A Dialogue on the Law of Kingship among the Scots

A Critical Edition and Translation of George Buchanan's De Iure Regni apud Scotos Dialogus

Roger A. Mason, Martin S. Smith

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9781859284087
• eBook ISBN:
  9781351962537
• Topic: Storia
• Subtopic: Storia mondiale

George Buchanan (1506-82) was one of the most distinguished humanists of the Northern European Renaissance. Hailed by his contemporaries as the greatest Latin poet of his age, he is chiefly remembered today as a radical political theorist whose Dialogus, first published in Edinburgh in 1579, justified the deposition of Mary, Queen of Scots in 1567 on the basis of a theory of popular sovereignty, which vested in the people the right to resist, depose and kill tyrannical monarchs. Dedicated to his pupil James VI, whose violent reaction against his tutor's ideas led him to develop his own views on the divine right of kings, Buchanan's work nevertheless proved immensely influential both in Britain and on the Continent, making a notable contribution to the debates over the nature and location of sovereignty which would finally bear fruit in the writings of John Locke. This new edition, featuring facing-page Latin text and English translation, is accompanied by extensive notes and commentary on Buchanan's classical and contemporary sources and a detailed introduction that examines the development of Buchanan's political thought, the context in which the Dialogus was written and published, and an extended analysis of the text itself.

DE
Jure Regni
APUD
SCOTOS.
OR, A
DIALOGUE,
Concerning the due Priviledge of
GOVERNMENT
In the Kingdom of
SCOTLAND.

---

BETWIXT
GEORGE BUCHANAN
And
THOMAS MAITLAND,
Bv the said
GEORGE BUCHANAN.

Translated out of the Original Latine into English.

By PHILALETHES.

---

LONDON, Printed for Richard Baldwin. 1689.

Title page from the 1689 English edition, courtesy of Glasgow University Library

{Sig. A2r}

Georgius Buchananus Iacobo Sexto Scotorum Regi. S.P.D.^a

Scripseram ante annos complures, cum apud nos res turbulentissimae essent, dialogum de regum Scotorum iure, in quo ab incunabulis ipsis (ut ita dicam) quod ius, quaeve potestas sit regibus et civibus inter se explicare sum conatus. Is liber cum pro tempore profuisse nonnihil sit visus, ut occluderet ora quibusdam, qui clamoribus importunis magis, qui turn erat rerum statum insectarentur, quam quid rectum esset ad rationis normam exigerent, rebus tamen paulo tranquillioribus, ipse quoque arma deposita concordiae publicae libens consecravi. Nuper autem cum in eam disputationem inter schedas repertam incidissem, ac visus essem in ea multa videre, quae aetati tuae (in ea praesertim rerum humanarum parte collocatae) essent necessaria, earn publicandam censui, ut et mei in te studii esset testis, et tui erga cives officii te admoneret. Multa autem mihi faciunt fidem hunc meum conatum non inanem fore. In primis aetas nondum pravis opinionibus corrupta, et supra aetatem indoles ad praeclarissima^b quaeque capessenda sponte properans et non modo praeceptoribus sed omnibus recte monentibus in obtemperando facilitas et in rebus examinandis iudicium et solertia: quo in genere nullius apud te magnopere pollet auctoritas nisi {sig. A2v} probabili ratione confirmetur. Video etiam te naturae quodam instinctu ab adulatione, quae et tyrannidis est nutricula, et legitimi regni gravissima pestis, adeo abhorrere, ut soloecismos et barbarismos aulicos, non minus oderis, quam, qui sibi omnis elegantiae censores videntur, eos ament et affectent et velut sermonis condimenta passim maiestates, dominationes, illustritates, et si qua alia magis sunt putida aspergant. Ab hoc te errore quamquam et naturae bonitas et institutio rectorum in praesentia vindicent, tamen nonnihil subvereri cogor, ne blanda vitiorum altrix, prava consuetudo animum adhuc tenellum in peiorem partem detorqueat: praesertim cum non ignorem quam reliqui nostri sensus facile sese praebeant seducendos. Hunc igitur ad te, non modo monitorem, sed etiam flagitatorem importunum, ac interim impudentem misi, qui in hoc flexu aetatis, trans adulationis scopulos te comitetur: nec moneat modo, sed in via semel inita contineat, et si quid deflexeris, reprehendat et retrahat. Cui si parveris, tibi tuisque in praesentia tranquillitatem, et in futurum sempiternam comparabis gloriam.

Vale. Sterlini. Anno salutis humanae 1579. Dei decimo Ianuarii.

{Sig. A2r}

George Buchanan to James VI, King of Scots, Greetings¹

Some years ago, when our country’s affairs were in a very unsettled state, I wrote a dialogue concerning the right of the kings of Scots in which I tried to explain from their very cradle (if I may put it that way) the mutual rights or powers of kings and their subjects. At the time the book seemed to have been of some use in silencing certain people who railed against the existing situation with unseemly cries rather than weighing what was right in the scale of reason. But as our affairs became a little more tranquil, I too put aside my arms and willingly laid them upon the altar of public concord. Recently, however, I happened to find that discussion among my papers, and seeming to find in it many things which were necessary to someone of your age (and especially to someone with your role in public life), I decided to publish it both to witness to my zeal for you and to advise you of your duty towards your subjects. Many things make me confident that this effort of mine will not be wasted. Your age in particular, not yet corrupted by vicious opinion; a character far above your years, eager of its own accord to strive for distinction of every kind; a willingness to submit not only to your teachers but to all those who give you good advice; and such judgement and skill in assessing matters that no man’s authority carries much weight with you in anything unless {A2v} it is supported by sound reasoning. I also see that by a certain natural instinct you so abhor flattery, the nurse of tyranny and the most grievous plague of lawful kingship, that you despise the solecisms and barbarisms of courtiers no less than they are relished and affected by those who, seeing themselves as arbiters of all good taste, randomly sprinkle their conversation, as if it were seasoning, with ‘majesties’, ‘lordships’, ‘excellencies’, and other terms which are even more repugnant. Although your natural goodness and the teaching of your instructors protect you for the present from this error, nevertheless I am bound to be somewhat anxious lest evil company, the fawning foster-mother of the vices, should twist your still tender mind in the worse direction, especially since I know how readily our other senses yield to temptation. I have sent you this book, then, not only as a guide, but also as a harsh and sometimes insolent critic, to steer you, at this formative time in your life, through the reefs of flattery. It may not only admonish you, but also keep you to the path which you have once embarked upon, and if you should stray from it, rebuke you and drag you back again. If you obey it, you will gain for yourself and your people tranquillity in the present and, in the future, everlasting glory.

Farewell. From Stirling. In the year of human salvation 1579, the 10th day of January.

{Sig. A3r; p. 1}

De Iure Regni apud Scotos, dialogus, auctore Georgio Buchanano Scoto^a

Personae
G.^b Buchananus Thomas Maetellanus

Cum nuper e Galliis Thomas Maetellanus rediisset eumque diligenter de statu rerum Gallicarum percontatus essem, coepi pro meo in ilium amore hortari ut in curriculo ad gloriam instituto perseveraret spemque optimam de progressu studiorum suorum conciperet. Nam si ego, mediocri ingenio, re familiari prope nulla, saeculo inerudito, ita tamen cum temporum iniquitate conflixerim ut aliquid praestitisse videar, certe quibus feliciore saeculo natis aetas opes ingenium abunde suppetunt hi neque labore ab honesto instituto deterreri deberent neque tot adminiculis adiuti desperare possunt. Pergerent igitur pro virili rem litterariam illustrare ac se suosque cives memoriae posteritatis commendare; quod si paululum conniterentur, fore ut eam opinionem ex animis hominum tollerent, in frigidis orbis regionibus a litteris humanitate omnique ingenii cultu homines tantum abesse^c quantum a sole abessent. Nam ut Afris et Aegyptiis aliisque plerisque nationibus celeriores {2} animi motus acrimoniamque maiorem ingenii natura indulserit, nullam tamen gentem ita^d prorsus damnavit ut ad virtutem et gloriam aditum ei praecluserit.

Hic cum ille de se (qui est eius pudor) modice, de me vero magis amanter quam vere locutus esset, eo tandem sermonis cursus nos pertraxit ut, ubi ille me de perturbato patriae statu rogasset et ego ei quantum commodum mihi pro tempore videbatur respondissem, coeperim invicem eum rogare quaenam vel Gallorum vel aliarum quas in Galliis convenisset gentium de rebus nostris esset opinio. Non enim dubitabam quin ipsa rerum novitas, ut solet, omnibus esset occasionem et materiam sermonum datura. Quorsum, inquit ille, id ex me petis? Nam cum et rei gestae ordinem teneas nec ignores quid maxima pars hominum loquatur, omnes propemodum sentiant, facile conicere potes ex animi tui conscientia quae sit vel saltem debeat esse omnium opinio.

BUCHANANUS At enim quanto longius exterae nationes absunt eoque minores causas irae odii amoris aliarumque ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction
• A Note on the text and translation
• De Iure Regni apud Scotos Dialogus
• Notes and commentary
• Bibliography
• Index