>Y^LIE«¥MII¥IlI&SSirY'
Gift of
PROF. GERARD E. JENSEN
1933
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WORKS
OF THE LATE RIGHT HONOURABLE
HENRY ST. JOHN,
LORD VISCOUNT BOLINGBROKE.
WITH
THE LIFE
OF
LORD BOLINGBROKE
BY DE. POLDSM1TH,
NOW ENLARGED 13V MORE RECENT INFORMATION
RELATIVE TO HIS PUBLICK AND PERSONAL CHARACTER,
SELECTED I'ROM VARIOUS AUTHORITIES.
A NEW EDITION7,
IN EIGHT VOLUMES.
VOL. IV.

IL onncu :
Printed for J. Johnson ; Otkidge & Son; Faulder&Son; T. Payne ;
Wilkie le Robinson; Scatciierd & Letterman; J. Walker j
Vernob, Hood, & Sharpe; R. Lea; J. Nunn ; Lackington,
Allen, & Co. ; Cuthell & Martin ; Clarke & Sons; G. Robinson j
B. Crosby; Lonoman, Hurst, Rees, & Orme; Cadell & Daviis;
C. Law ; J. Richarpson ; E. Jefeery; R. Flo yer ; J. Aspernk ;
P. &. W. Wtnnb; and W. Grace.

18O.9.

CONTENTS, VOL. IV.
Letters on the Study and Use of History : (Continued
from Vol. hi.)
Letter VII. A sketch of the state and history of
Europe, from the Pyrenean treaty ia one thousand
six hundred and fifty-nine, to the year one thousand
six hundred and eighty-eight - - - ^ p. 3
r Letter VIII. The same subject continued from the year
one thousand six hundred and eighty-eight p. 46
A Plan for a general History of Europe - p. 155
Ofthe true Use of Retirement and Study - v p. 162
A Letter on the Spirit of Patriotism - p. 187
The Idea of a Patriot King - P- 225
Of the State of Parties at the accession of King
George the First - P- 335
gome Reflections on the present State of the Nation,
principally with regard to her Taxes and her Debts,
and on the Causes and Consequences of them p. 351
The Substance of some Letters, written originally in
French, about the year one thousand seven hundred
and twenty, to Mr. de Pouilly - - P- 395

ERRATA:
P. 203, 1. 10. for maintain read maintains.
236. 1. 2. for than read then.
427. 1. 8. from the bottom, for Hide read Hyde.
4-36. 1. 10. for Ari&tseus read Aijsteas.

LETTERS

on the STUDY and U S E or

HISTORY.

[CONTINUED FROM VOL. UX]

Vol. IV.

B

t ETTER VII. Sketch of the State and History of
Europe.
LETTER VIII. The same Subject continued.

PLAN for a General History of Europe. — Letter I.
Of the true use of Retirement and Study: to the
Rt. Honilc Lord Bathurst.— Letter II.

E i 1

:ttt' IO tlJU-rr'l

LETTER Vlf.
*> fKJSXCH OF THE STATE ANB HISTORY Of
EUROPE,
FROM TITE fYtttSEAN tKEATIf
in one triousand si* hundred anb fifty-kine,
to"
THE YEAR ' ONE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED AND EIGHTY'-El'tftlt.
TH E first observation I fhall make on this third
period of modern history is, that as the am
bition of Charles the fifth, who united the whole
formidable power of Austria in himself, and the
restless temper, the cruelty and bigotry of Philip
tile secondy were principally objects of the at*
tention and solicitude ©f the councils of Europe,
in the first of these periods; and as tlie ambition
of Ferdinand the second, and the third, who aimed
at nothing less than extirpating the protestant in*
terest, and under that pretence subduing the liber*
ties of Germany, were objects of the same kind
in the second : so an opposition to the growing-
power of France, or to speak more properly, to the
exorbitant ambition ofthe house of Bourbon, has
been the principal affair of Europe, during the
greatest part of the present period. The design
of aspiring to universal monarchy was imputed to
Charles tbe fifth, as soon as he began to give
b 2 proofs

4 ON THE STUDY ANB USE OF HISTOEY:
proofs of his ambition and capacity. The same
-design was imputed to Lewis the fourteenth, as
soon as he began to feel his own strength, and the
weakness of his neighbours. Neither of these
princes was induced, I believe, by the flattery of
his courtiers, or the apprehensions of his adver
saries, to entertain so chimerical a design as this
would have been, even in that false sense wherein
the word universal is so often understood : and I
mistake very much if either of them was of a
character, or in circumstances, to undertake it.
Both of them had strong desires to raise their
families higher, and to extend their, dominions
farther ; but neither of them had that bold and ad
venturous ambition which makes a conqueror
and a hero. These apprehensions however were
given wisely, and taken usefully. They cannot
be given nor taken too soon when such powers as
these arise ; because when such powers as these;
are besieged as it were early, by the common
policy and watchfulness of their neighbours,
each of them may in his turn of strength sally
forth, and gain a little ground ; but none of them
will be able to push their conquests far, and much^
less to consummate the entire projects of theis*
ambition. Beside the occasional opposition that
was given to Charles the fifth by our Henry tbe
eighth, according to the different moods of humour
he was in ; by the popes, according to the several
turns of their private interest ; and by the princes
of Germany, according to the occasions or pre'
tences that religion or civil liberty furnished ; he
had

LET. VII. STATE OF EUROPE. 5
had from his first setting out a rival and an enemy
in Francis the first, who did not maintain his
cause " in forma pauperis," if I may use such an
expression : as we have seen the house of Austria
sue, in our days, for dominion at the gate of every
palace in Europe. Francis the first was the prin
cipal in his own quarrels, paid his own armies,
fought his own battles; and though his valour alone
did not hinder Charles the fifth from subduing all
Europe, as Bayle, a better philologer than politi
cian, somewhere asserts, but a multitude of other
circumstances easily to be traced in history; yet
he contributed by his victories, and even by his
defeats, to waste the strength and check the course
of that growing power. Lewis the fourteenth
had no rival of this kind in the house of Austria,
nor indeed any enemy of this importance to com
bat, till the prince of Orange became King of
Great Britain : and he had great advantages in
many other respects, which it is necessary to con
sider in order to make a true judgment on the
affairs of Europe from the year one thousand six
hundred and sixty. You will discover the first of
these advantages, and such as were productive of
all the rest, in the conduct of Richelieu and of
Mazarin. Richelieu formed the great design, and
laid the foundations : Mazarin pursued the design,
and raised the superstructure. If I do not deceive
myself extremely, there are few passages in his
tory that deserve your lordship's attention more
than the conduct that the first and greatest of
these ministers held, in laying the foundation^ I
b 3 speajc

•6 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY:
speak of. You will observe bow he helped to
embroil affairs On every side, and to keep the
house of Austria at bay as it were : how he en-
¦ tsred into the quarrels of Italy against Spairf, into
that concerning the Valteliwe, and that concern
ing the succession of Mahtua; without engaging
so deep as to divert him from another great object
of his policy, subduing Rochelle and disarming
the Huguenots. You will observe bow he turned
himself after this was done, to stop the progress
of Ferdinand in Germany. While Spain fomented
• discontents at the court and disorders in the king
dom of France, by all possible meansj even by
taking engagements with the duke of Rohan, and
for supporting the protestants ; Richelieu abetted
the same interest in Germany against Ferdinand;
and in the -Low Countries against Spain. The era-
5 peror was become almost the master in Germany.
Christian the fourth, king of Denmark, had been
at the head of a league^ wherein the United Pro-.
vinCes, Sweden, and Lower Saxony entered, to
oppose his progress j but Christian had been de
feated by Tilly and Valstein, and obliged to
conclude a treaty at Lubec, where Ferdinand gave
him the law. It was then that Gustavus Adol-
- phus, with whom Richelieu made an alliance, en.
tered into this war, and soon turned tho fortune
of it. The French minister had not yet engaged
- his master openly in the war; but when the Dutch
grew impatient, and threatened to renew their
truce with Spain, unless France declared ; when
' the king of Sweden was killed, and the battle of
Nordlingen

LET. VII. S.TAfU Off iM.VS.pff-. _ 5^
Nordliflgen lost-; .when, ^pcony ;had tjHfrned again
to the slide of -the emperor, and BrjSifleB^HTg and
so many otbees had followed this, example, t^iat
Hesse , almost alone, persisted jn Jh0 Swedish al
liance : then Richelieu engaged his master, and
profit ted off every circumstance which the conjunc
ture afforded, to engage him with advantage. For,
first, he had a double advantage by engaging so
late : that of coming fresh intothe quarrel against
a wearied and almost exhausted enemy ; ani} that
of yielding to the impatience oi his friends, who,
pressed by their necessities and by tlie want they
had of France, gave this minister an opportunity
of laying those claims and establishing those pre
tensions, in all his treaties with Holland, Sweden,
and the princes and states of the empire, on which
he had p.ojected the -future aggrandisement of
France. The manner in which he engaged, and
the air that he gave to his engagement, were ad
vantages ofthe second tsortj advantages of repu
tation and credit; yet were these of no small
moment in the course of the war, and operated
strongly in favour of France as he designed .they
should, even after his death, and at and after the
treaties of Westphalia. He varnished ambition
with the most plausible and popular pretences.
The elector of Treves had put himself under the
protection of France : and, if I remember right,
he made this step When the emperor could not
protect him against the Swedes, whom he had
reason to apprehend. No matter, the governor
of Luxemburg was ordered to surprise Treves and
B 4 to

8 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
to seize the elector. He executed his orders with
success, and carried this prince prisoner into Bra
bant. Richelieu seized the lucky circumstance ;
he reclaimed the elector : and, on the refusal of
the cardinal infant, the war was declared. France,
you see, appeared the common friend of liberty,
the defender of it in the Low Countries against
the king of Spain, and in Germany against the
emperor, as well as the protector of the princes of
the empire, many of whose states had been ille-
gaily invaded, and whose persons were no longer
safe from violence even in their own palaces. All
these appearances were kept up in the negotiations
at Munster, where Mazarin reaped what Riche
lieu had sowed. The demands that France made
for herself were very great ; but the conjuncture
was favourable, and she improved it to the utmost.
No figure could be more flattering than hers, at
the head of these negotiations ; nor more mortify
ing than the emperor's through the whole course
of the treaty. The princes and states of the em
pire had been treated as vassals by the emperor :
France determined them to treat with him on this
occasion as sovereigns, and supported them in
this "determination. While Sweden seemed con
cerned for the protestant interest alone, and
showed no other regard, as she had no other al
liance ; France affected to be impartial alike to
the protestant and to the papist, and to have no
interest at heart but the common interest of the
Germanic body. Her demands were excessive,
but they were to be satisfied principally out of the
emperor's

LET. VII. STATE OF EUROPE. 'g
emperor's patrimonial dominions. It had been the
art of her ministers to establish this general maxim
on many particular experiences, that the grandeur
of France was a real, and would be a constant secu
rity to the rights and liberties ofthe empire against
the emperour : and it is no wonder therefore, this
maxim prevailing, injuries, resentments, and jea
lousies being fresh on one side,'and services, obliga
tions, and confidence on the other, that theGermans
were not unwilling France fhould extend her empire
on this side ofthe Rhine, whileSweden did the same
on this side of the Baltic. These treaties, and the
immense credit and influence that France had ac
quired by them in the empire, put it out of the
power of one branch of the house of Austria to
return the obligations of assistance to the other,
in the war that continued between France and
Spain, till the Pyrenean treaty. By this treaty
the superiority of the house of Bourbon over the
house of Austria was not only completed and con
firmed, but the great design of uniting the Spanish
and the French monarchies under the former was
laid. The third period therefore begins by a great
change of the balance of power in Europe, and by
the prospect of one much greater and more fatal.
Before I descend into the particulars I intend to
mention, of the course of affairs, and of the poli
tical conduct of the great powers of Europe in
this third period ; give me leave to cast my eyes
once more back on the second. The reflection I
am

IO ON THE STUDY AND USE.QF HISTORY:
am going to make seemfc to me important, and
leads to all that is to follow.
The Dutch made their peace separately at
Munster with Spain, who acknowledged then the
sovereignty and independency of their common
wealth. The French, who had been, after our
Elizabeth, their principal support, reproached
them severely for this breach of faith. They ex
cused themselves in the best manner, and. by the
best reasons, they could. AH this your lordship
will find in the monuments of that time. But I
think it not improbable, that they had a motive
you will not find there, and which it was not
proper to give as a reason or excuse to the French.
Might not the wise men among them cousiaer
even then, beside the immediate advantages that
accrued by this treaty to their commonwealth, that.
the imperial power was fallen ; that the power of
Spain was vastly reduced ; that the house of Austria
was nothing more than the lhadow of a great
name, and that the house of Bourbon was advan
cing, by large strides, to a degree of power as ex-. '
orbitant, and as formidable as that of the other
family had been in the hands of Charles the fifth,
of Philip the Second, and lately of the two Ferdi
nands ? Might they not foresee, even then, what
happened in the course of very few years, when
they were obliged, for their own security, to assist
their old enemies the Spaniards against their old
friends the French ? I think they might. Our
Charles tlje first was no great politician, and yet he

LET. VH. STATE OF EUROPE. It
he seemed tb discern, that the balance of power
was turning in favour of France, some years before
the treaties of Westphalia. He refused to be
" neuter, and threatened to take part with Spam,
if the French pursued the design of besieging Dun
kirk and Gravelihe, according to a concert taken
between them and the Dutch, and in pursuance of
a treaty for dividing the Spanish Low Countries,
which Richelieu had negotiated. Cromwell either
did not discern this turn ofthe balance of power,
long afterward when it was much more visible;
or, discerning it, he was induced by reasons of
private interest to 'act against- the general interest
of Europe. Cromwell joined with France against
Spain, and though he got Jamaica and Dunkirk,
he drovetheSpaniards into a necessity of making a
peace with Fra hee, that has disturbed the peace of
the world almost fourscore years, and the conse
quences of which have well nigh beggared in our
times the nation he enslaved in his. There is" a
tradition, I have heard it from persons who lived
in those days, and I believe it came from Thurloe,
that Cromwell was in'treaty wifh Spain, and ready
to turn his arms against France when he died. If
this fact was certain, as little as I honour his me
mory, I should have some regret that he died so
6bon. But whatever his intentions were, we must
charge the Pyrenean treaty, and the fatal conse
quences of it, in great measure1 to his aceount.
The Spaniards abhorred the thought of marrying
their Infanta to Lewis the fourteenth. It was orv
this point that they broke the negotiation Lionne-
< had-

12 ON THE STUDY AJJD USE OF HISTORY:
•.had begun : and your lordship will perceive, that
if they resumed it afterward, and offered the mar
riage they had before rejected, Cromwell's league
with France was a principal inducement to this
alteration of their resolutions.
The precise point at which the scales of power
turn, like that of the solstice in either tropic, is
imperceptible to common observation : and, in one
case as in the other, some progress must be made
in the new direction, before the change is per
ceived. They who are in the sinking scale, for
in the political balance of power, unlike to all
others, the scale that is empty sinks, and that
which is full rises; they wbo are in the sinking
scale do not easily come off from the habitual pre
judices of superiour wealth, or power, or skill, or
courage, nor from the confidence that these pre
judices inspire. They who are in the rising scale
do not immediately feel their strength, nor assume
that confidence in it which successful experience
gives them afterward. They who are the most
concerned to watch the variations of this balance
misjudge often in the same manner, and from the
same prejudices. They contiaue to dread a power
no longer able to hurt them, or they continue to
, have no apprehensions of a power that grows daily
more formidable. Spain verified the first obser
vation at the end of the second period, when,
proud and poor, and enterprising and feeble, she
still thought herself a match for France. France
verified the second observation at the beginning
. ofthe third period, when the triple alliance stop ped

LET. VII. STATE OF EUROPE. 13
ped the progress of her arms, which alliancesmuch
more considerable were not able to .effect after
ward. The other principal powers of Europe, in
their turns, have verified the third observation in
both it's parts, through the whole course of this
period. When Lewis the fourteenth took the administra
tion of affairs into his own hands, about the year
one thousand six hundred and sixty, he was in the
prime of his age, and had, what princes seldom
have, the advantages of youth and those of ex
perience together. Their education is generally
bad; for which reason royal birth, that gives a
right to the throne among other people* gave an
absolute exclusion from it among the Mamalukes.
His was, in all respects, except one, as bad as that
of other princes. He jested sometimes on his own
ignorance ; and there were other defects in his
character, owing to his education, which lie did
hot see. But Mazarin had initiated him betimes;
in the ' mysteries of his policy. He had seen a
great part of those foundations laid, on which he
was to raise the fabrick of his future grandeur:' ahd
as Mazarin finished the work thatRichelieu bqgan^
he had>4he lessons of one, and the examples of
both, to instruct him. He had acquired habits of
secrecy and method, in business ; of reserve, dis
cretion, decency, and dignity^ in behaviour. If
he was not the greatest king, he was the best actoc
of majesty at least, that ever filled a throne. He
by no means wanted that courage which is com
monly called bravery, though the. want of it. was-
imputed

14 ON THE STUDY an: use of history:
imputed to hirh in the midst of his greatest
triumphs : nor that other courage, less ostenta
tious- and more rarely found, calm, steady, perse
vering resolution; which seems to arise less: front?
the temper of the body, and is therefore called*
courage of the mind. He had them both most
certainly, and 1 could produce unquestionable
anecdotes in proof. He was, in one word, much
superiour to any prince with whom he had to do,
when he began to govern. He was surrounded
with great captains bred in former wars, and!
with great ministers bred in the same school as
himself. They who had worked under Mazarin
worked on the same plan under him ; and as they
had the advantages of genius and experience ovee
most of the ministers of other countries, so they
had another advantage over those who were equal
Or superiour to them : the advantage of serving a
master Whose absolute power was established ; and
the advantage of a situation wherein they might-
exert their whole capacity without contradic
tion ; over that, for instance, wherein your lord
ship's great grandfather was placed, at the same
time, in England, and John de Wit in Holland;
Among these ministers, Colbert must be men
tioned particularly upon this occasion ; becatts^
it was he who improved the wealth and conse
quently the power of France extremely,, by the
order he put into the finances, an«t by the- en
couragement he gave to trade and manufactures:
The soil, the climate, the situation of France, » the
ingenuity, the industry, the vivacity of her inha*
bitants

LET. Vn. STATE OF EUROPE. * 1 5
-bitants are such ; she has so little want of the'
product of other countries, and other countries
have so many, real or imaginary wants to be sup
plied by her; that when she is not at war with all
her neighbours, when her domestick quiet is pre
served and any tolerable administration of govern
ment prevails; she must grow rich at the expense
of those who trade, and even of those who do not
open a trade, with her. Her bawbles, her modes>
the follies and extravagancies of her luxury, cost
England, about the time we are speaking of, little
less than eight hundred' thousand' pounds sterling
a year, and other nations in their proportions!
Colbert made the most of all these advantageous'
circumstances, and while he filled the national
spunge, he taught his successors how to squeeze
it ; a secret that he repented having discovered,
they say, when he saw the immense sums that
were necessary to supply the growing magnifi
cence of his master.
This was the character of Lewis the fourteenth,
and this was the state of his kingdom at the begin
ning of the present period. If his power was
great, his pretensions were still greater. He bad'
renounced, and the Infanta with his consent had
renounced, all' right to the succession of Spain, in
the strongest terms that tlie precaution of the'
councils of Madrid could contrive. No matter ;
he consented to these renunciations, but your
lordship will find by the Letters of Mazarin, and
by other memorials, that he acted on the contrary
principle, from the first, Which he avowed soon
afterward-

1.6 OK THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY t
afterward. Such a power, and such pretensions*
should have given, one would think, an immediate
alarm to the rest of Europe. Philip the fourth
was broken and decayed, like the monarchy he
governed. One of his sons died, as I remember,
during the negotiations that preceded the year
one thousand six hundred and sixty : and the sur
vivor, who was Charles the second, rather lan--
guished than lived, from the cradle to the grave.
So. dangerous a contingency, therefore, as the
union of the two monarchies of France and Spain,
being in view forty years together; one would
imagine, that the principal powers of Europe had
the means of preventing it constantly in view
during the same time. But it was otherwise.
France acted very systematically from the year
one thousand six hundred and sixty, to the death
of king Charles the second of Spain. She never
lost sight of her great object, the succession to
the whole Spanish monarchy ; and she accepted
the will of the king of Spain in favour of the duke
of Anjou. As she never lost sight of her great
object during this time, so she lost no opportunity
of increasing her power while she waited for that
of succeeding in her pretensions. The two branches
of Austria were in no condition of making a con
siderable opposition to her designs and attempts.
Holland, who of all other powers was the most
concerned to oppose them, was at that timfc
under two influences that hindered her from pur
suing her true interest. Her true interest was
to have used her utmost endeavours to unite
closely

LET. Vii. STATE OF EUROPE. I J
closely and intimately with England on the
restoration of king Charles. She did the very
contrary. John de Wit, at the head of theLou-
vestein faction, governed. The interest of his
party was to keep the house of Orange down : he
courted therefore the friendship of France, and
neglected that of England. The alliance between
our nation and the Dutch was renewed, I think,,
in one thousand six hundred and sixty-two ; but
the latter had made a defensive league with France
a little before, on the supposition principally Ofa
War with England. The war became inevitable
very soon. Cromwell had chastised them for tlfeir1
usurpations in trade, and the outrages and cruel-
tieS'they had committed; but he had not cured
them. The same spirit continued in the Dutch,i
the same resentments in the English : and the
pique of merchants became the pique of nations.
France entered into the war on the side of Hol
land ; but the little assistance she gave the Dutch
showed plainly enough, that her intention was to
make these two powers waste their strength against
one another, while she extended her conquests in
• the Spanish Low Countries. Her invasion in these
provinces obliged De Wit to change his conduct.
Hitherto he had been attached to France in the
closest manner, had led his republick to serve all
the purposes of France, and had renewed with the
marshakt'Estrades a project of dividing the Spanish
Netherlands between Franee and Holland, that
had been taken up formerly, when Richelieu made
use ,of it to! flatter their ambition, and to engage
-Vol. IV. C them

l8 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY.:
them to prolong the War against Spain. A pro
ject not unlike to that which was held out to them
by the famous preliminaries, and the extravagant
barrier treaty, in one thousand seven hundred and
nine ; and which engaged them to continue a war
on the principle of ambition, into which they had
entered with more reasonable and more moderate
views. As the private interests of the two De Wits
hindered that commonwealth from being on her
guard, as early as she ought to have been, against
France, so the mistaken policy of the court of
England, and the short views, and the profuse
temper of the prince who governed, gave great
advantages to Lewis the fourteenth in the pursuit
of his designs. He bought Dunkirk : and your
lordship knows how great a clamour was raised
on that occasion against, your noble ancestor ; as
if he alone had been answerable for the measure,
and his interests had been concerned in it. I have
heard our late friend Mr. George Clarke quote a
witness, who was quite unexceptionable, but I
cannot recal his name at present, who, many
years- after all these transactions, and the death
of my lord Clarendon, affirmed, that the earl of
Sandwich had owned to him, that he himself gave
his opinion, among many others, officers, and
ministers, for selling Dunkirk. Their reasons
could not be good, I presume to say ; but several,
that might be plausible at that time, are easily
guessed. A prince like Charles, who would have
made as many bad bargains as any young spend thrift

LET. VII. STATE OF EUROPE. ig
thrift for money, finding himself thus backed, we
may assure ourselves, was peremptorily deter
mined to sell : and whatever your great-grand
father's opinion was, this I am able to pronounce
upon my own experience, that his treaty for the
sale is no proof he was of opinion to sell. When
the resolution of selling was once taken, to whom
could the sale be made ? To the Dutch ? No.
This measure would have been at least as im-
politick,and, in that moment, perhaps more odious
than the other. To the Spaniards ? They were
unable to buy : and, as low as their power was
sunk, the principle of opposing it still prevailed.
I have sometimes thought that the Spaniards,
who were forced to make peace with Portugal,
and to renounce all claim to that crown, four or
five years afterward, might have been induced
to take this resolution then ; if the regaining
Dunkirk without any expense had been a con
dition proposed to them; and that the Portuguese,
who, notwithstanding their alliance with England,
and the indirect succours that France afforded
them, were little able, after the treaty especially,
to support a war against Spain, might have been
induced to pay the price of Dunkirk, for so great
an advantage as immediate peace with Spain, and
the extinction of all foreign pretences on their
crown. But this speculation concerning events
so long ago passed is not much to the purpose
here. I proceed therefore to observe, that not
withstanding the sale of Dunkirk, and the secret
leanings of our court to that of France, yet
c 2 England

40 OK THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
England was first to take the alarm, when Lewis
the fourteenth invaded the Spanish Netherlands
hi one thousand six hundred and sixty-seven : and
the triple alliance was the work of an English
minister. It was time to take this alarm ; for
from the moment that the king of France claimed
a right to the county of Burgundy, the duchy
of Brabant, and other portions of the Low
Countries that devolved on his queen by the
death of her father Philip the fourth, he pulled
off the mask entirely. Volumes were written to
establish, and to i refute this supposed right.
Your lordship no doubt will look into a contro
versy, that has employed so many pens and so
many swords ; and I believe you will think it was
sufficiently bold in the French, to argue from
customs, that regulated the course of private
successions in certain provinces, to a right of
succeeding to the sovereignty. of those provinces:
and to assert the divisibility of the Spanish mo
narchy/with the same breath with which they
asserted the indivisibility of their own ; although
the proofs in one case were just as good as the
proofs in the other;, and the fundamental law of
indivisibility was at least, as good a law in Spain,
as either this or the Salique law was in France.
But however proper it might he for the French1
and Austrian pens to enter into long discussions,
and to appeal, on this great occasion, to the rest
of Europe; the rest of Europe had a short
objection to make to the plea of France, which
no sophisms, no quirks of law could evade. Spain
accepted

LET. VII. STATE OF EUROPE. 21
accepted the renunciations as a real security :
France gave them as such to Spain, and in effect
to the rest of Europe. If they had not been thus
given, and. thus taken, the Spaniards would not
have married their Infanta to the king of France,
whatever distress they might have endured by
the prolongation of the war. These renunci
ations were renunciations of all rights whatsoever
to the whole Spanish monarchy, and to every
part pf it. The provinces claimed by France at
this time were parts of it. To claim then), was
therefore to claim the whole; for if the renun
ciations were no bar to the rights accruing to
Mary Theresa on the death of her father Philip
the fourth, neither could they be any to the
rights that would accrue to her and her. children,
on the death of her brother Charles the second :
an unhealthful youth, and who at this instant was
in immediate danger of dying; for to all the
complicated distempers he brought, into the worldj
with him the small-pox was added. Your lord
ship sees how the fatal contingency of uniting
the two monarchies of France and Spain stared
mankind in the face ; and yet nothing, that I can
remember, was done to prevent it : not so much
as a guaranty given, or a declaration made to
assert the validity of these renunciations, and for
securing the effect of them. The triple alliance
indeed stopped the progress of the French arms,
and produced the treaty of Aix la Chapelle. But
England, Sweden, and Holland, the contracting
powers in this, alliance, seemed to look, and pro-
c 3 bably

2 2 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
bably did look, no farther. France kept a great
and important part of what she had surprised or
ravished, or purchased ; for we cannot say with
any propriety that she conquered : and the
Spaniards were obliged to set all they saved to the
account of gain. The German branch of Austria
had been reduced very low in power and in credit
under Ferdinand the third, by the treaties of
Westphalia, as I have said already. Lewis the
fourteenth maintained, during many years, the
influence these treaties had given him among the
princes and states of the empire. The famous
capitulation made at Frankfort on the election of
Leopold, who succeeded Ferdinand about the year
one thousand six hundred and fifty-seven, was
encouraged by the intrigues of France : and the
power of France was looked upon as the sole
power that could ratify and secure effectually- the
pbservation of the conditions then made. The
league of the Rhine was not renewed, I believes
after the year one thousand six hundred and sixty-
six; but though this league was not renewed; yet
some of these princes and states continued in their
old engagements with France : while others took
new engagements on particular occasions, accord
ing as private and sometimes very paltry in
terests, and the emissaries of France in all their
little courts, disposed them. In short, the princes
of Germany showed no alarm at the growing
ambition and power of Lewis the fourteenth, but
contributed to encourage one, and to confirm the
pther. In such a state of things the German branch.

LET. VII. STATE OF EUROPE. 23
branch was little able to assist the Spanish branch
against France, either in the war that ended by the
Pyrenean treaty, or in that we are speaking of
here, the short war that began in one thousand
six hundred and sixty-seven, and was ended by
the treaty of Aix la Chapelle in one thousand six
hundred and sixty-eight. But it was not this
alone that disabled the emperor from acting with
vigour in the cause of his family then, nor that has
rendered the house of Austria a dead weight upon
all her allies ever since. Bigotry, and it's insepa
rable companion, cruelty, as well as tlie tyranny
and avai ice of the court of Vienna, created in
those days, and has maintained in ours, almost a
perpetual diversion of the imperial arms from all
effectual opposition to France. I mean to speak
of the troubles in Hungary. Whatever they
became in their progress, they were caused origi
nally by the usurpations and persecutions of the
emperor: and when the Hungarians were called
rebels first, they were called so for no other reason
than this, that they would not be slaves. The
dominion of the emperor being less supportable
than that of the Turks, this unhappy people
opened a door to the latter to infest the empire,
instead of making their country what it had been
before, a barrier against the Ottoman power.
France became a sure, though secret ally of the
Turks, as well as the Hungarians, and has found
her account in it, by keeping the emperor in
perpetual alarms on that side, while she has ra
vaged the .empire and the Low Countries on the
c 4 other.

24 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
other. Thus we saw, thirty^two years ago, the
arms of France and Bavaria in possession of Passau,
and the malecontents of Hungary in the suburbs
of Vienna. In a word, when Lewis the fourteenth
made the first essay of his power, by the war of
one thousand six hundred and sixty-seven, and:
sounded, as it were, the councils of Europe con
cerning his pretensions on the Spanish succession,
he found* his power to be great beyond what his
neighbours, or evemhe perhaps thought it : great
by the wealth, and greater by the united spirit of
hrs people; greater still by the iJl policy and
divided interests, that governed those who had a
superior common interest: to oppose him. He
found that the members of tlie triple alliance did
not see, or seeing did not think proper to own
that they saw, the injustice, and the consequence
of his pretensions. They contented themselves
to give to Spain an act of guaranty for securing
the execution of the treaty of Aix la Chapelle.
He knew even then how ill the guaranty would
be observed by two of them at least, by England
and by Sweden. The treaty itself was nothing
more than a composition between the bully and
the bullied. Tournay, and Lisle, and Doway, and.
other places that I have forgot, were yielded to
him:' and he restored the county of Burgundy,
according to the option that Spain made, against
the interest and the expectation too of the Dutch,
when an. Option was forced upon her. The kino-
of Spain Compounded for his possession: but: the
emperor compounded at the same time for his
.succession,

LET. VII. STATE OF EUROPE. • 2§
succession', by a private eventual treaty of parti
tion, which the commander of Gremonville and the
count of Aversberg signed at Vienna. The same
Leopold, who exclaimed so loudly, in one tliQu^
sand six hundred and ninety-eight, against any.
partition of the Spanish monarchy, and refused to
submit to, that which England and Holland had
then made, made one himself in one thousand
six hundred and sixty-eight, with so little regard
to these two powers, that the whole ten provinces.
were thrown into the lot of Fiance*
There is no room to. wonder if such experience
as Lewis the fourteenth had upon this occasion,
and such a. face of affairs in Europe, raising his
hopes, raised his ambition: and if, in making
peace at Aix la Chapelle, he meditated a new
war, the war of one thousand six hundred and
seventy-two; the preparations he made for it, by
negotiations in all parts, by alliances wherever he
found ingression, and by the increase of his forces,
Were equally proofs of ability, industry, and< power.
Ishall not descend into these particulars: your lord
ship will find them pretty well detailed in the me
morials of that time. But one ofthe alliances he
made I must mention, though I mention ii with the
Utmost regretand indignation. England was fatally
engaged to act a part inthis conspiracy agsinst the
peace and the liberty of Europe, nay, against her
own peace and her own liberty ; for a bubble's part
it was, equally wicked andimpolitick. Forgive the
terms I use, my lord : none can be too strong. The
principles ofthe triple alliance, just, and wise, and
worthy

Z6 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
worthy of a king of England, were laid aside.
Then, the progress of the French arms was to be
checked, the ten provinces were to be saved, and
by saving them the barrier of Holland was to be
preserved. Now, we joined our counsels and our
arms to those of France, in a project that could
not be carried on at all, as it was easy to foresee,
and as the event -mowed, unless it was carried on
against Spain, the emperor, and most of tbe
princes of Germany, as well as the Dutch ; and
which could not be carried ou successfully, with
out leaving the ten provinces entirely at the
mercy of France, ancl giving her pretence and
opportunity of ravaging the empire, and ex
tending her conquests on the Rhine. The medal
of Van Beuninghen, and other pretences that
France took for attacking the states of the Low
Countries, were ridiculous. They imposed en no
one : and the true object of Lewis the fourteenth
was manifest to all. But what could a kino- 0f
England mean ? Charles the second had reasons
of resentment against the Dutch, and just ones
too no doubt. Among the rest, it was not easy
for him to forget the affront he had suffered, and
the loss he had sustained, when, depending on the
peace that was ready to be signed, and that was
signed at Breda in July, he neglected to fit out
his fleet ; and' when that of Holland, commanded
by Ruyt/ r, with Cornelius de Wit on board as
deputy or commissioner of the states, burnt his
ships at Chatham in June. The famous perpetual
edict, as it was called, but did not prove in the
eventj

LET. VII. STATE OF EUROPE. 27
event, against the election of a stadtholder,
which John de Wit promoted, carried, and
obliged the prince of Orange to swear to main
tain a very few days after the conclusion of the
peace at Breda, might be another motive in the
breast of king Charles the second : as it was cer-'
tainly a pretence of revenge on the Dutch, or at
least on the De Wits and the Lonvestein faction*
that ruled almost despotically in that common
wealth. But it is plain that neither these reasons,
nor others of a more ancient date, determined him
to this alliance with France ; since he contracted
the triple alliance within four or five months after
the two events, I have mentioned, happened.
What then did he mean ? Did he mean to acquire
one of the seven provinces, and divide them, as
the Dutch had twice treated for the division of the
ten, withprance? I believe not; but this I believe,
that his inclinations were favourable to the popiih
interest in general, and that he meant to make
himself more absolute at home; that he thought
it necessary to this end to humble the Dutch, to
reduce their power, and perhaps to change the
form of their government ; to deprive his subjects
of the correspondence with a neighbouring pro
testant and free state, and of all hope of succour
and support from thence in their ojsposition to
him ; in a wOrd to abet the designs of France on
the continent, that France might abet his designs
on his own kingdom. This, I say, I believe; and
this I should venture to affirm, if I had in my hands
to produce, and was at liberty to quote, the private
relations

28 0W THE STUDY AJfD USE OF HISTORY :
relations! have read formerly, drawn up by those
who were no enemies to such designs, and on the
authority of those who were parties to them. But
whatever king Charles the second meant, certain
it is, that his conduct established the superiority of
France in Europe.
But this charge, however, must not be confined
to him alone. Those who were nearer the danger,
those who were exposed to the immediate attacks
of France, and even those who were her rivals for
the same succession, having either assisted her, or
engaged to remain neuters, a strange fatality
prevailed, and produced such a conjuncture as
can hardly be parallelled in history. Your lordship
will observe with astonishment, even in the begin
ning of the year one thousand six hundred and
seventy-two, all the neighbours of France, acting
as if they had nothing to fear from her, and some
as if they had much to hope, by helping her to
oppress the Dutch and sharing with her the spoils
of that commonwealth, "Delenda est Carthago,"
v as the cry in England, and seemed too a maxim
on the continent.
In the course of the same year, you will observe
that all these powers took the akiim, and began to
unite in opposition to France. Even England
thought it time to interpose in favour of the
Dutch. The consequences of this alarm, of this
sudden turn in tlie policy of Europe, and of that
which happened, by the massacre of the De Wits,
and the elevation of the prince of Orange, in the
government of the seven provinces, saved these
'.;* provinces,

LET. VII. STATfi OF EUROPE. 2<Q.
provinces, and stopped the rapid progress of ihe
arms of France.1 Lewis the fourteenth indeed
surprised the seven provinces in this war, as he
had surprised the ten iu that of one thousand six
hundred and sixty-seven, and ravaged defenceless
.countries with armies sufficient to conquer them,
if they had been prepared to resist. In the war of
one thousand six hundred and seventy-two, he
had little less than one hundred and fifty thousand
men on foot, beside the bodies of English, Swiss,
Italians, and Swedes, that amounted to thirty or
forty thousand more. With this mighty force he
took forty places in forty days, .imposed extrava
gant conditions of peace, played the monarch a
little while at Utrecht ; and as soon as the Dutch
recovered from their consternation, and, animated
by the example of the prince of Orauge and the
hopes of succour, refused these conditions, he went
back to Versailles, and left his generals to carry
on his enterprise: which they did with so litt!"
success, that Grave and Maestricht alone re
mained to him of all the boasted conquests lie
had made ; and even these be offered two yenrs
afterward to restore, if by that concession lie
could have prevailed on the Dutch at that time
to make peace with him. But they were not yet
disposed to abandon their allies ; for allies now they
had. The emperor and the king of Spain had en
gaged in the quarrel against France, and many of
the princesof the empire had done the same. Not
all. The Bavarian continued obstinate in his
neutrality, and, to mention no more, the Swedes made

JO ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
made a great diversion in favour of France in the
empire; where the duke of Hanover abetted their
designs as much as he could, for he was a zealous
partisan of France, though the other princes of his
house acted for the common cause. I descend
into no more particulars. The war that Lewis
the fourteenth kindled by attacking in so violent
a manner the Dutch commonwealth, anoTby mak
ing so arbitrary a use of his first success, became
general, in the Low Countries, in Spain, in Sicily,
on the upper and lower Rhine, in Denmark, in
Sweden, and in the provinces of Germany belong
ing to these two crowns ; on the Mediterranean,
the Ocean, and the Baltic. France supported this
war with advantage on every side : and when your
lordship considers in what manner it was carried
on against her, you will not be surprised that she
did so. Spain had spirit, but too little strength to
maintain her power in Sicily, where Messina had
revolted; to defend her frontier on that side of
the Pyrenees; and to resist the great efforts of tlie
French in the Low Countries. The empire was
divided ; and, even among the princes who acted
against France, there was neither union in their
councils, nor concert in their projects, nor order
in preparations, nor vigour in execution : and, to
say the truth, there was not, in the whole con
federacy, a man whose abilities could make him a
match for the prince of Conde or the marshal of
Turenne ; nor many who were in any degree equal
to Luxemburg, Crequi, Schomberg, and other
generals of inferiour note, who commanded the
armies <

LET. VII. STATE OF EUROPE. 31
armies of France. The emperor took this ver}'
time to make new invasions on the liberties of
Hungary, and to oppress his protestant subjects.
•The prince of Orange alone acted with invincible
firmness, like a patriot, and a hero. Neither the
seductions of France nor those of England, neither
the temptations of ambition nor those of private
interest, could make him swerve from the true
interest of his country, nor from the common in
terest of Europe. He had raised more sieges, and
lost more battles, it was said, than any general of
his age had done. Be it so. But his defeats were
manifestly due in great measure to circumstances
independent on him : and that spirit, which even
these defeats could not depress, was all his own.
He had difficulties in his own commonwealth; the
governors of the Spanish Low Countries crossed
his measures sometimes; the German allies dis
appointed and broke them often : and it is not
improbable that he was frequently betrayed. He
was so perhaps even by Souches, the imperial
general ; a Frenchman according to Bayle, and a
pensioner of Louvois according to common report,
and very strong appearances. He had not yet
credit and authority sufficient to make him a
centre of union to a whole confederacy, the soul
that animated and directed so great a body. He
came to be such afterward; but at the time spoken
of, he could not take so great a part upon him.
No other prince or general was equal to it: and
the consequences of this defect appeared almost
in every operation. France was surrounded by a
multitude

J2 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY:
multitude of enemies, all intent to demolish her
power. But, like the builders of'Babel, they spoke
different languages : and as those could not build,
these could not demolish, for want of understand
ing one another. France improved this advantage
by her arms, and more by her negotiations. Ni
na egheit was, after Cologn, the scene of these.
England was the mediating power, and I know
not whether our Charles the second did not serve
her purposes more usefully in the latter and under
the character of mediator, than he did or could
have done by joining his arms to hers, and acting
as her ally. The Dutch were induced to sign a
treaty with him, that broke the confederacy, and
gave great advantage to France : for the purport
of it was to oblige France and Spain to make peace
on a plan to be proposed to them, and no mention
was made in it ofthe other allies that I remember.
The Dutch were glad to get out of an expensive
war. France promised to restore Maestricht to
them, and Maestricht was the only place that re
mained unrecovered of all they had lost. They
dropped Spain at Nimeghen, as they had dropped
France at Munster; but many circumstances con
curred to give a much worse grace to their aban
doning of Spain, than to their abandoning of
France. I need not specify them. This only' I
< would; observe : when they made a separate peace
at Munster, they left an ally who was in condition
to carry on the war alone with advantage, and
they presumed to impose no terms upon him:
When they made a separate peace •at, Nimeghen,
20 thev

LET. VII. STATE OF EUROPE. 33
they abandoned an ally who was in no condition
to cany on the war alone, and who was reduced
to accept whatever terms the common enemy pre
scribed. In their great distress in one, thousand
six hundred and seventy-three, they engaged to
restore Maestricht to the Spaniards as soon as it
should be retaken: it was not retaken^ and they
accepted it for themselves as the price of the se
parate peace they made with France* The Dutch
had engaged farther, to make neither peace nor
truce with the king of France, till that prince
consented to restore to Spain all he had conquered.
since the Pyrenean treaty. But far from keeping
this promise in any tolerable degree, Lewis the
fourteenth acquired, by the plan imposed on Spain
at Nimeghen, beside the county of Burgundy, so
many other countries and towns on the side of the
ten Spanish provinces, that these, added to the
places he kept of those which had been yielded to
him by the treaty of Aix la Chapelle (for some of
little consequence he restored) put into his hands
the principal strength of that barrier, against which
we goaded ourselves almost to death in the lajt
great war; and made good the saying of the
marshal of Schomberg, that to attack this barrier
was to take the beast by his horns» I know very
well what may be said to excuse the Dutch; The
emperor was more intent to tyrannize his subjects
on one side, than to defend them on the other;
He attempted little against France, and the little
he did attempt was ill-ordered, and worse executed;
The assistance of the princes of Germany was
Vol. IV. D oftefl

34 OH THE STUDY AND tTSE OF HISTORY:
often uncertain, and always expensive. Spain
was already indebted to Holland for great sums;
greater still must be advanced to her if the war
continued: and experience showed that France
was able, and would continue, to prevail against
her present enemies. The triple league had stop
ped her progress, and obliged her to abandon the
county of Burgundy ; but Sweden was now en
gaged in the war on the side of France, as Eng
land had been in the beginning of it : and England
was now privately favourable to her interestsyias
Sweden had been in the 'beginning of it. The
whole ten provinces would have been subdued in
the course of a few campaigns more : and it was
better for Spain and the Dutch too,- that part should
be saved by accepting a sort of composition, than
the whole be risked by refusing it. This might be
alleged to excuse the conduct of the States General,
in imposing hard terms on Spain; in making none
for their other allies, and ih signing alone : "by
which steps they gave France an opportunity
that she improved with great dexterity of manage
ment, the opportunity of treating with the con
federates one by one, and of beating them by detail
in the cabinet, if I may so say, as she had often
done in the field. I shall not compare these
reasons, which were but too well founded in fact,
and must appear plausible at least, with other con
siderations that might be, and were at the time,
insisted upon. I confine myself to a few obser
vations, which every knowing and impartial man
must admit. Your lordship will observe, first, that

LET. VII. STATE OF EUROPE. 35
that the fatal principle of compounding with Lewis
the fourteenth, from the time that his pretensions,
his power, and the use he made of it, began to
threaten Europe, prevailed still more at Nimeghen
than it had prevailed at Aix : so that although
he did not obtain to the full all he attempted, yet
the dominions of France were by common consent,
on every treaty, more and more extended ; her
barriers on all sides were more and more strength
ened; those of her neighbours were more ahd
more weakened ; and that power, which was to
assert one day, against the rest of Europe, the
pretended rights ofthe house of Bourbon to the
Spanish monarchy, was more and mere established,
and rendered truly formidable in such hands at
least, during the course of the first eighteen years
ofthe period. Your- lordship will please to ob
serve, in the second place, that the extreme weak
ness of one branch of Austria, and the miserable
conduct of both; the poverty of some ofthe princes
of the empire, and the disunion, and to speak
plainly, the mercenary policy of all of them ; in
short, the confined views, the false notions, and,
to speak as plainly of my own as of other nations,
the iniquity of the councils of England, not only
hindered the growth of this power from being stpp^
ped in time, but nursed it up into strength almost'
insuperable by any future confederacy. A third
observation is this : If the excuses made for the
-conduct of the Dutch at Nimeghen are not suffi
cient, they too must come in for their share in this
condemnation, even after the death of the De
d z Wits*

36 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
Wits; as they were to be condemned most justly,
during their administration, for abetting and fa
vouring France. If these excuses, grounded on their
inability to pursue any longer a war, the principal,
profit-of which was to accrue to their confederate^
for that was the case after the year one thousand
six hundred and seventy -three, or one thousand
six hundred and seventy-four, and the principal
burden of which was thrown on them by their con
federates ; if these are sufficient," they should not
have acted, for decency's sake as well as out of
good policy, the part they did act in one thousand
seven hundred and eleven, and one thousand seven
hundred and twelve, towards the late queen, who
vhad complaints of the same kind, in a much higher
degree and with circumstances much more aggra
vating, to make of them, of the emperor, and of
all the prinCes of Germany ; and who was far from
treating them and their other allies, at that time,
as they treated Spain aud their other allies in one
thousand six hundred and seventy-eight. Imme
diately after the Dutch had made their peace, that
of Spain was signed with France. The emperor's
treaty with this crown and that of Sweden was
concluded in the following year: and Lewis the
fourteenth being now at liberty to assist his ally,
while he had tied up the powers with whom he
had treated from assisting theirs, he soon forced
the king of Denmark and the elector of Branden
burg to restore all they had taken from the Swedes,
and to conclude the peace of the north. In all
these treaties he gave the law, and he was now at
19 the

.^r. VII. STATE OF EUROPE, 37
the highest point of his grandeur. He continued
at this point for several years, and in this heighth
of his power he prepared those alliances against it,
tinder the weight of which he was at last well-nigh
oppressed; and might have been reduced as low
as tbe general interest of Europe required, if some
of the causes, which worked now, had not con
tinued to work in his favour, and if his enemies
had not proved, in their turn of fortune, as in
satiable as prosperity had rendered him.
After he had made peace with all the powers with
whom he had been in war, he continued to vex
both Spain and the empire, and to extend his con
quests in the Low Countries, and on the Rhine.
both by tlie pen and the sword. He erected tlie
chambers ofMetz and of Brisach, where his own.
subjects were prosecutors, witnesses, and judges
all at once. Upon the decisions of these tribunals,
he seized into his own hands, under the notion of
dependencies and the pretence of reunions, what
ever towns or districts of country tempted his
ambition, or suited his conven iency : and added,
by these and by other means, in the midst of
peace, more territories to those the late treaties
luid yielded to him, than he could have got by
continuing the war. He acted afterward, in the
support of all this, without any bounds or limits.
His glory was a reason for attacking Holland in
one thousand six hundred and seventy-two, and
his conveniency a reason for many of the attacks
he nuide on others afterward. He took Luxem
burg by force; he stole Strasburg; he bought
D -3 Casal :

3S ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY*.
Casal : ' and, while he waited the opportunity of
acquiring to his family the crown of Spain, he
was not without thoughts, nor hopes perhaps, of
bringing into it the imperial crown likewise.
Some of the cruelties he exercised in the empire
may be ascribed to his disappointment in this
view : I say some of them, because in the war
that ended by the treaty of Nimeghen, he had
already exercised many. Though the French
writers endeavour to slide over them, to palliate
them, and to impute them particularly to the
English that were in their service; for even this
orte of their writers has the front to advance : yet
these cruelties, unheard of among civilized na
tions, must be granted to have been ordered by
the counsels, and executed by the arms of France,
in the Palatinate, and in other parts.
If Lewis the. fourteenth could have contented
himself with the acquisitions that were confirmed
to him by the treaties of one thousand six hundred
and seventy-eight, and one thousand six hundred
and seventy-nine, and with the authority and re
putation which he then gained ; it is plain that
he would have prevented the alliances that were
afterward formed against him, and that he might
have regained his credit among the princes ofthe
empire, where he had one family alliance by the
marriage of his brother to the daughter of the
elector Palatine, and another by that of his son
to the sister of the elector of Bavaria ; where
Sweden was closely attached to him, and where
the same principles of private interest would havesoon

LET. VII. STATE OF EUROPJE. 3Q
soon attached others as closely. He might have
remained not only tlie principal, but the directing
power of Europe, and have held this rank with
all the glory imaginable, till the death of theking
of Spain, or some other object of great ambition,
had determined him to act another part. But
instead of this, he continued to vex and provoke
all those who were, unhappily for them, his neigh
bours, and that, in many instances, for trifles.
An example of this kind occurs to me. On the
death of the duke of Deux Ponts, he seized that
little inconsiderable duchy, without any regard to
the indisputable right of the king of Sweden, to
the services that crown had rendered him, or to
the want he might have of that alliance hereafter.
The consequence was, that Sweden entered wiih,
the emperor, the king of Spain, the elector, bfj.
Bavaria, and the Stages General, into the alliance
of guaranty, as it was called, about the year one
thousand six hundred and eighty-three, and inty
the famous league of Augsburg, in one thousand
six hundred and eighty-six.
Since I have mentioned this league, and since
we may date from it a more general, and more
concerted opposition to France, than there had
been before ; give me leave to recal some of the
reflections, that have presented themselves to my
mind, in considering what, I have read, and what
I have heard related, concerning the passages of
that time. They will be of use to form our judg
ment concerning later passages. If the king of
France became an object of aversion, on account
D 4 of

40 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
of any invasions he made, any deviations from
publick faith, any barbarities exercised where his
arms prevailed, or the persecution of his protestant
subjects ; the emperor deserved to be such an
object, at least as much as he, on thle same ac*
counts. The emperor was.cso too, but with this
difference relatively to the political system of the
west : the Austrian ambition and bigotry exerted
themselves in distant countries, whose interests
were not considered as a part of this system ; for
otherwise there would have been as much reason
for assisting the people of Hungary and of Tran
sylvania' against the emperor, as there had been
formerly for assisting the people of the seven
United Provinces against Spain, or as there had
been lately for assisting them against France;
ftut the ambition and bigotry of Lewis the four
teenth were exerted in the Low Countries, on the
Rhine, in Italy, and in Spain, in the very midst of
this system, if T may say so, and with success
that could not fail to subvert it in time. The
power of the house of Austria, that had been
feared too long, was feared no longer : and that
of the house of Bourbon, by having been feared
too late, was now gro^ terrible. The emperor
was so intent on the establishment of his absolute
power in Hungary, that he exposed the empire
doubly to desolation and ruin for the sake of
it. He left the frontier almost quite defenceless
on the side ofthe Rhine, against the inroads and
ravages of France: and by showing no mercy to
the Hungarians, nor keeping any faith with them, ft?

LET. VII. STATE OF EUROPE. 41-
he forced that miserable people into "alliances with
the Turk, who invaded the empire^, and besieged
Vienna. Even this event had no effect upon him.
Your lordship will find, that Sobieski, king of
Poland, who had forced the Turks to raise the -
siege, and had fixed the imperial crown that
tottered on his head, could not prevail on him to
take those measures, by which alone ft was possible
to cover the empire, to secure the king of Spain,
and to reduce that power who was probably one
day to dispute with him this prince's succession.
Tekeliandthemalecontents made such demands as
none but a tyrant could refuse, the preservation of
theiF ancient privileges, liberty of conscienc/e, the
convocation ofa free diet or parliament, and others
of less importance. All was in vain. The war
continued with them, and with the Turks, and
France was left at liberty to push her enterprises,
almost without opposition, against Germany and
the Low Countries. The distress in both was so
great, that the States General saw no other ex
pedient for stopping the progress of the French
arms, than a cessation of hostilities, or a truce of
twenty years; which they negotiated, and which
was] accepted by the emperor and the king of
Spain, on the terms that Lewis the fourteenth
thought fit to offer. By these terms he was to
remain in full and quiet possession of all he had
acquired since the years one thousand six hundred
and seventy-eight, and one thousand six hundred
and seventy-nine; among which acquisitions that of

42 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
of Luxemburg and that of Strasburg were com
prehended. The conditions of this truce were so
advantageous to France, that all her intrigues,
were employed to obtain a definitive treaty of
peace upon the same- conditions. But this was
neither the interest nor the intention of the other
contracting powers. The imperial arms had. been
very successful against the Turks. This success,
as well as the troubles that followed upon, it in
the Ottoman armies, and at the Porte, gave reason
able expectation of concluding a peace on that
side : and, this peace concluded:, the emperor,
and the empire, and the king of Spain would have
been in a much better posture to treat with France*
With these views, that were wise and just, the
league of Augsburg was made between the em
peror, the kings of Spain and. Sweden as princes*
of the empire, and the other circles and princes.
This league was purely defensive. An express
article declared it to be so : and as it had no other
regard, it was not only conformable to the laws and
constitutions of the empire, and to the practice of
all nations, but even to the terms of the act of
truce so lately concluded. This pretence there
fore for breaking the truce, seizing the electorate
of Cologh, invading the Palatinate, besieging Phi-
lipsburg, and carrying unexpected and undeclared
war into the empire could not be supported : nor
is it possible to read the reasons published by
France at this time, and drawn from her fears of
the imperial power, without laughter. As little
pretence '

LET. VII, STATE OF EUROPE. 43
pretence was there to complain, that the emperor
refused to convert at once the truce into a defini*
tive treaty ; since if fie had done so, he would
have confirmed in a lump, and without any dis
cussion, all the arbitrary decrees of those cham
bers, or courts, that France had erected to cover
her usurpation ; and would have given up almost
a sixth part Of the provinces of the empire, that
France one way or other had possessed herself of.
The pretensions ofthe duchess of Orleans on the
succession of her father, and her brother, which
were disputed by the then elector Palatine, and
were to be determined by the laws and customs
of the empire, afforded as little pretence for be
ginning this war, as any of the former allegation*.
The exclusion ofthe cardinal of Fursfenberg, who
had been elected to the archbishoprick of Cologn,
was capable of being aggravated : but even in
this case his most christian majesty opposed his
judgnient and his authority against the judgment
and authority of that holy father, whose eldest son
he was proud to be called. In short, the true
reason why Lewis the fourteenth began that cruel
war with the empire, two years after he had con
cluded a cessation of hostilities for twenty, was
this ; he resolved to keep what he had got ; and
therefore he Tesolved to encourage the Turks to
continue the war. He did this effectually, by in
vading Germany at the very instant when the
Sultan was suing for peace, Notwithstanding
this, the Turks were in treaty again the following year:

44' ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
vear: and good policy should have obliged the
emperor, since he could not hope to carry on this
war and that against France, at the same time,
v ith vigour and effect, to conclude a peace^ with
tlie least dangerous enemy ofthe two. The de
cision of his disputes with France could not be
deferred, his designs against the Hungarians were
in part accomplished, for his son was' declared
king, and the settlement of that crown in his
family was made ; and the rest of these, as well
as those that he formed against the Turks, might
be deferred. But the councils of Vienna judged
differently, and insisted even at this critical mo
ment on the most exorbitant terms ; on some of
such a nature, that the Turks showed more huma
nity and a better sense of religion iq refusing, than
they in asking them. Thus the war went on in
Hungary, and proved a constant diversion in favour
of France, during the whole course of that which
Lewis the fourteenth began at this time; for the
treaty of Carlow itz was posterior to that of Ryswic,
The empire, Spain, England, and Holland engaged
in the war with France : and on them the em
peror left the burden of it. In the short war of
one thousandsix hundred and sixty-seven, he was
not so much as a party, and instead of assisting
the king of Spain, which, it must be owned, he
was in'no good condition of doing, he bargained
for dividing that prince's succession, as I have
observed above. In the war of one thousand six
hundred and seventy-two he made some feeble
efforts,

LIT. VII. STATE OF EUROPE. 45
efforts. In this of one thousand six hundred and
eighty-eight he did still less : and in the war which
broke out at the beginning of the present century
he did nothing, at least after the first campaign
in Italy, and after the engagements that Englaud
and Holland took by the grand alliance. In a
word, from the time that an opposition to France
became a common cause in Europe, the house of
Austria has been a clog upon it in many instan
ces, and of considerable assistance to it in none.
The accession of England to this cause, which was
brought about by the revolution of one thousand
six hundred and eighty-eight, might have made
amends, and more than amends, one would think,
for this defect, and have thrown superiority of
power and of success on the side of the confede
rates, with whom she took part against France.
This, I say, might be imagined, without over
rating the power of England, or undervaluing that
of France ; and it waB imagined at that time.
How it proved otherwise in the event ; how
France came triumphant out of the war that
ended by the treaty of Ryswic, and though she
gave up a great deal, yet preserved the greatest
and the best part of her conquefls and acquisi
tions made since the treaties of Weftphali'a, and
the Pyrenees ; how she acquired, by the gift of
Spain, that whole monarchy for one of her princes,
though she had no reason to expect the least part
of it without a war at one time, nor {he great lot
of it even by a war at any time ; in short, how she
wound up advantageously tbe ambitious system she

46 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
she had been fifty years in weaving ; how she
concluded a war, in which she was defeated on
every side, and wholly exhausted, with little di
minution of the provinces and barriers acquired to
France, and with the quiet possession of Spain and
the Indies to a prince of the house of Bourbon :
all this, my lord, will be the subject of your re
searches', when you come down to the latter part
ofthe last period of modern history.

LETTER VIII.

THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED FROM THE TEAR
o;;e THOUSAND six hundred axd eighty-eight.

Your, lordship will find, that the objects proposed
by the alliance of one thousand six hundred and
eighty-nine between the emperor and the States,
to which England acceded, and which was the
foundation of the whole confederacy then formed,
were no 'less than to restore all things to the"
terms of the Westphalian and Pyrenean treaties,
by the war ; and to preserve them in that state,
after the war, by a defensive alliance and guaranty
of the same confederate powers against France.
Thd particular as well as general meaning of this
engagement was plain enough : and if it had not
been

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. 47
been so, the sense of it would have been suffici
ently determined, by that separate article, in
which England and Holland obliged themselves
to assist the " house of Austria, in taking and
" keeping possession of the Spanish monarchy,
" whenever the case should happen ofthe death of
" Charles the second, without lawful heirs." This
engagement was double, and thereby relative to
the whole political system of Europe, alike affected
by the power and pretensions of France. Hi
therto the power of France had been alone
regarded, and her pretensions seemed to have.
been forgot ; or to what purpose should they have
been remembered, while Europe was so unhap
pily constituted, that the states at whose expense
she increased her power, and their friends and
allies, thought that they did enough upon every
occasion if they made some tolerable composition
with her ? They who were not in circumstances
to- refuse confirming .present, were little likely to
take effectual measures against future usurpations.
But now, as the alarm was greater than ever, by
the outrages that France had committed, and the
intrigues she had carried on ; by the little regard
she had shown to publick faith, and by the airs of
authority she had assumed twenty years together:
so was the spirit against her raised to a higher
pitch, and the means of reducing her power, or
at least of checking it, were increased. The
princes and states who had neglected or favoured
the growth of this power, which all of them had
done in their turns, saw their errour; saw the
necessk /

48 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
necessity of repairing it, and saw that unless they
could check the power of France, by uniting a
power superiour to hers, it would be impossible to
hinder her from succeeding in her great designs
on the Spanish succession. The court of England
had submitted, not many years before, to abet her
usurpations, and the king of England had stooped
to be her pensioner. But the crime was not
national. On the contrary, the nation had cried
out loudly against it, even while it was commit
ting: and as soon as ever the abdication of king
James, and the elevation ofthe prince of Orange
to the throne of England happened, the nation
engaged with all imaginable zeal in the common
ciuse of Europe, to reduce the exorbitant power
of France, to prevent her future and to revenge
her past attempts ; for even a spirit of revenge
prevailed, and the war was a war of anger as well
as of interest.
Unhappily this zeal was neither well conducted,
nor wefi seconded. It was zeal without success
in the first of the two wars that followed the year
one thousand six hundred and eighty-eight; and
zeal without knowledge, in both of them. I enter
into no detail concerning the events of these two
•wars. This only I observe On the first of their,
1 hat the treaties of Ryswic were farfrom answering
1 lie ends proposed and the engagements taken by
the first grand alliance. The power of France,
with resnect to extent of 'dominions and strength
of barrier, was not reduced to the terms of the
Pyrenean treaty, no not to those of the treaty of
Nimeghen.

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. ., . . qn
Nimeghen. Lorrain Was restored indeed with very
considerable reserves, and the places taken or
Usurped on the other side of the Rhine ; but then
Strasburgh was yielded up absolutely to France.
by the.emperor, and by the empire. The con
cessions to Spain were great, but so were tbe
Conquests and the encroachments made upon her
by France, since the treaty of Nimeghen : and she
got little at Ryswic, I believe nothing more than
she had saved at Nimeghen before. All these
concessions, however., as well as the acknowledg
ment of king William, and others made by Lewis
the fourteenth after he had taken Ath and Barce
lona, even during the course of the negotiations,
compared with the losses and repeated defeats of
the allies and the ill state of the confederacy, sur
prised the generality of mankind, who had not
been accustomed to so much moderation and
generosity on the part of this, prince. But the
pretensions of the house of Bourbon on the Spanish
succession remained the same. Nothing had been
done to weaken them ; nothing was prepared to
oppose them : and the opening of this succession
was visibly at hand ; for Charles the second had
been in immediate danger of dying about this
time. His death could not be a remote event :
and all the. good queen's endeavours to be got
with child had proved ineffectual. The league
dissolved, all the forces of the confederates dis
persed, and, many disbanded; France continuing
armed, her forces by sea and land increased and
held in readiness to act on all sides, it was plain
Vol. IV. E that

50 ON Tift STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY '.
that the confederates had failed in the first object
of the grand alliance, that of reducing the powep
of France ; by succeeding , in which alone they
could have been able to keep the second engage
ment, that of securing 4;lie succession of Spain to
the house of Austria.
After this peace, what remained to be done?
In the whole nature of things there remained but
three. To abandon^ all care of the Spanish sac-1
cession was one ; to compound with France upon
this succession was another ; and to prepare,
like her, during tlie interval of peace, to make an
.advantageous war whenever Charles tlie- second
should die, was a third. Now the first of these
was to leave Spain, and, in leaving Spain, to leave
all Europe in some sort at the mercy of France ;
since whatever disposition the Spaniards should
make of their crown, they were quite unable to
support it against France ; since the emperor could
do little without his allies ; and since Bavaria, the
third pretender, could do still less, and might find,
in such a case, his account perhaps better in, treats
ing with the House of Bourbon than with that, of
-Austria. More needs not be said on tbis head ;
but oh the other two, which I shall consider toger
ther, several facts are proper to be mentioned,
and several reflections necessary to be made.
We might have counterworked, no doubt, in
their own methods of policy, the councils of
France, who made peace to dissolve the confede
racy, and great concessions, with very suspicious
generosity, to gain the Spaniards : we might have
1 9 waited

LET. Vllt. STATE OF EUROPE. 5 1
waited like them, that is in arms, the death of
Charles the second, and have fortified in the mean
time the dispositions of the king, the court, and
people of Spain, against the pretensions of France:
we might have made the peace, which was made
some time after that, between the emperor and
the Turks, and have obliged the former at any
rate to have secured the peace of Hungary, and
to have prepared, by these and other expedients,
for the war that would inevitably break out on the
death of the king of Spain,
But all such measures were rendered impracti
cable, by the emperor chiefly. Experience had
shown, that the powers who engaged in alliance
with him must expect to take the whole burden of
his cause upon themselves; and that Hungary
would maintain a perpetual diversion in favour of
France, sjnce he could not resolve to lighten the
tyrannical yoke he had established in that country
and in Transilvania, nor his ministers to part with
the immense confiscations they had appropriated
to themselves. Past experience showed this : and
the experience that followed confirmed it very
fgftally. But further 3 there was noi only little
assistance to be expected from him by those who
should engage in his quarrel : he did them hurt of
another kind, and deprived them of many advan
tages by false measures of policy and unskjiftU
negotiations. While the death of Charles the
second was expected almost daily,- the Court of
Vienna seemed to have forgot the, court of
Madrid, and all the pretensions on, |hat crown..
je z Whea

C2, ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
When the count d'Harrach was sent thither, the
imperial councils did something worse. The king
of Spain was ready to declare the archduke Charles
his successor ; he was desirous to have this young
prince sent into Spain : the bent of the people was
in favour of Austria, or it had been so, and might
have been easily turned the same way again : at
court no cabal was yet formed in favour of Bourbon,
and a very weak intrigue was on foot in favour of
the electoral prince of Bavaria. Not only Charles
might have been on- the spot ready to reap the
succession, but a German army might have been
there to defend it ; for the court of Madrid insist
ed on having twelve thousand of these troops,
and, rather than not have them, offered to contri
bute to the payment of them privately : because
it would have been too impopular among the Spa
niards, and too prejudicial to the Austrian interest,
to have had it known, that the emperor declined
the payment ofabodj-of his own troops, that
were demanded to secure that monarchy to his
son. These proposals were half refused, and half
evaded : and in return to the offer of the crown of
Spain to the archduke, the imperial councils asked
the government of Milan for him. They thought
it a point of deep policy to secure the Italian
provinces, and to leave to England and Holland
the care ofthe Low Countries, of Spain, and the
-Indies. By declining these proposals the house
of Austria renounced in some sort the whole
succession ; at least she gave England and Holland
reasons,vwhatever engagements these powers had
taken*

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. go
taken, to refuse the harder task of putting her
into possession by force; when she might,1 and
would not, procure 'to the English and Dutch,
and her other allies, the easier task of defending:
her in this possession.
I said that the measures mentioned above were
rendered impracticable, by the emperor chiefly,
because they were rendered so likewise by other
circumstances at the same conjuncture. A prin
cipal one I shall mention, and it shall be drawn
from the state of our own country, and the dispo
sition of our people. Let us take this up from
king William's accession to our crown. During
the whole progress that Lewis the fourteenth
malde towards such exorbitant power, as gave him
well-grounded hopes of acquiring at last to his
family the Spanish monarchy, England had been
either an idle spectator of all that passed on the
continent, or a faint and uncertain ally against
France, or a warm and sure ally on her side,
or a partial mediator between her and the
powers confederated in their common defence.
The revolution produced as great a change
in our foreign conduct, as in our domestick
establishment : and our nation engaged with great
spirit in the war of one thousand six hundred and
eighty-eight. But then this spirit was rash, pre
sumptuous, and ignorant, ill conducted at home,
and ill seconded abroad : all which has been
touched already. We had waged no long wars
on the continent, nor been very deeply concerned
in foreign confederacies, since the fourteenth and ,
, e 3 fifteenth

54 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
fifteenth centuries. The history of Edward the
third, however, and of the- first twelve or fifteen
years of Henry the sixth, might have taught us
some general but useful lessons, drawn from remote
times., but applicable to the present. So might
the example of Henry the eighth, who squandered
away great sums for the profit of taking a town,
pr the honour of having an emperor in his pay ;
and who divided afterward by treaty the kingdom
of France between himself and Charles fhe fifth,
With success so little answerable to such an under
taking, that it is hard to believe his imperial anq\
English majesty were both in earnest. If they
were so, they were both the bubbles, of their pre
sumption. But it seems more likely, that Henry
the eighth was bubbled on this occasion by the
great hopes that Charles held out to flatter his
vanity : as he had been bubbled by his father-in-
law Ferdinand, at the beginning of his reign, in
the war of Navarre. But these reflections were
not made, nor had we enough considered the ex
ample of Elizabeth, the last of our princes who had
made any considerable figure abroad, and fi'oni
whom we might have learned tq act with vigour,
but tq engage with caution, and always to proppr-
tion our assistance according to our abilities, and
fhe real necessities of pur allies. The frontiers of
France were now so fortified, her commerce and
her naval force were so increased, her armies were
grown so numerous, her troops we're so disciplined,
sq inured to war, 'and so animated by a long
course of' successful campaigns, that they .who
looked

LET. VIII. STATE- OF EUROPE. 55
looked on the situation of Europe could not fail
to see how difficult the enterprise ©£ reducing
her power was become. ' Difficult as it was, we
were obliged, on every account and by reasons of
all kinds, to engage in it : but then we shOuklhave
engatged With more forecast, and have conducted
ourselves in the management of it, not with less
alacrity and spirit, but with more order,, more
ceconomy, and a better application of our efforts.
But they who governed were glad t© engage us at
ahy rate ; and we entered on this great scheme
of action, as our nation is too apt to ,do, hurried
on by the ruling passion of the day. I have been
told by several, who were on the stage of the
World at this time, that the generality of our people
believed, and were encouraged to believe, the war
could not be long, if the king was vigorously
supported : and there is a humdrum speech of a
speaker of the house of commons, I think, who
humbly desired his majesty to take this opportji-
nity of reconquering his ancient duchy of Aquir
tain. Wc were soon awakened from these gaudy
dreams. In seven or eight years no impression
had been made on France, that was besieged as it
were on every side : and after repeated defeats in
the Low Countries, where king William laid the
principal stress of the War, his sole triumph was
the retaking Namttr, that had been taken by the
French a few years before, Unsustained by suc
cess abroad, we are nojt to wonder that the spirit
flagged at home ; nor that the discontents of those
who weipe averse to the established government,
e 4 uniting

56 OK THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
uniting with the far greater number of those
who disliked the administration, inflamed the
general discontents of the nation, oppressed
with taxes, pillaged by usurers, plundered at
sea, and disappointed at land. As we run into
extremes always, some would have continued this
war at any rate, even at the same rate, but
it was riot- possible they should prevail in such
a situation of affairs; and such a disposition of
minds. They who got by the 'war, and made
immense fortunes by the necessities ofthe publick,
were not so numerous nor so powerful, as they
[have been since. The moneyed interest was not
fet a rival able to cope with the landed interest,
sither in' the nation or in parliament. The great
corporations that had been erected more to serve
the' turn of party, than for any real national use,
aimed indeed even then at the strength and
influence which they have since acquired in the
legislature ; but they had not made the same pro
gress by promoting national corruption, as they
and the court have made since. In short, the
other extreme prevailed. The generality of people
grew as fond of getting out of the war, as they
had been of entering into it: and thus far per
haps, considering- how' it had been conducted,
they were not much to be blamed. But this was
not all ; for when king William had made the
peace, our martial spirit became at once so
pacifick, thatwe seemed resolved to meddle no
more in- the affairs' of the continent,- at least to
employ our arms no more in the quarrels that
might

LET.VtII. STATE OF EUROPE. , 57
might arise there : and accordingly we re
duced our troops in England to seven thousand
men. I have sometimes considered, in reflecting on
these passages, what I should have done, if I had
sat in parliament at that time ; and have been
forced to own myself, that I should have voted
for disbanding the army then-; as I voted in the
following parliament for censuring the partition,
treaties. I am forced to own this,, because I
remember how imperfect my notions were ofthe
situation of Europe in that extraordinary crisis,
and how much I saw the true interest of my own
country in a half-light. But, my lord, I own it
with some shame ; because in truth nothing could.
be more absurd than the conduct we held. What 1
because we had ngt reduced the power of France
by the war, nor excluded the house of Bourbon
from the -Spanish succession, nor compounded with
her upon jt by the peace ; and because the house
of Austria had not helped herself, nor put it into
our power tQ help her with more advantage and
better prospect of success— were we to leave that
whole succession open to the invasions of France,
and to suffer even the contingency to subsist, of
:seeing those monarchies united ? What ! because
it was become extravagant, after the trials so
¦ lately made, to think ourselves any longer en-
'gaged by treaty, or obliged by good policy, to
put the house of Austr'a m possession of the
whole Spanish monarchy,, and to defend her in
this

58 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY.:
this possession by force of arms, were we to leave
the whole at the mercy of France ? If we were
not to do so, if we were not to do one of the three
things that I said above remained to be done, and
if fhe emperor put it out of our power to do
another of them witn advantage; were we to put
it still more out of our power, and to wait un
armed for the death of the king of Spain? In fine,
if we had not the prospect cf disputing with
France, so successfully as we might have had it,
the Spanish succession, whenever it should be
open '-, were we not only to show by disarming,
that we would not dispute it at all, but to censure
likewise' the second of the three things mentioned
above, and which king William put in practice,
the "-compounding with France, to prevent if
possible a War, in which we were averse to
engage ?
1 Allow me to push these reflections a little
further, a#d to observe to your lordship, that if
the proposal of sending the archduke into Spain
had been accepted in time by the imperial cotirt,
and taken effect and become a measure of the
confederacy, that war indeed would have beeh
protracted ; but France could not have hindered
the passage of this prince and his German forces:
and our fleet would have been better employed in
escorting them, and in covering the coasts of Spain
and of the dominions of that crown, both in
Europe arid in America, than it was in so niany
linirieariing expeditions, frpm. the batjtle of La
Hogue

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. 59'
Hogue to the end of the war. France indeed
would have made her utrhost' efforts to Have had
satisfaction On her pretensions, as ill founded as
they were. She would have ended that war, as
we began the next,' when we demanded a reason
able satisfaction fat the emperor : and though I
think that the allies would have had, in very many
respects, more advantage in defending Spain, than
in attacking France ; yet, upon a supposition that
the defence would have been as ill conducted as the
attack was, and that by consequence, whether
Charles the second had lived to the conclusion of
this war, Or had died before it, the war must have
ended in some partition or other; this partition
would have been made by the Spaniards them
selves. They had been forced to compound with
Frarice on her former pretensions, and they must
and they would have compounded on these, with
ah Austrian prince on the throne, just as they
compounded, and probably much better than they
compounded, on the pretensions we supported
against them, when they had a Prince of Bour
bon on their throne. France could not have dis
tressed the Spaniards, nor have overrun their
monarchy, if they had been united ; and they
would have been united in this case, and sup
ported by the whole Confederacy: as we distressed
both France and them, overrun their monarchy in
one hemisphere, and might have dorie so in both,
when they were disunited, ancl supported by
France alone. France would not have acted, in
"such liegptiations; the ridiculous part which the
emperor

60 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
emperor acted in those that led to the peace of
Vtrecht, nor have made her bargain worse by
neglecting to make it in time. But the war
ending as it did, though I cannot see how king
William could avoid leaving the crown of Spain
and that entire monarchy at the discretion of
Lewis the fourteenth, otherwise than by com
pounding to prevent a new war he was in no sort
prepared to make; yet it is undeniable, 'that by
consenting to a partition of their monarchy, he
threw the Spaniards into the arms of France. The
first partition might have taken place, perhaps, if
the electoral prince of Bavaria had lived, „whom
the French and Spaniards too would have seen
much more willingly than the archduke on the
throne of Spain. For among all the parties into
which that court was divided in one thousand' six
hundred and ninety-eight, when this treaty was
made, that of Austria was grown the weakest, by
the disgust taken at a German queen, and at the
rapacity and insolence of her favourites. The
French were looked upon with esteem and kind
ness at Madrid ; but the Germans were become,
or growing to be, objects of contempt, to the
ministers, and of aversion to the people. The
electoral prince died in one thousand six hundred
and ninety-nine. The star of Austria, so fatal to
all those who were obstacles to the ambition of
that house, prevailed; as the elector expressed
himself in the first pangs of his grief. The state'
.of things changed very much by this death. The
archduke was to have Spain and the Indies, ac
cording

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. 6i
cording to a second partition : and the Spaniards,
who had expressed ' great resentment at the first,
were pushed beyond their bearing by this. They
soon appeared to be so ; for the second treaty of
partition was signed in March one thousand seveii
hundred ; and the will was made, to the best of
my remembrance, in the October following, I
shall not enter here into many particulars cori^
cerning these great events. They will be related
faithfully, and I hope fully explained, in a work
which your lordship may take the trouble very
probably of perusing some time or other, and
which I shall rather leave, than give to the publick.
Something however- must be said more, to continue
and wind up this summary of the latter period of
modern history.
France then saw her advantage, and improved
"it no doubt, though not in the manner, nor with
the circumstances, that some lying scribblers of
memorials and anecdotes have advanced. She had
sent one ofthe ablest men of her court to that of
Madrid, the marshal of Harcourt, and she had
stipulated in the second treaty of partition, that
the archduke should go neither into Spain nor the
duchy of Milan, during the life of Charles the
second. She was willing to have her option be
tween a treaty and a will. By the acceptation
of the will, all king William's measures were
broke. He was unprepared for war as much as
when he made these treaties to prevent one; and
if he meant in making them, what somewise, but
refining men have suspected, and what I confess I
see

6*2 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
see no reason to believe, only, to gain time by the
difficulty of executing them, and to prepare for
making war, whenever the death of the king of
Spain should alarm mankind, and rouze his own
subjects out of their inactivity and neglect of
foreign interests : if so, he was disappointed in that
too ; for France took possession of the whole mo
narchy at once, and with universal concurrence,
at least without opposition or difficulty, in favour
of the duke of Anjou. By what has been ob
served, or hinted rather very shortly, and I fear a
little confusedly, it is plain that reducing the
power of France, and securing the whole Spanish
succession to the house of Austria, were two
points that king William, at the head ofthe British
and Dutch commonwealths and of the greatest
confederacy Europe had seen, was obliged to give
up. All the acquisitions that France cared to
keep for the maintenance of her power were con
firmed to her by the treaty of Ryswic : and king
WiUiam allowed, indirectly at least, the pretensions
ofthe house of Bourbon to the Spanish succession,
as Lewis the fourteenth allowed, in the same man
ner, those of the house of Austria, by the treaties
,pf partition. Strange situation ! in which no ex
pedient remained to prepare for an event, visibly .
.so nqar, and of such vast iiripprtance as the death
of the king of Spain, but a partition of his monar
chy, without his consent, or his knowledge 1 -If
^k-ing William had not made this partition, the em-
-peror would have made one, and with as little
¦regard .to trade, to the barrier qf the Seven Pro
vinces;

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE, •%
vinces, or to the general system of Europe, as had
been showed by him when he made the private
treaty with France already mentioned, in one
thousand six hundred and sixty-eight. The m inis?
ters of Vienna were not wanting to insinuate to
those of France overtures of a separate treaty, as
more conducive to their common interests than the
accession of his imperial majesty to that of par
tition. But the councilsof Versailles judged very
reasonably, that a partition made with England
and Holland would be more effectual than any
other, if a partition was to take place : and that
such a partition would be just as effectual as one
made with the emperor, to furnish arguments to
the emissaries of France, andmotiyes to the Spanish
councils, if a will in favour of France could he ob
tained. I repeat it again ; I cannot see what
king* William could do in such circumstances as
he found himself in after thirty years struggle,
except what he did: neither can I see how he
could do what he did, especially after the resent
ment expressed by the Spaniards, and the furious
memorial presented by Cazales on the conclusion
of the •first treaty of partition-, without apprehend
ing that the consequence would be a will in favour
of France, He was in the worst of all polit i cal cir
cumstances, in that wherein no one good measure
remains to be taken; and out of whichrie left the
4wo nations, at the head* of whom he had beenffeo
long, to fight and negotiate themselves and their
confederates, as Well as they could.
When

6*4, C*T THE S-TUDY AND USE OF HISTORY f
Wheli this will was made and accepted, Levvij
the fourteenth had succeeded, and the powers in
opposition to him had failed, in all the great objects
of interest and ambition, which they had kept in
sight for more than forty years ; that is from the
beginning of the present period. The actors
changed their parts in the tragedy that followed.
The power, that had so long, and so cruelly at- '
tacked, was now to defend, the Spanish monarchy:
and the powers that had so long defended, were
now to attack it. Let us see how this was brought
about: and .that we may see it the better, and
make a better judgment of all that passed from
the death of Charles the second to the peace. of
Utrecht, let us go back to the time of his death,
and consider the circumstances that formed this
complicated state of affairs, in three views; a view
of right, a view of policy, and a. view, of power.- ¦
The right of succeeding to the crown of Spain
would have been undoubtedly in the children of
Maria Theresa, that is, in the .house of Bourbon)
if this right had not been :baiTe,d by tbe-solemn
renunciations so. often mentioned. .The preten
sions of -the house of. Austria, were founded on
these renunciations, on. the ratification of, them
by the Pyrenean treaty, and the confirmation of
them by. the will of Philip the fourth. The pre
tensions of the house of Bourbon were founded
¦oft .a supposition, it was indeed no more, and a
vain oue , too,, that, these -renunciations were in
their nature null.. . On this foot the dispute of
right

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. 65
right stood during the life of Charles the second,
and on the same it would have. continued to stand
even after his death, if the renunciations had re
mained unshaken; if his will, like that of his
father, had confirmed them, and had left the
crown, in pursuance of them to the house, of Aus
tria, But the will of Charles the second, annulling
these renunciations, took away the sole foundation
of the Auflrian pretensions; for, however this
act might be obtained, it was just as valid as his
father's, and was confirmed by the universal con
currence of the Spanish nation to the new settle
ment he made of that crown. Let it be, as I think
it ought to be, granted, that the true heirs could
not claim against renunciations that were, if I may
so say, conditions of their birth : but Charles the
second had certainly as good a right to change
the course of succession agreeably to the, order of
nature and the constitution of that monarchy, after
his true heirs were born, as Philip the fourth had
to change it, contrary to this order and this con
stitution, before they were born, or at any other
time. He had as good a right, in short, to dis
pense with the Pyrenean treaty, and to set it aside
in this respect, as ins father had tq make it; so
thalt the remundiations being annulled by that
party to the Pyrenean treaty who had exacted
them, they could be deemed no longer binding,
by virtue of this treaty, on the party who had
made them. The sole question that remained
therefore between these rival houses, as to right,
jyas this, whether the e»gagemeat& taken, by
. Vol. IV. F Lewis

66 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY i
Lewis the fourteenth in the partition treaties
obliged him to adhere to the terms of the last of
them in all events, and to deprive his family ofthe
succession which the king of Spain opened, and
the Spanish nation Offered to them j rather than to
depart from a composition he had made, on pre*.
tensions that were disputable then, but were
now out of dispute. It may be said, and it wak
said, that the treaties of partition being absolute,
without any condition or exception relative to
any disposition the king of Spain bad made or
might make of his succession, in favour of Bou>
bon or Austria; tlie disposition made by Iris will,
in favour of the duke of Anjou, could not afFect the
engagements so lately taken by Lewis . the four
teenth in these treaties, nor dispense with a literal
observation ©f them. This might be true, oa
strict principles of justice; but I apprehend that
none of these powers, who exclaimed so loudly
against the perfidy of France in this case, would
have been more scrupulous in a parallel case.
The maxim, " summum jus est summa injuria,"
would have been quoted, and the rigid letter of
treaties would have been softened by an equitable
interpretation of their spirit and intention. His
imperial majesty, above all, had not the least
colour of right to exclaim against France on this
occasion; for in general if his family was to be
stripped of all the dominions, they have acquired
by breach of faith, and means much worsethan
the acceptation of the will,, even allowing all tb*
invidious circumstances imputed to .the condu^ of

let. vin. state of Europe. *6f
of France to be true, the Austrian family would
sink from their present grandeur to that low state
they were in two or three centuries ago. In par*
ticular, the emperor, who had constantly refused
to accede to the treaties of partition, or to submit
to the dispositions made by them, had not the
least plausible pretence to object to Lewis the
fourteenth, that he departed from them. Thus, I
think, the right of the two houses stood on the
death of Charles the second. The right of the
Spaniards, an independent nation, to regulate their
own succession, or to receive the prince whom
their dying monarch had called to it ; and the
right of England and Holland to regulate this
succession, to divide and ¦parcel out this monarchy
in different. lots; it would b'e "equally foolish to go
about to establish; One is fob evident, the other
too absurd, to admit of any proof. But enough
has been said concerning right, which was in truth
little regarded by any of the parties concerned
immediately or remotely in the whole course of
these proceedings. Particular interests were
alone regarded* and these were pursued as am
bition) fear, resentment, and vanity directed : I
mean the ambition of the two houses contending
for superiority of power : the fear of England and
Holland lest this superiority should become too
great in either; the resentment of Spain at the
dismemberment of that monarchy projected by
the partition-treaties; and the vanity of that
nation, as well as of the princes of the house of
Bourbon : for as vanity mingled with resentment
f 2 to

68 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY : :
to make the will, vanity had a great share in de
termining the acceptation of it.
Let us now consider the same conjuncture in
a view of policy. The policy ofthe Spanish coun
cils was this. They could not brook that their
monarchy should be divided : and this principle
is expressed strongly in the will of Charles the
second, where he exhorts his subjects not to suffer
any dismemberment or diminution ofa monarchy
founded by his predecessors with so much glory. ,
Too weak to hinder this dismemberment by their
own strength, too well apprised of the little force
and little views of the court of Vienna, and their
old allies having engaged to procure this dismem
berment dyen by force of arms : nothing remained
for them «> do upon this principle, but to detaeh
France frrim the engagements of the partition-
treaties, by giving their whole monarchy to a prince
of the house of Bourbon.- As much as may have
been said concerning the negotiations of France
to obtain a will in her favour, and yet to keep; in
'reserve the advantages stipulated for her by the
partition-treaties, if such a will could not be ob
tained ; and though I am persuaded that the mar
shal of Harcourt, who helped to procure this will,
made his court to Lewis the fourteenth as much
as the marshal of Tallard, who negotiated the par
titions; yet it is certain, that the acceptation of
the will was not a measure definitively taken at
Versailles when the king of Spain died. The al
ternative divided those councils, and, withotft
'entering at this time into the arguments urged oft
J* • - each

LET. VHI.-, • STATE OF EUROPE. 69
each side, adhering to the partitions seemed .the
cause of France, accepting the will that of the
house of Bourbon.
It has been said by men of great weight in the
councils of Spain, and was said at that time by
men as little fond of the house of Bourbon, or qf
the French nation, as their fathers had been, that
if England and Holland had not formed a con
federacy and begun a war, they would have made
Philip the fifth as good a Spaniard as any of the
preceding Philips, and not have endured the in
fluence of French councils in the administration
of their government : but that we threw them
intirely into the hands of France when we began
the war, because the fleets and armies of this
crown being necessary to their defence, they
could not avoid submitting to this influence as
long as the same necessity continued-; and, in
fact, we have seen, that the influence lasted no
longer. But notwithstanding this, it must be
-confessed, that a war was unavoidable. The im
mediate securing of commerce and of barriers,
the preventing a union of the two monarchies in
some future time, and the preservation of a certain
degree at least of equality in the scales of power,
were points too important to England, Holland,
and the rest of Europe, to be rested on the mo
deration of French, and the vigour of Spanish
councils, under a prince of the house of France.
Jf satisfaction to the house of Austria, to whose
rights England and Holland showed no great
jegard while they were better founded than they
F 3 were

7© ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
were since the will, had been alone concerned ;^a
drop of blood spilt, or five shillings spent in the
quarrel, would have been too much profusion.
But this was properly the scale into 'which it be
came the common interest to throw all the weight,
that could be taken out of that of Bourbon. And
therefore your lordship will find, that when ne
gotiations with d'Avaux were set on foot in Hol
land to prevent a war, or rather on our part to
gain time to prepare for it, in which view the
Dutch and we had both acknowledged Philip king
of Spain ; the great article we insisted on was,
that reasonable satisfaction should be .given the
emperor, upon his pretensions founded on the
treaty of partition. We could do no otherwise;
and France, who offered to make the treaty of
Ryswic the foundation of that treaty, could do no
otherwise than refuse to consent, that the treaty of
partition should be so, after accepting the will,
and thereby engaging to oppose all partition or
dismeiriberment of the Spanish monarchy. I
should mention none of the other demands of
England and Holland, if I could neglect to point
out to your lordship's observation, that the same
artifice was employed at this time, to perplex the
more a negotiation that could not succeed on other
accounts, as we saw employed in the course of
the war, by the English and Dutch ministers, to
prevent the success of negotiations that might and
ought to have succeeded. The demand I mean
is that of " a liberty not only to explain the terms
" proposed, but to increase or amplify them, ifl
« the

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. 71
" the course of the negotiation." I do not re
member the wbrds, but this is the sense, and this
was the meaning of the confederates in both
eases. In the former, king William was determined to
begin the war by all the rules of good policy;
since he could not obtain, nay since France could
not grant in that conjuncture, nor without being
forced to it by a war, what he was obliged by
these very rules to demand. He intended there
fore nothing by this negotiation, if it may be
called such, but to preserve forms and appearances;
and perhaps, which many have suspend, to have
time to prepare, as I hinted just now, both abroad
and at home. Many things concurred to favour
his preparations abroad. The alarm, that had
been given by the acceptation ofthe will, was in
creased by every step that France made to secure
the effect of it. Thus, for instance, the surprising
and seizing the Dutch troops, in the same night,
and at the same hour, that were dispersed in the
garrisons of the Spanish Netherlands, was not ex
cused by the necessity qf securing those places to
the obedience of Philip, nor softened by the im
mediate dismission of those troops. The impres
sion it made was much the same as those of the
surprises and seizures of France in former usur
pations. No one knew then, that the sovereignty
of the ten provinces was to be yielded up to the
elector of Bavaria; and eVery one saw, that there
remained no longer any barrier between France
F 4. and

72 ON THE STUDY AND USpfoF HISTORY :
and the Seven Provinces. At home, "the dispo
sition Of the nation Was absolutely turned to a
war with France", "on the "death of king James the
second, by the acknowledgment Lewis the four
teenth made ' of his son as king of England.- I
kn'Ow what has been said in excuse for this meai-
sure, taken, as I believe, on female importunity ;
but certainly without any Tegard'to publick faith,
to the true interest "of France in those circumv
stances, or to the true interest of the prince thus
acknowledged jn any.- It was said, that the
treaty of Ryswic obliging his most "christian ma
jesty only not to disturb king'Williamrin his pbsV
session, lie might, without any violation of it, have
acknowledged this prince as king of Lnglarid^.
according to the political 'casuistry of the French,
and the example of France'- who finds no fault
with the powers that treat with the kings of Eng
land, although the kings of England retain the
tjtle of kings of Franpe ; as well as the example
of Spain, Avho makes no complaints that other
states treat with the kings of France, although th^
kings of France retain the title of Navarre. But
beside that the examples are not apposite, because
no other powers acknowledge in forriithe king of
England to be king of France, nor the king of
France to be king of Navarre ; with what face
cquld the French excuse this measure? Could they
excuse it by urging, that they adhered to. the
strict letter of one article of the treaty of Ryswic,'
against the plain meaning of that very article,
15 and

lET. VflJ. STATE OF EUROPE. 73
and against the whole tenour of that treaty ; in the
same breath with which they justified the accep
tation of the will, by pretending they adhered to
the supposed spirit and general intention of the
treaties of partition, in contradiction to the letter,
to the specifick engagements, and to the whole
purport of those treaties ? This part of the con
duct of Lewis the fourteenth may appear justly
the more surprising, because in most other parts
of his conduct at the same time, and in some to
his disadvantage, he acted cautiously, endeavoured
to calm the minds of his neighbours, to reconcile
Europe to his grandson's elevation, and to avoid
all show of beginning hostilities.
Though king William was determined to engage
in a war with France and Spain, yet the same
good policy, that determined him to engage,
determined him not to engage too deeply. The
engagement taken in the grand alliance of one
thousand seven hundred and one is, " To procure
'*an equitable and reasonable satisfaction to his
w imperial majesty for his pretension to the
f< Spanish succession ; and sufficient security to
'-' the king of England, and the States-General, for
"their dominions, and -for the navigation and
?'commerce of their 'Subjects, -and • to prevent
"¦ the union of- the two monarchies of France and
" Spain." As king of England, as stadtholder of
Holland, he neither could, nor did engage any
further. It may be disputed perhaps among
speculative politicians, whether the balance of
power in Europe wouldliave been better preserved by

74 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
by that scheme of partition, which the treaties, and
particularly the last of them, proposed, or by that
which the grand alliance proposed to be the
object of the war. I think there is little room
for such a dispute, as I shall have occasion to say
hereafter more expressly. In this place I shall
only say, that the object of this war, which king
William meditated, and queen Anne waged, was
a partition, by which a prince of the house of
Bourbon, already acknowledged by us and the
Dutch as king of Spain, was to be left on the
throne of that dismembered monarchy. The
wisdom of those councils saw, that the peace of
Europe might be restored and secured on this foot,
and that the liberties of Europe would be in no
danger. The scales of the balance of power will never
be exactly poised, nor is the precise point of
equality either discernible or necessary to be
discerned. It is sufficient in this, as in other
human affairs, that the deviation be not too great.
Some there will always be. A constant attention
to these deviations is therefore necessary. When
they are little, their increase may be easily pre
vented by early care, and the precautions that
good policy suggests. But when they become
great for want of this care and these precautions;
or by the force of unforeseen events, more vigour
is to be exerted, and greater efforts to be made.
But even in such cases, much reflection is neces
sary on all the circumstances that form the con*
juncture; lest,, by attacking with ill success, the.
deviation.

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. 75
deviation be confirmed, and the power that is
deemed already exorbitant become mOre so ; and
lest, by attacking with good success, while one
"scale is pillaged, too much weight of power be
thrown into the other. In such cases, he who
has considered, in the histories of former ages, the
strange revolutions that time produces, and the
perpetual flux and reflux of publick as well as
private fortunes, of kingdoms and states as well
as of those who govern or are governed in them,
will incline to think, that if the scales can be
brought back by a war, nearly, though not
exactly, to the point they were at before this
great deviation from it, the rest may be left to
accidents, and to the use that good policy is able
to make of them. /
When Charles the fifth was at the h eighth of his
power, and in the zenith of his glory, when a king
of France and a pope were at once his prisoners ;
it must be allowed, that, his situation and that of
his neighbours compared, they had as much at
least to fear from him and from the house of
Austria, as the neighbours of Lewis the fourteenth
had to fear from him and from the house of
Bourbon, when, after all his other success, one of
his grandchildren was placed on the Spanish
throne. And yet among all the conditions of the
several leagues against Charles the fifth, I do- not
remember that it was ever stipulated, that " no
*' peace fhould be made with him as long as he
*' continued to -be emperor and king of Spain ;
ff nor as long as any Austrian prince continued " capable

76 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
" capable of uniting on his head the Imperial and
" Spanish crowns."
If your lordship makes the application, you will
find that the difference of some circumstances does
not hinder this example from being very apposite
and strong to the present purpose. Charles the
fifth was emperor and king of Spain; but neither
was Lewis the fourteenth king of Spain, nor Philip
the fifth king of France.- That had happened in
one instance, which it was apprehended might
happen in the other. It had happened, and it
Teas reasonably to be apprehended that it might
happen again, and that the Imperial and Spanish
erowns might continue, not only in the same
family, but on the same heads ; for measures
were taken to secure the succession of both to
Philip the son of Charles. We do net find
however that any confederacy was formed, any
engagement taken, nor any war made, to remove
or prevent this great evil. The princes and states
of Europe contented themselves to oppose- the
"designs of Charles the fifth, and to check the
growth of his power occasionally, and as interest
invited, or necessity forced them to do ; not con
stantly. They did perhaps too little against him,
and sometimes too much for him : but if they did
too little of one kind, time and accident did the
rest. Distinct dominions, and different preten
sions, created contrary interests in the house of
Austria : and on the abdication of Charles the
fifth, his brother succeeded, not his son, to .the
empire. Tlie House of Austria divided into a
German

LET. VIII. J.TATE OF EUROPE. fj
German and a Spanish branch : and if the two
branches came to have a mutual influence on one
another, and frequently a common interest, it was
not till one of them had fallen from grandeur, and
till the other was rather aiming at it, than in
possession of it. In short, Philip was excluded
from the imperial throne by so natural a progres
sion of causes and effects, arising not only in
Germany but in his own family, that if a treaty
had been.made to exclude him from it in favour of
Ferdinand, such a treaty might have been said
very probably to have executed itself.
The precaution I have mentioned, and that w:as
neglected in this case without any detriment to
the common cause of Europe, was not neglected
in the grand alliance of one thousand seven hun
dred and one. For in that, one of the ends pro
posed by the war is, to obtain an effectual secu
rity against the contingent union of the crowns of
France and Spain. The will of Charles the second
provides against the same contingency : and this
great principle, of preventing too much dominion
and power from falling to the Jot of either of the
families of Bourbon or Austria, seemed to be
agreed On all sides; since in the partition-treaty'
the same precaution was taken against a union of
the Imperial and Spanish crowns. King William
was enough piqued against France. His ancient
prejudices were strong and well founded. He had
been worsted in war, overreached in negotiation,
and personally affronted by her. England and
Holland we're sufficiently alarmed and animated, and

, J% ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
and a party was not wanting, even iu our island}
ready to approve any engagements he would have
taken against France and Spain, and in favour of
the house of Austria; though v/e were less con
cerned, by any national interest, than any other
power that took part in the war, either then, or
afterward. But this prince was far from taking
a part beyond that which the particular interest of
England and Holland, and the general interest of
Europe, necessarily required. Pique must have
no more a place than affection, in deliberations of
this kind. To have engaged to dethrone Philip;
out of resentment to Lewis the fourteenth, would
have been a resolution worthy of Charles the
twelfth, king of Sweden, who sacrificed his coun
try, his people, and himself at last, to his revenge*
To have engaged to conquer the Spanish mo*
narchy for the house of Austria, or to go, in favour
of that family, one step beyond those that were
necessary to keep this house on a foot of rivalry
with the other, would have been, as I have hinted*
to act the part of a vassal, not of an ally. The
former pawns his state and ruins his subjects, for
the interest of his superiour lord, perhaps for his
lord's humour, or his passion : the latter goes no
further than his own interests- carry him ; nor
makes war for those of another, nor even for his
own, if they are remote and contingent, as if he
fought pro arisetfocis, for his religion, his liberty j
and his property. Agreeably to these principles ,
of good policy, we entered into the Avar that began
on the death of Charles the second : but we soon '
departed

LET. VIII. , STATE OF EUROPE. 7a.
departed from them, as I shall have occasion to
observe in considering the state of things, at this
remarkable conjuncture, in a view of strength.
Let me recal here what I have said somewhere
else. They who are in the sinking scale of the
balance of power do not easily, nor soon, come off
from the habitual prejudices of superiority over
their neighbours, nor from the confidence that
such prejudices inspire. From the year one
thousand six hundred and sixty-seven, to the end
of tjiat century, France had been constantly in
qfatis, and her arms had been successful. She had
sustained a war without any confederates, against
the principal powers of Europe confederated
against her, and had finished it with advantage
on every side, just before the death ofthe king of
Spain. She continued armed after the peace, by
sea and land. She increased her forces, while
other nations reduced theirs ; and was ready to
defend, or to invade her neighbours, while, their
confederacy being dissolved, they were in no con
dition to invade her, and in a bad one to defend
themselves. Spain and France had now one
common cause. The electors of Bavaria and
Cologne supported it in Germany : the duke of
Savoy was an ally, the duke of Mantua a vassal
ofthe two crowns in Italy. In a word, appear
ances were formidable on that side : and if a dis
trust of strength, on the side of the confederacy,
had induced England and Holland to compound
with France for apaTtitiqn ofthe Spanish succes-
— sioiLj. there seemed to be still greater reason for
this

go . ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY:
this distrust after the acceptation of the will, the
peaceable and ready submission of the entire mo
narchy of Spain to Philip, and all the. measures
taken to secure him in this possession. Such ap
pearances might well impose. They did so on
many, and on nonerciore than -on the French
themselves,- who engaged with great confidence
and spirit in the war ; when they found it,, as
they might well expect it would be, unavoidable.
The strength of France however, though, great,
was not so great as the French thought it, nor
equal to the vefforts they undertook to make.
Their engagement, to, maintain the Spanish mo
narchy entire under the dominion of Philip, ex
ceeded their strength. Our engagement, to pro
cure some outskirts of it for the house of Austria,
was not in the same disproportion to our strength.
If J speak positively qn this occasion, yet I cannpt
be accused of presumption ;. because, how dispu
table soever these points might be when they were
p.qints of political speculation, -they are such no
longer, and the judgment I make is dictated to me
by experience. France threw herself into, the
sinking scale, when she accepted the. will, ., Per
scale continued to sink during the whole. course
ofthe war, and might have been kept by, the peaijp
a.s low as the true interest qf Europe required.
What I remember to have heard .the" dukejjf
Marlborough say, before he went to take onhjin
the command of the army in the LoW Countries;, jji
one thousand ,seve,n hundred and twq,. , prftY^d
.pue. .The.FrejiGh. .naisj.ieQkoa.e,d, very, much, if
they

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. 8 1
they made the same comparison between their
troops and those of their enemies, as they had
made in precedent wars. Those that had been
opposed to them, in the last, were raw for the
hiost part when it began, the British particular
ly : but they had been disciplined, if I may say
so, by their defeats. They were grown to be
veteran at the peace of Ryswic, and though many
had been disbanded, yet they had been disbanded
lately : so that even these were easily formed
anew, and the spirit that had been raised con
tinued in all. Supplies of men to recruit the
armies were more abundant on the side of the
confederacy, than on that of the two crowns: a
necessary consequence of which it seemed to be,
that those of the former would grow better, and
those ofthe latter worse, in a long, extensive, and
bloody war. I believe it proved so ; and if my
memory does hot deceive me, the French were
forced very early to send recruits to their armies,
as they send slaves to their galleys. A compari
son between those who were to direct the coun
cils, and to conduct the armies on both sides, is a
task it would become me little to undertake. The
event showed, that if France had had. her Conde,
her Turenne, or her Luxemburg, to oppose to the
confederates; the cqnfederates might have op
posed to her, with equal gorifidence, their Eugene
of Savoy, their Marlborough, or their Staren-
berg. But there is one observation I cannot for
bear to make. The alliances were concluded,
the quotas were settled, and the season for taking
Vol. IV. G the

SZ ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
the field approached, when king William died.'
the event could not fail to occasion some con,
sternation on one side, and to give some hopes
on the other: for, notwithstanding the ill success
with which he made war generally, he was look
ed upon as the sole ceptre of union that could
keep together the great confederacy then form
ing : and how much the French feared from his
life had appeared a, few years before, in the ex
travagant and indecent joy they expressed on a
false report of his death. A short time showed
how vain the fears of some, and the hopes of
others were. By his death, the duke of Marl
borough was raised to the head of the army, and
indeed of the confederacy : -where he, a new, a
private man, a subject, acquired by merit and by
management a more deciding influence than high
birth, confirmed authority, and even the crown of
Great Britain had given to king William. Not
only all the parts of that vast machine, the grand
alliance, were kept more compact and entire ; but
a more rapid and vigorous motion was given to
the whole: and, instead of lansmishino; or disas-
trous campaigns, we saw every scene of the war
full of action. All those wherein he appeared, and
many of those wherein he was not then an actor,
but abettor however of their action, were crowned
with the most triumphant success. I take with
pleasure this opportunity of doing justice to that
great man, whose faults I knew, whose virtues I
admired: and whose memory, as the greatest
general and as the greatest minister that our
country

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. t$
country or perhaps any other has produced, I'
honour. But beside this, the observation I have
made comes into rriy subject, since it serves to
point out to your lordship the proof of what I
said above, that France undertook too much,
when she undertook to maintain the Spanish mo
narchy entire in the possession of Philip: and
that we undertook no more than What Was pro
portionable to our strength, when we undertook
to weaken that monarchy by dismembering it, in
the hands of a prince of the house Of B6urbott,
which we had been disabled by ill fortune and
worse conduct to keep out of them. It maybe
said, that the great success of the confederates'
against France proves, that their generals were
superiour to hers, but not that their forces and
their national strength were so; that with the
same force with which she was beaten, she might
have been victorious ; that if she had been so, or
if the success of the war had varied, or been less
decisive against her in Germany, in the Low
Countries; and in Italy, as it was in Spain, her
strength would have appeared sufficient, and that
Of the confederacy insufficient. Many things
may be urged to destroy this reasoning : I content
myself with one. France could not long have
made even the tiansuceessful efforts she did make,
ifEngland and Holland had done what it is unde
niable they had strength 'to do; if beside pillag*
ihg, I do not say conquering the Spanish West
Indies, they had hindered the French from going
to the South" Sea ; as they did annually during
g 2 thei

84 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY ;
the whole course ofthe war without the least mo
lestation, and from whence they imported into
France in that time as much silver and gold as the
whole species of that kingdom amounted to.
With this immense and constant supply of wealth
France was reduced in effect to bankruptcy be
fore the end of the war. How much sooner must
she have been so, if this: supply had been kept
from her ? The confession of France herself is on
my side. She confessed her inability to support
what she had undertaken, when she sued for peace
as earlv as the year one thousand seven hundred
and six. She made her utmost efforts to answer
the expectation ofthe Spaniards, and to keep their
monarchy entire. When experience had made it
evident, that this was beyond her power, she
-thought herself justified to the Spanish nation, in
consenting to a partition, and was ready to con
clude a peace with the allies on the principles of
their grand alliance. But as France seemed to
flatter herself till experience made her desirous to
abandon an enterprise that exceeded her strength;
you will find, my lord, lhat her enemies began to
flatter themselves in their turn, and to form de
signs and take engagements that exceeded theirs.
Great Britain was drawn into these engagements
little by Udle; for I do not remember any
parliamentary declaration for continuing the war
till Philip should be dethroned, "before the year
one thousand seven hundred and six : and then
such a declaration was judged necessary to second
the resolution of our ministers and our allies, in
departing

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. 85
departing from the principle ofthe grand alliance,
and in proposing not only the reduction of the
French, but the conquest of the Spanish monarchy*
as the objects of the war. This new plan had
taken place, and we had begun to act upon it, twd
years before, when the treaty with Portugal was
concluded, and the archduke Charles, now em
peror, was sent into Portugal first, and into Cata
lonia afterward, and was acknowledged and sup
ported as king of Spain.
When your lordship peruses the anecdotes of
the times here spoken of, and considers the course*
and event of the great war which broke out on
tlie death ofthe king of Spain, Charles' the second,
and was ended by the treaties of 'Utrecht and
Radstat ; you will find, that, in order to forma
true judgment on the whole, you must consider
very attentively the great change made by the'
new plan that I have mentioned; and compare
it with the plan ofthe grand alliance, relatively to
the general interest of Europe, and the particular'
interest of your own country. It will not, be
cause it cannot, be denied, that all the ends ofthe
grand alliance might have been obtained by a
peace in one thousand seven hundred and six.
I need not recal the events of that, and of the pre
cedent years ofthe war. Not only the arms of
France had been defeated on every side ; but the'
inward state of that kingdom was already more
exhausted than it had ever been. She went ou
indeed, but she staggered and reeled under the
burden of the war. Our condition, I speak of
« g 3 Great

86 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
Great Britain, was not quite so bad : but the
charge qt" the war increased annually upon us.
It was evident, that this charge must continue to
increase; and it was no less evident, that our nation
was unable to bear it without falling soon into
such distress, and contracting such debts, as we
have seen and felt, and still feel. The Dutch
neither restrained their trade, nor overloaded ,it
with taxes. They soon altered the proportion of
their quotas, and were deficient even after this
alteration in them. But, however,, it must be
allowed, that they exerted their whole strength ;
and they arid we paid the whole charge of the
war. Since therefore by such efforts as could not
be continued any longer, without oppressing and
impoverishing these nations to a degree, that no
interest except that qf their very being, nor any
engagement of assisting an alliance totis viribus
can require, France was reduced, and all the ends
of the war were become attainable ; it will be
worth your lordship's while to consider, why the
true use was not made ofthe success of the con
federates against France and Spain, and why a
peace was not concluded in the fifth year of the
war. When your lordship considers this, you
will compare in your thoughts what the state of
Europe would have been, and that of your own
country might have been, if the plan ofthe grand
alliance had been pursued; with the possible as
well as certain, the contingent as well as necessary,
consequences of changing this plan in the man
ner it was changed. You will be of opinion, I
think,

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. 87
think, and it Seems to me, after more than twenty
years of recollection, reexamination, and re
flection, that impartial posterity must be ofthe
same opinion ; you will be of opinion, I think,
that the war was wise and just before the change,
because necessary to maintain that equality
among the powers of Europe on which the publick
peace and common prosperity depends : and that
it was unwise and unjust after this change, be
cause unnecessary to this end, and directed to
other and to contrary ends. You will be guided
by undeniable facts to discover, through all the
false colours which have been laid, and which de
ceived many at the time, that the war, after this
change, became a war Of passion, of ambition, of
avarice, and of private interest : the private in
terest of particular persons and particular stages ;
to which the general interest of Europe was sacri
ficed so entirely, that if the terms insisted on by
the confederates had been granted, nay if even
those which France was reduced to grant, in one
thousand seven hundred and ten, had been
accepted, such a new system of power would have
been created, as might have exposed the balance
of this power to deviations, and the peace of Eu
rope to troubles, not inferiour to those that thewar
was designed, when it began, to prevent. While
you observe this in general, you will find particu
lar occasion to lament the fate of Great Britain,
in the midst of triumphs that have been sounded
so high, She had triumphed indeed to the year
one thousand seven hundred and six inclusively :
but what were her triumphs afterward ? What
6 4 was

88 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY:
was her success after she proceeded on the new
plan ? I shall say something on that head imme
diately. Here let me only say, that the glory of
taking towns and winning battles is to be, mea
sured by the utility that results from those vic
tories. Victories, that bring honour to the arms,
may bring shame to the councils, ofa nation. To
win a battle, to take a town, is the glory ofa ge-,
neral, and of an army. Of this glory we had a
very large share in the course of the war. But
the glory of a nation is to proportion the end she
proposes to her interest and. her strength : the
means she employs, to the end she proposes,
and the vigour she exerts, to both. Of this
glory, I apprehend, we have had very little to
boast at any time, and particularly in the great
conjuncture of which I am speaking. The rea
sons of ambition, avarice, and private interest,
which engaged the princes and states ofthe con?
federacy to depart from the principles of the
grand alliance, were no reasons for Great Britain.
She neither expected nor desired any thing more,
than what she might have obtained by adhering
to those principles. What hurried our nation
then, with so much spirit and ardour, into those
ofthe new plan ? Your lordship will answer this
question to yourself, I believe, by the prejudices
and rashness of party ; by the influence that the.
first successes of the confederate arms gave to our .
ministers ; and the popularity that they gave,
if I may say so, to' the war ; by ancient
and fresh resentments, which the unjust and
violent usurpations, in short the whole conduct of
Lewis

Let. vm. state of Europe. 89
Lewis the fourteenth for forty years together, bis
haughty treatment of other princes and states,
and even the style of his court had created ; and,
to mention no more, by a notion, groundless but
prevalent, that he was and would be master as
long as his grandson was king of Spain, and that
there could be no effectual measure taken, though
the grand alliance supposed that there might, to
prevent a future union ofthe two monarchies, as
long as a prince of the house of Bourbon sat on
the Spanish throne. That such a notion should
have prevailed, in the first confusion of thoughts
which the death and will of Charles the second
produced, among the generality of men who saw
the fleets and armies of France take possession of
all the parts ofthe Spanish monarchy, is not tobe
wondered at by those that consider how ill tbe
generality of mankind are informed, how incapa
ble they are of judging, and yet how ready to
pronounce judgment : in fine, how inconsiderate
ly they follow one another in any popular opini
on, which the heads of party broach, or to which
the first appearances of things have given occa
sion. But, even at thistime the councils of Eng
land and Holland did not entertain this ivition.
They acted on quite another, as might be shown
in many instances, if any other beside that of tlie
grand alliance was necessary. When these coun
cils therefore seemed to entertain this notion after
ward, and acted and took engagements to act
upon it, we must conclude that they had other
motives. They could not have these ; for tbey
^». knew,

gO , ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY:
knew, that as the Spaniards had been driven by
the two treaties of partition to^give their mo
narchy to a prince of the house of Bourbon, so
they were driven into the arms of France by the
war, that we made to force a third upon them.
If we acted rightly on the principles of the grand
alliance, they acted rightly on those of the will :
and if we could not avoid making an offensive war,
at the expense of forming and maintaining a vast
confederacy, they could not avoid purchasing the
protection and assistance of France in a defensive
war, and especially in the beginning of it, accordr
ing to what I have somewhere observed already,
by yielding to the authority, and admitting the
influence qf that court in all the affairs of their
government. Our ministers knew therefore, that
if any inference was to be drawn from the first
part of this notion, it was for shortening, not pro
longing, the,. war; for delivering the Spaniards as
soon as possible from habits of union and inti
macy with France ; not for continuingthem under
the same necessity, till by length of time these
habits should be confirmed. As to the latter
part of this notion, they knew that it was false
and gilly. Garth, the best natured ingenious
wild man I ever knew, might be in the right,
when he said, in some of his poems at that time,.
"  An Austrian prince alone

" Is fit to nod upon a Spanish throne."
The setting an Austrian prince upon it was, no
doubt, the surest expedient to prevent a union of

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. gl
of the two monarchies of France and Spain ; just
as setting a prince of the house of Bourbon on
that throne was the surest expedient to prevent
a union of the Imperial and Spanish crowns.
But it was equally false to say, in either case, that
this was the sole expedient. It would be no par
radox, but a proposition easily proved, to ad
vance, that if these unions had been effectually
provided against, the general interest of Europe
would have been little concerned whether Philip
or Charles had nodded at Madrid, lt would be
likewise no paradox to say, that the contingency
of uniting France and Spain under the same
prince appeared more remote, about the middle
of the last great war, when the dethronement of
Philip in favour of Charles was made a condition
of peace sine qua non, than the contingency
of a union of the Imperial and Spanish
crowns. Nay, I know not whether it would be a
paradox to affirm, that the expedient that was
taken,.and that was always obvious to be taken,
of excluding Philip and his race from the
succession of France, by creating an interest jn
all the other princes of the blood, and by conse
quence a party in France itself, for their exclu
sion, whenever the case should happen; was not
iri it's nature more effectual than any that could
have been taken : and some must have been taken,
riot only to exclude Charles from the empire
whenever the case should happen that happened
soon, the death of his brother Joseph without
issue male, but his posterity likewise in all fu
ture vacancies of the imperial thrqne. The ex
pedient

02 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
pedient that was taken against Philip at the treaty
of Utrecht, they who opposed the peace attempt
ed to ridicule; but some of them have had occa
sion since that time to see, though the case has
not happened, how effectual it would have been if
it had : and he, who should go about to ridicule
it after our experience, would only make himself
ridiculous. Notwithstanding all this, he who
transports himself back to that time must ac
knowledge, that the confederated powers in gene
ral could not but be of Garth's mind, and think it
more agreeable to the common interest of Europe,
that, a branch of Austria, than a branch of Bour
bon, should gather the Spanish succession ; and
that the maritime powers, as they are called im
pertinently enough with respect to the superiOrity
of Great Britain, might think it was for their par
ticular interest to have a prince, dependant for
some time at least on them, king of Spain, rather
than a prince whose dependance, as long as he
stood in any, must be naturally on France. I do
not say, as some have done, a prince whose family^
was an old ally, rather than a prince whose family
was an old enemy ; because I lay no weight on
the gratitude' of princes, and am as much per
suaded, that an Austrian king of Spain would have
made us returns of that sort in no other propor
tion than of his want ofns, as I am that. Philip aud
his race will make no other returns of the same
.sort to France. If this affair had been entire,
therefore, on the death of the kingof Spain ; if we
had made no partition, nor he any will, the whole"
monarchy

LET. VIII. STATE OF EWROPE. 9-3.
monarchy of Spain would have been the prize to
be fought for: and our wishes, and such efforts
as we were able to make, in the most unprovided
condition imaginable, must have been on the side
of Austria. But it was far from being entire. A
prince of the house of Austria might have been
on the spot, before the king of Spain died, to ga
ther his succession ; but instead of this, a prince
of the house of Bourbon was there soon after
ward, and took possession of the whole monarchy,
to which he had been called by the late king's
will, and by the voice ofthe Spanish nation. The
councils of England and Holland therefore pre
ferred very wisely, by their engagements in the
grand alliance, what was more practicable though
less eligible, to what they deemed more eligible,
but saw become by the course of events, if not
absolutely impracticable, yet an enterprise of
more length, more difficulty, and greater expense
of blood and treasure, than these nations were
able to bear ; or than they ought to bear, when
their security and that of the rest of Europe
might be sufficiently provided for at a cheaper
rate. If the confederates could not obtain, by
the force of their arms, the ends of the war laid
down in the grand alliance, to what purpose
would it be to stipulate for more ? And if they
were able to obtain these, it was evident that,
while they dismembered the Spanish monarchy,
they must reduce the power of France. This
happened ; the Low Countries were conquered ;
the French were driven out of Germany and
Italy:

94 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
Italy : and Lewis the fourteenth, Who had so long
and so lately set mankind at defiance, was
reduced to sue for peace.
If it had been granted him in one thousand'
seven hundred and six, on what foot must it have
been granted ? The allies had already in their
power all the states, that were to compose the rea
sonable satisfaction for the emperor. I say, in
their power; because though Naples and Sicily
were not actually reduced at that time,* yet the
expulsion ofthe French out of Italy, and the dis
position of the people of these kingdoms, con
sidered, it was plain the allies might reduce them1
when they pleased. The confederate arms were
superiour till then in Spain, and several provinces
acknowledged Charles the third. If the rest had
been yielded to him by treaty, all that the new
plan required had been obtained. If tlie French
would not yet have abandoned Philip, as we had
found that the Castilians would not even when our
army was at Madrid, all that the old plan, the plan
of the grand alliance required, had been' obtain
ed; but still France and Spain had given nothing
to purchase a peace, and they were in circum
stances not to expect it without purchasing it.
They would have purchased it my lord : and
France, as well as Spain, would have contri
buted a larger share" of the price, rather than con
tinue the war, in her exhausted state.' Such a
treaty of peace would have been a third treaty -of
partition indeed, but vastly preferable to the two
former. The great objection to the foxmetw'as drawn

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE, 95-
drawn from that considerable increase of domi
nion, which the crown of France, and not a branch
of the house of Bourbon, acquired by them. I
kuow what may be said speciously enough to'per-
suade, that such an increase of dominion Would
not have augmented, but would rather have weak
ened the power of France, and what examples may
be drawn from history to countenance such an
opinion. I know likewise, that the compact"
figure of France, and the contiguity of all her
provinces, make a very essential part ofthe force
of her monarchy. Had the designs of Charles the
eighth, Lewis the twelfth, Francis the first, and
Henry the second, succeeded, the dominions of
France would have been more extensive, and I
believe the strength of her monarchy would have
been less. I have sometimes thought, that even
the loss of the battle of St. Quentin, which oblig
ed Henry the second to recal the duke of Guise
with his army out of Italy, was in this^respect no
unhappy event. But the reasoning which is
good, I think, when applied to those times, will
not hold when applied to ours, and to the case I
consider here ; the state of France, the state of
her neighbours, and the whole constitution of Eu
rope being so extremely different. The objection
therefore to the two treaties of partition had a real
weight. The power of France, deemed already
exorbitant, would have been increased by this ac
cession of dominion in the hands of Lewis the
fourteenth: and the use he intended to make of*
it, by keeping Italy and Spain in awe, appears in
the

&6 ON THE SJUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
the article that gave him the ports on the Tus
can coast, and tlie province of Guipuscoa. This
king William might, and, I question not, did see ;
but that priuce might, think too, that for this
very reason Lewis the fourteenth would adhere,
in all events, to the treaty of partition : and that
these consequences were more remote, and would
be less dangerous, than those of making no par
tition at all. The partition, even the worst that
might have been made, by a treaty of peace in
one thousand seven hundred and six, would have
been the very reverse of this. France would have
been weakened, and her enemies strengthened,
by her concessions on the side of the Low Coun
tries, of Germany and Savoy. If a prince of her
royal family had remained in possession of Spain
and the West Indies, no advantage would have ac
crued to her by it, and effectual bars would have
been opposed to a union of the two monarchies.
The house of Austria woidd have had a reasonable
satisfaction for that shadow of right, which a for
mer partition gave her. She had no other after
the will of Charles the second ; and this may be
justly termed a shadow, since England, Holland,
and France could confer no real right, to the Spa?
nish succession, nor to any part of it. She had
declined acceding to that partition, before France
departed from it, and would have preferred the
Italian provinces, without Spain and the West-
Indies, to Spain and the West Indies, without the
Italian provinces. The Italian provinces would
have fallen to her share by this partition. The
particular

LET. VIlI. STATE OF EUROPE. 97"
particular demands of England and Holland
would have suffered no difficulty, and those that
we were obliged by treaty to make for others
would have been easy to adjust. Would not this
have been enough, my lord, for the publick secu
rity, for the common interest, and for the glory
of our arms ? To have humbled and redufced iri
five campaigns a power, that had disturbed and
insulted Europe almost forty years ; to have re
stored, in so short a time, the balance of power in
Europe to a sufficient point of equality, after it
had been more than fifty years, that is from thd
treaty of Westphalia, in a gradual deviation from
this point; in short, to have retrieved, in one,
thousand seven hundred and six, a game that was
become desperate at the beginning of the centu
ry. To have done all this, before the war had ex
hausted our strength, was the utmost sure that
any man could desire, who intended the publick
good alone : and no honest reason ever was, nor
ever will be given, why the war was protracted
any longer ; why we neither made peace after a
short, vigorous, and successful war, nor put it en
tirely out of the power of France to continue at
any rate a long one. I have said, and it is true,
that it had been entirely out of her power, if we
had given greater interruption to the commerce
of Old and New Spain, and if we had hindered
France from importing annually, from the year
one thousand seven hundred and two, such im
mense treasures as she did import by the ships
she sent, with the permission of Spaili, to the
South Sea. It has been advanced, and it is a
V01. IV. H common

98 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
common opinion, that we were restrained by the
jealousy of the Dutch, from making use of the
liberty given by treaty to them and us, and which,
without his imperial majesty's leave, since we
entered into the war, we. might have takfen, of
making conquests in the Spanish West Indies.
Be it so. But to go to the South Seas, to trade
there if we could, to pillage the West Indieswithout
making conquests, if we could not, and, whether we
traded or whether we pillaged, to hinder the French
from trading there ; was ameasure that wouldhave
given, one ought to think, no jealousy to the
Dutch, who might, and it is to be supposed would,
have taken their part in these expeditions; or if
it had given them jealousy, what could they have
replied, when a British minister had told them :
" That it little became them to find fault that we
" traded with or pillaged the Spaniards in tlie
"West Indies to the detriment of our common
" enemy, while we connived at them who traded
" with this enemy to his and their great advan-
" tage, against our remonstrances, and in viola-
" tion of the condition upon which we had given-
" the first augmentation of our forces in the Low
" Countries r" We might have pursued this mea
sure notwithstanding any engagement that we
took by the treaty with Portugal, if I remember
that treaty right : but instead of this, we wasted •¦
our forces, and squandered millions after millions
in supporting our alliance with this crown, and in
pursuing the chimerical project which was made
the object of this alliance. I call it chimerical
because it was equally so, to expect a revolution
18 .in

i,ET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. 99
in favour of Charles the third on the slender au
thority of such a trifler as the admiral of Castile ;
and, when this failed us, to hope to conquer Spain
by the assistance of the Portuguese, and the
revolt of the Catalans. Yet this was the founda
tion upon which the new plan ofthe war was to
be built, and so many ruinous engagements were
taken. The particular motives of private men, as well as
of princes and states, to protract the war, are partly
known, and partly guessed, at this time. But when
ever that time comes, and I am persuaded it will
come,when their secret motives, their secret designs,
and intrigues can be laid open, I presume to say
to your lordship, that the most confused scene of
iniquity, and folly, that it is possible to ima
gine, will appear. In the mean while, if your
lordship considers only the treaty of barrier, as my
lord Townshend signed it, without, nay in truth,
against orders, for the duke of Marlborough,
though joint plenipotentiary, did not : if you con
sider the famous preliminaries of one thousand
seven hundred and nine, which we made a mock
show of ratifying, though we knew that they
would not be accepted ; for so the marquis of
Torcy had told the pensionary before he left the
Hague, as the said marquis has assured me very
often since that time: if you inquire into the
anecdotes of Gertruydenberg, and if you consult
other authentick papers that are extant, your lord
ship will see the policy of the new plan, I think,
in this light. Though we had refused, before the
H 2 war

100 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY *
war began, to enter into engagements for the*
conquest of Spain, yet as soon as it began, when
the reason of things was still the same, for the
success of our first campaign cannot be said to
have altered it, we entered into these very en
gagements. By the treaty wherein we took these
engagements first, Portugal was brought into
the grand alliance ; that is, she consented to em
ploy her formidable forces against Philip, at the
expense of England anr* Flolland, provided we
would debar ourselves from making any acquisi
tions, and the house of Austria promise, that she
should acquire many important places in Spain,
and an immense extent of country in America.
By such bargains as this, the whole confederacy
was formed, and held together. Such means
were indeed effectual to multiply enemies to
France and Spain ; but a project so extensive
and so difficult as to make many bargains of
this kind necessary, and necessary for a great
number of years, and for a very uncertain event,
was a project into which, for this very reason,
England and Holland should not have entered.
It is worthy your observation, my lord, that these
bad bargains would not have been continued, as
they were almost to our immediate ruin, if the
war had not been protracted under the pretended
necessity of reducing the whole Spanish monarchy
to the obedience of the house of Austria. Now,
as no other confederate except Portugal was to
receive his recompense by any dismemberment
of dominions in Old or New Spain, the engage-
1 ') ments

4.ET- VUL STATE OF EUROPE. IOI
ments we took to conquer this whole monarchy
had no visible necessary cause, but the procuring
the accession of this power, that was already neu
ter, to the grand alliance. This accession, as I
have said before, served only to make us neglect
immediate and certain advantages for remote and
uncertain hopes ; and chqose to attempt the con
quest of the Spanish nation at our own vast expense,
whom we might have starved, and by starving re
duced both the French and them, at their ex
pense. I called the necessity of reducing the whole
Spanish monarchy to the obedience ofthe house
of Austria a pretended necessity : and pretend
ed it was, not real, without doubt. But I am apt
to think your lordship may go further, and find
some reasons to suspect, that the opinion itself of
this necessity was not very real, in the minds of
those who urged it : in the minds I would say of
the able men among them ; for that it was real in
some of our zealous British politicians, I do them
the justice to believe. Your lordship may find
reasons to suspect perhaps, that this opinion was
set up rather to occasion a diversion of the forces
of France, and to furnish pretenpes for prolonging
the war for other ends.
Before tlie year one thousand seven hundred
and ten, the war was kept alive with alternate
success in Spain ; and it may be said therefore,
that the design of conquering this kingdom con
tinued, as well as the hopes of succeeding. But
why then did the States General refuse, in one
h 3 thousand

lOi ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
thousand seven hundred and nine, to admit an
article in the barrier treaty, by which they would
have obliged themselves to procure the whole
Spanish monarchy to the house of Austria, when
that zealous politicianmy lord Townshend pressed
them to it? If their opinion of the necessity of
carrying on the war till this point could be obtain
ed was real, why did they risk the immense ad
vantages given them with so much profuse gene
rosity by this treaty, rather than consent to an
engagement that was so conformable to their
opinion ?
After the year one thousand seven hundred and
ten, it will not be said, 1 presume, that the war
could be supported in Spain with any prospect of
advantage on our side. We had sufficiently ex
perienced how little dependance could be had on
the vigour of the Portuguese ; and how firmly the
Spanish nation in general, the Castilians in par
ticular, were attached to Philip. Our armies had
been twice at Madrid, this prince had been twice
driven from his capital, his rival had been there,
none stirred in favour ofthe victorious, all wished
and acted for the vanquished. In short, the false
hood of all those lures, by which we had been en
ticed to make war in Spain, had appeared suffi
ciently in one thousand seven hundred and six;
but was so grossly evident in one thousand seven
hundred and ten, that Mr. Craggs, who was sent
towards the end of that year by Mr. Stanhope into,
England, on commissions which he executed with
much good sense and much address, owned to me,
that

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. ftjg
that in Mr. Stanhope's opinion, and he was not apt
to despond of success, especially in the execution
of his own projects, nothing could be done more
in Spain, the general attachment ofthe people to
Philip, and their aversion to Charles considered':
that armies of twenty or thirty thousand men
might walk about that country till doomsday, so
he expressed himself, without effect : that wheie-
ever they came, the people would submit to
Charles the third out of terrour, and as soon as they
were gone, proclaim Philip the fifth again out of
affection : that to conquer Spain required a great
army : and to keep it, a greater.
Was it possible, after this, to think in good
earnest of conquering Spain ? and could they be in
good earnest, who continued to hold the same
language, and to insist on* the same measures ?
Could they be so in the following year, when the
emperor Joseph died ? Charles was become then
the sole surviving male of the house of Austria,
and succeeded to the empire as well as to all the
hereditary dominions of that family. Could they
be in earnest who maintained, even in this con
juncture, that " no peace could be safe, honour-
" able, or lasting, so long as the kingdom of Spain
" and the West Indies remained in the possession of
" any branch of the house of Bourbon?" Did
they mean that Charles should be emperor and
king of Spain ? In this project they would have
had the allies against them. Did they mean to
call the duke of Savoy to the crown of Spain, or
to bestow it on some other prince ? In this pro-
H 4 ject

104 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY t
iect they would have had his imperial majesty
against them. In either case the confederacy
would have been broken : and how then would
they have continued the war ? Did they mean
nothing, or did they mean something more than
they owned, something more than to reduce the
exorbitant power of France, and to force the
whole Spanish monarchy out of the house of
Bourbon ?
Both these ends might have been obtained at
Gertruydenberg. Why were they not obtained ?
Read the preliminaries of one thousand seven
hundred and nine, which were made the founda.
tion of this treaty. Inform yourself of what pas
sed there, and. observe what followed. Your lord
ship will remain astonished. I remain so every
time I reflect upon them, though I saw these
things at no very great distance, even while they
were in transaction ; and though I know most
certainly, that France lost, two years before, by
the littleskilland address of her principal minister*,
in answering overtures made during the siege of
Lisle by a principal person among the allies, such
an opportunity, and such a correspondence, as
would have removed some of the obstacles that
lay now in her way, have prevented others, and
have procured her peace. An equivalent for the
thirty-seventh article of the preliminaries, that is,
for the cession of Spain and the West Indies, was
the point to be discussed at Gertruydenberg.
Naples and Sicily, or even Naples and Sarditria
*Chamillard. would.

I.ET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. IO5
would have contented the French, at least they
would have accepted them as the equivalent.
Buys and Vanderdussen, who treated with them,
reported this to the ministers of the allies : and it
was upon this occasion that the duke of Marl
borough, as Buys himself told me, took immediately
the lead, and congratulated the assembly on
the near approach of a peace; said, that since the
French were in this disposition, it was time to
.^consider what further demands should be made
upon them, according to the liberty reserved in
the preliminaries ; and exhorted all the ministers
of the allies to adjust their several ulterior preten
sions, and to prepare their demands*
This proceeding, and what followed, put me in
mind of that of the Romans with the Carthagini-
ans. The former were resolved to consent to no
peace, till Carthage was laid in ruins. They set a
treaty however on foot, at the request of their old
enemy, imposed some terms, and referred them to
their generals for the rest, Their generals pursu
ed the same method, and, by reserving still a right
of making ulterior demands, they reduced the
Carthaginians at last to the necessity of abandon
ing their city; or of continuing the war after they
had given up their arms, their machines, and their
fleet, in hopes of peace,
France saw the snare, and resolved to run any
risk rather than to be caught in it. We con
tinued to demand, under pretence of securing
the cession of Spain and the West Indies,
(hat Lewis the fourteenth should take on him
v to

106 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF IIISTO'RY :
to dethrone his grandson in the space of two
months ; and if he did not effect it in that time,
that we should be at liberty to renew the war,
without restoring the places that were to be put
into our hands according to the preliminaries ;
which were the most important places France
possessed on the side of the Low-Countries.
Lewis offered to abandon his grandson ; and, if
he could not prevail on him to resign, to furnish
money to the allies, who might at the expense of
France force him to evacuate Spain. The propo
sition made by the allies had an air of inhuma
nity : and the rest of mankind might be shocked,
to see the grandfather obliged to make war on his
grandson. But Lewis the fourteenth had treated
mankind with too much inhumanity in his pros
perous days, to have any reason to complain even
of this proposition. His people indeed, who are apt
to have great partiality for their kings, might pity
his distress. This happened, and he found his
account in it. Philip must have evacuated
Spain, I think, notwithstanding his own obstinacy,
the spirit of his queen, and the resolute attach
ment ofthe Spaniards, if his grandfather had in
sisted, and been in earnest to force him. But if this
expedient was, as it was, odious, why did we prefer
to continue the war against France and Spain,
rather than accept the other ? Why did we neg
lect the opportunity of reducing, effectually and
immediately, the exorbitant power of France,
and of rendering the conquest of Spain practica
ble ? both which might have been brought about, and

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE, IQ7
and consequently the avowed ends of the war might
have been answered,' by accepting the expedient
that France offered, "France," it was said,
" was not sincere : she meant nothing more than
" to amuse, and divide," This reason was given
at the time : but some of those, who gave it then,
I have seen ashamed to insist on it since. France
was not in a condition to act the part she had
acted in former treaties : and her distress was no
bad pledge of her sincerity on this occasion. But
there was a better still. The strong places that
she must have put into the hands of the allies
would have exposed her on the least breach of
faith, to see, not her frontier alone, but even the
provinces that lie behind it, desolated : and
prince Eugene might have had the satisfaction, it
is said, I know not how truly, he desired, of march
ing with' the torch in his hand to Versailles.
Your lordship will observe, that, the confer
ences at Gertruydenberg ending in tiiemanner they
did, the inflexibility ofthe allies gave new life and
spirit to the French and Spanish nations, distress
ed and exhausted as they were. The troops of
the former withdrawn out of Spain, and the Spani
ards left to defend themselves as they could, the
Spaniards alone obliged us to retreat from
Madrid, and defeated us in our retreat. But
your lordship may think perhaps, as I do, that if
Lewis the fourteenth had bound himself by a
solemn treaty to abandon his grandson, had paid
a subsidy to dethrone him, and had consented to
acknowledge another king of Spain, the Spaniards would

I08 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
would not have exerted the same zeal for Philip;
the actions of Almenara and Saragofia might have
been decisive, and those of Brihuega and Villa
Viciosa would not have happened. After all
these events, how could any reasonable man ex
pect, that a war should be supported with advan
tage in Spain, to which the court of Vienna had
contributed nothing from the first, scarce bread
to their archduke ; which Portugal waged faintly
and with deficient quotas ; and which the Dutch
had in a manner renounced, by neglecting to re
cruit their forces? How was Charles to be placed
on the Spanish throne, or Philip at least to be
driven out of it ? By the success of the confede
rate arms in other parts. But. what success, suf
ficient to this purpose, could we expect ? This
question may be answered best, by showing what
success we had.
Portugal arid Savoy did nothing before the
death of the emperor Joseph; and declared in
form, as soon as he was dead, that they would
carry on the war no longer to set the crown of
Spain on the head of Charles, since this would be
to fight against the very principle they had
fought for. The Rhine was a scene of inaction.
The sole efforts, that were to bring about the
great event of dethroning Philip, were those
which the Duke of Marlborough was able to
make. He took three towns in one thousand
seven hundred and ten, Aire, Bethune, and St.
Venant: and one, Bouchain, in one thousand
seven hundred and eleven, New this conquest being

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. IO9
being in fact the only one the confederates made
that year, Bouchain may be said properly and
truly to have cost our nation very near seven mil
lions sterling : for your lordship will find, I be
lieve, that the charge of the war for that year
amounted to no less. It is true, that the duke of
Marlborough had proposed a very great project,
by which incursions would have been made dur
ing the winter into France ; the next campaign
might have been opened early on our side ; and
several other great and obvious advantages might
have been obtained : but the Dutch refused to
contribute even less than their proportion, for
the queen had offered to take the deficiency on
herself, to the expense of barracks and forage ;
and disappointed by their obstinacy the whole
design. We were then amused with visionary schemes *
of marching our whole army, in a year or two
more, and after a town or two more were taken,
directly to Paris, or at least in the heart of France.
But was this so easy or so sure a game ?. The
French expected we would play it. Their gene
rals had visited the several posts they might take,*
when our army should enter France, to retard, to
incommode, to distress us in our march, and even
to make a decisive stand and to give us battle.
Itake what I say here from indisputable autho
rity, that of the persons consulted and employed
in preparing for this great distress. Had we been
beaten, or had we been forced to retire towards
our own frontier in the Low, Countries, after
penetrating

110 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY!
penetrating into France, the hopes on which we
protracted the war would have been disappointed^
and, I think, the most sanguine would have then
repented refusing the offers made at Gertruyden
berg. But if we had beaten the French, for it was
scarce'lawful in those days of our presumption to
suppose the contrary ; would the whole monarchy
of Spain have been our immediate and certain
prize ? Suppose, and I suppose it on good
grounds, my lord, that the French had resolved, to
defend their country inch by inch, and that Lewis
the fourteenth had determined to retire with his
court tp Lyons or elsewhere, and to defend the
passage of the Loire, when he could no longer
defend that of the Seine, rather than submit to the
terms imposed on him : what should we have
done in this case ? Must we not have accepted
such a peace as we had refused ; or have protracted
the war till we had conquered France first, in order
to conquer Spain afterward ? Did we hope for
revolutions in France ? We had hoped for them
in Spain : and we should have been bubbles of
our hopes in both. That there was a spirit raised
against the government of Lewis the fourteenth,
in his court, nay in his family, and that strange
schemes of private ambition were formed and
forming there, I cannot doubt : and some effects
of this spirit produced perhaps the greatest mor
tifications that he suffered in the latter part of his
reign. A light instance of this spirit is all I will quote
at this time. I supped, in the year one thousand seven

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE, III
seven hundred and fifteen, at a house in France,
where two persons, * of no small figure, who had
been in great company that night, arrived very
late. The conversation turned on the events of
the precedent war, and the negotiations of the
late peace. In the process, of the conversation,
one of them -j- broke loose, and said, directing his
discourse to me, " Vous auriez pu nous ecraser
" dans ce tems-la: pourquoi ne l'avez-vous pas
" fait ?" I answered him coolly, " Parce que
" dans ce tems-la nous n'avons plus craint votre
" puissance." This anecdote, too trivial for his
tory, may find it's place in a letter, and may serve
to confirm what I have admitted, that there were
persons, even in France, who expected to find
their private account in the distress of their coun
try. But these persons were a few men of wild
imaginations and strong passions, more enter
prising than capable, and of more name than cre
dit. In general, the endeavours of Lewis the four
teenth, and the sacrifices he offered to make in
order to obtain a peace, had attached his people
more than ever to him : and if Lewis had deter
mined not to go any farther than he had offered
at Gertruydenberg, in abandoning his grandson,
the French nation would not have abandoned
him. But to resume what I have said or hinted al
ready ; the necessary consequences of protract-
* The dukes de la Feuillade and Mortemar.
f La Feuillade. ing

112 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY*
ing the war in order to dethrone Philip, from the
year one thousand seven hundred and eleven in
clusively, could be no other than these: our de
sign of penetrating into France might have been
defeated, and have become fatal to us by a reverse
of fortune : our first success might not have oblig
ed the French to submit : and we might have had
France to conquer, after we had failed in our first
attempt to conquer Spain, and even in order to
proceed to a second : the French might have sub
mitted, and the Spaniards not : and while the
former had been employed to force the latter,
according to the scheme of the allies j or while,
the latter submitting likewise, Philip had eva
cuated Spain, the high allies might have gone to
gether by the ears about dividing the spoil, and
disposing of the crown of Spain. To these issues
were things brought by protracting the war; by
refusing to make peace, on the principles of the
grand alliance at worst, in one thousand seven
hundred and six; and by refusing to grant it,
even on those of the new plan, in one thousand
seven hundred and ten. Such contingent events
as I have mentioned stood in prospect before us.
The end ofthe war was removed out of sight ; and
they, who clamoured rather than argued for the
continuation of it, contented themselves to affirm,
that France was not enough reduced, and that no
peace ought to be made as long as a prince ofthe
house of Bourbon remained on a Spanish throne.
When they would think France enough reduced,
it was impossible to guess. Whether they in
tended

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. II3
tended, to join the Imperial and Spanish crowns
on the head of Charles, who had declared his irre
vocable resolution to continue the war till the con
ditions insisted upon at Gertruydenberg were ob
tained : whether they intended to bestow Spain
and the Indies on some other prince; and how
this great alteration in their own plan should be
effected by common consent: how possession
should be given to Charles, or any other prince,
not only of Spain but of all the Spanish dominions
out of Europe, where the attachment to Philip
was at least as strong as in Castile, and where it
would not be so easy, the distance and extent of
thesedominions considered, to oblige the Spaniards
to submit to another government: These points;
and many more equally necessary to be determin
ed, and equally difficult to prepare, were neither
determined nor prepared : so that we were reduced
to carry on the war, after the death of the emperor
Joseph, without any positive scheme agreed to,
as the scheme of the future peace, by the allies.
That of the grand alliance we had long before re
nounced. That ofthe new plan was become ineligi
ble; and if it had been eligible it would have been
impracticable, because ofthe division it would have
created among the allies themselves : several of
whom would not have consented, notwithstanding
his irrevocable resolution, that the emperor should
be king of Spain. I know not what part the pro
tractors ofthe war, inthe depth of their policy, in
tended to take. Our nation had contributed, and
acted so long under the direction of their councils,
Vol. IV. I for

1 14 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
for the grandeur of the house of Austria, like one
ofthe hereditary kingdoms usurped by that family,
that it is lawful to think their intention might
be to unite the Imperial and Spanish crowns. But
I rather think they had no very determinate view,
beyond that of continuing the war as long as they
could. The late lord Oxford told me, that my
lord Somers being pressed, I know not on what
occasion nor by whom, on the unnecessary and
ruinous continuation of the war; instead of giving
reasons to show the necessity of it, contented
himself to reply, that, he had been bred up in a
hatred of France. This was a strange reply for a
wise man; and yet I know not whether he could
have given a better then, or whether any of his
pupils could give a better now.
The whig party in general acquired great and
just popularity, in the reign of our Charles the
second, by the clamour they raised against the
conduct of that prince in foreign affairs. They
who succeeded to the name rather than the princi
ples of this party, after the revolution, and who
have had the administration of the government in
their hands with very little interruption ever since,
pretending to act on the same principle, have run
¦into an extreme as vicious and as contrary to all
the rules of good policy, as that which their pre
decessors exclaimed against. The old whigs com
plained of the inglorious figure we made, while
our court was the bubble, and our king the pen
sioner of France; and insisted that the growing
ambition and power of Lewis the fourteenth should

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. tlfj
Should be opposed in time. The modern whigs
boasted, and still boast, ofthe glorious figure we
made, while we reduced ourselves, by their coun
cils,, and under their administrations, to be the
bubbles of our pensioners, that is, of our allies :
and while we measured our efforts in war, and
the continuation of them, without any regard to
the interests and abilities of our own country,
without a just and sober regard, such a one as
contemplates objects in their true light, and sees
them in their true magnitude, to the general sys
tem of power in Europe ; and, in short, with a
principal regard merely to particular interests at
home and abroad. I say at home and abroad;
because it is not less true, that they have sacri
ficed the wealth of their country to the forming
and maintaining a party at home, than that they
have done so to the forming and maintaining, be
yond all pretences of necessity, alliances abroad.
These general assertions may be easily justified
without having recourse to private anecdotes, as
your Lordship will find, when you consider the
whole series of our conduct in the two wars ; in
that which preceded, and that which succeeded;
immediately the beginning ofthe present century,,
but above all in the last of them. In the adminiP
strations that preceded the revolution, trade had.
flourished, and our nation had grown opulent :
but the general interest of Europe had been too
much neglected by us ; and slavery, under the
umbrage of prerogative, had been well-nigh estab
lished among us, In those that have followed,
I 2 taxes

Il6 ON THE STUriY AND USE OF HISTORY *.
taxes .upon taxes, and debts upon debts, have
been perpetually accumulated, till a small number
of families have grown into immense wealth, and
national beggary has been brought upon us; un
der the specious pretences of supporting a common
cause against France, reducing her exorbitant
power, and poising that of Europe more equally
in the publick balance : laudable designs no doubt
as far as they were real, but such as, being con
verted into mere pretences, have been productive
of much evil ; some of which Ave feel and have
long felt, and some will extend it's consequences
to our latest posterity. The reign of prerogative
was short: and the evils and the dangers, to which
we were exposed by it, ended with it. But the
reign of false and squandering policy has lasted
long, it lasts still, and will finalhy complete our
ruin. Beggary has been the consequence of sla
very in some countries: slavery will be probably
the consequence of beggary in curs; and if it is
so, we know at, whose door to lay it. If we had
finished tire war in' one thousand seven hundred
and six, we should have reconciled, like a wise
people, our foreign and our domestick interests as
nearly as possible: we should have secured the
former sufficiently, and not have sacrificed the
latter as entirely as we did by the prosecution
of the war afterward. You will not be able
to see without astonishment, how the charge ¦ of
the war increased yearly upon us from the begin
ning of it; nor how immense a sum we paid inthe
course of it to supply the deficiences of our con
federates.

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. I 1 7
federates. Your astonishment and indignation too
will increase, when you come to compare the pro
gress, that was made from the year one thousand
seven hundred and six exclusively, with the ex
pense of more than thirty millions, I do not exag
gerate though I write upon memory, that this pro
gress cost us to the year one thousand seven hun
dred and eleven inclusively. Upon this view
your lordship will be persuaded, that it was high
time to take the resolution of making peace,
when the queen thought fit to change her ministry
toward the end of the year one thousand seven
hundred and ten. It was high time indeed to
save our country from absolute insolvency and
bankruptcy, by putting an end to a scheme of con
duct, which the prejudices of a party, the whimsy
of some particular men, the private interest of
more, and the ambition and avarice of our allies,
who had been invited as it were to a scramble by
the preliminaries of one thousand seven hundred
and nine alone maintained. The persons there
fore, who came into powei* at this time, hearkened,
and they did well to hearken, to the first overtures
that were made them. The disposition of their
enemies invited them to do so, but that of their
friends, and that of a party at home who had nursed,
and been nursed by the war, might have deterred
them from it ; for the difficulties and dangers, to
which they must be exposed in carrying forward
this great work, could escape none of them. In
a letter to a friend it maybe allowed me to say,
that they did not escape me: and that I foresaw
1 3 as

Il8 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY:
as contingent but not improbable events, a good
part of what has happened to me since. Though
it was a duty therefore that we owed to our coun
try, to deliver her from the necessity of bearing any
longer so unequal apartin so unnecessary awar,yet
was there some degree of merit in performing it. I
think so strongly in this manner, I am so incor
rigible, my lord, that if I could be placed in
the same circumstances again, I would take the
same resolution, and act the same part. Age
and experience might enable me to act with more
ability, and greater skill : but all I have suffered
since the death ofthe queen should not hinder me
from acting. Notwithstanding this, I shall not
be surprised if you think, that the peace of Utrecht
was not answerable to the success of the war, nor
to the efforts made in it. I think so myself, and
have always owned, even when it was making
and made, that I thought so. Since we had
committed a successful folly, we ought to have
reaped more advantage from it than we did : and
whether we had left Philip, or placed another
prince on the throne of Spain, we ought to have
reduced the power of France, and to have strength
ened her neighbours, much more than we did,
We ought to have reduced her power for genera
tions to come, and not to have contented ourselves
with a momentary reduction of it. France was ex
hausted to a great degree of men and money, and
her government had no credit : but they, who took
this for a sufficient reduction of her power, looked
but a little way before them, and reasoned too
1 6 superficially,

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. IIq
superficially. Several such there were however;
for as it has been said, that there is no extrava.
gancy which some philosopher or other has not
maintained, so your experience, young as you
are, must have shown you, that there is no absurd)
extreme, into which our party politicians of Great
Britain are not prone to fall, concerning the state
and conduct of publick affairs. But if France
was exhausted ; so were we, and so were the Dutch.
Famine rendered her condition much more mise
rable than ours, at one time, in appearance and
in reality too. But as soon as this accident, that
had distressed the French and frightened Lewis
the fourteenth to the utmost degree, and the
immediate consequences of it were over ; it
was obvious to observe, though few made the
observation, that while we were unable to raise
in a year, by some millions at least, the expenses
of the year, the French were willing and able to
bear the imposition ofthe tenth, over and above all
the other taxes that had been laid upon them. This
observation had the weight it deserved ; and surely
it deserved to have some among those who made
it, at the time spoken of, and who did not think
that the war was to be continued as long as a
parliament could be prevailed on to vote money.
•But supposing it to have deserved none, suppos
ing the power of France to have been reduced as
low as you please with respect to her inward state,
yet still I affirm, that such a reduction could not
be permanent, and was not therefore sufficient.
Wl»>ever knows the nature of her government,
1 4 the

120 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY:
the temper of her people, and the natural ad
vantages she has in commerce overall the nations
that surround her, knows that an arbitrary go
vernment, and the temper of her people enable
heron particular occasions to throw offa load of
debt much more easily, and with consequences
much less to be feared, than any of her neighbours
can: that although in the general course of things
trade be cramped and industry vexed by this ar
bitrary government, yet neither one nor the other
is oppressed ; and the temper of the people, and
the natural advantages of the country, are such,
that how great soever her distress be at any point'
of time, twenty years of tranquillity suffice to re
establish her affairs, and to enrich her again at
the expense of all the nations of Europe. If any
one doubts of this, let him consider the condition
ia which this kingdom was left by Lewis the four
teenth : the strange pranks the duke of Orleans
played, during his regency and administration,
with the whole system of publick revenue, and
private property : and then let him tell himself
that the revenues of France, the tenth taken off,
exceed all the expenses of her government by
many millions of livres already, and will exceed
them by many more in another year.
Upon the whole matter, my lord, the low and
exhausted state, to which France was reduced by
the last great war, was but a momentary reduc
tion of her power ; and whatever real and more
lasting reduction the treaty of Utretcht brought
about in some instances, it was not sufficient.,
1 9 The

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. 121
The power of France would not have appeared as
great as it did, when England and Holland armed
themselves and armed all Germany against her,
if she had lain as open to the invasions of her
enemies, as her enemies lay to hers. Her inward
strength was great ; but the strength of those
frontiers, which Lewis the fourteenth was almost
forty years informing, and which the folly of all
his neighbours in their turns suffered him to form,
made this strength as formidable as it became.
The true reduction of the exorbitant power of
France, 1 take no notice of chimerical projects
about changing her government, consisted there
fore in disarming her frontiers, and fortifying the
barriers against her, by the cession and demolition
of many more places than she yielded up at
Utrecht; but not of more than she might have-
been obliged to sacrifice to her own immediate,
relief, and to the future security of her neighbours.
That she was not obliged to make these sacrifices,
I affirm, was owing solely to those who opposed
tlie peace ; and I am willing to put my whole
credit with your lordship, ancl the whole merits
of a cause that has been so much contested, on
this issue. I say a cause that has been so much
contested; for in truth, I think, it is no longer a
doubt any where, except in British pamphlets,
whether the conduct of those who neither de-.
clined treating, as was done in one thousand
seven hundred and six; nor pretended to treat
without a design of concluding, as was done in
one thousand seven hundred, and nine ancl ten^. but

122 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY:
but carried the great work of the peace forward
to it's consummation ; or the conduct of those
who opposed this work in every step of it's pro
gress, saved the power of France from a greater
and a sufficient reduction at the treaty of Utrecht.
The very ministers, who were employed in this
fatal opposition, are obliged to confess this truth.
How should they deny it ? Those of Vienna may
complain, that the emperor had not the entire
Spanish monarchy; or those of Holland that the
States were not made masters directly and indirect
ly of the whole Low Countries. But neither they
por any one else, that has any sense of shame about
him, can deny that the late queen, though she was
resolved to treat because she was resolved to finish
the war, yet was to the utmost degree desirous
to treat in a perfect union with herallies, and to pro
cure them aH the reasonable terms they could ex
pect; and much better than those they reduced them
selves to the necessity of accepting, by endeavour
ing to wrest the negotiation out of her hands. The
disunion of the allies gave France the advantages
she improved. The sole question is, Who caused
this disunion ? and that will be easily decided by
every impartial man, who informs himself care
fully of the publick anecdotes of t hat time. If the
private anecdotes were to be laid open as well as
those, and I think it almost time they should, the
whole monstrous scene would appear, and shock'
the eye of every honest man. I do not interid to
descend into many particulars at this time : but
whenever I, or any other person as well inforined' as

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. 123
as I, shall descend into a full deduction of suqh
particulars, it will become undeniably evident,
that the most violent opposition imaginable,
carried on by the Germans and the Dutch in
league with a party in Britain, began as soon as
the first overtures were made to the queen; before
she had so much as begun to treat :¦ and was there
fore an opposition not to this or that plan of
treaty, but in truth to all treaty ; and especially
to one wherein Great Britain took the lead, or
was to have any particular advaritage. That the
Imperialists meant no treaty, unless a preliminary
and impracticable condition of it was to set
the crown of Spain on the emperor's head, will
appear from this ; that prince Eugene, when he
came into England, long after the death of Joseph
and elevation of Charles, upon an errand most
unworthy of so great a man, treated always on
this supposition : and I remember with how much*.
inward impatience I assisted at conferences held
with him concerning quotas for renewing the war
in Spain, in the very same room, at the cockpit,
where the queen's ministers had been told in plain
terms, a little before, by those of other allies,
" that their masters would not consent, that the
" Imperial and Spanish crowns should unite on
" the same head." That the Dutch were not
averse to all treaty, but meant none wherein Great
Britain was to have any particular advantage, will
appear from this; that their minister declared
himself ready and authorised to stop the oppo
sition made to the queen's measures, by pre
senting

124 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY:
senting a. memorial, wherein he would declare*
" that his masters entered, into them, and were re-
" solved not to continue the war for the reco-.
" very of Spain, provided the queen would consent
.." that they should garrison Gibraltar and Port-
" mahon jointly with us, and share equally the As-
w siento, the South Sea ship, and whatever should
" be granted by the Spaniards to the queen and
" her subjects." That the whigs engaged in this
league with foreign powers against their country,
as well as their queen, and with a phrensy more
unaccountable than that which made and maintain
ed the solemn league and covenant formerly, wil]
appear from this ; that their attempts were di
rected not only to wrest the negotiations out of the
queen's hands, but to oblige their country to carry on
the war, on the same unequal foot that had cost her
already about twenty millions more than she ought
to have contributed to it. For they not only
continued to abet the emperor, whose inability to
supply his quota was confessed ; but the Dutch
likewise, after the states had refused to ratify the
treaty their minister signed at London toward
the end of the year one thousand seven hundred
and eleven, and by which the queen united her-
self'more closely than ever to them; engaging to
..pursue tlie war, to conclude the peace, and to
guaranty it, when concluded, jointly with them;
" provided they would keep the engagements
" they had taken with her, and the conditions of
" proportionate expense under which our nation
" had entered into the war," Upon such schemes as

LET. VUl. STATE OF EUROPE. I25
as these was the opposition to the treaty of
Utrecht carried on: and the means employed,
and the means projected to be employed, were
worthy of such schemes : open, direct, and inde
cent defiance of legal authority, secret conspiracies
against the state, and base machinations against
particular men, who had no other crime than that
of endeavouring to conclude a war, under the au
thority of the queen, which a party in the nation
endeavoured to prolong against her authority.
Had the good policy of concluding the war been
doubtful, it was certainly as lawful for those, who
thought it good, to advise it, as it had been for
those who thought it bad, to advise the contrary :
and the decision of the sovereign on the throne
ought to have terminated the contest. But he who
had judged by the appearances of things on one
side at that time would have been apt to think,
that putting an end to the war, or to Magna
Charta, was the same thing ; that the queen on
the throne had no right to govern independently
of her successor ; nor any of her subjects a right
to administer the government under her, though
called to it by her, except those whom she had
thought fit to lay aside. Extravagant as these
principles are, no other could justify the conduct
heldat that time by those who opposed the peace ;
and as I said just now, that the phrensy of this
league was more unaccountable than that of the
solemn league and covenant, 1 might have added,
that it was not very many degrees less criminal.
Some of those, who charged the queen's ministers after-

12$ ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY:
after her death with imaginary treasons, had been
guilty during her life of real treasons: and I can
compare the folly and violence ofthe spirit that
prevailed at that time, both before the conclusion
of the peace, and, under pretence of danger to the
succession, after it, to nothing more nearly than
to the folly and violence of the spirit, that seised
the tories soon after the accession of George the
first. The' latter indeed, which was provoked by
unjust and impolitick persecution, broke out in
open rebellion. The former might have done so,
if the queen had lived a J ittle longer. But to re-!
turn. The obstinate adherence of the Dutch to this
league, in opposition to the queen, rendered the
conferences of Utrecht, when they were opened,
no better than mock conferences. Had the men
who governed that commonwealth been wise and
honest enough to unite, at least then, cordially „
with the queen, and, since they could not hinder
a congress, to act in concert with her in it ; we
should have been still in time to maintain a suf
ficient union among the allies, and a sufficient su
periority over the French. All the specifick de
mands that the former made, as well as the Dutch
themselves, either to incumber the negotiation,
or to have in reserve, according to the artifice
usually employed on such occasions, certain points
from which to depart in the course of it with ad
vantage, would not have been obtained : but all
the essential demands, all in particular that were
really necessary to secure the barriers in the Low
Countries

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. 1^7
Countries and of the four circles against France,
would have been so. For France must have con
tinued, in this case, rather to sue for peace, than
to treat on an equal foot. The first dauphin, son
of Lewis the fourteenth, died several months be
fore this congress began : the, second dauphin,
his grandson, and the wife and the eldest son of
this prince, died, soon after it began, ofthe same
unknown distemper, and were buried together in
the same grave. Such family misfortunes, follow
ing a long series of national misfortunes, made the
old king, though he bore them with much seem
ing magnanimity, desirous to get out of the war
at any tolerable rate, that he might not run the
risk of leaving a child of five years old, the
present king, engaged in it. The queen did aU
that was morally possible, except giving up her
honour in the negotiation, and the interests of her
subjects in the conditions of peace, to procure
this union with the states General. But all she
could do was vain : and the same phrensy that
had hindered the Dutch from improving to their
and to the common advantage the publick mis
fortunes of France, hindered them from improving
to the same purposes the private misfortunes of
the house of Bourbon. They continued to flatter
themselves, that (they should force the queen out
of her measures, by their intrigues with the party
in Britain who opposed these measures, and even
raise an insurrection against her. But these in
trigues, and those of prince Eugene, were known,
and disappointed ; and monsieur Buys had the
mortification,

128 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
mortification, to be reproached with them pub-
lickly, when he came to take leave ofthe lords of
the council, by the earl of Oxford ; who entered
into many particulars, that could not be denied,
ofthe private transactions of this sort, to which
Buys had been a party, in compliance with his
instructions, and, as I believe, much against his
own sense and inclinations. As the season for
taking the field advanced, the league proposed
to defeat the success of the congress by the
events ofthe campaign. But instead of defeating
the success of the congress, the events of the
campaign served only to turn this success in
favour of France. At the beginning ofthe year,
the queen, and the states, in concert, might have
given the law to friend and foe, with great ad
vantage to the former; and with such a detri
ment to the latter, as the causes of the war ren
dered just, the events of it reasonable, and the
objects of it necessary. At the end of the year
the allies were no longer in a state of giving, nor
the French of receiving the. law ; ancl the Dutch
had recourse to the queen's good offices, when
they could oppose and durst insult her no longer.
Even then, these offices were employed with zeal
and with some effect, for them.
Thus the war ended, much more favourably to
France than she expected, or they who put an
end to it designed. The queen would have hum
bled and weakened this power. The allies who
opposed her would have crushed it, and have
raised another as exorbitant on the ruins of it.
Neither

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. 129
Neither one nor the other succeeded, and they
who meant to ruin the French power preserved it,
hy opposing those who meant to reduce it.
Since I have mentioned the events of the year
one thousand seven hundred and twelve, and the
decisive turn they gave to the negotiations in
favour of France, give me leave to say something
more on this subject. You will find that I shall
do so with much impartiality. The disastrous
events of the campaign in the Low Countries, and
the consequences* of them, have been imputed to
the separation ofthe British troops from the army
ofthe allies. The clamour against this measure
was great at that time, and the prejudices which
this clamour raised are great still among some men.
But as clamour raised these prejudices, other pre
judices gave birth to this clamour: and it is no
wonder they should do so among persons bent on
continuing the war; since I own very freely, that
when the first step that led to this separation
came to my knowledge, which was not an hour,
by the way, before I writ by the queen's order to
the Duke of Ormond, in the very words in which
the order was advised and given, " that he should
" not engage in any siege, nor hazard a battle, till
" further order," I was surprised and hurt. So
much, that if I had had an opportunity of speak
ing in private to the queen, after I had received
monsieur De Torcy's letter to me on the subject,
and before she went into the council, I should
have spoken to her, I think, in the first heat,
against it. The truth is, however, that the step
was justifiable at that point of time in every
Vol. IV. K respect;

I30 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY ;
respect; and therefore that the consequences are to
be charged to the account of those who drew them
on themselves, not to the account of the queen,
nor of the minister who advised her. The step
was justifiable to the allies surely, since the queen
took no more upon her, no not so much by far, iii
making it, as many of them had done by suspend
ing, or endangering, or defeating operations in
the heat of the war, when they declined to send
their troops, or delayed the march of them, or
neglected the preparations they were obliged to
make on the most frivolous pretences. Your
lordship will find in the course of your inquiries
many particular instances of what is here pointed
out, in general. But I cannot help descending
into some few of those that regard the emperor
and the States General, who cried the loudest and
with the most effect, though they had the least
reason, on account of their own conduct, to com
plain of the queen's. With what face could the
emperor, for instance, presume to complain ofthe
orders sent to the Duke of Ormond ? I say
nothing of his deficiencies, which were so great,
that he had at this very time little more than one
regiment, that could be said properly to act against
France and Spain at his sole charge ; as I affirmed
to prince Eugene before the lords of the council,
and demonstrated upon paper the next day. I -
say nothing of all that preceded tlie year one
thousand seven hundred and seven, on which I
should have much to say. But I desire your
lordship only to consider what you will find to
have passed after the famous year one thousand seven

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. 13I
seven hundred and six. Was it with the
queen's approbation, or against her will, that
the emperor made the treaty for the evacuation
of Lombardy, and let out sq great a number of
French regiments time enough to recruit them
selves at home, to march into Spain, and to
destroy the British forces at Almanza ? Was it
with her approbation, or against her will, that,
instead of employing all his forces and all his en
deavours, to make the greatest design of the
whole war, the enterprise on Toulon, succeed, he
detached twelve thousand men to reduce the
kingdom of Naples, that must have fallen of
course ? and that an opportunity of ruining the
whole maritime force of France, and of ruining or
subduing her provinces on that side was lost,
merely by this unnecessary diversion, and by the
conduct of prince Eugene, which left no room to
doubt, that he gave occasion to this fatal disappoint
ment on purpose, and in concert with the court of
Vienna ?
Turn your eyes, my lord, on the conduct of the
States, and you will find reason to be astonished
at the arrogance of the men who governed in
them at this time, and who presumed to exclaim
against a queen of Great Britain, for doing what
their deputies had clone more than once in that
very country, and in the course of that very
war, in the year one thousand seven hundred
and twelve, at the latter end of a war, when-
conferences for treating a peace were open
ed, when the least sinister event in the field would
take off from that superiority, which the allies had
x 2 in

132 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
in the congress; and when the past success of the
war had already given them as much of this supc-
riurity as they wanted, to obtain a safe, advanta
geous, honourable, and lasting peace, the queen
directed her. general to suspend till further order
the operations of her troops. In one thousand
seven hundred and three, inthe beginning ofa
war, when something was to be risked or no suc
cess to be expected, and when the bad situation of
affairs in Germany and Italy required, ina parti
cular manner, that efforts should be made in the
Low. Countries, and that the war should not lan
guish there while it was unsuccessful every where
else ; the duke of Marlborough determined to
attack the French, but the Dutch deputies would
not suffer their troops to go on ; defeated his
design in the very moment of it's execution, if I
remember well, and gave no other reason for their
proceeding than that which is a reason against
every battle, the possibility of being beaten. The
circumstance of proximity to their frontier was
urged, I know, and it was said, that their pro
vinces would be exposed to the incursions ofthe
French, if they lost the battle. But beside other
answers to this vain pretence, it was obvious that
they had ventured battles as near home as this
would have been fought, and that the way to re
move the enemy farther off was by action not in
action. Upon the whole matter; the Dutch de
puties stopped the progress of the confederate
army at this time, by exercising an arbitrary and
independent authority over the troops of the
States. In one thousand seven hundred and five,
when

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. I33
when the success of the preceding campaign
should have given them an entire confidence in
the duke of Marlborough's conduct, when return^
ing from the Moselle to the Low Countries, he
began to make himself and the common cause
amends, for the disappointment which pique and
jealousy in the prince of Baden, or usual sloth and
negligence in the Germans, had occasioned just
before, by forcing the French lines ; when he was
in the full pursuit of this advantage, and when he
was marching to attack an enemy half defeated,
and more than half dispirited ; nay when he had
made his dispositions for attacking, and part of
his troops had puffed the Dyle — the deputies ofthe
States once more tied up his hands, took from him
an opportunity too fair to be lost; for these, I
think, were some of the terms of his complaint:
and iu short the confederacy received an affront
at least, where we might have obtained a victory.
Let this that has been said serve as a specimen
of the independency on the queen, her councils,
and her generals, with which these powers acted
in the course of the war ; who were ashamed
not to find fault, that the queen once, and at
the latter end of it, presumed to suspend the
operations of her troops till farther order. But
be it that they foresaw what this farther order
would be. They foresaw then, that as soon as
Dunkirk should be put into the queen's hands,
she would consent to a suspension of arms for two
months, and invite them to do the same. Neither
this foresight, nor the strong declaration, which the
bishop of Bristol made by the queen's order at
k 3 Utrecht,

134 ON'TtfE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
Utrecht, and which showed them that her resolu
tion was taken not to submit to the league into,
which they had entered against her, could prevail
on them to make a right use of these two months,
by endeavouring to renew their union and good
understanding with the queen; though lean say
with the greatesttruth, and they could not doubt of
it at the time, that she would have gone more than
half- way to meet them, and that her ministers would
have done their utmost to bring it about. Even
then we might have resumed the superiority we
began to lose in the congress ; for the queen and
the States uniting, the principal allies would have
united with them : and, in this case, it would have
been so much the interest of France to avoid
any chance of seeing the war renewed, that she
must, and she would, have made sure of peace,
during the suspension, on much worse terms for
herself and for Spain, than she made it afterward.
But the prudent and sober states continued to act
like froward children, or like men drunk with re
sentment and passion; and such will the conduct
be of the wisest governments in every circum- '
stance, where a spirit of faction and of private in
terest prevails among those who are at the head,
over reason of state. After laying aside all
decency in their behaviour towards the queen,
they laid aside all caution for themselves. They
declared " they would carry on the war without
" her." Landrecy seemed, in their esteem, of
more importance than Dunkirk ; and the oppor
tunity of wastirig some French provinces, or of
putting the whole event ofthe war on the decision of

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. 1 35
of another battle, preferable to the other measure
that lay open to them ; that, I mean, of trying,
in good earnest, and in an honest concert with the
queen, during the suspension of arms, whether
such terms of peace, as ought to satisfy them and
the other allies, might not be imposed on France.
If the confederate army had broke into France,
the campaign before this, or in any former cam
paign ; and if the Germans and the Dutch had
exercised then the same inhumanity, as the French
had exercised in their provinces in former wars ;
if they had burnt Versailles, and even Paris, and if
they had disturbed the ashes ofthe dead princes
that repose at St. Denis ; every good man would
have felt the horrour, that such cruelties inspire :
no man could have said, that the retaliation was
unjust. But in one thousand seven hundred and
twelve, it was too late, in every respect, to rriedi-
tate such projects. If the French had been un
prepared to defend their frontier, either for want
of means, or in a vain confidence that the peace
would be made, as our king Charles the second
was unprepared to defend his coast at the latter
end of his first war with Holland, the allies might
have played a sure game in satisfying their ven
geance on the French, as the Dutch did on us in
one thousand six hundred and sixty-seven ; and
imposing harder terms on them than those they
offered, or would have accepted. But this was
not the case. The French army was, I believe,
more numerous than the army of the allies, even
before separation, and certainly in a much better
k 4 condition

136 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY.:
condition than two or three years before, when a
deluge of blood was spilt to dislodge them, for we
did no more, at Malplaquet. Would the Germans
and the Dutch have found it more. easy to force
them at this time, than it was at that ? Would not
the French have fought with as much obstinacy
to save Paris, as they did to save Mons ? and,
with all the regard due to the duke of Ormond
and to prince Eugene, was the absence of the
duke of Marlborough of no consequence ? Turn
this affair every way in your thoughts, my lord,
and you will find that the Germans and the
Dutch had nothing in theirs, but to break, at any
rate, and at any risk, the negotiations that were be
gun, and to reduce Great Britain to the necessity
of continuing, what she had been too long, a pro
vince of the confederacy. A province indeed,
and not one of the best treated ; since the con
federates assumed a right of obliging her to keep
her pacts with them, and of dispensing wifh their
obligations to her ; of exhausting her, without
rule, or proportion, or measure, in the support of
a war, to which she alone contributed more than all
of therii, and in which she had no longer an imme
diate interest, nor even any remote interest that
was not common, or with respect to her, very
dubious; and, after all this, of complaining that
the queen presumed to hearken to overtures of
peace, and to set a negotiation on foot, while
their humour and ambition required, that the war
should be prolonged for an indefinite time, and
for a purpose that was either bad or indeterminate. The

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. I37
The suspension of arms, that began in the Low
Countries, was continued, and extended afterward
by the act Isigned atFontaine-BIeau. The fortune
ofthe war turned at the same time: and all those
disgraces followed, which obliged the Dutch to
treat, and to' desire the assistance of the queen,
whomjtheyhadset at defiance so lately. This assist
ance they had, as effectually as it could be given
in the circumstances, to which they had reduced
themselves and the whole alliance : and the peace
of Great Britain, Portugal, Savoy, Prussia, and
tlie States General was made, without his Im
perial majesty's concurrence, in the spring of one
thousand seven hundred and thirteen : as it might
have been made, much more advantageously for
them all, in that of one thousand seven hundred
and twelve. Less obstinacy on the part of the
States, and perhaps more decisive resolutions on
the part of the queen, would have wound up all
these divided threads in one, and have finished
this great work much sooner and better. I say,
perhaps more decisive resolutions on the part of
the queen ; because although I think that I should
have conveyed her orders for signing a treaty of
peace with France, before the armies took tlie
field, much more willingly, than I executed them
afterward in signing, that of the cessation of arms;
yet I do not presume to decide, but shall desire
your lordship to do so, on a review of all circum
stances, some of which I shalljust mention.
The league made for protracting the Avar hav
ing opposed the queen to the utmost of their
power,

138 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
power, and by means of .every sort, from the
first appearances of a negotiation ; the general
effect of this violent opposition, on her and her
ministers, was, to make them proceed by slower
and more cautious steps : the particular effect of
it was, to oblige them to open the eyes of the
nation, and to inflame the people with a desire of
peace, by showing, in the most publick and solemn
manner, how unequally we were burdened, and
how unfairly we were treated by our allies. The
first gave an air of diffidence and timidity to their
conduct, which encouraged the league, and gave
vigour to the opposition. The second irritated
the Dutch particularly : for the emperor and the
other allies had the modesty at least not to pre
tend to "bear any proportion in the expense of
the war : and thus the two powers, wdiose union
was the most essential, were the most at variance,
and the queen was obliged to act in a closer con
cert with her enemy who desired peace, than she
would have done if her allies had been less
obstinately bent to protract the war. During
these transactions, my lord Oxford, who had his
correspondencies apart, and a private thread of
negotiation always in his hands, entertained hopes
that Philip would be brought to abandon Spain in
favour of his father-in-law, and to content himself
with the States of that prince, the kingdom of
Sicily, and the preservation of his right qf succes-
sion to the crown of France. Whether my lord
had any particular reasons for entertaining these
hopes, beside the general reasons founded on the
condition,.,

I
LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. I39
condition of France, on that of the Bourbon
family, and on the disposition of Lewis the four
teenth, I doubt very much. That Lewis, who
sought, and had need of seeking peace, almost at
any rate, and who saw that he could not obtain it,
even ofthe queen, unless Philip abandoned imme
diately the crown of Spain, or abandoned imme
diately, by renunciation and a solemn act of
exclusion, all pretension to that of France; that
Lewis was desirous of the former I cannot doubt.
That Philip would have abandoned Spain, with
the equivalents that have been mentioned, or
either of them, I believe likewise : if the present
king of France had died, when his fatheif,
mother, and eldest brother did: for they all had
the same distemper. But Lewis would use no
violent means to force his grandson ; the queen
would not continue the war to force him; Philip
was too-obstinate, and his wife too ambitious, to
quit the crown of Spain, when they had discovered
our weakness, and felt their own strength in that
country, by their success in the campaign of one
thousand seven hundred and ten : after which my
lord Stanhope himself was convinced, that Spain
could not be conquered, nor kept, if it was con
quered, without a much greater army than it was
possible for us to send thither. In that situation
it was wild to imagine, as the earl of Oxford ima
gined, or pretended to imagine, that they would
quit the crown of Spain, for a remote and uncer
tain prospect of succeeding to that of France, and
content themselves to be, in the mean time, princes of

140 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
of very small dominions. Philip therefore, after
struggling long that he might not be obliged to
make his option till the succession of France lay
open to him, was obliged to make it, and made it,
for Spain. Now this, my lord, was the very crisis
of the negotiation : and to this point I apply
what I said above of the effect of more decisive
resolutions on the part of the queen. It was
plain, that, if she made the campaign in concert
with her allies, she could be no longer mistress of
the negotiations, nor have almost a chance for
conducting them to the issue she proposed. Our
ill success in the field would have rendered the
French less tractable in the congress : our good
success there would have rendered tho allies sa
On this principle the queen suspended the opera
tions of her troops, and then concluded the ces
sation. Compare now the appearances and effect of
this measure, with the appearances and effect that
another measure would have had. In order to
arrive at anv peace, it was necessarv to do what
the queen did, or to do more : ancl, in order to
arrive at a good one, it was necessary to be pre
pared to carry on the war, as well as to make a
show of it, : for she had the hard task upon her,
of guarding against her allies, and her enemies
both. But in that ferment, when few men con
sidered any thing coolly, the conduct of her
general, after he took the field, though he covered
the allies in the siege of Qitesnoy, corresponded ill,
in appearance, with the declarations of carrying on

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. I4I
on the war vigorously, that had been made, on
several occasions, before the campaign opened.
It had an air of double dealing : and as such it
passed among those, who did not combine in their
thoughts all the circumstances of the conjuncture,
or who were infatuated with the national necessity
of continuing the war. The clamour could not
have been greater, if the queen had signed her
peace separately : and, I think, the appearances
might have been explained as favourably in one
cas.--, as in the other. From the death of the
emperor Joseph, it was neither our interest, nor
the common interest, well understood, to set the
ciown of Spain on the present emperor's head.
As soon therefore as Philip had made his option,
and if she had taken this resolution early, his
option would have been sooner made, I presume
that the queen might have declared, that she
would not continue the war an hour longer to
procure Spain for his Imperial Majesty; that the
engagements, she had taken while he was arch
duke, bound her no more ; that, by his accession.
to the empire, the very nature of them was alter
ed ; that she took effectual measures to prevent,
in any future time, a union of the crowns of
France ancl Spain, and, upon the same principle,
would not consent, much less fight, to bring
about an immediate union ofthe Imperial and
Spanishcrovvns ; that they, who insisted to pro
tract the war, intended this union ; that they
could intend nothing else, since they ventured to
break with her, rather than to treat, and were so
eager to put the reasonable satisfaction, that they

might

142 ON THE STUDY AND UaE,OF HISTORY :
might have in every other case without hazard,
on the uncertain events of the war; that she
would not be imposed on any longer in this man
ner, and that she had ordered her ministers to sign
her treaty with France, on the surrender of Dun
kirk into her hands ; that she pretended not to -
prescribe to her allies ; but that she had insisted,
in their behalf, on certain conditions, that France
was obliged to grant to those of them, who should
sign their treaties at the same time as she did, or
who should consent to an immediate cessation of
arms, and during the cessation treat under her
mediation. There had been more frankness, and
more dignity in this proceeding, and the effect
must have been more advantageous. France
would have granted more for a separate peace,
than for a cessation : and the Dutch would
have been more influenced by the prospect
of one, than of the other : especially since this
proceeding would have been very different from
theirs at Munster, and at Nimeghen, where they
abandoned their allies, without any other pretence
than the particular advantage they found in doing
so. A suspension of the operations ofthe queen's
troops, nay a cessation of arms between her and
France, was not definitive ; and they might, and
they did, hope to drag her back under their and
the German yoke. This therefore was not suffi
cient to check their obstinacy, nor to hinder them
from making all the unfortunate haste they did
make to get themselves beaten at Denain, But
they would possibly have laid aside their vain
bopes, if they had seen the queen's ministers ready

LET, VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. I43
ready to sign her treaty of peace, and those of
some principal allies ready to sign at the same
time ; in which case the mischief, that followed,
had been prevented, and better terms of peace
had been obtained for the confederacy : a prince
of the house of Bourbon, who could never be
king of France, would have sat on the Spanish
throne instead of an emperor : the Spanish scep
tre would have been weakened in the hands of
one, and the Imperial sceptre would have been
strengthened in those of the other : France would
have had no opportunity of recovering from for
mer blows, nor of finishing a long unsuccessful
war by two successful campaigns : her ambition,
and her power, would have declined with her old
king, and under the minority that followed : one
of them at least might have been so reduced by
the terms of peace, ifthe defeat ofthe allies in one
thousand seven hundred and twelve, and the loss
of so many towns as the French took in that and
the following year, had been prevented, that the
other would have been no longer formidable, even
supposing it to have continued; whereas I sup
pose that the tranquillity of Europe is more due,
at this time, to want of ambition, than to want of
power, on the part of France. But, to carry the
comparison of these two measures to the end, it
may be supposed that the Dutch would have
. taken the same part, on the queen's declaring a
separate peace, as they took on her declaring a
cessation. The preparations for the campaign in
the Low Countries were made ; the Dutch, like
the other confederates, had a just confidence in
their

144 O*1' THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY."
their own' troops, and an unjust contempt for
those of the enemy ; they were transported from
their usual sobriety and caution by the ambitious
prospect of large acquisitions, which had been
opened artfully to them ; the rest of the confede
rate army was composed of Imperial and German
troops: so that the Dutch, the Imperialists, and the
oilier Germans, having an interest to decide which
was no longer the interest of the whole confede
racy, they might have united against the queen in
one case, as they did in the other ; and the mis
chief that followed to them and tbe common cause
might not have been prevented. This might have
been tlie case no doubt. Tbey might have
flattered themselves, that they should be able to
break into France, and to force Philip, by the,
distress brought on his grandfather, to resign the
crown of Spain to the emperor, even after Great
Britain, and Portugal, and Savoy too, perhaps,
were drawn out of the war: for these princes
desired as little as the queen, to see the Spanish
crown on the emperor's head. But even in this
case, though the madness would have been
greater, the effect would not have been worse.
The queen would have been able to serve these
confederates as well by being mediator in the
negotiations, as they left it in her power to do,
by being a party in them : and Great Britain*
would have had the advantage of being delivered
so much sooner from a burden,' which whimsical
and wicked politicks had imposed, and continued
upon, her till it was become intolerable. Of these
two measures, at the time when we might have
taken

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. 145
taken either, there were persons who thought the
last preferable to the former. But it never came
into publick debate. Indeed it never could ; too
much time having been lost in waiting for the
option of Philip, and the suspension and cessation
having been brought before the council rather as
a measure taken, than a matter to be debated. If
your lordship, or any one else, should judge, that
in such circumstances as those of the confederacy
in the beginning of one thousand seven hundred
and twelve, the latter measure ought to have been
taken, and the Gordian knot to have been cut
rather than to suffer a mock treaty to languish on,
with so much advantage to the French as the
disunion of the allies gave them; in short, if slow
ness, perplexity, inconsistency, and indecision
should be objected, in some instances, to the
queen's councils at that time ; if it should be said
particularly, that she did not observe the precise
moment when the conduct of the league formed
against her, being exposed to mankind, would
have justified any part she should have taken
(though she declared, soon after the moment was
passed, that this conduct had set her free from all
engagements) and when she ought to have taken
that of drawing, by one bold measure, her allies
out of the war, or herself out of the confederacy,
before she lost her influence on France : if all this
should be objected, yet would the proofs brought
to .support these objections show, that we were
belter allies than politicians ; that the desire the
queen had to treat in concert with her confede-
, Vol. IV. L ratesT

I46 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY .
rates, and the resolution she took not to sign with
out them, made her bear what no Crowned head
had ever borne before ; and that where she erred,
she erred principally by the patience, the compli-
ance,and the condescension she exercised towards
them, and towards her own subjects in league
with them. Such objections as these may fie to
the queen's conduct, in the'course of this great
affair ; as well as objections of human infirmity
to that of the persons employed by her in the
transactions of it : from which neither those who
preceded, nor those who succeeded, have, I pre
sume, been free. But the principles" on which
they proceeded were honest, the means they used
were lawful, and the event they proposed to bring
about was just. Whereas'the very foundation of
all the opposition-to the peace was laid in injustice
and folly : for what could be more unjust, than
the attempt of the Dutch and the Germaus, to
force the queen to continue a war for their private
interest and ambition, the disproportionate ex
pense of which oppressed the commerce of her
subjects, and loaded them with debts for ages yet
to come ? a war, tbe object of which was so
changed, that from the year one thousand-seven
hundred ancl eleven she made it not only without
any engagement, but against her own and t^e
common interest? What could be more foolish ;
you will think that I soften the term too much,
and you will be in the right to think so : what
could be more foolish, than the attempt of a party
in Britain, to protract a war so ruinous to their
country,

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. I47
country, without any reason that they durst avow,
except that of wreaking the resentments of Europe
on France, and that of uniting the Imperial and
Spanish crowns on an Austrian head ? one of
which was to purchase revenge at a price too
dear; and the other was to expose the liberties
of Europe to new dangers, by the conclusion ofa
war which had been made to assert and secure
them. I have dwelt the longer on the conduct of those
who promoted, and of those who opposed, the
negotiations of the peace made at Utrecht, and on
the comparison of the measure pursued by the
queen with that which she might have pursued,
because the great benefit we ought to reap from
the study of history cannot be reaped, unless we
accustom ourselves to compare the conduct of
different governments, and different parties, in
the same conjunctures, and to observe the mea
sures they did pursue, and the measures they might
have pursued, with the actual consequences,
thatfollowed one, and the possible or probable con
sequences, that might have followed the other.
By this exercise ofthe mind, the study of history
anticipates, as it were, experience, as I have ob
served in one of the first of these letters, and pre
pares us for action. If this consideration should
not plead a sufficient excuse for my prolixity on,
this head, I have one more to add that may. A
rage of warring possessed a party in our nation
till the death of the late queen : a rage of nego
tiating has possessed the same party of men, ever
l 2 since.

148 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
since. You have seen the consequences of one:
you see actually those of the other. The rage of
warring confirmed the beggary of our nation,
which began as early as the revolution ; but then
it gave, in the last war, reputation to our ara^
ancl our councils too. For though I think, and
must always think, that the principle, on which
we acted after departing from that laid down in
the grand alliance of one thousand seven hundred .
ancl one, was wrong ; yet must we confess that it
was pursued wisely, as well as boldly. The rage
of negotiating has been a chargeable rage likewise,
at least as chargeable in it's proportion. Far
from paying our debts, contracted in war, they
continue much the same, after three and twenty
years of peace. The taxes that oppress our mer
cantile interest the most are still in mortgage ;
and those that oppress the landed interest the
most, instead of being laid on extraordinary occa
sions, are become the ordinary funds for the cur
rent service of every year. This is grievous, and
the more so to any man, who has the honour of
his country, as well as her prosperity at heart, be
cause we have not, in this case, the airy consola
tion we had in the other. The rage of negotiat
ing began twenty years ago, under pretence of
consummating the treaty of Utrecht : and, from
that time to this, our ministers have been in one
perpetual maze. They have made themselves
and us, often, objects of aversion to the powers on
the continent : and we are become at last objects
of contempt, even to the Spaniards. What other
effect
16

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. 1 40
effect could our absurd conduct have ? What
other return has it deserved ? We came exhausted
out of long wars ? and, instead of pursuing the
measures necessary to give us means and oppor
tunity to repair our strength and to diminish our
burdens, our ministers have acted, from that time
to this, like men who sought pretences to keep the
nation in the same exhausted condition, and under
the same load of debt. This may have been
their view perhaps : and we could not be surpris
ed, if we heard the same men declare national
poverty necessary to support the present govern
ment, who have so frequently declared corruption
and a standing army to be so. Your good sense,
my lord, your virtue, and your love of your
country, will always determine you to oppose
such vile schemes, and to contribute your utmost
towards the cure of both these kinds of rage ; the
rage of warring, without any proportionable
interest of our own, for the ambition of others,;
and the rage of negotiating on every occasion, at
any rate, without a sufficient call to it, and with
out any part of that deciding influence which we
ought to have. Our nation inhabits an island,
and is one of the principal nations of Europe ;
but to maintain this rank, we must take the ad
vantages of this situation, which have been neg
lected by us for almost half a century : we must
always remember, that we are not part of the
continent, but we must never forget, that we are
neighbours to it. I will conclude, by applying a
rule, that Horace gives for the conduct of an epick
L3 or

15© ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
or dramatick poem, to the part Great Britain
ought to take in the affairs of the continent, if you
allow me to transform Britannia into a male divi
nity, as the verse requires.
Nee Deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus
Inciderit.
If these reflections are just, and I should not have
offered them to your lordship, had they .not
appeared both just and important to my best
understanding, you will think that I have not
spent your time unprofitably in making them,
and exciting you by them to examine the true
interest of your country relatively to foreign
affairs ; and to compare it with those principles
of conduct, that, I am persuaded, have no other
foundation than party-designs, prejudices, and
habits, the private interest of some men, and the
ignorance and rashness of others.
My letter is grown so long, that I shall say
nothing to your lordship at this time concerning
the study of modern history, relatively to the
interests of your country in domestick affairs ; and
I think there will be no need to do so at any
other. The History of the rebellion by your
great grandfather, and his private memorials,
which your lordship has in manuscript, will guide
you surely as far as they go: where they leave
you, your lordship must not expect any history ;
for we have more reason to make this complaint,
" abest enim historia litteris nostris," than Tully
had to put it into the mouth of Atticus, in his first
book

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. I5I
book of laws. But where history leaves you, it
is wanted least: the traditions of this century,
and of the latter end of the last, are fresh.
Many, who were actors in some of these events,
are alive; and many, who have conversed with
those that were actors in others. The publick is
in possession of several collections and memorials,
and several there are in private hands. You will
want no materials to form true notions of trans
actions so recent. Even pamphlets, writ on dif
ferent sides and on different occasions in our party
disputes, and histories of no more authority than
pamphlets, will help you to come at truth. Bead
them with suspicion, my lord, for they deserve to
be suspected ; pay no regard to the epithets
given, nor to the judgments passed; neglect all
declamation, weigh the reasoning, and advert to
fact. With such precautions, even Burnet's his
tory may be of some use. In a word, your lord
ship will want no help of mine to discover, by
what progression the whole constitution of our
country, and even the character of our nation,
bas been' altered : nor how much a worse use, in
a national sense, though a better in the sense of
party politicks, the men called Whigs have made
of long wars and new systems of revenue, since
the revolution ; than the men called Tories made,
before it, of long peace, and stale prerogativeJ
When you look back three or four generations
ago, you will see, that the English were a plain,
perhaps a rough, but a good-natured, hospitable
L 4 people,

152 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY :
people, jealous of their liberties, and able as well
as ready to defend them, with their tongues, their
pens, and their swords. The restoration began
to turn hospitality into luxury, pleasure into
, debauch, and country rieers and country common-
, ers into courtiers and men of mode. But while
' our luxury was young, it was little more than
elegance: the debauch of that age was enlivened
with wit, and varnished over with gallantry.
The courtiers and the men of mode knew what
the constitution was, respected it, and often
asserted it. Arts and sciences flourished, and, if
we grew more trivial, we were not become either
grossly ignorant, or openly profligate. Since the
revolution, our kings have been reduced indeed to
a seeming annual dependance on parliament ; but
the business of parliament, which was esteemed in
general a duty before, has been exercised in gene
ral as a trade since. The trade of parliament,
and the trade of funds, have grown universal.
Men, who stood forward in the world, have
attended to little else. The frequency of parlia
ments, that increased their importance, and
should have increased the respect for them, has
taken off from their dignity : and the spirit that
prevailed, v/hile the service in them was i duty,
has been debased since it became a trade. Few
know, and scarce any respect, the British constitu
tion : that of the Church has been long since
derided; that of the State as long neglected;
and both have been left at the mercy of the men in

LET. VIII. STATE OF EUROPE. 1 53
in power, whoever those men were. Thus the
Church, at least the hierarchy, however sacred in
it's origin or wise in it's institution, is become a
useless burden on the State : and the State is
become, under ancient and known forms, a new
and undefinable monster; composed of a king
without monarchical splendour, a senate of nobles
without aristocratical independency, and a senate
of commons without democratical freedom. In
the mean time, my lord, the very idea of wit, and
all that can be called taste, has been lost among
the great ; arts and sciences are scarce alive j
luxury has been increased but not refined ; cor
ruption has been established, and is avowed.
When governments are worn out, thus it is : the
decay appears in every instance. Publick and
private virtue, publick and private spirit, science,
and wit, decline all together.
That you, my lord, may have a long and
glorious share in restoring all these, aud in draw
ing our government back to the true principles of
it, I wish most heartily. Whatever errours I may
have committed in publick life, I have always
loved my country : whatever faults may be
objected to me in private life, I have always
loved my friend ; whatever usage I have received
from my country, it shall never make me break
with her ; whatever usage I have received from
my friends, I shall never break with one of them,
while I think him a friend to my country.
These are the sentiments of my heart. I know thev

154 ON THE STUDY AND USE OF HISTORY.
they are those of your lordship's : and a com
munion of such sentiments is a tie, that will
engage irie to be, as long as I live,
My Lord,
Your most faithful servant.

l55

A PLAN
FOR A
GENERAL HISTORY of EUROPE,

LETTER I.

I SHALL take the liberty of writing to you a
little oftener than the three or four times a year,
which you tell me, are all you can allow yourself
to write to those you like best : arid yet I declare
to you with great truth, that you never knew me
so busy in your life, as I am at present. You
must not imagine from hence, that, I am writing
memoirs of myself. The subject is too slight to
descend to posterity, in any other manner, than
by that occasional mention which may be made
of any little actor in the history of our age.
Sylla, Caesar, and others of that rank, were, while
they lived, at the head of mankind : their story
was in some sort the story of the work!, and such
as might very properly be transmitted under
their names to future generations. But for those
who have acted much inferiour parts, if they pub
lish the piece, and call it after their own names, they

156 A PLAN FOR
they are impertinent : if they publish only their
own share in it, they inform mankind by halves,
and neither give much instruction, nor create
much attention. France abounds with writers of
this sort, and I think, -we Tall into the other
extreme. Let me tell you, on this occasion, what
has sometimes come into my thoughts.
There is hardly any century in history which
began by opening so great a scene, as the century
wherein we live, and shall, I suppose, die. Com
pare it with others, even the most famous, and
you will think so. I will sketch the two last, to
, help your memory.
The loss of that balance which Laurence of
Medicis had preserved, during his time, in Italy;
the expedition of Charles the eighth to Naples;
the intrigues of the duke of Milan, who spun,
with all the refinements of art, that net wherein
¦he was taken at last himself; the successful
dexterity of Ferdinand the catholick, who built
one pillar of the Austrian greatness in Spain, in
Italy, and in the Indies; as the succession ofthe
house of Burgundy, joined to the imperial dignity
and the hereditary countries, established another
in the upper and lower Germany: these causes,1
and many others, combined to form a very extra
ordinary conjuncture ; and by their consequences,
to render the sixteenth century fruitful of great
events, and of astonishing revolutions.
The beginning of the seventeenth opened still
a greater and more important scene. The Spanish
yoke was well-aigh imposed on Italy by the
famous

LET. I. A GENERAL HISTORY OF EUROPE. 157
famous triumvirate, Toledo at Milan, Ossuna at
Naples, and La Cueva, at Venice. The distrac
tions of France, as well as the state-policy of the
queen mother, seduced by Rome, and amused by
Spain ; the despicable character of our James the
first, the rashness of the elector Palatine, the bad
intelligence ofthe princes and states of the league
in Germany, the mercenary temper of John
George of Saxony, and the great qualities of
Maximilian of Bavaria, raised Ferdinand the
second to the imperial throne; when, the males
ofthe elder branch of the Austrian family in Ger
many being extinguished at the death of Matthias,
nothing was more desirable, nor perhaps more
practicable, than to throw the empire into another
house. Germany ran the same risk as Italy had
done: Ferdinand seemed more likely, even than
Charles the fifth had been, to become absolute
master • and, if France had not furnished the j
greatest minister, and. the North the greatest
captajn of that age, in the same point of time,
Vienna and Madrid would have given the law to
tlie western world.
As the Austrian scale sunk, that of Bourbon
rose. The true date of the rise of that power,
which has made the kings of France so consider
able in Europe, goes up as high as Charles the
seventh, and Lewis the eleventh. Tlie weakness
of our Henry the sixth, the loose conduct of
Edward the fourth, and perhaps the oversights of
Henry the seventh, helped very much to knit that
monarchy together, as well as to enlarge it.
Advantage*

ig8' A PLAN FOR
Advantage might have been taken of the divisions
which religion occasioned; and supporting the
protestant party in France would have kept that
crown under restraints, and under inabilities, in
some measure equal to those which were occasion
ed anciently by the vast alienations of it's
demesnes, and by the exorbitant power of it's
Vassals. But James the first was incapable of
thinking with sense, or acting with spirit. Charles
tlie first had an imperfect glimpse of his true
interest, but his uxorious temper, and the extra
vagancy of that madman Buckingham, gave
Richelieu time to finish a great part of his project;
and the miseries that followed in England gave
Mazarin time and opportunity to complete the
system. The last great act of this cardinal's
administration was the Pyrenean treaty.
Here I would begin, by representing the face of
Europe such as it was at that epocha, the interests
and the conduct of England, Franee, Spain, Hol
land, and the empire. A summary recapitulation
should follow of all the steps taken by France,
during more than twenty years, to arrive at the
great object she had proposed to herself in making
this treaty : the most solemn article of which the
minister, who negotiated it, designed should be
violated ; as appears by his letters, writ from the
island of Pheasants, if I mistake not. After this,
another draught of Europe should have it's place,
according to the relations, which the several
powers stood in,- one towards another, in one
thousand six hundred and eighty-eight : and the
alterations

LET. I. A GENERAL HISTORY OF EUROPE. • 153
alterations which the revolution in England made
in the politicks of Europe. A summary account
should follow ofthe events of the war that ended in
one thousand six hundred and ninety-seven, with
the different views of king William the third, and
Lewis the fourteenth, in making the peace of
Ryswick ; which matter has been much Canvass
ed, and is little understood. Then the dispo
sitions made by the partition treaties, and the
influences and consequences of these treaties ; and
a third draught ofthe state of Europe at the death
of Charles the second of Spain. All this would
make the subject of one or two books, and would
be the most proper introduction imaginable to a
history of that war With which our century began,
and of the peace which followed.
This war, foreseen for above half a century, had
been, during all that tinie, the great and constant
object of the councils of Europe. The prize to be,
contended for was the richest that ever had been
staked since those Of the Persian and Roman
empires. The union of two powers, which, sepa
rately, and in opposition, had aimed at universal mo
narchy, was apprehended. Theconfederates there
fore engaged in it, to maintain a balance between
the two houses of Austria and Bourbon, in order
to preserve their security, and to assert their inde-
pendance. But with the success of the war they
changed their views : and, if ambition began it
on the side of France, ambition continued it on
the other. The battles, the sieges, the surprising
revolutions which happened in the course of this
war,

l6o A PLAN FOR.
war, are not to be parallelled in any period of the
same compass. The motives, and the measures,
by which it was protracted, the true reasons why
it ended in a manner, which appeared not propor
tionable to it's success ; and the new political
State, into which Europe was thrown by the
treaties of Utrecht and Baden, are subjects on
which few persons have the necessary informa
tions, and yet every one speaks with assurance,
and even with passion. I think I could speak on
them with some knowledge, and with as much
indifference as Pofybius does of the negotiations
of his father Lycortas, even in those points where
I was myself an actor.
I will eyen confess to you, that I should not
despair of performing this part better than the
former. There is nothing in my opinion so hard
to execute, as. those political maps, if you will
allow me such an expression, and those systems of
hints, rather than relations of events, which are
necessary to .connect and explain them ; and,
which must be so concise, and yet so full ; so
complicate, and yet so clear. I know nothing of
this sort well done by the ancients. Sallust's
introduction, as well as that of Thucydides, might
serve almost for any other piece of the Roman or*
Greek story, as well as for those which these two
great authors chose. Polybius does not come up,
in his introduction, to this idea neither. Among
the moderns, the first book of Machiavel's history
of Florence is a noble original of this kind : and
perhaps

LET. I. GENERAL HISTORY OF EUROPE. l6i
perhaps father Paul's history of benefices is, in tlie
same kind of composition, inimitable.
These are a few of those thoughts, which come
into my mind when I consider how incumbent it
is on every man, that he should be able to give an
account even of his leisure ; and in the midst of
solitude be of some use to society.
I krioW riot whether I shall have courage enough
to undertake the task I have chalked out: I
distrust my abilities with reason, and I shall want
several informations, not easy, I doubt, for me to
obtain. But, in all events, it will not be possible
for me to go about it this year ; the reasons of
which would be long enough to fill another letter,
and I doubt that you will think this grown too
bulky already, Adieu.

Vol. IV. M

'"i«rt

( 162 >
OF THE
TRUE USE
CiF
RETIREMENT and STUDY:
TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
LORD BATHURST.

LETTER II.

SlNCE my last to your lordship, this is the first-
favourable opportunity I have had of keeping the
promise I made you. I will avoid prolixity, as
much as I can, in a first draught of my thoughts
but I must give you them as they rise in my
mind, without staying to marshal them in close
order. As proud as we are of human reason, nothing
can be more absurd than the general system of
human life, and human knowledge. This faculty
of distinguishing true from false, right from
wrong, and what is agreeable from what is repug
nant to nature, either by one act, or by a longer
process of intuition, has not been given with so
sparing a hand, as many appearances would
make us apt to believe. If it was cultivated,
- therefore,

LET. II. RETIREMENT AND STUDY. 163
therefore, as early and as carefully as it might
be, and if the exercise of it was left generally as
free as it ought to be, our common notions and
opinions would be more consonant to truth
than they are : and, truth being but one, they
Would be more Uniform likewise.
But this rightful mistress of human life arid
knowledge, whose proper office it is to preside
over both, and to direct us in the conduct of one
and the pursuit of the other, becomes degraded
in the intellectual ceconomy. She is reduced to a
mean and servile state, to the vile drudgery of Con
niving at principles, defending opinions, and
confirming habits, that are none of hers. They
who do her most honour, who consult her
oftenest, , and obey her too very often, are
still guilty of limiting her authority according to
maxims, and rules, and schemes, that chance,
or ignorance, or interest, first devised, and that
custom sanctifies: custom, that result of the pas*
sions and prejudices of many, and of the designs
of a few : that ape of reason, who usurps her
seat, exercises her power, and is obeyed by man
kind in her stead. Men find it easy, and govern*
ment makes it profitable, to concur in establish
ed systems of speculation and practice : and the
whole turn of education prepares them to live
upon credit all their lives. Much pains are taken>
and time bestowed, to teach us what to think;)
but little or none of either, to instruct us how to'
think. The iriagazine ofthe memory is stored arid
stuffed betimes1; hub the conduct of the undeft
M 2 standing

¦t.Sx\ OF THE TRUE USE *OF
standing is all along neglected,, and the free ex
ercise of it is, in effect, forbid in all places, and in
terms in some. ¦'
iv There is a strange distrust of human reason in
every human institution: this distrust is so ap
parent, that an habitual submission to some au
thority, or other, is forming in us from our cra
dles; that principles of reasoning, and matters
of fact, are inculcated in our tender minds, before
we are able to exercise that reason; and that,
when we are able to exercise it, we are either forbid,
or frightened from doing so, even on things that
are themselves the proper objects of reason, or
that are delivered to us upon an authority whose
sufficiency or insufficiency is so most evidently.
, On many subjects, such as the general laws of
'.natural religion, and the general rules of so-
jciety and good policy, men of all countries and
'languages, who cultivate their reason, judge
alike. The same premises have led them to the
same conclusions, and so following the same guide,
they have trod in the same path : at least the dif
ferences are small, easily reconciled, and such
as could not, of themselves, contradistinguish
nation from nation, religion from religion, and
sect from sect. How comes it then, that
there are other points, on which the most_oppo-
,»ite opinions are entertained, and some of these
with ''so much heat, and fury, that the men on
one side of the hedge will die for the affirmative,
stnd the men on the other for the negative?
" Toute opinion est assez .forte pour . se faire
cpouser

LET. II. RETIREMENT AND STUDY. l6£
epouser au prix de la vie," says Montague, whom
I' often quote, as I do Seneca, rather* for the
smartness of expression, than the weight or new
ness of matter. Look narrowly into it, and you
will find that the points agreed on, and the.points
disputed, are not proportionable to the common
sense and general reason of mankind. Nature
and truth are the same every where, and reason
shows them every where alike. But the accu •
dental and other causes, which give rise and
growth to opinions, both in speculation and prac^
tice, are of infinite variety; and wherever these
opinions are once confirmed by custom and pro*
pagated by education, various, inconsistent, con
tradictory as they are, they all pretend (and all
their pretences are backed by pride, by passion^
and by interest) to have reason, or revelation, or
both, on their side ; though neither reason nor
revelation can be possibly on the side of more than
one, and may be possibly on the side of none.
Thus it happens that the people of Tibet are
Tartars and idolaters; that they are Turks and
Mahometans at Constantinople, Italians and
Papists at Rome ; and how much soever educa
tion may be less confined, and the means of know*
ledge more attainable, in France and our own
country, yet thus it happens in great measure,
that Frenchmen and Roman Catholicks are bred
at Paris, and Englishmen and Protestants at
London. For . men, indeed, properly speaking,
are bred no where : every one thinks the system,
as he speaks the language, of his country; a%
W 3 leJ^t

jgg OF THE TRUE USF OF
least there are few that think, and none that aets
ih any country, according to the dictates of
pure unbiassed reason ; unless they may be said
to do so when reason directs them to speak and
act according to the system of their country or
sect, at the same time as she leads them to think
according to that of nature and truth.
Thus the far greatest part of mankind appears,
reduced to a lower state than other animals, in,
that very respect, on account of which we claim,
so great superiority over them : because instinct,
that has it's due effect, is preferable to reason,
that hag pot. 1 suppose in this place, with philo
sophers, and the vulgar, that which I am in
no wise readv to affirm, that other animals have
no share of human reason ; for, let me say by
the way, it is much more likely other animals
should share the human, which is denied, than
that man should share the divine reason, which
is affirmed. But, supposing our monopoly of
reason, would not your lordship choose to walk
upon four legs, to wear a long tail, and to be
Called a beast, with the advantage of being
determined by irresistible and unerring instinct
to those truths, that are necessary to your well.
being ; rather than to walk on two legs, to wear no
tail, and to be honoured with the title of man, at
the expense of deviating from them perpetually?
Instinct acts spontaneously whenever it's action i^
necessary, and directs the animal according to,
the purpose for which it was implanted in him-
Reason is a nobler and more extensive faculty $
far

LET. II. RETIREMENT AND STUDY. 1 67
for it extends to the unnecessary as well as
necessary, and to satisfy our curiosity as well as
our wants : but reason must be excited, or she
will remain inactive-, she must be left free, or
she will conduct us wrong, and carry us farther
astray from her own precincts, than we should go
without her help : in the first case, we have no
sufficient guide ; and in the second, the more we
employ our reason, the more unreasonable we are.
Now if all this be so, if reason has so little,
and ignorance, passion, interest, and custom so
much to do, in forming our opinions and our
habits, aud in directing the whole conduct of hu
man life ; is it not a thing desirable by every
thinking man, to have the opportunity, indulged
to so few by the course of accidents, the oppor
tunity, " secum esse, et secum vivere," of living
some years at least to ourselves, and for our
selves, in a state of freedom, under the laws
of reason, instead of passing our whole time in
a state of vassalage under those of authority and
-custom ? Is it not worth our while to contem
plate ourselves, and others, and all the things of
this world, once before we leave them, through
the medium of pure, and, if I may say so, of
undefiled reason ? Is it not worth our while to
approve or condemn, on our own authority,
what we receive in the beginning of life, on the
authority of other men, who were not then better
able to judge for us, than we are now to judge
for ourselves ?
That this may be done, and has been done
m 4 to

l68 OF THE TRUE USE OF
to some degree, by men who remained mueh
more mingled, than I design to be for the future,
in the company and business of the world, I shall
not deny : but still it is better done in retreat,
and with greater ease and pleasure. While we
remain in the world, we are all fettered down
more or less 'to one common level, and have
neither all the leisure, nor all the means and, ad
vantages, to soar above it, which we may procure
to ourselves, by breaking these fetters, in retreat.
To talk of abstracting ourselves from matter;
laying aside body, and being resolved, as it were,
into pure intellect, is proud, metaphysical, un
meaning jargon : but to abstract ourselves from
the prejudices, and habits, and pleasures, and
business of the world, is no more than many are,
though all are not, capable of doing. They who
can do this, may elevate their souls in retreat to
a higher station ; and may take from thence
such a view of the world, as the second Scipio
took in his dream, from the seats of the blessed,
when the whole Earth appeared so little to him,
that he could scarce discern that speck of dirt, the
Roman empire. Such a view as this will increase
our knowledge, by showing us our ignorance ;
will distinguish every degree of probability from
the lowest to the highest, and mark the distance
between that arid certainty; will dispel the intoxica
ting fumes of philosophical presumption, and teach
us to establish our peace of mind, where alone it
can rest securely, in resignation: in short, such a
yiew, will render life more agreeable, and death less

LET. II. RETIREMENT AND STUDY. j6ij
less terrible. Is not this business, my lord ? Is
not this pleasure too, the highest pleasure ? The
world can afford us none such : we must retire
from the world to taste it with a full gust; but
we shall taste it the better for having been in the
world. The share of sensual pleasures, that a
man of my age can promise himself, is hardly
worth attention : he should be sated, he will be
soon disabled; and very little reflection surely
will suffice, to make his habits of this kind lose
their power over him, in proportion at least as his
power of indulging them diminishes. Besides,
your lordship knows that my scheme of retire
ment excludes none of these pleasures that can
be taken with decency and conveniency ; and to
say the truth, I believe that I allow myself more
in speculation, than I shall find I want in prac
tice. As to the habits of business, they^ean have
no hold on one who has been so long tired with it.
You may object, that though a man has discard
ed these habits, and has not even the embers of
ambition about him to revive them, yet he canT
not renounce all public business as absolutely as
I seem to do ; because a better principle, a prin
ciple ofduty, may summon him to the service
of his country. I will answer you with great sfn^
cerity. No man has higher notions of this duty
thaii I have. I think that scarce any age, or cir
cumstances, can discharge us entirely from it;
no, not my own. But as we are apt to take the
impulse of our own .passions for a call to the
performance of this duty ; so when these passions impe]

in© ©F THE TRUE USE OF
impel us no longer, the call that puts us upon
action must be real, and loud too. Add to this,
that there are different methods, proportioned
to different circumstances and situations, of perr
forming the same duty. In the midst of retreat,
wherever it may be fixed, I may contribute to
defend and preserve the British constitution of
government : and you, my lord, may depend
Tipon me, that whenever I can, I will. Should
any one ask you, in this case, from whom I ex
pect my reward ; answer him by declaring to
whom I pay this service ; (( Deo immortali, qui
" menonaccipere modo hasc a majoribus voluit,
" sed etiam posteris prodere. "
But, to lead the life I propose with satisfaction
and profit, renouncing the pleasures and bu
siness of the world, and breaking the habits of
both, is not sufficient : the supine creature, whose
understanding is superficially employed, through
life, about a few general notions, and is never bent
to a close and steady pursuit of truth, may re
nounce the pleasures and business of the world,
for even in the business ofthe world we see such
creatures often employed, and may break the
habits; nay he may retire ancl drone away life in
.solitude, like a monk, or like him over the door of
whose house, as if his house had been his tomb,
somebody writ, " Here lies such a one," But no
such man will be able to make the true use of re=
tirement. The employment of his mind, that
would have been agreeable and easy if he had
accustomed himself to it early, will be unplea^ sant

LET. II. RETIREMENT AND STUDY. 1,71
sant and impracticable late; such men lose their
intellectual powers for want of exerting them ;
and, having trifled away youth, are reduced to
the necessity of trifling away age. It fares with
the mind just as it does with the body. He who
was born with a texture of brain as strong as that
of Newton, may become unable to perform the
common rules ofarithmetick: just as he who has the
same elasticity, in his muscles, the same suppleness
in his joints, and all his nerves and sinews as well
braced as Jacob Hall, may become a fat unwieldy
sluggard. Yet farther, the implicit creature, who
has thought it all his life needless, or unlawful, to
examine the principles or facts that he took ori
ginally on trust, will beas little able as the other
to improve his solitude to any good purpose: um
less we pall it a good purpose, for that sometimes
happens, to confirm and exalt his prejudices, so
that he may live and die in one continued deli
rium. The confirmed prejudices of a thoughtful
Jife areas-hard to change as the confirmed habits
of an indolent life: and as some must trifle away
age because they have trifled away youth, others
must labour on in a maze of errour, because they
have wandered there too long to find their way
out. There is a prejudice in China jn favour of little
feet, and therefore the feet of girls are swathed
and bound up from the cradle, so that the women
of that country are unable to walk without tot
tering and stumbling all their lives. Amoiig the
savages pf Ajmerica, their are some who hold flat-
heads,

I'JrZ OF THE TRUE U&E OF
heads and long ears in great esteem, and there-;
fore press the one and draw down the others
so hard from their infancy, that they destroy
irrecoverably the true proportions of nature, and
continue all their lives ridiculous to every sight
but their own. J ust so, the first of these charac
ters cannot make any progress, and the second-
will not attempt to make any, in an impartial
search after real knowledge.
To set about acquiring the habits of meditation
and study late in life, is like getting into a go-
cart with a gray beard, and learning to walk when
we have lost the use of our legs. In general, the
foundations of a happy old age must be laid in
youth : and in particular, he who has not cultivated
his^reason young, will be utterly unable to im^
prove it old. fC Manent ingenia senibus, modo
" permaneant studium et industria,"
Not only a love of study, and a desire of know-*
ledge, must have grown up with us, but such an
industrious application likewise, as requires the
whole vigour of the mind to be exerted in the
pursuit of truth, through long trains of ideas, and
all those dark recesses wherein man, not God,
has hid it.
This love and this desire I have felt all my life,
and lam not quite a stranger to this industry and
application. There has been something always
ready to whisper in my ear, while I ran the course
of pleasure and of business.
" Solve senescentem mature sanus equum." But

1ET. II. RETIREMENT AND STUDY. 17J
. But my genius, unlike the demon of Socrates,
whispered so softly, that very often I heard him
not, in the hurry of those passions by which I
was transported. Some calmer hours there were:
in them I hearkened to him. Reflection had
often it's turn, and the love of study and the de
sire of knowledge have never quite abandoned me.
I am not therefore entirely unprepared for the
life I will lead, and it is not without reason,
that I promise myself more satisfaction in the
latter par^ of it, than I ever knew in the former.
Your lordship may think this perhaps a little
too sanguine, for one who has lost so much time
already: you may put me in mind, that human
life has no second spring, no second summer :
you may ask me, what I mean by sowing in au
tumn, and whether 1 hope to reap in winter ? My
answer will be, that I think very differently from
most men, of the time We have to pass, and the
business we have to do in this world. I think we
have more of one, and less of the other, than is
commonly supposed. Our want of time, and the
shortness of human life, are some ofthe principal
commonplace complaints, which we prefer against
the established order of things : they are .the
grumblings ofthe vulgar, and the pathetiek lamen
tations ofthe philosopher ; but they are imperti
nent and impious in both. The man of business
despises the man of pleasure, for squandering
his time away ; the man of pleasure pities or
laughs at the man of business, for the same
thing : and yet both concur superciliously and
absurdly

I74 OF THE TRUE USE OF
absurdly to find fault with the Supreme Beings
for having given them so little time. The philoso
pher, who mispends it very often as much as the
others, joins in the same cry, and authorises this im
piety. Theophrastus thought it extremely hard to
die at ninety, ancl to go out ofthe world when he
had just learned how to live in it. His mafter Ari
stotle found fault with nature, for treating man in
this respect worse than several other animals :
both very unphilosophically ! and I love Seneca
the better for his quarrel with the Stagirite on
this head. We see, in so many instances, a just
proportion of things, according to their several
relations to one another, that philosophy should
lead us to conclude this proportion preserved,
even where we cannot discern it; instead of lead
ing us to conclude, that it is not preserved where
we do not discern it, or where we think that we
see the contrary. To conclude otherwise, is
shocking presumption. It is to presume, that the
system of the universe would have been more wise
ly contrived, if creatures of our low rank among
intellectual natures had been called to the coun
cils of the Most High ; or that the Creator ought -
to mend this work by the advice of the creature.
That life which seems to our self-love so short
when we compare it with the ideas we frame of
eternity, or even with the duration of some other
beings, will appear sufficient, upon a less partial
view, to all the ends of our creation, and of a
just proportion in the successive course of genera
tions. The term itself islong : we render it short; and

LET. II. RETIREMENT AND STUDY. 1 75
and the want we complain of flows from our • profu
sion not from our poverty. We areall arrant spend
thrifts ; someof usdissipate our estates on the trifles,
some on the superfluities, and then we all complain
that we want the necessaries, of life. The much
greatest part never reclaim, but die bankrupts to
God and man. Others reclaim late, and they
are apt to imagine, when they make up their ac
counts, and see how their fund is diminished, that
they have not enough remaining tq.4jve upon,
because they have not the whole. But they de
ceive themselves: they were richer than they
thought, and they are not yet poor. If they hus
band wellthe remainder, it will be found suffi
cient for all the necessaries, and for some of the
superfluities, and trifles too perhaps, of life : but
then the former order of expense must be invert
ed ; and the necessaries of life must b3 prov ided,
before they put themselves to any cost for the
trifles or superfluities.
Let us leave the men of pleasure and of business,
who are often candid enough to own, that thev
throw away -their time, and thereby to confess
that they complain of the Supreme Being for no
other reason than this, that he has not propor
tioned his bounty to their extravagance : let us
consider the scholar and the philosopher ; who,
far from owning that he throws any time away,
reproves others for doing it ; that solemn mortal,
who abstains from the pleasures, and declines the
business of the world, that he may dedicate his.
whole time; to the search, of truth, and the improve ment

I76 OF THE TRUE. USE OF
ment of knowledge. When such a one complains
of the shortness of human life in general, or of
his remaining share in particular ; might not a
man, more reasonable though less solemn, expos
tulate thus with him ?
" Your complaint is indeed consistent with
" your practice ; but you would not, possibly, re-
" new your complaint, if you reviewed your prac-
" tice. Though reading makes a scholar; yet
" every scholar is not a philosopher, nor every
" philosopher a wise man. It cost you twenty
" years to devour all the volumes on one side of
" your library : you came out a great critick in La-
" tin and Greek, in the oriental tongues, in history
" and chronology; but you was not satisfied:
" you confessed that these were the " literas nihil
" sanantes ;" and you wanted more time toacquire
" other knowledge. You have had this time :
" you have passed twenty years more on the
•" other side of your library, among philosophers,
" rabbies, commentators, schoolmen, and whole
" legions of modern doctors. You are extremeh/
" well versed in all that has been written concern-
" ing the nature of God, and ofthe soul of man;
" about matter and form, body and spirit; and
" space, and eternal essences, and incorporeal
" substances ; and the rest of those profound spe-
" culations. You are a master of the contro-
" versies that have arisen about nature and grace,
" about predestination and free will, and all the
" other abstruse questions that have made so much
" noise in the schools, and done so much hurt in
" the

tET. II; RETIREMENT AND STUDY. 177
" the world. You are going on, as fast as the in-
" firmities you have contracted will permit, in the
" same course of study ; but yoh begin to foresee
' that you shall want time, and you make griev-
" ous complaints of the shortness of human life.
" Give me leave now to ask you, how many thou-
" sand years God must prolong your life, in order
" to reconcile you to his wisdom and goodness ?
" Tt is plain, at least highly probable; that a life
" as long as that of the most aged of the pa-^
" triarchs, would be too short to answer your pur-
" poses: since the researches and disputes, in whiph
" you are engaged, have been already for a much,
" longer time the objects of learned inquiries,
" and remain still as imperfect and undetermined
" as they were at first, But let me ask you again,
" and deceive neither yourself nor me; have
" you, in the course of these forty years, once ex-
" amined the first principles, and the fundamen-
" tai facts, on which all those questions depend,
" with an absolute indifference of judgment, and
" with a scrupulous exactness ? with the same
" that you have employed in examining the va-
" rious consequences' drawn from them, and the
" heterodox opinions about them? Have you-not
" taken them for granted, in the whole course of
" your studies ? or, if you have looked now and
" then on the state ofthe proois brought to main-
" tain them, have you not done it as a matbema-
" tician looks over a demonstration formerly
" made, to refresh his memory, nor to satisfy
" any doubt ? If you have thus examined, it may
Vol. IV. , N k appear

I78 OF THE TRUE USE OF
" appear marvellous to some, that you have spent
" so much time in many parts of those studies,
" which have reduced you tothis hectick condition,
" of so much heat and weakness. But if you
" have not thus examined,* it must be evident to
" all, nay to yourself on the least cool reflection,
" that you are still, notwithstanding all your learn-,
" ing, in a state of ignorance. For knowledge,
" can alone produce knowledge: and without such
" an examination of axioms and facts, you can,
*' have none about inferences."
In this manner one might expostulate very rea
sonably with many a great scholar, many a pro
found philosopher, many a dogmatical casuist.
And it serves to set the complaints about want of
time, and the shortness of human life, in a very ri.
culousbut a true light. All men are taught their
opinions, at least on the most important subjects,
by rote; and are bred to defend them, with
obstinacy. They may be taught true opi
nions ; but whether true or false, the same zeal
for them, and the same attachment to them, is
every where inspired alike. The Tartar believes
as heartily that the soul of Foe inhabits in his
dairo, as the Christian believes the hypostatick
union, or any article in the Athanasian creed.
Now this may answer the ends of society in some
respects, and do well enough for the vulgar of
all ranks ; but it is not enough for the man
who cultivates his reason, who is able to think,
and who ought to think, for himself. To such
a man, every opinion that he has not himself
either framed, or examined strictly and then
adapted,

LET. II. RETIREMENT AND STUDT. 1 79
adopted, will pass for nothing more than what
it really is, the opinion of other men; which
may be true or false for aught he knows. And
this is a state of uncertainty, in which no such
man can remain, with any peace of mind, con-
cernirig those things that are of greatest import
ance to us here, and may be so hereafter. He will
make them therefore the objects of his first and
greatest attention. If he has lost time, he will
lofe no more; and when he has acquired all the
knowledge he is capable of acquiring on these sub
jects, he will be the less concerned whether he
has time to acquire any farther. Should he have
passed his life in the pleasures or business of the
world; whenever he sets about this work, he will
soon have the advantage over the learned philoso
pher. For he will soon have secured what is
necessary to his happiness, and may sit down in
the peaceful enjoyment of that knowledge: or pro
ceed with greater advantage and satisfaction to the
acquisition of new knowledge: while the other
continues his search after things that are in their
nature, to say the best of them, hypothetical, pre
carious, and superfluous.
But this is not the only rule, by observing of
which we may redeem our time, and have the ad
vantage over those who imagine they have so
much in point of knowledge over your lordship or
me, for instance, and who despise our ignorance.
The rule I mean is this; to be on ourguard against
the common arts of delusion, spoken of already^
which, every one is ready to confess, have been
employed to mislead those who differ from him.
** Let

l80 OF THE TRUE USE OF
Let us be diffident of ourselves, but let us be dif
fident of others too: our own passions may lead
us to reason wrong; but the passions and interest
of others may have the same effect. It is in every
man's power, who sets about it in good earnest^
to prevent the first: and when he has done so,
he will have a conscious certainty of it. To pre--' '
vent the last, there is one, and but one sure me
thod; and that is, to remount, in the survey of
our opinions, to the first and even remotest prin
ciples on wliich they are founded. No respect, no
habit, no seeming certainty whatever, must divert
us from this ; any affectation of diverting us from
it ought to increase our suspicion: and the more
important our examination is, the more impor
tant this method of conducting it becomes. Let
its not be frighted from it, either by the supposed
difficulty or length of such an inquiry ; for, on
the contrary, this is the easiest and the shortest,
as well as the only sure way of arriving at real
knowledge; and of being able to place the opini
ons we 'examine in the different classes of true,
probable, or false, according to the truth, proba
bility, or falshood of the principles from whence
they are deduced.' If we find these principles
false, and that will be the case in many instances,
we stop our inquiries on these heads at once; and
save an immense deal of time that we should other
wise mispend. The Mussulman, who enters on
the examination of all the disputes that have
arisen between the followers of Omar and Ali and
other doctors of his law, must acquire a thorough
knowledge of the whole Mahometan system ;
and

LET. II. RETIREMENT AND STUDY. 18 1
and will have as good a right to complain of want
of time, and the shortness of human life, as any
Pagan or Christian divine or philosopher: but
without all this time and learning, he might have
discovered that Mahomet was an impostor, and
that the Koran is a heap of absurdities.
In short, my lord, he who retires from the world,
with a resolution of employing his leisure, in the 1
first place to reexamine and settle his opinions,
is inexcusable if he does not begin with those j
that are most important to him, and if he does :
not deal honestly by himself. To deal honestly by
himself, he must observe the rule I have insisted
upon, and not suffer the delusions of the worlds
to follow him into his retreat. Every man's reason
is every man's oracle : this oracle is best consulted
in the silence of retirement; and when we have so
consulted, whatever the decision be, whether in
favour of our prejudices or against them, we must
rest satisfied : since nothing can be more certain
than this, that he who follows that guide in the
search of truth, as that was given him to lead him
to it, will have a much better plea to make, when
ever or wherever he may be called to account,
than he, who has resigned himself, eitherdeliberate-
ly or inadvertently, to any authority upon Earth.
When we have done this, concerning God,
ourselves, and other men ; concerning the rela
tions in which we stand to him and to them ; the
. duties that result from these relations ; and the
positive will of the Supreme Being, whether
reyealed to us in a supernatural, or discovered by
x 3 the

l8z OF THE TRUE USB OF
the right use of our reason in a natural way-* — ~we
have done the great business of our lives. Our
lives are so sufficient for this, that they afford us
time for more, even when we begin late : especially
if 'we proceed in every other inquiry by the same
rule. To discover errour in axioms, or in first,
principles grounded on facts, is like the breaking
of a charm. The enchanted castle, the steepy
rock, the burning lake disappear : and the paths,
that lead to truth, which we imagined to be so
long, so embarrassed, and sq difficult, show as
they are, short, open, and easy. When we have
secured the necessaries, there may be time to
amuse ourselves with the superfluities, and even
with the trifles of life. " Dulce est desipere;" said
Horace: "Vive la bagatelle!" says Swift. I op
pose neither ; not the Epicurean, much less the
Christian philosopher, but I insist that a princi
pal part of these amusements be the amusement?
of study and reflection, of reading and converfa
tion. You know what conversation I mean ; for
we Jose the true advantage of our nature and con
stitution, if we suffer the mind to come, as it
were, to a stand. When the body, instead of
acquiring new vigour, and tasting new pleasures,
begins to decline, and is sated with pleasures,
or grown incapable of taking them, the mind
may continue still to improve and indulge itself
in new enjoyments. Every advance in know^
ledge opens a new scene of delight ; and the joy
that we feel in the actual possession of one,
will be heightened by that whjch we expect

LET. 11. RETIREMENT AND STUDY. igo
to find in another: so that, before we can exhaust
this fund of successive pleasures, death will come
to end our pleasures and our pains at once. " In
" his studiis laboribusque viventi, non intelligitur
" quando obrepit senectus : ita sensim sine sen-
" su aetas senescit, nee subito frangitur, sed diu-
*f turnitate extinguitur."
This, my lord, is the wisest, and the most agree
able manner in which a man of sense can wind
up the thread of life. Happy is he whose situ
ation and circumstances give him the opportu
nity and means of doing it ! Though he should
not have made any great advances in knowledge,
and should set about it late, yet the task will not be
ound difficult, unless he has gone too far out of
his way ; and unless he continues too long to
halt between the dissipations of the world and
the leisure of a retired life :

¦ Vivendi recte qui prorogat horam,

Rusticusexpectat dum defluat amnis,-

You know the rest, I am sensible, more sensi
ble than any enemy I have, of my natural in
firmities, and acquired disadvantages : but I have
begun, and I will persist : for he who jogs for
ward on a battered horse, in the right way,
may get to the end of his journey ; which he
cannot do, who gallops the fleetest courser of
Newmarket out of it.
Adieu, my dear lord. Though I have much
niore to say on this subject, yet I perceive, and
J doubt you have long perceived, that I have
» 4 said

184 USE OF RETIREMENT AND STUDY.
Said too much, at least for a letter, already. The
rest shall be reserved for conversation whenever
we meet : and then I hope to confirm, under
your lordship's eye, my speculations by my
practice. In the mean time let me refer you
to our friend Pope. He says I made a philoso
pher of him : I am sure he has contributed very
much, and I thank him for it, to the making a
'- hermit of me.

LETTER

ON THE

SPIRIT of PATRIOTISM.

( i»7 )
ON THE
SPIRIT of PATRIOTISM.
MY LORD, , 1736.
YOU have engaged me on a subject, which in
terrupts the series of those letters I was wri
ting to you : but it is one, which, I confess, I have
very much at heart. I shall therefore explain
myself fully, nor blush to reason on principles
that are out of fashion among men, who intend
nothing by serving the publick, but to feed their
avarice, their vanity, ancl their luxury, without the
sense of any duty they owe to God or man.
It seems to me, that in order to maintain the
moral system of the world at a certain point, far
below that of ideal perfection, for we are made
capable of conceiviug what we are incapable of at- *
gaining ; but, however, sufficient upon the whole
to constitute a state easy and happy, or at the
worst tolerable: I say, it seems to me, that tho
Author of nature has thought fit to mingle, from
time to time, among the societies of men, a few
and but a few, of those on whom he is graciously
pleased to bestow a larger proportion of the ethe
real spirit, than is given in the ordinary course
of his providence to the sons of men. These are
they who engross almost the whole reason of the
Species : who are born to instruct, to guide, and t®

j88 ON THE SPIRIT
to preserve : who are designed to be the tutors and
the guardians of humankind. When they prove
such, they exhibit to us examples of the highest
virtue, ancl the truest piety: and they deserve to
have their festivals kept, instead of that pack of
anachorites and enthusiasts, with whose names the
kalendar is crowded and disgraced. When these
men apply their talents to other purposes, when
they strive to be great, and despise being good,j
they commit a most sacrilegious breach of trusty
they pervert the means, ihey defeat, as far as!
lies in them, the designs of providence, and dis
turb, in some sort, the system of infinite wisdom.
To misapply these talents is the most diffused,
and, therefore, the greatest of crimes in it's nature
and consequences ; but to keep them unexerted,
and unemployed, is a crime too. Look about you,
my lord, from the palace to the cottage; you will
find, that the bulk of mankind is made to breathe
the air of this atmosphere; to roam about this
globe, and to consume, like the courtiers of Al-
cinous, the fruits of the earth. Nos numerus
sum us, et fruges consumere nati. When they
have trod this insipid round a certain number of,
years, and begot others to do the same after them,
they have lived: and if they have performed, in
some tolerable degree, the ordinary moral duties,
of life, they have done all they were born
to do. Look about you again, my lord, nay
look into your own breast, and you will find
that there are superiour spirits, men who show
even from their infancy, though it be not always
perceived

OF PATRIOTISM. i 89
perceived by others, perhaps not always felt by
themselves, that they, were born for something
more and bettei4. These are the men to whom the
part I mentioned is assigned. Their talents de<-|
note their general designation : and the opportu-';
nities of conforming themselves toit, that arise'
in the course of things, or that are presented to ;
them by any circumstances of rank and situation \
in the society to which they belong, denote the |
particular vocation, which it is not lawful for I
them to resist, nor even to neglect. The dura- '
tion ofthe lives of such men as these is to be de
termined, I think, by the length aud importance
of the parts they act, not by the number of years
that pass between their coming into the world,
and their going out of it. Whether the piece be
of three, or five acts, the part may be long: and
he, who sustains it through the whole, maybe said
to die in the fullness of years ; while he, who de
clines it sooner, may be said not to live out half
his days.
I have sometimes represented to myself the vul
gar, who are accidentally distinguished by the
titles of king and subject, of lord and vassal, of
nobleman and peasant; and the few, who are dis
tinguished by nature so essentially from the herd
of mankind, that, figure apart, they seem to be of
another species, in this manner : the former come
into the world, ancl continue in it, like German
travellers in a foreign country. Every thin"- they
meet has the grace of novelty ; and they are fond
alike of every thing that is new. 'They wander about

1 gO ON THE SPIRIT
about from one object to another, of vain curio*
sity, or inelegant pleasure. If they are indus
trious, they show their industry in copying signs,
and collecting mottoes, and epitaphs. They loi
ter, or they trifle away their whole time : and
their presence or their absence would be equally
unperceived, if caprice or accident did not
raise them often to stations, wherein their stu
pidity, their vices, or their follies, make them a
publick misfortune. The latter come into the
world, orat least continue in it after the effects of
surprise and inexperience are over, like men who
are sent on more important errands. They
observe with distinction, they admire with know
ledge. They may indulge themselves in pleasure;
but as their industry is not employed about trifles,
so their amusements are not made the business
of their lives. Such men cannot pass unperceived
through a country. If they retire from tbe world,
their splendour accompanies them, and enlightens
even tbe obscurity of their retreat. Iftbev take
a part in publick life, the effect is never indiffe
rent. They either appear like ministers of divine
vengeance, and their course through the world is
marked by desolation and oppression, by po
verty and servitude: or they are the guardian
angels of the country they inhabit, busy to avert
even the most distant evil, and to maintain or to
procure peace, plenty, and, the greatest of
human blessings, liberty.
From the observation, that superiority of parts
is often employed to do superiour mischief,no con
sequence

OF PATRIOTISM. jgj
sequence can be drawn against the truth I endea
vour to establish. Reason collects the will of God
from the constitution of things, in this as in other
cases ; but in no case does the divine power im
pel us necessarily to conform ourselves to this wiM,
and therefore, from the misapplication of supe
riour par^s to the hurt, no argument can be drawn
against this position, that they were given for the
good, of mankind. Reason deceives us not : we
deceive ourselves, and suffer our wills to be deter
mined by other motives. Montagne or Charron-
would say, l'homme se pipe, " man is at once
¦" his own sharper, and his own bubble." Human
nature is her own bawd, says* Tully, blandaconci-
liatrix, et quasi lena sui. He who considers the
universal wants, imperfections, and vices of his
kind, must agree that men were intended not only
for society, but to unite in commonwealths, and
to submit to laws : legum idcirco omnes servi su-
mus, ut liberi esse possimus. And yet this very
man will be seduced by his own passions, or the
passions and examples of others, to think, or to
act as if he thought, the very contrary. So he
who is conscious of superiour endowments, such as
render him more capable, than the generality of
men, to secure and improve the advantages of so
cial life, by preserving the commonwealth in
strength and splendour, even he may be seduced
to think, or to act as if he thought, that these en
dowments were given him for the gratification of
his ambition, and his other passions; and that
there is no difference between vice and virtue,
between

IC)i ON THE SPIRIT
between a knave and an honest man, but one, which
a prince, who died not many years ago, asserted;
« that men of great sense were, therefore, knaves,
" and men of little sense were, therefore, honest."
But in neither of these cases will the truth and
reason of things be altered by such examples of
human frailty, lt will be still true, and reason!
will still demonstrate, that all men are directed, by!
the general constitution of human nature, to sub-!
mit to government, and that some men are in a/
particular manner designed to take care of that'
government, on which the common happiness de
pends. The use that reason will make of such
examples will be only this, that since men are so
apt, in every form of life and every degree of un--4
derstanding, to act against their interest and their
duty too, without benevolence to mankind, Or re
gard to the divine will; it is the more incumbent
on those who have this benevolence and this re
gard at heart, to employ all the means that the
nature of the government allows, and that rank
circumstances of situation, or superiority of ta
lents, give them, to oppose evil, and promote good
government ; and contribute thus to preserve the
moral system of the world at that point of per
fection at least, which seems to have been prescribf
ed to it by the great Creator of every system of
beings. Give me leave, now, my lord, to cast my eyes
for a moment homeward, and to apply what I
have been saying to the present state of Britain.
That there is no profusion ofthe ethereal spirit to

OF PATRIOTISM. igg
to be observed among us, and that we do not
abound with men of suoeriour genius, I am
ready to confess; but I think there is no ground
for the complaints I have heard made, as if nature
had not done her part in our age, as well as in
former ages, by producing men capable of serving
the commonwealth. The manners of our fore
fathers were, I believe, in many respects. better :
they had more probity perhaps, they had cer
tainly more show_pf honour, and greater indus
try! But still- nature sows alike, though we do
not reap alike. There are, and as there always
have been, there always will be such creatures
in government as I have described above. For
tune maintains a kind of rivalship with wisdom,
and piques herself often in favour of fools as well
as knaves. Socrates used to say, that although
no man undertakes a trade he has not learned,
even tho meanest; yet every one thinks himself
sufficiently qualified for the hardest of all trades,
that of government. He said this upon the ex
perience he had in Greece. He would not change
his opinion if he lived now in Britain. But how
ever, such characters as these would do little hurt,
generally speaking, or would not do it long, if
they stood alone. To do great hurt, some genius,
some knowledge, some talents in short, natural
or acquired, are necessary : less indeed, far less
than are required to do good, but always some.
Yet, I imagine, not the worst minister could do
all the mischief he does, by the misappli
cation of his talents alone, if it were not for tlie
Vol. IV. O misapplication

ig4 ON THE SPIRIT
misapplication of much better talents than
his, by some who join with him, and the non-
application, or the faint and unsteady exer
cise of their talents, by some who oppose him;
as well as the general remissness of mankind in
acquiring knowledge, and improving the parts
which God has given them, for the service of. the
publick. These are the great springs of national
misfortunes. There have been monsters in other
ages, and other countries, as well as ours ; but
they never continued their devastations long,
when there Avere heroes to oppose them. We
will suppose a man imprudent, rash, presump
tuous, ungracious, insolent, and profligate in
speculation as well as practice. He can bribe,
but he cannot seduce : he can buy, but he cannot
gain : he can lye, but he cannot deceive. From
whence then has such a man his strength ?, from
'the general corruption of the people, nursed up
to a full maturity under his administration ; from
the venality of all orders and all ranks of men,
some of whom are so prostitute, that they set
themselves to sale, and even prevent application.
This would be the answer, and it would be a true
one as far as it goes ; but it does not account for
the whole. Corruption could not spread with
so much success, though reduced into system,
and though some ministers, with equal impu
dence and folly, avowed it, by themselves and
their advocates, to be the principal expedient
by which they governed, if a Jong and almost
unobserved progression of causes and effects did
19 not

OF PATRIOTISM. IQ*}
not prepare the conjuncture. let me explain it
and apply it, as I conceive it. One party had
given their whole attention, during several years,
to the project of enriching themselves, and
impoverishing the rest of the nation, and, by
these and other means, of establishing their
dominion under the government, and with the)
favour of a family, who were foreigners, and
therefore might believe, that they were esta
blished, on. the throne by the good- will and
strength of this party alone. This party in ge
neral were so intent on these views, and many
of them, I fear, are so still, that they did not ad
vert in time to the necessary consequences of the
measures they abetted : nor did they consider,
that the power they raised, and by which they
hoped to govern their country, would govern
them with the very rod of iron they forged, and
would be the power of a prince or minister, not
that of a party long. Another party continued
sour, sullen, and inactive, with judgments so
Weak, and passions so strong, that even experi
ence, and a severe one surely, was lost upon them.
They waited, like the Jews, for a Messiah that
may never come; and under whom, if he did
come, they would be strangely disappointed ia
their expectations of glory, and triumph, and uni
versal dominion. While they waited, they were
marked out like the Jews, a distinct race, hewers
of wood and drawers of water, scarce members
of the community, though born in the country.
All indifferent men stood as it were at a gaze :
o z and

10,6 ON THE SPIRIT
and the few who were jealous of the court, -were
still more jealous of one another;" so that a
strength sufficient to oppose- bad ministers was
not easy to be formed. When this strength was
formed, and the insufficiency or, iniquity of the
administration was daily exposed to publick view,-
many adhered at first to the minister, and others
were since gained to his cause, because they
knew nothing of the constitution of their own,
nor of the history of other countries.; but ima,
gined wildly, that things always went as they eaw
them go, and that liberty has been, and there
fore may be, preserved, under the influence of-
!the same corruption. Others perhaps were weak
enough to be frightened at first, as some are
hypocritical enough to pretend to be still, with
the appellations of Tory and Jacobite, which are
always ridiculously given to every man, who does
not bow to the brazen image that the king has
set up. Others again might be persuaded, that
no fatal use at least would-be made of the power
acquired by corruption : and men of superiour
parts might and may still flatter themselves, ,
that if this power should be so employed, they
shall have time and means to stop the effects
of it. The first of these are seduced by their
ignorance and futility; the second, if they are
not hypocrites, by their prejudices; the third, by
their partiality and blind Confidence ; the last
by their presumption ; and all of them by the
mammon of unrighteousness, their private in
terest, which they endeavour lo palliate and to |
reconcile

OF PATRIOTISM.') I97
reconcile as well as they can to that of the pub- j
lick: et caeca cupiditate corrupti, non intelligunt
se, dum vendunt, et veniere.
According to this representation, which Itake
to be true, your lordship will agree that our
unfortunate country affords an example in proof
of what is asserted above. The German travel
lers I spoke of, men of the ordinary or below
the ordinary size of understanding, though they
are called by caprice, or lifted any other way into
power, cannot do great and long mischief in a
country of liberty; unless men of genius, know
ledge, and experience, misapply these talents,
and become their leaders. A ministerial faction
would have as little ability to do hurt, as they
have inclination to do good, if they were not
formed and conducted by one of better parts
than they ; nor would such a minister be able
to support, at the head of this trusty phalanx,
the ignominious tyranny imposed on his country*
if other men, of better parts and much more con
sequence than himself, were not drawn in to mis
apply these parts to the vilest drudgery ima
ginable ; the daily drudgery of explaining non
sense, covering ignorance, disguising folly, con
cealing and even justifying fraud and corruption :)
instead of employing their knowledge, their elo-(
Cution, their skill, experience, and authority, to
correct the administration and to guard the con
stitution, But this is not all ; the example shows
a great deal more. Your lordship's experience,
as well as mine, will justify what I am going to
o 3 say.

198 ON THE SPIRIT
say. It shows further, that such a conjuncture
could not be rendered effectual to preserve power
in some of the weakest and some of the worst
hands in the kingdom, if there was not a non-
application, or a faint and unsteady exercise of
parts on one side, as well as an iniquitous mis
application of them on the other: and I cannot
help saying, let it fall where it will, what I
have said perhaps already, that the former is a
crime but one degree inferiour to the latter. The
more genius, industry, and spirit are employed
to destroy, the harder ; the. task of saving our
Country becomes ; ^ but the duty increases with
the difficulty, if the principles on which I reason
are true. In such exigencies it is not enough,
that genius be opposed to genius; spirit must be
matched by spirit. They, who go about to de
stroy, are animated from the first by ambition
and avarice, the love of power and of mo
tley : fear makes them often desperate at last.
They must be opposed, therefore, or they will
be opposed in vain, by a spirit able to cope
with ambition, avarice, and despair itself; by
a spirit able to cope with these passions, when
they are favoured and fortified by the weakness
of a nation, and the strength of a government.
In such exigencies there is little difference, as to
the merit or the effect, between opposing faintly
and unsteadily, and not opposing at all: nay the
former may be of worse consequence, in certain
circumstances, than the latter. And this is a
truth I wish with all my heart, you may not see
verified

OF PATRIOTISM. loc,
verified in our country, where many, I fear
undertake opposition not as a duty, but as- an
adventure : and looking on themselves like vo
lunteers, not like men listed in the service, thev
deem themselves at liberty to take as much ot
as little of this trouble, and to continue in it as
long, or end it as soon, as they please. It is
but a, few years ago, that not the merchants
alone, but the whole nation took fire at the pro-
ject^of new excises. The project was opposed
not on mercantile considerations and interests
alone, but on the true principles of liberty. In
parliament, the opposition was strenuously enough
supported for a time ; but there was so little
disposition to guide and improve the spirit,
that the chief concern of those who took the
lead seemed applied to keep it down : and yet
your lordship remembers how high it continued
against the projector, till it was calmed just be
fore the elections of the present parliament, by
the remarkable indolence and inactivity of the
last session of the last. But these friends of ours
my lord, are as much mistaken in their ethicks
as the event will show they have been in their
politicks. The -service of our country is no chime
rical, but a real duty. He who admits the
proofs of any other moral duty, drawn from
the constitution of human nature, or from the
moral fitness and unfitness of things, nr'st ad
mit them in favour of tbis duty, or be redi "^ed
to the most absurd inconsistency. When e
o 4 ha..

200 ON THE SPIRIT
has once admitted the duty on these proofs,
it will be no difficult matter to demonstrate-
to him, that his obligation to the performanpe
of it is in proportion to the means and the
opportunities he has of performing it ; and that
nothing can discharge him from this obliga?
tion as long as he has these means and these
opportunities in his power, and as long as his
country continues in the same want of his.
services. These obligations, then, to the pub-:
lick service may become obligations for life on
certain persons. No doubt they may: and shall
this consideration become a reason for deny
ing or evading them ? On the contrary, sure
it should become a reason for acknowledging
and fulfilling them, with the greatest gratitude
to the Supreme Being, who has made us ca
pable of acting so excellent a part, and with
the utmost benevolence to mankind. Superiour
| talents, and superiour rank among our fellow-
icreatures, whether acquired by birth, or by the
'course of accidents, and the success of our own
industry, are noble prerogatives. Shall he, whq
.possesses them, repine at the obligation they lay
jhim under of passing his whole life in the noblest
occupation of which human nature is capable?
To what higher station, to what greater, glory
pan any mortal aspire, than to be, during the
whole course of his life, the support of good, the
control of bad government, and the guardian
ipf publick liberty ? To be driven from hence by
successful tyranny, by loss of health or of parts, or

OF PATRIOTISM. 201
or by the force of accidents, is to be degraded in
such a manner as to deserve pity, and not to
incur blame ; but to degrade ourselves, to descend
voluntarily, and by choice, from tbe highest to a
lower, perhaps ,to the lowest rank among the
sons of Adam; to abandon the government of
men for that of hounds and horses, the care of
a kingdom for that of a parish, and a scene of
great and generous. efforts in publick life, for one
of trifling amusements and low cares, of sloth
of idleness, what is it, my lord ? I had rather
your lordship should name it than I. Will it be ,
said, that it is hard to exact from some men, in
favour of others, that they should renounce all
the pleasures of life, and drudge all their days
in- business, that others may indulge themselves
in ease ? it will be said without grounds. A
life dedicated to the service of our country admits
the full use, and no life should admit the abuse
of pleasures : the least are consistent with a con
stant discharge of our publick duty, the greatest
arise from it. The common, the sensual plea
sures to which nature prompts us, and which reason
' therefore does not forbid, though she should al-
ways direct, are so far from being excluded out
ofa life of business, that they are sometimes ne
cessary in it, and are always heightened by it:
those, of the table, for instance, may be ordered
so as to promote that which the elder Cato calls
vitae oonjunctionem. In the midst of publick
duties, private studies, and an extreme old age,
he found time to frequent the sodalitates, or clubs
pf friends, at Rome, and to sit up all night with his1

202 ON THE SPIRIT
his neighbours in the country of the Sabines.
Cato's virtue often glowed with wine: and the
love of women did not hinder Caesar from
forming and executing the greatest projects, that
ambition ever suggested. But if Caesar, while
he laboured to destroy the liberties of his country,
enjoyed these inferiour pleasures of life, which
a man who labours to save those liberties may
enjoy as well as he; there are superiour pleasures in
a busy life, that Caesar never knew ; those, I mean,
that arise from a faithful discharge of our duty
to the commonwealth. Neither Montagne in
writing his essays, nor Des Cartes in building
new worlds, nor Burnet in framing an antedilu
vian Earth, no, nor Newton in discovering and
establishing the true laws of nature on experi
ment and a sublimer geometry, felt more
intellectual joys, than he feels who is a real
patriot, who bends all tlie force of his under
standing, and directs all his thoughts and ac
tions to the good of his country. When such
a man forms a political scheme, and adjusts va
rious and seemingly independent parts in it to one
great and good design, he is transported
by imagination, or absorbed in meditation, as
much and as agreeably as they : and the satis
faction, that arises from the different, importance
of these objects in every step ofthe work, is vastly
in his favour, It is here that the speculative
philosopher's labour and pleasure end. But he
who speculates in order to act, goes on and
carries his scheme into execution. His labour
continues, it varies, it increases ; but so does his

OF PATRIOTISM. 203
his pleasure too. The execution indeed is often
traversed, by unforeseen and untoward circum
stances, by the perverseness or, treachery of
friends, and by the power or malice of enemies :
but the first and the last of these animate, and ,
the docility and fidelity of some men make amends
for the perverseness and treachery of others.
While a great event is in suspense, the action
warms, and the very suspense, made up of hope
and fear, maintain no unpleasing agitation in
the mind. If the event is decided successfully,
such a man enjoys pleasure proportionable
to the good he has done ; a pleasure like to that
which is attributed to the Supreme Being, on a
survey of his works. If the event is , decided
otherwise, and usurping courts, or overbearing
parties prevail; such a man has still the testi
mony of his conscience, and a sense of the
lionour he has acquired, to soothe his mind,
ancl support his courage. For although the
course of state affairs be to those who meddle
in them like a lottery, yet it is a lottery wherein no '
good man can be a loser: he may be reviled, it is
true, instead of being applauded, and may suffer
violence of many kinds. I will not say, like Seneca,
that the noblest spectacle, which God can- be-
hojd, is a virtuous man suffering, and struggling
with afflictions : but this I will say, that the
second Cato, driven out of the forum, and drag
ged to prison, enjoyed more inward pleasure,
and maintained more outward dignity, than they
who insulted him, and who triumphed hi the ruin of

204 ON THE SPIRIT
of their country. But the very example of Cato
may be urged, perhaps, against what I have in
sisted upon : it may ' be asked, what good he did
Rome, by dedicating his whole life to her service-
what honour to himself, by dying at Utica, It
may be said, that governments have their periods,
like all things human ; that they may be brought
back to their primitive principles during a cer
tain time, but that when these principles are worn
out in the minds of men, it is a vain enterpriseto
endeavour to renew them ; that this is the case
of all governments when tbe corruption of the
people comes to a great pitch, and is grown
universal: that when a house which is old and
quite decayed, though often repaired, not
only cracks, but totters even from the foun
dations, every man in his senses runs out of
it, and takes shelter where he can, and that
¦none but madmen continue obstinate to re
pair what is irreparable, till they are crushed
in the ruin ; just so, that we must content
ourselves to live under the government we
like the least, when that form which we like the
most is destroyed or worn out, according to the
counsel of Dolabella in one of his letters^ to
Cicero. But, my lord, if Cato could not save,
he prolonged the life of liberty: the liberties
of Rome would have been lost when Catiline
attacked them, abetted probably by Caesar and
Crassus, and the worst citizens of Rome ; and
when Cicero defended them, abetted by Cato
and the best. That Cato erred in his conduct, by

OF PATRIOTISM. 205
by giving way too much to the natural roughness
of his temper, and by allowing too little for that
of the- Romans, among whom luxury had long
prevailed, and corruption was openly practised, is,
most true. He was incapable of employing those
seeming compliances, that are reconcilable to
the greatest steadiness ; and treated unskilfully
a crazy constitution. The safety of the common
wealth depended, in that critical conjuncture,
on a coalition of parties, the senatorian and the
equestrian: Tully had formed it, Cato broke it.
But if this good, for I think he was not an able,
man erred in the. particular respects I have
Ventured to mention, he deserved most certainly
the glory he acquired by the general tenour of
his conduct, and by dedicating the whole labour
of his life to the service of his country. He
would have deserved more, if he had persisted
in maintaining the same cause to the end, and
would have died, I think, with a better grace
at Munda than at Utica. If this be so, if Cato
may be censured, severely indeed, but justly,
for abandoning the cause of liberty, which he
would not, however, survive ; what shall we say
of those who embrace.it faintly, pursue it irreso
lutely, grow tired of it when they have much
to hope, and give it up when they have nothing
to fear ?
My lord, I have insisted the more on this duty
which men owe to their country, because I came
out of England, and continue still, strongly affect
ed with what I law when I was there. Our go
vernment

20t ON THE SPIRIT
vemment has approached nearer, than ever be
fore, to the true principles of it, since the revolu
tion ofone thousand six hundred and eighty-eight:
and the accession of the present family to the
throne has given the fairest opportunities, as well
asthejustest reasons, for completing the scheme
of liberty, and improving it to perfection. But
it seems to me, that in our separate world, as the
means of asserting and supporting liberty are in
creased, all concern for it is diminished. I beheld,
when I was among you, more abject servility, in
the manners and behaviour of particular men,
than I ever saw in France, or than has been seen
there, I believe, since the days of that Gascon,
who, being turned out of the minister's door,
leaped in again at his window. As to bodies of
men, I dare challenge your lordship, and I am
sorry for it, to produce any instances of resistance
to the unjust demands, or wanton will of a court,
that British parliaments have given, comparable
to such as I am able to cite to the honour of the
parliament of Paris, and the whole body of tbe
law in that country, within the same compass of
time. This abject servility may appear justly the
more wonderful in Britain, because the govern
ment of Britain has, in some sort, the appearance
of an oligarchy : and monarchy is rather hid be-
Kind it than shown, rather weakened than strength
ened, rather imposed upon than obeyed. The won
der therefore is to observe, bow imagination and cus
tom, a giddy fool and a formal pedant, have ren
dered these cabals, or oligarchies, more respected than

OF PATRIOTISM. 2,07
than majesty itself. That this should happen in
countries where princes, who have absolute power,
may be tyrants themselves, or substitute subordi
nate tyrants, is not wonderful. It has happened
often: but that it should happen in Britain, maybe
justly an object of wonder. In these countries, the
" people had lost the armour of their constitution :
they were naked and defenceless. Ours is more
complete than ever. But though we have preserved
the armour, we have lost the spirit, of our con
stitution: and therefore we bear, from little
engrossers of delegated power, what our fathers
would not have suffered from true proprietors
of the royal authority. Parliaments are not
only, what they always were, essential parts of
our constitution, but essential parts of our
administration too. They do not claim the exe
cutive power : no ; but the executive power can
not be exercised without their annual concur
rence. How few months, instead of years, have
princes and ministers now to pass, without inspec
tion and control! How easy, therefore, is it
become to check every growing evil in the bud ;
to change every bad administration, to keep such
farmers of government in awe; to maintain, and
revenge, if need be, the constitution ! It is
become so easy, by the present form of our go
vernment, that corruption alone could not destroy
us. We must want spirit, as well as virtue, to
perish. Even able knaves would preserve li
berty in such circumstances as ours, and high
waymen would scorn to receive the wages, and
do the drudgery of pick-pockets. But all is
little

208 ON THE SPIRIT
little, and low, and mean among us ! Far from
having the virtues, we have not even the vices, of
great men. He who had pride instead of vanity,
and ambition but equal to his desire of wealth,
could never bear, I do riot say, to be the unden.
strapper to any farmer of royal authority, but to
see patiently one of them, at best his fellow, per-.
haps his inferiour in every respect, lord it over him,
and the rest of mankind, dissipating the wealthy
and trampling on the libertiesof his country, with
impunity. This could not happen, if there was
the least spirit among us. But there is none.
What passes among us for ambition, is an odd
mixture of avarice and vanity : the moderation we
haVe seen practised, is pusillanimity, and the
philosophy that some men affect, is sloth.
Hence it comes, that corruption has spread, and
prevails. •
I expect little from the principal actors, that
tread the stage at present. They are divided,
not so much as it has seemed, and as they would
have it believed, about measures : the true divi
sion is about their different ends. While the mi
nister was not hard pushed, nor the prospect of
succeeding to him near, they appeared to have
but one end, the reformation of the government,
The destruction of the minister was pursued only
as a preliminary, but of essential and indispensable
necessity to that end. But when his destruction
seemed to approach, the object of his succession
interposed to the sight of many, and the refor-.
mation of the government was no longer their
point of view. They divided the skin, at least in

OF PATRIOTISM. 20g
in their thoughts, before they had taken the beast;
and the eommon fear of hunting him down for
others, made them all faint in the chace. It was
this, and this alone, that has saved him, or has
put off his evil day. Corruption, so much, and
so justly complained of, could not have done it
alone. When I say that I expect little from the prin
cipal, actors that tread the stage at present, I am
far from applying to all of them what I take to be
true of the far greatest part. There are men
among them who certainly intend the good, of
their country, and whom I love and honour for
that reason. But these men have been clogged,
or misled, or overborne by others ; and, seduced
by natural temper to inactivity, have taken any
excuse, or yielded to any pretence that favoured
it. That they should rouse, therefore, in them
selves, or in any one else, the spirit they have
suffered, nay helped, to die away, I do not ex
pect. I turn my eyes from the generation that is
going off, to the generation that is coming on the
stage. I expect good from them, and from none
of them more than from you, my lord. Remem
ber that the opposition, in which you have en
gaged at your first entrance into business, is not
an opposition only to a bad administration oi
publick affairs, but to an administration that sup
ports itself by means, establishes principles, in
troduces customs, repugnant to the constitution
of our government, and destructive of all liberty ;
that you do not oiriy combat present evils, but
Vol. IV. P attempts

210 ON THE SPIRIT
attempts to entail these evils upon you and your
posterity; that, if - you cease the combat, you
give up the cause; and that he, who does not
renew, on every occasion, his claim^ may forfeit
his right.
Our disputes were formerly, to say the truth,
much more about persons than things; or, at
most, about particular points of political conduct,
in which we should have soon agreed, if persons
and personal interests had been less concerned,
and the blind prejudice of party less prevalent.
Whether the Big-endians, or the Little-end islns
got the better, I believe, no man of sense and
knowledge thought the constitution concerned;
notwithstanding all the clamour raised at one
time about the danger ofthe church, and at ano
ther time about the danger ofthe protestant suc
cession. But the case is, at this time, vastly altered.
The means of invading liberty more effectually
jby the constitution of the revenue, than it ever had
[been invaded by prerogative, were not then grown
¦up into strength. They are so now : and a bold
and an insolent use is made of them. To reform
the state, therefore, is, and ought to be, the
object of your opposition, as well as to reform
the administration. Why do I say as well ? It is
so, and it ought to he so, much more. Wrest
the power of the government, if you can, out of
hands that have employed it weakly and wickedly,
ever since it was'thrown into them by a silly bar
gain made in one reign, and a corrupt bargain
made in another. But do not imagine this to be
i 8 your

OF PATRIOTISM. 2 1 1
you sole, or your principal, business. You owe to
your country, to your honour, to your security,
to the present, and to future ages, that no endea
vours of yours be wanting to repair the breach
that is made, and is increasing daily in the con
stitution ; and to shut up, with all the bars and
bolts of law, the principal entries through which
these torrents of corruption have been let in upon
us. I say, the principal entries ; because, how
ever it may appear in pure speculation, I think it
would not be found in practice possible, no, nor
eligible neither, to shut them up all. As entries
of corruption none of them deserve to be except
ed; but there is a just distinction to be made,
because there is a real difference. Some of these
entries are opened by the abuse of powers neces
sary to maintain subordination and to carry on
even good government, ancl therefore necessary
to be preserved in the crown, notwithstanding the
abuse that is sometimes made of them; for no
human institution can arrive at perfection, and
the most that human wisdom can do, is to procure
the same or greater gbod, at the expense of less
evil. There will be always some evil, either
immediate or remote, either in cause or
consequence. But there are other entries of
corruption, and these are by much the greatest,
for suffering of which to continue open, no rea
son can be assigned, or has been pretended to
be assigned, but that which is, to every honest
and wiseman, a reason for shutting them up ; the
increase of the means of corruption, which are
oftener employed for the service ofthe oligarchy,
p 2 than

212 ON THE SPIRIT
than for the service of the monarchy. Shut up
these, and you will have nothing to fear from the
others. By these a more real and a more dan
gerous power has been granted to ministers, than
was lost to the crown by the restraints" ou pre
rogative. There have been periods when our government
continued free, with strong appearances of be
coming absolute. Let it be your glory, my
lord, and that of the new generation springing
up with you, that this government do not become
absolute at any future period, with the appear
ances cf being free. However you may beemploy-
ed, in all your counsels, in all your actions, keep
this regard to the constitution always in sight,
The scene that opens before you is great, and the
part that you will have to act, difficult. It is diffi
cult, indeed, to bring men, from strong habits of cor
ruption, to prefer honour to profit, and liberty to
, luxury ; as it is hard to teach princes the great
art of governing all by all, or to prevail on them
to practise it. But if it be a difficult, it is a glo
rious attempt ; an attempt, worthy to exert the
greatest talents, and to fill the most extended
life. Pursue it with courage, my lord, nor des
pair of success. Deus base fortasse benigna
Reducet in sedem vice.
A parliament, nay, one house of parliament, is able
at any time, ancl at once, to destroy any corrupt
plan of power. Time produces every day new
conjunctures. Be prepared to improve them.
We

OF PATRIOTISM. 213
We read, in the Old Testament, of a city that might
have escaped divine vengeance, if five righteous
men had been found in it. Let not our city perish
for want of so small a number : and if the gene
ration th^t is going off could not furnish it, let
the generation that is coming on furnish a
greater. We may reasonably hope that it will, from the
'first essays which your lordship and some others
of our young senators have made in publick life.
You have raised the hopes of your country
by the proofs you have given of superiour parts.
Confirm these hopes by proofs of uncommon in
dustry, application, and perseverance. Superiour
parts, nay, even superiour virtue, without these
qualities, will be insufficient to support your cha
racter and your cause. How many men have
appeared in my time, who have made these essays
with success, and have made no progress after
ward ? Some have dropped, from their first flights,
down into the vulgar crowd, have been distinguish
ed, nay, heard of no more ! others, with better
parts, perhaps with more presumption, but cer
tainly with greater ridicule, have persisted in
making these essay toward business all their lives,
and have never been able to advance farther, in
their political course, than a premeditated ha
rangue on some choice subject. I never saw one
of these important persons sit down after his
oration, with repeated hear-hims ringing in his
ears, and inward rapture glowing in his eyes, that
he did not recal to my memory the story of a con-
p 3 ceited

214 0N THE SP1RIT
ceited member of some parliament in France,
who was over heard, after his tedious harangue,
muttering most devoutly to himself, Non nobis,
Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam!
Eloquence has charms to lead mankind, and
gives a nobler superiority than power, that every
dunce may use, or fraud, that every knave may
employ. But eloquence must flow like a stream,
that is fed by an abundant spring, and not spout
forth like a frothy water on some gaudy dajr, and
remain dry the rest of the year. The famous
orators of Greece and Rome were the statesmen
and ministers of those commonwealths. The na*
ture of their governments, and the humour of
those ages, made elaborate orations necessary.
They harangued oftener than they debated : and
the ars dicendi required more study and more
exercise of mind, and of body too, among them,
than are necessary among us. But as much
pains as they took in learning how to conduct
the stream of eloquence, they took more to en
large the fountain from which it. flowed. Hear
Demosthenes, hear Cicero, thunder against Philip,
Catiline, and -Antony. I choose the example
of the first, rather than that of Pericles, whom he
imitated, or of Phocion, whom he opposed, or of
any other considerable personage in Greece :
and the example of Cicero rather than that of Cras-
sus, or of Hprtensius, or of any other of the great
men of Rome ; because the eloquence of these two
has been so celebrated, that we are accustomed
tp look upon them almost as mere orators. They were

OF PATRIOTISM. 21 r
were orators indeed, and no man who has a soul
can read their orations, after the revolution of so
many ages, after the extinction of the .govern
ments, and of the people for whom they were
composed, without feeling, at this hour, the pas
sions they were designed to move, ancl the spirit
they were designed to raise. But if we look into
the history of these two men, and consider the
parts they acted, we shall see them in another
light, and admire them in a, higher sphere of
action. Demosthenes had been neglected, in his
education, by the same tutors who cheated him
of his inheritance. Cicero was bred with greater
advantage': and Plutarch, I think, says, that when
he first appeared, the people used to call him, by
way of derision, the Greek, and the scholar.
But whatever advantage of this kind the latter
might have over the former, and to which of
them soever you ascribe the superiour genius, the
progress which both of them made in every part
of political knowledge, by their industry and ap
plication, was marvellous. Cicero might be a
better philosopher, but Demosthenes was no' lefs
a statesman : and both of them performed actions,
and acquired fame, above the reach'of eloquence
alone. Demosthenes used to compare eloquence
to a weapon, aptly enough; for eloquence, like
every other weapon, is of little use to the owner,
unless he have the force ancl the skill to use it.
This force and this skill Demosthenes had in an emi
nent degree. Observe them in one instance among
many. It was of mighty importance to Philip,
p 4 to

2l6 C% THE SPIRIT
to prevent the accession ofThebes to the grand
alliance that Demosthenes, at the head of the
Athenian commonwealth, formed against the
growing power of the Macedonians. Philip had
emissaries and his ambassadors on the spot, 'to
oppose to those of Athens, and we may be assured
lhat he neglected none of those arts upon this
occasion, that he employed so successfully on
others. The struggle was great, but Demos
thenes prevailed, and the Thebans engaged in
the war against Philip. Was it by his eloquence
alpne that he prevailed, in a divided stale, over
a!h the subiilty of intrigue, all the dexterity of
negotiation, all the seduction, all the corruption,
and all theterrour, that the ablest and most power*
fui prince could employ ? Was Demosthenes
wholly taken up with composing orations, and
haranguing the people in this remarkable crisis ?
He harangued them no doubt, at Thebes, as
well as at Athens, and in the rest of Greece,
¦•where ail the great resolutions of making alliances,
waging war, or concluding peace, were deter
mined in demoeratical assemblies. But yet ha*
rauguing was, no doubt, the least part of his
business, ancl eloquence was neither the sole,
nor the principal talent, as the slyle of writers
would induce us to believe, on which his success
depended. He must have been master of other
. arts, subserviently to which his eloquence was
employed, and must have had a thorough know*
ledge of his own state, and of the other states of
Greece, of their dispositions, and of thei v. in te-.
rests

* OF PATRIOTISM, 21 7
rests relatively to one another, and relatively to
their neighbours, to the Persians particularly,
with whom he held a correspondence, not much
to his honour in appearance, whatever he might
intend by it : I say, he must have been master of
many other arts, and have possessed an immense
fund of knowledge, to make his eloquence in
every case successful, and even pertinent or sea
sonable in some, as well as to direct it, and to
furnish it with matter whenever he thought proper
to employ this weapon. <^ppjo
Let us consider Tully on the greatest theatre
ofthe known world, and in the most difficult cir
cumstances. We are better acquainted with him
than we are with Demosthenes ; for we see him
nearer, as it were, and in more different lights.
How perfect a knowledge had he acquired ofthe
Roman constitution of government, ecclesiastical
and, civil ; of the original and progress, of the
general reasons and particular occasions ofthe
laws and customs of his country ; of the great
rules of-equity, and the low practice of courts;
of the duty of every magistracy and office in
the state, from the dictator clown to thelictor;
and of all the steps by which Rome had risen,
from her infancy, toiiberty, to power, and gran
deur, and dominion, as well as of all those by
which she began to decline, a little before his age,
' to that servitude which he died for opposing, but
lived to see established, and in which not her li
berty alone, but her power, and grandeur, and
dominion were lost ! How well was he acquainted with

21 8 ON THE SPIRIT
with the Roman colonies and provinces, with the
allies and enemies of the empire, with the rights
and privileges ofthe former, the dispositions and
conditions. of the latter, with the interests of them
all relatively to Rome, and with the interests of
Rome relatively to them ! How present to his
mind were the anecdotes of former times concern
ing the Roman and other states, and how curious
was he to observe the minutest circumstances
that passed in his own 1 His works will answer
sufficiently the questions I ask, and establish in
the mind of every man who reads them the idea
I would give of his capacity and knowledge, as
well as that which is so universally taken of his
eloquence. To a man fraught with all this stock
of knowledge, and industrious to improve it daily,
nothing could happen that was entirely new,
nothing for which he was quite unprepared, scarce
any effect whereof he had not considered the
cause, scarce any cause wherein his sagacity could
not discern the latent effect. I lis eloquence in
private causes gave him first credit at Rome :
but it was this knowledge, this experience, and the
continued habits of business, that supported his
reputation, enabled him to do so much service to
his country, and gave force and authority to his
eloquence. To little purpose would he have
attacked Catiline with all the vehemence that
indignation, and even fear, added to eloquence,
if he had trusted to this weapon alone. This
weapon alone would have secured neither him
nor the senate from the poniard of that assassin.
He

OF PATRIOTISM. 210,
He would have had no occasion to boast, that he
had driven this infamous citizen out of the walls
of Rome, abiit, excessit, evasit, erupit, if he had
not made it, beforehand, impossible for bim to
continue any longer in them. As little occasion
would he have had to assume the honour of de
feating, without any tumult, or any disorder, the
designs of those who conspired to murder the
Roman people, to destroy the Roman empire,
and to extinguish the Roman name ; if he had
not united, by skill and management, in the com
mon cause of their country, orders of men the
most averse to each other; if he had not watched
all the machinations of the conspirators in silence,
and prepared a strength sufficient to resist them
at Rome, and in the provinces, before he opened
this scene of villany to the senate and the people ;
in a word, if he had not made much more use of
political prudence, that is, of the knowledge of
mankind, and ofthe arts of government, which
study and experience give, than of all the powers
of his eloquence.
Such was Demosthenes, such was Cicero, such
were all the great men whose memories are pre
served in history, and such must every man
be, or endeavour to be, if he has either sense or
sentiment, who presumes to meddle in affairs
of government, of a free government I mean,
and hopes to maintain a distinguished cha
racter in popular assemblies, whatever part he
takes, whether that of supporting, or that of
opposing. I put the two cases purposely, my
lord, because I have observed, and your lord ship

2"0 ON THE SPIRIT
ship will have frequent occasions of observ
ing, many persons who seem to think that oppo
sition to an administration requires fewer prepa
ratives, and less constant application, than the
conduct of it. Now, my lord, I take this to
be a gross errour, ancl, I am sure, it has been a
fatal one. It is one of those errours, and there
are many such, which men impute to judgment,
and which proceed from the defect of judgment,
as this does from lightness, irresolution, laziness,
and of a false notion of opposition ; unless the
persons, who seem to think, do not really think
in this manner, but serving the publick purely
for interest, and not for fame, nor for duty, de
cline taking the same pains when they oppose
without personal and immediate reward, as they
are willing to take when they are paid for serving.
Look about you, and you will see men eager to
s;>uik, and keen to act, when particular occasions
pre.- s them, or particular motives excite them,
lust quite unprepared for either : and hence all
that superficiality in speaking, for want of infor
mation ; hence all that confusion or inactivity,
foi want of concert ; and all that disappointment,
for want of preliminary measures. They who af
fect to head an opposition, or to make any con
siderable figure in it, must be equal, at least, to
those whom they oppose ; I do not say, in parts
only, but, in application and industry, and the
fruits of both, information, knowledge, and a cer
tain constant preparedness for all the events that
may arise. Every administration is a systemof con
duct : opposition, therefore, should be a system of

OF PATRIOTISM. 221
of conduct likewise ; an opposite, but not a de
pendent system. I shall explain myself better
by an example. When two armies take the field,
the generals on both sides have their different
plans for tho campaign, either of defence, or of
offence : and as the former does not suspend his
measures till he is attacked, but takes them before
hand on every probable contingency, so the latter
does not suspend his till the opportunity of attack
ing presents itself, but is alert, and constantly
ready to seize itwheneverit happens; and in the
mean time, is busy to improve all the advantages
of skill, of force, or of any other kind that he has,
or that he can acquire, independently of the
plan, and of the motions of his enemy.
In a word, my lord, this is my notion, and I
submit it to you. According to the present form
ofourconstitution, every member of either house of
parliament is a member of a national standing
council, born, or appointed by the people, to
promote good, aud to oppose bad government ;
and if not vested with the power of a minister of
state, yet vested with the superiour power of con
trolling those who are appointed such by the
crown. It follows from hence, that they who en
gage in opposition are under as great obligations
to prepare themselves to control, as they who
serve, the crown are under to prepare themselves
to carry on the administration : and that a party
formed for this purpose do not act like good
citizens, nor honest men, unless they propose true,
as well as oppose false measures of government.
. Sure I am, they do not act like wise mes, unless thev

Z22 ON THE SPIRIT OF PATRIOTISM.
they act systematically, and unless they contrast
on every occasion that scheme of policy, which
the publick interest requires to be followed, with
that which is suited to no interest but the private
interest of the prince, or his ministers. Cunning
men (several such there are among you) will dis
like this consequence, and object, that such a con
duct would support, under the appearance of op
posing, a weak, and even a wicked administration;
and that to proceed in this manner would be to
give good counsel to a bad minister, and to extri
cate him out of distresses, that ought to be improv
ed to his ruin. But cunning pays no regard to
virtue, and is but the low mimick of wisdom. It
were easy to demonstrate what I have asserted
concerning the duty of an opposing party : and
I presume there is no need of labouring to prove,
that a party who opposed, systematically, a wise
to a silly, an honest to an iniquitous, scheme of
government, would acquire greater reputation and
strength, and arrive more surely at their end,
than a party who opposed, occasionally as it
were, without any common system, without any
general concert, with little uniformity, little pre
paration, little perseverance, and as little know
ledge or political capacity. But it is time to leave
this invidious subject, and to hasten to the con*
elusion of my letter before it grows into a book.
I am My lord, &c.

I 223 ]

IDEA

OFA

PATRIOT KING.

c 225 ]
THE
IDEA bF A
PATRIOT KING.

INTRODUCTION.

Dec 1. 1938.
REVISING some letters I writ to my Lord ****
I found in one of them a great deal faid
concerning the duties, which men owe to their
country, those men particularly who live under
a free constitution of government ; with a strong
application of these general doctrines to the pre
sent state of Great Britain, and to the characters
of the present actors on this stage;
I saw no reason to alters none even to soften,
any thing that is there advanced; On the con
trary, it came into my mind to carry these con
siderations further, and to delineate, for I pre-
tend not to make a perfect draught, the duties
Of a king to his country ; of those kings parti- i
cularly who are appointed by the people, for I '
know of, none who are anointed by God to rule
in limited monarchies. After which, I proposed j*
to apply the general doctrines in this case, as
Vol* IV. Q strongly

2 26 THE IDEA OF
strongly ancl as directly as in the other, to the
present state of Great Britain.
I am not one of those oriental slaves, who deem
it unlawful presumption to look their kings in
the face ; neither am I swayed by my lord Bacon's
authority, to think this custom good and reason
able in it's meaning, though it savours of barba
rism in it's institution : Ritu quidem barbarus,
sed significatione bonus. Much otherwise. It
seems tome, that no secrets are so important to
be known, no hearts deserve to be pried into
with more curiosity and attention, than those of
princes. But many things have concurred, be
side age and temper, to set me at a great dis
tance from the present court. Far from prying
into the hearts, I scarce know the faces of our
royal family. I shall therefore decline all appli
cation to their characters, and all mention of
any influence which their characters may have
on their own fortune, or on that of this nation.
The principles I have reasoned upon in my
letter to my Lord ***, and those I shall reason1
upon here, are the same. They are laid in the
same system of human nature. They are drawrt
from that source, from whence all the duties of
publick and private morality muft be derived,'
or they will be often falsely, and always preca'J
riously, established. Up to this source there'
are few men who take the pains to go : and, open
as it lies, there are not many who can find their
way to it. By such as do, I shall be understood
arid approved : and, far from fearing the censure, or

A PATRIOT KING. 227
br the ridicule, I should reproach myself with the
applause of men who measure their interest by
their passions, and their duty by the examples
of a corruptage ; that is, by the examples they
afford to one another. Such, I think, are the
greatest part of the present generation ; not of
the vulgar alone, but of those who stand fore-
hiost, and are raised highest in our nation. Such
ive may justly apprehend too. that the next will
be; since they who are to compose it will set
out into the world under a direction, that must
incline them strongly to the same course of self-
interest, profligacy, and corruption.
The iniquity of all the principal men in any-
community, of kings and ministers especially,
does not consist alone in the crimes they com
mit, and in the immediate consequences of these
brimes: and therefore their guilt is not to be
.measured by these alone. Such men sin against
posterity, as well as againft their own age': and
when the consequences of their crimes are over, the
consequences of their example remain. I think,
and every wise and honest man in generations
yet unborn will think, if the history of this ad
ministration descends to blacken our annals, that
the greatest iniquity of the minister, on whom
the whole iniquity ought to be charged, since- he
has been so long inpossession of the whole
power, is the constant endeavour he has employ -
edlo corrupt the morals of~meTr. I say thusgene-
rally, the morals7_r5ecause he, who abandons or
betrays his country, will abandon or betray his
q 2 friend ;

223 THE IDEA OF
friend : and because he, who is prevailed on to
act in parliament without any regard to truth or
justice, will easily prevail on himself to act in the
same manner every where else. A wiser and ho*
Inester administration may relieve our. trade from
that oppression, and the publick from that load of
debt, under which it must be supposed that he
has industriously kept it ; because we are able to
prove, by fair calculations, that he might have
provided effectually for the payment of it, since
he came to the head of the treasury. A wiser
and honester administration may draw us back to
our former credit and influence abroad, from that
state of contempt into which we are sunk among
all our neighbours. But will the minds of men,
which this minister has narrowed to personal
regards alone, will their views, which he has con
fined to the present moment, as if nations were
mortal like the men who compose them, and
Britain was to perifh with her degenerate chil
dren : will these, I say, be so easily or so s.;on en
larged ? Will their sentiments, which are debased
from the love of liberty, from zeal for the honour
and prosperity of their country, and from a de
sire of honest fame, to an absolute Unconcerned-
n ess for all these, to an abject submission, and to
a rapacious eagerness after wealth, that may sate
their avarice, and exceed the profusion of their
luxury ; will these, I say again, be so easily, or so
soon elevated ? In a word, will the British spirit,
that, spirit which has preserved liberty hitherto in
one corner of the world at least, be so easily or so

A PATRIOT KING. 22g
soon reinfused into the British nation ? I think
not. We have been long coming to this point
of depravation : and the progress from confirmed
habits of evil is much more slow than the progress
to them. Virtue is not placed on a rugged moun
tain of difficult and dangerous access, as they
who would excuse the indolence of their temper,
or the perverseness of their will, desire to have it
believed ; but she is seated, however, on an emi
nence. We may go up to her with ease, but we
must go up gradually, according to the natural
progressioj-of -reason, who is to lead Ihe way and
to_gmde_ojmijSteps. On the other hand, if we fall
from thence, we are sure to be hurried down the
hill with a blind impetuosity, according to the
natural violence of those appetites and passions
that caused our fall at first, and urge it on the
faster, the further they are removed from the
control that before restrained them.
To perform, therefore, so great a work, as to
reinfuse the spirit of liberty, to reform the morals,
and _to_ raise the sentiments of a people, much
time is required; and a work, which requires so
much time, may, too probably, be never com
pleted ; considering how unsteadily and unsyste-
matically even the best of men are apt often to
proceed, and how this reformation is to be carried
forward, in opposition to publick fashion, and
private inclination, to the authority of the men
in power, and to the secret bent of many of those
who are out of power. Let us not flatter oUr-
e 3 selves:

2,^0 THE IDEA 07
selves : I did so too long. It is more to be wished
than to be hoped, that the contagion should
spread no further than that leprous race, who
carry on their skins, exposed to publick sight, the
scabs and blotches of their distemper. The mi
nister preaches corruption aloud and constantly,
like an impudent missionary of vice : and some
there are who not only insinuate, but teach the
same occasionally. I say, some ; because I am
as far from thinking, that all those who join with
him, as that any of those who oppose him, wait
only to be more authorised, that they may propa*
gate it with greater success, and apply it to their
own use, in their turn.
It seems to me, upon the whole matter, that
to save or redeem a nation, under- such circum
stances, from perdition, nothing less is necessary
than some great, some extraordinary conjuncture
of ill fortune, or of good, which may purge,
yet so as by fire. Distress from abroad, bank
ruptcy at home, and other circumstances of
like nature and tendency, may beget universal
confusion. Out of confusion order may arise :
but it may be the order of a wicked tyranny,
instead of the order of a just monarchy. Either
may happen : and such an alternative, at the dis
position of fortune, is sufficient to make a Stoick
tremble ! We may be saved, indeed, by means of
a very different kind ; but these means will not
offer themselves, this way of salvation will not
be opened to us, without the concurrence, and
• the

A PATRIOT KING. 23 1
the influence, of a Patriot King, the. most uri^x
common of all phaenomena in the physical or
moral world.
Nothing can so surely and so effectually restore
the virtue and publick spirit essential to the pre
servation of liberty and national prosperity, as.
-the reign of such a prince.
We are willing to indulge this pleasing expec
tation, and there is nothing we desire more ar
dently, than to be able to hold of a British prince,
without flattery, the same language that was held
of a Roman emperor, with a great deal,
Nil oriturum alias, nilortum tale fatentes.
But let us not neglect, on our part, such means
as are in our power, to keep the cause of truth,
of reason, of virtue, ancl of liberty, alive. If the
blessing be with-held from us, let us deserve, at
least, that it should be granted to us. If Heaven,
1 in mercy, bestows it on us, let us prepare to
receive it, to improve it, and to cooperate
with it.
I speak as if I could take my share in these
glorious efforts. Neither shall I recal my words.
Stripped of the rights of a British subject, of
all except the meanest of them, that of inheriting,
I remember, that I am a Briton still. I apply
to myself what I havo read in Seneca, Officia'si
ciyis amiserif, hominis exerceat. I have renoun
ced the world, not in show, but in reality ; and
more by my way of thinking, than by my way of
living, as retired as that may seem. But I have
'q. 4 not.

2,3* THE IDEA OF A PATRIOT KING.
not renounced my country, nor my friends ^
and by my friends I mean all those, and those
alone, who are such to their country, by whatever
name they haye been, or may be still distin*
gUished; and though in that number there should
be men, of whose past ingratitude, injustice,
or malice, I might complain, on my own account,
with the1 greatest reason. These I will never
renounce. In their prosperity, they shall never
hear of me : in their distress, always. In that
retreat, wherein the remainder of my days shall
be spent, I may be of some use to fthem ; since,
even from thence, I may advise, exhort, ancl warn,
them. " Nee enim is solus reipublicas prodest,
" qui candidatos extrahit, et tuetur reos, et de
" pace, belloque censet ; sed qui juventutem
" exhortatur, qui, in tanta bonorum praecepto-
'• rum, inopia, virtute instruit animos; qui ad
" pecuniam luxuriamque cufsu ruentes, prensat
" ac retrahit, et, si nihil aliud, certe mpratur $ iu ,
5J privato publicum negotium agit."

[ 233 ]

IDEA OP A
PATRIOT KING.

JMy intention is not to introduce what I have to
say concerning the duties of kings, by any t
nice inquiry into the original of their insti
tution. What is to be known of it will appear
plainly enough, to such as fire able and can spare
time to trace it, in the broken traditions which
are come down to us of a few nations. But those,
who are not able to trace it there, may trace some
thing better, and more worthy to be known, in
their own thoughts: I mean what this institu
tion ought to have been, whenever it began, accor
ding to the r.ule of reason, founded in the common
rights and interests of mankind. On this head
it is quite necessary to make some reflections, that
will, like angular stones laid on a rock, support
the little fabrick, the model however of a great
building, that I propose to raise.
So plain a matter could never have been ren
dered intricate . and voluminous, had it not been
for lawless ambition, .extravagant vanity, and the
detestable spirit of tyranny, abetted by the pri
vate interests of artful men, by adulation and
superstition

234 THE IDEA OF
superstition, two vices to which that staring, timid
creature man is excessively prone ; if authority
had not imposed on such as did not pretend to
reason : and if such as did- attempt, to reason had
not been caught in the common sna, ^s of sophism,
and bewildered in tlie labyrinths q\, disputation.
In this case, therefore, as in all those \;f great con
cernment, the shortest and the surest method of
arriving at real knowledge is to unlearn the lessons
we_ have been tan ght, tq__rcmount to first jmnci-
ples, and. take nobody_'s_WOTd_a.bout_ them : for
it is about them that almost all the juggling and
legerdemain, employed by men whose trade it is
to deceive, are set to work.
Now he, who does so in this case, will discover
soon, that the notions concerning the divine insti-,
tution and right of kings, as well as the absolute
power belonging to their office, have no founda
tion in fact or reason, but have risen from an old
alliance between ecclesiastical and civil policy. The
characters of king and priest have been sometimes
blended together: and when they have been
divided, as kings have found the great effects,
wrought in government by the empire which
priests obtain over the consciences ui' mankind,,
SO' priests have been lau;.-.ht by experience, that
the best method to preserve their own rank, dig- -
nitv, wealth, ancl power, all raised, upon a sup*
posed divine right, is to communicate the same
pretention to kings, and, by a fallacy common to
both, impose theirusurpatious on_a silly world.
This they have done: and, in the state, as in the
.qbjirch,

A PATRIOT KINO. 235
phurch, these pretensions to a divine right have
been ger:; ally carried highest by those, who have
had the least pretension to the divine favour.
It is worth while to observe, on what principle
some men were advanced to a great preeminence
over others, in the early ages of those nations,
that are a little known to us : I speak not of such
as raised themselves by conquest, but of such
as were raised by common consent. Now you
will find, in all these proceedings, an entire uni
formity of principle. The authors of such in
ventions, as were of general use to the well-being
of mankind, were not only reverenced and obeyed
during their lives, but worshipped after their
deathc : they became principal gods, C( Dii majo-
<( rum .ironlium." The founders of commonwealths,
the lawgivers, and the heroes of particular states,
became gods of a second class, " Dii minorum
gentium." AH preeminence was given in
Heaven, as well as in Earth, in proportion to the
benefits that, men received. Majesty was the
first, and divinity the second, reward. Both
were earned by service^ done Jo mankind, whom
it was easy to lead, in those days of simplicity
and superstition, from admiration and gratitude
to adoration and expectation.
When advantage had been taken, by some par
ticular men, of these dispositions in the gene
rality, and religion and government were become
two trades or mysteries, new means of attain
ing to this preeminence were soon devised, and
new and even contrary motives worked the same
effect. Merit had given rank; but rank was
soon

<c

236 THE IDEA OF
soon kept, and, which is more preposterous,
obtained too, without merit. Men were than made
kinsrs for reasons as little relative to good govern*
ment, as the neighing of the horse of the son of
Hystaspes. But the most prevalent and tbe general motive
was proximity of blood to the last, not to the best
king. 'Nobility in China mounts upwards: and
he, who has it conferred upon him, ennobles his
ancestors, not his posterity. A wise institution ! •
and especially among a people in whose minds a,
great veneration for their forefathers has been al
ways carefully maintained. But in China, as well
as in most other countries, royalty has descended,
and kingdoms have been reckoned the patrimor
nies of particular families.
I have read in one of the historians of the latter
Roman empire, historians, by the way, whom I
will not advise others to mispend their time in
reading, that Sapores, the famous king of Persia,
against whom Julian made the expedition where*
in he lost his life, was crowned iri his mother's
womb. His father left her with child : the magi
declared, that the child would be a male : where?
upon the royal ensigns were brought forth, they
were placed on her majesty's belly, and the
princes and the satrapes prostrate recognised
the embryo monarch. But to take a more known
example, out of multitudes that present them
selves ; Donairian, the worst, and Trajan, the
best of princes, were promoted to the empire by
the same title. Domi ti an was the son of Flavius,
and the brother, though possibly the poisoner too, J
of

A PATRIOT KING. 237
of Titus Vespasian : Trajan was. the adopted son
of Nerva. Hereditary right served the purpose
of one, as well as of the other : and if Trajan was
translated to a place among the gods, this was no
greater a distinction than some of the worst of his
predecessors obtained, for reasons generall v as
good as that which Sene'ca puts into the mouth
of Diespiter in the Apokolokyntosis of Clau
dius; "cum sit e republica esse aliquem, qui
" cum Romulo possit ferventia rapa vorare." To
say the truth, it would have been a wiser measure
to have made these royal persons gods at once :
as gods they would have done neither good nor
hurt ; but as emperors, in their way to divinity,
they acted like devils.
If my readers are ready by this time to think
me antimonarchial, and in particular an enemy
to the succession of kings by hereditary right,
I hope to be soon restored to their good opi
nion. I esteem monarchy above any other form
of government, and hereditary monarchy above
elective, I reverence kings, their office, their
rights, their persons : and it will never be owin«-
to' the principles I am going to establish, be
cause the character and government of a Patriot
King can be established on no other, if their
office and their right are not always held divine,
and their persons always sacred.
Now, we are subject by the constitution of
human nature, and therefore by the will of the
Author of this and every other nature, to two
laws. One given immediately to all men by
God,

2$ THE IDEA 6P
God, the same to all, and obligatory alike ort
all. The other given to man by man ; arid
therefore not the same to all; nor obligatory
alike on all : founded indeed on the same prin
ciples, but varied by different applications of
them to times, to characters, and to a number^
which may be reckoned infinite, of other circum
stances. By the first, I mean the universal law
_ofreaspn ; and l>y the second, the particular law
or constitution of laws, by which every distinct
Community has chosen to be governed.
The obligation of submission to both is disco
verable by So clear and so simple a use of our in
tellectual faculties, that it may be said properly
enough to be' reveaJed_tojis by God : and though
both these laws cannot be said properly to be
given by him, yet our obligation to submit to
the civil law is a principal paragraph in the na
tural law, which he has most manifestly giveri
us. In truth we can no more doubt of the obli
gations of both these laws, than of the existence'
Of the lawgiver. As supreme Lord over all his'
works, his general providence regards immediately
the great commonwealth of mankind ; but theii;
as supreme Lord likewise, his authority gives a
sanction to the particular bodies of law which are
made Under it. (The law of nature is the law of
all his subjects : the constitutions of particular go
vernments are like the by-laws of cities, or ' the
appropriated customs of provinces, lt follows;
therefore, that he who breaks the laws of his
country resists the ordinance of God, that is, the
1 6 law

A PATRIOT KING. 239
law of his nature. God has instituted neither
monarchy, nor aristocracy, nor democracy, nor
mixed government : bi»t though God has insti
tuted no particular form of government among
men., yet by the general laws of his kingdom he"
exacts our obedience to the laws of those com
munities, to which each of us is attached by birth;
or to which we may be attached by a subsequent
and lawful engagement.
' From such plain, Unrefined, and therefore, t
suppose, true reasoning, the just authority of
kings, and the due obedience of subjects, may be"
deduced with the utmost certainty. And surely
it is far better for kings themselves to have their
authority thus founded on principles incontesta
ble, and on fair deductions "from-- them, than
on the chimeras of madmen, or, what has been
more common, the sophisms of knaves. A
human right, that cannot be controverted, is pre
ferable, surely, to a pretended divine right, which
every man must believe implicitly, as few will
do, or not believe at all.
But the principles we have laid,down do not
stop here. A divine right in kings is to be dedu-J
eed evidently from them : a divine right to govern ¦
well, and conformably to the constitution, at the
head of which they are placed. A divine right to
govern ill is an absurd ily: to assert it, is blas
phemy. A people may choose, or hereditary
succession may raise, a bad prince to the throne;
but a good king alone can derive his right to govern from

£x\0 THE IDEA OF
from God. The reason is plain: good government
ajpne can be ' in the diving intention, God
has made us to defire happiness; he has made our
happiness dependent On society ; and the happi
ness of society dependent on good or bad govern*
ment. His intention, therefore, was, that govern
ment should be good.
This is essential to his wisdom ; for Wisdom
consists, surety, in proportioning means to ends;
therefore it cannot be said without absurd im
piety, that he confers a right to oppose his
intention. The office of kings is, then, of right divine, and
their persons are to be reputed sacred. As men,
they have no such right, no such sacredness be
longing to them : as kings, they have both, Unless
they forfeit them. Reverence for government
obliges to reverence governors, who, for the sake
of it, are raised above the level of other men ;
but reverence for governors, independently of
government, any further than reverence would be
'due to their virtues if they were private men,
is preposterous, and repugnant to common sense.
The spring from which this legal reverence, for
so I may call it, arises, is national, not personal,
As well might we say, that a ship is built, and
loaded, and manned for the sake of any particu*
Iar pilot, instead of acknowledging, that the pilot
is made for the sake of the ship, her lading, and
her crew, who are always the owners in the poli
tical vessel ; as to say, that kingdoms were institute
20 ed

A PATRIOT KING. 241
ed for kings, not kings for kingdoms. In short,
_ and to carry our allusion higher, majesty is not an
inherent, but a reflected light.
All this is as true of hereditary, as it is of elec
tive monarchy ; though the scribblers for tyranny.;
Under the name of monarchy, would have us be
lieve, that there is something more august, and
more sacred in one than tho other. They are
sacred alike, and this attribute is to be ascribed,
or not ascribed,- to them, as they answer, or do
not answer, the ends of their institution. But
there is another comparison to be made, in
which a great and most important dissimilitude
will be found between hereditary ancl elective
monarchy. Nothing can be more absurd, in pure
speculation, than an hereditary right in any mor
tal to govern other men : and y.'t, in practice,
nothing can be more absurd, than to have a kino-
0 o
to choose at every vacancy of a throne. We draw
at a lottery indeed in one case, where there are
many chances to lose, and fow to gain. Bufcv
have we much more advantage of this kind in
the other ? I think not. LTpon thes-, and upon
most occasions, the multitude would do at least
as well to trust to chance as choice, aW to their
fortune as to their judgment. But in another
respect, the advantage is entirely on the side of
hereditary succession ; for, in elective monarchies
these elections, whether well or ill made, are
often attended with such national calamities,
that even the best reigns cannot make amends'
Vol. IV. R for'

242 THE IDEA OK 1
for them: whereas, in hereditary monarchy,
whether a good or a bad prince succeeds, these
calamities are avoided. There is one source of
evil the less open : alnd one source of evil the less
in human affairs, where there are so many, is
sufficient to decide. We may lament the imper
fections of our human state, which is such, that
in cases of the utmost importance to the order
and good government of socie'ty, and by conse
quence to the happiness of our kind, we are re-
- duced, by the very constitution of our nature, to
have no part to take that our reason can approve
absolutely. But though we lament it, we must
submit to it. We must tell ourselves once for all, that
perfect schemes are not adapted to our imperfect
state; that Stoical morals and Platonick politicks
are nothing better than amusements for those who
have had little experience in the affairs of the
world, and who have much leisure, " verba otioso-
" rum senum ad imperitos juvenes ; " which was
the censure, and a just one too, that Dionysins
passed on some ofthe doctrines of the father ofthe
academy. In truth, all that human prudence can
do, is to furnish expedients, and to compound,'
as it were, with general vice and folly ; employ
ing reason to act even against her own principles,
and teaching us, if I may say so, " insanire cum
ratione," which appears on many occasions riot
to be the paradox it has been thought.
To conclude this head therefore : as I think a
limited monarchy the best of governments, so
I think ,

Si
I,

A patriot King, 243
t think an hereditary monarchy the best of mo
narchies. I said a limited monarchy ; for an un
limited monarchy, wherein arbitrary will, which
is in truth no rule, is however the sole rule, or
Stands instead of all rule of government, must
be allowed so great an absurdity, both in reason
informed and uninformed by experience, that it
seems a government fitter for savages than for
civilized people.
But I think it proper to explain a little more
Avhat I mean, when I say a limited monarchy,
that I may leave nothing untouched, which
ought to be taken into consideration by us,
when we attempt to fix our ideas of a Patriot
King. Among many reasons which determine me to
prefer monarchy to every other form of govern
ment, this is a principal one. When monarchy
is the essential form, it may be more easily and
more usefully tempered with aristocracy or de
mocracy, or both, than either of them, when
they are the essential forms, can be tempered
with monarchy. It seems to me, that the in
troduction ofa realpermanentmonarchical power,
or any thing more than the pageantry of it, into
either of these, must destroy them and extinguish
them, as a greater light extinguishes a less.
Whereas it may easily be shown, and the true form
,of our government will demonstrate, without seek
ing any other example, that v^j^„Cjansiderable
aristocratical and demqcratical powers may be
grafted on a monarchical stock, without diminish
ing the lustre, or restraining the power and au>
r o. *hority

244 THE IDEA 0F
thority ofthe prince, enough to alter in any degree
the essential form.
A great difference is made in nature, and
therefore the distinction should be always preserv
ed in our notions, between two things that we
are apt to confound in speculation, as they have
been confounded "in practice, legislative and
monarchical power. There mustjbe an absolute,
unlimited, and uncontrollable power" lodged
somewhere in every government ; but to eonsti-
tutehionarchy, or tfie government of a single per-,
son, it is not necessary, that this power should
be lodged in the monarch alone. It is no more
necessary, that he should exclusively and indepen
dently establish the rule of his government, than
it is, that he should govern without any rule at
all: and this surely will be thought reasonable
by no man.
I_ would not say God governs by a rule that
We know^JiTjoai^^^ upon
our knowledge of which he appeals to men for
the justice of his proceedings towards them;
which a famous divine has impiously advancedy
in a pretended demonstration of his being and
attributes. God forbid ! But this I may say,
that God does always (hat which is fittest tq_be
done, and that this fitness, whereof neither that
presumptuous dogmatist was, nor any created
being is, a competent judge, results from the
various natures, and more various relations of
things ; so that, as creator of all systems by
which these natures and relations are constituted,
he prescribed to himself the rule, which he fol
lows

A PATRIOT KING. 245
lows as governour of every system of being. \ In
short, with reverence be it spoken, God(
is a monarch, yet not ah arbitrary but a limited
monarch, limited by the rule which infinite
wisdom prescribes to infinite power. I know
well enough the impropriety of these expressions;
but, when our ideas are inadequate, our expres
sions must needs be improper. Such concep
tions, however, as we are able to form of these
attributes, and of the exercise of them in the
government of the universe, may serve to
show what I have produced them to show.
If governing without any rule, and by arbitrary
will, be not essential to our idea ofthe monarchy
of the Supreme Being, it is plainly ridiculous to
suppose them necessarily included in the idea
of a human monarchy : and though God, in his
eternal ideas, for we are able to conceive no
other manner of knowing, h;js__prescribed to
himself— tkat__rule by which he governs, theiuii-
versg Jic created, it will be just as ridiculous to
affirm, that the idea of human monarchy cannpt
be preserved, if kings are obliged to govern
according to a rule established by the wisdom of
a ¦"' te, lhat was a state before they were kings,
and by the consent of a people that they did not
most certainly create ; especially when the whole
executive power is exclusively in their hands, and
the legislative powcv cannot be exercised without
their concurrence.
There are limitations indeed, that would destroy
the essential form of monarchy: or, in other
wqrds, a monarchical" constitution may be
r 3 changed,

246 THE IDEA OF
changed, under pretence of limiting the monarch,
This happened among us in the last century,
when the vilest usurpation, and the most infa
mous tyranny, were established over our nation,
by some of the worst and some of the
meanest men in it. I will not say, that the es*
sential form of monarchy should be preserved
though the preservation of it were to cause the
loss of liberty. " Salus reipublicas suprema lex
" eeto," is a fundamental law: add sure I am,
'the safety of a commonwealth is ill provided for,
if the liberty be given up. But this I presume^
to say, and can demonstrate, that all the limita
tions necessary to preserve liberty, as long asj
the spirit of it subsists, and longer than that no/
limitatioriTof monarchy, nor any other form of
government, can preserve it, are compatible with
monarchy. I think on these subjects, neither as
the tories, nor as -the whigs have thought: at
least I endeavour to avoid the excesses of both-
I neither dress up kings like so many burlesque
Jupiters, weighing the fortunes of mankind ia
the scales of fate, and darting thunderbolts at
(the heads of rebellious giants: nor do I strip
'thenv naked, as it were, and leave them at most
a few tattered rags to clothe their majesty, but
such as can serve really as little for use as for orna
ment. My aim is to fix this principle ; that limi
tations 0 1 a crown ought to be carried as far as it is
necessary to secure the liberties ofa people ; and
that all such limitations may subsist, without
weakening or endangering monarchy.
\ shall be tojd perhaps, for I have heard it said

A PATRIOT KING. 247
by many, that this point is imaginary; and that
limitations, sufficient to procure good govern
ment and to secure liberty under a bad prince,
cannot be made, unless they are such as will de
prive the subjects of many benefits in tbe reign
of a good prince, clog his administration, main
tain an unjust jealousy between him and his peo
ple, and occasion a defect of power necessary
to preserve the publick tranquillity, and tojDro_-
mote the rational prosperity. If this was true,
here would be a much more melancholy instance
of the imperfection of our nature, and of the in-
efficacy of our reason to supply this imperfection,
than the former. In the former, reason prompted
by experience avoids a certain evil effectually,
and is able to provide, in some measure, against
the contingent evils, that may arise from tlie ex*
pedient itself. But in the latter, if what is there
advanced was true, these provisions against contin*
gent evils would, in some cases, be the occasions of
much certain evil, and of positive good in none:
under a good prince they would render the ad
ministration defective, and under a bad one there
would be no government at all. But the truth is
widely different from this representation, The
limitations necessary to preserve liberty under
monarchy will restrain effectually a bad prince,
without being ever felt as shackles by a good one.
Our constitution is brought, or almost brought,
to such a point, a point of .periecJLicai I think it,
that no king who is not in the true meaning of
the word, a patriot, can govern Britain with ease,
lecurity, honour, dignity, or indeed with suffi-
r 4 cieivfc

248 THE IDEA OE
cient power and strength. But yet a king, who
is a patriot, may govern with all the former;
and, beside them, with power as extended as the
most absolute monarch can boast, and a power,
too, far more agreeable in the enjoyment as well
as more effectual in the operation.
To attain these great and noble ends, the pa
triotism must be real, and not in show alone. It
is something to desire to appear a patriot, and
the desire of having fame is a step towards de*
serving it, because it is a motive the more to de
serve it. If it be true, as Tacitus says, " con-
" tempt u famse contemni virtutem," that a con
tempt of a good name, or an indifference about
it begets or accompanies always a contempt of
virtue ; the contrary will be true : and they are
certainly both true. But this motive alone is
not sufficient. To constitute a patriot, whether
king or subject, there must be^something more
substantial than a desire of fame in the compo-
sftroTTf and if there be not, this desire of fame
will never rise above that sentiment, which may
be compared to the coquetry of women ; a fond
ness of transient applause, which is courted by
vanity, given by flattery, and spends itself in
show, like the qualities which acquire it. Patri
otism must be founded in great principles,
and supported by great virtues. The chief of these
principles I have endeavoured to trace ; and I will
not scruple to assert, that a man can be a good
king upon no other. He may, without them and by
complection, be unambitious, generous, good-na
tured ; but, without them, the exercise even of
these

A PATRIOT KING. 249
these virtues will be often ill directed : ancl, with
principles of another sort, he will be drawn easily,
notwithstanding these virtues, from all the pur
poses of his institution.
I mention these opposite principles the rather,
because, instead of wondering that so many kings,
unfit and unworthy to be trusted with the govern
ment of mankind, appear in the world, I Laye
been tempted to wonder, that there are any tole
rable ; when I have considered the flattery, that
environs them most commonly from the cradle,
and the tendency of all those false notions, thai
are instilled into them by precept, and by ex
ample, by the habits of courts, and by the inte
rested selfish views cf courtiers. They are bred
to esteem themselves of a distinct and superiour
species among men, as men are among animals.
Lewis the fourteenth was a strong instance of
the effect of this education, which trains up kings
to be tyrants, without knowing that they are so.
" That oppression under wdfich he kept his people,
during the whole course of a long reign, might
proceed, in some degree, from the natural haugh
tiness of his temper; but it proceeded, in a grea
ter degree, from the principles ancl habits of his
education. By this he had been "brought lo
look on his kingdom as a pajjjmony, that de
scended to him from his ancestors, and that was
to be considered in no other light : so that when
a very considerable man had discoursed to him
at large of the miserable condition, to which
his people was reduced, and had frequently ufed this

25O THE IDEA 0#
this word, " I'etat ;" though the king approved
the substance of all he had said, yet he- was
shocked at the frequent repetition of this word,
and complained of it as ofa kind of indeccv.y to
himself. This will not appear so strange to cur
second, as it may very justly to our first reflec
tions; forwhat wonder is it, that princes are easily
betrayed into an errour that takes it's rise in the
gejieral^rnoerje£rion__of ^_pur nature, in our pride,
our vanity, and our presumption ? the bastard
children, but the children still of self-love ; a spu
rious brood, but often a favourite brood, that go
verns the whole family. As men are apt to make
khemselves the measure of all being, so they make
Ithemselves the final cause of all creation. Thus
the reputed orthodox philosophers in all ages have
taught, lhat the world was made for man, the
Earth for him to inhabit, and all the luminous
bodies, in the immense expanse around us, for
lnrri to gaze at. Kings do no more, no not so
much, when they imagine themselves the final
cause lor which societies were formed, and go
vernments instituted.
This capital errour, in which almost every
prince is confirmed by his education, has so
great extent and so general influence, that a right
to do every iniquitous thing in government may
be derived from if. But, as ii' this was not enough,
the characters of princes are spoiled many more
¦ways by their education. I shall not descend into
a detail of such particulars, nor presume so much
as tu hint what regulations might be made about the

A PATRIOT KING. 25 1
the education of princes, nor what part our par
liaments might take occasionally in this momen
tous affair, lest I should appear too refining, or
too presumptuous, in my speculations. But I
may assert in general, that the indifference of
mankind upon this head, especially in a go
vernment constituted like ours, is monstrous.
I may also take notice of another cause of the
mistakes of princes, I mean the general conduct
of those who are brought near to their persons.
Such men, let me say, have a particular duty
arising from this very situation ; a duty common
to them all, because it arises not from their
stations, which are different, but from their situa
tion, which is the same. To enumerate the
various applications of this duty would be too
minute and tedious ; but this may suffice, that all
• 6uch men should bear constantly in mind, that the
master they serve is, or is to be the king of their
country : that their attachment to him, therefore,
is not to be like that of other servants to other
masters, for his sake alone, or for his sake and their
own, but for the sake of their country likewise.
Craterus loves the king, but Hephestion loves
Alexander, was a saying of the last, that has been
often quoted, but not censured as it ought to be.
Alexander gave the preference to the attachment
of Hephestion ; but this preference was due un
doubtedly to that of Craterus. Attachment to
a private person must comprehend a great concern
for his character and his interests : but attachment
to one who is, or may be a king, m;ich more ; be
cause

251 ' THE IDEA OF
cause the character ofthe latter is more important
to himself and others ; and because his interests
are vastly more complicated with those of his
country, and in some sort with those of mankind.
Alexander himself seemed, upon one occasion, to
make the distinction that should be always made
between our attachments to a prince, and to any
private person. It was when Parmenio advised
him to acceptthe terms of peace which Darius
offered: they were great, he thought them so;
but he thought, no matter for my purpose whether
justly or not, that it would be unbecoming him
to accept them ; therefore he rejected them, but
acknowledged, " that he would have done as he
" was advised to do, if he had been Parmenio."
As to persons who are not about a prince in the
situation here spoken of, they can do little more
than proportion their applause, and the demon
strations of their confidence and affection, to the
benefits they actually receive from the prince on
the throne, or to the just expectations that a suc
cessor gives them. It is of the latter I propose
to speak here particularly. If he gives them
those of a good reign, we may assure ourselves
that they will carry, and in this case they ought
to carry that applause, and those demonstrations
of their confidence ancl affection, as high as such
a prince himself can desire. Thus the prince and
the people take, in effect, a sort of engagement
with one another ; the prince to govern well, and
'the people to honour and obey him. If he gives
them expectations of a bad reign, they have this
obligation

a Patriot king. a^
Obligation to him at least, that he puts them
early on their guard ; and an obligation, ancl
an advantage it will be, if they prepare for
his accession as for a great ancl inevitable evil ;
and if they guard on every occasion against the
ill use, they foresee, that he will make of money
and power. Abovo all, they should not suffer
themselves to be caught in the common snare,
which is laid under specious pretences of " gain-
" ing such a prince, and of keeping him by pub-
" lick compliances out of bad hands." That
argument has been pressed more than once, has
prevailed, and has been fruitful of most pernicious
consequences. Noneindeedcanbemoreabsurd, It is
not unlike the reasoning of those savages, who wor
ship the devil, not because they love him or honour
him, or expect any good from him, but that he
may do them no hurt. Nay it is more absurd ;
for the .savages suppose that the devil has, indepen
dently of them, the power to hurt them: whereas
the others put more power into the hands of a
prince, because he has already some- power to
hurt them ; and trust to thejuslice and gratitude
of one, who wants sense, virtue, or both, rather
than increase and fortify the barriers against his
folly and his vices.
But the truth is, that men, who reason andact in
this manner, either mean, or else are led by such
as mean,* nothing more than to make a private
court at the publick expense ; who choose to be
the instruments of a bad king, rather than to be
out of power: and who are often so wicked, that
they

254 THE IDEA 0F
they would prefer such a service to that of the
best of kings. In fine, these reasons, and every
other reason for providing against a bad reign
in prospect, acquire a new force, when one weak
or wicked prince is, in the order of succession
to follow another of the same character. Such
provisions indeed are hardest to be' obtained
when they are the most necessary; that is, when
the spirit of liberty begins to flag in a fee people,
and when they become disposed, by habits that
haye grown insensibly upon them, to a base sub
mission. But they are necessary too, even when
they are easiest to be obtained ; that is, when
the spirit of liberty is in full strength, and a dis
position to oppose all instances of maleadministra-
tion, and to resist all attempts on liberty, is uni
versal. In both cases, the endeavours of every
man who loves his country will be employed
with incessant care and constancy to obtain them,
that good government and liberty may be the
better preserved and secured ; but inthelattercase;
for this further reason also, that the preservation
and security of these may be provided for, not only-
better, but more consistently with publick tran
quillity, by constitutional methods, and a le^al
course of opposition to the excesses of re°al or
ministerial power. What I touch upon here
might be made extremely plain ; and I think
the observation would appear to be of no small
importance: but I should be carried too far
from my subject, and my subject will afford me
matter of more agreeable speculation. It

A PATRIOT KING. 255
It is true that a prince, who gives just reasons
to expect, that his reign will be that of. a Patriot
King, may not always meet, and from all persons,
such returns as such expectations deserve: but
they must not hinder either the prince from con
tinuing to give them, or the people from con
tinuing to acknowledge them. United, none
can hurt them: and if no artifice interrupts, no
power can defeat, the effects of their perseve
rance. It will blast many a wicked project,
keep virtue in countenance, and 'vice, to some
degree at least, in awe. Nay, if it should fail to
have these effects, if we should even suppose a
good prince to suffer with the people, and, in
some measure for them, yet many advantages
would accrue to him : for instance, the cause of
the people he is to govern, aud his own cause,
would be made the same by their common ene
mies. He would feel grievances himself as a
subject, before he had the power of imposing
them as a king. He would be formed in that
school out of which the greatest and the best of
monarchs have come, the school of affliction : and
all the vices, which harl prevailed before his reign,
would serve as so many foils to the glories of it.
But I hasten to speak of the greatest of all these
advantages, and of that which a Patriot King
will esteem to be such ; whose ways of thinking
and meting to so glorious a purpose as the reesta-
blishment of a free constitution, when it has been
shook by the iniquity of former administratons, I
shall endeavour to explain. What

256 THE IDEA OF
What I have here said will pass among some"
for the reveries ofa distempered brain, at best for
the vain speculations of an idle man, who has lost
sight of the world, or who had never sagacity
enough to discern in government the practicable
¦from the impracticable. Will it not be said, that
this is advising a king to rouse a spirit, which may
turn against himself; to reject the sole expedient
of governing a limited monarchy with success; to
labour to confine, instead of labouring to extend,
bis poWer: to patch up an old constitution, which
his people are disposed to lay aside, instead of
forming a new one more agreeable to them, and
more advantageous to him ; to refuse, in short, to-
be an absolute monarch, when every circum
stance invites him to it ? All these particulars, in
every one of which the question is begged, will be
th.usrepresented,andwillbethen ridiculed as para
doxes fit to be ranked among the " mirabilia et ino-
" piriata" of theStoicks, and such as no man in his
senses can maintain in earnest. These judgment!
ancl these reasonings may be expected in an age
as futile and as corrupt as ours : in an age
wherein so many betray the cause of liberty, and
act. not only without regard, but in direct opposi
tion, to the most important interests of their
country; not only occasionally, by surprise, by
weakness, by strong temptation, or sly seduction,
but constantly, steadily, by deliberate choice, and
in pursuance of principles they avow and propa
gate: in an age when so many others shrink from
the service of their country, or promote it coolly and

A PATRIOT KINO. 257
'• and uncertainly, in subordination to their own
interest and humour, or to those of a party : in an
age, when to assert the truth is called spreading
of delusion, and to assert the cause of liberty and
good government, is termed sowing of sedition-
But I have declared already my Uoconcernedness
at the censure or ridicule of such men as these;
for whose supposed abilities I have much well-
grounded contempt, and against whose real
immorality I have as just indignation.
Let us come, therefore, to the bar of reason
and experience, where we shall find these para
doxes admitted as plain and almost self-evident
propositions, and these reveries and vain specu
lations as important truths, confirmed by ex
perience in all ages and all countries.
Macbiavel is an author who should have great
authority with the persons likely to o;pore nie.
He proposes to princes the amplification ff their
power, the extent of their dominion, and the sub
jection of their people, as the sole objects of their
policy. He devises and recommends all means
that tend to these purposes, without the consider
ation of any duty owing to God or man, or any
regard to the morality or immorality of actions.
Yet even he ^declares the affectation of virtue
to be useful to princes: he is so for on my side
in the present question. The only difference
between us is, I would have the virtue real : he
requires no more than the appearance of it.
In the tenth chapter of the firrt. book of E is-
courses, he appears convinced, such is the force
Vol. IV. , S of '

2^8 THE ID£A Of
of truth, but how consistently with himself let
others determine, that the supreme glory of a
prince accrues to him who establishes good go
vernment and a free constitution; and that a
prince, ambitious of fame, must wish to come
into possession of a disordered and corrupted
state, not to finish the wicked work that others
have begun, and to complete the ruin, but to
stop the progress of the first, and to prevent, the
last. He thinks this not only the true way to
fame, but to security and quiet ; as the contrary
leads, for here is no third way, and a prince
must make his option between these two, not
only to infamy, but to. danger and to perpetual
disquietude. He represents those who might
establish a commonwealth or a legal monarchy,
and who choose to improve the opportunity of
establishing tyranny, that is, monarchy without
any rule of law, as men who are deceived by
false notions of good, and false appearances of
glory, and who are in effect blind to their true
interest in every respect : " ne m auvegono per
" questo partito quanta fama, quanta gloria,
" quanto honore, sicurta, quiete, con satisfatione
¦" d'animo e fuggono, et in quanta infamia,
" vituperio, biasimo, pericolo et inquietudine
" incorrono." He touches another advantage
which patriot princes reap : and in that he contra
dicts flatly the main point on which his half-
taught scholars insist. He denies that such
princes diminish their power by circumscribing
it ; and affirms, with truth on his side, that Ti
na oleon,

A PATRIOT KING^ «59
moleon, and others of the same character whom
he had cited, possessed as great authority in their
country, With every other advantage besides, as
Dionysius or Phalaris had acquired, with the loss
of all those advantages. Thus far Machiavel
reasons justly; but he takes in only a part of
his subject, and confines himself to those motives
that should determine a wise prince to maintain
liberty, because it is his interest to do so. He
rises no higher than the consideration of mere
interest, of fame, of security, of quiet, and of
power, aH personal to the prince : and by such
motives alone even his favourite Borgia might
have been determined to affect the virtues of a
patriot prince ; more than Which this great
doctor in political knowledge would not have re
quired of him. But he is far from going up to
that motive which should above all determine a
good prince to hold this conduct, because it is
his duty to do so ; a duty that he owes to God
by one lavv7an3Tto his people by another. Now
it is with this that I shall begin what I intend to
offer Concerning the system of principles and con
duct by which a Patriot King will govern himself
and his people. I shall not only begin higher, but
descend into more detail, and keep still in my eye
the application of the whole to the constitution
cf Great-Britain, even to the present state of our
nation, and temper of oUr people.
I think enough has been already said, to esta
blish the first and true principles of monarchical
and indeed of every other kind of government :
s 2 and

200 "THE IDEA ''OP
arid I will say with confidence, that rib principles
but these, and such as these, can be advanced,
Which deserve to be treated seriously ; though
Mr. Locke condescended to examine those of
" Filmer, more out of regard to the -prejudices of
the time, than to the importance of the work,
Upon such foundations we must conclude, that
since riieft were directed by nature to form soci-
'©ties', because they cannot by their nature subsist
without them, nor, in a state of individuality*.
and since they were directed in like manner to
establish governments, because societies cannot
be maintained without them, nor subsist in a
state of anarchy ; the ultimate end of all go
vernments is the good of the people, for whose
sake they were mac] e,_ and without whose consent
tliey could not have been made. In forming so
cieties,- and submitting to government, men gave
up part of that liberty to which they are all born,
and all alike. But why ? Is government incom
patible with a full enjoyment of liberty ? By nO
means. But because popular liberty without go
vernment will degenerate into licence, as govern
ment without sufficient liberty will degenerate
into "tyranny, they are mutually-necessary to each
other, good government to support legal liberty,
arid legal liberty to preserve good government.
I speak riot here of people, if any such there
are, who have been savage or stupid enough to
submit to •tyranny by original contract, nor of
those nations on whom tyranny has stolen as
it' were im perceptibly; or been imposed by^
violence,

A PATRIOT KING. 2(H
violence, fand settled by prescriptioq. I shall ex
ercise no political casuistry about the rights of
such kings, and the obligations of spcli people.
Men are to take their lots, perhaps, in govern*
ments as in climates, to fence against theincon-
veniencies of both, and to bear what they cannot
alter. But, I speak of people who have been
wise and happy enough to establish, and to pre
serve, free constitutions of government, as the
people of this island have done. To these, there
fore, I say, that their kings are under the most
sacred obligations that human law can create, and
divine law authorize, to defend and maintain, in
the first place, and preferably to every other con
sideration, the freedom of such constitutions.
Theffood of the people is the ultimate and true
end of government. Governors are, therefore,
appointed for this end, ancl the civil constitution
which appoints them, and invests them with their
power, is determined to do 'so by that law of na
ture and reason, which has determined the end of
government, and which admits this form of go
vernment as the proper mean of arriving- at it.
Now, the greatest good of a people is their
liberty : and, in ihe case here referred to, the
people has judged it so, and provided for it ac
cordingly. Liberty is to the collective body
what health is to every individual body. Without
health no pleasure can be tasted by man : with
out liberty no happiness can be enjoyed by so
ciety. The obligation) therefore, to defend and
s .-> maintain

262 THE IDEA OP
maintain the freedom of such constitutions, will
appear most sacred tp a Patriot King.
Kings whp have weak understandings, bad
hearts, and strong prejudices, and all these, as it
often happens, inflamed by their passions, and
rendered incurable by their self-conceit and pre
sumption ; such kings are apt to imagine, and
they conduct themselves so as to make many of
their subjects imagine, that the king and the peo
ple in free governments are rival powers, who.
stand in competition with one another, who have
different interests, and must qf course have dif*
ferent views : that the rights and privileges ofthe
people are so many spoils taken from the right
and prerogative of the crown ; and that the rules
and laws, made for the exercise and security ofthe
former, are so many diminutions of their dig
nity, and restraints on their power.
A Patriot Kjng will see all this in a far dift
ferent and much truer light. The constitution
will be considered by him as one law, consisting
of two tables, containing the rule of his govern
ment, and the measure of his subjects' obedience'
or as one system, composed of different parts and
powers, but all duly proportioned to one another,
and conspiring by their harmony to the perfection
of the whole. He will make one, and Drit one,
distinction between his rights, and those of his
people: he will look on his. to be a trust, and
theirs a property. He will discern, that he can
have a right to no more than is trusted to, h im

A PATRIOT <RTNG. 263
by the constitution : and that his people, who
had an original right to the whole by the law of
nature, can have the sole indefeasible right to any
part ; and really have fuch a right to that part
which they have reserved to themselves. In fine,
the constitution will be reverenced by him as the
law of God and of man ; the force of which binds
the king as much as the meanest subject, and the
reason of which binds him much more.
Thus he will think, and on these principles
he will act, whether he come to the throne by
immediate or remote election. I say remote;
for in hereditary monarchies, where men are not
elected, families are : and, therefore, some authors
would have it believed, that when a family has
been once admitted, and an hereditary right to
tlie crown recognized in it, that right cannot be
forfeited, nor that throne become vacant, as long
as any heir of the family remains. How much
more agreeable to truth and to common sense
would these authors have written, if they had
maintained, that every prince who comes to a
crown in the course of succession, were he the
last of five hundred, comes to it under the same
conditions under which the first took it, whether
expressed or implied ; as well as under those, if
any such there be, which have been since made by
legal authority : and that royal blood can give
no right, nor length of succession any prescrip
tion, against the constitution of a government ?
The first and the last hold by the same tenure.
I mention this the rather, because I have an
s 4 imperfect.

264 fHH IDEA OS
imperfect ; remembrance, fhat some scribbler was*
employed, or employed himself, to assert; -the,
hereditary right of the present family. A- task,
so unnecessary to any good purpose, that I be*
lieve a suspicion arose of it's having been designed
for a bad one. A Patriot King will never coun
tenance such impertinent fallacies, nor deigsal
to lean on broken reeds. He knows thathisrightl
is foundedv on the laws of God and .man, that*
none can shake it but himself, and that bis
own virtue is sufficient to maintain it againSst alit
opposition. I have dwelt the longer on the "first >and gene-
ral principles of monarchical government, and have*
recurred the oftener to them, because it seems to
me that they are the seeds of patriotism, which
must be sown as soon as possible in the mind of a
prince, lest their growth should be checked by
luxuriant weeds, which are apt to abound in sucih
sails, and under which no crop of kingly virtues
dan ever flourish. A prince, who does not know
the true principles, cannot propose to himself the
true ends, of government : and he, who does not
propose them, will never direct his conduct steadily
to them. There is not a deeper,, nor a finer ob
servation in all my Lord Bacon's works, than one
which I shall apply and paraphrase on this, occa
sion. The most compendious, the most noble,;
v and the most effectual remedy, which can be op
posed to the uncertain and irregular motions" of
the human mind, agitated by various passions,
allured by various temptations, inclining some- .times

A PATRIOT KING. 265
times towards a state of moral perfection, and
oftener, even in the best, towards a state of moral
depravation, is this. We must choose betimes
such virtuous objects as are proportioned to the
means we have of pursuing them, and as belong
particularly to the stations we are in, and to the
duties of those stations. We must determine
and fix our minds in such manner upon them,
that the pursuit of them may become the business,
and the attainment of them the end, of our whole
Jives. Thus we shall imitate the great operations.
of nature, and not the feeble, slow, and im
perfect operations of art. We. must not pro
ceed, informing the moral" character, as a statu
ary proceeds in forming a statue, who works
sometimes on the face, sometimes on one
part, and sometimes on another: but we roust
proceed, and it is in our power to proceed, as
nature does in forming a flower, an animal, or<
any other of her productions; " rudimenta
" partium omnium simul parit et producit."
" She throws out all together, and at once, the
'f whole system of every heing, and the rudiments
ff- of all the parts." The vegetable or the animal
grows in bulk and increases in strength; but is
the, same from the first. Just so our Patriot
King must be a patriot from the first. He, must
be such in resolution, before he grows such in
practice. He must fix at once the _ general prin
ciples and ends of all bis actions, and determine
thathis whole conduct shall be regulated by them,
and directed to them When he has dome this, he
will

a66 ' THE IDEA OP
will have turned, by one great effort, the bent of
his mind so strongly towards the perfection of a
kingly character, that he will exercise with ease,
and as it were by a natural determination, all the
virtues of it ; which will be suggested to him on
every occasion by the principles wherewith his
mind is imbued, and by those ends that are the
constant objects of his attention.
Let us then see in what manner, and with what
effect he will do this, upon the greatest occasion
he can have of exercising these virtues, the main
tenance of liberty, ^ud the reestablishment ofa
free constitution.
The freedom of a constitution rests on two
points. The orders of it are one: so Machiavel
calls them, and I know not how to call them more
significantly. He means not only the forms and
customs, but the different cJa^s^s_a^3S4ejnblie&
ofmen, with different powers and privileges attri*
buted to them, which are established in the state.
The spirit and character of the people are the
other. On the mutual conformity and harmony
of these the preservation of liberty depends. To
take awajr, or essentially to alter the former,
cannot be brought to pass, while the latter re
mains in original purity and vigour: nor can
liberty be destroyed by this method, unless the
attempt be made with a military force sufficient to
conquer the nation, which would not submit ia
this case till it was conquered, nor with much
security to the conqueror even then. But these
orders ofthe state may be essentially altered, and
serve

A PATRIOT KIHS. 267
serve more effectually to the destruction of
liberty, than the taking of them away would
6erve, if the spirit and 'character ofthe people are
lost. Now this method of destroying liberty is the
most dangerous on many accounts, particularly
on this ; that even the reign of the weakest prince,
and the policy of the weakest ministry, may effect
the destruction, when circumstances are favour
able to this method. If a people is growing cor-|
rupt, there is no need of capacity to contrive,
nor of insinuation to gain, nor of plausibility to
seduce, nor of eloquence to persuade, nor of
authority to impose, nor of courage to attempt.
The most incapable, awkward, ungracious, shock
ing, profligate, and timorous wretches, invested
with power, and masters of the purse, will be
sufficient for the work, when the people are
complices in it. Luxury is rapacious; let them"
feed it : the more it is fedTtlie more profuse it will
grow. Want is the consequence of profusion,
venality of want, and dependence of venality. "By
this progression, the first men of a nation will
become the pensioners ofthe last : and he who has
talents, the most implicit tool to him who has
none. The distemper will soon descend, not
indeed to make a deposit below, and to re
main there, but to pervade the whole body.
It may seem a singular, but it is perhaps a true
proposition, that such a king and such a ministry
are more likely to begin, and to pursue with
success, this method of destroying a free consti- ution

26S . THE IDEA . OF ,
tution of government, than a king and a minis&y
fhatwere, held in great esteem would, be.' Tdiis
juery esteem might put many on their guard-against
the latter; but the former may draw from con
tempt the advantage of not being Reared: and afi
advantage this is in the beginning of corruption!
Men are willing to excuse, not only to others but
to themselves, the first steps they take in, vice,
and especially in vice tha^ affects the- publick;1"
.and whereof the publick has a right to complain.
Those, therefore, who might withstand corruption
in one case, from a persuasion that the conse
quence was too certain to leave them any excuse,
may yield to it when they can flatter themselves,
and endeavour to flatter others; that liberty can
not be destroyed, nor the constitution be demo
lished, by such hands as hold the sceptre, and
guide the reins of the administration. But alasj
,the flattery is gross, and the excuse without colour.
These men may ruin their country, but they
cannot impose on any, unless it be on them,
selves. Nor will even this imposition, on them
selves be long necessary. Their consciences
will be soon seared, by habit and by example :
and they, who wanted an excuse to begin, will
want none to continue and to complete, the
tragedy of their country. Old men will outlive
tlie shame of losing liberty, and youiig ••.men will
arise who know not that it ever existed. A spirit .
of slavery will oppose and oppress the spirit of
liberty, and seem at least to be the genius of the
nation. Such too it will become in time, when,
corruption

A PATRIOT KISG. 269
corruption 'has 'Once -grown to this height, unless
the .progress of it can be interrupted. <:1 ,
How inestimable a blessing therefore must *he
succession Ofa Patriot King be esteemed in siifth
'circumstances as these1, which would be a btess-
:^g, and a great "one too, in 'arty other? He, and
he alohe", can save a country>whose ruin is so far
advanced. The uttnost tiiat private men can do,
who remain untainted by the general contagion,
is '?to keep the spirit of liberty alive in' a fow
breasts ; to pro test again St what they cannot hin
der, and lo'claim on every occasion what they
cannot by their Own strength recover.
Machiavel has treated, in the discourses before
cited, this question; '' wh..i.her, when the people
"' are grown corrupt, a fiee government can be
" maintained if they enjoy it; or established, if
<e they enjoy it not ?" Andupcn the whole matter
he concludes for the difficulty, or rather the imi
possibility, of succeeding in either case. It will be
Worth while to observe his wny of reasoning. He
asserts very truly, and proves by the example of
the Roman commonwealth-, that those orders.
which are proper to 'maintain liberty, while a peo
ple remaih uncorrupt, become improper and hutt-
ful'to liberty, when a people is grown corrupt.
To remedy this abuse, new laws alone Will not be
sufficient. These orders, therefore, must be chang
ed, ^according to him, and the constitution must
be adapted to the depraved manners of the
people. He '-.'shows, that such a change in
the -orders,, and constituent parts of the govern ment,

2^0 THE IDEA OF
ment, is impracticable, whether the atteihptbe
made by gentle and slow, or by violent and preci
pitate measures ; and from thence he concludes,
that a free commonwealth can neither be main
tained by a corrupt people, nor, be established
among them, But he adds, that, " if this can
*' possibly be done, it must be done by drawing
" the constitution to the monarchical form of go-
" vernment," " accioche quelli huomini i quali
" dalle leggi non possono essere corretti, fiissero
" da una podesta, in qualche modo, frenati."
" That a corrupt people, whom law cannot cor^
*' rect, may be restrained and corrected by a
*' kingly power." Here is the hinge on which
the whole turns. Another advantage that a free
monarchy has over all other forms of free govern
ment, beside the advantage of being more
easily and more usefully tempered with aristocra-
tical and democratieal powers, which is men*
tioned above, is this. Those governments are
made up of different parts, and are apt to be dis
jointed by the shocks to which they are exposed :
but a free monarchical government is more com
pact, because there is a part the more that keeps,.
like the key-stone of a vault, the whole building
together. They cannot be mended in a state of cor
ruption, they must be in effect constituted anew,
and in that attempt they may be dissolved for
ever : but this is not the case of a free monarchy.
To preserve liberty by new laws and new schemes
of government, while the corruption of a people
continues and grows,is absolutely impossible : but

A PATRIOT KING. ift
to restore and preserve it under old laws, and an
old constitution, by reinfusing into the mirids of
men the spirit of this constitution, is not only
possible, but is, in a particular manner, easy to a
king. A corrupt commonwealth remains with
out remedy, though all the orders and forms of it
subsist : a free monarchical government cannot
remain absolutely so, as long as the orders and
forms of the constitution subsist. These, alone,
are indeed nothing more than the dead letter of
freedom, or masks of liberty. In the first cha
racter they serve to no good purpose whatsoever :
in the second they serve to a bad one ; because ty
ranny, or government by will, becomes more se
vere, and more secure, under their disguise, than
it would if it was barefaced and avowed. But a
king can, easily to himself and without violenoe
to his people, renew the spirit of liberty in their
minds,' quicken this dead letter, and pull off this
mask. As soon as corruption ceases to be an expedi
ent of government, and it will cease to be such as
soon as a Patriot King is raised to the throne,
the panaeeais applied; the spirit ofthe constitu
tion revives of course : and, as fast as it revives,
the orders and forms ofthe constitution are restor
ed to their primitive integrity,' and become what
they were intended to be, real barriers against
arbitrary power, not blinds nor masks under
which tyranny may lie concealed. Depravation
of manners exposed the constitution to ruin :
reformation will secure it. Men decline easily from

2^2 THE IDEA. OF
u-om. virtue ; for there is a devil too in the political
system, a constant tempter at hand : a Patriot
King w ill want neither power nor inclination to
cast out this devil, to make the temptation cease,
and to deliver his subjects, if not from the guilt,
yet from the consequence, of their fall. Under
him, they will not only cease to do evil, but learn
to do well; for, by rendering publick virtue
and real capacity the sole means of acquiring
any degree of power or profit in. the state,
lie will set the passions of their hearts on the
side of liberty and good government. A Patriot
King is the most powerful of all reformers;
for he ishimself a sort of standing miracle, so rarely
seen and solittle understood, that the sure effects
of his appearance will be admiration and love in
every honest breast, confusion and terrour to every
guilty conscience, but submission and resignation
in all. A new people will seem to arise with a
new king. Innumerable^ metamorphoses, like
those wliich poets feign, will happen in very
deed : and', while men are conscious that they are
the same individuals, the difference of their senti
ments will almost persuade them, that they are
changed into different beings.
But, that we may not expect more from such*a
king than even he can perform, it is necessary
to premise another general observation, after
which I shall descend into some that will be more
particular. Absolute stability is not to be expected in any
thing human; for that which exists immutably
16 exists

A PATRIOT KING. 273
exists alone necessarily, and this attribute of
the Supreme Being, can neither belong to man,
nor to the works of man. The best instituted
governments, like the best constituted animal
bodies, carry in them the seeds cf their
destruction : and, though they grow and im
prove for a time, they will soon tend visibly to
their dissolution. Every hour they live is an hour
the less that they have to live. All that can be
done, therefore, to prolong the duration ofa good
government, is to draw it back, on every favour
able occasion, to the first good principles on which
it was founded. When these occasions happen
often, and are well improved, such govern
ments are prosperous and durable. When they
happen seldom, or are ill improved, these poli-
, tical bodies live in pain, or in languor, and die
soon. A Patriot King affords one of the occasions
I mention in a free monarchical state, and the
very bestthat can happen. It should be improv
ed, like snatches of fair weather at sea, to re
pair the damages sustained in the last storm, and
to prepare to resist the next. For such a king
cannot secure to his people a succession of princes
like himself. He will do all he can toward it,
by his example and by his instruction. But after
all, the royal mantle will not convey the ypirit of
patriotism into another king, as the mantle of Eli
jah did the gift of prophecy into another prophet.
The utmost he can do, and that which deserves
the utmost gratitude from his subjects, is to restore
Vol. IV. T good

274 TJ!E IDEA or
good government, to revive the spirit of it, and to
maintain and confirm both, during the whole
course of his reign. The rest his people must do
for themselves. If they do not, they will have
none but themselves to blame : if they do, they
will have the principal obligation to him. In all
events, they will have been free men one reign the
longer by his means, and perhaps more; since he
will leave them much better prepared and disposed
to defend their liberties, than he found them.
This general observation being made, let us
now descend, in some detail, to the particular steps
and measures that such a king must pursue, to
merit a much nobler title than all those which
many princes of the west, as well as the east, are
so proud to accumulate.
First then, he must begin to govern as soon as
he begins to reign. For the very first steps he'
makes in government will give the first im
pression, and as it were the presage of his reign;
and may be of great importance in many other re
spects beside that of opinion and reputation.
His first care will be, no doubt, to purge his court,
and to call into the administration such men as he
can assure himself will serve on the same prin
ciples on which he intends to govern.
As ;o the first point ; if the precedent reign ha9
been bad, we know how he will find the court
composed. The men in power will be some of
those adventurers, busy and bold, who thrust and
crowd themselves early into the intrigue of party
and the management of affairs of state, often
without

? PATRIOT KING. 275
Without trUe ability, always without true am
bition, or even the appearances of virtue : who
mean nothing more than what is called making a
fortune, the acquisition Of wealth to satisfy
avarice, and of titles and ribands to satisfy
vanity. Such as these are sure to be employed by
a weak, or a wicked king : they impose on the
first, and are chosen by the last. Nor is it
marvellous that they are so, since every other want
is supplied in them by the want of good principles
and a good conscience ; and since these defects
become ministerial perfections, in a reign when
measures are pursued and designs carried on that
every honest man will disapprove. All the prcP
stitutes who set themselves to sale, all the locusts*
who devour the land, with crowds of spies, pa-i
rasites, and sycophants, will surround the throne
¦Under the patronage of such ministers;' and whole
swarms of little, noisome, nameless insects witf
hum and buzz in every corner of the court. Such
ministers will be cast off, and such abettors of a
ministry will be chased away, together and at
once, by a Patriot King.
Some of them perhaps will be abandoned by
him ; not to party- fury, but to national justice;
not to sate private resentments, and to serve par
ticular interests, but to make satisfaction for
wrongs done to their country, and to stand as
examples of terrour to future administrations.
Clemency makes, no doubt, an amiable part ofthe
character I attempt to draw ; but clemency, to be a
virtue, must have it's bounds, like other virtues :
T 2 and

ijS- THE IDEA OF
and surely these bounds are extended enough by
a maxim I have read somewhere, that frailties and
even vices may be passed over, but not enormous
crimes; " multa donanda ingeniis puto, sed do-
" nanda vitia, non portenta."
Among the bad company, with wliich such a
court will abound, may be reckoned a sort of men
too low to be much regarded, and too high to be
quite neglepted ; the lumber of every administra
tion, the furniture of every court. These gilt
carved things are seldom answerable for more than
the men on a chess-board, who are moved about
at will, and on whom the conduct of the game is
not to be charged. Some of these every prince
must have about him. The pageantry of a court
requires that he should: and this pageantry, like
many other despicable things, ought not to belaid
aside. But as much sameness as there may
appear in the characters of this sort of men, there
is one distinction that will be made, whenever a
good prince succeeds to the throne after an iniqui
tous administration : the distinction I mean is,
between those who have affected to dip themselves
deeply in precedent iniquities, and those who have
had the virtue to keep aloof from them, or the
good luck not to be called to any share in them.
And thus much for the first point, that of purging
his court.
As to the second, that of calling to his admi
nistration such men as he can assure himself will
serve on the same principles on which he intends
to govern, there is no need to enlarge much upon
i h it

A PATRIOT KING. 2*77;
it. A good prince will no more choose ill men,
than a wise prince will choose fools. Deception
in one case is indeed more easy than in the other ;
because a knave may be an artful hypocrite,
whereas a silly fellow can never impose himself for'
a man of sense. And least of all, in a country
like ours, can either of these deceptions happen,
if any degree of the discernment of spirits be em
ployed to choose. The reason is, because every
man here, who stands forward enough in rank and
reputation to be called to the councils of his king,
must have given proofs before-hand of his patri
otism, as well as of his capacity, if he has
either, sufficient to determine his general cha-f
racter. There is, however, one distinction to be made
as to the capacity of ministers, on which I will
insist a little : because I think it very important
at all times, particularly so at this time: and be*-
cause it escapes observation most commonly.
The distinction I mean is that between a cunning
mananda wise man : and this distinction is built on
a manifest difference in nature, how imperceptible
soever it may become to weak eyes, or to eyes
that look at their object through the false medium
of custom and habit. My lord Bacon says, that
cunning is leftdianded or crooked wisdom. I
would rather say that it is a part, hut the lowest
part of wisdom; employed alone by some, because
they have not the other parts to employ; and
by some, because it is as much as they want,
within those bounds of action which they prescribe
t 3 to

£78 THE IBEA OF
to themselves, and sufficient to the ends that they
propose. The difference seems to consist iq
degree, and application, rather than in kind.
Wisdom is neither left-handed, nor crooked : but
the heads of some men contain little, and. the
hearts of others employ it wrong. To use my
lord Bacon's own comparison, the cunning man
knows how to pack the cards, the wise man how
to play the game better: but it would be of no
use to the first to pack the cards, if his knowledge
stopped here, and he had no skill in the game :
nor tp the second to play the game better, if he
did not know how to pack the cards, that he might
unpack them by new shuffling. Inferiour wis
dom or cunning may get the better of folly :
but superiourwisdom will getthe better of cunning.
Wisdom and cunning have of ten the same ob
jects ; but a wise man will have more and greater
' jn his view. The least will not fill his soul, nor
ever become the principal there; but will be pur
sued in subserviency, insubordination at least, to
the other. Wisdom and cunning may employ
sometimes the same means too : but the wise man
stoops to these means, and the other cannot rise
above them, Simulation and dissimulation, for
instance, are the chief arts of cunning : the first
will be esteemed always by a wise man unworthy
of him, and will be therefore avoided by him, in
every possible case ; for, to resume my Lord Ba*
con's comparison, simulation is put on that we.
may look into the cards of another, whereas dissi
mulation intends nothing more than to hide oue
own,

A PATRIOT KING. 279
own. Simulation is a stiletto, not only an offen*-
¦rive, but an unlawful weapon: and the use of it
may be rarely, very rarely, excused, but never
justified. Dissimulation is a shield, as secrecy is
armour: and it is no more possible to preserve
secrecy in the administration of publick affairs
without some degree of dissimulation, than it is
to succeed in it without secrecy. These two arts
of cunning are like the alloy mingled with pure
ore. A little is necessary, and will not debase
the coin below it's proper standard ; but if more
than that little be employed, the coin loses it's
currency, and the coiner his credit.
We may observe much the same difference be
tween wisdom and cunning, both as to the objects
they propose and to the means they employ, as
we observe between the visual powers of differest
men. One sees distinctly the objects that are
near to him, their immediate relations, and their
direct tendencies : and a sight like this serves well
enough the purpose of those who concern them
selves no further. The cunning minister is one
of those ; he neither sees, nor is concerned to see,
any further than his personal interests, and the
support of his administration, require. If such
a man overcomes any actual difficulty, avoids
any immediate distress, or, without doing either
of these effectually, gains a little time, by all the
low artifice which cunning is ready to suggest,
and baseness of mind to employ, he triumphs,
and is flattered by his mercenary train, on the
great event ± which amounts often to no more
t 4 thai;

280' THE IDEA OE
than this, that he got .into distress by one series
of faults, and out of it by another. The wise
minister sees, and is concerned to see further, be
cause government has a further concern : he see?
the objects that are distant as well as those that
are near, and all their remote relations, and even
their indirect tendencies. He thinks of fame as
well as of applause, ancl prefers that, which to be
enjoyed must be given, to that which may be
bought. He considers his administration as a
single day in the great year of government;, but
as a day that is affected by those which went be
fore, and that must affect those which are to follow.
He combines, therefore, and compares all the^e
objects, relations, and tendencies ; and the judg
ment he makes, on an entire not a partial survey
of them, is the rule of his eonduct. That scheme
of the reason of state, which lies open before a
wise minister, contains all the great principles of
government, and all the great interests of his
country : so that, as he prepares some events, he
prepares against others, whether they be likely to
happen during his administration, or in some
future time.
Many reflections might be added to these; and,
many examples be brought to illustrate them.
Some I could draw from the men I have seen at
the head of business, and make very strong
contrasts of men of great wisdom n ith those of
mere cunning. But I conclude this head, that I
mny proceed to another of no less importance.
To_espouse no party, but to govern like the
common

A PATRIOT RING, 28 I
cnmmm; father jff^jspeoplgris so essential to_fhft-
(character of a Patriot King, that he who
dp^rothe'rwise forfeits tlie title." It is the peculiar
privilege ahd glory of this character, that prince's
-who maintain it, and they alone, are so far
from the necessity, that they are not exposed to
the temptation, of governing by a party; which
mugt always end in the government of a faction :
the faction of the prince, if he has- ability; the
faction of his ministers, if he has not ; and either
one way or other, in the oppression of the peo
ple. For faction is to party what the superlative
is to the positive : party is a political_evil, and
faction is the worst of all parties. ) 'Ihe tiue
image of a free people, governed by a Patriot
King, is that of a patriarchal family, where the
head ancl all the members are united by one com
mon interest, and animated by one common
spirit : and where, if any are perverse enough to
have another, they will be soon borne down by the
superiority of those who have the same; and, far
from making a division, they will but confirm the
union of the* little state. That to approach as
near as possible to these ideas of perfect go
vernment, and social happiness under it, is
desirable in every state, no man will be absurd
enough to deny. The sole question is, therefore,
how near to them it is possible to attain ? For,
if this attempt be nut al sUu'ciy impracticable,
all the views of a Patriot King will be directed
to make it succeed. Instead of a' et ting the di
visions of Iris people, lie will endeavour to unite
them, and to be himsJf the ecu; re cf 'kAr union :
instead

<2g-. THE IDEA OP
instead of putting himself at the head of one
party in order to govern his people, he will pu^
himself at the head of his people in order to
govern, or more properly to subdue, all parties.
Now, to arrive at this desirable union, and to
riiaintain it, will be found more difficult in some
cases than in others, but absolutely impossible in
none, to a wise and good prince.
If his people are united in their submission to
him, and in tlieir attachment to the established
government, he must not only espouse but create
a party, in order to govern by one : and what
should tempt him to pursue so wild a measure J
A prince, who aims at more power than the con
stitution gives him, may be so tempted ; because he
may hope to obtain in the disorders of the state
what cannot be obtained in quiet times ; and be
cause contending parties will give what a nation
will not. Parties, even before they degenerate
into absolute factions, are still numbers of men
associated together for certain purposes, and cer*
fain interests, which are not, or which are not
allowed to be those of the community by others.
A more private or personal interest comes but
too soon and too often, to be superadded, and to
grow predominant in them : and when it does so,
whatever occasions or principles began to fonrr
them, the sa me logick prevails in them that prevails
in every church. The interest of the state is
supposed to be that of the party, as the interest
of religion is supposed to be that of the-
church; and, with this pretence or prepossession,
the interest of the state becomes, like that of re*
ligiop,

-1

A PATRIOT KINO. $83
ligion, a remote consideration, is never pursued
for it's own sake, and is often sacrificed to the
other. A king, therefore, who has ill designs to"
carry on, must endeavour to divide a united peo
ple ; and by blending or seeming to blend his
interests with that of a party, he may succeed per
haps, and his party and he may share the spoils
of a ruined nation : but such a party is then be-
come a faction, such a king is a tyrant, and such
a government is a conspiracy. A Patriot King_j
must renounce his character, to have such de
signs ; or act against his own designs, to pursue
such methods. Both are too absurd to be sup
posed. It remains, therefore, that as all the
good ends of government are most attainable in
a united state, and as the divisions of a people
can serve to bad purposes alone, the king we
supposeJiere_wjll deem the union of his subjects
his greatest advantage, and will think Irimself
happy to find that established, which he would
have employed the whole labour of his life to
bring about. This seems so plain, that I am
ready to make excuses for having insisted at all
upon it. '
Let us turn ourselves to another supposition,
to that ofa divided state. This will fall in oftener
with the ordinary course of things in free go
vernments, and especially after iniquitous and
weak administrations. Such a state may be better
or worse, and the great and good purposes of a
Patriot King more or less attainable in it, ac
cording to the different nature of those divisions :
and

284 THE IDEA Of
and, therefore, we will consider this state iq
different lights.
A people may be united in submission to the
prince, and to the establishment, and yet be di
vided about general principles, or particular mea
sures of government. In the' first case, they will
do by their constitution what has been frequently
done by the Scripture, strain it to their own
notions and prejudices; and, if they cannot
strain it, alter it as much as is necessary to render
it conformable to them. In the second, 'they
will support' or oppose particular acts of admini
strations and defend or attack the persons em
ployed in them : and both these ways a conflict
of parties may arise, but no great difficulty to a
prince who determines to pursue the union of his
subjects, and the prosperity of his kingdoms in
dependently of all parties.
When parties are divided by different notions
and principles concerning some particular eccle
siastical, or civil institutions, the constitution,
which should be their rule, must be that of the
Iprince. He may and he ought to show his dislike
,<or his favour, as he judges the constitution may
be hurt or improved, by one side or the other.
; The hurt he is never to suffer, not for his own
sake ; and therefore surely not for the sake of any
whimsical, factious, or ambitious set of men. The
improvement he must always desire ; but as every
new modification in a scheme of government and
of national policy is of great importance, and
requires more and deeper consideration thari the
warmth,

A PATRIOT KING. 285
warmth, and hurry, and rashness of party-
conduct admit, the duty of a prince seems to re
quire that he should render by his influence the
proceedings more orderly and more deliberate,
even when he approves the end to which they are
directed. All this may be done by him without
fomenting division : and, far from forming or
espousing a party, he will defeat party in defence
of the constitution, on some occasions ; and lead
men, from acting with a party-spirit, to act with
a national spirit, on others. '
When the division is about particular measures
of government, and the conduct ofthe administra
tion is alone concerned, a Patriot King will stand
in want of party as little as in any other case.
Under his reign, the opportunities of forming
an opposition of this sort will be rare, and the
pretences generally weak. Nay, the motives to
it will lose much of their force, when a govern
ment is strong in reputation, and men are kept in
good humour by feeling the rod of a party on
no occasion, though they feel the weight of the
sceptre on some. Such opportunities, however,
may happen ; and there may bexeason, as well
as pretences, sometimes for opposition even in
such a reign : at least we will suppose so, that
we may include in this argument every contin
gent case. Grievances then are complained of,
mistakes and abuses in government are pointed
out, and ministers are prosecuted by their
enemies. Shall the prince on the throne form a
party

ft86 THE IDEA OP
party by intrigue, and. by secret and corrupt ih-.
flnence, to oppose the prosecution ? When the
prince and the ministers are " participes cri-
minis," when everything is to ber defended, lest
something should come out, that may unravel the
silly wicked scheme, and disclose to publick sight
the whole turpitude of the administration ; there
is no help, this must be done, and such a party
must be formed, because such a party alone will
submit to a drudgery of this kind. But a prince,
who is not in these circumstances, will not have
recourse to these means. He has others more
open, more noble, and more effectual in his
power : he knows that the views of his government
are right, and thatthe tenour of his administration
is good ; but he knows that neither he nor his
ministers are infallible, nor impeccable. There
may be abuses in his government, mistakes in his
administration, and guilt in his ministers, which
he has not observed : and he will be far from im
puting the complaints, that gave him occasion to
observe them, to a spirit of party ; much less will
he treat those who carry on- such prosecutions in
a legal manner, a% incendiaries, and as enemies
to his government. On the contrary, he will dis
tinguish the voice of his people from the clamour
of a faction, and will hearken to it. He will
redress grievances, correct errours, and reformor
punish ministers. This he will do as a good
prince : and as a wise one, he will do it in
such a manner that his dignity shall be maintained, and

A PATRIOT KING. 287
and that his authority shall increase, with his
reputation, by it.
Should the efforts of a mere faction be bent to
calumniate his government, and to distress the
administration on groundless pretences, and for
insufficient reasons ; he will not neglect, but he
will not apprehend neither, the short-lived and
contemptible scheme. He will indeed have no
reason to do so ; for let the factors of male-admi
nistration, whenever an opposition is made to it,
affect to insinuate as much as they please, that
their masters are in no other circumstances than
those to which the very best ministers stand ex
posed, objects of general envy and of particular
malice, it will remain eternally true, that groundr
less opposition, in a well-regulated monarchy,
can never be strong and durable. To be con
vinced of the truth of th;s proposition, one needs
only to reflect how many well-grounded attacks
have been defeated, and how few have succeeded,
against $he .most wicked and the weakest admini
strations. vEvery king of Britain has means
enough in his power, to defeat and to calm oppo
sition.) But a Patriot King, above all others,
may safely rest his cause on the innocency of hisi
administration, on the constitutional strength ofl
the crown, and on the concurrence of his people,'
to whom he dares appeal, and by whom he will be
supported. To conclude all I will say on the divisions of
this kind ; let me add, that the case of a ground
less opposition can hardly happen in a bad reign,
because

288 THE IDEA OF
because in such a reign just occasions of oppo
sition must of course be frequently given, as we
have allowed that they may be given sometimes,
though very rarely, in a good reign ; but that,
whether it be well or ill grounded, whetherit be that
of the nation, or that of 'a faction, the conduct of
the prince with respect to it will be the same ; and
one way or other this conduct must have a very
fatal event. Such aprincewillnotmendtheadmini-
stration, as long as he can resist thejustest ancl most
popular opposition : and, therefore, this opposition
will last and grow, as long as a free constitution
is in force, and the spirit of liberty is preserved ;
for so long even a change of his ministers, without
a change of his measures, will not be sufficient.
The former without the latter is a mere banter,
and would be deemed and taken for such, by
every man who did not oppose on a factious prin
ciple ; that I mean of getting into power at any
rate, and using it as ill, perhaps worse than th^
men he helped to turn out of it. Now if such
men as these abound, and they will abound in the
decline of a free government, a bad prince, whe
ther he changes or does not change his ministers,
may hope to govern by the spirit and art of a
faction, against the spirit and strength of the na
tion. Flis character may be too low, and that of
his minister too odious, to form originally even a
faction that shall be able to defend them. But
they may apply to their purposes a party that was
formed on far different occasions, ancl bring num
bers to fight for a cause in which many of them
would

A PATRIOT KING. 289
would not have listed. VThe names, and with
the names the -animosity of parties, may be kept
up, when the causes that formed them subsist no

longer. J

AVhen a party is thus revived or continued in
the spirit of a faction, the corrupt and the infa
tuated members of it will act without any regard
to right or wrong: and they who have asserted
liberty in one reign, or opposed invasions of one
kind, will give it up in another reign, and abet
invasions of another kind ; though they still dis
tinguish themselves by the same appellation, still
spread the same banner, and still deafen their ad
versaries and one another with the same cry. If
the national cause prevails against all the wicked
arts of corruption ancl division, that an obstinate
prince and flagitious ministry can employ; yet
will the struggle be long, and the difficulties, the
distresses, and the danger great, both to the king
and to the people. The best he can hope for, in
such a case, will be to escape with a diminution
of his reputation, authority, and power. Lie may
be exposed to something worse ; and his obstinacy
may force things to such extremities, as they who
oppose him will lament, and as the preservation
of liberty and good government can alone justify.
If the wicked arts I speak of prevail, faction will
be propagated through the whole nation, an ill
or well grounded opposition will be the question
no longer, and the contest among parties will be,
who shall govern, not, how they shall be governed.
In short, universal confusion will follow, and a
Vojl. iV, U complete

SOO THE IDEA OF
complete victory, on any side, will enslave ail
sides. I have not overcharged the draught. Such
consequences must follow such a conduct : and
therefore let me ask, how much more safe, more
easy, more pleasant, more honourable is it, for a
prince to correct, if he has not prevented, male-
administration ? That he may be able to rest his
cause, as I said before, on the strength of tlie
crown and the concurrence of his people,whenever
any faction presumes to rise in opposition to him.
This a Patriot King will do. He may favour
one party and discourage another, upon occasions
wherein the state of his kingdom makes such a
temporary measure necessary : but he will espouse
none, much less will he proscribe any. He will
list no party, much less will he do the meanest
and most imprudent thing a king can do, list
himself in any. It will be his aim to pursue true
principles of government independently of all :
and, by a steady adherence to this measure, his
reign will become an undeniable and glorious
proof, that a wise and good prince may unite his
subjects, and be himself the centre of their
union, notwithstanding any of these divisions
that have been hitherto mentioned.
Let us now view the divided state of a nation
in another light. In this, the divisions will
appear more odious, more dangerous ; less de
pendent on the influence, and less subject to the
authority of the crown. Such will be the state,
whenever a people is divided about submission to
their

A PATRIOT KING. 291
their prince, and a party is formed, of spirit and
strength sufficient to oppose, even in arms,
the established government. But in this case,
desperate as it may seem, a Patriot King will not
despair of reconciling and reuniting his subjects
to himself and to one another. He may be
obliged, perhaps, as Henry the fourth of France
was, to conquer hisown; but then, like that great
prince, if he is the conqueror, he will be the
father too, of his people. He must pursue in
arms those who presume to take arms against him ;
but he will pursue them like rebellious children
whom he seeks to reclaim, and not like ir'recon*
cilable enemies wliom he endeavours to ex
terminate. Another prince may blow up the
flame of civil war by unprovoked severity, render
those zealous against him who were at worst
indifferent, and determine the disaffection of
others to open rebellion. When he has prevailed
against the faction he helped to form, as he could
not have prevailed if the bent of the nation had
been against him, he may be willing to ascribe hist
success to a party, that he may have that pretence
to govern by a party: and, far from reconciling
the minds that have been alienated from him, and
reuniting his subjects in a willing unforced
submission to him, he may be content to maintain
himself on that throne, where the laws of God
and man have placed him, by the melancholy
expedient that usurpers and tyrants, who have no
other in their power, employ ; the expedient of
force. But a Patriot King will act with another
v 2 spirit,-

2Q2 THE IDEA OP
spirit, and entertain nobler and wiser views, fflum
first to last* and through the whole course of such
a conjuncture. Nothing less than the hearts of
his people will content such a prince ; nor will
he think his throne established, till it Is esta
blished there. That he may have time and
opportunity to gain them, therefore, he will
prevent the flame from breaking out, if by art
and management he can do it. If he cannot, he
will endeavour to keep it from spreading : and if
the phrensy of rebellion disappoints him in both
these attempts, he will remember .peace, like the
heroick king I just now quoted, in the midst of
war. Like him he Will forego advantages of push
ing the latter, rather than lose an opportunity
of promoting the former : like him, in the heat of
battle he will spare, and in the triumph of victory
condescend : like him, he will beat down the
violence of this flame by his valour, and ex
tinguish even the embers of it by his lenity.
It may happen, that a prince, capable of hold
ing such a conduct as this, , may not have the
opportunity. He .may succeed to the throne
after a contrary conduct has been held : and when,
among other divisions which maladministration
and the tyranny of faction have increased and
corifirmed, there is one against the established
government still in being, though not still in
arms. The use is obvious, which a faction in
power might make of such a circumstance under
a weak prince, by ranking in that division all
those who opposed the administration; or at
*<5 least

A PATRIOT KING. 293
least by holding out equal danger to him from two
quarters ; from their enemies who meant him no
harm, and from his enemies who could do him
none. But so gross an artifice will not impose on
a prince of another character: he will soon
discern the distinctions it becomes him to make.
He will see, in this instance, how faction breeds,
nourishes, andperpetua1.es faction: he will observe
how far that of the court contributed to form the
other, and contributes still to keep it in coun
tenance and credit, among those who consider
more what such men are against, than what they
are for. He will observe, how much that of the
disaffected gives pretence to the other who keeps
a monopoly of power and wealth ; one of which
oppresses, and the other beggars, the rest of the
nation. His penetration will soon discover, that
these factions break in but little on the body of
his people, and that it depends on him alone to
take from them even the strength they have;
because that of the former is acquired entirely by
his authority ancl purse, and that of the latter
principally by the abuse which the former makes
of both. Upon the whole, the measures he has
. to pursue towards the great object of a Patriot
King, the union of his people, will appear to
him extremely easy. How should they be other
wise ? One of the factions must be dissolved, the
moment that the favour of the prince is with
drawn : and the other is disarmed, as soon as it
is marked out. It will have no shelter, and it
must therefore be so rnarked out, under a good
v 3 and

294 THE IDEA OP
and wise administration ; for, whether the mem
bers of it avow their principles by refusing those
tests of fidelity which the law requires, or perjure
themselves by taking them, they will be known
alike. One difference, and but one will be made
between them in the general sense of mankind,
a difference arising from the greater degree of
infamy that will belong justly to the latter. The
first may pass for fools ; the latter must pass,
' without excuse, for knaves.
The terms I use sound harshly, but the censure
is just : and it will appear to be so in the highest
degree, and upon the highest reason, if we stop
to make a reflection or two, that deserve very well
to be made, on the conduct of our Jacobites;
for I desire no stronger instance on which to
establish the censure, and to justify the terms I
have used. Now all these, whether they swear
or whether they do not, are liable to one parti
cular objection, that did not lie against those
who were, in former days, enemies to the king
on the throne. In the days of York and Lan
caster, for instance, a man might be against
the prince on the throne, without being against
the constitution of his country. The constitution
conveyed the crown by hereditary right in the
same family : and he who was a Yorkist, and he
who was a Lancastrian, might, and I doubt not
did, pretend in every contest to have this right
on his side. The same constitution was acknow
ledged by both : and, therefore, so much indul
gence was shown by law to both, at least in the
time

A PATRIOT KING. 295
time of Henry the seventh, that submission to
a king " de facto" could not be imputed as a
crime to either. Thus again, to descend lower
in history; when the exclusion of the duke of
York was pressed in the reign of Charles the
second, the right of that prince to the crown
was not disputed. His divine right indeed, such
a divine right as his grandfather and father had
asserted before him, was not mucn regarded ; but
his right by the constitution, his legal right, was
sufficiently owned by those who insisted on a
law as necessary to bar it. But every Jacobite,
at this time, goes beyond all these examples, and
is a rebel to the constitution under which he is
born, as well as to the prince on the throne.
The law of his country has settled the right oi
succession in a new family, He resists this law,
and asserts,- on his own private authority, not
only a right in contradiction to it, but a right
extinguished by it. This absurdity is so great
that it cannot be defended, except by advancing
a greater: and therefore it is urged, that no
power on Earth could alter the constitution in this
respect, nor extinguish a right to the crown
inherent in the Stuart family, and derived from a
superiour, that is, from a divine, authority. This
kind of plea for refusing submission to the laws of
the land, if it was admitted, would serve any
purpose as well as that for which it is brought. Our
fanaticks urged it formerly, and I do not see why
a conscientious fifth monarchy-man had not as
much right to urge it formerly, as a Jacobite
u 4 has

2g6 THE IDEA OP
has now. But if conscience, that is private opi
nion, may excuse the fifth monarchy-man and the
Jacobite, who aqt conformably to it, from all
imputations except those of madness and folly ;
how shall the latter be excused, when be forswears
the principles he retains, acknowledges the right
he renounces, takes oaths with an intent to violate
them, and calls God to witness to a premeditated
lie ? Some casuistry has been employed to excuse
these men to themselves and to others. But such
casuistry, and in truth every other, destroys, by
distinctions and exceptions, all morality, and
effaces the essential difference between right and
wrong, good and evil. This the schoolmen in
general have done on many occasions ; the sons
of Loyola in particular : and I wish with all my
heart, that nothing of the same kind could be
objected to any other divines. Some political
reasoning has been employed, as well as the ca
suistry here spoken of, and to the same purpose.
It has been said, that the conduct of those who
are enemies to the establishment, to which they
submit and swear, is justified by the principles of
the Revolution. But nothing can be more false
and frivolous. By the principles of the Revo
lution, a subject may resist, no doubt, the prince
who endeavours to ruin and enslave his people,
and may push this resistance to the dethronement
and exclusion, of him and his race : but will it
follow, that, because we may justly take arms
against a prince whose right to govern we once
acknowledged, and who by subsequent acts has
forfeited.

A PATRIOT KING. 297
forfeited that right, we may swear to a right ws
do not acknowledge, and resist a prince whose
conduct has not forfeited the right we swore to,
nor given any just dispensation from our oaths ?
But I shall lengthen this digression no further :
it is on a subject I have treated in publick
writings, the refutation of which never came to
my hands, and, I think, never will. I return to
the subject of my present discourse. And I say,
that such factions as these can never create any
obstruction to a prince who pursues the union of
his subjects, nor disturb the peace of his govern
ment. The men who compose them must be
desperate, and impotent; tlie most despicable
of all characters, when they go together. Every
honest and sensible man will distinguish himself
out of their number : and they will remain, as
they deserve to be, hewers of wood, and drawers
of water, to the rest of their fellow-subjects.
They will remain such, if they are abandoned
to themselves, and to that habitual infatuation
which they have not sense and spirit enough to
break. But if a prince, out of goodness or poli
cy, should think it worth his while to take them
from under this influence, and to break these
habits ; even this division, the most absurd of all
others, will not be found incurable. A man
who has not seen the inside of parties, nor had
opportunities to examine nearly their secret
motives, can hardly conceive how little a share
principle of any sort, though principle of
spme sort or other be always pretended, ha* in
the

-Zgg THE IDEA OP
the determination of their conduct. Rea
son has small effect on numbers. A turn of ima
gination, often as violent and as sudden as a gust
of wind, determines their conduct : and passion is
taken, by others, and by themselves too, when it
grows into habit especially, for principle. What
gave strength and spirit to a Jacobite party after
the late king's accession ? The true answer is, a
sudden turn ofthe imaginations of a whole party to
resentment and rage, that were turned a little
before to quiet submission, and patient expec
tation. Principle had as little share in making
the turn, as reason had in conducting it. Men
who had sense, and temper too, before that
moment, thought of nothing, after it, but of set
ting up a tory king against a whig king : and
when some of them were asked, if they were sure
a popish king would make a good lory king ? or
whether they were determined to sacrifice their
religion and liberty to him ? the answer was, No;
that they would take arms against him if he made
attempts on either; that this might be the cafe,
perhaps, in six months after his restoration, but
that, in the meantime, they would endeavour
his restoration. This is no exaggerated fact : and
I leave all men to judge, to what such sentiments
and conduct must be ascribed, to principle or
passion, lo reason or madness ? What gives obsti
nacy without strength, and sullenness without spi
rit, lo the Jacobite-tories at this time ? Another
turn of imagination, or rather the same showing
itself in ano! her form; a factious habit, and a
factious

A PATRIOT KING. 2gg
factious notion, converted into a notion of policy
and honour. They are taught to believe, that by
clinging together they are a considerable weight,
which may be thrown in to turn the scale in any
great event; and that in the meantime, to be a
steady suffering party is an honour they may flat
ter themselves with very justly. Thus, they con
tinue steady to engagements, which most of them
wish in their hearts they had never taken ; and
suffer for principles, in support, of which not one
of them would venture further, than talking the
treason that claret inspires.
It results, therefore, from all that has been said,
and from the reflections which these hints may ,
suggest, that in whatever light we view the divided
state of a people, there is none in which these divi
sions will appear incurable, nor a union of the
members ofa great community with one another,
and with their head, unattainable. It may hap
pen in this case as it does in many others, that
things uncommon may pass for improbable or
impossible : and, as nothing can be more uncom
mon than a Patriot King, there will be no room
to wonder, if the natural and certain effects of
his conduct should appear improbable or impos
sible to many. But there is still something more
in this case. Though the union we speak of be
so much for the interest of every king and every
people, that their glory and their prosperity must
increase, or diminish, in proportion as they ap
proach nearer it, or are further removed from it;
yet is there another interest, by which princes and
people

gOO THE IDEA O?
peopleboth are often imposed upon so far,asto nris-
, take it for their ov/n. The interest I mean is that
©f private ambitiqn. It would be easy to show
in many instances, and particularly in thisx of
uniting instead of dividing, and of governing by
a national concurrence instead of governing by
the management of parties and factions 'in the
state, hew widely different, nay how repugnant
ihe interests of private ambition and those of
real patriotism are. Men, therefore, who are
warmed by the first, and have no sense of the last,
will declare for division, as they do for corruption,
in opposition to union and to integrity of govern-.
meat. They will not indeed declare directly, that
fhe two former are in the abstract preferable; but
they will affirm, with great airs of sufficiency,
that both are incurable ; and conclude from
hence, that in practice it is necessary to comply
with both. This subterfuge once open, there is
no false and immoral measure, in political ma
nagement, which may not be avowed and recom
mended. But the very men, who hope to
escape by opening it, shut it up again, and secure
their, own condemnation, when they labour to
confirm divisions, and to propagate corruption,
and thereby to create the very necessity, that they
plead in' their excuse. Necessity of this kind
there is in reality none; for it seems full as ab
surd to say, that popular divisions must be culti
vated, because popular union cannot be procured,
as it would be to say that poison must be poured
into a wound, because it cannot be healed. The

A PATRIOT KING. 301
The practice of morality, in private life, will never
arrive at ideal perfection-: must we give up our
selves, therefore, to all manner of immorality?
arid must those who are charged with our instruc
tion endeavour to make us the most profligate of
men, because they cannot make us saints ?
Experience of the depravity of human nature
made men desirous to unite in society and under
government, that they might defend themselves
the better against injuries : but the same depra
vity soon inspired to some the design of employ
ing societies to invade and spoil societies ; and
to disturb the peace of the great common
wealth of mankind, with more force and
effect in such collective bodies, than they
could do individually. Just so it happens in the^
domestick ceconomy of particular states: anil I
their peace is disturbed by the same passions.
Some, of their members content themselves wifli
the common benefits of society, and employ all
their industry to promote the publick good:butsoms
propose to themselves a separate interest; and,
that they may pursue it the more effectually, they
assoeiate with others. Thus factions are in thenC
what nations are in the world ; they invade and
rob one another : and, while each pursues a sepa
rate interest, the common interest is sacrificed by
them all: that of mankind in one case, that of
some particular community in the other. This
has been, and must always be, in some measure
the course of human affairs, especially in free
countries, where the passions of men are less re
strained by authority : and I am not wild enough to
suppose,

^OZ THE IDEA OP
suppose, that a Patriot King can change human
nature. /But I am reasonable enough to sup
pose, that, without altering human nature, he
may give a check to this course of human affairs,
in his own kingdom at least; that he may defeat
the designs and break the spirit of faction, instead
of partaking in one, and assuming the other;
and that, if he cannot render the union of his
subjects universal, he may render it so general, as
to answer all the ends of good government,
private security, publick tranquillity, wealth,
power, and fame.
If these ends were ever answered, they
were so, surely, in this country in the days of
,our Elisabeth. She found her kingdoms full of
factions, and factions of another consequence
and danger than these of our days, whom she
would have dispersed with a puff of her breath.
She could not reunite them it is true: the papist
continued a papist, the puritan a puritan ; one
furious, the other sullen. But she united the
"Teat body of the people in her and their com
mon interest, she inflamed them with one nati
onal spirit: and, thus arrned, she maintained
tranquillity at home, and carried succour to her
friends and terrour to her enemies abroad. There
were cabals at her court, and intrigues among
her ministers. It is said too, that she did not
dislike that there should be such. But these
were kept' within her court. They could riot
creep abroad, to sow division among her people:
and her greatest favourite, the earl of Effex, paid
the price of attempting it with his head: Let our

A PATRIOT KING. 303
our great doctors in politicks, who preach so learn
edly on the trite text " Divide et impera," com
pare the conduct of Elizabeth in this respect
with that of her successor, who endeavoured to
govern his kingdom by the notions ofa faction
that he raised, and to manage his parliament by
undertakers: and they must be very obstinate
indeed, if they refuse to acknowledge, that a wise
and good princecan unite a divided people, though
a weak arid wicked prince cannot; and that, the
consequences of national union are glory and hap
piness to the prince and to the peopje; while
those of disunion bring shame and misery
on both, and entail them too on posterity.
I have dwelt long on the last head, not only
because it is of great importance in itself,, and at
all times, but because it is rendered more so than
ever at this time, by the unexampled avowal of
contrary principles. Hitherto it has been thought
the highest pitch of profligac y to own, instead of
concealing, crimes ; and to. take pride in them,
instead of being ashamed of them. But in our
age men have soared to a pitch still higher. The
first is common, it is the practice of numbers, and
by their numbers they keep one another in counte
nance. But the choice spirits of thesa days, tlie men
of mode in politicks, are far from stopping where
criminals of all kinds have stopped, when they have
gone even to this point; for generally the most
hardened of the inhabitants of Newgate do not go
so far. The men I speak of contend, that il is not
enough to be vicious by practice aud habit, but
that

304 THE IDEA OF
that it is necessary to be so by principle/ They
make themselves missionaries of faction as well
as of corruption: they recommend both, they
deride all suoh as imagine it possible, or fit, tore-
tain truth, integrity, and a disinterested regard to
the publick in publick life, and pronounce every
man a fool, who is not ready to act like a knave.
I hope that enough has been said, though much
more might have been said, to expose the wick
edness of these men, and the absurdity of
their schemes; and to show that a Patriot King
riiay walk more easily and successfully in other
paths of government " per tutum planumque iter
" religionis,justitise,honestatis,virtutumquejnora-
" lium.'* Let me proceed, therefore, to mention
two other heads of the conduct, that such a king
will hold, and it shall be my endeavour not to
fall into the same prolixity.
A king who esteems it his duty to support, or
torestore, if that be needful, the free constitution
ofa limited monarchy ; who forms and maintains
a wise and good administration ; who subdues fac
tion, and promotes the union of his people: and
who makes their greatest good the constant ob
ject of his government, may be said, no doubt,
to be in the true interest of his kingdom. All the
particular cases, that can arise, are included in
these general characteristicks of a wise and good
reign. And yet it seems proper to mentiori,
under a distinct head, some particular instances
that have not been touched, wherein this
wisdom and goodness will exert themselves.
Now

A PATRIOT KING. 3O5
Now, though the true interest of several states
may be the same in many respects, yet is there
always some difference to be perceived, by a dis
cerning eye, both in these interests, and in the
manner of pursuing them ; a difference that arises
from the situation of countries, from the charac
ter of people, from the nature of government,
and even from that of climate and soil; from
circumstances that are, like these, permanent, and
from others, that may be deemed more accidental.
To illustrate all this by examples, would be easy,
but long. I shall content myself therefore to
mention, in some instances only, the difference
that arises, from the causes referred to, between
the true interest of our country, and that of some
or all our neighbours on the continent : and leave
others to extend and apply in their own thoughts
the comparison I shall hint at, rather than enlarge
upon. The situation of great Britain, the character of
her people, and the nature of her government.
fit her for trade and commerce. Her climate and
her soil make them necessary to her well-being.
By trade and commerce we grow a rich and pow
erful nation, and by their decay we are growing
poor ancl impotent. Astradeand commerce enrich,
so they fortify, our country. The sea is our bar*
rier, ships are our fortresses, and the mariners, that
trade, and commerce alone can furnish, are tho
garrisons to defend them.. France lies unde*
great disadvantages in trade and commerce, by
the nature of ber government. Her advantages
Vol. IV. X in.

306 .-THE IDEA OP
in situation, are as great at least as ours. .Those
that arise from the temper and character of her
people are a little different perhaps, and yet
upon the whole equivalent. Those of her cli
mate and her soil are superiour to ours, and in
deed to those of any European nation. The
United Provinces have the same advantages that
we have in the nature of their government, more
perhaps in the temper and character of their peo
ple, less to be sure in their situation, climate, and
soil. But, without descending into a longer
detail of the advantages and disadvantages attend
ing each of these nations in trade and commerce,
it is sufficient for my present purpose to observe,
that Great Britain stands in a certain middle
between the other two, with regard to wealth and
power arising from these springs. A less, and a
less constant, application to the improvement of
these may serve the ends of France; a greater is
necessary in this country; and a greater still in
Holland. The French may improve their natural
wealth and power by the improvement of trade and
commerce. We can have no wealth, nor power by
consequence, as Europe is now constituted, with
out the improvement of them, nor in any degree
but proportionably to this improvement. The
Dutch cannot subsist without them. They
bring wealth to other nations, and are necessary
to the well-being of them; but they supply the
Dutch with food and raiment, and are necessary
«ven to their being.
The result of what has been said is, in general, that

A PATRIOT KINO. 367
that the wealth and power of all nations depending
so much on their trade and commerce, and every
nation being, like the three 1 have mentioned, in
such different circumstances of advantage or
disadvantage in the pursuit of this common in
terest ; a good government, and therefore the
government of a Patriot King, will be directed
constantly to make the most of every advantage
that nature has given, or art can procure, towards
the improvement of trade and commerce. And
this is one of the principal criterions by which
we are to judge, whether governors are in the
true interest of the people or not..
It results, in particular, that great Britain might
improve her wealth and power in a proportion
superiour to that of any nation who can be deemed
her rival, if the advantages she has were as wisely
Cultivated, as they will be in the reign of a Patriot
King. To be convinced more thoroughly of this
truth, a very short process of reasoning will
Suffice. Let any man, who has knowledge
enough for it, first compare the natural state of
Great Britain, and of the United Provinces, and
then their artificial state together ; that is, let
him Consider minutely the advantages we have
by the situation, extent, and nature of our island,
over the inhabitants of a few salt marshes gained
on the sea, and hardly defended from it : and after
that, let him consider how nearly these provinces
have raised themselves lo an equality of wealth
and power with the kingdom of Great Britain.
From whence arises this difference of improve-
x 2 ment ?

308 THE IDEA OF
ment ? It arises plainly from hence : the Dutch
have been, from the foundation of their common
wealth, a nation of patriots and merchants. The
spirit of that people has not been diverted from
these two objects, the defence of their liberty, and
the improvement of their trade and commerce:
which have been carried on by them with Uninter
rupted arid unslackened application, industry,
order, and^ceconomy. In Great Britain the case
has not been the same, "in either respect ; but
here we confine ourselves lor speak of the last
alone. Trade and commerce, such as they were in
those days, had been sometimes, and in some
instances, before the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
encouraged and improved : but the great encou
ragements were given, the great extensions and
improvements were made, by that glorious
princess. To her we owe that spirit of domestick
and foreign trade, which is not quite extinguished.
' It was she who gave that rapid motion to our
whole mercantile system, which is not entirely
ceased. They both flagged under her successor ;
were not revived under his son ; were checked,
diverted, clogged, and interrupted during our
civil wars : and began to exert new vigor after >he
restoration, in a long course of peace ; but met
with new difficulties, too, from the confirmed
rivalry of the Dutch, and the growing rivalry of
the French. To one of these the pusillanimous
character of James the first gave many scandalous
occasions : and the other was favoured by the
conduct

A PATRIOT KING. 3O9
conduct of Charles the second, who never was
in the true interest of the people he governed.
From the revolution to the death of queen Anne,
however trade and commerce might be aided and
encouraged in other respects, they were neces
sarily subjected to depredations abroad, and over-
loaded by taxes at home, during the course of two
great wars. From the accession of the late king
to ibis hour, in the midst of a full peace, the
debts ofthe nation continue much the same, the
taxes have been increased, and for eighteen
years of this time we have tamely suffered conti
nual depredations from the most contemptible
maritime power in Europe, that of Spain.
A Patriot King will neither neglect, nor sacrifice
his country's interest. No other interest, neither
a foreign nor a domestick, neither a publick nor a
private, will influence his conduct in government.
He will not multiply taxes, wantonly, nor keep up
those unnecessarily which necessity has laid, that
he may keep up legions of tax-gatherers. He
will not continue national debts, by all sorts of
political and other profusion; nor, more wickedly
still, by a settled purpose of oppressing and im
poverishing the people ; that he may with greater
ease corrupt some, and govern the whole, accord*- '
ing to the dictates of his passions and arbritary
will. To give ease and encouragement; to manu
factory at home, to assist and protect trade abroad,
to improve and keep, in heart the national colo
nies, like so many farms of the mother country,
will be principal and constant parts of the at-
x 3 tention

$10 THE IDhA OF
tention of such a prince. The wealth of the
¦nation he will most justly esteem to be his wealth,
\the power his power, the security and the honour,
his security and honour; and, by the very means
by which he promotes the two first, he will wisely
preserve the two last ; for by these means, and
by these alone, can the great advantage of the
situation of this kingdom be taken and im
proved. Great Britain is an island : and, while nations
on the continent are at immense charge in main
taining their barriers, and perpetually on their
guard, and frequently embroiled, to extend or
strengthen them, Great Britain may, if her go
vernors please, accumulate wealth in maintaining
¦ hers ; make herself secure from invasions, and be
ready to invade others when her own immediate
interest, or the general interest of Europe, requires
it. Of all which queen Elizabeth's reign is a
memorable example, and undeniable prOof. I said
the general interest of Europe; because it seems
to me that this, alone, should call our councils off
from an almost entire application to their domestick
and proper business. Other nations must watch
over every motion of their neighbours; penetrate,
if they can, every design ; foresee every minute
event ; and take part by some engagement or other
in almost every conjuncture that arises. But as we
cannot be easily nor suddenly attacked, and as we
ought not to aim at any acquisition of territory on
the continent,- it may be our interest to watch the
secret workings of the several councils abroad;

A PATRIOT K1NC. 3 I I
to advise, and warn ; to abet, and oppose ; but it
never cari be our true interest easily and offi
ciously to enter into action, much less into
engagements that imply action and expense.
Other nations, like the velites or light-armed
troops, stand foremost in the field, and skirmish
perpetually. When a great war begins, we ought
to look on the powers of the continent, to whom
we incline, like the two first lines, the principes
and hastati of a Roman army : and on ourselves
like the triarii, that are not to charge with these
legions on every occasion, but to be ready for the
conflict whenever the fortune of the day, be it
sooner or later, calls us to it, and the sum of
things, or the general interest, makes it pe*
cessary. This is that post of advantage and honour,
wliich our singular situation among the powers of
Europe determines us, or should determine us, to
take, in all disputes that happen on the continent.
If we neglect it, and dissipate our strength on
occasions that touch us remotely or indirectly, we
are governed by men who do not know the true
interest of this island, or who have some other
interest more at heart. If we adhere to it, so at
least as to deviate little and seldom from it, as
we shall do whenever we are wisely and honestly
governed, then will this nation make her proper
figure : and a great one it will be. By a continual
attention to improve her natural, that is her ma
ritime strength, by collecting all her forces within
herself, and reserving them to be laid out on
x 4 great

312 THE IDEA OF
great occasions, such as regard her immediate
interests and her honour, or such as are truly
important to Abs.~S£Jxeni} system ofo power in
Europe ; she may be the arbitrator of differences!
the guardian of liberty, and the preserverjff that
balance, which has been so much~£alked of, and
is so little understood.
" Are we never to be soldiers ?" it will be said.
Yes, constantly, in such proportion as is necessary
for the defence of good government. To establish
such a military force as none but bad governors
can want, is to establish tyrannical power in the
king or in the ministers ; and may be wanted by
the latter, when the former would be secure
without his army, if he broke his minister. Occa
sionally too we must be soldiers, and for offence
as well as defence ; but in proportion to the nature
©f the conjuncture, considered always relatively to
the difference here insisted upon between our situa
tion, our interest, and the nature of our strength,
compared with those of the other powers of
Europe ; and not in proportion to the desires, or
even to the wants, of the nations with whom we
are confederated. Like other amphibious ani
mals, we must come occasionally on shore ; bul
the water is more properly our element, and in it,
like them, as we find our greatest security, so we
exert our greatest force.
What I touch upon here, very shortly, deserves
to be considered, and reconsidered, by every
man who has, or may have, any share in the-go^
vemment of Great Britain por we hate not
20 ' only

A PATRIOT KING. 313
only departed too much from our true national
interest in this respect ; but we have done so with
the general applause even of well-meaning men,
who did not discern that we wasted ourselves by
an improper application of our strength in con
junctures, when wemlght have served thecomnum,
cause far more usefully, nay with entire effect,
by a proper application of our natural strength.
There was something more than this. Armies
grew so much into fashion, in time of war, among
s men who meant well to their country, that they
who mean ill to it have kept, and keep them still
up in the profoundest peace ; and the number of
our soldiers, in this island alone, is almost double
to that of our seamen. That they are kept up
against foreign enemies, cannot be said with any
colour. If they are kept for show, they are
ridiculous ; if they are kept for any other pur
pose whatever, they are too dangerous to be
suffered, A Patriot King, seconded by ministers
attached to the true interest of their country,
would soon reform this abuse, and save a great
part of this expense ; or apply it, in a manner
preferable even to the saving it, to the maim-
tenance of a body of marine foot, and to the '
charge of a register of thirty or forty thousand
seamen. But no thoughts like these, no great
designs for the honour and interest of the king
dom, will be entertained, till men who have this
honour and interest at heart arise to power.
I comenow to the last head under which I shall
consider thecharacter and cond uct ofa Patriot King :
and

314 THE IDEA OF.
and let it not be thought to be of the least import
ance, though it may seem, at the first m ntion, to
concern appearances rather than realities, and to be
nothing more than a circumstance contained in
or implied by the great parts ofthe character and
conduct of such a king. It is of his personal
behaviour, of his manner of living with other men,
and, in a. word, of his private as well as publick
life, that I meari to speak. It is of that decency
and grace, that bienseance of the French, that
decorum of the Latins, that v^nrat of the Greeks,
which can never be reflected on any character,
that is- not laid in virtue: but for want of which,
a character that is so laid will lose, at all times,
part of the lustre belonging to it, and may be
sometimes not a little misunderstood and under
valued. Beauty is not separable from health,
nor this lustre, said the Stoicks, from virtue: but
as a man may be healthful without being hand
some, so he may be virtuous without being amia
ble. There are certain finishing strokes, a last hand
'as we common)}' say, to be given to all the works
of art. Wheri that is not given, we may see the
excellency ofa general design, ancl the beauty of
some particular parts. A judge of the art may
see further ; he may allow for what is wanting,
and discern the full merit of a complete work in
one that is imperfect. But vulgar eyes will not
be. so struck. The workwill appear to them defect
ive, because unfinished: so that without knowing
precisely what they dislike, they may admire, but

A PATRIOT KINO. 315
but they will not be pleased. Thus^in moral
characters, though every part be virtuous* and
great, or though the few and small defects in it be
concealed under the blaze of those shining quali
ties that compensate for them ; yet is not this
enough even in private life: it is less so in pub
lick life, and still less so in that of a prince.
There is a certain " species liberalis," more
easily understood than explained, and felt
than defined, that must be acquired and rendered
habitual to him. A certain propriety of words
and actons, that results from their conformity to
nature and character, must always accompany
him, ancl create an air and manner, that run uni
formly through the whole tenour of his conduct
and behaviour : which air and manner are so far
from any kind or degree of affectation,-that they
cannot be attained except by him who' is void of
all affectation. We may illustrate this to our
selves, and make it more sensible, by reflecting
on the conduct of good dramatic or epick writers.
They draw the charactersf>which they bring on
the scene, from nature, they sustain them through
the whole piece, and make their actors neither say
nor do any thing that is not exactly proper to the
character. each of them represents. " Oderint
" dum metuant," came properly out of the
mouth of a tyrant ; but Euripides would never
have put that execrable sentence into the mouth
of Minos or^Eacus.
A man of sense and virtue both will not fall into
any great impropriety of character, or indecency of

gi6 THE IDEA OF
of conduct : but he may slide or be surprised into
small ones, from a thousand reasons, and in a
thousand manners, which I shall not stay to enu
merate. Against these, therefore, even men,.
who are incapable of falling into the others
must be still, on their guard, and no men so much
as princes. When their nlinds are filled and
their hearts warmed with true notions of govern
ment, when they know their duty, and love their
people, they will not fail iu the great parts they
are to act, in the council, in the field, and in all
'the ardous affairs that belong to their kingly
office : at least they will not begin to fail, by failing
in them. . But as they are men susceptible of
the same impressions, liable to the same errours,
and exposed to the same passions, so they are
likewiseexposed to more and stronger temptations
than others. Besides, the elevation in which they
are placed, asit gives them great advantages, gives
them great disadvantages too, that often countervail
the former. Thus, for instance, a little merit in
a prince is seen and felt by numbers, it is multi
plied, as it were, and in proportion to this effect
his reputation is raised by it. But then, a little
failing is seen and felt by numbers too : it is mul
tiplied in the same manner, and his reputation
rinks in the same proportion.
I spoke above of defects, that may be concealed
under the blaze of greatand shining qualities. This
may be the case : it has been that of some princes.
There goes a tradition, that Henry the fourth •<" of
France asked a Spanish ambassador, what mi&-
tresses

A PATRIOT KING. 31 y
tresses the king of Spain had ? The ambassador
replied, like a formal pedant, that his master was
a prince who feared God, and had no mistress
but the queen. Henry the fourth felt the reflec
tion, and asked him in return, with some contempt,
" Whether his master had not virtues enough to
" cover one vice ?"
' The faults or defects, that may be thus covered
or compensated, are, I think, those of the man,
rather than those of the king ; such as arise from
constitution, and the natural rather than the
moral character; such as may be deemed accidental
starts of passion, or accidental remissness in some
unguarded hours ; surprises, if I may say so, of
the man on the king. When these happen seldom,
and pass soon, they may be hid like spots in the
sun: but they are spots still. He who has the
means of seeing them, will see them : and he who
has not, may feel the effects of them without
knowing precisely the cause. When they conti
nue ( for here is the danger, because, if they
continue, they wij! increase) they are spots no
longer: they spread a general shade, and obscure
the light in which they were drowned before.
T(ie_virtues of the king are lost in... the vices of
the man.
Alexander had violent passions, and those for
wine and women were predominant, after his
ambition. They were spots in his character,
before they prevailed by the force of habit : as
soon as they began to do so, the king and the
hero appeared less, the rake and bully more.
Persepolis

gl 8 THE IDEA OF
Persepolis was burnt at the instigation ofThais, and
Clytus was killed in a drunken brawl. He repented'
indeed of these two horrible actions, and was
again the king and hero upon many occasions ;
but he had not been enough on his guard, when
the strongest incitements to vanity aud to sen
sual pleasures offered themselves at every moment
to him: and, when he stood in all bis easy hours sur
rounded by women and eunuchs, by the pandars,
parasites, and buffoons of a voluptuous court,
they, who could not approach the king, approach
ed the man, and by seducing the man, they be
trayed the king. His faults became habits.
The Macedonians, who did not or would not see
the one, saw the other ; and he fell a sacrifice to
their resentments, to their fears, and to those fac
tions, that will arise under an odious government,
as well as under one that grows into contempt.
Other characters might be brought to contrast
with this ; the first Scipio Africanus, for example, -
or the eldest Cato : and there will be no objec
tion to a comparison of such citizens of Rome,
as these were, with kings of the first magnitude..
Now the reputation of the first Scipio was not
so clear and uncontroverted in private as in pub
lick life ; nor was he allowed by all, to be a mart
of such severe virtue, as he affected, and as that
age required. Nsevius was thought to mean him
in some verses Gellius bas preserved : and Vale
rius Antias made no scruple to assert, that, far
from restoi !v the fair Spaniard to her farrrily,
he debauched and kept her. Notwithstanding this?

A PATRIOT KINS. 319
this, what authority did he not maintain? In
what esteem and veneration did he not live and
die ? With what panegyricks has not the whole
torrent of writers rolled down his reputation
even to these days? This could not have hap
pened, if the vice imputed to him had shown
itself in any scandalous appearances, to eclipse
the lustre of the general, the consul, or the citi
zen. The same reflection might be extended to
•Cato, who loved wine as well as Scipio. loved
women. Men did not judge in the days ofthe
elder Cato perhaps, as Seneca was ready to do
in those of the younger, that drunkenness could
be no crime if Cato drank: but Cato's passion,
as well as that of Scipio, was subdued and kept
under by his publick character. His virtue
warmed, instead of cooling, by this indulgence
to his genius or natural temper : and one may
gather, from what Tully puts into his mouth,
in the treatise concerning Old Age, that even his
love of wine was rendered subservient, instead
of doing hurt, to the measures he pursued in
his publick character.
Give me leave to insist a little on the two first
Caesars, and on Mark Antony. I quote none
of them as good men^ but I may quote them ail
as great men, and therefore properly in this
place; since a Patriot King must avoid the. de
fects that diminish a great character, as well as
those that corrupt a good one. Old Curio called
Julius Cassar the husband of every wife, and the
wife of every husband; referring to his known
adulteries,

3ZO THE IDEA, OF
adulteries, and to. the compliances that be was
suspected of in his youth for Nicomedes. Even
bis own soldiers, in the licence of a triumph,
sung lampoons on him for his profusion as well
as lewdness. The youth of Augustus was de
famed as much as that of Julius Caesar, and both
as much as that of Antony. When Rome was
ransacked by the pandars of Augustus, and ma
trons and virgins were stripped and searched,
like slaves in a market, to choose the fittest to.
satisfy his lust, did Antony do more ? When
Julius set no bounds to his debauches in Egypt,
except those that satiety imposed, " postquam
" epulis bacchoque modum lassata voluptas
** imposuit," when he trifled away his time with
Cleopatra in the very crisis ofthe civil war, and
till his troops refused to follow him any further
in his effeminate progress up the Nile — did An
tony do more ? No ; all three had vices, which
would have been so little borne in any former
age of Rome, that no man could have raised
himself, under the weight of them, to popularity
and to power. But we must not wonder that
the people, who bore the tyrants, bore the liber
tines : . nor that indulgence was shown to the vices
ofthe great, in a city where universal corruption
and profligacy of manners were established : and
yet even in this city, and among these degenerate .
Romans, certain it is, that different appearances,
with the same vices, helped to maintain theCassars,
aud ruined Antony. I might produce many
anecdotes to show how the two former saved ap
pearances

A PATRIOT KING. 3*1
pearances while their vices were the most flagrant,
and made so much amends for the appearances
they had not saved, by those of a contrary kind,
that a great part at least of all which was said to
defame them might pass, and did pass, for the
calumny of party.
But Antony threw off all decorum from the
first, and continued to do so to the last. Not
only vice, but indecency became habitual to him.
He ceased to be a general, a consul, a triumvir,
a citizen of Rome. He became an Egyptian
king, sunk into luxurious effeminacy, and proved
he was unfit to govern men, by suffering him*
self to be governed by a wcman. His vices
hurt him, but his habits ruined him. If a poli
tical modesty at least had made him disguise the
first, they would have hurt him less, and he might
have escaped the last : but he was so little sen
sible of this, that in a fragment of one of his let
ters to Augustus, which Suetonius has preserved,
he endeavours to justify himself by pleading this
very habit. " What matter is it whom we lie
" with?" says he : «' this letter may find you per-
" haps with Tertulla, or Terentilia," or others
that he names. " 1 lie with Cleopatra, and
" have I not done so these nine years ?
These great examples; which I have produced,
not to encourage vice, but to show more strongly
the advantages of decency in private behaviour,
may appear in some sort figures bigger than the
life. Few virtues and few vices grow -up, in
these parts ofthe world and these Latter ages, to
Voi. IV. Y the

322 THE IDEA OP
the "size of those I have mentioned; and none
have such scenes wherein to exert themselves.
But the truths I am desirous to inculcate will be
as justly delivered in this manner, and perhaps
more strongly felt. Failings or vices that flow
from the same source of human nature, that
run the same course through the conduct of
•princes, ancl have the same effects on their cha
racters, and consequently on their government
and their fortune, have all the proportion neces
sary to my application of them. It matters little,
whether a prince, who abandons that common
decorum which results from nature and which rea.
son prescribes, abandons the particular decorums
of this country or that, of this age or that, which
result from mode, and which custom exacts. It
matters little, for instance, whether a prince
gives himself up to the more gross luxury of the
West, or to the more refined luxury of the east ;
whether he become the slave of a domestick har
lot, or ofa foreign queen ; in short, whether ,he
forget himself in the arms of one whore or of
twenty ; and whether he imitate Antony, or a
king of Achin, who is reported to have passed his
whole time in a seraglio, eating, drinking, chew
ing betel, playing with women, and talking of
cockfighting. To sum up the whole, and draw to a conclusion ;
this decency, this grace, this propriety of man
ners to character, is so essential to princes in
particular, that whenever it is neglected, their
virtues lose a great degree of lustre, and their
defect

A PATRIOT KlNG. 32^
defects acquire much aggravation. Nay more;
by neglecting this decency and this grace, and
for want of a sufficient regard to appearances,
even their virtues may betray them into failings,
their failings into vices, and their vices into ha
bits unworthy of princes and unworthy of men.
The constitutions of governments, and the dif
ferent tempers and characters of people, may be
thought justly to deserve some consideration, in
determining the behaviour of princes in private
life aswell as in publick ; and to put a difference,
for instance, between the decorum of a king of
France and that ofa king of Great Britain.
Lewis the fourteenth was king in an absolute
monarchy, and reigned over a people, whose ge
nius makes it as fit perhaps to impose on them
by admiration and awe, as to gain and hold them
by affectiom Accordingly he kept great state $
was haughty, was reserved ; and all he said or
did appeared to be forethought and planned. His
regard to appearances was such, that when his
mistress was the wife of another man,' and he had
children by her every year, he endeavoured to
cover her constant residence at court by a place
she filled about the queen \ and he dined and sup
ped and cohabited with the latter in every ap
parent respect as if he had had no mistress at all.
Thus he raised a great reputation ; he was re
vered by his subjects, and admired by his neigh
bours : and this was due principally to the art
with which he managed appearances, so as to
set off his virtues, to disguise his failings and
Y 2 his

324 THE IDEA OP
his vices, and by his example and authority to
keep a veil drawn over the futility and debauch
of his court.
His successor, not to the throne, but to the
sovereign power, was a mere rake, with some wit,
and no morals ; nay, with so little regard to them,
that he made them a subject of ridicule in dis
course, and appeared in his whole conduct more
profligate, if that could be, than he was in prin
ciple. The difference between these characters
soon appeared in abominable effects; such as,
Cruelty apart, might recal the memory of Nero,
or, in the other sex, that of Messalina, and such
as I leave the chroniclers of scandal to relate.
Our Elizabeth was queen in a limited monar
chy, and reigned over a people at all times more
easily led' than driven ; ahd at that time capable
of being attached to their prince and their coun
try, by a more generous principle than any of
those which prevail in our days, by affection.
There was ajrtron_g_prerqgative then in being, and
the crSwn was in possession of greater Jegzl pow
er. Popularity was, however, then, as it is now,
arid as it must be always in mixed government,
the sole true foundation of that sufficient authority
and influence, which other constitutions give the
prince gratis, and independently of the people,
but which a king of tbis nation must acquire.
The wise queen saw it, and she saw too, how much
popularity depends on those appearances, that
depend on the decorum, the decency, the grace,
and the propriety of behaviour of which we are
speaking.

A PATRIQT KINO. 325
speaking. A warm concern for the interest and
honour ofthe nation, a tenderness for her people,
and a confidence in their affections, were appear
ances that ran through her whole publick conduct,
and gave life and colour to it. She did great
things, and she knew how to set them off accord
ing to their full value, by her manner of doing
them. In her private behaviour she showed
great affability, she descended even to familiarity ;
but her familiarity was such as could not be im
puted to her weakness, and was, therefore, most
justly ascribed to her goodness. Though a wo
man, she hid all that was womanish about her :
and if a few equivocal marks of coquetry appear
ed on some occasions, they passed like flashes of
lightning, vanished as soon as they were dis
cerned, and imprinted no blot on her character.
She had private friendships, she had favourites :
but she never suffered her friends to forget she was
their queen ; and when her favourites did, she
made them feel that she was so.
Her successor had no virtues to set off, but he
had failings and vices to conceal. He could not
conceal the latter ; and void of the former, he
could not compensate for them. His failings and
his vices therefore standing in full view, he pass
ed for a weak prince and an ill man ; and fell
into all the contempt wherein his memory re
mains to this day. The methods he took, to pre
serve himself from it, served but to confirm him
in it. No irian can keep the decorum of man-
y 3 ners

326 THE IDEA OP
nersinlife, who is not free from every kind of affec
tation, as it has been said already : but he who
affects what he has no .pretensions to, or what is
improper to his character and rank in the world,
is guilty of most consummate folly; he becomes
doubly ungracious, doubly indecent, and quite
ridiculous. James the first, not having one
quality to conciliate the esteem or affection of
his people to him, endeavoured to impose on their
understandings ; and to create a respect for him
self, by spreading the most extravagant notions
about kings in general, as if they were middle be
ings between God and other men ; and by com
paring the extent and unsearchable mysteries
of riieir power and prerogative to those of the
divine providence. His language and his behavi*
our were commonly suited to such foolish pre*
tensions ; and thus, by assuming a claim to such
respect ancl submission as were not due to him,
he lost a great part of what was due to him. In
short, he begun at the wrong end; for though
the shining qualities of the king may cover some
failings and some vices that do not grow up to
strong habits in the man, yet must the character
of a great and good king "be" fo unded in that ofa
great" and" good" man. A kirigfwho lives" out of
the sightof his subjects, or is never seen by them
except on his throne, can scarce be despised as a
»nan, though he may be hated as a king. But the
king who lives more iu their sight, and more
Under their observation, mav be despised before he.

A PATRIOT KING. 327
he is hated, and even without being hated. . This
happened to king James : a thousand circumstan
ces brought it to pass, and none more than the in
decent weaknesses he had for his minions. He
did not endeavour to cure this contempt and
raise his character, only by affecting what he
had no pretensions to, as in the former case ; but
he endeavoured likewise most vainly to do \p by
affecting what was improper to his character and
rank. He did not endeavour indeed to disguise
his natural pusillanimity and timidity under the
mafk of a bully, while he was imposed upon
and insulted by all his neighbours, and above
all by the Spaniards ; but he retailed the scraps
qf Buchanan, affected to talk much, figured in
church controversies, and put on all the pedanlick
appearances of a scholar, while he neglected
all those of a great and good man, as well as
"king. Let not princes flatter themselves. They will
be examined closely, in private as well as in
publick life : and those, who cannot pierce
further, will judge of them by the appearances
they give in both, To obtain true popularity,
that which is founded in esteem and affection,
they must, therefore, maintain their characters
in both ; and to that end neglect appearances in -
neither, but observe the decorum necessary to
preserve the esteem, while they win the affec
tions of mankind. Kings, they must never
forget that they are men : men, they must never
v 4 forget

32$ THE IDEA OP
forget that they are kings. The sentiments
which one of these reflections of course inspires,
will give a humane and affable air to their whole
behaviour, and make them taste in that high ele
vation all the joys of social life. The sentiments,
that the other reflection suggests, will be found
very compatible with the former: and they may
never forget that they are kings, though they do
not always carry the crown on their heads, nor
the sceptre in their hands. Vanity and folly
must entrench themselves in a constant affecta
tion of state, to preserve regal dignity : a wise
prince will know how to preserve it when he lays
his majesty aside. He will dare to appear a
a private man, and in that character he will draw
to himself a respect less ostentatious, but more
real and more pleasing to him, than any which
is paid to the monarch. By never saying what
is unfit for him to say, he will never hear what
is unfit for him to hear. By never doing what
is unfit for him to do, he will never see What
is unfit for him to see. Decency and propriety
of manners are so far from lessening the pleasures
of life, that they refine them, and give them a
higher taste : they are so far from restraining the
free and easy commerce of social life, that they
banish the bane of it, licentiousness of behaviour.
Ceremony is the barrier against this abuse of li
berty in publick ; politeness and decency are so
in private : and the prince, who practises and
exacts them, will amuse himself much better,
iq and

A PATRIOT KINO. 32<)
and oblige those, who have the honour to be in
his intimacy and to share his pleasures with
him, much more, than he could possibly
do by the most absolute and unguarded fami
liarity. That which is here recommended to princes,
that constant guard on their own behaviour even
in private life, and that constant decorum which
their example ought to exact from others, will
not be found so difficult in practice as may be
imagined ; if they use a proper discernment in
the choice of the persons whom they admit to
the nearest degrees of intimacy with them. A
prince should choose his companions with as great
care as his ministers. If he trusts the business of
his state to these, he trusts his character to those :
and his character will depend on theirs much more
than is commonly thought. General experience
will lead men to judge, that a similitude of cha
racter determined the choice ; even when chance,
indulgence to assiduity, good-nature, or want of
reflection, had their share in the introduction of
men unworthy of such favour. But in such cases
certain it is, that they, who judged wrong at first
concerning him, will judge right at last. He
is not a trifler, for instance. Be it so : but if
he takes trifling futile creatures, men of mean
characters, or of no character, into his intimacy,
he shows a disposition to become such ; and will
become suchunless he breaks these habits early, and
before puerile amusements are grown up to be the
business

330 THE IDEA OP
business of his life. I mean, that the minds of prin
ces, like the minds of other men, will be brought
down insensibly to the tone ofthe company they
keep. A worse consequence, even than this, may
follow a want of discernment in princes how to
choose their companions, and how to conduct
themselves in private life. Silly kings have re
signed themselves to their ministers, have
suffered these to stand between them and their
people, and have formed no judgments, nor
taken any measures on their own knowledge,
but all implicitly on the representations made to
them by their ministers. Kings of superiour
capacity have resigned themselves in the same
manner to their favourites, male and female,
have suffered these to stand between them and
their most able and faithful councejlors : their
judgments have been influenced, and their mea
sures directed by insinuations of women, or of
men as little fitted as women, by nature and edu
cation, to be hearkened to, in the great affairs
of government. History is full of such exam
ples ; all melancholy, many tragical ! sufficient,
one would imagine, to deter princes, if attended
to, from permitting the companions pf their idle
hours, or the instruments of their pleasures, to
exceed the bounds of those provinces. Should
a minister of state pretend to vie with any of
these, about the forms of a drawing-room, the
regulation of a ruelle, the decoration of aball, or
the

A PATRIOT KING. 33!
the dress of a fine lady, he would be thought
ridiculous, and he would be truly so. But then
are not any of these impertinent, when they
presume to meddle in things at least as much
above them, as those that have been mentioned
are below the others ? And are not princes,
who suffer them to do so, unaccountably weak ?
What shall I say further on this head ? Nothing
more is necessary. Let me wind it up, therefore,
by asserting this great truth, that results from
what has been already said : As he can never
fill the character of a Patriot King, though his
personal great and good qualities be in every
other respect equal to it, who lies open to the
flattery of courtiers, to the seduction of women,
and to tbe partialities and affections which are
easily contracted by too great indulgence in
private life ; so the prince, who is desirous to
establish this character, must observe such a de
corum, and keep such a guard on himself, as may
prevent even the suspicion of being liable to such
influences. For as the reality would ruin, the
very suspicion will lessen him in the opinion of
mankind : and the opinion of mankind, which
is fame after death, is superiour strength and
power in life."
And now, if the principles and measures of
conduct, laid down in this discourse, as necessary
to constitute that greatest and most glorious of
human beings, a Patriot King, be sufficient to
this purpose ; let us consider, too, how easy it is,
or

33* 'fHE IDEA OP
or Ought to be, to establish them in the minds of
princes. They are founded on true propositions,
all of which are obvious, nay, many of them self*
evident. They are confirmed by universal expe
rience. In a word, no understanding can resist
them, and none but the weakest can fail, or be
misled, in the application of them. To a prince,
whose heart is corrupt, it is in vain to speak ;
and, for such a prince, I would not be thought
to write. But if the heart of a prince be not
corrupt, these truths will find an easy ingression,
through the understanding, to it. Let us consider
^gain what the sure, the necessary effects of such
principles and measures of conduct must be, to
the prince, and to the people. On this subject
let the imagination range through the whole glo
rious scene of a patriot reign : the beauty of the
idea will inspire those transports, which Plato
imagined the vision of Virtue would inspire, if
Virtue could be seen. What in truth cari be so
lovely, what so venerable, as to contemplate a
king, on whom the eyes of a whole people are
fixed, filled with admiration, and glowing with
affection ? A king, in the temper of whose go
vernment, like that of Nerva, things so seldom
allied as empire and liberty are intimately mixed,
coexist together inseparably, and constitute one
real essence ? What spectacle can be presented to
the view of the mind so rare, so nearly divine,
as a king possessed of absolute power, neither
usurped by fiaud, nor maintained by force, but tlie

A PATRIOT KING. 333
the genuine effect of esteem, of confidence, and
affection ; the free gift of liberty, who finds her
greatest security in this power, and would desire
no other if ,the prince on the throne could be,
what his people wish him to be, immortal ? Of
such a prince, and of such a prince alone, it
may be said with strict propriety and truth,
" Volentes
" Per populos dat jura, viamque affectatQlympo."
Civil fury will have no place in this draught : or if
the monster is seen, he must be seen as Virgil
describes him, " Centum vinctus ahenis
" Post tergum nodis, fremit horridus ore cruento."
He must be seen subdued, bound, chained, and
deprived entirely of power to do hurt. In his
place, concord will appear, brooding peace and
prosperity on the happy land ; joy sitting in
every face, content in every heart ; a people
unoppressed, undisturbed, unalarmed ; busy to
improve their private property and the publick
stock ; fleets covering the ocean, bringing home
wealth by the returns of industry, carrying as
sistance or terrour abroad by the direction of
wisdom, and asserting triumphantly the right and
the honour of Great Britain, as far as waters roll
and as winds can waft them.
Those who live to see such happy days,
and to act in so glorious a scene, will perhaps
call to mind, with some tenderness of sentiment, when-

334 THE IDEA OF A PATRIOT KING.
when he is no more, a man, who contributed his
mite to carry on so good a work, and who desired
life for nothing so much, as to see a king of Great,
Britain the most popular man in his country,
and a Patriot King at the head of a united
people.

t 335 3

OF THE

STATE of PARTIES

AT THE

ACCESSION OF KING GEORGE TIJE FIRST.

I perceive by yours, that my discourse ofthe
character ancl conduct of a Patriot King, in.
that article which relates to party, has not entirely
satisfied your expectations. You expected,
from some things that I remember to have
said to you in conversation, and others that have
fallen on that occasion from my pen, a more
particular application of those general reasonings
to the present time, and to the state of parties
from the late king's accession to the throne.
The subject is delicate enough, and yet I shall
speak upon it what truth exacts from me with
the utmost frankness : for I know all our par
ties too well, to. esteem any; and I am too old,
and too resigned to my fate, to want, or to fear
any. Whatever anecdotes you have been told, for
yogi

336 OF THE STATE
you are too young to have seen the passages
of the times I am going to mention, and what
ever prepossessions you have had, take these
facts for undoubted truths ; That there was np
design on foot, during the four last years of
queen Anne's reign, to set aside the succession
ofthe house of Hanover, and to place the crown
on the head ofthe pretender to it • nor any party
formed for this purpose at the time of the death
of that princess, whose memory I honour, and
therefore feel a just indignation at the irreverence.
with which we have seen it treated. If such a
design had been on foot, during that time there
were moments when the executionof it would not
have been difficult, or dangerous enough, to have
stopped men of the most moderate resolu
tion. Neither could a design of that nature
have been carried on so long, though it was not
carried into execution, without leaving some
traces, which would have appeared when such
strict inquisitions were made; when the papers
of so many ofthe queen's servants were seized,
and even her own papers, even those she had
sealed up to be burnt after her death, were expo-
posed to so much indecent inspection. But,
laying aside all arguments of the probable kind,
I deny the fact absolutely : and I have the better
title to expect credit, because it could not be true
without my knowledge, or at least suspicion of
it ; and because even they who believed it, for all
who asserted it did not it believe, had no proof to
produce,

OF PARTIES. 337
produce, hor have to this hour, but vain surmises ;
nor any authority to rest upon, but the clamour
of party.
That there were particular men; who corres
ponded indirectly, and directly too, with the pre
tender, and with others for his service ; that these
men professed themselves to be zealous in it, and
made large promises, and raised some faint hopes,
I cannot doubt : though this was unknown to me
at that time, or at least I knew it not with the
same certainly, and in the same detail, that I have
known it since. But if this was done by some who
were in the queen's service, it was done too by
some who were out of it, aijid, I think, Avith little
sincerity by either.
It may well seem strange to one who carries
in his breast a heart like yours, that men of any
rank, and especially of the highest, should hold a
conduct so false, so dangerous, always of uricer-
tain event, and often, as it was in the case here
mentioned, upon remote contingencies, and such
as they themselves think the least probable.
Even I think it strange, who have been much.
longer mingled in a corrupt world, and who
have seen many more examples of the folly, of
the cunning, and the perfidy of mankind. A
great regard to wealth, and a total contempt of
virtue, are sentiments very nearly allied : and
they must possess the whole souls of men whom
they can determine to such infamous duplicity,
to such double treachery. In fact they do so.
One is so afraid of losing his fortune, that he lays
Voi. IV. Z in

33S OF THE STATE
in claims to secure it, perhaps to augment it; on
all sides, and to prevent even imaginary dangers.
Another values so little the inward testimony of
a good conscience, or the future reproaches of
those he has deceived, that he scruples not to
take engagements, for a time to come, that he
has no design to keep; if they may serve as expe
dients to facilitate, in any small degree, the suc
cess of an immediate project. All this was done
at the time, on the occasion, and by the persons I
intend. But the scheme of defeating the protes
tant succession was so far from being laid by the
queen and her ministers, and such a resolution
was so far from being taken, that the very men I
speak of, when they were pressed by the other
side, that is from Versailles and St. Germains,
to be more particular, and to come into a closer
concert,- declined both, and gave the most eva
sive answers. '
A little before, or about, the time ofthe queen's
death, some other persons, who figured after
wards in the rebellion, entered in good earnest
into those engagements, as I believe ; for I do
not know exactly the date of them. But when
ever they took them, they took them as single
men. They • could answer for no party to back
"them. They might flatter themselves with hopes
and dreams like Pompey, if little men and little
things may be compared with great, of legions
ready to rise at the stamp of their feet. But they
had no assurance, rio nor grounds to expect any
troops, except those of the Highlands ; whose
disposition

OF PARTIES. 339
disposition in general was known td every man,
but whose insurrection, without the concurrence
of other insurrections and other troops, was deem
ed, even by those that made therh take arms
afterward, not a strength but a weakness ; ruin
to the poor people, and ruin to the cause. In
a word, these men were so truly single in their
engagements, and their measures were so unripe
for action, when the resolution of acting immedi
ately was taken by them, that, I am persuaded,
they durst not communicate their design to any
one man of consequence that served at that time
with them. What persuades me of it is this. One
man, whom they thought likely to incline to
them on several accounts, they attempted indirect
ly and at a great distance : they came no nearer to
the point with him, neither then, that is just before
the queen's death, nor afterward. They had
indeed no encouragement to do it ; for, upon this
hint, and another circumstance which fell in, both
heand others took several occasions to declare, that
though they would serve the queen faithfully, and
exclusively of all other regards or engagements,
to her last breath, yet after her decease they
would acknowledge the prince dn whom the suc
cession devolved by law, and to which they had
sworn, and no other; This declaration would have
been that of the far greatest nuiriber of the same
party, and would have been stuck to by them, if
the passions and private interests of another
party had not prevailed over the true interest df
a new family that was going to mount the throned
z a You

34° OF THE STATE
You mayafk me now, and the question will not be
at all improper, How it came to pass, if the queen
and her ministers had no design to defeat the
succession, that so much suspicion of it prevailed,
that so great an alarm was taken, and so great
a clamour raised? I might answer you very short
ly and very truly, By the strange conduct of a
first minister, by the contests about the negoti
ations of the peace, and by the arts ofa party.
The minds of some ministers are like the " sanc-
" turn sanctorum" of a temple I have read of
somewhere : before it a great curtain was solemn
ly drawn ; within it nothing was to be seen but
a confused groupe of misshapen, and imperfect
forms, heads without bodies, bodies without heads,
and the like. To develope the most complicated
cases, and to decide in the most doubtful, has
been the talent of great ministers : it is that of
Others to perplex the most simple, and to be
puzzled by the plainest. No man was more de
sirous of power than the minister here intended,
and he had a competent share of cunning to wrig
gle 'himself into it ; but then his part was Over,
and no man was more at a loss how to employ
it. The ends, he proposed to himself, he saw
for the most part darkly and indistinctly ; and
if he saw them a little better, he still made use of
means disproportionate to them. That private
correspondence with the queen, which produced
the change ofthe ministry in. 1 710, was begun
with him while he was secretary of state, and was
continued, through him, during the two years-thai
intervened

OF PARTIES. 341
intervened between his leaving the court, and his
return to it. This gave him the sole confidence
of the queen, put him more absolutely at the head
of the party that came into power, and invested
him with all the authority that a first minister
could have in those days, and before any man
could presume to rival, in that rank, and in this
kingdom, the rank of the ancient mayors of 'the
palace in France. The tories, with whom and by
Whom he had risen, expected much from him.
Their expectations were ill answered: and I
think that such management as he employed
would not have hindered them long from break*
ing from him, if new things had not fallen in, to
engage their whole attention, and to divert their
passions. The foolish prosecution of Sachevefel had car
ried party-rage to , the heighth, and the late
change of the ministry had confirmed it there,
These circumstances, and many others relative
to them, which I omit, would have made it im
possible, if there had been honesty and wisdom
enough to desire it, to bring about a coalition of
the bulk of the tories and whigs at the latter end
of this reign : as it had been brought about a few
years before under the administration of my lord
Marlborough and my lord Godalphin, who broke
jt soon, and before it had time to cement, by
making such a use of it as I am unable to
account for, even at this hour. The two parties
were in truth become factions in the strict
sense of the word. I was of one, and I own the
z 3 , guilt ;

342 OF THE STATE
guilt; which no man of the other would have a
good grace to deny. In this respect they were
alike ; but here was the difference ; one was well
united, well conducted, and determined to their
future, as well as their present objects. Not one
of these advantages attended the other. The
minister had evidently no bottom to rest his ad
ministration upon, but that of the party at the
head of which he came into power : if he had
rested it there, if he had gained their confidence,
instead of creating, even wantonly, if I may say so,
a distrust of himself in them, it is certain he
might have determined them to every national
interest during tlie queen's time, and after her,
death. But this was above his conception as well
as his talents. He meant to keep power as long
as he could, by the little arts by which he had
got into it : he thought that he should be able to
compound for himself in all events, and cared
little what became of his party, his mistress, or
fhe natiori. That this was the whole of his scheme,
appeared sufficiently inthe course of his admi
nistration ; was then seen by some ; and has been,
since acknowledged by all people. For this pur
pose he coaxed and persecuted whigs ; he flattered
arid disappointed tories ; and supported, by a
thousand little tricks, his tottering administration.
To the tory party he held out the peace, as an asra
when all they expected should be done for them, ,
and when they should be placed in such fulness of
power and such strength of party, ** that ;t would
h. be more the interest of the successor to be
well

OP PARTIES. 343
" well with them, than theirs to be' weft with
" him." Such expressions were often used, and
others of like import: and, I believe, these oracular
speeches were interpreted, as oracles used to
be, according as every man's inclinations led
him. The contests that soon followed, by the violent
opposition to the negotiations of peace, did the
good hinted at above to the minister, and enabled
him to amuse and banter his party a little longer.
But they did great, and, in some respects, irre
parable, mischief to Great Britain, and to all
Europe. One part of the mischief they did at
home is proper to be mentioned here. They
dipped the house of Hanover in our party-quarrels,
unseasonably, I presume to think, and impo-
pularly ; for though the contest was maintained
by two parties, that pretended equally to have the
national interest at heart, yet the national interest"
was so plainly on one side of the question, and
the other side was so plainly partial, at the
expense of this interest, to the emperor, the
princes of the empire, and our other allies, that
a successor to the crown, who was himself a prince
of Germany, should have preserved, in good
policy, for this very reason, the appearance at least
of some neutrality. Themeans employed openly
to break the queen's measures were indecent and
unjustifiable : those employed secretly, and
meditated to be employed, were worse. The
ministers of Hanover, whose conduct I may
censure the more freely because the late king, did
not approve it all, took so remarkable a share in
z 4 '• the

34*4 OF THE STATE
the first, that they might be, and they were,
suspected of having some in the others. This had a
very bad effect, which was improved by men in tfie
two extremes. The whigs desired nothing more
\ than to have it thought, that the successor was
theirs, if I may repeat an insolent expression
which was used at that time : the notion did them
honour, and, though it could give np colour, it
gave some strength, to their opposition. The
Jacobites insinuated industriously the same thing ;
and represented that the establishment of the
house of Hanover would be the establishment of
the whig party, and that the interests of Great
Britain would be constantly sacrificed to foreign
interests, and her wealth drained to support them
under that family. I leave you to judge what
ingression such exaggerations must find, on such
occasion, and in such a ferment. I do not think
they determined men to Jacobitism. I know they
did not ; but I know that they disinclined men
from the succession, and made many, who
resolved to submit to it, submit to it rather as a.
necessary evil, than as an eligible good.
This was, to the best of my observation, and
knowledge, the state of one party. An absurd
one it was, and the consequences of it were fore
seen, foretold, and pressed, upon the minister at
the time, but always without effect, and some
times without any answers. He had some private
intrigue for himself at Hanover ; so he had at
Bar. He was the bubble of one in the end : the
pretender was so of the other. But his whole
management in the mean time was contrived to.
1 8 . keep.

OP PARTIES. 345
> ^
keep up a kind of general indetermination in the
party about the succession ; which made a man
of great temper once say to him with passion,
that " he believed no other minister, at the head
f' of a powerful party, would not be better at
" Hanover, if he did not mean to be worse
" there."
The state of the other party was this. The
whigs had appeared zealous for the protestant
succession from the time when king William
proposed it, after, the death of the duke of Glou
cester. The tories voted for it then ; and the
acts that were judged necessary to secure it,
some of them at least, were promoted by them :
Yet were they rtot thought, nor did they affect,
as the others did, to be thought, extremely fond
of it. King William did not come into this
measure, till he found, upon trial, that there
was no other safe and practicable: and the tories
had an air of coming into it for no other reason.
Beside which, it is certain, that there was at
that time a much greater leaven of Jacobitism in
\he tory-lump, than at the time spoken, of here.
Now, thus far the whigs acted like a national
party, who thought that their religion and liberty
could be secured by no other expedient, and
therefore adhered to this settlement of the crown
witbdistinguished zeal. But this national party
degenerated soon into faction ; that is, the na
tional interest became soon a secondary and
subservient motive, and the cause of the succes
sion was supported more for the sake of the party
pr faction, than for the sake of the nation- and. with
views

34-6 OF THE STATS
views that went more directly to the establishment
of their own administration, than to a solid settle
ment of the present royal family. This appeared,
evidently enough, to those whom noise and show
could not impose upon, in the latter end of the
queen's reign, and plain beyond dispute to all
mankind, after her decease. The art of the whigs
was to blend, as undistinguishably as they could,
all their party-interests with those of the suc
cession : and they made just the same factious use
of the supposed danger of it, as the tories had
endeavoured to make, some time before, ofthe
supposed danger ofthe church. As no man is re
puted a friend to Christianity beyond the Alps and
the Pyrenees, who does not acknowledge the papal
supremacy, so here no man was to be reputed a
friend to the protestant succession, who was not
ready to acknowledge their suprernacy. The
interest of the present royal family was,to succeed
without opposition and risque, and to come to the
throne in a calm. It was the interest ofa faction,
that they should come to it in a storm. Accord
ingly the whigs were very near putting in exe
cution some ofthe wildest projects of insurrections
arid rebellion, under pretence of securing what
there was not sufficient disposition, nor any
¦preparation at all made to obstruct. Happily
for the publick these designs proved abortive,'
They were too well known to have succeeded ;
but tliey might have had, and they would
have had, most fatal consequences. The storm,
that was not raised to disturb and endanger
tlie late king's accession, was only deferred.
To

OF PARTIES. 347
To a party, who meant nothing less than engross
ing the whole power of the government and the
whole wealth of the nation under the successor,
a storm, in which every other man should be
driven from him, was too necessary, not to be
conjured up at any rate ; and it was so immedi
ately after the late king's accession. He came
to the throne easily and quietly, and took pos
session of the kingdom with as little trouble, as
he could have expected if he had been not only
the queen's successor, but her son. The whole
nation submitted cheerfully to his government,
and the queen's servants discharged the duty of
their offices, while he continued them in their
offices, in such a manner as to merit his appro
bation. This was signified to some of them, to
the secretaries in particular, in the strongest
terms, and according to his majesty's express
order, before the whole council of state. He might
I \ Jiink, I thought then that he ought, and every
man, except the earl of O  d, who believed,
or had a mind to make others believe, that his
influence would be great in the new reign, expect
ed, tfiat he would have given his principal con
fidence and the principal power of the adminis-,
tration to the whigs: but it was scarce possible
to expect, that he would immediately let loose
the whole fury of party, suffer the queen's ser
vants, who had surely been guilty of no crime.
against him, nor the state, to be so bitterly per
secuted; and proscribe in effect every man in
the country, who did not bear the name of whig.
Princes

348 OF THE STATE
Princes have often forgot, on their accession to a
throne, -even personal- injuries received in party
quarrels : and the saying of Lewis the twelfth of
France, in answer to those who would have per
suaded him to show severity to la Tremouille, is
very deservedly famous. " God forbid," said
he, " that Lewis the twelfth should revenge
" the quarrels of the duke of Orleans." Other
princes, who have fought their way to the throne,
have not only exercised clemency, but shown
favour to those who had stood in arms against
them; and here again I might quote the example
of another king of France, that of Henry the
fourth. But to take an example in our own
country, look back to the restoration, consider
all that passed from the year 1641 to the year
1660, and then compare the measures that king
Charles the second was advised to pursue, for
the establishment of his government, in the cir*
cumstances of that time, with those which the
late king was advised, and prevailed, on, against
his opinion, inclination, and first resolution, to
pursue,in the circumstances 1 have just mentioned,
I leave the conclusion to the candour and good
sense of every impartial reader.
To these measures of unexpected violence
alone it must be ascribed, that the pretender
had any party for him of strength sufficient to
appear and act. These measures, alone, produ
ced the troubles that followed, and dyed the
royal ermines of a prince, noway sanguinary, in
blood.

OF parties. 34q
, blood. I am far from excusing one party, for
suffering another to drive them into rebellion.
I wish I could forget it myself. But there are
two observations on that event, which I cannot
refuse myself to make. One is, that the very
manner, in which this rebellion was begun, shows
abundantly that it was a start of passion, a sudden
phrensy of men transported by their resentment,
and nothing less than the execution of a design,
long premeditated and prepared. The other is,
that few examples are to be found in history,
perhaps none, of what happened on this occa
sion, when the same men, in the same country,
and in the compass of the same year, were ready
to rise in arms against one prince without any
national cause; and then provoked, by the vio
lence of their councils, the opposite faction to
rise in actual rebellion against the successor.
These are some of the effects of maintaining
divisions in a nation, and of governing by faction.
I might descend into a detail of many fatal conse
quences that have followed, from the first false
step which was taken, when the present settle
ment was so avowedly made on the narrow bot
tom of party. But I consider that this discourse
js growing into length ; that I have had, and
shall have occasion to mention some of these con
sequences elsewhere ; and that your own reflec-,
tion,s on what has been said will more than supply
what I omit to say in this place. Let me there
fore conclude by repeating, that division has
caused

350 OF THE STATE OF PARTIES.
caused all the mischief we lament, that union
can alone retrieve it, and that a great advance
toward this union was the coalition of parties, so
happily begun, so successfully carried on, and
of late so unaccountably neglected, to say no
worse. Butlet me add, that this union can neVer
be complete, till it become a union of the head
with the members, as well as of the members with
zone another : and that such a union can never
be expected, till patriotism fills the throne, and
.faction be banished from the administration.

[ 35i J
SOME
REFLECTIONS ON THE
PRESENT STATE of the NATION,
PRINCIPALLY WITH REGARD Ta
HER TAXES and HER DEBTS,
And on the Causes and Consequences of them.

" Mihi autem non minori curse est qualis respublica post
" mortem meam .futura sit, quam qualis hodie sit."
Cic. in. Lsel.

SINCE we have got out of a war the least
successful, and the most expensive, that
this nation ever made ; after having taken part
threescore years together, like principal actors,
in all the other wars and all the negotiations of the
continent; it is time surely, that we recal our atten
tion homewards,, and consider the present state of
our own country, particularly with respect to her
taxes and her debts, to the nature and application
ofthe former,to the rise and progress of the latter,
to the necessity and to the means of diminishing
both.
The

REFLECTIONS ON THE
The revolution of our government in one thous
and six hundred and eighty-eight makes a most re
markable aera in the history of Britain on many ac
counts, and on none more than on that which is
the subject of these papers. ? The publick revenue,
in net money, amounted at that time to no more
than two millions annually, which were sufficient
to defray the ordinary expenses of the crown,
as well as to maintain a fleet} and a greater army
than was necessary for the defence of the country
at that time. This revenue was raised without
any tax on land or malt, and by a very few of those
innumerable duties, which have been since laid, to
the oppression of the landed and mercantile inte^
rest ofthe nation. These duties have been so
mortgaged too, that we are unable, at this time,
to send a cockboat to sea, or to keep a single cen-
tinel at Whitehall gate, without a land-tax.
The publick debts, that ofthe bankers included,
amounted to little more than £. 300000 at the
beginning of this aera. They amount now to
fourscore millions. To discover how this great
change in our national circumstances has been
brought about is surely an object of reasonable,
and may be such of useful, curiosity.
King William engaged in a necessary war>
with France, as soon as he came to the throne.
It was necessary, that he should maintain the re*
volution he had made, and asserthis right to the
crown, he had acquired by the, best of all titles, the
free gift ofa people whom he had delivered from
impending destruction, from popery and slavery. This

STATE OF THE NATION. 3^3
This war might be thought necessary too in
another respect.
From the treaty of Westphalia, and from the
Pyrenean, to the accession of king William to
our throne, the povter and ambition of France
had grown up together, and were become ex
orbitant. No efforts had been made sufficient
to reduce, scarce any sufficient to resist, the for
mer. No measures had been concerted, no pre
parations had been made, to disappoint the latter
in that great object, the acquisition of the Spanish
monarchy to the house of Bourbon. From the
revolution this alarm was taken, which should
have been taken sooner. The spirit of our court
was changed, the eyes of our people were open
ed, and all men saw how necessary it was to pre
serve, in concert with the Spaniards, the. succes
sion of their monarchy to the house of Austria,
instead of suffering it to fall into that of Bourbon,
which was excluded from it by the most solemn
engagements. Queen Anne came to the throne at the eve of
another great war, of a war against France and
Spain, which her predecessor was ready to under
take, though he had not actually declared it when
he died, in order to procure some reasonable
satisfaction to the emperour, for a succession
which had been then Jost to his family by his
own fault.
King William, who engaged for so much more
in the first grand alliance, would eugage for no
more than this inthe second. But the private
Vol. IV. A a interest

354 REFLECTIONS ON THE
interest of her ministers, the intrigues of her al
lies, and the rashness of a party, drew the queen
much further : and it must be confessed that a
subserviency to the court of Vienna, which has
cost us so clear, began in her time, not in king
William's, though her heart was, what she de
clared it to be, entirely English, and though he
was censured, I think very unjustly, for too great
regard to foreign interests, and too little for those
©f Britain.
The war king William waged was not very
successful; and yet if the emperour would have
consented to send his second son into Spain du
ring the life of Charles the second, king William
would have succeeded in both the objects of this
war. He had maintained himself on the throne,
and had obliged France to promise, that she would
not disturb him in the possession of it. As to the
other object, no treaties of partition would have
been thought necessary by him in that case ;
neither would this nation have had any thing
more to do, when theSpanish succession wasopen,
than to support, with the concurrence of that
whole nation, an Austrian prince who was actually
on the spot with an Austrian army, ancl who had
been already declared presumptive heir. Thus
we might have had a defensive war to make with
great advantages on our side ; and the events of
the offensive war, which we were obliged to make
afterward, show sufficiently what would have been
the success of the other. The councils of Vienna
laid us wantonly, if I may say so, under great dis-
i.j advantages:

STATE OF THE NATION. 350
advantages : and king William therefore resolved,
like a wise prince, to expose neither tbis country
her his own to the hard task of recovering the
whole Spanish monarchy out of the hands of Phi
lip. He accommodated his system to the circum
stances of the time pand aimed at no more now,
than to force the French and Spaniards to come
into some composition about the Austrian pre
tensions, about trade, about barriers, and about
effectual means to hinder a future union of France
and Spain under one monarch.
This was all that he meaned. But they who
delighted in war, because they hoped to get im
mensely by it, and they who amused themselves
and others with vain speculations, about a thing
Very real in itself, about a balance of power, en
snared both England and Holland into engage
ments for dethroning Philip and setting up
Charles inhis room, though we had acknowledged
the former, though the Castilians were strongly
attached to him, and though he was in quiet
possession of the Spanish dominions in both he
mispheres. Flattered by groundless hopes of a
revolution in favour of his rival, and flushed by
the first success of our arms, thi-3 precipitate
engagement was approved and supported by us,
notwithstanding the absurd conduct of theem-
perour and the wise reserve of king William, both
of which should have put us more on our guard,
and have made us less sanguine.
It is perhaps worth while to make an obser,
a A a Vatioa

35^ REFLE9TIONS ON THE
vation in this place, which was made at the time
we speak of by Spaniards who acknowledged
Philip the fifth, in compliance with the will of
Charlesthe second, and yet wereaverseto the influ
ence and authority which France assumed over
them. They observed that Cromwell had forced
them to give their infanta to Lewis the four
teenth, by joining his arms with those of France
against them, and that we went about to force
them, half a century afterward, by a new war,
to an absolute dependance on France.
The court of Vienna, desirous to acquire the
Italian dominions, and too indifferent about Spain
and the West-Indies, made her profit of our
rashness. She left the whole weight of the war
on England and Holland. She did worse. She
not only neglected the war by contributing little
or nothing to it, except the name of Austria
arid the claims of that family ; she sacrificed the
success of the common cause, for so it was
called improperly enough by her, whenever any
little inferiour interest that seemed to be hers
more immediately came in the way; by which
she not only prolonged the war, but increased the
annual expense of it to England and Holland,
without taking any share in this expense on her
self that deserves to be mentioned.
Experience was lost upon us. Our politi
cal delirium continued. It grew in some sort
habitual by the artifice employed at home, and
by the victories obtained abroad. The war lan
guished

STATE OF THE NATION. 357
guished however upon the whole, notwithstand
ing our utmost efforts ; the weight of Austria
grew every year heavier on us, while that of
Spain grew every year lighter on France ; the
Spaniards were able to defend themselves against
us at last, and . the success of our enemies in
Spain made them amends for our victories in
Flanders. The dethronement of Philip in favour of Charles
was become evidently a chimerical project in
the year 1710, at the latest, ancl it became in the
following year so ineligible by the death of the
emperour Joseph, to whom his younger brothe
Charles succeeded, that one cannot conceive
the men, who clamoured for it even then, to
have been in earnest ; since their aim, in that
case, must have been to set the Imperial and
Spanish crowns on the same head, against the
common interest of Europe and the fundamental,
principle of the war.
But though we could not conquer Spain by a
war, we might have reduced theexorbitant power
of France by a peace. We might have strip
ped her of that barrier wherein this exorbitant
power consisted chiefly, as every man, who knew
what he meaned when he talked of this exorbi
tant power, must have intended. We might
have laid her as open to the incursions of her
neighbours, as her neighbours were to hers : as
Qpen_as she had been when a prince Ca-
aimif, or any other general of reitres, co dd
a a 3 penetrate

358 REFLECTIONS ON THE
penetrate without a siege, and sometimes without
a battle, into the heart of her provinces.
But we would not do the latter, because we
could not do the former. We acted like men who
thought that the exorbitant power of one family
could not be reduced, unless a power as exorbi
tant was raised in another ; and who never looked
back to preceding centuries to consider the usurpa
tions, the tyranny, and the bigotry, that the house of
Austria had exercised in the fulness of her power,
and would exercise again if she was ever restored
to the same.
We were disappointed in our great political
views, after two wars that had lasted twenty-five
years with a very short interval between them.
We had done our utmost to defeat that scheme
of ambition France had opened to herself, and of
danger to all her neighbours, by the Pyrenean
treaty : and, though this danger affected us less
than any other nation engaged in the alliance,
we had exhausted ourselves to maintain it.
When king William entered, immediately after
the Revolution, on this great scene of action ;the
unincumbered condition of this nation, which has
been hinted at above, was such, that he might
have been supported in it by good management, as
profusely as he was, and even more effectually,
by the revenue then subsisting, by a land-tax, by
the excise on malt, and by some additional sub
sidies, all of which would have been raised with
in the year. A scheme of this kind was pre
pared

STATE OF THE NATION. 359
pared and offered. It was allowed to be prac
ticable : but it was rejected for a reason that
appeared plausible in political refinement, and
has proved most pernicious in it's consequences.
'It was said, that a new government, establish
ed against the ancient principles ancl actual en
gagements of many, could not be so effectually
secured any way, as it would be if the private for
tunes of great numbers were made to depend on
the preservation of it ; and that this could not be
done, unless they were induced to lend their mo
ney to the publick, and to accept securities under
the present establishment. Thus the method of
funding and the trade of stock-jobbing began.
Thus were great companies created, the pretended
servants, but in many respects the real masters
of every administration. ,
I do not pretend to determine how far the wis
dom of our legislature might have provided, at
the beginning of the new war, against the growth
and spreading of that cancerous humour, which
had begun to gnaw our vitals in the former. AU
I am to observe is, that, a moneyed interest being
firmly established by this time, and such num
bers being accustomed to make immense profit
at the publick expense, there is no room to won
der, if we proceeded on the same plan during
the reign of queen Anne. We did so : and
the debts contracted in this war being added to
those of the former, the whole of our debt amount
ed to little less than fifty millions.
a A 4 ' Having

369 REFLECTIONS ON THE
Having accumulated so immense a debt, the
queen put an end to the war. She could not
attempt to alter the system of it while 'it conti
nued, without throwing the whole alliance
into confusion, after some of the principal allies
had declared, on the death of Joseph, that they
would not consent Charles should be king of Spain
as well as emperour.
T'je interest of Britain required, no doubt,
that we should turn our eyes from the continent
to our own island, and that we should improve
the opportunity and the advantages which a
peace gave us. Whatever prejudices have been
propagated industriously against that of Utrecht,
thus much at least is certain. We were obliged
no louger by treaties to assume any other part
in the affairs of the continent, than that which
the immediate interest of our country required.
The opportunity and the means of diminishing
taxes, reviving commerce, and paying debts,
were open to us.
This pacifick scheme ought to have been pur
sued, no doubt, till we had retrieved our affairs^
and recovered our former strength in some good
degree, and till we were prepared to take any
part in future events which our honour or interest
might require. ' Nay, this scheme was the more
necessary to be pursued ; if France was left too
powerful, no matter by whose fault, as I am
ready to admit that she was ; and if the two
branches of Boufbqn were to be looked upon
14 in

STATE OF THE NATION. 36 1
in this century, like the two branches of Austria
in the last, as inseparable allies, united by blood
and by joint ambition. It was the more easy
to be pursued too, because a long minority was
beginning in France, and many other circum
stances of characters and of situation extremely
favourable to it concurred in that court and
country. This should have been the scheme of our
policy : but unhappily it was not. The late
king, as elector of Hanover, had reason, no
doubt, to desire the acquisition of Bremen and
Verden. Our nation contributed to it with her
money, and forced it with her arms; though it
was made in contradiction to the engagements
that the crown of Englarid had taken when king
William gave his guaranty to the treaty of Tra-
vendal. This acquisition became the first link
of a political chain, by which we were dragged
back into new and expensive broils, the con
sequences whereof we feel at this hour.
When the king acquired these ' duchies, it
became necessary to procure the investiture
of them : and I will say, because I can de
monstrate, that these investitures might have
been procured, and the emperour flattered
with the acquisition of Sicily, by measures
as effectual, and much more consistent with
former treaties and the publick tranquillity,
than those that were taken. The house of Aus
tria sacrificed the success of the war to the im
mediate

362 REFLECTIONS ON THE
mediate acquisition of Naples. We sacrificed
all the advantages of the peace, to procure her
that of Sicily in the manner we did procure it
I have heard it said, while these affairs were in
transaction, that the treaty of quadruple alliance
would complete that of Utrecht. But the eVent
has shown, and it was obvious to foresee, that
one of these treaties would unravel the system
of the other. If we had maintained the neu
trality of Italy, as we were obliged to do by
treaty, even indulging the emperour in the ac
quisition of Sicily, and yielding to the house of
Savoy the eventual successions which we stipu
lated should be given to Spain, the intention ofthe
treaty of Utrecht would have been preserved, and
France by concurring in these measures would
have shown her sincerity in maintaining the
settlement of Europe. But when she became
a party to the quadruple alliance, she meaned
nothing more than to give the Spanish branch
of Bourbon an opportunity of reannexing to
that crown the Italian dominions: and we were
grossly her bubbles, when we triumphed that she
entered into the quadruple alliance, and made a
sham war to oblige Philip to accede to it.
As long, then, as there were hopes of ob
taining an extraordinary investiture of Bremen
and Verden, we flattered the emperour at no small
expense. As soon as it became apparent, that
this investiture could be obtained in no other
manner than it had been granted formerly, we
insulted

STATE OF THE NATION. 363
insulted him. We imputed to him designs, he
has constantly disowned, and we have never
proved ; after which we complained of his in
gratitude, we threatened war, and we prepared
for it by maintaining with great profusion a
standing army of Hessians in Germany. The
same men, who complained so lately that France
had been left too powerful by the treaty of Utrecht,
and that great danger would arise from her close
connection with Spain, complained now of the
too great power of the house of Austria, and of
the danger that would arise from a good under
standing between the emperour and king Philip.
In short, our politics were not only variable,
but incomprehensible to every man who knew
the state and interest of Great Britain, but was
not so well apprised of the several turns of in
terest, which were to be served abroad.
When our ministers had once departed from
the straight line of British policy, the difficulty of
returning to it became every year greater, and
the inclination every year less. We continued
busy and bustling in every court of Europe.
We negotiated against the emperour in concert
with France, and gave her thereby the means
of regaining more of that credit and influence
in the empire which she had formerly had, than
she could have acquired without our assistance.
We contrived to make peace abroad almost as
chargeable to us as war. Abuses of every kind
were suffered at home. Trade was neither eased nor

364 REFLECTIONS ON THE
nor encouraged, and the gradual payment ©f
our debt was utterly neglected by a minister
rather desirous to keep his country under this
oppression, than ignorant of the means to deliver
her fi'om it. While we acted in this manner,
France grew frugal, she made the debts she
could not pay sit more lightly on her, she raised'
her credit, and she extended her commerce.
Jn short, her strength increased, and ours diminish
ed. We were reduced to a state of weakness
we had never felt before ; and this very weakness
was urged as a reason for bearing tamely the
losses our merchants sustained, and all the affronts
our government received, lest we should be
drawn into a war by using reprisals, the common
risjht of nations.
As tame as we were, the insolence of the
Spaniards, the reasonable impatience of our
merchants, and this very tameness of govern
ment, made a sea-war unavoidable, just before
the death of the emperour Charles the sixth ;
which event brought the principal powers of
Europe into the field, set the whole continent*
in a flame, and formed one of those conjunctures,
wherein our honour and interest may oblige us
to take a part, and7or~wTrIch therefore we should
always be prepared.
We were in no degree so prepared, after six
or seven ancl twenty years of peace; and yet
when we took a part, we took the most lavish
and the mo it impolitick that we could take. It
was

STATE1 OF THE NATION. 365
was a miserable part by sea at first, and through
the whole course of the war by land. I shall
recal neither what we did, nor what we neglected
to do; and I wish, for the honour of my country,
that the whole may be buried in oblivion. Thus
much only it is to my purpose to observe. First,
That our councils seemed to be the echoes of
those free-booters, Trenck and Mentzel, who
talked of nothing less than conquering the two
Alsatias and the three bishopricks, and of laying
Champagne waste, while all our offensive projects
on the Rhine were daily disappointed : and se
condly, That we declined all overtures of peace,
when the seat of the war was transferred, with
great advantage to France, from Germany to the
Netherlands', where we resolved to Wage it whether
the Dutch would or no, and where we were beat
on every spot on which my lord Marlborough
bad conquered.
Every defeat in this war, like every triumph ,
in the last, became a reason for continuing it;
and this management, when no avowable reason
"could be given for it, gave suspicious and refining
persons occasion to throw out a great deal of
slander; for such I hope it was. In short, what
ever the reasons were, we continued this inausr
picious war so long, and we pushed it so far be
yond our strength, that we were within a fow
months of bankruptcy, when the French granted
Us, miraculously, the same terms that they would
have granted two or three years before: and
when they might have marched without much
trouble

366 REFLECTIONS ON THE
trouble or opposition, after taking Maestricht^
into the heart of the Seven Provinces: for our
last resource, a Muscovite army, was too far off
to have enabled ours to make a stand.
By making the war in the Low Countries al
most wholly at our own expense, and without
any prospect of success, we meaned to cause
such a diversion to the forces of France as might
leave Germany nothing to fear on the Rhine,
and as might give time and opportunity to the
empress queen to drive the French and Spaniards
out of Lombard v. We sacrificed ourselves for
these purposes : but in this war, as in the last,
the court of Vienna sacrificed nothing. From
the time the French had been obliged, more by
the sickness of their troops and the ill conduct
of their generals, than by the force of her arms,
to abandon Germany, the empress queen seemed
to make war just as it suited her conveniency,
to save all the expense she could in the Nether
lands, to plunder all she could in Italy, and to
make us pay the whole immense subsidies which
we gave her for both.
In the Netherlands, we were outnumbered
vastly by the deficiencies of her quotas: and in
Italy, where we had thrown the Genoese into
the arms of France and Spain, with gpeat and
just indignation against us for the treaty we had
made at Worms, and had, however, obliged them
to submit after the battle of Placentia, we lost
the whole advantage of it by the insatiable
avarice and extreme brutality of the Austrians. Yet

STATE OF THE NATION. 367
Yet we continued our efforts on that side still ;
and the sham siege of Genoa, for it was no
more, and the harmless invasions of Provence and
"Dauphiny had no other meaning than to amuse
and impose on us in the excess of our zeal.
Our expenses in every part of this strange
war, particularly in the Netherlands, were made
without measure, because without control ; as
they will be soon convinced who look into the
artillery, forage, hospital, and other contingent
accounts. The parliamentary aids from the year
one thousand seven hundred and forty exclusively,
to the year one thousand seven hundred and forty
eight inclusively, amount tp £.55, 522,95-9. 16s. %d.
and the new debt we have contracted to more than
thirty millions> which are near twenty millions
more of debt than France has contracted in the
same time : a sum that will appear incredible to
future generations, and is so almost to the pre
sent. There are three Reflections to be : made
on this state, which must add to our astonish
ment. First, That the greatest part of this vast
expense has. been granted on account of the war,
chiefly since there remained no reason for con
tinuing it; that is, since the time when it was
in our power to have a peace at least as good
as that we have now obtained ; and I place this
aera no higher than the year one thousand seven
hundred and forty-seven inclusively, though I
might place it higher, perhaps, on very good
grounds. ' Secondly, That the debt contracted in it

368 REFLECTIONS, ON THE
it exceeds by much that of king William's, or' that
of queen Anne's war ; though both of them were
much longer, and the last not only more widely
spread, but carried into countries, the distance of
which and many other circumstances increased
every article of our expense extraordinarily.
Thirdly, That we have thrown, by our negoci-
ations and by the late war, into the hands of the
house of Bourbon much more dominion in Italy,
than would have induced the French at Ger
truydenberg to have recalled Philip, and to have
given up Spain and the Indies ; which they were
ready to do at those conferences, as Buys and
Vanderdussen acquainted the ministers of the
allies, in making one of their reports to that
assembly. Bad as our condition is, let us not despair.
Not to despair of the commonwealth, whatever
her' condition be, is the principle of a true patriot,
that is, of a faithful servant to his prince and
country: and we may find an example to this pur
pose, which deserves to be quoted, in a book
that is in the hands of most people, and that I
hope is not unread at court, I mean the Duke
of Sully's Memoirs. In them we find, that Henry
the fourth turned his whole application to every
thing that might be useful or even convenient
to his kingdom, without suffering things that hap
pened out of it to pass unobserved by him, as
soon as he had put an end to the civil wars of
France, and had concluded a peace with Spain at
Vervins.

STATE OF THE NATION. 369
Vervins. Is there a man, either prince or sub
ject, who can read without the most elevated, and
the most tender sentiments the language he
held to Sully at this time, when he thought him
self dying of a great illness he had at Mon-
' ceaux? " My friend !" said he, " I have no fear
" of death. You, who have seen me expose my
" life so often, when I might so easily .have kept
, " out of danger, know this better than any mam
" But I must confess, that I am unwilling to die
" before I have raised this kingdom to the splen-
" dour I have proposed to myself; and before I
" have shown my people, that I Jove them like my
"' children, by discharging them from a part ofthe
" taxes that have been laid on them, and by go-
" verning them with gentleness."
The state of France was then even worse than
the state of Great Britain is now, the debts as
heavy, many of the provinces entirely exhausted,
and none of them in a condition of bearing any new
imposition. The standing revenues brought into
the king's coffers no more than thirty millions,
though ahundred and fifty millions were raised on
the people : so great were the abuses of that go
vernment in raising of money, and they were not
less in the dispensation of it. rI he whole scheme
of the administration was a scheme of fraud, and
all who served, cheated the publick, from the
highest offices down to the lowest, from the com
missioners of the treasury * down to the under-
• Conseilliers dans ie conseil des finances.
"Vol. IV. B b farmers

3"0 REFLECTIONS ON THE
farmers and tbe under-treasurers. Sully beheld
tbis state of things, whfn he came to have thesole
superintendency of affairs, with horrour. He was
ready to despair: but he did not despair. Zeal for
his master, zeal for his country, and this very state
seemingly so desperate, animated his endeavours :
and the noblest thought, that ever entered into the
mind ofa minister, entered into his. He resolved
to make, and he made the reformation of abuses,
the reduction of expenses, and a frugal manage
ment, the sinking fund for the payment of na
tional debts, and the sufficient fund for all the
great things he intended to do, without overcharg
ing the people.
He succeeded in all. The people were imme
diately eased, trade revived, the king's coffers
were filled, a maritime power was created, and
every thing necessary was prepared to put the
nation in a condition of executing great designs,
whenever great conjunctures should offer them
selves. Such was the effect of twelve years wise
and honest administration : end this effect would
have showed itself in great enterprises against
the house of Austria, more formidable in those
days than the house of Bourbon has been ia ours;
if Henry the fourth had not been stabbed by
one of those assassins, into whose hands the inte
rest of this house, and the frenzy of religion,
had put the dagger more than once.
When we consider, in these memorials, and in
others which are come down to us, the deplo rable

STATE OH THE NATION. 5~I
rable condition to which France was reduced at
the end ofthe sixteenth century, we feel some of
that horrour,which Sully himself felt ; and are ready
to confess, that the ruin of that kingdom, bank
ruptcy, and confusion, must have followed : if the
opportunity, which th s -peaceful conjuncture
gave, had not been improved immediately, ancl as
wisely, and as vigorously as it was. Shall we
not see our own deplorable condition, and the
necessary consequences of it'in the same light?
Shall we not be much more strongly affected by
them ? Are we not as near to bankruptcy as the
French nation was at lhat time, and much more
so 'than they are at this time ? May not confu
sion follow it here as well as there? And finally,
may not the joint ambition of two branches of
Bnurbon in some future conjuncture produce
effects as fatal, and min h more so to us, if we
continue in our present stale of impotence till
such a conjuncture hat jj.-h-,, as was to Le feared
by. France at the rime we spe^k of from the joint
ambition of two branches of Anuria.? In short,
we have much to apprehend, unless we have the
courage and the virtue to probe our doniestick
wounds to the bottom, and to app'y immediately
not palliative, but the most specifick remedies.
If we do this ; instead of fearing others, we may
become once more formichbie ourselves. But
this is certain, that they, who get first out of
a distress common to us and to our neighbours,
will give the law to the reit.
I B 2 It

372 REFLECTIONS ON 'THE
It may be said, that we have no Sullies among
us. I shall not take on me to determine whether
we have or no. But I will venture to say, after
Sully himself, that although good princes may be
wanting to good ministers ; yet good ministers
will never be wanting to a prince, who has dis
cernment enough to find them; who chooses them
fortheir superiour parts, experience, ancl integrity;
and who resolves to support them, as Henry the
fourth supported Sully, against favourite mis
tresses, the cabals ofthe court, and the factions
of the state.
lt may be said again, that a king of France
has power enough by the constitution of that
government, to support a minister who checks cor
ruption, reforms abuses, and maintains a frugal
management of tlie publick revenue. But it may
be asked, how a minister, who should undertake
this, could be supported in a government like
ours, where he would be sure to have for his
enemies all those who have shared so long the
publick spoils, or who hope to share them, and
where these enemies would have the means and
opportunities of supplanting him, notwithstand
ing the protection of his master. I answer, by
the parliament. How many ministers have there
been, to whom much national mischief was imputed
justly, and no one national good could be ascri
bed, and who were long supported by the favour'
of the crown, and by the concurrence of the two
houses, which this favour and their own manage ment

STATE OF THE NATION. 373
ment procured them? Shall these supports be
sufficient for "a wicked or a weak minister ;
ancl shall innocence and ability, with the same
favour and belter management, be reckoned for
nothing? I cannot think so ill even of the pre
sent ago, as degenerate as it is. It is degenerate
no doubt : but I have heard men complain of
this degeneracy, who promoted it first, and sought
their excuse in it afterward.
The delegated power of a minister, ' under
the legal prerogatives ofthe crown, is sufficient
to carry on a system of reformation and frugality
in the ordinary course of things, if the minister
really intends it: and whenever extraordinary
powers are wanting for extraordinary operations,
as they must be in such a state as ours, they
will be effectual, if granted; and if refused, they
who refuse them, not the minister, will suffer
by the refusal, and be answerable to the nation for
it. The moneyed man may continue to enjoy a
little more revenue by this refusal : but his for
tune will be more precarious, and more bableto
some future reverse. The merchant will continue
to trade, the landed man to plow and sow, with
out even a prospect of being relieved from their
servitude, not for the honest creditors alone, but
for usurers and stock-jobbers, for those leeches
who fill themselves continually with the blood
of tbe nation, and never cease to suck it. The
nation in the mean time will be reduced to the ut
most poverty : and it behoves those particularly,
£ b 3 who

374 Rr FLECTIONS" ON THE
r ^
who have brought us so near it, to show lhat this
was not their object, by concurring' zealously
with those who have used ancl will continue to
use their best endeavon-s to prevent it.
The difficulties we have to struggle with would
not.be so great as th'y are, notwithstanding the
immense profusion to which the late war gave
occasion "and pretence ; if we did not feel in this
instance, as we feel in others the fatal conse-
quencesof j, precedent alministraiion. The pay
ment of our debts might have been easily provided
for in that time: t:av, fourteen years, which are little
more than two thhosof it, would have been suf
ficient to reduce them to twenty millions. If this
had been done, the memory of the person who
was at the head of that administration, and
had the sole power of it, might have deserved
honour. "", Let us nourish in ourselves, and cultivate in
others, sentiments more elevated than these, and
more worthy' of the British genius. The greater
our national distress and danger are, the greater
should tlie efforts be of every particular man to
relieve his country from one, and hereby to guard
it against the other. We are in a crisis that must
turn either to life or death, and that cannot turn
to the former, unless remed its are applied much
more effectual than those of mountebanks, who
find their accounts in palliating evils and in pro-
loiging diseases. To palliate and to prolong-
would be, in our case, to kill, or to do something
1 9 , worse

STATE OF THE NATION. 375
.worse than kill, to break our constitution entirely,
to render an -accidental illness habitual and in
curable. One or two shillings in the po r,d, it is said,
will be lessened this year upon land ; av,d v. hat-
ever is wanting for the current service, over and
above the two shillings that remain, and the malt,
will be borrowed on the credit of the sinking-
fund at three per cent. '1 he bait wi!i he tempting,
for so must every diminution of tares be to those,
who have crouched so long under the weight
of so many. But I may venture to say, that it
will be no more than a bait ; and that they who
swallow it will have reason to repent of their
rashness, when they find, as they will find very
probably, that the natural effect of such measures
must prevent the discharge of any considerable
part of our debt, except in a term of years much
longer than the prosperity and even the safety
of our government admits.
I say the safety, as well as the prosperity : and
some reflections very plain and obvious, though
made by few, will justify me for saying so.
As to the first, trade gave us wealth, wealth gave*
us power, and power raised our island to be, an
one time, a match for France. If we desire to'
return into the same state, we must return by the
same steps which raised us to ii : an ' li'5, who
should make a scheme for the payment of our
debts, without a principal regard to the im
provement of our trade, would make a very
b b 4 silly

376 REFLECTIONS ON THE
silly scheme, But it would be just as silly to
make a scheme for both, in such a manner, as
would render neither practicable.
The necessity of diminishing taxes, in order
to improve our trade, becomes a good reason,
not for the strange purpose to which it is applied
by some, but for hastening all the operations
necessary to sink our debts, in order to hasten
that diminution of taxes, which will become prac
ticable, when a part of our debt is sunk, and
which will facilitate extremely the discharge of
the rest. The truth is, that if we defer these
operations too long, we may be never able
to perform them with equal advantage, nor, by
keeping pace with our neighbours, to renew
our strength, as fast as they are intent to renew
theirs. Our neighbours have suffered by former
wars, ancl have been exhausted by the last as
well, though I apprehend not so much as we.
France, for instance, has contracted in the late
war no more than one third of the additional
debt we have contracted in it, as I believe on
very good authority : and she has been able to
assign funds, which pay the interest of this debt
regularly, and sink yearly a part of the principal.
I am not so well apprised of the actual state of
Spain. But the treasures of the West Indies are
poured into her daily ; and as she has been long
recovered, or recovering, from her ancient in
dolence and ignorance, she seems to apply her
self to the augmentation of her maritime force
20 to'

state of t;he nation. 377
to the improvement of her trade, and even to
that of domestick manufactures. In a word, what
has been said before may be repeated here: they
who get soonest out of the present common
distress, will give the law to others, or be at least
in a condition of not receiving it from any one.
As to national safety, we shall do well to ob
serve how much the system of dominion and
power in Europe is less favourable at present to
our political interests and views, than it was wheh
we undertook to mend it. Spain was falling,
but not fallen into the hands of France, at the
beginning of this century : and though the Spa
nish nation as well as court gave their monarchy
afterward to a prince of the house of Bourbon,
that they might prevent the dismemberment of
it ; yet (hey were averse enouah, by long habits
of hostility, to a French government. Fortune
and we have done so well at last, that these two
nations are now closely united by interest and
by habit, and that Spain is therefore more than
ever estranged from us ; the proofs of which are
not only recent, but, I fear, actual.
The frontier of France has been the great sup
port of her exhorbitant power, as wise men fore
saw fourscore years ago, when Lewis the four
teenth began to raise that wall of Brass, which'
reaches from the Alps totheOcean, that it would
become. This frontier is now more compact
than ever by the acquisition of Lorraine. The
branches ofthe house of Bourbon have taken root in

378 KEFLECTlOSS 0'N THE
in Italy as weii as in Spain. France has learned
by experience to raise'and to maintain her credit,
and to extend her commerce, for the protection
and support whereof she seems more attentive
than ever to injrease her strength by sea: a
strength she will always exert with great advantage
over us in some refpeets, I mean in thofe of order,
frugal management, and strict discipline.
The whole ernph-.?, except Bavaria and Cologne,
was attached to us by inclination as well as inte
rest, in the war which began with this century.
It is much Otherwise now : and we may say, I
fear, too truly, that the influence of France in
Germany is little inferiour to What it was while
the league of the Rhine subsisted.
The Dutch commonwealth, our beft ally, and in
some s®rt a barrier to Great Britain, is in a state
of dissolution ; and has not, either without, or
within herself, those means of recovery by conjunc
ture and by character, that she has had on seve
ral occasions from the time her government was
first formed.
This short state ma}' serve to show how difficult
it will be, till we have paid a good(part of our
debt, and restored our country in some measure
to her former wealth and power, to maintain the
dignity of Great Britain, to make her respected
abroad;and secure from injuries, or even affronts,
on the part of her neighbours. This may appear
easy, for aught I know, to some men. But sure
I am, it would appear difficult to Burleigh and
Walsingham,

STATE OF THE NATION. 379
Walsingham, if they were to rise from the dead ;
notwithstanding the success that they had in
queen Elizabeth's reign by doing mnctr at little
expense, and by employing management much
more than force.
These reflections, ancl such as they suggest
naturally to the mind, make it evident, that the
future prosperity and snf'tyf this country depend
on the speedy diminution of our national debts.
Nothing else can secure us effectually against
contingent events, that m -,y be of fatal conse
quence to both. Recent experience has shown
how unfit w.e are become in everv res peer, except
the courage of our common seaman or soldiers,
to engage in war. We shall not therefore, I sup
pose, provoke it easily, or s ion. Cit war may
be brought upon us, though we should- not provoke "
it, nor go to the continent to seek it. Nay, we
may be reduced to the melancholy dilemma of
increasing our annual expense to assertour rights,
to protect our trade, and to maintain ou* dig
nity; or of sitting tamely; down and sacrificing
them all. 1 think, nay 1 hope, th.it we should not
do the last: and yet we should have much great
er difficulties to struggle with in our present situ
ation, than we had in the former, great as they
were, if we attempted to do, what wt.s then so
shamefully neglected. We cannot increase our
expenses now, nor shall we be able to do so till
some part of our national debt be discharged, with
out mortgaging on the remainder of tbe sinking fund,

3S0 ' REFLECTIONS ON THE
fund, which would soon take away ali hope of ever
paying any partof this debt, and leave us nothing
to mortgage but our land and our malt ; whereas
ifa.considerable part of this debt was discharged
before any new war broke out, or we were
reduced to any such dilemma as I have mentioned ;
we should find ourselves, while it lasted, in a
much better condition of defence or offence,
and we might be able, as soon as it was over,
to resume the same operations, and to pro
ceed in our great domestick concern.
These considerations will have great weight
with men, who are able to combine all that is
to be combined on such an important occasion,
and, hy reflecting on the past, and by observing
the present, to judge of the future. The only
effectual, and therefore necessary, remedies mav
appear violent, even to them: but they will
consider, and every man ought to consider, that
if we cannot bear our distemper, and will not
bear our cure, the political body must perish.
This miserable state will create justly the indig
nation of mankind. But this indignation should
turn against those who have brought us into it,
not against those who would deliver us from it.
This is the language of reason dictated by publick
spirit: but private interest and narrow views will
dictate another.
The moneyed men will complain loudlv, that
they are exposed to perpetual reductions of
interest, which have served to no other purpose than

STATE OF THE NATION. 38 1
than to nourish the profusion of successive admi
nistrations ; and, if tiiis was to continue, their
complaints would be jus), and the hardships
imposed upon them iuloleiable. It is therefore
just, that neither they should consent to this new
reduction of interest, which may be called a new
tax u'.joii them, nor the landed men to the conti-
nuance of that old and heavy tax on land, unless
they have the utmost security, that the whole
shall be applied to it's proper use. There will b^
still complaints ; and we shall hear the meianchorw
condition to which the widow and. the orphans
whose small but sole fortunes are in tlie funds}
will be reduced, most pathetically displayed.!
The answer will be, however, obvious. If the
widow and the orphan, who have their estates in
money, suffer by the reduction of interest ; the
widow and the orphan, who have their, estates in
land, will suffer by the continuance of the tax
upon it ; and both one and the other must take
their share in the common calamity of their,
country. "But the truth is, that the feeble voice of the
widow and the orphan will be little heard. The
great din will be raised by stock-jobbers and
usurers, by the principal men in our great com
panies, who,born to serve and to obey, have been
bred to command even government itself. These
men will roar aloud, and endeavour, by silent
intrigue, as well as by noise, to obstruct every
measure, that tends to emancipate government Oil'"

3$2 REJECTIONS ON THE
out of their hands, to make the exchequer, what
it ought to be, the great spring of publick credit,
and the great scene of all transactions relative
to the publick receipts and payments.
Let these men learn therefore fo submit, and
to reason, as old Bateman did, when the reduction
of interest was agreed to in the year one thousand
seven hundred and seventeen. He told my lord
Stanhope, he was glad this resolution had been
taken; because, thcugh his interest diminished,
he should think his principal more secure than
ever. On the whole, complaints from this quarter
will make little impression on a, minister, who
knows that though such men have been employed
while new debts were to be contracted every
year, and the publick, like an extravagant, spend
thrift, was obliged to deal with usurers on their
own terms ; yet they are not to be consulted
when debts are to be paid, and the publick to
be taken out of their hands; who knows, in short,
that his arms are longer than theirs, and' makes
them feel that he will keep, or not keep, measures
with them Recording to their behaviour; who
pursues steadily the wise and honest design of
rendering his own and every future administration
independent of mem.
Much opposition will arise from two other
quarters, the country and the court; in which I
should apprehend that the least plausible might
be ihe most successful.
The landed man will thii.k it hard, that he is
not

STATE OF THE NATION. 383
not suffered to enjoy a little ease after having
borne the burden and heat of ihe day, daring a
long course of expensive peace and of ruinous
war. All that can be said, to persuade him,
that an immediate dimininution of ihe land-tax
is contrary to his interest, will pass for deception
and paradox. He will be apt to reason like bis
country tenants, who are always frightened at an
immediate expense though remot \, and yet
great profit must be the certain consequence of
it. Let such a man look back then, and take his
lesson from what is past. He will find that, while
he winked at profusion because he was flattered
by abatements on the land-tax debts, debts
were contracted that have cost him much more,
than the continuance of that tax would have cost
him. If we look back to the first ten years of
his present majesty's reign, we shall find this very
remarkably verified. Let the same man, after
he has looked back, look forward again. He
wjll see that, as any diminution of the land-
tax to be supplied out of the produce of the
sinking fund, or by borrowing even at three
per cent on the credit of it, must prevent, or
retard, which may be equivalent to preventing,
the discharge of any considerable part of our
debt; so he will continue exposed to have the
whole tax laid anew, on the first occasion either
real or pretended. He may find himself, after
a little respite, under the toad of the same tax,
and of an increased debt : and this may be all he

384 REFLECTIONS ON THE
he will get by refusing to bear a little longer,
for his own sake, and for an important object,
what he has borne several years for the sake of
others, atid for the support ofa most unsuccessful
war; for such it may be reckoned, after the
French were beat at Dettingen.
On the other side, if he is wise enough to
desire, that the four shillings in the pound be
continued for a few years; he will have his share
in the common benefits of diminishing publick
debts, increasing publick credit, improving trade,
and restoring national prosperity. He may
entertain the comfortable hope of a time wdien
he, or his posterity, will have no, need of con
senting to any tax at all on land in time of peace ;
since the annual produce of other funds will be
sooner or later, in this method, sufficient to
defray the annual expense of the government.
He may acquire an advantage that will make him
ample amends for what it cost him. Such of the
taxes, whether of excise or of customs, as bear
hardest on the poor labourers and on our own
manufactures may be reduced, gradually at least,
without any considerable interruption of the
Operations necessary to discharge our national
debt : and though he is little accustomed to think
himself as much affected by other taxes, as he is
by the land-tax, he will' soon perceive, that a
saving on every thing he eats, drinks, or wears,
is a lasting and a large repayment of what this
tax took from him while he consented to continue it.

STATE OF THE NATION. 385
it. He will find himself a gainer, not only by
What he saves in his expenses, but by the improve
ment of his estate; for the whole system oi
national Wealth and prosperity are intimately
connected. The courtier will complain loudly, authori
tatively, and pompously, that any retrenchments
on our annual expenses may do more hurt, than
the saving can do good* But I believe it not
hard to show* that three shillings^ or three shil
lings and sixpence in the pound on land, leaving,
the rest of the four shillings to go to the sinking
fundj would be more than sufficient to answer
all necessary expenses in time of peace;. Wise
men are able to do a great deal with a little : every
knave or fool is ready to do a little with a great
deal; The former know, that good policy consists
in observing two sorts of (economy^ the greater
and the less : to proportion* by the first, our
expenses to our circumstances and to those of
our neighboursj and to do it with the utmost
frugality that these circumstances combined
together will admit : to control, by the second,
in the most strict and regular manner, the dispen
sation of the publick treasure from the highest
down to the lowest offices ofthe state. It is ofthe
utmost importance, at this time especially, that
both these kinds of ceconomy be practised. Our
well-being, even our security, depends upon
them. If we do not pay our debts, we must
sink under the load of them : and if we go about
Vol. IV. C c t*

386 REFLECTIONS ON THE
toNpay them, without practising these two sorts
of ceconomy ; the ridiculous figure, which I have
seen in a Dutch print, of a man toiling arid
sweating to cord a rope of hay, while an ass
bites it off at the other end as fast as he cords it,
will be our proper emblem.
Extreme frugality was one of tbe means em
ployed by the great minister who has been quoted
above : and the success he had, in similar circum
stances, should encourage the practice ofthe same
frugality* in ours. But he employed another
expedient likewise, which is not less necessary
here than it was there, nor in our time than it
was in his. The expedient I mean is that of
reforming abuses. Sully rendered this reformation
no inconsiderable fund for the payment of publick
debts. Whether we can do so, as effectually
as he did, or no, I determine not. But thus much
is certain. Such a reformation will make all future
services be carried on at a cheaper rate for the
publick ; and saving is often the surest way of
gaining. Materials might be collected, not for a
pamphlet, but for a regular treatise under distinct
heads, concerning the abuses and corruption,
which prevail among us in every part of the pub
lick service, and concerning the consequences of
them: I know not too whether some work of
this kind should not be undertaken, as invidious
as it may seem, if nothing is done to reform
these abuses, and to extinguish this corruption:
They were creeping forward long ago; but
since

STATE OF THE NATION. 387
„¦ since a certain period, they have advanced with
very large strides. Frauds were connived at,
perhaps encouraged, and corruption was propa
gated formerly by principal men, who had, for
the most part, more ambition than avarice, and
who raised, by these means, a formidable party
that might support them in power. But in pro
cess of time, and in favourable conjunctures, the
contagion rose higher, and spread still wider;
principal men became parties to the greatest
frauds ; and the highest of those who governed,
and the lowest of those who were governed, con
tributed, in their degrees, to the universal rapine.
The greatest particular cheat, whereof any ex
ample can be found, was, I believe, that which
arrears of subsidies to foreign princes, and ar
rears of pay to foreign troops, gave the oppor
tunity and the means of executing.
I am sensible, that the representation I have
made of the degeneracy of our age and people
may give occasion to say, that the very things I
have been pleading for are impracticable. It
will be asked, what expectation can be entertained
of raising a disinterested publick spirit among
men, who have no other principle than that of
private interest, who are individuals, rather than
fellow-citizens, who prey on one another, and are,
in a state of civil society, m uch like to Hobbes's
men in his supposed state of nature ? Imust agree,
though unwillingly, that the enterprise is difficult.
But the more difficult it is, i'f nothing less can
c c 2 relieve

3S8 REFLECTIONS ON THt
relieve us from the load of debt we lie underV
nor prevent the, consequences of lying under
it much longer ; every attempt to raise this spirit,
and to promote these measures, even the weakest,
even mine, is commendable. The landed men
are the true owners of our political vessel : the*
moneyed men, as such, are no more than passen
gers in it. To the first, therefore, all exhortations
to assume this spirit should be addressed. It is
their part to set the example : and when they
do so, they have a right to expect, that the
passengers should contribute their proportion
to save the vessel. If they should prove refrac
tory ; they must be told, that there is a law in
behalf of the publick, more sacred and more
ancient too, for it is as ancient as political society,
than all those under the terms of which they would
exempt themselves from any reduction of interest,
and consequently from any reimbursement of
theirprincipal ; though this reduction and thisreim-
bursement be absolutely necessary to restore the
prosperity ofthe nation, and to provide for her
security in the mean time. The law I mean, is that
which nature and reason dictate, and which dej
clares the preservation of the commonwealth to be
superior to all other laws.
, If such a cooperation of the landed and mo^
neyed interests is once brought about, the way
will lie smooth before us, and a prospect of na
tional prosperity at the end of it will open before
us yearly. Even fhe prospect will be of great
advantage

STATE OF THE NATION. 389
iS vantage both at home 'and abroad. We shall
feel it in the rise of our credit, in the confidence
which our friends, and in the respect which our
enemies, will have for us; a respect that will
be due justly to a people, who exert so much
vigour in the midst of so much distress, and take
effectual measures to restore their national strength,
and to resume their former dignity, instead of
languishing on under impotence and contempt.
The man, who is not fired by such confideratioris
as these, must have no elevation of mind, no
love for his oountry, no regard for posterity, nor
the least tincture of^that publick morality, which
distinguishes a good from a bad citizen. I
know that futility, ignorance, and every kind of
profligacy are general : but I know too, that they
are not universal, and therefore I do not despair.
In all events, the merit of preserving our country
from beggary is little inferiour to that of preserv
ing it from slavery. They who engage there
fore in so good a cause, and pursue it steadily
in that publick spirit, a revival of which can
alone save this nation from misery, from oppres
sion, and perhaps from confusion, the usual con
sequence of the other two ; they will deserve bet
ter, 1 presume to say, the title of" ultimi Britan-
norum,n even if they should be defeated by the
Worst subjects of Britain, than that usurer, Bru
tus, and that severe exactor of contributions, Cas-
sius, deserved the title of " ultimi Romanorum,"
when they were defeated in another manner by
the worst citizens of Rome. cc 3 li

gQO REFLECTIONS ON THE
After all that has been ^aid in these papers,
and all that might be said, concerning the conduct
of the houfe of Austria, from the reign of king
William to the present time ; it may be proper to
add something by way of precaution, and to
prevent very false conclusions, that many,
will be ready to draw from very true pre
mises. It is notoriously true, that a spirit of big
otry, of tyranny, and of avarice, in the court of
Vienna, maintained long thetroubles in Hungary,
which might have been appeased much sooner
than they were. Thus a great and constant
diversion was kept up in favour of France, even at
the time when the two houfes of Auftria and
Bourbon were struggling for that great prize, the
Spanish succession, till the French troops took
possession of Passau, and the malecontentents of
Hungary raised contributions in the very suburbs
of V ieana.
It is notoriously true, that we might have
had nothing more than a defensive war, as I
have said in the foregoing papers, to make against
France, wi'h an Austrian prince on the throne of
Spain, at the death of Charles the second; if the
emperour Leopo'd would have concurred in the
wise and practicable measures which king Wil
liam proposed.
It is notoriously true, that we might have
avoided the defeat at Almanza, and have sup-
ironed much better the war in Spain; if a pre
dilection for acquisitions in Italy had not deter-
1 5 mined

STATE OF THE NATION. 39 1
mined the councils of, Vienna to precipitate, the
evacuation of Mantua, wherein an army of French
^ was blocked up after the battle of Turin, and
which was let loose in this manner, against the
opinion of the queen and the states general, time
enough to" beat us at Almanza.
1 s Finally, for I will descend no more to parti
culars, it is notoriously true, that we might have
taken Toulon, and have carried the war into the
best provinces of France, for which queen Anne
had made, at a vast expense, all the necessary
preparations ; if the Austrians had not detached,
in that very point of time, twelve thousand
men on the expedition to Naples, and if prince
Eugene had not shown too visibly, before persons
still alive, that the taking of Toulon was the
least of his objects.
These facts are sufficient to show, how much
the mistaken policy of the court of Vienna
has overloaded her allies during more than
half a century, and has defeated the great de
sign which these allies, and Britain in parti
cular, carried on for her at the expense of in-*
finite blood and treasure. Now there are
many, in this kingdom, very ready to tjauelude
from these facts, and from others of the same
kind posterior to these, that '0ur experience
should teach us to neglect the \:iterests of the
house of Austria, and to be regardless of all
that passes on the continent tor the time to
come. But surely such conclusions are very
c c 4 false

39a REFLECTIONS ON THE
false. The principle of our conduct has beer*
right, and our manner of pursuing it alone
wrong. It was our neglect, of the general in*
terest of Europe, from, the Pyrenean treaty to
the revolution of our government in one- thou*
sand six hundred and eighty-eight, that gave to
France a long opportunity, and the means of rais
ing all exorbitant power. It has been zeal without
knowledge, and a strange subserviency to pri
vate interests, which have almost exhausted this
country, and defeated all our endeavours for
the publick good since that time. This we may
alter, The principle of policy we cannot, as
long as the division of power and property in
Europe continues the same. We are an island
indeed : but if a superiour power gives the law
to the continent, I apprehend that it will give
it to us too in some great degree. Our forefathers,
apprehended, with reason, the exorbitant power
of the house of Austria ; and thought that the
pretensions of Mary queen of Scots mi cht give,
even when, she was a prisoner, opportuivty and
advantage, as they did no doubt, to this power
to disturb our peace, and even to invade our
island. The exorbitant power of the two bran-.
clies of the house of Bourbon give surely in this
respect, as well as, in others, at least the same
pause of apprehension now. It is therefore
plainly our interest, to maintain the rivalry be
tween the families of Austria and of Bourbon ;
$nd for that purpose to assist the former on,
2,2

STATE OF THE NATION. 393
every occasion against the latter, as far as the
common cause of Europe, not her private
ambition, requires ; and as far as our national
circumstances may enable us to measure out
our assistance in any conjuncture to ha\
These are the measures and proportions, ac*
cording to which alone political societies ought
to unite in alliances, and to assist one another.
There is a political, as well as a natural self-
love 5 and the former ought to be, to every
member of a commonwealth, the same deter*
mining principle of action, where publick interest
is concerned, that the latter will be to him most
certainly wherever his private interest is con
cerned, I have heard it often said of one mau,
that he was a friend or an enemy to the house
of Austria; and of another, that he was a friend
pr an enemy to the house of Bourbon, But
fhese expressions proceed generally from passion
ancl prepossession, as the sentiments they impute
must proceed, whenever they are real, from
these causes, or from one which is still worse,
from corruption. A wise prince, and a wise
people, bear no regard to other states, except
that which arises from the coincidence or repug
nancy of their several, interests ; and this regard
must therefore vary, as these interests will do,
in the perpetual fluctuation of human affairs.
Thus queen Elizabeth and her people opposed
the house of Austria, and supported the house
pf Bourbon, in the sixteenth century. Thus
queen

394 REFLECTIONS, &C.
queen Anne and her people opposed the house
of Bourbon, and supported the house of Austria,
in the eighteenth. The first, indeed, was done
•with wiser council; the last with greater force
of arms. By tbe first, our country was enriched ;
by the last, it was impoverished  ¦
jy. B. These considerations were written thus far in the
year seventeen hundred and fort3-nine, but were never
finished.

C 395 )

THE
SUESTANCE OF SOME
LETTERS,
Written originally in French, about the Year 17J0,
TO
Mr. de POU ILLY.
SINCE you are so curious to know what
passed in a conversation lately between one
of your acquaintance and myself, wherein you
have been told that I maintained a very singular
paradox ; I will give you some account of it, a
general and short account, at least, of the first
part, and one more particular and more full of
the last, which is called paradoxical. You led
me first, in my retreat, to abstract philosophical
reasonings : and, though it be late to begin them
at forty years of age, when the mind has not
been accustomed to them earlier, yet I have
learned enough under so good a guide, not to
be afraid of engaging in them, whenever the cause
of God and of natural religion is concerned.
They were both concerned, very deeply, on the
occasion you refer to. There had been much
discourse, in the company that was present, con-

3,9^ LETTERS TO
ceraingthe absurd opinions^, which. many theis*
tical philosophers entertained of old about the
supreme Being. Many had been cited, and many
reflections had been made on them, by several,
when the dispute became particular between
Damon* and me; he denying, and I affirming,
that there are sufficient proofs of the existence
pf one supreme Being, the first intelligent cause
of all things. You may be sure, I made use
of those you furnished me with by a geometri
cal application of the doctrine of final causes,
which shows, in various instances, what number
less chances there are against que, that intelli
gence and design were employed in the produc
tion .pf each of these phenomena.
When I could not silence my adversary by
these proofs, though they carry probability up
|o a reasonable, if not to an absolute, certainty,
I insisted on a proof which must give this cer
tainty, I think, to every one who acknowledges
that we are capable of demonstrative know
ledge. I argueek- " a posteriori," from the in
tuitive knowledge of ourselves, and the sensitive
knowledge of objects exterior to ourselves,
which we have, up to that demonstrativeknow-
ledge of God's existence, which we are able tp
acquire by a due use of our reason. Here we
stuck a little, and he was ready to deny all
sensitive knowledge, on the chimerical notions of
father Mafobraiiche, and some other philosophers,
without considering that he deprived himself, in
1 1 choose to call hiqi by this feigned name here. denying

MR. DE P0UILLY. §QJ
denying the existence of God, of those expedients,
, by which the others, pretended to account for the
perception of tbe ideas of objects exterior to the
mind^ independently of any sensitive knowledge*
I endeavoured to show him* that to renounce
sensitive knowledge, was to renounce, in some
sort, humanity, and to place ourselves in some
unknown rank, either above it, or below it. I
endeavoured to state the true notion, by stating
the true bounds, of sensitive knowledge, wliich is
not sufficient indeed to show us the inward con
stitutions of snbstances, and their real essences ;
but which is sufficient to prove to us their ex
istence, and to distinguish them by their effects.
I concluded this article by quoting to him a
passage in the logick of Port-royal, wherein it is
said, that no man ever doubted, in good earnest,
whether there is an Earth, a sun, and a moon,
no more than he doubted, whether the whole
is bigger , than a part; that we may say, with
our mouths, that we doubt of all these things,
because we may lie; but that we cannot oblige
our minds to say so : from whence it is con
cluded, more generally than I shall conclude,
that Pyrrhonians are not a sect persuaded of
what they say, but a sect of liars. He did
not insist much longer, but left me to pursue
my argument from intuitive and sensitive know
ledge, to a demonstration of God's existence,
which great and fundamental truth results ne
cessarily from a concurrence of all the kinds of
¦human knowledge employed in the proof of it.
I was

gg8 LETTERS TO
I was not interrupted by him in the course of
this argument, nor did he attempt to break any
links of this chain of demonstration, but followed
the example of all those who refuse to yield to
it. They are so far from considering the degrees,
the bounds, and within these, the sufficiency, of hu
man knowledge, that they ask continually, and that
others endeavour, very often, vainly to give them,
knowledge concerning the divine nature and at
tributes particularly, which it is impossible and
unnecessary we should have, even on the suppo
sition that there is a God. Unable to break
through this demonstration, they hope to weaken
the effect of it, on themselves and others, by
sounding high the difficulties that present them
selves whenever we reason on the manner of God's
existence, on his attributes, on his providence,
and on many points relative to these. That is,
they will not receive a demonstration, made ac
cording to the clearest and most distinct ideas
that v/e have, and by the most precise connection
of them, because there are other things which
we cannot demonstrate, nor explain, for want
of other ideas. This proceeding is so unreasona
ble, that the atheist himself does not hold it on
any other occasion; but admits the truth of many
propositions, though he be unable to resolve se
veral difficulties that are, some way or other, re
lative to them. He reasons on this important
article of human knowledge, as he would be
ashamed to reason on any other.
I might have rested the argument here, because though

MR. DE P0UILLY. 399
though there are secrets of the divine nature and
ceconomy Which human reason cannot penetrate,
yet several of the objections to them, which athe
ists commonly make, even that of physical and
moral evil, and the supposed unjust distribution
of good and evil, which has been made in all
, , ages, and which is now more prevalent than ever,
by the joint endeavours of atheists and christian
divines, are easy to be refuted, These subjects
have been so often treated between you and me,
that I shall say nothing of them here, though I
did not decline them there. On the contrary,
if I do not flatter myself, I said enough to defeat
the attack of the atheist, and to disappoint the
treachery of the divine. After which I insisted
with great reason surely on my side, that these
difficulties, and more of the same sort, were so
little able to embarrass the theist, that, instead
of being repugnant to his system, a necessary
consequence of it is, that such difficulties should
arise. He is so little surprised to find them,
that he would be surprised not to find them. In
demonstrating, to him, the existence of God, his
reason has not demonstrated to him a being little
raised above humanity, and about whom he may
always assume on human ideas, such as the divi
nities of the heathen were. She has demonstrated
to him the existence of an all-perfect self-existent
being, the source of all existence, invisible and
incomprehensible; the author, not only of all
that is visible and comprehensible to his creatures,
but of all that is, in the whole extent of nature,
whether

400 LETTERS T<5
whether visible or comprehensible to them or hoti
From hence he concludes, and well he- may,, that
there must be many phaenomena physical and mo-
ral for which hecaiij and many forwhichhecannot,
account. The system of God's attributes being, like
the exercise of them, infinite, and our system of
ideas ancl of mental operations being very narrow
and imperfect, it follows necessarily, that some few
parts ofthe former system are proportionable to
the latter, and that a multitude of others are not
so. A theist may suffer himself to be led into
difficulties; but the atheist, take what system
of atheism you please, must fall into absurdity,
and be obliged to assert what implies contra
diction. I considered the , supreme Being, in all I said,
as a first intelligent cause, and as the creator of
the universe. From hence my antagonist took
occasion to ridicule what theistical poets, phi
losophers, and legislators have advanced con
cerning the first principles or the beginning of
things, ancl operations of a divine wisdom and
power, in the production of them* as if they had
been contemporary historians and spectators of
what they related most affirmatively and cir
cumstantially. I joined with him, for the most •
part, in giving them this ridicule, and expressed
myself with a just indignation against them, for
attempting to impose so many fictions on man*
kind, and for presuming to account for the pro
ceedings of infinite wisdom and power, by the
whimsies of their own imaginations. He did not
spare

MR. DE P0U1LLY. 401
spare Moses, nor I Plato. But when he went
so far as to deny, on the strength ofa very weak
sophism-, that we are obliged to ascribe the crea
tion or formation of the world to intelligence and
Wisdom, he turned, I think, the ridicule on him
self, for he reasoned thus :
When you investigate the proceedings of na
ture, you observe certain means, that seem, to
you, proportioned to certain ends. You perceive
too, that you cannot imitate nature any other
way than by proportioning means to ends, and
thus you frame that complex idea of wisdom,
to which you ascribe the phenomena, and the
imaginary final causes of them. But you are
grossl-.v mistaken when you assume, that nature
acts by such means as seem to you proportioned
to these ends. Here is a clock which marks the
hoars and minutes, ancl strikes regularly, at cer
tain periods, a certain number of times. The
inward" construction of this clock is unknown
to you. But yon see one made, which, by the
means of certain weights, produces all the same
effects. Will you assert now that the motions of the
first clock are regulated by weights, because those of
the second are so ? You will bemuch deceived ifyou
do, for tbe motions of the first clock are produced
and regulated by a spring.
This argument would have some force in op
position to such naturalists as Strato of Lampsa-
cus, as Des Cartes, and as others wbo have made
hypothetical worlds, and have pretended to ac
count for all the phaenomena by such laws of
matter and motion as they have thought fit to
Vol. IV, D d establish

402 LETTERS TO
establish. But in the present case it is a mere
paralogism, and unworthy of the man who em
ployed it, since it serves to explain and confirm
that very reasoning which it is intended to op
pose. The same motions are produced indeed
hy different means, but still these different means
are proportioned alike to the same end, which
proves the very thing I would prove, the intel
ligence ofa Workman.
When we had done speaking of philosophers
who admitrthe beginning of the world, we pro
ceeded to those who deny it ; and Damon seemed
to think himself strongly intrenched in the sys
tem of 'it's eternity. As we cannot conceive,.
said he, that matter was created and brought out
of nothing, so we cannot conceive neither, that
matter could of itself produce motion, nor that
matter and motion together could produce thought,
But there arises from hence no necessity of as
suming, that there is any superiour Being. Matter,
motion, thought are eternal, and have been always
what they are. The same nature, and the same
course of things that exist actually have always'
existed. To this it was easy to answer, that if I agreed
with him in owning the eternity of the world,
this concession would not infirm the proofs I had
brought of an eternal' Being, distinct from the
world as the workman is from his work. We may
allow the world to be eternal, without allowingthat
it is the sole eternal Being. All that exists has a
cause of it's existence, either out of itself, or in
itself. It hasuoeause of it's existence out of
itself,

I

' MR. DE POUUXY. 403
Uself, if it is the sole eternal Being. It; has this
'cause, then within itself, and exists by the neces
sity of it's own nature. 'The atheist, affirms
then, that it is impossible to conceive, that tbis
world should not exist; or should exist any other
wise than it does exist, both in matter and in
form. This seems 'to 'me infinitely absurd; for
'the atheist either has no. ideas in his mind when
he pronounces these words, "-exists by the ne-
" eesrity of it's nature; " or he understands such
a necessity of existence, that a supposition
of the contrary would imply contradiction. If
lit; atheist says, he has ho idea of such a
rieeesrity, he has then no idea of the eternity of
the world. If he says, as Damon did say, that he
can no more conceive this world not to exist, or
to exist differently from it's present existence, than
fie can conceive the equality of twice two to four
not to exist, he says nothing to the purpose ; sirtce
the necessity of existence, according to him, can-
riot be admitted, till he has given us another defini
tion of what we are to understand by these words;
ancl another definition, intelligible and reasonable,
X think, he never will be able to give.
After having pushed this argument beyond re
ply, wliich I borrowed but did riot weaken, I ad
ded, that Aristotle; and other ancient philoso
phers, Who believed the world eternal} did not
'fall into the absurdity of believing it uncaused.
They believed it eternal, in the order of time, but
they believed it the effect of a superiour cause, in
Order of causality. The distinction is, perhaps, ,
d d 2 too

4©4 LETTERS TO
too metaphysical, but it serves to show, sine®
they made it, to what shifts they were driven in
maintaining the eternity of the world, and how
little reason the modern atheist has to lean on
their authority.
From refuting his opinions, I was led to ad
vance one of my own, and to assert, that this
fact, " The world had a beginning," is a fact,
founded on such a tradition, as no reasonable man
can refuse to accept. This is the paradox, in ad
vancing of which I had not only Damon, but
almost all those who were present, against me.
It took up the rest of our conversation, and I will
tell you, not only what I said, to support my opi
nion then, but what has come into my thoughts
upon the same subject since.
Though We cannot have, strictly speaking, a
certain knowledge of any fact, whereof we have
not been ourselves witnesses, yet are there several
such facts whereof we cannot doubt. High pro
bability must stand often in lieu of certainty, or
WC must be, every moment, at a loss how to form
our opinions and to regulate our conduct. Such
is our condition, and we cannot think it unreason
ably imposed, since we are able, by a right use of
our reason, to ascend through various degrees from
absolute improbability, which is little distant
from evident falsehood, to that degree of probabi
lity which is little distant from evident truth.
On this principle let us proceed to consider, how
high this proposition, " The world had a, be-
" ginning," stands in the scale of probability. We
shall

MR. D£ FOUILLY. 405
shall find perhaps, that it stands too high to
have the proposition pass for a paradox, when
I have told you what was said in conversation,
and what has occurred to me since, on the same
subject. An historical fact, which contains nothing 1
that contradicts general experience, and our own
observation, has aj ready the appearance of proba
bility ; and, if it be supported by the testimony
of proper witnesses, it acquires all the appear-?
ances of truth ; that is, it becomes really pro
bable in the highest degree. A fact on the other
hand, wliich is repugnant to experience, shocks
us from the first ; and if we receive it afterward
for a true fact, we receive it on outward authority,
not on inward conviction. Now to do so is
extremely absurd ; since the -same experience,
that contradicts this particular fact, affirms this
general fact, that men lie very often, and that
their authority alone is a very frail foundation
of assent.
. It may seem a little extraordinary, and
perhaps chimerical, to our first thoughts, to
examine which is most conformable to experience,
the eternity of the world, or the beginning of it
in time; and it would be really so, if, to con
stitute this conformity to experience, it Were
strictly necessary, on every occasion, to cite a fact
of similar kind. But there is no such necessity
in the nature of things, and this conformity may
be sufficiently constituted otherwise. Were it
not so, our ignorance would produce very con
trary effects, equally absurd ; for this mother of
p d ^ super-

40,6 LETTERS TO
superstitious credulity would be the mother, like
wise of most unreasonable incredulity.
The probability of a foot, whereof there are
frequent and notorious examples, may force our,
assent at once, like those which happen constantly
in the ordinary course of things, But still it is.
true, that- a fact, of which we find no precise
example within our knowledge, may have a con
formity, properly so called, with our experience.
The. probability arising from this sort of con
formity will not be perceived, indeed, so soon as>
the other, but when it is perceived, will determine,
alike. This case maj' be compared to that of the
mathematician, who arrives at truth by a long
process of demonstration, and who can doubt of
this truth afterward, no more than he doubted of
those self-evident truths which carry instantane
ous conviction to the mind.
A fact may be, in the respect we speak of here,
indifferent. We may discover, in our experience,
none of the same sort ; and yet none that imply
contradiction with it. Such a fact therefore, is
merely new; and experience will be far from
teaching -us to reject any fact on this ace -unt
alone. When such facts" therefore, new to us;
according to the extent of our knowledge, but'
not so to other men, are attested by credible
witnesses, he must act very unreasonably; who
refuses to give that degree of assent to them,
which is proportionable to the credibility of the
witnesses. Again, the fact may be conformable
to experience by a certain analogy physical or
moral, if not by particular examples, and maybe
admitte

MR. DE P0UILLY. '4(07
admitted therefore, on proper testimony, more
easily still, than one of those wliich I called indif
ferent. One rests wholly on testimony, but ex
perience gives to the other an indirect, if not a
direct, confirmation.'-
Let use quote a story, which will serve to illus
trate ali I have been saying. A certain king ofSiam
was firmly persuaded, that Sommona-Codom had
straddled over the gulf of Bengal ; that the
print of his right foot was seen at Pra-bat, and
that -of his left foot at Lanca. This pious legend
was certainly repugnant to his majesty's expe
rience, the first foundation of probability : and
he fell into the absurdity of believing it on the
most precarious of human authorities, the autho-*'
rity of his priests, who had taught him, perhaps,
that the merit of his faith in the legend of Som
mona-Codom increased as the probability of what
it contained diminished. When the Dutch am
bassador assured the same prince, that the sur-
f ice of the water hardened so much in his country,
during the winter, that men, and beasts,' and
heavy carriages passed over it, the prince treated
him as a liar. He knew no example of this kind :
ancl the seeming nonconformity to experience, in
this ease, had the effect which the real noncon
formity to experience should have had in the other.
I cal! this a seeming nonconformity ; because al
though the good Siamese knew no example, in
point, of what the ambassador told him, yet he
might have reflected on several particular objects
of his knowledge, that would have brought it
D D 4 Up

408 LETTERS TO
up to a real conformity. He knew, for I think .
the art of casting cannon was known in his
Qountry, that extreme heat could give fluidity
to the hardest metals: from whence he mi 'dit
have concluded, very naturally, that extreme
cold was capable of producing a very contrary
effect, that of condensing and hardening fluid
substances. In his country there was no ice-, but
he knew that there fell sometimes on the neigh-.
bouring mountains of Ava, of Pegu, and of Laos,
a certain white cold and solid substance, which
was nothing else than water, condensed and har
dened in one season, and melting and flowing
in another. He, was a man of good sense, they
say, and therefore we may believe, that these
considerations discovering to him a real, though
not exact, conformity to his experience, he gave
credit to the Dutchman afterward.
Let us consider now, on our part, whether there
are not facts, that contain all that is uecessary ta
establish the highest probability, though there
are no examples of the same, and though we
should allow, that a bare non-repugnancy to
experience, or a strong analogy to it, do not
afford sufficient grounds of probability. Suppose
then a fact, preserved in history or tradition,
which has the two conditions of nonrepugnaticy
and of analogy, and the contrary to which can
not be asserted without absurdity. If the nega
tive be absurd, is it not agreeable to right reason,
tfrat we adhere to the affirmative ?
Jt rtiay be said, perhaps, that the supposition
1 6 1 make

MR, DE POUILLY. 409.
I make cannot b.ive place in historical facts,
that these are in some sort arbitrary, they may
be affirmed or denied, according to the credibi
lity of the testimony. That Julius Caesar con
quered the Britons, or that Genghiz khan con-
, quered China may be true; but it may be true,
likewise, that Cjesar was beat by the Britons,
and that Genghiz-khan did not even march into
China. It may be said, that when such facts,
as we meet with frequently inthe romances of ail,
kinds, are concerned, we may affirm that the^
contrary is true, or that no such events ever
happened; but that it will not follow, that an
historical or traditional fact is true, because it
appears to us, that to suppose the contrary is
absurd, I enter no further into this disquisition,
but, I content myself to say, that there is, at
least, one such fact, conveyed to us by tradition,
the truth of which we must admit, because it
is absurd to assume the contrary, and because
one or the other must be necessarily true. The
fact I mean is this, that the world, we inhabit,
had a beginning in time, and the same may be
said of our whole solar system, and of the whole
system of the universe. Now this fact, beings-
denied very dogmatically, and there neither being
nor ever having been any living contemporary
human testimony for it or against it, we must, I
think, be decided in this case, by considering,
whether the beginning or eternity of the world
implies any contradiction with what we know,
ji>r is repugnant yo ,©ur clearest, most distinct^ and.

41 O LETTERS TO
and best determined ideas. One of these facts
must be true, since the world exists actually. If it
can be shown, therefore, that the1 opinion of it's
eternity is an absurd opinion, I must be con
vinced that it had a commencement.
To prove the absurdity of the former, there
seems to be a very obvious method, and an ar
gument tbe more conclusive, because it is, in
opposition to the atheist, an argument " ad
" hominem," an argument drawn from the only
solution of one of the greatest difficulties which
the theist proposes to him. If this solution be
not good, he remains without a reply, and if it be
good, as I think indeed that it is sufficient to.
answer this particular difficulty, there arises
from it an argument against himself, much stron
ger than that which the theist opposed to him,
and which I am readv to acknowledge, that he
has fully answered. What is here said, requires
to be explained by a deduction of particulars.
Lie who denies the commencement, and asserts
the eternity of the world, must believe, that this.
planet of ours has been, from all eternity, such
as we see that it is. I say, that he must believe
ii; to be so,, since, if he admitted such changes
in it as had overturned the whole order of
physical nature, destroyed all the species of ani
mals, ancl confounded all the elements in a new
chaos, the dispute would be over, and he con
victed, at once, of the grossest absurdity, because
a God, a AJiMiBfyo?, would be as necessary in
this case, as in that of an original creation; In

MR. DE POUILLY. 4E|
In short, such a renewal of the world requiring.
no Jess wisdom and power than the formation
qf it, the dispute on the atheist's part would,
|ink into, a cavil about words. He is obliged
therefore to maintain, that this planet of ours has.
been always, upon the whole, much what it is ;
that there have been, from eternity, the same
general laws, and the same order of physical na
ture ; an infinite succession of material 'causes
andettects, blind eaus: s of uniform effects, uniform
in kind, if not in degree; causes, which have been
effects; effects, which become causes in their
turn, and proceed in this manner round the circle
pf eternity. When we quote, to the atheist the
universal consent of tradition, in affirming that
the world had a beginning, he laughs at the
proof. Whether he has any right to do so,
will be, seen presently. In the mean time, we
cannot be surprised that he, who rejects a de
monstration, should pay no regard to a tradition ;
but we, may be well surprised, when, following,
the atheist on, we find hhn calling tradition to his
aid, and leaning wholly upon it.
If the world is eurnal, why does our knowledge,
qf it go no further back, why have we not more
ancient memorials, says the divine ? The same
reason, says the atheist, which hinders us from
having records, where we haye any, beyond two
or three thousand years in a space of five or six
thousand, to which, according to you, the anti
quity of the world extends, is just as good to
hinder us, from seeing further backward, in a
longer,

4?2 LETJEES TO
longer, and even in an infinite space of time.
Nowhere theology comes in to the aid of atheism,
as it does upon more occasions than this. The
history, Which is ascribed to the legislator of the
Jews, and which h is required that we should*
believe implicitly, assures us, that the world was
once entirely drowned; aud through the whole
course of sacred, as well as profane, scriptures,
we hear ¦ of other inundations, of earthquakes,
of plagues, of devastations of countries, and of
captivities of people, by ail, or some of which,
not only numbers of men have been destroyed,
hut whole political societies have been Jost.
Thus the atheist has it in his power to make
the same use of holy writ, which the divine makes
of profane history ; that is, he adopts whatever
makes for his purpose, and rejects whatever does
not. He finds aucient governments frequently
dissolved, and new ones rising. The records of
the former, as well as their laws and customs,
perish with them. The latter remain often very
long in ignorance and barbarity, ancl have not
the means, nor even the desire, of conveying
the events of their own time, nor the traditions
of former times by authentick records to pos
terity, lie will not fail to observe, that all
we know of ancient history, except those broken
scraps of it which Jewish traditions mention, has
come down to us from the Greeks; that many
penturies passed, after the deluge, before Cadmus^
pr any one else, carried the use of letters to
this -people ; and that this people not having
employed

MR. DE P0LTLLY. 413
employed them to write history till many cen
turies afterward, it is not astonishing, that we
know as little as we do concerning; times more
ancient than those. The atheist triumphs in
this answer to the divine, and though no man ab
hors his cause more than I do, I think him thus far
in the right. But the scene will soon change,
if a theist interposes. His answer to the divine's
question will indeed stand good, but out of this
very answer there will arise a decisive argument
against him.
When the atheist has sounded the deluge of
Deucalion high, and admitted, for the sake of his
argument, that of Noah ; when he has added
to these all those other deluges, of which tra-
dition speaks, that of Xisuthrus, that of Ogyges,
that which the Chinese annals mention, that
whereof the priests of Sais info'rVned Solon, and.
that, if it was not the same, whereof the me
mory had been preserved among the people of
America, beside a multitude of devastations of
other kinds, he will think himself very strong.
But the theist. may ask him a very puzzling
question, Was there any thing supernatural in
the production of these terrible caf astro plies ?
The divine might answer, that there was ; but
he could not : for if he did, he would acknowledge
the existence of a supreme Being, which he
denies. It remains then, that all he has said
about the immutable order and laws of nature,
which have maintained the world in much the
same state, and such as it* is, from all eternity, must

4 i"'4- LETTERS TO
must pass for nothing, and. the theist will insist;
that if such events, as thesej which tend directly
to the dissolution of our planet, and the exter
mination of the whole human race; have beeil
produced so often, in five er six thousand years;
by the action of blind causes, matter and motion
alone^ it is repugnant to common sense to be
lieve, either that such events have not happened'
an infinite number of times; in an infinite space
of time ; or that having so happened, they should
not have once destroyed the world entirely^ and
made the supposition of a. God necessary to
restore it to the state in which we see it. The
theist will insist further against the atheist, that
It is absurd to confine these phaenomena td
such bounds, and to accompany them with
just such circumstances as suit his purpose;
The purpose of the atheist required, that these
destructions of maukind should happen ofteri
enough to defend his hypothesis against that
question, Why have we not more ancient me
morials of the world, and of the inhabitants
of it? What his purpose ' required, is exactly
answered, by the eternal complaisance of blind
material causes. The world was never entirely
destroyed, nor mankind entirely exterjninated;
hor any necessity created of a God to restore theim
But there have been as many of these destruc
tions, as may be improved to extricate the atheist
but of the difficulty which is laid in his way.
The divine would sit down well satisfied with
the state to which* I suppose, the dispute is
reduced

' MR DE POUILLY. x\i 5
reduced by the theist, if he had nothing more
at heart, than to maintain the existence of God,
by maintaining the commencement of the world.
But he has something more at heart, it must
have commenced, it must have been renewed*
and it must have been repeopled, in the manner
Moses relates, and just at the .time which he
fixes, according to the calculations that learned
men have grounded on the genealogies contained
in the book of Genesis. For this purpose ft
system has been invented by crowding profane
into the extent of sacred chronology, and by
making as many anecdotes of the former, as
can be so made, seem to coincide with those of
the latter. Divines would be thought to prove
the latter by concurrent evidence ; but in reality
they assume it "to be true, and by this assumption
alone can the violence, with which they drag
profane anecdotes to their purpose, be- in any
sort excused. That I may not quote to you
any of those numberless heavy writers, who have
taken this task upon them, I will, bring forward
on this occasion Mr. de Meaux, the honour ofthe
Gallican or rather of the Christian church, and
the shame of that of Rome. This writer, who
possessed in the- highest degree the talent of
seducing the imaginition, when he could not con
vince the judgment, running over, in his Discourse
on Universal Llistory, those ages which succeeded
the deluge, in a very agreeable manner, but on
very precarious authority, makes no scruple
of affirming, that there is no ancient history
where io

416 LETTERS TO'
wherein the marks of a new world do not appear"
manifestly in these early times, and long after
Nthem. These endeavours to confirm the Mosaick
.Jrysfcem. by a multitude of uncertain traditions,
as well as the history itself, compiled, no doubt,
from other traditions, might be sufficient to take
all authority from tradition, if these authors did
not mistake the notion of it, and' if a just dis
tinction, that ought to be made, did not escape
them. Tradition is first oral, the first authors of it
unknown, and when it Comes afterward into
history, the genealogical descent of it nothing
moro than tradition, and we must say, in general,
very absurdby, that it proves itself, or, very truly,
that it has no proof at all. From hence it fol
lows, that particular circumstantial facts, con
veyed to us by particular traditions, are desti
tute of historical proof. But still it will be agree
able to nature and reason,' that the unanimous
concurrence of many traditions, to which no
contrary traditions can be opposed, may con
stitute the truth ofa general fact. Publick report^
as Pliny the younger observes, relates facts in
the gross, and naked of circumstances. So it
must do, to deserve any credit ; and so does
this tradition, that the world had a beginning.
It is rather a fact, resulting from the concurrence
of traditions, than a fact founded on the au
thority of any. Nothing can be less credible
than all that we read in ancient story, about
the Assyrians for instance. It is a wild heap of

MR. DE POUILLY. 417
bf inconsistent traditions which cannot be recon
ciled, nor verified for want of an historical cri
terion. Ctesias, it is said; boasted that he had
extracted the materials of his history, while he
was in the service of the king of Persia, out of
the authentick records of that monarchy. But
his account, those of other Greek writers, and
even those ofthe Old Testament, are so contrary
to one another, and, on the whole, so improbable,
that they may be all comprehended under the
name of Assyriacs, which Aristotle brought into
proverbial use, and which was meant to signify
all sorts of fabulous relations. What are we
now to believe in-this case ? Not any particular
tradition, to be sure ; but thus much, in general,
that there was an empire once founded in Asia,
to which the Assyrians gave their name.
These traditions, those of Egypt, and many of
Greece,, come from those dark ages which may be
called heroical or fabulous, after Varro the most
learned of the Romans. More modern Greeks,
like echoes, repeated these traditions, and, in
repeating, multiplied them all, so that the sound
of them rings still in our ears, and they remain
objects of learned curiosity. Shall we .give
credit now to the traditions, that came down
from fabulous ages, about the expedition of the
Argonauts ; about the war of Thebes, and thac
of Troy; about the adventures of Hercules, of
Theseus, and a multitude of other romantic
stories ? No, most certainly. It would be ridicu
lous to give credit to any of them. But it is not ridi
culous, it is reasonable, to be persuaded that
Vol. IV. E e they

418 ' letters to
they had some foundation in the truth of things.
Every tradition, considered apart, may be safely
denied; because no one of them has an histori
cal proof, but yet a truth, which may be called
with little impropriety historical, results from the
combination of all these fabulous traditions. There
were, no doubt, in unknown ages, maritime ex
peditions, famous leagues, cruel wars, arid heroes'
who rendered their names illustrious.
One tradition reports, that Perseus carried a
colony into the east; another, that Tithonus did
the same " usque ad ./Ethiopas," as far as the
Indies. Is not the voyage of Io, daughter of
Inachus, into Egypt long before, and the expedi
tion ofthe Cimmerians into Asia long after, fa
mous in tradition ? Many others ofthe same kind
might be mentioned; and though they are all
faljulous, they leave no reason to doubt, that arts
and sciences, and even barbarity, were carried from
the west to the east, as well as from the east to the
west, in ages quite unknown to us; which is
enough to shake the authority of that particular
history wherein it is reported, that the world was re-
peopled from one spot, and by one family, after a
universal deluge. But I need insist on this head
no longer. So many general truths, of which
it is impossible to doubt, result from the con
currence of fabulous traditions, that there remains
no reason to doubt ofthe truth of this fact, " The
world had a beginning."
Will it be said, that if there has been such a
tradition, it has not been so universal as to esta
blish this truth,, according to my rule? Lest, this
should

MR. DE POUILLY. 4I9
should be said, it is necessary that I prove the
universality of it ; and that by showing, par
ticularly, for what reasons we admit other facts
to be true, . though founded only on tradi
tion, it may appear that the beginning of the
world is still better, founded, and this important
tradition advantageously distinguished from all
others. While I am writing on this subject to you, a
dissertation, I had never seen before, is fallen into
my hands. The author * of it pretends not only
to prove, that the world had a beginning, but
also, that this beginning was the same which Mo
ses gives it. He is so fond of the second propo
sition, that he employs all his skill and all his
learning to establish it. He ventures to assert,
that the history ofthe world was very well known,
when that of Moses became publick by the spread
ing Of the Gospel ; that profane history agreed
with sacred, in this respect, and did not reach
beyond the bounds Moses had set. One would
think that these writers imagine, for this writer
is a divine too, that none but themselves can
read, and that they have still the advantage, which
they had before the ressurrection of letters, the
advantage of imposing whatever they please on
an ignorant world. The world had a beginning ;
tradition proves it had. But tradition is far from
proving that it began, either inthe manner Mo
ses relates, or at the time which he is thought to
have fixed. Profane ancl sacred history were as
littje agreed, when Christianity was published
* Jacquelot.
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420 LETTERS TO
and the Jewish scriptures were better known, as
they are at this time ; notwithstanding all the
pains taken by Josephus, Eusebius, and others, to
reconcile them ; and notwithstanding all the pains
that have been taken, by modern scholars,
.to confirm sacred by profane anecdotes.
Let us neglect ^such writers, therefore, who
make a show of learning, always futile, and often
false. Let us examine and compare for ourselves;
look into the authors they cite ; but trust neither
their citations nor their reasonings. Diodorus
the Sicilian, ancl Strabo, in the reign of Augus
tus; Pliny and Plutarch in those of Vespasian
and Trajan, very respectable authors certainly,
give us a different idea of their knowledge in the
history of the world, from that which the author
of this dissertation would give us. They knew
a little better than this modern writer, what his*
tories and what traditions they had of any authen
ticity. They made ' no great account of those
canticles or hymns, of those inscriptions and other
expedients, which had been employed, in more
early times, to preserve the memory ofpast events,
and concerning which the writer we refer to en
ters into a chimerical and tiresome detail. These
ancient writers looked on their histories to be
more modern, and their traditions to be more
ancient, than our tribe of scholars would make
them, the last especially. That profound anti
quity, wherein these men affect dogmatically to
make great discoveries, with very particular and
critical exactness, was, for the others, a dark abyss,
wherein they saw but few objects, and those few
rather

MR. DE POUILLY. 421
rather general than particular, and, on the whole
very imperfect. They acknowledged, that the
first of tbe Greek historians had writ no earlier
than the time about which the Persians began to
make their expeditions into Europe. They con
fessed, that neighbouring nations had some histo
rical monuments of a much greater antiquity ; but
they confessed too, that these monuments were
very imperfect ancl very precarious, broken into
discordant anecdotes, and mingled up "with ro
mance and poetical fiction. In a word, they
owned themselves able to pierce a very little way
into antiquity ¦ but none of them pretended, that
the bounds of their historical knowledge were the
bounds of antiquity. Let us see now, whether
the beginning of the world may not be, even at
this time, reputed equivalent to the best esta
blished historical fact, notwithstanding the avowed
ignorance of the most learned and curious inqui
rers, who wrote, two thousand years ago, about
the beginning of nations, and much more of the
world. The Egyptians seem to have been reputed the
most ancient, or one of the most ancient, nations
ofthe world, by the Greeks, from whom all our
knowledge of profane history descends. They
gave to their nation an immense antiquity, and in
part, perhaps, fabulous. But I am at a loss, how
ever, to discover what means, and therefore what
right, the scholars of these ages have to decide,'
as dogmat'cally as they have done, about the
Egyptian dynasties. Why, for instance, the Jesuit
Petavius re mired that we should, upon his word,
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422 LETTERS TO
reject them all ? Or, why the author of the dis*
sertation, after touching the matter very lightly
and very superficially, should expect to be be
lieved, when he conjectures that there were no mo
numents of Egyptian antiquity later than Moeris,
though he has in this the authority of as great a
man as Marsham on his side ? Dicearchus, the dis
ciple ofoAristotle, who had not, most certainly,
inspired him with much credulity in ancient tra
dition, had studied the antiquities of Egypt.
Manetho had done the same in the time of Pto
lemy Philadelphus, and Eratosthenes in the time
of Ptolemy Evergetes. The first of the two was
himself an Egyptian, andhad extracted hischrono-
logy and history from the books of Mercury, that is,
from the facred and mostauthentick writings ofthe
Egyptians. Why has his chronology been called
in question, or why was it not received by chris
tian writers beyond a certain epocha ? is there
any pretence to say, that he altered what he found
inthe books of Mercury ; as we know that Julius
Africanus, and Eusebius, altered and transposed
his dynasties, to make them, as near as they could,
conformable to the Mosaick chronology ? With
what front can we suspect the authenticity of
books, compiled and preserved by Egyptian pi iests,
when we receive the Old Testament on the faith of
Jewish scribes, a most ignorant and lying race?
Were the sacred books of the Egyptians taken
from them by a king of Persia ? Diodorus says
jt, But.t-he same Dicdorus assures us, that the
Egyptians purchased their scriptures again, and
tha*

MR. DE POUTf.LT. 423
that they were restored to them by the eunuch
Bagoas : whereas the scriptures of the Jews were
lost, more than once; and how they were reco
vered, the last time at least, is unknown to us :
nay, whether they were recovered at all, in a
strict sense, may be, and has been, questioned
by some Christians and Jews too. Is the im
mense antiquity, which Manetho ascribed to
his nation, or, the tales of Osiris, and Isis, and
Typhon, too ridiculous to be admitted? I shall not
plead in favour of them. But, in truth, are the
anecdotes of Jewish antiquity a whit more con
formable to experience, to reason, and to all our
notions of things divine or human, whatever re
gard we may pay to some passages in the Pent
ateuch, because of the use to which they are put
by theology. No man, who has the least pretence
to candour, and who dares speak out, will assert
so much. But still, how little credit soever we
may give to the particular traditions of either sort,
all of them together are the general voice of anti
quity, and extort our assent to this truth, " The
world had a beginning"
This truth seems to have been propagated hy
them in those hieroglyphs, and that sacred lan
guage, wherein they recorded u hatever was most
ancient and most respected Moras, or the world,
was represented like a youth whose b< an! was not
yet grown. An egg was the famous symbol of
the generation, as well as figure ofthe world ; and
the Thebans, who were the most ancient Egyptian
dynasty, had a hieroglyphical representation
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424 LETTERS TO
of the Divinity with an egg coming out of his
mouth ; which symbol of an egg was adopted
by the Phoenicians, and by the Persians, and
became an object of worship intheorgia, or mys
teries of Bacchus. These monuments came
down from, the first Mercury, at whose antiqui
ty we cannot so much as guess ; for the second,
who followed, and probably very long after him,
our clirono'n ?v:s are obliged to place as high as,
the age of Moses or of Joshua.
Sanchoniathon, that we may say something
of Phoenician as well as Egyptian traditions of
this sort, is another author that may vie, perhaps,
with the most ancient for antiquity. Bochart,
and all our divines, think fit to place him in the
time of Gideon. It is not convenient for them,
that he should stand backwarder. They build
their assertion on a passage concerning him in
the writings of Porphyry, who says, that San*
clioniathon had the materials of his history from
Jerornh.J. a priest cf the god J :o. Now Jerombal
sounds too i.ke to Jerubaal, the name Gideon
wears in Scripture, and Jao sounds too like
Jehovah, to leave any doubt, on this subject in
the minds of men who can make systems and
write volumes on the affinity of sounds. Sancho
niathon then, being contemporary to Gkleon,
had a knowledge of the book of Moses, and took
from thence all he knew concerning the begin
ning of the world ; so that these two are but one
pnd the same tradition, according to this opinion.
But there is great reason to doubt of the first
part,

MR. DE P0UILLY. 435
part, and the second is evidently false. — The
anachronism of Porphyry, who supposed Semi-
ramis contemporary with the siege of Trov, will
not make Sanchoniathon contemporary with Gi
deon ; since the last was, unluckily, not a priest,
and since the Jerombal, from whose writings the
Phoenician historian is said to have borrowed,
was one. The answers made to this objection are
trifling. A pagan, it is said, might take a general
of an army fos- a priest, and Porphyry was guilty
of this blunder. The Jews called their chiefs
or principal men sometimes priests, it is said.
Therefore Porphyry, who was no more a Jew
than he was a Christian, might make use of an
appellation peculiar to the Jews. — But, further,
in what time soever Sanchoniathon lived, he did
not relate what he said concerning the commence
ment of the world from the Mosaick history, or
any other Jewish traditions ; since he affirmed
positively, that he derived the cosmogony from
Taaut or Mercury. Have we not reason to be
surprised, as much as we are accustomed to it, at
the boldness of scholars, who presume to oppose
their frivolous conjectures to what an historian
himself says of the materials which he followed?
The second part of what is said concerning this
Phoenician historian being false, it follows that
Sanchoniathon, one of the most ancient writers
whose name is come down to us, Sanchoniathon,
a lover and follower of truth, according to the ety
mology of his name, learned and curious in search
ing the original of things, furnished with the
most

426 LETTERS TO
most authentick materials that Egypt and Phoe
nicia couid afford him, and writing- in an age
when the authenticity of these materials might
be known, affirmed the beginning of the world;
and is, therefore, a voucher of the same truth,
distinct from Moses.
Whether the books of the Pentateuch were
writ by Moses himself, or whether the traditions
contained in them were compiled after his time,
which is not at all improbable ; certain it is,
that these traditions are of very great antiquity.
Now these traditions confirm the same general
fact, in a more circumstantial account of it, than
we may suppose that Sanchoniathon gave. I
have read that Simplicius laughed at the whole
story, ancl at Grammaticus for quoting some
passages of it. This interpreter of Aristotle
affirmed, that the whole was taken from Egyptian
fables. But Simplicius might have considered,
as we do, that how ridiculous soever the circum
stances might be, the fact, affirmed by so many
traditions, might be true, though he was led to
deny it by aiguments which Aristotle himself
owned to be veiy prohlr-mat.ical. Aristotle, who
employed logick very absurdly in physicks, might
employ it, as absurdly, about history and tradition.
Let it be, that the account Moses gives of the
creation, and the cosmogony of Sanchoniathon,
are alike fabulous; yet still the general fact, ad
vanced by them, may be reputed true. The
various fables annexed to it do, in effect, prove
it ; since it is not likely that they would have
been

MR. DE P0UILLY. 427
i>ee*. invented, if the foundation of them had
not been laid in tradition, if there had not been
a stock of truth whereon to graft them.
I am as much persuaded, as Simplicius himself,
that the Israelites might borrow some Egyptian
traditions, as it is notorious that they borrowed
Tnviny civil and religious institutions from the
asiime people. I can believe too, on the faith
df learned men, that there is some analogy be
tween the.Mosaick account of the creation and
ihe Phoenician cosmogony. There is nothing
extraordinary to alter the state of the question
im this. I can believe too, that the six times, in
which God made the world, according to an ancient
tradition of the Persians, are relative to the six
days in which he made it, according to the Jewish
¦traditions. The Israelites had been slaves to
the Egyptians, captives among the Chaldeans,
and subjects to the Persians. They boasted their
descent from Abraham ; and the magi acknow
ledged this patriarch for their legislator, and for
the institutor of their religion. The reformation,
which Zoroaster made in this, was made after the
return of someoftheJews, from Babylon, into their
own country. But it was made, according to Hide
and other modern critieks, in the reign of Darius,
son of Hystaspes, a little before Esdras and Nehe*-
mias went from the court of Persia to restore
the religion, to settle the government, ancl to
compile the traditions of the Jews at Jerusalem.
Esdras set out from Persia ancl Babylonia when
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428 LETTERS TO
ran the highest, and when the new doctrines of
Zoroaster prevailed in the first fervour of refer
matfon. Esdras, therefore, and the other Jeivs,
who could not fail to be favourable to the first
sect, and averse to the latter, might very well
take, as it is highly probable that they did, the
names ofthe months, the names of angels, many
ridiculous anecdotes, and, among the rest, some
concerning the creation, from the magians.
The tradition was common to all these nations,
but they, invented and they borrowed, from one
another, various circumstances, in which they
dressed it up differently, each historian according
fo his fancy, and conformably to the established
system of his religion. This hypothesis is so
well founded, and so very probable, that our
divines do nothing better than weaken the cre
dibility of the fact, when they assume, on the
similitude of some circumstances, that this tradi-
tion, as well as the belief of one God, was pre
served by the Jews alone.
They were both much more ancient among the
Persians than Zoroaster or Zerdusht.. We have
to do here only with the first: and as to that,
Porphyry cites in his treatise, "• De antro nym-
" pharum," a certain Eubulus, who writ the
history of Mithras, and assured in it, that Zo
roaster consecrated a round grotto, such as na
ture had formed it, adorned with flowers and
watered by springs, to Mithras, the creator of all
things, which grotto was the symbol of the world,
as the world is the work of Mithras. The same
reformer

MR. DE PQUTLI.Y. 429
reformer instituted festivals likewise to comme
morate the beginning of it; and not content
with this, he descended into particulars 5 fixed
the number of days contained in every one of
the six times that had been imagined ; and
marked the gradual progress of the creation in
each of them.
The Chfddasans may be coupled, on this oc
casion, with the Persians, as the Phoenicians
and the Israelites were with the Egyptians.
They wenB all distinct nations ; they had all
their distinct religions and tra litions ; but they all
agreed in tone, the beginning of the world, how
many different fictions soever they might relate
concerning the time and manner of this begin
ning. I do ijiot cite the Chaldaick oracles. They
were as much forged or corrupted, perhaps, as
the sybiline verses. But we have no need of
leaning on their authority. Eusebius has pre
served a remarkable passage that was in the
history of Berosus. An ancient tradition of the
Cbaldasans reported, that our world was formed
out of a chaos. All was night ami water, till Bel
cut this night in two, separated the heavens from
the earth, and formed the world. The stars,
the sun, the moon, and the planets, were the
productions, according to this tradition, of the
same Bel, by which nama the Chaldaeans mcancd
to signify the Koeph ot the orthodox Egyptians,
their o,, a invisible Mithras, or, in one word, the
!'t:j!,tme Being.
I know very well that Diodorus says, the Cbal-
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43O LETTERS TO
dasans believed the world eternal by iit's nature,
and incapable of generation or corrupt ion. But,
in the first place, the authority of Berosus seems
to deserve, on this occasion, much n lore credit
than that of Diodorus, not only becai ise he was
much nearer to the times of which lie speaks,
but because he was a Babylonian ai id a priest,
and, therefore, better instructed, without doubt,
than the latter in the traditions of hi 5 own coun
try. — In the next place, the difficul ty of recon
ciling these two authors does not seem insu
perable. The Greek, in the begi nning of his
first book, speaks of those, who believed the
world eternal, and of those, who w ere of a con
trary opinion. But this dispute sieems to have
risen among the naturalists or tlae learned, as
he calls them, and not among tliose who con
tented themselves to know, abou.t past events,
what the history and tradition of their country
taught them.  Thus we may 'understand, arid
should, I think, understand v/hai he says of the
Chaldasans ; for after haviug said, that they
maintained the eternity ofthe world, and believed
it incapable of generation or corruption, he adds,
that they believed the world] to be governed by
a divine providence, and every thing which hap
pened, to be ordered by the gods, not to happen
by chance. Now the greatest part of what he
says being manifestly an account of philoso
phical opinions, and( not of facts preserved in
history or in traditio n, it seems most natural
to understand the wh ole in the same manner- beside

MR. DE POUILLY. 4 3 j
beside which, it is to be considered, that there
might be a tradition of the commencement,
and that there could ' be none of the eternity
ofthe world. From all which, it seems evident
to me, that the whole of what Diodorus says
is applicable to philosophical opinions alone,
which are sometimes opposed to matters of fact
sufficiently established ; whereas every such hy
pothesis should have it's foundation in fact, not
to be chimerical. Berosus relates what he found
in the Chaldaick traditions; and Diodorus fells
us what the opinions were of some philosophers
at least. We shall see presently, that this op
position of a philosophical hypothesis to tradition
was not confined to Egypt or Chaldsea, and that
it does not affect the truth of the -proposition
we defend.
Strabo relates, in his fifteenth book, that the
Brachmans in India agreed with the Greeks in
many things, and particularly in this, that " the
world had a beginning ; to which he adds, and
that " it will be destroyed." Advantage may
be taken from hence to turn my own way of
reasoning against me. It may be said, that,
since the Brachmans believed the future de
struction of the world, which could not be the
subject of any tradition, and was not certainly
revealed to them by prophecy, the assumed com
mencement of tile world might be, and certainly
was, merely founded, aa .well as it's assumed
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432 LETTERS TO
It may be said, that we ought to explain this
passage of Strabo, much as I have explained that
of Diodorus, and to suppose the whole system
of these Indian Brachmans philosophical.
I shall have occasion to consider, more at
Jeno;tl), the true difference between a tradition
of opinion, and a tradition of fact. But, in the
meantime, I observe, that since, the opinion of
the future destruction of the world, founded ma
nifestly in speculation, was entertained by the
Greeks, at the same time as the opinion of it's
beginning, founded not less manifestly in tra
dition ; and since Strabo assures us, that there
was a great conformity between the opinions
of the Greeks, ancl the opinions of the Indians,
we may well believe, that there was the same
conformity between the principles on which
their opinions were framed. Those among the
Greeks, who beheved the world had a beginning,
believed it on the faith of tradition. They who
imagined it would have an end, were led to imagine
so both by physical and metaphysical speculation.
Since they were sure it had a beginning, they
concluded, from both, that it would have an
end, and grafted opinion on fact. Thus ithappened
among the Greeks, and thus it might happen
among the Indians.
I observe, in the next place, that if there was
any author of equal authority, who asserted
that the Brachmans believed the eternity of the
world, to oppose to Strabo, as we have Berosus, to

MR. DE POUILLY. 433
to oppose to Diodorus, this circumstance might
afford some pretence to say that the Brachmans,
having, framed, from observations of the present
state of the material world, an opinion that
t would be some time or other destroyed by age
or accident, were led from thence, by carrying
their speculations backward, to the opinion that
it had a beginning : but that as there is no such
authority to oppose to Strabo, we ought to con
clude, that the knowledge they had by tradition.
of the beginning of the world led them to be
lieve, on physical observation and metaphysical
reasoning, it's future destruction, rather than to
conclude this philosophical conjecture led them
to imagine, without any foundation in tradition,
that the world had a beginning. So that I might
very well quqte the Indians, as an ancient nation
who concurred in establishing the truth of this
fact on the faith of their traditions.
I might go further on to the eastward, and
bring the testimony of the Chinese, on the same
side : a most ancient nation surely, ancl possessed
of more ancient records, perhaps, than any other,
though we have been little acquainted till very
lately with their history, chronology, and tra
ditions. But I choose to proceed in quoting au
thors better known to us, arid shall therefore cite
once more Strabo, whose authority, of all the
ancient writers, is perhaps of the greatest Height.
Strabo represents the ^Ethiopians rather bar
barous than civilized ; ancl yet this people Re
lieved a supreme- immortal Being, the first cause
Vol. IV. F f of

434 LETTERS TO
of all things. This people therefore believed the
beginning of the work', and this people could.
not fail to have most ancient traditions, since,
as rude as they were, the use of letters had been
known by them from a time immemorial. Enough
has been said of the most ancient nations that
are mentioned iri history ; and if we descend to
the Greeks, modern, with respect to them, though
ancient, with respect tous, we shall find the same
tradition established, and further reasons to
persuade that it was universal, allegorised, dis
guised, disputed, and even weakened by time;
but still universally received, and strongest as
we remount highest in our inquiries after it.
Such it was when the Greeks, from whom it has
descended to us, adopted and transmitted it.
This tradition seems to rise out of the abyss of
time with the impetuosity of a great source. But
theii as the water, which spouted out with much
noise and force in the beginning, runs silently
and gently on, the further it runs; so this tradition
grew weaker, but continued to run, when the
authors, whom we read at this time, began to
write. The Egyptians were the first masters ofthe
Greeks. Before any of these went into Egypt to
acquire science, they had received much instruc
tion from thence; principles of religion and of
civil government, and anecdotes of antiquity. Or
pheus may pass for the first of these. Egyptian.
missionaries ; since he came from Egypt, though
he was a Thracian. I abandon the verses, which have

MR. DE POUILLY. 435
have gone under his name, as easily as the Chal-
d-ili-k oraeks; but that 1 should believe there was
no such man, is too much to require. .Aristotle
asserted, as we leara in the first book of the -"'na
ture of the gods, 'c Orpheum poetam nunquam
" fuisse." But we find in the same treatise, that
Orpheus, Musaeus, Hesiod, and Homer, were
reckoned among the most ancient poets. It would
not be difficult, perhaps, to discover the princi
ple of philosophical interest, which induced Aris -
totie to deny the existence ofa man so famous in
all the traditions of his country, and who had been
the subject of so many fables. What traditions
of greater antiquity than Orpheus the Greeks
might have, \,e know not. But he was certainly
the principal channel, through which that of the
commencement of the world passed, from the
Egyptians, to Musaeus, Hesiod, and Homer,
who received it first, or were confirmed in the be
lief of it, by this authority, and v ho preserved
and propagated it in all their songs. Pythagoras
took it from the Egyptians likewise, ancl from
other eastern nations. The whole Italick school,
and all those ofthe Ionick, who did not prefor their
own speculations to a matter of fact, ancl Plato,
the famous founder ofthe aculcniy, followed them.
None of these invented the f-.ct; but all of them
dressed it up ancl delivered it down in different
garbs, according to their different systems of
philosophy and religion. Even the Christians, who
came so long afterward, helped to corrupt this
tradition, by interpolating the famous verses,
: . x f f 2 ascribed

436 LETTERS TO
ascribed to Orpheus, which I hare for this reason,
among others, consented to lay aside; though
still, if we believe these verses were composed by
Onomacritus,ancl not by Orpheus, they were com
posed at least as early as the age of Pisistratus,
and contain, therefore, a very ancient tradition.
I might have named, as the preservers of this
tradition, among the Greeks, Linus, Thamyras,
and others. I might quote several Theogonias,
that, it is said, were writ, like that of Aristreus
of the island of Proconnesus, or that of Epi
menides of the island of Crete : all which would
have been 'more ridiculous, than they were if the
beginning of the world had not been established
in general belief; but I will mention, particularly,
that of Hesiod only. He invokes the muses to sing
the divine race -of those immortal gods born of the
earth, ofthe heavens, and of night, and who have
been nourished by the salt sea. He goes on to
bid them sing, how the gods and the earth were
first made, with the rivers -ind the immense sea,
with the stars and the heavens, with the gods who
proceeded from them, and who are the authors of
all good things. The same extravagant ideas
are to be found in Homer. The ocean was, ac
cording to bim, the original of all things : and
this notion coincides with that of Thales, who
taught that all things proceeded from water as
their material principle ; by which he meaned, no1
doubt, a certain chaos, wherein all the elements
were confounded, till they were reduced into
order, that is, till the world began. The

MR. OE POUILLY. 4J7
The proofs of the universality of this tradition,
muffled up almost always in allegories ancl fables,
are so numerous, that we run more risk of being
lost in the multiplicity of them, than of wanting
any. Abaris, the Scythian, had writ concerning
these generations of gods. The world was not
eternal in the system of the Druids ; and the
ancient Etrurians had their fables concerning the
beginning of it, as well as the Egyptians and
the Persians. The magi, says Diogenes Laer-
tius, taught the generation of the gods : and
by these gods, they understood fire, earth, and
water. One of the magi, says Herodotus, sung
the same generation, in a hymn, at all the
sacrifices o'f the Persians.
As poetry personified every thing, ancient
philosophy, which was little else than poetry,
animated all the elements ; and every part of
corporeal nature was filled with inferiour divini
ties : for they acknowledged some that were supe
riour, and even a supreme Being, who, far from
being born of the world, made it, and was the
father of gods and men ; wliich puts me in
mind of a passage in Cicero, where it is said of
thiss upreme Being, " deos alios in terra, alios in
" luna, alios in reliquas mundi partes spargens
" Deus quasi serebat."
It would have been very convenient for all-
the atheistical philosophers to have assumed
the eternity of the world ; but few of them
durst, do so, in opposition to this universality of
tradition. They were obliged, therefore, either
F F 3 tO

438 LETTERS 'TO
to reject this tradition, or to find some way of
recounting for the existence of our planet,
without supposing a self-existent AjifoSp^oj, or
archiiee1, the first mind of Anaxagoras. They.
* chose the last, as the most easy task; and Epi
curus teemed to' think his absurd system more
likoly ;o prevail, for this very reason, because
it assumed that the world had a beginning con
formably to tradition. The author ofthe disser
tation, I have before me, asserts, that all the'
philosophers, except the Epicureans, under which
name he comprehends all the atomick philoso
phers, held, that the world was eternal. A pas
sage in the beginning of the fourth chapter of
the treatise of Censorinus, " De die natali," led
him into this errour. What he advances may be
proved false by a deduction of many particulars; '
but this may be said, "with truth, that an opinion
of the eternity of the world grew up or spread
more after Aristotle. Even the latter Pla,toni-
cians took part on this head with the Peripatetics.
They treated their master, as St, Jerom accuses
others, and might have been accused himself,
of treating the Scriptures. Whatever new opi
nions philosophers framed, they dragged in the
text of their masters to support them ; which
calls to my mind the proceedings of a Jew and
of a stoical ] hilosopher. Philo found a timiry
of divine hypostases in the writings of Plato.
He adopted the opinion, would needs find, it
in thesaid sacred writings of his fathers, and re
concile the legislator of the Jews with the founder ef

MR. DE P0UILLY. 43g
ofthe academy. Just so Cleanthes endeavoured
to make the fables of Orpheus, Musams, Hesiod,
and Homer agree with what he taught concerning
the gods, " Ut veterrimi poetre, qui haec ne sus-
" picati quidem sint, stoici fuisse videantur*."
But after all, nothing can be more strongly
asserted than the comn eacement of the world is
by Plato ; ancl even Aristotle himself acknow
ledged, that this philosopher thought it gene
rated. It may seem strange, but it is true, that we
have a right to quote Aristotle himself against
the eternity of the world. He falls severely on
the philosophical systems, that prevailed in his
time, about the manner in which it began : but
lie acknowledges the uniformity of this ancient
tradition. How could he avoid to do so ? Or
how could it be otherwise, since the Greeks, in
his time, had found it established among all the
nations with whom they became acquainted either
by commerce or by war ? That happened to
them, which has happened to us, in much later
ages. We have pushed our discoveries through
both hemispheres, ancl have found every where
the same tradition established in the belief of
mankind. The Chinese, whom I just mentioned
above, would pass, like the Egyptians of old,
for the most ancient race of mankind, and they
have traditions and records of immense antiquity
and very singular authenticity. Now these tra
ditions and these recordst«gree, in one general fact,
* Tully de Nat. Deor. 1. 2.
F f 4 with

440 LETTERS TO
with all those that have ,been mentioned, " the
" world and mankind had a beginning." Even
the name of a first man is preserved, and Fobi,
who was the Orpheus of the east, precedes a
very little their historical age. If we cross the
South-sea, and visit the people of Peru or of
Mexico, we find the same tradition established
by universal consent, as they received it from
their fathers. The world began, and Pacha
Camac created it; the sun, that enlightens the
world now, is not eternal ; there have been other
suns before this. If we cross the continent of
America and proceed to the islands, we find the
inhabitants of them in the same belief; at least
we might have found them so, while they pre
served thejm'imitive simplicity of their manners,
and the traditions of their forefathers, and till Spa
nish avarice ancl Spanish bigotry had exterminated
the whole species.
After saying so much concerning this tradition,
it is necessary, I think, to consider, more particu
lar^, what those principles are, on which reason
determines us to receive general facts that have
no foundation out of tradition, as we receive
the most authentick historical truths. I have
touched this subject already; but to treat it with
more order and clearness, let us descend into some
detail ofthe essential differences between history
and tradition. Let us consider what those attri
butes are, which the latter wants, ancl for the
want of which this testimony cannot produce
historical probability : for if we find that there is not
the same necessity of relation between these at-
20 tributes

MR. DE POUILLY. 441
tributes and the general facts, spoken of here,
as there is between these attributes and everv
historical account of past events ; in short, if we
find -that such geueral facts are not in the case
of those, in order to judge of which the rules
of historical criticism have been established, it
will follow, that these facts may be received for
true, as well as any, ancl much better than several
of those that, are contained in hi.sfoiv, and to the
truth of which we assent.
A story, circumstantially related, ought not
to be received, on the faith of tradition ; since the
least reflection on human nature is sufficient
to show, how unsafely a s}rstem of facts and cir
cumstances can be trusted for it's preservation to
memory alone, and for it's conveyance to oral
report alone; how liable it must be to all those
alterations, which the weakness of the human
mind must cause necessarily, and which the cor
ruption of the human heart will be sure to sug
gest. An event that is not circumstantially, is
imperfectly related, not only with respect to
the communication it should give, but with re
spect to the means we should have to judge of
it's probability. The means 1 speak of are those
of comparing the different parts of a story to
gether, and of examining how well they coincide
and render the whole consistent. In one case,
theu, different circumstances are to be compared;
iu the other, all the traditions that can be col
lected on the same subject. Inconsistent cir
cumstances destroy the credit ofthe story; repug nant

442 LETTERS TO
nant traditions, that of a general event. But the
silence o: some histories or of some traditions will
destroy the credit of neither, when all those who
speak ofthe same thing agree. The Jewish history
has preserved the memory of a Babylonian king
dom, which we call the second empire of the Assyri
ans, unknown to profane history and tradition,
which make mention only of one. That ancient
monument too of Rhamses, which Germanicus
went to see in his voyage into Egypt, and the
inscription on if, which contained ti.e names of
all the nations whom this prince had conquered
in Asia, makes no mention of the Assyrians among
those who became tributary to the Egyptian
empire, as if their very name had not been known
a century before the a;ra of Nabonassar, though
it mentions the Persians, the Bactrians, and others,
who must have been such to the Assyrians, if
an Assyrian empire had been established, as
we assume, before the mra of Nabonassar. Not
withstanding this silence and the vain efforts
of scholars to reconcile sacred and profane Assy-
riacs, it would be unreasonable to deny, that
there was an Assyrian empire in Asia. Upon
the whole matter, that " the world had a begin-
" n ing'' is a general fact, even better founded
than this, " there has been an Assyrian monarchy."
Some ancient traditions, we have seen, do not
cone.ir with others about the latter. But I
presume it would be hard to cite any body of
ancient traditions, wherein the commencement of
the world is not directly affirmed, or constantly supposed.

MR. DE P0UTLLY. 443
supposed There is not even the silence of tra-
d'lion against it: and as to traditions that
deny tiu.- fact, there neither have been, nor could
be, any.
It may be thought, and it is true, in general,
that history has this advantage over tradition.
The authors ofauthentick history are known; but
those of tradition, whether authentick or unau-
thentick, are not known. The probability of
facts muft dimitiish by length of time, ancl eau
be estimated at no time higher than the wa
lne of that original authority, from which it
is derived. This advantage, then, authentick
history has, which no tradition can have. The
degree of assent, which we give to history, may
be settled, in proportion to the number, charac
ters, and circumstances of the original witnesses;
the .degrees of assent to tradition cannot be so
settled. Let us see, therefore, how far this dif
ference may be thought to affect the tradition
of the beginning of the world. Wc shall find,
I think, that, we are very liable to be deceived in
all these respects, which should constitute the au
thenticity of history, and that the difference I have
observed cannot effect in any sort thi one fact
I assert.We are deceived, grossly, very often about
the number of witnesses, two ways. Some
times by applying testimonies thai have no
true relation to the things testified, aud some
times by taking different repetitions of the same
testimony for different testimonies, Botii mese nays

441 LETTERS TO
ways are employed with success, artfully by
some, habitually by others; and numerous citations
improperly brought, and carelessly or ignorantly set
to account, to increase the confusion and to pro
mote the deception. Nothing can be more ridicu
lous, perhaps, than to see a great part of what
Ave find in profane antiquity applied to confirm
what we find in sacred. Numerous and asto
nishing examples of this-kind might be brought
from all the writers, who have endeavoured to
establish the authenticity, of Jewish, by a sup
posed concurrence of profane traditions. But*
I pass these over. It is full as ridiculous to
see all the ancient writers, who have spoke of
the Affyrians and Persians, quoted as so many
distinct witnesses, when they did, for the
most part, nothing more than copy Ctesias
first, and one another afterward. Neither Cte
sias, nor Moses himself, may deserve belief in
all the particulars related by them; but Cte
sias may be reckoned as a witness the more
of some general facts, as Moses may be of
some others.
That 'the world had a beginning is a naked fact,
which neither contains nor implies any thing
equivocal. It neither leans on the authority of
one nation, nor of one s\ stem of traditions which
many nations may • adopr. Nations, the most
distant in place, and the most opposite in opinions,
customs, and manners, concur in affirming it. All
these trad ii ions, therefore, have had different
originals, or they all^ proceed from one original
tradition.

MR. DE POl'ILLY. 445
tradition. If they had (Liferent originals, the
truth ofthe fact is established by so great a num
ber of independent testimonies. If they all pro
ceed from one original tradition, the truth of the
fact is established just -as wdl; since such a
tradition must have been that of one first familv
or society. As it would be absurd to assume
that a tradition, vi hich may be called that of
mankind, could be founded originally in anv
thing else than the truth ofa fact which concern
ed all mankind, ancl of which all mankind had
once had a certain assurance ; so it would be ab
surd to suppose, that a tradition, arising in one
family or society alone, could spread to all the
corners of the Earth, and be received alike by na
tions even unknown to one another, unless we
suppose this family or society to be, that from
which all these nations, by whom this tradition
was preserved, proceeded. It does not seem that
this argument can be eluded.
As there is a great difference between circum
stantial relations and general naked facts, so there
is, likewise, between the tradition I contend for,
and every other of the same kind. That there has
been a universal deluge is a fact, as general and
as naked as this," the world had a beginning;"
but I apprehend, that the tradition of it is not
supported like that of the commencement ofthe
world. Has the memory of this event been pre
served among all the ancient nations ? There are
men bold enough to say so ; but the contrary is
true. The tradition of Noah's deluge is vouched
by no other authority than that of Moses : for
those

446 LETTERS TO
those nations, which preserved the memory of so
many particular deluges, knew nothing of this
universal deluge: and yet it is impossible to con
ceive that the memory of such a catastrophe
should have been known only by one people, and
and that not the most ancient neither ; or, being
known to all, should have been preserved only
in one corner of the Earth. If this tradition then
is liable to suspicion, for want of a sufficient
number of testimonies, that of the commencement
ofthe world is liable to no suspicion ; because
it has as many testimonies as can be expected
on the supposition of it's truth. Let us proceed
now to consider the veracity and probity of wit
nesses, and the difference between history and
tradition on this head. History, to be authentick,
must give us not only the means of knowing the
number, but of knowing the characters, of the
witnesses who vouch for it. Tradition in general
gives us the means of knowing neither ; and the
particular tradition we speak of here, which is that
of nations, not of men, does not stand in need of
the latter.
This condition of historical probability is even
more important than thenumberof witnesses ; and
it is by this that we are most liable to be deceived. .
There are certain follies, which prevail sorpetimes
like epidemical maladies, ancl infect whole nations
with their delirium. Such there were, of one sort,
among the Egyptians; such there were, of another
sort, among the Jews; and the predestination to uni
versal empire may pass for another, among the.Ro-
mans, But whatever various effects different deliri ums

MR. DE POU ILLY. 447
urns may produce in different countries, there is
one which they produce alike iri all, the spirit of
inventing, believing, and propagating lies. These
lies come soon to have education and authority
on their side. It becomes the interest of parti
cular men, or of particular societies, to profit
ofthe publick credulity, and when they have once
done so, their lies produce such effects, under the
management of bold and artful men, as sober
truth never could. Thus Mahomet, to go no
higher, instituted a new religion in the seventh
century of ours, and founded a great empire.
Mahomet had intrepidity as well as address, and if
a miserable Jew of Asia Minor, seventy or eighty
years ago, had not wanted the former, we might
have seen, very possibly, at this hour a new spi
ritual and temporal empire established by the
adorers of a new Messiah. But the courage of
Sabatai Sevi, to whom the Jews resorted from
all parts, in a firm persuasion that he was their
true Messiah, failed him, and he passes for an im
postor, merely because he durst not stand an
impalement. Thus not only lies, but whole sys
tems of lies, get into history; pass for religious
truths ; "and serve to support, by appeals to them
in after-times, the original fraud. Mahomet was
obliged to fly from Mecca to Medina by the un
believing Arabs. But the Arabs now, and all
those who have been converted to mahometism,
(for it would be false to say, though we hear it
continually said, that this religion has been pro
pagated by force alone and not by persuasion)
go very devoutly in pilgrimage to the place from
which

44^ LETTERS TO
which he was driven, and the time of his flight is
become their sacred asra.
1 dwell the longer on tfiis point, because it is
that which justifies historical pyrrhonism themost.
The ancient manner of recording events made it"
easy to practise all these frauds. The priests
in Egypt, in Judaea, and elsewhere, were intrusted
to make and to keep these records; and they
were under a double obligation, if I may say so,
for such they thought it no doubt, to keep them
with, greater regard to the system of religion
whose mii'iistei's they were, than to the truth of'
things. They were to keep up the credit of an,
cient lies, and to invent as many new ones, as
were necessary to propagate the same fraud. By
these means, and on these motives, the. whole of
history was corrupted in those nations, as we
shall easily believe that it could not fail to be,
when we consider the connexity between civil
and ecclesiastical affairs, and their mutual influ
ence on one another. Joseplius, writing against
Appion, praises this manner of preserving the me
mory of things, in order to bespeak approbation
to the practice, which was that of his own coun
try. He boasts much of the sincerity, and even
of the inspiration, if I mistake not, of the Jewish
scribes. But good sense founded in experience
will answer, that they who record matters, con
cerning which they are strongly biassed by their
affections, their passions 'and their prejudices,
and wherein they have, directly, or indirectly, an
immediate and great private interest to serve by
' invent-

5IR. DE POUILLY. 440
inventing falsehoods, or by disguising truth, are
never to be received as good witnesses, unless
their testimony be confirmed by collateral and
disinterested evidence. That they are not to be
received as such, on any other terms, we need
go no further than the Jews themselves for ex
amples. Some of their heroes and heroines may
be thought justly, when we consider the ana
chronisms and the blunders they commit, as fic
titious as Amadis of Gaul, and their traditions no
more authentick than those of archbishop Tur-
pin. The uncertainty of history arises principally
from the causes here laid down. We are less
liable to be deceived by the concurrence of au
thors, more independent and more indifferent
than these, though they may not be all of equal
credit: because when their motives and designs
are not the same, when they had no common
principle, and when they cannot be suspected to
have had any concert together, nothing but the
notoriety of facts can make their relations coin
cide. In such cases a nice examination of the
veracity and probity of historians, when we can
make it, is as little necessary as it is in matters
of tradition, where we cannot make it. We may
subscribe, at least as reasonably, to the united
testimony of a great number of traditions, whose
authors are unknown to us, as we may to facts
reported by a great number of historians, though
the authority of some of these would be otherwise
fery precarious.
Yol. IV. G 0 Experience

[4.50 LETTERS -TO
Experience shows sufficiently, that there is
no falsehood too gross to - be imposed on any
people civilised or barbarous, learned or ignorant,
'but we shall never conceive that the' same lie
could be imposed on all people: because it is
impossible that the same Jie should flatter them
all alike, or be equally well proportioned to the
interest and designs' of a prevalent society in
every nation. What immediate or necessary
relation has the beginning of the world to the
predominant folly of the Egyptians, for instance,
or the Chinese, or to the interest of the priests,
among the former, and any of the several sects,
among the latter? Since they believed the world
to have had a beginning; it was very conform
able to the folly of these two people to insist
that they descended from the first men, and were
tbe most ancient nations ofthe World; but what
need had they to assume the commencement of
it? Would they not have flattered their vanity
more to say, that it was eternal, and that tbeir
race was coeternal with it ?  ^-Once more.
What necessary relation had the beginning of
the world to the favourite principle of the Jews,
who believed themselves a people chosen by
God, out of all the people of the Earth ? Could
the eternity of the world make it less likely that
they descended from Sem, or the Vocation of
Abraham more improbable, -or destroy the cre
dibility of any foot that flattered their vanity ?
I confess, I think not. If it be said, that this
nation had nobler ideas of the supreme Being ^han

MR. DE POUILLY. «45I
than any other; and that it was more conform
able to these ideas to believe that the world was
made by God, than that it is eternal as well
as he; I might deny the first proposition, and
show that no nation had such mean ideas of the
Divinity in many respects as this. But if I ad
mitted it, for argument sake, I might ask how this
philosophical opinion could be passed for a mat
ter of fact on the Egyptians, who boasted so
¦much of their own antiquity, by a people, who
had grown up among them, and who had been
so long their slaves ? If this tradition of the' be
ginning ef the world had prevailed among the
Jews first, who were known to few people, and
despised by those that knew them, how came it
to spread far and wide to the utmost extremities
of tlie east and west ? — Since I have named the
west, let me mention the Peruvians, and ask
how the beginning of the world can be said to
have flattered the general folly of this people,
or the particular interest of their iucas ? They
thought their incas the children of the sun.
To what purpose was it to make them believe
that Pacha Camac was a being superiour to
the sun, and that he created the world ? Would
it not have been more agreeable to the pre
judices of the Peruvians, and to the interests
ofthe incas, to, have supposed the world eternal,
and themselves the offspring of an eternal fa
ther ?
Lies, that are produced by the predominant
passions of people, and by the policy of. those
o c 2 who

45^ LETTERS TO
who lead them, carry for the most part on their
fronts, if I may say so, the marks of their original :
and this observation will hold in a multitude of
instances that may be brought from history and
tradition, both from facts circumstantially related,
and from those that are naked, or almost naked
of circumstances. But the tradition that affirms
the beginning of the world is not in this case.
It is relative no more to the particular character
ofonepeople than of another. Itfavours nomore
one general principle of religion or policy than
another. In a word, force your imagination as
much as you please, you will find insurmountable
difficulties in your way, if you suppose the fact
invented : but all these difficulties vanish when
you suppose it true. The universal consent of
mankind follows naturally and necessarily the
truth of the fact, The antiquity of the tradition
is a consequence of the antiquity of the world,
and the great variety of fables, which have been
invented about it, is a circumstance that accom
panies every event that has descended long in
oral tradition, and that has not been ascertained
by contemporary history, nay, even some that
seem to have been so ascertained.
There remains to be spoken of, another con
dition of historical probability, whioh it may be
supposed that tradition cannot have, and which
we have seen, in the case of numbers, and
veracity or probity of witnesses, that history
itself does not always furnish, and for want of
which we are often imposed upon by it. This
' condition

MR. DE POUTLLY. 45g
condition is so essential, that neither the num
bers nor characters of witnesses will constitute
probability without it. The condition I mean is
this; that the original authors were not only con
temporary but competent witnesses. The exa
mination whether they were such or no ma}' be
reckoned for another advantage, which history
has, or must have, to be deemed authentick,
over tradition, by what passes every day, under
our eyes, when we see almost every pubrick fact
related, and even transmitted to posterity, not
according to truth, but according to the wrong
judgments which are made by prejudice or by
passion. What happens now, happened for-*
merly, and no stronger proof of it can be required
than that which we find in Arrian. He had be
fore him the memorials of Aristobulus and of
Ptolemy, two principal captains that accom
panied Alexander in all his expeditions ; and
yet the historian was puzzled, sometimes, by the
inconsistency of their relations.
On this head, the competency of original
witnesses, it may be said, that if history wants
it sometimes, tradition must want it always, and
that tradition, especially, which I defend. I may
be told, and I was told, that if every thing else,
which 1 have advanced, was admitted, the ob
jection, arising from the incompetency of wit
nesses, would be sufficient to refute me. It was
urged, that whoever were the first to say there
had been a monarchy of the Assyrians, might
know the truth ef what they .said, but that they,
g o 3 who

454 LETTERS TO
who were the first to affirm the beginning of the
world, could not know the truth of what they
said, not even on the supposition that they were
the first of men. This tradition, therefore, is
that of an opinion, not of fact. The existence
of God is a tradition too ; and theists, very often,
appeal to the universality of this tradition to prove
the truth of an opinion, just as you appeal to the
same universality to prove a fact. Had you
proved the fact, you might have drawn from it
all the arguments that can be drawn to establish,
in belief, the existense of a supreme Being. But
you have amused yourself with nothing better
than proving the truth of one opinion, by the
tradition of another, which is a proceeding that
cannot' be justified; because we are as able, and
probably more able judges of the opinion, than
any of the ancient nations could be witnesses of
the fact. As different nations have their different
follies,, there are some common to all mankind.
As there are fictions which favour the interests
and promote the designs of those who govern in
all, the countries of the world, the existence of
one supreme Being has been acknowledged in
all ages, and if you please to say so, by
all people. Superstition took hold, and policy
profited of this opinion, under one form or
other. Superstition abounds wherever there are
men, and some kind of policy wherever there
-are societies. Metaphysical reasonings on the
nature and attributes of a supreme Being, may
persuade philosophers that this -Being, whom they
5

MR. DE P0THLLY. 455
they assume to exist by the necessity of his
nature, created the world, which does not seem
so to exist. Naturalists in particular may
have adopted easily an opinion, which saves
them much pains and useless research. A first.
cause of infinite wisdom and power cuts all the
gordian knots that embarrass them, and a single
supposition furnishes the solution of a thousand
difficulties.— - All this was urged with much ve
hemence by Damon, and he concluded by putting
this dilemma. If the opinion ofthe commence
ment of the world is conformable to the know
ledge we have of: things, and proportioned to
the human understanding, as you assert, there
results from thence no proof that the fact is
true, but-great reason to believe, that men might
assume it, without knowing any thing of the
matter. ; On the other ride, if this be not true,
your universal tradition wants the first and prin
cipal foundation of probability* which you have
laid down.
I have put these objections, such as were
made, and such as .might have been made to me,
in their full force. They seem plausible ; let us
see if they "are unanswerable. They will not
appear so, if I can show first, that the atheist
begs the question, when he assumes, that, sup
posing the world to have had a beginning, even the
first of men could not be competent witnesses,
because they could not be competent judges,
of the truth of the fact ; secondly, if I can state
so clearly, tlie distinction to be made between
c g 4 th®'

456 LETTERS TO
the tradition of an opinion, and the tradition
of a fact, in our judgments about them, as
to reduce to an absurdity the supposition, that
the tradition we speak of is of the first sort ;
and thirdly, if I can prove, by reasons drawn
from the human nature and from general ex
perience, that unless the world had really had
a beginning, the opinion of it's eternity would
have been the opinion of all antiquity, and
the commencement of it would not have been
established in tradition.
The atheist begs the question, and by beg
ging it he advances a foolish and arrogant pro
position: since to be sure that the first men
could not be witnesses of the beginning of the
world, he must assume that he knows, very
exactly, how the world we inhabit was framed,
if it was framedat all. Such inconveniencies hap
pen freqUeritly to those who combat truth.
They call temerity to their aid; and they
affirm, boldly, on precarious conjectures : and
when they have heated their own imagination,
they hope, and not always in vain, to seduce thpse
of other men. In the defence of the truth, we shall
never be reduced to any such extremity. Though
the atheist mustpretend to know how the mate
rial world was made, and in what manner the hu
man race began, in order to deny that the first
men were competent judges and witnesses of
both. We pretend to no such knowledge : but
nothing less than such knowledge can justify his
denial; whereas the universality of the tradition justifies

MR. DE P0UILLY. 457
justifies abundantly our affirmation. We may
affirm, on the faith of all mankind, that the
world began, much better than it can be af
firmed, on the faith of a few precarious, partial,
and inconsistent traditions, that there was an em
pire ofthe Affyrians.
To build a world is not so easy a thing as many
a speculative architect has imagined. The author
of the book of Genesis begins his history by it ;
and though we do not set to his account the use
which has been made of passages in his narration,
yet it is impossible to excuse all the puerile, ro-
mantick, and absurd circumstances, which nothing
Could produce but the habit of dealing in trifling
traditions, and a most profound ignorance. It is
impossible to read what he writ on this subject,
without feeling contempt for him as a philoso
pher, and horrour as a divine ; for he is to be con
sidered under both these characters.
Natural philosophy made little progress among
the Greeks and the Romans, and a system of the
universe was very little known by them. The
eastern nations knew it better ; but among these
we must not reckon that ofthe Jews. It has
been said, that Pythagoras was a disciple of the
prophet Ezekiel, or had some other Jewish masters.
If this idle conjecture were true in fact, it would
not be true, however, that he took from them his
mundane system. Philolaus, who published his
doctrines, had very different notions of it from
those of the Jews, and from those of the other
Greeks. One would think too, that some modern
astronomer

458 LETTERS TO
astronomer had dictated the hypothesis, i/uirich
Plutarch and Diogenes Laertius attribute to
Cleanthes the Samian. This true system, which
accords so little with that of Moses, after having
been long lost, was renewed in the sixteenth
century by Copernicus, confirmed and improved
by Galilei and Kepler, and since demonstrated by
Newton. How magnificent a scene of the uni
verse have these new discoveries opened ! how
much more worthy of the wisdom, the power, and
the immensity of God, than all the paultry con*
fined systems of ancient philosophers, and of
Moses among the rest 1
Though we know much more than they did of
the works of God, yet We know as little as they
did concerning the production of them. Anti
quity had other makers of worlds beside Moses.
Plato- was one- of those; and if his hypothesis be'
no more probable than that ofthe Jewish legislator,
it is, at least, a little more reverential to the su
preme Being. 'vFhe same presumptuous confidence
has been seen in these ages, wherein philosophers,
having greater knowledge, should have had more
modesty, and have been more sensible how ig
norant we remain, after ail the improvements we
are capable of making. Des Cartes, for instance,
who had much of this presumption, and employed
a great deal of artifice to make his hypotheses pass
for real discoveries, acknowledged a little more
need ofa God than Strato avowed. He wanted
a God to create matter, and to impress motion on
it. But when he had assumed thus much, he
though*

MR. Dft P0UILLY. 45^
thought himself able to proceed without this help,
and to show how the world was formed, or how
a universe might be formed, by the laws of mat
ter and motion. I told Damon, that I thought
this philosopher's ill success would hinder bim
from any enterprise ofthe same kind; that I should
therefore, have still a right to conclude, that he
begged the question, when he asserted that it
implied contradiction to suppose the first men
capable of knowing that the world began; and
I desired him further to consider with me, whether,
laying this presumption aside, we may not assume
Without any, that thefe might have been- certain
marks, by which the first men must necessarily
know, that they were the first men, and that the
system ofthe world began. If we findsuch marks,
, and find them probable, by their analogy to what
we know, it will follow, I think, that the begin
ning of tbe world has some proof" a posteriori;"
whereas the eternity of it can have none of this
kind, any more than " a priori."
However this planet of ours was formed, the
first men could not possibly be spectators of the
formation of it. Both men and all other animals
required an earth to walk on, food to nourish
them, and an atmosphere to breathe in, and the
light of the sun to conduct them. The prior ex
istence of the sun might be necessary too, on
another account, antecedently to their creation.
This great luminary might be necessary to the
formation, as we know that it is to the preserva
tion, of our planet, whether that of the moon
were so or not, and whether the Arcadians were in

460 LETTERS TO
in the right or not, when they said, that they were*
older than this secondary planet.
But now, though there could be no human
witnesses of the world arising out of a chaos,
and growing into that form and order wherein we
see it, yet the first men might know, very cer
tainly, that this system of things began to exist.
As it would be ridiculous to assert, like the Thus-
can author, whom Suidas mentions but does not
name, that God employed twelve thousand years
in creating the universe; so is there no necessity
of believing that the solar system, of even this
one planet, was the work of six days. Such
precipitation seems not less repugnant to that ge
neral order of nature, which God established and
which he observes in her productions, than the day
of rest, which Moses supposes God to have taken,
or which the Jews invented to make one of their
institutions more respectable, is repugnant to ajl
the ideas we are able to frame of the Divinity.
Though it. be conformable to our notions of wis
dom, that every thing necessary to man was
created, when he began to exist ; yet is there
nothing which obliges us to believe, that mankind
began to exist in all the parts of the world at
once.
, We need put our imagination to no great efforts,
to believe that all this might be : and ifit might be, t
we may suppose that it was. We do not, like rea-
soners " a priori," imagine what may have been ac
cording to our abstract reasonings, and so conclude
from possibility to actuality. We proceed much more

MR. DE POUILLY. A.6l
more reasonably from actuality to possibility,
in a method so often, and so absurdly reversed
by philosophers. A more able naturalist would
succeed better in finding those marks, by which
the first men might know the commencement of
this system. I will mention three or four, which
are obvious enough, and may serve to explain a
matter that seemed paradoxical, and is not per
haps absolutely essential to my argument.
Thegeneral opinion of all those who have rea
soned about the creation or formation ofthe world,
and that which Moses himself follows, assumes
that there was originally a chaos or confused mass
of matter, wherein all the elements or first princi
ples of things which exist in the material system,
were contained. Whether this mass was created
or no, they thought it so necessary to be supposed,
that they could not go on one step, in building a
world, without it. As soon as it is supposed,
" instant ardentes Tyrii," they all goto work^
Every one separates and disposes these materials
in his own way; the laws of mechanism are em
ployed, according to the different plans of these
architects, and a world is soon made., — In one of
these philosophical romances, published at the
end of the last century, the ingenious author
assumes that our planet was, till the deluge, in a
direct situation to the sun; that is to say, that
it's axis was parallel to the axis of the eclip-
tick, or, in other words, that the ecliptick was con
founded with the equator. Among several advan
tages which he pretends to dravy from this hypo
thesis,

46a LETTERS TO
thesis, the great facility of peopling the world
with inhabitants is one: He thinks that animals
could not have been brought forth, nor have
grown up, if there had been any variety in the
seasons by the obliquity of the ecliptick, and if
these children of the earth. Latched, as we may
say, by the sun, had been exposed, at first, to the
injuries ofthe air, and to the cold of a winter. Had
this author been opposed by his own tribe alone,
and in a theological way, he might have escaped
pretty well ; but the natural philosophers and the
mathematicians rose up against him, and battered
down his hypothesis. I enter not into particulars.
The conclusion drawn from all their arguments
was this, that the present situation being more ad
vantageous to the Earth, in general, than any other,
we ought to be persuaded that it is now the same-
wherein God placed it originally^ But I doubt
very much whether this conclusion be undeniable.
The supreme Being proportions always his means
to his ends, and may therefore employ different
means when different ends are to be attained.
Let it be that the present obliquity of the ecliptick,
which is of twenty-three degrees and twenty-nine
minutes, may be in the present state ofthe world
the most advantageous. Nothing hinders us
from assuming, that another obliquity, or no ob
liquity at all, might be more advantageous when
the present system 'of things began. If that ofthe
chevalier de Louville be true, this obliquity was
of about forty-five degrees one hundred and
thirty thousand years ago. On the comparison

MR. DE POUILLY. 463
Of which two obliquities, I shall leave philosophers
and mathematicians to dispute as long as they
please: What it is to my purpose to observe is, that no
proof will arise, from all they can say, to convince
us that the present was the original situation of
the world to the sun. Infinite wisdom does not
change the means, as divines would sometimes
make us believe that he does, at least in the eco
nomy of the moral system, when the ends are the
same. Nay, the same means serve often to
accomplish different ends. But when the ends
are so different, that the means of accomplish
ing one imply contradiction with the means of
accomplishing another, we may say, very assu
redly, that Infinite Wisdom changes the means ;
and, therefore, if the means of preserving the
material and animal world are different from those
which were necessary to the beginning of both,
the present position ofthe Earth may very well be
thought not to have been the first. If alternate
corruptions and generations are become necessary,
and if the former produce the latter, it could not
be so from the first. The first was certainly very
/different from those which we observe. Corrup
tion could not then be necessary to generation.
If a greater degree of heat was so for some produc
tions, that greater degree is to be found in Bur
net's hypothesis. If less, and very different de
grees were necessary, these different degrees
are to be found in the same hypothesis gradually
lessening from the equator, and this gradation, by
;which different climates are formed, might be
necessary

464 LETTERS TO
necessary for different productions to a certain
distance from that climate where the sun was
always in the zenith. As there were no varia
tions in these different climates, but each enjoyed
a particular and uniform season, the animals and
plants of each were nourished and carried to the
perfection of their growth, by the same principle
by which they had been produced, and in a man
ner suitable to their nature, and to that of their
climate. While it fared thus with one part ofthe World,
the other parts were in a very different state ac
cording to this hypothesis. But far from finding
any thing here, that may seem repugnant to the
wisdom ofthe architect, this wisdom seems more
fully displayed than in the hypothesis of Moses
or of Plato, and this order to have much more
analogy with the order of nature which we see
established. These different climates appear like
so many different matrices or wombs, impregnat
ed with the original seeds of things, and wherein
the first productions were formed by the incon
ceivable energy of divine power. In other cli
mates, more distant from the. equator, where the
influence of tbe sun, the first of second causes
employed in these generations, was gradually
less felt, the great work of the creation might
advance more slowly. In climates still more
distant, this influence might become too weak
to produce any considerable effects, and the great
work might proceed still more slowly, or not at
all. Then, perhaps, the obliquity of the eclip
tick might begin, by slow degrees, without causing any

MR. DB POUlLLY. 465
any disorder in the climates already inhabited.
The first situation of the world to the sun
having had it's effect, another situation might
become necessary for two purposes, to render
those climates, where the sun was always in the
zenith, more temperate ; to carry the genera
tions of animals and of the fruits of the earth
forward on both sides to the north and to the
south : to give a greater degree of heat, where
a greater was still wanted, and to give some
where there was none at all.
We may believe, that this obliquity ofthe eclip
tick arose much faster tl^an the chevalier de Lou-
ville assumed it to decrease. A minute in one
hundred years is too little. Let us suppose, on the
prerogative of hypothesis, a degree, and even
more, if you think fit. In this manner* those
parts of the world, which were excessively heat
ed, cooled, and those which were frozen by cold,
heated gradually. Thus a system of final causes
became, it may be, complete, and the Earth, hav
ing passed through the positions which were, of
all possible positions, the most proper to create,
might stop at that which is said to be, of all others,
the most proper to preserve.
If the learned master of the Charter-house, and
the able Scotch mathematician, who writ against
him, were still alive, I should expect that they
would think themselves under some obligation
to me for having endeavoured to compromise mat
ters between them, and to Unite, in one scheme,
their eontrary opinions. But since I cannot have
Vol. IV. H h this

466 LETTERS TO
this advantage, I must content myself with the in
ward satisfaction! feel, in contemplating this plau
sible notion, which I have advanced on grounds as
good as many of those, that are not deemed paradoxi
cal either by divines or philosophers, have been
established. They are possible no doubt ; and I
presume, they will never be demonstrated false, nor
any other ways of accounting for the same things,
true. It is not however quite necessary to my
purpose : for whatever circle our planet described
when her course round the sun began, we must
be persuaded, that the surface of it was warmed
and cherished enough by the rays of the central
sun to promote generation and vegetation, for
which it was already prepared. — If the pre
sent obliquity of the ecliptick prevailed then, the
torrid, the temperate, and the frozen zones, as we
call them, might be capable of the various pro
ductions proper to them ; or we may assume,
very consistently, that countries more distant re
ceived, from those that were nearer the sun, such
animals and such plants as their climates were
fit to preserve, though not fit to generate.-*-In
short, we need not apprehend the want of heat
even on the received hypothesis. The sun, much
older probably than our world, and who has, cer
tainly, grown older ever since, may have lost
much of the force and efficacy which he had in
those primaeval days. Nay more; astronomers
and natural philosophers agree, I think, about
that perpetual expense, which all the suns ofthe
universe are at, to enlighten, to warm, and nou rish

MR. DE POUILLY^ 467
rish their several systems; of which expense
we must believe, that our sun has his share. They
assume indeed, that the atmospheres of these suns
compress so strongly the exhalations that rise
from them, and drive them back with so much
force and so much economy, not sufferino: any
more than are absolutely necessary to pass, that
these springs of light and heat cannot be exhaust
ed, nor suffer any great diminution, in thousands
of years. But thousands of years, and God alone
knows how many, are elapsed since our sun was
first lighted up, and he may have therefore suf
fered some diminution.
These hypothetical reasonings, and others to
the same purpose, may be, I think, maintained,
whether we suppose this obliquity of the ecliptick
to have been decreasing or increasing: for the
decrease of some minutes in a century, during
a space of time, even as long as that which the
Egyptians imagined, will not be found incon
sistent with our hypothesis. Our hypothesis
wants to assume little more than this, that nature,
who acts with much simplicity and uniformity,
acted much in the same manner after her first
productions, in those of animals for instance ;
and if this be granted, it will follow, evidently,
that the first men were competent witnesses of
the first propagations of the animal kind ; which
would be of itself a sufficient proof, that they
were such ofthe beginning ofthe world.
Nature has every where fixed certain seasons,
at which all, or the greatest part of them, pro-
h u % pagate

468 LETTERS TO
pagate their several species, while man enjoys
the noble prerogative of doing the same all the
year round, " Homini maxime coitus temporibus
" omnibus opportunus est." It is Aristotle who
says this. But then this prerogative extends no
further : and a term is fixed to man, as it- is to
the species of all other animals for the bearing
their fruit. The philosopher, I have cited, de
scends into a particular account of these different
terms, in the fifth book of his history of animals,
and as we know that men are nine months in their
mothers' bellies, he assures us that the camel is
twelve. These animals, then, and all those who
require a longer term than that of nine months,
appeared later even than the second generation
of human creatures, in the ordinary manner that
it has been carried on from the first generation
downwards. Men were by consequence wit
nesses ofthe first propagations of animals. The
same proposition will hold, if we suppose them
generated faster and sooner in the course of these
generations, or even primaevally ; for, if man,
for example, was but three days or three hours,
in forming out of the earth, and in receiving the
breath of life, it will follow, by a very fair analogy,
that the same operations took up four days or
four hours for tbe formation pf a camel, and eight
for that of an elephant.
I might expect to hear, upon this occasion
many commonplace notions advanced, to show
hiore time required, in the process of nature, to
form this animal after the image of God, than all

MR. DE POUTLLY. 469
all the others, so vastly inferiour to him in figure
and composition. But these persons ought to
reflect, that how distant soever animal may be
from animal, relatively to our notion of perfection
and imperfection, there can be no difference in
the distance between any of them and God, who
ordered this process of nature for reasons that
we do not know, but certainly without regard
to that dignity of nature which we imagine. The
creation of a man or of an angel, in the works
of God, is not more considerable than the cre
ation of the meanest insect, nor requires that
the divine energy should be exerted in a longer
and more operose process of nature,
But if it is probable that the first men might
see the commencement of those species of ani
mals, whose formation required longer time than
their own, it is not impossible, neither, that they
might see the commencement of those species,
whose formation required a less time. We may
very easily imagine, that the creation had two
sorts of progression, as the world has two sorts
of motion. Nature might follow such an order
as we have mentioned, in every climate ; but she
might follow a certain general order likewise,
in all climates alike. As more time was necessary
for the production of one animal than another,
in the same climate, so more time might be
necessary to bring the same animal up to the
perfection of his nature in one climate than in
another. As the hare might begin to run ancl
H h 3 the

47O LETTERS TO
the sheep to feed before either man, or camel, or
elephant; was sufficiently formed to answer the
ends of it's creation ; so the creation, in general,
might be far advanced, or even completed, in some
climates, before it was so in others. The seeds,
or first principles of animal life, might have more
or less force and vigour, according to the different
influences of the sun, though they were scattered
every where alike. The first men, therefore,
who might see no more than the last, acts, if I
may say so, of this great drama in the countries
where they themselves arose, might see the
very first acts, wherein animals were brought on
the stage, in other countries. They might be
spectators at twice, and in a reversed order, of the
whole piece.
Creation finished, propagation began, and the
same instinct urged the two sexes to the same act.
Instinct urged them to it first; a sense of plea
sure recalled them to it afterward ; and the
multiplication of their species was not. a motive,
probably, to these conjunctions. The revolution
of some months showed them the consequences
of it ; and the revolution of some years showed
them, that they and their offspring were born to
die, Let us put ourselves, for a moment, in the
place of the first men. Could they doubt that
they were such ? Could they doubt that all the
other animals they saw were the first of their
kinds likewise ? Could they fail to transmit to
their posterity this tradition, " the world had a
" beginning ?"

MR. DE P0UILLY. 471
" beginning?" He who has a great mind to
cavil, may say, that they did not know, by these
marks, that the material world began, they only
knew, that the animal inhabitants of it began
then to exist. But if the first men couid not be
witnesses of their own creation, they might be
such of the creation of other animals, as much as
of the propagation of their own, and of every
other species : so that, if they knew certainly,
that the animal world began, I do not see what
the atheist will gain by assuming that they were
ignorant of the beginning of the material world.
A God was necessary for one as much as for the
other, and if tradition affirmed nothing more
than the first, it would serve equally well to re
fute the atheist, who denies the existence of any
such Being. Was it necessary, to discover this
great truth, that they should reason logically, and
transmit to posterity an opinion only ? But in
all cases they might know, by other marks suf
ficient to awaken the attention of a Samojede, or
to inform a Hottentot, that the whole system
then began. The lives of these men were, pro
bably, much longer than ours ; and if you com
pare what they must have seen in their youth,
with what they must have observed in their old
age, you will find that the experience of their
whole lives was one continued proof to them,
that they lived in the first age of the material
world. Observe it in one instance. The earth,
out of which they had been created, furnished
what was necessary for their subsistence :
h h 4 " per

472 LETTIRS TO
" per se dabat omnia tell us ;
" Contentique cibis nullo cogente creatis,
" ArbuteosTcetus, montanaque fraga, legebant, &c.
These were the spontaneous gifts of nature, and
men had no share, at first, in the production or
improvement of them. They learned, in time,
to do both, to sow corn, and to make bread.
Trees grew up, and as they grew, they fur
nished a better retreat to birds, and a better
shade to men. An old oak became at length, to
them, a new phasnomenon.
If it was not time to finish this article, I might
easily _ show, in a multitude of other instances,
that the first men must necessarily know, that they
were contemporaries with the material world, and
saw the beginning of a new order of things.
But after wandering, in complaisance to the
atheist, in the spaces of imagination, and to
show him that, although neither the first nor the
last of men were able to discover how the world
was made, yet the "first might know by sufficient
experience, and the last by sufficient testimony,
that it had a beginning, let us return into the
closer precincts of reason, and finish this article,
as Mr. Huygens finishes his conjectures about
the planetary world. After speaking of the
absurdities contained in the physicks of DesCartes,
he adds, " mihi magnum quid consecuti vide-
" bimur, si, quemadmodum sese habeant res quae
" in natura existunt, intellexerimus, a quo lon-
" gissime etiam nunc absumus. Quomodo au-
" tern

MR. DE POUILLY. 475
« tern quaeque effects fuerint, quodque sint esse
' cceperint, id nequaquam humano ingenio exco-
" gitari, aut cbnjecturis attingi, posse," this
philosopher asserts with great reason. Experi
mental philosophy has made great progress al
ready, in discovering to us the things and the
order of nature. Where it continues to be cul
tivated it will continue, doubtless, to discover
more, and after all, human knowledge will stop
far short of human curiosity ; for this goes be
yond our means of knowledge, nay, even beyond,
the boldest conjectures we can make.
But now, having shown the atheist, " ex
" abundantia," how the first men might have
certainty of knowledge concerning the beginning
of the world, and were, therefore, authentick
witnesses of the truth of this fact and authentick
authors of the tradition, it is time to show, that,
without entering into such considerations, we
must allow this tradition to be a tradition of fact,
and not of opinion. This is the second of
those articles that. we proposed to examine in
answer to the atheist's objections. — There must
be some certain principles and some certain rule
to distinguish between these two sorts of tradition,
as the atheist seems to allow, when he distinguishes
one from the other. Now these principles are
not, I think, hard to find, and the rule that results
from therri, is simple and plain.
Common sense requires, that every thing pro
posed to the understanding should be accom
panied with such proofs as the nature of it can
furnish.

474 LETTERS TO
furnish. He who requires more, is guilty of
absurdity. He who requires less, of rashness.
As the nature of the proposition decides what
proofs are exigible, and what not, so the kind of
proof determines the class into which the propo
sition is to be ranged. He, for instance, who
affirms, that there is a God, advances a propo
sition which is an object of demonstrative know
ledge alone, and a demonstration is required from
him. If he makes the demonstration, we are
obliged to own that we know there is a God, and
the proposition becomes a judgment of nature,
not merely an opinion, according to the distinction
made somewhere in Tully ; though demonstra
tions are sometimes called opinions, as opinions
are often called demonstrations. If, by his fault
or by ours, we have not a clear perception of the
ideas, or of the connection of them, which form
this demonstration, or if, without troubling our
selves to follow it, we receive the proposition for
true on the authority of others, it is, indeed,
opinion, not knowledge in us. But whether we
receive it, or whether we reject it, we can neither
require nor employ, with propriety, any other
proofs than those which are conformable to the
nature of the proposition. Tradition is not one
of them. It may prove that men have generally
believed a God, but it cannot prove that such a
Beincr exists. Nothing can be more trifling,

'o

therefore, than to insist, as theists are apt to do,
on this proof, as if the opinion proved the fact ;
as if all men had been alike capable of the de
monstration ;

MR. DE P0UILLY. 475
monstration ; or, as if the^demonstration was not
necessary to establish the truth of the opinion.
Demonstration, indeed, is not necessary on the
hypothesis, that all men have an innate idea of
God. But this hypothesis has been, I think, long
exploded. I do not remember, at least, to have
heard it maintained by more than one archbishop,
two or three ignorant monks, and as many devout
ladies. As much as I am convinced of the existence
of a supreme, all-perfect Being, as seriously as
I adore his majesty, bless his goodness, and
resign myself cheerfully to his providence, I should
be sorry to rest my conviction on the authority
of any man, or of all mankind : since authority
cannot be, and demonstration,is, the sole proper
proof in this case. Should I quote to the atheist,
a Suphis, an Amenophis, an Orus, or any of
those pretended contemplators of divinity, he
would laugh at me with reason; though he might
allow, at the same time, that these seers, who
acknowledged inferiour beings, beings little raised
above humanity, were infinitely less absurd than
those who had the front to assert, that they saw
the invisible God, and conversed familiarly with
him. The demonstration of his existence arises
from sensitive knowledge ; since it is " a poste-
" riori" only, that we can prove the first cause to
be an intelligent cause : but he is not for that an
object of sensitive knowledge. This proposition,
therefore," there is a God," which becomes a judg
ment of nature, an object of demonstrative know
ledge to every one who can make the demonstra tion,

476 LETTERS TO
tion, or understand it when it is made, comes
down as an opinion only, in tradition, and can
pass for nothing better on that authority.
Is this now the case of that proposition which
affirms the beginning of the world ? Reason alone
can authorise the first, and when I subscribe to
the truth of it, I do this without any regard to
tradition. All that tradition tells me is, that
men made the same judgment four or five thou
sand years ago. If it told me, that they made a
contrary judgment, and believed the world eternal,
I should make still the same on a subject, con
cerning which we of this age are as competent
judges as the men who lived at any time before
us. — This proposition, " the world had a begin-
" ning," affirms a fact long ago past, and which
can, therefore, be received for true on no other
authority than that of men who lived long ago,
and at, or near the time when this event hap
pened. I consult my reason, indeed, to examine
whether the fact implies contradiction, no more,
and when I find that it does not, I receive it for
true, on the faith of human testimony, which is
the proper proof, to me, of every fact whereof 1
have not been, myself, a witness, and without
any regard to the supposed conformity of it to
the general ideas of mankind. This supposed
conformity, if it be real, will add nothing to the
probability of the fact, as a nonconformity will
take none away. Nothing, therefore, can b&
more trifling than the cavil made by the atheist,
when he objects, that the more probable this tra
dition

Mr. de pouilly. 477
dition is, the more reason we have to take it -for a
universal tradition of opinion, not of fact. The
CaVil is not only trifling, but to the last degree
absurd ; for on this principle it will follow, that
the more probable a fact is, the less reason we
have to receive it, as a true fact, on historical or
traditional authority. I consult my reason and
my experience to discover whether the fact I
am told may have happened possibly, and then
I consult history and tradition to discover whether
it has happened actually. But, according to Da
mon's logick, the more my reason and my experi
ence show me the first, the more reason I have
to believe, that history and tradition record, in every
such case, an ancient opinion, not an ancient fact.
But it is time that I should hasten to a con-
'clusion, by showing, in the last place, that if the
world had not really had a beginning, the opinion
of it's eternity would have been the general opi
nion of antiquity, and the commencement of it
Would not have been transmitted by tradition,
either as a fact, or, perhaps, as an opinion.
Though men might, in all ages, demonstrate the
existence of God, they could not demonstrate
alike in any age the commencement of the world :
and, accordingly, we see that some philosophers,
who believed there was a first principle, a first
intelligent cause, a supreme Being, held, at the
same time, that the world was eternal, far from
being induced by their theism, to believe it had
a commencement. Others were, I doubt not,
confirmed in the opinion that there was a God, or
even

478 letters to
even led to believe it, and to seek the demon-
•tration of it, by the proofs they had of this fact,
the world had a beginning in time. It is inuch
more probable, that the received fact gave occa
sion to or fortified the opinion, than that the
opinion determined them to assume the fact.
The atheist, who looks on both to be nothing
more than traditional opinions, will be very in
different which of them passes for the first. He
blends them together, attributes that of God's
existence to the superstition of mankind, and
to the policy of legislators. It might seem hard
to attribute that of the beginning of the world
to the same principles, since it seems to have
little or no relation to them. He contents him
self therefore, at least Damon did so with me,
to insist that philosophers might easily fall into an
opinion, which saved them much trouble in ac
counting for the original of things, by the suppo
sition of an eternal Being, infinitely wise and
powerful. But the atheist would do well to con
sider, that this seeming solution of a difficulty
implies, a very real absurdity, for it implies, that
there were philosophers as soon as there were
men. He would do well to consider, further,
that when there were philosophers, those, who
admitted the existence of such a. Being, were
not the less curious in their researches of the
mechanical causes of all the phenomena. In
short, he would do well to consider, that these
philosophers would have cut the gordian knots of
all their difficulties, by assuming the eternity of
the

MR. DE POUTLLY. 479
the world, much more easily than they could
untie them, by assuming that a Being infinitely
wise and powerful had made it. They might
have said, in this case, once for all, things have
been eternally as they are. To what purpose
should we seek the original and essential causes of
that which never began ?
But further, if we pass over the absurdity of
supposing that there were philosophers, as soon
as there were men, or the improbability of this
supposition, that the commencement of the world
was not believed till philosophers taught it; I
would still ask, and the atheist would be puzzled
to tell me, how the belief of the commencement
ofthe world could be established, not only where
philosophy arid science flourished ; but even
universally, among nations who had no commu
nication with these, and who were, themselves,
the least civilised and the most ignorant. If it
be said, that, uncivilised and ignorant as thev were,
this opinion might arise and spread "among them,
because it was agreeable to their general notions,
and analogous to what daily experience showed
them, in innumerable instances, as well as to what
they themselves were able to do ; I must assert
on the contrary, this opinion was repugnant to
the natural character ofthe human mind ; to what
we may feel in ourselves, and observe in all other
men. All men are, in one respect, disciples
of Protagoras. Uninstructed nature teaches
them, like him, that man is the measure of all
things, that our sensations communicate certain
knowle'dge;
4

480 LETTERS to
knowledge ; that every thing is what it appears to
us to be ; and that the things, which do not appear
to us, are not. He who sees no inequality be
tween two objects, affirms that they are equal, and
we judge naturally of the reality of all objects by
the perceptions we have of them. Ancient astro
nomers believed the stars to be immovably fixed
in a solid firmament, and never suspected them to
incline to the pole, or to decline from it. The
sea was thought to have no bounds, because the
bounds of it were unknown, and the celestial bo
dies to be incorruptible, because no changes were
discerned in them. Philosophers reason often,
and the vulgar always, like the roses in Fonte-
nelle. A comparison taken from those insects
who live one day only would have been more
to his purpose ; but roses were more worthy
than insects to be offered to the marquis, and
such a philosopher as Fontenelle might dispense
with some want of precision in favour of his
gallantry. Such as I have described it is the
natural character of the human mind. It infects
all our judgments, moral as well as physical, till
we learn to correct it by experience and a long
course of reflection. This the uncivilised igno
rant people, we speak of, could not do ; and it
was therefore agreeable to the general disposi
tion of their minds, to believe that things had
been always, such as they saw them to be.
This must have been universally the case, I
think, in countries where the natural unimproved
character of the human mind prevailed alone. In
those,

MR. DE POUILLY. 48 1
those, which philosophy began to enlighten, some
might doubt of this eternity ; but sorrie other
philosophers, and the people in general, Would
continue to believe it. From whence can we
imagine, that they should derive a .contrary opi
nion ? Their experience showed them, indeed,
generation and corruption ; that particular things
began, and then ceased to be ; but they saw, on
the whole, a uniform series of the same revo
lutions of things ; their ideas were conformable
to the experience which framed them, and the
eternity of the world was conformable to these
ideas. Such considerations may serve to show
what I have advanced, that the eternity of the
world might have been the universal tradition,
but that the commencement of it could not have
been so, if it had not commenced, and men had
not known that it had. On this hypothesis, all
the consequences of it follow naturally. One
consequence is, that, since the world and man
kind began in time, the tradition of this beginning
should be a little more or a little less obscurely,
bfit universally known, and this consequence has
followed. Another consequence is, that men,
who believed the world to have been created, in
the strict sense of the word, or that the confused
matter of a chaos was reduced into a mundane
system, must have believed, that this stupendous
system was produced by some principle unknown
to them, and superiour to itself; for they could
not fail to perceive, on the first notices of sense,
and the first essays of reason, that the idea of an
Vol. IV. I 1 effect

482 '¦- LETTERS TO '
effect' included necessarily in it the idea' Of &
cause. This consequence|followed likewise. Once
more, although the first men could doubt no more
that some cause of the world, than that the world
itself, existed; yet another consequence of this
great event, and of the surprise, inexperience,
and ignorance of mankind, must have been much
doubt and uncertainty concerning the first cause ;
and this likewise followed. Cudworth has endea
voured to prove, many have thought, and I incline
to think, that the unity of a first intelligent cause
was the original belief of mankind. But if it
was so, a belief soon succeeded, that gods, coad
jutors to the first, in making and governing the
world, as well as inferiour gods, and men, and
the whole material world, proceeded from this
eternal source of all existence. I need not
enumerate any of those various hypotheses, that
arose from such absurd notions. Many of them
have continued to this day, and are held even by
christians, whom revelation as well as reason en
lightens. The tradition of the fact, that the world
began, and that of the opinion, that God is, ha#e
come down to us, though not entirely without
opposition, from the most early ages. But the
manner of God's being, and of his working in
the creation and government of the world, have
been matters of dispute in all ages, ever since
presumptuous mortals affected to descend into
particulars, to know any thing at all of one, or
any thing more of the other, than that he is self-
txtstent and all-perfect, and that his will, rela
tively

MR. Df POUILL,Y. 4^3"
lively ,to his human creatures, is revelHed to them
in the constitution of their system.
To conclude. I am far from resting the proof
of God's existence on the authority of this tra- *
dition, that the world began. I know that we
are able to demonstrate this fundamental truth of
all religion, whether it began or no. But since
we cannot reject this tradition without renouncing
almost all we know, and since it leads men to
acknowledge a supreme Being, by a proof levelled
to the meanest understanding, I think we ought to
insist upon it. lam the more confirmed in think
ing so, by the effect it had in the dispute of which
I have given you some account. Damon was
embarrassed by it so much, that he had recourse at
last to the wild hypothesis of Democritus and
Epicurus, if we really know what that of the
former was. This hypothesis is an abyss of
absurdity. In that I left him, pitying from the
bottom of my heart, for I love the man, his blind
ness and his obstinacy ; the blindness of one who
sees so clearly, and the obstinacy of One who
allows so much candour on other occasions.

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