historical and political thought in the seventeenth - RePub - Erasmus ...

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Chapter 3. Biography
incomparable teacher of all men’. 91 Aristotle had written different political
works. In some of them the Greek philosopher had ‘taught … general precepts
about civic prudence’. In others he ‘had summed up the mysteries of
command’, the secrets that are connected to the art of ruling. 92 Aristotle had
knowledge of methods that were morally wrong, but had ‘never or hardly
ever’ abandoned ‘the criterion of iustitia’. 93 For Heinsius, Aristotle was ‘the
patron of Justice’. 94
In Heinsius’s view politics is primarily concerned with virtuous behaviour. 95
The purpose of history, as a handmaiden of politics, is to provide students of
politics with examples of such virtuous behaviour. Yet, there is also another
side to Heinsius’s political thought. Through the political works of Aristotle, the
careful reader could acquire both general knowlegde about politics and insights
into political motives and tricks that usually remain hidden for the public eye. 96
History, as we have seen, also provided access to concealed political knowledge.
Thus, the study of politics and history could have two educational functions.
The first is education in ethics; the second is education in statecraft. For Heinsius,
these two functions were probably inseparable. Rulers or administrative
office-holders should behave and govern virtuously. In the works of Heinsius’s
student Boxhorn, however, the moral dimension to the study of politics and history
resides to the background, as will become clear in this thesis.
Despite being professor of politics and history and historiographer of the
States of Holland, Heinsius’s publication list reveals that he was more a philologist
than a political thinker or a historian. In 1621 he made a philological
contribution to the field of politics with an edition of Aristotle’s Politics. The
work, of which Boxhorn owned a copy, contains the Greek text, a Latin translation
and paraphrases. 97 The importance of this work, and other editions of
91 Daniel Heinsius, “Ad librum De Magistratibus Romanis. Habita cum libellum De Magistratibus
Romanis interpretari inciperet”, in idem, Orationum editio nova, Prioribus auctior, XX, p. 223. ‘… cum
incomparabili doctore omnium ac nostro Aristotele videbimus.’
92 Daniel Heinsius, “De civili sapientia oratio. Habita cum secundum Aristotelis Politicorum interpretari
inciperet”, in idem, De politica sapientia oratio, xi-xii. ‘Multa, quod iam aliquoties monuimus,
de ciuili sapientia conscripsit Aristoteles … Alia fuisse eius viri scripta, in quibus vsitato sibi modo
ac docendi quasi via, generalia praecepta quaedam de ciuili disciplina traderet … alia, quibus imperij
arcana & occultas illas artes, quae in vita nunc ciuili & in aula paginam vtranque faciunt, fuerat complexus.’
93 Van Heck, “Cymbalum Politicorum, Consultor Dolosus”, p. 52.
94 Heinsius, “De civili sapientia oratio”, xiii. ‘Opulentus enim, & felix, & Iustitiae patronus, & auctoritate
nemini secundus, postquam vrbem suam legibus fundasset, expirauit.’
95 Wansink, Politieke wetenschappen aan de Leidse universiteit, p. 144.
96 Heinsius believed that Aristotle had ‘formulated his political advice in such a way that it could
only be understood by a few people’. Van Heck, “Cymbalum Politicorum, Consultor Dolosus”, pp. 55-56.
97 Aristotelis Politicorvm Libri VIII. Cum perpetua Danielis Heinsii in omnes libros Paraphrasi (Elzevier;