And none more boastingly weep his ruin than they
that procured and practised it. The same path leads to ruin which
did to rule when men profess a licence in government. A good king
is a public servant.
Illiteratus princeps.--A prince without letters is a pilot without
eyes. All his government is groping. In sovereignty it is a most
happy thing not to be compelled; but so it is the most miserable not
to be counselled. And how can he be counselled that cannot see to
read the best counsellors (which are books), for they neither
flatter us nor hide from us? He may hear, you will say; but how
shall he always be sure to hear truth, or be counselled the best
things, not the sweetest? They say princes learn no art truly but
the art of horsemanship. The reason is the brave beast is no
flatterer. He will throw a prince as soon as his groom. Which is
an argument that the good counsellors to princes are the best
instruments of a good age. For though the prince himself be of a
most prompt inclination to all virtue, yet the best pilots have
needs of mariners besides sails, anchor, and other tackle.
Character principis.
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