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.

¶Here the Chauncelour proueth that a prince by the lawes may be made happy and blessed. Cap. 4.

NOt onely to the ītent you should feare god & so beecome wise, do y^e la¦wes w^t y^e prophet call you saiyng: Come childrē hea∣re me I will teache you y^e feare of the lorde: but also that you may aspire vnto felicitie and blessednes (as farre fourthe as in this li∣fe theye maye bee attey∣ned) do the lawes wyll you moste gracious prince to bee studious of them

For all the philosophers which haue so diuersly re∣soned of felicitie, haue all agreed together in this ōe point, that felicitie or bles∣sednes is y^e ende of al mās desire: and therefore theye cal it chief goodnes. How¦beit y^e peripatetiks placed it in vertue, the Stoikes ī honestie, & the Epicures in pleasure. But seeing y^e Stoikes defined honestie to be that whiche is wel & laudably done withe ver∣tue, and the Epicures hel¦de nothing to be pleasant witheoute vertue, there∣fore all those sectes, as sai¦ethe Leonarde Arretine in his Introduction to mo¦rall Philosophie agreed in this, that it is onely ver¦tue that causethe felicitie.

Wherefore Aristotle also in y^e seuēth booke of his po¦litiques defining felicitie, saieth that it is the perfect vse of vertues. Th{us} much being now presupposed I wold haue you to cōsider these things also y^e folow Mās lawes are nothing els but certein rules, whe∣reby Iustice is perfectlye taught. But that Iustyce which the lawes do shew is not the same that is cal¦led Commutatiue or Dis∣tributiue, or any other par¦ticular vertue, but it is a perfecte vertue expressed by the name of Iustice le∣gall. Whyche the fore∣said Leonerd dothe there∣fore affyrme to bee per∣fecte, beecause it excludeth all vice, and teachethe all vertue. For whiche cause also it is woorthelye cal∣led

by the name of al ver∣tue. Whereof Homere sai¦ethe, and likewise Aristo∣tle in the fifthe booke of Morall philosophie, that it is y^e chiefest of al vertues, and that neither Lucyfer nor Hesper{us} are so bright & beaming as it is. More∣ouer this Iustice is y^e thīg, whereuppon al princelye care depēdeth and resteth: witheoute the whiche the kinge can neither rightly iudge, nor yet duely fight. But thys beeing once ob∣teyned and perfectly kept, then all the hole deuty re∣quired in a kyng is iustly perfourmed. Nowe then seeynge that the perfecte vse of vertues is felicytie, and that Iustice vsed a∣mongest menne whyche can not bee obteyned vn∣to nor learned but by the

lawe, is not onelye the ef∣fecte of vertues, but is all vertue it selfe, hereof it fo∣lowethe, that the practiser of Iustice is by the lawe happie, and so thereby hee is made blessed, forsomu∣che as blessednes or happy¦nes and felicitie are bothe one in this short and tran¦sitorie lyfe, of the whiche lyfe throughe Iustice hee enioyeth the chiefe & prin∣cipall goodnes. And yet the lawe is not hable to perfourme these thinges withoute the assistence of grace, witheoute the whi∣che also you can not learn nor couet eyther lawe or vertue. For as saieth Pa∣riss. in his booke intituled Cur deus homo the inward vertue of man wherin his desieringe is placed is so

throughe originall sinne defaced and corrupte, that it esteemeth vicious wor∣kes for pleasaunt, & vertu¦ous woorkes for vnplea∣saunt. Wherefore in that some men applye and en∣deuour themselues to the loue and folowing of ver∣tues, it proceedethe of the bountiful goodnes of god and not of the power of man. Is ther not then spe∣cial cause why the lawes, whiche beinge preuented and accompanied wythe grace do performe all the premisses, should with all diligent trauaile be lear∣ned? Seinge that whoso hathe perfectlye atteyned thereunto, the same shall enioye felicitie, the ende & performāce, as y^e Philo∣sophers say, of mās desire by meās wherof hee shall in this life be blessed, in y^e

he nowe possesseth y^e chief goodnes therof. Doubtles if these thinges moue you not, whiche shal haue the rule and gouernement of a kingdom, yet the woor∣des of the prophet shal mo¦ue you, yea & force you to the studie of the law, whi∣che words be these: Be ye learned you y^t are iudges of the earth. Here y^e {pro}phet exhorteth not to y^e learnīg of a base arte or a handy∣craft, for he saieth not: Be ye learned you y^t are the ī∣habiters of the earth, ney∣ther doth he counsel to the learninge of knoweledge speculatiue, thoughe it bee not vnnecessarie for the in¦habiters vpon the earthe. For he sayethe not gene∣rally: Bee ye learned you that dwell vppon the ear∣the, but by these wordes,

doth the prophet call kin∣ges onely to the learninge of the law, wherby iudge∣ments are executed, forso∣much as he specially saith Bee ye learned you y^t are iudges of y^e earthe. And it folowethe: least the lord waxe angrye, and so you perishe from the waye of righteousenes. Neyther doth holy scripture (o kin∣ges sonne) commaūd you onelye to be skilfullye in∣struct in the lawes, wher∣by you shal purchase and obtein y^e possessiō of iusti∣ce but also ī an other pla∣ce it biddeth you vnfained¦ly to loue Iustice, wher it sayethe. O set your loue & affection vppon Iustice you that are iudges of the earthe, in the firste chap∣ter of the booke of wyse∣dome.

NOn solū vt de ū timeas, quo et sapiēs eris, prin∣ceps colendissime, vocāt te leges, cū {pro}pheta dicēte. Ve¦nite filii, audite me timorē dn̄idocebo vos: Sed etiā vt fe∣licitatē, beatitudi∣nē{que},) {pro} vt in hac vita nācisci poter’ adipiscaris, ipsae le∣ges ad earum disci¦plinatū te inuitāt.

Philosophi nā{que} ō¦nes qui de felicita te tā variè disputa¦bāt, in hoc vno cō¦uenerūt: vz qd; fe¦licitas siue beatitu¦do finis ē ōnis hū∣mani appetit{us}: qua¦re et ip̄ā sūmū bon̄ appellāt: Peripate∣tici tn̄ cōstituebāt eā in virtute: Stoi∣ci in honesto: Et Epicurei in volup¦tate. Sed quia Stoi¦ci honestū diffinie¦bant esse qd’ bene sit et laudabilit{er} ex virtute, et Epicur’ asserebāt nihil esse voluptuosū sine virtut’: Omnes sec∣tae illae, vt dicit Leo¦nard{us} Arretin{us} Y∣sagogico moralis disciplinae, in hoc concordarunt, qd’ sola virtus est, que felicitatē operatur

Quo et Philoso∣ph{us} in vii. polit’ (fe¦licitatē difiniēs) di¦cit, quod ipsa est {per}fect{us} vs{us} virtutū. His iā p̄suppositis, cōsiderare te volo etiā ea q̄ sequētur. Leges humāe nō a¦liud sūt quā regul’ quib{us} {per}fectè iustic̄ edocetur. Iusticia vero quā leges re∣uelāt, nō est illa q̄ cōmutatiua vel dis¦tributatiua vocat. feu alia q̄uis {per}ticu∣laris virtus, sed est virt{us} {per}fecta, q̄ ius∣tic̄ legal’ nōine de signatur. Quā Le∣onard{us} p̄dc̄{us} ideo dicit esse {per}fectā, q̄a¦ōne viciū ipsa eli∣minat, et oēm vir∣tutē p̄a docet quo et oīs virt{us} ip̄a me¦rito nuncupatur.

De qua Homerus dicit, sīl’er et Philo¦soph{us} v. ethicorū, Quod ipsa est pre clarissima virtutū et nec Lucifer nec Hesper{us}, vt illa est admirabilis. Iusti∣cia vero hec, sub∣iectū est omnis re¦galis curae, quô si∣ne illa Rex iuste non iudicat, nec recte pugnare po∣test. Illa vero adep¦ta, {per}fectê{que} seruata equissime peragi∣tur ōne officium Regis. Vnde cum {per}fectus vsus virtu¦tum sit felicitas, et Iusticia humana, que non nisi per legē {per}fecte nācisci¦tur, aut docetur,

nedum sit virtu∣tum effect{us}, sed et omnis virtus. Se∣quitur quod iusti∣tia fruens felix per legem est quó et per eam ip̄e fit be¦atus, cum idem sit beatitudo & feli∣citas in hac fugaci vita cuius et {per} ius∣ticiam ipse sum∣mum habet bonū tamen nō nisi per gratiā lex poterit ista operari, ne{que} le¦gem aut virtutem sine gratia tu ad∣discere poteris, vel appetere. Cum vt dicit Parisi in libro suo de Cur deus hōo virtus homin̄ appetitiua īterior,

per peccatum ori∣ginale ita viciata ē vt sibi viciorū sua uia et virtutū aspe¦ra opera sapiant. Quare qd’ aliqui ad amorem secta∣cionem{que} virtut’ se conferunt, diuinī bonitatis benefici um est, et nō huma¦nae virtutis. Num tunc leges, q̄ p̄ue∣niente & comitan¦te gratia, omnia p̄ missa operātur, to∣to conamine addis¦cendae sunt? dum felicitatem quae se∣cundum Philoso∣phos, est hic fi∣nis et complemen¦tum humani desi∣derij, earum appre¦hensor obtinebit, quó et beatus ille erit in hac vita,

eius possidēs sum∣mum bonum. Ve∣re etsi non hec te moueant, qui reg∣num recturus es, mouebūt te etarc∣tabunt ad discipli¦natum legis pro∣phetaeverba dicēt{is} Erudimini qui iu∣dicatis terram, nō enim ad eruditio∣nem artis factiuae, aut mechanicae, hic mouet propheta: Cum non dicat, Erudimini qui co¦litis terram, nec ad eruditionem scien¦tiae tantū theoricae, quamuis oportu∣na fuerit incolis terrae, quia gene∣raliter non di∣cit erudimini qui inhabitatis terram

sed solum ad disci¦plinam legis, qua Iudicia redduntur reges inuitat pro∣pheta in his ver∣bis. Cum specia∣liter ipse dicat: E∣rudimini qui iudi∣catis terram. Et se∣quitur: Ne quan∣do irascatur do∣minus, & pereatis de via iusta. Nec solum legibus, quibus iustitiam consequeris, fili re¦gis imbui te iubet sacra scriptura, sed et ipsam iusticiam diligere, tibi ali∣bi precipit, cum di¦cat. Diligite ius∣ticiam qui iudica∣tis terram. Sapien̄ Capitulo primo.