The Garden of Wisdom Book 2, Part 11
¶ Of Cambyses.
CAmbyses Kynge of Persia was otherwyse a verye wycked and cruell tyraunte.
Yet there is no prynce of so disperat an hope of so naughtye a lyfe, but that at the lest waye otherwhyles doth some ho nest acte. For gods propertye is, to garnyshe & exornate the offyce of the magistrat & rulers, & he causeth, that for the cōseruatiō of ciuil gouernaūce in the common weale, sometyme excellente and profytable workes be of necessitie done of thē that beare rule. But to my purpose, Cambyses in al hystories is cōmended for this one facte, for whyche no doubte he deserueth prayse. In the former parte of Asia he had a deputie named Sisam nes, now he was credibly infourmed that thys Sisamnes beynge corrupted wyth brybes & rewardes, had falsly iudged agaynst the kynges lawes & agaynst good ryght & cōsciēce. The mater beyng examined & foūde true, sorthwyth he cōmaūded he shulde be put to death, and yt the skynne of hys body shuld be plucked of, & layd ouer the iudgemēt seat, where he gaue the false iudgemente, & in hys rowme he dyd set Dtane the sayde iudges sonne to succede hys father in office whyche was admonished by cōtemplacion of his fathers skinne, yt he shuld succede hym also in lyke kynde of punyshmēt yf he folowed his fathers steppes.
Thys exemple teacheth them yt beare offyce & rule to remēber, yt god suffereth not iniustice nor iniury vnreuenged. But for asmuche as I hauehave entred to speake of Cambyses, which otherwyse as I hauehave sayd, lyued a very tyrānouse & wycked lyfe: I thynke it here good to report certayne his notoriouse crymes and his ende, to thyntent all rulers, what so euer they be, maye take exemple at hym, to feare God, to preserue the common weale, to execute iustice and iudgemēt, to vse theyr subiectes as men and not as beastes. This Cambyses beganne to raygne, after that Cyrus hys father had made his viage agaynst the Scithians. And albeit at the begynnynge he subdued & conquered Egypte, yet anone he forgatte all goodnes and degendred quyte & cleane frō the renowmed & excellent vertues of hys father Wherfore when Prexaspes one of hys chosen counsaylours aduertysed hym very freely and sayde vntounto hym, that the Persians praysed hym very much, but thys one thyng dyspleased them, that he was so subiecte to the vyce of dronkēnes, anone he cōmaunded the chyefe estates & lordes of thē pyre to be called together, and asked of thē, whether in any thyng he were worthy to be reprehēded? They espyeng how thankful & plausible a thing flattery is, aūswered, no, but yt in vertue & prowesse, he also excelleth his father Cyrus, forasmuche as vntounto hys empyre and dominion he had gotten by way of conquest the kyngdome of Egypt. But contrary wyse Cresus a worthy lord, vntounto whose cure and gouernaunce Cyrus had tōmytted hys sonne Cambyses to be instructed and brought vp in honestie and vertue, by cause he wolde merylye, as muche as myghte be borne, abate the kynges pryde, aunswered, & sayd, that Cambyses myght not be yet compared to hys father Cyrus, forasmuche as there is not yet begotten such a sonne of hym, as Cyrus lefte Cambyses. Thys thynge then, as featly spoken, pleased the kynge welynough. Thus the coūsayle beyng parted, whē none of the lordes had blamed any thynge in him, he cōmaūded Prexaspes to be called afore him, & bad him bryng vntounto hym hys yonger son. For he wold declare, how wel he coulde seme sobre euen when he had most of al dronken for he sayd he wold euē whē he were dronkē with hys bowe shote at Prexaspes sonne, & yf he myght wyth hys arowe stryke through hys herte, thē it myght be iudged, that in the myddes of hys cuppes he wāteth not the practyse of coūsaylle, & iudgement of reason. Yf not, yt he were worthye to be called a drōkard. To be short, whē Cāhyses had throughly washed hys braynes wyth wyne, he shotte at the chyld as at an appointed marke, and strykynge hym through the herte, he cōmaūnded it shuld be cut out, and so he shewed it to ye father Prexaspes, sayenge, that the chyldes herte was well hit, wherfore he mought esteme full well herby, yt he was no drōkard. So barbarouse, so sauage, and so tyrannicall maners, doeth dronkennes brynge vponupon the myndes of men, although they were before ryghtly institute and broughte vp, lyke as it is no doubt, but that kynge Cambyses was at the begynnynge in his youth brought vp in moost honest maners. And albeit this drōkarde was not ignoraūt of the feate of shotyng, yet in the meane season he could not vse the ryght coūsaylles of reason, but lacked those vertues whych be wonte to allure men vntounto gentle sobriete & to the studye of honest renowne. Such maner exemples must be propowned vntounto yonge men, whych for ye most part be geuē to the foule vice of dronkēnes for what ende folowed of these maners, a lytell herafter shalbe dedared. He murdered also hys owne brother smerdis, whō he priuely caused to be put to deth, lest he might at any tyme be king. Furthermore he toke to wife hys owne suster germayne, wheras nature abhorreth from such kynde of copulation. Nowe it befell so, that when kynge Cambyses sat at a feast wyth hys syster the quene, for theyr sporte and pleasure he set a yonge lyon and a very eger dogge togither by the eares, so whē the lyon in strength and fyercenes had preuayled, an other dogge no les fyerce, brastyng his bandes wherwyth he was boūd dyd helpe the dogge hys brother & vaynquyshed the lyon. The kinge was excedyngly delyted with thys syght for the faythfulnes of ye dogges betwene themselues. But by the same facte the quene beynge moued began very largelye to wepe and poure oute teares and to water her tender chekes. The kynge toke this her wepynge very heuely and demaunded of her the cause of her sorowe, she aunswered in this wyse. Certes, my dere husbande and brother, euen so great a feythfulnes might hauehave chaunced vntounto vsus of our brother as we se here betwene these two dogges that be of all one lytter. The kyng greuously taking this aunswere, cōmaūded she shuld forthwith be taken out of hys syght and put to deathe. But such maners coulde not long hauehave successe. For God speaketh in the scripture. Blowdy men and wylye shall not fynyshe halfe theyr dayes vponupon the erthe.
Wherfore not long after, wyth a greuouse vengeaunce, God plaged him. For as he was comming out of Egypte in to Persia, when he shulde mownt on horsbacke, his swerd felle out of the skaberd and sore wounded hym in suche wyse that he dyed of it. This exēple testifyeth, that god woll not longe suffre tyrantes to reygne. For not lōge after ye deathe of Cyrus aboue ye space of one yere lyued Cambyses, neither lefte he any heyre of his kyngdome.