Quales sibi adhibere debeat rex consiliarios
The Counselor as a Model of Virtue
A counselor to a king must be a model of good works, free from deceit, greed, and sensuality, so that his life carries no reproach.
What kind of counselors a king ought to choose for himself, Ambrose discusses in his books on Duties (Book II, chapter 17). He who gives counsel to another, he says, ought to be such that he offers himself to others as a model of good works — in teaching, in integrity, in gravity — so that his speech may be wholesome and beyond reproach, his counsel useful, his life honorable, his wisdom becoming (ibid.). . Such, therefore, ought to be a counselor: one who has nothing shady about him, nothing deceitful, nothing frivolous, nothing pretentious — nothing that could discredit his life and character; nothing base or spiteful that would turn those seeking his advice away. For there are some things that are avoided, and others that are despised. We flee from things that can do real harm — things that can creep into wrongdoing with malicious intent; for instance, if the one whose counsel is sought is untrustworthy and greedy for money, so that he can be changed by a bribe; if he is unjust, he is avoided and shunned. But the one who is sensual and intemperate — even if he's free from fraud — yet greedy and all the more eager for shameful profit: that person is despised.
Rejecting Sloth and Intemperate Counsel
Sloth and intemperance make a person unfit for counsel, since no wisdom can flow from a swamp of vices and moral filth.
For what example of effort, what fruit of labor can a person produce, what care or anxiety can they take upon themselves in their soul, if they've given themselves over to sluggishness and laziness? (Chapter 12.) We observe therefore that in acquiring counselors, uprightness of life adds the greatest advantage, the preeminence of virtues, the practice of goodwill, the use of frugality, [ , facility] for the sake of. For who would look for a spring in a swamp? Who would seek to drink from murky water? So where there is luxury, where there is intemperance, where there is a chaos of vices, who would think to draw anything drinkable for themselves from there?
Avoiding Wicked, Harsh, and Closed Counselors
One must shun counselors who are spiteful, abusive, or inaccessible, and avoid those whose wisdom is stained by vice.
Who wouldn't despise the foul corruption of morals? Who would judge someone useful for another person's case, when he sees that same person is useless in his own life? Who, then, wouldn't flee from a wicked, spiteful, and abusive person — someone ready and willing to do harm? Who wouldn't steer clear of such a person with every effort? Indeed, who would seek out someone equipped to give counsel, yet so difficult to approach — someone in whom that very gift is locked away, as though blocking off a spring of water? For what good is it to have wisdom if you refuse to offer counsel? If you cut off access to consultation, you've closed the spring so that it flows for neither others nor yourself. And how well this applies to the person who has prudence yet stains it with the filth of vices — because he defiles the very outflow of the water.
The Inner Life as the Seat of Counsel
A person enslaved by pleasure, lust, greed, desire, or fear cannot be a true counselor, for where there is no inner peace there can be no sound counsel.
A degenerate spirit is exposed by the way one lives. For how can you judge someone superior in counsel when you see him inferior in character? The one to whom I'm preparing to entrust myself ought to be above me. Will I really consider someone suitable who gives me advice he doesn't give himself — and will I believe he has leisure for me when he has none for himself? Whose mind pleasures occupy, lust binds, greed subdues, desire disturbs, and fear shakes? How can this be a place of counsel where there is no peace? Admirable in my eyes and worthy of respect is the counselor whom the gracious Lord gave to the fathers, and whom, offended, he took away. » (Cap.
Prudence and Justice United in a Counselor
While prudence is sought in many, the faithful counsel of a just and wise person carries the greatest weight, and both virtues together inspire trust and admiration.
10.) We entrust our cause to the most prudent person available, and we turn to that person for advice more readily than to anyone else. Nevertheless, the faithful advice of a just person, and of the most wise by their talent, frequently carries more weight: for the wounds of a friend are more useful than the kisses of others (Prov.1 XXVII). Next, because it's the mark of a just person to give judgment, but of a wise person to argue — in the one, the rigor of disputation; in the other, the cleverness of invention. But if you bring both together, there will be a great soundness of counsel, regarded by all with admiration of wisdom and love of justice, so that everyone may seek to hear the wisdom of that person in whom the bond of both virtues is found. (Cap. 8.)
Entrusting Ourselves to One Wiser Than Ourselves
We rightly entrust our welfare only to someone who surpasses us in prudence and justice, combining sharpness of mind, experience, and readiness to act.
That's why prudence and justice are sought in everyone, and why they are expected from many: so that trust is placed in the one in whom they are found, because that person can offer counsel that is both useful and faithful to the one who asks. After all, who would entrust himself to someone he didn't think was wiser than he is — the very person seeking advice? So it's necessary that the person from whom advice is sought be more outstanding than the one who seeks it. Why would you advise someone you don't think is capable of finding a better solution than you can see yourself? But if you find someone who excels in sharpness of mind, vigor of thought, and authority, and if experience and example add to that person's readiness — so that they resolve present dangers, look ahead to what's coming, warn of looming threats, untangle difficulties, and bring a remedy in good time, prepared not only to advise but also to step in and help — then such a person is trusted that the one who seeks counsel can say: Even if harm comes to me through them, I'll bear it (Ecclesiasticus 22:31).2 XXII, 31). So this is the kind of person to whom we entrust our welfare and our reputation — someone who is, as we said above, both just and prudent. For justice produces freedom from any fear of fraud, and prudence produces freedom from any suspicion of error.
Giving Counsel Well and Justly
True generosity in counsel means helping rather than harming, and giving with goodwill rather than enabling sin or injustice.
Nevertheless, we more readily entrust ourselves to a just person than to a prudent one. (Book I, chapter 30.) It's a fine thing, therefore, to wish well and to give generously of your counsel so that you may help, not harm. For if you think giving to a lustful person for the indulgence of desire, or to an adulterer as payment for adultery, is generosity, it isn't — where there's no goodwill. That's doing harm, not doing good to another. If you give money to someone plotting against the nation, who wants to gather together ruined people at your expense to attack the Church, that's not generosity to be admired.
Faithful Generosity and Restitution
Generosity must be founded on faithfulness and justice, making restitution for past wrongs and giving without fraud, especially in counsel.
If you should help someone who wages a bitter legal battle against widows and orphans, or tries to seize their property by force, your generosity doesn't hold up — if what you give to one person you wrest away from another, if what you seek is unjust, yet you think what you give out is just: unless perhaps, like that Zacchaeus (Luke✦ 19), first restore fourfold to him what you defrauded him of, and make up for the vices of your former way of life through the zeal of faith, and through a believer's action.✦ So let generosity be your foundation. The first thing asked of you is this: that you give with faithfulness, and don't commit fraud through your gifts. Likewise an advisor should also act in councils, because generosity reaches its fullest expression in counsel too.
Read the original Latin
Quales sibi adhibere debeat rex consiliarios, Ambrosius in libris Officiorum (Lib. II, c. 17): « Talis, inquit, debet esse, qui consilium alteri dat, ut seipsum formam aliis praebeat ad exemplum bonorum operum, in doctrina, in integritate, in gravitate, ut sit ejus sermo salubris atque irreprehensiblis, consilium utile, vita honesta, sapientia decora (ibid.) . Talis igitur debet esse consiliarius, qui nihil nebulosum habeat, nihil fallax, nihil fabulosum, nihil simulatum, quod vitam ejus ac mores refellat; nihil improbum ac malivolum, quod avertat consulentes. Alia sunt enim quae fugiuntur, alia quae contemnuntur. Fugimus ea quae possunt nocere, quae malitiose possunt in noxam serpere; ut si is qui consulitur dubia sit fide, et pecuniae avidus, ut possit pretio mutari; si injuriosus, hic fugitur ac declinatur. Qui vero voluptarius, intemperans, etsi alienus a fraude, tamen avarus et cupidior lucri turpis, hic contemnitur.
Quod enim specimen industriae, quem fructum laboris edere potest, quam recipere animo curam ac sollicitudinem, qui se torpori dederit atque ignaviae? (Cap. 12.) Advertimus igitur, quod in acquirendis consiliis plurimum adjungat vitae probitas, virtutum praerogativa, benevolentiae usus, frugalitatis [ al. , facilitatis] gratia. Quis enim in coeno fontem requirat? Quis de turbida aqua potum petat? Itaque ubi luxuria est, ubi intemperantia, ubi vitiorum confusio, quis inde sibi aliquid hauriendum existimet?
Quis non despiciat morum colluvionem? Quis utilem causae alienae judicet, quem inutilem suae vitae videt? Quis iterum improbum, malivolum, contumeliosum non fugiat, et ad nocendum paratum? Quis non eum omni studio declinet? Quis vero quamvis instructum ad consilii opem, difficilem tamen accessu ambiat; in quo sit illud, tanquam si quis aquae fontem praecludat? Quid enim prodest habere sapientiam, si consilium neges? Si consulendi intercludas copiam, clausisti fontem, ut nec aliis profluat, nec tibi prosit. Pulchre autem et de illo convenit, qui habens prudentiam, commaculat eam vitiorum sordibus, eo quod aquae exitum contaminet.
Degeneres animos vita arguit. Quomodo enim eum potes judicare consilio superiorem, quem videas inferiorem moribus? Supra me debet esse, cui me committere paro. An vero idoneum eum putabo, qui mihi det consilium quod non det sibi, et mihi eum vacare credam, qui sibi non vacet? cujus animum voluptates occupent, libido devincat, avaritia subjuget, cupiditas perturbet, quatiat metus? Quomodo hic consilii locus, ubi nullus quietis? Admirandus mihi et suspiciendus consiliarius, quem propitius Dominus patribus dedit, offensus abstulit. » (Cap.
10.) Prudentissimo cuique causam committimus nostram, et ab eo consilium promptius quam a caeteris poscimus. Praestat tamen fidele justi consilium, et sapientissimi ingenio frequenter praeponderat: utiliora enim vulnera amici, quam aliorum oscula (Prov. XXVII). Deinde quia justi judicium est, sapientis autem argumentum, in illo censura disceptationis, in hoc calliditas inventionis. Quod si utrumque connectas, erit magna consiliorum salubritas, quae ab universis spectatur admiratione sapientiae, et amore justitiae: ut omnes quaerant audire sapientiam ejus viri, in quo utriusque virtutis copula sit. (Cap. 8.)
Ideo prudentia et justitia in unoquoque desideratur, et ea exspectatur a pluribus; ut in quo ea sint, illi deferatur fides, quod possit utile consilium ac fidele desideranti dare. Quis enim ei se committat, quem non putet plus sapere quam ipse sapiat qui quaerit consilium? Necesse est igitur ut praestantior sit a quo consilium petatur, quam ille est qui petit. Quid enim consulas hominem, quem non arbitreris posse melius aliquid reperire quam ipse intelligis? Quod si eum inveneris, qui vivacitate ingenii, mentis vigore atque auctoritate praestet, et accedat eo, ut exemplo et usu paratior sit, praesentia solvat pericula, prospiciat futura, denuntiet imminentia, argumentum expediat, remedium ferat in tempore, paratus sit non solum ad consulendum, sed etiam ad subveniendum; huic ita fides habetur, ut dicat qui consilium petit: Etsi mala mihi evenerint per illum, sustineo (Eccli. XXII, 31). Hujusmodi igitur viro salutem nostram et existimationem committimus, qui sit, ut supra diximus, justus et prudens. Facit enim justitia, ut nullus sit fraudis metus: facit etiam prudentia, ut nulla erroris suspicio sit.
Promptius tamen nos justo viro quam prudenti committimus. (Lib. I, c. 30.) Pulchrum est igitur bene velle, et eo largiri consilio ut prosis, non ut noceas. Nam si luxurioso ad luxuriae effusionem, adultero ad mercedem adulterii largiendum putes, non est beneficentia ista, ubi nulla est benevolentia. Officere enim istud est, non prodesse alteri. Si largiaris ei qui conspiret adversus patriam, qui congregare cupiat tuo sumptu perditos qui impugnent Ecclesiam, non est haec probabilis liberalitas.
Si adjuves eum qui adversus viduam et pupillos gravi decernit jurgio, aut vi aliqua possessiones eorum eripere conatur, non probatur largitas, si quod alteri largitur, alteri quis extorqueat, si injuste quaerat, et juste dispensandum putet: nisi forte, ut ille Zachaeus (Luc. XIX), reddas prius ei quadruplum quem fraudaveris, et gentilitatis vitia fidei studio, et credentis operatione compenses. Fundamentum igitur habeat liberalitas tua. Hoc primum quaeritur, ut cum fide conferas, fraudem non facias oblatis. » Similiter et in consiliis agere debet consiliarius, quia est et in consilio maxima liberalitas.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Luke.19.1-Luke.19.10 — And he entered and was passing through Jericho. Luke.19.2 — And behold, a man called by name Zacchaeus, and he was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. Luke.19.3 — and he was seeking to see Jesus, who he was, and he was not able because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. Luke.19.4 — And he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. Luke.19.5 — And when Jesus came to the place, looking up, he said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house." Luke.19.6 — And he hurried down and welcomed him, rejoicing. Luke.19.7 — And when they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." Luke.19.8 — But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I am giving half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I am paying it back fourfold." Luke.19.9 — And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. Luke.19.10 — For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
- ↩Luke.19.5 — And when Jesus came to the place, looking up, he said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house."
Notes
On the Person and Ministry of the King (De regis persona et regio ministerio) companion
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