Generosity

This act of largesse highlights the king's capacity It's Largosh, I guess it is.

The Act of Largosh or Largess.

It's hard for me to pronounce that.

Highlights the king's capacity to reward loyalty and rectify wrongs with material wealth.

Wherefore inasmuch as there are far more unlettered than lettered who desire to understand them it follows that Latin would not have fully accomplished their order as does the vernacular which is understood alike by the lettered and the unlettered.

Moreover, Latin would have expounded them to folk of another tongue such as Germans and English and others And here it would have exceeded their command For speaking at large I declare that it would have been against their will that their meaning should be expounded where they themselves could not carry it together with their beauty And therefore let every one know that nothing which hath the harmony of musical connection can be transferred from its own tongue into another without shattering all its sweetness and harmony And this is the reason why Homer is not translated from Greek into Latin as are the other writings that we have of theirs And this is the reason why the verses of the Psalter are without the sweetness of music and harmony for they were translated from Hebrew into Greek and from Greek into Latin and in the first translation all their sweetness perished And thus is the conclusion reached which was promised at the beginning of the chapter immediately before this Chapter eight Now that it has been shown by sufficient reasons how, to avoid undue inversion of order, the aforesaid odes must needs have a vernacular and not a Latin comment to reveal and expound them, I purpose to show how zealous liberality likewise made me choose the one and drop the other Zealous liberality then is marked by three things which cleave to this vernacular and would not have cleft to the Latin The first is giving to many; the second is giving things useful; the third is giving the gift without its being asked For to give to and to help one is good But to give to and to help many is zealous goodness inasmuch as it taketh its likeness from the benefactions of God Who is the most universal benefactor And moreover It is impossible to give to many Without giving to one Inasmuch as one Is included in many But it is entirely possible To give to one Without giving to many Wherefore He who helps many Doth the one good deed And the other He who helps one Doth the one good deed Only Whence We see the makers Of the laws Keeping their eyes Chiefly fixed On the general Good In making Them again "To give things that are of no use to him who receives them" is indeed good insofar as he who gives shows at least his friendship But it is not perfectly good and so is not zealous giving As if a knight should give a shield to a doctor And the doctor should give a copy of the aphorisms of Hippocrates or the art of Galen to the knight Wherefore the wise say that the face of the gift ought to resemble that of the receiver That is to say Should be suitable to him And should be Useful And herein is the Liberality deemed zealous Of the man Who is Thus Discerning in His Gifts But inasmuch as moral counselings are wont to create a desire to investigate their origin, in this chapter I purpose to briefly expound four reasons why a gift must needs be useful to him who receives it in order that there may be zealous liberality therein Firstly because virtue should be cheerful and not gloomy in its every act wherefore If the Gift Be Not Cheerful In The Giving And In The Receiving There Is Not Perfect Nor Zealous Virtue In It This Cheerfulness Naught Else Can Secure Save Utility Which Abides In The Giver By The Giving And Which Comes To The Receiver By The Receiving The giver Then Must Show Foresight In So Doing That on his side remains the utility of the comeliness which is above all utility And in so doing That to the receiver Shall go over The utility Of the Use Of the thing Given And thus The One And the Other Will be Cheerful And Consequently There will be More Zealous Liberality Secondly Because virtue should always move things for the better Thus, as it would be blameworthy action to make a spade out of a beautiful sword or to make a beautiful goblet out of a beautiful lyre.

So it is blameworthy to move a thing from a place where it is useful and bear it to a place where it will be less useful And because futile action is blameworthy It is blammworthy not only to put a thing where it will be less useful but also to put it where it will be equally useful Wherefore in order that the changing of things may be praiseworthy it must ever be for the better Because it should aim at being praiseworthy in the highest degree And the gift cannot effect this except it become more dear by the change Nor can it become more dear except it become more useful for the receiver to use than the giver Whence the conclusion follows That the gift must be useful to him who receives it In order that there may be zealous liberality in the giving Thirdly because the operation of virtue ought in itself to acquire friends Since our life has need of such and the end of virtue Is that our life should be satisfied Wherefore in order that the gift may make the receiver friendly it should be useful to him Because utility stamps the memory with the image of the gift Which same is the food of friendship; and it stamps the more strongly in measure As the utility is greater: wherefore Martin is wont to say I shall not forget the present which John made me so thatin order for its proper virtue To reside in the gift—to wit liberalitYAnd for it to be zealous The gift must be useful to him who receives it Finallybecause virtue Should be freeand not constrainedIn its actionsAction is freewhen a person goes spontaneouslyIn any directionAnd it is shownBy his turningHis faceThat way ActionIs constraintWhen a manGoes against His willAnd it is ShownIn hisNot lookingIn the DirectionIn whichHe is goingNowThe gifTLooks thatWay whenIt isDirectedTo theNeedOf himWho ReceivesIT andSince itCannotBe directedThereuntoUnless itIs UsefulIn orderThat theVirtueMay beFreeIn its ActionThe GiftMust have FreeCourseIn theDirectionIn whichIt travelsTogetherWith theReceiverAnd consequentlyThe Utilityof the Receivermust Be comprisedIn theGiftIn orderthat There May beZealous LiberalityIn itthe third Thing wherein Zealous Liberalitymay benoted is Giving withoutbeing askedBecause whenthething ISasked forthenthetransactionISon onesidenota matterofvirtuebutofcommerceandasmuchas hewhoreceivEsbuysthough Hewhogives sellsnotwhereforesenecasayethatnothingisboughtmoredearthanthat onwhichprayersarespentWhereforeinorderthattheremaybezealousliberalityInthegiftandthatitmabe notedthereinitbehovesthatitbeclearofeveryfeatureofmerchandiseandsothtegiftmustbeunaskEdwhythethingbeggedforcostsoDearIdo NotProposeTodiscourseofherebecauseitwillbesufficientlydiscoursedoffinthelasttreatiseofthisbookEndofsectiontwoSectionthreeoftheConvivioThisisaLibriVoxrecordingAll LibriVox recordings are inthepublicdomainForMoreInformationOr TovolunteePleaseVisitLibriVoxdotOrgThe ConviviobyDanteAlighieriTranslated ByPhilip H WicksteedTreatise One Chapters Nine Through Thirteen ChapterNine NowFromallthet hree AbovenamedConditionsWhich Must Unite In Order That ZealousLiberalityMayResideinaBenefactionThe LatinCommentaryWouldHaveBeenRemoteWhereasThe VernacularIsAccompaniedBythemAsMaybeManifestlyDemonstrated ThusTheLatin WouldNothaveServedMany ForIfweCalltomindWhatwassetaBoveLetterEDmenwhohavenott heItalianTongueCouldnothaveEnjoyedThisserviceA ndAsforThoseWhowithistongueshouldWechoosetoExamineClosely WhoTheyAreW eShallFind ThattheywouldhavebeenservedByitPerhapsintheproportion OfOnetoa thousandFortheRest wouldnothaveReceiveditSoZealous AretheyTowardsavariceWhichParts themfromallnobilit yOFmindWHICHISTHEchiefcausefordEsiring ThisFoodANDINReproof OfthemIsaythat theyOughtNOTtobecalledletterEd BecausetheydonautacquireliteratureforitsownuseButjustinsofarAstheyMaygainmoneyorofficebyt ITJustAS weOUGHTnottocallhimaharper Whohatha harpinhishousetohireOutfora priceANdnotTOUSEittoplayuponReturningthen TothemainpropositionI SaythatitisclearenougHowt helatinWOULDHAVEconferredItsbenefitUponFew WhereasVerilyTHEvernacularWillbef serviceTomanyForgoodness OFMindWHICHAwaITS thisserviceIstobefoundINTHEMWHO Byt hegrievusdisUseofthew world HaveabandonedLiteraturetosuchashavemade heraharlOTinsteadofaLady

heraharlOTinsteadofaLadywhich noble ones are princes, barons and knights, and many other noble folk not only men but women.

Of which men and women alike there are many of this tongue who command the vernacular but are not lettered.

Further Latin would not have been the giver of a useful gift which the vernacular will be because nothing is useful save insofar as it is used nor does its excellence consist in potentiality which is not perfected existence; as in the case of gold gems and other treasures which be buried albeit those which are in the hand of a miser are in a baser place than is the earth wherein the treasure is hidden now what this comment gives verily is the meaning of the odes for which purpose it is made The principal design whereof is to lead men to knowledge and virtue as will be seen in the progress of the treatment of them.

Of this meaning none can avail themselves save such in whom true nobility is sown after the fashion which will be related in the fourth treatise And almost all of these command the vernacular only even as those noble ones named above in this chapter: and this is not contradicted by a lettered man here and there being one of them For as saith my master Aristotle in the first of the Ethics 'One swallow does not make spring.' It is plain then that the vernacular will give a useful thing whereas the Latin would not have given it further the vernacular will give a gift unasked Which the latin would not have done? For it will give itself as a commentary which was never yet asked by anyone and This cannot be said of the Latin for it has been demanded ere now as Commentary and gloss too many writings As may be seen clearly at the head of many of the same and Thus it is manifest that zealous liberality moved me to the vernacular rather than to the Latin Chapter 10 Great must be the excuse when at a banquet so noble in its viands and so distinguished in its guests Oaten and not wheaten bread is presented Evident must be the reason which shall make a man depart from that which hath long been observed by others To wit Commenting in Latin Therefore the reason must be made Manifest for the issue of new things is uncertain Because there hath never been experience thereof By which things of usage and tradition Are regulated both in their Progress and in their end and This is why Reason was Moved to commend That men should Have careful respect Of entering on A new path Saying In ordaining New things The reason Must be evident Which shall Make us Depart From that Which Hath Long Been Of use Let None Marvel Then If the Digression Of my Apology Be long But let him Patiently Endure Its length As necessary Following it out I declare That inasmuch As it hath Been shown How i Was moved To the Vernacular And Forsook The latin Commentary To prevent Undue inversion Of order And in zeal Of Liberality The Order of The whole apology Will have Me show how I was moved thereto By the Natural Love of My own Tongue Which Is the third Last reason Which moved me To it Hereto I say That natural love Chiefly moves the lover To three Things The First is to magnify The loved Object The next to be jealous for it The Third is to defend it As every One May see Continually Happening These Three things Made me adopt it To whit The vernacular For Both naturally Incidentally I Love it And have Loved I Was moved in the first Place to Magnify it And that herein I do magnify it May be Seen by this Reason Albeit Things Can be magnified That is Made great By Many Conditions of greatness None of Them makes So great As the greatness Of Their Own Proper Excellence Which IS the mother Preserver Of the Other Greatnesses Wherefore a Man Can have no greatness More Than that of the virtuous Operation Which is his Own proper Excellence whereby the greatness of True Dignities and of True Honours of True Power of True Riches of True friends of True Clear Fame Are both acquired preserved and This Greatness Do I Give to this friend Inasmuch as the excellence which it had in potentiality and in secret, I make it have in actuality and publicity.

In its own proper operation, which is to make manifest the thought conceived.

And having grasped one and the other dart, he cried: 'Uplift your necks; behold the arms which I have chosen; rusted ye see them by disuse.

Generosity and Temperance, and the others born of our blood, go their way begging.

Whereat, if this be loss, let the eyes weep and the mouth wail of men whom it concerns, who have come under the rays of such a heaven.

Not we, who are of the eternal rock: for though we now be thrust at, we shall endure; and folk will come again who shall make this dart abide in brightness.' And I who mark, in divine discourse, comfort and dole bestowed upon such lofty exiles, count as my glory the banishment wreaked on me.

Thanks for joining us here on Today with Jeff Vines.

We're in a series called Generosity.

Pastor Jeff is exploring the power of giving of our time and resources and looking at the impact it can have on our communities.

We're partway through this message.

I can't afford to give without burdening myself.

We said this last week, but you can't bear Christ's burden for the world without burdening yourself.

Generosity includes sacrifice.

Sacrifice.

Thanks for joining us on Today with Jeff Vines.

We're kicking off a series called Generosity.

Pastor Jeff will explore the power of giving of our time and resources and the impact it can have on our communities.

Let's get into it now.

Thanks for joining us here on Today with Jeff Vines.

We're in a series called Generosity.

Pastor Jeff is exploring the power of giving of our time and resources and looking at the impact it can have on our communities.

We're partway through this message.

Thanks for joining us on Today with Jeff Bynes.

We're kicking off a series called Generosity.

Pastor Jeff will explore the power of giving of our time and resources and the impact it can have on our communities.

Let's get into it now.

as you have seen a man of science take a beam of light and pass it through a crystal prism as you have seen it come out on the other side of the prism broken up into its component colors red and blue and yellow and violet and orange and all the colors of the rainbow so paul passes this thing love through the magnificent prism of his inspired intellect and it comes out on the other side broken up into its elements And in these few words we have what one might call the spectrum of love, the analysis of love.

Will you observe what its elements are? Will you notice that they have common names, that they are virtues that we hear about every day? that they are things which can be practiced by every man in every place in life and how by a multitude of small things and ordinary virtues the supreme thing the sumum bonum is made up the spectrum of love has nine ingredients patience love suffereth long kindness and is kind Generosity, love envieth not.

Humility, love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.

Courtesy, doth not behave itself unseemly.