[AY] Who had preceded him on this way.
[AZ] Portugal.
[BA] To the South.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Of the reasons that the Author giveth for a warning as to the death of Gonçallo de Sintra.
In the event recorded in the last chapter there seemeth to me a great mystery contained, for I know not whether it came about from the spirit of covetousness or from the wish to render service, or from the desire to gain honour. However, since the peril was so manifest, and might have been avoided on that occasion if that Captain had been willing to receive advice, I should say that of a certainty the wheels of destiny[[BB]] had so ordained it, and that their appointed purpose blinded his reason so that he knew not the ills that would be his. For although St. Augustine doth write many and holy words reprobating the predestination of celestial influences, yet methinks in other places I find authorities to the contrary; as for example Job, who saith that God hath placed us bounds which we cannot pass, and many besides in Holy Scripture which I omit to mention, that I may not be drawn away from my first purpose.[[85]] But whether it were the predestination of fortune, or a divine judgment for some other sin, or peradventure that God thought good to take them so for their more certain salvation, it is well for us to see if we can gather up some measure of profit from this untoward event. And when I consider it, there appeareth to me seven things from which we may take warning.
Now the first is that no Captain who hath a superior, from whose hand he receiveth his charge, ought in any way to transgress the mandate of his lord or master. And we have an example of this in the deeds of the Romans in the case of Julius Cæsar; for although he gained very glorious victories, and made subject to the Roman power France, Brittany, England, Spain, and Germany, yet, because he overpassed the space of five years (which was the limit marked out for him in which to conquer his enemies), the honour he ought to have received was denied and taken from him, and for no other reason save that he had transgressed his orders. And Vegetius, in the fourth book, De re Militari, relateth how Aurelius the Consul would have his son serve among the foot soldiers because he had gone beyond his commands. And again, St. Augustine in the fifth book of the City of God, telleth of Torquatus that he slew his son, although victorious, for having fought against his orders.[[86]]
The second thing is that upon captured hostages and interpreters from a foreign land a special guard should ever be placed to keep watch over them with great caution. And the ill results that lately followed from a neglect of this are evident.
The third thing is that when an enemy throweth in his lot[[BC]] with the Captain the latter ought not to trust him, but should rather keep a diligent look-out, and hold his coming as suspicious until the final victory be won. For from a like cause was lost the battle of Cannæ (as Titus Livius writeth in his book on the Second[[BD]] War), that is because the Romans refused to be forewarned by those of the enemy who came over to them.[[87]]
The fourth is that we should hearken to the counsel of those who are in our own company and give us profitable advice; for, saith the Holy Spirit, there is safety in a multitude of counsels. And so the sage in the Book of Wisdom doth admonish all men to take counsel—where he saith, in the sixth of Ecclesiasticus, "List, my son, and take thou counsel alway. For every wise man doeth his actions with advice." Moreover, Seneca layeth it down in his Treatise on the Virtues that every governor, be he Prince or Prince's Captain, should be careful to take counsel of the things he hath to do;—"Regard everything that may chance to happen and revolve it in thy heart, and let nothing come as a surprise but rather have it well provided against, for the wise man never saith—I did not think this would come to pass; and this is because he is not in doubt, but expecteth it, and conjectureth not, but rather attendeth to the reason of all things; for when the beginning of an affair is perceived, the end and egress should ever be watched."[[88]]
And fifthly, that when our enemies have certain intelligence of our power and intentions we should beware much of invading their land, for a Captain's chief duty as regardeth his enemy is to conceal from them his force; and the contrary leadeth only to his own destruction and that of his men. And so Hannibal ever ordained his ambushes with such skill that his foes might never think his strength to be greater than it appeared for the moment.[[89]]