2 A.D 1516. simple monarchy might be desirable; but as this can CHAP. XII. hardly ever be in actual practice, as human affairs are now, a limited monarchy1 is preferable, one in which Limited the aristocratic and democratic elements are mixed the best. monarchy ' and united, and so balance one another.' And lest Prince Charles should kick against the pricks, and shrink from the abridgment of his autocratic power, Erasmus tells him that if a prince wish well to the republic, his power will not be restrained, but aided by these means.' 3 After contrasting the position of the pagan and Christian prince, Erasmus further remarks: He who wields his empire as becomes a Christian, 'does not part with his right, but he holds it in a dif'ferent way; both more gloriously and more safely. Those are not your subjects whom you force to obey you, for it is consent which makes a prince, but 'those are your true subjects who serve you voluntarily. "... The duties between a prince and people are mutual. The people owe you taxes, loyalty, and honour; you in your turn ought to be to the people a good and watchful prince. If you wish to levy taxes on your 'people as of right, take care that you first perform your part-first in the discharge of your duties pay 6 your taxes to them.'4 6 Proceeding from the general to the particular, there is a separate chapter, 'De Vectigalibus et Exactionibus,' remarkable for the clear expression of the views. which More had advanced in his 'Utopia,' and which 1 Monarchia temperata,' in the marginal reading. 3 Ibid. 4 1st ed. leaf g, iii. Eras. Op. iv. 2 Abridged quotation, 1st ed. leaf p. 579. f, iv. Eras. Op. iv. p. 576. Consent of the people makes a Prince. A.D. 1516. Taxes should CHAP. XII. the Oxford Reformers held in common, with regard to the unchristian way in which the interests of the poor were too often sacrificed and lost sight of in the levying of taxes. The great aim of a prince, he contended, should be to reduce taxation as much as possible. Rather than increase it, it would be better, he wrote, for a prince to reduce his unnecessary expenditure, to dismiss idle ministers, to avoid wars and foreign enterprises, to restrain the rapacity of ministers, and rather to study the right administration of revenues than their augmentation. If it should be really necesnot oppress sary to exact something from the people, then, he mainthe poor. tained, it is the part of a good prince to choose such ways of doing so as should cause as little inconvenience as possible to those of slender means. It may perhaps be expedient to call upon the rich to be frugal; but to reduce the poor to hunger and crime would be both most inhuman and also hardly safe... . . It requires care also, he continued, lest the inequality of property should be too great. Not that I would wish to take away any property from any one by force, but that means should be taken to prevent the wealth of the 'multitude from getting into few hands.'1 Neces saries of life should not be taxed. Erasmus then proceeded to inquire what mode of taxation would prove least burdensome to the people. And the conclusion he came to was, that' a good prince ' will burden with as few taxes as possible such things as are in common use amongst the lowest classes, such things as corn, bread, beer, wine, clothes, and other things necessary to life. Whereas these are what are now most burdened, and that in more than one way; 'first by heavy taxes which are farmed out, and com 1 Leaf 1, i. 6 monly called assizes; then by customs, which again CHAP. XII. are farmed out in the same way; lastly by monopolies, A.D. 1516. 'from which little revenue comes to the prince, while 6 the poor are mulcted with great charges. Therefore 'it would be best, as I have said, that a prince should increase his revenue by contracting his expenditure; to tax luxuries. . . . and if he cannot avoid taxing something, and the It is best affairs of the people require it, let those foreign pro'ducts be taxed which minister not so much to the 'necessities of life as to luxury and pleasure, and which are used only by the rich; as, for instance, fine linen, silk, purple, pepper, spices, ointments, gems, and 'whatever else is of that kind.'1 Erasmus wound up this chapter on taxation by applying the principles of common honesty to the question of coinage, in connection with which many iniquities were perpetrated by princes in the sixteenth century. to the 'Finally, in coining money a good prince will main- Honesty in regard 'tain that good faith which he owes to both God and " man, in which matter there are four ways in coinage. which the people are wont to be plundered, as we saw 'sometime ago after the death of Charles, when a long 'anarchy more hurtful than any tyranny afflicted your 'dominions. First the metal of the coins is deteriorated by mixture with alloys, next its weight is lessened, ⚫ then it is diminished by clipping, and lastly its nominal • value is increased or lowered whenever such a process ' would be likely to suit the exchequer of the prince.' In the chapter on the Making and Amending of 'Laws," Erasmus in the same way fixes upon some of 1 1st ed. leaf 1, i. Eras. Op. iv. | the prince alluded to. pp. 593, 594. 3 Eras. Op. iv. p. 595, et seq. 2 Ibid. Charles the Bold was 2 CHAP. XII. the points which are so prominently mentioned in the A.D. 1516. Utopia.' Thus he urges that the greatest attention should be paid, not to the punishment of crimes when committed, but to the prevention of the commission of crimes. Prevention worthy of punishment. Again, there is a paragraph in rather than which it is urged that just as a wise surgeon does not of crime punish ment. The nobility. proceed to amputation except as a last resort, so all remedies should be tried before capital punishment is resorted to. This was one of the points urged by More. Thus also in speaking of the removal of occasions and causes of crime, he urged, just as More had done, that idle people should either be set to work or banished from the realm. The number of priests and monasteries should be kept in moderation. Other idle classes-especially soldiers should not be allowed. As to the nobility, he would not, he said, detract from the honour of their noble birth, if their character were noble also. But if they are such as we see plenty 'nowadays, softened by ease, made effeminate by pleasure, unskilled in all good arts, revellers, eager sportsmen, not to say anything worse; why 'should this race of men be preferred to shoemakers or ⚫ husbandmen ?" The next chapter is De Magistra'tibus et Officiis,' and then follows one, ' De Foederibus,' in which Erasmus takes the same ground as that taken by More, that Christianity itself is a bond of union between Christian nations which ought to make leagues unnecessary. In the chapter De Bello suscipiendo,' 1 1st. ed. leaf l, iv. Eras. Op. iv. 603. 6 4 1st. ed. leaf o, i. Eras. Op. iv. pp. 607 et seq. A.D. 1516. he expressed his well-known hatred of war. A good CHAP. XII prince,' he said,' will never enter upon any war at all unless after trying all possible means it cannot be avoided. If we were of this mind, scarcely any War. 'wars would ever occur between any nations. Lastly, ' if so pestilential a thing cannot be avoided, it should 'be the next care of a prince that it should be waged ' with as little evil as possible to his people, and as little expense as possible of Christian blood, and as quickly as possible brought to an end.' It was natural that, holding as he did in common with Colet and More such strong views against war, he should express them as strongly in this little treatise as he had already done elsewhere. It is not needful here to follow his remarks throughout. It would involve much repetition. But it may be interesting to inquire what remedy or substitutes for war he proposed. He mentioned two. First, the reference of disputes between princes to arbitrators; second, the disposition on the part of princes rather to concede a point in dispute than to insist upon it at far greater cost than the thing is worth.' He concludes this, the last chapter of the book, Concluwith a personal appeal to Prince Charles. 'Christ sion. 'founded a bloodless empire. He wished it always 'to be bloodless. He delighted to call himself the "Prince of Peace." May He grant likewise that by your good offices and by your wisdom there may be a cessation at last from the maddest of wars. The remembrance of past evils will commend peace to our acceptance, and the calamities of former times 'redouble the honour of the benefits conferred by you!' 6 1 1st. ed. leaf o, iii. |