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<jfiUUis conunendarc. Buchanan, De Jure Rtgiti. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 l'KIVIT'.T) i;-| -. HAMlI-TON/EAECON-COLTCr, EET.ET-STISn T ; 
 FOR T. C A DKI.I., |UN, ..XI) W.DAVIES IN THE STRAND 
 A N i-> '' 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 ><r moral we are alwavs obliged to 
 Hop fhort of perfect knowledge. Whv fhould we 
 expect more certainty in hiftorical investigation r 
 
 Having read Ceiar and Tacitus, I had conceived 
 that the ancient inhabitants of Gaul and of the Bri- 
 tish ifles were radically the fame, and that they all 
 ipoke Gallick, of wliich the language of the Celts 
 was the purelt dialect to be found on the continent. 
 Having read Herodotus, Strabo, Cuitius and other 
 hiitorians, I had always underflood that the Scythi- 
 ans were a diltinct race totally different from the 
 Getes, as 1 had conceived the Getes to be from the 
 Goths. 1 had never fufpecfted that not only the 
 Fenians, but alio the Greeks and Romans and even 
 the Scots, were Goths. Thefe great difcoveries, 
 however, have been made, or rather revived, by a 
 living antiquary; and the Athenians, were thev in 
 cxif-enccj mull no more boafl of being Autochtho- 
 nes, nor the Romans talk ot Troy as their pa- 
 rent. 
 
 I am aware that the nations fituated to the 
 No! th-eaft and North-weft of the Danube were, as 
 we* leain fiom Plinv and Procopius, not unfre- 
 (juently denominated Scythians. But in what 
 lenie : A.i all the Kuropeans were by the Tuiks and 
 other Aiiaticks flylcd Franks from the principal na- 
 tion ;i:ii known to them, and as the inhabitants of 
 
 ' Plinv, lib. ;v. r,.^. 15. Scytharum nomen ufquc quaque 
 
 in Mmuitas ac ( iim: :<>-, 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. <c The Perfian has 
 come no more againft us than againft you ; nor 
 will he, after our overthrow, be fatisfied and ab- 
 ftain from you. Of this reafoning we fhall give 
 you a ftrong proof. If the Perfian led his army 
 againft us alone, in order to punifh ua for having 
 formerly reduced him to flavery, he ought to have 
 abflained from injuring others and to have confined 
 his devaluations to our country ; and he would thus 
 have made it evident to all that the Scythians and 
 no others are the objects of his expedition. But 
 now, upon coming over to this continent, he im- 
 mediately fubdues every nation that comes in his 
 
 B 2 way,
 
 way, and keeps under his dominion as well the 
 ether* Thraciansas theGetes, our next neighbours." 
 
 Here we have the teftimony of the Scythians 
 themfelvcs, and of Herodotus, that the Getes were 
 a Thracian nation, that neither the Thracians, the 
 generick name, nor the Getes, the fpecific name, 
 were Scythian .-, and that it was the Scythians pro- 
 perly fo called and not die Getes, that had invaded 
 and conquered Alia, and made the Perfians flaves. 
 
 In ancth r pafiage Herodotus calls the Getes 
 " the braveft and juried of the Thracians-}-," and 
 puts it beyond doubt that the Greeks confidered 
 them as a tribe of Thracians, tire general name of 
 that r:.-c o f men, who fpoke the Thracian, of 
 which the Gctick wa.- a dialed:. 
 
 In a third place the fame author fays cc The^ 
 Ao:athvrfi in other ufages nearlv refemble the 
 Thracians (or Getes) ; hut the Neuri ufe the 
 cufloms cf the Scythians." Had he contended 
 that the Getes and Scythians were the fume people, 
 could he have found words more contradictory to 
 that notion ? 
 
 The teftimony of Herodotus is the more worthy 
 of belief that he appears to have perfonally vifned 
 
 * [Melpomene, cap. 11S. th; -ri cr, "W> " 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 j* - ; i-r-T-i; ._.;.-.. yxt.yr.y;' rtxy,; .'= dxKrvXut i!;. Tb.ro 
 f. '. - '"".- - -. . x~ . x.;.x; 7 n-bxt' zU/.'.u.'.-.y, -,% tc-v crtpiTi- 
 [ -. j.j.'r y- s ~ ...>.% .-. 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: <x,77ii}.tt. 
 
 the
 
 the Scythian diftricls lying between the Hypanls 
 and the Boryfthenes or Nieper; as he gives from 
 ocular infpeftion the dimenfions or rather capacity 
 of a brazen veflfei made by order of Ariantas, a 
 Scythian king, with the points of arrows furnifhed 
 by each perfon in order to afcertain the numbers of 
 the nation. 
 
 Zamolxis, if we believe Herodotus* and Dio- 
 genes Laertiusj-, was the legiflator of the Thracians, 
 and therefore of the Getes, whom by way of de- 
 rifion the Greeks called the " immortal" Getes, 
 Anacharfis is by all authors allowed to have been 
 the only known philofopher among the Scythians. 
 How are thefe oppofite pofitions to be reconciled, 
 if we admit the identity of the Scythians and Getes ? 
 
 The teftimony of Ovid J, who, after a refidence 
 of fix years in Pontus, became a Getick poet, is 
 alfo decifive. What does the mournful exile fay ? 
 
 Between Scythia and the Getes what have 1 to 
 do with the Sicilians ? 
 
 Around |] me is the found of Thracian (or Ge- 
 tick) and of Scythian mouths. 
 
 Clofe <j[ by me (land the Scythian vulgar and the 
 breeched mob of the Getes. 
 
 I have** now learned to fpeak the Getick and 
 Sarmatick. 
 
 * Melpomene, cap. 94 &: 9:. 
 
 f Dio. Laer. in procemio, Eciot fao-t tu? tpr^oa-ofixq a.c%an 
 
 X Ex. Ponto, lib. iv. ep. 10. Hie mihi Cimmerio bis 
 tertia ducitur aeftas Littore . 
 
 Tiift. lib. iii. eleg. 12. Quid mihi cum Siculis inter 
 Scythiamque Getafque? 
 
 || Trift. lib. iii. eleg. 14. ThreVcio Scythicoque fere cir- 
 cumfonor ore. 
 
 % Trill, lib. iv. eleg. 6. Vulgus adeft Scythicum brac- 
 cataque turba Getarum. 
 
 ** Trift. lib. v. eleg. 12. Jam clidici Getice Sarmaticeque 
 ioqui, 
 
 The
 
 The bard every where makes the fame diftinc* 
 tion between the Scvthians and the Getes, between 
 the Sarmatick and zr.c Getick. Who then were 
 thefe Scythians, whom he thus diftinguifhes r The 
 Sarmatians; for it appears from the whole drain of 
 his elegies and epiftlcs that, except fome broken 
 Greek, no ianguages were fpoken in his neigh- 
 bourhood but the Getick and Sarmatick. 
 
 But fays my antagoniir, Ovid informs us that 
 the Getes and Sarmatians maintained an intercourfe 
 in a " focial *, or (if you will) in an allied tongue. 
 What then ? Does it follow that they were radically 
 the fame ? By no means. The borderers of all 
 nations, however different their languages may be, 
 never fail, like the Englidi and Welch., the Englilh 
 and I rim, the Poles, (or Sarmatians,) and Ger- 
 mans, to carry on a focial intercourfe. Had the 
 poet faid Cogna'a exercent illi commercia lingua; ; 
 had he faid that they uled a kindred language, the 
 affertion, though obvioufly founded in errour, might 
 require ibme refutation. But Ovid knew the force 
 of Latin words too well to be guilty of fuch a bar- 
 bariim. The Ruffians and Poles, the delcendants 
 of the Scythians or Sarmatians, may and actually 
 do maintain a focial intercourle with the Germans, 
 though their languages have no affinity. 
 
 Nor is Ovid fingular in considering the Sarmatians 
 i" Scythian . Herodotus had from perfonal know- 
 ledge afTe red tru fame f'.ft many ages before him., 
 a:;:! I'.ph >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<i Welters. 
 
 u x?\Xct>!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:. ..<tti xai Mr^nrrt e<r>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; :<at i.\.yO:utu;' act yotp/;a<; c[Aoy?\UTTGt 7>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 <c etiam " or 
 " alio" makes a fufficient cliftincYion, the plea will 
 be of no avail, iince it is as applicable- to the Heruli, 
 a Gothick hord, as to the Celts. Hence it is clear 
 that Pollio thought the Celts as good Scythians as 
 the Goths, which renders the quotation ufelefs. From 
 this example and the preceding fpecimens the 
 publick will be able to judge whether it is not 
 necelTary to confult the originals, where Mr. Fin- 
 kerton ufes &c. or mentions only names withouc 
 any quotation. 
 
 " 4. Dexippus called his hiitory of the wars be- 
 tween the Romans and Goths Scy thick hiilories, 
 and ftyled the Goths Scythians." 
 
 Anivver. Dexippus being loll:, little needs be 
 faid about him. But, had he been an author of the 
 firft note, he might have called the Goths Scy- 
 thians, and meant no more than that the Goths 
 were a people from the country generally called 
 Scythia, as Trebellius Poliio had done before 
 him, and as Strabo * tells us that all the northern 
 nations were called by the ancient Greeks. 
 
 The other ten parko>;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 <ji o: xxi _>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 <X,iZ iilC'XX, , 
 
 Theopbvhch;s, p. 6~. C,vr r ~x> 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 
 
 </...' . I '. y . . .. y , . - L . i j . ; 
 
 : . ' . . . '. ' . . . 1 ! ,v . '. . ./. ' . - . i 1 . 77 -, . / lM,l 
 
 (".. ,x. >>: ) ..- .- > . 
 
 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 <c the curious 
 
 * Taciti Annalcs, lib. xiv. can. 23. At Suetonius mira 
 onflantia medios inter hoftes Londinium perrexit, &c. 
 t Ovidii Epift. ex Ponto, lib. iv. ep. 9. 1. 75. 
 
 Prafuit liis, Grcecine, locis modo Flaccus ; et illo 
 
 Ripa lerox Iftri fub duce tuta fr.it. 
 Hie tenuit My fas rentes in pace fideli ; 
 
 Hie a r c u fi f o s t e r r u it en ft: G etas; 
 Hie captam Trofmin ctleri virtnte recepit, 
 Infecitque fero fanguine Danubium. 
 \ Alter Luculliis, qui Macedonian) adminiftrabat, Eeffis 
 Romanorum piimus intuiit bellum, atque eos in^enti prte- 
 lio in monte Ha? mo fuperavit : oppidum Ufcudamam, quod 
 Beffi habitabant, codem die, quo aggreffus eft, vicit; Ca- 
 Lylen cepit ; uique ad Danubium n/netravit. Inde multas 
 in per Pomum pofitas civitates aggrei.'us eft. lllic Apollo- 
 ivam evertit, Cslatin, Pavtlurnopolin, Tomos, Iftrum, By- 
 ziairi omnem cepi:, bcllcq-ac conkci Roruam rediit. 
 
 V cbkrvation
 
 IS 
 
 obfervarion of the lives of the Scythians or 'far- 
 tars will illuftrate the latent caufe of the deiliuc- 
 tive emigrations," which overwhelmed the Roman 
 empire. Does not he in this p re confider 
 Tartars and Scythians as ivn :nvmo..s ? . Nothing 
 can be clearer ; and, as he is in himfelf a hoii, 
 it would be idle to enume: ae the multitudes of 
 other m< darns, that mLh:. In produced. 
 
 Had the identity contended for b< en real, would 
 not the Get< , arid Scythians have agreed in man- 
 
 1: r 
 
 a:id uiapes and hifloi les 
 
 ;. .'.::':. cd to the arms of Sefofir* 
 
 ... parments < . hemp, mourned 
 
 nau P . ... ...', oi \ .:,' e I .< >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, 
 
 <f THE* lucky, though accidental, circum- 
 flance of the name of Getae infufed, fiiys Gibbon, 
 among the credulous Goths a vain perfuafion that, 
 in a remote age, their own ancestors already feated 
 in the Dae Ian provinces had received the infrruc- 
 tions of Zamolxis and checked the victorious arms 
 of Sefoltris and Darius." Accordingly u Cafiio- 
 dorus-j-, the principal rniniftcr of the court of Ra- 
 venna, end his epitomill, Jornandes, pafied with 
 the mod artful coneifenefs over trie misfortunes of 
 the Goths, celebrated their fuceefsful valour and 
 adorned then* triumph with man ' Af?.v.iek trophies 
 i'k.l more propeny belonged to the people of 
 Scythiad' .' .; eny at lead as tiie Chrldian 
 
 era and ;;: lace ;>. 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 <j y ttv-.tci:. "..- :..a >.,' 
 
 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)<UToa$ 
 
 l)io:\. Sicuiiu, hi lib. ii. p. 150. Hanovip? RLodom. 
 
 '" / fa> 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 <f[, who were 
 deemed acute and ingenious ' and cultivated fo 
 
 binr.e icier.ee-., have been able to invent 
 ick wii-ino f [.'he truth is that Plato f| 
 lie o,. titer extremely probable, as he fome- 
 
 " '- : :.;.! ir' I )i:T ia ti . moniv of l!:' 
 
 I , Hi tii.. l': .tin"', "i oi i:vj. i< <\ til S f >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 (<uirail Lin. lib. i. cap. 6, /Eobca ratio, cui fermo 
 . . : 'i ! Latin. 's j eit fnnilbrae.s. 
 
 ': A ''.oca the '.;.;:'.ms was not the Creek word 
 
 tern, ;>:. 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, l<r,\i 
 
 the return. a 
 \ ailt d in th 
 
 , ; :,;. : 
 
 "l'v. :; 
 'i >n < - 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 <i ...n 
 
 cli.irra 1 .n icr, 
 
 ( Imrra < ~.:\' cir < iiti : a : :, 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 <c that their Galiick tongue proved 
 the Goth.ni not to be Germans," but alio from 
 Ccfai'4, when he informs us that he lent ( '. Vale- 
 rius i J n a'.ilus, on account of his (kill in Galiick to 
 convene v.ith Anoviicus, who from long-continued 
 piactice made great uie of that language. 
 
 C'.rfar Dc Ilt'il. G;.I1. liS. i. cap. 31. Gallia? totius fac- 
 ; ' : : : ;i ;, vi i : jn i "1 i;';/i:m tent re /T'.duni,, 
 .: . :\ 1 \ M'l! h.rl in l'!'l n u> 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.. ..:<!, i' lis'. is. II :e d> 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!' ;<k ^ i e v oi icholail ick dii- 
 
 .: to tiaec ; .,\\ n.-, 1 \ ! ,.' .: : 
 i v.; : ' 
 
 - : ,' pup:! 
 
 rtilk fUVC"n !.-, foi t .< up 
 
 I" 
 
 ;>. .' can 
 
 
 > 
 
 n : : o. 
 
 Bud- 
 
 1 
 
 , .1. j v. 
 
 i 
 
 
 \V 
 
 oi i ; in 
 
 die k.; 
 
 C 
 
 ! 'are k 
 
 ,'.i|. 
 
 ti: 
 
 
 m. ; ' 
 
 - 
 
 r 
 
 \ 
 
 . ; 
 
 <k 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 * r 
 
 r 
 . . . - j
 
 ufual fatirical keennefs, cc Madam, I have only 
 whipped what, if you pleafe, you may, but I will 
 not, kifs." 
 
 This wholefome plan of education being coun- 
 teracted by the in tereiled fervility of domeftick and 
 foreign fycopliants produced two letters of admo- 
 nition, one prefixed to the Baptill and another to 
 the treatife now offered to the publick; and both 
 intended to ferve as proofs to pofteriry that, if 
 milled by evil counfel or corrupted by regal licen- 
 tioufnefs he fhould ever deviate from the paths of 
 rectitude, he might not have it in his power to 
 charge his mifconduet on his preceptor but on his 
 own neglect of good advice. 
 
 This fpirit of independence and inflexibility of 
 virtue naturally excited jealouiy and hatred among 
 the vermin of the palace, and expofed our author upon 
 the publication of his .' lit:>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. 
 \'<cnc)) education, in addition to this i'pecimen of 
 her morality, ihe fanCtioned by her approbation 
 and concurrence the league of Bayonne, the mod: 
 infernal plot againn humanity that is recorded in 
 hiilory. Kanno confpired to maflacre the whole 
 fenate of Carthage, Cataline to burn Rome and 
 afiaffinatc the patricians, and Guy Fox to blow up 
 the FugUm parliament with gunpowder. Bui i 
 enormities were to this mere peccadilloes, the . 
 fhocks of petty mines compared to the tremem 
 explofion of a volcano. For here the object wa to 
 exterminate oil the protcftants in Chriften ion . < r, 
 in other \\ ords, half of Europe's inhabitants. There 
 can be little doubt, therefore, but the confpi; 
 
 like Caligula, that the intended violin -. 
 one neck, that their heads might be irruel: 
 
 ' eign's private life bain:-; fo reprchei ! 
 publick conduct io ominom, it is not ; 
 that her natural b: other, the Farl of Mur- 
 ray, under whofe aufpices and directions her :: 
 
 itherto profpered, fnould, from a regard to 
 Ov :: character and to her intereil, inter: re 
 t . nd remenftrance, and warn her i : the 
 
 i n the brink < ( \\ Inch Q,e uov .;. 
 -.' t. that, in a bread ivvayt d by ti;e ; . .. 
 .' .. - '.- ' . ns, his t'riencib c .uniei: 
 
 \\ 
 
 in 
 
 ied, 
 
 h 
 
 id 
 
 but 
 
 o 
 
 it 
 
 at o 
 
 as 
 
 id 
 
 her 
 
 P 
 
 i ii 
 
 ing
 
 c,s 
 
 ". no eabac but Hi will to himfelf, be retired 
 froir. cr.urt, :'..:.: ; ." raiglit not in his piv fence lecavi 
 
 to c ur.tc e. This 
 
 arani . .. 1 
 
 i"ir;ntciV, v. 1, e 
 
 of n . . ck bee;.! ... ... . c and 
 
 . minillci'. 'i he nia kn i. i . 
 
 ; j confequencc, v.ea"'.h rind lj r, ;.>- 
 : .: 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 <c her Norfolk," and fhe <c his own 
 queen j" and Morgan in a letter to her fays, 
 t( perhaps there have palled between your ma- 
 "city and the Duke fome other tran factions, which 
 entitle the faid Earl to the name of fon." 
 
 Tills being a juir, though brief, narrative of the 
 principal incidents in the life of this celebrated 
 prince!:, can we be iurprifed that her letters fiiould 
 bemorrefpondent ? When perufed they will be found 
 uniform and cf a piece with the left of her conduce, 
 and 1: ;th will appear mutually illuftrative. Had 
 ktters been ipuiious, they would have been 
 lefs numerous and not of luch a fufFccating length, 
 not fo minute but more directly criminal. No 
 counterfeited hand could preferve the appearance 
 of identity through ih many tedious pages, which 
 contain many particulars not conceivable bv any 
 uhnatier: but that of a real accrefs in the tra- 
 gedy. Why did the originals of the letters oil- 
 er but became James thought that their 
 nee would c.ifgiaec his mother's memory, 
 a.d his own legitimacy queftion- 
 
 ) other reason, can be afiigned for the 
 n of Crawford's evidence, and particu- 
 i nrton's narrative, which gave a very na- 
 .unt ol the maimer in which the diico- 
 ' made. liven die Duke of Norfolk al- 
 eents t ) be genuine, till he formed 
 re of mounting a throne, as Mary's huf- 
 ! how was the reverie pofllble, fince. 
 ad an opportunity of comparing them with 
 many written to him. bv her own hand; fince they 
 were examined bv the Scotch Council and Par 
 nt, by tie imgen. Commiilioners at York, 
 at Weiln .. ier and at Liamptcn Court, and veri- 
 fied by the identity of writing and orthography ; 
 
 LethinQTon, 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 .i 
 
 
 
 1 _. 
 ; J. j 
 
 ly < 
 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 VCP 
 
 lo- 
 
 iv ed 
 
 1 
 
 LI . 
 
 
 la 
 
 nd.
 
 Lcthington, indeed, a gentleman ofour prefent Lau- 
 derdale's family, is Lid by No: a ih to have declared 
 that he counterfeited Mai y's hand. But, if we could 
 believe Norfolk'^ tale, what cr. ft e. n be given to 
 a man who at f.rfl r ! .1 . dilll-rei and con- 
 tradicted hanfelf? The ! a aiuV.a ' is applicable 
 
 to the argument drawn from the contradictions 
 obfervable in the mini;, as of the Scotch parlia- 
 ment 3 for c: ,s a wrapon that aap.s troually both 
 \ -. \i the records oi t 1 ] . :. n.ent, which 
 from its fa '.entio.n iterert of the 
 
 heir apparent r>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.<th fides and weighed the 
 caufes of thefe reluts, arranged (everal eiafles of 
 precepts and called v ich elais n art. 
 
 B. By the means therefore of limilar remarks, the 
 art of foverci^nty may be deicribed as well as that 
 of medicine r 
 
 M. That I think pofilble. 
 
 B. On what precepts then mult it be founded? 
 
 M. I am not prepared to give you a fatisfactory 
 anAvcr. 
 
 B. Perhaps its comparifon with other arts may 
 lead ro its comprehennon. 
 M. In what manner ? 
 
 B. Thus. There aie certain precepts peculiar 
 to grammar, to medicine and to agriculture, 
 
 M I
 
 101 
 
 M. I comprehend. 
 
 B. May we not call thefe precepts of grammar 
 2nd medicine alfo arts and laws, and fo on in other 
 cafes ? 
 
 M. So I certainly think. 
 
 B. What do you think of the civil law ? Is it 
 not a fyfrem of precepts calculated tor fovereigns? 
 M. So it feems. 
 
 B. Ought it not then to be underftood by him 
 who would be created a king? 
 
 M. The inference appears unavoidable. 
 B. \\ hat fnall we then fay of him who does 
 not underftand it ? Do you conceive that, even 
 after his nomination by the people, he fhould not 
 be called king ? 
 
 M. Here you reduce me to a dilemma; for, 
 to make my anfwer compatible with the preceding 
 conceffions, i muft affirm that the fuffrages of the 
 people can no more make a king than any other 
 artift. 
 
 B. What then do you think ought to be done in 
 this cafe ? For, if the perfon elected by common 
 iuffrage is not a king, 1 fear that we are not likely 
 to have anv le^al fovereign. 
 
 M. 1 alfo am not without the fame fear. 
 B. Is it your pleaiure then that the pofition juft 
 laid down in comparing the arts fhould be diicufled 
 with greater minutenefs 
 
 M. Be it fo, if you chink it necefiary. 
 B. Did we not, in the fever al arts, call the pre- 
 cepts of the feveral artifts laws ? 
 M. We did. 
 
 B. But I fear that we did not then ufe fufficient 
 circumfpedtion. 
 M. Whyfo? 
 
 B. Becaufe it feems an abfurdky to fuppofe that 
 lie who underftands any art fhould not be an artift. 
 
 M. It
 
 IOC 
 
 M. It is an abfurdity. 
 
 B. Ought we not therefore to confider him, 
 who can perform what belongs to art, an artift, 
 whether it proceeds from the fpontaneous impulfe 
 of nature, or from an habitual facility acquired by a 
 conftant repetition of fimilar acts r 
 
 M. I think fo. 
 
 B. Him then, who pofTefies cither the method 
 or the fkill to do any thing rightly, we may term 
 an artift, it he has by practice acquired the requifite 
 power. 
 
 M. With more propriety, undoubtedly, than the 
 other who underflands only the bare precepts, with- 
 out practice and experience. 
 
 B. The precepts then are not to be confidered 
 as the art r 
 
 M. By no means ; but rather the. femblance of 
 art, or, more nearlv ftiil, ios fhadow. 
 
 B. What then is that directing power in dates 
 that we are to call either the art or feience of 
 politicks : 
 
 M. I fuppofe that you mean the providential 
 wifdom, from which, as a fountain, all laws calcu- 
 lated for the benefit of human fociety mull flow. 
 
 B. You have hit the mark. Therefore, if any 
 man fhci.id pollen this v%ifdom in the higheft de- 
 gree of perfection, we might call him a king by 
 natuic, not by fuilV.jge, and in veil him with \\\\- 
 hmittd power r I'uc, if no inch perfon can be 
 found, we muft be fati; : fird with the neareit ap- 
 proach to tins cxcellt nev of nature, and, in us pol- 
 : . : gracing :, cert. ,n rcicmblance of the delired 
 rear:.', -a'a him king : 
 
 A/. Let iii honour him with that title, if you 
 
 p ! " afc - 
 
 />. 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<rre- 
 gioufly difappuinted ; for I was in great hopes that, 
 in the progrefs of your diicourfe, you would, either 
 of your own accord or at my ir.ggcftion, rcitore 
 what an iiluftiious hiftorian calls : , \ glorious 
 
 fpectacie in the eves of gods and men to its ori- 
 ginal fplendour : but by ipoiiing of eve:y orna- 
 ment, and circumfcribing within a clofe or.Dn, the 
 magdtracv full known in the wo: id, you have io 
 
 V debaild
 
 106 
 
 debafed it, that to any perfon in his fober fenfes it 
 mult be an object of contempt rather than of de- 
 fire. For can there be a man, whole biain is not 
 deranged, that would not choofe rather to relf. fatis- 
 fied with a moderate fortune in a private ltation, 
 than, while he is intent upon other men's bulincl's 
 and inattentive to his own, to be obliged, in the 
 midll of perpetual vexations, to regulate the whole 
 courfe of his life by the caprice of the multitude ? 
 Hence, if it be propoied that this fhould every- 
 where be the condition of royalty, I fear that there 
 will foon be a greater fcarcity of kings than in the 
 rirft infincy of our religion there was of biihops. 
 Indeed, if this be the ciiterion by which we are 
 to eflimate kings, I am not furprifed that the 
 perfons, who formerly accepted ol fuch an illuf- 
 trious dignity, were found only among fhepherds 
 and ploughmen. 
 
 />. 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, 
 '</ ! . " ' ' . ' v. i .nger i x . . :u t'ne 
 
 nikill < : > 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, <c The 
 extremity of law is the extremity of injufticc." 
 
 B. 1 certainly do. 
 
 M. If any qucilion of this kind fhould come 
 into a court of juftice, a neceffity arifes for a mer- 
 ciful interpreter to mitigate the feverity of the law, 
 and to prevent what was intended for the general 
 good from proving ruinous to worthy and innocent 
 men. 
 
 B. Your fentiments are jufl ; and, if you had 
 been fufficiently attentive, you would have per- 
 ceived that in the whole of this difquifition I have 
 aimed at nothing elfe but at preferving facred and 
 inviolate Cicero's maxim u Let the lafety of the 
 peo] ie be the fupreme law." Therefore, if any 
 cafe ihould occur in a court of juftice of fuch a 
 complexion, that there can be no queftion about 
 what is good and equitable, it will be part of the 
 king's prospective duty to fee the law iquared by 
 the fore-mentioned rule. But youieem to me, in 
 the name of kings, to demand more than what 
 the molt imperious of them ever arrogate. For 
 you know that, when the law feems to dictate 
 one thing, and its author to have meant another, 
 fuch quellions, as well as controverlies grounded 
 upon ambiguous or contradictory laws, are gene- 
 rally' referred to the judge:;. Hence arile the nu- 
 FVicrous cafes folemnly argued by grave coun- 
 sellors at the bar, and the minute pieccpts ap- 
 plicable to them in the works of ingenious 
 toricians 
 
 M
 
 1 22 
 
 M. I know what you aflert to be fact. Hut 
 I think that, in this point, no his injury is done 
 to the lav. s than to king,, lor i judge it better, 
 bv the irrmediare decilion o( oner good man, to 
 
 end a luir, than to allow ingenious and iometimes 
 knaviih caiuifts the power or obfeuring rather than 
 ot explaining the law. For, while the barritters 
 cont nd not only for the cauic of their clients, bur 
 a!fo for the glory of ingenuity, difcord is in the 
 mean time cherifhed, religion and irreligion, right 
 and wrong, are cont nindcd ; and what we deny 
 to a king we giant to perions of inferiour rank, 
 lefs fludious, in general, of tiuth than of litiga- 
 tion. 
 
 B. You have forgotten, 1 fufpc t, a [>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. <t only ( ppreiied 
 
 tiie mo! t en; . nu u a 
 in " to. '. i ver v ,; feen m the wui id : { 
 
 . . ,;;:.,- . . ltv n< it cuiy o\ * a 
 
 :;:; els, he ' Diwluti iv degi aueu 
 
 1 ><. 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. <c There is a 
 Jaw, that a bhhop fhouid be the hufband of one 
 wale;" and what can be more plain or leis per- 
 plexed ? But " this one wife the pope interprets 
 to be one church," as if the law was ordained for 
 noc re pre (Ting tht lull, but the avarice of bifhops. 
 This expianatn n, however, though nothing at all 
 to the purpoie, bearing on its face the fpecious ap- 
 pearance of pioty end decorum, might pais mutter, 
 had he not vitiated tvx whole by a fecond inter- 
 pretation. Vv'nat then does this pontiff* contrive ? 
 " The interp.etation,"' lays he, " muft vary with 
 perform, cauies. p aces and times." Such is the 
 diltii guiihed nobility of lome men, that no number 
 of churches cm be fufiicient for [heir pride 
 churches again aie io mderabiy p^or, t 
 canno: afnod even to a monk, laudv a 
 r.ow a n itred prelate, an adequate lived 
 he would maintain the character and oi 
 
 knavitl 
 
 a biihop. B 
 law theie was deviled a fo 
 hdh 
 
 uiterpr 
 u,, 
 
 bo. 
 
 
 at tl 
 
 i c v 
 
 begg 
 
 " J 
 
 \oud 3 
 
 if 
 
 nicy 
 
 of 
 
 a,,. 
 
 .ation ot tne 
 
 winch thoie wiio 
 
 were called die bifhops of iingle chinches held 
 
 ethers in co mine i id am and emoveu the loons or 
 
 ..ii
 
 1 .>,, 
 
 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 
 
 <f its neighbours ! That very people, having cholen 
 
 for its head a pious and upright king, was thought 
 
 io fuddenly changed, that any violence offered to 
 
 it, in the iervice of the gods, and in the exer- 
 
 cife of juftice, was reckoned almoft impiety by 
 
 rhofe very neighbours whofe lands it had ravaged, 
 
 whole cities it had burnt, and whofe relations and 
 
 children it had dragged into flavery. Now, if in 
 
 the midft of fuch brutal manners and uncultivated 
 
 rimes, Numa Pompilius, a king lately fetched 
 
 from a hoftile nation, could effect fuch a mighty 
 
 alteration, what may we expect, or, rather, what 
 
 may we not expect, from thofe princes who have 
 
 been born and bred to the hopes of royalty, and 
 
 who receive an empire (npported by relations, by 
 
 dependents, and by ancient connexions ? How 
 
 much ought their minds to be inflamed with the 
 
 love of virtue, b\ confidcring that they may not 
 
 only hope for the praile of a ftngle clay, like actois 
 
 who have performed their part well, bun alio 
 
 prefume that they fecure the love and admiration 
 
 of their own age, and peipetual renown, and ho- 
 
 nouis nearly divine among poiieiity. i he picture 
 
 cf this honour, which i have conceived in my mind, 
 
 I v, ifb i could expreis to you in words. But that 
 
 I may, in feme meafurc, delineate to you a faint 
 
 ! KCtch,
 
 135 
 
 fketch, figure to yourfelf the brazen ferpent erected 
 by Moit-i in the defert of Aiabia, and curing folely 
 by its p.eHice the wounds inflicted by other fer- 
 penti ; conceive fome of the numerous hoft Hung 
 by rhe ferpents, and ciowding to the infallible re- 
 mcclv ; others looking aftonifhed at the novelty of 
 the unprecedented miracle ; and all with every 
 fpecies ofpraife celebrating the unbounded and in- 
 credible beneficence of God in removing the pains 
 of a dead;y wound not by medicines, with torture 
 to the patient, \\ i:h labour to the phyfician, and 
 conltant anxiety to friends, but reftoring the part 
 to a found Hate, not by the flow operation of time, 
 but in a finale moment. Now compare to this 
 ferpent a king j but fo compare him, as to reckon 
 a good king among the greatelt blelTings of God ; 
 fince he alone, without expenie, without trouble 
 to you, relieves all the diftrefTes, and quiets all 
 the commotions of the realm, and foon happily 
 cures, by conciliatory addrefs, even ancient ani- 
 mofities, and proves falutary, not only to thole 
 who behold him peribnally, but alfo to thofe who 
 are fo far aidant as not to have the leaft hope of 
 ever feeing him; and has, by his very effigy, when 
 prefented to the mind, fuch power as eafily to 
 effect what neither the learning of lawyers, nor 
 the knowledge of philofophers, nor the experience 
 of fo many ages employed in the formation of the 
 arts, was ever able to attain. In fact, what honour, 
 what dignity, what greamefs or majefty can be ex- 
 prefied or conceived iuperiour to that of the man, 
 who, by his language, his conversation, his look, 
 his name, and even by the prefenceof his image in 
 the mind, can bring back diffblnte profligates to 
 moderate expends, violent oppreffors to equitable 
 practices and furious madmen to their lober 
 fenles : This, if I miltake not, is the true picture 
 
 of
 
 157 
 
 of a king, not indeed of a king hedged round with 
 arms, always in fear-, cr caviling fear, and, from his 
 hatred of the people, rneafuring their hatred to l.im- 
 felf. This portrait, which I have jtift exhibited, has 
 been exprefied in the moil beautiful colours by 
 Seneca., in his Thyeftes ; and, as it is a very ele- 
 gant piece of poetry, it mud undoubtedly occur to 
 your recollection. Now do you think that i fliiJ 
 entertain mean and contemptible notions of a king, 
 and that, as you lately faid, I thruft him, with a 
 load of fetters, into a legal dungeon ? Have [ not 
 rather brought him forward into day-light, into the 
 communities cf men, and into the public theatre 
 of the human race, thronged, indeed, not by a 
 haughty circle of fpearmen and fwordfmen, and 
 filk-clad profligates, but guarded by his own inno- 
 cence, and protected, not by the terrour of arms, 
 but by the love of the people j and net only (:xe 
 and erect, but honoured, venerable, facred and 
 auguft, hailed by every fpecies of good omens and fe- 
 licitating acclamations, and attracting in his whole 
 prcgrefs the looks, the eyes and fouls of all fpecla- 
 torsr What ovation, what triumph, can be compared 
 to fuch a daiiy procefiion ? Were a God in human 
 fhape to drop down upon earth, what greater ho- 
 nour could be fhown him than what would be 
 paid to a genuine king, that is, to the living image 
 of God? A greater honour than this neither love 
 could bellow, nor fear extort, nor flattery invent. 
 What think you of this picture of a king ? 
 
 M. It is truly fplendid, and fo magnificent, that 
 it ieems impoITibie to conceive any thing more 
 noble. But during the corrupt morals of our 
 times, it is difficult to conceive the exigence of 
 fuch magnanimity, unlefs a happy liberality of 
 mind and natural goodnefs of dilpofition be aided 
 by the diligence of education, For the mind, if 
 
 T once
 
 us 
 
 once formed by gnod inftruftions and arts, will, 
 when confirmed by age and experience, puiiue 
 true glory through the paths of virtue, be in vain 
 tempted by the allurements of pleafure, and remain 
 unfliakcn by the aflfaults of adverle foitunc. For 
 fo much 
 
 To native power cl :-, difcipiine impart, 
 And proper culture iteel the human heart, 
 
 thru in the verv avocations of pleafure, it meets 
 with opportunities tor the exercife of virtue, and 
 confidet s the difficulties, which ufually terrify weak 
 minds, as cafual materials for the acquifition ofjuft 
 renown. Hence, as a liberal education is in every 
 point of view i.) momentous, what projective care 
 and anxious precaution ought to be ufed, that the 
 tender minds of kings may be properly leafoned 
 from their very cradle ! For, as the bieflings con- 
 ferred by good kings on their Subjects are fo nu- 
 merous, and the calamities originating with bad 
 princes are, en the other hand, equally numerous, 
 nothing appears to me to have, in every rcfpecT, 
 a great* r weight than the moral characters and po- 
 litieal uifpefi ii ns of kings thcmfelves, and of thofe 
 who <.] y with them a fhare of the lupreme power. 
 lor tie good or bad conduct of individuals ge- 
 r/ i ally c:cape.' the nonce of the multitude, or the 
 < b.cuihy of its author all. \vs the example to leach 
 but a few: but all i':<: words and deeds of thofe 
 who ci'o.l the helm of flare being written, as 
 I! ;.ce fays, in a kind of votive tablet, cannot 
 t( i ain cc i.ceal'.'d, but lie open to general imita- 
 tion. Nor is it merely by a fondneis for pleafing, 
 but bv die inviting blantiiihmcnts of inteieli, that 
 o '... '<[ r.< atta'h the minds of courtiers, ami make 
 the publick difcipiine veer with the veering i;i- 
 
 clin.
 
 139 
 
 ttinations of kings. I fear, however, that we fhall 
 not be able to prevail upon our princes to difebarge 
 thofe functions, of which you have jufl given a 
 detail. For they are fo corrupted by the allure- 
 ments of pleafure, and fo much deceived by a 
 falfe idea of honour, that I think them likely to 
 experience nearly the fame misfortune which, as 
 we are told by fome poets, befel the Trojans in 
 their voyage under Paris. Having left the real 
 Helen in &gypt with Proteus, a man of uncom- 
 mon fanctity, and indeed of a godlike character, they 
 fought during ten years for her image with fuch ob- 
 ftinacy, that the fame moment proved the end of 
 the moft deftructive of wars, and of the moft opu- 
 lent kingdom then in exiftep.ee. This falfe idol of 
 royalty, when once pofleffed by right or by wrong, 
 impotent tyrants embrace with fondnefs, and can 
 neither retain without a crime, nor reiinquifh with- 
 out ruin. If any man were to hint that the true 
 Helen, for whom they believe themfelves con- 
 tending, is concealed in fome remote and fe- 
 queftered region, they would declare him in- 
 
 idne. 
 
 B. It is with much pleafure I find that, if you 
 have not really feen the daughter of Jove, you have, 
 from my description, at lead formed fome idea of 
 her beautv. For, if thofe, who, to their own o;reat 
 detriment, are in love with the reprefentation of 
 the imaginary Helen, were to fee a perfect' like- 
 a'efs of the real one, pr.inted by fome Piotogenes 
 or Apelles, 1 doubt not but they would feel for it 
 the greateft admiration, and the moll violent 
 pafTion i and that, if they did not immediately b:d 
 adieu to the other, they would juftly incur the 
 cruel punifhment denounced againtl tyrants in the 
 imprecation ot the fatirilt Perfius 
 
 T 2 " Great
 
 ] lo 
 
 ' Great Father of the Gods, \x hen, for our crimes? 
 Thou fend' ft fome heavv judgement on tl:^ times,, 
 Snme barbarous king, the term ir of the age, 
 The type and true vicegerent of tliv rage, 
 Thus punifh him : let Virtue in his fight, 
 Gr.ic'd With each charm that can the eve invite ; 
 Eut fjt her diftant, that he thus mav fee 
 His ~aiu ' dl;'.-,vi : 'h'u bv loft felii.it v." 
 
 And, fince tyrants have been incidentally men- 
 tioned, what do vou think of proceeding dircv5t.lv 
 to the confideraticn o( them ? 
 
 M. I have no objection, if you think that no 
 oti er iubject claims a preference. 
 
 B. In my opinion we {hail not he :n the leaft 
 danger of going aftrav, if, in the iuveftigation of a 
 tyrant, we follow the Heps which we trod in our 
 iearch after a kin?. 
 
 M. That is iikevvife my opinion. For we fhall 
 moil eafily comprehend their difference, if" we 
 furvey them cent rafted. 
 
 B. And fiifr, if we begin with the name ty- 
 rant, v. e lhall rind it uncertain to what language 
 it bc'or.gs. According'^, to inquire whether its 
 etymolngv be Greek or Latin will be iuperfluous. 
 iv hat the ancients called tyranny can, 1 think, 
 be no myiieiv to ; n\ pcilbn who is a little fami- 
 iiar with polite literature. For both the (j reeks 
 an-.! Latins cail'. d thefe tyrants whole y y^.cr wa:-, 
 in everv refpect unlimited, retrained by no 1; gal 
 t t -, and i bieca; to tire cogniiance d no ju 
 ; . md there ioie, iii both la , as yon v. ell 
 
 i the i. a OKI), 
 
 ' . . . . 
 
 .1, a e dv! , and t by tnoie 
 
 - oi the .-. as w itn trie gieatelt 
 iv. , ... ne; . .' .. 
 
 M. Of
 
 141 
 
 M. Or chat I am by no means ignorant ; ami 
 therefore 1 am the more furprifed that the name 
 fhould be, for lo many ages, held odious and even 
 'highly reproachful. 
 
 B. This term has certainly met with the fate of 
 molt others ; for words, if duly confidered, will 
 be found in their own nature totally innocent. 
 Though they ftrike tlie ear, fome with a finooih, 
 ibme with a harih found, yet they have no intrin- 
 fick power of exciting in the mind. anp/er, hatred, 
 or mirth, or in any way of creating pleafure or 
 pain, it ever we experience any luch thing, k 
 ger.eially proceeds, not from the word, but nom 
 human cuttom, and trom the idea conceived in the 
 mind. Hence a word, that to fome is a mark 
 of refpect, cannot be uttered before others with- 
 out a prefatory apology. 
 
 M. I recollect that fomething of a nViiihii nature 
 has happened in the cafe of Nero and Judas ; for 
 the former of thefe names among toe Romans, 
 and the latter among the jews, we-, reckoned by 
 the higheft families eminently fplendid ami honour- 
 able. Afcerv.avds, however, through no defect inr 
 the name -, but from the fault of two individuals, it 
 happened that the moil abandoned would not give 
 them to their children ; into ib much obfeurity had 
 they fallen through infamy. 
 
 B. That tyrant (lands in the (aire predicament 
 is evident. I or that the raft magistrates, who re- 
 ceived that name, were good men, is probable 
 from this circumiiar.ee, that 'the name was tor 
 feme time io honourable, that nan applied i: 
 even to the gods. Their uccedbrs, by their 
 !es, rendered i: fo datable, that all founn t 
 it as contagious and pehilential, and deemed n 
 a lighter reproach to lee called ban :man than t, 
 rant.
 
 HO 
 
 M. Here the fame thing happened as to the 
 kings at Rome after the txpuifion or the Tarquins, 
 and to the name of dictator after the confulfhip 
 of Antony and Dolabella. 
 
 a. You perfectly comprehend the matter. On 
 the other hand again, humble and plebeian names 
 became, through the merit of the per ions to 
 whom they belonged, illuftrious, as among the 
 Romans, Camillus, Metel'.us, Scropha; and among 
 the Germans, Hcniy, Gcnierick. and Charles. 
 This observation you v, ill the more eafily under- 
 itand, if you confider that, after the name of ty- 
 rant became extinct, the Jubilance of the thing 
 remained, and this (pecies of maiiibacy full ie- 
 tained its prihine dignity amonir a. variety ot li- 
 luftricus nations, as the Jlifvmnctre among tire 
 G:eeks, and dilators among the Romans. For 
 both were legal tyiants; tyrants indeed, becauie 
 thev \v< re fi:peFiour to the Lws, and legal, becauie 
 elected bv the confent of the people. 
 
 M. \\ hat do I he 
 tyrants ? From you, 
 
 that there are even le^ral 
 lead, I expected to have 
 heard a quite different doctrine. For now you 
 ieem to confound every d.tilnction between kings 
 and tyi ants. 
 
 ij. A n long the ancients, kings and tyrants fecm 
 
 li:. 
 
 loobreuly t" have conveyed Ju- lame i 
 
 lea, but, 
 
 i ( 
 
 oiiceive, a; dale-rent pm >:.- >.; 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 <cl iri'm :r : ;n.;y rn.' it pmm m if ]udice, and 
 : rapine tne ptahe of l;i er.h a; and vet never 
 . me. tlie '!;:.' >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 '. ; '. \ :<c;i olai) feveritv. And, 
 
 fince it w; ;. !.; o * : iterate individual*, 
 
 a fe-.v i.n'.y oi a . e, an i Ihll d rib in tl c 
 ti< n'o ; '.eirr m , ma i b<- U ritioned. The 
 
 n u< :ii r ' i Jan . > me 1 lift, . . behind him 
 
 ii :< . . ' .:.'..:.(:: .', v i Id im xorably re- 
 
 !:. .m: from 
 
 : : :-,-, v. ere deftmved bv 
 
 ' : 
 
 ' . '. . 1 , ,'i 
 
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 :, I' n, Jan . :rt!i, 
 
 ' , .:.--: .me the 
 
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 i'jei r\i,;; . .. . ..m. i . ; C" . r 
 
 c 
 
 V 
 
 
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 )
 
 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 <j halters of all kingdoms originate. 
 
 M, Such mull neceifariiy be the refulr. 
 
 B. Here, perhaps, I have entered into a mi- 
 nuter inveitigation than the fubject required; but 
 my defign was to elucidate, more completely, the 
 limits of renal power among us in ancient times. 
 For, if I had mlifled upon the full extent of my 
 legal claims. I ought have taken a much fhorter 
 road to the object of my purluit. 
 
 M. Though you have nearly fatisfled me already.. 
 yet i ihah be glad to hear you explain the nature of 
 this compendious road. 
 
 B. Fii It, then, 1 wifn you to anfvver, whether you 
 approve of the derinition of a law given by lawyers, 
 when they fay that a law is a decree made by tire 
 people, ar the inftance of the legal magitlrare. 
 
 IvL. Undoubtedly it has my approbation. 
 
 ... It was alio afcertained that, when laws were 
 found to be defective, they might, by the lame 
 .cghiators, be either amended or repealed. 
 
 M. It was fo. 
 
 B. You lee befidcs, I fuppofe, that the perfons, 
 
 become our kings by birth, become lo both 
 
 by the laws and by the fun rages of the people, no
 
 160 
 
 u-(s than thofe conftituted fuch originally by eleo 
 ticn; and that the people, who made the laws, 
 will not be in want of remedies, not only againft 
 violence and fraud, but alio againft neglect in ac- 
 knowledging the acceptance of them. 
 M. I fee it clearly. 
 
 B. There is only this difference, that the law 
 relative to our kings was pafled fome ages ago; 
 and that, when a new reign commences, it is not 
 ufual to make a new law, but to approve the old. 
 But among nations who hold affemblies for the 
 election of their feveral kings fuccefiively, the fame 
 time ufually ferves for palling the law, for making 
 and approving the king, and for the commence- 
 ment of the reign. 
 M. It is fo. 
 
 B. Now, if you pleale, let us brieflv collect 
 the fubftance of what has been afcertained ; that, 
 if we have any- v. here been too rafh in our cenciu- 
 fions, there may be room for recantation. 
 M. With ali my heart. 
 
 B. Firft of all, it was our opinion that a king is 
 created for the benefit of the people, and that 
 nothing derived from heaven can be a greater 
 bleffing than a good, or a greater curfe than a 
 bad kin^. 
 M. Right. 
 
 B. We alfo faid that a bad king is called a 
 tyrant. 
 
 M. We did fo. 
 
 B. And, becaufe the crop of good men is not 
 fo abundant as to fupply us conftantly with a fuo 
 ccfTion o( worthy perions for our feieiftion, or he- 
 reditary liyht fo fortunate in its line of fucceffion 
 as to furnilh us always, by accident, with a feriesof 
 good princes, we accept, as kings, not fuch as we 
 could with, but fuch as either publick confent has 
 
 fan&joned.
 
 161 
 
 fanctioned, or chance offered. The hazard, how- 
 ever, incurred either in electing new dynafties, or 
 in approving the cafual claimants by hereditary- 
 right, occafioned a general wifh for laws that 
 fhould limit the extent of regal power. Now 
 thefe laws ought to be nothing elie but the ex- 
 prefs image, as far as it can be attained, of a good 
 king. 
 
 M. That deduction alfo we acknowledged to be 
 legitimate. 
 
 B. What now remains to be difcufTed is the pu- 
 nifhment due to tyrants. 
 
 M. That feems the only topick not yet tho- 
 roughly examined. 
 
 B. If a king then fhould break through every 
 reftraint of law, and behave abfolutely as a publick 
 enemy, what conduct ought, in your opinion, to 
 be adopted ? 
 
 M. Here I own myfelf at a nonplus. For, 
 though the arguments advanced by you feem to 
 evince that we cannot have any natural connexion 
 with fuch a king, yet the power of long habit is 
 fo great, that with me it has the force of law ; 
 and, indeed, it takes fuch deep and firm root in 
 the minds of men, that, if it mould ever be pro- 
 ductive of errour, it is better to bear it, than, by 
 endeavouring to cure the difeafe, to endanger the 
 conftitution of the whole body. For fuch is the 
 nature of fome remedies, that it is more eligible 
 to bear the pain which they occafion, than to 
 fearch for doubtful remedies, in the trial of which, 
 though every thing mould ultimately fucceed, the 
 pains refulting from their application are fo acute, 
 that the difeafe itfclf is lefs pernicious than its cure. 
 In the next place, what has ftiil more weight 
 with me is, that I ice what you call tyranny fanc- 
 tioned by the oracle of God ; and what you exe- 
 
 Y crate
 
 162 
 
 crate as the ruin of law, called, by the Deity, the 
 law of the realm. My judgment is more decifively 
 fwayed by that (ingle paiTage, than by all the ar- 
 guments of ail the philofophers. If you do not 
 extricate me from this dilemma, no human rea- 
 ibning can, with ail its fubtilty, prevent me from 
 deferring, at once, to the enemy. 
 
 B. \ ou are involved, I fee, in a common, but 
 enormous, cloud of errour, by endeavouring to 
 fanction tyranny by tyranny. For how gre.it the 
 tyranny of cuftom is, when it has once got thorough 
 hold of the human mind, we have too often expe- 
 rienced in the prefent age, and learned iufficiently 
 from ancient examples in the father of hiftorVj 1 le- 
 rodocu.1. But ancient examples 1 need not pro- 
 duce, i\nce the authors are open lor your infpeclion. 
 Confider in your own mind what multitudes of 
 tilings, and thofe not unimportant, there are, in 
 which the fuggeftions of reafon have made you de- 
 viate from cuitoms that age:, had rendered invete- 
 rate; and you will be loon taught by domeltiek 
 examples, that, of all others, the highway, which is 
 here lb muchrecommer.de , i: she ii: ft dangerous 
 
 to 
 
 follow. 
 
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 '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<r., in confequence, indulged with 
 impunity for every crime, nor raifed fo high as not 
 to be amenable to the laws. On this companion 
 1 fhall dwell no longer, left the fycophants of the 
 court fhould cry out that i fpeak with too little 
 reverence or die fupremc magistrate. But, let 
 their outcries be ever fo loud, certainly they will 
 never be able to deny that the function of the exe- 
 cutioner is a part of publick, and perhaps alfo of 
 kingly duty, even by the confeflion of kings them- 
 felves; fince, when violence is offered to any 
 pub ick mi miter, they complain that their own 
 peribn and majefty a;e violated. Now, if any 
 thing can, certainly the punifhment of the wicked 
 muft, constitute a part of the king's executive duty. 
 In what predicament (land the governors of cities, 
 the commandants of camps, the mayors of corpo- 
 rations, and other fuperiour o-ncers ? Does Paul 
 order us to be obedient alfo to them ? or dues 
 he hold them private perfons r But not only all 
 inferiour.magiitrates, but even thofc win) a;e upon 
 
 an
 
 1(S 
 
 an equality with kings, it is cuftomary to call to an 
 account for mal-adminiftration. I could wifh, there- 
 tore, that thofe who dream of this mighty power 
 conferred on kings by Paul's words would either 
 ihow, from the Lime Paul, than kings alone are to 
 be underiiood in the name powers-) and therefore to 
 be alone exempted from legal animadvei lion , or, 
 if the word po-ivers means alio other magi Urates 
 appointed by the authority of the fame God for 
 the fame purpofe, that they would alio fhow 
 where all magiftrates are pronounced to be inde- 
 pendent of law. and releafcd from the fear of pu- 
 nilhment ; or, where that immunity has been 
 granted onlv to kings, and denied to others in veiled 
 with publick authority. 
 
 y . But to the higher powers he commands all 
 to be obedient. 
 
 B. I fe does fo ; but under the name of powers 
 lie mutt nccefTariiv comprehend other magillrates 
 alio, u.iiefs you fhould, perhaps, imagine that he 
 thought Hulls not under a regal government 10 be 
 without powers, and therefore mere anarchies. 
 
 M. That is not my belief, nor is the thing 
 likely j and I am the moie fteadfaftly of this 
 opinion, that your interpretation of this paiTage 
 is confirmed by the agreement of all the more 
 learned commentators, who think Paul's differ- 
 tation here intended againft thofe that contended 
 for a total exemption horn the control of all laws 
 and magiftrates. 
 
 />'. 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 <ou would infill l ill more 
 if you had remarked what a complicated animal 
 man is, and of what various monllers he is com- 
 pofed. This truth the ancient poets dilceined 
 with great acutenefs, and excelled with no leis 
 elegance, when they record that, in the formation 
 of man, Prometheus borrowed from the ieveial 
 animals ccitain particles with which he conliituted 
 his mingled frame. To recount tne n.itures of all 
 lcparately would be endiefs ; but, undvaibiAclly, 
 tiiere appear evidently in man two aoominaole 
 moni^eis, anger and hill. And what on is the 
 < Lt, or the object of laws, u .t to reuu.i tnele 
 m :ihe;s obedient to ical n, and to c ;.. : :.e them, 
 while not obedient, by the power ol n.o. ; um- 
 dace-n I fe, therefore, who releaies eith.'i a king, 
 or any other man, from the ihackles of law, re- 
 leaies not onlv a fingle man, bu: fets loole againlt 
 reafn two of the moll cruel monu.cr>, 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<otes t 
 
 and is for arc. 
 Q5, line 33, expunge who, and place it before cannot 
 
 in line 34. 
 112, line 21, read empoifonmeni for imprifonmcnt.
 
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