The compleat courtier: or, The morals of the famous historian Cornelius Tacitus concerning flattery, &c. In above one hundred essays. Paraphras'd and illustrated with useful observations by the Sieur Amelo de la Houssaie and M. D'Ablancourt. Done out of French.

ESSAY LXXVI

PRosperity and Success, with sharper Probes, explore the Minds of Men; for Miseries are en∣dur'd, but we are corrupted by Feli∣city. Thou perhaps wilt retain thy Fidelity, thy Liberty, thy Friend∣ship, the chiefest blessings and per∣fections of the Mind; but others will endeavour to vitiate thy good Nature by their Flatteries. Adulati∣on, and glozing Sycophantries, the most pernicious poyson of a vertuous

Inclination, while every one seeks his own Profit and Interest, will break in upon thee. Thou and I discourse this day together with Sincerity and Cordial Integrity, others more wil∣lingly address themselves to our For∣tune then to us. For to persuade a Prince to what it behoves him to do, is a task of great difficulty. But to Flatter any Prince, there's no Affe∣ction requir'd. To be Begotten or Descend from Princes is meerly Fi∣ctitious, nor is valu'd any farther. Nero will be also always wish'd for by the worst of Men; however it must be both Our Cares, that he be not wish'd for by the Good and Vertu∣ous. But this is not a time to insist longer upon Admonitions. The most profitable and the shortest Me∣thod in the regulation of thy Acti∣ons, is to consider what thou wouldst require, and what not, from ano∣ther Prince. For thou art now to Govern a People that will not brook

an Absolute Servitude, add will be as impatient of Absolute Liberty.

Says D'Ablancourt, Prosperity has more powerful Incentives then Adversity, for we give way to the one and resist the other. (Which words are more obscure then the Text it self.) Tho' thy Inclinations prompt thee to preserve thy Vertue, they that have access to thee, will have lost their own. (Which is quite contrary to the sense of Tacitus.) There is nothing so easie as Complaisance, and therefore all Men are ready to make use of it. But there are few Persons that ad∣vise Princes what they ought to do, because it is a Task of too great difficulty. (Here al∣so is the sense of Tacitus again mistaken.) 'Tis by Fortune that Men are born Sovereign Princes. (Here again Tacitus expresses himself more at large.) Only, Do thou learn that the shortest way to Govern well, is to consider what is to be Approv'd, and what Condemn'd in other Princes; to avoid the one, and follow the example of the other. (Which latter words are superfluous.) Ne∣ver were more Noble, nor more Ʋniversal Admonitions given to Princes, to guard them∣themselves from the contagion of Flattery. Here they are warn'd, that Prosperity runs 'em headlong into more Impieties then Adver-

for that it usually plunges 'em into all man∣ner of Luxury, and all that Tacitus calls the Licence of Regality. Which was the Reason of that Saying of Tiberius himself, That the more Puissant he was, the more in danger he was of Falling; and that he could not have his Authority, without Diminishing the Law.

Thus what Galba says to Piso, that the obsequious Respect which all men would pay to his Person would corrupt his Ver∣tue, is a wholesom Admonition which he gives to all Princes, not to confide in the constancy of their own Resolutions, nor in their natural inclination to Justice, in regard that if they bow their Ears to their Flatterers, Adulation by vertue of her alluring Blandishments, will glide at length through the Ears into the Heart, and tear from thence all Shame, all Mo∣deration, Docility, Gratitude, Clemen∣cy, and all other Vertues whatever that harbours there. Mezeray gives us a re∣markable Example of this, in the Person of Henry III. His Reign, saith he in his Life, might be call'd the Reign of Favorites (and consequently of Flatterers) they brought to perfection their Design, and abso∣lutely Enervated whatever he had of con∣stant

Resolution, and at length dissolv'd him into all Voluptuousness. And that they might possess him wholly to themselves, they persua∣ded him not to shew himself so frequently and so publicly to his Subjects as his Predecessors had done, but to keep himself reserv'd and close like the Eastern Monarchs; or if he did at any time appear among 'em, that it should be with all the dazling Pomp and Magnifi∣cence imaginable, or else to let 'em know him by the Absoluteness of his Commands; but above all, to break the Neck of that Custom among the French of making Remonstrances, and to make 'em understand that there was no other Justice but his Will. (For according to the Dictates of Flattery, 'tis but a precarious Reign, and an Acquiescence in single Authority, which extends it self no farther, then only Things permitted.) With these Flatteries they rais'd him to a high Opinion of himself, and fill'd him with a Conceit, that he was the Greatest Prince in the World: That all the Politics of his very Youth, were Master pieces; and that all the Prudence of the most Cunning Artists in that Profession, was but meer Ignorance in compa∣rison of his.

Nor is there any Prince whatever, to whom at least some of their Flatterers do not say as much: A sufficient demonstra∣tion

that they speak not to the Person, but the Fortune of the Prince, which is the sole object of their Adorations. As for the advantage of being born a Prince, Galba tells Piso 'twas only an accident of Fortune, to let him understand, that it was not an Honour to be so highly glo∣ry'd in by Princes, as being that which they receiv'd from another, and was no Honour to 'em farther, then they gave it lustre by the brightness of their own Vertue. They that told Nero he needed no other Rule whereby to govern himself then the Examples of his Ancestors, while they Flatter'd him with the great∣ness of his Birth, did but give him an oblique hint, that having Augustus for his Great Grand-father, and Germanicus for his Grand-father, it best became him to derive his Glory from the Imitation of those two Persons: For it is not No∣bility of Extraction that makes a Prince. Caligula, Claudius, and Nero, were all Illustrious by Descent, but Scandals to the Empire and the Family of the Caesars. Neither is it the vast extent of Domini∣on that makes an Emperour; but on the contrary 'tis rather a Burthen, which on∣ly serves to display the Weakness of the Prince, and by consequence to render

him Contemptible, when he is found to be incapable of Government. Witness Galba, who when he came to the Em∣pire, through his want of Parts, lost all the Reputation which he had acquir'd, while he was only Governour of a Pro∣vince; whom all Men would have judg'd most fit for the Imperial Dignity, unless he had Reign'd.

A Prince therefore is never to be ac∣compted a Great Prince, unless the glo∣ry of his Merit be equal to those of his Fortune. Historians, says Matchiavel, gave greater Applauses to Hiero of Syra∣cuse, while he was but as yet a private Person, then to Perseus, when he was King of Macedon; for that Hiero wanted nothing but a Kingdom to be a Prince, whereas the other had nothing in him of a King, but his Kingdom. An Argument, that Posterity considers neither Royal Birth, nor Royalty it self, as not deser∣ving its Esteem, but how the Prince ma∣nag'd his Affairs, and carry'd himself in so high and difficult an Employment▪ And in this sense it was, that Tiberius pray'd the Gods to grant him a quiet Mind to the end of his Life, and all ne∣cessary Understanding of the Law of God and Man, that after his Decease, his

Name and his Actions might be Honour'd with the remembrance and approbation of all his Subjects. Observe by the way, that in the same place he tells the Senate, how highly Honour'd should he deem himself, if Posterity do him but that Ju∣stice to acknowledge him for a Prince worthy his Ancestors, Vigilant, Resolute in Dangers, and Zealous for the Public Welfare, fearless of Envy or Hatred. To inform those who are Born Princes, that it ought to be their chiefest Ambi∣tion to shew themselves worthy of their Illustrious Extraction, in performing glo∣rious Actions, deserving the Remem∣brance of all succeeding Ages. And this was that which Octavius himself con∣firm'd, when his Mother and his Father in Law dissuading him, to acknowledge himself Heir to Julius Caesar, he rejected their Counsel, affirming, 'twould be a shame for him to think himself above a Fortune that Caesar thought him worthy of: To whose Opinion he would rather stand then theirs, who understood not his Worth. But to return to Galba.

Nero, said he, will be always lamented and wish'd for by the Wicked; but it must be our Duty so to behave our selves that good Men too, may have no reason

to lament his loss; which certainly they will do, if we prove no better then He. This is an Admonition so much the more necessary for Princes, in regard that Flat∣terers, by applauding their Actions whether good or bad, and by infusing a Conceit into their minds, that they sur∣pass all their Predecessors, make 'em sometimes worse then they, whose me∣mories are become most odious. 'Tis a burdensom thing to succeed a Vertuous Prince, says Pliny in his Panegyric, in re∣gard it is a difficult labour to gain that Affection which he had done. Which was the Reason that the younger Pliny told Trajan, that no Body would covet to Succeed him, because no Body could presume to equal him. But it is no less dangerous to succeed a bad Prince; for instead of this happy Effect, that the vertue of a Predecessor should serve to enflame the Emulation of him that suc∣ceeds, it happens that while he fears to be despis'd or hated upon the neglect of his Duty, the Vices of the Predecessor seem to authorise, or at least excuse the the miscarriages of the succeeding Prince. Whence it happens that the latter, not having any recent Example of moderati∣on to upbraid his Liberties, and check

his Irregularities, he throws of his Mask, and abandons himself to all manner of Luxury and Impiety, insomuch that his Predecessor, though he had been very in∣ordinate, is many times recall'd again in wishes for a good Prince. Thus the loss of Tiberius was bewail'd in the Reign of Caligula, Caligula in the Reign of Nero, and Nero in the Reign of Domitius: So true it is, that wickedness finds out new Rivals every day, especially among bad Princes, that suffer themselves to be gui∣ded by their Flatterers; that bad Exam∣ples can never stop their career, when once they have begun; but that when once they are stray'd out of the high Road, they never stop till they precipitate themselves into an Abyss of all Disorders.

Lastly, says Galba, if thou wouldst know in short, what method is most pro∣per to gain the Esteem and Love of the People over which thou art to Rule, call to thy remembrance whatever has been applauded or condemn'd in the Princes that have Reign'd in thy time, and then do thou of thy own accord, as formerly Mecaenas advis'd Augustus, so ma∣nage the conduct of thy Rule, as thou wouldst expect another Prince should do, wert thou a Subject to the same Person.

The Younger Pliny commends Trajan for his observance of this Precept. Long hast thou liv'd among us (said he) and ventur'd with us through the same danger, and thereby thou giv'st us an apparent demonstration, that thou art not forgetful of the Wishes and Com∣plaints which thou weret wont to make among us, for in thy Sovereignty dost thou fulfil, whatever thou didst once desire so ardently, when a private Subject; only with this difference, that thou art more benign and clement toward us, then thou didst then desire the Prince should be moderate toward thy Self. And thence, whereas before we wisht for no other happiness, then to have a Prince but somewhat better then the worst of all that ever we had (speaking of Domitian) we are now, by thy means, become so nice and difficult, that we cannot endure any other then the Best of Emperors.

And in several other parts of the same Panegyric, Thou mak'st the choice of thy Friends, among the most Vertuous; and truly it is but just, that they should be belov'd hy a good, who have been hated by a wicked Prince. Thou know'st the difference between Domination & Supreme Rule, which is the rea∣son that they who are now most acceptable to the Prince, have the greatest Antipathy to a Tyrannical Master. Thou know'st, that there

can be no Power so great conferr'd on any single Person, but that Liberty still is more desirable then Masterless Superiority. And yet so far art thou from triumphing over our Patience, that thy Triumphs are only o'er the pride of wicked Princes. Thou liv'st among us like a Father with his Children. 'Tis lawfull to approach thy presence, to ac∣company, and speak to thee. Nor is it thy Pride that puts a conclusion to the Discourse, but a modest shame and fear of being too im∣portunate. Thou Govern'st us, and we Obey, but yet no othewise then we Obey the Laws. Thou hast barr'd up the passage to thy Ears against greedy Sycophants, who excited thy Predecessors to nothing but Rapine and Violence. And now there being no such Prince that will afford a ready Ear to pernicious Counsels, there are none that now will undertake to give it. Insomuch that being highly oblig'd to Thee, for the Integrity of thy Manners, we are yet more engag'd to thy Vertues, for the amendment of our own, which the Servility of former Times had so horribly perverted. So powerful is the Example of a Vertuous Prince, whether out of that veneration which all Men pay him, or the desire which we have to please him in our Imitation.