employments, and many others that are uneafy or ill entertained at home. The forward, the bufy, the bold, the fufficient, purfue their game with more paffion, endeavour, application, and thereby often fucceed where better men would fail.-In the courfe of my obfervation I have found no talent of fo much advantage among men, towards their growing great or rich, as a violent and restless paffion; for whoever fets his heart and thoughts wholly upon fome one thing must have very little wit, or very little luck, to fail.-Yet all thefe cover their ends with most worthy pretences, and those noble sayings, "MEN ARE NOT BORN FOR THEMSELVES, AND MUST SACRIFICE THER LIVES FOR THE PUBLIC, AS WELL AS THEIR TIME AND THEIR HEALTH:" and those who think nothing lefs are so used to say fuch fine things, that fuch who truly believe them are almost ashamed to own it.-In the mean time, the noble, the wife, the rich, the modeft, thofe cafy in their conditions or their minds, thofe who know most of the world and themselves, are not only careless, but often averfe from entering into public charges or employments, unless upon the neceffities of their country, the commands of their prince, or the inftances of their friends. What is to be done in this cafe, when fuch as offer themselves, and pursue, are not worth having, and fuch such as are moft worthy will neither offer, nor perhaps accept. When, upon this occafion, complaints and difcontents are sown among well meaning men, they are fure to be cultivated by others that are ill-intentioned and interested, and who cover their own ends under those of the public, and, by the good and fervice of the nation, mean nothing but their own.-The practice begins of knaves and fools, of artificial and crafty men upon the fimple and the good; these easily follow, and are caught, while the others lay the trains, and pursue a game, wherein they defign no other fhare, than of toil and danger to their company, but the gain wholly to themselves. They blow up sparks wherever they find the fubble is dry: they find out mifcarriages wherever they are, and forge them often where they are not; they find fault firft with the perfons in office, and then with the prince or state; fometimes with the execution of laws, and at a It is but a foolish wisdom, which is so carefully displayed, in undervaluing princes, and placing them on a level with the meaneft of mankind.-To be fure, an anatomist finds no more in the greatest monarch than in the lowest peafant or day-labourer; and a moralift may, perhaps, frequently find lefs. But what do all these reflections tend to ?-We, all of us, ftill retain thefe prejudices in favour of birth and family; and neither in our ferious occupations, nor moft carclefs amufements, can we ever get intirely rid of them.-A tragedy, at other times with the inftitutions, how ancient and facred - foever. They make alarms pass for actual dangers, and appearances for truth; reprefent misfortunes for faults, and mole-bills for mountains; and by the perfuafion of the vulgar, and pretences of patriots, or lovers of their country, at the fame time that they undermine the credit and authority of the government, they set up their own.-This raises a faction between thofe fubjects that would fupport government, and those that would ruin it; or rather between those that poffefs honors and advantages of it, and thofe that, UNDER THE PRETENCE OF REFORMING, defign only or chiefly to change the hands it is in, and care little what becomes of the reft. When this fire is kindled, both fides inflame it; all care of the public is laid afide, and nothing is purfued but the intereft of the factious ; all regard of merit is loft in perfons, a tragedy, that should reprefent the adventures of porters, would prefently dif guit us; but one that introduces kings and princes, acquires in our eyes an air of importance and dignity.—Or should a man be able, by his superior wiflom, to get intirely above fuch prepoffeffions, he would foon, by means of the fame wif dom, again bring himself down to them, for the fake of fociety, whofe welfare he would perceive to be intimately connected with them.-Far from endeavouring to undeceive the people in this particular, he would cherish fuch fentiments of reverence to their princes, as requifite to preferve a due fubordination in fociety. a Of all men, that diftinguish themselves by memorable atchievements, the first place of honour feems due to LEGISLATORS and FOUNDERS OF STATES, who perfons employed, and those only are chosen, that are true to THE PARTY; and the only talent required is, to be hot, to be heady, to be true to the fide he is on.-When who transmit a system of laws and inflitutions to secure the peace, happiness, and liberty of future generations.-The influence of useful inventions in the arts and sciences may, perhaps, extend farther than that of wife laws, whose effects are limited both in time and place; but the benefit arifing from the former, is not fo fenfible as that which results from the latter.-Speculative fciences do, indeed, improve the mind; but this advantage reaches only to a few perfons, who have leifure to apply themselves to them.-And as to practical arts, which increase the commodities and enjoyments of life, it is well known, that men's happiness confifts not fo much in an abundance of thefe, as in the peace and fecurity with which they possess them; and those blessings can only be derived from good government.-Not to mention, that general virtue and good morals in a state, which are so requifite to happiness, can never arife from the most refined precepts of philofophy, or even the feverest injunctions of religion; but muft proceed intirely from the virtuous education of youth, the effect of wife laws and inftitutions. As much as LEGISLATORS and founders of fates ought to be honoured and respected among men, as much ought the founders of fects and factions to be detefted and hated; because the influence of faction is directly contrary to that of laws. Factions fubvert government, render laws impotent, and beget the fierceft animofities among men of the fame nation, who ought to give mutual affiftance and protection to each other. And what should render the founders of parties more odious is, the difficulty of extirpating these weeds, when once they have taken root in any state.-They naturally propagate themfelves for many centuries, and feldom end but by the total diffolution of that government, in which they are fown.-They are, befides, plants which grow most plentifully in the richest soil; and though absolute governments be not intirely free from them, it must be confeffed, that they rife more eafily, and propagate themselves faster in free governments, where they always infect the legislature itself, which alone could be able, by the steady application of rewards and punishments, to eradicate them. thefe ftorms are raised, the wife and good are intirely laid afide or retire of themselves, and leave the scene. to fuch as are more active and eager to get upon the stage. - From these feeds grow popular commotions, and at laft feditions, which fo often end in fome fatal periods of the best governments. I cannot leave this fubject of popular difcontents without reflecting and bewailing, how much and how often our country has been infefted by them; how they have ravaged and defaced the nobleft fland of the world, and which feems, from the happy fituation, the temper of climate, the fertility of foil, the numbers and native courage of the inhabitants, to have been defined by God and nature, for the greatest happiness, or fecurity at home, and to give laws, or balance at least, to all their neighbours abroad. Upon a clear furvey of thefe difpofitions in mankind, and the condition of all governments, it feems much more reasonable to pity, than to envy the fortunes and dignities of princes; and to leffen or excufe their venial faults, or at least their misfortunes, rather than to increase or make them worfe by ill colours or reprefentations.-FOR AS EVERY PRINCE SHOULD GOVERN, AS HE WOULD DESIRE TO BE GOVERNED, IF HE WERE A SUBJECT, |