§ 1. Although some are born with better talent, character, and greater prudence than others, no one is born a craftsman. They must therefore be trained by teaching and practice for the art of arts, the art which is mistress of all, that is, politics. I have indeed said enough concerning teaching in the book on education; now practice must be discussed.
§ 2. Since in a state there are civil and military magistrates, together with those who administer taxes and those who administer judgments, the young ought to be exercised in these in due order. I shall speak in its own place concerning military training. In order that they may become skilled in civil affairs, let them learn early to know the state, which they will attain by the following methods.
§ 3. Let noble young men, after they have passed their twentieth year, be permitted by a decree of the Senate or edict of the Prince to attend the Senate, sit in the council of the Prince, and state an opinion, provided they have served their campaigns with praise or proved their learning at universities. Yet their judgment must possess the force of consultation, not decision. For in this way they will understand what matters are treated in the public council; they will observe the speeches and wisdom of the disputants; and they will meditate upon the things proposed. Nor is there less advantage in hearing the petitions of suppliants and the artful discourses of legates, all of which are examined in the Council.
At Rome in ancient times, the witty story about polygamy attests that the sons of Senators attended the deliberation; now the practice is not much in use. The Venetian state preserves it to its great advantage. For all Patricians possess the right of entering the Senate, provided they are twenty-five years old; by a special motion the council is open to some even before that age, provided they are twenty. They are in what they themselves call the Great Council, which they say contains two thousand Senators,
although because of those engaged in embassies and the government of cities and provinces, only sixteen hundred ordinarily assemble.
§ 4. It is also a great exercise if either the Senate or the Prince commands these young men to explain briefly and clearly in writing their opinion concerning proposed matters, especially when an answer must be given to embassies or grave matters are proposed. Sometimes, after hearing and maturely considering the various opinions, let them set forth the advantages and disadvantages of them all and produce their own judgment. For just as no man should be considered a veteran soldier who does not possess knowledge of the orders to be preserved and restored in every place and time, and of striking and avoiding the enemy, so no one will ever be a Senator or Counselor who has not long and much been engaged in the affairs of his own and other states.
Hence comes that great number of men who pass over to the opinion of others—not because they approve or understand it, but because they have no wisdom outside the judgments of others and have never learned to judge or speak by their own power.
I observe that the course of those who are employed in the state is twofold. Some, after devoting themselves to jurisprudence with a complete circle of the sciences, and after learning it thoroughly so that they can now be or appear Doctors, immediately enter the training and household of some practiced Advocate, Syndic, or Assessor, so that by experience they may learn forms, forensic practice, and precedents. If these men possess strength of talent or judgment, they become perfect pleaders, but not suitable Judges of lawsuits.
Yet they are not mature enough to give counsel either in the Senate of the Conscript Fathers or in the Consistory of the Prince. For that matter demands varied knowledge and is not confined within the narrow limits of forensic controversies. Others, after philosophizing moderately and tasting a little of the forms of the Institutes, return to their fatherland in foreign dress and undertake the state. From their ignorance the greatest disadvantages arise, for they possess the authority of Counselors and magistrates, but the ignorance of uneducated men.
§ 5. The principal apprenticeship in politics is for those Companions who will one day govern some part of the state to be joined to legates sent anywhere. Nowhere is the nature of affairs and men more easily perceived; nowhere are the words and gestures of others observed with greater care and attention, or one’s own governed more carefully.
Therefore, if there is any matter in the whole world by which prudence is learned, it is found in embassies. Formerly the constitution of the world was different. The Greeks went to the King of the Persians while preserving the dignity of liberty even in meeting and speech. Roman Legates were protected by the majesty of their Empire. Now perpetual embassies travel among kinsmen, friends, rivals, and distrustful men; sometimes they do not know the mind either of the other Princes or of their own. Let three or four men, therefore, be joined to the Legate as Companions and Counselors—not to direct him, but to learn to avoid the rocks, which are very many and very hidden.
This benefits the younger men because they are instructed; it benefits the state because it receives more prudent citizens; and a Legate surrounded by such a retinue cannot betray his trust. Nor is there any other reason why the Romans abounded in so great a number of men skilled in politics than their perpetual journeys with Legates and magistrates.
For friends and tent-companions—that is, noble young men who accompanied them in order to learn military and political affairs—were joined to all magistrates except Legates, Tribunes, and others, whether commanders or ministers of an army. This cohort of friends was a nursery of magistrates; and the more illustrious the Proconsul or Propraetor who went to a province, the greater the company of nobility with which he was surrounded. Nor has that usage now been wholly abolished, for Governors and Viceroys draw a multitude with them; but these men are less employed in public deliberations and in learning affairs.
§ 6. It is a matter of no little importance that younger men should attend to the command and administration of others, either to imitate things rightly done or to accuse errors. This is a most wholesome practice when the rage for calumniating is removed. Let us say nothing of ancient examples. In our own age, in Germany, Gaul, and Spain, we have seen certain men amass riches for many years amid the infamy of Kings and Princes and with danger of rebellion, and inflict injuries upon provinces; although their crimes were in every mouth, only the Princes remained ignorant of them.
If there had been a lawful method of accusation here—if either the oppressed had been permitted to speak or well-disposed men to give counsel—wickedness would not have exulted with impunity for long. Those men do indeed suffer punishment, but late and after the disasters of many.