Tiberioque etiam in rebus quas non oc∣culeret, seu Natura, sive adsuetudine, suspensa sem∣per & obscura verba, and a little after: At Patres quibus unus metus si intelligere viderentur, in questus, lachrymas vota, effundi.
That a Prince should be both loved and Feared. The eight and thirtieth Discourse.
FRom the obscure speaking which Tiberius used, the senatours conceived no little feare, and wish∣ed, the Prince would speake in such a manner, that he might be understood.
I cannot in truth blame Princes, for speaking obscure∣ly: seeing vulgar and too open speech abase th them, and make them vilified: the rather because I see our Lord Christ, (as Saint Matthew, and Saint Marke 〈◊〉) solitus erat loqui in parabolis, and Salomon, for the most part, used to speake Riddles; whereupon, it may justly be said of Princes, who lay themselves open to all mens view, that which Salomon saith, in the Can∣ticles: Oculi tui Columbarum, absque eo quod intrinsecus latet, that is, the eyes being beautifull of themselves, appeare more beautifull, when they are shaddowed & covered with some Feathers; and so the Discourses of Princes, will be so much the fairer, as they are in some part, covered with a little obscurity; and there∣fore Salomon in his Proverbs, commends much this kind of speaking, where he saith; Mala aurea in lectis Argen∣teis, qui loquitur verbum in tempore suo.
But because the obscure speaking of Tiberius was not to this end, but onely ut intro spiceret Procerum mentes: it neither ought, nor can be praised; being in truth, the Page 379 fashion of a Tyrant, and thorough which, those Prin∣cipall Senatours remained full of feare, who were go∣verned before by Augustus with so much love; upon occasion whereof, we will make this discourse, what carriage a Prince should use, to make himselfe, to bee both loved and feared.
It hath beene debated in times past, whether a Prince ought tobe loved 〈◊〉 feared of his Subjects, or whether loved and feared both at once, yet no writer hath beene found so void of Judgement, as not to know, that nothing is to a Prince more profitable, then to be loved and feared both together, but that they thinke it a very hard, and almost impossible thing they should meet together. So as many have liked, hee should rather make himselfe be loved, then be feared. I therefore will endeavour to make it appeare, that a Prince shall not doe well, to make himselfe onely to be loved. Secondly, that he shall not doe well, to make himselfe, onely to be feared; and lastly, that he ought 〈◊〉 one and the same time, to make himselfe, be loved, and feared, both together: shewing, that not onely this is easie to be done, but impossible that a Prince should be good, if he couple not together these two Extreames.
Concerning the first, this is certaine, that if love come not accompanyed with feare, the Prince in short time, will grow into contempt: which Moses under∣standing, who had not perhaps his equall in mildnesse, yet after, for the love hee bore the people, hee had prayed our Lord God, Aut dele me de libro vitae, aut parce populo huic: when he came downe from the mount, hee caused many thousands of them to be out in 〈◊〉, thereby shewing, that together with the love of the Prince, there should be severity, which be∣getteth feare. Therefore Saint Austin saith, Estote mi∣sericordes, pensantes quantum Moses misericordia floruit Page 380 propter populum, pro cujus salute petiit deleri de libro vitae; & quando iterum zelo rectitudinis; cum obtinuisset Veniam, ait ad populum, Ponat vir gladium super femur suum, Ecce quod vitam omnium cum sua morte petiit, paucorum vita cum gladio destruxit. Intus igne amoris, & foris accensus Zelo Iustitiae & severitatis; where it is plainly seene, that a Prince ought not onely to be loved, but to bee feared also: seeing love alone of it selfe, is cause of contempt: and therefore Iob said: Si quando ride∣bam adeos, non credebant; & Lux vultus mei non cadebat in terra, that is, his Gravity was so great, that though he laughed, yet they stood with feare and reverence: where we must weigh those words; Lux vultus mei non cadebat in terra, which according to another sense, in the Hebrew, is rendred in Latin, Lucem vultus mei non abiiciebant: that is, they despised not my mirth. So as, Feare is so necessary, that Domitian, although terrible to the Senat, as governing with feare, yet af∣ter his death, he was wished for againe of all men, see∣ing with that feare, he kept his owne officers in awe; whereupon it happens sometimes, to bee worse for a Prince, with too much mildnesse, to make himselfe be loved, and therefore the Kingdome of France, under Charles the simple, and Charles the grosse, was (as an Authour writes) most miserable, on the contrary, at the end of Francis the first, it was a flourishing King∣dome, although they were milde; and he a sharpe and terrible King; afterward againe, in the time of Henry his sonne a most gentle Prince, the treasury was all wasted: Pertinax and Heliogabalus with their mildnesse, had brought the Empire almost to ruine, when after∣ward Severus Africanus, and Alexander Severus raised it up againe, with incomparable Severity. It is not therefore enough for a Prince to be loved, but hee must be feared also.
Concerning the second point, which is, that feare Page 381 alone is pernicious to a Prince, is easily proved: first, from that place in Genesis where Noe with his sonnes going out of the Arke, our Lord God said unto him, Tremor & Timor vester sit super cuncta Animalia terrae: as though he would say, you must make your selves be feared of beasts, not of men. And therefore Moyses comming downe from the Mount, with a horny splen∣dour, and finding that it made his face strike the peo∣ple into feare, he covered it with a vaile; whereby he shewes plainely, that a Prince ought not to make himselfe onely to befeared. This also our Lord Christ shewes, who amongst the first precepts he gave his Apostles, gave this for one, that they should carry no Rod with them; where S. Ambrose well observes, that a Prince ought to governe more with love then feare. And in another place he saith, David Rex, cum omnibus aequabatsuam militiam, fortis in praelio, mansuetus in Im∣perio; Ideo non cecidit, quia charus fuit 〈◊〉, & diligi a subjectis quam timeri maluit. Timor enim, temporalis tuta∣minis servat excubias, nescit diuturnitatis custodiam. And therefore it is said in the Psalme, Memento Domine Da∣vid, & omnis mansuetudinis ejus. Whereupon S. Bernard upon those words of the Canticles, Dilectus meus mihi, & ego illi qui pascitur inter Lilia, amongst those Lillies where the Spouse feedeth, reckons gentlenesse and love, by which he reigned. Specie tua (saith the Pro∣phet) & pulchritudine tua, intende prosperè, procede & Regna.
Therefore love alone is not good, because it cau∣seth contempt; and feare alone is not good, because it begets hatred. This the Ancients meant to signifie, by the Fable of Jupiter, who at the Frogs desire to have a King, gave them a Blocke, and he not stirring, the Frogs despised him; whereupon Jupiter changed their King, and gave them a Storke; but he eating them up, they hated him more then they despised the other: Page 382 by this they meant to shew, that a King should not be so gentle, to have more of the blocke then of the man; nor yet so severe, as to resemble a beast, in sucking the blood of his Cittizens. A Prince therefore ought to joyne the one with the other; which how easie and necessary it is, may easily be knowne, if we distinguish feare into two kinds: one, a feare which is but a re∣verence, as a filiall feare is, whereof, the holy Text in Job saith, Vir rectus timens Deum. The other, a feare which is a terrour; and this is that feare which Adam had, when he heard the voyce of our Lord God, Adam ubies? and he answering said, Vocem •…uam Domine au∣divi, & abscondime & timui, quia nudus essem. Secondly, we must distinguish of men; that some are perfect, and some unperfect; which is common also to all Cities, whether great or small.
I say then, that if the men be imperfect, it is fit to make them feare; not the filiall, but the servile feare: and therefore Esay saith, Sola vexatio tantum dabit in∣tellectum auditui: and Jeremy, Per omne flagellum, & do∣lorem erudieris Hierusalem. And Salomon in his Proverbs saith, In labiis sapientis invenitur sapientia, & virga in Dorso ejus, qui indiget corde: by the Rod is meant feare; and by Ejus qui indiget corde, are meant the wicked; who are said to be without heart; as Osee the Prophet saith, Factus est Ephraim, quasi Columba seducta, non ha∣bens cor. With these men therefore, it is fit to use a Rod of Iron to make them feare, being the onely meanes to returne the heart into its place. The Nini∣vites had removed their hearts out of their proper places: and our Lord God, with his Rod, Ad quadra∣ginta dies & Ninive subvertetur, brought them againe into their right places. Because (as Aristotle in his Physicks saith) Every thing that is made, proceeds from its like; but every thing that is borne, from its contrary. Quodlibernon non fit a quolibit, sed a suo contrario. Page 383 So to beget love, where it is not, we must not use Love, but its contrary, which is feare; and as in Generation the Contrary departs, when the thing is generated; so when Love is once generated, the feare departs, where∣upon Saint Bernard and Saint Austin, Compare feare to the Needle, and love to the Thread, because the Needle brings in the threed, and having brought it in, departs away. A Prince therefore ought to make himselfe be feared, even with Servile feare, by the wic∣ked.
It remaines to shew, how a Prince ought to carry himselfe, towards men that are good and perfect, but having shewed before, that love alone begets con∣tempt, and feare hatred, it is fit, he make himselfe be loved, and feared, both at one time; but not with that servile Feare, which for the most part is cause of Rebel∣lions, as was seene at the time, when our Lord God appeared to the Jsraelites upon the Mount; which be∣getting in them a great feare, there followed a Re∣bellion; but with that f•…are, which is a vertue; For knowing of which feare, it is to be knowne, that feare may have two objects; the one is, some terrible mis∣chiefe; the other is the Person, who hath power to doe the mischiefe; as Saint Thomas saith: and be∣cause our purpose is not in this place, to speake of the first object, but onely of the second; as speaking of a Prince; I say, that he may be considered, in as much, as he hath power to hurt, or in as much, as he hath will to hurt: if we consider him, in as much as he hath will to hurt, in this manner, he ought not to make himselfe be feared; but leave the subjects to feare him of them∣selves; So our Lord God would be feared, and not be feared; So Saint Paul to the Philippians saith, Cum me∣tu & tremore vestram Salutem Operamini: See here, Saint Paul would have us to feare, not of God, that is, that God hath not a will we should be saved; for, Deus Page 384 vult ommes homines salvos fieri, but hee would have us to feare, least our actions be such, as to provoke our Lord God to anger. Therefore in the mouth of the Pro∣phet Esay he saith, Feare not, Saint Paul saith, we must feare, Esay saith, wee must not feare, therefore Esay meanes, that we must not feare Gods will, and Saint Paul meanes, that we must feare our owne workes. So a Prince ought not to carry himselfe in such manner, that there be feare of his will, because his will should alwayes be for the good of his subjects; but that there be feare in the subjects, of their owne workes.
Againe, if we consider the Prince, the second way, that is, in as much as he hath power to hurt, in this sense, he ought so to carry himselfe, that his Person may be feared, because he that hath power to punish, must have (as Saint Thomas saith) such eminent autho∣rity, as can hardly be resisted, for if it may casily be resi∣sted, it will be no cause of feare. And therefore of∣tentimes, though there be no feare of mischiefe from One in eminent authority, yet the Reverence that is borne to eminency, is justly called Feare: So in Saint Luke, accepit autem omnes timor, & magnificabant Deum. So also that place of Saint Paul is to be expounded, Red∣dite omnibus Debita: cui Timorem, timorem; cui vectigal, vectigal; and he that will be feared in this manner, must doe some great and wonderfull things; that men ad∣miring them, may acknowledge his eminency aboue others; whereupon our Lord Christ, stroke a feare into the Jewes, when they saw him doe such great mi∣racles: Repleti sunt timore, dicentes, quia vidimus Mira∣bilia hodie. And the subjects, though good, need not be greeved to feare the Prince in this manner; this being a vertuous feare, which was in Christ also towards his fa∣ther; as witnesseth Saint Thomas in the foresaid place, Alensis, Bonaventure, Gabriel, and with them the whole Schoole of Divines. So as a Prince ought to make Page 385 himselfe universally to be loved, and generally to be feared: in confirmation whereof, S. Gregory saith, Ta∣lis debet esse dispenfatio Regiminis, ut his qui praeest, ea se circa subditos mensura moderetur, quatenus & arridens timeri debeat, & Iratus amari, ut eum nec nimia laetitia vi∣lem reddat, nec immoderata severitas odiosum. And in ano∣ther place, weighing those words of Job, Cum sederem quasi Rex, circumstante exercitis, eram tamen moerentium consolator. S. Gregory exhorts a Prince to doe, as the Sa∣maritan did, who powred into his wound, that was hurt upon the way, Wine and Oyle, Vt per vinum inor∣deantur vulnera, per oleum faveantur. And the Psalmist saith, Virgatua, & baculus tuus, ipsa me consolata sunt: The Rod serving to strike, and the staffe, to defend. This also was expressed in the Arke, in which, toge∣ther with the Table of the Law, was put the Rod with the Manna, there being necessarily required for obser∣ving the Law, love and feare. In signe whereof, our Lord Christ in his transfiguration upon the Mount Tabor, appeared in the midst, betweene Elias, who to move men, wrought by feare; and Moyses, who wrought all by love. And therefore in the Scrip∣ture, when the qualities of a Prince are spoken of, alwaies with beauty to make him be loved; there is joyned, Power, to make him be feared. Where∣upon in Salomons Epithalamium, after he had praised the Bridegroome for his Beauty; speciosus prae filiis ho∣minum; he praiseth him also for his strength; Accingere gladio tuo super faemur tuum Potentissime. So in Genesis in the Benediction of Juda, and in Deuteronomy, in the Be∣nediction of Joseph: Quasi primogeniti Tauri, pulchri∣tu•…o ejus; corn•…a Rhinocerontis cornua illius. And in the second of Kings, Saul & Jonathas amabiles & decori in vita sua, & Aquilis velociores, Leonibus fortiores. And of God himselfe the Prophet saith, 〈◊◊〉 est, indutus est Dominus fortitudinem & praecinxit se: and in Page 386 the Proverbs, Fortitudo & decor indumentum ejus: and in the 28. Psalme, Dilectus quemadmodum filius unicornium; that is, though as beautifull, he is worthy to be loved, yet as powerfull also he deserves to be feared.
A Prince then ought to make himselfe be feared of wicked men, with a servile feare, and this he shall doe if he duely punish them for their faults; and he ought also to make himselfe be feared of good men, with a reverentiall feare: and this he shall doe, if he give proofe of his valour, by doing great actions: (as I have shewed before) which justly make a Prince be feared with reverentiall feare. And because above all things, he ought to procure the love of his subjects; we must know, that never was any Prince so good, whom some of his subjects did not hate; nor ever any so bad, whom some of his subjects did not love: as may be seene in Tarquinius Superbus, whom some of the principall youth of the City so much loved, that they made a conspiracy in his behalfe. So Nero (as Galba witnessed) had many that loved him; Nero à pessimo quoque desidera∣bitur. And this happens by reason of sympathy of con∣ditions; there being in all Cities, whether little or great, some men that are warlike, and some peaceable; some that are ignorant, and some learned; some that are good, and some bad: whereupon seeing a Prince must of necessity be either good or bad; war-like, or peaceable; ignorant, or learned; it will follow, that if he be learned, he shall be hated of the ignorant; if he be war-like, of the peaceable; if good, of the bad. And this is the work of contraries, whose nature being to destroy one another, it is as impossible that one of these should love the other, as it is impossible, that one should love his owne destruction.
The second difficulty, which makes it hard for a Prince to procure himselfe to be beloved, is justice; which if it be not duely administred, it makes a Prince Page 387 odious to all good men; and if it be duely executed, either in civill or criminall causes, it will be an occa∣sion every yeere to get him the hate of many, and even of those that are good, there being few men that like of justice, when it goes not on their side. These many then, whose hatred the Prince is like every yeere to incurre, being multiplied many yeeres, must needs at last make a mighty number; and from hence, (as I conceive) may be drawne an excellent reason how it happens in governments, that the first yeere for the most part Governours are well beloved; the second yeere, they are hated, and the third yeere detested: as every one looking into it, of himselfe may see.
Yet a Prince amidst all these difficulties, must not be discouraged: First, because he need not care much to be loved of any, but onely of the good: to which purpose Galba said, it needed not trouble them, to see Nero beloved of the wicked; but this was a matter that needed regard, to give no occasion, he should be wished for againe of the good: Nero a pessimo quoque desiderabitur: Mihi ac tibi providendum est, ne etiam a bonis desideretur. Secondly, the end of a Prince, is as of an Oratour, or of a Physitian, who being to intro∣duce a forme in another, and not having it in their power to doe it, yet they have discharged their office, if they have applied fit meanes to introduce it: no better a Physitian is he that heales, then he that heales not; nor any better Oratour he that perswades, then he that perswades not; so long as they use the fittest meanes, he to heale, and this to perswade. So for our purpose, seeing love is in him that loveth, in such man∣ner, as honour is in him that honoureth: a Prince shall have performed his charge, and done as much as he need to doe, as long as he hath used all fit meanes, to procure his subjects love, by doing good to all, by maintaining them in plenty, by shewing himselfe farre Page 388 from cruelty, by defending them from their enemies: and finally, by making it appeare, that he loves them exceedingly; seeing this is a sure rule, He that will be loved, must love.
