes similiter Demetrii, Philippi Secundi Macedonis filii, vertit se in patrem, qui mortuus est ex maerore et poenitentia.

The killing also of Crispus, a prince of the highest promise, inflicted by his own father Constantine the Great, was likewise fatal to that family. For both Constantine and Constans, his sons, perished by a violent death, and Constantius, who of his sons survived, died indeed of disease, but not until Julian had taken up arms against him. Similarly, the killing of Demetrius, son of Philip II of Macedon, turned upon the father, who died of grief and remorse.

Complura sunt eiusmodi exempla. Verum pauca aut nulla ubi patres aliquid boni ex huiusmodi diffidentiis perceperunt, praeterquam cum filii bellum aperte patribus intulerunt, ut fecit Solymus Primus adversus Bajazetem patrem suum, et tres filii Henrici Secundi regis Angliae.
8. Quantum ad praelatos, ab illis etiam, si potentes fuerint et superbi, periculum ingruit.

There are many examples of this kind. But few or none where fathers reaped anything good from such diffidences, except when sons openly brought war against their fathers, as Solymus the First did against his father Bajazet, and as the three sons of Henry II, king of England, did.
8. As for prelates, from them too, if they have been powerful and proud, danger impends.

Ut contigit temporibus Anselmo et Thomae Becketti Archiepiscoporum Cantuariae, quorum baculi pastorales cum regis gladio concertarunt, licet res illis fuerit cum regibus animosis et fastuosis, Guilielmo Rufo, Henrico Primo, et Henrico Secundo. At periculum huiusmodi a praelatis non est magnopere pertimiscendum, nisi ubi clerus ab auctoritate et iurisdictione principatus externi pendet, aut etiam ubi ecclesiastici eliguntur a populo, non autem a rege vel patronis ecclesiarum.
9. Quantum ad proceres, sunt illi certe cohibendi, et tanquam in iusta distantia a solio regali continendi.

As befell in the times of Anselm and Thomas Becket, Archbishops of Canterbury, whose pastoral staves contended with the king’s sword, although their affair was with high-spirited and fastuous kings, William Rufus, Henry I, and Henry II. But peril of this kind from prelates is not greatly to be feared, unless where the clergy depends upon the authority and jurisdiction of a foreign principate, or also where ecclesiastics are chosen by the people, and not by the king or the patrons of the churches.
9. As for the nobles, they surely must be restrained, and kept, as it were, at a just distance from the royal throne.

Verum depressio ipsorum poterit regem fortasse ipsum magis absolutum reddere, sed interim minus tutum, et minus efficacem ad ea quae cupit perficienda. Hoc notavi in Historia mea Regni Henrici Septimi, qui nobilies suos perpetuo deprimeat. Unde factum ut tempora eius difficultatibus et turbis plena essent.

However, the depression of them may perhaps render the king himself more absolute, but meanwhile less safe, and less efficacious for accomplishing the things he desires. This I noted in my History of the Reign of Henry VII, who continually kept his nobles down. Whence it came about that his times were full of difficulties and tumults.

Nobiles enim, etsi in fide et officio versus eum manserint, attamen minime cum eo cooperabantur in negotiis suis, ita ut ipse fere omnia solus sustineret.
10. Quatenus ad nobiles secundae classis, parum periculi ab illis manare potest, cum sint corpus dispersum. Poterint illi quidem nonnumquam grandia loqui, sed non multum nocere.

For the nobles, even if they remained in faith and duty toward him, nevertheless they cooperated with him not at all in his affairs, so that he sustained almost everything alone.
10. As far as concerns nobles of the second class, little danger can emanate from them, since they are a dispersed body. They indeed can sometimes speak grandly, but not do much harm.

Quinimo fovendi sunt, tanquam qui potentiam nobilitatis superioris optime temperent ne immodice excrescat. Atque rursus cum populi gubernacula immediate tractent, motus populares optime compescunt.
11. Quod ad mercatores, sunt illi instar venae portae, qui nisi floruerint, potest quidem regnum aliquod artus habere robustos sed venas vacuas et habitum corporis macrum.

Nay rather, they must be fostered, as those who best temper the power of the higher nobility lest it grow immoderately. And again, since they handle directly the helm of the people, they most effectively restrain popular commotions.
11. As for merchants, they are like the portal vein; unless they flourish, a kingdom may indeed have robust limbs, but empty veins and a lean habit of body.

Vectigalia et portoria immodica raro regis reditus adaugent. Etenim quod in partibus lucret, in summa deperdit, commercii quanto diminuto.
12. Quantum ad plebem, ab iis raro creatur periculum, nisi habeant ductores potentes et populares, au si introducas mutationem in religione, vel in consuetudinibus antiquis, vel in gravaminibus tributorum, vel in aliis quae eorum decurtant.

Excessive taxes and customs dues rarely augment the king’s revenues. For what it gains in the parts it loses in the sum, in proportion as commerce is diminished.
12. As for the plebs, peril is rarely created by them, unless they have leaders both potent and popular; or if you introduce a change in religion, or in ancient customs, or in the burdens of tributes, or in other things that curtail them.

13. Quantum denique ad milites, periculosissima res est, si in corpus unum cogantur vel exercitus vel praesidiorum, et donativis insuescant. Cuius clarissima cernimus exempla in janizariis et praetorianis. Verum militum conscriptio, et ad arma tractanda instructio, et in locis diversis, et sub diversis ducibus, et sine donativis res sunt utiles, et salubres, et sine periculo.

13. Finally, as regards the soldiers, it is a most perilous matter if either the army or the garrisons are forced into one body and grow accustomed to donatives. Of which we behold the clearest examples in the Janissaries and the Praetorians. But the conscription of soldiers, and instruction to handle arms, and their being in diverse places, and under diverse leaders, and without donatives, are things useful, salutary, and without danger.

14. Principes corporibus coelestibus similes, quae tempora felicia aut infelicia in fluxu suo producunt, quaeque veneratione multa gaudent, requie nulla. Omnia circa reges praecepta duobus illis monitus clauduntur, memento quod es homo et memento quod es Deus, seu vice Dei. Quorum alterum pertinet ad potestatem eorum coercendam, alterum ad voluntatem regendem.

14. Princes are like celestial bodies, which in their own flux produce fortunate or unfortunate times, and which enjoy much veneration, with no rest. All precepts concerning kings are enclosed in those two admonitions: remember that you are a man, and remember that you are a God, or in the stead of God. Of which the one pertains to coercing their power, the other to governing their will.

XX. DE CONSILIO

20. ON COUNSEL

1. Summa quae intercedit inter homines fides, et illa consilium impertiendi. Etenim in alio quovis fidei genere partes tantum vitae aliis commendamus, terras, bona, liberos, existimationis, et alia negotia particularia. Verum iis quos nobis consiliarios adhibemus omnia mandamus.

1. The highest trust that obtains between men is that of imparting counsel. For in any other kind of trust we commend only parts of life to others—lands, goods, children, matters of reputation, and other particular affairs. But to those whom we admit as counselors for ourselves, we commit everything.

Quanto magis, qui partes consiliariorum praestant, ad omnem integritatem et sinceritatem astringuntur. Principes vel prudentissimi nullo modo in diminutionem auctoritatis accipiant si consilio virorum selectorum utantur. Quin et Deus ipse consilio non vacat, sed inter nomina magna filii sui benedicti ponit ut consiliarius vocetur.

How much more are those who perform the parts of counselors bound to all integrity and sincerity. Let princes, even the most prudent, by no means take it as a diminution of authority if they make use of the counsel of selected men. Indeed, God himself is not vacant of counsel, but among the great names of his blessed Son he sets that he be called Counselor.

Salomonis certe pronunciatum tale: in consilio stabilitas. Res humanae proculdubio aut primam aut secundam agitationem subibunt: si minus consultationum argumentis iactentur, certe fluctibus fortunae iactabuntur. Plenaeque evadent inconstantiae et mutationum, modo texendae, modo retexendae, instar vacillationum hominis ebrii.

Certainly such is Solomon’s pronouncement: in counsel, stability. Human affairs will undoubtedly undergo either a first or a second agitation: if they are not tossed by the arguments of consultations, surely they will be tossed by the waves of fortune. And they will turn out full of inconstancy and changes, now to be woven, now to be unwoven, in the manner of the vacillations of a drunken man.

Sane filius Salomonis vim consilii expertus est, quemadmodum pater eius necessitatem et usum vidit. Etenim regnum Deo dilectum primo laceratum et fractum est consilio pravo. Cui quidem consilio inustae sunt, ut nobis sint documento, notae illae duae per quas consilia prava in perpetuum dignoscantur: una, quod fuerit consilium iuvenile quoad personas, altera quod fuerit violentum quoad subiectum.

Indeed the son of Solomon experienced the force of counsel, just as his father saw its necessity and use. For the kingdom beloved of God was at the first torn and broken by evil counsel. And upon that counsel were branded, that they might be for our instruction, those two marks by which evil counsels may forever be discerned: one, that the counsel was youthful as to the persons; the other, that it was violent as to the subject.

2. Sapientia veterum in parabola adumbravit tam unionem et insolubilem coniunctionem consilii cum regibus, quam prudentem et politicum usum eiusdem per reges adhibendum. Alterum in eo, quod Iovem narrant Metim (quae vox consilium significat) in uxorem duxisse, in quo innuunt consilium imperio sponsae loco esse. Alterum in eo quod sequitur, quod huiusmodi commentum est.

2. The wisdom of the ancients adumbrated in parable both the union and indissoluble conjunction of counsel with kings, and the prudent and politic use of the same to be applied by kings. The first in this: that they relate Jupiter to have taken Metis (which word signifies counsel) as his wife, wherein they intimate that counsel stands to empire in the place of a bride. The other in what follows, which is a fiction of this kind.

Tradunt, postquam Metis nupta fuisset Iovi, eam gravidam ex illo factam; Iovem autem non sustinuisse donec pararet, sed eam devorasse; unde ipsum quoque gravidum factum, et Palladem armatam ex capite suo edidisse. Quae fabula portentosa arcanum imperii involvit. Hoc nimirum, ad quem modum reges erga consilium suum sanctius se gerere debeant: primum ut res deliberandas illis committant, quod est veluti prima conceptio; secundo cum elaboratae et efformatae fuerint, veluti in utero consilii sui, atque maturuerunt et partui vicinae sint, tum demum non permittant amplius consilio suo ut decretum perficiant, acsi res ex eorum auctoritate penderet, sed negotium ad se retrahant et palam omnibus faciant decreta et ordinationes ultimas (quae, quoniam cum prudentia et potestate exeunt, assimilantur Palladi armatae) a seipsis emanare, neque solum ab auctoritate sua, verum etiam (quo magis existimationem suam evehant) ab ingenio et auctoritate propria pervenire.

They hand down that, after Metis had been wed to Jove, she became pregnant by him; but that Jove could not endure to wait until she should bring forth, and so devoured her; whence he himself also became pregnant, and brought forth Pallas, armed, from his head. This portentous fable veils the arcane of imperium. Namely this: in what manner kings ought to bear themselves more reverently toward their counsel—first, that they commit to it the matters to be deliberated, which is as it were the first conception; second, when these have been worked out and shaped, as if in the womb of their counsel, and have matured and are near to birth, then at last let them no longer permit their counsel to consummate the decree, as if the matter depended on its authority, but let them draw the business back to themselves and make it plain to all that the final decrees and ordinances (which, since they go forth with prudence and with power, are likened to Pallas armed) issue from themselves, and that they come not only from their authority, but also (that they may the more exalt their repute) from their own wit and proper authority.

3. Dicamus iam de incommodis consilii, et de ipsorum remediis. Incommoda quae se produnt in consilio utendo et adhibendo sunt tria. Primo quod haec res negotio minus reddat secreta.

3. Let us now speak of the inconveniences of counsel, and of their remedies. The inconveniences which present themselves in using and employing counsel are three. First, that this matter makes the business less secret.

Secundo, quod derogare videatur de auctoritate principum, acsi minus ex se penderent. Tertio, quod subsit periculum a consiliis infidelibus, quae tendant potius in commodium consulentis quam principis ipsius. Ad quae mala evitanda, doctrina quorundam ex Italis, et practica apud Gallos, temporibus quorundam regum introduxit consilia interiora quae vulgo vocantur cabinetti, remedium sane morbo deterius.

Secondly, that it seems to derogate from the authority of princes, as if things depended less upon themselves. Thirdly, that there lies a danger from unfaithful counsels, which tend rather to the advantage of the counselor than of the prince himself. To avoid which evils, the doctrine of certain men among the Italians, and the practice among the French, in the times of certain kings, introduced inner councils which are commonly called cabinets, a remedy indeed worse than the disease.

4. Quantum ad occultationem consiliorum, non tenentur principes omnia cum omnibus consiliariis communicare, sed tam personas quam negotia cum delectu excerpere possunt. Neque necesse est principi qui deliberat quid sit agendum simul detegere quid in animo habeat statuere. Verum caveant principes ne propalationis negotiorum suorum ipsi in causa sint.

4. As regards the occultation/concealment of counsels, princes are not bound to communicate everything with all the counselors, but they can select both persons and affairs with discrimination. Nor is it necessary for a prince who deliberates what is to be done to disclose at the same time what he has in mind to determine. But let princes beware lest they themselves be the cause of the divulgation of their affairs.

Quatenus vero ad consilia quos diximus cabinettos, in illos diverbium illud competit, plenus rimarum sum. Futilis quispiam qui gloriae sibi duxerit arcana nosse et retegere plus nocebit quam complures qui bene norunt officii sui esse eadem reticere. Verum est intervenire negotia quaedam eius generis quae occultationem summam requirunt, qualis non facile ultra notitiam unius aut duorum praeter ipsum regem excedet.

Insofar, however, as concerns the cabinet councils we spoke of, that proverb applies to them: “I am full of cracks.” Some futile fellow who has counted it a glory for himself to know the arcana and to uncover them will do more harm than many who well know that it is their duty to keep the same unspoken. It is true that certain affairs of this kind occur which require the highest occultation, such as will not easily pass beyond the knowledge of one or two besides the king himself.

Neque improspere cedere solent istiusmodi consilia. Nam praeterquam quod secreta sint, procedunt plerunque constanter et uno quasi spiritu reguntur absque contentione. Sed tum demum hoc recte cedet, si rex prudens sit et proprio Marte validus, et simul consiliarii illi sunt sagaces, atque omnia finibus quos sibi proponit rex fidi, id quod contigit Henrico Septimo Angliae regi, qui arcana sua maioris momenti duobus tantummodo consiliariis impertiebatur, Mortono et Foxo.

Nor do counsels of this kind usually turn out ill. For besides being secret, they for the most part proceed steadily and are governed, as if by one spirit, without contention. But this will succeed rightly only if the king is prudent and strong by his own prowess, and at the same time those counselors are sagacious and faithful to all the ends that the king proposes to himself—something that befell Henry VII, king of England, who imparted his secrets of greater moment to only two counselors, Morton and Fox.

5. Quantum ad auctoritatem minuendam, fabula remedium monstrat. Imo maiestas regum exaltatur potius quam deprimitur cum in cathedra consilii sedeant. Neque unquam invenire est principem auctoritate sua imminutum per consilium suum, nisi forte ubi obtigerit potentia nimio in uno aliquo consiliario, aut nimis arcta combinatio inter diversos.

5. As for the diminishing of authority, the fable shows a remedy. Nay rather, the majesty of kings is exalted rather than depressed when they sit in the chair of the council. Nor is it ever found that a prince has been diminished in his authority by his council, unless perhaps where power has chanced to be excessive in some one counselor, or there is an overly close combination among the different ones.

Quae duo mala cito deprehenduntur et sanantur.
6. Quantum ad postremum incommodum, consiliarios nimirum in consilio dando suae rei prospecturos, non domini, minime dubium est scripturam illam non inveniet fidem super terram intelligi debere de natura temporum, minime de personis singulis. Reperiuntur siquidem viri fideles, sinceri, candidi, et veraces, minime vafri aut involuti.

These two evils are quickly detected and cured.
6. As for the last inconvenience—namely, that counselors, in giving counsel, will look to their own affair, not their lord’s—it is by no means doubtful that that Scripture, “shall not find faith upon the earth,” ought to be understood of the nature of the times, not at all of individual persons. For indeed there are found men faithful, sincere, candid, and veracious, in no way wily or convoluted.

Asciscant sibi principes, ante omnia, ingenia talia. Praeterea consiliarii raro ita inter se uniuntur, quin alius super alium excubias agat. Adeo ut, si quis consilia det factiosa aut ad privatos fines collimantia, celeriter hoc ad aures principis deveniet.

Let princes, before all else, attach to themselves talents of such a kind. Moreover, counselors are rarely so united among themselves that one does not keep watch over another; to such a degree that, if anyone should give counsels that are factious or aiming at private ends, this will quickly come to the prince’s ears.

Remedium autem praestantissimum fuerit si reges dent operam ut consiliarios suos pernoscant, queamadmodum illi ut principem.

However, the most preeminent remedy would be this: that kings take pains to come thoroughly to know their counselors, just as the counselors do the prince.

Principis est virtus maxime nosse suos.

It is most of all the virtue of a prince to know his own.

7. Contra vero consiliarios non decet nimios esse rimatores in personam principis sui. Vera enim consiliarii constitutio haec, ut peritior sit in negotiis principis quam in moribus eius. Sic enim verisimile fiet sum consilium potius recta directurum quam se principi accommodaturum quo complaceat.

7. On the contrary, it does not befit counselors to be excessive probers into the person of their prince. For the true constitution of a counselor is this: that he be more expert in the prince’s affairs than in his morals. Thus it will be likely that his counsel will rather direct things aright than that he will accommodate himself to the prince in order to please him.

Principibus etiam hoc magno usui esse possit, si opiniones et vota consiliorum suorum et divisim et coniunctim recipiant. Etenim opinio in secreto prolata liberior multo est, sed illa quae coram aliis gravior. Nam in privato quisque propriis affectibus plus inservit, in consortio aliorum affictibus magis obnoxius est.

This also can be of great use to princes, if they receive the opinions and votes of their councils both separately and conjointly. For indeed an opinion brought forth in secret is much freer, but that which is given in the presence of others is weightier. For in private each man serves his own affections more; in the fellowship of others he is more subject to the affections of others.

Itaque neutrum omittendum. Atque ab inferioribus, ut libertati consulatur, a grandioribus in consortio ut modestius sententiam ferant. Nil prodest si principes de rebus deliberent, nisi diligenter quoque deliberent de personis.

Therefore, neither is to be omitted. And let it be from inferiors, that provision may be made for liberty; from superiors, in consort, that they may deliver their opinion more modestly. Nothing profits if princes deliberate about matters, unless they also deliberate diligently about persons.

Etenim res omnes tanquam imagines mortuae, vita autem actionis in delectu personarum potissimum consistit. Neque sufficit de personis deliberare secundum genera, velut in idaea quadam aut descriptione mathematica, qualis videlicet character et conditio personae esse debeat. Etenim errores maximi interveniunt, et iudicii libra maxime versatur in delectu individuorum.

For indeed all things are as dead images, but the life of action consists chiefly in the choice of persons. Nor is it sufficient to deliberate about persons according to genera, as in a certain idea or mathematical description, what sort of character and condition the person ought to be. For very great errors intervene, and the balance of judgment is most of all in motion in the selection of individuals.

Illud quoque memoria tenendum, optimi consiliarii mortui. Libri veritati non parcunt, cum consiliarii forte in adulationem lapsuri sint. Utile itaque fuerit libros multum revolvere, praesertim eorum auctorum qui et ipsi gubernacula rerum tractarunt.

This, too, must be kept in memory: the best counselors are the dead. Books do not spare the truth, whereas counselors are perhaps liable to slip into adulation. It will therefore be useful to turn over books much, especially those of authors who themselves have handled the helm of affairs.

8. Consilia hac aetate in locis plurimis nihil aliud fere sunt quam congressus et colloquia familiaria, ubi res potius sermonibus iactentur quam debitis argumentis trutinentur. Atque plerunque praecipitanter nimis ad decretum vel actum consilii properatur. Satius esset si in maioris momenti negotiis res uno die deliberanda proponeretur, altero tracteretur: in nocte consilium.

8. Councils in this age, in very many places, are almost nothing else than gatherings and familiar colloquies, where matters are rather tossed about in speeches than weighed in the balance by due arguments. And for the most part there is too precipitate a haste toward a decree or an act of council. It would be better, in affairs of greater moment, if the matter to be deliberated were proposed on one day, and on the next were handled: there is counsel in the night.

Id certe praestitum est in tractatu unionis inter delegatos Angliae et Scotiae, qui conventus regulariter et optime ordine processit. Ad petitiones autam privatas dies aliquos praefigi probo. Nam et supplicantibus tempora certa indicant quibus commodius se applicent, et solenniores conventus exonerant ut possint hoc agere.

This was certainly carried out in the negotiation of the union between the delegates of England and Scotland, which assembly proceeded regularly and in most excellent order. As for private petitions, I approve that several days be appointed beforehand; for they both indicate to the supplicants fixed times at which they may more conveniently address themselves, and they unburden the more solemn assemblies so that they can attend to this.

In delectu deputatorum, qui negotia ad consilium informandum praeparent, praestat eos eligere qui aequi sunt et in neutram partem propendeant, quam aequitatem quandam creare introducendo aliquos qui utrique parti sedulo faveant. Probo etiam delegationes, non tantum temporaneas aut e re nata, sed etiam continuatas et perpetuas. Exempli gratia, quae curent separatim commercia, aerarium bellum, gratias, gravamina, provincias particulares.

In the selection of deputies, who prepare the business to inform the council, it is better to choose those who are equitable and incline to neither side, than to create a kind of equity by introducing some who assiduously favor each party. I also approve delegations, not only temporary or arising from the occasion, but also continued and perpetual. For example, those which separately attend to commerce, the treasury, war, thanks, grievances, and particular provinces.

Sane ubi in usu sunt consilia subordinata diversa, atque unicum tantum superius consilium (ut fit in Hispania), nihil aliud fere sunt eiusmodi consilia quam deputationes (quales diximus) perpetuae, nisi quod maiore auctoritate polleant. Si casus postulet, si informetur consilium ab hominibus alicuius muneris aut professionis particularis (veluti iurisperitis, nauticis, excusoribus nummorum, mercatoribus, artificibus, et similibus), audiantur illi primo coram delegatis, et postea, prout occasio postulat, coram consilio. Neque permittantur venire catervatim aut more tribunitio se gerere.

Surely, where diverse subordinate councils are in use, and there is only a single higher council (as is the case in Spain), councils of this sort are scarcely anything other than perpetual deputations (such as we spoke of), except that they wield greater authority. If the case requires that the council be informed by men of some particular office or profession (as jurists, seamen, coiners [moneyers], merchants, artisans, and the like), let them be heard first before the delegates, and afterwards, as occasion demands, before the council. Nor let them be permitted to come in crowds or to carry themselves in a tribunitian manner.

Hoc enim foret clamoribus consilium fatigare, non informationem, ut decet, exhibere. Mensa oblonga et rursus quadrata sive sedes ad parietes camerae consilii videri possunt formalia tantum, sed sunt profecto realia. Nam ad mensam oblongam pauci qui prioribus locis sedent res quasi soli transigunt.

For this would be to weary the council with clamors, not to present information, as is fitting. An oblong table, and again a square one, or seats along the walls of the council chamber, may seem merely formalities, but they are assuredly realities. For at an oblong table the few who sit in the foremost places transact the business as if by themselves.

Verum in aliis qua diximius figuris maior usus consiliariorum qui inferius sedent. Rex cum praesidet ipse in consilio caveat ne sententiam suam citius quam par est declaret. Hoc si fecerit, consiliarii se ad nutum eius applicabunt, et loco consilii liberi canticum ei occinent, placebo.

But in the other figures which we have mentioned there is greater use of the counselors who sit lower. When the king himself presides in council, let him beware lest he declare his opinion sooner than is proper. If he does this, the counselors will accommodate themselves to his nod, and in place of free counsel they will strike up for him a chant, placebo.

XXI. DE MORA

21. ON DELAY

1. Fortuna foro rerum voenalium similis est, ubi saepe (si paululum expectare poteris) minuetur pretium. Rursus, aliquando Sibyllae licitationibus assimilatur, quae primo plenas offert merces, mox partes aliquas consumens integrum tamen pretium postulat. Nam occasio (ut in trito habetur carmine) occipitium nobis obvertit calvum, postquam capillorum in fronte copiam non arripientibus, vel saltem utris ansam praebet primo accipiendam, dein ventrem, qua difficilius comprehenditur.

1. Fortune is like a market of vendible things, where often (if you can wait a little) the price will be diminished. In turn, sometimes it is assimilated to the Sibyl’s auctions, who at first offers full merchandise, soon consuming some parts yet nevertheless demands the entire price. For Occasion (as it is held in a well-worn song) turns toward us a bald occiput, after the abundance of hair on the forehead has not been snatched by those who fail to seize it; or at least, like wineskins, it offers a handle first to be taken, then the belly, by which it is more difficult to be grasped.

Nusquam certe maior apparet sapientia quam in tempestivis negotiorum auspiciis principiisque eligendis. Non iam levia sunt pericula, si levia videantur, et plura pericula fefellerunt quam vim intulerunt. Quinimo satius est quibusdam periculis quasi media via occurrere quam eorum motus et appropinquationem perpetuo inquirere et observare.

Nowhere surely does wisdom appear greater than in choosing timely auspices and beginnings of affairs. Dangers are not slight merely because they seem slight, and more dangers have deceived than have inflicted force. Nay rather, it is better to meet certain dangers, as it were, midway than to be perpetually inquiring into and observing their movement and approach.

Qui enim nimium invigilat, interdum dormitat. E contrario, umbrarum longitudine decipi (ut quidam olim, quando luna horizonti proxima hostium terga irradiabat) atque ita ante tempus tela emittere, aut pericula praemature obviando accersere, alterum est extremum. Nam opportunitatis maturitas vel immaturitas est (ut antea diximus) ad amussim examinanda.

For he who keeps too sharp a watch sometimes nods. Conversely, to be deceived by the length of shadows (as certain men once were, when the moon, close to the horizon, was irradiating the enemies’ backs) and thus to launch missiles before their time, or by meeting dangers prematurely to summon them, is the other extreme. For the maturity or immaturity of opportunity (as we said before) must be examined to the exact rule.

Ac, ut plurimum, expedit omnium magnorum negotiorum principia Argo cum centum oculis suis, exitus vero Briareo cum centum manibus suis committere, primum scilicet invigilare, postea accelerare. Etenim Orci galea, quae politicum vere reddidit invisibilem, est consiliorum occultatio et expeditionum celeritas. Cum enim ad executionem ventum sit, nulla occultatio celeritati est aequiparanda, modo globuli e tormento emissi, qui tam velociter pertransit ut ipsam oculorum aciem antevertat.

And, for the most part, it is expedient to commit the beginnings of all great affairs to Argus with his hundred eyes, but the outcomes to Briareus with his hundred hands—first, namely, to keep watch; afterwards, to accelerate. For the helm of Orcus, which truly rendered the statesman invisible, is the occultation of counsels and the celerity of expeditions. For when it has come to execution, no concealment is comparable to speed, after the manner of a little ball discharged from a piece of ordnance, which passes through so swiftly that it outstrips the very edge of the eyes’ sight.

XXII. DE ASTUTIA

22. ON ASTUTENESS

1. Per astutiam intelligimus sinistram quandam et obliquam prudentiam. Et pro certo est multum interesse inter astutum et prudentem, non solum quatenus ad probitatem, sed etiam quatenus ad mentis vires. Sunt qui chartas pictas artificio quodam miscere sciunt, qui tamen periti lusores non sunt.

1. By astuteness we understand a certain left-handed and oblique prudence. And it is for certain that there is much difference between the astute man and the prudent man, not only as regards probity, but also as regards the powers of the mind. There are those who know how to mix painted cards by a certain artifice, who nevertheless are not expert players.

Sunt itidem nonnulli qui in competitionibus et factionibus regendis multum valent, alias vero infirmi iudicii sunt. Rursus, alia res est personarum naturas et mores callere, alia vero negotia pernosse. Sunt enim haud pauci qui in personarum aditibus et temporibus versuti sunt, neque tamen negotiorum sunt capaces.

Likewise there are some who excel greatly in regulating competitions and factions, yet otherwise are weak in judgment. Again, it is one thing to be skilled in the natures and mores of persons, and another to be thoroughly acquainted with business. For there are not a few who are shrewd in the accesses to persons and in timings, and yet are not capable of affairs.

Quae est constitutio ipsissima hominum qui in personis dignoscendis, non in libris evolvendis, operam collocarunt. Tales magis in pragmaticis quam in consiliis, et non aliter fere usum sui praebent quam in viis quas saepe contriverunt. Converte eos ad homines novos, et artibus suis excidunt.

This is the very constitution of those men who have invested their effort in discerning persons, not in unrolling books. Such men are more in practical affairs than in counsels, and they scarcely offer their usefulness otherwise than along the roads they have often worn. Turn them to new men, and their arts fail them.

Adeo ut vetus illa regula stultum a sapiente dignoscendi (mitte ambos ad ignotos et videbis) de huiusmodi hominibus non teneat. Quoniam autem astuti similes sunt pusillarum mercium propolis non abs re fuerit officinas ipsorum excutere.
2. Inter astutias numerari potest ut quis vultum eius cum quo colloquitur limatius observet.

To such a degree that that old rule for distinguishing a fool from a wise man (send both to strangers and you will see) does not hold for men of this sort. Since, moreover, the crafty are like hucksters of petty wares, it will not be out of place to examine their workshops.
2. Among the astutenesses may be numbered this: that one observe more minutely the countenance of the person with whom he is conversing.

Quod etiam Iesuitae praecipiunt. Sunt enim complures, iique ex prudentioribus, qui corda habent obscura, vultus autem pellucidos. Verum decet hoc fieri cum modesta oculorum per vices demissione, quemadmodum et faciunt Iesuitae.

Which the Jesuits also prescribe. For there are many—indeed of the more prudent—who have obscure hearts but pellucid faces. Yet it is fitting that this be done with a modest, by-turns lowering of the eyes, just as the Jesuits also do.

3. Altera existit astutia, ut cum aliquid propere et facile obtinere et expedire cupias, personam cum qua agis de alio quopiam negotio sermonem inferendo deteneas et praeoccupes, ne nimium ad obiectiones et scrupulos evigilet. Equidem noveram consiliarium quendam et secretarium qui nunquam ad Elizabetham reginam Angliae ad diplomata manu reginae signanda accessit, quin a principio illam in aliquos de rebus status gravioribus sermonem perduceret, ut hisce intenta ad diplomata minus animum adiiceret.
4. Idem valet subitae prehensionis ratio, si quis rem proponat quando persona cum qua agitur ad alia festinat, neque moram pati potest rem accuratius considerandi.

3. Another astuteness exists, namely that when you desire to obtain and dispatch something quickly and easily, you detain and preoccupy the person with whom you are dealing by introducing talk about some other business, lest she be overly watchful to objections and scruples. Indeed I knew a certain counsellor and secretary who never approached Elizabeth, queen of England, for diplomata to be signed by the queen’s hand, without from the outset leading her into some discourse about more serious affairs of state, so that, intent on these, she gave less attention to the diplomata.
4. The same holds for the method of sudden prehension, if someone should propose the matter when the person with whom one deals is rushing to other things, and cannot endure delay for considering the matter more accurately.

5. Si cui in animo est negotium aliquod destruere quod alius fortasse quispiam dextre et cum effectu propositurus fuisset, ipse se erga negotium bene affectum simulet, atque ipse rem proponat, sed eo modo ut successum eius disturbet.
6. Abruptio sermonis in medio, quasi quis seipsum deprehenderet et contineret, maiorem generat appetitum in eo quocum colloqueris ad ulterius inquirendum.
7. Quoniam autem imprimit fortius quod quaestione erutum est, quam quod sponte oblatum, possis ad inescandam quaestionem insolitum induere vultum, ex quo occasio detur alteri interrogandi quid sibi velit ista oris mutatio?, ut Nehemias fecit, neque ante illud tempus tristis fueram in conspectu regis.

5. If someone has in mind to destroy some business which another perhaps would have proposed dexterously and with effect, let him himself simulate being well-affectioned toward the business, and himself bring the matter forward, but in such a way as to disturb its success.
6. The abruptio of discourse in the midst, as though one had caught and restrained himself, generates a greater appetite in the person with whom you converse for further inquiry.
7. Now since what is extracted by question imprints more strongly than what is proffered of its own accord, you can, for baiting a question, assume an unusual countenance, from which an occasion is given to the other to ask, “what does that change of face mean?”, as Nehemiah did: “nor had I before that time been sad in the king’s presence.”

8. In rebus ambiguis et ingratis bonum est initia de iis sermonem inferendi alicui alteri deputare, cuius verba minoris sint ponderis, et maioris auctoritatis vocem in subsidiis reservare, veluti casu fortuito intervenientem, ut interrogetur ille superveniens de eo sermone, qui ab altero iniectus est. Quod fecit Narcissus cum indicaret Claudio matrimonium Messalinae et Silii.
9. In rebus quas a se amoliri quis cupiat, non inutile est vulgi nomen mutuari, ac si quis tali formula utatur, hoc vulgo dicitur, aut increbuit sermo.

8. In ambiguous and unwelcome matters it is good to assign to some other person the beginnings of introducing discourse about them, whose words carry less weight, and to reserve the voice of greater authority in the reserves, as if intervening by fortuitous chance, so that the one supervening may be questioned about that discourse which was injected by the other. Which Narcissus did when he informed Claudius about the marriage of Messalina and Silius.
9. In matters which one wishes to shift off from oneself, it is not unuseful to borrow the name of the crowd, as if someone should use such a formula: this is said commonly, or the talk has become rife.

10. Noveram quendam qui cum literas scriberet id quod maximi erat momenti postscripto semper includebat, ut rem fere praetermissam.
11. Noveram et alium qui, cum ad colloquium cum alio veniret, id quod maxime ei in sermone curae erat, praeterire solitus erat, et discedere, et rursus redire, et tum demum eius rei mentionem facere ac si illa fere e memoria excidisset.
12. Alii se subito deprehendi procurant tali tempore quo verisimile est partem cui insidiantur superventuram.

10. I knew a certain man who, when he wrote letters, always included that which was of the greatest moment in a postscript, as a matter almost passed over.
11. I knew also another who, when he came to a colloquy with someone else, was accustomed to pass over that which in the conversation was his chief care, and to depart, and to return again, and then at last to make mention of that matter, as if it had almost slipped from memory.
12. Others contrive to be suddenly caught at such a time when it is likely that the party against whom they are lying in wait will come upon them.

Ac simul se chartam aliquam in manu habentes, aut aliquid praeter consuetudinem agentes, inveniri volunt, ut interrogentur de iis rebus quas revera ipsa eloqui cupiunt.
13. Astutiae species satis vafra est ea verba proprio nomine prolata sibi excidere pati, quae alium arripere et iis uti quis expetit, ut inde alterum irretiat et subruat. Noveram duos pro officio secretarii tempore reginae Elizabethae competitores, qui tamen se tamen invicem amice tractabant, quique ipso competitionis suae saepius conferebant.

And at the same time they wish to be found with some paper in hand, or doing something contrary to custom, so that they may be questioned about those matters which they truly themselves desire to speak out.
13. A species of astuteness quite wily is to allow words, uttered under one’s own name, to slip from oneself—words which one wants another to seize and use, so that from that the one may ensnare and undermine the other. I knew two competitors for the office of secretary in the time of Queen Elizabeth, who nevertheless treated one another amicably, and who very often conferred about the very matter of their competition.

Atque alter ipsorum dicebat fieri secretarium in declinatione monarchae rem esse haud parvi periculi, seque illud genus honoris minus ambire. Alter statim verba illa callide prolata bona fide arripuit, et cum amicis suis nonnullis libere sermones conseruit, dicens se in declinatione monarchae muneris secretarii ambitiosum esse non debere. Prior ille occasione usus est, eaque verba ut ad reginae aures pervenirent, tanquam scilicet ab altero prolata, curavit.

And one of them said that to become secretary in the decline of a monarch was a matter of no small peril, and that he was less inclined to court that kind of honor. The other straightway, in good faith, seized upon those words, cleverly put forth, and freely held conversations with some of his friends, saying that in the decline of the monarch he ought not to be ambitious of the office of secretary. The former took the occasion, and took care that these words should reach the queen’s ears, as if, to be sure, uttered by the other.

quae indignata circa illa verba in declinatione monarchiae, cum ipsa se vigentem reputaret, posterius illius competitionem nunquam postea admisit.
14. Est astutiae quoddam genus quod Anglico proverbio felem in aheno vertere satis absurde dicitur, cum ea verba quae quis apud alium profert, imputat colloquenti tanquam ab ipso prolata. Et, ut verum dicamus, cum talia aliqua verba inter duos agitata fuerint, difficile est probare et verificare ab utro primum incoeperint.

who, indignant at those words “in the decline of the monarchy,” since she reckoned herself vigorous, thereafter never again admitted his candidacy.
14. There is a certain kind of astutia which by an English proverb is quite absurdly called “to turn cat in the pan,” when one imputes to his interlocutor, as though brought forth by him, the very words which he himself utters before another. And, to tell the truth, when such words have been bandied between two, it is difficult to prove and verify from which of the two they first began.

15. Est artificium in usu ut quis in alios spicula quaedam oblique torqueat iustificando seipsum per negativas, utpote dicendo hoc ego non facio, ut Tigillinus fecit Burrhum sugillando, se non diversas spes, sed incolumitatem imperatoris simpliciter spectare.
16. Nonnulli in promptu habent tot narrationes et historiolas ut nihil sit quod insinuare cupiunt, quin id historiola aliqua involvere possent. Unde et se magis in tuto continent, quasi nihil diserte affirmantes, et rem ipsam maiore cum voluptate spargi efficiunt.

15. There is an artifice in use whereby someone may twist certain little darts against others obliquely by justifying himself through negatives, as, for instance, by saying, “this I do not do,” as Tigellinus did in disparaging Burrus, saying that he does not regard diverse hopes, but simply the safety of the emperor.
16. Some have at the ready so many narrations and little histories that there is nothing which they wish to insinuate that they could not wrap in some little history. Whence they both keep themselves more in safety, as if affirming nothing expressly, and they bring it about that the matter itself be spread with greater pleasure.

17. Bonum est astutiae genus ut quis responsum quod obtinere cupit conceptis verbis proponat. Etenim alteram partem minus haerere facit.
18. Mirum est cernere quamdiu nonnulli occasionem captent dicendi illlud quod proferre cupiunt, et quanto circuitu uti sustineant, et quot alia attingere ut quo volunt perveniant.

17. It is a good kind of astuteness that one set forth the answer which he wishes to obtain in conceived words. For it makes the other party stick less.
18. It is a marvel to see how long some lie in wait for an occasion of saying that which they desire to bring forth, and with how great a circuit they can endure to make use, and how many other things they touch upon, that they may arrive where they wish.

Res certe hac magnae patientiae, sed multi usus.
19. Improvisa et audax quaestio aliquando hominem deprehendit et detegit. Simile quiddam evenit cuidam qui nomen mutaverat, et in templo divi Pauli obambulans fuit ab alio per nomen suum verum a tergo compellatus, ad quod statim retrospexit.

This matter surely requires great patience, but has many uses.
19. An unexpected and audacious question sometimes apprehends a man and uncovers him. Something similar befell a certain person who had changed his name, and, walking about in the temple of Saint Paul, he was from behind addressed by another by his true name, at which he immediately looked back.

Verum merces hae pusillae et astutiae minores sunt infinitae. Neque male factum esset, si quis earum conficeret uberiorem catalogum, quoniam nihil rebus obest magis quam quod astuti recipiantur pro prudentibus.
20. Illud pro certo habendum, nonnullos negotiorum periodos et pausas nosse, qui in ipsorum viscera et interiora penetrare nequeunt, ut reperiuntur aedes nonnullae quae gradus nactae sunt commodos et anticameras, sed absque cubiculo aliquo pulchriore.

But these rewards are small, and the lesser stratagems are infinite. Nor would it have been ill done, if someone were to compile a more abundant catalog of them, since nothing harms affairs more than that the crafty are received as prudent.
20. This must be held for certain: some know the periods and pauses of business who cannot penetrate into its very bowels and interiors, just as there are found certain houses which have convenient stairs and antechambers, but are without any fairer bedchamber.

Itaque tales videbis in conclusionibus deliberationum commodos quosdam exitus reperire, ad rem vero examinandam et disceptandam nullo modo sufficere. Attamen saepenumero ex hac re existimationem quandam aucupantur, veluti ingenia quae ad decernendum potius quam disputandum sint aptiora. Sunt qui magis innituntur dolis quos aliis struunt, quam consiliis solidis et sanis.

Therefore you will see such men, in the conclusions of deliberations, find certain convenient exits, but by no means are they sufficient for examining and disputing the matter. Yet very often from this they hunt for a certain reputation, as if they were talents more apt for decreeing than for disputing. There are those who rely more on the tricks they lay for others than on solid and sound counsels.

Sed Salomon ait prudens advertit ad gressus suos, stultus divertit ad dolos.

But Solomon says the prudent adverts to his steps, the fool diverts to deceits.

XXIII. DE PRUDENTIA QUAE SIBI SAPIT

23. ON PRUDENCE THAT IS WISE IN ITS OWN EYES

1. Formica animalculum sibi sapiens, sed in horto nocivum. Et sane fit ut qui sui nimium amantes sint reipublicae laedant. Partire itaque moderate inter amorem tui ipsius et amorem reipublicae, atque ita tibi sis proximus ut in alios non sis iniurius, praesertem in regem tuum aut patriam.

1. The ant, an animalcule sapient for itself, but noxious in the garden. And indeed it comes to pass that those who are overmuch lovers of themselves injure the republic. Apportion, therefore, moderately between the love of yourself and the love of the republic, and thus be nearest to yourself so that you are not injurious toward others, especially against your king or your fatherland.

Centrum plane ignobile est actionum hominis cuiuspiam commodum proprium. Recte terrestrem naturam sapit. Terra enim suo stat fixa centro, ubi quae affinia coelestibus sunt omnia moventur super centrum alterius, cui benefaciunt.

The private advantage of any man, as the center of his actions, is plainly ignoble. It rightly savors of a terrestrial nature. For the earth stands fixed at its own center, whereas all things that have affinity with the celestial are moved about the center of another, whom they benefit.

Ad se omnia referre tolerabilius est in viris principibus, quia ipsi intra personam suam non consistunt, sed publico periculo et fortuna degunt. Verum in servo principis aut cive reipublicae res est perniciosissima. Etenim negotia publica universa, quae ab id genus homine expediuntur, ad fines proprios flectitur.

To refer all things to oneself is more tolerable in princes, because they themselves do not stand within their own person, but live in public peril and fortune. But in a servant of a prince or a citizen of the commonwealth the matter is most pernicious. For indeed all public business in its entirety, which is expedited by a man of that sort, is bent toward his own ends.

Quos necesse est eccentricos saepe esse ad fines domini sive status sui. Eligant itaque principes et status ministros et servos qui hac nota non maculantur, nisi velint res suas accessorii tantum loco esse. Imo quod hunc effectum reddit magis exitiosum, illud est, quod amittitur plane rerum analogia.

Those who must needs be often eccentric to the ends of their master or of their state. Therefore let princes and states choose ministers and servants who are not stained with this mark, unless they wish their affairs to be only in the place of an accessory. Nay rather, what makes this effect more ruinous is this: that the analogy of things is plainly lost.

Satis enim iniquum est si bonum servi praeferatur bono domini. Sed adhuc longe iniquius est, cum exiguum bonum servum antefertur magno bono domini. Veruntamen id saepius factum est per officiarios pravos, veluti thesaurarios, legatos, duces, et alios servos aut ministros infideles et improbos, qui globulo suo pondus addunt finium suorum minutorum, quod eum in transversum inclinet utilitatis domini sui in rebus gravioribus et magni momenti.

For it is quite iniquitous if the good of the servant is preferred to the good of the master. But far more iniquitous still is it, when the exiguous good of a servant is put before the great good of the master. Nevertheless, this has more often been done by depraved officiaries, such as treasurers, legates, dukes, and other unfaithful and wicked servants or ministers, who, with their own little pellet, add weight to their minute ends, thereby tipping the balance sideways against their master’s utility in matters graver and of great moment.

Et plerunque commodum quod eiusmodi servi ad se attrahunt est pro modulo fortunae propriae, at detrimentum quocum permutent commodum illud est pro modulo fortunae domini sui. Siquidem philautorum istiusmodi ingenium patitur, ut non morentur domum proximi incendere pro re nihilo maiore quam ad assanda ova sua. Veruntamen huiusmodi ministri haud raro apud viros potentes gratia pollent, quia illis iucunda procurant, sibi utilia, atque utriusvis rei causa fortunam domini sui prodent.

And for the most part the commodity which servants of such a kind draw to themselves is by the measure of their own fortune; but the detriment for which they barter that advantage is by the measure of their master’s fortune. For indeed the disposition of self-lovers of this sort allows that they do not hesitate to set a neighbor’s house on fire for a matter no greater than the roasting of their eggs. Nevertheless, ministers of this kind not seldom wield favor with powerful men, because for them they procure pleasant things, useful to themselves, and for the sake of either consideration they will betray their master’s fortune.

2. Prudentia quae sibi uni sapit in plurimis eius ramis res sane depravata. Assimilanda sapientiae soricum, qui domum aliquam pro certo deserent paulo ante ruinam; sapientiae vulpis, quae taxonem e domo expellit quam sibi defodit, non illi; sapiantiae crocodili, qui lachrymas emittit, cum devorare cupit. Verum illud imprimis observationem meretur, quod huiusmodi homines qui (ut Cicero loquitur de Pompeio) sui sunt amantes sine rivale.

2. Prudence that is wise to itself alone is, in very many of its branches, a truly depraved affair. It is to be assimilated to the wisdom of shrews, who will for certain desert some house a little before its ruin; to the wisdom of the fox, which expels the badger from the house which he digs for himself, not for him; to the wisdom of the crocodile, which emits tears when it desires to devour. But this above all merits observation: that men of this sort are (as Cicero speaks about Pompey) lovers of themselves without a rival.

Saepenumero infortunati sunt: cumque sibi per totam vitam sacrificaverint, in exitu sacrificant inconstantiae fortunae, cuius alas sperabant se pulchre illa sapientia sua praescidisse.

Oftentimes they are unfortunate: and though they have sacrificed to themselves through their whole life, in the end they sacrifice to the inconstancy of Fortune, whose wings they had hoped they had neatly clipped by that wisdom of theirs.

XXIV. DE INNOVATIONIBUS

24. ON INNOVATIONS

1. Sicut partus recens editi informes sunt, sic videre est in novis institutis, quae sunt partus temporis. Veruntamen, ut qui in familiam suam honores primi introducunt, posteris suis plerunque dignitate praelucent, ita rerum exemplaria et primordia (quando feliciter iacta sunt) imitationem aetatis sequentis, ut plurimum, superant. Malum enim in natura humana naturali motu fertur, qui processu invalescit.

1. Just as births newly delivered are unformed, so it is to be seen in new institutions, which are the births of time. Nevertheless, as those who first introduce honors into their family generally outshine their descendants in dignity, so the exemplars and primordia of things (when happily cast) for the most part surpass the imitation of the subsequent age. For evil in human nature is borne along by a natural motion, which with progress grows strong.

At bonum, ut fieri amat in violentis motibus, in primo impetu fortissimum. Certe omnis medicina innovatio est, et qui nova remedia accipere nolit, nova mala expectet. Novator enim maximus omnium tempus.

But good, as it is wont to occur in violent motions, is strongest in the first onset. Surely all medicine is innovation, and whoever is unwilling to accept new remedies should expect new evils. For the greatest innovator of all is time.

Quod si tempus decurso solo res in peius ferat, prudentia vero et industria eas in melius restituere non contendant, quis tandem erit finis mali? Hoc concedi prorsus debet, quod consuetudine firmatum est, etsi minus sit modum, aptum esse tamen temporibus, quaeque uno quasi alveo fluxerunt, foedere quodam coniuncta esse, ubi contra nova veteribus non usquequaque tam concinne coheaereant. Etsi enim utilitate iuvent, novitate tamen et inconformitate turbant.

But if time, its course run alone, should carry things to the worse, and prudence and industry do not strive to restore them to the better, what, then, will be the end of the evil? This must altogether be conceded: what has been confirmed by custom, though it be less according to the mode, is nevertheless apt to the times; and the things which have flowed, as it were, in a single channel are joined by a certain covenant, whereas, on the contrary, new things do not everywhere so neatly cohere with the old. For although they help by their utility, yet by their novelty and inconformity they disturb.

Sunt certe novitates tanquam advenae aut peregrini, quos admiratione plus, minus benevolentia prosequimur. Recte quidem in haec omnia, si tempus quiesceret. Hoc tamen indefesse in orbem agitatur.

Novelties are surely like newcomers or peregrines, whom we attend with more admiration, with less benevolence. We should indeed be right in all these matters, if time were at rest. Yet this, however, is tirelessly driven in a circle.

Inde fit ut importuna et morosa moris retentio res turbulenta sit, aeque ac novitas, et qui vetera superstitiose nimis reverentur cedant in praesentis seculi ludibrium. Prudenter igitur facient homines si in innovationibus suis a tempore exemplum petant. Tempus enim innovat vel maxime, sed tacite, pedetentim, ac sine sensu.

Hence it comes about that an inopportune and fastidious retention of custom is a turbulent affair, equally as novelty, and that those who revere the old too superstitiously are given over to the mockery of the present age. Men will therefore act prudently if, in their innovations, they seek an example from Time. For Time innovates most of all, but tacitly, step by step, and without perception.

Illud enim pro certo habeas, quod novum est praeter spem et expectationem accedere, et huic adiicere aliquid, illi eripere. At cui incremento est novitas, ille fortunae gratias habet et tempori, cui vero nocumento, is novitatis auctorem iniuriarum postulat. Expedit praeterea experimentis novis in corporibus politicis medentis non uti, nisi urgens incumbat necessitas aut evidens se ostendat utilitas, et sedulo cavere ut reformationis studium mutationem inducat, non autem studium mutationis reformationem praetexat.

For you may hold this for certain: that the new comes beyond hope and expectation, and adds something to this man, while it snatches something from that. But he for whom novelty is an increment gives thanks to fortune and to time; whereas he to whom it is a detriment demands the author of the novelty for injuries. It is expedient moreover not to use, in healing political bodies, new experiments, unless pressing necessity bear down or evident utility show itself; and to take diligent care that zeal for reformation induce change, and not that zeal for change pretext reformation.

Quinetiam omnis novitas, quam reiicere fortasse non datur, pro suspecta tamen habere debet. Denique, ex Scripturae monito, stemus super vias antiquas, atque circumspiciamus quae sit via bona et recta, et ambulemus in ea.

Moreover, every novelty, which perhaps it is not given to reject, ought nevertheless to be held as suspect. Finally, from the admonition of Scripture, let us stand upon the ancient ways, and let us look around for which is the good and straight way, and let us walk in it.

XXV. DE EXPEDIENDIS NEGOTIIS

25. ON EXPEDITING BUSINESS

1. Celeritas nimia et affectata negotia, ut plurimum, perdit. Similis est illi rei quam medici praedigestionem sive praeproperam digestionem vocant, quae corpus implere solet humoribus crudis et secretis seminibus morborum. Itaque negotiorum expeditionem ne metiaris per tempora consulendi, sed per negotii ipsius progressum.

1. Excessive and affected speed, for the most part, ruins affairs. It is similar to that thing which physicians call predigestion or over‑hasty digestion, which is wont to fill the body with crude humors and with hidden seeds of diseases. Therefore do not measure the expedition of affairs by the times of consulting, but by the progress of the business itself.

Et quemadmodum in cursu minime in passus granditate aut pedum elevatione altiore celeritas constit, sed in motu eorundem humiliore et aequabili, ita in negotiis mordicus rei inhaerere, neque partem negotii nimiam pro una vice una amplecti, celeritatem in conficiendo procurat. Curae est nonnullis illud tantum, ut brevi tempore multum confecisse videantur, aut ut periodos aliquas negotiorum falsas constringant, quo acres in negotiis existimentur. Verum aliud est tempori parcere negotium contrahendo, aliud intercedendo.

And just as in running speed does not at all consist in the greatness of the strides or the higher elevation of the feet, but in the lower and more even motion of the same, so in business, to cling tooth-and-nail to the matter, and not to embrace too large a portion of the business at one time in a single go, promotes speed in accomplishing it. It is the concern of some only this: that they may seem to have completed much in a short time, or that they may constrict certain spurious “periods” of business, whereby they may be thought keen in affairs. But it is one thing to spare time by contracting the business, another by interceding.

Negotia autem in eum modum tractata crebris nimirum congressibus plerunque sursum deorsum feruntur magna inconstantia. Novimus virum prudentem cui semper in ore erat cum festinationem nimiam videret manete paulisper ut expediamus celerius.
2. Ex altera parte vera celeritas in expediendis negotiois res est pretiosa.

But affairs handled in that manner, namely by frequent conferences, are for the most part carried up and down with great inconstancy. We have known a prudent man who always had on his lips, whenever he saw excessive hastening, “wait a little, that we may expedite it more quickly.”
2. On the other side, true celerity in expediting affairs is a precious thing.

Tempus siquidem negotiorum, sicuti pecunia mercium, est mensura. Emitur igitur negotium magno, ubi nimia est protractio. Spartani et Hispani tarditatis notati sunt: mi venga la muerte de Spagna, veniet mors mea ab Hispania.

For indeed the time of business, just as money is of merchandise, is a measure. Therefore business is bought at a high price when there is excessive protraction. The Spartans and the Spaniards are noted for tardiness: “let death come to me from Spain; my death will come from Spain.”

Tum, scio, cunctanter veniet.
3. Aurem illis praebe facilem quibus primae in informatione negotii partes demandatae sunt, et potius viam illis monstres ab initio quam postea in orationis filo crebrius interrumpas. Qui enim in ordine quem sibi praestituit perturbatur, subsultabit, et prolixior fiet dum memoriam suam recolliget.

Then, I know, he will come hesitantly.
3. Lend an easy ear to those to whom the first parts in the information of the business have been entrusted, and rather show them the way from the beginning than later interrupt more frequently in the thread of the speech. For he who is disturbed in the order which he has prescribed for himself will stumble, and will become more prolix while he recollects his memory.

Quam alias futurus fuisset, si sua methodo perrexisset. Sed interdum videre est moderatorem molestum esse magis quam oratorem.
4. Repetitiones plerunque cum temporis iactura fiunt.

How otherwise he would have been, if he had proceeded by his own method. But sometimes one may see that the moderator is more troublesome than the orator.
4. Repetitions are for the most part made with a loss of time.

Attamen statum quaestionis saepe repetere lucrum est temporis vel maximum. Etenim complures sermones prorsus abs re in ipso partu abigit. Orationes prolixae et curiosae aeque expeditioni negotiorum conveniunt ac toga praeloga, terram verrens, cursui.

Nevertheless, to repeat the status of the question often is a gain of time, or even the greatest; for it drives off at the very birth many discourses utterly off the matter. Prolix and over-curious orations suit the expedition of business just as much as a very long toga, sweeping the ground, suits running.

Praefatiunculae, transitiones bellae, et excusationes, atque alia verba quae ad personam loquentis referuntur, tempus haud parvum devastant. Et licet a modestia emanare videantur, sunt tamen gloriolae captatrices. Sed cave ne in rem ipsam ab initio descendas, cum in hominum voluntatibus impedimentum aliquod reperiatur aut obstructio.

Little prefaces, pretty transitions, and excuses, and other words that are referred to the persona of the speaker, devastate no small amount of time. And although they may seem to emanate from modesty, they are nevertheless contrivances for catching a bit of glory. But beware of descending into the very matter from the outset, when in men’s goodwill some hindrance or obstruction is found.

Etenim animorum praeoccupatio sermonum semper postulat praefationes, instar fomentationis ante unguentum, quo unguentum mollius subintret.
5. Ante omnia, ordo, et distributio, et partium apta extractio, celeritatis tanquam vita est, ita tamen ut distributio non sit nimium subtilis. Nam qui partitione non utetur, in negotia nunquam commode ingredietur.

For the preoccupation of minds for discourses always demands prefaces, like a fomentation before the unguent, so that the unguent may enter more softly.
5. Before all things, order, and distribution, and an apt extraction of the parts, is as it were the life of celerity, yet in such a way that the distribution be not too subtle. For he who will not use partition will never enter upon business conveniently.

Qui autem nimia utetur, vix emerget. Tempora prudenter deligere, tempus plurimum lucratur. Atque intempestiva propositio nil aliud quam aerem verberare et tempore abuti.

But he who will use too much will scarcely emerge. To choose the times prudently gains the greatest profit of time. And an untimely proposition is nothing else than to beat the air and to abuse time.

Tres sunt negotiorum partes, praeparatio, consultatio sive examinatio, et perfectio. Harum (si expeditioni consulere in animo est) media sit opus multorum, prima autem et ultima paucorum. Procedendi in negotiis initium sumere ab iis qui scripto comprehensa sunt plerunque expeditionem promovet.

There are three parts of business: preparation, consultation or examination, and perfection. Of these (if one intends to consult for expedition) the middle should be the work of many, but the first and the last of few. To take the beginning of proceeding in business from those matters which are comprehended in writing for the most part promotes expedition.

Licet enim contigerit ea in totum reiici, nihilominus negativa illa plus valebit ad consilia educenda quam indefinita, quemadmodum cinis magis generativus quam pulvis.

For even if it should happen that those be rejected altogether, nevertheless those negatives will have more worth for educing counsels than the indefinites, just as ash is more generative than dust.

XXVI. DE PRUDENTIA APPARENTE

26. ON APPARENT PRUDENCE

1. Recepta est opinio Gallos prudentiores esse quam videntur, Hispanos autem prudentiores videri quam sunt. Sed utcunque se res habeat inter gentes, certum est hoc usu venire inter personas singulares. Sicut enim loquitur apostolus de pietate, speciem pietates habentes, sed virtutem eius negantes, ita certe inveniuntur nonnulli qui nugantur solenniter, cum prudentes minime sunt: magno conatu nugas.

1. A received opinion is that the French are more prudent than they appear, but that the Spaniards appear more prudent than they are. But however the matter stands among nations, it is certain that this comes to pass in experience among individual persons. For as the Apostle speaks about piety, having the appearance of piety, but denying its power, so certainly there are some found who trifle solemnly, when they are in no way prudent: with great effort, trifles.

Res est profecto prudentibus ridicula et satyra digna affectores istos videre, in quot formas se vertant et quali utantur arte quasi prospectiva, qua superficies appareat corpus quod profunditatem aut dimensionem solidi habeat. Alii tam secreti sunt, et in se declarando parci, ut merces suas nisi sub obscura luce ostendere nolit, et videri volunt plus significare quam loqui. Cumque sibi ipsis conscii sint se de iis rebus loqui quas non bene norunt, cupiunt nihilominus videri se illa nosse quae non possunt tuto loqui.

It is indeed to the prudent a ridiculous thing and worthy of satire to see those affecters, into how many forms they turn themselves and what sort of quasi-perspective art they use, whereby a surface may appear a body that has depth or the dimension of a solid. Others are so secret, and sparing in declaring themselves, that they do not wish to show their wares except under a dim light, and they want to seem to signify more than they speak. And although they are conscious to themselves that they speak about those matters which they do not know well, nevertheless they desire to seem to know those things which they cannot safely speak.

Alii vultu et gestu verbis suffragantur, et veluti per signa sapiunt. Ut Cicero ait de Pisone, respondes, altero ad frontem sublato, altero ad mentum depresso supercilio, crudelitatem tibi non placere. Alii se valere putant, si grande quiddam loquantur, idque stilo peremptorio.

Others back up their words with countenance and gesture, and as if by signs they show wisdom. As Cicero says about Piso: you reply, with one eyebrow raised toward the forehead, the other pressed down toward the chin, that cruelty does not please you. Others think they prevail if they speak something grand—and that in a peremptory style.

Itaque nihil morantur, et pro admissis accipiunt quae probare non possunt. Sunt qui quicquid sub captum eorum non cadit spernere aut parvi pendere prae se ferunt, quanquam impertinens et curiosum, sicque inscitiam suam pro iudicio limato obtendunt. Alii distinctionem aliquam semper in promptu habent, et plerunque hominum ingenia subtilitate perstringendo rem praetervehuntur.

Therefore they make no delay, and they take as admitted what they cannot prove. There are those who parade that they spurn or set little store by whatever does not fall under their grasp, although it is impertinent and curious (prying), and thus they put forward their own ignorance in place of a polished judgment. Others always have some distinction at the ready, and for the most part, by striking people’s wits with subtlety, they sail past the matter.

De quo genere loquitur Aulus Gellius, hominem delirum, qui verborum minutiis rerum frangit pondera. Ad quod exemplum Plato in Protagora per ironiam introducit Prodicum sermonem integrum contexentem ex distinctionibus a principio usque ad finem. Generaliter istiusmodi homines in consultationibus negativae libenter se applicant, et existimationem quandam aucupantur ex scrupulis et difficultatibus proponendis et praedicendis.

Of which kind Aulus Gellius speaks: a delirious man who with the minutiae of words shatters the weights of things. To which example Plato in the Protagoras, by irony, introduces Prodicus weaving an entire discourse out of distinctions from beginning to end. Generally, men of this sort in consultations gladly apply themselves to the negative, and they angle for a certain estimation by proposing and foretelling scruples and difficulties.

Etenim cum id quod proponitur penitus reiicitur, nil ultra restat agendum. Sin probatur, nova indiget opera. Quod prudentiae genus spurium negotia prorsus perdit.

For indeed, when that which is proposed is utterly rejected, nothing further remains to be done. But if it is approved, it requires new work. This spurious kind of prudence utterly ruins affairs.

Ut verbo dicamus, nec mercator aliquis obaeratus, nec decoctor rei familiaris occultus tot artificiis se muniet ad divitias simulandas, quot homines isti, vera prudentia destitui, utuntur ad prudentiae suae opinionem tuendam. Certe homines hac prudentia praediti opinionem vulgi facile aucupari possunt. Sed ad negotia gravia tractanda nemo talium delectum faciat.

To say it in a word, neither some debt-laden merchant nor a covert bankrupt of his household estate will fortify himself with so many artifices for simulating riches, as these men, bereft of true prudence, employ for maintaining the opinion of their prudence. Surely men endowed with this sort of prudence can easily snare the opinion of the crowd. But for handling serious affairs, let no one make choice of such men.

Etenim ad negotia promovenda satius proculdubio fuerit virum eligere paulo absurdiorum quam huiusmodi formalistam fastidiosum.

For indeed, for promoting business, it would without doubt be better to choose a man somewhat more absurd than a fastidious formalist of this kind.

XXVII. DE AMICITIA

27. ON FRIENDSHIP

1. Res sane difficilis esset, etiam illi qui dixerit, plus veri ac falsi, idque compendio miscuisse, quam illo scito quicqunque solitudine delectatur aut fera aut deus est. Negari enim non potest quod insitum et latens odium seu fastidium societatis, si in aliquo deprehendatur, sapiat nescio quid belluinum. Illud tamen e converso, quod aliquam divinae naturae speciem prae se ferat, falsissimum est, nisi huiusmodi vita solitaria minime ab amore ipsius solitudinis proveniat, sed a studio secedendi ut altioribus contemplationibus quis vacet, id quod in nonnullis ethnicorum reperitur, sed affectatum et fictum, ut in Epimenide Cretense, Numa Romana, Empedocle Siculo, et Apollonio Tyaneo.

1. A matter truly difficult it would be, even for whoever should say so, to have mixed more of the true and the false—and that in a compendium—than in that dictum: whoever delights in solitude is either a wild beast or a god. For it cannot be denied that an inborn and latent hatred or fastidiousness of society, if it be caught in anyone, savors of I-know-not-what bestial thing. Yet that, conversely, which wears on its face some appearance of a divine nature, is most false, unless such a solitary life by no means proceeds from love of solitude itself, but from a zeal for withdrawing so that one may be free for higher contemplations—a thing which is found among some of the pagans, though affected and feigned, as in Epimenides the Cretan, Numa the Roman, Empedocles the Sicilian, and Apollonius of Tyana.

Sincerum tamen et verum in plurimis eremitarum antiquorum et in sanctis patribus ecclesiae. Interea vero parum perspiciunt homines quod hoc sit quod solitudo nominatur, et quibus finibus circumscribitur. Turba enim non est societas dicenda, et facies hominum nihilo plus sunt quam in porticibus picturae.

Yet it is sincere and true in very many of the ancient hermits and in the holy fathers of the Church. Meanwhile, however, men perceive too little what this is that is called solitude, and within what boundaries it is circumscribed. For a throng is not to be called society, and the faces of men are nothing more than paintings in porticoes.

Colloquia vero absque dilectione cymbalo non praestant tinnienti. Hoc innuit id quod Latino iactatum proverbio, magna civitas, magna solitudo. In magnis enim urbibus amici et necessarii remotius disperguntur, adeo ut minus plerunque familiariter et in consortio vivatur quam in viciniis angustioribus.

Colloquies, indeed, without dilection are no better than a tinkling cymbal. This hints at what is bandied about in the Latin proverb: “great city, great solitude.” For in great cities friends and intimates are dispersed more remotely, to such a degree that, for the most part, one lives less familiarly and in fellowship than in narrower neighborhoods.

Quin et ulterius progredi licet, atque verissime asserere meram et miseram esse solitudinem ubi desunt amici veri, sine quibus mundus nihl aliud quam eremus est. Quo etiam sensu si solitudinem accipias, quicunque natura et genio suo ab amicitiis abhorret, huiusmodi affectum a bruto magis quam ab homine mutuatur.
2. Maxime amicitae fructus est levamen et evaporatio anxietatis et tumorum cordis, quos animae perturbationes cuiuscunque generis imprimere solent.

Nay, one may even go further, and most truly assert that solitude is mere and miserable where true friends are lacking, without whom the world is nothing else than a desert. In this sense also, if you take solitude thus, whoever by his nature and his genius abhors friendships borrows such an affection more from a brute than from a man.
2. Chiefly the fruit of friendship is the alleviation and evaporation of anxiety and of the tumors (swellings) of the heart, which the perturbations of the soul of whatever kind are wont to imprint.

Novimus morbos illos in corpore esse maxime periculosos qui ex obstructionibus et suffocationibus nascuntur. Neque multo secus se res habet in aegritudinibus animae. Sarsam adhibere possis ad iecorus, chalybem praeparatum ad lienis, flores sulphuris ad pulmonem, castoreum ad cerebri oppilationes deobstruendas.

We know those diseases in the body to be most perilous which arise from obstructions and suffocations. Nor is the case much otherwise in the sicknesses of the soul. You can apply sarsa to the liver, prepared steel to the spleen, flowers of sulphur to the lung, castoreum to deobstruct the brain’s opilations.

Nulla autem invenitur medicina apertiva ad obstructiones cordis praeter amicum fidelem, cui impertire possis dolores, gaudia, metus, spes, suspiciones, curas, consilia, et quicquid denique cor opprimat, tanquam sub sigillo confessionis civilis.
3. Res est profecto mirabilis si quis secum reputet quam magni principes summi et monarchae istum amicitiae fructum (de quo loquimur) aestiment. Tanti sane, ut eundem et incolumitatis suae et amplitudinis periculo interdum coemant.

No apertive medicine at all is found for the obstructions of the heart except a faithful friend, to whom you may impart pains, joys, fears, hopes, suspicions, cares, counsels, and, finally, whatever oppresses the heart, as if under the seal of civil confession.
3. It is indeed a marvelous thing, if anyone consider with himself how greatly the highest princes and monarchs esteem that fruit of friendship (of which we speak). So greatly, assuredly, that they sometimes purchase the same at the peril of their own safety and their greatness.

Principes enim, propter distantiam et sublimitatem fortunarum suarum a fortunis servorum et subditorum suorum, fructum hunc decerpere nequeunt, nisi forte (quo eum melius colligant) aliquos evehant et promoveant qui sint sibi tanquam socii et aequales, id quod saepenumero non sine praeiudicio fit. Linguae modernae istiusmodo personas nomine gratiosorum vel amicorum regis insigniunt, ac si res esset favoris et conversationis. At vocabulum Romanum eius rei rectius exprimit verum usum atque caussam, illos nominans participes curarum.

For princes, by reason of the distance and sublimity of their fortunes from the fortunes of their servants and subjects, cannot pluck this fruit, unless perhaps (that they may gather it the better) they raise and promote some who may be to them as companions and equals—a thing which very often is done not without prejudice. The modern languages designate persons of this sort by the name of “favorites” or “friends of the king,” as if the matter were one of favor and conversation. But the Roman vocable for this more rightly expresses the true use and cause, calling them partners in cares.

Hoc enum illud est quod verum ligamen praestat. Atque hoc fecisse manifesto videmus non tantum principes delicatos et imbecillis animi, sed etiam prudentisisimos et maxime politicos ex iis qui regnarunt, qui saepe sibi adiunxerunt aliquos ex servis suis quos et ipsi amicos suos vocarunt et aliis eodem illos nomine insignire permiserunt, non alio utentes vocabulo quam quod inter homines privatae fortunae receptum est.
4. L. Sylla postquam Romanum imperium occupasset Pompeium (postea cognominatum Magnum) ad eam potentiam evexit, ut Pompeius superiorum iam Sylla factum se venditaret.

For this is that which furnishes the true ligament. And we plainly see that this has been done not only by delicate princes and of an imbecile spirit, but even by the most prudent and most politic among those who have reigned, who often adjoined to themselves some from their servants, whom they themselves called their friends and allowed others to insigne them with the same name, using no other vocable than that which is received among men of private fortune.
4. L. Sulla, after he had seized the Roman imperium, raised Pompey (afterwards surnamed the Great) to such power that Pompey already vaunted himself, as made by Sulla, above his superiors.

Cum enim amicum quendam suum consulem fecisset contra ambitum Syllae, atque Sylla in malam partem hoc accepisset et verba indignationis nonnulla protulisset, Pompeius id minime tulit, sed fere disertis verbis eum quiescere iussit, addendo plures adorare solem orientem quam occidentem. Apud Iulium Caesarem Decimus Brutus tanta gratia valuit ut eum Caesar Octavio suo nepoti haeredem substituerit. Atque hic ille fuit qui Caesarem ad mortem suam pertraxit.

For when he had made a certain friend of his consul against Sulla’s canvassing, and Sulla had taken this in a bad sense and had uttered some words of indignation, Pompey by no means bore it, but almost in express words ordered him to be quiet, adding that more people adore the rising sun than the setting. With Julius Caesar, Decimus Brutus prevailed with such favor that Caesar appointed him heir in substitution to his nephew Octavius. And this was the man who drew Caesar on to his own death.

Cum enim Caesar senatum dimittere in animo habuisset propter mala quaedam praesagia (pracipue somnium quoddam uxoris suae Calpurniae), Brutus eum molliter a cathedra, arrepto brachio eius, levans dixit sperare se eum senatum non tam parvi habiturum ut dimittere illum vellet donec uxor somnium melius somniasset. Et videtur sane tanto favore apud Caesarum polluisse ut Antonius in epistola quadam, quae a Cicerone in una ex Philippicis verbatim recitatur, eum veneficum appellaret, acsi Caesarem incantasset. Augustus Agrippam, ignobilem licet natalibus, ad tantam celsitudinem promovit ut quando cum Mecaenate deliberaret nuptiis filiae suae Iuliae, Mecaenus eum libere monuisset Agrippam aut in generum assumendum aut interficiendum.

For when Caesar had had in mind to dismiss the senate because of certain evil presages (especially a certain dream of his wife Calpurnia), Brutus, gently lifting him from his chair, having seized his arm, said that he hoped he would not hold the senate of so little account as to wish to dismiss it until his wife had dreamed a better dream. And indeed he seems to have prevailed with such favor with Caesar that Antony, in a certain letter which is recited verbatim by Cicero in one of the Philippics, called him a sorcerer, as if he had enchanted Caesar. Augustus promoted Agrippa, though ignoble by birth, to such a height that when he was deliberating with Maecenas about the nuptials of his daughter Julia, Maecenas freely advised him that Agrippa was either to be taken as a son-in-law or to be put to death.

Nihil esse tertium, quandoque eum ad tantum fastigium perdixisset. Tiberius Caesar Seianum tantis honoribus auxit ut ii duo haberentur tanquam par amicorum. Certe Tiberius in epistola quadam ad eium ita scribit, haec pro amicitia nostra non occultavi.

Nihil esse tertium, that there should be nothing third, once he had brought him to such a pinnacle. Tiberius Caesar advanced Sejanus with such honors that those two were regarded as a matched pair of friends. Surely Tiberius, in a certain epistle to him, writes thus: “these things, for the sake of our friendship, I have not concealed.”

Atque universus senatus aram Amicitiae tanquam deae dedicavit propter arctam inter eos amicitiam. Similis aut etiam illa maioris amicitiae exemplum cernitur inter Septimium Severum et Plantianum. Etenim filium suum natu maiorem filiam Plantani in uxorem ducere coegit, ac Plantanum saepe, etiam cum contumelia filii sui, honoravit.

And the whole senate dedicated an Altar of Friendship, as to a goddess, on account of the close friendship between them. A similar, or even a greater, example of friendship is seen between Septimius Severus and Plantianus. For he compelled his elder-born son to take the daughter of Plantanus in marriage, and he often honored Plantanus, even to the contumely of his own son.

Quin et scripsit ad senatum hisce verbis, ita diligo virum ut cupiam eum mihi superstitem fore. Quod si hi principes Traiano alicui aut Marco Aurelio similes fuissent, immensae naturae eorum bonitati hoc attribui posset. Cum vero viri tam prudentes extiterint, tantoque robore et severitate animi praediti, tamquam impensi amatores sui, liquido probatur eos felicitatem suam (licet vix maior mortalibus ullis obtigerit) veluti mutilam dixisse, nis per hasce amicitas facta fuisset integra et perfecta.

Nay, he even wrote to the senate in these very words: I so cherish the man that I desire he should be my survivor. But if these princes had been similar to a Trajan or to Marcus Aurelius, this could be attributed to the benignity of their immense nature. Since, however, they proved to be men so prudent, and endowed with such vigor and severity of mind—so to speak, devoted lovers of themselves—it is clearly shown that they declared their own felicity (though scarcely has a greater befallen any mortals) as if maimed, unless through these friendships it had been made entire and perfect.

Atque, quod maius est, affuerunt his principibus uxores, filii, nepotes, neque tamen haec omnia amicitiae solatia supplere valuerunt.
5. Minime oblivioni mandandum quod Commineus notatum reliquit de domini suo priore duce Carolo, cognominato Strenuo: eum secreta sua cum nemine communicare voluisse, minime omnium ea quae eum prae caeteris angebant. Et ulterius ait eam animi obtractionem posteribus vitae annis intellectum ipsius nonnihil debitilasse et vitiasse.

And, what is more, these princes had wives, sons, grandsons present, yet not even all these consolations were able to supply the solace of friendship.
5. By no means should it be consigned to oblivion what Commines left noted about his former lord, Duke Charles, surnamed the Strenuous: that he wished to share his secrets with no one—least of all those matters which, above the rest, afflicted him. And further he says that that drawing-back of spirit, in the later years of his life, somewhat enfeebled and vitiated his understanding.

Potuisset certe Commineus, si voluisset, simile iudicium facere de domino suo posteriore Ludovico Undecimo, cui occultatio consiliorum pro tormento fuit. Tessera Pythagorae obscura sed optima, cor ne edito. Certe si quis durum huic rei nomen imponeret, qui amicis destituuntur quibus cogitationes suas et anxietates libere impertiant sunt cordium suorum anthropophagi.

Certainly Commineus could, if he had wished, have made a similar judgment about his later master Louis XI., for whom the occultation of counsels was a torment. The Pythagorean tessera, obscure yet best: “do not eat your heart.” Surely, if someone were to fasten a harsh name upon this matter, those who are destitute of friends to whom they may freely impart their thoughts and anxieties are anthropophagi of their own hearts.

At illud plane ad miraculum proxime accedit (quocum claudam hunc de primo amicitiae fructu sermonem), nimirum istam cum amicis communicationem contrarios duos effectus producere. Gaudia enim conduplicat, moerores dimidiat. Nemo siquidem laeta cum amico impertit quin laetatur amplius.

But this plainly comes very near to a miracle (with which I shall close this discourse on the first fruit of friendship): namely, that this communication with friends produces two contrary effects. For it conduplicates joys, it dimidiates sorrows. For no one imparts joyful things to a friend without rejoicing the more.

Nemo autem tristibus amicum communicat quin contristetur minus. Adeo ut revera eadem virtute polleat super animum hominis quam alchymistae lapidi suo tribuere solent super corpus humanum. Hoc est, quod contraria operetur, sed semper in beneficium naturae.

No one, however, communicates his sad things to a friend without being saddened less. So much so that in truth it is endowed with the same virtue over the mind of man as alchemists are wont to attribute to their Stone over the human body. That is, that it operates contraries, but always to the benefit of nature.

Attamen absque auxilio notionum chymicarum, extat huius rei exemplum insigne in cursu naturae ordinario. Nam in rebus naturalibus unio alit et confortat actiones quasque naturales, impressiones omnes violentas hebetat et retundit. Idemque prorsus fit in animis.

Nevertheless, without the aid of chymical notions, there exists a notable example of this in the ordinary course of nature. For in natural things, union nourishes and fortifies each natural action, and it dulls and blunts all violent impressions. And precisely the same happens in minds.

6. Secundus amicitiae fructus salubris est intellectui, sicut primus affectibus. Amicitia enim serenitatem inducit in affectibus a tempestatibus et procellis. Verum in intellectu etiam noctem abigit et lumen infundit, confusione cogitationum dissipata.

6. The second salutary fruit of friendship is for the intellect, just as the first is for the affections. For friendship induces serenity in the affections, away from tempests and storms. But in the intellect it also drives away the night and infuses light, the confusion of thoughts having been dispelled.

Neque hoc intelligendum est tantum de consilio fideli quod ab amicis dari solet, sed antequam de illo dicamus, certum est quicunque animum cogitationibus multis gravatum habet, ingenium eius et intellectum clarescere veluti in diem communicatione consiliorum et discursu cum alio. Etenim cogitationes suas facilius agitat et in omnes partes versat, easdem ordinatius disponit. Illas tanquam in faciem intuetur postquam conversae fuerint in verba.

Nor is this to be understood only of the faithful counsel which is wont to be given by friends; but before we speak of that, it is certain that whoever has a mind burdened with many cogitations finds his ingenium and intellect to grow clear, as if into day, by the communication of counsels and by discourse with another. For indeed he more easily agitates his cogitations and turns them in all directions, and disposes the same more orderly. He looks upon them as if face-to-face after they have been converted into words.

Denique seipso prudentior evadit, indque assequitur horulae magis unius sermone quam diei integrae meditationibus. Recte dictum est a Themistocle ad regem Persarum sermones tapetibus similes esse cum explicentur, per quod imagines distincte conspiciuntur, ubi cogitationes instar sarcinarum quarundam complicantur et involvuntur. Neque etiam restringitur secundus iste fructus amicitiae (qui constitit in obstructionibus intellectus aperiendis) ad eos solum amicos qui consilio pollent (hi proculdubio optimi sunt), sed et hoc sepositio discit profecto quispiam a seipso, et proprias cogitationes in luminis oras educit ingeniumque suum tanquam cotem versus acuit quae ipsa non secat.

Finally, he comes out more prudent than himself, and thus he achieves more by the discourse of a single little hour than by the meditations of an entire day. It was rightly said by Themistocles to the king of the Persians that discourses are like tapestries when they are unfolded, whereby the images are seen distinctly, whereas thoughts, after the fashion of certain packs, are folded up and wrapped. Nor is that second fruit of friendship (which consisted in opening the obstructions of the intellect) restricted to those friends alone who are powerful in counsel (these, without doubt, are the best); but, this set aside, one indeed learns from himself also, and leads forth his own thoughts into the borders of light, and sharpens his wit as against a whetstone, which itself does not cut.

Ut verbo dicamus, praestat statuae cuidam vel imagini se impertire quam cogitationes suas silentio suffocare.
7. Adde iam (ut fiat sermo de hoc fecundo amicitiae fructu magis perfectus) illud modo dictum, quod promptius occurrit et in vulgarem observationem cadit, fidele intelligo ab amico consilium. Bene asserit Heraclitus in uno aenigmatum suorum lumen siccum optimum.

To say it in a word, it is better to impart oneself to some statue or image than to suffocate one’s thoughts in silence.
7. Add now (that the discourse about this fruitful fruit of friendship may be made more perfect) that thing just mentioned, which more readily occurs and falls under vulgar observation: I understand faithful counsel from a friend. Heraclitus rightly asserts in one of his enigmas, that “dry light” is best.

Atqui certissimum est lumen quod ab alio proficiscitur per modum consilii illo siccius est et purius, quod a proprio emanat iudicio et intellectu, siquidem quod affectibus semper maceratur et tingitur. Adeo ut non minus intersit inter consilium amici et consilium cuiuslibet proprium, quam inter consilia amici et adulatoris. Neque enim adulator magis infestus quam quilibet sibi, neque rursus remedium praestantius contra adulationem sui ipsius reperitur quam libertas amici.

And yet it is most certain that the light which proceeds from another by way of counsel is drier and purer than that which emanates from one’s own judgment and intellect, inasmuch as the latter is always macerated and tinctured by the affections. So that there is no less difference between a friend’s counsel and anyone’s own counsel than between a friend’s counsels and a flatterer’s. For a flatterer is not more inimical than anyone is to himself; nor, again, is a more excellent remedy found against self-flattery than the liberty of a friend.

Consilium duorum generum est, alterum de moribus, alterum de negotiis. Quantum ad prius, optimum ad animi sanitatem tuendam medicamentum eset admonitio amici fidelis. Seipsum ad rationes stricte reddendas compellere medicina est interdum nimis penetrans et corrosiva.

Counsel is of two kinds, one concerning morals, the other concerning affairs. As regards the former, the best medicament for preserving the sanity of the mind would be the admonition of a faithful friend. To compel oneself to render accounts strictly is a remedy sometimes too penetrating and corrosive.

Lectio librorum moralium res est paulo hebetior. Observatio propriorum defectuum in aliis, tanquam in speculo, aliquando, ut fit etiam in speculis, minus repondet. Verum (ut diximus) optima medicina (optima ad recipiendum, optima ad operandum) est admonitio amici.

The reading of moral books is a somewhat duller matter. The observation of one’s own defects in others, as in a mirror, sometimes, as also happens in mirrors, responds less. But (as we have said) the best medicine (best for being received, best for operating) is the admonition of a friend.

Mirum profecto est videre quot errores enormes et plane absurdos commitant aliqui (praesertim ex grandioribus) quia non adsit iis amicus qui monere possit, in damnum haud parvum et existimationis et fortunae suae. Sunt enim (ut ait apostolus Iacobus) tanquam homines, qui intuentur in speculum, et statim obliviscuntur imaginis suae. Quantum ad negotia, vetus est melius videre oculus quam oculum, licet nonnulli hoc cavillentur.

It is indeed a wonder to see how many enormous and plainly absurd errors some commit (especially among the elder sort) because there is not present to them a friend who can admonish, to no small detriment of both their estimation and their fortune. For they are (as the apostle James says) like men who look into a mirror and straightway forget their image. As for business, the old saying is that more eyes see better than one eye, though some cavil at this.

Etiam recte dicitur spectatorem saepe plus videre quam lusorem. Quin et certius disploditur sclopetum maius pallo innixum quam super brachium, etsi quidam tum altum sapiunt ut putent in sese esse omnia. Verum quicquid dici possit in contrarium, certum est consilium negotia dirigere et stabilire.

It is also rightly said that the spectator often sees more than the player. Moreover, even a larger firearm discharges more surely when rested on a stake than upon the arm, although some are so lofty-wise as to think that everything is in themselves. But whatever can be said to the contrary, it is certain that counsel directs and stabilizes affairs.

Quod si quis secum cogitet consilium se quidem capturum, sed per partes, in aliis hunc, in aliis illum consulendo, bene habet (hoc est, melius illi fuerit quam consilio omnino non uti), verum in duo pericula impingit. Unum, quod vix fidele consilio reperturus sit. Raro enim nisi a fideli et intimo amico consilium datur, quod non ad dantis fines inflexum et detortum sit.

But if anyone considers with himself that he will indeed take counsel, but by parts—consulting this man in some matters, that man in others—it is well enough (that is, it would be better for him than not to use counsel at all), yet he runs into two dangers. One, that he will scarcely find faithful counsel; for rarely, except from a faithful and intimate friend, is counsel given that is not inflected and twisted toward the giver’s own ends.

Alterum, quod consilia illa diversis manantia (licet cum fide et bona intentione praestita) damnosa saepenumero erunt et nociva, ac partim ex incommodis, partim ex remediis commixta, veluti si medicum advoces qui in curatione morbi illius peritus habetur, sed corporis tui constitutionis penitus ignarus. Quare poterit fortasse valetudinem ad tempus promovere, sed cum periculo ne in summa sanitati praeiudicet. Atque hoc pacto morbum extinguet, et non multo post hominem.

The other is that those counsels, emanating from diverse sources (though rendered with fidelity and good intention), will very often be damaging and noxious, and commixed partly of inconveniences and partly of remedies, as if you were to call in a physician who is held expert in the cure of that disease, but utterly ignorant of the constitution of your body. Wherefore he may perhaps promote your health for a time, but with the risk that, on the whole, he prejudices your health. And thus, in this fashion, he will extinguish the disease, and not long after the man.

Verum amicus, cui status amici sui perfecte cognitus est, cavebit ne in praesens iuvando in malum futurum impingat. Itaque consiliis istis dispersis (ut iam dictum) nolim acquiescas. Distrahent enim potius et seducent, quam dirigent et stabilient.

But a friend, to whom the status of his friend is perfectly known, will beware lest, by helping for the present, he run into a future evil. And so, to those dispersed counsels (as already said) I would not wish you to acquiesce. For they will rather distract and seduce than direct and stabilize.

8. Post nobiles hosce duos amicitae fructus (pacem dico in affectibus et fulcimentum iudicii) sequitur ultimus, qui similius est mala granato, plenus granis compluribus. Intelligo +autem+ auxilium et partipationem in actionibus et occasionibus vitae. Hic autem expeditissima via repraesentandi ad vivum usum multiplicem amicitiae fuerit circumspiciendo et videndo quam multa sint quae per si quispiam exequi commode non poterit.

8. After these two noble fruits of friendship (I mean peace in the affections and a fulcrum of judgment) there follows a last one, which is more like the pomegranate, full of numerous grains. I mean, however, help and participation in the actions and occasions of life. Here, moreover, the most expeditious way of representing to the life the manifold use of friendship would be by looking around and seeing how many things there are that a person, by himself, will not be able to execute conveniently.

Atque inde apparebit non per hyperbolen sed sobrie dictum esse ab antiquis, amicum esse alterum se, quandoquidem, si quis vere rem reputet, amici officia proprias cuiusque vires superent. Homines mortales sunt. Quin et in medio operum aliquorum quae maxime affectant saepe moriuntur, veluti in in collocatione filii in matrimonium, consummatione conatuum et desideriorum suorum, et similibus.

And from this it will appear that it was said by the ancients not by hyperbole but soberly, that a friend is another self; since, if one truly reckon the matter, the offices of a friend surpass each person’s own strengths. Human beings are mortal. Indeed, even in the midst of certain works which they most affect, they often die—such as in the arrangement of a son in marriage, in the consummation of their endeavors and desires, and the like.

Iam si quis amicum habet fidelem, securitatem praestat de iisdem rebus amici cura et opera post mortem perficiendis. Adeo ut fatum immaturum vix obsit, atque habeat quis (ut loquamur more tribulum aut firmariorum) in desideriis suis terminum non unius, sed duarum vitarum. Homo corpore circumscributur, et corpus loco.

Now if someone has a faithful friend, he has security that the same matters will be completed after his death by the friend’s care and effort; to such a degree that an untimely fate scarcely hinders, and one has (to speak in the fashion of leaseholders) in his desires a term not of one life, but of two. Man is circumscribed by the body, and the body by place.

Verum ubi amicitia praesto est, vitae munia omnia concessa sunt et sibi et deputato suo. Quot numero res sunt, quas per se quispiam cum dignitate aut decore non possit? Merita sua non potest cum verecundia recensere, multo minus extollere.

But when friendship is at hand, all the duties of life are conceded both to oneself and to one’s deputy. How many are the things which a person, by himself, cannot accomplish with dignity or decorum? He cannot with modesty recount his own merits, much less extol them.

Non sustinet quis ut se submittat ad supplicandum aut etiam emendicandum. Infinita sunt talia. Verum haec et huiusmodi in amici ore sat decora sunt, ad quae erubescimus in persona propria.

One cannot bring himself to submit himself to supplicating or even to begging alms. Such things are without number. But these and things of this sort are sufficiently decorous on a friend’s lips, at which we blush in our own person.

Rursus, persona cuiusque multa habet coniuncta quae exuere non potest. Filium alloqui quis non poterit nisi ut pater, uxorem nisi ut maritus, inimicum nisi salva dignitate, ubi amico conceditur loqui prout res postulat, neque ad respectus personae alligatur. Verum haec enumerare infinitum fuerit.

Again, the persona of each one has many things conjoined which he cannot strip off. One cannot address a son except as a father, a wife except as a husband, an enemy except with dignity preserved, whereas to a friend it is conceded to speak as the matter requires, nor is he bound to considerations of persona. But to enumerate these things would be endless.

Ipse regulam dedi, ubi quis propriam personam in fabula sustinere non poterit. Amicus si desit, satius est ei scenam derelinquere.

I myself have set down a rule: when someone cannot sustain his own persona in the drama. If a friend be lacking, it is better for him to abandon the scene.

XXVIII. DE SUMPTIBUS

28. ON EXPENSES

1. Opes destinantur sumptibus, sumptus autem honori et actionibus honestis. Sumptus itaque largiores occasionis et rei dignitate commensurandi sunt. Etenim spontanea paupertas debetur quandoque patriae, non solum regno coelorum.

1. Wealth is destined for expenditures, but expenditures for honor and honorable actions. Therefore more lavish outlays are to be proportioned to the dignity of the occasion and of the matter. For indeed voluntary poverty is sometimes owed to the fatherland, not only to the kingdom of heaven.

Sumptus autem consueti cuiusque censu definiendi sunt, eoque tenore temperandi ut intra reditus sint, nec servorum fraudi, aut incuriae obnoxii. Atque insuper in eum modum dispositi et ordinati ut rationes impensaram exhibitae aestimatione sint minores. Certe qui deminutionem fortunarum suarum pati nolit, necesse habet impensas suas ordinarias ita instituere, ut dimida tantum pars rediturum insumatur, altera reponatur.

Moreover, the customary expenses are to be defined by each one’s census, and moderated with such a tenor that they are within the revenues, and not liable to the fraud or negligence of servants. And, besides, they are to be disposed and ordered in such a way that the accounts of expenditures, when exhibited, are less than the estimation. Surely, whoever is unwilling to suffer a diminution of his fortunes must establish his ordinary expenses thus: that only half of the revenues be expended, the other half set aside.

Qui vero rem augere cupit tertiam partem solam impensis assignet. Haud sordidum est summis etiam viris, si rationes suas diligenter inspiciant. Hoc omittunt complures, non tam socordi quam aversatione quadam ne se contristent si res nimio plus accisas deprehenderint.

But he who desires to augment his estate should assign only a third part to expenditures. It is not sordid for even men of the highest rank to inspect their accounts diligently. Many omit this, not so much from sloth as from a certain aversion, lest they sadden themselves if they discover that their resources have been cut down too much.

Vulnera autem nisi explorentur sanari nequeunt. Qui oeconomica sua commode tractare non possunt, iis relinquitur ut quos adhibent ministros et caute eligant et subinde mutent. Novi enim minus audent, minusque astuti sunt.

Wounds, however, cannot be healed unless they are explored. Those who cannot manage their economic affairs suitably, it remains to them to both choose with caution the agents they employ and to change them from time to time. For the new dare less and are less astute.

Cui raro rationes suas inspicere datur, eum quae computationi subiacent in certos reditus atque etiam sumptus vertere convenit. Qui impendiosior est in uno sumptus genere, eum sobrie parcum et frugi oportet esse in alio. Exempli gratia, si victu abundantior, vestium elegantia sit moderatior; si in aula sua copiose, in equili contractior sit, et sic de similibus.

He to whom it is rarely granted to inspect his accounts should convert what lies under computation into fixed revenues and even expenses. Whoever is more costly in one kind of expenditure ought soberly to be sparing and frugal in another. For example, if more abundant in victuals, let the elegance of clothing be more moderate; if copious in his own hall, let him be more contracted in the stable, and so with similar things.

Qui enim in singulis impensaru generibus est profusior, decoctionem fortunarum aegre vitabit. In perplexa et obaerata re familiari liberandi perinde sibi quis obesse poterit nimia festatione ac dilatione nimia. Praepropere enim venditiones iacturam ex usuris saepe exaequant.

For he who is more prodigal in each kind of expenditures will scarcely avoid the bankruptcy of his fortunes. In a perplexed and debt-laden household estate, in the effort to be freed, one can harm himself just as much by excessive haste as by excessive delay. For over-hasty venditions (sales) often make a loss equal to that from usury (interest).

Porro autem qui simul et semel sortem asserit de relapsu periclitatur, cum enim praetervectum tantas angustias se sentiat ad ingenium redibit. Qui autem se per gradus extricaverit habitum frugalitatis inducit, eademque opera tam animo quam fortunis medetur. Sane qui res collapsas restituere in votis habet, vel minima quaeque non spernat, atque plerunque minus sordidum est sumptus quamvis minutos praecidere quam minutis lucris se submittere.

Moreover, he who at once and in a single stroke settles the principal is in peril of a relapse; for when he feels himself carried past such great straits, he will return to his natural disposition. But he who has extricated himself by degrees induces a habit of frugality, and by the same operation he remedies both his spirit and his fortunes. Truly, he who has it in his vows to restore collapsed affairs should not spurn even the very least things, and for the most part it is less sordid to cut off expenses, however minute, than to submit oneself to minute gains.

Caute admodum inchoandi sunt sumptus qui semel inchoati permansuri sint. Sed in sumptibus qui non facile redeunt splendidiorem et magnificentiorem esse licebit.

Expenditures which, once initiated, are going to be lasting should be begun very cautiously. But in expenses which do not easily recur, it will be permissible to be more splendid and more magnificent.

XXIX. DE PROFERENDIS FINIBUS IMPERII

29. ON EXTENDING THE BOUNDARIES OF THE EMPIRE

1. Dictum Themistoclis sibi ipsi applicatum incivile certe fuit et inflatum; sin de aliis atque in genere prolatum fuisset, prudentem sane observationem et pergravem censuram complecti videtur. Rogatus in convivio ut cytharam pulsaret respondit, fidibus se nescire, caeterum posse oppidum parvum in magnam civitatem evehere. Ista certe verba, ad sensum politicum translata, facultates duas, multum inter se discrepantes, in iis qui rerum gubernacula tractant optime describunt et distinguunt.

1. The saying of Themistocles, applied to himself, was certainly uncivil and inflated; but if it had been put forth about others and in general, it seems to embrace a truly prudent observation and a very grave censure. Asked at a banquet to strike the lyre, he replied that he did not know the strings, but that he could raise a small town into a great city. Those words, certainly, translated into a political sense, most excellently describe and distinguish two faculties, greatly differing from each other, in those who handle the helm of affairs.

Etenim si regum consiliarios, senatores, aliosque ad negotia publica admotos qui usquam fuerunt attente intueamur, reperientur profecto (licet rarissime) nonnulli qui regnum aut civitatem e parvis ampla efficere possint, fidicines tamen sint valde imperiti. E contra autem alii quamplurimi in cythara aut lyra (hoc est aulicis tricis) miri artifices qui tantum abest ut rempublicam amplificare possint ut potius a natura comparati videantur ad statum reipublicae beatum et florentem labefacandum et evertendum. Sane artes illae degeneres et praestigiae quibus saepenumero consiliarii atque rerum potentes et gratiam apud pricipes suos et famam in vulgus reportant haud aliud nomen merentur quam peritiae quisdam fidiculariae, utpote cum sint res magis gratae in praesens et artificibus ipsius ornamento quam ad rerumpublicarum quarum sunt ministri opes et amplitudinem utiles aut accommodae.

For if we attentively survey the counselors of kings, senators, and others admitted to public business who anywhere have ever been, there will certainly be found (though very rarely) some who can make a kingdom or a city from small into ample, yet are very unskilled fiddlers. On the contrary, however, very many others are wondrous artificers on the cithara or lyre (that is, in courtly tricks), who are so far from being able to amplify the commonwealth that they rather seem to have been framed by nature for undermining and overturning the happy and flourishing state of the commonwealth. Assuredly those degenerate arts and prestidigitations by which counselors and men in power oftentimes carry back both favor with their princes and fame among the crowd deserve no other name than a certain fiddling expertise, inasmuch as they are things more pleasing for the present and an ornament to the artificers themselves rather than useful or fitting to the resources and amplitude of the commonwealths whose ministers they are.

Occurrent proculdubio et alii consiliarii atque reipublicae gubernatores minime spernendi qui sint negotiis pares possintque res commode administrare, easque a manifestis praecipitiis et incommodis conservare, a virtute tamen illa rerumpublicarum erectrice et amplificatrice longo intervallo absunt.
2. Verum qualescunque demum fuerint operarii, coniiciamus oculos in opus eorum, qualis nimirum censeri debeat vera regnorum et rerumpublicarum magnitudo, et quibus artibus obtineri possit. Dignum profecto argumentum, quod principes perpetuo in manibus habeant et diligenter meditentur, quo nec vires suas in maius aestimantes incoeptis se vanis et nimis arduis implicent, nec rursus easdem plus aequo despicientes ad consilia pusillanima et meticulosa se demittant.

Without doubt there will also occur other counsellors and governors of the commonwealth by no means to be scorned, who are equal to the business and can administer affairs conveniently, and preserve them from manifest precipices and inconveniences; yet they are at a long remove from that upbuilding and amplifying virtue of commonwealths.
2. But whatever at last the workmen may be, let us cast our eyes upon their work—namely, what the true magnitude of kingdoms and commonwealths ought to be judged, and by what arts it can be obtained. A subject indeed worthy, which princes should have perpetually in their hands and diligently meditate, whereby neither, overestimating their own forces, they entangle themselves in vain and too arduous undertakings, nor, on the contrary, despising the same more than is meet, do they let themselves down to pusillanimous and timorous counsels.

3. Magnitudo imperiorum, quoad molem et territorium, mensurae subiicitur, quoad reditus, calculis. Numerus civium et capita censu, urbium et oppidorum amplitudo tabulis excipi possint. Attamen non reperitur inter civilia, res errori magis obnoxia, quam verum et intrinsecum excipere valorem circa vires et copias imperii alicuius.

3. The magnitude of empires, as to mass and territory, is subjected to measurement; as to revenues, to calculations. The number of citizens and heads can be taken by census; the amplitude of cities and towns can be recorded in tables. Yet among civil matters, nothing is found more liable to error than to capture the true and intrinsic value concerning the forces and resources of any empire.

Assimilatur regnum coelorum non glandi aut nuci alicui grandiori, sed grano sinapis, quod inter grana est minimum. Quod tamen habeat interim intra se proprietatem quandam et spiritum innatum, quo se et citius attollat et latius diffundat, eodem modo invenire est regna et status ambitu quidem et regionum tractu valde ampla, quae tamen ad fines ulterius proferendos aut latius imperandum sunt minus apta. Alia contra dimensione satis exigua, quae tamen bases in quibus maxime monarchiae inaedificentur esse possint.

The kingdom of heaven is likened not to an acorn or to some larger nut, but to a grain of mustard, which is the least among the grains. Yet meanwhile it has within itself a certain property and an innate spirit, by which it both lifts itself more swiftly and spreads more broadly: in the same way one may find kingdoms and states very ample in compass and in the tract of their regions, which nevertheless are less apt for pushing their borders further or for commanding more widely. Others, by contrast, are of quite small dimension, which nevertheless can be the bases upon which, most of all, monarchies are built up.

4. Urbes munitae, plena armamentaria, equorum propagines genrosae, currus armati, elephanti, machinae atque tormenta bellica omnigena, et similia, sunt certe ista universa nihil aliud quam ovis induta pelle leonina, nisi gens ipsa stirpe sua et ingenio sit fortis et militaris. Imo nec numerus ipse copiarum multum iuvat ubi milites imbelles sunt et ignavi. Recte enim Virgilius, lupus numerum pecorum non curat.

4. Fortified cities, full armories, noble propagations of horses, armed chariots, elephants, engines and warlike artillery of every kind, and the like—surely all these are nothing other than a sheep clad in a lion’s hide, unless the nation itself by its stock and innate disposition be strong and martial. Nay, not even the very number of forces avails much where the soldiers are unwarlike and craven. For, as Virgil rightly says, the wolf does not care about the number of the flock.

Exercitus Persarum in campis Arbelae oculis Macedonum tanquam vastum hominum pelagus subiiciebatur; adeo ut duces Alexandri nonnihil ipso spectactulo percussi regem interpellarent atque ut noctu praelium committeret ei auctores erant. Quibus ille nolo (inquit) suffurari victoriam. Ea autem etiam opinione fuit facilior.

The army of the Persians on the plains of Arbela was set before the eyes of the Macedonians as a vast sea of men; to such a degree that Alexander’s commanders, somewhat struck by the spectacle itself, interpellated the king and were advocates that he commit the battle by night. To them he said, “I do not wish to steal the victory.” Moreover, it was also easier by that very opinion.

Tigranes Armenius castrametatus in quodam colle cum exercitu quadringentorum millium, cum spectaret aciem Romanorum quae quatuordecim millia non excessit contra se tendentem, in scommate illo suo sibi placuit. Ecce (inquit) hominum pro legatione nimio plus quam oportet, pro pugna longe minus. Eos tamen priusquam occubuisset sol satis multos ad illum infinita frage profligandum expertus est.

Tigranes the Armenian, having encamped on a certain hill with an army of four hundred thousand, when he was looking at the Roman battle-line, which did not exceed fourteen thousand, advancing against him, took pleasure in that gibe of his: “Behold,” he said, “for an embassy far more men than is fitting; for a fight far fewer.” Yet before the sun had set he learned by experience that they were many enough to overthrow him with boundless havoc.

Innumera sunt exempla quam sit multitudinis cum fortitudine congressus impar. Primo igitur pro re certissima et exploratissima decernatur et statuatur quod caput omnium quae ad magnitudinem regni aut status spectent sit ut populus ipse sit stirpe et ingenio bellicosus. Atque illud magis tritum quam verum, quod nervi belli sint pecuniae, si desint nervi lacertorum in gente molli et effoeminata.

Countless are the examples of how unequal the encounter of multitude with fortitude is. Therefore, first of all, as a matter most certain and most well-explored, let it be decreed and established that the head and chief point of all things which look to the greatness of a kingdom or of a State is this: that the people themselves be warlike in stock and in nature. And that saying, more trite than true, that monies are the sinews of war, is worth little if the sinews of the muscles are lacking in a soft and effeminate nation.

Recte enim Craeso ostentanti aurum respondit Solon at si quis, o rex, venerit, qui melius quam tu ferrum gestet, illi profecto totum hoc cedet aurum. Quare quicunque is tandem sit princeps aut status cuius subditi nativi et indigenae non sint animosi et militares, potentiam suam admodum sobrie aestimet. Atque e contra principes quo dominantur in gentes animosas et martias norint illi satis vires suas, si sibi alias non desint.

For Solon rightly answered Croesus, who was displaying his gold: “But if someone, O king, should come who bears iron better than you, to him indeed all this gold will yield.” Therefore, whoever that prince or state may be whose native-born subjects and indigenes are not high-spirited and military, let him assess his power very soberly. And conversely, princes who rule over high-spirited and martial peoples should know their own forces well—provided they are not otherwise lacking.

Quod attinet ad copias mercenarias (quod solet adhiberi remedium cum copiae nativae desint), plena sunt omnia exemplis quibus liquido patet quod quicunque status illis innitetur poterit fortasse pennas ad tempus breve nido maiores extendere, sed defluent illae paulo post.
5. Benedictio Iudae et Issacharis in unum nunquam convenient. Nimirum ut eadem tribus at gens sit simul, et leonis catulus et asinus procumbens inter sarcinas.

As concerns mercenary troops (a remedy that is usually applied when native troops are lacking), everything is full of examples by which it is plainly evident that whatever state leans upon them may perhaps for a short time stretch wings larger than its nest, but they will droop shortly after.
5. The blessing of Judah and of Issachar will never come together into one. Namely, that the same tribe and nation should at once be both a lion’s whelp and a donkey lying down among the packs.

Neque unquam fiet ut populus tributis oppressus fortis existat et bellicosus. Verum est collationes publico consensu factas minus animos subditorum deiicere et deprimere quam quae ex imperio mero indicuntur, id quod liquido videre est in tributis Germaniae inferioris quas excisas vocant, atque aliqua ex parte in iis quae subsidia nominantur apud Anglos. Etenim notandum est sermonem iam institui de animis hominum, non de opibus.

Nor will it ever come to pass that a people oppressed by tributes will be strong and warlike. It is true that contributions made by public consent cast down and depress the spirits of subjects less than those which are imposed by mere command; which is plainly to be seen in the taxes of Lower Germany which they call excises, and in some part in those which are named subsidies among the English. For it is to be noted that the discourse now undertaken is about the spirits of men, not about opulence.

Tributa autem quae ex consenu conferantur, et quae ex imperio imponuntur, etsi eadem res sint quoad opes exhauriendas, varie tamen omnino animos subditorum afficiunt. Statuatur igitur et et hoc, populum tributis gravatum idoneum ad imperandum non esse.
6. Aspirantibus ad magnitudinem regnis et statibus prorsus cavendum ne nobiles et patricii atque (quos vocamus) generosi maiorem in modum multiplicentur.

Tributes, however, which are conferred by consent, and those which are imposed by command, although they are the same thing as regards the draining of resources, nevertheless affect the minds of subjects in wholly different ways. Let it therefore be laid down also this: that a people burdened with tributes is not fit for command.
6. For kingdoms and states aspiring to greatness, it must absolutely be guarded against lest nobles and patricians and (whom we call) generosi multiply beyond measure.

Hoc enim eo rem ducit, ut plebs regni sit humilis et abiecta, et nihil aliud fere quam nobilium mancipia et operarii. Simile quiddam fieri videmus in silvis caeduis, in quibus si maior quam par est caudicum sive arborum maiorum relinquatur numerus non renascetur silva sincere et pura, sed maior pars in vepres et dumos degenerabit. Eodem modo in nationibus ubi numerosior iusto est nobilitas, erit plebs vilis et ignava.

For this brings the matter to this point: that the plebs of the realm becomes lowly and abject, and almost nothing other than the chattels and laborers of the nobles. We see something similar happen in coppice-woods, in which, if a number greater than is fitting of trunks or larger trees is left, the wood will not grow back sound and pure, but the greater part will degenerate into brambles and briers. In the same way, in nations where the nobility is more numerous than is just, the plebs will be base and idle.

Atque eo demum res redibit ut nec centesimum quodque caput sit ad galeam portandam idoneum, praesertim si peditarum spectes, qui exercitus plerunque est robur praecipuum. Unde succedet magna populatio, vires exiguae. Nusquam gentium hoc quod dico luculentius comprobatum est quam exemplis Angliae et Galliae.

And at length the matter will come to this: that not even one head in a hundred will be fit to carry a helmet, especially if you look to the infantry, which is commonly the principal strength of an army. Whence there will follow a great population, scant forces. Nowhere among the nations has what I say been more clearly proven than by the examples of England and France.

Quarum Anglia, quamvis territorio et numero incolarum longe inferior, potiores tamen partes fere semper in bellis obtinuit hanc ipsam ab caussam, quod apud Anglos coloni et inferioris ordinis homines militiae habiles sint, rustici Galliae non item. Qua in re mirabili quadam et profunda prudentia excogitatum est ab Henrico Septimo Angliae rege (id quod in vitae eius historia fusius tractavimus) ut praedia minora atque domus agricolationis instituerentur, quae habeant certum eumque mediocrem agri modum annexum qui distrahi non possit, eo fine ut ad victum liberaliorem sufficiat, utque agricultura ab iis exerceretur qui domini fuerint fundi, non saltem usufructuarii nec conductitii aut mercenarii. Nam ita demum characterem illum quo antiquam Italiam insignavit Virgilius, merebitur regio aliqua:

Of which, England—although by territory and by number of inhabitants far inferior—has nevertheless almost always obtained the superior part in wars for this very cause: that among the English the coloni and men of the lower order are fit for military service, whereas the peasants of France are not so. In this matter, by a certain marvelous and profound prudence, it was devised by Henry VII, King of England (which we have treated more fully in the history of his life), that smaller estates and houses of husbandry should be established, which have annexed to them a fixed and moderate measure of land that cannot be alienated, to the end that it may suffice for a more liberal livelihood, and that agriculture be exercised by those who are owners of the farm, not merely usufructuaries nor lessees or hirelings. For only thus will any region deserve that character with which Virgil marked ancient Italy:

terra potens armis atque ubere glebae.

a land powerful in arms and in the richness of the glebe.

7. Neque praetereunda est illa pars populi (quae Angliae fere est peculiaris, nec alibi, quod scio, in usu, nisi forte apud Polonos), famuli scilicet nobilium. Huius enim generis etiam inferiores, quoad peditatum agricolis ipsis minime cedunt. Quare certissimum st quod magnificentia et splendor ille hospitalis atque famulitia, et veluti satelletia ampla quae in more sunt apud nobiles et generosas in Anglia, ad potentiam militarem apprime conducant.

7. Nor is that part of the populace to be passed over (which is almost peculiar to England, and, so far as I know, is not in use elsewhere, unless perhaps among the Poles), namely the household-servants/retainers of the nobles. For even the lower ranks of this kind, as regards the infantry, yield by no means to the farmers themselves. Wherefore it is most certain that that magnificence and splendor of hospitality and of household service, and, as it were, the ample bodyguard-retinue which are customary among the nobles and the well-born in England, conduce most excellently to military power.

Ubi contra nobilium obscura, et magis privata, et in se reducta vitae ratio copias miitares minuit.
8. Danda est omnino opera, ut arbor ista monarchiae, qualis fuit Nebuchadnezzaris, truncum habeat satis amplum et robstum ad ramos sitos et frondos sustenandos. Hoc est ut numerus indigarum ad subditos extraneos cohibendos satis superque sufficiat.

Where, on the contrary, an obscure, more private, and withdrawn-into-itself manner of life of the nobles diminishes military forces.
8. Effort must altogether be applied, that that tree of monarchy, such as was Nebuchadnezzar’s, have a trunk sufficiently ample and robust for sustaining well-set and leafy branches. That is, that the number of natives should suffice more than enough for keeping foreign subjects in check.

Illi igitur status ad imperii magnitudinem bene comparati sunt, qui ius civitatis facile et libenter largiuntur. Vana siquidem fuerit opinio posses maniplum hominum, utcunque animis et consilio excellant, regiones nimio plus amplas et spatiosas imperii iugo cohibere et froenare. Id ad tempus fortasse facere possint, sed diuturnitatam haec res non assequitur.

Those states therefore are well prepared to the magnitude of empire which easily and willingly lavish the right of citizenship. For it would be a vain opinion that a handful of men, however much they excel in spirit and in counsel, can restrain and bridle regions far too ample and spacious beneath the yoke of empire. They may perhaps be able to do this for a time, but this matter does not attain long duration.

Spartani parci fuerunt et difficiles in cooptandis novis civibus. Unde donec intra parvos limites dominati sunt res eorum firmae fuerunt et stabiles. At postquam limites suos coepissent proferre et latius dominari quam ut stirps Spartanorum turbam exterorum imperio commode coercere posset, potentia eorum corruit.

The Spartans were sparing and difficult in co-opting new citizens. Whence, so long as they ruled within small limits, their affairs were firm and stable. But after they had begun to extend their boundaries and to lord it more broadly than the Spartan stock could conveniently coerce the multitude of foreigners under their dominion, their power collapsed.

Nulla unquam respublica sinus suos ad novos cives recipiendos tam profuse laxavit quam respublica Romana. Itaque par erat instituto tam prudenti fortuna, cum in imperium toto orbe amplissimum succreverint. Moris apud eos erat ius civitatis prompte elargiri, idque in supremo gradu, hoc est, non solum ius commercii, ius connubii, ius haereditatis, verum etiam ius suffragii et ius petitionis sive honorum.

No commonwealth ever so lavishly loosened its bosom to receive new citizens as the Roman Republic. And so fortune was equal to so prudent an institution, since they grew into the most ample imperium over the whole globe. It was their custom to bestow the right of citizenship promptly and generously, and that in the highest degree—that is, not only the right of commerce, the right of connubium (marriage), the right of inheritance, but also the right of suffrage and the right of candidacy, or of honors.

Hocque rursus non singulis tantum personis, set totis familiis, imo civitatibus, et nonnunquam integris nationibus communicarunt. Huc adde consuetudinem deducendi colonias quibus Romanae stirpes in solum exterum transplantabantur. Quae duo instituta si simul componas, dices profecto non Romanos se diffudisse super universum orbem, sed contra, orbem universum se diffudisse super Romanos, quae securissima proferendi imperii est ratio.

And this in turn they communicated not only to individual persons, but to whole families, nay, to cities, and sometimes to entire nations. Add to this the custom of leading out colonies, by which Roman stocks were transplanted into foreign soil. If you set these two institutions together, you will surely say that it was not the Romans who spread themselves over the whole orb, but, on the contrary, that the whole orb spread itself over the Romans, which is the most secure method of extending empire.

Subit mirari saepius imperium Hispanorum, quod tam paucis indigenis tot regna et proficias amplexari et froenare possit. At certe Hispaniae ipsae <fines> pro arboris stemmate satis grandi haberi debent, cum longe ampliorem contineant regionum tractum quam Romae aut Spartae sub initiis suis contigerat. Porro, quanquam ius civitatis satis parce soleant Hispani impertire, quod proximum tamen est faciunt, quippe qui cuiuscunque nationis homines ad militiam suam ordinariam promiscue admittant.

It often comes up to marvel at the empire of the Spaniards, that with so few indigenes it can embrace and bridle so many kingdoms and provinces. But certainly the of Spain itself ought to be held as a tree’s trunk sufficiently large, since they contain a far more ample tract of regions than had befallen Rome or Sparta at their beginnings. Furthermore, although the Spaniards are wont to impart the right of citizenship rather sparingly, nevertheless they do what is next to it, since they indiscriminately admit men of whatever nation to their regular soldiery.

Quinetiam summum belli imperium haud raro ad duces natione non Hispanos deferunt. Attamen et illam ipsam videntur non ita pridem indigenarum paucitatem sensisse, eique succurrere cupuisse, ut ex pragmatica sanctione hoc anno promulgata cernere est.
9. Certissimum est artes mechanicas sedentarias, quas non sub dio sed sub tecto exercentur, atque manufacturas delicatas quae digitum potius quam brachium requirunt, sua natura militaribus animis esse contrarias.

Moreover, they not rarely confer the supreme command of war upon leaders not Spaniards by nation. Yet even they themselves seem not so long ago to have felt the paucity of natives, and to have wished to succor it, as is seen from the pragmatic sanction promulgated this year.
9. It is most certain that sedentary mechanical arts, which are exercised not under the open sky but under a roof, and delicate manufactures which require the finger rather than the arm, are by their nature contrary to military minds.

In universum, populi bellicosi ferari gaudent, et pericula quam labores minus exhorrent. Atque in hoc ingenio suo non sunt admodum reprimendi, si animos ipsorum in vigore conservare cordi nobis sit. Magno itaque adiumento Spartae, Athenis, Romae, aliisque antiquis republicibus fuit quod habuerint non ingenuos sed servos plerunque, quorum laboribus istiusmodi opificia expediebantur.

In general, warlike peoples rejoice to be ferocious, and they shrink from dangers less than from labors. And in this their temperament they are not to be overly repressed, if it is at our heart to preserve their spirits in vigor. Therefore it was a great aid to Sparta, Athens, Rome, and other ancient republics that they had for the most part not freeborn men but slaves, by whose labors crafts of this sort were expedited.

Verum mancipiorum usus post legem Christianam receptam maxime ex parte abiit in desuetudinem. Huic vero rei proximum est ut artes istae alienigenis tantum permittantur, qui propterea alliciendi aut saltem facile recipiendi sunt. Nativorum autem plebs ex tribus generibus hominum constare debet, nempe ex agricolis, famulis ingenuis, et artificibus, quorum opera robur et lacertos viriles postulant.

But the use of slaves, after the Christian law was received, has for the most part fallen into desuetude. Next to this in consequence is that those arts be permitted only to foreigners, who therefore are to be allured, or at least easily received. But the native commons ought to consist of three kinds of men, namely agriculturists, freeborn servants, and artificers, whose works demand robust strength and virile sinews.

Cuiusmodi sunt fabri ferrarii, lapidarii, lignarii, et similes, non annumerando militiam descriptam.
10. Ante omnia ad imperii magnitudinem confert ut gens aliqua armorum studium profiteatur tanquam decus suum et institutum vitae primarium, et in praecipuo honore habitum. Quae enim a nobis adhuc dicta sunt ad habilitates tantum erga arma spectant.

Of this kind are ironworkers, lapidaries, woodworkers, and the like, not counting the enrolled militia.
10. Above all, it contributes to the empire’s magnitude that some people profess the study of arms as their own honor and as the primary institution of life, and that it be held in preeminent honor. For the things that have been said by us thus far pertain only to aptitudes with respect to arms.

Quorsum autem habilitas, si non re ipsi incubitur ut producatur in actum? Romulus (ut narrant aut fingunt) postquam e vivis excesserat illud civibus suis legavit ut ante omnia rem militarem colerent, unde in caput orbis terrarum urbs eorum insurgeret. Imperii Spartani fabrica universa (non minus prudenter quidem, sed diligenter tamen) ad illum fidem et scopum composita est et constructa ut cives sui belligeratores essent.

But to what purpose is ability, if one does not apply oneself to the thing itself so that it be brought into act? Romulus (as they tell or as they feign), after he had departed from the living, bequeathed this to his citizens: that before all things they should cultivate the military art, whence their city would rise up into the head of the world. The entire fabric of the Spartan empire (not less prudently indeed, but diligently nonetheless) was composed and constructed to that same tenet and goal, that its citizens should be belligerents, warriors.

Persarum et Macedonum idem erat insitutum, sed non tam constans aut diuturnum. Britanni, Galli, Germani, Gothi, Saxones, Normanni et nonnulli alii etiam ad tempus armis se praecipue dederunt. Turcae idem institutum lege sua paululum extimulati hodie retinent, sed magna cum militiae suae (ut nunc est) declinatione.

Persians and Macedonians had the same institution, but not so constant or long-lasting. The Britons, Gauls, Germans, Goths, Saxons, Normans, and several others also for a time devoted themselves chiefly to arms. The Turks, slightly stimulated by their law, retain the same institution today, but with a great declination of their soldiery (as it now is).

In Europa Christiana gens quae illud adhuc retinet et profitetur soli sunt Hispani. Verum res est nam liquida et manifesta unumquemque in eo proficere maximo in quo plurimum impendit studii, ut verbis non indigeat. Satis sit innuisse desperandum omnino alicui nationi esse quae non ex professo arma et militiam colat iisque praecipue studeat et incumbat, sibi veluti ultro obventuram insignem aliquam imperii magnitudinem.

In Christian Europe the only people who still retain and profess that are the Spaniards. But the matter is indeed clear and manifest—that each one makes the greatest progress in that in which he expends the most study—so as not to need words. Let it be enough to have hinted that it is altogether to be despaired of, for any nation which does not professedly cultivate arms and the military and especially study and apply itself to them, that some notable magnitude of empire will, as it were, spontaneously befall it.

Contra autem certissimum esse temporis oraculum nationes illas quae in armorum professione et studiis diutius permanserint (id quod Romani Turcaeque potissimum fecere) miros in imperio amplificando facere progressus. Quin et illae quae bellica gloria per unius tantummodo seculi spatium floruere inde tamen unico illo seculo iam imperii amplitudinem assecutae sunt, quam longo post tempore, etiam remissa illa armorum disciplina, retinuerunt.
11. Praecepto praecedenti affine est ut status quis utatur eiusmodi legibus et consuetudinibus quae iustas illi causas, aut saltem praetextus, arma capescendi tanquam in promptu ministrent.

On the contrary, however, the oracle of time is most certain: those nations which have remained longer in the profession and studies of arms (which the Romans and the Turks most especially did) make marvelous advances in amplifying empire. Indeed, even those which flourished in warlike glory for the span of only a single century nevertheless from that one century already attained an amplitude of empire, which for a long time thereafter, even with that discipline of arms relaxed, they retained.
11. Akin to the preceding precept is that a state should make use of such laws and customs as furnish to it, ready to hand, just causes—or at least pretexts—for taking up arms.

Etenim ea est insita animis hominum iustitiae apprehensio, ut bellum (quod tot sequuntur calamitates) nisi gravem ob caussam, saltem speciosam, inferre abstineant. Turcis praesto est semper et ad nutum belli caussa, propagatio scilicet legis et sectae suae. Romani, quanquam pro magno decore imperatoribus apud eos fuerit si fines imperii ipsorum protulisset, tamen ob hanc caussam, ut fines proferentur, nunquam bella susceperunt.

For indeed such is the inborn apprehension of justice in the minds of men, that they refrain from bringing war (which so many calamities follow) unless for a grave cause, or at least a specious one. For the Turks the cause of war is always ready and at a nod: namely, the propagation of their law and sect. The Romans, although it was a great honor for their emperors among them if he had carried forward the boundaries of their empire, nevertheless on this account, that the frontiers be extended, never undertook wars.

Aspiranti igitur ad imperium nationi illud in more sit, ut sensum habeat vividum et acrem iniuriae alicuius vel subditis suis limitaneis, vel mercatoribus, vel publicis ministris illatae, neque a prima provocatione diutius torpeat aut tardet. Item prompta sit ed alacris ad auxilia mittenda sociis suis et foederatis, id quod perpetuum erat apud Romanos. Adeo ut, si forte in populum foederatum, cui etiam cum aliis foedus defensivum intercederet, hostilis impressio facta esset, atque ille a plurimis suppetias peteret, Romani omnium primi semper adesssent, beneficii decus nemini praeripiendum reliquentes.

Therefore, for a nation aspiring to empire let this be the custom: that it have a vivid and sharp sense of any injury inflicted either upon its own frontier-subjects, or upon merchants, or upon public ministers, and that it neither from the first provocation grow torpid nor delay longer. Likewise, let it be prompt and alacritous in sending aid to its allies and confederates, a thing which was perpetual among the Romans. So much so that, if by chance upon a federate people, with whom also a defensive treaty intervened with others, a hostile inroad had been made, and that people sought succor from very many, the Romans, first of all, would always be present, leaving to no one the honor of the benefaction to be preempted.

Quod vero attinet ad bella antiquis temporis propter statuum conformitatem quandam aut correspondentiam tacitam gesta, non video in quo iure illa fundata sint. Talia fuerunt bella quae a Romanis suscepta erant ad Graeciam in libertatem vindicandam; talia a Lacedaemoniis et Atheniensibus ad constituendas aut evertendas democratias et oligarchias; talia quandoque illata sunt a rebuspublicis ut principibus sub praetextu subditos alienos protegendi et a tyrannide liberandi. Ad rem praesentem sufficiat ut illud decernatur, non esse expectandam statui alicui imperii amplitudinem nisi ad quamvis occasionem iustam se armandi protinus expergiscatur.

But as regards wars waged in ancient times on account of a certain conformity of constitutions or tacit correspondence, I do not see on what right those were founded. Such were the wars undertaken by the Romans to vindicate Greece into liberty; such by the Lacedaemonians and the Athenians for establishing or overthrowing democracies and oligarchies; such were sometimes inflicted by commonwealths upon princes under the pretext of protecting others’ subjects and freeing them from tyranny. For the present matter let this suffice to be decreed: that no increase of empire is to be expected for any state unless, at any just occasion of arming, it promptly rouses itself.

12. Nullo omnino corpus, sive sit illud naturale sive politicum, absque exercitatione sanitatem suam tueri queat. Regno autem aut reipublicae iustum atque honorificum bellum loco salubris exercitationis est. Bellum civile profecto instar caloris febrilis est.

12. No body whatsoever, whether natural or political, can keep its health without exercise. For a kingdom or a commonwealth, a just and honorable war is in the place of healthful exercise. Civil war, assuredly, is like the heat of a fever.

At bellum externum instar caloris ex motu, qui valetudini imprimis conducit. Ex pace enim deside atque torpente et emolliuntur animi et corrumpuntur mores. Sed utcunque res se habeat, quatenus ad alicuius status felicitatem, magnitudinis proculdubio interest ut quasi semper in armis sit.

But external war is like heat from motion, which is above all conducive to health. For from peace that is slothful and torpid, minds are softened and morals are corrupted. But however the matter stands, so far as concerns the felicity of any state, it is, without doubt, in the interest of greatness that it be, as it were, always under arms.

Atque exercitus veteranus, perpetuo tanquam sub vexillis habitus, etsi res sit magni proculdubio sumptus et impensae, attamen eiusmodi est ut statui alicui quasi arbitrium rerum inter vicinos, aut saltem plurimum existimationes ad omnia, conferat, id quod insigniter cernere est in Hispanis, qui iam per annos centum et viginti exercitum veteranum ad aliquas partes, licet non semper ad easdem, aluerint.
13. Maris dominium monarchiae quaedam epitome est. Cicero de Pompeii contra Caesarm apparatu scribens ad Atticum consilium (inquit) Pompeii plane Themistocleum est.

And a veteran army, kept continually as if under the standards, although it is without doubt a matter of great cost and expense, is nevertheless of such a kind as to confer upon a state, as it were, the arbitrament of affairs among its neighbors, or at least very great estimation in all things—a fact notably to be seen in the Spaniards, who now for one hundred and twenty years have maintained a veteran army in some regions, albeit not always in the same.
13. The dominion of the sea is a kind of epitome of monarchy. Cicero, writing to Atticus about Pompey’s apparatus against Caesar, says: “Pompey’s plan is plainly Themistoclean.”

Putat enim qui mari potitur, eum rerum potiri. Atque Caesarem Pompeius proculdubio delassasset et attrivisset nisi inani fiducia inflatus ab illo incepto destituisset. Praelia navalia quanti fuerint momenti ex multis exemplis patet.

For he thinks that he who is master of the sea is master of affairs. And Pompey would without doubt have wearied out and worn down Caesar, had he not, puffed up with empty confidence, abandoned that undertaking. That naval battles have been of how great moment is evident from many examples.

Pugna ad Actium orbis imperium determinavit. Pugna ad insulas Cursolares circulum in naribus Turcae posuit. Multoties certe evenit ut victoriae navales finem summae belli attulerint.

The battle at Actium determined the dominion of the world. The battle at the Cursolar Islands put a ring in the Turk’s nostrils. Many times indeed it has certainly happened that naval victories have brought an end to the entire issue of a war.

Sed hoc factum est cum aleae huiusmodi praeliorum totius belli fortuna commissa est. Illud minime dubium, quod qui maris potitur dominio in magna libertate agit, et tantum quantum velit de bello sumere potest, ubi contra qui terrestribus copiis est superior nihilominus plurimus angustiis conflictatur. At hodie atque apud nos Europaeos si unquam aut uspiam potentia navalis (quae quidem huic regno Britanniae in dotem cesset) summi ad rerum fastigia momenti est, tum quia pleraque Europae regna mediterranea simpliciter non sunt, sed maxima ex parte mari cincta, tum etiam quia utriusque Indiae thesauri et opes imperio maris veluti accessorium quiddam existunt.

But this has happened when the fortune of the whole war has been committed to the hazard of such battles. That is least doubtful: he who possesses the dominion of the sea acts with great liberty, and can take from the war as much as he wishes, whereas, conversely, he who is superior in terrestrial forces nonetheless is beset by very many straits. But today, and among us Europeans, if ever or anywhere, naval power (which indeed falls to this kingdom of Britain as a dowry) is of the highest moment for the summits of affairs, both because most kingdoms of Europe are not simply inland, but for the greatest part are girdled by the sea, and also because the treasures and resources of both the Indies are, as it were, an accessory to the command of the sea.

14. Bella moderna velut in tenebris gesta censeri possunt prae gloria et decore vario quae in homines militares priscis temporibus a rebus bellicis resilire solebant. Habemus hodie, fortasse ad animos faciendos, ordines quisdam honorificos militiae, qui tamen iam facti sunt armis et togae communes. Etiam in scutis gentilitis stemmata nonnulla habemus.

14. Modern wars can be reckoned as having been waged as if in darkness, in comparison with the glory and varied decorum which in former times used to redound upon military men from warlike affairs. We have today—perhaps for the heartening of spirits—certain honorific orders of military service, which, however, have now become common to arms and to the toga alike. We also have some pedigrees in family shields (coats of arms).

Insuper hospitia quaedam publica militibus emeritis et mutulatis destinata, et huiusmodi. Verum apud veteres in locis ubi victoriae partae sunt extructa trophaea; laudationes funebres; monumenta magnifica occumbentium in bello; coronae civicae, militares, singulis concessae; nomen ipsum imperatoris, quod postea reges maximi a belli ducibus mutuati sunt; redeuntium ducum bellis prosperi confectis celebres triumphi; donativa atque largitiones ingentes in milites sub exercituum demissionem: haec (inquam) tot et tanta fuerunt, et tam insigni splendore coruscantia, ut pectoribus mortalium etiam maxime conglaciatis igniculos subdere, eaque ad bellum inflammare potuerint. Ante omnia vero mos ille triumphandi apud Romanos non res erat ex pompa aut spectaculum quoddam inane, sed inter prudentissima plane nobilissimaque instituta numerandos, utpote qui in se haec tria haberet, ducum decus et gloriam, aerarii ex spoliis locupletationem, et donitiva militum.

Moreover, certain public hospices were destined for soldiers who had served out their time and for the maimed, and the like. But among the ancients, in the places where victories were won, trophies were erected; funeral laudations; magnificent monuments of those falling in war; civic and military crowns granted to individuals; the very name of imperator, which later the greatest kings borrowed from leaders of war; the celebrated triumphs of commanders returning when wars had been successfully finished; donatives and huge largesses to the soldiers upon the dismission of the armies: these (I say) were so many and so great, and flashing with so conspicuous a splendor, that they could insert little sparks even into the breasts of mortals most thoroughly icebound, and kindle them to war. Above all, however, that custom of triumphing among the Romans was not a matter of mere pomp or some empty spectacle, but is to be numbered plainly among the most prudent and most noble institutions, inasmuch as it contained in itself these three things: the honor and glory of the generals, the enrichment of the treasury from the spoils, and the donatives of the soldiers.

Verum honor triumphi fortasse monarchiis non competit praeterquam in persones regum ipsorum, aut filiorum regum. Quid etiam temporibus imperatorum Romae obtinuit, qui honorem ipsum triumphi sibi et filiis suis de bellis quae praesentes ipsi confecerant tanquam peculiarem reservarunt. Vestimenta autem solummodo et insignia triumphalia aliis ducibus indulserunt.

But the honor of the triumph perhaps does not pertain to monarchies, except in the persons of the kings themselves, or the sons of kings. Moreover, the same obtained in the times of the emperors at Rome, who reserved the very honor of the triumph to themselves and to their sons for wars which they themselves had accomplished in person, as something peculiar. But they indulged only the triumphal vestments and insignia to other generals.

15. Verum, ut sermones hos claudamus, nemo est (ut testatur sacra Scriptura) qui sollicite cogitando potest apponere ad staturam suam cubitum unum in pusillo scilicet corporis humani modulo. Caeterum in magna regnorum et rerumpublicarum fabrica imperium amplificare et fines proferre reges penes et dominantes est. Nam prudenter introducendo leges, instituta, et consuetudines, quales iam proposuimus et alias his similes, posteris et seculis futuris magnitudine sementem fecerunt.

15. But, to close these discourses, there is no one (as Holy Scripture testifies) who by anxious thinking can add a single cubit to his stature—in the small, namely, measure of the human body. But in the great fabric of kingdoms and commonwealths, to amplify empire and to extend the boundaries belongs to kings and those who are dominant. For by prudently introducing laws, institutions, and customs, such as we have already proposed and others like to these, they have sown the seed of greatness for posterity and for ages to come.

Verum ista consilia apud principes raro tractantur, sed res fortunae plerunque committitur.

But such counsels are rarely handled among princes; rather, the matter is for the most part committed to fortune.

XXX. DE REGIMINE VALETUDINIS

30. ON THE REGIMEN OF HEALTH

1. In regimine valetudinis invenire est quandam prudentiam ultra regulas medicinae. Observatio cuiusque propria eorum quae nocent, eorum quae iuvant, optima est medicina ad sanitatem tuendam. Verum tutius est concludere hoc sensi mihi nocuisse, ergo eo non utar, quam isto modo, hoc quod sensi minime offendit, ergo eo uti licet.

1. In the regimen of health there is to be found a certain prudence beyond the rules of medicine. Each person’s own observation of the things that harm and of the things that help is the best medicine for guarding health. But it is safer to conclude thus: this I have sensed to have harmed me, therefore I will not use it, than in this way: this which I sensed did not at all offend, therefore it is permitted to use it.

Etenim vigor iuventutis excessus plurimos tegit, qui tamen in senectute tandem velut debita exigentur. Considera aetatem ingruentem, neque confide eadem perpetuo continuare. Non enim bellum indicendum senectuti.

For indeed the vigor of youth covers very many excesses, which nevertheless in old age will at length be exacted as if debts. Consider the age that is pressing on, and do not trust to continue the same things perpetually. For war is not to be declared upon old age.

Cave subita aliqua mutatione in regiminis parte quapiam principali. Quod si necessitas urgeat, caetera ad eam mutationem accomoda. Secretum enim est, et naturale, et politicum, tutius est multa mutare quam unum magnum.

Beware of any sudden change in some principal part of the regimen. But if necessity urges, accommodate the rest to that change. For it is a secret, both natural and political, that it is safer to change many things than one great thing.

Examini tamen subiicias consuetudines tuas diaetae, somni, exercitationis, vestium, mansionis, et similium, et, si quid nocumento esse iudices, experire illud paulatim exuere, ita tamen ut, si ex mutatione nocumenti aliquid perceperis, ad consueta redeas. Difficile enim distinguere inter ea quae toto genere sunt salubria, et ea quae corporis tui unici constitutioni conveniunt. Vacuo animo esse et hilari ad horas cibi, somni, et exercitationis est ex optimis praeceptis ad prolongandam vitam.

Yet submit to examination your habits of diet, sleep, exercise, clothing, dwelling, and the like; and, if you judge anything to be to your detriment, try to put it off little by little, yet in such a way that, if from the change you perceive any detriment, you return to the accustomed. For it is difficult to distinguish between those things which are, in their whole kind, salubrious, and those which suit the constitution of your unique body. To be with a mind unburdened and cheerful at the hours of food, sleep, and exercise is among the best precepts for prolonging life.

Quatenus ad animi passiones et studia, devita invidiam, metus anxios, iram intus cohibitam, subtiles et nodosas disquisitiones, gaudia et exhilarationes immodicas, tristitiam alte pressam et non communicatam. Amplectere spes, laetitiam potius qam gaudium, delectationum varietatem magis quam satietatem, admirationem et propterea novitates, studia quae animum replent splendidis et illustribus obiecti, veluti historias, fabulas, peragrationes naturae. Medicationem si omnino fugias valetudine utens bona, corpori ingratior accedet sum necessitas ingruerit.

Insofar as regards the passions and pursuits of the mind, avoid envy, anxious fears, anger inwardly restrained, subtle and nodose disquisitions, immoderate joys and exhilarations, sadness pressed deep and not communicated. Embrace hopes, cheerfulness rather than joy, variety of delectations rather than satiety, admiration and therefore novelties, studies which replenish the mind with splendid and illustrious objects, such as histories, fables, peragrations of nature. If you altogether shun medication while using good health, it will come more ungrateful to the body, should necessity press.

Eidem si nimium assuescas, detrahet de viribus et efficacia quando morbus advenerit. Probo potius diaetas quasdam ad certa tempora quam usum medicamentorum frequentem, nisi iampridem transierit in consuetudinem. Diaetae enim huiusmodi alterant corpus magis, perturbant minus.

If you habituate yourself too much to the same, it will detract from its powers and efficacy when disease arrives. I approve rather certain regimens for fixed times than the frequent use of medicaments, unless it has long since passed into custom. For regimens of this sort alter the body more, perturb it less.

Ne contemnas accidens aliquod in corpore novum et insuetum, sed consilium medicorum circa illud ahibe. Dum aegrotas valetudinem tuam cura maxime. Dum vales corpore tuo utere, nec sis nimis delicatus.

Do not contemn any accident in the body that is new and unaccustomed, but take the counsel of physicians concerning it. While you are sick, care for your health most of all. While you are well, make use of your body, and do not be too delicate.

Qui enim dum valet corpore tolerantiam imperat in morbis compluribus, qui scilicet non sunt acuti, diaeta sola et corporis regimine paulo exquisitiore curari possit absque multa medicatione. Celsus monitum illud suum nunquam parturiisset ut medicus, nisi una fuisset vir prudens. In praeceptis dat tanquam arcanum tuendae valetudinis et prolongandae vitae, ut quis contraria alternet et subinde mutet, sed cum inclinatione in extremum benignius.

For he who, while he is well in body, enjoins endurance upon himself in many illnesses—which, namely, are not acute—can be cured by diet alone and by a somewhat more exquisite regimen of the body, without much medication. Celsus would never have brought forth that admonition of his as a physician, unless he had also been a prudent man. In his precepts he gives, as a kind of arcanum for safeguarding health and prolonging life, that one should alternate contraries and from time to time make a change, but with a leaning toward the more benign extreme.

Nempe, victu utere parciore et pleniore, sed pleniore saepius; vigiliis et somno largiori insuescas, sed somno magis; quietem et motum sive exercitium repetas, sed frequentius motum, et similia. Ita enim matura simul et fovebitur et robur acquiret. Ex medicis aliqui erga aegrum et eius desideria tam sunt indulgentes ut morbi curam legitimam non urgeant.

Namely, use a diet both more sparing and more full, but more often the fuller; accustom yourself to vigils and to more ample sleep, but more to sleep; return to rest and to motion, that is, exercise, but more frequently to motion, and the like. For thus, in due season, it will at once be fostered and will acquire robustness. Among physicians, some are so indulgent toward the sick man and his desires that they do not urge the legitimate care of the disease.

Alii contra tam regulares et rigidi in procedendo secundum artem circa curam morbi, ut aegri conditionem et naturam non satis respiciant. Medicum elige temperaturae mediae, vel si hoc ad votum in uno aliquo medico non cesserit, adhibe ex utroque genere unum. Atque memor sis advocare medicum corporis tui gnarum non minus quam in arte sua spectatum.

Others, on the contrary, are so regular and rigid in proceeding according to the art in the cure of disease that they do not sufficiently regard the patient’s condition and nature. Choose a physician of middle temperament; or, if this has not fallen out to your wish in any one physician, employ one of each kind. And be mindful to call in a physician no less well-acquainted with your body than approved in his art.

XXXI. DE SUSPICIONE

31. ON SUSPICION

1. Suspiciones inter cogitationes sunt ut inter aves vespertiliones: nunquam volitant nisi luce crepera. Reprimendae certe sunt, aut saltem caute custodiendae. Mentem enim obnubilant, amicos alienant, et negota interpellant ita ut nec alacriter nec constanter peragi possint.

1. Suspicions are among thoughts as bats among birds: they never fly except in crepuscular light. They surely ought to be checked, or at least cautiously kept under guard. For they cloud the mind, alienate friends, and interrupt affairs, so that they can be carried through neither briskly nor steadily.

Reges inclinant ad tyrannidem, maritos ad zelotypiam, etiam prudentes ad animi vacillationem et melancholiam. Sunt autem suspiciones defectus non tam cordis quam cerebri. Locum enim reperiunt etiam in fortissimis animis.

Kings incline toward tyranny, husbands toward jealousy, even the prudent toward vacillation of mind and melancholy. Suspicions are defects not so much of the heart as of the brain. For they find a place even in the bravest souls.

Exemplo esse poterit Henricus Septimus rex Angliae, quo non fuit alter suspicacior, nec tamen animosior. In eiusmodi vero temperatura minus nocent. Plerunque enim non admittuntur nisi prius discutiantur utrum probabiles sint annon.

Henry VII, king of England, could serve as an example, than whom no other was more suspicious, yet none more high-spirited. In such a temperament they do less harm; for generally they are not admitted unless they are first examined, whether they are probable or not.

Verum in meticulosis ingeniis nimio plus praevalent. Nihil certe aeque facit hominem multa suspicari ac parum scire. Itaque rectissime adhibetur remedium ad suspiciones, ut quis inquisitionem urgeat.

However, in timorous dispositions they prevail far too much. Nothing, surely, makes a man suspect many things as much as knowing too little. Therefore the most correct remedy for suspicions is to press inquiry.

Fumo enim et tenebris aluntur suspiciones. Quid sibi tandem volunt homines? Existimant cunctos quorum opera utuntur, et quibuscum versantur, angelos esse aut sanctos?

For suspicions are nourished by smoke and darkness. What, then, do men want? Do they suppose that all those whose services they employ, and with whom they have dealings, are angels or saints?

Nesciuntne illos ad suos proprios fines aspirare, et unumquemque proximiorem esse sibi quam alteri? Nullus itaque est modus moderandis suspicionibus aptior quam remedia parare ac si suspiciones essent verae, iis vero froena iniicere ac si essent falsae. Eatenus enim suspiciones usui esse poterint ut ita nos comparemus, quod quamvis verum foret quod suspicamur, nocere tamen non possit.

Do they not know that those men aspire to their own proper ends, and that each is nearer to himself than to another? There is therefore no method more apt for moderating suspicions than to prepare remedies as if the suspicions were true, but to put a bridle on them as if they were false. For suspicions can be of use to this extent: that we so prepare ourselves that, even if what we suspect were true, nevertheless it could not harm.

Suspiciones quas ex se mens colligit sunt nisi inanes bombi. Quae vero externo artificio aluntur animisque hominum installantur susurronum et famigeratorum sermonibus aculeos habent. Optima certe ratio expediendi nos ex impedita hac suspicionum sylva est libera quaedam et aperta illarum declaratio apud eos quos suspectos habemus.

Suspicions which the mind gathers from itself are nothing but empty buzzings. But those which are nourished by external artifice and are installed into the minds of men by the discourses of whisperers and fame-bearers have barbs. Surely the best method of extricating ourselves from this tangled forest of suspicions is a certain free and open declaration of them before those whom we hold suspect.

Hinc enim fieri non potest quin plus cognoscamus utrum verae sint necne quam antea. Hoc simul reddet eum quem suspectum habemus cautum magis et circumspectum, ne novam praebeat suspicionis ansam. Sed hoc fieri non oportet cum hominibus pravae indolis et degeneris.

For from this it cannot but come to pass that we know more whether they are true or not than before. This at the same time will render him whom we hold suspect more cautious and circumspect, lest he afford a new occasion of suspicion. But this ought not to be done with men of perverse and degenerate disposition.

Hi enim ubi semel se suspectos sentiant fideles postquam nunquam evadent. Diverbium habentur apud Italos sospetto licentia fede, quasi suspicio fidei missionem daret, cum potius fidem accendere deberet ut seipsam liberaret.

For indeed, these men, once they feel themselves suspected, will never thereafter turn out faithful. There is a proverb among the Italians, sospetto licentia fede, as if suspicion were giving faith its discharge, whereas rather it ought to kindle faith, so that it might free itself.

XXXII. DE DISCURSU SERMONUM

32. ON THE DISCURSIVENESS OF SPEECHES

1. Sunt qui in sermonibus affectant optius ingenii laudem qua in quamcumque partem disputare possint, quam iudicii in veritate enucleanda, ac si laudabile esset invenire quid dici possit, non quid teneri debeat. Sunt qui in promptu habent locos aliquos communes et themata in quibus luxuriantur, caetera steriles et ieiuni. Quod penuriae genus plerunque taedio afficit, et quamprimum notam subierit in ridiculum evadit.

1. There are those who in discourses affect rather the praise of ingenuity, by which they can dispute into whatever side, than of judgment in enucleating truth—as if it were laudable to find what can be said, not what ought to be held. There are those who have at the ready certain commonplaces and themes in which they luxuriate, but in the rest they are sterile and jejune. This kind of penury for the most part brings tedium, and as soon as it has incurred the mark, it passes into ridicule.

Pars sermonis honoratior haec est, ansam sermonis praebere, et rursus eidem moderari ac ad alia transire. Tunc enim quis choream ducit. Bonum sane in conversatione et colloquiis familiaribus subinde variare, et sermones circa res praesentes cum disputationibus, narrationes cum argumentis, quaestiones cum positivis, iocosa cum seriis immiscere.

The more honorable part of discourse is this: to provide the handle of the conversation, and in turn to moderate the same and to pass on to other matters. For then one leads the dance. It is certainly good in conversation and in familiar colloquies now and then to vary, and to intermingle discourses about present matters with disputations, narratives with arguments, questions with positive statements, the jocose with the serious.

Satietatem siquidem et fastidium parit in aliquo subiecto diutius haerere. Quantum ad iocos, sunt quaedam quae a ioco, velut privilegio, eximi debent: religio, negotia reipublicae, personae sublimes, privatorum negotia maioris momenti, denique casus omnis miserabilis. Nonnullos tamen reperies quibus ingenia sua obdormiscere videbuntur, nisi acutum aliquem et mordacem sarcasmum in quempiam contorserint.

Satiety, indeed, and fastidiousness are begotten by lingering too long on some subject. As to jests, there are certain things that ought to be exempt from jest, as by a privilege: religion; the affairs of the commonwealth; exalted persons; the greater-moment business of private individuals; and, finally, every pitiable mishap. Yet you will find some for whom their wits seem to fall asleep unless they have hurled at someone some sharp and mordant sarcasm.

Ille habitus omnino coercendus:

That habit must be altogether restrained:

Parce, puer, stimulis, et fortius utere loris.

Spare, boy, the goads, and use the reins more strongly.

2. In summa, discrimen servandum inter salsa et amara. Certe qui satyricam amplectitur venam, sicut aliis metum iniicit ab ingenio suo, ita ab aliorum memoria metuere debet. Qui interrogat multum, et addiscet multa, et placebit in multis, praesertim si quaestiones suas ad captum et peritiam respondentis adaptet, siquidem occasionem ei praebebit scientiam suam ostentandi.

2. In sum, a discrimination must be preserved between the salty and the bitter. Certainly, he who embraces a satyric vein, just as he instills fear in others by his genius, so ought to fear from the memory of others. He who questions much will also learn many things and will be agreeable in many matters, especially if he adapts his questions to the capacity and expertise of the respondent, since he will thereby afford him the occasion of ostentating his knowledge.

Ipse autem novis continuo scientiae augmentis dotabitur. Molestae autem ne sint quaestiones. Id examinatori convenit.

He himself, moreover, will be endowed continually with new augmentations of knowledge. But let the questions not be vexatious. That befits the examiner.

Etiam qui sermonis familiaris dignitatem tueri cupit, aliis vices loquendi relinquat. Quin et, si qui adsint qui dominari in sermonibus et tempus universum occupare studeant, illos arte quadam abrumpere sciat, et alios ad loquendum inducere, sicult tibicines moderari solent saltantibus. Scientiam si quandoque dissimules eorum quae scire existimaris, putaberis alias ea scire quae nescis.

Even he who desires to preserve the dignity of familiar discourse should leave to others the turns of speaking. Nay rather, if there are some present who aim to dominate the conversations and to occupy all the time, let him know how by a certain art to break them off and to induce others to speak, just as pipers are wont to moderate for the dancers. If you sometimes dissimulate knowledge of the things you are supposed to know, you will be thought at other times to know those things you do not know.

Sermo alicuius de seipso rarus esse debet et cum iudicio. Novi quendam cui saepe in ora erat per ironiam oportet hunc egregie sapientem esse, ita multo de seipso loquitur. Vix occurrit casus aliquis in quo se laudare quis decore possit, praeter unum.

A man’s discourse about himself ought to be rare and with judgment. I know a certain person who often had on his lips, by irony, “this fellow must be exceedingly sapient, he talks so much about himself.” Scarcely does any case occur in which one can decorously praise oneself, save one.

Is est, si virtutem alterius laudet, sed eam intelligo virtutem ad quam ipse aspirat. Sermo alios pungens et vellicans parce utendus. Etenim sermones familiares debent esse instar campi aperti in quo spatiari licet, non viae regiae quae deducit domum.

That is, if he praises another’s virtue—but I understand that virtue to be the one to which he himself aspires. Talk that is pungent and vellicates others is to be used sparingly. For familiar conversations ought to be like an open field in which it is permitted to stroll, not a royal road which conducts one home.

Noveram nobiles duos ad partem Angliae occidentalem, quorum alter scommatibus nimio plus indulgebat, sed hospitalis admodum erat. Alter autem quaerere solebat a convivis illius prioris dic, sodes, annon scomma aliquod intercessarat in quempiam factum? Cui conviva forte tale aliquid contigit.

I knew two nobles in the western part of England, of whom the one indulged far too much in jests and scoffs, yet was very hospitable. The other was accustomed to ask the guests of the former, “Say, pray, had not some jest intervened, made at someone’s expense?” To one guest, by chance, something of that sort befell.

At ille, utpote alterius aemulus, satis sciebam eum prandium bonum malis condimentis corruputurum. Sermo cum discretione praestat eloquentiae, et apte loqui et accommodate ad personam cum qua colloquimur, efficacius est quam ornamenta verborum aut methodi captare. Continuata oratio bona, absque interlocutione bona, tarditatem monstrat, at replicatio et interlocutio bona, absque facultate orationem continuandi, penuriam et scientiam minime fundatam prodit, quemadmodum in animalibus videmus quae cursu minus valent, flexu maxime agilia esse, ut fit inter leporarium et leporem.

But he, as being an emulator of the other, I well knew would spoil a good luncheon with bad condiments. Discourse with discretion excels eloquence, and to speak aptly and accommodated to the person with whom we converse is more efficacious than to snatch at ornaments of words or of method. A good continuous oration, without good interlocution, shows tardity; but ready reply and good interlocution, without the faculty of continuing a speech, betrays penury and a knowledge least founded, just as we see in animals that are less strong in running to be most agile in turning, as happens between the hare-hound and the hare.

Circumstantiis nimio pluribus orationem vestire antequam rem ipsam attingas taedium parit, iisdem penitus carere abruptum quiddam est et ingratum.

To clothe an oration with far too many circumstances before you touch the thing itself begets tedium; to be utterly without the same is something abrupt and unpleasing.

XXXIII. DE PLANTATIONIBUS POPULORUM ET COLONIIS

33. ON THE PLANTATIONS OF PEOPLES AND COLONIES

1. Coloniae eminent inter antiqua et heroica opera. Mundus cum adhuc iuvenis esset plures progenuit liberos; nunc senex factus, pauciores. Etenim non immerito colonias novas tanquam liberos nationum antiquorum duxerim.

1. Colonies are eminent among ancient and heroic works. The world, while it was still young, begot more children; now, having become old, fewer. For indeed, not without good reason, I would deem new colonies as the children of the ancient nations.

Plantationem populorum probo in solo puro, intelligo ubi populus non destruitur ut populus inferatur. Hoc enim cum sit, extirpatio prorsus est, non plantatio. Plantatio regionum non absimilis est plantationi sylvarum, in quibus de utilitate capienda nihil cogitandum ante annum vicesimum, verum fructus uber et locuples in fine operis expectandus.

I approve the plantation of peoples on pure ground; I understand it to be where a people is not destroyed so that a people may be brought in. For when this is the case, it is outright extirpation, not plantation. The plantation of regions is not dissimilar to the plantation of forests, in which nothing about utility to be taken should be considered before the twentieth year; rather, an abundant and opulent yield is to be expected at the end of the work.

Illud certe quod praecipue colonias, alias bene successuras, evertit, fuit sordida illa et avida lucri captatio sub initiis coloniarum. Verum est lucri segetem acceleratam, non negligendam, modo cum bono coloniae coniuncta sit, sed non ultra. Indignum quiddam et infaustum est, cum faex populi, exules, et damnati in coloniae seminarium sumuntur.

That, assuredly, which chiefly overturns colonies—others that would otherwise succeed well—was that sordid and greedy capture of lucre at the outset of colonies. It is true that an accelerated harvest of profit is not to be neglected, provided it is conjoined with the good of the colony, but not beyond. It is something unworthy and ill-omened, when the dregs of the people, exiles, and the condemned are taken for the seedbed of a colony.

Quin et coloniam ipsam corrumpit et perdit. Huiusmodi enim homines profligati instar erronum degent, nec operi accingent, sed otio se dedent. Quin et scelera perpetrabunt, fruges consument, et coloniae fastidio afficientur.

Nay more, it corrupts and destroys the colony itself. For men of this sort, profligate, will live after the manner of vagrants, nor will they gird themselves to the work, but will give themselves over to idleness. Nay even, they will perpetrate crimes, consume the crops, and will be affected with a distaste for the colony.

Ac tum demum nuncios et literas in patriam mittent in plantationis praeiudicium et dedecus. Populus qui in coloniam sumatur praecipue sint artifices generum sequentium: hortulani, aratores, fossores, fabri ferrarii, fabri lignarii, piscatores, aucupes, chirurgi, pharmacopolae, coci, pistores, cervisarii, et huiusmodi, In regione ubi plantare instituis circumspice primo quod genus esculentorum et poculentorum terra ex sese sine cultura edat, veluti castaneas, iuglandes, nuces pinus, olivas, dactylos, pruna, cerasa, mel silvestre, et similia. Dein disquire quid genus victualiorum solum proferre possit celeriter intra annum, veluti pastinacas, caricas, brassicas, cepas, raphanos, melones, pepones, cucumeres, artiplices de Hierusalem, maiz, et alia.

And then at last they will send messengers and letters to their homeland to the prejudice and disgrace of the plantation. The people who are to be taken into the colony should chiefly be artisans of the following kinds: gardeners, ploughmen, diggers, iron-smiths, carpenters, fishermen, fowlers, surgeons, pharmacopolists (apothecaries), cooks, bakers, brewers, and the like. In the region where you intend to plant, survey first what kind of edibles and potables the land of itself, without cultivation, brings forth, such as chestnuts, walnuts, pine nuts, olives, dates, plums, cherries, wild honey, and the like. Then inquire what kind of victuals the soil can produce quickly within a year, such as parsnips, figs, cabbages, onions, radishes, melons, pumpkins, cucumbers, artichokes of Jerusalem, maize, and others.

Quantum ad triicum, siliquam, hordeum, et avenam, nimiam grana haec poscunt culturam. Attamen a fabis et pisis etiam inchoare licet, tum quia minore opera indigent, tum quia non minus cibi loco quam panis inserviunt. Etiam ab oriza multiplex provenit seges, quae et cibi quoque copiam facit.

As for wheat, siligo (fine wheat), barley, and oats, these grains demand excessive cultivation. Nevertheless, one may also begin with beans and peas, both because they require less labor and because they serve no less as food than bread. Likewise from rice a manifold harvest comes forth, which also provides an abundance of food.

Ante omnia, magna copia transportanda pannis biscocti, farinae ex avena, pollinis, farinae omnigenae, et similium, ut sub initiis praesto sint donec panis confici possit. Pecudes et aves delige eas quae a morbis praecipue immunes sunt et prae caeteris prolificae, quales sunt porci, caprae, galinae, galinae Indicae, anseres, columbae domesticae, cuniculi, et similes. Praecipio autem piscationibus incumbendum, tum ad sustentationem colonia, tum ad lucrum exportationis.

Before all things, a great supply must be transported of twice-baked bread (hardtack), flour from oats, meal, flour of every kind, and the like, so that at the outset they may be at hand until bread can be prepared. Choose livestock and birds which are chiefly immune from diseases and, beyond the rest, prolific—such as pigs, goats, hens, Indian hens (turkeys), geese, domestic doves, rabbits, and the like. Moreover, I prescribe that one apply oneself to fisheries, both for the sustentation of the colony and for the profit of exportation.

Commeatus in coloniis adeo parca manu fere distribuendus ac in oppidis obsessis esset, hoc est pro rata. Maxima autem pars soli quod in hortos aut segetes convertitur horreis publicis assignetur, in quibus fruges reponantur et mensura certa distribuantur, ita tamen ut supersint nonnullae fundi portiones in quibus industria singulorum se exerceat. Circumspice insuper quas merces nativas regio illa producat, ut exportatio earum in loca ubi maxime in pretio sunt sumptus levet, ut usuvenit in nicotiano apud Virginiam, modo non sit (ut iam dictum) in praeiudicium intempestivum coloniae ipsius.

Provisions in colonies must be distributed with so sparing a hand as in besieged towns, that is, pro rata. Moreover, let the greatest part of the soil that is turned into gardens or fields be assigned to the public granaries, in which the crops are to be stored and distributed by a fixed measure—yet so that some portions of the estate remain over in which the industry of individuals may exercise itself. Look about, furthermore, for what native commodities that region produces, so that the exportation of them to places where they are most in price may lighten expenses, as happens with the Nicotian (tobacco) in Virginia—provided it be not (as already said) to the untimely prejudice of the colony itself.

Sylvae in regionibus desertis ut plurimum abundant. Itaque ligna ad aedificia, naves, aut eiusmodi usus apta inter praecipuas merces numeranda. Si inveniatur vena ferri et rivuli ad molendina ferraria idonea, ferrum e mercibus quaestuosis est in regionibus sylvosis.

Forests in deserted regions abound for the most part. And so timber suitable for buildings, ships, or uses of that kind is to be numbered among the principal commodities. If a vein of iron is found and little streams suitable for iron-mills, iron is among the lucrative commodities in forested regions.

Salis nigri confectio per calorem solis, si clima ferat, digna res est quae tentetur. Etiam sericum vegetabile, si adsit, merx est lucrosa. Pix cuiuscunque generis, ubi proveniunt pinus et abietes, semper praesto est.

The confection of black salt by the heat of the sun, if the climate allows, is a thing worthy to be attempted. Also vegetable silk, if it be present, is a lucrative commodity. Pitch of whatever kind, where pines and firs grow, is always available.

Quin et pharmaca et ligna odorata si reperiantur haud parvum commodum praebent. Etiam cineres quibus ad sapam utuntur non modicum utilitatis afferent. Similiter et alia quae perquiri possunt.

Indeed both pharmaceutic remedies and aromatic woods, if they are found, afford no small advantage. Likewise the ashes which they use for sapa will bring no moderate usefulness. Similarly also other things which can be sought out.

Verum fodinis ne confidas nimium, praesertim a principio. Fodinae enim fallaces sunt et sumptuosae, et spe pulchra lactentes colonos reddunt circa alia socordes. Regimen coloniae committatur uni cui tamen assideant consiliarii aliquot, atque muniantur auctoritate ad exemplum iuris miitaris, sed aliquantulum restricta.

Yet do not put too much trust in mines, especially at the beginning. For mines are deceitful and costly, and with fair hope they cajole the colonists, making them slothful about other matters. Let the governance of the colony be entrusted to one, to whom nevertheless several counselors should sit beside, and let them be fortified with authority after the example of military law, but somewhat restricted.

Ante omna, hunc sibi decerpant homines fructum vivendo in eremo, ut Deum semper eiusque cultum prae oculis habeant. Rursus, colonia a numerosiore concilio (intelligo in regione, matre coloniae residente) non pendeat, nec ob contributiones exiguas multitudini nimiae subiiciatur. Sed sit numerus eorum qui negotia coloniae procurant et ordinant moderatus.

Before all things, let men pluck this fruit for themselves by living in the desert: that they always have God and his worship before their eyes. Again, let the colony not depend upon a more numerous council (I mean, in the region, with the mother-colony residing), nor be subjected to an excessive multitude on account of meager contributions. But let the number of those who manage and order the affairs of the colony be moderate.

Sintque potius ex nobilibus et generosis quam mercatoribus. Hi enim lucro praesenti plus satis inhiant. Sit plane immunitas a vectigalibus et portoriis donec colonia adoleverit, neque tantum immunitas a solutionibus pecuniarum concedatur, sed etiam libertas merces in quascunque velint partes exportandi, nisi gravis aliqua caussa obfuerit.

Let them be rather from the nobles and the well‑born than from merchants. For these, indeed, gape more than enough after present profit. Let there plainly be immunity from imposts and customs until the colony has grown up; and let not only immunity from payments of moneys be granted, but also the liberty of exporting merchandise into whatever parts they wish, unless some grave cause should stand in the way.

Coloniam populo ne farcias aut super oneres alios post alios mittendo, sed potius informationi diligenti intende quot capita de tempore in tempus minuantur, eaque numero conveniente pro rata suppleas, ita tamen ut coloni bene victitent nec penuria affligantur. Magnum iampridem salubritati complurium coloniarum detrimentum intulit aedificatio iuxta mare et fluvios in locis paludinosis et aquosis. Itaque, etsi ab huiusmodi locis incipiendum propter vecturae et aliarum rerum commoditatem, paulatim tamen in superiores regionis partes et ab aquis remotiores ascendendum.

Do not cram the colony with people, nor overburden it by sending in one contingent after another, but rather apply yourself to diligent information as to how many heads from time to time are diminished, and make up for these in a suitable number proportionally, yet in such a way that the colonists may live well and not be afflicted by penury. Building next to the sea and rivers in swampy and watery places has long since brought great detriment to the salubrity of many colonies. Therefore, although one must begin from places of this sort because of the convenience of transport and of other matters, nevertheless one must gradually ascend into the higher parts of the region and those more remote from the waters.

Interest etiam sanitatis coloniae ut salis sat bona copia convehatur quo cibi, quos verisimile est putridos aliter saepe futuros, condiantur. Si coloniam plantes ubi barbari sedes suas habeant, neutiquam eos nugis tantum et tricis concilies, sed iusticia et modis gratiosis demerere. Nihil tamen de praesidiis minuendo quae ad securitatem pertinent.

It also concerns the health of the colony that a sufficiently good supply of salt be conveyed, by which foods, which are likely otherwise often to become putrid, may be seasoned. If you plant a colony where barbarians have their seats, by no means conciliate them only with trifles and trinkets, but win them over by justice and gracious methods. Yet diminish nothing of the garrisons that pertain to security.

Neque etiam benevolentiam eorum aucupare auxiliis contra hostes suos, sed auxiliis defensionis non incommodum erit subvenire. Interest etiam aliquos ex indigenis saepe in regionem unde colonia migravit mittere ubi viderent conditiones hominum suis multo praestantiores, idque sub reditu inter suos divulgent. Postquam colonia adoleverit et robur acceperit, tempestivum erit mulieres submittere ut colonia ex sese propagetur, nec semper ab externis pendeat.

Nor should you even angle for their benevolence by aids against their own enemies, but it will not be unsuitable to come to their help with aids of defense. It is also of concern to send some of the indigenous people often into the region whence the colony migrated, where they would see the conditions of the inhabitants far superior to their own, and to have them, upon return, divulge this among their own. After the colony has grown up and taken on robustness, it will be timely to send in women, so that the colony may propagate from itself and not always depend on externals.

Super omnia flagitiosissimum est coloniam semel deductam deserere et destituere. Praeterquam enim quod dedecori est, nil aliud est quam proditio mera profusioque sanguinis complurium hominum miserorum.

Above all, it is most flagitious to desert and abandon a colony once established. For besides the fact that it is a disgrace, it is nothing else than mere treason and a profusion of the blood of many miserable men.

XXXIV. DE DIVITIIS

34. ON RICHES

1. Divitias cognomine magis proprio vocare nequeam quam ut eas appellem impedimenta virtutis. Sicut enim se habent impedimenta ad exercitum, ita divitiae ad virtutem: necessariae siquidem sunt, sed graves. Quinetiam cura illarum victoriam saepe disturbat.

1. I cannot call riches by any more proper by-name than to name them the impediments of virtue. For as the baggage relates to an army, so riches to virtue: indeed they are necessary, but burdensome. And moreover, the care of them often disturbs victory.

Divitiarum magnarum nullus est usus praeterquam in iis expedendis, caetera in opinione versantur. Idem dictat Salomon, ubi multae sunt opes, multi qui comedunt eas; et quid prodest possessori, nisi quod cernat divitias oculis suis? Possessio divitiarum nulla voluptate dominum perfundit quantum ad sensum.

There is no use of great riches except in disbursing them; the rest revolve in opinion. Solomon dictates the same: where there is much wealth, there are many who eat it; and what does it profit the possessor, save that he beholds the riches with his eyes? The possession of riches suffuses the master with no pleasure, as regards sense.

Est sane custodia ipsarum. Est etiam potestas donativi aut distributionis. Est et fama, et inflatio ab ipsis.

There is indeed their custody. There is also the power of donative or of distribution. There is also fame, and inflation arising from them.

Sed non datur solidus ipsarum usus qui ad dominum pertingat. Annon vides ficta illa pretia quibus gemmae et huiusmodi rariora aestimantur, et quam inania opera suscipiantur ad ostentationem meram, ut usus aliquis divitiarum magnarum videri possit? Sed dicet quispiam usum earum vel in hoc maxime cerni posse, quod dominos ex periculis et calamitatibus redimant.

But the solid use of them is not given that reaches the owner. Do you not see those feigned prices by which gems and rarities of this sort are appraised, and how empty works are undertaken for mere ostentation, so that some use of great riches may seem to be seen? But someone will say that their use may be seen especially in this, that they redeem their masters from dangers and calamities.

Ut ait Solomon, substantia divitis urbs roboris eius, et quasi murus elevatus in imaginatione sua. Sed caute Solomon, quod imaginatione, non reipsa, tales sunt. Plures enim, sine controversia, divitiis suis magnis voene runt quam redempti sunt.

As Solomon says, the substance of the rich man is his city of strength, and as a wall raised on high in his own imagination. But Solomon cautiously says that in imagination, not in reality, such they are. For more people, without controversy, have been sold by their great riches than have been redeemed.

Divitias magnas ne secteris, sed quas parare possis iuste, impendere sobrie, erogare hilariter, et libenter dimittere. Neque tamen contemptum ipsarum, instar monachi alicuius aut a seculo abstracti, foveas, sed de usu distingue, sicut Cicero optime de Rabirio Posthumo, in studio rei amplificandae apparebat non avaritiae praedam sed instrumentum bonitati quaeri. Ausculta etiam Salomoni, nec praeproperae opum accumulationi inhia: qui festinat ad divitias non erit insons.

Do not pursue great riches, but such as you can justly procure, to expend soberly, to disburse cheerfully, and to let go willingly. Nor, however, should you foster a contempt of them, after the fashion of some monk or one withdrawn from the world, but distinguish on the basis of use, as Cicero very well [said] about Rabirius Postumus: in the zeal for amplifying the estate, it appeared that what was being sought was not a prey for avarice but an instrument for goodness. Hearken also to Solomon, and do not gape after a precipitate accumulation of wealth: he who hastens to riches will not be innocent.

Fingunt poetae Plutum (qui divitias sonat) a Iove missum claudicare et tardigradum esse, a Plutone autem currere et pedibus celerem, innuentes divitias bonis artibus et iusto labore partas tarde accedere, sed per mortem aliorum advenientes (veluti ex haereditatibus, testamentis, aut similibus) praecipitanter ruere. Nec minus poterit fabula ea de Plutone intelligi, si Plutonem pro Diabolo accipias. Cum enim opes a Diabolo fluunt (veluti per fraudes, oppressiones, iniusticiam, et scelera) rapido cursu feruntur.

Poets feign Plutus (whose name sounds “riches”) sent by Jove to limp and to be slow-going, but when from Pluto, to run and be swift of foot, insinuating that riches acquired by good arts and by just labor approach slowly, but those arriving through the death of others (as from inheritances, testaments, or the like) rush headlong. Nor will this fable be less intelligible of Pluto, if you take Pluto for the Devil. For when wealth flows from the Devil (as through frauds, oppressions, injustice, and crimes) it is borne with rapid course.

2. Viae ad ditescendum variae, et pleraeque earum foedae. Parsimonia inter optimas censeri possit, neque tamen ipsa omnino innocens est. Opera enim liberalitatis et charitatis coarctat.

2. The ways to grow rich are various, and most of them are foul. Parsimony could be reckoned among the best, yet it is not itself altogether innocent. For it constricts the works of liberality and charity.

Soli cultura, quasi ad divitias maxime genuina, utpote quae benedictio magnae matris telluris sit. Verum lenta est haec via. Attamen ubi homines insigniter opulenti se ad agriculturam et lucra rustica submittunt, divitias in immensum coacervant.

The cultivation of the soil, as it were the most genuine path to riches, since it is a benediction of the great mother Earth. But this way is slow. Yet when men conspicuously opulent submit themselves to agriculture and to rustic profits, they heap up riches to an immense extent.

Noveram ex proceribus Angliae quendam cui maximi reditus proveniebant e re rustica supra subditos caeteros quoscunque aetatis meae. Dives erat armentis, ovibus, sylvis tam caeduis quam grandioribus, lithanthracibus, frumento, plumbi et ferri fodinis, et compluribus aliis proventibus rusticis. Adeo ut terra ei instar maris erat, merces perpetuo importans.

I knew among the nobles of England a certain man to whom the greatest revenues accrued from the rural interest, beyond any other subjects whatsoever of my time. He was wealthy in herds, sheep, woods both coppice and larger timber, in stone-coal, grain, mines of lead and iron, and in several other rustic proceeds. So much so that the land was to him as the sea, perpetually importing merchandise.

Recte a quodam observatum se magno cum labore ad exiguas, et nullo fere ad magnas divitias pervenisse. Postquam enim res alicuius nummaria sic increverit ut nundiarum et mercatuum opportunitates praestolari possit, atque eos contractus superare quibus ob summae magnitudinem perpauci admodum homines apti sunt, atque etiam in laboribus aliorum participare qui minus pecunia abundant, fieri non potest quin supra modum ditescat. Lucra ex professionibus honesta certe sunt, et duabus rebus promoventur maxime, diligentia et fama bona propter probitatem in negotiando.

It was rightly observed by a certain man that he had, with great labor, come to scant riches, and to great riches with hardly any. For after someone’s pecuniary resources have so increased that he can await the opportunities of fairs and markets, and can carry off those contracts for which, on account of the greatness of the sum, very few men are fit, and can also participate in the labors of others who are less abundant in money, it cannot but be that he grows rich beyond measure. Profits from professions are certainly honorable, and they are promoted chiefly by two things: diligence and good reputation on account of probity in negotiating.

At lucra ex contractibus maioribus plerunque naturae magis ancipitis, cum quis scilicet aliorum necessitates et angustias obsideat, servos et ministros alienos in damnum dominorum corrumpat, emptores alios, qui in maiore forte pretia consensissent, artificiose et vafre summoveat, et huiusmodi fraudes exerceat. Quae omnes merito damnandae sunt. Quantum vero ad emptiones animo non retinendi sed rursus divendendi, illae ex utraque fere parte molunt, tam venditorem quam emptorem prementes.

But the lucre from larger contracts is for the most part of a more ambivalent nature, when, namely, a man besieges the necessities and straits of others, corrupts others’ slaves and attendants to the damage of their masters, artfully and slyly removes other buyers who perhaps would have consented to higher prices, and practices frauds of this sort. All of which are deservedly to be condemned. As for purchases with the intention not of retaining but of selling again, those grind, as it were, on almost both sides, pressing both the seller and the buyer.

Societates locuplent affatim si cautus adhibeatur delectus eorum quibuscum societas initur. Foenus ex certissimis lucri generibus est, licet ex pravissimis, utpote quod hominem panem suum comedere faciat in sudore vultus alieni, atque in Sabatto operari non cessat. Attamen certum licet sit non caret rimis suis secretis, siquidem notarii et institores ad commodum proprium homines fortunarum dubiarum quandoque extollent.

Partnerships enrich abundantly, if a cautious selection be applied of those with whom the partnership is entered. Usury is among the surest kinds of gain, albeit among the most depraved, inasmuch as it makes a man eat his bread in the sweat of another’s brow, and does not cease to work on the Sabbath. Yet though it be sure, it is not without its secret fissures, since notaries and factors, for their own advantage, will sometimes exalt men of doubtful fortunes.

Primum esse in inventione aliqua nova aut privilegio inundationem quandam opum interdum largitur, sicut contigit primo sacchari excoctore in Canariis. Itaque si quis se peritum dialecticum praestare possit ut addat inventioni iudicium, magna haud dubie efficiet, praesertim si tempora sint propitia. Qui lucra tantummodo certa captat, aegre ad magnas divitias assurget.

To be first in some new invention, or by privilege, sometimes lavishes a kind of inundation of wealth, as happened to the first sugar-refiner in the Canaries. And so, if someone can show himself a skilled dialectician so as to add judgment to invention, he will without doubt accomplish great things, especially if the times are propitious. He who hunts only sure gains hardly rises to great riches.

Contra, qui totus in incertis est vix fortunarum dispendia vitabit. Bonum igitur fuerit incerta lucra certis munire, ut damnis subveniatur. Monopolia et mercium coemptiones ad revendiditonem, ubi lege nulla prohibentur, ad divitias viam sternunt facilem, praesertim si quis prospicere possit quae merces in aestimationem venturae sint, atque eo modo se illis abunde instruat.

On the contrary, he who is wholly in uncertainties will scarcely avoid losses of fortune. It will therefore be good to fortify uncertain profits with certain ones, so that losses may be relieved. Monopolies and coemptions of goods for re-selling, where they are prohibited by no law, pave an easy road to riches, especially if someone can foresee which wares are going to come into estimation, and in that way abundantly equip himself with them.

Opum acquisitio per servitium regum aut magnatum dignitatem quandam habet. Tamen si assentationibus et servilibus artificiis sese ad omnes nutus flectendo parentur, inter vias vilissimas poterit numerari. Quantum ad venationem testamentorum et legatorum (quemadmodum Tacitus Senecam insimulat, testamenta et orbos tamquam indagine capi), adhuc peior est hae res, quanto cum hominibus conditionis humilioris rem habemus quam in servitio.

The acquisition of wealth through the service of kings or magnates has a certain dignity. Yet, if it be procured by flatteries and servile artifices, by bending oneself to every nod, it can be numbered among the most vilest ways. As to the hunting of testaments and legacies (as Tacitus charges Seneca, that wills and the childless are caught as if by a hunting-toil), this affair is still worse, inasmuch as we have to do with men of a more humble condition than in service.

3. Fidem illis nimiam ne adhibeas qui prae se ferunt contemptum divitiarum. Etenim opes despiciunt qui desperant. Neque invenies usquam tenaciores ubi incipient ditescere.

3. Do not lend excessive trust to those who make a show of contempt for riches. For indeed, those who despair despise wealth. Nor will you find anywhere people more tight‑fisted when they begin to grow wealthy.

Ne sis in minutis tenax. Divitiae alas habent, et aliquando ex sese avolant, aliquando emittendae sunt ut ampliores congregent. Opes suas moribundi relinquunt aut usui publico aut liberis, cognitis, et amicis.

Do not be tight-fisted in minutiae. Riches have wings, and sometimes they fly away of themselves; sometimes they must be sent forth so that more ample wealth may be congregated. The dying leave their resources either to public use or to their children, kinsfolk, and friends.

In utroque genere legationes paulo moderatiores melius cedunt. Divitiae magnae haeredi relictae aves rapaces undique ad eas convolare invitant, nisi haeres fuerit aetate et iudicio confirmatior. Similiter fundationes gloriosae et splendidae in usus publicos sunt instar sacrificiorum sine sale, et nihil aliud quam dealbata eleemysonarum sepulchra, quae ab intus cito corrumpentur et putrefient.

In both kinds, legacies that are somewhat more moderate turn out better. Great riches left to an heir invite birds of prey to flock to them from every side, unless the heir is more confirmed in age and judgment. Likewise, glorious and splendid foundations for public uses are after the fashion of sacrifices without salt, and nothing other than whitewashed sepulchers of almsdeeds, which from within will quickly be corrupted and putrefy.

Itaque dona tua magnitudine ne metiaris, sed commoditate, et ad debitam mensuram redigas. Neque opera charitatis in mortem usque differas. Etenim si quis recte rem aetimet, qui id facit ex alieno potius donat quam e proprio.

Therefore do not measure your gifts by magnitude, but by suitability, and bring them back to the due measure. Nor defer works of charity until death. For indeed, if anyone rightly estimates the matter, he who does that gives from another’s rather than from his own.

XXXV. [= English XXXVI] DE AMBITIONE

35. [= English 36] ON AMBITION

1. Ambitio choleram refert, quod genus humoris activos, vehementes, alacres, et promptos reddit, nisi obstructionem patiatur. Quod si obstructione concludatur adeo ut libere permeare non possit, fit adusta, et inde maligna et venenosa. Similiter ambitiosi, si in ambitu et petitione sua repulsas non patiantur sed semper sint in progressu, polypragmones potius sunt quam periculosi.

1. Ambition resembles choler, which kind of humor makes men active, vehement, alacritous, and prompt, unless it suffer obstruction. But if it be shut in by obstruction to such a degree that it cannot freely permeate, it becomes adust, and thence malignant and venomous. Similarly, the ambitious, if in their ambit and petition they do not suffer repulses but are always in progress, are polypragmones rather than perilous.

Sin in cupiditatibus fraenuntur et subinde frustrentur, malevolentiam et invidiam in corde fovent, et iniquo prorsus oculo tum res tum homines intuentur, ac tum demum in sinu laetantur cum res male cedant. Qui autem animi affectus cum servis regum aut rerumpublicarum pessime congruit. Bonum itaque principibus fuerit (si ambitiosis utantur) ita rem disponere ut perpetuo directi, nunquam retrogradi sint.

But if in their cupidities they are reined and again and again frustrated, they foster malevolence and envy in the heart, and with an altogether iniquitous eye they regard both things and men, and only then do they rejoice in their bosom when things go ill. Such an affect of mind fits most badly with servants of kings or of commonwealths. It will therefore be good for princes (if they make use of ambitious men) so to dispose the matter that they be perpetually directed, never retrograde.

Quod quia sine praeiudicio fieri non potest, melius esset ab huiusmodi ingenii hominibus omnino abstinere. Etenim si ipsi cum servitio suo non assurgant, operam dabunt ut servitium suum cum ipsis corruat. Verum, quia modo diximus ambitiosos non adhibendos nisi urgente necessitate, operae pretium fuerit iam dicere quibus in casibus necessarius sit eorum usus.

Since that cannot be done without prejudice, it would be better to abstain altogether from men of such a character. For if they themselves do not rise with their service, they will take pains that their service collapse along with themselves. But, since we have just said that the ambitious are not to be employed except under urgent necessity, it will be worth the effort now to say in what cases the use of them is necessary.

2. Imperatores et duces in bello boni, utcunque ambitiosi sint, omnino recipiendi. Etenim utilitas ipsorum ut praeficiantur caetera compensat. Militem autem deligere qui ambitione vacet perinde est acsi calcaribus eum spolies.

2. Emperors and commanders good in war, however ambitious they may be, are altogether to be received. For indeed their utility, that they be put in charge, compensates the rest. But to choose a soldier who is void of ambition is just as if you were to strip him of his spurs.

Quin et alter usus ambitiosorum est, ut umbellae loco principibus sint contra invidiam et periculum. Nemo enim eas partes subibit nisi sit instar columbae occaecatae, quae ideo in sursum volat quia circumspicere non potest. Est etiam alius usus ambitiosorum non parvus, ut praegrandibus alas amputent, et eorum potentiam labefactent.

Indeed, there is another use of ambitious men: that they may serve in the place of an umbrella for princes against envy and peril. For no one will take on those parts unless he is like a blinded dove, which therefore flies upward because it cannot look around. There is also another not small use of ambitious men: that they cut off the wings of the over-mighty, and undermine their power.

Quemadmodum Macronem Tiberius adhibuit ad deiiciendum Seianum.
3. Quandoquidem igitur in casibus memoratis necessarii sint, superest ut ostendamus qua ratione sint froenandi et coercendi ut minus ab illis impendeat periculi. Perniciosi minus sint si natalibus ignobiles quam si nobiles, si ingenio paulo truciores et asperiores quam si gratiosi et populares, denique si nuper honoribus admoti quam si veteratores facti sint et in honoribus suis muniti.

Just as Tiberius employed Macron to cast down Sejanus.
3. Since therefore in the cases already mentioned they are necessary, it remains to show by what method they are to be reined and coerced, so that less danger may impend from them. They are less pernicious if ignoble by birth than if noble; if in temper somewhat more truculent and harsher than if ingratiating and popular; and finally if newly admitted to honors rather than if they have become old hands and are fortified in their offices.

Signum infirmi animi in principibus a plerisque ducitur si gratiosos et intimos sibi adiungant. Attamen, si verum dicendum est, non aliud reperitur remedium praestantius contra potentiam nimiam procerum aut magistratuum. Siquidem quando iuvandi et nocendi potestas penes gratiosum residet, vix fiet ut alius aliquis ex proceribus magnopere potentia turgeat.

By most it is taken as a sign of a weak mind in princes if they join to themselves favorites and intimates. Yet, if the truth must be spoken, no other remedy is found more excellent against the excessive power of nobles or magistrates. For whenever the power of helping and harming resides with the favorite, it will scarcely come to pass that any other of the nobles swells greatly with power.

Alia ratio ambitiosos coercendi non mala est, si per alios aeque ambitiosos et protervos librentur. Sed tum opus est consiliariis aliquibus moderatioribus, qui partes medias teneant, ne factiones omnia pessundent. Etenim absque illa saburra navis vacillabit unus.

Another method of restraining the ambitious is not a bad one, if they are counterbalanced by others equally ambitious and insolent. But then there is need of some more moderate counsellors, who hold the middle ground, lest factions sink everything. For indeed without that ballast the ship will wobble on its own.

Saltem allicere poterint principes et animare aliquos humilioris conditionis qui ambitiosorum veluti flagella sint. Quantum ad ingenerandam illam in ambitiosis opinionem, ut se ruinae proximos putent atque eo modo contineantur, si meticulosi fuerint, bene forsitan cedet; sin animosi et audaces, praecipitabit conatus et machinationes eorum, neque est sine periculo. Quid si necessitas flagitet ut revera deiiciantur, neque id simul et subito facere tutum foret.

At least they will be able to allure princes and to animate some of humbler condition, who may be, as it were, the flagella of the ambitious. As for ingendering that opinion in the ambitious, that they think themselves next to ruin and thus be contained, if they are timorous, perhaps it will succeed well; but if high‑spirited and audacious, it will precipitate their attempts and machinations, nor is it without peril. What if necessity should exact that they be in very truth cast down, and it were not safe to do this all at once and suddenly?

Optimum erit favoribus et repulsis eos alternis excipere, unde attoniti et confusi haereant nescientes quid expectent, et veluti intra sylvam ambulent.
4. Ex ambitionibus minus est nociva cupiditas praevalendi in rebus maioribus quam se immiscendi rebus omnibus. Istud enim confusionem consiliorum parit et negotia destruit.

It will be best to receive them alternately with favors and repulses, so that they stand thunderstruck and confused, not knowing what to expect, and walk, as it were, within a forest.
4. Among ambitions, less noxious is the desire to prevail in greater matters than to meddle in all things. For that begets a confusion of counsels and destroys business.

Etiam minus periculi incumbit ab ambitioso in negotiis acri quam eo qui gratia et clientelis pollet. Qui inter strenuos et negotiis pares eminere studet magnum profecto suscipit privinciam. Verum hoc publico utile est.

Even less danger accrues from an ambitious man sharp in affairs than from one who prevails by favor and clienteles. He who strives to stand out among the strenuous and equals in affairs indeed undertakes a great charge. But this is useful to the public.

Qui vero illud machinatur, ut viros cordatos deprimat et ipse solus inter ciphras numerus sit, seculi alicuius lues est et calamitas. Honor tribus insignitur commodis, potestate bene merendi, aditu facili ad viros principes, et fortunarum propriarum in melius evectione. Qui optimam ex his tribus fovet intentionem cum aspirat, vir probus est.

But he who contrives this, that he may depress men of sound heart and that he himself alone be the one number among ciphers, is the plague and the calamity of any age. Honor is distinguished by three advantages: the power of well-deserving, easy access to leading men, and the elevation of one’s own fortunes for the better. He who, when he aspires, fosters the best intention of these three is an upright man.

Princeps quoque qui huiusmodi in servis suis intentiones dignoscere valeat et distinguere, princeps est prudens. Verum in genere, praeoptandi sunt principibus huiusmodi servi qui officio magis ducantur quam ambitione, quique negotia amplectantur et ament potius ex conscientia bona quam ex ostentatione. Denique distinguant principes cum iudicio inter ingenia quae sese omnibus negotiis ingerunt et animum promptum seu alacrem.

A prince too who is able to discern and to distinguish such intentions in his servants is a prudent prince. But, in general, for princes such servants are to be preferred who are led more by duty than by ambition, and who embrace affairs and love them rather out of good conscience than out of ostentation. Finally, let princes distinguish with judgment between talents that thrust themselves into every affair and a prompt or alacritous spirit.

XXXVI. [ = English XXXVIII] DE NATURA ET INDOLE NATURALE IN HOMINIBUS

36. [ = English 38] ON NATURE AND THE NATURAL DISPOSITION IN HUMAN BEINGS

1. Natura occultatur saepenumero, interdum vincitur, raro extinguitur. Vis naturam efficit magis impetuosam cum recurrit. Doctrina et praecepta affectus naturales reddunt minus quidem importunos, sed non tollunt.

1. Nature is very often concealed, sometimes conquered, rarely extinguished. Force makes nature more impetuous when it returns. Teaching and precepts render natural affections indeed less importunate, but do not remove them.

Verum consuetudo sola ea est quae naturam plane immutat et subigit. Qui victoriam de natura sua reportare cupit, sibi nec nimis magna nec parva nimis pensa constituat. Priora enim animum deiicient propter frustrationes crebras, posteriora non multum attollent etsi saepius praevaleat.

But custom alone is that which plainly changes and subjugates nature. Whoever desires to carry off a victory over his own nature should set for himself tasks neither too great nor too small. For the former will cast down the spirit on account of frequent frustrations; the latter will not lift it much, even if he more often prevails.

Atque sub initiis exerceat se adminiculis quibusdam, ut natatores recentes vesicis aut iuncis. Deinde cum impedimentis, ut saltatores solent calceis gravioribus. Etenim perfectionem in re qualibet inducit si exercitatio difficilior sit quam usus.

And at the beginnings let him exercise himself with certain supports, as recent swimmers with bladders or with rushes. Then with impediments, as dancers are accustomed with heavier shoes. For indeed in any matter perfection is induced if the exercise is more difficult than the use.

Ubi natura admodum potens est, et proinde victoria difficilis, opus erit per gradus quosdam procedere, qui tales sint. Primo, naturam sistere ad tempus aliquod, more illius qui cum irasceretur literas alphabeti priusquam quicquam faceret recitare solebat. Secundo, naturam moderari et ad minores portiones deducere, ut si quis abstinentiam a vino exercens a maioribus haustibus ad minores deveniat.

Where nature is exceedingly potent, and accordingly victory difficult, it will be needful to proceed by certain grades, which are as follows. First, to arrest nature for some time, in the manner of that man who, when he grew angry, used to recite the letters of the alphabet before he did anything. Second, to moderate nature and reduce it to smaller portions, as when someone exercising abstinence from wine comes down from larger draughts to smaller.

Postremo autem naturam penitus sub iugum mittere et domare. Verum si quis eo animi robore et constantia polleat ut se subito eximere et vindicare poterit, hoc optimum fuerit:

Lastly, however, to put nature wholly under the yoke and to tame it. But if anyone should be endowed with such strength of mind and constancy that he will be able to extricate and vindicate himself at once, this would be the best:

Optimus ille animi vindex laedentia pectus
Vincula qui rupit, dedoluitque semel.

The best vindicator of the spirit is he who broke the bonds wounding the breast,
and grieved but once.

2. Neque antiqua regula reiicenda ut naturam, adinstar bacilli, in contrariam partem flectas, quo recta tandem deveniat. Verum intellige hoc, ubi extremum illud alterum in vitium non ducat. Insuper et hoc advertas, ne habitum superinducere contendas nixu continuo, sed intermisso.

2. Nor is the ancient rule to be rejected: that you bend nature, after the likeness of a rod, into the contrary direction, so that at length it may become straight. But understand this, provided that that other extreme does not lead into vice. Moreover advert also to this, that you should not strive to superinduce a habit by continuous effort, but by an intermitted one.

Nam intermissio impetum redintegrat et adauget. Et si quis dum tyronem agit perpetuo se exerceat, eveniet ut errores non minus quam facultatem imbibat. Neque huic malo succurritur nisi per tempestivas intermissiones.

For an intermission reintegrates and augments impetus. And if someone, while acting the tyro, should exercise himself perpetually, it will come about that he imbibes errors no less than faculty. Nor is this evil succored except by timely intermissions.

Praeterea victoriae in naturam non nimium cito triumphum accinas. Natura enim ad longum tempus sepultus iacebit, et tamen occasione data reviviscet, id quod contigit puellae apud Aesopum ex fele in mulierem conversae. Quae civiliter admodum in mensa sedebat donec mus in conspectu eius forte curreret.

Moreover, do not too quickly strike up a triumphal song of victory over nature. For nature will lie buried for a long time, and yet, when an occasion is given, will revive—just as befell the girl in Aesop who had been converted from a cat into a woman. She was sitting very civilly at the table until by chance a mouse ran into her sight.

Itaque occasiones tales aut omnino evites aut iisdem frequentius insuescas quo minus moveant. Indoles cuiusque naturalis optime deprehenditur in consuetudine familiari. In hac enim nulla intervenit affectatio.

Therefore either avoid such occasions altogether, or become more frequently inured to the same, so that they may move you the less. The natural disposition of each is best apprehended in familiar consuetude; for in this no affectation intervenes.

In perturbationes siquidem illae praecepta et regulas penitus excutiunt. Denique in casu aliquo novo et insolito, quia tum e consuetudine deseritur. Felices dixerim quorum indoles naturalis cum vitae suae genere congruit.

For indeed, in perturbations those thoroughly shake off precepts and rules. Finally, in some case new and unusual, since then custom is abandoned. I would call happy those whose natural disposition is congruent with the kind of their life.

Alias vere dicere possint, multum incola fuit anima mea. In studiis, quicquid a natura tua alienum reperis stata tempora tibi praefigas ad eiusdem exercitationes et meditationes. Sin autem cum genio tuo convenerit, de statis horis ne sis sollicitus.

At other times they might truly say, my soul has been much a sojourner. In studies, whatever you find alien from your nature, set for yourself fixed times for the exercises and meditations of the same. But if it should agree with your genius, do not be solicitous about set hours.

Cogitationes enim tuae sponte illuc convolabunt prout negotia et studiae caetera permittent. Natura cuiusque ex vi innata aut bonas aut malas herbas producit. Itaque sedulo et tempestive illas irriget, has evellat.

For your thoughts will of their own accord fly thither, as business and the other pursuits will permit. The nature of each, from innate force, produces either good or bad herbs. Therefore, diligently and in due season, irrigate the former, root out the latter.

XXXVII. [ = English XXXIX] DE CONSUETUDINE ET EDUCATIONE

37. [ = English 39] ON CUSTOM AND EDUCATION

1. Cogitationes hominum sequuntur plerunque inclinationes suas, sermones autem doctrinas et opiniones quas imbiberunt, at facta eorum ferme antiquum obtinent. Itaque, ut bene notat Macchiavellus (licet in exemplo scelerato) minime fidendum est aut naturae violentiae aut verborum grandiloquentiae nisi corroborentur consuetudine. Instantia eius haec est: in facinore aliquo audaci et crudeli patrando non acquiescendum esse, aut in naturae alicuius ferocia, aut in promissis constantibus, nedum iuramentis, sed commitendum esse scelus esse viris sanguinolentis et iamdudum caedibus assuetis.

1. The thoughts of men for the most part follow their own inclinations, but their speeches the doctrines and opinions which they have imbibed, while their deeds almost always keep their old course. Therefore, as Machiavelli well notes (albeit in a criminal example), one should by no means trust either the violence of a nature or the grandiloquence of words unless they are corroborated by custom. His instance is this: in perpetrating some bold and cruel deed, one must not rely either on anyone’s ferocity of nature, or on steadfast promises, much less on oaths, but the crime must be entrusted to men blood-stained and long accustomed to slaughters.

Sed Macchiavello de fratre quopiam Clemente, aut Ravillaco, aut Iauregua, aut Baltazare Gerardo, aut Guidone Faulxio nihil innotuit. Verum tenet regula eius, naturam aut promissorum fidem et ferociam viribus consuetidinis haud aequipollere. Solummodo superstitio nostris temporibus eo provecta est ut primae classis sicarii lanis obfirmatis minime cedant, atque decreta votiva, etiam in re sanguinaria, consuetudinis vires exaequent.

But nothing was known to Machiavelli of a certain Friar Clement, or Ravaillac, or Jáuregui, or Balthasar Gérard, or Guido Fawkes. Yet his rule holds: that nature, or the pledged faith and ferocity of promises, are by no means equipollent to the forces of custom. Only superstition in our times has advanced so far that assassins of the first class, with their ears made fast with wool, do not yield in the least, and that votive decrees, even in a sanguinary matter, equal the powers of custom.

In aliis quibuscunque consuetudinis potentia clare elucescit. Adeo ut miraculi instar sit audire quot professiones, protestationes, promissa, verba grandia iactitent plurimi, et tamen, istis omnibus posthabitis, pro more consueto agere acsi imagines essent et machinae plane inanimes, solis consuetudinis rotis impulsae et actae. Videre etiam licet consuetudinis tyrannidem in aliis multis.

In any other matters whatsoever the power of custom shines forth clearly; so much so that it is like a miracle to hear how many professions, protestations, promises, grand words the majority vaunt, and yet, with all these set aside, to act according to the wonted manner as if they were images and machines wholly inanimate, driven and propelled by the wheels of custom alone. One may also see the tyranny of custom in many other things.

Indi (loquor de gymnosophistis et veteribus et modernis) se leniter super pyram componunt, atque hoc modo seipsos igne sacrificant. Quin et foeminae cum maritis in rogum immitti properant. Pueri Spartani antiquis temporibus flagris caedi sustinebant super aram Dianae vix eiulatu aut gemitu ullo emisso.

The Indians (I speak of the Gymnosophists, both ancient and modern) gently compose themselves upon the pyre, and in this way sacrifice themselves by fire. Moreover, women too hasten to be cast onto the pyre with their husbands. The Spartan boys in ancient times endured being scourged upon the altar of Diana, scarcely emitting any ululation or groan.

Memini sub initiis reginae Elizabethae rebellem quendam Hibernum supplicantem deputato ut torque lignea, non fune, suspenderetur, quia illud magis in more rebellibus erat. Inveniuntur monachi in Russia qui ad poenitentiam complendam tota nocte hyemali in vase aqua repleto non recusabunt sedere donec glacie constringantur. Plurima denique exempla adduci poterint plane stupendas consuetudinis vires tam super animum quam super corpus prodentia.

I remember, in the early days of Queen Elizabeth, a certain Irish rebel petitioning the Deputy that he be hanged by a wooden torc, not by a rope, because that was more in the custom of rebels. Monks are found in Russia who, for the completing of penance, will not refuse to sit through an entire winter night in a vessel filled with water until they are constricted by ice. Finally, very many examples could be adduced, revealing the plainly astounding powers of custom both over the mind and over the body.

Quandoquidem igitur mos, veluti summus sit humane vitae moderator et magistratus, curae sit imprimis ut mores bonos asciscamus. Certe consuetudo validissima, cum a pueritia incipit, haec educationem appellamus, quae nihil aliud est quam a teneris annis imbibita consuetudo. Ita videre est in linguis ediscendis linguam ipsam magis commode se applicare omnibus expressionibus et sonis, artus quoque magis agiles et flexiles ad omnes posituras motus esse in pueritia aut adolescentia quam postea.

Since therefore custom, as though it were the supreme governor and magistrate of human life, let it be our chief concern to adopt good morals. Surely consuetude is most potent, since it begins from childhood; this we call education, which is nothing else than a consuetude imbibed from tender years. Thus it is seen, in learning languages, that the tongue itself more conveniently applies itself to all expressions and sounds, and likewise the limbs are more agile and flexible for all postures and motions in childhood or adolescence than thereafter.

Verissimum enim est opsimathes istos novam plicam non bene admittere, nisi fuerit in nonnullis hominibus quibus animi nondum fixi, sed eosdem apertos ad omnia praecepta conservarunt, quo continuo emendationem reciperent, id quod rarissimum est.
2. Verum si consuetudinis vires, cum simplex solummodo sit et seiuncta, tantae sint, multo magis consuetudo copulata et coniuncta, et in collegium coacta, excellit. Isthic enim exemplum docet, relevat societas, emulatio stimulat, gloria animos extollit, ita ut in huiusmodi locis vires et influxus consuetudinis tanquam in exaltatione sint.

For it is most true that those opsimaths do not well admit a new fold, unless there be in certain persons whose minds are not yet fixed, but who have kept themselves open to all precepts, so that they straightway receive amendment—a thing most rare.
2. But if the powers of consuetude, when it is simple only and disjoined, are so great, much more does consuetude, coupled and conjoined, and gathered into a college, excel. There, in fact, example teaches, society relieves, emulation stimulates, glory lifts up spirits, so that in places of this kind the forces and influx of consuetude are, as it were, in exaltation.

Certe multipicatio et (ut chymicorum vocabulo utar) proiectio super naturam humanam consistit in societatibus bene institutis et disciplina salubri informatis. Etenim respublicae recte administratae, quin et leges bonae, alunt virtutem in herba, sed semina ipsius non multum promovent. Verum infelicitatis orbis hoc habet media maximarum virium applicentur quandoque finibus minime expetendis.

Certainly multiplication and (to use the vocabulary of the chymists) projection over human nature consists in societies well instituted and informed by salubrious discipline. For indeed republics rightly administered, and even good laws, nourish virtue in the blade, but do not much promote its seeds. Yet the misfortune of the world has this: that the means of the greatest powers are sometimes applied to ends least to be desired.

XXXVIII. [ = English XL] DE FORTUNA

38. [ = English 40] ON FORTUNE

1. Negari non potest quin accidentia et casus externi ad hominum fortunas vel promovendas vel deprimendas plurimum possint. Gratia alicuius ex magnatibus, opportunitas, aliorum obitus, occasio virtuti cuiusque congrua. Veruntamen fortunam suam fingere cuique praecipue in manu propria est.

1. It cannot be denied that accidents and external chances can do very much to promote or to depress the fortunes of men. The favor of some magnate, an opportunity, the death of others, an occasion congruent to each one’s virtue. Nevertheless, to fashion one’s own fortune is chiefly in one’s own hand.

Faber quisque fortunae suae inquit comicus. Atque inter externas caussas illa frequentissima, stultitiam unius alterius fortunam promovere. Nemo enim ita subito evehitur ac occassione errorum alterius.

“Each man is the smith of his own fortune,” says the comic poet. And among external causes that one is most frequent: that the stupidity of one promotes another’s fortune. For no one is raised so suddenly as by the occasion of another’s errors.

Ut inquit adagium, serpens nisi serpentem comederit non fit draco.
2. Virtutes apertae et conspicuae laudes pariunt. At insunt virtutes quaedam occultae et latentes quae pariunt fortunam, nimirum facultates nonnullae se expediendi quae nomen non habet.

As the adage says, a serpent, unless it has eaten a serpent, does not become a dragon.
2. Open and conspicuous virtues beget lauds. But there are certain occult and latent virtues which beget fortune, namely certain faculties of extricating oneself which have no name.

Hispanum vocabulum (desemboltura) eas quadam ex parte innuit. Silicet cum non inveniuntur in natura alicuius obices aut impedimenta, sed rotae animi ad motum rotarum fortunae versatiles sunt. Ita enim Livius (postquam Catonem Maiorem his verbis descripsisset, in illo viro tantum robur corporis et animi fuit ut quicunque loco natus esset fortunam sibi facturus videretur). Illud diserte notat, quod ei fuisset ingenium versatile.

The Spanish term (desemboltura) hints at these in some measure. Namely, when there are found in a person’s nature no bars or impediments, but the wheels of the mind are versatile to the motion of the wheels of fortune. Thus Livy (after he had described Cato the Elder with these words, “in that man there was such strength of body and mind that, in whatever place he had been born, he would seem about to make fortune for himself”). He expressly notes this: that he had a versatile genius.

Quare si quis limis et adductis oculis aspiciat, videbit fortunam. Caeca enim licet sit, haud tamen prorsus invisibilis. Etenim via fortunae similis est galaxiae in aethere, quae concursus sive coacervatio complurium stellarum minutarum seorsim invisibilium sed coniunctim luminosarum.

Wherefore, if someone should look with sidelong and drawn‑together eyes, he will see Fortune. For although she is blind, she is not, however, altogether invisible. Indeed, the path of Fortune is like the galaxy in the aether, which is a concourse or coacervation of many minute stars, separately invisible but jointly luminous.

Eodem modo complures virtutes sunt exiguae et vix in notam incurrentes, sive potius facultates et consuetudines appositae quae fortunatos reddunt. Itali ex ipsis nonnullas notant quales quis minime putaret. Cum hominem innuunt, cui prosperam fortunam spondent, inter caeteras eius qualitates adiicient quod habeat poco di matto.

In the same way, several virtues are exiguous and scarcely falling into notice, or rather apposite faculties and consuetudes which render men fortunate. The Italians themselves mark some of these such as one would least suppose. When they point out a man to whom they promise prosperous fortune, among his other qualities they add that he has poco di matto.

Neque sane inveniuntur aliae duae qualitates magis ad hanc propitiae, quam si quis habeat modicum ex stulto et non nimium ex honesto. Itaque quibus patria aut principes sui nimio plus chari exstiterunt, iidem nunquam fortunati fuerunt neque profecto esse possunt, quando enim cogitationes suas extra seipsum quis collocaverit viam suam bene inire nequit.
3. Fortuna praepropera magna molientes et nonnihil turbulentos reddit.

Nor indeed are there found any other two qualities more propitious to this, than if one should have a modest share from the fool, and not overmuch from the honest man. And so those for whom their fatherland or their princes have proven too dear by too much, the same have never been fortunate, nor indeed can they be; for whenever someone has placed his thoughts outside himself, he cannot set his own way well upon its course.
3. Overhasty Fortune renders men undertakers of great things and not a little turbulent.

At fortuna exercita ea est quae efficit prudentes et cordatos. Fortuna proculdubio, saltem propter filias suas, honorem meretur, confidentiam scilicet et existimationem. Etenim has duas parit fortuna prospera, alteram intra nosipsos, alteram in aliis erga nos.

But Fortune that has been put to the test is that which makes men prudent and sound-hearted. Fortune, beyond doubt, at least on account of her daughters, deserves honor—namely confidence and esteem. For prosperous fortune begets these two: the one within ourselves, the other in others toward us.

Eaeque vicissim pariunt animos et auctoritatem. Viri cuncti prudentes, quo invidiam suarum virtutum amoliantur, omnia providentiae et fortunae imputare solent. Ita enim decentius et liberius eas sibi assumere possint.

EAnd these likewise in turn beget spirit and authority. All prudent men, in order to ward off the envy of their virtues, are accustomed to impute everything to Providence and Fortune. For thus they can more decently and more freely assume them to themselves.

Quinetiam maiestatem homini quandam addit, si videretur numini curae esse. Sic Caesar dum animaret gubernatorem navis in tempestate, dixit Caesarem portas et fortunam eius. Sic Sylla nomen Felicis elegit, non Magni.

Moreover, it adds a certain majesty to a man, if he seemed to be a concern to a divinity. Thus Caesar, while heartening the pilot of the ship in a tempest, said, "You carry Caesar and his fortune." Thus Sulla chose the name Felix, not Magnus.

Atque illud observationem non praeteriit, eos qui ex professo sapientiae et artibus propriis nimium tribuerunt in fine infortunatos evasisse.
4. Narratur de Timotheo Atheniensi, postquam in reddendis rationibus praefecturae suae, hanc clausulam ad ravim usque inseruisset, atque in hoc nullae erant fortunae partes, deinceps illi nihil cessisse prospere. Sunt certe quorum fortuna similis carminibus Homeri, quae maiore cum facilitate fluunt quam aliorum poetarum versus, id quod Plutarchus de fortuna Timoleontis ad fortunas Agesilai aut Epaminondae comparata praedicat.

And this has not escaped observation, that those who professedly have ascribed too much to wisdom and to their own arts have in the end turned out unfortunate.
4. It is told about Timotheus the Athenian that, after, in rendering the accounts of his prefecture, he had inserted this clause even to hoarseness—“and in this there were no parts of Fortune”—thereafter nothing succeeded prosperously for him. There are certainly some whose Fortune is similar to the songs of Homer, which flow with greater facility than the verses of other poets; which is what Plutarch proclaims concerning the Fortune of Timoleon, compared when set beside the Fortunes of Agesilaus or Epaminondas.

Hoc vero ut fiat sine dubio in nobis ipsis maxime situm est.

But that this indeed come to pass, without doubt, is chiefly situated in our very selves.

XXXIX. [= English XLI] DE USURA SIVE FOENERE

39. [= English 41] ON USURY OR INTEREST

1. Plurimi invectivas quasdam ingeniosas in foeneratores commenti sunt. Dicunt miserum esse Diabolum in Dei partem involasse, decimas scilicet. Foeneratorem maximum esse Sabbathi violatorem, aratrum siquidem suum non cessare Sabbathis.

1. Very many have contrived certain ingenious invectives against usurers. They say it is pitiable that the Devil has swooped upon God’s share, namely the tithes. They say the usurer is the greatest violator of the Sabbath, since indeed his plough does not cease on the Sabbaths.

Foeneratorem fucum esse, de quo Virgilius,

The usurer is a drone, about whom Virgil,

Ignavum fucos pecus praesepibus arcent.

They keep the drones, a slothful herd, away from the hives.

Foeneratum legem primitivam post lapsum hominis latam pessundare, quae fuit in sudore vultus tui comedas panem tuum, minime vero in sudore vultus alieni. Foenoratores pileis luteis indui oportere, quia Iudaizant. Rem esse contra naturam ut pecunia generaret pecuniam.

Usury undermines the primitive law promulgated after the fall of man, which was: “in the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread,” by no means, indeed, in the sweat of another’s face. Usurers ought to be clad with yellow caps, because they Judaize. It is a thing against nature that money should beget money.

Et huiusmodi alia. Ego vero hoc dico tantum, foenus esse inter concessa propter duritiem cordis, cum enim necesse sit hominibus ut pecunias mutuo dent et accipiant. Sintque tam duro corde ut eas gratis commodare nolint, reliquum est ut permittantur usurae.

And other things of this kind. But I for my part say only this: that usury (foenus) is among the concessions on account of hardness of heart, since it is necessary for human beings to give and receive moneys on loan; and, since they are of so hard a heart that they are unwilling to lend them gratis, it remains that usuries be permitted.

Alii nonnulli in medium adduxerunt callidas quasdam et suspectas propositiones de argentariis et excambiis publicis, detectione fortunarum hominum singulorum, et aliis huiusmodi artificiis. Verum pauci de foenere disseruerunt solide et utiliter. Optimum fuerit proponere nobis ante oculis foenoris commoda et incommoda, ut bonum vel ponderetur vel separetur.

Some others have brought into the midst certain clever and suspect propositions about bankers and public exchanges, the detection of the fortunes of individual men, and other artifices of this kind. But few have discoursed about usury in a solid and useful way. It would be best to set before our eyes the advantages and disadvantages of usury, so that the good may either be weighed or separated.

Quinetiam cavere imprimis ne, dum foenore feramur in melius, intercipiamur et incidamus in peius.
2. Incommoda foenoris haec sunt. Primum, quod mercatorum numerum minuit.

Moreover, take care especially lest, while by usury we are borne toward the better, we be intercepted and fall into the worse.
2. The disadvantages of usury are these. First, that it diminishes the number of merchants.

Nam si ignavia haec pecuniae in foenus erogatio e medio tolleretur, nummi non delitescerent prae socordia, sed magna ex parte in mercaturam impenderentur. quae instar venis portae cuivis regno est ad opes introducendas. Secundum, quod mercatores inopes reddit.

For if this slothful disbursement of money into usury were taken away from the midst, coins would not lurk because of sluggishness, but for the most part would be expended on commerce, which, like veins, is the gate for introducing wealth into any kingdom. Second, that it renders merchants destitute.

Sicut enim colonus terram colere ita fructuose nequit se reditum solvat nimis gravem, ita mercator tam commode et lucrose mercaturam suam exercere vix potes si foenore sumptis negotietur. Tertium, incommodum duorum priorum appendix quaedam est portoriorum et vectigalium publicorum imminutio quae fluunt et refluunt pro modo commercii. Quartum, quod thesaurum et pecunias regni sive reipublicae in paucorum manus reducit.

For just as a tenant-farmer cannot cultivate the land so fruitfully if he pays too heavy a rent, so a merchant can scarcely exercise his commerce so commodiously and lucratively if he does business with funds borrowed at interest. Third, an inconvenience, as a kind of appendix to the two former, is the diminution of customs and public revenues, which flow and ebb according to the measure of commerce. Fourth, that it reduces the treasure and monies of the kingdom or commonwealth into the hands of a few.

Cum enim foeneratoris lucrum certum sit, caeterorum incertum, eveniet in fine ludi, prout sit saepe in alea, ut maxima pars pecuniae promo cedat. Illud autem pro inconcusso tenendum, florere rempublicam imprimis cum pecuniae dispergantur, non concerventur. Quintum, quod terrae et praediorum pretium deprimit.

Since indeed the usurer’s profit is certain, that of the others uncertain, it will come about in the end of the game, just as often in dice-play, that the greatest part of the money yields to the banker. This, however, must be held as inconcussum: the commonwealth flourishes chiefly when monies are dispersed, not hoarded. Fifth, that it depresses the price of land and estates.

Etenim pecuniae insumuntur vel in mercaturam vel in praediorum coemptiones. Foenus autem utrique obviare videtur. Sextum, quod omnes labores, molimina, et inventa nova quaecunque enervat et hebetat.

For indeed monies are expended either on commerce or on purchases of estates. But usury seems to obstruct both. Sixth, that it enervates and dulls all labors, efforts, and whatever new inventions.

In quibus pecunia minime sibi deesset nisi a torpedine ista impediretur. Postremum, quod tinea est et teredo facultatum quam plurimorum hominum, id quod tractu temporis egestatem publicam parit.
3. E contraria, commoda foenoris haec sunt.

In which money would in no way be lacking to itself unless it were hindered by that torpedo. Lastly, that it is the moth and the shipworm of the resources of very many men, which in the course of time begets public poverty.
3. On the contrary, the advantages of usury are these.

Primo, quod utcunque usurae in aliquibus mercaturae noceant, in aliis nihilominus prosunt. Certissimum enim est maximam mercaturae partem a iunioribus mercatoribus exerceri foenore sumptis pecuniis. Unde si foenerator pecunias vel exigat vel non emittat, secutura necessario est magna mercaturae clades.

First, although usury in some kinds of trade does harm, nevertheless in others it profits. For it is most certain that the greatest part of commerce is carried on by younger merchants with monies taken at interest. Whence, if the moneylender either exacts the monies or does not issue them, a great disaster to trade must necessarily follow.

Secundum est, quod nisi prompta haec a foeneratoribus pecuniarum mutuatio hominum necessitatibus subveniret, in extremas angustias cito redigerentur, quandoquidem cogerentur res suas (sive bona mobilia fuerint sive praedia) nimis vili pretio vendere. Itaque, ubi foenus rodit tantum, distractiones praeproperae penitus absorberent. Nam quantum ad oppignerationes aut ea quae a iureconsultis appellantur mortua vadia, huic certe malo remedium vix exhibebunt.

The second is this: unless this prompt lending of moneys by moneylenders came to the aid of men’s necessities, they would quickly be reduced into extreme straits, since they would be forced to sell their property (whether movable goods or landed estates) at too cheap a price. And so, when interest only gnaws, over-hasty liquidations would utterly swallow everything. For as to pignorations, or those things which the jurisconsults call “dead gages” (mortgages), they will scarcely furnish a remedy for this evil.

Siquidem aut ea prorsus non accipient homines sine foenore, aut si accipiant, solutione ad diem minime praestitam summo iure agent. Memini pecuniosum quendam, virum durum, rure agentem, qui solebat dicere In malam crucem abeat ista foeneratio. Impedimento est quo minus pignorum et obligationum poenas exigere possimus.

For indeed either men will not accept such things at all without usury, or, if they do accept them, should payment on the due day be in no way rendered, they will proceed with the strictest right. I remember a certain moneyed man, a hard man, living in the countryside, who used to say, “Let that usury go to the gallows.” It is a hindrance, by which we are the less able to exact the penalties of pledges and obligations.

Tertium et ultimum hoc est, nugas meros dico si quis existimet mutuationem pecuniarum facilem, non admisso foenore, fieri posse. Neque rursus quis animo comprehenderit innumera quae sequentur mala, si contractus illi, mutui dati et accepti, convellantur. Itaque de abolendis prorsus usuris sermones facere ineptum foret.

Third and last is this: I call it sheer nonsense if anyone supposes that the borrowing of monies could be done easily, with no interest admitted. Nor, again, has one taken to heart the innumerable evils that will follow, if those contracts of loan—of money given and received—be torn up. Accordingly, to make speeches about abolishing usury outright would be inept.

Respublicae omnes, pro diversa tamen ad sortem ratione, eas tolerarunt. Adeo ut opinio illa in Utiopiam protinus releganda.
4. Dicamus iam de reformatione et norma usurarum, quibus nimirum modis incommoda earum optime evitentur, commoda retineantur.

All republics have tolerated them, though with differing rationale as regards the principal. So much so that that opinion must straightway be relegated to Utopia.
4. Let us now speak of the reformation and the norm of usury: by what methods, to wit, the disadvantages of it may best be avoided, while its advantages are retained.

Patet iam conferendo inter se commoda et incommoda usurarum (quod modo fecimus) duo esse quae reconciliare oportet. Prius, ut retundantur dentes foenoris ne nimium mordeat. Secundum, ut viris pecuniosis aperiatur via qua ad pecunias mercatoribus praestandum invitentur, ne commercium intercidat aut languescat.

It is now evident, by comparing with each other the advantages and disadvantages of usury (which we have just done), that there are two things which ought to be reconciled. First, that the teeth of usury be blunted so that it does not bite too much. Second, that a way be opened for wealthy men by which they may be invited to furnish money to merchants, lest commerce be cut off or grow languid.

Hoc autem fieri non potest nisi in foenore duas proportiones introducas, minorem et maiorem. Si enim foenus ad unicam tantum proportionem, eamque minorem, redigas, mutuo accipientem aliquantulum levabis, sed mercator pecunias non facile reperiet. Atque insuper notandum est mercaturam, cum sit omnium maxime lucrosa, foenus ad proportionem bene magnam ferre posse, alios contractus minime.

However, this cannot be done unless you introduce two proportions in usury, a lesser and a greater. For if you reduce usury to a single proportion only, and that a lesser one, you will somewhat relieve the borrower, but the merchant will not easily find monies. And moreover it must be noted that commerce, since it is of all things the most lucrative, can bear usury at a quite large proportion, other contracts by no means.

5. Ut his duabus intentionibus satisfiat, hac via insistere licet. Duae sunto foenoris proportiones. Prior omnibus permittatur, posterior cum licentia aliquibus tantum hominibus, et in aliquibus reipublicae locis ubi mercatura fervet, concedatur.

5. That these two intentions may be satisfied, it is permitted to proceed by this way. Let there be two proportions of usury. Let the former be permitted to all; let the latter, with license, be granted only to some men, and in certain places of the commonwealth where commerce is fervent.

Primo igitur (si nos audias) reducatur foenus ad partem vicesimam sortis pro mutuatione in annum. Ea proportio edicto promulgetur, ut libera sit omnibus. Pro ea accipienda princeps sive respublica mulctae omni renunciet.

First, therefore (if you would heed us), let the interest be reduced to a twentieth part of the principal for a loan per year. Let that proportion be promulgated by edict, so that it be free to all. For receiving it, let the prince or the Republic renounce every mulct.

Hoc ab obstructione aliqua generali, aut difficultate maiore, mutuationem conservabit. Hoc innumeris mutuatoribus ruri et alibi degentibus solamini erit. Hoc magna ex parte praediorum pretia adaugebit.

This will preserve borrowing from any general obstruction or greater difficulty. This will be a solace to countless borrowers dwelling in the countryside and elsewhere. This will, for the most part, augment the prices of estates.

Quandoquidem annuus valor praediorum hic apud nos in Anglia excedet illam foenoris ad hanc proportionem redacti, quantum annuus valor sex librarum excedit illum quinque tantum. Hoc denique industrias hominum ad utilia et lucrosa inventa acuet et excitabit, eo quod plurimi huiusmodi inventis potius se dedent quam lucro tam exili, quale diximus, ex usuris acquiscere, praesertim cum lucro iampridem maiori ex iisdem assuevissent. Secundo, certis quibusdam hominibus commodandi mercatoribus notis, et non aliis quibuscunque hominibus, licentia concedatur.

Since the annual value of estates here with us in England will exceed that of usury reduced to this proportion, as much as the annual value of six pounds exceeds that of five only. This, finally, will sharpen and stir the industries of men toward useful and lucrative inventions, because very many will rather devote themselves to such inventions than acquiesce in so slender a profit, such as we have said, from usuries—especially since they have long been accustomed to a greater profit from the same. Secondly, let license be granted to certain specified persons to lend to known merchants, and not to any other persons whatsoever.

Hoc autem fiat additis cautionibus quae sequuntur. Sit proportio (etiam haec de qua loquimur) illa paulo remissior quam antea solvere solebant. Hoc pacto universi, tam mercatores quam alii, reformatione hac recreabuntur.

Let this, moreover, be done by adding the cautions which follow. Let the proportion (even this one of which we are speaking) be a little more lenient than that which they were accustomed to pay before. By this pact all, both merchants and others, will be refreshed by this reformation.

Princeps autem sive respublica exiguam aliquam summam percipiat pro licentis singulis. Reliquum lucri foenorati cedat. Si enim lucrum foenoratoris leviter tantum minuatur, eum nullo modo a foenore exercendo deterrebit.

However, let the Prince or the commonwealth receive some small sum for each license. Let the remainder of the usurious profit accrue to him. For if the profit of the moneylender be only slightly diminished, it will by no means deter him from exercising usury.

Exempli gratia, si quis antea decem aut novem libras pro sorte centum librarum quotannis accipere solebat, is autem octo potius libris contentus erit quam foeneratorem exuet, aut certa cum incertis commutabit. Sint isti quibus licentia scilicet conceditur numero minime definiti, sed tamen ad urbes aliquas et oppida quae mercatura florent restringantur. Ita enim praetextu licentiarum opportunitatem non habemus pecunias aliorum pro suis commodandi, nec novem aut octo librarum proportio, licentia munita, generalem illam quinque librarum absorbebit.

For example, if someone previously used to receive ten or nine pounds per hundred pounds of principal each year, he will rather be content with eight pounds than divest the moneylender, or exchange certainties for uncertainties. Let those to whom a license is, of course, granted be in number by no means defined, yet nevertheless be restricted to certain cities and towns where commerce flourishes. For thus, under the pretext of licenses, we do not have the opportunity of lending other people’s monies for our own advantage, nor will the proportion of nine or eight pounds, fortified by license, absorb that general one of five pounds.

Nemo siquidem pecunias suas procul a se mittere, aut in manus ignotas concredere, praeoptabit.

Indeed, no one will prefer to send his money far from himself, or to entrust it into unknown hands.

XL. [ = English XLII] DE IUVENTUTE ET SENECTUTE

40. [ = English 42] ON YOUTH AND OLD AGE

1. Iuvenis annis poterit esse senix horis, si temporis iacturam non fecerit. Sed hoc raro contigit. Generaliter iuventus similis est primis cogitationibus quae secundis sapientia cedunt.

1. A youth in years can be an old man within hours, if he does not make a loss of time. But this rarely happens. Generally, youth is like first thoughts, which, in wisdom, yield to second thoughts.

Etenim inest cogitationibus iuventus quaedam non minus quam aetatibus. Attamen inventio iuvenum vivacior est quam senum, atque imaginationes in mentes eorum illabuntur melius et veluti divinius. Ingenia praefervida, et quae cupiditatibus violentis ac perturbationibus huc illuc impelluntur, non matura fiunt ad res gerendas donec meridiem aetatis suae attingerint, ut videre est in Iulio Caesare et Septimio Severo, de quorum posteriore dictum est iuventutem egit erroribus, imo furoribus plenam, qui tamen in serie imperatorum universa fuit propemodum celeberrimus.

For indeed there is a certain youthfulness in cogitations no less than in ages. Yet the invention of the young is more vivacious than that of the old, and imaginations glide down into their minds better and, as it were, more divinely. Hot-blooded natures, and those which are driven hither and thither by violent cupidities and perturbations, do not become mature for conducting affairs until they reach the noon of their age, as is to be seen in Julius Caesar and Septimius Severus, of the latter of whom it has been said that he spent his youth full of errors—nay, of frenzies—who yet, in the entire series of emperors, was almost the most celebrated.

Sed ingenia sedata et composita etiam in iuventute florere possint. Cuius rei exempla cernuntur in Augusto Caesare, Cosmo duce Florentiae, Gastono de Fois, et aliis nonnullis. Ex altera parte calor et vivacitas si in senectute inveniantur temperamentum optimum constituunt ad negotia.

But sedate and composed wits too can flourish even in youth. Examples of this are seen in Augustus Caesar, Cosimo, duke of Florence, Gaston de Foix, and certain others. On the other hand, if heat and vivacity are found in old age, they constitute the best temperament for affairs.

Iuvenes ad inveniendum magis idonei sunt quam ad iudicandum, et executione potius quam consiliis validi, et ad negotia nova melius adhibentur quam ad consueta. Etenim experientia senum in iis quae sub experientia eorum cadunt eos dirigit, sed in rebus novis eos seducit. Errores iuvenum negotia saepenumero pessundant.

Young men are more apt for discovering than for judging, and strong rather in execution than in counsels, and are better employed on new affairs than on the accustomed. For the experience of old men directs them in those things which fall under their experience, but in new matters it misleads them. The errors of young men very often ruin affairs.

Verum errores senum non ultra fere procedunt, nisi ut plus fieri potuisset aut citius. Iuvenes in rebus gerendis et tractandis maiora amplectuntur quam comprehendere valeant; plura movent quam componere rursus sciunt; ad fines advolant gradibus et mediis non bene pensitatis; praecepta quaedam absurde persequuntur in quae casu inciderunt; extrema remedia a principo usque tentant; denique, quod errores conduplicat, errores agnoscere aut revocare detrectant, similes equis male domitis qui nec se sistere nec vertere volunt. Senes plus satis obiiciunt; in consultationibus nimium morantur; pericula plusquam expedit reformidant; poenitantia praepropera vacillant; atque negotia raro admodum ad periodum iustam deducunt, sat putantes mediocritate quadam successus frui.

But the errors of old men scarcely proceed further than this: that more could have been done, or sooner. Young men, in conducting and handling affairs, embrace greater things than they are able to comprehend; they set more things in motion than they know how to compose again; they fly to the ends, the steps and the means not well weighed; they absurdly pursue certain precepts into which they have fallen by chance; they try extreme remedies from the very beginning; and finally—which doubles the errors—they refuse to acknowledge or revoke errors, like ill-broken horses who are willing neither to stop nor to turn. Old men put forward more than enough objections; they linger too long in consultations; they dread perils more than is expedient; with over-hasty repentance they vacillate; and they very rarely bring affairs to a just period, thinking it enough to enjoy a certain mediocrity of successes.

Bonum certe fuerit in negotiis mixturam adhibere et senum et iuvenum. Illud enim in praesens utile erit ut virtute utriusque aetatis defectus earum corrigent. Utile etiam futuro, ut iuvenes perdiscant dum senes moderentur.

It would surely be good in business to apply a mixture of both old men and young men. For it will be useful for the present, that by the virtue of each age their defects be corrected. Useful also for the future, that the young may learn thoroughly while the old moderate.

Postremo accidentia externa melius compescit, quia senes auctoritate, iuvenes gratia et popularitate pollent. At in moralibus iuventus fortasse primas tenebit, ut senectus in politicis. Ex rabbinis quispiam super textum illum (iuvenes vestri videbunt visiones, et senes vestri somniabunt somnia) sic infert, quod iuvenes propiore ad se aditu Deus dignatur quam senes, quia visio revelatio clarior et manifestior est quam somnium.

Lastly, it better checks external contingencies, because the old are potent by authority, the young by favor and popularity. But in moral matters youth will perhaps hold first place, as old age does in political matters. One of the rabbis, upon that text (“your youths shall see visions, and your elders shall dream dreams”), thus infers that God deigns to youths a nearer access to Himself than to elders, because a vision is a revelation clearer and more manifest than a dream.

Et sane quanto quis magis de mundo bibit, tanto plus toxico eius inficitur. Tum senectus potius in facultatibus intellectus quam in virtutibus voluntatis et affectuum proficit. Sunt qui in iuventute admodum praecoces sunt, sed currentes anni cito marcescunt et eveniunt evanidi.

And indeed, the more one drinks of the world, by so much the more he is infected with its toxin. Then old age makes progress rather in the faculties of intellect than in the virtues of the will and affections. There are those who in youth are very precocious, but as the years run they quickly wither and prove evanescent.

Tales sunt. Primo, qui ingenia nacti sunt fragilia, quorum acies facile redunditur, qualis fuit Hermogenes rhetor, cuius libri subtilissimi sunt, verum ipse paulo post stupidus evasit. Secundum genus eorum quibus naturales quadam facultates insunt quae magis iuventutem decent quam senectutem, qualis est oratio fluens et luxuriosa quae in iuvene laudatur, in sene non item.

Such are as follows. First, those who have fragile wits, whose acuity is easily blunted, like Hermogenes the rhetorician, whose books are most subtle, yet he himself shortly after turned out stupid. The second kind are those in whom there are certain natural faculties which are more becoming to youth than to old age, such as a flowing and luxurious oration, which is praised in a youth, not so in an old man.

Ita Cicero loquitur de Hortensio, idem manebat, neque idem decebat. Tertium eorum qui sublimius nimium efferuntur et magnanimitate praediti sunt supra quam aetas provectior ferre valeat, qualis fuit Scipio Africanus, de quo Livius ita praedicat, ultima primis cedebant.

Thus Cicero speaks of Hortensius: he remained the same, yet the same was not becoming. A third type is of those who are carried up too loftily and are endowed with magnanimity beyond what a more advanced age is able to bear, such as Scipio Africanus, about whom Livy thus proclaims: “the last things yielded to the first.”

XLI. [ = English XLIII] DE PULCHRITUDINE

41. [ = English 43] ON BEAUTY

1. Virtus, instar gemmae pretiosae, optima est sine ornamentis inserta. Atque profecto eadem praestat in corpore decoro, licet non delicato, quodque aspectus dignitatem potius prae se ferat quam pulchritudinem. Neque fere repieries eximie formosas virtutibus pollere, ac si natura in hoc magis incubuisset ut non turpiter erraret quam ut aliquid excellens produceret.

1. Virtue, in the likeness of a precious gem, is best when set without ornaments. And indeed the same is preferable in a decorous body, though not a delicate one, and that its aspect should carry dignity rather than beauty. Nor will you commonly find the exceedingly beautiful to abound in virtues, as though Nature had applied herself more to not erring shamefully than to producing something excellent.

Itaque conversationibus apti sunt, at excelsos spiritus non gerunt, et urbanitati potius student quam virtuti. Sed hoc in omnibus non tenet. Siquidem Augustus Caesar, Titus Vespasianus, Philippus Pulcher rex Galliae, Edouardus Quartus rex Angliae, Alcibiades Atheniensis, Ismael Persa viri prorsus magni fuerunt et nihilominus perpulchri.

Therefore they are apt for conversations, but they do not bear exalted spirits, and they strive rather for urbanity than for virtue. But this does not hold in all. For indeed Augustus Caesar, Titus Vespasianus, Philip IV “the Fair,” king of France, Edward IV, king of England, Alcibiades the Athenian, and Ismail the Persian were men altogether great and nonetheless very beautiful.

2. In pulchritudine praefertur venustas colori, et decorus ac gratiosus oris et corporis motus ipsi venustati. Ea praecipua pulchritudinis portio quam pictura repraesentare non potest, imo nec effigies ipsa viva primo aspectu. Non reperitur pulchritudo aliqua excellens cui non insit aliquid minus conforme in compagine.

2. In beauty, venusty is preferred to color, and a decorous and gracious motion of face and body to venusty itself. This is the chief portion of beauty which painting cannot represent, nay, not even the very living effigy at the first glance. No excellent beauty is found in which there is not something less conformable in the frame.

Haud facile quis dixerit utrum Apelles aut Albertus Durerus nugator maior fuerit, quorum alter hominem secundum proportiones geometricas effingere voluit, alter ex compluribus faciebus optimas quasque partes desumendo unam satagebat depingere excellentem. Tales (crede) effigies vix ulli placebunt praeterquam pictori ipsi. Non quin existimem elegantiorem faciem depingi a pictore posse quam unquam in vivis fuit.

Not easily would anyone say whether Apelles or Albrecht Dürer was the greater trifler, of whom the one wished to fashion a man according to geometric proportions, the other, by selecting from several faces the best parts of each, strove to paint a single excellent one. Such effigies (believe it) will scarcely please anyone except the painter himself. Not that I do not think a more elegant face can be painted by a painter than ever existed among the living.

Sed hoc contingere oportet ex felicitate quadem et casu (veluti musicis sui cantus), non autem ex regulis artis. Videre est facies nonnullas quarum partes singulae examini si subiiciantur vix unam reperies quam separatim probes, quae tamen in consortio satis placent. Quod si verum sit pulchritudinem praecipuam sitam esse in moto decoro, mirum sane non est si provectiores aetate aliquando videantur iunioribus amabiliores.

But this ought to come about from a certain felicity and chance (as with musicians in their own song), not, however, from the rules of art. One can see some faces whose individual parts, if subjected to examination, you will scarcely find even one that you approve separately, yet which in concert are quite pleasing. And if it is true that the principal beauty is situated in decorous motion, it is certainly no wonder if those more advanced in age sometimes seem to the younger more amiable.

Secundum illud Euripidis, pulchrorum autumnus pulcher. Etenim fieri non potest ut iuvenis per omnia decus tueatur, nisi forte iuventutem ipsam ad supplementum decoris assumas. Pulchritudo est instar fructus hortarii qui facile corrumpitur, nec diu durat, atque saepe iuventutem inducit dissolutam, senectutem auto sero poenitentem.

According to that of Euripides, the autumn of the beautiful is beautiful. For indeed it cannot come to pass that a youth maintains grace in all things, unless perhaps you take youth itself as a supplement of comeliness. Beauty is in the likeness of garden-fruit, which is easily corrupted, nor does it last long, and it often induces youth to dissoluteness, but old age to late repentance.

Attamen si bene collocetur, virtutes splendere facit, vitia erubescere.

Nevertheless, if it be well placed, it makes virtues shine, vices blush.

XLII. [ = English XLIV] DE DEFORMITATE

42. [ = English 44] ON DEFORMITY

1. Deformes naturam fere ulciscuntur. Sicut enim natura minus illis propitia fuit, ita et illi naturae vicissim adversi, cum sint plerique ipsorum (ut loquitur Scriptura) sine affectione naturali. Est proculdubio consensus inter animam at corpus, atque natura ubi peccat in uno, periclitatur in altero.

1. The deformed generally take revenge on nature. For just as nature was less propitious to them, so they in turn are adverse to nature, since most of them (as Scripture speaks) are without natural affection. There is, without doubt, a concord between soul and body, and where nature sins in the one, it is put in peril in the other.

Sed quia in fabrica animae conceditur homini electio, in fabrica corporis imponitur necessitas. Astra inclinationis naturalis obscurantur nonnumquam a sole virtutis et disciplinae. Consentaneum itaque fuerit de deformitate dicere, non ut signo quod quandoque fallit, sed ut caussa quae perraro effectu destituitur.

But because in the fabric of the soul choice is granted to man, in the fabric of the body necessity is imposed. The stars of natural inclination are sometimes obscured by the sun of virtue and discipline. It will therefore have been consistent to speak about deformity, not as a sign which sometimes fails, but as a cause which very rarely is deprived of its effect.

Quicunque in persona sua aliquid habet quod contemptum inducit, perpetuum habet in se stimulum quo a contemptu se vindicet. Itaque deformes semper audacissimi. In principio, veluti in defensione sua utpote qui contemptui exponuntur.

Whoever has in his own person something that induces contempt, has within himself a perpetual stimulus by which he vindicates himself from contempt. Therefore the deformed are always most audacious. At the outset, as it were in self-defense, as being those who are exposed to contempt.

Sed processu temporis ex habitu acquisito iterum deformitas industriam acuit eius generis industriam, ut aliorum defectus et infirmitates sedulo rimentur, unde habeant quod rependant. Praeterea in potentiores suspiciones et zelotypiam versus eos extinguit, veluti homines quos tuto despicere liceat. Competitores autem et aemulos consopit, utpote nihil suspicantes de promotione eorum ad honores, donec ipsos in possessione honorum videant.

Sed in the process of time, from an acquired habit, deformity again sharpens industry—industry of that kind—so that they sedulously scrutinize the defects and infirmities of others, whence they may have something to repay with. Moreover, in the more powerful it extinguishes suspicions and jealousy toward them, as toward men whom one may safely despise. But it lulls competitors and rivals to sleep, since they suspect nothing of their promotion to honors, until they see them themselves in possession of honors.

Adeo ut si rem diligenter introspicias in magnis ingeniis, deformitas ascensum ad honores patefacit. Regis antiquis temporibus (atque hodie etiam in imperiis nonnullis) eunuchorum fidei magnopere inniti solebant. Qui enim erga omnes invidi sunt, uni magis fidi sunt et obnoxii.

So much so that, if you look into the matter diligently, in great minds deformity opens the ascent to honors. Kings in ancient times (and even today in some empires) were wont to lean greatly upon the fidelity of eunuchs. For those who are invidious toward all are more faithful and beholden to one.

Attamen fidem illis adhibebant potius ut rimatoribus bonis et susurronibus quam aut magistratibus aut ministris publicis. Similis etiam est ratio deformium. Manet illa regula quam antea posuimus: deformes, si animosi sint, a derisu et ignominia liberare se gnaviter contendent, quod fieri non potest nisi aut per virtutem aut per malitiam.

Nevertheless, they were placing trust in them rather as good pryers and whisperers than either as magistrates or public ministers. A similar rationale applies also to the deformed. The rule we set forth before holds: the deformed, if they be high‑spirited, will strenuously strive to free themselves from derision and ignominy, which cannot be effected except either through virtue or through malice.

Itaque nil mirum cuiquam videatur si quandoque in viros egregios evadant, qualis fuit Agesilaus, Zangerus Solymanni filius, Aesopus, Gasca Peruviae praefectus. Quin et Socrates illis annumerari possit cum aliis.

Therefore let nothing seem a wonder to anyone if they sometimes turn out into outstanding men, such as Agesilaus, Zanger, the son of Solyman, Aesop, Gasca, prefect of Peru. Nay, Socrates too may be numbered with them, along with others.

XLIII. [ = English XLV] DE AEDIFICIIS

43. [ = English 45] ON BUILDINGS

1. Aedes extruuntur ut in iis habitemus, non ut eas spectemus. Pulchritudini igitur praeponatur usus, nisi forte utrunque obtineri possit. Relinquamus fabricas aedium speciosas quae admirationem incutiunt palatiis poetarum incantatis, qui eas extruunt sumptu parvo.

1. Houses are constructed so that we may dwell in them, not so that we may gaze at them. Let utility, therefore, be set before beauty, unless perhaps both can be obtained. Let us leave the showy constructions of houses that inspire admiration to the poets’ enchanted palaces, who erect them at small expense.

Qui domum elegantem aedificat, sed in situ mali, carceri seipsum mandat. Situm autem malum intelligo non tantum ubi aer insalubris, sed etiam ubi aer inaequalis est, quales sunt aedes quae extruuntur quidem in colliculo paululum elevato sed cincto undique more theatri collibus altioribus, ubi ardor solis constringitur, venti autem veluti in canalibus variis aestibus reciprocantur. Adeo ut in huiusmodi situ subito sentias diversitatem non minorem caloris et frigoris quam si in locis diveris habitares.

He who builds an elegant house, but on a bad site, consigns himself to a prison. By a bad site I understand not only where the air is insalubrious, but also where the air is unequal, such as are houses which are built indeed on a little hillock slightly elevated but encircled on every side, after the manner of a theater, by higher hills, where the ardor of the sun is constricted, and the winds, as if in canals, reciprocate with various ebbings and flows. So much so that in a site of this kind you suddenly feel a diversity no less of heat and cold than if you were dwelling in diverse places.

Neque malum situm facit aeris solummodo conditio prava, verum etiam viarum et adituum incommoditas, fora rerum venalium indiga, et (si Momum consulas) vicini mali. De compluribus aliis non loquor, qualia sunt aquarum absentia; sylvarum defectus, quae et focum et umbram praebeant; sterilitas soli, aut quod ex variis glebarum generibus minime commistum sit; prospectus coarctatus; defectus terrae planae et aequabilis; locorum defectus in propinquo, qui venationibus, aucupiis, cursibus equorum idonei sint; mare nimis in vicino aut nimis in remoto; commoditas nulla fluviorum navigabilium, aut etiam incommoditas ipsorum ob inundationes; situs remotior ab urbibus magnis, quod negotiis obest, aut etiam propinquor, quod victui necessaria absorbet et omnia cara reddit; locus ubi quis latifundia ampla possideat, aut acquirere possit, et locus contra ubi pennas extendere nequeat. Quae singula minime eo animo enumeramus acsi domus aliqua his incommodis omnibus vacare possit, verum ut tot ex illis evitemus quod evitare concedatur.

Nor is a bad site made only by the depraved condition of the air, but also by the inconvenience of roads and approaches, a lack of fora for vendible wares, and (if you consult Momus) bad neighbors. Of many other things I do not speak, such as the absence of waters; a defect of woods, which supply both hearth and shade; barrenness of the soil, or because it is very little mixed from diverse kinds of clods; a constricted prospect; a lack of flat and level ground; a lack of places nearby that are suitable for huntings, fowlings, and courses of horses; the sea either too near or too far; no commodiousness of navigable rivers, or even their inconvenience on account of inundations; a site too remote from great cities, which is harmful to business, or even too near, which absorbs the necessaries of sustenance and makes everything dear; a place where one may possess broad estates or be able to acquire them, and, on the contrary, a place where one cannot spread his wings. We enumerate these several items in no way with the mind as if any house could be free from all these inconveniences, but rather so that we may avoid as many of them as it is granted to avoid.

Atque rursus, si quis domos plures aedificet, ita rem disponat ut quae in una desint commoditates adsint in altera. Responsum Luculli Pompeio bellulum erat, qui cum in palatio Luculli immensas et luminosas porticus et cameras conspexisset, sic infit: Optime proculdubio hic habitatur aestate, sed quomodo hyemem toleras? Cui Lucullus, Quid, numnam me putas avium prudentiam non assequi, quarum nonnullae hyeme ingruente sedes mutant?

And again, if anyone were to build several houses, let him so arrange the matter that the conveniences which are lacking in one are present in another. A neat reply of Lucullus to Pompey was this: when he had surveyed in Lucullus’s palace immense and luminous porticoes and chambers, he thus begins, “Doubtless, one lives here most excellently in summer; but how do you tolerate the winter?” To whom Lucullus: “What? do you suppose that I do not attain the prudence of birds, some of whom, as winter presses on, change their seats?”

2. Transeundum iam a situ domus ad domum ipsam. Imitabimur Ciceronem, qui libros conscripsit de Oratore et librum unicum qui inscribitur Orator, quorum priores praecepta artis tradunt, posterior perfectionem. Discribemus igitur palatium regium atque eiusdem modulum quendam conficiemus.

2. We must now pass from the site of the house to the house itself. We shall imitate Cicero, who composed books On the Orator and a single book entitled Orator, of which the former hand down the precepts of the art, the latter its perfection. Therefore we shall delineate the royal palace, and of the same we will also fashion a certain module (model).

Prorsus enim mirabilis res est tam vastas hodie existere moles in Europa, quales sunt Vaticanum et Escuriale et nonnullae aliae in quibus tamen cameram aliquam vere magnificam vix reperies.
3. Primum igitur statuo palatium perfectum neutiquam esse nisi duas habeat portiones diversas, portionem convivii, ut loquitur liber Hesteri, et portionem mansionis sive familiae, alteram ad pompas, magnificentias, et celebritates, alteram ad habititations usum. Intelligo portiones istas duas extrui debere non ut latera domus, sed ut frontis ipsius partes, easque exterius uniformas esse, licet interius longe diversas.

For truly it is a marvelous thing that such vast structures exist today in Europe, such as the Vatican and the Escurial and some others, in which, however, you will hardly find any chamber truly magnificent.
3. First, therefore, I lay down that a perfect palace is by no means complete unless it have two distinct portions, a portion of banquet, as the Book of Esther speaks, and a portion of dwelling or household—the one for pomps, magnificences, and celebrations, the other for the use of habitation. I understand that these two portions ought to be constructed not as the sides of the house, but as parts of the very front, and that they be outwardly uniform, though inwardly far different.

Coniungi autum volumus portiones istas per turrim sublimem et splendidam in medio frontis. Atque, quoad portionem convivii, unicam tantum illic cameram poni velim, eamque supra gradus quinquaginta pedes ad minus altam, et subter eam cameram autem alteram similis longitudinis et latitudinis, quae apparatum et instuctionem ad festa, ludos, et eiusmodi magnificentias, actores etiam dum se ornent et parent commode recipiat. Alteram portionem, mansionis scilicet, dividi velim praecipue in aulam et sacellum, utramque amplam et pulchram.

However, we wish these portions to be conjoined by a lofty and splendid tower in the middle of the front. And, as to the portion of banqueting, as the Book of Esther speaks, I would have only a single chamber placed there, and that high above the grade by at least fifty feet; and beneath that chamber another of similar length and breadth, which may conveniently receive the apparatus and preparation for feasts, games, and magnificences of that kind, and the actors also while they adorn and prepare themselves. The other portion, namely that of the dwelling, I would have divided chiefly into a hall and a chapel, both ample and beautiful.

Eas vero per universam portionis longitudinem extendi nolim, sed relinqui in exitu coenacula duo, hymeale et aestivale. Atque subter haec omnia (excepto sacello) cellas amplas subterraneas collocari volo, quae culinis privatis, promptuariis, panariis et similibus inserviant. Quantum ad turrim, eam elevari volo usque ad duo tabulata, utrunque quindecim pedes altum, super duas alas frontis, coopertam plumbo aequabili, atque statuis per fulcra laterum in summitate decoratam.

Evidently I would not wish these to be extended through the entire length of the portion, but that at the end two upper chambers be left, the winter and the summer. And beneath all these (the chapel excepted) I wish spacious subterranean cellars to be placed, which may serve private kitchens, store-rooms, pantries, and the like. As for the tower, I wish it to be raised to two stories, each fifteen feet high, over the two wings of the front, covered with even lead, and adorned at the summit with statues upon the brackets of the sides.

Eandem turrim in cubicula diversa distingui volo. Gradus autem turris apertos esse, et in se revertentes, et per senos subinde divisos utrinque statuis ligneis, inauratis vel saltem aenei coloris, cinctos cum statione spatiosa et lata in vertice. Verum cavendum ne locus ubi famuli comedant sit ad imum graduum vel prope: si enim fit, ciborum nidor ascendet tanquam in tubo quodam.

I wish that same tower to be partitioned into diverse chambers. Moreover, the stairs of the tower are to be open, and turning back upon themselves, and, successively divided in sixes, bordered on both sides with wooden statues, gilded or at least of a bronze color, with a spacious and broad standing-place at the summit. But care must be taken that the place where the servants eat not be at the very bottom of the stairs or near: for if it is, the reek of foods will ascend as in a kind of tube.

Et de fronte aedificii hactenus. Tantum intelligo gradus primos ascensus ad viginti pedes sustolli debere, altitudinem scilicet tabulati inferioris.
4. Ultra frontem aedificii aream spatiosam designo cuius latera tria sint ipsa aedium fronte haud paulum humiliora, atque in quatuor angulis eiusdem areae turres extruantur, altitudinem laterum praedictorum nonnihil superantes, ad gradus quibus in superiora ascendatur capiendos.

And as to the front of the building, thus far. I only understand that the first steps of ascent ought to be raised to twenty feet, namely the height of the lower story.
4. Beyond the front of the building I designate a spacious area, the three sides of which should be not a little lower than the very front of the house; and in the four corners of the same area let towers be erected, somewhat exceeding the height of the aforesaid sides, to receive the steps by which one ascends to the upper parts.

Quae turres non recipiantur in planum aedificii sed extra promineant. Area autem integra lapidibus latis quadranguli minime substernatur, nam huiusmodi pavimenta calorem molestum aestate et similiter frigus aspersum hyeme immittunt. Sed habeat ambulacra ex eiusmodi lapidibus per latera tantum aedificii quae gramine vestiantur, detonso quidem, sed non nimis prope terram.

Let those towers not be taken into the plane of the building, but project outward. But let the entire court by no means be underlaid with broad quadrangular stones; for pavements of this kind admit a troublesome heat in summer and likewise an aspersed chill in winter. But let it have walkways of such stones along the sides only of the building, which are to be clothed with grass, shorn indeed, but not too close to the ground.

Latus universum area ex parte convivii occupent spatiosae et speciosae porticus. In quibus singulis porticibus sint in laquearibus tres aut quinque sphaerae concavae (cupulas vocant) pulchrae in longitudine positae ad aequalem distantiam. Sint quoque fenestra ex vitro colorato ubi pingantur columnae, imagines omnigenae, flores, et similia.

Let spacious and splendid porticoes occupy the whole side of the area on the banquet side. In each of these porticoes let there be in the coffered ceilings three or five concave spheres (they call them cupolas), comely, set lengthwise at equal intervals. Let there also be windows of colored glass where columns, images of every kind, flowers, and the like are painted.

At latus ex parte familiae simul cum latere tertio regione frontis complectantur cameras praesentiales et alias usus ac decoris ordinarii. atque rursus cubicula. Sintque tria illa latera ita extructa ut exhibeant aedificium duplex, non translucenda, sed ex altera tantum parte fenestrata ut tam matutinis quam vespertinis temporibus praesto sint camerae in quibus sol non intret.

But let the side on the household’s part, together with the third side in the region of the front, comprise presence-chambers and others for ordinary use and decor, and, in turn, bedchambers. And let those three sides be so constructed as to present a duplex building, not through-lit, but fenestrated only on one side, so that both at matutinal and at vespertine times there are chambers available into which the sun does not enter.

At commodentur etiam eo modo ut habeantur ibi cubicula et cameras tam aestivales ad refrigerium quam hyemales frigus arcendum. Invenies non raro aedes pulchras, sed tamen ita vitro et fenestris repletas ut vix locum suppeditent ubi te recipias aut ad solem aut ad frigus evitandum. Quantum ad fenestras prominentes sive arctas, eas probo tanquam res commodas (urbibus sane fenestrae ad planum aedificii et minime proturbantes magis conveniunt propter uniformitatem structurae plateas versus). Sunt enim receptus colloquiis opportuni, atque insuper tam ventum quam solem commovent.

But let them also be accommodated in such a way that there be there bedchambers and chambers both summer ones for cooling and winter ones for warding off the cold. You will not rarely find handsome houses, yet so filled with glass and windows that they scarcely supply a place where you may withdraw yourself either to the sun or to avoid the cold. As to windows projecting or recessed, I approve them as convenient things (in cities, to be sure, windows flush with the plane of the building and least protruding are more suitable, because of the uniformity of the structure toward the streets). For they are retreats suitable for conversations, and, moreover, they both catch the breeze and the sun.

Quod enim alias per total cameram pertransisset vix ultra fenestram penetrabit. Rarae tamen sint huiusmodi fenestrae arcuatae, non ultra quatuor, duae scilicet ex utroque latere areae.
5. Ultra hanc quam diximus aream, sit alia interior partis et amplitudinis et altudinis horto per exterius circumcincta, interius autem ambulacris pulchris, arcuatis usque ad primum tabulatum circundata.

For that which otherwise would have passed through the whole chamber will scarcely penetrate beyond the window. Yet let arched windows of this kind be rare, not beyond four, namely two on each side of the court.
5. Beyond this area which we have spoken of, let there be another inner one of dimension in length, breadth, and height, girded on the exterior by a garden, but on the interior surrounded by beautiful ambulatories, arched up to the first story.

Pars autem exterior solarii inferioris versus hortum, quatenus ad duo latera, convertatur in specum sive cavernam (grottam moderni vocant) ad umbram et aestivationem, apertam aut fenestratam tantum ex parte horti. Sit autem caverna illa solo aequa, non omnino depressa, et eleganti pavimento strata ad terrae vapores excludendos. Erigatur autem in medio istius areae fons splendidus aut opus aliquod ex statuis magnificum, pavimentum autem simile sit areae illi antedictae.

But let the outer part of the lower solarium, facing the garden, in so far as along two sides, be converted into a specus or cavern (the moderns call it a grotto) for shade and estivating, open, or windowed only, on the garden side. And let that cavern be level with the ground, not wholly sunken, and be laid with an elegant pavement to exclude the vapors of the earth. Moreover, let there be erected in the middle of that court a splendid fountain, or some magnificent work of statues, and let the pavement be similar to that aforesaid court.

Huius areae aedificia ex utroque destinentur cameris et conclavibus secretioribus, latus autem transversum porticibus etiam secretioribus. Curandum vero ut alique, tam ex cameris et conclavibus quam ex porticibus designetur ad usum infirmorum, si forte princeps aut quis e grandoribus aegrotaverit. Habeant autem portiones singulae aegris destinatae (ut moderni loquuntur) antecameram, cameram ad cubile, et recameram.

Let the buildings of this court be assigned on either side to chambers and more private conclaves, but the transverse side to porticoes yet more secluded. Care must indeed be taken that some portions, both from the chambers and conclaves and from the porticoes, be designated for the use of the infirm, if perchance the prince or one of the grandees should fall ill. And let the several portions destined for the sick (as the moderns speak) have an antechamber, a chamber for the bed, and a re-chamber.

Haec autem quae diximus supra secundum solarium collocentur. At latus transversum solarii inferioris versus hortum convertatur in porticum speciosam, patentem, et columnis fultam. Rursus, supra solarium tertium ex omnibus tribus lateribus statuantur porticus elegantes, columnares, et aperate ad prospectum et refrigerium horti excipiendum.

Let these things, however, which we have said above be arranged on the second story. And let the transverse side of the lower story, turned toward the garden, be converted into a beautiful portico, open and supported by columns. Again, on the third story above, along all three sides, let elegant, columnar, and open porticoes be set up, to receive the prospect and the cool refreshment of the garden.

Verum ad angulos duos lateris transversi in solario secundo accommodentur et ornentur duo splendida et delicata conclavia (cabinettos moderni vocant) pavimento nitente, aulaeis sumptuosis instructa, vitro crystallino fenestrata, cum cupola elegante in medio. Sint autem conclavia illa rebus curiosis omnigenis et spectatu dignis referta. In supremis quoque porticibus (si fieri posset) optarem collocari iuxta parietes in locis diversis fonticulos quosdam aquam emittentes, qui per secretos tubos iterum transeant.

But at the two corners of the transverse side on the second solar let two splendid and delicate chambers be fitted and adorned (the moderns call them cabinets), with shining flooring, furnished with sumptuous hangings, windowed with crystalline glass, with an elegant cupola in the middle. Moreover, let those chambers be filled with curious things of every kind and worthy to behold. In the uppermost porticoes too (if it could be done) I would wish certain little fountains emitting water to be placed next to the walls in various places, which would then pass again through secret pipes.

Interior autem pars in solario superiore versus aream formetur in porticus et ambulacra bene munita et obducta ad usum convalescentium. Atque hactenus de aulaeo palati ipsus. Nam de belneis et piscinis non loquor, Superest tamen ut antequam ad frontem aedium pervenias collocentur areae tres, area viridis, gramine vestita cum pariete in circuitu, et iuxta parietem arboribus ordine positis, sata area altera eiusdem amplitudinis sed in pariete cuius sint turriculae extructae aut simile quod eiusmodi elegantiae.

But let the inner part on the upper solarium, facing the courtyard, be formed into porticoes and ambulatories, well secured and covered, for the use of convalescents. And thus far about the canopy of the palace itself. For I do not speak of baths and pools. It remains, however, that before you come to the front of the buildings, three courts be set: a green court, clothed with grass, with a wall all around, and next to the wall trees set in order; a second planted court of the same size, but in whose wall little turrets be erected, or something similar of that sort of elegance.

Area item tertia quae cum fronte ipsa aedium quadrangulum constituate, quam aedificio certe aliquo circumdatam nolo, neque rursus nudis parietibus cinctam, sed ambulacris supra columnas, non arcus, erectis. In summitate vero plumbo vel lapide quadrato coopertis et ad latera elegantibus statuis parvis aenei coloris munitis clausum. Quatenus vero ad aedificia omnia quae usibus familiaribus inserviunt summoveantur illa ad aliquam distantiam a palatio ipso, ita tamen ut interponantur porticus humiliores et obtectae intra quas ad palatium transire possis.

Likewise a third court, which together with the very front of the building would constitute a quadrangle, which I do not wish to be surrounded by any building, nor again enclosed by bare walls, but by ambulacra erected upon columns, not arches. At the top, indeed, let them be covered with lead or with quadrate stone, and along the sides secured with elegant small statues of aeneous (bronze-colored) hue, the whole being enclosed. As regards all the buildings that serve domestic uses, let those be removed to some distance from the palace itself, yet in such a way that lower and covered porticoes be interposed, within which one may pass to the palace.

LXIV. [ = English XLVI] DE HORTIS

64. [ = English 46] ON GARDENS

1. Deus ipse primus plantavit hortum. Atque revera inter solatia humana illud horti est purissimum. Etenim spritus hominum maxime reficit et oblectat.

1. God himself first planted a garden. And indeed, among human consolations, that of the garden is the purest. For it most greatly refreshes and delights the spirit of men.

Quo sine, aedificia et palatia manus tantum sunt opera, nec sapiunt naturam. Quinetiam notabis secula cum proficiunt in cultura et magnificentia citius pervenire ad aedificorum pulchritudinem quam ad hortorum elegantiam et amaenitatem, quasi elegantia illa hortorum esset res perfectior.
2. Statuo in hortus regalibus assignari oportere hortos pro singulis anni mensibus, in quibus separatim plantae quae illo mense florent et vigent producantur.

Without which, edifices and palaces are only works of the hand, nor do they savor of nature. Nay even, you will note that ages, as they make progress in culture and magnificence, more quickly arrive at the beauty of buildings than at the elegance and amenity of gardens, as if that elegance of gardens were a more perfect thing.
2. I lay down that in royal gardens there ought to be assigned gardens for each month of the year, in which, separately, the plants which in that month flower and flourish may be displayed.

Pro Decembri, Ianuario, et fine Novembris eligendae sunt plantae quae per totam hymem virescunt, quales sunt aquifolia, hedera, laurus, iuniperus, cupressus, taxus, buxus, pinus, abies, rosmarinus, lavendula, pervinea flore albo, purpureo, et caeruleo, chamedris, iridis quoad folia, arantia, limones, et myrtus, si calidariis conservetur, et amaracus iuxta parietem et versus solum satus. Sequuntur pro fine Ianuarii et Februario arbustum chamaeleae Germanicae sive mezereonis quae eo tempore floret, crocus vernus flore luteo et glauco, primulae veris, anemones, tulipa praecox, hyacynthus orientalis, chamairis, fritellaria. Pro Martio omne genus violarum, praecipue purpuereae simplici flore, quae sunt praecocissimae, pseudo-narcissus luteus, bellis, amygdalus, quae tunc floret, malus Persica, et cornus, quae etiam tunc florent, rubus odoratus.

For December, January, and the end of November, plants must be chosen which are green through the whole winter, such as holly, ivy, laurel, juniper, cypress, yew, box, pine, fir, rosemary, lavender, periwinkle with white, purple, and blue flower, germander, iris as regards the leaves, oranges, lemons, and myrtle, if it be kept in hot-houses, and marjoram planted next to a wall and along the ground. Next, for the end of January and February, the shrub of the German chamaelea, or mezereon, which at that time flowers; the spring crocus with yellow and blue flower; primroses; anemones; early tulip; Oriental hyacinth; dwarf iris; fritillaria. For March, every kind of violet, especially the purple with a single flower, which are the very earliest; the yellow daffodil; daisies; the almond, which then flowers; the peach and the dogwood, which also then flower; fragrant bramble.

Pro Aprili viola flore albo multiplice, parietaria lutea, leucoium, herba paralysis, irides et lilia omnigena, flores roris marini, tulipa, paeonia flore multiplici, narcissus verus, periclemenum sabaudicum, cerasus, et pyrus diversi generis in flore, acanthus, quae tum folia emittit, arbor lelac. Pro Maio et Iunio camacariophyllus omnium generum, praecipue virgineus, omne genus rosarum, moschata tota excepta, quae serius floret, periclemenum commune, fraga, euglostum, columbina, flos Africanus simplex et multiplex, cerasus, que tum fructum profert, ribes, ficus in fructu, baccae rubi idai, vitis flores, lavendula florens, satyrium hortense flore albo, herba muscaria, lilium convallium, malus florens, flos cyaneus. Pro Iulio, cariophyllata omnium generum, rosa moschata, tilia florens, pyra, et poma, et pruna praecocia.

For April: the violet with a white double flower, the yellow wallflower, leucoium, the herb of paralysis, irises and lilies of every kind, the flowers of rosemary, the tulip, the peony with a double flower, the true narcissus, the Savoy honeysuckle, the cherry and the pear of diverse kinds in blossom, acanthus, which then puts forth its leaves, the lilac tree. For May and June: caryophyllus of all kinds, especially the virginal, every kind of roses, the musk-rose wholly excepted, which flowers later, the common honeysuckle, strawberries, bugloss, columbine, the African flower single and double, the cherry, which then bears fruit, currants, the fig in fruit, the berries of the Idaean bramble, the vine-blossoms, flowering lavender, the garden satyrion with a white flower, the muscary herb, lily of the valley, the apple in blossom, the blue cornflower. For July: caryophyllata of all kinds, the musk-rose, the linden in flower, pears and apples and early plums.

Pro Augusto, pruna cinnium generum, pyra, mala Armeniaca, baccae oxyacanthae, nuces avellanae, melones moschatellini, et omnigeni coloris delphinum sive consolida regalis. Pro Septembri, uvae, poma, papaver variorum colorum, mala Persica, melocotonea, nectarinae, corna, pyra hyemalia, cydonea. Pro Octobri et principio Novembris sorba, mespila, pruna sylvestria, rosae serae, malvae arborescentes flore roseo, et similia.

For August, plums of many kinds, pears, Armenian apples (apricots), berries of the hawthorn (oxyacantha), hazel-nuts, musk-melons, and delphinium of every color, or royal larkspur. For September, grapes, apples, poppy of various colors, Persian apples (peaches), melocotons, nectarines, cornels (cornel-cherries), winter pears, Cydonian quinces. For October and the beginning of November, sorb-apples (service-fruit), medlars, wild plums, late roses, tree-mallows with rose-colored flower, and the like.

He vero quas enumeraverimus plantae climati Londinensi conveniunt. Sed hoc volo ut sit alicubi quasi ver perpetuum prout fert loci conditio.
3. Quoniam autem odor florum spirans in aere (ubi undulat more modulationis musicae)’ gratior multo est quam si eos decerpas manu, ideo nihil magis confert ad delectationem illam quae ex odore florum percipitur quam nosse eos flores et plantas quae adhuc crescentes, nec avulsae, maxime emittunt auras suaves et aerem odore perfundunt.

But indeed the plants which we have enumerated suit the London climate. But this I wish: that there be somewhere, as it were, a perpetual spring, as the condition of the place permits.
3. Since, however, the odor of flowers breathing into the air (where it undulates after the manner of musical modulation)’ is much more pleasing than if you pluck them by hand, therefore nothing contributes more to that delight which is perceived from the odor of flowers than to know those flowers and plants which, while still growing and not plucked, most send forth sweet breezes and suffuse the air with scent.

Rosae tam pallidae quam rubreae dum crescunt odoris sui sunt tenaces, nec aerem tingunt. Adeo ut iuxta sepem earum ambulans nihil odoris percipies, etiamsi hoc experiaris tempore roris matutini. Laurus itidem dum crescit odoris parum emittit, neque etiam rosmarinus aut amaracus.

Roses, as well pale as red, while they are growing are tenacious of their own odor, nor do they tinge the air. So much so that, walking next to their hedge, you will perceive no scent, even if you try this at the time of the morning dew. Laurel likewise, while it grows, emits little odor, nor do rosemary or marjoram.

Id quod ante omnia suavissimo odore aerem crescens imbuit est viola, praecipue alba, flore multiplici, quae bis quotannis floret, medio Aprilis et sub finem Augusti. Ei proxime accedit rosa moschata. Tum folia fragariae marcescentis quae halitum emittunt plane cardiacum.

That which before all others, as it grows, imbues the air with a most sweet odor is the violet, especially the white, with a double blossom, which flowers twice each year, in mid-April and toward the end of August. Next to it comes the musk-rose. Then the leaves of the withering strawberry, which emit a breath plainly cordial.

Tum flores vitis qui apparent in racemis noviter protrusis ad instar pulveris, qualis est in caule plantiginis. Tum rubus odoratus. Tum parietaria lutea, quae gratissimum edit odorum sata iuxta fenestras conclavis aut cubiculi in imo solario siti.

Then the blossoms of the vine which appear in racemes newly thrust out, in the likeness of powder, such as is on the stalk of plantain. Then the fragrant bramble. Then the yellow wallflower, which gives out a most pleasing scent when sown next to the windows of a parlor or of a bedchamber situated on the ground floor.

Tum cariophyllatae, tam minores quam maiores. Tum flores tiliae. Tum periclymeni flores eminus locati.

Then the gillyflowers, both the smaller and the larger. Then the linden-flowers. Then the periclymenon flowers set at a distance.

Tum flores lavendulae. De floribus fabae non loquor, quoniam campestres sunt. At ea quae aeream iucundissimo odore perfundunt, sed non nisi calcata aut contusa, sunt tria, pimpinella, serpillum, et mentha aquatica.

Then the flowers of lavender. I do not speak of the flowers of the bean, since they are of the fields. But those which suffuse the air with a most pleasant odor, yet not unless trodden upon or crushed, are three: pimpinella, serpyllum, and water mint.

Itaque ambulacra integra his sunt conserenda ut odorem eorum calcando exprimas.
4. Horti contentum (loquor autem de hortis regiis, sicut feci de aedificiis) haud minus triginta iugerum esse debet, atque illud in tres partes dividi convenit: graminetum in introitu, fruticetum sive eremum in exitu, et hortum praecipuum in medio, praeter ambulacra utrinque ad latera. Mihi quidem placet quatuor iugera gramineto assignari fruticeto, bis quatuor ad ambulacra ad latera, et horto praecipuo duodecim.

Therefore the walks are to be planted solidly with these, so that by treading you press out their odor.
4. The content/compass of the garden (I speak, moreover, of royal gardens, just as I did of edifices) ought to be not less than 30 iugera, and it is fitting that it be divided into three parts: a lawn at the entrance, a shrubbery or wilderness at the exit, and the principal garden in the middle, besides the walks on either side at the flanks. For my part, it pleases me that four iugera be assigned to the lawn, four to the shrubbery, twice four to the walks at the sides, and twelve to the principal garden.

Oblectamentum ex gramineto duplex est: primum quidem oculis, quibus nihil iucundius est quam gramen subinde tonsum et virescens, alterum quiniam in medio orbita purganda est qua iri possit versus frontispicium sepis magnificae quae hortum praecipuum includat. At quoniam orbita ista longa erit, neque in magnis ardoribus anni aut diei umbra hortis emenda est ambulatione per graminetum exposito sole, ideo ambulacra obtecta, duodecim pedes alta, ex opere lignario utrinque ad latera gramineti extruenda sunt per quae hortuum introire possis in umbra continua. Quantum autem ad schemata et figuras ex varii coloris terra distinctas quae subiaceant fenestris aedificii, nugae plane sunt.

There is a double delectation from the grass-plot: first indeed for the eyes, to which nothing is more pleasant than grass continually shorn and green, the other because in the middle a track is to be cleared by which one may go toward the frontispiece of the magnificent hedge which encloses the principal garden. But since that track will be long, and in the great heats of the year or of the day shade is not to be purchased for the gardens by a walk across the grass-plot with the sun beating down, therefore covered walks, twelve feet high, of woodwork, are to be built on both sides at the flanks of the grass-plot, through which you may enter the garden in continuous shade. As for the patterns and figures, marked out with earth of various colors, which lie beneath the windows of the building, they are sheer trifles.

Saepius videas in placentis talia. Figura quadrata horto optime convenit, quam undique sepi pulcherrima et arcuata claudi oportet. Arcus extollantur super columnas ex opere lignario pedes decem alti, lati sex.

You may more often see such things in parterres. A square figure suits a garden best, which ought to be enclosed on all sides by a most beautiful, arched hedge. Let the arches be raised upon columns of woodwork, ten feet high and six wide.

Spatia autem inter columnas eiusdem dimensionis sint cum latitudine arcus. Supra arcus fit sepes continuata pedes quatuor alta ex opere itidem lignario, et haec supra sit turricula in summitate arcus cuiusque extructa, cuius interior capacitas sufficiat avicularum caveae excipiendae. Et supra interstitia arcuum collocentur aliae aliquae figurae inauratae continentes lamellas vitri colorati quibus varie ludant radii solares.

But let the spaces between the columns be of the same dimension as the width of the arch. Above the arches a continuous fence, four feet high, is made likewise of woodwork, and above this let there be a little turret built on the summit of each arch, whose interior capacity may suffice for accommodating a cage for little birds. And above the interstices of the arches let there be placed some other gilded figures containing lamellae of colored glass, with which the sun’s rays may play in various ways.

Hanc autem sepem intelligo supra aggerem, haud praecipitem quidem sed mediocriter declivem, sex pedes altum, totum floribus consitum, erigendam esse. Intelligo etiam ut haec quadra horti non totam soli latitudinem occupet, sed satis spatii, variis ambulacris conficiendis, utrinque ad latera relinquat, in quae obtecta illa gramineti ambulacra de quibus diximus deducant. Verum ad introitum et exitum horti huiusmodi ambulacra cum sepibus omnino omittenda sunt.

This hedge, moreover, I understand is to be erected upon an embankment, not precipitous indeed but moderately sloping, six feet high, entirely planted with flowers. I also understand that this square of the garden should not occupy the whole breadth of the soil, but should leave on both sides enough space for the making of various ambulatories, into which those covered ambulatories of the lawn, of which we have spoken, shall lead down. But at the entrance and exit of the garden, ambulatories of this kind with hedges are altogether to be omitted.

In introitu quidem, ne conspectum amoenae illius sepis a gramineto impediat, in exitu autem, ne prospectum fruticeti per arcus intercipiat.
5. Dispositionem soli intra claustrum sepis variandam ad placitum relinquo, hoc interim monens, ut quaecunque ea tandem sit, nimis curiosa et operosa ne sit. Imagines excisas ex iunipero vel alia materia hortensi non probo, puerelia sunt ista.

At the entrance, indeed, lest the view of that charming hedge be impeded by the lawn; at the exit, however, lest the prospect of the shrubbery be intercepted through the arches.
5. I leave the disposition of the soil within the enclosure of the hedge to be varied at pleasure, meanwhile noting this: whatever it finally is, let it not be too over‑elaborate and laborious. I do not approve figures cut from juniper or other horticultural material; such things are puerile.

Humiles sepiculae rotundae instar fimbriarum, cum pyramidis parvulis, placent. Columnas etiam et pyramides altas ex opere lignario in aliquibus locis sparsas, sepibus vestitas, recipio. Ambulacra ampla et spatiosa esse volo.

Low little hedges, round, in the fashion of fringes, with tiny pyramids, are pleasing. Columns also and tall pyramids of woodwork, scattered in some places, clad with hedges, I welcome. I wish the ambulatories to be wide and spacious.

Ambulacra angustiora et obtectiora ad latera summovenda sunt, neutiquam vero in pomaerio horti praecipui collocanda. Consulerem etiam ut in medio horti set monticellus pulcher cum tribus ascensus ordinibus et tribus ambulacris eius latitudinis ut quatuor una ambulare possint. Et haec insuper ambulacrae perfecte circularia esse suadeo, absque figuris propugnaculorum.

Walkways narrower and more covered ought to be moved off to the sides, and by no means placed in the pomerium of the principal garden. I would also advise that in the middle of the garden there be a handsome little mound with three orders of ascent and three walkways of such breadth that four can walk together. And moreover I recommend that these walkways be perfectly circular, without the figures of bastions.

Altitudo autem monticelli triginta pedum esto, atque in vertice domicellus elegans extruatur cum caminis venuste ordinatis et absque multo vitro.
6. Fontes quod attinet, magno sunt illi ornamento et refrigero. Sed stagna et piscinae exulent.

But let the altitude of the little mound be thirty feet, and on the summit let an elegant little dwelling be erected, with chimneys gracefully ordered and without much glass.
6. As for fountains, they are a great ornament and a cooling refreshment. But let ponds and pools be banished.

Hortum enim insalubrem reddunt et scatentem muscis, ranis, et similibus. Fontes duorum generum intelligio, unum qui aquam salientem verset et dispergat cum crateribus suis, alterum nitidum aquae purae receptaculum, quadratum pedum triginta vel quadraginta, illime, sine coeno aut piscibus. Quod primum, imagines inauratae sed marmoreae quae in usu sunt ornamento esse recte possunt.

For they render the garden insalubrious and teeming with flies, frogs, and the like. I understand fountains of two kinds: one that turns and disperses leaping water with its basins; the other a shining receptacle of pure water, a square of thirty or forty feet, slime-free, without mud or fish. As to the first, gilded yet marble images—such as are in use—can rightly serve as an ornament.

Sed in eo genere cardo rei est ita aquam regere ut perpetu fluat, nec consistat aut in cratere aut in cisterna, ita ut quiete non sit deoclor, versa aut in viridem aut rubrum aut huiusmodi, neque muscum colligat aut putredinem. Etiam manu purganda est quotidie ut maneat limpida. Itidem gradus aliqui ascensus ad fontem, et pavimentum circa eum elegans decori sunt.

But in that kind the hinge of the matter is so to govern the water that it flow perpetually, and not stand either in the bowl or in the cistern, so that when at rest it be not discolored, turned either green or red or the like, nor gather moss or putridity. It also must be cleansed by hand daily, that it may remain limpid. Likewise some steps of ascent to the fountain, and an elegant pavement around it, are for ornament.

Illud alterum fontis genus, quod balneum sive lavacrum dici potest, multum ornatus et curiositatis recipere potest, quibus non immoramur. Veluti, ut fundum sit imaginibus decoratum, latera quodque, simul hinc inde vitro variorum colorum, et huiusmodi corporibus politis et radiantibus splendens, circumdatum etiam clausura humilium statuarum. Sed maximum est illud, cuius in priore genere fontium mentionem fecimus.

That other kind of fountain, which can be called a bath or lavacrum, can receive much ornament and curiosity, upon which we do not dwell. For example, that the bottom be adorned with images, and the sides as well, likewise here and there with glass of various colors, and shining with polished and radiant bodies of this sort, also surrounded with an enclosure of low statues. But the greatest point is that which we made mention of in the former kind of fountains.

Nimirum ut aqua sit in perpetuo motu. Aqua scilicet, quae balneo superior sit nutrita, per canales venustos inducta, et rursus per tubas subter terram aequalis dimensionis, ne aqua diutius consistat, educta. Verum quoad curiosas inventiones arcuandi aquas sine earum effusione, et eas effingendi in varias formas (plumarum, poculorum vitreorum canopaeorum, campanarum, et similium), etiam rupes artificiosas et huiusmodi.

Assuredly, that the water be in perpetual motion. The water, namely, which, being higher than the bath, is supplied, brought in through graceful channels, and again, through pipes of equal dimension beneath the ground, drawn off, lest the water stand too long. But as for the curious inventions of arching the waters without their effusion, and of shaping them into various forms (plumes, glass goblets, canopies, bells, and the like), also artificial rocks and suchlike.

Sunt illa quidem spectatu iucunda, sed nihil ad salubritatem aut suavitatem.
7. Fruticetum autem, quod tertiam totius horti partem posuimus, velim ut ad similitudinem naturalis deserti prope accedat. Arbores in illo plantari nolo, nisi quod in aliquibus locis erigi praecipio arborum series quae in vertice ambulacra contineant, ramis arborum cooperta, cum fenestris.

Those things indeed are pleasant to look upon, but contribute nothing to healthfulness or pleasantness.
7. As for the shrubbery, which we have set as a third part of the whole garden, I would have it come close to the likeness of a natural wilderness. I do not wish trees to be planted in it, except that in some places I direct that a series of trees be erected which, at the top, shall contain ambulatories, covered with the branches of the trees, with windows.

Subiaceat autem pars soli floribus odoris suavis abunde consita, qui auras in superius exhalent. Alias fruticetum apertum esse sine arboribus velim. Dumeta tamen spargi placet ex rubo odorato, peryclymeno, et vite sylvestri.

Let, moreover, a part of the ground beneath be abundantly planted with flowers of sweet odor, which exhale their auras upward. Otherwise I would wish the shrubbery to be open without trees. Yet it pleases that thickets be scattered of fragrant bramble, periclymenon, and wild vine.

Terram autem ubique consitam volo violis, fragis praecipue, et primula veris. Hae enim plantae iucundum spirant odorum et in umbra feliciter crescunt. Dumeta autem et ambulacra super abores sspargi volumus ad placitum, non ordine aloquo collocari.

But I wish the ground everywhere to be planted with violets, strawberries especially, and the primrose of spring. For these plants exhale a pleasant odor and thrive happily in the shade. As for the thickets and the ambulatories upon the arbors, we desire them to be scattered at pleasure, not placed in any order.

Probo etiam cumulos parvos, instar eorum quos talpae erigunt (quales in ericetis campestribus esse solent), alios serpillo, cariophyllatis minoribus alios, alios chamaedri quae florem praebet pulchrum, alios pervinca, alios violis, fragis alios, floribus paralysis alios, bellidibus alios, alios rosis rubris, alios liliis convallium, alios armeriis rubris, alios helleboro flore purpureo, et floribus similibus suavibus et bellis consitos. Pars etiam cumulorum habet in vertice frutices. Ease sint rosa, iuniperus, aquiolia, oxyocantha (sed haec rarior propter odoris gravitatem dum floret), ribesium baccis rubris, uva crispa, rosmarinus, laurus, rubus odoratus, et id genus aliae.

I also approve little mounds, after the manner of those which moles raise (such as are wont to be in level heaths), some planted with serpyllum (wild thyme), others with lesser caryophylli (gillyflowers), others with chamaedrys, which offers a beautiful flower, others with pervinca (periwinkle), others with violets, others with strawberries, others with the flowers called paralysis, others with bellides (daisies), others with red roses, others with lilies of the valley, others with red armerias (thrift), others with hellebore of purple flower, and planted with similar flowers that are sweet and fair. A part also of the mounds has shrubs on the summit. Let these be rose, juniper, aquilegia (columbine), oxyacantha (but this more rarely, because of the heaviness of its odor while it blooms), ribes with red berries (red currant), uva crispa (gooseberry), rosemary, laurel, the fragrant bramble (Rubus odoratus), and others of that kind.

Frutices autem ferro resecandae sunt ne deformiter excrescant.
8. Iam solum utrinque ad latera in ambulacra privata, pro quavis diei parte umbrosas, distribuendum est. Ex iis etiam quaedam a ventis asperioribus ita munienda sunt ut in iis spatiare possit quis tanquam in porticu.

Shrubs, moreover, are to be cut back with iron so that they do not grow out misshapen.
8. Now the ground on both flanks is to be apportioned into private ambulatories, shady for any part of the day. Of these also certain are to be so fortified against harsher winds that one may promenade in them as if in a portico.

Quinetiam ob eandam caussam, videlicet ut venti arceantur, ad exitus claudenda sunt. Et haec clausa ambulacra praecipue sabulo substernenda sunt absque gramine, ne in udo ambulatio sit. In plerisque horum ambulacrorum arbores fructiferae omnigenae collocandae sunt, tam ad parietes exteros quam in ordinibus interius.

Moreover, for the same cause, namely that the winds be warded off, the exits are to be closed. And these closed walkways are especially to be underlaid with sand, without grass, lest the walking be on wet ground. In most of these walkways fruit-bearing trees of every kind are to be placed, both along the outer walls and in rows within.

Et hoc in genere observari debet ut terra elevata in qua arbores fructiferae plantantur sit lata, humilis, et molliter ascendens, et floribus suavibus consita sed raris, ne succo defraudent arbores. Ad exitus soli lateralis utrinque monticellos fieri probo ad talem altitudinem parietis exterioris ut in monticello stanti in agros pateat prospectus.
9. Rursus, quoad hortum praecipuum, non negarem in eo confici debere ambulacra quaedam, eaque minime angusta, arboribus fructiferis utrinque consita.

And in this kind it must be observed that the raised ground in which fruit-bearing trees are planted be broad, low, and gently ascending, and set with sweet flowers but sparsely, lest they defraud the trees of sap. At the exits of the lateral ground on both sides I approve that little mounds be made, to such a height relative to the exterior wall that, standing on the mound, a prospect over the fields may lie open.
9. Again, as regards the principal garden, I would not deny that certain walks ought to be constructed in it, and these by no means narrow, planted on both sides with fruit-bearing trees.

Quin et arboreta aliqua, arborum fructiferarum prope consitarum, et umbracula artificiosa et bella cum sedibus ordine elegante locat, verum haec nullo modo nimis confertum. Reliquendus est enim hortus praecipuus apertior, et aere perstabilis et liber. Umbram enim quaeras velim in ambulacris lateralibus, ubi in ardoribus anni vel diei ambules.

Moreover, let him also arrange some groves, of fruit-bearing trees planted nearby, and artificial and beautiful shelters with seats in elegant order, yet by no means too crowded. For the principal garden must be left more open, and stable in the air and free. For I would have you seek shade in the lateral walks, where, in the heats of the year or of the day, you may walk.

Hortus siquidem praecipuus comparatus est in temperatiores anni partes, vernas et autumnales. Aetate autem ad matutina et vespertina tempora, aut etiam ad dies nubilosos.
10. Aviara non probo, nisi tantae sint amplitudinis ut cespites graminei substerni queant.

The principal garden, indeed, is arranged for the more temperate parts of the year, the vernal and the autumnal. In summer, however, for the matutinal and vespertine times, or even for cloudy days.
10. I do not approve of aviaries, unless they are of such spaciousness that grassy sods can be laid beneath.

Fructibus etiam et arbusculis vivis conserantur, ut aves liberius volitent et se per diversa oblectare et componere possint, utque nulla in area aviarii conspciatur spurcities.
11. Quantum vero ad ambulacra in clivis et variis ascensibus amoenis conficienda, illa naturae dona sunt, nec ubique extrui possunt. Nos autem ea posuimus quae omni loco conveniunt.

Let it also be planted with fruits and with living saplings, so that the birds may fly more freely and be able to amuse and dispose themselves in different places, and so that no filth be seen in the area of the aviary.
11. As to ambulatories to be made on slopes and in various pleasant ascents, those are gifts of nature, nor can they be constructed everywhere. We, however, have set down those things which are suitable to every place.

12. Horti itaque regii figuram iam delineavimus, partim praeceptis, partim modulo generali, sed minime accurato. Et hac in re sumptibus minime pepercimus. Sed ad principes id nihil est, qui, ut nunc sit, plerunque hortulanos consulunt, atque haud minore sumptu varia parum cum iudicio componunt, addentes etiam quandoque statuas et alia ad magnificentiam et pompam, sed ad genuinam hortorum voluptatem et amoenitatem nihil conducentia.

12. Thus we have already delineated the figure of the royal gardens, partly by precepts, partly by a general model, but by no means accurate. And in this matter we have by no means spared expenses. But to princes that is nothing, who, as things now stand, for the most part consult gardeners, and with no less expense compose various things with little judgment, adding also sometimes statues and other items for magnificence and pomp, but conducing nothing to the genuine pleasure and amenity of gardens.

XLV. [ = English XLVII] DE NEGOTIATIONE

45. [ = English XLVII] ON TRADE

1. Generaliter melius est per verba negotiari quam per literas, et per intercessionem personae tertiae quam per seipsum. Literae utiles sunt cum quis per literas itidem responsum elicere desiderat, vel ubi sua intersit exemplaria literarum quas scripsit producere et monstrare. Denique, ubi metuere quis merito possit ne sermo interrumpatur aut per portiones audiatur.

1. Generally it is better to negotiate through words than through letters, and through the intercession of a third person than by oneself. Letters are useful when someone likewise desires to elicit a response by letters, or where it is to his interest to produce and show exemplars of the letters which he wrote. Finally, where someone could with good reason fear lest the discourse be interrupted or be heard in portions.

Contra, viva voce tractare praestat cum facies hominis reverentiam incussura sit, ut fit plerunque in colloquio cum inferiore aut in rebus quas extremis tantum digitis tangere convenit, in quibus oculus loquentis in vultum et gestum alterius intentus monere possit quousque procedere liceat, et generaliter quando libertatem quis sibi retinere cupit vel dedicendi vel interpretandi ea quae dixerit. In tractando per alios cautius et melius fuerit eos eligere qui simplicioris sunt ingenii, quos probabile est illa quae in mandatis habent executuros et successum rei fideliter narraturos, quam eos qui ex aliorum negotiis aliquid in se honoris aut utilitatis transferre callidi sunt, atque ea quae referent verbis emollient ut impense placeant. Tales etiam adhibe qui negotio cui praeficiuntur faveant, id enim industriam acuit.

On the contrary, to treat viva voce is preferable, when the face of a man is likely to strike in reverence, as very often happens in a colloquy with an inferior or in matters which it is fitting to touch only with the finger-tips, in which the eye of the speaker, intent upon the countenance and gesture of the other, can warn how far it is permitted to proceed; and generally when one wishes to retain for himself the liberty either of speaking or of interpreting the things he has said. In treating through others it will be safer and better to choose those who are of a simpler ingenium, whom it is probable will execute the things they have in their mandates and will faithfully narrate the success of the matter, rather than those who are crafty to transfer from others’ business something of honor or of utility to themselves, and who will soften what they report with words so that they may please exceedingly. Also employ such as favor the business to which they are set over; for that sharpens industry.

Atque insuper tales qui cum re quam tractant congruitatem quandam habent, veluti audaces ad expostulandum, blandos ad persuadendum, astutos ad observandum et rimandum, protervos et paulo absurdiores ad res quae aliquid iniqui habent transigendas. Tales etiam adhibe qui in negotiis tuis antea tractandis felices fuerunt et obtinuerunt. Hoc enim confidentiam parit, et omnem lapidem movebunt quo veluti praescriptionem tueantur.

And moreover such as have a certain congruity with the matter they are handling—for instance, audacious men for expostulating, bland for persuading, astute for observing and prying, insolent and somewhat more outrageous for bringing to a conclusion matters that have something unfair in them. Also employ those who have previously been successful in handling your affairs and have prevailed. For this breeds confidence, and they will leave no stone unturned in order thereby to defend, as it were, the precedent.

Melius fuerit hominem cum quo negotiaris primo leviter degustare et quasi ex longinquo, quam ab initio summam rei proponere, nisi forte in animo sit brevi illum aliqua quaestiuncula irretire et opprimere. Praestat cum illis negotiari qui in ambitu sunt quam cum illis qui desideria sua sunt adepti. Si cum alio sub conditione negotieris, prima velut occupatio aut possessio votorum in praecipuis numeranda.

It would be better to degust lightly, and as it were from a distance, the man with whom you negotiate at first, than to propose the sum of the matter from the beginning, unless perhaps you have in mind shortly to ensnare and oppress him with some little question. It is preferable to negotiate with those who are in ambition, than with those who have attained their desiderata. If you negotiate with another under a condition, the first, as it were, occupation or possession of the wishes is to be counted among the chief points.

Id autem cum ratione postulare nequis nisi aut natura rei talis sit quae praecedere debeat, aut alteri commode insinuare possis illum opera tua in aliis usurum, aut denique habearis ipse pro homine imprimis integro et verace. Omnis negotiatio eo spectat aut ut detegat aliquid aut efficiat. Detegunt se homines vel animum suum communicando vel cum ira commoti sunt nec se bene cohibere possint, vel cum ex improviso opprimuntur, vel cum necessitate quadam adiguntur non habentes quod praetextant.

But you cannot with reason demand that, unless either the nature of the matter is such as ought to precede, or you can conveniently insinuate to the other that he will make use of your services in other things, or finally you yourself are held as a man above all of integrity and veracity. Every negotiation looks either to disclose something or to effect it. Men disclose themselves either by communicating their mind, or when they are moved with anger and cannot well restrain themselves, or when they are overborne unawares, or when they are driven by a certain necessity, not having anything to allege as a pretext.

Si quem ad nutum fingere cupias ut inde efficias aliquid, aut inclinationes et mores eius bene cognoscendi ut eum manu ducas, aut fines eius perspiciendi ut suadeas, aut infirmitates eius et ea quibus obnoxius est exploranda ut terreas, aut denique amici eius qui plurimum apud eum valent conciliandi ut eo modo regere possis. In tractando cum callidis et dolosis, verbis eorum minime credendum, nisi fines et intentiones eorum habeas verborum interpretes. Quin et optimum fuerit pauca apud illos loqui, et quae minime expectant.

If you should desire to fashion someone to your beck so that from it you may accomplish something, either his inclinations and morals are to be well known so that you may lead him by the hand, or his ends are to be clearly seen so that you may persuade, or his infirmities and the things to which he is obnoxious are to be explored so that you may terrify, or finally his friends, who prevail most with him, are to be conciliated so that in that way you may be able to rule him. In dealing with the crafty and the dolose, their words are by no means to be believed, unless you have their ends and intentions as interpreters of the words. Indeed, it will be best to speak little in their presence, and those things which they least expect.

In rebus quibuscunque difficilioribus non expectandum ut quis simul et serat et metat, sed praeparatione opus est ut per gradus maturescant.

In whatsoever more difficult matters, one must not expect that one at the same time both sows and reaps, but preparation is needed so that by degrees they may mature.

XLVI. [ = English XLVIII] DE CLIENTIBUS, FAMULIS, ET AMICIS

46. [ = English 48] ON CLIENTS, SERVANTS, AND FRIENDS

1. Clientes sumptuosi minime admittendi, ne dum quis caudae pennas adauget alarum pennas praescindat. Eos autem sumptuosos intelligo non solum qui impensis gravant, sed etiam qui petitionibus molesti et importuni sunt. Clientes communes conditiones alias expectare non debent extra favorem, commendationem, si opus sit, et ab iniuria protectionem.

1. Sumptuous clients are by no means to be admitted, lest while one adds feathers to the tail he cut off the feathers of the wings. By “sumptuous” I understand not only those who burden with expenses, but also those who are troublesome and importunate with petitions. Ordinary clients ought not to expect other conditions beyond favor, recommendation, if there is need, and protection from injury.

Clientes autem et amici factiosi adhuc magis vitandi qui alicui se applicant non tam ex amore ipsius cui famulantur quam ex odio versus alium concepto, unde saepenumero sequitur animorum illa abalienatio quam videre est inter potentiores. Similiter, clientes illi gloriosi qui in hoc incumbunt ut loco buccinarum sint ad laudes eorum resonandas quibus famulantur haud parum nocent. Etenim negotia futilitate sua corrumpunt.

But factious clients and friends are even more to be avoided, who attach themselves to someone not so much out of love for the very person whom they serve as from hatred conceived toward another, whence very often there follows that alienation of minds which is seen among the more powerful. Likewise, those vainglorious clients who make it their business to be, in place of trumpets, to resound the praises of those whom they serve, do no small harm. For they corrupt affairs by their own futility.

Tum vero honorem domini sui (si quis vere rem reputet) exportant et mercem invidiae invehunt. Est et aliud genus clientum prorus periculosum, qui nil aliud quam speculatores sunt, et secreta familiae rimantur ac rursus aliorum auribus insusurrant. Attamen huiusmodi homines apud dominos suos saepenumero in summo pretio habentur, siquidem officiosi sunt et susurros fere commutant.

Then indeed they export the honor of their lord (if anyone truly reckon the matter) and import the merchandise of envy. There is also another kind of client entirely perilous, who are nothing else than speculators—spies—prying into the secrets of the household and then whispering them into the ears of others. Yet men of this sort are very often held at the highest price by their masters, since they are officious and, as it were, traffic in whispers.

Clientelae hominum ordinis cuiuspiam, si eiusdem cum patrono ordinis sint, veluti militum versus illum qui praefecturam in bellis gessit et huiusmodi, semper pro re decora habitum est et in bonam partem acceptum, etiam in monarchiis, modo absit pompia nimia et popularitis. Verum clientela omnium maxime honorifica ea est, ut quis patronum se profiteatur eorum qui virtute et meritis clarent, cuiuscunque ordinis sint vel conditionis. Attamen ubi nulla insignis cernitur in meritis dissimilitudo, praestat mediocribus patrocinari quam eminentioribus.

The clientage of men of some order, if they be of the same order as the patron—like soldiers toward one who has borne a prefecture in wars, and the like—has always been held as something decorous and taken in good part, even in monarchies, provided only that excessive pomp and popularity-seeking be absent. But the most honorable clientage of all is this: that one profess oneself the patron of those who are illustrious for virtue and merits, of whatever order or condition they may be. However, where no notable dissimilarity is discerned in merits, it is better to champion the mediocre rather than the more eminent.

Atque insuper, si verum omnino dicendum sit, in seculis aliquanto corruptioribus homines industrii et satagentes usui magis sunt quam vera virtute praediti. Certe in imperando optimum sit eiusdem gradus subditos pari comitate tractare. Paucos enim immensa gratia prosequi ipsos magis insolentes, reliquos malevolos efficiet.

And moreover, if the truth is to be spoken entirely, in ages somewhat more corrupt industrious and sedulous men are of more use than those endowed with true virtue. Certainly, in commanding it is best to treat subjects of the same grade with equal comity. For to pursue a few with immense favor will make those men themselves the more insolent, and will render the rest ill-disposed.

Qundoquidem ordinis paritas aequas gratiae conditiones tanquam ex debito poscit. Verum e contra in iis quae favoris meri sunt, prodest cum delectu afficere. Nam eos qui benignius tractantur impense grates reddet, caeteros imprimis officiosos.

Since indeed parity of order demands equal conditions of favor, as if by debt. But on the contrary, in matters which are of mere favor, it profits to confer it with selection. For those who are treated more benignly will render profuse gratitude, and the rest will be especially obliging.

Neque de hoc merito conqueratur quispiam cum omnia ex gratia, non ex debito prodeant. Recte cavetur ne sub initiis immoderatius aliquem favore prosequaris. Nam quae tractu temporis sequentur vix istis initiis respondere possunt.

Nor should anyone rightly complain about this, since all things proceed from grace, not from debt. It is rightly guarded against that at the outset you do not pursue someone with favor too immoderately. For the things which will follow in the tract of time can scarcely correspond to those beginnings.

Fingi (quod aiunt) et regi ab amico aliquo tutum non est. Etenim mollitiem quandam animi prodit, tum vero convitiis et scandalo occasionem praebet. Plurimi enim qui nos ipsos immediate non perstrinxissent amicum illum nostrum contumelii afficere non verebuntur, atque eo modo honorem nostrum vulnerabunt.

To be fashioned (as they say) and to be ruled by some friend is not safe. For it betrays a certain softness of mind, and then indeed it affords an occasion for revilings and for scandal. For many who would not have lashed us ourselves directly will not hesitate to subject that friend of ours to contumely, and in that way they will wound our honor.

Attamen plurium potestati subiici, et veluti in partes distrahi, adhuc peius. Hoc enim nos reddet postremae (ut nunc loquuntur) editionis et plenos inconstantiae. Deliberare cum amicis aliquot paucis honorabile est et utile.

Nevertheless, to be subjected to the power of several, and, as it were, to be torn into parts, is worse still. For this will render us of the latest (as they now speak) edition and full of inconstancy. To deliberate with a few friends is honorable and useful.

Spectatores enim saepenumero plus vident quam lusores. Atque (ut adagio dicitur) vallis optime collem monstrat. Amicitia vera in orbe rara admodum, et minime omnium ea quae inter aequales, quod genus apud veteres celebrari solebat.

Spectators very often see more than the players. And (as the adage says) the valley shows the hill best. True friendship in the world is exceedingly rare, and least of all that which is among equals, the kind that used to be celebrated among the ancients.

Si qua est, ea reperietur inter superiorem et inferiorem, fortunae quorum altera alteram comprehendere possint.

If there is any, it will be found between the superior and the inferior, whose fortunes may be such that the one can encompass the other.

LXVII. [ = English XLIX] DE SUPPLICATIONIBUS

67. [ = English 49] ON SUPPLICATIONS

1. Suscipiuntur complura negotia et inventa mala, et petitiones privatae bonum corrumpunt publicum. Suscipiuntur etiam complura negotia in se bona, sed animo bono. Intelligo non solum corrupto sed etiam callido, absque ulla perficiendi negotii intentione.

1. Many undertakings are taken up and evil inventions, and private petitions corrupt the public good. Many undertakings also are taken up which are in themselves good, but not with a good spirit. I mean, not only with a corrupt but even with a crafty one, without any intention of perfecting the undertaking.

Non desunt qui petitiones in manus suas recipiunt et operam avide pollicentur, quibus tamen ut cum effectu procedant curae non est. Verum si animadvertant rem aliorum conatu successuram, ipsi quoque gratiam aucupabuntur, aut certe mercedes aliquam secundariam captabunt, aut denique supplicantis spes dum negotium vertitur in usum proprium convertent. Alii petitiones amplectuntur eo solum animo ut negotiis aliorum quae simul tractantur impedimenta iniiciant vel ut aliquid obiter deferant et informent, cuius alias praetextum idoneum parare non potuerint, de petitione ipsa, cum sibi hoc modo consulerint, nihil solliciti, vel generaliter ut per aliorum negotia negotiis suis pontem sternant.

There is no lack of those who take petitions into their own hands and avidly promise their service, yet it is no concern to them that they should proceed with effect. But if they notice that a matter will succeed by another’s effort, they too will angle for favor, or at least will snatch at some secondary emolument, or finally, while the business is being turned, they will convert the suppliant’s hopes to their own use. Others embrace petitions with the sole intention of throwing impediments into other men’s affairs that are being handled at the same time, or in order to report something incidentally and inform against someone—something for which otherwise they could not have prepared a suitable pretext—being in no way solicitous about the petition itself, since in this way they have provided for themselves; or, more generally, so that through other men’s business they may lay a bridge for their own.

Imo et alii tam male fide agunt ut petitiones suscipiant consilio deliberato eas destituendi, quo competitori aut adversario gratificentur.
2. Certe si quis rem rite perpendat, comitatur omnem petitionem ius quoddam, vel aequitatis, si sit petitio iustitiae, vel meriti, si sit petitio gratiae. Si quem moveat inclinatio propria ut parti iniquiori faveat in caussa iudiciali utatur potius auctoritate sua ut rem componat quam ut obtineat.

Nay rather, even others act so in bad faith that they undertake petitions with the deliberate plan of abandoning them, in order to gratify a competitor or an adversary.
2. Certainly, if anyone properly weighs the matter, a certain right accompanies every petition, either of equity, if it be a petition of justice, or of merit, if it be a petition of favor. If one’s own inclination moves someone to favor the more iniquitous party in a judicial cause, let him rather use his authority to compose the matter than to secure it.

Si quem moveat inclinatio propria ut favore suo minus merentem impertiat in caussa gratiae, abstineat saltem ab omni calumnia et maledicentia in melius merentem. Petitiones quas ipse non satis intelligis amico alicui fido et sagaci demanda qui referat an eiumodi sint quas salvo honore promovere possis. Verum prudenti et anxio iudicio amicus ille deligendus, alias quidlibet tibi imponet.

If anyone is moved by his own inclination so as, in a cause of grace, to impart his favor to the less deserving, let him at least abstain from all calumny and malediction against the better deserving. The petitions which you yourself do not sufficiently understand, entrust to some faithful and sagacious friend, who may report whether they are of such a kind as you can promote with your honor intact. But that friend must be chosen with prudent and anxious judgment; otherwise he will impose anything upon you.

Supplicantes his temporibus adeo mora et procrastinationibus cruciantur ut veracitas et candor, vel in negotiorum primitus recusando vel in successum eius qualemqualem animo simplici referendo, vel in gratiam non ultra quam par est captando. Res facta sit non solum laudabilis, verumetiam gratiosa. In petitionibus gratiae prima petitionis oblatio nullius debet esse momenti.

Supplicants in these times are so tormented by delay and procrastinations that veracity and candor—whether in at first refusing the business, or in reporting with a simple mind whatever sort of success it had, or in courting favor not beyond what is fitting—has become a thing not only laudable, but even gracious. In petitions for favor, the first oblation of the petition ought to be of no moment.

Eo usque supplicantis fides in re illa patefacienda valeri possit ut si notitia eius aliunde quam per eum haberi non potuissit, hoc fraudi non sit, sed potius remuneretur. Valorem eius quod petitur ignorare imperitia quaedam est, non secus ac aequitatem eiusdem oscitanter praetervehi malam arguit conscientiam. Petitiones sedulo occultare non modicum prodest ad obtinendum.

So far may the supplicant’s good faith avail in making that matter patent that, if knowledge of it could not have been had from any source other than through him, this be not to his prejudice, but rather be remunerated. To be ignorant of the value of what is petitioned is a kind of inexpertness, just as to pass by its equity negligently argues a bad conscience. To conceal petitions diligently is of no small profit toward obtaining them.

Spes enim iactare competitorum licet alios deterrere possit, alios tamen acuet et excitabit. Verum temporum opportunitates ante omnia in petitionibus valent. Temporum inquam, non tantum respectu eorum in quorum potestate positum est petitiones vel reiicere vel concedere, verumetiam respectu eorum a quibus iuste metuendum ne se illis opponant.

For to bandy about the hopes of competitors, though it may be able to deter some, will nevertheless whet and rouse others. But the opportunities of the times prevail above all in petitions. I say the times, not only with respect to those in whose power it lies either to reject or to concede petitions, but even with respect to those by whom it is justly to be feared lest they set themselves against them.

In delectu eius cui petitionis tuae curam demandes, respicias magis aptitudinem quam amplitudinem, atque eum potius adhibe qui paucioribus negotiis se immiscet quam qui omnia amplectitur. Denegatae petitionis iteratio concessioni ipsi quandoque aequipollet, modo quis se nec animo deiectum nec male affectum ostendat. Iniquum petas ut aequam feras regula non male, ubi quis gratia floreat.

In the choice of him to whom you entrust the care of your petition, look more to aptitude than to amplitude, and rather employ him who involves himself in fewer affairs than him who embraces everything. The iteration of a denied petition is sometimes equipollent to the concession itself, provided one shows oneself neither dejected in spirit nor ill-disposed. The rule is not bad—ask for what is iniquitous so that you may carry off what is equitable—where one flourishes in favor.

Alias enim consultius foret gradibus quibusdam ad id quod petis ascendere, et aliquid saltem impetrare. Qui enim in principio supplicantis erga se studium admittere non dubitasset, is in fine et studium supplicantis et beneficium prius collatum simul amittere non sustinebit. Nihil tam leve videtur quam viros praepotentes de literis suis interpellare, cum tamen, si literae illae in caussis minus honestis et iustis volitent, tantum de existimatione scribentis deperat.

Otherwise indeed it would be more prudent to ascend by certain steps to that which you seek, and to obtain at least something. For he who at the beginning would not have hesitated to admit the zeal of the suppliant toward himself, at the end will not endure to lose at once both the suppliant’s zeal and the favor previously conferred. Nothing seems so light as to trouble very powerful men with one’s letters; yet, if those letters flutter in causes less honorable and just, that much perishes from the writer’s estimation.

Non invenitur in rebuspublicis perniciosius hominum genus quam generales isti petitionum concinnatores. Etenim pestes plane sunt et lues negotiorum publicorum.

No more pernicious kind of men is found in commonwealths than those general contrivers of petitions. For indeed they are plainly plagues and a pestilence of public affairs.

XLVIII. [ = English L] DE STUDIIS ET LECTIONE LIBRORUM

48. [ = English L] ON STUDIES AND THE READING OF BOOKS

1. Studia et lectiones librorum aut meditationum voluptati, aut orationis ornamento, aut negotiorum subsidio inserviunt. Usus eorum, quatenus ad voluptatem, in secessu et otio imprimis percipitur. Quatenus ad orationis ornamenta, in sermone tam familiari quam solenni locum habet.

1. Studies and readings of books or of meditations serve either for pleasure, or for the ornament of oration, or as a support to affairs. Their use, insofar as it is for pleasure, is perceived especially in seclusion and leisure. Insofar as it is for the ornaments of oration, it has its place in discourse both familiar and solemn.

Quatenus vero ad negotiorum subsidium, huc spectat, ut accuratiore iudicio res et suscipiantur et disponantur. Etenim homines rerum gerendarum gnari ad negotia exequenda idonei fortasse sunt, et in specialibus iudicio non malo utuntur. Verum consilia de summis rerum eorumque inventio et administratio recta felicius a literatis promanant.

Insofar, however, as regards the aid of affairs, it looks to this: that with more accurate judgment matters both be undertaken and be arranged. For men skilled in the conduct of things are perhaps fit for executing business, and in particulars they employ no bad judgment. But counsels about the highest matters, and their invention and right administration, more happily emanate from the learned.

Temporis nimium in lectione et studiis terere speciosa quaedam socordia est, iisdem ad ornatum mollius abuti affectio mera est quae seipsam prodit. De rebus autem ex regulis artis iudicare scholam omnino sapit, nec bene succedit. Naturam literae perficiunt, ab experientia autem ipsae perficiuntur.

To spend too much time in reading and studies is a kind of specious sloth; to abuse the same for ornament, in a softer vein, is a mere affectation that betrays itself. But to judge matters by the rules of art savors wholly of the school, nor does it succeed well. Letters perfect nature, but they themselves are perfected by experience.

Dotes enim naturales instar plantarum sunt sponte provenientium, quae culturam et falcem artis desiderant. Literae e contra generalia nimis praecipiunt nisi ab experientia determinentur. Callidi literas contemnunt, simplices admirantur, prudentes opera earum, quantum par est, utuntur.

For natural endowments are like plants that spring up of their own accord, which desire cultivation and the sickle of art. Letters, on the contrary, prescribe things too general unless they are determined by experience. The clever disdain letters, the simple admire them, the prudent use their work, so far as is fitting.

Neque enim literae verum sui usum satis edocent. Sed haec res prudentia quaedam est, extra eas et supra eas sita, observatione tantum comparata. Libros non legas animo contradicendi et disputationum praeliis concertandi, neque rursus omnia pro concessu accipiendi aut in verba auctoris iurandi, neque denique in sermonibus te venditandi, sed ut addiscas, ponderes, et iudicio tu aliquatenus utaris.

Nor indeed do letters sufficiently teach the true use of themselves. But this matter is a certain prudence, set outside them and above them, acquired only by observation. Do not read books with a mind of contradicting and of contending in the battles of disputations, nor again of receiving everything as granted or of swearing by the author’s words, nor, finally, of hawking yourself in conversations; but so that you may learn further, weigh things, and use your own judgment to some extent.

Sunt libri quos leviter tantum degustare convenit. Sunt quos deglutire cursimque legere oportet. Sunt denique, sed pauci admodum, quos ruminare et digerere par est.

There are books which it is fitting only to taste lightly. There are those which one ought to swallow and read cursorily. There are, finally, but very few, which it is right to ruminate and digest.

Hoc est, libri quidam per partes tantum inspiciendi, alii perlegendi quidem, sed non multum temporis in iisdem evolvendis insumendum, alii autem pauci diligenter evolvendi et adhibita attentione singulari. Invenies etiam libros haud paucos quos per aliquos et vicaria opera legere sufficiat eorumque compendia tantum desumere. Verum hoc fieri nolim praeterquam in argumentis humilioribus et auctoribus minoris pretii.

That is, certain books are to be inspected only in parts; others indeed to be read through, but not much time is to be spent in going through the same; others, however—though few—are to be diligently gone through, with singular attention applied. You will also find not a few books which it suffices to have read by others and by vicarious labor, and to take only their compendia. But I would not wish this to be done except in humbler topics and with authors of lesser worth.

Alias enim libri (ut sic dicam) distillati, instar aquarum distillatarum quas vulgo mercantur, erunt penitus inspidi. Lectio copiosum reddit et bene instructum, disputationes et colloquia promptum et facilem, scriptio autem et notarum collectio perlecta in animo imprimit et altius figit. Itaque si quis in notando segnis sit aut fastidiosus, memoria illi opus et bona.

For otherwise books “distilled” (so to speak), like distilled waters which people commonly purchase, will be utterly insipid. Reading makes one copious and well-instructed; disputations and colloquies make one prompt and facile; but writing and the collection of notes imprint what has been read through upon the mind and fix it more deeply. Therefore, if anyone is slothful or fastidious in note-taking, he will have need of a good memory.

Si colloquiis se non exerceat, requiritur ei ingenium promptum. Sin in legendo parcus sit, hoc solum relinquitur, ut artificio quopiam utatur quo videatur ea scire quae nescit. Historiarum lecto prudentes efficit; poetarum ingeniosos; artes mathematicae subtilitatem donat; naturalis philosophia iudicium profundum parit; moralis gravitatem quandam morum conciliat; dialectica et rhetorica pugnacem reddunt ed at contentiones alacrem, Abeunt (ut ait ille) studia in mores.

If he does not exercise himself in colloquies, a prompt wit is required of him. But if he be sparing in reading, this alone remains: that he use some artifice whereby he may seem to know the things he does not know. The reading of histories makes men prudent; of poets, ingenious; the mathematical arts bestow subtlety; natural philosophy begets profound judgment; moral philosophy conciliates a certain gravity of manners; dialectic and rhetoric make one pugnacious and eager for contentions. Studies (as that man says) pass into manners.

Quin et vix occurit in intellectu impedimentum aliquod insitum aut naturale quod non studio quopiam idoneo emendari et edolari possit, quemadmodum morbi corporis exercitiis quibusdam propriis levari possint. Globulorum lusus calculo et renibus salubris, sagittatio pulmonibus et thoraci; lenis deambulatio ventriculo; equitatio capitis, et similia. Eodem modo si cui sit ingenium vagum et volucre, mathematicis incumbat.

Indeed, scarcely does any impediment innate or natural occur in the intellect which cannot be amended and polished by some appropriate study, just as diseases of the body can be alleviated by certain proper exercises. The play of little balls is healthful for gravel and the kidneys, archery for the lungs and chest; gentle walking for the stomach; horse-riding for the head, and the like. In the same way, if anyone has a wandering and winged wit, let him apply himself to mathematics.

In demonstrationibus enim mathematicis, si mens vel minimum aberret, de novo incipiendum est. Si cuipiam ingenium sit minus aptum ad rerum differentias et distinctiones eruendas, ad scholasticos se conferat. Illi enim cymini sectores sunt.

For in mathematical demonstrations, if the mind wander even the least, one must begin anew. If anyone’s ingenuity be less apt to elicit the differences and distinctions of things, let him resort to the scholastics. For they are splitters of cumin.

Si quis ad transcursus ingenii segnis sit, nec alia in aliorum probationem et illustrationem accersere et arripere dextre noverit, iureconsultorum casus evolvat. Adeo ut singuli intellectus morbi ex literis medicinas proprias comparare sibi possint.

If anyone be sluggish for the rapid coursings of the wit, and know not deftly how to summon and to seize other things for the probation and illustration of other things, let him unroll the cases of the jurisconsults. So much so that the several diseases of the intellect may procure for themselves from letters their proper medicines.

XLIX [ = English LI] DE FACTIONIBUS

49 [ = English 51] ON FACTIONS

1. Plurimi opinionem minime sanam foverunt, hanc nimirum, principi in status sui administratione, et viro magno in actionum suarum directionem, ad factiones quae invaluerunt praecipue respiciendum, atque hanc principalem prudentiae partem esse, cum contra facultas haec prudentiae quam maxime vigeat vel in disponendis rebus quae ad omnes sine discrimine pertinent, et in quibus homines diversarum factionum coeunt, vel in palpandis, conciliandis, et tractandis singulis. Neque tamen assero factionum debitam considerationem esse negligendam. Humilioris fortunae viri qui in ambitu sint alicui parti adhaerere debent.

1. Very many have fostered a far from sound opinion, namely this: that a prince, in the administration of his state, and a great man, in the direction of his actions, ought chiefly to have regard to the factions that have grown strong, and that this is the principal part of prudence; whereas on the contrary this faculty of prudence flourishes most either in disposing matters which pertain to all without distinction, and in which men of diverse factions come together, or in sounding out, conciliating, and handling individuals. Nor, however, do I assert that the due consideration of factions is to be neglected. Men of humbler fortune who are engaged in canvassing ought to adhere to some party.

Verum potentioribus et iampridem honorem adeptis consultius est aequos se praestare in neutram partem propendendo. Quin et et in ambientibus ita caute adhaerere ut videatur quis alteri ex partibus addictus, et tamen parti adversae minime odiosus, viam quandam sternit ad honores per medium factionum. Factio inferior et debilior in coniunctione plerunque firmior et constantior.

But for the more powerful, and for those who have long since obtained honor, it is more advisable to show themselves equitable, inclining to neither side. Nay, even those who are canvassing should adhere so cautiously that one seems addicted to one of the parties, and yet is by no means odious to the opposing party, paving a certain way to honors through the midst of the factions. The lower and weaker faction, in conjunction, is for the most part firmer and more constant.

Et non raro observari poterit paucos qui obstinati et pertinaces sint factionem numerosiorem sed tamen moderatam in fine defatigare et depellere. Factionum altera postquam extincta fuerit, illa quae manet in factiones novas disrumpitur. Veluti factio Luculli et optimatum ad tempus aliquod se in satis magno vigore contra factionem Pompeii et Caesaris sustinuit, verum postquam auctoritas senatus et optimatum deprimebatur, factio ipsius Caesaris et Pompeii in partes propediem scissa est.

And not rarely it may be observed that a few who are obstinate and pertinacious can in the end weary and drive off a more numerous yet nevertheless moderate faction. After one of the factions has been extinguished, the one that remains is burst apart into new factions. For example, the faction of Lucullus and the Optimates for some time sustained itself in quite great vigor against the faction of Pompey and Caesar; but after the authority of the Senate and the Optimates was being pressed down, the faction of Caesar and Pompey itself was soon split into parts.

Similiter factio Antonii et Octaviani Caesaris contra Brutum et Cassium ad tempus aliquod duravit, sed deletis copiis Bruti et Cassii, Antonius et Octavianus cum partibus suis paulo post dissilierunt. Exempla haec (dices) ad factiones bellicosis spectant, sed etiam in factionibus privatis tenet. Itaque in factionibus qui secundas antea tenebant, factione seipsa saepius primas tenent.

Similarly, the faction of Antony and Octavian Caesar against Brutus and Cassius lasted for some time, but with the forces of Brutus and Cassius destroyed, Antony and Octavian, with their parties, shortly after split apart. These examples (you will say) pertain to bellicose factions, but it holds also in private factions. And thus in factions, those who previously held the second rank more often hold the first within the faction itself.

Contra tamen, haud raro potestate omni excidunt. Complures enim in oppositione tantum valent, qua cessante actutum deveniunt inutiles. Observatu dignum, quod saepe evenit, plurimos nimirum postquam voti compiti sint et in dignitate quam ambierunt collocati, continuo se applicare contrariae factioni, existimantes forsitan se de alterius factionis affectu et studiis iamdudum certos esse, itaque ad amicos novos conciliandos se comparare.

On the contrary, however, not rarely they fall out of all power. For many are strong only in opposition; when that ceases, forthwith they become useless. Worthy of observation, which often happens, is this: that very many, after they have obtained their wish and been placed in the dignity which they ambited, straightway apply themselves to the contrary faction, supposing perhaps that they are by now assured of the affection and studies of the one party, and thus prepare themselves to conciliate new friends.

Proditor in factionibus plerunque rem obtinet. Postquam enim res diutius tanquam an aequilibro rem suspensae haesissent, tum demum unius alicuius in partes transitio victoriam refert, in eumque gratiae omnes cumulatae. Indifferens illa inter partes processio neutri inclinando non semper ab animo moderato procedit, se a consilio callido, quandoquidem proximus sibi quisquis sit, atque ex utraque factione utilitatem demetere speret.

The traitor in factions for the most part carries the day. For after matters have for a longer time, as if on a balance, stuck suspended, then at last the transition of some one person into one party brings victory, and upon him all favors are heaped. That indifferent process between the parties, inclining to neither, does not always proceed from a moderated mind, but from a shrewd counsel, since each man is nearest to himself, and hopes to reap utility from either faction.

Certe in Italia in suspicionem incurrit Papa, de quo vox illa in vulgus volitat, padre commune. Tum etiam in signum trahitur Papam illum omnia ad familiae suae amplitudinem referre in animo habere. Regibus imprimis cavendum est ne factioni alicui subditorum suorum se ex professo adiungant.

Certainly in Italy the Pope falls under suspicion, about whom that phrase flies among the common people, “common father.” Then too it is drawn as a sign that that Pope has in mind to refer everything to the aggrandizement of his own family. Kings especially must beware lest they expressly join themselves to any faction of their subjects.

Ligae enim confoederationis intra statum quempiam monarchiis semper exitiales. Si quidem obligationem introducunt obligatione ipsa imperii validiorem, atque regem constituunt tanquam unum ex nobis, id quod cernere erat in Liga Franciae, cum factiones manu forti et palam concertant, signum est imperii in regibus labascentis, multumque praeiudicat ipsorum et auctoritati et negotiis. Motus factionum sub regibus similes esse debent motibus (ut astronomi loquuntur) orbium inferiorum, qui suos habent motus proprios, sed interim conversione primi mobilis cum obsequio circumferuntur.

For leagues of confederation within any state are always deadly to monarchies. For indeed they introduce an obligation more potent than the obligation of the empire itself, and they constitute the king as if one of us—something that could be seen in the League of France. When factions contend with a strong hand and openly, it is a sign of the empire in kings tottering, and it greatly prejudices both their authority and their affairs. The motions of factions under kings ought to be like the motions (as astronomers speak) of the lower orbs, which have their own proper motions, but meanwhile are carried round in obedience by the revolution of the primum mobile.

L. [ = English LI] DE CAEREMONIIS CIVILIBUS ET DECORO

50. [ = English 51] ON CIVIL CEREMONIES AND DECORUM

1. Qui realis solummodo est, ei multa virtute opus duco, sicut gemma quae sine ornamento omni inseritur e purissimis et nitidissimis esse debet. Verum si quis diligenter animadvertat sit in laude quod sit in lucro, obtinet enim proverbium illud, lucra levia crumenam efficere gravem. Siquidem lucra levia frequenter redeunt, cum maiora rarius se offerant.

1. He who is merely real, I judge has need of much virtue, like a gem which, being set without any ornament, must be of the purest and most shining. But if anyone carefully notes, let there be in praise what there is in profit; for that proverb obtains, that light gains make the purse heavy. Since slight gains return frequently, whereas greater ones offer themselves more rarely.

Similiter verissimum est virtutes exiguas magnas conciliare laudes, quia perpetuus earum usus est. Tum in observationem hominum incurrunt, cum e contra virtutis alicuius magnae exercendae raro admodum obtingit. Itaque ad famam et existimationis alicuius multum iuvat et (quemadmodum Isabella regina Castidiana dicere solebat) instar epistolarum commendatitiarum, quae nunquam non praesto sint, haberi possit, siquis formas utetur discretis et decoris.

Likewise it is most true that exiguous virtues conciliate great lauds, because their use is perpetual. Then they fall under the observation of men, whereas, on the contrary, it very rarely befalls that there is occasion to exercise some great virtue. And so, for fame and for a person’s estimation, it helps much and (as Isabella the Castilian queen used to say) it may serve after the manner of letters commendatory, which are never not ready to hand, if one will employ forms that are discreet and decorous.

Ad has addiscendas nihil ferme aliud requiritur quam ut eas quis non contemnat. Ita enim in aliorum moribus easdem observat. De reliquo autem nemo sibi diffidat.

For learning these, scarcely anything else is required than that one not contemn them. For thus one observes the same in the morals of others. As for the rest, let no one distrust himself.

Si enim maiorem illis operam navabit de pretio decident. Quod in illo potissimum situm est ut tanquam nativae videantur et minime affectatae. Nonnullorum vultus et gestus et externalia instar versus sunt in quibus syllabae singulae mensurantur.

For if he devotes greater effort to them, they will fall in price. This depends chiefly on their seeming as if native and least affected. The faces, gestures, and externals of some are like a verse in which the individual syllables are measured.

Qui poterit magna comprehendere qui se tam pusillis rebus submittit? Ceremoniis decentibus erga alios omnino abstinere perinde est ac si doceas easdem illos erga te negligere, quo pacto teipsum facies viliorem. Praecpue nequaquam omittendae erga illos quibuscum familiaritate minime coniunctus es, neque erga homines ingenio fastidiso.

Who will be able to comprehend great things who submits himself to such very petty matters? To abstain altogether from becoming courtesies toward others is just as if you were teaching them to neglect the same toward you, whereby you will make yourself the cheaper. Especially are they by no means to be omitted toward those with whom you are least joined by familiarity, nor toward men of a fastidious disposition.

Verum excessus in illis et locutio plane hyperbolica (quali nonnulli utuntur) non solum res molesta, sed etiam fidem et pondus eorum quae dicuntur omnino minuit. Est proculdubio modus artificiosae cuiusdam insinuationis in verbis ipsis inter formulas communes, qui homines revera inescat et mirifice afficit, qui eximie alicui prodest si quis eius viam calleat. Inter aequales de familiaritate sollicitum esse nihil opus est, quare reprime te paululum et dignitatem tuam tuere.

But excesses in those things and a plainly hyperbolical locution (such as some use) are not only a troublesome matter, but altogether diminish the credibility and weight of the things that are said. There is, without doubt, a mode of a certain artful insinuation in the very words, amid common formulas, which truly baits men and wondrously affects them—a thing that profits someone exceedingly, if one is versed in its way. Among equals there is no need to be solicitous about familiarity; therefore, restrain yourself a little and safeguard your dignity.

At inter inferiores non deerit reverentia. Itaque inter illos benigne te gerere, et cum familiaritate quadam non incongruum est. Qui in sermone aliquo aut re nimius est, adeo ut satietatem inducat, valorum suiipsius minuit.

But among inferiors reverence will not be lacking. Therefore among them to conduct yourself kindly, and with a certain familiarity, is not incongruous. He who is excessive in some discourse or matter, to such a degree as to induce satiety, diminishes his own worth.

Aliis se applicare bonum est, modo cum significatione quadam fiat hoc non ex facilitate prodire, sed ex comitate et urbanitate. Praeceptum non contemnendum est, cum in alterius sententiam iveris aliquid semper de proprio addere. Exempli gratia, opinioni eius suffragaris?

To apply oneself to others is good, provided that this be done with some signification that it proceeds not from mere facility, but from comity and urbanity. A precept not to be contemned is, when you have gone over into another’s opinion, always to add something of your own. For example, do you give your suffrage to his opinion?

Cum distinctione et non alias fiat. Propositioni eius annuere libet? Fiat sub modo aliquo vel conditione.

Let it be with a distinction, and not otherwise. Do you wish to assent to his proposition? Let it be under some mode or condition.

Consilium eius sequi et amplecti visum est? Novi alicuius argumenti pondus addas, propter quod in partes eius transire videas. Cavendum imprimis ne magister in caeremoniis et formulis habearis.

Has it seemed good to follow and embrace his counsel? Add the weight of some new argument, on account of which you may appear to pass over to his side. Above all, beware lest you be considered a master in ceremonies and formulas.

Id enim si fiet, utcunque virtute vera emineas, audies tamen ab invidis, in nominis tui detrimentum, urbanus tantum et affectator. Etiam negotiis damnosum est, si quis formulas nimium affectet, vel in opportunitatibus et temporibus deligendis impense curiosus sit. Salomon inquit qui observat ventum non seminat, et qui considerat nubes nunquam metet.

For if this is done, however much you may stand out in true virtue, you will nevertheless hear from the envious, to the detriment of your name, that you are only urbane and an affectator. It is also damaging to business, if someone too much affects formulas, or is intensely curious in selecting opportunities and times. Solomon says: he who observes the wind does not sow, and he who considers the clouds will never reap.

Prudens opportunitates plures faciet quam inveniet. Mores hominum externi vestibus eorum similes esse debent. Non sint nimis concinni, nec corpus coarctantes, sed qui libertatem praebeant ad exercitia et motum quemlibet.

The prudent man will make more opportunities than he finds. The external manners of men ought to be like their garments. Let them not be too neat, nor constricting the body, but such as afford liberty for exercises and for any motion whatsoever.

LI. [ = English LIII] DE LAUDE

51. [ = English 53] ON PRAISE

1. Laus virtutis reflexio est, atque, ut fit in speculis, trahit aliquid e natura corporis quod reflexionem praebet. Si a vulgo proficiscentur, ut plurimum, reflexio illa prava est et falsa, et vanos potius ac tumidos quam vera virtute praeditos comitatur. Sub captum siquidem vulgi, virtutes complures quae excellunt non cadunt.

1. Praise is a reflection of virtue, and, as happens in mirrors, it draws something from the nature of the body that provides the reflection. If it proceeds from the crowd, for the most part that reflection is crooked and false, and it attends rather the vain and the puffed up than those endowed with true virtue. For indeed, within the grasp of the crowd, many virtues that excel do not fall.

Virtutes minores ab iis extorquent, mediae admirationem quandem vel stuporem illis incutiunt, sublimes autem in sensum aut perceptionem eorum prorsus non veniunt. Sed apparitiones virtutem et species virtutibus similes illos afficunt quam maxime. Sane fama fluvio similis est, quae levia et inflata attollit, gravia et solida mergit.

They extort from them the lesser virtues; the middle ones infuse in them a certain admiration or stupefaction, but the sublime do not at all come into their sense or perception. But apparitions of virtue and forms similar to virtues affect them most of all. Truly, fame is like a river, which lifts up the light and the inflated, and sinks the weighty and the solid.

Quod si viri etiam iudicii profundiores et dignitatis cum vulgo concurrunt, tum id quod Scriptura dicit contingit, nomen bonum instar unguenti fragrantis. Omnia undique replet, neque facile evanescit. Etenim odores unguentorum durabiles magis sunt quam florum.

If, however, men of deeper judgment and of dignity also concur with the crowd, then what Scripture says comes to pass: a good name is like a fragrant unguent. It fills all things on every side, nor does it easily evanesce. For indeed the odors of unguents are more durable than those of flowers.

Laudum tot conditones fallaces sunt ut laus merito in suspicionem venire possit. Laudes quaedam ab adulatione sola prodeunt. Quod si adulator sit vulgaris attributis quibusdam utetur communibus et quae omnibus competere possint, non quaesitis aut appositis.

So many fallacious conditions of praises are such that praise may deservedly come under suspicion. Certain praises proceed from flattery alone. And if the flatterer is vulgar, he will employ certain common attributes, such as can befit everyone, not things carefully sought or apposite.

Adulator callidior si sit, vestigia premet adulatoris princpalis, intelligo tuiipsius, et in quibus tibi places aut teipsum excellere putas, iis adulator inhaerebit maxime. Sin adulator sit impudens et perfrictae frontis, tum demum in quibus conscius tibi sis defectus tui, et ad quae maxime erubescis, ea adulator tibi vel praecipue imputabit et affigit per vim, spreta conscientia. Laudes nonnullae a voluntate bona cum reverentia coniuncta proficiscuntur.

If the flatterer be more crafty, he will press the footsteps of the principal flatterer—I mean yourself—and in those things in which you please yourself or think yourself to excel, to those the flatterer will inhere most of all. But if the flatterer be impudent and of a well‑rubbed forehead, then indeed, in those points of which you are conscious to yourself of your deficiency, and at which you blush most, those the flatterer will even especially impute to you and affix by force, conscience being spurned. Some praises proceed from good will conjoined with reverence.

Quae sane laudum formula principibus et viris quibuscunque dignioribus debetur laudando praecipere. Cum scilicet apud illos praedicando quales sint, humiliter moneas quales esse debeant. Sunt qui laudibus quandoque onerantur animo malitioso ad conflandam invidiam et odia concitanda, pessimum genus inimicorum laudantium, ut ait ille.

Which indeed formula of praises is owed to princes and to men of whatever higher dignity: to prescribe by praising. When namely, in their presence proclaiming what they are like, you humbly admonish what they ought to be like. There are those who are sometimes burdened with praises by a malicious mind for the kindling of envy and the stirring up of hatreds—the worst kind of enemies, the praisers, as that man says.

Adeo ut apud Graecos in proverbium exierit, ei qui in malum suum laudaretur pustulam mari continuo adnaturam, sicut apud nos vulgo dicitur cum quis mentiatur, metuendum ne eius linguae scabies propediem oboriatur. Illud asserere licet, laudes moderatas, tempestive irrogatas, et minime vulgares honori vel maxime esse. Dictum est Salomonos, qui benedicit proximo suo voce grande de nocte consurgens maledicenti similis erit.

To such a degree that among the Greeks it has passed into a proverb, that for him who is praised to his harm a pustule from the sea will straightway swim up to him; just as among us it is commonly said, when someone lies, one must fear lest scabies of his tongue should soon arise. This may be asserted: praises that are moderate, bestowed in due season, and in no way commonplace are most especially for honor. It has been said by Solomon: he who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising in the night, will be like one uttering malediction.

Etenim vel hominem vel rem aliquam ad coelum usque evehere contradictionem irritat, et derisui exponit. Veruntamen ut seipsum laudare, servato decore, vix conceditur nisi in casibus admodum raris, ita vocationem suam et munus quod gerit, aud studia quibus se addixit, laudare quis cum venia possit, imo cum specie quadam magnanimitatis. Cardinales Romani (qui theologi sunt, et fratres, et scholastici) verbum usurpant extremi contemptus et convitii erga negotia civilia.

For indeed, to elevate either a man or any matter up to heaven provokes contradiction and exposes to derision. Nevertheless, just as to praise oneself, decorum being preserved, is scarcely conceded save in very rare cases, so one may, with leave, praise his own vocation and the office which he bears, or the studies to which he has devoted himself—nay, with a certain guise of magnanimity. The Roman Cardinals (who are theologians, and brethren, and scholastics) employ a word of extreme contempt and invective toward civil affairs.

Vocant enim negotia civilia (velut belli, legationum, iudiciorum, et huiusmodi) Hispanico vocabula sbirrarias, quod sonat munera lictorum et scribarum, ac ai artes illae memorate magis eiusmodi homines quam in fastigio cardinalatus positos decerent. Et tamen (se res rite penderetur) speculativi cum civilibus non male miscentur. Sanctus Paulus cum de seipso gloriatur illud nonnunquam interponit, ut stultus loquor.

for they call civil affairs (as of war, of legations, of judgments, and the like) by the Spanish vocable “sbirrarias,” which sounds the duties of lictors and scribes, and they say that those aforementioned arts would more befit men of that sort than those placed on the height of the cardinalate. And yet (if the matter were duly weighed) the speculative with the civil are not ill mingled. Saint Paul, when he glories about himself, sometimes inserts this: as a fool I speak.

At cum de vocatione sua verba facit nihil veretur dicere magnificabo apostolatum meum.

But when he speaks about his vocation, he does not hesitate to say, "I will magnify my apostleship."

LII. [= English LIV] DE VANA GLORIA

52. [= English LIV] ON VAIN GLORY

1. Eleganter quidem Aesopus, musca sedens super radium rotae currus ita secum: "quantum pulverum moveo!" Similiter existunt quidam futiles et vani qui, cum aliquid vel sponte procedit vel manu potentiore cietur, si modo ipsi vel minimam rei partem attigerint, continuo putant se machinam totam vertere. Gloriosi semper factiosi. Etenim nulla ostentatio sine comparatione sui est.

1. Elegantly indeed Aesop, a fly sitting upon the spoke of the wheel of a chariot, thus to itself: "How much dust I move!" Similarly there exist certain futile and vain people who, when something either proceeds of its own accord or is set in motion by a more powerful hand, if only they themselves have touched even the least part of the matter, immediately think they are turning the whole machine. The vainglorious are always factious. For indeed no ostentation is without a comparison of oneself.

Quin et violenti ut sint necesse est, ut quae verbis iactitarunt revera praestent. Neque taciturni omnino esse possunt, ideoque opere ut plurimum destituuntur, sicit Gallis in proverbium abiit, beaucoup de bruit, peu de fruit, strepitus multum, fructus parvum. Attamen sine controversia huiusmodi ingeniis in civilibus aliquando uti protest.

Nay rather, it is necessary that they be violent as well, so that they may make good in reality the things they have vaunted in words. Nor can they be entirely taciturn, and therefore in deed they are for the most part found wanting—thus it has passed into a proverb among the Gauls, beaucoup de bruit, peu de fruit, much noise, little fruit. Nevertheless, without controversy, such dispositions can sometimes be employed to advantage in civil affairs.

Si fama excitanda sit vel opinio late spargenda, sive virtutis sive potentiae, istiusmodi homines buccinatores egregii sunt. Rursus, sicut prudenter notat Livius circa tractatus Antiochi et Aetiolorum, mendacia reciproca et ex utraque parte quandoque magno usui esse possunt. Veluti cum quis inter principes duos negotietur ut eos ad bellum indicendum principi tertio concitet, atque hoc ut efficiat unius copias apud alterum supra modum et veritatem vicissim attolat.

If reputation must be stirred up or opinion widely spread, whether of virtue or of power, men of this sort are outstanding trumpeters. Again, as Livy prudently notes about the negotiations of Antiochus and the Aetolians, reciprocal lies and from both sides can sometimes be of great use. For example, when someone negotiates between two princes in order to incite them to declare war on a third prince, and, so as to effect this, he by turns extols the forces of the one before the other beyond measure and beyond truth.

Quin et hoc fit quandoque ut qui inter privatos tractet apud utrunque existimationem suam augeat artificiose insinuando se apud alterutrum plus posse quam revera potest. Atque in his et huiusmodi haud raro accidit ut aliquid ex nihilo producatur. Mendacia enim opinionem ingenerare sufficiunt.

Indeed this too sometimes happens: that one who conducts dealings among private individuals augments his estimation with both sides by artfully insinuating that with the other party he can do more than he truly can. And in these and suchlike cases it not rarely happens that something is produced out of nothing. For lies suffice to engender opinion.

Opinio autem rem et substantiam progignit. In ducibus et viris militaribus gloriosum esse non inutile est. Sicut enim ferrum acuit ferrum, ita per gloriam hanc animi invicem accuntur et excitantur.

Opinion, moreover, begets the thing itself and substance. In leaders and military men, to be glorious is not unprofitable. For as iron sharpens iron, so through this glory the spirits are reciprocally whetted and aroused.

Insuper in actionibus magnis quae sumptibus et periculo privatorum suscipiuntur, ingenia iactabunda vivacius negotia impellunt. Qui enim ingenio sobrio sunt et solido plus habent saburrae quam veli. Rursus, in existimatione doctrinae et literarum cuiuspiam, non volitabit fama illius per ora virum neque bene alata erit, sine plumis aliquibus ostentationis.

Moreover, in great actions which are undertaken at the expense and risk of private persons, vainglorious temperaments impel affairs more briskly. For those who are of a sober and solid temperament have more ballast than sail. Again, in the estimation of someone’s doctrine and letters, his fame will not flit through the mouths of men nor be well-winged without some feathers of ostentation.

Qui de contemnenda gloria libros scribunt, nomen suum inscribunt, inquit ille. Socrates, Aristotles, Galenus (magna nomina) ingenio iactabundo erant. Certe gloria vana ad propagandam perpetuam memoriam magnopere iuvat.

“Those who write books on despising glory inscribe their own name,” said he. Socrates, Aristotle, Galen (great names) were of a self-vaunting genius. Surely vain glory greatly helps in propagating a perpetual memory.

Neque virtus ipsa tantum humanae naturae debet propter nominis sui celebrationem, quam sibiipsi. Fama siquidem Ciceronis, Senecae, Plinii Secundi ad hunc usque diem vix durasset, aut saltem non tam vegeta, nisi coniuncta fuisset cum aliqua vanitate et iactantia in seipsis. Iactantia enim instar vernicis videtur esse, quae ligna non solum splendere fact, verum etiam durare.

Nor does virtue itself owe as much to human nature on account of the celebration of its own name as to itself. For the fame of Cicero, Seneca, and Pliny the Elder up to this very day would scarcely have endured, or at least not so vigorous, unless it had been conjoined with some vanity and ostentation in themselves. For ostentation seems to be like varnish, which makes wood not only shine, but also last.

Atqui dum haec de vani gloria dissero, minime eam qualitatem intelligo quam attribut Tacitus Muciano, omnium quae dixerat feceratque arte quaddam ostentor. Haec enim ex vanitate neutiquam procedit, sed ex arte et prudentia cum magnanimitate quadam coniuncta. Et in aliquibus hominibus qui natura veluti comparati eam sunt.

And yet, while I discourse these things about vain glory, I by no means mean that quality which Tacitus attributed to Mucianus, an ostentator—by a certain art—of everything he had said and done. For this does not proceed from vanity at all, but from art and prudence, conjoined with a certain magnanimity. And it is found in some men who by nature are, as it were, fitted for it.

Res est non solum decora, sed et gratiosa. Excusationes enim decorae, concessiones tempestivae, quin et modestia ipsa bene temperata nihil aliud sunt quam ostentationis artes. Neque inter artes hasce reperitur aliqua felicior quam illa de qua loquitur Plinius Secundus.

The thing is not only decorous, but gracious as well. For decorous excuses, timely concessions, nay even modesty itself well-tempered, are nothing other than the arts of ostentation. Nor among these arts is any found more felicitous than that one of which Pliny Secundus speaks.

Hoc est, liberaliter et copiose id in aliis laudare in quo ipse emineas. Nam ad hunc modum ille, ingeniose satis, In alio laudando tibiipsi ministras. Is enim quem laudas aut superior tibi est aut inferior.

This is, to praise liberally and copiously in others that in which you yourself are eminent. For in this way, quite ingeniously, In praising another you minister to yourself. For the one whom you praise is either superior to you or inferior.

Si inferior et tamen laudandus, tu multo magis. Si superior, neque laudandus, tu multo minus. Gloriosi prudentibus derisui sunt, stultis admirationi, parasitis praedae et escae, sibiipsis et gloriae vanae mancipia.

If he is inferior and yet to be praised, you much more. If he is superior, and not to be praised, you much less. The vainglorious are for derision to the prudent, for admiration to fools, prey and bait to parasites, and slaves to themselves and to vain glory.

LIII. [ = English LV] DE HONORE ET EXISTIMATIONE

53. [ = English LV] ON HONOR AND ESTIMATION

1. Honoris et existimationis vera et iure optimo acquisitio ea est, ut quis virtutes et facultates suas dextre et absque detrimento revelet. Nonnulli enim in actionibus suis proci famae sunt, et veluti venatores. Quod genus hominum sermonibus plerunque celebratur, sed interiorem animi reverentiam vix assequitur.

1. The true and by best right acquisition of honor and estimation is this: that one dexterously and without detriment reveal his virtues and faculties. For some in their actions are suitors of fame, and as it were hunters. This kind of men is for the most part celebrated in discourses, but scarcely attains the inner reverence of the mind.

Alii contra virtutem suam inter monstrandum obscurant. Ex quo fit ut opinione minores sint quam merita ipsorum postulant. Si quis rem suscipiat simulque perficiat quae prius intenta fuerat, at tentata quidem sed deserta, aut ad exitum forsan perducta sed minus commode et feliciter, is honorem adipiscetur maiorem quam si quid perfecisset gravioris sane difficultatis et momenti, sed in quo alterius tantum vestigia et non ultra premeret.

Others, contrariwise, obscure their own virtue in the very act of demonstrating it. From this it comes about that in opinion they are lesser than their merits require. If someone should undertake and at once complete a matter which previously had been intended, indeed attempted but abandoned, or perhaps brought to an outcome but less conveniently and successfully, he will acquire greater honor than if he had perfected something of truly graver difficulty and moment, but in which he merely pressed the footprints of another and did not go beyond.

Si quis actiones suas ita inter se commitat et contemperet ut in aliquibus earum singulis factionibus vel populi combinationibus satisfaciat, harmonia erit tanto perfectior. Honoris sui minime fragilis dispensator est, qui rem quamvis suscipit in qua dedecoris plus fuerit votis excidere quam obtinuisse honoris. Honor, qui comparativus est et alium praegravat, reflexionem habet maxime vividam, instar adamantis aut carbunculi cum angulis multiplicibus sectis.

If someone so matches and counter-tempers his actions among themselves that in some of them he gives satisfaction to the several factions or combinations of the populace, the harmony will be so much the more perfect. He is the dispenser of his own honor least fragile who undertakes even a matter in which there would be more disgrace to fall short of one’s vows than honor to have obtained. Honor, which is comparative and overweights another, has a most vivid reflexion, like an adamant or a carbuncle with many cut angles.

Itaque enixe hoc agas ut competitores tuos, si modo possis, etiam in iis in quibus ipsi summe gloriantur superes. Servi et amici familiares, prudentes modo sit et cauti, existimationi cuiuspiam non modicum prosunt. Ita Q. Cicero omnis fama a domesticis emanat.

Therefore strive earnestly to do this: that you surpass your competitors, if only you can, even in those things in which they themselves most highly glory. Slaves and familiar friends, provided they be prudent and cautious, are of no small benefit to a person’s reputation. Thus, as Q. Cicero [says], all fame emanates from the household.

Invidia, quae honoris veluti tinea et teredo est, optime extinguitur si quis id sibi praestituere videatur ut meritum potius quam famam, et successus suos prosperos magis providentiae divinae et felicitati cuidam tribuat quam artibus aut virtutibus propriis.
2. Gradus honoris imperialis sic vere et optime ordinantur. Primo loco statuendi conditores imperiorum, quales fuerunt Romulus, Cyrus, Iulius Caesar, Ottomannus, Ismael.

Envy, which is as it were the moth and shipworm of honor, is best extinguished if one seem to have set this before oneself: to esteem merit rather than fame, and to attribute one’s prosperous successes more to divine providence and to a certain felicity than to one’s own arts or virtues.
2. The degrees of imperial honor are thus truly and best ordered. In the first place are to be set the founders of empires, such as were Romulus, Cyrus, Julius Caesar, Ottoman, Ismael.

Secundo loco legum latores, qui etiam vocabantur conditores secundi aut perpetui principes, quoniam legibus suis etiam post mortem imperia administrant, quales fuerunt Lycugus, Solon, Iustinianus, Eadgarus, Alphonsus Castilianus cognomine Sapiens, qui Septem Partitiones edidit. Tertio loco liberatores vel servatores patriarum suarum, qui bellis intestinis diutinis finem imposuerunt aut patrias a servitute aliengenarum vel tyrannorum liberarunt, veluti Augusti Caesar, Vespasianus, Aurelianus, Theodoricus, Henricus Septimus rex Angliae, Henricus Quartus rex Galliae. Quarto loco propagatores sive propugnatores imperii, qui bellis honorificis fines imperii protulerunt, vel defensione strenua et nobili invasoribus restiterunt.

In the second place, law-givers (legislators), who were also called second founders or perpetual princes, since by their laws they administer empires even after death, such as Lycurgus, Solon, Justinian, Edgar, Alfonso the Castilian surnamed the Wise, who issued the Seven Partitions. In the third place, liberators or preservers of their fatherlands, who put an end to long-standing civil wars or freed their fatherlands from the servitude of foreigners or tyrants, as Augustus Caesar, Vespasian, Aurelian, Theodoric, Henry VII king of England, Henry IV king of France. In the fourth place, propagators or champions of empire, who by honorable wars extended the borders of empire, or by strenuous and noble defense withstood invaders.

Ultimo loco patres patriae, qui iuste imperant et temporibus felicibus quamdiu vivunt cives suos beant. In his ultimis duobus exempla non adduco, quandoquidem tanto numero sint. Honorum qui subditis competere possunt gradus hi sunt.

In the last place, the Fathers of the Fatherland, who rule justly and in felicitous times, so long as they live, bless their citizens. In these last two I do not adduce examples, since they are in such number. These are the grades of honors which can befit subjects.

Primo statuendi participes curarum. Ii nimirum quorum humeris praecipuum pondus rerum suarum principes imponunt vulgo appellamus manus regum dexteras. Secundo, duces belli, regum suorum intelligo locumtenentes, qui operam eis egregiam in bellis praestant.

First, those to be appointed as partners in cares. Those indeed upon whose shoulders princes place the chief burden of their affairs we commonly call the right hands of kings. Second, leaders of war—I understand the lieutenants of their kings—who render to them distinguished service in wars.

Tertio, gratiosi. Eos volo, qui non ultra hoc potes sunt, quam ut principibus solatio sint et populo innoxii. Quarto, negotiis pares, qui magnos sub principibus gerunt magistratus in quibus iuste et prudenter versantur.

Third, the favorites. By these I mean those who are not able for more than this: to be a solace to princes and innocuous to the people. Fourth, equal to affairs, who under princes hold great magistracies, in which they conduct themselves justly and prudently.

Est et genus quoddam honoris quod raro contingit, et tamen inter maximos reponi merentur. Hic est eorum qui se morti et periculis devovent et sacrificant propter bonum patriae, quod fecerunt Marcus Regulus et duo Decii.

There is also a certain kind of honor which rarely befalls, and yet deserves to be placed among the greatest. This is that of those who devote and sacrifice themselves to death and dangers for the good of the fatherland, which Marcus Regulus and the two Decii did.

LIV. [ = English LVI] DE OFFICIO IUDICIS

54. [ = English 56] ON THE DUTY OF THE JUDGE

1. Meminisse debent iudices esse muneris suis ius dicere, non autem ius dare, leges inquam interpretari, non condere. Aliter deveniet eorum auctoritas simile quiddam auctoritati illi quam vendicant ecclesia Romana, quae praetextu interpretationis Scripturarum etiam addit aliquid quandoque et immutat, et pronunciat quod non invenit, atque specie antiquitatis introducit novitatem. Iudicem opportet esse potius eruditum quam ingeniosum, venerabilem quam gratiosum, magis deliberativum quam confidentem.

1. Judges ought to remember that it belongs to their office to declare the law, not, however, to give (make) law—to interpret laws, I say, not to enact them. Otherwise their authority will become something like that authority which the Roman Church claims, which, under the pretext of interpretation of the Scriptures, even sometimes adds something and alters, and pronounces what it has not found, and under the appearance of antiquity introduces novelty. A judge ought to be rather erudite than ingenious, venerable rather than popular, more deliberative than confident.

Ante omnia, integritas iudicum quasi portio est virtusque propria. Maledictus sit (inquit lex) qui terminum terrae movet antiquum. Sane qui lapidem fines distinguentem transponit culpa non caret.

Before all things, the integrity of judges is, as it were, their portion and proper virtue. “Let him be accursed” (says the law) “who moves the ancient boundary of the land.” Truly, he who transposes the stone distinguishing the bounds is not free from fault.

Verum iudex iniustus ille est qui praecipue terminos immutat cum de terris et rerum proprietate iniquam fert sententiam. Una certe iniqua sententia plus nocet quam exempla plurima. Haec enim rivulos tantum inficiunt, illa autem fontes.

But that judge is unjust who especially alters the boundaries when, concerning lands and the ownership of things, he delivers an iniquitous sentence. One single unjust sentence certainly does more harm than very many precedents. For these taint only the rivulets, but that one the sources.

Ita ait Salomon, fons turbatus et vena corrupta est iustus cadens in causa sua coram adversario. Officioum iudicis relationem habere possit, partim ad litigantes, partim ad advocatos, partim ad scribas et ministros iusticiae subtus, partim ad principem vel statum supra.
2. Primo quantum ad caussas et litigantes, sunt (inquit Scriptura) sui iudicium vertunt in absynthium.

Thus says Solomon: a disturbed fountain and a corrupted vein is the just man falling in his own cause before his adversary. The office of the judge may have reference partly to the litigants, partly to the advocates, partly to the scribes and ministers of justice below, partly to the prince or the estate above.
2. First, as regards causes and litigants, there are (says Scripture) those who turn judgment into wormwood.

Sunt etiam certe qui illud vertunt in acetum. Iniusticia enim illud reddit amarum, mora acidum. Iudex strenuus hoc praecipue agit, ut vim et dolum compescat, quorum vis magis perniciosa est quanto apertior, dolus quanto tectior atque occultior.

There are also certainly those who turn it into vinegar. For injustice makes it bitter, delay makes it acid. A strenuous judge does this chiefly: that he restrains force and fraud, of which the force is the more pernicious the more open, and the fraud the more pernicious the more covered and hidden.

Adde etiam lites contentiosas quae evomi debent ut crapula curiarum. Iudicem decet viam parare ad iustam sententiam, qualem Deus parat valles exaltando, colles deprimendo. Eodem modo, quando ex alterutra parte videt iudex manum elatum, veluti in prosecutione importuna, captionibus malitiosis, combinationibus, patrocinio potentum, advocatorum disparitate, et similibus, tum elucescit virtus iudicis in aequandis iis quae sunt inaqualia, iut iudicium suum veluti in area plana fundare possit.

Add also the contentious suits which ought to be spewed out like the crapulence of the courts. It befits the judge to prepare the way to a just sentence, such as God prepares by exalting valleys and depressing hills. In the same way, when on one side or the other the judge sees the hand lifted up—such as in importunate prosecution, malicious captiousness, combinations, the patronage of the powerful, disparity of advocates, and the like—then the virtue of the judge shines forth in equalizing those things which are unequal, so that he may found his judgment as it were upon a level plain.

Qui fortiter emungit elicit sanguinem, cumque torcular vini premitur fortius vinum prodit acerbum, acinum sapiens. Itaque caveant sibi iudices ab interpretationibus legum duris et illationibus alte petitis. Neque enim peior est tortura quam tortura legum.

He who wrings hard elicits blood, and when the wine‑press is pressed more strongly, the wine comes forth acerb, savoring of the grape‑stone. Therefore let judges beware of harsh interpretations of the laws and of illations fetched from afar. For there is no worse torture than the torture of laws.

Praecipue in legibus poenabilus curae iis esse debet ne quae in terrorem latae sunt vertantur in rigorem, neve in populum superinducant imbrem illum de quo Scriptura pluet super eos laqueos. Etenim leges poenales, si severe executioni demandentur, sunt similes imbri laqueorum cadenti super populum. Itaque huiusmodi leges, si vel dormiverint diu vel temporibus praesentibus minus quadrent, a iudicibus prudentibus in executione earum reprimantur.

Especially in penal laws it ought to be their care that those which were enacted for terror be not turned into rigor, nor bring upon the people that shower of which Scripture says, he will rain snares upon them. For penal laws, if they are committed to execution with severity, are like a rain of snares falling upon the people. Therefore laws of this sort, if they have either long lain dormant or fit the present times less well, should be restrained by prudent judges in their execution.

Iudicis officum est ut res, ita tempora rerum etc .

It is the judge’s office to consider, as the matters, so the times of the matters, etc .

In caussis capitalibus decet iudices (quantum lex permittit) in iudicio meminisse misericordiae, et cum severitate exemplum, cum pietate personam intueri.
3. Quantum ad advocatos qui caussas agunt, patientia et gravitas in caussis audiendis iustitiae est pars essentialis, et iudex nimium interloquens minime est cymbalum bene sonans. Non laudi est iudici, si primus aliquid in caussa inveniat et arripiat quod ab advocatis suo tempore melius audiere potuisset, aut acumen ostentet in probationibus vel advocatorum perorationibus nimis cito interrumpendis, aut anticipet informationes quaestionibus, licet ad rem pertinentibus.

In capital cases it befits judges (as far as the law permits) in judgment to remember mercy, and with severity to regard the example, with piety the person.
3. As for the advocates who plead causes, patience and gravitas in hearing cases is an essential part of justice, and a judge who interjects too much is by no means a well-sounding cymbal. It is no credit to a judge if he is the first to find something in the case and snatch at it which he could have heard better from the advocates in its time, or if he flaunts acumen by interrupting the proofs or the advocates’ perorations too quickly, or if he anticipates the informations with questions, although pertaining to the matter.

Iudicis partes in audiendo sunt quatuor: probationum seriem ordinare; advocatorum et testium prolixitatem, repetitionem, aut sermones extra rem moderari; eorum quae allegata sunt medullam et quae maioris momenti sunt recapitulare, seligere, et inter se componere; et demum sententiam ferre. Quicquid ultra haec nimium est, et oritur aut a gloriola et loquendi aviditate, aut ab audiendi impatientia, aut a memoriae debilitate, aut a defectu attenionis sedatae et aequabilis. Saepenumero mirum est visu quantum advocatorum audacia apud iudices valeat, ubi contra iudices ad imitationem Dei (in cuius tribunali sedent) superbos comprimere et humiles erigere deberent.

The judge’s parts in hearing are four: to order the series of proofs; to moderate the prolixity, repetition, or speeches outside the matter of the advocates and witnesses; to recapitulate, select, and compose among themselves the marrow of what has been alleged and the things of greater moment; and finally to render sentence. Whatever beyond these is excessive arises either from a little-glory and an avidity of speaking, or from an impatience of hearing, or from a debility of memory, or from a defect of settled and even attention. Oftentimes it is wonderful to see how much the boldness of advocates prevails with judges, whereas on the contrary judges ought, in imitation of God (in whose tribunal they sit), to compress the proud and to raise up the humble.

Sed etiamnum magis mirum est iudices advocatis quibusdam prae caeteris immoderate et aperte favere. Quod necesse est ut merces advocatorum augeat et multipicet, atque simul suspicionem corruptionis et obliqui ad iudices aditus inducat. Debetur advocato a iudice laus aliqua et commendatio, cum caussae bene aguntur et tractantur, praesertim si causa sua cadat.

But it is yet more a marvel that judges favor certain advocates above the rest immoderately and openly. This of necessity augments and multiplies the advocates’ fee, and at the same time induces suspicion of corruption and of an oblique access to the judges. Some praise and commendation are owed to an advocate by the judge, when causes are well conducted and handled, especially if his own cause should fall.

Hoc enim apud clientem existimationem advocati sui tuetur et simul opinionem eius de caussa sua prosternit. Debetur etiam reipublicae reprehensio advocatorum moderata, ubi callida nimis praestant consilia, aut supina apparet negligentia, aut levis informatio, aut indecora importunitas, aut impudens defensio. Advocatus autem illud tribuat iudici, ne illi obstrepat aut se rursus in caussam agendam callide insinuet postquam iudex de re pronunciaverit.

For this protects, in the client’s eyes, the estimation of his own advocate and at the same time overthrows his opinion about his own cause. A moderate reprehension of advocates is also owed by the commonwealth, where they produce counsels too crafty, or supine negligence appears, or slight information, or unseemly importunity, or an impudent defense. Moreover, let the advocate grant this to the judge: that he not drown him out, nor slyly insinuate himself again into the pleading of the cause after the judge has pronounced on the matter.

E contrario autem iudex se caussae mediae et nullatenus peroratae non ingerat, nec clienti occasionem praebeat ut advocatos suos vel probationes ad plenum non auditas conqueratur.
4. Quantum ad scribas et ministros, sedes iustitiae veluti locus sacratus est, ubi non tantum sedes ipsa, sed et subsellia et praecinctus sedis scandalo et corruptelis vacare debent. Etenim (ut ait Scriptura) non colliguntur uvae ex spinis, neque iustitia suaves suos fructus edere potest inter vepres et dumeta scribarum et ministorum rapacium et lucris inhiantium.

On the contrary, however, let the judge not intrude himself into a cause that is midway and in no wise fully pleaded, nor afford the client an occasion to complain that his advocates or his proofs were not heard to the full.
4. As for the scribes and ministers, the seat of justice is as it were a consecrated place, where not only the seat itself, but also the benches and the precinct of the seat ought to be free from scandal and corruptions. For indeed (as Scripture says) grapes are not gathered from thorns, nor can justice put forth its own sweet fruits amid the brambles and thickets of rapacious scribes and ministers gaping after lucre.

Curiarum asseclae pravi sunt quatuor: primo seminatores litium qui curias tumescere faciunt, populum tabescere. Secundo, qui curias contentionibus circa iurisdictionem implicant, neque vere sunt (ut habentur) amici curiae, sed parasiti curiae, curias inflando ultra terminos propter micas e compendia propria. Tertio, ii qui possunt censeri tanquam curiarum manus sinistrae, homines qui curiarum processus legitimos diverticulis et versutiis distorquent, iustitiamque in lineas obliquas et labyrinthos trahunt.

There are four depraved hangers-on of the courts: first, the sowers of lawsuits, who make the courts swell and the people waste away. Second, those who entangle the courts with contentions around jurisdiction, and are not truly (as they are held) amici curiae, but parasites of the court, inflating the courts beyond their boundaries for the sake of crumbs and their own gains. Third, those who may be reckoned as the left hands of the courts, men who twist the lawful processes of the courts by bypaths and crafty stratagems, and drag justice into oblique lines and labyrinths.

Quarto, expilatores et exactores foedorum, qui tritam similitudinem confirmant curiarum ad rubum quo, dum ovis tempestatem fugiens se recipit, velleris partem amittit. Contra, scriba antiquus in anteactis curiarum peritus, in actis ipsis concipiendis cautus, et in negotiis curiae solers digitus est is curiae egregius, et saepe iudici ipsi viam monstrat.
5. Quantum vero ad principem aut statum, iudices ante omnia in memoria fixum tenere debent versiculum ultimum duodecim tabularum Romanorum, salus popula suprema lex, et pro certo ponere leges, nisi sint in ordine and eum finem, res esse captiosas et oracula male inspirata.

Fourth, despoilers and exactors of foul fees, who confirm the worn simile of courts to the bramble, to which, while the sheep, fleeing the storm, takes refuge, it loses a part of its fleece. On the contrary, an ancient scribe, skilled in the prior records of the courts, cautious in composing the acts themselves, and in the business of the court a deft finger, is an outstanding man of the court, and often points out the way to the judge himself.
5. As for the prince or the state, judges before all ought to hold fixed in memory the last little verse of the Twelve Tables of the Romans, “the welfare of the people [is] the supreme law,” and to set down for certain that laws, unless they are in order and to that end, are captious things and oracles ill-inspired.

Itaque bene succedit cum rex aut status saepius cum iudicibus deliberat, et rursus cum iudices principem et senatum saepius consulant. Ille cum inter deliberationes policitas interveniat quaestio iuris, hi cum in subiecto legali interveniant considerationes status. Contingit enim haud raro ut res in iudicium adducta versetur circa meum et tuum, et nihilominus consequentia eius ad rationes status penetret.

Therefore it succeeds well when the king or the state more often deliberates with the judges, and in turn when the judges more often consult the prince and the senate. The former, when amid political deliberations a question of law intervenes; the latter, when in a legal subject considerations of state intervene. For it happens not rarely that a matter brought into judgment turns upon “mine and thine,” and nonetheless its consequence penetrates to reasons of state.

Intelligo autem ad rationes status pertinere non solum si quid ad iura regula impetenda spectet, verumetiam si quid innovationem aliquam minus tutam, aut exemplum periculosum, introducat, aut si manifesto portionem aliquam populi maiorem gravet. Neque quisquam infirmi iudicii existimet iustas leges adversus politica vera aliquid antipathiae habere. Sunt enim haec duo veluti spiritus et nervi quorum alter in alteris moventur.

I understand, moreover, that matters pertain to reasons of state not only when anything looks to the enforcement of the rule of rights, but also when anything introduces some less safe innovation or a dangerous example, or when it manifestly burdens a larger portion of the people. Nor let anyone of infirm judgment suppose that just laws have any antipathy against true politics. For these two are, as it were, the spirit and the nerves, wherein the one moves within the other.

Recordentur enim iudices Salomonis thronum leonibus utrinque suffultum fuisse. Sint sane leones, sed leones sub throno caventes ne aliquid ex iuribus regalibus impetant aut convellant. Postremo, ne sint iudices tam ignari iuris et praerogativae suae ut cogitent non sibi relinqui, tanquam muneris sui partem principalem, sanum et prudentem legum usum et applicationem.

Let judges remember that Solomon’s throne was supported on either side by lions. Let them indeed be lions, but lions under the throne, taking care lest they make an onset upon or tear away anything from the regal rights. Lastly, let judges not be so ignorant of the law and of their own prerogative as to think that there is not left to them, as the principal part of their office, the sound and prudent use and application of the laws.

Etenim in animum revocare poterint dictum illud apostoli de lege humanis legibus maiore, nos scimus quia lex bona est, modo quis ea utatur legitime.

For indeed they will be able to call back to mind that saying of the Apostle concerning the law, greater than human laws, we know that the law is good, provided that one use it legitimately.

LV. [ = English LVII] DE IRA

55. [ = English 57] ON ANGER

1. Iram penitus extinguere velle ostentatio quaedam Stoicorum est. Meliora nos nacti sumus oracula, irascimini et nolite peccare, sol non occidat super iracundiam vestram. Limites irae apponendi sunt, et quousque et quamdiu.

1. To wish to extinguish anger utterly is a certain ostentation of the Stoics. We have chanced upon better oracles: “be angry and do not sin; let not the sun go down upon your iracundity.” Limits are to be set to anger, both how far and how long.

Dicemus primo quibus modis inclinatio naturalis aut etiam habitus irae temperari possit et leniri. Secundo, qualiter particulares motus irae reprimi possent, aut saltem citra nocumentum cohiberi. Tertio, quibus modis ira excitari possit aut sedari in aliis.

We shall say first by what modes the natural inclination, or even the habit of anger, can be tempered and softened. Second, how the particular motions of anger might be repressed, or at least restrained without harm. Third, by what modes anger can be excited or calmed in others.

2. Quantum ad primum, non alia se ostendit via quam ut serio in animo revolvas mala et calamitates irae, et quam vehementer vitam humanam perturbat et infestat. Hoc autem tempestivum fuerit maxime, si pone nos respiciamus quamprimum impetum irae resedent. Eleganter Seneca, iram ruinae similem esse, quae in aliud cadendo seipsam comminuit et frangit.

2. As to the first, no other way shows itself than that you seriously turn over in your mind the evils and calamities of anger, and how vehemently it perturbs and infests human life. This, moreover, will be most timely, if we look back after, as soon as the onset of anger has subsided. Elegantly, Seneca [says] that anger is similar to a ruin, which, in falling upon another thing, crushes and breaks itself.

Hortatur Scriptura ut animas nostras patientia possideamus. Certe quicunque patientia excidit de anima sua possessione deiicitur. Hominis non est apes imitare,

Scripture exhorts that we should possess our souls by patience. Surely whoever falls out of patience is cast down from possession of his soul. It is not for a man to imitate bees,

animasque in vulnere ponunt.

and they put their souls into the wound.

2. Ira sane, si quis recte attendat, res humilis est, in infra dignitatem hominis. Hoc liquebit si illos intuamur in quibus ira regnat, qui plerunque ex infirmioribus sunt: pueri, mulieres, senes, aegroti. Itaque cum irasci contigerit, caveant homines (si modo dignitatis suae velint esse memores) ne iram suam cum metu eorum quibus irascuntur, sed cum contemptu coniungant, ita ut superiores potius videantur quam inferiores.

2. Anger, indeed, if one attend rightly, is a lowly thing, and beneath the dignity of man. This will be clear if we look at those in whom anger reigns, who for the most part are of the more infirm: boys, women, old men, the sick. And so, when it happens to be angry, let men beware (if only they wish to be mindful of their dignity) not to conjoin their anger with fear of those at whom they are angered, but with contempt, so that they may seem rather superiors than inferiors.

Quod non difficile factu foret, si quis iram suam paululum regat et inflectat.
3. Quantum ad secundum, caussae et motiva irae praecipue tres sunt. Primo, si quis pronus sit ad sensum iniuriae.

Which would not be difficult to do, if one would govern and bend his anger a little.
3. As to the second point, the causes and motives of anger are chiefly three. First, if someone is prone to a sense of injury.

Nemo enim irascitur nisi qui se laesum sentiat. Itaque teneri qui sunt et delicati, ut subinde irascantur, necesse est. Tot se offerent quae illis molestiam exhibebunt, quot a naturis robustioribus vix sentientur.

For no one grows angry except one who feels himself injured. Therefore it is inevitable that those who are tender and delicate get angry repeatedly. So many things will present themselves that will cause them annoyance as will scarcely be felt by more robust natures.

Secundo, si quis curiosus et perspicax sit in interpretatione iniuriae illatae, quatenus ad circumstantias eius, ac si contemptum spiraret. Opinio enim contemptus iram excitat et acuit plusquam laesio ipsa. Itaque, si homines ad ista ingeniosi sint, iram miris modis incendent.

Secondly, if someone be curious and perspicacious in the interpretation of the injury inflicted, with regard to its circumstances, as though it breathed contempt. For the opinion of contempt excites and sharpens anger more than the injury itself. And so, if men be ingenious at these things, they will inflame anger in wondrous ways.

Ultimo, opinio contumeliae sive quod existimatio hominis per consequentiam laedatur et perstringatur, iram intendit et multiplicat. Cui rei accedit remedium praesentaneum ut quis utatur (quod Consalvus dicere solebat) tela honoris crassiore. Sed in omnibus irae fraenationibus optimum est tempus lucrari et sibiipsi persuadere horam vindictae nondum adesse, sed instare, quasi ad manum, opportunitatem aliquam maiorem, atque hoc pacto motum animi interim compescere, et se in tempus aliud servare.

Lastly, the opinion of contumely, or that a man’s estimation by consequence is injured and asperse-marked, intensifies and multiplies anger. To which matter there is added a present remedy, that one use (as Consalvus used to say) a thicker fabric of honor. But in all bridlings of anger it is best to gain time and to persuade oneself that the hour of vengeance is not yet come, but that there is impending, as it were at hand, some greater opportunity; and by this pact to restrain the movement of the mind meanwhile, and to reserve oneself for another time.

Ira autem, ut citra noxam erumpat, utcunque hominem obsederit, duo sunt quae maxima cavenda. Prius est acerbitas verborum, praecipue aculeatorum et ei quem ferimus propriorum. Communia enim maledicta mordent minus.

Anger, however, so that it may erupt without harm, however it may have obsessed a man, has two things that must most of all be avoided. The first is the acerbity of words, especially barbed ones and those proper to him whom we assail. For common maledictions bite less.

Atque rursus, secretorum revelatio. Hoc enim societati quemvis ineptum reddit. Posterius est, ne quis dum ira fervet negotium quod in manibus est abrumpat, sed, utcunque irae fraenum laxet, nihil tamen agat quod revocari non possit.

And again, the revelation of secrets. For this renders anyone inept for society. The latter is, that no one, while anger seethes, should break off the business that is in hand; but, however he may loosen the rein of anger, let him nonetheless do nothing that cannot be revoked.

4. Quantum ad excidandam aut sedandam iram in aliis, fit hoc maxime per temporum electionem prudentem. Cum subtristes homines sunt aut aliquantulum morosi, tempus est iram incendendi. Deinde, ut antea diximus, decerpendo et inculcando quicquid contemptum arguere aut aggravare possit.

4. As regards excising or assuaging anger in others, this is achieved chiefly by a prudent selection of times. When men are somewhat gloomy or a little morose, it is the time for kindling anger. Then, as we said before, by picking out and inculcating whatever can argue or aggravate contempt.

Rursus, ira sedatur per contraria hisce. Primo, deligendo tempora serena et ad hilaritatem prona in quibus negotium aliquod ingratum et ad iracundiam provocans aperias. Prima enim impressio plurimum valet.

Again, anger is allayed by the contraries to these. First, by selecting times that are serene and prone to cheerfulness, in which you may open some ungrateful business and provoking to irascibility. For the first impression carries very great weight.

Deinde ut, quantum fieri potest, iniuriam a contemptu segreges, eam imperitiae, timori, animi concussioni repentinae, aut simili cuipiam imputando.

Then, so that, as far as can be done, you may segregate the injury from contempt, by imputing it to inexperience, to fear, to a sudden concussion of mind, or to some similar thing.

LVI. [ = English LVIII] DE VICISSITUDINE RERUM

56. [ = English 58] ON THE VICISSITUDE OF THINGS

1. Salomon inquit nihil novum super terram. Itaque, quemadmodum Plato opinatus est, omnem scientiam nihil aliud esse quin reminiscentiam. Sic Salomon pronunciat, omnem novitatem nihil aliud esse quam oblivionem.

1. Solomon says nothing new is upon the earth. Therefore, just as Plato supposed that all science is nothing else than reminiscence, thus Solomon pronounces every novelty to be nothing else than oblivion.

Ex quo cernere possis fluvium Lethes non minus super terram quam sub terram decurrere. Astrologus quidam abstrusus et parum notus asserit nisi in caussa fuissent res duae constantes (una quod stellae fixae aequalem inter se distantiam perpetuo servent, altera quod motus non diurnius non variet ), ne momentum quidem temporis individuum aliquod durare potuisset. Illud certum est, materiam in perpetuo fluxu esse, neque unquam consistere.

From this you can discern that the river of Lethe runs no less over the earth than under the earth. A certain astrologer, abstruse and little known, asserts that unless there had been two constant things in the cause (one, that the fixed stars preserve an equal distance among themselves perpetually; the other, that the diurnal motion does not vary), not even a moment, any individual instant of time, could have endured. This is certain: matter is in perpetual flux, and never comes to a stand.

Atqui magna illa lintea sepulchralia quae omnia oblivione involvunt duo sunt, diluvia et terrae motus. Quatenus ad conflagrationes et siccitates magnas, illae populum penitus non absorbent aut destruunt. Fabula Phaetontis brevitatem conflagrationis ad unius tantum diei spatium repraesentavit.

However, those great sepulchral shrouds which envelop all things in oblivion are two: deluges and earthquakes. As for conflagrations and great droughts, those do not utterly absorb or destroy the people. The fable of Phaethon represented the brevity of the conflagration as to the span of only one day.

Atque triennalis illa a pluvia cessatio tempore Eliae particularis tantum fuit, et multos superstites reliquit. Incensiones illas loqueris quae per fulmina et fulgura apud India Orientales fiunt. Angustae quidem sunt, nec magna spatia occupant.

And that triennial cessation from rain in the time of Elijah was only particular, and left many survivors. You are speaking of those burnings which are produced by thunderbolts and flashes of lightning among the East Indies. They are indeed narrow, and do not occupy great spaces.

Pestilentias etiam praetereo, quia nec illae totaliter absorbent. Verum in memoratis illis duabus calamitatibus (diluviorum et terrae motuum) insuper notandum est reliquias populorum quas emergere contingent plerunque homines rudes et montanos esse, quique temporum praeteritorum memoriam posteris tradere non possint. Adeo ut oblivio non minus omnia involvat quam si nulli prorsus superstites remanerent.

I pass over pestilences as well, because they do not totally absorb either. But in those two calamities already mentioned (of deluges and of earthquakes), moreover, it is to be noted that the remnants of peoples who happen to emerge are for the most part rude men and mountaineers, and who cannot hand down to posterity the memory of times past; so that oblivion involves all things no less than if no survivors at all had remained.

Si quis attente introspiciat Indorum Occidentalium conditionem, probabile reperiet eos populum iuniorem esse et recentiorem quam populos orbis veteris. At longe verisimilius est desolationem illam quae illos olim invaserat minime per terrae motus factam (contra quam narrabat sacerdos Aegyptius in colloquio cum Solone de insula Atlantide, eam scilicet a terrae motu absorptam esse), sed potius per diluvium particulare. Terrae motus enim in illis regionibus raro eveniunt.

If anyone should attentively look into the condition of the Western Indians, he will find it probable that they are a younger and more recent people than the peoples of the old world. But it is far more likely that that desolation which once invaded them was by no means brought about through earthquakes (contrary to what the Egyptian priest related in a colloquy with Solon about the island Atlantis, namely that it was swallowed by an earthquake), but rather through a particular deluge. For earthquakes in those regions occur rarely.

Verum e contraria parte tam immanis plane et vasta habent flumina ut fluvii Asiae, Africae, et Europae prae illis instar rivulorum sint. Quin et Andes ipsorum, sive montes, nostris longe sunt altiores. Unde credibile est reliquias stirpis hominum apud eos post tale diluvium particulare conservatas fuisse.

But on the contrary side, they have rivers so truly immense and vast that the rivers of Asia, Africa, and Europe are, in comparison with them, like rivulets. Nay, even their Andes, that is, mountains, are far higher than ours. Whence it is credible that the relics of the stock of men among them were conserved after such a particular deluge.

Quantum vero ad observationem Macciavelli, nimirum zelotypiam et aemulationem sectarum ad extinguendam rerum memoriam multa molitam, qui Gregorio Magno notam inurit ac si pro viribus suis antiquitates omnes ethnicorum supprimere annixus fuerit, non video certe huiusmodi zelos aut notabile quidpiam efficere aut diu durare, id quod liquet in successione Sabiniani, qui antiquitates easdem statim resuscitavit. Tum vero prohibita, licet tenebris cooperta, obrepunt tamen et suas nanciscuntur periodos.
2. Vicissitudines sive mutationes in globo superiori fusius in hoc sermone tractandae non sunt.

As to Machiavelli’s observation—namely that the jealousy and emulation of sects has contrived many things to extinguish the memory of events—he brands Gregory the Great with a stigma, as if he had, to the utmost of his powers, endeavored to suppress all the antiquities of the pagans; I certainly do not see zeal of this sort either effect anything notable or endure long, which is clear from the succession of Sabinianus, who at once resuscitated those same antiquities. Then indeed, things prohibited, although shrouded in darkness, nevertheless creep in and obtain their own periods.
2. Vicissitudes or mutations in the superior globe are not to be treated at greater length in this discourse.

Forsitan annus magnus Platonis, nisi mundus ante dissolutioni esset destinatus, aliquem sortiri possit effectum, non in renovandis corporibus individuorum (id enim fumus et vanitas eorum est, qui opinantur corpora coelestia accuratiores in hec inferiora habere influentias quam revera habent), sed tantum in summis et massis rerum. Verum homines, ut nunc est, indiligentes aut curiosi circa eos sunt, eosque potius mirabundi spectant atque itineraria eorundem conficiunt quam effectus eorum prudenter et sobrie notant, praecipue effectus eorum comparativos, id est, cometa talis magnitudinis, talis coloris et lucis, conversionis radiorum, situs quatenus ad regionem coeli, tempestatis anni, semitae aut cursus, durationis, quales producat effectus.
3. Leviculum quiddam est quod olim inaudiveram, neque tamen prorsus contemni volo, sed in observationem aliquam venire.

Perhaps the Great Year of Plato, unless the world were destined beforehand for dissolution, might be able to obtain some effect—not in the renewing of the bodies of individuals (for that is the smoke and vanity of those who opine that the heavenly bodies have more accurate influences upon these lower things than they truly have), but only upon the summits and masses of things. But men, as things now stand, are careless or curious about them, and rather gaze at them in wonder and compile their itineraries than prudently and soberly note their effects, especially their comparative effects, that is: a comet of such magnitude, such color and light, of conversion of the rays, position as regards the region of the sky, season of the year, path or course, duration—what sort of effects does it produce.
3. There is a slight trifle which I once heard, nor do I wish it to be utterly contemned, but to come under some observation.

Ferunt a Belgis notatum esse singulis septenis lustris similem annorum temperaturam et tempestatum coeli velut in orbem redire. Exempla gratia, magnas glacies, inundationes magnas, magnas siccitates, hymes tepidas, aestates frigidiores, et similia. Vocant autem huiusmodum circulum annorum Primam.

They report that it has been observed by the Belgians that every seven lustrums a similar temperament of the years and of the weather of the sky, as it were, returns in a cycle. For example, great ices, great inundations, great droughts, tepid winters, cooler summers, and the like. Moreover, they call such a circle of years the Prima.

Hoc autem ideo recenseo quod, oculos in praeterita coniiciens, huiusce rei inveni congruentiam, haud exactam sane, sed non multum discrepantem.
4. Verum transeamus a naturalibus ad humana. Maxima apud homines vicissitudo est illa sectarum et religionum.

I review this for this reason: casting my eyes upon the past, I found a congruence in this matter, not exact to be sure, but not much discrepant.
4. But let us pass from natural things to human things. The greatest vicissitude among men is that of sects and religions.

Hi enim orbes animis hominum maxime dominantur. Religio vera super petram aedificata est, reliquae fluctibus temporum agitantur. Dicamus igitur de novarum sectarum caussis atque consiliis aliquid circa eas inspergamus, quatenus humani ingeni insinnitas tantis revolutionibus moras iniicere aut remedia exhibere poterit.

For these cycles hold supreme dominion over the minds of men. True religion is built upon a rock; the rest are driven to and fro by the waves of the times. Let us, therefore, say something about the causes and counsels of new sects, and sprinkle something around them, in so far as the resourcefulness of human ingenuity may be able to throw delays in the way of, or furnish remedies for, such great revolutions.

5. Quando religio recepta discordiis laceratur, sanctitas item professorum labefacta est et scandalo exposita, simulque tempora stupida, indocta, et barbara sunt, a novae alicuius sectae ortu merito metuendum, praecipue si eo tempore ingenium aliquod intemperans et paradoxa spirans suboriatur. Quae omnia tenuerunt Mahometes cum legem suam promulgavit. Secta nova licet pullulet, duobus si destituatur adminiculis, ab ei non metuas, non enim late se diffundet.

5. When the received religion is torn by discords, and the sanctity likewise of its professors is shaken and exposed to scandal, and at the same time the times are stupid, unlearned, and barbarous, one may justly fear from the rise of some new sect, especially if at that time some intemperate genius, breathing paradoxes, should arise. All these things obtained with Mahomet when he promulgated his law. Although a new sect may sprout, if it be destitute of two supports, you need not fear it, for it will not spread widely.

Primum est imperii sive auctoritatis stabilitate et oppugnatio. Nihil enim magis populare est quam principatus et politias convellere. Alterum est porta luxuriae et voluptatibus apertae.

First is an assault upon the stability of empire or authority. For nothing is more popular than to tear down principalities and polities. The second is a gate opened to luxury and pleasures.

Haereses enim spectulativae (qualis fuilt olim Arrianorum, et hodie Arminianorum) etsi in hominum ingenia miris modis operentur, statum tamen rerumpublicarum non magnopere concutient, nisi ex occasione motuum civilium. Modi tres sunt quibus novae sectae plantantur: miraculis, eloquentia, et gladio. Equidem martyria inter miracula numero, quoniam vires naturae humanae excedere videntur.

For speculative heresies (such as was once that of the Arians, and today of the Arminians), although they operate upon the ingenia of men in wondrous ways, yet they will not greatly shake the state of commonwealths, except on the occasion of civil tumults. There are three modes by which new sects are planted: by miracles, by eloquence, and by the sword. For my part, I number martyrdoms among the miracles, since they seem to exceed the powers of human nature.

Idem etiam facere licet de excelsa illa et admirabili vitae sanctimonia. Certe non alia melior via est ad sectarum et schismatum ortus repellendos quam abusuum reformatio, dissidiorum minorum pacifacatio, leniter a principio procedere, et a sanguinariis persecutionibus abstinere, schismatum denique coryphaeos favoribus potius et dignitatibus mollire atque allicere, quam violentia et saevitia exacerbare.
6. Mutationes et vicissitudines in rebus bellicis haud pauci sunt, sed praecipue in tribus versantur, in sede belli, in genere armorum, et in disciplina militari.

The same also may be done with respect to that lofty and admirable sanctity of life. Surely there is no better way to repel the outbreaks of sects and schisms than the reformation of abuses, the pacification of minor dissensions, to proceed gently from the beginning, and to abstain from sanguinary persecutions; and finally to soften and allure the ringleaders of schisms by favors and dignities rather than to exasperate them by violence and savagery.
6. Mutations and vicissitudes in matters of war are not few, but they turn chiefly on three: on the seat of war, on the kind of arms, and on military discipline.

Bella antiquis temporibus movere videbantur ex oriente potissimum in occidentem. Etenim Persae, Assyriae, Scythi (qui invasores erant) omnes orientales fuerunt. Verum est Gallos fuisse occidentales, sed de duabus tantum ipsorum incursionibus legimus, una in Gallo-Graeciam, altera contra Romanos.

Wars in ancient times seemed chiefly to move from the East into the West. Indeed, the Persians, Assyrians, Scythians (who were the invaders) were all Easterners. It is true that the Gauls were Westerners, but we read of only two of their incursions, one into Gallo-Greece, the other against the Romans.

Attamen oriens et occidens coeli climata non determinant. Neque enim belli motus ab oriente aut ob occidente aliquid certae observationis recipiunt. Sed meridies et septentrio natura fixi sunt, atque raro in omni memoria invenitur meridionales interiores invasisse septentrionales, sed e contra.

Nevertheless, the Orient and the Occident do not determine the climates of the sky. For the movements of war admit no certain observation from the east or from the west. But the south and the north are by nature fixed, and it is rarely found in all memory that southerners have invaded northerners into the interior, but on the contrary.

Unde manifestum est tractum mundi septentrionalem natura ipsa magis esse bellicosum, sive hoc ascribi possit huius hemispherii stellis, sive amplitudini continentium ad partes septentrionales, cum partes australes (quantum adhuc innotuit) maria fere occupant, sive (id quod manifestissimum est) frigoribus climatis borealis. Nam hoc ipsum absque alia causa quacunque corpora indurat, spiritus inflammat, ut liquet in populi Auracensi, qui ad ulteriora Austri positi omnibus Peruviensibus fortitudine longe praecellunt.
7. Imperio aliquo magno labascante et viribus fracto pro certo bella expectes.

Whence it is manifest that the northern tract of the world is by nature itself more bellicose, whether this can be ascribed to the stars of this hemisphere, or to the amplitude of the continents toward the northern parts, since the austral parts (so far as has become known hitherto) are almost entirely occupied by seas, or (that which is most manifest) to the colds of the boreal climate. For this very thing, without any other cause whatsoever, hardens bodies, inflames spirits, as is clear in the Auracan people, who, situated toward the farther South, far excel all Peruvians in fortitude.
7. When some great empire is lapsing and its forces are broken, you may for certain expect wars.

Etenim imperia magna, dum in vigore sunt, copias nativas provinciarum enervant et destruunt propriis cohortibus domi fidentia. Cum autem et illae deficiunt, omnia ruunt atque aliis gentibus in praedam cedunt. Hoc evenit in declinatione imperii Romani atque etiam in imperio occidentali post Carolum Magnum cum aves singulae plumas suas repeterent.

For indeed great empires, while they are in vigor, enervate and destroy the native forces of the provinces, trusting in their own cohorts at home. But when those too fail, everything collapses and yields as prey to other nations. This happened in the declination of the Roman Empire and also in the Western Empire after Charlemagne, when each bird was reclaiming its own feathers.

Atque simile quidpiam etiam imperio Hispano contingere possit, siquando viribus decideret. Ex altera parte accessiones magnae ditionum et uniones regnorum similiter bella suscitant. Etenim cum status aliquis in potentiam maiorem insurgit, similis est fluvio intumescenti qui inundationem statim minatur, ut videre est in imperiis Romanorum, Turcarum, Hispanorum, et aliorum.

And something similar might also befall the Spanish empire, if ever it should fall in strength. On the other hand, great accessions of dominions and unions of kingdoms likewise arouse wars. For when some state rises into greater power, it is like a swelling river which immediately threatens an inundation, as is seen in the empires of the Romans, the Turks, the Spaniards, and others.

Attende, cum mundus nationibus barbaris minus abundet, sed civiliores fere sunt, qui uxores temere non ductunt, nec liberos progignent nisi modum familiam alendi, aut saltem victum parandi, praeviderint (ut sit in omnibus prope nationibus hodierno die, exceptis Tartaris), non ingruit periculum ab inundationibus aut migrationibus populorum. At cum populorum greges magni sunt, qui perpetuo sobolem suscipiunt, de fortunis et sustentatione sua in futurum minime solliciti. Necessarium est ut in seculo uno aut altero portionem aliquam multitudinis suae exonerent et novas sedes quaerant, et sic alias nationes invadant.

Attend: when the world abounds less in barbarian nations, but they are for the most part more civil—who do not take wives rashly, nor beget children unless they have foreseen the measure for supporting a family, or at least for providing a livelihood (as is the case in almost all nations today, the Tartars excepted)—there does not press in a danger from inundations or migrations of peoples. But when there are great herds of peoples, who perpetually beget progeny, least solicitous for their fortunes and sustenance in the future, it is necessary that in one age or another they disburden themselves of some portion of their multitude and seek new seats, and thus invade other nations.

Quod populi septentrionales veteres sorte facere solebant, sortes dantes quae pars domi maneret, quae autem alio migraret. Cum gens aliqua prius bellicosa ad mollitiem et luxuriam degenerat, de bello certa esse possit. Status enim tales plerunque dum degenerant opes accumulant, adeo ut praeda invitet, et declinatio virium animet gentes alias ad eosdem invadendos.

Which the ancient northern peoples were wont to do by lot, casting lots as to which part should remain at home, and which should migrate elsewhere. When a nation formerly warlike degenerates into softness and luxury, one may be sure about war. For such states, for the most part, while they degenerate, accumulate wealth, to such a degree that the prey allures, and the decline of their forces heartens other nations to invade those same people.

8. Quantum ad armorum et telorum genus, illorum mutationes sub observationem vix cadunt, attamen et haec ipsa periodis et vicissitudines suas sortiuntur. Pro certo enim est tormenta aenea apud urbem Oxydracarum in India tempore Alexandri Magni cognita fuisse, eaque a Macedonibus tonitrua et fulgura et operationes magicas habita et appellata. Similiter indubitatum est usum pulveris pyrii et tormentorum igneorum Chinensibus ante annos bis mille innotuisse.

8. As regards the kind of arms and weapons, their mutations scarcely fall under observation; nevertheless, these also obtain their own periods and vicissitudes. For it is certain that bronze ordnance were known at the city of the Oxydracae in India in the time of Alexander the Great, and that these were held and called by the Macedonians thunders and lightnings and magical operations. Similarly, it is undoubted that the use of pyric powder (gunpowder) and fiery artillery had become known to the Chinese two thousand years ago.

Conditiones telorum et mutationes in melius hae sunt. Primo, ut ad distantiam maiorem feriant. Id enim periculum ab hostili parte anticipat, quod certe tormenta et sclopeta maiora praestant.

The conditions of weapons and the changes for the better are these. First, that they strike at a greater distance. For that anticipates the peril from the hostile side, which certainly greater artillery and larger firearms afford.

Secundo, ut impetus eorum fortior et validior sit. In quo genere tormenta ignea, arietationes omnes et antiquas machinas item superant. Tertio, usus eorum commodior et facilior sit, id quod etiam tormentis igneis maioribus competit, quae omnibus tempestatibus idonea, vectura levia et mobilia sunt, et his similia.

Secondly, that their impetus be stronger and more robust. In which kind the fire-engines surpass likewise all batterings and the ancient machines. Thirdly, that their use be more commodious and easier, which also befits the greater fire-engines, which are suitable for all weathers, light in carriage and mobile, and the like.

9. Quod ad militiam attinet, antiquis temporibus numerum praecipue curabant. Virtuti et animis militum in bellis gerendis fidebant. Dies saepius et loca praeliandi constituebant, et aequo Marte experiebantur.

9. As for the military, in ancient times they chiefly cared about number. They relied on the valor and spirit of the soldiers in conducting wars. They more often appointed the days and the places for fighting, and made trial with Mars on equal terms.

Denique in acie instruenda et ordinanda imperitiores fere erant. Postea numerum praeoptabant commodium potius quam vastum. Locorum opportunitates, diversionum artificia, et similia captabant.

Finally, in drawing up and ordering the battle line they were generally rather unskilled. Afterwards they preferred a convenient number rather than a vast one. They seized upon the opportunities of places, the artifices of diversions, and similar things.

Postremo, in acie ipsa instruenda peritiores evadabant.
10. In reipublicae alicuius adolescentia arma florent, aetate media literae. Ac dienceps, ad moram aliquam duo illa simul florere solent, devexa autem aetate artes mechanicae et mercatura.

Lastly, in the very arraying of the line of battle they were becoming more expert.
10. In the adolescence of any republic arms flourish, in its middle age letters. And thereafter, for some while those two are wont to flourish together, but in a declining age the mechanical arts and mercantile trade.

Literae vero suam habent infantiam, quando leviusculae sunt et puerilies. Sequitur earum adolescendia quando luxuriantur et iuvenile quiddam sapiunt. Succedit aetas virilis quando solidiores et exactiores deveniunt.

Letters indeed have their infancy, when they are rather light and childish. Their adolescence follows, when they luxuriate and savor something juvenile. A virile age succeeds, when they become more solid and more exact.

Postremo senectus earum obrepit, cum siccae et exhaustae sunt, manente tamen garrulitate. Verum consultum non fuerit in rotas hasce vicissitudinum nimis longum oculos figere, ne vertigine corripiamur. Quatenus vero ad philologiam, quae in hoc argumento ut plurimum versatur, nihil aliud est quam narratiunculatum et observationum futilium congeries, ideoque scripto huic minime congruit.

Finally, their old age steals upon them, when they are dry and exhausted, garrulity remaining nevertheless. But it would not be well-advised to fix our eyes too long upon these wheels of vicissitudes, lest we be seized by vertigo. As for philology, however, which for the most part busies itself in this subject, it is nothing other than a collection of little narrations and a congeries of futile observations, and therefore does not at all suit this writing.