Bridging the Continental divide: neo-Latin and its cultural role in Jacobean Scotland, as seen in the Delitiae Poetarum Scotorum (1637)

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Sylva VII: a paraeneticon On the Return of the Scottish Nobles from Exile, 1st November 1585

1 Jove has a duty to punish human crimes with hardships, amid triple misfortune: and it will not grieve me to remember, nor is it right for you, unburdened citizens, to forget from whence the unexpected grace of heaven has shone forth on Scottish shores, or from whence a most gentle harmony has returned to our wretched people and vanquished wintry clouds and rain storms.

8 Indeed only recently, due to a crime against heaven, a savage pestilence a raged through the fields and cities, taking from the people the very lifeblood of a once plentiful kingdom by a dreaded touch. And famine, joined with fever, drenched the fields with unending rains, burying the pleasant crops, so that it suffers the roots, which the plebs anticipating the dire plague have ripped out, b to decay repulsively through lack of nourishment. And lest the order of the nobles be free from miseries, martial ardor so rouses them everywhere, that one faction, with war as the avenging force, unsheathed deadly swords to destroy another. c But look, I say, while recently our dear Scotland was groaning under so many ills, struck down so many times, and where there was no hope of recovery, health arose and turned despair to love and joy: now Jove has given peace to the nobles, food to the starving plebs, and air free from pestilence to all the people.

24 The Lords have returned from exile: Hamilton, d on account of his high descent from the line of kings, leads their group. The fair hero Angus, e great by his own merit and ennobled by the deeds of his ancestors, joins him close by. Here Mar, remarkable son of a noble father, f plays his part. Then the offspring of Glamis, g exuding courage, his massive spirit equal to his huge limbs, and towering above the rest by a whole head. The exiled mass of such great nobles retrace their steps, having been summoned back from every centre   [p366] of the earth to their homeland. Bothwell, the flower of the nobles, h a royal descendant, receives the returning lords on the border of the kingdom with a friendly reception. The boy Home, i uncommonly talented, is present in his company. There too is Maxwell j who earned eternal splendour in combat with the name of Marcellus. Sent away forthwith to the kingdom's various recesses, or detained in a dark cell, or deprived of fire and water as is the custom, the troop now spring forth from their cave, freed from the charges set before them, which saw them oppressed by undeserved animosity. But here was Cerberus, the royal gatekeeper, salivating from his triple-throat at the huge morsels, k who had to be appeased with their riches, or a draught of their blood. Because they are such great leaders, many thousands passionately long to follow their army as they attempt to scale the lofty crag of Stirling. Without much blood spilled the doors were unlocked, and with prayers and shouts they greeted the king, who marvelled at the courteous and stout spirits of his subjects, and they rejoice in touching the much longed-for king's hand. With a beaming face and cheerful words, and without pretence, the king, who lamented the unfair fate of so many men, received them with an embrace. l After having comforted them with friendly advice, he bids them be untroubled in spirits, look to their fortunes in the native fashion, and to now live under just laws, and henceforth enjoy a compliant kingdom and favourable king. Finally, after the grace of an agreeable prince thus favoured the nobles, and a great peace was secured on both sides for the people through their everlasting union, the ruler of heaven declares through manifest omens that this pact is not to be broken unless his divinity m is consulted, as he devises triple evils to attack the Scots, and sharpens his triple-pronged anger.

64 Yet do not expect that this salvation has been brought forth by either your martial valour or cunning, or even English wealth, n princes. Rather the two comrades, o who recently returned with you from the same banishment, were able to keep you safe from danger as you wandered unknown over land and sea, and contrive friendships towards exiles in the warlike hearts of powerful kings. Thus they now restore you safe to native skies (as the prayers of the people continually wished), and under the direction of the prince they   [p367] bid you live in your sweet ancestral homes. However, for us the exiles have brought with them every safeguard for certain salvation, and by relieving our troubles upon their return they have restored our defences. One is religion, the most refined follower of the heavenly father, a student of heaven, and always looking to the time to come, beyond the labour camps of this life. The other is Justice, a champion of law and fairness among mortals (and a handmaid and follower of religion), both a haven and a breath of air for the virtuous, and a Syrtis and Scylla for the guilty. p You nobles, who roamed unmolested through foreign lands under the protection of these two, q have now returned well to your own lands. We divest ourselves of the terrible punishments brought to our native lands by our neglect of these two, and we are restored by their return.

86 Thus rid of these troubles, and never forgetful of piety and fairness, let each and everyone of us try our hardest to follow our own destiny. You whose charge it is to take care of our king, and to impose laws on the people, burning with your zeal for divine worship, fortify our souls. May the church which has decayed in this kingdom for so many years, worn down in its grubby vestments, squalid with neglect, rise up supported by your abundant aid, perched loftily on the booty of vanquished envy and on a victorious memorial. Restore the sacred temples, so that the people may pluck pious nourishment for the mind; restore the stolen treasure to the servants of divine power. For it was agreed long ago that they depend on their repaid fortune for the holy practice of ancient piety, and that they be freed from anxieties so that they may explore the Gods and the secerts of the universe more profoundly. And unless constrained by oracles you have received, do not venture to work at any task, or undertake any great toil.

103 With God put aside may the courts be my next topic, where the authority of laws accord with the other camp. r Here have they appointed the choice souls of men, so that their wisdom may untangle the tricky loopholes of the law, and their mind overcome hope and fear, joy and lamentation. Readily swear an oath to the prophecies of these men, and yield to their fair deliberations, although they are hidden from their family and without their wealth. The judge, indeed, does not try to direct you through his own power, but with the reins of the law.   [p368] And whenever it falls to your judgement to examine the complaints of the helpless, let not force and guile direct the proceedings, but rather justice and right; and always trust in the ever-present Gods, whose devolved authority you carry.

116 Meanwhile as the gentle arts of Pallas lay down the first little steps of human civilisation, it will be your task to urge on your scribe to recount the choice ranks of youth from that early age, and to praise the palaces and covered shelters of Minerva in song, in the manner of the tale of the most ardent number of youth spreading forth from the Trojan horse, who took away their people's troubles, and bequeathed heavenly rewards to the race of men. For should anyone examine the whole world, no nation will take from us the glory of our abundant genius. The cultivation of children alone is the reward of the teachers' toils, and let their fame endure in their poetry. s

128 However, since it is wrong for you, nobles, to set down the law, t unless under the direction of the prince, rouse up the royal heart with advice, so that it may restore these twin practices of ruling: maintaining the laws with the aid of men and Gods. For such a duty is not yielded to one alone without difficulty, nor is will alone able to govern, for the laws may clash with royal command. Reason is man's bridle, law is his ruler, the language of law his magistrate. whoever steps outside the limits of reason knowingly and premeditatedly, he oversteps the boundaries of human nature, and he rules by fear in the fashion of a wild beast. And hence through fear the citizens get into the habit of hating the oppressive and fierce tyrant, and to rage with hatred, so that a longing for revenge arises, and they drive him out with plots, or in open war. More securely does the love of the people protect kings with guards and an army of followers, when the love is obtained from a simple reputation for virtue. A shared guilt constrains a few waverers, but a greater number is roused to fury. And scarcely can he who has supremacy expect that his salubrious orders commend security for others, unless he himself carries out his own orders, and instructs his citizens more by the example of honoured custom than by decree. I shall think that whatever he orders has been tested by him, if he should approve anything in the execution of his duties.   [p369] And how shall the judge demand punishments for the wicked, when he himself rivals their wickedness? Whoever would loosen every restraint on their own disgraceful passion, unwillingly unsheathes his sword against the offences of others. Where else would the indulgence of the bold which fans their flames come from, and what would the hope of pardon rouse the guilty not to do? And whenever honesty has been guarded by a mighty power, then boldness would fall before that authority. As long as the boy, who still must fraternize with rash youths, does not know how much power great wealth has in war, and how much elegance in peace, Make sure to keep an eye on the accounts of the people, and the prince, and above all the depleted treasury; u and curtail extravagant expenditure and treasury fraud, and moreover royal gifts within a poor court. For should any honesty expect its deserts with foreign bronze spurring on the leader? How would he resist the headlong fury of wickedness, when he is poor with a meagre sceptre? Moreover, a clever small state wielding its authority torments the meagre wealth of the rough pleb with a thousand wheezes. Is the citizen vexed by a crime? He judges it. Someone reports of fresh levies for his sycophants? He allows it. Has his majesty been offended? He then takes the opportunity for plundering. Is there rumour of some disturbance? He then orders money from each man, and squeezes from the people the sustenance that supports their poor lives. The ancient wisdom of our kings has never tolerated their honour to rely upon such sordidness, nor to grow rich from the plunder of the querulous mob. But rather it resolves that the crown is safeguarded by a fixed income, and its own profits. However, when greater power may be required to be used against the enemy, it has instructed the people to enlist in the army with no reward, and not to sell their forces to a general at a price, lest he extort any money from the innocent, which shameful traffic the rest of the world allows.

183 Just so amid this wealth, and on this matter, I warn you to banish far, far from your court the destructive plague of flatterers and the army of followers. So that their own favour remains secure for them, and wealth may be amassed for them, they spin petty calumnies and a thousand lies against honest men into the ready ear of the ruler. Should, however, any court minister happen to be too much in the king's favour, either through the happy practice of recognition   [p370] or through rewards for virtues (with these we immediately remove the authors of criminality from the roll of honour, and so they deceive the ruler with so many treacherous schemes), v then, no matter how obscure he is, they think it right to hound him with a superiority and haughtiness unfamiliar to a man of your breeding. Who indeed, who takes pride in the names of their ancestors, if he were to arraign his forefathers from the earliest time, will not discover how the creator of his own race began to shine? Who, if you had seized this entry to the court, would expect the just deserts of virtue, or would by merit be first to lay kings under obligation to themselves? Whichever nobles decides to commit treacheries at home against the exiles, under the cover of a blameless prince, would be executing the cruel desire for savage revenge. Let not our eyes witness wretched Rome's shame: bloody men returning from exile to govern; and, worn out by the bloody ups and downs of Marius and Sulla, w they would see the nobility's new dead, and by heaping death upon death, and war upon war, harsher things than ruin would await the next generation. But if depravity, incapable of living within the boundaries of a modest life, and of tolerating peace, and which also is not receptive to any authority, must be punished by some avenging punishment for wickedness, then at least for each man may clemency have more influence than hatred. For clemency alone renders Gods and men the same. And may the practice of the laws, and a fear of the Gods (needed for the proper application of law), bear greater weight for you than unhappy anger. But you whom once misfortune alone assailed, and whom now the smile alone of favourable fortune takes into friendship's sphere (with allies drawn from the patrician class, x whose anxious prayers at home longed for this fate for you), now set up through a fixed bond a public society of good-will, universal assemblies for the kingdom, lest ever the dread father of envy assail us with a battle for the golden apple. y Thus would he z fly up from the shades, in order to mark out the reckless for ruin with his pitchfork. Clearly since long ago his force, vying with you in war, yielded, and in revenge he handed down the notorious death penalty or prison, that contriver had attacked you, or had stoked the unwarranted flames of anger in a hostile prince.   [p371] But the enemy is not gone. The returning danger will bear down upon the complacent at court, and even now, with a bar to extravagance, on its silent pipes envy is fine-tuning plots to destroy you. It overcomes all forces (even those usually invincible) relentlessly accompanied by its twin fighter, ambition; which itself vies with others for great rewards. And it violates every law, with its odious appetite, this wicked disposition for gain. All-consuming envy pours this poison inside the hearts of the nobility. And when it cannot overthrow them with the edge of a foreign blade, it would consume them with civil war. Loyalty alone, the foremost concern for king and people, would be capable of removing such great fires from every passion.

241 Meanwhile, o remaining countrymen, through the Gods' mercy respite from the menace of war has been brought forth, plague has been subdued by fair winds, and poverty has been replaced by plenty. And at length these things must lead in each great matter: piety returned from abroad, and the impassable force of law, for it is right that they occupy a place in your steadfast mind, so that no lapse of time, nor flap of friendly fortune prove false those forgetful of such great rewards, lest it is pleasing to send thunderbolts straightaway from a calm sky, and the sleeping fires of a hostile deity against god's people, who ignorantly scorn signs sent from heaven, and listen to each word, then allow their derision to be borne on the light winds; against people who test the confines of human law, thinking that they do not transgress at all, of if they were to think they conformed, they do not owe it to the cultivation of an honest mind, nor the love of religion, but they cause their monstrous ventures through fear alone. Such people, I say, (may these signs be not at hand for our people) has the creator of the world bound to himself through such great toil, and he will bear down upon the guilty with a very great punishment; finally with that derided, he will not restrain his anger, and he will break the stubborn race with work and torment.