So unto princes and states,
and specially towards wise senates and councils, the natures and
dispositions of the people, their conditions and necessities, their
factions and combinations, their animosities and discontents, ought
to be, in regard of the variety of their intelligences, the wisdom
of their observations, and the height of their station where they
keep sentinel, in great part clear and transparent. Wherefore,
considering that I write to a king that is a master of this science,
and is so well assisted, I think it decent to pass over this part in
silence, as willing to obtain the certificate which one of the
ancient philosophers aspired unto; who being silent, when others
contended to make demonstration of their abilities by speech,
desired it might be certified for his part, "That there was one that
knew how to hold his peace."
(49) Notwithstanding, for the more public part of government, which
is laws, I think good to note only one deficiency; which is, that
all those which have written of laws have written either as
philosophers or as lawyers, and none as statesmen.
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