Ex Libris 
 C. K. OGDEN

 
 
 LETTERS 
 
 O N T H E 
 
 STUDY and USE 
 
 . 
 
 HISTORY. 
 
 By the late RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 HENRY ST. JOHN, 
 LORD VISCOUNT BOLINGBROKE. 
 
 A NEW EDITION, Corneded. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR T. CAIVELL, IN THE STRAND. 
 u,ncc,Lxxix.

 
 Annex 
 
 V 
 
 THE 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 OF the Jtudy cf hijiory. Page 3 
 
 JL-BTTZR II. 
 
 Concerning the true ufe and ad-vantages 
 of it. p. 1 1 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 i . An objection again fl the utility of hijiory 
 removed. 2. The falfe and true aims 
 of thofe who ftudy it. 3. Of the kiftcry 
 of the firft ages, with reflections on the 
 ftate of ancient hijiory, profane and 
 j'acred p. 43 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 i . That there is in hiftory fufficient authenti- 
 city to render it ufeful, notwith (landing all 
 objections to the contrary* 2. Of the 
 method and due reftriffions to be obferved 
 in the Jtudy of it. p. 95 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 i . The great ufe of hi ft cry ^ properly fo called, 
 as diftinguijhed from the writings of mere 
 annalijts and antiquaries. 2. Greek and 
 Roman hiftorians. 3. Some idea of a com- 
 plete hijiory. 4. Further cautions to be 
 obferved in ibis jludy, and the regulation 
 of it according to the different profeffwns* 
 A and
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 and filiations of men: above all, the ufe 
 to be made of it (i) by divines, and (2) 
 by thofe who are called to the Jervice of 
 their country. p. 119 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 From ivbat period modern hiftory is peculiarly 
 ufeful to the fervice of our country, viz* 
 From the end of the fifteenth century to 
 the prefent. The divifion of this into 
 three particular periods; in order to a 
 Jketch of the hijlory and Jlate of Europe 
 from that time. p. 159 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 A (ketch of the Jlate and hijlory of Europe 
 from the Pyrenean treaty, in one thoufand 
 fix hundred and fifty nine, to the year one 
 tbcuf and fix bundredand eighty -eight, p. 197 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 'The fame fubjeft continued from the year cne 
 thoufand fix hundred and eighty eight, p. 255 
 
 LETTER I. 
 A plan for a general hijlory of Europe, p. 39 1 
 
 LETTER II. 
 Of the true ufe of retirement andjludy. p. 40 1 
 
 Reflections upon Exile. p. 433
 
 OF THE 
 
 STUDY of Hi STORY. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 Chantelou in Touraine, Nov. 6, 1735* 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 I HAVE confidered formerly, with a 
 good deal of attention, the fubjec"l on 
 which you command me to communicate 
 my thoughts to you: and I pra<5lifed in 
 thofe days, as much as bufmels and plea- 
 fure allowed me time to do, the rules that 
 feemed to me neceflary to be obferved in 
 the ftudy of hiftory. They were very dif- 
 ferent from thofe which writers on the fame 
 fubject have recommended, and which are 
 commonly pracYifed. But I confefs to your 
 lordlhip, that this neither gave me then, nor 
 has given me fmce, any diftruft of them. 
 I do not affect fingi:larity. On the con- 
 trary, 1 think that a due deference is to be 
 paid to received opinion?, and that a due 
 A 2 com-
 
 4 LETTER I. 
 
 compliance with received cuftoms is to be 
 held; though both the one and the other 
 fhould be, what they often are, abfurd or ri- 
 diculous. But this fervitudeis outward only, 
 and abridges in no fort the liberty of pri- 
 vate judgment. The obligations of lub- 
 mitting to it likewife, even, outwardly, ex- 
 tend no further, than to thofe opinions and 
 cuftoms which cannot be oppofedj or from 
 which we 1 cannot deviate without doing 
 hurt, or giving offence, to fociety. In all 
 thefe cafes, our fpeculations ought to be 
 free: in all other caies, our practice may be 
 fo. Without any regard therefore to the 
 opinion and practice even of the learned 
 world, I am very willing to tell you mine. 
 But, as it is hard to recover a thread of 
 thought long ago laid afide, and impofiible 
 to prove fome things, and explain others, 
 without theafiiftanceof many books which 
 I have not here; your lordfliip muft be con- 
 tent with fuch an imperfect fketch, as I am 
 able to fend you at prefent in this letter. 
 
 THE motives that carry men to the ftudy 
 of hiftory are different. Some intend, if 
 fuch as they may be faid to ftudy, nothing 
 more than amufement, and read the life of 
 ARISTIDES or PHOCION, of EPAMINONDAS 
 or SCIPIO, ALEXANDER or CAESAR, juft as 
 
 they
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 5 
 
 they play a game at cards, or as they would 
 read the ftory of the feven champions. 
 
 OTHERS there are, whofe motive to this 
 fludy is nothing better, and who have the 
 further difad vantage of becoming a nuifance 
 very often to fociety, in proportion to the 
 progrefs they make. The former do not 
 improve their reading to any good purpofe: 
 the latter pervert it to a very bad one, and 
 grow in impertinence as they encreafe in 
 learning. I think I have known moft of 
 the firft kind in England, and mod of the 
 laft in France. The perfons I mean are 
 thofe who read to talk, to mine in converfa- 
 tion, and to impofein company; who hav- 
 ing few ideas to vend of their own growth, 
 flore their minds with crude unruminated 
 facts and fentences ; and hope to fupply, by 
 bare memory, the want of imagination 
 and judgment. 
 
 BUT thefe are in the two lo veft forms.' 
 The next I (hall mention, are in one a little 
 higher; in the form of thofe who grow nei- 
 ther wifer nor better by ftudy themfelves, 
 but who enable others to ftudy with greater 
 eafe, and to purpofes more ufeful; who 
 make fair copies of foul manufcripts, give 
 the fignification of hard words, and take a 
 A 3 great
 
 6 LETTER!. 
 
 deal of other grammatical pains. The obli- 
 gation to thefe men would be great indeed, 
 if they were in general able to do anything 
 better, and fubmitted to this drudgery for 
 the fake of the public ; as fome of them, it 
 muft be owned with gratitude, have done, 
 but not later, I think, than about the time 
 of the refurrection of letters. When works 
 of importance are prefiing, generals them- 
 fclves may take up the pick-axe and the 
 fpade-, but in the ordinary courfe of things, 
 when that preffing necefiity is over, fuch 
 tools are left in the hands deflined to ufe 
 them, the hands of common foldiers and 
 peafants. 1 approve therefore very much 
 the devotion of a ftudious man at Chrift- 
 Church, who was over-heard in his oratory 
 entering into a detail with GOD, as devout 
 perfons are apt to do, and, amongft other 
 particular thankfgivings, acknowledging the 
 divine goodnefs in furnifhing the world 
 with makers of Dictionaries! thefe men 
 court fame, as well as their betters, by fuch 
 means as GOD has given them to acquire 
 it: and LITTLETON exerted all the genius 
 ^ie had, when he made a dictionary, though 
 STEPHENS did not. They deferve encou- 
 ragement, however, whilft they continue 
 to compile, and neither affect wit, nor pre- 
 fume to reafon. 
 
 THERE
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 7 
 
 THERE is a fourth clafs, of much lefs 
 ufe than thefe, but of much greater name. 
 Men of the firft rank in learning, and to 
 whom the whole tribe of fcholars bow with 
 reverence. A man muft be as indifferent 
 as I am to common cenfure or approbation, 
 to avow a thorough contempt for the whole 
 bufinefs of thefe learned lives; for all the 
 refearches into antiquity, for all the fyftems 
 of chronology and hiftory, that we owe to 
 the immenfe labours of a SCALIGER, a 
 BOCHART, a PETAVIUS, an USHER, and 
 even a MARSHAM. The fame materials 
 are common to them all; but thefe mate- 
 rials are few, and there is a moral impof- 
 fibility that they mould ever have more. 
 They have combined thefe into every form 
 that can be given to them: they have fup- 
 pofed, they have guefled, they have join- 
 ed disjointed paffnges of different authors, 
 and broken traditions of uncertain origi- 
 nals, of various people, and of centuries 
 remote from one another as well as from 
 ours. In fhort, that they might leave no 
 liberty untaken, even a wild fantaftical fi- 
 militude of founds has ferved to prop up a 
 fyftem. As the materials they have are 
 few, Co are the very beft, and fuch as pafs for 
 authentic, extremely precarious : as fome 
 of thefe learned perfons themfclves confefs. 
 A 4 JULIUS
 
 8 L E T T E R I. 
 
 JULIUS AFRICANUS, EUSEBIUS, and 
 GEORGE the monk opened the principal 
 fources of all this fcience; but they cor- 
 rupted the waters. Their point of view 
 was to make prophane hiftory and chrono- 
 logy agree with facred; though the latter 
 chronology is very far from being eftablifh- 
 ed. with the clearnefs and certainty necef- 
 fary to make it a rule. For this purpofe, 
 the ancient monuments that thefe writers 
 conveyed to pofterity, were digefted by 
 them according to the fyftem they were to 
 maintain : and none of thefe monuments 
 were delivered down in their original form, 
 and genuine purity. The Dynafties of 
 MANETHO, for inftance, are broken to pie- 
 ces by EUSEBIUS, and fuch fragments of 
 them as fuited his defign, are (truck into 
 his work. We have, ve know, no more 
 of them. The Codex Alexandrinus we 
 owe to GEORGE the monk. We have no 
 other authority for it : and one cannot fee 
 without amazement fuch a man as Sir 
 JOHN MARSHAM undervaluing this autho- 
 rity in one page, and building his fyftem 
 upon it in the next. He feems even by 
 the lightnefs of his expreffions, if I remem- 
 ber well, for it is long fince I looked into 
 his canon, not to be much concerned what 
 foundation his fyftem had, fo he (hewed 
 
 his
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 9 
 
 his (kill in forming one, and in reducing 
 the immenfe antiquity of the ./Egyptians 
 within the limits of the Hebraic calcula- 
 tion. In fhort, my lord, all thefe fyftems 
 are fo many enchanted caftles; they appear 
 to be fomething, they are nothing but 
 appearances: like them too, diflblve the 
 charm, and they vanifti from the fight. 
 To diflblve the charm, we muft begin at 
 the beginning of them: the expreflion may 
 be odd, but it is fignificant. We muft 
 examine fcrupuloufly and indifferently the 
 foundations on which they lean: and when 
 we find thefe either faintly probable, or 
 grofly improbable, it would be foolifh to 
 expect any thing better in the fuperftruc- 
 ture. This fcience is one of thofe that 
 are " a limine falutandas." To do thus 
 much may be neceffary, that grave autho- 
 rity may not impofe on our ignorance : to 
 do more would be to aflill this very au- 
 thority in impofing falle fcience upon 
 us. I had rather take the DARIUS whom 
 ALEXANDER conquered, for the fon of 
 HYSTASPES, and make as many anachro- 
 nifms as a Jewifh chronologer, than facri- 
 fice half my life to collect all the learned 
 lumber that fills the head of an antiquary. 
 
 O F
 
 [ II .1 
 
 OF THE 
 
 STUDY of HISTORY, 
 
 * 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Concerning the true ufe and advantages 
 of it. 
 
 LET me fay fomething of hiftory in 
 general, before I deicend into the 
 confideration of particular parts of it, or 
 of the various methods of ftudy, or of the 
 different views of thofe that apply them- 
 felves to it, as I had begun to do in my 
 former letter. 
 
 THE love of hiftory fe.ems infeparable 
 from human nature becaufe it feems infe- 
 parable from felf-love. The fame principle 
 in this inftance carries us forward and back- 
 ward, to future and to paft ages. We 
 imagine that the things, which affect us, 
 muft arTecl pofterity : this fentiment runs 
 through mankind, from CAESAR down to 
 
 the
 
 12 L E T T E R II. 
 
 the parifti clerk in POPE'S mifcellany. We 
 are fond of preferving, as far as it is in 
 our frail power, the memory of our own 
 adventures, of thofe of our own time, and 
 of thofe that preceded it. Rude heaps of 
 ftones have been raifed, and ruder hymns 
 have been compofed, for this purpofe, by 
 nations who had not yet the ufe of arts 
 and letters. To go no further back, the 
 triumphs of ODIN were celebrated in runic 
 fongs, and the feats of our Britifh ancef- 
 tors were recorded in thofe of their bards. 
 The favages of America have the fame 
 cuftom at this day: and long hiftorical bal- 
 lads of their huntings and their wars are 
 fung at all their feftivals. There is no 
 need of faying how this paflion grows, 
 among civilized nations, in proportion to 
 the means of gratifying it : but let us ob- 
 ferve that the fame principle of nature di- 
 rects us as ftrongly, and more generally 
 as well as more early, to indulge our own 
 curiofity, inftead of preparing to gratify 
 that of others. The child hearkens with 
 delight to the tales of his nurfe : he Jearns 
 to read, and he devours with eagernefs fa- 
 bulous legends and novels : in riper years 
 he applies himfelf to hiftory, or to that 
 which he takes for hiftory, to authorized 
 romance: and, even in age, the de- 
 fire
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 13 
 
 fire of knowing what has happened to 
 other men, yields to the defire alone of 
 relating what has happened to ourfelves* 
 Thus hiftgry, true or falfe, fpeaks to our 
 paflions always. What pity is it, my lord, 
 that even the bed mould fpeak to our 
 underftandings fo feldom ? That it does fo, 
 we have none to blame but ourfelves. 
 Nature has done her part. She has open- 
 ed this ftudy to every man who can read 
 and think: and what (he has made the 
 moft agreeable, reafon can make the mofl 
 ufeful, application of our minds. But if 
 we confult our reafon, we (hall be far from 
 following the examples of our fellow- 
 creatures, in this as in moft other cafes, 
 who are fo proud of being rational. We 
 {hall neither read to foothe our indolence, 
 nor to gratify our vanity: as little fhall we 
 content ourielves to drudge like gramma- 
 rians and critics, that others may be able 
 to ftudy with greater eafe and profit, like 
 philofophers and ftatefmen : as little fhall 
 we affect the (lender merit of becoming 
 great fcholars at the expence of groping all 
 our lives in the dark mazes of antiquity. 
 All thefe miftake the true drift of ftudy, 
 and the true ufe of hiftory. Nature gave 
 us curiofity to excite the iriduftry of our 
 rninds; but fhe never intended it mould be 
 
 made
 
 14 L E T T E R II. 
 
 made the principal, much lefs the fole ob- 
 ject of their application. The true and 
 proper object of this application is a con- 
 ftant improvement in private and in public 
 virtue. An application to any ftudy, 
 that tends neither directly nor indirectly to 
 make us better men and better citizens, is 
 at bed but a fpecious and ingenious fort 
 of idlenefs, to ufe an exprefiion of TIL- 
 LOTSON: and the knowledge we acquire 
 by it is a creditable kind of ignorance, 
 nothing more. This creditable kind of 
 ignorance is, in my opinion, the whole 
 benefit which the generality of men, even 
 of the mod learned, reap from the ftudy of 
 hiftory: and yet the ftudy of hiftory feems 
 to me, of all other, the moft proper to train 
 us up to private and public virtue. 
 
 YOUR lordfhip may very well be ready 
 by this time, and after lo much bold cen- 
 fure on my part, to aflc me, what then is 
 the true ufe of hiftory? in what refpects it 
 may ferve to make us better and wifer? 
 and what method is to be purlued in the 
 ftudy of it, for attaining thefe great ends? 
 I will anfwer you by quoting what I have 
 read fomewhere or other, in DIONYSIUS 
 HALICARN, I think, that hiftory is philo- 
 fophy teaching by examples. We need but 
 
 to
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 15 
 
 to caft our eyes on the world, and we (hall 
 fee the daily force of example : we need 
 but to turn them inward, and we fhall 
 loon difcov.er why example has this force. 
 '* Pauci prudentia, fays TACITUS, " ho 
 " nefta ab dcterioribus, utilia ab noxiis 
 "difcernunt: plures aliorum evenris do- 
 centur." Such is the im per feel: ion of 
 human underftanding, fuch the frail tem- 
 per of our minds, that abftract or general 
 propofitions, though ever fo true, appear ob- 
 igjre or doubtful to us very often, till they 
 are explained by examples, and that the 
 wifell leffons in favour of virtue go but a 
 little way to convince the judgment, and 
 determine the will, unlefs they are enforced 
 by the fame means ; and we are obliged to 
 apply to ourfelves what we fee happen to 
 other men. Inftrudbions by precept have the 
 further difad vantage of coming ontheautho- 
 rity of others, and frequently require a long 
 deduction of reafoning. " Homines amplius 
 " oculis, quam auribus, credunt: longum 
 " iter eft per praecepta, breve et efficax 
 " per exempla." The reafonof this judg- 
 ment, which I quote from one of SENECA'S 
 epiftles in confirmation of my own opinion, 
 refts, I think, on this; that when examples 
 are pointed out to us, there is a kind of ap- 
 peal, with which we are flattered, made to 
 
 our
 
 16 L E T T R II. 
 
 our fenfes, as well as to our underftandings. 
 The inltru&ion comes then upon our own 
 authority ; we frame the precept after our 
 own experience, and yield to fad: when we 
 refill fpeculation. But this is not the only 
 advantage of inftru&ion by example; for 
 example appeals not -to our underftanding 
 alone, but toour paflions likewife. Exam- 
 ple aflwages thefe, or animates them ; fets 
 paffion on the fide of judgment, and makes 
 the whole man of a piece ; which is more 
 than the ftrongeft reafoning, and the cleared 
 demonftration can do : and thus forming 
 habits by repetition, example fecures the 
 obfervance of thofe precepts which example 
 infinuated. Is it not PLINY, my lord, 
 who fays, that the gentleft, he fhould have 
 added, the moft <?rTe(5Hial way of command- 
 ing, is by example? " Mitius jubeturex- 
 " emplo." The harmeft orders are foft- 
 ened by example, and tyranny itfelf be- 
 comes perfuafive. What pity it is that 
 fo few princes have learned this way of 
 commanding? But again: the force of 
 examples is not confined to thofe alone, 
 that pafs immediately vmder our fight : 
 the examples, that memory fuggefts, have 
 the fame effed in their degree, and an 
 habit of recalling them will fbon produce 
 the habit of imitating them, {n the fame 
 
 epiftle
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 17 
 
 epiftle, from whence I cited a pafiage juft 
 how, SENECA fays that CLEANTHES had ne- 
 ver become fo perfect a copy of ZENO, if 
 he had not paffed his Life with him ; that 
 PLATO, ARISTOTLE, and the other philo- 
 fophers of that fcliool, profited more by 
 the example, than by the difcourfe of SO- 
 CRATES. [But here, by the way, SENECA 
 miftook ; for SOCRATES died two years, ac- 
 cording to (bme, and four years, according 
 toothers, before the birth of ARISTOTLE: 
 and his miftake might come from the in- 
 accuracy of thofe who collected for him ; 
 as ERASMUS obferves, after QUINTILIAN, 
 in his judgment on SENECA.] But be this, 
 which was fcarce worth a parenthefis, as 
 it will ; he adds that METRODORUS, HER- 
 MACHUS and POLYAENUS, men of great 
 note, were formed by living under the fame 
 roof with EPICURUS, not by frequenting 
 his fchool. Thefe are inftances of the 
 force of immediate example. But your 
 lordmip knows that the citizens of Rome 
 placed the images of their anceftors in the 
 vftlibules of their houfesj fo that, when- 
 ever they went in or out, thefe venerable 
 buftos met their eyes, and recallfd the 
 glorious actions of the dead, to fire the liv- 
 ing, to excite them to imitate, and even to 
 emulate their great fcrefaiheis. The fuc- 
 B eels
 
 18 L E T T E R II. 
 
 cefs anfwered the defign. The virtue of 
 one generation was transfufed, by the ma- 
 gic of example, into feveral : and a fpirit 
 of heroifm was maintained through many 
 ages of that common-wealth. Now thefe 
 are fo many inftances of the force of re- 
 mote example ; and from all thefe inftances 
 we may conclude, that examples of both 
 kinds are neceflary. 
 
 The fchool of example, my lord, is the 
 world : and the mafters of this fchool are 
 hiflory and experience. I am far from con- 
 tending that the former is preferable to the 
 latter. I think upon the whole otherwile: 
 but this I fay, that the former is abfolutely 
 neceflary to prepare us for the latter, and 
 to accompany us whilft we are under the 
 difcipline of the latter, that is, through 
 the whole courle of our lives. No doubc 
 iome few men may be quoted, to whom 
 nature gave what art and induftry can give 
 to no man. But fuch examples will prove 
 nothing againft me, becaufe 1 admit that 
 the ftudy of hiftory, without experience, is 
 infufficient , but afTerr, that experience it- 
 felf is fo without genius. Genius is preferable 
 to the other two ; but I would wi(h to find 
 the three together: for how great ioever a 
 genius may be, and how much foever he 
 
 may
 
 6f the SftfDY of HISTORY. 19 
 
 may acquire new light and heat, as he pro- 
 ceeds in his rapid courfe, certain it is that 
 he will never (Line with the full luftre^ nor 
 (lied the full influence he is capable bfj 
 unlefs to his own experience he adds the 
 experience of other men and other ages. 
 Genius, without the improvement, at leaft, 
 of experience, is what comets once were 
 thought to be, a blazing meteor, irregular in 
 his courfe, arid dangerous in his approach; 
 of no ufe to any fyftem, and able to de- 
 ftroy any. Merefons of earth, if they have 
 experience without any knowledge of the 
 hiftory of the world, are but half fcholars 
 in the fcience of mankind. And if they 
 are converfant in hiftory without expe- 
 rience, they are worfe than ignorant-, they 
 are pedants, always incapable, fometimes 
 meddling and preluming. The man, who 
 has all three* is an honour to his country, 
 and a public blefling: and fuch, I truft, 
 your lordmip will be in this century, as your 
 great-grand-father* was in thelaft. 
 
 I have infifted a little the longer on this 
 head, and have made thefe diftinftions 
 the rather, becaule tho' I attribute a great 
 deal more, than many will be ready to al- 
 
 * Earl of CLARENDON. 
 
 B 2 low,
 
 20 L E T T E R It 
 
 low, to the ftudy of hiftory-, yet I woufe! 
 not willingly even feem to fall into the ri- 
 dicule of afcribing to it fuch extravagant 
 trTedts, as feveral have done, from TULLY 
 down to CASAUBON, LA MOTHE LE VAYER, 
 and other modern pedants. When TULLY 
 informs us, in the fecond book of his 
 Tnfculan difputations, that the firft SCIPIO 
 AFRICANUS had always in his hands the 
 works of XENOPHON, he advances nothing 
 but what is probable and reafonable. To 
 fay nothing of the retreat of the ten 
 thoufand, nor of other parts of XENOPHON'S 
 writings; the images of virtue, reprefented 
 in that admirable picture the Cyropaedia, 
 were proper to entertain a foul that was 
 fraught with virtue, and CYRUS was wor- 
 thy to be imitated by SCIPIO. So SELIM 
 emulated C^SAR, whofe Commentaries 
 were tranflated for his ufe againft the cuf- 
 toms of the Turks : fo C^SAR emulated 
 ALEXANDER-, and ALEXANDER, ACHILLES. 
 There is nothing ridiculous here, except 
 the ufe that is made of this pafiage by thofe 
 who quote it. But what the fame TULLY 
 fays, in the fourth book of his academical 
 disputations, concerning LUCULLUS, items 
 to me very extraordinary. " In Afiam fac- 
 " tus imperator venit; cum efTet Roma 
 ** profeftus rci militaris rudis;" [one would 
 
 be
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 21 
 
 be ready to afcribe fo fudden a change, and 
 fo vaft an improvement, to nothing lefs 
 than knowledge infufed by infpiration, if 
 we were not allured in the fame place that 
 they were effected by very natural means, by 
 fuch as it is in every man's power to em- 
 ploy] " partim percontando a peritis par- 
 '.' tim in rebus geftis legendis." LUCUL- 
 LUS, according to this account, verified the 
 reproach on "the Roman nobility, which 
 SALLUST puts into the mouth of MARIUS. 
 But as I dilcover the paflion of MARIUS, 
 and his prejudices to the patricians, in one 
 ca!e , fo I difcover, methinks, the cunning 
 of TULLY, and his partiality to himfelf, in 
 the other. LUCULLUS, after he had been 
 chofen conful, obtained by intrigue the go- 
 vernment of Cilicia, and fo put himfelf into 
 a fituation of commanding the Roman army 
 againft MITHRIDATES : TULLY had the fame 
 government afterwards, and tho' he had no 
 MITHRIDATES, nor any other enemy of 
 confequence, oppofed to him , tho' all his 
 military feats confifted in furprizing and 
 pillaging a parcel of Highlanders and wild 
 Cilicians; yet he afiumed the airs of a con- 
 queror, and delcnbed his adions in io 
 pompous a ftile, that the account becomes 
 burlefque. He laughs, indeed, in one of 
 his letters to ATTICUS, at his generalfhip: 
 B 3 but
 
 22 L E T T E R II. 
 
 but if we turn to thofe he writ to COELIUS 
 RITFUS, and to CATO, upon this occafion, or 
 to thole wherein he cxpreffes to ATTICUS 
 his rcfentment againft CATO, for not pro- 
 pofmg in his favour the honours ufually de- 
 creed to conquerors, we may fee how vanity 
 turned his head, and how impudently he 
 infifted on obtaining a triumph. Is it 
 any drain now to fuppofe, that he meant 
 to infinuate, in the pafTage I have quoted 
 about LUCULUJS, that the difference between 
 him and the former governor of CJLICIA, 
 even in military merit, arofe from the dif- 
 ferent conjuncture alone ; and that Lu- 
 CULLUS could not have done in Cilicia, at 
 that time, -more than he himfelf did? CI- 
 CERO had read, and queftioned at leaft as 
 much as LUCULLUS, and would therefore 
 have appeared as great a captain, if he had 
 had as great a prince as MJTHRIDATES to 
 encounter. But the truth is, that LUCUL- 
 LUS was made a great captain by theory, or 
 the ftudy of hiftory alone, no more than 
 FERDINAND of Spain and ALPHONSUS of 
 Naples were cured of defperate diltempers 
 t>y reading LIVY and QUINTUS CURTIUS : a 
 filly tale, which BODIN, AMYOT, and others 
 have picked up and propagated. LUCUL* 
 j,us had ferved in his youih againft the 
 jylarfj, probably in other wars ? and SYLLA
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 23 
 
 took early notice of him ; he went into the 
 eaft with this general, and had a great (hare 
 in his confidence. He commanded in fe- 
 veral expeditions. It was he who reftored 
 the Colophonians to their liberty, and who 
 punilhed the revolt of the people of Myte- 
 iene. Thus we fee that LUCULLUS was 
 formed by experience, as well as ftudy, and 
 by an experience gained in thofe very coun- 
 tries, where he gathered fo many laurels 
 afterwards, in fighting againft the fame ene- 
 my. The late duke of MARYBOROUGH 
 never read XENOPHON, moft certainly, nor 
 the relation pt-rhaps of any modern wars; 
 but he ferved in his youth under Monfieur 
 de TURENNE, and. I have heard that he 
 was taken notice of in thole early days, 
 by that great man. He afterwards com- 
 manded in an expedition to Ireland, ferved 
 a campaign or two, if I miftake not, under 
 king WILLIAM in Flanders: and, befides 
 thele occafions, had none of gaining expe- 
 rience in war, till he came to the head of 
 our armies in one thoufand feven hundred 
 and two, and triumphed not over Afiatic 
 troops, but over the veteran armies of 
 France. The Roman had on his fide ge- 
 nius and experience cultivated by ftudy: 
 The Briton had genius improved by expe- 
 rience, and no more. The firft therefore is 
 B 4 not
 
 24 L E T T E R II. 
 
 not an example of what ftudy can do alonej 
 but the latter is an example of what genius 
 and experience can do without ftudy.' They 
 can do much, to be lure, when the firft is 
 given in a fuperior degree. But fuch ex- 
 amples are very rare: and when they hap- 
 pen, it will be flill true, that they would 
 have had fewer blemifhes, and would have 
 come nearer to the perfection of private 
 and public virtue, in all the arts of peace 
 and achievements of war, if the views of 
 fuch men had been enlarged, and their fen- 
 timents ennobled, by acquiring that caft of 
 thought, and that temper of mind, which 
 will grow up and become habitual in every 
 man who applies himfelf early to the ftudy 
 of hiftory, as to the ftudy of philofophy, 
 with the intention of being wifer and better, 
 without the affectation of being more 
 learned. 
 
 THE temper of the mind is formed, and 
 a certain turn given to our ways of think- 
 ing; in a word, the feeds of that moral 
 character which cannot wholly alter the 
 natural character, but may correct the evil 
 and impro/e the good that is in it, or do 
 the very contrary, are fown betimes, and 
 much fooner than is cpmmonly fuppoled. 
 
 It
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 25 
 
 Jc is equally certain, that we mall gather 
 or not gather experience, be the better or 
 the worie for this experience when we 
 come into the world and mingle amongft 
 mankind, according to the temper of 
 mind, and the turn of thought, that we 
 have acquired beforehand, and bring along 
 with us. They will tincture all our future 
 acquisitions , fo that the very fame expe- 
 rience, which fecures the judgment of one 
 man, or excites him to virtue, fhall lead 
 another into error, or plunge him into vice. 
 From hence it follows, that the ftudy of 
 hiftory has in this refpect a double advan- 
 tage. If experience alone can make us 
 perfect in our parts, experience cannot be- 
 
 tin to teach them till we are actually on the 
 age: whereas, by a previous application 
 to this ftudy, we conn them over at leaft, 
 before we appear there : we are not quite 
 unprepared, we learn our parts fooner, and 
 we learn them better. 
 
 LET me explain what I mean by an ex- 
 ample. There is fcarce any folly or vice 
 more epidemical among the fons of men 
 than that ridiculous and hurtful vanity by 
 which the people of each country are apt to 
 prefer themfelves to thole of every other; 
 #nd to make their own cuftoois, and man- 
 ners,
 
 26 L E T T E R II. 
 
 ners, and opinions, the ftandards of right 
 and wrong, of true and falfe. The Chi- 
 nefe mandarins were ftrangely furpriled, 
 and almoft incredulous, when the Jefuits 
 ihewed them how fmall a figure their em- 
 pire made in the genera! map of the world. 
 The Samojedes wondered much at the 
 Czar of Mufcovy for not living among 
 them: and the Hottentot, who returned 
 from Europe, ftripped himfelf naked as 
 ibon as he came home, put on his bracelets 
 of guts and garbage, and grew {linking 
 and lowfy as fa ft as he could. Now no- 
 thing can contribute more to prevent us 
 from being tainted with this vanity, than 
 to accuftom ourfelves early to contemplate 
 the different nations of the earth, in that 
 vaft map which hiftory fpreads before us, 
 in their rife and their fall, in their barba- 
 rous and civilized dates, in the likenefs and 
 unlikenefs of -them all to one another, and 
 of each to itfelf. By frequently renew- 
 ing this profpect to the mind, the Mexi- 
 can with his cap and coat of feathers, fa- 
 crificing a human victim to his god, will 
 not appear more favage to our eyes, than 
 the Spaniard with an hat on his head, and 
 a gonilla round his neck, facrificing whole 
 nations to his ambition, his avarice, and 
 even the wantonnels of his cruelty. I 
 
 might
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 27 
 
 might mew, by a multitude of other ex* 
 .ampks, how hiftory prepares us for expe- 
 rience, and guides us in it: and many of 
 thefe would be both curious and important. 
 I might likewife bring feveral other in- 
 ilances, wherein hiftory ferves to purge the 
 mind of thofe national partialities and pre- 
 judices that we are apt to contract in our 
 education, and that experience for the moft 
 part rather confirms than removes: becaufe 
 it is for the moft part confined, like our 
 education. But I apprehend growing too 
 prolix, and mall therefore conclude this 
 head by obferving, that tho j an early and 
 proper application, to the ftudy of hiftory 
 will contribute extremely to keep our minds 
 free from a ridiculous partiality in favour 
 of our own* country, and a vicious prejudice 
 againft others; yet the fame ftudy will 
 .create in us a preference of affeclion to 
 ,our own country. There is a ftory told of 
 ABGARUS. He brought feverai beajls taken 
 in different places to Rome, they fay, and 
 let them Joofe before AUGUSTUS: every beaft 
 ran immediately to that part of the Circus, 
 where a parcel of earth taken from his na- 
 Itive foil had been laid. " Cre'dat Judseus 
 Apella." This tale n/ight pals on JOSEPHUS ; 
 for in him, I believe 1 read it : but furely 
 f he love of our country is a leflbn of realbn, 
 
 not
 
 28 L E T T E R II. 
 
 not an inftitution of nature. Education and 
 habit, obligation and intereft, attach us to 
 it, not inftinft. It is however fo neceffary 
 to be cultivated, and the profperity of all 
 focieties, as well as the grandeur of fome, 
 depends upon it fo much, that orators by 
 their eloquence, and poets by their en- 
 thufiafm, have endeavoured to work up 
 this precept of morality into a principle of 
 pafilon. But the examples which we find 
 in hirtory, improved by the lively de- 
 fcriptions, and the juil applaufes or cenfures 
 of hiftorians, will have a much better and 
 more permanent effect, than declamation, or 
 iong, or the dry ethics of mere philofophy. 
 In fine, to converfe with hiltorians is to keep 
 good company : many of them were excel- 
 lent men, and thofe who were not fuch, have 
 taken care however to appear fuch in their 
 writings. It muft be therefore of great ufe 
 to prepare ourfelves by this converfation 
 for 'that of the world; and to receive our 
 firft: imprefiions, and to acquire our firft ha- 
 bits, in a fcene where images of virtue and 
 vice are continually reprelented to us in the 
 colours that belong properly to them, before 
 we enter on another fcene, where virtue 
 and vice are too ofcen confounded, and 
 what belongs to one is aicribed to the 
 other.
 
 Of the x STUDY of HISTORY. 29 
 
 BESIDES the advantage of beginning our 
 acquaintance with mankind fooner, and of 
 bringing with us into the world, and the 
 bufmefs of it, fuch a caft of thought and 
 fuch a temper of mind, as will enable us 
 to make a better ufe of our experience; 
 there is this further advantage in the ftudy 
 of hiftory, that the improvement we make 
 by it extends to more objects, and is made 
 at the expence of other men: whereas that 
 improvement which is the effect of our 
 own experience, is confined to fewer ob- 
 jects, and is made at our own expence. To 
 ftate the account fairly therefore between 
 thefe two improvements, tho* the latter 
 be the more valuable, yet allowance be- 
 ing made on one fide for the much greater 
 number of examples that hiftory prefents 
 to us, -and deduction being made on the 
 other of the price we often pay for our 
 experience, the value of the former will 
 rile in proportion. " I have recorded thefe 
 " things," fays POLYBIUS, after giving an 
 account of the defeat of REGULUS, " that 
 " they who read thefe commentaries may 
 " be rendered better by them; for all men 
 ' have two ways of improvement, one arif- 
 < c ing from their own experience, and one 
 i* from the experience of others. Evi- 
 ' dentior quidem ilia eft, qu:e per propria 
 
 " ducit
 
 30 L E T T E R If, 
 
 " ducit infortunia ; at tutior Ilia, qu pef 
 * 4 aliena." I ufe CASAUBON'S tranflation. 
 POLYBIUS goes on, and concludes, " that 
 " fince the firft of thefe ways expofes us to 
 44 great labour and peril, whilft the fecond 
 '*' works the fame good effect, and is at- 
 *' tended by no evil circumftance, every 
 " one ought to take for granted, that the 
 " ftudy of 'hiftory is the beft fchool where 
 *' he can learn how to conduct himfelf in 
 " all the fituations of life." REGULUS had 
 feen at Rome many examples of magnani- 
 mity, of frugality, of the contempt of riches 
 and of other virtues; and triefe virtues he 
 praftifed. But he had not learned, nor had 
 opportunity of learning another leffbn, which 
 the examples recorded in hiftory inculcate 
 frequently, the leflbn of moderation. Art 
 infatiable thirlt of military fame, an uncon- 
 fined ambition of extending their empire, 
 an extravagant confidence in their own cou- 
 rage and force, an inlblent contempt of their 
 enemies, and an impetuous over- bearing 
 fpirit with which they purfued all their en- 
 terprizes, compofed in his days the diftin- 
 guiflhing character of a Roman. Whatever 
 the fenate and people refolved to the menv 
 bers of that common wealth, appeared both 
 practicable and juft. Neither difficulties 
 nor dangers could check them 5 and their 
 
 fages
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 31 
 
 fages had not yet difcovered, that virtues 
 in excels degenerate into vices. Notwith- 
 flanding the beautiful rant which HORACE 
 puts into his mouth, I make no doubt that 
 REGULUS learned at Carthage thole leflbns 
 of moderation which he had not learned 
 at Rome; but he learned them by experi- 
 ence, and the fruits of this experience came 
 too late, and coft too dear; for they coft 
 the total defeat of the Roman army, the 
 prolongation of a calamitous war which 
 might have been finifhed by a glorious peace, 
 the lofs of liberty to thoufands of Roman 
 citizens, and to REGULUS himfelf the lols of 
 life in the midft of torments, if we are en- 
 tirely to credit what is perhaps exaggeration 
 in the Roman authors. 
 
 THERE is another advantage, worthy our 
 obfervation, that belongs to the ftudy of 
 hiftory; and that I (hall mention here, not 
 only becaufe of the importance of it, but 
 becaufe it leads me immediately to fpeak of 
 the nature of the improvement we ought to 
 have in our view, and of the method in 
 which it feems to me that this improvement 
 ought to be puriued: two particulars from 
 which your lordfliip may think perhaps 
 that I digrefs too long. The advantage I 
 mean confifts in this, that the examples 
 which hiftory prefents to us, both of men 
 
 and
 
 32 L E T T E R II. 
 
 and of" events, are generally complete : thd 
 whole example is before us, and confe- 
 quently the whole leffon, or fometimes the 
 various leffons, which philofophy propofes 
 to teach us by this example. For firil, as 
 to men ; we fee them at their whole length 
 in hiftory, and we fee them generally there 
 through a medium lefs partial at lead than 
 that of experience; for I imagine, that a 
 whig or a tory, whilft thofe parties fubfifted, 
 would have condemned in SATURNINUS the 
 fpirit of faction which he applauded in his 
 own tribunes, and would have applauded 
 in DRUSUS the fpirit of moderation which 
 he defpifed in thofe of the contrary party, 
 and which he fufpected and hated in thofe 
 of his own party. The villain who has 
 impofed on mankind by his power or cun* 
 ning, and whom experience could not un 
 malk for a time, is unmafked at length; 
 and the honeft man, who has been mifun- 
 derftood or defamed, isjuftified before his 
 ftory ends. Or if this does not happen, if 
 the villain dies with his mafic on, in the 
 midft of applaule, and honour, and wealth, 
 and power, and if the honeft man dies un- 
 der the fame load of calumny and difgrace 
 under which he lived, driven perhaps into ' 
 exile, and expofed to want; yet we fee hi- 
 ftorical juftice executed, the name of one 
 
 branded
 
 bf the STUDY of HISTORY. 33 
 
 branded with infamy, and that of the other 
 celebrated with panegyric tofucceeding ages. 
 " Prascipuum munus annalium reor, ne 
 " virtutes fileantur; utque pravis dictis, 
 Ci faflifque ex pofteritate et infamia metus 
 " fit." Thusj according to TACITUS, and 
 according to truth, from which his judg- 
 ments feldom deviate, the principal duty 
 of hiftory is to erect a tribunal, like that 
 among the Egyptians, mentioned by Dio- 
 DORUS SICULUS, where men and princes 
 themfelves were tried j and condemned or 
 acquitted; after their deaths; where thofe 
 who had not been punifhed for their crimes, 
 and thofe who had not been honoured for 
 their virtues, received a juft retribution. The 
 fentence is pronounced in one cafe, as it was 
 in the other, too late to correct or recom- 
 penfe; but it is pronounced in time to render 
 thefe examples of general inftruction to man- 
 kind; Thus CICERO, that I may quote one 
 inftance out of thousands, and that I may 
 do juftice to the general character of that 
 great man, wbofe particular failing I have 
 cenfured fo freely j CICERO, I fay, was aban- 
 doned by OcTAviuSj and maflacred by AN- 
 THONY. But let any man read this fragment 
 of ARELLIUS Fuscus, and chufe which he 
 would wifh to have been, the orator, or 
 the triumvir ? " Quoad humanum genus 
 C " in-
 
 34 L E T T E R IL 
 
 ** incolume manferit, quamdiu ufus literif, 
 " honor fummas eloquentise pretium eric, 
 '' quamdiu rerum natura aut fortuna fte- 
 " terit, aut memoria duraverit, admirabilc 
 " pofteris vigebis ingeniurn, et uno pro- 
 " fcriptus fcculo, profcribes Antonium om- 
 nibus." 
 
 THUS again, as to events that ftand re- 
 corded in hiftory, we fee them all, we fee 
 them as they followed one another, or as 
 they produced one another, caufes or ef- 
 fects, immediate or remote. We are caft 
 back, as it were, into former ages : we live 
 with the men who lived before us, and we 
 inhabit countries that we never faw. Place 
 is enlarged, and time prolonged, in this 
 manner; fo that the man who applies him- 
 felf early to the ftudy of hiftory, may ac- 
 quire in a few years, and before he fets his 
 foot abroad in the world, not only a more 
 extended knowledge of mankind, but the 
 experience of more centuries than any of 
 the patriarchs faw. The events we are wit- 
 nefles of, in the courfe of the longeit life, ap- 
 pear to us very often original, unprepared, 
 fingle, and un-relative, if I may ufe fuch an 
 expreflion for want of a better in Engliflv, in 
 French I would fay ifoles: they appear fuch 
 very often, are called accidents, and looked 
 
 on
 
 6f the STUDY of HISTORY. 35 
 
 fen as the efteds of chance ; a word, by the 
 way, which is in conftant ufe ? and has fre- 
 quently no determinate meaning. We gee 
 over the preient difficulty, we improve the 
 momentary advantage, as well as we can, and 
 we look no farther. Experience can carry 
 us no farther; for experience can go a very- 
 little way back in difcovering caufes : and 
 effecls are not the obje&s of experience till 
 they happen. From hence many errors in 
 judgment, and by confequence in conduct, 
 neceiTarily arife. And here too lies the dif- 
 ference we are fpeaking of between hiftory 
 and experience. The advantage on the fide 
 of the former is double. In antient hiftory, 
 as we have faid already, the examples arc 
 complete, which are incomplete in the courfe 
 of experience. The beginning, the pro- 
 grefiion, and the end appear, not of parti- 
 cular reigns, much lefs of particular enter- 
 prizes, or fyftems of policy alone, but of 
 governments, of nations, of empires, and of 
 all the various fyftems that have fucceeded 
 one another in the courfe of their duration. 
 In modern hiftory, the examples may be, 
 and fometimes are, incomplete-, but they 
 have this advantage when they are fo, that 
 they ferve to render complete the examples 
 of our own time. Experience is doubly 
 defective ; we are born too late to fee the 
 beginning, and we die too foon to fee the 
 C z end
 
 36 L E T T E R II. 
 
 end of many things. Hiftory fupplies both 
 thefe defeds. Modern hiftory (hews the 
 caufes, when experience prefents the effects 
 alone: and ancient hiftory enables us to 
 guefs at the effects, when experience pre- 
 fents the caufes alone. Let me explain 
 my meaning by two examples of thefe kinds j 
 one paft, the other actually prefent. 
 
 WHEN the revolution of one thoufand fix 
 hundred and eighty-eight happened, few men 
 then alive, I fuppofe, went farther in their 
 fearch after the caufes of it, than the extra- 
 vagant attempt of king JAMES againft 
 the religion and liberty of his people. His 
 former conduct, and the pafiages of king 
 CHARLES the fecond*s reign might rankle 
 ftill at the hearts of fome men, but could 
 not be fet to account among the caufes of 
 his depofition , fince he had fucceeded, not- 
 withftanding them, peaceably to the throne : 
 and the nation in general, even many of 
 thofe who would have excluded him from 
 it, were defirous, or at leaft, willing, that 
 he mould continue in it. Now this exam- 
 ple, thus ftated, affords, no doubt, much 
 good inft.ruction to the kings, and people 
 of Britain. But this inftruction is not en- 
 tire, becaufe the example thus ftated, and 
 confined to the experience of that age, is 
 imperfect. King JAMES'S mal-adminiftra- 
 
 tion
 
 Of the - STUDY of HISTORY. 37 
 
 don rendered a revolution neceffary and 
 practicable i but his mal-adminiftration, as 
 well as all his preceding conduct, was caufed 
 by his bigot- attachment to popery, and to 
 trie principles of arbitrary government, 
 from which no warning could divert him. 
 His bigot-attachment to thefe was caufed, 
 by the exile of the royal family; this exile 
 was caufed by the ufurpation of CROMWEL: 
 and CROMWEI/S ufurpation was the effect 
 of a former rebellion, begun not without 
 reafon on account of liberty, but without 
 any valid pretence on account of religion. 
 During this exile, our princes caught the 
 taint of popery and foreign politics. We 
 made them unfit to govern us, and after 
 that were forced to recal them, that they 
 might refcue us out of anarchy. It was 
 neceffary therefore, your lordfhip fees., at 
 the revolution, and it is more fo now, to go 
 back in hiftory, at leaft as far as I have men- 
 tioned, and perhaps farther, even to the be- 
 ginning of King JAMES the firft's reign, to 
 render this event a complete example, and to 
 devtlope all the wife, honeft, and falutary 
 precc-pts, with which it is pregnant, both to 
 king and fubjeft. 
 
 THE other example mall be taken from 
 
 yvhat has fucceecied the revolution. Few 
 
 C men
 
 3 8 LETTER H. 
 
 men at that time looked forward enough, tq 
 forefee the neceflary confequences of tha 
 new conftitution of the revenue, that was 
 foon afterwards tormed; nor of the method 
 of funding that immediately took place; 
 which, abfurd as they are, have continued 
 ever fmce, till it is become fcarce poilible 
 to alter them. Few people, I fay, fore- 
 fa w how- the creation of funds, and the 
 multiplication of taxe-Sj would encreafe yearly 
 the power "of the crown, and bring our 
 liberties, by a natural arid necefTary pro- 
 'greffion, into more real, though iels appa- 
 rent danger, than they were in before the 
 revolution. The exccffive ill hufbandry 
 pradtiied from the very beginning of king 
 "WILLIAM'S reign, and which laid the faun* 
 clations of all we ; fed and all we ftar, was 
 not the effecl: of ignorance, miftake, or 
 what we call chance, but of defign and 
 fcheme in thofe who had the fway at that 
 time. I am not fo uncharitable, however, 
 as to believe that they intended to bring 
 upon their country all the mifchiefs that 
 we, who came after them, experience, and 
 apprehend. No, they faw the meafures 
 they took fingly, and un relatively, or re- 
 latively alone to fome immediate objecl:. 
 The notion of attaching men to the new 
 government, by tempting them to em- 
 
 barl;
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 39 
 
 bark their fortunes on the fame bottom, 
 was a reafon of ftate to fome: the notion of 
 creating a new, that is, a moneyed intereft, 
 in oppofuion to the landed intereft, or as a 
 balance to it; and of acquiring a fuperior in- 
 fluence in the city cf London, at lead by 
 the eftablifhment of great corporations, was 
 a reafon of party to others : and 1 make 
 ho doubt that the opportunity of amaffing 
 immenfe eftates by the management of 
 funds, by trafficking in paper, and by all 
 the arts of jobbing, was a reafon of private 
 intereft to thofe who fupported and improved 
 this fcheme of iniquity, if not to thofe 
 who devifed it. They looked no farther. 
 Nay, we who came after them, and have 
 long tafted the bitter fruits of the corrup- 
 tion they planted, were far from taking 
 fuch an alarm at our diftrefs, and our dan- 
 ger, as they delerved ; till the moft remote 
 and fatal effect of caufes, laid by the laft 
 generation, was very near becoming .an ob- 
 ject of experience in this. Your lordlhip, 
 I am fure, fees at once how much a due 
 reflection on the paflages of former times, 
 as they (land recorded in the hiftory of our 
 own, and of other countries, would have de* 
 terred a free people from trufting the folc 
 management of fo great a revenue, and the 
 fole nomination of thofe legions of officers 
 C 4 employed
 
 4 o L E T T E R II. 
 
 employed in it, to their chief magiftrate. 
 There remained indeed no pretence for 
 doing fo, when once a falary was fettled on 
 the prince, and the public revenue was no 
 longer in any fenfe his revenue, nor the 
 public expence his expence. Give me leave 
 to add, that it would have been, and would 
 be flill, more decent with regard to the 
 prince, and lefs repugnant if not more con- 
 formable to the principles and practice too of 
 our government, to take this power and in- 
 fluence from the prince, or to fhare it with 
 him; than to exclude men from the privi- 
 lege of reprefenting their fellow-fubjefts 
 who would chufe them in parliament, purely 
 becaufe they are employed and trufted by 
 the prince. 
 
 YOUR lordmip fees not only, how much a 
 due reflection upon the experience of other 
 age r and countries would have pointed out 
 national corruption, as the natural and necef- 
 fary confequence of inverting the crown with 
 the management of fo great a revenue j but 
 alfo the lofs of liberty, as the natural 
 and necefiary confequence of national cor- 
 jruption.
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 41 
 
 THESE two examples explain fufficiently 
 what they are intended to explain. It only 
 remains therefore upon this head, to obferve 
 the difference between the two manners 
 in which hiftory fupplies the defeats of our 
 own experience. It mews us caufes as in 
 fact they were laid, with their immediate 
 effects : and it enables us to guefs at future 
 events. It can do no more, in the na- 
 ture of things. My lord BACON, in his 
 fecond book of the Advancement of learn- 
 ing, having in his mind, I fuppofe, what 
 PHILO and JOSEPHUS aflerted of MOSES, 
 affirms divine hiftory to have this prero- 
 gative, that the narration may be before 
 the fact as well as after. But fince the 
 ages of prophecy, as well as miracles, are 
 paft, we muft content ourfelves to guefs at 
 what will be, by what has been: we have 
 no other means in our power, and hiftory 
 furni(hes us with thefe. How we are to 
 improve, and apply thefe means, as well 
 as how we are to acquire them, (hall be 
 deduced more particularly in another letter. 
 
 O F
 
 QF THE 
 
 STUDY OF HISTORY, 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 j. An objection againft the utility of hiftory 
 removed. 2. The falfe and true aims 
 of thofe who ftudy it. 3. Of the hiftory 
 of the firft ages, with reflections on the 
 flate of ancient hiftory prophane and 
 facred. 
 
 WERE thefe letters to fall into the 
 hands of fome ingenious perfons 
 who adorn the age we live in, your lord- 
 Ihip's correfpondent would be joked upon 
 for his project of improving men in virtue 
 and wifdom by the ftudy of hiftory. The 
 general characters of men it would be 
 laid, are determined by their natural con- 
 ftitutions, as their particular actions are by 
 immediate objects. Many very converfant 
 in hiftory would be cited, who have 
 proved ill men, or bad politicians; and a 
 long roll would be produced of others, 
 
 who
 
 44 LETTER III. 
 
 who have arrived at a great pitch of private, 
 and public virtue, without any afTiilance of 
 this kind. Something has been faid already 
 to anticipate this objection; but, fince I 
 have heard feveral perfons affirm fuch propo- 
 fitions with great confidence, a loud laugh, 
 or a filent fneer at the pedants who prefumed 
 to think otherwife; I will fpend a few para- 
 graphs, with your lordfhip's leave, to Ihew 
 that luch affirmations, for to affirm amongft 
 thefe fine men is to reafon, either prove too 
 much, or prove nothing. 
 
 IF our general characters were determined 
 abfo!utely, as they are certainly influenced, 
 by our conftjtutions, and if our particular 
 actions were fo by immediate objects-, all in- 
 ftru&ion by precept, as well as example, and 
 all endeavours to form the moral character 
 by education, would be unnecefTary. Even 
 the little care that is taken, and furely it is 
 impofilble to take lefs, in the training up our 
 youth, would be too much. But the truth 
 is widely different from this reprefentation of 
 it; for, what is vice, and what is virtue? 
 I fpeak of them in a large and philofophical 
 fenfe. The former, is, I think no more 
 than the excefs, abufe, and mifapplication of 
 
 appetites,
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 45 
 
 appetites, defines, and paffions, natural and 
 innocent, nay ufeful and neceffary. The 
 latter confifts in the moderation and go- 
 vernment, in the ufe and application of 
 thefe appetites, defines, and paffions, accord- 
 ing to the rules of reafon, and therefore, 
 often in oppofition to their own blind 
 impulfe. 
 
 
 
 WHAT now is education ? that part, that 
 principal and moll neglected part of it, I 
 mean, which tends to form the moral cha- 
 racter? It is, I think, an inftitution defigned 
 to lead men from their tender years, by pre- 
 cept and example, by argument and au- 
 thority, to the practice, and to the habit of 
 pracYifing thefe rules. The flrongerour ap- 
 petites, defires, and paffions are, the harder 
 indeed is the tafk of education: but when 
 the efforts of education are proportioned to 
 this ftrength, although our keeneft appetites 
 and defires, and our ruling paffions cannot 
 be reduced to a quiet and uniform fub- 
 miffion, yet, are not their excefies aflfwa- 
 ged? are not their abufes and mifapplica- 
 rions, in fome degree, diverted or checked? 
 Tho' the pilot cannot lay the dorm, can- 
 not he carry the (hip, by his art, better 
 through it, and often prevent the wreck 
 that would always happen, without him?
 
 46 LETTER III. 
 
 If ALEXANDER, who loved wine, and was 
 naturally choleric, had been bred under the 
 feverity of Roman difcipline, it is proba- 
 ble he would neither have made a bonfire of 
 Perfepolis for his whore, nor have killed 
 his friend. If SCIPIO, who was naturally 
 given to women, for which anecdote we 
 have, if I miftake not, the authority of 
 POLYBIUS, as well as fome verfes of NAE- 
 vius preferved by A. GELLIUS, had been 
 educated by OLYMPIAS at the court of 
 PHILIP, it is improbable that he would have 
 reftored the beautiful Spaniard. In Ihort, if 
 the renowned SOCRATES had not corrected 
 nature by art, this firft apoftle of the 
 gentiles had been a very profligate fellow, 
 by his own confefiion; for he was inclined 
 to all the vices ZOPYRUS imputed to him, 
 as they fay, on the obfervation of his 
 phyfiognomy. 
 
 WITH him therefore, who denies the ef- 
 fects of education, it would be in vain to 
 difpute; and with him who admits them, 
 there can be no difpute, concerning that 
 fhare which I afcribe to the ftudy of hif- 
 tory, in forming our moral characters, and 
 making us better men. The very perfons 
 who pretend that inclinations cannot be re- 
 ftrained, nor habits corrected, againft our 
 
 natural
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 47 
 
 natural bent, would be the firft perhaps to 
 prove, in certain cafes, the contrary. A 
 fortune at court, or the favours of a lady, 
 have prevailed on many to conceal, and 
 they could not conceal without reftraining, 
 which is one ftep towards correcting, the 
 vices they were by nature addicted to the 
 moft. Shall we imagine now, that the beau- 
 ty of virtue and the deformity of vice, 
 the charms of a bright and lading reputa- 
 tion, the terror of being delivered over as 
 criminals to all pofterity, the real benefit 
 arifing from a confcientious difcharge of 
 the duty we owe to others, which benefit, 
 fortune can neither hinder nor take away, 
 and the reafonablenefs of conforming our- 
 felves to the defigns of GOD manifefted in. 
 the conftitution of the human nature; lhall 
 we imagine, I fay, that all thefe are not 
 able to acquire the fame power over thofe 
 who are continually called upon to a con- 
 templation of them, and they who apply 
 themfelves to the ftudy of hiftory, are fo 
 called upon, as other motives, mean and for- 
 did in comparifon of thefe, can ufurp on 
 other men ? 
 
 2. That the ftudy of hiftory, far from 
 making us wiler, and more ufeful citizens, 
 as well as better men, may be of no advan- 
 tage
 
 48 LETTER IIL 
 
 vantage whatfoever; that it may ferve to 
 render us mere antiquaries and fcholars? or 
 that it may help to make us forward cox- 
 combs, and prating pedants, I have already 
 allowed. But this is not the fault of hif- 
 tory ; and to convince us that it is not, we 
 need only contraft the true ufe of hiftory, 
 with the ufe that is made of it by fuch 
 men as thefe. We ought always to keep 
 in mind, that hiftory is philofophy teach- 
 ing by examples how to conduct ourfelves 
 in all the fituations of private and public 
 life; that therefore we mud apply our- 
 felves to it in a philofophical fpirit and 
 manner; that we muft rife from particular 
 to general knowledge, and that we muft 
 fit ourfelves for the fociety and bufmefs of 
 mankind by accuftoming our minds to 
 reflect and meditate on the characters we 
 find defcribed, and the courfe of events 
 we find related there. Particular examples 
 may be of ufe fometimes in particular cafes-, 
 but the application of them is dangerous. 
 It muft be done with the utmoft circumfpec- 
 tion, or it will be feldom done with fuc- 
 cefs. And yet one would think that 
 this was the principal ufe of the itudy of 
 hiftory, by what has been written on the 
 fubjecl. I know not whether MACHIAVEL 
 himfelf is quite free from defect on this 
 
 account :
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 49 
 
 account: he feems to carry the ufe and ap- 
 plication of particular examples fometimes 
 too far. MARIUS and CATULUS patted the 
 Alps, met and defeated the Cimbri be- 
 yond the frontiers of Italy. Is it fafe to 
 conclude from hence, that whenever one 
 people is invaded by another, the invaded 
 ought to meet and fight the invaders at a 
 diftance from their frontiers ? MACHIAVEL'S 
 countryman, GUICCIARDIN, was aware of 
 the danger that might arife from fuch an 
 application of examples. PETER of Me- 
 dicis had involved himfelf in great dif- 
 ficulties, when thofe wars and calamities 
 began which LEWIS SFORZA firft drew and 
 entailed on Italy, by flattering the ambi- 
 tion of CHARLES the eighth, in order to 
 gratify his own, and calling the French into 
 that country. PETER, owed his diftrefs to 
 his folly, in departing from the general tenor 
 of conduct his father LAURENCE had held, 
 and hoped to relieve himfelf by imitating 
 his father's example in one particular in- 
 ftance. At a time when the wars with 
 the pope and king of Naples had reduced 
 LAURENCE to circumftances of great dan- 
 ger, he took the relblution of going to 
 FERDINAND, and of treating in perfon 
 with that prince. The relblution appears in 
 hiftory imprudent and almoft defperate: 
 
 D were
 
 50 LETTER III. 
 
 were we informed of the fecret reafons on 
 which this great man a6ted, it would appear 
 very peffibly a wile and fafe meafurc. It 
 fucceeded, and LAURENCE brought back 
 with him public peace, and private fecurity. 
 As foon as the French troops entered the 
 dominions of Florence, PETER was itruck 
 with a panic terror, went to CHARLKS the 
 eighth, put the port of Leghorn, the fortrei- 
 fes of Pi fa, and all the keys of the country, 
 into this prince's hands; whereby he dif- 
 armed the Florentine commonwealth, and 
 ruined himfelf. He was deprived of his au- 
 thority, and driven out of the city, by the 
 juft indignation of the magistrates and 
 people: and in the treaty which they made 
 afterwards with the king of France, it was 
 flipulated, that PETER fhould not remain 
 within an hundred miles of the Hate, nor 
 his brothers within the fame diftance of the 
 city of Florence. On this occafion Guic- 
 CIARDIN obferves how dangerous it is to 
 govern ourfelves by particular examples; 
 fmce, to have the iame fuccefs, we mull 
 have the fame prudence, and the fame for- 
 tune; and fince the example muft not only 
 anfwer the cafe before us in general, but in 
 every minute circumftance. This is the 
 fenfe of that admirable hiftorian, and thefe 
 are his words-- u e fenza dubio molto 
 
 "peri-
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 51 
 
 cc pericolofo il governarfi con gl' efempi, 
 '* le non concorrono, non folo in generale, 
 ma in tutti i particular!, le medifime 
 ragioni-, le le cole non fono regelate- con 
 la medcfima prudenza, & le oltre a tutti 
 li ahri fondamenti, non, v'ha la parte 
 fua la medifima fortuna." An obferva- 
 tion that BOILEAU makes, and a rule he 
 Jays down in fpeaking of translations, will 
 properly find their place here, and ferve to 
 explain ftill better what I would eftablifh. 
 " To tranflatc fervilely into modern lan 
 " guage an ancient author phrafe by phrafe, 
 44 and word by word, is prepofterous: no- 
 " thing can be more unlike the original 
 44 than fuch a copy. It is not to (hew, it 
 44 is to difguife the author: and he who 
 44 has known him only in this drefs, would 
 " not know him in his own. A good 
 " writer, inftead of taking this inglorious 
 * c and unprofitable talk upon him, will 
 " joufter contre 1'original, rather imitate 
 " than tranfiate, and rather emulate than 
 *' imitate: he will cransfnfe the lenfe and 
 " fpirit of the original into his own work, 
 " and will endeavour to write as the ancient 
 44 author would have wrote, had he writ in 
 " the fame language. 5J Now, to improve by 
 examples is to improve by imitation. We 
 muft catch the fpirit if we can, and con- 
 P 2 form
 
 52 L E T T E R II. 
 
 form ourfelves to the reafon of them ; but 
 we muft not affect to tranflate ferdlely into 
 our conduit, if your lordfhip will allow me 
 the exprefnon, the particular conduct of 
 thofe good and great men, whofe images 
 hiftory fets before us. CODRUS and the 
 DECII devoted themielves to death: one, 
 becaufe an oracle had foretold that the 
 army whofe general was killed, would be 
 victorious; the others in compliance with a 
 fuperftition that bore great analogy to a 
 ceremony practifed in the old Egyptian 
 church, and added afterwards, as many 
 others of the lame origin were, to the ri- 
 tual of the Ifraelites. Theie are examples 
 of great magnanimity, to be lure, and of 
 magnanimity employed in the moft worthy 
 caule. In the early days of the Athenian 
 and Roman government, when the credit 
 of oracles and all kinds of fuperftition pre- 
 vailed, when heaven was pioufly thought tor 
 delight in blood, and even human blood 
 was fhed under wild notions of atonement, 
 propitiation, purgation, expiation, and fatis- 
 faction; they who fet fuch examples as 
 thefe, acted an heroical and a rational part 
 too. But if a general mould act the fame 
 part now, and in order to fecure his victory, 
 get killed as fait as he could ; he might pafs 
 for an hero, but, 1 am lure, he would pafs 
 
 for
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 53 
 
 for a madman. Even thefe examples, how- 
 ever, are of ufe: they excite us at lead to 
 venture our lives freely in the fervice of onr 
 country, by propofing to our imitation, 
 men who devoted themfelves to certain 
 death in the fervice of theirs* They mew 
 us what a turn of imagination can operate, 
 and how the greateft trifle, nay the greateft 
 abfurdity, dreffed up in the folemn arts of re- 
 ligion, can carry ardour and confidence, or 
 the contrary fentiments, into the breads of 
 thoufands. 
 
 THERE are certain general principles, 
 and rules of life and conduct, which always 
 mud be true, becaufe they are conformable 
 to the invariable nature of things. He who 
 {Indies hiitory as he would ftudy philofophy, 
 will foon dittinguifli and collect them, and 
 by doing fo will foon form to himfelf a gene- 
 ral fyftem of ethics and politics on the fureft 
 foundations, on the trial of thefe principles 
 and rules in all ages, and on the confirmation 
 of them by universal experience. I faid, he 
 will diftinguifh them; for once more I mull 
 fay, that as to particular modes of actions, 
 and meafures of conduct, which the cuf- 
 toms of different countries, ,ihe manners of 
 different ages, and the circumftances of dif- 
 ferent conjunctures, have appropriated, as ic 
 D 3 werej
 
 54 LETTER III. 
 
 were; itisalways ridiculous, or imprudentanci 
 dangerous to employ them. But this is not 
 all. By contemplating the vaft variety of par- 
 ticular characters and events-, by examin- 
 ing the ftrange combinations of caules, 
 different, remote, and feemingly oppofite, 
 that often concur in producing one erTcl ; 
 and the lir.prifing fertility of one fingle and 
 uniform caufe in the producing of a multi- 
 tude of cffecls as different, as remote, and 
 .feemingly as oppofite; by tracing carefully, 
 as carefully as if the fubjedt he confiders 
 were of perfonal and immediate concern to 
 him, all the minute, and fometimes fcarce 
 perceivable circumftances, either in the cha- 
 racters of actors, or in the courfe of actions, 
 that hiftory enables him to trace, and 
 according to which the fuccefs of affairs, 
 even the greateft, is mollly determined ; 
 by thefe, and fuch methods as thefe, for I 
 might defcend into a much greater detail, 
 a man of parts may improve the ftudy of 
 hiftory to it's proper and principal ufe; he 
 may fharpen the penetration, fix the atten- 
 tion of his mind, and ftrengthen his judg- 
 ment; he may acquire the faculty and the 
 habit of difcerning quicker, and looking 
 farther; and of exerting that flexibility, 
 and lieadincfs, which aie neceffary to be 
 joined in the conduft of all affairs, that 
 
 depend
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. ijf 
 
 depend on the concurrence or oppofition of 
 other men. 
 
 Mr. LOCKE, I think, recommends the 
 fludy of geometry even to thofe who have 
 no defign of being geometricians: and he 
 gives a reafon for it, that may be applied to 
 the prefect cafe. Such perfons may forget 
 eyery problem that has been propoled, and 
 every folution that they or others have given 5 
 but the habit of purfuing long trains of 
 ideas will remain with them, and they 
 will appear through the mazes of fo- 
 phifm, and difcover a latent truth, where 
 perfons who have not this habit will never 
 find it. 
 
 IN this manner, the ftudy of* hiftory will 
 prepare us for action and obfervation. Hif- 
 tory is the antient author: experience is 
 the modern language. We form our tafte 
 on the firft; we tranflate the fenfe and rea- 
 fon, we transfuie the fpirit and force ; but 
 we imitate only the particular graces of the 
 original: we imitate them according to the 
 idiom of our own tongue, that is, we fub* 
 ftitute often equivalents in the lieu of them, 
 and are far from affecting to copy them fer* 
 vilely. To conclude, as experience is con* 
 verfant about the preient, and the prefent 
 D 4 enables
 
 56 LETTER III. 
 
 enables us to guefs at the future ; f<> hiftory 
 is converfant about the paft, and by know- 
 ing the things that have been, we become 
 better able to judge of the things that are. 
 
 THIS ufe, my lord, which I make the 
 proper and principal ufe of the ftudy of hif- 
 tory, is not infifted on by thofe who have 
 wrote concerning the method to be followed 
 in this ftudy : and fmce we propofe differ- 
 ent ends, we muft of courfe take different 
 ways. Few of their treatifes have fallen 
 into my hands: one, the method of BODIN, 
 a man famous in his time, I remember to 
 have read. I took it up with much expec- 
 tation many years ago ; I went through it, 
 and remained extremely difappointed. He 
 might have given almoft any other title to 
 his book, as properly as that which Hands 
 before it. There are not many pages in it 
 that relate any more to his fubject than a 
 tedious fifth chapter, wherein he accounts 
 for the characters of nations according to 
 their pofitions on the globe, and according 
 to the influence of the ftars ; and afiures 
 his reader, that nothing can be more necei- 
 fary than fuch a difquifition, " ad univer- 
 *' fam hiftoriarum cognitionem, et incor- 
 *' ruptum earum judicium." In his method, 
 
 we
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 57 
 
 we are to take firft a general view of uni- 
 verfal hiftory, and chronology, in fhorc 
 abftracts, and then to ftudy ail particular 
 hiftories and fyftems. SENECA fpeaks of 
 men who i'pend their whole lives in learning 
 how to act in life, " dum vitas inftrumenta 
 " conquirunt." I doubt that this method 
 of BODIN would conduit us in the fame, or 
 as bad a way, would leave us no time for 
 action, or would make us unfit for it. A, 
 huge common-place book, wherein all the 
 remarkable fayings and facts that we find in 
 hiftory are to be regiftered, may enable a 
 man to talk or write like BODIN, but will 
 never make him a better man, nor enable 
 him to promote, like an uleful citizen, the 
 fecurity, the peace, the welfare, or the 
 grandeur of the community to which he be- 
 longs. I mail proceed therefore to fpeak of 
 a method that leads to fuch purpofes as 
 thefe directly and certainly, without any re- 
 gard to the methods that have been pre- 
 icribed by others. 
 
 I THINK, then, we mud be on our guard 
 agalnft this very affectation of learning, and 
 this very wantonnefs of curiofuy, which 
 the examples and precepts we commonly 
 meet with are calculated to flatter and in- 
 
 ciulge.
 
 58 LETTER III. 
 
 dulge. We muft neither dwell too long 
 in the dark, nor wander about till we lole 
 our way in the light. We are too apt to 
 carry fyftems of philofophy beyond all our 
 ideas, and fyftems of hiftory beyond all 
 our memorials. The philofopher begins 
 with reafcn, and ends with imagination. 
 The hiftorian inverts this order: he begins 
 without memorials, and he fometimes ends 
 with them. > This filly cuftom is fo preva- 
 lent among men of letters who apply them- 
 felves to the ftudy of hiftory, and has fo 
 much prejudice and fo much authority on the 
 fide of it, that your lordfhip mull give me 
 leave to fpcak a little more particularly and 
 plainly than I have done, in favour of com- 
 mon frnfc, againrt an abiurdity which is al- 
 moft fanctified. 
 
 REFLECTIONS
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 59 
 
 REFLECTIONS 
 
 On the ftate of ancient HISTORY. 
 
 THE nature of man, and the conftant 
 courle of human affairs, render it impofii- 
 ble that che firft ages of any new nation 
 which forms itfelf, mould afford authentic 
 materials for hiftory. We have none fuch 
 concerning the originals of any of thofe na- 
 tions that actually fubfift. Shall we expect 
 to find them concerning the originals of 
 nations difperfed, or extinguimed, two or 
 three thouland years ago? If a thread of 
 dark and uncertain traditions, therefore, is 
 made, as it commonly is, the introduc- 
 tion to hiftory, we mould touch it lightly, 
 and run fwiftly over it, far from infifting 
 on it, either as authors or readers. Such in- 
 troductions are at beft no more than fanci- 
 ful preludes, that try the inftruments, and 
 precede the concert. He muft be void of 
 judgment and tafte, one would think, 
 who can take the firft for true hiftory, or 
 the laft for true harmony. And yet fo it 
 has been, and fo it is, not in Germany and 
 Holland alonej but in Italy, in France, and 
 in Fngland, where genius has abounded, 
 and tafte has been long refined. Our great 
 fcholars have dealt and deal in fables, at lead 
 
 as
 
 60 LETTER III. 
 
 as much as our poets, with this difference to 
 the difad vantage of the former,' to whom 
 I may apply the remark as juftly as SENECA 
 applied it to the dialecticians " triftius 
 " inepti funt. Illi ex profefib lafciviunt ; hi 
 " agere feipfos aliquid exiftimant." Learned 
 men, in learned and inquifitive ages, who 
 pofleiTed many advantages that we have nor> 
 and among others that of being placed fo 
 many centuries nearer the original truths that 
 are the objects of fo much laborious fearch, 
 defpaired of finding them, and gave fair 
 warning to pofterity, if pofterity would have 
 taken it. The ancient geographers, as PLU- 
 TARCH fays in the life of THESEUS, when 
 they laid down in their maps the little extent 
 of fea and land that was known to them, lefe 
 great fpaccs void. In fome of thefe fpaces 
 they wrote, Here are fandy defarts, in others,- 
 Here are impaffable marmes, Here is a chain 
 of inhofpitable mountains, or Here is a 
 frozen ocean. Juft fo, both he and other 
 hiftorians, when they related fabulous ori- 
 ginals, were not wanting to fet out the bounds 
 beyond which there was neither hiftory nor 
 chronology. CENSORINUS has preierved the 
 diftin<5lion of three seras eftablifhed by 
 VARRO. This learned Roman antiquary 
 did not determine whether the firft period 
 
 had
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 61 
 
 had any beginning, but fixed the end of it 
 at the firft, that is, according to him, the 
 Ogygian, deluge ; which he placed, I think, 
 fome centuries backwarder than JULIUS 
 AFRICANUS thought fit to place it after- 
 v/arus. To this asra of abfolute darknefs 
 he fuppoied that a kind of twilight fucceed- 
 ed, from the Ogygian deluge to the Olym- 
 pic asra, and this he called the fabulous 
 age. From this vulgar asra, when CORAE- 
 BUS was crowned victor, and long after the 
 true asra when thefe games were inftituted 
 by IPHITUS, the GREEKS pretend to be able 
 to digeft their hiftory with fome order, clear- 
 nefs, and certainty : VARRO therefore look- 
 ed on it as the break of day, or the begin- 
 ning of the hiftorical age. He might do 
 fo the rather, perhaps, becaufe he included 
 by it the date he likewife fixed, or, upon re- 
 collection, that the elder CATO had fixed, 
 of the foundation of Rome within the pe- 
 riod from which he fuppofed that hiftorical 
 truth was to be found. But yet moil certain 
 it is, that the hiftory and chronology of the 
 ages that follow, are as confufed and uncer- 
 tain, as the hiftory and chronology of thofe 
 ivhich immediately precede this aera. 
 
 i. The
 
 62 LETTER III. 
 
 i. The ftate of ancient profane hiftory. 
 
 THE Greeks did not begin to write in 
 profe till PHERECIDES of SYROS introduced 
 the cuftom: and CADMUS MILESIUS was 
 their firft hiftorian. Now thefe men flou- 
 rifhed long after the true, or even the vul- 
 gar Olympic ^:ra; for JOSEPHUS affirms, 
 and in this he has great probability on his 
 fide, that CADMUS MILESIUS, and Acusi- 
 LAUS ARGIVUS, in a word, the oldeft hifto- 
 rians in Greece, were very little more an- 
 cient than the expedition of the Pcrfians 
 againft the Greeks. As feveral centuries 
 pafied between the Olympic sera and thefe 
 firft hiftonans, there pafied likewile feveral 
 more between thefe and the firft Greek chro- 
 Jiologers. TIMOEUS about the time of PTO- 
 LOMY PHILADELPHUS, and ERATOSTHENES 
 about that of PTOLOMY EVERGETES, feem 
 firft to have digefted the events recorded by 
 them, according to the olympiads. Prece- 
 dent writers mentioned fometimes the olym- 
 piads; but this rule of reckoning was not 
 brought into eftablifhed ufe fooner. The 
 rule could not ferve to render hiftory more 
 clear and certain till it was followed: it was 
 not followed till about five hundred years 
 
 after
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 63 
 
 after the Olympic asra. There remains 
 therefore no pretence to place the begin- 
 ning cf the hiftorical age fo high as VARRO 
 placed it, by five hundred years. 
 
 HELLANICUS indeed and others pretend- 
 ed to give the originals of cities and go- 
 vernments, and to deduce their narrations 
 from great antiquity. Their works are loft, 
 but we can judge how inconfiderable the 
 lofs is, by the writings of that age which 
 remain, and by the report of thole who had 
 feen the others. For inftance, HERODO- 
 TUS was cotemporary with HELLANICUS. 
 HERODOTUS was inquifitive enough in all 
 confcicnce, and propofed to publifti ali he 
 could learn of the antiquities of the lonians, 
 Lydians, Phrygians, Egyptians, Babylo- 
 nians, Medes, and Pcrfians; that is, of 
 almoft all the nations who were known 
 in his time to exift. If he wrote AfTy- 
 riacs, we have them not-, but we are lure 
 that this word was ufed proverbially to 
 fignify fabulous legends, loon after his 
 time, and when the mode of publiihing 
 fuch relations aud hiftories prevailed among 
 the Greeks. 
 
 IN the nine books we have, he goes 
 back indeed almoft to the Olympic asr a , 
 
 without
 
 64 LETTER III. 
 
 out taking notice of it, however; but he 
 goes back only to tell an old woman's tale, 
 of a king who loft his crown for fhewing 
 his wife naked to his favourite; and 
 from CANDAULES and GYGES he haftens, 
 or rather he takes a great leap, down to 
 CYRUS. 
 
 SOMETHING like a thread of hiftory of 
 the Medes and then of the Perfians, to the 
 flight of XERXES, which happened in his 
 own time, is carried on. The events of 
 his own time are related with an air of hif- 
 tory. But all accounts of the Greeks as 
 well as the Perfians, which precede thefe, 
 and all the accounts which he gives occafio- 
 nally of other nations,, were drawn up moil 
 manifeftly on broken, perplexed, and doubt- 
 ful fcraps of tradition. He had neither ori- 
 ginal records, nor any authentic memorials 
 to guide him, and yet thefe are the fole 
 foundations of true hiftory. HERODOTUS 
 flourilhed, I think, little more than half a 
 century, and XENOPHON little more than a 
 whole century, after the- death of CYRUS: 
 and yet how various and repugnant are the 
 relations made by thefe two hiftorians, of 
 the birth, life and death of this prince! 
 If moft hiftories had come down from thefe 
 ages to ours, the uncertainty and inutility 
 
 of
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 6$ 
 
 of them all would be but the more manifeft. 
 We mould find that ACUSILAUS rejected the 
 traditions of HESIOD, that HELLANICUS 
 contradicted ACUSILAUS, that EPHORUS ac- 
 cufed HELLANICUS, that TIMAEUS accufed 
 EPHORUS, and all pofterior writers TIMAEUS. 
 This is the report of JOSEPHUS. But, in 
 order to Ihew the ignorance and falmood of 
 all thofe writers through whom the traditions 
 of profane antiquity came to the Greeks, 
 I will quote to your lordfhip a much better 
 authority than that of JOSEPHUS; the autho- 
 rity of one who had no prejudice to bias 
 him, no particular caufe to defend, nor 
 lyftem of ancient hiftory to eftablifh, and 
 all the helps as well as talents, necefifary to 
 inake him a competent judge. "I he man I 
 mean is STRABO. 
 
 SPEAKING of the Mafiagetae in his ele- 
 venth book, he writes to this effect : that 
 no author had given a true account of them, 
 though feveral had wrote of the war that 
 CYRUS waged againft them; and that hifto- 
 rians had found as little credit in what they 
 had related concerning the affairs of the 
 Perfians, Medes, and Syrians; that this was 
 due to their folly; for obferving that thofe 
 who wrote fables profeffedly, were held in 
 cfteem, thefe men imagined they mould ren- 
 E der
 
 66 LETTER III. 
 
 der their writings more agreeable, if under 
 the appearance and pretence of true hiftory, 
 they related what they had neither feen nor 
 heard from perfons able to give them true 
 information ; and that accordingly their 
 only aim had been to drefs up pleafing and 
 marvellous relations : that one may better 
 give credit to HESIOD and HOMER, when 
 they talk of their heroes, nay even to dra- 
 matic poets, than to CTESTAS, HERODOTUS, 
 HELLANICUS, and their followers: that it 
 is not fafe to give credit even to the greateft 
 part of the hiftorians who wrote concerning 
 ALEXANDER; fmce they too, encouraged 
 by the greater reputation of this conqueror, 
 by the diftance to which he carried his arms; 
 and by the difficulty of difproving what they 
 faid of actions performed in regions fo re- 
 mote, were apt to deceive: that indeed 
 when the Roman empire on one fide, and 
 the Parthian on the other, came to extend 
 themfelves, the truth of things grew to be 
 better known. 
 
 You fee, my lord, not only how late 
 profane hiftory began to be wrote by the 
 Greeks, but how much later it began to be 
 wrote with any regard to truth; and con- 
 iVquently what wretched materials the 
 learned men, who arofe after the age of 
 
 ALEX-
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 67 
 
 ALEXANDER, had to employ, when they 
 attempted to form fy items of ancient hiftory 
 and chronology. We have fome remains of 
 that laborious compiler DIODORUS SICULUS, 
 but do we find in him any thread of ancient 
 hiftory, I mean, that which pafied for 
 ancient in his time? What complaints, on 
 the contrary, does he not make of for- 
 mer hiftorians ? how frankly does he confefs 
 the little and uncertain light he had to 
 follow in his refearches? Yet DIODORUS, as 
 well as PLUTARCH, and others, had not 
 only the older Greek hiftorians, but the 
 more modern antiquaries, who pretended to 
 have fearched into the records and regifters 
 of nations j even at that time renowned for 
 their antiquity. BEROSUS, for inftance, and 
 MANETHO, one a Babylonian, and the other 
 an Egyptian prieft, had publilhed the anti- 
 quities of their countries in the time of the 
 PTOLEMYS. BEROSUS pretended to give 
 the hiftory of four hundred and eighty 
 years. PLINY, if I remember right, for I 
 fay this on memory, fpeaks to this effect in 
 the fixth book of his Natural Hiftory: and if 
 it was fo, thele years were probably years of 
 NABONASSAR. MANETHO began his hif- 
 tory, God knows when, from the progrefs 
 ot Isis, or fome other as well afcertained 
 period. He followed the Egyptian tradi- 
 E 2 tions
 
 68 LETTER III. 
 
 tions of dynafties of Gods and Demi-Godsj 
 and derived his anecdotes from the firft 
 MERCURY, who had infcribed them in fa- 
 cred characters, on antediluvian pillars, an- 
 tediluvian at lead, according to our received 
 chronology, from which the fecond MER- 
 CURY had tranfcribed them, and inferted 
 them into his works. We have not thefe 
 antiquities; for the monk of VITERBO was 
 foon detected : and if we had them, they 
 would either add to our uncertainty, and 
 cncreafe the chaos of learning, or tell us 
 nothing worth our knowlege. For thus I 
 reafon. Had they given particular and hi- 
 torical accounts conformable to the fcrip- 
 turesof the Jews, JOSEPHUS, JULIUS AF- 
 RICANUS, and EUSEBIUS would have made 
 quite other extracts from their writings, and 
 would have altered and contradicted them 
 lefs. The accounts they gave, therefore, 
 were repugnant to facred writ, or they 
 were defective: they would have eftablifhed 
 pyrrhonifm, or have baulked our curiofity. 
 
 2 Of
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 69 
 
 2. Of Sacred Hiftory: 
 
 What memorials therefore remain to give 
 us light into the originals of ancient nations, 
 and the hiftory of thofe ages, we commonly 
 call the firft ages? The Bible, it will be 
 faid; that is, the hiftorical part of it in the 
 Old Teftament. But, my lord, even thefe 
 divine books muft be reputed inefficient to 
 the purpofe, by every candid and impartial 
 man who confiders either their authority as 
 hiftories, or the matter they contain. For 
 what are they ? and how came they to us? 
 At the time when ALEXANDER carried his 
 arms into Afia, a people of Syria, till then 
 unknown, became known to the Greeks: 
 this people had been Haves to the Egyp- 
 tians, AiTyrians, Medes, and Perfians, as 
 thefe feveral empires prevailed: ten parts in 
 twelve of them had been tranfplanted by 
 ancient conquerors, and melted down and 
 loft in the ealt, feveral ages before the efta- 
 bliihment of the empire that ALEXANDER 
 deftroyed: the other two parts had been car- 
 ried captive to Babylon, a little before the 
 fame sera. This captivity was not indeed 
 perpetual, like the other; but it lafted fo 
 long, and fuch circumftances, whatever 
 E 3 they
 
 70 LETTER III. 
 
 they were, accompanied it; that the captives 
 forgot their country, and even their lan- 
 guage, the Plebrew dialed at leaft, and 
 character: and a few of them only could be 
 wrought upon, by the zeal of fome parti- 
 cular men, to return home, when the in- 
 dulgence of thr Perfian monarchs gave them 
 leave to rebuild their city, and to re-people 
 their ancient patrimony. Even this rem- 
 nant of the nation did not continue long 
 entire. Another great transmigration fol- 
 lowed; and the Jews, that fettled under the 
 protection of the PTOLEMYS, forgot their 
 language in Egypt, as the forefathers of 
 thele Jews had forgot theirs in Chaldea. 
 More attached however to their religion 
 in Egypt, for reafons eafy to be deduced 
 from the new inftitutions that prevailed after 
 the captivity among them than their ancef- 
 tors had been in Chaldea, a yerfion of their 
 facred writings was made into Greek at 
 Alexandria, not long after the canon of 
 thefe fcriptures had been fmiflied at Jerufa- 
 lem ; for many years could not intervene 
 between the death of SIMON the juft, by 
 iwhomthis canon was finifhed, if he died du- 
 ring the reign of PTOLEMY SOTER, and the 
 beginning of this famous tranflation under 
 PTOLEMY PHILADELPHUS. The Heljenift 
 Jews reported as many marvellous things to 
 
 authorize,
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 71 
 
 authorize, and even to fanftify this tranfla- 
 tion, as the other Jews had reported about 
 ESDRAS who began, and SIMON the juft 
 who finiflied, the canon of their fcriptures. 
 Thefc holy romances (lid into tradition, 
 and tradition became hiftory: the fathers 
 of our chriftian church did not difdain to 
 employ them. St. JEROME, for inftance, 
 laughed at the ftory of the leventy-two 
 elders, whofe tranflations were found to be, 
 upon companion, word for word the fame, 
 though made feparately, and by men who 
 had no communication with one another. 
 But the fame St. JEROME, in the fame 
 place, quotes ARISTEAS, one of the guard 
 of PTOLEMY PHILADELPHIA, as a real 
 perfonage. 
 
 THE account pretended to be wrote by 
 this ARISTEAS, of all that pafTed relating to 
 the tranflation, was enough for his purpofe. 
 This he retained, and he rejected only the 
 more improbable circumftances, which had 
 been added to the tale, and which laid it 
 open to mod fufpicion. In this he (hewed 
 great prudence, and better judgment, than 
 that zealous, but weak apologift JUSTIN, 
 who believed the whole ftory himfelf, and 
 endeavoured to impofe it on mankind. 
 
 E 4 THUS
 
 72 LETTER III. 
 
 THUS you fee, my lord, that when we 
 confidcr thefe books barely as hiftories, 
 delivered to us on the faith of a fuperfti- 
 titious people, among whom the cuftom and 
 art of pious lying prevailed remarkably, 
 we may be allowed to doubt whether greater 
 credit is to be given to what they tell us 
 concerning the original, compiled in their 
 own country, and as it were out of the fight 
 of the reft of the world j than we know, with 
 fuch a certainty as no fcholar prefumes to 
 deny, that we ought to give to what they 
 tell us concerning the copy ? 
 
 THE Hellenift Jews were extremely 
 pleafed, no doubt, to have their fcriptures 
 in a language they underftood, and that 
 might fpread the fame of their antiquity, 
 and do honour to their nation, among their 
 matters the Greeks. But yet we do not 
 find that the author! ry of thefe books 
 prevailed, or that even they were much 
 known among the Pagan world. The rea- 
 lon of this cannot be, that the Greeks ad- 
 mired nothing that was not of their own 
 growth, " fua tantum mirantur: M for, on 
 the contrary, they were inquifuive and cre- 
 dulous in the higheii degree, and they col- 
 kcled and publiflied at leaft as many idle 
 traditions of other nations, as they propa- 
 gated
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 73 
 
 gated of their own. JOSEPHUS pretended 
 that THEOPOMPUS, a difciple of ISOCRATES, 
 being about to infert in his hiftory fome 
 things he had taken out of holy writ, the 
 poor man became troubled in mind for fe- 
 veral days; and .that having prayed to 
 GOD, during an intermifllon of his illnefs, 
 to reveal to him the caufe of it, he learned 
 in his Qeep that this attempt was the caufe; 
 upon which he quitted the defign and was 
 cured. If JOSEPHUS had been a little more 
 confident than he is very often, fuch a ftory 
 as this would not have been told by one, 
 who was fond, as Jews and Chriftians in 
 general have been, to create an opinion 
 that the Gentiles took not their hiftory 
 alone, but their philofophy and all their 
 valuable knowledge, from the Jews. Not- 
 withftanding this ftory therefore, which is 
 told in the fifteenth book of the Jewifli An- 
 tiquities, and means nothing, or means to 
 fhew that the divine Providence would net 
 fuffer anecdotes of facred, to be mingled 
 with profane hiftory, the practice of JOSE- 
 PHUS himtelf, and of all thofe who have 
 had the fame defign in view, has been to 
 confirm the former by the latter, and at 
 any rate to fuppofe an appearance at lead 
 of conformity between them. We are 
 told HECAT^US ABDERITA, for there were 
 
 two
 
 74 LETTER III. 
 
 two of that name, wrote a hiftory favour- 
 able to the Jews: and, not to multiply 
 inftances, though I might eafily do it, even 
 ALEXANDER POLYHISTOR is called in. He 
 is quoted by JOSEPHUS, and praifed by 
 EUSEBIUS as a man of parts and great va- 
 riety of learning. His teftimony, about the 
 deluge and tower of Babel, is produced by 
 St. CYRIL in his firtt book againft JULIAN: 
 and JUSTIN the apologift and martyr, in 
 his exhortation to the Greeks, makes ufe 
 of the fame authority, among thofe that 
 mention MOSES as a leader and prince of 
 the Jews. Though this POLYHISTOR, if I 
 remember rigiit, what I think I have met 
 with in SUIDAS, fpoke only of a woman he 
 called Moso, " cnjus fcriptum eft lex he- 
 " brasorum*." Had the Greek hiftorians 
 been conformable to the facred, I cannot fee 
 that their authority, which was not cotem- 
 porary, would have been of any weight. 
 They might have copied MOSES, and fo 
 they did CTESIAS. But even this was not 
 
 o/^- &<; q>r,atv 'AM&tftyi' I 
 
 Lex. torn. ii. p. 583. 
 
 fjt.^ y.^ikTu. %. tsii PftjtAij? /iA:a 'TT-nre. in TOTOIJ A.yti, 
 <u? yv,\ y-ywiv Ebpa : a Mara, ^i; Jet iriyfya.p.p.01. o vsa.^ 
 
 'Ef*.cttti>fMf, Id. torn. i. p. 105. Edit. Cantab. 1725. 
 
 the
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 75 
 
 the cafe: whatever ufe a particular writer 
 here and there might make occafionally of 
 the fcriptures, certain ic is that the Jews 
 continued to be as much defpifed, and their 
 hiftory to be as generally neglected, nay 
 almotl as generally unknown, for a long 
 time at lealt after the verfion was made at 
 Alexandria, as they had been before. APION, 
 an Egyptian, a man of much erudition, 
 appeared in the world fome centuries after- 
 wards. He wrote, among other antiqui- 
 ties, thofe of his own country : and as he 
 was obliged to fpeak very often of the Jews, 
 he Ipoke of them in a manner neither 
 much to their honour, nor to that of their 
 hiftories. He wrote purpofely againft them: 
 and JOSEPHUS attempted afterwards, but 
 APION was then dead, to refute him. 
 APION patted, I know, for a vain and 
 noify pedant ; but he paiTed likewile for a 
 curious, a laborious, and a learned anti- 
 quary. If he was cabaliftical or fuperili- 
 tious, JOSEPHUS was at leaft as much fo as 
 he : and it he flattered CALIGULA, JOSE- 
 PHUS introduced himfelf to the court pf 
 NERO and the favour of POPP^EA, by no 
 very honourable means, under the protec- 
 tion of ALITURUS, a player, and a Jew; 
 to fay nothing of his applying to VESPASIAN 
 jhe prophecies concerning the Mefllah, 
 
 nor
 
 76 LETTER III. 
 
 nor of his accompanying TITUS to the 
 ficge of Jerufalem, 
 
 IN fhort, my lord, the Jewifh hiftory 
 never obtained any credit in the wosld, till 
 chriftianity was eltablifhed. The founda* 
 tions of this fyftem being laid partly in thefe 
 hiftories, and in the prophecies joined to them 
 or inferted in them, chriftianity has reflect- 
 ed back upon them an authority which they 
 had not before, and this authority has pre- 
 vailed wherever chriftianity has fpread. 
 Both Jews and Chriftians hold the fame books 
 in great veneration, whilft each condemns 
 the other for not understanding, or for abu- 
 fing them. But I apprehend that the zeal of 
 both has done much hurt, by endeavouring 
 to extend their authority much farther than 
 is necefifary for the fupport perhaps of 
 Judaifm, but to be fure of chriftianity. 
 I explain myielf that I may offend no pious 
 car. 
 
 SIMON, in the preface to his Critical hif- 
 tory of the Old Teftament, cites a divine of 
 the faculty of Paris, who held that the in- 
 fpirations of the authors of thofe books, 
 which the church receives as the word of 
 God, fiiould be extended no farther than to 
 matters purely of doctrine, or to fuch 
 
 as.
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 77 
 
 as have a near and neceffary relation to 
 thefe; and that whenever thefe authors 
 write on other fubjefts, fuch as Egyptian, 
 Affyrian, or other hiftory, they had no 
 more of the divine afiiftance than any other 
 perfons of piety. This notion of infpira- 
 tions that came occcafionally, that illumi- 
 nated the minds and guided the hands of 
 the facred penmen while they were writ- 
 ing one page, and reftrained their influence, 
 while the Tame authors were writing ano- 
 ther, may be cavilled againit: and what is 
 there that may not ? But furely it deferves 
 to be treated with refpect, fince it tends to 
 eftablifh a diftinction between the legal, 
 doctrinal, or prophetical parts of the Bible, 
 and the hiftorical : without which diftinc- 
 tion it is impoflible to eftablifh the firft, as 
 evidently and as folidly as the interefts of 
 religion require; at leaft it appears impofli- 
 ble to me, after having examined and con- 
 fidered, as well as I am able, all the trials of 
 this kind that have been made by fubrle 
 as well as learned men. The Old is faid to 
 be the foundation of the New, and fo ic 
 is in one fenfe: the fyftem of religion con- 
 tained in the latter, refers to the fyftem of 
 religion contained in the former, and fup- 
 pcfes the truth of it. But the authority on 
 which we receive the books of the New 
 
 teftament
 
 78 LETTER 111. 
 
 teftament, is fo far from being founded ort 
 the authority of the Old teftament, that it is 
 quite independent on it; the New being 
 proved, gives authority to the Old, but bor- 
 rows none from it; and gives this authority 
 to the particular parts only. CHRIST came 
 to fulfill the prophecies; but not to confe- 
 crate all the written, any more than the 
 oral, traditions of the Jews. We muft be- 
 lieve thefe traditions as far as they relate 
 to chriftianity, as far as chriftianity refers 
 to them, or fuppofes them neceffary ; but 
 we can be under no obligation to believe 
 them any farther, fince without chriftianity 
 we fliould be under no obligation to believe 
 them at all. 
 
 It has been faid by ABBADIE, and 
 others, " That the accidents which have 
 " happened to alter the texts of the Bible, 
 " and to disfigure, if I may fay fo, the 
 " fcriptures in many refpecls, could not 
 " have been prevented without a perpetual 
 *' (landing miracle, and that a perpetual 
 " (landing miracle is not in the order of 
 <l providence." Now I can by no means 
 fubfcribe to this opinion. It feems evident 
 to my reafon, that the very contrary muft 
 be true ; if we luppofe that GOD acls to- 
 wards men according to the moral fitnefs 
 
 of
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 79 
 
 of things: and if we fuppofe that he ads 
 arbitrarily, we can form no opinion at all. 
 I think that thefe accidents would not have 
 happened, or that the fcriptures would have 
 been preferved entirely in their genuine pu- 
 rity notwithftanding thefe accidents, if they 
 had been entirely dictated by the HOLY 
 GHOST ; and the proof of this probable pro- 
 pofition, according to our cleared and moft 
 diftincl: ideas of wifdom and moral fitnefs, 
 is obvious and eafy. But thefe fcriptures 
 are not fo come down to us : they are come 
 down broken and confufed, full of additions, 
 interpolations, and tranfpofitions, made we 
 neither know when, nor by whom; and 
 fuch, in fhort, as never appeared on the 
 face of any other book, on whofe authority 
 men have agreed to rely. 
 
 THIS being fo, my lord, what hypo- 
 thefis fhall we follow ? Shall we adhere to 
 fome fuch diftinftion as I have mentioned ? 
 Shall we fay, for inftance, that the fcrip- 
 tures were written originally by the authors 
 to whom they are vulgarly afcribed, but 
 that thefe authors wrote nothing by infpira- 
 tion, except the legal, the doctrinal, and 
 the prophetical parts, and that in every other 
 refpeft, their authority is purely human, 
 and therefore fallible ? Or (hall we fay that 
 
 ' thefe
 
 8o LETTER III. 
 
 thefe hiftories are nothing more than com- 
 pilations of old traditions, and abridgements 
 of old records, made in later times, as they 
 appear to every one who reads them with- 
 out prepofiefiion, and with attention ? Shall 
 we add, that which ever of thele probabili- 
 ties be true, we may believe, confidently 
 with either, notwithstanding the decifion 
 of any divines, who know no more than 
 you or I, or any other man, of the order 
 of Providence, that all thofe parts and paf- 
 fages of the Old teftament, which contain 
 prophecies, or matters of law or doctrine, 
 and which were from the firft of fuch im- 
 portance in the defigns of providence to all 
 future generations, and even to the whole 
 race of mankind, have been from the firft 
 the peculiar care of providence? Shall we 
 infift that fuch particular parts and paflages, 
 which are plainly marked out, and fuffi- 
 ciently confirmed by the fyftem of the Chrif- 
 tian revelation, and by the completion of the 
 prophecies, have been preferved from cor- 
 ruption by ways impenetrable to us, amidft 
 all the changes and chances to which the 
 books wherein they are recorded have been 
 expofed , and that neither original writers, 
 nor later compilers, have been fuffered 
 to make any effential alterations, fuch 'as 
 would have falfified the law of GOD and 
 
 the
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 81 
 
 the principles of the Jewifh and Chriftian 
 religions, in any of thofe divine fundamen- 
 tal truths ? Upon fuch hypothefes, we may 
 aflert without fcruple, that the genealogies 
 and hiftories of the Old teftament are in no 
 refpect lufficient foundations for a chrono- 
 logy from the beginning of time, nor for 
 univerfal hiftory. But then the fame hypo- 
 thefes will fecure the infallibility of fcrip- 
 ture authority, as far as religion is con- 
 cerned. Faith and reafon may be reconciled 
 a little better than they commonly are. I 
 may deny that the Old teftament is tranf- 
 mitted to us under all the conditions of an 
 authentic hiftory, and yet be at liberty to 
 maintain, that the palfages in it which efta- 
 blifh original fin, which ieem favourable 
 to the doctrine of the Trinity, which, 
 foretell the coming of the Mefiiah, and all 
 others of fimilar kind, are come down to 
 us as they were .originally dictated by the 
 HOLY GHOST. 
 
 IN attributing the whole credibility of the 
 Old teftament to the authority of the New, 
 and in limiting the authenticity of the Jewifh 
 fcriptures, to thofe parts alone that concern 
 law, doctrine, and prophecy, by which their 
 chronology and the far greateft part of their 
 hiftory are excluded, I will venture to 
 afiure your lordfhip that I do not allurne 
 F fo
 
 82 LETTER III. 
 
 fo much, as is aflumed in every hypothe- 
 fis that affixes the divine feal of infpiratkm 
 to the whole canon; that refts the whole 
 proof on Jewifh veracity-, and that pretends 
 to account particularly and pofitively for the 
 defcent of thefe ancient writings in their pre r 
 fent ftate. 
 
 ANOTHER reafon, for which I have in- 
 filled the rather on the distinction fo often 
 mentioned, is this. I think we may find 
 very good foundation for it even in the 
 Bible: and though this be a point very little 
 attended to, and much difguifed, it would 
 not be hard to fhew, upon great induce- 
 ments of probability, that the law and the 
 hiftory were far from being blended toge- 
 ther as they now ftand in the Pentateuch, 
 even from the time of MOSES down to that 
 of ESDRAS. But the principal and decifive 
 reafon for feparating in fuch manner the le- 
 gal, doctrinal, and prophetical parts, from 
 the hiftorical, is the necefllty of having fome 
 rule to go by : and, I proteft, I know of 
 none that is yet agreed upon. I content 
 myfelf therefore to fix my opinion concern- 
 ing the authority of the Old teflament in 
 this manner, and carry it thus far only. 
 We muft do fo, or we muft enter into that 
 labyrinth of difpute and contradiction, 
 wherein even the moll orthodox Jews and 
 
 Chriftians
 
 t)f the STUDY of HISTORY. 83 
 
 Chriftians have wandered fo many ages, and 
 itill wander. It is ftrange, but it is true; 
 not only the Jews differ from the Chriftians, 
 but Jews and Chriftians both differ among 
 themfelves, concerning almoft every point 
 that is necefiary to be certainly known and 
 agreed upon, in order to eftablifh the autho- 
 rity of books which both have received al- 
 ready as authentic and facred. So that who- 
 ever takes the pains to read what learned 
 men have wrote on this fubjeft, will find 
 that they leave the matter as doubtful as 
 they took it up. Who were the authors of 
 thefe icriptures, when they were publilhed, 
 how they were competed and preferved, or 
 renewed, to ufe a remarkable expreffion of 
 the famous HUE in his Demonftration; in 
 fine, how they were loft during the captivity, 
 and how they were retrieved after it, are all 
 matters of coritroverfy to this day. 
 
 IT would be eafy for me to defcend into 
 a greater detail, and to convince your 
 lordfhip of what I have been faying in ge- 
 neral by an induction of particulars, even 
 without any other help than that of a few 
 notes which I took when I applied myfelf 
 to this examination, and which now lye 
 before me. But fuch a digrefllon would 
 carry me too far : and I fear that you will 
 F 2 think
 
 84 LETTER III. 
 
 think I have faid already more than enough 
 upon this part of my fubject. I go on 
 therefore to obferve to your lordmip, that if 
 the hiftory of the Old teftament was as 
 exact and authentic, as the ignorance and 
 impudence of Tome Rabbies have made 
 them aflert that it is: if we could believe 
 with them that MOSES wrote every fyllable in 
 the Pentateuch as it now (lands, or that 
 all the pfalms were written by DAVID: nay, 
 if we could believe, with PHILO and JOSE- 
 PHUS, that MOSES wrote the account of his 
 own death and fepulture, and made a 
 fort of a funeral panegyric on himfelf, as 
 we find them in the laft chaper of Deuter- 
 onomy , yet ftill would I venture to afferr, 
 that he who expects to find a fyilem of 
 chronology, t or a thread of hiftory, or fuf- 
 ficient materials for either, in the books of 
 the Old teftamenr, expects to find what the 
 authors of thefe books, whoever they were, 
 never intended. They are extracts of ge- 
 nealogies, not genealogies; extracts of hif- 
 tories, not hiftories. The Jews themfelves 
 allow their genealogies to be very imper- 
 fect, and produce examples of omifTions 
 and errors in them, which denote fuffi- 
 ciently that thefe genealogies are extracts, 
 wherein every generation in the courfe of 
 defcent is not mentioned. I have read fome- 
 where, perhaps in the works of St. JEROME, 
 
 that
 
 Of the STUDV of HISTORY. 85 
 
 that this farther juftifies the opinion of thole 
 who think it impoflible to fix any certain 
 chronology on that of the Bible: and this 
 opinion will be juftified Hill better, to the 
 imderftandmg of every man that confiders 
 how grofly the Jews blunder whenever they 
 meddle with chronology; for this plain rea- 
 fon, becaufe their fcriptures are imperfect 
 in this refpect, and becaufe they rely on 
 their oral, to recYify and fupply their writ- 
 ten, traditions : that is, they rely on tra- 
 ditions compiled long after the canon of 
 their fcriptures, but deemed by them of 
 equal antiquity and authority. Thus, for 
 inftance, DANIEL and SIMON the juit, ac- 
 cording to them, were members at the fame 
 time of the great fynagogue which began 
 and finiflied the canqnof the Old teftament, 
 under the prefidency of ESDRAS. This Es- 
 DRAS was the prophet MALACHI. DARIUS 
 the fon of HYSTASPES was ARTAXERXES 
 LONGIMANUS; he was A ASUERUS, and he 
 was the fame DARIUS whom ALEXANDER 
 conquered. This may ferve as a fample of 
 Jewifti chronology, formed on their fcrip- 
 tures which afford inefficient lights, and 
 on their traditions which afford falfe lights. 
 We are indeed more correct:, and come 
 nearer to the truth in thefe inftances, per- 
 haps in fome others, becaufe we make ufe 
 of prophane chronology to help us. But 
 F 3 pro-
 
 86 LETTER III. 
 
 profane chronology is itfelf fo modern, fa 
 precarious, thai this help does not reach tq 
 the greateft part of that time to which fa- 
 cred chronology extends-, that when it be- 
 gins to help, it begins to perplex us too^ and 
 finally, that even with this help we mould 
 not have had fo much as the appearance of 3 
 complete chronological fyftem, and the fame 
 may be faid of univerfal hiftory, if learned 
 men had not proceeded very wilely, on one 
 uniform maxim, from the firft ages of chrif- 
 tianity, when a cuftom of fanctifying profane 
 learning, as well as prophane rites, which 
 the Jews had imprudently laid afide, was 
 taken up by the Chriftians. The maxim I 
 mean is this, that prophane authority be ad- 
 mitted without fcruple or doubt, whenever 
 it fays, or whenever it can be made to fay, 
 if not " totidem verbis, yet " totidem fyl- 
 " labis," or " totidem literis" at lead, or 
 whenever it can be made by any interpreta- 
 tion to mean, what confirms or fupplies in a 
 confiftent manner, the holy writ ^ and that 
 the fame authority be rejected, when nothing 
 of this kind can be done, but the contra- 
 diction or inconfiftency remains irreconcile- 
 able. Such a liberty as this would not be al- 
 lowed in any other cafe ; becaufe it fuppofes the 
 very thing that is to be proved. But we fee it 
 paken, very properly to be fure, in favour of 
 
 fa c red
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 87 
 
 facred and infallible writings, when they are 
 compared with others. 
 
 IN order to perceive, with the utmoft evi- 
 dence, that the fcope and defign of the au- 
 thor or authors of the Pentateuch, and of 
 the other books of the Old teftament, anfwer 
 as little the purpofe of antiquaries, in hiftory, 
 as in chronology, it will be fufficient briefly 
 to call to mind the fum of what they relate, 
 from the creation of the world, to the eftab- 
 lifhment of the Perfian empire. If the 
 antediluvian world continued one thoufand 
 fix hundred and fifty-fix years, and if the 
 vocation of ABRAHAM is to be placed four 
 hundred and twenty-fix years below the 
 deluge, thefe twenty centuries make almoft 
 two thirds of the period mentioned: and the 
 whole hiftory of them is comprized in 
 eleven fhort chapters of Genefis; which is 
 certainly the moft compendious extract that 
 ever was made. If we examine the contents 
 of thefe chapters, do we find any thing 
 like an univerfal hiftory, or fo much as an 
 abridgement of it? ADAM and EVE were 
 created, they broke the commandment of 
 GOD, they were driven out of the garden of 
 Eden, one of their fons killed his bro- 
 ther, but their race foon multiplied and 
 peopled the earth. What geography now 
 have we, what hiftory of this antediluvian 
 F 4 world?
 
 88 LETTER III. 
 
 world ? Why, none. The fons of GOD, it 
 is faid, lay with the daughters of men, and 
 begot giants, and GOD drowned all the inha- 
 bitants of the earth, except one family. 
 .After this we read, that the earth was re- 
 peopled ; but thefe children of one family 
 were divided into feveral languages, even 
 whilft they lived together, fpoke the fame 
 language, and were employed in the fame 
 work. Out of one of the countries into 
 which they difperfed themfelves, in Chaldea, 
 God called ABRAHAM fome time afterwards, 
 with magnificent promifes, and conducted 
 him to a country called Canaan. Did this 
 author, my lord, intend an univerfal hiftory? 
 Certainly not. The tenth chapter of Gene- 
 fis names indeed fome of the generations 
 descending from the fons of NOAH, fome 
 of the cities founded, and fome of the coun- 
 tries planted by them. But what are bare 
 names, naked of circumltances, without 
 defcriptions of countries, or relations of 
 events? they furnifh matter only for guefs 
 and difpute; and even the fimilitude of 
 them, which is often ufed as a clue to lead 
 us to the difcovery of historical truth, has 
 notorioufly contributed to propagate error, 
 and to encreafe the perplexity of ancient tra- 
 dition. Thefe imperfect and dark accounts 
 have not furnifhed matter for guefs and dif- 
 pute alone j but a much worfe ufs has been 
 
 made
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 89 
 
 made of them by Jewilh Rabbles, Chriftian 
 fathers, and Mahometan doctors, in their 
 
 Erophane cxtenfions of this part of the Mo- 
 lic hiftory. The creation of the firft man 
 is defcribed by fome, as if, Preadamites, 
 they had aflifted at it. They talk of his 
 beauty as if they had feen him, of his gi- 
 gantic fize as if they had meafured him, and 
 of his prodigious knowledge as if they had 
 converfed with him. They point out the 
 very fpot where EVE laid her head the firft 
 time he enjoyed her. They have minutes 
 of the whole converfation between this mo- 
 ther of mankind, who damned her chil' 
 dren before (he bore them, and the ferpenr. 
 Some are pofitive that CAIN quarrelled with 
 ABEL about a point of doctrine, and others 
 affirm that the difpute arofe about a 
 girl. A great deal of fuch fluff may be 
 eafily collected about ENOCH, about NOAH, 
 ana about the fons of NOAH-, but I wave 
 any farther mention of fuch impertinen- 
 cies as BONZES or TALAPOINS would almoft 
 blum to relate. Upon the whole matter, 
 if we may guefs at the defign of an author, 
 by the contents of his book, the delign of 
 MOSES, or of the author of the hiftory 
 afcribed to him, in this part of it, was to 
 inform the people of Ifrael of their defcent 
 from NOAH by SHEM, and of NOAH'S from 
 ADAM by SETH; to illuftrate their original; 
 
 to
 
 9 o LETTER III. 
 
 to eflablifh their claim to the land of Canaan, 
 and to juftify all the cruelties committed by 
 JOSHUA in the conqueft of the Canaanites, 
 in whom, fays BOCHART, " the prophecy 
 " of NOAH was completed, when they were 
 " fubdued by the Ifraelites, who had been fo 
 " long (laves to the Egyptians." 
 
 ALLOW me to make, as I go along, a 
 ihort reflection or two on this prophecy, 
 and the completion of it, as they (land re- 
 corded in the Pentateuch, out of many that 
 might be made. The terms of the pro- 
 phecy then are not very clear: and the curfe 
 pronounced in it contradicts all our notions 
 of order and of juftice. One is tempted to 
 think, that the patriarch was itill drunk ; 
 and that no man in his fenfes could hold 
 fuch language, or pafs fuch a fentence. 
 Certain it is, that no writer but a Jew could 
 impute to the oeconomy of divine providence 
 theaccomplimment of fuch a prediction, nor 
 make the Supreme Being the executor of 
 fuch a curfe. 
 
 HAM alone offended, Canaan was in- 
 nocent j for the Hebrew and other doc- 
 tors, who would make the ion an accom- 
 plice with his father, affirm not only with- 
 out, but againft, the exprefs authority of 
 the text. CANAAN was however alone 
 
 curfed :
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 91 
 
 curfed: and he became, . according to his 
 grandfather's prophecy, " a fervant of fer- 
 " vants," that is, the vi'eft and worft of 
 flaves (for I take thefe words in a fenfe, if 
 not the moft natural, the moft favourable 
 to the prophecy, and the leaft abfurd) to 
 SHEM, though not to JAPHET, when the If- 
 raelues conquered Paleftine ; to one of his 
 uncles, not to his brethren. Will it be faid 
 it has been faid that where we read CANA- 
 AN, we are to underftand HAM, whofe bre- 
 thren SHEM and JAPHET were? At this rate, 
 we Ihall never know what we read: as thefe 
 critics never care what they fay. Will it 
 be faid this has been laid toothat HAM 
 was punifhed in his pofterity, when CANAAN 
 was curfed, and his defcendants were exter- 
 mined ? But who does not fee that the 
 curfe, ajid the pwnifhment, in this cafe, 
 fell on CANAAN and his pofterity, exclu- 
 fively of the reft of the pofterity of HAM; 
 and were therefore the curie and punifh- 
 ment of the fon, not of the father, properly? 
 The defcendants of MESRAIM, another of 
 his fons, were the Egyptians: and they 
 were fo far from being iervar.ts of fervants 
 to their coufins the SEMITES, that thefe were 
 f.-rvants of fervants to them, during more 
 than fourfcore years. Why the pofterity 
 of CANAAN was to be deemed an accurfed 
 race, it is eafy to account; and I have 
 
 men-
 
 92 LETTER III. 
 
 mentioned it juft now. But it is not fo 
 eaiy to account, why the pofterity of the 
 righteous SHEM, that great example of filial 
 reverence, became Haves to another branch 
 of the family of HAM. 
 
 IT would not be worth while to lengthen 
 this tedious letter, by fetting down any 
 more of the contents of the hiftory of the 
 bible. Your lordfhip may pleafe to call the 
 fubftance of it to your mind; and your 
 native candour and love of truth will oblige 
 you then to confefs, that thefe facred books 
 do not aim, in any part of them, at any 
 thing like univerfal chronology and hiftory. 
 They contain a very imperfect account of the 
 Ifraelites themfelves; of their fettlement in 
 the land of promife, of which, by the way, 
 they never had entire, and fcarce ever peace- 
 able pofiefiion; of their divifions, apofta- 
 cies, repentances, relapfes, triumphs, and 
 defeats und<?r the occafional government 
 of their judges, and under that of their 
 kings ; of the Galilean and Samaritan cap- 
 tivites, into which they were carried by 
 the kings of AfTyria, and of that which 
 was brought on the remnant of this people 
 when the kingdom of Judah was deftroyed 
 by thofe princes who governed the empire, 
 founded on the union of Nineveh and Ba- 
 bylon. Theie things are all related, your 
 
 lord-
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 93 
 
 lordfhip knows, in a very fummary and 
 confufed manner: and we learn fo little of 
 other nations by thefe accounts, that if we 
 did not borrow fome light from the tradi- 
 tions of other nations, we mould fcarce 
 underftand them. One particular obferva- 
 tion, and but one, I will make, to (hew 
 what knowledge in the hiftory of mankind, 
 and in the computation of time, may be 
 expected from thefe books. The Aflyrians 
 were their neighbours, powerful neighbours, 
 with whom they had much and long to 
 do. Of this empire therefore, if of any 
 thing, we might hope to find fome fatisfac- 
 tory account. What do we find? The 
 fcripture takes no notice of any AfTyrian 
 kingdom, till juft before the time when 
 prophane hiftory makes that empire to end. 
 Ihen we hear of PHUL, of TEGLATH-PHA- 
 LASSER, who was perhaps the lame perfon, 
 and of SALMANASER, who took Samaria in 
 the twelfth of the asra of NABONASSER, that 
 is, twelve years after the Affyrian empire 
 was no more. SENACHERIB fucceeds to 
 him, and ASSERHADDON to SENACHERIB. 
 What (hall we fay to this apparent con- 
 trariety ? If the filence of the bible creates a 
 rtrong prefumption againft the firft, may 
 not the filence of prophane authority create 
 fome againft the fecond Aflyrian Monarchs ? 
 The pains that are taken to perfuade, that 
 
 there
 
 94 LETTER 111. 
 
 there is room enough between SARDANAPA-^ 
 LUS and CYRUS for the fecond, will not 
 refolve the difficulty. Something much 
 more plaufible may be faid, but even this 
 will be hypothetical, and liable to great 
 contradiction. So that upon the whole 
 matter, the fcriptures are fo far from giving 
 us light into general hiftory, that they en- 
 creafe the obfcurity even of thofe parts to 
 which they have the neareft relation. We 
 have therefore neither in prophane nor in 
 facred authors fuch authentic, clear, diftinct, 
 and full accounts of the originals of ancient 
 nations, and of the great events of thofe 
 ages that are commonly called the firft ages, 
 as deferve to go by the name of hiftory, or as 
 afford fufficient materials for chronology and 
 hiftory. 
 
 I MIGHT now proceed to obferve to your 
 lordfhip how this has happened, not only by the 
 neceflary confequences of human nature, and 
 the ordinary courfe of human affairs, but by 
 the policy, artifice, corruption, and folly of 
 mankind. But this would be to heap digref- 
 fion upon digreflion, and to prefume too much 
 on your patience. I mail therefore content 
 myfelf to apply thefe reflections on the (late of 
 ancient hiftory to the ftudy of hiftory, and to 
 the method to be obferved in it: as foon as 
 your lordfhip has refted yourfelf a little after 
 reading, and I after writing fo long a letter.
 
 OF THE 4 ' 
 
 STUDY OF HISTORY. 
 L E T*T E R IV. 
 
 I. That there is in hiftory fufficient authen- 
 ticity to render it ufeful, notwithftanding 
 all objections to the contrary. 
 
 II. Of the method and due reftrictions to 
 
 be obferved in the ftudy of it. 
 
 WHETHER the letter I now begin to 
 write will be long or fhort, I know 
 not : but I find my memory is refrefhed, my 
 imagination warmed, and matter flows in fo 
 faft upon me, that I have not time to prefs 
 it clofe. Since therefore you have provoked 
 me to write, you muft be content to take 
 what follows. 
 
 I have obferved already, that we are apt 
 naturally to apply to ourfelves what has 
 happened to other men, and that examples 
 take their force from hence; as well thofe 
 which hiftory, as thofe which experience, 
 offers to our reflection. What we do not 
 believe to have happened therefore, we fhall 
 
 not
 
 9 6 L E T T E R IV. 
 
 not thus ipply: and for want of the fame 
 application, fuch examples will not have 
 the fame effect. Antient hiftory, fuch an- 
 cient hiftory as I have defcribed, is quite unfit 
 therefore in this refpec"? to anfwer the 
 ends that every reafonable man mould pro- 
 pofe to himfelf in this ftudy; becaufe fuch 
 ancient hiftory will never gain fufficient cre- 
 dit with any reafonable man. A tale 
 well told, or a comedy or a tragedy well 
 wrought up, may have a momentary effect 
 upon the mind, by heating the imagination, 
 furprizing the judgment, and affecting 
 ftrongly the paffions. The Athenians are 
 faid to be tranfported into a kind of martial 
 phrenzy by the reprefentation of a tragedy 
 of jfEscHYLtrs, and to have marched under 
 this influence from the theatre to the plains 
 of MARATHON. Thefe momentary impref- 
 fions might be managed, for aught I know, 
 in fuch manner as to contribute a little, by 
 frequent repetitions of them, towards main- 
 taining a kind of habitual contempt of folly, 
 detention of vice, and admiration of virtue 
 in well-policed common-wealths. But then 
 thefe impreflions cannot be made, nor this 
 little effect be wrought, unlefs the fables bear 
 an appearance of truth. When they bear 
 this appearance, reafon connives at the inno- 
 cent fraud of imagination; reafon difpenfes, 
 
 in
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 97 
 
 in favour of probability, with thole ftrict 
 rules of criticifm that flie has eftablifhed to 
 try the truth of fad:: but, after all, fhe 
 receives thefe fables as fables; and as fuch 
 only me permits imagination to make the 
 mott of them. If they pretended to be hif- 
 tory, they would be foon fubjected to ano- 
 ther and more fevere examination. What 
 may have happened, is the matter of an in- 
 genious fable: what has happened, is that 
 of an authentic hiftory: the impreflions 
 which one or the other makes are in pro- 
 portion. When imagination grows lawlcfs 
 and wild, rambles out of the precincts of 
 nature, and tells of heroes and giants, fai- 
 ries and enchanters, of events and of phas- 
 nomena repugnant to univerfal experience, 
 to our cleared and moft diftinct ideas, and 
 to all the known laws of nature, reafon does 
 not connive a moment; bur, far from re- 
 ceiving fuch narrations as hiftorica), fhe 
 rejects them as unworthy to be placed even 
 among the fabulous. Such narrations there- 
 fore cannot make the flighteft momen- 
 tary impreflions on a mind fraught with 
 knowledge, and void of fuperftition. Im- 
 pofed by authority, and aflifted by artifice, 
 the delulion hardly prevails over common 
 fenfe ; blind ignorance almoft Ices, and raili 
 fuperftition hedtates: nothing Ids than en- 
 G ihufiafm
 
 9 S L E T T E R IV. 
 
 thufiafm and phrenfy can give credit to fuch 
 hiftories, or apply fuch examples. Don 
 (^UIXOTE believed j but even SANCHO 
 doubted. 
 
 WHAT I have faid will not be much con- 
 troverted by any man who has read AMA- 
 DIS of Gaul, or has examined our ancient 
 traditions without prepoffefiion. The truth 
 is, the principal difference between them 
 feems to be this. In AMADIS of Gaul, we 
 have a thread of abfurdities that are invented 
 without any regard to probability, and 
 that lay no claim to belief: ancient tradi- 
 tions are an heap of fables, under which 
 fome particular truths, inicrutable, and 
 therefore ufelefs to mankind, may lie con- 
 cealed; which have a juft pretence to no- 
 thing more, and yet impofe themfelves upon 
 us, and become, under the venerable name 
 of ancient hiftory, the foundations of mo- 
 dern fables, the materials with which fo 
 many fyftems of fancy have been creeled. 
 
 BUT now, as men are apt to carry their 
 judgments into extremes, there are fome 
 that will be ready to infift that all hiftory 
 is fabulous, and that the very beft is no- 
 thing better than a probable tale, artfully 
 contrived, and plaufibly told, wherein truth 
 
 and
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 99 
 
 and fallhood are indiftinguifhably blended 
 together. All the inftances, and all the 
 common-place argument, that BAYLE and 
 others have employed to eftablifh this fort 
 of Pyrrhonifm, will be quoted t and from 
 thence it will be concluded, that if the pre- 
 tended hiftories of the firft ages, and of the 
 originals of nations, be too improbable and 
 too ill-vouched to procure any degree of 
 belief, thofe hiftories that have been wrote 
 later, that carry a greater air of probability, 
 and that boaft even cotemporary authority, 
 are at lead infufficient to gain that degree of 
 firm belief, which is neceflary to render the 
 ftudy of them ufeful to mankind. But here 
 that happens which often happens: the pre- 
 mifes are true, and the conclufion is falfe-, 
 becaufe a general axiom is eftablifhed preca- 
 rioufly on a certain number of partial ob- 
 fervations. This matter is of confequence-, 
 for it tends to afcertain the degrees of affer.t 
 that we may give to hiftory. 
 
 I agree then, that hiftory has been pur- 
 pofely and fyftcmatically falfified in all ages, 
 and that partiality and prejudice have oc- 
 cafioned both voluntary and involuntary 
 errors even in the beft. Let me fay with- 
 out offence, my lord, fince I may fay it 
 G 2 with
 
 joo LETTER IV. 
 
 with truth, and am able to prove it, that ec- 
 ciefiatlical authority has led the way to this 
 corruption in all ages, and all religions. 
 How monftrous were the abfurdities that 
 the priefthood impofed on the ignorance 
 and itiperftition of mankind, in the Pagan 
 world, concerning the originals of religions 
 and governments, their inftitutions and 
 rites, their laws and cuftoms? What op- 
 portunities had they for fuch impofitions, 
 whilit the keeping the records and collect- 
 ing the traditions was in fo many nations 
 the peculiar office of this order of men ? 
 A cuftom highly extolled by JOSEPH us, but 
 plainly liable to the groffelt frauds, and 
 even a temptation to them. If the founda- 
 tions of Judaifm and Chriftianity have been 
 lai'd in truth, yet what numberlefs fables 
 have been invented to raife, to embellifh, 
 and to lupport theie ftructures, according 
 to the intereft and tafte of the feveral ar- 
 chitects? That the Jews have been guilty of 
 this will be allowed : and, to the fhame of 
 Chriftians, if not of Chriftianity, the fa- 
 thers of one church have no right to throw 
 the firft (lone at the fathers of the other. 
 Deliberate fyftematical lying has been prac- 
 tiied and encouraged from age to agej and 
 among all the pious frauds that have been 
 employed to maintain a reverence and zeal 
 
 for
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 101 
 
 for their religion in the minds of men, this 
 abufe of hiftory has been one of the prin- 
 cipal and moft fuccefsful: an evident and 
 experimental proof by the way, of what I 
 have infilled upon fo much, the aptitude and 
 natural tendency of hiftory to form our 
 opinions, and to fettle our habits. This 
 righteous expedient was in fo much ufe 
 and repute in the Greek church, that one 
 METAPHRASTUS wrote a treatife on the art 
 of compofing holy romances : the fact, if I 
 remember right, is cited by BAILLET in his 
 book of the lives of the faints. He and 
 other learned men of the Roman church 
 have thought it of fervice to their caufe, 
 fince the refurrection of letters, to detect 
 fome importers, and to depofe, or to un- 
 niche, (according to the French expreffion,) 
 now and then a reputed faint; but they feem 
 in doing this, to mean no more than a fort 
 of compofition: they give up fome fables 
 that they may defend others with greater 
 advantage, and they make truth ferve as a 
 italking-horfe to error. The fame fpirit, 
 that prevailed in the Eaftern church, pre- 
 vailed in the Weftern, and prevails ftill. 
 A ftrong proof of it appeared lately in the 
 country where I am. A fudden fury of 
 devotion feized the people of Paris for a 
 G 3 little
 
 io2 LETTER IV. 
 
 little prieft*, undiftinguimed during his 
 life and dubbed a faint by the Janlenifts 
 after his death. Had the firft minirter 
 been a Janfenift, the faint had been a faint 
 ftill. All France had kept his fettival: 
 and, fince there are thoufands of eye-wit- 
 neffes ready to atteft the truth of all the 
 miracles fuppofed to have been wrought at 
 his tomb, notwithftanding the difcourage- 
 ment which thefe zealots have met with 
 from the government; we may affure our- 
 felves, that thefe filly impoftors would have 
 been tranfmitted in all the folemn pomp of 
 hittory, from the knaves of this age to the 
 fools of the next. 
 
 THIS lying fpirit has gone forth from 
 ecclefiaftical to other hiftorians: and I 
 might fill many pages with inftances of extra- 
 vagant fables that have been invented in 
 feveral nations, to celebrate their antiquity, to 
 ennoble their originals, and to make them 
 appear illuftrious in the arts of peace and 
 the triumphs of war. When the brain is 
 well heated, and devotion or vanity, the 
 femblance of virtue or real vice, and, above 
 all, difputes and contefts, have infpired 
 that complication of paflions we term ?ea1, 
 
 * T.he abbe Paris. 
 
 the
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 103 
 
 the effects are much the fame, and hiftory 
 becomes very often a lying panegyric or a 
 lying fatire; for different nations, or different 
 parties in the fame nation, belie one another 
 without any refpecl for truth, as they mur- 
 der one another without any regard to right 
 or fenfe of humanity. Religious zeal may 
 boaft this horrid advantage over civil zeal, 
 that the effects of it have been more fangui- 
 nary, and the malice more unrelenting. In 
 another refpecl they are more alike, and keep 
 a nearer proportion : different religions have 
 not been quite fo barbarous to one another, 
 as feds of the fame religion ; and, in like 
 manner, nation has had better quarter from 
 nation, than party from party. But, in all 
 thefe controverfies, men have pufhed their 
 rage beyond their own and their adverfaries 
 lives: they have endeavoured to intereft 
 pofterity in their quarrels, and by render- 
 ing hiftory fubfervient to this wicked pur- 
 pofe, they have done their utmoft to per- 
 petuate fcandal, and to immortalize their 
 animofity. The Heathen taxed the Jews 
 even with idolatry,' the Jews joined with 
 the Heathen to render Chriftianity odious: 
 but the church, who beat them at their 
 own weapons during thefe contefts, has had 
 this further triumph over them, as well as 
 over the feveral feds that have ariien within 
 G 4 her
 
 104 L E T T E R IV. 
 
 her own pale: the works of thofe who 
 have wrote againft her have been deftroyed; 
 and whatever (he advanced, to juftify her- 
 felf, and to defame her adverfaries, is pre- 
 ferved in her annals, and the writings of 
 her doctors. 
 
 THE charge of corrupting hiftory, in the 
 caufe of religion, has been always com- 
 mitted to the moft famous champions, 
 and greateft faints of each church; and, if 
 I was not more afraid of tiring, than of 
 fcandalizing your lordfhip, I could quote to 
 you examples of modern churchmen, who 
 have endeavoured to juftify foul language 
 by the New teftament, and cruelty by the 
 Old: nay, what is execrable beyond ima- 
 gination, and what ftrikes horror into 
 every mind that entertains due fentiments 
 of the fupreme Being, GOD himfelf has 
 been cited for rallying and infulting ADAM 
 after his fall. In other cafes, this charge 
 belongs to the pedants of every nation, and 
 the tools of every party. What accufations 
 of idolatry and fuperftition have not been 
 brought, and aggravated againft the Maho- 
 metans? Thole wretched Chriftians who 
 returned from thofe wars, io improperly 
 called the holy wars, rumoured thefe fto- 
 ries about the Weft : and you may find, in 
 
 fome
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 105 
 
 fome of the old chroniclers and romance- 
 writers, as well as poets, the Saracens called 
 Paynims-, though iurely they were much fur- 
 ther off from any fufpicion of Polytheifm, 
 than thofe who called them by that name. 
 When MAHOMET the fecond took Conftan- 
 tinople in the fifteenth century, the Ma- 
 hometans began to be a little better, and 
 but a little better known, than they had 
 been before, to thefe parts of the world. 
 But their religion, as well as their cuftoms 
 and manners, was ftrangely mifreprefented 
 by the Greek refugees that fled from the 
 Turks: and the terror and hatred which 
 this people had infpired by the rapidity of 
 their conqueils, and by their ferocity, made 
 all thefe ruireprefentations umverfally pafs 
 for truths. Many fuch inftances may be 
 collected from MARACCIO'S refutation of 
 the Koran, and RELANDUS has publiflied 
 a very valuable trratife on purpoie to 
 refute thefe calumnies, and to jufiify the 
 Mahometans. Does not this example in- 
 cline your lordfhip to think, that the Hea- 
 thens, and the Arians, and other heretics, 
 would not appear quite fo abfurd in 
 their opinions, nor fo abominable in their 
 practice, as the orthodox Chriftians have 
 reptefented them; if fome RELANDUS 
 could arife, with the materials neceflary 
 
 to
 
 io6 L E T T E R IV. 
 
 to their juftification in his hands? He 
 who refledb on the circumftances that at- 
 tended letters, from the time whenCoNSTAN- 
 TINE, inftead of uniting the charadlers of em- 
 peror and iovereign pontiff in himfelf, when 
 he became Chrittian, as tl.cy were united in 
 him and all the other emperors in the Pagaa 
 fyftem of government, gavefo much indepen- 
 dent wealth and power to the clergy, and 
 the means of acquiring fo much more: he 
 who carries thefe reflections on through all 
 the latter empire, and through thole ages of 
 ignorance and iuperftition, wherein it was 
 hard to lay which was greateit, the tyranny 
 of the clergy, or the Servility of the laity: 
 he who conliders the extreme feverity, for 
 inftance, of the laws made by THEODOSIUS 
 in order to ftifie every writing that the ortho- 
 dox clergy, that is, the clergy then in fafhion, 
 difiiked j or the character and influence of 
 ibch a pried as GKEGORY called the great, 
 who proclaimed war to all heathen learning in 
 order to promote Christian verity ; and flat- 
 ered -BRUNEHAULT, and abetted PHOCAS : 
 he who confiders all theie things, I fay, will 
 not be at a lois to iind the reafons, why 
 hiflory, both that which was wrote before, 
 and a great part of that which has been 
 wrote fince the Cliriftian asra, is come to us 
 
 10 janper/ict cud iv corrupt. 
 
 WHEN
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTOHV. 107 
 
 WHEN the imperfection is due to a total 
 want of memorials, either becaufe none 
 were originally written, or becaufe they 
 have been loft by devaftations of countries, 
 extirpations of people, and other accidents 
 in a long courfe of time; or becaufe zeal, 
 malice, and policy have joined their en- 
 deavours to deftroy them purpofely; we 
 muft be content to remain in our ignorance, 
 and there is no great harm in that. Se- 
 cure from being deceived, I can fubmit to 
 be uninformed. But when there is not a 
 total want of memorials, when fome have 
 been loft or deftroyed, and others have 
 been prefer ved and propagated, then we 
 are in danger of being deceived: and there- 
 fore he muft be very implicit indeed, who 
 receives for true, the hiftory of any religion 
 or nation, and much more that of any feet 
 or party, without having the means of con- 
 fronting it with fome other hiftory. A rea- 
 i'onable man will not be thus implicit. He 
 will not eftablilh the truth of hiftory on 
 Jingle, but on concurrent teftimony. If 
 there be none fuch, he will doubt abfolute- 
 ly: if there be a little fuch, he will pro- 
 portion his afTent or difient accordingly. 
 A fmall gleam of light, borrowed from 
 foreign anecdotes, ferves often to difcover a 
 whole fyftem of falfhood: and even they 
 
 who
 
 io8 L E T T E R IV. 
 
 who corrupt hiftory, frequently betray 
 themfelves by their ignorance or inadver- 
 tency. Examples whereof I could eafily 
 produce. Upon the whole matter, in all 
 thefe cafes we cannot be deceived efTentially, 
 unlefs we pleafe : and therefore there is 
 no reafon to eftablifh Pyrrhonifrn, that we 
 may avoid the ridicule of credulity. 
 
 IN all other cafes, there is lefs reafon ftill 
 to do lb; for when hiftories and hiftorical 
 memorials abound, even thofe that are falfe, 
 ferve to the difcovery of the truth. In- 
 fpired by different paflions, and contrived 
 for oppofite purpofes, they contradict ; 
 and, contradicting, they convict one ano- 
 ther. Criticifm feparates the ore from the 
 drofs, and extracts from various authors 
 a feries of true hiftory, which could not 
 have been found entire in any one of them, 
 and will command our afient, when it is 
 formed with judgment, and reprefented 
 with candour. If this may be done, as ic 
 has been done fometimes, with the help of 
 authors who wrote on purpofe to deceive-, 
 how much more eafily, and more effectu- 
 ally rnay it be done, with the help of thofe 
 who paid a greater regard to truth? In a 
 multitude of writers there will be always 
 fome, either incapable of grofs prevarica- 
 tion
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 109 
 
 tion from the fear of being difcovered, and 
 of acquiring infamy whilft they- leek for 
 fame , or elfc attached to truth upon a no- 
 bler and furer principle. It is certain that 
 thefe, even the laft of them, are fallible. 
 Bribed by ibme paflion or other, the former 
 may venture now and then to propagate a 
 fallhood, or to difguife a truth; like the 
 painter that drew in profile, as LUCIAN 
 Jays, the picture of a prince that had but 
 one eye. MONTAGNE objects to the memo- 
 rials of DIJ BELL AY, that though the grofs 
 of the facts be truly related, yet thefe au- 
 thors turned every thing they mentioned to 
 the advantage of their matter, and men- 
 tioned nothing which could not be fo 
 turned. The old fellow's words are worth 
 quoting, " De contourner le jugement, 
 " des evenemens fouvene centre raifon a 
 " notre avantage, & d'obmettre tout ce 
 " qui'il y a dc chatouilleux en la vie dc 
 " leur mailtre, ils en font meftier." Thefe, 
 and fuch as thefe, deviate occafionally and 
 voluntarily from truth-, but even they 
 who are attached to it the mod religiouQy 
 may flide ibmetimes into involuntary error. 
 In matters of hiftory we prefer very juftly 
 cotemporary authority-, and yet cotempo- 
 rary authors are the moft liable to be 
 warped from the ftraight rule of truth, in 
 
 writing
 
 no LETTER IV. 
 
 writing on fubjects which have affected them 
 ftrongly, " et quorum pars magna fuerunt." 
 I am fo perfuaded of this^ from what I have 
 felt in myfelf, and obferved in others, that 
 if life and health enough fall to my mare, 
 and I am able to finifti what I meditate, a 
 kind of hiftory from the lateL-cjueen's accef- 
 fion to the throne, to the peace of Utrecht, 
 there will be no materials that I mall exa- 
 mine more fcrupuloufly and feverely, than 
 thofe of the time when the events to be 
 fpoken of were in. tranfaction. But though 
 the writers of thefe two forts, both of whom 
 pay as much regard to truth as the various 
 infirmities of our nature admit, are fallible; 
 yet this fallibility will not be fufficient to 
 give colour to Pyrrhonifm. Where their fin- 
 cerity as to fact is doubtful, we ftrike 
 out truth by the confrontation of different 
 accounts : as we ftrike out fparks of fire by 
 the collifion of flints and fteel. Where their 
 judgments are fufpicious of partiality, we 
 may judge for ourfelves; or adopt their 
 judgments, after weighing them with cer- 
 tain grains of allowance. A little natural 
 fagacity will proportion thefe grains accord- 
 ing to the particular circumftances of the 
 authors, or their general characters; for 
 even thefe influence. Thus MONTAGNE 
 pretends, but he exaggerates a little, that 
 
 Guic-
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY, in 
 
 GUICCIARDIN no where afcribes any one 
 action to a virtuous, but every one to a 
 vicious principle. Something like this has 
 been reproached to TACITUS : and, not- 
 withftanding all the fprightly loofe obferva- 
 tions of MONTAGNE in one of his efiays, 
 where he labours to prove the contrary, 
 read PLUTARCH'S companions in what lan- 
 guage you pleafe: I am of BODIN'S mind, 
 you will perceive that they were made by a 
 Greek. In fhort, my lord, the favourable 
 opportunites of corrupting hiftory have 
 been often interrupted, and are now over in 
 fo many countries, that truth penetrates 
 even into thofe where lying continues (till to 
 be part of the policy ecclefiaftical and civil; or 
 where, to fay the bed we can fay, truth is ne- 
 ver fuffered to appear, till (he has pafled 
 through hands, out of which Ihe feldom re- 
 turns entire and undefiled. 
 
 BUT it is time I fliould conclude this 
 head, under which I have touched fome 
 of thofe reafons that fhew the folly of endea- 
 vouring to eftablifli univerfal Pyrrhonifm 
 in matters of hiftory, becaufe there are few 
 hiftories without fome lies, and none with- 
 out fomc miftakes; and that prove the 
 body of hiftory which \ve pofiefs, fince an- 
 cient
 
 ii2 L E T T E R IV. 
 
 cient memorials have been fo critically exa- 
 mined, and modern memorials have been 
 fo multiplied, to contain in it fuch a pro- 
 bable feries of events eafily diftingnilhablc 
 from the improbable, as force the aflent of 
 every man who is in his fenfes, and are 
 therefore fufficient to anfwer all the purpofes 
 of the ftudy of hiftory. I might have 
 appealed perhaps without entering into the 
 argument at all, to any man of candour 
 whether his doubts concerning the truth of 
 liiftory have hindered him from applying 
 the examples he has met with in it, aad 
 from judging of the preient, and fome- 
 times of the future, by the paft ? whether 
 he has not been touched with reverence and 
 admiration, at the virtue and wifdom of 
 lome men, and of fome ages j and whe- 
 ther he has not felt indignation and con~ 
 tempt for others ? whether EPAMINONDAS, 
 or PHOCION, for initance, the DECII, or 
 the SCIPIOS, have not raifed in -his mind a 
 flame of public fpirit, and private virtue ? 
 and whether he has not fhuddered with 
 horror at the prefcriptions of MARIUS and 
 SYLLA, at the treachery of THEODOTUS 
 and ACHILLAS, and at the confummate 
 cruelty of an infant king ? Quis non con- 
 " tra Marii arma, et contra Syllas pro- 
 
 " fcrip-
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY, nj 
 
 '* fcripdonem concitatur? Quis non THEO- 
 * DOTO, et ACHILLA, et ipfi puero, non 
 *' puerile aufo facinus, infeftus eft ?" If 
 -all this be a digrefiion therefore, y6ur lord- 
 lliip will be fo good as to excufe it. 
 
 II. WHAT has been faid concerning the 
 multiplicity of hiftories, and of hiftorical 
 memorials wherewith our libraries abound 
 fince the refurreclion of letters happenedj 
 and the art of printing began, puts me in 
 mind of another general rule, that ought 
 to be obferved by every man who intends 
 to make a real improvement, and to become 
 wifer as well as better, by the ftudy of 
 hiftory. 1 hinted at this rule in a former 
 letter, where I faid that we mould neither 
 grope in the dark, nor wander in the 
 light. Hiftory muft have a certain degree 
 of probability, and authenticity, or the ex- 
 amples we find in it will not carry a force 
 fufficient to make due impreflions on our 
 minds, nor to illuftrate nor to ftrehgthen 
 the precepts of philofophy and the rules of 
 good policy. But befides, when hiftories 
 have this necefiary authenticity and proba- 
 bility, there is much difcernmcnt to be em- 
 ployed in the choice and the ufe we make 
 of them. Some are to be read, fome are 
 to be ftudied; and fome may be neglected 
 H eniirei.y,
 
 ii 4 LETTER IV. 
 
 entirely, not only without detriment, but 
 with advantage. Some are the proper ob- 
 je6ts of one man's curiofity, fome of ano- 
 ther's, and fome of all men's, but all hiftory 
 is not an object of curiofity for any man. 
 He who improperly, wantonly, and ab- 
 furdly makes it fo ; indulges a fort of canine 
 appetite : the curiofity of one, like the 
 hunger of the other, devours ravenoufly and 
 without diftinction whatever falls in it's 
 way, but neither of them digefts. They 
 heap crudity upon crudity, and nourifh 
 and improve nothing but their diftemper. 
 Some fuch characters I have known, though 
 it is not the moft common extreme into 
 which men are apt to fall. One of them I 
 knew in this country. He joined, to a more 
 than athletic ftrength of body, a prodigious 
 memory; and to both a prodigious induftry. 
 He had read almoft conftantly twelve or 
 fourteen hours a day, for five and twenty 
 or thirty years ; and had heaped together as 
 much learning as could be crowded into an 
 head. In the courfe of my acquaintance 
 with him, I confulted him once or twice, 
 not oftener; for I found this mafs of learn- 
 ing of as little ufe to me as to the owner. 
 The man was communicative enough; but 
 nothing was diftinct in his mind. How 
 could it be otherwife ? he had never fpared 
 
 time
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 115 
 
 time to think, all was employed in reading. 
 His reafon had not the merit of common 
 mechanifm. When you prefs a watch or 
 pull a clock, they anfwer your queftion 
 with prccifion; for they repeat exactly the 
 hour of the day, and tell you neither more 
 nor lefs than you defire to know. But whf n 
 youafked this manaqueftion, heoverwhelmed 
 you by pouring forth all that the feveral 
 terms or words of your queftion recalled to 
 his memory : and if he omitted any thing, 
 it was that very thing to which the fenfe of 
 the whole queftion, fhould have led him and 
 confined him. To afk him- a queftion, was 
 to wind up a fpring in his memory, that 
 rattled on with vaft rapidity, and confufed 
 noile, till the force of it was fpent: and you 
 went away with all the noife in your ears, 
 ftunned and un-informed. I never left him 
 that I was not ready to fay to him, " Dieu 
 " vous fafle la grace de devenir moins fa- 
 " vant!" a wi(h that LA MOTHE LE VAYER 
 mentions upon fome occafion or other, and 
 that he would have done well to have ap- 
 plied to hknfelf upon many. 
 
 HE who reads with difcernment and 
 choice, will acquire lefs learning, but more 
 knowledge: and as this kowledge is col- 
 lected with defign, and cultivated with arc 
 H 2 and
 
 n6 LETTER IV. 
 
 and method, it will be at all times of irrf- 
 mediate and ready ufe to himfclf and others 
 
 Thus ufeful arms in magazines we place, 
 All rang'd in order ; and difpos'd with grace : 
 Nor thus alone the curious eye to pleafe ; 
 But to be found, when need requires, with cafe: 
 
 You remember the verfes, my lord, in our 
 friend's Eflay on criticifm, which was the 
 work of his childhood almoft ; but is fuch 
 a monument of good fenfe and poetry as 
 no other, that I know, has raifed in his riper 
 years. 
 
 HE who reads without this difcernment 
 and choice, and, like BODIN'S pupil, refolves 
 to read all, will not have time, no nor ca- 
 pacity neither, to do any thing elfe. He 
 will not be able to thinkj without which it 
 is impertinent to readj nor to aft, without 
 which it rs impertinent to think. He will 
 affemble materials with much pains, and pur- 
 chafe them at much expence, and have neU 
 ther leifure nor (kill to frame them into pro-* 
 per fcantlings, or to prepare them for ufe. 
 To what purpofe mould he hu-fband his time, 
 or learn architecture? he has no defign to 
 build. But then to what purpofe all thefc 
 quarries of flone, all theie mountains oi 
 fand and lime, ail thefc forefts of oak and 
 
 deal?
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 117 
 deal? " Magno impendio temporum, mag- 
 " na alienarum aurium moleftia, laudatio 
 " hasc conftat, O hominern literatum ! 
 " Simus hoc citulo rufticiore content!, O 
 " virum bonum!" We may add, and SE- 
 NECA might have added in his own ftile, 
 and according to the manners and charac- 
 ters of his own age, another title as ruftic, 
 and as little in faftuon, " O virum fapiemia 
 " fua firnplicem, et fimplicitate fua fapien- 
 " tern ! O virum utilem fibi, fuis, reipub- 
 *' licse, et humano generi!" I have faid 
 perhap* already, but no matter, it cannot 
 be repeated too often, that the drift of all 
 philofophy, and of all political fpeculations, 
 ought to be the making us better men, and 
 better citizens. Thole ftudies which have 
 no intention towards improving our moral 
 characters, have no pretence to be ftiled 
 phiiofophical. *' Quis eft enim." fays TULLY 
 in his Offices, " qui nullis officii pr^ceptis 
 *' tradendis, philofphum fe audeat dicere?" 
 Whatever political fpeculations, inftead of 
 preparing us to be ufeful to fociety, and to 
 promote the happinds of mankind, are 
 only fyftems for gratifying private ambition, 
 and promoting private interefts at the pub- 
 lic expence ; all fuch, I fay, deferve to be 
 burnt, and the authors of them to ftarve, 
 like MACHJAVEL, in a jail. 
 
 H OF
 
 OF THE 
 
 STUDY OF HISTORY. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 I. The great ufe of hiftory, properly fd 
 called, as diftinguimed from the writings 
 of mere annalifts and antiquaries. 
 
 II. Greek and Roman hiftorians. 
 JII. Some idea of a complete hiftory. 
 
 IV. Further cautions to be obferved in this 
 ftudy, and the regulation of it according 
 to the different profefiions, and fituations 
 of men: above all, the ufe to be made of 
 it (i) by divines, and (2) by thofe who 
 are called to the fervice of their country. 
 
 I REMEMBER my laft letter ended abruptly, 
 and a long interval has fincc pafled : fo 
 that the thread I had then fpun has flipt from 
 me. I will try to recover it, and to purfue the 
 talk your lordfliip has obliged me to continue. 
 BeHdes the pleafure of obeying your orders, it 
 is likewife of fome advantage to myfelf, to re- 
 H 4 colleft
 
 120 L E T T E R V. 
 
 colled my thoughts, and refume a ftudy in 
 which I was conyerlant formerly. For po? 
 thing can be more true than that faying of 
 SOLON reported by PT.ATO, though cenfured 
 by him, impertinently enough in one of his 
 wild books 6f laws " Aflldue addifcens, ad 
 ^ fenium venio." The truth is, the moft 
 I^nowing man in the courfe of the longeft life, 
 will have always much to learn, and the wi- 
 feft and beft much to improve. This rule 
 will hold in the knowledge and improvement 
 to be acquired by the ftudy of hiftory: and 
 therefore even he who has gone to this fchool 
 in his yoiuh, fhould not negledt it in his 
 Sge. " 1 read in LIVY, fays MONTAGNE, 
 ** what another man does not : and PLU- 
 " TARCH read there what I do not." Juft 
 fo the fame man may read at fifty what he 
 did not read in the fame book at five-and- 
 twenty : at lead I have found it fo, by my 
 own experience, pn many occafions. 
 
 BY comparing, in this ftudy, the expe- 
 rience of other men and other ages with oqr 
 own, we improve both: we analyfe, as it 
 were, philofophy. We reduce all the ab- 
 ftract fpeculations of ethics, and all the ge- 
 neral ' rules of human policy, to their firft 
 principles. With thefe advantages, every 
 man may, though few men do, advance daily 
 jo wards thole idea?, thofe increated effcn-
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. ij 
 
 ces a Platonifl would fay, which no human 
 creature can reach in practice, but in the 
 neareft approaches to which the pefection of 
 our nature confifts ; becaufe every approach 
 of this kind renders a man better, and 
 wifer for himfelf, for his family, for the litr 
 tie community of his own country, and for 
 the great community of trie world. Be not 
 furprited, my lord, at the order in which I 
 place thefe objects. Whatever order divines 
 and moralifts, who contemplate the duties 
 belonging to thefe objects, may place them 
 in, this is the order they hold in nature: 
 and I have always thought that we might 
 Jead ourfelves and others to private virtue, 
 more effectually by a due obfervation of 
 this order, than by any of thofe fublime re- 
 finements that pervert it. 
 
 SelfLove but ferves the virtuous mind to wake ; 
 As the fmall pebble ftirs the peaceful lake. 
 The centre mov'd, a circle ftrait fucceeds ; 
 Another ftill, and ftill another fpreads: 
 Friend, parent, neighbour, firft it will embrace, 
 His country next, and next all human race. 
 
 So fings our friend POPE, my lord, and fo 
 I believe. So I mail prove too, if I mif- 
 take not, in an epiftle I am about to write to 
 him, in order to complete a lett that were 
 wrote fome years ago, 
 
 A MAN?
 
 122 L E T T E R V. 
 
 A MAN of my age, who returns to the 
 iludy of hiftory, has no time to lole, becaufe 
 he has little to live: a man of your lordfhip's 
 age has no time to loie, becaufe he has much. 
 to do. For different tt-afons therefore the 
 fame rules will fuit us. Neither of us muft 
 grope in the dark, neither of us muft wan- 
 der in the light. I have done the firft for- 
 merly a good deal; <c ne verba nnhi daren- 
 " tur; ne aliquid effe, in hac recondita an- 
 " tiquitatis fcientia, magni ac fecreti boni 
 *' judicaremus." If you take my word, you 
 will throw none of your time away in the 
 fame manner: and I (hall have the Icfs re- 
 gret for tjiat which I have mifpent, if i per- 
 fuade you to haften down from the broken 
 traditions of antiquity, to the more entire, as 
 well as more authentic hiftories of ages more 
 modern. In the ftudy of thefe we mall find 
 many a complete feries of events, preceded 
 by a deduction of their immediate and re- 
 mote caufes,, related in their full extent, 
 and. accompanied with fuch a detail of cir- 
 cumftances, and characters, as may tranf. 
 port the attentive reader back to the very 
 time, make him a party to the councils, 
 and an actor in the whole fcene of affairs. 
 Such draughts as thefe, either found in hif- 
 tory, or extracted' by our own application 
 
 from
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 123 
 
 from it, and fuch alone, are truly ufeful. 
 Thus hiftory becomes what (he ought to be, 
 and what (he has been fometimes called, 
 " magiftrse vitas." the miftrefs, like philo- 
 fophy of human life. If (he is not this, Ihe 
 is at bed '* nuntia vetuftatis," the gazette 
 of antiquity, or a dry regifler of ufelels anec- 
 dotes. SUETONIUS fays that TIBERIUS ufed 
 to enquire of the grammarians, "quse mater 
 " Hecubas? quod Achillis nomen inter vir- 
 * c gines fuifTct? quid Syrenes cantare fmt fo- 
 litas ?" SENECA mentions certain Greek au- 
 thors, who examined very accurately, whe- 
 ther ANACREON loved wine or women beft, 
 whether SAPPHO was a common whore, with 
 other poinrs of equal importance: and I make 
 no doubt but that a man, better acquainted 
 than I have the honour to be with the learned 
 perfons of our own country, might find 
 jbme who have difcovered feveral anecdotes 
 concerning the giant ALBION, concerning 
 SAMOTHES the fon of BRITO the grand-fon 
 of JAPHET, and concerning BRUTUS who 
 led a colony into our ifland after the fiege of 
 Troy, as the others repeopled it after the 
 deluge. But ten millions of fuch anecdotes 
 as thefe, though they were true; and com- 
 plete authentic volumes of Egyptian or Chal- 
 dean, of Greek or Latin, of Gallic or Britifh, 
 of French or Saxon records, would be of no 
 
 value
 
 124 L E T T E R V. 
 
 value in my fenfe, becaufe of no ufe toward* 
 our improvement in wifdom and virtue; if 
 they contained nothing more than dynafties 
 and gnealogies, and a bare mention of re- 
 markable events in the order of time, like 
 journals, chronological tables, or dry ancj 
 meagre annals. 
 
 I SAY the fame of all thofe modern compa- 
 ctions in which we find rather the heads of 
 hiftory, than any thing that cleferves to be 
 Called hiftory. Their authors are either 
 abridgers or compilers. The firft do neither 
 honour to themfelves nor good tp mankind: 
 for furely the abridger is in a form below 
 the tranilater: and the book, at leaft the 
 hiftory: that wants to be abridged, does not 
 deferye to be read. They have done an- 
 ciently a great deal of hurt by lubftuuting 
 many a bad book in the place of a good one 5 
 and by giving occafion to men, who con- 
 tenued thcmielves with extracts and abridg- 
 ments, to neglect, and, through their neg- 
 lect, to lofe the invaluanle originals: for 
 which reafon I curfe CONSTANTINE POR- 
 PHYROGENETES as heartily as I do GRE^ 
 CORY. The fecond are of fome ufe, as 
 far as they contribute to preierve public 
 acts, and dates, and the memory of great 
 events. But they who are thus employed 
 
 have
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 125 
 
 have feldom the means of knowing thofe 
 private paflages on which all public tranf- 
 a<5tions depend, and as feldom the fkill and 
 the talents neceflary to. put what they do 
 know well together: they cannot fee the 
 working of the mine, but their induftry 
 collects the matter that is thrown out. It is 
 the bufmefs, or it mould be fo, of others 
 to feparate the pure ore from the drof*, 
 to ftamp it into coin, and to enrich not en- 
 cumber mankind. When there are nons 
 fufficient to this tafk, there may be anti- 
 quaries, and there may be journalifts or an- 
 nalifts, but there are no hiftorians. 
 
 - IT is worth while to obferve the progrefs 
 that the Romans and the Greeks made 
 towards hiftory. The Romans had journa- 
 lifts or annalifts from the very beginning 
 of their ftate. In the fixth century, or 
 very near it at fooneft, they began to have 
 antiquaries, and fome attempts were made 
 towards writing of hiftory. I call thefe firft 
 hiftorical productions attempts only or ef- 
 fays: and they were no more, neither among 
 the Romans nor among the Greeks. " Grae- 
 '* ci ipfi fie initio fcriptitarunt ut nofter 
 CATO, ut PICTOR, ut Piso." It is ANTONY, 
 not the triumvir, my lord, but his grandfather 
 the famous orator, who fays this in the fecond 
 
 book
 
 126 LETTER V. 
 
 book of TULLY De oratore; he adds after- 
 wards, " Itaque qualis apud Graces PHE- 
 " RECYDES, HELLANICUS, ACUSILAUS, alii- 
 " que permulti, talis nofter CATO, et Pic- 
 *' TOR, et Piso." I know thac ANTONY 
 fpeaks here ftri&ly of defect of ftyle and 
 want of oratory. They were " tantummodo 
 " narratores, non exornatores," as he ex- 
 prefles himielf: but as they wanted ftyle and 
 Ikill to write in fuch a manner as might an- 
 fwer all the ends of hiftory, fo they wanted 
 materials. PHERECYDES wrote fomething 
 about IPHIGENIA, and the feftivals of BAC- 
 CHUS. HELLANICUS was a poetical hifto* 
 rian, and ACUSILAUS engraved genealogies 
 on plates of brafs. PICTOR, who is called by 
 *LivY " fcriptorum antiquifiimus," publifh- 
 ed, I think, fome fliort annals of his own 
 time. Neither he nor Pi so could have fuf- 
 ficient materials for the hiftory of Rome; nor 
 CATO, I prefume, even for the antiquities 
 of Italy. The Romans, with the other peo- 
 ple of that country, were then juft rifing 
 out of barbarity, and growing acquainted 
 with letters ; for thole that the Grecian co- 
 lonies might bring into Sicily, and the fbu- 
 them parts of Italy, fpread little, or lafted 
 little, and made in the whole no figure. And 
 whatever learning might have flourimed 
 among the ancient ' Etrurians, which was 
 
 perhaps
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 127 
 
 perhaps at mod nothing better than au* 
 gury, and divination, and fuperftitious rites, 
 which were admired and cultivated in igno- 
 rant ages, even that was almoft entirely- 
 worn out of memory. Pedants, who would 
 impofe all the traditions of the four firft 
 ages of Rome, for authentic hiftory, have 
 infifted much on certain annals, of which 
 mention is made in the very place I have juft 
 now quoted. " Ab initio rerum Romana- 
 *' rum," fays the fame interlocutor, " ufque 
 " ad P. MUCIITM pontificem maximum, 
 " res omnes fingulorum annorum manda- 
 " bat literis pontifex maximus, efferebat- 
 " que in album, et proponebat tabulam do- 
 " mi, poteftas ut efifet populo cognofcendi ; 
 " idemque etiam nunc annales maximi nomi- 
 " nantur." ;But, my lord, be pleafed to take 
 notice, that the very diftinction I make is 
 made here between a bare annalift and an 
 hiftorian : " erat hiftoria nihil aliud," in 
 " thefe early days, nifi annalium confedio." 
 Take notice likewife, by the way, that LIVY, 
 whofe particular application it had been to 
 fearch into this matter, affirms pofitively that 
 the greateft part of all public and private mo- 
 numents, among which he fpecifies thefe 
 very annals, had been deftroyed in the 
 fack of Rome by the Gauls : and PLUTARCH 
 cites CLODIUS for the fame affcrtion, in the 4ife 
 of NUMA POMPILIUS. Take notice, in the 
 
 laft
 
 L E T T E R IV. 
 
 laft place, of that which is more immediately 
 to our prefent purpofe. Thefe annals could 
 contain nothing more than fhort minutes or 
 memorandums hung up in a table at the 
 tontiff's houfe, like the rules of the game 
 in a billiard room, and much fuch hifcory 
 as we have in the epitomes prefixed to the 
 books of Li VY or of any other hiftorian* 
 in lapidary infcriptions, or in fome modern 
 almanacks. Materials for hiftory they were 
 no doubt, but fcanty and inefficient; 
 fuch as thofe ages could produce when 
 writing and reading were accomplifhments 
 fo uncommon, that the prastor was directed 
 by law, clavum pangere, to drive a nail in- 
 to the door of a temple, that the number 
 of years might be reckoned by the number 
 of nails. Such in fhort as we have in 
 monkifti annalifts, and other ancient chroni- 
 clers of nations now in being: but not fuch 
 as can entitle the authors of them to be called 
 hiftorians, nor can enable others to wrire hif- 
 tory in that fullnefs in which it muft be writ- 
 ten to become a leflbn of ethics and politics. 
 The truth is, nations, like men, have their 
 infancy : and the few paffages of that time, 
 which they retain, are not fuch as deferved 
 moft to be remembered ; but fuch as, being 
 mod proportioned to that age, made the 
 ftrohgeft impreflions on their minds. In 
 thofe nations that preferve their dominion 
 
 long
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 129 
 
 long and grow up to manhood, the elegant 
 as well as the necefiary arts and fciences are 
 improved to fome degree of perfection : and 
 hiftory, that was at firft intended only to re- 
 cord the names, or perhaps the general cha- 
 racters of fome famous men, and to tranf- 
 mit in grofs the remarkable events of every 
 age to pofterity, is raifed to anfwer another, 
 and a nobler end. 
 
 II. THUS it happened among the Greeks, 
 but much more among the Romans, not- 
 withftanding the prejudices in favour of the 
 former even among the latter. I have ibme- 
 times thought that VIRGIL might have 
 juftly afcribed to his councrymen the praife 
 of writing hiftory better, as well as that 
 of affording the nobletl fubjecls for ir, in 
 thofe famous verfes,* where the different 
 excellencies of the two nations are fo finely 
 touched : but he would have weakened per- 
 haps by lengthening, and have flattened the 
 climax. Open HERODOTUS, you are en- 
 
 * Excadent alii fpirantia mollius aera. 
 
 Credo equidem : vivos ducent de marmore vultus ; 
 Orabunt caufas melius : ccelique meatus 
 Defcribent radio, et furgentia fidera dicent: 
 Tu regere imperio populos, Romane memento : 
 Has tibierum artes ; pacifque imponeremorem, 
 Parcere fubjeftis, et debellare fuperbos. 
 
 I tertained
 
 j 3 o L E T T E R V. 
 
 tertained by an agreeable ftory-teller, who 
 meant to entertain, and nothing more. 
 Read THUCIDIDES or XENOPHON, you are 
 taught indeed as well as entertained : and 
 the ftatefman or the general, the philofo- 
 pher or the orator, fpeaks to you in every 
 page. They wrote on lubje&s on which 
 they were well informed, and they treated 
 them fully : they maintained the dignity of 
 hiftory, and thought it beneath them to 
 vamp up old traditions, like the writers of 
 their age and country, and to be the trum- 
 peters of a lying antiquity. The Cyropas- 
 dia of XENOPHON may be objected per- 
 haps; but if he gave it for a romance, not 
 an hiftory, as he might for aught we can 
 tell, it is out of the cafe : and if he gave it 
 for an hiftory, not a romance, I fhould pre- 
 fer his authority to that of HERODOTUS or 
 any other of his countrymen. But however 
 this might be, and whatever merit we may 
 juftly alcribe to thefe two writers, who 
 were almoft fmgle in their kind, and who 
 treated but imall portions of hiftory , certain 
 it is in genera], that the levity as well as 
 loquacity of the Greeks made them inca- 
 pable of keeping up to the true ftandard 
 of hiftory: and even POLYBIUS and Dio- 
 NESIUS of Hahcarnaftus muft bow to the 
 great Roman authors. Many principal 
 
 men
 
 Of* the STUDY of HISTORY. 131 
 
 men of that commonwealth wrote memo- 
 rials of their own actions and their own 
 times : SYLLA, C^SAR, LABIENUS, POL- 
 Lio, AUGUSTUS, and others. What wri- 
 ters of memorials, what compilers of the 
 materia hiftorica were thefe? What genius 
 was neceffary to finim up the pictures that 
 fuch matters had fketched ? Rome afforded 
 men that were equal to the talk. Let the 
 remains, the precious remains of SALLUST, 
 of LIVY, and of TACITUS, witnefs this 
 truth. When TACITUS wrote, even the 
 appearances of virtue had been long pro- 
 icribed, and tafte was grown corrupt as 
 Well as manners. Yet hiftory preferved 
 her integrity, and her luftre. She preferved 
 them in the writings of fome whom TACI- 
 .TUS mentions, in none perhaps more than 
 his own; every line of which out-weighs 
 whole pages of fuch a rhetor as FAMIANUS 
 STRADA. I fingle him out among the mo- 
 derns, becaufe he had the foolifh prefump- 
 tion to ceniure TACITUS, and to write hitlory 
 himfelf: and your lordfhip will forgive this 
 fhortcxcurfion in honour of a favourite author. 
 
 WHAT a fchool of private and public 
 virtue had been opened to us at the refur- 
 redion of learning, if the latter hiftorians 
 of the Roman common-wealth, and the firlt 
 
 I 2 Of
 
 132 L E T T E R V. 
 
 of the fucceeding monarchy, had conic 
 down to us entire? The few that are come 
 down, though broken and imperfect, com- 
 pofe the bed body of hiftory that we have, 
 nay the only body of ancient hiftory that de- 
 ferves to bean object of ftudy. It fails us 
 indeed moft at that remarkable and fatal pe- 
 riod, where our reafonable curiofity is railed 
 the higheft. Livy employed five-and forty 
 books to bring his hiitory down to the 
 end of the fixth century, and the breaking 
 cut of the third Punic war: but he em- 
 ployed ninety-five to bring it down from 
 thence to the death of DRUSUS; that is, 
 through the courfe cf> one hundred and 
 twenty or thirty years. APION, DION 
 CASSIUS and others, nay even PLUTARCH 
 included, make us but poor amends for 
 what is loft of LIVY. Among all the ad- 
 ventitious helps by which we endeavour to 
 lupply this lois in fome degree, the beft 
 are thofe that we find featured up and 
 down in the works of TULLY. His Ora- 
 tions particularly, and his Letters, contain 
 many curious anecdotes and infrruclive re- 
 flections, concerning the intrigues and ma- 
 chinations that were carried on againft 
 liberty, from CATILINE'S confpiracy to CAE- 
 SAR'S. The ftate of the government, the 
 constitution and -temper of the feveral 
 
 parties,
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 133 
 
 parties, and the chara&ers of the principal 
 perfons who figured at that time on the public 
 llage, are to be feen there in a ftronger and 
 truer light than they would have appeared 
 perhaps if he had wrote purpofely on this 
 fubjecl, and even in thofe memorials which 
 he ibmewhere promifes ATTICUS to write. 
 " Excudam aliquod Heraclidium opus, 
 " quod lateat in thefauris tuis." He would 
 hardly have unmaiked in fuch a work, as 
 freely as in familiar occafional letters, POM- 
 PEY, CATO, BRUTUS, nay himfeif; the 
 four men of Rome, on whofe praifes he 
 dwelt with the grcateft complacency. The 
 age in which LIVY flourimed abounded with 
 fuch materials as thefe: they were frefh, 
 ihey were authentic^ it was eafy to procure 
 them, it was fafe to employ them. How 
 he did employ them in executing the fecond 
 part of his defign, we may judge by his 
 execution of the firft : and, I own to your 
 lotdQiip, I mould be glad to exchange, if it 
 were pofiible, what we have of this hiftory 
 for what we have not. Would you not be 
 glad, my lord, to lee, in one ftupendous 
 draught, the whole progrefs of that govern- 
 ment from liberty to lervitudc? the \vhole 
 feries of caufes and efre6b, apparent and 
 real, public and private ? thofe which all 
 men law, and all good men lamenied and 
 I 3 op.
 
 L E T T E R V. 
 
 oppofed at the time ; and thofe which were 
 fo difguifed to the prejudices, to the par- 
 tialities of a divided people, and even to 
 the corruption of mankind, that many did 
 not, and that many could pretend they did 
 not difcern them, till it was too late to re- 
 fift them ? I am forry to fay it, this part of 
 the Roman ftory would be not only more 
 curious and more authentic than the for- 
 mer, but of more immediate and more im- 
 portant application to the prefent (late of 
 Britain. But it is loft ; the lofs is irrepa- 
 rable, and your lordfhip will not blame me 
 for deploring it. 
 
 III. THEV who fet up for fcepticifm may 
 not regret the lofs of fuch an hiftory r but 
 this I will be bold to affert to them, that an 
 hiftory muft be wrote on this plan, and muft: 
 aim at leaft at thefe perfections, or it will 
 anfwer fufficiently none of the intentions of 
 hiftory. That it. will not anfwer fufficiently 
 the intention I have in filled upon in thefe 
 letters, that of inftructing pofterity by the 
 example of former ages, is manifeft: and I 
 think it is as manifeft, that an hiftory can- 
 not be faid even to relate faithfully, and in- 
 form us truly, that does not relate fully, and 
 inform us of all that is neceffary to make a 
 
 true
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 135 
 
 true judgment concerning the matters con- 
 tained in it. Naked fads, without the cau- 
 fes that produced them, and the circumftan- 
 ces that accompanied them, are not fufficient 
 to characterife actions or counfels. The nice 
 degrees of wifdom and of folly, of virtue 
 and of vice, will not only be undifcover- 
 able in them ; but we rnuft be very often 
 unable to determine under which of thefe 
 characters they fall in general. The fceptics 
 I am fpeaking of are therefore guilty of this 
 abfurdity : the nearer an hiftory comes to the 
 true idea of hiftory, the better it informs, 
 and the more it initructs us, the more wor- 
 thy to be rejected it appears to them. I have 
 faid and allowed enough to content any rea 
 fonable man about the uncertainty of hif- 
 tory. I have owned that the beft are defec- 
 tive, and I will add in this place an obfer- 
 vation which did not, I think, occur to me 
 before. Conjecture is not always diftinguifli- 
 ed perhaps as it ought to be; fo that an 
 ingenious writer may fometimes do very 
 innocently, what a malicious writer does 
 very criminally as often as he dares, and 
 as his malice requires it; he may account 
 for events after they have happened, by a 
 fyftem of caufes and conduct that did not 
 really produce them, though it might pof- 
 fibly or even probably have produced them. 
 
 I 4. But
 
 136 L E T T E R V. 
 
 But this obfervadon, like feveral others, be- 
 come? a reafon for examining and comparing 
 authorities, and for preferring fome, not for 
 rejecting all. DAVILA, a noble hiftorian 
 fureiy, and one whom I fhould not fcruple 
 to confefs equal in many refpefts to LIVY, 
 as I (hould not fcruple to prefer his country- 
 man GUICCIARDIN to THUCYDIDES in every 
 refpeft : DAVILA, my lord, was accufed, 
 from the firft publication of his hiftory, or 
 at leaft was fufpedted, of too much re- 
 finement and fubtilty, in developing the 
 fecret motives of actions, in laying the 
 caufes of events too deep, and deducing 
 them often through a feries of progreffion 
 too complicated, and too artiftly wrought. 
 But yet the fufpicious perfon who mould re- 
 je6t this hiftorian upon fuch general induce- 
 ments as thefe, would have no grace to oppofe 
 his fufpicions to the authority of the firft 
 duke of KPERNON, who had been an a<5tor, 
 and a principal actor too, in many of the 
 fcenes that DAVILA recites. GIRARD, fe- 
 cretary to this duke, and no contemptible 
 biographer, relates, that this hiftory came 
 down to the place where the old man refided 
 in Gafgogny, a little before his death ; that 
 he read it to him, that the duke confirmed the 
 truth of the narrations in it, and fee me d 
 pnly furprized by what meajis the author 
 
 coulcj
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 137 
 
 could be fo well informed of the moil fecret 
 councils and meafures of thofe times. 
 
 IV. I have faid enough on this head, 
 and your lordfhip may be induced perhaps, 
 by what I have laid, to think with me, that 
 fuch hiilories as thefe, whether ancient 
 or modern, deferve alone to be ftudied. 
 Let us leave the credulous learned to write 
 hiftory without materials, or to ftudy thofe 
 who do Ib ; to wrangle about ancient tra- 
 ditions, and to ring different changes on 
 the fame fet of bells. Let us leave the fcep- 
 tics, in modern as well as ancient hiftory, to 
 triumph in the notable difcovery of the ides 
 of one month miftaken for the calends of 
 another, or in the various dates and con- 
 tradictory circumftances which they find in 
 weekly gazettes, and monthly mercuries. 
 Whilft they are thus employed, your lordfhip 
 and 1 will proceed, if you pleafe, to confider 
 more clofely, than we have yet done, the 
 rule mentioned above j that I mean of ufing 
 difcernment and choice in the ftudy of the 
 moft authentic hiftory, that of not wandering 
 in the light, which is as neceflary as that of 
 not groping in the dark. 
 
 MAN is the fubjecT: of every hiftory; 
 find to know him well, we mult fee him 
 
 arid
 
 138 L E T T E R V. 
 
 and confider him, as hiftory alone can pre- 
 lent him co us, in every age, in every coun- 
 try, in every ftate, in life and in death. 
 Hiftory therefore of all kinds, of civilized 
 and uncivilized, of ancient and modern 
 nations, in fhort of all hiftory, that defcends 
 to a fufficienc detail of human actions and 
 characters, is ufeful to bring us acquainted 
 with our fpecies, nay with ourfelves. To 
 teach and to inculcate the general princi- 
 ples of virtue, and the general rules of vvif- 
 dom and good policy, which refuk from 
 fuch details of actions and characters, comes 
 for the moft part, and always fhould come, 
 exprefsly and diredlly into the defign of 
 thole who are capable of giving fuch de- 
 tails: and therefore whilft they narrate as 
 hiftorians, they hint often as philofophers, 
 they put into our hands, as it were, on 
 every proper occafion, the end of a clue, that 
 ferves to remind us of fearching, and to 
 guide us in the fearch of that truth which 
 the example before us either eftablifhes or 
 illuftrates. If a writer neglects this part, we 
 are able however to fupply his neglect by 
 our own attention andinduftry: and when 
 he gives us a good hiftory of Peruvians or 
 Mexicans, of Chinefe or Tartars, of Mul- 
 covites or Negroes, we may blame him, 
 
 but
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 139 
 
 but we muft blame ourfelves much more, if 
 -we do not make it a good lefibn of philo- 
 jfophy. This being the general ufe of hif- 
 tory, it is not to be neglected: Every one 
 may make it, who is able to read and to 
 reflect on what he reads: and every one 
 who makes it will find, in his degree, the 
 benefit that arifes from an early acquain- 
 tance contracted in this manner with man- 
 kind. We are not only paffengers or fo- 
 journers in this world, but we are abfolute 
 ilrangers at the firft fteps we make in it. 
 Our guides are often ignorant, often un- 
 faithful. By this map of the country, which 
 hiftory ipreads before us, we may learn, if 
 we pleafe, to guide ourfelves. In our 
 journey through it, \ve are befet on every 
 fide. We are befieged fometimes even in 
 our ftrongeft holds. Terrors and tempta- 
 tions, conducted by the paffions of other 
 men, affaultus: and our own paflions, that 
 correfpond with thefe, betray us. Hif- 
 tory is a collection of the journals of thole 
 who have travelled through the fame country, 
 and been expofed to the lame accidents -, 
 and their good and their ill fuccefs are equal- 
 ly inftructive. In this purfuit of know- 
 ledge an immenie field is opened to us; 
 general hiftories, facred and prophane j 
 the hiitories of particular countries, parti- 
 cular
 
 1 40 L E T T E R V. 
 
 cular events, particular orders, particular 
 men ; memorials, Anecdotes, travels. But 
 we muft not ramble in this field without dif- 
 cernment or choice, nor even with theie muft 
 we ramble too long. 
 
 As to the choice of authors, who have 
 wrote on ail thefe various fubjeds, io much 
 has been laid by learned men concerning all 
 thofe that delerve attention, and their icvc- 
 ral characters are fo well eftablifhed, that 
 it would be a fort of pedantic aff, elation to 
 lead your lordfhip through fo voluminous, 
 and at the lame time fo eafy, a detail. I pals 
 it over therefore in order to oblen'e, that as 
 foon as we have taken this general view 
 of mankind, and of the courfe of human 
 affairs in different; ages and different parts of 
 the world, we ought to apply, and, the 
 ihortnels of human life confidt-red, to con- 
 fine ourielves almoll entirely, in our ftudy of 
 hiftory, to fuch hiftories as have an imme- 
 diate relation to our profefTions, or to 
 our rank and fituation in the fociety to 
 wlvch we belong. Let me inftance in the 
 profelllon of divinity, as the noblcft and the 
 molt important. 
 
 (i) I have faid fo much concerning the 
 . which divines of all religions have taken 
 
 in
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 141 
 
 in the corruption of hiftory, that I moult! 
 have anathemas pronounced againft me, no 
 doubt, in the eaft and the weft, by the 
 dairo, the mufti, and the pope, if thefe 
 letters were fubmitted to ecclefialtical cen- 
 fure ; for furely, my lord, the clergy have a 
 better title, than the Ions of Apollo, to be 
 called " genus irritabile vatum." What 
 would it be, if I went about to (hew, how 
 many of the Chriftian clergy abuie, by rnif- 
 reprefcntation and falfc quotation, the hii- 
 tory they can no longer corrupt? And yet, 
 this tafk would not be even to me, an hard 
 one. But as I mean to fpeak in this place 
 of chriftian divines alone, fo I mean to 
 fpeak of fuch of them particularly as may 
 be called divines without any fneer; of fuch 
 of them, for fome fuch 1 think there are,, 
 as believe themfelves, and would have 
 mankind believe-, not for temporal, but 
 fpiritual intereft, not for the lake of the 
 clergy, but for the fake of mankind. Now 
 it has been long matter of aftonifhment to 
 me, how fuch perfons as thefe could take fo 
 much filly pains to eftablifh myftery on 
 metaphyfics, revelation on philoibphy, and 
 matters of fact on abftract reafoning ? A re- 
 ligion founded on the authority of a divine 
 nii(fion, confirmed by prophecies and mi- 
 racles, appeals to- facts: and the- facts muii 
 
 be
 
 142 L E T T E R V. 
 
 be proved as all other fads that pafs for atf- 
 thentic are proved ! for faith, fo reasonable 
 after this proof is abfurd before it. If they 
 are thus proved, the religion will prevail 
 without the afiiftance of fo much profound 
 reafoning: if they are not thus proved, the 
 authority of it will fink in the world, even 
 with this afllftance. The divines object in. 
 their difputes with atheifts, and they object 
 very juftly, that thefe men require improper 
 proofs; proofs that are not fuited to the 
 nature of the fubjecc, and then cavil that 
 fuch proofs are not furnifhed. But what 
 then do they mean, to fall into the fame 
 abfurdity themfclves in their difputes with 
 theifts, and to din improper proofs in ears 
 that are open to proper proofs? The mat- 
 ter is of great moment, my lord, and I 
 make no excufe for the zeal which obliges 
 me to dwell a little on it. A ferious and 
 honeft application to the ftudy of ecclefiaf- 
 tical hiftory, and every part of prophane 
 hiftory and chronology relative to it, is in- 
 cumbent on fuch reverend perfons as are 
 here fpoken of, on a double account: be- 
 caufe hiftory alone can furnifh the proper 
 proofs, that the religion they teach is of 
 God; and becaufe the unfair manner, in 
 which thefe proofs have been and are daily 
 furniflied, creates' prejudices, and gives ad- 
 vantages
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 143 
 
 vantages againft chriftianity that require to 
 be removed. No fcholar will dare to deny, 
 that falfe hiftory, as well as (bam miracles, 
 has been employed to propagate Chriftia- 
 nity formerly : and whoever examines the 
 writers of our own age will find the fame 
 abufe of hiftory continued. Many and 
 many inftances of this abufe might be pro- 
 duced. It is grown into cuftorn, writers 
 copy one another, and the miftake that was 
 committed, or the fallhood that was invent- 
 ed by one, is adopted by hundreds. 
 
 ABBADIE fays in his famous book, that 
 the gofpel or* St. MATTHEW is cited by 
 CLEMENS bifhopof Rome, a difciple of the 
 Apoftlesj that BARNABAS cites it in his 
 epiftle; that IGNATIUS and POLYCARPE 
 receive it ; and that the fame fathers, that 
 give teftimony for MATTHEW, give it like- 
 wife for MARK. Nay your lordfliip will 
 find, I believe, that the prefent bifoop cf 
 London, in his third paftoral letter, fpeaks 
 to the fame effect. I will not trouble you 
 nor myfelf with any more inftances of the 
 fame kind. Let this, which occurred to me 
 as I was writing, fuffice. It may well fuf- 
 fice-, for I prelume the fact advanced by 
 the miniiter and the bifhop is a miftake. 
 If the fathers of the firlt century do men- 
 tion
 
 144 L E T T E R V. 
 
 tion fome pafiages that are agreeable to 
 what we read in our evangelifts, will it fol- 
 low that thefe fathers had the fame gofpels 
 before them ? To fay fo is a manifeft 
 abufe of hiftory, and quite inexculable in 
 writers that knew, or mould have known, 
 that thefe fathers made ufe of other gofpels, 
 wherein fuch paffages might be contained, 
 or they might be preferved in unwritten tra- 
 dition. Befides which I could almolt ven- 
 ture to affirm that thefe fathers of the firft 
 century do not exprefsly name the gofpels 
 we have of MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, 
 and JOHN, To the true reafons that have 
 been given why thofe who make divinity 
 their profeflion, fliould ftudy hiftory, par- 
 ticularly ecclefiaftical hiftory, with an honeft 
 and ferious application-, in order to fup- 
 port chriftianity againft the attacks of un- 
 believers, and to remove the doubts and 
 prejudices that the unfair proceedings of men 
 of their own order have raifed in minds 
 candid but not implicit, willing to be in- 
 formed, but curious to examine ; to thefe, I 
 fay, we may add another confideration, 
 that feems to me of no fmall importance. 
 Writers of the Roman religion have attempt- 
 ed to (hew, that the text of the holy writ is 
 on many accounts inefficient to be the fole 
 criterion of orthodoxy : T apprehend too 
 
 that
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 145 
 
 that they have fhewn it. Sure I am that 
 experience, from the firft promulgation of 
 chriftianity to this hour, fhews abundantly 
 with how much eafe and fuccefs the mod 
 oppofite, the moft extravagant, nay the 
 moft impious opinions, and the moft con- 
 tradictory faiths, may be founded on the 
 fame text, and plaufibly defended by the 
 fame authority. Writers of the reform- 
 ed religion have erected their batteries 
 againft tradition ; and the only difficulty 
 they had to encounter in this enterprize lay 
 in levelling and pointing their cannon fo 
 as to avoid demolifhing in one common 
 ruin, the traditions they retain, and thole 
 they reject. Each fide has been employed 
 to weaken the caufe and explode the fyftem 
 of his adverfary: and, whilft they have 
 been fo employed, they have jointly laid 
 their axes to the root of chriftianity: for 
 thus men will be apt to reafon upon what 
 they have advanced. " If the text has not 
 ct that authenticity, clearnefs, and preci- 
 " fion which are necefiary to eftabliih it as a 
 " divine and a certain rule of faith and 
 " practice; and if the tradition of the 
 * church, from the firft ages of it till the 
 " days of LUTHER and CALVIN, has been 
 " corrupted itfelf, and has ferved to cor- 
 " rupt the faith and practice of chriftians; 
 K " there
 
 J4 6 L E T T E R V. 
 
 " there remains at this time no ftandard 
 " at all of chriftianity. By confequence 
 " either this religion was not originally or" di- 
 " vine inftitution, or elfe God has not 
 * c provided effectually for prefervmg the 
 " genuine purity of it, and the gates of 
 " hell have actually prevailed, in con- 
 " tradition to his promife, againft the 
 " church.'* The beft efFeft of this reafon- 
 ing that can be hoped for, is, that men 
 (hould fall into theifm, and fubfcribe to the 
 firft propofition: he muft be worfe than an 
 atheift who can affirm the laft. The dilem- 
 ma is terrible, my lord. Party-zeal and 
 private intereil have formed it: the com- 
 mon intereft of chriftianity is deeply con- 
 cerned to iblve it. Now, I prefume, it can 
 never be folved without a more accurate 
 examination, not only of the chriftian but 
 of the Jcwifh fyftem, than learned men have 
 been hitherto impartial enough and faga- 
 cious enough to take, or honeft enough to 
 communicate. Whilft the authenticity and 
 fenfe of the text of the Bible remain as dif- 
 putable, and whilft the tradition of the 
 church remains as problematical, to fay no 
 worfe, as the immenfe labours of the chrif- 
 tian divines in feveral communions have 
 made them appear to bej chriftianity may 
 lean on the civil - and ecclefiaftical power, 
 
 and
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 147 
 
 and be fupported by the forcible influence of 
 education: but the proper force of reli- 
 gion, that force which fubdues the mind 
 and awes the confciencc by conviction, will 
 be wanting. 
 
 I had reafon therefore to produce divinity, 
 as one inftance of thole profcflions that 
 require a particular application to the ftudy 
 of fome particular parts of hiftory: and 
 fince I have faid fo much on the fubject in 
 my zeal for chriftianity, I will add this 
 further. The refurreclion of letters was a 
 fatal period ; the chriftian fyftem has been 
 attacked, and wounded too, very feverely 
 fince that time. The defence has been 
 better made indeed by modern divines, 
 than it had been by ancient fathers and apo- 
 logifts. The moderns have invented new 
 methods of defence, and have abandoned 
 fome pofts that were not tenable : but (till 
 there are others, in defending which they 
 lie under great difadvantages. Such are 
 various facts, pioufly believed in former 
 times, but on which the truth of chrifti- 
 anity has been refted very imprudently 
 in more enlightened agesj becaufe the 
 falfity of fome, and the grofs improbabi- 
 lity of others are fo evident, that, inftead 
 of anfwering the purpofe for which they 
 K 4 were
 
 148 L E T T E R V. 
 
 weie invented, they have rendered the 
 whole tenor of ecclefiaftical hiftory and 
 tradition precarious, ever fince a ftrift but 
 juft application of the rules of criticifm has 
 been made to them, I touch thele things 
 lightly; but if your lordfhip reflects upon 
 them, you will find reafon perhaps to think 
 as I do, that it is high time the clergy in 
 all chriftian communions fhould join their 
 forces, and eflablilh thofe hiftorical facts, 
 which are the foundations of the whole lyf- 
 tem, on clear and unquestionable hiftorical 
 authority, fuch as thty require in all cafes 
 of moment from others ; reje<5b candidly 
 what cannot be thus eftablifhed ; and pur- 
 fue their enquiries in the fame fpirit of truth 
 through all the ages of the church ; with- 
 out any regard to hiftorians, fathers, or 
 councils, more than they are ftrictly entitled 
 to on the face of what they have tranf- 
 mitted to us on their own confiftency, and 
 on the concurrence of other authority. 
 Our paftors would be thus, I prefume, 
 much better employed than they generally 
 are. Thofe of the clergy who make reli- 
 gion merely a trade, who regard nothing 
 more than the fubfiftence it affords them, 
 or in higher life the wealth and power they 
 enjoy by the means of it, may fay to them- 
 felves, that it will, laft their time, or that 
 
 policy
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 149 
 
 policy and reafon of ftate will prefervc the 
 form of a church when the fpiric of religion 
 is extinct. But thofe whom I mentioned 
 above, thofe who act for fpiritual not tem- 
 poral ends, and are defirous that men mould 
 believe and practife the doctrines of chrif- 
 tianity, as well as go to church and pay 
 tithes, will feel and own the weight of fuch 
 confiderations as thefe; and agree, that 
 however the people have been, and may be 
 ftill amufed, yet chriftianity has been in 
 decay ever fince the refurrection of letters ; 
 and that it cannot be fupported as it was fup- 
 ported before that aera, nor by any other 
 way than that which I propofe, and which 
 a due application to the ftudy of hiftory, 
 chronology, and criticifm, would enable 
 our divines to purfue, no doubt, with 
 fuccefs. 
 
 I MIGHT inftance, in other profeflions, 
 the obligation men lie under of applying 
 themfelves to certain parts of hiftory, and 
 I can hardly forbear doing it in that of the 
 law ; in it's nature the nobleft and moft be- 
 neficial to mankind, in its abufe and debafe- 
 ment the moft fordid and the moft perni- 
 cious. A lawyer now is nothing more, I fpeak 
 of ninety- nine in an hundred at leaft, to ufe 
 fome of TULLY'S words, " nifi leguleius qui- 
 lt 3 " dam
 
 150 L E T T E R V, \ ;. 
 
 * ( dam cautus, et acutus prasco a&ionum, 
 " cantor formularum, auceps fyllabarum." 
 But there have been lawyers that were orators, 
 philoibphers, hiftorians: there have been 
 BACONS and CLARENDONS, my lord. There 
 will be none fuch any more, till, in Tome 
 better age, true ambition or the love of 
 fame prevails over avarice; and till men find 
 leifure and encouragement to prepare them- 
 felves for the exercife of this profefiion, by 
 climbing up to the " vantage ground," ib 
 my lord BACON calls ir, offcience: inftead 
 of groveling all their lives below, in a mean 
 but gainful application to all the little arts 
 of chicane. Till this happen, the profef- 
 iion of the law will fcarce deferve to be 
 ranked among the learned profeffions: and 
 whenever it happens, one of the vantage 
 grounds, to which men mud climb, is me- 
 taphyhcal, and the other, hiftorical know- 
 ledge. They muft pry into the fecret retef- 
 fcs of the human heart, and become well 
 acquainted with the whole moral world, that 
 they may diicover the abftracfc reafon of ail 
 laws: and they muft trace the laws of par- 
 ticular fiates, efpecially of their own, from 
 the firii rough fetches to the more perfect 
 draughts ; from the firft caufes or occaiions 
 that produced them, through all the ef- 
 ftrCts, good and bad, that they produced. 
 
 But
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 151 
 
 But I am running infenfibly into a fubject, 
 which would detain me too long from one 
 that relates more immediately to your lord- 
 fhip, and with which 1 intend to conclude 
 this long letter. 
 
 (2) I PASS from the confideration of thofe 
 profeflions to which particular parts or 
 kinds of hiftory feem to belong: and I 
 come to fpeak of the ftudy of hiftory, as a 
 necefiary mean to prepare men for the dif- 
 charge of that duty which they owe to their 
 country, and which is common to all the 
 members of every fociety that is conftituted 
 according to the rules of right reafon, and 
 with a due regard to the common good. I 
 have met, in St. REAL'S works, or fome 
 other French book, with a ridicule caft on 
 private men who make hiftory a political 
 ftudy, or who apply themfelves in any 
 manner to affairs of ftate. But the reflec- 
 tion is too general. In governments fo ar- 
 bitrary by their conftitution, that the will 
 of the prince is not only the fupreme but 
 the fole law, it is fo far from being a duty 
 that it may be dangerous, and muft be 
 impertinent in men, who are not called by 
 the prince to the adminiftration of public 
 affairs, to concern themfelves about it, or 
 to fit themfelves for it. T he fole vocation 
 K 4 there
 
 j 5 2 L E T T E R V. 
 
 there is the favour of the court ; and what- 
 ever defignation God makes by the talents 
 he beftows, though it may ferve, which it 
 feldom ever does, to direct the choice of the 
 prince, yet I prefume that it cannot become 
 a reafon to particular men, or create a duty 
 on them, to devote themfelves to the 
 public fervice. Look on the Turkiih go- 
 vernment, fee a fellow taken, from rowing 
 in a common pafiage-boat, by the caprice 
 of the prince: fee him invefted next day 
 with all the power the foldans took under 
 the caliphs, or the mayors of the palace 
 under the fucceflbrs of CLOVIS: fee a whole 
 empire governed by the ignorance, inex- 
 perience, and arbitrary will of this tyrant, 
 and a few other fubordinate tyrants, as ig- 
 norant and unexperienced as himfelf. In 
 France indeed, though an abfolute govern- 
 ment, things go a little better. Arts and 
 fciences are encouraged, and here and there 
 an example may be found of a man who has 
 rifcn by fome extraordinary talents, amidft 
 innumerable examples of men who have ar- 
 rived at the greateft honours and higheft pofts 
 by no other merit than that of afliduous 
 fawning, attendances, or of (kill in fome 
 defpicable puerile amufement; in training 
 wafps, for inftance, to take regular flights 
 like hawks, and ftoop at flies. The nobi- 
 
 lity
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 153 
 
 Jity of France, like the children of tribute 
 among the ancient Saracens and modern 
 Turks, are fet apart for wars. They are 
 bred to make love, to hunt, and to fight : 
 and, if any of them (hould acquire know- 
 ledge fuperior to this, they would acquire 
 that which might be prejudicial to them- 
 felves, but could not become beneficial to 
 their country. The affairs of ftate are 
 trufted to other hands. Some have rifen to 
 them by drudging long in bufmefs: fome 
 have been made minifters almoft in the 
 cradle : and the whole power of the govern- 
 ment has been abandoned to others in the 
 dotage of life. There is a monarchy, an ab- 
 folute monarchy too, I mean that of China, 
 wherein the adminiftration of the govern- 
 ment is carried on, under the direction of 
 the prince, ever fince the dominion of the 
 Tartars has been eftablifhed, by feveral 
 clafies of Mandarins, and according to the 
 deliberation and advice of feveral orders of 
 councils: the admiffion to which claffes 
 and orders depends on the abilities of the 
 candidates, as their rife in them depends 
 on the behaviour they hold, and the improve- 
 ments they make afterwards. Under fuch a 
 government, it is neither impertinent nor 
 ridiculous, in any of the fubjects who are 
 jnvited by their circumftances, or pufhed 
 
 to
 
 I 5 4 L E T T E R V. 
 
 to it by their talents, to make the hiftory of 
 their own and of other countries a politi- 
 cal ftudy, and to fit tbemfelves by this and 
 all other ways for the fervice of the public. 
 It is not dangerous neither; or an honour, 
 that outweighs the danger, attends it: fince 
 private men have aright by the ancient con- 
 ftitution of this government, as well as 
 councils of ftate, to reprefent to the prince 
 the abufes of his adminiftration. But (till 
 men have not there the fame occafion to con- 
 cern themfelves in the affairs of the ftate, as 
 the nature of a free government gives to 
 the members of it. In our own country, 
 for in our own the forms of a free govern- 
 ment at leaft are hitherto preferved, men are 
 not only defigned for the public fervice by 
 the circumftances of their fituation, and 
 their talents, all which may happen in 
 others : but they are defigned to it by their 
 birth in many cafes, and in all cafes they 
 may dedicate themfeves to this fervice, and 
 take, in different degrees, fome (hare in it, 
 whether they are called to it by the prince or 
 no. In abfolute governments, all public 
 fervice is to the prince, and he nominates all 
 thofe that ferve the public. In free go- 
 vernments, there is a diftinft and a principal 
 fervice due to the ftate. Even the king, of 
 fuch a limited monarchy as ours, is but 
 
 the
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 155 
 
 the firft fervant of the people. Among his 
 fubje&s Ibme are appointed by the con- 
 ftitution, and others are elected by the peo- 
 ple, to carry on the exercife of the legifla- 
 tive power jointly with him, and to controul 
 the executive power independently on him. 
 Thus your lordfhip is born a member of 
 that order of men, in whorn a third part of 
 the fupreme power of the government re- 
 fides: and your right to the exercife of the 
 power belonging to this order not being yet 
 opened, you are chofen into another body of 
 men, who have different power and a dif- 
 ferent conftitution, but who poJTefs another 
 third part of the fupreme legiflative autho- 
 rity, for as long a time as the commiflion or 
 truft delegated to them by the people lafts. 
 Free-men, who are neither born to the firft, 
 nor elected to the laft, have a right how- 
 ever to complain, to reprefent, to petition, 
 and, I add, even to do more in cafes of the 
 utmoft extremity. For fare there cannot be 
 a greater abfurdity, than to affirm, that the 
 people have a remedy in refiftance, when 
 their prince attempt* to enflave them; but 
 that they have none, when their reprefenta- 
 tives fell themfelves and them. 
 
 THE fum of what I have been faying is, 
 that, in free governments, the public fervice 
 
 is
 
 156 L E T T E R V. 
 
 is not confined to thofe whom the prince 
 appoints to different pofts in the adminif- 
 tration under him ; that there the care of 
 the ftate is the care of multitudes; that many 
 are called to it in a particular manner by 
 their rank, and by other circumftances of 
 their fituation ; and that even thofe whom the 
 prince appoints are not only anfwerable to 
 him, but like him, and before him, to the 
 nation, for their behaviour in their feveral 
 pofts. It can never be impertinent nor ridi- 
 culous therefore in fuch a country, whatever 
 it might be in the habit of St. REAL'S, which 
 was Savoy I think; or in Peru, under 
 the Incas, where, GARCILASSO DE LA VEGA 
 fays, it was lawful for none but the nobi- 
 lity to ftudy for men of all degrees to in- 
 ftruct themfelves in thofe affairs wherein 
 they may be actors, or judges of thofe that 
 act, or controulers of thofe that judge. On 
 the contrary it is incumbent on every man 
 to inftruct himfelf, as well as the means and 
 opportunities he has permitted, concerning 
 the nature and interefts of the governments, 
 and thofe rights and duties that belong to 
 him, or to his fuperiors, or to his inferiors. 
 This in general; but in particular, it is certain 
 that the obligations under which we lie to 
 ferve our country increafe, in proportion to 
 the ranks we hold-, and the other circum- 
 ftances
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 157 
 
 fiances of birth, fortune, and fituation that 
 call us to this fervice ; and, above all, to 
 the talents which God has given us to per- 
 form it. 
 
 IT is in this view, that I (hall addrefs to 
 your lordlhip, whatever I have further to fay 
 on the ftudy of hiftory. 
 
 LET-
 
 t 159 1 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 From what period modern hiftory is pecu- 
 liarly ufeful to the fervice of our 
 country, viz. 
 
 From the end of the fifteenth century to the 
 prefent. 
 
 The divifion of this into three particular 
 periods : 
 
 In order to a (ketch of the hiftory and ftatc 
 of Europe from that time. 
 
 SINCE then you are, my lord, by your 
 birth, by the nature of our govern- 
 ment, and by the talents God has given 
 you, attached for life to the fervice of your 
 country ; fmce genius alone cannot enable 
 you to go through this fervice with honour 
 to yourfelf, and advantage to your country ; 
 whether you fupport, or whether you op- 
 pofe the adminiftrations that arife; fmce a 
 
 great
 
 i6o LETTER VI. 
 
 great (lock of knowledge, acquired be- 
 times and continually improved, is necef- 
 fary to this end; and fince one part of this 
 ftock muft be collected from the ftudy of 
 hiftory, as the other part is to be gained by 
 obfervation and experience; I come now to 
 fpeak to your lordftiip of fuch hiftory as has 
 an immediate relation to the great duty and 
 bufmefs of your life, and of the method to 
 be obferved in this ftudy. The notes I have 
 by me, which were of fome little ufe thus far, 
 ferve me no farther, and I have no books 
 to confult. No matter; I (hall be able to 
 explain my thoughts without their afliftance, 
 and lefs liable to be tedious. I hope to be 
 as full and as exact on memory alone, as the 
 manner in which I mall treat the fubject, re- 
 quires me to be. 
 
 I SAY then, that however clofely affairs are 
 linked together in the progrefiion of go- 
 vernments, and how much foever events 
 that follow, are dependant on thofe that pre- 
 cede, the whole connection diminifhes to 
 fight as the chain lengthens; till at laft it 
 feems to be broken, and the links that are 
 continued from that poinr, bear no propor- 
 tion nor any fimilitude to the former. I 
 would not be underftood to fpeak only of 
 thofe great changes, that are wrought by a 
 
 cor-
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTQRV. i6c 
 
 concurrence of extraordinary events; for 
 inftance the expulfion of one nation, the 
 dcftruction of one government, and the 
 eftablifhment of another: but even of thole 
 that are wrought in the fame governments 
 and among the fame people, flowly and al- 
 moft imperceptibly, by the neceffary effects 
 of time, and flux condition of human af- 
 fairs. When fuch changes as thefe happen 
 in feveral dates about the fame time, and 
 confequently affect other ftates by their 
 vicinity, and by many different relations 
 which they frequently bear to one another ; 
 then is one of thole periods formed, at which 
 the chain fpoken of is ib broken as to have 
 little or no real or vifible connection with 
 that which we fee continue. A new fitua- 
 tion different from the former, begets new 
 interefts in the fame proportion of differ- 
 ence-, not in this or that particular ftate 
 alone, but in all thofe that are concerned by 
 vicinity or other relations, as I faid juft now, 
 in one general fyftem of policy. New 
 interefts beget new maxims of government, 
 and new methods of conduct. Thefe, in 
 their turns, beget new manners, new ha- 
 bits, new cuftoms. The longer this new 
 conftitution of affairs continues, the more 
 will this difference increafe: and although 
 fome analogy may remain long between 
 L whap
 
 162 L E T T E R VI. 
 
 what preceded and what fucceeded fuch a pe- 
 riod, yet will this analogy foon become an 
 object of mere curiofity, not of profitable en- 
 quiry. Such a period therefore is, in the true 
 ienfe of the words, an epocha or an asra, a 
 point of time at which you flop, or from 
 which you reckon forward. I fay forward; 
 becaufe we are not to iludy in the prefent 
 cale, as chronologers compute, backward. 
 Should we perfift to carry our refearches 
 much higher, and to pufh them even to fome 
 other period of the fame kind, we (hould 
 milemploy our time; the cauies then laid 
 having fpent themfelves, the feries of effects 
 derived from them being over, and our con- 
 cern in both confequently at an end. But 
 a new fyftem of caufes and effects, that fub- 
 fifts in our time, and whereof cur conduct 
 is to be a part, arifing at the laft period, 
 and all that paffes in our time being depen- 
 dent on what has paffed fince that period, 
 or being immediately relative to it, we are 
 extremely concerned to be well informed 
 about all thole paiTages. To be entirely ig- 
 norant about the ages that precede this 
 asra would be fhameful. Nay fome indul- 
 gence may be had to a temperate curiofity 
 in the review of them. But to be learned 
 about them is a ridiculous affectation in any 
 man who means to be ufeful to the prefent 
 
 age.
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 163 
 
 age. Down to this sera let us read hiftory; 
 from this aera, and down to our own time, 
 let us ftudy it. 
 
 THE end of the fifteenth century feems 
 to be juft luch a period as I have been de- 
 fcribing, for thofe who live in the 
 eighteenth, and who inhabit the weftern 
 parts of Europe. A little before, or a 
 little after this point of time, all thofe 
 events happened, and all thofe revolutions 
 began, that have produced fo vaft a change 
 in the manners, cuftoms, and intcrelts 
 of particular nations, and in the whole 
 policy, ecclefiaftical and civil, of thefe parts . 
 of the world. I muft defcend here into 
 fame detail, not of hiftories, collections, or 
 memorials; for all thefe are well enough 
 known : and though the contents are in the 
 heads of few, the books are in the hands 
 of many. But inftead of (hewing your 
 lordfhip where to look, I fhall contribute 
 more to your entertainment and inftrudtion, 
 by marking out, as well as my memory 
 will ferve me to do it, what you are to look 
 for, and by furnifhing a kind of clue to 
 your ftudies. I fhall give, according to 
 cuftom, the firft place to religion. 
 
 l^ 2 A view
 
 1 64 LETTER VI. 
 
 A view of the ecclefiaftical government 
 of Europe from the beginning of the 
 
 fixteenth century, 
 
 OBSERVE then, my lord, that the demo- 
 lition of the papal throne was not attempted 
 with fucceis till the beginning of the fix- 
 tecnth century. If you are curious to caft 
 your eyes bark, you will find BERENGER 
 in the eleventh, who was foon iilenced ; 
 ARNOLDUS in the fame, who was foon 
 handed ; VALDO in the twelfth, and our 
 \\ICKLIFF in the fourteenth, as well as 
 others perhaps whom 1 do not recollect. 
 Sometimes the doctrines of the church were 
 alone attacked ; and fometimes the docbine, 
 the difcipline and the ufurpations of the 
 pope. But little fires, kindled in corners 
 of a dark world, were foon ftifled by that 
 great abettor or chriftian unity, the hang- 
 man. When they ipread and blazed out, 
 as in the cafe of the Albigeois and of the 
 Huffites, armies were raifed to cxtinguifh 
 them by torrents of blood-, and fuch 
 faints as DOMINIC, with the crucifix in their 
 hands, iniligatcd the troops to the utmoft 
 barbarity. Your lordfhip will find that the 
 church of Rome-was maintained by fuch 
 
 chad-
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 165 
 
 charitable and falutary means among others, 
 till the period fpoken of: and you will 
 be curious, I am fure, to enquire how 
 this period came to be more fatal to her 
 than any former conjuncture. A multitude 
 of circumftances which you will eafily 
 trace in the hiftories of the fifteenth and 
 fixtecnth centuries, to go no further back, 
 concurred to bring about this great event: 
 and a multitude of others as eafy to be 
 traced, concurred to hinder the demolition 
 from becoming total, and to prop the tot- 
 tering fabric. Among thefe circun.ftances, 
 there is one lefs complicated and more ob- 
 vious than others, which was of principal 
 and univerfal influence. The art of print- 
 ing had been invented about forty or fifty 
 years before the period we fix: from that 
 time, the refurrection of letters haflened on 
 apace; and at this period they had made 
 great progrefs, and were cultivated with 
 great application. MAHOMET the fecond 
 drove them out of the eaft into the weft; 
 and the popes proved worfe politicians 
 than the mufties in this refpecl:. NI- 
 CHOLAS the fifth, encouraged learning, and 
 learned men. SIXTUS the fourth was, if I 
 miftake not, a great collector of books at 
 leaft: and LEO the tenth was the patron 
 of every art and fcience. The magicians 
 L 3 them-
 
 i65 LETTER VI. 
 
 themfelves broke the charm by which the? 
 had bound mankind for fo many ages : and 
 the adventure of that knight-errant, who, 
 thinking himfelf happy in the arms of a 
 celeftial nymph, found that he was the mi- 
 ferable flave of an infernal hag, was in ibme 
 fort renewed. As foon as the means of ac- 
 quiring and fpreading information grew 
 common, it is no wonder that a fyftem was 
 unravelled, which could not have been wo- 
 ven with fuccefs in any ages, but thofe of 
 grofs ignorance, and credulous fuperfti- 
 tion. I might point out to your lordfhip 
 many other immediate caufes, fome general 
 like this that I have mentioned, and fome 
 particular. The great fchifm, for inftance, 
 that ended in the begining of the fifteenth 
 century, and in the council of Con- 
 ftance, had occafioned prodigious fcandal. 
 Two or three vicars of CHRIST, two 
 or three infallible heads of the church, 
 roaming about the world at a time, furnim- 
 ed matter of ridicule as well as fcandal: 
 and whilft they appealed, for fo they did 
 in effect, to the laity, and reproached and 
 excommunicated one another, they taught 
 the world what to think of .the inftiunion, 
 as well as exercife of the papal authority. 
 The fame leffbn was taught by the council of 
 Pifa, that preceded, and by that of Baflr, 
 
 that
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 167 
 
 that followed the Council of Conftance. 
 The horrid crimes of ALEXANDER thefixth, 
 the faucy ambition of JULIUS the fecond, the 
 immenfe profufion and fcandalous exactions 
 of LEO the tenth; ail thefe events and 
 characters, following in a continued feries 
 from the beginning of one century, prepared 
 the way for the revolution that happened in 
 the beginning of the next. The ftate of 
 Germany, the ftate of England, and that 
 of the North, were particular caufes, in 
 thefe feveral countries, of this revolution. 
 Such were many remarkable events that 
 happened about the fame time, and a little 
 before it, in thefe and in other nations; 
 and fuch were likewife the characters of 
 many of the princes of that age, fome of 
 whom favoured the reformation like the 
 elector of Saxony, on a principle of con- 
 fcience ; and moft of whom favoured it, juft 
 as others oppofed it, on a principle of in- 
 tereft. This your lordfhip will dilcover rr.a- 
 nifeftly to have been the cale ; and the folc 
 difference you will find between HENRY 
 the eighth and FRANCIS the firft, one of 
 whom feparated from the pope, as the other 
 adhered to hinr, is this: HENRY the eighth 
 divided, with the fecular clergy and his peo- 
 ple, the fpoil of the pope, and his iatel- 
 lites, the monks; FRANCIS the firft divided, 
 L 4. with
 
 i68 L E T T E R VI. 
 
 with the pope, the fpoil of his clergy^ 
 fecular and regular^ and of his people. 
 With the fame impartial eye that your 
 lordlhip furveys the abufes of religior, and 
 the corruptions of the church as well as 
 court of Rome, which brought on the re- 
 formation at this period; you will obferve 
 the characters and conduct of thole who be- 
 gan, who propagated, and who favoured 
 the reformation: and from your obfervation 
 of thefe, as well as of the unfyftematical 
 manner in which it was carried on at 
 fame time in various places, and of the 
 want of concert, nay even of charity, 
 among the reformers, you will learn what to 
 think of the feveral religions that unite in 
 their oppofition to the Roman, and yet 
 hate one another molt heartily; what to think 
 of the feveral feels that have fprouted, like 
 fuckers, from the fame great roots-, and 
 what the true principles are of proteftanc 
 ecclefiaftical policy. This policy had no 
 being till LUTHER made his eftablimmenc 
 in Germany; till ZWINCLIUS began another 
 in Switzerland, which CALVIN carried on, 
 and, like AMERICUS VESPUTIUS who fol- 
 lovved-CnRiSTOPHER CoLVMBVS, robbed the 
 firft adventurer of his honour; and till the 
 reformation in our country was perfected 
 under EDWARD the-fixth and ELIZABETH. 
 
 Even
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 
 
 Even popifh ecclefiaftical policy is no longer 
 the fame fince that aera. His holinefs is no 
 longer at the head of the whole weiiern 
 church : and to keep the part that adheres 
 to him, he is obliged to looien. their chains, 
 and to lighten his yoke. The fpirit and pre- 
 tenfions of his court are the fame, but not 
 the power. He governs by expedient and 
 management more, and by authority lefs. 
 His decrees and his briefs are in danger of 
 being refufed, explained away, or evaded, 
 unleis he negociates their acceptance before 
 he gives them, governs in concert with his 
 flock, and feeds his fheep according to their 
 humour and intereft. In fhort, his excom- 
 munications, that made thegreateft emperors 
 tremble, are dcfpifed by the loweft members 
 of his own communion; and the remaining 
 attachment to him has been, from this sera, 
 rather apolitical expedient to preferve an ap- 
 pearance or. unity, than a principle of con- 
 fcience; whatever fome bigotted princes 
 may have thought, whatever ambitious pre- 
 lates and hireling fcribblers may have taught, 
 and whatever a people, worked up" to 
 enthufiafm by fanatical preachers, may 
 hi\ve acted. Proofs of this would be eafy to 
 draw, not only from the conduct ot iuch 
 princes, as FERDINAND the firft, and MAXI- 
 MILIAN the fccond, who could Icarce be 
 
 efteemed
 
 170 L E T T E R VI. 
 
 cfteemed papifts though they continued in the 
 pope's communion: but even from that of 
 princes who perfecuted their proteftant fub- 
 jects with great violence. Enough has been 
 faid, I think to (hew your lordfhip how little 
 need there is of going up higher than 
 the beginning of the fixteenth century in the 
 itudy of hiftory, to acquire all the know- 
 ledge neceffary at this time in ecclefiaftical 
 policy, or in civil policy as far as it is rela- 
 tive to this. Hiftorical monuments of this 
 fort are in every man's hand, the facts are 
 fufficiently verified, and the entire Icenes lie 
 open to our obfervation: even that fcene 
 of folemn refined banter exhibited in the 
 council of Trent, impofes on no man who 
 reads PAOLO, as well as PALLAVICINI, and 
 the letters of VARGAS. 
 
 A view
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 171 
 
 A view of the civil government of Eu- 
 rope in the beginning of the fixteenth 
 century. 
 
 I. In FRANCE. 
 
 A VERY little higher need we go, to ob- 
 ferve thofe great changes in the civil confti- 
 tutions of the principal nations of Europe, 
 in the partition of power among them, 
 and by confequence 5-n the whole fyftem of 
 European policy, which have operated fo 
 ftrongly for more than two centuries, and 
 which operate ftill. I will not affront the 
 memory of our HENRY the fevertth fo 
 much as to compare him to LEWIS the 
 eleventh : and yet I perceive fome refem- 
 blance between them , which would perhaps 
 appear greater if PHILIP of Commines 
 had wrote the Hiftory of HENRY as well 
 as that of LEWIS; or if my lord BACON 
 had wrote that of LEWIS as well as that 
 of HENRY. This prince came to the 
 crown of England a little before the clofe 
 of the fifteenth century : and LEWIS began 
 his reign in France about twenty years 
 fooner. Thele reigns make remarkable 
 periods in the hiftories of both nations. 
 
 To
 
 172 L E T T E R VI. 
 
 To reduce the power, privileges, and pof- 
 icfiionsof the nobility, and to increafe the 
 wealth and authority of the crown, was the 
 principal object of both. In this their fuc- 
 cefs was fo great, that the conftitutions of 
 the two governments have had, fince that 
 time, more refemblance, in name and in 
 form than in reality, to the conftitutions 
 that prevailed before. LEWIS the eleventh 
 was the firtl, fay the French, " qui mit 
 " les rois hers de page." The indepen- 
 dency of the nobility had rendered the Hate 
 of his predecefibrs very dependent, and 
 their power precarious. They were the fo- 
 vereigns of g^eat vafials-, but thefe vafials 
 were fo powerful, that one of them was 
 fometimes able, and two or three of them 
 always, to give law to the fovereign. 
 Before LEWIS came to the crown, the 
 Englim had been driven out of their pof- 
 feffions in France, by the poor character of 
 HENRY the fixth, the domeltic troubles of 
 his reign, and the defection of the houfe of 
 Burgundy from his alliance, much more 
 than by the ability of CHARLES the feventh, 
 who feems to have been neither a greater 
 hero nor a greater politician than HENRY 
 the fixth; and even than by the vi- 
 gour and union of the French nobility in 
 
 his
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 173 
 
 his fcrvicc. After LEWIS came to the 
 crown, EDWARD the fourth made a fhew of 
 carrying the war again into France : but 
 he loon returned home, and your lordfhip 
 will not be at a lofs to find much better rea- 
 fons for his doing fo, in the fituation of his 
 affairs and the characters of his allies, 
 than thofe which PHILIP of Commines 
 draws from the artifice of LEWIS, from his 
 good cheer, and his penfions. Now from 
 this time our pretenfions on France were 
 in effect given up: and CHAKLES the bold, 
 the hft prince of the houfc of Burgundy, 
 being killed, LEWIS had no vaflal able to 
 moleft him. He re-united the duchy of 
 Burgundy and Artois to his crown, he ac- 
 quired PROVENCE by gift, and his fon Bri- 
 tany by marriage: and thus France grew, in 
 the courfe of a few years, into that great 
 and compact body which we behold at 
 this time. The Hiftory of France before 
 this period, is like that of Germany, a com- 
 plicated hiftory of feveral ftates and feveral 
 interefts-, fometimes concurring like mem- 
 bers of the fame monarchy, and fometimes 
 warring on one another. Since this period, 
 the hittory of France is the hiftory of one 
 ftate under a more uniform and orderly go- 
 vernment j the hiftory of a monarchy where- 
 in
 
 i 74 L E T T E R VI. 
 
 }n the prince is pofleffor of fome, as well 
 as lord of all the great ficffees: and the 
 authority of many tyrants centering in 
 one, though the people are not become 
 more free, yet the whole fyftem of domeftie 
 policy is entirely changed. Peace at home 
 is better fecured, and the nation grown fitter 
 to carry war abroad. The governors of 
 great provinces and of ftrong fortreffes 
 have oppofed their king, and taken arms 
 againft his authority and commifijon fince 
 that time: but yet there is no more re- 
 iemblance between the authority and preten- 
 fions of thefe governors, or the nature and 
 occafions of thefe difputes, and the autho- 
 rity and pretenfions of the vafTals of the 
 crown in former days, or the nature and 
 occafions of their difputes with the prince 
 and with one another, than there is be- 
 tween the ancient and the prefent peers of 
 France. In a word, the conftitution is fo 
 altered, that any knowledge we can acquire 
 about it, in the hiftory that precedes this pe- 
 riod, will ferve to little purpofe in our rtudy 
 of the hiftory that follows it, and to lefs 
 purpofe ftill in aflilting us to judge of 
 what pafles in the prefent age. The kings of 
 France fince that time, more mafters at 
 home, have been able to exert themfelves 
 
 more
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 175 
 
 more abroad : and they began to do fo im- 
 mediately, for CHARLES the eighth, fort 
 and fuccefibr of LEWIS the eleventh, form- 
 ed great defigns of foreign conqudb, though 
 they were difappointed by his inability, by 
 the levity of the nation, and by other 
 caufes. LEWIS the twelfth and FRANCIS 
 the firft, but efpecially FRANCIS, meddled 
 deep in the affairs of Furope: and though 
 the fuperior genius of FERDINAND called 
 the catholic, and the ftar of CHARLES the 
 fifth prevailed againft them, yet the efforts 
 they made, fhew Sufficiently how the ftrength. 
 and importance of this monarchy were in- 
 creafed in their time. From whence we may 
 date likewife the rivalihip of the houfe of 
 France, for we may reckon that of Valois 
 and that of Bourbon as one upon this occa- 
 fion, and the hoiife of Auftna ; that conti- 
 nues at this day, and that has coll fo much 
 blood and fo much treafure in the courfe 
 of it. 
 
 II. In
 
 176 LETTER VI. 
 
 II. In ENGLAND. 
 
 
 
 THOUGH the power and influence of thtf 
 nobility funk in the great change that began 
 under HENRY the feventh in England, 
 as they did in that which began under LEWIS 
 the eleventh in France; yet the new con- 
 ititutions that thefe changes produced were 
 very different. In France the lords alone 
 loft, the king alone gained; the clergy 
 held their pofltffions and their immunities, 
 and the people remained in a date of miti- 
 gated flcivcry. But in England the people 
 gained as well as the crown. The com- 
 mons had already a fhare in the legiflature ; 
 fo that the power and influence of the lords 
 being broke by HENRY the feventh, and 
 the property of the commons increasing 
 by the fale that his fon made of church 
 lands, the power of the latter increafed of 
 courfe by this change in a conftitution, the 
 forms whereof wen? favourable to them. 
 The union of the rofes put an end to the 
 civil wars of York and Lancafler, that had 
 fucceeded thofe we commonly call the ba- 
 rons wars, and the. humour of warring in 
 
 France,
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY-. 177 
 
 France, that had lafted near four hundred 
 years under the Normans and Plantagenets, 
 for plunder as well as conqueft was fpenr. 
 Our temple of JANUS was hut by HENRY 
 the feventh. We neither laid wafte our 
 own nor other countries any longer: and 
 wife laws and a wile government changed 
 infenfibly the manners, and gave a new 
 turn to the fpirit of our people. We were 
 no longer the free- hooters we had been. 
 Our nation maintained her reputation in 
 arms whenever the public intereft or the 
 public authority required it; but war cea- 
 fed to be, what it had been, our principal 
 and almoft our fole profefiion. The arts of 
 peace prevailed among us. We became 
 hufbandmen, manufacturers and merchants, 
 and we emulated neighbouring nations 
 in literature. It is from this time thac 
 we ought to fludy the hiftory of our 
 country, my lord, with the urmoft appli- 
 cation. We are not much concerned to 
 know with critical accuracy what were the 
 ancient forms of our parliaments concern- 
 ing which, however, there is little room 
 for difpute from the reign of HENRY the 
 third at leaft; nor in (hort the whole fyf- 
 tem of our civil conftitution before HENRY 
 the feventh, and of our ecclefiaftical con- 
 M ftitution
 
 178 LETTER VI. 
 
 ftitution before HENRY the eighth. But he 
 who has not ftudied and acquired a thorough 
 knowledge of them both, from theie 
 periods down to the prefent time, in all 
 the variety of events by which they have 
 been affected, will be very unfit to judge 
 or to take care of either. Juft as little are 
 we concerned to know, in any nice de- 
 tail, what the conduct of our princes, 
 relatively to their neighbours on the con- 
 tinent, was before this period, and at a 
 time when the partition of power and a 
 multitude of other circumftances rendered 
 the whole political fyftem of Europe, fo 
 vaflly different from that which has exift- 
 ed fince. But he who has not traced this 
 conduct from the period we fix, down to 
 the prefent age, wants a principal part of 
 the knowledge that every Englifh minifter 
 of flate fhould have. Ignorance in the 
 refpects here fpoken of is the lefs pardon- 
 able, becaufe we have more, and more 
 authentic, means of information concern- 
 ing this, than concerning any other pe- 
 riod. Anecdotes enough to glut the curio- 
 fuy of fome perfons, and to filence all the 
 captious cavils of others, will never be fur- 
 nifhed by any portion of hiftory; nor indeed 
 can they according to the nature and 
 
 courfc
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 179 
 
 courfe of human affairs: but he who is con- 
 tent to read and obferve, like a fenator 
 and a ftatefman, will find in our own and 
 in foreign hiftorians as much information 
 as he wants, concerning the affairs of our 
 ifland, her fortune at home, and her con- 
 duct abroad, from the fifteenth century to 
 the eighteenth. I refer to foreign hiftorians, 
 as well as to our own, for this feries of 
 our own hiftory, not only becaufe it is rea- 
 fonable to fee in, what manner the hifto- 
 rians of other countries have related the 
 tranfactions wherein we have -been con- 
 cerned, and what judgment they have made 
 of our conduct, domeftic and foreign, but 
 for another reafon likewife. Our nation 
 has furnifhed as ample and as importanc 
 matter, good and bad, for hiftory, as 
 any nation under the fun: and yet we mud 
 yield the palm in writing hiftory moft cer- 
 tainly to the Italians and to the French, 
 and, I fear, even to the Germans. The 
 only two pieces of hiftory we have, in any 
 refpect to be compared with the ancient, 
 are, the reign of HENRY the feventh by 
 my lord BACON, and the Hiftory of our 
 civil war in the laft century by your noble 
 anceftor my lord chancellor CLARENDON. 
 But we have no general hiftory to be 
 M ? com.*
 
 i8o L E T T E R VI. 
 
 compared with fome of other countries: nei- 
 ther have we, which I lament much more, paF- 
 ticular hiftones, except the two I have men- 
 tioned, nor writers of memorials nor collec- 
 tors of monuments and anecdotes, to vie in 
 number or in merit with thofe that foreign 
 nations canboaftj from COMMINES, Guicci- 
 ARDIN, Du BELLAY, PAOLO, DAVILA, THU- 
 ANUS, and a multitude of others, down 
 through the whole period that I propofe to 
 your lordlhip. But although this be true, to 
 our (hame-, yet it is true likewiie that we 
 want no neceffary means of information. 
 They lie open to our induftry, and our dif- 
 cernment. Foreign writers are for the moft 
 part fcarce worth reading when they fpeak of 
 our domeftic affairs: nor are our Englifli 
 writers for the moft part of greater value 
 when they fpeak of foreign affairs. In this 
 mutual defect, the writers of other countries 
 are, I think, more excufable than ours; for 
 the nature of our government, the political 
 principles in which we are bred, our dif- 
 tincl: interefts as iflanders, and the compli- 
 cated various interefts and humours of our 
 parties, all thefe are fo peculiar to our- 
 klves, and fo different from the notions, 
 manners, and habits of other nations, that 
 it is not wonderful they Ihould be puzzled 
 
 or
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 181 
 
 or mould fall into error, when they under- 
 take to give relations of events that re- 
 lult from all thele, or to pafs any judgment 
 upon them. But as thefe hiilorians are mu- 
 tually defective, fo they mutually fupply each 
 other's defects. We muft compare them 
 therefore, make ufe of our difcernment, and 
 draw our conclufions from both. If we pro- 
 ceed in this manner, we have an ample fund 
 of hiftory in our power, from whence to col- 
 left fufficient authentic information ; and we 
 muft proceed in this manner, even with our 
 own hiftorians of different religions, fects, 
 and parties, or run the rilque of being mif- 
 led by domeftic ignorance and prejudice in 
 this cafe, as well as by foreign ignorance and 
 prejudice in the other. 
 
 M 3 III. In
 
 182. LETTER Vi. 
 
 III. In SPAIN and the Empire. 
 
 SPAIN figured little in Europe till the lat- 
 ter part of the fifteenth century ; til! Caftile 
 and Arragon were united by the marriage of 
 FERDINAND and ISABELLA; till the total 
 expulfion of the Moors, and till the dif- 
 covery of the Weft Indies. After this, not 
 only Spain took a new form, and grew into 
 immenfe power; but, the heir of FERDI- 
 NAND and ISABELLA being heir likewiie of 
 the houfes of Burgundy and Auflria, fuch 
 an extent of dominion accrued to him by 
 all thefe fucceflions, and fuch an addition of 
 rank and authority by his election to the 
 empire, as no prince had been mafter of in 
 Europe from the days of CHARLES the 
 great. It is proper to obferve here how 
 the policy of the Germans altered in the 
 choice of an emperor, becaufe the effects 
 of this, alteration hwe been great. When 
 RODOLPHUS of Hapfburgh was chofe in the 
 year one thouftnd two hundred and feventy, 
 or about that time, the poverty and the 
 low eftate of this prince, who had been 
 marfhal of the court to a king of Bohemia, 
 was an inducement to elect him. The dif- 
 
 orderly
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 183 
 
 orderly and lawlefs ftate of the empire made 
 the princes of it in thofe days unwilling 
 to have a more powerful head. But a 
 contrary maxim took place at this asra : 
 CHARLES the fifth and FRANCIS the firft, 
 the two mod powerful princes of Europe, 
 were the fole candidates; for the elector of 
 Saxony, who is faid to have declined, was 
 rather unable to ftand in competition 
 with them: and CHARLES was chofen by 
 the unanimous fuffrages of ihe electoral col- 
 lege if I miftake not. Another CHARLES, 
 CHARLES the fourth, who was made em- 
 peror illegally enough on the depofition of 
 LEWIS of Bavaria, and about one hundred 
 and fifty years before, feems to me to have 
 contributed doubly to eftablifh this max- 
 im-, by the wile conititutions that he pro- 
 cured to pafs, that united the empire in a 
 more orderly form and better fyftem of go- 
 vernment ; and by alienating the imperial 
 revenues to fuch a degree, that they were 
 no longer fufficient to fupport an emperor 
 who had nor great revenues of his own. 
 The fame maxim and other circumftances 
 have concurred to keep the empire in this 
 family ever fince, as it had been often be- 
 fore; and this family having large domi- 
 nions in the empire, and larger pretenfions, 
 M 4 as
 
 .'j&4 LETTER VI. 
 
 as well as dpminions, out of it, the other 
 ilates of Europe, France, Spain and Eng- 
 land particularly, have been more concerned 
 fince this period in the affairs of Germany, 
 than they were before it: and by confequence 
 the hiftory of Germany, from the beginning 
 of the fixteenth century, is of importance, 
 and a necefiary part of that knowledge which, 
 your Iprdfhip defires to acquire. 
 
 THE Dutch cpmmonwealth was not for- 
 med till near a century later. But as foon as 
 it was formed, nay even whilft it was form- 
 inof, thefe provinces, that were loft to obfer- 
 vation among the many that compofed the 
 dominions of Burgundyand Auftria, became 
 fb confiderable a part of the political fyftem 
 of Europe, that their hiftory muft be ftu- 
 died by every man who would inform himfelf 
 pf this fyftem. 
 
 SOON after this rtate had taken being, 
 others of a more ancient original began to 
 mingle in thofe difputes and wars, thofe 
 councils, negociations, and treaties, that are 
 to be the principal objects of your lord- 
 Jhip's application in the ftudy of hiftory. 
 That of the northern crowns deferves your 
 attention little, before the laft century. 
 
 Tilt
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 185 
 
 Till the election of FREDERICK the firft to 
 ihc crown of Denmark, and till that won- 
 derful revolution which the firft GUSTAVUS 
 brought about in Sweden, it is nothing 
 more than a confufed rhapfody of events, in 
 which the great kingdoms and ftates of Eu- 
 rope neither had any concern^ nor took 
 any part. From the time I have men- 
 tioned, the northern crowns have turned 
 their counfels and their arms often fouth- 
 wards, and Sweden particularly, with prodi- 
 gious effect. 
 
 To what purpofe fhould I trouble your 
 lordfhip with the mention of hiftones of 
 other nations ? they are either fuch as have 
 no relation to the knowledge you would ac- 
 quire, like that of the Poles, the Mufco- 
 vites, or the Turks; or they are fuch as, 
 having an occafional or a fecondary relation 
 to it, fall of courfc into your fcheme ; 
 like the hiftory of Italy for inftance, which 
 is fometimes a part of that of France, 
 ibmctirnes of that of Spain, and fometimes 
 of that of Germany. The thread of hiltory, 
 that you are to keep, is that of the nations 
 who are, and muft always be concerned 
 in the fame fcenes of adion with your 
 own Thefe are the principal nations of 
 
 the
 
 186 LETTER VI. 
 
 the weft. Things that have no immediate 
 relation to your own country, or to them, 
 are either too remote, or too minute^ to em- 
 ploy much of your time: and their hiftory 
 and your own is, for all your purpofes, the 
 whole hiftory of Europe. 
 
 THE two great powers, that of France 
 and that of Auftria,. being formed, and a 
 rivalfhip eftabliftied by confequence be- 
 tween them ; it began to be the intereft of 
 their neighbours to oppofe the ftrongeft and 
 inoft enterprifmg of the two, and to be 
 the ally and friend of the weakeft. From 
 hence arofe the notion of a balance of 
 power in Europe, on the equal poize of 
 which the fafety and tranquillity of all 
 muft dtpend. . 'JTo deftroy the equality 
 of this balance has been the aim of each 
 of thefe rivals in his turn: and to hinder it 
 from being deftroyed, by preventing too 
 much power from falling into one Icale, 
 has been the principle of all the wife 
 councils of Europe, relative to France and 
 to the houle of Auftria, through the whole 
 period that began at the asra we have fix- 
 ed, and fubfifts at this hour. To make a 
 careful and juft obfervation, therefore, of 
 the rife and decline of thefe powers, in the 
 
 two
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 187 
 
 two lad centuries and in the prefent ; of 
 the projects which their ambition formed; 
 of the means they employed to carry thefe 
 projects on with fuccefs; of the means em- 
 ployed by others to defeat them; of the 
 iffue of all thele endeavours in war and in 
 negociation; and particularly, to bring your 
 obfervations home to your own country 
 and your own ufe, of the conduct that 
 England held, to her honour or difhonour, 
 to her advantage or diiadvanti^e, in every 
 one of the numerous and important con- 
 junctures that happened ought to be the 
 principal fubject of your lordfnip's attention 
 in reading and reflecting on this part of mo- 
 dern hiftory. 
 i 
 
 Now to this purpofe you will find it of 
 great ufe, my lord, when you have a general 
 plan of the hiftory in your mind, to go 
 over the whole again in another method; 
 which I propofe to be this. Divide the 
 entire period into fuch particular periods 
 as the general courfe of affairs will mark 
 out to you fufficiently, by the rife of new 
 conjunctures, of different fchemes of conduct, 
 and of different theatres of action. Exa- 
 mine this period of hiftory as you would 
 
 examine
 
 i33 LETTER VI. 
 
 examine a tragedy or a comedy -, that js, 
 take firft the idea or a general notion of the 
 whole, and after that examine every at 
 and every fcene apart. Confider them in 
 themfelves, and confider them relatively to 
 one another. Read this hiftory as you 
 would that of any ancient period-, but ftudy 
 it afterwards, as it would not be worth 
 your while to ftudy the other; nay as you 
 could not have it in your power the means 
 of ftudying the other, if the ftudy war, real- 
 ly worth your while. The tormer part of 
 this period abounds in great hiftorians: and 
 the latter part is fo modern, that even tra- 
 dition is authentic enough to fupply the 
 want of good hiftory, if we are curious to 
 enquire, and if we hearken to the living 
 with the lame impartiality and freedom of 
 judgment as we read the dead: and he that 
 does one will do the other. The whole 
 period abounds in memorials, in collections 
 of public ads and monuments of private 
 letters, and of treaties. All thefe muft 
 come into your plan of ftudy, my lord; many 
 not to be read through, but all to be 
 confulted and compared. They muft not 
 lead you, I think, to your enquiries, but 
 your enquiries muft lead you to them. By 
 joining hiftory and .that which we call ihe 
 
 mate-
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 189 
 
 materia hiftorica together in this manner, 
 and by drawing your information from 
 both, your lordiliip will acquire not only 
 that knowledge, which many have in fome 
 degree, of the great tranfactions that have 
 palled, and the great events that have hap- 
 pened in Europe during this period, and of 
 their immediate and obvious caufes and 
 confequences ; but your lordihip will ac- 
 quire a much fuperior knowledge, and 
 fuch a one as very few men poflefs almoft 
 in any degree, a knowledge of the true po- 
 litical fyitem of Europe during this time. 
 You will lee it in it's primitive principles, in 
 the conttitutions of governments, the fitua- 
 tions of countries, their national and true 
 interefts, the characters and the religion of 
 people, and other permanent circumstances. 
 You will trace it through all its fluctuations, 
 and obferve how the objects vary feldom, 
 but the means perpetually, according to 
 the different characters of princes and of 
 thofe who govern; the different abilities of 
 thole who ferve ; the courfe of accidents, 
 and a multitude of other irregular and con- 
 tingent circumftances. 
 
 THE particular periods into which the 
 whole period mould be divided, in my 
 
 opinion,
 
 i 9 o L E T T E R VI. 
 
 opinion, are thefe. I. From the fifteenth 
 to the end of the fixteenth century. 2. From 
 thence to the Pyrenean treaty. 3. From 
 thence down to the prefent time. 
 
 YOUR lordlhip will find this divifion as apt 
 and as proper, relatively to the particular hif- 
 tories of England, France, Spain, and Ger- 
 many, the principal nations concerned, as 
 it is relatively to the general hiftory of 
 Europe. 
 
 THE death of queen ELIZABETH, and the 
 acceffion of king JAMES the firft, made a 
 vaft alteration in the government of our na- 
 tion at home, and in her conduct abroad, 
 about the end of the firft of thefe periods. 
 The wars that religion occafioned, and am- 
 bition fomented in France, through the 
 reigns of FRANCIS the fecond, CHARLES the 
 ninth, HENRY the third, arid a part of 
 HENRY the fourth, ended: and the furies 
 of the league were crufhed by this great 
 prince, about the fame time. PHILIP the fe- 
 cond of SPAIN marks this period iikewife 
 by his death, and by the exhaufted condition 
 in which he left the monarchy he govern- 
 ed; which took the lead no longer in dif- 
 turbing the peace of mankind, but acted 
 
 a fe-
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 191 
 
 a fecond part in abetting the bigotry and am- 
 bition of FERDINAND the fecond and the 
 third. The thirty j years war that devafted 
 Germany did not begin till the eighteenth 
 year of the feventeenth century, but the 
 feeds of it were fowing fome time before, 
 and even at the end of the fixteenth. 
 FERDINAND the firft and MAXIMILIAN had 
 fhewn much lenity and moderation in the 
 difputes and troubles that arofe on account of 
 religion. Under ^RODOLPHUS and MAT- 
 THIAS, as the fucceffion of their coufiti 
 FERDINAND approached, the fires that were 
 covered began to fmoke and to fparkle ; and 
 if the war did not begin with this century, 
 the preparation for it, and the expectation of 
 it did. 
 
 THE fecond period ends in one thoufand 
 fix hundred and fixty, the year of the reite- 
 ration of CHARLES the fecond to the throne 
 of England; when our civil wars, and all 
 the difbrders which CROMWELL'S ufurpa- 
 tion had produced, were over: and there- 
 fore a remarkable point of time, with re- 
 fpect to our country. It is no lefs remark- 
 able with refpect to Germany, Spain, and 
 France. 
 
 As
 
 i 9 2 L E T T E R VI. 
 
 As to Germany; the ambitious projeds 
 of the German branch of Auilria had been 
 entirely defeated, the peace of the empire 
 had been reftored, and almoft a new con- 
 ftitution formed, or an old one revived, by 
 the treaties of Weftphalia; nay the impe- 
 rial eagle was not only fallen, but her xvings 
 were clipped. 
 
 As to Spain; the Spanifh branch was 
 fallen as low twelve years afterwards, that is, 
 in the year one thoufand fix hundred and 
 fixty. PHILIP the fecond left his fucceflbrs 
 a ruined monarchy. He left them fome- 
 thing worfe; he left them his example and 
 his principles of government, founded in 
 ambition, in pride, in ignorance, in bigotry, 
 and all the pedantry of ftate. I have 
 read fomewhere or other, that the war of 
 the Low Countries alone cod him, by 
 his own confeflion, five hundred and fixty- 
 four millions, a prodigious Turn in -what 
 fpecies foever he reckoned. PHILIP the 
 third and PHILIP the fourth followed his 
 example and his principles of government, 
 at home and abroad. At home, there was 
 much form, but no good order, no ceco- 
 nomy, nor wifdom of policy in the ftate. 
 
 The
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 193 
 
 church continued to devour the ftate, and 
 that monfter the inquifition to dilpeople 
 the country, even more than perpetual war, 
 and all the numerous colonies that Spain 
 had fent to the Weft Indies : for your lord- 
 fhip will find that PHILIP the third drove 
 more than nine hundred thoufand Morif- 
 coes out of his dominions by one edict, 
 with fuch circumftances of inhumanity in 
 the execution of it, as Spaniards alone 
 could exercife, and that tribunal who had 
 provoked this unhappy race to revolt, could 
 alone approve. Abroad, the conduct of 
 thefe princes was directed by the fame wild 
 fpirit of ambition : rafh in undertaking 
 though flow to execute, and obftinate in pur- 
 fuing, though unable to fucceed, they opened 
 a new fluice to let out the little life and vi- 
 gour that remained in their monarchy. PHI- 
 LIP the fecond is faid to have been piqued 
 againft his uncle FERDINAND, for refufing 
 to yield the empire to him on the abdica- 
 tion of CHARLES the fifth. Certain it is, 
 that as much as he loved to ditfurb the 
 peace of mankind, and to meddle in every 
 quarrel that had the appearance of fup- 
 porting the Roman and opprcfting every 
 other church, he meddled little in the affairs 
 of Germany, Bur, FERDINAND and MAXI- 
 
 N Ml LI AM
 
 194 L E T T E R VI. 
 
 MILIAN dead, and the offspring of MAXI- 
 MILIAN extindt, the kings of Spain efpouled 
 the interefts of the other branch of their 
 family, entertained remote views of ambi- 
 tion in favour of their own branch, even 
 on that fide, and made all the enterprizes 
 of FERDINAND of Gratz, both before and 
 after his elevation to the empire, the com- 
 mon caufe of the houfe of Auftria. What 
 compleated their ruin was this, they knew 
 not how to Jofe, nor when to yield. They 
 acknowledged the independency of the 
 Dutch commonwealth, and became the allies 
 of their ancient fubje&s, at the treaty 
 of Munfter: but they would not forego their 
 ufurped claim on Portugal, and they perfifted 
 to carry on fmgly the war againft France. 
 Thus they were reduced to fuch a lownefs 
 of power as can hardly be parelleled in any 
 other cafe: and PHILIP the fourth was 
 obliged at laft to conclude a peace, on terms 
 repugnant to his inclination, to that of his 
 people, to the intcreil of Spain, and to that 
 of all Europe, in the Pyrcnean treaty. 
 
 As to France; this sera of the entire 
 fall of the Spanifh power is likewile that 
 from which we may reckon that France 
 grew as formidable, as we have feen her, to 
 
 .- her
 
 Of the STUDY of HISTORY. 195 
 
 her neighbours, in power and pretenfions. 
 HENRY the fourth meditated great deigns, 
 and prepared to act a great part in Europe 
 in the very beginning of this period, when 
 RAVAILLAC ftabbed him. His defigns died 
 with him, and are rather guefied at than 
 known; for furely thole which his hiftorian 
 PEREFIXE, and the compilers of SULLY'S 
 memorials afcribe to him, of a chriftian 
 commonwealth divided into fifteen ftates, 
 and of a fcnate to decide all differences, 
 and to maintain this new conftitution of 
 Europe, are too chimerical to have been re- 
 ally his: but his general defign of abafing 
 the houfe of Auftria, and eftablifhing the 
 fuperior power in that of Bourbon, was ta- 
 ken up, about twenty years after his death, 
 by RICHELIEU, and was purfued by him and 
 by MAZARIN with fo much ability and 
 fuccefs, that it was effected entirely by the 
 treaties of Weftphalia, and by the Pyrcnean 
 treaty: that is, at the end of the fecond of 
 thole periods I have prefumed to propole to 
 your lordfhip. 
 
 WHEN the third, in which we now are, 
 
 will end, and what circumftances will mark 
 
 the end of it, I know not: but this 1 know, 
 
 that the great events and revolutions, which 
 
 N 2 have
 
 196 LETTER VI. 
 
 have happened in the courfe of it, interefl 
 us dill more nearly than thofe of the 
 two precedent periods. I intended to have 
 drawn up an elenchus or fummary of the 
 three, but 1 doubted, on further reflection, 
 whether my memory would enable me to 
 do it with exactnefs enough: and I faw 
 that, if I was able to do it, the deduction 
 would be immeafurably long. Something of 
 this kind however it may be reafonable to at- 
 tempt, in fpeaking of the laft period: which 
 may hereafter occafion a further trouble to 
 your lordihip. 
 
 BUT to give you fome breathing time, I 
 will poltpone it at prefcnt, and am in the 
 mean while, 
 
 My LORD, 
 
 Your, fcV. 
 
 L E T-
 
 [ '97 ] 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 A (ketch of the ftate and hi (lory of Europe, 
 from the Pyrenean treaty in one thoufand 
 fix hundred and fifty nine, to the year 
 one thoufand fix hundred and eighty 
 eight. 
 
 THE firft obfervation I fhall make 
 on this third period of modern hif- 
 tory is, that as the ambition of CHARLES the 
 fifth, who united the whole formidable power 
 of Auftria in himfelf, and the reftlefs temper, 
 the cruelty, and bigotry of PHILIP the fe- 
 cond, were principally objedlsof the attention 
 and folicitude of the councils of Europe, in 
 the firft of thefe periods; and as the am- 
 bition of FERDINAND the fecond, and 
 the third, who aimed at nothing lefs 
 N 3 than
 
 198 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 7. 
 
 extirpating the proteftant intereft, 
 and under that pretence lubduing the 
 liberties of Germany, were objects of the 
 Tame kind in the fecond; fo an oppofi- 
 tion to the growing power of France, or 
 to fpeak more properly, to the exorbitant 
 ambition of the houfe of Bourbon, has 
 been the principal affair of Europe, during 
 the greateft part of the prefent period. The 
 defign of afpiring to univerfal monarchy, 
 was imputed to CHARLES the fifth, as foon 
 as he began to give proofs of his ambi- 
 tion and capacity. The fame defign was im- 
 puted to LEWIS the fourteenth, as foon 
 as he began to feel his own ftrength, and 
 the weakness of his neighbours. Neither 
 of thefe princes was induced, I believe, by 
 the flattery of his courtiers, or the appre- 
 henfions of his adverfaries, to entertain fo 
 chimerical a defign as this would have been, 
 even in that falle fenfe wherein the word 
 univerfal is fo often understood : and I 
 miftake very much if either of them was 
 of a character, or in circumftances, to 
 undertake it. Both of them had ftrong 
 defires to raife their families higher, and 
 to extend their dominions farther; but 
 neither of them had that bold and adven- 
 turous ambition which makes a conqueror 
 
 and
 
 Let. 7, and State of EUROPE. 199 
 
 and an hero. Thefe apprehenfions however 
 were given wifely, and taken ufefully. 
 They cannot be given nor taken too foon 
 when fuch powers as thefe arife ; becaufe 
 when fuch powers as thefe are befieged as 
 it were early, by the common policy and 
 watchfulnefs of their neighbours, each of 
 them may in his turn of ftrength fally 
 forth, and gain a little ground; but none 
 of them will be able to pufli their con- 
 quefts far, and much lefs to confummate 
 the entire projects of their ambition. 
 Befides the occafional oppofition that was 
 given to CHARLES the fifth, by our HEN- 
 RY the eighth, according to the differ- 
 ent moods of humour he was in-, by the 
 popes, according to the feveral turns of 
 their private intereft, and by the princes 
 of Germany according to the occafions or 
 pretences that religion or civil liberty 
 furnifhcd, he had from his firft fetting 
 out a rival and an enemy in FRANCIS the 
 firft, who did not maintain his caufe " in 
 " forma pauperis," if I may ufe fuch an 
 expreflion: as we have feen the houfe of 
 Auftria, fue, in our days, for dominion, at 
 the gate of every palace in Europe. FRAN- 
 CIS the firft was the principal in his own 
 quarrels, paid his own armies, fought 
 N 4 his
 
 200 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 7 
 
 his own battles; and though his valour alone 
 did not hinder CHARLES the fifth from 
 fubduing all Europe, as BAYLE, a better 
 philologer than politician, fomewhere af- 
 lerts, but a multitude of other circum- 
 ftances eafily to be traced in hiftory-, yet 
 he contributed by his victories, and even 
 by his defeats, to wafte the ftrength and 
 check the courfe of that growing power. 
 LEWIS the fourteenth had no rival of this 
 kind in the houfe of Auftria, nor indeed 
 any enemy of this importance to combat, 
 till the prince of Orange became king of 
 Great Britain : and he had great advan- 
 tages in many other refpects, which it is 
 necefiary to confider, in order to make a 
 true judgment on the affairs of Europe 
 from the year one thoufand fix hundred 
 and fixty. You will difcover the firft of 
 theie advantages, and fuch as were pro- 
 ductive of all the reft, in the conduct of 
 RICHELIEU and of MAZARIN. RICHE? 
 LIEU formed the great defign, and laid 
 the foundations: MAZARIN purfued the 
 defign, and railed the fuperftructure. If I 
 do not deceive myfelf extremely, there 
 are few paffages in hiftory that deferve 
 your lordfhip's attention more than the 
 conduct that the firft and greateft of thefe 
 
 minifters
 
 Let. 7. and State of EUROPE. 201 
 
 minifters held, in laying the foundations I 
 fpeak of. You will obferve how he helped 
 to embroil affairs on every fide, and to keep 
 the houfe of Auftria at bay as it were; how 
 he entered into the quarrels of Italy againft 
 Spain, into that concerning the Valteline, 
 and that concerning the fuccefiion of Man- 
 tua; without engaging ib deep as to divert 
 him from another great objecT: of his policy, 
 fubduing Rochelle and difarming the Hu- 
 guenots. You will obferve how he turned 
 himfelf, after this was done, to (lop the 
 progrefs of FERDINAND in Germany. Whilft 
 Spain fomented difcontents in the court, 
 and diforders in the kingdom of France, by 
 all poflible means, even by taking engage- 
 ments with the duke of ROHAN, and for 
 fupporting the proteftants; RICHELIEU abet- 
 ted the fame intereft in Germany againft 
 FERDINAND-, and in the Low Countries 
 againft Spain. The emperor was become 
 almoft the mafter in Germany. CHRISTIAN 
 the fourth, king of Denmark, had been at 
 the head of a league, wherein the United 
 Provinces, Sweden, and Lower Saxony en- 
 tered, to oppofe his progrefs: but CHRIS- 
 TIAN had been defeated by TILLY and VAL- 
 STEIN, and obliged to conclude a treaty 
 
 ac
 
 202 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 7. 
 
 at Lubec, where FERDINAND gave him 
 the law. It was then that GUSTAVUS 
 ADOLPHUS, with whom RICHELIEU made 
 an alliance, entered into this war, and 
 foon turned the fortune of it. The 
 French minifter had not yet engaged his 
 mafter openly in the war; but when the 
 Dutch grew impatient, and threatened to 
 renew their truce with Spain, unlefs 
 France declared; when the king of SWE- 
 DEN was killed, and the battle of Nord- 
 lingen loft; when Saxony had turned 
 again to the fide of the emperor, and 
 Brandenburgh, and fo many others had 
 followed this example, that Heile almoft 
 alone perfifted in the Swedifli alliance; 
 thfn RICHELIEU engaged his mafter, 
 and profited of every circumftance which 
 the conjuncture afforded, to engage him 
 with advantage. For, firft, he had a 
 double advantage by engaging fo late: 
 that of coming freih into the quarrel 
 againft a wearied and almoft exhaufted 
 tnemy : and that of yielding to tjje im- 
 patience of his friends, who, prefled by 
 their necefllties and by the want they had 
 of France, gave this minifter an oppor- 
 tunity of laying thofe claims, and eftablim- 
 ing thofe pretenfions, in all his treaties with 
 
 Hoi-
 
 Let. 7- and State of EUROPE. 203 
 
 Holland, Sweden, and the princes and 
 ftates of the empire, on which he had pro- 
 jected the future aggrandifernent of France. 
 The manner in which he engaged, and the 
 air that he gave to his engagement, were ad- 
 vantages of the fecond fort, advantages of re- 
 putation and credit; yet were cliefc of no fmall 
 ment in the courfe of the war, and ope- 
 rated ftrongly in favour of France, as 
 he defigned they mould, even after his 
 death, and at and after the treaties of 
 Weftphalia. He varmfhed ambition with 
 the moft plaufible and popular preten- 
 ces. The elector of TREVES had put 
 himfelf under the protection of France: 
 and, if 1 remember right, he made this 
 ftep when the emperor could not protect 
 him againft the Swedes, whom he had 
 reafon to apprehend. No matter, the 
 governor of Luxemburgh was ordered to 
 fnrprize TREVES, and to feize the elector. 
 He executed his orders with fuccefs, and 
 carried this prince prifoner into Brabant. 
 RICHELIEU feized the lucky circumftance; 
 he reclaimed the elector : and on the 
 refufal of the cardinal infant, the war 
 was declared. France, you fee, appeared 
 the common friend of liberty, the defender 
 
 of
 
 204 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let.7. 
 
 of it in the Low Countries againft the 
 king of SPAIN, and in Germany againft 
 the emperor, as well as the protector of 
 the princes of the empire, many of whofe 
 eftates had been illegally invaded, and 
 whofe perfons were no longer fafe from 
 violence even in their own palaces. All 
 thefe appearances were kept up in the ne- 
 gociations at Munfter, where MAZARIN 
 reaped what RICHELIEU had fowed. The 
 demands that France made for herfelf 
 were very great* but the conjuncture was 
 favourable, and fhe improved it to the ut- 
 moft. No figure could be more flattering 
 than her's, at the head of thefe negocia- 
 tions; nor more mortifying than the empe- 
 ror's, through the whole courfe of the 
 treaty. The princes and ftates of the empire 
 had been treated as vafials by the emperor: 
 France determined then to treat with him 
 on this occafion as fovereigns, and fup- 
 ported them in this determination. Whilft 
 Sweden feemed concerned for the pro- 
 teftant intereft alone, and mewed no other 
 regard, as flie had no other alliance; 
 France affected to be impartial alike to 
 the proteftant and to the papift, and to 
 have no intereft at heart but the common 
 
 intereft
 
 Let. 7. and State of EUROPE. 205 
 
 intereft of the Germanic body. Her de- 
 mands were exceffive, but they were to be 
 fatisfied principally out of the emperor's 
 patrimonial dominions. It had been the 
 art of her minifters to eftablifh this ge- 
 neral maxim on many particular experien- 
 ces, that the grandeur of France was a 
 real, and would be a conftant fecurity 
 to the rights and liberties of the empire 
 againll the emperor : and it is no wonder 
 therefore, this maxim prevailing, injuries, 
 refentments, and jealoufies being frefli on 
 one fide, and fervices, obligations, and confi- 
 dence on the other, that the Germans were 
 not unwilling France mould extend her em- 
 pire on this fide of the Rhine, whilft Sweden 
 did the fame on this fide of the Baltic. 
 Thefe treaties, and the immenfe credit and 
 influence that France had acquired by them 
 in the empire, put it out of the power of 
 one branch of the houfe of Auftria to 
 return the obligations of afliftance to the 
 other, in the wir that continued between 
 France and Spain, till the Pyrenean trea- 
 ty. By this treaty the fuperiority of 
 the houfe of Bourbon over the houfe of 
 Auftria was not only compleated and 
 confirmed, but the great defiga of uniting 
 
 the
 
 206 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 7. 
 
 4 the Spanifh and the French monarchies under 
 the former was laid. 
 
 THE third period therefore begins by 
 a great change of the balance of power in 
 Europe, and by the profpect of one much 
 greater and more fatal. Before I defcend 
 into the particulars I intend to mention, 
 of the courfe of affairs, and of the political 
 conduct of the great powers of Europe in 
 this third period; give me leave to caft 
 my eyes once more back on the fecond. 
 The reflection I am going to make feems 
 to me important, and leads to all that is 
 to follow. 
 
 THE Dutch made their peace feparately 
 at Munfter with Spain, who acknow- 
 ledged then the fovereignty and indepen- 
 dency of their commonwealth. The French, 
 who had been, after our ELIZABETH, 
 their principal fupport, reproached them 
 feverely for this breach of faith. They 
 excufed themfelves in the beft manner, and 
 by the beft reafons, they could. All this 
 your lordfhip will find in the monuments of 
 that time. But I think it not improbable that 
 they had a motive you will not find there, 
 
 and
 
 Let. 7. and State of EUROPE. 207 
 
 and which it was not proper to give as a 
 reafon or excufe to the French. Might 
 not the wife men amongft them confider 
 even then, befides the immediate advan- 
 tages that accrued by this treaty to their 
 commonwealth, that the imperial power 
 was fallen; that the power of Spain was 
 vaftly reduced-, that the houfe of Auftria 
 was nothing more than the fhadow of a 
 great name, and that the houfe of Bour- 
 bon was advancing, by large ftrides, to a 
 degree of power as exorbitant, and as for- 
 midable as that of the oth-r family had 
 been in the hands of CHARLES the fifth, 
 of PHILIP the fecond, and lately of the 
 two FERDINANDS? might they not fore- 
 fee, even then, what happened in the courfe 
 of very few years, when they were oblig- 
 ed, for their own fecurity, to affift their 
 old enemies the Spaniards againft their 
 old friends the French ? I think they 
 might. Our CHARLES the firft was no 
 great politician, and yet he feemed to dif- 
 cern that the balance of power was turn- 
 ing in favour of France, fome years be- 
 fore the treaties of Weftphalia. He re- 
 fufed to be neuter, and threatened to take 
 part with Spain, if the French purfued 
 the defign of befieging Dunkirk and 
 
 Grave-
 
 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 7. 
 
 Graveline, according to a concert taken 
 between them and the Dutch, and in 
 purfuance of a treaty for dividing the 
 Spanifh Low Countries, which RICHE- 
 LIEU had negociated. CROMWELL either 
 did not difcern this turn of the balance 
 of power, long afterwards when it was 
 much more vifible; or, difcerning it, he 
 was induced by reafons of private intereft: 
 to act againft the general intereft of Europe. 
 CROMWELL joined with France againft Spain, 
 and though he got Jamaica and Dunkirk, he 
 drove the Spaniards into a neceflity of mak- 
 ing a peace with France, that has difturbed 
 the peace of the world almoft fourfcore 
 years, and the confequences of which have 
 well-nigh beggared in our times the nation he 
 enflaved in his. There is a tradition,- 1 have 
 heard it from perfons who lived in thofe 
 days, and I believe it came from THUR- 
 LOE, that CROMWELL was in treaty with 
 Spain, and ready to turn his arms againft 
 France when he died. If this fad was 
 certain, as little as I honour his memory, 
 I mould have fome regret that he died 
 fo foon. But whatever his intentions 
 were, we muft charge the Pyrenean trea- 
 ty.
 
 Let. 7. and State of EUROPE. 209 
 
 ty, and the fatal confequences of it, ill 
 a great meafure to his account. The Spa- 
 niards abhorred the thought of marrying 
 their Infanta to LEWIS the fourteenth. It 
 was on this point that they broke the ne- 
 gociation LIONNE had begun: and your 
 lordfhip will perceive, that if they refumed 
 it afterwards, and offered the marriage 
 they had before rejected, CROMWELL'S 
 league with France was a principal in- 
 ducement to this alteration of their 
 fefolutions. 
 
 THE precife point at which the 
 fcales of power turn like that of the 
 folftice in either tropic, is impercep- 
 tible to common oblervation : and, in 
 one cafe as in the other, fome pro- 
 grefs mull be made in the new di- 
 rection, before the change is perceiv- 
 ed. They who are in the finking 
 kale, for in the political balance of 
 power, unlike to all others, the fcale 
 that is empty finks, and that which is 
 full rifes; they who are in the finking 
 Icale do not eafily come off from the 
 habitual prejudices of fuperior wealth, 
 or power, or (kill, or courage, nor from 
 O the
 
 2i o A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 7, 
 
 the confidence .that thefe prejudices in- 
 fpire. They who are in the rifing fcale 
 do not immediately feel their ftrength, nor 
 aflume that confidence in it which fuccefs- 
 ful experience gives them afterwards. 
 They who are the moft concerned to watch 
 the variations of this balance, mif-judge 
 often in the fame manner, and from the 
 fame prejudices. They continue to dread 
 a power no longer able to hurt them, 
 or they continue to have no apprehen- 
 fions of a power that grows daily more 
 formidable. Spain verified the firft ob- 
 fervation at the end of the fecond pe- 
 riod, when, proud and poor, and enter-- 
 prizing and feeble, fhe (till thought herfelf 
 a match for France. France verified the 
 fecond obfervation at the beginning of the 
 third period, when the triple alliance flop- 
 ped the progrefs of her arms, which al- 
 liances much more confiderable were not 
 able to effed: afterwards. The other prin- 
 cipal powers of Europe, in their turns, have 
 verified the third obfervation in both it's 
 parts, through the whole courfe of this 
 period. 
 
 WHEN
 
 Let. 7. and State of EUROPE. 211 
 
 WHEN LEWIS the fourteenth took 
 the adminiftration of affairs into his own 
 hands, about the year one thoufand fix 
 hundred and fixty, he was in the prime of 
 his age, and had, what princes feldom 
 have, the advantages of youth and thofe 
 of experience togecher. Their education 
 is generally bad; for which reafon royal 
 birth, that gives a right to the throne a- 
 mong other people, gave an abiblute ex- 
 clufion from it among the Marmalukes. 
 His was, in all refpects, except one, as 
 bad as that of other ' princes. He jetted 
 fometimes on his own ignorance; and there 
 were other defects in his character, 
 owing to his education, which he did 
 not fee. But MAZARIN had initiated 
 him betimes into the myfteries of his 
 policy. He had feen a great part of 
 thofe foundations laid, on which he was 
 to raife the fabric of his future gran- 
 deur: and as MAZARIN finished the 
 work that RICHELIEU began, he had 
 the lefibns of one, and the examples of 
 both, to inftruft him. He had ac- 
 quired habits of fccrecy and method, 
 in bufmefs j of refers, difcretion, de- 
 cency, and dignity, in behaviour. If 
 he was not the greateft king, he was 
 O 2 the
 
 212 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 7. 
 
 the beft ador of majefty at leaft, that 
 ever filled a throne. He by no means 
 wanted that courage which is common- 
 ly called bravery, though the want of it 
 was imputed to him in the midft of 
 his greateft triumphs: nor that other 
 courage, lefs oftentatious and more rare- 
 ly found, calm, Heady, perfevering refo- 
 lution : which feems to arife lefs from 
 the temper of the body, and is there- 
 fore called courage of the mind. He 
 had them, both moft certainly, and I 
 could produce unqueftionable anecdotes 
 in proof. He was, in one word, much 
 fuperior to any prince with whom he 
 had to do, when he began to govern. 
 He was furrounded with great cap- 
 tains bred in former wars, and with 
 great minitfers bred in the fame fchool 
 as himlclf. They who had worked 
 under MAZARIN, worked on the fame 
 plan under him; and as they had the 
 advantage of genius, and experience 
 over moft of the minifters of other 
 countries, fo they had another advantage 
 over thole who were equal or fupe- 
 rior to them: the advantage of ferving 
 a mafter whole abfolute power was eftab- 
 lifhed; and the advantage of a fitu- 
 ation wherein they- might exert their 
 
 whole
 
 Let. 7. and State of EUROPE. 213 
 
 whole capacity without contradiction; over 
 that, for inftance, wherein your lord- 
 fhip's great grand father was placed, at 
 the fame time, in England, and JOHN 
 DE WIT in Holland. Among thefe 
 minifters, COLBERT muft be mention- 
 ed particularly upon this occafion ; be- 
 caufe it was he who improved the 
 wealth, and confequently the power of 
 France extremely, by the order he put 
 into the finances, and by the encou- 
 ragement he gave to trade and manu- 
 factures. The foil, the climate, the 
 fituation of France, the ingenuity, the 
 induftry, the vivacity of her inhabi- 
 tants are fuch; (he has fo little want 
 of the product of other countries, and 
 other countries have fo many real or 
 imaginary wants to be iupplied by her; 
 that when fhe is not at war with all 
 her neighbours, when her domeftic quiet 
 is preserved, and any tolerable admini- 
 ftration of government prevails, Ihe 
 muft grow rich at the expence of thole 
 who trade, and even of thole who do 
 not open a trade, with her. Her baw- 
 bles, her modes, the follies and extra^- 
 vagancies of her luxury, coft England, 
 about the time we are ipeaking of, 
 O 3 little
 
 214 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 7. 
 
 little lefs than eight hundred thoufand 
 pounds llerling a year, and other nations 
 in their proportions. COLBERT made the 
 moft of all thefe advantageous circum- 
 ftances, and whilft he rilled the national 
 fpunge, he taught his fuccefifors how to 
 fqueeze it; a jfecret that he repented hav- 
 ing difcovered, they fay, when he faw 
 the immenfe fums that were neceffary tn 
 fupply the growing magnificence of his 
 matter. 
 
 THIS was the character of LEWIS the 
 fourteenth, and this was the ftate of hia 
 kingdom at the beginning of the prefenc 
 period. If his power was great, his 
 pretenfions were (till greater. He had re- 
 nounced, and the Infanta with his confent 
 had renounced, all right to the fucceffion 
 of Spain, in the ftrongell terms that the 
 precaution of the councils of Madrid could 
 contrive. No matter; he confented to 
 thefe renunciations, but your lordfhip 
 will find by the letters of MAZARIN, 
 and by other memorials, that he acted 
 on the contrary principle, from the 
 firft, which he avowed foon after- 
 wards. Such a power, and fuch pre- 
 tenfions
 
 Let. 7. and State of EUROPE. 215 
 
 tenfions fhould have given, one would 
 think, an immediate ahrm to the reft 
 of Europe. PHILIP the fourth was 
 broken and decayed, like the monarchy 
 he governed. One of his fons died, 
 as 1 remember, during the negocia- 
 tions that preceded the year one thou- 
 fand fix hundred and fixty : and the 
 furvivor, who. was CHARLES the ftcond, 
 rather languimed, than lived, from the 
 cradle to the grave. So dangerous a 
 contingency therefore, as the union of 
 the two monarchies of France and 
 Spain, being in view forty years toge- 
 ther; one would imagine that the prin- 
 cipal powers of Europe had the means 
 ot preventing it conftantly in view du- 
 ring the lame time. But it was other- 
 wife. France a6ted very fyftematicaily 
 from the year one thoufand fix hun- 
 dred and fixty, to the death of king 
 CHARLES the fecond of Spain. She 
 never loft fight of her great object, 
 the fuccefiion to the whole Spanifh 
 monarchy; and (he accepted the will 
 of the king of SPAIN in favour of the 
 duke of ANJOU. As fhe never loft 
 fight of her great objecl during this 
 time, fo me loft no opportunity of in- 
 O 4 creafing
 
 2 1 6 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 7. 
 
 creafing her power, while (he waited 
 for that of fucceeding in. her preten- 
 fions. The two branches of Auftria 
 were in no condition of making a con- 
 fidtrable oppoficion to her defigns and 
 attempts. Holland, who of all other 
 powers was the moil concerned to op^ 
 pole them, was at that time under 
 two influences that hindered her from 
 purfuing her true intereft. Her true 
 intereft was to have ufed her utmofl 
 endeavours to unite clofely and inti- 
 mately with England on the reftoration 
 of king CHARLES. She did the very 
 contrary. JOHN DE WIT, at the head 
 of the Louveftein faction, governed. 
 The intereft of his party was to keep 
 the houfe of Orange downj he courted 
 therefore the friendfhip of France, 
 and neglected that of England. The 
 alliance between our nation and the 
 Dutch was renewed, I think, in one 
 thoufand fix hundred and fixty twoj 
 but the latter had made a defenfive 
 league with France a little before, on 
 the fuppofition principally of a war with 
 England. The war became inevitable 
 very foon. CROMWELL had chaftifed 
 {.hem for their ufurpations in trade, 
 
 antj
 
 Let. 7. and State of EUROPE. 217 
 
 and the outrages and cruelties they 
 had committed; but he had not cured 
 them. The fame fpirit continued in 
 the Dutch, the fame refentments in 
 the Englifh: and the pique of mer- 
 chants became the pique of nations. 
 f 1 ranee entered into the war on the fide 
 of Holland; but the little afllftance (he 
 gave the Dutch fhewed plainly enough 
 that her intention was to make thefe 
 two powers wafte their ftrength againft 
 one another, whilft fhe extended her 
 conquefts in the Spanifh Low Coun- 
 tries. Her invafion of thefe provinces 
 obliged DE WIT to change his con- 
 duct. Hitherto he had been attached 
 to France in the clofeft manner, had 
 led his republic to ferve all the pur- 
 pofes of France, and had renewed 
 with the marfhal D'ESTRADES a 
 project of dividing the Spanifh Ne- 
 therlands between France and Holland, 
 that had been taken up formerly, 
 when RICHELIEU made ufe of it to 
 flatter their ambition, and to engage 
 them to prolong the war againft Spain. 
 A project not unlike to that which 
 was held out to them by the famous 
 preliminaries, and th? extravagant bar- 
 rier-
 
 2i8 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 7. 
 
 rier-treaty, in one, thoufand feven hun- 
 dred and nine; and which engaged them 
 to continue a war on the principle of 
 ambition, into which they had entered 
 with more reafonable and more moderate 
 views. 
 
 As the private intereft of the two 
 DE WITS hindered that common-wealth 
 from being on her guard, as early as fhe 
 ought to have been, againft France; fo the 
 miftaken policy of the court of England, 
 and the mort views, and the profufe tem- 
 per of the prince who governed, gave great 
 advantages to LEWIS the fourteenih in the 
 purfuit of his defigns. He bought Dun- 
 kirk: and your lordmip knows how great 
 a clamour was railed on that occafion 
 againft your noble anceftor; as if he 
 alone had been anfwerable for the mea- 
 fure, and his intereft had been concern- 
 ed in it. I have heard our late friend 
 Mr. GEORGE CLARK, quote a witnefs, 
 who was quite unexceptionable, but I 
 cannot recall his name at prefent, who, 
 many years after all thefe traniadions, 
 and the death of my lord CLAREN- 
 DON, affirmed, that the earl of SAND- 
 WICH
 
 Let. 7. and State of EUROPE. 219 
 
 WICH had owned to him, that he him- 
 felf gave his opinion, among many others, 
 officers, and minifters, for felling Dun- 
 kirk. Their reaibns could not be good, I 
 prefume to fay, but feveral, that might 
 be plaufible at that time, are eafily guef- 
 fed. A prince like king CHARLES, who 
 would have made as many bad bargains 
 as any young fpend thrift, for money, 
 finding himfelf thus backed, we may 
 afiurc ourfelves, was peremptorily deter- 
 mined to lell: and whatever your great 
 grandfather's opinion was, this I am able 
 to pronounce upon my own experience, 
 that his treaty for the fale is no proof he 
 was of opinion to fell. When the refolu- 
 tion of felling was once taken, to 
 whom could the fale be made ? To the 
 Dutch? No. This meafure would have 
 been at lead as impolitic, and, in 
 that moment, perhaps more odious 
 than the other. To the Spaniards? 
 They were unable to buy : and, as 
 low as their power was funk, the prin- 
 ciple of oppofing it ftill prevailed. I 
 have fometimes thought that the Spani- 
 ards, who were forced to make peace 
 with Portugal, and to renounce all 
 
 claim
 
 22O A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 7. 
 
 claim to that crown, four or five years 
 afterwards, might have been induced to 
 take this refolution then, if the regain- 
 ing Dunkirk without any expence had 
 been a condition propokd to them , and 
 that the Portuguese, who, notwithftand- 
 ing their alliance with England and the 
 indirect fuccours that France afforded 
 them, were little able, after the treaty 
 efpetially, to fupport a war againft Spain, 
 might have been induced to pay the 
 price of Dunkirk, for fo great an ad- 
 vantage as immediate peace with Spain, 
 and the extinction of all foreign pre- 
 tences on their crown. But this Ipecnla- 
 tion concerning events fo long ago paf- 
 fed is not much to the purpole here. I 
 proceed therefore to obferve, that not- 
 withftandirig the fa!e of Dunkirk, and 
 the fecret leanings of our court to that of 
 France, yet England was firft to take 
 the alarm, when LEWIS the fourteenth 
 invaded the Spanim Netherlands in one 
 thoufand fix hundred and fixty feven: 
 and the triple alliance was the work of 
 an Englifh minifter. It was time to 
 take this alarm; for fiom the moment 
 that the king of FRANCE claimed a right 
 to the county of Burgundy, the dutchy 
 .' 1 of
 
 Let. 7. and State of EUROPE. 221 
 
 of Brabant, and other portions of ths 
 Low Counrries as devolved on his queen, 
 by the death of her father PHILIP the 
 fourth, he pulled off the mafk entirely. 
 Volumes were written to eftablifh, and 
 to refute this fuppofed right. Your lord- 
 fhip no doubt will look into a contro- 
 verfy that has employed fo many pens 
 and fo many fwords; and I believe you 
 will think it was fufficiently bold in the 
 French, to argue from cuftoms, that 
 regulated the courle of private iuccef- 
 fions in certain provinces to a right of 
 fucceeding to the fovereignty of thofe 
 provinces ; and to aflert the divifi- 
 bility of the Spanifh monarchy, with the 
 fame breath with which they afierted the 
 indivisibility of their own; although the 
 proofs in one cafe were juft as good as 
 the proofs in the other, and the funda- 
 mental kw of indivifibility was at lead 
 as good a law in Spain, as either this 
 or the Salique law was in France. But 
 however proper it might be for the 
 French and Auflrian pens to enter into 
 long difcufllons, and to appeal, on this 
 great occafion, to the reft of Europe; 
 the reft of Europe had a fhort objec- 
 tion to make to the pica of France, 
 
 which
 
 222 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 7. 
 
 which no fophifms, no quirks of law, 
 could evade. Spain accepted the re- 
 nunciations as a real fecuricy: France 
 gave them as fuch to Spain, and in ef- 
 feft to the reft of Europe. If they 
 had not been thus given, and thus ta- 
 ken, the Spaniards would not have mar- 
 ried their Infanta to the king of FRANCE, 
 whatever diftrefs they might have en- 
 dured by the prolongation of the war. 
 Thefe renunciations were renunciations 
 of all rights whatfoever to the whole 
 Spanifli monarchy, and to every part of 
 it. The provinces claimed by France 
 at this time were parts of it. To claim 
 them, was therefore to claim the whole; 
 for if the renunciations were no bar to 
 the rights accruing to MARY THERESA 
 on the death of her father PHILIP the 
 fourth, neither could they be any to the 
 rights that would accrue to her, and her 
 children, on the death of her brother 
 CHARLES the fecond: an unhealthful 
 youth, and who at this inftant was in 
 immediate danger of dyingj for to all the 
 complicated diltempers he brought in- 
 to the world with him, the fmall-pox 
 was added. Your lordfhip fees how the 
 fatal contingency of uniting the two 
 
 mon-
 
 Let. 7. and State of EUROPE. 223 
 
 monarchies of France and Spain flared 
 mankind in the face; and yet nothing, 
 that I can remember, was done to pre- 
 vent it: not fo much as a guarantee given, 
 or a declaration made to afiert the validity 
 of theie renunciations, and for fccuring 
 the effect of them. The triple alliance in- 
 deed (topped the progrefs of the French 
 arms, and produced the treaty of Aix la 
 Chapclle. But England, Sweden, and 
 Holland, the contracting powers in this 
 alliance, feemed to look, and probably 
 did look, no farther. France kept a great 
 and important part of what ihe had fur- 
 prized or ravifhed, or purchafed; for we 
 cannot fay with any propriety that (he con- 
 quered : and the Spaniards were obliged 
 tofet all they faved to the account of gain. 
 The German branch of Auftria had been 
 reduced very low in power and in credit 
 under FERDINAND the third, by the trea- 
 ties of \Vcftphalia, as I have faid already. 
 LEWIS the fourteenth maintained, during 
 many years, the influence thele treaties had 
 given him among the princes and ftates 
 of the empire. The famous capitulation 
 made at Francktort on the election of 
 LEOPOLD, who fucceeded FLRDINAND a- 
 bout the year one thouland fix hundred and 
 
 fifty
 
 224 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 7. 
 
 fifty feven, was encouraged by the intri- 
 gues of France : and the power of France 
 was looked upon as the fole power that 
 could ratify and fecure effectually the ob- 
 fervation of the conditions then made. 
 The league of the Rhine was not renewed 
 I believe after the year one thoufand fix 
 hundred and fixty fix; but though this 
 league was not renewed, yet fome of thefe 
 princes and dates continued in their old en- 
 gagement with France: whilft others took 
 new engagements on particular occafions, 
 according as private and fometimes very 
 paltry interefts, and the emifiariesof France 
 in all their little courts, difpofed them. In 
 Ihortthe princesof Germany fliewed no alarm 
 at the growing ambition and power of LE- 
 WIS the fourteenth, but contributed to en- 
 courage one, and to confirm the other. In 
 fuch a ftate of things the German branch was 
 little able toafilft the Spanifh branch againft 
 France, either in the war that ended by the 
 Pyrenean treaty, or in that we are fpeaking 
 of here, the fnort war that began in one 
 thoufand fix hundred and fixty leven, and 
 was ended by the treaty of AixlaCha- 
 pelle, in one thoufand fix hundred and 
 fixty eight. But it was not this alone 
 that diiabled the emperor from acling 
 
 with
 
 Lee. 7. and State of EUROPE. 225 
 
 with vigour in the caufe of his family then, 
 nor that has rendered the houfe of Auftria 
 a dead weight upon all her allies ever fince. 
 Bigotry, and its infeparable companion, 
 cruelty, as well as the tyranny and avarice 
 of the court of Vienna, created in thofe 
 days, and has maintained in ours, almoft a 
 perpetual diverfion of the imperial arms 
 from all effectual oppofition to France. I 
 mean to fpeak of the troubles in Hungary. 
 Whatever they became in their progrefs, 
 they were cauled originally by the ufurpa- 
 tions and perfections of the emperor, and 
 when the Hungarians were called rebels 
 firft, they were called fo for no other reafon 
 than this, that they would not be Qaves. 
 The dominion of the emperor being lefs 
 fupporcable than that of the Turks, this 
 unhappy people opened a door to the latter 
 to infelt the empire, inftead of making 
 their country what it had be"en before, a 
 barrier againft the Ottoman power. France; 
 became a lure, though fccret ally of the 
 Turks, as well as the Hungarians, and has 
 found her account in it, by keeping the em- 
 peror in perpetual alarms on that fide, while 
 (he has ravaged the empire and the Low 
 Countries on theocher. Thus we faw, thir- 
 ty two years, ago, the arms of France and 
 Bavaria in pofiVflion of Paffau, and the mal- 
 F concents 1
 
 226 A Sketch of the Hi STORY Let. 7. 
 
 contents of Hungary in the fuburbs of Vi- 
 enna. In a word, when LEWIS the four- 
 teenth made the firft efiay of his power, by 
 the war of one thoufand fix hundred and 
 fixty feven, and founded, as it were, the 
 councils of Europe concerning his preten- 
 fions on the Spanifh fuccefiion, he found 
 his power to be great beyond what his 
 neighbours or even he perhaps thought it: 
 great by the wealth, and greater by the 
 united fpirit of his people-, greater ftill by 
 the ill policy, and divided interefts that 
 governed thofe who had a fuperior com- 
 mon intcrrft to oppofe him. He found 
 that the members of the triple alliance did 
 not fee, or feeing did not think proper to 
 own that they faw, the injuftce, and the 
 confequence of his pretenfions. They con- 
 tented themfelves to give to Spain an act 
 of guaranty for fecuring the execution of 
 the treaty of Aix la Chapelle. He knew 
 even then how ill the guarantee would be 
 obferved by two of them at lead, by Eng- 
 land and by Sweden. The treaty itfelf 
 was nothing more than a compofition be- 
 tween the bully and the bullied. Tournay, 
 and Lifle, 2nd Doway, and other places 
 that I have forgot, were yielded to him: 
 and he reflorcd the county of Burgundy, 
 according to the option that Spain made, 
 
 againft
 
 Let. 7. and State of EUROPE. 227 
 
 againft the intcreft and expectation too 
 of the Dutch, when an option was forced 
 upon her. The king of SPAIN compound- 
 ed for his pofieffion : but the emperor com- 
 pounded at the fame time for his fuc- 
 ceflion, by a private eventual treaty of 
 partition, which the commander of GRE- 
 MONVILLE and the count of AVERSBERG 
 figned at Vitrnna. Tue fame LEOPOLD, 
 who exclaimed fo loudly, in one thou- 
 land fix hundred and ninety eight, againft 
 any partition of the Spanim monarchy, 
 and refuied to fubmit to that which 
 England and Holland had then made, 
 made one himfelf in one thoufand fix 
 hundred and fixty eight, with fo little 
 rtgird to thefe two powers, that the 
 whole ten provinces were thrown into 
 the lot of France. 
 
 THERE is no room to wonder if fuch ex- 
 perience as LEWIS the fourteenth had upon 
 rhis occafion, and fuch a face of affairs in 
 Europe, raifing his hopes, raifed his am- 
 bition : and if, in making peace at Aix la 
 Chapelle, he meditated a new war, the 
 war of one thoufand fix hundred and feven- 
 ty two-, the preparations he made forir, by 
 negociariens in all part?, by alliances where- 
 ever he found ingrefiion, and by the in- 
 P 2 create
 
 228 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 7* 
 
 creafe of his forces, were equally proofs of 
 ability, induftry, and power. I mall not 
 defcend into thefe particulars: your lord- 
 (hip will find them pretty well detailed in 
 the memorials of that time. But one of 
 the alliances he made I muft mention, though 
 I mention it with the utmoft regret and in- 
 dignation. England was fatally engaged 
 to acl. a part in this confpiracy againft 
 the peace and the liberty of Europe, nay, 
 againft her own peace and her own liberty ; 
 for a bubble's part it was, equally wicked 
 and impolitic. Forgive the terms I ufe, 
 my lord : none can be too ftrong. The 
 principles of the triple alliance juft and 
 wife, and worthy of a king of England, 
 were laid afide. Then, the progrefs of the 
 French arms was to be checked, the ten 
 provinces were to be faved, and by faving 
 them, the barrier of Holland was to be pre- 
 fcrved. Now, we joined our counfels and 
 our arms to thofc of France, in a project 
 that could not be carried on at all, as it was 
 eafy to forefee, and as the event fhewed, 
 unlefs it was carried on againft Spain, the 
 emperor, and moil of the princes of Ger- 
 many, as well as the Dutch-, and which 
 could not be carried on fuccefsfully, with- 
 out leaving the ten provinces entirely at the 
 mercy of France and giving her pretence 
 
 and
 
 Let. 7. and State of EUROPE. 229 
 
 and opportunity of ravaging the empire, 
 and extending her conqueils on the Rhine. 
 The medal of VAN BEUNINGHEN, and 
 other pretences that France took for at- 
 tacking the dates of the Low Countries, 
 were ridiculous. They impofed on no one : 
 and the true object of LEWIS the fourteenth 
 was manifdl to all. But what could a king 
 of England mean ? CHARLES the fecond 
 had reafons of refentment againft the Dutch, 
 and juft ones too no doubt. Among the 
 re(r, it was not eafy for him to forget the 
 affront he had fuffered, and the lofs he had 
 fuftained, when, depending on the peace 
 that was ready to be figned, and that was 
 figned at Breda in July, he neglected to fie 
 out his fleet-, and when that of Holland, 
 commanded by RUYTER, with CORNELIUS 
 DE WIT on board as deputy or commif- 
 fionerof the ftates, burnt his (hips at Cha- 
 tham in June. The famous perpetual edict, 
 as it was called, but did not prove in the 
 event, againft the election of a (late-holder, 
 which JOHN DE WIT promoted, carried, 
 and obliged the prince of Orange to fwear 
 to maintain a very few days after the con- 
 clufion of the peace at Breda, might be 
 another motive in the breaft of king 
 CHARLES the fecond: as it was certainly a 
 pretence. of revenge on the Dutch, or at lead 
 ? 3 PO
 
 230 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 7, 
 
 "on the DE WITS and the Louveftein faclion, 
 that ruled almoft defpotically in that com- 
 monwealth. But it is plain that neither 
 thefc reafons, nor others of a more ancient 
 date, determined him to this alliance with 
 France; fince he contracted the triple al- 
 liance within four or five months after the 
 two events, I have mentioned, happened. 
 What then did he mean ? Did he mean to 
 acquire one of the leven provinces, and di- 
 vide them, as the Dutch had twice treated 
 for the divifion of the ten, with France ? I 
 believe not; but this I believe, that his in- 
 clinations were favourable to the popifli in- 
 tereit in general, and that he meant to make 
 himfelf more abfolute at home; that he 
 thought it neccflary to this end to humble 
 the Dutch, to reduce their power, and per- 
 haps to change the form of their govern- 
 ment; to deprive his fubjects of the cor- 
 refpondence with a neighbouring proteftant 
 and free (late, and of all hope of fuccour 
 and fupport from thence in their oppofuiori 
 to him ; in a word, to abet the deligns of 
 France on the continent, that France might 
 abet his defigns on his own kingdom. 
 This, I fay, I believe; and this I mould ven- 
 ture to affirm, if I had in my hands tq 
 produce, and was at liberty to quote, the 
 jpriyate relations I have read formerly, drawn 
 
 up
 
 Let, 7. and State of EUROPE. 231 
 
 up by thofe who were no enemies to fuch 
 defigns, and on the authority of thofe who 
 were parties to them. But whatever king 
 CHARLES the fecond meant, certain it is 
 that his conduct eftabiifhed the fuperiority 
 of France in Europe. 
 
 BUT this charge, however, muft not be 
 confined to him alone. Thofe who were 
 nearer the danger, thofe who were expofed 
 to the imn.ediate attacks of France, and 
 even thofe who were her rivals for the fame 
 fuccefllon, have either afiifted her, or en- 
 gaged to remain neuters, a ftrange fatality 
 prevailed, and produced fuch a conjunc- 
 ture as can hardly be paralleled in hiftory. 
 Your lordfhip will obferve with aftonifli- 
 ment even in the beginning of the year 
 one thoufand P.x hundred and feventy two, 
 all the neighbours of France acting as if 
 they had nothing to fear from her, and 
 fome as if they had much to hope, by 
 helping her to opprefs the Dutch and 
 Iharing with her the fpoils of that common- 
 wealth. " Dclenda eft Carthago," was the 
 cry in England, and feemed too a maxim on 
 the continent. 
 
 IN the courfe of the fame year, you will 
 
 obferve that all thefe powers took the alarm, 
 
 F 4 and
 
 Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 7, 
 
 and began to unite in oppofition to France, 
 Even England thought it rime to interpofe 
 ' in favour of the Dutch. The confequences 
 of this alarm, of this fudden turn in the 
 policy of Europe and of that which hap- 
 pened by the maffacre of the DE WITS, 
 and the elevation of the prince of OR ANGE, 
 in the government of the feven provinces, 
 faved thefe provinces, and (lopped the ra- 
 pid progrefs of the arms of France. LEWIS 
 the fourteenth indeed furprifed the feven 
 provinces in. this war, as he had furprifed 
 the ten in that of one thoufand fix hundred 
 and fixty feven, and ravaged defenceleis 
 countries with armies fufficient to conquer 
 them, if they had been prepared to refill. 
 In the war of one thoufand fix hundred 
 and feventy two, he had little lefs than one 
 hundred and fifty thoufand men on foot, 
 befides the bodies of Englim, Swifs, Ita- 
 lians, and Swedes, that amounted to thir- 
 ty or forty thoufand more. With this 
 mighty force he took forty places in forty 
 days, impofed extravagant conditions of 
 peace, played the monarch a little while 
 at Utrecht; and as foon as the Dutch re- 
 covered from their confternation, and, ani- 
 mated by the example of the prince of 
 Orange and the hopes of luccour, refufed 
 thefe conditions, he went back to Ver- 
 
 fcilles,
 
 Let. 7. and State of EUROPE. 233 
 
 failles, and left his generals to carry on his 
 enterprize: which they did with Ib little 
 fuccels, that Grave and Maeftricht alone 
 remained to him of all the boafted con- 
 quefts he had made ; and even thefe he of- 
 fered two years afterwards to reftore, if by 
 that conccflion he could have prevailed on 
 the Dutch at that time to make peace with 
 him. But they were not yet difpofed to 
 abandon their allies ; for allies now they had. 
 The emperor and the king of SPAIN had en- 
 gaged in the quarrtl againft France, and 
 many of the princes of the empire had done 
 the fame. Not all. The Bavarian conti- 
 nued obftinatein his neutrality, and to men- 
 tion no more, the Swedes made a great di- 
 verfion in favour of France in the empire; 
 where the duke of Hanover abetted their de- 
 figns as mnch as he could, for he was a zealous 
 partiian of France, though the other princes 
 pf his houfe acted for the common caufe. 
 I defcend into no more particulars. The 
 war that LEWIS the fourteenth kindled by- 
 attacking in fo violent a manner the Dutch 
 commonwealth, and by making fo arbitrary 
 an ufe of his firft fuccefs, became gene- 
 ral, in the Low Countries, in Spain, in 
 Sicily, on the upper and lower Rhine, in 
 Denmark, in Sweden, and in the provinces 
 #f Germany belonging to thefe two crowns; 
 
 on
 
 234 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 7. 
 
 on the Mediterranean, the Ocean, and the 
 Baltic. France fupported. this war with 
 advantage on every fide: and when your 
 lordfhip confiders in what manner it was 
 carried on againft her, you will not be 
 furprifed that (he did fo. Spain had fpirit, 
 but too little ftrength to maintain her power 
 in Sicily, where Meffina had revolted; to 
 defend her frontier on that fide of the Py- 
 renees; and to refift the great efforts of the 
 French in the Low Countries. The em- 
 pire was divided-, and, even among the 
 princes who acted againft France, there 
 was neither union in their councils, nor 
 concert in their projects, nor order in pre- 
 parations, nor vigour in execution : and, to 
 fay the truth, there was not, in the whole 
 confederacy, a man whofe abilities could 
 make him a match for the prince of CONDE 
 or the marfhal of TURENNE -, nor many who 
 were in any degree equal to LUXEMBURG, 
 CREQUI, SCHOMBERG, and other generals 
 of inferior note, who commanded the ar- 
 mies of France. The emperor took this 
 very time to make new invafions on the 
 liberties of Hungary, and to oppreis his 
 proteftant fubjects. The prince of ORANGE 
 alone acted with invincible firmnefs, like 
 a patriot, and a hero. Neither the {educ- 
 tions of France nor thofe of England, 
 
 neither
 
 Let. 7. and State of EUROPE. 235 
 
 neither the temptations of ambition nor 
 thofe of private intereft could make him 
 fwervefrom the true intereft of his country, 
 nor from the common intereft of Europe. 
 He had raifed more fieges, and loft more 
 battles, it was faid, than any general of his 
 age had done. Be it fo. But his defeats 
 were manifeftly due in a great meafure to 
 circumftances independent on him: and that 
 fpirit, which even thefe defeats could not de- 
 prefs, was all his own. He had difficulties in 
 his own commonwealth; the governors of 
 the Spanifh Low Countries crofied his mea- 
 lures fometimes: the German allies difap- 
 pointed and broke them often: and it is 
 not improbable that he was frequently be- 
 trayed. He was fo perhaps even by 
 SOUCHES, the imperial general : a French- 
 man according to BAYLE, and a penfioner 
 of Louvois according to common report, 
 and very ftrong appearances. He had not 
 yet credit and' authority fufficient to make 
 him a centre of union to a whole confe- 
 deracy, the foul that animated and directed 
 fo great a body. He came to b fuch after- 
 wards; but at the time fpoken of he 
 could not take fo great a part upon him. 
 No other prince or general was equal to it; 
 and the conlequences of this defect appeared 
 almoft in every operation. France wa^ fur 
 
 rounded
 
 236 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 7. 
 
 rounded by a multitude of enemies, all in- 
 tent to demolifli her power. But, like the 
 builders of Babel, they fpoke different lan- 
 guages ; and as thofe could not build, thefe 
 could not demolifh, for want of underftand- 
 ing one another. France improved this ad- 
 vantage by her arms, and more by her ne- 
 gociations. Nimeghen was, after Cologn, 
 the fcene of thefe. England was the medi- 
 ating power, and I know not whether our 
 CHARLES the feconddid notferve herpurpo- 
 fes more ufefully in the latter, and under 
 the character of mediator, than he did or 
 could havedone by joining his arms to her's, 
 and acting as her ally. The Dutch were 
 induced to fign a treaty with him, that broke 
 the confederacy, and gave great advantage 
 to France : for the purport of it was to 
 oblige France and Spain to make peace on 
 a plan to be propoftd to them, and no 
 mention was made in it of the other allies 
 that I remember. The Dutch were glad 
 to get out of an expenfive war. France 
 promifed to rcftore Maeftricht to them, and 
 Maeftricht was the only place that remain- 
 ed unrecovered of all they had loft. They 
 dropped Spain at Nimeghen, as they had 
 dropped France at Munfter, but many 
 circumftances concurred to give a much 
 worfe grace to thejr abandoning of Spain, 
 
 than
 
 Let. 7. and State of EUROPE. 237 
 
 than to their abandoning of France, f 
 need not fpecify them. This only I would 
 obferve : when they made a feparate 
 peace at Munfter, they left an ally who 
 was in condition to carry on the war alone 
 with advantage, and they prefumed to im- 
 pofe no terms upon him : when they made 
 a feparate peace at Nimehegen, they aban- 
 doned an ally who was in no condition to 
 carry on the war alon?, and who was re- 
 duced to accept whatever terms the com- 
 mon enemy prefcribed. In their great dif- 
 trefs in one thoufand fix hundred and fo 
 venty three, they engaged to reftore Maef- 
 tricht to the Spaniards as foon as it fhouid 
 be retaken: it was not retaken, and they 
 accepted it for themfelves as the price of 
 the feparate peace they made with France. 
 The Dutch had engaged farther, to make 
 neither peace nor truce with the king of 
 FRANCE, till that prince confented to reltore 
 to Spain all he had conquered finc'e the 
 Pyrenean treaty. But, far from keeping 
 this promife in any tolerable degree, LEWIS 
 the fourteenth acquired, by the plan im- 
 pofed on Spain at Nimeghen, befidcs the 
 county of Burgundy, fo many other coun- 
 tries and towns on the fide of the ten Spa- 
 nim provinces, that thefe, added to the 
 -places he kept of thofe which had been 
 
 yielded
 
 238 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let.?. 
 
 yielded to him by the treaty of Aix la Cha- 
 pelle (for fome of little confequence he re- 
 ftored) put into his hands the principal 
 ftrength of that barrier, againft which we 
 goaded ourfelves almoft to death in the 
 Jaft great war ; and made good the faying 
 of the marmal of SCHOMBERG, that to at- 
 tack this barrier was to take the bead by 
 his horns. I know very well what may be 
 faid to excufe the Dutch. The emperor 
 was more intent to tyrannize his fubjects 
 on one fide, than to defend them on the 
 other. He attempted little againft France, 
 and the little he did attempt was ill order- 
 ed, and worfe executed. The affiftance of 
 the princes of Germany was often uncer- 
 tain, and always expenfive. Spain was 
 already indebted to Holland for great 
 fums , greater ftill muft be advanced to her 
 if the war continued: and experience 
 friewed that France was able, and would 
 continue, to prevail againft her pretent ene- 
 mies. The triple league had ftopped her 
 progrefs, and obliged her to abandon the 
 county of Burgundy; but Sweden was 
 now engaged in the war on the fide of 
 France, as England had been in the be- 
 ginning of it : and England was now pri- 
 vately favourable to her imerefts, as Swe- 
 den had been in the beginning of it. The 
 
 whole
 
 Lt. 7. and State of EUROPE. 139 
 
 whole ten provinces would have been fub- 
 dued in the courfe of a few campaigns more: 
 and it was better for Spain and the Dutch 
 too, that part fhould be faved by accepting 
 a fort of composition, than the whole be 
 rifqued by refuting it. This might be al- 
 ledged to excufe the conduct of the States 
 General, in impofing hard terms on Spain; 
 in making none for their other allies, and 
 in figning alone : by which fteps they gave 
 France an opportunity that (he improved 
 with great dexterity of management, th 
 opportunity of treating with the confede- 
 rates one by one, and of beating them by 
 detail in the cabinet, if I may Ib lay, as 
 fhe had often done in ihe field. I (ball not 
 compare thefe realons, which were but two 
 well founded in fact, and muft appear 
 plaufible at lead, with other confiderations 
 that might be, and were at the time, in- 
 lifted upon. I confine myfelf to a few ob- 
 fcrvations, which every knowing and im- 
 partial man mull admit. Your lordlhip 
 will ^bferve, firlt, that the fatal principle 
 of compounding with LEWIS the fourteenth, 
 from the time that his pretenfions, bis 
 power, and the ufe he made of it, began 
 to threaten Europe, prevailed ftill more at 
 Nimeghcn than it had prevailed at Aix : fo 
 that although he did not obtain to the full, 
 
 all
 
 240 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 7. 
 
 all he attempted, yet the dominions of 
 France were by common confent, .on every 
 treaty, more and more extended; her bar-, 
 riers on all fides were more and more 
 ftrengthened ; thofe of her neighbours were 
 more and more weakened; and that power, 
 which was to afiert one day, againft the 
 reft of Europe, the pretended rights of the 
 houfe of Bourbon to the Spanifb monar- 
 chy was more and more eftablifhed, and 
 rendered truly formidable in fuch hands at 
 leaft, during the courfe of the firft eighteen 
 years of the period. Your lordmip will 
 pleafe to obferve in the fccond place, that 
 the extreme weaknefs of one branch of Au- 
 ftria, and the miferable conduct of both ; 
 the poverty of fome of the princes of the 
 empire, and the difunion, and, to fpeak 
 plainly, the mercenary policy of all of 
 them; in more, the confined views, the 
 falfe notions, and, to fpeak as plainly of 
 my own as of other nations, the iniquity 
 of the councils of England, not only hin- 
 dered the growth of this power from being 
 flopped in time, but nurfed it up into 
 ftrength almoft infuperable by any. future 
 confederacy. A third observation is this : 
 If the excuies made for the conduct of the 
 Dutch at Nimeghen are not fufficient, they 
 too muft come in- for their fliare in. this 
 
 con-
 
 Let. 7* and State of EUROPE. 241 
 
 condemnation, even after the death of the 
 DE WITS; as they were to be condemned 
 molt juftly, during that adminiftration, 
 for abetting and favouring France. If 
 thefe excufes, grounded on their inability 
 to purfue any longer a war, the principal 
 profit of which was to accrue to their con- 
 federates, for that was the cafe after the 
 year one thoufand fix hundred and feventy 
 three, or one thoufand fix hundred and 
 ieventy four, and the principal burden of 
 which was thrown on them by their con- 
 federates; if thefe arefufficient, they fhould 
 not have acted for decency's fake as well 
 as out of good policy, the part they did 
 a<5t in one thoufand feven hundred and ele- 
 ven, and one thoufand feven hundred and 
 twelve, towards the late queen, who had 
 complaints of the fame kind, in a much. 
 higher degree, and withcircumftances much 
 more aggravating, to make of them, of 
 the emperor, and of all the princes of Ger- 
 many , and who was far from treating them , 
 and their other allies, at that time as they 
 treated Spain and their other allies in one 
 thoufand fix hundred and feventy eight. 
 Immediately afccr the Dutch had made their 
 ptrace, that of Spain was figned with France. 
 The emperor's treaty with this crown and 
 that or. Ssveden was concluded in the fol- 
 Q^ lowing
 
 242 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 7. 
 
 lowing year: and LEWIS the fourteenth 
 being now at liberty to afllft his ally, whilft 
 he had tied up the powers with whom he 
 had treated from afiifting theirs, he foon 
 forced the king of DENMARK and the elector 
 of BRANDENBURG to reftore all they had 
 taken from the Swedes, and to conclude 
 the peace of the north. In all thefe treaties 
 he gave the law, and he was now at the 
 higheft point of his grandeur. He con- 
 tinued at this point forfeveral years, and in 
 this heighth of his power he prepared thofe 
 alliances againft it, under the weight of 
 which he was at laft well-nigh opprefled; 
 and might have been reduced as low as the 
 general in re reft of Europe required, if fome 
 of the caufes, which worked now, had not 
 continued to work in his favour, and if his 
 enemies had not proved, in their turn of 
 fortune, as infatiable as profperity had ren- 
 dered him. 
 
 AFTER he had made peace with all the 
 powers with whom he had been in war, he 
 continued to vex both Spain and the em- 
 pire, and to extend his conquefts in the 
 Low Countries, and on the Rhine, both 
 by the pen and the fword. He erected the 
 chambers of Metz and of Brifach, where 
 his own fubjects were profecutors, witnefles, 
 
 and
 
 Let. 7. and State of EUROPE. 243 
 
 and judges all at once. Upon the decifions 
 of thefe tribunals, he feized into his own 
 hands, under the notion of dependencies 
 and the pretence of re-unions, whatever 
 towns or diftricts of country tempted his 
 ambition, or fuited his conveniency: and 
 added, by thefe and by other means, in the- 
 midft of peace, more territories to thole 
 the late treaties had yielded to him, than 
 he could have got by continuing the war. 
 He afted afterwards, in the fupport of all 
 this, without any bounds or limits. His 
 glory was a reafon for attacking Holland 
 in one thoufand fix hundred and feventy 
 two, and his conveniency a reafon for many 
 of the attacks he made on others afterwards. 
 He took Luxemburg by force: he ftole 
 Strafburgh ; he bought Caflal : and, whilft 
 he waited the opportunity of acquiring to 
 his family the crown of Spain, he was not 
 without thoughts, nor hopes perhaps, of 
 bringing into it the imperial crown like- 
 \vife. Some of the cruelties he exercifcd 
 in the empire may be afcribed to his difap- 
 pointment in this view : I fay fome of them, 
 becaufe in the war. ended by the treaty 
 of Nimeghen, he had already exercifed 
 many. Though the French writers endea* 
 vour to flide overthem, topalliate them, and 
 to impute them particularly to the Englifh 
 Qjz thac
 
 244 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 7. 
 
 that were in their fervice, for even this one 
 of their writers has the front to advance : 
 yet theie cruelties unheard of among ci- 
 vilized nations, rnuil be granted to have 
 been ordered by the counfels, and executed 
 by the arms of France, in the Palatinate, 
 and in other parts. 
 
 If LEWIS the fourteenth could have con- 
 tented himfelf with the acquifitions that 
 were confirmed to him by the treaties of 
 one thoufand fix hundred and leventy 
 eight, and one thoufand fix hundred and 
 fcvemy nine, and with the authority and 
 reputation which he then gained; it is plain 
 that he. would have prevented the alliances 
 that were .afterwards formed againft him; 
 and that he might have regained his credit 
 amongft the princes of the empire, where 
 he had one family-alliance by the marriage 
 of his brother to the daughter of the elector 
 Palatine, and another by that of his fon to 
 the fitter of the elector of Bavaria-, where 
 Sweden was clofely attached to him, and 
 where the lame principles of private inter- 
 eft would have foon attached others as 
 clofeiy. He might have remained not only 
 the principal, but the directing power of 
 Europe, and have held this rank with all 
 the glory imaginable, till the death of the 
 
 king
 
 Let. 7. and State of EUROPE. 245 
 
 king of SPAIN, or fome other objecl: of great 
 ambition, had determined him to aft a- 
 notherpart. But, inftead of this, he con- 
 tinued to vex and provoke all thofe who 
 were, unhappily for them, his neighbours, 
 and that, in many inftances fortnfles. An 
 example of this kind occurs to me. On 
 the death of the duke of DEUX FONTS, he 
 feized that little inconfiderable dutchy, 
 without any regard to the indifputable right 
 of the king of SWEDEN, to the fervices that 
 crown h-id rendered him, or to the want he 
 might have of that alliance hereafter. The 
 conftquence was, that Sweden entered, with 
 the emperor the king of SPAIN, the eledor 
 of Bavaria, and the States General, into 
 the alliance of guaranty, as it was called, 
 about the year one thoufand fix hundred 
 and eighty three, and into the famous 
 league of Aufburg, in one thoufand fix 
 hundred and eighty fix. 
 
 SINCE I have mentioned this league, and 
 fmce we may date from it a more general 
 and a more concerted oppofition to France 
 than there had been before; give me leave 
 to recall fome of the reflections that have 
 prefented themfelves to my mind, in con- 
 fidering what I have read, and what I have 
 heard related, concerning the paffages of 
 
 that
 
 246 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let.y, 
 
 that time. They will be of ufe to form 
 our judgment concerning later paflages. 
 If the king of FRANCE became an objeft 
 of averfion on account of any invafions he 
 made, any deviations from public faith, any 
 barbarities exercitVd where his arms pre- 
 vailed, or the perfecution of his proteitanc 
 iubjeels; the emperor defer ved to be fuch 
 an objer, at Icafl as much as he, on the 
 fame accounts. The emperor was lo too, 
 but with this difference relatively to the 
 political fyftem of the weft: the Auftrian 
 ambition and bigotry exerted themlelves in 
 diftant countries, whofe intercuts were not 
 confidered as a part of this fyftem ; for, 
 otherwife there would have been as much 
 reafon for aflifting the people of Hungary 
 and of Tranfylvania againft: the emperor, 
 as there had been formerly for a/lifting the 
 people of the feven united provinces againft: 
 Spain, or as there have been lately for affift- 
 ing them againft: France : but the ambition 
 and bigotry of LEWIS the fourteenth were 
 exerted in the Low Countries, on the 
 Rhine, in Italy, and in Spain, in the very 
 mid ft of this iyftem, if I may fay fo, and 
 with fuccefs that could not fail to fubvert IE 
 in time. The power of the houfe of Au- 
 ftria, that had been feared too long, was 
 feared no longer : and that of the houfe of 
 
 Bourbon,
 
 Let. 7. and State of EUROPE. 247 
 
 Bourbon, by having been feared too late, 
 was now grown terrible. The emperor was 
 fo intent on the eftablifhment of his abfo- 
 lute power in Hungary, that he expofed 
 the empire doubly to defolation and ruin 
 for the lake of it. He left the frontier al- 
 moft quite defencelels on the fide of the 
 Rhine, againft the inroads and ravages of 
 France: and by (hewing no mercy to the 
 Hungarians, nor keeping any faith with 
 them, he forced that miferable people into 
 alliances with the Turk, who invaded the 
 empire, and befieged Vienna. Even this 
 event had no effeft upon him. Your lord- 
 fhip will find, that SOBIESKI king of Po- 
 land, who had forced the Turks to raife the 
 fiege, and had fixed the imperial crown that 
 tottered on his head, could not prevail on 
 him to take thofe meafures by which alone 
 it was poflible to cover the empire, to fe- 
 cure the King of SPAIN, and to reduce that 
 power who was probably one day to difpute 
 with him this prince's fucceffion. TEK.ELI 
 and the malecontents made fuch dem .ncis 
 as none but a tyrant could refufe, the pre- 
 fervation of their ancient privileges, liberty 
 of conicience, the convocation of a free 
 diet or parliament, and others of lefs im- 
 portance. All .was in vain. The war con- 
 tinued with them, and with the Turks, 
 Q4 and
 
 248 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 7. 
 
 and France was left at liberty to pu(h her 
 enterprizcs almoft without oppofuion, a- 
 gainit Germany and the Low Countries. 
 The diftrel's in both was ib great, that the- 
 States General faw no other expedient for 
 (topping the progrejs of the French arms, 
 than a ceffation of hoftilities, or a truce of 
 twenty years; which they negociated, and 
 which was accepted by the emperor and the 
 king of SPAIN on the terms that LEWIS the 
 fourteenth thought fit to offer. By thefe 
 terms he was to remain in full and quiet 
 pofTc-ffion of all he had acquired fmce the 
 years one thoufand fix hundred and feventy 
 eight, and one thoufand fix hundred and 
 feventy nine; among which acquifitions 
 that of Luxemburg and that of Strafburg 
 were comprehended. The conditions ot 
 this truce were fo advantageous to France, 
 that all their intrigues were employed to ob- 
 tain a definitive treaty of peace upon the 
 fame conditions. But this was neither the 
 intereft nor the intention of the other con- 
 trading powers. The imperial arms had 
 been very fuccefsful againft the Turks. 
 This fuccefs as well as the troubles that 
 followed upon it in the Ottaman armie.% 
 and at the Porte, gave a reafonable expecta- 
 tion of concluding a peace on that fide : 
 and, this peace concluded, the emperor, and 
 
 the
 
 Let. 7. and State of EUROPE. 249 
 
 the empire, and the king of SPAIN would 
 have been in a much better pofture to treat 
 with France. "With thele views, that were 
 wile and juft, the league of Aufburg was 
 made between the emperor, the kings cf 
 SPAIN and SWEDEN, as princes of the em- 
 pire, and the other circles and princes. 
 This league was purely defenfive. An ex- 
 prefs article declared it to be fo: and as it 
 had no other regard, it was nor only con- 
 formable to the laws and conftitutions of the 
 empire, and to the practice of all nations, 
 but even to the terms of the act of truce fo 
 lately concluded. This pretence therefore 
 for breaking the truce, feizing the electorate 
 of Cologn, invading the Palatinate, be- 
 fieging Philipfburg, and carrying unex- 
 pected and undeclared war into the empire, 
 could not be iupported : nor is i: pofllble 
 to read the realbns publifhed by France at 
 this time, and drawn from her fears of the 
 imperial power, without laughter. As 
 little pretence was there to complain, that 
 the emperor refufed to convert at once the 
 truce into a definitive treaty; fince, if he 
 had done fo, he would have confirmed in a 
 lump, and without any difcnffion, all the 
 arbitrary decrees of thofe chambers, or 
 courts, that France had erected to cover 
 her usurpations ; and would have given up 
 
 al-
 
 250 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 7. 
 
 almoft a fixth part of the provinces of the 
 empire, that France one way or other had 
 pofieffed herfelf of. The pretenfions of the 
 Dutchefs of OR LEAKS on the fuccefiion of 
 her father, and her brother, which weredif- 
 putcd by the then elector Palatine, and were 
 to be determined by the laws and cufboms 
 of the empire, afforded as little pretence for 
 beginning this war, as any of the former 
 allegations. The exclufion of the cardinal 
 of FURSTENBERG, who had been elected 
 to thearchbimoprick of Cologn, was capable 
 of being aggravated : but even in this cafe 
 his moft Chriftian majtfty oppofed his judg- 
 ment and his authority againtl the judg- 
 ment and authority of that holy father, 
 vvhofe eldeft fon he was proud to be called. 
 In fhort, the true reafon why LEWIS the 
 fourteenth began that cruel war with the 
 empire, two years after he had concluded 
 a ceffation of hollilities for twenty, was 
 this: he relblved to keep what he had got j 
 and therefore he refolved to encourage the 
 Turks to continue the war. He did this 
 effectually, by invadingGermany at the very 
 inftant when the Sultan was luing for peace. 
 Notwithflandingthis, the Turks were in trea- 
 ty again the following year: and good policy 
 fhould have obliged the emperor, fince he 
 could not hope to carry on this war and that 
 
 againtl
 
 Let. 7. and State of EUROPE. 251 
 
 againft France, at the fame time with vi- 
 gour and effect, to conclude a peace with 
 the lead dangerous enemy of the two. The 
 decifion of this difpute with France could 
 not be deferred, his defigns againft the 
 Hungarians were in part accomplifhed, for 
 his fon was declared king, and the fettle- 
 ment of that crown in his family was made ; 
 and the reft of thefe, as well as thofe that 
 he formed againft the Turks, might be de- 
 ferred. But the councils of Vienna judged 
 differently, and infifted even at this criti- 
 cal moment on the moft exorbitant terms; 
 on feme of fuch a nature, that the Turks 
 fhewed more humanity and a better fenfe of 
 religion in refuting, than they in afking 
 them. Thus the war went on in Hungary, 
 and proved a conftant diverfion in favour 
 of France, during the whole courfe of that 
 which LEWIS the fourteenth began at this 
 time : for the treaty of Carlowitz was pof- 
 terior to that of Ryfwic. The empire, 
 Spain, England, and Holland engaged in 
 the war with France, and on them the em- 
 peror left the but den of it. In the fhort 
 war of one thouland fix hundred and fixty 
 feven, he was not fo much as a party, and 
 inftead of aflifting the king of SPAIN, which, 
 it muft be owned, he was in no good con- 
 dition of doing, he bargained for dividing 
 
 that
 
 252 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 7, 
 
 that prince's fucceffion, as I have obferved 
 above. In the war of one thoufand fix 
 hundred and ieventy two he made fome 
 feeble efforts. In this of one thoufand fix 
 hundred and eighty eight he did ftill iefs; 
 and in the war which broke out at the be- 
 ginning of thi prefent century he did no. 
 thing, at leait after the firft campaign in 
 Italy, and after the engagements that Eng- 
 land and Holland took by the grand al- 
 liance. In a word, from the time that an 
 oppofition to France became a common 
 caule in Europe, the houfe of Auftria has 
 been a clog upon it in many inftances, and 
 of confiderabie affiftance to it in none. 
 The accefiion of England to this caule, 
 which was brought about by the revolution 
 of one thoufand fix hundred and eighty 
 eight, might have made amends, and more 
 than amends, one would think, for this de 
 fe<5t, and have thrown fuperiority of power 
 and of fuccds on the fide of the confede- 
 rates, with whom me took part againft 
 France. This, I fay, might be imagined, 
 without over-rating the power of I ngland, 
 or undervaluing that of France j and it was 
 imagined at that time. How it proved 
 otherwife in the event; how France came 
 triumphant out of the war that ended by 
 the treaty of Ryfwic, and though (he gave
 
 ,et. 7. and State of EUROPE. 253 
 
 up a great deal, yet preferved the greateit 
 and the bell part of her conqueft and ac- 
 tjuifitions made fince the treaties of Weft- 
 phalia, and the Pyrenees; how me acquired, 
 by the gift of Spain, that whole monarchy 
 for one of her princes, though me had no 
 reafon to expect the lean: part of it without 
 a war atone time, nor the great lot of it 
 even by a war at any time; in fhort, 
 how fiie wound up advantageoully the am- 
 bitious lyftem (he had been fifty years in 
 waving ; how fne concluded a war, in 
 which the was defeated on every fide, and 
 wholly exhaufted, with little diminution of 
 the provinces and barriers acquired to 
 France, and with the quiet poilefiion of 
 Spain and the Indies to a prince ot the 
 houfeof Bourbon: all this, my lord, will 
 be the fubjeftol your refearches, when you 
 fome down to the latter part of the laft pe- 
 jiod of modern hiitory. 
 
 LET-
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 The fame fubjett continued from the 
 year one thoufand fix hundred and 
 eighty-eight. 
 
 YOUR lordfhip will find that the objects 
 propolcd by the alliance of one thou- 
 fand fix hundred and eighty nine between 
 the emperor and the States, to which Eng- 
 land acceded, and which was the founda- 
 tion of the whole confederacy then formed, 
 were no lefs than to reftore all things to the 
 terms of the Weftphalian and Pyrenean 
 treaties, by the warj and to prefcrve them in 
 that ftate, after the war, by a defenfive 
 alliance and guaranty of the fame confede- 
 rate powers againft France. The parti- 
 cular as well as general meaning of this 
 engagement was plain enough : and if it had 
 not been fo, the icnie of it would have 
 been fufficiently determined, by that fcpa- 
 rate article, in which England and Hol- 
 land obliged themfelves to allilt the " houfe 
 
 of
 
 256 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 " of Auftria, in taking and keeping pof- 
 " feffion of the Spanifh monarchy, when- 
 * c ever the cafe mould happen of the death 
 "of CHARLES the fecond, without lawful 
 " heirs." This engagement was double, 
 and thereby relative to the whole political 
 lyftem of Europe, alike affe&cd by the 
 power and pretentious of France. Hither- 
 to the power of France had been alone 
 regarded, and her pretenfions feemed to 
 have been forgot : or to what purpofe 
 fhould they have been remembered, whilft 
 Europe was fo unhappily conftituted, that 
 the dates, at whofe expence (he encreafed 
 her power, and their friends and allies, 
 thought that they did enough upon every 
 occafion if they made fome tolerable com- 
 pofition with her? They who were not in 
 circumftances to refufe cor.Srming prefent, 
 were little likely to take effectual mcafures 
 againft future ulurpations. But now, as the 
 alarm was greater than ever, by the out- 
 rages that France had committed, and the 
 intrigues flie had carried on; by the little 
 regard fhe had fhewn to public faith, and 
 by the airs of authority fhe had afiumed 
 twenty years together: fo was the fpirit 
 againft her raifed to an higher pitch, and 
 the means of reducing her power, or at 
 lead of checking -it, were increafed. The 
 
 princes
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 257 
 
 princes and dates who had neglected or fa- 
 voured the growth of this power, which 
 all of them had done in their turns, faw 
 their error; faw the necefiity of repairing 
 it, and faw that unlefs they could check 
 the power of France by uniting a "power 
 fuperior to her's, it would be impofiible to 
 hinder her from fucceeding in her great 
 defigns on the Spanifh fucceffion. The 
 court of England had fubmitted, not many 
 years before, to abet her ufurpations, and 
 the king of England had ftooped to be her 
 penfioner. But the crime was not natio- 
 nal. On the contrary, the nation had 
 cried out loudly againft it, even whilft it- 
 was committing: and as foon as ever the 
 abdication of King JAMES, and the eleva- 
 tion of the prince of ORANGE to the throne 
 of England happened, the nation engaged 
 with all imaginable zeal in the common 
 caufe of Europe, to reduce the exorbitant 
 power of France, to prevent her future 
 and to revenge her pad attempts ; for even 
 a ipirit of revenge prevailed, and the 
 war was a war of anger as well as of 
 imereft. 
 
 UNHAPPILY this zeal was neither well 
 
 conducted, nor well feconded. Tt was zeal 
 
 without fuccefs in the firft of the two wars 
 
 R that
 
 258 A Sketch of the Hist ORY Let.8. 
 
 that followed the year one thoufand fix hun- 
 dred and eighty-eight-, and zeal without 
 knowledge, in both of them. I enter into 
 no detail concerning the events of thefe 
 two wars. This only I obferve on the 
 firlt of them, that the treaties of Ryfwic 
 were far from anfwering the ends propofed 
 and the engagements taken by the firit 
 grand alliance. The power of France, 
 with refpeft to extent of dominions and 
 ftrength of barrier, was not reduced to the 
 terms of the Pyrenean treaty, no not to 
 thofe of the treaty of Nimeghcn. Lorrain 
 was reftored indeed with very confiderable 
 referves, and the places taken or ufurped 
 on the other fide of the Rhine: but then 
 Strafburg was yielded up abfolutely to 
 France by the emperor, and by the empire. 
 The conceffions to Spain were great, but 
 lb vverc the conquefts and the encroach- 
 ments made upon her by France, fince the 
 treaty of Nimeghen: and (begot lirtle at 
 Ryfwic, I believe nothing more than (he 
 had faved at Nimeghen before. All thefc 
 concefiions, however, as well as the ac- 
 knowledgment of King WILLIAM, and 
 others made by LEWIS the fourteenth af- 
 ter he had taken Ath and Barcelona, even 
 during the courfc of the ne^ociations, com- 
 pared with the lofles and repeated defeats 
 
 of
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 
 
 of the allies and the ill ftate of the confede- 
 racy, furprifed the generality of mankind, 
 who had not been accuftomed to fo much 
 moderation and generofity on the part of 
 this prince. But the pretenfions of the 
 houfe of Bourbon on the Spanifh fuccef* 
 fion remained the fame. Nothing had been 
 done to weaken them; nothing was 
 prepared to oppofe them : and the opening 
 of this fucceffion was vilibly at hand: fojf" 
 CHARLES the fecond had been in immediate 
 danger of dying about this time. His 
 death could not be a remote event: and 
 all the good queen's endeavours to be got 
 with child had proved ineffectual. The 
 league diflblved, all the forces of the con-< 
 federates difperfed, and many difbanded ; 
 France continuing armed, her forces by 
 icA and land encreafed and held in readinefs 
 to act on all fides, it was plain thac 
 the confederates had failed in the firit 
 object of the grand alliance, that of re-> 
 ciucing the power of France > by fucceedr 
 ing in which alone they could have been 
 able to keep ths fecond engagement, than 
 of fecuring the fucceffion of Spain to chfi 
 houfe of Aufbia. 
 
 AFTER this peace, what remained to be 
 
 done? In the whole nature of things there 
 
 K a remained
 
 260 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 remained but three. To abandon all care, 
 of the Spanifh fucceffion was one; to com- 
 pound with France upon this fuccefiion 
 was another; and to prepare, like her, 
 during the interval of peace, to make a a 
 advantageous war whenever CHARLES the 
 fecond ihould die, was a third. Now the 
 firft of thefe was to leave Spain, and 
 in leaving Spain, to leave all Europe in 
 fome fore at the mercy of France; fmce 
 whatever difpofition the Spaniards fhould 
 make of their crown, they were quite un- 
 able to fupport it againft France; fincc 
 the emperor could do little without his 
 alliance; and Cnce Bavaria, the third pre- 
 tender, could do ftill lefs, and might find, 
 in fuch a cafe, his account perhaps better 
 in treating with the houfc of Bourbon than 
 with that of Auftria. More needs not be 
 faid on this head ; but on the other two, 
 which I (hall confider together, feveral fadts 
 are proper to be mentioned, and feveral re^ 
 ,:.s nccefiary to be made. 
 
 WE might have counter- worked, no 
 doubt, in their own methods of policy, the 
 councils of France, who made peace to 
 dificlve the confederacy, and great concef- 
 fions, with very fufpicious gcnerofity, to 
 gain the Spaniards : we might have waited, 
 
 like
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 261 
 
 like them, that is in arms, the death of 
 CHARLES the fecond, and have fortified in 
 the mean time the difpofitions of the king, 
 the court, and people of Spain, againft the 
 pretenfions of France : we might have 
 made the peace which was made foone time 
 after that, between the emperor and the 
 Turks, and have obliged the former at 
 any rate to have fecured the peace of Hun- 
 gary, and to have prepared by thefe and 
 other expedients, for the war that \\ou!d 
 inevitably break out on the death of the 
 king of SPAIN*. 
 
 BUT all fuch meafures were rendered im- 
 pra&icable, by the emperor chiefly. Ex- 
 perience had Ihewn, that the powers who 
 engaged in alliance with him muft expcci 
 to. take the whole burden of his caufe upon 
 themfclves; and that Hungary would main- 
 tain a perpetual diverfion in favour of 
 France, fince he could not reiblve to lighten 
 the tyrannical yoke he had eftablilhed in 
 that country and in Tranfilvania, nor his 
 minifters to part with the immenfe confif- 
 cations they had appropriated to thcmfelves. 
 Pail experience thewcd this : and the ex- 
 perience that followed, confirmed it very fa- 
 tallv. But .further; there was not only 
 little afiithnce to be expected from him by 
 R 3 thole
 
 262 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 thofe who mould engage in his quar- 
 rel: he did them hurt of another kind, and 
 deprived them of many advantages by faJie 
 meafures of policy and unfkilful nc-gocUi- 
 tions. Whilii the death of CHARLES the 
 iecond was expected almoft daily, the court 
 of Vienna feemed to have forgot the court 
 of Madrid, and all the pretenfions on that 
 crown. When the count D'HARRACH was 
 lent thither, the imperial councils did iome- 
 tiling worfe. The king of SPAIN was rea- 
 dy to declare the arch-duke CHARLES his 
 fucceffor; he was defirous to have this 
 young prince lent into Spain: the bent 
 of the people was in favour of Auftria, or 
 it had been fo, and might have been eaiily 
 turned the fame way again : at court no 
 cabal was yet formed in favour of Bourbon, 
 and a very weak intrigue was on foot in 
 favour of the eleciorial prince of BAVARIA. 
 Not only CHARLES might have been 
 on the fpot ready to reap the fucceffion, 
 but a German army might have been there 
 to defend it; for the court of Madrid in- 
 fifted on having twelve thoufand of thefe 
 troops, and, rather than not to have them 
 offered to Contribute to the payment of them 
 privately : becaufe it would have been too 
 Irhpopular among the Spaniards, and too 
 prejudicial to the Auftrian intereft, to have 
 
 had
 
 Let, 8. and State of EUROPE. 263 
 
 had it known that the emperor declined the 
 payment of a body of his own troops that 
 were demanded to fecure that monarchy to 
 his fon. Thefe propofals were half refufed, 
 and half evaded: and in return to the of- 
 fer of the crown of Spain to the archdukr, 
 the imperial councils afked the government 
 of Milan for him. They thought it a point 
 of deep policy to fecure the Italian pro- 
 vinces, and to leave to England and Hol- 
 land the care of the Low Countries, of 
 Spain, and the Indies. By declining thefe 
 propofals, the houfe of Auftria renounced ia 
 lome fort the whole fucceffion: at leaft (he 
 gave England and Holland reafons, what- 
 ever engagements thefe powers had taken, 
 to refuie the harder tafk of putting her in- 
 to pofieffion by force; when me might, 
 and would not, procure to the EnglHh and 
 Dutch, and her other allies, the eafier talk 
 of defending her in this poffeflion. 
 
 I laid that themeafures mentioned above 
 were rendered impracticable, by the empe- 
 ror chiefly, becaule they were rendered fo 
 likewife by other cirumftances at the 
 fame conjuncture. A principal one I mall 
 mention, and it (hall be drawn from the 
 ftateof our own country, and thedifpofition 
 of our people, Let us take this up 
 U 4 from
 
 264 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 from king WILLIAM'S accefiion to our 
 crown. During the whole progrefs that 
 LEWIS the fourteenth made towards fuch 
 exorbitant power, as gave him well ground- 
 ed hopes of acquiring at laft to his family 
 the Spanilh monarchy, England had been 
 either an idle fpectator of all that patted on 
 the continent, or a faint and uncertain ally 
 againft France, or a warm and fure 
 ally on her fide, or a partial mediator be- 
 tween her and the powers confederated in 
 their common defence. The revolution 
 produced as great a change in our foreign 
 conduct as in our domeftic eftablifhment : 
 and our nation engaged with great fpirit in 
 the war of one thoufand fix hundred and 
 eighty eight. But then this fpirit was ram, 
 prefumptuous and ignorant, ill conducted 
 at home, and ill feconded abroad : all which 
 has been touched already. We had waged 
 no long wars on the continent, nor been 
 very deeply concerned in foreign confede- 
 racies, fince the fourteenth and fifteenth 
 centuries. The hiftory of EDWARD the 
 third, however, and of the firft twelve or 
 fifteen years of HENRY the fixth might have 
 taught us fome general but uieful leffons, 
 drawn from remote times, but applicable 
 to the prefent. So might the example of 
 the eighth, who fcjuandered away
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 26$ 
 
 great fums for the profit of taking a town 
 or the honour of having an emperor in 
 his pay; and who divided afterwards by 
 treaty the kingdom of France between him- 
 felf and CHARLES the fifth, with fuccefs fo 
 little anfwerable to fuch an undertaking, 
 that it is hard to believe his imperial and 
 Englifh majefty were both in earned. If 
 they were fo, they were both the bubbles of 
 cheir preemption. But it feems more 
 likely that HENRY the eighth was bubbled 
 on this occafion by the great hopes that 
 CHARLES held out to flatter his vanity : as 
 he had been bubbled by his father-in-law, 
 FERDINAND, at the beginning of his reign, 
 in the war of Navarre. But thefe reflec- 
 tions were not made, nor had we enough 
 considered the example of ELIZABETH, the 
 laft of our princes who had made any con- 
 fiderable figure abroad, and from whom 
 we might have learned to acl: with vigour, 
 but to engage with caution, and always to 
 proportion our afiiftance according to our 
 abilities, and the real neccffities of our al- 
 lies. The frontiers of France were now 
 fo fortified, her commerce and her naval 
 force were fo encreafed, her armies were 
 grown fo numerous, her troops were fo dif- 
 .ciplined, fo inured to war, and fo ani- 
 ia.ted by a long courfe of fucccfsfui cam- 
 paigns,
 
 266 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let.8. 
 
 paigns, that they who looked on the fitua* 
 tion of Europe could not fail to lee how 
 difficult the enterprizeof reducing her power 
 was become. Difficult as it was, we were 
 obliged on ever account, and by reafons of 
 all kinds, to engage in it: but then we 
 fhould have engaged with more forecaft, 
 and have conducted ourfelf in the manage- 
 ment of it, not with lefs alacrity and 
 fpirir, but with more order, more ceconomy, 
 and a better application of our efforts. 
 But they who governed were glad to en- 
 gage us at any rate: and we entered on 
 this great fcheme of adion, as our nation 
 is too apt to do, hurried on by the ruling 
 pafiion of the day. I have been told by 
 ieveral, who were on the ftage of the world 
 at this time, that the generality of our peo- 
 ple believed, and were encouraged to be- 
 lieve, the war could not be long, if the 
 king was vigoroufly fuppoited: and there 
 in a humdrum fpeech of a fpeaker, of the 
 houfe of commons, I think, who humbly 
 defired his majefty to take this opportunity 
 of reconquering his ancient dutchy of 
 Acquitain. We were foon awakened from 
 thefe gaudy dreams. In fctven or eight 
 years no impreffion had been made on 
 France that was befieged as it were on 
 every fide: and after repeated defeats in the 
 
 Low
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 267 
 
 Low Countries, where king WILLIAM laid 
 the principal ftrels of the war, his foie 
 triumph was the retaking of Namur, that 
 had been taken by the French a few years 
 before. Unfuttained by fucceis abroad, we 
 are not to wonder that the fpirit flagged at 
 home; nor that the diicontents of thofe 
 who were averfe to the eftablifhed govern- 
 ment uniting with the far greater number 
 of thole who difliked the adminiftration, 
 inflamed the general difcontents of the na- 
 tion, oppreflfed with taxes, pillaged by ufu- 
 rers, plundered at fea, and difatpointed 
 at land. As we run into extremes always, 
 ibme would have continued this war at any 
 rate, even at the fame rate: but it was not 
 polfible they (houlci prevail in fuch a fitua- 
 tion of affairs, and fuch a dilpofition of 
 minds. They who got by the war, and 
 made immenfe fortunes by the neceffities of 
 the public, were not fo numerous nor fo 
 powerful, as they have been fince. The mo- 
 seyed intereft was not yet a rival able to 
 cope with the landed intereft, either in the 
 nation or in parliament. The great corpora- 
 tions that had been erected more 10 ferve the 
 turn of party, than for any real national uie, 
 aimed indeed even then at the ftrcngth and 
 influence which they have fince acquired in 
 the legiflature-, but they had not made the 
 lame progrefs by promoting national corrup- 
 tion,
 
 86zA Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 tion, as they and the court have made fince. 
 In (horr, the other extreme prevailed. The 
 generality of people grew as fond of getting 
 out of the war, as they had been of entering 
 into it: and thus far perhaps, confidering 
 how it had been conduced, they were noc 
 much to be blamed. But this was not all; 
 for when king WILLIAM had made the 
 peace, our martial fpirit became at once 
 Ib pacific, that we feemed refolved to med- 
 dle no more in the affairs of the continent, 
 at lead to employ our arms no more in the 
 quarrels that might arife there: and ac- 
 cordingly we reduced our troops in Eng- 
 land to feven thoufand men. 
 
 I HAVE fomeumes confidered, in reflect- 
 ing on thefe paftages, what I fhouid have 
 done, if I had fat in parliament at thac 
 time-, and have been forced to own mylelf, 
 that I (hould have voted for difbanding the 
 army then; as I voted in the following par- 
 liament for cenfuring the partition-treaties. 
 I am forced to own this, becaufe I remem- 
 ber how imperfect my notions were of the 
 lituation of Europe in that extraordinary 
 crifis, and how much I law the true intereit 
 of my own country in an half light. 
 But, my lord, I own it with fome (hame; 
 bccaufe in truth nothing could be more ab- 
 furd than the conduct we held. What! 
 
 becaufe
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 269 
 
 becaufe we had not reduced the power of 
 France by the war, nor excluded the houfe 
 of Bourbon from the Spanifh iucceflion, nor 
 compounded with her upon it by the peace ; 
 and becaufe the houfe of Auftria had not 
 helped herfelf, nor put it into our power to 
 help her wi:h more advantage and better 
 profpecl of fuccefs were we to leave that 
 whole fucceflion open to the invafions of 
 France, and to iuffcr even the contingency 
 to fubfift, of feeing thofe monarchies 
 united ? What! becaufe it was become ex- 
 travagint, afcer the trials fo lately made, 
 to think ourfelves any longer engaged by 
 treaty or obliged by good policy, to put the 
 houfe of Auftria in pofiefTion of the whole 
 SpaniCh monarchy, and to defend her in 
 this pofiefiion by force of arms, were we 
 to leave the whole at the mercy of France? 
 If we were not to do fo, if we were not to 
 do one of the three things that I faid above 
 remained to be done, and if the emperor 
 put it out of our power to do another of 
 them with advantage-, were we to put it 
 fliil more out of our power, and to wait un- 
 armed for the death of the king of SPAIN? 
 In fine, if we had not the profpect of difpu- 
 ting with France, fo fucceisfuliy as we might 
 have had it, the Spanim iucceflion, when- 
 ever it (hould be open; were we not only 
 
 tQ
 
 270 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. , 
 
 to (hew by difarming, that we would not 
 difpute it at all, but to cenfure likewife the 
 fecond of the three things mentioned above, 
 and which king WILLIAM put in practice, 
 the compounding with France, to prevent; 
 if pofilble a war, in which we were averie to 
 engage ? 
 
 ALLOW me to pufh thefe reflections a 
 little further, and to obferve to your lord- 
 (hip, that if the propofal of fending the 
 archduke into Spain had been accepted in 
 time by the imperial court, and taken effect 
 and become a meafure of the confederacy^ 
 that war indeed would have been protracted > 
 but France could not have hindered the 
 pafiage of this prince and hisGerman forces : 
 and our fleet would have been better em- 
 ployed in efcorting them, and in covering 
 the coafts of Spain and of the dominions of 
 that crown both in Europe and m America, 
 than it was in fo many unmeaning expedi- 
 tions from the battle of La Hogue to the 
 end of the war. France indeed would 
 have made her utmoft efforts to have had 
 fatisfactionon her pretenfions, as ill-founded 
 as they were. She would have ended that 
 war, as we began the next, when we de- 
 manded a reafonable fatisfaction for the em- 
 peror : and though 1 think that the allies 
 
 would
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 271 
 
 would have had, in very many refpecls, more 
 advantages in defending Spain, than in at- 
 tacking France; yet, upon a iuppofition that 
 the defence would have been as ill conducted 
 as the attack was, and that by confequence, 
 whether CHARLES the fccond had lived 
 to the conclufion of this war, or had died 
 before it, the war muft have ended in 
 fome partition or other; this partition 
 would have been made by the Spaniards 
 themfelves. They had been forced to 
 compound with France on her former 
 pretenlions, and they mull and they would 
 have compounded on thefe, with an Auf- 
 trian prince on the throne, juft as they 
 compounded, an,d probably much better 
 than they compounded, on the pretenfions 
 we fupported againft them, when they had 
 a prince of Bourbon on their throne. France 
 could not have diftrefifed the Spaniards, nor 
 have over run their monarchy, if they had 
 been united ; and they would have been 
 united in this cafe, and fupported by the 
 whole confederacy: as we diftrefied both 
 France and them, over-run their monarchy 
 in one hemifphere, and might have done 
 fo in both, when they were difunited, and 
 fupported by France atone. France would 
 not have acted, in luch negociations, the 
 ridiculous part which the emperor acted in 
 
 thofc
 
 272 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. S. 
 
 thofe that led to the peace of Utrecht, nor 
 have made her bargain worfe by neglecting 
 to make it in time. But the war ending as 
 it did, though I cannot fee how king WIL- 
 LIAM could avoid leaving thecrown of Spain 
 and that entire monarchy at the difcretion 
 of LEWIS the fourteenth, otherwife than by 
 compounding to prevent a new war he was 
 in no fort prepared to make; yet it is 
 undeniable, that, by confenting to a par- 
 tition of their monarchy, he threw the Spa- 
 niards into the arms of France. The firft 
 partition might have taken place, perhaps, if 
 the electoral prince of BAVARIA had lived, 
 whom the French and Spaniards too would 
 have feen much more willingly than the 
 archduke on the throne of Spain. For 
 among all the parties into which that court 
 was divided in one thoufand fix hundred 
 and ninety eight, when this treaty was made, 
 that of Aultria was grown the weakeft, by 
 the.difguft taken at a German queen, and 
 at the rapacity and infolence of her favou- 
 rites. The French were looked upon with 
 efteem and kindnefs at Madrid ; but the 
 Germans were become, or growing to be, 
 objects of contempt to the minifters, and of 
 averfion to the people. The electoral prince 
 died in one thoufand fix hundred and ninety 
 nine. The ftar of Aufiria, fo fatal to all 
 
 thofe
 
 Let. 7. and State of EUROPE. 273 
 
 thofe who were obftacles to the ambition of 
 that houfe, prevailed; as the elector ex- 
 prefled himfelf in the firft pangs of his 
 grief. The ftate of things changed very 
 much by his death The archduke was to 
 have Spain and the Indies, according to a 
 fecond partition: and the Spaniards, who 
 had expreffcd great refentment at the firO, 
 were pumed beyond their bearing by this. 
 They loon appeared to be fo; for the ie- 
 cond treaty of partition was figncd in 
 March one thoufand feven hundred ; and 
 the will was made, to the bed of my re- 
 membrance, in the October following. I 
 (hall not enter here into many particulars 
 concerning thefe great events. They will 
 be related faithfully, and I hope fully ex- 
 plained, in a work which your lordmip 
 may take the trouble very probably from 
 perufmg fome time or orher. and which I 
 ihall rather leave, than give to the public. 
 Something however muft be faid more, to 
 continue and wind up this fummary of the 
 latter period of modern hiftory. 
 
 FRANCE then faw her advantage, and im- 
 proved it no doubr, though not in the man- 
 ner, nor with the circumftances, that fome 
 lying fcribblers of memorials and anecdotes 
 have advanced. She had lent one of the 
 S ableft
 
 274 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 ableft men of her court to that of MADRID, 
 the marfhal of HARCOURT, and fhe had 
 ftipulated in the fecond treaty of partition, 
 that the archduke fhould go neither into 
 Spain nor the dutchy of Milan, during the 
 life of CHARLES the fecond. She was wil- 
 ling to have her option between a treaty 
 and a will. By the acceptation of the will, 
 all king WILLIAM'S meafures were broke. 
 He was unprepared for war as much as 
 when he madethefe treaties to prevent one; 
 and if he meant in making them, what 
 fome wife, but refining men have fufpected, 
 and what I confels 1 fee no realbn to believe, 
 only to gain time by the difficulty of execu- 
 ting them, and to prepare for making war, 
 whenever the death of the king of SPAIN 
 fhould alarm mankind, and roufe his 
 own fubjects out of their inactivity and 
 neglect of foreign interefts: if fo, he was 
 difappointed in that too; for France took 
 pofielTion of the whole monarchy at once, 
 and with univerfal concurrence, at leaft 
 without oppoiltion or difficulty, in favour 
 of the duke of ANJOU. By what has been 
 obfcrved, or hinted rather, very fhortly, 
 and 1 fear a little confufedly, it is plain, that 
 reducing the power of France, and fecu- 
 ring the whole Spanifh fucceffion to the 
 houfe of Auftriaj were two points that king 
 
 WILLIAM
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 275 
 
 WILLIAM, at the head of the Britilh and 
 Dutch commonwealths and of the greateft 
 confederacy Europe had feen, was obliged 
 to give up. All the acquifitions that France 
 cared to keep for the maintenance of her 
 power were confirmed to her by the treaty 
 of Ryfwic: and king WILLIAM allowed, 
 indirectly at leaft, the pretenfions of the 
 houfe of Bourbon to the Spanilh fucccffion, 
 as LEWIS the fourteenth allowed, in the 
 fame manner, thole of the houfe of Auftria, 
 by the treaties of partition. Strange fitu- 
 ation! in which no expedient remained to 
 prepare for an event, vifibly fo near, and 
 of fuch vaft importance as the death of the 
 king of SPAIN, but a partition of his 
 monarchy, without his confent, or his 
 knowledge! If king WILLIAM had not 
 made this partition, the emperor would 
 have made one, and with as little regard to 
 trade, to the barrier of the feven provinces, 
 or to the general fyftem of Europe, as had 
 been (hewed by him when he made the pri- 
 vate treaty with France already mentioned, 
 in one thoufand fix hundred and fixty eight. 
 The minifters of Vienna were not wanting 
 to infinuate to thofe of France overtures of 
 a feparate treaty, as more conducive to 
 their common interells than the acceffiion 
 of his imperial majefty to that of partition. 
 S 2 But
 
 276 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 But the councils of Verfailles judged very 
 reafonubly, that a partition made with Eng- 
 land and Holland would be more effectual 
 than any other, if a partition was to take 
 place: and that fuch a partition would be 
 juft as effectual as one made with the em- 
 peror, to furnifh arguments to theemiflaries 
 of France, and motives to the Spanifh 
 councils, if a will m favour of France could 
 be obtained. I repeat it again; I cannot 
 fee what king WILLIAM could do in fuch 
 circumftances as he found himfelf in after 
 thirty years ftruggle, except what he did: 
 neither can I fee how he could do what he 
 did, efpecially- after the refentment ex- 
 prefled by the Spaniards, and the furious 
 memorial prefented by CANALES on the 
 conclufion of the firft treaty of partition, 
 without apprehending that the confequence 
 would be a will in favour of France. 
 He was in the worft of all political circum- 
 ftances, and that wherein no one good mea- 
 fure remains to be taken -, and out of which 
 he left the two nations, at the head of 
 whom he had been fo long, to fight and ne- 
 gociate themfelves and their confederates, 
 as well as they could. 
 
 WHEN this will was made and accepted, 
 LEWIS the fourteenth had fucceeded, and 
 
 the
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 277 
 
 the powers in oppofition to him had failed, 
 in all the great objects of intereft an dam- 
 bition, which they had kept in fight for 
 more than forty years ; that is, from the be- 
 ginning of the prefent period. The actors 
 changed their parts in the tragedy that fol- 
 lowed. The power, that had fo long and 
 fo cruelly attacked, was now to defend, the 
 Spanifh monarchy : and the powers, that 
 had fo long defended, were now to attack 
 it. Let us fee how this was brought about: 
 and that we may fee it the better, and make 
 a better judgment of all that pafied from 
 the death of CHARLES the fecond to the 
 peace of Utrecht, let us go back to the 
 time of his death, and cor.fider the circum- 
 flances that formed this complicated ftate 
 of affairs in three views ; a view of right, 
 a view of policy, and a view of power. 
 
 The right of fucceeding to the crown of 
 Spain would have been undoubtedly in the 
 children of MARIA THERESA, that is, in 
 the houfe of Bourbon ; if this right had 
 not been barred by the lolemn renunciations 
 fo often mentioned. The pretenfions of 
 the houfe of Auftria were founded on thefe 
 renunciations, on the ratification of them 
 by the Pyrenean treaty, and the confirmation 
 of them by the will of PHILIP the fourth. 
 S 3 The
 
 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 The pretenfions of the houfe of Bourbon 
 were founded on a fuppofition, it was indeed 
 no more, and a vain one too, that thefe re- 
 nunciations were in their nature null. On 
 this foot the difpute of right ftood during 
 the life of CHARLES the fecond, and on the 
 fame it would have continued to ftand even 
 after his death, if the renunciations had re- 
 mained unthaktn; if his will, like that of 
 his father, had confirmed them, and had 
 left the crown, in purfuance of them, to 
 the houfe of Auftria. But the will of 
 CHARLES the fecond, annulling thefe renun- 
 ciations, took away the fole foundation of 
 the Auftrian pretenfions ; for, however 
 this ad might be obtained, it was jnft as 
 valid as his father's, and was confirmed by 
 the univerfal concurrence of the Spanim 
 jiation to the new lettlement he made of 
 that crown, Let it be, as 1 think it ought 
 to be, granted, that the true heirs could 
 not claim againft renunciations that were, if 
 I may fay lo, conditions of their birth : but 
 CHARLES the fecond had certainly as good 
 a right to change the courfe of fucceflion 
 agreeable to the order of nature and the 
 conllitution of that monarchy, after his true 
 heirs were born, as PHILIP the fourth had 
 to change it, contrary to this order and this 
 conftitution, before they were born, or at 
 
 any
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 279 
 
 any other time. He had as good a right, in 
 fhort, to difpenfe with the Pyrenean treaty, 
 and to let it alide in this refpecl, as his 
 father had to make it: Ib that the renun- 
 ciations being annulled by that party to the 
 Pyrenean treaty who had exaded them, 
 they could be deemed no longer binding, 
 by virtue of this treaty, on the party who 
 had made them. The fole queftion that 
 remained therefore between thefe rival 
 houfes, as to right, was this, whether the 
 engagements taken by LEWIS the fourteenth 
 in the partition treaties obliged him to ad- 
 here to the terms of the laft of them in all 
 events, and to deprive his family of the fuc- 
 ceflion, which thekingof SPAIN opened, and 
 the Spanifh nation offered to them; rather 
 than to depart from a compofition he had 
 made, on pretenfians that were difputable 
 then, but were now out of difpute ? It may 
 be faid, and it was laid, that the treaties of 
 partition being abfolute, without any con- 
 dition or exception relative to any dilpo- 
 fition the kin^ of SPAIN had made, or 
 might make of his fucceffion, in favour of 
 Bourbon or Aurtria; the dilpofition made 
 by his will, in favour of the duke of AN- 
 jou, could not affect the engagements ib 
 lately taken by LEWIS the fourteenth in 
 thefe treaties, nor difpenfe with a literal 
 S 4- ob-
 
 280 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 obfervation of them. This might be true 
 on ilrift principles of juftice ; but I appre-*- 
 hend that none of thefe powers who ex- 
 claimed io loudly againft the perfidy of 
 France in this cafe, would have been moie 
 Scrupulous in a parallel cafe. The maxim 
 * fummum jmeft fumma injuria' would have 
 been quoted, and the rigid letter of treaties 
 would have been foftened by an equitable 
 interpretation of their fpirit and intention. 
 His imperial majefty, above all, had not the 
 leaft colour of right to exclaim againil 
 France on this occafion; for in general, if 
 his family was to be dripped of all the do- 
 minions they have acquired by breach of 
 faith, and means much worle than the ac- 
 ceptation of the will, even allowing all the 
 invidious circumftances imputed to the 
 conduct of France to be true, the Auftrian 
 family would fink from their prefent gran- 
 deur to that low ftate they were in two or 
 three centuries ago. In particular, the 
 emperor, who had conftantly refufed to ac- 
 cede to the treaties of partition, or to fub- 
 mit to the difpofitions made by them, had 
 not the leaft plaufible pretence to object to 
 LEWIS the fourteenth, that he departed from 
 them. Thus, I think, the right of the two 
 houfts flood on the death of CHARLES 
 he fecond. The right of the Spaniards,
 
 JLet. 8. and State of EUROPE. 281 
 
 an independent nation, to regulate their 
 -own fucceffion, or to receive the prince 
 whom the dying monarch had called to itj 
 and the right of England and Holland to 
 regulate the fucceflion, to divide, and par- 
 cel out this monarchy in different lots, 
 it would be equally foolifh to go about 
 to eftabh(h. One is too evident, the other 
 too a ;furd, to admit of any proof. But 
 enough has been faid concerning right, 
 which was in truth little regarded by any of 
 the parties concerned immediately or re- 
 motely in the whole conrfe of thefe pro- 
 ceedings. Particular interefts were alone 
 regarded, and thefe were puriued as ambi- 
 tion, fear, reientment, and vanity di- 
 rected: I mean the ambition of the two 
 houfes contending for fuperiority of power; 
 the fear of England and Holland, left this 
 fuperiority mould become too great in ei- 
 ther j the reientment of Spain at the dif- 
 memberment of that monarchy projected by 
 the partition-treaties i and the vanity of 
 that nation, as well as the princes of the 
 houfe of Bourbon: for as vanity mingled 
 with reientment to make the will, vanity 
 had a great fhare in determining the accep- 
 fation of it. 
 
 LET
 
 282 A Sketch of the HITORY Let. 8. 
 
 LET us now confider the fame conjunc- 
 ture in a view of policy. The policy of the 
 Spanifti councils was this. They could not 
 brook that their monarchy mould be divi- 
 ded: and this principle is expreficd ftrong* 
 ly in the will of CHARLES the fecond, 
 where he exhorts his fubjecls not to fuffer 
 any difmemberment or diminution of a 
 monarchy founded by his prcdeceflbrs with 
 fo much glory. Too weak to hinder this 
 difmemberment by their own ftrength, too 
 well apprifed of the little force and little 
 views of the court of Vienna, and their old 
 allies having engaged to procure this dif- 
 memberment even by force of arms ; no- 
 thing remained for them to do, upon this 
 principle, but to detach France from the 
 engagements of the partition treaties, by 
 giving their whole monarchy to a prince of 
 the houfe of Bourbon. As much as may 
 have been faid concerning the negociations 
 of France to obtain a will in her favour, 
 and yet to keep in referve the advantages 
 flipulated for her by the partition-treaties, 
 if fuch a will could not be obtained, and 
 though I am perfuaded that the marfhal of 
 HARCOURT, who helped to procure this 
 will, made his court to LEWIS the four- 
 teenth as much as the marfhal of TALLARD, 
 
 who
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 283 
 
 who ncgociated the partitions; yet it is 
 certain, that the acceptation of the will 
 was not a meafure definitely taken at Ver- 
 failles when the king of Spain died. The 
 alternativedivided thofe councils, and, with- 
 out entering at this time into the arguments 
 urged on each fide, adhering to the parti- 
 tions feemed the caufe of France, accepting 
 the will that of the houfe of Bourbon. 
 
 IT has been faid by men of great weight 
 in the councils of Spain, and was faid at 
 that time by men as little fond of the houfe 
 of Bourbon, or of the French nation, as 
 their fathers had been; that if England and 
 Holland had not formed a confederacy and 
 begun a war, they would have made PHILIP 
 the fifth as good a Spaniard as any of the 
 preceding PHILIPS, and not have endured 
 the influence of French councils in the ad- 
 miniftration of their government: but that 
 we threw them entirely into the hands of 
 France when we began the war, becaufe 
 the fleets and armies of this crown being 
 neceflary to their defence, they could not 
 avoid fubmitting to this influence as long 
 as the fame neceffity continued; and, in 
 fad, we have fecn that the influence lafted 
 no longer. But notwithftanding this, it 
 muft be confefTed, that a war was unavoid- 
 able.
 
 284 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 able. The immediate fecuring of commerce 
 and of barriers, the preventing an union of 
 the two monarchies in lome future time, 
 and the prefervation of a certain degree at 
 leaft of equality in the fcales of power, 
 were points too important to Kngland, 
 Holland, and the reft of Europe, to be 
 refted on the moderation of French, and 
 the vigour of Spanifh councils, under a 
 prince of the houfe of France. If fatisfac- 
 tion to the houl'e of Auftria, to whofe rights 
 England and Holland fhewed no great re- 
 gard whilft they were bettrr founded than 
 they were fince the will, had been alone 
 concerned ; a drop of blood fpilt, or five 
 fhillings fpent in the quarrel, would have 
 been too much profufion. But this was 
 properly the fcale into which it became the 
 common intereft to throw all the weight 
 that could be taken out of that of Bourbon. 
 And therefore your lordfnip will find, that 
 when negociations with D'AVAUX were fet 
 on foot in Holland to prevent a war, or ra- 
 ther on our part to gain time to prepare 
 for it, in which view the Dutch and we 
 h a d both acknowledged PHILIP king of 
 SPAIN; the great article we infifted on 
 was, that reafonable fatisfaction mould be 
 given the emperor, upon his pretenfions 
 founded on the treaty of partition. We 
 
 could
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 285 
 
 could do no otherwife -, and France who 
 offered to make the treaty of Ryfwic the 
 foundation of that treaty, could do no other- 
 wife than refufe to confent that the treaty 
 of partition fhould be fo, after accepting the 
 will, and thereby engaging to oppofe all 
 partition or diimemberment of the Spanifli 
 monarchy. 1 fhould mention none of the 
 other demands of England and Holland, 
 if I could neglect to point out to your lord- 
 fhip's obfervation, that the fame artifice 
 was employed at this time, to perplex the 
 more a negociation that could not iucceed 
 on other accounts, as we faw employed in 
 the courfe of the war, by the Englilh and 
 Dutch minifters, to prevent the fuccefs cf 
 negotiations that might, and ought to have 
 fucceeded. The demand I mean, is that of 
 " a liberty not only to explain the terms 
 " propoied, but to increafe or amplify 
 " them in the courfe of the negociation." 
 I do not remember the words, but this is 
 the fenfe, and this was the meaning of the 
 confederates in both cafes. 
 
 In the former, king WILLIAM was de- 
 termined to begin the war by all the rules 
 of good policy -, fince he could not obtain, 
 nay fince France could not grant in that 
 conjuncture, nor without being forced to 
 it by a war, what he was obliged by thefe 
 
 very
 
 286 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let.8. 
 
 very rules to demand. He intended there- 
 fore nothing by this negotiation, if it may 
 be called fuch, but to preferve forms and 
 appearances, and perhaps, which many 
 have fufpe&ed, to have time to prepare, as 
 I hinted juft now, both abroad and at 
 home. Many things concurred to favour 
 his preparations abroad. The alarm, that 
 had been given by the acceptation of the 
 will, was increaled by every ftep that France 
 made to lecure the effect of it. Thus, for 
 inftance, the furprifing and feizing the 
 Dutch troops, in the fame night, and at 
 the fame hour, that were difperfc-d in the 
 garrifons of the Spanifh Netherlands, was 
 notexcufed by the neceffity of fecuring thofe 
 places to the obedience of Philip, nor fof. 
 tened by the immediate difmiffion of thofe 
 troops. The imprelTion it made was much 
 the lame as thole of the furprifes and fei- 
 zures of France in former ufurpations. 
 No one knew then, that the fovercignty of 
 the ten provinces was to be yielded up to 
 the elector of BAVARIA : and every one faw 
 that there remained no longer any barrier 
 between France and the feven provinces. 
 At home, the difpofition of the nation was 
 abfoluteiy turned to a war with France, on 
 the death of king JAMES thefecond, by the 
 acknowledgment LEWIS the fourteenth 
 
 made
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 287 
 
 made of his fon as king of England. I 
 know what has been faid in excufe for this 
 meafure, taken as I believe, on female im- 
 portunity ; but certainly without any re- 
 fard to public faith, to the true intereft of 
 Vance in thole circumftances, or to the true 
 intereft of the prince thus acknowledged, 
 in any. It was faid, that the treaty of Uyf- 
 wic obliging his moft chriftian majefty 
 only not to difturb king WILLIA?J in his 
 pofTeflion, hemight, without any violationof 
 it, have acknowledged this princeas king of 
 England ; according to the political cafuiftry 
 of the French, and the example of France, 
 who finds no fault with the powers that 
 treat with the kings of England, although 
 the kings of England retain the title of 
 kings of France-, as well as the example of 
 Spain, who makes no complaints that other 
 ftates treat with the kings of France, al- 
 though the kings of France retain the title of 
 Navarre. But befides, that the examples 
 are not appofite, becaufe no other powers 
 acknowledge in form the king of England 
 to be king of France, nor the king of 
 France, to be king of Navarre; with what 
 face could the French excufe this meafure? 
 Could they excufe it by urging that they 
 adhered to the ftrift letter of one article of 
 the treaty of Ryfwic, againft the plain mean- 
 ing
 
 288 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 ing of that very article, and againft the 
 whole tenor of that treaty : in the fame 
 breath with which they juftified the accep- 
 tation of the will, by pretending they ad- 
 hered to the fuppofcd fpirit and general in- 
 tention of the treaties of partition, in con- 
 tradiction to the letter, to the fpecific en- 
 gagements, and to the whole purport of 
 thofe treaties ? This part of the conduct of 
 LEWIS the fourteenth may appear juftly the 
 more furprifing, becaufe in mod other 
 parts of his conduct at the fame time, and 
 in fome to his difadvantage, he a6led cau- 
 tioufly, endeavoured to calm the minds of 
 his neighbours, to reconcile hurope to his 
 grandfon's elevation, and to avoid all (hew 
 of beginning hoitilities. 
 
 THOUGH king WILLIAM was determined 
 to engage in a war with France and Spain, 
 yet the fame good policy, that determined 
 him to engage, determined him not to en- 
 gage too deeply. The engagement taken in 
 the grand alliance of one thoufand fevcn 
 hundred and one is, u To procure an equi- 
 *' table and reafonable fatisfaction to his 
 " imperial majeftyfor his pretenfion to the 
 " Spanilh fucceffion ; and fufficient fecu- 
 " rity to the king of ENGLAND, and the 
 " States General, for their dominion?, and 
 *' for the navigation and commerce of their 
 
 " fubjects.
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 2^9 
 
 *' fubjects, and to prevent the union of the 
 " two monarchies of France and Spain." 
 As king of England, as itateholder of 
 Holland, he neither could, nor did engage 
 any further. It may be difputed per- 
 haps among fpeculative politicians, whe- 
 ther the balance of power in Europe would 
 have been better preferved by that fcheme 
 of partition, which the treaties, and parti- 
 cularly the laft of them, propofed, or by 
 that which the grand alliance propofed to be 
 the object of the war ? I think there is little 
 room for fuch a difpute, as I mall haveoc- 
 cafion to fay hereafter more exprefly. In 
 this place I (hall only fay, that the object 
 of this war, which king WILLIAM medi- 
 tated, and queen ANNE waged, was a par- 
 tition, by which a prince of the houfe of 
 Bourbon, already acknowleged by us and 
 the Dutch as king of Spain, was to be left 
 on the throne of that difmembered monar- 
 chy. The wifdom of thofe councils favv 
 that the peace of Europe might be reflored, 
 and fecured on this foot, and that the liber- 
 ties of Europe would be in no danger. 
 
 THE fcales of the balance of power will 
 
 never be exadlly poized, nor in the precife 
 
 point of equality either difcernible or ne- 
 
 cefiary to be difcerned. It is fufficient in 
 
 T this,
 
 290 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 this, as in other human affairs, that the 
 deviation be not to great. Some there 
 will always be. A conftant attention to 
 thcie deviations is therefore neceffary. 
 When they are little, their increafe may be 
 eafily prevented by early care and the pre- 
 caution? that good policy fuggefts. But 
 when they becon.e great for want of this 
 care and thefe precaution?, or by the force 
 of unfcrefcen events, more vigour is to be 
 exerted, and greater efforts to be made. But 
 even in fuch cafes, much reflection is ne- 
 cefTary on all the circumftances that form 
 the conjuncture ; left, by attacking with ill 
 fuccefs, the deviation be confirmed, and 
 the power that is deemed already exorbitant 
 become more fo-, and left, by attacking 
 with good fuccefs, whilft one fcale is pilla- 
 ged, too much weight of power be thrown 
 into the other. In fuch cafes, he who has 
 confidered, in the hiftories of former ages, 
 theftrange revolutions that time produces, 
 and the perpetual flux and reflux of public 
 as well as private fortunes, of kingdoms 
 and ftates as well as of thofe who govern 
 or are governed in them, will incline to 
 think, that if the fcales can be brought 
 back by a war, nearly, though not exactly, 
 to the point they were at before this great 
 deviation from it, -the reft may be left to 
 
 accidents,
 
 Let. 8. and State of- EUROPE. 291 
 
 accidents, and to the ufe that good policy is 
 able to make of them. 
 
 WHEN CHARLES" the fifth was at the 
 heighth of his power, and in the zenith of 
 his glory, when a king of France and a 
 pope were at once his prifoners ; it muft 
 be allowed, that, his fituation and that of 
 his neighbours compared, they had as much 
 at leaft to fear from him and from the 
 houfe of Auftria, as the neighbours of 
 LEWIS the fourteenth had to fear from 
 him and from the houfe of Bourbon, when, 
 after all his other fuccefs, one of his grand- 
 children was placed on the Spanifh throne. 
 And yet among all the conditions of the 
 leveral leagues againft CHARLES the fifth, 
 I do not remember that it was ever ftipu- 
 lated, that " no peace mould be made wich 
 " him as long as he continued to be empe- 
 " ror and king of Spain ; nor as long as 
 " any Auftrian prince continued capable of 
 " uniting on his head the Imperial and Spa- 
 *' nifh crowns." 
 
 IF your lordfhip makes the application, 
 you will find that the difference of fome 
 circumftances does not hinder this exam- 
 ple from being very appofite, and ilrong to 
 the prefent purpofe. CHARLES the fifth 
 T 2 was
 
 292 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 was emperor and king of Spain; but nei- 
 ther was LEWIS the fourteenth king of 
 Spain, nor PHILIP the fifth king of 
 France. 7 hat had happened in one in- 
 ftance, which it was apprehended mighf 
 happen in the other. It had happened, 
 and it was reafonably to be apprehended 
 that i,t might happen again, and t'uat the 
 Imperial and Spanish crowns might conti- 
 riue, not only in the fame family, but on 
 the fame heads; for mealures were taken 
 to fccure the luccefllon of both to PHILIP 
 .the ion of CHARLES. We cjo not find 
 however that any confederacy was formed., 
 any engagement taken, or any war made, 
 to remove or prevent this great evil. The 
 princes and it,ates of Europe contented 
 ihemlelvestooppoie thedefigns of CHARLES 
 the fifth, and to check the growth of his 
 power occafionally, and as intereft invited, 
 or neceflity forced them to do ; not con- 
 ilantly. They did perhaps toolittle againft 
 him, and fometimes too much for him: 
 but if they did toolittle of one kind, time 
 and accident did the reft. DiftincT: domi- 
 nions, and different pretenfions, created 
 contrary interefts in the houfe of Auftria : 
 and on the abdication of CHARLES the fifth, 
 his brother fuccteded, not his fon, to the 
 empire. The houfe of Auftria divided in-
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 293 
 
 to a German and a Spanilh branch : and 
 if the two branches came to have a mutual 
 influence on one another, and frequently a 
 common intereft,, it was riot till one of 
 them had fallen from grandeur, and till 
 the other was rather aiming at it, than in 
 pofieffion of it. In fhort, PHILIP was ex- 
 cluded from the imperial throne by fo na* 
 tural a progreflion of caufes and effedts, ari- 
 fing not only in Germany but in his ovvri 
 family, that if a treaty had been made to 
 exclude him from it in favour of FERDU 
 NAND, fuch a treaty might have been laid 
 very probably to have executed itfdf. 
 
 THE precaution I have mentioned^ and 
 that was neglected in this cafe without any 
 detriment to the common caufe of Europe, 
 was not neglected in the grand alliance of' 
 one thoufand feven hundred and one* For 
 in that, one of the ends propoied by the 
 war, is to obtain an effectual fecurity againft 
 the contingent union of the crowns of 
 France and Spain. The will of CHARLES 
 the fecond provides againft the fame contin- 
 gency: and this great principle of pre- 
 venting too much dominion and power 
 from falling to the lot of either of the fa- 
 milies of bourbon or Auftria, kerned to 
 be agreed on all fides -, fmce in the parti- 
 T 3 tion-
 
 294 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 tion-treaty the fame precaution was taken 
 againft an union of the Imperial and Spa- 
 nilh crowns. King WILLIAM was enough 
 piqued againft France. His ancient pre- 
 judices were ftrong and well founded. He 
 had been worfted in war, over-reached in 
 negociation, and perfonal'.y affronted by her. 
 England and Holland were fufficiently 
 alarmed and animated, and a party was not 
 wanting, even in our ifland, ready to ap- 
 prove any engagements he would have 
 taken againft France and Spain, and in 
 favour of the houfe of Auftria ; though we 
 were lefs concerned, by any national inter- 
 eft, than any other power that took part in 
 the war, either then or afterwards. But this 
 prince was far from taking a part beyond 
 that which the particular interefts of Eng- 
 land and Holland, and the general intereft 
 of Europe, neceflarily required. Pique 
 muft have no more a place than affection, 
 in deliberations of this kind. To have en- 
 gaged to dethrone PHILIP, out of refent- 
 ment to LEWIS the fourteenth, would have 
 been a refolution worthy of CHARLES the 
 twelfth, king of Sweden, who facrificed his 
 country, his people, and himfelf at laft, 
 to his revenge. To have engaged to con- 
 quer the Spanifli monarchy for the houfe of 
 Auftria, or to go, jn favour of that fa- 
 mily,
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 295 
 
 mily, one ftep beyond thofe that were ne- 
 ceffary to keep this houfe on a foot of rivalry 
 with the other, would have been, as I have 
 hinted, to aft the part of a vaflfal, not of 
 an ally. The former pawns his ftate, and 
 ruins his fubjects-, for the intereft of his 
 fuperior lord, perhaps for hislord's humour, 
 or his paffion : the latter goes no further 
 than his own intereft carries him j nor makes 
 war for thofe of another, nor even for his 
 own, if they are remote and contingent, 
 as if he fought pro aris et focis, for his re- 
 ligion, his liberty, and his property. A* 
 greeably to thefe principles of good policy, 
 we entered into the war that began on the 
 death of CHARLES the fecond: but we Toon 
 departed from them, as I (hall have occa- 
 fion to obierve in confidering the ftate of 
 things, at this remarkable juncture, in a 
 view of ftrength. 
 
 LET me recall here what I have faid fome- 
 where elfe. They who are in the fink- 
 ing fcale of the balance of power do not 
 eafily, nor foon, come off from the habi- 
 tual prejudices of fuperiority over their 
 neighbours, nor from the confidence that 
 luch prejudices infpire. From the year one 
 thouiand fix hundred and fixty feven, to 
 the end of that century, France had been 
 T 4 conftamly
 
 296 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 conftantly in arms, and her arms had been 
 fuccefsful. She had fuftained a war, with- 
 out any confederates againft the principal 
 powers of Europe confederated againilher, 
 and had Hnilhcd it with advantage on every 
 fide, juft before the death of the king of 
 SPAIN. She continued armed after the 
 peace, by fea and land. She increafed her 
 forces, while other nations reduced theirs, 
 and was ready to defend, or to invade her 
 neighbours, whilft, their confederacy being 
 diflblved, they were in no condition to in- 
 vade her, and in a bad one to defend them- 
 felves. Spain and France had now one 
 common caufe. The electors of BAVARIA 
 and COLOGNE fupported it in Germany, the 
 duke of SAVOY was an ally, the duke of 
 MANTUA a vafial of the two crowns in 
 Italy. In a word, appearances were formi- 
 dable on that fide -, and if a dittruft of 
 ftrength, on the fide of the confederacy, 
 had induced England and Holland to com- 
 pound with France for a partition of the 
 Spanifti fucceffion, there fi-emed to be full 
 greater reafon for this diftruft after the ac- 
 ceptation of the will, the peaceable and 
 ready lubmiflion, of the entire monarchy of 
 Spain to PHILIP, and all the meafures taken 
 to fecure him in this poficffion. Such ap- 
 pearances might well impole. They did 
 
 fo
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE, 297 
 
 fo on many, and on none more than on the 
 French themfcives, who engaged with great 
 confidence and fpiric in the war; when they 
 found it, as they might well expect it would 
 be, unavoidable. The ftrength of France 
 however, though great, was not fo great as 
 the French thought it, nor equal to die ef- 
 forts they undertook to make. Their en- 
 gagement, to maintain the Spanifn monar- 
 chy entire under the dominion of PHILIP, 
 exceeded their itrength. Our engagement, 
 to procure fame out-fkirrs of it for the 
 houfe of Auilria, was not in the fame dif- 
 proportion to our ftrength. If I fpeak po- 
 iitivcly on this occafion, yet I cannot be 
 ace u fed of prefumpticn ; becaufe, how dif- 
 putable locver thcje points might be when 
 they were points of political fpeculation, 
 they are fuch no longer, and the judgment 
 I make is dictated to me by experience. 
 France threw hertelf into the finking fcale, 
 when me accepted the will. Her fcale 
 continued to fink during the whole courfe 
 of the war, and might have been kept by 
 the peace as low as the true intereft of Eu- 
 rope required. What I lemember to have 
 heard the duke of MARLBOROUGH fay, be- 
 fore he went to rake on him the command 
 of the army in the Low Countries in one 
 r.J fcven hundred and two, proved 
 
 true.
 
 298 A Sketch of the HISTORY. Let. 8. 
 
 true. T he French mif-reckoned very much, 
 if they made the fame companion between 
 their troops and thofe of their enemies, as 
 they had made in precedent wars. Thofe 
 that had been oppofed to them, in the laft, 
 were raw for the moft part when it began, 
 the Britifh particularly : but they had been 
 dilciplined, if I may fay fo, by their defeats. 
 They were grown to be veteran at the 
 peace of Ryfwic, and though many had 
 been difbanded, yet they had beendifband- 
 ed lately : fo that even thefe wereeafily form- 
 ed a new, and the fpirit that had been raifed 
 continued in all. Supplies of men to re- 
 cruit the armies were more abundant on the 
 fide of the confederacy, than on that of the 
 two crowns: a necefiary confequence of 
 which it feemed to be, that thofe of the 
 former would grow better, and thofe of the 
 latter worie, in a long, extenfive, and 
 bloody war. I believe it proved fo; and 
 if my memory does not deceive me, the 
 French were forced very early to fend re- 
 cruits to their armies, as they fend flaves 
 to their gallies. A companion between 
 thofe who were to direct their councils, and 
 to conduct the armies on both fides, is a 
 tafk it would become me little to undertake. 
 The event fhewed, that if France had had 
 her CONDE, her T-URENNE, or her LUX- 
 EMBURG,
 
 Let. 7. and State of EUROPE. 299 
 
 EMBURG, to oppofe to the confederates: the 
 confederates might have oppofed to her, 
 with equal confidence, their EUGENE of 
 Savoy, their MARYBOROUGH, or their STA- 
 RENBERG. But there is one obfervation I 
 cannot forbear ro make. The alliances 
 were concluded, the quotas were fettled, 
 and the leafon for taking the field ap- 
 proached, when kingWiLLiAM died. The 
 event could not fail to occafion fome con- 
 fternation on one fide, and to give fome 
 hopes on the other; for, notwithftanding 
 the ill fuccefs with which he made war ge- 
 nerally, he was locked upon as the ible 
 centre of union that could keep together 
 the great confederacy then forming: and 
 how much the French feared, from his liff, 
 had appeared a few years before, in the ex- 
 travagant and indecent joy they exprefled 
 on a falfe report of his death. A fhort 
 time mewed how vain the fears of fome 
 and the hopes of others were. By his death, 
 the duke of MARYBOROUGH was raifed to 
 the head of the army, and indeed of the 
 confederacy : where he, a new, a private man, 
 a fubjcdl, acquired by merit and by ma- 
 nagement a more deciding influence, than 
 high birth, confirmed authority, and even 
 the crown of Great Britain, had given to 
 king WILLIAM. Not only all the parts 
 
 of
 
 3 oo A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 of that vaft machine, the grand alliance, 
 were kept more compact and entire; but a 
 more rapid and vigorous motion was given 
 to the whole: and, inftead of languifhing 
 out difaftrous campaigns, we favv every 
 fcene of the war full of aclion. All thofe 
 wherein he appeared, and many of thofe 
 wherein he was not then an adlor, but abettor 
 however of their action, were crowned with 
 the moft triumphant fuccefs. I take with 
 pleafure this opportunity of doing juftice to 
 that great man, whof? faults 1 knew, whofe 
 virtues I admired; and whofe memory, as 
 the greateft general and as the greateft mi- 
 nifter that our country cr perhaps any other 
 has produced, I honour. But betides this, 
 the obfervation I have made comes into my 
 fubjecT:, fince it terves to point out to your 
 lordlliip the proof of what I faid above, 
 that France undertook too much, when 
 fiie undertook to maintain the Spanifh mo- 
 narchy entire in the poffefTion of PHILIP: 
 and that we undertook no more than what 
 was proportionable to our ftrength, when 
 we undertook to weaken that monarchy by 
 difmembering it, in the hands of a prince 
 of the houfc of Bourbon, which we had 
 been dilabled by ill fortune and worfe con- 
 duit to keep out of them. It may be faid 
 that the great iuccefs of the confederates 
 
 again ft
 
 Let- 8. and State of EUROPE. 301 
 
 againft France proves that their generals 
 were fuperior to her's, but not that their 
 forces and their national ftrength were fo; 
 that with the fame force with which (he 
 was beaten, (he might have been victorious; 
 that if (lie had been fo, or if the fuccefs of 
 the war had varied, or been lefs decifive 
 againft her in Germany, in the Low Coun- 
 tries, and in Italy, as it was in Spain, her 
 ftrength would have appeared Sufficient, 
 and that of the confederacy inefficient. 
 Many things may be urged to deftroy this 
 reafoning: I content myfelf with one. 
 France could not long have made even the 
 unfucccfsful efforts Jhe did make, if Eng- 
 land and Holland had done what it is un- 
 deniable they had ftrength to do; if befides 
 pillaging, I do not fay conquering, the 
 Spanifh Weft Indies, they had hindered 
 the French from going to the South Sea; 
 as they did annually during the whole 
 courfe of the war without the leaft molefta- 
 tion, and from whence they imported into 
 France in that time as much filver and gold 
 as the whole fpecies of that kingdom 
 amounted to. With this immcnfe and 
 conftant fupply of wealth France was re- 
 duced in effect to bankruptcy before the 
 end of the war. How much fooner muft 
 ihe have been fo, if this fupply had been 
 
 kept
 
 302 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 kept from her? The confefllon of France 
 herfelf is on my fide. She confefied her 
 inability to ftipport what (he had under- 
 taken, when (he fued for peace as early as 
 the year one thoufand feven hundred and 
 fix. She made her utmoft efforts to an- 
 fwer the expectation of the Spaniards, and 
 to keep their monarchy entire. When ex- 
 perience had made it evident that this was 
 beyond her power, (he thought herfelf juf- 
 tificd to the Spanifh nation, in confenting 
 to a partition, and was ready to conclude a 
 peace with the allies on the principles of 
 their grand alliance. But as France ieemed 
 to flatter herfelf, till experience made her 
 defirous to abandon an enterprize that ex- 
 ceeded her ftrength; you will find, my 
 lord, that her enemies began to flatter 
 themfelves in their turn, and to form 
 defigns and take engagements that ex- 
 ceeded theirs. Great Britain was drawn 
 into thefe engagements little by little ; for 
 I do not remember any parliamentary de- 
 claration for continuing the war till PHILIP 
 fhould be dethroned, before the year one 
 t'houfand feven hundred and fix: and then 
 fuch a declaration was judged neceflar.y to 
 fecond the refoiudon of our miniiters and 
 our allies, in departing from the principles 
 of the grand alliance, and in propofing not 
 
 only
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 303 
 
 only the reduction of the French, but the 
 conqueft of the Spanifli monarchy, as the 
 objects of the war. This new plan had 
 taken place, and we had begun to ad:- upon 
 it, two years before, when the treaty with 
 Portugal was concluded, and the arch-duke 
 CHARLES, now emperor, was fent into 
 Portugal firft, and into Catalonia after- 
 wards, and was acknowledged and fupport- 
 ed as king of Spain. 
 
 WHEN your lordfhip perufes the anec- 
 dotes of the times here fpoken of, and con- 
 fiders the courfe and event of the great war 
 which broke out on ihe death of the king 
 of Spain, CHARLES the fecond, and was 
 ended by the treaties of Utrecht and Rad- 
 flat; you 'will find, that in order to form a 
 true judgment on the whole you mult 
 confider very attentively the great change 
 made by the new plan that 1 have men- 
 tioned; and compare it with the plan of 
 the grand alliance, relatively to the gene- 
 ral intereft of Europe, and the particular 
 intereil of your own country. It will not, 
 becaufe it cannot, be denied, that all the 
 ends of the grand alliance might have been 
 obtained by a peace in one thoufand feven 
 hundred and fix. I need not recall the 
 * vents of that, and of the precedent years 
 
 of
 
 304 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. g. 
 
 of the war. Not only the arms of France 
 had been defeated on every fide-, but the 
 inward ftate of that kingdom was already 
 more exhaufted than it had ever been. She 
 went on indeed, but fne daggered and 
 reeled under the burden of the war. Our 
 condition, I fpeak of Great Britain, was 
 not quite fo bad , but the charge or. the 
 war increafed annually upon us r It was 
 evident that this charge muft continue to 
 increafe. and it was no lefs evident that our 
 nation was unable to bear it without falling 
 foon into fuch diftrefs, and contracting 
 fuch debts, as we have feen and felt, and 
 flill feel. The Dutch neither reftrained 
 their trade, nor over-loaded it with taxes. 
 They foon altered the proportion of their 
 quotas, and were deficient even after this 
 alteration in them. But, however, it mult 
 be allowed that they exerted their whole 
 ilrength ; and they and we paid the 
 whole charge of the war. Since therefore 
 by fuch efforts as could not be continued 
 any longer, without oppreffing and impo- 
 vcrifhing thefe nations to a degree that no 
 intereft except that of their very being, 
 nor any engagement of alTifting an alliance 
 totis viribus can require, France was re- 
 duced, and all the ends of the war were be- 
 come attainable.' j it will be worth your 
 
 lordfhip's
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 305 
 
 lordfhip's while to confider why the true 
 ufe was not made of the fuccels of the con- 
 federates againft France and Spain, and 
 why a peace was not concluded in the fifth 
 year of the war. When your lordfhip con- 
 fiders this, you will compare in your 
 thoughts what the (late of Europe would 
 have been, and that of your own country 
 might have been, if the plan of the grand 
 alliance had been purfued: with the poffible 
 as well as certain, the contingent as well 
 as necefTary, conlequences of changing 
 this plan in the manner it was changed. 
 You will be of opinion, I think, and it 
 feems to me, after more than twenty years 
 of recollection, re-examination, and reflec- 
 tion, that impartial pofterity muft be of the 
 fame opinion-, you will be of opinion, I 
 think, that the war was wife and juft before 
 the change, becaufe necefiary to maintain 
 that equality among the powers of Europe, 
 on which the public peace and common 
 profperity depends : and that it was unwife 
 and unjuft after this change , becaufe un- 
 neceflary to this end, and directed to other 
 and to contrary ends. You will be guided 
 by undeniable fads to difcover, through all 
 the falfe colours which have been laid, and 
 which deceived many at the time, that 
 the war, after this change, became a war 
 U of
 
 306 A Sketch of the Hi TORY Let.8. 
 
 of paffion, of ambition, of avarice, and of 
 private intereft j the private intereft of par- 
 ticular perfons and particular dates ; to 
 which the general intereft of Europe was 
 facrificed fo entirely ; that if the terms in- 
 fifted on by the confederates had been 
 granted, nay if even thofe which France 
 was reduced to grant, in one thoufand fe- 
 ven hundred and ten, had been accepted, 
 fuch a new fyftem of power would have been 
 created as might have expoied the balance 
 of this power to deviations, and the peace 
 of Europe to troubles, not inferior to thofe 
 that the war was defigned, when it began, 
 to prevent. Whilft you obferve this in 
 general, you will find particular occafion to 
 lament the fate of Great Britain in the 
 midft of triumphs that have been founded 
 fo high, She had triumphed indeed to the 
 year one thoufand feven hundred and fix 
 inclufively: but what were her triumphs 
 afterwards? what was her fuccefs after flic 
 proceeded on the new plan? I (hall fay 
 ibmethingon that head immediately. Here 
 let me only fay, that the glory of taking 
 towns, and winning battles, is to be mea- 
 fured by the utility that refults from thofe 
 victories. Victories, that bring honour to 
 the arms, may bring Ihame to the coun- 
 cils, of a nation. To win a battle, to 
 
 take
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 307 
 
 take a town, is the glory of a general, and 
 of an army. Of this glory we had a very 
 large fliare in the courfe of the wan But 
 the glory of a nation is to proportion the 
 ends (he propofes, to her intereil and her 
 ftrength; the means (he employs to the 
 ends (he propofes, and the vigour (he 
 exerts to both. Of this glory, I appre- 
 hend, we have had very little to boaft, at 
 any time, and particularly in the great con- 
 juncture of which I am fpeaking. The 
 reafons of ambition, avarice, and private in- 
 tereft, which engaged the princes and dates 
 of the confederacy to depart from the prin- 
 ciples of the grand alliance, were no reafons 
 for Great Britain. She neither expected 
 nor defired any thing more than what (he 
 might have obtained by adhering to thofe 
 principles. What hurried our nation then, 
 with Ib much fpirit and ardour, into thofe 
 of the new plan? Your lordfhip will an- 
 fwer this queftion to yourfelf, I believe, 
 by the prejudices .and raflinefs of party; 
 by the influence that the firft fucceffcs of 
 the confederate arms gave to our minifters: 
 and the popularity they gave, if I may 
 lay fo, to the war; by ancient and frefh re- 
 fentments, which the unjuft and violent 
 ufurpations, in (hort the whole conduct of 
 LEWIS the fourteenth, for forty years to- 
 ll 2 gether,
 
 308 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 gether, his haughty treatment of other prin- 
 ces and dates, and even the ftyle of hiscourt, 
 had created; and, to mention no more, by 
 a notion, groundlefs but prevalent, that he 
 was and would be mafter as long as his 
 grandfon was king of Spain, and that there 
 could be no effectual meafure taken, though 
 the grand alliance fuppofed that there might, 
 to prevent a future union of the two monar- 
 chies, as long as a prince of the houfe of 
 Bourbon fat on the Spanifh throne. That 
 fuch a notion Ihould have prevailed, in the 
 jfirft confufion of thoughts which the death 
 and will of CHARLES the fecond produced, 
 among the generality of men, who faw the 
 fleets and armies of France take pofleflion 
 of all the parts of the Spanilh monarchy, is 
 not to be wondered at by thofe that 
 confider how ill the generality of mankind 
 are informed, how incapable they are 
 of judging; and yet how ready to pronounce 
 judgment; in fine, how inconfiderately 
 they follow one another in any popular 
 opinion which the heads of party broach, 
 or to which the firft appearances of things 
 have given occafion. But, even at this time, 
 the councils of England and Holland did 
 not entertain this notion. They acled on 
 quite another, as might be fhewn in many 
 inftances, if any other bcfides that of the 
 j'r grand
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 309 
 
 grand alliance was neceflary. When thefe 
 councils therefore ieemed to entertain this 
 notion afterwards, and acted and took en- 
 gagements to act upon it, we muft con- 
 clude that they had other motives. They 
 could not have thefe ; for they knew, thac 
 as the Spaniards had been driven by the two 
 treaties of partition to give their monarchy 
 to a prince of the houi'e of Bourbon, fo they 
 were driven into the arms of France by the 
 war that we made to force a third upon 
 them. If we acted rightly on the prin- 
 ciples of the grand alliance, they acted 
 rightly on thole of the will: and if we 
 could not avoid making an offenfive war, at 
 the expence of forming and maintaining 
 a vaft confederacy, they could not avoid 
 purchafing the protection and affiftance of 
 France in a defenfive war, and efpecially 
 in the beginning of it, according to what 
 I have fomewhere obferved already, by 
 yielding to the authority and admitting the 
 influence of that court in all the affairs of 
 their government. Our minifters knew 
 therefore, that if any inference was to be 
 drawn from the firft part of this notion, it 
 was for fhortening, not prolonging, the war ; 
 for delivering the Spaniards as foon as pof- 
 fible from habits of union and intimacy with 
 France; not for continuing them under the 
 U 3 fame
 
 310 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let.8, 
 
 fame neceffity, till by length of time thefe 
 habits Ihould be confirmed. As to the lat- 
 ter part of this notion, they knew that it 
 was falfe and fxlly. GARTH the beft na* 
 tured ingenious wild man I ever knew, 
 rnight be in^the right when hefaid, in fome 
 of his poerjls at that time, 
 
 *' An Auftrian prince alone, 
 
 " Is fit to nod upon a Spanifh throne." 
 
 The fetting an Auftrian prince upon it 
 was, no doubt, the fureft expedient to pre- 
 vent an union of the two monarchies of 
 France and Spain ; juft as fetting a prince 
 of the houfe of Bourbon on that throne 
 was the fureft expedient to prevent an union 
 of the imperial and Spanilh crowns. But 
 it was equally falfe to fay, in either cafe, 
 that this was the fole expedient. It would 
 be no paradox, but a propofition eafily 
 proved, to advance, that if thefe unions 
 had been effectually provided againft, the 
 general intereft of Europe would have been 
 Jittle concerned whether PHIUP orCHARLES 
 had nodded at Madrid. It would be like- 
 wife no paradox to fay, that the contin^ 
 gency of uniting France and Spain under 
 the fame prince appeared more remote, 
 about the middle of the laft great war, 
 
 when
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 3 1 1 
 
 when the dethronement of PHILIP in favour 
 of CHARLES was made a condition of peace 
 fine qua non, than the contingency of an 
 union of the Imperial and Spanifh crowns. 
 Nay, I know not whether it would be 
 a paradox to affirm, that the expedient that 
 was taken, and that was always obvious to 
 be taken, of excluding PHILIP and his race 
 from the fucceffion of France, by creating 
 an intereft in all the other princes of the 
 blood, and by confequence a party in 
 France itfelf, for their exclufion, whenever 
 the cafe mould happen, was not in its na- 
 ture more effectual than any that could have 
 been taken : and fome muft have been ta- 
 ken, not only to exclude CHARLES from, 
 the empire whenever the cafe mould hap- 
 pen that happened foon, the death of his 
 brother JOSEPH without ifluc male, but his 
 pofterity likewife in all future vacancies of 
 the imperial throne. The expedient that 
 was taken againft PHILIP at the treaty of 
 Utrecht, they who oppofed the peace at- 
 tempted to ridicule j but fome of them 
 have had occafion fince that time to lee 
 though the cafe has not happened, how ef- 
 fectual it would have been if it had: and 
 he who (hould go about to ridicule it after 
 our experience, would only make himfelf 
 ridiculous. Notwithftanding all this, he, 
 U 4 who
 
 3 13 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8, 
 
 who tranfports himfelf back to that time, 
 jnuft acknowledge, that the confederated 
 powers in general could riot but be of 
 GARTH'S mind, and think it more agreeable 
 to the common intereft of Europe, that a 
 branch of Auitria, than abranchof Bourbon r 
 fhould gather the Spanifti fuccefifion, and 
 that the maritime powers, as they are called 
 impertinently enough with refpect to the 
 fuperiority of Great Britain, might think it 
 was ror their particular intereft to have a 
 prince, dependant for fome time at leart on 
 them, king of Spain, rather than a prince 
 whofe depcndapce, as long as he flood in 
 any, muft be naturally on France. J do not 
 fay, as fome have done, a prince whofe fa- 
 mily was an old ally, rather than a prince 
 whofe family was an old enemy-, becaufs 
 I lay no weight on the gratitude of princes, 
 and am as much perfuaded that an Auftrian 
 king of Spain would have made us returns 
 of that fort in no other proportion than of 
 his want of us, as I am, that PHILIP and his 
 race will make no other returns of the fame 
 fort to France. If this affair had been en- 
 fire, therefore, on the death of the king of 
 SPAIN-, if we had made no partition, nor 
 he any will, the whole monarchy of Spain 
 would have been the prize to be fought tor : 
 find our wifhes, and Inch efforts as we were 
 
 able
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 313 
 
 able to make, in the moft unprovided con- 
 dition imaginable, muft have been on the 
 fide of Auftria. But it was far from being 
 entire. A prince of the houfe of Auftria 
 might have been on thefpot, before the king 
 of SPAIN died, to gather his fucceflion; but 
 inftead of this a prince of the houfe of Bour- 
 bon was there loon afterwards, and took 
 poieflion of the whole monarchy, to which 
 he had been called by the late king's will, 
 and by the voice of the Spaniih nation. 
 The councilsof England and Holland there- 
 fore preferred very wifely, by their engage- 
 ments in the grand alliance, what was more 
 practicable though lefs eligible, to what they 
 deemed more eligible, but law become by 
 the courfe of events, if not abfolutely im- 
 practicable, yet anenterprize of morelength, 
 more difficulty, and greater expence of blood 
 and treafure, than thcfe nations were able to 
 bearj or than they ought to bear, when 
 their fecurity and that of the reft of Europe 
 might be Sufficiently provided for at a 
 cheaper rate. If the confederates could not 
 obtain, by the force of their arms, the ends 
 of the war, laid down in the grand alliance, 
 to what purpofe would it be to ftipulate for 
 more? And if they were able to obtain 
 thefe, it was evident that, whilft they dif- 
 jnembered the Spanifh monarchy, they 
 
 mult
 
 3 1 4 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 muft reduce the power of France. This 
 happened , the Low Countries were con- 
 quered j the French were driven out of 
 Germany and Italy: and LEWIS the four- 
 teenth, who had fo long and fo lately fet 
 mankind at defiance, was reduced to fue 
 for peace. 
 
 IF it had been granted him in one thoufand 
 feven hundred and fix, on what foot muft 
 it have been granted ? The allies had al- 
 ready in their power all the dates that 
 were to compofe the reafonable fatisfa&ion 
 for the emperor. I fay, in their power: 
 becaufe though Naples and Sicily were not 
 actually reduced at that time, yet the ex- 
 pulfion of the French out of Italy, and the 
 difpofition of the people of thofe kingdoms, 
 confidered, it was plain the allies might re- 
 duce them when they pleafed. The con- 
 federate arms were fuperior till then in 
 Spain, and feveral provinces acknowledged 
 CHARLES the third. If the reft had been 
 yielded tohimby treaty, all thatthe new plan 
 required had been obtained. If the French 
 would not yet have abandoned PHILIP, 
 as we had found that the Caftilians would 
 not even when our army was at Madrid, all 
 that the old plan, the plan of the gr?nd al- 
 liance required, had been obtained? but 
 
 ftill
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 315 
 
 ftill France and Spain had giveir nothing to 
 purchafe a peace, and they were in circum- 
 ftances not to expect it without purchafing 
 it. They would have purchafed it, my lord: 
 and France, as well as Spain, would have 
 contributed a larger (hare of the price, ra- 
 ther than continue the war, in her exhaufted 
 ftate. Such a treaty of peace would have 
 been a third treaty of partition indeed, but 
 vaftly preferable to the two former. The 
 great objection to the former was drawn 
 from that confiderable increafe of dominion, 
 which the crown of France, and not a 
 branch of the houfe of Bourbon, acquired 
 by them. I know what may be faid fpeci- 
 oufly enougii to perfuade, that fuch an in- 
 creafe of dominion would not have aug- 
 mented, but would rather have weakened 
 the power of France, and what examples 
 may be drawn from hiftory to countenance 
 fuch an opinion. I know likewife, that the 
 compact figure of France, and the conti- 
 guity of all her provinces, make a very ef- 
 lential part of the force of her monarchy. 
 Had the defigns of CHARLES the eighth, 
 LEWIS the twelfth, FRANCIS the firft, and 
 HEN R Y the fecond, lucceeded, the dorm nions 
 of France would have been more extenfive, 
 and I believe the ftrength of her monarchy 
 would have been lefs. I have fometimes 
 
 thought
 
 316 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. B. 
 
 thought that even the lofs of the battle of 
 St. Quentin, which obliged HENRY the 
 fecond to recall the duke of GUISE with his 
 army out of Italy, was in this refpec"l no 
 unhappy event. But the reafoning which 
 is good, I think, when applied to thofe 
 times, will not hold when applied to ours, 
 and to the cafe I confider here; the ftate 
 of France, the ftate of her neighbours, and 
 the whole conftitution of Europe being fo 
 extremely different. The objection there- 
 fore to the two treaties of partition had a 
 real weight. The power of France, deemed 
 already exorbitant, would have been m- 
 creafed by this accefilon of dominion, in 
 the hands of LEWIS the fourteenth: and the 
 ule he intended to make of it by keeping 
 Italy and Spain in awe, appears in the ar- 
 ticle that gave him the ports on the Tuf- 
 can coaft, and the province of Guipufcoa. 
 This king WILLIAM might, and, 1 queftion 
 not, did lee; but that prince might think 
 too, that for this very reafon LEWIS the 
 fourteenth would adhere, in all events, to 
 the treaty of partition: and that thefe con- 
 fequences were more remote, and would 
 be lefs dangerous, than thofe of making no 
 partition at all. The partition, even the 
 worft that might have been made, by a 
 treaty of peace in one thoufand feven hun- 
 dred
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 317 
 
 dred and fix, would have been the very re- 
 verfe of this. France would have been 
 weakened, aud her enemies ftrengthened, 
 by her conceflions on the fide of the Low 
 Countries, ot Germany, and Savoy. If a 
 prince of her royal family had remained in 
 pofftflion of Spain and the Weft Indies, 
 no advantage would have accrued to her by 
 it, and effectual bars would have been op* 
 pofed to an union of the two monarchies. 
 The houfe of Auftria would have had a rea- 
 fonable fatisf action for that fhadow of right, 
 which a former partition gave her. She 
 had no other after the will of CHARLES the 
 fecond-, and this may be juftly termed a 
 fhladow, fince England, Holland, and France % 
 could confer no real right to the Spanifh 
 fucceflion, nor to any part of it. She had 
 declined acceding to that partition, before 
 France departed from it, and would have 
 preferred the Italian provinces, without 
 Spain and the Weft-Indies, to Spain and 
 the Weft Indies without the Italian pro- 
 vinces. The Italian provinces would have 
 fallen to her (hare by this partition. The 
 particulardemands of England and Holland 
 would have fuffered no difficulty, and thofe 
 that we were obliged by treaty to make for 
 others would have been eafy to adjuft. 
 Wpuld not this have been enough, 
 
 my
 
 318 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 my lord, for the public fecurity, for the 
 common intereft, and for the glory of our 
 arms? To have humbled and reduced, in 
 five campaigns, a power that had difturbed 
 and infulted Europe almoft forty years ; to 
 have reftored, in fo Ihort a time, the ba- 
 lance of power in Europe to a fufficient 
 point of equality, after it had been more 
 than fifty years, that is from the treaty of 
 Weftphalia, in a gradual deviation from this 
 point; in (hort, to have retrieved, in one 
 thouland feven hundred and fix, a game 
 that was become defperate at the beginning 
 of the century. To have done all this be- 
 fore the war had exhaufted our ftrength, 
 was the utmoft fure that any man could 
 defire who intended the public good alone: 
 and no honeft reafon ever was, nor evef 
 will be given, why the war was protracted 
 any longer; why we neither made peace 
 after a Ihort, vigorous, and fuccefsful war, 
 nor put it entirely out of the power of 
 France to continue at any rate a long one. 
 I have faid, and it is true, that this had been 
 entirely out of her power, if we had given 
 greater interruption to the commerce of Old 
 and New Spain, and if we had hindered 
 France from importing annually, from the 
 year one thoufand ieven hundred and two, 
 iuch immenfe treasures as Ihe did import 
 
 by
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 319 
 
 by the fhips (he fent, with the permiflion of 
 Spain, to the South Sea. It has been ad- 
 vanced, and it is a common opinion, that 
 we were reftrained by the jealoufy of the 
 Dutch from making ufe of the liberty given 
 by treaty to them and us, and which, with- 
 out his imperial majefty's leave, fince we 
 entered into the war, we might have taken, 
 of making conquefts in the Spanifh Weft- 
 Indies. Be it fo. But to go to the South 
 Seas, to trade there if we could, to pillage 
 the Weft-Indies without making conquefts 
 if we could not, and, whether we traded 
 or whether we pillaged, to hinder the French 
 from trading there; was a meafure that 
 would have given, one ought to think, no 
 jealoufly to the Dutch, who might, and it is 
 to be fuppofcd would, have taken their pare 
 in thefe expeditions; or if it had given 
 them jealoufy, what could they have re- 
 plied when a Britilh minifter had told them : 
 4 That it little became them to find fault that 
 
 * we traded with, or pillaged the Spaniards 
 
 * in the Weft-Indies to the detriment of 
 4 our common enemy, whilft we connived 
 4 at them who traded with this enemy to 
 
 * his and their great advantage, againft our 
 
 * remonftrances, and in violation of the 
 4 condition upon which we had given the 
 4 firft augmentation of our forces in the 
 
 'Low
 
 320 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. S. 
 
 * Low Countries ? ' We might have pur- 
 fued this meaiure notwithftanding any en- 
 gagement that we took by the treaty with 
 Portugal, if I remember that treaty right: 
 but inttead of this, we wafted our forces, 
 and fquandered millions after millions in 
 fupporting our alliance with this crown, 
 and in purfuing the chimerical project which 
 was made the object of this alliance. I call 
 it chimerical, becaufe it was equally fo, to 
 expect a revolution in favour of CHARLES 
 the third on the (lender authority of luch a 
 trifler as the admiral of Caftile; and, when 
 this failed us, to hope to conquer Spain by 
 the afliltance of the Portuguefe, and the 
 revolt of the Catalans. Yet this was the 
 foundation upon which the new plan of the 
 war was built, and fo many ruinous engage- 
 ments were taken. 
 
 THE particular motives of private men, 
 as well as of princes and ftafes, to protract 
 the war, are partly known, and partly guef- 
 fed, at this time. But whenever that time 
 comes, and I am perfuaded it will 
 come, when their fecret motives, their fe r 
 cret deiigns, and intrigues, can be laid 
 open, I preform- to fay to your lordfhip 
 that the mod confufed fcene of iniquity, 
 and folly, that it is poffible to imagine, 
 
 "will
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 321 
 
 will appear. In the mean while, if your 
 lordfhip confiders only the treaty of barrier, 
 as my lord TOWNSHEND figned it, without, 
 nay in truth, againft orders; for the duke of 
 MARLBOROUGH, though joint plenipoten- 
 tiary, did not: if you connder the famous 
 preliminaries of one thoufand feven hun- 
 dred and nine, which we made a tnock- 
 fhew of ratifying, though we knew that they 
 would not be accepted ; for fo the marquis 
 of TORCY had told the penfionary before 
 he left the Hague, as the faid marquis has 
 afiured me very often fin ce that time: if 
 you enquire into the anecdotes of Gertruy- 
 denberg, and if you conlult other authen- 
 tic papers that are extant, your lordihip will 
 fee the policy of the new plan, I think, in 
 this light. 7 hough we had refufed, before 
 the war began, to enter into engagements 
 for the conqucll of Spain, yet as foon as 
 it began, when the reafon of things was ftill 
 the fame, for the fuccefs of our firft cam- 
 paign cannot be laid to have altered it, we 
 entered into thefe very engagements. By 
 the treaty wherein we took thefe engage- 
 ments firft, Portugal was brought into the 
 grand alliance; that is, fhe confcnted to em- 
 ploy her formidable forces again ft PHILIP, 
 at the expence of England and Holland, 
 provided we would debar ourfelves from 
 X making
 
 322 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 making any acquifitions, and the houfe of 
 Auftria promife, that (he (hould acquire 
 many important places in Spain, and an 
 immenfe extent of country in America. 
 By fuch bargains as this, the whole confe- 
 deracy was formed, and held together. 
 Such means were indeed effeclual to mul- 
 tiply enemies to France and Spain ; but a 
 project fo extenfive and fo difficult as to 
 make many bargains of this kind neceflary, 
 and necefiary for a great number of years, 
 and for a very uncertain event, was a pro- 
 ject into, which, for this very reafon, Eng- 
 land and Holland fhoulci not have entered. 
 It is worthy your obfervation, my lord, that 
 thefe bad bargains would not have been 
 continued, as they were almoft to our im- 
 mediate ruin, if the war had not been pro- 
 traded under the pretended nectrffity of re- 
 ducing the whole Spanifh monarchy to the 
 obedience of the houfe of Auftria. Now, 
 as no other confederate except Portugal was 
 to receive his recompence by any difmem- 
 berment of dominions in Old or New Spain, 
 the engagements we took to conquer this 
 whole monarchy had no vifible necefiary 
 caulc, but the procuring the acctffion of 
 this power, that was already neuter, to the 
 grand alliance. Th's acceffion, as I have 
 laid before, icrved only to make us neglect 
 
 im-
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 323 
 
 immediate and certain advantages, for re- 
 mote and uncertain hopes ; and chufe to at- 
 tempt the conqucft of the Spanifh nation 
 at our own vaft expence, whom we might 
 have ftarved, and by ftarving reduced both 
 the French and them, at their expence. 
 
 I called the necefiity of reducing the 
 whole Spanifh monarchy to the obedience 
 of the houfe of Auftria, a pretended ne- 
 cefiity: and pretended it was, not real, 
 without doubt. But I am apt to think 
 your lordfhip may go further, and find 
 fome reafons to fufpecl:, that the opinion 
 itfelf of this necefiity was not very real, in 
 the minds of thofe who urged it: in the 
 rninds I would fay of the able men among 
 them; for that it was real in fome of our 
 zealous Britifli politicians, I do them the 
 jultice to believe. Your lordfhip may find 
 reafons to fufpect perhaps, that this opinion 
 was let up rather to occafion a diverfion of 
 the forces of France, and to furnim preten- 
 ces for prolonging the war for other ends. 
 
 BEFORE the year one thoufand feven 
 
 hundred and^ten, the war was kept alive 
 
 with alternate fuccefs in Spain i and it may 
 
 X 2 be
 
 324 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 be faid therefore, that the defign of con- 
 quering this kingdom continued, as well as 
 the hopes of fucceeding. But why then 
 did the States General refufe, in one thou- 
 fand feven hundred and nine, to admit an 
 article in the barrier-treaty, by which they 
 would have obliged themfelves to procure 
 the whole Spanifh monarchy to the houfe 
 of Auftria, when that zealous politician 
 my lord TOWNSHEND preffed them to it? 
 If their opinion of the necefiity of carry- 
 ing on the war, till this point could be ob- 
 tained, was real; why did they rifque the 
 immenfe advantages given them with fo 
 much profufe generofity by this treaty, ra- 
 ther than confent to an engagement that was 
 fo conformable to their opinion ? 
 
 AFTER the year one thoufand feven hun- 
 dred and ten, it will not be faid, I prefume, 
 that the war could be fupported in Spain 
 with any profpecl; of advantage on our fide. 
 We had fufficiently experienced how little 
 dependance could be had on the vigour of 
 the Portuguefe; and how firmly the Sp^niih 
 nation in general, the Caftilians in particu- 
 lar, were attached to PHILIP. Our armies 
 had been twice at Madrid, this prince had 
 been twice driven from the capital, his rival 
 had been there, none Itirred in favour of 
 
 the
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 325 
 
 the victorious, all wifhed and acted for the 
 vanquifhed. In (hort, the falfhood of all 
 thofe lures, by which we had been enticed 
 to make war in Spain, had appeared fuffi- 
 ciendy in one thoufand feven hundred and 
 fix ; but was fo grofly evident in one thou- 
 fand feven hundred and ten, that Mr. 
 CRAGGS, who was fent towards the end of 
 that year by Mr. STANHOPE into Eng- 
 land, on commiffions which he executed 
 with much good fenfe, and much ad- 
 drefs, owned to me, that in Mr. STAN- 
 HOPE'S opinion, and he was not apt to de- 
 fpond of iuccefs, efpecially in the execu- 
 tion of his own projects, nothing could be 
 done more in Spain, the general attachment 
 of the people to PHILIP and their aver- 
 fion to CHARLES cpnfidered: that armies 
 of twenty or thirty thoufand men might 
 walk about that country till dooms-day, fo 
 he exprefied himfelf, without effect : that 
 wherever they came, the people would fub- 
 mit to CHARLES the third cut of terror, 
 and, as foon as they were gone, proclaim 
 PHILIP the fifth again out of affection : that 
 to conquer Spain required a great army j 
 and to keep it, a greater. 
 
 WAS it poffible, after this, to think in 
 
 good earnclt of conquering Spain, and 
 
 X 3 could
 
 326 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 could they be in good earneft who conti- 
 nued to hold the fame language, and to 
 infifl on the fame meafures ? Could they 
 be fo in the following year, when the em- 
 peror JOSEPH died ? CHARLES was become 
 then the fole furviving male of the houfe 
 pf Aultria, and fucceeded to the empire as 
 well as to all the hereditary dominions of 
 that family. Could they be in earneft who 
 maintained, even in this conjuncture, that 
 " no peace could be lafe, honourable, or 
 <; lading, fo long as the kingdom of Spain 
 " and the Weft-Indirs remained in the 
 " pofftffion of any branch of the houfe of 
 " Bourbon?" Did they mean that CHARLES 
 fhould be emperor and king of Spain? In, 
 this project they would have had the allies 
 againft them. Did they mean to call the 
 duke of SAVOY to the crown of Spain, or 
 to beftow it on fome other prince? In this 
 project they would have had his Imperial 
 majefty againft them. In either cafe, the 
 confederacy would have been broken: and 
 how then would they have continued the 
 war ? Did they mean nothing, or did they 
 mean fomething more than they owned; 
 fomething more than to reduce the exorbi- 
 tant power of France, and to force the 
 whole Spanifh monarchy out of the houle 
 pf Bourbon ?
 
 Lef. S. and State of EUROPE. 327 
 
 BOTH thefe ends might have been ob- 
 tained at Gertruydenberg. Why were they 
 not obtained? Read the preliminaries of one 
 thoufand 'feven hundred and nine, which 
 were made the foundation of this treaty. 
 Inform yourfelf of what pafied there, and 
 obferve what followed. Your lordfliip will 
 remain aftonilhed. I remain fb every time 
 I reflect upon them, though I faw thefe 
 things at no very great diftance, even whilft 
 they were in tranfaclion ; and though I know 
 moft certainly, that France loft, two years 
 before, by the little fkill and addrefs of her 
 principal* minifter, in anfwering overtures 
 made during the fiege of Lifle by a princi- 
 pal perfon among the allies, fuch an oppor- 
 tunity, and fuch a correfpondence, as would 
 have removed fome of the obftacles that lay 
 now in her way, have prevented others, and 
 have procured her peace. An equivalent 
 for the thirty-feventh article of the preli- 
 minaries, that is, for the cefllon of Spain 
 and the Welt Indies, was the point to be 
 difcufTed at Gertruydenberg. Naples and 
 Sicily, or even Naples and Sardinia would 
 have contented the French, at leaft they 
 would have accepted them as the equiva- 
 lent. BUYS and VANDERDUSSEN, who 
 
 * CH A MILLAR D. 
 
 X 4 treated
 
 328 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. fc. 
 
 treated with them, reported this to the 
 minifters of the allies: and it was upon this 
 occafion that the duke of MARYBOROUGH, 
 as Buys himfelf told me, took immediately 
 the lead, and congratulated the affembly on 
 the near approach of a peace ; faid, that 
 fince the French were in this difpofition, it 
 was time to confidcr what fuither demands 
 fhould be made upon them, according to 
 the liberty obferved in the preliminaries; 
 and exhorted all the minifters of the allies 
 to adjuft their feveral ulterior pretenfions, 
 and to prepare their demands. 
 
 THIS proceeding, and what followed, put 
 me in mind of that of the Romans with the 
 Carthaginians. The former were refolved 
 to confent to no peace till Carthage was 
 laid in ruins. They fet a treaty however 
 on foot, at the requeft of their old enemy, 
 impofed fome terms, and referred them to 
 their generals for the reft. Their generals 
 puriued the fame method, and, by referv- 
 ing ftill a right of making ulterior demands, 
 they reduced the Carthaginians at laft to 
 the neceffity of abandoning their city, or of 
 continuing the war after they had given up 
 their arms, their machines, and their fleet, 
 in hopes of peace. 
 
 FRANCA
 
 Let. 8, and State of EUROPE. 329 
 
 FRANCE faw the fnare, and refolved to 
 run any rifque rather than to be caught in 
 it. We continued to demand, under pre- 
 tence of fecuring the ceffion of Spain and 
 the Weft Indies, that LEWIS the four- 
 teenth fhould take on him to dethrone his 
 grandfon in the fpace of two months ; and, 
 if he did not effecl: it in that time, that we 
 fhould be at liberty to renew the war with- 
 out reftoring the places that were to be put 
 into our hands according to the prelimina- 
 ries ; which were the moft important places 
 France poflefied on the fide of the Low 
 Countries. LEWIS offered to abandon his 
 grandfon ; and, if he could not prevail on 
 him to refign, to furnim money to the allies, 
 who might at the expence of France, 
 force him to evacuate Spain. The propofi- 
 tion made by the allies had an air of inhu- 
 manity : and the reft of mankind might be 
 fhocked to fee the grandfather obliged to 
 make war on his grandfon. But LEWIS 
 the fourteenth had treated mankind with 
 too much inhumanity in his profperous 
 days, to have any reafon to complain even 
 of this propofition. His people indeed, 
 who are apt to have great partiality for 
 their kings, might pity his diftrefs. This 
 happened, and he found his account in it. 
 
 PHILIP
 
 330 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 PHILIP muft have evacuated Spain, I think, 
 notwithstanding his own obftinacy, the fpiric 
 of his queen, and the refolute attachment 
 of the Spaniards, if his grandfather had in- 
 filled, and been in earned to force him. 
 But if this expedient was, as it was, odious, 
 why did we prefer to continue the war 
 againft France and Spain, rather than ac- 
 cept the other ? Why did we neglect the 
 opportunity of reducing, effectually and 
 immediately, the exorbitant power of 
 France, and of rendering the conqueft of 
 Spain pra6ticab!e ? both which might have 
 been brought about, and confequently the 
 avowed ends of the war might have been 
 anfwered, by accepting the expedient that 
 France offered. " France" it was faid, 
 *' was not firicere: (he meant nothing more 
 " than to am ufe, and divide." This reafon 
 was given at the time; but fomeof thofe who 
 gave itthen, I have feen amamed to infift on 
 it fince. France was not in a condition to 
 act the part me had acted in former treaties : 
 and her diftrefs was no bad pledge of her 
 fincerity on this occafion. But there was 
 a better ftill. The flrong places that Ihe 
 muft have put into the hands of the allies, 
 would have expofed her, on the leaft breach 
 of faith, to fee, not her frontier alone, but 
 even the provinces that lie behind it, defo- 
 
 lated:
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 331 
 
 Jated: and prince EUGENE might have 
 had the fatisfaction, it is faid, I know not 
 how truly, he defired, of marching with 
 the torch in his hand to Verfailles. 
 
 YOUR lordfhip will obferve, that the con- 
 ferences at Gertruydenberg ending in the 
 manner they did, the inflexibility of the 
 allies gave new life and fpirit to the French 
 and Spanifli nations, diflreffed and ex- 
 Jiaufted as they were. The troops of the 
 former withdrawn out of Spain, and the 
 Spaniards left to defend themfelves as they 
 could, the Spaniards alone obliged us to 
 retreat from Madrid, and defeated us in 
 our retreat. But your lordfhip may think 
 perhaps, as I do, that if LEWIS the four- 
 teenth had bound himfelf by a folemn trea- 
 ty to abandon his grandfon, had paid a 
 fubfidy to dethrone him, and had con- 
 fented to acknowledge another king of 
 Spain, the Spaniards would not have ex- 
 erted the lame zeal for PHILIP ; the actions 
 of Almenara and Saragofla might have been 
 decifive, and thofe of Brihuegha and Villa 
 Viciofa would not have happened. After 
 all thefe events, how could any reafonable 
 man expect that a war mould be fupported 
 with advantage in Spain, to which the court 
 pf Vienna had contributed nothing from the 
 
 ftrtt,
 
 332 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 firft, fcarce bread to their arch-duke; which 
 Portugal waged faintly and with deficient 
 quotas; and which the Dutch had in a 
 manner renounced, by neglecting to re- 
 cruit their forces? How was CHARLES to 
 be placed on the Spanilh throne, or PHILIP 
 at leaft to be driven out of it ? by the fuc- 
 cefs of the confederate arms in other parts. 
 But what fuccefs fufficient to this purpofe, 
 could we expect ? This queftion may be 
 anfwered beft, by mewing what fuccefs we 
 had. 
 
 PORTUGAL and Savoy did nothing be- 
 fore the death of the emperor JOSEPH; and 
 declared in form, as foon as he was dead, 
 that they would carry on the war no longer 
 to fet the crown of Spain on the head of 
 CHARLES, fince this would be to fight 
 againft the very principle they had fought 
 for. The Rhine was a fcene of inaction. 
 The fole efforts, that were to bring about 
 the great event of dethroning PHILIP, were 
 thofc which the duke of MARLBOROUGH 
 was able to make. He took three towns 
 in one thoufand feven hundred and ten, 
 Aire, Bethune, and St. Venantr and one, 
 Bouchain, in one thoufand feven hundred 
 and eleven. Now this conqueft being in 
 fact the only one the confederates made 
 
 that
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 333 
 
 that year, Bouchain may be faid properly 
 and truly to have coft our nation very near 
 feven millions fterling ; for your lordfhip 
 will find, I believe, that the charge of the 
 war for that year amounted to no lefs. It 
 is true that the duke of MARLBOROUGH had 
 propoted a very great project, by which in- 
 curfions would have been made during the 
 winter into France ; the next campaign 
 might have been opened early on our fide ; 
 and feveral other great and obvious advan- 
 tages might have been obtained ; but the 
 Dutch refuted to contribute, even lefs than 
 their proportion, for the queen had offered 
 to take the deficiency on herfelf, to the ex- 
 pence of barracks and forage; and difap- 
 pointed by their obftinacy the whole defign. 
 
 WE were then amufed with vifionary 
 fchemes of marching our whole army, in a 
 year or two more, and after a town or two 
 more were taken, directly to Paris, or at 
 leaft into the heart of France. But was 
 this fo eafy or fo fure a game? The French 
 expected we would play it. Their generals 
 had vifited the feveral pofts they might 
 take, when our army mould enter France, 
 to retard, to incommode, to diftrels us in 
 our march, and even to make a decifive 
 
 ftand
 
 334 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 (land and to give us battle. I take what I 
 fay here from indifputable authoricy, that 
 of the perfons confulted and employed in 
 preparing for this great diftrefs. Had we 
 been beaten, or had we been forced to re- 
 tire towards our own frontier in the Low 
 Countries, after penetrating into France, 
 the hopes on which we protracted the war 
 would have been dilappointed, and, I think, 
 the moft fanguine would have then repented 
 refuting the offers made at Gertruydenberg. 
 But if we had beaten the French, for it was 
 fcarce lawful in thofe days of our prefump- 
 tion to fuppofe the contrary ; would the 
 whole monarchy of Spain have been our 
 immediate and certain prize ? Suppofe, and 
 I fuppole it on good grounds, my lord, 
 that the French had refolved to defend 
 their country inch by inch, and that LEWIS 
 the fourteenth had determined to retire with 
 his court to Lyons or elfewhere, and to de- 
 fend the pafiage of the Loire, when he 
 could no longer defend that of the Seine, 
 rather than fubmit to the terms impofed on 
 him : what fhould we have clone in this 
 cafe? Muft we not have accepted fuch a 
 peace as we had rcfufed ; or have protracted 
 the war till we had conquered France firft,. 
 in order to conquer Spain afterwards? Did 
 we hope for revolutions in France ? We 
 
 had
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 335 
 
 had hoped for them in Spain: and we 
 fhoukl have been bubbles of our hopes in 
 both. That there was a fpirit railed againft 
 the government of LEWIS the fourteenth, 
 in his court, nay in his famiiy, and that 
 ftrange fchernes of private ambition were 
 formed and forming there, I cannot doubt: 
 and fome effects of this fpirit produced 
 perhaps the greateft mortifications that he 
 fuffered in the latter part of his reign. 
 
 A LIGHT inflance of this fpirit is all I 
 will quote at this time. I fupped, in tiie 
 year one thoufand feven hundred and fif- 
 teen, at a houfe in France, where two* 
 perfons of no fmall figure, who had been 
 in great company that night, arrived very 
 Iate r The converfation turned on the events 
 of the precedent war, and the negociations 
 of the late peace, in the procefs of the con- 
 verfation, one of them -f broke loofe, and 
 faid, directing his difcourfe to me, " Vous 
 " auriez pu nous ecrafer dans ce terns la : 
 " pourquoi ne 1'avez vous pas fait?" I 
 anfvvercd him cooly, " Par ce que dans ce 
 ** terns-la nous n'avons plus craint votre 
 * c puifiance." This anecdote, too trivial for 
 hiftory, may find its place in a letter, and 
 
 * The duke de LA FEUILLADE and MORTEMAR. 
 f LA FEUILLADE. 
 
 may
 
 336 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 may ferve to confirm what I have admitted, 
 that there were perfons even in France, who 
 expected to find their private account in the 
 diftreis of their country. But thefe perfons 
 were a few, men of wild imaginations and 
 ftrong pafiions, more enterprizing than ca- 
 pable, and of more name than credit. In 
 general, the endeavours of LEWIS the four- 
 teenth, and the facrifices he offered to make 
 in order to obtain a peace, had attached 
 his people more than ever to him : and if 
 LEWIS had determined not to go farther 
 than he had offered at Gertruydenberg, in 
 abandoning his grandfon, the French nation 
 would not have abandoned him. 
 
 BUT to refume what I havefaid or hinted 
 already: the neceflary confequences of pro- 
 trading the war in order todethronePHiup, 
 from the year one thoufand feven hundred 
 and eleven inclufively, could be no other 
 than thefe : our defign of penetrating into 
 France might have been defeated, and have 
 become fatal to us by a reverfe of fortune: 
 our firft fuccefs might not have obliged the 
 French to fubmit , and we might have had 
 France to conquer, after we had failed in 
 our firft attempt to conquer Spain, and 
 even in order to proceed to a fecond : the 
 French might have fubmitted, and the 
 
 Spaniards
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 337 
 
 Spaniards not ; and whilft the former had 
 been employed to force the latter, accord- 
 ing to the Icheme of the allies; or whiHt, 
 the latter fubmiiting likewife, PHILIP had 
 evacuated Spain, the high allies might have 
 gone together by the ears about dividing 
 the fpoil, and difpofing of the crown of 
 Spain. To thefe iflues were things brought 
 by protracting the war; by refufing to 
 make peace, on the principles of the grand 
 alliance at worft, in one thoufand leven 
 hundred and fix; and by refufing to grant 
 it, even on thofe of the new plan, in one 
 thoufand feven hundred and ten. Such 
 contingent events as I have mentioned ftood 
 in profpect before us. The end of the war 
 was removed out of fight ; and they, who 
 clamoured rather than argued for the con- 
 tinuation of it, contented themfelves to af- 
 firm, that France was not enough reduced, 
 and that no peace ought to be made as long 
 as a prince of the houfc of Bourbon re- 
 mained on the Spanim throne. When 
 they would think France enough reduced, 
 it was impoflible to guefs. Whether they 
 intended to join the Imperial pnd Spanifh 
 crowns on the head of" CHARLES, who had 
 declared his irrevocable relblution to con- 
 tinue the war till the condition? infiftcd 
 upon at Gertruydenberg were obtained: 
 Y whether
 
 338 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 whether they intended to beftow Spain and 
 the Indies on fome other prince : and how 
 this great alteration in their own plan 
 fhould be effected by common confers: 
 how poficflion fhoukl be given to CHARLES, 
 or to any other prince, not only of Spain 
 but of all the Spanifh dominions out of 
 Kurope, where the attachment to PHILIP 
 was at lead as ftrong as in Caftile, and 
 where it would not be ib eafy, the diftance 
 and extent of thefe dominions confidered^ 
 to oblige the Spaniards to iubmit to another 
 government: Thefe points^ and many 
 more equally necctTary to be determined, 
 and equally difficult to prepare, were nei- 
 ther determined nor prepared; ib that we 
 were reduced to carry on the war, after the 
 death of the emperor JOSEPH, without any 
 pofitive ft hcme agreed to, as thefchcme of 
 the future peace, by the allies. That of the 
 grand alliance we had long before renoun- 
 ced. That of the new plan was become 
 ineligible ; and, if it had been eligible, it 
 would have been impracticable, because of 
 the divifion it would have created among 
 the allies themfclves: feveral of whom 
 would not have confemed, notwithstanding 
 his irrevocable rcfolution, that the empe- 
 ror mould be king of Spain. 1 know 
 pot what part the protractors of the war, 
 
 in
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 339 
 
 in the depth of their policy, intended 
 to take. Our nation had contributed, and 
 acted fo long under the direction of their 
 councils, for the grandeur of the houfe of 
 Auftria, like one of the hereditary king- 
 doms ufurped by that family, that it. is law- 
 ful to think their intention might be to 
 unite the Imperial and Spanifh crowns. 
 But I rather think they had no very deter- 
 minate view, beyond that of continuing 
 the war as long as they could. The late 
 lord OXFORD told me, that my lord So- 
 MERS being prefled, I know not on what 
 occafion nor by whom, on the unneceffary 
 and ruinous continuation of the war ; in- 
 flead of giving reafons to (hew the necef- 
 f.ty of it, contented himfclf to reply, that 
 he had been bred up in a hatred of France. 
 This was a ftrange reply for a wife man : 
 and yet I know not whether he could have 
 given a better then, or whether any of his 
 pupils could give a better now. 
 
 THE whig party in general acquired great 
 and juft popularity, in the reign of our 
 CHARLES the lecond, by the clamour they 
 raifed againft the conduit of that prince in 
 foreign affairs. They who fucceeded to 
 the name rather than the principles of this 
 party, after the revolution, and who have 
 Y 2 had
 
 340 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let, 8. 
 
 had the adminiftration of the government 
 in their hands with very little interruption 
 ever fince, pretending to ad on the fame 
 principle, have run into an extreme as vi- 
 cous and as contrary to all the rules of 
 good policy, as that which their predecef- 
 fors exclaimed againft. The old whigs 
 complained of the inglorious figure we 
 made, whilft our court was the bubble, 
 and our king the penfioner of France-, and 
 infifted that the growing ambition and 
 power of LEWIS the fourteenth fhould be 
 oppofed in time. The modern whigs 
 boafted, and ftill boaft, of the glorious 
 figure we made, whilft we reduced ourfclves, 
 by their councils, and under their adminif- 
 trations, to be the bubbles of our pen- 
 fionere, that is of our allies ; and whilft 
 we meafured our efforts in war, and the 
 continuation of them, without any regard 
 to the intereft and abilities of our own 
 country, without a juft and fober regard, 
 iuch an one as contemplates objecls in their 
 true light and fees them in their true mag- 
 nitude, to the general fyfiem of power in 
 Europe; and, in fhorr, with a principal 
 regard merely to particular interefts at 
 home and abroad. I fay at home and 
 abroad; becaufe it is not leis true, that they 
 have facrificed the .wealth of their coun- 
 try
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 341 
 
 try to the forming and maintaining a party 
 at home, than that they have done fo to 
 the forming and maintaining beyond all 
 pretences of neceflity, alliances abroad. 
 Thefe general affcrtions may be eafily juf- 
 tified without having recourfe to private 
 anecdotes, as your lordmip will find when 
 you confider the whole ieries of our conduct 
 in the two wars; in that which pre- 
 ceded, and that which fucceeded imme- 
 diately the beginning of the prefent centu- 
 ry, but above all the laft of them. In 
 the adminiftrations that preceded the revo- 
 lution, trade had flourifhed, and our na- 
 tion had grown opulent: but the general 
 intereftof Europe had been too much neg- 
 lected by us; and flavery under the um- 
 brage of prerogative, had been well-nigh 
 eftablifhed among us. In thofe that have 
 followed, taxes upon taxes, and debts upon 
 debts have been perpetually accumulated, 
 till a fmall number of families have grown 
 into immenfe wealth, and national beg- 
 gary has been brought upon us; under the 
 fpecious pretences of fupporting a common 
 cauie again ft France, reducing her exor- 
 bitant power, and poifing that of Europe 
 more equally in the public balance: lau- 
 dable defigns no doubt, as far as they were 
 j;e.al, but fuch as, being converted into 
 Y 3 mere
 
 342 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 mere pretences, have been productive of 
 much evil ; fome of which we feel and 
 have long felt, and fome will extend its con- 
 fequences to our lateft pofterity. The 
 reign of prerogative was fhort: and the 
 evils and the dangers, to which we were 
 expofed by it, ended with it But the reign 
 of falfe and fquandering policy has laded 
 long, it lafts ftill, and will finally com- 
 plete our ruin. Beggary has been the con- 
 fequ?nce of flavery in fome countries: flave- 
 ry will be probably the confequence of 
 beggary in ours; and if it is fo, we know 
 at whofe door to lay it. If we had finifhed 
 the war in one thoufand feven hundred and 
 fix, we fhould have reconciled like a wife 
 people, our foreign and our domeftic in- 
 terefts as nearly as pofiible: we (hould 
 have fecured the former fufficiently, and 
 not have facrificed the latter as entirely as 
 we did by the profecution of the war after- 
 wards. You will not be able to fee with- 
 out aftonimmem, how the charge of the 
 war encreafed yearly upon us from the be- 
 ginning of it; nor how immenfe a fum we 
 paid in the courfe of it to fupply the defi- 
 ciencies of our confederates. Your aftonifh- 
 ment, and indignation too, will increafe, 
 when you come to compare theprogrefs that 
 
 was
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 343 
 
 was made from the year one thoufand feven 
 hundred and fix exclufively, with the ex- 
 pence of more than thirty millions, I do not 
 exaggerate though I write upon memory, 
 that this progrels coft us, to the year one 
 thoufand feven hundred and eleven inclu- 
 fively. Upon this view, your lordfhip will 
 he perfuaded that it was high time to take 
 the refolution of making peace, when the 
 queen thought fit to change her miniftry, 
 towards the end of the year one thoufand 
 (even hundred and ten. It was high time 
 indeed to lave our country from abfolute 
 infolvency and bankruptcy, by putting an 
 end to a Icheme of conduct, which the pre- 
 judices of a party, the whimfy of fome par- 
 ticular men, the private imereft of more, 
 and the ambition and avarice of our allies, 
 xvho had been invited as it were to a fcram- 
 ble by the preliminaries of one thoufand fe- 
 ven hundred and nine, alone maintained. 
 Theperfons therefore, who came into power 
 at this time, hearkened, and they did well to 
 hearken, to the firil overtures that were 
 made them. The difpofition of their ene- 
 mies invited them to do fo, but that of 
 their friends, and that of a party at home 
 who had nurfed, and been nurfed by the 
 war, might have deterred them from itj 
 for the difficulties and dangers, to which 
 Y 4 they
 
 344 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 they muft be expofed in carrying forward 
 this great work, could efcape none of them. 
 In a letter to a friend it may be allowed 
 me to fay, thai they did not efcape me: 
 and that I forefaw, as contingent but not 
 improbable events, a good part of what has 
 happened to me fince. Though it was a du- 
 ty therefore that we owed to our country, to 
 deliver her from the neceflity of bearing 
 any longer fo unequal a part in fo unnecef- 
 fary a war, yet was there fome degree of 
 merit in performing it. I think fo flrongly 
 in this manner, I am fo incorrigible, my 
 lord, that if 1 could be placed in the fame 
 circumftances again, I would take the 
 fame resolution, and a<5l the fame part. 
 Age and experience might enable me to 
 act with more ability, and greater fkill - t 
 but all I have fuffered fince the death of 
 the queen mould not hinder me from act- 
 ing. Notwithftanding this, 1 (hall not be 
 furprized if you think that the peace of 
 Utrecht was not anfwerable to the fuccefs 
 of the war, nor to the efforts made in it. 
 I think fo myfelf, and have always owned, 
 even when it was making and made, that I 
 thought fo. Since We had committed a 
 fuccefsful folly, we ought to have reaped 
 more advantage from it than we did: and, 
 whether we had left PHILIP, or placed ano- 
 
 thef
 
 Let- 8. and State of EUROPE. 345 
 
 ther prince on the throne of Spain, we ought 
 to have reduced the power of France, and 
 to have ftrengthened her neighbours, much 
 more than we did. We ought to have re- 
 duced her power for generations to come, 
 and not to have contented ourfelves with a 
 momentary reduction of it. France was 
 txhaufted to a great degree of men and 
 money, and her government had no cre- 
 dit: but they, who took this for a fuffi- 
 cient reduction of her power, looked but 
 a little way before them, and reafoned too 
 fuperficially. Several fuch there were 
 however; for as it has been faid, that there 
 is no extravagancy which fome philofopher 
 or other has not maintained, fo your expe- 
 rience, young as you are, muft have (hewn 
 you, that there is no abfurd extreme, into 
 which our party-politicians of Great Bri- 
 tain are not prone to fall, concerning the 
 ftate and conducl of public affairs. But if 
 France was exhaufted : fo were we, and fo 
 were the Dutch. Famine rendered her con- 
 dition much more miferable than ours, at 
 .one time, in appearance and in reality too. 
 But as fbon as this accident, that had dif- 
 trefied the French and frightened LEWIS 
 fhe fourteenth to the utmolt degree, and 
 the immediate coniequences of it were over; 
 it was obvious to obferve, though few made 
 
 the
 
 346 A Sketch of the His TOR v Let. 8. 
 
 the obfervation, that whilft we were unable 
 to raife in a year, by fame millions at leaft, 
 the expences of the year, the French were 
 willing and able to bear the impofuion of 
 the tenth over and above all the other 
 taxes that had been laid upon them. This 
 obfervation had the weight it deferved ; 
 and fure it deferved to have fome among 
 thofe who made it, at the time fpoken of, 
 and who did not think that the war was to 
 be continued as long as a parliament could 
 be prevailed on to vote money. But fup- 
 pofmg it to have deferved none, fupppfing 
 the power of France to have been reduced 
 as low as you pleafe, with refpect to her in- 
 ward ftate; yet ftill I affirm, that fuch a 
 reduction could not be permanent, and 
 was not therefore fufficient. Whoever 
 knows the nature of her government, the 
 temper of her people, and the natural ad- 
 vantages (he has in commerce over all the 
 nations that furround her, knows that an 
 arbitrary government, and the temper of 
 her people enable her on particular occa- 
 fions to throw off a load of debt much 
 more eafily, and with confequences much 
 lefs to be feared, than any of her neighbours 
 can : that although in the general courfe of 
 things, trade be cramped, and induftry 
 vexed by this arbitrary government, yet 
 
 neither
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 347 
 
 neither one nor the other is oppretfed ; and 
 the temper of the people, and the natural 
 advantages of the country, are fuch, that 
 how great ibever her diftrefs be at any 
 point of time, twenty years of tranquility 
 iuffice to re-e(tabli(h her affairs, and to en- 
 rich her again at the expence of all the na- 
 tions of Europe. If any one doubts of this, 
 let him confider the condition in which this 
 kingdom was left by LEWIS the fourteenth ; 
 the ftrange pranks the late duke of OR- 
 LEANS played, during his regency and ad- 
 miniftration, with the whole lyftem of pub- 
 lic revenue, and private property; and then 
 let him tell himfelf, that the revenues of 
 France, the tenth taken off, exceed all the 
 expences of her government by many mil- 
 lions of livres already, and will exceed them 
 by many more in another year. 
 
 UPON the whole matter, my lord, the 
 low and exhaufted ftate to which France 
 was reduced, by the laft great war, was 
 but a momentary reduction of her power: 
 and whatever real and more lafting reduc- 
 tion the treaty of Utrecht brought about 
 in focne inftances, it was not fufficient. 
 The power of France would not have ap- 
 peared as great as it did, when England 
 and Holland armed themfelves and armed
 
 348 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 all Germany againft her, if ft>e had lain as 
 open to the invasions of her enemies, as 
 her enemies lay to her's. Her inward 
 itrength was great ; but the ftrength of 
 thofe frontiers which LEWIS the fourteenth 
 was almoft forty years in forming, and 
 which the folly of all his neighbours in 
 their turns fufYered him to form, made 
 this ftrength as formidable as it became. 
 The true reduction of the exorbitant power 
 of France, I take no notice of chimerical 
 projects about changing her government, 
 confifted therefore in difarming her fron- 
 tiers, and fortifying the barriers againft 
 her, by the ceffion and demolition of many 
 more places than me yielded up at Utrecht; 
 but not of more than (lie might have been 
 obliged to facrifice to her own immediate 
 relief, and to the future fccurity of her 
 neighbours. That fhe was not obliged to 
 make thefe facrifices, I affirm was owing 
 folely to thole who oppofed the peace : and 
 I am willing to put rny whole credit with 
 your lordfhip, and the whole merits of a 
 caufe that has been fo much contefted, on 
 this iflue. I fay a cauie that has been fo 
 much contefted; for in truth, I think, it is 
 no longer a doubt any where, except in 
 Britilh pamphlets, whether the conduct of 
 thofe who neither declined treating, as was 
 
 done
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 349 
 
 done in one thoufand feven hundred and 
 fix ; nor pretended to treat without a defign 
 of concluding, as was done in one thouland 
 feven hundred and nine and ten, but carried 
 the great work of the peace forward to its 
 coniummation ; or the conduct of thofe 
 who oppofed this work in every ftep of its 
 progrels, faved the power of France from 
 a greater and a fufficient reduction at the 
 treaty of Utrecht.. The very minilters, 
 who were employed in this fatal oppofuion, 
 are obliged to confefs this truth. How 
 fhould they deny it ? Thofe of Vienna may 
 complain that the emperor had not the en- 
 tire Spanifh monarchy, or thofe of Hol- 
 land that the States were not made matters 
 directly and indirectly of the whole Low 
 Countries. But neither they, nor any one 
 elfe that has any fenfe of lhame about him, 
 can deny that the late queen, though me was 
 refolved to retreat becaufefhe was refolvedto 
 finifh the war, yet was to the utmoft degree 
 defirous to treat in a perfect union with her 
 allies, and to procure them ail the reafon- 
 able terms they could expect: and much 
 better than thofe they reduced themfelves 
 to the neceffity of accepting, by endea- 
 vouring to wreft the negotiation out of her 
 iiands. The difunion of the allies gave 
 France the advantages me improved. The 
 
 fole
 
 350 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 fole queftion is, who caufed this difunion ? 
 and that will be eafily decided by every 
 impartial man, who informs himfelf care- 
 fully of the public anecdotes of that time. 
 If the private anecdotes were to be laid open 
 as well as thole, and I think it almoft time 
 they mould, the whole monftrous fcene 
 would appear, and (hock the eye of every 
 honeft man. I do not intend to defcend 
 into many particulars at this time: but 
 whenever 1, or any other perfon as well 
 informed as I, mall defcend into a full de- 
 duction of fuch particulars, it will become 
 undeniably evident, that the rnoft violent 
 oppofition imaginable, carried on by the 
 Germans and the Dutch in league with a 
 party in Britain, began as foon as the firft 
 overtures were made to the queen ; before 
 Jhe had fo much as begun to treat: and 
 was therefore an oppofition not to this or 
 that plan of treaty, but in truth to all 
 treaty; and efpecially to one wherein Great 
 Britain took the lead, or was to have any 
 particular advantage. That the Imperia- 
 lifts meant no treaty, unlefs a preliminary 
 and impracticable conditition of it was to 
 fetthe crown of Spainon the emperor's head, 
 will appear from this; that prince EUGENE, 
 when he came into England, long after 
 the death of JOSEPH and elevation of 
 
 CHARLES,
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 351 
 
 CHARLES, upon an errand moft unworth} 
 of ib great a man, treated always on this 
 fuppofition: and I remember with how 
 much inward impatience I afiifted at con- 
 ferences held with him concerning quotas 
 fur renewing the war in Spain, in the very 
 fame room, at the cockpit, where the 
 queen's minifters had been told in plain 
 terms, a little before, by thofe of other 
 allies, " that their matters would not con- 
 " fent that the Imperial and Spanifh crowns 
 *' mould uniie on the fame head." That 
 the Dutch were not averfc to all treaty, 
 but n.eant none wherein Great Britain was 
 to have any particular advantage, will ap- 
 pear from this; that their minifter declared 
 himfelf ready and authorized to flop the 
 oppofition made to the queen's meafures, 
 by prelenting a memorial, wherein he 
 would declare, " that his matters entered 
 into them, and were refolved not to con* 
 tinue the war for the recovery of Spain, 
 provided the queen would confcnt that 
 ' they mould garrifon Gibraltar and Port 
 * Mahon jointly with us, and (bare equally 
 ' the Alfiento, the South Sea (hip, and 
 ' whatever fhould be granted by the Spa- 
 4 niards to the queen and her fubjedts." 
 That the whigs engaged in this league with 
 foreign powers agamit their country, as 
 
 well
 
 352 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8, 
 
 well as their queen, and with a phrenfy 
 more unaccountable than that which made 
 and maintained the folemn league and co- 
 venant formerly, will appear from this; 
 that their attempts were directed not only 
 to wreft the negociations out of the queen's 
 hands, but to oblige their country to carry 
 on the war, on the fame unequal foot that 
 had coft her already about twenty millions 
 more than (he ought to have contribu ed to 
 it. For they not only continued to abet 
 the emperor, whofe inability to fupply his 
 quota, was confefied ; but the Dutch like- 
 wife, after the States, had refufed to ratify 
 the treaty their minifler figned at London 
 towards the end of the year one thouland 
 leven hundred and eleven, and by which 
 the queen united hcrfclf more cloicly than 
 ever to them ; engaging to purfue the war, to 
 conclude the peace, and to guaranty it, 
 when concluded, jointly with them ; " pro- 
 " vided they would keep the engagements 
 " they had taken with her, and the con- 
 " ditions of proportionate expence under 
 " which our nation had entered into the 
 " war." Upon fuch Ichemes as thefe was 
 the oppofuion to the treaty of Utrecht 
 carried on : and the means employed, and 
 the means projected to be employed, were 
 worthy of fuch fchemes ; open, direct, and 
 
 indecent
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 353 
 
 indecent defiance of legal authority, fecret 
 confpiracies againft the ftate, and bale ma- 
 chinations againft particular men, who had 
 no other crime than that of endeavouring 
 to conclude a war, under the authority of 
 the queen, which a party in the nation en- 
 deavoured to prolong, againft her autho- 
 rity. Had the good policy of concluding 
 the war being doubtful, it was certainly 
 as lawful for thole, who thought it good, 
 to advife it, as it had been for thofe, who 
 thought it bad, to advife the contrary: and 
 the decifion of the fovereign on the throne 
 ought to have terminated the conteft. But 
 he who had judged by the appearances o^ 
 things on one fide, at that time, would have 
 been apt to think, that putting an end to 
 the war, or to Magna Cuarta, was the lame 
 thing , that the queen on the throne had no 
 right to govern independently of her fuc- 
 ceffor ; nor any of her fubjeds a right to 
 adminifter the government under her, tho* 
 called to it by her, except thofe whom fhe 
 had thought fit to lay afide. Extravagant 
 as thefe principles are, no other could juf. 
 tify the conduct held at that time by thofe 
 who oppofed the peace : and as I faid juft 
 now, that the phrenfy of this league was 
 more unaccountable than that of the fo- 
 lemn league and covenant, I might have 
 Z added,
 
 354 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 added, that it was not very many degrees 
 Itfs criminal. Someofthofe, who charged 
 the queen's minifters, after her death, with 
 imaginary treafons, had been guilty during 
 her life of real treafons : and I can com- 
 pare the folly and violence of the fpirit 
 that prevailed at that time, both before 
 the conclufion of the peace, and, under pre- 
 tence of danger to the fucceflion after it, 
 to nothing more nearly than to the folly 
 and violence of the fpirit that feized the 
 tories foon after the acceffion of GEORGE 
 the firft. The later indeed, which was 
 provoked by unjuft and impolitic per- 
 fecution, bro':e out in open rebellion. 
 The former might have done fo, if the 
 queen had lived a little longer. But to 
 return. 
 
 THE obftinate adherence of the Dutch 
 to this league, in oppohtion to the queen, 
 rendered the conferences of Utrecht, when 
 they were opened, no better than mock 
 conferences. Had the men who governed 
 that commonwealth been wife and honeffc 
 enough to unite, at lead then, cordially 
 with the queen, and, fmce they could not 
 hinder a congrefs, to act in concert with 
 her in it; we mould have been ftili in time 
 to maintain a fufficient union among the 
 
 allies.
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 355 
 
 allies, and a fufficient fuperiority over the 
 French. All the fpecific demands that the 
 former made, as well as the Dutch them- 
 felves, either to incumber the negociation, 
 or to have in referve according to the ar- 
 tifice ufually employed on fuch odcafions, 
 certain points from which to depart in the 
 courfe of it with advantage, would not 
 have been obtained : but all the cffential 
 demands, all in particular that were really 
 neceflary to fecure the barriers in the Low 
 Countries and of the four circles againft 
 France, would have been fo. For France 
 muft have continued, in this cafe, rather to 
 fue for peace, than to treat on an equal 
 foot. The firft dauphin, fon of LEWIS 
 the fourteenth, died leveral months before 
 this congrefs began : the fecond dauphin, 
 his grandfon, and the wife and the elded 
 fon of this prince, died foon after it be- 
 gan, of the lame unknown diftemper, and 
 were buried together in the fame grave. 
 Such family misfortunes, following a long 
 feries of national misfortunes, made the old 
 king, though he bore them with much 
 feeming magnanimity, defirous to get ouc 
 of the war at any tolerable rate, that he 
 might not run the rifque of leaving a child 
 of five years old, the prcfent king, engaged 
 in it. The queen did all that was morally 
 Z 2 pomble,
 
 356 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let.8. 
 
 pofiible, except giving up her honour in the 
 negociation, and the intereft of her fub- 
 jeclts in the conditions of peace, to procure 
 this union with the dates general. But all 
 Ihe could do was vain ; and the fame phren- 
 fy, that had hindered the Dutch from im- 
 proving to their, and to the common ad- 
 vantage the public misfortunes of France, 
 hindered them from improving to the fame 
 purpofes the private misfortunes of the 
 houle of Bourbon. They continued to 
 flatter themfelves that they fhould force 
 the queen out of her meafures, by their 
 intrigues with the party in Britain who 
 oppofed thefe meafures, and even raife an 
 infurreclion againft her. But thefe in- 
 trigues, and thofe of prince EUGENE, were 
 known and difappointed; and monfieur 
 BUYS had the mortiBcation to be reproached 
 with them publicly, when he came to take 
 leave of the lords of the council, by the 
 earl of OXFORD ; who entered into many 
 particulars that could not be denied, of 
 the private tranfactions of this fort, to 
 which BUYS had been a party, in coai- 
 nliance with his inftruftions, and, as I be- 
 lieve, much againft his own fenie and in- 
 clinations. As the feafon for raking the 
 field advanced, the league propofed to de- 
 feat the fuccefs of the congrek by the 
 
 events
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 357 
 
 events of the campaign. But inflead of 
 defeating the fuccefs of the congrefs, the 
 events of the campaign ferved only to turn 
 this fnccefs in favour of France. At the 
 beginning of the year, the queen and the 
 States, in concert, might have given the 
 law to friend and foe, with great advan- 
 tage to the former-, and with Juch a detri- 
 ment to the latter, as the caufes of the 
 war rendered juft, the events of it reafon- 
 able, and the objects of it neceflary. At 
 the end of the year, the allies were no 
 longer in a ftate of giving, nor the French 
 of receiving the law-, and the Dutch had 
 recolirfe to the queen's good offices, when 
 they could oppoie and durft infult her no 
 longer. Even then, thefe offices were em- 
 ployed with zeal, and with fome effect for 
 them. 
 
 THUS the war ended, much more fa- 
 vourably to France than (he expected, or 
 they who put an end to it defigncd. The 
 queen would have humbled and weakened 
 this power. The allies who oppofed her 
 would have crufhed it, and have railed ano- 
 ther as exorbitant on the ruins of it. 
 Neither one nor the other fucceeded, and 
 they who meant to ruin the French power 
 Z 3 preierved
 
 358 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 preferved it, by oppofing thofe who meant 
 to reduce it. 
 
 SINCE I have mentioned the events of 
 the year one thouland ieven hundred and 
 twelve, and the deciiive turn they gave to 
 the negotiations in favour of France, give 
 me leave to lay fomething more on this 
 fubjed. You will find that I (hall do fo 
 with much impartiality. The difaftrous 
 events of this campaign in the Low Coun- 
 tries, and the confequences of them, have 
 been imputed to the reparation of the Bri- 
 tifli troops from the army of the allies. 
 The clamour againft this meafure was 
 great at that time, and the prejudices which 
 this clamour railed are great ftill among 
 fome men. But as clamour raifed thefe 
 prejudices, other prejudices gave birth to 
 this clamour: and it is no wonder they 
 mould do fo among perfons bent on conti- 
 nuing the war; fince I own very freely, 
 that when the firft ftcp that led to this fe- 
 paration came to my knowledge, which 
 was not an hour, by the way, before I 
 wrote by the queen's order to the duke of 
 ORMOND, in the very words in which the 
 order was advifed and given, " that he 
 " mould not engage in any fiege, nor ha- 
 " zard a battle, till further order," I was 
 
 fur-
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 359 
 
 furprized and hurt. So much, that if I 
 had had an opportunity of fpeaking in pri- 
 vate to the queen, after I had received 
 monfieur DE TORCY'S lettter to me on the 
 fubjecl:, and before fhe went into the coun- 
 cil, I (hould have fpoken to her, I think, 
 in the firft heat againft it. The truth is, 
 however, that the ftep was juftifiable at 
 that point of time in every refpecl:, and 
 therefore that the confequences are to be 
 charged to the account of thofe who drew 
 them on themfelves, not to the account of 
 the queen, nor of the minifter who advifed 
 her. The ftep was juftifiable to the allies 
 furely, fince the queen took no more upon 
 her, no not fo much by far, in making it, 
 as many of them had done by fufprnding, 
 or endangering, or defeating operations 
 in the heat of the war, when they declined 
 to fend their troops, or delayed the march 
 of them, or neglected the preparations they 
 were obliged to make, on the moft frivo- 
 lous pretences. Your lordfhip will find in 
 the courfe of your enquiries mary particu- 
 lar inttances of what is here pointed out 
 in general. But I cannot help defcending 
 into fome view of thofe that regard the em- 
 peror and the States General, who cried 
 the loudeft and with the moft effect, though 
 they had the leaft reafon,on account of their 
 Z 4 own
 
 360 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 own conducl, to complain of the queen's. 
 With what face could the emperor, for in- 
 fiance, prt-fume to complain of the orders 
 fent to the dnke or" ORMOND? I fay no- 
 thing of his deficiencies, which were fo 
 great, that he had at this very time little 
 more than one regiment that could be faid 
 properly to act againft Prance and Spain at 
 }iis foje charge; as I affirmed to prince 
 EUGENE before the lords of the council, 
 and demonftrated upon paper the next day. 
 I fay nothing of all that preceded the year 
 one thoufand feven hundred and feven, on 
 which I mould have much to fay. But I 
 defire your lordmiponly to conlider, what 
 you will find to have pafied after the fa- 
 mous year one thouland feven hundred and 
 fix. Was it with the queen's approbation, 
 or againft her will, that the emperor made 
 the treaty for the evacuation of Lombar- 
 ciy, and let out fo great a number of 
 French regiments time enough to recruit 
 themfelves at home, to march into Spain, 
 and todeftroy the Britifti forces atAlmanza? 
 Was it with her approbation, or againft 
 her will, thar, inftead of employing all his 
 forces and all his endeavours, to make the 
 greateft defign of the whole war, the en- 
 terprize on Toulon, iucceed, he detached 
 twelve thoufand men to reduce the kingdom 
 . ' :% - ' of
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 361 
 
 of Naples, that muft have fallen of courfe? 
 and that an opportunity of ruining the 
 whole maritime force of France, and of 
 ruining or fubduing her provinces on that 
 fide, was loft, merely by this unnectfiary 
 diverfion, and by the conduct of prince 
 EUGENE, which left no rooai to doubt 
 that he gave occafion to this fatal difap- 
 pointment on purpofe, and in concert with 
 the court of Vienna? 
 
 TURN your eyes, my lord, on the con- 
 duct of the States, and you will find rea- 
 fon to be aftonifhed at the arrogance of the 
 men who governed in them at this time, 
 and who prefumed to exclaim againft a 
 queen of Great Britain, for doing what their 
 deputies had done more than once in that 
 very country, and in the courie of that 
 very war. Jn the year one thoufand feven 
 hundred and twelve, at the latter end of a 
 war, when conferences for treating a peace 
 were opened, when the leaft finitter event 
 in the field would take off from that fupe- 
 riority which the allies had in the congrefs, 
 and when the part fuccefs of the war had al- 
 ready given them as much of this fuprrio- 
 rity as they wanted to obtain a fafe, advan- 
 tageous, honourable, and lading peace, 
 the queen directed her general to fuipend 
 
 till
 
 362 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. g. 
 
 till further order the operations of her 
 troops. In one thoufand feven hundred 
 and three, in the beginning of a war, when 
 fomething was to be rifqued or no fuccefs 
 to be expecled, and when the bad fituation 
 of affairs in Germany and Italy required, in 
 a particular manner, that efforts mould be 
 made in the Low Countries, and that the 
 war mould not languifh there whilft it was 
 unfuccefsful ever) where elie ; the duke of 
 MARLBOROUGH determined to attack the 
 French, but the Dutch deputies would not 
 fuffer their* troops to go on ; defeated his 
 defign in the very moment of it's execution, 
 it I remember well, and gave no other rea- 
 fon for their proceeding than that which is 
 a reafon againft every battle, the poffibility 
 of being beaten. The circumflance of 
 proximity to their frontier was urged, I 
 know, and it was faid, that their provinces 
 would be expofed to the incurfiors of the 
 French if they loft the battle. But befides 
 other aniwers to this vain pretence, it was 
 obvious that they had ventured battles as 
 near home as this would have been fought, 
 and that the way to ren.ove the enemy far- 
 ther off was by aclion, not inaction. Upon 
 the whole matter j the Dutch deputies ftop- 
 ped the progrefs of the confederate army at 
 this time, by exereiling an arbitrary and 
 
 Snde-
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 363 
 
 independent authority over the troops of 
 the States. In one thoufand fcvcn hundred 
 and five, when the fuccels of the preceding 
 campaign fhould have given them an entire 
 confidence in the duke of MARYBOROUGH'S 
 conduct, when returning from the Moieile 
 to the Low Countries he began to make 
 himfelf and the common caufe amends, for 
 the difappointment which pique and jea- 
 loufy in the prince of BADEN, or ufual (loth 
 and negligence in the Germans, had occa- 
 fioned jult before, by forcing the French 
 lines; when he was in the full purfuit of 
 this advantage, and when he was marching 
 to attack an enemy half defeated, and more 
 than half difpirited j nay, when he had made 
 his difpofitions for attacking, and part of 
 his troops had pafied the Dyle the depu- 
 ties of the States once more tied up his 
 hands, took from him an opportunity too 
 fair to be loft-, for thefe, 1 think, were 
 fome of the terms of his complaint: and 
 in fhort the confederacy received an affront 
 at leaft, where we might have obtained a 
 victory. Let this that has been faid ferve as 
 a fpecimen of the independency on the 
 queen, her councils, and her generals, with 
 which thefe powers a6ted in the courfe of 
 the war; who were not afhamed to find 
 fault that the queen, once, and at the lat- 
 ter
 
 364 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 ter end of it, prefumed to fufpend the oper- 
 ation of her troops till farther order. But 
 be it that they forfaw what this farther 
 order would be. They forefaw then, that 
 as foon as Dunkirk fhould be put into the 
 queen's hands, (he would confent to a fuf- 
 penfion of arms for two months, and invite 
 them to do the fame. Neither this fore- 
 fight, nor the ftrong declaration which the 
 bifliop of BRISTOL made by the queen's or- 
 der at Utrecht, and which (hewed them that 
 her resolution was not taken to fubmit to 
 the league into which they had entered 
 againlt her, could prevail on them to make 
 a right ufe of thefe two months, by endea- 
 vouring to renew their union and good un- 
 derftanding with the queen-, though I can 
 fay with the greateft truth, and they could 
 net doubt of it at the time, that (he would 
 have gone more than half way to meet 
 them, and that her minifters would have 
 done their utmofl to bring it abour. Even 
 then we might have refumed the Superiority 
 we began to loie in the congrels; for, the 
 queen and the States uniting, the princi- 
 pal allies would have united with them: 
 and, in this cafe, it would have been fo 
 much the intereft of France to avoid any 
 < hance of feeing the war renewed, that (he 
 muft, and (he would, have made fure of 
 
 peace,
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 365 
 
 peace, during the fufpenfion, on much 
 worfe terms tor herfelf and for Spain, than 
 fhe made it afterwards. But the prudent 
 and fober States continued to aft like fro- 
 ward children, or like men drunk with re- 
 fentment and paflion ; and fuch will the con- 
 duel be of the wile governments in every 
 circumftance, where a fpirit of faction 
 and of private intereft prevails, among 
 thofe who are at the head, over reaibn of 
 ilate. After laying afide all decency in 
 their behaviour towards the queen, they 
 laid afide ail caution for themfelves. They 
 declared " they would carry on the war 
 " without her." Landrecy feemed, in 
 their efteem, of more importance than 
 Dunkirk; and the opportunity of wafting 
 fome French provinces, or of putting the 
 whole event of the war on the decifion of 
 another battle, preferable to the other mea- 
 fure that lay open to them ; that, I mean, 
 of trying in good earnclr, and in an honeft 
 concert with the queen, during the futpen- 
 fion of arms, whether i'uch terms of peace, 
 as ought 10 latisfy them and the other allies 
 might not be impoled on France. 
 
 IF the confederate army had broke into 
 France, the campaign before this, or in 
 any former campaign ; and if the Germans 
 
 and
 
 366 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. $. 
 
 and the Dutch had exercifed then the fame 
 inhumanity, as the French had exercifed 
 in their provinces in former wars ; if they 
 had burnt Verfailles, and even Paris, and 
 if they had difturbed the alhes of the dead 
 princes that repofe at St. Denis, every good 
 man would have felt the horror, that 
 ilich cruelties infpire: no man could have 
 laid that the retaliation was unjuft. But in 
 one thoufand feven hundred and twelve, it 
 was too late, in every refpect, to meditate 
 fuch projects. If the French had been un- 
 prepared to defend their frontier, either for 
 want of means, or in a vain confidence 
 that the peace would be made, as our king 
 CHARLES the fecond was unprepared to 
 defend his coaft at the latter end of his 
 firft war with Holland, the allies might 
 have played a fure game in fatisfying their 
 vengeance on the French, as the Dutch did 
 on us in one thoufand fix hundred and fixty 
 ieven ; and impofmg harder terms on 
 them, than thofe they offered, or would 
 have accepted. But this was not the cafe. 
 The French army was, I believe, more nu- 
 merous than the army of the allies, even 
 before reparation, and certainly in a much 
 better condition than two or three years 
 before, when a deluge of blood was fpilt 
 to diilodge them, for we did no more, at 
 
 Mai-
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 367 
 
 Malplaquet. Would the Germans and 
 the Dutch have found it more eafy to force 
 them at this time, than it was at that ? 
 Would not the French have fought with 
 as much obftinacy to fave Paris, as they 
 did to fave Mons: and, with all the re- 
 gard due to the duke of ORMOND and to 
 prince EUGENE was the abfence of the 
 duke of MARLBOROUGH of no confequence? 
 Turn this affair every way in your thoughts, 
 my lord, and you will find that the Ger- 
 mans and the Dutch had nothing in theirs, 
 but to break, at any rate, and at any rifque, 
 the negociations that were begun, and to 
 reduce Great Britain to the neceffiry of 
 continuing what me had been too long, a 
 province of the confederacy. A province 
 indeed, and not one of the beft treated: 
 fmce the confederates affumed a right of 
 obliging her to keep her pacls with them, 
 and of difpenfing with their obligations to 
 her, of exhaufting her, without rule, or 
 proportion, or mcafure, in the fupport of 
 a war, to which (he alone contributed more 
 than all of them, and in which (he had no 
 longer an immediate intereft nor even any 
 remote intereft that was not common, or, 
 with rcfpeft to her, very dubious; and, 
 after all this, of complaining that the 
 queen prefumed to hearken to overtures 
 
 of
 
 368 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 of peace, and to fee a negociation on 
 foot, whilft their humour and ambition re- 
 quired that the war fhould be prolonged for 
 an indefinite time, and for a purpofe that 
 was either bad or indeterminate. 
 
 THE fufpenfion of arms, that began in 
 the Low Countries, was continued, and ex- 
 tended afterwards by the aft I figned at 
 JE-ontainebleau. The fortune of the war 
 turned at the fame time: and all thofe dif- 
 graces followed, which obliged the Dutch 
 to treat, and to defire the affifiance of the 
 queen, whom they had fet at defiance fo 
 lately. This afliftance they had, as effec- 
 tually as it could be given in the circum- 
 ftances, to which they had reduced them- 
 felves, and the whole alliance: and the 
 peace of Great Britain, Portugal, Savoy, 
 Pruflia, and the States General, was made, 
 without his imperial majefty's concurrence, 
 in the fpring of one ihoufand feven hun- 
 dred and thirteen; as it might have been 
 made, much more advantageoufly for them 
 all, in that of one thoufand feven hundred 
 and twelve. Lefs obftinacy on the part of 
 the States, and perhaps more decifive re- 
 folutions on the part of the queen, would 
 have wound up all thefe divided threads in 
 
 one,
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 369 
 
 one, and have finifhed this great work 
 much fooner and better. I fay, perhaps 
 more decifive refolutions on the part of the 
 queen; becaufej although I think that I 
 fhould have conveyed her orders for fign- 
 ing a treaty of peace with France, before 
 the armies took the field, much more wil- 
 lingly, than I executed them afterwards in 
 figning that of the ceflation of arms; yet I 
 do not prefume to decide, but fhall defire 
 your lordfhip to do fo, on a review of all 
 circumftances, fome of which I (hall juft 
 mention. 
 
 THE league made for protracting the 
 war having oppofed the queen to the ut- 
 moft of their power, and by means of every 
 fort, from the firft appearances of a nego- 
 ciation: the general effect of this violent 
 oppofition, on her and her minifters was, 
 to make them proceed by flower and more 
 cautious fteps : the particular effect of it 
 was, to oblige them to open the eyes of 
 the nation, and to inflame the people with 
 a defire of peace, by (hewing, in the moft 
 public and folemn manner, how unequally 
 we were burdened, and how unfairly we 
 were treated by our allies. The firft gave 
 an air of diffidence and timidity to their 
 conduct, which encouraged the league, and 
 A a gave
 
 370 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8 
 
 gave vigour to the oppofition. The fecond 
 irritated the Dutch particularly; for the 
 emperor and the other allies had the mo- 
 defty at leaft, not to pretend to bear any 
 proportion in the expence of the war ; and 
 thus the two powers, whofe union was the 
 mod efiential, were the moft at variance, 
 and the queen was obliged to act in a cloler 
 concert with her enemy who defirecl peace, 
 than (he would have done if her allies had 
 been lefs obftinately bent to protract the 
 war. 'During thele tranfactions, my lord 
 OXFORD, who had his correfpondencies 
 apart, and a private thread of negociation 
 always in his hands, entertained hopes that 
 PHILIP would be brought to abandon Spain 
 in favour of his father-in-law, and to con 
 tent himfelf with the flates of that prince, 
 the kingdom of Sicily, and the prefervation 
 ,of his right of fucceffion to the crown of 
 France. Whether my lord had any parti- 
 cular reafons for entertaining thefe hopes, 
 befides the general reafons founded on the 
 condition of France, on that of the Bour- 
 bon family, and on the difpofition of 
 LEWIS the fourteenth, I doubt very much. 
 That LEWIS, who fought, and had need 
 of feeking peace, almolt at any rate, and 
 who faw that he could not obtain it, even 
 of the queen, unjefs PHILIP abandoned im- 
 mediately,
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 371 
 
 mediately, the crown of SPAIN, or abandon- 
 ed immediately, by renunciation and a folemn 
 act of exclufion, all pretenfion to that of 
 France; that LEWIS was defirous of the 
 former, I cannot doubt. That PHILIP 
 would have abandoned Spain with the 
 equivalents that have been mentioned, or 
 either of them, I believe likewife; if the 
 prefent king of France had died, when 
 his father, mother, and eldeft brother did: 
 for they all had the fame diftemper. But 
 LEWIS would ufe no violent means to force 
 his grandfon; the queen would not continue 
 the war to force him; PHILIP was too ob- 
 ftinate, and his wife too ambitious, to quit 
 the crown of Spain, when they had dilco- 
 vered our weaknefs, and felt their own 
 ftrength in that country, by their fuccefs 
 in the campaign of one thouiand leven hun- 
 dred and ten: after which my lord STAN- 
 HOPE himfelf was convinced that Spain 
 could not be conquered, nor kept, if it 
 was conquered, without a much greater 
 army, than it was pofilble for us to lend 
 thither. In that fituation it was wild to 
 imagine, as the earl of OXFORD imagined, 
 or pretended to imagine, that they would 
 quit the crown of Spain, for a remote and 
 uncertain profpecl: of fuccceding to that 
 of France, and content themfelves to be, 
 A a 2 in
 
 372 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 in the mean time, princes of very fmall 
 dominions. PHILIP therefore, after ftrug- 
 ling long that he might not be obliged to 
 make his option till ihe fuccefllon of France 
 lay open to him, was obliged to make it, 
 and made it, for Spain. Now this, my 
 lord, was the very crifis of the negociation: 
 and to this point I apply what I laid above 
 of the effect of more decifive refolutions on 
 the part of the queen. It was plain, that if 
 Ihe made the campaign in concert with her 
 allies, me could be no longer miftrefs of the 
 negociations, nor have almolt a chance for 
 conducting them to the iffue fhe propofed. 
 Our ill fuccefs in the field would have ren- 
 dered the French lefs tractable in the con- 
 grefs: our good fuccefs there would have 
 rendered the allies fo. On this principle, 
 the queen fufpended the operations of her 
 troops, and then concluded the ceffation. 
 
 COMPARE now the appearances and effect 
 of this meafure, with the appearances, and 
 erlVct that another meafure would have 
 had. In order to arrive at any peace, it 
 was necciTary to do what the queen did, 
 or to do more: and, in order to arrive at 
 a good one, it was neceflary to be prepared 
 to carry on the war, as well as to make a 
 (hew of itj for (he had the hard talk upon 
 
 her,
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 373 
 
 her, of guarding againft her allies, and her 
 enemies both. But in that ferment, when 
 few men confidered any thing coolly, the 
 conduct of her general, afct-r he took the 
 field, though he covered the allies in the 
 fiegeof Quefnoy, correfponde dill, in appear- 
 ance, with the declarations of carrying on 
 the war vigoroufly that had been made, 
 on feveral occafions, before the campaign 
 opened. It had an air of double dealing; 
 and as fuch it paflfed among thofe, who 
 did not combine in their thoughts all the 
 circumftances of the conjuncture, or who 
 were infatuated with the notional oeceffhy 
 of continuing the war. The clamour could 
 not have been greater, if the quern had 
 figned her peace feparately: and, I think, 
 the appearances might have been explained 
 as favourably in one cafe, as in the ether. 
 From the death of the emperor JOSEPH, ic 
 was neither our intercft, nor the common 
 intereft, well underftood, to fct the crown 
 of Spain on the prefent emperor's head. 
 As foon therefore as PHILIP had made his 
 option, and if (he had taken this refo- 
 lution early, his option would have been 
 fooner made, I prefume that the queen 
 might have declared that (he would noc 
 continue the war an hour longer to procure 
 Spain for his Imperial majetly ; that the 
 A a enae-
 
 374 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 engagements, (he had taken whilft he was 
 archduke, bound her no more; that, by 
 his acceflion to the empire, the very nature 
 of them was altered ; that Ihe took effec- 
 tual meafures to prevent, in any future 
 time, an union of the crowns of France 
 and Spain, and, upon the fame principle, 
 would not confenr, much lefs fight, to 
 bring about an immediate union of the Im- 
 perial and Spanim. crowns; that they, who 
 infifted to protract the war, intended this 
 union; that they could intend nothing elfe, 
 fmce they ventured to break with her, ra- 
 ther than to treat, and were fo eager to 
 put the reafonable fatisfaction, that they 
 might have in every other cafe, without ha- 
 zard, on the uncertain events of war; that 
 fhe would not be impofed on any longer in 
 this manner; and that fhe had ordered her 
 rninifters to fign her treaty with France, on 
 the furrender of Dunkirk into her hands; 
 that fhe pretended not to prefcribe to her 
 allies, but that (he had infifted, in their 
 behalf, on certain conditions, that France 
 was obliged to grant to thole of them, who 
 mould fign their treaties at the fame time 
 as fhe did, or who mould confent to an 
 immediate ceftktion of arms, and during 
 the celTation, treat under her mediation. 
 There had been more franknefs, and more 
 
 dignity
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 375 
 
 dignity in this proceeding, and the effect 
 muft have been more advantageous. France 
 would have granted more for a feparate 
 peace, than for a ceiTation : and the Dutch 
 would have been more influenced by the 
 profpect of one, than of the other; efpe- 
 cially fince this proceeding would have 
 been very different from theirs at Munfter, 
 and at Nimeghen, where they abandon ed 
 their allies, without any other pretence 
 than the particular advantage they found 
 in doing fo. A fuipenfion of the opera* 
 tions of the queen's troops, nay a cefifation 
 of arms between her and France, was noc 
 definitive; and they might, and they did, 
 hope to drag her back under their, and the 
 German yoke. This therefore was noc 
 fufficient to check- their obftinacy, nor to 
 hinder them from making all the unfortu- 
 nate haftethey did make to get themlelves 
 beaten at Denain. But they would poffibly 
 have laid afide their vain hopes, if they 
 had leen the queen's minifters ready to fign 
 her treaty of peace, and thofe of ibme prin- 
 cipal allies ready to fign at the fame time-; 
 in which cafe the mifchief, that followed, 
 had been prevented, and better terms of 
 peace had been obtained for the confede- 
 racy : a prince of the houfe of Bourbon, 
 who could never be king of France, would 
 A- a 4 have
 
 376 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8, 
 
 have fat on the Spanifh throne, inftead of 
 an emperor; the Spanifti fcepter would 
 have been weakened in the hands of one, 
 and the Imperial fcepter would have been 
 ftrengthened in thole of the other: France 
 would have had no opportunity of recover 
 ing from former blows, nor of finifhing a 
 long unfuccefsful war by two fuccefsful 
 campaigns: her ambition, and her power, 
 would have declined with her old king, 
 and under the minority that followed : one 
 of them at lead might have been Ib reduced 
 by the terms of peace, if the defeat of the 
 allies in one thoufand feven hundred and 
 twelve, and the lofs of fo many towns as 
 the French took in hat and the following 
 year, had been prevented, that the other 
 would have been no longer formidable, even 
 fuppofing it to have continued; whereas I 
 fuppofe that the tranquility of Europe is 
 more due, at this time, to want of ambi- 
 tion, than to want of power, on the part 
 of France. But, to carry the companion 
 of thefe two meafures to the end, it may 
 be fuppofed that the Dutch would have 
 taken the fame part, on the queen's de- 
 claring a feparare peace, as they took on 
 her declaring a ceffation. The preparations 
 for the campaign in the Low Countries 
 were made; the Dutch like the other con- 
 federates
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 377 
 
 federates, had a juft confidence in their 
 own troops, and an unjuft contempt for 
 thole of the enemy; they were traniported 
 from their ufual lobriety and caution by the 
 ambitious profpecl: of large acquifitions, 
 which had beea opened artfully to them; 
 the reft of the confederate army was com- 
 pofed of Imperial and German troops: fo 
 that the Dutch, the Imperialifts, and the 
 other Germans, having an intereft to decide 
 which was no longer the intereft of the 
 whole confederacy, they might have united 
 againft the queen in one cafe, as they did 
 in the other ; and the mifchicf that followed 
 to them and the common caufe, might 
 not have been prevented. This might 
 have been the cafe, no doubt. They 
 might have flattered themfelves that they 
 fhould be able to break into France, and 
 to force PHILIP, by the diftrefs brought 
 on his grandfather, to refign the crown of 
 Spain to the emperor, even after Great 
 Britain and Portugal, and Savoy too per- 
 haps, were drawn out of the war; for thefe 
 princes defired as little, as the queen, to 
 iee the Spanifh crown on the emperor's 
 head. But, even in this cafe, though the 
 rwadnefs would have been greater, the effect 
 would not have been worfe. The queen 
 ivould have bfen able to Icrve thefe con* 
 
 federates
 
 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 derates as well by being mediator in the 
 negociations, as they left it in her power to 
 do, by being a party in them: and Great 
 Britain would have had the advantage of 
 being delivered ib much fooner from a bur- 
 den, which whimfical and wicked politics 
 had impofed, and continued upon her till 
 it was become intolerable. Of thefe two 
 meafures, at the time when we might have 
 taken either, there were perfons who 
 thought the laft preferable to the former. 
 But it never came into public debate. In- 
 deed it never could ; too much time hav- 
 ing been loft in waking for the option of 
 PHILIP, and the fufpenfion and ceiFation 
 having been brought before the council ra- 
 ther as a meafure taken, than a matter to be 
 debated. If your lord (hip, or any one 
 elfe, mould judge, that, in fuch circum- 
 ftances as thofe of the confederacy in the 
 beginning of one thoufand feven hundred 
 and twelve, the latter meafure ought to 
 have been taken, and the gordian knot to 
 have been cut, rather than to fuffer a mock 
 treaty to languifh on, with fo much ad- 
 vantage to the French as the difunion of 
 the allies gave them; in fhort, if flowaefs, 
 perplexity, inconfiftency, and indecifion 
 mould be objected, in lome inftances, to 
 the queen's councils at that time-, if it 
 
 fhould
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 379 
 
 mould be faid particularly, that me did 
 not obferve the precife moment when the 
 conduct of the league formed againft her, 
 being expofed to mankind, would have 
 juftified any part me mould have taken 
 (though me declared, foon after the moment 
 was paffcd, that this conduct had let her 
 free from all her engagements) and when 
 (he ought to have taken that of drawing, 
 by one bold mealure, her allies ovic of the 
 war, or herlelf out of the confederacy, be- 
 fore fhe loft her influence on France: if all 
 this mould be objected, yet would the 
 proofs brought to fupport ihefe objections 
 ihevv, that we were better allies than poli- 
 ticians-, that the defire the queen had to 
 treat in concert with her confederates, and 
 the refolution fhe took not to fign without 
 them, made her bear what no crowned head 
 hal ever borne before; and that where 
 me erred, (he erred principally by the pa- 
 tience, the compliance, and the condefcen- 
 fion (he excrcifcd towards them, and to- 
 wards her own fubjects in league with 
 them. Such objections as thefe may lie 
 to the queen's conduct, in the courie of 
 this great affair; as well as objections of 
 human infirmity to that of thofe perfons em- 
 ployed by her in the trsnfactions of it; 
 ironi which neither thofe who preceded, 
 
 nor
 
 380 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. S. 
 
 nor thofe who fucceeded, have, I prefume, 
 been free. But the principles on which 
 they proceeded were honeft, the means 
 they ufed were lawful, and the event they 
 propoied to bring about was juft. Whereas 
 the very foundation of all the oppofition 
 to the peace was laid in injuftice and folly: 
 for what could be more unjuft, than the 
 attempt of the Dutch and the Germans, to 
 force the queen to continue a war for their 
 private intereft and ambition, the difpro- 
 porttonate expence of which opprefied the 
 commerce of her fubjects, and loaded them 
 with debts for ages yet to come ? a war, 
 the object of which was fo changed, that 
 from the year one thoufand feven hundred 
 and eleven, (he made it not only without 
 any engagement, but againft her own, and 
 the common intereft? What could be more 
 foclifh; you will think that I foften the 
 t.rm too much, and you will be in the 
 right to think fo: what could be more 
 foolim, than the attempt of a party in Bri- 
 tain, to protract a war fo ruinous to their 
 country, without any reafon that they durft 
 avow, except that of wreaking the reient- 
 ments of Europe on France, and that of 
 uniting the Imperial andSpanifh crowns on 
 an Auftrian head? one of which was to 
 purchaie revenge at a price too dear-, and 
 
 the
 
 Let. 8.. arid State of EUROPE. 381 
 the other was to expofe the liberties of Eu- 
 rope to new dangers, by the conclufion of 
 a war which had been made to afiert and 
 fecure them. 
 
 I HAVE dwelt the longer on the conduct 
 of thole who promoted, and of thofe who 
 oppofed, the negociations of the peace 
 made at Utrecht, ?nd on the companion 
 of the meafure purfued by the queen with 
 that which me might have purfued, becaufe 
 the great benefit we ought to reap from the 
 ftudy of hiitory, cannot be reaped unlefs 
 we accuftom ourfelves to compare the con- 
 duct of different governments, and differ- 
 ent parties, in the fame conjunctures, and 
 toobferve the meafures they did purlue, and 
 the meafures they might have purfued, 
 with the actual confequences that followed 
 one, and the poflible, or probable conle- 
 quences, that might have followed the 
 other, by this excrcife of the mind, the 
 ftudy of hiftory anticipates, as it were, ex- 
 perience, as I have obferved in one of the 
 firft of thtrfe letters, and prepares us for 
 action. If this coniideration mould not 
 plead a fufficient excufe for my prolixity on 
 this head, I have one more to add that 
 may. A rage of warring pofltffed a party 
 in our nation till the death of the late 
 
 queen :
 
 302 A Sketch of theHisxoRV Let. 8. 
 
 queen: a rage of negociating has poiTe fled 
 the fame party of men, ever fince. You 
 have feen the conlcquences of one : you 
 fee actually thofe of the other. The rage 
 of warring confirmed the beggary of our 
 nation, which began as early as the revolu- 
 tion ; but then it gave, in the laft war, re- 
 putation to our arm?, and our councils 
 too. For though I think, and muft always 
 think, that the principle, on which we 
 acted after departing from that laid down 
 in the grand alliance of one thoufand feven 
 hundred and one, was wrong ; yet muft 
 we confefs that it was purfued wifely, as 
 well as bokily. The rage of negociating 
 has been a chargeable rage likewife, at leaft 
 as chargeable in its proportion. Far from 
 paying our debts, contracted in war, they 
 continue much the fame, after three and 
 twenty years of peace. The taxes that 
 opprcfs our mercantile intereft the moft are 
 ibll in mortgage-, and thofe that opprefs 
 the landed intereft the moft, inftead of be- 
 ing bid on extraordinary occafions, are be- 
 come the ordinary funds for the current 
 fervice of every year. This is grievous, 
 and the more fo to any man, who has the 
 honour of his country, as well as her prof- 
 perity at heart, becauie we have nor, in 
 this cafe, the airy confolation we had in 
 
 the
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 383 
 
 the other. The rage of negociating began 
 twenty years ago, under pretence of con- 
 fummating the treaty of Utrecht: and, 
 from that time to this, our minifters have 
 been in one perpetual maze. They have 
 made themfelves and us, often, objects of 
 averfion to the powers on the continent; 
 and we are become at laft objects of con- 
 tempt, even to the Spaniards. What other 
 effecl: could our abfurd conduft have? 
 What other return has it dtltrved ? We 
 came exhaufted out of long warsj and, in- 
 ftcad of purfuing the meaiures neceflary to 
 give us means and opportunity to repair our 
 itrength and to dminim our burdens, our 
 minifters have acted, from that time to 
 this, like men who fought pretences to 
 keep the nation in the fame exhaufted con- 
 dition, and under the fame load of debt. 
 This may have been their view perhaps; 
 and we could not be furprifed if we heard 
 the fame men declare national poverty ne- 
 ceflary to fupport the prefent government, 
 who havefo frequently declared corruption 
 and a (landing army to be fo. Your good 
 fenfe, my lord, your virtue, and your 
 love of your country, will always deter- 
 mine you to oppofe fuch vile fchemes, and 
 to contribute your utmoft towards the cure 
 pf bcnh theic kinds of rage ; the rage of 
 
 warring 
 
 b
 
 384 A Sketch of the History Let. 8. 
 
 warring, without any proportionable inter- 
 eft of our own, for the ambition of others ; 
 and the rage of negotiating, on every occa- 
 fion, at any rate, without a fufficrent call 
 to it, and without any part of that deci- 
 ding influence which we ought to have. 
 Our nation inhabits an ifland, and is one 
 of the principal nations of Europe; but, 
 to maintain this rank, we muft take the 
 advantages of this fituation, which have 
 been neglected by us for almoft half a cen- 
 tury-, we muft always remember that we 
 are not part of the continent, but we muft 
 never forget that we are neighbours to it. 
 I will conclude, by applying a rule, that 
 HORACE gives for the conduct of an epic 
 or dramatic poem, to the part Great Bri- 
 tain ought to take in the affairs of the con- 
 tinent, if you allow me to transform Bri- 
 tannia into a male divinity, as the verfe 
 requires. 
 
 Nee Deus interfit, nifi dignus vindice 
 nodus Incident., 
 
 If thefe reflections are juft, and I fhould 
 not have offered them to your lordfhip, had 
 they not appeared both juft and important 
 to my beft underftanding, you will think 
 that I have not fpcnt your time unprofitably 
 
 in
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 385 
 
 in making them, and exciting you by them 
 to examine the true intereft of your coun- 
 try relatively to foreign affairs; and to 
 compare it with thofe principles of conduct, 
 that I am perfuaded, have no other foun- 
 dation than party-defigns, prejudices, and 
 habits j the private intereft of fome men 
 and the ignorance and ralhnefs of others. 
 
 MY letter is grown fo long, that I mall 
 fay nothing to your lordfhip, at this time 
 concerning the ftudy of modern hiftory, 
 relatively to the inierefts of your country 
 in domeflic affairs ; and I think there will 
 be no need to do fo at any other. The 
 Hiftory of the rebellion by your great 
 grandfather, and his private memorials, 
 which your lordmip has in manufcript, will 
 guide you furely as far as they go: where 
 they leave you, your lordmip mutt not ex- 
 pect any hiftory , for we have more reafon 
 to make this complaint, " abeft enim hif- 
 " toria literis noftris," than Tully had to 
 put it into the mouth of ATTICUS, in his 
 rirft book of laws. But where hiftory 
 leaves you, it is wanted leafr. the tradi- 
 tions of this century, and of the latter end 
 of the laft, are frefh. Many, who were 
 actors in fome of thefe events, are alive j 
 and .many who have converfed with thofe 
 B b that
 
 386 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 that were aftors in others. The public is in 
 poffefiion of feveral collections and memo- 
 rials, and feveral there are in private hands. 
 You will want no materials to form true 
 notions of tranfacYions fo recent. Even 
 pamphlets, wrote on different fides and on 
 idifferent occafions in our party difputes, 
 and hitlories of no more authority than 
 pamphlets, will help you to come at truth. 
 Read them with fufpicion, my lord, for 
 they deferve to be fufpected : pay no re- 
 gard to the epithets given, nor to the judg- 
 ments paffed ; neglect all declamation, 
 weigh the reafoning and advert to fact. 
 With fuch precautions, even BURNET'S 
 hiftory may be of fome ufe. In a word, 
 your lordfhip will want no help of mine to 
 difcover, by what progreflion the whole 
 conftitution of our country, and even the 
 character of our nation, has been altered : 
 nor how much a worfe ufe, in a national 
 ienfe, though a better in the fenfe of party 
 politicks, the men called Whigs have made 
 of long wars and new fyftems of revenue, 
 fince the revolution ; than the men called 
 Tories made, before it, of long peace, and 
 ftale prerogative. When you look back 
 three or four generations ago, you will lee 
 that the Englifli were a plain, perhaps a 
 rough, but a good-natured hofpitable peo- 
 ple,
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 387 
 
 pie, jealous of their liberties, and able as 
 well as ready to defend them, with their 
 tongues, their pens, and their fwords. The 
 reftoration began to turn hofpitality into 
 luxury, pleafure into debauch, and coun- 
 try peers and country commoners into cour- 
 tiers and men of mode.. But whilft our 
 luxury was young, it was little more than 
 elegance : the debauch of that age was en- 
 livened with wit, and varniflied over with 
 gallantry. The courtiers and the men of 
 mode knew what the conftitution was, 
 refpe&ed it, and often aflerted it. Arts 
 and fciences flouriflied, and, if we grew 
 more trivial, we were not become either 
 grofsly ignorant, or openly profligate. Since 
 the revolution, our kings have been redu- 
 ced indeed to a teeming annual depen- 
 dance on Parliament; but the bufinefs of 
 parliament, which was efteemed in gene- 
 ral a duty before, has been exercifed in gene- 
 ral as a trade fince. The trade of parlia- 
 ment, and the trade of funds, have grown 
 univerfal. Men, who flood forward in the 
 world, have attended to little elfe. The 
 frequency of parliaments, that increafed 
 their importance, and mould have increafed 
 the rcfpecl of them, has taken off from 
 their dignity: and the fpirit that prevailed, 
 whilft the lervice in them was duty, has 
 B b 2 been
 
 388 A Sketch of the HISTORY Let. 8. 
 
 been debafed fince it became a trade. Few 
 know, and fcarce any refpect, the Britifh 
 conftitution : that of the church has been, 
 long fince derided; that of the State as 
 long neglected; and both have been left 
 at the mercy of the men in power, who- 
 ever thofe men were. Thus the Church, 
 at leaft the hierarchy, however facred in 
 it's origin, or wife in it's inftitution, is be- 
 come an ufelefs burden on the State: and 
 the State is become, under ancient and 
 known forms, a new and undefinable mon- 
 fter ; compofed of a king without monar- 
 chical fplendour, a fenate of nobles without 
 ariftocratical independency, and a fenate of 
 commons without democratical freedom. 
 In the mean time, my lord, the very idea 
 of wit, and all that can be called tafte, has 
 been loll among the great; arts and fciences 
 are fcarce alive; luxury has been increafed 
 but not refined ; corruption has been efta- 
 blimed, and is avowed. When govern- 
 ments are worn out, thus it is : the decay 
 appears in every initance. Public and pri- 
 vate virtue, public and private fpirir, ici- 
 ence and wit, decline all together. 
 
 THAT you, my lord, may have a long 
 and glorious fliare in rciloring all thele, 
 and in drawing our government back to 
 
 the
 
 Let. 8. and State of EUROPE. 389 
 
 the true principles of it, I wi(h moft hear- 
 tily. Whatever errors I may have com- 
 mitted in public life, I have always loved 
 my country : whatever faults may be ob- 
 jected to me in private life, I have always 
 loved my friend: whatever ufage I have 
 received from my country, it (hall never 
 make me break with her: whatever ufage 
 I have received from my friends, I never 
 fhall break with one of them, while I 
 think him a friend to my country. Thefe 
 are the fentiments of my heart. I know 
 they are thofe of your lordfhip's: and a 
 communion of fuch fentiments is a tyethat 
 will engage me to be, as long as I live, 
 
 My LORD, 
 
 Your moft faithful fcrvant* 
 
 Bb
 
 [ 39' ] A " 
 PLAN 
 
 FORA 
 
 General Hiftory of EUROPE, 
 LETTER I. 
 
 I SHALL take the liberty of writing 
 to you a little oftener than the three or 
 four times a year, which, you tell me, are 
 all you can allow yourfelf to write to thofe 
 you like beft : and yet I declare to you 
 with great truth, that you never knew me 
 fo bufy in your life, as I am at prefent. 
 You muft not imagine from hence, that I 
 am writing memoirs of myfelf. The fub- 
 ject is too flight to defcend to pofterity, in 
 any other manner, than by that occasional 
 mention which may be made of any little 
 actor in the hiftory of our age. SYLLA, 
 CAESAR, and others of that rank, w re, 
 whilft they lived, at the head of mankind: 
 their ftory was in fome fort the ftory of the 
 B b 4 world,
 
 392 A PLAN for a Let. i. 
 
 world, and as fuch, might very properly be 
 tranfmitted under their names to future ge- 
 nerations. But for thofe who have afted 
 much inferior parts, if they publifti the 
 piece, and call it after their own names, 
 they are impertinent; if they publifti only 
 their own (hare in it, they inform mankind 
 by halves, and neither give much inftruc- 
 tion, nor create much attention. France 
 abounds with writers of this fort, and, I 
 think, we fall into the other extreme. Let 
 me tell you, on this occafion, what has 
 fometimes come into my thoughts. 
 
 THERE is hardly any century in hiftory 
 which began by opening fo great a fcene, 
 as the century wherein we live, and mail 
 I fuppofe, die. Compare it with others, 
 even the moft famous, and you will think 
 fo. I will (ketch the two laft, to help 
 your memory. 
 
 THE lofs of that balance which LAU- 
 RENCE of Medicis had preferved, during 
 his time, in Italy; the expedition of 
 CHARLES the eighth to Naples; the in- 
 trigues of the duke of MILAN, who fpun, 
 with all the refinements of art, that net 
 wherein he was taken at laft himfelf; the 
 fuccefsful dexterity of FERDINAND the Ca- 
 tholic,
 
 Let. i. General Hiftory of EUROPE. 393 
 
 tholic, who built one pillar of the Auftrian 
 greatnefs in Spain, in Italy, and in the 
 Indies-, as the fuccefiion ot the houfe of 
 Burgundy, joined to the Imperial dignity 
 and the hereditary countries, eftabbfhed 
 another in the upper and lower Germany: 
 thefe caufes, and many others, combined 
 to form a very extraordinary conjuncture ; 
 and, by their confequences, to render the 
 fixteenth century fruitful of great events, 
 and of aftonifhing revolutions. 
 
 THE beginning of the feventeenth open- 
 ed ftill a greater and more important fcene. 
 The Spanifh yoke was well-nigh impofed 
 on Italy by the famous triumvirate, TOLEDO 
 at Milan, OSSUNA at Naples, and LA 
 CUEVA at Venice. The diftra&ions of 
 France, as well as the ftate-policy of the 
 queen mother, feduced by Rome, and 
 amufed by Spain; the defpicable character 
 of our JAMES the firft, the ramnefs of the 
 elector Palatine, the bad intelligence of the 
 princes and Hates of the league in Germany, 
 the mercenary temper of JOHN GEORGE of 
 Saxony, and the great qualities of MAXI- 
 MILIAN of Bavaria, raifed FERDINAND the 
 lecond to the Imperial throne ; when, the 
 males of the elder branch of the Auftrian 
 family in Germany being extinguiftied at 
 
 the
 
 394 A PLAN for a Let. i. 
 
 the death of MATTHIAS, nothing was more, 
 definable, nor perhaps more pradicable, 
 than to throw the empire into another houfe. 
 Germany ran the fame rifque as Italy had 
 done: FERDINAND feemed more likely, 
 even than CHARLES the fifth had been, to 
 become abfolute mafter; and, if France 
 had not furnimed the greateft minifter, and 
 the North the greateft captain, of that 
 age, in the fame point of time, Vienna and 
 Madrid would have given the law to the 
 weftern world. 
 
 As the Auftrian fcale funk, that of Bour- 
 bon rofe. The true date of the rife of that 
 power, which has made the kings of France 
 fo confiderable in Europe, goes up as high 
 as CHARLES the feventh, and Liwis the 
 eleventh. The weaknefs of our HENRY 
 the fixth, the loofe conduit of EDWARD 
 the fourth, and perhaps the overfights of 
 HENRY the feventh, helped very much to 
 knit that monarchy together, as well as to 
 enlarge if. Advantage might have been 
 taken of the divifions which religion occa- 
 fioned ; and lupporting the proteitanc party 
 in FVance would have kept that crown 
 under reftraints, and under inabilities, in 
 iome meafure equal to thofe which were 
 occafioned anciently -by the vaft alienations 
 
 of
 
 Let. i. General Hiftory of EUROPE. 395 
 
 of its demefnes, and by the exorbitant 
 power of itsvaffals. But JAMES the firft 
 was incapable of thinking with fenfe, or 
 acting with fpirit. CHARLES the firft had 
 an imperfect glympfe of his true intereft, 
 but his uxorious temper, and the extrava- 
 gancy of that madman BUCKINGHAM, gave 
 RICHELIEU time to finifli a great part of 
 his project: and the miferies, that followed 
 in England, gave MAZARINE time and op- 
 portunity to complete the fyftem. The laft 
 great act of this cardinal's adminiftration 
 was the Pyrenean treaty. 
 
 HERE I would begin, by reprefenting 
 the face of Europe fuch as it was at that 
 epocha, the interefts and the conduct of 
 England, France, Spain, Holland, and 
 the empire. A fummary recapitulation 
 fhould follow of all the fteps taken by 
 France, during more than twenty years, to 
 arrive at the great object fhe had propofed 
 to herfelf in making this treaty: the mod 
 folemn article of which the minifter, who 
 negociated it, defigned mould be violated; 
 as appears by his letters, wrote from the 
 Ifland of Pheafants, if I miflake not. After 
 this, another draught of Europe fliould 
 have its place according to the relations, 
 which the fcveral powers ftood in, one to- 
 wards
 
 396 A PLAN for a Let. i. 
 
 wards another, in one thoufand fix hun- 
 dred and eighty eight: and the alterations 
 which the revolution in England made in 
 the politicks of Europe. A fummary ac- 
 count mould follow of the events of the 
 war that ended in one thoufand fix hun- 
 dred and ninety feven, with the different 
 views of king WILLIAM the third, and 
 LEWIS the fourteenth, in making the peace 
 of Ryfwic; which matter has been much 
 canvafied, and is little underftood. Then 
 the difpofitions made by the partition-trea- 
 ties, and the influences and confequences 
 of thefe treaties; and a third draught of the 
 ftate of Europe at the death of CHARLES 
 the fecond of Spain. All this would make 
 the fubjeftof one or two books, and would 
 be the mod proper introduction imaginable 
 to an hiftory of that war with which 
 our century began, and of the peace which 
 followed. 
 
 THIS war, forefeen for above half acen- 
 tiry, had been, during all that time, the 
 great and conftant object of the councils of 
 Europe. The prize to be contended for 
 was the richeft that ever had been ftaked, 
 fince thofe of the Perfian and Roman em- 
 pires. The union of two powers, which 
 Separately, and in oppofition, had aimed 
 
 at
 
 Let. i. General Hiftory of EUROPE. 397 
 
 at univcrfal monarchy, was apprehended. 
 The confederates therefore engaged in it, 
 to maintain a balance between the two 
 houfes of Auftria and Bourbon, in order 
 to preferve their fecurity, and to aflert their 
 independance. But with the fuccefs of the 
 war they changed their views: and, if 
 ambition began it on the fide of France, 
 ambition continued it on the other. The 
 battles, the fieges, the furprifing revolu- 
 tions, which happened in the courfe of this 
 war, are not to be paralleled in any pe- 
 riod of the fame compafs. The motives, 
 and the meafures, by which it was pro- 
 tracted, the true reafons why it ended in a 
 manner, which appeared not proporti- 
 onable to its fuccefs; and the new political 
 ftate into which Europe was thrown by 
 the treaties of Utrecht and Baden, are fub- 
 je<5ts on which few perfons have the necef- 
 fary informations, and yet every one fpeaks 
 with aflurance, and even with paflion. I 
 think I could fpeak on them with fome 
 knowledge, and with as much indifference 
 as POLYBIUS does of the negociations of 
 his father LYCORTAS, even in thofe points 
 where 1 was myfelf an actor. 
 
 I WILL even confefs to you, that I (hould 
 not dcfpair of performing this part better 
 
 than
 
 398 A PLAN for a Let i. 
 
 than the former. There is nothing in my 
 opinion fo hard to execute, as thofe poli- 
 tical maps, if you will allow me fuch an 
 expreflion, and thofe fyftems of hints, ra- 
 ther than relations of events, which are 
 nccefiary to conned: and explain them; and 
 which muft be Ib concife, and yet fo full; 
 fo complicate, and yet fo clear. I know 
 nothing of this fort well done by the an- 
 cients. SALLUST'S introduction, as well as 
 .that of THUCYDIDES, might ferve almoft 
 for any other piece of the Roman or Greek 
 ftory, as well as for thofe which thefe two 
 great authors chofe. POLYBIUS does not 
 come up, in his introduction, to this idea 
 neither. Among the moderns, the firft 
 book of MACHJAVEL'S Hiftory of Florence 
 is a noble original of this kind : and perhaps 
 father PAUL'S Hiftory of Benefices is, in the 
 fame kind of compofition, inimitable. 
 
 THESE are a few of thofe thoughts, which 
 come into my mind when 1 confider how 
 incumbent it is on every man, that he 
 fhould be able to give an account even of 
 his leifure; and in the midft of folitude, be 
 of fome ufe to lociety. 
 
 I KNOW not whether I mall have courage 
 
 enough to undertake the tafk I have 
 
 V'C' chalked
 
 Let. i. General Hiftory of EUROPE. 399 
 
 chalked out: I diftruft my abilities with 
 reafon, and I (hall want feveral informa- 
 tions, not eafy, I doubt, for me to obtain. 
 But, in all events, it will not be poflible 
 for me to go about it this year ; the rea- 
 fon s of which would be long enough to fill 
 another letter, and I doubt that you will 
 think this grown too bulky already. 
 
 Adieu.
 
 OF THE 
 
 TRUE USE 
 
 O F 
 
 RETIREMENT and STUDY: 
 
 To the Right Honourable 
 
 LORD B ATHURST. 
 LETTER II. 
 
 SINCE my laft to your lordfhip, this 
 is the firft favourable opportunity I 
 have had of keeping the promife I made 
 you. I will avoid prolixity, as much as I 
 can, in the firft draught of my thoughts -, 
 but I mufl give you them as they rile in 
 my mind, without ftaying to marfhal them 
 in clofe order. 
 
 As profid as we are of human reafon, 
 nothing can be more abfurd than the gene- 
 ral fyftem of human life, and human 
 knowledge. This faculty or diftinguifhing 
 true from falfe, right from wrong, and what 
 ^Cc is
 
 402 Of the true Ufe of Let. 2. 
 
 is agreeable, from uat is repugnant, to na- 
 ture, either by one act, or by a longer pro- 
 cefs of intuition, has not been given with fo 
 fparing a hand, as many appearances would 
 make us apt to believe. If it was cultivated, 
 therefore, as early, and as carefully as it 
 might be, and if the exercife of it was left 
 generally as free as it ought to be, our 
 common notions and opinions would be 
 more confonant to truth than they are: and, 
 truth being but one, they would be more 
 uniforrn likewife. 
 
 BUT this rightful miftrefs of human life 
 and knowledge, whofe proper office it is 
 ro prefide over both, and to direct us in 
 the conduct of one, and the purfuit of the 
 other, becomes degraded in the intellectual 
 ceconomy. She is reduced to a mean and 
 fervile ftate, to the vile drudgery of con- 
 niving at principles, defending opinions, 
 and confirming habits, that are none of 
 hers. They, who do her moft honour, 
 who confult her ofteneft, and obey her too 
 very often, are ibil guilty of limiting her 
 authority according to maxims, and rules, 
 and fchemes, that chance, or ignorance^ 
 or intereft, firft devifed, and that cuftom 
 fanctifies : cuftom, that refult of the paf~ 
 jfipns and prejudices of many, and of the
 
 Let. 2. RETIREMENT and STUDY, 403 
 
 defigns of a few : that ape of reafon, who 
 ufurps her fear, exrrcifes her power, and is 
 obeyed by mankind in her (lead. Men 
 find it eafy, and government makes it pro- 
 fitable to concur in eftablilhed fyftems of 
 fpeculation and practice: and the whole 
 turn of education prepares them to live 
 upon credit all their lives. Much pains 
 are taken, and time beftowed, to teach us 
 what to think; but little or none of either, 
 to inftruct us how to think. The maga- 
 zine of the memory is ftored and fluffed 
 betimes: but the conduct of the under- 
 ftanding is all along neglected, and the 
 free exercife of it is, in effect, forbid in 
 all places, and in terms in fome. 
 
 THERE is a llrange diftruft of human 
 reafon in every human inftitution : this dif- 
 truft is fo apparent, that an habitual fub- 
 miflion to fome authority, or other, is 
 forming in us from our cradles: that prin- 
 ciples of reafoning, and matters of fact, 
 are inculcated in our tender minds, before 
 \ve are able to exprefs that reafon, and 
 that, when we are able to exercife it, we are 
 either forbid, or frightened from doing fo, 
 even on things ihat are thcmfelve> the 
 proper objects of reafon, pr that are dcli- 
 Cc 2 vered
 
 404 Of the true Ufe of Let- 2. 
 
 vered to us upon an authority whofe Effi- 
 ciency or infufficiency is fo moft evidently. 
 
 ON many fubjecls, fuch as th? general 
 laws of natural religion, and the general 
 rules of fociety and good policy, men of 
 all countries and languages, who cultivate 
 their reafon, judge alike. 1 he iume pre- 
 mifes have kd them to the fame conclu- 
 fions, 'and fo, following the iame guide, 
 they have trod in the lame path: at leafr, 
 the differences are fmall, eafiiy reconciled, 
 and luch as could not of themfelves, con- 
 tradiftinguifh nation from nation, religion 
 from religion, and f 61 from feel. How 
 comes it then, that there are other points, 
 on which the moft oppofite opinions are 
 entertained, and fome of thele with fo 
 much heat, and fury, that the men on one 
 fide of the hedge will die for the affirma- 
 tive, and the men on the other for the ne- 
 gative? " Toute opinion eft aflez forte 
 " pour fe faire epouier au prix de la vie," 
 fays MONTAGNE, whom 1 often quote, as 
 I do SENECA, rather for the Imartnels of ex- 
 prefiion, than the weightornewnelsof matter. 
 Look narrowly into it, and you will find 
 that the points agreed on, and the points 
 difputed, are not proportionable to the 
 
 common
 
 Let 2. RETIREMENT and STUDY. 405 
 
 common fenfe and general reafon of man- 
 kind. Nature and truth are the fame every 
 where, and reafon (hews them every wh'rre 
 alike. But the accidental and other caufes, 
 which give rife and growth to opinions, 
 both in fpeculation and practice, are of in- 
 finite variety ; and where'ever thefe opi- 
 nions are once confirmed by cuftom and 
 propagated by education, various, incon- 
 fiftent, contradictory as they are, they all 
 pretend (and all their pretences are backed 
 by pride, by pafiion, and by intereft) to 
 have reafon, or revelation, or both, on 
 their fide; though neither reafon or revela- 
 tion can be poflibly on the fide of more 
 than one, and may be poflibly on the fide of 
 none. 
 
 THUS it happens that the people of Tibet 
 are Tartars and idolaters, that they are 
 Turks and Mahometans at Conftantinople. 
 Italians and Papifts at Rome ; and how 
 much foever education may be lefs con- 
 fined, and the means of knowledge more 
 attainable, in France and our own country, 
 yet thus it happens in great meafure that 
 Frenchmen and Roman Catholics are bred 
 at Paris, and Engliihmen and Proteftants 
 at London. For men, indeed, properly 
 fpeaking, are bred no where : every one 
 C c 3 thinks
 
 406 Of the true Ufe of Let, 2. 
 
 thinks the fyftem, as he fpeaks the lan- 
 guage, of his country, at lealt there are 
 tew that think, and none that act, in any 
 country according to the dictates of pure 
 unbiased reafon ; unlefs they may re fair] to 
 do ib, when reafon directs them to Ipeak 
 and act according to the fyftem of their 
 country, or fed, at the fame time as fhe 
 leads them to think according to that of 
 nature and truth. 
 
 THUS the far greateft pa r t of mankind 
 appears reduced to a lower Hate than other 
 animals, in that very refpect, on account 
 of which we claim fo great fuperiority over 
 them-, becauie inftinct, that has its due ef- 
 fect, is preferable to reafon that has not. 
 I fuppofe in this place, with phiioiophers, 
 and the vulgar, that which I am in no wife 
 ready to affirm, that other animals have no 
 fhare of human reaion : for, let me fay by 
 the way, it is much more likely other ani- 
 mals mould fhare the human, which is de- 
 nied, than that man mould mare the di- 
 vine reafon, which is affirmed. But, fup- 
 pofing our monopoly of reafon, would not 
 your lordfhip chuie to walk upon four legs, 
 to wear a long tail, and to be called a beaft, 
 with the advantage of being determined by 
 irrefiftible and unerring inftinct to thole 
 
 truths 

 
 Let.2. RETIREMENT and STUDY. 407 
 
 truths that are neceflary to your well-being ; 
 rather than to walk on two legs, to wear 
 no tail, and to be honoured with the tide 
 of man, at the expence of deviating from 
 them perpetually ? Inftinct acts fponta- 
 neoufly whenever it's action is neceflary, 
 and dire<5ls the animal according to the pur- 
 pofe for which it was implanted in him. 
 Reafon is a nobler and more extenfive fa- 
 culty j for it extends to the unneccflary as 
 well as neceffary, and tofatisfy ourcuriofity 
 as well as our wants : but reafon mud be 
 excited, or (he will conduct us wrong, and 
 carry us farther aftray from her own pre- 
 cincts than we fhould go without her hejp: 
 in the firft cafe, we have no fufBcient guide: 
 and in the fecond, the more we employ our 
 reafon, the more unreafonable we are. 
 
 Now if all this be fo, if reafon has fo 
 little, and ignorance, pafiion, intereft, and 
 cuftom fo much to do, in forming our 
 opinions and our habits, and in directing 
 the whole conduct of human life , is it not 
 a thing defireable by every thinking man, 
 to have the opportunity, indulged to fo 
 few by the courfe of accidents, the oppor- 
 tunity " fecum efie, et fecum vivere," of 
 living fome years at leaft to ourfelves, and 
 C c 4 for
 
 408 Of the true Ufe of Let. 2. 
 
 for ourfelves, in a ftate of freedom, un-' 
 der the laws of reafon, initead of pafling 
 our whole time in a ftate of vaffalage un- 
 der thofe of authority and cuftom ? Is it 
 not worth our while to contemplate our- 
 felves, and others, and all the things of 
 this world, once before we leave them, 
 through the medium of pure, and, if I may 
 fay fo, of undefiled reafon ? Is it not worth 
 our while to approve or condemn, on our 
 own authority, what we receive in the be- 
 ginning of lifeontheauthority of other men, 
 who were not then better able to judge for 
 us, than we are now to judge for ourfelves ? 
 
 THAT this may be done, and has been 
 done to fome degree, by men who remain- 
 ed much more mingled than I defign to be 
 for the future, in the company and bufi- 
 nefs of the world, I lhall not deny : but 
 ilill it is better done in retreat, and with 
 greater eafe and pleafure. Whilft we re- 
 main in the world, we are ail fettered 
 down, more or lefs, to one common level, 
 and have neither all the leifure, nor all the 
 means and advantages to foar above it, 
 which we may procure to ourfelves, by 
 breaking thefe fetters, in retreat. To talk 
 of abftracling ourfelves from matter, lay- 
 ing afide body, and being refolvcd, as it 
 .. ^ were,
 
 Let. 2. RETIREMENT and STUDY. 409 
 
 were, into pure intellect, is proud, meta- 
 phyfical, unmeaning jargon: but to ab- 
 itract ourfelves from the prejudices, and 
 habits, and pleafures, and bufmefs of the 
 world, is no more than many are, though all 
 are not, capable of doing. They who can. 
 do this, may elevate their fouls in retreat 
 to an higher ftation, and may take from 
 thence fuch a view of the world, as the fe- 
 cond SCIPIO took in his dream, from the 
 feats of the blefled, when the whole earth 
 appeared fo little to him, that he could 
 fcarce difcern that fpeck of dirt, the Ro- 
 man empire. Such a view as this will 
 encreafe our knowledge by mewing us our 
 ignorance-, will diftinguim every degree of 
 probability from the loweft to the high- 
 eft, and mark the diftance between that 
 and certainty, will difpel the intoxicating 
 fumes of philofophical prefumption, and 
 teach us to eftablifh our peace of mind, 
 where alone it can reft fecurely, in refig- 
 nation: in fhort, fuch a view will render 
 life more agreeable, and death lefs terrible. 
 Is not this bufmefs, my lord? Is not this 
 pleafure too, the higheft pleafure ? The 
 world can afford us none fuch; we muft re- 
 tire from the world to tafte it with a full 
 guft; but we (hall tafte it the better for 
 having been in the world. The {hare of 
 
 fenfual
 
 4io Of the true Ufe of Let. 2. 
 
 fenfual pleafures, that a man of my age 
 can promife himfelf, is hardly worth atten- 
 tion : he mould be fated, he will be foon 
 difabledi and very little reflexion lurely 
 will fuffice, to make his habits of this kind 
 lofe their power over him, in proportion 
 at leait as his power of indulging then' di- 
 minimes. Befides, your lordfliip knows 
 that my fcheme of retirement excludes none 
 of thefe plealures that can be taken with 
 decency and conveniency, and to fay the 
 truth, I believe that I allow myfelf more 
 in fpeculation, than I fhall find I want in 
 practice. As to the habits of bufinefs, 
 they can have no hold on one who has been 
 io long tired with it. You may object, 
 that though a man has difcarded thefe habits, 
 and has not even the embers of ambition 
 about him to revive them, yet he cannot 
 renounce all public bufinefs as abfolutely 
 as I feem to do-, becaule a better principle, 
 a principle of duty, may fummon him to 
 the fervice of his country. I will anfwer 
 you with great lincerhy. No man has 
 higher notions of this duty than I have, 
 I think that fcarce any age, or circum- 
 flances can difcharge us entirely frctn it; 
 no, not my own. " But as we are apt to 
 take the impulfe of our own pafnons, for 
 a call to the performance of this duty , fo 
 
 vvhen
 
 Let. 2. RETIREMENT and STUDY. 411 
 
 when thefe pafllons impel us no longer, 
 the call that puts us upon a<5bion muft be 
 real, and loud too. Add to this, that 
 there are different methods, proportioned 
 to different circumftances and fituations, 
 of performing the fame duty. In the 
 midft of retreat, wherever it may be 
 fixed, I may contribute to defend and pre- 
 ferve the Britifh conftitution of govern- 
 ment: and you, my lord, may depend 
 upon me, that whenever I can, I will. 
 Should any one afk you, in this cafe, from 
 whom I expect my reward? Anfwer him 
 by declaring to whom I pay this fervice; 
 ' Deo immortali, qui me non accipere 
 " modo hasc a majoribus voluit, fed etiani 
 " pofteris prodere." 
 
 BUT, to lead the life I propofe with fa- 
 tisfa&ion and profit, renouncing the plea- 
 fnres and bufinefs of the world, and break- 
 ing the habits of both, is not fufficient: 
 the fupine creature whole understanding is 
 fuperficially employed, through life, about 
 a few general notions, and is never bent to 
 a clofe and fteady purfuit of truth, may 
 renounce the pleafures and bufinefs of the 
 world, for even in the bufinefs of the 
 world we fee fuch creatures often employed, 
 and may break the habits; nay he may re- 
 
 ' tire
 
 412 Of the true Ufe of Let. 2. 
 
 tire and drone away life in folitude, like a 
 monk, or like him over the door of whofe 
 houfe, as if his houfe had been his tomb, 
 fomebody wrote, " Here lies foch an one.'* 
 But no fuch man will be able to make the 
 true ufe of retirement. The employment 
 of his mind, that would have been agree- 
 able and eafy if he had accuftomed himfelf 
 to it early, will be unpleafant and imprac- 
 ticable late: fuch men lofe their intellectual 
 powers for the want of exerting them, and, 
 having trifled away youth, arc reduced to 
 the necefiity of trifling away age. It fares 
 with the mind juft as it does with the body. 
 He who was born with a texture of brain 
 as ftrong as that of NEWTON, may become 
 unable to perform the common rules of 
 arithmetic : juft as he who has the fame 
 elafticity in his mufcles, the lame fupple- 
 nefs in his joints, and all his nerves and 
 finews as well braced as JACOB HALL, may 
 become a fat unwieldy fluggard. Yet far- 
 ther, the implicit creature, who has thought 
 it all his life needlefs, or unlawful, to exa- 
 mine the principles or facts that he took 
 originally on truft, will be as little able as 
 the other, to improve his folitude to any 
 good purpofe : unlcfs we call it a good pur- 
 pofe, for that fomctimes happens, to con- 
 firm and exalt his prejudices, fo that 
 
 he
 
 Let. 2. RETIREMENT and STUDY. 413 
 
 he may live and die in one continued deli- 
 rium. The confirmed prejudices of a 
 thoughtful life are as hard to change as the 
 confirmed habits of an indolent life: and 
 as fome muft trifle away age becaufe they 
 have trifled away youth, others muft labour 
 on in a maze of error, becaufe they have 
 wandered there too long to find their way 
 out. 
 
 THERE is a prejudice in China in favour 
 of little feet, and therefore the feet of girls 
 are fwathed and bound up from the cradle, 
 fo that the women of that country are un- 
 able to walk without tottering and Humb- 
 ling all their lives. Among the favages of 
 America, there are fome who hold flat 
 heads and long ears in great efteem, and 
 therefore prefs the one, and draw down 
 the others fo hard from their infancy, that 
 they deftroy irrecoverably the true propor- 
 tions of nature, and continue all their lives 
 ridiculous to every fight but their own. 
 Juft fo, the firft of thefe characters cannot 
 make any progrds, and the fecond will not 
 attempt to make any, in an impartial 
 fearch after real knowledge. 
 
 To fet about acquiring the habits of 
 meditation and (Hidy late in life, is like 
 
 getting
 
 414 Of the true Ufe of Let, 2. 
 
 getting into a go-cart with a grey beard, 
 and learning to walk when we have loft 
 the ufe of our legs. In general the foun- 
 dations of an happy old age muft be laid in 
 youth : and in particular he who has not 
 cultivated his reafon young, will be ut- 
 terly unable to improve it old " Manent 
 " ingenia fenibus, modo psrrnaneant ftu- 
 ' dium et induftria." 
 
 Not only a love of ftudy, and a defire of 
 knowledge, muft have grown up with us, 
 but fuch an induftrious application like- 
 wife, as requires the whole vigour of the 
 mind to be exerted in the purfuit of truth, 
 through long trains of ideas, and all thofc 
 dark receffes wherein man, not God, has 
 hid it. ~"Jv 
 
 THIS love and this defire I have felt all 
 my life, and I am not quite a ftranger to 
 this induftry and application. There has 
 been fomething always ready to whifper in 
 rny ear, whilft I ran the courfeof pleafure 
 and of bufmefs, 
 
 " Solve fenefcentem mature fanus equum." 
 
 BUT my Genius, unlike the demon of 
 SOCRATES, whifpered fo foftly, that very 
 
 often
 
 Let. 2. RETIREMENT and STUDY. 415 
 
 often I heard him not, in the hurry of thofe 
 paffions by which I was tranfported. Some 
 calmer hours tnere were: in them I heark- 
 ened to him. Reflection had often it's 
 turn, and the love of ftudy and the defire 
 of knowledge have never quite abandoned 
 me. 1 am not therefore entirely unprepared 
 for the life I wiHjead, and it is not with- 
 out reafon that f promife myfelf more fatis- 
 faclion in the latter part of it, than I ever 
 knew in the former. 
 
 YOUR lordfhip may think this perhaps 
 a little too fanguine, for one who has loft 
 fo much time already: you may put me 
 in mind, that human life has no fecond 
 fpring, no fecond fummer : you may a(k 
 me, what I mean by fowing in autumn, and 
 whether I hope to reap in winter? My an- 
 fwer will be, that I think very differently 
 from moft men, of the time we have to 
 pafs, and the bufinefs we have to do in 
 this world. I think we have more of one, 
 and lefs of the other, than is commonly 
 fuppofed. Our want of time, and the 
 fhortnefs of human life, are fome of the 
 principal common-place complaints, which 
 we prefer againft the eftablimed order of 
 things: they are the grumblings of the vul- 
 gar, and the pathetic lamentations of the 
 
 philo-
 
 4i 6 Of the true Ufe of Let. 2. 
 
 philofopher; but they are impertinent and 
 impious in both. The man of bufmefs de- 
 fpifes the man of pleafure, for fquander- 
 ing his time away; the man of pleafure pities 
 or laughs at the man of bufmefs, for the 
 fame thing : and yet both concur fuperci- 
 lioufly and abfurdly to find fault with the 
 Supreme Being, for having giver, them fo 
 little time. The philofophtv, who mif- 
 pends it very often as much as the others, 
 joins in the fame cry, and authorises this 
 impiety. THEOPHRASTUS thought it ex- 
 tremely hard to die at ninety, and to go 
 out of the world when he had juft learned 
 how to live in it. His mafter ARISTOTLE 
 found fault with nature, for treating man 
 in this refpecl worfe than feveral other ani- 
 mals : both very unphilofophically ! and I 
 love SENECA the better for his quarrel with 
 the Stagirue on this head. We fee, in fo 
 many instances, a juft proportion of things, 
 according to their feveral relations to one 
 another, that philofophy fhould lead us 
 to conclude this proportion preferved, even 
 where we cannot difcern it; inftead of 
 leading us to conclude that it is not pre- 
 ferved where we do not difcern it, or 
 where we think that we fee the contrary. 
 To conclude otherwife, is mocking pre- 
 fumption. It is to prefume that the fyftem 
 
 of
 
 Let. 2. RETIREMENT and STUDY. 417 
 
 of the univerfe would have been more wife- 
 ly contrived, if creatures of our low rank 
 among intellectual natures had been called 
 to the councils of the Moft High: or that 
 the Creator ought to mend his work by the 
 advice of the creature. That life which 
 feems to our felf-love fo fhort, when we 
 compare it with the ideas we frame of eter- 
 nity, or even with the duration of fome 
 other beings will appear fufficient, upon 
 a lefs partial view, to all the ends of our 
 creation, and of a juft proportion in the 
 fucceffi ve courfe of generations. The term 
 itfelf is long: we render it fhort; and the 
 want we complain of flows from our pro- 
 fufion, not from our poverty. We are 
 all arrant fpendthrifts: lome of us diffipate 
 our eftates on the trifles, fome on the fuper- 
 fluities, and then we all complain that we 
 want the necefiarics of life. The much 
 greateft part never reclaim, but die bank- 
 rupts to GOD and man. Others reclaim 
 late, and they are apt to imagine, when 
 they make up their accounts and fee how 
 their fund is diminimed, that they have 
 not enough remaining to live upon, becaufe 
 they have not the whole. But they deceive 
 themfelves : they were richer than they 
 thought, and they are not yet poor. If 
 they hulband well the remainder, it will be 
 D d found
 
 4i 8 Of the true Ufe of Let. 2. 
 
 found fufficient for all the necefiaries, and 
 for fome of the fuperfluities, and trifles too 
 perhaps, of life: but then the former or- 
 der of expence muft be inverted; and the 
 neceflaries of life muft be provided, before 
 they put themfelves to any coft for the 
 trifles or fuperfluities. 
 
 LET us leave the men of pleafure and of 
 bufinefs, who are often candid enough to 
 own that they throw away their time, and 
 thereby to confefs that they complain of 
 the Supreme Being for no other reafon than 
 this, that he has not proportioned his boun- 
 ty to their extravagance: let us confider 
 the fcholar and the philofopher; who, far 
 from owning that he throws any time away, 
 reproves others for doing it: that folemn 
 mortal, who nbftains from the pleafures, 
 and declines the bufinefs of the world, that 
 he may dedicate his whole time to the fearch 
 of truth, and the improvement of know- 
 ledge. When fuch an one complains of 
 the fhortnefs of human life in general, or 
 of his remaining fhare in particular; might 
 not a man, more realbnable, though lefs 
 lolemn, expoftuiate thus with him? 
 
 *' Your complaint is indeed confident 
 " with your pradlice; but you would nor, 
 
 poflibly,
 
 Let. 2. RETIREMENT and S^UDV, 419 
 
 " pofiibly, renew your complaint if you 
 " reviewed your practice. Though reading 
 " makes a fcholar ; yet every fcholar is 
 " not a philofopher, nor every philofopher 
 *' a wife man. It coft you twenty years to 
 " devour all the volumes on one fide of 
 '* your library: you came out a great critic 
 " in Latin and Greek, in the oriental 
 *' tongues, in hiftory and chronology , but 
 " you was not fatisfied ; you confelTcd that 
 " thefe were the " liters nihil fanantes ;" 
 " and you wanted more cime to acquire 
 c< other knowledge. You have had this 
 "time: you have pafled twenty years 
 " more on the other fide of your library, 
 " among philofophers, rabbies, commen- 
 " tators, fchoolmen, and whole legions of 
 
 * modern doctors. You are extremely 
 ' well verfed in all that has been written 
 c concerning the nature of GOD, and of 
 c the foul of man ; about matter and form, 
 1 body and fpirit - t and fpace, and eternal 
 ' eflences, and incorporeal fubftances ; 
 ' and4:he reft of thofe profound fpecula- 
 c tions. You are a mafter of the contro- 
 1 verfies that have ariien about nature 
 
 * and grace, about predeftination and free- 
 ' will, and all the other abftrule queflions 
 ' that have made fo much noife in the 
 ' fchools, and done fo much hurt in the 
 
 . D d 2 " world.
 
 420 Of the true Ufe of Let. 2. 
 
 ' world. You are going on, as faft as 
 
 " the infirmities you have contracted 
 
 ' will permit, in the fame courfe of ftudy ; 
 
 " but you begin to forefee that you 
 
 <c fhall want time^ and you make grievous 
 
 *' complaints of the fhortnefs of human 
 
 " life. Give me leave now to afk you, 
 
 <c how many thoufand years Gud muft pro- 
 
 " long your life, in order to reconcile you 
 
 " to his wifdom and goodnefs? It is plain, 
 
 "at lead highly probable, that a life as 
 
 " long as that of the moft aged of the 
 
 " patriarchs would be too fliort to anfwer 
 
 4 your purpofes; fince the refearches and 
 
 ' difputes in which you are engaged, have 
 
 4 been already for a much longer time the 
 
 ' objects of learned enquiries, and remain 
 
 ; ftill as imperfect and undetermined as 
 
 " they were at firth But let me afk you 
 
 44 again, and deceive neither yourielf nor 
 
 " me ; Have you, in the courfe of thefe 
 
 4 forty years, once examined the firft prin- 
 
 c ciples, and the fundamental facts on 
 
 ' which all thole queftions depend, with 
 
 4 an abfolute indifference of judgment, 
 
 * and with a fcrupulous exadnels ? with 
 
 4 the fame that you have employed in 
 
 4 examining the various confequences 
 
 " drawn from them, and the heterodox 
 
 "opinions about, ihem ? Have you not 
 
 44 taken
 
 Let 2. RETIREMENT and STUDY. 421 
 
 " taken them for granted, in the whole 
 * c courfe of your Ihidies ? Or, if you have 
 ** looked now and then on the ftate of the 
 " proofs brought to maintain them, have 
 " you not done it as a mathematician 
 " looks over a demonftration formerly 
 " made, to refrefli his memory, not to fa- 
 " tisfy any doubt? if you have thus exa- 
 <c mined, it may appear marvellous to 
 f ' fome, that you have fpent fo much time 
 " in many parts of thofe ftudies, which 
 *' have reduced you to this hectic condi- 
 cc tion, of fo much heat and weaknefs. But 
 " if you have net thus examined, it mud 
 " be evident to all, nay to yourklf on the 
 " leaft cool reflection, that you are dill, 
 ' notwithftanding all your learning, in a 
 " ftate of ignorance. For knowledge can 
 " alone produce knowledge: and without 
 " fuch an examination of axioms and fads, 
 " you can have none about inferences." 
 
 IN this manner one might expoftulatc 
 very realbnably with many a great fcholar, 
 many a profound philoibpher, many a dog- 
 matical caluift. And it fervcs to fet the 
 complaints about want of time, and the 
 fhorcnefs of human life, in a very ridicu- 
 lous but a true light. All men are taught 
 their opinions, at leaft on the moft import- 
 D d 3 anc
 
 422 Of the true Ufe of Let. 2: 
 
 tanc fubjects, by rote; and are bred to de- 
 fend them with obftinacy. They may be 
 taught true opinions; but whether true or 
 falfe, the lame zeal for them, and the lame 
 attachment to them is every where in- 
 fpired alike. The Tartar believes as hear- 
 tily that the foul of FOE inhabits in his 
 DAIRQ, as the Chriftian believes the hypo- 
 ftatic union, or any article in the Athana- 
 fian creed. Now this may anfwer the 
 ends of fociety in lome refpccts, and do 
 well enough for the vulgar of all ranks', 
 but it is not enough for the man who culti- 
 vates his reafon who is able to think, and 
 who ought to think, for himfelf. To fuch 
 a man, every opinion that he has not him- 
 felf either framed, or examined ftriclJy, and 
 then adopted, will pafs for nothing more 
 than what it really is, the opinion of other 
 men ; which may be true or falfe for aught 
 he knows. And this is a ftate of uncer- 
 tainty, in which no fuch man can remain, 
 with any peace of mind concerning thofe 
 things that are of greateft importance to us 
 here, and may be fo hereafter. He will 
 make them therefore the objects of his firft 
 and greateft attention. If he has loft time, 
 he will lofe no more; and when he has ac- 
 quired all the knowledge he is capable of 
 acquiring on thefe fubje<5ls ? he will be the 
 
 Icfs
 
 Let.2. RETIREMENT and STUDV. 423 
 
 kfs concerned whether he has time to ac- 
 quire any farther. Should he have pafied 
 his life in the pleafures or bufmefs of the 
 world ; whenever he fets about this work, 
 he will foon have the advantage over the 
 learned philofopher. For he will foon have 
 fecnred what is neceflary to his happinefs, 
 and may fit down in the peaceful enjoy- 
 ment of that knowledge : or proceed with 
 greater advantage and fatisfaction to the 
 acquifition of new knowledge j whillt the 
 other continues his fearch after things that 
 are in their nature, to fay the beft of 
 them, hypothetical, precarious, and fuper- 
 fluous. 
 
 BUT this is not -he only rule, by obferv- 
 ing of which we may redeem our time, and 
 have the advantage over thole who ima- 
 gine they have To much in point of know- 
 ledge over your lordfhip or me, for in- 
 ftance, and who defpife our ignorance. 
 The rule I mean is this , to be on our 
 guard againft the common arts of delu- 
 fion, fpoken of already, which, every one 
 is ready to confefs, have been employed to 
 inidead thofe who differ from him. Let 
 us be diffident of ourielves, but let us be 
 diffident of others too: our own paflions 
 may lead us to reafon wrong: but the 
 Dd 4 paflions
 
 424 Of l ^ e true ^ e f Let. 2. 
 pafiions an<4 interefts of others may have 
 the fame effeft. It is in every man's power, 
 who fets about it in good earned, to pre- 
 vent the firft : and when he has done fo, 
 he will have a conlcious certainty of ir. 
 To prevent the laft, there is one, and but 
 one lure method; and that is, to remount, 
 in the furvey of our opinions, to the firft 
 and even remoteft principles on which they 
 are founded. No refpect, no habit, no 
 leeming certainty whatever, mud divert us 
 from this: any affectation of diverting us 
 from it, ought to increafe our fufpicion : 
 and the more important our examination is, 
 the more important this method of con- 
 ducting it becomes. Let us not be frighted 
 from it, either by the fuppofed difficulty or 
 length of iuch an enquiry-, for, on the 
 contrary, this is the eafieft and the Ihprt- 
 elt, as, well as the only fure way of arriv- 
 ing at real knowledge; and of being able 
 to place the opinions we examine in the dif- 
 ferent clafies of true, probable, or falfe, 
 according to the truth, probability, or 
 falQiood of the principles from whence they 
 are deduced. If we find thefe principles 
 falfe, and that will be the cafe in many in- 
 ftances, we (lop our enquiries on thefe 
 heads at once; and fave an immenfe deal 
 of time that we ihouid otherwife mifpend. 
 
 The
 
 Let. 2. RETIREMENT and STUDY. 425 
 
 The Muffulman who enters on the exa- 
 mination of all the difputes that have arifen. 
 between the followers of OMAR and ALT 
 and other doctors of his law, muft acquire 
 a thorough knowledge of the whole Ma- 
 hometan fyfterri; and will have as good a 
 right to complain of want of time, and the 
 fhortnefs of human life, as any Pagan or 
 Chriftian divine or philofopher : but 
 without all this time or learning, he 
 might have difcovered that MAHOMET 
 was an impoftor, and that the Koran is 
 an heap of abfurdities. 
 
 IM (hort, my lord, he who retires from 
 the world, with a refolution of employing 
 his leifure, in the firft place to re-examine 
 and fettle his opinions, is inexcufable if he 
 does not begin with thofe that are moft im- 
 portant to him, and if he does not deal 
 honeftly by himfelf. To deal honeftly by 
 himlelf, he muft obferve the rule I have 
 infifted upon, and not fuffer the delufions 
 of the world to follow him into his retreat. 
 Every man's realbn is every man's oracle: 
 phis oracle is beft confulted in the filence 
 of retirement; and when we have fo con- 
 fulted, whatever the decifion be, whether 
 in favour of our prejudices or, againfl them, 
 we muft reft fatisfied : fince nothing can be 
 
 more
 
 426 Of the true Uie of Let. 2. 
 
 more certain than this, that he who follows 
 that guide in the fearch of truth, as that 
 was given him to lead him to it, will have 
 a much better plea to make, whenever, or 
 wherever he may be called to account, than 
 he who has refigned himfelf either delibe- 
 rately or inadvertently, to any authority 
 upon earth. 
 
 WHEN we have done this, concerning 
 GOD, ourfelves, and other men; concern- 
 ing the relations in which we ftand to him 
 and to them; the duties that refult from 
 thefe relations : and the pofitive will of the 
 Supreme Being, whether revealed to us in 
 a fupernatura), or difcovered by the right 
 ufe of our reafon in a natural way- -we 
 have done the great bufmefs of our lives. 
 Our lives are fo fufficient for this that they 
 afford us time for more, even when we 
 begin late: efpecially if we proceed in 
 every other enquiry by the fame rule. To 
 difcover error in axioms, or in firft prin- 
 ciples grounded on facts, is like the break- 
 ing of a charm. The inchanted caftle, the 
 fteep rock, the burning lake difappear: 
 and the paths that lead to truth, which 
 we imagined to be fo long, fo embarraired, 
 and fo difficult, mew as they are, (hort, 
 open, and eafy. When we have lecured 
 
 the
 
 Let. 2. RETIREMENT and STUDY. 427 
 
 the neceflaries, there may be time toamufe 
 ourfelves with the fuperfluites, and even 
 with the trifles, of life. " Dulce eft defi- 
 " pere," faid HORACE: " Vive la baga- 
 4< telle!" fays SWIFT. I oppofe neither; 
 not the Epicurean, much lefs the Chriftian 
 philofopher: but I infill that a principal 
 part of thefe amufements be the amufe- 
 rnents of ftudy and reflection, of reading 
 and converfation. You know what con- 
 verfation I mean-, for we loie the true ad- 
 vantage of our nature and conftitution, if 
 we fuffer the mind to come, as it were, to 
 a (land. When the body, inftead of ac- 
 quiring new vigour, and tailing new plea- 
 fures, begins to decline, arid is fated with 
 pleafures, or grown incapable of taking 
 them, the mind may continue ftill to im- 
 prove and indulge itfelf in new enjoyments. 
 Every advance in knowledge opens a new 
 fcene of delight ? and the joy that we feel 
 in the actual pofleflion of one, will be 
 heightened by that which we expect to find 
 in another : io that, before we can exhauft 
 this fund of fucceflive pleafures, death will 
 come to end our pleasures and our pains 
 at once. " In his ftudiis laboribufque vi- 
 * c venti, non intelligitur quando obrepit 
 " fene&us : ita fenfim fine fenfu aetas fe- 
 
 " nefcit,
 
 428 Of the true Ufe of Let. 2. 
 
 " nefcit, nee fubitofrangitur, led diuturni- 
 * c tate exdnguitur. 
 
 THIS, my lord, is the wifeft, and the 
 moil agreeable manner in which a man of 
 ienie can wind up the thread of life. Hap- 
 py is he whofe fituation and circumftances 
 give him the opportunity and means of 
 doing it! Though he mould not have made 
 any great advances in knowledge, and 
 fhould fct about it late, yet the tafk will 
 not be found difficult, unlefs he has gone 
 too far out of his way; and unlefs he con- 
 tinues too long to halt, between the dif- 
 fipations of the world, and the leifure of a 
 retired life : 
 
 Vivendi rede qui prorogat horam, 
 Rufticus expeftat dum defluat amnis, 
 
 You know the reft. I am fenfible, more 
 fenfible than any enemy I have, of my na- 
 tural infirmities, and acquired difadvan- 
 tages: but I have begun, and I will perfift: 
 for he who jogs forward on a battered 
 bone, in the right way, rray get to the end 
 of his journey ; which he cannot do, who 
 gallops the fketeft courfer of Newmarket, 
 out of it. 
 
 ADIEU,
 
 Let. 2. RETIREMENT and STUDY. 429 
 
 ADIEU, my dear lord. Though I have 
 much more to fay on this fubjeft, yet I per- 
 ceive, and I doubt you have long; perceived, 
 that I have laid too much, at lead for a let- 
 ter, already. The reft (hall be referved for 
 converfation whenever we meet: and then 
 I hope to confirm under your lordfhip's 
 eye, my fpeculations by my practice. In 
 the mean time let me refer you to our 
 friend POPE. He fays I made aphilofopher 
 of him: I am fure he has contributed very 
 much, and I thank him for it, to the mak- 
 ing an hermit of me.
 
 REFLECTIONS 
 
 UPON 
 
 EXILE,
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 f | ^HAT the public may not be im- 
 J*> pofed upon by any lame and un- 
 equal tranflation, of the following trea- 
 tife, from the French, in which lan- 
 guage part of it has been lately printed, 
 and retailed in a monthly Mercury ; it 
 is^ judged proper to add it here, at the 
 end of this volume, from the author's 
 original manufcript, as he himfelf had 
 finifhed ic for the prefs.
 
 REFLECTIONS 
 
 UPON 
 
 >E X I L E. * 
 
 MDCC XVI. 
 
 DISSIPATION of mind, and length 
 of time, are the remedies to which 
 the greateft part of mankind truft in their 
 afflictions. But the firlt of thefe works a 
 temporary, the fecond, a flow, effect: and 
 both are unworthy of a wife man. Are 
 we to fly from ourfelres that we may fly 
 from our misfortunes, and fondly to ima- 
 
 tine that the difeafe is cured becaufe we 
 nd means to get fome moments of refpite 
 from pain? Or fhall we expect from time, 
 the phyfician of brutes, a lingering and 
 
 * Several paflages of this little treatife are taken 
 from SENECA: and the whole is wrote with fome 
 aliufion to his ftyle and manner, " quanquam non 
 " omnino temere fit, quod de fententiis iilius que- 
 " ritur Fabius," &c. ERAS. Defen .juj. 
 
 E e uncertain
 
 434 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 
 
 uncertain deliverance? Shall we wait to be 
 happy till' we can forget that we are mife- 
 rable, and owe to the weaknefs of our fa- 
 culties a tranquillity which ought to be the 
 effect of their ftrength? Far otherwife. 
 Let us fet all our paft and our prefent af- 
 flictions at once before our eyes.* Let us 
 reiblve to overcome them, inftead of flying 
 from them, or wearing out the fenfe of 
 them by long and ignominious patience, 
 Inftead of palliating remedies, let us ufe 
 the incifion knife and the cauftic, fearch the 
 wound to the bottom, and work an im- 
 mediate and radical cure. 
 
 THE recalling of former misfortunes 
 ferves to fortify the mind againft later. He 
 muft blufti to fink under the anguifh of one 
 wound, who furveys a body feamed over 
 with the fears of many, and who has come 
 victorious out of all the conflicts wherein 
 he received them. Let fighs, and tears, 
 and fainting under the lighted ftrokes of 
 adverfe fortune, be the portion of thofe 
 unhappy people whofe tender minds a long 
 courfe of felicity has enervated : while fuch, 
 as have pafled through years of calamity, 
 
 * SEN. De con. ad Hel. 
 
 bear
 
 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 435 
 
 bear up, with a noble and immoveable 
 conftancy, againft the heavieft. Uninter- 
 rupted mifery has this good effect, as it 
 continually torments, it finally hardens. 
 
 SUCH is the language of philofophy : and 
 happy is the man who acquires the right 
 of" holding ir. But this right is not to be 
 acquired by pathetic difcourfe. Our con- 
 duel can alone give it us: and therefore, 
 inftead of prefuming on our ftrength, the 
 fureft method is to confefs our weaknefs, 
 and, without lofs of time, to apply our- 
 felves to the ftudy of wifdom. This was 
 the advice which the oracle gave to ZENO,* 
 and there is no other way of fecuring our 
 tranquillity amidft all the accidents to which 
 human life is expofed. Philofophy has, I 
 know, her THRASOS, as well as War:, and 
 among her fons many there have been, who., 
 while they aimed at being more than 
 men, became fomething lefs. The means 
 of preventing this danger are eafy and fure. 
 It is a good rule, to examine well before 
 we addictourfelves to any feet: but I thinlc 
 it is a better rule, to addict ourlelves to 
 none. Let us hear them all, with a per- 
 fect indiiferency on which fide the truth 
 
 * DIOG. LAERT. 
 
 Ee 2 lies:
 
 436 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 
 
 lies: and when we come to determine, let 
 nothing appear fo venerable to us as our 
 own underftandings. Let us gratefully ac- 
 cept the help of every one who has endea- 
 voured to correct the vices, and ftrengthen 
 the minds of men; but let us chufe for 
 ourfelves, and yield univerfal aflent to 
 none. Thus, that I may inftance the feel: 
 already mentioned, when we have laid afide 
 the wonderful and furprifing fentences, and 
 all the paradoxes of the Portique, we (hall 
 find in that fchool fuch doctrines as our un- 
 prejudiced reafon fubmits to with pleafure, 
 as nature dictates, and as experience con- 
 firms. Without this precaution, we run 
 the rifque of becoming imaginary kings, 
 and real flaves. With it, we may learn to 
 affertour native freedom, and live indepen- 
 dent on fortune. 
 
 IN order to which great end, it is necef- 
 fary that we (land watchful, as centinels, 
 to difcovcr the fecret wiles and open attacks 
 of this capricious goddels, before they 
 reach us.* Where (he falls upon us un- 
 expected, it is hard to refift-, but thole 
 who wait for her, will repel her with eale. 
 The Hidden invafion of an enemy over- 
 
 * SEN. Decon ad He!. 
 
 throws
 
 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 437 
 
 throws fuch as are not on their guard ; but 
 they who fore-fee the war, and prepare 
 themfelves for it before it breaks out, ftand, 
 without difficulty, the firft and the fierceft 
 onfet. I learned this important leflbn long 
 ago, and never trufted to fortune, even 
 while me feemed to be at peace with 
 me. The riches, the honours, the repu- 
 tation, and all the advantages which 
 her treacherous indulgence poured upon 
 me, I placed fo, that me might fnatch 
 them away without giving -me any dif- 
 turbance. I kept a great interval between 
 me and them. She took them, but Ihe 
 could not tear them from me. No man 
 fuffers by bad fonune, but he who has been 
 deceived by good. If we grow fond of 
 her gifts, fancy that they belong to us, and 
 are perpetually to remain with us, if we Jean 
 upon them, and expert to be confidered for 
 them; we mall fink into all the bitter- 
 nefs of grief, as foon as thefe falfe and 
 tranfitory benefits pafs away, as foon as 
 our vain and childifh minds, unfraught 
 with folid pleafures, become deftitute even 
 of thofe which are imaginary. But, if we 
 do not differ ourfelves to be tranfported by 
 profperity, neither (hall we be reduced by 
 advcrfity. Our fouls will be of proof 
 againft the dangers of both thefe fhtes: 
 Ee 3 nd,
 
 438 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 
 
 and, having explored our ftrength, we 
 (hall be fure of it , for in the midft of fe- 
 licity, we (hall have tried how we can bear 
 misfortune. 
 
 IT is much harder to examine and judge, 
 than to take up opinions on truft; and 
 therefore the far greateft part of the world 
 borrow from others, thole which they en- 
 tertain concerning all the affairs of life and 
 death.* Hence it proceeds that men are 
 io unanimoufly eager in the purfuit of 
 things, which far from having any inhe- 
 rent real good, are varnifhed over with a 
 fpecious and deceitful glofs, and contain 
 nothing anfwerable to their appearances.-f 
 Hence it proceeds, on the other hand, that, 
 in thofe tilings which are called evils, there 
 is nothing fo hard and terrible as the gene- 
 ral cry of the world threatens. The word 
 exile comes indeed harm to the ear, and 
 ilrikes us like a melancholy and execrable 
 found, through a certain perfuafion which 
 men have habitually concurred in. Thus 
 the multitude has ordained. But the greatelt 
 
 Dum unufquifque mavu.1t credere, quam judi- 
 
 , nunquam de vita judicaiur, Temper creditur. 
 
 BEN. De vita beat. 
 
 t SEN. De con. ad Hel. 
 
 part 
 
 care
 
 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 439 
 
 part of their ordinances are abrogated by 
 the wife. 
 
 REJECTING therefore the judgment of 
 thofe who determine according to popular 
 opinions, or the firft appearances of things, 
 let us examine what exile really is.* It is, 
 then, a change of place-, and, left you 
 mould fay that I diminim the object, and 
 conceal the mod (hocking parts of it, I 
 add, that this change of place is frequent- 
 ly accompanied by fome or all of the fol- 
 lowing inconveniences: by the lofs of the 
 eftate which we enjoyed, and the rank 
 which we held; by the lofs of that confi- 
 deration and power which we were in pof- 
 fefiion of-, by a feparation from our family 
 and our friends-, by the contempt which 
 we may fall into; by the ignominy with 
 which thofc who have driven us abroad, 
 will endeavour to fully the innocence of 
 our characters, and to juftify the injuftice of 
 their own conduct. 
 
 ALL thefe fhall be fpoke to hereafter. 
 In the mean while, let us confider what 
 evil there is, in change of place, abftract- 
 edly and by itfelf. 
 
 * SEN. de cOn. ad Hel. 
 
 Ee 4 To
 
 440 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 
 
 To live deprived of one's country is in- 
 tolerable.* Is it fo? How comes it then to 
 pafs, that fuch numbers of men live out of 
 their countries by choice ? Obferve how 
 the ftreets of London and of Paris are 
 crowded. Call over thofe millions by name, 
 and afk them one by one, of what country 
 they are: how many will you find, who, 
 from different parts of the earth, come to 
 inhabit thefe great cities, which afford the 
 largeft opportunities, and the largeft en- 
 couragement, to virtue and to vice ? Some 
 are drawn by ambition, and fome are lent 
 by duty; many refort thither to improve 
 their minds, and many to improve their 
 fortunes-, others bring their beauty, and 
 others their eloquence, to market, Re- 
 move from, hence, and go to the utmoft 
 extremities of the Eaft or the Weft: vifit 
 the barbarous nations of Africa, or the in- 
 hofpitable regions of the North: you will 
 find no climate fo bad, no country fo fa- 
 vage, as not to have fome people who 
 come from abroad, and inhabit there by 
 choice. 
 
 AMONG numberlefs extravagancies which 
 have pafied through the minds of men, we 
 
 * SEN. De con, ad Hel. 
 
 may
 
 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 441 
 
 may juftly reckon for one that notion of a 
 fecret affection, independent of our reafon, 
 and fuperior to our reafon, which we are 
 fnppofed to have for our country ; as if 
 there were tome phyfical virtue in every 
 fpot of ground, which necefTarily produced 
 this effect in every one born upon it. 
 
 *' Amor patrias ratione valentior omni.* 
 
 As if the heimvei was an univerfal diftem- 
 per, infeparable from the conftitution of an 
 human body, and not peculiar to the 
 Swifs, who leem to have been made for 
 their mountains, as their mountains leem 
 to have been made for them.J This no- 
 tion may have contributed to the fecurity 
 and grandeur of ftates. It has therefore 
 been not un-artfully cultivated, and the pre- 
 judice of education has been with care put 
 on it's fide. Men have come in this cafe, 
 as in many, from believing that it ought to 
 be fo, to perfuade others, and even to be- 
 lieve themfelves that it is fo. FROCOPIUS 
 relates that ABGARUS came to Rome, and 
 gained the efteem and friendfliip of AU- 
 GUSTUS to iuch a degree, that this emperor 
 could not refolve to let him return home: 
 
 * Ov. De Ponto, El. iv. 
 f Card. BENTI. Lee. 
 
 that
 
 442 REFLECTIONS, upon EXILE. 
 
 that ABGARUS brought feveral beafts, which 
 he had taken one day in hunting, alive to 
 AUGUSTUS: that he placed in different 
 parts of the Circus lome of the earth which 
 belonged to the places where each of thefe 
 animals had been caught ; that as foon as 
 this was done, and they were turned loofe 
 every one of them ran to that corner where 
 his earth lay ; that AUGUSTUS, admiring 
 their icntiment of love for their country 
 which nature has graved in the hearts of 
 beafts, and ftruck by the evidence of the 
 truth, granted the requeft which ABGARUS 
 immediately prefied upon him, and allow- 
 ed, though with regret, the tetrarch to return 
 to Edefla. But this tale deferves juft as 
 much credit as that which follows in the 
 fame place, or the letter of ABGARUS to 
 JESUS CHRIST, of our Saviour's anfwer, 
 and of the cure of ABGARUS. There is 
 nothing, furely, more groundlefs than the 
 notion here advanced, nothing more ab- 
 furd. We love the country in which we 
 are born, becaufe we receive particular be- 
 nefits from it, and becaufe we have parti- 
 cular obligations to it: which ties we may 
 have to another country, as well as to that 
 we are born in-, to our country by election, 
 as well as to our country by birth. In all 
 other refpecls, a wife man looks on him- 
 
 feif
 
 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 443 
 
 felf as a citizen of the world : and, when 
 you afk him where his country lies, points, 
 like ANAXAGORAS with his finger to the 
 heavens. 
 
 THERE are other perfons, again, who 
 have imagined that as the whole univerfc 
 iuffers a continual rotation, and nature 
 ieems to delight in it, or to preferve her- 
 klf by it, fo there is in the minds of men, 
 a natural reftleffnefs, which inclines them 
 to change of place, and to the fhifting their 
 habitations.* This opinion has at leaft 
 an appearance of truth, which the other 
 wants; and is countenanced, as the other 
 is contradicted, by experience. But, what- 
 ever the reafons be, which muft have varied 
 infinitely in an infinite number of cafes, 
 and an immenfe fpace of time; true it is 
 in fad, that the families and nations of the 
 world have been in a continual fluctuation, 
 roaming about on the face of the globe, 
 driving and driven out by turns. What 
 a number of colonies has Afia fent into 
 Europe! The Phoenicians planted the 
 coafts of the Mediterranean fea, and pumed 
 their fettlements even into the ocean. 
 The Etrurians were of Afiatic extraction ; 
 
 * SEN. De con. ad Hel. 
 
 and,
 
 444 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 
 
 and, to mention no more, the Romans, 
 thole lords of the world, acknowledged a 
 Trojan exile for the founder of their em- 
 pire. How many migrations have there 
 been, in return to thefe, from Europe into 
 Alia? They would be endlefs to enumerate; 
 for, bcfides the ^Eolic, the Ionic, and others 
 of aimed equal fame, the Greeks, during 
 feveral ages, made continual expeditions, 
 and built cities in feveral parts of Afia. 
 The Gauls penetrated thither too, and 
 eftablifhed a kingdom. The European 
 Scythians over-ran thefe vaft provinces, 
 and carried their arms to the confines of 
 Egypt. ALEXANDER fubdued all from 
 the Hellefpont to India, and built towns, 
 and eftablifhed colonies, to fecure his con- 
 quefts, , and to eiernife his name. From 
 both thefe parts of the world Africa has 
 received inhabitants and matters; and what 
 Ihe has received me has given. The Ty- 
 rians built the city, and founded the re- 
 public, of Carthage-, the Greek has been 
 the language of .^Egypt. In the remoteft 
 antiquity we hear of BELUS in Chaldasa, 
 and of SESOSTRIS planting his tawny colo- 
 nies in Colchos: and Spain has been, in 
 theie later ages, under the dominion of 
 Moors. If we turn to Runic hiftory, we 
 find our fathers, the Goths, led by WODEN 
 
 and
 
 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 445 
 
 and by THOR, their heroes firft, and their 
 divinities afterwards, from the Afiatic Tar- 
 tary into Europe: and who can afiure us 
 that this was their firft migration? They 
 came into Afia perhaps by the tall, from 
 that continent to which their fons have 
 lately failed from Europe by the weft: and 
 thus in the procefs of three or four thou- 
 fand years, the fame race of men have pufh- 
 ed their conquefts and their habitations 
 round the globe-, at lead this may be fup- 
 pofed, as reafonably as it is fuppofed, I 
 think by GROTIUS, that America was peo- 
 pled from Scandinavia. The world is a 
 great wilderneis, wherein mankind have 
 wandered and joftled one another about 
 from the creation. Some have removed 
 by neceflity, and others by choice. One 
 nation has been foncl of feizing what ano- 
 ther was tired of poflefTing: and it will be 
 difficult to point out the country which is 
 to this day in the hands of it's firft inhabi- 
 tants. 
 
 THUS fate has ordained that nothing 
 (hall remain long in the fame (late: and 
 what are all thefe tranfportations of people, 
 but fo many public exiles? VARRO, the 
 moft learned of the Romans, thought, 
 
 fince
 
 446 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 
 
 fince Nature* is the fame wherever we go, 
 that this fingle circumftance was fufficient 
 to remove all objections to change of place, 
 taken by itfelf, and ftripped of the other 
 inconveniencies which attend exile. M. 
 BRUTUS thought it enough that thofe, who 
 go into banimment, cannot be hindered 
 from carrying their Virtue along with them. 
 Now if any one judge that each of thefe 
 comforts is in itfelf inefficient, he muft 
 however confefs that both of them joined 
 together, are able to remove the terrors of 
 exile. For what trifles muft all we leave 
 behind us be efteemed, in comparifon of 
 the two moft precious things which men 
 can enjoy, and which, we are fure, will 
 follow us wherever we turn our fteps, the 
 fame Nature, and our proper Virtue?-}- 
 Believe me, the providence of God has 
 eftablilhed fuch an order in the world, that 
 of all which belongs to us the lead valuable 
 parts can alone fall under the will of others. 
 Whatever is beft, is fafeft; lies out of the 
 reach of human power j can neither be given 
 nor taken away. Such is this great and 
 beautiful work of nature, the world. Such 
 is the mind of man, which contemplates 
 
 * SEN. Decon.adt^el. fib. 
 
 and
 
 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 447 
 
 and admires the world whereof it makes 
 the nobleft part. Thefe are infeparably 
 ours, and as long as we remain in one we 
 fhall enjoy the other. Let us march there- 
 fore intrepidly wherever we are led by the 
 courfe of human accidents. Wherever 
 they lead us, on what coaft foever we arc 
 thrown by them, we (hall not find our- 
 felves abiblutely ftrangers. We mail meet 
 with men and women, creatures of the 
 fame figure, endowed with the fame facul- 
 ties, and born under the fame laws of na- 
 ture. We fhall fee the fame virtues and 
 vices, flowing from the fame general prin- 
 ciples, but varied in a thoufand different 
 and contrary modes, according to that 
 infinite variety of laws and cuftoms which is 
 eftablimed for the fame univerfal end, the 
 prefervation of fociety. We (hall feel the 
 fame revolution of feafons, and the fame 
 fun and moon* will guide the courfe of 
 our year. The fame azure vault, be- 
 fpangled with ftars, will be every where 
 
 * PLUT. Of banifhment. He compares thofe 
 who cannot live out of their own country, to the 
 fimple people who fancied that the moon or Athens 
 was a finer moon than that ef Corinth. 
 
 . labentem ccelo qua: ducitis annum. 
 
 V IRC. Georg. 
 
 fpread
 
 448 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 
 
 fpread over our heads. There is no part 
 of the world from whence we may not ad- 
 mire thofe planets which roll, like ours, in 
 different orbits round the fame central fun; 
 from whence we may not difcover an ob- 
 ject ftill more ftupendous, that army of 
 fixed ftars hung up in the immenfe fpace 
 of the univerfe, innumerable funs whofe 
 beams enlighten and cherifh the unknown 
 worlds which roll around them: and whilft 
 I am ravifhed by fuch contemplations as 
 thefe, whilft my foul is thus raifed up to 
 heaven, it imports me little what ground I 
 tread upon. 
 
 BRUTUS,* in the book which he wrote 
 on virtue, related that he had feen MAR- 
 CELLUS in exile at Mitylene, living in all 
 the happinefs which human nature is ca- 
 pable of and cultivating with as much 
 afliduity as ever, all kinds of laudable 
 knowledge. He added that this fpectacle 
 made him think that it was rather he who 
 went into banUhment, fince he was to re- 
 turn without the other, than the other who 
 remained in it. O MARCELLUS, far more 
 happy when BRUTUS approved thy exile, 
 than when the commonwealth approved 
 
 * SEN. Decon. ad Hel. 
 
 thy
 
 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 449 
 
 thy confulfhip! How great a man muft 
 thou have been to extort admiration from, 
 him who appeared an object of admiration 
 even to his own CATO ! the fame BRUTUS 
 reported further, that CAESAR overfhot 
 Mirylene, becaufe he could not (land the 
 fight of MARCELLUS reduced to a ftate fo 
 unworthy of him. His reftoration was at 
 length obtained by the public intercefTion 
 of the whole fen ate, who were dejecled 
 with grief to fuch a degree, thst they 
 feemed all upon this occaiion to have the 
 fame fentiments with BRUTUS, and to be 
 fuppliants for themfelves, rather than for 
 MARCELLUS.* This was to return with 
 honour : but furely he remained abroad with 
 greater, when BRUTUS could notrefolveto 
 leave him, nor C^SAR to fee him; for both 
 of them bore witnefs of his merit. BRU- 
 TUS grieved, and C^SAR blulhed to go to 
 Rome without him. 
 
 Q^ METELLUS NUMIDICUS had under- 
 gone the fame fate fome years before, while 
 the people, who are always the iureft in- 
 
 * MARCELLUS was affaffinated at Athens, in his 
 return home, by CHILO, an old friend and fellow- 
 foldier of his. The motive of CHILO 5s not ex- 
 plained in hiftory. CAESAR was fufpeiled, but he 
 leems to be juflified by the opinion of BKUTUS. 
 
 F f flrumencs
 
 450 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 
 
 ftruments of their own fervitude, were lay- 
 ing under the conduct of MARIUS, the 
 foundations of that tyranny which was 
 perfected by CJESAR. METELLUS alone, 
 in the midft of an intimidated fenate, and 
 outrageous multitude, refufed to fwear to 
 the pernicious laws of the tribune SATUR- 
 NINUS. His conftancy became his crime, 
 and exile his punimment. A wild and 
 lawlefs faction prevailing againft him, the 
 beft men of the city armed in his defence, 
 and were ready to lay down their lives that 
 they might preferve fo much virtue to their 
 country. But he, having failed to perfuade, 
 thought it not lawful to conftrain. He 
 judged in the phrenfy of the Roman com- 
 monwealth, as PLATO judged in the do- 
 tage of the Athenian. METELLUS knew, 
 that if his fellow citizens amended, he 
 fhould be recalled ; and if they did not 
 amend, he thought he could be no where 
 worfe than at Rome. He went volunta- 
 rily into exile, and wherever he pafled he 
 carried the fure fymptom of a fickly (late, 
 and the certain prognoftic of an expiring 
 commonwealth. What temper he conti- 
 nued in abroad will beft appear by a frag- 
 ment of one of his letters which GELLIUS,* 
 
 * Lib, xvii. cap. 2. 
 
 in
 
 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 451 
 
 in a pedantic compilation of phrafes ufecl 
 by the annalift Q^CLAUDIUS, has prtfeived 
 for the fake of the word frunifcor. " Illi 
 " vero omni jure atque honeflate inter- 
 " dicti : ego nequeaqua neque ignc careo: 
 " et fumma gloria frunifcor." Happy ME- 
 TELLUS ! happy in the confcience of thy 
 own virtue! happy in thy pious fun, and 
 in that excellent friend who rckmbled 
 thee in merit and in fortune ! 
 
 RUTILIUS had defended Afia againft the 
 extortions of the publicans, according to 
 the ftrict juftice of which he made profef- 
 fion, and to the particular duty of his 
 office. The equeftrian order were upon 
 this account his enemies, and the Marian 
 faction was fo of couffe, on account of his 
 probity, as well as out of hatred to iMETEL- 
 LUS. The moft innnocent man of the 
 city was accufed of corruption. The beft 
 man was profecuted by the worft, by API- 
 crus; a name dedicated to infamy.* 1 hole 
 who had ftirred up the falfe acculation, fat 
 as judges, and pronounced the unjult fen- 
 tence againft him. He hardly deigned to 
 
 * There was another APICIUS, in the reign of 
 
 TIBERIUS, famous for his gluttony; and a third 
 in the time of TRAJAN. 
 
 F f 2 defend
 
 452 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 
 
 defend his caufe, but retired into the Eaft, 
 where that Roman virtue, which Rome 
 could not bear, was received with honour.* 
 Shall RUTILIUS now be deemed unhappy, 
 v/hen they who condemned him are, for 
 that action, delivered down as criminals to 
 all future generations ? when he quitted 
 his country with greater eafe than he would 
 fuffer his exile to finim ? when he alone 
 clurft refufe the dictator SYLLA, and being 
 recalled home, not only declined to g<>, but 
 fled farther off? 
 
 WHAT do yon propofe, it may be faid, 
 by thefe examples, multitudes of which 
 are to he collected from the memorials of 
 former ages ? I propofe to mew that as 
 change of place, fimply confidered, can 
 render no man unhappy, fo the other evils 
 which are objected to exile; either cannot 
 happen to wife and virtuous men ; or, if 
 they do happen to them, cannot render 
 them miferable. Stones are hard, and 
 cakes of ice are cold : and all who feel them, 
 feel them alike.-]- But the good or the bad 
 events, which fortune brings upon us, are 
 felt according to what qualities we, not 
 they, have. They are in themfelves in- 
 
 * SEN. L. De prov. cap. 3. 
 f PLUT. en exile. ; 
 
 different
 
 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 
 
 different and common accidents, and they 
 acquire Strength by nothing buc our vice or 
 our weakneis. Fortune can difpenfe nei- 
 ther felicity nor infelicity unlefs we co-ope- 
 rate with her. Few men, who are unhappy 
 under the lof? of an eftate, would be hap- 
 py in the pofiefllon of it : and thofe, who 
 deferve to enjoy the advantages which exile 
 takes away, will not be unhappy when they 
 are deprived of them. 
 
 IT grieves me to make an exception to 
 this rule-, but TULLY was one fo remark- 
 ably, that the example can be neither con- 
 cealed, nor pafied over. This great man, 
 who had been the faviour of his country, 
 who had feared in the fupportof that caufe, 
 neither the infults of a delperate party, nor 
 the daggers of aflaflins, when he came to 
 fuffer for the fame caufe, funk under the 
 weight. He diihonoured that banifhment 
 which indulgent providence meant to be the 
 means of rendering his glory complete. 
 Uncertain where he mould go, or what he 
 mould do, fearful as a woman, and froward 
 as a child, he lamented the lofs of his rank, 
 of his riches, and of his fplendid popularity. 
 His eloquence ferved only to paint his ig- 
 nominy in ftronger colours. He wept over 
 the ruins of his fine houfe which CLODIUS 
 F f 3 had
 
 454 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 
 
 had demolifhed : and his reparation from 
 TERENTJA, whom he repudiated not long 
 afterwards, was perhaps an afflidion to 
 him at this time. Every thing becomes 
 intolerable to the rmn \vho is once fub- 
 dued by grief. * He regrets what he took 
 no pleafure in enjoying, and, overloaded 
 already, he (hrinks at the weight of a fea- 
 ther CIDERO'S behaviour, in fhort, was 
 iuch that his friends, as well as his enemies, 
 believed him to have loft his fenfes.f 
 CAESAR beheld, with a fecret fatisfacticn, 
 the man, who had refufed to be his litute- 
 nsnt, weeping under the rod of CLODIUS. 
 POMPEY hoped 10 find fome excufe for his 
 own ingratitude in the contempt which the 
 friend, whom he had abandoned, expofed 
 himfeif to. Nay ATTICUS judged him tco 
 meanly attached to his former fortune, and 
 reproached him for it. ATTICUS, whofe 
 great talents were ufury and trimming, 
 who placed his principal merit in being 
 rich, and who would have b-en nored with 
 infamy at Athens, for keeping well with 
 all fides, and venturing on none : even 
 
 * Mitto caetera intclerabilia Etenim fletu impe- 
 dior. L. iii. Ad Attic, ep. 10. 
 
 f Tarn fape, et tarn vehementer objurgas, et ani- 
 n>r> infirmo eff? dicis. Ib. 
 
 i'LL-r. Vit. Solon.- 
 
 ATTICUS
 
 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 455 
 
 ATTICUS blufhcd for TULLY, and the raotl 
 plaufible man alive affumed the ftyle of 
 CATO. 
 
 I HAVE dwelt the longer on this inftance 
 becaufe, whilft it takes nothing from the 
 truth which has been eftablimed, it teaches 
 us another of great importance. Wife men 
 are certainly fuperior to all the evils of exile. 
 
 But in a ftrict fenfe, he, who has left any 
 one paflion in his foul unfubdued, will not 
 deferve that appellation. It is not enough 
 that we have ftudied all the duties of pub- 
 lic and private life, that we are perfectly 
 acquainted with them, and that we live 
 up to them in the eye of the world: a paf- 
 fion that lies dormant in the heart, and has 
 efcaped our fcrutiny, or which we have 
 obferved and indulged as venal, or which 
 we have perhaps encouraged, as a principle 
 to excite and to aid our virtue, may 
 one time or other deftroy our tranquillity, 
 and disgrace our whole character. When. 
 virtue has fteeled the mind on every fide, 
 we arc invulnerable on every fide: but 
 ACHILLES was wounded in the heel. The 
 Icaft part, overlooked or neglected, may 
 expofe us to receive a mortal blow. Rea- 
 fon cannot obtain the abfolute dominion of 
 our fouls by one victory. Vice has many 
 F f 4 rdcrvcs,
 
 456 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 
 
 referves, which mud be beaten; many 
 ftrong holds, which muft be forced-, and we 
 may be found of proof in many trials, 
 without twdng fo in all. We may refift 
 the fevered, and yield to the weakeft at- 
 tacks of fortune. We may have got the 
 tetter of avarice, the moil epidemical 
 difeafe of the mind, and yet be flaves to 
 ambition.* We may have purged our 
 iouls of the fear of death, and yet fome 
 other fear may venture to lurk behind. 
 This was the cafe of CICERO. Vanity was 
 his cardinal vice.-}- It had, 1 queftiun 
 not, warmed his zeal, quickened his in- 
 duftry, animated the love of his country, 
 ami iupported his conftancy againft CATI- 
 LINE : but it gave to CLODIUS an entire 
 victory over him. He was not afraid to 
 
 * SENECA fays the contrary of all this, according 
 to the floical fyllem, which however he departs from 
 on many occa.lon?. Si contra unam quamlibet 
 " partem fortune fatis tibi rcboris efl, idem adver- 
 " (as omnes erit. Si avaritia dimifir, vehementiili- 
 " ma generis humani peftis, moram tibi ambitionon 
 " faciet." Si ultimum diem, &c. De con. ad Hel. 
 
 Not) finoula vitia ratio, fed pariter omnia pro- 
 fternit. in univerfum femel vincitur. Ibid. 
 
 Nee audacem quidem timoris abfolvimus ; ne 
 pr( viiginr. quidem av^ritia liberamus. De Benef. 
 J , ; v . i v . c . 2 7 . 
 
 Qji iiutciTi habct vitium unum, habet omnia. IB. 
 1.. v. c. 15. 
 
 f In aniino autem ploriis cupido, qualis fuit Ci- 
 cerunis, p uiimum poitil. Vel. Pat. L. i. 
 
 die
 
 REFLECTIONS upon EXILF. 457 
 
 die, and part with eftate, rank, honour, and 
 every thing which he lamented the lofs of: 
 but he was afraid to live deprived of 
 them. " Ut vivus hasc amitterem.*" 
 He would probably have met death on this 
 occafion with the lame firmnefs with which 
 he laid to POPILIUS LAENUS, his client and 
 his murderer, " Approach, veteran, and, 
 " if at leaft thou canft do this well, cut 
 * off my head." But he could not bear 
 to fee himfelf, and to be feen by others, 
 ftripped of thofe trappings which he was 
 accuftomed to wear. This made him 
 break out into fo many fhameful expref- 
 fions. " Poffum oblivifci qui fuerim ? 
 tc non fentire qui fim ? quo caream honore, 
 " qua gloria ?" And fpeaking of his 
 brother "Vitavi ne viderem; ne aut il- 
 44 lius luctum fqualoremque afpicerem, aut 
 " me, quern ille florentiffimum reliquerat, 
 " perditum illi afflictumque offerrem." 
 He had thought of death, and prepared his 
 mind for it. There were occasions too 
 where his vanity might be flattered by it. 
 But the fame vanity hindered him in his 
 profperous eftate from fuppofing fuch a re- 
 verfe as afterwards happened to him. 
 \Vhen it came, it found him unprepared, 
 
 * Ep. ad Attic. L. iii. ep. 3, 7, 10. etpaffim: 
 f L. iii. ep. 10 ad Attic. 
 
 it
 
 458 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 
 
 it furprifed him, it ftunned him ; for he 
 was ftill fond of the pomp and hurry of 
 Rome, " fumum, et opes, ftrepitumque 
 " Romas," and un weaned from all thofe 
 things which habit renders necefiary, and 
 which nature has left indifferent. 
 
 We have enumerated them above, and 
 it is time to defcend into a more particular 
 examination of them. Change of place 
 then may be borne by every man. It is 
 the delight of many. But who can bear 
 the evils which accompany exile ? You 
 whoalk diequeftioncan bear them. Every 
 one who confiders them as they are in 
 themfelves, inftead of looking at them 
 through the falfe optic which prejudice holds 
 before our eyes. For what? you have loft 
 your eftate: reduce your defires, and you 
 will perceive yourfelf to be as rich as ever, 
 with this confiderable advantage to boot, 
 that your cares will be diminifhed. Our 
 natural and real wants* are confined to nar- 
 
 * Naturalia defideria finita funt : ex falf.i opinione 
 nafcentia ubi defmantnon habent, nullus cnim ter- 
 jninus falfo eft. SEN. Ep. 16. 
 
 Excerp. ex Lib. SEN. falfely fo called. 
 
 ,Si ad naturam vives, nunquam eris pauper ; fi ad 
 opinionem, nunquam dives. Exiguum natura defi- 
 derac, opinio iuimenfum. SEN. Ep. 16. 
 
 row
 
 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 459 
 
 row bounds, whilft thofe which fancy and 
 cuftom create are confined to none. Truth 
 lies within a little and certain compafs, 
 but error is immenfe. If we fuffer our de- 
 fires therefore to wander beyond thefe 
 bounds, they wander eternally. " Nefcio 
 " quid curtae temper abeft rei." We be- 
 come necefiitous in the midft of plenty, 
 and our poverty encreafes with our riches. 
 Reduce your defires, be able to fay with 
 the apoftle of Greece, to whom ERASMUS 
 was ready to addrefs his prayers, " quam 
 " multis ipfe non egeo ! " banim out of 
 your exile all imaginary, and you will 
 fuffer no real wants. The little ftream 
 which is left will fuffice to quench the 
 third of nature, and that which cannot 
 be quenched by it, is not your thirft, but 
 your dtftemper; a diftemper formed by 
 the vicious habits of your mind, and not 
 the effect of exile. How great a part of 
 mankind bear poverty with chearfulneis, 
 becaufe they have been bred in it, and are 
 accuftomed to it ?* Shall we not be able 
 to acquire, by reafon and by reflection, 
 what the meaneft artifan poflefies by habit? 
 
 Shall thofe who have fo many advantages 
 
 v 
 
 * SEN. De con. ad Hel. 
 
 over
 
 460 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 
 
 over him, be (laves to wants and necefilties 
 of which he is ignorant? The rich, whofe 
 wanton appetites neither the produce of 
 one country, nor of one part of the world, 
 can fatisfy, for whom the whole habitable 
 globe is ranfacked, for whom the cara- 
 vans of the eaft are continually in march, 
 and the remoteft feas are covered with fhips j 
 thefe pampered creatures, fated with fuper- 
 fluity, are often glad to inhabit an hum- 
 ble cot, and to make an homely meal. 
 They run for refuge into the arms of fru- 
 gality. .Madmen that they are, to live al- 
 ways in fear of what they fometimes wifh 
 for, and to fly from that life which they 
 find it luxury to imitate! Let us call our 
 eyes backwards on thofe great men who 
 lived in the -ages of virtue, of fimplicity, 
 of frugality, and let us blufli to think that 
 we enjoy in banifhment more than they 
 were matters of in the midft of their glory, 
 in the utmoft affluence of their fortune. 
 Let us imagine that we behold a great 
 dictator giving audience to the Samnite am- 
 bafiadors, and preparing on the hearth 
 his mean repait witn the fame hand which 
 had fo often fubdued the enemies of the 
 commonwealth, and borne the triumphal 
 laurel to the capitol. Let us remember 
 
 that
 
 RFFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 461 
 
 that PLATO had but* three fervants, and 
 that ZENO had none.-f SOCRATES, the 
 reformer of his country, was maintained, 
 as MENENIUS AGRJPPA, the arbiter of his 
 Country was buried, by a contribution. 
 While ATTILIUS REGULUS beat the Car- 
 thaginians in Afric the flight of his plough- 
 man reduced his family to diftrefs at home, 
 and the tillage of his little farm became the 
 public care. SCIPIO died without leav- 
 ing enough to marry his daughters, and 
 their portions were paid out of the trea- 
 
 * PLATO'S will, in DIOG.LAER. mentions four fer- 
 vants befides DIANA, to whom he gave her freedom. 
 
 APULEIUS makes his eftate confift in a little gar- 
 den near the academy, two fervants, a patten for fa- 
 crifices, and as much gold as would ferve to make 
 ear-rings for a child. 
 
 f ZENO was owner of a thoufand talents when he 
 came from Cyprus into Greece, and he ufed to lend 
 his money out upon (hips at an high intereft. He 
 kept, in (hort, a kind of infurance office. He loft 
 this eilate perhaps when he faid, " redle fane agit 
 ' fortuna, quas nos ad philofophiam impellit" Af- 
 terwards he received many and great prefents from. 
 ANTIGOXUS. So that his great frugality and fim- 
 plicity of life, was the effeft of his choice, and not 
 of necefllty. Vid. Dio. LAER. 
 
 Dioc. LAER. Vit. Soc. quotes ARISTOXENUS 
 for affirmingthat SOCRATES ufed to keep a box, and 
 lived upon the money which was put into it : " Po- 
 fita igitur arcula colligifie pecuniam qua? daretur ; 
 confumpta autem ea, rurfus pofuifle." 
 
 fury
 
 462 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 
 
 fury of the ftate ; for fure it was juft that 
 the people of Rome fhould once pay tri- 
 bute to him, who had eftablifhed a perpe- 
 tual tribute on Carthage. After fuch exam- 
 ples (hall we be afraid of poverty? fhall we 
 difdain to be adopted into a family which 
 has fo many illuftrious anceftors ? fhall we 
 complain of banifament for taking from 
 us what the greateft philofophers, and the 
 greateft heroes of antiquity never enjoyed ? 
 
 You will find fault perhaps, and at- 
 tribute to artifice, that I confider fingly 
 misfortunes which come altogether on the 
 banimed man, and overbear him with their 
 united weight. You could fupport change 
 of place if it was not accompanied with po- 
 verty, or poverty if it was not accompanied 
 with the feparation from your family, and 
 your friends, with the lofs of your rank, con- 
 fideration, and power, with contempt and 
 ignominy. Whoever he be who reafons 
 in this manner, let him take the following 
 anfwer. The leaft of thefe circumftances 
 is fingly fufficient to render the man mife- 
 rable who is not prepared for it, who has 
 not diverted himielf of that paffion upon 
 which it is directed to work. But he who 
 has got the maftery of all his paffions, 
 who has fort-en all thefe accidents, and 
 
 prepared
 
 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 463 
 
 prepared his mind to endure them all, will 
 be iuperior to all of them, and to all of them 
 at once as well as fingly. He will not bear 
 the lofs of his rank, becaufe he can bear the 
 lofs of his eftatej but he will bear both, 
 becaufe he is prepared for both ; becaufe 
 he is free from pride as much as he is from 
 avarice. 
 
 You are ft-parated from your family and 
 your friends. Take the lift of them, and 
 look it well over. How few of your fa- 
 mily, will you find who deferve the name of 
 friends ? and how few among thefe who 
 are really fuch ? Erafe the names of fuch 
 as ought not to ftand on the roll, and the 
 voluminous catalogue will foon dwindle 
 into a narrow compafs. Regret if you 
 pleafe, your feparation from this fmall 
 remnant. Far be it from me, whilft I de- 
 claim again ft a fhameful and vicious weak- 
 nefs of mind, to prefcribe the fentiments 
 of a virtuous friendfhip. Regret your fe- 
 paration from your friends , but regret it 
 like a man who deferves to be theirs. This 
 is ftrength, not weaknefs of mind; it is 
 virtue, not vice. 
 
 BUT theleaft uneafinefs under the lofs of 
 the rank which \ve held is ignominious 
 There is no valuable rank among men 
 
 but
 
 464 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 
 
 but that which real merit afllgns. The 
 princes of the earth may give names, and 
 inftitute ceremonies, and exacl: the obfer- 
 vation of them ; their imbecility and their 
 wickednefs may prompt them to clothe 
 fools and knaves with robes of honour, and 
 emblems of wifdom and virtue: but no 
 man will be in truth fuperior to another, 
 without fuperior merit; and that rank can 
 no more be taken from us, than the merit 
 which eftablifhes it. The fupreme autho- 
 rity gives a fictitious and arbitrary value to 
 coin, which is therefore not current alike 
 in all times and in all places-, but the real 
 value remains invariable, and the provi- 
 dent man, who gets rid as faft as he ran 
 of the drofly piece, hoards up the good 
 filver. Thus merit will not procure the 
 fame confideration univerfally. But what 
 then ? the title to this confideration is the 
 fame and will be found alike in every cir- 
 cumftance by thofe who are wife and vir- 
 tuous themielves. If it is not owned by 
 fuch as are otherwife, nothing is how- 
 ever taken from us; we have no reafon 
 to complain. They confidered us for a 
 rank which we had; for our denomination, 
 not for our intrinfic value. We have 
 that rank, that denomination no longer, 
 and they confider us no longer: they ad- 
 mired
 
 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 465 
 
 mired in us what we admired not in our- 
 feives. If they learn to neglect us, let us 
 learn to pity them. Their afliduity was 
 importunate : let us not complain of the 
 eafe which this change procures us; let us 
 rather apprehend the return of that rank 
 and that power, which like a funny day, 
 would bring back thefe little infects, and 
 make them fwarrrt once more about us. 
 I know how apt we are, under fpecious 
 pretences, to difguife our weakneflfes and 
 our vices, and how often we fucceed not 
 only in deceiving the world, but even in 
 deceiving ourfelves. An inclination to do 
 good is infeparable from a virtuous mind, 
 and therefore the man, who cannot bear 
 with patience the lofs of that rank and 
 power which he enjoyed, may be willing to 
 attribute his regrets to the impoflibility 
 which he fuppofes himfelf reduced to of 
 fatisfying this inclination. But let fuch an 
 one know that a wife man contents him- 
 felf with doing as much good as his fitua- 
 tion allows him todo; that there is no fnu- 
 ation wherein we may not do a great deal: 
 and thafi when we are deprived of greater 
 power to do more good, we efcapeatthe fame 
 time the temptation of doing fome evil.* 
 
 * SEN. de con. ad HeT. 
 
 Gg THE
 
 466 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 
 
 THE inconveniencies, which we have 
 mentioned, carry nothing along with them 
 difficult to be borne by a wife and virtuous 
 man; and thofe which remain to be men- 
 tioned, contempt and ignominy, can never 
 fall to his lot. It is impofiible that he 
 who reverences himfelf mould be defpifed 
 by others; and how can ignominy affect 
 the man who collects all his ftrength within 
 himfelf, who appeals from the judgment 
 of the multitude to another tribunal, and 
 lives independent of mankind, and of the 
 accidents of life? CATO loft the election of 
 prsetor, and that of conful ; but is any one 
 blind enough to truth to imagine that thefe 
 repulfes reflected any difgrace on him? 
 The dignity of thofe two magiftracies would 
 have been encreafed by his wearing them. 
 They fuffered, not CATO. 
 
 You have fulfilled all the duties of a 
 good citizen, you have been true to your 
 truft, conftant in your engagements, and 
 have purfued the intereft of your coun- 
 try without regard to the enemies you 
 created, and the dangers you run. You 
 fevered her intereft, as much as lay in 
 your power, from thofe of her factions, and 
 from thofe of her neighbours and allies 
 too,. when they became different. She 
 
 reaps
 
 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE, 467 
 
 reaps the benefit of thefe fervices, and you 
 fuffer for them. You are banimed, and 
 purfued with ignominy, and thofe whom 
 you hindered from triumphing at her ex- 
 pence, revenge themfelves at yours. The 
 perfons, in oppofition to whom you ierved, 
 ^or even faved the public, confpire and ac- 
 complifli your private ruin. Thefe are 
 your acculers, and the giddy ungrateful 
 crowd your judges. Your name is hung 
 up in the tables of profcription, and art 
 joined to malice, endeavours to make your 
 beft adions pafs for crimes, and to (lain 
 your character. For this purpoie the fa- 
 cred voice of the fenate is made to pro- 
 nounce a lye, and thofe records, which 
 ought to be theeternal monuments of truth, 
 become the vouchers of impoiiure and ca- 
 lumny. Such circumftances as thefe you 
 think intolerable, and you would prefer 
 death to fo ignominious an exile. Deceive 
 not yourfelf. The ignominy remains with 
 them who perfecute unjuftly, not with 
 him who fuffers unjuft perfecution. " Re- 
 calcitrat undique tutus." Suppofe that in 
 the aft which banifhes you, it was de- 
 clared that you have fome contagious dif- 
 temper, that you are crooked, or other- 
 wife deformed. This would render the 
 G g 2 legiflators
 
 468 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 
 
 legiflators ridiculous.* The other renders 
 them infamous. But neither one nor the 
 other can affefl the man, who in an health- 
 ful well proportioned body enjoys a con- 
 fcience void of all the offences afcribed to 
 him. Inftead of fuch an exile, would you 
 compound, that you might live at home 
 in eafe and plenty, to be the inftnunent of 
 blending thefe contrary intereils once more 
 together, and of giving but the third place 
 to that of your country ? Would you pro- 
 ftitute her power to the ambition of others, 
 under the pretence of lecuring her from 
 imaginary dangers, and drain her riches 
 into the pockets of the meaneft and vileft 
 of her citizens, under the pretence of pay- 
 ing her debts? If you could fubmit to fo 
 infamous a competition, you are not the 
 man to whom I addrefs my difcourfe, or 
 with whom I will have any commerce: 
 and if you have virtue enough to difdain it, 
 why fhould you repine at the other alter- 
 native ? Banilhment from fuch a country, 
 and with fuch circumftances, is like 
 being delivered from prifon .DIOGENES 
 was driven out of the kingdom of Pontus 
 for counterfeiting die coin, and STRATO- 
 
 * The dialogue between CICERO and PHILISCUS. 
 DION. CAS. L. xxxviii. 
 
 N1CUS,
 
 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 469 
 
 NICUS thought that forgery might be com-, 
 mitted in order to gee banimed from Scri- 
 phos. But you have obtained your liberty 
 by doing your duty. 
 
 BANISHMENT, with all its train of evils, 
 is fo far from being the caufe of contempt, 
 that he who bears up with an undaunted 
 ipirit againft them, while fo many are de- 
 jeded by them, erects on his very misfor- 
 tunes a trophy to his honour: for fuch is 
 the frame and temper of our minds, that 
 nothing ftrikes us with greater admiration 
 than a man intrepid in the midll of mif- 
 fortunes. Of all ignominies an ignomi- 
 nious death muft be allowed to be the 
 greateft ; and yet where is the blafphemer 
 who will prefume to defame the death of 
 SOCRATES*? This faint entered the prifon 
 with the fame countenance with which he 
 reduced thirty tyrants, and he took off ig- 
 nominy from the place; for how could it 
 be deemed a prifon when SOCRATES was 
 there? PHOCION was led to execution in 
 the fame city, all thofe who met the fad 
 procefiion caft their eyes to the ground, 
 and with throbbing hearts bewailed, not 
 the innocent man, but juttice herielf, who 
 
 * SEN. De con. ad Hel. 
 
 G g 3 was
 
 470 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 
 
 was in him condemned. Yet there was a 
 wretch found, for monfters are fometimes 
 produced in contradiction to the ordinary 
 rules of nature, who fpit in his face as he 
 pafled along. PHOCION wiped his cheek, 
 fmiled, turned to the magiftrate, and faid, 
 " Admonifh this man not to be fo nafly for 
 " the future." 
 
 IGNOMINY then can take no hold on 
 Virtue*; for Virtue is in every condition 
 the fame, and challenges the fame refpect. 
 We applaud the world when (lie profpers ; 
 and when me falls into adverfity we ap- 
 plaud her. Like the temples of the Gods, 
 {he is venerable even in her ruins. After 
 this muft it not appear a degree of madnefs, 
 to defer one moment acquiring the 
 only arms capable of defending us againft 
 attacks which at every moment we are expo- 
 fed to ? Our being miferable, or not 
 miferable, when we fall into misfortunes, 
 depends on the manner in which we have 
 enjoyed profperity. If we have applied 
 ourfelves betimes to the ftudy of wifdom, 
 and to the practice of virtue, thefe evils 
 become indifferent j but if we have neg- 
 lected to dofo, they become neceifary. In 
 
 * SEN. De con. ad Hel.
 
 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 471 
 
 one cafe they are evil, in the other they 
 are remedies for greater evils than them- 
 ielves. ZENO* rejoiced that a fhipwreck 
 had thrown him on the Athenian coaft: 
 and he owed to the lofs of his fortune the 
 acquifition which he made of virtue of wif- 
 dom, of immortality. There are good 
 and bad airs for the mind, as well as for 
 the body. Profperity often irritates our 
 chronical diftempers, and leaves no hopes 
 of finding any fpecfic but in adverfity. 
 In fuch cafes, banimment is like change of 
 air, and the evils we fuffer are like rough 
 medicines applied to inveterate difeafes. 
 What-}- ANACHARSIS faid of the vine, may 
 aptly enough be laid of profperity. She 
 bears the three grapes of drunkennefs, of 
 pleafure, and of forrow, and happy it is 
 if the laft can cure the mifchief which the 
 former work. When afflictions fail to 
 have their due effect, the cafe is defperate. 
 They are thelaft remedies which indulgent 
 Providence ufes: and if they fail, we muft 
 languilh and die in mifery and contempt. 
 Vain men! how leldom do we know what 
 to wifh or to pray for ? When we pray 
 againft misfortunes, and when we fear 
 them mod, we want them moft. It was 
 for this reaion that PYTHAGORAS forbid his 
 
 * Dio. LAER. f SEN. 
 
 G 3 4 difci-
 
 472 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 
 
 difciples to afk any thing in particular of 
 GOD. The Ihorteft and the beft prayer 
 which we can addrefs to him, who knows 
 our wants, and our ignorance in afking, is 
 this: " Thy will be done." 
 
 TULLY fays, in fome part of his works, 
 that as happinefs is the object of all philo- 
 fophy, fo the difputes among philofo- 
 phers arife from their different notions of 
 the fovereign good. Reconcile them in 
 that point, you reconcile them in the reft. 
 The fchool of Zeno placed this fovereign 
 good in naked virtue, and wound the prin- 
 ciple up to an extreme beyond the pitch 
 of nature and truth. A fpirit of oppofition 
 to another doctrine, which grew into great 
 vogue while ZENO flourished, might occa- 
 fion this excefs. EPICURUS placed the 
 fovereign good in pleafure. His terms 
 were wilfully, or accidentally miftaken. 
 His fcholars might help to prevent his 
 doctrine, but rivalfhip inflamed the dif- 
 pute ; for in truth there is not fo much 
 difference between ftoicifm reduced to rea- 
 fonable intelligible terms, and genuine or- 
 thodox epicurifm, as is imagined. The 
 felicis animi immota tranquillitas, and the 
 voluptas of the latter are near enough a-kin : 
 and 1 much doubt whether the firmeft hero 
 
 of
 
 REFLECTIONS upon EXILF. 473 
 
 of the Portique would have borne a fit of 
 the (tone, on the principle of ZENO, with 
 greater magnanimity and patience than 
 EPICURUS did, on thole of his own philo- 
 fophy.* However, ARISTOTLE took a 
 middle way, or explained himfelf better, 
 and placed happinefs in the joint advan- 
 tages of the mind, the body, and of for- 
 tune. They are reafonably joined; but 
 certain it is, that they muft not be placed 
 on an equal foot. We can much better 
 bear the privation of the lad, than of the 
 others; and poverty itielf, which mankind 
 is fo afraid of, " per mare pauperiem fu- 
 " giens, per faxa, per ignes," is furely 
 preferable to madneis, or the ftone, though 
 -J-CHRYSIPPUS thought it better to live mad, 
 than not to live! ifbanifhment therefore, 
 by taking from us the advantages of for- 
 tune cannot take from us the more valuable 
 advantages of the mind and body, when 
 we have them; and if the fame accident 
 is able to reftore them to us, when we have 
 
 * Compare thereprefentations made fo frequently 
 of the doftrine of volupty taught by EPICURUS. 
 with the account which he himfelf gives in his letter 
 toMENoecEus, of the fenfe wherein he underftoed 
 this word. Vid. DIOG LAER. 
 
 f In his third book of Nacure, cited by PLU- 
 TARCH, in the treatife on the contradictions of 
 ;he Stoics. 
 
 lolt
 
 474 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 
 
 loft them, banimment is a very flight mif- 
 fortune to thofe who are already under the 
 dominion of reafon, and a very great blef- 
 fing to thofe who are ftili plunged in vices 
 which ruin the health, both of body and 
 mind. It is to be wilhed for, in favour of 
 fuch as thefe, and to be feared by none. 
 If we are in this cafe, let us fecond the de- 
 figns of Providence in our favour, and make 
 fome amends for neglecting former oppor- 
 tunities by not letting flip the laft. " Si 
 mlis fanir, curres hydropicus." We may 
 ihorten the evils which we might have pre- 
 vented, and as we get the better of our 
 diforderly paffions, and vicious habits, we 
 fhall feel our anxiety diminifh in propor- 
 tion. All the approaches to virtue are 
 comfortable. With how much joy will 
 the man, who improves his misfortunes in 
 this manner, difcover that thofe evils, 
 which he attributed to his exile, fprung 
 from his vanity and folly, and vanim with 
 them ! He will fee that, in his former tem- 
 per of mind, he refembled the effeminate 
 prince who could drink no* water but that 
 of the river Choafpes-, or the fimple queen, 
 in one of the tragedies of EURIPIDES, who 
 complained bitterly, that fhe had not 
 
 PLUT. On banifhment. 
 
 lighted
 
 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 475 
 
 lighted the nuptial torch, and that the river 
 Ifmenus had not furnifhed the water at her 
 fon's wedding. Seeing his former ftate in 
 this ridiculous light, he will labour on 
 with pleafure towards another as conrrary 
 as poffible to it; and when he arrives there, 
 he will be convinced by the ftrongeft of all 
 proofs, his own experience, that he was 
 unfortunate, becaule he was vicious, not 
 becaufe he was banifhed. 
 
 IF I was not afraid of being thought to re- 
 fine too much, I would venture to put fome 
 advantages of fortune, which are due to 
 exile, into the fcale againft thofe which we 
 lofe by exile. One there is which has been 
 neglecled even by great and wile men. 
 DEMETRIUS PHALEREUS, after his expul- 
 fion from Athens, became firft minifter to 
 the king of ^)GYPT; and THZMISTOCLES 
 found fuch a reception at the court of Perfia, 
 that he ufed to fay his fortune had been 
 loft if he had not been ruined. But DE- 
 METRIUS expofed himielf, by his favour un- 
 der the firil PTOLMY, to a new difgrace 
 under the fecond: and THEMISTOCLES, 
 who had been the captain of a free people, 
 became the vafial of the prince he had con- 
 quered. How much better is it to take 
 hold of the proper advantage of exile, and 
 
 to
 
 476 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 
 
 to live for ourfelves, when we are under 
 no obligation of living for others? SIMILIS, 
 a captain of great reputation under TRAJAN 
 and ADRIAN, having obtained leave to 
 retire, pafied feven years in his retreat, 
 and then dying, ordered this infcription to 
 be put on his tomb: that he had been 
 many years on earth, but that he had lived 
 only feven.* If you are wife, your leifure 
 will be worthily employed, and your retreat 
 will add new luftre to your character. Imi- 
 tate THUCYDIDES in Thracia, or XENO- 
 PHON in his little farm at Scillus. In fuch 
 a retreat you may fit down, like one of the 
 inhabitants of Elis, who judged of the 
 Olympic games, without taking any part in 
 them. Far from the hurry of the world, 
 and almoft an unconcerned fpe&ator of 
 what pafles in it, having paid in a public 
 life what you owed to the prefcnt age, pay 
 in a private life what you owe to pofterity. 
 Write, as you live, without paffion; and, 
 build your reputation, as you build your 
 happinefs, on the foundations of truth. 
 If you want the talents, the inclination, or 
 the neceflary materials for fuch a work, 
 fall not however into (loth. Endeavour to 
 
 * XlPHlL. 
 
 copy
 
 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 477- 
 
 copy after the example of SCIPIO, at Lin- 
 ternum. Be able to fay to yourfelf, 
 
 " Innocuas amo delicias doclamque 
 " quietem." 
 
 Rural arriufements, and philofophical me- 
 ditations, will make your hours glide 
 fmoothly on-, and if the indulgence of 
 Heaven has given you afriend likeL^KLius, 
 nothing is wanting to make you completely 
 happy. 
 
 THESE are fomeof thofe reflections which 
 may ferve to fortify the mind under ba- 
 nimment, and under other misfortunes 
 of life, which it is every man's intereft to 
 prepare for, becaufe they are common to 
 al men*: 1 fay they are common, to all 
 men; becaufe they who even efcape them 
 are equally expofed to them. The dares 
 of adverfe fortune are always levelled at 
 our heads. Some reach us, fome graze 
 againft us, and fly to wound our neigh- 
 bours. Let us therefore impofe an equal 
 temper on our minds, and pay without 
 murmuring, the tribute which we owe to 
 humanity. The winter brings cold, and 
 
 * SBK. Ep. 107. 
 
 we
 
 478 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE. 
 
 we mud freeze. The fummer returns with 
 heat, and we rnuft meit. The inclemency 
 of the air diforders our health, andwe mutt 
 be fick. Here we are expofed to wild 
 beafts, and there to men more favage than 
 the beafts: and if we efcape the inconve- 
 niencies and dangers of the air and the 
 earth, there are perils by water, and perils 
 by fire. This eftabliihed courfe of things 
 it is not incur power to change j but it is 
 in our power to affume liich a greatnefs of 
 mind as becomes wife and virtuous men-, 
 as may enable us to encounter the acci- 
 dents of life with fortitude, and to conform 
 ourfelves to the order of nature, who go- 
 verns her great kingdom, the world, by 
 continual mutations. Let us fubmit to 
 this order, let us be perfuaded, that what- 
 ever does happen ought to happen, and 
 never be fo foolim as to expoftulate with 
 nature. The belt relblution we can take 
 is to i'uffer w hat we cannot alter, and to 
 purfue, without repining, the road which 
 Providence who directs every thing, has 
 marked out to us: for it is not enough to 
 follow; and he is but a bad foldier who 
 fighs, and marches on with rductancy. 
 We muft receive the orders with fpiric and 
 thc'arfulnefs, and not endeavour to (link 
 
 ouc
 
 REFLECTIONS upon EXILE, 479 
 
 out of the poft which is afllgned to us in 
 this beautiful difpofition of things, where- 
 of even our fufferings make a necefiary 
 part. Let us addrefs ourfelves to GOD^ 
 who governs all, as CLEANTHES did in 
 thofe admirable verfes, which are going 
 to lofe part of their grace and energy in 
 my translation of them. 
 
 Parent of nature! Matter of the World! 
 Where'er thy Providence diredts, behold 
 My fteps with chearful refignation turn. 
 Fate leads the willing, drags the backward on. 
 Why (hould I grieve, when grieving I muft bear? 
 Or take with guilt, what guiltlefs I might {hare. 
 
 Thus let us fpeak, and thus let us aft: 
 Refignation to the will of GOD is true 
 magnanimity. But the fure mark of a pu- 
 fillanimous and bafe fpirit, is to flruggle 
 againft, tocenfure the order of Providence, 
 and, inftead of mending our own conduct, 
 to fct up for correcting that of our maker. 
 
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