A learned commendation of the politique lawes of Englande vvherin by moste pitthy reasons & euident demonstrations they are plainelye proued farre to excell aswell the ciuile lawes of the Empiere, as also all other lawes of the world, with a large discourse of the difference betwene the. ii. gouernements of kingdomes: whereof the one is onely regall, and the other consisteth of regall and polityque administration conioyned. written in latine aboue an hundred yeares past, by the learned and right honorable maister Fortescue knight ... And newly translated into Englishe by Robert Mulcaster.

¶The lawes of England are right good, the know∣ledge whereof is expedient for kynges. Yet it shall suffice thē to haue but a su∣perficiall knowledge of the same Cap. 54. (Book 54)

I Haue wel & euidētly {per}∣ceaued, quod y^e prince, by y^e {pro}cesse of your talke good Chaūcellour, y^t those lawz are not onely good, but al¦so of most perfecte & excel∣lēt goodnes. And if any of thē haue neede to be amē∣ded that may quicklye bee done as the fourmes and

orders of y^e parliamentes there do plainlye prooue Wherfore y^e roialme is e∣uer really or potentiallye gouerned by most excellēt and most worthie lawes. And I doubt not but that your instructions in thys our talke shalbee profita∣ble for the kings of Eng∣lande whiche hereafter shall bee: so that they ha∣ue noe pleasure in gouer∣nynge by vnpleasaunt la∣wes. For the vnhandsom¦nes of the toole or instru∣mente werieth the work∣manne: and a blunte pike or a dulle sweorde ma∣kethe a cowardelye soul∣diour But like as a soul∣diour is encouraged to fight not onelye when hee hathe handsome and fitte weapons in a readynes, but also much more when

he is expert and skilfull in warlike actes, accordinge to the saying of Vegetius in his boke of chiualrie, y^e knowledge & connyng in martiall feats ministreth boldenes in fightinge (for no man feareth to do that whiche he trusteth hee ha∣the well learned) in lyke maner euery kinge hath a feruēt zeale, & earnest de∣sire to y^e maintenaunce of Iustice, not only knowīg y^e lawes, whereby y^e must be don, to be most iust, but also beinge skilful in the forme & nature of y^e same. Whereof it shal suffice y^e prince to haue onely an v∣niuersall, a superficial, & a confuse knoweledge, the discreete and determinate perfectnes, & deepe vnder stādinge of the same bee∣ynge lefte to his iudges.

So also oughte all prin∣ces to bee wel seene in the holye scriptures of god, as sayethe vincentius Bel∣uacensis in his booke of the morall institution of princes Forasmuche as the scripture aboue men∣tioned sayethe that vayne are all theye in whom is not the knowledge of god and for that in the sixteen the chapter of the prouer∣bes it is thus written. Let prophecye or the woorde of god be in the lyppes of the kynge, and then hys mouthe shall not go wrō∣ge in iudgement. And yet is not a kinge bounde to haue profounde knowled¦ge, and determinate vn∣derstāding in y^e holy scrip∣tures, as it becommethe a professoure of dyuinitye.

For it shalbe ynoughe for hī su{per}ficially to tast y^e sen∣tēces therof, as also of his lawes. Thus did Charles the great, Lewes his son∣ne, and Robert sometime kinge of Fraunce whoe wrote thys sequence.

Sancti spiritus adsit nobis gratia: and diuers other princes, as the foresayde Vincēcius in the fiftene∣the chapter of his booke aforesayd plainly shewe∣the. Wherfore y^e doctors of y^e lawes do say, y^t an ē∣perour beareth al his la∣wes in y^e box of his brest: not for y^t he knoweth all y^e lawes reallye & in deede, but for that he vnderstan∣deth the principles of thē, lykewise theire fourme, & theire nature: in whiche respect he is iudged to bee skilfull in all hys lawes.

Whiche also he maye al∣ter, chaunge, and repeale. So that in him are poten∣tiallye all his lawes, as Eue was in Adam befo∣re she was made. Butte now, good Chauncellour seeynge I perceaue mye selfe sufficientlye perswa∣ded to the studie of the la∣wes of England, whiche thing in y^e beginninge of this worke you promised to perfourme, I wil no lō¦ger trouble you in this be¦halfe. But thus I instātly desire you, y^t ye wil īstruct me in y^e prīciples of y^e law as you once began to doe And that you will teache me to knowe and vnder∣stande the fourm and na∣ture thereof. For thys la∣we shall bee euermore pe∣culiar to me amonge al o∣ther lawes of the worlde,

amonge the whiche I see it shiene as lucifer amōge the starrs. And forsomuch as I doubt not, but youre intent, whereby you were moued to this conference is fully satisfiyd: bothe ty∣me and reason requirethe, that we make an ende of our talke, yeeldynge ther∣fore laudes and thankes to him, whiche beganne, furthered, and hathe fyni∣shed the same. Whom we call Alpha et O, who also be praysed of euerye ly∣uinge creature. Amen.

Finis.

PRīceps. Leges illas nedū bo∣nas sed et optimas esse cācellarie, ex {pro}secutiōe tua in hoc dialogo certis¦sime dep̄hēdi. Et si q̄ ex eis meliorari deposcant, id citis∣sime fieri posse,

parliamentorū ibi dem formulae nos erudiunt. Quo re∣aliter potētialiter∣ue, regnum illud semper prestantis∣simis legibus gu∣bernatur, nec tuas in hac concionati∣one doctrinas fu∣turis Angliae regi∣bus inutiles fore conijtio, dū nō di∣lectet regere legi∣bus quae non delec¦tant. Fastidet nam¦que artificem inep¦tio instrumenti, et militem ignauum reddit debilitas lā¦ciae et mucronis. Sed sicut ad pug∣nā animatur miles cū nedū sibi {pro}na¦sīt arma, sed et ma¦gis cū in actib{us} bel¦licis ip̄e sit ex{per}tus,

dicente Vegetio de re militari: qd’ sciencia rei bellicae dimicandi audaci∣am nutrit, Quia nemo facere metu¦it quod se bene di dicisse confidit. Sic et rex omnis ad iustitiam anima∣tur dum leges qui¦bus ipsa fiet, ne∣dum iustissimas es¦se agnoscit, sed et earum ille exper∣tus sit formam et naturam, quas tan¦tum in vniuersali, inclusiuè, et incō∣fuso principi scire sufficiet, remanen te suis iudicibus, e∣arum discreta de∣terminata{que} peritia et scientia altiori.

Sic equidē et scrip¦turarum diuinarū peritiam, vt dicit Vincentius Belua¦censis in libro de morali institutiōe prīcipum: Omnis princeps habere deberet cum dicat scriptura superius memorata: qd’ va¦nae sunt oēs in qui∣bus nō est scientia dei, et {pro}uerbi .xvi. scribatur: Diuina∣tio, id est diuina sē∣tentia vel sermo diuinus, sit in labi∣is regis: et tunc in iuditio non erra∣bit os eius. Non ta¦men profundè, de¦terminatèue intel¦ligere tenetur Prī¦ceps scripturas sa∣cras, vt decet sacrae theologiae {pro}fessor

sufficit nā{que} ei earū in cōfusô degusta re sententias, quali¦ter et peritiā legis suae. Sic et fece••ūt Carolus Mag••us, Lodouic{us} filius e∣i{us}, et Robert{us} quō¦dā rex Frāciae, qui hanc scripsit seq̄n∣tiā: Sācti spirit{us} ad sit nobis gratia, et quā plures alij, vt ī .xv. ca. lib. p̄dicti Vincentius p̄dict{us} luculenter docet. Vnde et doctores legū dicūt: qd’ im¦perator gerit oīa iura sua in scrinio pectoris sui, nō q̄a ōīa iura ip̄e noscit realiter et in actu sed dū prīcipia eo¦rū ip̄e {per}cepit, for∣mā similiter et na∣turā, oīa iura sua ip¦se ītelliger’ cēsetur

q̄ etiā trāsformare ille potest, mutare et cassare quo ī eo potētialiter sūt ō∣nia iura sua, vt in Adā erat Eua an∣tequā plasmaretur Sed quia Cācella∣rie, ad legū Angliae disciplinatū mihi iā conspicio suffici enter esse suasum, quod et in hui{us} o∣peris exordio face¦re {pro}misisti: Nō te āplius huius p̄tex∣tu, solicitare cona∣bor, sed obnixê de posco, vt in legis huius principijs, vt quōdam incepisti, me erudias: docēs quodamodo eius agnoscere formā et naturam, quia lex ista mihi sem{per} peculiaris erit īter ceteras leg{is} orbis,

inter quas ipsā lu∣cere cōspicio, vt lu¦cifer inter stellas. Et dū intentioni tuae qua ad collati∣onē hanc concita∣tus es, iā satisfactū esse nō ābigo, tem¦pus postulat et ra∣tio, vt nostris col∣loquiis terminū cō¦feramus: reddētes ex eis laudes ei et gratias qui ea in∣cepit, prosecut{us} est et finiuit, Alpha et O quē dicim{us}, quē et laudet ōnis spi∣ritus Amen.