Father. That God Himself has honored earthly kings you will observe from the fact that, when He came down to earth from the loftiest pinnacles of heaven, He regarded Himself as having come among men as a guest and did not wish to claim a share in the earthly kingship, though he might have done so. But He fulfilled the words that David had spoken: “The Lord ruleth in the heavens, but verily he hath given an earthly kingdom to the sons of men.”[[292]] Now God, while He was on earth, wished to honor earthly kings and kingdoms rather than disparage them in any way; for He would not deprive the earthly kingship of what He had formerly given into the control of earthly lords; but God showed a perfect obedience to Caesar. You should also observe that, just as God commanded His apostle Peter to examine the first fish that he drew and take a penny from its mouth (and God did not want him to examine the second fish or the third, but the first only), similarly every man should in all things first honor the king and the royal dignity. For God Himself calls the king His anointed, and every king who possesses the full honors of royalty is rightly called the Lord’s anointed. In like manner one of God’s apostles said in a sermon while instructing the people in the true faith: “Fear God and honor your king,”[[293]]—which is almost as if he had literally said that he who does not show perfect honor to the king does not fear God.
Every king, as you have said, ought, indeed, to be wise, well-informed, and above everything upright, that he may be able to realize fully that he is after all merely a servant of God, though he is honored and exalted so highly in the supreme service of God, that all bow down before him as before God; for in so doing they worship God and the holy name which the king bears but not the king himself. It is, therefore, in the very nature of kingship to inspire all with a great awe and fear of the king, wherefore every one trembles who hears him named. But he ought also to appear gracious and friendly toward all good men, lest any one should fear him so much as to be deterred from presenting any important request to him because of his severity.
In the night, as soon as the king is sated with sleep, it should be his duty and business to center his thoughts upon the kingdom as a whole and to consider how his plans may be formed and carried out in such a way that God will be well pleased with the care that he gives to the realm; also how it may be made most profitable and obedient to himself; further what measure of firmness he must use in restraining the rich lest they become too arrogant toward the poor, and what caution in uplifting the poor, lest they grow too defiant toward the wealthy; wherefore he needs to ponder and plan judiciously how to hold everyone to moderation in the estate in which he is placed. This, too, the king must be sure to keep in his thoughts, that when it becomes necessary to chastise those who are not satisfied with what God has planned for them, he must not be so lenient in his punishment, that this excessive indulgence should lead anyone to consider it safe to transgress what ought to stand as rightfully ordained. Nor must he be so severe in his penalties that God and rightminded men will regard him as punishing more from a cruel disposition than from a sense of justice. These things and many more a king ought to reflect upon at night when he is done with sleep, for then fewer matters will come upon him unawares during the day, when the needs of the land are presented to him.
XLV
CONCERNING THE MODERATION WHICH A KING MUST OBSERVE
IN HIS JUDICIAL SENTENCES AND PENALTIES,
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS DRAWN FROM THE STORY OF
GOD’S JUDGMENT IN THE CASE OF ADAM AND
EVE, IN WHICH CASE TRUTH AND JUSTICE
WERE ASSOCIATED WITH PEACE AND MERCY
Son. It is evident that a king must possess great constraint and an even greater sense of justice, as you remarked earlier, if he is to find the true mean in meting out punishment so as to be neither too lenient nor too severe. And now I wish to ask whether there are any examples which may guide him toward this moderation, inasmuch as you have stated that every king should have knowledge of all the examples that are to be found.
Father. I repeat what I said then that no man needs to be more learned or better informed in all subjects than a king, for both he and his subjects have great need of this. But one who has a thorough knowledge of past events will meet but few contingencies that are really unexampled. Now the following examples are very ancient, and every king should keep them frequently before his eyes and seek guidance from them for the government of his kingdom.
When God had created the entire world and had beautified it with grass and other herbage, as well as with birds and beasts, He appointed two human beings, a man and a woman, to have dominion over everything. He led the two, Adam and Eve, to the highest point of Paradise and showed them all the birds and beasts and all the flowers and glories of Paradise. Then God said to Adam and Eve: “All these things that you now see I give to you for your maintenance and dominion, if you will keep the covenant which I now establish between ourselves. But these are the laws which you must carefully observe, if you wish to keep the gifts which I have now given you: that beautiful tree which you see standing with lovely apples in the midst of Paradise is called the tree of knowledge, and the fruit which the tree bears is called the apples of knowledge. This tree you must not touch nor may you eat of the apples which it bears, for as soon as you eat of them you shall die; but of everything else that you now see you may freely eat according to desire.” Four sisters were called to witness this covenant, divine virgins, who should hear the laws decreed and learn all the terms of the agreement: the first was named Truth, the second, Peace, the third, Justice, and the fourth, Mercy. And God spoke thus to these virgins: “I command you to see to it that Adam does not break this covenant which has been made between Me and him: follow him carefully and protect him as long as he observes these things that are now decreed; but if he transgresses, you shall sit in judgment with your Father, for you are the daughters of the very Judge.”
When the speech was ended, God vanished from Adam’s sight; and Adam went forth to view the glories of Paradise. But at that time the serpent, which was more subtle and crafty than any other beast, came in the guise of a maiden[[294]] to Eve, Adam’s wife, and addressed her in great friendliness: “Blessed is your husband and you with him, since God has given all things into your power; for it is now the duty of every beast to obey your commands, seeing that Adam is our lord and you are our lady. But now I want to ask you whether God has withheld anything upon earth from your dominion, or whether you may enjoy all things as you wish without hesitation.” Eve replied: “God has given us dominion over all things that he has created upon earth except the tree that stands in the midst of Paradise; of this He has forbidden us to eat, having said that we shall die, if we eat thereof.” The serpent said to Eve: “Oho, my lady! He does not wish you to become so wise that you know both good and evil; for He knows the difference between good and evil things, while you know good things only. But when you have eaten of the apples of knowledge, you will become like God and will have knowledge of evil things as well as of good.” As soon as the serpent had disappeared from Eve’s sight, she called Adam her husband and told him all this speech. Then she took two of the apples of knowledge, ate one herself, and gave the other to Adam. But when they had eaten these apples, their knowledge was extended to evil things, as the serpent had said; and they began to observe the shapes of beasts and birds and trees, and finally how they themselves were formed. Then said Adam: “We are shamefully naked, we two, for there is nothing to hide our limbs; beasts are covered with hair and tail, birds with feathers, and trees with branches and leaves; we two alone have shamefully naked limbs.” Thereupon they took broad leaves from the trees and covered those of their members which they were most ashamed to have naked. Then Peace came forth and spoke to Adam and Eve: “Now you have broken the law and your covenant with God, and I will no longer give you the security in the open fields that you have thus far enjoyed; but I will keep you safe in a secret hiding place until judgment is pronounced in your case; and I give you this safety that you may have opportunity to present your defense. But you must take good care to make a plea which may profit you, and prove a defense rather than a detriment.” Truth came forth and spoke to Adam: “Take heed, when you come to plead your case, that you do not lie, for then I shall testify with you; tell everything just as it happened, for if you lie about anything, I shall testify against you at once.” Justice came forth and said: “It is my duty and office to make sure that you are not unjustly condemned; but the more you are found guilty of lies and wrongdoing, the more shall I oppose you.” Mercy came forth and said to Adam: “I shall add assistance and mercy to your plea, if you heed carefully all that my sisters have taught.” But fear had come upon Adam and he went away to hide among the trees, lest he should be seen naked.
At midday God went forth to view the beauties of Paradise and Adam’s stewardship; but as He did not see Adam in the wide fields, He called him, asking where he was. Adam replied: “I hid myself, Lord, because I was ashamed to show myself naked before Thy face.” God answered, saying: “Why shouldst thou be more ashamed of thy nakedness now than at our former meeting, unless it be that thou hast broken the law and hast eaten of the apples of knowledge, which I forbade thee to eat.” Adam replied as if defending himself: “The woman that Thou gavest me led me into this fault; if I had been alone about my affairs and if Thou hadst not given me this wife to advise with me, I should have kept the appointed law and should not have transgressed Thy command.” Then God said to Eve: “Why didst thou give thy husband this evil counsel to break the law?” Eve replied as if defending her case: “The crafty serpent gave me that evil advice; had he not been created or appeared before me, I should not have come upon this evil design.” Then God said: “Since the law has now been broken, I want those virgins whom I appointed keepers of our covenant to sit in judgment with us.” Then Truth spoke: “It is my duty and business to show Adam’s guilt, inasmuch as he has concealed with a lie what most of all led him to transgress. For this was the chief motive in your case, that the apples were fair and pleasant and sweet to taste, and that you desired greatly to be wiser than was promised you. You committed a theft in planning to take them secretly, covetous robbery in taking them without permission, and an act of insolent pride in wishing to become like unto God in wisdom beyond what was promised you.” Then God said to Peace that she should give a brief opinion in the case. Peace answered in this wise: “Whereas Thou didst appoint me to watch over Adam’s safety as long as there was no transgression, I now offer to bring him an even greater insecurity, because he did not know how to keep the great freedom which he enjoyed before.” Then God said to Justice that she should give judgment; and she answered in this wise: “Since Adam was unable to keep the freedom that Peace had secured for him, let him now suffer misery and distress instead; and because he coveted knowledge of evil things, let him experience evil in place of good; and because he wished to make himself like God in knowledge beyond what was permitted, and blamed God for his transgression with lying excuses, let him suffer the death of which he was warned before he transgressed.” Then God said to Mercy that she should pass judgment on this transgression. Mercy replied in these words: “As it is my nature to urge forbearance and clemency to some degree in every case, I request that Adam be not destroyed through a merciless death; but since he now must repent of his error as long as he lives, let him have hope of mercy and help in his death, as long as he does not despair.”