Johannes Althusius: Politica - Hubertlerch.com - HubertLerch.com

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[25] Petrus Gregorius records them. De republica, VII, 13–19.
[26] Jean Bodin, The Commonweale, VI, 4; Petrus Gregorius, De republica, VII, 4 f. and 15; Eberartus a Weyhe and Justus
Lipsius [no references provided].
[27]
II Kings 11.
[28] Variarum juris, I, 15.
[29] [ The Commonweale, IV, 1.]
[30]
Numbers 27.
[31]
[Althusius apparently fears that the marriage of a female supreme magistrate, or of a female in the line of succession to
the supreme magistracy, may introduce a foreign influence and royal house into the realm.]
[32] Deuteronomy 17. [ See especially verse 15.]
[33] Lupold of Bebenburg, De jure regni et imperii, I, 8.
[34]
Acts 5.
[35] Andreas Gail says that it is permitted to a lord to take and hold the goods of subjects until the subjects are brought back
into the obedience that they owe. Practicum observationum, I, obs. 17.
[36] How this is to be done is discussed in Chapter XXXVIII below, where I have explained how, when, and by what persons a
supreme magistrate who has become a tyrant against the original covenant and compact may be resisted.
[37] De tyrannia.
XXI–XXVII POLITICAL PRUDENCE IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE COMMONWEALTH
XXI
[§ 1] THE CONSTITUTING OF THE SUPREME MAGISTRATE has thus far been discussed. We turn now to his administration, which is
conducted according to the agreement by which it was bestowed. In keeping with the agreement, this administration pertains not
to individuals, but to the members of the realm collectively. … [§ 2] The administration of the commonwealth or realm, which
is granted by the people and conducted by the magistrate, is the wise, diligent, and just care, management, oversight, and
defense of the rights of sovereignty ( jura majestatis), that is, of the affairs and goods of the realm and its subjects, in accord
with their nature and condition. It is directed to the glory of God and to the welfare of the realm and its subjects. …
[§ 5] The order, rule, and norm of this administration should first be understood, and then its types.
1
[ § 6 ] The order and rule
of this administration consist in political prudence, in which no administration of a magistrate ought to be lacking. … [§ 8] This
political prudence is, according to the authority of Justus Lipsius,
2
the understanding and choice of those things that publicly and
privately are to be done or to be omitted in the administration of a commonwealth. Understanding is to be likened to the eye,
and choice to the hand. I accept the word “prudence” in the broad sense, as does Cicero.
3
Seneca describes this political prudence when he says that it orders the present, provides for the future, and remembers
the past.
4
King David exercised this prudence in his government and administration. “God chose his servant David … who tended
the peoples of Israel with a sound mind, and guided them with a prudent hand.”
5
“The people is without judgment and
prudence; would that they were sensitive to the past, understood the present, and provided for the new or the future.”
6
“Wisdom resides in venerable things, and prudence in what has stood the test of time.”
7
“The governor will consider the events
of past years in his own and other commonwealths, what was done well and what was done badly, what in those events was
laudable and what was reprehensible; and in judging individual persons, he will consider how they lived in those periods of their
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