Miscellanies by the Right Noble Lord, the late Lord Marquess of Halifax Works. Selections. 1700 Halifax, George Savile, Marquis of, 1633-1695. 1700 Approx. 461 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 185 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2006-02 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A44782 Wing H315 ESTC R11995 11998210 ocm 11998210 52156 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A44782) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 52156) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 564:11) Miscellanies by the Right Noble Lord, the late Lord Marquess of Halifax Works. Selections. 1700 Halifax, George Savile, Marquis of, 1633-1695. Settle, Elkanah, 1648-1724. Sacellum appollinare. [2], 21, 84, 97, 42, 30, 44, 21, 6, [4] p. Printed for Matt. Gilliflower ..., London : 1700. First edition. Reproduction of original in Huntington Library. Sacellum Appollinare, a funeral poem to the memory of that great patriot and statesman George late Marquiss of Hallifax -- The lady's New-Year's gift, or, Advice to a daughter -- The character of a trimmer, his opinion ... -- The anatomy of an equivalent -- A letter to a dissenter, upon His Majesties late gracious declaration of consideration of those who are to chuse members to serve in the ensuing Parliament -- A rough draught of a new model at sea, 1694 -- Maxims of state -- A letter sent by His Lordship to Charles Cotton, Esq. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Halifax, George Savile, -- Marquis of, 1633-1695 -- Poetry. England and Wales. -- Parliament. Test Act (1675) Young women -- Life skills guides -- Early works to 1800. Great Britain -- History -- Restoration, 1660-1688. Great Britain -- History -- Revolution of 1688. Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1689-1702. 2005-09 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2005-09 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2005-10 Judith Siefring Sampled and proofread 2005-10 Judith Siefring Text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-01 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion Miscellanies BY The Right Noble LORD , The Late Lord Marquess OF HALIFAX . VIZ. I. Advice to a DAUGHTER . II. The Character of a TRIMMER . III. The Anatomy of an EQUIVALENT . IV. A Letter to a DISSENTER . V. Cautions for Choice of PARLIAMENT MEN. VI. A Rough Draught of a NEW MODEL at SEA. VII . Maxims of STATE , &c. LONDON : Printed for Matt. Gillyflower at the Spread-Eagle in Westminster-Hall . 1700. Sacellum Appollinare . A Funeral POEM TO THE MEMORY OF THAT Great Patriot and Statesman , GEORGE , LATE Marquiss of HALLIFAX . AS HEAVEN it Self 's on Empire's Axis roll'd , ( For God-Head's but Dominion Uncontrould ; ) So the Crown'd Head , the Sublunary JOVE , Does , in his Loyal Orb of Glory , move ; With all his Bolts of Fate , in his High-Post Of Sovereign Pow'r , the Weilded Thunder boast . But , in the highest tow'ring Flight of KINGS , 'T is the Great Statesman plumes their Eagles Wings ; They move the Great MACHINE ▪ He Sets the Springs . And thus , whilst Pregnant EMPIRE's Labouring Head With some vast Off-spring Teems ; the Statesman's Aid , To bring the Fair Divine Minerva forth , Is call'd the Great Lucina to the Birth . Wisdom and Counsel ! 'T is their Min'string Ray , Those Bright CROWN - Genij , Cheer th' Imperial Sway : The Harmony of WORLDS is only Theirs ; Empire but Guides , 't is They that Tune the Sphere : Counsel , in Church or State , the Warmth , by Whom Aaron's and Moses's Budding Wands both Bloom : Thus MONARCHY , what , tho' She Reigns Alone , 'T is by her Argus-Eyes She Guards her Throne : Her Lights an Hundred , tho' her Hand 's but One. Of those Rich Lights , Great HALLIFAX shin'd there ; In Pow'rs whole Constellation , None more Fair : In Calms or Storms , in every varying Gale , The Furl'd , the Hoysted , or the Slacken'd Sail ; The Helm to Manage , or the Mates to Cheer , No Pilot-Hand cou'd ever Worthier Steer : TRUST , the Magnetick Load-Star of his Soul ; And FAITH , and ZEAL , his Needles to the Pole. The Studied World was his Long Theam , and All The Politick Movements of the Mighty Ball : Yes , the Old World He had Fathom'd o're and o're ; Nay , had there been yet Vnknown Globe's t' explore , To give that Head , that Reach , those Depths , their Due , He had stood a Fair Columbus , for the New. In SENATES , There , with all his Brightest Beams , Not Michael , to th' Embattl'd Seraphims , A Mightier Leading CHIEF : Oraculous Sense ! Victorious Right ! Amazing Eloquence ! All from that clearest Organ sweetly Sung : From that bold ENGLISH CICERO's Silver Tongue , Well might Great TRUTH , and Genuine Justice flow ; For he Lookt Vpward , when he Talkt Below : Up to ASTRAEA , Heav'ns translated Pride , Her Righteous Ballance his Great Standard Guide . In Redress'd Wrongs , and Succour'd Rights APPEAL , No Hand , in the Judiciary Scale , More Weigh'd and Pois'd , than HALLIFAX alone ; Ev'n Half the Great Tribunal , was his Own. But , in that more Exalted Patriot-Cause , The Moulding of those Stamps Imperial , Laws ; Then , when the whole Divinity of Pow'r , In her Collective Strength , that Lab'ring Hour , In her All-wise Consulting Providence , Sits , some New Fair Creations to Commence ; In that High Work , for the Great FIAT Fixt , No Hand like His , the Sovereign ELEMENTS mixt . This Fam'd GAMALIEL in the Great State-Schools , Thus by unerring PRUDENCE Sacred Rules , No wonder , on that Card'nal Hinge He mov'd ; In Pow'r-Craft Skill'd , that Bold Arts-Master prov'd : The Great Performing Part He had Study'd thro' , And no less Learnt the Greater Duty too . The Publick Spirit , and the Active Soul , More Lively Warmth , than e're Prometheus stole , Those Champions both of Earth and Heav'n's Just Right , Bound by their Great Indenture Tripatite , Their equally divided FAITH must bring , Betwixt their GOD , their Country , and their King. In Pow'r and Trust , thro' his whole Life's long Scene , Never did Honour wear a Hand more Clean : He from the Israel Prophet's Copy drew ; The Suppliant Naaman for his Grace might sue . Distress , 't is true , his Succour ne'r cou'd lack — But then her Laded Chariots must go Back . No Syrian Bribe was on his Shoulders worn ; That Tainted Robe such TRUTH and VIRTUE scorn . Thus , like the Eden Pair , Why is Truth drawn A Naked Beauty , in Transparent Lawn ? Yes , 'till her Innocence , for Imp'ious Gold , That Tempting , False Hesperian Apple , Sold ; 'T is from that Fall , Original Blushes came ; 'T was Then She wanted Fig-Leaves for her Sh●me . A Bribe ! That most loath'd Thought ! Ev'n his whole Roof , His humblest Menials , that Temptation-Proof , ( So Fair their Leading LORD's Example stands ) Oblige with Frank Full Hearts , but Empty Hands . His Favours in that Generous Current run , As Providence vouchsafes Her Rain and Sun. His Favours Cheaper ev'n than Heav'n's conferr'd : For , though , like Heav'n , th' Imploring Pray'r He heard ; Yet no Thanksgiving Offrings Return'd : To his Kind GRACE , no Gumms nor Incense burn'd . Ay , and 't was Nobly Brave ! What can more high , Than an Vnmercinary Greatness fly ? If ought his Obligations must Defray , He rather chose that Heav'n , than Man should Pay : Yes , with a Fair Ambition , Just Disdain , Scorn'd less than JOVE , his Golden Show'rs shou'd Rain ▪ And well so High , that Fair Ambition tow'r'd ; For HALLIFAX so Scorn'd and JOVE , so Show'r'd : Whil'st that vast Affluence Warm'd his Fruitful Soyl , 'Till his Rich Glebe , and Loaded Harvest Pile , With that Increase ▪ that Milky Canaan flow'd : Prosperity thus Reap'd , where Virtue Sow'd . NATURE and FORTUNE , Here , both Rivals join'd , Which to their darling HALLIFAX , more Kind , Should heap the Ampler Mass : Nature her more Refin'd , and Fortune in her Cours●r Oar. The World but Smil'd , where Heav'n had Smil'd before . Great Blessings , when by Greater MERIT shar'd , ( Not Providence's Gift , but her Reward , ) Are all Heav'n's Fairest Blazon ▪ Noblest Pride ; Th' Eternal DISPENSATION Justifi'd . The Righteous Distribution ought no less : So Great 't is to Deserve , and then Possess . Nor in Proud Courts , nor States alone , that Great Dictator ! Ev'n in the DESPOTIC Seat ▪ In His own narrower Domestic Sway , His Houshold Sweat Penates deckt so Gay ; To VICE , like Hannabal to Rome , that sworn Eternal Foe ; and VIRTUE 's Champion born : To his own Filial Nursery , so Kind A FATHER , with those Leading Lights , He shin'd : HONOVR , so Lovely by that Pencil drawn , The Early Phosphor to their Morning Dawn : So Fam'd his equally Paternal Care ▪ T' Instruct the Great , and to Adorn the Fair. Thus BEAUTY's Toilet spread so all Divine , Her Cabinet Jems so Furnisht from That MINE ; The Virgin , and the Bridal Coronet , Were , by Kind HALLIFAX , so richly Set ; VIRTUE and INNOCENCE at that full View , As ev'n th' Original Eden Lanschape drew : All her whole Hierarchy of Graces ; not One least Enamell'd Heav'nly Spark forgot ; Each Star in the whole Feminine Renown , From , Cassiopaea's CHAIR , to Ariadne's CROWN . In the Rich Furniture of that Fair MIND , Those dazling Intellectual Graces shin'd , To draw the Love and Homage of Mankind ; Nothing cou'd more than his firm FRIENDSHIP Charm : Cheerful , as Bridal-Songs ; as South-Suns , Warm ; And Fixt , as Northern-Stars : When e're He daign'd The Solemn Honour of his Plighted Hand , He stood a more than Second Pylades ; Vnshaken , as Immutable DECREES . But whilst these vast Perfections I Recount , The Heights to which those Soaring Glories mount : My Muse thus rapt into that Cheerful Sphear ; Is This her Wailing Dirge ? her Funeral Tear ? For his Sad DEATH , to Draw his Glorious LIFE ! Paint Lights for Shades , and Ecstocies for Grief ! Are These the Melancholy Rites She brings , Fit Ayrs to Tune the Mournful Theme She sings ! Yes , the True Mouruer's in th' Historian Play'd : What 's Present Grief , but Past Delight Display'd ? Counting what once was Ours , we need no more : To Sum th' Enjoyment , does the Loss Deplore . Besides , What all our Sable Cavalcade , To the Great DEAD , our Darkest Funeral Shade ? T' Illustrious Virtue , Grief 's an Easy Debt ; Her Glorious Amulet but Cheaply Set : She finds the Diamond , and We the Jet . When Learning , Wisdom , Eloquence , Expire , And the Great SOULS , ( Sparks of Celestial Fire ) Back to their Elemental Sourse Retire : To such Rich DUST , in vain we Pyramids Rear ; For Mausoloeum's are but Pageants there . What 's a poor Short-liv'd Pile of Crumbling Earth , A Mould'ring Tomb , t' Apollinary WORTH ? Worth , that so far from such a Narrow Bound , Spreads a Large Field ! Moves th' Vniversal Round ! Fills every Tongue ! Thus what no Vrn contains , The World 's the Casket to those Great REMAINS . Nor let Poetick Vanity Rehearse Her Boasted Dreams , Her Miracles of VERSE : Think , in some poor Recorded EPITAPH , That Shallow Page of Brass , or Marble Leaf ; Or in some more Voluminous Folio Pile , A Davideis , or Arthur's Sweating Toil , Some Sacred WORTHY's Deathless Fame t' Enstal ; Rais'd by her Lyres , like the Old Theban Wall. No ; when Great NAMES ne'r Dye That Work alone , Is all a Fair Creation of Their Own. True GLORY Shines by her Own Lighted Beam : 'T is not the Muses's Song , but Muse's THEAM : When in Great HALLIFAX , WIT 's Pantheon fell , And Death now husht that Silenc'd ORACLE ; From Fair Eliza's Hallowed Helicon-Walls , Methinks , I hear a Fatal Summon calls : When , lo ! the Delphick SEER , that Reverend Bard Of Sacred Literature's rich Fount , prepar'd Th' Expiring HALLIFAX , in Death to wait . — No less Attendant on his Funeral State , Fate to that ever Honour'd HEAD cou'd owe : LEARNING it self must shake , at such a Blow . But , tho' with all this Mine of Learning stor'd ; He Liv'd , and Dy'd , no Niggard of that Hoard : Witness His own Long Pious Founded Piles , Where Nurtur'd ARTS , by His Auspicious Smiles , Tune their Young Voices to the Muse's Song , Nerv'd by his HAND to Books , and Virtue , strong . Thus , as th' Old Israel Patriarch , to his once Illustrious Twelve ▪ HE to His Hundred Sons ▪ His Fruitful CHARITY 's Adopted Race , ( With all his Tenderest Diffusive Grace , ) Doals , with a True Paternal Glory crown'd , His Living and His Dying Blessing round . Yes , from that Hand , the Scatter'd Bread must fall ; He Furnishes those Numerous Pencils , all To Copy from his Great Original : Resolv'd , if possible , Resolv'd t' Inspire , To this Young Nursery , His Cherisht Choire , His own Rich Soul , their Transmigated Fire . But , why ( if 't is not a too Bold Offence , To dare Expostulate with OMNIPOTENCE , ) Why should Prodigious Worth , from th' Orb it warm'd , Snatch'd from the Soyl it cherisht , Eyes it charm'd From its Deserted Charge , unkindly Fly , Quit th' Earth it Blest , Impoverish Worlds , and Dye ? No , the Kind Heav'ns , in Mercy , to Rebate That Mighty Loss , the too keen Edge of Fate , Have circled Virtue in a Fence so High , As stands so safe , it knows not how to Die ; But Founds its own Proud Immortality . For , as some Lofty Ceder , long had stood The Land-mark of the Plain , and Glory of the Wood ; Till the Dread Voice of Fate , Heav'n's Angry Blast , The Bolt of the Destroying Thunder cast , All the tall PRIDE lies Fal'n . — Yet still some Shoot , Some tender Scyen from the Sacred ROOT , By it's Nutrimental PARENT - Succours fed , Springs , Grows , Spreads , Flourishes ; till th' Uprear'd Head , Do's t' all its Great Original HEIGHTS improve , A Second Pearch for the Fair Bird of JOVE . So may Great HALLIFAX Himself Survive ; Thus Fall , and thus his Deathless Virtues Live : LIVE in his Fair SUCCESSION , ever Blest ; Whil'st Honour Builds it own Rich PHAENIX Nest . THE Lady's New-Year's-Gift : OR , ADVICE TO A DAUGHTER . Dear Daughter , I Find , that even our most pleasing Thoughts will be unquiet ; they will be in motion ; and the Mind can have no rest whilst it is possess'd by a darling Passion . You are at present the chief Object of my Care , as well as of my Kindness , which sometimes throweth me into Visions of your being happy in the World , that are better suited to my partial Wishes , than , to my reasonable Hopes for you . At other times , when my Fears prevail , I shrink as if I was struck , at the Prospect of Danger , to which a young Woman must be expos'd . By how much the more Lively , so much the more Liable you are to be hurt ; as the finest Plants are the soonest nipped by the Frost . Whilst you are playing full of Innocence , the spitefull World will bite , except you are guarded by your Caution . Want of Care therefore , my dear Child , is never to be excus'd ; since , as to this World , it hath the same effect as want of Vertue . Such an early sprouting Wit requireth so much the more to be sheltred by some Rules , like something strew'd on tender Flowers to preserve them from being blasted . You must take it well to be prun'd by so kind a Hand as that of a Father . There may be some bitterness in meer Obedience : The natural Love of Liberty may help to make the Commands of a Parent harder to go down : Some inward resistance there will be , where Power and not Choice maketh us move . But when a Father layeth aside his Authority , and persuadeth only by his Kindness , you will never answer it to Good Nature , if it hath not weight with you . A great part of what is said in the following Discourse may be above the present growth of your Understanding ; but that becoming every day taller , will in a little time reach up to it , so as to make it easie to you . I am willing to begin with you before your Mind is quite form'd , that being the time in which it is most capable of receiving a Colour that will last when it is mix'd with it . Few things are well learnt , but by early Precepts : Those well infus'd , make them Natural ; and we are never sure of retaining what is valuable , till by a continued Habit we have made it a Piece of us . Whether my skill can draw the Picture of a fine Woman , may be a question : but it can be none , That I have drawn that of a kind Father : If you will take an exact Copy , I will so far presume upon my workmanship , as to undertake you shall not make an ill Figure . Give me so much Credit as to try , and I am sure that neither your Wishes nor mine shall be disappointed by it . RELIGION . THe first thing to be confidered , is Religion . It must be the chief Object of your Thoughts , since it would be a vain thing to direct your Behaviour in the World , and forget that which you are to have towards him who made it . In a strict sense , it is the only thing necessary : you must take it into your Mind , and from thence throw it into your Heart , where you are to embrace it so close as never to lose the Possession of it . But then it is necessary to distinguish between the Reality and the Pretence . Religion doth not consist in believing the Legend of the Nursery , where Children with their Milk are fed with the Tales of Witches , Hobgoblings , Prophecies , and Miracles . We suck in so greedily these early Mistakes , that our riper Vnderstanding hath much ado to cleanse our Minds from this kind of Trash : The Stories are so entertaining , that we do not only believe them , but relate them ; which makes the discovery of the Truth somewhat grievous , when it makes us lose such a Field of Impertinence , where we might have diverted our selves , besides the throwing some shame upon us for having ever received them . This is making the World a Jest , and imputing to God Almighty , That the Province he assigneth to the Devil , is to play at Blindmans-busf , and shew Tricks with Mankind ; and is so far from being Religion , that it is not Sense , and hath right only to be call'd that kind of Devotion , of which Ignorance is the undoubted Mother , without competition or dispute . These Mistakes are therefore to be left off with your Hanging sleeves ; and you ought to be as much out of countenance to be found with them about you , as to be seen playing with Babies at an Age when other things are expected from you . The next thing to be observ'd to you , is , That Religion doth as little consist in loud Answers and devout Convulsions at Church , or Praying in an extraordinary manner . Some Ladies are so extream stirring at Church , that one would swear the Worm in their Conscience made them so unquiet . Others will have such a Divided Face between a Devout Goggle and an Inviting Glance , that the unnatural Mixture maketh even the best Looks to be at that time ridiculous . These affected Appearances are ever suspected , like very strong Perfumes , which are generally thought no very good Symptoms in those that make use of them . Let your earnestness therefore be reserv'd for your Closet , where you may have God Almighty to your self : In Publick be still and calm , neither undecently Careless , nor Affected in the other Extream . It is not true Devotion , to put on an angry Zeal against those who may be of a differing Persuasion . Partiality to our selves makes us often mistake it for a Duty , to fall hard upon others in that case ; and being push'd on by Self-conceit , we strike without mercy , believing that the Wounds we give are Meritorious , and that we are fighting God Almighty's Quarrel ; when the truth is , we are only setting out our selves . Our Devotion too often breaketh out into that Shape which most agreeth with our particular Temper . The Cholerick grow into a hardned Severity against all who dissent from them ; snatch at all the Texts of Scripture that suit with their Complexion ; and because God's Wrath was some time kindled , they conclude , That Anger is a Divine Vertue ; and are so far ●rom imagining their ill natur'd Zeal requireth an Apology , that they value themselves upon it , and triumph in it . Others , whose Nature is more Credulous than ordinary , admit no Bounds or Measure to it ; they grow as proud of extending their Faith , as Princes are of enlarging their Dominions ; not considering that our Faith , like our Stomach , is capable of being over-charg'd ; and that as the last is destroy'd by taking in more than it can digest , so our Reason may be extinguish'd by oppressing it with the weight of too many strange things ; especially if we are forbidden to chew what we are commanded to swallow . The Melancholy and the Sullen are apt to place a great part of their Religion in dejected or ill-humour'd Looks , putting on an unsociable Face , and declaiming against the Innocent Entertainments of Life , with as much sharpness as they could bestow upon the greatest Crimes . This generally is only a Vizard , there is seldom any thing real in it . No other thing is the better for being Sowre ; and it would be hard that Religion should be so , which is the best of things . In the mean time it may be said with truth , That this surly kind of Devotion hath perhaps done little less hurt in the World , by frighting , than the most scandalous Examples have done by infecting it . Having told you , in these few Instances , to which many more might be added , what is not true Religion ; it is time to describe to you , what is so . The ordinary Definitions of it are no more like it , than the common Sign-posts are like the Princes they would represent . The unskilful Dawbers in all Ages have generally laid on such ill Colours , and drawn such harsh Lines , that the Beauty of it is not easily to be discerned : They have put in all the forbiddng Features that can be thought of ; and in the first place , have made it an irreconcilable Enemy to Nature ; when , in reality , they are not only Friends , but Twins , born together at the same time ; and it is doing violence to them both , to go about to have them separated . Nothing is so kind and so inviting as true and unsophisticated Religion : Instead of imposing unnecessary Burdens upon our Nature , it easeth us of the greater weight of our Passions and Mistakes : Instead of subduing us with Rigour , it redeemeth us from the Slavery we are in to our selves , who are the most severe Masters , whilst we are under the Usurpation of our Appetites let loose and not restrain'd . Religion is a chearful thing , so far from being always at Cuffs with Good Humour , that it is inseparably united to it . Nothing unpleasant belongs to it , though the Spiritual Cooks have done their unskilful part to give an ill Relish to it . A wise Epicure would be Religious for the sake of Pleasure ; Good Sense is the Foundation of both ; and he is a Bungler who aimeth at true Luxury , but where they are join'd . Religion is exalted Reason , refin'd and sisted from the grosser parts of it : It dwelleth in the upper Region of the Mind , where there are fewest Clouds or Mists to darken or offend it : It is both the Foundation and the Crown of all Vertues : It is Morality improv'd and rais'd to its height , by being carried nearer Heaven , the only place where Perfection resideth . It cleanseth the Vnderstanding , and brusheth off the Earth that hangeth about our Souls . It doth not want the Hopes and the Terrors which are made use of to support it ; neither ought it to descend to the borrowing any Argument out of it self , since there we may find every thing that should invite us . If we were to be hired to Religion , it is able to out-bid the corrupted World , with all it can offer to us , being so much the Richer of the two , in every thing where Reason is admitted to be a Judge of the Value . Since this is so , it is worth your pains to make Religion your choice , and not make use of it only as a Refuge . There are Ladies , who finding by the too visible decay of their good Looks , that they can shine no more by that Light , put on the Varnish of an affected Devotion , to keep up some kind of Figure in the World. They take Sanctuary in the Church , when they are pursued by growing Contempt which will not be stopt , but followeth them to the Altar . Such late penitence is only a disguise for the tormenting grief of being no more handsome . That is the killing thought which draweth the sighs and tears , that appear outwardly to be applied to a better end . There are many who have an Aguish Devotion , Hot and Cold Fits , long Intermissions , and violent Raptures . This unevenness is by all means to be avoided . Let your method be a steady course of good Life , that may run like a smooth Stream , and be a perpetual Spring to furnish to the continued Exercise of Vertue . Your Devotion may be earnest , but it must be unconstrained ; and like other Duties , you must make it your Pleasure too , or else it will have very little efficacy . By this Rule you may best judge of your own Heart . Whilst those Duties are Joys , it is an Evidence of their being sincere ; but when they are a Penance , it is a sign that your Nature maketh some resistance ; and whilst that lasteth , you can never be entirely secure of your self . If you are often unquiet , and too nearly touch'd by the cross Accidents of Life , your Devotion is not of the right Standard there is too much Allay in it . That which is right and unmixt , taketh away the Sting of every thing that would trouble you : It is like a healing Balm , that extinguisheth the sharpness of the Bloud ; so this softeneth and dissolveth the Anguish of the Mind . A devout Mind hath the Privilege of being free from Passions , as some Climates are from all venomous kind of Creatures . It will raise you above the little Vexations to which others for want of it , will be expos'd , and bring you to a Temper , not of stupid Indifference , but of such a wise Resignation , that you may live in the World , so as it may hang about you like a loose Garment , and not tied too close to you . Take heed of running into that common Error , of applying God's Judgments upon particular Occasions . Our Weights and Measures are not competent to make the Distribution either of his Mercy or his Justice : He hath thrown a Veil over these things , which makes it not only an Impertinence , but a kind of Sacrilege , for us to give Sentence in them without his Commission . As to your particular Faith , keep to the Religion that is grown up with you , both as it is the bed in it self , and that the reason of staying in it upon that Ground is somewhat stronger for your Sex , than it will perhaps be allow'd to be for ours ; in respect that the Voluminous enquiries into the Truth , by Reading , are less expected from you . The Best of Books will be direction enough to you not to change ; and whilst you are fix'd and sufficiently confirm'd in your own Mind , you will do best to keep vain Doubts and Scruples at such a distance that they may give you no disquiet . Let me recommend to you a Method of being rightly inform'd , which can never fail : It is in short this . Get Vnderstanding , and practise Vertue And if you are ●o Blessed as to have those for your Share , it is not surer that there is a God , than it is , that by him all Necessary Truths will be revealed to you . HVSBAND . THAT which challengeth the place in your Thoughts , is how to live with a Husband . And though that is so large a Word , that few Rules can be fix'd to it which are unchangeable , the Methods being as various as the several Tempers of Men to which they must be suited ; yet I cannot omit some General Observations , which , with the help of your own may the better direct you in the part of your Life upon which your Happiness most dependeth . It is one of the Disadvantages belonging to your Sex , that young Women are seldom permitted to make their own Choice ; their Friends Care and Experience are thought safer Guides to them , than their own Fancies ; and their Modesty often forbiddeth them to refuse when their Parents recommend , though their inward Consent may not entirely go along with it . In this case there remaineth nothing for them to do , but to endeavour to make that easie which falleth to their Lot , and by a wise use of every thing they may dislike in a Husband ▪ turn that by degrees to be very supportable , which , if neglected , might in time beget an Aversion . You must first lay it down for a Foundation in general ▪ That there is Inequality in the Sexes , and that for the better Oeconomy of the World , the Men , who were to be the Law-givers , had the larger share of Reason bestow'd upon them ; by which means your Sex is the better prepar'd for the Compliance that is necessary for the better performance of those Duties which teem to be most properly assign'd to it . This looks a little uncourtly at the first appearance ; but upon Examination it will be found , that Nature is so far from being unjust to you , that she is partial on our side . She hath made you such large Amends by other Advantages , for the seeming Injustice of the first Distribution , that the Right of Complaining is come over to our Sex. You have it in your power not only to free your selves , but to subdue your Masters , and without violence throw both their Natural and Legal Authority . at your Feet . We are made of differing Tempers , that our Defects may the better be mutually supplied : Your Sex wanteth our Reason for your Conduct , and our Strength for your Protection : Ours wanteth your Gentleness to soften , and to entertain us . The first part of our Life is a good deal subjected to you in the Nursery , where you Reign without Competition , and by that means have the advantage of giving the first Impressions . Afterwards you have stronger Influences , which , well manag'd , have more force in your behalf , than all our Privileges and Jurisdictions can pre●end to have against you . You have more strength in your Looks , than we have in our Laws , and more power by your Tears , than we have by our Arguments . It is true , that the Laws of Marriage , run in a harsher stile towards your Sex. Obey is an ungenteel word , and less easie to be digested , by making such an unkind distinction in the Words of the Contract , and so very unsuitable to the excess of Good Manners , which generally goes before it . Besides , the universality of the Rule seemeth to be a Grievance , and it appeareth reasonable , that there might be an Exemption for extraordinary Women , from ordinary Rules , to take away the just Exception that lieth against the false measure of general Equality . It may be alledged by the Counsel retained by your Sex , that as there is in all other Laws , an Appeal from the Letter to the Equity , in Cases that require it ▪ It is as reasonable , that some Court of a larger . Jurisdiction might be erected , where some Wives might resort and plead specially . And in such instances where Nature is so kind , as to raise them above the level of their own Sex , they might have Relief , and obtain a Mitigation in their own particular , of a Sentence which was given generally against Woman kind . The causes of Separation are now so very course , that few are confident enough to buy their Liberty at the price of having their Modesty so exposed . And for disparity of Minds , which above all other things requireth a Remedy , the Laws have made no provision ; so little refin'd are numbers of Men , by whom they are compil'd . This and a great deal more might be said to give a colour to the Complaint . But the Answer to it , in short is , That the Institution of Marriage is too sacred to admit a Liberty of objecting to it ; That the supposition of yours being the weaker Sex , having without all doubt a good Foundation , maketh it reasonable to subject it to the Masculine Dominion ; That no Rule can be so perfect , as not to admit some Exceptions ; But the Law presumeth there would be so few found in this Case , who would have a sufficient Right to such a Privilege , that it is safer some Injustice should be conniv'd at in a very few Instances , than to break into an Establishment , upon which the Order of Humane Society doth so much depend . You are therefore to make your best of what is settled by Law and Custom , and not vainly imagine , that it will be changed for your sake . But that you may not be discouraged , as if you lay under the weight of an incurable Grievance , you are to know , that by a wise and dexterous Conduct , it will be in your power to relieve your self from any thing that looketh like a disadvantage in it . For your better direction , I will give a hint of the most ordinary Causes of Dissatisfaction between Man and Wife , that you may be able by such a Warning to live so upon your Guard , that when you shall be married , you may know how to cure your Husband 's Mistakes , and to prevent your own . First then , you are to consider , you live in a time which hath rendred some kind of Frailties so habitual , that they lay claim to large Grains of Allowance . The World in this is somewhat unequal , and our Sex seemeth to play the Tyrant in distinguishing partially for our selves , by making that in the utmost degree Criminal in the Woman , which in a Man passeth under a much gentler Censure . The Root and the Excuse of this Injustice is the Preservation of Families from any Mixture which may bring a Blemish to them : And whilst the Point of Honour continues to be so plac'd , it seems unavoidable to give your Sex , the greater share of the Penalty . But if in this it lieth under any Disadvantage , you are more than recompens'd , by having the Honour of Families in your keeping . The Consideration so great a Trust must give you , maketh full amends ; and this Power the World hath lodged in you , can hardly fail to restrain the Severity of an ill Husband , and to improve the Kindness and Esteem of a good one . This being so , remember , That next to the danger , of committing the Fault your self , the greatest is that of seeing it in your Husband . Do not seem to look or hear that way : If he is a Man of Sense , he will reclaim himself ; the Folly of it , is of it self sufficient to cure him : if he is not so , he will be provok'd , but not reform'd . To expostulate in these Cases , looketh like declaring War , and preparing Reprisals ; which to a thinking Husband would be a dangerous Reflexion . Besides , it is so course a Reason which will be assign'd for a Lady 's too great Warmth upon such an occasion , that Modesty no less than Prudence ought to restrain her ; since such an undecent Complaint makes a Wife much more ridiculous , than the Injury that provoketh her to it . But it is yet worse , and more unskilful , to blaze it in the World , expecting it should rise up in Arms to take her part : Whereas she will find , it can have no other Effect , than that she will be served up in all Companies , as the reigning Jest at that time ; and will continue to be the common Entertainment , till she is rescu'd by some newer Folly that cometh upon the Stage , and driveth her away from it . The Impertinence of such Methods is so plain , that it doth not deserve the pains of being laid open . Be assur'd , that in these Cases your Discretion and Silence will be the most prevailing Reproof . An affected Ignorance , which is seldom a Vertue , is a great one here : And when your Husband seeth how unwill●ng you are to be uneasie , there is no stronger Argument to perswade him not to be unjust to you . Besides , it will naturally make him more yielding in other things : And whether it be to cover or redeem his Offence , you may have the good Effects of it whilst it lasteth , and all that while have the most reasonable Ground that can be , of presuming , such a Behaviour will at last entirely convert him . There is nothing so glorious to a Wife , as a Victory so gain'd : A Man so reclaim'd , is for ever after subjected to her Vertue ; and her bearing for a time , is more than rewarded by a Triumph that will continue as long as her Life . The next thing I will suppose , is , That your Husband may love Wine more than is convenient . It will be granted , That though there are Vices of a deeper dye , there are none that have greater Deformity than this , when it is not restrain'd : But with all this , the same Custom which is the more to be lamented for its being so general , should make it less uneasie to every one in particular who is to suffer by the Effects of it : So that in the first place , it will be no new thing if you should have a Drunkard for your Husband ; and there is by too frequent Examples evidence enough , that such a thing may happen , and yet a Wife may live too without being miserable . Self-love dictateth aggravating words to every thing we feel ; Ruine and Misery are the Terms we apply to whatever we do not like , forgetting the Mixture allotted to us by the Condition of Human Life , by which it is not intended we should be quite exempt from trouble . It is fair , if we can escape such a degree of it as would oppress us , and enjoy so much of the pleasant part as may lessen the ill taste of such things as are unwelcome to us . Every thing hath two Sides , and for our own ease we ought to direct our Thoughts to that which may be least liable to exception . To sall upon the worst side of a Drunkard , giveth so unpleasant a prospect , that it is not possible to dwell upon it . Let us pass then to the more favourable part , as far as a Wife is concern'd in it . I am tempted to say ( if the Irregularity of the Expression could in strictness be justified ) That a Wife is to thank God her Husband hath Faults . Mark the seeming Paradox my Dear , for your own Instruction , it being intended no further . A Husband without Faults is a dangerous Observer ; he hath an Eye so piercing , and seeth every thing so plain , that it is expos'd to his full Censure . And though I will not doubt but that your Vertue will disappoint the sharpest Enquiries ; yet few Women can bear the having all they say or do represented in the clear Glass of an Understanding without Faults . Nothing softneth the Arrogance of our Nature , like a Mixture of some Frailties . It is by them we are best told , that we must not strike too hard upon others , because we our selves do so often deserve Blows : They pull our Rage by the Sleeve , and whisper Gentleness to us in our Censures , even when they are rightly applied . The Faults and Passions of Husbands bring them down to you , and make them content to live upon less unequal Terms , than Faultless Men would be willing to stoop to ; so haughty is Mankind till humbled by common Weaknesses and Defects , which in our corrupted State contribute more towards the reconciling us to one another , than all the Precepts of the Philosophers and Divines . So that where the Errors of our Nature make amends for the Disadvantages of yours it is more your part to make use of the Benefit , than to quarrel at the Fault . Thus in case a Drunken Husband should fall to your share , if you will be wise and patient , his Wine shall be of your side ; it will throw a Veil over your Mistakes , and will set out and improve every thing you do , that he is pleased with . Others will like him less , and by that means he may perhaps like you the more . When after having dined too well , he is received at home without a Storm , or so much as a reproaching Look , the Wine will naturally work out all in Kindeness , which a Wife must encourage , let it be wrapped up in never so much Impertinence . On the other side it would boil up into Rage , if the mistaken Wife should treat him roughly , like a certain thing called a kind Shrew , than which the World , with all its Plenty , cannot shew a more Senseless , ill-bred , forbidding Creature . Consider , that where the Man will give such frequent Intermissions of the use of his Reason , the Wife insensibly getteth a Right of Governing in the Vacancy , and that raiseth her Character and Credit in the Family , to a higher pitch than perhaps could be done under a sober Husband , who never putteth himself into an Incapacity of holding the Reins . If these are not intire Consolations , at least they are Remedies to some Degree . They cannot make Drunkenness a Vertue , nor a Husband given to it a Felicity ; but you will do your self no ill office in the endeavouring , by these means , to make the best of such a Lot , in case it should happen to be yours , and by the help of a wise Observation , to make that very supportable , which would otherwise be a Load that would oppress you . The next Case I will put is that your Husband may be Cholerick or Ill-humour'd . To this it may be said , That passionate Men generally make amends at the Foot of the Account . Such a Man , if he is angry one day without any Sense , will the next day be as kind without any Reason . So that by marking how the Wheels of such a Man's Head are used to move , you may easily bring over all his Passion to your Party . Instead of being struck down by his Thunder , you shall direct it where and upon whom you shall think it best applied . Thus are the strongest Poisons turn'd to the best Remedies ; but then there must be Art in it , and a skilful Hand , else the least bungling maketh it mortal . There is a great deal of nice Care requisite to deal with a Man of this Complexion . Choler proceedeth from Pride , and maketh a Man so partial to himself that he swelleth against Contradiction ; and thinketh he is lessened if he is opposed . You must in this Case take heed of increasing the Storm by an unwary Word , or kindling the Fire whilst the Wind is in a Corner which may blow it in your Face : You are dextrously to yield every thing till he beginneth to cool , and then by slow degrees you may rise and gain upon him : Your Gentleness well timed , will , like a Charm , dispel his Anger ill placed ; a kind Smile will reclaim , when a shrill pettish Answer would provoke him ; rather than fail upon such occasions , when other Remedies are too weak , a little Flattery may be admitted , which by being necessary , will cease to be Criminal . If Ill. Humour and Sullenness , and not open and sudden Heat is his Disease , there is a way of treating that too , so as to make it a Grievance to be endured . In order to if , you are first to know , that naturally good Sense hath a mixture of surly in it : and there being so much Folly in the World , and for the Most part so triumphant , it giveth frequent Temptations to raise the Spleen of Men who think right . Therefore that which may generally be call'd Ill-Humour , is not always a Fault ; it becometh one when either it is wrong applied , or that it is continued too long , when it is not so : For this Reason you must not too hastily fix an ill name upon that which may perhaps not deserve it ; and though the Case should be , that your Husband might too sowerly resent any thing he disliketh , it may so happen , that more Blame shall belong to your Mistake , than to his Ill-Humour . If a Husband behaveth himself sometimes with an Indifference that a Wife may think offensive , she is in the wrong to put the worst sence upon it , if by any Means it will admit a better . Some Wives will call it Ill-humour if their Husbands change their Style from that which they used whilst they made their first Addresses to them : Others will allow no Intermission or Abatement in the Expressions of Kindness to them , not enough distinguishing Times , and forgetting that it is impossible for Men to keep themselves up all their Lives to the height of some extravagant Moments . A Man may at some times be less careful in little things , without any cold or disobliging Reason for it ; as a Wife may be too expecting in smaller matters , without drawing upon her-self the inference of being unkind . And if your Husband should be really sullen , and have such frequent Fits , as might take away the excuse of it , it concerneth you to have an Eye prepared to discern the first Appearances of Cloudy Weather , and to watch when the Fit goeth off , which seldom lasteth long if it is let alone . But whilst the Mind is sore , every thing galleth it , and that maketh it necessary to let the Black Humour begin to spend it self ▪ before you come in and venture to undertake it . If in the Lottery of the World you should draw a Covetous Husband , I confess it will not make you proud of your good Luck ; yet even such a one may be endured too , though there are few Passions more untractable than that of Avarice . You must first take care that your Definition of Avarice may not be a Mistake . You are to examine every Circumstance of your Husband's Fortune , and weigh the Reason of every thing you expect from him before you have right to pronounce that sentence . The Complaint is now so general against all Husbands , that it giveth great suspicion of its being often ill-grounded ; it is impossible they should all deserve that Censure , and therefore it is certain , that it is many times misapplied . He that spareth in every thing is an inexcusable Niggard ; he that spareth in nothing is as inexcusable a Madman . The mean is , to spare in what is least necessary , to lay out more liberally in what is most required in our several circumstances . Yet this will not always satisfie . There are Wives who are impatient of the Rules of Oecomomy , and are apt to call their Husband's Kindness in question , if any other measure is put to their expence than that of their own Fancy . Be sure to avoid this dangerous Error , such a partiality to your Self ▪ which is so offensive to an understanding Man , that he will very ill bear a Wife's giving her self such an injurious preference to all the Family , and whatever belongeth to it . But to admit the worst , and that your Husband is really a Close-handed Wretch , you must in this , as in other Cases , endeavour to make it less afflicting to you ; and first you must observe seasonable hours of speaking . When you offer any thing in opposition to this reigning Humour , a third hand and a wise Friend , may often prevail more than you will be allowed to do in your own Cause . Sometimes you are dexterously to go along with him in things , where you see that the niggardly part of his Mind is most predominant , by which you will have the better opportunity of perswading him in things where he may be more indifferent . Our Passions are very unequal , and are apt to be raised or lessened , according as they work upon different Objects ; they are not to be stopped or restrained in those things where our Mind is more particularly engaged . In other matters they are more tractable , and will sometimes give Reason a hearing , and admit a fair Dispute . More than that , there are few Men , even in this instance of Ava●ice , so intirely abandoned to it , that at some hours , and upon some occasions , will not forget their natures , and for that time turn Prodigal . The same Man who will grudge himself what is necessary , let his Pride be raised and he shall be profuse ; at another time his Anger shall have the same effect ; a fit of Vanity , Ambition , and sometimes of Kindness , shall open and inlarge his narrow Mind ; a Dose of Wine will work upon this tough humor , and for the time dissolve it . Your busness must be , if this Case happeneth , to watch these critical moments , and not let one of them slip without making your advantage of it ; and a Wife may be said to want skill , if by these means she is not able to secure her self in a good measure against the Inconveniences this scurvy quality in a Husband might bring upon her , except he should be such an incurable Monster , as I hope will never fall to your share . The last supposition I will make , is , That your Husband should be weak and incompetent to make use of the Privileges that belong to him . It will be yielded , that such a one leaveth room for a great many Objections . But God Almighty seldom sendeth a Grievance without a Remedy , or at least such a Mitigation as taketh away a great part of the sting , and the smart of it . To make such a Misfortune less heavy you are first to bring to your Observation , That a Wife very often maketh better Figure , for her Husband 's making no great one : And there seemeth to be little reason , why the same Lady that chuseth a Waiting-Woman with worse Looks , may not be content with a Husband with less Wit ; the Argument being equal from the advantage of the Comparison . If you will be more ashamed in some Cases , of such a Husband , you will be less afraid than you would perhaps be of a wise one . His Vnseasonable Weakness may no doubt sometimes grieve you , but then set against this , that it giveth you the Dominion , i● you will make the right use of it . It is next to his being dead , in which Case the Wife hath right to Administer ; therefore be sure , if you have such an Idiot , that none , except your self , may have the benefit of the forfeiture ; Such a Fool is a dangerous Beast , if others have the keeping of him ; and you must be very undexterous if when your Husband shall resolve to be an Ass , you do not take care he may be your Ass . But you must go skilfully about it and above all things , take heed of distinguishing in publick , what kind of Husband he is : Your inward thoughts must not hinder the outward payment of the consideration that is due to him : Your slighting him in Company , besides that it would , to a discerning By stander , give too great encouragement for the making nearer applications to you , is in it self such an undecent way of assuming , that it may provoke the tame Creature to break loose , and to shew his Dominion for his Credit , which he was content to forget for his Ease . In short , the surest and the most approved method will be to do like a wise Minister to an easie Prince ; first give him the Orders you afterwards receive from him . With all this , that which you are to pray for , is a Wise Husband , one that by knowing how to be a Master , for that very reason will not let you feel the weight of it ; one whose Authority is so soften'd by his Kindness , that it giveth you ease without abridging your Liberty ; one that will return so much tenderness for your Just Esteem of him , that you will never want power , though you will seldom care to use it . Such a Husband is as much above all the other Kinds of them , as a rational subjection to a Prince , great in himself , is to be preferr'd before the disquiet and uneasiness of Vnlimited Liberty . Before I leave this Head , I must add a little concerning your Behaviour to your Husband's Friends , which requireth the most refined part of your Understanding to acquit your self well of it . You are to study how to live with them with more care than you are to apply to any other part of your Life ; especially at first , that you may not stumble at the first setting out . The Family into which you are grafted will generally be apt to expect , that like a Stranger in a Foreign Country , you should conform to their Methods , and not bring in a new Model by your own Authority The Friends in such a Case are tempted to rise up in Arms as against an unlawful Invasion , so that you are with the utmost Caution to avoid the least appearances of any thing of this Kind . And that you may with less difficulty afterwards give your Directions , be sure at first to receive them from your Husband's Friends . Gain them to you by early applying to them , and they will be so satisfied , that as nothing is more thankful than Pride , when it is complied with , they will strive which of them shall most recommend you ; and when they have helped you to take Root in your Husband 's good Opinion , you will have less dependence upon theirs , though you must not neglect any reasonable means of preserving it . You are to consider , that a Man govern'd by his Friends , is very easily inflamed by them ; and that one who is not so , will yet for his own sake expect to have them consider'd . It is easily improved to a point of Honour in a Husband , not to have his Relations neglected ; and nothing is more dangerous , than to raise an Objection , which is grounded upon Pride : It is the most stubborn and lasting Passion we are subject to , and where it is the first cause of the War , it is very hard to make a secure Peace . Your Caution in this is of the last importance to you . And that you may the better succeed in it , carry a strict Eye upon the Impertinence of your Servants ; take heed that their Ill-humour may not engage you to take Exceptions , or their too much assuming i● small matters , raise Consequences which may bring you under great Disadvantage . Remember that in the case of a Royal Bride , those about her are generally so far suspected to bring in a Foreign Interest , that in most Countries they are insensibly reduced to a very small number , and those of so low a Figure , that it doth not admit the being Jealous of them . In little and in the Proportion , this may be the Case of every New married Woman , and therefore it may be more adviseable for you , to gain the Servants you find in a Family , than to tie your self too fast to those you carry into it . You are not to overlook these small Reflections , because they may appear low and inconsiderable ; for it may be said , that as the greatest streams are made up of the small drops at the head of the Springs from whence they are derived , so the greater circumstances of your Life , will be in some degree directed by these seeming trifles , which having the advantage of being the first acts of it , have a greater effect than singly in their own nature they could pretend to . I will conclude this Article with my Advice , That you would , as much as Nature will give you leave , endeavour to forget the great Indulgence you have found at home . After such a gentle Discipline as you have been under , every thing you dislike will seem the harsher to you . The tenderness we have had for you , My Dear , is of another nature , peculiar to kind Parents , and differing from that which you will meet wi●h first in any Family into which you shall be transplanted ; and yet they may be very kind too , and afford no justifiable reason to you to complain . You must not be frighted with the first Appearances of a differing Scene ; for when you are used to it , you may like the House you go to , better than that you left ; and your Husband's Kindness will have so much advantage of ours , that we shall yield 〈◊〉 all Competition , and as well as we love you , be very well contented to Surrender to such a Rival . HOVSE , FAMILY , and CHILDREN . YOU must lay before you , My Dear ▪ there are degrees of Care to recommend your self to the World in the several parts of your Life . In many things , though the doing them well may raise your Credit and Esteem , yet the omission of them would draw no immediate reproach upon you : In others , where your duty is more particularly applyed , the neglect of them is amongst those Faults which are not forgiven , and will bring you under a Censure , which will be much a heavier thing than the trouble you would avoid . Of this kind is the Government of your House , Family , and Children , which ●ince it is the Province allotted to your Sex , and that the discharging it well , will for that reason be expected from you , if you either desert it out of Laziness , or manage it ill for want of skill , instead of a Help you will be an Incumbrance to the Family where you are placed . I must tell you , that no respect is lasting , but that which is produced by our being in some degree useful to those that pay it . Where that faileth , the Homage and the Reverence go along with it , and fly to others where something may be expected in exchange for them . And upon this principle the respects even of the Children and the Servants will not stay with one that doth not think them worth their Care , and the old House-keeper shall make a better Figure in the Family , than the Lady with all her fine Cloaths , if she wilfully relinquishes her Title to the Government . Therefore take heed of carrying your good Breeding to such a height , as to be good for nothing , and to be proud of it . Some think it hath a great Air to be above troubling their thoughts with such ordinary things as their House and Family ; others dare not admit Cares for fear they should hasten Wrinkles ? mistaken Pride maketh some think they must keep themselves up , and not descend to these Duties , which do not seem enough refined for great Ladies to be imploy'd in ; forgetting all this while , that it is more than the greatest Princes can do , at once to preserve respect , and to neglect their Business . No Age ever erected Altars to insignificant Gods ; they had all some quality applied to them to draw worship from Mankind ; this maketh it the more unreasonable for a Lady to expect to be consider'd , and at the same time resolve not to deserve it . Good looks alone will not do ; they are not such a lasting Tenure , as to be relied upon ; and if they should stay longer than they usually do , it will by no means be safe to depend upon them : For when time hath abated the violence of the first liking , and that the Napp is a little worn off , though still a good degree of kindness may remain , Men recover their sight which before might be dazell'd , and allow themselves to object as well as to admire . In such a Case , when a Husband seeth an empty airy thing sail up and down the House to no kind of purpose , and look as if she came thither only to make a Visit . When he findeth that after her Emptiness hath been extreme busie about some very senseless thing ▪ she eats her Breakfast half an hour before Dinner , to be at greater liberty to afflict the Company with her Discourse ; then calleth for her Coach , that she may trouble her Acquaintance , who are already cloy'd with her : And having some proper Dialogues ready to display her Foolish Eloquence at the top of the Stairs , she setteth out like a Ship out of the Harbour , laden with trifles and cometh back with them : at her return she repeateth to her faithful waiting Woman , the Triumphs of that day's Impertinence ; then wrap'd up in Flattery and clean Linen , goeth to Bed so satisfied , that it throweth her into pleasant Dreams of her own Felicity . Such a one is seldom serious but with her Taylor ; her Children and Family may now and then have a random thought , but she never taketh aim but at something very Impertinent . I say , when a Husband , whose Province is without Doors , and to whom the Oeconomy of the House would be in some degree Indecent , findeth no Order nor Quiet in his Family , meeteth with Complaints of all kinds springing from this Root ; The Mistaken Lady , who thinketh to make amends for all this , by having a well-chosen Petty Coat , will at last be convinced of her Error , and with grief be forced to undergo the Penalties that belong to those who are willfully Insignificant . When this scurvy hour cometh upon her , she first groweth Angry ; then when the time of it is past , would perhaps grow wiser , not remembring that we can no more have Wisdom than Grace , whenever we think fit to call for it . There are Times and Periods fix'd for both ; and when they are too long neglected , the Punishment is , that they are Irrecoverable , and nothing remaineth but an useless Grief for the Folly of having thrown them out of our power . You are to think what a mean Figure a Woman maketh , when she is so degraded by her own Fault ; whereas there is nothing in those Duties which are expected from you , that can be a lessening to you , except your want of Conduct makes it so . You may love your Children without living in the Nursery , and you may have a competent and discreet care of them , with out letting it ▪ break out upon the Company , or exposing your self by turning your Discourse that way , which is a kind of Laying Children to the Parish , and it can hardly be done any where , that those who hear it will be so forgiving , as not to think they are overcharged with them . A Woman's tenderness to her Children is one of the least deceitful Evidences of the Vertue ; but yet the way of expressing it , must be subject to the Rules of good Breeding : And though a Woman of Quality ought not to be less kind to them , than Mothers of the Meanest Rank are to theirs , yet she may distinguish her self in the manner , and avoid the course Methods , which in Women of a lower size might be more excusable . You must begin early to make them love you , that they may obey you . This Mixture is no where more necessary than in Children . And I must tell you , that you are not to expect Returns of Kindness from yours , if ever you have any , without Grains of Allowance ; and yet it is not so much a defect in their good Nature , as a shortness of Thought in them . Their first Insufficiency maketh them lean so entirely upon their Parents for what is necessary , that the habit of it maketh them continue the same Expectations for what is unreasonable ; and as often as they are denied , so often they think they are injured : and whilst their Desires are strong , and their Reasons yet in the Cradle , their Anger looketh no farther than the thing they long for and cannot have ; And to be displeased for their own good , is a Maxim they are very ●low to understand : So that you may conclude , the first Thoughts of your Children will have no small Mixture of Mutiny ; which being so natural , you must not be angry , except you would increase it . You must deny them as seldom as you can , and when there is no avoiding it , you must do it gently ; you must flatter away their ill Humour , and take the next Opportunity of pleasing them in some other thing , before they either ask or look for it : This will strengthen your Authority , by making it soft to them ; and confirm their Obedience , by making it their Interest . You are to have as strict a Guard upon your self amongst your Children , as if you were amongst your Enemies . They are apt to make wrong Inferences , to take Encouragement from half Words , and misapply what you may say or do , so as either to lessen their Duty , or to extend their Liberty farther than is convenient . Let them be more in awe of your Kindness than of your Power . And above all , take heed of supporting a Favourite Child in its Impertinence , which will give Right to the rest of claiming the same Privilege . If you have a divided Number , leave the Boys to the Father 's more peculiar Care , that you may with the greater Justice pretend to a more immediate Jurisdiction over those of your own Sex. You are to live so with them , that they may never chuse to avoid you , except when they have offended ; and then let them tremble , that they may distinguish : But their Penance must not continue so long as to grow too sowre upon their Stomachs , that it may not harden in stead of correcting them : The kind and severe Part must have their several turns seasonably applied ; but your Indulgence is to have the broader mixture , that Love , rather than Fear , may be the Root of their Obedience . Your Servants are in the next place to be considered ; and you must remember not to fall into the mistake of thinking , that because they receive Wages , and are so much Inferiour to you , therefore they are below your Care to know how to manage them . It would be as good Reason for ▪ a Master Workman to despise the Wheels of his Engines , because they are made of Wood. These are the Wheels of your Family ; and let your Directions be never so faultless , yet if these Engines stop or move wrong , the whole Order of your House is either at a stand , or discomposed . Besides , the Inequality which is between you , must not make you forget , that Nature maketh no such distinction , but that Servants may be looked upon as humble Friends , and that Returns of Kindness and good Vsage are as much due to such of them as deserve it , as their Service is due to us when we require it . A foolish haughtiness in the Style of speaking , or in the manner of commanding them , is in it self very undecent ; besides that it begetteth an Aversion in them , of which the least ill Effect to be expected , is , that they will be slow and careless in all that is injoyned them : And you will find it true by your Experience , that you will be so much the more obeyed as you are less Imperious . Be not too hasty in giving your Orders , not too angry when they are not altogether observed ; much less are you to be loud , and too much disturbed : An evenness in distinguishing when they do well or ill , is that which will make your Family move by a Rule , and without Noise , and will the better set out your Skill in conducting it with Ease and Silence , that it may be like a well disciplin'd Army ; which knoweth how to anticipate the Orders that are fit to be given them . You are never to neglect the Duty of the present Hour , to do another thing , which though it may be better in it self , is not to be unseasonably preferred . Allot well chosen Hours for the Inspection of your Family , which may be so distinguished from the rest of your Time , that the necessary Cares may come in their proper Place , without any Influence upon your good Humour , or Interruption to other things . By these Methods you will put your self in possession of being valued by your Servants , and then their Obedience will naturally follow . I must not forget one of the greatest Articles belonging to a Family , which is the Expence . It must not be such , as by failing either in the Time or measure of it , may rather draw Censure than gain Applause . If it was well examined , there is more Money given to be laughed at , than for any one thing in the World , though the Purchasers do not think so . A well-stated Rule is like the Line , when that is once pass'd we are under another Pole ; so the first straying from a Rule , is a step towards making that which was before a Vertue , to change its Nature , and to grow either into a Vice , or at least an Impertinence . The Art of laying out Money wise'y , is not attained to without a great deal of thought ; and it is yet more difficult in the Case of a Wife , who is accountable to her Husband for her mistakes in it . It is not only his Money , his Credit too is at Stake , if what lyeth under the Wife's Care is managed , either with undecent Thrift , or too loose Profusion . You are therefore to keep the Mean between these two Extremes , and it being hardly possible to hold the Balance exactly even , let it rather incline towards the Laberal side as more suitable to your Quality , and less subject to Reproach . Of the two a little Money mispent is sooner recovered , than the Credit which is lost by having it unhandsomely saved ; and a Wise Husband will less forgive a shameful piece of Parcimony , than a little Extravagance , if it be not too often repeated . His Mind in this must be your chief Direction ; and his Temper , when once known , will in great measure , justifie your part in the management , if he is pleased with it . In your Clothes avoid too much Gaudy ; do not value your self upon an Imbroidered Gown ; and remember , that a reasonable Word , or an obliging Look , will gain you more respect , than all your fine Trappings . This is not said to restrain you from a decent Compliance with the World , provided you take the wiser , and not the foolisher part of your Sex for your Pattern . Some distinctions are to be allowed , whilst they are well suited to your Quality and Fortune , and in the distribution of the Expence , it seemeth to me that a full Attendance , and well chosen Ornaments for your House , will make you a better Figure ▪ than too much glittering in what you wear , which may with more ease be imitated by those that are below you . Yet this must not tempt you to starve every thing but your own Appartment ; or in order to more abundance there , give just cause to the least Servant you have , to complain of the Want of what is necessary . Above all , fix it in your thoughts , as an unchangeable Maxim , That nothing is truly fine but what is fit , and that just so much as is proper for your Circumstances of their several kinds , is much finer than all you can add to it . When you once break through these bounds , you launch into a wide Sea of Extravagance . Every thing will become necessary , because you have a mind to it ; and you have a mind to it , not because it is fit for you , but because some body else hath it . This Lady's Logick fetteth Reason upon its Head , by carrying the Rule from things to Persons ; and appealing from what is right to every Fool that is in the wrong . The word necessary is miserably applyed , it disordereth Families , and overturneth Governments by being so abused . Remember that Children and Fools want every thing because they want Wit to distinguish : and therefore there is no stronger Evidence of a Crazy Vnderstanding , than the making too large a Catalogue of things necessary , when in truth there are so very few things that have a right to be placed in it . Try every thing first in your Judgment , before you allow it a place in your Desire ; else your Husband may think it as necessary for him to deny , as it is for you to have whatever is unreasonable : and if you shall too often give him that advantage , the habit of refusing may perhaps reach to things that are not unfit for you . There are unthinking Ladies , who do not enough consider , how little their own Figure agreeth with the fine things they are so proud of . Others when they have them will hardly allow them to be visible ; they cannot be seen without Light , and that is many times so sawcy and so prying , that like a too forward Gallant it is to be forbid the Chamber . Some , when you are ushered into their Dark Ruelle , it is with such solemnity , that a Man would swear there was something in it , till the Vnskilful Lady breaketh silence , and beginneth a Chat , which discovereth it is a Puppet play with Magnificent Scenes . Many esteem things rather as they are hard to be gotten , than that they are worth getting : This looketh as if they had an Interest to pursue that Maxim , because a great part of their own value dependeth upon it . Truth in these Cases would be often unmannerly , and might derogate from the Prerogative , great Ladies would assume to them selves , of being distinct Creatures from those of their Sex , which are inferiour , and of less difficult access . In other things too , your Condition must give the rule to you , and therefore it is not a Wife's part to aim at more than a bounded Liberality ; the farther extent of that Quality ( otherwise to be commended ) belongeth to the Husband , who hath better means for it . Generosity wrong placed becometh a Vice. It is no more a Vertue when it groweth into an Inconvenience , Vertues must be inlarged or restrained according to differing Circumstances . A Princely Mind will undo a private Family : Therefore things must be suited , or else they will not deserve to be Commended , let them in themselves be never so valuable : And the Expectations of the World are best answered when we acquit our selves in that manner which seemeth to be prescribed to our several Conditions , without usurping upon those Duties , which do not so particularly belong to us . I will close the consideration of this Article of Expence , with this short word . Do not fetter your self with such a Restraint in it as may make you Remarkable ; but remember that Vertue is the greatest Ornament , and good Sence the best Equipage . BEHAVIOUR and CONVERSATION . IT is time now to lead you out of your House into the World. A Dangerous step ; where your Vertue alone will not secure you , except it is attended with a great deal of Prudence . You must have both for your Guard , and not stir without them . The Enemy is abroad , and you are sure to be taken , if you are found stragling . Your Behaviour is therefore to incline strongly towards the Reserved part ; your Character is to be immoveably fixed upon that Bottom , not excluding a mixture of greater freedom , as far as it may be innocent and well timed . The Extravagancies of the Age have made Caution more necessary ; and by the same reason that the too great Licence of ill Men hath by Consequence in many things restrained the Lawful Liberty of those who did not abuse it , the unjustifiable Freedoms of some of your Sex have involved the rest in the Penalty of being reduced . And though this cannot so alter the Nature of things , as to make that Criminal , which in it self is Indifferent ; yet if it maketh it dangerous , that alone is sufficient to justifie the Restraint . A close behaviour is the fittest to receive Vertue for its constant Guest , because there , and there only , it can be secure . Proper Reserves are the Outworks , and must never be deserted by those who intend to keep the Place ; they keep off the possibilities not only of being taken , but of being attempted ; and if a Woman seeth Danger tho at never so remote a Distance , she is for that time to shorten her Line of Liberty . She who will allow her self to go to the utmost Extent of every thing that is Lawful , is so very near going farther , that those who lie at watch , will begin to count upon her . Mankind , from the double temptation of Vanity and Desire , is apt to turn every thing a Woman doth to the hopeful side ; and there are few who dare make an impudent Application , till they discern something which they are willing to take for an Encouragement . It is safer therefore to prevent such Forwardness , than to go about to cure it . It gathereth Strength by the first allowances , and claimeth a Right from having been at any time suffered with Impunity . Therefore nothing is with more care to be avoided , than such a kind of Civility as may be mistaken for Invitation ; and it will not be enough for you to keep your self free from any criminal Engagements ; for if you do that which either raiseth Hopes or createth Discourse , there is a Spot thrown upon your Good Name ; and those kind of Stains are the harder to be taken out , being dropped upon you by the Man's Vanity , as well as by the Woman's Malice . Most Men are in one sence Platonick Lovers , though they are not willing to own that Character . They are so far Philosophers , as to allow , that the greatest part of Pleasure lieth in the Mind ; and in pursuance of that Maxim , there are few who do not place the Felicity more in the Opinion of the World , of their being prosperous Lovers , than in the Blessing it self , how much soever they appear to value it . The being so , you must be very cautious not to gratifie these Cameleons at the price of bringing a Cloud upon your Reputation ▪ which may be deeply wounded , tho your Conscience is unconcerned . Your own Sex too will not fail to help the least Appearance that giveth a Handle ▪ to be ill-turned . The best of them will not be displeased to improve their own Value , by laying others under a Disadvantage , when there is a fair Occasion give for it . It distinguisheth them still the more their own Credit is more exalted , and , like a Picture set off with Shades , shineth more when a Lady , either less Innocent , or le● Discreet is set near , to make them appear so much the brighter . If these lend thei● Breath to blast such as are so unwary as to give them this Advantage , you may be sure there will be a stronger Gale from those , who , besides Malice or Emulation have an Interest too , to strike hard upon a Vertuous Woman . It seemeth to them , tha● their Load of Infamy is lessened , by throwing part , of it upon others : So that they will not only improve when it lieth in thei● way , but take pains to find out the least mistake an Innocent Woman committeth , i● Revenge of the Injury she doth in leading a Life which is a Reproach to them . With these you must be extreme wary , and neither provoke them to be angry , nor invite them to be Intimate . To the Men you are to have a Behaviour which may secure you , without offending them . No ill-bred affected Shyness , nor a Roughness , unsuitable to your Sex , and unnecessary to your Vertue ; but a way of Living that may prevent all course Railleries or unmannerly Freedoms ; Looks that forbid without Rudeness , and oblige without Invitation , or leaving room for the sawcy Inferences Men's Vanity suggesteth to them upon the least Encouragements . This is so very nice , that it must engage you to have a perpetual Watch upon your Eyes , and to remember , that one careless Glance giveth more advantage than a hundred Words not enough considered ; the Language of the Eyes being very much the most significant , and the most observed . Your Civility , which is always to be preserved , must not be carried to a Compliance , which may betray you into irrecoverable Mistakes . This French ambiguous word Complaisance hath led your Sex into more blame , than all other things put together . It carrieth them by degrees into a certain thing called a good kind of Woman , an easie Idle Creature , that doth neither Good nor Ill but by chance , hath no Choice , but leaveth that to the Company she keepeth ▪ Time , which by degrees addeth to the signification of Words , hath made her , according to the Modern Stile , little better than one who thinketh it a Rudeness to deny when civilly required , either her Service in Person , or her friendly Assistance , to those who would have a meeting , or want a Confident . She is a certain thing always at hand , an easie Companion , who hath ever great Compassion for distressed Lovers : She censureth nothing but Rigor , and is never without a Plaister for a wounded Reputation , in which chiefly lieth her Skill in Chirurgery ; She seldom hath the Propriety of any particular Gallant , but liveth upon Brokage , and waiteth for the Scraps her Friends are content to leave her . There is another Character not quite so Criminal , yet not less Ridiculous ; which is that of a good-humour'd Woman , one who thinketh she must always be in a Laugh , or a broad Smile , because Good-humour is an obliging Quality ; thinketh it less ill-manners to talk Impertinently , than to be silent in Company . When such a prating Engine rideth Admiral , and carrieth the Lantern , in a Circle of Fools , a cheerful Concomb coming in for a Recruit , the Chattering of Monkeys is a better noise than such a Concert of senceless Merriment . If she is applauded in it , she is so encouraged , that , like a Ballad singer , who if commanded , breaketh his Lungs , she letteth her self loose , and overfloweth upon the Company . She conceiveth that Mirth is to have no intermission , and therefore she will carry it about with her , though it be to a Funeral ; and if a Man should put a familiar Question , she doth not know very well how to be angry , for then she would be no more that pretty thing called a Good humour'd Woman . This necessity of appearing at all times to be so infinitely pleased is a grievous mistake ; since in a handsom Woman that Invitation is unnecessary ; and in one who is not so , ridiculous . It is not intended by this , that you should forswear Laughing ; but remember , that Fools being always painted in that posture , it may fright those who are wise from doing it too frequently , and going too near a Copy which is so little inviting , and much more from doing it loud , which is an unnatural Sound and looketh so much like another Sex , that few things are more offensive . That boilterous kind of Jollity is as contrary to Wit and Good Manners , as it is to Modesty and Vertue . Besides , it is a course kind of quality , that throweth a Woman into a lower Form , and degradeth her from the Rank of those who are more refined . Some Ladies speak loud and make a noise to be the more minded , which looketh as if they beat their Drums for Volunteers , and if by misfortune none come in to them , they may , not without reason , be a good deal out of Countenance . There is one thing , yet more to be avoided , which is the Example of those who intend nothing farther than the Vanity of Conquest , and think themselves secure of not having their Honour tainted by it . Some are apt to believe their Vertue is too Obscure , and not enough known , except it is exposed to a broader Light , and set out to its best advantage , by some publick Trials . These are dangerous experiments , and generally fail , being built upon so weak a foundation , as that of a too great Confidence in our selves . It is as safe to play with Fire , as to daily with Gallantry . Love is a Passion that hath Friends in the Garrison , and for that reason must by a Woman be kept at such a distance , that she may not be within the danger of doing the most usual thing in the World which is conspiring against her Self : Else the humble Gallant , who is only admitted as a Trophy , very often becometh the Conquerour ; he putteth on the style of victory , and from an Admirer groweth into a Master , for so he may be called from the moment he is in Possession . The first Resolutions of stopping at good Opinion and Esteem , grow weaker by degrees against the Charms of Courtship skilfully applied . A Lady is apt to think a Man speaketh so much reason whilst he is Commending her , that she hath much ado to believe him in the wrong when he is making Love to her : And when besides the natural Inducements your Sex hath to be merciful , she is bribed by well chosen Flattery , the poor Creature is in danger of being caught like a Bird listening to the Whilstle of one that hath a Snare for it . Conquest is so tempting a thing , that it often maketh Women mistake Men's Submissions ; which with all their fair Appearance , have generally less , Respect than Art in them . You are to remember , that Men who say extreme fine things , many times say them most for their own sakes ; and that the vain Gallant is often as well pleased with his own Compliments , as he could be with the kindest answer . Where there is not that Ostentation you are to suspect there is Design , And as strong perfumes are seldom used but where they are necessary to smother an unwelcome scent ; so Excessive good Words leave room to believe they are strewed to cover something , which is to gain admittance under a Disguise . You must therefore be upon your Guard , and consider , that of the two , Respect is more dangerous than Anger . It puts even the best Understandings out of their place for the time , till their second thoughts restore them ; it stealeth upon us insensibly , throweth down our Defences , and maketh it too late to resist , after we have given it that advantage . Whereas railing goeth away in sound ; it hath so much noise in it , that by giving warning it bespeaketh Caution . Respect is a slow and a sure Poison , and like Poison swelleth us within our selves . Where it prevaileth too much , it groweth to be a kind of Apoplexie in the Mind , turneth it quite round , and after it hath once seized the understanding , becometh mortal to it . For these reasons , the safest way is to treat it like a sly Enemy , and to be perpetually upon the watch against it . I will add one Advice to conclude this head , which is that you will let every seven years make some alteration in you towards the Graver side , and not be like the Girls of Fifty , who resolve to be always Young , whatever Time with his Iron Teeth hath determined to the contrary . Unnatural things carry a Deformity in them never to be Disguised ; the Liveliness of Youth in a riper Age , looketh like a new patch upon an old Gown ; so that a Gay Matron , a cheerful old Fool may be reasonably put into the List of the Tamer kind of Monsters . There is a certain Creature call'd a Grave Hobby-Horse , a kind of a she Numps , that pretendeth to be pulled to a Play , and must needs go to Bartholomew-Fair , to look after the young Folks , whom she only seemeth to make her care , in reality she taketh them for her excuse . Such an old Butterfly is of all Creatures , the most ridiculous , and the soonest found out . It is good to be early in your Caution , to avoid any thing that cometh within distance of such despicable Patterns , and not like some Ladies , who defer their Conversion , till they have been so long in possession of being laughed at , that the World doth not know how to change their style , even when they are reclaimed from that which gave the first occasion for it . The advantages of being reserved are too many to be set down , I will only say , that it is a Guard to a good Woman , and a Disguise to an ill one . It is of so much use to both , that those ought to use it as an Artifice , who refuse to practise it as a Vertue . FRIENDSHIPS . I Must in a particular manner recommend to you a strict Care in the Choice of your Friendships . Perhaps the best are not without their Objections , but however , be sure that yours may not stray from the Rules which the wiser part of the World hath set to them . The Leagues Offensive and Defensive , seldom hold in Politicks , and much less in Friendships . The violent Intimacies , when once broken , of which they scarce ever fail , make such a Noise ; the Bag of Secrets untied , they fly about like Birds let loose from a Cage , and become the Entertainment of the Town . Besides , these great Dearnesses by degrees grow Injurious to the rest of your Acquaintance , and throw them off from you . There is such an Offensive Distinction when the Dear Friend cometh into the Room , that it is flinging Stones at the Company , who are not ape to forgive it . Do not lay out your Friendship too lavishly at first , since it will , like other things , be so much the sooner spent ; neither let it be of too sudden a growth ; for as the Plants which shoot up too fast are not of that continuance , as those which take more time for it ; so too swift a Progress in pouring out your Kindness , is a certain Sign that by the Course of Nature it will not be long-lived . You will be responsible to the World , if you pitch upon such Friends as at the time are under the weight of any Criminal Objection . In that case you will bring your self under the disadvantages of their Character , and must bear your part of it . Chusing implieth Approving ; and if you fix upon a Lady for your Friend against whom the World shall have given Judgment , 't is not so well natur'd as to believe you are altogether averse to her way of living , since it doth not discourage you from Admitting her into your Kindness . And Resemblance of Inclinations being thought none of the least Inducements to Friendship , you will be looked upon at least as a Well-wisher if not a Partner with her in her Faults . If you can forgive them in another , it may be presumed you will not be less gentle to your self ; and therefore you must not take it ill , if you are reckoned a Croupiere , and condemned to pay an equal Share with such a Friend of the Reputation she hath lost . If it happeneth that your Friend should fall from the State of Innocence after your Kindness was engaged to her , you may be slow in your belief in the beginning of the Discovery : But as soon as you are convinced by a Rational Evidence , you must , without breaking too roughly , make a far and a quick Retreat from such a Mistaken Acquaintance : Else by moving too slowly from one that is so tainted , the Contagion may reach you so far as to give you part of the Scandal , though not of the Guilt . This Matter is so nice , that as you must not be too hasty to joyn in the Censure upon your Friend when she is accused , so you are not on the other side to defend her with too much warmth ; for if she should happen to deserve the Report of Common Fame , besides the Vexation that belongeth to such a mistake , you will draw an ill appearance upon your self , and it will be thought you pleaded for her not without some Consideration of your self . The Anger which must be put on to vindicate the Reputation of an injured Friend , may incline the Company to suspect you would not be so zealous , if there was not a possibility that the Case might be your own . For this reason you are not to carry your dearness so far , as absolutely to lose your Sight where your Friend is concerned . Because Malice , is too quick sighted , it doth not follow , that Friendship must be blind : There is to be a Mean between these two Extremes , else your Excess of Good Nature may betray you into a very ridiculous Figure , and by degrees who may be preferr'd to such Offices as you will not be proud of . Your Ignorance may lessen the Guilt , but will improve the Jest upon you , who shall be kindly sollicitous to procure a Meeting , and innocently contribute to the ills you would avoid : Whilest the Contriving Lovers , when they are alone , shall make you the Subject of their Mirth , and perhaps ( with respect to the Goddess of Love be it spoken ) it is not the worst part of their Entertainment , at least it is the most lasting , to laugh at the believing Friend , who was so easily deluded . Let the good Sence of your Friends be a chief Ingredient in your Choice of them ; else let your Reputation be never so clear , it may be clouded by their Impertinence . It is like our Houses being in the Power of a Drunken or a Careless Neighbour ; only so much worse , as that there will be no Insurance here to make you amends , as there is in the Case of Fire . To conclude this Paragraph ; If Formality is to be allowed in any Instance , it is to be put on to resist the Invasion of such forward Women as shall press themselves into your Friendship , where if admitted , they will either be a Snare or an Incumbrance . CENSVRE . I will come next to the Consideration , how you are to manage your Censure ; in which both Care and skill will be a good deal required . To distinguish is not only natural but necessary ; and the Effect of it is , That we cannot avoid giving Judgment in our Minds , either to absolve or to condemn as the Case requireth . The Difficulty is , to know when and where it is fit to proclaim the Sentence . An Aversion to what is Criminal , a Contempt of what is ridiculous , are the inseparable Companions of Understanding and Vertue ; but die letting them go farther than our own Thoughts , hath so much danger in it , that though it is neither possible nor fit to suppress them intirely , yet it is necessary they should be kept under very great Restraints . An unlimited Liberty of this kind is little less than sending a Herald and proclaiming War to the World , which is an angry Beast when so provoked . The Contest will be unequal ; though you are never so much in the right ; and if you begin against such an Adversary , it will tear you in pieces , with this Justification , That it is done in its own defence . You must therefore take heed of Laughing , except in Company that is very sure . It is throwing Snow-balls against Bullets ; and it is the disadvantage of a Woman , that the Malice of the World will help the Brutality of those who will throw a slovenly Vntruth upon her . You are for this Reason to suppress your Impatience for Fools ; who besides that they are too strong a Party to be unnecessarily provoked , are of all others , the most dangerous in this Case . A Blockhead in his Rage will return a dull Jest that will lie heavy , though there is not a Grain of Wit in it . Others will do it with more Art , and you must not think your self secure because your Reputation may perhaps be out of the reach of Ill will ; for if it findeth that part guarded , it will seek one which is more exposed . It flieth , like a corrupt Humour in the Body , to the weakest Part. If you have a tender Side , the World will be sure to find it , and to put the worst Colour upon all you say or do , give an Aggravation to every thing that may lessen you , and a Spiteful turn to every thing that might recommend you . Anger laieth open those Defects which Friendship would not see , and Civility might be willing to forget . Malice needeth no such Invitation to encourage it , neither are any Pains more superfluous than those we take to be ill spoken of . If Envy , which never dyeth , and seldom sleepeth , is content sometimes to be in a Slumber , it is very unskilful to make a noise to awake it . Besides , your Wit will be misapplied if it is wholly directed to discern the Faults of others , when it is so necessary to be often used to mend and prevent your own . The sending our Thoughts too much abroad , hath the same Effect , as when a Family never stayeth at home ; Neglect and Disorder naturally followeth ; as it must do within our selves , if we do not frequently turn our Eyes inwards , to see what is amiss with us , where it is a sign we have an unwelcome Prospect , when we do not care to look upon it , but rather seek our Consolations in the Faults of those we converse with . Avoid being the first in fixing a hard Censure , let it be confirmed by the general Voice , before you give into it ; Neither are you then to give Sentence like a Magistrate , or as if you had a special Authority to bestow a good or ill Name at your discretion . Do not dwell too long upon a weak Side , touch and go away ; take pleasure to stay longer where you can commend , like Bees that fix only upon those Herbs out of which they may extract the Juice of which their Honey is composed . A Vertue stuck with Bristles is too rough for this Age ; it must be adorned with some Flowers , or else it will be unwillingly entertained ; so that even where it may be fit to strike , do it like a Lady , gently ; and assure your self , that where you care to do it , you will wound others more , and hurt your self less , by soft Strokes , than by being harsh or violent . The Triumph of Wit is to make your good . Nature subdue your Censure ; to be quick in seeing Faults , and slow in exposing them . You are to consider , that the invisible thing called a Good Name , is made up of the Breath of Numbers that speak well of you ; so that if by a disobliging Word you silence the meanest , the Gale will be less strong which is to bear up your Esteem . And though nothing is so vain as the eager pursuit of empty Applause , yet to be well thought of , and to be kindly used by the World , is like a Glory about a Womans Head ; 't is a Perfume she carrieth about with her , and leaveth where-ever she goeth ; 't is a Charm against Ill-will . Malice may empty her Quiver , but cannot wound ; the Dirt will not stick , the Jests will not take ; Without the consent of the World a Scandal doth not go deep ; it is only a slight stroak upon the injured Party and returneth with the greater force upon those that gave it . VANITY AND AFFECTATION . I Must with more than ordinary earnestness give you Caution against Vanity , it being the Fault to which your Sex seemeth to be the most inclined ; and since Affectation for the most part attendeth it , I do not know how to divide them . I will not call them Twins , because more properly Vanity is the Mother , and Affectation is the Darling Daughter ; Vanity is the Sin , and Affectation is the Punishment ; the first may be called the Root of Self-Love , the other the Fruit. Vanity is never at its full growth till it spreadeth into Affectation , and then it is compleat . Not to dwell any longer upon the definition of them , I will pass to the means and motives to avoid them . In order to it , you are to consider , that the World challengeth the right of distributing Esteem and Applause ; so that where any assume by their single Authority to be their own Carvers , it groweth angry , and never faileth to seek Revenge . And if we may measure a Fault by the greatness of the Penalty , there are few of a higher size than Vanity , as there is scarce a Punishment which can be heavier than that of being laughed at . Vanity maketh a Woman tainted with it , so top full of her self , that she spilleth it upon the Company . And because her own thoughts are intirely imployed in Self-Contemplation ; she endeavoureth , by a cruel Mistake , to confine her Acquaintance to the same narrow Circle of that which only concerneth her Ladiship , forgetting that she is not of half that Importance to the World , that she is to her self , so mistaken she is in her Value , by being her own Appraiser . She will fetch such a Compass in Discourse to bring in her beloved Self , and rather than fail , her fine Petty-Coat , that there can hardly be a better Scene than such a Tryal of ridiculous Ingenuity . It is a Pleasure to see her Angle for Commendations , and rise so dissatisfied with the Ill-bread Company , if they will not bite . To observe her throwing her Eyes about to fetch in Prisoners , arid go about Cruizing like a Privateer , and so out or Countenance , if she return without Booty , is no ill piece of Comedy . She is so eager to draw respect , that the always misseth it , yet thinketh it so much her due , that when she faileth she groweth waspish , not considering , that it is impossible to commit a Rape upon the will ; that it must be fairly gained , and will not be taken by Storm ; and that in this Case , the Tax ever riseth highest by a Benevolence . If the World instead of admiring her Imaginary Excellencies , taketh the Liberty to laugh at them , she appealeth from it to her self , for whom she giveth Sentence , and proclaimeth it in all Companies . On the other side , if incouraged by a Civil Word , she is so obliging , that she will give thanks for being laughed at in good Language . She taketh a Compliment for a Demonstration , and setteth it up as an Evidence , even against her Looking-Glass . But the good Lady being all this while in a most profound Ignorance of her self , forgetteth that Men would not let her talk upon them , and throw so many senseless words at their head , if they did not intend to put her Person to Fine and Ransom , for her Impertinence . Good words of any other Lady , are so many Stones thrown at her , she can by no means bear them , they make her so uneasie , that she cannot keep her Seat , but up she riseth and goeth home half burst with Anger and Strait-Lacing . If by great chance she saith any thing that hath sence in it , she expecteth such an Excessive rate of Commendations , that to her thinking the Company ever riseth in her Debt . She looketh upon Rules as things made for the common People , and not for Persons of her Rank ; and this Opinion sometimes tempteth her to Extend her Prerogative to the dispencing with the commandments . If by great Fortune she happeneth , in spite of her Vanity , to be honest , she is so troublesome with it , that as far as in her lieth , she maketh a scurvy thing of it . Her bragging of her Vertue , looketh as if it cost her so much pains to get the better of her Self , that the Inferences are very ridiculous . Her good Humour is generally applied to the laughing at good Sense . It would do one good to see how heartily she despiseth any thing that is fit for her to do . The greatest part of her Fancy is laid out in chusing her Gown , as her Discretion is chiefly imploy'd in not paying for it . She is faithful to the Fashion , to which not only her Opinion , but her Senses are wholly resigned : so obsequious she is to it , that she would be ready to be reconciled even to Vertue with all its Faults , if she had her Dancing Master's Word that it was practis'd at Court. To a Woman so compos'd when Affectation cometh in to improve her Character , it is then raised to the highest Perfection . She first setteth up for a Fine thing , and for that Reason will distinguish her self , right or wrong , in every thing she doth . She would have it thought that she is made of so much the finer Clay , and so much more sifted than ordinary , that she hath no common Earth about her . To this end she must neither move nor speak like other Women , because it would be vulgar ; and therefore must have a Language of her own , since ordinary English is too course for her . The Looking-gloss in the Morning dictateth to her all the Motions of the Day , which by how much the more studied , are so much the more mistaken . She cometh into a Room as if her Limbs were set on with ill-made Screws , which maketh the Company fear the pretty thing should leave some of its artificial Person upon the Floor . She doth not like her self as God Almighty made her , but will have some of her own Workmanship ; which is so far from making her a better thing than a Woman , that it turneth her into a worse Creature than a Monkey . She falleth out with Nature , against which she maketh War without admitting a Truce , those Moments excepted in which her Gallant may reconcile her to it . When she hath a mind to be soft and languishing , there is somthing so unnatural in that affected Easiness , that her Frowns could not be by many degrees so forbidden . When she would appear unreasonably humble , one may see she is so excessively proud , that there is no enduring it . There is such an impertinent Smile , such a satisfied Simper , when she faintly disowneth some fulsom Commendation a Man hapneth to bestow upon her against his Conscience , that her Thanks for it are more visible under such a thin Disguise , than they could be if she should print them . If a handsomer Woman taketh any liberty of Dressing out of the ordinary Rules the mistaken Lady followeth , without distinguishing the unequal Pattern , and maketh her self uglier by an example misplaced ; either forgetting the Privilege of good Looks in another , or presuming , without sufficient reason upon her own . Her Discourse is a senseless Chime of empty Words , a heap of Compliments so equally applied to differing Persons , that they are neither valu'd nor believ'd . Her Eyes keep pace with her Tongue , and are therefore always in motion . One may discern that they generally incline to the compassionate side , and that , notwithstanding her pretence to Vertue , she is gentle to distressed Lovers , and Ladies that are merciful . She will repeat the tender part of a Play so feelingly , that the Company may guess , without Injustice , she was not altogether a disinteressed Spectator . She thinketh that Paint and Sin are concealed by railing at them . Upon the latter she is less hard , and being divided between the two opposite Prides of her Beauty and her Vertue , she is often tempted to give broad Hints that some body is dying for her ; and of the two she is less unwilling to let the World think she may be sometimes profan'd , than that she is never worshipped . Very great Beauty may perhaps so dazle for a time , that Men may not so clearly see the Deformity of these Affectations ; But when the Brightness goeth off , and that the Lover's Eyes are by that means set at liberty to see things as they are , he will naturally return to his Senses , and recover the Mistake into which the Lady 's good Looks had at first engaged him . And being once undeceived , ceaseth to worship that as a Goddess , which he seeth is only an artificial Shrine moved by Wheels and Springs , to delude him . Such Women please only like the first Opening of a Scene , that hath nothing to recommend it but the being new . They may be compared to Flies , that have pretty shining Wings for two or three hot Months , but the first cold Weather maketh an end of them ; so the latter Season of these fluttering Creatures is dismal : From their nearest Friends they receive a very faint Respect ; from the rest of the World , the utmost degree of contempt . Let this Picture supply the place of any other Rules which might be given to prevent your resemblance to it , The Deformity of it , well considered , is Instruction enough ; from the same reason , that the sight of a Drunkard is a better Sermon against that Vice , than the best that was ever preach'd upon that Subject . PRIDE . AFter having said this against Vanity , I do not intend to apply the same Censure to Pride , well placed , and rightly defined . It is an ambiguous Word ; one kind of it is as much a Vertue , as the other is a Vice : But we are naturally so apt to chuse the worst , that it is become dangerous to commend the best side of it . A Woman is not to be proud of her fine Gown ; nor when she hath less Wit than her Neighbours , to comfort her self that she hath more Lace . Some Ladies put so much weight upon Ornaments , that if one could see into their Hearts , it would be found , that even the Thought of Death is made less heavy to them by the contemplation of their being laid out in State , and honourably attended to the Grave . One may come a good deal short of such an Extream , and yet still be sufficiently Impertinent , by setting a wrong Value upon things , which ought to be used with more indifference . A Lady must not appear sollicitous to ingross Respect to her self , but be content with a reasonable Distribution , and allow it to others , that she may have it returned to her . She is not to be troublesomly nice , nor distinguish her self by being too delicate , as if ordinary things were too course for her ; this is an unmannerly and an offensive Pride , and where it is practised , deserveth to be mortified , of which it seldom faileth . She is not to lean too much upon her Quality , much less to despise those who are below it . Some make Quality an Idol , and then their Reason must fall down and Worship it . They would have the World think , that no amends can ever be made for the want of a great Title , or an ancient Coat of Arms : They imagine , that with these advantages they stand upon the higher Ground , which maketh them look down upon Merit and Vertue , as things inferiour to them . This mistake is not only senseless , but criminal too , in putting a greater Price upon that which is a piece of good luck , than upon things which are valuable in themselves . Laughing is not enough for such a Folly ; it must be severely whipped , as it justly deserves . It will be confessed , there are frequent Temptations given by pert Vpstarts to be angry , and by that to have our Judgments corrupted in these Cases : But they are to be resisted ; and the utmost that is to be allowed , is , when those of a new Edition will forget themselves , so as either to brag of their weak side , or to endeavour to hide their Meanness by their Insolence , to cure them by a little seasonable Raillery , a little Sharpness well placed , without dwelling too long upon it . These and many other kinds of Pride are to be avoided . That which is to be recommended to you , is an Emulation to raise your self to a Character , by which you may be distinguished ; an Eagerness for precedence in Vertue , and all such other things as may gain you a greater share of the good opinion of the World. Esteem to Vertue is like a cherishing Air to Plants and Flowers , which maketh them blow and prosper ; and for that reason it may be allowed to be in some degree the Cause as well as the Reward of it . That Pride which leadeth to a good End , cannot be a Vice , since it is the beginning of a Vertue ; and to be pleased with just Applause , is so far from a Fault , that it would be an ill Symptom in a Woman , who should not place the greatest part of her Satisfaction in it . Humility is no doubt a great Vertue ; but it ceaseth to be so , when it is afraid to scorn an ill thing . Against Vice and Folly it is becoming your Sex to be haughty ; but you must not carry the Contempt of things to Arrogance towards Persons , and it must be done with fitting Distinctions , else it may be Inconvenient by being unseasonable . A Pride that raiseth a little Anger to be out-done in any thing that is good , will have so good an Effect , that it is very hard to allow it to be a Fault . It is no easie matter to carry even between these differing kinds so described ; but remember that it is safer for a Woman to be thought too proud , than too familiar . DIVERSIONS . THE last thing I shall recommend to you , is a wise and a safe method of using Diversions . To be too eager in the pursuit of Pleasure whilst you are Young , is dangerous ; to catch at it in riper Years , is grasping a shadow ; it will not be held . Besides that by being less natural it groweth to be indecent . Diversions are the most properly applied , to ease and relieve those who are Oppressed , by being too much imployed . Those that are Idle have no need of them , and yet they , above all others , give themselves up to them . To unbend our Thoughts , when they are too much stretched by our Cares , is not more natural than it is necessary , but to turn our whole Life into a Holy day , is not only ridiculous , but destroyeth Pleasure instead of promoting it . The Mind like the Body is tired by being always in one Posture , too serious breaketh , and too diverting looseneth it : It is Variety that giveth the Relish ; so that Diversions too frequently repeated , grow first to be indifferent , and at last tedious . Whilst they are well chosen and well timed , they are never to be blamed ; but when they are used to an Excess , though very Innocent at first , they often grow to be Criminal , and never fail to be Impertinent . Some Ladies are bespoken for Merry Meetings , as Bessus was for Duels . They are ingaged in a Circle of Idleness , where they turn round for the whole Year , without the Interruption of a serious Hour , They know all the Players Names , and are Intimately acquainted with all the Booths in Bartholomew-Fair . No Soldier is more Obedient to the sound of his Captain 's Trumpet , than they are to that which summoneth them to a Puppet-Play or a Monster . The Spring that bringeth out Flies , and Fools , maketh them Inhabitants in Hide-Park ; in the Winter they are an Incumbrance to the Play House , and the Ballast of the Drawing-Room . The Streets all this while are so weary of these daily Faces , that Men's Eyes are over-laid with them . The Sight is glutted with fine things , as the Stomach with sweet ones ; and when a fair Lady will give too much of her self to the World , she groweth luscious , and oppresseth instead of pleasing . These Jolly Ladies do so continually seek Diversion , that in a little time they grow into a Jest , yet are unwilling to remember , that if they were seldomer seen they would not be so often laughed at . Besides they make themselves Cheap , than which there cannot be an unkinder word bestowed upon your Sex. To play sometimes , to entertain Company , or to divert your self , is not to be disallowed , but to do it so often as to be called a Gamester , is to be avoided , next to the things that are most Criminal . It hath Consequences of several kinds not to be endured ; it will ingage you into a habit of Idleness and ill hours , draw you into ill mixed Company , make you neglect your Civilities abroad , and your Business at home , and impose into your Acquaintance such as will do you no Credit . To deep Play there will be yet greater Objections . It will give Occasion to the World to ask spiteful Questions . How you dare venture to lose , and what means you have to pay such great summs ? If you pay exactly , it will be enquired from whence the Money cometh ? If you owe , and especially to a Man , you must be so very Civil to him for his forbearance , that it layeth a ground of having it farther improved ; if the Gentleman is so disposed ; who will be thought no unfair Creditor , if where the Estate saileth he seizeth upon the Person . Besides if a Lady could see her own Face upon an ill Game , at a deep Stake , she would certainly forswear any thing that could put her looks under such a Disadvantage . To Dance sometimes will not be imputed to you as a fault ; but remember that the end of your Learning it , was , that you might the better know how to move gracefully . It is only an advantage so far . When it goeth beyond it , one may call it excelling in a Mistake , which is no very great Commendation . It is better for a Woman never to Dance , because she hath no skill . in it , that to do it too often , because she doth it well . The easiest as well as the safest Method of doing it , is in private Companies , amongst particular Friends , and then carelesly , like a Diversion , rather than with Solemnity , as if it was a business , or had any thing in it to deserve a Month's preparation by serious Conference with a Dancing-Master . Much more might be said to all these Heads , and many more might be added to them . But I must restrain my Thoughts , which are full of my Dear Child , and would overflow into a Volume , which would not be fit for a New-Years-Gift . I will conclude with my warmest Wishes for all that is good to you . That you may live so as to be an Ornament to your Family , and a Pattern to your Sex. That you may be blessed with a Husband that may value , and with Children that may inherit your Vertue ; That you may shine in the World by a true Light , and silence Envy by deserving to be esteemed ; That Wit and Vertue may both conspire to make you a great Figure . When they are separated , the first is so empty , and the other so saint , that they scarce have right to be commended . May they therefore meet and never part ; let them be your Guardian Angels , and be sure never to stray out of the distance of their joint protection . May you so raise your Character , that you may help to make the next Age a better thing , and leave Posterity in your Debt for the advantage it shall receive by your Example Let me conjure you , My Dearest , to comply with this kind Ambition of a Father , whose Thoughts are so ingaged in your behalf , that he reckoneth your Happiness to be the greatest part of his own . THE CHARACTER OF A TRIMMER HIS OPINION OF I. The Laws and Government . II. Protestant Religion . III. The Papists . IV. Foreign Affairs . Corrected and Amended . LONDON , Printed in the Year , 1699. THE PREFACE . IT must be more than an ordinary provocation that can tempt a Man to write in an Age over-run with Scribblers , as Egypt was with Flies and Locusts : That worst Vermin of small Authors has given the World such a Surfeit , that instead of desiring to Write , a Man would be more inclin'd to wish , for his own ease , that he could not Read ; but there are some things which do so raise our passions , that our Reason can make no Resistance ; and when Madmen , in two Extreams , shall agree to make common sense Treason , and joyn to fix an ill Character upon the only Men in the Nation who deserve a good one ; I am no longer Master of my better Resolution to let the World alone , and must break loose from my more reasonable Thoughts , to expose these false Coyners , who would make their Copper Wares pass upon us for good Payment . Amongst all the Engines of Dissention , there has been none more powerful in all Times , than the fixing Names upon one another of Contumely and Reproach , and the reason is plain , in respect of the People , who tho' generally they are uncapable of making a Syllogism or forming an Argument , yet they can pronounce a word ; and that serves their turn to throw it with their dull malice at the Head of those they do not like ; such things ever begin in Jest , and end in Blood , and the same word which at first makes the Company merry , grows in time to a Military Signal to cut one anothers Throats . These Mistakes are to be lamented , tho' not easily cured , being suitable enough to the corrupted Nature of Mankind ; but 't is hard , that Men will not only invent ill Names , but they will wrest and misinterpret good ones ; so afraid some are even of a reconciling sound , that they raise another noise to keep it from being heard , lest it should set up and encourage a dangerous sort of Men , who prefer Peace and Agreement , before Violence and Confusion . Were it not for this , why , after we have played the Fool with throwing Whig and Tory at one another , as Boys do Snow-Balls , do we grow angry at a new Name , which by its true signification might do as much to put us into our Wits , as the other has done to put us out of them ? This innocent word Trimmer signifies no more than this , That if Men are together in a Boat , and one part of the Company would weigh it down on one side , another would make it lean as much to the contrary ; it happens there is a third Opinion of those , who conceive it would do as well , if the Boat went even , without endangering the Passengers ; now 't is hard to imagin by what Figure in Language , or by what Rule in Sense this comes to be a fault , and it is much more a wonder it should be thought a Heresy . But so it happens , that the poor Trimmer has now all the Powder spent upon him alone , while the Whig is a forgotten , or at least a neglected Enemy ; there is no danger now to the State ( if some Men may he believed ) but from the Beast called a Trimmer , take heed of him , he is the Instrument that must destroy Church and State ; a new kind of Monster , whose deformity is so expos'd , that , were it a true Picture that is made of him , it would be enough to fright Children , and make Women miscarry at the sight of it . But it may be worth the examining , whether he is such a Beast as he is Painted . I am not of that Opinion , and am so far from thinking him an Infidel either in Church or State , that I am neither afraid to expose the Articles of his Faith in Relation to Government , nor to say that I prefer them before any other Political Creed , that either our angry Divines , or our refined States-men would impose upon as . I have therefore in the following Discourse endeavour'd to explain the Trimmer's Principles and Opinions , and then leave it to all discerning and impartial Judges , whether he can with Justice be so Arraign'd , and whether those who deliberately pervert a good Name , do not very justly deserve the worst that can be put upon themselves . THE Trimmer's Opinion . OF THE LAWS AND GOVERNMENT . OUr Trimmer , as he has a great Veneration for Laws in general , so he has more particular for our own , he looks upon them as the Chains that tye up our unruly Passions , which else , like wild Beasts let loose , would reduce the world into its first State of Barbarism and Hostility ; the good things we injoy , we owe to them ; and all the ill things we are freed from is by their Protection . God himself thought it not enough to be a Creator , without being a Lawgiver , and his goodness had been defective towards mankind in making them , if he had not prescribed Rules to make them happy too . All Laws flow from that of Nature , and where that is not the Foundation , they may be legally impos'd , but they will be lamely obeyed : By this Nature is not meant that , which Fools and Madmen misquote to justify their Excesses ; it is innocent and uncorrupted Nature , that which dispose● Men to chuse Vertue , without its being prescribed , and which is so far from inspiring ill thoughts into us , that we take pains to suppress the good ones it infuses . The Civilized World has ever paid t● willing subjection to Laws , even Conquerors have done homage to them ; as the Romans , who took Patterns of good Laws even from those they had subdued ; and at the same time that they Triumph'd over an enslav'd People , the very Laws of that place did not only remain safe , but became Victorious ; their new Masters , instead of suppressing them , paid them more respect than they had from those who first made them : and by this wise method they arrived to such an admirable Constitution of Laws , that to this day they Reign by them ; this Excellency of them Triumphs still , and the World pays now an acknowledgment of their obedience to that Mighty Empire , though so many Ages after it is dissolved ; and by a later instance , the Kings of France , who , in practice use their Laws pretty familiarly , yet think their Picture is drawn with most advantage upon their Seals , when they are placed in the Seat of Justice ; and tho' the Hieroglyphick is not there of so much use to the People as they would wish , yet it shews that no Prince is so Great , as not to think fit , for his own Credit at least , to give an outward , when he refuses a real worship to the Laws . They are to mankind that which the Sun is to Plants , whilst it cherishes and preserves ' em . Where they have their force and are not clouded or supprest , every thing smiles and flourishes ; but where they are darkened , and not suffered to shine out , it makes every thing to wither and decay . They secure Men not only against one another , but against themselves too ; they are a Sanctuary to which the Crown has occasion to resort as often as the People , so that it is an Interest as well as a Duty to preserve them . There would be no end of making a Panegyrick of Laws ; let it be enough to add , that without Laws the World would become a Wilderness , and Men little less than Beasts ; but with all this , the best things may come to be the worst , if they are not in good hands ; and if it be tr●● that the wisest Men generally make the Laws , it is as true , that the strongest do often Interpret them : and as Rivers belong as much to the Channel where they run , as to the Spring from whence they first rise , so the Laws depend as much upon the Pipes thro' which they are to pass , as upon the Fountain from whence they flow . The Authority of a King who is Head of the Law , as well as the Dignity of Publick Justice , is debased , when the clear stream of the Law is puddled and disturbed by Bunglers , or convey'd by unclean Instruments to the People . Our Trimmer would have them app●●● in their full lustre , and would be grieved to see the day , when , instead of speaking with Authority from the Seats of Justice , they should speak out of a Grate , with a lamenting voice like Prisoners that desle to be rescu'd . He wishes that the Bench may have a Natural as well as a Legal Superiority to the Bar ; he thinks Mens ab●lities very much misplac'd , when the Reason of him that pleads is visibly too strong for those who Judge and give Sentence . When those from the Bar seem to dictate to their Superiours upon the Bench , their Furrs will look scurvily about them , and the respect of the World will leave the bare Character of a Judge , to follow the Essential knowledge of a Lawyer , who may be greater in himself , than the other can be with all his Trappings . An uncontested Superiority in any Calling , will have the better of any distinct Name that Authority can put upon it , and therefore if ever such an unnatural Method should be introduc'd , it is then that Westminster-Hall might be said to stand upon its Head , and though Justice it self can never be so , yet the Administration of it would be rendred Ridiculous . A Judge has such power lodg'd in him , that the King will never be thought to have chosen well , where the voice of Mankind has not before-hand recommended the Man to his Station ; when Men are made Judges of what they do not understand , the World censures such a Choice , not out of ill will to the Men , but fear to themselves . If the King had the sole power of chusing Physicians , Men would tremble to see Bunglers preferred , yet the necessity of taking Physick from a Doctor , is generally not so great as that of receiving Justice from a Judge ; and yet the Inferences will be very severe in such cases , for either it will be thought that such Men bought what they were not able to deserve , or which is as bad , that Obedience shall be look'd upon as a better Qualification in a Judge , than Skill or Integrity , when such sacred things as the Laws are not only touch'd , but guided by prophane hands ; Men will fear that out of the Tree of the Law , from whence we expect Shade and Shelter , such Workmen will make Cudgels to beat us with , or rather that they will turn the Canon upon our Properties , that were intrusted with them for their Defence . To see the Laws Mangled , Disguised , Speak quite another Language than their own , to see them thrown from the Dignity of protecting Mankind , to the disgraceful Office of destroying them ; and notwithstanding their Innocence in themselves , to be made the worst Instruments that the most refined Villany can make use of , will raise Mens Anger above the power of laying it down again , and tempt them to follow the Evil Examples given them of Judging without Hearing , when so-provoked by their desire of Revenge . Our Trimmer therefore , as he thinks the Laws are Jewels , so he believes they are no better set , than in the constitution of our English Government , if rightly understood , and carefully preserved . It would be too great Partiality to say they are perfect or liable to no Objection ; such things are not of this world ; but if they have more Excellencies and fewer Faults than any other we know , it is enough to recommend them to one Esteem . The Dispute , which is a greater Beauty , a Monarchy or a Common-wealth , has lasted long between their contending Lovers , and ( they have behav'd themselves so like Lovers , who in good Manners must be out of their Wits , ) who used such Figures to exalt their own Idols on either side , . and such angry Aggravations , to reproach one another in the Contest , that moderate men have in all times smil'd upon this eagerness , and thought it differ'd very little from a downright Frenzy : we in England , by a happy use of the Controversie , conclude them both in the wrong , and reject them from being our Pattern , not taking the words in the utmost extent , which is a thing , that Monarchy , leaves men no Liberty , and a Common-wealth such a one , as allows them no Quiet . We think that a wise Mean , between these barbarous Extreams , is that which self-Preservation ought to dictate , to our Wishes ; and we may say we have attained to this Mean in a greater measure , than any Nation now in being , or perhaps any we have read of ; tho never so much Celebrated for the Wisdom or Felicity of their Constitutions : We take from one the too great power of doing hurt , and yet leave enough to govern and protect us ; we take from the other , the Confusion , the Parity , the Animosities , and the License , and yet reserve a due care of such a Liberty , as may consist with Mens Allegiance ; but it being hard , if not impossible , to be exactly even , our Government has much the stronger Biass towards Monarchy , which by the general Consent and Practise of Mankind , seems to have Advantage in dispute against a Common-wealth ; The Rule of a Common-wealth are too hard for the Bulk of Mankind to come up to ; that Form of Government requires such a spirit to carry it on , as do's not dwell in great Numbers , but is restrained to so very few especially in this Age , that let the Method appear never so much reasonably in Paper they must fail in Practice , which will eve● be suited more to Mens Nature as it is than as it should be . Monarchy is lik'd by the People , for the Bells and the Tinsel , the outward Pomp and Gilding , and there must be milk for Babes , since the greatest part of Mankind are , and ever will be included in that List ; and it is approv'd by wise and thinking Men , ( all Circumstances and Objections impartially consider'd ) that it has so great an advantage above all other Forms , when the Administration of that Power falls in good hands ; that all other Governments look out of Countenance , when they are set in Competition with it . Lycurgus might have sav'd himself the trouble of making Laws , if either he had been Immortal , or that he could have secur'd to Posterity , a succeeding Race of Princes like himself ; his own Example was a better Law , than he could with all his skill tell how to make ; such a Prince is a Living Law , that dictates to his Subjects , whose thoughts in that case never rise above their Obedience , the Confidence they have in the Vertue and Knowledge of the master , preventing the Scruples and Apprehensions to which Men are naturally inclin'd , in relation to those that govern them ; such a Magistrate is the Life and Soul of Justice , whereas the Law is but a Body and a dead one too , without his Influence to give it warmth and vigour , and by the irresistible Power of his Virtue , he do's so reconcile Dominion and Allegiance , that all disputes between them are silenced and subdued , and indeed no Monarchy can be Perfect and Absolute without exception , but where the Prince is Superior by his Vertue , as well as by his Character and his Power ; so that to screw out Precedents and unlimited Power , is a plain diminution to a Prince that Nature has made Great , and who had better make himself a glorious Example to Posterity , than borrow an Authority from Dark Records , raised out of the Grave , which besides their Non-usage , have always in them matter of Controversie and Debate , and it may be ; affirmed , that the instances are very rare of Princes having the worst in the dispute with their People , if they were Eminent for Justice in time of Peace , or Conduct in time of War , such advantage the Crown giveth to those who adorn it by their own Personal Vertues . But since for the greater Honour of Good and wise Princes , and the better to set off their Character by the Comparison , Heaven has decreed there must be a mixture , and that such as are perverse and insufficient , or at least both , are perhaps to have their equal turns in the Government of the World , and besides , that the Will of Man is so various , and so unbounded a thing , and so fatal too when joined with Power misapply'd ; it is no wonder if those who are to be govern'd , are unwilling to have so dangerous as well as so uncertain a Standard of their Obedience . There must be therefore Rules and Laws : for want of which , or at least the Observation of them , it was as Capital for a Man to say that Nero did not play well upon the Lute , as to commit Treason , or Blaspheme the Gods. And even Vespasian himself had like to have lost his Life , for sleeping whilst he should have attended and admir'd that Emperours Impertinence upon the Stage . There is a wantonness in great Power that Men are generally too apt to be corrupted with , and for that Reason , a wise Prince , to prevent the temptation arising from common frailty , would choose to Govern by Rules for his own Sake , as well as for his Peoples , since it only secures him from Errors , and does not lessen the real Authority , that a good Magistrate would care to be possess'd of ; for if the Will of a Prince is contrary either to Reason it self , or to the universal Opinion of his Subjects , the Law by a kind restraint rescues him from a disease that would undo him ; if his will on the other side is reasonable or well directed , that Will immediately becomes a Law , and he is arbitrary by an easie and natural Consequence , without taking pains , or overturning the World for it . If Princes consider Laws as things impos'd on them , they have the appearance of Fetters of Iron , but to such as would make them their choice as well as their practice , they are Chains of Gold ; and in that respect are Ornaments , as in others they are a defence to them , and by a Comparison , not improper for God's Vicegerents upon Earth ; as our Maker never Commands our obedience to any thing , that as reasonable Creatures we ought not to make our own Election ; so a good and wise Governour , tho' all Laws were abolish'd , would by the voluntary direction of his own Reason , do without restraint the very same things that they would have enjoyned . Our Trimmer thinks that the King and Kingdom ought to be one Creature , not to be separated in their Political Capacity ; and when either of them undertake to act a part , it is like the crawling of Worms after they are cut in pieces , which cannot be a lasting motion , the whole Creature not stirring at a time . If the Body has a dead Palsie , the Head cannot make it move ; and God hath not yet delegated such a healing power to Princes , as that they can in a moment say to a Languishing People oppress'd and in despair , take up your Beds and walk . The Figure of a King , is so comprehensive and exalted a thing , that it is a kind of degrading him to lodge that power separately in his own Natural Person , which can never be safely or naturally great , but where the People are so united to him as to be Flesh of his Flesh , and Bone of his Bone ; for when he is reduc'd to the single definition of a man , he sinks into so low a Character , that it is a temptation upon Mens Allegiance , and an impairing that veneration which is necessary to preserve their Duty to him ; whereas a Prince who is so joined to his people that they seem to be his Limbs , rather than his Subjects , Cloathed with Mercy and Justice rightly apply'd in their several places , his Throne supported by Love as well as by Power , and the warm wishes of his devoted Subjects , like never-failing Incense , still ascending towards him , looks so like the best Image we can frame to our selves of God Almighty , that men would have much ado not to fall down and worship him ; and would be much more tempted to the Sin of Idolatry , than to that of Disobedience . Our Trimmer is of Opinion , that there must be so much Dignity inseparably annexed to the Royal Function , as may be sufficient to secure it from insolence and contempt ; and there must be Condescensions from the Throne , like kind showers from Heaven , that the Prince may look so much the more like God Almighty's Deputy upon Earth ; for power without love hath a terrifying aspect , and the Worship which is paid to it is like that which the Indians give out of fear to Wild Beasts and Devils : he that fears God only because there is an Hell , must wish there were no God ; and he who fears the King , only because he can punish , must wish there were no King ; so that without a principle of Love , there can be no true Allegiance , and there must remain perpetual Seeds of Resistance against a power that is built upon such an unnatural Foundation , as that of fear and terrour . All force is a kind of soul-Play , and whosoever aims at it himself , does by implication allow it to those he plays with ; so that there will be ever Matter prepared in the minds of People when they are provoked , and the Prince , to secure himself must live in the midst of his own Subjects , as if he were in a Conquer'd Country , raise Arms as if he were immediately to meet or resist an Invasion , and all this while sleep as unquietly from the fear of the Remedies , as he did before from that of the Disease ; it being hard for him to forget , that more Princes have been destroyed by their Guards than by their People ; and that even at the time when the Rule was Quod Principi placuit Lex esto : the Armies and Praetorian Bands which were the Instruments of that unruly Power , were frequently the means made use of to destroy them who had it . There will ever be this difference between God and his Vicegeren●s , that God is still above the Instruments he uses , and out of the danger of receiving hurt from them ; but Princes can never lodge Power in any hands , which may not at some time turn it back upon them ; for tho' it is possible enough for a King to have power to satisfy his Ambition ; yet no Kingdom has Money enough to satisfie the avarice of under-Work-men , who learn from that Prince who will exact more than belongs to him , to expect from him much more than they deserve , and growing angry upon the first disappointment , they are the Devils which grow terrible to the Conjurers themselves who brought them up , and can't send them down again ; And besides that there can be no lasting Radical Security , but where the Governed are satisfied with the Governours . It must be a Dominion very unpleasant to a Prince of an elevated Mind , to impose an abject and sordid servility , instead of receiving the willing Sacrifice of Duty and Obedience . The bravest Princes in all times , who were uncapable of any other kind of fear , have fear'd to grieve their own People ; such a fear is a glory , and in this sense 't is an infamy not to be a Coward : So that the mistaken Heroes who are void of this generous kind of fear , need no other aggravation to compleat their ill Characters . When a Despotick Prince has bruised all his Subjects with a slavish Obedience , all the force he can use cannot subdue his own fears ; Enemies of his own Creation , to which he can never be reconciled , it being impossible to do injustice and not to fear Revenge : there is no cure for this fear , but the not deserving to be hurt , and therefore a Prince who does not allow his thoughts to stray beyond the Rules of Justice , has always the blessing of an inward quiet and assurance , as a natural effect of his good Meaning to his People , and tho he will not neglect due precautions to secure himself in all Events , yet he is uncapable of entertaining vain and remote suspicions of those , of whom he resolves never to deserve ill . It is very hard for a Prince to fear Rebellion , who neither does , nor intends to do any thing to provoke it ; therefore too great a diligence in the Governours , to raise and improve dangers and fears from the People , is no very good Symptom , and naturally begets an inference that they have thoughts of putting their Subjects Allegiance to a Tryal ; and therefore not without some Reason fear before hand , that the Irregularities they intend , may raise Men to a Resistance . Our Trimmer thinks it no advantage to a Government , to endeavour the suppressing all kind of Right which may remain in the Body of the People , or to employ small Authors in it , whose Officiousness or want of Money may encourage them to write , tho' it is not very easie to have Abilities equal to such a Subject ; they forget that in their too high strained Arguments for the Rights of Princes , they very often plead against humane Nature , which will always give a Biass to those Reasons which seem of her side ; it is the People that Reads those Books , and it is the People that must judge of them ; and therefore no Maxims should be laid down for the Right of Government , to which there can be any Reasonable Objection ; for the World has an Interest , and for that Reason is more than ordinary discerning to find out the weak sides of such Arguments as are intended to do them hurt ; and it is a diminution to a Government , to Promote or Countenance such well affected mistakes which are turned upon it with disadvantage , whenever they are detected and expos'd ; and Naturally the too earnest Endeavours to take from Men the Right they have , tempt them , by the Example to Claim that which they have not . In Power , as in most other things , the way for Princes to keep it , is not to grasp more than their Arms can well hold ; the nice and unnecessary enquiring into these things , or the Licensing some Books , and suppressing some others without sufficient Reason to Justifie the doing either , is so far from being an Advantage to a Government , that it exposes it to the Censure of being Partial and to the suspicion , of having some hidden designs to be carried on by these unusual methods . When all is said , there is a Natural Reason of State , and undefinable thing , grounded upon the Common Good of Mankind ▪ which is immortal , and in all Changes and Revolutions , still preserves its Original Right of saving a Nation , when the Letter of the Law perhaps would destroy it ; and by whatsoever means it moves , carrieth a Power with it , that admits of no opposition , being supported by Nature , which inspires an immediate consent at some Critical times into every individual Member , to that which visibly tendeth to preservation of the whole ; and this being so , a Wise Prince instead of Controverting the right of this Reason of State , will by all means endeavour it may be of his side , and then he will be secure . Our Trimmer cannot conceive that the Power of any Prince can be lasting , but where 't is built upon the foundation of his own unborrowed vertue , he must not only be the first Mover and the Fountain , from whence the great Acts of State originally flow , but he must be thought so to his People that they may preserve their veneration for him ; he must be jealous of his Power , and not impart so much of it to any about him , as that he may suffer an Eclipse by it . He cannot take too much care to keep himself up , for when a Prince is thought to be led by those , with whom he should onely advise , and that the Commands he gives are transmitted through him , and are not of his own growth ; the World will look upon him as a Bird adorned with Feathers that are not his own , or consider him rather as an Engine than a living Creature ; besides , 't would be a Contradiction for a Prince to fear a Common-wealth , and at the same time create one himself , be delegating such a Power to any Number of Men near him , as is inconsistent with the Figure of a Monarch : it is the worst kind of Co-ordination the Crown can submit to ; for it is the exercise of Power that draws the respect along with it , and when that is parted with , the bare Character of a King is not sufficient to keep it up ; but tho' it is a diminution to a Prince , to parcel out so liberally his Power amongst his Favourites , it 's worse to divide with any other Man , and to bring himself in Competition with a single Rival ; a Partner in Government is so unnatural a thing , that it is a squint-ey'd Allegiance that must be paid to such a double bottom'd Monarchy . The two Czars of Muscovy are an Example that the more civiliz'd part of the World will not be proud to follow , whatsoever Gloss may be put upon this method , by those to whom it may be of some use , the Prince will do well to remember , and reflect upon the Story of certain Men who had set up a Statue in Honour of the Sun , yet in a very little time they turned their backs to the Sun , and their Faces to the Statue . These Mystical Unions are better plac'd in the other World , than they are in this , and we shall have much ado to find , that in a Monarchy Gods Vicegerency is delegated to more Heads than that which is anointed . Princes may lend some of their Light to make another shine , but they must still preserve the superiority of being the brighter Planet , and when it happens that the Reversion is in Mens Eyes , there is more care necessary to keep up the Dignity of Possessions , that Men may not forget who is King , either out of their hopes or fears who shall be . If the Sun shou'd part with all his Light to any of the Stars , the Indians would not know where to find their God , after he had so deposed himself , and would make the Light ( where-ever it went ) the Object of their Worship . All Usurpation is alike upon Soveraignty , it s no matter from what hand it comes ; and Crowned Heads are to be the more Circumspect , in respect Mens thoughts are naturally apt to ramble beyond what is present , they love to work at a distance , and in their greedy Expectations ; which their minds may be fill'd with of a new Master , the old one may be left to look a little out of Countenance . Our Trimmer owns a Passion for liberty , yet so restrained , that it does not in the least impair or taint his Allegiance , he thinks it hard for a Soul that does not love Liberty , ever to raise it self to another World he takes it to be the foundation of all vertue , and the only seasoning that gives a relish to life , and tho' the laziness of a slavish subjection , has its Charms for the more gross and earthly part of Mankind , yet to men made of a better sort of Clay , all that the World can give without Liberty has no taste ; it is true , nothing is sold so cheap by unthinking men , but that does no more lessen the real value of it , than a Country Fellows Ignorance does that of a Diamond , in selling it for a Pot of Ale. Liberty is the Mistress of Mankind , she has powerful Charms which do so dazzle us , that we find Beauties in her which perhaps are not there , as we do in other Mistresses ; yet if she was not a Beauty , the World would not run mad for her ; therefore since the reasonable desire of it ought not to be restrain'd , and that even the unreasonable desire of it cannot be entirely suppress'd , those who would take it away from a People possessed of it , are likely to fail in the attempting , or be very unquiet in the keeping of it . Our Trimmer admires our blessed Constitutions , in which Dominion and Liberty are so well reconciled ; it gives to the Prince the glorious Power of commanding Freemen , and to the Subject , the satisfaction of seeing the Power so lodged , as that their Liberties are secure ; it do's not allow the Crown such a Ruining Power , as that no grass can grow where e're it treads , but a Cherishing and Protecting Power ; such a one as hath a grim Aspect only to the offending Subjects , but is the joy and the Pride of all the good ones ; their own interest being so bound up in it , as to engage them to defend and support it ; and tho in some instances the King is restrain'd yet nothing in the Government can move without him ; our Laws make a distinction between Vassalage and Obedience ; between devouring Prerogatives , and a licentious ungovernable Freedom : and as of all the Orders of Building , the Composite is the best , so ours by a happy mixture and a wise choice of what is best in others , is brought into a Form that is our Felicity who live under it , and the envy of our Neighbour that cannot imitate it . The Crown has power sufficient to protect our Liberties . The People have so much Liberty as is necessary to make them useful to the Crown . Our Government is in a just proportion , no Tympany , no unnatural swelling either of Power or Liberty ; and whereas in all overgrown Monarchies , Reason , Learning , and Enquiry are hang'd in Effigy for Mutineers ; here they are encouraged and cherished as the surest Friends to a Government establish'd upon the Foundation of Law and Justice . When all is done , those who look for Perfection in this World , may look as the Jews have for their Messias , and therefore our Trimmer is not so unreasonably Partial as to free our Governments ; and from all objections , no doubt there have been fatal Instances of its Sickness , and more than that , of its Mortality , for sometime , tho' by a Miracle , it hath been reviv'd again : but till we have another race of Mankind , in all Constitutions that are bounded , there will ever be some matter of Strife , and Contention , and rather than want pretensions , Mens Passions and Interests will raise them from the most inconsiderable Causes . Our Government is like our Climate ▪ there are Winds which are sometimes loud and unquiet , and yet with all the Trouble they give us , we owe , great part of our Health unto them , they clear the Air , which else would be like a standing Pool , and in stead of Refreshment would be a Disease unto us . There may be fresh Gales of asserting Liberty , without turning into such storms of Hurricane , as that the State should run any hazard of being Cast away by them ; these struglings which are natural to all mixed Governments , while they are kept from growing in Convulsions , do by a mutual agitation from the several parts , rather support and strengthen , than weaken or maim the Constitution ; and the whole frame , instead of being torn or disjointed , comes to be the better and closer knit by being thus exercised ; but what ever faults our Government may have , or a discerning Critick may find in it , when he looks upon it alone ; let any other be set against it , and then it shews its Comparative Beauty ; let us look upon the most glittering outside of unbounded Authority , and upon a nearer enquiry , we shall find nothing but poor and miserable deformity within ; let us imagine a Prince living in his Kingdom , as if in a great Gally , his Subjects tugging at the Oar , laden with Chains , and reduced to real Rags , that they may gain him imaginary Lawrels ; let us Represent him gazing among his Flatterers , and receiving their false Worship , like a Child never Contradicted , and therefore always Cozen'd● or like a Lady complemented only to be abused , condemned never to hear Truth ▪ and Consequently never to do Justice , w●llowing in the soft Bed of wanton and unbridled Greatness , not less odious to the Instruments themselves , than to the Objects of his Tyranny ; blown up into an Ambitious Dropsy , never to be satisfied by the Conquest of other People , or by the Oppression of his own ; by aiming to be more than a Man , he falls lower than the meanest of 'em , a mistaken Creature , swelled with Panegyricks , and flattered out of his Senses , and not only an Incumbrance , but a Nuisance to Mankind , a hardened and unrelenting Soul , and like some Creatures that grow fat with Poisons , he grows great by other Mens Miseries ; an Ambitious Ap● of the Divine Greatness , an unruly Gyant that would storm even Heaven it self , but that his scaling Ladders are not long enough ; in short , a Wild and devouring Creature in rich Trappings , and with all his Pride no more than a Whip in God Almighty's hand , to be thrown into the Fire when the World has been sufficiently scourged with it : This Picture laid in right Colours would not incite Men to wish for such a Government , but rather to acknowledge the happiness of our own , under which we enjoy all the Privilege Reasonable Men can desire , and avoid all the Miserie 's many others are subject to ; so that our Trimmer would keep it with all its faults , and does as little forgive those who give the occasion of breaking it , as he does those that take it . Our Trimmer is a Friend to Parliaments , notwithstanding all their faults , and excesses , which of late have given such matter of Objection to them ; he thinks that tho' they may at sometimes be troublesome to Authority , yet they add the greatest strength to it under a wise Administration ; he believes no Government is perfect except a kind of Omnipotence reside in it , to exercise upon great Occasions : Now this cannot be obtained by force alone upon People , let it be never so great , there must be their consent too , or else a Nation moves only by being driven , a sluggish and constrained Motion , void of that Life and Vigour which is necessary to produce great things , whereas the virtual Consent of the whole being included in their Representatives , and the King giving the sanction to the united sense of the People , every Act done by such an Authority , seems to be an effect of their choice as well as a part of their Duty ; and they do with an eagerness , of which Men are uncapable whilst under a force , execute whatsoever is so enjoyned as their own Wills , better explained by Parliament , rather than from the terrour of incurring the Penalty of the Law for omiting it , and by means of this Political Omnipotence , what ever Sap or Juice there is in a Nation , may be to the last drop produc'd , whilst it rises naturally from the Root ; whereas all power exercis'd without consent , is like the giving Wounds and Gashes , and tapping a Tree at unseasonable Times , for the present occasion , which in a very little time must needs destroy it . Our Trimmer believes , that by the advantage of our Situation , there can hardly any such sudden Disease come upon us , but that the King may have time enough left to consult with his Physicians in Parliament ; pretences indeed may be made , but a real necessity so pressing , that no delay is to be admitted , is hardly to be imagin'd , and it will be neither easie to give an instance of any such thing for the time past , or reasonable to Presume it will ever happen for the time to come : but if that strange thing should fall out , our Trimmer is not so streight-lac'd , as to let a Nation die , or to be stifled , rather than it should be help'd by any but the proper Officers . The Cases themselves will bring the Remedies along with them ; and he is not afraid to allow that in order to its preservation , there is a hidden Power in Government , which would be lost if it was designed , a certain Mystery , by virtue of which a Nation may at some Critical times be secur'd from Ruine , but then it must be kept as a Mystery ; it is rendred useless when touch'd by unskilfull hands : and no Government ever had , or deserv'd to have that Power , which was so unwary as to anticipate their claim to it : Our Trimmer cannot help thinking it had been better , if the Triennial Act had been observ'd ; because 't is the Law , and he would not have the Crown , by such an Example , teach the Nation to break it ; all irregularity is catching , it has a Contagion in it , especially in an Age , so much enclin'd to follow ill Patterns than good ones . He would have a Parliament , because 't is an Essential part of the Constitution , even without the Law , it being the only Provision in extraordinary Cases , in which there would be otherwise no Remedy , and there can be no greater Solecism in Government , than a failure of Justice . He would have had one , because nothing else can unite and heal us , all other Means are meer Shifts and Projects , Houses of Cards , to be blown down with the least Breath , and cannot resist the Difficulties which are ever presum'd in things of this kind ; and he would have had one , because it might have done the King good , and could not possibly have done him hurt , without his consent , which in that Case is not to be supposed , and theresore for him to fear it , is so strange and so little to be comprehended , that the Reasons can never be presum'd to grow in our Soyl , or to thrive in it when Transplanted from any other Country ; and no doubt there are such irresistible Arguments for calling a Parliament , and tho it might , be deny'd to the unmannerly mutinous Petitions of men , that are malicious and diaffected , it will be granted to the soft and obsequious Murmurs of his Majesty's best Subjects , and there will be such Retorick in their silent Grief , that it will at last prevail against the Artifices of those , who either out of Guilt or Interest , are afraid to throw themselves upon their Country , knowing how scurvily they have used it ; that day of Judgment will come , tho we know neither the day nor the hour . And our Trimmer would live so as to be prepared for it , with full assurance in the mean time , that the lamenting Voice of a Nation cannot long be resisted , and that a Prince who could so easily forgive his People when they had been in the wrong , cannot fail to hear them when they are in the right . The Trimmer's Opinion concerning the Protestant Religion . REligion has such a Superiority above other things , and that indispensable Influence upon all Mankind , that it is as necessary to our Living Happy in this World , as it is to our being Sav'd in the next , without it man is an abandon'd Creature , one of the worst Beasts Nature hath produc'd , and fit ònly for the Society of Wolves and Bears ; therefore in all Ages it has been the Foundation of Government : and tho' false Gods have been impos'd upon the Credulous part of the World , yet they were Gods still in their Opinion , and the Awe and Reverence Men had to them and their Oracles , kept them within bounds towards one another , which the Laws with all their Authority could never have effected without the help of Religion ; the Laws would not be able to subdue the perverseness of Mens Wills , which are Wild Beasts , and require a double Chain to keep them down ; for this Reason 't is said , That it is not a sufficient ground to make War upon a Neighbouring State , because they are of another Religion , let it be never so differing : yet if they Worship'd nor Acknowledg'd any Deity at all , they may be Invaded as Publick Enemies of Mankind , because they reject the only thing that can bind them to live well with one another ; the consideration of Religion is so twisted with that of Government , that it is never to be separated , and tho the Foundations of it ought to be Eternal and Unchangeable , yet the Terms and Circumstances of Discipline , are to be suited to the several Climates and Constitutions , so that they may keep men in a willing Acquiescence unto them , without discomposing the World by nice disputes , which can never be of equal moment with the publick Peace . Our Religion here in England seems to be distinguished by a peculiar effect of God Almighty's goodness , in permiting it to be introduc'd , or rather restored , by a more regular Method than the Circumstances of most other Reformed Churches , would allow them to do , in relation to the Government ; and the Dignity with which it has supported it self since , and the great Men our Church hath produced , ought to recommend it to the esteem of all Protestants at least : Our Trimmer is very partial to it , for these Reasons , and many more , and desires that it may preserve its due Jurisdiction and Authority ? so far he is from wishing it oppressed by the unreasonable and malicious Cavils of those who take pains to raise Objections against it . The Questions will then be , how and by what Methods this Church shall best support it self ( the present Circumstances consider'd ) in relation to Dissenters of all sorts : I will first lay this for a ground , That as there can be no true Religion without Charity , so there can be no true humane prudence without bearing and condescension : This Principle does not extend to oblige the Church always to yield to those who are disposed to Contest with her , the expediency of doing it is to be considered and determined according to the occasion , and this leads me to lay open the thoughts of our Trimmer , in reference first , to the Protestants , and then to the Popish Recusants . What has lately hapned among us , makes an Apology necessary for saying any thing that looks like favour towards a sort of Men who have brought themselves under such a disadvantage . The late Conspiracy hath such broad Symptoms of the disaffection of the whole Party , that upon the first reflections , while our thoughts are warm , it would almost perswade us to put them out of the protection of our good Nature , and to think that the Christian Indulgence with our compassion for other Mens Sufferings , cannot easily deny , seems not only to be forfeited by the ill appearances that are against them , but even becomes a Crime when it is so misapplied ; yet for all this , upon second and cooler thoughts , moderate Men will not be so ready to involve a whole Party in the guilt of a few , and to admit inferences and Presumptions to be Evidence in a Case , where the Sentence must be so heavy , as it ought to be against all those who have a fixed resolution against the Government established ? besides● Men who act by a Principle grounded upon Moral Vertue , can never let it be clearly extinguished by the most repeated Provocations ; if a right thing agreeable to Nature and good Sense takes root in the heart of a Man , that is impartial and unbyass'd , no outward . Circumstances can ever destroy it ; it 's true , the degrees of a Mans Zeal for the Prosecution of it may be differing , faults of other Men , the consideration of the publick , and the seasonable Prudence by which Wise Men will ever be directed , may give great Allays ; they may lessen and for a time perhaps suppress the exercise of that , which in general Proposition may be reasonable , but still whatever is so will inevitably grow and spring up again , having a Foundation in Nature , which is never to be destroy'd . Our Trimmer therefore endeavours to separate the detestation of those who had either a hand or a thought in the late Plot , from the Principle of Prudential as well as Christian Charity towards Mankind , and for that reason would fain use the means of reclaiming such of the Dissenters as are not incurable , and even bearing to a degree those that are as far as may consist with the Publick Interest and Security ; he is far from justifying an affected separation from the Communion of the Church , and even in those that mean well , and are mistaken , he looks upon it as a Disease that has seized upon their Minds , very troublesome as well as dangerous , by the Consequence it may produce : he does not go about to excuse their making it an indispensable duty , to meet in numbers to say their Prayers , such meetings may prove mischievous to the State at least ; the Laws which are the best Judges , have determined that there is danger in them : he has good nature enough to lament that the perversness of a Part should have drawn Rigorous Laws upon the whole Body of the Dissenters , but when they are once made no private Opinion must stand in Opposition to them ; if they are in themselves reasonable , they are in that respect to be regarded , even without being enjoyned , if by the Change of Time and Circumstances they should become less reasonable than when they were first made , even then they are to be obey'd too , because they are Laws , till they are mended or repealed by the same Authority that Enacted them . He has too much deference to the Constitution of our Government , to wish for more Prerogative Declarations in favour of scrupulous Men , or to dispence with Penal Laws in such manner , or to such an end , that suspecting Men might with some reason pretend , that so hated a thing as Persecution could never make way for it self with any hopes of Success , otherwise than by preparing the deluded World by a false prospect of Liberty and Indulgence . The inward Springs and Wheels whereby the Engine moved , are now so fully laid open and expos'd that it is not supposable that such a baffled Experiment should ever be tryed again , the effect it had at the time , and the Spirit it raised , will not easily be forgotten , and it may be presum'd the remembrance of it may secure us from any more attempts of that Nature for the future ; we must no more break a Law to give Men ease , than we are to Rifle an House with a devout intention of giving the plunder to the Poor ; in this case , our Compassion would be as ill directed , as our Charity in the other . In short , the veneration due to the Laws is never to be thrown off , let the pretences be never so specious ; yet with all this he cannot bring himself to think , that an extraordinary diligence to take the uttermost penalty of Laws , upon the poor offending Neighbour , is of it self such an all sufficient vertue , that without any thing else to recommend Men , it should Entitle them to all kind of Preferments and Rewards ; he would not detract from the merits of those who execute the Laws , yet he cannot think such a piece of service as this , can entirely change the Man , and either make him a better Divine , or a more knowing Magistrate than he was before , especially if it be done with a partial and unequal hand in Reverence to greater and more dangerous Offenders . Our Trimmer would have those mistaken Men ready to throw themselves into the arms of the Church , and he would have those arms as ready to receive them that shall come to us ; he would have no supercilious look to fright those strayed Sheep from coming into the Fold again ; no ill-natur'd maxims of an Eternal suspicion , or a belief that those who have once been in the wrong can never be in the right again ; but a visible preparation of mind to receive with joy all the Proselytes that come amongst us , and much greater earnestness to reclaim than punish them : It is to be confessed , there is a great deal to forgive , a hard task enough for the Charity of a Church so provoked ; but that must not cut off all hopes of being reconciled , yet if there must be some anger left still , let it break out into a Christian Revenge , and by being kinder to the Children of Disobedience than they deserve , let the injur'd Church Triumph , by throwing shame and confusion of face upon them ; there should not always be Storms and Thunder , a clear Sky would sometime make the Church look more like Heaven , and would do more towards the reclaiming those wanderers , than a perpetual terrour , which seemed to have no intermission ; for there is in many , and particularly in English Men , a mistaken pleasure , in resisting the dictates of Rigorous Authority ; a Stomach that riseth , against a hard imposition , nay , in some , raise even a lust in suffering from a wrong point of Honour , which does not want the applause , from the greater part of Mankind , who have not learnt to distinguish ; constancy will be thought a virtue even where it is a mistake ; and the ill Judging World will be apt to think that Opinion most right , which produces the greatest number of those who are willing to suffer for it ; all this is prevented , and falls to the ground , by using well-timed Indulgence ; and the stubborn Adversary who values himself upon his Resistance whilst he is oppress'd , yields insensibly to kind Methods , when they are apply'd to him , and the same Man naturally melts into Conformity , who perhaps would never have been beaten into it . We may be taught by the Compassion that attendeth the most Criminal Men when they are Condemned , that Faults are much more natural things than Punishments , and that even the most necessary acts of severity do some kind of violence to our Nature , whose Indulgence will not be confined within the strait bounds of inexorable Justice ; so that this should be an Argument for gentleness , besides that it is the likeliest way to make these Men asham'd of their Separation , whilst the pressing them too hard , tends rather to make them proud of it . Our Trimmer would have the Clergy supported in their Lawful Rights , and in all the Power and Dignity that belongs to them , and yet he thinks that possibly there may be in some of them a too great eagerness to extend the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction ; which tho it may be well intended , yet the straining of it too high has an appearance of Ambition that raises mens Objections to it , and is far unlike the Apostolick Zeal , which was quite otherwise employ'd , that the World draws inferences from it , which do the Church no service . He is troubled to see Men of all sides sick of a Calenture of a mistaken Devotion , and it seems to him that the devout Fire of mistaken Charity with which the Primitive Christians were inflam'd , is long since extinguish'd , and instead of it a devouring Fire of Anger and Persecution breaks out in the World ; we wrangle now one with another about Religion till the Blood comes , whilst the Ten Commandments have no more authority with us , than if they were so many obsolete Laws or Proclamations out of date ; he thinks that a Nation will hardly be mended by Principles of Religion , where Morality is made a Heresy ; and therefore as he believes-Devotion misplaced when it gets into a Conventicle , he concludes that Loyalty is so too , when lodg'd in a Drunken Club ; those Vertues deserve a better Seat of Empire , and they are degraded , when such Men undertake their defence , as have too great need of an Apology themselves . Our Trimmer wishes that some knowledge may go along with the Zeal on the right side , and that those who are in possession of the Pulpit , would quote ▪ at least so often the Authority of the Scriptures as they do that of the State ; there are many who borrow too often Arguments from the Government ; to use against their Adversaries , and neglect those that are more proper , and would be more powerful ; a Divine grows less , and puts a diminution on his own Character , when he quoteth any Law but that of God Almighty , to get the better of those who contest with him ; and it is a sign of a decay'd Constitution , when Nature with good diet cannot expel noxious Humours without calling Foreign Drugs to her Assistance ; So it looks , like want of health in a Church , when instead of depending upon the power of that Truth which it holds , and the good Examples of them that teach it , to support it self , and to suppress Errors , it should have a perpetual recourse to the secular Authority , and even upon the slightest occasions . Our Trimmer has his Objections to the too busy diligence , and to the overdoing of some of the dissenting Clergy , and he does as little approve of those of our Church , who wear God Almighty's Liveries , as some old Warders in the Tower do the King 's , who do nothing in their place but receive their Wages for it ; he thinks that the Liberty of the late times gave men so much Light , and diffused it so universally amongst the people , that they are not now to be dealt with , as they might have been in Ages of less enquiry ; and therefore in some well chosen and dearly beloved Auditories , good resolute Nonsence back'd with Authority may prevail , yet generally Men are become so good Judges of what they hear , that the Clergy ought to be very wary how they go about to impose upon their Understandings , which are grown less humble than they were in former times , when the Men in black had made Learning such a sin in the Laity , that for fear of offending , they made a Conscience of being able to read ; but now the World is grown sawcy , and expects Reasons , and good ones too , before they give up their own Opinions to other Mens Dictates , tho never so Magisterially deliver'd to them . Our Trimmer is far from approving the Hypocrisie , which seems to be the reigning Vice amongst some of the Dissenting Clergy , he thinks it the most provoking sin Men can be guilty of , in Relation to Heaven , and yet ( which may seem strange ) that very sin which shall destroy the Soul of the Man who preaches , may help to save those of the Company that hear him , and even those who are cheated by the false Ostentation of his strictness of life , may by that Pattern be encouraged to the real Practice of those Christian Vertues which he does so deceitfully profess ; so that the detestation , of this fault may possibly be carry'd on too far by our own Orthodox Divines , if they think it cannot be enough express'd without bending the Stick another way ; a dangerous Method , and a worse Extream for Men of that Character , who by going to the outmost line of Christian Liberty , will certainly encourage others to go beyond it : No Man does less approve the ill-bred Methods of some of the Dissenters , in rebuking Authority , who behave themselves as if they thought ill manners necessary to Salvation ; yet he cannot but distinguish and desire a Mean between the sawcyness of some of the Scotch Apostles , and the undecent Courtship of some of the Silken Divines , who , one would think , do practice to bow at the Altar , only to learn to make the better Legs at Court. Our Trimmer approves the Principles of our Church , that Dominion is not founded in Grace , and that our Obedience is to be given to a Popish King in other things , at the same time that our Compliance with him in his Religion is to be deny'd ; yet he cannot but think it a very extraordinary thing if a Protestant Church should by a voluntary Election , chuse a Papist for their Guardian , and receive Directions for supporting their Religion , from one who must believe it a Mortal Sin not to endeavour to destroy it ; such a refined piece of Breeding would not seem to be very well plac'd in the Clergy , who will hardly find Precedents to justify such an extravagant piece of Courtship , and which is so unlike the Primitive Methods , which ought to be our Pattern ; he hath no such unreasonable tenderness for any sorts of Men , as to expect their faults should not be impartially laid open as often as they give occasion for it ; and yet he cannot but smile to see that the same Man , who sets up all the Sails of his Rhetorick , to fall upon Dissenters ; when Popery is to be handled , he does it so gingerly , that he looketh like an Ass mumbling of Thistles , so afraid he is of letting himself loose where he may be in danger of letting his Duty get the better of his Discretion . Our Trimmer is far from relishing the impertinent wandrings of those who pour out long Prayers upon the Congregation , and all from their own Stock , which God knows , for the most part is a barren Soil , which produces weeds instead of Flowers , and by this means they expose Religion it self , rather than promote Mens Devotions : On the other side , there may be too great Restraint put upon Men , whom God and Nature hath distinguished from their Fellow Labourers , by blessing them with a happier Talent , and by giving them not only good Sense , but a powerful Utterance too , has enabled them to gush out upon the attentive Auditory , with a mighty stream of Devout and unaffected Eloquence ; when a Man so qualified , endued with Learning too , and above all , adorn'd with a good Life , breaks out into a warm and well deliver'd Prayer before his Sermon , it has the appearance of a Divine Rapture , he raises and leads the Hearts of the Assembly in another manner , than the most Compos'd or best Studied Form of set Words can ever do ; and the Pray-wees , who serve up all their Sermons with the same Garnishing , would look like so many Statues , or Men of Straw in the Pulpit , compar'd With those who speak with such a powerful Zeal , that men are tempted at the moment to believe Heaven it self has dictated their words to ' em . Our Trimmer is not so unreasonably indulgent to the Dissenters , as to excuse the Irregularities of their Complaints , and to approve their threatning Stiles , which are so ill-suited to their Circumstances as well as their Duty ; he would have them to shew their Grief , and not their Anger to the Government , and by such a Submission to Authority , as becomes them , if they cannot acquiesce in what is imposed ; let them deserve a Legislative Remedy to their Sufferings , there being no other way to give them perfect redress ; and either to seek it , or pretend to give it by any other Method , would not only be vain , but Criminal too in those that go about it ; yet with all this , there may in the mean time be a prudential Latitude left , as to the manner of preventing the Laws now in force against them : The Government is in some degree answerable for such an Administration of them , as may be free from the Censure of Impartial Judges ; and in order to that , it would be necessary that one of these methods be pursued , either to let loose the Laws to their utmost extent , without any Moderation or Restraint , in which at least the Equality of the Government would be without Objection , the Penalties being exacted without Remission from the Dissenters of all kinds ; or if that will not be done ( and indeed there is no Reason it should ) there is a necessity of some Connivance to the Protestant Dissenters to execute that which in Humanity must be allowed to the Papists , even without any leaning towards them , which must be supposed in those who are or shall be in the administration of publick Business ; and it will follow that , according to our Circumstances , the distribution of such connivance must be made in such a manner , that the greatest part of it may fall on the Protestant side , or else the Objections will be so strong , and the Inferences so clear , that the Friends , as well as the Enemies of the Crown , will be sure to take hold of them . It will not be sufficient to say that the Papists may be conniv'd at , because they are good Subjects and that the Protestant Dissenters , must suffer because they are ill ones ; these general Maxims will not convince discerning Men , neither will any late Instances make them forget what passed at other times in the World ; both sides have had their Turns in being good and ill Subjects . And therefore 't is easie to imagine what suspicions would arise in the present conjuncture , if such a partial Argument as this should be impos'd upon us ; the truth is , this Matter speaks so much of it self , that it is not only unnecessary , but it may be mannnerly to say any more of it . Our Trimmer therefore could wish , that since notwithstanding the Laws which deny Churches to say Mass in ; even not only the Exercise , but also the Ostentation of Popery is as well or better performed in the Chappels of so many Foreign Ministers , where the English openly resort in spight of Proclamations and Orders of Council , which are grown to be as harmless things to them , as the Popes Bulls and Excommunications are to Hereticks who are out of his reach ; I say he could wish that by a seasonable as well as an equal piece of Justice , there might be so much consideration had of the Protestant Dissenters , as that there might be at sometimes , and at some places , a● Veil thrown over an Innocent and retired Conventicle , and that such an Indulgence might be practis'd with less prejudice to the Church , or diminution to the Laws ; it might be done so as to look rather like a kind Omission to enquire more strictly , than an allow'd Toleration of that which is against the Rule established . Such a skilful hand as this is very Necessary in our Circumstances , and the Government by making no sort of Men entirely desperate , does not only secure it self from Villainous attempts , but lay such a Foundation for healing and uniting Laws , when ever a Parliament shall meet , that the Seeds of Differences and Animosities between the several contending sides may ( Heaven consenting ) be for ever destroy'd . The Trimmer's Opinion concerning the Papists . TO speak of Popery leads me into such a Sea of Matter , that it is not easie to forbear launching into it , being invited by such a fruitful Theme , and by a variety never to be exhausted ; but to confine it to the present Subject , I will only say a short word of the Religion it self ; of its influences here at this time ; and of our Trimmer's Opinion in Relation to our manner of living with them . If a Man would speak Maliciously of this Religion , one may say it is like those Diseases , where as long as one drop of the infection remains , there is still danger of having the whole Mass of Blood corrupted by it . In Swedeland there was an absolute cure , and nothing of Popery heard of , till Queen Christina , ( whether mov'd by Arguments of this or the other World , may not be good Manners to enquire ) thought fit to change her Religion and Country , and to live at Rome , where she might find better judges of her Virtues , and less ungentle Censures of those Princely Liberties , to which she was sometimes disposed , than she left at Stockholme ; where the good breeding is as much inferior to that of Rome in general , as the Civility of the Religion . The Cardinals having rescued the Church from those Clownish Methods the Fishermen had first introduc'd , and mended that Pattern so effectually , that a Man of that Age , if he should now come into the World , would not possibly know it . In Denmark the Reformation was entire ; in some States of Germany , as well as Geneva , the Cure was universal ; but in the rest of the World where the Protestant Religion took place , the Popish humour was too tough to be totally expell'd , and so it was in England ; tho' the Change was made with àll the advantage imaginable to the Reformation , it being Countenanc'd and introduc'd by Legal Authority , and by that means , might have been perhaps as perfect as in any other Place , if the short Reign of Edward the 6th , and the succession of a Popish Queen had not given such advantage to that Religion , that it has subsisted ever since under all the hardships that have been put upon it ; it has been a strong Compact Body , and made the more so by these Sufferings ; it was not strong enough to prevail , but it was able , with the help of foreign support , to carry on an Interest which gave the Crown trouble , and to make a considerable ( not to say dangerous ) Figure in the Nation ; so much as this could not have been done without some hopes , nor these hopes kept up without some reasonable grounds : In Queen Elizabeth's time , the Spanish Zeal for their Religion , and the Revenge for 88 , gave warmth to the Papists here , and above all the Right of the Queen of Scots to succeed , was while she lived sufficient to give them a better prospect of their Affairs : In King James's time their hopes were supported by the Treaty of the Spanish Match , and his gentleness towards them , which they were ready to interpret more in their own Favour , than was either reasonable or became them , so little tenderness they have , even where it is most due , if the Interest of their Religion comes in competition with it . As for the late King , tho he gave the most glorious Evidence that ever Man did of his being a Protestant , yet , by the more than ordinary Influence the Queen was thought to have over him , and it so happening that the greatest part of his Anger was directed against the Puritans , there was such an advantage to Men dispos'd to suspect , that they were ready to interpret it a leaning towards Popery , without which handle it was Morally impossible , that the ill-affected part of the Nation could ever have seduc'd the rest into a Rebellion . That which help'd to confirm many well meaning Men in their Misapprehensions of the King , was the long and unusual intermission of Parliaments ; so that every year that passed without one , made up a new Argument to increase their Suspicion , and made them presume that the Papists had a principal hand in keeping them off ; This raised such Heats in Mens Minds , to think that Men who were obnoxious to the Laws , instead of being punished , should have Credit enough to serve themselves ; even at the price of destroying the Fundamental Constitution ; that it broke out into a Flame , which before it could be quenched , had almost reduc'd the Nation to Ashes . Amongst the miserable Effects of that unnatural War , none hath been more fatal to us , than the forcing our Princes to breathe in another Air , and to receive the early impressions of a Foreign Education ; the Barbarity of the English , towards the King and the Royal Family , mighty very well tempt him to think the better of every thing he found abroad , and might-naturally produce more gentleness , at least , towards a Religion by which he was hospitably received , at the same time that he was thrown off and Persecuted by the Protestants , ( tho' his own Subjects ) to aggravate the Offence . The Queen Mother , ( as generally Ladies do with Age ) grew most devout and earnest in her Religion ; and besides , the temporal Rewards of getting larger Subsidies from the French Clergy , she had Motives of another kind , to perswade her to shew her Zeal ; and since by the Roman Dispensatory , a Soul converted to the Church is a Soveraign Remedy , and lays up a mighty stock of merit , she was solicitous to secure her self in all Events , and therefore first set upon the Duke of Glocester , who depended so much upon her good will , that she might for that reason have been induc'd to believe , the Conquest would not be difficult ; but it so fell out , that he either from his own Constancy , or that he had those near him by whom he was otherways advis'd , chose rather to run away from her importunity , than by staying to bear the continual weight of it : It is believ'd she had better success with another of her Sons , who , if he was not quite brought off from our Religion , at least such beginnings were made , as made them very easie to be finish'd ; his being of a generous and aspiring Nature , and in that respect , less patient in the drudgery of Arguing , might probably help to recommend a Church to him , that exempts the Laity from the vexation of enquiring ; perhaps he might ( tho by mistake ) look upon that Religion as more favourable to the enlarged Power of Kings , a consideration which might have its weight with a young Prince in his warm blood , and that was brought up in Arms. I cannot hinder my self from a small digression , to consider with admiration , that the old Lady of Rome , with all her wrinkles , should yet have Charms , able to subdue great Princes ; so far from handsome , and yet so imperious ; so painted , and yet so pretending ; after having abus'd , depos'd , and murther'd so many of her Lovers , she still finds others glad and proud of their now Chains ; a thing so strange ) to indifferent Judges , that those who will allow no other Miracles in the Church of Rome , must needs grant that this is one not to be contested ; she sits in her Shop , and sells at dear Rates her Rattles and her Hobby-Horses , whilst the deluded World still continues to furnish her with Customers . But whither am I carried with this Contemplation ? it is high time to return to my Text , and to consider the wonderful manner of the Kings coming home again , led by the hand of Heaven , and called by the Voice of his own People , who receiv'd him , if possible , with Joys equal to the Blessing of Peace and Union which his Restauration brought along with it ; by this there was an end put to the hopes some might have abroad , of making use of 〈◊〉 less happy Circumstances , to throw him into Foreign Interests and Opinions , which had been wholly inconsistent with our Religion , our Laws , and all other things that are dear to us ; yet for all this some of those Tinctures and impressions might so far remain , as tho' they were very innocent in him , yet they might have ill effects here , by softning the Animosity which seems necessary to the Defender of the Protestant Faith , in opposition to such a powerful and irreconcilable an Enemy . You may be sure , that among all the sorts of Men who apply'd themselves to the King at his first coming home , for his Protection , the Papists were not the last , no● as they fain would have flatter'd themselves , the least welcome ; having their past Sufferings , as well as their present Professions to recommend them ; and there was something that look'd like a particular Consideration of them , since it so happened , that the Indulgence promised to Dissenters at Breda , was carried , on in such a manner , that the Papists were to divide with them , and tho' the Parliament , notwithstanding its Resignation to the Crown in all things , rejected with scorn and anger a Declaration fram'd for this purpose , yet the Birth and steps of it gave such an alarm , that Mens suspicions once raised , were not easily laid asleep again . To omit other things , the breach of the Tripple League , and the Dutch War with its appurtenances , carried Jealousies to the highest pitch imaginable , and fed the hopes of one Party , and the fears of the Other to such a degree , that some Critical Revolutions were generally expected , when the ill success of that War , and the Sacrifice France thought fit to make of the Papists here , to their own interest abroad , gave them another Check ; and the Act of enjoyning the Test to all in Offices , was thought to be no ill Bargain to the Nation , tho' bought at the Price of 1200000 pound , and the Money apply'd to continue the War against the Dutch , than which nothing could be more unpopular or less approved . Notwithstanding the discouragements , Popery is a Plant that may be mowed down , but the Root will still remain , and in spite of the Laws , it will sprout up and grow again ; especially if it should happen that there should be Men in Power , who in weeding it out of our Garden , will take care to Cherish and keep it alive ; and tho' the Law for excluding them from Places of Trust was tolerably kept as to their outward Form , yet there were many Circumstances , which being improved by the quick-sighted Malice of ill affected Men , did help to keep up the World in their suspicions , and to blow up Jealousies to such a height both in and out of Parliament , that the remembrance of them is very unpleasant , and the Example so extravagant , that it is to be hop'd nothing in our Age like it will be re-attempted ; but to come closer to the Case in question in this Condition we stand with the Papists , what shall now be done according to our Trimmer's Opinion , in order to the better Bearing this grievance , since as I have said before , there is no hopes of being entirely free from it ; Papists we must have among us , and if their Religion keep them from bringing honey to the Hive , let the Government try at least by gentle means to take away the Sting from them . The first Foundation to be laid is , that a distinct Consideration is to be had of the Popish Clergy , who have such an eternal Interest against all accommodation , that it is a hopeless thing to propose any thing to them less than all ; their Stomachs have been set for it ever since the Reformation , they have pinned themselves to a Principal that admits no mean : they believe Protestants will be damn'd , and therefore by an extraordinary Effect of Christian Charity , they would destroy one half of England that the other might be saved ; then for this World , they must be in possession for God Almighty , to receive his Rents for him , not to accompt till the Day of Judgment , which is a good kind of Tenure , and ye cannot well blame the good Men , that will stir up the Laity to run any hazard in order to the getting them restor'd . What is it to the Priest , if the deluded Zealot undoes himself in the Attempt ? he sings Masses as jollily , and with as good a Voice at Rome or St. Omers as ever he did ; is a single Man , and can have no wants but such as may be easily supply'd , yet that he may not seem altogether insensible , or ungrateful to those that are his Martyrs , he is ready to assure their Executors , and if they please , will procure a Grant sub Annulo Piscatoris , that the good Man by being changed , has got a good Bargain , and sav'd the singing of some hundred of years , which he would else have had in Purgatory . There 's no Cure for this Order of Men , no Expedient to be propos'd , so that tho the utmost severity of the Laws against them , may in some sort be mitigated , yet no Treaty can be made with Men who in this Case have left themselves no free Will , but are so muffled by Zeal , tyed by Vows , and kept up by such unchangeable Maxims of the Priesthood , that they are to be left as desperate Patients , and look'd upon as Men that will continue in an Eternal State of Hostility , till the Nation is entirely subdued to them . it is then only the Lay Papists that are capable of being treated with , and we are to examine of what temper they are , and what Arguments are the most likely to prevail upon them , and how far 't is adviseable for the Government to be Indulgent to them ; the Lay Papists generally keep their Religion , rather because they will not break Company with those of their Party , than out of any settled Zeal that hath Root in them ; most of them do by the Mediation of the Priests Marry amongst one another , to keep up an Ignorant Position by hearing only one side ; others by a mistake look upon it as the Escutcheo●s of the more Antient Religion of the two ; and as some Men of a good Pedigree , wi●● despise meaner Men , tho' never so 〈◊〉 superior to them by Nature , so these under● value Reformation as an Upstart , and think there is more Honour in supporting an old Errour , than in embracing what seems to them to be a new Truth ; the Laws have made them Men of Pleasure , by excluding them from Publick Business , and it happen● well they are so , since they will the more easily be perswaded by Arguments of Ease and Conveniency to them ; they have not put off the Man in general , nor the Englishman in particular , those who in the la●e storm against them went into other Countries , tho they had all the Advantage that might recommend them to a good Reception , yet in a little time they chose to steal over again , and live here with hazard , rather than abroad with security . There is a Smell in our Native Earth , better than all the Perfumes in the East ; there is something in a Mother , tho never so Angry , that the Children will more naturally trust Her , than the Studied Civilities of Strangers , let them be never so Hospitable ; therefore 't is not adviseable nor agreeing with the Rules of Governing Prudence , to provoke Men by hardships to forget that Nature , which else is sure to be of our side . When these Men by fair Usage are put again into their right Senses , they will have quite differing Reflections from those which Rigour and Persecution had raised in them : A Lay Papist will first consider his Abby-Lands , which notwithstanding whatever has or can be alledged , must sink considerably in the Value , the moment that Popery prevails ; and it being a disputable Matter , whether Zeal might not in a little time get the better of the Law in that case ; a considering Man will admit that as an Argument to perswade him , to be content with things as they are , rather than run this or any other hazard by Change , in which perhaps he may have no other Advantage , than that his new humble Confessor may be rais'd to a Bishoprick , and from thence look down superciliously upon his Patron , or which is worse , run to take Possession for God Almighty of his Abby , in such a manner as the usurping Landlord ( as he will then be called ) shall hardly be admitted to be so much as a Tenant to his own Land's , lest his Title should prejudge that of the Church , which will then be the Language ; he will think what disadvantage 't is to be looked upon as a separate Creature , depending upon a Foreign Interest and Authority , and for that reason , expos'd to the Jealousie and Suspicion of his Country-men ; he will reflect what Incumbrance it is to have his House a Pasture for hungry Priests to graze in , which have such a never-failing Influence upon the Foolish , which is the greatest part of every Man's Family , that a Man's Dominion , even over his own Children , is mangled , and divided , if not totally undermin'd by them ; then to be subject to what Arbitrary Taxes the Popish Convocation shall impose upon them for the carrying on the Common Interest of that Religion , under Penalty of being mark'd out for half Hereticks by the rest of the Party ; to have no share in Business , no opportunity of shewing his own Value to the World ; to live at the best an useless , and by others to be thought a dangerous Member of the Nation where he is born , is a burthen to a generous Mind that cannot be taken off by all the Pleasure of a lazy unmanly life , or by the nauseous enjoyment of a dull Plenty , that produceth no good for the Mind , which will be considered in the first place by a Man that has a Soul ; when he shall think , that if his Religion , after his wading through a Sea of Blood , come at last to prevail , it would infinitely lessen , if not entirely destroy the Glory , Riches , Strength and Liberty of his own Country . And what a Sacrifice is this to make to Rome , where they are wise enough to wonder there should be such Fools in the World , as to venture , struggle , and contend , nay even die Martyrs for that which , should it succeed , would prove a Judgment instead of a Blessing to them ; he will conclude that the advantages of throwing some of their Children back again to God Almighty when they have too many of them , are not equal to the Inconveniencies they may either feel or fear , by continuing their separation from the Religion established . Temporal things will have their weight in the World , and tho Zeal may prevail for a time , and get the better in a Skirmish , yet the War ends generally on the side of Flesh and Blood , and will do so till Mankind is another thing than it is at present : And therefore a wise Papist in cold Blood , considering these and many other Circumstances , which 't will be worth his pains to see if he can unmuffle himself from the Mask of Infallibility , will think it reasonable to set his Imprison'd Senses at Liberty , and that he has a right to see with his own Eyes , hear with his own Ears , and judge by his own Reason ; the consequence of which might probably be , that weighing things in a right Scale , and seeing them in their true Colours , he would distinguish between the merit of suffering for a good Cause , and the foolish ostentation of drawing inconveniences upon himself ; and therefore will not be unwilling to be convinc'd that our Protestant Creed may make him 〈◊〉 in the other World , and the 〈…〉 this . A few of such wise Proselytes would by their Example draw so many after them , that the Party would insensibly melt away , and in a little time , without any angry word , we should come to an Union , that all Good Men would have Reason to rejoyce at ; but we are not to presume upon these Conversions , without preparing Men for them by kind and reconciling Arguments ; nothing is so against our Nature , as to believe those can be in the right who are too hard upon us ; there is a deformity in every thing that doth us hurt , it will look scurvily in our Eye while the smart continues , and a Man must have an extraordinary Measure of Grace , to think well of a Religion that reduces him and his Family to Misery ; in this respect our Trimmer would consent to the mitigation of such Laws as were made , ( as it 's said King Henry VIII . got Queen Elizabeth ) in a heat against Rome : It may be said that even States as well as private Men are subject to Passion ; a just indignation of a villainous Attempt produces at the same time such Remedies , as perhaps are not without some mixture of Revenge , and therefore tho time cannot Repeal a Law , it may by a Natural Effect soften the Execution of it ; there is less danger to Rouse a Lyon when at Rest , than to awake Laws that were intended to have their time of Sleeping , nay more than that , in some Cases their Natural periods of Life , dying of themselves without the Solemnity of being revok'd , any otherwise than by the common consent of Mankind , who do cease to Execute , when the Reasons in great Measure fail that first Created and Justify'd the Rigour of such unusual Penalties . Our Trimmer is not eager to pick out some places in History against this or any other Party ; quite contrary , is very sollicitous to find out any thing that may be healing , and tend to an Agreement ; but to prescribe the means of this Gentleness so as to make it effectual , must come from the only place that can furnish Remedies for this Cure , viz. a Parliament ; in the mean time , it is to be wished there may be such a mutual calmness of Mind , as that the Protestants might not be so jealous , as still to smell the Match that was to blow up the King and both Houses in the Gun-powder Treason , or to start at every appearance of Popery , as if it were just taking Possession . On the other side , let not the Papists suffer themselves to be led by any hopes , tho never so flattering , to a Confidence or Ostentation which must provoke Men to be less kind to them ; let them use Modesty on their sides , and the Protestants Indulgence on theirs ; and by this means there will be an overlooking of all Venial Faults , a tacit connivence at all things that do not carry Scandal with them , and would amount to a kind of Natural Dispensation with the severe Laws , since there would be no more Accusers to be found , when the occasions of Anger and Animosity are once remov'd ; let the Papists in the mean time remember , that there is a respect due from all lesser numbers to greater , a deference to be paid by an Opinion that is Exploded , to one that is Established ; such a Thought well digested will have an influence upon their Behaviour , and produce such a Temper as must win the most eager Adversaries out of their ill Humour to them , and give them a Title to all the Favour that may be consistent with the Publick Peace and Security . The Trimmer's Opinion in Relation to things abroad . THE World is so compos'd , that it is hard , if not impossible , for a Nation not to be a great deal involv'd in the fate of their Neighbours , and tho by the felicity of our Situation , we are more Independant than any other People , yet we have in all Ages been concern'd for our own sakes in the Revolutions abroad . There was a time when England was the over-balancing Power of Christendom , and that either by Inheritance or Conquest , the better part of France receiv'd Laws from us ; after that we being reduc'd into our own Limits , France and Spain became the Rivals for the Universal Monarchy , and our third Power , tho in it self less than either of the other , hapned to be Superiour to any of them , by that choice we had of throwing the Scales on that side to which we gave our Friendship . I do not know whether this Figure did not make us as great as our former Conquest , to be a perpetual Umpire of two great contending Powers , who gave us all their Courtship , and offer'd all their Incense at our Altar , whilst the Fate of either Prince seemed to depend upon the Oracles we delivered ; for the King of England to sit on his Throne , as in the Supream Court of Justice , to which the two great Monarchs appeal , pleading their Cause , and expecting their Sentence ▪ declaring which side was in the right , or at least if we pleas'd which side should have the better of it , was a piece of Greatness which was peculiar to us , and no wonder if we endeavour to preserve it , as we did for a considerable time , it being our Safety , as well as Glory , to maintain it ; but by a Fatality upon our Councils , or by the refin'd Policy of this latter Age , we have thought fit to use industry to destroy this mighty Power , which we have so long enjoyed ; and that equality between the Two Monarchs , which we might for ever have preserved , has been chiefly broken by us , whose Interest it was above all others to maintain it ; when one of them , like the overflowing of the Sea , had gained more upon the other than our convenience , or indeed our safety , would allow ; instead of mending the Banks , or making new ones , we our selves with our own hands helpt to cut them , to invite and make way for a farther Inundation . France and Spain have had their several turns in making use of our Mistakes , and we have been formerly as deaf to the Instances of the then weaker part of the World to help them against the House of Austria , as we can now be to the Earnestness of Spain , that we would assist them against the Power of France . Gondamar was as sawey , and as powerful too in King James his Court , as any French Ambassadour can have been at any time since , when Men talk as wrong then on the Spanish side , and made their Court by it , as well as any can have done since by talking as much for the French ; so that from that time , instead of weighing in a wise Balance the power of either Crown , it looks as if we had learnt only to weigh the Pensions , and take the heaviest . It would be tedious , as well as unwelcome , to recapitulate all our wrong steps , so that I will go no farther than the King's Restauration , at which time the Balance was on the side of France , and that by the means of Cromwell , who for a separate Interest of his own had sacrificed that of the Nation , by joining with the stronger side , to suppress the Power of Spain , which he ought to have supported . Such a Method was natural enough to an Usurper , and shew'd he was not the Lawful Father of the People , by his having so little care of them ; and the Example coming from that hand , one would think should , for that Reason , be less likely to be follow'd . But to go on , home comes the King , followed with Courtships from all Nations abroad , of which some did it not only to make them forget how familiarly they had us'd him when he was in other Circumstances , but to bespeak the Friendship of a Prince , who besides his other Greatness , was yet more considerable by being re-established by the love of his people . France had an Interest either to dispose us to so much good will , or at least to put us into such a Condition , that we might give no Opposition to their Designs ; and Flanders being a perpetual Object in their Eye , a lasting Beauty for which they have an incurable passion , and not being kind enough to consent to them , they meditated to commit a Rape upon her , which they thought would not be easie to do , while England and Holland were agreed to rescue her , when-ever they should hear her cry out for help to them ; to this end they put in practice Seasonable and Artificial Whispers , to widen things between us , and the States . Amboyna and the Fishery must be talk'd of here ; the freedom of the Seas , and the preservation of Track must be insinuated there ; and there being combustible matter on both sides , in ● little time it took Fire , which gave those that kindled it , sufficient cause to smile and hug themselves , to see us both fall into the Net they had laid for us . And it is observable and of good example to us , if we wil● take it , That their Design being to set 〈◊〉 together at Cuffs to weaken us , they kept themselves Lookers on till our Victori●● began to break the Balance ; then the King of France , like a wise Prince , was resolved to support the beaten side , and would no more let the Power of the Sea , than we ought to suffer the Monarchy of Europe , to fall into one hand : In pursuance to this he took part with the Dutch , and in a little time made himself Umpire of the Peace between us ; some time after , upon pretence of his Queen's Title to part of Flanders● by Right of Devolution , he falls into i● with a mighty Force , for which the Spaniard was so little prepared , that he made a very swift Progress , and had such a Torrent of undisputed Victory , that England and Holland , tho the Wounds they had given one another were yet green ; being struck with the apprehension of so near a danger to them , thought it necessary , for their own defence , to make up a sudden League , into which Sweden was taken to interpose for a Peace between the two Crowns . This had so good an effect , that France was stopt in its Career , and the Peace of Aix le Chapelle was a little after concluded . 'T was a forc'd put ; and tho France wisely dissembled their inward dissatisfaction , yet from the very moment they resolv'd to unty the Triple knot , whatever it cost them ; for his Christian Majesty , after his Conquering Meals , ever rises with a stomach , and he lik'd the Pattern so well , that it gave him a longing desire to have the whole Piece . Amongst the other means used for the attaining this end , the sending over the Dutchess of Orleans , was not the least powerful ; she was a very welcome Guest here , and her own Charms and Dexterity joined with other Advantages , that might help her perswasions , gave her such an Ascendant , that she should hardly fail of success . One of the Preliminaries of her Treaty , tho a trivial thing in it self , yet was considerable in the Consequence , as very small circumstances often are in relation to the Government of the World. About this time a general Humour , in opposition to France , had made us throw off their Fashion , and put on Vests , that we might look more like a distinct People , and not be under the servility of imitation , which ever pays a greater deference to the Original ; than is consistent with the Equality all Independent Nations should pretend to ; France did not like this small beginning of ill Humours , at least of Emulation , and wisely considering that it is a natural Introduction first to make the World their Apes , that they may be afterwards their Slaves . It was thought that one of the Instructions Madam brought along with her , was to laugh us out of these Vests , which she performed so effectually , that in a moment , like so many Footmen who had quitted their Masters Livery , we all took it again , and returned to our old Service ; so that the very time of doing it gave a very critical Advantage to France ; since it lookt like an Evidence of our returning to their Interest , as well as to their Fashion , and would give such a distrust of us to our new Allies , that it might facilitate the dissolution of the knot , which tied them so within their bounds , that they were very impatient till they were freed from the re●●●aint . But the Lady had a more extended Commission than this and without doubt we double-laid the Foundation of a new strict Alliance , quite contrary to the other , in which we had been so lately engag'd . And of this there were such early appearances , that the World began to look upon us as falling into Apostacy from the common Interest . Notwithstanding all this , France did not neglect at the same time to give good words to the Dutch , and even to feed them with hopes of supporting them against us , when on a sudden , that never to be forgotten Declaration of War against them comes out , only to vindicate his own Glory , and to revenge the Injuries done to his Brother in England , by which he became our Second in this Duel ; so humble can this Prince be , when at the same time he does more Honour than we deserve , he lays a greater share of the blame upon our Shoulders , than did naturally belong to us ; the particulars of that War , our part in it while we staid in it , and when we were out of breath , our leaving the French to make an end of it , are things too well known to make it necessary , and too unwelcome in themselves to incite me to repeat them ; only the wisdom of France is in this to be observ'd , That when we had made a separate Peace , which left them single to oppose the united Force of the Confederates , they were so far from being angry , that they would not shew so much as the least coldness , hoping to get as much by our Mediation for a Peace , as they would have expected from our Assistance in the War , our Circumstances at that time considered ; This seasonable piece of Indulgence in not reproaching us , but rather allowing those Necessities of State which we gave for our Excuse , was such an engaging Method , that it went a great way to keep us still in their Chains , when , to the Eye of the World , we had absolutely broke loose from them : And what pass'd afterwards at Nimeguen , tho the King's Neutrality gave him the outward Figure of a Mediator , it appear'd that his Interposition was extremely suspected of Partiality by the Confederates , who upon that Ground did both at and before the Conclusion of that Treaty , treat his Ministers there with a great deal of neglect in his Peace as well as that in the Pyrenean and Aix le Chapelle , the King of France , at the Moment of making it , had the thought of breaking it ; for a very little time after he broach'd his Pretensions upon Alost , which were things that if they had been offer'd by a less formidable hand , would have been smiled at ; but ill Arguments being seconded by good Armies , carry such a power with them , that naked sense is a very unequal Adversary . It was thought that these aiery Claims were chiefly rais'd with the prospect of getting Luxenburg for the Equivalent ; and this Opinion was confirm'd by the blocking it up afterwards , pretending to the Country of Chimay , that it might be entirely surrounded by the French Dominions , and it was so pressed that it might have fallen in a little time , if the King of France had not sent Orders to his Troops to retire , and his Christian Generosity which was assign'd for the reason of it , made the World smile , since it is seen how differently his devout Zeal works in Hungary : that specious Reason was in many respects ill-tim'd , and France it self gave it so faintly , that at the very time it look'd out of Countenance ; the true ground of his Retiring is worth our observation ; for at the instance of the Confederates , Offices were done , and Memorials given , but all ineffectual till the word Parliament was put into them ; that powerful word had such an effect , that even at that distance it rais'd the Seige , which may convince us of what efficacy the King of England's words are , when he will give them their full weight , and threaten with his Parliament ; it is then that he appears that great Figure we ought to represent him in our Minds , the Nation his Body , he the Head , and joined with that Harmony , that every word he pronounces is the Word of a Kingdom : Such words , as appears by this Example , are as effectual as Fleets and Armies , because they can create them , and without this his word sounds abroad like a faint Whisper , that is either not heard , or ( which is worse ) not minded . But tho France had made this step of forced Compliance , it did not mean to leave off the pursuit of their pretensions ; and therefore immediately proposed the Arbitration to the King ; but it appear'd , that notwithstanding his Merit towards the Confederates , in saving Luxenburg , the remembrances of what had passed before , had left such an ill taste in their Mouths , that they could not Relish our being put into a Condition to dispose of their Interests , and therefore declin'd it by insisting upon a general Treaty , to which France has ever since continued to be averse ; our great earnestness also to perswade the Confederates to consent to it , was so unusual , and so suspicious a method , that it might naturally make them believe , that France spake to them by our Mouth , and for that Reason , if there has been no other , might hinder the accepting it ; and so little care hath been taken to cure this , or other Jealousies the Confederates may have entertain'd , that quite contrary , their Ministers here every day take fresh Alarms , from what they observe in small , as well as in greater Circumstances ; and they being apt both to take and improve apprehensions of this kind , draw such Inferences from them , as make them entirely despair of us . Thus we now stand , far from being Innocent Spectators of our Neighbours Ruine , and by a fatal mistake forgetting what a Certain Fore-runner it is to our own ▪ and now it 's time our Trimmer should tell something of his Opinion , upon this present State of things abroad , he first professes to have no Biass , either for or against France , and that his thoughts are wholly directed by the Interest of his own Country ; he allows , and has read that Spain used the same Methods , when it was in its heighth , as France doth now , and therefore it is not Partiality that moves him ; but the just fear which all reasonable Men must be possess'd with , of an over-growing Power ; Ambition is a devouring Beast , when it hath swallow'd one Province , instead of being cloyed , it has so much the greater Stomach to another , and being fed , becomes still the more hungry ; so that for the Confederates to expect a security from any thing but their own united strength , is a most miserable fallacy ; and if they cannot resist the Incroachments of France by their Arms , it is in vain for them to dream of any other means of preservation ; it would have the better grace , besides the saving so much Blood and Ruin , to give up all at once ; make a Present of themselves , to appease this haughty Monarch , rather than be whisper'd , flatter'd , or cozened out of their liberty . Nothing is so soft as the first applications of a greater Prince , to engage a weaker , but that smiling Countenance is but a Vizard , it is not the true Face ; for as soon as their turn is serv'd , the Courtship flies to some other Prince or State , where the same part is to be acted over again , leaves the old mistaken Friend , to Neglect and Contempt , and like an insolent Lover to Cast off Mistress , Reproaches her with that Infamy , of which he himself was the Author , Sweden , Bavaria , Palatine , &c. may by their Fresh Examples , teach other Princes what they are reasonably to expect , and what Snakes are hid under the Flowers the Court of France so liberally throws upon them , whilst they can be useful . The various Methods and deep Intrigues , with the differing Notes in several Countries , do not only give suspicion , but assurance that every thing is put in Practice , by which universal Monarchy may be obtain'd . Who can reconcile the withdrawing of his Troops from Luxenburg , in consideration of the War in Hungary , which was not then declared , and presently after encouraging the Turk to take Vienna , and consequently to destroy the Empire ? Or who can think that the Persecution of the Poor Protestants of France , will be accepted of God , as an Atonement for hazarding the loss of the whole Christian Faith ? Can he be thought in earnest , when he seem'd to be afraid of the Spaniards , and for that reason must have Luxenburg , and that he cannot be safe from Germany , unless he is in possession of Strasburg ? All Injustice and Violence must in it self be grievous , but the aggravations of supporting 'em by false Arguments , and insulting Reasons , has something in it yet more provoking than the Injuries themselves ; and the World has ground enough to apprehend , from such a Method of arguing , that even their Senses are to be subdu'd as well as their Liberties . Then the variety of Arguments used by France in several Countries is very observable : In England and Denmark , nothing insisted on but the Greatness and Authority of the Crown ; on the other side , the Great Men in Poland are commended , who differ in Opinion with the King , and they argue like Friends to the Privilege of Dyet , against the separate Power of the Crown : In Sweden they are troubled that the King should have chang'd something there of late , by his single Authority , from the antient and settled Authority and Constitutions : At Ratis bone , the most Christian Majesty taketh the Liberties of all the Electors , and free States , into his Protection , and tells them the Emperour is a dangerous Man , an aspiring Hero , that would infallibly devour them , if he was not at hand to resist him on their behalf ; but above all in Holland , he has the most obliging tenderness for the Common-wealth , and is in such disquiets , lest it should be invaded by the Prince of Orange , that they can do no less in gratitude , than undo themselves when he bids them , to show how sensible they are of his excessive good Nature ; yet in spight of all these Contradictions , there are in the World such refin'd States-men , as will upon their Credit affirm the following Paradoxes to he real truth ; first that France alone is sincere and keeps its Faith , and consequently that it is the only Friend we can rely upon ; that the King of France , of all Men living , has the least mind to be a Conqueror ; that he is a sleepy , tame Creature , void of all Ambition , a poor kind of a Man , that has no farther thoughts than to be quiet ; that he is charm'd by his Friendship to us , that it is impossible he should ever do us hurt , and therefore tho Flanders was lost , it would not in the least concern us ; that he would fain help the Crown of England to be absolute , which would be to take pains to put it into a condition to oppose him , as it is , and must be our Interest , as long as he continues in such an overballancing Power and Greatness . Such a Creed as this , if once receiv'd , might prepare our belief for greater things , and as he that taught Men to eat a Dagger , began first with a Pen knife ; so if we can be prevail'd with to digest the smaller Mistakes , we may at last make our stomachs strong enough for that of Transubstantiation . Our Trimmer cannot easily be converted out of his senses by these State Sophisters , and yet he has no such peevish Obstinacy as to reject all Correspondence with France , because we ought to be apprehensive of the too great power of it ; he would not have the kings Friendship to the Confederates extended to the involving him in any unreasonable or dangerous Engagements , neither would he have him lay aside the consideration of his better establishment at home , out of his excessive Zeal to secure his Allies abroad ; but sure there might be a Mean between these two opposite Extreams , and it may be wish'd that our Friendship with France should at least be so bounded , that it may consist with the humour as well as the Interest of England . There is no Woman but has the fears of contraictng too near an intimacy with a much greater Beauty , because it exposes her too often to a Comparison that is not advantageous to her ; and sure it may become a Prince to be as jealous of his Dignity , as a Lady can be of her good looks , and to be as much out of Countenance , to be thought an humble Companion to so much a greater Power ; to be always seen in an ill Light , to be so darkned by the brightness of a greater Star , is somewhat mortifying ; and when England might ride Admiral at the head of the Confederates , to look like the Kitching-Yatch to the Grand Louis , is but a scurvy Figure for us to make in the Map of Christendom ; it would rise up in our Trimmer's stomach ▪ if ever ( which God forbid ) the power of calling and intermitting Parliaments here , should be transferred to the Crown of France , and that all the opportunities of our own settlements at home should give way to their Projects abroad ; and that our Interests should be so far sacrific'd to our Compliance , that all the Omnipotence of France can never make us full amends for it In the mean time , he shrinks at the dismal prospect he can by no means drive away from his thoughts , that when France has gather'd all the fruit arising from our Mistakes , and that we can bear no more with them , they will cut down the Tree and throw it into the fire ; for all this while , some Superfine States-Men , to comfort us , would sain perswade the World that this or that accident may save us , and for all that is or ought to be dear to us , would have us to rely wholly upon Chance , not considering that Fortune is Wisdoms Creature , and that God Almighty loves to be on the Wisest as well as the Strongest side ; therefore this is such a miserable shift , such a shameful Evasion , that they would be laught to death for it , if the ruining Consequence of this Mistake did not more dispose Men to rage , and a detestation of it . Our Trimmer is far from Idolatry in other things , in one thing only he comes near it , his Country is in some degree his Idol ; he does not Worship the Sun , because 't is not peculiar to us , it rambles about the World , and is less kind to us than others ; but for the Earth of England , tho perhaps inferior to that of many places abroad , to him there is Divinity in it , and he would rather dye , than see a piece of English Glass trampled down by a Foreign Trespasser : He thinks there are a great many of his mind , for all plants are apt to taste of the Soyl in which they grow , and we that grow here , have a Root that produces in us a Stalk of English Juice , which is not to be changed by grafting or foreign infusion and I do not know whether any thing less will prevail , than the Modern Experiment , by which the Blood of one Creature is transmitted into another ; according to which , before the French can be let into our Bodies , every drop of our own must be drawn out of them . Our Trimmer cannot but lament , that by a Sacrifice too great for one Nation to another , we should be like a rich Mine , made useless only for want of being wrought , and that the Life and Vigour which should move us against our Enemies is miserably apply'd to tear our own Bowels ; that being made by our happy situation , not only safer , but if we please greater too , than other Countries which far exceed us in extent ; that having Courage by Nature , Learning by Industry , and Riches by Trade , we should corrupt all these Advantages , so as to make them insignificant , and by a fatality which seems peculiar to us , misplace our active rage one against another , whilst we are turn'd into Statues on that side where lies our greatest danger ; to be unconcern'd not only at our Neighbours ruine but our own , and let our Island lie like a great Hulk in the Sea , without Rudder or Sail , all the Men cast away in her , or as if we were all Children in a great Cradle , and rockt asleep to a foreign Tune . I say when our Trimmer representeth to his Mind , our Roses blasted and discolour'd , whilst the Lilies Triumph and grow Insolent , upon the Comparison ; when he considers our own once flourishing Lawrel , now withered and dying , and nothing left us but a remembrance of a better part in History , than we shall make in the next Age : which will be no more to us than an Escutcheon hung upon our Door when we are dead ; when he foresees from hence , growing Infamy from abroad , confusion at home , and all this without the possibility of a Cure , in respect of the voluntary fetters good Men put upon themselves by their Allegiance without a good measure of preventing Grace , he would be tempted to go out of the World like a Roman Philosopher , rather than endure the burthen of Life under such a discouraging Prospect . But Mistakes , as all other things , have their Periods , and many times the nearest way to Cure , is not to oppose them , but stay till they are crusht with their own weight : for Nature will not allow any thing to continue long that is violent ; violence is a wound , and as a wound , must be curable in a little time , or else 't is Mortal ; but a Nation , comes near to be Immortal , therefore the wound will one time or another be cured , tho perhaps by such rough Methods , if too long forborn , as may even make the best Remedies we can prepare , to be at the same time a Melancholy Contemplation to us ; there is but one thing ( God Almighties Providence excepted ) to support a Man from sinking under these afflicting thoughts , and that is the hopes we draw singly from the King himself ▪ without the mixture of any other consideration . Tho the Nation was lavish of their Kindness to him at his first coming , yet there remains still a stock of Warmth in Mens Hearts for him . Besides the good Influences of his happy Planet are not yet all spent , and tho the Stars of Men past their youth are generally declining , and have less Force like the Eyes of decaying Beauties , yet by a Blessing peculiar to himself , we may yet hope to be sav'd by his Autumnal Fortune ; He has something about him that will draw down 〈◊〉 healing Miracle for his and our Deliverance ; a Prince which seems fitted for such in offending Age , in which Mens Crimes have been so general , that the not forgiving his People has been the destroying of them , whose Gentleness gives him a natural Dominion that hath no bounds , with such a noble mixture of Greatness and Condescention , an engaging Look , that disarms Men of their ill Humors , and their Resentments ; something in him that wanteth a Name , and can be no more defined than it can be resisted ; a Gift of Heaven , of its last finishing , where it will be peculiarly kind ; the only Prince in the World that dares be familiar , or that has right to triumph over those forms which were first invented to give awe to those who could not judge , and to hide Defects from those that could ; a Prince that has exhausted himself by his Liberality , and endanger'd himself by his Mercy ; who out-shines by his own Light and natural Virtues all the varnish of studied Acquisitions ; his Faults are like Shades to a good Picture , or like Allay to Gold , to make it the more useful , he may have some , but for any Man to see them through so many reconciling Virtues , is a Sacrilegious piece of ill nature , of which no generous Mind can be guilty ; a Prince that deserves to be lov'd for his own sake , even without the help of a Comparison ; our Love , our Duty , and our Danger , all join to cement our Obedience to him ; in short whatever , he can do , it is no more possible for us to be angry with him , than with a Bank that secures us from the raging Sea , the kind Shade that hides us from the scorching Sun , the welcome Hand that reaches us a Reprieve , or with the Guardian Angel , that rescues our Souls from the devouring Jaws of wretched Eternity . CONCLUSION TO Conclude , our Trimmer is so fully satisfy'd of the Truth of these Principles , by which he is directed , in reference to the Publick , that he will neither be Hectored and Threatned , Laught , nor Drunk out of them ; and instead of being converted by the Arguments of his Adversaries to their Opinions , he is very much confirmed in his own by them ; he professes solemnly that were it in his Power to chuse , he would rather have his Ambition bounded by the Commands of a Great and Wise Master , than let it range with a Popular Licence , tho' crown'd with success ; yet he cannot commit such a Sin against the glorious thing call'd Liberty , nor let his Soul stoop so much below it self , as to be content without repining to have his Reason wholly subdu'd , or the Privilege of Acting like a sensible Creature , torn from him by the imperious Dictates of unlimited Authority , in what hand soever it happens to be plac'd . What is there in this that is so Criminal , as to deserve the Penalty of that most singular Apophthegm , A Trimmer is worse than a Rebel ? What do angry men ail to rail so against Moderation , do's it not look as if they were going to some very scurvy Extreme , that is too strong to be digested by the more considering part of Mankind ? These Arbitrary Methods , besides the injustice of them , are ( God be thanked ) very unskillful too , for they fright the Birds , by talking so loud , from coming into the Nets that are laid for them ; and when Men agree to rifle a House , they seldom give warning , or blow a Trumpet ; but there are some small States-Men , who are so full charg'd with their own Expectations , that they cannot contain . And kind Heaven by sending such a seasonable Curse upon their undertakings , has made their ignorance an Antidote against their Malice ; some of these cannot treat peaceably , yielding will not satisfy them , they will have men by storm ; there are others , that must have Plots , to make their Service more necessary , and have an Interest to keep them alive , since they are to live upon them ; and perswade the King to retrench his own Greatness , so as to shrink into the head of a Party , which is the betraying him into such a Unprincely mistake , and to such a wilful diminution of himself , that they are the last Enemies he ought to allow himself to forgive ; such Men , if they could , would prevail with the Sun to shine only upon them and their Friends , and to leave all the rest of the World in the dark ; this is a very unusual Monopoly , and may come within the Equity of the Law , which makes it Treason to Imprison the King , when such unfitting bounds are put to his Favour , and he confin'd to the narrow limits of a particular set of Men , that would inclose him ; these Honest and only Loyal Gentlemen , if they may be allow'd to bear Witness for themselves , make a King their Engine , and degrade him into a property at the very time that their Flattery would make him believe they paid Divine Worship to him ; besides these there is a flying Squadron on both sides , that are afraid the World should agree , small dabblers in Conjuring , that raise angry Apparitions to keep Men from being reconcil'd , like Wasps that fly up and down , buz and sting to keep Men unquiet ; but these Infects are commonly short-liv'd Creatures , and no doubt in a little time Mankind will be rid of them ; they were Gyants at least who fought once against Heaven , but for such Pigmies as these to contend against it , is such a provoking Folly , that the insolent Bunglers ought to be laught and hist our of the World for it ; they should consder there is a Soul in that great body of the People , which may for a time be drowzy and unactive , but when the Leviathan is rouz'd , it moves like an angry Creature , and will neither be convinc'd nor resisted : the People can never agree to shew their united Powers , till they are extremely tempted and provoked to it , so that to apply Cupping-Glasses to a great Beast naturally dispos'd to sleep , and to force the Tame thing whether it will or no to be Valiant , must be learnt out of some other Book than Machiavil , who would never have prescrib'd such a preposterous Method . It is to be remembred , that if Princes have Law and Authority on their sides , the People on theirs may have Nature , which is a ●ormidable Adversary ; Duty , Justice , Religion , nay , even Humane Prudence too , bids the People suffer any thing rather than resist ; but uncorrected Nature , where e're it feels the smart will run to the nearest Remedy , Mens Passions in this Case are to be consider'd as well as their Duty , let it be never so strongly enforc'd , for if their Passions are provok'd , they being as much a part of us as our Limbs , they lead Men into a short way of Arguing , that admits no distinction , and from the foundation of Self-Defence , they will draw Inferences , that will have miserable effects upon the quiet of a Government . Our Trimmer therefore dreads a general discontent , because he thinks it differs , from a Rebellion , only as a Spotted Fever does from the Plague , the same Species under a lower degree of Malignity ; it works several ways ; sometimes like a slow Poyson that has its Effects at a great distance from the time it was given , sometimes like dry Flax prepared to catch at the first Fire , or like Seed in the ground ready to sprout upon the first Shower ; in every shape 't is fatal , and our Trimmer thinks no pains or precaution can be so great as to prevent it . In short he thinks himself in the right , grounding his Opinion upon that Truth , which equally hates to be under the Oppressions of wrangling Sophistry of the one hand , or the short dictates of mistaken Authority on the other . Our Trimmer adores the Goddess Truth , tho' in all Ages she has been scurvily used , as well as those that Worshipped her ; 't is of late become such a ruining Virtue , that Mankind seems to be agreed to command and avoid it ; yet the want of Practice which Repeals the other Laws , has no influence upon the Law of Truth , because it has root in Heaven , and an Intrinsick value in it self , that can never be impaired ; she shews her Greatness in this , that her Enemies even when they are successful are asham'd to own it ; nothing but Power full of Truth has the prerogative of Triumphing , not only after Victories , but inspite of them , and to put Conquest her self out of Countenance ; she may be kept under and supprest , but her Dignity still remains with her , even when she is in Chains ; Falshood with all her Impudence , has not enough to speak ill of her before her Face , such Majesty she carries about her , that her most prosperous Enemies are fain to whisper their Treason ; all the Power upon Earth can never extinguish her ; she has liv'd in all Ages ; and let the Mistaken Zeal of prevailing Authority , Christen any opposition to it , with what Name they please , she makes it not only an ugly and unmannerly , but a dangerous thing to persist ; she has lived very retired indeed , nay sometime so buried , that only some few of the discerning part of Mankind could have a Glimpse of her ; with all that she has Eternity in her , she knows not how to die , and from the darkest Clouds that shade and cover her , she breaks from time to time with Triumph for her Friends , and Terrour to her Enemies . Our Trimmer therefore inspired by this Divine Virtue , thinks fit to conclude with these Assertions , That our Climate is a Trimmer , between that part of the World where men are Roasted , and the other where they are Frozen ; That our Church is a Trimmer between the Phrenzy of Platonick Visions , and the Lethargick Ignorance of Popish Dreams ; That our Laws are Trimmers , between the Excess of unbounded Power , and the Extravagance of Liberty not enough restrained ; That true Virtue has ever been thought a Trimmer , and to have its dwelling in the middle between the two Extreams ; That even God Almighty himself is divided between his two great Attributes , his Mercy and his Justice . In such Company , our Trimmer is not asham'd of his Name , and willingly leaves to the bold Champions of either Extream , the Honour of contending with no less Adversaries , than Nature , Religion , Liberty , Prudence , Humanity and Common Sense . THE ANATOMY OF AN EQUIVALENT . I. THE World hath of late years never been without some extraordinary Word to furnish the Coffee-Houses and fill the Pamphlets . Sometimes it is a new one invented , and sometimes an old one revived . They are usually fitted to some present purpose , with intentions as differing as the various designs several parties may have , either to delude the People , or to expose their Adversaries : They are not of long continuance , but after they have passed a little while , and that they are grown nauseous by being so often repeated , they give place to something that is newer . Thus after Whig , Tory , and Trimmer have had their time , now they are dead and forgotten , being supplanted by the word Equivalent , which reigneth in their stead . The Birth of it is in short this : After many repeated Essayes to dispose Men to the Repeal of Oaths and Tests , made for the security of the Protestant Religion , the general aversion to comply in it was found to be so great , that it was thought adviseable to try another manner of attempting it , and to see whether by putting the same thing into another Mould , and softning an harsh Proposition by a plausible Term , they might not have better success . To this end , instead of an absolute quitting of these Laws , without any Condition ; which was the first Proposal ; now it is put into gentler Language , and runneth thus ; If you will take away the Oaths and Tests , you shall have as good a thing for them . This put into the fashionable Word , is now called an Equivalent . II. So much to the Word it self . I will now endeavour in short to examine and explain , in order to the having it fully understood , First , What is the nature of a true Equivalent ; and In the next place , What things are not to be admitted under that denomination . I shall treat these as general Propositions , and though I cannot undertake how far they may be convincing , I may safely do it that they are impartial ; of which there can be no greater evidence than that I make neither Inference nor Application , but leave that part entirely to the Reader , according as his own Thoughts shall direct and dispose him . III. I will first take notice , that this Word , by the application which hath been made of it in some modern instances lieth under some Disadvantage , not to say some Scandal . It is transmitted hither from France ; and if as in most other things that we take from them , we carry them beyond the Pattern , it should prove so in this , we should get into a more partial stile than the principles of English Justice will I hope ever allow us to be guilty of . The French King's Equivalents in Flanders are very extraordinary Bargains ; his manner of proposing and obtaining them is very differing from the usual methods of equal dealing . In a later instance , Denmark , by the encouragement as well as by the example of France , hath propos'd things to the Duke of Holstein , which are called Equivalents , but that they are so , the World is not yet sufficiently convinc'd , and probably the Parties concern'd do not think them to be so , and consequently do not appear to be at all disposed to accept them . Princes enjoyn and prescribe such things when they have Strength and Power to supply the want of Arguments ; and according to practice in these Cases , the weaker are never thought to have an ill Bargain , if they have any thing left them . So that the first Qualification of an Equivalent , must be , that the Appraisers be indifferent , else it is only a Sound , there can be nothing real in it : For , where the same party that proposeth a Bargain , claimeth a Right to set the Value ; or which is worse , hath power too to make it good , the other may be forced to submit to the Conditions , but he can by no means ever be perswaded to treat upon them . IV. The next thing to be consider'd is that to make an Equivalent in reality an equal thing in the Proposer , it must be a better thing than that which is required by him ; just as good is subject to the hazard of not being quite so good : It is not easie to have such an even hand as to make the Value exactly equal ; besides , according to the Maxim in Law , Melior conditio possidentis ▪ the Offer is not fair , except the thing offered is better in value than the thing demanded . There must be allowance for removing what is fixed , and there must be something that may be a justification for changing . The value of things very often dependeth more upon other circumstances , than upon what is meerly intrinsick to them ; therefore the calculation must be made upon that foot , perhaps in most cases ; and particularly the want which one of the parties may have of the thing he requireth , maketh it more valuable to him than it is in it self . If the party proposing doth not want the thing he would have in Exchange , his requiring it is Impertinent : If he doth , his want of it must go into the appraisement , and by consequence every Proposer of an Equivalent must offer a better thing , or else he must not take it unkindly to be refused , except the other party hath an equal want of the same thing , which is very improbable , since naturally he that vanteth most will speak first . V. Another thing necessary to the making a fair Bargain is , that let the parties who treat , be they never so unequal in themselves , yet as to the particular thing proposed , there must be an exact equality , as far as it relateth to the full Liber●y of taking or refusing , concurring or objecting , without any consequence of Revenge , or so much as Dissatisfaction ; for it is impossible to treat where it is an Affront to dliffer ; in that case there is no mean between the two extreams , either an open Quarrel or an intire Submission ; the way of Bargaining must be equal ▪ else the Bargain it self cannot be so : For example , the Proposer is not only to use equal terms as to the matter , but fair ones in the manner too . There must be no intimations of Anger in case of refusal , much less any open Threatning . Such a Stile is so ill suited to the usual way of Treating , that it looketh more like a Breach of the Peace , than the making a Bargain . It would be yet more improper and less agreeing with the nature of an Equivalent , if whilst two Men are chaffering about the Price , one of them should actually take the thing in question at his own rate , and afterwards desire to have his possession confirmed by a formal Agreement ; such a proceeding would not only destroy that particular contract , but make it impossible to have any other , with the party that could be guilty of such a practice . VI. Violence preceding destroyeth all Contract , and even thô the party that offereth it should have a right to the thing he so taketh , yet it is to be obtained by legal means , else it may be forfeited by his irregularity in the pursuit of it : The Law is such an Enemy to Violence , and so little to be reconciled to it , that in the Case of a Rape , the Punishment is not taken off though the party injured afterwards consenteth . The Justice of the Law hath its eye upon the first act , and the Maxim of Volenti non fit injurial , doth not in this case help the Offender , it being a plea subsequent to the Crime , which maketh it to be rejected as a thing wrong dated and out of time . In taking away Goods or Money it is the same thing . The party robbed , by giving them afterwards to the taker , does not exempt him from the Punishment of the Violence : Quite contrary , the Man from whom they were taken is punishable , if he doth not prosecute . If the case should be , that a Man thus taking away a thing without price , claimeth a right to take it , then whether it is well or ill founded is not the Question ; but sure , the party from whom it is so taken , whilst he is treating to Sell or Exchange it , can never make a Bargain with so orbitrary a Chapman , there being no room left after that to talk of the Value . VII . To make an equal Bargain there must be a liberty of differing , not only in every thing that is really essential , but in every thing that is thought so by either party , and most especially by him who is in possession of the thing demanded : His Opinion must be a Rule to him , and even his Mistake in the Value , though it may not convince the Man he hath to deal with , yet he will be justified for not accepting what is offered , till that Mistake is fairly rectified and over-ruled . When a Security is desired to be changed , that side which desireth it must not pretend to impose upon the other , so as to dictate to them , and tell them without debate , that they are safe in what is proposed , since of that the Counsel on the other side must certainly be the most competent Judges . The hand it cometh from is a great Circumstance , either to invite or discourage in all matters of Contract : the Qualifications of the Party offering must sute with the Proposition it self , else let it be never so fair , there is ground for Suspicion . VIII . When Men are of a temper , that they think they have wrong done them , if they have not always the better side of a Bargain : If they happen to be such as by experience have been found to have an ill Memory for their Word . If the Character they bear , doth not recommend their Justice , where-ever their Interest is concern'd . In these cases , thinking Men will avoid dealing , not only to prevent surprize , but to cut off the occasions of difficulty or dispute . It is yet more discouraging , when there are , either a precedent Practice , or standing Maxims of gross Partiality , in assuming a privilege of exemption from the usual methods of equal dealing . To illustrate this by an Instance ▪ Suppose that in any case , the Church of Rome should have an Interest to promote a Bargain ; let her way of dealing be a little examin'd , which will direct those with whom she treateth , how far they are to rely upon what she proposeth to them . We may begin with the Quality in the World , the least consisting with equal dealing , viz. An incurable Partiality to herself ; which , that it may arrive to its full perfection , is crowned with Infallibility . At the first setting out , she maketh her self uncapable of dealing upon terms of Equality , by the Power she claimeth of binding and loosing , which hath been so often applyed to Treaties , as well as to Sins . If the definition of Justice is to deal equally , she cannot be guilty of it without betraying her Prerogative , and according to her Principles , she giveth up the Superiority derived to her by Apostolical Succession , if she degradeth her self so as to be judged by the Rules of common Right , especially of the Bargain should be with Hereticks , who in her Opinion have forfeited the claim they might otherwise have had to it . IX . Besides , her Taste hath been so spoiled by unreasonable Bargains , that she can never bring down her Palate to any thing that is fair or equal . She hath not only judg'd it an Equivalent , but a great Bargain for the other side , to give them Absolutions and Indulgence for the real Payment of great Sums , for which she hath drawn Bills to have them repayed with Interest in Purgatory . This Spiritual Bank hath carried on such a Trade upon these advantageous Terms , that it can never submit to the small Profits an ordinary Bargain would produce . The several Popes have in exchange for the Peter-Pence , and all their other Rents and Fines out of England , sent sanctified Roses , Reliques , and other such Wonder-working Trifles . And by virtue of their Character of Holy Fathers , have used Princes like Children , by sending them such Rattles to play with , which they made them buy at extravagant Rates ; besides which , they were to be thankful too , in to the bargain . A Chip of the Cross , a piece of St. Laurence's Grid-iron , a Hair of St. Peter , have been thought Equivalents , for much more substantial things . The Popes being Masters of the Jewel-House , have set the Rates upon them , and they have passed ; though the whole Shop would not take up the value of a Bodkin in Lombardstreet upon the credit of them . They are unconscionable Purchasers , for they get all the Money from the living by praying for them when they are dead . And it is observable , that the Northern part of Christendom , which best understandeth Trade , were the first that refused to make any more Bargains with them ; so that it looketh as if the chief quarrel to the Hereticks was not as they were ill Christians , but as they were unkind Merchants , in so discourteously rejecting the Commodities of the growth of Rome . To conclude this Head , There is no bartering with Infallibility , it being so much above Equality , that it cannot bear the Indignity of a true Equivalent . X. In all Bargains there is a necessity of looking back , and reflecting how far a present proposal is reconcilable with former practice ; For Example , if at any time a thing is offered , quite differing from the Arguments used by the Proposer , and inconsistent with the Maxims held out by him at other times . Or in a Publick case , if the same men who promote and press a thing with the utmost violence , do in a little time after with as much violence press the contrary , and profess a detestation of the very thing , for which they had before imployed all their Interest and Authority . Or if in the case of a Law already made , there should be a privilege claimed to exempt those from the obligation of observing it , who yet should afterwards desire and press to have a new Law made in exchange for the old one , by which they would not be bound ; and that they should propose a security by a thing of the very same nature as that which they did not allow to be any before . These Incoherences must naturally have the effect of raising suspicion , or rather they are a certain proof , that in such circumstances it is irrational for men to expect an effectual Equivalent . XI . If whatsoever is more than ordinary is suspicious , every thing that is unnatural is more so : It is only unnecessary but unnatural too to perswade with violence what it is folly to refuse ; to push men with eagerness into a good bargain for themselves , is a stile very much unsuitable to the nature of the thing . But it goeth further and is yet more absurd , to grow angry with men for not receiving proposal that is for their advantage ; Men ought to be content with the Generosity of offering good bargains , and should give their compassion to those who do not understand them : but by carrying their good nature so far as to be Cholerick in such a case , they would follow the example of the Church of Rome , where the definition of Charity is very extraordinary . In her Language , the Writ de Haeretico Comburendo is a Love letter , and burning men for differing with them in Opinion , howsoever miscalled Cruelty , is as they understand it , the perfection of flaming Charity . When Anger in these cases lasteth long , it is most probable that it is for our own sakes ; Good nature for others is one of those Diseases that is cured by time , and especially where it is offered and rejected ; but for our selves it never faileth , and cannot be exstinguished but with our life . It is fair if men can believe that their friends love them next to themselves , to love them better is too much ; the Expression is so unnatural that it is cloying , and men must have no sense , who in this case have no suspicion . XII ▪ Another Circumstance necessary to a fair bargain is , That there must be openness and freedom allowed , as the effect of that Equality which is the foundation of Contracting . There must be full liberty of objecting , and making doubts and scr●ples : If they are such as can be answered , the party convinced is so much the more confirmed and incouraged to deal , instead of being hindred by them ; but if instead of an answer to satisfy , there is nothing but anger for a reply , it is impossible not to conclude that there is never a good one to give ; so that the objection remaining without being fully confuted , there is an absolute bar put to any further Treaty . There can be no dealing where one side assumeth a privilege to impose , so as to make an offer and not bear the examination of it , this is giving judgment not making a bargain . Where it is called unmannerly to object , or criminal to refuse , the surest way is for men to stay where they are , rather than treat upon such disadvantage . If it should happen to be in any Country where the governing power should allow men Liberty of Conscience in the choice of their Religion , it would be strange to deny them liberty of speech in making a bargain . Such a contradiction would be so discouraging , that they must be unreasonably sanguine , who in that case can entertain the hopes of a fair Equivalent . XIII . And equal Bargain must not be a Mystery nor a Secret. The purchaser or proposer is to tell directly and plainly , what it is he intendeth to give in Exchange for that which he requireth . It must be viewed and considered by the other party , that he may judge of the value ; for without knowing what it is , he cannot determine whether he shall take or leave it . An assertion in general , that it shall be as good or a better things , is not in this a sufficient excuse for the mistake of dealing upon such uncertain terms . In all things that are dark and not enough explained , suspicion naturally followeth : A secret generally implieth a defect or a deceit ; and if a false light is an objection , no light at all is yet a greater . To pretend to give a better thing , and to refuse to shew it , is very near saying it is not so good a one ; at least so it will be taken in common construction . A Mystery is yet a more discouraging thing to a Protestant ; especially if the Proposition should come from a Papist ; it being one of his great Objections to that Church , that there are so many of them Invisible and Impossible , which are so violently thrust upon their understandings , that they are overlaid with them . They think that rational creatures are to be convinced only by reason , and that reason must be visible and freely exposed ; else they will think themselves used with contempt instead of equality , and will never allow such a suspected secrecy to be a fit preface to a real Equivalent . XIV . In matters of Contract not only the present value , but the contingences and consequences , as far as they can be fairly supposed , are to be considered . For Example , if there should be possibility , that one of the Parties may be ruined by accepting , and the other only disappointed by his refusing ; the consequences are so extreamly unequal , that it is not imaginable , a man should take that for an Equivalent , which hath such a fatal possibility at the heels of it . If it should happen in a publick case , that such a proposal should come from the minor part of an Assembly or Nation , to the greater ; It is very just , that the hazard of such a possibility should more or less likely fall upon the lesser part , rather than upon the greater ; for whose sake and advantage things are and must be calculated in all publick Constitutions . Suppose in any mixed Government , the chief Magistrate should propose upon a condition , in the Senate , Diet , or other Supreme Assembly , either to Enact or Abrogate one or more Laws , by which a possibility might be let in of destroying their Religion and Property , which in other language signifieth no less than Soul and Body ; where could be the Equivalent in the case , not only for the real loss , but even for the fear of losing them ? Men can fall no lower than to lose all , and if losing all destroyeth them , the venturing all must fright them . In an instance when Men are secure ; that how far soever they may be over-run by Violence , yet they can never be undone by Law , except they give their assistance to make it possible , though it should neither be likely nor intended , still the consequence which may happen is too big for any present thing to make amends for it . Whilst the world Possible remaineth , it must forbid the bargain . Where-ever it falleth out therefore , that in an Example of a public nature , the Chan●ing , Enacting , or Repealing a Law , may naturally tend to the misplacing the Legislative power in the hands of those who have a separate interest from the body of a People , there can be no treating , till it is demonstrably made out , that such a consequence shall be absolutely impossible ; for if that shall be denied by those who make the proposal , if it is because they cannot do it , the motion at first was very unfair . If they can and will not , it would be yet less reasonable to expect that such partial dealers would ever give an Equivalent fit to be accepted . XV. It is necessary in all dealing to be assured in the first place , that the party proposing is in a condition to make good his Offer ; that he is neither under any former Obligations or pretended Claims , which may render him uncapable of performing it ; else he is so far in the condition of a Minor , that whatever he disposeth by sale or exchange may be afterwards resumed , and the Contract becometh void , being originall● defective , for want of a sufficient legal power in him that made it . In the case of a strict Settlement , where the party is only Tenant for life , there is no possibility of treating which one under such fetters ; no purchase or exchange of Lands or any thing else can be good , where there is such an incapacity of making out a Title ; the interest vested in him being so limited , that he can do little more than pronounce the words of a Contract , he can by no means perform the effect of it . In more publick instances , the impossibility is yet more express ; as suppose in any Kingdom , where the people have so much liberty left them , as that they may make Contracts with the Crown , there should be some peculiar rights claimed to be so fixed to the Royal Function , that no King for the time being could have power to part with them , being so fundamentally tied to the Office , that they can never be separated . Such Rights can upon no occasion he received in exchange for any thing the Crown may desire from the People : That can never be taken in payment , which cannot lawfully be given , so that if they should part with that which is required upon those terms , it must be a gift , it cannot be a bargain . There is not in the whole Dictionary a more untractable word than Inherent , and less to be reconciled to the word Equivalent . The party that will Contract in spight of such a Claim , is content to take what is impossible to grant , and if he complaineth of his Disappointment , he neither can have Remedy , nor deserveth it . If a Right so claimed hapneth to be of so comprehensive a nature , as that by a clear inference it may extend to every thing else , as well as to the particular matter in question , as often as the Supream Magistrate shall be so disposed , there can in that case be no treating with Prerogative that swalloweth all the Right the People can pretend to ; and if they have no right to any thing of which they are possessed , it is a Jest and not a Bargain , to observe any Formality in parting with it . A Claim may be so stated , that by the power and advantage of interpreting , it shall have such a murthering eye , that if it looketh upon a Law , like a Basilisk , it shall strike it dead : Where is the possibility of Treating , where such a Right is assumed ▪ Nay , let it be supposed that such a Claim is not well founded in Law , and that upon a free disquisition it could not be made out ; yet even in this case , none that are well advised will conclude a Bargain , till it is fully stated and cleared , or indeed , so much as engage in a treaty , till by way of preliminary all possibility shall be remov'd of any trouble or dispute . XVI . There is a collateral circumstance in making a Contract , which yet deserveth to be considered , as much as any thing that belongeth to it ; and that is the character and figure of the parties contracting ; if they treat onely by themselves , and if by others , the Qualifications of the Instruments they employ . The Proposer especially , must not be so low as to want credit . nor so raised as to carry him above the reach of ordinary dealing . In the first , There is scandal , in the other danger . There is no Rule without some Exception , but generally speaking the means should be suited to the end , and since all Men who treat , pretend an equal bargain , it is desirable that there may be equality in the persons as well as in the thing . The manner of doing things hath such an influence upon the matter , that Men may guess at the end by the instruments that are used to obtain it , who are a very good direction how far to rely upon or suspect the sincerity of that which is proposed . An Absurdity in the way of carrying on a Treaty , in any one Circumstance , if it is very gross , is enough to perswade a thinking Man to break off , and take warning from such an ill appearance . Some things are so glaring that it is impossible not to see , and consequently not to suspect them ; as suppose in a private case , there should be a Treaty of Marriage between two Honourable Families , and the proposing side should think fit to send a Woman that had been Carted , to perswade the young Lady to an approbation and consent ; the unfitness of the Messenger must naturally dispose the other party to distrust the Message , and to resist the temptation of the best Match that could be offered , when conveyed by that hand , and ushered in by such a discouraging preliminary . In a publick instance the suspicion arising from unfit Mediators , still groweth more reasonable in proportion , as the consequence is much greater of being deceived . If a Jew should be employed to sollicite all sorts , of Christians to unite and agree ; the contrariety of his profession , would not allow Men to stay till they heard his Arguments , they would conclude from his Religion , that either the Man himself was mad , or that he thought those to be so , whom he had the Impudence to endeavour to perswade . Or suppose an Adamite should be very sollicitous and active , in all places , and with all sorts of Persons , to settle the Church of England in particular , and a fair Liberty of Conscience for all Dissenters ; though nothing in the World has more to be said for it than Naked Truth , yet if such a Man should run up and down without Cloaths , let his Arguments be never so good , or his Commission never so Authentick , his Figure would be such a contradiction to his business , that how serious soever that might be in it self , his interposition would make a Jest of it . Though it should not go so far as this , yet if Men have contrarieties in their way of living not to be reconciled ; as if they should pretend infinite zeal for liberty , and at that time be in great favour and imployed by those who will not endure it . If they are affectedly singular , and conform to the generality of the World in no one thing , but in playing the knave . If demonstration is a familiar word with them , most especially where the thing is ●mpossible . If they quote Authority to supply their want of sense , and justifie the value of their Arguments , not by reason , but by their being paid for them , ( in which , by the way , those who pay them have probably a very melancholy Equivalent . ) If they brandish a Prince's Word like a Sword in a Crowd , to make way for their own impertinence ; and in dispute , as Criminals formerly fled to the Statue of the Prince for Sanctuary ; if they should now , when baffled , creep under the protection of a Kings Name , where out of respect they are no farther to be pursued . In these cases ; Though the propositions should be really good , they will be corrupted by passing through such Conduits ▪ and it would be a sufficient Mistake to enter into a Treaty ; but it would be little less than Madness from such hands to expect an Equivalent . XVII . Having touched upon these particulars as necessary in order to the stating the nature of an equal Bargain , and the Circumstances belonging to it , let it now be examined in two or three instances ▪ what things are not to be admitted by way of Contract , to pass under the Name of an Equivalent . First , Though it will be allowed , that in the general corruption of mankind , which will not admit Justice alone to be a sufficient tie to make good a Contract , that a Punishment added for the breach of it , is a fitting or rather a necessary Circumstance ; yet it does not follow , that in all cases , a great Penalty upon the party offending is an absolute and an entire Security . It must be considered in every particular case , how far the Circumstances may rationally lead a Man to rely more or less upon it . In a private instance , the Penalty inflicted upon the breach of Contract must be first , such a one as the party injured can enforce , and Secondly , such a one as he will enforce , when it is in his power . If the Offending party is in a capacity of hindring the other from bringing the Vengeance of the Law upon him . If he hath strength or privilege sufficient to over rule the Letter of the Contract ; in that case , a Penalty is but a Word , there is no consequence belonging to it . Secondly , The forfeiture or punishment must be such as the Man aggrieved will take ; for Example , if upon a Bargain , one of the Parties shall stipulate to subject himself , in case of his failure to have his Ears cut , or his Nose slit by the other , with security given , that he shall not be prosecuted for executing this part of the Agreement ; the Penalty is no doubt heavy enough to discourage a Man from breaking his Contract ; but on the other side it is of such a kind , that the other how much soever he may be provoked , will not in cold Blood care to inflict it . Such an extravagant Clause would seem to be made only for shew and found , and no Man would think himself safer by a thing which one way or other is sure to prove ineffectual . In a publick Case , Suppose in a Government so constituted that a Law may be made in the nature of a Bargain , it is in it self no more than a dead letter , the life is given to it by the execution of what it containeth ; so that let it in it self be never so perfect , it dependeth upon those who are intrusted with seeing it observed . If it is in any Country , where the chief Magistrate chuseth the Judges , and the Judges interpret the Laws ; a Penalty in any one particular Law can have no effect but what is precarious . It may have a loud voice to threaten , but it has not an hand to give a blow ; for as long as the Governing Power is in possession of this Prerogative , let who will chuse the Meat , if they chuse the Cooks , it is they that will give the tast to it . So that it is clear that the rigour of a Penalty will not in all cases fix a Bargain , neither is it Universally a true Position , that the increase of punishment for the breach of a new Law , is an Equivalent for the consent to part with an old one . XVIII . In most Bargains there is a reference to the time to come , which is therefore to be considered as well as that which cometh within the compass of the present valuation . Where the party Contracting , hath not a full power to dispose what belongeth to him or them in Reversion , who shall succeed after him in his Right ; he cannot make any part of what is so limited , to be the condition of the Contract . Further , he cannot enjoyn the Heir or Successor to forbear the exercise of any Right that is inherent to him , as he is a Man ; neither can he restrain him without his own consent , from doing any act which in it self is lawful , and liable to no objection . For Example , A Father cannot stipulate with any other Man , that in Consideration of such a thing done , or to be done , his Son shall never Marry ; because Marriage is an Institution Established by the Laws of God , and Man , and therefore no body can be so restrained by any power from doing such an act , when he thinketh fit , being warranted by an Authority that is not to be controuled . XIX . Now as there are Rights inherent in Mens persons in their single capacities , there are Rights as much fixed to the Body Politick , which is a Creature that never dieth . For instance , There can be no Government without a Supreme Power , that Power is not always in the same hands , it is in different shapes and dresses , but still where-ever it is lodged , it must be unlimited : It hath a jurisdiction over every thing else , but it cannot have it above it self . Supreme Power can no more be limited than Infinity can be measured ; because it ceaseth to be the thing ; it s very being is dissolved , when any bounds can be put to it . Where this Supreme Power is mixed , or divided , the shape only differeth , the Argument is still the same . The present State of Venice cannot restrain those who succeed them in the same power , from having an entire and unlimited Sovereignty ; they may indeed make present Laws which shall retrench their present Power , if they are so disposed , and those Laws if not repealed by the same authority that enacted them , are to be observed by the succeeding Senate till they think sit to Abrogate them , and no longer ; for if the Supreme Power shall still reside in the Senate , perhaps composed of other Men , or of other minds ( which will be sufficient ) the necessary consequence is , that one Senate must have as mach right to alter such a Law , as another could have to make it . XX. Suppose the Supreme Power in any State should make a Law , to enjoyn all subsequent Law-makers to take an Oath never to alter it , it would produce these following Absurdities . First , All Supreme Power being instituted to promote the safety and benefit , and to prevent the prejudice and danger which may fall upon those who live under the protection of it ; the consequence of such an Oath would be , that all Men who are so trusted , shall take God to witness , that such a Law once made , being judged at the time to be advantageous for the publick , though afterwards by the vicissitude of times , or the variety of accidents or interests , it should plainly appear to them to be destructive , they will suffer it to have its course , and will never repeal it . Secondly , If there could in any Nation be found a set of Men , who having a part in the Supreme legislative Power , should as much as in them lieth , betray their Country by such a criminal engagement , so directly opposite to the nature of their Power , and to the Trust reposed in them . If these Men have their power only for life , when they are dead such an Oath can operate no farther ; and tho that would be too long a Lease for the life of such a Monster as an Oath so composed , yet it must then certainly give up the Ghost . It could bind none but the first makers of it , another generation would never be tied up by it . Thirdly , In those Countries where the Supreme Assemblies are not constant standing Courts , but called together upon occasions , and Composed of such as the People chuse for that time only , with a Trust and Character that remaineth no longer with them than till that Assembly is regularly dissolved , such an Oath taken by the Members of a Senate , Diet , or other Assembly to chosen , can have very little effect , because at the next meeting there may be quite another set of Men who will be under no Obligation of that kind . The eternity intended to that Law by those that made it , will be cut off by new Men who shall succeed them in their power , if they have a differing Taste , or another Interest . XXI . To put it yet farther , Suppose a Clause in such a Law , that it shall be criminal in the last degree for any Man chosen in a subsequent Assembly , to propose the repealing of it ; and since nothing can be Enacted which is not first proposed , by this means it seemeth as if a Law might be Created which should never die . But let this be Examined . First , such a clause would be so destructive to the being of such a Constitution , as that it would be as reasonable to say , that a King had right to give or sell his Kingdom to a foreign Prince , as that any number of Men who are entrusted with the Supreme Power , or any part of it , should have a right to impose such Shackles ▪ upon the Liberty of those who are to succeed them in the same Trust . The ground of that Trust is , that every Man who is chosen into such an Assembly , is to do all that in him lieth for the good of those who chose him : The English of such a Clause would be , that he is not to do his best for those that chose him , because though he should be convinc'd that it might be very fatal to continue that Law , and therefore very necessary to repeal it , yet he must not repeal it , because it is made a Crime , and attended with a Penalty . But secondly , to shew the emptiness as well as injustice of such a Clause , it is clear , that although such an Invasion of Right should be imposed , it will never be obeyed : There will only be Deformity , in the Monster , it will neither sting nor bite . Such Law-givers would only have the honour of attempting a contradiction which can never have any success ; for as such a Law in it self would be a Madness , so the Penalty would be a Jest ; which may be thus made out . XXII . A Law that carrieth in it self Reason enough to support it , is so far from wanting the protection of such a Clause , or from needing to take such an extraordinary receipt for long Life , that the admitting it must certainly be the likeliest and the shortest way to destroy it ; such a Clause in a Law must imply an opinion that the greatest part of mankind is against it , since it is impossible such an exorbitance should be done for its own sake ; the end of it must be to force Men by a Penalty , to that which they could not be perswaded to , whilst their Reason is left at liberty . This Position being granted , which I think can hardly be denied , put the case that a Law should be made with this imaginary Clause of Immortality , after which another Assembly is chosen , and if the majority of the Electors shall be against this Law , the greater part of the Elected must be so too , if the choice is fair and regular ; which must be presumed , since the supposition of the contrary is not to come within this Argument . When these Men shall meet , the Majority will be visible beforehand of those who are against such a Law , so that there will be no hazard to any single Man in proposing the Repeal of it , when he cannot be punished but by the Majority , and he hath such a kind of assurance as cometh near a Demonstration , that the greater Number will be of his mind , and consequently , that for their own sakes they will secure him from any danger . For these Reasons , where-ever in order to the making a Bargain , a Proposition is advanc'd to make a new Law , which is to ●ye up those who neither can nor will be bound by it , it may be a good Jest , but it will never be a good Equivalent . XXIII . In the last place , let it be examined how far a Promise ought to be taken far a Security in a Bargain . There is great Variety of Methods for the Security of those that deal , according to their Dispositions and Interests ; some are binding , others inducing circumstances , and are to be so distinguished . First , Ready Payment is without exception , so of that there can be no dispute ; in default of that , the good Opinion Men may have of one another is a great ingredient to supply the want of immediate Performances . Where the Trust is grounded upon Inclination only , the Generosity is not always return'd ; but where it springeth from a long Experience it is a better foundation , and yet that is not always secure . In ordinary dealing , one Promise may be an Equivalent to another , but it is not so for a thing actually granted or conveyed ; especially if the thing required in exchange for it , is of great value , either in it self or in its consequences . A bare Promise as a single Security in such a case is not an equal proposal ; if it is offered by way of addition , it generally giveth cause to doubt the Title is crazy , where so slender a thing is brought in to be a supplement . XXIV . The Earnest of making good a Promise , must be such a behaviour preceding ; as may encourage the party to whom it is made to depend upon it : Where instead of that , there hath been want of Kindness ; and which is worse an Invasion of Right , a Promise hath no perswading force ; and till the Objection to such a Proceeding is forgotten , ( which can only be the work of time ) and the Skin is a little grown over the tender part , the Wound must not be touch'd . There must be some Intermission at least to abate the smart of unkind usage , or else a Promise in the Eye of the party injur'd is so far from strengthening a Security , that it raiseth more doubts , and giveth more justifiable cause suspect it . A Word is not like a Bone , that being broken and well set again , is said to be sometimes stronger in that very part : It is far from being so in a Word given and not made good . Every single Act either weakeneth or improveth our Credit with other Men ; and as an habit of being just to our Word will confirm , so an habit of too freely dispensing with it must necessarily destroy it . A Promise hath its effect to perswade a Man to lay some weight upon it , where the Promiser hath not only the power , but may reasonably be supposed to have the will of performing it ; and further , that there be no visible interest of the party promising to excuse himself from it , or to evade it . All Obligations are comparative , and where they seem to be opposite , or between the greater and the lesser , which of them ought to have precedence in all respects every man is apt to be his own Judge . XXV . If it should fall out that the Promiser with full intent at the time to perform , might by the interposition of new Arguments , or differing Advice think himself oblig'd to turn the matter of Conscience on the other side , and should look upon it to be much a greater fault to keep his word than to break it ; such a Belief will untye the strictest Promise that can be made , and though the Party thus absolving himself should do it without the mixture or temptation of private interest , being moved to it meerly by his Conscience , as then informed ; yet how far soever that might diminish the Fault in him , it would in no degree lessen the inconveniences to the party who is disappointed , by the breach of an engagement upon which he relyed . XXVI . A Promise is to be understood in the plain and natural sense of the words , and to be sure not in his who made it , if it was given as part of a Bargain . That would be like giving a Man power to raise the value of his Money in the payment of his Debt , by which , tho he paid but half or less , be might pretend according to the letter to have made good the Contract . The power of interpreting a Promise intirely taketh away the virtue of it . A Merchant who should once assume that privilege , would save himself the trouble of making any more Bargains . It is still worse if this Jurisdiction over a Man's Promise , should be lodg'd in hands that have Power to support such an extraordinary Claim ; and if in other Cases , forbearing to deal upon those terms is advisable , in this it becometh absolutely necessary . XXVII . There must in all respects be a full liberty to claim a Promise , to make it reasonable to take it in any part of payment ; else it would be like agreeing for a Rent , and at the same time making if criminal to demand it . A superiority of Dignity or Power in the party promising maketh it a more tender thing for the other party to treat upon that security . The first maketh it a nice thing to claim , the latter maketh it a difficult thing to obtain . In some cases , a Promise is in the nature of a Covenant , and then between equal parties the breach of it will bear a Suit ; but where the greatness of the Promiser is very much raised above the level of equality , there is no Forfeiture to be taken . It is so far from the party grieved his being able to sue or recover Damages , that he will not be allowed to explain or expostulate , and instead of his being relieved against the breach of Promise , he will run the hazard of being punished for breach of Good Manners ▪ Such a Difficulty is putting all or part of the Payment in the Fire , where Men must burn their Fingers before they can come at it . That cannot properly be called good payment , which the party to whom it is due may not receive with ease and safety . It was a Kings Brother of England who refused to lend the Pope money , for this reason , That he would never take the Bond of one , upon whom he could not distrain . The Argument is still stronger against the Validity of a Promise , when the Contract is made between a Prince and a Subject . The very offering a Kings Word in Mortgage is rather a threatning in case of refusal , than an inducing Argument to accept it ; it is unfair at first , and by that giveth greater cause to be cautious , especially if a thing of that value and dignity as a Kings Word ought to be , should be put into the hands of State Brokers to strike up a Bargain with it . XXVIII . When God Almighty maketh Covenants with Mankind , His Promise is a sufficient Security , notwithstanding his Superiority and his Power ; because first , he can neither erre nor do injustice . It is the only Exception to his Omnipotence , that by the Perfection of his being he is incapacitated to do wrong . Secondly , at the instant of his Promise , by the extent of his Foresight , which cannot fail , there is no room left for the possibility of any thing to intervene , which might change his mind . Lastly , he is above the receiving either Benefit or Inconvenience , and therefore can have no Interest or Temptation to vary from his Word , when once he hath granted it . Now though Princes are God's Vicegerents , yet their Commission not being so large , as that these Qualifications are devolved to them , it is quite another case , and since the offering a Security implyeth it to be examined by the party to whom it is proposed , it must not be taken ill that Objections are made to it , even though the Prince himself should be the immediate Proposer . Let a familiar Case be put ; Suppose a ●rince , tempted by a Passion too strong ●or him to resist , should descend so as to ●romise Marriage to one of his Subjects , ●nd as Men are naturally in great haste ●pon such occasions , should press to take possession before the necessary Forms could ●e complyed with ; would the poor Ladies Scruples be called criminal for not taking 〈◊〉 Security of the Royal Word ? Or ●ould her Allegiance be tainted by her re●●●●ing the sacred Person of her Sovereign , because he was impatient of delay ? Courte●●● in this case might perswade her to accept it , if she was so disposed , but sure the 〈◊〉 exercise of Power can never claim it . XXIX . There is one Case where it is more particularly a Duty to use very great ●●●tion in accepting the security of a Pro●●● , and that is , when Men are authorized and trusted by others to act for them . This ●●tteth them under much greater restraints , than those who are at liberty to treat for themselves . It is lawful , though it is not ●rudent for any man to make an ill Bargain for himself , but it is neither the one nor ●he other , where the party contracting ●reateth on behalf of another , by whom he 〈◊〉 intrusted . Men who will unwarily ac●ept an ill security , if it is for themselves , forfeit their own discretion , and undergo the Penalty , but they are not responsible to any body else . They lie under the Mortification and the loss of committing the error , by which though they may expose their Judgment to some censure , yet their Morality suffers no reproach by it . But those who are deputed by others to treat for them , upon terms of best advantage , though the Confidence placed in them should prevent the putting any limits to their Power in their Commission , yet the Condition implied if not expressed , is that the Persons so Trusted shall neither make an ill Bargain , nor accept a slight Security . The Obligation is yet more binding when the Trust is of a Publick Nature . The aggravation of disappointing a Body of Men that rely upon them , carrieth the Faul● as high as it can go , and perhaps no Crim● of any kind can outdo such a deliberate breach of Trust , or would more justly mak● Men forfeit the protection of humane Society . XXX . I will add one thing more upon this , Head , which is , that it is not alway● a true Proposition , that 't is safe to rely upo● a Promise , if at the time of making it , i● is the Interest of the Promiser to make i● good . This , though many times it is a good Inducement , yet it hath these Excep●ions to it . First , if the Proposer hath at ●●●er times gone plainly against his visible ●nterest , the Argument will turn the other ●ay , and his former Mistakes are so many Warnings to others , not to come within the danger of any more : let the Inducements to those Mistakes be never so great and generous , that does not alter the Nature , they are Mistakes still . Interest is an uncertain thing , It goeth and cometh , and varieth according to times and circumstances ; as good build upon a Quicksand , as upon a presumption that Interest shall not alter . Where are the Men so distinguished from the rest of Mankind , that it is impossible for them to ●istake their Interest ? Who are they that ●●ve such an exemption from humane ●eailty , as that it can never happen to them not to see their Interest for want of Underderstanding , or not to leap over it by excess of Zeal . Above all , Princes are the most liable to Mistake ; not out of any defect in their Nature , which might put them under such an unfortunate distinction ; quite contrary , the blood they derive from wise and great Ancestors , does rather distinguish them on the better side ; besides that their great Character and Office of Governing giveth a noble Exercise to their Reason , which 〈◊〉 very hardly fail to raise and improve 〈◊〉 But there is one Circumstance annexed their Glorious Calling , which in this respect is sufficient to outweigh all those Advantages ; it is that Mankind , divided in most things else , agree in this , to conspire in their endeavors to deceive and mislea●● them ; which maketh it above the power of humane understanding , to be so exactly guarded as never to admit a surprise , and the highest applause that could ever yet be given to the greatest Men that ever wore a Crown , is that they were no oftner deceived . Thus I have ventur'd to lay down my thoughts of the Nature of a Bargain , and the due Circumstances belonging to an Equivalent , and will now conclude with thi● short word . Where Distrusting may be the cause of provoking Anger , and Trusting may be the cause of bringing Ruin the Choice is too easie to need the being Explained . A LETTER TO A DISSENTER , Upon occasion of His Majesties late Gracious Declaration of Indulgence . LONDON : Printed in the Year 1700. A LETTER TO A DISSENTER , Upon Occasion of His Majesties late Gracious Declaration of Indulgence . SIR , SINCE Addresses are in fashion , give me leave to make one to you . This is neither the Effect of Fear , Interest , or Resentment ; therefore on may be sure it is sincere : and for that reason it may expect : to be kindly received . Whether it will have power enough 〈◊〉 Convince , dependeth upon the Reason 〈◊〉 of which you are to judge ; and upon your Preparation of Mind , to be perswaded by Truth , whenever it appeareth to you . It ought not to be the less welcome , for coming from a friendly Hand , one whose kindness to you is not lessened by difference of Opinion , and who will not let h●● Thoughts for the Publick be so tied or confined to this or that Sub-division of Protestants , as to stifle the Charity , which , besides all other Arguments , 〈◊〉 at this time become necessary to serve us . I am neither surprized nor provoked● 〈◊〉 see that in the Condition you were 〈◊〉 into by the Laws , and the ill Circumstance● you lay under , by having the Exclus●●● and Rebellion laid to your Charge , you were desirous to make your selves less uneasy and obnoxious to Authority . Me● who are sore , run to the nearest Reme●● with too much hast to consider all the consequences : Grains of allowance are to 〈◊〉 given , where Nature giveth such strong Influences . When to Men under Sufferings it offereth Ease , the present Pain will ●●●rdly allow time to examine the Reme●●●s ; and the strongest Reason can hardly gain a fair Audience from our Mind , whilst so possessed , till the Smart : is a little ●●layed . I do not know whether the Warmth tha● naturally belongeth to new Friendships , may not make it a harder Task for me to perswade you . It is like telling Lovers , in the beginning of their Joys , th●● they will in a little time have an 〈◊〉 . Such an unwelcome Stile doth not ●●●ly find Credit : but I will suppose you 〈◊〉 not so far gone in your new Passion , but that you will Hear still ; and therefore I am under the less Discouragement , 〈◊〉 I offer to your Consideration two ●●●gs . The First is , The Cause you have 〈◊〉 suspect your new Friends . The Second , ●●e Duty incumbent upon you , in Christianity and Prudence , not to hazard the Publick Safety , neither by desire of Ease , ●or of Revenge . To the First : Consider that notwithstanding the smooth Language which is now put on to engage you , these new Friends did not make you their Choice , but their Refuge : They have ever made their first Courtships to the Church of England , and when they were rejected there they made their Application to you in the second place . The Instances of this might be given in all times . I do not repeat them , because whatsoever is unnecessary , must be tedious , the truth of this Assertion being so plain , as not to admit a Dispute . You cannot therefore reasonably flatter your selves , that there is any Inclination to you . They never pretended to allow you any Quarter , but to usher in Liberty for themselves under that shelter ▪ I refer you to Mr. Coleman's Letters , and to the Journals of Parliament , where you may be convinced , if you can be so mistaken , as to doubt ; nay , at this very hour , they can hardly forbear , in the height of their Courtship , to let fall hard Words of you . So little is Nature to be restrained ; it will start out sometimes , disdaining to submit to the Usurpation of Art and Interest . This Alliance , between Liberty and Infallibility , is bringing together the Two most contrary things that are in the World. The Church of Rome doth not only dislike the allowing Liberty , but by its Principles it cannot do it . Wine is not more expresly forbid to the Mahometans , than giving Hereticks Liberty to the Papists : They are no more able to make good their Vows to you , than Men married before , and their Wife alive , can confirm their Contract with another . The continuance of their kindness , would be a habit of Sin , of which they are to repent , and their Absolution is to be had upon no other terms , than their promise to destroy you . You are therefore to be hugged now , only that you may be the better squeezed it another time . There must be something extraordinary , when the Church of Rome setteth up Bills , and offereth Plaisters , for tender Consciences : By all that hath hitherto appeared , her skill in Chirurgery lieth chiefly in a quick Hand , to cut off Limbs ; but she is the worst at healing , of any that ever pretended to it . To come so quick from another Extream , is such an unnatural Motion , that you ought to be upon your Guard ; the other day you were Sons of Belial : Now , you are Angels of Light. This is a violent change , and it will be fit for you to pause upon it , before you believe it : If your Features are not altered , neither is their Opinion of you , what ever may be pretended . Do you believe less than you did , that there is Idolatry in the Church of Rome ? Sure you do not . See then , how they treat both in Words and Writing , those who entertain that Opinion . Conclude from hence , how inconsistent their Favour is with this single Article , except they give you a Dispensation for this too , and by a Non Obstante , secure you that they will not think the worse of you . Think a little how dangerous it is to build upon a Foundation of Paradoxes . Popery now is the only Friend to Liberty ; and the known Enemy to Persecution : The Men of Taunton and Tiverton , are above all other Eminent for Loyalty . The Quakers from being declared by the Papists not to be Christians , are now made Favourites , and taken into their particular Protection ; they are on a sudden grown the most accomplished Men of the Kingdom , in good Breeding , and give Thanks with the best Grace , in double refined Language . So that I should not wonder , though a Man of that Perswasion , inspite of his Hat , should be Master of the Ceremonies . Not to say harsher words , these are such very new things , that it is impossible not to suspend our Belief , till by a little more Experience we may be inform'd whether they are Realities or Apparitions : We have been under shameful mistakes if these Opinions are true ; but for the present , we are apt to be incredulous ; except we could be convinced , that the Priests words in this case too , are able to make such a sudden and effectual change ; and that their Power is not limited to the Sacrament , but that it extendeth to alter the nature of all other things , as often as they are so desposed . Let me now speak of the Instruments of your Friendship , and then leave you to judge , whether they do not afford matter of Suspition . No sharpness is to be mingled where Healing only is intended ; so nothing will be said to expose particular men , how strong soever the Temptation may be , or how clear the Proofs to make it out . A word or two in general , for you better caution , shall suffice : Suppose then , for Argument's sake , that the Mediators of this new Alliance , should be such as have been formerly imployed in Treaties of the same kind , and there detected to have Acted by Order , and to have been Impower'd to give Encouragements and Rewards . Would not this be an Argument to suspect them ? If they should plainly be under Engagements to one side , their Arguments to the other ought to be received accordingly ; their fair Pretences are to be looked upon as part of their Commission , which may not improbably give them a Dispensation in the case of Truth , when it may bring a prejudice upon the Service of those by whom they are imployed . If there should be men who having formerly had Means and Authority to perswade by Secular Arguments , have in pursuance of that Power , sprinkled Money amongst the Dissenting Ministers ; and if those very men should now have the same Authority , practice the same Methods , and Disburse , where they cannot otherwise perswade : It seemeth to me to be rather an Evidence than a Presumption of the Deceit . If there should be Ministers amongst you , who by having ●allen under Temptations of this kind , are in some sort engaged to continue their Frailty , by the awe they are in lest it should be exposed : The Perswasions of these unfortunate Men must sure have the less force , and their Arguments , though never so specious , are to be suspected , when they come from Men who have mortgaged themselves to severe Creditors , that expect a rigorous Observation of the Contract , let it be never so unwarrantable . If these , or any others , should at this time Preach up Anger and Vengeance against the Church of England ; may it not without Injustice be suspected , that a thing so plainly out of Season , sprinketh rather from Corruption than Mistake ; and that those who act this Cholerick part , do not believe themselves , but only pursue higher Directions , and endeavour to make good that part of their Contract which obligeth them , upon a Forfeiture , to make use of their inflaming Eloquence ? They might apprehend their Wages would be retrenched if they should be Moderate : And therefore whilst Violence is their Interest , those who have not the same Arguments , have no reason to follow such a partial Example . If there should be Men , who by the load of their Crimes against the Government , have been bowed down to comply with it against their Conscience ; who by incurring the want of a Pardon , have drawn upon themselves a necessity of an entire Resignation : Such men are to be lamented , but not to be believed . Nay , they themselves when they have discharged their Unwelcom Task , will be inwardly glad that their forced Endeavours do not succeed , and are pleased when men resist their Insinuations ; which are far from being Voluntary or Sincere , but are squeezed out of them by the weight of their being so Obnoxious . If in the heighth of this great dearness by comparing things , it should happen , that at this instant , there is much surer Friendship with those who are so far from allowing Liberty , that they allow no Living to a Protestant under them . Let the Scene lie in what part of the World it will , the Argument will come home , and sure it will afford sufficient ground to suspect . Apparent Contradictions must strike us ; neither Nature nor Reason can digest them : Self-Flattery , and the desire to Deceive our selves , to gratifie present Appetite , with all their Power , which is Great , cannot get the better of such broad Conviction , as some things carry along with them . Will you call these vain and empty Suspitions ? have you been at all times so void of Fears and Jealousies as to justifie your being so unreasonably Valiant in having none upon this occasion ? Such an extraordinary Courage at this unseasonable time , to say no more , is too dangerous a Virtue to be commended . If then for these and a thousand other Reasons , there is cause to suspect , sure your new Friends are not to dictate to you , or advise you ; for instance , The Addresses that fly abroad every Week , and Murther us with another to the same ; the first Draughts are made by those who are not very proper to be Secretaries to the Protestant Religion : and it is your part only to Write them our fairer again . Strange ! that you who have been formerly so much against Set Forms , should now be content the Priests should Indite for you . The nature of Thanks is an unavoidable consequence of being pleased or obliged ; they grow in the Heart , and from thence shew themselves either in Looks , Speech , Writing , or Action : No man was ever Thankful because he was bid to be so , but because he had , or thought he had some Reason for it . If then there is cause in this Case to pay such extravagant Acknowledgments , they will flow naturally , without taking such pains to procure them ; and it is unkindly done to Tire all the Post-Horses with carrying Circular Letters to solicite that which would be done without any trouble or constraint : If it is really in it self such a Favour , what needeth so much pressing men to be thankful , and with such eager circumstances , that where Perswasions cannot delude ▪ Threatnings are employed to fright them into a Compliance . Thanks must be volantary , not only unconstrained , but unsolicited , else they are either Trifles or Snares , that either signifie nothing , or a great deal more than is intended by those that give them . If an Inference should be made , That whosoever thanketh the King for his Declaration , is by that ingaged to Justifie it in point of Law ; it is a greater Stride than , I presume , all those care to make who are perswaded to Address : If it shall be supposed , that all the Thankers will be Repealers of the TEST , whenever a Parliament shall meet . Such an Expectation is better prevented before , then disappointed afterwards ; and the surest way to avoid the lying under such a Scandal , is not to do any thing that may give a colour to the Mistake : These bespoken Thanks are little less improper than Love Letters that were solicited by the Lady to whom they are to be directed : so , that besides the little ground there is to give them , the manner of getting them doth extreamly lessen their Value . It might be wished that you would have suppressed your impatience , and have been content for the sake of Religion , to enjoy it within your selves without the Liberty of a publick Exercise , till a Parliament had allowed it ; but since that could not be , and that the Artifices of some amongst you have made use of the Well-meant Zeal of the generality to draw them into this Mistake ; I am so far from blaming you with that sharpness which perhaps , the Matter in strictness would bear , that I am ready to err on the side of the more gentle construction . There is a great difference between enjoying quietly the Advantages of an Act irregularly done by others , and the going about to support it against the Laws in being : the Law is so Sacred , that no Trespass against it is to be defended ; yet Frailties may in some measure be excused , when they cannot be justified . The Desire of enjoying a Liberty from which Men have been so long restrained , may be a Temptation that their Reason is not at all times able to resist . It in such a case , some Objections are leapt over , indifferent Men will be more inclined to lament the Occasion , than to fall too hard upon the Fault , whilst it is covered with the Apology of a good Intention ; but where to rescue your selves from the Severity of one Law , you give a Blow to all the Laws , by which your Religion and Liberty are to be protected ; and instead of silently receiving the Benefit of this Indulgence , you set up for Advocates to support it , you become voluntary Aggressors , and look like Counsel retained by the Prerogative against your old Friend Magna Charta , who hath done nothing to deserve her falling thus under your Displeasure . If the Case then should be , that the Price expected from you for this Liberty , is giving up your Right in the Laws , sure you will think twice , before you go any further in such a losing Bargain . After giving Thanks for the Breach of one Law , you lose the Right of Complaining of the Breach of all the rest ; you will not very well know how to defend your selves when you are pressed ; and having given up the Question when it was for your Advantage , you cannot re-call it when it shall be to your Prejudice . If you will set up at one time a Power to help you , which at another time , by parity of Reason , shall be made use of to destroy you , you will neither be pitied , nor relieved against a Mischief you draw upon your selves , by being so unreasonably thankful . It is like calling in Auxiliaries to help , who are strong enough to subdue you : In such a case your Complaints will come too late to be heard , and your Sufferings will raise Mirth instead of Compassion . If you think , for your Excuse , to expound your Thanks , so as to restrain them to this particular Case , others , for their Ends , will extend them further : And in these differing Interpretations , that which is back'd by Authority will be the most likely to prevail ; especially when by the Advantage you have given them , they have in truth the better of the Argument , and that the Inferences from your own Concessions are very strong , and express against you . This is so far from being a groundless Supposition , that there was a late Instance of it , the last Session of Parliament , in the House of Lords , where the first Thanks , though things of course , were interpreted to be the Approbation of the Kings whole Speech , and a Restraint from the further Examination of any part of it , though never so much disliked ; and it was with difficulty obtained , not to be excluded from the liberty of objecting to this mighty Prerogative of Dispensing , meerly by this innocent and usual piece of good Manners , by which no such thing could possibly be intended . This sheweth , that some Bounds are to be put to your good Breeding , and that the Constitution of England is too valuable a thing to be ventured upon a Complement . Now that you have for some time enjoyed the Benefit of the End , it is time for you to look into the Danger of the Means : The same Reason that made you desirous to get Liberty , must make your sollicitous to preserve it ; so that the next Thought will naturally be not to engage your self beyond Retreat , and to agree so far with the Principles of all Religion , as not to rely upon a Death-Bed Repentance . There are certain Periods of Time , which being once past , make all Cautions ineffectual , and all Remedies desperate . Our Understandings are apt to be hurried on by the first Heats , which , if not restrained in time , do not give us leave to look back , till it is too late . Consider this in the Case of your Anger against the Church of England , and take warning by their Mistake in the same kind , when after the late King's Restauration , they preserved so long the bitter Taste of your rough Usage to them in other times , that it made them forget their Interest , and sacrifice it to their Revenge . Either you will blame this Proceeding in them , and for that reason not follow it , or if you allow it , you have no reason to be offended with them ; so that you must either dismiss your Anger , or lose your Excuse ; except you should argue more partially than will be supposed of Men of your Morality and Understanding . If you had now to do with those rigid Prelates , who made it a matter of Conscience to give you the least Indulgence , but kept you at an uncharitable Distance , and even to your most reasonable Scruples continued stiff and inexorable , the Argument might be fairer on your side : but since the common Danger hath so laid open that Mistake , that all the former Haughtiness towards you is for ever extinguished , and that it hath turned the Spirit of Persecution into a Spirit of Peace , Charity , and Condescension ; shall this happy Change only affect the Church of England ? And are you so in love with Separation , as not to be mov'd by this Example ? It ought to be followed , were there no other Reson than that it is Vertue ; but when besides that , it is become necessary to your Preservation , it is impossible to fail the having its Effect upon you . If it should be said , that the Church of England is never humble but when she is out of power , and therefore loseth the Right of being believed when she pretended to it : The Answer is , First , it would be an uncharitable Objection , and very much mis-timed ; an unseasonable Triumph , not only ungenerous , but unsafe : So that in these respects it cannot be urged , without Scandal , even though it could be said with Truth . Secondly , This is not so in Fact , and the Argument must fall , being built upon a false Foundation ; for whatever may be told you at this very Hour , and in the Heat and Glare of your present Sun-shine , the Church of England can in a Moment bring Clouds again ; and turn the Royal Thunder upon your Heads , blow you off the Stage with a Breath , if she would give but a Smile or a king Word ; the least Glimpse of her Compliance would throw you back into the State or Suffering , and draw upon you all the Arrears of Severity , which have accrued during the time of this Kindness to you , and yet the Church of England , with all her Faults , will not allow her self to be rescued by such unjustifiable means , but chuseth to bear the Weight of Power , rather than ●e under the Burthen of being criminal . It cannot be said , that she is unprovoked ; Books and Letters come out every Day , to call for Answers , yet she will not be stirred . From the supposed Authors , and the Stile , one would swear they were Undertakers , and had made a Contract to fall out with the Church of England . There are Lashes in every Address , Challenges to draw the Pen in every Pamphlet : In short , the fairest Occasions in the World given to quarrel ; but she wisely distinguisheth between the Body of Dissenters , whom she will suppose to act as they do , with no ill Intent ; and these small Skirmishers , pickt and sent out to picqueer , and to begin a Fray amongst the Protestants , for the Entertainment as well as the Advantage of the Church of Rome . This Conduct is so good , that it will be scandalous not to applaud it . It is not equal Dealing to blame our Adversaries for doing ill , and not commend them when they do well . To hate them because they persecuted , and not to be reconciled to them when they are ready to suffer , rather than receive all the Advantages that can be gained by a Criminal Complyance , is a Principle no sort of Christians can own , since it would give an Objection to them never to be answered . Think a little who they were that promoted your former Persecutions , and then consider how it will look to be angry with the Instruments , and at the same time to make a League with the Authors of your Sufferings . Have you enough considered what will be expected from you ? Are you ready to stand in every Borough by Vertue of a Conge d'eslire , and instead of Election , be satisfied if you are Returned ? Will you in Parliament justifie the Dispensing Power , with all its Consequences , and Repeal the Test , by which you will make way for the Repeal of all the Laws , that were made to preserve your Religion , and to Enact others that shall destroy it ? Are you disposed to change the Liberty of Debate into the Merit of Obedience ; and to be made Instruments to repeal or enact Laws , when the Roman Consistory are Lords of the Articles ? Are you so linked with your new Friends , as to reject any Indulgence a Parliament shall offer you , if it shall not be so comprehensive as to include the Papists in it ? Consider , that the implyed Conditions of your new Treaty are no less , than that you are to do every thing you are desired , without examining , and that for this pretended Liberty of Conscience , your real Freedom is to be sacrificed : Your former Faults hang like Chains still about you , you are let loose only upon Bayl ; the first Act of Non-compliance , sendeth you to Jayl again . You may see that the Papists themselves do not relie upon the Legality of this Power , which you are to justifie , since the being so very earnest to get it established by a Law , and the doing such very hard things in order , as they think , to obtain it , is a clear Evidence , that they do not think that the single Power of the Crown is in this Case a good Foundation ; especially when this is done under a Prince , so very tender of all the Rights of Sovereignty , that he would think it a Diminution to his Prerogative , where he conceiveth it strong enough to go alone , to call in the Legislative help to strengthen and support it . You have formerly blamed the Church of England , and not without reason , for going so far as they did in their Compliance ; and yet as soon as they stopped , you see they are not only deserted , but prosecuted : Conclude then from this Example , that you must either break off your Friendship , or resolve to have no Bounds in it . If they do not succeed in their Design , they will leave you first ; if they do , you must either leave them , when it will be too late for your Safety , or else after the squeaziness of starting at a Surplice , you must be forced to swallow Transubstantiation : Remember that the other day those of the Church of England were Trimmers for enduring you , and now by a sudden Turn , you are become the Favourites ; do not deceive your selves , it is not the nature of lasting Plants thus to shoot up in a Night ; you may look gay and green for a little time , but you want a Root to give you a Continuance . It is not so long since , as to be forgotten , that the Maxim was , It is impossible for a Dissenter not to be a REBEL . Consider at this time in France , even the new Converts are so far from being imployed , that they are disarmed ; their sudden Change maketh them still to be distrusted , notwithstanding that they are reconciled : What are you to expect then from your dear Friends , to whom , when ever they shall think fit to throw you off again , you have in other times given such Arguments for their excuse ? Besides all this , you Act very unskilfully against your visible Interest , if you throw away the Advantages , of which you can hardly fail in the next probable Revolution . Things tend naturally to what you would have , if you would let them alone , and not by an unseasonable Activity lose the Influences of your good Star , which promiseth you every thing that is prosperous . The Church of England convinced of its Error in being severe to you ; the Parliament , when-ever it meeteth , sure to be gentle to you ; the next Heir bred in the Country which you have so often quoted for a Pattern of Indulgence ; a general Agreement of all thinking Men , that we must no more cut our selves off from the Protestants abroad , but rather inlarge the Foundations upon which we are to build our Defences against the Common Enemy ; so that in truth , all things seem to conspire to give you Ease and Satisfaction , if by too much haste to anticipate your good Fortune , you do not destroy it . The Protestants have but one Article of Humane Strength , to oppose the Power which is now against them , and that is , not to lose the advantage of their Numbers , by being so unwary as to let themselves be divided . We all agree in our Duty to our Prince ; our Objections to his Belief do not hinder us from seeing his Vertues ; and our not complying with his Religion , hath no effect upon our Allegiance ; we are not to be laughed out of our Passive-Obedience , and the Doctrine of Non-Resistance ; though even those who perhaps owe the best part of their Security to that Principle , are apt to make a Jest of it . So that if we give no advantage by the fatal Mistake of misapplying our Anger , by the natural course of things , this Danger will pass away like a shower of Hail ; fair weather will succeed , as lowering as the Sky now looketh , and all this by plain and easie Receipt ; Let us be still , quiet , and undivided , firm at the same time to our Religion , our Loyalty , and our Laws ; and so long as we continue this method , it is next to impossible , that the odds of 200 to one should lose the Bett ; except the Church of Rome , which hath been so long barren of Miracles , should now in her declining Age , be brought to Bed of One that would out-do the best she can brag of in her Legend . To conclude , the short Question will be , Whether you will join with those who must in the end run the same Fate with you ? If Protestants of all sorts , in their Behaviour to one another , have been to blame , they are upon the more equal terms , and for that very reason it is fitter for them now to be reconciled . Our Dis-union is not only a Reproach , but a Danger to us ; those who believe in modern Miracles , have more Right , or at least more Excuse , to neglect all Secular Cautions ; but for us , it is as justifiable to have no Religion , as wilfully to throw away the Humane Means of preserving it . I am , Dear Sir , Your most Affectionate humble Servant , T. W. SOME CAUTIONS Offered to the CONSIDERATION Of Those who are to Chuse MEMBERS TO SERVE in the Ensuing Parliament . LONDON , Printed in the Year , 1699. Some Cautions offered to the Consideration of those who are to chuse Members to serve for the Ensuing Parliament . I Will make no other introduction , than that it is hoped the Counties and Boroughs will remember in general , That besides other Consequences , they will have the Credit of a good Choice , or the Scandal that belongeth to an ill one . The Creators will be thought like their Creatures ; and therefore an ill Choice will either be a disparagement of their Understanding , or their Morals . There cannot be a fuller Approbation of a thing , than the Chusing of it ; so that the fault of the Members chosen , if known before-hand , will be judged to be of the growth of that County or Borough , after such a solemn Approbation of them . In short , those who send up their Representatives to Westminster , should take care they may be such as will do them Right , and their Countrey Honour . Now to the particulars . I. A very extraordinary earnestness to be chosen , is no very good Symptom : A desire to serve the Nation in Parliament , is an English Man's Ambition : Always to be Encouraged , and never to be disapproved . A Man may not only be willing to stand , but he may declare that willingness to his Friends , that they may assist him , and by all the means becoming a modest and prudent Man , he may endeavour to succeed , and prevent the being disappointed in it . But there is a wide difference between this and the raising a king of petty War in the County or Corporation ; entring the Lists rather for a Combat than an Election ; throwing Fire-balls to put Men into heat , and omitting to spread no Reports , whether true or false , which may give an advantage by laying a Blemish upon a Competitor . These Methods will ever be suspicious ; it will never be thought a Natural thing for Men to take such extravagant pains for the meer sake of doing good to others . To be content to suffer something for a good end , is that which many would do without any great repugnance : but where a Man can honestly propose nothing to himself , except Troubles , Charge , and Loss , by absence from his own Affairs , to be so violent in the pursuit of so ill a Bargain , is not at all suited to the languishing Virtue of Mankind so corrupted . Such a self-denying Zeal in such a self-seeking Age , is so little to be imagin'd , that it may without injury be suspected . Therefore when these blustring Pretenders come upon the Stage , their natural Temper and other Circumstances ought to be very well consider'd , before Men trust them with the disposal of their Money , or their Liberty . And I am apt to believe , there could hardly be found one single Man whose other Qualifications would over-balance the Objections that lie against such importunate Suitors . II. Recommending Letters ought to have no effect upon Elections . In this I must distinguish ; for tho in strictness perhaps there should be no Exception ; yet in compliance with long practice , and out of an Indulgence that is necessary in a time when Mankind is too much loosened from severe Rules , to be kept close up to them , Letters sent only from Equal Men , doing Good Men right by giving Evidence in their behalf , offering them as fitly qualified , when they really are so , and freeing them from unjust Aspersions , may be still allowed . The Letters I mean , are from Men of Power , where it may be beneficial to comply , and inconvenient to oppose . Choice must not only be free from Force , but from Influence , which is a degree of Force : There must be no difficulty , no apprehension that a Refusal will be ill taken , or resented . The Freeholders must be Freemen too ; they are to have no Shackles upon their Votes in a Election : and the Men who stand , should carry their own Letters of Recommendation about them , which are there good Character and Behaviour in the World , without borrowing Evidence , especially when it comes from suspected hands . Those who make use of these Epistles , ought to have no more advantage from them , that the Muscovites have from the Letters put into their hands , when they are buried , to recommend them to St. Nicholas . The first should as little get admittance . for Men into the Parliament , as these Letters can introduce the Bearers into Heaven . The Scandal of such Letters lieth first in the arrogant imposing of those that write them , and next in the wretched Meanness of those that need them . Men must be fallen very low in their Credit , who upon such an occasion have a recourse to Power to support it : Their Enemies could not give stronger Evidence of their not being fit for that which they pretend to . And if the Electors judge otherwise , they will be pretty sure in a little time to see their Mistake , and to repent it . III. Non-Attendance in former Parliaments ought to be a Bar against the Choice of Men who have been guilty of it . It is one of the worst kinds of Non-Residence , and the least to be excused : It is very hard that Men should despise a Duty , which perhaps is the only ground of the respect that is paid to them . It is such a piece of Sawciness for any one to press for the Honour of serving in Parliament , and then to be careless in Attending it , that in a House where there were so many Officers , the Penalty had not been improper to have Cashier'd them for not appearing at the General Muster . If men forbear to come out of Laziness , let them be gratified by taking their ease at Home without interruption ; If out of small Cunning to avoid Difficulties , and to escape from the Inconvenience of Voting in Critical Cases , let them enjoy that despicable pitch of Wisdom , and never pretend to make a Figure where the Publick is to be served . If it would not be thought advisable to trust a Man immediately after he hath been drawn out of a Gaol , it may be as reasonable to look upon one who for his Non-attendance in the House hath been sent for in Custody , as a king of Bankrupt , which putteth him upon unequal terms with those who have been assiduous in the discharge of their Duty . They who thought fit in one Session to neglect the Publick Business , may be justly suspected , by their standing , in the next to intend their own . Besides these more deliberate Offenders , there are some who do not Attend even when they are in the House : absent in their Thoughts for want of Comprehending the Business that is doing , and therefore diverted from it by any thing that is Trivial . Such Men are Nusances to a serious Assembly ; and when they are Numerous , it amounteth almost to a Dissolution ; it being scarce possible for good sence to be heard , whilst a noise is made by the buzzing of these Horse flies . The Roman Censors who degraded a Senator for yawning whilst there was a Debate , would have much more abundant matter here upon which they might exercise their Jurisdiction . To conclude this Head , There are so few that ever mended in these Cases , that after the first Experiment it is not at all reasonable to take them upon a new Tryal . IV. Men who are unquiet and busy in their Natures , are to give more than ordinary proofs of their Integrity , before the Electing them into a Publick Trust can be justified . As a hot Summer breedeth greater swarms of Flies , so an active time breedeth a greater number of these shining Gentlemen . It is pretty sure , That men who cannot allow themselves to be at rest , will let no body else be at quiet . Such a perpetual Activity is apt by degrees to be applied to the pursuit of their private interest . And their thoughts being in a continual motion , they have not time to dwell long enough upon any thing to entertain a scruple . So that they are generally at full liberty to do what is most convenient for them , without being fettered by any Restraints . Nay further ; Whenever it hapneth that there is an Impunity for Cheating , these nimble Gentlemen are apt to think it a disparagement to their Understandings not to go into it . I doubt it is not a wrong to the present Age , to say , that a Knave is a less unpopular Calling than it hath been in former times . And to say truth , it would be ingratitude in some Men to turn Honest , when they owe all they have to their Knavery . The People are in this respect unhappy ; they are too many to do their own business ; their numbers , which make their strength , are at the same time the cause of their weakness ; they are too unweildy to move ; and for this Reason nothing can ever redeem them from this incurable Impotency : So that they must have Solicitors to pursue and look after their Interests : who are too often disposed to dispense with the Fidelity they owe to those that trust them ; especially if the Government will pay their Bills without Abatement . It is better these Gentlement's dexterity should be employed any where than in Parliament , where the ill consequence of their being Members is too much diffused , and not restrained to the County or Borough who shall be so unwary as to Chuse them . V. Great Drinkers are less fit to Serve in Parliament than is apprehended . Men's Virtue , as well as their Understanding , is apt to be tainted by it . The appearance of it is Sociable and well-natur'd , but it is by no means to be rely'd upon . Nothing is more frail than a Man too far engaged in wet Popularity . The habit of it maketh Men careless of their business , and that naturally leadeth them into Circumstances , that make them liable to Temptation . It is seldom seen , That any Principles have such a root , as that they can be proof against the continual droppings of a Bottle . As to the Faculties of the Mind , there is not less Objection ; the vapours of Wine may sometimes throw out sparks of Wit , but they are like scattered pieces of Ore , there is no Vein to work upon . Such Wit , even the best of it , is like paying great Fines ; in which case there must of necessity be an abatement of the constant Rent . Nothing sure is a greater Enemy to the Brain , than too much moisture ; it can the least of any thing bear the being continually steeped : And it may be said , that Thought may be resembled to some Creatures which can live only in a dry Country . Yet so arrogant are some men , as to think they are so much Masters of Business , as that they can play with it ; they imagine they can drown their Reason once a day , and that it shall not be the worse for it ; forgetting , that by too often diving the Understanding at last groweth too weak to rise up again . I will suppose this fault was less frequent when Solon made it one of his Laws , That it was Lawful to Kill a Magistrate if he was found D●unk . Such a Liberty taken in this Age , either in the Parliament or out of it , would do terrible Execution . I cannot but mention a Petition in the year 1647 , from the County of Devon , to the House of Commons , against the undue Election of Burgesses , who are strong in Wine and weak in Wisdom . The cause of such Petitions is to be prevented by Chusing such as shall not give handle for them . VI. Wanting-Men give such cause of suspicion where ever they deal , that surely the Chusers will be upon their guard , as often as such dangerous pretenders make their application to them . Let the behaviour of such Men be never so plausible and untainted , yet they who are to pitch upon those they are to trust with all they have , may be excused , if they do not only consider what they are but what they may be . As we Pray our selves we may not be led , into Temptation , we ought not by any means to thrust others into it ; even though our own Interest was not concerned ; And sure when it is , the Argument hath not less force . If a Man hath a small Estate , and a numerous Family ; where it happeneth that a Man hath as many Children as he hath Tenants , It is not a Recommending Circumstance for his Election . When it cometh to be the Question with such a Man , Whether he shall be Just to the Publick , or Cruel to his Family ? It is very possible the decision may be on the side of Corrupted Nature . It is a Complement to this Age , which it doth not deserve , to suppose Men are so ty'd up to Morality , as that they cannot be pinched out of it : especially now when it is called Starving not to be Embroidered , or served in Plate . The Men Chosen to serve their Country , should not be loaden with Suits that may tempt them to assume Privileges ; much less under such Necessities as may more immediately prepare them for Corruption . Men who need a Parliament for their own particular Interest , have more reason to offer their Service than others have to accept of it . And though I do not doubt , but there may be some whose Virtue would triumph over their Wants , let them be never so pressing ; yet to expose the Publick to the hazard of being deceived , is that which can never be justifi'd by those that Chuse . And tho it must be allow'd possible for a wanting-Man to be honest , yet it is impossible for a Man to be wise that will depend upon it . VII . There is a sort of Men that have a Tinsel-wit , which make them shine among those who cannot judge . Club and Coffee-house Gentlemen , Petty Merchants of small Conceits , who have an Empty habit of prating without meaning ; They always aim at Wit and generally make false Fire . Their business is less to learn , than to set themselves out ; which makes them chuse to be with such as can only be Witnesses of their small Ingenuity , rather than with such as might improve it . There is a subordinate Wit , as much inferior to a Wit of business , as a Fidler at a Wake is to the lofty Sound of an Organ . Men of this Size are in no degree suited to the business of redressing Grievances , and making Laws . There is a Parliament Wit to be distinguish'd from all other kinds ; those who have it , do not stuff their heads only with Cavils and Objections . They have a deliberate and an observing Wit , a Head turned to Publick things ; Men who place a greater pleasure in mending a Fault than in finding it out . Their Understanding directeth them to object in the right place , and not like those who go by no other Rule , than to conclude , That must be the best Counsel which was not taken . These Whole-sale Judges shew such a gross and peevish Ignorance , that it appeareth so openly in all they say or do , That they give loud warning to all considering Men , not to chuse them . VIII . The dislike of slight Airy Men must not go so far , as to recommend heaviness in opposition to it , especially where men are convicted of it by Experience in former Sessions . As a lively Coxcomb will seldom fail to lay in his claim for Wit ; so a Blockhead is apt to pretend , That his heaviness is a proof of his Judgment . Some have an universal Lethargy spread upon their Understanding without exception ; others have an Insufficiency 〈◊〉 hoc , as in some Cases men have 〈◊〉 hanc ; These last can never so 〈…〉 thoughts to publick Business , as to give the attention that is necessary to Comprehend it . There are those who have such a thick Shell upon their Brains , that their Ignorance is impenetrable , and maketh such astout resistance against Common Sense , that it will never be subdued by it : True Heart of Oak , Ignorance that will neveryield , let Reason beat never so hard upon it ; and though their kind Neighbours have at several Elections sent them up to School again , they have still return'd the same incurable Dunces . There is a false Gravity that is a very ill symptom ; and it may be said , That as Rivers , which run very slowly , have always the most Mud at the bottom ; so a solid stiffness in the constant course of a man's Life , is a sign of a thick bed of Mud at the bottom of his Brain . A dull man is so near a dead Man , that he is hardly to be ranked in the List of the Living ; and as he is not to be buri'd whilst he is half alive , so he is as little to be imploy'd whilst : he is half dead . Parliaments are now grown to be quite other things than they were formerly . In Ancient Times they were little more than Great Assizes ; A Roll of Grievances ; Magna Charta confirmed ; Privileges of Holy Church preserved ; so many Sacks of Wool given , and away . Now there are Traps and Gins laid for the well-meaning Country-Gentleman ; he is to grapple with the Cunning of Men in Town , which is not a little improv'd by being rewarded and encourag'd . So that men whose good Intentions are not seconded and supported by some degree of Ability , are as much the more dangerous , as they are less criminal than Cunning Knaves . Their honest Mistakes , for want of distinguishing , either give a Countenance to , or at least lessen the Scandal of the injurious things that are done to the Publick : and with leave ask'd for so odd an expression , Their Innocent Guilt is as mischievous to the Laws and Liberties , as the most deliberate Malice of those that would destroy them . IX . There is an Abuse which daily increaseth , of sending such to Parliament , as are scarce old enough to be sent to the University . I would not in this restrain the Definition of these Boys to the Age of Twenty One : If my Opinion might take place , I should wish that none might be chosen into the House of Commons under Thirty ; and to make some Equality , I should from the same Motives , think it convenient , That no Lord should have a Vote in Judicature under that Age. But to leave this Digression ; I cannot see why the Chusers should not at least make it a Rule among themselves , Not to send any Man to Represent them under the Age of Twenty five , which is the time of Majority in most other places of the world . Surely it is not that we are Earlier plants than our Neighbours . Such supposition could neither be justifi'd by our Climate , nor by the degree of Latitude in which we are placed ; I must therefore attribute it to the haste our Ancestors had ( and not without reason ) to free themselves from the Severity of Wardships . But whether this , or any thing else , was the cause of our earlier stepping into Man's Estate ; so it is now , that according to our Laws , Twenty one is the Age of Discretion ; and the Young Man is then vested with a Legal , how defective soever he may be in his Natural Understanding . With all this , there ought to be a difference made between coming out of Pupilage , and leaping into Legislatorship . It is perhaps inconvenient enough that a man should be so soon let loose to destroy his own Estate ; but it is yet worse , that he should then have a Power of giving away other men's . The Law must make General Rules , to which there always will be some Objections . If there were Tryers appointed to judge when Leading-Strings should be left off , many would wear them a very great while , and some perhaps with their Gray Hairs ; there being no small number of Old Boys in all times and especially in this . It is necessary therefore to make Exceptions to this General Rule , where the Case so much requireth it , as it doth in the matter in question . The ground of sending these Minors to Parliament ought not to recommend the Continuance of it to those who are Lovers of Liberty ; since it was by the Authority and Influence of Great Men , that their Stripling Sons were first receiv'd by the humble depending Boroughs , or the complying Counties . They called it , as many do still , the best School for Young Men. Now Experience hath shew'd us , that it is like a School only in this respect , That these Youngsters when they are admitted , deserve to be whipp'd in it . If the House of Commons is a School , it must be for Men of riper Age ; these are too young to learn there , and being elevated by a mistaken smattering in small Politicks , they grow too supercilious to learn any where else ; so that instead of improving young promising Plants , they are destroy'd by being misplac'd . If then they do themselves hurt by it , it is surer yet that they do the House no good by coming into it . They were not Green Geese that are said to have sav'd the Capitol ; they were certainly of full Age , or else their Cackling could not have been heard , so as to give warning . Indeed it look'd of late , when the Fashion was to have long continu'd Parliaments , as if we might plant a Boy in the House with a Prospect that he might continue there till he had Gray Hairs : And that the same Sapling might have such a Root , as that he might grow up to be Timber without being remov'd . If these Young Men had skill enough to pitch upon some Body in the House , to whom they might resign their Opinion , and upon whose Judgment they might lean without Reserve , there might be less Objection . But to speak Truth , they know as little how to chuse , as those did who Elected them : so that there is no other Expedient left , than the letting them alone . One may say , generally speaking , That a young Man being too soon qualifi'd for the serious Business of Parliaments , would really be no good Symptom . It is a sign of too much Phlegm , and too little Fire in the beginning of Age , if Men have not a little more heat than is convenient ; for as they grow older they will run a hazard of not having so much as is necessary . The Truth is , The vigour of Youth is soften'd and misapply'd , when it is not spent either in War or close Studies ; all other Courses have an idle Mixture that cometh to nothing , and maketh them like Trees , which for want of Pruning run up to Wood , and seldom or never bear any Fruit. To conclude this Head , it must be own'd , That there is no Age of our Life which doth not carry Arguments along with it to humble us : and therefore it would be well for the Business of the World , if young Men would stay longer before they went into it , and old Men not so long before they went out of it . X. Next to these may be rank'd a sort of superfine Gentlemen , Carpet-Knights , Men whose Heads may be said to be only Appurtenances to their Perukes , which intirely ingross all their Care and Application . There Understanding is so strictly appropriated to their Dress ; that no part of it is upon pain of their utmost Displeasure to be diverted to any other use . It is not by this intended to recommend an affected Clown , or to make it a necessary Qualification for a Member of Parliament , that he must renounce clean Linen or good Manners ; but surely a too earnest Application to make every thing sit Right about them , striketh too deep into their small stock of Thoughts to allow it Furniture for any thing else . To do Right to these fine-spun Gentlemen , Business is too course a thing for them , which maketh it an unreasonable Hardship upon them to oppress them with it ; so that in tenderness to them , no less than out of care to the Publick , it is best to leave them to their Taylors with whom they will live in much better Correspondence , when the Danger is prevented of their falling out about Privileges . XI . Men of Injustice and Violence , in their private Dealings , are not to be trusted by the People with a Commission to treat for them in Parliament . In the 4th of Edw. 3. The King Commandeth in his Writs not to chuse any Knights who had been Guilty of Crime , or Maintenance . These warm Men seldom fail to run into Maintenance , taken in a larger Extent . It is an unnatural Sound to come from a Man that is arbitrary in his Neighbourhood , to talk of Laws and Liberties at Westminster ; he is not a proper Vehicle for such Words , which ought never to be prophaned . An habitual Breaker of the Laws , to be made one of the Law-makers , is as if the Benches in Westminster-hall should be filled with Men out of Newgate . Those who are of this Temper cannot change their Nature out of respect to their Countrey . Quite contrary ; they will less scruple to do Wrong to a Nation where no Body taketh it to himself , than to particular Men to whose Resentments they are more immediately exposed . In short they lie under such strong Objections , that the over-balance of better Men cannot altogether purify an Assembly where these unclean Beasts are admitted . XII . Excessive Spenders and unreasonable Savers are to be Excluded , being both greedy from differing Causes . They are both of them Diseases of Infection , and for that Reason are not to be admitted into Publick Assemblies . A prodigal Man must be , greedy because he thinketh he can never spend enough . The Wretch must be so , because he will never think he can hoard enough . The World first admireth Men's Wisdom for getting Money , and then raileth at them if they do not throw it away ? so that the Prodigal Man is only the less unpopular Extreme ; he is every jot as well prepared as the Miser to fall out with his Morals , when once a good Temptation is offered him to lay them aside . On the other side , some Rich Men are as eager to overtake those that are Richer , as a Running horse is to get to the Race-post , before the other that contendeth with him . Men often desire to heap , rather because others have more , than that they know what to do with that which they covet with so much Impatience . So that it is plain , the Fancy hath as great a share in this imaginary Pleasure of Gathering as it hath in Love , Ambition , or any other Passion . It is pretty sure , that as no Man was ever the Richer for having a good Estate , if he did not look after it ; so neither will he be the Honester if he hath never so much . Want of care will always create want of Money ; so that whether a Man is a begger because he never had any Money , or because he can never keep any , it is all one to those who are to trust him . Upon this head of Prodigality , it may be no unreasonable Caution to be afraid of those who in former Service have , been extravagantly Liberal of the Publick Money . Trusting is so hazardous a thing , that it should never be done but where it is necessary ; so that when Trustees are found upon Tryal to be very Lavish , even without examining into the Causes of it , ( which are generally very suspicious ) it is a reasonable part of preventing Wit to change Hands , or else the Chusers will pay the Penalty that belongeth to good Nature so misplaced , and the Consequences will be attended with the Aggravation of their not being made Wiser by such a severe and costly warning . XIII . It would be of very great use to take a general Resolution throughout the Kingdom , That none should be chosen for a County but such as have either in Possession , or Reversion , a considerable Estate in it ; nor for a Burrough , except he be Resiant , or that he hath some Estate in the County , in present or Expectancy . There have been Eminent Men of Law who were of opinion , That in the Case of a Burgess of a Town not Resiant , the Court is to give Judgment according to the Statute , notwithstanding Custom to the contrary . But not to insist now upon that , the prudential part is Argument enough to set up a Rule to abrogate an ill Custom . There is not , perhaps , a greater Cause of the Corruption of Parliaments , than by adopting Members , who may be said to have no title by their Births . The Juries are by the Law to be Exvicineto ; And shall there be less care that the Representatives of the People be so too ? Sure the Interest of the County is best placed in the hands of such as have some share in it . The Outliers are not so easily kept within the pale of the Laws . They are often chosen without being known , which is more like chusing Valentines , than Members of Parliament . The Motive of their standing is more justly to be supposed , that they may redress their own Grievances which they know , than those of the Countrey , to which they are strangers . They are chosen at London to serve in Cornwall , &c. and are often Parties , before they come to be Representatives : One would think the Reproach it is for a County not to have Men within their own Circle to serve them in Parliament , should be Argument enough to reject these Trespassers , without urging the ill Consequences in other Respects of their being admitted . XIV . As in some Cases it is advisable to give a total exclusion to Men not fitly qualified ; so in others it is more proper to lay down a general Rule of Caution , with allowance of some Exceptions , where Men have given such proofs of themselves , as create a Right for them to be distinguished . Of this nature is that which I shall say concerning Lawyers , who , by the same Reason that they may be useful , may be also very dangerous . The Negligence , and want of Application in Gentlemen , hath made them to be thought more necessary than naturally they are in Parliament . They have not only ingrossed the Chair of the Speaker , but that of a Committee is hardly thought to be well filled , except it be by a Man of the Robe . This maketh it worthy of the more serious reflection of all Gentlemen , that it may be an Argument to them to quailfy themselves in Parliamentary Learning , in such a manner , as that they may rely upon their own Abilities , in order to the serving their Countrey . But to come to the point in question ; It is not without Precedent , that Practising-Lawyers have been excluded from serving in Parliament ; and , without following those Patterns strictly , I cannot but think it reasonable , that whilst a Parliament sitteth , no Member of Parliament should plead at any Bar. The Reason of it is in many respects strong in it self , and is grown much stronger by the long sitting of Parliaments of late ; but I will not dwell upon this : The matter now in question being concerning Lawyers being Elected , which I conceive should be done with so much circumspection , that probably it would not often happen . If Lawyers have great Practice , that ought to take them up ; if not , it is no great sign of their Ability ; and at the same time giveth a suspicion , that they may be more liable to be tempted . If it should be so in Fact , That no King ever wanted Judges to soften the stiffness of the Laws that were made , so as to make them suit better with the Reason of State , and the Convenience of the Government ; it is no Injury now to suppose it possible for Lawyers in the House of Commons , so to behave themselves in the making of New Laws , as the better to make way for the having their Robes lined with Fur. They are Men used to argue on both sides of a Question ; And if ordinary Fees can inspire them with very good Reasons in a very ill Cause , that Faculty exercised in Parliaments , where it may be better encouraged , may prove very inconvenient to those that chuse them . And therefore , without arraigning a Profession , that it would be scandalous for a man not to honour ; one may , by a Suspicion , which is the more excusable when it is in the behalf of the People , imagine that the habit of taking Money for their Opinion , may create in some such a forgetfulness to distinguish , that they may take it for their Vote . They are generally Men who by a laborious study hope to be advanced : They have it in their Eye as a Reward for the Toil they undergo . This maketh them generally very slow , and ill disposed ( let the Occasion never so much require it ) to wrestle with that Soil where Preferment groweth . Now if the Supposition be in its self not unreasonable , and that it should happen to be strengthen'd and confirm'd by Experience it will be very unnecessary to say any more upon this Article , but leave it to the Electors to consider of it . XV. I cannot forbear to put in a Caveat against Men ty'd to a Party . There must in every body be a Leaning to that sort of Men who profess some Principles , more than to others who go upon a different Foundation ; but when a man is drowned in a Party , plunged in it beyond his depth , he runneth a great hazard of being upon ill terms with good Sense , or Morality , if not with both of them . Such a man can hardly be called a Free-Agent and for that reason is very unfit to be trusted with the Peoples Liberty , after he hath given up his own . It is said , That in some part of the Indies they do so affect little Feet , that they keep them squeezed while they are Children , so that they stay at that small size after they are grown Men. One may say something like this of Men lock'd up in a Party ; They put their Thoughts into such a Narrow Mould , that they can never be enlarged nor released from their first Confinements . Men in a Party have Liberty only for their Motto ; in reality they are greater Slaves than any body else would care to make them . A Party , even in times of Peace , ( tho against the Original Contract , and the Bill of Rights ) sets up and continues the exercise of Martial Law : Once inrolled , the Man that quitteth , if they had their will , would be hanged for a Deserter . They communicate Anger to one another by Contagion : And it may be said , that if too much Light dazzleth the Eye-sight , too much Heat doth not less weaken the Judgment . Heat reigneth in the Fancy ; and Reason , which is a colder Faculty of the Brain , taketh more time to be heard , than the other will allow . The Heat of a Party is like the Burning of a Fever ; and not a Natural Warmth , evenly distributed to give Life and Vigor . There was a time indeed when Anger shew'd a good sign of Honesty ; but that Evidence is very much weakned by Instances we have seen since the Days of Yore : And the Publick spirited Choler hath been thrown off within time of Memory , and lost almost all its Credit with some People , since they found what Governments thought fit to make their so doing a step to their preferment . A strong blustring Wind seldom continues long in one Corner . Some men knock loud only to be let in ; the Bustle they make is animated by their private Interest . The outward Blaze only is for Religion and Liberty : The true lasting Fire , like that of the Vestals which never went out , is an eagerness to get somewhat for themselves . A House of Commons composed of such Men , would be more properly so many Merchants incorporated in a Regular Company , to make their particular Adventures , than Men sent from the People to serve and represent them . There are some Splenetick Gentlemen who confine their favourable Opinion within so narrow a compass , that they will not allow it to any man that was not hanged in the late Reigns . Now by that rule one might expect they should rescue themselves from the disadvantage of being now alive ; and by abdicating a World so little worthy of them , get a great Name to themselves , with the general satisfaction of all those they would leave behind them . Amongst the many other ill consequences of a stated Party , it is none of the least , that it tempteth low and insignificant men to come upon the Stage , to expose themselves , and to spoil Business . It turneth a Cypher into a Figure , such a one as it is : A man in a Party is able to make a noise , let it be never so empty a sound . A weak man is easily blown out of his small senses , by being muster'd into a Party ; he is flatter'd till he liketh himself so well , that he taketh it extremely ill if he hath not an Employment . Nothing is more in fashion , than for men to desire good Places , and I doubt nothing is less so than to deserve them . From Nobody to somebody is such a violent stride , that Nature , which hath the Negative Voice , will not give its Royal Assent to it : So that when insufficient Men aim at being in business , the worst of their Enemies might out of malice to them , pray for their Preferment . There could be no end , if one did not stop till this Theme had no more matter to furnish . I will only say , Nothing is more evident , than that the Good of the Nation hath been sacrificed to the Animosities of the several Contending Parties ; and without entring into the dispute which of them are more or less in the right , it is pretty sure , that whilst these Opposite Sets of Angry Men are playing at Foot-ball , they will break all the Windows , and do more hurt than their pretended Zeal for the Nation will ever make amends for . In short , a man so engaged is retained before the people take him for their Council ; he hath such a Reverse for his Party , that it is not adviseable for those who would chuse him , to depend upon his Professions . All Parties assuming such a Dispensing Power , that by their Sovereign Authority they cancel and dissolve any Act or Promise that they do not afterwards approve . These things considered , those who will chuse such men deserve whatever followeth . XVI . Pretenders to Exorbitant Merit in the late Revolution , are not without Objections against them , when they stand to serve in Parliament . It would not only be a low , but a Criminal kind of Envy , to deny a distinguishing Justice to Men who have been instrumental and active , when the Service of their Countrey requir'd it . But there ought to be Moderation in men's Claims , or else it is out of the Power of our poor Island to satisfy them . It is true , Service of all kinds is grown much dearer , like Labourer's Wages , which formerly occasioned several Statutes to regulate them . But now the men who only carried Mortar to the Building , when it is finished , think they are ill dealt with if they are not made Master-Workmen . They presently cry out , The Original Contract is broken , if their Merit is not rewarded , at their own Rate too . Some will think there never ought to be an end of their Rewards ; when indifferent Judges would perhaps be puzzled to find out the beginning of their Merit . They bring in such large Bills , that they must be examin'd : Some bounds must be put to men's Pretensions ; else the Nation , which is to pay the Reckoning , will every way think it a scurvy thing to be undone , whether it be by being over-run by our Enemies , or by the being , exhausted by our Friends . There ought therefore to be deductions where they are reasonable , the better to justifie the paying what remaineth . For example , if any of these passionate Lovers of the Protestant Religion should not think fit , in their manner of Living , to give the least evidence of their Morality , their claims upon that Head might sure be struck off without any Injustice to them . If there are any who set down great Sums as a Reward due to their Zeal for rescuing Property from the Jaws of Arbitrary Power ; their pretensions may fairly be rejected , if now they are so far from shewing a care and tenderness of the Laws , that they look rather like Councel retained on the other side . It is no less strange , than I doubt it is true , that some Men should be so in Love with their dear Mistress , Old England , with all her Wrinkles , as out of an Heroick Passion to Swim over to rescue her from being Ravish'd ; and when they have done the Feat , the first thing after Enjoyment is , that they go about to Strangle her . For the sake of true Love , it is not sit that such ungentile Gallants should be too much encourag'd ; and their Arrogance for having done well at first , will have no right to be excused , if their so doing ill at last doth not make them a little more modest . True Merit , like a River , the deeper it is the less noise it makes . These loud proclaimers of their own Deserts , are not only to be suspected for their truth , but the Electors are to consider that such meritorious Men lay an assessment upon those that Chuse them . The Publick Taxes are already heavy enough without the addition of these private Reckonings . It is therefore the safer way not to employ Men , who will expect more for their Wages , than the mistaken Borough that sendeth them up to Parliament could be sold for . XVII . With all due regard to the noblest of Callings , Military Officers are out of their true Element when they are misplaced in a House of Commons . Things in this World ought to be well suited . There are some Appearances so unnatural , that men are convinc'd by them without any other Argument . The very Habit in some Cases , recommendeth or giveth Offence . If the Judges upon the Bench should , instead of their Furrs , which signifie Gravity , and bespeak Respect , be Cloathed like the Jockeys at New-Market , or wear Jack-Boots and Steenkirks ; they would not in reality have less Law , but Mankind would be so struck with this unusual Object , that it would be a great while before they could think it possible to receive Justice from Men so Accouter'd . It is to some degree the same thing in this Case ; such Martial Habits , Blue-Coats , Red Stockings , &c. make them look very unlike Grave Senators . One would almost swear they were Creatures apart , and of a differing Species from the rest of the Body . In former times , when only the Resiant Shopkeeper was to Represent his Corporation ( which by the way is the Law still at this day ) the Military Looks of one of these Sons of Mars , would have stared the Quaking Member down again to his Burrough . Now the number of them is so encreased , that the Peaceable part of the House may lawfully swear they are in fear of their Lives , from such an Awful Appearance of Men of War. It maketh the Room look like a Guard-house by such an ill-suited mixture . But this is only the out-side , the bark of the Argument ; the root goeth yet deeper against Chusing such Men , whose Talents ought to be otherwise applied . Their Two Capacities are so inconsistent , that Mens undertaking to serve both the Cures , will be the cause in a little time , that we shall neither have Men of War , nor Men of Business , good in their several kinds . An Officer is to give up his Liberty to obey Orders ; and it is necessarily incident to his Calling that he should do so . A Member of Parliament is originally to be tender of his own Liberty , that other Men may the better trust him with theirs . An Officer is to enable himself by his Courage , improved by Skill and Experience , to support the Laws ( if Invaded ) when they are made ; but he is not supposed to be at leisure enough to understand how they should be made . A Member of Parliament is to fill his thoughts with what may best conduce to the Civil Administration ; which is enough to take up the whole Man , let him be never so much raised above the ordinary Level . These two opposite Qualifications , being placed in one Man , make him such an ambiguous divided Creature , that he doth not know how to move . It is best to keep Men within their proper Sphere ; few Men have Understanding enough exactly to fill even one narrow Circle , fewer are able to fill two ; especially when they are both of so great compass , and that they are so contrary in their own Natures . The Wages he hath as a Member , and those he receiveth as an Officer , are paid for Services that are very differing ; and in the doubt which of them should be preferrably performed , it is likely the greater Salary may direct him , without the further inducements of complying most , where he may expect most advantage by it . In short , if his dependance is not very great , it will make him a scurvy Officer ; if it is great , it will make him a scurvier Member . XVIII . Men under the scandal of being thought private Pensioners , are too fair a mark to escape being consider'd , in reference to the point in Question . In case of plain Evidence , it is not to be suppos'd possible , that Men convicted of such a Crime should ever again be Elected . The difficulty is in determining what is to be done in case of suspicion . There are suspicions so well grounded , that they may pretend to have the force of proofs , provided the penalty goeth only to the forbearing to Trust , but not extending it so far as to Punish . There must be some things plain and express to justify the latter , but Circumstances may be sufficient for the former : As where Men have had such sudden Cures of their ill Humours , and opposition to the Court , that it is out of the way of ordinary methods of recovery from such Distempers , which have a much slower progress ; it must naturally be imputed to some Specifick that maketh such a quick alteration of the whole Mass of Blood. Where Men have raised their way of Living , without any visible means to support them in it , a suspicion is justified , even by the Example of the Law , which in cases of this kind , though of an inferior nature , doth upon this foundation not only raise Inferences , but inflict Punishments . Where Men are immoral , and scandalous in their Lives , and dispense familiarly with the Rules by which the World is Govern'd , for the better preserving the bonds of human Society ; it must be a confidence very ill placed , to conclude it impossible for such Men to yield to a Temptation well offer'd and pursu'd ; when , the truth is the habit of such Bons vivants , which is the fashionable word , maketh a suspicion so likely , that it is very hard not to believe it to be true . If there should be nothing but the general Report , even that is not to be neglected . Common Fame is the only Lyar that deserveth to have some Respect still reserv'd to it ; tho she telleth many an Untruth , she often hits right , and most especially when she speaketh ill of men . Her Credit hath sometimes been carried too far , when it hath gone to the divesting men of any thing of which they were possess'd , without more express evidence to justify such a proceeding . If there was a doubt whether there ever was any Corruption of this kind it would alter the Question ; but sure that will not bear the being controverted . We are told ; That Charles the Fifth sent over into England 1200000 Crowns to be distributed amongst the Leading Men , to encourage them to carry on Elections . Here was the Protestant Religion to be bought out for a valuable Consideration according to Law , though not according to Gospel , which exalteth it above any Price that can be set upon it . Now , except we had reason to believe that the Vertue of the World is improv'd since that time , we can as little doubt that such Temptations may be offered , as that they may be receiv'd . It will be owed , that there is to be a great tenderness in Suspecting ; but it must be allow'd at the same time , that there ought not to be lest in Trusting , where the People are so much concern'd ; especially , when the Penalty upon the Party suspected goeth no further than a Suspension of that Confidence , which it is necessary to have in those who are to represent the Nation in Parliament . I cannot omit the giving a Caution against admitting Men to be chosen , who have Places of any value . There needeth the less to be said upon this Article , the truth of the Proposition being supported by such plain Argumen●s . Sure no Man hath such a plentiful spring of Thought , as that all that floweth from it is too much to be appled to the Business of Parliament . It is not less sure , that a Member of Parliament , of all others , ought not to be exempted from the Rule , That no Man should serve two Masters . It doth so split a Man's Thoughts , that no Man can know how to make a fitting Distribution of them to two such differing Capacities . It exposeth Men to be suspected , and tempted , more than is convenient for the Publick Service , or for the mutual good Opinion of one another , which their ought to be in such an Assembly . It either giveth a real dependance upon the Government , which is inconsistent with the necessity there is , that a Member of Parliament should be disengaged , or at least it hath the appearance of it , which maketh them not look like Freemen , though they should have virtue enough to be be so . More Reasons would lessen the Weight of this last , which is , That a Bill to this effect , commonly called the Self-Denying Bill , pass'd even this last House of Commons . A greater Demonstration of the irresistible strength of Truth cannot possibly be given ; so that a Copy of that Bill in every County or Burrough , would hardly fail of discouraging such Pretenders from Standing , or at least it would prevent their Success if their own Modesty should not restrain them from attempting it . XX. If Distinctions may be made upon upon particular Men , or Remarks fix'd upon their Votes in Parliament , they must be allow'd in relation to those Gentlemen , who for Reasons best known to themselves thought fit to be against the Triennial Bill . The Liberty of Opinion is the thing in the World that ought least to be controll'd , and especially in Parliament . But as that is an undoubted Assertion , it is not less so , That when Men Sin against their own Light , give a Vote against their own Thought , they must not plead Privilege of Parliament against the being arraigned for it by others , after they are Convicted of it by themselves . There cannot be a Man ▪ who in his Definition of a House of Commons , will state it to be an Assembly , that for the better redressing of Grievances the People feel , and for the better furnishing such Supplies as they can bear , is to continue , if the King so pleaseth , for his whole Reign . This could be as little intended , as to throw all into one Hand , and to renounce the Claim to any Liberty , but so much as the Sovereign Authority would allow . It destroyeth the end of Parliaments , it maketh use of the Letter of the Law to extinguish the Life of it . It is , in truth , some kind of Disparagement to so plain a thing , that so much has been said and written upon it ; and one may say , It is such an Affront to these Gentlemens Understandings to censure this Vote only as a Mistake , that , as the Age goeth , it is less Discredit to them to call it by its right Name ; and if that is rightly understood by those who are to chuse them , I suppose they will let them exercise their Liberty of Conscience at home , and not make Men their Trustees , who in this Solemn Instance have such an unwillingness to surrender . It must be own'd , That this Bill hath met with very hard Fortune , and yet that doth not in the least diminish the value of it . It had in it such a Root of Life , that it might be said , It was not Dead but Sleeped ; and we see that the last Session , it was revived and animated by the Royal Assent , when once fully inform'd of the Consequences , as well as of the Justice of it . In the mean time , after having told my Opinion , Who ought not to be Chosen : If I should be ask'd , Who ought to be , my Answer must be , chuse Englishmen ; and when I have said that , to deal honestly , I will not undertake that they are easy to be found . A Rough Draught OF A NEW MODEL AT SEA , 1694. LONDON : Printed in the Year 1700. A Rough Draught OF A NEW MODEL AT SEA , 1694. I Will make no other Introduction to the following Discourse , than that as the Importance of our being strong at Sea , was ever very great , so in our present Circumstances it is grown to be much greater ; because , as formerly our Force of Shipping contributed greatly to our Trade and Safety . So , now it is become indispensibly necessary to our very Being . It may be said now to England , Martha , Martha , thou art busy about many things , but one thing is necessary to the Question , What shall we do to be saved in this World ? There is no other Answer but this , Look to your Moate . The first Article of an English-mans Political Creed must be , That he believeth in the Sea , &c. without that there needed no General Council to pronounce him capable of Salvation here . We are in an Island confin'd to it by God Almighty , not as a Penalty but a Grace , and one of the greatest that can be given to Mankind . Happy Confinement that has made us Free , Rich , and Quiet ; a fair Portion in this World , and very well worth the preserving , a Figure that ever hath been envied , and could never be imitated by our Neighbours . Our Situation hath made Greatness abroad by Land Conquests unnatural things to us . It is true , we made Excursions , and glorious ones too , which make our Names great in History , but they did not last . Admit the English to be Giants in Courage , yet they must not hope to succeed in making War against Heaven , which seemeth to have enjoyned them to acquiesce in being happy within their own Circle . It is no Paradox to say , that England hath its Root in the Sea , and a deep one too , from whence it sendeth its Branches into both the Indies . We may say further in our present Case , That if Allegiance is due to Protection , ours to the Sea is due from that Rule , since by that , and by that alone , we are to be protected ; and if we have of late suffered Usurpation of other Methods , contrary to the Homage we owe to that which must preserve us . It is time now to restore the Sea to its right ; and as there is no Repentance effectual without Amendment , so there is not a moment to be lost in their going about it . It is not pretended to launch into such a Voluminous Treatise , as to set down every thing to which so comprehensive a Subject might lead me ; for as the Sea hath little less variety in it than the Land ; so the Naval Force of England extendeth it self into a great many Branches , each of which are important enough to require a Discourse apart , and peculiarly applied to it : But there must be preference to some Consideration above others , when the weight of them is so visibly Superior that it cannot be contested . It is there , first , that the Foundations are to be laid of our Naval Oeconomy ; amongst these , there is one Article which in its own Nature must be allowed to be the Corner-stone of the Building . The Choice of Officers , with the Discipline and Encouragement belonging to them . Upon this Head only , I shall then take the liberty to venture my Opinion into the World , with a real Submission to those , who may offer any think better for the advantage of the Publick . The first Question then will be , Out of what sort of Men the Officers of the Fleet are to be chosen ; and this immediately leadeth us to the present Controversy between the Gentlemen and the Tarpaulins . The usual Objection on both sides are too general to be relied upon . Partiality and Common Prejudices direct most Mens Opinions , without entring into the particular Reasons which ought to be the ground of it . There is so much ease in aquiescing in Generals , that the Ignorance of those who cannot distinguish , and the Largeness of those who will not , maketh Men very apt to decline the trouble of stricter Enquiries , which they think too great a price for being in the right , let it be never so valuable . This maketh them judge in the Lump , and either let their Opinions swim along with the Stream of the World , or give them up wholly to be directed by Success . The effect of this is , that they change their Minds upon every present uneasiness , wanting a steady Foundation upon which their Judgment should be formed . This is a pearching upon the Twigs of things , and not going to the Root . But sure the Matter in question deserveth to be examined in another manner , since so much dependeth upon it . To state the thing impartially , it must be owned that it seemeth to lye fairest for the Tarpaulin : It giveth an Impression that must have so much weight as to make a Man's Opinion lean very much on that side , it carrieth so much Authority with it , it seemeth to be so unquestionable , that those are fittest to Command at Sea , who have not only made it their Calling , but their Element ; that there must naturally be a prejudice to any thing then can be said against it . There must therefore be some Reason extraordinary to support the Argument on the other side , or else the Gentlemen could never enter the Lists against such a violent Objection , which seemeth not to be resisted . I will introduce my Argument with an Assertion , which as I take to be true almost in all Cases , so it is necessary to be explained and inforced in this . The Assertion is , that there is hardly a single Proposition to be made , which is not deceitful , and the tying our Reason too close to it , may in many Cases be destructive . Circumstances must come in , and are to be made a part of the Matter of which we are to judge ; positive Decisions are always dangerous , more especially in Politicks . A Man , who will be Master of an Argument , must do like a skilful General , who sendeth Scouts on all sides , to see whether there may not be an Enemy . So he must look round to see what Objections can be made , and not go on in a streight Line , which in the ready way to lead him into a mistake . Before then , that we conclude what sort of Men are fittest to Command at Sea , a Principle is to be laid down , that there is a differing Consideration to be had of such a Subject-matter , as is in it self distinct and independent , and of such a one as being a Limb of a Body , or a Wheel of a Frame , there is a necessity of suiting it to the rest , and preserving the Harmony of the whole . A Man must not in that Case restrain himself to the seperate Consideration of that single Part , but must take care it may fall in and agree with the Shape of the whole Creature , of which it is a Member . According to this Proposition , which I take to be indisputable , it will not I hope appear an Affectation , or an extravagant Fit of unseasonable Politicks , if , before I enter into the particular State of the present Question , I say something of the Government of England , and make that the Ground-work of what sort of Men are most proper to be made use of to Command at Sea. The Forms of Government to which England must be subjected , are either Absolute Monarchy , a Commonwealth , or a Mixt Monarchy , as it is now ; with those natural Alterations that the Exegency of Affairs may from time to time suggest . As to Absolute Monarchy I will not allow my self to be transported into such Invectives , as are generally made . against it ; neither am I ready to enter into the aggrevating Stile of calling every thing Slavery , that restraineth Men in any part of their Freedom : One may discern in this , as in most other things , the good and bad of it . We see by too near an Istance , what Fra●●e doth by it ; it doth not only struggle with the rest of Christendom ; but is in a fair way of giving Law to it . This is owing in great Measure to a Despotick and Undivided Power ; the uncontroulable Authority of the Directive Councils maketh every thing move without Disorder or Opposition , which must give an advantage , that is plain enough of it self , without being proved by the melancholly Experience we have of it at this time . I see and admire this ; yet I consider at the same time , that all things of this kind are comparative : That as on one side , without Government Men cannot enjoy what belongeth to them in particular , nor can a Nation be secure , or preserve it self in general : So on the other side , the end of Government being , that Mankind should live in some competent State of Freedom , it is very unnatural to have the End destroyed by the Means that were originally made use of to attain it . In this respect something is to be ventured , rather than submit to such a precarious State of Life , as would make it a Burthen to a reasonable Creature ; and therefore , after I have owned the Advantages in some kind of an unlimitted Government ; yet , while they are attended with so many other discouraging Circumstances , I cannot think but that they may be bought too dear ; and if it should be so , that it is not possible for a State to be Great and Glorious , unless the Subjects are wretchedly Miserable . I am ashamed to own my low-spirited frailty in preferring such a Model of Government , as may agree with the reasonable Enjoyment of a Free People , before such a one , by which Empire is to be extended at such an unnatural Price . Besides whatever Mens Opinions may be one way or another , in the general Question , there is an Argument in our Case that shutteth the Door to any Answer to it . ( Viz. ) We cannot subsist under a Despotick Power , our very Being would be destroyed by it ; for we are to consider , we are a very little Spot in the Map of the World , and make a great Figure only by Trade , which is the Creature of Liberty ; one destroyed , the other falleth to the Ground by a natural Consequence , that will not admit a dispute . If we would be measured by our Acres , we are poor inconsiderable People ; we are exalted above our natural Bounds , by our good Laws , and our excellent Constitution . By this we are not only happy at Home , but considerable Abroad . Our Situation , our Humour , our Trade , do all concur to strengthen this Argument . So that all other Reasons must give place to such a one as maketh it out , that there is no Mean between a Free Nation and No Nation . We are no more a People , nor England can no longer keep its Name from the moment that our Liberties are extinguish'd ; the Vital Strength that should support us being withdrawn , we should then be no more than the Carcass of a Nation , with no other Security than that of Contempt ; and to subsist upon no other Tenure , than that we should be below the giving Temptation to our stronger Neighbours to devour us . In my Judgment , therefore , there is such a. short Decision to be made upon this Subject , that in Relation to England , an Absolute Monarchy is as an unreasonable thing to be wished , as I hope it will be impossible to be obtained . It must be considered in the next place , whether England likely is to be turn'd into a Commonwealth . It is hard at any time to determine what will be the Shape of the next Revolution , much more at this time would it be inexcusably Arrogant to undertake it . Who can foresee whether it will be from without , or from within , or from both ? Whether with or without the Concurrence of the People ? Whether regularly produced , or violently imposed ? I shall not therefore Magisterially declare it impossible that a Commonwealth should be settled here ; but I may give my humble Opinion , that according to all appearances , it is very improbable . I will first lay it down for a Principle , That it is not a sound way of arguing , to say , That if it can be made out , that the Form of a Commonwealth will best suit with the Interest of the Nation , it must for that reason of necessity prevail . I will not deny but that Interest will not lie , is a right Maxim , where-ever it is sure to be understood ; else one had as good affirm , That no Man in particular , nor Mankind in general , can ever be mistaken . A Nation is a great while before they can see , and generally they must feel first before their Sight is quite cleared . This maketh it so long before they can see their Interest ; that for the most part it is too late for them to pursue it : If Men must be supposed always to follow their true Interest , it must be meant of a New Manufactory of Mankind by God Almighty ; there must be some new Clay , the old Stuff never yet made any such infallible Creature . This being premis'd , it is to be inquired , Whether instead of inclination , or a leaning towards a Commonwealth , there is not in England a general dislike to it ; if this be so as I take it to be , by a very great disparity in Numbers ; it will be in vain to dispute the Reason , whilst Humour is against it , allowing the weight that is due to the Argument , which may be alledged for it ; yet , if the Herd is against it , the going about to convince them , would have no other effect than to shew that nothing can be more impertinent than good Reasons , when they are misplaced or ill-timed . I must observe , That there must be some previous Dispositions in all great Changes to facilitate and to make way for them : I think it not at all absur'd , I affirm That such Resolutions are seldem made at all , except by the general Preparations of Mens Minds they are half made before , and it is plainly visible , that Men go about them . Though it seemeth to me that the Argument alone maketh all others unnecessary , yet I must take notice that ▪ besides what hath been said upon this Subject , there are certain Preliminaries to the first building a Commonwealth . Some Materials absolutely necessary for the carrying on such a Fabick , which at present are wanting amongst us , I mean Virtue , Morality , Diligence , or at least Hypocrisy . Now this Age is so plain dealing , as not to dissemble so far as to an outward ▪ Pretence of Qualities which seem at present so Vnfashionable , and under so much Discountenance . From hence we may draw a plain and natural Inference , That a Commonwealth is not fit for us , because we are not fit for a Commonwealth . This being granted , the Supposition of this Form of Government of England , with all its Consequences as to the present Question , must be excluded ; and Absolute Monarchy having been so too by the Reasons at once alledged , it will without further Examination fall to a Mixt Government , as we now are . I will not say , that there is never to be any Alteration ; the Constitution of the several Parts that concur to make up the Frame of the present Government , may be altered in many things , in some for the better , and in others , perhaps for the worse , according as Circumstances shall arise to induce a Change ; and as Passion and Interest shall have more or less Influence upon the Publick Councils ; but still , if it remaineth in the whole so far a a mixt Monarchy , that there shall be a restraint upon the Prince , as to the Exercise of a Despotick Power , it is enough to make it a Groundwork for the present Question . It appeareth then that a bounded Monarchy is that kind of Government which will most probably prevail and continue in England ; from whence it must follow ( as hath been hinted before ) that every considerable Part ought to be so composed , as the better to conduce to the preserving the Harmony of the whole Constitution . The Navy is of so great Importance , that it would be disparaged by calling it less than the Life and Soul of Government . Therefore to apply the Argument to the Subject we are upon ; in case the Officers be all Tarpaulins , it would be in reality too great a tendency to a Common-wealth ; such a part of the Constitution being Democratically disposed may be suspected to endeavour to bring it into that Shape ; where the influence must be so strong , and the Supposition will be the more justifiable . In short , if the Maritim Force , which is the only thing that can defend us , should be wholly directed by the lower sort of Men , with an intire Exclusion of the Nobility and Gentry ; it will not be easy to answer the Arguments supported by so great a probability , that such a Scheme would not only lean toward a Domocracy , but directly lead us into it . Let us now examine the contrary Proposition , ( viz. ) that all Officers should be Gentlemen . Here the Objection lierh so fair of its introducing an Arbitrary Government , that it as little to be answered in that respect , as the former is in the other . Gentlemen in a general Definition , will be suspected to lie more than other Men , under the Temptations of being made Instruments of unlimitted Power ; their Relations , their Way of Living , their Tast of the Entertainments of the Court , inspire an Ambition that generally draweth their Inclinations toward it , besides the gratifying of their Interests . Men of Quality are often taken with the Ornaments of Government , the Splendor dazleth them so , as that their Judgments are surprized by it ; and there will be always some that have so little remorse for invading other Mens Liberties , that it maketh them less solicitous to preserve their own . These things throw them naturally into such a dependance as might give a dangerous Biass ; if they alone were in Command at Sea , it would make that great Wheel turn by an irregular Motion , and instead of being the chief means of preserving the whole Frame , might come to be the chief Instruments to discompose and dissolve it . The two further exclusive Propositions being necessarily to be excluded in this Question , there remaineth no other Expedient ; neither can any other Conclusion be drawn from the Argument as it hath been stated , than that there must be a mixture in the Navy of Gentlemen and Tarpaulins , as there is in the Constition of the Government , of Power and Liberty . This Mixture is not to be so rigorously defined , as to set down the exact Proportion there is to be of each ; the greater or lesser Number must be directed by Circumstances , of which the Government is to Judge , and which makes it improper to set such Rounds , as that upon no occasion it shall on either side be lessened or enlarged . It is possible the Men of Wapping may think they are injured , by giving them any Partners in the Dominion of the Sea ; they may take it unkindly to be jostled in their own Element by Men of such a different Education , that they may be said to be of another Species ; they will be apt to think it an Usurpation upon them , and notwithstanding the Instances that are against them , and which give a kind of Prescription on the other side , they will not easily acquiesce in what they conceive to be a hardship to them . But I shall in a good measure reconcile my self to them by what follows ; ( viz. ) The Gentlemen shall not be capable of bearing Office at Sea , except they be Tarpaulins to ; that is to say , except they are so trained up by a continued habit of living at Sea , that they may have a Right to be admitted free Denizens of Wapping Upon this dependeth the whole Matter ; and indeed here lieth the difficulty , because the Gentlemen brought up under the Connivance of a looser Discipline , and of an easier admittance , will take it heavily to be reduced within the Fetters of such a New Model ; and I conclude , they will be extreamly averse to that which they call an unreasonable Yoke upon them , that their Original Consent is never to be expected . But if it appeareth to be convenient , and which is more , that it is necessary for the Preservation of the whole , that it should be so ; the Government must be call'd in Aid to suppress these first Boilings of Discontent ; the Rules must be imposed with such Authority , and the Execution of them must be so well supported , that by degrees their Impatience will be subdued , and they will concu● in an Establishment to which they will every day be more reconciled . They will find it will take away the Objections which are now thrown upon them , of setting up for Masters , without having even been Apprentices ; or at least , without having served out their Time. Mankind naturally swelleth against Favour and Partiality ; their belief of their own Merit maketh Men object them to a prosperous Competitor , even when there is no pretence for it ; but when there is the least handle offered , to be sure it will be taken . So , in this Case , when a Gentleman is preferr'd at Sea , the Tarpaulin is very apt to impute it to Friend or Favour : But if that Gentleman hath before his Preferment passed through all the Steps which lead to it , that he smelleth as much of Pitch and Tar , as those that were Swadled in Sail-Cloath ; his having an Escutcheon will be so far from doing him harm , that it will set him upon the advantage Ground : It will draw a real Respect to his Quality when so supported , and give him an Influence , and and Authority infinitely superior to that which the meer Sea men can ever pretend to . When a Gentleman hath learned how to Obey , he will grow very much fitter to Command ; his own Memory will advise him not to inflict too rigorous Punishments . He will better resist the Temptations of Authority ( which are great ) when he reflecteth how much he hath at other times wished it might be gently exercised , when he was liable to the Rigour of it . When the undistinguish'd Discipline of a Ship hath tamed the young Mastership , which is apt to arise from a Gentleman's , Birth and Education . He then groweth Proud in the right place , and valueth himself first upon knowing his Duty , and then upon doing it . In plain English , Men of Quality in their several Degrees must either restore themselves to a better Opinion , both for Morality and Diligence , or else Quality it self will be in danger of being extinguished . The Original Gentleman is almost lost in strictness , when Posterity doth not still further adorn by their Virtue . The Escutcheon their Ancestors first got for them by their Merit , they deserve the Penalty of being deprived of it . To expect that Quality alone should waft Men up into Places and Imployments , is as unreasonable , as to think that a Ship , because it is Carved and Gilded , should be fit to go to Sea without Sails or Tackling . But when a Gentleman maketh no other use of his Quality , than to incite him the more to his Duty , it will give such a true and settled Superiority , as must destroy all Competition from those that are below him . It is time now to go to the Probationary Qualifications of an Officer at Sea : And I have some to offer , which I have digested in my Thoughts , I hope impartially , that they may not be Speculative Notions , but things easy and practicable , if the directing Powers will give due Countenance and Incouragement to the Execution of them : But whilst I am going about to set them down , though this little Essay was made to no other End , than to introduce them , I am upon better Recollection , induced to put a restraint upon my self , and rather retract the Promise I made at the beginning , than by advising the particular Methods , by which I conceive the good End that is aimed at may be obtained , to incur the Imputation of the thing of the World , of which I would least be guilty , which is of anticipating , by my private Opinion , the Judgment of the Parliament , or seeming out of my slender Stock of Reason to dictate to the Supream Wisdom of the Nation . They will , no doubt , consider the present Establishments for Discipline at Sea , which are many of them very good , and if well executed , might go a great way in the present Question . But I will not say they are so perfect , but that other may be added to make them more effectual , and that some more Supplemental Expedients may be necessary to compleat what is yet defective : And whenever the Parliament shall think fit to take this Matter into their Consideration , I am sure they will not want for their Direction , the Auxiliary Reasons of any Man without Doors , muchless of one , whose Thoughts are so intirely and unaffectedly resigned to whatever they shall determine in this , or any thing else relating to the Publick . MAXIMS OF STATE . By a late Person of Honour . LONDON : Printed in the Year 1700. MAXlMS OF STATE . 1. THAT a Prince who falleth out with Laws , breaketh with his best Friends . 2. That the exalting his own Authority above his Laws , is like letting in his Enemy to surprize his Guards : The Laws are the only Guards he can be sure will never run away from him . 3. A Prince that will say he can do no Good , except he may do every thing ; teacheth the People to say , They are Slaves , if they must not do whatever they have a mind to . 4. That Power and Liberty are like Heat and Moisture ; where they are well mixt ▪ every thing prospers ; where the are single , they are destructive . 5. That Arbitrary Power is like most other things , that are very hard , they are also very apt to break . 6. That the profit of Places should be measured as they are more or less conducing to the Publick Service ; and if Business is more necessary than Splendor , the , Instrument of it ought in Proportion to be better paid ; that the contrary Method is as impertinent , as it would be to let the. Carving of a Ship cost more than all the rest of it . 7. That where the least useful part of the People have the most Credit with the Prince , Men will conclude , That the way to get every thing , is to be good for nothing . 8. That an extravagant Gift to one Man , raiseth the Market to every body else ; so that in consequence , the unlimitted Bounty of an unthinking Prince maketh him a Beggar , let him have never so much Money . 9. That if ordinary Beggars are whip'd , the daily Beggars in fine Cloaths ( out of a proportionable Respect to their Quality ) ought to be hanged . 10. That Pride is as loud a Beggar as Want , and a great deal more Sawcy . 11. That a Prince , who will give more to Importunity than Merit , had as good set out a Proclamation to all his Loving Subjects , forbidding them to do well , upon the penalty of being undone by it . 12. That a wise Prince will not oblige his Courtiers , who are Birds of Prey , so as to disoblige his People , who are Beast of Burthen . 13. That it is safer for a Prince to Judge of Men by what they do to one another , than that they do to him . 14. That it is a gross Mistake to think , That a Knave between Man and Man , can be honest to a King , whom of all other Men generally they make the least Scruple to deceive . 15. That a Prince who can ever trust the Man that hath once deceived him , loseth the Right of being Faithfully dealt with by any other Person . 16. That it is not possible for a Prince to find out such an Honest Knave , as will let no body else Cheat him . 17. That if a Prince does not shew an Aversion to Knaves , there will be an Inference that will be very Natural , let it be never so Unmannerly . 18. That a Prince who followeth his own Opinion to soon , is in danger of repenting it too late . 19. That it is less dangerous for a Prince to mind too much what the People say , than too little . 20. That a Prince is to take care that the greater part of the People may not be angry at the same time ; for though the first beginning of their Ill Humour should be against one another , yet if not stopt , it will naturally end in Anger against him . 21. That if Princes would Reflect how much they are in the Power of their Ministers , they would be more circumspect in the Choice of them . 22. That a wise Prince will support good Servants against Mens Anger , and not support ill ones against their Complaint . 23. That Parties in a State generally , like Freebooters , hang out False Colours ; the pretence is the Publick Good ; the real Business is , to catch Prizes ; like the Tartars , where-ever they succeed , instead of Improving their Victory , they presently fall upon the Baggage . 24. That a Prince may play so long between Two Parties , that they may in time join together , and be in earnest with him . 25. That there is more Dignity in open Violence , than in the unskilful Cunning of a Prince , who goeth about to Impose upon the People . 26. That the People will ever suspect the Remedies for the Diseases of the State , where they are wholly excluded from seeing how they are prepared . 27. That changing Hands without changing Measures , is as if a Drunkard in a Dropsey should change his Doctors , and not his Dyet . 28. That a Prince is to watch that his Reason may not be so subdued by his Nature , as not to be so much a Man of Peace , as to be just in an Army ; nor so much a Man of War , as to be out of his Element in his Counsel . 29. That a Man who cannot mind his own Business , is not to be trusted with the King 's . 30. That Quality alone should only serve to make a shew in the Embroidered Part of the Government ; but that Ignorance , though never so well born , should never be admitted to spoil the Publick Business . 31. That he who thinks his Place below him , will certainly be below his Place . 32. That when Princes Examples ceaseth to have the force of a Law , it is a sure sign that his Power is wasting , and that there is but little distance between Men's neglecting to Imitate , and their refusing 〈◊〉 Obey . 33. That a People may let a King fall , yet still remain a People ; but if a King let his People slip from him ▪ he is no longer King. ADVERTISEMENT . SInce the Death of the Ingenious Translator of these Essays , an imperfect Transcript of the following Letter was intended for the Press , but having the good fortune to meet with a more correct Copy , I thought my self under a necessity of Publishing it with this Third Edition , not only to do Justice to his Memory , but to the Great Person he Chose for his Patron . M. G. A Letter sent by his Lordship to Charles Cotton , Esq upon his New Translation and Dedication of Montaigne's Essays . SIR . I have too long delay'd my Thanks to you for giving me such an obliging Evidence of your Remembrance : That alone would have been a welcome Present , but when join'd with the Book in the World I am the best entertain'd with , it raiseth a strong desire in me to be better known , where I am sure to be so much pleased . I have till now thought Wit could not be Translated , and do still retain so much of that Opinion , that I believe it impossible , except by one whose Genius cometh up to that of the Author . You have so kept the Original Strength of his Thought , that it almost tempts a Man to believe the Transmigration of Souls , and that his being us'd to Hills , is come into the Moore-Lands to Reward us here in England , for doing him more Right than his Country will afford him . He hath by your means mended his First Edition : To transplant and make him Ours , is not only a Valuable Acquisition to us , but a Just Censure of the Critical Impertinence of those French Scribblers who have taken pains to make little Cavils and Exceptions , to lessen the Reputation of this great Man , whom Nature hath made too big to Confine himself to the Exactness of a Studied Stile . He let his Mind have its full Flight , and sheweth by a generous kind of Negligence that he did not Write for Praise , but to give to the World a true Picture of himself and of Mankind . He scorned affected Periods , or to please the mistaken Reader with an empty Chime of Words . He hath no Affectation to set himself out , and dependeth wholly upon the Natural Force of what is his own , and the Excellent Application of what he borroweth . You see , Sir , I have kindness enough for Monsieur de Montaigne to be your Rival , but no Body can pretend to be in equal Competition with you : I do willingly yield which is no small matter for a Man to do to a more prosperous Lover ; and if you will repay this piece of Justice with another , pray believe , that he who can Translate such an Author without doing him wrong must not only make me Glad but Proud of being his Very humble Servant , Halli●ax . FINIS . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A44782-e250 His Advice to a Daughter . Westminster-School . Dr. Busby , who the same same Day . His Free-School Foundations .