J i C ' tfornia nal GEORGE BUCHANAN'S DIALOGUE CONCERNING THE RIGHTS OF THE CROWN OF SCOTLAND TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH ; v: i T H TWO DISSERTATIONS PREFIXED ; ONE ARCHEOLOGICAL iiur.inisc into t;k i-rei ended identity of the getes and Scythians, of the GETES AND GOTHS, AND OK THE GOTHS AND SCOTS; AND THE OTHER HISTORICAL 1 INDICATING THE CHAK.'CTEK OK BUCHANAN AS AN 111 HVilAV, \T> CONTAINING SOME SEEl iMENS Oi' HIS L'OETin IN ENGLISH VEKSE. BY ROBERT MACFARLAN, A.M. Porijcrenl i-i'-ir pro virili rem liU:rarbm illulirare, ac I'c fuosqnf civos infiiioriii- p:ili '' CUE f . CM, EDI N E U R G II . JC T5 n^ 5XE ERRATA. Page 13, laft line but one, for F a h read y ,< y h. 16, line S, in the notes, for Att* read AnrM. 23, laft line, expunge v at the end of djvo^e,. 29, laft line, add at the end of Ka-rsaxsi/ae. 43, line 9, in the notes, for rela read ;;t/u. 61, line 13, for / read for. 96, line 29, infert the word one after nor. 97, line 27, before the word one infert the. 177, line 22, for Chclfcricl rend Chllperick. " \ ^Mfcw DiiiWiiiiilii i mini inn I in i AN INQUIRY, &c. THOSE, who, like Ariftotle, contend for the eternity of the world, judge it impoilible to trace any nation to its cradle; becaufe the natural hiftory of our globe as well as the teftimony of ce- leftial obfervations evinces that every region has varied and is conftantly varying its latitude, fo that the polar regions will become, as they appear to have formerly been, the equatorial in an endlefs progrefiion. Adding to this confideration the al- terations necefiarily produced among the human race by migration and conqueft they find no diffi- culty in conceiving that there has not been any pure and unmixed nation, nor any original and una- dulterated language, for many ages on the face of our planet. But, though daggered by this theory and inclined with Gibbon* to laugh at A trick vanity in deeming the exiftence of an indigenous tribe poffible, yet I think it not irrational here to * Vol. I. p. 220- B indulge indulge my curiofity, and to do in this what I mtift' do in every other queftion, to carry my refcarches into the origin of nations as far as my limited powers and fcanty materials will admit. In every inquiry phvfical >-, traiiHt ; net alii duravit prifca ilia tin qua v. qui txtremi gentium harum ignoti prope cae- noruiibu . ciegunt. IYo< . , IV. 1 ','. ;. }:-:, ~'jirx ~ x sOtr;, aTif ix ixftior ,y.x /.l, r.7. r.. ..-'.; i;t7.i^Ti tVt. the the northern parts of Afia are by us called Tartars, though we know many of th#m to differ widely in almoft every thing but the general character of hu- manity. Thus far and no farther were the Getes termed Scythians. Where the Scythians arc termed by authors of credit Getes \ have yet to learn; for it does not follow that, becaufe every Englifhman is a Briton, everv Briton is an Englifhman. The genus certainly includes the fpecics ; but it is Go- thick ignorance to make the lpecies necelfarily in- clude the genus, a paralogy fm of which the abetters of the fyftem, which I combat, are notorioufly guilty. Not wifliing to be tedious nor to wafta paper and ink to no purpofe I proceed without fur- ther preface to quote my authorities againft the iden- tity of the Scythians and Getes, the fundamental ar- ticle of the Gothick creed. If the Scythians and Getes were the fame race, It could not be a fecret to the Scythians themfelves. What are their words ? In the fpeech of their am- bafladors to the deputies of the neighbouring na- tions, when their country was invaded by Darius, Herodotus has recorded thefe expreffions, which are very clofely translated. " iyu i~* iu- VZ- Q:r,'.y.x;, /.;- : . y.x; r- ; .:.., i r .;-,y,: T/.jjriCVWCBg TfTa:, &TC. f firai 0;>;.x.i> o.:'j-..^~x~a y.Xi Zi.Y.zurxT.1. MelpOITlfne, cap. C, :. ; Mclpim ne, cap. T -4.. \yjy.,7'.. - a>J.x ;caaa 0-rj'ft M'l; :, , L. : p. Si ^ 8: T'/.-ci, u;i r-i etirtpanav 1 .. i .- 4. .. 7 . . '';-..' ~ . . >r u y*i ittxih; \t/x*'.% .-. A;./ :.',., ~it .-. \.,i,-j., Tj "nhrfyo, Tx. i/.-.-ci., . .. -7 -.-/.- L.v.lbXf a:. I; ''XJ~.t.. fj.tr; UT.1 T>i -,;,*:y <:>/:? Xi '; : ct: tv.r xnx.jr. '"%,x~,z: r.ih, Stia.bo, Trogus and Curtius after him. Without mukipiving wo:d.- I ihali quote their ex- preflionv, and leave the rer.di Ige for hin/elf. ' Tiit; \ Sarmatians, the progeny oi a body of Scy- Everrei r il!i lot t- commercia iinjaa'. Ovid, Trift. t]. ::. lit), v. !. j:. Melpomene, cap. 117. 5-fc.-, "'. /. Y.-x:r. -rai . , 7 thian youths and Amazons, fpeak the Scythian language, but not without folecifms, as it was at rirft but imperfectly learned by the Amazons." Who ever pretended that the Sarmatick or the Sclavonick was the fame language as the Teuto- nick ? Let any inquirer perufe Melpomene from chapter 10S to chapter 118, and, if he cannot clearly fee the truch of what I here aflert, he muft be blinded by prejudice and refolved to dif- cern nothing but what is Gothick. Ephorus, as Stra- bo * tells us, iqm that " there was fome difference between the Scythians and Sarmatians," as there is to this day between the Ruffians and Poles, and thus agrees in his account with Herodotus. Strabo in fpeaking of certain tribes fays, t: In f a more inland fituation than thefe are the Sarma- tians, who are themfelves alfo Scythians." In another p adage he has thefe words, " The 1" plain of the Iberians is inhabited by that part of the nation that is moil addicted to agriculture and attached to the habits and cuitoms of the Medes ; but the mountainous regions are occupied by the moil numerous and warlike, who live in the man- ner of the Scythians and Sarmatians, their next neighbours and kinfmen." The elegant and fententlous Quintus Curtius is, however, the moll clear and pointed in his evi- dence, which is the more to be regarded that \.-' :'j ,/y,. rzt.o;x.i*jVTi$ :; cvrr cc~q ra OLzya.\B y vkix a ytwT'-i d-.-.^alu eciTT,v a. Ay.xC,.;z;. * Strabo, lib. vii. p. 463. fol. Amfteiodami, r>.pu!l , ' Ty.vQxv xcti Th!? Xa f ";..W( QtHt; a>cii/.o(Hr, ike, |" Strabo, lib. xi. p. ~-j'-). E.^ortfU ci tutu: "Zapy.yTxi xzi X Strabo, lib. xi. p. 764. To uev irtSiot rup iQniuv tl y:it)py.y.u:?aiTol olxa&u -v;t:. ..cevoctr:.'.VOi' r^i j sfriir.v ot ";?.:n\ vat ^.x^.;/.oiy.7^7i 2.yLUa> dixr,* y*>Tt{ K 2,xc- he he wrote, as appears evidently from his expref- fions, after the northern parts of Afia became, in the words of Strabo, better known in confequence of Alexander's expedition and of the wars between the Romans and Mithridates and the Parthians. In Englifh thefe are his expreffions, " The * nation of the Scythians lies to the north-eaft of Thrace, from which it is at no great diftance, and is nor, as fome have thought, a frontier nation but a pait of the Sarmatians." Curtius f proceeds, " The Sc^Jiians, who are (till formidable to their neighboun^nhabit a cham- paign and fertile country ; they have poflfefiions in Europe and in Alia, and thole, who are near the Bof- phorus, are reckoned Afiaticksj but thoie, who are in Europe, reach in a ftraight line to the Bofphorus, and Irom thence to the Tanais, of which the llream ieparates ! ; Airope from Afia ; nor is it doubted that the Scythians, who founded the Parthian empire, came from Europe and not from the Bofphorus." In the Ipeech of the Scythian ambaiiadors to Alexander recorded by the lame author we have thefe v. ord?, ' c Yout may employ us to guard * Curtius !i'j. vii. cap. 2S. Scytharum gens baud pro- ci'J Thracia lita ab oriente atl feprentrionem fe vcrtit ; Sar- matarum, i:t nuidam credidere, non iinitinsa fed par? eft. f Curtii.b, lil). vi. cap. ;;. Scytha; regionem cam- ptTrriin (t fertiiem occupaverunt grave, adhuc r.ccolis : Icdes ha! c : it et in F.uropa et in Afia: i ] n i fuper Bofphorum cpiinit AT; a* akrib'intur : at qui i;i Kuropa funt a la -.a: '1 i;:;; :,r l.eirc ad Boryflhenem a?oi:e incie ad Tanaim al'miri a;r)!i' ' . rcrfa pla_"? attincnt. Tanais F.uropr.m et Afiam nie- dim inreruuit ; :u du!)itatur quin Scvtha*, qui I'arthos con- didcre, r.on a Dofphoro led c \ Europ.e rcg one penetrave- rii:f. ; Cur! ins, lib. \ ii. tap. ':,. Caterum nov et Afire ft Kuropa- .ia!-c' >:> ci: : oil'- . I). ''t'\,, niii dividat Tanai*-, con- tingi'iiu- : uWa T.iuaiin ui r ad Tnracir.m colimu: : Thracia? Macedoni.ru co 'U'l.tun ei'lL- lama ell. Utrique inn erio luo rkiki.aoi holies ar. aniicos veils elTe eonfidera. both 9 both Europe and Afia, as hardly any thing but the Tanais (or rather the Jaxartes) feparates us from the Bactrians ; and beyond the Tanais we reach as far as Thrace, on which, we are told, Macedonia borders. Whether you would wiih us, who touch your empire at both extremities, to be your friends or your enemies, it is your bufinefs to confider." Thus we now find the Scythians and Sarma- tians clearly proved to be the fame people, and, like the Arabians, immoveably fixed in the re- gions of poverty affigned to thern by the beft authors both ancient and modern, by Herodotus and Strabo, by Gibbon and Rennel. Being, as Strabo informs us, kinfmen, they always appear united againft foreign invaders, againft Darius, the Perfian, in Herodotus*, and againft Hermanric, the Goth, in Gibbon f. We have the fanclion of Curtius already quoted and of J u (tin, or rather of Trogus, in the reference below, for aflerting that the Partnians J were European Scy- thians or Sarmatians j and the fame Juftin autho- rifes us to call the Baclrians Scythians. Indeed, if we had not thefe authorities as corroborating proofs, we might well reft fatisfied with the tefti- mony of Strabo j| alone, who tells us that the * Melpomene, ca p. 119. j- Vol. ii. cap. 25 & 26. I Lib. ii. cap. 1. Quippe cum Ipii (Scvthse) Parthos Ba<5h'ianofque, femina: autem eorum Amazonism regna cou- diderint. Cap. 3 Parthicum & Bactriamnn imperium Ipfi concii- derunt. Lib.xli.cap 1 Parthi Scytharum exulesfuere; hoc enim ipiormn vocabulo manifeitatur. C,;p. 2. Sermo his (Parthis) inter Scythicum Medicumque medius, et ex utrif- que mixtns. , Strabo, lib. XV. p. 1054- EsrsnTtusTat r'avoy.ec r/if Apatr? U-i". '/' -': y-; :ir3-; v.o:, Wz.c-orj ,ai Mr,cuv y.a.1 eti Tt-iv TTfO ZKTtwv Bxy.~ r:,a; :ctp:i umpot. C Perfians, Pcrfuns, Medcs, Bactrians and Sogdians fpoke nearly the fame language *. The Sacrc too were Scvthians, as we learn from Alexander's admiral, Ncarchusf, and from his poet, Chcerilus;j\ f laving thus in lb me meafure afecrtained the extent and the nations of the (treat Scyihia, which reached from the Xieper to the confines of India and penetrated far fouthwards into Alia, let us now come to the Little Scvthia, which, as S:rabo de- clares, extended at fiift from the I ihmus (of the Crimea) to the Borvlihenes; but which, from the numbers of Scythians that eroded the Tyras , \ idler) and the l,\^r Danube) and expelled the Thracians or Getes, w,b gra lually Ityled Little Scythia. I low could all tin;, be ? 1 low could a Little Scvthia exill in the middle of Thrace, if the Thraciarr, and consequently the Getes, were Scythians ? I am afhamed of having difcufied fo much at large a fubject, upon which author: y and common fenie are lo totallv again it thole that contend for the idi ntitv of the Scvthian: but a part oi the Thraci \n*. who were i v\i) nei effary, i: v, i . . . . - ' i > in -, whr , as lecreta opportunity oi pcrionady know: uibi s of tiie 1; ub.-.i . , . In Were any farther ifhed'bv i ; ro- nacl an w A'laii t- 1 1 gets, whom Mr. Pinkerton calls Goths, and Ar- rian Scythians*, are Huns, and the Huns are Scy- thians. Is it conceivable that Procopius, who -j- was fo intimately connected with Belifarius, a Thracian general and a man of the greateft merit, fhould not have known whether the MafTagetae and Scythians were Getes, a tribe of the Phranans ? The thing is impoffible. Had he been even a fimpleton, and not a man of fcience and learning, a perfon of fhallow understanding, and not a ftatef- man of deep penetration improved by education and travel, he mult have learned the whole from the red of the army as well as from Belifarius, who was a hero of the fit ft magnitude ; and how a man can be a hero, or conquer vaft armies with a imall force without extenfive knowledge, is a myftery that will require all the ingenuity or. the Goths to ex- plain. Here I might clofe the evidence upon this head of the controverfy, were it not that the prejudices of a certain party feem to require an anivver to Mr. Pinkerton's fourteen authorities on the oppo- site fide. ' c i. Strabo, Pliny, Ptolemy, fays he, all rank the Getae as Scythians." Aniwer. Ptolemy lavs nothing on the Subject, but confines his oblcrvations to the longitude and * Arrkn, lib. iv. E> ot y.t^cftx 7:;c n ToyoHZiu: yr,$ y.a.i rut Mctt %yi TV v Y- '- v b w v . Airian, lib. iv. Ci ; s Wuc-c c.-.;rai Zx.tSai mm; wfTniaysT.-r, &c. f Procopius, lib. 3..Vand. Via.ps-a.ynvv rs xcct rxv aX>.uv XV.vOfc" ;'; ty.v i'wy.c'Axv g;/v;i/ s^aX/.orri'; 1 . Tht-fc Mafiageta" in anotner pad age turn out to be Huns ; for Procopius falls into the common error of giving all tlie t:;bcs in the north-eaft of Europe and north-weft of A'ia the name of the principal nati :i. But he never tells us Mia the Scvthians were Getes or Thracians. C 2 latitude 12 latitude of places ; and Strabo and Pliny, as I have already proved by their words, are totally advcrfe to the Gothick fyftem. " 2. JuPtin, or rather Trogus Pompeiu.% fays that Tanaus, king of the mod ancient Scythae, fought with Vcxoris, king of Egypt. Valerius Flaccus lib. V. calls the fame Tanaus, king of the Gets." Anfwer. Trogus *, as will appear from Juftin's words below, does not lay that Tanaus fought with Vexoris, and the name of Tanaus is not to be found in book V. nor in any book of Valerius Flaccus. fC 3. Trebellius Pollio in Gallieno, Scythae autem, id tu, pars Gothorum, Afiam vaflabant. The fame (in Claudio Gorhico) Scytharum di- verfi populi, Peucini, Trutungi, Auitrogoth: pntdre, &c."' Anfwer. That the reader nay not here be milled, 1 fhall give the whole f pafiage in I'.ngiifh without anv K camera, fubjoining the original ai the bottom of the page. " Lr.llly various nations of th? Scythians, the Peucini, the Tiutungi, the Auilrog tni, the Vir- i, ' Jcs, the Celts alio and the lleruli . a defin. ot ; hinder came into the Roman territory and ltatt." Here the Celts are as mge- r.ouilv as inge .u >ufiv omitred by - Mr. Pinkerton .::c tliev v. mid I ..'.' go vl a title ro the apj tion of Scythians as t i e oilier brad-roll of names. ' . -, lib. : . '".>. i . 1 ere qirtle'n ten an- ' ' ' ' ' * ' t i.e i';\ T ; . (. oriim . i'i.! j I Di A ' I.';.- - :. \ ': : f i , \> .>'.' 1 I .; ; i . ; , pra- i,i> cupiditat'j in Roiv.aiu;:i] luben ct ;.. . . .' n vl v.t n :. If 13 If it fhould be faid that the adverb ;cs, which tlvs author 1. produced, amount to nothing but that certain wri- ters frequently confound Gctes, Scythians and Goths, making no juft diftmclion between the gencrick name Scythians and the fpecific names Getesand Goths. Except f the Gothick vifionaries, Jornandes and Ilidore, vvhofe grofs prejudices and abfurd fictions render their teftimonies unworthy of notice, the authors quoted are all Byzantine hitto- riansj and that little credit is due to them, as far .:- names are concerned, we learn from Snifter, a man Strabo, lib. xii. p. 774. '.-WaiTzs <-- *f ?*.<; t. 14 of great erudition and induftry, who at the requeft and under the lanition of the Academy of Sciences at Peterlburgh published memoirs of the nations to the north-call of the Danube extracted from the Bvzantine hiilorians. From his work we learn than " as * it is the cuilom of the Byzanune Tot!!' i. p. "$. in Snmrnario. Ut nullam fere gentem barbaram fuo peculiar! L\n. er nomine vocare, fed arena iis affingere, vel rerum ign .irantc--., vel i itempeltiwim affcCtanes fern ionise fti . .-: -,-. feiiptore-. Bv/.a!i;ini folent ; itaelGothi lo- non raiD S vt larum nomine von hint, enfque prxte- rea olim Sauromata-;, Melanchlacnos et Gctas dietos eile pro- (hmt. Semel etiam iplis Yandaloriim no.nen Cedrcnus et '/.on irr s ti i'nrmt. + T.ie reader mav form a tolerable idea of the romances, which theft two eccidiafticks t . ifhop of Ravenna and the archbishop of Sevdl , were pkafed to c.iil a hi'.torj < hi nnh le, from the followh ns. The former, aft r trarifrj ,\ b ,: Ins Goths acrofs the Bal- tick from Scania, m :> !: - the n iouthu :rd to a Ian i Oviii in Scvthin. and then through Alia to rfqvpt, where they d-'kat king Vexorb and in their return enli ive ; Afiatic!; . ;'...:r wives, : An ./.on . b ing in their ah- fi en were not con . : ted with rep r ene- :'- -. 'r/ : ' :c 1 with w nderl :! go i Armenia, S\ r:;;. Ciih i i, G .! ria, Phi : i, ;; ! )wn of Alia, & r ie me ted the R i m > anc i i?i ve:i ". w. v i :: , i:. a as ai >r an 1 peri >rmed m n\ other nun veiio : -> p!i i t *> are en ;nter ; nd v; F fun "..::: ?: ' ', i fi in vob e u\ fli ipe, : ' of < buhi:!: w ircho im- pre.-.:, U.ed b ilom in: or n;n:k,.:i 1 oirits ii ! . ierts ot so'- : i, v '. T'.. iae ' Kvi ," hi G '- fro n G ,-a ! ^ r - , op ar- tier "in I .i i'ne t"i ! 'i! the : . . V ' . i t ; r : !:', .: ; tiio ' ' nrnde' to (bun. e : ; - : . : ot c ir'ed in t!i |.Ci I rr i n un ,, .n dered, having ! fii.dit. Alt i" e won the birth o! Uhri fi, v. n f ; r \>. . ip;>o! i in 'I by the : ' . . n -. 1 : . t't-i ham, i\i-- ie:, Gvll!. . rhians, an ! a' ove ail bv the v.ili ... G >: w .... .. 15 writers to give hardly to any barbarous nation every where its own peculiar name, but, either through ignorance of the fact or from an unfeafonable af- fectation of purity of language, to beftow upon them the name of others; io the Goths are not unfrequently introduced by them under the name of Scythians, and once by Cedrenus and Zonaras under the name of Vandals; and they alfo record that they were formerly called Sauromat?e, Melan- chlseni and Getes." Having perufed the enormous mafs of forty vo- lumes written by the Byzantine hiitorians, and examined the paffages, that bear upon this point, I can lafely corroborate with my teliimony, if it have any force, the evidence of Stricter ; and, as the original is generally more fatisfactory than a tranflation, fuch as Stritter's, I inlert in the notes a few paffages* out of the multitude contained in my common-place book. * Anna Comnena, p. 182. Teicx; ti Exi/Sixc rrx?x tav Zsst-a- (j.uru: y.u.Tr,/>boi; 7r;o; 7ov J\x:B^i r x,. Niccphorus Gregora 1 , p. 20 Ik 11. Mef Zxs,9i' ttx/.- Vr}.'r,or,s u:xbri e llti^oziuv a,~o?'7ttx.(}itzrx. y.XTllct 'J.Z'/Cl K^cr7.-i;cc. bu.';,-j.-~.r,;. '['a hi r,y [/.ive "EiT^&yiXv TETeAEt'T^xoTo-;, o (j.i't vioq 2\.y,?:,.(.:c xx~-/)it oiX rr,: avu \~\y.c. O oi tricoc iho; TeAetiv yet; nrc- fut ;t x xrx\ tuv lAonnrxyiTuv y.xt ^o.vcoj/.xtuv yr,g 7rs<7tx.y vTroTn.i-- Huxxx- x'.'rr,i T y.xi Ixa MxicorKix yxj.\ i'uvxtv T!x*--iy.B?w. Eira. 7roA: ; --,';.-, y.xru ctx ruv Licu7iXiuv iviwv' 7T?>e:x7x 6i ~e(pvKX?i y.cu ~x x, , :.ry, v.y,\ Aci\|-a;a Yxxxi ru TraAat Yyx.-Oxy. YoToi T Z2. / i/.afvcjoi, (zx-ux;-:-/,,), TaiCQS'xvbui T; XX Bof'JGVimTCll. Ot'KJt -.; -;.. ; x; r-.jxx.'X, x/.y, ;.-.-,' r^xy ctua; aiTW xara- , ; " : 1 . 12'). Y\-.{j.-y.s-'. rm; ?it)v i'TTip rov ixrcxj Macrcxyi-Qi },x\xx,xv x xxx-xxyxX A'axx,'-. r, yxxxxn Z'tiT^; y.x7\i<. dix?\iyxroc. Georgius Synccllus, p. 'S>z. r l'm ~x/.i> -A "Lyx/kn v.a% Tot- "-'-> f. .'.'.:.'... X; -;..-.' :;, .., CV'C. lx;rjx; -x'jJx-xz Arrr.hx ra Invi %xa: 3,, fi. :.: ?w> ; ' A,\i.V Z-: '..;. '-'::xx ;; A; 1 ' v.,' r, 71, l TUJV ':x:xx, ;: . - C'antaca: By confuting theft- extrafb the reader will foon be convince*.! that the Byzantine writers rather per- plex than diientangie the Gordian knot of this con- troveiTvj as with them the various tribes of the G ths, Sannati.ns, J Kins and Turks are Scvthians. Quotations therefore f on 1 , iuch authors on tins lub- jeet are ot as little weight as the ailertions ot Mr. C?.nta :/ .n\v>, vol. i p.cKj r Nofwy*? oMi>nf8 Irj- . . ::> !:-.,- lirxj, o. iJLifxtvti TO ; Xxt&suj L( l.t ~ ':'. y. >. . .'' -' ''/', >'-;':*; iJxiiiT-j Sxt ijmr) I..H itt.v-j. -:;:c,-i >j yyr ;,;yy T IT u.y me: ; f*TfiS 74JV MiCi'J, Z<:li::i b. fVO. ()\on, p. 3-. Ext ': cs c! Tt;tXsipjt;TI{ Ef- i.i Rhetor, n. : ;. ;' . -r.v - ...;. . ' . ; * ;~u ;, PrCKOj ill-, Vol. :. y. I'/r. JVrv.vr ,..r t ~0>.x fx;v v.x\ x.% y : t . x i . : . V - . . . , .-. . . t. ./.;... ; - y. . [* . '/;. ;i '. i.'a' .... . :; v: i 1 a: ...:.. r :. . cl ' .". '.'. i "'.-..' . . . . ; . >: . a "}., ' ..-. i' i .* '.* '; "- .''. .. TTT'.r ... . . . , - i, \ ~ . '. ..: : 7'..; y ; i ,';/.' ,/.-...: . ~. x : : ; ' : . : : ; . . - r,: ~ : t . - .1\ ; :.. .. urrxtri\ C j. - . t -. .. x Fctu.x^ Iiltm. p. :;.<. T'.-'.-A ~i r.zi OiiViy-.r'si yy.i l!;i.J,?.ci xw W, fc 77 f t 7 y. - I ; x v a : i x i . v - . ; , i. '".;.'.; . ', . . : . / . ' ; 7 x I . Cedrcmis, vol. ii. p. r/,- Sc 668. 'i;. : , ". ; , C.- f -Ca> 'i ... , . ; xai I'i rr . t -. . . . 'it'.x/i >: ) ..- .- > . Pinkerton, 17 Pinkerton, when he maintains that the Getes were unknown to the Romans till the year 250 of the Chriftian era, and that the city London derives its name from the Baltick Lunden; though London, as appears from Tacitus *, was a confiderable place in the nrft century, and the Romans mud have known the Getes ever fince the conqueft of Ma- cedonia in the year 148 before the birth of Chrift. The f words of Ovid from Tomi at the mouth of the Danube forbid us to doubt that the Little Getia, Little Seythia, and the Lower Myiia were in his time %> ithin the Roman province. This inference is iuffi- ciently confirmed by Eutropius, whofe narration afcertains the event to have taken place 70 years before Ovid's exile. After this cloud of witneiTes from antiquity leE us liften to the evidence of the moderns. Gibbon, who is not lefs dittinguifhed for fubhmity of concep- tion and lplendour of diction than for acutenefs, ac- curacy and extent of reading, tells us, after perilling for twenty years the ancient and modern authors, who have handled this fubjecl, that ved was iv a . . .1 at the t< mb o< .'. "< \ a Id their a - ... a . ;ard to the i '.. .Pity t 1 their omen, out watched then - wives with great ca:e, drank hard, r..:d iamdiced human vic- ;'. ar ~ } v:\v. m ; rapoiers never a n- '. lived :.' v- a;.. pons uaau) from [da.ee to ; a. .-. ah. ; P. a a . . '. i ui descendants, th : '.'....;: prh.a ia. .. iL.es c f eyeiLht, drank r. : a'a .; ir.a.ri: a i the b; od or the !a : i n .. . av them m bapdc, a a.: presented Ids head to .a. ;r . ; \ to entitle them to a lhare of the general i!p ar. . a a P ..a v a. a , ;a v;n . tucir i iieu les tj.ey ililbemit . their Kn^ prwperlv prepai ! f.om ., hoi ie>, a:; a:", thi ..... k ;.p 1,.0'iu. l\> am, aiy.l e i\ enna - (< r qui\ i r i)'.' - ::;aia:;; leverai P .is i; ,ac them Lave as .Jin the : '; / a. ., a! n, p; . :;p. as ;... ' I .. .7 l'av.p a - ;;.. ., :.: , .... ] L.e '. i i the ipoils of i .. n. 1 i,c ieulii o( l".-.., .,....:..... ; .:. .;: :..... lit: ! their 19 their public enemies and even of their neareft and deareft relations, when (lain by them in a quarrel, they were fond of producing on feftivals and ho- lidays as drinking-cups. They kept no fwine, caftrated their horfl-s, tiled no baths, but anointed their bodies. The Mafihgets, whom Scrabo af- firms to have been the mod numerous tribe of the eaftern Scythians, c< killed their eld and exhaufted parents, as an entertainment for the family, deem- ing their own bodies the moft honourable graves." Upon the whole, the impreffion left on my mind by this investigation is that we are juiiified by teitimony and by the fimilarity of their language and life in concluding the Scythians and Sarma- tians to have been radically the fame race, and that the Getes, who are allowed by all not to have been Sarmaaans, could not be Scythians. The Goths proved not to have been Gefes, . the ee of the .' :. enneo r: ; c CO Goths were cftablifned towards the mouths of the Viflula." But feveral tribes of the Thracians, of whom the Getes* were, in the words of Herodotus, ' ; the braved and the j lifted," fought according to Ho- mer -j- at the fiege of ! iov, and were horn time im- memorial ferti d in the neighborhood of Greece. Indeed the words of i bmur naturally lead us to conjecture that the I hracian language was a fpecics of Grc '.., face he makes Thamyris, a Thracian conti d .vith the nine Mufes in finging, and it is not ri.aLn..ble to fappofe that his par- tiality for his native language would allow him to conceive the Mufes capable of tiling any lan- guage but Greek. The conteft therefore mult have been maintained in the only language which 1 Io- mer held not to be barbarous. Democritus, Pro- tagoras, and other pMlofophers of no fin all note, were natives of Abdcra, a city in Thrace |j ; nor does the famous poet Mcnander hefitate to buaft * Melpomene, C. 95. r.r^; G;r,r.:u. z:?;turx7ii y.u. !,,;> ZUT'A. j- 13. v. S44. --.'.: P; .%.>: r,y A/.xy.x; :<'.. \]i,;u-: '.:-;, % B. V. 594. I".' 7i Mri-Zl . -.7-, a :>.. (-! .,:,, 7 . ', :- '.y.x ~ rt: su.: x :: ' ;, Or/ :0. ir'ji; w.tu. ~;uf i _ ; :.>.- O.;, >?.. ;:. Ms. -' . a;.-. .- .. v\ : v . -..'.: '.r ..-.- 1 . Ai : '/ :7.x t t. > i :Xi irr; ;v l U jrx, ' a.: : jr ; / . . t F> = .-t:--i : -7 >.:::, 'ii i^..' : .' i;r:;, <" Alll. Cit'li:;-, !i ; . v . ^ o I' ! : ;i ;)o :a a* e r uri.' Abderi in urbt ncvi.-iv;,",;:. Y : n turtv D< iH)':rltii> < b;ft!cin t : vitatis po;n;;a;Y cu .. .< - Id ' .'.. \r. Snv. id. lib. v;i. p. 4 ; -. : " - . < , :> ...-;; V .' V.r a *.i t: U.x.l i ' ; - . . -. 21 in the face of an Athenian audience of a Thracian and Getick extraction. The language therefore and the character of the Thracians, and confe- quently of the Getes * and Dacians, who were confeifedly Thracians, could be as little a fecret to the Greeks as to the Romans ; fince in fix years Ovid learned not only to fpeak the Getick and Scythian languages, but alio to become j- al- molVa Getick poet. Tacitus J affirms that the Gothones were a Ger- man nation, and his affirmation is admitted by all the moderns. But what does he fay of the Peu- cini, who, as he allows, were by fome called Baf- tarn, and who bordered on the Getes ? That their language was German, but that in filth and naftinefs they refembled the Sarmatians. Had the Getes, who with the other Thracians had fallen in the fall of Perfeus, been Germans in language or ufages, would ib inquiiitive and accurate a writer have (lopped fliort and not ranked them with their countrymen, whofe habits, manners and dialects were familiar to the Romans from the days of Julius Cefar and even o( Lucullus ? Had trie Getes been Germans, could it have remained a fecret for so many ages to the Greeks? Strabo acknow- Strabo, p. 468. Of/.oy7\WTTci o'eicrn oi Tsrai toij Amsi;. f lip. e>: Ponto, lib. iv. epiit. 13. 1. 14. pasne pocra Getes. ;|; De Germanis, cap. 45. Gothones regnantur panlo jam ad d rift i us qua:n camera? Germanorum gentes ; nondimi famen iupra libertatem. Cap. 46. Ptucinorum nationem Germanis an Sarmatis adfiribam dubito ; quanquam Peu- cini, quos quidam Baftarnas voi'ant, fermone, cultx, i de ac domicilii*, nt Germani agunt: fordes omnium ac torpor; procerum connubiis mixtis nonnihil in Sarmatarum habitum fcedmitur. _j Strabo, p. 468. O. r c iVr^i. 0'. rs Aay.oi, eyyvt; un r.xys-i. rn txkxlui T'>t; Pi.'//.i'ji;* tnru) 6' t7r;p^jiri'. H7i ".;>.. xs i>x Tut; ek rut * ; .-. ,'.,. , ,.,",7. i'Jx:. ledges iedgcs that the Baftarr.re were in fbme mcafure Germans, bur a: the iame time aiTerts that the Gctick nations did not iubmit entirely to the ivo- man yoke horn their hopes of pre mi fed afliftance from the Germans. Could he haw declared in a more explicit man- ner his conviction that thev were ditlinct races ? The Goths therefore, who are pronounced by the united voice of ancients and moderns to have been Germans in language, habit, armour and mode of life, could not be Getes. Had the Goths been Getes or Thracians, is it credible that they fhouid not have been recognifcd as relations by Belilarius, a 1 "hracian general, and by the van body of Thra- cians in his army in I hre;e, in Ahica and in Italy, vlien he ruined the Gutluck power: Coiild inch a fact h.ave efc .ped the notice of ins Greek ibcae- tarv, IVarop'.ns, who enonu urcs the p.inc tribes of the G 'hick race, tin ( .hue \ pa chs, th.c 'ban , , . a: . e ( ' ya . . . o! ia:i;CiU'{e wo .'.in. ob ;n. \\ hat o.,l he 'ay ? - r ("a. > cahed Goths (" '," ' . i h.- k cae u'ed fucii > xpu r v.>, if h-. . . . t ..'..- a!1 :i- te>n as a r.v:e ,b.\ ? : < [f.s, i ic b '. i - a a.) v, . r .. > ui'ac aiiiS. o .en y i I a-, .' ec ' t t . '...: r y , : ' ' . ! i ,' h in:-, b - '. Pehln .,. ' b: ! : i ..i . : '. b Spanhh ..:.' i i . .....:.. i i. .:.- ui :.;: r -' ^ 23 vonick Scythians could have made no more altera- tion in the Thracian or Gothick of thefe countries, if their original language had been Gothick, than in the German of Germany and in the Latin of Italy and of Spain, into which they alfo penetrated. From the prefent ftate of \ ndoitan and China it is evident that hardly any thing but extermination, as happened in England, can eradicate a written language. William the Conqueror, having not taken this ftep, could not, with ail his defpotifm and tyranny, make the Saxon yield entirely to the French. Indeed, as the Slavonian Scythick, which appears from the haft part of this inquiry to have been different from the Getick, now prevails in thefe countries, it is probable that the Dacians and Getes and other Thracian nations were extermi- nated. Nor is the manner a myirery. Strabo *, copying Polybius, records that Paulus JEmilius, upon the conqueft of Ferfeus, plundered and de- ft roved feventy cities of Epirus and carried away as Haves i rjecoo of the inhabitants. What then mull have been the devaluations ol othei Roman generals, of Scribonius, of the two Luculluses, of Pompey and Cefar ana 1 of the Triumvirate and of Brutus and Calfius ? After thr'e terrible fcourges came Boirebiftes, the Daeir.n who extinguished aim oft all the G alack end Celtick tiibes, but enabled the Dacians on the Danube to muiter 200,000 fighting men, that in Sti.abo's time were by civil wars reduced to 40,000. This moderate number was ftili farther dinainifhed by Trajan, who made the country a Roman province. Next * Stnbo, lib. vii. p. 496. Tcj li~i'--.Tu): 'ih:>.r l :ir,-:2i ttq- . . , , 7 > . > . ^ - ,-. i ^ - :. ki./.tii'.; y y,cri'j x;x.jf:: f ai ll;-.w,Cii Ten -Kj./.. a to; art. re c. : y.j.\ : ::/, ",t;i'..o;; fi-y.id, c,'7o-n- xcrb',1 , ivl. p. 40". '!:',. C:,.u.y.c> ?.i/)?,a.Ti>v i.'.'.^i' ISixy.i iurtrtc >.n. rvx, I.\- 1 '- <- '- ,' r*f; r 5 >.7; tj tz;G'-y,;y.iyi.'.-itf; t:.;,- t; O'cci/- js:ci Ton; IA- 1 -....: '.il~^lC!.'7ii' EviJi; y.zi aco ,1/ 'iCl.nz~t. ibececded 24- fucceeded the Goths, who, after the expulfion of the Romans, were themfelves expelled by the Huns and Hungri both equally deftructive to the few remaining Getes. If the Getes or Thracians were Goths, and the Goths Germans, how came Ovid, who lived among the Getes and fpoke their language; how came the Romans in general, and in particular Julius Cefar, #ho knew both, to have made a diitinction ? If the Thracians were Germans and the Gauls Ger- mans, Cefar* would not with the fame breath have told us that a body of men confuted of Gauls and Germans; nor would Plutarch j- have aflerted that certain detachments were compofed of Thracians and Gauls. Common fenfe would have dictated to inch accurate writers to have ftyled them all Germans levied in Thrace or Gaul, if they had been really Germans and not diftinct nations. If we mould pay any attention to the fanciful commentator*, of the i'/.kla, a modern fabrication of dr. i 3th century, and admit that Odin in the Cays of l y mpey led his valiant Goths from the <.:.-. v.: \ banks of the Mreotis to the delightful coails of the Bdidcl;, we must at the fame time allow that they multiplied amazingiv to have call a fu- pernumerary fwarm into Germam before the Ch::.tian era, a fpace of ;; years at mofr for emigration, peregrination, c nqueih f Tt'ement and roloniiaiion. Ihis romance, which is as v.Vd and ul'.ai., as the I'.dd.. itieli, n e : 10 conf .:: : 3 as the Goths are acknowledged to have been ( ' ,- as v ,' DC! ma ns m lang uage an- 1 manner-, a P :: 1 Ci i:r . llf\\ iiS. cap. i, ( , : ' . :.;. . '/ . V. './ .K 25 gick Germans, by Cefor's account and Strabo's tdtimony, croffed the Rhine at Rich n remote period as to have become Gauls \\\ dialect and mode of living, and the Teutoni, a radical tribe of tht Germans, having, with the Cimbrick Gauls, quirted the mores of the Baitick, had, previouily to die fuppofed rime of their cmigi uion from the lYirjcbiis., been cut to pieces in Italy by Marios and Catulus. This fubjectj which is i'o clear, when thus wed in its proper light, has been induftrioufly ubfeured bv a cloud of quotations fom the By- zantine hiitorians and other writers equally inac- curate and uninformed. Having already removed, I pre fume, the mifc fprcad before the pubiick eye from this quarter, I mall not tire the reader with its further diicufnon ; bur, after leaving thus proved the identity of the Getes and Goths to be not only- very improbable but even impoffible, proceed to inquire into the origin of the Pi els and Sects, the only problem frill remaining to be ibived. The Scots proved to have been Celts. from Cefar* and Strabo f and other authors we learn that, though the Belgians varied a little from the Celts in their dialect, they ltill fpokc the fame language, the Gailick; and Tacitus'st words * Caf.er. lib. i. cup. i. !'.!;:':, Ai-quitani L C-.lia runt inter i'c Fn^iia, inftitum ; moribu . | Strabo, lib. iv, in initio. Oliver, t^x" ^'^~> Av.i'irxm; vs.! R , ';i7': y.rj.\ V ,".t ;' ra; u.zt A:'.:;,-2.:B,- zi?.'u; i^.-Wuy- ufifc" a tv, yX'xrir:'. f/.oov c>,7.x :"n -.'.' rrxu. '->, :'..?.;-.; . ...-.; -,'- - i '.. . 1 c'./mtc.^ :H; ,:.',.- . . .' . .,-'. ' y~ At,-, : J .,' t Tacit. Gfi-ni. ( gust nosi o :. ' '._ uni ob oifiic ! afcert.unth.it the Gallick was different from the German. From this circumitance therefore it is evident chat, though we fhould allow the Belgians to be Germans that eroded the Rhine in ancient times, the indigenous Gauls were neither expelled nor exterminated, but dill constituted the mafs ot the people ; as their language ultimately prevailed.. Upon, the lame principle we may conclude that, if the Britain Caledonians were, as Tacitus* fufpecced from their large limbs and ruddy locks, Germans, they were Belgiek Germans, or a {"mail tribe that adopted the Britain language and manners, which from Cefarj and Tacitus wc know to have been Gaiiick. As the fame and other authors inform us that all the Bi icons, at the arrival of the Roman.-:, paint< d their bodies, thole who remained inde- pendent beyond the limits of die Roman province, would retain this practice, as a proud mark of diilinCtion. Hence we land the Caledonians ji, '1 ... it, A^ric. cap. i . R ntilrc Calcdoniain habitantium rmvr, t : ma >\\\ art'i-, (ktoi Mi'icani orhnnem affeverant. ' ( .; f: r. !. >. ' . cap. 14.. C,inti; 110:1 ditierunt mill turn a (.A' a confuetu iine.--Comius the Atrcbatian was ft* 11 1 by In r :v. ... 'e' to !ir::a ., as lie couid fpeak the (iallitk or lib. i'.v ir. \";:<. cap. 1 1. In univerlum feftimanti ( \ i . 1; D.ai-* 1 ! em crceibilc eft. I'.orum iacr.-i '': .'I. 1.I..JO!)!!;!) perluafione; lermo hu:d nuiltiuu . ~ ( .1 . . . . '. crp. 14. Omnes vero Britanni fe vitro i. . , " *, j ! i 'lt:,., 1,11 cllic it c;> lore m. W'\\. lib ;::. (]'.'. I ;: erti.i 11 ob deform! an quid " , ' it! . ' ,i i : 1... ;'!;:'. ' . inn!;: ; of t! i* \ 1 century \\\\ > : 'I x ?, r. ; : .' . .i.j., .'.' ...<. y, .-.";. : .'5 ;.-...: >- - ,; < ti ..i;j ?ra>To- v '.". i.i 1* ';: < vri o, \u:i dii o C'.il d mum alio 1 .: : :'.... ( ) !;:t! ;;;:.-. A :i n i. M .' - !: ::i ' . !: > x v:i. ei quod co tern - f l':"'i i i '.:>-. l.vuij DiciU'.cona;; & \a*>thiriojiei, n ui fa p'p..r, '.);:: .. wherever 527 wherever there is mention of their,, ranked among the Picts. The Picts therefore including the Cale- donians exifted in Britain before the Chriftian era, and could not derive their name from the Peuac or Peucini, who, as we learn from Zofimus *, fought among their countrymen, the Goths, in the year 250 againit Decius at the mouths of the Danube. The firl't refpeclable author, that mentions the Scots, is Porphyry 7 the philofopher, who remarks that in the year 270 the tc Britifh and Scotch nations had not heard of Alofes and the prophets." But not long before this period we are informed by Tacitus that all the Britifh nations fpoke Galiick; and therefore, if the Scots here noticed were Britifh or Irifh, their language renders it impoffible that they ihould have been frefh adventurers from Germany or Scandinavia. For it is clear from much better authority than any monkifh documents of obfeure and modern date that Ireland was peopled from Britain, and consequently that the people fpoke Gallick, as they do at this day. Without appeal- ing to the teftimony of the Greeks and to the natural courfe of emigration for the truth of this fact, we have the fanction of Oflian, the Caledonian Homer, for afferting that the Belgians had fettled '" ZofimilS, p. 38. ~Zy.iQo:v c< o; 1ti'^"/,nZ'ii\Ti^ E k -Aaj y.u.1 Claudian. De tercio confulatu Honorii. ver. 54. Nee falfo nomine Pictos Edomuit. -f Sanct. Hieronymus, torn. iii. fol. p. 11-, thus tranf- lares Porphyry's words. Ntque enim Britannia, provincia iertilis tyrannoium, & ScotticE gentes omnefque ufque ad oceanum per circuiium barbaric g .'ntes Moyie:n prophetafque *:ognoverant. L. Diodorus Sicnlus, fub finem l;b. v. <&xa tucc<; utQfwirus .wOtJU'j (Ij-TTSf /..; 7UV BfiTTy^.ci TS K V,7Q>y.ii: Tc Tr.y tfQJ,u^ui;YJ )tnr. E 2. for fi r ages before the third century in tlic fotith of Ireland. If they had net, how wa.s it pnfh'o!c for them ro have multiplied io a.s to have contended in the north for the loveicn.-.nrv < ; Uiih', or L li er, with the Gael, under the comu and i ", great ^rand-uncle oi OPuan. Tiwfe fails a:e detailed at len.^i.'i in the ice no . \d f .. oi Tern ra, anO an' not i he leis i. h< .. a. I ; , ,a ..a. , .n a poetical loim, like theft,!! a:,naii ioiJ i < all natie-U"!. i he jiwciu n.i! rencountci between Gfhan and the chief of the iJeigian-j proves that tiie reli- gion, Lingua ,; . .nne:h, i : th< Caied jnians and their ( ;- :ojient: O.'v. :v : elh utiaii Liitiei In .ah.o- logical uueition t!ie 'ceks c :.. nth,' aopealed i j tin;:" 1 Iomcr, a ;'a m- - ;;...;:: and . uthen- tie v.n iter, ! c> .:,.... im- ported bv Lvcumib wua I and ar- ranged in their pain;: form iftratuo four hundied vear.i at k alter the , :)i :.:. r au- thor. \\ hy flioukl not we ( !. ;\> rn.hr example, when our venerable as w roick b.ual fur- : hhe ; w h le ep.iod.es i he ft.'ii: popula- tion of the iouthcrn oart oi irein: ., bv the iVijians and ( i the noi thei n i Li a .. ..a:. , .-. no were io Oeriommati d from ti'a.ar piiucpJ town, Dun- caldin v, which in their language i'dil ret.nr -. tiatt nrpr, , ..ate ; pp iha" . a. . h i inn :' ''' 29 Though I can have no doubt that the poems of Oflian might have been prcferved by oral recitation and thus tranfmitted from generation to generation ; as i have myfelf heard a roan, who was no pro- fessional baid, reheaiTe the leventh book of Te- rnora, and others of inferiour rank repeat the dc- feriptiens ot battles in Fingal and the beautiful exordium of Trathal publifhed by Dr. Smith, yet i do not mean here to infill: on that evidence (;f their authenticity, fince it has been already iiifii- ciently di feuded' by Dr. Blair, Dr. Macnicol and Dr. Smith. I choofe rather to confirm tbeir opi- nions bv the removal of a vulgar error, which de- nits to die Gallick nations al! literary records. How fuch an abfuid notion could have prevailed, when, it is io exprei^y .contradicted by the words of Cefar, it is not eafy to conceive, were not indolence and inattention and prejudice common to authors with the reft of mankind. What are his exprefiions ?* i( Some* perfons continue learning the doctrine (of the Druids) for twenty years, and think it irreli- gious to commit it to writing, though in alrnoft: every other public buiineis, and in their private ac- counts, ihey ule the Greek characters." l hough the Druid;., like feme other prieits, would for no very mytterious reafon make a myftery of their religion, yet, as they could have no motive, they did not endeavour, to prevent written documents on other iubjecTs. Accordingly we rind that the Helvetians keut in Creek letters a regular rnuiter- * Cacfor. DeBt-llo Galileo, lib. vi. rap. 15. Nonnulli an- nrs vice no> in (>ifi:ip!iira porir.aiH.iir, napae fas eflb cxiftimant ea (pro ca lege cam n\co periculo) Uteris \\\:a\ laic; quum in is fere rebus pubiieis privatifque rationibus Gixecis li- atantur. Strabo, lib. iv. p. 2-3. : !;.-'-:>i-^ o-'.a-wj tj Tx? cltzc, roll roll" of :ill the men, women and ch'.'dicn, of whom their three cantons conimed. Now the ancient Greek characters, which, as ve learn .' om Pliny j and Tacitus J, the Latins only copied, were the fame as the Phenician 3>, or, ii von will, the IVlat- gick or Kgvptian. What reaion then i> there to imagine that the Phenicians, that traded to Bri- tain as well as to Greece and Spain and Italv, did no: communicate the uie of letters to the L>ri:wii , who, as they mull, like the reit of the Gaul.-., have made a fiudy of aitronomy and other branches ot natural philofonhy, cannot be fuppoled exciufively to have neglected letters r For who can believe that nations '! who incul- cated * C. < r. Bell. Call. lib. i. rap. ;r. In c.-.ftris Hnr^io. fum ::,.r \'.;v. re perta: funt Iitc-ris (i!.e .'i- 1 mR-ctir et r.d L'rr- (;':.!. . av ; q mini 5 in t t '. i ;,::;;.:': ratio con krt.i cr it, <;..: iiti 10 exi:!Vt > r i rr.ra 1< rre ; et item k* - >nrr.r:in pucri, lVr.c-, nuil.ci' ' . f i'iii ;; Hift. ii . vii. cap. ;o. \ r - <. h-.t < a< ('.' ' r ) fuide e'Uic-m pa no. qa.e r.ui'.c hint L; tirav, iraiicin erit DA- p!i; ;e:i-. \ i. : ; eiiiuicir.. cap. ;-. Id La- tin .: t . (iitt ra i Tacil. Ann 1 ; '. .:. cap.. 14. Forma: ii r 'a*b I/itinis c : i' v< It riiiiii j dr; H'T'.ui it. O. ' O ... : r'r-.; r/ r: !'.;:'<. ^rr."c :. /" ' - r? I' :: 'J:. 1 " \ v> : . : . *\ :S. 1 '.: m.per ; /; < Wyv, \\ ; ' ' . : yp; a \I. 1. i:':. >. a: ^ ! I . ; ; ! S v v ' t : : ; '.'...'. ' > j 1 C r ]. i 'I' . :\ An,. :. ii \ 1 ;>.!.;.. I:. iV i ..;\p?o i'i r : . ' i ' I;.f r; ( ac, t'lo i '!. ' . vi\y Pari: \ < : ' !. C'.m -.r , Ii'). vi. 1 1 . l:i 1 rimi- !;<"- 31 cated the immortality and tranfmigration of fouls and the contempt of death, as the neceffary con* iequence ; who made the liars and their motions, the extent of the univerfe, the magnitude of the earth, the nature of things and the power and energy of the deity the fubjedts of fcholaftic dis- cipline, mould have been fo dull of apprehenfion as not to have either themfelves made, or readily adopted when made, fo ufeful a difcovery r Such Rupidity does not tally with the acutenefs of men, who, notwithftanding Diodorus's * fabulous ac- count, of the matter, feem to have invented tele- fcopes, and perhaps to have communicated the fecret to Pythagoras f, as they could bring the moon fo near as to exhibit in its face excrefcences like fpots on the earth. From the fuperiour fairnefs of complexion ob- fervable in the Braminical call of Indoos and from their own hiftorical traditions we may infer j that the Shanfcrit, the facied and molt ancient language of India, came from Scythia or Tartary, a country that no man can fuppofe to be now more learned than the Highlands of Scotland. Yet the aftrono- rroitcm lr:\n<1re ad alios; atque hoc maxime aj virtutem t: cran patant, jvicui mortic; r.eglecto. INiulta prajttrea tie ticcril'-Ms atqutj conu.i motu, de numdi ac terrarum magni- Midine, dc. rerinn natura, tie cieorum immortalium vi ac po- Ct-frritc diipucaiit S'juventuti tradunt. Diugcx-iZi Laiirtius in I'rocemio. Tw; yV.cs-o^iac t^yev snot. .'-.;:(;' ct-'/ro ricp \ia^'oc.-cu:v apr.ai r:a.-a T-: Renvoi; y.cn Yu) rv,', " - ", y.:'.i i'ivz$ i c _oyy.-, zyirx: Oxvspi;;. .licii'.j 1:1 initio '. ( ;t 's i'ythaaoras. iWJxy^xi; 'X.^ioi r.y.neri : ' :- Kei^u oi C.'corgeVill. vol. iv. p. 114 &c.' mical mical* tables found in different parts of that pen- iniula and introduced in all likelihood bv the con- quering l>ramins prove that it was diltinguifhed for mathematical fcience five thoufand years ago, and poiieLed of its Napiers, Maclaurins and Stewarts, before the Phenicians f acquired the knowledge of Indian orShanfcrit characters J, which letters. The con fill ot 1 6 vowels and ;4 conlbnants and are fimilar to the 'i Iimilar to toe langutick, diirer totally from the letters of Europe and the Weffern Afia. The Chinefc refemble no other characters and the Ethi- coick itand in the fame predicament ||. " There are," ] ivs A file, " feveral alphabets uled in different parts ot Afia, which are entirely different not only iio.n t.ie Shan!ci"it and all thole proceeding f:om that iource, but even from the Piaarician and all its derivatives. iowards the dole therefore of the paragraph he adds that, " hence it is realonable to conduce that different men in different regions hit r.pon this c.ijcovery." Why then fhould not the Celts LiLi' o>i ticiin- t. . ,. n ,. ; , ;' ii oi i : r :s f.ys ti ' the P ' \ . ; Mr. \<\\ o :: i w ; ... I I . ; lj a -, s; ;, , - t v -'. >. v. :: : : . where S3 Vhere tells us that the Hvperborean had no affinity to the Greek characters, and it appears from. Diodorus Siculus*, Suidas and other authors already quoted, that by Hyperboreans the ancient Greeks meant the Britons, and not the inhabitants of the north-weft of Afia and north-eaft of Europe, whom they de- fignated by the appellation of Scythians and Celto- Scythians, Certain vi/ionariesf have written enor- mous volumes to convince us that many ages muft have elapfed, before men invented even language, though convei fation by articulate founds is as na- tural to man (the ']; uno-h avhuiroi) as bleating is to t. iiieep. In imitation of thefe profound iages others contend that the difcovery of letters, a (till greater my fiery,, was infinitely {lower in its progrefs. Why then fhould we be furprifed at their idea that tlie rational biped went for many ages upon all tour? The real fact is that few discoveries can be juitly deemed modern, and that the Europeans, having, after a relapfe into barbarifm, lately emerged again from a ni^ht of ignorance, miftake for novel inventions arts known from time immemo- rial, though occafionaily loll in different countries through the irruptions of defolatino; Goths and Vandals. When the Romans introduced, as Pliny j| fays, the ufc of the lonick characters in the reign of Tarquinius Prifcus, they hardly acknowledged as Greek the Hetruican characters, which fome are pleafed to call Pelalgick. Does not this circum- * Diodorus Sicnlu?, lib. v. t See Monboddo's Origin of Language. % Homer. 11. A. v. 1 50. 5 See Dutens, Origins cics Deconvenes attributes aux Mo- dcrne? . L?b.vii. cap. 5- F ftancc 54 fb.nce powerfully fupport the conjecture, that the Romans borrowed their firlt characters from the L'mbrians and other Gaul?, whom, as Pliny* and other antiquaries afTert, they found on the banks ot the Tiber? if this reafoning be juft, we need not wonder that the ancient letters engraved on ftones in the Britilli ifles refemble the Roman, fince the Roman were onlv copies i om the Ceitick or En- I M re Celts, whole territories feeni to have r the greateft pan of Kurope, were too gr i', ; : nation ; nd too far advanced in civihiation j* r > have Lta: d^fiitvie of Jackfonj tip " the Good. Prom tiie mannfcHms in Aitie's^ pem (Hon it is proved rli ;r i ' " : . '. :. ;,r nage clcr about a tho-a- iLc other man- ner i : < c ' ' - . . , - . .... I I \' > oluer ti: . ( ; i eac C'. n be Lit, and . , . it i. L . i e j u v ..il L. . . ..,..;. Callick *, like the Phenician characters, are pror- pcrJy but fixteen, the number introduced into Greece by Cadmus, and becaufe the Britons had no connection with the Romans till the time of Julius Cefar, when the Latin alphabet was com- pleted. Indeed, as the Romany or the colony of Cohans -j- that founded Rome, did not adopt the Greek but Cekick nnmes exprcffive ot al- phabetic writing, it is probable that the art was not communicated to them by Greeks, bur. by the Celts who then furrounded their city, and who had previoufiy either invented it thcrniclves or re- ceived it frum the Phoenicians. For a fimilar reafon the Celtic letters of Britain did not come through IVIarfeiiles, becaufe in that cafe their characters would have allumed a dif- ferent form and been as numerous as the Greek j and it does not appear either horn Cefcu's or from Strabo's words before quoted that the Gauls in the neighbourhood even of Marfeilles did net ufe another character beiide the Greek. 'i he Druidical religion with its train of prieflrs and human facrihxes is though.t by many to have been Svriack or Phenician. it this conjecture be '.y founded, as ionie cuiloms Hill pie vale' iiiiddands of Scotland feem to evince, in TJ :. . ! Iiif!) characters are t!:e fame, ti e bciu.) t! - eV- a aii'i i pea's i:>r; the fame lan^ua ';e, with tbio ci bFcrer.ce, toat the Lidi d;ah6t has in eonfequtnee of it- ft been corrupted in proportion to the corruption Ireland, i (:. the ', > Itic 1'itir. To write \v; i J, L'ut /. n tilt- ( 'chic, fa'i Ac. i\ iiooi; r.o! L'.iC Greek lll,L-i, but !//>., irom the G liick or Ce'aick F 2 reafon : reafonabie to conclude that, fmce the continental * Gauls c nfidered Biitain as the cradle of their r< - ligion and the univerfity for the initiation a- well as education of their youth., Utters commenced there with, its : itrodu lion; ih.ee they would have appeared as r eellou: to the natives as the Ipeak- ir.g paper kerned to the Mexicans. Now the Greek :.';e:;a a as ce.r t ;p!t ted about the time of the Troian v, ;\ or izcc years before the Chriflian era, and t'ne Galiick alphabet contains only the numhe; imported by Cadmus. Hence the Gailick characters, ii not of native but foreign invention, mult have been imported before that period by the Pheniciaiib. whole commerce with Britain was certatnlv ot a much earlier dare; as we find the tin j of the CaiiitJiides in the ihieid of Agamem- non and in the armour of Achilles the hero of the J'iad; and we learn from Herodotus that in his cavs the islands, fiom which the Phenicians brought it, were Itill unknown to the Greeks. If til j ( allick or IriiTj characters thus Rowed from the fame iource with riie G seek and L.atin, why hhould we he lurpriied at tire refemblance be- tween them, or between rise Iriin and Saxon letters, fmce the latter were derived from the former? .For C;i f:.r, I5c Bell. G i -;'; . ' ; . i ir : ft n".: n a n, ,i, i !i. vi (-). ; ;. Din i: li.n ' : :i < i:!:-i:u tia:;lb -' ;: : ', - . ! YO ; :! '-'". k v . y \ 37 For Tacitus records that in his days, about the year 108, the fee ret * of letters was unknown to males as well as females among the Ger- mans ; and, when they did adopt this improve- ment, their antipathy to the Romans would pre- vent them from adopting the form of their let- ters rather than that of the Gallick or Britifh, which, it fnould feem from the olden: fpecimens of the Saxon now remaining, had now become, as might naturally be expected in a Roman province, partly Roman. Since alphabetick writ- ing then, and cultivated j- life, were common among the Celtick tribes for ages before they commenced among the Germans, what reafon is there for fuppoiing that the Caledonians and the colonies of them that crofTed the leas into Ireland, did not retain the practice ? We have been told of Herculanean manufcripts that have Sur- vived an eruption of Vefuvius eighteen centuries ago. Why fhould kalian parchment or vellum be kfs corruptible than Celtick ? A paffage already quoted from Diodorus Siculus proves that al- phabetick wilting was only in its infancy among the Greeks in the days of IJomer. ilow then but in the Celtick manner \va- tafie formed that ierved poet.c, iO d Uai Sir James Ware, tl c Camden or Lis age nnd n :t : cm, lays that the Irifli alphabet \vs borrow v, i'rom the Brin'!:, and thai the Saxon characlt rs were nearly the fame as th Tri ill ; and Camden iiicm.cs to :ht Li : 1 . :>j ' 1. * Tacit. De Moriims Germ, cap. i. Liieraium ft- c ret a vii'i p .riler ct fenii. a ijmmant. t Cafar, De E 11. G,.!l. lib. i. cap. 23. Neqn mim conferenchmi 1 fll- Gallmum cum Gen - rum a^ro, . confueUidi'iem vie*: s eu.m ilia conmaiand an. of 38 of Homer ? Many other poets of no mean talents muft have preceded him befide Mufeus. How were his or their pieces faved from the gulph of oblivion but by recitation ? Are we not exprefsly told that his rhapfodies were actually rehearfed like the fragments of Offian, and collected at laft by Pifiltratus, as Offian's by Macpherfon? The obvious conclufion is, that OfTian's remaining works are genuine historical as well as poetical compofitions, which prove that, if fome of the Scots came, as is generally allowed, from Ireland, they were ftill a Gallick race, and probably Celts expelled by their more powerful neighbours the Belgians, and the defendants of the Celts mentioned by OfTian as the inhabitants of Ulfter, who, in conjunction with their Caledonian relations, fubdued the Picts and other fouthern tribes of Scotland. Nor will fuch an event be thought furprifing, much lefs incredible, by thofc who know that a few of the fame race, firft under the renowned Duke of Mor.trofe, next under his heroick defcendant, the Viicount Dundee, achieved a fimilar exploit ; and that, as lare as the year 1745, the misled inha- bitants of a few parifhes of thefe gallant moun- taineers, overran all Scotland and fhook even England to its centre, obliging its people, who had, through the dilufe of arms, then forgot their ufual military habits, to have recourfe, like the ancient Britons, to foreign auxiliaries. Had the Scots been Peucae or Peucini, who were Coths, how couid Porphyry afiert that the Scottilh nations had not heard of Moles and of the prophets, when Piocopius tells us that all the Goths not only ufed the lame language and law, but alfo profefled the dogmas of the Arian herefy ? Had the Scots been Goths, how could Giraldus Cambrenfis, C>9 Cnmbrenus *, who traverfcd the whole of Ireland in the eleventh century, declare that u the Iriih and 3 the fame language, wore fimbiar msj and praudfed fimihr habits fheir lanowane, meir armour and garments and ar tin ci V-U t -C mode of hie would have bean Teutnn'ck ; and, they had net been Gauh 3 two thirds of their vo- nct hree been, as the aiTheoloadft 1 "elch. i ,:;;'',V!M ; d John Ma- irrr.s, ^ w, c ,e Nor would even the rootle Lowianders he c\ : tP.e 1>0:. L Ol ).:;.-_ < J ^ii\_l ui its cloie ahumy to the Norm an eonqueil' indifj late date a ad to have b land iince that event. Ivor troduflion in the ieail ine: tne Scotch ncr Gailick tOtCi'l : ve a an it, our or me i eutoaaCft ; fpoittn iince il\c m\ am it to be of i eiductd into Scot- die mode of its in- W; 'iTir^'ri- fb* *- Topo; r . I'iil.ex nice, p. 737. Qnamiam igitur Kiber- nhnbV an 1 it i - , ut aiant, orqbnaitrn brat-air, ducunt, a Gai- citlo et Scot!;-! Gained et S.oti id rat, ficut et nati, fie et nominafi. Gait.da.\ me, ut admmt, Hibernicam iiiuniam compofuit, quae ri iac! dicbtnr oua.fi ex omnibus iin- guis (.o.icct.i. f- oque uarMnmi.^ Brytannicae Aqui- loani! in. quia nnii original er an id propayata tertia i'lam habifare di?nofcitnr ; quod nam nmor-- quam tuba::, tarn armoruin etiam quam niorum (ratio) uique in hodiernr.m probat diem. f lixtradt tram Lh.vyd's Lett-..- to Rowland, in hi- IVTons Antiqua, datfd, Siigo, i\Ia rcli 12. 1609. " I have nand'a ed Mr. KaWs Diatinnanam Tri.Onaue into their (jri(b) lan- guage, undid) in tvro-thirdb, or thereabout, agrees with outs (the Wekin." :; Exnadt from atdlinafleetb Ub'b.ne . p. z\z. " John Major cvnU-iT j taat die b' e. - > t - were derived from the lrifli, v< ii h :- plain bv their 1-* :'.,''-''': :* ; as in his rune half the muiu.n m.ke Iridi, and aWor; that tin. e more,'' uiurpation, ufurpation, the violence and cruelty of the con- queror forced man 1 .' fugitives into .Scotland, their numbers had made no fcnfible alteration in the ancient language. F^v we are informed by Sii David Dalrymplc* in his Annals, that Malcolm the Third, caiied Kenmor or Greuthead, performed the office of interpreter bet ween his Saxon con fort and the ScotthTi ecckfiaiticks, whole vernacular tongue was then Galiick; and it is evident even to fimpiicity that, if the clergy could not, the laity could much lefs, fpeak the language of England. This tact is confirmed by Buchanan j-, who favs that ' c all Sc. tland then ufed its ancient language and inftitutiona.' Now, as this incontrovertible event occurred onlv i?.o vears aft^r die induction of tiie Picts as a ieparate people, how could die whole nation have lp'=keri Galh k, had die Scots. the ruiin^; nation, or ivoi tiic lubd d 1 \cl> 3 been Goths and consequently iced a diali 1 Leu- tonick r Indeed a train mull d< j totally unacquainted with the Celtick, if lie does not dilcovcr in the names of the m; u it.un.., rivers and towns of the diilrkus occuuu i hv t.x Pi .. lufhcient vcidges or their Cekick lan^ii -\ . p: iioutier could fee no- thing but what wa.-> ( an I [hnktrton, as a count-, a balance, :..:'' n . - nit is Go thick. 1 believe that die truth lies [xuutxn die two, and theiefore ll.ee; a n.K'.aie cotuie, uai.a.a:^, how- Sir I), - vKl, ln < - 1 . r C b "" '. illl : Ann i. . , *e :i;r , :,. \\ l OHM H 1 i t :: Sir Jy -- i ; i , r co'i- i f 1 1 >. > u i;!i :'. ; iiii ( it \ r ..- tht G :c)'h k !.. -11 , > tin.: ! i! V j>(. i for i v-: t '' > ,;i : b . . tilt be atif!] + b !, , i'i. . p . i r :. Cu: ; .' ' ' ' ' ' am Sco- tia uj iicj ! - rrr.onc :: ::U c'a.'.i :: r. ( VCi 41 ever, as a corroboration of my raft argument that, beiide the concurring teftimonies of all hiftorians, there is an irrefragable evidence that tac Pifts were actually conquered by the Scots. In Newte's Tour in Scotland are thefe words : " A filver medal, value half-a-crown, was given by a gentleman in Argylefhire to Mr. George Dempfter, and loft by him at Pool-Ewe in Rofsfhire, with this infeription, fC Robertus Dei gratia Rex Scotorum Princeps Pic- torum." This fact is authenticated by Mr. Demp- Iter and Dr. Thorkeiin, Profeffor of Hiftory and Civil Law in the Univerfity of Copenhagen. Does not this anecdote demonstrate the t the con- queft of the Pitts was ftiil freih in the minds of the Scots at the diftance of 500 years from the date of the event, and commemorated by them as the re- duction of Wales was by the Englilh ? Who let the example is uncertain ; though, as the turn of exprcllion is a little different, priority of time would feem to jultify a claim to priority of inven- tion, and Bruce, at fuch a diftance of time from the event, was not probably the fiat Scottifh king who affumed the title. If a fa ft related by ail the Scottifh hiftorians requires any corroboration, i: is found in the Regifter * of St. Andrew's and in the Chronicle f of the Picts, both of which admit the extinction of the Pictifh kingdom by the Scots and aftlgn irreligion and immorality as the cauies. That ,1 tribe of northern freebooters, probably Cimbrick * Regift. San&i Andrcre. Deleto igitur fundi tus Fictorum. regno et a Scotisocr.upato Sec. T Chronicon Piftorum. Cinadius fiiius Alp'r.d pri-nus ocottorum rexit Pictaviam, a Piftis nomniatam q.ios C'na- dius dclevit. Deus enim eos pro nierito fuse mr.ii'icc aliencs et otiofos hxreditate dignatns eft facere, quia iLi 110:1 foluru ileum, fed miifam et pra-cepta fpreverunt, fed et 111 jure aeq.uitatis aids aequi pariter noluerunt. O Crauis, Cauls, fettled en the eaftern coaft of Scotland, can hardly be doubted, as i'o many Danilh inva- sions arc mentioned by the Scottifh hiftorians. But, though bv their militarv habits they preierved for fome time the fovereign fway in a confiderable di linear, they were not iufficiently numerous to effect: a radical change in the original language and manners of the country. In die days of Bede ps iufiicicnt t; me had not clapfed for afiimi- lating the languages of the Picts and the aborigines ; and he might therefore uiltly glory in thinking that the praifes of God were celebrated through Britain in rive different idioms; though the various dil- tridts of the S'axon heptarchy might poflibly differ a 1 - much in their dialers as the three divifions of Scotland under the Britons, Scots and Picts. Some modern viiionaries, building on Bede's land\ foundation and trulling to Hibernian fictions arid ridicul us monaflic fabrications, repair to Ire- as a imrehouie of nations in order to people Seal aid with Picls and Scots, whom thev will have to be Coda;. To mend the matter, they pitch upon Argvle- fhire as the feat of thefe Scots or Goths, the fpot where the Ccitick or Galiick always was and is n; .'. I] oken in it:, greateft purity. Would not the revciie have been the caie, had the Scots been o) iVaton; k or; ; ; :i r The Highlands would it'll he noted for the grofilft Gothick, and, inttead den ::; poems careifed by the conoueror of It.'jy a: :e la al w ;,-, bv . \ lex ;n .:.-, \vi mid lane i . " ; :.'..:[.,'., o inch lit !i. is .; Ihi.Li rton 1. a-> j .. . . i iieie fabuhits alio make that verv ::.,:. ol Irciand. which ;n the dav^ oi FiiiL r J ' 1 . . :.)!'. , k p . (v.Iicd Fingal i i ' . . i '.::...:......:.':.: > tile t j,-.ri :... (. . ' I'jr.iuii. COuld 43 could not withfland a foreign invafion without Caledonian auxiliaries, foon after his death lb veiy populous as to cad a fvvarm of conquerors into the country from which its inhabitants fprung ; and thefe too quitted fertile regions to feize upon barren mountains. The fact certainly is that, if any Hibernians joined the aboriginal mountaineers, they could only be few in number, as * in Offian's time ; and the united tribes were from the Sgoths or boats, in which they appeared on the coafts and lakes, called by the Picts and other nations Sgots or Scots, a name, however, (till unknown and dis- avowed among them. This etymology of the name is the more probable that we find in Offian's poems ".he Fingalians pofTelTed of boats called Sgoths f with which they braved the fury of their ltormy leas, and that it is agreeable to Claudian's defcription of the icy Ierne and to his piles of flam Scots. None but this fyftem, which is conformable to the hiftorical epifodes in Offian's Temora, can account for the univerfal prevalence of the Celtick * Smith's Sean Dana, p. 220. Chruinnich a chnidac rail His hofl gathered round Fin, Fhln. Ba choigrich clan Infefa.il ; Strangers were tiie fons of Inisfai! ; Sheas iad, gach fear 'sa fli lea They itood each with his 'na dhorn, fpear in his grafp, 'Sa fhuil fo chorfaid eir F:n- And his eye under his helmet ghaei, on Fingal, Amhuilfoluis fo reia dorcha, Like a light under dark clouds, Tra bhis choil eir chrith 'fna While the wood is in a tremor fpeir ri borbhan, and the iky murmurs. f Ibid. p. 62. Greafam fan fgoth fo na Let me haften in this boat to dhuil. meet him. Tha fgoth na mna aig im- The boat of the matron is in eyelid. motion. G 2 in 44- in Scotland clown to the days of Malcolm Ken- mor, a factt which is ellablifhed on too firm a bafis to be fhaken. " Conar *," fays Oflian, " was brother to Trathal, Head of the men vvhofe bufi- nefs was ft.uighter. The blood of his foes was on a thou (and ftreams, and with his fame were filled the valleys of Erin, As with the placid breeze of the wind, while ic is gentle. The mighty tribes of Ullin aflembled; 1 hey lent a prefTing meffage to the king of fwords, To the king of the valiant race of the mountains, The Iced of Seima renowned for mighty heroes." f " Fiom the fonth arofe the princes of F.rin In the compact darknefs of their llrong rage. Jn the black cavern of Minna dole to each other Amid whifp rs fmothering their words (3ft they laid round the hill, whence were iccn the bare ghofts of their men Showing their dark-red binding forms From grey broken rocks on the plain, Recalling the memory of the fame of the Behjre, * Timor.". I). 2. " Ba bhrucr Conar dc Thrathnl, (Van nam icr diia 'i: tian am bas. l'i:i! ,: naid- imi mhilr iVi'i, 1 : chliu Ilr.a tiliri r:;:ii Erin, Mar ttiaital btfach na gaoi 'ft L : .v. C'.niin:iich cinnc.ia n/ir 1 ilin, Cnuir iad ci.nc- n ki nan Ian, (Vi R; o (hins'ra garbh a mhonni, l~>.! > (,1'na nan run.; naih fan." -r !)!> .'1'.l!i o d <_ - (na: t.ati r.rin. An <.i ira duintc 'n a:\i; '::. tin"; in. ;\:i 'id i n Win i uiu ri ch:'!e i\\ iii I.'.:-,;;.-:-,..'.: h an ! >cia tein ",-::.''. ii"!" i ",i r ,-.' i ; . , < )',r, ia;e:< t mi vr ! . leiin an iri;i < \^, 1 i;im' an iirin : i' 1 ( v .: \ .' :, i : . : . r >""-,,., '. , _ ; ' " "v '.\ nv Why in Erin mould Conar be king, The feed of the battling Arrangers from Morven ?" In * the feventh book of the fame poem are thefe words. " Nor in the mountain are the Heps of Lerthon, Head of the ifle of green boughs. He is erecting a bUck oak on the wave In. the bay of Clua of the many billows, The black oak which he cut from Lumon To travel on the face of the ocean. Maids turned their mild eyes from the king, left he fhould fail low : For never by them had been feen a (hip Dark-riding the great ocean. Now the king invoked the wind Amid the vapour of the grey lea. Green rofe Inisfail, Straight fell the night of mowers; Fear fuddenly ftruck the ions of Bolga. Clouds cleared from Tonthena on the billows. In the bay of Cul- bin iettled the fhip, Where wood anfwered wave. Boiling and boifterous there was the ftream from the cavernous rock of Dathuma, In which gleamed the fpirits of the dead With their own changeable forms. There came to Lerthon of the (hips a dream, Seven images of races not alive; Their voice was heard broken and heavy ; There was feen their feed in a mift; There was feen the feed of Atha of the heroes W T ith their fons, the leaders of the Belgas. They poured their own hofts as mifts defcending from the mountain, when it travels grey under a blaft Over Atha of the nu- merous groves. Lerthon railed the hall of Samla * The original, which is here clofely and literally tran- slated, has been publifhed in the fecond volume of Ofiian's Poems, and needs not therefore be here inlerted, like that or the preceding quotation. From the words Clutha and Lumon it feems that the emigration took place from the Clyde, and that the oak came from Ben Lomon, at the toot of which, about Macfarian's houfe, lately flood manv a venerable oak older by centuries than Dr. johnfon, when he vilited Scotland, To 46" To the foft drain of the harp of firings. The roc of ILr'm bent from his fleps At the grey fords of the dreams. " In order to invalidate this reafoning what is the artifice of the Goths ? The Celts, if the Goths may be truiled, have no written annals, no au- thentic!-: chronicles, nor even manufcripts prior to the ninth century ; and the Poems of Oiiian de- ferve no credit, becaufe they are merely oral tra- ditions like GarcilafTo's Hiftoryof Peru. What then are the unobjectionable documents of the Goths? The Annals of Ulfter, an Irifh Duan or Cento, the Plalter of Cafhel, and, above all, the invaluable Chronicle of the Pitts. What do thefe precious monuments, of which die Plalter of Cafhel, the parent and foundation of the reil, is the oldeil and vet not older than the latter end of the tenth century, contain ? The Ultonian Re; informs us of luch important fatts as thefe, " that in a certain year a king of Kintyre, a king of Aldcluai, a king of the Cruinii, a king of J )al- riada, a king of the Pitts, a king of the Britons, :i king of Fortren and Mclcron kins; ot Lochlin died] that in a different year there was a battle between the White and Black Gentiles, for it Jeems that Blacks once invaded the Britifh coafts ; that the king of the Black Gentiles was killed by Marai Mac Mermin ; that in 1034 Nuivne Mac I high, king of the F.nglilh Irifh, died; that in n,-, Lnana, king of /V.laxons (ought againftOdo, an imaginary king of France, a.i.i that in 1059 Iai'O, a fictitious king of B;itaii\ died a little be- fore Heniich, king*;: the work!." Such are the admirable materials rurnilhcd bvtliis multer-roi! of name , for the confli utticn of the GothLk temple ofHntoiv. But 47 Rut the Duan perhaps is a better quarry. Lei us fee what freeftone or marble it yields, unin- telligible and inexplicable as it is in fome parts and mistranflated in others. Oconnor, who is re- folved to be the great king not only of Ireland but of Albion, dailies through thick and thin and flicks in the mire. Well, what is the refuk ? " Albanus of the numerous combatants was the aid poffeflbr of Alba of the hofts of yellow treffes. He was the fon of Ifiacon and brother to Eritus, who banifhed Albanus acrofs the fea of Nichtnav- nus and feized on Alba as far as the territories of the hunter Fothadan. Then come the children of Nemhi, or Nemidius, and are iucceeded by the Crunii from Ireland. Seventy Crunian or Piclith kings rule the Crunian plains ages before the Gothick accounts make the Crunii or Picts fet foot in Ireland or even quit the fhores of the Masotis. The fvvarm from the prolifick Ireland is led by three fons of Conor, or rather Oconnor, the great king of Ireland, of the mild mouth -, and memorable was this tribe of the Gaels ;" for the Duan calls them neither Goths nor Scots. The remainder of this delicate morfel of poetry is a mere lift of names and years, and is lb far from ferving, if fuch a ridiculous fcrap could ferve any purpofe but that of laughter and contempt, as a 'olid foundation for the Gothick fuperilrueture, that it overfets the whole fabrick. But the [Taker of Cafhel is furcly more favour- able to the claims of the Goths. Let the experi- ment be made. This beaded cento is, in tlii: words of Altle, " a mifcellaneous collection written in the latter end of the tenth century and full of fables and ablurdities." Hence the Irifli anti- quaries learn " that Ciocal (a name copied perhaps from Cocalus, a Sicilian tyrant, who lived many centuries 45 centuries after the fuppofed Ciocal) peopled Ireland a hundred yeors after the flood with the crews of veflels containiiig each 50 men and 50 women. Dr. Paribns, however, with greater modcily and upon the fame authority contends that Cain s three daughters, of which ladies Bamba was the eldell, rook poiTe'Tion of this land of faints fo late as ;oo years after the deluge. But then, to mend the matter, and to iurprife the reader with chrono- logical exactness another 13 r. named Keating avers that the giant Parthohn, the genuine anceftor un- doubtedly or the Macphartholans or Macfarlans, and defcended in a right line from Japhet, took pofiefnon of zh'^ coafr. of Mu.nfr.er on the 14th of May in the year 1970 after the creation. The fame learned author and feveral oth^r Irifh iages ccuahv pror >und aiiert p )fitively that Finiula I/aria, great grandion of Japhet 'and piobably t.he rather of zhc Mac Pharions) opened a Ichool in the plains of Senaar 150 years alter Noah quitted the ark and invented the Hebrew, Greek, La, in and Irilh characters. Irtla id t 10 m:i:i have the honour of the immediate tran e, , ,,'. .1 t 1 Scotland of the PirJls. Having Served in Thrace uncle, Piince Policornus, who hid, iii ord.er to favehi.i daughter's honour, committed murder and Cxl], they roamed from place to place, till they ci.ru' to Gaul and founded the citv of Pi. tavi. 1 . Kxpelled, however, from this alylum, they ariived : ; : Ireland and affiled the natives m repuhi'y the Briton , who had :uv.eJed i'n t cuiutn. i/iivdiug the ik ; ton> aneal* prey, :.. ;" c : ried the w ir i:ro their i< rito ic-, anil "ted the rViifn m :..: ..' :. Ubiou." dot how is the truth A theie and other equaiiv inierefting even's contained in the Pi her alcertained ? It is lanitioned and incontellablv eftabhfhed by the ;an.:meUo a; and 49 and its committee of nine fpecially appointed, as m regenerated France, to examine and verify the national records and hiftorical monuments. After a tilfue of fuch credible llories and well authenti- cated facts, who will difpute the authority of the Pfalter of Cafhel ? A truce with fuch legendary tales ! the reader will be apt to exclaim, and give us the incontro- vertible hiftory contained in the Chronicle of the Picls. Behold this phoenix then with all its beau- tiful plumage I " The Picts, fo denominated from various figures imprinted on their bodies with fharp-pointed instru- ments of iron dipped in ink, and mentioned as the fir ft inhabitants of Britain, muft be fuppofed to have come into it at lead as early as the third age of the world," from which words it feems that the writer thought the Chriftian era coincident with the crea- tion. " For the Britons, who muft not be allowed to inhabit this ifland before the Picls, appeared, in fpite of Cefar, on Britiffi ground only in the third age. The Scots, who were fo ftyled either from their Scythian origin, or. from their queen, Scotta, the daughter of Pharao, came ftill later, having landed only in the fourth age of the world," by which the Chronicle muft intend, if it intends any thing, the fourth century after the creation, as it cannot otherways be reconciled to what is faid con- cerning the Biitons. " The Scythians, from whom the Scots and Picls are derived, and whofe grey pupii enabled them to fee better in the night than in the day, were from the whitenefs, which their fnovvy abodes communicated to their hair, chrif- tened Albans by their neighbours, the Amazons," who muft therefore have fpoken Lai in inftead of Sarmatick or Sclavonics. " The refemblar.ee of the laft fyllabie Gog proves that the Scvthians H and o and Goths originated from Magog, the fon of Japhet, whofe territories extended from the north- eatt of India through the Palus Mraebtis along the banks of the Danube and the fhores of the Ocean to the confines of Germany," " a kingdom of a tolerable extent to be peopled in the fecond generation by the progeny of one man and one woman. From this authentick iource Pinkerton borrowed the idea of leading his Pi els a dance from Pcifia to the Palus Majbtis up the Tanais, from the Tanais to the Baltick and Gothland, from Gothland to \ ichia or Pikia, (for, in a cafe of this nature, an antiquary has a prefcrip- tive right to twift and nntvvifr, ro rack and to; tine v, ordb nt pleaiui e), from V'ichia rouiid die Orkneys to Ireland, and irom Ireland back again round Johnny Groat's lloule to exterminate the ancient Cale- donians and ether Idols of Marceliinus, and at lafl to contend v, ith their kmln.en the Scythians or Scots for tiie iovereigntv of Albion. " Many of the regions, over winch Magog's i idiom extcm^d, ,.:id in which me Prfts io- iomncd, oversowed with g >ld and jewels, with the mil emeralds, die mie'.l lappinres and the pureil .. : . but were unfortunately inaccefiible on in: oi lavage griffins, tiiat guarded diem as :! . dra '\>n watched tiie Heipciian fruit." " Tiie lounderof the Picts in [jiitain wasC'ruithne, was io near!'.' related to the antednhi \:a:i , : nedl mo years, an i had i; luccc-Hors, with his own amounted to ~i, c.-.c'n, at an average, ; i year.'-, a ipace ry U'.vu y tre ; : ol what Sir Ifaac ;\'ew- i hen come tinrrv kings all Je, '.'.'.' ) nil d I : .. land a id Albion eacli m k :.. i .' :;ve year-, till m<- chronolo- .1 ikeieton, i : -r it i u.no: be called liillorical, te: minutes ')!'_' 1 (-1 v .. v.uii! ned li: terminates in Kenneth Mac Alpin, who is here allowed to have utterly annihilated this fair ftruc- ture of Pictifh greatnefs." Now, reader, is not this a manufcript worthy of being preferved in cedar, or rather in Darius's calket for jewels r Who would leave it a prey to worms? How laudably is an antiquary employed in the afcer- tainment of the true readings! If the records, with which Iona fupplied Boethius, were not more interest- ing than zhcSi- y their lofs is not to be regretted , for fuch an archaeological feaft would be fit only for the grofs palates of Gothick bock-worms. Indeed I fufpect that, as Boethius was not, like Buchanan, ac- quainted with the original language of the country and could therefore confultonly monkifh documents like the Chronicle of the Pidts, he allowed the Gallick manufcripts, which were perhaps really valuable, to perifh. If the Pfalter of Camel, the Duan Albanach, the Chronicle of the Pitts, and other fabrications of the fame clafs had (bared a fimilar fate, our libraries would have been relieved from much learned lumber and our fcholars from a deal of barbarous jargon. The only benefit ac- cruing from Inch publications is a conviction that on this fubjeft publick and private repertories contain no hillorical records worth perufal. OBSERVATION. From the beginning of Cefar's* firft and fecond books concerning his Gallick wars, and from the whole teijour of ins narrative, it appears that the various tribes of the Belgians poiTefled together with Picardy and Lorraine all the Netherlands from Corfar De Bell. Gall. lib. i. cap. i. Tertiam (partem G:U';r iucolunt) qui ipiomm lingua Celtcc, noih.i Ga'li rppellautur. Gr.llos ab Aquitanis Garurnna ilumen. a Bel- gis Mairona et Sequana dividit. Celar enumerates the Bei- g'ck tribes i:i the beginning of his fecond book, H 2 the the mouths of the Rhine ; that the Aquitanians were confined to the narrow diftrict of Gafcony within the Garonne; and that the remainder of Gaul, amounting with the Roman province, of which the people were Gauls, to much more than half of the departments now conltituting the French rcpublick, was in the hands of the nation called in their own language Celts, and in Latin Gauls, who were divided into* two factions, at the head of which flood the lidui and Arverni, by the latter of whom and by the Sequani, their al- ]ies, a lavage f ana barbarous horde of Germans had been invited into Gaul as meicenaries. Celar indeed remarks that the ' auls, belgians and Aqui- tanians differed in language, and StraDo \ explains the nature and extent i f the ciuference, telling us that the Belgians fpeke trie language of th; Gauls v.ith a iittle vaiiation trom their dialect, and that the Aquitanians differed from boin entirely in perfon and fptech arid in both rclembied the Ibe- rians. That the German had no affinity to the Galiick language we leain not only from Tacitus, when he aiierts ArvtTais S t , ; . ; i a 1 . '( in; .;; cunmr. \ i\v.>\. V., "(|i:a -..Miiim K-: i .< har'v.H (Grrmnni) ;a;ro' rt i ....,.....: n.ali '. j 1 ; . - i\[. aum tions- j 'I . ; ;i t o! Stra'ii arovaig thi-, ;,Mtraion i mp.,^e2^ I) ,;.>:', G; I!. I: . i.< , . -. Vi'\im eft C. YV.mum Vr l..1 ;:' j 1 ' : < . . ';:.<:.: ultii ;ani :\: ir .ill 1.- 1 ..,:. ' .oai'uau jiae ut Cui", a.d aim n,i 51 1 1 mi ii m i inn ii inn i iiiiii in n iiimm in n A P PENDIX THAT the inquifitive reader may be exempted from the trouble of confulting the original book for ibme elTential facts advanced in the preceding tract, I infert here the following extracts from the excellent Inquiry into the Origin of Writing, pub- lifhed by Mr. Aftlc, Keeper of the Records in the lower, to whofe diligence, learning, and penetration, the literary world is fo greatly in- debted. Aftle, p. 46. " Plato fomewhere mentions Hy- peiborean letters very different from the Greek." Id. p. 123. " The Gallic or Erie language, ufed in the Highlands of Scotland, and Iberno- Gallic, are near!) the fame, and their letters are fmnilar to each other, as appears by comparing tile different fpecimens in plate 22. i: In the fit it column of this plate are fpecimens of eight different manufcripts, written in the Gallic or Eife tongue, which is confeffedly a dialect of the Celtic. " Thefe manufcripts are now in my library, by favour cf fome friends, who procured them from the Highlands of .Scotland. ic The Lirfb and molt ancient fpecimen of the Gallic, or 1 rfe language, which 1 have ieen, is n fron I rment of a work entitled c Lima- 52* nuel/ which, from the forms of the letters, and from the nature of the vellum, may be as old as the ninth or tenth century." Aftle, p. 138. " In truth all fcepticifm mud vanifh by an infpection of the 22d plate, wherein we have ocular demonftration that the Erfe and Irifli characters are the fame ; and that they are fimilar to thofe ufed by the Saxons in Britain appears from feveral Saxon alphabets in the pre- ceding plates." Vindi- VINDICATION OF BUCHANAN WHATEVER doubt fome infidels may en- tertain concerning the immortality of the thinking principle in man, none can be harboured by well informed and liberal minds about the pro- priety of vindicating the pofthumous fame of de- ceafed merit, and of perpetuating, as far as the riling is practicable, that life which floats in the breath of others -, for it is a debt which we owe as much on the fcore of gratitude for paft benefits as of prudence for future advantages. Though we know that expreilions of thanks Can be of no utility to the author of nature, yet they fpontaneoufly burft from our breads upon viewing the wonders and bieflings of his creation. Why then fhould we not experience fimilar, but inferiour emotions ot gratitude to thofe rare fpirits, who have fhone as luminaries in their refpecYive nations, and guided ihcm, like polar fears, through the tea of igno- rance ranee and barbarifm? We need not with the aduh- lion of the ancients coniecrate them as demigods, or with the fuperftition of the moderns canonife them as faints : but we ma\ exhibit them in pic- tures with the pencil or the pen as objects of ad- r. iration and models of imitation to every age. "J he lame of Bacchus excite 1 the emulation of Alexander, and the exploit:, of Amnion's ion lighted up a kindred fire in the breait of Cefar. For, however impaflive and non-electrick fome human frames mav be, a few of more refined elements will always catch the flume and ferve as meteors, comets, or iuns, to illuminate the benighted wuiid. Cf this laft clafs was George Buchanan, the author of the following dialogue, who, though born, as he lays himfelf, in an age and country of no great learning or refinement, blazed out in all the me- ridian lplendour of genius and talte, and was julllv flyled the literary fun of Scotland. But, had his light been confined to the cold tracts of Caledonia; Iiacl it not exu ded its benefits to the other regions of Kurope, 1 ihould not at this bufy crifis have introduced. h^ works upon the publick flage, nor directed vac national atten- tion to his memory. 1 lad he not lived at an ominous period, like the present, and intruded the weilern hemifpnere r s leis by his political v. :'::: s ihan he had delighted it by his puetical compositions, hs, treanle on ; r >\ ;rn:'nent, winch I now pubhlh in Isngklh, mug: it luive (lent \\a~ din hi bed on tlie (hell am >ng eon r Cully volumes, which the in\ .en sin.!, of a language becoming daily ;. ss' and mo: \'. ;1 ; >en i eud< r as un;:. tells :')ie even to le! :>\.[v.- a.s use Shanicut book.. ..: m* i..ratical inno- vators vn 11 ke 1:^, th e ' a in. ad\ ha.iid to li'oei t\', 00 he was a fyftematical enemy to all violent changes in any moderate form of government. Paine's Rights of Man lately excited a great ferment among the illiterate ; but not a greater than Buchanan's differtation formerly raifed among the learned. Nor is this a fubject of wonder, when we confider Buchanan's fame as a poet. Out of innumerable teftimonies of his fuperiour merit in poetical compofition I felect the following lines, which his death, a period, when envy ceafes, ex- torted from the pen of the renowned Italian, Jofeph Scaliger. The tranflation is rather clofe than adequate, more true to the fenfe than to the fpirit of the original. Thy country bleft, Buchanan, in thy fame, And every region honouring thy name, Thou dielt declining mad ambition's ways, To "-vealth fuperiour and to vulgar praife; Of Phebus and his choir the favourite fon, Who every prize in every conteft won. The rare memorials of a foul refin'd, Which in thy works admiring nations find, \*o bard fliail equal of the Gallick breed, And of th' Italic!, none could e'er exceed. Rais'd to her zenith poetry no more Beyond thee tries on daring wing to fo'ar. Bounds to her empire Rome in Scotland found, And Scotland too her eloquence (hall bound. The fplendour of his poetical talents was what occafioned the principal misfortunes of his life ; for the Francifcans having difcovered them wilhed by the poffeiTion of fuch a treailire to attract po- pular attention to their decaying order. Accord- ingly the fly brotherhood tried by various artifices io inveigle Buchanan, who, infr.cad of complying, rcTX-ilcd their importunities b\' v/ruiric a liitle elegy, 56 elegy, of which the following is an imperfect veiiion. At dawn, when frighted by the folar ray The (tars turn pale at the approach of day, Francis in knotty dowlas clad, and red With recent lafhes, flood before my bed. The facred veftments all he held in hand, Hat, cord, book, robe, and burden flioe and wand, And fmiling faid, " At once thefe badges wear, Forfake the world, and to my camp repair, The anxious blandifhments of pleafure fpurn, And from her fearful joys repentant turn. Vain hopes and cares I'll teach you to defpife, And tread the paths ft rait leading to the fkies." Fix'd in amaze I at this vifion hung, And fcarce thefe founds could iffue irom my tongue ; " Without offence may I the truth declare ? That garb my moulders are unfit to bear. Tiie wearer muft in cringing flavtry bend ; I hail paternal freedom, as my friend. The wearer's brazen front no blufh muft know ; That I'm forbid by nature's honeft glow. He mud deceive, co-.x, feign and temporize; I lo v e Simplicity without difguife. Me nor your lice nor rancid fongs difmav, Nor prowling lives like thofe c( beafts of prey ; Nor bellowing roir", when at each gate you bawl j If fuch vain arts can move th' ethereal hall. The way to heaven the cowl can feidom find ; For monks, 'tis thought, no place is there aliign'd. Survey all temples rear'd with ancient ftor.e, And lead o'er monuments th' inferiptions ftrowu, You manv a bifliop's honour d fhrinc will \ iew, Scarce one erected to the lioodi d < rew. Let then this u;arb with monk- i c rare and fine. And v'nole u ho love in penury to pine. But if my welfare lie fo near your hea r t, V. uuld v. u fave me, cr lave m\ better par! ; Let 57 Let others travcrfe all the country o'er Proud of this drefs, and beg from door to door: The trade I like not, nor the monkifli frown, Give me a mitre and a purple gown." This fpcrtive effort of the poet's mufe was re- prefented by thefe profefibrs of meek benevolence and philanthropick forgivenefs as a flagrant proof of daring impiety and atheifm; and according to the ufual practice of holy men they thought that no pu- nishment could be too fevere forfuch a calumnious and blafphemous wretch. During this irritation of mind on both fides, the Scottifh king, who fufpecled the Francifcans of having joined a party of the nobility in a confpiracy againlr the crown, and was unacquainted with the iubfifting quarrel, commanded Buchanan, then preceptor to his na- tural fon, James, afterwards Earl of Murray and Regent, to expofe them in a poem. Our author, unwilling to offend either party giievoufly, wrote a fhort piece of ambiguous meaning, of which fome idea may be formed by the Englifb reader from the fubfequent tranilation of as much of it as can be communicated in an unlearned language. " Superior fanctity you never fugn, Nor f wallow camels, while at gnats you (train. Rare vour limplicity, vour virtue''; rare; Rare is of truth and troaeitv your (hare. In you is pride unheard of, ftrength th At braves A!l luft ; your hands to labour ne'er are (laves. Your deep's not broken by the din of Mars ; No bar exhaufts your lungs with wordy wars. You plant no vinr, nor low the furrov/d plain. Nor f'preaJ the canvafs on the (lormy main, The gains of others you, like rats, devour. And feaft, as gods, in Epicurus' bower. You thus of beggary may juftly baft ; V makes you live like the angelick hofr. T C~, T w C 58 Song*;, pfalms and concerts gardens gay with flow'rs, And gorgeous palace? amuie your hours. You heir th' indtiltrioub farmt r\ hard earn'd wealth, What robbers feize by force and thieves by fteaah. All, all you (lure in many a fumptuous meal; Riil:, lofs, vexation, th' liwn'.r: on'v tccl. In iux'ry wallowing \ou preach content, And prailing abftinence you ne'er keep Lent, New intrufive at the poor man's bo nd Vou blefs the table oi the fqwire and lord, Where imitating pioufly Saint Paul, Like good difciples, you turn all to ail." However fevere this fatirc may appear to a dii- i.ntereiled inquirer, the king animated by re, thought it too circuitous and indue:!:, and ii en a more L^cn and pointed invective. Accou nan dipped his pen in blacker g.ih, ana produce d a piece called The Krancifcan, the nenccm^nt oi which may be thus tranfiatcd. . ' . ... i think - . eaa :! re . n : ' - a "a < f i ioracc a,e ' . ' - : vir.owf of \ uvcnal. t cioiuli your . . t gown ? ^ ' - ;'" p ' ' 'rune, V. 'in r .: th.r ]-. ..:. I .: .: v . . ! a . ' '-. ] '.]:.,< h wa : i 59 u Oft as I weigh'd the woes of human life, Its fruitlefs toils and everlafting ftrife, Its idle hopes, its anxious fears and joys, Like airy vifions, which the grafp deftroys, By varying paffions toft from fide to fide, As on the deep a fhip by wind and tide, Whatever portion of life's fleeting- ft ream The fates referve me 'tis mv prefeni febeme Far from the world to fpend in pious cares, And expiate youth's fins with tears and pray 'is. for that holy, that triumphant day, When clad in facred cowl and fober grey 1 fhall from Francis catch the holy ghoft, And, though on earth, live as the heavenly hoft. This is the mark I aim at, this the goal And port that's long'd for by my panting foul, No more at random on life's ocean hurl'd, No more the lport of a deceitful world." " To holinefs if a compendious road You mean to take through virtue's high abode, If leaving childifh tovs and error's maze Of naked truth you wifh to tread the ways, To trace the fource of blifs and lift your fight To heavenly objects and ethereal light, Your purpofe I commend ; the noble aim And great attempt my gratulations claim : Bat, if bewilder'd by delirious dreams You itand the dupe of intere fired fchemes; It led aftray by theologick fchools You take for heav'n the paradife of fools, A backward courfc be not afliamed to bend, Xor tpurn the counfels of an honefir friend. Let not the ravings of tiie vulgar herd To folid reafon's dictates be pveferr'd, Nor myftic nonfenle crufted o'er with age To fimple leffons read in nature's page. Yet ftill believe not that I heaven (\viv, Or au the giant and afiault the iky ; I ?, 60 For I have revcrenc'd from my tender age The genuine pi it, the piiilofopfiick fage, Whom fpotlcT virtue fanctiues, whofe name Superiour knowledge dooms to tndlefs lame. This race (we have the ftory from their tongue) From a long line of pious fathers fprung Fam'd for their prav'rs and 1- gen ! iry ne.vs, .In other 'points imietter'd, rude and fev\ . Gut their degenerate foils, a fordid crew, Forfaking piety vile gain purine, And under feign'd devotion's rlhnfy veil The ranked v-ceand blackeft lieart conceal. "Vet by religious (how anJ pnfi renown They eh^at the chattering ci" and gaping clown. But, I. ;i with look aft mifh'd at the glare Of holy tinlci y e . 1 1 fnouid (tare, And with fuptize the lb. .: io.\ phantoms view, V :1 n'd on th' unv. arv hv t! i c mmring crew ; Come, {'can with me what v iljar iouis .dmire In lordly pontilfs; whveven k n^s compile To aid the cr .ft ar.d h;I.l t ; .e,:, i:p on high To gaping tools as fav'ri ! ik\ ; W hat mtrit won i' cm ik-> and gowns Impart to briftly cih :u:i crowns, *\\ hat m titter.': t!:e> in Je' iih itments hide \:;d lab.e t p'lod , r..;y o' i y pi toe ; Yam hi . er : . , :di arts Of Tin ' " its To 1 uv tweir I ili t!rt ..d the nor?, Oi ar: ;..".: < s. Here, as t m -.r,\ : .: .. ii 1 . : . . , I ii . :. i ; ..;;:.;. '-> blow , C. >," ' '...' : :i '.' lt'Tl ( >| iirt : v! . i ,i uui, iw's con or 1 ; el t-il . \\\:']\ -. ' . t oi', ... ;(>!:' '::,.. .. : m '... h . !, V, ..; 61 Whom wit and fcience and the tuneful Nine, And ftars forbid in arts or arm? to fhine. I:i learning's arduous paths with fruillefs pain VVhen thefe have fpent their youthful days in vain, UnnervM in indolence's ioftening ihacles Thev dread difpioSve tubes and trenchant blade?, Nor know on briny waves o'er oars to bend, Or Icoicn'd foil with furrowing plough fufpend ; And hence the belly's clamours to affuage, And f;"HO their csrca r e from keen winter's rag- 1 , Thev here in fnosK ii!;t crocodiles, rtfott, Of tlotii and hiiem.-fs the chofen port. Pelf fome collect in fuperfiition's dorrs , And others guard in treafuries at home, The dull the country fcour, the keen the town, And with tbefpoils oi both the'.r convent crown : This circumvents the widow, that the wife And lows the feeds of matrimonii! ftrife. The beardiefs thipling they can mold with eafe, His fears and terrors drive him where they pleafe. Of tender maids they play around the heart. And on their favourite paffion work with art. A veftal pregnant b\ divine embrace The founders bore of Home's imperial race. A matron hugg'd in dragon's form a god, Whole offspring foon on crowns and turbans trod, Why may not they inflam'd with facred h.re To eqiul fame beneath a faint af ire f The bible for their pillow and then bed A prophet's robe, what can there he to dread? Such temptmg baits before the eve Hill fet The gudgeons draw at lafr into their net. The victims add of a diforder'd brain, Delirious fever's and dire phrenzy's tiain, Thefe cra/.'d with long; vertigoes at death's crate hvearthat, if heav'n appeas'd fufpend their fate, The dreg-, of life with ftarch and monkifh air ml oowns thtv will devote to Dray'r At 6 2 .At this fome priefUing hot with holy zeal. And meas'ring juftice by the convent's weal, Mutters ftrange magick founds o'er 'oread and wine, And frrair his breath their fubftance makes divine. This sod bv his creator fvca'dowed whole, He then abiolvcs from fin the patient's foul, Loads him with Hempen cords and veltments brow , And of his addle pate lays bare the crown, Prates in ids credulous ear an idle dream, A rnafs '; povv'r offences to redeem, Allures him heav'n at death, in lite prepar'd As much and more to promife, if he feav'd Through lack of lies that he fhould mils the way To one hair-ounce of the expected prey. By thefe falfe tales the wretched dotard fuay'd Bids precious goods be to the mor.k -; convex 'd, Plate, pictures, tapeltry and gems untold, And filken robes and ah that fetch: gold ; Since thev pretend their far.clity is fuch The pure ft gold would taint them with its touch, Tiiis chaff w ill cati h but idiot bird-, alone ; To thun for pay all heaven is open thrown. Jf death fnould grafp a Lazarus in his fangs Xo mournful dirge is fang ; no cymbal clangs, No long proc< flion in v. bite robes attends ; No voice the air with lamentations rends."' This poem, of which the remainder breathes equal feventv, naturally excite. i the rcfentment of Car- din;.! Beaton, who, as the. Pipe's vicegerent in Scotland, watched the interefm of the church and the manoeuvres of herciy ; ir,r herclv was al'.\ a\ s the ecciefiaitical cry, when any of the monkish in- ftitutior.s or religious armies ehfpcrkd through Chrithv.dom \va, threatened with danger. Ac- coRhng'v z:\l- prelate, who km v: the king;'- jv- ceihtie.., and that his honou; wa> not. Ike that of 6.3 of modern kings, inflexible, purchafed Buchanan's life for money, and kept him in prifon, till he could after a formal proceeding at law be con- demned and burnt, as others were, for herefy. But our author having eluded the vigilance of the jailors fled to England, where he found as little fecurity as in his native country, the Catho- licks and the Protefrants being equally facrificed by the capricious tyranny of the dcipot, Henry VIII. Depending therefore on literary connections and old habits of intimacy formed in France lie repaired to Paris, whence the intrigues of his inveterate enemy. Cardinal Beaton, who was there on an embaffy from Scotland, loon obliged him to de- camp. The brilliancy of his talents, however, procured him an afylum at Bourdeaux, where for three vears he inftrufted youth, and with an inten- tion of weaning the public mind from the repre- fentation of allegorical plays, which were then in vogue, introduced upon the fcholaflic ftage two original, and two tranilated, tragedies, The Bapiiil and Jcphtha, and tl\c Medea and Alcefris of F.u.i- pides. XI i fucceis upon this occafion exceeded, as he fays himillf, his expectations ; and ro this fuccels we may juftly afcribe the early regularity of the French ftage, its attachment to the three unities and to other excellences of the ancient drama. Having thus improved theatrical exhibitions in France he would, upon his efcape from permea- tion in that country and in Portugal, have un- doubtedly done a iimilar fervice to Scotland, had he not on his return to his native ioil been luddenly immerfed in the waves of civil d.icord. The con- vulfions occafioned by difputes concerning religion and government had at that juncture precluded the pofiibility of lb deferable an improvement, be: what 6"4 vmat his country could then bear he performed, lie taught in the following dialogue the genuine principles of government. Nor were the benefits of his political writings confined to Scotland. The juftneis of his realoning and the elegance of his ft yle excited th^ univerlal attention of Kurope, and pave rife in due time to the dilfertations of Ma- chiavel, and to the treatifes of Harrington, Sidney, Locke and Hume. I lis cpiniuns, indeed, were at fdl violently oppofed by the temporifmg flat- terers of power; but are now deemed little in- fer iour to political axioms. Hence he mav be reckoned the father of politicks in modern Iki- lope, havmg drawn the smeat outlines of the fcience ami left hi:, lehohm to fill up, tv) made and colour me his eflendai nee. Here, if anywhere, is to he found a complete picture of a patriot king or iupreme magikrate ; and therefore, as the friends of kinQ , who ought to have many, keldom dare to remind die a of various truths contained in book. r.nd parkcuhuiy in km tre;mie, ii is ; lit pre fen t fcr a. i u. . kaim:, k ^ve:y king's ions were trained ' . ' k ' J m. o; humanitv am.oi mher bo\'s or the k m : aye and taught under tne levcrc dilcipiine oi a fchool to ckev, befoie tiwy command, iuch a pmkv.t v eaik be leis ueccikxy to a court. l : or m, if ever, expect to meet with wmiom, palriotilm and m- their prectpmr. Wiio but la ivifh age. v ra u i fo .; ::ht J, have j!' ;. .' can > n : : o. Bud- 1 , .1. j v. i \V oi i ; in die k.; C ! 'are k ,'.i|. ti: m. ; ' - r \ . ; r- r to dmca ger as he had incurred by the cc-it Francifcarn When told that the hi honour and obligation war. wi the ceding to the cordmracv a~aho(t hi: ported to have laid, ' j/Jy enemies ditious ehe I (hah cave thcrn the nda : where there r loon in hided id;, d haufh d i-y literary >, cays ot age reicm ranny and hem da.. it, though: id' ': '--;'.: ]':.-. e rage of t-j eveiy dheai of lioerty and eveg lover of learning and gwdus, was, and is dad, e.dumniated a> th.e para'dtes oi paaive obemence, and the ; ; a Though to a 'dhwnam, a ' . ,.a: . i. ;..daj tl e , ::.'. ohiio-- ...,. O-,-,, !-' u c n c 1 'ill, . u Ol i U S - -, . 1 of >/ n/ _ . t -.. re- ej. "-' i t Ik.e r eni* n en- - ~0 ' "> "' r f ' fhpher and the other a prefoyterian divine, were died, after the perulal and colhtion of every docunienr, to pafs lentencc ot conde; :i on Marv, various champions have entered die a defence of her caufe, and hurled enormous ' a- ^untlets of de'dance, at her allegi d caiui siiii, Tiiefe zealous advocates heated by controv . that, though they ihould ppuc all th c Lad to i;e her's ipurioua, they llall leave b i::k >u bed aa.d uncontradiated matter funic; her condemnation. iSaed in Fiance, at a e a:: avov.-eduy corrupt and licentious above the ordinary .. 1, -aaa.e to - ' o: md in the fail \ igour oi h arid a a ; ill n ', aa.dj a \ 'a ; < n dial e\ inc-. d, ;:j: i.a a .,a 1 . y IlS da. . a. Uadn, d a I . ..: Cbatcl rd, a i g aid . , i " he ek - ::.': oi a. aaa, r, h:i < ' v and in ; . ; , :o . d d ! y a:;.; !i'" sr.i-ntj m \a i i..\ bei 1 >a. of her j ' - :o; .) i ; , i r ; .cr ; i :.. f' \ ;l . ' ; ipj p nan; , a/a r! a t. Tn ,mbi , :u " a. ' ' \ ' . n: , a a : :v to bj ' ' . . -;as (d n .ir. a:. . : reiol vec, j : tc rt - : . .:""..!.. i a- ; . . i . ; . v . ; ... id, \ ;'-.'.. . , v < > : I : a. a_v 67 amorous heart of Mary. Accordingly he repeated the experiment, and being a fecond time detected not by Mary, but by her unbribed maids, he was and beheaded, not for his guilt, but for his preemption ; no law but Barbary's or the ferag- iio's deeming an aft merely intentional and incom- capital. To experienced obfervers this intrigue fuffi- cientl;, a feci tained the future character of the queen's r "eign and vvh.at Scotland had to expect from a. \'- : .: ti;; . ir.cnt t ....'. til. ; foi'j tb a;; h of a forbidding lj; Lt, hr was in the \ >o\ r oi u h :'! a : a J a i, .. lad: . s ;cc and .\n iiaaiur.tiir, :..',:.. !s ; ana rr-en auk: not account fur tlic inxLaat ....... v :. :.' .. ;.;;cc of a foreigner^ who had net any ; ..:,.. I i uiib as a b:\fas of iecuri ./ ut inj-.o :.. j Ivan ad- r > i'- : '.. l nil He thi . . he rc- Jclvcd to be ; >. :...'.'. . a ...;;.;. . : he f II crufa .::.:: .ad; :. ! i i . .'., .. ,\n ban is 1 1 ... . '. i i . V I I ;;: a by her ( , < lo- hi'i - ;) 1) a r v ; C 69 mas prefently difcovercd; and Rizzio again prcffed into a vr. count, ct which he had never b-'.'cn en- tirely chip P/med. i a lent exclnfion o{ Damley from oniim I ,-, produced jealouiy, lealouiy revenm' ami revenue nib Jar. kizzio beirm, m die m.. :n\, pm; . ... and team, dragged r ; m a cioii , in which I;e wm limning with her, m.l mere : : v im [::.::" we .e. . m. ri^anng that hev/; ' ', die eac'ai aeuh " I \v ill fiicd no : mre ..;, c; . e /earned' rdid tins vindictive ipirit evaporate in words, but coadnued to bm n till it < I her hui ami i me c f his ah; :tors. ' ii y pmrr : remweo am coon and bv in .a.eou-' cairn, m pemuaekei him io ' me Ids own bamaiuie and: me party win ii ' ..' ': . nrhorifed to difp tcl drzzio, as the amdrcron.s paramour ol his who, hhc mrcu him from her as a ue . : d, c< i tern] ' bit' and loadi- ng ; and ii ; i ic mull have a fav< urite, admitted to her rm :c, the bad of Bothwcll, mi onp. mcipkd debauchee, whole oniv wads woe \'> \ rom wa ni im- thcie ho ! bv a ien'e neiti " .. o -ncy u- a ot gm.it. i mace lie divorcee ii- \v ; fe without any imb'e encuie, and poihmed Darniey by ins em.'. "... a W !wn a ; awd that tan (tmimm (A her him. mm >n aided bv the !y m o . . : a:c the c aie::i.is oi a :; : . mm was :m an, ihe ... vv c j m il^ov, , and by her in- ; him to m.':aw her to h.oni- . d of b:'ir.y. ww . c a, as decency paLce, ha had tor his as an oi . .o v, iti n; a- ' ,ms . .'een avi i .. ch '. one Lie : iiie ( c eammwiy vi- i b en i ill hi . a . v hi the only idhht that ihe honoured him oitli a km, 70 at parting to celebrate the important nuptials of a menial lervant, he and the houfe and fume of his attendants were blown up with gunpowder bv her favourite Bothwcll and his in Theugh the perpetrators of this horrid crime were i.awkcd oeit b\ voices in the night an ! by placards in the day, bv the rude clamour ltitude, and by the direct charge of the victim's rather, means were found to elude juftice and to complete the conuuiral union of the fufpected rar- ties. Mary index J pretended that Bothweii owed the pofTcrTion of her perfon to a rape, and that her conicne to marrv him was extorted by the fear oi death. But will the princi les of human nature ni low us to think it probable, or even poilibie, that her favourite and prime mini Peer fhuuld, without upon, ririt be < uiky of a rape, and then proceed to the outrage or threatening her with death? Without an ailurar.ee more than verbal of royal pi'jtection he c add never have Hiked the confe- i i:er.cc;> of luch en i rape and regicide. [-': ma [)ian lo !nin:;ck, io \ regnant with rum to ' , lie mud at once have i\ coded, had he not .i that, ii!;e .'ears ihe had full betrayed her !o iband with a ki!>. 1 iad an actual reconciliation an 1 renewed afiection to her huiban 1 taken place, as her apoiagdis contend, what a bale wretch muft ihe have been to think a matrima . :ion with inch a monfier a ieis evil than d-.ath ! A debt tlu.t every human be;ng mud p; y to nature is t io heavv a load as infamy. N but predomin nee of love, which in bread.; under ,,.e. iv, lKows up every other pa; . and Ijve.'s ,,, clr, can account for her never t. 'i' ha: uon a; pi ars . a : ! :a , m v.nole r evi n 1 1 an .'.n yd: ;i priion in from amorouj ir.tru u 71 Hence in her correfpondence with a northern Duke he becomes pp -ars . to [uious to Murray, are coat; , allow f .. ir evidence no vvc:cri:t: in either iaa.a , r a; is them as precis on ( ra a v a. .: 1 lov. :p tnem eaual force on the i/dicr. j..'u Lhc teilunony o( Lcthington in die c ;e of die L - iSj tiie evidence deftroys iticlf. Tut it is objec! . Paa h hied the letters (and v, i .ho a iacre! for ; a taw : . .' :ortllion arcle from prudenfaii cjuhaei'a ; tmuitne of a rupture with France, . . . ; . ..a aaa mediable quanel with Mary : '-d v.i.h a. .a ibn James, INlucii i\ lu a. .a ' a p m c ' than"! even to .s b .ad given repeated proofs : : :: a. . . This clew leads u , tu th a: . r i h;i u r >" Palwleifh's rea - a., i . . At . a ..-. j .pre !. . : ' lu- ce ai ha, he hhu, cr t! : eh eua; i . oi Lurry / o the letters to be dcflroyed ? Becauie he had no minifter whom he could truu; and lie mi?;ht wiih to preferve the letters as a certain refeurce, if for- tune fhould by rnv /neiiutude prove favcurabi : to the queen, v.hoie honc.ur and lately would render them fere ; of is return to i: w - r. .1 pi-;^ When the a, e ad ana e combined to 1: :. : " ach con a... re a up a: the :::':a!, it may feem fha: :/: to c;aahf obe.Tvers th . puny ca\ il : ana: the aaa a hi to. ,. . .1 a rr :a, of ; he eo; fid enou 1 .' is, that < : a ink, they ob: throiv ; i. ! in a civ . ' - . for an cava - choice. \\ ;e t Lu; a. a.. .-; ; : fiora the Lea .' \ . - -: .'.'.yv, ..hi i v < i . ' .' . .r;a ; no a;a. . ' imoi .. . no:: and Jome ana; > i v : . r-j'/ile e ) ;. T .:: ,, i . ... . ilklll! I . . vanced a ha ' : i :a.'a' a : ^'--o in t!a: ik aa a e, ha r .' -'oined, f: Then, 'ddi until on my iidej 1 f, : ; a r enemies, a: on L i, j - , vmicn a a. L : . ' , r.T jOII ; mvfelf ; .he :' ji] ;./:/ kin." Were he i' i\V ;; '\ C ; ill ; "\ . , tl; (:! . . ill ..'. :"... .,;.:'. :i t.ut ;v-i or :cJ , nc t in: j v: :;.! : I . 1 , : ! ;. '!' :J, \\ iiilj ihe\ i le : !:."' w it !;'.: iyilem is ,.;..' :r.j , ::.ii .. . . ciiamctii- ciily opp.-iirc tw n's. Winu he wrote in t\ p,t (J-j ror.vo v ., 3, !'.: lai y i 1 iv 's n >t i ....-!. i - .' . him for in nnent '.... . i : . ' ' ~ \ ... > '.'.'' . . . . : . u '.."'.';.:: ' IV, (' : , . :- - . lh.lt lid nature's fv'\:v:C in v.. - i And en .' ' ' ,; ;:li Reii::n-. prin cvai ' :.y, His cour.ge chance and :' : .\- defies, Nor feels the wreck Obiiruct i;< c.ie;lm\! \v;iv. Having thus rcp-Ik i wl a: [ cone i : to be the princ as an a ::\,r,.- } I iw ] v.- m re.".' .;'. '.;: ciic i- > . : i\ and, v hat C: ; u: ' l: .. . '. :-.- , \t i !-(i*J > .ii iC'j u. l! i-.ee - : . : lent in si in i ?, ; : <:r . :. :, \ i / ! ' . . V ..'.: m '. 1 ! : '.. !. I] '".ii'J .' .n ki I , J .' ; > . in our davs, and when nations gloried in the ;;tv oi . V \ ; own ? If .;.".. i .3 ] .ivy's account of tl. : i. : r would h, v; iuf- tained. i. > : ; ! : -, a* r: '<; i->:'ao;:.s are llldoin '.(.;.. .'.: . i -. r, as he has, .. : i their na;' : ; .ii'- : .: i." . . , ... ;.:: , ! of . ' ..i'ae.de;:-s. Be e- credidau:;, and .:.. ies. id.: ;s . vd:h the ;i :iv.n Oi . ' i - ' i i ;,":,. la-.. , i at co o> turn id's v. : Ji as !: :u:r. : i . . , . i.c: is not : ! - : . ; u ( ' I,:;-..' :.;:.: : i [V.H.: , c.:\\ : cei ... the pro- ;o:.er. ,: , and . n . ;,. : '. ; . . .: . - > - . .L . . . . . ,i . ' 11" W- obliged them to rick, be kept no and helped to difmount by others; that, though on the fouth fide of the Roman wall every thing was paradifiacal, the fcene en the north pr< fented nothing but adders and vipers and other venomous creatures, and that no human being could live beyond it for half* an hour, 01 rather, that in a efkng, life was extinguished ?.s if p! .1 into ! lo ckair: 2nd that the iflana till. V '.vno am i the ncicii- o . . '1 , was the C( mmeti a ; ;.. tion ; r :tpa; tea were f : i ; . ' . : e; b homing craio m in. n oar, untie r me mtiuence oi" in . '. : :rz mat knocked it the doers of the feam a; n tm reight, and by a kind of mmkcal charm compelled them to rife, ro horn their km an,! ply thk.r oa;s, while ail the a. faw nothing, but thought they heard in the murmur of inefukncL inurnk then; :. of die pafkmgers enumciatcd. Thtie tables, ridiculous as the \ are, did not detei . ay; ' a .a ury tin ; ami a. k i a; r; ti\ a oi Dei '. v >m'.u ts. / re not the fa I in the h .'' -'-as akoweci co be autheniiak, though is mere kk'l to have ikokan \ k!i a huii a v\ I-: ? T A T as any object kai made to the tefkm ,a.y a .13 r. Samuel Johnfon in the cafe of : mm thouah lie " ' in the keerd i aa Coak-j i .'.. r.ct, !i a. cou t < r jaauce, t .oi .te a maim . - " ' ii his i'i/i- kaka rend r 'urn a 0' ;i gee i'L i -. a i i kar. _ > .. l' 1 .-! oi j .-, be ; . : re; a. a . l j - . . . . : .: .a bam a n :;ai c( i airy > ,, a , : a. . i a : . to ; - l v l i. \ ... . a- m.c .' a loan me exifred in . Q cotl;::v.i i::v\r f the r names from | lUibctick h :A kii iY ', or ch.ef., r ii : be, ;is it mull: i:-.-, ; : ;v.vr< A :.: ; , . :' >uid ni t, .' he .inn;ilr, O: Ciiv-ir I v\ . .> < y ;:; i ... : 1 a LiCt they '". , ';' , i :.....' m, I'afLy, ..'... i ; , 1 . ; .-, v. :, nee I hiito- 1 ... i m :.:: .' c .. . ' ic!i they h ) t e n i 2 :i n nent.s on ;.. in . : i - 'i/ii ; i: , ; i . I . '. A 1 ' . ' I: ... i the \ . . : .-, .; ' , , >'. :,/>:,;. '. :n oe- .: . i \n. ,....:" i .> me;in- . cf a [. J i< .ir n> ii.:- > :.':'. or i tiie i r r . - ( i .1 it . 79 he once began, the fpecimens of his epick and Jyrick poetry, that remain, leave no room to doubt that, if the events of his life had directed the cur- rent of his thoughts that way, he would have been as great a favourite with the conqueror* of Italy as Oflian. For, though in confequence of early emigration he had in a great meafure forgotten the Gallick, his native tongue, he had in its place acquired the Latin in as great perfection as Oflian pollened the Celtick. REMARK. IN page 64 the name of Machiavel has by fome miliake crept into a paflage, which repre- fents Buchanan as the father of politicks in modern Europe, though he was pofterior to Machiavel in time. Notwithstanding this circumftance, Bu- chanan is juftly entitled to that appellation j as Machiavel, though perhaps a friend <:o liberty, has only made remarks on thofe parts of old or long eftablifhed iyftems, which he thought worthy of imitation. He has no where inveftigated the prin- ciples of government or attempted any material im- provement of any form. Buchanan has, on the contrary, entered fo deeply into the fubjecl:, that nothing was left for his fucceflbrs but to give the public a minuter detail. Nor was he merely a ipeculative politician. Having in early youth at- tacked ancient fuperftition in its moil: vulnerable * It is to be regretted that Buonaparte's admiration of Oflian did not induce him to copy his generofity and high fenfe of honour rather than the ferocity and treachery of the Hornerick warriors, parr, so part, the body of the Francifcans, he continued through life to be an oracle to the Scottifli clergy, and particularly to his old pupil and their leader, the earl of Murray ; and he may therefore be juftly confidered as the fource of their republican form of ecclefiaftical polity, as well as of the unalterable attachment to freedom, with which they infpired the populace. 1 he exiftence of fuch a luminary in the north rationally explains why the Scots got the ftart of their fouthern neighbours in the career of religious and civil liberty. Hardly any of the ancients had juft notions of the genuine principles of government. Plato, Ariftotle, and their other politicians, framed con- ftitutions fitted only for a fmall and privileged clafs of people denominated citizens, the great body of the multitude being Oaves ; fo that even their democracy was really an ariftocracy. From the rcafoning contained in the fifth chapter of the firft book of his politicks, Ariftotle infers, " that by nature feme are evidently freemen and fome ;, and that the intereft of the latter, as well as jultice, dictates their fiavery." In another pafTage he tells us, that the poets thought their imaginary iuperiority of intellect gave the Greeks a natural rieht to enflave the barbarians, that is, all men but Greeks. From writers maintaining fuch doc- trines could we expect any fyttem of goverment but fuch as might drop from the pen of a planter, compofing a code of laws tor Jamaica or Hifpa- niola, where the flaves exceed the freemen in a tenfold proportion ? GEORGr GEORGE BUCHANAN VJiJIies much good Health TO JAMES THE SIXTH, KING OF THE SCOTS. oEVERAL years ago, when publick affairs were in the greateft confufion, I wrote on the Preroga- tive of the Scottifh Crown a Dialogue, in which I endeavoured to explain from their very cradle, if I may ufe the expreffion, the mutual rights of our kings and of their fubjects. Though that book feemed to have been ferviceable at the time by fhutting the mouths of certain perfons, who with importunate clamours rather inveighed againft the exifting ftate of things than weighed what was right in the fcale of reafon, yet influenced by the return of a little tranquillity I alfo laid down my arms with pleafureon the altar of publick concord. But having lately by accident lighted on this com- pofition among my papers, and thought it inter- fperied with many remarks neceflary to a perfon railed like you to an eminence ib interefting to mankind, ] have judged its publication expedient, tiiat it might both teltify my zeal for your fervice and alfo remind you of your duty to the commu- nity. Many circumftances alio allure me that my endeavour on this occalion will not be fruitlefsj especially your age not yet corrupted by wrong opinion^ ; and a genius above your years ipon- taneoufly urging you to every thing noble] and an eafy flexibility in obeying not only your preceptors M but 82 but alfo all wife monitors ; and that judgment and iagacity in difquifition, which prevent you from allowing great weight to authority, when in is not fupported bv folid arguments. I fee alfo that, by a kind of natural inliinct, you fo abhor Mattery, the vile nurfe of tyranny and the very peft of legal fovereignty, that you hate the folecifms and bar- barifms of courtiers no lefs than they are reliihed and affected by thofe who in their own eyes ap- pear connoiffeurs in every fpecies of elegance, and, as if they were delicate ieafonings to converfation, interlard every fentence with Majefties, Lordfhips, Excellencies, and, if it be pofuble, with other ex - preflions of a ftill more offenflve favour. Though you be an prefent fecured from this errour, both bv the goodnefs of your natural difpoiition and by the in(t ructions of your governors, yet f cannot lielp being fomewhat afraid that the blandifhments of that pander of vice, evil communication, fhould pive a wrong bias to a mind that is yet fo pliant and tender ; especially as \ am not ignorant with what facility our other fenies yield to feduction. This treatife, therefore, I have lent you not only as a monitor, but alio as an importunate and even impudent dun; that in this critical turn of life it may guide you beyond the rocks of flattery, and not only give you advice but alfo keep you in the road which \ ou fo happily entered, and, in cafe of any dev 'ition, replace you in the line of your duty. If vou obey its directions, you will enfure to vourfelf and to your family in the prefent life temporal tranquillity, and in the future eternal glory. Farewell. At Stirling on the tenth of January in the year of the Ch'iuian lira 1579- A DIALOGUE CONCERNING Tfie Rights of the Crown in Scotland, TRANSLATED FROM THE LATIN ORIGINAL OF GEORGE BUCHANAN. WHEN, upon Thomas Maitland's return lately from the continent, I had queftioned him minutely about the Hate of affairs in France, I began, out of my attachment to his perfon, to recommend to him a perfeverance in that career to glory which he had fo happily begun, and to infpire him with the belt hopes of the progrefs and refuit of his (Indies. For, if J, with moderate talents, with hardly any fortune and in an illite- rate age, had ftill maintained fuch a conflict with the iniquity of the times as to be thought to have achieved fomething, afiuredly thofe, who were born in happier days and poflefs time, wealth and genius in abundance, ought no: to be deterred from fo honourable a purpofe by its labour ; and, when aided by fo many refources, cannot rea- sonably yield to defpair. They fhould therefore proceed to ufc every effort in communicating iplen- dourto literature, and in recommending themfelves and their countrymen to the notice of pofterity. It M 2 they they continued for a little their joint exertions, the confequtrnce would be, that they would eradicate from the minds of men an opinion, that in the frigid regions ot the globe the learning, politencf> and ingenuity of the inhabitants diminifh in proportion to their diftance from the fun. For, though na- ture may have favoured the Africans, Egyptians, and mod other nations with quicker conceptions and greater keennefs of intellect, yet (he has been fo unkind to no tribe as to have entirelv precluded it from all accefs to virtue and glory. Here, when, according to his ufual modeity, he had fpoktn oi himfeif with diffidence, but of me with more affection than truth, the ccurie of con- verfation at laft led us fo far, that, whjn he had queftii ned me concerning the convulfed ftate of our country, and I had made him iuch an an- iwer as 1 thought calculated foi the time, 1 began in my turn to auk hiin what fentiments cither the French, cr any ll rangers that he met in France, entertained concerning Scottifh affairs. For I had no doubt that the novelty of the events would, as is ufual, have furnifned occafion and matter for political diicufuoru. (< \\ hy, M lays he, cc do you addrefs to me fuch a quellion : For, fince you know the whole train cf events, and ;ire not unacquainted with what mod pe< j 'e fay and almo't all think, you may eafily conjecture, from the internal conviction of \ our own mind, what is, or at lcaft what ought to be, the opinion of all m ml- .:k1." more dilla;:: foreign nations are, and the fewer cau'es they h.-.vc i. >m that dilbance for anger, for hatred, lor love and for other palhons Fkeiy to make the mind iwerve from truth, the more ing 'nuous anil open they commonly are judging, and the more freely they fpeak what they 8 J think; and this very freedom of fpeech and mutual interchange of thought removes much ebfeurity, ciifentangles many knotty points, converts doubts into certainties, and may fhut the mouths of the dishoneft and defigning, and inftruct the weak and unenlightened. M. Would you have me be ingenuous in my anfwer ? B. Why not? M. Though I was ftrongly actuated by a defire of revifiting, after a long able nee, my country, my parents, my relations and friends, yet nothing in- flamed this paflion fo much as the language of the untutored multitude. For, however firm I had thought the temper of my mind rendered either by the effects of habit or by the precepts of philo- fophy, yet, when the event now under confideration occurred, I could not, by fome fatality, conceal its foftnefs and effeminacy. For, as the fhocking enormity here lately exhibited was unanimoufly detefted by all orders of men, and the perpetrator frill uncertain, the vulgar, always fwayed rather by momentary inpulfe than by found difcretion, imputed the fault of a few to the many ; and the common hatred to the mifdeed of private individuals fo over- whelmed the whole nation, that even thofe, who flood molt remote from iufpicion, laboured under the infamy of other men's crimes. Therefore, till this (term of calumny mould fubfide into a calm, I readily took flicker in this port, where, however, 1 fear that I have ftruck againft a rock. B. For what reafon, I befeech you ? M. Became the minds of all men, being already heated, fee in to me likely to be fo much inflamed bv t\u: atrocity of the late crime as to leave no loom for defonie. For how can I refill the attack 86 not only of the uninformed multitude, but even of thofe who aflume the character of politicians, while both will exclaim that our ferocious rage was not iatiated by murdering, with unparalleled cruelty, an innocent youth, but exhibited a new example of barbarity in the perfecution of women, a fex that is fpared even by hoftile armies at the capture of cities ? From what horrour, indeed, will any dig- nity or any majefty deter men who are guilty of fuch outrage to their princes ? After thefe enor- mities, whom will juftice, morality, law, refpect for fovereignty or reverence for legal magiltracy, reftrain through (harne or check through fear ? When the cxercife of the fupreme executive power is become the ridicule of the lowed rabble, when trampling upon every didinction between right and wrong, between honour and difhonour, men de- generate, almoft by common confent, into lavage barbarity. To thefe and ftill more atrocious charges I know that I fhall be forced, upon my return to France, to liften, as the ears of all have in the mean time been fo thoroughly fhut as to be fufcep- tible of no apology, nor even of a fatisfactory de- fenfe. B. But I will eafily relieve you from this ap- prehenfion, and clear our nation from fo falfe an imputation. For, if foreigners fo heartily execrate the heinoufnefs of the antecedent crime, where is the propriety of reprobating the feverity of the fub- fequent punifhment? Or, if they are vexed at t : ie degradation of the queen, the former mult necefTi- ri'iy meet with their approbation. Do you, there- fore, choofe to which of the two cafes you wiih to attach guilt ; for neither they nor you, if you mean to be confident, can either praife or difpraile bo:h. M. The 8? M. The murder of the king I certainly deteft and abominate, and am glad that the odium of confcious guilt does not fall upon the publick, but is attributable to the villainy of a few defperadoes. But the latter act I cannot either wholly approve or difapprove. The detection by fagacity and induftrv of the molt nefarious deed mentioned in any hiftory, and the vengeance awaiting the wick- ed perpetrators from open hoftilities, appear to me glorious and memorable achievements. Bur with the degradation of the chief magiftrate, and with the contempt brought upon the royal name, which has been among ail nations constantly held facred and inviolable, I know not how all the nations of Europe will be affected, efpecially thole that live under a regal government. As for my- ielf, though not ignorant of the advene pretenfes and allegations, 1 feel violent emotions either from the magnitude or novelty of the event ; and the more fo that fome of its authors are connected with me by the clofeft intimacy. B. Now, methinks, I can nearly difcern what it is that affects you, but not perhaps lb much as it touches thofe iniquitous eftimators of other men's merit, to whom you think fatisfaction is due. Of thofe, who will violently condemn the forcible feifure of the queen, I reckon three principal divifions. One is peculiarly pernicious, as it comprehends the panders to the lulls of ty- rants, wretches who think no act unjuft or dis- honourable by which they conceive that kings may be gratified, and who meafure every tiling not by its intrinfick value, but by the paffions of their matters. Thefe are fuch venal devotees to the defires of another that they have retained free- dom neither of fpeech nor of action. From this band proceeded the banditti, who, without any caufe of S3 of enmity, and merely with the hopes of prefer- ment and power at court, facrificed, in the mod cruel manner, an innocent youth to another's lull. While thefe hypocrites pretend to lament the fate of the queen, and to figh and groan over her mi- feries, they mean only to provide for their own iecurity, and really grieve at feeing the enormous reward for their execrable villainy, which they had devoured in imagination, fnatched out of their jaws. This fort of people ought, therefore, in my opinion, to be chaftifed not fo much by words as by the feverity of the laws and by the force of arms. Others look totally to their own affairs. Thefe, though in other reipecis by no means bad men, are not vexed, as they would wifli us to think, at the injury done to the publick, but at their own domeftick lories ; and therefore feem to me to need confolation rather than anv remedy de- rivable from reafon or from law. The remainder confift of the rude and undiftin^uifhin? multitude, who wonder and gape at every novelty, who cen- fure almoft every occurrence, and think hardly any thing right but what is either their own act or what is done under their own eye. For every departure from the practice of their anceftors they think a proportionate deviation from juftice and equity. Thefe being fwayed neither by malice nor by envy, nor by anv regard to felf-intereft, are ene;ally fufceptible of inftruction and of being re- claimed from enour, and commonly yield to the force of reafbning an .1 conviction ; a ti uth of winch we now have, and fonnerlv often had, experience in \ > . . n '';' ," w c to tr.ir.e flionltl V :', M. TI-. 89 M. That remark we have more than once found to be perfectly juil. B. What, if, in order to filence this multitude, you fhouid alk the moft clamorous and importu- nate their opinion concerning the late of Caligula, of Nero and of Domirian ; I prefume that none of them would be fo ferviiely attached to the regal name as not to acknowledge that they were juitly pun ilk eel? M. Poffibly what you fay may be true. But the lame perfons will immediately exclaim that they do not complain of the punifhment of tyrants, but feel indignant at the undeferved calamities of legal fovereigns. B. Do not you then fee how eafilv the multi- tude may be pacified ? M. Not yet. The matter feems to require more elucidation. B. I will, by a few words, make it intelligible. 1 he vulgar, according to you, aorrove the murder of tyrant;;, but companionate trie fufferings of kings. Do not you think then, that, if they fhould clearly underftand the difference between a tyrant and a King, it will be poffibie, in moft particular:, to alter their opinion ? M. Were ail to acknowledge the juftice of killing tyrants, it would open a wide inlet for the diffufion of light upon the fubject. But feme men there are, and thofe of no contemptible au- thority, who, though they fubject legal fovereigns ro penal laws, contend for the facrednefs of tyrants ; and, though their decinon is certainlv in my opinion abiurd, yet they are ready to fight lor their govern- ment, however extravagant and intolerable, as foi their own altars and hearths. B. I alio have more than once met with, various individuals who obftinately maintained the lame N doctrine. Q;"> doctrine; but whether they were right or wrong we inall ellewhere more commodioufly examine. In the mean time, if yon will, let this point be taken for granted, upon condition that, if you do not afterwards rind it fulficiently demonitratcd, von mav at piealure ietume the lubject for dif- cullion. ' M (': >n thefe terms I have no objection. />'. We fli.il! tlien eftabiilh i: as an axiom that a k;u: r and a tyrant are contraiies. .1/. Be it" fo. /;. lie then who has explained the origin and the cau'es or clearing king<, an J the duties of kings to their fvbj cts and of iubjecL> to their kings, mult be allowed to have by tiie contrail nearly explained whatever relates to the nature ot a tyrant ivl. i think i.. B And wiien the picture of each is exhibited, do n r you think that the people will alio under- Hand what is tneir duty to each ? M Nothing is more likely. . But in things extremely difTimilar, and withal of tb.e fame general cla:-, there may be certain fimilanties very apt to lead the inadvertent into errotir. M. That may indiLutabh be the cafe, and par- ticularly vwrenan inferiour character finds it eafv to afiume the appearanee of a luperiour, and ftudies notiung fo much as to impoie upon ignorance. /:. I lave you ;n youi' mind :.Ay diliinit picture of c king and a tyrant: for, if yen have, you will e. !e me of ;rai :h Lk )ur. . 'i i.e hgure i r b th, v h-ch I have in mv mi, i, ! Cuuki certainly d linc.i'A with eafe ; but it ..' ukl appear to \ our eye-, I f->ar, rude and mis- shapen. Thciefore, left, by von to rectify iny errours, tire converfation fiiould exceed the dee due bounds, I choofe rather to hear the fen ti merits adopted by you, who have the advantage of me both in age and experience, and not only know the opinions of others, but have alio vifited in pnfon many ftates, and noted their manners and culroms. J?. That I (ball do, and with pleafurej nor (hall I expound io much my own as the opinion of the ancients, that more weight and authority may accompany mv words, as not being framed tor the prefent occafion, but exn acted from the dochines of thole who were entirely unconnected wich this con- troverly, and delivered their fentiments with no Ids eloquence than brevitv, without hatted, without favour or envy, for which they could not have the moft dillant motive; and i ihall adopt principally the opn ions not of diofr who grew old in the ihades of inactivity, but of men wh ) were in well regu- lated itates difhnguifhed at hone and abroad for wilciom and virtue But, before i pmduce their tcflimony, t wilh to afk vou a few quelli- ns, that, when we have agreed upon !ome po nts of no fmall importance, I may pet be compelled t) devi.ite from my intended coutfe, and to dwe.i either upon the ex iaaation or confirmation of matters that are eviden: and almofi. acknowledged tiuuis. I\L i our plan 1 approve ; ano, therefore, if you have any queftiains to afk, proceed. B. is it your opinion that there was a time when men liveei in huts and even in caves, and ilrolled a: random, without laws, without fettled habita- tion:, hue mere vagi ants, uniting in herds as drey we e led by fancy and cap: ice, or invited by fome convenience and common advantage ? M. That is ce tainiy my (i;m belief; for it is not onlv confonant to tire older of nature but ado func- tioned by aimoft ad tiie hiltories of ad nations. Of N 2 thaf 92 that rude and uncultivated life we have from Ho- mer's pen a pi:turefque defciiption loon after the Trojan war among the Sicilians: By them no Mature and no right was known, No council held, no monarch I; Is the throne; But high on lulls or airv cliffs thev dwell, Or deep in caverns or fome rocky cell ; Each rules his race, his neighbour not his care, Heeditfs of other-, to his own fevere. At the fame period, too, Italy is faid to have been equally uncultivated - fo that, from the (late of the moil fertile region:, of the g.obe, it is eafy to fe-rm a conjeclure that the rcii v*eie nothing but v. i d and deiolatc watles. B. Rut which of the two do you think moil conformable to nature that vagrant and iohrary hre, or toe ioc:al and unanimous aiiembla it o men? M. Undoubtedly the unanimous affcmbla^e of ir.cn, whom Utility herfelf. from whom on earth Juitice and equity derive their bi.nh, + f.ll collected into maffes and taught, tene'd by ( ' e wall rn c In oi:c !.t v and ! at*, 1' rem opt ii'd ,te ' ;;..:.. tic] war. 71. What! do y?)u imatdrv. thai. i:t : !iry v.a ihj Iiii: am! principal caul oi hum m union ? .1.' Why not ? iin.ee rh i< n n merle a red 1 the .'.> T i 3 t'n.t men wcu n n anu n o certain ;.-::. , i ;, t, ... c ..'.; :h; : , b <;;; in *.;,: h .; i. ce (. ! rk :y , if . ir, . j then n.ilc ml L< ( e cknm . a n eeii ; : ; 93 origin, and. the bond of their union is of a much earlier and more venerable date. For, if every in- dividual were to pay attention only to his own intereit, there is ground for fufpecTmg, 1 fear, that this very utility would rather diilolve than unite fociety. M. That observation may perhaps be true. But I fhould be glad to hear what is your other fource of human aflbciation. B. it is a certain innate propenfity, not only in men hi;: alio in ether animals of the gentler tribe?, ro associate readily, even without the allurements li utility, with beings of their own ipecics. But of the brute creation it is not our prefent bufmefs to trc at. Men we certainly find fo deeply imprefled and io foicibly iv\aycd by this natural principle, that, if any of them we;e to enjoy in abundance every thing that is calculated either for the prefer- vation and health of the body or for the pleafure and amufement of the mind, he mult, without hu- man intercourfe, experience life to be a burden. Tlus is luch a notorious truth, that even the perfons, who, from a love of fcience and a defire of invefti^atimr t;uth, have reti: eel from the bullle of the world and lived lvciuie in lequetlercd retieats, have neither b_e;i able for a length of time to bear a perpetual rxe r on< : m rrd, nor, upon difcovering the neceiTity or rer xation, to remain immined in i >htut'e ; but read;] 1 ) psoduccd the very reiult of their bodies; a; d. as if mcy had iab'e.ined for the common good, added the Unit of cheir labours to the common fleck. Hence it is my opinion, da ; n L any ; a.ien be fo attac: ed to folitude as to ihun and i!\" t:.e ecicry ot men, he is actuated rather by a oile^ie i i the mind than a principle or nature. Such, ac- cording to report, was Timen oi Athens and ikhc- , >hon el Corir.thj A wrf.ci-. A wretch, who, preying 'n corrofive pain On Ins own vitaN, roam'd th' Ml-Liii plain With coiT.fortitT's antl fnhtarv pace, Shunning the commerce of tne Human race. M. Here our fentiments are nor far from coin- cidence. But the term Natuie, adopted by you, is an expreffion which from habit I often ufe rather than underftand ; and it is applied by others fo va- riouflv and to Inch a multitude of objects that I am general])* at a lofs about the idea which it conveys. B At prefent I certainly wifh nothing elfc to be undei (rood bv it bur the light infilled into our minds by the divinity ; for, lince God created this dignified animal Erect, of deeper re ch of thought polTefr, And lit to Ik- the lord ol all the ft It, he not on!}" be flawed upon his body eyes, by whole gui lane-, lie might fhun what 1.1 advuie, and pu-fue wh.at i.-> adapted to Ids condition, but alio prelented to ho mind a kind of light by winch lie n ight dilbnguiih vice and infamy t . o : 1 1 virtue and honour. This power ion.e ca 1 n-iture, i me the law oi nature : 1 certainly h id it to be divine, and am thorough', perfuaded that N;i iif"-) a;!tl \ ifdi m' vt.;;e roe full th' fame. Of this k\v, too, we have from God a hind of gemenr, compiehen-hng the whole" in a few v. : is. \-. :cn lie mmauds m to love h m with ad .: l.e.ut, an 1 our nt ., a: c-;:rl Ives. 1 he i.e.'.; k o;u: i s. , in ah ' .. I") :/.>.. v, . . :eu i el.ir e to t, ie h ii.i ii .n or our moou-, ci.i .:n haoiiy any tniug ei ;: ' an e:> j ! pari' >n <-!' t; o i iw . M. i )o vo 1 1 Lien c . me: , ' ! 1 >: e'v deiives ;a cmmi ;m: ;. ;o any oraim er law;, er 93 that collected the difperfed tribes of men, but from God himfelf ? B. That is pofitively my opinion; and, in the words of Cxeio, 1 think that nothing done upon earth is moic ;;captable to the Sovereign Deity, that rules this wo. Id, than affemblages of men called ftates, and unit, d upon principles of jultice. The different members of thefe ftates politicians wifh to have connected by ties fimilar to the coherence fubiiftir g between all the limbs of our body, to be cemented by mutual good offices, to labour for the general intercit, to repel dangers and fe- cure advantages in common, and, by a recipro- cation of benefits, to conciliate the affections of the whole community. M. You do not then affign utility as the caufe of men's union in fociety, but the law implanted in our minds by God at our birth, which you hold to be a much higher and more divine origin ? B. I adn.it of utility as one caufe, but not as the abfolute mother of juftice and equity, as fome would have her; but lather as their handmaid, and one of the guardians of a well regulated com- munity. M. Here alio I have no difficulty in expreffing mv concurrence and affent. B. Now as our bodies, which confift of repug- nant principles, are liable to diftafes, that is, to paffions and certain internal commotions ; io in like manner muit thole laiger bodies called ftates, as they are compoled of diffeient and in fome meafure of incompatible ranks, conditions and dif- pofitions of men, and of men, too, who Cannot, with a fix'ci and ft t' : cl y view, Even for an hour a fingle plan purine. Hence 96 Hence the latter mufl certainly, like the former, come to a fpeedy diffolution, uniefs their tumults are calmed by a kind of phyncian, who, adopting an equable and falutary temperament, braces the weaker parts by fomentations, checks the re- dundant humours, and provides for the feverai members, lb that neither the feebler parts may wafte through want, nor the fuonger grow too luxuriant through excefs. M Thefe would be the confequences that muft inevitably enfuc. B. By what name fhall we qualify him, who fiia 11 perform the parr of phyncian to the body politick ? M. About the name I am not very anxious; but fuch a perfonage, whatever his name may be, ] hold to be of the firit excellence and to have the firongelt refembl nice to the divinity, in this refpect nuich fore can: ieems chicovered in the wifdom of our ancedaus, who dhtinguifhed an office io honourable in its own nature by a verv fpiendid name. For you mean, { iuppofe, a King, a term, of which, the import is inch, that it renders a inir'j of the nv't exe'LLent anti tranicenuent r.a- tu, e aimoft vifible to our -. yea. />. "i ou I'.idge rightly, for by that appellation we addrets the deity; fir.ee we have not a more magnificent title to expreis the p;e-emi icnce of hi- excellent natu;c. n ar better adapted lor ex- : ing his paternal ere anJ a.'n t;o:u Why 'mould i collect other word.- thtt are metaphorically uled to linnify t le o'hee of a kir.gr, flicii a.-, father, iii. j held of the peo; le, guide, p; ir.ee and gover- noui r 1 re . ' :. .: tentmn or an t.ieie expur'Tions is to (how tine .. e were mad'/ not for memlelvcs t,ut ior the pee- ie. An h now t at we ieem agreed about 97 about the name, let us, if you pleale, difcufs the office, fh'll treading the path which we have hitherto purfued. M. What path, I befeech you ? B You recoiled; what has been juft faid, that ftates have a great reiemblance to the human body, civii commotions to difeafes, and kings to phyfi- cians. If therefore we underfland the buiinefs of a phyfician, we fliall not be far, I prefume, from comprehending the duty of a king. M. It may be fo ; for, by the comparative view which you have exhibited, they appear to have noc only a great reiemblance, but even a ftrong affinity. B. Do not expect that I mould here difcufs every minute particular; for it is what is neither allowed by the limits of our time nor required by the nature of the fubject. But, if i fhow you that there is a (Inking fimilarity in the mod: prominent features, your own imagination will readily fuggeit what is omitted, and complete the picture. M. Proceed, as you have begun. B. Each feems alfo to have the fame object in view. M. What object? B. The prefervation of the body committed to his care. M. I underftand. For one ought, as far as the nature of the cafe will admit, to maintain the human body, and the other the body politick, in a found itate ; and, when they happen to be affected with a difeafe, to n-ftcre them to good health. B. Your conception of the matter is juft 3 for the office of each is twofold, the maintenance of a found, and the recovery of a diilempered confti- tution. M. Such is my idea, B. For in both cafes the difeafes are fimilar. O M. So .98 M. So they feem. B. For both are injured by a certain redundance of what is noxious, and by a deficiency of what is falutary; and they are both cured nearlv by a fimilar procefs, either by nurfing or gently cherifhing the body when emaciated, or relieving it when full and overburdened by the difcharge of fuperfluities, and by moderate exercife and labour. AT. Such is the fact. But there feems to be this difference, that in the one the humours, in the other the morals, mutt be duly tempered. B. You are pei feci matter of the lubjedtj for the body politick, like the natural, has its peculiar kind of temperament, which, I think, we mav, with the greateft propiiety, denominate Juftice; fince it is the that provides for its diltinct members and makes them perform their duties with uni- formity. Sometimes by the operation of bleeding, fbmetimes by the difcharge of noxious matter, the, by a kind of evacuation, expels redundancies; fometimes fhe routes defpondence and puiillani- mity and adminifters confolation to diffidence, and reduces the whole body to the temper men- tioned above, and exercifes ir, when thus reduced, by luitable labours ; fo that, by a regular and due intermixture of labour and rett, the prcferves, as far as the thing is pofhble, the renovated confti- tution. M. To all your pofitions I would readily affent, had you not made juftice the temperament of the body politick ; for by its very name and profeiTion temperance teems rightfully entitled to tiiat office. B. 1 think it of no great moment on which of the two ycu confer this honour, lor, as all the virtues, of which the energy is vifible in action, confilt in the obfervation of a due and uniform medium, they are to mutually interwoven and con- nected. 99 nected, that they feem all to have but one object, the moderation of the paflions. Lnder whatever general head it may be clalTed, it is of little im- portance which of the two names you adopt j and yet that moderation, which is exerted in common affairs and in the ordinary commerce of life, may, in my opinion, be with the greatefi: propriety deno- minated juftice. M. Here I have no difficulty in yielding my affent. B. Now I imagine that the intention of the an- cients in creating a king was, according to what we are told of bees in their hives, fpontaneoufly to bellow the fovereignty on him who was molt di- ftinguifhed among his countrymen for lingular merit, and who feemed to furpafs all his fellows in wifdom and equity. M. That is probably the fact. B. But what mutt be done, if no fuch perfon can be found in the community ? M. By the law of nature mentioned before an equal has neither the power nor right of ailuming authority over his equals j for 1 think it but juftice that among perfons in other refpects equal the returns of command and obedience lhould alfo be equal. B. But, if the people, from a difiike to an am- bitious canvafs every year, lhould choofe to elect as king an individual not polfelfed indeed of every regal virtue, but Hill eminent for nobility, for wealth or military glory, may not he, with the greateit iuftice, be deemed a king ? M. Undoubtedly i for the people have a right of invefting whom they pleafe with the fovereign power. B. Suppofe that we fhould employ for the cure of difcafes a man of confiderable acutenefs, but itiil O 2 not 100 not poiTefied of extraordinary (kill in the medical art, muft we directly upon ins election by the gene- rality confide r him as a phyncian ? hi. By no means. For learning and experience in many aits, and not votes, conftitute a phyfi- cian. B. What do you think of the artifts in the other profeffions ? M. 1 think that the fame reafoning is applicable to them all. B. Do you believe that it requires any art to difcharge the functions of a king ? M. Why mould I not ? B. Can you give any reafon for your belief? M. I think 1 can ; and it is that which is peculiar to all the arts. B. What reafon do you mean ? 71/. All the airs certainly originated in expe- rience. For, while mod people proceeded at ran- dom and without method in the performance of many actions, which others completed with lupe- licur ikill and adu.efs, men of cliicernment, having remarked the refult on b.. And, b'.'caufe there is reafon ro rear that he may not have lufTrcient firm ne Is of mind to refit thole 103 thofe af7ecr.ions which may, and often do, caufe deviations from rectitude, we mall give him the additional afiaftance of law, as a collegue, or rather as a regulator of his pafiions. M. it is not then your opinion that a kins: ihould in all matters be invefted with arbitrary power r B. By no means ; for I recollect, that he is not only a king, but alfo a man erring much through ignorance, offending much through inclination and much almou. againlt his will i as he is an animal readily yielding to every breath of ; ivour or hatred. This imperfection ot nature too is generally in- creafcd by the poiTeffion of office ; lb that here, if any-where, I recognife the force of the fentiment in the comedy, when it fays, that " by unreftrained authority we all become worfe." For this reafon legifiative fages fupplied their king with law, either to inilrucr. his ignorance or to rectify his miiiakes. From theie remarks you may, ! pre'ume, conceive, as in a typical reprefentation, what my idea is of a genuine king's duty. M. In whatever regards the creation of kinp-s, their name and their office, you have given me entire fatisfaccion ; and yet, if you wifh to make any additions, I am ready to liflen. But, though my imagination hurries on with eagernefs to the remainder of your difcuffion, one circumitance, which through your whole diicourle gave me fome offence, mutt not pafs in filence ; and it is this, that you feemed to be a little too hard upon kings; an act of injufticc of which 1 have before frequently fufpefted you, when I heard the ancient republicks and the modern Mate of Venice become in your mouth the fubiects of extravagant encomiums. B. In this cafe you did not form a jutf. idea of my fenumentsj for among the Romans, the Maf- filians, 104 filians, the Venetians, and others who held the di- rections of the laws to be more facred than the commands of their kings, it is not fo much the diverfiry as the equity of their civil administration that I admire; nor do I think it of much confe- quence whether the fupreme magiftrate be called kin 2, duke, empeior or conlul, if it be obferved as an invariable m ixim that it was for the exprefs purpeie ot maintaining jufiice and equity that he was inverted with the magiftracy. For, if the plan of government be founded on law, there is no juit rcafon for dilputing about its name. The perfon, whom we call the Doge of Venice, is nothing elfe but a legal lovcrcign ; and the fn It Roman Conluis retained not only the enligns but alio the powers of the ancient kings. The or.lv difference was, that, as, to your knowledge, was the cafe with the perpetual kings of the Lacedemonians, the presid- ing mag'shates were two, and eftahhfhed not for a perpetuitv but for a single year. ] lence we mutt Itill aciiiere tteadily to v. hat was afierted at the 1-: e fir ft con (li- ana equity >l::blv commencement, that Kings v, tuted tor the maintenance of Had they be< n able to abide inviolably : ! rule, they might h,ivc fecured perpetual p.;iiefncn of the ibvercignty, fuch as they had received it, that is, free and unlhackled by laws. Bur, as the ftate of human affairs has, according to the ulual progrefs ot every created cxifter.ee, r conftant tendency to deterioration, regal government, which was origi- nally iuftitutrd for the purp >fes of public!-; utility, e rated gradually into impotent tvranny. For, whi n kings ublervcd no laws but their capacious paffior. , : :vl finding their power ur.circumfcribed te, k t no bounck to ;,..,- lulls, and i m : i i"wr- h b\ much by tavoi y p: iva:e interef inn t..v oy natreci, an I uinccring inlo- lence 105 lence excited an univerfal defire for laws. On this account ftatutes were enacted by the people, and kings were in their judicial decifions obliged to adopt not what their own licentious fancies dictated bur. what the laws fanclioned by the people or- dained. For they had been taught by manv expe- riments, that it was much fafer to truft their li- berties to laws than to kings; fince many caufes might induce the latter to deviate from rectitude ; and the fonner, being equallv deaf to nravers and to threats, always maintained an even and invari- able tcnour. Kings being accordingly left in other refpects free found their power confined to pre- fcribed limits only by the neceifity of fquaring their words and actions bv the directions of law, and by inflicting punifhmcnts and bellowing rewards, the two ftrcngct ties of human fociety, according to its ordinances ; fo that, in conformity to the ex- preffions of a riiilinguiihed adept in political fcience, a king became a lpeaking law, and law a dumb king. M. At the firft outfet of your difcourf' you were fo lavifli in praiie of kings, that the venera- tion due to their auguft majeity fcemed to render them almoft lacred and inviolable. But now, as if actuated by repentance, you confine them to narrow bounds, and thruli their., as it were, into the cells (.flaw, lb as not to leave them even the common freedoms of fpeech. Me you have e. Mark, i befeech vou, the egregious miftake winch you commit, in iuppofing that nations created kings not for the maintenance of juftice, but for the e:jo\ ment of pleafure. Confider how much by tins plan you retrench and narrow their great- nefs. And, that you may the more ealily com- prehend what 1 mean, compare any of the kings whom you have feen, and whole reiemblance you wilh to find in the king that I defciibc, when he- appears at his levee defied, for idle fhow, like a girl's doll, in ail the colours of the rainbow, and unrounded with vaft parade by an immenfe crowd, compare, 1 fay, any ot thele with the renowned princes of antiquity, whole memory Hill lives and fiuurifi es, and will be celebrated among the latefl polleriiy, and you will perceive that they were the ori: nalb of the picture that 1 have jult Iketched. Have \ ou never heard in converfation that Philip of Macedon upon anlwcring an old woman, that begged 107 begged of him to inquire into a grievance of which (he complained, " That he was not at lei- lure," and upon receiving this reply, " Ccafe then to be a king j" have you heard, I fay, that this king, the conqueror of fo many ftates, and the lord of fo many nations, when reminded of his functions by a poor old woman, compiled and recognifed the official duty of a king ? Compare this Philip, then, not only with the greateft kings that now exit! in Europe, but alfj with the moil renowned in ancient itory ; and you will find none his match in prudence, fortitude, and patience of labour, and few his equals in extent of domi- nion. Leonidas, Agefilaus, and other Spartan kings, all great men, 1 forbear to mention, left I fhould be thought to produce obfolete examples. One faying, however, ofGorgo, a Spartan maid, and the daughter of king Cleomedes, I cannot Dafs unnoticed. Seeing his flave pulling; off the flippers of an Afiatick gueft, (he. exclaimed, in running up to her father, " Father, your gueft has no hands." From thele expreffions you may eafily form an eftimate of the whole difcipline of Sparta, and of the domeftick economy of its kings. Yet to this ruftick, but manly, difcipline, we owe our prefent acquifitions, fuch as they are ; while the Afiatick fchooi has only furnifned fluggards, by whom the faireft inheritance, the fruit of anceftrai virtue, has been loft through luxurv and effemi- nacy. And, without mentioning the ancients, fucli not long- ago among the Gallicians was Pclagius, who gave the rirft mock to the power of the Saracens in Spain. Though Beneath one humble roof, their common find;?, His flieep, his fliepherds, and his gods \vt re ia'd : V 2 Vt 1 s vet. the Spanifn kings arc io far from being afhamed of him, chat they reckon it their gie.tteit glory to find their blanch or the genealogick tree ter- minate in im tru.il; Bur, as this top'.ck requires a more ample dilctiluon, let m return to the point, at which the digreiiicn began, irwr I wain, with all pollible ipeed, to evince what 1 mat promifed, that this repi'< !. mation ot r< yal y is not a fiction of my b;ain, but it:, cxpieis image, as conceived by ;:!.e mold illuftrious liatefmen in all ages; and, duvet >re, I inall briefly enumerate the mals from which it has been copied. Marcus Tullius Cicero's volume concerning Moral Duties is in univerlal cileem, and in the fecond book of it you will find thefe expiefllons. u In my opinion, not only the Medes, as Herodotus fays, but all > our anceilors, ieleetcd men of good mo- rals as long-, for die purp< ie oi enjoying tlie bent tit of jutlice. For, when the needs multitude hap- ; to be opp.d ed b\ the wealthy, thev had re- courie to {o me peri n . ; emi; ent merit, who might iecu:e die weak from in]urv, and, with a iteady arm, h ' the balance oi Lov tvi n between the high a ...: low. And the lame caule, winch rendered k:i gs nccefia; \\ ot ..': md the vet of r for me c iiaant iiiii u: on fit law; . luit was uniform lice. miie. ,'. ;;e it w on! i n< >! b itiitice \ p.i t:... f derived from one isfietl ; but when v\as n. r. the cafe, thev enacted laws, that uciv ant, _e emoU l xl m,ui. they were a: an t;me>, ,:n : to a fa TV ;.va,.. i lence the c r v thole w tie uluallv : ,., .:,-., of wh< jt.'fli rl T,j e.l ;i high opinion ; the a Li nonal ree .. :: r 'at: no'.mr;r v. ;.,c!i mcv men. . , ipra.< tne .ction i: ev,,k ut, -v li:p i : u ma- erver- l u ; .: they had f v, ifdom, there 109 pabie of acquiring under their aufpices." From thefe words you undeiftand, I prefume, what, in Cicero's opinion, induced nations ro with both tor kings and for lavs. Mere ! might recommend to your perufal the v. >iks of Xenophon, who was no lefs diftinguifhed for militaiy achievements than tor attachment to philoicphv, did I not know your fa- miliarity with him to be lech that you can re- peat aimoll all his fentences. Of Plato, however, and Ariftotlc, though I know how much you prize their opinions, i i\\y nothing at pielentj becaufe I choofe rather to have men Mutinous fur real action, than for their name in the fhades of aca- demies, for my auxiliaiies. The ftoical king, fuch as he is defcribed by Seneca in his Thyeites, I am ftill ieis difpofed to offer to your confidera- tion, not fo much becaufe he is not a pe;tccl image of a good king, as becaufe that pattern of a good prince is foiely an ideal conception of the mind calculated for admiration rather than a well- grounded hope ever likely to be gratified. Befides, that there might be no room for malevolent infi- nuations againii the examples which I have pio- duced, I have not travelled into the defcrt of taQ Scythians for men who either curried their own horfes or performed anv other fervile work incom- patible with our manners, but into the heart of Greece, and for thofe men who, at the very time when the Greeks were moll diilinguiihed tor tne liberal and polite arts, prefixed over the greatest nations and the beft regu'.ated communities, and prefided over them in iuch a manner, that, when alive, they acquired the rughcfi veneration among their countrymen, and left, when tie: ', their me- mory glorious to poiterity. 717. ihoe, if you fhould in nil: upon n declara- tion c^mv ientiments, I muft lav that I cine !\;rdly 110 confefs cither my inconfiftency, or timidity, or other anonymous mental infirmity. For, whenever 1 read in the moil excellent hiftorians the pillages which you have either quoted or indicated, or hear their doctrines commended by iages whole autho- rity I have not the confidence to quefHon, and praifed by all good men, they appear to me not onlv true, juft, and found, but even noble and fplcndid. Again, when I direct my eye to the ele- gancies and niceties of our times, the fanctity and fobriety of the ancients leem rather uncouth and deftitute of the reouifite pelilh. But thib lubject we may, perhaps, difeafs fome other time at our lei- fure. Now proceed, if you pieafe, to finifh the plan which you have begun. B. "Will you allow me then to make a brief ab- ftract of what has been laid ? Thus we lhall belt gain a fimultaneous view of what has pafTed, and have it it our power to retract any inconfiderate or rafb concefiion. M. By all means. B. Firft of all, then, we alcertained that the human fpecies was, by nature, made for fociety, and for living in a community ? M. We did fo. B. We alfo agreed that a king, for being a man ofconfummate virtue, was choicn as a guardian to ti-c fociery ? '. That is true. B. And, as die mutual quarrels of the people had introduced the necefTity of creating k ) the j done bv kings to their ie.o'.ccts o; :ai the d< fire of laws : ' I. 1 own it. B. Laws, therefore, we judged a I] -. renen of ;ai art, as the precepts oi meue -,e art < i l ,r N^ ; Ill M. We did fo. B. As we could not allow to either a lingular and exa6t knowledge of his art, we judged it fafer that each fhould, in his method of cure, follow the prefcribed rules of his art, than act at random ? M. It is fafer undoubtedly. B. But the precepts of the medical art feemed not of one (ingle kind. M. How? B. Some we found calculated for preferving, and others for reftoring health. M. The divifion is iuft. B. How is it with the regal art ? M. It contains, I think, as many fpecies. B, The next point to be considered is, what anfwer ought to be given to the following queftion (c Can you think that phyficians are fo thoroughly acquainted with all difeafes and their remedies that nothing farther can be defired for their cure?" M. By no means. For many new kind.-; of difeafes (rart up almoft every age ; and likewife new remedies for each are, almoft every year, either difcovered by the induflry of men or im- ported from diftant regions. B. What do you think of the civil laws cf fb- ciety ? M. They feem, in their nature, to be fimilar, if not the fame. B. The written precepts of their arts then wift not enable either phyficians or kings to prevent or to cure all the difeafes of individuals or of com- munities. AL I deem the thing impofilble. B. Why then fhould we not inveftigate as well the articles which can, as thofe winch cannot, come within the purview of laws ? M, Our labour will not be fru kiefs* B. The 112 B. The matters which it is impofiible to com- prehend within laws feem to me numerous and important; and firft of all comes whatever admits of deliberation concerning the future. iyL That is certainly one head of exception. /v. The next is a multitude of pail events ; fuch as thole where truth is inveftigated by conjectures, cr confirmed by witneiTcs, or wrung from criminals b\ tortures. JM. Nothing can be clearer. B. In elucidating thefe queiiions then, what will be the duty of a king ? M. Here I think that there is no great occafion for long difcuflion, nnce. in what regards pro- vifion for the future kings are lb far from arro- gating lupreme power, that they readily invite to their aiTniance counlel learned in the law. B. What do you think of matters which are col- lected from conjectures or cleared up by witncfTes, fuch as .ue tiie crimes of murder, of adukerv, and impril'onment ? i\[. Theie points, after they have been difcuffed by rh.e 1 igenuity and cleared up bv the addrefs of lawyers, 1 lee genera. :y ieit :o the determination of judges. B. And perhaps with nropiietv; fur if the king mould take it into Ids head to hear the ca lies of individual, when will he h ore to think o'' war, of peace, and of thole I uporrmt affairs which involve the lafety and evidence or ire cummur.ity : When, in a wo.d, will he have time to reeriat na t ue by doing (' ' '' S- M. The e ; oi e\ v. \'y on-. 1 r, ', !j n.e v/ilh to lee devolved u: en t!:t one; b< caule, ir it were .lev Ivtd, ne. '. In, en .n, ' never be equal to ti e tad; of c.:n aJ :.. cauies of all h.o luh ecL. i ti ;, prove the advice no lefs wife than necefiary given to Mofes by his father-in-law, " To divide among numbers the burden of judicature j" upon which 1 forbear to enlarge., becaufe the itory is univer- ially known. B. But even thefe judges, I fuppofe, are to adminifter juftice according to the directions of the laws? M. They are undoubtedly. But, from what you haw laid, 1 ice that there are but few things for which live laws can, in companion of thole for which they cannot, provide. H. Tii. re is another additional dirnculty of no ieis magnitude, that all the cafes, for which laws may be enacted, cannot be compriled within any prefcribed and determinate form or words. M. Mow io? B. The lawyers, who greatly magnify their art, and would be thought the high prielts of juftice, ailege, That the multitude of cues is fo great, that they may be deemed almoll infinite, and ihat every dav there arife in ftates new crimes, like new kinds of ulcers. What is to be done here be the legiflatcr, who mud adapt his laws to what is prefent and pa ft ? M. Not much, if he mould not be fome divi- nity dropt from heaven. B. To thefe inconveniences add another, and that no fmall, dirhcultv, that, from the great mu- tability of human affairs, hardly any art can fu.nilh precepts that ought to be univeifally permanent and iiiv uiably applicable. M. Nothing can be truer. B, The fafeft plan then feems to be, to entruft a ikilful phvfician with the health of his patient, and a kino with the prefervation of his people : for Q_ the 114 the phyfician, by venturing beyond the rules of his art, will often cure the difealed, either with their cunfent, or fometimes againit their will ; and the king will imnefs a new but Rill a falutary law upon his fubjects by perfuafion or even by com- pulfion. AM. I fee no obflacle that ean prevent him. B. When both are engaged in thefe acts, do they not feem each to exert a vigour beyond his own law ? J\L To me each appears to adhere to his art. For it was one of our preliminary pofitions, that it is not precepts that commute art, but the mental powers employed by the artifr. in treating tire iub- jecl matter of art. At one thing, however, if you j call - ', fpeak from '.our heart, 1 am in raptures that, com] elled by a kind oi injunction from tiuth, you reftored king; to the dignified rank rrom which they 'sad been violently degraded. H. Come not io haftily t<; a cunciufion ; for you havt riot yet heard ail. The empire of law is at- tended with another inconvenience. For the law, like an obdinate and unfkilfiii taikmailer, thinks nothing right but what itfeif commands ; while a king may perhaps exede weaknef, and temerity, and rind reafon to parcK.n even detected errour Law is deaf, unfetiing, and inexorable. A youth il 'ge the fhppcry g-ound, which he treads, as the caiile of hia ft!!, and a woman the ir.urmity ot net lex ; one may pkad poverty, a fecoud drunlx nuel , and a th: d rVie ndlhin. To all the! : ihbter'uges what d.r> die law lay: (do, cxecu- .. . :: h> i u.h, e >\- e; I".:.-, hi 1. hair* him, v. :w-n !e: ' v ;, uron the acetnx A tree. Now, ' mo*. . i (; dky, to depend for fife: / ..: \i . . ' :dc:;e. M. What 115 M. What you mention is undoubtedly pregnant with danger. B. I obferve, that, on recollecting thefe circum- flances, certain perfons are fo me what alarmed. M. Somewhat ! do you fay r B. Hence, when 1 carefully revolve in my own mind the preceding pofitions, I fear that my com- panion of a phyfician and a king may, in this particular, appear to have been improperly intro- duced. M. In what particular? B. In releafmg both from all bondage to pre- cepts, and in leaving them the power of curing at their will. M. What do you find here moft offenfive ? B. When you have heard me, I (hall leave your- felf to judge. For the inexpedience of exempting kings from the fhackles of laws we affigned two caufes, love and hatred, which, in judging, lead the minds of men aftray. In the cafe of a phy- fician, there is no reaibn to fear that he fliould act amifs through love, as from reftoring the health of his patient he may even expect a reward. And again, if a Tick perfon fnould fufpect that his phy- fician is folicited by prayers, promifes, and bribes, to aim at his life, he will be at liberty to call :n another ; or, ii another be not within his reach, he will naturally have recourfe for a remedy to dumb books, rather than to a bribed member of the faculty. As to our complaint concerning the inflexible nature of laws, we ought ro coniider whether it is not chargeable with inconfiftency. M. In what manner? B. A king of fuperiour excellence, fuch as is vifible rather ro the mind than to the eye, we thought proper to fubjecl: to no law. . ..'. To none. Q 2 B. For 1 16 B. Por what re?. ion ? M. Becaufe, I fuppofe, he would, according to the- words of Paul, be a law to himielf and to others; as his life would be a juit expreffion of what the law ordains. B. ^ our judgement is correct ; and, what may perhaps impiiie you, ionic ages before Paul the lame difcovery had been made bv Ardlotle tmougii me mere h._:ht of nature. J ids remark I make [olely for the purpofe oi inov.ing the more clearly that the voice of God and of Nature i.-s the lame. But, that we may complete the plan which has been fketched, will you tell me what object the oiiginal leunders of laws had pnncipaih in view ? \i. Kquity, I preiume, a* was before obl.Tved. \'>'iia; i new inquhe is not wiiat en :. out la- ther v, h.i: patte, u, l'.k \ ki pt before tnt ir t \ t s. S\l. '1 heH!j,h, peiianu-., i undtraand your mean- . vet I v. ilh to lit ai i : explain d. th. t, if I am '. vou mav corroborate niv or>inn ..i ; and, u not. the*, you m iv correc - m\ i r; our. ,'V. j i.e; , now. I apprehend, the natuie of tl e ;'. a -me conception of it i can cert rdy fjrm. /';. Vo . mull alio know, that i f whatever is not , iu: I e.one by men the\ have ] reviouilv a re :u the:,' man:, ana that it i.i Lr more pe.l i: than i .e wo, k>. v. Inch even tiie r reatef: mauls tafhion an ' ixpreh b\ ihat m< ' -'. Of tie ;e a oi teat c bferva: . a ! I . re . . U - ;; . ,e ; and v i ex- : .... p: ooi ; i r ) ran ienluue tnat mv wore!: . : . :. . h : in.e.i . to mv ts ma:i my . :.. t < 'a,:: objects. I u" u. air r cm our . ..hen . a in : :- e.oh an J turbid pi i (.:' ;!. b . , ele.a iy .a i ;n tiie fe.btile . oi Hi . :,o' u;;. a a : v ian e m . CoUU v 117 convey to others our ideas, however preconceived, io as not to be greatly inferiour to thoie formed by our own intellects. JL What then fhali we fay was the object of legiflators in their inilitutions ? M. Your meaning I think myfelf not far from comprehending; and, if 1 miftake not, it is that they called to their aid the picture of a perfect king; and by it cxpreflcd the figure, not of his per ion,, but of his thoughts, and ordered that to be law which he fliould deem good and equitable. B. Your conception of the matter is jult ; for that is the very itntiment which I meant to commu- nicate. Now I v.'ifh that you would conlider what were the qualities which we originally gave to our ideal king. Did we not fuppofe him unmoved by love, by hatred, by anger, by envy, and by the other pafnons ? M. Such we certainly made his effigy, or even believed him to have actually been in the days of ancient virtue. B. But do not the laws feem to have been, in forne meafure, framed according to his image ? M. Nothing- is more likely. B. A good king then will be no lefs unfeeling and inexorable than a jrood law. M. \ io wiil be equally relentlefs ; and yet, though J neither can effect, nor ought to desire, a change in cither, 1 may hull wifh, if it be pofiible, to render both a little flexible. //. Eut in judicial proceedings God does not dehre us to pitv even the poor, but commands us to look fole.lv to what is right and equitable, and :ic aaxling to that rule alone to pronounce lentence. M. I acknowledge the foundnefs of the doctrine, and iubntit to the force of truth. Since then we mull not exempt the kin: 1 from a dependence on law, 1 IS law, who is to be the legiflator that we are to give him as an infhuc-ior ? B. Whom do you think moil fit for the fuper- intendence of this office ? AL If you afk my opinion, I anf.vcr the king himfeif. For in molt other arts the artilh them- felves deliver the precepts, which ferve as memo- randums to aid their own recollection, and to re- mind others of their duty. B. I, on the contrary, can fee no difference be- tween leaving a king free and at large, and grant- ing lum tire power of enacting laws ; as no man will ipontaneoufly put on (hackles. Indeed I know no: whether i: is not better to leave him quite loofe, than to vex him with unavailing chains which he mav fhake off at pleafure. XL. l'jut, lince you truil the helm of (late to laws rather than to kings, take care, I befeech you, that you do not fubjeift the perfon, whom you verbally term king, to a t\rd:\i With chains a, '.el jails Ms anions to contrnul, And thwc.r: each libera! purpaie of his foal ; and that vou do not expofe him, when loaded with U tters, to the indignity of toiling with Haves in the Held, or with makfa-.mr;, :n the heme of correc- tion. P.. Forbear harfh vo ;vk, I prav ; f >r I iui hnn to :,o mailer, hut eh fire tn..t the * eople. rrom m he derived im power, Ihould !rave ; . p: . icr : :m :::-. ;' ur.ds ; and i rei u:re that: . . exe; . :h' a er :'. - p ' ;.!e c :' ." ': - ; i h ; as received fro:;; t:.e.r :...'..,_.. .\or do I V. . .h, a V ' . ' 1 .a impole tireie ,. I'.VS upon me , 1 ! t o t :t a- :: '- o' e, . > > n . t'a t, - an ; ir.t'Tci a n ' T ' i . fa Vli g, t : 'c :;:' "iv H9 community mould make that a general fratutc which is conducive to the general good. M. Would you then affign this province to the people ? B. To the people undoubtedly, if you mould not chance to alter my opinion. M. Nothing, in my conception, can be mere improper. B. i- or what reafon ? M. You know the proverb, " the people is a monfter of many heads." You are fenfible, un- der, tedly, of their great ralhnefs and great incon- ftancy. B. It was never my idea that this bnfinefs fhould be left to the fole decifion of all the people ; but that, nearly in conformity to our practice, repre- fentatives felected from all orders lhould aflfemble as council to the king, and that, when they had previcufly di feu fled and parTed a conditional act, it lhould be ultimately referred to the people for their fanction. M. Your plan I perfectly underfrand ; but J think that you gain nothing by your circumfpective caution. You do not choofe to leave a king above the laws. And for what ? Becaufe there are in human nature two favage monfters, cupidity and iralcibilitv, that wage perpetual war with reafon. Lav/5, therefore, b coooe an object of defire, that they mi^ht check their licentioufnefs, and reclaim their excellive extravagance to a due refpect for legal authoiity. What puruole does it anfwer to aflign him thefe counsellors felected from the peo- ple ? Are they not equally the victims of the fame intelline war ? Do they not lli'ler as much as o from the fame evils ? Therefore, tl\^ more oors vou attach to a kins:, ti I '20 the number of fools ; and what is to be expec'te:! from them is obvious. B What you imagine is totally different from the reililt which I ex peel j and, why J expect it, I will now unfold. In it ot all, it is not absolutely true, as y u fuppofe, that there is no advantage in a muknude ot counlellors, though none ot" them, perhaps, mould be a man of eminent wifclom. For nun bers of men not only fee farther, and with more difcriminating eyes than any one of them fe- parately, but alio than any man that furpafles anv finglc individual among them in underitanding and iagacif, . For individuals poffcfc certain portions of the virtues, which, being accumulated ;n;o one niafs, conftitute one traniccudent virtue. In me- dical preparations, and particularly in the antidote called Mithridatick, this truth is evident ; for though moll or its ingredients arc fepararely noxious, tiiey afford, wiien mixed, a ibvcieigri remedy agahilt poiluus. After a iimdar manner, ilownelVand he- fitation prove injurious in lome men, a.., precipi- tate ramnels does in others; but dilruied among a multitude, they yield a certain temperament, or that golden mean, for \v::;ch v.e look in even," ipecre:- ot virtue. ?,!. Wei:, lii.ce you pre Is the matter, let the people have the right of propofing and of enacT:- mg law.-, and let kings be- ::i home meafure only keepers of the records. Vet when thefe laws fli ' happen to be contrad"<;to:y, or to contain clause ;:..,;u:U:v or obleuiciy worded, is the king to r.ct r.o part: especially lince, u you ::^i\.i upon tiie mi.'t interpretation of them according to tb v.nitt n letter, manv abiurditie.-. m .' inevitably enl'ie ; And here, :: 1 pr< : :ee a. an example t haekue'.'ed law oi the ichoji , " i: a u:euu v e," mount V21 the wall, let him forfeit his head," what can be more abfurd than that a country's faviour, the man who overturned the enemies on their fcaline- r - ladders, mould himfelf be dragged as a criminal to execution ? M. You approve then of the old fiying, oint, which we juit now afcertained. M. What may thai be h. I'hat to the pc;iect king, whom ue at lirfi delineated, inch unlimited power ought to be granted, that he can have no occalion for any : bur that, when tins honour i- conie.ied on one < . the : le, not greatly fupei . ,ur, and perhaps even inrt.ii t Lug < 1 ir to otners, k . id ttered erous to l.iV/S. j the interpretation of ' \ deal, :" V ' circu S tO ! yi'tancc :e klivj you w w ... 123 rbn. When you grant to the king the interpretation of the law, you allow him the power of making the law fpeak, nut what the legislator intends, or what is for the general good of the community, but what is for the advantage of the interpreter, and. for his own intered, of fquaring all proceedings by it as b\ an unerring rule. Appius Claudius had in his decern virate enacted a very equitable law, " 1 hat in a litigation concerning freedom the claim r - - or freedom ihould be favoured." What language could be clearer? But the very author of this law, by his interpretation, made it uielefs. You lee, I prefume, how much you contribute in one line to the licentioulhefs of your king, by enabling him to make the law utter what he wilhes, and not utter what he does not wifh. If this doctrine be once admitted, it will avail nothing to pafs good laws to remind a good king of his dutv, and to confine a bad one within due bounds. Nay (for i will fpeak my fentiments openly and without difguife), ii would be better to have no laws at all, than, under the cloak of law, to tolerate unre- flrained and even honourable robber-'. . Do you imagine that any king will be fo impudent us to pay no regard to his reputation :.: 1 character among the people, or fo forgetful of himielt and of his family as to degenerate into ihc depiavity of thole whom he overawes and :, by ignominv, by pr.fon, by confiscation ueh-, and by tnc heavif it punifhments ? . Let us not believe inch events pe.iiibic, ii they are not aheady hifloiicai r'acb., known by the an- . : ifchicfa which they have occasioned to rid. M. . iVj I :- you, aie ihefe fa-la to be F ... I V\ h'.re : B. Where ' do you afk? As if all the Euro- pean nations had not only fecn, but alio felt the in- calculable mifchiets done to humanity bv, 1 will not Jay, the immoderate power, but by tiie unbi idled loufieis of the Roman pontiff. From what moderate and apparently honourable motives it fit it arole, with v\ hat little ground for apprehenfion it .uriufhi d tiie improvident, none can be ignorant. '1 ne laws o:iginaliv prop;, led for our directh n had not only been derived from the inrnoft rcceiles of e, but ado ordained by Gcd, explained by nlpiied prophets, confirmed bv the Son of God, hiirleif alio God, recommended in the writings and expired in the lives, and Haled by the blood cr the u ; ft approved and iancufied perionages. Nor was there, in the wiu le law, a chapter n ore carefully penned, more clearly explained, 'T more itrcug{\ enforced, than that v. ir.cn ceienbes the d u bifh ps. Hence, as it r an impiety to to retrench, to repeal or alter a {ingle article i iv.>, not] i; ; ren aim d for ( pile pal in- I Lit t:., intei i i\ tdti >n. i lie bifnop of I\ui ne havii e, r. <. ot degradai ion, i n hev.\ en, . d : !. 'h the p( pi 'b will fh uid be . . . :.. u Ciu-ul's v. ill in -u'ci b( law only pope :'. a!c *. 1/or, ii the 1 iw fa, . , a , i le to his ) b\ .. , mould it )') ; in en p J ( hrifl , Gin sit '.. .': 1 1 the K ', i'epin 12, fcifed the crown of Chilperic, and Ferdinand of Arragon dethroned Joan of Navarre , ions took up impious arms again ft their father, and fubjecls againli: their k ng , and Chrift being himfclf poi- ibned, was obliged afceiwaids to become a poifoner, that he might, by poifon, dciboy Henry of Luxem- burg. M. This is the fir ft time that 1 ever heard of theie enormities. I wifh, however, to fee what von have advanced concerning the interpretation. of law;, a little mo e elucidated. B \ vvi.il p oduce one iingle example, from which you may conceive the whole fo.ee and ten- dency of this general argument. ,, all. The day won LI fail me faould S attempt to enumerate the frauds which are daily c evade this Angle ordinance. , though th practices arc ci: graceful to t ! name, and to the Chriiuan character, the tyranny or popes did no: imp at this limit. For inch : nature of ail things, that, when they once to Aide down the precipice, they never Hop nil they reach the bottom. Do you wiih to have tins point elucidated by a lplendid example ? Do you recollect among the emperors of Roman blood any that was either more cruel or more abandoned than Caius Caligula r M. None, that I can remember. II. Among his enormities, which do you think the moil infamous action? I do not mean thole actions which clerical caluifts clais among re- served cafes, but fuch as occur in the reft of his life. .1/. I cannot recollect. B. W hat cio you think of his conduct in in- viting bus horfe, called incitatus, to lupper, of lay- ing before him barley or gold, and in naming ham ! elect ? it was certainlv the act of an abandoned wrc ; '. Whan th n is y.air opinion of ! i c auk: a, . ' . him a> his colleague in the pai : f ;':'! h thefc ilorie > ? '. Scr'.om;, i!y ; an ! yet 1 f > r: a ' !. :... teem to \ u i ...-. ]) ; i Horn a ju: , . [in to jiiitifv ] loi . to me to have entered into a conteft for ibpericrity in infamy with that infamous moniler, Cuius Caligula. M. What enormity of this kind did he commit? B, He chofe for his colleague in die prieilhood his ape's keeper, a fellow more deteftable than that vile bead. M, There was, peihaps, another reafon for his choice. B. Another is aflgned; but I have felccted the Icn.it dishonourable. Therefore, fince not only fo great a contempt for the priefthood, but ib total a forgetfulnefs of human dignity, arofe from the licentioufnefs of interpreting the law, I hope that you will no longer reckon that power in- con fiderable. M. But the ancients do not feem to me to have thought this office of interpretation fo very im- portant as you vvifh to make it appear. The truth of this obfervation may be collected from a : circumftance, that the Roman emperors granted the privilege to counf Jlors ; a fact whicli :urns the whole of your verbofe dififertation, und refutes not only what you afferted concerning the magnitude of that power, hoc, in oppofition to your earneft with, clearly demonltrates that the ty ot anfvvering legal cm Loons, which they .0 r ) others, was not denied to themielvi in< nation prompted or their occupation per- miti xerciie. B. The Roman emperor:, v ! m the ibldiers placed at their head, without any d lation, the Icaft regard to the i: .'., do not fland in tlie predicament of t! - hr.u i defcribing; as they were generally chafer, b\ landoned clafs of men for their aban- d chttiuater, or ferc< d their bv 1 c s by open violence. Their conduct in granting ro counfeliors the power of aniwermg legal queftions I tint! not at all reprehenilblc ; for, though in is of very great importance, ir i: , with fome decree of fafety, entrufted to men to whom it canm t i an inftrument of tyranny. Bcfides, as it was cntr; to numbers, they were kept to their duly bv mu- tual reverence ; fince, if any of the m deviated from )( ctitude, he was refuted bv the aniwer of anotiier. Nay, if a knot of counsellors entered into a knavi'h coni[ iracy, recourle might be had for relief to the judge, who was not under the necefiitv of holding their anfwers law. Recourfe might alio be had to the emperor, who had the power of inflicting pu- nifhment on every violaior ci the laws. Sir.ce the'e men were . . i '. . lo manv chain - and more in dread of j for malverfition than in expectation of rewards for fraud, you fee, I apprehend, that the danger from them could not be very formidable. AJ. Have you any further remarks to make ai a-: vour king ? :l i irk of ail, if you pleafe, let us collect in a f w word, what has been laid ; for thus we fhaii .le uncover whether v. e have been guilty of a ion. M. Your plan has my approbation. med to be pre i ell agreed about the oisgin and cauie of en ting kings, and of I iv.'s, bet to difler a little aboul I w. C -mpeded, however, at lall ; . . nee c f tru . , you a; p ;. .', ::.sa._ li \. ::.', ' ; ' ;ei i: ance, tj v\ lei v A/. Though, ,..-.. , I made the i f.rcniaa . e: ; : , - , ' < u i . : Lie from the <... i ven .; < 1 icir i ii 129 if the matter fliould become publick, I may be charged with prevarication ; finCe I allowed a caufe, which, at the outfet, 1 thought fo good, to be fo eafily wrefted out of my hands. B. Be not alarmed , for, if any one fhould, in this cafe, charge you with prevarication, I pro- mife you my counfel gratis. M. Of that promife, perhaps, we fhall foon have a trial. B. We difcovered alfo many forts of bufinefs, that feemed incapable of being included in any laws ; and of thefe we referred, with the king's confent, part to the ordinary judges, and part to his council. M. That we did fo, I recollect. And, in the interim, what do you think came into my head ? B. How can I, unlefs you tell me ? M. I thought you carved out kings in fome degree fimilar to thofe figures of ftone that feem generally to lean upon the heads of columns, as if they fupported the whole flructure, while, in reality, they bear no more of the weight than any other ftone. B. What an excellent advocate for kings ! You complain that I impofe upon them too light a burden, while their fole bufinefs, night and day, is hardly any thing elfe but to dilcover ailbciates, with whom they may either divide the burden of government, or upon whom they may lay its whole weight ! And yet you feem, at the fame time, to be enraged that I adminiftcr fome relief to their diftrefs. M. Thefe auxiliaries 1 alio embrace with cor- diality i but wifh them, as iervants, not as mailers, as guides to point out the way ; not to lead where they picafe, or rather to drag and impel a king S as ISO .is ;i machine, and leave him nothing elfe but the mere power of giving His afTent. I have, there- fore, been for fome time in expectation of feeing you, after clofing your dilcourfe upon royalty, make a digrefiion to tyrannv or to any other fubject. For io narrow are the limits to which you have con- fined your king, that, 1 fear, if we fhould dwell longer upun that topick, you will, in addition to the lofs of his high cftate and fovereign power, banilh him to fome defert iiland, where, fhorn cf all his honours, he may drag a comfortkis old age in penury and wretchednefs. B. You dread, as you allege, the charge of prevarication. Now I, on the other hand, fear that the king, whom you attempt to defend, will be injured by your chicanery. For, in the rirlr. place, why do you wiih to fee him idle, i-f you would not encourage idleneis in architects ; and in the next, to rob him of the good miniftcrs and faithful counsellors that I gave him, not as guar- dians to fuperintend his conduct, but as alTociatts to relieve him from part oi ins labour ? By then removal you leave him lurrounded by a legion ot knaves, who render him a terror to his fub]ect> . and you do not think his power fufriciently foi midable, unleis we leave him at liberty to d much harm. I wifli to lee him beloved by hi- lubjects j and guarded, not by terror, but by af.u. tion ; the only armour that can render kings per- fectly iccuie. And, if you do not act wiih ob ftinacv, tiiis is what, 1 tiui!, I fhall loon eikw lor 1 fhali b;ing him out of what you cJl a narrow dungeon into broad daylight, and, bv one law, in- vert nim with Inch additional power and m.ijclly, that, il Ire fhou'd wilh tea' more, you v. iii not re- ikatc vouiicll io charge him with cffrontciy. 131 M. That is a topick which I long to fee eluci- dated. B. That I may, therefore, fatisfy your eager- nefs with all poflible fpeed, I (hall proceed directly to the effential point. One of our late and uncon- troverted deductions was, that no law can be fo clearly and explicitly worded as to leave no room for fraud by a knavifh interpretation. This mat- ter vou will belt undeiftand by the production of an example. It was provided by lav/, that an ille- gitimate fon fhould not fucceed his father in an ecclefiaftical benefice. Kven in this affair, which one would imagine could admit of no fraud, an evafion was found practicable ; for the father fub- ftituted another in his fon's place, and that other refigned the benefice to the baflard. When after this fubterfuge it was expi efsly provided, by an ad- ditional claufe, that the benefice which the father had at any time held fhould never be held by the fon, nothing was gained even by this provifion, for, to render it ineffectual, the priefts agreed mu- tually to fubftitute one another's ions. When this practice alio was forbidden, the law was eluded by a freih kind of fraud. There {tarts up againlt the father a fuppofitious claimant, who pretends a ric'ht to the benefice ; .-aid, while the father is engaged in a iham fight with the fuppofitirious fycophant, ^he fon requefts the benefice by peti- tion of the Roman pontiff, if the right of neither litigant fhould be found valid. Thus both parti...-, are, by their voluntary and, fpontaneous ctffiopj. woifted, and the fon pofidfes the benefice of tlr: father by the father's prevarication, in one lav;, then, you lee what various kinds of frauds i.< practifed. M. 1 do. // bo 1 ,)'J B. Do not legiflators, in this cafe, appear to you to act entirely like the medical practitioners, who, in attempting by the application of platters to check the eruptions of the fcurvy or of any other dittemper, force the repelled humours to built out at once through various channels, and, for one head amputated, to exhibit numbers fprouting up like the hydra's. M. There cannot be a more apt comparifon. B. As the phyfician of the body ought at firft to have expelled entirely all noxious humours, ought not the phyfician of the itate to imitate him, and to exterminate univerfally all corrupt morals ? M. That, though I think it difficult, I hold to be the only genuine method of cure. B. And, if this object can be attained, I think there will be occation but tor few laws. M. That is certainly matter of fact. B. Does it not appear likely to you, that the perfon who can make a proper application of this medicine will contribute more to the pubiick good than all the ailemblies ot all the dders collected for the enactment of laws r M. Infinitely more, without doubt. But let me afk, in the words of the comick poet, " Where is the perfon mighty enough to confer fo great a favour r" B. What do you think of entrusting the king with this charge r A/. An admirable contrivance truly! What was a pleafant and a fmooth down-hill path you have left the people in a mais to tread j bat the labo- rious, rugged, and arduous departments, you make the iole province of the king, as it it were not enough to confine him chained within a dole pri- lbn, 133 fon, unlefs you alfo impofed upon him fo heavy a burden that he mull fink. B. You misdate the cafe. I afk nothing of him that is unreafonable or difficult, i do not infill, but requeft, that he would liften to en- treaty. M. To what do you allude ? B. To the natural behaviour of a good father to his children, judging that a king fhould, through his whole life, behave in the fame manner to his fubjecls, whom he ought to confider as his children. M. What is that remark to the prefent purpofe ? B. This is certainly the only, at lead a very powerful, antidote againft the poifon of corrupt morals ; and, that you may not think it a fiction of my brain, liften to Claudian's advice to a king. " Of citizen and father you fhould aft the part, The general intereft wearing next your heart. O'er one great body you, as head, prefide, And from its good can ne'er your own divide. To your own laws, if you mould think them fit Others to bind, be foremoft to fubmit. To laws the people willing homage pay, Whene'er their author can himfelf obey. The king's example as a model ferves, As in a hive none from the fov'reign's fwerves. An ear to edicts when no man will lend, The prince's life the human mind can bend. The vulgar herd, a changeful fervile race, Still apt" their betters, ev'n in cloaths and face." Do not imagine that a poet poflefled of fuch di- llinguiihed genius and learning was miftaken in thinking that this circumftance had fo mighty an influence ; for the populace is fo much inclined to follow, 1:>4 follow, and fo eager to imitate the manners of thoic who are eminently confpicuous for probity and worth, that they attempt in their converfation, drefs, and gait, to copy even fome of their im- perfections. In their exertions, however, to rc- femble kings in habit, manner and language, they are not actuated folely by the love of imitation, but alfo by the hopes of infinuating themfelves into the favour of the great, and of acquiring, by wheedling arts, fortune, preferment and power ; as they know that man is by nature formed not only for loving himielf and his connexions, but alio for embracing with cordiality in others his own likenefs, however imperfect and vicious. This homage, though not demanded with pride and effrontery, but courted as a precarious favour, has a far greater effect than what the threats of the laws, the engines of punifhment, and riles of mufketeers can produce. This pro penfity recalls the people without violence to mo- deration, procure.- to the king the affection oi his fubjects, gives permanence to the tranquillity of the publick, and folidity to the property of indi- viduals. Let a king, therefore, conilantiy revolve in his own mind that, as he ftands in a publick theatre, exhibited as a fpectacle to every beholder, all ins words and actions mull be noted, and lub- ject to comments , and that To rt';r.l vice ne k : i ' . : ,vr., I \[)0' u aloft i:j >:i a :; kn iiJ :h, i :i- . Wlii.t . r P.'apc "::..: ... or ; ailVuif . A!l 'h l j' r\l b\ 1.1 he' , With what great cai Ion then ou^hl princes, in both ca'es, to aft ; i: ice neither their virtues iur their vicco :a:i .e.. 1:0.1 com '. d, nor come to light, WidlOUt 135 without effecting numberlefs changes. If you fhould itill doubt the great influence of the king's life upon the publick difcipline, take a retrofpective view of infant Rome in its nafcent (late, and in its fir ft cradle. . When this rude and uncivilifed people, compofed (for I will ufe no haifher terms) of fhepherds and ftrangers, ferocious itfelf by nature, with a mod ferocious king at its head, had formed a kind of camp, to difturb the peace and to provoke the arms of the furrounding nations, how great muft have been the hatred, how violent the alarm :.- >.; time. For the I':. nc Oi tyrants war, i j>. t K me, the e ore an- | f:t ; and, when na.ii'n.s becaioe tirui > t them, kii r ; b Jueceeded :n Uk;:' . iaee uriuer a na ;e l'o( th- i:..' 'it!' , and with \u-v l"w.:y. , \\ ii . n till fe it ..' * d''!'/:neiated, nun had m u;fe to the mo- il' . . : : j ,/:. li of ;,;v. s, mat i. :;,!,: lin ii il, e IX- ten: uf tiieir aurh : ity, an J '. ' b: . is io their hoe o! times tii*' I manner^ icquncd new ,eo'.eo:c , ..nd ' 1 ! go- V ' in.nents 143 veinments became odious, new forms were in- vented. The fubjects, however, which we have at prefent undei taken to difcufF, are the two fpe- cies of government; that in which the power of the laws is fuperiour to the king's, and, what is the word fpecits of tyranny, that in which every thing is diametiicaily oppufue to royalty; and to compare them one with the other. M. It is lb; and I long much to hear you upon that topick. B. The firft point, then, which we afcertained was, that kings were created for the maintenance of civil fociety ; and we eftablifned it as an axiom, that it was their duty to admi. niter juliice to every man according to the directions of tiie law. M. I recollect it. B. Fiiil men, by what name (hall he, who does not receive r'lat office by the people's vo- luntary confent, but icizes it by violence, or in- tercept it by fraud, be qualified ? M. By that of tviant, I conceive. B. There are be fides many other diftinctions, which; as they may be eafily collected from Ariflotle, I (hall lightlv fkim. Regal govern- ment is conformable, and tyranny contrary, to nature : a king rules over a willing, a tyrant over a reluctant people ; royalty is a freeman's authority - over freemen, tyranny a mailer's over his Haves: citizens act as fentinels to a king, for the fecurity of his perfon; foreigners to a tyrant, for the opprel fion of the citizens ; for the one exereifes his p.'Wei for the benefit cf the people, and the other for his own. JvL What then Haul we fay of thofe, who, bv violence, and without the people's confent, obtaini d fupreme power, and governed their refpective flares for many years in iuch a manner as to leave the publick no reafon to be dilTatisiied with their ad- niiniftration ; 11 4 P H titration? F-r, except a legal clarion, how i'i:ic v. m th< re v. anted in ! liero if m the * !?? :in C ilh'.o of I ana iorence, to cenltitute .: ... < ; liilic'd km; i : m Yheie v \- can by ;, > means help inleitir;; in tin- catnh^iue ot tvrants. For, as an excel- lent hhiorian 1ms finely rem, ah;', " by force to rule yeur count: y cr parents, tho- m yon ihould have tne power, and fhould rcClify their errors, is ; :.il ede.mva and vexan n.i." In the i i ex l p 1 'c \ fueii men ! rm t ) iv e t< ) ( LOers, \h i, b .' art; may m ne: : m ir ill-getmn b o:y, ex- j i . i he. t\>v . 'y ... " i a; ;'.:,: ; r -m. ( me mho i .!, ti iv i d: . ai a; mm ie !<-;! ( ed:i ; m c . .. ..mm, ; : , .ove-em.- '/ as teat lie m v ',. ." e> i. . the { . own p. ; ; . ,:' e pov. e.n h t t.'.ey ;. 1 . " . !y i,n;oy ,. :r i ' ; 'mes, m !,'hy madhfyin- I i l ie the m neial he.tred, faumm dieir - u Lor.iv me more tal'ibm > :..o :. m n.dm When tins ii onre c'h a a, * , ; . fume their n itorrd ler ; for w hat i in': a, h. i Iv to be colli in halved may b;- eai conceived from the hhed ih it ha b< en f< v.n in hoh. \ ho; to mahe ev . '. ..... Lend to \ our o\\ n no :_, r. ! to r: ;r:t- in V' m ov. n perl n, the v.i le i : ce : me lav. : . the an. e t fleet ; )! ' < Hi . )io- : \ ail the lavas. 1 n*. mi , ah. d i f tyr ,a- o ; a i,< b" mho ma, ii dmv ( annot ..-.- removed -, red i u'.n : as vac ; In! ;.:: ro mi - ra n a ,!v diilt no e - rati cr man ' i c\; !e ot ; lire '.!.-( . I r , me n m e ; e, ,,,..m mm. i -..m, m :re. imn i ioie, v. .. ; o*peaij, ext , cn'c rh.. a pov, , not 1-a their count; v. hut tur tiiemLlves, and pav no re- 145 gnrd to the publick intereft, but to their own gratification, who reckon the weakneL of cheir fellow- citizens the eftabh foment of theii own au- thority, and who imagine royalty to be not a charge entrusted to them by God, out a prey offered to their rapacity, are not connected with us bv any civil or human tie, but ought to be put under an interdict, as open enemies to God and man. Per ail the actions of kings ought to keep in view, not their own private emolument, but the general fafety of the (late ; and the moie they are exalted above the moil eminent citizens, the more they ought to imitate thofe celeftial bodies that, without any act of conciliation on our fide, pour upon mankind the vital and beneficent It reams of theii light and heat. \L\>en the very titles, with which we decorated kings (and peihaps they are witnin your recollecl'en), might remind them of this munificence. M. I think I recollect that, towards their fub- jects, they weie to piactile the indulgence of fa- thers to their children, to ike the diligence of fhep- herds in promoting their inte.efl, to behave as ge- nt ;ais for the fecurity of their perfons, as chief- juitices in difplavmg a pie-eminence of virtue, and as cmpeiois in ifl'uing ialntary edicts. h Can lie then be called a father, who treats his iubjecas as flaves? or he a fhepherd, who does not fled, but flay his Mock ? or he a pilot, whofe conftant (tody it is to th'ow tire goods ovei board; ard wen, according to the nautical adage, fcuttle:. t!ie velle! in .virich he laiis ? IvL By no means. B. What do you think cf the kmg, who go- verns, not for the benefit of' the people, bill for toe gratification of ins own appetites and palliens. arid i> manifeiliv engaged in an infitlious confpiracy againf: his iubjeds ? u v : lib AI. I fhall certainly deem him neither a general, nor an emperor, nor a fupreme judge. B. Should vou then obierve a man ufurping the name of king, who excels none of the multitude in any fpecies of virtue, and is even inferiour to many, who diicovcrs no paternal afTeftion for his fubjedts, but crufhes them under his proud hvay ; who confiders them as a flock entiufred to him, not for their prefervation but for his own emolument ; will you reckon him truly a king, though he mould ftalk along, crowded by a numerous train of guards, and make an oftentatious difplay of a magnificent drefs, and dazzle the eye bv exhibiting the fword of the law, and conciliate the favour and applauie of the vulgar by prizes, games, pro- celTions, mad piles of buildings, and other popular figns of grandeur ? Will you, I fay, deem him a king ? M. Not at all, if I mean to be confident ; I muff, confider him as an out calf from human io- ciety. B. By what bounds do you circumferibe this human fociety ? M. By the very fame to which you feemed to me, in your preceding difl'ert. lion, to wiih it con- fined to the fences ot law ; tor i fee that robbers, thieves and adulterers, who tianlgiefs them, are punifhed bv the puouck, an.i rhat their tranf- greflion of the iuru prcfci abed by human focictv is thought a juit cau:e lor then pumfhment. H, \\ hat will you f.iy of th"'e who never would corne within the pales of liuir.in ioc:et\ : AI. I ihould con ider them as enemies to God and man, and entitled to the t;c> meut, not of men, but of wolves n .! other r.i xiiaii animals, which, if br' d bv any pcrfon, are hied to the de- muciion of himfclf and of ethers, and, if killed, arc 147 are killed to the advantage not only of the indi- vidual but of the publick. Nay, were I em- powered co enact a law, I would adopt the Roman method of treating monfters, and order fuch a race of men to be expofed on fome defolate ifland, or to be funk in the deep at a diftance from the fight of land, left they mould, even when dead, injure the living by their contagion ; and publifh a decree, that whoever difpatched them fliould be rewarded, not only by the whole people, but by private perfons, as is generally done to thofe who have killed wolves or bears, or fnfed their cubs. For, if any fuch monfter were to arife, and to utter human accents, and to have the appearance of a man's face, and his likenefs in every other part, I could never think myfelf connected with him by any focial tie. Or if any one, divefling himfelf of humanity, mould degenerate into favage barbarity, and refufe to unite with other men, but for men's deftruction, I do not think him entitled to the appellation of man any more than fatyrs, apes or bears, though in his look, geflure and language, he fhould counterfeit man. R. Now you comprehend, if I miftake not, what notion rhe wifeft of the ancients entertained of a king's as well as of a tyrant's character. Is it your pleafure then that the rule adopted bv us, in forming an idea of a king, mould be followed in exhibiting the portrait of a tyrant ? M. Certainly; and, if it is not too troublefome, I am eager to hear you proceed. B. You have not forgotten, 1 imagine, what is faid by the poets of the furies, and by the populace of devils, that, they are Ipirits hoflile to the human race, and, in the midft of their own eternal tor- ments, delighting in the torture of men. This is certainly a true picture of tyranny. But, fince U 2 this US this picture is difcernible only to the mind, and without fenfation, I fhall ofter you another, which will imprefs not only your mind but your fenles, and ruih upon your eyes almofl palpably vifible. Imagine yourlelf viewing a fliip at fea, tolled bv itorms, and all the ihores around not only deftitme of harbours, but full of inveterate enemies ; imagine alio the mailer ot that fhip engaged in a mutual contett of hatred with th : pafiengers, and yet having no hopes of iatety but in the fidelity of the failors, and even thole not certain, as he cannot be ignorant that his lite is in the hands of a barbarous clafs of men, ftrangers to all humanity, retained in their duty lolelv by proffers of m one v, and cafily tempted to his de'truction by the profpect of greater lure. Such, pofitively, is the life embraced bv tyrants a:, a ftate of beatitude. Al road they dread open enemies, at home their fubjeclsj and not only their fubjects, but their domeirics, their rela- tions, their brothers, their wives, their children, and their parents. Accordingly, they always either wage or dread an external war with foreigners, a civil war with their iubjects, or a domestic war with riicir relations, and never expect any afilftance bur from hirelings, and dare not hire the good nor trnil the bad. What enjoyment then can life be to fucli men? Dionvfius, dreading the application of a razor to Ids throat, would not permit his daughters. ladies of adult age, to fupply the place of a barber. His brother was murdered by 1 imoleon, I he Phc- ra^an Alexander bv his wife, and Spin ins Catfius bv Ins hither. What racks mull the man, who has theic examples conltantlv befoie his eyes, carrv in iiib bjeail, when he coniiders himlelf elected a- a mark at which all mankind are to lhoot their arrow, r when he is tormented by t!ie id;;. .onleicrxv, nut only when awake, but is rou! \\ 1 49 even in his fleep bv the terrifick images of the living and the dead, and punned by the furies fhaking their torches ? For the time affigned by nature to all animals for repote, and to men as a relief from cares, becomes to him all honour and defpair. M. Thefe topicks you have unfolded with no inconfiderabie arc, and, perhaps, with equal truth; but, if J am not miftaken, with little fubferviency ro our plan. For nations, who have the power of electing kings, have alio the power of binding them, when elected, by laws. But you know that ours are not kings by election but by birth ; and i have always been of opinion that the crown was not more an hereditary right than the power of making their will the law. Nor have 1 lightly adopted th;s opinion, but deliberately, and under tiie lanclion of great ftatefmen, with whom, if i have erred, I need nor he afhamed of my enue.r. For, without mentioning others, the lawyers affirm that, by the imperial law enacted concerning their au- thority, the whole power of the people was trans- ferred to them, io that their "plcafure fnould ftand is law. Hence aroie a certain emperor's threats, mat he would, bv one edict, wrelt from all the lawyers, all the power, in which they lb much gloried. B. W'iiile von were quoting the very word au- thority, in io important a caie, \\a\ acted with prudence in fuppreffing all names; as it would be the name of Caius Caligula, who, for the grati- fication of his lavage cruelty, wilhed that the Ro- man people had but one neck, and. pofieilid nothing that belong-, i will not lav to a king, but to a man, but the foim. You cannot, therefore, be ignorant what little credit is due to us void:-. As to the imperial law, lawyers chem- (PV. s 150 ft* Ives cnn neither explain its nature, nor afcertain when, bv whom, or in what words, it was pa (led. Fo. the Roman kings never poflfeffed that power, as an appeal lay from them to the people. The act, by which Lucius Flaccus, after the extinction of Roman liberty, eitablifhed, through the filence of the other laws, the tyranny of Lucius Sylla, no man ever recognifed as a law -, for the purport of that act was, that whatever Lucius Sylla did lliould be valid in law. Of fuch a power over itfelf, no free people was ever io mad as to make a volun- tary grant; or, if ever there was, it certainly deferved to live in perpetual flavery to tyrants, and to fufrer tire punilhnient due to its folly. However, if aire fuch law really exilled, we ought to confidcr it as an example for caution, not for imitation. M. ^ our admonition, though well founded, is applicable only to thole who have z\\c power of creating kings of fpecifick qualities , but not at all to us, who, by our fuffrages, do not elect the belt, but accept the gift of chance. This remark, made bv our lawyers, peculiarly afreets us, who bellowed upon the anceftors of our kings fuch a right to bind us and our pofterity, that they and their defendants hold, perpetual fovereignty over us. 1 wifh, therefore, that this adv.ee laid been fuggeited to them, 1 mean to our anceltor-, as they were entirely at liberty to adopt what kings they pleaied. Your ccunfei coming now too late, has certainly no other tendency, but to make us deplore the lolly of our anceftors, and. feci the mi- Liv of our condition, for, {old into bondap;e as we are, what remains for us but to Lfler punifh- ment for the folly of others, and to alleviate its weight bv the meeknefs of our patience ; r.nd not to exafperate, by unieaionable murmur.^, the rage v.i thole, whofe yoke we cannot ihake vti) whole power 151 power we cannot diminifh, and whofe violence and tyranny we cannot eicape ? 1 he inp< ;iul law, however, to which you are fuch a determined ioe, was not, as you vviili to infinuate, invented in fa- vour of tyrants ; for it was functioned by die jolted of princes, by Juftinian, with wnom fuch open flattery could never have prevailed ; for Horace's maxim is applicable even to a foolifh prince : Whom does falfe honour pleafe, or lying fame affright ? None but the wretches who in vice and lies delight. B. However cruelly ungrateful to Bclifarius fome hiftorians paint Juftinian, he is certainly al- lowed to have been, in general, a great prince. Let him, therefore, be fuch as you wifh him to appear : you ought dill to recollect, that mod of his cotemporaries have characterifed Scribonian, the principal compiler of the laws in quell ion, as a mod abandoned man, who might have eafily been induced to go any lengths for the gratification of the word of fovereigns. For, All wifh the dire prerogative to kill ; Kven they would have the pow'r who want the will : And, Nothing fo nionftrous can be faid or feign'd, But with belief and joy is entertain'd, When to his face the vvorthlefs wretch is prais'd, Whom venal courtiers to a God have rais'd. But let us return to our own princes, to whom you fay that the crown belongs by inheritance, not by fuffrage. Now I here fpeak only of our own ; for, were I to make a digrefilon to foreign princes, { fear that the difcuffion would embrace too wide a field. H That J 52 M. Yly.it i?, in my opinion, the belt mode of proceeding; as fore ; ,L, r n tranfiitions are not very intimateh cennreud with the pirfent lubjeCt. B. if :!' we trace trie hir.orv of our nation from its rir. ; o. i^in, it will be founo 1 a fettled point, th; - ic pniKvs ./welted with fovereign power owed their election co the opinion generally entertained of their merit. M. Such is the account contained in our hiflorical records. /?. Nor is it a lefs fettled point, that mam- princes, who made a cruel or flagitious ufe of then office, were called to an account bv their i ts ; that fome were, in certain cafes, banifhed, and in others executed; and tha r , though cither their fons or le'ations were cholen in their place, yet no inquhy was . >'cr inftituted a.^ainit the au- [ of their puniihnvu' ; but that violence of- fered to go . . :;:n. ! . j art of the work!, bo:-! punill eel '. ; '. \ : me 1 lift, . . behind him ii :< . . ' .:.'..:.(:: .', v i Id im xorably re- !:. .m: from : : :-,-, v. ere deftmved bv ' : ' . '. . 1 , ,'i . . , . the :, I' n, Jan . :rt!i, ' , .:.--: .me the .: . '-.' . ..-. i . .ver . ' .( M .-' r. , bat alio i'jei r\i,;; . .. . ..m. i . ; C" . r c V : t! e _ t. ! r r : ,.;..; a r .v ; < he (,th : e , e- .. ) 15S Calenbeing, as he was coming to plead his caufe, murdered on the road by an enemy, was revenged in an exemplary manner by a decree of the States ; and Ewen, who had been condemned to perpetual imprifonment, having been fimilarly killed in confinement by an enemy, was fimi- larly revenged j and the violent death of the man, whofe nefarious life all detelied, was punilhed as parricide. M. The prefent fubjet of our inquiry is, not Co much what has been fometimes done, as what are the legal rights of our fovereigns. B. Returning then to that queftion, and confi- dering the (late of our kings down to Kenneth the Third, who firft eftablilhed his race permanently upon the throne, we fhall find it a clear cafe, that as the people, till that period, exercifed the right of cre- ating and correcting their kings, he mult have procured this right to his family either by force or by perfuafion. M. The inference is undeniably juft. B. Befides, if he extorted obedience from the people by force, the people, upon the firft profpect of fuperiority in the conteft, may lhake off lb grievous a yokej iince the received laws and the imperative voice of nature proclaim, both to kings and to nations, that every fyftem upheld by violence may, by the like violence, be overturned. M. But what will follow, if the people, either circumvented by fraud, or compelled by fear, fhould iubmit to flavery ? What reafon can be alleged why they mould not for ever adhere to a convention once folemnly ratified ? B. If you talk to me of a convention, what rea- fon is there that I fnould not, in oppofition, pro- duce thofe caufes which may effect: the diflblu- tion of compacts and conventions ? And firft, with X regard Io4 regard to agreements founded on violence and fear, there is in ail coir.inur.iae:; an eftablifhed lav, deiivcd fiom the pure fountains oi nature. Even to Inch as have been over-reached by fraud, the lav. i giant an entire retlitution to their former llate, and order this rule to be fcrupuloufly ob- feived in the cafe of minors, and other perfens, whole inteicft they wiih particularly to conlult. Who then tan have a jutier claim to reititution than the whole body of the people, fince an injury offeied to it affects not only a flngle part of the community, but is v. k\z\v diffiifcd through all the membri . of the body politick ? M. 1 know that in the caules of piivate perfons this 1 :; is adopted, and that it is in no cale ini- quitous. But upon this topick we need not enter into anv vie lent contellj imee, as we are informed by our hittorians, it is extremely piobable that the right in quellion was bellowed upon our kings by the people's confent. Ji. it is likewiie probable, that lb important a n h !iL was not granted witneut iome important cauie. -V. That pofition I readily ado it. JJ. Vi hat then, do you think, was the principal cauie : xM. What other cauf< , cv.n I afT-gn but thole recorded in hiliorv ? I lie peopled in, patience, u; . the piefiure of ambition, oi anarchy, of no: - lier, ;:;.d. oi intedine war, freoj atiug hi t'le oo i iu:n of one (jf tlie parties, . , ays lite i; dcnief to l;otn. 1 r i . x who oi the invereign power cr.deavouied to 'ii in i'i". no;:, bv .1 e.;.:,Li;o;: of mar br< :h ;o and nca . ; a fpi ( ie: of pA\' y, v. 1 . h.ear, is J .io.cn.j_ me. x .... , and Wi.idi. we ice, ;. ! :,o M 1 155 pradtifed by the chieftains in our own ides, as well as in Ireland. B. To which of the two then, do you think, the conteft proved more dangerous, to the people or to the princes ? M. To the princes indifpntably ; for the people, though ultimately doomed to become the prey of the victors, may, during the conteft, live in perfect fecurity. B. Princes then, it feems, have wifhed, rather on their own account than for the publick benefit, to make the crown permanent and hereditary in their family. M. The fuppofition appears probable. B. Now, in order to gain a point fo effential to the lafting honour, to the wealth and fecurity of their family, it is reafonable to fuppole that, in re- turn, they relinqui'hed fome part of their right, and that to retain the good-uill and affection ot the people, and to procure their confent, they granted on their fide fome equivalent boon. M. I believe fo. B. You will certainly allow it to be an incredi- ble fuppofition, that, in return for (o important a concefiion to their kings, they fhould fuffer their condition to be altered for zht worie ; M. Abfolutelv incredible. B. Nor would kings, had they known this to be an injurious infbarion, difadvantageous both to their children and to tne people, have folicited its adoption with fuch ambitious zeal ? M. By no means. B. Suppofe then any individual, in the mixed throng of a free people, heel} to afk the k rr. T , (i What is to be done, if any oi our kings fnou ; d have a ion that is an idiot ; or, v\ hat is v% ri . ii, a ion that is inlune ? s-Viii vou crant die power X 2 ' 01 156 of regulating our conduct to a man who cannot re- gulate his own r" M. There was no occafion, I think, for fug- gefting this exception, fince, whenever this clafs of men occurs, there is fufficient provifion made by the laws. B. An honeft, as well as found opinion. Let us, therefore, inquire, whether, if kings had obtained from the people unlimited power over the laws, it would not have been injurious, efpecially to thofe who wiflied to provide for the welfare of their pofterity ? M. Why, I befeech you, mould we think that it would prove injurious ? B. Becaufe nothing contributes fo much to the perpetuity of fovereign authority, as a due tem- perament, no lefs honourable to kings than equi- table and falut. iy to the people. For nature has implanted in the human mind an elevated and ge- nerous principle, which makes it unwilling to obey unjuil mandates; and there is nothing fo efficacious in confolidating focieties of men as a reciprocity of benefits. The anfwer, therefore, of Theopom- pus to his wife, who upbraided him with having, by the introduction of the Ephori into power, im- paired the energy of regal government, and with tranfmitting to his children the crown lefs than he had received it, feems not to have been unwife, when he faiJ, iC 1 have left it fo much the firmer round their head." M What you fay concerning the perpetuity of the fovereign power I fee to be perfectly true. For the kingdoms of the Scots and Daneb ae, 1 think, by far the moll ancient inF.iiiope; and this di- ftinction they feem to me to have fecured by no- thing fo much as by the modeiate uie of the iu- prcme power i while at the lame time the crowns of 157 of France, of England, and of Spain, have parTed from family to family. Yet I know not whether our kings were as wife as Theopompus. B. 1 hough they fhould not have been fo pro- vident, do you think that the people were fo foolifh as to neglect an opportunity, lo feafonably offered, or, fo (truck with fear, or fo feduced by Mattery, as to fubmit fpontaneouQy to flavery ? M. They were not perhaps. But let them, as the thing is poflible, have been fo blind as not to fee what was for their own benefit ; or let them have been, with their eyes open, fo regardlefs of their own intereft as to have defpifed it, will they not be juvlly punifhed for their folly ? B. It is not likely that any of thefe fuppofitions was ever realifed, fince in our times their conduct has been conftandy the reverie. For befide the conftant punifhment of bad kings, whenever they became tyrants to their fubjects, there ftill remain, even in old families, fome veftiges of the ancient practice. For the ancient Scots or Flighlanders continue, down to our days, to elect their own chieftains, and to affign them a council of elders ; and thofe who do not obey this council are de- prived of the honourable office. Could then what is dill partially obferved with the greateft fcrupu- loufneis in certain diftricts be neglected in providing for the general good ? or would thofe become vo- luntary (laves to the man, who would deem the grant of royalty, under legal reftraints, a favour ? Can it be fuppofed that the liberty, which they had fecured by valour, defended by arms, and en- joyed uninterruptedly for ages, fhouid, without vio- lence, and without war, be refigned to him as an unexpected prey ? That fuch power was never pof- feffed by our kings is, without mentioning the pu- jiifhments fo often inflicted on them for mal-admi- nifl: ration, niftration, fufTkiently evident from the mistor curie of John Baliol, who was, about 169 years ago. rejected bv the nobility, becaulo he had iubjeCteci hiiTilelf and his kingdom to Edward the Firft of England j and Robert the Firft was fubftituted in bis place. The fame truth is evinced alio bv that uninterrupted practice, which has deicended from the earlieft times to ours. M. Whan practice do you mean ? . Our kings, at their publick inauguration, folemnly prorrr.fe. to the whole people to observe iir<; ftatutes, cu.t uns, ; j ::;' i .(1 turions of our an- ccilors, and to adheie tlriciiv to that fyidem of jurifprudence handed do.vn by antiquity. This fact is proved by the whole tcnour of the ceremo- nies at their coronation, and by their rhil arrival j-n our cities. From all thefe < ircumftances it may be eafilv conceived uhat iort of power they re- ceived from our ai an i that it was clearly inch as magiftrates, elected b iufhage, are bound by oath not to exceed. Lpon lucii terms dod offered the cro vn 10 Ekwid and to his pofterity, promifing that they I V ail 1 be kings as long as they obeyed the laws whicn i. had oiclained. All this e/idence makes r probable that the authority con- ferred bv our a o .''. . on their kings was not un- bounded and immenic, but circumlcribed and con- Hoed to fixed iinnt.-. in favour oi this ri-dit 111 the people add, h.,/1 . immemorial preicripdorj and bug eie, never ccutiavened by any publick \I. But ( frar tha-: kings will not be eafilv per- fuaded, by 'S: con! baa-ion ot ! bil'.ties, to iubuiit to fuel ' , '.,'.(:' iiioued by ro) al o: y \ >p !a; p; . ;cript;on. B. in liac :. :> my belief that t've people will no: be eamv :v..ucd upon to reiinuuiih a. 159 right received from their snceftors, approved by the concurring voice of all, and practifed far an uninterrupted feries of acres; nor do I think it ne- ceiTary to form conjectures about what they will do, when i fee what they have done. Bur, if Tom the obftinate pcrverfenefs of both parties, recourie ihould be had to arms, the conqueror will certainly im- poie what laws he pleales on the conquered : but he will impofe them only till he, that has had the wojft of the con t eft, can re fume his arms with je collected ftrength. Theie iiruggles end always with mitchiel to the people, but generally with mrer ruin to their kings; and in thele caufes all tire hi itl e;:, 1 nj ed ' i _il 1 !o: ":ger either on the pi- ,A or on the ill' ;f ; LU on f o e\ ident a pr< ;;. A : to the pa , :- ., (]iio ed ! . 1 . .;;i tii e iJOli;. O: l -'[ ar j \. ;cii you iier no Cl ' tin in ex;. 1 t: , ." , i ' . .' ch you, ' . o ' l V, hat \ ]: i "i'a i i ie hie of i ".' y. . ' should a 'Drove : c . kings. T! _. : raw : . . e you i -- i . . i a, ' i i ( j od j " ; and, 'airly, 163 laftly, what was God's anfwer. Firft, they requeil a king. And of what fort ? A king circumfcribed by laws ? Such they had ; for Samuel had been appointed by God to prefide over them; and he had for many years adminiftered juftice in a legal manner, according to the directions of the divine law. But his fons, who fat as judges during his old age, were guilty of many flagitious acts, and in their decifions violated the laws Hitherto I cannot fee that they had any jufl reafon for de- liring a change, but rather a reform of the govern- ment, which they might certainly have expected from the beneficence of that God, who had not long, before, and for a reafon nearly fimilar, ex- tirpated the whole family of Heli. What then do they requeil ? A king, who might, as among the neighbouring nations, be their judge at home, and their general abroad. Now thefe were, in reality^ tyrants. For, as the nations of Afia difcover greater fervility of mind than the Europeans, fo they will fubmit with greater facility to the com- mands of tyrants ; and, hence there is not, as far as i know, mention any-where made in hiftorians of a king fubject to laws in Afia. Be fides, that a tyrant, and not a king, is here defcribed, is readily deducible even from this circumftance, that in Deuteronomy God had beforehand prefcribed to them a form of government:, not only difTeient, but perfectly the reverfc. According to this form, Samuel, and the reft of the judges, had, for a feries of years, adminiftered juftice ; and, when they rejected it, God complained that they had rejected him. M. Yet God even/- where ft vies him kin;, and not tyrant. . : i. He docs, indeed, ftyle him king; for it is peculiar to God, in addreffing a popular afiembly, to adopt popular language. Accordingly, in fpeak- Y ?. ing 164 ing to the commonalty, he ufes a common word : but that none might be deceived by its ambiguity, he explains here, diftinctly, in what fenfe it was taken among the neighbouring nations. M. 1 hough we ihould admit the juftnefs of your reaionings upon that ancient example, we are ft ill more clofeiy preffed by a more modern inftance in Paul, who commands us to pray for the life of fovereigns, and is far from allowing us to renounce their authority, much lefs to dethrone, and, when dethioned, to murder them. And what princes does he thus recommend to our pray- ers ? Of all that ever exifted the mod cruel, Tiberius, Cahgula, Claudius and Nero ; for thele were coeval with the epiilles of Paul. B. In comparing the writings of all the philo- fophers and lawyers with Paul's, you feem to me to act rightly, in allowing to his authority lb much preponderance in the balance. But you fhould confider v hether you have fufliciently weighed his opinions ; for you ought to examine not only his words, but alio at what times, to what perfons, and for what purpofes, he wrote. Firlt then, let us fee what Paul wrote. In the third chapter of his letter to Titus, he write:-, f< Put lubjects in mind to be obedient to principalities and powers, and to be ready for every good v\oik." Here you fee, 1 p e'Uii.e, what end he affigns to obedience. Jn the ftcond chapter of his epiltle to Timothy, the fame ap >i le wries, fi Thar we ihould pray for all men, even f>r kings and other magillrares, that we may lead a peaceable hie, in all godlineis and purity."' Meie alio you fee that he propofes, as the end < f prayer, not the fecurity of kings, but the tran ;uiiii.:y of die church; and hence it will be no difficult n a'ter to comprehend his form of prayer in hia Cwiille to the Romans, his definition of a kins 105 king is accurate, even to logical fubti]ty ; for he lays that a king is God's minister, wielding the fword of the law for the punifhment of the bad, and for the fnpport and aid of the good." iC For thefe pafTages of Paul's," fays Chryfoftom, tc re- late not to a tyrant, but to a real and legitimate fovereign, who perfonates a genuine God upon earth, and to whom refinance is certainly re- fiftance to the ordinance of God." Yet, though we fhould pray for bad princes, we ought not, therefore, to infer directly, that their vices fhould not be punifhed like the crimes of robbers, for whom alfo we aie ordered to pray; nor, if we are bound to obey a good, does it follow that we fhould not refill a bad prince ? Befides, if you at- tend to the caufe which induced Paul to commit thefe ideas to writing, you will find, I fear, that this paffage is greatly againft you; fmce he wrote them to chaflife the temerity of certain perfons, who main- tained that Chriftians ought not to be under the con- trol of magiitrar.es. For, fmce the magistrates were inverted with authority on purpofe to reitrain wicked men, to enable us all to live under equal laws, and to exhibit a living example of divine justice, they contended that he was of no ufe among perfons fo uncontaminated by the contagion of vice as to be a law to themfclves. Paul, therefore, dqes not here treat of the magistrate, but of the magistracy, that is, of the function and duty of the perfon who pie- fides over others, nor of this nor of that fpecies of magistracy, but of every pofTible form of govern- ment; nor does he contend againft thofe who main- tained that bad magistrates ought not to be pu- nifhed, but against perfons who renounced every kind of authority; who, by an abfurd interpretation oi Christian liberty, affirmed that it was an indignity to men, emancipated by the Son of God, and di- rected I t) D recced by God's Spirit, ro he controlled oy any human power. To refute this erroneous opinion, Paul fhows that magilrracy is hot only a g od, but a iacred and divine ordinance, and infti tilled ex- prefsly for connecting afkmblages and communi- ties of men, and to enable them, conjointly, to acknowledge God's bieiEn^s, and to ablLin from mutual injuries. Perfons railed to the rank of magistrates God has ordeted to be the confervators of his laws ; and, therefore, if we ; .'knowledge laws to be, as they ceriainly are, good things, we mu ft alio acknowledge that their confervators arc entitled to honour, and that their oflTe is a good and ufeful inftitution. But the magmrate is ter- rible. To whom, 1 beieech you ? To the good, or to the bad ? To ti; ,v ^od he cairn ;t be a tenour, as he fccuies ihem i ... Aii, it he is a terrour to tne bad, it is n:: .big ro you, who arc directed by th. Sj nit o, G< d. \V!:a: occafion then is there, you will .- 1 , . i big me to the nia- giilrate, l\ ce I am G u's f.eedman: Much. To prove yomiet God's freedm.in, obey his laws; tor the iphit of God, of vdv;fe dhection you boaft, framed the law.-, ap iroves of magistracy, and au- thorif-s obedience to me magifirate. On this head, therefore, we fiiall eallly come to an agreement, thai a magiitjate is necefiarv in the belt conlli- t ii :d iocic.iet, and. that lie oih'ht to be treated with evc;y bind ot icfpect. Hence, if any periou entertains contrary fen:irrents, we deem him m- iane, inteftable, and worthv of the levered punifh- rnent; fince he f penly n. lifts God's will commu- s in the Scriptures. For, ilippofing that u for the violation of all laws, human I be innbeied on a Caligula, a mi:: ,n, and othei t - i .ir.ts ol that foi r, no e . e .-.[:. ' : "e ho; n ibiui, wh > a . .outline; no i uniilu , i ' o, a ; 167 cufcourfing of the power of magiflrates, and of bad men, by whom it is badly exercifed. Indeed, if you examine that kind of tyrants by Paul's rule, they will not at all be mailtrates. Again, if you fhould contend that even bad princes are ordained by God, take care left your language fhould be charged with captioufnefs. For God to counteract p'-. iron, by poifon, as an antidote, fometimes lets a bad man over bad men for their puniiliment ; and yet that Gcd is the author of human wickednefs no man in his ienies will dare to affirm, as none can be ignorant that the (.-. no God is the author of the purhihrnents inilicted the wicked. Even a good magistrate generally chuofes a bad man to be the executioner in punifnir ; t guilty. This exe- cutioner, though thus appointed by the magiflrate to that office, is iv'. What then do you think of what I lately f lid ? Is it your belief that the molt cruel of all tyrants are not included in Paul's form of woidsr .',.'. ^ es. I or what do you allege to alter my belief? cfpeciaily as Jeremiah eajneltly ad mo- il i flies the Jews, and that by divine command, to obey the king of the Affyrians. and by no means 169 to contravene his authority. And hence the in- ference is, by a fimiiar mode of reasoning, drawn, that other tyrants alio, however baibarous, ought to be obeyed. B. Meaning to anfwer firft what you advanced lad, I mull: defire you to remark that the prophet does not command the Jews to obey all tyrants, but only the king of die Affyrians. Therefore if, from a fingle and particular command, you ihould be inclined to collect the foim of a general law, you cannot be ignorant, in the tirft place, as 1 gick has taught you better, of what an abfurdky you will be guilty ; and that you will, in the next place, be in danger of an attack, with fimiiar arms, from the enemies of tyranny. For you muft either fhow in what the fingularity of this inftance con- fills, that you offer it as a tic object of imitation to ail men on ail occafions ; or, if that ihould be impoflible, you mult acknowledge that, among all the fpecial commands of God, whatever is ordered in the cafe of any fingle individual ex- tends equally to all mankind. If you once admit this inference, and admit it you muft, )t will be directly objected, that by God's order alio Ahab was flain, and that a reward v\as both prom; fed and paid by divine command to his murderer. Therefore, when you take refuge under the (belter of the obedience luppofed to be due to all tyrants, becauie God, by his prophet, com- manded his own people to obey a fingle tyrant, your ears will immediately ring with an oppofite J Off cant, that all tyrants ought to be flain by their own fubiects, because A. tab was, bv en vine command, muidered bv the general of his> own forces. Tnere- ioie i advife you either to p.ovide from Scripture fome -itronger bulwark tor vour tyrants, or to fet Z ' it 170 it afide for the prefent, and to return to the fchools of philofophers. ^l. i nac hint I (hall certainly take into confe- deration. Bur, in the me^n time, let us return to the point from which we digtefied, and ex- amine where the Scripture grants us a licence to murder princes with impunity. B. My firft argument is, that, as there is in Holy Writ, ancxpieis command for tUe extirpation of crimes and criminals, without any exception of degree or rank, there is no wheie any peculiar pri- vilege granted, in that refpecl, to tyrants, more than to private prrfons ; and my next is, that tne definition ot powers furnifhed by Paul does not, in the leaft, refer to tyrants , as tivw accommodate the whole plan of their government, not to the utility of t'.e people, but to the gratification of their own lufts. Befides, you mult ::o:e, with par- ticular attention of what vail c nfequence Paul has made biihops, bellowing upon their office the higheft encomiums, and making them, in the op- pofite fcale of companion, correipond, in iome meaiure, to king-, at lcalt as far \.\ the nature of their respective functions will admit. For the former are phyficians f>r internal, and the latter for external maladies; and vet he has not dire : that the or*j clafs fliouki be free and look- from The other's jurifdiction ; but that, as biihops arc, in the exercife oi the common duties of civil life, 1 ;b- ject to '.::)--, fo kings alio mould obev the ipiri admonitions o( biihops. Now theie biiho] , though exaked to fuch a i ^. c i ;_"; i -. t; of ma;c:'v and g;.;ndeur, mj ted by any law, human or divine, men: for their c; imc: . -\ r. :, w;:n- '..--.:: others, the iVpe himfvif, wiio ire dcen ul a b.fn :p of 1 iftVps, o io : ..\- above the cmir.encj of all a .' c n-' >t ( c r;m i -. i n Ol it n . : .: is in I i -i *- :d % . ! 1-71 kings, that he would be reckoned a kind of God among mortals, is not even, by his <. wn friends, the canonifts, the clafs of men moft de\oted to his will, exempted from legal punifnment For judg- ing it ablurd for a God, a name which cney do not hefnate to give him, to be fubjecl to human ani- madverfion, and thinking it unjuft that the greateft crimes, and moil flagitious enormities, mould re- main unpunifhed, they deviled a method bv which both the crimes might be punifhed, and the Pope be (till held lac red and inviolable. For they de- clared the right of the Pope to be one thing, and the right of the perlon, who mould be Pope, an- other ; and, while they exempt the Pope, whom they inveft with the attribute of infallibility, from the cognifance of the laws, thev ftill acknowledge the perlon, who is Pope, to be liable to vices, and punifhable for his vices : and to this doctrine they have given their unequivocal fanclion, not more by the fubtilty of their reafonings, than by the le- verity of their punifhments. It won id be tedious to enumerate the pontiffs, or, in their language, the men who bore the character of pontiffs, and were during their lives not onlv forced to for- fwear the office, but, even after their death, dug from their tombs and calt into the Tiber. With- out recurring to ancient examples, we need only refer to the iate inftance of Paul the Fourth, whole fate is ftill frefh in our memories, and againft whom his favourite Rome exprefied the common hatied by a new kind of decree. For the ven- geance from which he had tic aped was wreaked upon his relations, upon his ftatues, and upon his portraits. Nor ought you to imagine that ex> ceffive fubtilty is couched under this intc rpretation, by which we feparate the perlon from the power j fince it is acknowledged even by philofophy, and Z 2, approved 172' approved by the ancient commentators, and it is not unknown to the untutored vulgar, however lirtle accuftomed to the refinements of difputation. Mechanieks do not confider it as a diGrace to their trade, that either a carpenter or baker is punifned for an act of robbery ; but rejoice rather that their company is purged from the (lain of fuch infamous malefactors. If any of them fhould entertain a contrary fentiment, there is, 1 think, rcafon to fear that he grieves more at the pur.ifhment of men with whom he is connected by a confeiouf- nefs of guilt, than at the infamv of his company. Indeed, if kings did not form their councils of milcreants and flatterer?, and meafure their ov\n importance bv the gratitude due to their virtues rather than- by the impunity of their crimes, they would, in mv opinion, n ;t be vexed at the punifh- ment of tyrant?, or think that their fate, however grievous, was any diminution of regal dignity; but rather be pleafed to iee its honour cierued from a ftain of fo faul a nature j efpeciallv-iir.ee rhcy ufe to be violently angry, and with greac luitice, with thole, who cloak their own mifdeeds under the regal name. M. And not without reafon, aiTuredly. But I wifh thai; you would quit r,. ; , topick, and proceed to the e>ther lubjecls, wiiich you propofed to handle. H. What fubjeifts, prav, do you mean ? M. The periods in which Paul con. poled his writings, and the perfons to whom he addrefied them; fo:' 1 am eager to know (,f wh;.r advantage the knowledge of th.!e ciicumitance:, can be to your argument. B. Here, roo, you fhall be. humoured. And '. in treating of the time, let ir.e oblerve that Paid wrote elide paifages w! en '. v. i::fa:i: ci men was : i I7J it ill in her cradle ; a time that made it neeeflary for her not only to be free from guilt, but alfo not to afford even an unjuft caufe of accufarion to peribns in active fearch of a handle for calumny ; and, in the next place, that he wrote to men collected from various nations, and indeed from the whole extent of the Roman empire, into one blended maCs. Among thefe there were but few d.llin- guifhed for opulence; hardly any that were, or had been, magiftrates; not many that held the rank of ci- tizens, and thefe mofcly lodgers, or even mere feed- men j and the re II almoft all mechanicks and Oaves. Among thefe, however, there were not wanted men who extended Chriitian liberty farther than the fimplicity of the Gofpel would admit. Ac- cordingly, this multitude, compofed of a promif- cuous crowd of plebeians, that, with great labour, gained a fcanty livelihood., had not (o much reaibn to be anxious about the form of the government, the majefiy of the empire, and the life and duty of kings, as about publick tranquillity and domeftick repole, and could hardly claim any other bleffing but the happinefs of being any-how fheltered under the fhade of the empire, if fuch men attempted to grafp any part of tiie publick administration, they delerved to be confdered not only as foolifh, bur abfolutely infane ; and they would d^ferve it {till more, if they iiTued from their cells, and proved troublelbme to the minifters who managed the helm of government. There was a neceility, too T for checking premature luxury, that ill-omened in- terpreter of Chriitian liberty. What then did Paul write r No new precepts, certainly, but thofe com- mon maxims, that fubjefts (hould be obedient to the magiftrates, iVrvants to their matters, wives to their huhbands, and not imagine that the voke of the Lord, though light, rcleafes us from the ties of morality ; 174 morality ; but ought rather to make us more con- icicniious in the obfervance of them, fo that, in all the gradations of duty, we might omit nothing that could help us to conciliate ihe good- will of all men bv honeft practices. The ultimate confe- quence would thus be, that the name of God would, to all nations, found more pleafing, and the glory of the Gofpel would be more widel) diffulcd. 1 o effect thefe purpofes, there was a necefTity for publick peace, of which princes and magiftrates, though, pel haps, bad men, w-ie the coniei vators. Do you will) to have this matter let bcfoie your eves in a lively picture r Figure to youricif any of our doctors to be writing to the Chritlian.s now living under the Turks ; to men, 1 lay, of (lender fortune, of humble mind, without amis, lew in number, and expoled to every injury horn < man; v. hat other advice, 1 pray, could he give, but the advice of Paul to the chinch ae !-'.. i c, and of Jeremiah to the exiles in Allyria : Now a molt conclufive argument, that Pauls attention was here directed folcly to thofe perfon*, to whom he was then writing, and not to the whole body of the citizens, is, that though he minutely explains the mutual duties of huf bands to their wives, of wives to their hufbands, of parents to their child- ren, of children to their parents, of mailers to their (laves, and of llaves to their mailers, he doe* not, in defcribing the duty of a magiltrate, addrefs, as in the preceding parts, them eiprefsly by name. For what reaion then nruft we luppofe that Paul gave no directions to kings and to other iii [nitrates, elpecialiy as their pafiions required much more than thole of private perfons the co- c.cive reftraints of law r What other reaion can v.e imagine, but that, at the time in queftion, there v.- ere neither kings nor other magiliates to whom 175 "he could write. Conceive Paul to be living in our times, when not onlv the people, but the fove- reigns adopt the name of Chriftians. At the fame period, let there be a prince, who thinks that not onh human, but alfo divine laws, ought to be fub- feivicnt to his capricious lulls ; who would have not onlv his decrees, but even his nods, held as laws ; who, as Paul fays in the Gefpei, ce neither feais God nor reverences men ;" who, not to fay any thing worfc, fquanders the revenues of the church upon parafitcs and buff.om ; who derides the fine, re obiervers of religion, and deems them fools and madmen : what, do you think, would Paul write c ncerning fuch a man? If he inouki wifh to be thought confiftenr, he will declare him unworhy of being reckoned a magiftrate ; he will put ail Chiiftians under an interdict to abftain from ail familiarity, all converlation. and all commu- nion with him ; his punishment by the civil laws he v. ill leave to the citizens, and will not think them ftepping beyond their duty, when they an- nounce that the man, with whom the divine lav/ will allow them no commerce, can no longer be their king. But the lervile herd of courtiers, find- ing every honou.abie refource fail, will have the impudence to fay, that God, in his wrath,' lets tyrants loofe upon nations, as publick executioners, to wreak their vengeance. Now, though I fhould acknowledge the truth of this aflertion, yet it is equally ti e, that God generally excites lome poor and almoft unknown individuals of the loweft vulgar to check the extravagant pride and lawlefs career of tyrants. For God. as was laid before, commands the wicked to be exterminated, and excepts neither rank, nor fex, nor condition, nor even perfon ; fince to him kings are not mure acceptable than beggars. It may, therefore, be truly 176 truly affirmed, that God, who is equally the Fa- ther of all, from whofe eye nothing can be hid, and whofe power nothing can rcMfr, will leave no crime unpunished. Befides, another parafite may per- haps ftart up, an.I ak me to produce, from Holy Wrir, an .example of a king puniihed by his fub- feclsj and yet, if no fuch inllance fhould imme- diately occur, it will nor directly follow that what vve do not there read fhould be held wicked and nefarious. I can enumerate, fiom the codes of many nations, numerous and moft wholefome laws, of which there is not the leaft trace in the facred Scriptures. For. as it lias been eftabliihed by the unanimous cor.fcut '>i : all men, that what the law commands fhould be deemed jult, and what it forbids unjiiit, fu we find no human records which forbid us ever to do what is not contained in th(^ law. For lueh fervility has never been rcco- gnifed ; nor will the nature of human affairs, fo fruitful in new examples, allow it to be recognifed to fuch a degree, th-t w'raitever is not oidaine.d by kme law, or evidenced bv lorr.e illuftrioiis record, Ihould be inftandy reckoned wicked and nefarious. Therefore, if any man fhould require of me to fh iw hi:n, in the books of the facred volumes, an in;' ranee in which rue punifhment of kings is ap- u, 1 fiiall reciprocally alk where it is difap- u.uved. indeed, ii it fnouid be a rule that no- .'.: ! \vitlv)iu a precedent, only !i ieu nant ,r our civil confiitutions, and even ur laws, will e ait .ue (landing: tor the greater!; put of :i. .. ded, not upon ancient prece- d' , b it ell hi; ne,l in oppofition to n<-w and un- i *cd en leae.'auents 13ut now we have i fi Her anl'.v ; [ban ihc cafe required to the f>r prect dents. For, though the kings of the Jews Qiuuid not have been puniilied by their iubiects. 177 Subjects, it does not greatly affect our reafoning; as they were not originally created by the people, but affigned to them by God. With very good reafon, therefore, he who conferred the honour alio exacted the punifhment. But we contend that the people, from whom our kings derive whatever power they claim, is paramount to our kings ; and that the commonalty has the fame jurifdiction over them which they have over any individual of the commonalty. The ufages of all nations, that live under legal king.^, are in our favour; and all dates, that obey kings of their own election, in common adopt the opinion that whatever right the people may have granted to an individual, it may, for juft reafons, alio re-demand. For this is an inalienable privilege which all communities muft have always retained. Accordingly Lentulus, for having con- fpired with Cataline to overturn the republick, was forced to refign the prjetorfhip ; and the de- cemvirs, the founders of the laws, though inverted with fupreme magiliracy, were degraded; and feme Venetian Doges, and Cholperick, king of the Frunks, after being (tripped of every imperial badge, grew old, as private perfons, in monafte- ries ; and not long ago, Chriftian, king of the Danes, ended his life in prifon twenty years after he had been dethroned. Nay, even the dictator- ship, winch was a fpecies of defpotifm, was ft ill fubordinate to the power of the people. And it has been every-where an invariable ufagc, that pub- lic favours, improperly beftowed, might be re- claimed; and that even liberty, the favourite ob- ject of law, might be taken from ungrateful freed- n.en. Thefe obfervations, which, 1 hope, will be fuiiicient, I have mad.-, that we may not feem to be the only people who have adopted what is called a new practice towards our kings. Every A n thin, ITS tiling, that properly relates to us, might have been diipatched in few word*. M. In what manner r This is an argument which I fhould be much pieaicd to hear cif- cuffed. B- I could enumerate twelve or mote ci our kings, who, for then villany 01 flagitit ulncis, were either condemned to perpetual impriioi ment, or efcaped the punilhment due to their crimes, by exile or. by death. Eur, that none may allege that I produce antique and oblblete piccrdents, it I fhould mention the Caiens, Ewcns. and Fei chars, I fnall go b^ck for a few exau pie:, no farther tnan thememor\ of our fathers. James the Third was, in a publick aifembly of all the ordeis, declared to have been juLtly flam for his extreme ciuelty to h:s relation's, and tor the enormous. tmpiLude of Ins life j and in the act there \va- infertcd a chiute, pro- viding tnat thoie who had projected the conipi- race, or aided by their pcrion or their purle, fhould never, on that account, be injured or moh (led. V. lr.it thev deciaied, after the cw-dz, to have been a juft and regular act, they undoubtedly meant to piopofc as an example to potterity, and that cer- tainly wiih no Iels piopriety than Quinclius aeicd, when he delivered from the tribunal a panegyiick on Servilius Ahala, lor having, in the rorum, ilain Spiiiius Maelms, who hefitated and retuied to plead bib caufe in a cuint of law; and gave it as his opinion, that he was not polluted v.itii the blood ot a citizen, but ennobled by tnc death oi a tv- rant ; and found his opinion confirmed be the ap- plauding voice of fucceedmg g< Herat:: :;: . \, he thus approved the aiailiinati n ol a man who n.nv, what do nk he tyrant, who, i p n t!i e c.s of his on the:: per.v,ns oniv a . < lild do t< fellow citizens;, p 4 ii-_iiics rob: - n ana 179 pevfons the trade of a butcher ? What was the conduct of our countrymen ? In granting, by a puoiic <\ cree, impunity to a perpetrated deed, they certainly enacted a law including any fimiiar event that might occur in fiiLu.e. For, in the" re- fill t, it makes no difference whether you paf, fen- tence upon what is parr, or enact a fratute for v/hat is to come ; for in either way you give em concerning- the nature of the fact, and concerning the punishment or reward of its author. M, Thefe arguments, perhaps, will, among our people, be deemed valid ; but abroad, among other nations, I know nor how they will be rehfhed. You lee that I muft fatisty them, noc as in a court of juii'ice agitating a criminal cu-kion, but before the publick eye a qneftion ot reputation, affecting, indeed, not myfeif, as I am far beyond the reach of fufpicion. cor my countrymen. For I am afraid tr>at trie decree:;, be wnich you think yourleSf iuflicientiy juftified. will be blamed bv fo- reign nations more th.-.n the deed itielf, however p.egnani with odium and atrocity Wirh reaped: to me piecedenfi which you nave produced, you know, it 1 mildew not, what is ufualiy laid by every man according to his particular difpofition and difcernment. i herefore, lince you iwmed to me to have derived vour explanation of other topicks, not io much from the decrees of men as from the fountains of nam re, 1 with that you would, in a few words, unfold what you have to fay for the equity of that law. B. Though to plead in a foreign court, in de- fence of a law adopted from the fit ft origin of the 1 - o Scotthh monarchv, juftified by the experience of Io many ages, necefiary to the people, neither fevere nor dishonourable to their kings, and not til. now A a 2 accufed ISO accufed of inconfiffency with natural law, may teem unreafonable ; yet, on your account, I fhall make the trial. And, as if 1 were arguing with the very pei ions who may be diipoied to give you trouble, rift 1 afk, What is it that you find here worthy of cenlure ? Is it the caufe which gave rife to the law, or the law itfclf? The caufe was a defire to re- ftrain the unbridled paflions ol kings ; and he who condemns this puipoie mull condemn all the laws of all nations, as thev were all enacted for the fame reafon. Is it the law itfelf that you cenlure, and do vou think it icalonable that kin^s fhould be freed from every rcftraint of law ? Let us alfo examine whether inch a plan is expedient. To p.ovethat it cannot be expedient r.)i the people, we need not walte many words. I or, if in the preceding part of our converiation we were right in comparing a king to a phyfician, it is evident that, as it was there proved no: to be expedient lor the peo] le that a phyfici ai ihouid be allowed to kill anv man at pleafuae, fo it cannot be advanta- geous to the public to giant to a king a licence to commit promiscuous havock among the whole munity. With th.e people, therefore, who !s the iovereign power in making the Jaw, we ought <]y>t to be angry, if, as they wifii to be 'iied a a good king, they fhould ai;o wifh that a king,v.no is not the very belt of men, fhould veined bv the law. Now, if this law be not adv ntaezeous to the king, let us ice whether he ' to pr pole to the people to relic nihil I part of their right, and let us appoint tiie meeting of pa h mv, nt for tiie e not at the tnird maiket, I) it, . ; to our cultom, on the fortieth day. i time, m order to dilcuk here, b.p, i ,:, the pro- priet\ of the meafuie, allov, me to t.ik ) ou, Wh< \ a.' 1 S 1 you think that he, who releafes a man in a date of infanity from a ftrait-waiucoat, confults the true in- tereft of the infane perfon ? M. By no means. B. What do you fay of him, who, at his con- ftant requefc, gives to a man, labouring under fuch a paroxyfm of fever as not to be far from infinity, cold water ? Do you conceive him to uc- iervc well of his patient ? M. But l fpeak of Icings in their found fenfes, and deny that men in full health have any occafion for medicines, or kings in their found fenfes for laws. But von would have all kings be thought bad, for upon ail you impofe laws. E. Not all bad, by any means; but neither do I look upon the whole people as bad ; and yet the law addreiles the whole with one voice. That voice the bael dread, and the good, being not con- cerned, hear at their cafe, Tnus neither good kings have any reafon for feeling indignant at this law ; nor would bad kings, if they had wifdom, ful to return thanks to i\rc legifiator tor ordaining that what he conceived likely to be in the event prejudicial" fhculd in the act be illegal. If ever they fhould recover a lound ftate of mind, they will certainly come to this refutation, like perfons relieved from a diflemper, ?.nd expreffing their gratitude to the phyfician whom they hated for not gratifying the calls of their fickly appetites. But, if they ihould continue in their ftate of in- fanity, he who humours them mod Qiould be deemed mod their enemy. In this clifs we mud rank flatterers, who, by cherifhing their vices with biandifnments, cxafperate their difeafe. and gene- rally fill headlong at laft in one common ruin with ir kings. M. Cer- 182 AL Certainly I cannot deny that fuch princes deferved, and (till deferve, to be fettered by laws. For no montter is more outrageou , or more per- nicious than man, when, as in the fab.es of the poets, he has once degenerated into a biute. B On this alTertion , and aims tiirm tr breakin:~ through the b.mios of c>:der: fo tn::t truth and rectitude ieern to .nave gu.ded t'ne tongue of Aiiilotie, wiien he laid that " lie who obevs the laws, obeys v. ; ! and the I w ; and that he who obeys, man, obeys man and a wild txTV M. Though thefe doctrines feem to be expreiTcd \vi:!i much neatnels and elegance, yet I think that v/e have fallen into a double errour , Uin, becaule (Air lali in feu nces do not feem to b: u . : : tly cor- lcipo.ndent to the premilcs ; and" next, becaule, though we lhould, in other refpects, on found eon- fiflent, 183 fiflent, yet we have not, in my opinion, made any cc.nfiderable progrefs towards the end of our in- vefiigmon. In the preceding part, we agreed that the voice of the king and of che law fhould be die law; but here we have made it dependent on the law. Now, though we fhould gran' all th:s reasoning to be ever io juft, what great ad- vantage do we derive from the conceffion ? Who will call a king that has become a tyrant to an ac- count ? For 1 fear that juftiee, unlupported by phy- iieal ftiength, will not, of >tfti f , be fufficicntly poweiful to coeice a king that has forgotten his duty, or to d r ag him by violence to plead his caufe. B. I fufpect that you have not lufneiently con- fid' red the conclufions founded on our p eceding debate about the regal power. For, if you hud iufficiently confidered them, you would have eafily feen that the oblervations which you have juft ad- vanced are not in the leaft repugnant That you may the more readily comprehend my meaning ; firit give me an aniwer to this queftion : " When a magiftrate, or fecretary, puts words into the mouth of the pubhek crier, is not the voice of both the i'Uiei the voice, 1 mean, of the crier and of the ft cretaiy ?" M. i he fame entirely. B. Which of the two appears to you to be-the faperiour ? jVL Me that dictates the words. B. \\ hat do you think of the king, the author of the edit ? M. i hat he is greater than either. B. Accoidiii" to this rcprtfentation, then, let us compare th( king, the law, and the people. Hence we ihail find the voice of the king and of the law to be the fame. But whence is their authority derived ? 184 derived ? The king's from the law, or the law's from the king ? M. The king's from the law. B. I iow do you ccme at that conclufion ? M. By confide! ing that a king is not intended for retraining the law, but the law for retraining the king; and it is from the law that a king derives his quality of royalty j fince without it lie would be a t\ rant. B. The law then is paramount to the king, and ferves to direct and mode: ate his paffions and actions. M. That is a conceflibn already made. B. Is not- then the voice oi the people and of the law the fame r M. The lame. B. Which is the more powerful, the people or die law ? M. The whole people, I imagine. B. Why do you entertain that idea ? M. Becaufe the people is the parent, or at lead the author of the lav/, and has the power or its en- actment, or repeal, at pleaiure. B. Since the people, then, is more powerful than the king, let us lee whether i: is not before the j>eopie thai lie muit be called to account. Ar.d here let us inquire, whether what has been inlli- tuted for the i.;ke > f another is not oi lef> value than the ob>-. ft oi its iniiitution. M. Th.it umpofirion i wilh to hear more di- : i B. Attend to the following line of argument. made for the hoife ? AI. for the hcric undoubtedly. H What do you fay of the faddle, the harnefs and fouib : M, That 185 M. That they were intended for the fame pur- pofe. B. Therefore, if there was no horfe, they would be of no life. M. Of none. B. A horfe then takes the lead of them all. M. Certainly. B. What do you think of the horfe ? For what ufe is he fo much in requeft ? M. For many ; and particularly for gaining vic- tory in war. B. Victory then we value more than horfes, arms, and other preparatory inftruments of war. M. Much more, indifputably. B. In the creation of a king what had men prin- cipally in view ? M. The intereit of the people, I believe. B. Therefore, if there were no fociety of men, there would be no occaiion for kings. M. None at all. B. The people, therefore, takes the lead of the king. M. The conclufion is unavoidable. B. If the people takes the lead, it is alfo en- titled to the fuperiority. Hence, when the king is called before the tribunal of the people, an in- feriour is fummoncd ro appear before a fuperiour. M. But when can we hope for the felicity of feeing the whole people unanimouily agree to what is right ? B. That is indeed a blefilng, of which we can fcarcely have any hope, and of which we need not certainly wait in expectation -, fince, otherways, no law could be pailed, nor magittrate created. Tor there is hardly any law fo equitable to all, or zny man fo much in poffeffion of popular favour, as not to be ibmewhere the object either of en- B b mity. 186 mity, or of envy, or of detraction. The only ques- tion is, whether the law is advantageous to the majority, and whether the majority has a good opinion of the candidate ? Therefore, if the people can ordain a law, and create a magiftrate, what hinders it to pafs fentence upon him, and to ap- pcint judges fur his trial ? Or, if the tribunes of the people at Rome, or the Ephori at Sputa, were appointed to mitigate the rigour of kingly govern- ment, why fhould any man think it iniquitous, in a fiee people, to adopt in a fimilar, or even a different manner, piofpeciive remedies for checking the enormities of tyranny ? M. Here, I think, I nearly fee how fir the power of the people extends ; but what its will may be, what laws it may pafs, it is difficult to judge. For the majority is commonly attached to ancient tifages, and abhors novelty ; a circumltance the rnoie furprifing, that its inconuancy in food, rai- ment, building, and every fpecies of furniture, is notorious. B. Do not imagine that I have made thefe re- marks, becaufe I wiffi heie to introduce any no- velty. No; my fole object was to fhow that it was an ancient practice to make kings plead their cauie before a court of juftice : a thing which you conceived to be not only a novelty, but al- mou an incredibility. J'oo, without mentioning the numerous inftances of it among our forefathers, as we have before obferved, and as you may your- 1e if eahly learn from hiftorv, have you never heard that candidates for the crown referred their dilpute to ai bitrators ? M. That fuch a mode of decifion was adopted or.c by lit. LVrfians I have certainly heard. J). Our hifloiians recoid, that our Graeme, and cur Malcolm the Second, followed the fame plan. Bur, 187 But, that you may not allege that it is not by their own confent that the litigants fubmit to this kind of arbitrators, let us come to the or- dinary judges. M. Here I fear that you will be reduced to the fame dilemma with thofe who fhould fpread a net in the ocean to catch whales. B. How for M. Becaufe arreft, coercion, and animadver- fion, muft always defcend from the fuperiour ta the inferiour. Now, before what judges will you order the king to appear ? Before thofe on whom he is invefted with fupreme power to pafs fentence, and whofe proceedings he is empowered to quafli by a mere prohibition ? B. But what will you fay, if we fhould be able to difcover a fuperiour power that has the lame claim of jurifdiction over kings that kings have over others ? M. That topick I wifh to hear argued. B. This very jurifdidlion, if you recollect, wc found to be vefted in the people. M. In the whole people, I own, or in the greater part. * Nay, I grant you flili more, that it is veiled in thofe to whom the people, or a majority, may have transferred that power. B. You are obliging in relieving me from that labour. M. But you are not ignorant that the greater part of the people is, either through fear or re- wards, or from the hope of bribes, or of impunity, fo corrupt as to prefer their own interefts or plea- fures to the publick utility, and even to perfonal fafety. Befidcs, thofe, who are not influenced by thefe confiderations, are not very many j for The good are rare, and can in numbers fcarce pretend, With Nile in mouths, or Thebes in portals, to contend. Bbx All 188 All the remaining dregs of the fink, that ar fattened with blood and (laughter, envy other men's liberty, and fell their own. But, forbearing to mention perfons to whom the very name even of bad kings is facred, I omit alfo thofe, who, though not ignorant of the extent of law and equity, {till prefer peaceable (loth to honourable danger, and, in, fufpenfe of mind, adapt all their fchemes to their expectations of the event, or follow the fortune, not the caule, of the parties. How numerous this clafs of people is likely to be cannot efcape your notice. B. Numerous, undoubtedly, they will be ; but not the moft numerous clafs. For the injuries of tyrants extend to multitudes, and their favours but to few. For the defires of the vulgar are infatiable, and, like fires, require a conftant fupply of frefh fuel : for what is forcibly extorted from multitudes fupports a few in a ftarving condition, initead of fatisfying their hunger. Befides, the attachment of fuch men is variable, * And ft ill with fortune's fm'iles both ftands and falls. But, if they were ever fo confident in their plan of politicks, yet they do not deferve to be ranked among citizens ; for they infringe, or rather be- tray, the rights of human fociety ; a vice, which, if intolerable in a king, is much more fo in a pri- vate individual. Who then are to be reckoned citizens ? Thofe who obey the laws and uphold the focial compact, who choofe rather to undergo all labours and all dangers for the common lafety than, dishonourably, to grow old in eafe and floth, who always keep before their eyes, not the enjoy- ments of the prelent hour, but the meed of eternal fame among polterity. Hence, if any perions Ihould be deterred from incurring danger through fear 183 fear or regard to their property, yet dill the fpieil- dour of a glorious action, and the beauty of virtue, will roufe defponding minds j and thoie who will not have the courage to be the original authors or leading actors will not refufe to be companions. Therefore, if citizens be efcimated, not by their number, but by their worth, not only the better, but alio the greater part will take their itand in the ranks of liberty, of honour, and of national defence. For that reafon, if the whole body of the populace. fhould be of a different fentiment, it cannot in the leait affeel the pre lent argument ; becaufe the quei- tion is not what is likely to happen, but what may be legally done. But now let us come to the or- dinary judges, M. Of that difcufllon I have been long in ex- pecTation. B. If a private per fori fliould urge that the king, in violation of all equity, keeps pofieffion of the whole, or any part of his landed eftate, how do you think this perfon is to act ? Shall he reugn his land, becaufe he cannot appoint a perfon to lit in judg- ment on the kino; ? M. By no means. But lie will call not upon the king, but upon his attorney to appear in court. B. Nov/ mark tire force and tendency of the fubterfuge which you ufe. For it makes no dif- ference to me, whether the king (hall appear, or his attorney ; fince, either way, the litigation muft proceed at the rilk of the king, and the lofs or gain from the iflue of the fu.it will be his, and not his attorney's. In a word, he is himfelf the culprit, or the perfon whofe interelt: is in difpute. Now 5, with that you would confidcr, not only how ab- iurd, but alio how iniquitous it is to permit a fuir. to be commenced againfl a king for a paltry piece fkylight or a gutter, and to refufe all 190 all juftice in a cafe of parricide, empoifonment, or murder; in fmall matters to ufc the utmoft feverity of law ; and on the commifTion of the mod flagi- tious crimes to allow every licence and impunity ; fo as to make the old laying appear an abiblute truth, ' that the laws are mere cobwebs, which en- tangle flies, and leave a free paifage to large in- fects. ' Nor is there any juftice in the complaint and indignation of thofe who fay that it is neither de- cent nor equitable that a man of an inferiour order mould pais fentence upon a king, fince it is a known and received practice in a auellion of mo- ney or land, and the molt elevated perfons after the king generally plead their cauie before judges, that are neither in riches, nor in nobility, nor in merit, their equals, nor indeed much fuperiour in eminence to the vulgar, and are much farther below the defendants in the lcale of citizenlhip than men of the high ell rank are below kings. And yet kings and men of the firft quality think this cir- cumflance no degradation from their dignity. lii- tieed, if we fhould once acknowledge it as a re- ceived maxim that the judge mull always be, in every refpect, fuperiour to the defendant, the poor mult wait in patient expectation till the king has either inclination or leifure to inquire into any charge of injuftice preferred again!! a noble culprit. l.'e- fidcs, their complaint is not only unjufr, but fa lie ; for none that comes before a iudL r e comes before an inferiour; efpecially as God himielf honours the tribe of judges ib far as to call them, nut only- kings, but even gods, and thus to communicate to them, as far the thing is pofiible, his own dig- nity. Accordingly, the popes of Rome, who gru- cioufly indulged kings with leave to kils their to-s, who on their approach fent their own mules to meec them, as a mark of honour, who tiod upon the 191 the necks of emperors, were all obedience when fummoned into a court of juftice ; and, when or- dered by their judges, rcfigned the pontifical office. John the Twenty-fecond having after his flight been dragged back in chains, and relealed, at laft, with difficulty for money, proftrated himfeif before an- other that was fubftituted in his place, and by that pro- ftration fanctioned the decree of his judges. What was the conduce of the fynod of Bale ? Did it not, by the common confent of all the orders, determine and ordain that the pope is fubjecr. to a council of priefts ? By what means thofe fathers were perfuaded to come to this refolution you may learn from the acts of the councils. I know not, then, how kings, who allow the majefty of the popes to exceed theirs fo much in eminence as to overfhadow them all with the height of its exaltation, can think it any dimi- nution of their dignity to ftand in that place to which a pope, who fat upon a much higher throne, thought it no indignity to defcend ; namely, to plead his caufe before a council of cardinals. Why mould I mention the falfehood chargeable upon the complaint of thofe who exprefs indignation at feeing kings fummoned before the tribunal of an inferiour f For he that condemns or acquits in judicial queftions is not a Titius, or a Sempronius, or a Stichus, but the law itfeif ; to which obedience in kings is de- clared to be honourable by two illuftrious em- perors, Theodofius and Valentinian. Their very words, as they richly dekrvc to be remembered in every age, I fhail here quote : " It is an expref- fion," Jay they, " worthy of the fovereign's ma- jefty, to confeis that the prince is bound by the laws. And, in reality, the imperial dignity is exalted by fubjecting the prince's power to the laws ; and that we announce, by the oracle of the prefent edict, which fpecifies what licence we do not allow 192 hllow to another." Thefe fentimencs were fane- tioned by the belt of princes, and cannot but be obvious to the word". For Nero, when diefled like a mufical performer, is laid to have been ob- fervant, not only of their motions and geltures, but alio to have, at the trial of fkill, ftood iufpended between hope and fear, in anxiety for victory ; for y though he knew that he fhould be declared vic- torious, yet he thought the victory would be moie honourable, if he obtained it, not from courtly adulation, but by a regular conteit ; and lie ima- gined that the obiervation of its rules tended not to the diminution of his authority, but to the iplen- dour of his victorv. M. Your language, I fee, is not fo extravagant as J fir ft had thought, when you wilhed to lubject kings to the laws- for it is founded, not i'o much uron the authority of philofophers, as of kings and emperors and ecclefiaitical councils. But I do not thoroughly comprehend what you mean by faying, that in this cafe the judge is not the man, but the law. >'. Refrefh your memory a little with a review or our former deductions. Did we not fay that the voice of the king and of the law was the fame ? M. We did. H. What is the voice of the fecretary and of the tii a. when the law is proclaimed ? M. The lame. ]!. What is that of the judge, when he grounds his d .cifions on the law ? ."'./. '1 lie lame. I). lv.it whence is their authority derived, the jr.: ' 'x\ from the law, or the law's from the judge? I/, The judge's from the law. t'i. The efficacy of the ientence then ari'es ironi law, and the pronunciation of the words only ..m the judi-'e. M. bo 193 jll. So it feems. B. Nay, what can be more certain ; fince the fentence of a judge, if conformable to law, is valid j and, if otherways, null ? M. Nothing can be more true. B. You fee, then, that the judge derives his au- thority from the law, and not the law from the judge. M. I do. B. Nor does the humble condition of the pub- lisher impair the dignity of the law ; but its dignity, whether it be published by a king, or by a judge, or by a crier, is always the fame. M. Completely lb. B. The law, therefore, when once ordained, is firft the voice of the king, and next of others. M. It is To. B. A king, therefore, when condemned by a judge, feems to be condemned by the law. M. Clearly. B. If he is condemned by the law, he is con- demned by his own voice ; fince the voice of the law and of the king is the lame. M. By his own voice it fhould feem, as much as if he were convicted by letters wiitten with his own hand. B. Why then fhould we be fo much puzzled by fcruples about the judge, when we have the king's own confeflion, that is, the law, in our pof- feflion? Nav, let us alfo examine an idea that has juft come into my head, whether a king, when he fits as judge in a caufe, ought not to diveft himfelf of every character, of a brother's, a father's, a re- lation's, a fiiend's, and an enemy's, and to con- fider only his function as a judge ? M. He ought. C c B. And 1.94 h. And to attend folelv to that character which h j)cculiarlv adapted to the cauie ? AT. I wilh that you would here fpeak with more perfpicuity. B. Attend then. When any man claodeflhely feiies another's property, what name do we give io the (.kcd ? M. We call it theft. B. And by what appellation do we qualify the actor ? AT. By the appellation of thief. B. What do we fay of him who ufes another man's wife as his own ? JM. That he commits adultery. B. What do we call him ? AT. An adulterer. B. 1 lowdo we denominate him who firs to judge r /I/. We ftyle him judge. i>. In the fame manner, alio, names may be n to Olivers from the actions in wliich tney arc ( :.: 'loyed. . /. "J hty may. H. A king, therefore, in adminilleiing juftice, ouht to diveft himieii of evxrv character but a judge's. > ./ AT. He certainly ought, and particularly of every character that can, in his judicial capacity, be pre- judicial to either or the litigants. B. What do you fay of him who i ; the fibbed, of ''. : |ud c:a! in [uiry ? \- iiaii we . . e him Irom . : a :lion ? Al. \\ e may cull him culprit. B. And is it not reafonable that he iliouid lay afide every character likely to impede the legal r ,'irfe ofjuitice ? . ifiie ll oul 1 ft and in ar.v other predicament As, it is ce. tau3 . ung f o I \: adge : fince, in a judicial queftion, God orders no rcTpeci: to be paid even ro the poor. E. Therefore, if any man, who is both a painter and a grammarian, fhould be engaged in a law-luit about painting; with another wiio is a painter, but no grammarian, ought he, in this cafe, to derive any advantage from his (kill in grammar ? IvI None. B. Nor from his (kill in painting, if lie fhould be contending for fuperio; ity in grammar r M. Juft as little. B. In a judicial trial, therefore, the judge will recognife only one name ; to wit that of the crime, of which the plaintiff accuics die defendant. M. One only. }]. Therefore, if the king be accufed of parri- cide, is the name of king of any coniequence to the judge ? M. Of none : for the controverfy hinges, not upon royalty, but upon parricide. 3. What do you fay, if two parricides fhould be fummoned before a court of jullice, [he one a kins;, and the other a be^qar ? Oug-ht not the judge to obferve the fane rule in taking cogni- fance of both ? 71/. The fame, undoubtedly: and here Lucnn feems to me to nave fpoken with no lefs truth than elegance, when he lavs, " t';::i',r, my captain on the German plaiiis, 1\ here my mate. Guilt equals whom it Mains." B. With truth, certainly. Sentence, therefore, is here to be pronounced, not upon a King and a pau- per, but upon parricides. I H or the fentence would then , mc-em a king, if the qaeilion were, which of C C 2 tWO J ih two psiiur.s ought to be a king: or :r" i: were inquired, whether 1 liero be a king or a tyrant ? or if the controverfy were about any thing tile belonging pioperlv to the office of king: as a painter becomes the fubject of judicial difquifi- tion, when the quefiion is, whether he knows the art of printing? M. What is to be the refult, if the king fhould refufe, of his own accord, and cannot be dragged by force, to appear in a court of Jul 1 ice r B. Here he ftands in the fame predicament with all malefactors ; (o\- no robber or murderer will fpontaneoufly fubn.it to juttice. But you knew, I prefume, the extent of the law, and that it allows a thief in the night to be killed any how, and a thief in the day to be killed, if he ufes a weapon in his detenfe. If nothing but force can drag him before a court of judicature, you recollect what then is the uiual practice. For robbers, too powerful to be reduced to order by the legular courfe of law, we matter bv war and arms. And there are hardly any other pretexts for any war between nations between kings and their iubjecls, but injuries, vJ.ich, being incapable of a legal dc- ciiion, are decided by the fword. M. Again!! open enemies, indeed, thefe are u-aaiiv the catiies of waging war: but we mull ob- /erve a different prcceis with kings whom we are, by the pledge ol a n.oft falemn oath, bound to obey. on the other iom.ife that they n.d be nevoience. eed, we an : 1 .y,it, the (wiL to j ); on aliiC' wsihequn van facl". compact then fab el h;s l:eeeusr So it i'hoidd aipe between a B. Docs 197 B. Does not he then, who deviates from conven- tions, and acts in cppofiticn to compacts, diflblve thole compacts and conventions r M. \\ e does. B. Upon the diffolutbn then of the tie which connected the king with his people, whatever right belonged by agreement to him who dilTclves the compact is, I pre! time, forfeited ? M. It is. B. He alio, with whom the agreement was made, becomes as tree as he was before the jfiipu- lation ? M. He clearly enjoys the fame right and the fame liberty. B. If a king be guilty of acts tending to the diflblution of that fociety, for the preservation of which he was created, what do we call him ? M. A tyrant, I iuppofe. B. But a tyrant is fo far from being entitled to any jnft authority over a people, thai: he is the peo- ple's open enemy. M. Their open enemy, undoubtedly. B. Grievous and intolerable injuiies render <* war with an open enemy j Lift and neceffary. M. Undeniably juft. B. What do you call a war undertaken againll the publick enemy of a!! mankind, a tyrant: I'vl. The jufteft of all wars. B. But when war is, for a juft caufe, once pioclaimed againft an open enemy, not only d>c whole people, but alio each individual, has a iLhr. to kill that enemy. III. I own it. B. What fay you of a tyrant, that publick enemy, with whom all good men are perpetually at war, Have nor all the individuals ol the whole ma i ; i ; s n-..ili c; mankind, indifcrimimitely, a lighl to ex- e:t:k upon him all the ieverities of war? .' 1 lee that almoft all nations entertained that opinion, i r)r even her hufband's death is eene- a applauded in i hebe, his brother's in Timo- leon, and his ion's in Cafiius. lulvius too is p railed for killing his fun, as he was on his way to Cataline j and Brutus for condemning his Ions .- : relations to the :;. Hows, when he learned th< ir ; ian to reftore me tyrant. Nay, many Hates of (ji'ecce v. .ted pubhek rewaids and honours to ty- n.nadmd ; !o much did they think, as was before oblervcci, that with tyrants every tie ol humanity is ciiiTbived. 15-,. why do I collect the afienc < : fm< le j crlons or Mates, when i can produce the teilimonv oi rdmolt all the world r For who does r, : feveaeiy ceiif u ins Corbulo for havii Jo fir nt -; : xi the in tore ft of the human race, not to have hmku, when the d<:td was eafy, Nero fram his throne: tsar was he ccniured only by ihe Romans, but even by i updates, king oi the j Vidians, whofeauu ;a t!i:ng kli than that the com i n of the example lhouid eventually reach his n pcrfum '! he mumk even oi the worft men, .. ; have b :" -..'. :..'. a:e through acts of crude , ; o. no: i.) totallv ed < fted of this publick hatred to :.. , that it d ,.-,, nor, on iomc occa ions, burit i ,tii invohantaid I reduce th'em, bv the con- ! mrdation oi trutn and h :nour, to a hate at : - i ,: anu 1 i'.m hiata. :.. \\ . r sn, up n t a aha., .n.t- [! ; of ti it a; uei t ' -.:;' d;aa . '. i. his mi- , . . w! : ' ;e : a '.:. a. ue), t amtutn >uliy :n- : ; "a..... ".: '>; a. a . , \ ei- ; c-...l!y. " V\ . ) dad kid' d til i'.n \ ,.; . " \dda. : as ... a , a i nan or conluiar .._.:. .n, \ .. :.a: .. .s .. ..< .. :.a aaajtu pace, 199 whence he might be heard and fcen, fC I wifh that 1 had killed him." Ac this exprellion thefe men, who were deftitute cf almoft all humanity, forbore, as if chunderitruck, all riotous tumult. For fo great is the power of virtue, that, when its picture, however imperfectly Iketched, is prefented to the mind, its moil impetuous ebullitions fubfide ; the violence ot its fury languiihes ; and madnefs, in fpite of all refinance, acknowledges the empire of n. Ncr do thole who now move heaven and earth with their clamours harbour other 1 fentimenis. The truth of this obfervation may be evinced even by this confkieration, that, though they confute the late events, the lame, or fimilar tran'actions, and even cf a more atrocious nature, when quoted from ancient hiuory, receive their ap- probation and applaufe, and. bv that circumllance, dernonivrate that they are more fwayed by private afreclions than bv puhlick injuries. But whv ihould we look for a furer witnefs of what tyrants defer ve than their own confoience ? Hence (prints their perpetual fear or" all, and particularly of good men ; and hence they behold the fword, which they keep always drawn for others, conftantly nr>g ever their own necks; and, by their own hatred to others, meafure the attachment of other* to themfclves. But good men, on the other hand, :cverf:ng this order, and fearing nothing, frequently incur d:mgei by eiiimating the benevolent difpoh- tion or mankind, not bv its vicious nature, but by their own meritorious conduct. B. You are then of opinion, that tyrants ought to be ranked among the molt ferocious beads ; and hat tvrannick violence is mure again ft nature than poverty, than difeale, than death, and every other evil tint the decrees of narure 'rave entailed upon M. Truly, coo ?/. Truly, when I eftimate within mvfclf the weights of different arguments, I cannotdeny the truth of thde pofitionsj but, when i reflect on the dangers and inconveniences which attend this opinion, my mind, as if checked at once with a bridle*, fails fome- how in mettle, and, bending towards utility from the excefiive rectitude of Stoical feverity, falls almofl into a fwoon. For, if any one be at liberty to kill a tyrant, mark what a wide field you open to the villany of the wicked, to what danger vou expofe tire good, what licer.ee vou allow to the bad, and what difordcr you introduce into every department. For who, after killing a good, or at lead not the worft king, may not palliate his crime under the fpecious appearance of virtue ? Or, if even a good man fhould unfuccefsfully attempt the afiaffination Oi a ck teiiable prince, or fuccelsfully execute tire intended deed, what great confufion mufl necclTa- rily enluc in every quarter ! While the bad tumul- tunufly exprefs their indignation at the lofs of a leader, the good will not all approve of the deed i and even thofe who approve will not all defend the author againft a wicked faction ; and the generality will cloak their own floth under the ho- nourable pretext of peace, and rather calumniate the valour of others than confefs their own cow- ardice. A flu redly, though this recollective atten- ti< n to private interefr, though this mean excufe for deferting the publick raufe, and tins fear of inclining danger, mould not entirely break, they undoubtedly weaken the fpirits of molt men, and. caule a preference of tranquillitv, though not very certain, to the expectation ol" uncertain l-.berty. B. If vou attend to the antecedent reaionings, your prefent apprchenfiuns will be eafily removed. Fur we lemarked that ionic nations have, by their free fufl rapes, functioned tvrants, whom, for the 201 lenity of their adminiftration, we dignify with regal names. None will, by my advice, offer violence to any of thefe, or even of thofe who have by force or fraud become fovereigns, if their government be but tempered by a civick difpofition of mind. Such, among the Romans, were Vefpafian, Titus, and Pertinax, Alexander among the Greeks, and Hiero at Syracufe: for, though they obtained the imperial power by violence and arms, yet they de- ferved, by their juftice and equity, to be numbered among legitimate kings. Befides, I here explain under this head how far our power and duty extend by law, but do not advife the enforcement of either. Of the former a diftinc~t knowledge and clear ex- planation' are fufikient ; of the latter the plan re- quires wifdom, the attempt prudence, and the ex- ecution valour. Though thefe preparatives may, in the cafe of a rafh attempt, be aided or fruflrated by times, perfons, places, and other inftruments of action, I fhall merit blame for any errours no more than the phyfician, who properly defcribes the various remedies for difeafes, ought to be cen- fured for the folly of another, who adminillers them at an improper time. M, One thing feems ftill wanted to complete this difquifition, and, if you make that addition, I muft acknowledge that your favours have reached their utmoft poffible limit. What I mean to afk is, whether tyrants ought to be liable to ecclefiaftical cenfures ? B. Whenever you pleafe, you may fee that kind of cenfure jufufied in the firft epiftle of Paul to the Corinthians, where the apoltle forbids us to have any convivial or familiar conyerfe wich perio.ns no- torioufly wicked or flagitious. VV ere this precept obferved among Cmiifrans, the wicked mull either repent, or perifh with hunger, cold and nakednefs. D d M. That COS M. That opinion has certainly great weight; but yet I know not whether the people that ufes every where to pay fo much refpecc to magiftrates wiil believe that this rule comprehends kings. B. The ancient ecclefiaftical writers, to a man, certainly underflood, in this manner, Paul's ex- preffions. For even the emperor Theodoiius was excluded by Ambrofe firm the congregation of Chriftians, and Theodofuis obeyed the bifhop. Nor, as far as I know, is any bilhop's conduct more highly extolled by antiquity, nor any em- peror's medefty more loudly applauded. But, as to the main point, what great difference aoe.- it make, whether you be expelled fn m the com- munion of Chriftians, or be forbid fire and .vater? For againft thole, who refufe to obev their orders, all magiftiates ule, for their molt formidable engine, the latter decree, and all eccltfiafticks the former. Now the punifhment inflicted by both, for a con- tempt of their authority, is death ; but the one denounces the deftruction of the McV\ and the other the deftruction of the whole man, Will not the church, then, which confiders much lighter crimes punifhable with death, think death jullly due to liim whom alive it excommunicates from the congregation of the godly, and whom dead it dooms to the company of devils ? For the juilice of rny country's caufe, I think that I have faid enough ; and if ft ill fome foreigners fbould not be fatisfkd, 1 beg that they would confider how ini- quitoufly they treat us. For, as there are in Eu- rope numbers of great and opulent nations, having each its own diftinct laws, it is arrogance in them to prescribe to all their own pecular form of go- vernment. The Swifs live in a republick ; the Germans, under the name of empire, enjoy a le- gitimate monarchy ; fome Hates in Germany in- deed 203 . deed are, X hear, fubject to a nobility - t the Ve- netians have a government that is a due mixture of all thefe forms j and Mufcovy is attached to a defpotifm. We poffefs a kingdom that is, in- deed, fmall, but that has now for above two thou- fand years remained free from a foreign yoke. Ori- ginally we created kings limited by laws, juft to ourfelves and to others. Thefe laws length of time has proved to be advantageous -, as it is by the obfervation of them, more than by the force of arms, that the kingdom ftill remains unfhaken. What injuftice then it is to defire that we fhould either repeal or difregard laws, of which we have, for fo many ages, experienced the utility ? Or, ra- ther, what impudence it is in men, who can fcarcely maintain their own government, to at- tempt an alteration in the policy of another coun- try ? Why fhould I mention that our inftitutions are beneficial, not only to ourfelves, but alfo to our neighbours ? For what can contribute more to the maintenance of peace with neighbours than moderation in kings ? For, in general, it is through the effervefcence of their unruly paffions that unjutr. wars are rafhly undertaken, wickedly waged, and dishonourably concluded. Befides, what can be more prejudicial to any flate than bad laws among its neighbours, as their contagion ufes frequently to fpread wide ? Or why do they moled us alone, when different laws and inftitutions are ufed by fo many furrounding nations, and the fame, entire!}, by none ? Or why do they now at Iafb moleft us, when we do not hazard any novelty, but adhere to our old fyftem j when we are not the only, nor the firft people that adopted this practice, and do not now adopt it for the firft time ? But fome are not pleafed with our laws j perhaps, alfo, not; with then* own. W f e do not inquire curioufly D d 2 into 04 into other men's inilitutions ; and, therefore, riiey lhould leave us ours, that have been for fo many- years experimentally approved. Do we difturt> their councils ? or do we, in any refpect, moleft them ? But, fay they, you are feditious. To this charge I could freely anfwer, What is that to them ? If we are diforderly, it is at our own rifk, and to our own lofs. Yet I could enumerate not a few feditions, that both commonwealths and monarchies found not prejudicial. But that fpecies of defence I (hall not ufe. I deny that any nation was lefs ieditious ; I deny that any was ever in its feditions more temperate. Many contefts have occurred concerning the laws, concerning the right to the crown, concerning the adminiftration of the go- vernment, but ftill without danger to the general weal : nor was the conflict, as among nations in general, continued to the ruin of the populace j nor from hatred to our princes, but from patriotick zeal, and a fteady attachment to the laws. How often, in our memory, have large armies Hood oppofed in battle array, and parted, not only with- out a wound, but without a fray, without a re- proach ? How often have private quarrels been quafhed by publick utility ? How often has the report of a publick enemy's approach extinguifhed domeftick broils ? Nor have our feditions been quieted with more temperance than good fortune; lince the party that had juftice on its fide gene- rally commanded fuccefs ; and, as our civil dif putes were conducted with moderation, they were amicably adjufted on the bafis of utility. Thefe are the arguments which occur to me at prelent ; and they feem calculated for checking the loquacity of the malevolent, for refuting the dogmatifm of the obftinate, and for fatisfying the doubts of the equitable. The right to the crown among 205 among other nations I did not think of much con- iequence to us. Our own practice I have ex- plained in a few words ; but yet in more than I intended, or than the fubject required -, becaufe this was a labour which I undertook on your ac- count only j and, if I have your approbation, I am fatisfied. M. As far as I am concerned, the fatisfaction, which you have given, is complete j and, if I {hall be able to give others the fame fatisfaction, I fhall think myfelf not only much benefited by your difcourfe, but relieved from a great deal of trouble. FINIS. ed b\ S. HAM1I Id N.B. Mr. Macfarlan undertakes, for a Hundred Pounds a Year, to board and educate Six Young Gentlemen^ at his Houfe oppofite to the Margrave of Anfpach"s, in the Road leading from Hammer Jmith to Fulham, three Miles and a Half from Hyde-Park Comer. The Houfe and Grounds are in all Refpects well calculated for the intended Purpofe ; and there is now a Vacancy for Two Pupils, who will be taught the Languages or Sciences, or both, as circumftances snay require, Page 94, line 16, expunge JIM, and read voices for i