virtue beneuolence is of all men, most specially of gouernors and men of honour, incomparably before other to be embraced.

Kyng Philip, whan he herd that his sonne Alexander used a meruailous liberalite amonge the people, he sent to him a lettre, wherin he wrate in this wise: Alexander, what peruerse opinion hath put the in suche hope, that thou thinkest to make them loyall unto the, whom thou with money corruptest, consideryng that the receiuour therof is therby appaired, beinge trained by thy prodigalitie to loke and gape alway for a semblable custome? And therfore the treasure of a gentle countenance, swete answeres, ayde in aduersitie, nat with money onely but also with studie and diligent endeuour, can neuer be wasted, ne the loue of good people, therby acquired, can be from their hartes in any wise seperate. And here I make an ende to speke any more at this tyme of beneuolence.

CHAPTER X.

Of beneficence and liberalitie.

ALL thoughe philosophers in the description of vertues haue deuised to set them as it were in degrees, hauing respecte to the qualitie and condition of the persone whiche is with them adourned; as applyinge Magnificence to the substaunce and astate of princes, and to priuate persones Beneficence and O miserum, qui fideliorem et barbarum et stigmatiam putaret, quàm conjugem ! Nec eum fefellit ab eâ enim est ipse, propter pellicatûs suspicionem, interfectus.'Cic. de Off. lib. ii. cap. 7.

■ 'Præclare epistolâ quâdam Alexandrum filium Philippus accusat, quòd largitione benevolentiam Macedonum consectetur. "Quæ te (malum !)" inquit, “ratio in istam spem induxit, ut eos tibi fideles putares fore, quos pecuniâ corrupisses? An tu id agis, ut Macedones, non te regem suum, sed ministrum et præbitorem sperent fore?" Bene ministrum et præbitorem, quia sordidum regi: melius etiam, quod largitionem corruptelam esse dixit. Fit enim deterior, qui accipit, atque ad idem semper expectandum paratior. Hoc ille filio: sed præceptum putemus omnibus.'-Cic. de Off., lib. ii. cap. 15. The letter is also quoted by Valerius Maximus, lib. vii. cap. 2, ext. 10.

» Ο δ ̓ ἐν μικροῖς ἢ ἐν μετρίοις κατ' ἀξίαν δαπανῶν οὐ λέγεται μεγαλοπρεπής, οἷον

Aristot.

Liberalitie, yet be nat these in any parte defalcate of their condigne praises. For if vertue be an election annexed Ethic. i. unto our nature, and consisteth in a meane, which is determined by reason, and that meane is the verye myddes of two thynges viciouse, the one in surplusage, the other in lacke, than nedes must beneficence and liberalitie be capitall vertues. And magnificence procedeth from them, approchinge to the extreme partes; and may be tourned in to Benefivice if he lacke the bridle of reason. But beneficence can by no menes be vicious and retaine still his name. Semblably liberalitie (as Aristotle saith) is a measure, as well in gyuing as in takyng of money and τὸ ‘πολλάκι δόσκον ἀλήτῃ, ἀλλ' ὁ ἐν μεγάλοις οὕτως. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ μεγαλοπρεπής ἐλευθέριος, ὁ δ ̓ ἐλευθέριος οὐθὲν μᾶλλον μεγαλοπρεπής . . . . Διὸ πένης μὲν οὐκ ἂν εἴη μεγαλοπρεπής· οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἀφ ̓ ὧν πολλὰ δαπανήσει πρεπόντως· ὁ δ ̓ επιχειρῶν ἠλίθιος· παρὰ τὴν ἀξίαν γὰρ καὶ τὸ δέον, κατ' ἀρετὴν δὲ τὸ ὀρθῶς, Arist. Eth. Nicom. lib. iv. cap. 2 (4), §§ 3, 13 ; and in another place Aristotle thus distinguishes between Magnificence and Liberality, ὁ γὰρ μεγαλοπρεπής διαφέρει ἐλευθερίου· ὁ μὲν γὰρ περὶ μεγάλα, ὁ δὲ περὶ μικρά. - Ibid. lib. ii. cap. 7. § 6.

cence.

Liberalitie.

This form was

I.e. cut off, deprived; whence the substantive 'defalcation.' unknown to classical writers, but Ovid uses the word falcatus with the primary meaning 'shaped like a falx or scythe,' and Livy employs it in the sense of 'furnished with scythes.' In the 17th century we find it used by Hopkins, Bishop of Londonderry, who says, 'How infinitely temerarious is it for vile wretches either to invert, or defalcate, and as it were, to decimate the laws of the great God, by the which they and all their actions must be judged at the last day ? '——, '--Exposition on the tenth commandment, p. 92, ed. 1692.

Β Εστιν ἄρα ἡ ἀρετὴ ἕξις προαιρετική, ἐν μεσότητι οὖσα τῇ πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ὡρισμένη λόγῳ καὶ ὡς ἂν ὁ φρόνιμος ὁρίσειεν. — Arist. Εth. Nicom. lib. ii. cap. 6, § 15.

C

Μεσότης δὲ δύο κακιῶν, τῆς μὲν καθ' ὑπερβολὴν, τῆς δὲ κατ ̓ ἔλλειψιν. -Arist.

ubi supra.

4 Δοκεῖ γὰρ καὶ αὐτὴ (μεγαλοπρέπεια) περὶ χρήματά τις ἀρετὴ εἶναι. Οὐχ ὥσπερ δ ̓ ἡ ἐλευθεριότης διατείνει περὶ πάσας τὰς ἐν χρήμασι πράξεις, ἀλλὰ περὶ τὰς δαπανηρὰς μόνον· ἐν τούτοις δ' ὑπερέχει τῆς ἐλευθεριότητος μεγέθει. Καθάπερ γὰρ τοὔνομα αὐτὸ ὑποσημαίνει, ἐν μεγέθει πρέπουσα δαπάνη ἐστίν.-Arist. Eth. Nicom. lib. iv. cap. 2 (4), § 1.

• Τῆς τοιαύτης δ ̓ ἕξεως ἡ μὲν ἔλλειψις μικροπρέπεια καλεῖται, ἡ δ ̓ ὑπερβολὴ βαναυσία καὶ ἀπειροκαλία καὶ ὅσαι τοιαῦται, οὐχ ὑπερβάλλουσαι τῷ μεγέθει περὶ ἃ δεῖ, ἀλλ ̓ ἐν οἷς οὐ δεῖ καὶ ὡς οὐ δεῖ λαμπρυνόμεναι . . Εἰσὶ μὲν οὖν αἱ ἕξεις αὗται κακίαι. — Arist. Eth, Nicom. lib. iv. cap. 2, §§ 4, 22.

† Ὁ δὲ διδοὺς οἷς μὴ δεῖ, ἢ μὴ τοῦ καλοῦ ἕνεκα, ἀλλὰ διά τιν' ἄλλην αἰτίαν, οὐκ ἐλευθέριος ἀλλ ̓ ἄλλος τις ῥηθήσεται. Ibid. lib. iv. cap. 1 (2), § 14.

goodes. And he is only liberall, whiche distributeth accordyng to his substance, and where it is expedient. Therfore he ought to consider to whom he shulde gyue, howe moche, and whan. For liberalitie takethe his name of the substance of the persone from whom it procedeth; for it resteth nat in the quantite or qualitie of thinges that be gyuen, but in the naturall disposition of the gyuer.

Alexander.

The great Alexander on a tyme, after that he had vainquisshed Darius in bataile, one of his souldiours broughte unto hym the hede of an enemie that he had slayne, whiche the kynge thankefully and with sweete countenance receiued, and takyng a cuppe of golde filled with good wine, saide unto the souldiour, In olde tyme a cuppe of golde was the rewarde of suche vertue as thou hast nowe shewed, whiche semblably thou shalte receiue. But whan the souldiour for shamefastnes refused the cup, Alexander added unto it these wordes; The custome was to gyue the cuppe emptie, but Alexander giueth it to the full of wyne with good handsell. Where with he expressed his liberall harte, and as moche comforted the souldiour as if he had gyuen to hym a great citie.

More ouer he that is liberall neglecteth nat his substance or goodes, ne gyueth it to all men, but useth it so as he may continuelly helpe therwith other, and gyueth whan, and where,

a

Τῆς ἐλευθεριότητος δὴ μεσότητος οὔσης περὶ χρημάτων δόσιν καὶ λῆψιν, ὁ ἐλευ θέριος καὶ δώσει καὶ δαπανήσει εἰς ἃ δεῖ καὶ ὅσα δεῖ. -Arist. Eth. Nicom. lib. iv. cap. 1 (2), § 24.

» Λέγωμεν δ ̓ ἑξῆς περὶ ἐλευθεριότητος, δοκεῖ δ ̓ εἶναι ἡ περὶ χρήματα μεσότης Χρήματα δὲ λέγομεν πάντα ὅσων ἡ ἀξία νομίσματι μετρεῖται. Ubi supra, lib. iv. cap. 1, § 1. 2.

· Οὐ γὰρ ἐν τῷ πλήθει τῶν διδομένων τὸ ἐλευθέριον, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ τοῦ διδόντος ἕξει. — Ibid., lib. iv. cap. I (2), § 19.

4 The story as told by Plutarch is as follows :--Αρίστων ὁ τῶν Παιόνων ἡγούμενος ἀποκτείνας πολέμιον ἄνδρα καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐπιδειξάμενος αὐτῷ, “Τοῦτο, εἶπεν, · ὦ βασιλεῦ, παρ' ἡμῖν ἐκπώματος χρυσοῦ τιμᾶται τὸ δῶρον. Ὁ δὲ Αλέξανδρος γελάσας, · Κενοῦ γε, εἶπεν, ‘ἐγὼ δέ σοι μεστὸν ἀκράτου προπίομαι.'Alexander, 39. The reader will notice the alteration that the original has undergone in the process of translation.

and on whom it ought to be employed. Therfore it maye be saide that he usethe euery thynge best that exerciseth the vertue whiche is to the thinge most appropred. For riches is of the nombre of thinges that may be either good or iuell, whiche is in the arbitrement of the gyuer. And for that cause liberalitie and beneficence be of suche affinitie, that the one may neuer from the other be seperate. For the employment of money is nat liberalitie if it be nat for a good ende or purpose.b The noble emperours Antonine and Alexander Seuerus

Adam Smith thus distinguishes between the good and bad employment of capital. The expense,' he says, that is laid out in durable commodities gives maintenance, commonly, to a greater number of people, than that which is employed in the most profuse hospitality. Of two or three hundredweight of provisions which may sometimes be served up at a great festival, one half, perhaps, is thrown to the dunghill, and there is always a great deal wasted and abused. But if the expense of this entertainment had been employed in setting to work masons, carpenters, upholsterers, mechanics, &c., a quantity of provisions of equal value would have been distributed among a still greater number of people, who would have bought them in pennyworths and pound weights, and not have lost nor thrown away a single ounce of them. In the one way, besides, this expense maintains productive, in the other (to some degree ?) unproductive hands. In the one way therefore it increases, in the other it does not increase, the exchangeable value of the annual produce of the land and labour of the country.'-Wealth of Nations, vol. ii. p. 32. Those princes who have heaped, with the greatest profusion, wealth, power, and honour upon their favourites, have seldom excited that degree of attachment to their persons which has often been experienced by those who were more frugal of their favours. The well-natured but injudicious prodigality of James I. of Great Britain seems to have attached nobody to his person; and that prince, notwithstanding his social and harmless disposition, appears to have lived and died without a friend.'-Adam Smith's Theory of Mor. Sent., p. 101, ed. 1853.

Liberality in princes,' says Hume, 'is regarded as a mark of beneficence; but when it occurs that the homely bread of the honest and industrious is often thereby converted into delicious cates for the idle and the prodigal, we soon retract our heedless praises. The regrets of a prince, for having lost a day were noble and generous; but had he intended to have spent it in acts of generosity to his greedy courtiers it was better lost than misemployed after that manner.'-Philosoph. Works, vol. iv. p. 251, ed. 1826.

• The author has here, as on a former occasion, (See Vol. I. p. 288), confounded this emperor with Septimius Severus, whom he undoubtedly alludes to in this place. Gibbon says of the latter, 'His expensive taste for building, magnificent shows, and, above all, a constant and liberal distribution of corn and provisions, were the surest means of captivating the affection of the Roman people.'-Decline and Fall

gaue of the reuenues of the empire innumerable substaunce, to the reedifieng of cities and commune houses Antonine decayed for age, or by erthe quaues subuerted, wherin and Alexthey practised liberalitie and also beneficence.

ander

liberall em

But Tiberius, Nero, Caligula, Heliogabalus and perours. other semblable monsters, whiche exhausted and consumed infinite treasures in bordella houses, and places where Prodigaabominacions were used, also in enriching slaues, con

litie.

of Rom. Emp., vol. i. p. 258. Spartianus tells us, 'Sunt per plurimas civitates opera ejus insignia. Magnum vero illud in vitâ ejus, quòd Romæ omnes ædes publicas, quæ vitio temporum labebantur, instauravit, nusquam prope suo nomine ascripto, servatis tamen ubique titulis conditorum. Moriens septem annorum canonem, ita ut quotidiana septuaginta quinque millia modiorum expendi possent, reliquit : olei vero tantum ut per quinquennium non solum urbis usibus, sed et totius Italiæ quæ oleo egeret, sufficeret.'-Hist. August., tom. i. p. 638. With regard to Antoninus Pius, Merivale says, 'While all the public establishments were maintained on the most frugal scale, he was munificent in his gifts and largesses. He acquitted the promises of Hadrian at his adoption, completed many of his predecessor's buildings, and remitted the coronary gold expected on his accession, to the Italians entirely, to the extent of one half to the provincials. When the treasury, which he received full from Hadrian, became at last empty, he replenished it by the sale of the imperial furniture.'-Hist. of Rome, vol. vii. p. 501. The account given by Capitolinus is as follows:-Multas etiam civitates adjuvit pecuniâ, ut opera vel nova facerent, vel vetera restituerent . . . Vini, olei, et tritici penuriam, per ærarii sui damna emendo et gratis populo dando, sedavit. Adversa ejus temporibus hæc provenerunt: fames de quâ diximus, circi ruina, terræmotus, quo Rhodiorum et Asiæ oppida conciderunt: quæ omnia mirificè instauravit.'-Hist. Aug. tom. i. pp. 267, 268, and it was without doubt this account with which Sir Thos. Elyot was familiar.

• Bordell = brothel. Du Fresne in his notes to Joinville's work, derives the French equivalent bordel (mod. bordeau) from the English. 'Le mot de Bordet, pour designer un lieu infame, lupanar, vient de ce qu'ordinairement les garces, et autres gens de cette farine, habitoient les petites maisons, qu'en vieux langage François on nommoit bordels, du diminutif de borde, qui signifie maison, et probablement a esté emprunté du bord des Saxons Anglois, où ce mot a la même signification.'-Observations sur Hist. de S. Louys, p. 63, ed. 1668. But there is no need to assume that the French borrowed the word from the Anglo-Saxons, because the word bordellum was in common use in the Middle Ages as a synonym for ædicula, tuguriolum. Thus Guillaume de Jumièges, better known as Gulielmus Gemiticensis, who wrote before 1087, says, 'Ricardus nempe qui primogenitus erat noctu in vili casâ juxta quoddam stagnum securus dormiebat. Protinus quidam miles potens, nomine Ricardus de Sanctâ Scholasticâ, cujus terram devastaverat, domuncu