The boke named the Gouernour, deuysed by syr Thomas Elyot knight

Of Sapience, and the definiti∣on therof. Capi. XXII.

AL be it that some men, whiche haue hitherto radde this boke, wyll sub∣pose, that those vertues, whereof I haue treated, be sufficient to make a gouer∣nour vertuous and excellent: yet netheles for as moche as the effecte of myne enter∣pryse in this warke is, to expresse, as farre furthe as god shal instruct my poore wytte, what thynges do belonge to the makynge of a perfeytte publyke weale, whiche well nygh may no more be without an excellent

gouernour, than the vniuersal course of na∣ture maye stande or be permanent without on chiefe dysposer and meuer, whiche is o∣uer all supereminent in power, vnderstan∣dynge, and goodnes. Wherfore bycause in gouernaunce be included Dysposition and Order, which can not be without soueraine knowelege, procedynge of wysedome, in a more elegant worde called SAPIENCE, Therfore I wyll nowe declare, as moche as my lytel with dothe comprehende of that part of Sapience, that of necessitie must be in euery gouernour, of a iuste or perfeytte publyke weale.

¶ The noble philosopher, and moste excel¦lent * 1.1 oratour CICERO, sayth in this wyse, SAPIENCE is the scyence of thynges dy∣uine and humayne, whiche considereth the cause of euerye thynge, by reason wherof, that, whiche is dyuine, she foloweth, that, whiche is humayne, she estemeth ferre vn∣der the goodnes of fortune.

¶ This definitiō agreeth wel with the gift of sapience, that god gaue to Salomō, king of Israel, who asked onely wysedome, to gouerne there with his realme. But god, whiche is the fountayne of sapience, graci∣ously ponderynge the yonge princes peti∣tion, whiche proceded of an apt inclination to vertue, with his own most bounteous li∣beralitie,

whiche he purposed to employe on hym, for the entiere loue that he had to his father: he therfore infused in hym plē∣tie of all wysedome and connynge, in thyn∣ges as well naturall as supernaturall: as it appereth by the warkes of the same kynge Salomon, wherein be well nyghe as many wysedomes, as there be sentences. And in myne opynion, one thynge is specially to be noted.

¶ Kynge Dauid, father to Salomon, was a man of a rare and meruaylous strengthe, in so moche, as he hym selfe reporteth in the boke of kynges, beynge a chylde, and cari¦enge to his bretherne theyr dyner, where they kepte theyr cattell, slewe fyrst a great beare, and after a lyon, whiche fyerce and hungry assaulted hym, all thoughe he were vnarmed: and whether he had any weapon or no, it is vncertayne, sens he maketh ther¦of no menciō. Also of what prowes he was in armes, and howe valiaunt and good a ca∣pitayne in battayle, it maye sufficiently ap∣pere to them that wyll rede his noble actes and achieuaunces in the bokes before re∣membred. wherin no good catholyke man wyll any thynge doubte, thoughe they be maruaylous. Yet not withstandynge al his strengthe and puyssaunce was not of suche effecte, that in the longe tyme of his raign,

whiche was by the space of .xl. yeres, he coulde haue any tyme vacant from warres. But all waye had eyther continuall batayle with the Philisties, or elles was molested with his owne chyldren, and such as ought to haue bene his frendes. Contrary wyse, his sonne Salomon, of whome there is no notable mention made, that he shewed any commendable feate, concernynge martiall prowesse, sauinge the furniture of his gar∣risons with innumerable men of warre, hor¦ses, and chariotes, which proueth not him to be valiaunte and stronge, but onely pru∣dente: after a lyttell bykerynge with the Philisties, in the beginning of his raygne, continued in peace without any notable ba∣tayle, or molestation of any persone: wher∣fore he is named in scrypture, REX PA∣CIFICVS, which is in englyshe, The pea∣syble kynge. And onely by sapience so go∣uerned his realme, that though it were but a lyttell realme in quantitie, yet it excelled incomparably all other in honour and ry∣ches. In soo moche as syluer was at that tyme in the citie of Ierusalem, as stones in the strete. Wherfore it is to be noted, that Sapience in the gouernaunce of a publyke weale, is of more efficacie, than strengthe and puyssaunce.

¶ The auctoritie of Sapience is wel decla¦red

by Salomon in his prouerbes, sayinge. By me kynges do raygne, and makers of lawes dyscerne thynges that be iuste. By me prynces do gouerne, and men hauynge power and auctoritie, do determin Iustice. I loue all them that loue me, and who that watcheth to haue me, shall fynde me. With me is bothe ryches and honour, stately pos¦sessions and Iustice. Better is the fruyre, that commeth of me, than golde and stones that be precious.

¶ The same kynge saythe in his boke, cal∣led Ecclesiastice: A kyng without sapience shal lose his people, and cities shal be inha∣bited by the wytte of them that be prudent. whiche sentence was verifyed by the sōne and successour of the same kinge Salomon, called Roboaz, to whom the sayd boke was written, who neglectinge the wise and ver∣tuous doctrine of his father, comtempned the sage counsayle of auncyente men, and imbraced the lyght perswasions of yonge men and flatterers, wherby he loste his ho¦nour, and brought his realme in perpetuall deuisyon.

¶ The empire of Rome (whose beginning, prosperytie, and desolation semeth to be a mirrour and exāple to al other realmes and countreys) declareth to them that exactely beholde it, of what force and value Sapiēce

is to be estemed, beinge begonne with she∣pardes, fleinge the wrathe and displeasure of their maisters.

¶ Romulus, duringe the time of his reigne * 1.2 (whiche was .xxxvii. yeres) nothynge dyd enterprise, without the auctorite & consent of the fathers, whom he hym selfe chase to be Senatours. And finally, as longe as the senate continued in the citie of Rome, and reteyned their auctoritie, whiche they re∣ceyued of Romulus, and was increased by Tullus Hostilius, the thyrde kynge, they wonderfully prosperid and also augmentid theyr empyre ouer the more parte of the worlde. But sone after the emperour Cō∣stantine had abandoned the citie, and tran∣slated the Senate from thens to Constan∣tynople, and that finally the name and auc∣toritie of the Senate, was by lytel and litel exhauste, by the negligence & foly of igno∣rant emperours, not only that moste noble cite, heed and princesse of the world, & foū∣tayne of all vertue and honour, felle into most lamentable ruine, but also the maiestie of the empire decaied vtterly, so that vneth a lyttell shadowe therof nowe remayneth, whiche who so beholdeth and conferreth it with Rome, whan it flourished, according as it is lefte in remembrauce by noble wri∣ters, he shall vneth kepe reares out of his

eyen, beholdyng it now as a rotten shepe∣cote in comparyson of that cytie noble and triumphaunt. O poore and myserable citie, what sondry tourmētes, excisions, subuer∣tions, depopulations, and other euyll ad∣uentures hath hapned vnto the, sens thou were byrefte of that noble courte of Sa∣pience? whose auctoritie if it had alway cō tinued, beinge also confyrmed in the fayth and trewe religion of Christe, god beinge with the pleased, thou couldest neuer haue bene thus desolate vnto the fynall consum∣mation and ende of the worlde.

¶ I dout nat, but it is wel knowen to euery Catholyke man, that hathe the lyberall vse of reason, that all maner of vnderstanding and knowlege, wher of procedeth perfecte operation, do take their origynalle of that hygh sapience, whiche is the operatrice of all thynges. And therfore Salomō or Phi lo, or who so made the boke callid Sapiētia, made his prayer to god in this wise,

¶ Gyue to me, good lorde, Sapience, that sytteth by thy throne. And in the later ende of the prayer he sayth, Sende her from the sete of thy holynes, that she maye be with me, & labour with me, and that I may know what may be accepted with the.

¶ Orpheus (one of the eldeste poctes of * 1.3 Grece) affirmeth in his hymnes, that the

Musis were gotē betwene Iupiter & Me∣morie. whyche sayinge well vnderstande, and exactly tried, shal appere manifestly to agree with the sayinge of the wyse manne, conteyned in the said prayer late rehersed.

¶ Eustathius, the exposytour of Homere, sayth, Musa is the knowlege of the soule, and is a thynge diuine, as the sowle is.

¶ But fynally, as by olde autors a mā may aggregate a definition, that which is callid in greke and latyne Musa, is that parte of the sowle, that induceth and moueth a man to serche for knowlege, in the whiche mo∣tion is a secrete and inexplicable delectati∣on. All be it, bicause knowlege is in sondry wise distributed, and the nombre of nyne a∣monge olde authors was alway rehersed, where they spake of a multitude, as it shall appere to them that rede Homer & Uir gil, Therfore there were diuised to be nine mu ses, which also for the resemblance of their disposition, were fayned by the poctes to be nyne virgins, that first inuented all libe∣ral sciences: but the other opynion appro∣chith more nere vnto the trouth, and agre∣eth better vnto my purpose.

¶ More ouer, Iupiter was alway takē of the poetes & philosophers for the supreme god, whyche was the gyuer of lyfe, and creatour of all thynges, as appereth in all

their warkes, wherfore somtyme they call hym omnipotēt, somtime the fader of god∣dis & of men, soo that vnder that name they knowleged to be a very god, thoughe they honored hym nat as one only god, as they ought to haue done.

¶ But nowe Orpheus sayenge, that the Muses proceded of Iupiter and memory, may be in this wyse interpreted, That god almyghty infuded Sapience into the Me∣mory of man: for to the acquirynge of sci∣ence belongeth vnderstandyng and memo∣rye, which as a treasory, hath power to re∣tayne, and also to erogate and dystribute, whan oportunitie happeneth. And for the excellency of this thyng, some noted to be in mans sowle a dyuine substaunce. As Py∣thagoras, or somme of his scolers, wry∣tynge his sentence, sayth in this wise, spea∣kynge to man,

¶ Nowe in thy selfe haue thou good confidēce Sens mortall men be of the kynde diuine In whose nature a reuerent excellence Appereth clere, which all thynge doth defyne.

¶ Whyche sentence of Pythagoras, is nat reiected neither of Plato, whiche appro∣ched nexte vnto the catholyke writers, nor of diuines, which interprete holy scripture,

takynge the sowle for the image and simi∣litude of god.

¶ More ouer, Plato affirmeth, that there * 1.4 is sette in the soule of man, cōmyng in to the worlde, certayn spices, or as it were sedes of thinges, and rules of artes or sciences. Wherfore Socrates, in the boke of science, resembleth hym selfe to a midwife, sayinge, * 1.5 In teachynge yonge men, he dyd put into them no science, but rather brought for the that, whyche all redy was in them, lyke as the mydwyfe brought nat in the childe, but beynge conceyued, dyd helpe to brynge it forthe. And lyke as in houndes is a power or disposition to hunt, In horses and grey∣houndes an aptitude to renne swyftly, so in the sowles of men is ingenerate a leme of science, whyche with the mixture of a ter∣restryall substaunce is obfuscate, or made darke. But where there is a perfite master prepared in tyme, the bryghtnes of the sci∣ence appereth polyte and clere, like as the power and aptitude of the beastes before rehersed, appered nat to the vttermost, ex∣cepte it be by Exercyse prouoked, and that slouthe and dulnesse, beinge plucked from theym by Industrie, be induced vnto the contynualle acte: whyche as Plato affyr∣methe, is proued also in the mayster and the dysciple.

¶ Semblablye the foresay de Socrates, in Platos boke of sapiēce, saith to one The∣ages, Neuer man lerned of me any thynge, all though by my company, he became wy∣ser, I onely exhortynge, and the good spi∣ryte inspirynge.

¶ Whiche wonderfull sentence, as me see∣meth, may wel accorde with our catholike faythe, and be receyued into the commen∣taryes of the moste perfecte dyuines. For as well that sentence, as al other before re∣hersed, doo comprobate with holy Scrip∣ture, that god is the fountain of Sapience, lyke as he is the souerayne begynnyng of all generation.

¶ Also it was wonderfully well expressed, of whom Sapiēce is ingendred, by a poete * 1.6 named Affranius, whose verses were sette ouer the porche of the Temple, where the Senate of Rome moste commonly assem∣bled. Whiche verses were in this maner,

Vsus me genuit, mater peperit Memoria. Sophiam me Graii vocant, vos Sopientiam. Whyche in Englyshe maye be in this wyse translated.

Memory hight my mother, my fader Experyēce Grekes call me Sophi, you name me Sapiēce.

¶ By vse or experience, in these versis ex∣pressed, the poete intēded, as wel those ac∣tes, which we our selfe daily do practise, as

also them, whiche beinge done by other in tyme passed, for the fruite or vtilitie, why∣che thereof succeded, were allowed and also proued to be necessary. And the cause, why the poete conioyneth Experience and Memorye togyther (as it were in a lefulle matrimonye, Experience by gettynge, and Memorie alwaye producynge that incom∣parable fruite, called Sapience) is, for that Memorie in her operation proprelye suc∣cedeth Experience, for that, whych is pre∣sently do one, we perceyue, that whiche is to come, we coniecte or dyuyne: but that, whiche is passed, onely we haue in our me∣morye. For as Aristotel declareth wonder * 1.7 fully in an example, In the princypall sense of Manne there is conceyued an image or fygure of a thynge, whyche by the same sense is perceyued, as longe as it is retay∣ned intiere or hole, and (as I mought say) consolydate, pure, manyfeste, or playne, and withoute blemmysshe, in suche wyse, that in euerye parte of it, the mynde is ste∣red or occupyedde, and also by the same mynde, hit maye be throughely percey∣ued and knowen, nat as an ymage in it selfe but as representynge an nother thynge.

This is proprelye Memorie. But yf the hoole ymage or fygure be nat retayned in the mynde, but parte therof onely remay∣neth,

parte is put out, eyther by the length of tyme, or by some other myshappe or in∣iurie, so that it can neyther bryng the mynd eftsones vnto it, nor it can be called agayne of the mynde, as often as by that portion, whyche styll remayneth, and hath aboden alway intiere and cleane, the residewe that was therto knytte and adioyned, and late semed for the tyme deed or bireft from the mynde, is reuiued and (as it were) retour∣ned home agein, it is than had for redemed or restored, and is proprely called REMEM BRAVNCE.

¶ This is the exposition of the noble Phi¦losopher, which I haue writen, principally to thentent to ornate our langage, with v∣synge wordes in their propre signification. Wherof, what commoditie maye ensue, all wyse men wyll (I doubte nat) consider.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Ci. tusc. q. lib. iiii.
• * 1.2

  Diodorus Scicuius libr. 1.
• * 1.3

  Musis what they do signifie.
• * 1.4

  Sciēce frō whens hit procedeth. plato in Time us.
• * 1.5

  plato in Theage.
• * 1.6

  Sapience frō whens
• * 1.7

  Aristote∣les de me∣moria et re¦miniscētis lib. ii.