a

owte at', and to breake bothe league and trewthe. The whiche crafty dealynge, yea, the whiche fraude and deceyte, yf they shoulde knowe it to bee practysed amonge pryuate men in theire bargaynes and contractes, they woulde incontinent crye owte at it with a sower countenaunce, as an offence most detestable, and worthie to be punnyshed with a shamefull death; yea, euen verye they? that auaunce themselfes authours of like councel geuen to princes. Wherfore it maye well be thought other that all iustice is but a basse and a lowe vertue, and whiche aualeth it self3 farre vnder the hyghe dignitie of kynges; or, at the least wyse, that there be two iustices; the one mete for the inferioure sorte of the people, goinge a fote and crepynge by lowe on the grounde, and bounde downe on euery side with many bandes, because it shall not run at rouers: the other a pryncely vertue, whiche lyke as it is of muche hygher maiestie then the other poore iustice, so also it is of muche more lybertie, as to the whiche nothinge is vnlawful that it lusteth after.

a with an open mouth and a.

blowe by the.

foedusque et fidem pariter eludant. Quam uafriciem, imo quam fraudem dolumque, si priuatorum deprehenderent interuenisse contractui, magno supercilio rem sacrilegam et furca dignam clamitarent hi nimirum ipsi, qui eius consilii principibus dati semet gloriantur autores. Quo fit ut iustitia tota uideatur aut non nisi plebea uirtus et humilis, quaeque longo interuallo subsidat infra regale fastigium, aut uti saltem duae sint, quarum altera uulgus deceat, pedestris et humirepa, neue usquam septa transilire queat, multis undique restricta uinculis; altera principum uirtus, quae sicuti sit quam illa popularis augustior, sic est etiam longo interuallo liberior, ut cui nihil a non liceat nisi quod non libeat.

Thies maners of princes (as I sayde) whiche be there 1 so euyll kepers of leagues cause the Vtopians, as I sup pose, to make no leagues at all: whiche perchaunce woulde chaunge theire mynde if they lyued here. Howebeit they thynke that thoughe leagues be neuer so faythfully obserued and kept, yet the custome of makinge leagues was verye euel begonne. For this causeth men (as though nations which be separate a sondre by the space of a lytle hyl or a ryuer, were coupled together by no societe or bonde of nature), to thynke them selfes borne aduersaryes and enemyes one to an other; and that it is lawful for the one to seke the death and destruction of the other, if leagues were not; yea, and that, after the leagues be accorded, fryndeshyppe dothe not growe and encrease; but the lycence of robbynge and stealynge doth styll remayne, as farfurthe as, for lacke of forsight and aduisement in writinge the woordes of the league, anny sentence or clause to the contrary is not therin suffycyentlye comprehended. But they be of a contrary opinion that is, that no man ought to be counted an

a were.

Hos mores, ut dixi, principum illic foedera tam male seruantium puto in causa esse ne ulla feriant Vtopienses, mutaturi fortasse sententiam si hic uiuerent. Quanquam illis uidetur, ut optime seruentur, male tamen inoleuisse foederis omnino sanciendi consuetudinem ; qua fit ut (perinde ac si populum populo, quos exiguo spacio collis tantum 129 aut riuus discriminat, nulla naturae societas copularet) | hostes atque inimicos inuicem sese natos putent, meritoque in mutuam grassari perniciem, nisi foedera prohibeant: quin his ipsis quoque initis non amicitiam coalescere sed manere praedandi licentiam, quatenus per imprudentiam dictandi foederis nihil quod prohibeat satis caute comprehensum in pactis est. At illi contra censent, neminem pro inimico habendum, a quo nihil iniuriae profectum est; naturae consortium

1 Namely, in the old world. The use of illic and hic in the same sentence of the Latin, both denoting Europe

R

from different points of view, is a little confusing.

enemy, whyche hath done no iniury; and that the felowshyppe of nature is a stronge league; and that men be better and more surely knitte toge

thers by loue and beneuolence, then

by couenauntes of leagues; by
hartie affection of minde,
then by woor-
des.

foederis uice esse; et satius ualentiusque homines inuicem beneuolentia quam pactis, animo quam uerbis, connecti.

W

Of warfare,

'Arre or battel as a thinge very beastelye1, and yet to no kynde of beastes in so muche vse as it is a to man, they do detest and abhorre; and, contrarye to the custome almost of all other natyons, they cownte nothinge so much against glorie, as glory gotten in warre. And therefore, though they do daily practise and exercise themselfes in the discypline of warre, and that not only the men, but also the women, vpon certeyne appoynted dayes, leste they shoulde be to seke in the feat of armes yf nead should requyre; yet they neuer to goo to battayle, but other in the defence of their owne cowntreye, or to dryue owte of theyr frendes lande the enemyes that be comen in, or by their powre to deliuer from the

с

c to omitted.

B

DE RE MILITARI.

Ellum utpote rem plane beluinam-nec ulli tamen beluarum formae in tam assiduo, atque homini, est usu-summopere abominantur, contraque morem gentium ferme omnium nihil aeque ducunt inglorium atque petitam e bello gloriam. eoque, licet assidue militari sese disciplina exerceant, neque id uiri modo, sed foeminae quoque statis diebus, ne ad bellum sint, quum exigat usus, inhabiles, non temere capessunt tamen, nisi quo aut suos fines tueantur, aut amicorum terris infusos hostes propulsent, aut populum

Lat. plane beluinam. This derivation is given in the Cornucopiae: 'Bellua, immanis fera, quasi bellum gerens, a quo belluinus adiectivum,' &c. Pace, in his De Fructu (p. 32), plays similarly,

though not with the same etymology in view, on the word bellum: 'Caeterum, ut verum dicam, bellis invita intersum, ideo quod minime bella sunt' (Musica loq.).

yocke and bondage of tyrannye some people that be oppressed wyth tyranny. Whyche thynge they doo of meere pytye and compassion. Howebeit they sende. healpe to theyre fryndes; not euer1 in theire defence, but sumtimes also to requyte and reuenge iniuries before to them done. But thys they do not, onles their counsell and aduise in the matter be asked, whyles yt ys yet newe and freshe. For yf they fynde the cause probable, and yf the contrarye parte wyll not restore agayne suche thynges as be of them iustelye demaunded, then they be the chyeffe auctores and makers of the warre. Whyche they do not onlye as ofte as by inrodes and inuasions of soldiours prayes and booties be dreuen away, but then also much more mortally, when their frindes marchauntes in any land, other vnder the pretence of vniust lawes, or els by the wresting and wronge vnderstonding of good lawes, do sustaine an vniust accusation vnder the colour of iustice. Nother the battel which the vtopians fowghte for the Nephelogetes against the Alaopolitanes 2, a lytle before oure time, was made for annye other cause, but that the [that be.. tyrannye] that be therewith oppressed.

quempiam tyrannide pressum miserati (quod humanitatis gratia faciunt) suis uiribus Tyranni iugo et seruitute liberent. Quanquam auxilium gratificantur amicis, non semper quidem quo se defendant, sed interdum quoque illatas reta lient, atque ulciscantur iniurias. 130 uerum id ita demum faciunt, si re adhuc integra consulantur ipsi, et probata causa, repetitis ac non redditis rebus, belli autores inferendi sint; quod non tunc solum decernunt, quoties hostili incursu abacta est praeda, uerum tum quoque multo infestius, quum eorum negotiatores usquam gentium, uel iniquarum praetextu legum, uel sinistra deriuatione bonarum, iniustam subeunt, iustitiae colore, calumniam. Nec alia fuit eius origo belli, quod pro Nephelogetis aduersus Alaopolitas, paulo ante nostram memoriam, Vtopienses gessere, quam apud

1 That is, not always.

2 The names here devised, Nepeλóγεται, Cloudlanders, and 'Αλαοπολῖται,

men of Blindville,' are suggestive of the Verax Historia of Lucian.