Hints towards forming the character of a young princess

H-OFC

.-OF-C..*'

!'vivr'?r'

HINTS

TOWARDS

FORMING THE CHARACTER

OF

A YOUNG PRINCESS.

vmi Mi HI— 1.1 UBMn

By HANNAH MORE.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

I call that a complete and generous Education, which fits
a Perfon to perform juilly, fkilfully, and magnanimoufly, all
the Offices hoth of public and private Life ; of Peace and
of War. Milton.

THE FOURTH EDITION,

LONDON: ,

Printed for T. Cadeli and W. Davies, in the Strand.

1809.

^

v,\

to

THE RIGHT REVEREND

THE LORD BISHOP OF EXETER.

MY LORD,

^ V-/OULD it have been forefeen by

the Author of the following pages,

"^ that, in the cafe of the illuftrious

Perfon-who is the fubje6l of them,

the ftandard of Education would

j have been fet fo high : and efpe-

l cially, that this Education would

^ be committed to fuch able and

diftinguiilied hands, the work might

furely have been fpared. But as

VOL. I. a the

VI DEDICATION.

the Second Volume was gone to
the Preis before that appointment
was announced, which muft give
generai fatisfaftion, it becomes im-
portant to requefV, that if the advice
fuggeiled in any part of the Work
ihould appear prefumptuous, your
Lordfhip, and flill more the PubUc,
who might be more forward than
your Lordiliip in charging the Au-
thor with prefumption, will have
the candour to recolleft, that it was
offered, not to the learned BijQiop
of Exeter, but to an unknown, and
even to an imaginary Preceptor.

Under thefe circumftances, your
Lordfhip will perhaps have the goodr-
nefs to accept the Dedication of

2 thefe

DEDICATION. Vll

thefe flight Volumes, not as arro-
gantly pointing out duties to the
difcharge of which you are fo com-
petent, but as a mark of the refpe6l
and efteem with which I have the
honour to be,

MY LORD,

Your Lordfhip's moft obedient
and moft faithful fervant.

The AUTHOR.

April 2,
1805.

a 2

if

Si

I

PREFACE.

i

If any book, written with an upright and
difinterefted intention, may be thought to
require an apology, it is furely the flight
work which is now, with the mofl refped-
ful deference, fubmitted, not to the Public
only, but efpecially to thofe who may be
more immediately interefted in the impor-
tant object which it has in view.

If we were to inquire what is, even at
the prefent critical period, one of the moft
momentous concerns which can engage the
attention of an Englifliman, who feels for
his country like a patriot, and for his pofte-
rity like a father; what is that obje<5l of
which the importance is not bounded bj
the fhores of the Britilh Iflands nor limited
by our colonial poflcfTions ; — with which,
in its confequences, the interefts, not only

a 3 of

X PREFACE-

of all Europe, but of the whole civilized
world, may hereafter be in fome meafure
implicated; — what Briton would hefitate
to reply. The Education of the Princefs
Charlotte of Wales ?

After this frank confelTion of the un-
fpeakable importance of the fubje£t in view>
it is no worder if the extreme difficulty,
as well as delicacy of the prefent undertak-
ing, is acknowledged to be fenfibly felt by
the Author.

It will too probably be thought to imply
not only officioufnefs, but prefumptlon,
that a private individual fhould thus hazard
the obtrufion of unfolicited obfervations on
the proper mode of forming the charader
of an Englifh Princefs. — It may feem to
involve an appearance of unwarrantable
diflruft, by implying an apprehenfion of
fome deficiency in the plan about to be
adopted by thofe, whoever they mav be,
on whom this great truft may be de-
volved ; and to indicate felf-conceit, by
conveying an intimation, after fo flrong an
avowal of the delicacy and difliculty of the

taft?:.

PREFACE. ' XI

talk, that fiich a deficiency is within the
powers of the Author to fupply.

That Author, however, earneftly defires,
as far as it may be pofiible, to obviate thefe
anticipated charges, by alleging that under
this free conftitution, in which every topic
of national policy is openly canvaffed, and
in which the prerogatives of the Crown
form no mean part of the liberty of the
fubjedl, the principles which it is proper
to inflil into a royal perfonage, become a
topic, which, if difcufled refpe£lfully, may,
without offence, exercife the liberty of the
Britifli Prefs.

The Writer is very far, indeed, from pre-
tending to offer any thing approaching to a
fyflem of inftruftion for the Royal Pupil,
much lefs from prefuming to d "elate a plan
of conduct to the Preceptor. What is here
prefented, is a mere outline, which may be
filled up by far more able hands ; a fketch
which contains no confecutive details, which
neither afpires to regularity of defign, nor
exa£lnefs of execution.

a 4 To

XU - PREFACE.

To awaken a lively attention to a fubje^
of fuch moment ; to point out fome cir-
cumftances conneded with the early feafon
of improvement, but ftill more with the
fubfequent Itages of life; to offer, not a
treatife on Education, but a defultory
fuggeftion of fentiments and principles j to
convey inftrudion, not fo much by precept
or by argument, as to exemplify it by
illuftrations and examples ; and, above all,
to flimulate the wife and the good to exer-
tions far more effeftual ; thefe are the real
motives which have given birth to this
flender performance.

Had the Royal Pupil been a Prince,
thefe Hints would never have been obtruded
on the world, as it would then have been
naturally affumed, that the eflablifhed plan
ufally adopted in fuch cafes would have
been purfued. Nor does the Author pre-
fume, in the prefent inftance, to infmuate
a fufpicion, that there will be any want of
a large and liberal fcope in the projefted
fyflem, or to intimate an apprehenfion that

the

PREFACE. XUI

the courfe of fludy \vill be adapted to the
fex, rather than to the circumftances of the
Princefs.

If, however, it fhould be alked, why a
ftranger prefumes to interfere in a matter
of fuch high concern ? It may be anfwered
in the words of an elegant critic, that in
claffic flory, when a fuperb and lading
monument was about to be confecrated to
beauty, every lover was permitted to carry
a tribute.

The appearance of a valuable elementary
work on the principles of Chriflianity,
which has been recently publifhed in our
language, tranilated from the German,
under the immediate patronage of an auguft
Perfonage, for the avowed purpofe of benefit
to her illuflrious daughters, as it is an event
highly aufpicious to the general interefls of
religion, fo is it a circumflance very en-
couraging to the prefent undertaking.

It is impoffible to write on fuch points
as are difcuffed in this little work, v ithout
being led to draw a comparifon between

the

XIV PREFACE.

the lot of a Britifh fubjedl, and that of one
who treats on fimilar topics under a defpotic
government. — The excellent Archbiftiop of
Cambray, with every advantage which
genius, learning, profeflion, and fituation
could con'er; the admired preceptor of the
Duke of Burgundy, appointed to the office
by the King himfelf, was yet, in the beauti-
ful work which he compofed for the ufe of
his Royal Pupil, driven to the neceiTity of
couching his inflruclions under a fictitious
narrative, and of flieltering behind the veil
of fable, the duties of a juft fovereign, and
the bleffings of a good government : he was
aware, that even under this difguife, his
delineation of both would too probably be
confirued into a fatire on the perfonal errors
of his own king, and the vices of the French
government ; and in fpite of his ingenious
difcretion, the event juftified his apprehen-
fions.

Fortunate are the fubjeds of that free
and happy country who are not driven to
have recourfe to any fucli expedients 5 who

mav.

PREFACE. XV

may, without danger, dare to exprefs tem-
perately what they think lawfully ; who, in
defcribing the moll perfed form of govern-
ment, inflead of recurring to poetic inven-
tion, need only delineate that under which
they themfelves live ; who, in Iketching the
charader, and fhadowing out the duties of
a patriot King, have no occafion to turn
their eyes from their own country to the
thrones of Ithaca or Salentum.

CON^

CONTENTS

OF

THE FIRST VOLUME.

CHAP. I.

IntroduEfory Chapter, ■ — —

Page

t

CHAP. II.

On the Acqiiijttion ef Knowledge. — —

10

CHAP. III.

On the Importance of forming the Mind. —

24

CHAP. IV.

The Education of a Sovereign afpecific Edu'

cation. — — — — 4I

CHAP. V.

Importance ofjiudying Ancient Hijlory. — 63

CHAP.

SVm CONTENTS*,

Page

CHAP. VI.

Laws, — Egypt. — Perjia. •— •— — 73

CHAP. VII.
Greece. — — — . »^ %^

CHAP. VIII.

Rome. — — — — io6

CHAP. IX.

CharaElers of H'ljloriansy ivho were themfelves
concerned in the TranfaEiions whicJj they
record. — — — — 122

CHAP. X.

ReJleEllons on Hijlory. — Ancient Hijlorians. — 13 e

^ CHAP. XI.

Englijh Hijlory. -^Mr. Hume. — — 153

CHAP. XII.

Important ^rax of EtigliJIi Hijlory. — Alfred.
— King John. — Henry VII. -— — 162

CHAP. XIII.

Queen Elizabeth, —— ■— — 177

CHAP.

CONTENTS. XIV.

Page

CHAP. XIV.

Mcral Advantages to be drawn from the Study
of H'lfiory^ independent of the Examples it
exhibits. — It proves the Corruption of
Human Nature. — // demonflrates the fuper-
intending Power of Providence — illuflrated
by Inflances. — — — igi

CHAP. XV.

On the diflingiiifiing CharaBers of Chrifli^
anity. — — — — 212

CHAP. XVI.

On the Scripture Evidences of Chriflianity.—'
The Chriflian religion peculiarly adapted to
the Exigencies of Man ; attd efpecially cal-
culated to fupply the Defefls of Heathen
Philofophy. — — — — 228

CHAP. XVII.

The Ufe of Hiflory in teaching the Choice of
Favourites. — Flattery. — Our Tafle im-
proved in the Arts of Adulation. — The
Dangers of Flattery exemplified, — 261

CHAP.

XX CONTENTS.

CHAP. XVIII.

Religion necejary to the Well-being of States. 284

CHAP. XIX.

Integrity the tfue Political Wifdom. — 313

INTRO-

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

Vv E are told that when a Ibvereign of
ancient times, who wiflied to be a mathe-
matician, but was deterred by the difficulty
of attainment, alked, whether he could
not be inftru6ted in fome eafier m.ethod ;
the anfwcr which he received was, that
there was no royal road to geometry.—-
The leiTon contained in this reply ought
never to be loft fight of, in that moft im-
portant and delicate of all undertakings, the
education of a prince.

It is a truth which might appear too
obvious to require enforcing, and yet of all
others it is a truth moft liable to be prafti-
cally forgotten, that the fame fubjugation of
dchre and will, of inclinations and taftes, to

VOL. I. B the

t INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER*

the laws of reafon and confcience, which
every one wifhes to fee promoted in the
lowefl ranks of fociety, is ilill more necef-
fary in the very higheft, in order to the
attainment either of individual happinefs^
or of general virtue, to public- ufefulnefs,
or to private felf-enjoyment.

Where a prince, therefore, is to be edu-
cated, his own welfare no lefs than that of
his people, humanity no lefs than policy,
prefcribe, that the claims and privileges of
the rational being fhould not be fuffered
to merge in the peculiar rights or ex-
emptions of the expedant fovereign. If,
in fuch cafes, the wants and weakneffes of
human nature could indeed be wholly
effaced, as eafily as they are kept out of
fightj there would at leaft be fome reafon-
able plea againfl the charge of cruelty.
But when, on the contrary, the moft ele-
vated monarch muft ftili retain every na-
tural hope and fear, every affection and
pafEon of the heart, every frailty of the
mindj and every weaknefs of the body, to

which

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER, 3

which the meanefl fubjedt is liable ; how
exquifitely inhuman muft it be to provide
fo feduloufly for the extrinfic accident of
tranfient greatnefs, as to blight the growth
of fubftantial virtue, to dry up the foun-
tains of mental and moral comfort, and, in
fliort, to commit the ill-fated vi£lim of fuch
mifmanagement to more, alnxoft, than
human daneers and difficulties, without
even the common refources of the leaft
favoured of mankind.

Yet, muft not this be the unaggravated
confequence of not accufloming the royal
child to that falutary control which the
corruption of our nature requires, as its
indifpenfable and carlieft corrective ? If thofe
foolifti defires, which in the great mafs of
mankind are providentially repreffed by the
want of means to gratify them, fhould, in
the cafe of royalty, be thought warrantable,
becaufe every poflible gratification is within
reach, what would be the refult, but the full
blown luxuriance of folly, vice, and mi-
•iery ? The laws of human nature will

B 2 not

SKnOBOCTOMX CHAPTZS*

to be fiinToiii.

1-

fr^ . _ __i _: ias officers _ . ::
1^ V „ ^ ias feesBt, he ^d, - Fir::.s
r^ ~ V m^ are aiafw^a^Me to C : ' ' •" ^

:f r i ^ peco&r adv^ag^ ^cx

Bs- aa adnosi^e viskb can only bs

xcfifted

LZZZQXT CT=--Z1^

^^ "b^ " Ti^ 'rzT. ^^^<'^ rrscniir — r=- Scri-

As die E^sd gpp***- ^e

-Ered ^^

ii GB^ ever _ ^ _r-- 3 n

~_r - » T

:kx w^ki- _. _ad lOfr^r ,--7

?3S

»3

6 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

iiicatlng at that period, fuch flexibility to
the organs, fuch retention to the memory,
fuch quicknefs to the apprehenfion, fuch
inquifitivenefs to the temper, fuch alacrity
to the animal fpirits, and fuch impreffibility
to the afFedions, as are not pofTeffed at any
fubfequent period. We are therefore bound
by every tie of duty to follow thefe obvious
defignations of Providence, by moulding
that flexibility to the mofl durable ends;
by ftoring that memory with the richefl
knowledge ; by pointing that apprehenfion
to the higheft objefts ; by giving to that ala-
crity its befl: direction ; by turnmg that inqui-
fitivenefs to the noblefl intelleftual purpofes;
and, above all, by converting that imprefllbi-
lity of heart to the moil exalted moral ufes.

If this be true in general, much more
forcibly does it apply to the education of
princes ! Nothing fliort of the founded,
mofl: rational, and, let me add, mofl reli-
gious education, can counteratl the dangers
to which they are expofcd. If the higheft
of our nobility, in default of fome better

way

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 7

way of guarding againfl the mifchiefs of
flatterers and dependents, deem it expe-
dient to commit their fons to the wholefome
equality of a public fchool, in order to re-
prefs their afpiring notions, and check the
tendencies of their birth ; — if they find it
neceflary to counteract the pernicious in-
fluence of domeftic luxury, and the corrupt-
ing foftnefs of domeftic indulgence, by fe-
verity of fl:udy and clofenefs of application ;
how much more indifpenfable is the fpirit of
this principle in the inflance before us ? The
highefl nobility have their equals, their
competitors, and even their fuperiors. Thofe
who are born within the fphere of royalty
are deflitute of all fuch extrinfic means of
correftion, and mufl be wholly indebted for
their fafety to the foundnefs of their prin-
ciples, and the rectitude of their habits,
Unlefs, iherefore, the brightefl; light of
reafon be, from the very firft, thrown upon
their path, and the divine energies of our
holy religion, both reftraining and attractive,
be brought as early as poflible to ad upon

B 4 their

8 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

their feelings, the children of royalty, by
the very fate of their birth, would be *' of
all men mod miferable.'*

Let it not, however, be fuppofed, that
any impracticable rigour is here recom-
mended ; or that it is conceived to be ne-
celTary that the gay period of childhood
iliould be rendered gloomy or painful,
whether in the cottage or the palace. The
virtue which is aimed at, is not that of the
Stoic philofophy ; nor do the habits which
are deemed valuable, require the harfhnefs
of a Spartan education. Let nature, truth,
and reafon, be confulted ; and, let the child,
^nd efpecially the royal child, be, as much
as poffible, trained according to their fmiple
and confident indications. The attention,
in fuch inftances as the prefent, fhould be
the more watchful and unremitting, as
counteracting influences are, in fo exalted a
ftation, necefiarily multiplied ; and every
difficulty is at its greateil poflible height.
In a word, let not common fenfe, which is
yniverfal and eternal, be facrificed to the

capricious

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 9

capricious taftes of the child, or to the pliant
principles of any who may approach her.
But let the virtue and the happinefs of the
royal pupil Le as fimply, as feehngly, and
as uniformly confulted, as if fhe were the
daughter of a private gentleman. May this
attention to her moral and mental cultivation
be the fupreme concern, from honefl re-
verence to the offspring of fuch a race, from
a dutiful regard to her own future happi-
nefs, and from reafonable attention to the
well-being of thofe millions, whofe earthly
fate may be at this moment fufpended on
ieffons, and habits, received by one provi-
dentially diftinguiflied female !

CHAP.

lO ON THE ACQUISITION

CHAP. 11.

On the Acquifttion of Knowledge,

J. HE courfe of Infli-udion for the Prlncefsi
will, doubllefs, be wifely adapted, not only
to the duties, but to the dangers of her
rank. The probability of her having one
day fundions to difcharge, which, in fuch
exempt cafes only, fall to the lot of females,
obviouily fuggeils the expediency of an edu*
cation not only fuperior to, but in certain
refpe£l:s, diftinft from, that of other women.
What was formerly deemed neceflary in an
inflance of ihis nature, may be inferred from
the well-known attainments of the unfortu-
nate Lady Jane Grey ; and ftill more from
the no lefs fplendid acquirements of Queen.
Elizabeth. Of the erudition of the latter,
we have a particular account from one, who
was the fitteil in that age to appreciate it^
the celebrated Roger Afchani. He tells

us.

OF KNOWLEDGE. J I

US, that when he read - over with her the
orations of Efchines and Demoflhenes in
Greek, fhe not only underflood, at firfl
fight, the full force and propriety of the
language, and the meaning of the orators,
but that Ihe comprehended the whole
fcheme of the laws, cufloms, and manners
of the Athenians. She poffefled an exad
and accurate knowledge of the Scriptures,
and had committed to memory moft of the
ftriking paffages in them. She had alfo
learned by heart many of the fineil parts of
Thucydides and Xenophon, efpecially thofe
which relate to life and manners. Thus
were her early years feduloufly employed in
laying in a large ftock of materials for go-
verning well. To what purpofe Jhe im-
proved them, let her illuflrious reign of
forty-five years declare !

If the influence of her erudition on her
fubfequent profperity fhould be queftioned ;
let it be confidered, that her intelledual
attainments fupported the dignity of her
charader, under foibles and feminine weak-

nefles.

li ON THE ACQUISITION

nefles, which would otherwife have funk
her credit : flie had even addrefs enough to
contrive to give to thofe weaknelTes a cer-
tain claflic grace. Let it be confidered
alfo, that whatever tended to raife her mind
to a level with thofe whofe fervices fhe was
to ufe, and of whofe counfels fhe was to
avail herfelf, proportionably contributed to
that mutual refpeft and confidence between
the queen and her minifters, without which,
the refults of her government could not
have been equally fuccefsful. Almoft every
man of rank was then a man of letters, and
literature was valued accordingly. Had,
. therefore, deficiency of learning been added
to inferiority of fex, we might not at this
day have the reign of Elizabeth on which
to look back, as the period in which ad-
miniftrative energy feemed to attain the
greateft poffible perfeftion.

Yet, though an extended acquaintance
with ancient authors will be neceflary now,
as it was then, in the education of a prin-
cefs J a general knowledge of ancient lan-
guages^

OF KNOWLEDGE. I3

guages, it is prefumed, may be dlfpenfed
with. The Greek authors, at leafl, may
doubtlefs be read with fufficient advantage
through the medium of a tranflation ; the
fpirit of the original being, perhaps, more
transfufible into the EngHfh, than into any
other modern tongue. But are there not
many forcible reafons why the Latin lan-
guage fhould not be equally omitted * ?
Befides the advantage of reading, in their
original drefs, the hiflorians of that empire,
the literature of Rome is peculiarly intereft-
ing, as being the mofl fatisfadtory medium
through which the moderns can obtain an
Intimate knowledge of the ancient w^orld.
As the Latin itfelf is a modification of one
of the Greek dialefts, fo the Roman philo-
fophers and poets, having formed themfelves,

* The royal father of the illuftrious pupil is faid
to poflefs the princely accomplifhment of a pure
claflical tafte. Of his love for polite learning, the
attention which he is paying to the recovery of cer-
tain of the lofl works of fome of the Roman authors,
is an evidence.

ilS

S4 ON THE ACQUISITlO^t

as much as poflible, on Grecian models, pfe-.
fent to us the nearejfl poflible tranfcripts of
thofe maflers whom they copy. Thus, by an
acquaintance with the Latin language, we
are brought into a kind of adlual contact
not only with the ancient world, but with
that portion of it which, having the moft
diredl and the fulleil intercourfe with the
other parts, introduces us, in a manner the
moil informing and fatisfaclory, to claflical
and phiiofophical antiquity in general. But
what is ftill more, the Latin tongue enables
us for ourfelves, without the intermediation
of any interpreter, to examine all the parti-
cular circumftances in manners, intercourfe,
modes of thinking and fpeaking, of that
period which Eternal Wifdom chofe (pro-
bably becaufe it was ever after to appear
the moft luminous in the whole retrofpecl
of hiftory) as fitteft for the advent of the
Meffiah, and the bringing life and immor-
tality to light by his gofpel.

If to this may be added lefler yet not unim-
portant confiderations, we would fay, that

4 by

OF KNOWLEDGE. I^

by the acquaintance which the Latin lan-
guage would give her with the etymology
of words, (he will learn to be more accu-
i-ate in her definitions, as well as more
critically exa£t and elegant in the ufe of her
©wn language ; and her ability to manage
it with gracefulnefs and vigour will be con-
fiderably increafed *.

Of the modern languages, if the author
dares hazard an opinion, the French and
German feem the moft neceffary. The
Italian appears lefs important, as thofe aU'*
thors which feem more peculiarly to belong
to her education, fuch as Davila, Guicciar-
■din, and Beccaria, m.ay be read either in
French or Englifh tranflations.

It is not to be fuppofed that a perfonage,
binder her peculiar circumftances, fhould

* "Who does not confider as one of the moft inte"
xefting paffages of modern hiftory, that which relates
"the efFeft produced by an eloquent Latin oration
pronounced in a full affembly, by the late Emprefs
Maria Therefa, in the bloom of her youth and
beauty, fo late as the year 1740 ? Antiquity produces
nothing more touching of the kind.

have

!^ ON THE ACgUISITION

Jiave much time to fpare for the acqulfitbri
of what are called the fine arts j nor, per-
haps, is it to be defired. To acquire them
in perfeclion, would fleal away loo large a
portion of thofe precious hours which will
barely fuffice to lay in the various rudiments
.of indifpenfable knowledge ; and, in this
faftidious age, whatever falls far fliort of
perfection, is deemed of little worth. A
moderate fldil in mufic, for inftance, would
probably have little other effed, than to
make the lifleners feel, as Farinelli is faid
to have done, who ufed to complain heavily
that the penfion of 2000I. a ye^r, which'he
had from the King of Spain, was compen-
fation little enough for his being fometimes
obliged to hear His Majefly play. Yet this
would be a far lefs evil than that to which
excellence might lead. We can think of
few things more to be deprecated, than that
thofe who have the greatefl concerns to
purfue, fliould have their tafles engaged,
perhaps monopolized, by trifles. A liflener
to the royal mufic, if pofTefled of either

wifdoni

OF KNOWLEDGE. 1 7

wifdom or virtue, could not but feel his
pleafure at the moft exquifite performance
abated, by the apprehenfion that this per-
fedion implied the neglect of matters far
more eflential.

Befides, to excel in thofe arts, which,
though merely ornamental, are yet well
enough adapted to ladies who have only
a fubordinate part to fill in life, would
rather lelTen than augment the dignity olF
a fovereign. It was a truly royal reply
of Themiflocles, when he was alked if he
could play on the lute — " No, but if you
will give me a paltry village, I may per-
haps know how to improve it into a great
city.

>>

Thefe are imperial arts, and worthy kings.'

As to thefe inferior accomplilhments, is it
not defirable, and is it not fufficient that a
fovereign Ihould poffefs that general know-
ledge and tafte which give the power of
difcriminating excellence, fo as judicioufly
to cherifh, and liberally to reward it I

VOL, I. c But,

l8 ON THE ACQUISITION

But, not only in works of mere tafte ;
even in natural hiftory, botany, experimen-
tal philofophy, and other generally valuable
fciences, a correal but unlaboured outline
of knowledge, it is prefumed, will, in the
prefent inflance, be thought fufficient.
Profitable and delightful as thefe purfuits
are to others (and no one more admires
them than the writer of this effay), yet the
royal perfonage mud not be examining
plants, when Ihe fliould be fludying laws ;
nor inveftigating the inftinds of animals,
when fhe fnould be analyzing the chara£lers
of men. The time fo properly devoted to
thefe lludies in other education^ will be lit-
tle enough in this, to attain that knowledge
of general hiftory, and efpecially that accu-
rate acquaintance \vith the events of our own
country, which, in her fituation, are abfo-
lutely indifpenfiblp.

Geography and chronology have not
unfitly been termed the two eyes of hillory.
With chronology Hie ilionld be competently
acquainted. It is little to know events,

if

OP KNOWLEDGE. 1 9

if we do not know in what order and fuc-
ceffion they are difpofed. It is necelTary
alfo to learn how the periods of computa-
tion are determined. Method does not
merely aid the memory, it alfo aflifls the
judgment, by fettling the dependance of
one event upon another. Chronology is the
grand art of hiftorical arrangement. To
know that a man of diftinguiflied eminence
has lived, is to know little, unlefs we know
when he lived, and who were his contempo-
raries. Indiftinclnefs and confufion niuft
always perplex that underftanding, in which
the annals of pad ages are not thus confe-
cutively linked together.

Would it not be proper always to read
hiftory with a map, in order to keep up in
the mind the indiffoluble connedlion between
hiftory and geography ; and that a glance
of the country may recal the exploits of the
hero, or the virtues of the patriot who has
immortalized it ?

Refpedting the ftudy of geography, I
would obferve, that many particulars, which

c 2 do

10 ON THE ACQUISITION

^o not feem to have been confidered by
the generality of writers, ought to be
brought before the view of a royal
pupil. The effeds of local fituation, and
geographical boundary, on the formation
and progrefs of nations and empires. — The
confequences, for example, which have re-
fuited as well in the political, as in the civil
and religious circumilances of mankind,
from the Mediterranean being fo aptly
interpofed, not fo much as it fliould feem,
to be a common barrier, as to form a moft
convenient and important medium of inter-
t'ourfe between Europe, Afia, and Africa.
— The effect of this great Naiimachia of
the ancient world, in transferring empire
from eaft to well ; — the want of tides in
the Mediterranean, fo as to adapt this fcene
of early maritime adventure to the rudenefs
of thofe who were firft to navigate itj and
whofe fuccefs might have been fatally im-
peded, by that diverfity of currents, which
in other feas the ebb and flow of the tides
is perpetually creating.

In

OF KNOWLEDGE, 21

In conne^Hon with this, though fome-
what locally remote from it, is to be re»
marked the regularity of the monfoons in
the Erythraean fea, by means of which, the
earlier traders between Africa and India
were carried acrofs the Perfian gulph, with-
out the exercife of that (kill, which as yet
did not exift. — And, as if to faciUtate the
conveyance of thofe mod interelling com-
modities to the Mediterranean, in order that
the commerce of that inland ocean might
never want an adequate ftimulus, the Red
Sea is carried onward, till it is feparated from
the Mediterranean by a comparatively nar-
row ifthmus ; an iflhmus that feems provi-
dentially to have been retained, that while
the maritime a(3:ivity and general convenience
of the ancient world was provided for, there
might ftill be fufficient difficulty in the way,
to excite to a more extended circumnavi-
gation, when the invention of the com-
pafs, the improvement of maritii^ie fkill,
and the general progrefs of human fociety,

c 3 ftoulci

22 ON THE ACQUISITION

fhould concur in bringing on the proper
feafon.

And, in this geographic fketch, let not
the remarkable pofitlon of Judea be for-
gotten * J placed in the very middle parts

* It is worthy of notice, that in all probability
Judea was the country by means of which a trade
was firfl opened between the Mediterranean and India.
David had taken from the Edomites two cities at the
Red Sea, Ezion-Geber and Elath ; thefe, we are told,
Solomon made fea-ports, and colonized them with na-
vigators, fuinidied by the King of Tyre, of whom
it is faid, 2 Chron. viii, 18. that he fent unto Solo-
mon fhips and fervants who had knowledge of the
fea, and they went with the fervants of Solomon
to Ophir ; and, i Kings, x. 22. we are told that
Selomon had at fea a nary of Tarfhifh with the navy
of Hiram, which came once in three years, bringing
gold and lilver, ivory, apes and peacocks. Thus,
Tyre, the great Emporium of the Mediterranean,
was eviden;;ly indebted to David and Solomon^ for
accefs to that commerce of the eaft, which was
carried on by means of the Red Sea, and brought
from the above-mentioned ports, acrofs the ifthmus
of Suez, probably to the fame pla<:e where the Ty-
rians in later times unfliipped their Afiatic commo-
dities, the port of Rhinocorura^

of

OF KNOWLEDGE. 23

of the old world, (whofe extent may be
reckoned from the pillars of Hercules to
" the utmofl Indian iHfe Tabrobane,") as
the fun in the centre of the folar fyflem, and
at the top of the Mediterranean, both that
it might be within the vortex of great events,
and alfo that when the fullnefs of time fliould
come, it might be mod conveniently fituated
for pouring forth that light of truth, of
which it was deftined to be the local origin,
upon all the nations of the earth, and ef-
pecially on the Roman empire. — Such are
the lefs common particulars to which at-
tention may advantageotifly be drawn.
With geography in general fliould of courfe
be connefted fome knowledge of the natu-
ral and civil hiftory of each counti*y : its
chief. political revolutions, its alliances, and
dependencies ; together with the fcate of its
arts, commerce, natural productions, go*
vcrnment, and religion.

c 4 CHAP.

£4 ON FORMING THE MIND.

CHAP. III.

On the Importance of forming the Mind.

It is of the highefl importance that the
royal pupil fhould acquire an early habit
of method and regularity in her fludies.
She fliould, therefore, be particularly guard-
ed againft that defultory manner of reading,
too common at this day, and particularly
•with women. She fhould be trained al-
ways to fludy to fome valuable purpofe, and
carefully to attend to the feveral way-
marks, by means of which that end may
mofl efFedually be attained. She fhould be
accuftomed to call forth the forces of her
mind, and to keep them alert, well-dif-'
ciplined, and ready for feryice. She fhould
fo cultivate fettled principles of adion, as
to acquire the habit of applying them, on
demand, to the actual occafions of life ;
and fliould polTefs a promptitude, as well
as foundnefs, in deducing confequences,

and

ON FORMING THE MIND. 25

and drawing conclufions. Her mind fhould
be exercifed with as much induflry in the
purfuit of moral truth and ufeful know-
ledge, as that of a young academic in the
ftudies of his profeffion. The art of reign-
ing is the profeiTion of a prince. And, doubt-
lefs, it is a fcience which requii^es at lead as
much preparatory ftudy as any other. Be-
fides, one part of knowledge is often fo necef-
fary for reflecting light on another part, that
perhaps no one who does not underftand
many things, can underfhaud any thing well.
But, whatever may be the necefiary de-
gree of knowledge, it is mod: certain that it
cannot be attained amidfl the petty avoca-
tions which occupy a modern lady's time.
Knowledge will not come by nature or by
chance. Precepts do not always convey it.
Talents do not always infure it. It is the fruit
of pains. It is the reward of apph'cation.

Dii lalorilus omnia vendunt.

Let her ever bear in mind, (he is not to
jliidy thai fee may beccimjcarned, but that fie

viay

26 ON FORMING THE MIND.

may become -wife. It is by fuch an acquifi-
tion of knowledge as is here recommended,
that her mind muH: be fo enlarged and
invigorated as to prepare her for following
wife counfels, without blindly yielding to
fortuitous fuggeftions ; as to enable her to
trace adions into their muldfarious confe-
quences, and to difccver real analogies with-
out being deceived by fuperficial appear-
ances of refemblance. It is thus that fhe
muft be fecured from the dominion of the
lefs enlightened. This will preferve her
from credulity ; prevent her from over-rating
inferior talents, and help her to attain that
nil admirari^ which is fo neceffary for dif-
tinguifhing arrogant pretenfion from fub-
flantial merit. It will aid her to appreciate
the value of thofe around her ; will affifl
her penetration in what regards her friends j
preferve her from a blind prejudice |n
cjiufmg them, from retaining them through
fear or fondnefs, and from changing them
through weaknefs or caprice. " When we
are abufed through fpecicus appearances,"

fays

ON FORMING THE MIND. 1'J

fays the judicious Hooker, " it is becaufe
reafon is negligent to fearch out the fallacy.'*
But, he might have added, if reafon be
not cultivated early, if it be not exercifed
conftantly, it will have no eye for difcern-
ment, no heart for vigorous exertion. Spe-.
cious appearances will perpetually deceive
that mind which has been accuftomed to ac-
quiefce in them through ignorance, blind-
nefs, and inadlion.

A prince fhould be ignorant of nothing
which it is honourable to know ; but he
Ihould look on mere acquilition of knov/-
ledge not as the end to be refled in, but only
as the means of arriving at fome higher end.
He may have been well inftruded in hillory,
belles lettres, philofophy, and languages,
and yet have received a defedive education,
if the formation of his judgment has been
negledled. For, it is not fo important to
know every thing, as to know the exad:
value of every thing, to appreciate what we
learn, and to arrange what we know.

Books alone will never form the charac-
ter.

28 ON FORMING THE MIND.

ter. Mere reading would rather tend to
make a pedantic, than an accomplifhcd
prince. It is converfation which mult un-
fold, enlarge, and apply the ufe of books.
Without that familiar comment on what is
read, which will make a moll important
part of the intercourfe between a royal
pupil and the fociety around him, mere
reading might only fill the mind with falla-
cious models of character, and falfe maxims
of life. It is converfation which mull de-
velop what is obfcure, raife what is low,
corred what is defective, qualify what is
exaggerated, and gently and almoft infenfi-
bly raife the underllanding, form the heart,
and fix the talle ; and, by giving jufl pro-^
portions to the mind, teach it the power of
fciir appreciation, draw it to adopt what is
reafonable, to love what is good, to talle
what is pure, and to imitate what is elegant.
But this is not to be effected by cold rules,
and formal reflections ; by infipid dogmas,
and tedious fermonizing. It fliould be done.
fo indirectly, fo difcreetiy, and io pleafantly,

that

ON FORMING THE MIND. 2g

that the pupil fhall not be led to dread a lec-
ture at every turn, nor a diflertation on
every occurrence. While yet fuch an in-
genious and cheerful turn may be given to
fubjefts apparently unpromifnig, old truths
may be conveyed by fuch new images, that
the pupil will wonder to find herfelf improv-
ed when (he thought fhe was only diverted.
Folly may be made contemptible, affectation
ridiculous, vice hateful, and virtue beautiful,
by fuch feemingly unpremeditated means, as
fhall have the effect, without having the ef-
fort, of a lelfon. Topics mufl not be fo
much propofed as infinuated.

But above all, there fhould be a conftant,
but imperceptible habit of turning the
mind to a love of truth in all its forms
and afpccls ; not only in matters of grave
morality, but in matters of bufinefs, of
common intercourfe, and even of tafte ; for
there is a truth both in moral and mental
tafte, little fliort of the exactnefs of malhe-
matical truth ; and the mind ihould ac-
quire an habit of feeking perfeftion in every

thinsr.

3© ON FORMING THE MIND.

thing. This habit fhould be fo early and
infenfibly formed, that when the pupil
comes afterwards to meet with maxims, and
inftances of truth and virtue, in hiftorical
and moral writings, fhe may bring to the
perufal taftes, tempers, and difpofitions fo
laid in, as to have prepared the mind for
their reception. As this mode of preparatory
and incidental inflruclion will be gradual
and inwoven, fo it will be deep and dura-
ble J but as it will be little obvious to ordi-
nary judges, it will excite lefs wonder and
admiration than the ufual difplay and exhibi-
tion fo prevalent in modern education.
Its effects will be lefs oftenfible, but they
will be more certain.

When it is confidered how ftiort is that
period of life in which plain unvarnilhed
truth will be likely to appear in all its
naked fmiplicity before princes, is there a
moment of that happy, that aufpicious fea-
fon to be loft, for prefenting it to them in all
its lovely and engaging forms ? It is not
enough that they ihould poflefs truth as a

3 principle.

ON FORMING THE MIND. 3E

principle, they ihould cherilli it as an object
of affection, delight in it as a matter of talle,
and dread nothing fo much as falfe colour-
ing and artifice.

He who poffeffes a found principle, and
ftrong relifh of truth in his own mind_, will,
poffefs a touchftone by which to try this
quality in others, and which will enable him
to detect falfe notions, to fee through falfe
manners, and to defpife falfe attractions.
This difcerning faculty is the more impor-
tant, as the high breeding of very polifliedE
fociety prefents fo plaufible an imitation of
goodnefs, as to impofe on the fuperficial ob-
ferver, who, fatisfied with the image and
fuperfcription, never inquires whether the
coin be counterfeit or fterling.

The early habit of fifting queifions, turn-
ing about a truth, and examining an argu-
ment on all fides, will ftrenf^thcn the intel-
le£tual powers of the royal pupil, prevent
her thoughts from wandering, accullom
her to weigh fairly and refolve foundly ;
will conquer irrefolution in her mind ; pre-

fcrve

32 ON FORMING THE MIND.

ferve her from being eafily deceived by falfe
reafoning, llartled by doubts, and con-
founded by objections. She will learn to
digell her thoughts in an exad method, to
acquire a logical order in the arrangement
of them, to poiTefs precifion in her ideas, and
its natural concomitant, perfpicuity in her
expreffion j all which will be of the highefi:
importance to one who may hereafter have
fo much to do and to fay in public.

With the Jhades of expreffions fhe fhould
alfo be well acquainted, and be habituated to
ufe the mofl appofite and the mofl correct ;
fuch as are neither too high nor too low, too
flrong nor too weak, for the occafion ; fuch
as are obvious, but not vulgar, accurate but
not pedantic, elegant but not artificial.

The memory fhould be ftored with none
but the bed things, that when, hereafter,
the judgment is brought into exercife, it
n>ay find none but the befl materials to a£t
upon. Inftead, therefore, of loading the
memory, might it not be ufeful to eflablilli
it into a rule to read to her every day, as

3 an

ON FORMING THE MIND. 33

an amufement, and diftindly from all re-
gular inflruclion, a paffage from the hiitory
of England, a flory out of Plutarch, or any
limilar author ; and require of her to repeat
it afterwards, in her own words? This would
not only add, daily, one important fact to
her ftock of knowledge, but would tend to
form a perfpicuous and elegant ftyle. Oc-
cafion would alfo be furnifhed for obferving
whether fhe exhibited that befl proof of
good fenfe, the feizing on the prominent
features of the ftory, laying lefs ftrefs on
what was lefs important.

But while accuracy is thus fought, the
ftill more important habit of comprehenfive-
nefs muft not be overlooked. Her mind
fhould be trained to embrace a wide com-
pafs ; it fhould be taught to take in a large
whole, and then fubdivide it into parts ;
each of which fhould be confidered diflind-
ly, yet connededly, with ftrid: attention to
its due proportions, relative fituations, its
bearings with refpeft to the others, and the
dependence of each part on the whole.

VOL. I. D Where,

34 ON FORMING THE MIND.

Where, however, fo many things are to be
known, and fo many to be done, it is im-
poflible to attend equally to all. It is
therefore important, that, in any cafe of
competition, the lefs material be left un-
learned and undone ; and that petty details
never fill the time and mind, at the expence
of negledling great objects.

For thofe, therefore, who have much
bufmefs and little time, it is a great and
neceifary art to learn to extract the effential
fpirit of an author from the body of his
work ; to know how to feize on the vital
parts ; to difcern where his flrength lies ;
and to feparate it from thofe portions of
the work which are fuperfluous, collateral,
or merely ornamental.

On the fubject of ceconomifmg time, the
writer would have been fearful of incurring
the charge ofneedlefs ftrictnefs, by fuggeft-
ing the utility of accuftoming princes to be
read to while they are drelTing, could not
the aftual practice of our admirable Queen
Mary be adduced to fanction the advice.

That

CN FORMING THE MIND*' 35

That excellent princefs, from a confcien-
dous regard to the value of time, was either
read to by others,, or condefcended, herfeif,
to read aloud, that thofe who were em-,
ployed about her perfon might lliare the
benefit, which fhe enhanced by fuch plea-
fant and judicious remarks as the fubject
fuggefted. But there is an additional rea-
fon why the children of the great would be
benefited by this habit ; for it would not
only turn idle moments to fome account,
but would be of ufe in another way, by
cutting off the fairefl occafions which their
inferior attendants can have for engaging
them, by frivolous or flattering difcourfe.:;-j
It would be well to watch attentively the
bent of the mind in the hours of relaxation
and amufement, when caution is difmiffed
by the pupil, and control by the precep-
tor ; when no fludies are impofed, and no
fpecific employment fuggefted. In fact,
when vigilance appears to fleep, it fliould
be particularly on the alert, in order to dif-
cern thofe tendencies and difpofitions which

D 2 will

36 ON FORMING THE MIND.

win then moft naturally unfold themfelves j
and becaufe that the heart, being at thofe
feafons lefs under difcipline, will be more
likely to betray its native charafter. And
as the regulation of the temper is that part
of education on which the w^hole happinefs
of life moft materially depends, no occafion
fhould be neglected, no indication flighted,
no counteraction omitted, which may con-
tribute to accomplifh fo important an end.

The peculiar defefts, not merely fuch faults
as are incident to childhood, but the predo-
minating faults of the individual, fhould be
carefully watched, left they acquire ftrength
through negleft, when they might have been
diminiftied by a counterafting force. If the
temper be reftlefs, ardent, and impetuous,
wearinefs and difcontent will, hereafter, fill
up the dreary intervals between one animat-
ing fcene and another, unlefs the temper be
fubdued and tranquillized by a conftant
habit of quiet, though varied, and intereft-
ing occupation. Few things are more fatal
to the mind, than to depend for happinefs
I on

OTT FORMING THE MIND. 3/

on the contingent recurrence of events,
bulineires, and diverfions, which inflame
and agitate it ; for as they do not often
occur, the intervals which are long are alfo
languid ; the enjoyment is factitious happi-
nefs ; the privation is adlual mifery.

Reading, therefore, has, efpecially to a
prince, its moral ufes, independently of the
nature of the ftudy itfelf. It brings no fmall
gain, if it fecure him from the dominion of
turbulent purfuits and agitating pleafures.
If It fnatch him, on the one hand, from
public fchemes of ambition and falfe glory ;
and if it refcue him, on the other, from the
habit of forming petty projeds of inceflant
diverfion, the rudiments of a trifling and
ufelefs life.

Knowledge, therefore, is often the pre^
fervative of virtue ; and, next to right habits
of fcntiment and conduft, the beft human
fource of happlncfs. Could Louis the Four-
teenth have read, probably the edict of
Nantz had not been revoked. But a refl;-
lefs temper, and a vacant mind, unhappily

D 3 lighting

J.^ 'Li U -5

i.34

38 ON FORMING THE MIND.

lighting on abfolute power, prefent, in this
monarch, a ftriking inflancc of the fatal
effedls of ignorance, and the calamity of a
neglected education. He had a good na-
tm-ai underilanding, loved bufmefs, and
feemed to have a mind capable of compre-
hending It. Many of his recorded expref-
fions are neat and elegant. But he was
uninftrufted upon fyftem ; Cardinal Maza-
rine, with a view to fecure his own domi-
nion, having withheld from him all the
neceflary means of education. Thus, he
had received no ideas from books ; he even
hated in others the learning which he did
not himfelf pofTefs : the terms wit and
fcholar, v/ere, in his mind, terms of re-
proach ; the one as implying fatire^ the
other pedantry. He wanted^ not applica-
tion to public affairs ; and habit had given
him fome experience in them. But the
apathy which marked his latter years ftrong-
ly illuflrated the infelicity of an unfuiTiifhed
mind. This, in the tumult of his brighter
days, amidft the fuccelTion of intrigues,

the

CN FORMING THE MIND; 39

the fplendour of feftivity, and the buftle of
arms, was fcarcely felt. But ambition and
voluptuoufnefs cannot always be gratified.
Thofe ardent paflions, which in youth were
devoted to licentioufnefs, in the meridian
of life to war, in a more advanced age to
bigotry and intolerance, not only had never
been directed by religion, but had never
been foftened by letters. After he had re-
nounced his miflrefles at home, and his
unjuft wars abroad, even though his mind
feems to have acquired fome pious tenden-
cies, his life became a fcene of fuch inanity
and reflleflhefs, that he was impatient at
being, for a moment, left alone. He had
no intellectual refources. The agitation of
great events had fubfided. From never
having learned either to employ himfelf in
reading or thinking, his life became a blank,
from which he could not be relieved by the
fight of his palaces, his gardens, and his
aqueduds, the purchafe of depopulated
villages and plundered cities.

D 4 Indigent

40 ON FORMING THE MIND.

Indigent amid all his poffeffions, lie ex-
hibited a ftriking confirmation of the de-
claration of Solomon, concerning the unfa-
tisfying nature of all earthly pleafures ; arid
fhewed, that it is in vain even for kings to
hope to obtain from others thofe comforts,
and that contentment, which man can de-
rive only from within himfelf.

CHAP.

THE EDUCATION OF A SOVEREIGN. 4I

CHAP. IV.

The Education of a Sovereign a fpecijic
Education.

JL HE formation of the character is the
grand object to be accomplifhed. This
fhould be confidered to be not fo much a
feparate bufmefs, as a fort of centre to
which all the rays of inflru^lion (hould be
direfted. All the ftudies, it is prefumed,
of the royal pupil, fhould have fome refe-
rence to her probable future fituation. Is it
not, therefore, obvioufly requinte that her
underftanding be exercifed in a wider range
than that of others of her fex ; and that her
principles be fo eftablifhed, on the befl and
furefl foundation, as to fit her at once for
fulfilling the peculiar demands, and for re-
fi fling the peculiar temptations of her fla-
tion ? Princes have been too often inclined
to fancy, that they have few interefts in
common with the reft of mankind, feeling

them-

4-2 THE EDUCATION OF A SOVEREIGN

themfelves placed by Providence on an emi-
nence fo much above them. But the great
aim ihould be, to correft the haughtinefs
which may attend this fuperiority, without
relinquifhing the truth of the fad. Is it
not, therefore, the bufmefs of thofe who
have the care of a royal education, not fo
much to deny the reality of this diftance, or
to diminifh its amount, as to account for its
exiftence, and point out the ufes to which it
i§ fubfervient ?

A prince is an individq^l being, whom
the hand of Providence has placed on a pe-
deftal of peculiar elevation : but he fhould
learn, that he is placed there as the minifler
of good to others: that the dignity being
hereditary, he is the more manifeilly raifed
to that elevation, not by his own merit, but
by providential deftination ; by thofe laws,
which he is himfelf bound to obferve with the
fame religious fidelity as the meaneft of his
fubjefts. It ought early to be imprelTed, that
thofe appendages of royalty, with which
human weaknefs may too probably be faf-
cinated, are intended not to gratify the

feelings,

A SPECIFIC EDUCATION. 43

feelings, but to diftinguifh the perfon of the
monarch ; that, in. themfeh'es, they are of
little value; that they are beneath the at-
tachment of a rational, and of no fubflantial
ufe to a moral being ; in fliort, that they
are not a fubjecl of triumph, but are to be
acquiefced in for the public benefit, and
from regard to that weaknefs of our nature,
which fubjecls fo large a portion of every
community to the influence of their imagi-
nation, and their fenfes.

While, therefore, a prince is taught the
ufe of thofe exterior embellifhnients, which,
as was before obferved, defignate, rather
than dignify his flation ; while he is led to
place the juH value on every appendage
which may contribute to give him impor-
tance in the eyes of the multitude ; who,
not being juft judges-of what conftitutes
true dignity, are confequently apt to reve-
rence the royal perfon exactly fo far as
they fee outward fplendour connected with
it ; fhould not a royal pupil himfelf \fe
taught, inllead of overvaluing that fplen-
dour.

44 THE EDUCATION OF A SOVEREIGN

dour, to think it a humbling, rather than an
elevating confideration, that fo large a part
of the refpecl paid to him, fhould be owing
to fuch extrinfic caufes, to caufes which
make no part of himfelf ? Let him then be
taught to gratifjr the public with all the
pomp and circumftance fuitable to royalty ;
but let him never forget, that though his
ftation ought always to procure for him
refpecl, he mufl ever look to his own per-
fonal conduct, for infpiring veneration, at-
tachment, and affection ; and ever let it be
remembered that this affe£tion is the
ftrongeft tie of obedience ; that fubjefts
like to fee their prince great, when that
greatnefs is not produced by rendering
them lefs ; and as the profound Selden
obferves, " the people will always be li-
beral to a prince who fpares them, and a
good prince will always fpare a liberal
people.'*

This is not a period when any wife man
"v&ould wifh to diminifh either the authority,
or the fplendour of kings. So far from it,

he

A SPECIFIC EDUCATION. 45

he will fupport with his whole weight, an
inftitution which the licentious fury of a
revolutionary fpirit has rendered more dear
to every Englifliman. On no confidera-
tion, therefore, would he pluck even a fea-
ther from thofe decorations of royalty,
which, by a long aifociation, have become
intimately connected with its fubftance.
In fhort, every wife inhabitant of the Britifh
Ifles muft feel, that he who would defpoil
the crown of its jewels, would not be far
from fpoiling the wearer of his crown.
And as nothing but democratic folly or
phrenzy would degrade the monarch from
his due elevation, fo democratic envy alone
would wifh to flrip him, not only of a fm-
gle conflituent of real greatnefs, but even
of a fmgle ornamental appendage, on which
the people have been accuftomed to gaze
with honefl joy.

Neverthelefs, thofe outrages which have
lately been committed againfl the fanc-
tity of the thione, furnifh new and mofl
powerful reafons for aJiduoufly guard-
ing

46 THE EDUCATION OF A SOVEREIGN

ing princes by every refpeclful admoni-
tion, againft any tendency to exceed
their jufl prerogatives, and for checking
every rifing propenfity to overflep, in
the flighteft degree, their well-defined
rights. .

At the fame time it fhould be remem-
bered, that there may be no lefs dangerous
faults on the other fide, and that want of
nrmnefs in maintaining jufl: rights, or of fpirit
in the prompt and vigorous exercife of ne-
cefTary authority, may prove as injurious to
the interefls of a community as the mofl
lawlefs ftretch of power. Defects of this
very kind were evidently among the caufes
of bringing down, on the gentlefl of the
kings of France, more calamities than Jiad
ever refulted from the mofb arbitrary exer-.
tion of power in any of his predeceffors.
Feebienefs and irrefolution, which feem to be
little more than pardonable weakneffes in pri-
vate perfons, may, by their confequences,
prove in princes fatal errors ; and even pro-
duce the elfed of great crimes. Vigour to

fecure.

A SPECIFIC EDUCATION. 47

fecure, and opportunely to exert their confci-
tutionai power, is as effential as moderation
not to exceed it *.

It ferves to fliew the ineftimable value of
well-defined laws, and the importance of
making the prince acquainted with them,
that Louis the Thirteenth conceived' a jea-
loufy refpecling his own power, becaufe he
did not underfland the nature of it ; and
his favourites were unable or unwilling to

* May it not be obferved, witliout rifliing the
imputation of flattery, that perhaps never, in the
hiftory of the world, has any country been fo unin-
terruptedly blefled with that very temperament of
government, which is here implied, as this empire
has been, under the dominion of the Houfe of Han-
over ? There has, on no occafion, been a want of
firmnefs : but with that flrmnefs, lliere has been a
confcientious regard to the principles of the confti-
tution. Who can at this moment pretend to pro-
nounce how much we owe to the fleady integrity
which is fo obvioufly poHefTed by our prefcnt fove-
reign ? And who does not remember with what
good efTefts his rcfolute compofure and dignified
fii-mnefs were exerted, during a fcene of the greatell
alarm which has occurad in his reign — the riots of
the year 1780,

mllrudt

48 THE EDUCATION OF A SOVEREIGN

inflruft him. But his ufurpation of extra-
ordinary power tended to exalt his minifler
ftill more than himfelf ; and in fetting the
King above the laws, he ftill fet the Cardinal
above the King.

The power of the monarchs of France
had never been defined by any written law.
Charles V., Louis IX., and perhaps a very
few other wife and temperate princes, did
not conceive their power to be above the
laws, but approved of thofe moderating
maxims which had become, by degrees,
the received ufages of the flate, and which,
while they feemed, in fome meafure, a con-
ftitutional check upon the abfolute power
of the crown, formed alfo a guard againft
that popular licentioufnefs, which, in a pure
defpotifm, appears to be the only refource
left to the people. But France has had
few monarchs like Charles V. and ftill
fewer like Louis IX. Henry IV. feems to
have found and obferved the happy me-
dium. He was at once refolute and mild ;
determined and affedionate j politic and

humane

A SPECIFIC EDUCATION. 49

humane. The firmnefs of his mind, and
the aftive vigour of his conduft, always
kept pace with the gentlenefs of his
language. He fought for his prerogatives
bravely, and defended them vigoroufly ;
yet, it is faid, he ever carefully avoided
the ufe of the term. He alfo loved and
fought popularity, but he never facrificed
to it any jufl claim, nor ever made a con-
cefTion which did not alfo tend to guard the
real prerogatives of the crown*. And it
feems to be the true wifdom of a prince,
that, as he cannot be too deliberate in his
councils, nor too cautious in his plans, fo
when thofe counfels are well matured, and
thofe plans well digefted, he cannot be too
decifive in their execution.

It was not, indeed, under the aftual rule
of monarchs, however arbitrary, that royal
authority was raifed to its higheft pitch
in France. It was Richelieu, who, under
a regency, rapidly eftablilhed fuch a

■

* II ne fe defioit pas des loix, parcequ'il fe fioit en
Jui meme. De Retz.

VOL. I. E fyftem

CO THE EDUCATION OF A SOVEREIGN

fyftem- of tyranny, as the boldell foyereign
had feldom dared to attempt. He improved
on all the anterior corruptions ; and, as a
lively French author fays, tried to conceal
their being corruptions, by ere£ling them
into political maxims. Mazarin, with in-
ferior ability, which would not have enabled
him to gi-ve the impulfe, attempted ftill more
to accelerate the movement of that machine
which his predeceffor had fet a-going with
fuch velocity j and a civil war was the con-

fequ nee.

Happily, the examples of neither the
kings, the laws, nor the conftitution of
France, can be flridly applicable to us.
Happily alfo, we live at a time, when ge-
nuine freedom is fo completely eftablifhed
among us ; when the conftitution, powers,
and privileges of parliament are fo firmly
fettled ; the limits of the royal prerogative
fo exadly defined, and fo fully underftood ;
and the mild, moderate, and equitable fpirit
of the illuflrlous family in which it is in-
celled, i& withal fo confpicuous, that, as

Blackftone

A SPEGlFiC EDUCATION. $1

x)iackflone obferves, *' topics of govern*
ment, which, like the myfteries of the Bona
Dea, were formerly thought too facred to
be divulged to any but the initiated, may
now, without the fmalleft offence, be fully
and temperately difcufled."

At this tumultuous periodj when we have
feen almoft all the thrones of Chriftendom
trembling to their foundation ; we have
witneiTed the Britifh conftitution, like the
Britifh oak, confirmed and rooted by the
Ihaking of that tremendous blafl, which has
dripped kingdoms of their crowns, levelled
the fences and inclofures of law, laid wafle
the beft earthly bleflings of mankind, and
involved in defolation a large part of the
civilized world. When we have beheld
abfolute monarchies, and republican ftates,
alike ravaged by the temped, fhall we not
learn ftill more highly to prize our own un-
paralleled political edifice, built with fuch
fair proportions, on principles fo harmo-
nious and fo juft, that one part affords to
another that fupport which, in its turn, it

K 2 receives ;

52 THE EDUCATION OF A SOVEREIGN

jeceives ; while each lends ftrength, as well
as ftability to all ?

How flender is the fecurity of unlimited
power, let the ephemeral reigns of eaflerm
defpots declare ! A prince who governs a
free peoplej enjoys a fafety which no def-
potic fovereign ever pofleffed. The latter
rules fmgly j and v/here a revolution is me-
ditated, the change of a fmgle perfon is foon
effefted. But where a fovereign's power is
incorporated with the powers of parliament,
and the will of the people who eleft parlia-
ments, the kingly ftate is fenced in with,
and intrenched by, the other Hates. He
relies not folely upon an army. He relies '
on his parliament, and on his people, — ^a
fure refource, while he involves his interefts
with theirs ! This is the happinefs, the
beauty, and the ftrength of that three-fold
bond which ties our conftitution together.
Counfellors may miflead, favourites may be-
tray, even armies may defert, and navies
may mutiny, but laws, as they are the
fureft guides of aftion, fo are they the fureft
guards from danger.

Well

A SPECIFIC EDUCATION. ^^

Well might the view of this well-founded
power produce the remark which it drew
forth from a fagacious Frenchman *, who
was comparing the folid conftitutional au-
thority of the Britiih monarch, with the
more fpecious but lefs fecure fabric of the
defpotifm of the kings of France — " That
a King of England, who afted according to
the laws, was the greateft of all monarchs I'*

But while the convulfions of other go-
vernments, built on lefs permanent prin-
ciples, have rivetted our aiFe£lion to our
own ; and while an experimental acquaint^
ance with the miferies of anarchy moft na-
turally lead us, as fubjects, to a ftrong fenfe
of the duty of obedience :— -v/ith equal zeal
would we wifh it to be inculcated on princes,
that they jfliould be cautious never to mul-
tiply occafions for exacting that obedience ;
that they fhould ufe no unnecelTary com-
pulfion by feizing as a debt what good fub-
jeds are always willing to pay as a duty -,

* Gourville.

E 3 and

54 THE EDUCATION OF A SOVEREIGN

and what is then only to be relied upon 5,
when it is fpontaneous and cordial.

It is obfervable, that thofe monarchs who
have mod feduloufly contended for prero-
gative, have been among the feeblefl and
the leaft capable of exercifing it ; and that
thofe who have ftruggled mofl earneftly for
unjuft power, have feldom enjoyed it them-
felves, but have made it over to miftrelfes
and favourites. This is particularly exem-
plified in two of our weal^^efi: and moll un-
happy princes, Edward II. and Richard II.
Whether it was that this very imbecility
made them more contentious about their
prerogative, and more obflinate in refilling
the demands of parliament ; or that their
favourites flimulated them to exactions, the
benefit of which was to be transferred tp
themfelves. The character of Edward III.
(notwithflanding his faults) was confiftently
magnanimous. He was not more brave than
juft. He was attentive to the dignity of his
crown in proportion to that magnanimity,
and to the creation and execution of laws

in

A SPECIFIC EDUCATION*. 55

in proportion to that juftice ; and he took
no important fteps witliout the advice of
parliament. The wretched reign and mi-
ferable cataftrophe of each of the two-firll-
named princes, furnifh a flriking contrafl to
the energy and popularity of the lait ; of
whom Hume obferves, " that his domeftic
government was even more admirable than
his foreign conquefts ; " and of whom Sel-
den fays, " that one would think by his
a£tions that he never was at home, and by
his laws that he never was abroad.'*

A wife and virtuous prince will ever bear
in mind the grand diflindlion between hi?
own fituation and that of his minifter. The
latter is but the precarious poiTeiTor of a tran-
fient authority ; a mere tenant at will, or,
at moft, for hfe. He himfelf is the heredi-
tary and permanent pofTefTor of the property.
The former may be more tempted to adopt
meafures which, though gainful or gratify-
ing at the prefent, will be probably produc-
tive of future mifchief to the eftate. But
furely the latter may be juftly expelled to

E 4 tak^

^6 THE EDUCATION OF A SOVEREIGN

take a longer and wider view ; and, confi-
dering the interefts of his pofterity no lefs
than his own, to rejed all meafures which
are likely to difparage their inheritance, or
injure their tenure. He will trace the mif-
fortunes of our firft Charles to the ufurpa-
tion of the Tudors ; and mark but too na-
tural a connexion between the unprincipled
domination and profufe magnificence of
Louis XIV. and the melancholy fate of his
far better and more amiable fucceifor. He
will remember the folid anfwer of the Spar-
tan king, who being reproached by a fuper-
ficial obferver with having left the regal
power impaired to his pofterity, replied,
^' No ; for he had left it more fecure, there-
fore more permanent.** A large and jufl
conception of intereft, therefore, no lefs
than of duty, will prompt a wife prince to
reject all meafures which, while they ap-
pear to flatter the love of dominion, natu-
rally inherent in the mind of man, by hold-
ing forth the prefent extenlion of his power,
yet tend obflinately to weaken its effential

ftrength 5

A SPECIFIC EDUCATION. 57

ftrength ; to make his authority the objedt
of his people's jealoufy, rather than of their
affection ; to caufe it to reft on the uncer-
tain bafis of military power, rather than
on the deep and durable foundations of the
conftitution.

• In order to enable him the better, there-
fore, to know the true nature and limits of
his authority, he will endeavour to develop
the conftitutional foundations on which it
refts. Sovereigns, even female fovereigns,
though they cannot have leifure to become
fully acquainted with the vaft mafs of our
laws, ought at leaft to imbibe the fpirit of
them. If they be not early taught the ge-
neral principles of our laws and conftitution,
they may be liable, from the flatterers to
whom they may be expofed, to hear of
nothing but the power which they may
exert, or the influence which they may ex-
ercife, without having their attention di-
reded to thofe counterading principles,
which, in a limited monarchy like ours,

ferve.

58 THE EDUCATION OF A SOVEREIGN

ferve, in namberlefs ways, to balance and
reftrain that power.

It fhould be worked into a principle in
the mind, thaf it is in confideration of the
duties which the laws impofe on a prince,
that thofe laws have fecured to him either
dignity or prerogative ; it being a maxii^
of the law, that protection and allegiance
are reciprocal. With the Impreflion of the
power, the fplendour, and the dignity of
royalty, the ideas of truft, duty, and refpon-
fibility, fhould be infeparably interwoven.
It fhould be affiduoufly inculcated, that the
LAWS form the very bafis of the throne ; the
root and ground-work of the monarch's po-
litical exiflence. One peculiar reafon why
a prince ought to know fo much of the laws
and conftitution, as to be able to determine
what is, and what is not, an infringement
of them, is, that he may be quick-fighted
to the flightefl: approximation of miniflers
towards any fuch encroachments. A far-
ther reafon js, that by ftudying the laws and

confli.

A SPECIFIC EDUCATION. 59

conftltution of the country, he may become
more firmly attached to them, not merely
by national inftin£t, and fond prejudice,
becaufe they are his own, but from judg-
ment, reafon, knowledge, difcrimination,
preference, habit, obligation, — — in a word,
becaufe they are the beji.

But as this fuperficial fketch propofes
not to be an effay on political, but mo-
ral in{lru£lion, thefe remarks are only
hazarded, in order to intimate the peculiar
turn which the royal education ought to
take. If a fovereign of England be, in
fuch a variety of refpe6ts, fupreme, it fol-
lows, not only that his education fhould be
liberal, large, and general, but that it fhould,
moreover, be direded to a knowledge of
thofe departments in which he will be called
to prefide.

As fupreme magiftrate and the fource
of all judicial power, he fhould be adequate-
ly acquainted, not only with the law of na-
ture and of nations, but particularly with
the law of England, As poifefling the

powep

Co THE EDUCATION OF A SOVEREIGN

power of declaring war, and contrafting
alliances, he fhould be thoroughly conver-
fant with thofe authors who, with the
foundeft judgment, the deepefl moral
views, and the moll correct precifion, treat
of the great principles of political juftice ;
who beft unfold the rights of human na-
ture, and the mifchiefs of unjuft ambition.
He fliould be competently acquainted with
the prefent ftate of the diiferent govern-
ments of Europe, with which that of
Great Britain may have any political re-
lation; and he fhould be led to exercife
that intuitive difcernment of character and
talents, which will enable him to decide on
the choice of ambaffadors, and other foreign
minifters, whom it is his prerogative to ap-
point.

As he is the fountain of honour, from
which proceed titles, diftindions, and of-
fices, he fhould be early accuflomed to com-
bine a 'due attention to character, with the
examination of claims, and the appreciation
of fervices ; in order that the honours of the

fubjeci

A SPECIFIC EDUCATION. 6t

fubject may reflect no diflionour on the
prince. Thofe whofe diftlnguidied lot it is
to beflow fubordinate offices and inferior
dignities, fhould evince, by the judgment
with which they confer them, how fit they
themfelves are to difcharge the higheft.

Is he fupreme head of the church ? Hence
arifes a (Irong obligation to be acquainted
with ecclefiaftical hiftory in general, as well
as with the hiftory of the church of England
in particular. He fhould learn, not merely
from habit and prefcription, but from an
attentive comparifon of our national church
with other ecclefiaftical inftitutions, to dif-
cern both the diftinguilliing characters and
appropriate advantages of our church efta-
blifhment. He ought to inquire in what
manner its interefts are interwoven with
thofe of the ftate, fo far as to be infeparable
from them. He fhould learn, that from the
fupreme power, with which the laws inveft
him over the church, arifes a moft awful
refponfibility, efpecially in the grand prero-
gative of beftowing the higher ecclefiaftical

appoint-

62 The EDUCATION OF A SOVEREIGN, &€♦

appointments, — a trufl which involves con-
fequences far too extenfive for human minds
to calculate ; and which a fovereignj even
amid all the dazzling fplendour of royalty,
while he preferves tendernefs of confcience,
and quicknefs of fenfibility, will not refled
on without trepidation. While hiftory offers
numberleis inftances of the abufe of this
power, it records numberlefs ftriking ex-
amples of its proper application. It even
prefents fome, in which good fenfe has
operated ufefully in the abfence of all prin-
ciple. When a profligate ecclefiaflic ap-
plied for preferment to the profligate Duke
of Orleans, while regent of France, urging
as a motive, that he fhould be difhonoured
if the duke did not make him a biihop —
"^ And I," replied the regent, " Ihall be
difhonoured if I do.'*

CHAP.

^

ANCIENT HISTORY* 63

CHAP. V.

On the hnportance ofjludy'mg Ancient Hljior^,

J. HOSE pious perfons do not feem to un-
derfland the true Interefls of Chriflianlty,
who forbid the ftudy of Pagan literature.
That it is of little value, comparatively
with Chriftian learning, does not prove it
to be altogether without its ufefulnefs.
In the prefent period of critical inveftiga-
tion, heathen learning feems to be juftly
appreciated, in the fcale of letters ; the
wifdom and piety of fome of our mod
eminent contemDoraries having: fuccelT-

1 O

fully applied it to its nobleil ofHce, b]^
rendering it fubfervient to the purpofes of
Revelation, in multiplying the evidences,
and illuftrating the proofs. Thus the
Chriftian emperor, when he deftroyed the
heathen temples, confecrated the golden
veffels, to adorn the Chriftian churches.

In

^4 ANCIENT HISTORY.

In this enlightened period, religion, our
religion at leaft, does not, as in her days
of darknefs, feel it neceffary to degrade
human learning, in order to withdraw her-
felf from fcrutiny. The time is paft, when
it was produced as a ferious charge againfl
Saint Jerome, that he had read Homer j
when a doftor of the Sorbonne penitently
confefTed, among his other fins, that the ex-
quifite mufe of Virgil had made him weep
for the woes of Dido ; and when the works
of Tacitus were condemned to the flames,
from the Papal chair, becaufe the author
was not a Roman Catholic. It is alfo
curious to obferve a papifl perfecuting the
memory of a Pagan, on the ground of his
fuperjiition ! Pope Gregory the Great ex-
pelled Livy from every Chriftian library on
this account !

The mod acute enemy of Chrifliianity,
the Emperor Julian, who had himfelf been
'bred a Chriftian and a fcholar, well under-
ftood what was mofl likely to hurt its
caufe. He knew the ufe which the Chrif-
2 tians

AT^CIENT HISTORY* 6^

tians were making of ancient authors, and
of rhetoric, in order to refute error, and
eftabhfh truth. — " They fight us," faid he,
" by the knowledge of our own authors ;
fhall we fuifer ourfelves to be dabbed with
our own fwords?'* He adually made a
law to interdid: their reading Homer and
Demofthenes ; prohibited to their fchools
the ftudy of antiquity, and ordered that
they fhould confine themfelves, to the ex~
planation of Matthew and Luke, in the
churches of the GaHleans.

It can never be too foon, for the royal
pupil, to begin to colleft materials for re-
flexion, and for atlion. Her future cha-
racter will much depend on the courfe of
reading, the turn of temper, the habit of
thought now acquired, and the (landard
of morals now fixed. The acquifition of
prefent taftes will form the elements of her
fubfequent charader. Her prefent acquire-
ments, it is true, will need to be matured
by her after-experience ; but experience
will operate to comparatively little purpofe,

VOL. I. p where

66 ANCIENT HISTORY.

where only a flender flock has been laid
in for It to work upon ; and where thefe
materials for forming the charadler have
not been previoufly prepared. Things
muft be known before they are done. The
part Ihould be ftudied before it is a^ted, if
we expert to have it a£led well.

Where much is to be learned, time mull
be oeconomifed ; and in the judicious fe-
le£tion of Pagan hterature, the difcern-
ment of the preceptor will be particularly
exercifed. — All thofe writers, however jufl-
iy celebrated, who have employed much
learning, in elaborating points which add
little to the praQical wifdom or virtue of
mankind ; all fuch as are rather curious
than ufeful, or ingenious than inftrudive,
fhould be paffed over ; nor need fhe beilow
much attention on points, which, though
they may have been accurately difcuifed, ,
are not ferioully important. Dry critical
knowledge, though it may be corre£lly
}uft ; and mere chronicles of events, though
they may be llrictly true, teach not the
I things

ANCIENT HISTORY. 67

things (he wants. Such authors as Salluft,
who, in fpeaking of turbulent innovators,
remarks, that they thought the very dijiurb-
ancc of things ejiablijloed afufficient bribe to
fet them at work ; thofe who, like this ex-
quifite hiftorian, unfold the internal princi-
ples of adion, and diffect the hearts and
minds of their perfonages, who develop
compHcated circumftances, furnifh a clue to
trace the labyrinth of caufes and effects,
and aflign to every incident its proper
motive, will be eminently ufeful. But, if
fhe be taught to difcern the merits of
writers, it is that fhe may become not a
critic in books, but in human nature.

Hiftory is the glafs by which the royal
mind fhould be dreffed. If it be dehghtful
for a private individual, to enter with the
hiftorian into every fcene which he de-
fcribes, and into every event which he
relates ; to be introduced into the interior
of the Roman fenate, or the Athenian.
Areopagus ; to follow Pompey to Pharfalia,
Miltiades to. Marathon, or Marlborough to

F a Blen-

ANCIENT HISTORY.

Blenheim ; how much more interefting:
will this be to a fovereign ? To him for
whom fenates debate, for whom armies
engage, and who is himfelf to be a prime
ador in the drama ! Of how much more
importance is it to him, to poffefs an accurate
knowledge of all the fucceffive govern-
ments of that world, in a principal govern-
ment of which he is one day to take the
lead ! To poffefs himfelf of the experience
of ancient ftates, of the wifdom of every
antecedent age ! To learn moderation from
the ambition of one, caution from the
rafhnefs of another, and prudence perhaps
from the indifcretion of both ! To apply
foregone examples to his own ufe ; adopting
what is excellent, fhunning what is errone-
ous, and omitting what is irrelevant !

Reading and obfervation are the two
grand fources of improvement ; but they
lie nof equally open to all. From the lat«
ter, the fex and habits of a royal female,
in a good meafure, exclude her. She mull
then, in a greater degree, depend on the

informa-

ANCIENT HISTORY. 69

information which books afford, opened
and illuftrated by her preceptor. Though
her perfonal obfervation muft be limited,
her advantages from hiftorical fources may
be large and various.

If hiflory for a time, efpecially during
the reign of the prince whofe a£tions are
recorded, fometimes mifreprefent chara6ters,
the dead, even the royal dead, are feldom
flattered ; unlefs, which indeed too fre-
quently happens, the writer is deficient in
that jufl conception of moral excellence,
which teaches to diftinguilh what is fplen-
did from what is foHd. But, fooner or
later, hiftory does juftice. She fnatches
from oblivion, or reproach, the fame of
thofe virtuous men, whom corrupt princes,
not contented with having facrificed them
to their unjufl jealoufy, would rob alfo of
their fair renown. When Arulenus Ruf-
ticus was condemned by Domitian, for
having written, with its deferved eulogium,
the life of that excellent citizen, Thrafea
Foetus 3 when Senecio was put to death by

F 3 the

70 ANCIENT HISTORY,

the fame emperor, for having rendered the
•like noble juftice to Helvidius Prifcus —
when the hiflorians themfelves, like the
patriots whom they celebrated, were fen-
tenced to death, their books alfo being con-
demned to the flames ; when Fannia, the
incomparable wife of Helvidius, was ba*
nifhed, having the courage to carry into
exile that book which had been the caufe
of it ; a book of which her conjugal piety
had furnifhed the materials. — '^ In the fire
which confumed thefe books," fays the au-
thor of the life of Agricola, '"^ the tyrants
imagined that they had ftifled the very ut-
terance of the Roman people, abolilhed the
lawful power of the fenate, and forced man-
kind to doubt of the very evidence of their
fenfes. Having expelled philofoph^y, and
exiled fcience, they flattered themfelves that
nothing, which bore the ftamp of virtue,
would exift *.'* — But hifliory has vindicated
the noble fuflferers. Postus and Helvidius
will ever be ranked among the moft ho-

* Beginning of Tacitua's Life of Agricola.

» nourable

r

ANCIENT HISTORY. fX

nourable patriots ; while the emperor, who,
in deltroying their lives could not injure their
reputation, is configned to eternal infamy.

The examples which hiflory records,
fumifh faithful admonitions to fucceeding
princes, refpecling the means by which em-
pires are ereded and overturned. They
fhew by what arts of wifdom, or by what
negled of thofe arts, little ftates become
great, or great ftates fall into ruin j with
what equity or injuftice wars have been un-
dertaken ; with what ability or incapacity
they have been conduded j with what fa-
gacity or fhort-fightednefs treaties have
been formed. How national faith has been
maintained, or forfeited. How confedera-
cies have been made, or violated, Hiftory,
which is the amufement of other men, is the
fchool of princes. They are not to read it
merely as the rational occupation of a vacant
hour, but to confult it, as a ftorehoufe of
materials for the art of government.

There is a fplendour in heroic adions,
which fires the imagination, and forcibly

F 4 lays

72 ANCIENT HISTORY.

lays hold on the palTions. Hence, the
poets were the firfl, and, in the rude ages
of antiquity, the only hifloriaos. They
feized on whatever was dazzling in charac-
ter, or fhining in adion j exaggerated he-
roic qualities, immortalized patriotifm, and
deified courage. But, inllead of making
their heroes patterns to men, they leflened
the utility of their e:Kample, by elevating
them into gods, *

Hence however arofe the firfl: idea of
hifliory; offnatching the deeds of illufl:rious
men from the delufions of fable ; of bring-
ing down extravagant powers, and preterna^
tural faculties, within the limits of human
nature and pofTibility; and reducing over-
charged characters to the fize and fhape of
real life; giving proportion, order, and
arrangement to the wideft fcheme of action,
and to the mofl extended duration of time.

CHAP.

LAWS. 7^

CHAP. VI.

Laws — Egypt — Per/ta.

ijuT however the fiftions of poetry might
have given being to hiftory ; it was fage
political inftitutions, good governments,
and wife laws, which formed both its folid
bafis, and its valuable fuperftrudlure. And
it is from the labours of ancient legiflators,
the eftablifhment of flates, the foundation
of governments, and the progrefs of civil
focicty, that we are to look for more real
greatnefs, and more ufeful inflrudion, than
from all the extravagant exploits, recorded
in the fabulous ages of .antiquity.

So deep is the reverential awe which man-
kind have uniformly blended with the idea
of laws, that almofl all civilized nations have
affected to wrap up the origin of them in the
obfcurity of a devout myftery, and to in-
timate that they fprang from a divine fource.
This has arifen partly from a love of the

mar-

74 LAWS.

marvellous, inherent in the human mind ;
partly from the vanity of a national fond-
nefs in each country, for lofing their origin
nal in the tracklefs paths of impenetrable
antiquity. Of the former of thefe taftes, a
iegiflator, like Numa, who had deep views,
and who knew how much the people re-
verence whatever is myfterious, would na-
turally avail hinifelf. And his fuppofed
divine communication was founded in his
confummate knowledge of the human mind,
a knowledge which a wife prince will always
turn to good account. %

But, however the myfterioufnefs of the
origin of laws may excite the reverence of
the vulgar, it is the wife only who will duly
venerate their fandity, as they alone can ap-
preciate their value. Laws are providen-
tially defigned, not only to be the beft fubfi-
diary aid of religion, where fhe is operative,
but to be in fome fort her fubftitute, in thofe
inftances where her own dire6l operations
might be ineffedual. For, even where the
immediate law of God is little regarded, the

civil

LAWS. 75

eivil code may be externally efficient, from
its fandiions being more vifible, palpable,
tangible. And human laws are direftly
fitted to feftrain the outward ads of thofe,
whofe hearts are not influenced by the di-
vine injundions. Laws, therefore, are the
furefl fences of the befc blefiings of civilized
life. They bind fociety together, while they
ftrengthen the ftparate interefts of thofe
whom they reciprocally unite. They tie the
hands^ of depredation in the poor, and of
opprelTion in the rich ; proted the weak
^againfl the encroachments of the powerful,
and draw their facred fhelter round all that
is dear in domeitic, or valuable in focial
life. They are the truefl guardians of the
dignity of the throne, and the only rampart
of the liberty of the people.

On the law of nature, and the law of
revelation (vvhere revelation is known), all
human laws ought to depend. That a
rule of civil condud fliould be prefcribed
to man, by the flate in which he lives, is
made neceifary by nature, as well as fanc-

tioned

tioned by revelation. Were man an- in-
fulated being, the law of nature, and of re-
velation, would fuffice for him ; but, for
aggregate man, fomething more than even
municipal laws becomes requifite. Divided
as human beings are into feparate Hates,
and focieties, connedled among themfelves,
but difconnefted with other ftates, each
requires with relation to the other, certain
general rules, called the law of nations, as
much as each Hate needs refpe£ling itfelf,
thofe diflinft codes, which are fuited to their
own particular exigencies. On the whole,
then, as the natural fenfe of weaknefs and
fear impels man to feek the protedion, and
the bleffing of laws, fo from the experience
of that protection, and the fenfe of that
bleffing, his reafon derives the moll powerful
argument to defire their perpetuation ; and
his providential delliny becomes his choice.
If, therefore, we would truly eftimate the
value of laws, let us figure to ourfelves the
mifery of that ftate of nature in which there
Ihould be no law^ but that of the ftrongell ;

np

LAWS OF EGYPT, 77

no judge to determine right, or to punifh
wrong ; to redrefs fufFering, or to repel in-
jury ; to protedt the weak, or to control the
powerful.

If, under the prevalence of a falfe, and
even abfurd religion, feveral ancient ftates,
that of Egypt in particular, fubfilled in fo
much fplendour * for fo long a period, and
afterwards funk into fuch abject deprefTion,
the caufes of both are obvious. The laws
of ancient Egypt were proverbial for their
wifdom. It has not efcaped feveral Chrif-

* It is to be obferved, that this fplendour alludes
to tbe profperity arifmg from wife political infti-
tutions merely ; for the private morals of Egypt
mufh have borne fome proportion to her corrupt
idolatry, w^hich afterw^ards became of the moll de-
grading and prepoiterous kind. Her wifdorn, we
muft. therefore infer^ was chiefly pdhical wifdom.
Her morality feems to have been, in a good mea-
fure, cultivated with a view to aggrandize the ftate,
and in violation of many natural feehngs, as was
the cafe in Sparta. Egypt was a well-compafted
political fociety, and her virtue appears to have been
the effefk of political difcipline. In enumerating her
merits, our objeft is, to prove the great iinportance

of LAWS.

tian

78 LAWS OF EGYPT*

tian hiftorians, that it was the human praife
of him, who was ordained to be the legilla-
tor of God's own people, that he ivasjkilkd
in all the learning of the Egyptians. And it
was meant to confer an high eulogium on
the wifeft of the kings of Ifrael, that his wif*
dom eclipfed that of -^gypt.

The laws of this ilate fo flrongly en-
forced mercy, that they punifhed with death
thofe who refufed to iave the hfe of a fel-
low-creature, if attacived, when it was in
their power. The juftice of the Egyptian
lav/s was fo inflexible, that the kings obliged
the judges to fwear, that they would never"
depart from the principles of rectitude,
though even in obedience to the royal com-
mand. Their refped for individual virtue,
and for that reputation which follows it, was
fo high, that a kind of moral inquifition was
appointed, on the death of every citizen, to
inquire what fort of life he had lived, that
his memory might be accordingly had in
honour, or deteflation. From the verdi£t
of this folemn tribunal, even their kings
themfelves were not exempted.

The

LAWS OF EGYPT. 79

The whole aim and end of education
among them, was to infpire a veneration for
GOVERNMENT and RELIGION. They had
a law, which alTigned fome employment
to every individual of the (late. And though
the genius of our free conflitution would
juftly reprobate, what, indeed, its temperate
and judicious reflraints render unneceiTary
among us, that claufe which directed that
the employment fhould be pei'petuated in
the fame family ; yet, perhaps, the fevere.
moraliil, with the example of the well-order-
ed government of Egypt before his eyes,
might reafonably doubt whether a law, the
effe£t of v/hich was to keep men in their
places, though it might now and then check
the career of a lofty genius, was not a
much lefs injury to fociety, than the free
fcope which was afforded to the turbulent am-
bition of every afpiring fpirit in the Greek
democracies. BolTuet, who has, perhaps, pe-
netrated more deeply into thefe fubje£ts than
almofl any modeiTi, has pronounced Egypt
to be the fountain of all political wifdom.

What

8o LAWS OF EGYPr.

What afterwards plunged the Egyptians
Into calamity, and brought final diflblution
on their government ? It was a departure
from its conftitutional principles ; it was the
negleft and contempt of thofe venerable
laws which, ior fixteen centuries^ had confli-
tuted their glory and their happinefs. They
exchanged the love of their wife domeflic
inflitutions, for the ambition of fubduing
diftant countries. One of their moft heroic
fovereigns (as is not unufual) was the in-
ftrument of their misfortunes. Sefoftris was
permitted, by Divine Providence, to dimi-
nilh the true glory of Egypt, by a refllefs
ambition to extend her territory. This
fplendid prince abandoned the real gran-
deur of governing wifely at home, for the
falfe glor}?- of foreign conquefts, which de-
tained him nine years in diftant climates. At
a remote period, the people, weary of the
blefTmgs they had fo long enjoyed under
a fmgle monarch, weakened the royal
power, by dividing it among multiplied

fovereigns.

What

LAWS OF PERSIA. 8 1

What exalted the ancient Perfians to
ilich lading fame ? The equity and flrid
execution of their laws. It was their fo-
vereign difdain of falfehood in their public
tranfadions. Their confidering fraud as
the mofl degrading of vices, and thus tranf-
fufing the fpirit of their laws into their con-
duct. It was that love of juflice (modern
ftatefmen would do well to imitate the ex-
ample) which made them oblige themfelves
to commend the virtues of their enemies.
It was fuch an extraordinary rcfpect for
education, that no forrow was ever exprelTed
for young perfons who died uninftrud-
ed. It was by paying fuch an attention to
-the children of the fovereign, that, at the
ap-e of fourteen, they were placed under the
care of four ftatefmen, who excelled in dif-
ferent talents. By one they were inftrucled
in the principles of juftice ; by another they
were taught to fubdue fenfuality ; by a third
they were initiated in the art of govern-
ment ; and, by a fourth, in the duties of
religion. Plato has given a beautiful fketch
of this accomplilhed and fubhme education.
VOL. I. o It

hi tAWS Of PERSIA.

It will be found, that nearly the fame
caufes which forwarded the ruin of Egypt,
contributed to deflroy Perfia j a dereliction
of thofe fundamental principles of legiflation
and morals, to which it had been indebted
for its long profpefity and grandeur.

But be it remembered, that the bed
human laws will not be exempt from the
imperfe£lion infeparably bound up with all
human things. Let us beware, however,
of thofe innovators, who, mftead of care-
fully improving, and vigoroufly executing,
thofe laws which are already eftablilhed,
adopt no remedies fhort of deflrudion ;
tolerate no improvements fhort of creation :
v/ho are carried away by a v/ild fcheme of
vifionary perfeftion, which, if it could any-
where be found to exifl, would not be likely
to be found in the projects of men, who
difdain to avail themfelves of ancient expe-
rience,— and progreffive wifdom.. Thucy-
dides was a politician of another cafl j for
he declared, that even indifferent laws, vi-
gilantly executed, were fuperior to the beft,
that were not properly obeyed. Thofe mo-

12 dem

LAWS 01* PERSIA. 83

dei^n reformifts, who afFeO: to be in faptures
with the Greek republics, would do well to
imitate the deliberation, the llownefs, the
doubt, with which the founder of the Athe-
nian legiflation introduced his laws. In-
ftead of thofe fudden and inflantaneous
conflitutions we have witneffed, which, dif-
daining the flow growth of moral births,
have flarted at once, full grown, from the
brain of the projeQor, and were as fuddenly
fuperfeded as rapidly produced ; Solon
would not fuffer a fmgle law to be deter-
mined on, and accepted, till the firft charm
of novelty was paft, and the firft heat of
enthufiafm had cooled. What would the
fame capricious theorifts fay to that reve-
rence with which the Egyptians, above
cited, regarded antiquity, example, cullom,
law, prefcription ? This fage people con-
fidered every political novelty with a jea-
loufy equal to the admiration with which
it is regarded by the new fchool. Trial,
proof, exeprience, was the flow criterion
by which they ventured to decide on the

6 2 excellence

84 LAWS OF PERSIA.

excellence of any inftitution. While, to the
licentious innovator, antiquity is ignorance,
cullom is tyranny, order is intolerance, laws
are chains. But the end has correfponded
with the beginning. Their " bafelefs fa-
brics" have fallen to pieces before they were
well reared ; and have expofed their fuper-
ficial, but felf-fufficient builders, to the juft
derifion of mankind.

CHAP.

GREECE. ' 85

CHAP. vn.

Greece.

vVhen we contemplate Greece, and efpe-
cially when we fix our eyes on Athens, our
admiration is flrongly, I had almoft faid, is
irrcfiftibly excited, in reflefting, that fuch a,
diminutive fpot concentrated within itfelf
whatever is great and eminent in almoft
every point of view ; whatever confers dif-
tindion on the human intelled; ; whatever
is calculated to infpire wonder, or commu-
nicate delight. Athens was the pure well-
head of poetry ;

Hither, as to their fountain, other ftars
Repairing, in their golden urns draw light.

It was the theatre of arms, the cradle of the
arts, the fchool of philofophy, and the pa-
rent of eloquence.

To be regarded as the mafters in learning,
the oracle of tafte, and the ftandard of po-

G 2 litenefs.

S6 GREECE.

litenefs, to the whole civilized world, is
a fplend-d diftinftion. But it is a peflilent
mifchief, when the very renown attending
foch brilliant advantages becomes the
vehicle for carrying into other countries the
depraved manners by which thefe pre-emi-
nent advantages are accompanied. This
was confeffedly the cafe of Greece with
refped to Rome. Rome had conquered
Greece by her arms ; but whenever a fub-
jugated country contributes, by her vices,
to enflave the ftate which conquered her,
fhe amply revenges herfelf.

But the perils of this coi^amination do,
not terminate with their immediate confe-
quences. The ill effects of Grecian man-
ners did not ceafe with the corruptions which
they engendered at Rome. There is flill a
ferious danger, left, while the ardent and
high-fpirited young reader contemplates
Greece only through the fplendid medium
of her heroes and her artifts, her poets and
her orators ; while his imagination is fired
with the glories of conqueft, and captivated

with

GREECE* f7

With the charms of literature, that he may
lofe fight of the diforders, the corruptions,
and the crimes, by which Athens, the fa-
mous feat of arts and of letters, was diflio-
noured. May he not be tinctured (allow-
ing for change of circumftances) with fome-
thing of that fpirit which inflamed Alex-
ander, when, as he was palling the Hydafpes,
he enthuftaftically exclaimed, ^' O Athe-
nians ! could you believe to what dangers I
€xpofe myfelf, for the fake of being cele-
brated by you !"

Many of the Athenian vices originated in
the very nature of their conlljtution ; in the
very fpirit of that turbulent democracy
which Solon could not reflrain, nor tlie
ablell of his fucceffors control. The great
founder of their legiflation felt the dangers
infeparable from the democratic form of
government, when he declared, *' that he
had nor given them the bell laws, but the
befl which they were able to bear." in the
very eftablifhment of his inllitutions, he
betrayed his diflrufl of this fpecies of go-

G 4 vernment.

t%

GREECE.

vernment, by thofe guards and ramparts
which he was fo affiduous in providing and
multiplying. Knowing himielf to be inca-
pable of fetting afide the popular power, his
attention was directed to divefl it, as much
as poffible, of its mifchiefs, by the entrench^
ments that he drove to caft about it. His
fagacious mJnd anticipated the ill effects of
that republican refllefliiefs, that at length
completely overturned the ftate which it
had fo often menaced, and fo conftantly
diilrafted.

This unfettled government^ which left the
country perpetually expofed to the tyranny
of the few, and the turbulence of the miany,
was never bound together by any principle
of union, by any bond of intereft, common
to the v/hole community, except when the
general danger, for a time, annihilated the
diflindlion of feparate interefls. The re^
ftraint of laws was feeble ; the laws themfelves
were often contradiftory ; often ill admi-
jiiftered ; popular intrigues, and tumultuous
^iTeniblies, frequently obfi:ruQ:ing their ope-
ration*

GREECE, 89

ration. The nobleft fervlces were not fel-
dom rewarded with imprffonment, exile, or
afiaffination. Under every change, confif-
cation and profcription were never at a
ftand ; and the only way of effacing the im-
preflion of any revolution which had pro-
duced thefe outrages, was to promote a new
one, which engendered, in its turn, freih
outrages, and improved upon the antece^
dent diforders.

By this light and capricious people,
acute in their feelings, carried away by
every fudden gufl of pafiicn, as mutable in
their opinions as unjuft in their decifions,
the mod illuilrious patriots were firfl facri-
ficed, and then honoured with ftatues;
their heroes were murdered as traitors, and
then reverenced as Gods. This wanton
abufe of authority, this ralli injuftice, and
fruitlefs repentance, Vv'ouid be the inevitable
confequence of lodging fupreme power in
the hands of a vain and variable populace,
jnconitant in their very vices, perpetually

vibratinff

vibrating between irretrievable crimes an4
inefFediual regrets.

That powerful oratory, which Is to us fo
jufl a fubjed of admiration, was, doubtlefs,
no inconfiderabie caufe of the public dif-
orders. And to that exquifite talent, which
conftitutes one of the chief boails of Athens,
we may look for one principal fource of
her diforders :

Thofe ancients, vvliofe refiflleft eloquence
Vv'^ielded at will the fierce Democracy,
Shook th' arfenal, and fulmin'4 over Greece,
To Macedon and Artaxerxes' throne.

When we confider what mighty influence
this talent gave to the popular leaders, an4
what a powerful engine their demagogues
poffeiTed, to work upon the pafTions of the
multitude, who com.pofed their popular af-
femblies ; when we refle6l on the characler
of thofe crowds, on whom this flirring eior
quence was exercifed, and remember that
their opinion decided on the fate of the coun-
try: all this will contribute to account for the
ii'equency and riolence of the public comr

motions^

CiREECE. 91

piotions, and naturally explains why that
rhetorical genius, which flied fo bright a
iuftre on the country, was, from the nature
of the conftitution, frequently the inftru-
ment of convulfing it.

While the higher clafs, in many of the
Greek republics, feemed without fcruple
to opprefs their inferiors, the populace of
Athens commonly exerted the fame hollile
fpirit of refentnient againft their leaders. —
Competition, circumvention, litigation ;
ever)'' artifice of private fraud, every ilrata-
gem of perfonal injudice, filled up the
ihort intervals of foreign wars and public
contefts. How ftrikingly is St. PauFs
definition of that light and frivolous pro-
penfity of the Athenians, v/hich led them
to pafs the day only " to hear or to tell
fome new thing,'' illuftrated, by Plutarch's
relation of the illiterate citizen, who voted
Ariflides to the punilhmcnt of theOftracifm!
When this great man queftioned his accufer,
whether Ariftidcs had ever injured him ?
He replied, fo far from it, that he did not

even

92 GREECE.

even know him, only he was quite 'wearied
out with hearing him every where called the
juj}, Befides that fpirit of envy which is
peculiarly alive in democracies ; to have
heard this excellent perfon calumniated,
would have been a refrefhing novelty, and
have enabled him " to tell a new thing."

That paiHonate fondnefs for fcenic
diverfions, v/hich led the Athenians not
cnly to apply part of the pubKc money
to the fupport of the theatres, and to
pay for the admifiion of the populace,
but alfo made it a capital crime to divert
this fund to any other fervice, ^ven to the
fervice of the ftate, fo facred was this ap-
plication of it deemed — was another con-
■cuiTent caufe of the profligacy of public
manners *, The abufes to which this uni-

verfal

* Pericles not being rich enough to fupplant his
competitor by afts of liberality, procured this law
with a view to make his court to the people. He
fcrupled not, in order to fecure their attachment to
his perfon and government, by thus " buying them
with their own money," efFed.ually to promote their

■natural

GREECE. 9^

verfal invitation to luxury and idl^nefs led ;
the licentioufnefs of that purely democratic
fpint, which made the loweft claffes claim,
as a right, to partake in the diverfions of
the higheft ; the pernicious produftions of
fome of the comic poets ; the unbounded
licence introduced by the mafk ; the vo-
luptuoufnefs of their mufic, whofe cj^tra-
ordinary effects it would be impcilibie to
believe, were they not confirmed by the
general voice of antiquity : all thefe con-
curring circumitances induced a deprava-
tion of morals, of which lefs enlightened
countries do not often prefent an example.

natural levity and idlenefs, and to corrupt their
morals, — The rulers of a neighbouring nation have
been too fkilful iidepts in the art of corruption", not
to admire and eagerly adopt an example fo fuited to
their political circumft.nces, and fo congenial to their
national frivolity. Accordingly, an unexampled multi-
tude of theatre!i.have been opened ; and in order to
allay the difcontents of the lower clafs at the expenoe
of their time and morals, the price of thefe diverfions
has been reduced ^ low as almoft to emulate the gra-
tuitous admiflion of the Athenian populace.

The

94 GkEECEi

The prophane and impure Arlftophanes was
alnioft adored, while the virtue of Socrates
not only procured him a violent death, but
the poet, by making the philofopher con-
temptible to the populace, paved the way
to his unjufl fentence by the judges. Nay,
perhaps the delight which the Athenians
took in the impious and ofFenfively loofe
wit of this dramatic poet, rendered them
more deaf to the voice of that virtue which
was taught by Plato, and of that liberty in
which they had once gloried, and which
Demofthenes continued to thunder in their
unheeding ears. Their rage for fenfual
pleafure rendered them a fit object for the
projeds of Philip, and a ready prey to the
attacks of Alexander.

In lamenting, however, the corruptions
of the theatre in Athens, juflice compels
us ro acknowledge, that her immortal tra-
gic poets, by their chafte and manly com-
pofitions, furnifii a noble exception. In no
country has decency and pu<ity, and, to the
difgrace of Chriftian countries, let it be

added.

GREECE. ()^

Jidded, have morality and even piety, been
fo generally prevalent in any theatrical com-
pofitions, as in what

her lofty grave Tragedians taught

In Chorus or Iambic, teachers befl;
Of moral Prudeiice.

Yet, in paying a juft and warm tribute ,.
to the moral excellencies of thefe fublime
dramalills, is not an anfwer provided to
that long agitated queflion. Whether the
ftage can be indeed made a fchool of mo-
rals ? No queflion had ever a fairer chance
for decifion than was here afforded. — If it
be allowed, that there never Vv^is a more
profligate city than Athens ; if it be equally
indifputable, that never country polfelTed
more unexceptionable dramatic poets than
Efchylus, Sophocles, and Euripides ; if the
fame city thus at once produced the beft
phyficians, and the worfl patients, what
is the refult? Do the Athenian annals re-
cord, that any clafs or condition of citizens
Were actually reformed by conflantly fre-
quenting,

^6 GREECE*

quenting, we had almoft laid, by condantly
living in the theatre ?

Plutarch, who feverely condemns the
Athenians, had too jufh a judgment to
cenfure either the excellence of the poets,
or the good talle of the people who admired
them. But he blames them for that ex-
ceffive paflion for diverfions, " which,"
fays he, " by fetting up a new objed: of at-
tachment had nearly extingullhed public
virtue, and made them more anxious about
the fate of a play than about the fate of their
country*.'*

Such were the manners which hlftorians,
orators, and poets have configned to im-
mortal fame 1 Such were the ■ people for
whom our highly educated youth ai'e
taught to feel an enthufiaftic admiration I
Such are the forms of government which
have excited the envy, and partly furniflied
the model to the bloody innovators, and
frantic politicians of our age ! Madly to

* See Wortley Montagu, of theRife and Fail ^f
ancient Republics.

5 g^o^y

GREECE. 97

glory in the dream of liberty, and to be in
fa£t the victim of changing tyrants, but
unchanging tyranny. — This was the coveted
lot of ancient Athens ! This is the objeft of
reverence, eulogy^ and imitation to a large
portion of modern Europe !

In refleding on the fplendid works of
genius and of art in Athens, as oppofed to
the vices of her government, and the licen-
tioufnefs of her morals, — will it be thought
an adequate compenfation for the corrup-
tions of both, if we grant, as we are difpofed
to do, in Its fullell extent, that unparalleled
combination of talents, which delighted and
informed the reft of the world ? If we
allow that this elegance of tafte fpread fo
wide, and defcended fo Jow, that every
individual of an Athenian mob might, a?
has been triumphantly aflerted *, be a juft
critic of dramatic compofition ? That the
ear of the populace was fo nicely tuned,
and fo refined a judge of the delicacies of

* See an elegant paper in the Adventurer, in which
fome of thefe triumphs of Athens are afTerted.

VOL. I. H pro-

^t GREECE.

pronunciation, than an Attic herb-woman
could deted the provincial accent of a
learned philofopher ? Is it even a fufficient
compenfation, exquifite as we allow the
gratification to have been, that the fpefta-
tor might range among the ftatues of
Lyfippus, or the pictures of Apelles, or the
critic enjoy the flill more intellectual luxury
of liftening to an oration of Demoflhenes,
"of a fcene of Euripides, — while the rulers
of fo accomplifhed a people were in general
dilTolute, tyrannical, oppreffive, and unjufl ;
and the people themfelves univerfally funk
into the moil degraded ftafe of manners j
immerfed in the lafl excefs of effeminacy ;
debafed by the mcfl exceffive fenfuality,
fraud, idlenefs, avarice, gaming, and de-
bauchery ?

If here and there the eye is relieved, and
the feelings are refreihed, with the cafual
appearance of a Miltiades, a Cimon, an
Ariftides, a Socrates, a Phocion, or a
Xenophon ; yet thefe thinly fcattered ftars
ferve lefs to retrieve the Athenian character,

by

GREECEi -.^v

by their folltary luflre, or even by their
confluent radiance, than to overwhelm it
with difgrace, by the atrocious injuflice
with which thefe bright luminaries were
treated by their country. The eulogium
pf the citizen is the fatire of the flate.

While we obferve that Greece lirfl be*
came powerful, rich and great, through the
eftergy of her people, and the vigour of her
charadler, and that this very greatnefs,
power, and riches, have a natural bias to-
wards corruption ; that while they hap-
pily tend to prod'uce and nourifli thofe arts,
which ,in their juft meafure are the belt
embellifhments of a nation ; yet carried to
excefs, and mifappJied to vicious purpofes,
tend to weaken and corrupt it ; that Athens,
by her public and private vices, and
by her very refinement in politenefs, and
her devotednefs to the arts, not only pre-
cipitated her ov/n ruin, — but by the tranf-
plantation of thofe arts, encumbered with
thofe vices, ultimately contributed to ruin
Rome alfo. — While we take this retrofped,

H a we.

lOO GREECE.

we, of this highly-favoured land, may re-
ceive an awful admonition ; we may make
a mofl inilru£live comparifon of our own
fituation with refpeft to a neighbouring na-
tion, — a nation which, under the rapidly-
Ihifting form of every mode of government,
from the defpotifm of abfolute monarchy to
a republican anarchy, to which the royal
tyranny was comparative freedom ; — and
now again, in the clofmg fcene of this
changeful drama, to the heavy fubjugation
of military defpotifm, has never ceafed to
be the obje£l of childifh admiration, of paf*
fionate fondnefs, and fervile imitation, to
too many in our own country ; to perfons,
too, whofe rank, giving them the greatefl
(lake in it, have moft to rifk by the
affimilation with her manners, and mofl to
lofe by the adoption of her principles. And
though, through the fpecial providence and
undeferved mercies of God, we have with-
ftood the flood of revolutionary doftrines,
let us, taking warning from the refemblance
above pointed out, no longer perfift, as in

the

GREECE. 101

the halcyon days of peace, fen^ilely to adopt
her language, habits, manners and corrup-
tions. For now to fill up the meafure of
our danger, her pictures, and her ftatues,
not the fruits of her own genius — for here
the comparifon with Athens fails — but the
plunder of her ufurpation, and the fpoils of
her injuftice, by holding out new baits to
our curiofity, and new attractions to our
admiration, are in danger of fatally and
finally accomplifhing the refemblance. —
May the omen be averted i

Among the numberlefs lefTons which we
may derive from the fludy of Grecian hif-
tory, there is one which cannot be too often
inculcated, more efpecially as it is a fa6t
little relifhed by many of our more refined
wits and politicians, — we mean the error of
afcribing to arts, to literature, and to polite-
nefs, that power of foftening and correi2:ing
the human heart, which is, in truth, the
exclufive prerogative of religion. Really to
mend the heart, and purify the principle,

H 3 is

I02 GREECE.

is a deeper work than the mofl finiflied cuL
tivation of the tajle has ever been able to
effeft. The poliflied Athenians were among
the moft unjufl of mankind in their national
afts, and the moil cruel towards their allies.
They remarkably exemplify the tendency of
ailing in a body^ to leflen each man's indivi-
dual confcioufnefs of guilt or cruelty. This
polite people, in their political capacit)-,
com -litted, without fcruple, actions of
almoft unparalleled barbarity.

Every reflecting clafs of Britifh, and efpe-
clally of Chriflian readers, will not fail to
perufe the annals of this admired republic
with fentiments of deep gratitude to heaven
for the vafl fuperiorlty of our own national,
civil, focial, moral, and religious bleffings.
And they may enrich the catalogue with
• that one additional advantage, which Xeno-
phon thought was all that Athens wanted,
and which we pollefs — We are an ijland *.

* See Montefqiiieu Efprlt des Loix, vol. ii. p. 3.

The

GREECE. 103

The found and fober politician will fee mofl
flrongly illuflrated, in the evils of the Athe-
nian ftate, (though diffimilar in fome re-
fpects from modern democracy,) the bleff-
ings of our reprefentative government, and
of our deliverance from any approximation
towards that mob-government, to which
univerfal fuffrage would be the natural and
necelfary introduclion.

The delicate and refined female of our
favoured country will feel peculiar fenfa-
tions of thankfulnefs, in comparing her
happy lot with the degraded (late of women
in the politeft ages of Greece. Condemned
to ignorance, labour, and obfcurity ; ex-
cluded from rational intercourfe ; debarred
from every fpecies of intellectual improve-
ment or innocent enjoyment ; they never
i'eem to have been the objects of refpecl or
efteem ; in the conjugal relation, the fer-
vile agent, not the endeared companion.
Their depreffed flate was, in fome meafure,
confirmed by Illiberal legal inftitutions ;
and their native gcm'us was fyftem.atically

H 4 reRrained

r04 GREECE.

reftrained from riflng above one degraded
level. — Such was the lot of the virtuous part
of the fex. We forbear to oppofe to this
gloomy picture the profligate renown to
which the bold pretenfions of daring vice
elevated mercenary beauty ; nor would we
glance at the impure topic, but to remind
our amiable countrywomen, that immodefly
in drefs, contempt of the fober duties of do-
meflic life, a boundlefs appetite for plea-
fure, and a mifapplied devodon to the arts,
were among the fteps which led to this
fyftemadc profeffion of fhamelefs profligacy,
and to the eftablifliment of thofe counte-
nanced corruptions which raifed the more
celebrated, but infamous, Athenian women

To that bad eminence.

Every defcription of men, who know hoW
to eflimate public good, or private happi-
nefs, will joyfully acknowledge the vifible
effed which Chrifl:ianity has had (indepen-
dently of its influence over its real votaries)
in improving and elevadng the general

8 fl:andar4

GREECE. 105

ftandard of morals, fo as confiderably to
rectify and raife the condudl of thofe who
are not direftly actuated by its principles.
And, laflly, to fay nothing of a pure church
eftablifhment, fo diametrically the reverfe
of the deplorably blind and ignorant rites of
Athenian worihip *, — who can contemplate,
without a thankful heart, that large infufion
of Chriflianity into our national laws, which
has fet them fo infinitely above all compari-
fon with the admired codes of Lycurgus and
of Solon ?

* Acts of the Apoftles^ ch, xvii.

CHAP.

Io6 ROME.

CHAP. VIII,

Rome.

If the Romans, from being a handful of
banditti, rendered themfeives in a fliort pe>-
riod lords of the univerfe ; — if Rome, from
being an ordmary town in Italy, became
foremofl in genius and in arms, and at
length unrivalled in imperial magnificence ;
let it be remembered that the foundations
of this greatnefs were laid in fome of the
extraordinary virtues of that republic. The
perfonal frugality of her citizens ; the re-
markable iimplicity of their manners ; the
habit of transferring from themfel'^s to the
flate all pretenfions to external confequence
and fplendour ; the flriftnefs of her laws,
and the flriking impartiality of their execu-
tion ; that inflexible regard to jullice, which
led them, in the early ages of the republic —

fo

ROME, 107

fo little was the doctrine of expediency in
repute among them — to inflid penalties on
thofe citizens who even conquered by de^
ceit, and not by valour ; that vigilant
attention to private morals which the
eftablifliment of a cenforfliip fecured, and
that zeal for liberty, which was at the fame
time fupported by her political conftituticn.
— Thefe caufes were the true origin of the
•Roman greatnefs. This was the pedeftal on
which her colofT^l power was erected ; and
though fhe remained miftrefs of the world,
even at a time when thefe virtues had begun
to decline, the firll impulfe not having
ceafed to operate, yet a difcerning eye might
even then perceive her growing internal
weaknefs, and might anticipate her final
diiTolution.

Republican Rome, however, has been
much too highly panegyrifed. The Ro-
mans had, indeed, a public feeling, to which
every kind of private affection gave way ;
and it is chiefly on the credit of their facri-
ficing their individual interefls to the na-
13 tional

lc8 ROME,

tional caufe, that they acquired fo high a
renown.

It may not be unworthy of remark, that
the grand fundamental principle of the an-
cient republics (and though it was flill more
ilrikingly manifeft in the Grecian, it was in
no fmali degree the cafe with Republican
Rome) was different from that which con-
ilftutes the eifential principle of the Britifh
conilitution, and even oppofite to it. In the
former the public was every thing ; the
rights, the comforts, the very exiftence of
individuals, were as nothing. With us,
happily, the cafe is very different, nay, even
exactly the reverfe. The well-being of the
whole community is provided for, by effec-
tually fecuring the rights, the fafety, the
comforts of every individual. Among the
ancients, the groifefl adts of injullice againll
private perfons were continually perpetrated,
and were regarded as beneath account,
v.hen they ftood in the way of the will, the
intereft, the aggrandifement, the gloiy of
the flate. In our happier country, not the

meaneft

ROME. 105)

meanefi: fubjec^ can be injured in his perfon
or his poffefiions. The little flock of the
artizan, the peaceful cottage of the peafant,
is fecured to him by the univerfal fuperin-
tendance, and the ftrong prote-^lion of the
public force. The ftate is juftly confidered
as made up of an aggregate of particular
families ; and it is by fecuring the well-
being of each, that all are prefen^ed in prof-
perity. We could delight to defcant large-
ly on this topic ; and furely the contem-
plation could not but warm the hearts of
Britons with lively gratitude to the Author
of all their blefllngs, and with zealous at-
tachment to that conftitution, which conveys
and fecures to them the enjoyment of fuch
unequalled happinefs ! But we dare not ex-
patiate in fo wide a field. I^et us, however,
remark the degree in which the benevolent
fpirit of Chriftianity is transfufed into our
poUtical fyflem. As it was the glory of our
religion to take the poor under her inflruc-
tion, and to adminifter her confolations to
the wretched, fo it is the beauty of our con-
ftitution

{irltution that (he confidersj not as below her
care, the feats of humble but honefl induf^
try ; the peaceful dwellings, and quiet enjoy-
ments, of the lover of domeflic comfort.

^gain — This vital fpirit of our conftitu-
tion is favourable to virtue, as well as con-
genial with religion, and conducive to hap-
■pinefs. It checks that fpirit of injuftice and
oppreffion which is fo nianifefl in the con-
dud of the antient republics towards all
other nations. It tends to diifufe a general
fenfe of moral obligation, a continual re-
ference to the claims of others, and our own
'confequent obligations: in fhort, a conti-
nual reference to the real rights of man ;
a term which, though fo ihamefully abufed,
and converted into the watch-word of riot
and rebellion, yet, truly and properly un-
'-derftood, is of found meaning and.conftant
application. By princes efpecially, thefe
rights fhould ever be kept in remembrance.
They were, indeed, never fo well fecured,
as by that excellent injunction of our blefled
Saviour, To do to others as we would have

them

«OME» I i I

thm do to us. And to which the apoftle's
brief, but comprehenfive diredions, form
an admirable commentary : Honour all me?i
— Lo'veyoiir bi-ethrcn — Fear God — Honour

the King.

But, to return to the Romans : then*
very patriotifm, by leading them to thii-fl
for univerfal empire, finally deftroyed them,
being no lefs fatal to the morals, than to the
greatnefs of the ftate. Even their vaunted
public fpirit partly originated in the necef-
fities of their fituation. They were a little
ftate, furrounded by a multitude of otK^r
little ftates, and they had no fafety but in
union. "Neceflity firfl roufed the genius
of war, and the habits of experienced and.
fuccefsful valour kept him awake. The
love of wealth and power, in latter ages,
carried on what original bravery had begun :
till, in the unavoidable viciffitude of human
affairs, Rome periflied beneatif the weight
of that pile of glory which fhe had been fa
ong rearing *.**

* Carlo Denina on the ancient Republics of Italy,

Their

113 ROME,

Their laws and conftltution were natu-
rally calculated to promote their public
fpirit, and to produce their union. Having
fucceeded in repelling the attacks of the
fmall rival powers, and, by their peculiar
fortune, or rather by the defignation of Pro-
vidence, having become the predominating
power in Italy, they proceeded to add con-
quefl to conqueft, making in the pride of
confcious fuperiority, wars evidently the
mod unjuft. Yet it mufl; not be denied,
that the occupation which progrellive con-
queils found for the citizens, communicated
a peculiar hardinefs to the Roman charac-
ter, and ferved to retard the growth both
of luxury and fadion. That public fpirit,
which might be juftified when it applied
itfelf to wars of felf-defence, became by
degrees little better than the principle of a
band of robbers on a great fcale ; at the beft,
of honourable robbers, who, for the fake of
the fpoil, agree fairly to co-operate in order
to obtain it, and divide it equally when it
is obtained.

This

ROME. 113

This public fpirit feems to have exifted
fo long as there were any obje£ts of foreign,
ambition remaining, and fo long as any
fenfe was left of foreign danger. Even in
the midft of unlawful and unrelenting war,
it is important to bear in mind, that many
of the ancient virtues were flill afliduoufly
cultivated ; the laws were ftill had in re-
verence, and, in fpite of a corrupt Poly-
theifm, and of many and great defeds in
the morality and the conftitution of Rome,
this was the fait which, for a time, preferved
her. The firmnefs of charafter, and deep
political fagacity of the Romans, feem to
have borne an exad proportion to each
other. That forefeeing wifdom, that pe-
netrating policy, which led Montefquieu to
obferve, that they conquered the world by
maxims and principles^ feem in reality, t«
have infured the fuccefs of their conquefls,
almoft more than their high national valour,
and their bold fpirit of enterprize.

What was it which afterwards plunged
VOL. I. I Rome

IT4 ROME.

Rome into the lowefl depths of degrada-
tion, and finally blotted her out from among
the nations ? It was her renouncing thofe
maxims and principles. It was her departure
from every virtuous and felf-denying habit.
It was the gradual relaxation of private mo-
rals. It was the fubflitution of luxury for
temperance, and of a mean and narrow
felfifhnefs for public fpirit. It was a con-
tempt for the fober manners of the ancient
republic, and a dereliction of the old prin-
ciples of government, even while the forms
of that government were retained. It was
the introdudion of a new philofophy more
favourable to fenfuality ; it was the impor-
tation, by her Afiatic proconfuls, of every
luxury which could pamper that fenfuality.
It was, in fhort, the evils, refulting from
thofe two palTions which monopolized their
fouls, the lufl: of power, and the lull of gold.
Thefe paffions operated on each other, as
caufe and efFefl:, adlion and re-a£lion ; and
produced that rapid corruption which Sal-
lull

ROME. 115

lufl: defcrlbes with fo much fpirit — Mores
?najorum non paulatim ut antea, fed torrentis
modo prec'ipitati. Profligacy, venality, pe-
culation, oppreffion, fucceeded to that fim-
plicity, patriotifm, and high-minded difin-
tereftednefs, on which this nation had once
fo much valued itfelf, and which had at-
tra6led the admiration of the world. So
that Rome, in the days of her priftine fe-
verity of manners, and Rome in the lafl
period of her freedom, exhibits a ftronger
contrafl: than will be found between almofl
any two countries.

This depravation does not refer to foli-
tary inftances, to the fhameleffnefs of a
Verres, or the profligacy of a Pifo, but to
the general praftice of avowed corruption
and fyflematic venality. By the jufl judg-
ment of Providence, the enjoyment of the
fpoils brought home from the conquered
nations corrupted the conquerors ; and at
length compelled Rome, in her turn, both
to fly before her enemies, and to bow down

1 2 her

Il6 ROME.

her head under the mofl Intolerable domeftic
yoke. Rome had no more the fpirit to
make any faint ftruggle for liberty after the
death of C^far, than Greece after that of
Alexander, though to each the occafion
feemed to prefent itfelf. Neither ftate had
virtue enough left to deferve, or even to de-
fire to be free. The wifdom of Cato fhould,
in the cafe of Rome, have difcovered this ;
and it fhould have fpared him the fruitlefs
attempt to reftore liberty to a countiy
which its vices had enflaved, and have pre-
ferved him, even on his own principles,
from felf-deflru6lion.

Among the caufes of the political fervi-
tude of Rome may be reckoned, in a con-
fiderable degree, the inllitution of the Pre-
torian bands, who, in a great meafure, go-
verned both the Romans and the emperors.
Thefe Pretorian bands prefented the chief
difficulty in the way of good emperors,
fome of whom they deftroyed for attempt-
ing to reform them ; and of the bad empe-
rors they were the eled:ors.

In

ROME. 117

In perufing the Roman hlftory, thefe^
and other caufes of the decline and fall of
the empire, fhould be carefully fhewn ; the
tendency of private vices to produce fac-
tions, and the tendency of factions to over-
throw liberty ; a fpirit of diffention, and a
rapid deterioration of morals, being, in all
ftates, the mofl deadly, and, indeed, the
infeparable fymptoms of expiring freedom.
The no lefs baneful influence of arbitrary
power, in the cafe of the many profligate and
cruel emperors who fucceeded, fhould be
clearly pointed out.

It is alfo a falutary leflbn on the hunger
of conquefl:, and the vanity of ambition, to
trace the Roman power, by its vaft accef-
fion of territory, lofing in folidity what it
gained in expanfion ; furnifliing a lafting
example to future empires, who trufl too
much for the fl;ability of their greatnefs to
the deceitful fplendour of remote acquifition,
and the precarious fupport of diflant colo-
nial attachment.

I 3 Above

Il8 ROME.

Above all, the fall of Rome may be at-
tributed, in no fmall degree, to the progrefs,
and, gradually, to the prevalence of the
Epicurean philofophy, and to its effefl; in
taking away that reverence for the gods,
which alone could preferve that deep fenfe
of the fan£tity of oaths for which Rome, in
her better days, had been fo diflinguilhed.
She had originally ellablifhed her political
fyflem on this fear of the gods ; and the
people continued, as appears from Livy, to
pra£tife the duties of their religion * (fuch
as it was) more fcrupuloufly than any
other ancient nation. The moft amiable of
the Roman patriots attributes the antece-
dent fuccefs and grandeur of his country to
their convidion, '• that all events are direct-
ed by a Divine Power f j" and Polybius,

•* Nulla unquara refpublica fanftior, nee bonis
pxemplis ditior fuitj

f 3ee Montagu on the Rife and Fall of Ancient
Republics.

fpeaking

ROME. 115

fpeaking mefely as a politician, accufes Tome,
in his age, of rarnnefs and abfurdity, for
endeavouring to extirpate the fear of the
gods J declaring, that what others held to
be an objeft of difgrace, he believed to be
the very thing by which the republic vv^as
fuftained. He illuftrates his pofition by
adducing the conduQ: of the two great
ftates, one of which, from its adoption of
the doclrines of Epicurus, had no fenfe of
religion left, and confequently no reverence
for the folemnities of an oath, which the
other retained in its full force. " If, among
the Greeks," fays he, '' a fmgle talent
only be intrufted to thofe who have the
management of any of the public money,
though they give ten written fureties, with
as many feals, and twice as many witnelTes,
they are unable to difcharge the trufl re-
pofed in them with integrity, — while the
Romans, who, in their magiitracies and em-
baffies, difburfe the great ell funis, are pre-
vailed on, by the fmgle obligation of an oatb^

I 4 to

120 ROME.

to perform their duty with inviolable ho-
nefly *."

In her fubfequent total derelidion of this
integrity, what a leflbn does Rome hold out
to us, to be careful not to lofe the influ-
ences of a purer religion ! To guard, efpe-
cially, againft the fatal effefts of a needlefs
multiplication of oaths^ and the light mode
in which they are too frequently admini-
ftered ! The citizens of Rome, in the days
of the younger Cato, had no refource left
againft this preffing evil, becaufe it v^as in
vain to inculcate a reverence for their
gods, and to revive the influence of their
religion. But, if even the belief of falfe
gods had the power of conveying political
and moral benefits, which the dark fyftem of
Atheifm annihilated, how earneftly fhould
WE endeavour to renovate and diffufe the
ancient deference for the true religion, by
teaching fyftematically and ferioufly, to our

* Hampton's Polybius, vol. ii. book 6. on the
Excellencies of the Roman government.

youth^

ROME. 121

youth, the divine principles of that Chrifli-
anity which, in better times, was the ho-
nourable pradice of our forefathers, and
which can alone reflore a due veneration
for the folemnity of oaths *.

•* The admirable Hooker obferves, that even the
falfeft religions were mixed with fome truths, which
had " very notable efFeds." Speaking of the dread
of perjury in the ancient Romans, he adds, " It was
their hurt untruly to attribute fo great power to falfe
gods, as that they were able to profecute, with fear-
ful tokens of divine revenge, the wilful violation of
oaths and execrable blafphemies, offered by deriders
of religion even unto thofe falfe gods. Yet the right
belief which they had, that to perjury vengeance is
due, was not without good effeft, as touching the
courfe of their lives who feared the wilful violation oi
oaths." — Ecclefiaftical Polity.

CHAP.

222 CHARACT£RS OF HISTORIANS.

CHAP. IX.

Charaders of Hijlorians ^ who were concerned
in the Tranfadtions which they record.

vJf the modern writers of ancient hiftory,
the young reader will find that Rollin *
has, in one refpect, the decided fuperi"
ority ; we mean, in his practice of intermix-
ing ufeful reflexions on events and cha-
racters. But, we fhould flrongly recom
mend the perufal of fuch portions of the
original ancient hiflorians, as a judicious
preceptor would feleft. And, in reading
hiflorians, or politicians, ancient or modern,
the mofl likely way to efcape theories and
fables, is to fludy thofe writers who were
themfelves a6tors in the fcenes which they
record.

Among the principal of thefe is — Thu-
CYDiDESj whofe opportunities of obtaining

^ The writer forbears to name living authors.

informa-

CHARACTERS OF HISTORIANS. 1 23

Information, whofe diligence in collecting
it, and whofe judgment and fidelity in re-
cording it, have obtained for him the ge-
neral fuffrage of the befl judges ; who had
a confiderable fhare in many of the events
which he records, having been an unfortu-
nate, though meritorious commander in
the Peloponnefian war, of which he is the
incomparable hiftorian ; — whofe chronolo-
gical accuracy is derived from his early' cuf-
tom of preparing materials as the events
arofe ; and whofe genius confers as much
honour, as his unmerited exile reflecls
difgrace, on his native Athens. In popu-
lar governments, and in none perhaps fo
much as in thofe of Greece, the ill effecls
or mifmanagcment at home have been too
frequently charged on thofe who have had
the conduft of armies abroad ; and where a
facrifice muft be made, that of the abfent is
always the mofl eafy. The integrity and pa-
triotifm of Thucydides, hov/ever, were proof
againfl the ingratitude of the repubhc. His

\vork;

124 CHARACTERS OF HISTORIANS.

work was as impartial as if Athens had been
juft ; like Clarendon^ he devoted the period
of his banilhment to the compofition of a hif-
tory, which was the glory of the country that
banifhed him. — A model of candour, he
wrote not for a party or a people, but for
the world ; not for the applaufe of his age,
but theinftrudionofpoflerity. A^d though
his energy, fpirit, aud variety mufl interell
all readers of tafte, flatefmen will befl know
his value, and politicians will look up to
him as a mafter. — Xenophon,- the Attic
bee, equally admirable in whatever point of
view he is confidered ; a confummate gene-
ral, hiilorian, and philofopher ; who carried
on the hiftoric feries of the Greek revolu-
tions from the period at which Thucydides
difcontinued it ; like him, was driven into
banilhment from that country, of which he
was fo bright an ornament_, —

And with his exil'd hours enrich'd the world !

The conductor and narrator of a retreat

more

CHARACTERS OF HISTORIANS. 1 25

more honourable and more celebrated than
the vidories of other leaders ; a writer, who
is confidered by the firft Roman critic, as
the moft exquifite model of fmiplicity and
elegance ; and who, in almofl all the tranf-
aftions which he relates, magna parsfiiit. —
PoLYBius, trained to be a flatefman in
the Achaean league, and a warrior at the
conqueft of Carthage ; the friend of Sci-
pio, and the follower of Fabius ; and who
is faid to be more experimentally acquainted
with the wars and politics of which he
treats, than any other Greek. He is,
however, more authentic than entertaining ;
and the votaries of certain modern hifto->
rians, who are fatisfied vvith an epigram
inftead of a fa£l, who like turns of wit
tetter than found political reflections, and
prefer an antithefis to truth, will not juflly
appreciate the merit of Polybius, whofe
love of authenticity induced him to make
feveral voyages to the places of which his
fubjefts led him to fpeak. — C^sar, of
whom it would be difficult to fay, whether

he

Ii6 CHARACTERS OF HISTORIANS.

he planned his battles with more fkill, fought
them with more valour, or defcribed them
with more ability ; or whether his fword
or pen executed his purpofes with more
celerity and effed ; but, .who will be lefs
interefting to the general reader, than to
the flatefman and foldier. His commen-
taries, indeed, will be perufed with lefs ad-
vantage by the hereditary fuccelTor of the
fovereign of a fettled conflitution, than by
thofe who are ftruggling with the evils of
civil commotion. — Joinville, whofe life of
his great mafter. Saint Louis, is written with
the fpirit of the ancient nobles, and the
vivid earneftnefs of one, who faw with
interefl what he defcribes with fidelity ;
having been companion to the King in the
expeditions which he records. — Philippe
DE CoMiNES, v;ho poffelfed, by his perfonal
concern in public affairs, all the avenues
to the political and hiftorical knowledge
of his time, and whofe memoirs will be
admired while acute penetration, found fenfe,
and folid judgment furvive. — Davila, who

learned

CHARACTERS OF HISTORIANS. IIJ

learned the art of war under that great
mafter, Henry the Fourth of France, and
whofe hiflory of the civil wars of that coun-
try furnifhes a variety of valuable mat-
ter; who pofleffes the happy talent of
giving intereft to details, which would be
dry in other hands ; who brings before the
eyes of the reader, every place v/hich he de-
fcribes, and every fcene in which he was en-
gaged ; while his intimate knowledge of bu-
fmefs, and of human nature, enables him to
unveil with addrefs, the myileries of nego-
tiation, and the fubtilties of ftatefmen.
This excellent work is difgraced by the
mofl difgufling panegyrics on the execrable
Catherine di Medici, an offence againfl
truth and virtue, too glaring to be atoned
for by any fenfe of perfonal obligation.
In confequence of this partiality, he fpeaks
of the maflacre of Saint Bartholomew, as
nightly as if it had been a merely common
adt of neceffary rigour on a few criminals ;
an execution being the cool term by which

. he

128 CHARACTERS OF HISTORIANS.

he defcribes that tremendous deed *. —
GuicciARDiN, a diplomatic hiflorian, a
lawyer, and a patriot; whofe tedious ora-
tions and florid ftyle cannot deftroy the
merit of his great work, the value of which
is enhanced by the piety and probity of
his own mind. — Sully, the intrepid war-
rior, the able financier, the uncorrupt mi-
nifler, who generally regulated the deep
defigns of the confummate ftatefman, by
the inflexible rules of religion and jufliice ;
whofe memoirs fliould be read by minifliers,
to inflirud: them how to ferve kings ; and
by kings, to teach them how to chufe
miniilers. — Cardinal de Retz, who de-
lineates with accuracy and fpirit the prin-
cipal a£tors in the wars of the Fronde, in
which he himfelf had been a chief agent ;
who develops the diflimulation of courts,

* Who can help regretting that the luftre of one
of the moft elegant works of antiquity, Quintilian's
Inftitution of an Orator, fliould be in a fimilar manner
tarnifhed by the moft prepofterous panegyrics on the
Emperor Domitian ?

1 with

CHARACTERS OF HISTORIANS. 1 29

with the ikilfulnefs of an adept in the arts
which he unfolds, yet affeding, while he
pourtrays the artifices of others, a fimpli-
city, the very reverfe of his real character ;
while his levity in writing retains fo much
of the licentioufnefs, and want of moral
and religious principle of his former life,
that he cannot be fafely recommended to
thofe whofe principles of judgment and
condud are not fixed. Yet, his characters
of the two famous cardinal prime minifters
may be read with advantage by thofe,
whofe bufmefs leads them to fuch ftudies.
The reader of de Retz will find frequent
occafion to recognize the homage which
even impiety and vice pay to religion and
virtue, while the abundant corruptions of
Popery will call forth from every confi-
derate Proteflant, devout fenfations of gra-
titude to Heaven, for having delivered us
from the tyranny of a fyftem, fo favourable
to the produdion of the rankeft abufes in
the church, and the groffeft fuperftition in
the people.— Temple, the zealous nego-
VOL, I. K tiator

130 CHARACTERS OF HISTORIANS.

tiator of the triple alliance, and worthy, by
his fpirit and candour, to be the affociate
of De Wit in that great bulinefs which
was tranfa£ted between them, with the
liberal fpirit, and honourable confidence of
private friendfhip. His writings give the
cleared infight into the period and events
of which he treats ; and his eafy, though
carelefs ftyle, and well-bred manner, would
come, almoft more than any other, under
the defcription of what may be called the
genteel, did not his vanity a little break the
charm. None, however, except his political
writings, are meant to be recommended ;
his religious opinions being highly excep-
tionable and abfurd. Yet it is but juftice
to add, that his unambitious temper, his
fondnefs for private life, his enjoyment of
its peace, and his tafle for its pleafures, ren-
der his character fntereiling and amiable. —
The manners-painting CLARENDON,the able
chancellor, the exemplary minifter, the in-
flexible patriot, who ftemmed, almoft fingly,
the torrent of vice, corruption, and vena-
lity ;

CHARACTERS OF HISTORIANS. I-^I

Iky ; and who was not afhamed of being
religious in a court which was afnamed of
nothing elfe ; whom the cabal hated for his
integrity, and the court for his purity ; a
ftatefman who might have had itatues erect-
ed to him in any other period but that in
which he lived ; would have reformed mofl
other governmeiits but that to which he
belonged, and been fuppoited by almofl
any king but him whom he had the misfor-
tune to ferve. Clarendon, the faithful
biographer of his own hfe ; the majeftic and
dignified hiftorian of the grand rebellion ;
whofe periods fometimes want beauty, but
never fenfe, though that fenfe is often wrap-
ped up in an involution and perplexity which
a little obfcure it ; whofe flyle is weighty
and lignificant, though fomewhat retarded
by the ftatelinefs of its march, and fome-
what encumbered with a redundancy of
words. — ToRCY, whofe memoirs, though
they may be thought to bear rather hard on
the famous plenipotentiaries with whom he
negotiated, and on the haughtinefs of the

K 2 ajlie«

J32 CHARACTERS OF HISTORIANS.

allies who employed them, are written with
much good fenfe, modefty, and temper.
They prefent a flriking reverfe in the for-
tune of the imperious diflurber of Europe,
*^ fallen from his high ellate/' He who
had been ufed to give his orders from the
banks of the Po, the Danube, and the Ta-
gus, is feen reduced to fupplicate for peace,
and to exchange the infolence of triumph
for the hope of exiflence. Two Dutch
burgomaflers, haughtily impofmg their own
terms on a monarch who had before filled
France with admiration, and Europe with
alarm. This reverfe muft imprefs the mind
of the reader, as it does that of the writer,
with an afFeding fenfe of that controlling
Providence, which thus derides the madnefs
of ambition, and the folly of worldly wif-
dom ; that Providence which, in maintain-
ing its charadler of being the abafer of the
proud, produces, by means, at firfl fight
the moft oppofite, the accomplifhment of
its own purpofes j and renders the unprin-
cipled luft of dominion the inftrument of

its

CHARACTERS OF HISTORIANS, 1 33

its own humiliation. The difficulties of a
negotiator, who has to conclude an inglo-
rious though indifpenfable treaty, are feel-
ingly defcribed, as well as the too natural^
though hard fate of a minifler, who is
driven to fuch an unfortunate meafure as
that of being confidered as the inftrument
pi dilhonour to h^s country. His pious re-
cognition of God, as the fupreme difpofer
of events, is worthy of great praife. — The
.copious and fluent Burnet, whofe dilfufe,
but interefling hijiory of his own times^ in-
forms and pleafes j though the loofe texture
of his flovenly narration would not now be
tolerated in a newfpaper ; who faw a great
deal, and wifhes to have it thought that he
faw every thing ; whofe egotifm we forgive
for the fake of his franknefs, and whofe mi-
nutenefs for the fake of his accuracy ; who,
if ever he exceeds, it i? always on the fide of
liberty and toleration ; an excefs fafe enough
when the writer is foundly loyal, and ,un-
quellionably pious \ and more efpecially fafe
when the reader is a prince.— Lady Rus»

K 3 SELL,

£34 CHARACTERS OF HISTORIANS.

SELL, worthy of being the daughter of the
virtuous Southampton ; too fatally conneft-
fed with the unhappy poHtics of the times ;
whofe life was a practical illuftration of her
faith in the divine fupport, and of fubmif*'
fion to the divine will ; and whofe letters,
by their found and fober piety, ftrong fenfe,
and ufeful information, eclipfe all thofe of
her learned and diflinguiflied correfpon-
dents.

CHAP.

3LEPLECTI0NS ON HISTORY. I35

CHAP. X.

Refleclions on Hijiory — Ancient H'l/iorians^

Xf, however, the hiftorian be a compa-
triot, and efpecially if he be a contempo-
rary, even though he was no adtor in the
drama, it is difficult for him not to range
himfelf too uniformly on one fic|e or the
other. The human mind has a ftrong na-
tural bias to adopt exclufive attachments.
Perhaps man may be defined to be an ani-
7nal that delights in party. Yet we are inclined
to believe that an hiftorian, though he may
be partial and interefled, yet, if he be keen-
fighted and intelligent as to the fadts of
which he fpeaks, is, on the whole, a better
witnefs than a more fair and candid, but
worfe-informed man ; becaufe we may more
eafily calculate the degree of allowance to
be made for partiality and prejudice, than
we can eflimate that which is to be made for

K 4 defeft

1^6 REFLECTIONS ON HISTORY.

defe£l of information. Of two evils, there-
fore, we fhould prefer a prejudiced, but
well-informed, to a rnore impartial, but lefs
enlightened narrator.

When materials are frefh, they are more
likely to be authentic ; but, unfortunately,
"when it is more eafy to obtain, it is often
lefs fafe to employ them. When the events
are more remote, their authenticity is more
difficult to afcertain ; and, when they are
near, the paflions which they excite are
more apt to warp the truth. Thus, what
might be gained in accuracy by nearnefs of
pofition, is liable to be loft in the partiality
which that very pofition induces. The true
point of vifion is attained, when the eye and
the object are placed at their due diftance.
The reader who comes to the perufal of the
work, in a more unimpafiioned frame than,
perhaps, the author wrote, will beft collecl:
the characters from the narrative, if fairly
given.

Care fhould be taken not to extol fhining
characters in the grofs, but to point out

their

REFLECTIONS ON HISTORY. I37

their weaknefles and errors ; nor Ihould the
brilliant qualities of illuflrious men be fuf-
fered to cail a veil over their vices, or fo
to fafcinate the young reader, as to excite
admiration of their very faults. Even in
perufmg facred hijiory^ we fhould never
extenuate, much lefs juflify, the errors of
great charafters, but make them, at once,
a ground for eftabliihing the do<Strine of
general corruption, and for quickening our
own vigilance. The weakneifes of the
wifeil, and the errors of the beft, while they
fiiould be regarded with candour, muft not
be held up to imitation. It has been rea-
fonably conjeflured, that many ads of cruel-
ty in Alexander, whofe difpofition was na-
turally merciful, were not a little owing to
one of his preceptors having been early
accuftomed to call himfelf Phoenix, and his
pupil Achilles ; and thus to have habitually
trained him to an imitation even of the vices
of this ferocious hero,

A prince nmfl not fludy hiflory merely
to flore his memory with amufmg narra^
tives or infulated events, but with a view to

. trace

135 REFLECTIONS ON HISTORY.

trace the dependence of one event upon
another. A common reader will be fatif-
fied with knowing the exploits of Scipio or
Hannibal, and will be fuiEciently entertained
with the defcription of the riches or beauty
of fuch renowned cities as Carthage or
Rome ; but a prince (who is alfo a poli-
tician) fludies hiftory, in order to obferve
how ambition, operating on the breafts of
two rival flates, led to one war after another
between thefe two flates. By what fteps
the ruin of the one, and the trium.ph of the
other, were haflened or delayed ; by what
indications the final cataftrophe might have
been antecedently known, or hj what mea-
fures it might have been averted. He is
interefled not merely when a fignal event
arifes, but by the whole ikill of the game ;
and he is, on this account, anxious to pof-
fefs many inferior circumfcances, ferving to
unite one event with another, which, to the
ordinary reader, appear infignificant and
dull. Again, in the cafe of Pompey and
Cgefar, the reflecting politician connects the
triumphs of the latter with the political

and

REFLECTIONS CN HISTORY. 1 39

and moral (late of Rome. He bears in mind
the luxurious habits of the Patricians, who
became the officers in Pompey's army ; the
grgxiual decay of public fpirit, the licenti-
oufnefs and venality of the capital, and the
arts by which C2sfar had prepared his troops,
while they were in Gaul, for the contention
which he already meditated for the empire
of the world. He will, in idea, fee that
world already vanquifhed, when he confi-
ders the profound policy of this conqueror,
who, on being appointed to the government
of Gaul on both fides the Alps, by exciting
the Gauls to folicit the fame privileges with
the Italians, opened to himfelf this double
advantage : — the difturbance which this
would occafion in Rome, would lift him
into abfolute power ; while, by his kind-
nefs and protection to thefe people, he
gained an acceffionof flrength to overthrow
his competitors. The ordinary reader is
fatisfied with the battle of Pharfalia for the
entertainment it affords, and admires the
fplendour of the triumphs, without confider-
ing thcfc thing? as links that conned the

event€

140 REFLECTIONS ON HISTORY^

events which are pafl with thofe which are
to come.

The preceptor of the royal pupil vvill,
probably, think it advifeable to feled for
her perufal fome of the Lives of Plutarch.
This author teaches two things excellently,
antiquity and human nature. He would
deferve admiration, were it only for that
magazine of wifdom, condenfed in the ex-
cellent fayings of fo many great men, which
he has recorded. Perhaps, all the hifto-
rians together have not tmnfmitted to us fo
many of the fage axioms and bon mots of
ancient Greece and Rome. Yet, in his
parallels — if that can be called a parallel
which brings together two men who have
commonly little or no refemblance — even
the upright Plutarch exhibits fomething too
much of the partiahty lately noticed \ the
fcale, whenever he weighs one of his own
countrymen againll a Roman, almoil inva-
riably inclining to the Greek fide.

It may alfo be deemed ufeful to read to
her a few feled: portions of Suetonius.
Though he is an author utterly unfit to bp

pul

REFLECTIONS ON HISTORY. I4I

put into youthful, and, efpeclally, into fe-
male hands, yet a judicious inftrudor may
fele£l palTages particularly appropriated to a
royal pupil. In truth, the writings of the
ancient authors of all claffes, hiflorians, fa-
tirifts, poets, and even moralifls, are liable
to the fame objedion, whether it be Sueto-
nius, or Plutarch, or Juvenal, or even the
comparatively-decorous Virgil, that we take
in hand ; the perufal cannot fail to fugged
to every confiderate, and efpecially to every
female reader, the obligations which we owe
to Chriflianity, independently of its higher
ends, for having fo raifed the flandard of
morals and of manners, as to have rendered,
almoft too monftrous for belief, and too
fhocking for relation, in our days, the fa-
miliar and uncenfured incidents of ancient
times. Suetonius paints with uncommon
force, though too often with offenfive groff-
ncfs, the crimes of the emperors, with their
fubfequent miferies and punifhments. Ty-
rants will always deteft hiftory, and, of all
hiflorians, they will deteft Suetonius.

An authentic hiflorian of a deceafed ty-
rant

142 REFLECTIONtS ON HISTORY.

rant muft not, however, be confounded with
the malevolent declaimer agalnfl royalty.
But, though the moll arbitrary prince cannot
prevent his own poftliumous difgrace, yet
an honefl and confcientious hiltorian will
remember, that, while he is detailing the
vices of a king, which it is his duty to enu-
merate, it is his duty alfo carefully to avoid
bringing the office of the king into contempt.
And, while he is expoling the individual
crime, he fhould never lofe fight of his re-
fpedl for the authority and Jiation of him
whofe adions truth compels him to record
in their real charaders. The contrary in-
fidious pra<5lice has of late fo much prevail-
ed, that the young reader fhould be put on
his guard not to fuifer his principles to be
undermined by the affectation of indignant
virtue, mock patriotifm, zeal for fpurious
liberty, and faditious morality. It is but
juftice to Mr. Hume, againil whofe princi-
ples we have thought it a duty to bear our
mofl decided teflimony *, to allow that,
in the earlier periods of Englifii hiftory, he

• * In chap. xi.

carefully

REFLECTIONS ON HISTORY. I43

carefully abflains from the vulgar error of
always afcribiiig the public calamity, which
he is relating, to the ambition or injuftice of
kings J but often attributes it, where it is
often mrore juflly due, to the infolence ^nd
oppreffion of the barons, or the turbulence
and infubordination of the people. If he
errSj it is on the contrary fide.

But let thofe licentious anarchiils, who
delight to retail infipid jefts, or to pubiiili
unqualified libels on kings as kings, cafi;
their eyes on an uninterrupted fucceffion
of five illuilrious Roman emperors, who,
though not exempt from faults, fome of
them fram vices, chiefly attributable to Pa-
ganifm, yet exhibit fuch an unbroken con-
tinuity of great talents, and great qualities, as
it would, perhaps, be difficult to find in any
private family for five fucceffive generations.

The candour of our excellent Queen
Mary *, towards the biographers of princes,
was exemplary. When, with an inten-
tion probably to foothe the royal ear,

* In chap. viii.

5 fome

J44 REFLECTIONS ON HISTORY.

fome perfons, in her prefence, feverely con-
demned certain hiflorians who had made
reflections difhonourable to the memory of
princes, fhe obferved, that if the princes
had given jufl ground for cenfure, the au*
thors had done well to reprefent them fairly 5
and that other fovereigns muil expedl to be
dealt with in the fame manner, if they gave
the fame caufe. She had even the magna-
nimity to wiih, that all fuch princes would
read Procopius, (an author too much ad-
dicted to blacken the memory of kings,)
^ becaufe," flie obferved, " however he
might have exaggerated the vices he de-
fcribed, it would be a falutary leiTon to
future princes, that they themfelves mull
expefl; the fame treatment, when all reftraint
was taken off, and the dread of their power
terminated with their lives.'*

The late king of PrufTia, who united the
character of an author to that of a warrior,
was of another way of thinking. He was
of opinion, that the names of good princes
alone ihould be recorded in hiftoryj and

that

ANCIENT HISTORIANS. I45

that thofe of the wicked jfhould be fufFered
to perifh with their crimes *. Were this
practice to be univerfally adopted, might
we not prefume to queflion whether even
the illuflrious name of Frederic the Great
would be as certain, as it is at prefent_, of
being carried down to poflerity ?

Tacitus is the hiflorian of philofophers,
and the oracle of politicians. Highly valu-
able for his deep and acute reflexions, in
which neither the governors nor governed
are fpared ; he is an original and profound
thinker, and is admirable for the plenitude
of his images, and the paucity of his words.
His flyle is ardent, and his figures are bold.
Vigour, brevity, and point, are its charac-
teriftics. He throws out a ftronger likenefs

* Examen du Prince de Mach'iavel, by the King of
Prujfia. It is curious to compare this compofition
of the King with his own condu<^. To contralt his
ftrong reprobation of the baneful glory of heroes, his
horror of conqueft, and of the cruel paffions which
opprefs mankind 5 his profefTed admiration of cle-
mency, mecknefs, juftice, and compaffion, with which
this work abounds, — with the aftual exploits of the
ravager of the fertile plains of Saxony, &c. &c. 1 1
VOL. I. L of

146 ANCIENT HISTORIANS.

of a flagitious Roman in three words, than
a diffufe writer would give in as many pages*
In his annals he is a faithful, occafionally,
indeed, a too faithful narrator ; but he is
alfo, at the fame time, an honeft and indig-
nant reprover of 'the atrocious deeds which
he records. In a man pafTionately loving
liberty, virtue, and his country, we pardon,
while painting the ruin of each, thofe dark
and fullen fliades with wliich he fometimes
overcharges the pi£lure. Had he delineated
happier times, his tints would probably have
been of a lighter caft. If he ever deceives,
he does not, at leaft, ever appear to intend
it ; for he gives rumours as rumours, and
his facts he generally grounds on the con-
-current teftimony of the times of which he
writes. If, however, Tacitus fulfils one of
the two duties which he himfelf prefcribes
to hiflorians, that of writing without fcar^
he does not uniformly accomplifli the other,
that of writing without haired ; at lead,
neither his veracity nor his candour extended
to his rem.arks on the Jews or Chriflians.
But, with all his diffufenefs, Livy is the
9 writer

ANCIENT HISTORIANS, I47

Writer who affifls in forming the tafle^
With all his warmth, there is a beautiful
fobriety in his narrations ; he docs not mag*
nify the aftion, he relates it, and pours
forth, from a full urn, a copious and con-
tinued itream of varied elegance. He di-
rects the judgment, by pafling over flight
things in a flight manner, and dwelling only
on the prominent parts of his fubjedtj
though he has been accufed of fome im-
portant omifTions. He keeps the attention
always alive, by exhibiting paffions as well
as actions ; and what bed: indicates the hand
of a mafler, we hang fufpended on the event
of his narrative, as if it were a fiction, of
which the cataflrophe is in the power of the
writer, rather than a real hiftory, with whofe
termination we are already acquainted. He
is admirable no lefs for his humanity than
his patriotifm ; and he is one of the few
hiftorians, who have marked the broad line
of difcrimination between true and falfe
glory, not eredling pomps, triumphs, and
vlftories, into effentials of real greatnefs.
He teaches patience under cenfure, incul-

L 2 cates

148 ANCIENT HISTORIANS.

cates a contempt of vulgar acclamation, and
of all praife which is not fairly earned. One
valuable fuperiority, which Livy poffefTes
over his competitors, is, that in defcribing
vice, and vicious charad:ers, he fcrupulouHy
contrives to excite an abhorrence of both ;
and his relations never leave on the
mind of the reader, a propenfity to the
crime, or a partiality for the criminal whom
he has been defcribing. A defeft, in this
acutenefs of moral feeling, has been highly
pernicious to the youthful reader ; and this
too common admixture of impure defcrip-'
tion, even when the honefl defign has been
to expofe vice, has fenfibly tainted the
wholefomenefs of hiilioric compofition.

Independently of thofe beautiful, though
fometimes redundant fpeeches, which Livy
puts into the nlouths of his heroes, his elo-
quent and finifhed anfwers to ambafladors,
furnifli a fpecies of rhetoi-ic peculiarly appli-
cable to a royal education.

It has been regretted by fome of the
critics, that Livy, after enriching his own
work by the rnoft copious plagiarifms from

his

ANCIENT HISTORIANS, I49

his great precurfor, Polybius, commends
him, in a way fo frigid, as almofl to amount
to cenfure. He does not, it is true, go the
length of Voltaire in his treatment of Shake-
fpeare, who firft pillages and then abufes
him. The Frenchman, indeed, who fpoils
what he fteals, acts upon the old known
principle of his country highwaymen, who
always murder where they rob.

If it be thought that w^e have too warmly
recommended Heathen authors, let it be
remembered, that in the hands of every en-
lightened preceptor, as was eminently the
cafe with Fenelon, Pagans almoft become
Chrillian teachers by the manner in which
they will be explained, elucidated, purified ;
and not only will the corruptions of Paga-
nifm be converted into inftruclion, by being
contrafled with the oppofite Chriflian
graces, but the Chriflian fyflem. will be
advantageouily fhewn to be almofl equally
at variance, with many Pagan virtues, as
with all its vices.

If there were no other evidence of the
value of Pagan hiflorians, the profound at-

h 3 tention

150 ANCIENT HISTORIANS.

teiition which they prove the ancients to
have paid to the education of youth, would
alone fuffice to give them confiderable
weight in the eyes of every judge of found
inflitution. Their regard to youthful mo-
defly, the inculcation of obedience and re-
fer ve, the exercifes of felf-denial, exacted
from children of the highefl rank, put to
Hiame,— I will not fay Chriflians, but many
of the nominal profeifors of Chriftianity.
Levity, idlenefs, difregard of the laws, con-
tempt of eftabiifhed fyflems and national
inftitutions, met with a feverer reprobation
in the Pagan youth, than is always found
among thofe, in our day, who yet do not
openly renounce the chara6ler of Chriflians.
Far be it from us, however, to take our
morals from fo miferably defeclive a (land-
ard as Pagan hlftory afibrds. For though
philofophy had given fome admirable rules
for maintaining the out-works of virtue,
Chrillianity is the only religion which ever
pretended to expel vice from the heart-
The beft qualities of Paganifm want the bed:
motives. Some of the overgrown Roman

virtues,

ANCIENT HISTORIANS, I5I

virtues, alfo^ though they would have been
valuable in their juft meafure and degree,
and in a due fymmetry and proportion with
other virtues, yet, by their excefs, helped
to produce thofe evils which afterwards
ruined Rome ; while a perfeft fyflem of
morals, like the Chriftian, would have pre-
vented thofe evils. Their patriotifm was
oppreffion to the reft of the world. Their
virtue was not fo much fullied by pride, as
founded in it ; and their juftice was tinftur-
ed with a favagenefs which bears little re-
femblance to the juftice which is taught by
Chriftianity.

Thefe two fimple precepts of our religion^
Tbou Jfjalt love the Lord thy God ivith all thy
heart, and thy neighbour as thyfelf ; — thefe
two principles, kept in due exercife, woidd,
like the two powers which govern the na-
tural world, keep the intelleftual and fpiri-
tural world in order ; would reftrain. impeL.
unite, and govern it.

In confidering the ancient philofophy,
how does the fine gold become dim, before the
fober luftre of that divine legiflator, whofe

I- /{. .kingdom,

152 ANCIENT HISTORIANS.

kingdom, indeed, was not of this world, but
who has taught " kings of the earth, princes,
and all people,** thofe maxims and princi-
ples which call into fhade all the falfe fplen-
dours '^ of the antique world !" Chrifti-
anity has furniflicd the only true praftical
comment on that grand pofition of the ad-
mirable author of the fublime, that nothing
is great the contempt of which is great. For
how can triumphs, honours, riches, power,
conquefl, fame, be confidered as of intrinfic
value by a Chriftian, the very ejfence of
whofe religion confifts in being crucified to
the world ; the very aim and end of v/hofe
religion lies in a fuperiority to all greatnefs
which is to have an end with this life : the
very nature and genius of whofe religion
tends to prove, that eternal life is the only
adequate meafure of the happinefs, and
immortal glory the only adequate objed,
ot the ambition of a Chriftian.

CHAP.

ENGLISH HISTORY. I33

CHAP. XI.

EngUjh Hijlory. — Mr. Hume.

Ijut the royal pupil is not to wander
always in the wide field of univerfal hif-
tory. The extent is fo vaft, and the time
for travelling over it fo Hiort, that after
being fufficiently poffefled of that general
view of mankind which the hiffcory of the
world exhibits, it feems reafonable to con-
centrate her fludies, and to diredl her at-
tention to certain great leading points, and
efpecially to thofe objedts with which fhe
has a natural and more immediate con-
nexion. The hiftory of modern Europe
abounds with fuch objeds. In Robertfon's
luminous view of the flate of Europe, the
progrefs of fociety is traced with juft ar-
rangement and philofophical precifion. Elis
admirable hiftories of Charles V. and of
Mary Oueen of Scots, feparate from their
great independent merits will be read with
7 fmgular

154 MR. HUME.

fmgular advantage in connexion with the
contemporary reigns of Englilh hiflory.
In the writings of Sully and Clarendon,
may be feen how, for a long time, the paf-
fions of kings were contradicted, and often
controlled by the wifdom of their minifters ;
fovereigns who were not infenfible to praife,
nor averfe from flattery, yet fubmitting,
though fometimes with a very ill grace, to
receive fervices rather than adulation. Mi-
nifters who confulted the good rather than
the humour of their princes ; who promoted
their interefls, inftead of gratifying their
vices, and who preferred their fame to their
favour.

Mr. Hume.

Hume Is incomparably the moft inform-
ing, as well as the moft elegant, of all the
writers of Engliili hiftory. His narrative
is full, well arranged, and beautifullly per-
fpicuous. Yet, he is an author who mull
be read with extreme caution on a poli-
tical, but efpecially on a religious account.

Though,

MR. HUME, 155

Though, on occafions where he may be
trulled, becaufe his peculiar principles do
not interfere, his political reflections are
ufually juft, fomeiimes profound. His
account of the origin of the Gothic go-
vernment is full of interefl: and informa-
tion. He marks, with exact precifion, the
progrefs and decay of the feudal manners,
when law and order began to prevail, and
our conftitution afiumed fomething like a
fiiape. His finely painted characters of
Alfred and Elizabeth fliould be engraved
on the heart of every fovereign. His poli-
tical prejudices do not flrikingly appear,
till the eilabH{]iment of the houfe of Stuart,
nor his religious antipathies till about the
diftant dawn of the reformation under
Henry V. From that period to its full
eftablilhment, he is perhaps more dan-
gerous, becaufe lefs oftenfibly daring than
fome other infidel hiflorians. It is a fer-
pent under a bed of rofes. He does not
(in his h'ljlory at lead) fo much ridicule
religion himfelf, as invite others to ridicule

it.

156 MR. HUME.

it. There is in his manner a fedatenefs
which impofes ; in his fcepticifm, a fly gra-
vity, which puts the reader more off his
guard than the vehemence of cenfjre, or
the levity of wit ; for v/e are always lefs
difpofed to fufped a man who is too wife
to appear angry. That fame wifdom makes
him too correal to invent calumnies,
but it does not preferve him from doing
what is fcarcely lefs difmgenuous. He
implicitly adopts the injurious relations of
thofe annalifts who were mofl hoflile to
the reformed faith ; though he mufc have
known their accounts to be aggravated and
difcoloured, if not abfolutely invented.
He thus makes others refponfible for the
worft things he aflerts, and fpreads the mif-
chief, without avowing the malignity. When
he fpeaks from himfelf, the fneer is fo cool,
the irony fo fober, the contempt fo dif-
creet, the moderation fo infidious, the
difference between Popifh bigotry, and
Proteftant firmnefs, between the fury ot
the perfecutor and the refolution of the

martyr,

MR. HUME. 157

martyr, fo little marked ; the diftlnftlons
between intolerant phrenzy and heroic zeal
fo melted into each other, and though he
contrives to make the reader feel fome in-
dignation at the tyrant, he never leads him
to feel any reverence for the fufferer; he
afcribes fuch a flender fuperiority to one
religious fyftem above another, that the
young reader who does not come to the
perufal with his principles formed, will be
in danger of thinking that the reforma-
tion was really not worth contending for.

But, In nothing is the (kill of this accom-
plifhed fophift more apparent than in the art-
ful way in which he piques his readers into a
conformity with his ovv^n views concerning
religion. Human pride, he knew, naturally
likes to range itfelf on the fide of abihty. He,
therefore, ftilfully works on this paflion, by
treating, v/ith a fort of contemptuous fupe-
riority, as weak and credulous men, ail whom
he reprefents as being under the religious de-
lufion ; and by uniformly Infinuating that
talents and piety belong to oppofite parties.

To

tSB MR. HurvtE,

To the fhameful pradice of confounding
fanaticifm with real religion, he adds the
difingenuous habit of accounting for the
befl adions of the beft men, by referring
them to fome low motive ; and affeds to
confound the defigns of the religious and
the corrupt, fo artfully, that no radical dif-
ference appears to fubfift between them.

It is injurious to a young mind to read
the hiftory of the reformation by any au*
thor, how accurate foever he may be in his
fads, who does not fee a divine power ac-
companying this great work ; by any au-
thor who afcribes to the power, or rather
to the perverfenefs of nature, and the obfti-
nacy of innovation, what was in reality an
effeft of providential direction ; by any who
difcerns nothing but human refources, or
ftubborn perfeverance, where a Chriflian
diftinguifhes, though with a confiderable
alloy of human imperfection, the operation
of the Spirit of God.

Hume has a fafcinating manner at thg
clofe of the life of a hero, a prince, or a

flatef.

WR. HUME. l^Q

ilatefinan, of drawing up his chara6ler fo
elaborately as to attrad; and fix the whole
attention of the reader ; and he does it in
fuch a way, that while he engages the mind
he unfufpedledly mifleads it. He makes a
general ftatement of the vices and virtues,
the good and bad aclions of the perfon whom
he paints, leaving the reader to form his own
conclufions, by cafting up the balance of the
vices and virtues, of the good and bad adions
thus enumerated : while he never once leads
the reader to determine on the character
by the only fure criterion, the ruling prin-
ciple^ which feemed to govern it. — This is the
too prevailing method of hiflorians ; they
make morals completely independent of
religion, by thus vv^eighing qualides, and
letting the preponderance of the fcale de-
cide on virtue, as it were by grains and
fcruples : thus furnifhing a ftandard of
virtue fubverfive of that which Chriftianitv
eflablifhes. This method, infcead of mark-
ing the moral diflinftions, blends and con-
founds them, by eftablifliing character on

an

l6o MR. HUME.

an accidental difference, often depending
on circumilance and occafion, inftea^ of
applying to it one eternal rule and motive
of adion *.

But, there is another evil into which
writers far more unexceptionable than Mr.
Hume often fall, that of rarely leading the
mind to look beyond fecond caufes and
human agents. It is mortifying to refer
them to the example of a pagan. Livy
thought it no difgrace to proclaim, repeat-
edly, the infufficiency of man to accom-
plifh great objeds without divine affiilance.
He was not afnamed to refer events to the
direftion and control of providence ; and
when he fpeaks of notorious criminals^ he

* If thefe remarks mav be thought too fevere by
feme readers for that degree of fcepticifm which ap-
pears in Mr. Hume's kijlory, may I not be allowed
to obferve that he has faewn his principles fo fully,
in fome of his other works, that we are entitled, oa
tke ground of thefe works, to read with fufpicion
every thing he fays which borders on religion? — A
circumftance apt to be forgotten by many who read
on!^ his hiftory,

is

MR. HUME. iSl

IS not contented with defcribing them as
tranfgrefTing againft the ftate, but reprefents
them as alfo offending againft the gods.

Yet, it is proper again to notice the de-
fers ©f ancient authors in their views of
providential interference; a defeft arifmg
from their never clearly including a future
ftate in their account. They feem to have
conceived themfelves as fairly e?ifit/ed by
their good condud to the divine favour,
which favour they ufually limited to prefent
profperity. Whereas all notions of divine
juftice muft of neceffity be widely erroneous,
in which a future retribution is not unambi-
guoufly and conftantly included.

VOL. I. M CHAP.

l62 ENGLISH HISTORY.

CHAP. XII.

Important JEras of Englijh Hijlorf.

-r\s the annals of our own country furnilh
an obje£l on which a royal fludent fliould
be led to dwell with particular interefl, it
may be necelTary to call the attention to
certain important periods of our hiftory and
conllitution, from each of which we begin
to reckon a new sera ; beczfufe, from that
epoch, fome new fyftem of caufes and effects
begins to take place.

It will be proper, however, to trace the
ihades of alteration which intervene be-
tween thefe seras ; for, though the national
changes appear to be brought about by
fome one great event, yet, the event itfelf
will be found to have been flowly working
its way by caufes trivial in their appearance,
and gradual in their progrefs. For the
minds of the people mull be previoufly

ripened

ENGLISH HISTORY, l6^

ripened for a change, before any material
alteration is produced. — It was not the in-
jury that Lucretia fuftained, which kindled
the refentment of the Romans ; the previ-
ous mifconduft of the Tarquins had excited
in the people the fpirit oP*that revolu-
tion. A momentary indignation brought
a feries of difcontents to a crifis, and one
public crime was feized on as th2 pretence
for revenging a long courfe of opprtflion.—
The arrival, however, of thefe flowly pro-
duced 2eras makes a fudden and flriking
change in the circumftances of a country,
and forms a kind of didinct line of repara-
tion between the manners which precede and
thofe which follow it.

A prince (whofe chief iludy mufi: be
politics) ought in general to prefer contem-
porary hillorians, and even ordinary anna-
liils, to the compilers of hiftory who come
after them. He Ihould have recourfe to the
documents from which authors derive their
hiftory, rather than fit down fatisfied with
the hillory fo derived. Lxie, however, is

M 2 too

164 INGLISH HISTORY.

too lliort to allow, in all cafes, of this labo-
rious procefs. Attention, therefore, to the
minuter detaife of contemporary annalifts,
and to the original records confiding of
letters and flate papers, muft be limited to
periods of more than ordinary importance*
Into thefe the attentive politician will dive
for himfelf, and he will often be abundantly
repaid. — The periods, for example, of the
unhappy conteils in the reign of the lirft
Charles, of the reftoration, and more
efpecially of the revolution, are the turning
points of our political conftitution. A
prince, by examining thefe original docu-
ments, and by making himfelf mafter of
the points then at ifiue, would be fure to
underfland what are his own rights as a
fovereign.

It is not by fingle, but by concurrent
teftimony, that the truth of hiflory is
eftabliflied. And it is by a careful pe-
rufal of different authors who treat of
the fame period, that a feries of hiftoric
truth will be extraded. Where they agree,

we

ENGLISH HISTORY. 165

we may trufl: that they are right; where
they differ we mufl elicit truth from the
collifion. Thus the royal pupil, when en-
gaged in the perufal of Clarendon, fliould
alfo ftudy fome of the beft writers, who are
favourable to the parliamentary caufe. A
careful perufal of Ludlow and Whitlock ;
a general furvey of Rufhworth, or occa-
fional reference to that author and to Thur-
loe ; and a curfory review of their own lives
and t'unes hf Laud and Baxter, will throw
great light on many of the tranfaftions of the
eventful period of the firfl Charles. They
will fhew how different the fame adions ap-
pear to different men, equal in underftand-
ing and integrity. — They will inforce mu-
tual candour and mutual forbearance, re-
preffing the wholefale conclufions of party
violence, and teaching a prince to be on his
guard againfl the intemperate counfels of
his interefled or heated advifers. They will
inflrua a monarch in the important leffon
of endeavouring to afcertain and keep in
view the light in which his aftions and
motives will appear to his people. They

M 3 will

l66 ENGMSH HISTORY.

will teach him to attend carefully to the
opinions and feelings, and even to the pre-
judices of the 'times ; and, in obedience to
a precept enjoined by divine authority for
private life, and ftiil more important to be
obferved in public, — " to provide things
honeft in the fight of all men.'*

Again, while the narratives of the con-
temporary hiHorians furnilh fads, they
who live in a fucceeding age have- the ad-
ditional advantages, fir(l, of a chance of
greater impartiality ; fecondly, of a com-
parifon with correfponding events ; and
thirdly, of having the tendencies of the
events related, appreciated by the evidence
of their adual effects. How imperfcd, for
example, would be the philofcphical and
political remarks, and how falfe the whole
colour belonging to any hiilory of the
French revolution which might have im-
mediately appeared *. Much lapfe of time

* The French revohition, with its confeqiiences,
feem intended practically to contradict what Thiicy-
dides declared to be his defign in writing hiflory ;
nanr.eiy, by a faithful account of pajl things to ojfijl ntan-
i'md in conjeHuring the future !

IS

ENGLISH HISTORY. 167

is necelTary in order to reflect back light
on the original tendency of events. The
fermentation of political paffions requires a
long time to fubiide. The agitation con-
tinues till the events have nearly loft their in-
tereft, by the occurrence of a frefli clafs of
events ; which, in their turn, raife a new
party, and excite a new intereft ; fo that an
impartial diftribution of praife and cenfure is
feldom made till thofe who are concerned
in it have been long out of hearing. And
it is an inconvenience infeparable from hu-
man things, that when writers are leaft able
to come at the truth, they are moft difpofed
to tell it.

It will be necelTary to underftand the
political fyftem of Europe, fmce that pe-
riod particularly, when the two powers
of I'ralice and Auftria having arifen to a
greatnefs, which made them mutually, as
well as generally formidable, other coun-
tries, feeing the neceliity for their own
fafety, of oppofing the ftronger, and fup-
porting the weaker, conceived the idea of

M 4 that

l68 ENGLISH HISTORY.

that balance of power, that juft equipon-
derance, which might preferve the fecurity
of all.

But there is a far earlier epoch to
which attention ought perhaps, in the very
firfl inflance, to be direded, I mean the
reign of Alfred. This is eminently a fludy
for kings. — In Alfred, the mofh vigorous
exertion of public juflice was united with
attachment to public liberty. He eagerly
feized every interval of tranquillity, from
the convulfions with which the ftate was
torn, to colled: materials for the moll
falutary inftitutions, which he afterwards
eftablilhed ; he employed every moment
he could fnatch from the wars in which
he was inevitably engaged, in introducing
the arts of peace, and in turning the
minds of his hai alfed and diforderly fubjects
to virtuous and induftrious purfuits ; in
repairing the mifchievous confequences of
pafl infurredions, and wifely guarding
againft their return. He had to corre6t
the habits of a people who had lived

with-

ENGLISH HISTORY, l6^

without laws, and without morals; and
to reduce to civilization men who had
been driven to fubfift by chance or ra-
pine.— By a fyftem of jurifprudence, which
united moral difcipline with the execu-
tion of penal laws, he undertook to give
a new direction to habits inveterately de-
praved.

The royal pupil will be taught to afcribe
the origin of fome of our befl ufages to
thefe fagacious regulations j above all, the
conception of that unparalleled idea which
fo beautifully reconciles the exaft admi-
niftration of juftice with individual liberty:
the origin of our juries evidently appearing
to have firft; entered the mind of Alfred.
The effects on the people feem to have
been proportioned to the exertions of the
Prince. Crimes were repreffed. The m-ofl
unexampled change took place in the
national manners. Encouragement was
held out to the reformed, while punifhment
kept in order the more irreclaimable.
Yet, with all thefe flrong meafures, never

was

170 ENGLISH HISTORY.

was prince more tenderly alwe to the
liberty of trie fubject. And while com-
merce, navigation, ingenious inventions,
and all the peaceful arts v/ere promoted by
him, his fkill in the military tactics of that
day was fuperior, perhaps, to that of an-y of
his contemporaries.

To form, fuch vail projeds, not for dif-
turbing the world, but for bleffing it, —
to reduce thofe projeQis, in many inftances,
to the mod minute detail of adual exe-
cution ; to have furmounted the misfortune
of a neglected education fo as to make
himfelf a fcholar, a philofopher, and the
moral as well as civil inftrudor of his peo*
pie ;— all this implies fuch a grandeur of
capacity, fuch an exad: conception of the
true character of a fbvereign, fuch fubli-
mity of principle, and fuch correfponding
rectitude of pra6tice, as fill up all our
ideas of confummate greatnefs. — In a word,
Alfred feems to havebeen fent into the world
to realize the beautiful fidtion, which poets,
philofophers, and patriots, have formed

ef

ENGLISH HISTORY. IJl

of a perfeft king. It is alfo worth obferv-
ing, that all thofe various plans were both
projedled and executed by a monarch who,
as all hiilorians agree, had fuffercd more
hard (hips than aiiy ordinary adventurer,
had fou;:!:ht more battles than mod o-enc-
rals, and was the moP: voluminous author
of his day *. And, if it fhouid be aficed
by what means a fingle individual could
accompUfn fuch a variety of projects, the
anfwer is fimply this : It was in a good
meafure by an art of which little account
is m.ade, bat which is perhaps of more im-
portance in a fovereign than almofh any
other, at lead: it is one without which the
brightefl: genius is often of little value, a
Jlrid cdconomy of time.

Between the earlier life of Alfred and
that of Charles II. there was, as muft be
obferved, a fhriking fimilarity. The paths
of both to the throne were equally marked

* See the charafter of Alfred in Hume, from
which the preceding part of this account, in fub-
ftancc, is chiefly taken.

by

173 ENGLISH HISTORY.

by fuch Imminent dangers and " hair-
breadth 'fcapes/* as more refemble ro-
mance than authentic hiftory. What a
leflbn had Alfred prepared for Charles !
But their charaders as kings, exhibited
an oppofition which is as flrong as the re-
femblance in their previous fortunes. With
an underftanding naturally good, with that
education which Alfred wanted, — with
every advantage which an improved flate
of fociety could give over a barbarous one ;
fuch, notwithflanding, was the uniform
tenor of the Stuart*s fubfequent hfe, as
almofl to prefent the idea of an intended
contrail to the virtues of the illuflrious
Saxon.

Another epoch to which the pupil's at-
tention fhould be pointed, is the turbulent
and iniquitous reign of King John ; whofe
oppreffion and injuflice were, by the excefs
to which they were carried, the providen-
tial means of roufmg the Englifh fpirit,
and of obtaining the eftablifhment of the
great charter. This famous tranfaftion, fo

defervedly

INCLISH HISTORY. 1 73

defervedly interefting to Englifhmen, be-
ftoweci or fecured the mod valuable civil
privileges ; chiefly indeed to the barons and
clergy, but alfo to the people at large. The
privileges of the latter had, antecedently,
been fcarcely taken into the account, and
their liberties, always imperfect, had fuf-
fered much infringement by the introduc-
tion of the feudal law into England under
the Norman William. For, whether they
were vaiTals under the Barons, or vaiTals
under the King it made little difference
in their condition ; which was, in fad, to
the greater part, little better than a ftate
of abfolute flavery. The barons, liberal,
perhaps, through policy rather than huma-
nity, in ftruggling for their own liberty,
were compelled to involve in one common
intereft, the liberty of the people ; and the
fame laws which they demanded to fecure
their own proteftion, in fome meafure
neceflarily extended their benign influence
to the inferior claflTes of fccicty. Thofe
immunities, which are elTential to the well-
14 being

274 ENGLISH HISTORY.

being of civil and focial life, gradually
became better fecured. Injuftice was re-
flraincdj tyrannical exaclions were guarded
againft, and oppreiiioh was no loneer
fanctioned. This famous deed, \vithout
any violent innovation, became the mound
of property, the pledge of liberty, and the
guarantee of independence. As it guarded
the rights of all orders of men, from the
iowefl to the highcil, it was vigoroufiy
contended for by all ; for, if it limited the
power of the King, it alio confirmed it, by
fecuring the allegiance and fidelity of the
fubjecl:. — It v^-as of incilimable ufe by giv-
ing a detei-minate form and fhape, " fuch
a local habitation and a name," to the
fpirit of liberty ; fo that the Englifh, when,
as it often happened, they claimed the re-
co^rnition of their len^al risfhts, were not
left to wander in a wide field, without
having any fpecific object, without limitation,
and without direction. They kneiv what
to a^c for, and, obtaining that, they were
fatisfied. We furely cannot but be fenfible
5 of

ENGLISH HISTORY. IJ $

of the advantages which they derived from
this circuraftance, who have feen the eiFedts
of an oppofite fituation, m this very |>arl:icu-
br, illuflrated fo flrikingly in the earlier
period of the French revolution.

But, rapidity of progrefs feems, by the
very laws of tiaturc, to be precluded, where
the benefit is to be radical and permanent.
It was not^ therefore, until our pafiion for
making war within the territory of France
was cured, nor until v/e left off tearing the
bowels of our own country in the dilfen-
fions of the Ycrkifls and LancaftrianSj
after having, for near four hundred years,
torn thofe of our neighbours ; in a word,
it was not until both foreign and civil fury
began to cool, that in the reign of Henry
VII. the people began to enjoy more real
freedom, as the King enjoyed a more fettled
dominion, and the interefts of peace and
commerce fubftantialiy prevailed. — With-
out afcribing to this king virtues which he
did not pofiefs, the view of his reign, with
all its faults, affords a kind of breathing

time^

iy6 ENGLISH HISTORY.

time, and fenfe of repofe. It is from this
reign that the hiftory of the laws, and civil
conftitution of England become interefling;
as that of our ecclefiaftical conftitution does
from the fubfequent reign. A general ac-
quaintance with the antecedent part of our
hiftory may fuffice for the royal pupil, but
from thefe periods fhe cannot polTefs too de-
tailed a knowledge of it.

CHAP.

^U£EN ELIZABETH* I//

CUAF, XIII.

Oueen Elizabethc

It is remarkable that in France, a nation
in which women have always been held in
the higheil confideration, their genius has
never been called to, its loftieft exercife.
France is perhaps the only comitry which
has never been governed by a woman. The
mothers, however, of fome of her fovereigns,
when minors, have, during their regencies,
Blanche of Caftile * efpecially, difcovered
talents for government not inferior to thofe
of mod of her kings.

Anne of Auftria has had her eulogifts ;
but in her character there feems to have
been more of intrigue than of genius, or at
lead, than of found fenfe ; and her virtues
were problematical. If her talents had fome
fplendor, they had no folidity. They pro-
duced a kind of ftage effecl, which was im-
pofmg, but not efficient ; and fhe was rather

• Mother of Louis IX.

VOL. I. N an

jyS QUEEN ELIZABETH.

an adrefs of royalty than a great queen.
She was not happy in the choice of a friend.
The fource of all Mazarin's greatnefs, fhe
fupported him with inflexible attachment,
and eflabliflied him in more than regal
power. In return, he treated her with re-
fped as long as he flood in need of her pro-
tedion, and fet her afide when her fupport
was become no longer neceffary to his con-
firmed power.

The bed queens have been moft re-
markable for employing great men.
Among thefe, Zenobia, Elizabeth, and
Anne fland foremofl. Thofe who wilh to
derogate from the glories of a female reign,
have never failed to urge, that they were
owing to the wifdom of the minillers, and
not to that of the queen j a cenfure which
involves an eulogium. For, is not the
choice of fagacious miniflers the charac-
teriilic mark of a fagacious fovereign ? —
Would;, for inftance, Mary di Medici have
chofen a Walfmgham ; fhe who made it
one of the firll ads of her regency to
banifh Sully, and to employ Contini ? Or,

L-9 did

QUEEN ELIZABETH. 179

did it ever enter into the mind of the firfl
Mary of England to take into her councils
that Cecil, who fo much diflinguifhed him-
felf in the cabinet of her fifter ?

Elizabeth's great natural capacity was,
as has been before obferved, improved by
an excellent education. Her native vigour
of mind had been early called forth by a
feries of uncommon trials. The circum-
fpedion fhe had been, from childhood,
obliged to exercife, taught her prudence.
The difficulties which befet her, accuftomed
her to felf-control. Can we, therefore,
doubt that the fteadinefs of purpofe, and
undaunted refolution which fhe manifefted
on almoft every occafion during her long
reign, were greatly to be attributed to
that youthful difcipline ? She would pro-
bably never have acquired fuch an afcend-
ency over the mind of others, had fhe not
early learned fo abfolute a command over
her own.

On coming to the crown, (he found
herfelf furrounded with thofe obflacles
which difplay great characters, but overfet

N 2 ordinary

I So QUEEN ELIZABETH-.

ordinary minds. The vnfc work of the
reformation, which had been undertaken by
her brother Edward, but cruflied in the
very birth, as far as was within human
power, by tlui bigot Mary, was refumed
and accomphflied by Elizabeth ; and that,
not in the cahn of fecurity, not in the
fulnefs of undifputed power, but even
while that power was far from being con-
firmed, and that fecurity was habie, every
moment, to be fhaken by the mofl alarming
commotions. She had prejudices, appa-
rently infurmountahle, to overcome ; Ihe had
heavy debts to difcharge ; fhe had an almoft
ruined navy to repair ; flie had a debafed
coin to reftore ; fhe had empty magazines
to fill ; Die had a decaying commerce to
invigorate ; fhe had an exhauftrd exchequer
.to replenilli. — All thefe, by the bleflmg of
God on the ftrength of her mind, and the
wifdom of her councils, (he accomplifhed.
She not only paid her own debts, but, withr
out any great additional burdens on her fub-
jefts, fhe difcharged thofe alfo which were
due to tJ^e people from her two immediate
^ri_-:o predecef-

QUEEN ELIZABETH. l8x

predecefTors. At the fame timej flie foftered
genius, flis encouraged llteraturej flie attrdft-
ed all the great talents of the age within the
fphere of her own activity. And, though
fhe conftantly availed herfelf of all the judg-
- ment and talents of her miniff-ers, her ac-
quiefcence in their measures was that of
conviftion, never of imphcit confidence.

Her exact frugality may not, by fuper-
ficial judges, be reckoned among the fhining
parts of her character. Yet, thofe who fee
more deeply, mull allow, that it was a
quality from which the mod important
banefits were derived to her people ; and
without which, all her great abilities would
have been comparatively inefficient. The
parfimony of her grandfather was the
rapine and exaction of an extortioner >
hers, the wife ceconomy of a provident
parent. If we are to judge of the value of
actions by their confequences, let us com-
pare the eftedts upon the country, of the
prodigality, both of her father, and of
her fucceilor, with her own frugality. As

M 3 it

iSa QITEEN ELIZABETH.

it has been aflerted by Plutarch*, that
the money idly thrown away by the
Athenians on the reprefentations of two
dramatic poets only, amounted to a larger
fum than had been expended on all then-
wars againfl the Terfians, in defence of
their liberty; fo it has been affirmed,
that the iirfl James fpent more treafure
on his favourites, than it had coil Elizabeth
to maintain all her wars. Yet, there
have not been wanting hiftorians, who
have given the praife of liberality to James,
and efpecially to Henry, while Elizabeth
has fuffered the imputation of avarice.
But we ought to judge of good and evil,
by their own weight and meafure, and
not by the fpecious names which the
latter can aflume, nor by the injurious
terms which may be beftowed on the
former.

It is not from the fplenetic critic in
retired life, from the declaimer, ignorant

* In his enquiry whether the Athenians were more
eminent in the arts of war or peace,

of

gUEEN ELIZABETH. I g^

of the duties and the requifitions of princes,
that we fliould take our fentiments on the
point of royal ceconomy ; but from men,
who, however poflefling different characters
and views, yet agree in this one refpeft,
that their exalted public fituations, and
great perfonal experience, enable them to
give a fair and found opinion. The judg-
ment even of the Emperor Tiberius was not
fo impaired by his vices, but that he could
infift, that an exchequer, exhaufted by pro-
digality, muft be replenilhed by oppreflion.
Cicero, verfed in public bufmefs, no lefs than
in the knowledge of mankind, affirms, that
" a liberal prince lofes more hearts than
he gains, and that the refentment of thofe
from whom he takes the money, is much
flronger that the gratitude of thofe to
whom he gives it.*' And, on another
occafion he fays, that " men are not aware
what a rich treafury frugality is." The fame
fentiments feem to have been adopted by
another Roman ftatefman, a royal favourite
too, Pliny affirms, that ** a prince will

N 4 be

l84 QUEEN ELIZABETH.

be pardoned, who gives nothing to his fub-
je6ts, provided he takes nothing away from
them.'-

Thofe princes, who, defpifmg frugality,
have been prodigal for the fake of a Httle
temporary applaufe, have feldom achieved
lafling good. And, allowing that this
iavifh generofity may be for the moment a
popular quality j yet, there is fcarcely any
thing which has contributed to bring more
calamities on a ftate, than the means ufed for
enabhng the prince to indulge it. It was not
in Rome alone, as recent inflances teftify,
that when the government has wanted
money, the rich have been always found
to be the guilty. A prodigal generofity, as
we have feen in the cafe of Csefar, and in
our own time, may be a ufeful inflrument
for paving the way to a throne ; but an
eftablifhed fovereign will find oeconomy ^
more certain means of keeping him in it.
The Emperor Nero was extolled for the
felicity which he was diffufvng by his
bounty, while Rome was groaning under

th^

OUEEN ELIZABETH. 185

ihe burthen of his exactions. That libe-
rality which would make a prince neceili-
tous, and a people poor, would, by hurting
his fame, weaken his influence ; for repu-
tation is power. After all, fuch a care and
improvemient of the revenue, as will enable
him to fpare his fubjecls, is the truefl libe-
rality in a prince.

But, to return. — The diftinguifhing qua-
lities of Elizabeth appear to have been
oeconomy, prudence, and moderation. Yet
in fomc inftances, the former was rigid,
not to fay unjull*. Nor had her frugality
always the pureft motive. She was, it is
true, very unwilling to trouble parliament
for money, for which, indeed, they were ex-
tremely unwilling to be troubled ; but her
defire to keep herfelf independent of them
feems to have been the motive for this for-
bearance. What fhe might have gained in
fupplies (lie muft have loft in power.

To her moderation and that middle line

♦ Particularly her kf eping the fee of Ely vacant
nineteen years, in order to retain the revenue.

of

1 86 QUEEN ELIZABETH.

of conduct which ftie obfcrved, much of
her fuccefs may be afcribed. To her mo-
deration in the contefts between paplfts and
puritans, it is chiefly to be attributed, that
the reformation iflfued in a happier medium
in England, than in any other country. —
To her moderation, in refpe6: to foreign
war, from which fiie was fmgularly averfe,
may be afcribed that rapid improvement at
home, which took place under her reign.-r-
If we were to eflimate Elizabeth as a private
female, fhe would doubtlefs appear entitled
to but little veneration. If as an inftrument
raifed up by divine Providence to carry
through the moft arduous enterprifes in the
moft difficult emergencies, we can hardly
rate her too highly. We owe her much as
Englifhmen. As Proteftants, what do we
not owe her ? If we look 9.t the woman, we
{hall fee much to blame ; if at the fovereign,
we fhall fee almofl every thing to admire.
Her great faults, though they derogated
from her perfonal character, feldom deeply
affeded her adminiflration. In one in^

itance

QUEEN ELIZABETH. 187

ftance only, her favourltlfm was prejudicial
to the {late ; her appointment of Leicefter
to the naval command, for which he was
utterly unfit. — On many occafions, as we
have elfe where obferved, her very paffions
fupplied what was wanting in principle.
Thus, her violent attachments m.ight have
made her indifcriminately lavifh, if they
had not been counteracted by that parfimo-
nioufnefs which never forfook her. Ac-
cordingly, in the midft of her lamentations
for the death of Leicefter, we fee her grief
did not make her forget to feize his goods,
and to repay herfelf for what fhe had lent
him.

Our cenfures, therefore, muft not be loft
in our admiration, nor muft our gratitude
warp our judgment. And it may be ufeful
to inquire how it came to pafs that Eliza-
beth, with fo much power, fo much pru-
dence, and fo much popularity, fhould at
length become completely miferable, and
jiie, negle<5tcd and forfaken, her fun fetting

injjlo-

I 83 QUEEN ELIZABETH.

mgidrioufly after fo blight a day of prof-
perity and honour.

May we not venture to attribute it to
the defedivenefs, not to fay, unfoundnefs,
of her moral principles ? I'hough corrupt
principles for a certain period may conceal
themfelves, and even dazzle, by the fuccefs
of the projects to which, in the view of fu-
perficial reafoners, they may have appeared
conducive ; they will, in a long courfe of
aclion, betray their intrinfic weaknefs.
They may not entirely have prevented the
public good effefts of other ufeful qualities
with which they were aflbciated ; but
they do moil fatally operate againfl the
perfonal honour of the individual ; and
againft her reaping that harveft of gratitude
and refped, to , which fhe might otherwife
have been fo juftly entitled.

Vanity was, too probably, the fpring of
fome of Elizabeth's moft admired actions ;
but the fame vanity alfo produced that
jealoufy, which terminated in. the death of

Mary.

QUEEN ELIZABETH. _ IS9

Mary. It was the fame vanity which led
her firll to court the admiration of EiTex,
and then to fuffer him to fall a victim to
her wounded pride. Her tem.per was un-
controlled. While we pardon her igno-
rance of the principles of liberty, we fhould
not forget how little fne refpeded the pri-
vileges of parliament, claiming a right of
imprifoning its very members, without
deigning to give any account of her pro-
ceedings.

Policy was her favounte fcience, but in
that day a liberal policy was not underftood ;
and Elizabeth was too apt to fubfdtute both
Emulation and diiEmulation for an open and
generous conduct. This diffimulation at
length lofl: her the confidence of her fubjeft?,
and while it infpired her with a diflrufl, it
alfo forfeited the attachment, of her friends.
Her infnicerity, as was natural, infeded thofe
around her. The younger Cecil himfelf
was fo far alienated from his royal millrefs,
and tainted with the prevailing fpirit of in?,
trigue, as to be fecretly correfponding with
her rival James.

That

190 QUEEN ELIZABETH.

That fuch mortifying occurrences were
too likely to arife, from the very nature of
exifting circumftances, where the dying
prince was the lafl of her race, and the
nearly vacant throne about to be poffefled
by a ftranger, mufl affuredly be allowed. —
But it may flill be aflerted, that nothing
but deficiency of moral charafter could
have fo defolated the clofmg fcene of an
illuftrious princefs. Real virtue will, in
every rank, draw upon it difmterefled re-
gard ; and a truly virtuous fovereign will
not be /hut out from a more than ordinary
fhare in this general blelTmg. It is honour-
able to human nature to fee the dying Wil-
liam prefling to his bofom the hand of
Bentinck ; but it will be ftill more confo-
latory as v/ell as inflru6tive to compare,
with the forfaken death-bed of Elizabeth^
the exemplary clofmg fcene of the fecond
Mary as defcribed by Burnet, an eye-witnefs
of the afFeding event which he relates^.

CHAP,

MORAL ADVANTAGES FROM, &C. I9I

CHAP. XIV.

Moral Advantages to be derived from the
Study of Hi/iory, independent of the Exatn-
pies it exhibits. — Hijtory pro'ves the cor-
ruption of Human Nature. — // demonftrates
the fuper intending Power of Providence — ■
iihijlrated by hijhinces.

X HE knowledge of great events and
fplendid characlers, and even of the cuf-
toms, laws, and manners of different na-
tions ; an acquaintance, however accurate,
with the flate of the arts, fciences, and
commerce of thofe nations, important as is
this knowledge, mull not however be con*
fidered as of primary importance in the
fludy of hillory. There are ftill higher
ufes to which that fludy may be turned.
Hiflory furniflies a flrong practical illuftra-
tion of one of the fundamental dodrines
of our religion, the corrapdon of human

nature-

192 MORAL ADVANTAGES FROM

nature. To this truth it conflantly bears
witnefs by exemplifying It under every Ihape,
and fliade, and colour, and gradation : the
annals of the world, indeed, from its com-
mencement to the prefent hour, prefenting
h'ttle elfe than a flrongly interwoven tiffue
of thofe corruptions, and their attendant
calamities.

Hiflory every where proves the helpleffnefs
and natural inability of nan, the infufficiency
of all fuch moral principles as can be derived
fi-om nature and experience ; the neceflity
of explicit inrtru6tion refpecling our true
happinefs, and of divinely communicated
flrength in order to its attainment ; and
confequently, the inconceivable worth of
that life and immortality, which are fo fully
brought to light by the Gofpel.

That reader looks to little purpofe over
the eventful page of hiflory, who does not
accuflom himfeif to mark therein the finger
of the Almighty, governing kings and
kingdoms ; prolonging or contrading the
duration of empires ; tracing out before
6 hand.

THE STUDY OF HISTORY. 193

hand, |n the unimpeachable page of the
prophet Daniel*, an outline of fucceffive
empires, which fubfequent events have
realized with the moil critical exa£lnefs ;
and defcribing their eventual fubfervience
to the fpiritual kingdom of the Meffiah,
with a circumftantial accuracy which the
well-informed Chriflian, who is verfed in
Scripture language, and whofe heart is
interefled in the fubjeft, reads with un-
utterable and never-ceafmg aftonifhment,

* The parts of the book of Daniel chiefly alluded
to, are Nebuchadaezzar's dream and Daniel's inter-
pretation of it, in the 2d chapter; and his own
vifion of the four beads, in the 8th. Thefe two paf-
fages alone, preferved as they have been, by the molt
inveterate enemies of Chriftianity, amount to an iire-
fragable demonftration that our religion is divine.
One of the moft ancient and moft learned oppofers of
Revelation is faid to have denied the poffibility of
thefe prophecies having exifted before the events.
But we know they did exift, and no modern infidel
Jarei to difpute it. But, in admitting this, however
they may take refuge in their own inconfequence of
mind, they inentably, though indireiSlly, allow tne
truth of Chriftianity.

VOL, I. O It

194 MORAL ADVANTAGES FROM

It Is, in fad, this wonderful correfpondence
which gives its highefl: value to the more
ancient half of the hifloric feries. What
would it profit us, at this day, to learn from
Xenophon, that the AlTyrian monarch had
fubjugated all thofe countries, with the ex-
ception of Media, which fpread eaftward
from the Mediterranean, if it were not
that, by this ftatement, he confirms that
important portion of facred and prophetic
hiflory ? And to what folidly ufeful purpofe
would the fame hiflorian*s detail of the tak-
ing of Babylon be applicable, if it did not
forcibly as well as minutely, illuftrate the
almoft equally detailed denunciations of the
prophet Ifaiah ? It was partly for the pur-
pofe of elucidating this correfpondence
between facred prophecy and ancient hif-
tory ; and (hewing, by how regular a
providential chain the fucceffive empires
of the ancient world were conneded with
each other, and ultimately with Chrlftianity,
tl^at the excellent Rollin compofed his
well-known work : and the impreflion,

which

*rHE STUDY O^ HISTORV. I95

which his refearches left upon his own
mind, may be feen in thofe fublimely
pious remarks with which his laft volume
^is concluded*

A careful perufal of the hiftorical and
prophetical parts of Scripture will prepare
us for reading prophane hiflory with great
advantage. In the former we are admitted
within the veil. We are informed how the
vices of nations drew down on them the
wrath of the Almighty ; and how fome
neighbouring potentate was employed as
the inflrument of divine vengeance. How
his ambition, his courage, and military
Ikili were but the means of fulfilling the
divine prediction, or of inflifting the divine
punifhment. How, when the mighty con-
queror, the executioner of the fentence of
Heaven, had performed his afligned talk,
be was put afide, and was himfelf, perhaps,
in his turn, humbled and laid low. Such
are the familiar incidents of hiftoric and
prophetic Scripture. But, in addition to the
ftock of knowledge which we receive from

o 2 thence.

196 MORAL ADVANTAGES FROM

thence, we fliall have learned in the divine
fchool to little purpofe, if we do not find
the benefit of our fludies in the general im-
preffion and habits of mind which we de-
rive from them ; if we do not open our eyes
to the agency of Providence in the varying
fortunes of nations, and in the talents, cha-
raaers, and fates of the chief adors in the
great drama of life.

Do we read in the prophetic page the
folemn call and defignation of Cyrus ? —
Let us learn to recognize no lefs, as the
inflrument of the Almighty, a Guftavus,
and a Marlborough ! Are we many hun-
dred years before, informed by Him who
can alone fee the end from the beginning,
of the military exploits of the conqueror of
Babylon, and the overturner of the AlTyrian
empire ? — Let us learn to refer no lefs to
that fame All-difi^ofing Power, the viftories
of Liitzen and of Blenheim, the humilia-
tion of Auftrian arrogance, and of French

ambition.

Another

10

THE STUDY OF HISTORY. I97

Another important end of the iludy of
o-eneral hiflory, diflind from that which
has juft been mentioned, but by no means
unconnefted with it, is the contemplation
of divine wifdom and goodnefs, as exercifed
in gradually civilizing the human race,
through the inftrumentality of their owa
agitation. In this view the mind of the
pupil ihould be particularly led to obferve
that myfterious, yet molt obvious operation
of Providence, by which, through fuccef-
five ages, the complicated chaos of human
a"-ency has been fo over-ruled as to make
all things work together for general good :
the hoftile colllfion of nations being often
made conducive, almoft in its immediate
confequences, to their common benefit,
and often rendered fubfervient to the gene-
ral improvement, and progreffive advance-
ment of the great commonvt-ealth of man-
kind.

If this view, refpeding the world at large,
(hould be deemed too vail for fatisfadory

o 2, con-

198 MORAL ADVANTAGES FROM

confideration, it may be limited to that
part with which we are mofl nearly con-
neded ; and to which it is hardly too bold
to fay, that Divine Providence itfelf has,
during the latter ages of the world, feemed
to dire<El its chief attention — I mean the
Continent of Europe. Let it fmiply be
afked, what was the flate of this Continent
two thoufand years ago ? The anfwer mufl
be — from the Alps to the Frozen Ocean,
a moral as well as phyfical wildemefs. —
That the human powers were formed for
extended exercife, and in fome fenfe for
boundlefs improvement, the very con-
templation of thofe powers is fufficient to
evince. But that improvement had not
then begun, nor was the froft of their
dreariell winter more benumbing than that
in which their minds had been for ages
locked wp. To what then but a regular
defign of Providence can we attribute the
amazing change? And it is doubtlefs the
partj no lefs of religious gratitude than of
philofophical curiofity, to inquire into the

feries

THE STUDY OF HISTORf. 1 99

feries of inflrumental caufes by which the
transformation was effefted. This interefl- ^
ing and moft in{lru<5live intelligence is con-
veyed to us by hiftory. We mark the flow
but fteady developement of the wife and be-
nevolent plan. We fee the ambition of
Rome breaking up the foil with its refiftlefs
plough-fhare, and fcattering even through
thefe Britifli ifles the firfl feeds of civilization.
We fee the northern invaders burfl forth
with irrefiftibie violence, bringing back,
to all human appearance, the former defola-
tion ; but, in reality, conducing, though
with an operation like that of lava from a
volcano, to a richer harveft of fecial and
civil happinefs. We fee all that was really
valuable fpring up again afrefh, mingled
with new principles of utility and comfort ;
and above all, quickened and enriched by
the wide-fpread influences of a pure and
heavenly religion. We fee the violent
pafTions providentially let loofe, when it
was neceffary for fociety to be roufed from
^ pernicious torpor. — We fee an enthufiaf-

o 4 tic

JOO MO^AL ADVANTAGES FROM

tic rage for conquefts in Afia, inducing aii
activity of mind, and enlargement of view,
out of which eventually grew commerce, li-
berty, literature, philofophy, and at length,
even religious reformation. In brief, if in
our perufal of hiftory, we take true wifdom
for our guide, we fhall not only be in-
ftruded by that gracious progreffivenefs
which is difcernible in pad events, but,
notwithftanding the awful concuffions of
the prefent period, we fliall learn to trufl
Almighty wifdom and goodnefs for what is
to come. And we fliall be ready to indulge
the hope of a yet greatly increafed hap-,
pinefs of mankind, when we confider, that
the hand which brought us from barbarifm
to our prefent circumflances is flill over us;
p— that progreflion to flill better habits is
equally pofTible, and equally neceffary ; and
that no means were rendered more condu-
cive to fuch progrefs, in the period which is
palTed, than the agitations of the fame awful
and afflictive kind which we are now doomed
to contemplate.

It

THE STUDY OF HISTORY. 201

It will be feen that the fame infinite
wifdom often permits human evils to ba-
lance each other, and in fubfervience td
his grand purpofe of general good, not only
fets good againfl evil, but often, where the
counterading principle of religion feems
wholly fufpended, prevents any fatal pre-
ponderance in the fcale of human affairs,
by allowing one fet of vices to counter-
balance another, — Thus, focieties, which
appear, on a general view, to have almolt
wholly thrown oiF the divine government,
are ftill preferved for better things, or per*
haps, for the fake of the righteous few,
who ftill remain in them, by means of
thofe exertions v/hich bad men make from
felfifh motives ; or by the vigilance with
which one party of bad men watches over
another. The clafh of parties, and the
oppofition of human opinion, are like wife
often over-ruled for good. The compages
of the public mind, if we may ufe fuch a
term, are no lefs kept together, than the
component parts of matter, by oppofite
, tcndencieSf

202 MORAL ADVANTAGES FROM

tendencies. And, as all human agents
are nothing but the inftruments of God,
he can with equal efficacy, though doubtlefs
not with the fame complacency, caufe the
efFefts of evil paflions to be counteracted
by each other, as well as by the oppofite
virtues. For inftance, were it not for indo-
lence and the dread of difficulty and danger,
ambition would deluge the world in blood.
The love of praife, and the love of indul-
gence, affifl, through their mutual oppofi-
tion, to keep each other in order. Avarice
and voluptuoufnefs are almoft as hoftile to
each other, as either is to the oppofite
virtues ; therefore, by pulling different
ways, they contribute to keep the world in
equipoife. Thus, the fame divine hand,
■which had fo adjufted the parts and pro-
perties of matter, as that their apparent
oppofition produces, not difruption, but
harmony, and promotes the general order,
has alfo conceived, through the a£lion and
counteradion of the human mind, that no
jar of pallion, no abufe of free agency,

Ihall

THE STUDY OF HISTORY. 203

fliall eventually defeat the wife and gracious
purpofes of heaven.

For an illuftration of thefe remarks, we
fcarcely need go farther than the charac-
ter of our own heroic Elizabeth. Her
paffions were naturally of the flrongell
kind ; and it mufl be acknowledged, that
they were not always under the control of
principle. To what then can we fo fairly
afcribe the fuccefs which, even in fuch
inftances, attended her, as to the effeft of
one ftrong paiTion forcibly operating upon
another ? Inclinations which were too vio-
lent to be checked by reafon were met
and counteraded by oppofite inclinations
of equal violence ; and through the direc-
tion of providence, the paffion finally pre-
dominant was generally favourable to the
public good.

Do we then mean to admit, that the

Almighty approves of thefe excefles in

iodividuals, by which his wifdom often

-i^rorks for the general benefit ? God forbid.

Nothing furely could be lefs approved by

him,

204 MORAL ADVANTAGES FROM

him, than the licentioufnefs and cruelty of
our eighth Henry, though He over-ruled
thofe enormities for the advantages of the
community, and employed them, as his-
inftruments for refloring good government,'
and for introducing, and at length eila-
blilhing, the reformation. England enjoys
the ineftimable bleffing, but the monarch
is not the lefs refponfible perfonally for his
crimes. We are equally certain, that God
did not approve of the infatiable ambition
of Alexander, or of his incredible acquifi-
tion of territory by means of unjufl wars.
Yet, from that ambition, thofe wars, and
thofe conquefts, how much may the con-
dition of mankind have been meliorated?
The natural humanity of this hero, which
he had improved by the ftudy of philofophy
under one of the greatefl mafters in the
world, difpofed him to turn his conquefts
to the benefit of mankind. He founded
feventy cities, fays his hiftorian, fo fituated
as to promote commerce and diifufe civili-
zation.

THE STUDY OF HISTOPvY. 205

zatlon. Plutarch* obferves, that had thofe
nations not been conquered,' Egypt would
have had no Alexandria, Mefopotamia no
Seleucia. He aifo informs us, that Alexander
introduced marriage into one conquered
country, and agriculture into another ;, that
one barbarous nation, which ufed to eat
their parents, was led by him to reverence
and maintain them ; that he taught the Per-
fians to refpecl, and not to marry their mo-
thers ; the Scythians to bury, and not to eat
their dead.

There was, on the whole, fomething {^o
extraordinary in the career of this monarch,
and in the refults to which it led, that his
hiftorian Arrian, amidil all the darknefs of
Paganifm, was induced to fay, that Alex-
ander feemed to have been given to the;
world by a peculiar difpcnfation of Provi-
dence.

Did the fame juft Providence approve of
the ufurpation of Auguftus over his fallen

* Quoted by Gillies, vol. iii. p. 385".

country C

2o6 MORAL ADVANTAGES FROM

country ? No — but Providence employed it
as the means of reftoring peace to remote
provinces, which the tyrannical republic
had fo long harafled and opprefTed ; and
alfo, of eftabliihing a general uniformity of
law, and a facility of intercourfe between
nation and nation, which were fignally fub-
fervient to the diffufion of that divine re-
ligion, which was fo foon to enlighten and
to blefs mankind;

To adduce one or two inftances more,
where thoufands might be adduced. — ^Did
the Almighty approve thofe frantic wars,
which arrogated to themfelves the name of
hohj ? Yet, with all the extravagance of the
enterprize, and the ruinous failure which
attended its execution, many beneficial
confequences, as has been already inti-
mated, were permitted, incidentally, to grow
out of them. The Crufaders, as their hillo-
rians demonftrate*, beheld in their march
countries in which civilization had made

* See efpecially Robertfon's State of Europe.

a greater

THE STUDY OF HISTORY. SO/

a greater progrefs than in their own.
They faw foreign manufactures in a ftate
of improvement to which they had not
been accuftomed at home. They perceived
remains of knowledge in the Eaft, of which
Europe had almoft loft fight. Their native
prejudices were diminiihed in witneffing
improvements to which the ftate of their own
country prefented comparative barbarity.
The firft faint gleam of light dawned on
them, the firft perceptions of tafte and ele-
gance were awakened, and the firft rudi-
ments of many an art were communicated
to them, by this perfonal acquaintance with
more polifhed countries. Their views of
commerce were improved, and their means
of extending it were enlarged.

It is iicarcely neceffary to add, that the
excefs to whiel) the popes carried their
ufurpation, and the Romifti clergy their
corruptions, was, by the Providence of
Godj the immediate eaufe of the reforma-
tion. The taking of Conftantinople by
the Turks, though, in itfelf, a moft de-

7 plorable

208^ MORAL ADVANTAGES FROM

plorable fcene of crimes and calamities,
became the occafion of mofl important
benefits to our countries, by compelling
the only accompliflied fcholars then in the
world to feek an afylum in the weftern
parts of Europe. To thefe countries they
carried with them the Greek language,
which ere long proved one of the providen-
tial means of introducing the moil: important
event that has occurred fnice the firfl efta-
blifliment of Chriflianity.

May we not noiu add to the number of
inftances in which Providence has over-ruled
the crimes of men for good, a recent
exemplification of the dodtrine, in the am-
bition of that perfon, who, by his unjuil
afTum.ption of imperial power in a neigh-
bouring nation, has, though uninten-
tionally, almofl annihilated the wild outcry
of falfe liberty, and the clamour of mad de-
mocracy ?

AH thofe contingent events which lie
without the limits and calculation of human
forefight J all thofe variable loofe uncer-
tainties

THE STUDY OF HISTORY. 20Q

tainties which men call chance, has God
taken under his own certain difpofal and
abfokite control. To reduce uncertainty
to method, confuuon to arrangement, and
contingency to order, is folely the preroga-
tive of Almighty power.

Nothing can be further from the inten-
tion of thefe remarks, than to countenance,
in the flighted degree, the doftrine of opti-
mifm in the fenfe in which it was maintained
by Mr. Pope. Far be it from the writerp
to intimate that the good, which has thus
providentially been produced oiit of evil, is
greater than the good, which would have
been produced had no fuch evil been .eom-«
mitted ; or to infinuate, that the crimes of
men do not diminifh the quantity of good
which is enjoyed. This would, indeed, be
to fumifh an apology for vice. That God
cpji and does bring good out of eyil, is un=
queflionably true ; but to affirm, that he
brings more, or fo much good out of evil
as he would have brought out of good, had
good been pradifed, woul^ b^ indeed a
dangerous pofition.

VOL, h P If,

2IO MORAL ADVANTAGES FROM

If, therefore, God often " educes good
from ill," yet man has no right to count
upon his always doing it, in the fame
degree in which he appoints that good fhall
be productive of good. To refume the
illuftration, therefore, from a few of the
initances already adduced j what an ex-
tenfive bleffing might Alexander, had he
afted with other views and to other
ends, have proved to that world, whofe
happinefs be impaired by his ambition, and
whofe morals he corrupted by his example !
- — How much more effeftually, and imme-
diately, might the reformation have been
'promoted, had Henry, laying afide the
blindnefs of prejudice, and fubduing the
turbulence of paffion, been the zealous
and confiflent fupporter of the Proteflant
caufe; the virtuous hufband of one vir-
tuous wife, and the parent of children all
educated in the found principles of the
reformation ! — Again, had the popes effec-
tually reformed themfelyes, how might the
unity of the church have been promoted ;

and

THE STUDY OF HISTORY. 211

and even the fchifms, which have arlfen ui
Proteflant communities, been diminifhed ! It
would be fuperfluous to recapitulate other
inflances ; thefe, it is prefumed, being
abundantly fufficient to obviate any charge
of the mofl diftant approach towards the
fatal dodrine of NecelTity.

P 2

CHAP.

ai2 DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERS

CHAP. XV.

On the dtflingidjhing CharaSiers of Chriji-

ian'ity.

X. HE great leading truths of Scripture
are few in number, though the fpirit of
them is diffufed through every page. —
The being and attributes of the Almighty ;
the fpiritual worlhip which he requires ;
the introdudion of natural and moral evil
into the world ; the reftoration of man ;
the life, death, charadler, and offices of the
Redeemer ; the holy example he has given
us ; the divine fyflem of erhics which he
has bequeathed us ; the awful fanflions with
which they are enforced ; the fpiritual
nature of the eternal world ; the neceffity
of repentance ; the pardon of fm through
faith in a Redeemer ; the offer of divine
affiilance ; and the promife of eternal life.
The Scripture defcribes a multitude of
perfons who exemplify its truths j whofe

lives

OF CHRISTIANITY. 21^

lives bear teflimony to the perfection of
the divine law ; and whofe characters,
however clouded with infirmity, and fubjedt
to temptation, yet, ading under its authority
and influence, evince, by the general tenor
of their condudt, that they really embraced
religion as a governing principle of the
heart, and as the motive to all virtue in
the life.

In forming the mind of the royal pupil,
an early introduction to thefe Scriptures,
the depofitory of fuch important truths, v*^ill
doubtlefs be confidered as a matter of prime
concern. And, as her mind opens, it will
be thought necelTary to point out to her,
how one great event led to another ftill
greater ; till at length we fee a feries
accomplifhed, and an immovable founda-
tion laid for our faith and hope, which in-
cludes every eflential principle of moral
virtue and genuine happinefs.

To have given rules for moral conduct
might appear, to mere human wifdom, the
apteft method of improving our nature.

P 3 And,

214 DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERS

And, accordingly, we find fuch a courfe
generally purfued by the ancient mo-
ralifls, both of Greece and Afia. Of this,
it is not the lead inconvenient refult, that
rules muft be multiplied to a degree the
mofl burthenfome and perplexing. And
there would be, after all, a neceffity for
Inceffant alteration, as the rules of one age
could not be expected to correfpond with
the manners of another. This inconve-
nience might, perhaps, in fome degree be
avoided, by entailing on a people an un-
deviating famenefs of manners. But, even
when this has been effefted, how oppref-
fively minute, and how difguitingly trivial
are the authorzied codes of inflruction ! Of
this, every freih tranflation from the moral
writings of the Eaft is an " exemplification ;
as if the mind could be made pure by over-
Ipading the memory !

It is one of the perfeftions of revealed
religion, that, inftead of multiplying rules,
it eflabliflies principles. It traces up right
conduQ: into a few radical difpofitions,

which.

OF CHRISTIANITY. 215

which, when once fully formedj are the
natural fources of correfpondent temper
and acLion. To implant thefe difpofitions,
then, is the leading objed; of what we may-
venture to call the Scripture philofophy.
And as the heart mud be the feat of that
which is to influence the whole man, fo it
is chiefly to the heart that the holy Scrip-
tures addrefs themfelves. Their obje<Sl is
to make us h-ve what is rights rather than
to occupy our underfl:aiidings with its
theory. Knowledge puffeih up^ fays one of
our divine inflirudors, but it is Love that
edifieth. And the principle which is here
aflTumed, will be found mofl flirictly true,
that if a love of goodnels be once thorough-
ly implanted, we fliall not need many
rules ; but we fhall act aright from what we
may almofl: call a noble kind of inflind.
" If thine eye be fmgle," fays our Saviour,
" thy whole body fliall be full of light.'*
Our religion, as taught in the Scripture,
does J in this very inft:ance, evince its
heavenly origin. St. Paul, whofe peculiar

p 4 pro-

2l6 DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERS

province It feems to have been, to explaifiji
as it V7ere fcientifically^ the great dodrines
of his mafter, gives us a definition of
Chriflianity, which out-does at once in
brevity, in fullnefs, and even in fyftematic
exaftnefs, all which has been achieved in
the art of epitomizing, by the greatfeft
.inafters of human {deuce,—- Failb ivhicB
workcth by love.

It is not too much to affirm, that this
exprellion fubflantially contains the whole
fcope and tenor of both Teftaments ; the
fubilance of all morahty, and the very hfe
.and foul of human virtue and happinefs.
A want of attention to what St. Paul means
bv faiths too L^cnerallv makes the fenfe of
the palTage be overlooked. But the well-
directed fludent will difcern, that St. Paul
aiTumes exactly what has been intimated
above, that God's objecl in Revelation is
not merely to convey his ivill, but alfo to
hianifefl hmfelf ; not merely to promulgate
laws for retraining or regulating condudtj
fciit to difplay his own nature and attributes^

fo

Oi CHRISTIANITVi H'/

to as to bring back to himfelf the hearts
and affections of fallen man ; and that,
accordingly, he means by faith, the effec-
tual and impreflive apprehenfion of God,
thus manifefled. In his language, it is
not a notion of the intelled, nor a tradition
coldly refiding in the recolledlion, which
the Scriptures exhibit, but an actual per-
fuafi«*n of the divine realities. It is, in
fliort, fuch a conviftion of what is revealed,
as gives it an eiHcacy equal, for every prac-
tical purpofe, to that which is derived
through the evidence of our fenfes.

Faith, then, in St. Paul's language, is
religion in its fmiplefl, inward principle.
It is the deep and efficacious impreflion,
which th(t manifellation of God, made to
us in the Scripture, ought in all reafon to
produce in our hearts ; but which it does
not produce until, in anlwer to cur earneft:
prayerj his holy Spirit " opens, as it were,
*' our hearts," to receive the things which
are thus prefented to our minds. When
the unfeen realities of religion are able to

do

2l8 DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERS

do more with us than the tempting objeds
of this vifible world, then and not before,
is the divine grace of faith really formed
v/ithin us.

That this is the fcriptural idea of faith,
will appear at once, from a perufal of that
moft interefling portion of Scripture, the
eleventh chapter to the Hebrews. The
definition, with which the chapter com-
mences, ftates this precife notion : — " Faith
is the fiihJlanUation of things hoped for,
the demorijlrat'wv, of things not feen *.*'
And the inftances adduced are mofl fatis-
faftory exemplifications. " By faith, Noah,
being w^arned of God of things not feen as
yet, being moved with fear, prepared an
ark," &:c. " By faith, Mofes forfook
Egypt, not fearing the WTath of the king,
for he endured as feeing him who is invi-

* I thus venture to fliycngthen the expreiHons in
the authorized tranflaticn, in orucr to convey feme
clearer idea of the orii'inal terms, v.hich, as the bell
critics allow, have, perhaps, a force to which no
Enghfa words ran do juftice.

fible.'-*

OF CFIRISTIANITY. 219

lible." " With the heart," fafs St. Paul,
'* man believeth unto righteoufnefs ;" that
is, when the infinitely awful and inexpref-
fibly engaging views of God, manifeiting
himfelf in the Scripture, as our Creator,
Redeemer, and Sandifier, really and ef-
fedualjy imprefs themfelves on cur hearts,
fo as to become the paramount principle
of inward and outward conduct ; then, and
not before, we are, in the Scripture fenfe,
believers. And this faith, if real, mull
produce love ; for, when our minds and
hearts are thus impreflcd, our affeftions
mull: of neceffity yield to that imprcffion.
If virtue, faid a heathen, could be feen
with human eyes, what aftonilhing love
would it excite in us 1 St. Paul's -divine
faith realizes this very idea. If Mofes
^' endured Tisfeemg him who is invifible," it
could only be, becaufe, in feeing God, he
beheld what filled up his whole foul, and
fo engaged his hopes and fears, but, above
all, his love, as to raife him above the low
allurements of the world, and the puny

menaces

■226 DISTINGUISHING CHARACTEfl<>

menaces of mortals. It is faid of him,
that " he accounted even the reproach of
Chrifl greater riches than the treafures of
Egypt ;'* a preference which imphcs the
ftrorgeft affeBion^ as well as the deepeft
convidion. Flis cafe, then, clearly illuf-
trate what St. Paul fays oi faith working
by love ; his apprehenfion of God being
fo deep and lively, as to fix his fupreme
love on that fupreme excellence, which
was thus, as it were, vifible to his mind ;
the current of his temper, and the courfe
of his adions, followed this paramount
direction of his heart.

The Scripture then, in reality, does not
fo much teach us how to be virtuous, as,
if we com.ply with its iiltention, a&ually
makes us fo. It is St. Paul's argument
through the Epiflle to the Romans, that
even the mod perfed code of laws which
could be given, would fall infinitely ihort
of our exigencies, if it only gave the rules,
without infpiring the difpofition.

The

OF CHRISTIANITY. 221

The law of Mofes had afforded admirable
moral precepts, and even the fages of the
heathen world had found out many ex-
cellent maxims ; but, an infpiriting prin-
ciple, by which men might be made to love
goodnefs as well as to know it, was that
of which the Gentiles, and, in fome mea-
fure the Jews alfo, flood in need. And
to furnifli this principle by infpiring fuch
a faith in God, as mufl produce love to
God, and, by producing love to God,
become operative in every fpecies of virtue,
is avowedly the fupreme objed of the
Gofpel of Chrill.

And, therefore, it is, that the Scripture
reprefents to ms facts, and dodtrines founded
on fads rather than theories ; becaufe fads
are alone fitted to work on the heart. In
theories, the underftanding ads for itfelf ;
in apprehending fads, it ads fubferviently
to the higher powers of the foul, merely
furnifliing to the affedions thofe objeds for
which they naturally look ; and diftinguifh-
ing falfe and fedudive appearances from

4 real

22^ DISTINGUISHING CHARACTER*

real fources of delight and comfort. In
this way the facred Scriptures make the
fulleft ufe of our rational powers, uniformly
prefenting fuch faQ:s, as grow clearer the
more feverely they are examined : com-
pletely fatisfying our underftandings, as to
their aptnefs to the great purpofe of work-
ing on our hearts, and, on the whole mak-
ing our religion as reafonable, as if, like
mathematical truth, it had been exclufively
addrefled to our intellect ; while its influ-
ence on the rightly difpofed heart gives
fuch an inward proof of its divinity as no
merely rational fcheme could, in the nature
of things, polTefs.

*Let, then, the royal pupil be carefully
taught, that Chriflianity is not to be examin-
ed, nor the facred Scriptures perufed, as if
they were merely to be believed, and remem-
bered, and held in fpeculative reverence.
But, let it rather be imprcflfed upon her^
that the holy Scriptures are God's great,
means of producing in her heart, that awe
of his prefence, that reverence of his ma-

jefty.

OF CHRISTIANITY, 223

jelly, that delight in his infinite perfedions,
that pra(5lical affedionate knq,wledge of the
only true God, and of Jefus Chriil whom
he has fent, which conllitutes the rejl., the
peace, thejirength, the light, the confolafion
of every foul which attains to- it. Ltt her
be taught to regard the oracles of God,
not merely as a light to'^ guide her fteps,
but, as a facred fire to animate and invigo-
rate her inmoft foul. A purifying fiame,
like that upon the altar, from whence the
feraph conveyed the coal to the lips of the
prophet, who cried out, " Lo ! this hath
touched my lips, and mine iniquity is taken
away, and my fin is purged."

That fear of God, which the Scripture,
when ufed as it ought, never fails to in-
fpire, is felt by the poffelTor to be eflential
wifdom ; and that love of God, which it is
no lefs fitted to excite, is equally acknow-
ledged by him v/hom it influences, to be
at once eflential virtue, and eflential hap-
pinefs ; and both united, are found to be
that pure element in which rational intelli-
1 3 gences

224 DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERS

gences are formed to live, and out of
which they muft ever be perturbed and
miferable.

But, to make the Scripture thus effica-
cious, it muft be ftudied according to the
will of him who gave it. It is faid of our
Saviour in the inftance of his difciples, —
" Then opened he their under ftandings, that
they might underftand the Scriptures ;''
and it is faid of Lydia, Saint Paul's firft coa-f
vert at Philippi, " That the Lord opened
her heart, to attend to the things which
were fpoken of Paul." We read of others
of whom it is obferved, " The Gofpel was
preached, but it did not profit them, be-
caufe it was not mixed with faith in then;
that heard it.'* What follows ? evidently,
that the Scripture, to be read effe£lually,
muft be read devoutly 5 with earneft and
conftant prayer to him whofe word it is,
that he would fo imprefs it on our hearts,
by his good fpirit, that it may indeed be-
come the power of God unto falvation.
" If any man lack wifdom let him afk it of

OF CHRISTIANITY. 225

God," fays St. James, " who giveth to all
men iiberaliy, and upbraideth not, and it
fliall be given him."

But, one grand peculiarity of Chrifti-
anity remains to be menlion'ed, — l^hat it
addreffes us not mer<:;'' ^-. /is ignorant, but
as prejudiced and corrupt ; as needing not
merely inftruction, but reformation. This
reformation can be accompKilied, thefe
prejudices and thefe corruptions can be
removed, only by divine power. It is a
new creation of the foul, requiring no
lefs than its original formation, the hand
of the divine artificer. " The natural
man receiveth not the tilings of the fpirit
of Cod; they are fooHfhnefs unto him."
God mufl reveal them by his fpirit j
he mult produce the difpofition to receive
ihem.

To this end no kind of previous knov/-
Icdge is more conducive than the know-
ledge of ourfelves as fallen, depraved, and
helplcfs creatures; and, therefore, abfolutely
requiring fome fuch gracious interpofition
VOL. I. Q in

226 DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERS

in our favour, as that which the Scripture
offers. Exaftly as the malady is felt, will'
the remedy be valued ; and, confequently,
no inftruftion can be more indifpenfable for
the royal pupil, than that which tends to
imprefs on her mi . 1, that in this refped fiie
ftands on a level with the meaneft of her
fellow-creatures. That, from the natural
corruption of every human heart, whatever
amiable qualities an individual may poffefp,.
each carries about with him a root of bitter-
nefs, which, if not counteracted by the
above means, will fpread itfelf through the
whole foul, disfigure the character;^ and
diforder the life ; that this malignant
principle, while predominant, will admit
but of a fhadov/y and delufive femblance
of virtue, which temptation ever difiipates,
and from which the heart never receives
folid comfort. Who can enumerate the
hourly calamities which the proud, the felf-
willed, the voluptuous, are infliding on
themfelves ; which rend and lacerate the
bofom, while no eye perceives it ? Who

8 can

OF CHRISTIANITY. 227

can exprefs the daily difappointments the
alternate fever and laffitude of him, whofe
heart knows of no reft, but what this dijt-
ordered world can afford ?

Who then is happy ? lie alone, whether
prince or fubjed:, who, through the power-
ful and falutary influence of revealed reli-
gion on his heart, is fo iraprefled with things
invifible, as to rife fuperior to the viciffitudes
of mortality : who fo believes and feels what
is contained in the Bible, as to make God
his refuge, his Saviour his truft, and true
pra£lical holinefs the chief objedt of his
purfuit. To fuch a one his Bible, and his
clofet, are a counterpoife to all the trials
and the violence to which he may be ex-
pofed. " Thou Ihalt bide them privily,'*
fays the Pfalmift, " by thine own prefence,
from the provoking of all men ; thou flialt
keep them fecretly in thy pavilion from the
ftrife of tongues."

Q 3 CHAP.

228 SCRIPTURE EVIDENCES

^ CHAP. XVL

Qn the Scripture E-vidences of Chr'ijlianltj.--'
The Chrljllan Religion peculiarly adapted
io the Exigencies of Man ; and efpecially
calculated to fupply the Defeds of Heathen
Philofophy,

Xf' Chriftlanlty were examined with atten-
tion and candour, it would be found to
contain irrefiPdble evidence of its divine
origin. Thofe who have formed continued
trains of argument in its fupport, have, no
doubt, often effecled very valuable purpofes ;
but it is certain, that conviction may be
attained in a much fimpler method. In
fa£t^ it would imply a very reafonable
charge againfl Chriflianity, if its proofs
v/ere of fuch a nature, that none but
icholars or philofophers could feel their
conclufivenefs. "^

A book

OF CHRISTIANITY. 229

A book exifts in the world, purporting
to contain the authentic records, and au-
thoritative principles of the one true reli-
gion. It is obvioufly the work not of one
perfon, or of one age. Its earliefl pages,
on the contrary, are^ beyond all fober quef-
tion, the moil ancient writings in the
world ; while its later parts were confelTedly
compofed at a time much within the limits
of hiftoric certainty ; a time indeed, with
which we are better acquainted than with
any other period in the retrofped of ancient
hiftory ; and which, like a diflant eminence
brightly illuminated by the rays of the fun,
is diitin6tly feen, while intermediate_tracls
are involved in impenetrable mill.

Againfl the authority of this mofl in-
terefling volume, numberlefs objeftions
have been railed. But, who has yet clearly
and fatisfadorlly fliewn how its exiftence,
in the form it bears, can be rationally ac-
counted for, on the fuppofition of its fpu-
rioufnefs ? That a feries of records origi-
nating^ fo variouflv both as to time, occafion,

Q 3 and

230 SGRIPTURE EVIDENCES

and circumflance, fhould involve fome
obfcurity or difficulty, or even in fome in-
ftances, apparent incongruity, is furely no
caufe of wonder : and, that thefe fhould
be dwelt upon and exaggerated, by perfons
hoftile to the principles which the volume
contains, and v/hich its truth would efta-
blifh, is mojft natural. But, which of thcfg
objectors has ever been able to fubflitute a
f)rfi:em lefs liable to-objeclion? Have any
of them given a fatisfadory foludon of
the unparalleled difnculties which clog
their hypothefis ? Which of them has even
attempted fully to explain the fimple phas-
nomenon of fuch a volume being in the
world, on the fuppofition of fabrication or
impofture ?

This book divides itfelf into two great
portions, the firll containing the account of
a preparatory religion, given to a fmgle
nation j the latter defcribing the completion
of the fcheme, fo far as to fit this religion
for general benefit, and unlimited diffufion.

Refpecting

OF CHRISTIANITY. 2'll

Refpecting the lirft great portion, which
we call the Old Teflament, the leading
features appear peculiarly linking. In.
this book alone, during thofe ages, was
maintained the firil great truth, of there
being only one living and true God ; which,
though now fo univerfally acknowledged,
was then unconceived by the politefl nations,
and moft accompliflied philofophers. -And
refpecling both portions of this book, but
efpecially the latter, known by the name of
the New Teftament, this no lefs interefting
remark is to be made, that, in every ellen-
tial point, nearly the fame view is taken of
man's weaknelTes and wants, of the nature
of the human mind, and what is necelTary
to its eafe and comfort, as is taken by the
wifefl heathen philofophers ; with this mod:
Important difference, however, that the
chief good of man, that pure perennial men-
ial happinefs, about which they fo much
difcourfed, after which they fo eagerly
panted, but of which they fo confelfedly

Q 4 failed,

232 SCRIPTURE EVIDENCES

failed, is here fpoken of fubflantially, in
their notion of it, as a bleffing ad:ually
fopjjed, and the feeling of it defcribed in
fuch language as bears, fo far as it is pof-
fible for human expreffions to bear, the flamp
of confcious truth and unfophifticated nature.
May we be allowed, in this connexion,
to give a fuperficial {ketch of the defefts
in the fyftem of the ancient philofophers ?
The belief in a life to come was confined
to a few, and even in them this behef was
highly defeftive. Thofe who alTerted it,
maintained it only in a fneculative and
fceptical way ; and it v/ould not be eafy to
produce an inflancc of their ufmg any
doclrine of rewards and punifliments in a
future ftate, as their inftrument in promoting
■virtue. They decorated their fyilem with
beautiful fayings, on the immortality of the
foul ; but they did not fupport it upon this
bafis. There was, therefore, no foundation
to their fabric. Poetry, indeed, had her
Elyfium and her Tartarus. It appears,

howeverg

OF CHRISTIANITY. 233

however, that the philofophy of Greece and
Rome, in proportion as it advanced, dimi-
niflied the ftrength of the impreffion which
the poets had made on the minds of the
vulgar ; and thus the very religion of the.
fages tended to leflen among the people the
fenfe of a future refponfibility.

The ancient philofophers had no idea of
Vfc'hat we defignate by the name of the grace
Old mercy of God. They had fome con-
ception of his bounty, of his providential
care, of all his natural perfeftions ; and of
fome even of his moral excellencies ; for
example, of his benevolence and juftice.
But their united wifdom never framed a fen-
tence like that in which the true God was
revealed to Mofes : " The Lord, the Lord
God, merciful and gracious, forgiving ini-
quity, tranfgreffion, and fm, and that will
by no means clear the guilty.'* It is on
this part of the character of God, that the
Scripture is fo abundantly full. This ig-
norance of the mercy of God affociated
itfelf in the Heathens, with much other

religious

234 SCRIPTURE EVIDENCES

religious and moral biindiiefs. From this
ignorance, that God v/as merciful, their
only means of perfuading themfelves that
they were in his favour, was to alTume that
they were upright. And, who can eftimate
the moral confequences of an habitual effort
to repi^efent to ourfelves aii our own ac-
tions, as not having any of the guilt of
iin^ and as not impeaching our claims to
the juflice of the Almighty ? The lofty fen-
timent, that they were themfelves a fpecies
of Gods, was fometimes reforted to, at once
as a fource of felf-complacency, and as the
fuppofed means of virtue. The Stoic af-
feded to rife fuperior to the temptations of
the body, to foar above all fenfe of guilt,
and all dread of pain, by the aid of an ex-
travagant, and almoil atheiflical fentiment,
which was oppofite to common-fenfe, and
fubverfive of all true humility, a quality
which is the very bafis of Chriftian virtue.
He was his own God : for he affumed to
himfelf to be able, by his own flrength, if

he

OF CHRISTIANITY. 235

he would but exert it, to triumph over
fortune ; in other words, over Providence,
over pain, fear, and death itfelf; and to
rife, by the fame ftrength, into a participa-
tion of the nature of the Eternal. Thus,
as an eminent wriLcr has obferved, '• thofe
who endeavoured to cure voluptuoufnefs,
reforted to pride as the means of virtue/*
In the latter ages, indeed, not a few appear
to have been at once elated by Stoical pride,
and diffolved in Epicurean luxury.

Their doftrine even of a Providence,
connefted as it was with the merelv rnun-
dane fyftem, led to much mifconception of
the nature of true morality, and to grofs
fuperllition. From ignorance of future re-
tribution, they imagined that virtue and
vice received their exaO; recompence bere.
They were religious, therefore, even to
fuperftition, in afiuming the exiftence of
providential interferences in the cafe of the
commiffion of palpable crimes ; and they
were tempted to efteem thcfe adiions, how-
ever

2^6 SCRIPTURE EVIDENCES

ever finful, to be no oJ3:ences againft God,
which God did not mark by fome temporal
puniiliment *.

Such appear to have been fome of the
chief deficiencies of the heathen fyflem ; a
fyllem which flrongly points out the want
of fuch a hght as that which the Gofpel
affords. T he philofophers themfelves feemed
confcious of fome great defe£l, and thus the
very revelation which Chriftianity has fur-
niilied, fupplied all that was neceffary to
man, and comes recommended by the ac-
knowledged occafion for it.

How ftriking are the peculiarities, how
obvious the fuperiority, which, even on a
firft attentive perufal, fill the mind of the
ferious reader of the Scripture ! But what
infidel writer has fo much as taken its
moft obvious fads into fober confidera-
tion ? who has attempted to explain how

* A ftriking inftance of this difpofition to abufe
tlie do£lrine of Providence, was exhibited in the fpeech
of Nicias to his loldiers, after they were defeated at
Syracufe.

the

OF CHRISTIANITY, 23/

the writers of the Old Teflainent fhould
diiFer as they have done from all the
writers in the world, not only in maintain-
ing fo pure a theology, but in connefting
with it a national hiflorv, throuo^h which
that theology paffes as a chain, binding
together and identifying itfelf with their
whole fyflem, civil and religious ? This
hiftory, involving fupernatural events, may
be a reafon why the wilful infidel lliould
rejed it without examination. But let him
who pretends to candour, attentively con-
fider thefe records, and try if he can pro-
jecb even an outline of Jewifh hiftory, from
which thofe miraculous interpofitions fhall
be confiftently excluded. There are fads
in this narration which cannot be difputed :
the Jews nccefTarily having a hiftory as
well as other nations. Let the fober infidel,
then, endeavour to make out for them an
hypothetic hiftory, in which, leaving out
every thing miraculous, all the felf-evident
phzcnomena fliall be accounted for with
philofophic plaufibihty. If this be pofTible,
Q why

238 SCRIPTURE EVIDENCES

why has it not been attempted ? But if this
be really impradicable, I mean, if thefe
events do aftually fo make up the body of
their national hiftory, that no hillory
would be left, if they were to be taken
away ; then let • fome farther theory be
devifcd, to explain how a hiftory, thus ex-
clufivcly ftrange^ fhould fland connected
with a theology as exclufively true ? Let
the fober deifl: prove, if he can, that it
was unworthy of the God of nature to
diflinguifh, by fuch extraordinary inter-
ferences, that nation, which alone, of all
the nations of the earth, acknowledged
him ; or let him feparate, if he be able,
that national recognition of the true God
from their belief of thofe diflinguifhing in-
terpofitions. If they alone acknowledged
the rightful fovereign of the univerfe, who
believed that that fovereign had fignally
manifefted himfelf in their behalf, can the
deift fhew that the belief of the events
was not effential to the acknowledgment
of the fuppofed author of them ? Or will

he

OF CHRISTIANITY, £39

he affert, that the eflabliihment of fuch a
truth amongft that people, who have fmce
actually communicated it to fo many other
men, perhaps to all, deifts not excepted,,
who really do embrace it ; I fay, will he
foberly alTert that fuch a purpofe did not
jufcly and conuilcntly warrant the very kind
of interpofition, v/hich the Jcwifli hillor)-
prefents ?

But let the honeft infidel, if fuch there
be, take further into the account the
manner in which the maintaiaers of tha
one true God have asSled upon that be-
lief. Let him examine the principles ol
the Jewifn mcrdlijis^ and fee where elfe,
in the ancient world, the genuine interells
of virtue are fo practically provided for.
Let him read the fublime and mofi: cordial
effufions of the Old Teflament poefs, and
fay, where elfe the Author of Being, and
of all good, is fo fully recognized, or fo
fuitably adored ? Let him confider the
expoflulation of the prophets, and the lelf-
criminaling records of the bi/lofian, and

find

240 SCRIPTURE EVIDENCES

find for them any fhadow of parallel in
the hiftory of mankind. Let the man of
ge?iius obferve how the minds of the writers
were elevated, on what a ftrong and Heady
pinion they feared. Let the man of virtue
refle£l how deeply their hearts were en-
gaged ; and let the man of /earning com-
pare what he reads here with all that has
come from Heathen poets, fages, or law-
givers ; and then, let it be foberly pro-
nounced, whether it is conceivable that all
this lliould exift, without fome adequate
caufe, and, whether any caufe can be fo
rationally afTigned, as that which their ve-
nerable lawgiver has himfelf expreffed, in
terms the mofl critically appofite, and the
mod unaifecledly impreffive ? " Afk now,"
fays he, "of the days that are paft, which
" were before thee, fmce the day that God
" created man upon earth ; and afk from
*' the one fide of heaven to the other, whe-
" ther there hath been any fuch thino- as
" this great thing is, or hath been heard
" like it ? Did exor people hear the voice

"of

<(

OF CHRISTIANITY. 24I

^' of God, fpeaking out of the midft of
" the fire as thou haft heard, and live?
*' or has God alTayed to go and take him a
*' nation from the midft of another nation,
by temptations, by figns, and by won-
ders, and by war, and by an out-ftretched
arm, and by great terrors, according to
" all that the Lord your God did for you,
in Egypt, before your eyes ? Unto thee
it was fhewn that the Lord He is God ;
** there is none elfe befide him. Know,
** therefore, this day, and confider it in
" thine heart, that the Lord He is God ;
" in heaven above, and upon the earth be-
" neath, there is none elfe."

If fuch be the inevitable conclufion re-
fpedlng the Old Teftament, how much
more irrefiftible muft be the impreftion
made by the New ! The peculiarity which
was adverted to above, ought, even in the
eye of a philofophical inquirer, to engage
deep attention. I mean, that that to which
heathen fages pointed, as the only valuable
object of human purfuit, is, in this wonder-
voi.. I. R. ful

242 SCRIPTURE EVIDENCES

ful volume, defcribed as matter o{ pojfef'
fion. Here, and here only, amongft all
the records of human feelings, is happincfs
ferioufly claimed, and confiflently exempli-
fied. To the importance of this point,
witnefs is borne by every w^ifh which a hu-
man being forms, and by every figh which
heaves his bofom. But, it is a fadl, per-
haps not yet fufficiently adverted to, that
at no period do heathen fages feem fo
flrongly to have felt the utter inefficiency
of all their fchemes for attaining this
cbjefl:, as at the period when the light of
Chriflianity diffufed itfelf through the earth.
Cicero, that brighteil of Roman lumina-
ries, had not only put his countrymen in
polfeffion of the fubllance of Grecian wif-
dom, to which his own rich eloquence gave
new force and luftre, but he had added
thereto the deep refults of his own obferva-
tions, during a life of the mod diverfified
experience, in a period the moft eventful.
And, to this point, he uniformly brings all
his difquifitions, that man can only be

happy

OF CHRISTIANITY. 243

v>>

happy by a co?iqueJi over himfelf ; by fome
energetic principle of wifdom and virtue
fo eflablifhed in his bofom, as to make
him habitually fuperior to every wrong
paflion, to every criminal or weak defire,
to the attraftions of pleafure, and the
fhocks of calamity. But it was not Cicero
only, who reded in this conclufion: Horace,
the gayeft of the Latin poets, is little lefs
explicit in his acknowledgm.ent, that man
lliould then only find eafe when he had
learnt the art of jlying^ in a moral fenfe^ from
himfelf.

To the fentiment of a great philofopher
and poet, let us add that of a no lefs emi-
nent hiftorian. Polybius fays, " It feems
*' that men, who, in the praftice of craft
*' and fubtilty, exceed ail other animals,
" may, with good rcafon, be acknowledged
" to be no lefs depraved than theyj for
" other animals are fubfervient only to the
** appetites of the body, and by them are
'* led to do wrong. But men, who have
** alfo fentiment to guide them, are guilty

R a *' of

244 SCRIPTURE EVIDENCES

" of ill conduft, not lefs through the abule
" of their acquired reafon, than from the
" force of their natural delires *."

Although, therefore, the dodrine of
human depravity be, flriclly fpeaking, a
tenet peculiar to Revelation, fmce it is the
Bible alone which teaches how fm entered
into the world, and death, with all its
attendant woes and miferies, by fin; though
it is there alone that we difcover the ob-
fcurity and confufion which there is in the
underflanding of the natural man, the
crookednefs of his will, and the diforder of
his affections j though it is there alone
that we are led to the origin, and, blefled
be God, to the remedy of this difeafe, in
that renewal of our nature, which it is the
peculiar office of the holy Spirit to effect ;
yet, the wifer and more difcerning among
the heathens both felt and acknowledged,
in no inconfiderable degree, the thing itfelf.
They experienced not a little of the general

* Hampton's Polybiys, Book 17. p. 393.

weight

OF CHRISTIANITY. 245

weight and burthen of the efFeft, though
they were flill puzzled and confounded in
their inquiry after the caufe. And their
continual difappointment here was an ad.-
ditional fource of convidion, that the
malady, which they painted in the deepeft
colourings of language, did exift. They
feemed to have a perception, that there
was an objed: foniewhere, which might re-
medy thefe diforders, aid thefe infirmities,
fatisfy thefe defires, and bring all their
thoughts and faculties into a due obedience
and happy regulation. They had a dawn-
ing on their minds, that a capacity for hap-
pinefs was not entirely loft, nor the objeft
to fill and fatisfy it quite out of reach. In
fad, they felt the greatnefs of the human
mind, but they felt it as a vaft vacuity, in
which, after all, they could find nothing
but phantoms of happinefs, and realities of
mifery.

To thefe deep-toned complaints, in which
all forts and conditions of men united,
Chriftianity comes forward to make the

R 3 fir ft

£4^ SCRIPTURE EVIDENCES

firfl propofitions of relief. She recognizes
every want and weaknefs precifely as thefe
fages reprefented it ; and {lie confidently
offers the very rerAedy for which they fo
loudly called. Her profefled object is to
eftablilh, in the human mind, that collateral
principle of virtuous and happy fuperiority
to every thing earthly, fenfual, or felfifh, on
which philofophy had fo long fixed its
anxious, but hopelefs defires, and to which
alone it looked for real felicity.

In this view, then, Chriftianity refls her
pretenfions, not merely on hiflorical evi-
dences, however fatisfactory, nor on the fide-
lity of fuccefTive tranfcribers, however capa-
ble of proof J butj on a much more internal^
and even more conclufive title, its exqui-
fite correfpondence to the exigences of hu^
man nature, as illuflrated by the wifefl of
all ages and nations, and as felt by every
reflecting child of mortality.

Let, then, the deepeft fentiments of hea-
then philofophers and poets, refpeding
human nature, be difpalTionately compared

with

OF CHRISTIANITY. 247

with thofe expreffions of -our bleffed Sa-
viour, in which he particularly defcribes the
benefits to be enjoyed by his faithful fol-
lowers ; and let it be judged, whether there
is not fuch a correfpondence between what
they want, and what be profcjfes to bejlow,
as occurs in no other inflance in the intel-
lectual world. — Reji for their fouls, is what
they anxioufly fought : and, a burning
fever of the mind, in which corroding care,
infatiable defire, perpetual difappointment,
unite in torturing, is the malady of which
they uniformly complain. Is it not then
wonderful to hear our Saviour fo admirably
adapt his language to their very feelings ?
Come unto me,** fays he, " all ye that
labour, and are heavy laden, and I will
give you reJl. — Take my yoke upon you,
and learn of me, and ye fhall find rejl
to your fouls.** — " He that drinketh of
*' this water, fhall thirfl again,** intimating
by this very exprefTion, the infufHciency
of every thing earthly to fatisfy the mind,
<< but he that drinketh of the water that I

R 4 " iliaU

((

248 SCRIPTURE EVIDENCES

*' fhall give him, fhall never third ; but
'* the water that I fhall give, fliall be in him

a well of water fpringing up into everlafl-

ing life."

Whoever is acquainted with the lan-
guage of the ancient philofophers muil fee,
that in thefe exprellions our Saviour meets
their wifhes ; we do not mean to fay, that
they had or could have any right appre-
henfions of that preliminary abafement
which the Scripture calls repentance, and
which was to put them in poiTefFion of the
reft and peace for which they fought, and
which Chrift does adually beftow. We
do not mean to fay, that the pride of un-
alTifled nature could allov; them to fee
that they v/ere indeed objecls of pure
mercy on the part of God ; and that their
knowledge of themfelves, or of him, could
be fuch as to bring the real fpirit of their
wilhes to any adual coincidence with the
wonderful means, which God^ in his good-
nefs, had devifed to fatisfy ihem. Though
they did occafionally exprefs a feiifc of an

evil

OF CHRISTIAyiTY. 249

evil nature, and a wifh for relief from it,
yet who but the author of our religion
ever met thofe wifhes ? In what other in-
flance has a moral phyfician thus pledged
himfelf to relieve agonized human nature ?
If there be no fuch inflance, the conclufion
is inevitable : that Chriftianity, from the
deep importance, as well as the unrivalled
Angularity of its overtures, juftly claims
our mod ferious inquiry, whether what has
been thus promifed has been actually ac-
compHflied.

Chriftianity has amply provided for this
natural demand ; for it has been ordered,
that while the New Teftament contains
every principle neceflary for the attainment
of human happincfs, it fhould alfo give us
a perfed fpecimen of its own efficacy.
This we accordingly have in the fully deli-
neated character of the Apoftle St. Paul.
There is, perhaps, no human perfon in all
antiquity, of whofe inmoft feelings, as well
as outward demeanor, w^e are fo well
enabled to judge, as of this great Chriftian

teacher.

-350 SCRIPTURE EVIDENCES

teacher. The particulars refpeding him in
the Acls of the Apoftles, compared with,
and illuflrated by, his own invaluable
Epiflles, make up a full-length portrait' o|^
him, in which no lineament is wanting.
And, the wifdom of God, in this fmgle ar-
rangement;, has furniflied a body of evidence
in fupport, both of the truth and the efficacy
of our holy religion, which, when attentively
examined, will ever fatisfy the fmcere, and
filence the caviller.

The numberlefs minute and unobvious
coincidences between the narrative and the
Epiflles, have been fo illuftrated in a late
invaluable work *, as to make the authenti-
city of both matter of abfolute demonftra-
t'lon ; and, from fuch an inftance of Chriflian
influence, thus authenticated, the pretenfions
of Chrillianity itfelf may be brought to a
fummary and unequivocal tefl.

Was St. Paul, then, or was he not, an
exemplification of that nobly-imagined wife

* Paley's Horse Paulinie.

man»

OF CHRISTIANITY. £51

man, which the heathen philofophers had
pifturcd to themfelves, as the height of
human felicity ? Does he appear to have
found that reft, for which fages panted,
and which his divine Mafter purpofed to
beflow ? Did he poffefs that virtuous and
happy fuperiority to every thing earthly,
fenfual, and felfilh, which was acknowledged
to conftitute the very elTence of true philo-
fophy ? Let him that underftands human
nature read, and anfwer for himfelf.— -Let
him collect all that has been fpc^cen on this
fubje6t by Socrates or Plato, by Cicero or
Seneca, by Epi^letus or Marcus Antoninus,
and judge coolly, whether St. Paul does not
fabftantialiy exemplify, and, I may add, in-
fmitely out-do it all ?

Horace has celebrated the fortitude of
Regulus, in one of his mcft animated odes j
but it may mod foberly be alked, what was
tlio fortitude of this Pagan hero, when
compared with that which was unconfci-
oufly difplaycd by St. Paul in his way to
Jerufalem ? Regulus, we are told, would

not

252 SCRIPTURE EVIDENCES

not turn his eyes toward his wife or his
children. In his heroifm, therefore, he
fmks his humanity. Not fo our Apoflle ;
while he fears nothing for himfelf, he feels
every thing for thofe around him. *' What
" mean ye thus to weep, and to break my
" heart," fays he, " for I am ready, not
*' to be bound only, but to die at Jerufa-
*' lem, for the name of the Lord Jefus."
If this be not perfed magnanimity, where
was it ever exhibited ?

I will add but two Inflances. — One ex-
preffing the feelings which were habitual
to himfelf; the other defcribing that per-
fection of goodnefs, which he wifhed to
be purfued by others : and let the
learned infidel find, if he can;^ a parallel
for either. In fpeaking of himfelf, after
acknowledging an ad of friendfhip in thofe
to whom he writes, he fays, " Not as though
" I fpeak in refped of want, for I have
" learned in whatfoever flate I am, there-
'^ with to be content. I know both how
"to be abafed, and I know how to

" abound.

OF CMRISTIANITV. ^^^

"• abound. I am inftrucled both to be
" full and to be hungry, both to abound
" and to fuffer need. I can do all thino-s
*' through Chrift which flrengtheneth me."
What a teftimonial this to the faithful-
nefs of the offer of our Saviour, to which
we have already referred ! How ccnfum-
matelv does it evince, that when he en-
gaged to fulfil that deepeft of human de-
fires, the thirft of happinefs, he promifed
no more than he was infinitely able to
perform ! The ApoHle's exhortation to
others, is no lefs worthy of attention. —
" Pinally, brethren, whatfoever things are
" true, whatfoever things are honeft, what-
foever things are juft, whatfoever things
are pure, whatfoever things are lovely,
whatfoever things are of good report —
" If there be any virtue, if there be any
" praife, think on thefe things." In v^hat
human words did genuine moral feeling
ever more completely embody itfelf ? Are
they not, as it were, the very foul and body
of true philofophy ? But what philofopher,

before

254 SCRIPTURE EVIDENCES

before him, after fuch a leffon to his
pupils, could have dared to add the words
which immediately follow ? — " The things
" which ye have both learned and received,
*' and heard and feen in me, do, and the
" God of peace fhall be with you."

This is a moll imperfed portion of that
body of internal evidence, which even the
moft general view of Chriflianity prelTes
on the attentive and candid mind : and
■with even this before us, may it not be
boldly afked, what eife hke this has come
within human knowledge ? On thefe cha-
ra£ters of the gofpel then, let the infidei
fairly try his ftrength. Let him difprove,
if he can, the correfpondence between the
wifhes of philofophy, and the achievements
of Chriflianit*; or deftroy the identity of
that common view of man's chief good, and
pai'amount happinefs. Let him account, if
he can, for thefe unexampled congruities,
on any other ground than that of the truth
of Chriftianity ; or let him even plaufibly
dude the matter-of-facl evidence to this

truth.

OF CHRISTIANITY. 2^^

truth, which arlfes from St. Paul's cha-
ra»5len In the mean time, let the pious
Chriftian enjoy his fober triumph, in that
fyftem, which not in St. Paul only, but in all
its true votaries, in every age and nation, i£
has produced — " a hope full of immorta-
lity,"— " a peace which pafleth all under-
ftanding," — " a wifdom pure and peace-
able, gentle and eafy to be entreated, full
" of mercy and of good fruits, without
" partiality, and without hypocrify."

If any difficulty, attendiiig particular
doftrines of ChrifHanity, fliould prelent
itfelf ; it will be well firfl: to inquire, whe-
ther the doctrine in queflion be re^illy
Chriftian ? and this can only be determined
by a difpafllonate and impartial recurrence
to the Scriptures themfclves, particular! v
the New Teftament. Whatever is clearly
afferted there, follows inevitably from ilie
fftabhlhed divinity of that which contains
it. And in vvhat conceivable cafe can,
not only humility, but rational confiilency,
be more wifely cxerciled, than in receiv-

I o mg^

256 SCRIPTURE EVIDENCES

ing, without queflion, the obvious parts^
and then no doubt can be entertained
refpefting the whole. Happy had it been
for the Chriflian world, had this felf-
evident maxim been practically attended
to ; for then what difpute could polTibly
have ariien about — " that Word which
" was made flefh, and dwelt among us,
" being alfo God over all, blelTed for
" evermore ?" Or whether the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Ghoft, in whofe
name we are baptized, muft not be alike
effentially divine ? Or whether there <:an
be any mifconception in what the redeemed
in heaven make the fubjeO: of their eternal
fong : " that the Lamb, which was fiain,
*' had redeemed them to God by his blood,
" out of every kindred, and tongue, and
*' people, and nation ?"

That plain and fnnple readers think they
find each of tliefe doctrines clearly fet
forth In the facred volume, is a matter of
fact, authenticated by abundant evidence ;
and that, where thsy have been difputed,
3 thofe

,OF CHR,ISTIANiJV» ^57

Ahofe who have agreed in holding them,
Jhave evidently derived a deeper influence
from Chriflianitv, both as to the condudl of
their lives, and the comfort of their minds,
than thqfe who have rejeded them,---if it
could not be fubflantiated by innumerable
proofs, would be almoft felf-evident, on a
merely theoretic vie^y of the.two cafes. For
who ever derived either pradical flrength,
or mental comfort, from indulging a habi^
of metaphyfical difquifition ,? And who but
•fuch have, in any age of the ^church,
.queftioned the dodlrines qf our Saviour's
.divinity, the three-fold 4iftindion in the
divine nature^, or the expiatory efficacy of
,Ghrifl;*s one oblation of him f elf ^ 07ice offered fcr
the fins of the ivhole u^orld ?

The Scriptures are.fo explicit oji the Ufl-
mentioned great doftrine of our rejigion^
jthat we are not left to infer its truth an^
certainty, as we might almoft do from the
obvious exigences of human nature. Tha^
guilt is one of the deepeft: of the natura^l
.fteiings, will not be difputed j ajad, that

VOL. I. 3 ' ' the

258 SCRIPTURE EVIDENCES

the fenfe of guilt has been, in every age
and nation a fource of the deepeft horrors,
and has fuggefled even ftill more horrible
methods of appeafmg the perturbed mind,
can be queflioned by none, who is ac-
quainted, however flightly, with the hiftory
of the world. Atheifts in Pagan countries
have made this very fa£l the great apology
for their impiety, charging upon religion
itfelf the difmal fuperftitions, which ap-
peared to them to arife from it. And
Plutarch, one of the moft enlightened of
heathen moralifts, concludes that even
Atheifm itfelf is preferable to thai fuperfli-
tious dread of the gods, which he faw
impelling fo many wretched victims to
daily and hourly felf-torture. The fa6t is,
no mifery incident to man involves either
greater depth, or complication, than that
of a guilty confcience. — -And a fyftem of
religion, which would have left this unpro-
vided for, we may venture to pronounce,
would have been utterly unfuitable to man,

, and,

OF CHRISTIANITY. 2^g

and, therefore, utterly unworthy of the wif-
dom and goodnefs of God.

How appofitely then to this awful feel-
ing, does the dodrine of the atonement
come into the Chriflian fyftem ! How
aftonifhingly has even its general belief
chafed from the Chriflian world thofe fu«
perftitious phantoms with which Paganifm
ever -has been, and even at this day is,
haunted ! But above all, what relief has it
afforded to the humble penitent ! " This,^*
faid the pious Melandhon, " can only be
" underftood in conflids of confcience.'* It
is moft true. Let thofe, therefore, who
have never felt fuch conflicts, beware how
they defpife what they may yet be impelled
to refort to, as the only certain flay and
prop of their finking fpirits. '* It is a fearful
" thing," fays an infpu-ed writer, " to fall
•' mto the hands of the living God."
Againfl this fear, to what refource could
we trufl, but that which the mercy of God
has no lefs clearly revealed to us ? *' Seeing,

s 2 ** then

26o SCRIPTURE EVIDENCES^ &C.

<!* then, that we have a great high prieil
" that is paffed for us into the heavens,
" Jiefus tiie fon of God, let us hold fad our
** profeflion ; for we have not a high prieft
^' who cannot be touched with the feeling
*' of our infirmities, but was in all points
*' tempted like as v/e are, yet without fm.
"Let us, therefore, come boldly to the
*^ throne of grace, that we may obtain
** mercy, and find grace to help us in time
« of need."

CHAP.

ON -FLATTERY.- a6l

CHAP. XVH.

''fbe Ufe of Hijiory in teaching the Choice x)f
Favourites. — Flattery. — Our Tajie im-
proved in the Arts of Adulation. — The
Dangers of Flattery exemplified.

t .

JLT Is not from the hiflory of good princes

alone, that fignal inftrucllonmay be reaped.

The lives of the criminal and unfortunate,

commonly unfortunate becaufe criminal,

will not be read in vain* They are in-

fiirudlive, not only by detailing the perfonal

calamities with which the mifcondud was

followed 5 but by exliibiting that mifcondud

as the fource of the alienation of the hearts

of their fubjefts ; and .often as the remote,

fvmetimes as the immediate, caufe of civil

commotions and of ]^volutions.

But caution is to be learned not from

their vices only, but from their weaknelTes

and errors ; from their falfe judgements,

s 3 their

iSl ON FLATTERY.

their ignorance of human nature, theii*
narrow views arifnig from a bad education,
their judging from partial information, de-
ciding from infufed prejudices, and ading
6n party principles ; their being habitu-
ated to confider petty unconneded details,
inflead of taking in the great aggregate of
public concerns ; their imprudent choice of
minillers, their unhappy fpirit of favouritifm,
their preference of felfifli flatterers to difm-
terefled counfellors, and making the^aflb-
ciates of their pleafures the difpenfers of
juftice and the minifters of public affairs *.

'Tls by that clofe acquaintance with the
characters of men which hiflory fupplies,
that a prince muft learn how to avoid a
jealous Sejanus, a vicious Tigellinus, a cor-
rupt Spenfer and Gavaflon, a rapacious
Epfom and Dudley, a pernicious D*Ancre,
an ambitious Wolfey, a profligate Bucking-

* The Romans feem to have had juft ideas of the
(dgnity of charafter and office attached to the friend
of a 'prince by denominating him, not favourite, but
^rt'tceps cur ar Urn,

ham J

ON FLATTERY. 263

ham ; we allude at once to the minifter of
the firfl: James, and to the flill more profli-
gate Buckingham of the fecond Charles j a
tyrannical Richelieu, a crafty Mazarin, a
profufe Louvois, an intriguing Urfini, an
inefficient Chamillard, an imperious duchefs
of Marlborough, and a fupple Mafham.

Jiiftory prefents frequent inflances of an
inconfiflency not uncommon in human na-^
ture, — ^fovereigns the mod: arbitrary to their
fubjects, themfelves the tools of favourites.
He who treated his people with difdain, ancj
his parliaments with contempt, was, in turn,
the flave of Arran, of Car, and of Villiers.
His grandfon who boldly intrenched on the
liberties of his country, was himfelf govern*-
ed by the Cabal.

It may found paradoxical to afTert,
that in a period of fociety, when chara6lers
are lefs ftrongly marked, a fovereign is, in
fome refpeds, in more danger of chufmg
wrong. In our days, and under our con-
ftitution indeed, it is fcarcely poflible to err
fo widely, as to fele£l:, for miniflers, men

s 4

i^4 <^^ flatterV.

of fuch atrocious characters, as thofe whd
Tiave juft been held up to deteflation. The
Very improvement of fociety, therefore, has
can fed the qtieftJon to become one of a
muGh nicer kind. It is no longef a choice
between men^ whofe outward characters
€2chibit a monilrous difproportion to each
6ther. A bold oppreffor of jthe people,
the people would not endare. A violent
infringer on the conflitution, the parliament
\vould not tolerate. Biit flill out of that
clafs, from which the election muft be
. jnade, the moral difpofitions, the political
tendenciepj and the religious principles of
men fnay differ fo f^iaterially^ that the choice
Tnay ferioufly affeft, ^t once, the credit and
happinefs of the prince, and the welfare
of the country. The conduct of good and
bad men will always furnifh'no inconiider»
hble means of diftinction ; yet, at a time when
grofs and palpable enormities are lefs likely
to be obtruded, becaufe they are iefs likely
1o be endured, it is the more neceflary for
a prince to be able accurately to difcrimj-

nate

ON" flattery; . ^6^

kite the ihades of the charaders of public
men.

While, therefore, every tendency to art
or difTimulation fliould be reprobated, the
mod exact caution fhou4d be inculcated,
and the keencft difcemment cultivated, in
the royal education. All that can improve
the judgment, fharpen the penetration, or
give enlarged views of the hum^an mind>
fliould be put in exercife. A prince ihould
poffefs that fort of fight, which, while it
takes in remote views, accurately diftin-
guifhes near objefts. To the eye of the
lynx, which no minutenefs can elude, (hould
be added that of the eagle, which no bright-
nefs can blind, for whatever dazzles dark-
ens. He fhould acquire that jullnefs, as
tvell as extent of tnind, which fhould enable
him to ftudy the character of his enemies,
and decide upon that of His friends ; to pe-
netrate keenly, but not invidioufly, into the
Iflefigns of others, and vigilantly to fcruti'-
pize his own. His mind fliould be ftored.

nol

266 ON FLATTERY.

not with fhifts and expedients, but with
large and liberal plans ; not with flratagems,
but refources j not with fubterfuges, but
principles ; not with prejudices, but reafons.
He fhould treafure up found maxims to
teach him to aft confidently 5 be provided
with fteady meafures fuited to the probable
occafion, together with a promptitude of
mind, prepared to vary them fo as to meet
any contingency.

In no inftance will thofe who have the
care of forming the royal pupil find a furer
exercife of their wifdom and integrity, than
in their endeavours to guard the mind from
the deadly polfon of flattery. " Many
" kings,'' fays the witty South, *' have been
" deftroyed by poifon, but none has been
*' fo efficacioufly mortal as that drunk in
" by the ear."

Intelleftual tafte, it is true, is much re-
lined, fmce the Grecian fophift tried to cure
the melancholy of Alexander by telling
him, that, " Juftice was painted, as feated
*' near the throne of Jupiter^, to indicate

" that

ON FLATTERY. 26y

*' that right and wrong depended on the
*' will of kings ; all whofe adions ought to
" be accounted juft, both by themfelves
*' and others.**

Compliments are not now abfurd and
extravagant, as when the moft elegant of
Roman poets invited his imperial mafter
to pick out his own lodging among the
conftellations : nor, as when the bard of
Pharfalia offered to the Emperor his choice,
either of the fceptre of Jupiter, or the cha-
riot of Apollo ; modeftly affuring him, that
there was not a God in the pantheon, who
would not yield his empire to him, and
account it an honour to refign in his favour*
This meritorious prince, fo worthy to dif-
place the Gods, was Nero ! who rewarded
Lucan, not for his adulation, but for being
a better poet than himfelf, with a violent
death.

The fmooth and obfequious Pliny im-
proved on all anterior adulation. Not
content with making his Emperor the imi-
tator, or the equal of Deity, he makes him

a pattern

■. (

ft68 ON FLATTERY.

a patter^ for it ; protefting that " meii
*' needed to make no other prayers to the*

gods, than that they would continue to be

as good and propitious lords to them as

Trajan had been.'*

But the refined fycophant of modern
days is more likely to hide the aftual
blemiihes, an,d .to veil the real faults of a
prince from himfelf, than to attribute to
him incredible virtues, the afcription of
which would be too grofs to impofe on his
difcernment. There will be more danger
of a modern courtier imitating the delicacy
of the ancient painter, who, being ordered
to draw the portrait of a prince who had
•but one eye adopted the conciliating ex-
pedient of painting him in profile.

But if the modern flatterer be lefs grofs,
lie will be, on that very account, the more
dangerous. The refinement of his adula-
tion prevents the object of it from putting
himfelf on his guard. The prince is led,
perhaps, to conceive with felf-ccmplacency
ihat he is hearing the largurge of truth,

while

ON FLATTERY. 269

while he is only the dupe of a more ac-
compiifhed flatterer. He Hiould efpecially
beware of miftaking freedom of manner,
for franknefs of fendment ; and of con-
founding the artful familiarities of a defign-
ing favourite, with the honefl fimpliGity of
a difmterefted friend.

Where, in our more corred: day, is the
courtier who would dare to add profane-
nefs to flattery fo far, as to declare, as
was done by the greateft philofopher this
country ever produced, in his letter to
prince Charles, that, " as the father had
been his creator, fo he hoped the Son
would be his redeemer ? *" But what a
noble contrafl: to this bafe and blafphemous
fervility in the Chancellor of James, does
the conduct of the Chancellor of his grand-
fon exhibit ! The unbending rectitude of
Clarendon not only difdained to flatter,
in his private intercourfe, a mafter to whom
however his pen is always too partial, but

* See Howell's ,L^tters.

It

2/3 ON FLATTERY.

it led him boldly and honeftly to remon-
ftrate againfl his flagitious condud. A {land-
ing example for all times, to the fervants
and compamons of kings, he refoiutely
reproved his mafter to his face, while he
thought it his duty to defend him, fome-
what too ftrongly, indeed, to others. He
boldly befought the King, " not to believe
*' that he had a prerogative to declare vice
*' to be virtue.*' And in one of the
nobleft fpeeches on record, in anfwer to a
difhonourable requeft of the King, that he
would vilit fome of His Majefly's infamous
alTociates ; he laid before him with a lofty
fmcerity, " the turpitude of a man in his
'' dignified office, being obliged to counte-
** nance perfons fcandalous for their vices,
" for which by the laws of God and man,
*' they ought to be odious and expofed to
" the judgment of the church and flate,'*—
In this inllance fuperior to his great rival
Sully, that no defire of pleafmg the King,
no confideration of expcd'micy, could induce

4 him

ON FLATTERY. 2^1

him to vlfit the royal miftrefles, or to coun-
tenance the Hcentious favourites.

Princes Lave generally been greedy of
praife in a pretty exaft proportion to the
pains which they have taken not to deferve
it. Henry the Vlllth was a patron of
learned men, and might himfelf be ac-
counted learned. But his favourite fludies,
inftead of preferving him from the love of
flattery, ferved to lay him open to it.
Scholaftic divinity, the faihionabie learning
of the times, as Burnet obferves, fuited his
vain and contentious temper, and as eccle-
fiaftics were to be his critics, his purfuits of
polemical theology brought him in the
largell revenue of praife ; fo that there
feemed to be a contefl between him and
them, whether they could offer, or he could
fwallovv, the moll copious draughts of flat-
tery.

But the reign of James the Firfl was the
great epocha of adulation in England ; and
a prince who had not one of the qualities of

a war-

11J1 ON FLATTERY.

a warlike, and fcarccly one of the virtues
of a pacific King, received from clergy
and laity, from flatefmen, philofophers,
and men of letters,^ praifes not only utterly
repugnant to truth and virtue, but directly
contrary to that franknefs of manners, and
magnanimity of fpirit, which had formerly
charaderized Engliflimen. This afcrip-
tion of all rights, and all talents, and
all virtues, to a prince, bold through fear,
and prefumptuous becaufe he wifiied to
conceal his own pufiUanimity, rebounded,
as was but juft, on the flatterers ; who, ia
return for their adulation, were treated by
him with a contempt, which not the boldeil
of his predeceffors bad ever ventured to
manifefl. His enquiry of his company at
dinner, whe!ther he might not take his fub-
jeds' money when he needed it, without the
formality of parliament, indicates, that one
Objed was always uppermoft in, his mind * ;

« The requifition was allowed in a phraie as.dif-
guftingly fervile, by Bifiiop Neile ; as it was plea»
fantly evaded by Andrews.

his

ON FLATTSRY, 275

his familiar intercourfe was employed in
diving into the private opinions of men,
to difcover to what length his oppreffive
fchemes might be carried ; and his public
conduct occupied in putting thofe fchemes
into practice.

But the royal perfon whom we prefame
to advife, may, from the very circumftance
of her fex, have more- complicated dangers
to refill ; againft which her mind Ihould
be early fortified. The dangers of adula-
tion are doubled, when the female character
is combined with the royal. Even the
vigorous mind of the great Elizabeth did
not guard her againft the powerful aifaults
of the flattery paid to her perfon. That
mafculine fpirit was as much the Have of
the moft egregious vanity, as the weakeft of
her fex could have been. All her admirable
prudence and profound policy, could not
preferve her from the childifh and filiy
levity with which fhe greedily invited the
compliments of the artful minifter of her
more beautiful rival. Even that grofs in-
YOi.. I. T llance

^74 ^^ FLATTERY.

"ftance of Melvil's extravagance enchanted
her, when, as fhe was playing on Mary's
favourite inflrument, for the purpofe of
being over-heard by him, the diffembling
courtier affected to be fo ravifhed by herfkill,
as to burft into her apartment, hke an en-
raptured man, who had forgotten his reve-
rence in his admiration. It was a curious
combat in the great mind of Elizabeth, be-
tween the offended pride of the queen, and
the gratified vanity of the woman ; but
Melvil knew his trade in knowing human
nature ; — he calculated juftly. The woman
conquered.

Princes have in all ages complained that
they have been ill ferved. But, is it not
becaufe they have not always carefully fe-
iefted their fervants ? Is it not becaufe they
have too often bellowed confidence on the
nnwife, and employments on the unworthy ?
Becaufe, while they have loaded the unde-
ferving with benefits, they have neglected to
reward thofe who have ferved them well,
and to fupport thofe who have ferved them

long ?

ON FLATTERY. 275

long ? Is it not becaufe they have fometimes
a way of expecting every thing, while they
feem to exadt nothing ? And have not too
many been apt to confider that the honour
of ferving them is itfelf a fufficient reward ?
By a clofe ftudy of the w^akneffes and
pafTions of a fovereign, crafty and defign.
ing favourites have ever been on the watch
to eftablifh their own dominion, by fuch
appropriate means, as feem befl: accom-
modated to the turn of thofe weaknefTes
and paffions. If Leonore Concini, and the
duchefs of Marlborough, obtained the
moft complete afcendency over their refpec-
tive queens, both probably by artful flattery
at h/ft, they afterwards fecured and pre-
ferved it by a tyranny the moft abfolute.
In connexions of this nature, it is ufually
on the fide of the fovereim, that the ca-
price and the haughtinefs are expefted ; but
the domineering favourite of Anne exclu-
fively aiTumed to herfelf all thefe preroga-
tives of defpotic power, and exercifed them
without mercy, on the intimidated and

T 3 fub'

276 ON PLATTEkY.

fubmiflive queen ; a queen, who, with
many virtues, not having had the difcern-
ment to find out, that the oppofite extreme
to what is wrong, is commonly wrong alfb,
in order to extricate herfelf from her cap-
tivity to one favourite, fell into the fnares
fpread for her by the fervility of another.
Thus, whether the imperious duchefs, or
the obfequious Mafham, were lady of the
afcendant, the fovereign was equally in-
fatuated, equally mifled.

That attachments formed without judg-
•ment, and purfued without moderation, are
.likely to be diffolved without reafon ; and
-that breaches the mofl trivial in themfelves
may be important in their confequences,
were never more fully exemplified than
In the trifling caufe which, by putting an end
to the intercourfe between the above named
queen and duchefs, produced events the
mofl unforefeen and extraordinary. While
the duke was fighting her majefty's battles
abroad, and his duchefs fupporting his
interefl againft a powerful party at court ;

a pair

ON FLATTERY, fj^

a pair of gloves of a new invention, fent
iirft by the milliner to the favourite (im-
patient to have them, before the queen,
.who had ordered a fmiilar pair), fo incenfed
her majefty, as to be the immediate caufe,
by driving the duchefs from her poft, of
.depriving the duke of his command, com-
pelling the confederates to agree to a peace,
preferving Louis from the deftrudion which
awaited him, making a total revolution in
parties at home, and determining the fate
pf Europe*. -

To a monarch more eager to acquire
fame than to deferve it, to penfion a poet
will be a fliorter cut to renown than to
difpenfe bleffings to his country. Louis XIL
inftead of buying immortality of a fervile
bard, earned and enjoyed the appellation
oi father of bis people : that people whom
his brilliant fuccelfor, Louis the Great,
drained and plundered, or in the emphatic
language of the prophet, peeled and fcatiered

■" Examen du Prince*

T 3 to

97^ ON FLATTERY,

to provide money for hfs wars, his miftrefleSj
liis buildmgs, and his fpe(5i:acles. Pofterity,
however, has done juftice to both kings,
and le bien aime is remembered with afFec-
Jlionate veneration, while le grand is regarded
as the fabricator of the ruin of his race.

How totally mufl adulation have blunted
the delicacy of the latter prince, when he
could fhut himfelf up with his two royal
hilloriographers, Boileau and Racine, to
hear them read portions of his own hiftory,
Befervedly high as was the reputation of
thefe two fine geniufes, in the walks of
poetry, was that hiflory likely to convey
much truth or inllrudtion to pofterity,
which, after being compofed by two pen-
sioned poets, was read by them to the
monarch, who was to be the hero of the
tale ? Sovereigns, indeed, may eled poets
to record their exploits, but fubjeds will
read hiftorians.

The conqueft of every town and village
was celebrated by Boileau in hyperbolic
ibng 5 and the whole pantheon ranfacked

lo ^-

ON FLATTERY, 279

for deities, who might furnifh . fome faint
idea of the glories of the immortal Louis.
The time, however, foon arrived, when the
author of the adulatory ode on the taking
of Namur, in v/hich the king and the gods
were again identified, was as completely over-
turned by the incomparable travefly of our
witty Prior, as the conqueror of Namur
himfelf was, by its glorious deliverer-
Little Will, the fcourge of France,
No godhead, but the firll of men *.

A prince (liould be accuftomed to fee
and know things as they really are, and
fhould be taught to dread that ftate of de-
lufion, in which the monaixh is the only
perfon ignorant of what is doing in his
kingdom. It was to little purpofe that the
fovereign lad named, when fome temporary
fenfe of remorfe was excited, by an affed;-
ing reprefentation of the miferies of the per-

* Sec Boilcau's Ode fur la prife de Namur by
Louis, and Prior's Poem on the taking of Namur»
by king William, /

T 4 fecuted

it

280 ON FLATTERY.

fecuted protejftants, faid, " that he hoped
God would not impute to him as a crime,
punilhments which he had not com-
" manded." Dekifive hope ! It was crime
enough for a king to be ignorant of what
was pafling in his dominions.

There have been few princes fo ill dif-
pofed, as not to have been made worfe by
unmeafured flattery. Even fome of the
mofl depraved Roman emperors began
their career with a fair promif^. Tiberius
fet out with being mild and prudent ; and
even Nero, for a confiderable time, either
wore the mafk, or did not need it. While
his two virtuous friends maintained their en.
tire influence, every thing looked favourable.
But when his fycophants had fucceeded in
maldng Seneca an object of ridicule ; and
when Tigellinus was preferred to Burrhus,
all that followed was a natural confequence.
The abject flavery of the people, the fervile
decrees of the fenate, the obfequious ac-
quiefcence of the court, the profl:rate ho-
mage of every order, all concurred to bring

out

ON FLATTERY. '28x

out his vices in their full luxuriance, and
Rome, as was but juft, became the vidim
pf the monfler ilie had pampered. Tacitus,
■vvith his ufual honefl indignation, declares,
that as often as the emperor commanded
banifhments or ordered afTaflinations, fo
often were thanks and facrifices decreed to
the gods !

But, in our happier days, as fubjecls, it
is prefumed, indulge no fuch propenfities,
fo under our happier conflitution, have
they no fuch opportunides. Yet powerful,
though gentler, and almoll unapparent
means, may be employed to weaken the
virtue, and injure the fame of a prince. —
To degrade his character, he need only be
led into one vice, idlenefs j and be attacked
by one weapon, flattery. Indifcriminate
acquiefcence and foothing adulation will
lay his mmd open to the incuriion of
every evil without his being aware of it j
for his table is not the place where he ex-
pects to meet an enemy, confequently, he
is not on his guard againfl him. And

where

2S2 ON FLATTERY.

where he is thus powerfully affailed^ the
kindell: nature, the befl intentions, the
gentlefl manners, and the mildell difpo-
iitions, cannot be depended on for preferv-
ing him from thofe very corruptions, to
which the word propenlities lead ; and
there is a degree of facility, which, from
fbftnefs of temper, becomes imbecility of
jnind.

For there is hardly a fault a fovereign
can commit, to which flattery may not in-
cline him. It impels to oppofite vices ; to
apathy and egotifm, the natural failings of
the great ; to ambition which inflames the
heart, to anger which diftorts it ; to hard'
nefs which deadens, and to felfilhnefs which
degrades it. He ifhould be taught, as the
intrepid Mafillon * taught his youthful
prince, that the flattery of the courtier,
contradictory as the aflertion may feem, is
little lefs dangerous than the difloyalty "of
the rebel. Both would betray him ; and

* See Mafillon's Sermons, abounding equally in
tlic fubliraell piety and the richell eloquence.

the

ON FLATTERY. 283

the crime of him who would dethrone, an4
of him who would debafe his prince, how-
ever they may differ in a political, differ
but little in a moral view : nay the ili
effeds of the traitor's crime may, to the
prince at leafl, be bounded by time, while
the confequences of the flatterer's may
pxtend to eternity.

CHAP,

-84 RELIGION NECESSARY

CHAP. XVIIL

Religion necejary to the laell-belng of States.

1 HE royal pupil fhould be informed, that
there are fome half Chriftians, and half
philofophers, who wiili, without incurring
the difcredit of renouncing religion, to ftrip
It of its value, by lowering its ufefulnefs.
They have been at much pains to produce
a perfuafion, that however beneficial Chrif-
tianity may be to individvals, and however
properly it may be taken as the rule of their
conduct, it cannot be fafely brought into
action in political concerns ; that the in-
tervention of its fpirit will rarely advance
the public good, but, on the contrary, will
often necelfarily obflru6l it ; and in particu-
lar, that the glory and elevation of dates
mufl be unavoidably attended with fome
violation even of thofe laws of morality,
which, they allow, ought to be obferved in
other cafes *.

* It were to be wifhed that Cromwell had been the

only ruler who held, that the rules of morahty mufl be

difpenfed with on g^eat political occafions.

1 2 Thefe

TO THE WEI.L-BEING OF STATES. 285

Thefe alT^rtlons, refpeding the political
difadvantages of religion, have not been
urged merely by the avowed enemies of
Chriftian principle, the Bolingbrokes, the
Hobbes's, and the Gibbons : but there is
a more fober clafs of fceptics, ranged under
the banners of a very learned and ingenious
fophifl *, who have not fcrupled to main*
tain, that the author of Chriftianlty has
actually forbidden us to improve the con-
dition of this world, to take any vigorous
ileps for preventing its mifery, or advancing
its glory. Another writer, an elegant witj
but whimfical and fuperficiaf, though
doubtlefs, a fmcere Chriilian f, who would
be fhocked at the excefs to which impiety
has carried the pofition, has yet aiforded
fome countenance to it, by intimating, that
God has given to men a religion wiiich is

-* Mr. Bayle.

f Soame Jenyns. It is true, he puts the remark
in the mouth of '' refined and fpeculative obfervers."
But he afterwards affirms in his own perfon — Tfjiit
fxich is indeed the Chr'ijllan Revelalion.

Incom-

286 RELIGION NECESSARY

incompatible with the whole ceconomy of
that world which he has created, and in
which he has thought proper to place
them. He allows, that " government is
effential to men, and yet afferts, that it can-
not be managed without certain degrees of
violence, corruption, and impcfition, which
yet Chriflianity fcridly forbids. That per-
petual patience under injuries muft every
day provoke new infults, and injuries, yet
is this, fays he, enjoined.^^

The fame pofitions are alfo repeatedly
affirmed, by a later, more folid, and mofl
admirable writer, whofe very able defence
of the divine authority of Chriflianity and
the Holy Scriptures, naturally obtains credit
for any opinions which are honoured with
his fupport.

It may be expefted, that thofe who ad-
vance fuch proportions, fliould at leall
produce proofs from hiftory, that thofe
flates, in the government cf which Chriftian
principles have been mod confpicuous,
other circumftances being equal, have either

failed

TO THE WELL-BEING OF STATES. 287

failed through error, or funk through im-
potence ; or in fome other way have fuf-
fered from introducing principles into
tranfad;ions to which they were inapii-
cable.

But how Httle the avowed fceptic, or
even the paradoxical Chriflian, feems to
underftand the genius of our religion ; and
how erroneous is their conception of the
true elementary principles of political prof--
perity we learn from one, who was as able
as either to determine on the cafe. He
who was not only a politician but a Idng,
and eminently acquainted with the duties
of both charafters, has allured us, that

RIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTETH A NATION.

And does not every inftinct of the un-
fophifticated heart, , and every clear refult
of difpaiuonate and enlarged obfervation,
unite in adopting as a moral axiom this
divinely recorded aphorifm ?

It would, indeed, be ftrange, if the great
Author of all things I'lad admitted fuch an
anomaly in his moral government j if in

direct

288 RELIGION NECESSARY

direct contradiction to that moral ordination
of caufes and efFedls, by which, in the cafe
of individuals, religion and virtue generally
tend, in the way of natural confequence,
to happinefs and profperity, irreligion and
vice, to difcomfiture and mifery, the Al-
mighty lliould have eflablifhed the direflly
oppofite tendencies, in the cafe of thofe
multiplications of individuals, which are
called civil communities. It is a fuppoli-
tion fo contrary to the divine procedure,
in every other inflance, that it would re-
quire to be proved by inconteftibie evidence.
It would indeed amount to a concefTion,
that the moral Author of the world had
apppointed a premium, as it were, for vice
and irreligion ; the very idea is prophane-
nefs. Happily it is clearly contrary alfo
both to reafon and experience. Providence,
the ordinations of which will ever exhibit
marks of wifdom and goodnefs, in propor-
tion to the care with which they are ex-
plored, has, in this inflance, as well as in
others, made our duty coincident with our

hap-

TO THE WELL-BEING OF STATES. 289

happinefs ; has furnifhed us with an addi-
tional motive for purfuing that courfe,
which is indifpenfable to our eternal wel-
fare, by rendering it, in the cafe both of
individuals and of communities, productive
alfo of temporal good. It was not enough
to make the paths of virtue lead to " the
fulnefs of joy" hereafter, they are even
now rendered to thofe who walk in them,
" paths of pleafantnefs and peace.'*

It would not be difficult to prove, by a
reference to the moil eilabhfhed principles
of human nature, that thofe difpoHtions of
mind and principles of conduct, which,
both direftly and indireftly, tend to pro-
mote the good order of civil communities,
are, in general, produced or ftrengthened
by religion. The fame temper of mind
which difpofes a man to fear God, prompts
him to honour the king. The fame
pride, fclf-fufficiency, and impatience of
control, which are commonly the root
and origin of impiety, naturally produce
civil infubordination and difcontent. One
VOL. I. u of

290 RELIGION NECESSARY

of the moft acute of our political writers-
has ftated, that all government refts on
op'mion ; on the opinion entertained by the
mafs of the people, of the right to power in
their governors, or on the opinion of its
being their own intercjl to obey. Now, re-
ligion naturally confirms both thefe prin-
ciples ; and thereby flrengthens the very
foundations of the powers of government.
It eflablifhes the right to power of governors,
by teaching, that " there is no power but
of God ;" it confirms in fubjefts the fenfe
of its being their intereji to obey, by the pow-
erful intervention of its higher fandions
and rewards : *^' they that refill fhall receive
to themfelves condemnation."

Religion teaches men to confider their
lot in life, as a ftation affigned to them, by
Him, who has a right to difpofe of his
creatures as he will. It therefore tends to
prevent, in the great mafs of the commu-
nity, which muil ever be, comparatively
fpeaking, poor, the difpofition to repine at
the more favoured lot, and fuperior com-
12 forts

TO THE WELL-BEING OF STATES. 29 1

forts of the higher orders ; a difpofitfon
which is the real fource of the moft dan-
gerous and deadly diifenfions.

Religion, again, as prompting men to
view all human events as under the divine
direction, to regard the evils of life as the
difpenfation of Heaven, and often as capa-
ble of being rendered conducive to the mofl
eifential and lafting benefit ; difpofes men
to bear all their fuiferings with refignation
and cheerfulnefs. Whereas, on the con-
trary, they who are not under its power,
are often inclined to revenge on their rulers,
the misfortunes, which unavoidably refult
from natural caufes, as well as thofe which
may be more reafonably fuppofed to have
owed their exiflence to human imprudence
and actual mifconduft.

Again, if from contemplating thefe quef-
tions in their principles and elements, we
proceed to view them, as they have been
exhibited and illuftrated by hiftory and
experience, we (hall find the fame pofitions
eflablilhcd with equal clearnefs and force.

u 2 Is

292 RFLIGION' NECESSARY

Is there any propofitlon more generally
admitted, than that political communities
tend to decay and difToIution, in proportion
to the corruption of their morals ? How
often has the authority of the poet been
adduced (an author acute and juft in his
views of life, but not eminent for being
the friend of morals or religion), to prove"
the inefficacy of laws to avert the progrefs
of a ftate's decline and fall, while it (hould
be carried forward, too furely, in the down-
ward road, by the general corruption of
manners. We have already exemplified
thefe truths, in enumerating the caufes of
the fall of Rome *. On more than one
occafton, that flate had owed its preferva-
tion to its reverence for the awful fandlion
of an oath. This principle, and indeed the
duty which is fo clofely connected with
it, of truth and general fidelity to engage-
ments, are the very cement which holds
together focieties, and indeed all, whether

* Chap. viii.

greater

TO THE WELL-BEING OF STATES. 293

greater or fmaller, affociations of men j and
that this clafs of vhtues is founded and
bottomed on religion, is undeniably evi-
dent.

If we pafs from the page of hiftory to -a
review of private life, are we not led to
exactly the fame conclufions ? Where do
the politicians, who reafon from the evi-
dence of fafts, exped to find a fpirit of
infubordination and anarchy ? Is it not in
our crowded cities, in our large manu-
facturing towns, where wealth is often too
dearly purchafed at the price of morality
and virtue ? And if we refort to individual
indances, who is the man of peace and
quietnefs ? Who is the leaft inchned to
" meddle with them that are given to
change ?'* Is it not the man of religious and
domeftic habits ; whofe very connexions,
purfuits and hopes, are fo many pledges
for his adherence to the caufe of civil order,
and to the fupport of the laws and inftitu-
tions of his country ?

u 3 It

294 rj;ligion necessary

It is the more extraordinary that any
writers, not deliberately hoftile to the caufe
of religion and virtue, fhould have given
any degree of countenance to the pernici-
ous error, which we have been fo long
combating ; becaufe the oppofite opinion
has been laid down, as an inconteflible
axiom, by thofe who will not be fufpeded
of any extravagant zeal for the credit of
religion, but, who fpeak the dictates of
ftrong fenfe, and deep obfervation. Hear,
then the able, but profligate ]\%chiavel —
Thofe princes and commonwealths, who
would keep their governments entire and
" uncorrupt, are above all things, to have
" a care of religion and its ceremonies,
'' and preferve them in due veneration, for
" in the whole world, there is not a greater
fign of imminent ruin, than when God
and his worfliip are defpifed." — '* A
prince, therefore, ought mcft accurately
to regard, that his religion be well-found-
" ed, and then his government will laft ;
*' for there is no furer way, than to keep that

" good

a

TO THE WELL-BEING OF STATES. 295

' good and united. Whatever therefore
' occurs, that may any way be extended
' to the advantages and reputation of the
' rehgion they defign to eftablifh, by all
' means, they are to be propagated and
' encouraged ; and the wifer the prince,
' the more fure it is to be done." — " And
• if this care of divine worfliip were re-
' garded by Chrifliaa princes, according
' to the precepts and inftrudlions of him
' who gave it at firft, the dates and com-
' monwealths of Chriftendom would be
' much more happy and firm *.'*

Machiavel, it will be faid, was at once
an infidel and a hypocrite, who did not
believe the truth of that religion, the ob-
fervance of which he folicitoufly enforced.
Be it fo J it dill dedu6ls nothing from the
force of the argument as to the political
ufes of religion.- — For, if the mere forms
and infhitutions, " the outward and vifible
figns" of Chriftianity, were acknowledge^

^ Machiavel's Difcourfes on Livy.

U 4 to

296* RELIGION NECESSARY

to be, as they really are, of fo great value,
by this fhrewd politician, what might not
be the eiTect of its " inward and fpiritual
grace ?"

When two able men of totally oppofite
principles and charafters, pointedly agree
on any one important topic, there is a
ftrong prefumption, that they meet in a
truth. Such an unlocked-for conformity
may be found, in two writers, fo decidedly
oppolite to each other, as our incompa-
rable Bifiiop Butler, and the Florentine
fecretary above cited. Who will fufped:
Butler of being a vifionary enthufiaft ? Yet
has he drawn a molt beautiful pidure of
the happinefs of an imaginary ftate, which
fhould be perfectly virtuous for a fucceffion
of ages. " In fuch a ftate," he infifts,
" there would be no fadlion. Public de-
terminations would really be the refult of
united wifdom. i\ll would contribute to
the general profperity, and each would
enjoy the fruits of his own virtue. Injuftice,
force, and frauds would be unknown — -Such

a king-

TO THE WELL-BEING OF STATES. 297

a kingdom would influence the whole
earth ; the head of it would indeed be a
univerfal monarch, in a new fenfe, and all
people, jiations, and languages Jljould fer-ve
him*'''

The profound Butler was, indeed, too
great an adept in the knowledge of human
nature, and too thoroughly verfed in the
whole hiflory of mankind, not to know,
as he afterwards obferves, the impoflibility
without fome miraculous interpofition, that
a great body of men fhould fo unite in one
nation and government, in the fear of God,
and the praftice of virtue ; and that fuch
a government fliould continue unbroken
for a fucceiTicn of ages ; yet fuppofmg it
.could be fo, fuch, he affirms, would be the
certain efFefl. And may we not alfo affirm,,
that even allowing for all the failings and
imperfections of human nature, which the
prelate has excluded from his hypothefis,

* This is only a (hort abftraft of tliiS fine pafTage,
to the whole of which the reader is referred. Butler's
Analogy, part firft, chap. iii. p, 89, and following.

would

29S RELIGION NECESSARY

would not a ftate really approach nearer to
this fuppofed happmefs, in proportion as ife
taught and pradifed with more fedulity, the
principles of religion and virtue ?

We cordially agree, indeed, with the
famous Cofrno di Medici, that princes
cannot govern their flates, by " counting
a firing of beads, or mumbling over Pater-
nofters." But we are, at the fame
time, equally averfe from the religion
which affigns fuch practices to any clafs
of people ; and from that ignorance which
would make the religion of any order of
men, efpecially of princes, confift in mere
ceremonies and obfervances. Charles the
Wife, was at leaft as found a judge as
Cofmo, of what conflituted the perfedion
of a royal character, when he declared,
that, " if there were no honour and virtue
left in the reft of the world, the laft traces
of them fliould be found among princes." '
There fliould, indeed, be found in the royal
character an innate grandeur ; a dignity of
foul which lliould ihew itfelf under all cir-

cumftances.

TO THE WELL-BEING OF STATES. 299

cumftances, and fliine through every cloud
I of trial or difficulty. It was from fuch
inherent marks of greatnefs, that the infant
Cyrus, exiled and unknown, was chofen
king by the fhepherd's children.

It would not, perhaps, be eafy to cite an
higher authority, on the point in quefticn,
the importance of religion to a flate, than
that of the great and excellent Chancellor
de L'Hopital. It was a common obferva-
tion of his, that, " religion had more in-
fluence upon the fpirits of mankind, than
all their paflions put together ; and that the
cement, by which it united them, was in-
finitely ftronger than all the other obli-
gations of civil fociety." This was not
the obfervation of a dreaming monk, Vv-ho,
in his cell, writes maxims for a world of
which he knows nothing ; but the fentiment
derived from deep experience, of an illuf-
trious flatcfman, whofe greatnefs of mind,
zeal, difmtereftednefs, and powerful talents,
fupported France under a fucceffion of
weak and profligate kings. Frugal for

the

300 RELIGION NECESSARY

the flate in times of boundlefs prodigality ;
philofophical in a period of enthufiaflic
fury ; tolerant and candid in days of per-
fecution, and deeply confcientious under
all circumflances ; ^vorthy, in fliort, and it
is perhaps his beft eulogium, to be driven,
for his virtues, by Catherine di Medici
from councils, which his wifdoni might
Iiave controlled ; and who, on giving up
the feals which fhe demanded, withdrew to
an honourable literary retreat, with the
remark, that, " the world was loo depraved
for him to concern himfelf any longer with
it.*' Thefe are the men whom corrupt
princes drive from the diredicn of thofe
flates, which their wifdom might fave and
their virtue might reform.

Another of the political advantages of
religious redlitude in a flate, is the fecurity
it affords. For^ with whatever jull feverity
vv'e may reprobate the general fpirit of
revolution, yet, it mufl be confefl'ed, that
it has not, on all occafions, been excited
by undue difcontent, by unprovoked im-
patience.

TO THE WELL-BEING OF STATES. 30I

patience, nor even by felfifh perfonal feel-
ings ; but, fometimes alfo from a virtuous
lenfe of the evils of opprefiion and injuilice;
evils, which honed men refent for others as
well as for themfelves.

Again, there is fomething fo fafe and
tranquillizing in Chriftian piety, as we have
already obferved, that, though we v/ould
be far from reducing it to a cold political
calculation ; yet, content, fubmifiion, and
obedience, make fo large a practical part
of religion, that wherever it is taught in
the bed and founded way, it can hardly
fail to promote, in the people, the ends of
true policy, any more than of genuine
morality.

Our wifed fovereigns, partly perhaps for
this reafon, have paid the deeped attention
to the moral indru6i:ion of the lower claffes
of their fubjefts. Alfred and Elizabeth *,

among

♦ See a letter of Archbifliop Whitgift to the
bifhops, of which the following is an extra<3; :

" Your Lordfhip is not ignorant, that a great part
of the difiblutenefs of manners, and ignorance in the

common

3«2 RELIGION NECESSARY

among others, were too found politicians
to lofe this powerful hold on the afFeftions
of their people. In addition to their defire
to promote religion, they had no doubt
difcerned, that it is grofs vice, that it is
brutal ignorance, which leave the lower
clafs a prey to factious innovators, and

common fort, that reigneth in moft parts of this realm,
even in this clear light of the gofpel, arifeth hereof, for,
that the youth, being as it were the frie and feminary
of the church and commonwealth, through negligence,
both of natural and fpiritual fathers, are not, as were
meet, trained up in the chief and neceffary principles
of Ciiriftian religion, whereby they might learn their
duty to their God, their prince, their country, and
their neighbours ; efpecially in their tender years, when
thefe things might befhbe planted in them, and would
become moft hardly to be afterwards removed. This
mifchief might well, in mine opinion, be redreffed, if
that which in this behalf hath been godly and wifely
provided, were as carefully called on and executed,
namely, by catechizing and inllrufling in churches
the youth of both fexes, on the fabbath days, in the
afternoon. And, that if it maybe convenient, before
their parents, and others of the feveral parifhes, who
thereby may take comfort and inilru6lion alfo.

Strype's Life of Whitgift."

render

TO THE WELL-BEING OF STATES. 303

render them the blind tools of political in-
cendiaries. When the youth of this clafs are
carefully inftrufted in religion by their
rightful teacherSj thofe teachers have the
faireft opportunities of inltilling into them
their duty to the flate, as well as to the
church ; and they will find that the fame ief-
fons which form good Chriflians, tend to
make good fubjecls. But, without that mo-
derate meafure of found and fober inftruc-
tion, which fliould be judicioufly adapted to
their low demands, they will be likely
neither to honour the king, reverence the
clergy, nor obey the magiftrate. While,
on the contrary, by interweaving their duty
to their governors, with their duty to God,
they will at once be preferved from mif-
chief in politics, and delufion in religion.
The awful increafe of perjury among us
is of irfelf a loud call feduloully to purfue
this objeft. How fhould thofe, who are
not early inftruded in the knowledge of
their Maker, fear to offend him, by that
common violation of the folemnity of

oaths.

304 RELIGION NECESSARY

oaths for which we are unhappily becom-
ing notorious? Let us not be deemed
needlefslv earneft in the defence of a truth
of fuch extreme importance. The pohtical
value of religion never can be too firmly
believed, or too carefully kept in view, in
the government of nations. May it be
deeply rooted in the mind of every prince,
as a fundamental principle ! Let it be con-
firmed by all the various proofs and ex-
amples, by which its truth can be efla-
bliflied, and its authority enforced * !

* Mr, Addifon fpeaks'of the religious inftruftion
of tlie poor as the beil means of recovering the
country from its degeneracy and depravation of man-
ners. And, after drawing an animated pifture of a
procefGon of charity children on a day of thankf-
giving for the triumphs obtained by the queen's
arms, he adds, " for my part, I can fcarce forbear
looking on the ailonifhing viftories our arn-.s have
been crowned with to be, in fome meaiure, the
bleffings returned upon thefe charities ; and that the
great fuccefies of the war, for whica we lately offered
up our thanks, were, in fome meafure, occafioned by
the feveral objefts ( of religioufly inftrufted children)
v»'hich then ftood before us. Guardiarh No. 105.
Thefe nvere the fentiments of a fecrefary ofjiate!

But;

To THE WELL-BEING OF STATES. 305

But, to return. — We mofl readily con-
cede^ that by that exaltation of a ilate of
which Solomon fpeaks, is not meant, that
fudden flafh of temporary fplendour, which
is occafioned by the mutable advantages of
war, the plunder of foreign countries, the
acquifition of unwieldy territory, or the
vertigo of domeftic revolutions : but that
fober and folid glory, v^^hich is the refult
of juft laws ; of agriculture and fobriety,
which promote population ; of induflry
and commerce, v/hich increafe profperity ;
of fuch v/ell-regulated habits in private
life, as may ferve to temper that profpe-
rity, and by flricl: confequences, give direc-
tion and fteadinefs to public manners.
For, it never can be made a queflion,
whether the folidity of the parts mufl not
contribute to the firmnefs of the whole ;
and whether the virtue exercifed by collec-
tive bodies, can any farther be hoped for,
than as it exifts in the individuals who
compofe them. But, on what bafis can
this fuperflru£lure reft, by what principle

VOL. I. X can

306 RELIGION NECESSARY

can individual virtue be either fubftantially
promoted, or laftingly fecurcd, except by
that fenfe of an invifibie, almighty, and in-
finitely juft, and holy fovereign of the uni-
verfe, which revelation alone has effeftually
difclofed to us, and reafon has recognized
as the eifence of religion ?

Far be it, indeed, from us to deny, that
this religious principle may not frequently
oppofe itfelf to apparent means of ag-
grandizement, both perfonal and national.
Doubtleis it will often condemn that to
which human pride would afpire. Even
when an objed; might in itfelf be fairly
defirable, it will forbid the purfuit, except
through lawful paths. But, in the fevereft
of fuch reftriftions, it only facrifices what
is fhadowy to what is fubllantial, the
evanefcent triumphs of a day to the per-
manent comfort of fucceffive generations.

But, though we do not affert that na-
tional profperity is always, and infallibly,
an indication of virtue, and of the diilin-
guilhing favour of God, yet we conceive,

that

TO THE WELL-BEING OF STATES. 307

that luch outward marks of the divine fa-
vour may more generally be expected,
in the cafe of communities, than of indi-
viduals. In communities we fee not fo
much the effect of each particular acl of
virtue, as of the generally diffufed prin-
ciple. Though virtue is often obftructed in
labouring to obtain for itfelf the advantages
which belong to it, this is no proof againft
its having a tendency to obtain them. The
natural tendency, indeed, being to produce
happinefs, though it may fail to do it in
certain excepted cafes.

In the cafe, therefore, of communities
and Rates, where the refult of many actions,
rather than the particular eifeft of each^ is
feen, it may not altogether unfairly be
afferted, that virtue is its own reward.
Perhaps it alfo may be affirmed, that the
fyftem of temporal rewards and punifh-
ments, which, though chiefly exemplified in
the Jewifh difpenfation, was by no means
confined to it, has not equally paffed away,
"With re.peft to flates and nations, as with

X 2 relpect

3o8 RELIGION NECESSARY

refpecl to individuals. The learned BofTuet
has obferved, that v/hile the New Tefla-
ment manifefts to us the operation of God's
grace, the Old Teflament exhibits to us
his providential government of the vi^orld.
We will net dwell on this remark further
than to fuggeft, that even in this view the
ftudy of the Old Teflament may not be
without its ufes, even to the modern Statef-
man, as we know that the Jewifli law has
clearly been held important, by fome of
our wifeft Legiflators.

On the whole, we need not hefitate to
affert, that in the long courfe of events,
nothing, that is morally wrong, can be
politically right. Nothing, that is inequi-
table, can be finally fuccefsful. Nothing,
ihat is contrary to religion, can be ulti-
mately favourable to civil policy. We may
therefore confidently affirm, that impiety
and vice, fooner or later, bring flates, as
well as individuals, to mifery and ruin.
That, though vice may fometimes contri-
bute to temporary exaltation ; in the fame

degree.

TO THE WELL-BEING OF STATES. 309

degree, it will, in the end, contribute to
promote decay, and accelerate the inevi-
table period of diflblution.

Let it then be ever kept in view, that the
true exaltation is, in fact, that profperity,
which arifes from the goodnefs of the laws,
and the firmnefs and impartiality with which
they are executed ; which refults from mo-
deration in the Government, and obedience
in the people ; from wifdom and forefight
in council, from adivity and integrity in
commerce, from independence of national
charader, from fortitude in rcfi fling foreign
attack, and zeal in promoting domeftic
harmony ; from patience under fufferings,
hardinefs in danger, zeal in the love of
civil, and vigour in the reprobation of favage
liberty ; from a fpirit of fairnefs and libe-
rality in making treaties, and from fidelity
in obferving them. Above all, from a
multiplication of individual inflances of
family comfort and independence, from the
general prevalence, throughout the great
mafs of the people, of habits of induftry,

X 3 fobriety,

310 RELIGION NECESSARY

fobriety, and good order, from the praftice,
in fhort, of the focial and domeftic virtues ;
of all thofe relative duties and kindneffes,
which give body and fubflance to the vari-
ous charities of life, and the befl feelings
of our nature.

If finful nations appear profperous for a
time, it is often becaufe there has been
fome proportion of good mixed with the
evil ; or it is becaufe the Providence of God
means to ufe the temporary fuccefs of guilty
nations, for the accompli ihment of his
general fcheme, or the promotion of a
particular purpofe, of humbling and cor-
reftir.g other, perhaps lefs guilty nations j
or it is becaufe " the iniquity of the Amo-
rites is not yet full ;" and the punifliment
of the more corrupt Itates is delayed, to
make their ruin more fignal and tremen-
dous, and their downfall a more portentous
objeft, for the inftruftion of the world.
God, without any impeachment of his
moral government, may withhold retribu-
tion, becaufe it is alv/ays in his power ; he

may

TO THE WELL-BEING OF STATES. -? 1 1

may be long-fufFering, becaufe he is ever-
lafting. He may permit the calamity
which we fee, in order to Gxt:a£i: from it
the good which we fee not. He is never
the author of moral evil, and the natural
evil, which he does authorize, is both the
punifhment, and the corrective of the
moral. I'hough God never intended this
world for fuch a complete ftate of retri-
bution, as entirely to hinder either vice or
virtue from occafionally receiving the re-
compences, and the penalties, due to the
other ; yet, there is this obvious differencej
between nations and individuals, that,
whereas individuals the mofl virtuous are
often the mofl vifited with temporal mif-
fortunes, the bed governed empires are, on
the whole, the molt fccure of profperity.
And if, in the calamities brought on corrupt
ftates, the innocent always, unavoidably,
fuffer with the guilty, this furnifhes no jufl
charge againft the equity of divine Provi-
dence, who here reckons tremendoaily v/ith
the ftate as a ftate, but will, feparately

X 4 and

312 RELIGION NECESSARY, &C.

and ultimately, reckon with every indivi-
dual ; and thus finally and fully vindicate
his own infinite, and much calumniated
juflice *.

* See BiiKop Butler's Analogy, a work which
cannot be too ftrongly recommended.

CHAP,

INTEGRITY THE TRUE, ScC. 313

CHAP. XIX.

Integrity the true Political Wl/dom.

X HE tendency of a religious temper to
exalt a prince into a hero, might be fuf-
ficiently illuftrated by the fmgle inflance
of Louis the Ninth. It is notorious, that
nothing more feverely tries the character
of princes as well as of individuals, than
remarkable fuccefs. It was, however, in
this circumftance precifcly, that the prince
juft mentioned evinced how completely
his Chriftian temper had corrected, both
the felfifhnefs natural to man, and the arro-
gance habitual to profperity.

When, under the unfortunate reign of
our Henry the Third, the affairs of Eng-
land were reduced to a lov/ condition,
while thofe of France were in a highly
flourifliing flate ; Louis, in making a
treaty with England, generoufly refufcd
to take an unfair advantage of the mif-

fortunes

314 INTEGRITY THE TRUK

fortunes of this country, or to avail hiin-
felf to the utmoft of his own fuperiority.
His conceffions to the depreffed enemy
were liberal ; and he foon after reaped
the reward of his moderation, in the confi-
dence which it infpired. Louis was chofen,
both by Henry and his nobles, to fettle
the differences between them. In con- .
fequence of the recent inflance of his
public integrity, the foreign adverfary
was invited to be the arbiter of domellic
difagreements 5 and they were happily
terminated by his decifion. Let infidels
remark, to the difgrace of their fcepti-
cifm, that the monarch who was, per-
haps, one of the greatefl inftances of
Chriflian piety and devotion, furniflied
alfo an example of the mod linking moral
redlitude !

Henry the Fourth, when only king of
Navarre, difcovered no lefs integrity after
his glorious vidory at Coutras. Being
alked what terms he would require from
the king of France, after gaining fuch a

vidoryj

POLITICAL WISDOM. 315

victory, " Jull the fame," replied he,
** that I fhould afk after lofmg one."

It is, however, neceflary to obferve,
that integrity, in order to be fuccefsful,
muft be miiicrm. Truth, for example,
occafionally fpoken, may not afford to
the fpeaker any part of the profit which
attends the regular obfervance of truth.
The error of corrupt politicians confills
much in treating each queftion, as if it
were an infulated cafe, and then arguing,
perhaps not unjuftly, that the pradice of
virtue, in this or that particular inftance,
will not be productive of good ; for-
getting that if, in all inllances, they would
be virtuous, they would then, moll pro-
bably, obtain the fuccefs and full reward
of virtue.

We know that even in that particular
branch of political iranfadlions, the diplo-
matic, wherein the flrongeil temptations
to diflimulation and chicanery are held
forth to little mindK, fome of the mod
able and fuccefsful negotiators have gcnc-

roufiy

3l6 INTEGRITY THE TRUE

roufly difdained the ufe of any fuch
mean expedients. The franknefs and in-
tegrity of Temple and De Wit are not
more efteemed by the morahft for their
probity, than by the ftatefman for their
true wifdom. What can there be, in-
deed, fo different between the fituation
of two public men, who on the part of
their feveral countries refpedively, are
negotiating on queftions of policy or
commerce ; and that of two private men
who are treating on fome bufmefs of
ordinary life, which jQiould render impo-
litic, in the public concern, that honefly
which, in the private, is fo univerfally
acknowledged to be the beft poHcy, as to
have grown into an adage of univerfal
and unqualified ■ acceptance. Indeed, as
the adage may refer to what is truly po-
litic in the long run, and with a view to
general confequences, we might rather
exped, that fraud would be admiffible
into the tranfaftions of private men, whofe
fhort fpan of life might not be likely to

be

POLITICAL WISDOM. ^^7

be more than counterbalanced by future
lofs rather than in the concerns of Itates,
■which, by containing a long continued ex-
iflence, a political identity, under ail the
fuGCcflive generations of the members of
which they are compofed, may pay, and
pay perhaps feverely too, in later times,
the price of former a<5ls of fraud and
treachery. — Again, in public, no lefs than
in private bufmefs, will not any one find
the benefit of employing an agent, who
poiTefTes a high charader for probity and
honour ? Will not larger and more liberal
concefTions be made to him who may be
fafely relied on for paying their equivalent ?
Once more, how often are pubhc wars, as
well as private diilerences, produced or
fermented by mutual diftrufl ! and how
furely v/ould a confidence in each other's
truth and honefly tend to the reftoration of
peace and harmony ! Even the wily Floren-
tine * allows, that it is advantageous to

♦ Machiavel.

have

318 INTEGRITY THE TRUE

have a high character for truth and upright-
nefs. And how can this character be in
any way fo well obtained as by deferving it ?
It is the difgrace of nations, that in their
diplomatic concerns, the maxims of fohd
■wifdom have not been always obferved.

Without going the length of admitting
the truth of Sir Henry Wotton's light de-
finition of the duties of an ambaflador, is it
not too often afllimed, that the laws which
bind private men, and which would doubt-
kfs bind the individual minifter himfelf, in
his private concerns, may occafionally be
difpenfed with, in the adminiflration of
public affairs ; and that ftrict truth, for in-
ftance, vvliich in the ordinary tranfadions
of life is allowed to be indifpenfable, is too
frequently coniidered as impradicable in
diplomatic negotiations ?

Don Louis De Haro, the Spanifli minifter,
at the treaty of the Pyrenees, feems to have
entertained juft views of the value of fimple
integrity in politicians, for fpeaking oi
Cardinal Mazarin, with whom he was ne-
gotiating.

POLITICAL WISDOM. 31Q

gotlating, he faid, " that man always pur-
fues one great error in politics, he would
always deceive." Mazarin was a deep dif-
fembler and a narrow genius * j fo true it is,
that vanity and fhort-fifrhtednefs are com-
n^only at the bottom of diliimulation, though
it be praO:ifed from a totally oppolite idea ;
worldly politicians frequently falling into the
error of fancying, that craft and circum-
vention are indications of genius : While,
in reality, fufpicion is the wifdom of a little
mind, and diftrufl the mean and inefficient
fubflitute for the penetration of a great one.
Many, fays Lord Bacon, who know how to
pack the cards, cannot play them well. Many
who can manage canvaffes and factions,

* Mazarin himfelf had fpread his own maxims
to fuch good purpofe, that one of his creatures^
whom he intended to fend to negotiate with the Duke
of Savoy, implored his Eminence not to infifl; on his
deceiving the Duke juj'l at thai thne, as the bufincfs
was but a trifle ; bccaufe he thought it would anfwer
better to referve the facrifice of his rcpntation for
deceiving, till fomc more important objcdl was at
itake.

8 are

320 INTEGRITY THE TRUg

are yet not wife men. Confidering the credit
which fmcerity ftamps on a political cha-
rafter, it is fo far from being oppofed to
difcretion, that it conflitutes the befl part
of it. True rectitude neither implies nor
requires imprudence ; while it coils a poli-
tician as much trouble to maintain the re-
putation of a quality which he has not, as
it would really cod him to acquire it. The
mazes and windings, the doublings and
intricacies of intriguing fpirits, ultimately
miflead them from the end they purfue.
They excite jeaioufy, they roufe refentment,
they confirm fufpicion, they flrengthen
prejudices, they foment differences ; and
thus call into a6lion a number of paffions,
which commonly oppofe themfelves to the
accomplifliment of their defigns. Politi-
cians therefore would do well to remember
the remark of the learned Barrow, who
was as great a proficient in mathematics, as
in morality, that " the flraitefl line is al-
ways the Ihorteil line, in morals, as well
as in geometry." When the charader of
Q inte-

POLITICAL WISDOM. 32J

integrity is once loft, falfehood itfelf lofes
all its ufes. The known dilTembler is fuf-
pefted of infincerity even when he does
not pradife It, and is no longer trufted,
though he may happen to deferve to
befo.

The character of Lord Sunderland pre-
fents a ftriking inftance of the poHtical in-
efficacy of duplicity. His fuperior genius,
fo admirably qualified for bufmefs, availed
him but little in fecuring the public
efteem, when it was obferved, that of
three fucceffive princes, who feverally fet
out with a view to eftablifh different inte-^
refts, he gained the favour of all, by adopt-
ing the fyftem of each, with the fame ac-
commodating verfatility. His reputation for
honefty funk, and he ccafed to be trufted
in the degree in which he came to be
known.

We fometimes hear the more decent
politicians, who fanclion the appearances,
and commend the outward obfervances of
religion, lament that religion does not

VOL. I.' Y produce

' ,

322 INTEGRITY THE TRUE

produce any great efFe£ls upon fociety.
And they are right, if by religion they
mean that fhell and furface, which merely
ferve to fave appearances. But, is it not
to be feared, that thefe very politicians
fometimes difbelieve the reality, and the
power of that religion, the exterior of
which thev allow to be decorous ? Yet,
this reality and power, believed and
a£led upon, would certainly produce more
fubflantial efFeds than can ever rationally
be expe£led from mere forms and fha-
dows. Thefe fage perfons frequently la-
ment the deficiency of morals in fociety,
but never the want of religion in the heart.
Though, to expedt that morality to be
firm, which ftands on no religious founda-
tion, is to exped liability from an inverted
pyramid.

Befides, it is infinitely laborious to main-
tain an undeviating courfe of diffimulation,
a moment's intermiflion of which may de-
feat the policy of years. Yet, this unre-
mitting attention, this wearying watchful-

nefs,

POLITICAL WISDOM. 323

nel'g, is efiential to that worldly policy,
of which South fays, that " Folly being
the fuperftrudure, it is but realon, that
the foundation fhould be falfity." The fame
acute judge of mankind obferves, that the
defigning politicians of the party he was
combating, feemed to a£l as if they thought
" that fpeech was given to ordinary men to
communicate their mind, but to wife men
for concealing it."

The difTembler fhould alfo remember,
that however deeply intereft and induflry
enable him to lay his plans, the intereft and
induflry of others will be equally at work
to detect them. Befides, the deepell po-
litician can carry on no great fchemes alone,
and as all afTociation depends on opinion,
few will lend their aid, or commit their
fafety to one whofe general want of probity
forbids the hope of perpetual confidence, or
of permanent fecurity.

Why do many politicians fail finally of
the full accomplifhment of their objeft ?
Not for want of genius to lay a plaufible

Y 2 plan

524 INTEGRITY THE TRUE

plan ; not for want of judgment to feize
ine moH favourable occafions ; not for
want of due contempt of confcientious
fcruples in pufliing thofe occafions ; not for
want of fearlefs impiety in giving full fcope
to their defigns ; but from that ever wake-
ful Providence, which, if he does not dafli
their projects before they are acted, defeats
the main intention afterwards. — Even the
fuccefsful ufurper, Cromwel), lofl the con-
fidence of his army, when they found, in
the feqilel, that he meant to place himfelf on
the very throne which he had made them
believe it was his great obje£t to abolifh.
Nor was he ever able to adorn his own
brows with that crown, for the hope of
which he had waded through a fea of
crimes. The very means employed by
Alexander the Sixth, and Csefar Borgia, to
deilroy the Cai'dinals, rebounded on them-
felves, and both were poifoned by the very
wine Avhich they had prepared for the de-
ftruction of their guells.

It

POLITICAL WISDOM. 325

It is, therefore, the only fafety, and the
only wifdom and the only fare, unfading
prudence, inilead of purfuing our own
devious paths, to commit our concerns to
Gcd J to walk in his ftraight ways, and
obey his plain commands. For, after
all, the widefl fphere of a mere worldly
pohtician is but narrow. The wifdom of
this world is bounded by this world, the
dimenfions of which are fo contracted, and
its duration fo fliort, in the eye of true
philofophy, as to ftrip it of all real gran-
deur. All the enjoyments of this world,
fays the eloquent South, are much too lliort
for an immortal foul to ftretch itfelf upon :
a foul which fhall perfiil in being not only
when honour and fame, but when time
itfelf Ihall ceafe to be. The deepeft worldly
projector, with the widefl: views, and the
flrongefl: energies, even when flufned with
fuccefs, muft, if his mind has never learned
to flioot forward into the boundlefs eternity
of an unfcen world, feel his genius cramped,
his wing flag, and his fpirit at a Hand,

V 3 There

326 INTEGRITY THE TRUE

Tliere feems to have been a fpark of the
immortal fire even in the regrets of Alex-
ander. It is probable he would not have
wept, becaufe he had no more worlds to
conquer, had he not deeply felt the fling
of difappointment at finding no joy in hav-
ing conquered this, and thence inferred a.
kind of vague and fhapelefs idea of ano-
ther. There will be always too vafl a
difproportion between the appetites and
enjoyments of the ambitious to admit of
their being happy. Nothing can fill the
defires of a great foul, but wha,t he is per-
fuaded will lall as long as he himfelf fhall
laft.

To worldly minds it would found paradox-
ical to affert that ambition is a little paffion.
To affirm that if really great views, and
truly enlarged notions were impreffed upon
the foul, they would be fo far from pro-
moting that they would cure this paflion.
The excellent Bifhop Berkeley, beholding
the ravages which ambition had made in
his time in France, could not help wifhing

that

i

POLITICAL WISDOM. 327

that its encroaching monarch had been bred
to the (ludy of aflronomy, that he might
learn from thence how mean and little
that ambition is which terminates in a fmall
part of what is itfelf but a point, compared
with that part of the univerfe which lies
within our view.

But, if aflronomy Ihews the diminu-
tivenefs of that globe, for a very fmall por-
tion of which kings contend, in comparifon
with the univerfe, how much nobler a cure
does Chriftianity provide for ambition, by
fhewing that not this globe only, but the
whole univerfe alfo.

Yea, all that it inherits, fhall difTolve ;

by reminding the ambitious of the utter
infufficiency, to true glory or real happinefs,
of all that has been created, of all that
fhall have an end ; by carrying on their views
to that invifible, eternal world, which to us
fhall then emphatically begin to be, when
all which we beheld fhall be no more.

He, therefore, is the only true politician
who uniformly makes the eternal laws of

truth

328 INTEGRITY THE TRUE

truth and rcditude, as revealed from heaven,
the ftandard of his aclions, and the mea-
fure of his ambition. " To do juftly," is
pecuHarly the high and holy vocation of a
Prince. And both Princes and politicians
would do well to enquire, not only whether
their fcheme Vvas planned with fagacity,
and executed with fpirit, but whether they
have fo conducted it, as to leave proper
room, if we may fo fpeak, for the favour-
able interference of God ; whether they
have fupplicated his blefling, and given to
him the glory of its happy iflue ? Perhaps
more well-meant endeavours fail through
neglecl in thefe refpefts, particularly of
fervent prayer for fuccefs, than through any
deficiency in the wifdom of the plan itfelf.
But becaufe under a fanatic ufurpation, in
the feventeenth century, hypocrites abufcd
this duty, and degraded its fandlity, by
what they pYohnelj called feeki?2g t be Lord ;
the friends of the reftored Conftitution too
generally took up the notion, that irrebgion
was a proof of fnicerity, and that the fureft

way

POLITICAL WISDOM. 329

way to avoid the hypocrify, was to omit the
dutv.

We cannot too (Irongly cenfure that
moft miflaken pradice, which, at the period
before mentioned, reduced the language of
fcripture to that of common converfation ;
nor too warmly condemn that falfe tafte,
which by quaint allufions, forced conceits,
and {trained allegories, wrefled the Bible
to every ordinary purpofe, and debafed its
dignity, by this colloquial familiarity. But
is there no danger of falling into the oppo-
fite error ? If fome have unfeafonably forced
it into the fervice, on occafions to which it
could never apply ; may not others acquire
the habit of thinking it feafonable on no
occafion at all ?

Again — how flrangely do we overlook
the confummate wifdom, as well as good-
nefs of God, in having made that pratlice
of prayer, the inftrument of obtaining his
blcfling, which is fo powerfully operative in
purifying and elevating our own hearts.
Politicians, with all their fagacity, would

do

^^O INTEGRITY THE TRUE

do well to learn, that it is likewife one of
the many beneficial efFeds of prayer, that
it not only reafonably increafes our hopes
of fuccefs, but teaches us to acquiefce in
difappointment* They fhould learn alfo,
not to wonder, if God refufes to anfwer
thofe prayers, which are occafionally put
up on great public emergencies, when thofe
who offer them do not live in the exercife
of habitual devotion. They fhould take it
as an axiom of good experience from the
incomparable Hooker, that *' All things
religioufly begun are profperoufly ended ;
becaufe whether men, in the end, have that
which religion allowed them to defire, oi*
that which it teacheth them contentedly to
fuffer, they are, in neither event, unfortu-

nate."

Nor will a truly pious Prince ever be
eventually defeated in his defigns ; he may
not indeed be fuccefsful in every negotia-
tion, he may not be vidorious in every
battle ; yet in his leading purpofe he will
never be difappointed. For his ultimate
5 end

POLITICAL WISDOM* 33I

end was to a£l confcientioufly, to procure
the favour of God, to advance the beft in-
terefts of his people, and to fecure his owa
eternal happinefs. Whatever the event
may be to others, to himfelf it mufl be
finally good. The effe6i of righteoufnefs is
peace. Ma,- k the perfeSl man^ and behold
the upright^ for the end of that man is
peace. And, to conclude in the words of
the able and profound Barrow — " If God
Ihall not ceafe to be ; if he will not let go
the reins ; if his word cannot deceive ; if
the wifeft men are not infatuated; if the
common fenfe of mankind is not extrava-
gant ; if the main props of life, if the great
pillars of Society do not fail ; — he that
walketh uprightly, doth proceed on fure
grounds."

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

•;•.•■*' ■■'■ V-Tftf.-..

Srrahan snCrieftoa,:^.
Priutert-Sue^i LondoiuV

\J^

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY

Los Angeles

This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.

UkL

/■. ^ >o

110V 01

JUN 2 7 1995

,m

-' I ^

i^C^DYRl JUL07tl}

r'i
JL

^^r^imt'

^ IRJT) LD-DlfC

UUN 2 6 i§84
MAR 2 7 1987

4)584

r(f

3 1158 00465 3241