Part 8 (1/2)
”No, no: speak, son of Olympias,” said Lucifer to Alexander.
He began thus: ”Alexander, son of Jupiter Amnion, lord of the world, most high and mighty emperor, conqueror of the habitable globe-”
Clytus laughed at the boasts: ”what a lord! what an emperor! what a G.o.d!
Behold the t.i.tles which I dispute. In the first place, his mother was a virtuous woman. She but mocked her son, who, through pride, accused her with having committed adultery with Jupiter Amnion. Secondly, he was not lord of the world; since he did not conquer the tenth part of it: and thirdly, it is false that he is a great emperor; for an emperor is only enn.o.bled by heroic virtues and qualities, which he did not possess. And how is it possible that he should be the conqueror of the habitable globe, having never been neither to Africa, nor very far in Europe, nor to China? Thus he is only Alexander, as I am Clytus.”
Here Lucifer pa.s.sed an order that this prince should only a.s.sume the t.i.tles that veritably pertained to him, and permitted Clytus to continue.
”I was,” said Clytus, ”the prime favourite of this Alexander, who, wis.h.i.+ng to conquer every body, had no enemy nearer and more powerful than himself. Contemplate our portraits: I was his favourite, and I have always seen him as ambitious of distinction in wickedness as he was for honourable action: but as a foundation to my complaints against him, I ought to state, that this prince, elevated by his flatterers to a place among the G.o.ds, was accustomed to speak without respect of Philip his father. He showed himself more munificent towards gladiators, musicians, and drunkards, than towards his bravest captains. In conformity to this disposition, he gave the kingdom of Sidon to Abdolonymus, a well-digger; he committed numberless extravagances at the instigation of his mistresses; to please a courtesan named Roxana, he burnt the palace of the Persian kings; his conduct towards Parmenio, Philotas, and Calisthenes, as well as Aminthus, his relation, is sufficient proof of his barbarity. And did he not exhibit more than cruelty towards me? I was the most faithful of his confidants; he who flattered him the least; who gave him the best of counsel; to whom he owed his reputation and honour. Alas! because I had the presumption to speak my true sentiments at a feast, he arose from the table and inflicted upon me a mortal wound.
I now demand expiation. King of h.e.l.l, revenge Clytus, punish Alexander.”
This prince then replied as follows:-”Favourites bear the same relation to sovereigns as mice to cats.”
At this exordium Clytus began to laugh, and said: ”Listen to a comparison worthy of the disciple of Aristotle.”
”The mouse,” continued Alexander, ”seems at first to divert itself with the cat; but finally this animal, being more powerful, devours the mouse, who cannot accuse her with cruelty for wis.h.i.+ng to take her turn in the sport. Such, about me, was the condition of Clytus: but to demonstrate the mistake of this ungrateful favourite, I aver, that it is the policy of princes to keep favourites, who are towards them neither forward nor haughty; and not to accord them too much power. The liberties they take with us cause us to fall into contempt; their hauteur makes us appear timid, and their power fills us with just suspicions. Clytus having thus taken advantage of me, I was frequently ashamed of his familiarities.
Such was his pride, that if I dared to contradict him in the least thing, he reared up like an unruly horse: my bounty had rendered him so powerful, that he was in fact Alexander, and I was but Clytus. In particular, he abused my mistresses, and the officers of my house; in counsel he was always right and I wrong; in every battle, it was he that was victorious, and I who had been slack and timid. If I put some to death, it was but consonant with justice, to punish the seditious or conspiring; if I burnt the palace of the kings of Persia, it was for the purpose of destroying a fortress that had been used against me; if the pleasures that were indulged in after my conquests were sometimes too free, it arose from a desire to gratify my generals; in fine, the death of Clytus crushed those treasonous designs of which I had notice. He only waited for an opportunity to set one part of my army against the other, and to despatch me. I sang at a feast the songs my soldiers had composed upon their officers and myself; I rallied Clytus for having, in a certain action, taken to flight: this madman let loose his rage upon me; he loaded me with contumely; the wine he had drank deprived him of reason: I thought it was time to punish his audacity, and to prevent the excesses to which it might carry him. Thus perished an usurping, traitorous, insolent and unworthy favourite. Lucifer, I have spoken the truth.”
After having heard the parties, the king said to his demons, ”Take notice how proper it is that a subject should be faithful and submissive to his prince; and that a favourite should not go beyond the respect he owes to his sovereign. _We do order_ that as long as Alexander shall be tormented by his ambition, Clytus shall experience all the remorse that springs from rashness and ingrat.i.tude.”
At the same moment was heard the voice of Seneca, speaking to Nero: ”Cruel prince, how have you profited by the lessons of clemency, goodness, and humanity I have given you? Did you not murder me to repossess yourself of the wealth I had received from you? Such was my recompense for having raised you to empire. Was it not I who saved you from the conspiracy formed by Piso, after you had set fire to all quarters of Rome? Was it not I who delivered you from the snares which had been spread for you by the friends of your mother Agrippina, whom you afterwards put to death? I was more careful of your reputation than yourself, when I advised you not to exhibit yourself as a comedian upon the theatre; when you entered the lists to dispute the prize of poetry with Lucan, whom you afterwards a.s.sa.s.sinated.”
”Old fool,” said Nero, in a slender voice, ”thou wert become unworthy of my favours by thy excessive ambition, and by the dishonour you brought upon my palace. Great Lucifer, you see a man who, being my preceptor, did not profit by his own theory. He maintained a shameful commerce with my mother; and with a view to favour it, poisoned the Emperor Claudius, my father, who did not commit suicide, as was the prevalent opinion at Rome. The partiality of my mother filled him with such audacity, that he projected mounting the throne, and having me poisoned. I was informed of the intrigue, which I suspected before having received positive advice.
I observed that his immense wealth had obtained him very many friends among the senators, gentlemen, and officers of the army; and it is worth while, also, to know, that this man who preached so much about frugality, and the love of mediocrity, was far from practising these virtues, which are easily reported of a man possessing twelve millions of revenue.
After having punished the tyranny and usurpation of my mother, I was bound to punish the crimes of Seneca; but I was yet lenient enough to leave the manner of his death to his own choice.”
”The subjects and favourites of princes,” said Lucifer, ”are always culpable, when they are ungrateful, or entertain any other desire than the prosperity of their masters: they ought to leave to them the recompense of their services, without attempting to reward themselves.
_We will_, then, that the philosopher, Seneca, born in Spain, should be punished as if he had compa.s.sed his designs upon Nero: and that Nero be treated as an unjust and barbarous prince.”
”This ordinance,” said Seja.n.u.s, ”does not concern me: Tiberius caused me to be a.s.sa.s.sinated without reason, actuated by one of those suspicions to which he was usually addicted. He was troubled more by a fear of losing his life, than the empire. His courtezans had too much influence over him. As to myself, I have never punished any but the enemies of Tiberius: to be sure, they were also mine. But were not, in truth, the opposers of a minister who governed as well as I did, foes to their prince and country?”
Tiberius would have answered; but Lucifer, interrupting him, ordered that all the favourites of princes should come in. There appeared a vast number, among them Plautius, the favourite of Severus, was particularly remarkable: also Faustus, the favourite of Phyrrhus, king of Epirus; Pyreneus and Cleandrus, favourites of the emperor Commodus; Cincinnatus, favourite of Britulus; Rufus, favourite of Domitian; Amp.r.o.nisius, favourite of Adrian; Belisarius, favourite of Justinian.
”Listen,” said Lucifer; ”the favour of princes is like quick-silver, the motion of which cannot be arrested, and which flies the endeavour to restrain it. If one would sublimate it, it is a vapour that exhales itself; and often, if too much is used, it becomes dangerous. If one anoints with it, it penetrates to the very bones: those who are accustomed to draw it from the mine, and purify it, contract a malady which makes them tremble all their lives. This is the character of princes' favour: it is inconstant, because it depends upon the humour and pa.s.sion of one who seeks only novelty and the pleasure of the moment. If you are importunate, if you exhibit the least sign of impatience, if you are even suspected of prudence in the management of your credit or fortune, the attachment of the prince will cool. If you show any marks of envy against another, of discontent in yourself, or indifference in the presence of your protector, he suspects you, and pa.s.ses straightway from suspicion to enmity and hatred. Bear then with resignation your bad fortune and the humour of your master: your pains, attentions, time, health, wealth all lost, you are at length obliged to return into your humble retreat, there to expect death; which, to your grief, comes not soon enough to free you from regret and the remembrance of your follies.
A casual sally, an instant of good humor, a lucky word, a sudden caprice, a nothing, makes a favourite. Five or six years suffice for his fortune; if delayed, it escapes him. The same causes can bestow or withdraw favour. A favourite ought to make these reflections in his prosperity,-that he must abstain from those liberties that are common among equals, and that freedom which friends indulge in; that he must be constantly submissive, and know how to accompany respect with complaisance; that the prince ought always to speak the first word in a confidential affair; and to preserve his secrets, he must dispose himself to every kind of privation. He who hath not regulated his conduct by these precepts must bear the burden of his own imprudence; and for this reason _we order_ that those favourites who have incurred the displeasure of their sovereigns shall be punished as unfaithful subjects.”
Lucifer then commanded an old man to advance, whom he perceived in the hall behind the others. There advanced then a man of a pleasant countenance, in a Greek habit, and followed by other persons clothed in the same manner.
”I am Solon,” said this old man: ”I gave to the Athenians laws which they did not exactly follow; this person contiguous to me is the philosopher Anaxarchus, whom the tyrant Nicocreon caused to be brayed in a mortar: in this little hump-back, behold the famous Aristotle, preceptor to the great Alexander: his philosophy excused the disciple from practising the morality he taught. This academician is Socrates, whom his fellow citizens put to death with a cup of hemlock. This old man is the divine Plato, who, spite of the sublimity of his doctrine, sold oil for the defrayment of his expenses. All the rest are men of letters, who, like ourselves, have excited the envy, and experienced the vengeance of the princes, Archons and Tyrants, of Athens; and it is now upon these tyrants we unitedly demand vengeance.”
Then Denis, the tyrant, accompanied by some other princes, presented themselves and spoke in this manner:-”Of whom do these old dotards complain? Infatuated by their conceits, they pretended to dictate law to the whole world! In fact they had so imbued the people with their dogmas and their customs, that when we wished to make some changes, they excited sedition. They had so much pride and presumption, that they arrogated to themselves alone the possession of common sense and reason; while in truth they were distinguished but for opinions founded upon vain subtleties, and by a language not common and familiar to men:-and now I should like to ask them what certain knowledge they had; what was their idea upon the nature of the soul? and what const.i.tuted the reason and equity of their laws?”
”I will add to that,” said Julian, the apostate, ”that there are pedants, who, under the affectation of austerity, concealed the most extreme ambition. Do they complain of the contempt that was shown them, when their manner of living exposed them to it? Will they speak of their poverty, who would not labour for a living? The people of letters deceive themselves if they believe that princes and the public ought to enrich them for vain and useless sciences. Should they not make their calculation for that, when, idle in their cabinets, they amuse themselves in contemplating the figures and number of the stars, which they apply, to find fault with the common prejudices of our ancestors?”
”At least,” observed Cato of Utica, ”you cannot make those remarks with regard to Cicero, or myself, who have exercised the highest magistracies of Rome.”
”Old fox,” answered Julian, ”I cannot, it is true, say so of you two; for if you were attached to letters, you were still more so to your fortunes.