Procedit ad ostendendum regis officium, ubi secundum viam naturae ostendit regem esse in regno sicut anima est in corpore et sicut Deus est in mundo
Deriving the King's Office from Nature
The author resolves to examine the king's office and character by deriving principles from natural governance, since art imitates nature.
It follows from what has been said that we should consider what the office of a king is and what kind of person a king ought to be. Now because the things that belong to art imitate those that belong to nature, and from these we take the principles that enable us to work according to reason, it seems best to derive the office of a king from the pattern of natural governance.
Universal and Particular Governance
Governance in nature is both universal, under God's providence over all things, and particular, most perfectly mirrored in the human being as a lesser world.
In the nature of things, governance is found both universal and particular. Universal governance, inasmuch as all things are contained under God's rule, who governs everything by his providence. Particular governance, however, is most especially similar to divine rule, and it is found in the human being, who is called a lesser world on this account: because in them is found the pattern of universal governance.
Reason's Rule within the Soul
Just as God governs the world, reason governs the body and the soul's powers within a person.
For just as every bodily creature and all spiritual powers are contained under divine governance, so also the members of the body and the other powers of the soul are ruled by reason, and so reason holds a certain place in the human being just as God does in the world.
From One Soul to One King
Since the human being is naturally social, the likeness of divine governance extends to rule over a multitude by one person's reason, which is the office of a king.
But because, as we showed above, the human being is by nature a social animal living among a multitude, a likeness of divine governance is found in the human being not only insofar as one person is ruled by reason, but also insofar as a multitude is ruled by the reason of one person — which pertains most of all to the office of a king — while also in certain animals that live socially, a certain likeness of this governance is found, as in bees, among which kings are said to be, not because governance exists in them through reason, but through an instinct of nature instilled by the supreme ruler, who is the author of nature. Let the king, therefore, know that he has undertaken this office, so that he might be in the kingdom as the soul is in the body, and as God is in the world.
Justice and Mercy in the King
Reflecting on his divine mandate, the king is stirred both to zeal for justice and to the gentleness of mercy toward his subjects as his own limbs.
If he reflects carefully on these things, a zeal for justice is kindled within him on one side, as he considers that he has been placed here to exercise judgment in the kingdom in God's place; on the other side, he acquires the gentleness of mercy and clemency, as he considers each one of those subject to his rule as his own limbs.
Read the original Latin
Consequens autem ex dictis est considerare quod sit regis officium et qualem oporteat esse regem. Quia vero ea quae sunt secundum artem imitantur ea quae sunt secundum naturam, ex quibus accipimus ut secundum rationem operari possimus, optimum videtur regis officium a forma regiminis naturalis assumere. Invenitur autem in rerum natura regimen et universale et particulare. Universale quidem, secundum quod omnia sub Dei regimine continentur, qui sua providentia universa gubernat. Particulare autem regimen maxime quidem divino regimini simile est, quod invenitur in homine, qui ob hoc minor mundus appellatur, quia in eo invenitur forma universalis regiminis. Nam sicut universa creatura corporea et omnes spirituales virtutes sub divino regimine continentur, sic et corporis membra et caeterae vires animae a ratione reguntur, et sic quodammodo se habet ratio in homine sicut Deus in mundo. Sed quia, sicut supra ostendimus, homo est animal naturaliter sociale in multitudine vivens, similitudo divini regiminis invenitur in homine non solum quantum ad hoc quod per rationem regitur unus homo, sed etiam quantum ad hoc quod per rationem unius hominis regitur multitudo: quod maxime pertinet ad officium regis, dum et in quibusdam animalibus, quae socialiter vivunt, quaedam similitudo invenitur huius regiminis, sicut in apibus, in quibus et reges esse dicuntur, non quod in eis per rationem sit regimen, sed per instinctum naturae inditum a summo regente, qui est auctor naturae. Hoc igitur officium rex suscepisse cognoscat, ut sit in regno sicut in corpore anima et sicut Deus in mundo.
Quae si diligenter recogitet, ex altero iustitiae in eo zelus accenditur, dum considerat ad hoc se positum ut loco Dei iudicium regno exerceat; ex altero vero mansuetudinis et clementiae lenitatem acquirit, dum reputat singulos, qui suo subsunt regimini, sicut propria membra.
On Kingship, to the King of Cyprus (De regno ad regem Cypri) companion
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