THE COMPLETE WORKS 

OF 

GEORGE SAVILE 

MARQUESS OF HALIFAX 






THE 

COMPLETE WORKS 



OF GEORGE SAVILE 



FIRST MARQUESS OF HALIFAX



Edited with an Introduction 
By WALTER RALEIGH 




1912 



HENRY FROWDE 

PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD 

LONDON, EDINBURGH, NEW YORK 

TORONTO AND MELBOURNE 



ill 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION vii 

MISCELLANIES, 1700: 

ADVICE TO A DAUGHTER ..... 1 

THE CHARACTER OF A TRIMMER ... 47 

THE ANATOMY OF AN EQUIVALENT . . . 104 

A LETTER TO A DISSENTER . . . . 128 

CAUTIONS FOR CHOICE OF PARLIAMENT MEN . 142 

A ROUGH DRAUGHT OF A NEW MODEL AT SEA 168 

MAXIMS OF STATE ...... 180 

A LETTER TO CHARLES COTTON, ESQ. . . 185 

A CHARACTER OF KING CHARLES THE 
SECOND: AND POLITICAL, MORAL 
AND MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS 
AND REFLECTIONS, 1750: 

A CHARACTER OF KING CHARLES II . . 187 

POLITICAL THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS . . 209 

MORAL THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS . . 230 

MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS . 244 



736281 



Vll 



INTRODUCTION. 

IT would have given no displeasure to Sir George Savile, 
First Marquess of Halifax, to think that by later generations 
of his countrymen he should be almost forgotten. States- 
men are easily forgotten. A prosperous lie made Titus 
Oates immortal ; but the man who was the practical 
genius of the English Revolution, and the acutest critical 
genius among English politicians, is now little more than 
a name. What is most commonly remembered about him 
is that he was called the * Trimmer '. The nickname 
was put upon him angrily by his contemporaries, and was 
worn proudly by himself. The imputation it conveyed 
was, no doubt, that he trimmed his sails to the varying 
breezes of opinion ; but in his famous pamphlet, the noise 
of which still echoes distantly in the public ear, he changed 
the metaphor. A boat, he said, goes ill, and is in danger 
of capsizing, if the people in it weigh it down all on one 
side, or all on the other. But there is a kind of men ' who 
conceive that it would do as well if the boat went even, 
without endangering the passengers '. And it is hard to 
imagine, he adds, how it should come to be a fault, or 
a heresy, to attempt to trim the boat. 

He calls it a boat (he never uses magnificent or extrava- 
gant language), but what he means is the ship of State, 
that ship on whose seaworthiness the lives even of the 
mutineers depend. Halifax was a pilot for the greater 
part of his responsible life, and his chief care was always 
the State. His reputation has none of that glamour which 
shines upon heroic folly. The leader of a forlorn hope 
excites a ready enthusiasm; the martyr for an idea, the 
rebel who will have his own way or nothing, the stickler 
for principle, who cares little to stay in a world where his 

darling 



viii INTRODUCTION. 



darling creed is not to prevail all these are easily made 
into heroes, and worshipped for their courage. But the 
pilot, to whom danger and difficulty are not heroic crises, 
but the very material of his craft, or the engine-driver, 
who has had the care of a thousand lives in his sole charge, 
goes home unnoticed, and takes his modest wage. On 
his constancy and judgement the safety of humanity 
depends ; his faith and skill have made it possible for the 
thoughtless passengers to dream in peace and to warm 
their imagination with the admirable deeds of fiction. 
Life would be a poorer thing than it is if work of this 
kind were rewarded by monuments and testimonials and 
public fame. The old Roman way is better : expect the 
best from your political servants, and try them for treason 
if they give you less. 

Not many men have written books on the practical 
business of their lives. Statesmen have commonly been 
content to make laws, or treaties, leaving it to philosophers 
to expound the principles of politics. It is the fascination 
of the writings of Halifax that they were suggested by his 
experience of life, and are crammed with the lessons drawn 
directly from that experience. Here are no flights of the 
imagination, no ingenious ornaments of style, no beautiful 
vanities of authorship. He quotes none of those fallacious 
historical precedents which are dear to the mind of the 
academic scholar ; his writings are bare of classical 
allusion. What he has to tell is what he has found out for 
himself in the course of his traffic with the world ; but 
he tells it with so much wit and irony, with such acute- 
ness of observation and pungency of phrasing, that he 
runs some risk of losing the esteem of those who think 
that wise men must needs be dull. Moreover, books have 
failed, from time immemorial, to convey the lessons of 
experience ; and the wisdom of life can be bought only by 
the expenditure of life itself. Old men would be very glad 

to 



INTRODUCTION. ix 

to tell what they know, but they cannot hope to be under- 
stood. If they are wise, they say little ; if they are foolish, 
they babble pleasantly enough, but have nothing to tell. 
Halifax has much to tell, but a beginner is not likely to 
learn it. On the other hand, a man who has served on 
a jury, or has stood an election, or has been responsible 
for the management of any business, will feel a thrill of 
pleasure when his own experience is brought home to him 
again in that brilliant epigrammatic dress. English litera- 
ture is very rich ; only a very rich literature could have 
afforded to neglect so distinguished a writer. But it is 
not rich in practical wisdom ; and the neglect of Halifax 
is a thing to be regretted and amended. 

His writings are strangely modern, and, withal, are 
wholly English. The politics of this country have altered 
very little, one would say, since the days of the Exclusion 
Bill. Indeed it is one of the chief attractions of Seven- 
teenth-Century history that there is hardly a live question 
to-day which was unknown to the men of that time. It is 
something to feel that we are not more fantastic or absurd 
than our ancestors. Any one who reads the pamphlets 
which contain Halifax's reflections on the controversies of 
his own time will find himself, almost against his will, 
applying these reflections to the matter of to-day. No 
violence is required to make the application ; page after 
page of the pamphlets might have been written yester- 
day for all the evidence that they show of bygone modes. 
It is a fashion nowadays to decry the Party system 
in politics. Once upon a time (so the argument runs) 
Party names stood for something real ; they marked 
fundamental and irreconcilable differences of opinion on 
essential questions. But now they have become empty of 
meaning, the pretexts of competitors for power and 
reward. Such an account of the Party system is not 
good history. Swift, who lived when the succession to 

the 



INTRODUCTION. 



the Crown was a Party question, made light of Whig and 
Tory, and here, at the very birth of the system, is Halifax, 
its most destructive critic. The names of Whig and Tory 
do not occur in his works. He disliked devotion in a con- 
venticle, and loyalty in a drunken Club. He was troubled 
to see men of all sides sick of a calenture. He knew that 
men, though they forget much, never forget themselves ; and 
that the World is nothing but Vanity cut out into several 
shapes. His remarks Of Parties in his Political Thoughts and 
Reflections are the severest things ever said about Party : 

* It turneth all Thought into talking instead of doing. 
Men get a habit of being unuseful to the Publick by turn- 
ing in a Circle of Wrangling and Railing, which they 
cannot get out of.' 

4 Ignorance maketh most Men go into a Party, and 
Shame keepeth them from getting out of it.' 

The fact is that the rigours of Party, which are easily 
maintained, with all their consequences, by logicians, 
journalists, and theorists, will not suffer the practical test. 
Men exalt themselves on their principles, and glory in the 
partition which separates the sheep from the goats, who 
prove, after all, to be only the other sheep. But the 
English have a genius for government, and when govern- 
ment is the business in hand, this separatist method has 
no value. Men who differ rabidly on principles will find 
that the lessons they learn from experience have a tendency 
to be the same. Then, if they change their course, or 
modify the policy which has been so bravely announced, 
they are accused of being false. The charge is true ; they 
have been false ; but it was their thinking and talking 
that was false, not their corrected action. The melodrama 
of their boastful creed would not bear translation into the 
life of this world. They have been the dupes of literature ; 
all that is heroic in literature is simple and straightfor- 
ward, but then, the hero is prepared to die. Society is not 

prepared 



INTRODUCTION. xi 

prepared to die for a creed, and politics is a vast complex 
network of means to an end, the end being the continued 
life and comfort of mankind. It is the irony of the states- 
man's position that while his work is very like the work 
of a good housekeeper, the literary deceits and fictions 
incident to the process of persuasion invite us to regard 
him as a hero of romance, a lone figure on a mountain 
peak, silhouetted against the moon. ' I think it 's the 
novels ', said the old lady quoted by Mr. Bagehot, * that 
make my girls so heady.' 

The old political families of England, who have borne 
a hand for generations in the government of the country, 
are often exempt from these errors. They are not easily 
intoxicated by public duties, which have been their matter- 
of-fact business for centuries. You may call them Whig 
or Tory, it makes little difference ; some third name, more 
fundamental in its implications, is needed to describe 
them. They look at things instinctively from the point 
of view of the administration. The fervours of the pulpit 
and the platform do not much delight them. It was the 
great advantage of George Savile that he was born into 
such a family, and was connected by kinship, or by the 
accidents of life, with many of the most influential persons 
of that age. Sir Henry Savile, wit and scholar, Warden of 
Merton College, Oxford, and Provost of Eton, perhaps the 
most learned Greek scholar of Elizabethan England, was 
his distant kinsman. The Lord Keeper Coventry was his 
grandfather. The great Earl of Straff ord was his father's 
uncle. Anthony Ashley Cooper, first Earl of Shaftesbury, 
who vies with one other claimant for the credit of being 
the first Whig, was his uncle by marriage, his colleague, 
and, in the end, his rival. Lady Dorothy Sidney, Waller's 
' Sacharissa ', was his wife's mother. More notable still, 
the famous Earl of Chesterfield was his grandson. In 
short, he was intimately connected with most of those 

whose 



xii INTRODUCTION. 

whose names fill the pages of English History during the 
latter half of the Seventeenth Century, and was a witness 
of the events of that history from a position of extra- 
ordinary vantage. His family, moreover, though staunchly 
Royalist, managed to keep possession of its estates, and 
in 1643, when his father, Sir William Savile, after loyal 
service rendered to the King, died at the age of thirty-one, 
the young George Savile had the ball at his feet. Con- 
cerning his youth and education we know next to nothing. 
He was born in 1633, and was brought up under the 
control of his widowed mother, who was a woman of 
strong character. When she died, in 1662, her son was 
already married, settled on his estate of Rufford, in 
Nottinghamshire, and prominent in public life. 1 He was 
described, later, by Evelyn the diarist, as * a very rich 
man, very witty, and in his younger days somewhat 
positive '. His wit and his riches he kept throughout life ; 
his opinions became less positive. His wit was perhaps 
his chief fault ; he could not keep it under, or refuse 
himself a pointed jest. * One great argument ', says a con- 
temporary account, * of the prodigious depth and quickness 
of his sense is, that many of his observations and wise 
sayings were on the sudden, when talking to a friend or 
going from him.' The spontaneity and freedom of his 
talk was ill taken by Clarendon and other cautious and 
explanatory persons, and Savile was reputed to be void of 
all sense of religion which he certainly was not. Later, 
among his Moral Thoughts and Reflections, he says, * There 
is so much Danger in Talking, that a Man strictly wise 
can hardly be called a sociable Creature.' This was a 

lesson 

1 AH who concern themselves with Halifax must acknowledge their 
great debt to the careful and exhaustive work of Miss Foxcroft, The Life 
and Letters of Sir George Savile, Bart., First Marquis of Halifax, tfcc., with 
a new edition of his works now for the first time collected and revised by 
H. C. Foxcroft. Two volumes, Longmans, 1898. 



INTRODUCTION. xiii 

lesson that he learned but slowly, if indeed he ever learned 
it. His conduct of business was discreet almost to a fault ; 
his letters are so prudent and reserved that they are 
amazingly dull to read ; but he indemnified himself for 
these restraints by the freedom of his intimate conversa- 
tion. The writings in which he has allowed himself most 
of this freedom were either non-political, like his Advice 
to a Daughter, or were posthumously published, like his 
Character of King Charles the Second : and Political, 
Moral and Miscellaneous Thoughts and Reflections. These 
are the best of his works. That prudence and discretion 
which keeps a man safe and sequestered in life conceals 
him also from the notice of later generations ; the same 
caution which delivers him from malicious gossip, puts 
him beyond the reach of posthumous sympathy. Halifax, 
the author, appeals to our interest because he says many 
things which politicians know and do not say. To avoid 
even paltry enmities may be the clear duty of a states- 
man. ' It is a Misfortune ', Halifax remarks, ' for a Man 
not to have a Friend in the World, but for that reason he 
shall have no Enemy.' 

The events of his public life, as parliamentary leader, 
as Minister under Charles II, as President of the Council 
under James II, and as Lord Privy Seal under William III, 
are written broad on the history of England, and cannot 
be recorded here. He bore a hand in all the chief events 
of the time, from the Restoration onwards, to his death, 
in 1695. His importance may be well measured by this, 
that it never depended on the office that he held. He was 
respected, consulted, and feared in opposition no less than 
when he was chief Minister of the Crown. The greatest of 
his achievements, it will probably be agreed, was the rejec- 
tion of the Exclusion Bill in 1680 by the House of Lords. 
No record remains of the speeches made ; but the severity 
and brilliancy of his duel with Shaftesbury is attested by 

many 



xiv INTRODUCTION. 

many contemporaries. He stood up to Shaftesbury, and 
answered him every time he spoke. He carried the House, 
in the end, triumphantly with him. It was a triumph not 
so much of argument as of intelligence and insight. He 
understood the temper of the people of England as Shaftes- 
bury never did, and he knew that the ebullitions of popular 
enthusiasm are no safe index to that temper. Monmouth 
was adored by the people ; the Duke of York was neither 
liked nor loved. Shaftesbury thought to earn the nation's 
gratitude by offering them Monmouth in place of York. 
He miscalculated cruelly ; the people did not fear a new 
King ; but they did fear a Kingmaker. The whole edifice 
of constitutional monarchy was designed not for the pro- 
tection of bad kings, but for the humiliation of arrogant 
ministers. This Halifax understood ; so he became the 
guardian of the Constitution, and later, when James II 
had set himself to break the Constitution, the guiding 
spirit of the Revolution. His politics are our politics ; 
his political creed remains in the Twentieth Century what 
it was in the Seventeenth Century, the creed of John Bull. 
But the rare delight is to find John Bull a wit 1 Wit is 
commonly employed in extremes, where it works most 
easily. To satirize novelty, and ridicule all that is unfami- 
liar ; or, reversing the process, to ridicule all that is 
familiar, to deny the truth of proverbs and to flout the 
sayings that embody general opinion these devices fur- 
nish wit with a simple and effective mechanism. But 
Halifax employs the subtlest resources of wit in defence 
of the practical expedient, the middle course, the reason- 
able compromise. 

Dryden pays tribute, in Absalom and Achitophel, not 
only to the wit of Halifax, but to his courage and 
eloquence : 

Jotham of piercing Wit and pregnant Thought, 
Endew'd by nature and by learning taught 

To 



INTRODUCTION. xv 

To move Assemblies, who but onely tri'd 
The worse a while, then chose the better side ; 
Nor chose alone, but turned the Balance too ; 
So much the weight of one brave man can do. 

Indeed, for all that he is called the Trimmer, Halifax has 
been very generally recognized for an upright and honour- 
able man. He was promoted, by steady gradation, to high 
honours and high offices, yet no one has been found foolish 
enough to pretend that he was a self-seeker. Macaulay, 
who expresses some distrust of him in the Essays, and 
introduces him, in the History, as one who was not suffi- 
ciently indifferent to titles of honour, makes amends, in 
a later passage, by a full and generous eulogy : 

' What distinguishes him from all other English states- 
men is this, that, through a long public life, and through 
frequent and violent revolutions of public feeling, he almost 
invariably took that view of the great questions of his 
time which history has finally adopted. He was called 
inconstant, because the relative position in which he stood 
to the contending factions was perpetually varying. As 
well might the pole-star be called inconstant because it is 
sometimes to the east and sometimes to the west of the 
pointers. To have defended the ancient and legal con- 
stitution of the realm against a seditious populace at one 
conjunction, and against a tyrannical government at 
another ; to have been the foremost champion of order in 
the turbulent Parliament of 1680, and the foremost 
champion of liberty in the servile Parliament of 1685 ; 
to have been just and merciful to Roman Catholics in the 
days of the Popish plot, and to Exclusionists in the days 
of the Rye House plot ; to have done all in his power to 
save both the head of Stafford and the head of Russell ; 
this was a course which contemporaries, heated by passion^ 
might not unnaturally call fickle, but which deserves a very 
different name from the later justice of posterity.' 

One stain, and one only, Macaulay finds on his memory, 
that in the reign of William III he stooped to hold com- 
munication with the exiled Court of St. Germain. The 
fact is not disputed, but a wise judgement on the fact asks 

for 



xvi INTRODUCTION. 

for a more active and careful imagination than is usually 
brought to it. The black-and-white school of moralists 
are not valuable critics of the politics of the Seventeenth 
Century. They would be better employed in writing 
laudatory biographies of the authors of Histriomastix 
and Eluwv /3ao-iAiK7j. For many years it was not 
certain who was King of England. It was not certain 
whether England was to be a monarchy or a common- 
wealth. Many patriotic Englishmen had been driven 
abroad, and hardly a man of note had not relatives in 
France. In these civil conflicts, which divide families, the 
law of treason must needs be humanely interpreted ; and 
the offence proved against Halifax amounts only to mis- 
prision of treason ; that is to say, he did not cut off all 
confidential relations with his friends and acquaintance on 
the other side. 

This, at any rate, is certain, he never for one moment 
sought any other end than the security and greatness of 
England. He very early recognized that one portentous 
question was beginning to obscure the whole political 
horizon. * The Greatness of France,' wrote the English 
Envoy at Lisbon, * as I have heard your Lordship observe, 
hath made all old politics useless.' So, in 1668, he wel- 
comed the Triple Alliance between England, Holland, and 
Sweden, to hold Louis XIV in check. So far, his politics 
were the politics of William of Orange. But William of 
Orange was a European statesman and general ; Halifax 
was purely an Englishman. He was glad to have the help 
of alliances, but he did not like to have to trust to them. 
Real friendships between nations are things of very slow 
and difficult growth ; while friendships between govern- 
ments are subject to the dangers and disadvantages of 
friendships between two bodies of trustees representing 
different interests. If such friendships are immutable, 
they are dishonest. Halifax was not deceived by them. 

In 






INTRODUCTION. xvii 

In a letter to Sir William Temple, written shortly before the 
Triple Alliance was concluded, he discusses the possibility 
of a French invasion, and concludes : ' We must rely upon 
the Oak and Courage of England to do our Business, there 
being small Appearance of anything to help us from abroad.' 
Many fine things have been said of England by English- 
men ; none of them more sincere and moving than the 
things said by Halifax. He is a quiet writer, critical and 
sceptical, keenly aware of the absurdity of enthusiasm. 
He keeps his feelings so well in hand that he has the reputa- 
tion of a cynic. But this is how he writes of England : 

' Our Trimmer is far from Idolatry in other things, in 
one thing only he cometh near it, his Country is in some 
degree his Idol ; he doth not Worship the Sun, because 'tis 
not peculiar to us, it rambles about the World, and is less 
kind to us than others ; but for the Earth of England, 
tho perhaps inferior to that of many places abroad, to him 
there is Divinity in it, and he would rather dye, than see 
a spire of English Grass trampled down by a Foreign Tres- 
passer : He thinketh there are a great many of his mind, 
for all plants are apt to taste of the Soyl in which they 
grow, and we that grow here, have a Root that produceth 
in us a Stalk of English Juice, which is not to be changed 
by grafting or foreign infusion ; and I do not know whether 
any thing less will prevail, than the Modern Experiment, 
by which the Blood of one Creature is transmitted into 
another ; according to which, before the French blood can 
be let into our Bodies, every drop of our own must be 
drawn out of them.' 

When these words were written England stood in greater 
danger of invasion than she has known at any later time, 
unless it were in the time of Napoleon. Halifax had seen 
the Navy driven off the sea by the Dutch, and the shipping 
in the Thames burnt, yet the people were slow to awake 
to their danger. In the pamphlet entitled A Rough Draught 
of a New Model at Sea, which was published in 1694, but 
was probably written earlier, he tries to awaken them. 
He knew the difficulty of the attempt. 

'A 



xviii INTRODUCTION. 

*A Nation is a great while', he observes, 'before they 
can see, and generally they must feel first before their 
Sight is quite cleared. This maketh it so long before they 
can see their Interest, that for the most part it is too late 
for them to pursue it : If Men must be supposed always 
to follow their true Interest, it must be meant of a New 
Manufactory of Mankind by God Almighty ; there must 
be some new Clay, the old Stuff never yet made any such 
infallible Creature.' 

Yet the means to safety was clear, and he puts it in the 
forefront of his argument : 

* I will make no other Introduction to the following Dis- 
course, than that as the Importance of our being strong 
at Sea, was ever very great, so in our present Circumstances 
it is grown to be much greater ; because, as formerly our 
Force of Shipping contributed greatly to our Trade and 
Safety ; so now it is become indispensibly necessary to 
our very Being. 

* It may be said now to England, Martha, Martha, thou 
art busy about many things, but one thing is necessary. To 
the Question, What shall we do to be saved in this World ? 
there is no other Answer but this, Look to your Moate. 

* The first Article of an English-man's Political Creed 
must be, That he believeth in the Sea, &c. without that 
there needeth no General Council to pronounce him in- 
capable of Salvation here.' 

This is all very modern, and so also are his recommenda- 
tions in the matter of commissions in the Navy. It is 
perhaps no bad vindication of his opinions that they are 
in complete agreement with the best practice of the Navy 
from that time to this. There were those who held that 
all naval officers should be gentlemen born, as there were 
others who held that they should all be tarpaulins that 
is, men who had been bred from boyhood to the rough 
work of practical seamen. He discusses the merits and 
faults of both sorts of officer, and rejects both proposals 
as evil extremes. There must be a mixture, he holds, of 
the two classes, in a proportion to be determined by 
experiment and circumstance ; and the dangers that may 

attend 



INTRODUCTION. xix 

attend the mixture are to be avoided by one main pre- 
caution : 

* The Gentlemen shall not be capable of bearing Office 
at Sea, except they be Tarpaulins too ; that is to say, 
except they are so trained up by a continued habit of living 
at Sea, that they may have a Right to be admitted free 
Denizens of Wapping.' 

There must be an end of sending idle young noblemen 
to sea in positions of authority. 

* When a Gentleman is preferr'd at Sea, the Tarpaulin is 
very apt to impute it to Friend or Favour : But if that 
Gentleman hath before his Preferment passed through all 
the Steps which lead to it, so that he smelleth as much of 
Pitch and Tar, as those that were Swadled in Sail-Cloath ; 
his having an Escutcheon will be so far from doing him 
harm, that it will set him upon the advantage Ground : It 
will draw a real Respect to his Quality when so supported, 
and give him an Influence and Authority infinitely superior 
to that which the meer Sea man can ever pretend to.' 

A sailor can never be fit to command till he has learned 
to obey ; nor can he be trusted to inflict punishments to 
which he has never been liable. 

* When the undistinguished Discipline of a Ship hath 
tamed the young Mastership, which is apt to arise from 
a Gentleman's Birth and Education, he then groweth 
Proud in the right place, and valueth himself first upon 
knowing his Duty, and then upon doing it.' 

The experience of the two wars with Holland had plenti- 
fully illustrated the evils of which Halifax speaks ; it was 
his own knowledge of human nature which directed him so 
clearly to the remedy. 

. The works of Halifax all belong to the last ten years or 
so of his life. The earliest of them, The Character of a 
Trimmer, is a complete handbook to the politics of the 
closing years of Charles the Second's reign. The Letter to 
a Dissenter and The Anatomy of an Equivalent, which 
followed it within a few months, are directed against 
James the Second's famous attempt to buy off the 

hostility 
b2 



xx INTRODUCTION. 

hostility of the Dissenters by including them in his project 
of toleration. None of these tracts, when first printed, 
bore the author's name. The naval tract mentioned above, 
and the tract entitled Some Cautions Offered to the Con- 
sideration of Those who are to Chuse Members to Serve for 
the Ensuing Parliament, are also anonymous, and are his 
latest writings. When the ensuing Parliament came to be 
elected he had been six months dead. All his worldly 
wisdom shines in this last tract, which, again, applies 
almost without change to the circumstances of to-day. 
The last satirical injunction has a strangely familiar ring : 

* In the mean time, after having told my Opinion, Who 
ought not to be Chosen : 

' If I should be ask'd, Who ought to be, my Answer 
must be, Chuse Englishmen ; and when I have said that, 
to deal honestly, I will not undertake that they are easy 
to be found.' 

In some ways his Advice to a Daughter, which, alone 
among the writings published during his lifetime, seems 
to have been carefully prepared by his own hand for the 
press, is the most attractive of his works. It was written 
for his daughter Elizabeth, who became the wife of the 
third Earl of Chesterfield, and the mother of a famous son. 
The habit of giving advice to the younger generation would 
appear to have been hereditary in the family. But Halifax's 
social maxims are more profound than Chesterfield's, as 
his political maxims are more profound than Boling- 
broke's. The book was immensely popular ; it ran through 
some twenty-five editions, and held the field for almost 
a century, to be superseded at last by Dr. Gregory's 
Father's Legacy and Mrs. Chapone's Letters on the Improve- 
ment of the Mind. The Advice is somewhat melancholy in 
tone. The author sets before his daughter no ideas of self- 
advancement, and indulges her with scant hopes of happi- 
ness. There is too little room in his scheme for the holiday 
virtues, and the free play of impulse. * Whilst you are 

playing 



INTRODUCTION. xxi 

playing full of Innocence, the spitefull World will bite, 
except you are guarded by your Caution.'' His words are 
a prophylactic against the inevitable ills of life. His 
section on a Husband is devoted mainly to considerations 
which may palliate a husband's faults and vices. His com- 
mandments are commandments without promise. There 
is to be no relaxation ; life is one long fencing-bout. ' You 
are to have as strict a Guard upon yourself amongst your 
Children, as if you were amongst your Enemies.' This is 
a wise remark, but it does not make home seem a place 
of warmth and ease. The same cold good sense and 
discernment govern his thinking on such topics as Religion 
and Friendship. He is judicious, sane, and balanced, but 
he does not think of the world as a cheerful place. 

Yet, with all this, there is something very moving in 
his solicitude. His high principles of conduct and his deep 
affection for his daughter peep out unwittingly here and 
there. It is small wonder that the book was cherished by 
her, and lay always upon her table. The calm of the 
perfectly well-bred style forbids all direct expression of the 
emotions, but the impression it makes is all the greater. 
' When my Fears prevail, I shrink as if I was struck, at the 
Prospect of Danger, to which a young Woman must be 
expos' d.' His concluding advice on the article of marriage 
has a pathos of its own : 

' That you would, as much as Nature will give you 
leave, endeavour to forget the great Indulgence you have 
found at home. After such a gentle Discipline as you have 
been under, every thing you dislike will seem the harsher 
to you. The tenderness we have had for you, My Dear, 
is of another nature, peculiar to kind Parents, and differ- 
ing from that which you will meet with first in any Family 
into which you shall be transplanted ; and yet they may 
be very kind too, and afford no justifiable reason to you 
to complain. You must not be frighted with the first 
Appearances of a differing Scene ; for when you are used 
to it, you may like the House you go to, better than that 

you 



xxii INTRODUCTION. 

you left ; and your Husband's Kindness will have so much 
advantage of ours, that we shall yield up all Competition, 
and as well as we love you, be very well contented to 
Surrender to such a Rival.' 

Something of the same fragrance makes itself felt in the 
worldly wisdom of his advice concerning Censure : 

' The Triumph of Wit is to make your good Nature 
subdue your Censure ; to be quick in seeing Faults, and 
slow in exposing them. You are to consider, that the 
invisible thing called a Good Name, is made up of the 
Breath of Numbers that speak well of you ; so that if by 
a disobliging Word you silence the meanest, the Gale will 
be less strong which is to bear up your Esteem. And 
though nothing is so vain as the eager pursuit of empty 
Applause, yet to be well thought of, and to be kindly used 
by the World, is like a Glory about a Womans Head ; 'tis 
a Perfume she carrieth about with her, and leaveth where- 
ever she goeth ; 'tis a Charm against Ill-will. Malice may 
empty her Quiver, but cannot wound ; the Dirt will not 
stick, the Jests will not take ; Without the consent of the 
World a Scandal doth not go deep ; it is only a slight 
stroak upon the injured Party and returneth with the 
greater force upon those that gave it.' 

The Character of King Charles II is a masterpiece. 
Perhaps no such intimate portrait of an English King, 
drawn by a contemporary, is to be found in the whole 
course of our history. It makes us regret that Halifax 
has left us so few descriptions of the persons whom he 
knew. The tendency to aphorism and epigram is strong, 
and the Character is full of brilliant sentences. ' Men 
given to dissembling are like Rooks at play, they will 
cheat for shillings, they are so used to it.' ' Mistresses are 
in all Respects craving Creatures.' But the dispassionate 
analysis of the King's character and motives ; the account 
given of the effect of his early misfortune on his disposi- 
tion ; and the incidental pictures, for those who read 
between the lines, of the daily life of the Court ; all these 
are as convincing as a scientific demonstration. The King's 

ruling 



INTRODUCTION. xxiii 

ruling passion, the love of ease, was never so vividly drawn. 
Nothing to him was worth purchasing at the price of 
a difficulty. We see him surrounded by a crowd of impor- 
tunate beggars of both sexes ; he would walk fast to avoid 
being engaged by them. ' He would slide from an asking 
Face, and could guess very well.' When he was brought 
to bay, he would buy off his tormentors by large con- 
cessions for the sake of present ease. In this way * the 
King was made the Instrument to defraud the Crown, 
which is somewhat extraordinary.' It is plain to see, for 
all the delicacy with which the Royal foibles are described, 
that Lord Halifax was not perfectly happy in the familiar 
company that the King kept about him. ' His Mistresses 
were such as did not care that Wit of the best kind should 
have the Precedence in their Apartments.' The King 
delighted in broad allusions, and made fun of those who 
would not join in. He had a good memory, but told 
stories too often, and at too great length. He appreciated 
wit, but (and here is a cry from the soul) * of all Men that 
ever liked those who had Wit, he could the best endure 
those who had none'. Yet the natural amiability and 
sweetness of Charles's temper shines through all the 
description. There is a certain attractiveness in his im- 
patience of the formalities of his position ; his tendency 
to relapse into Charles Stuart and so regain the freedom 
of a private estate. The closing eulogy on this unfortunate 
and gentle Prince is a sincere and true testimony from 
a competent witness : 

' A Prince neither sharpened by his Misfortunes whilst 
Abroad, nor by his Power when restored, is such a shining 
Character, that it is a Reproach not to be so dazzled with 
it, as not to be able to see a Fault in its full Light. . . . 
He is under the Protection of common Frailty, that must 
engage Men for their own sakes not to be too severe, where 
they themselves have so much to answer.' 

The Political, Moral and Miscellaneous Thoughts and 

Reflections 



xxiv INTRODUCTION. 

Reflections is the most notable English collection of Maxims, 
the nearest parallel and rival to the work of La Roche- 
foucauld and La Bruyere. Popular proverbs, it has often 
been remarked, are not very generous in their treatment 
of humanity ; and a writer of aphorisms, which are pro- 
verbs coined in a private mint, is open to the same charge. 
An aphorism is an act of judgement, and so can pretend 
to no higher merit than justice, which is not the greatest 
of human virtues. The beauties of human character are 
vague and living things ; the deformities lend themselves 
more readily to be outlined by a decisive pencil. Yet the 
aphorisms of Halifax never sacrifice sense to wit, and always 
provoke thought. His political reflections, especially, could 
only have been written by a statesman of experience. 
He is often severe, but he is no cynic. ' Men must be 
saved in this World ', he says, ' by their Want of Faith ' ; 
but he was not so foolish as to deny the existence of un- 
selfishness. ' It is a Mistake to say a Friend can be bought.' 
In his Character of King Charles II, commenting on the 
insatiability of the King's followers, he falls into the same 
vein of argument : 

* I am of an Opinion, in which I am every Day more 
confirmed by Observation, that Gratitude is one of those 
things that cannot be bought. It must be born with Men, 
or else all the Obligations in the World will not create it. 
An outward Shew may be made to satisfy Decency, and to 
prevent Reproach ; but a real Sense of a kind thing is 
a Gift of Nature, and never was, nor can be acquired.' 

Yet even sincere Friendship has its weaknesses. ' Those 
Friends who are above Interest are seldom above Jealousy.' 

The aphorisms of Halifax are a better guide to the world 
as it is than all the brilliancies of his epigrammatic French 
contemporaries. His satire bears no trace of disappointed 
ambition or poisoned egotism. Some of his sayings are 
condensed treatises in their weight of thought. Why is it 

that 



INTRODUCTION. xxv 

that popularity is so often suspect ? He puts his finger 
at once on the answer. * Popularity is a Crime from the 
Moment it is sought ; it is only a Virtue where Men have 
it whether they will or no.' Who has ever defined a Fool 
better than in these few words : ' A Fool hath no Dialogue 
within himself, the first Thought carrieth him without the 
Reply of a second ' ? How could the verdict of mankind 
on plaintive persons be more truly expressed than in 
the sentences on Complaint ? 

' Complaining is a Contempt upon ones self : 

' It is an ill Sign both of a Man's Head and of his Heart. 

' A Man throweth himself down whilst he complaineth ; 

and when a Man throweth himself down, no body careth 

to take him up again.' 

There is very little mention made of Halifax in the 
writings of his contemporaries. Though he held a con- 
spicuous station, he seems to have passed through life 
observing rather than observed. A fascinating sketch of 
him is given in Burnet's History of His Own Time, as he 
appeared to that prelate of unbounded energy and coarse 
perceptions. Virtue may win over vice ; but intelligence 
cannot make a convert of stupidity. Burnet, whose 
power in the State came late in Halifax's career, is a good 
example of the bluff, hot-headed partisan, to whom it is 
impossible to doubt that right is all on one side. Halifax, 
we are told by a contemporary, ' was never better pleased 
than when he was turning Bishop Burnet and his politics 
into ridicule.' Burnet's verdict on Halifax will not mislead 
those who have heard the Trimmer speak for himself : 

' He was a man of a great and ready wit ; full of life, 
and very pleasant ; much turned to satire. He let his 
wit run much on matters of religion, so that he passed for 
a bold and determined atheist ; though he often protested 
to me he was not one ; and said, he believed there was not 
one in the world : he was a Christian in submission : he 
believed as much as he could and he hoped that God would 

not 



xxvi INTRODUCTION. 

not lay it to his charge, if he could not digest iron, as an 
ostrich did, nor take into his belief things that must burst 
him : if he had any scruples, they were not sought for, 
nor cherished by him ; for he never read an atheistical 
book. In a fit of sickness I knew him very much touched 
with a sense of religion. I was then often with him. He 
seemed full of good purposes, but they went off with his 
sickness. He was always talking of morality and friend- 
ship. He was punctual in all payments, and just in all 
his private dealings. But, with relation to the public, he 
went backwards and forwards, and changed sides so often, 
that in conclusion no side trusted him. He seemed full of 
commonwealth notions, yet he went into the worst part 
of King Charles's reign.' 

He is the last of the long line of statesmen who found 
it possible to govern England without paying allegiance 
to party. Their day is past ; and the party system is 
stronger now than it was in the time of the Jacobites and 
Hanoverians. No better method has ever been devised 
for the peaceful settlement of differences of opinion on 
domestic questions. The nation is not prepared to revive 
the custom of impeaching unpopular ministers. English- 
men sometimes rail at party, as they rail at cricket and 
football, but they know that there is no escape from it. 
It deceives vainglorious partisans, no doubt, and it offends 
righteous philosophers ; but it suits the national temper. 
Yet there is no need to be duped by it ; and any one 
who tries to think clearly on politics must be a very wise 
man, or a very foolish one, if he gets no help from the 
writings of the Marquess of Halifax. 



It remains to say a few words on the text of Halifax. 
The present edition is based on the two volumes which 
together contain the works of Halifax, namely, the volume 
of Miscellanies, first published in 1700, and the volume 
entitled A Character of King Charles the Second : and 
Political, Moral and Miscellaneous Thoughts and Reflections, 

published 



/ N TR O D UC TI O N. xxvii 

published in 1750. For these last two pieces the 1750 
volume is the sole authority. It was printed from 
material supplied by Lady Burlington, Halifax's grand- 
daughter, and seems to be virtually free from mistakes. 
The Advice to a Daughter, which is included in the Mis- 
cellanies, is likewise a good and careful text. Some few 
variations occur among the many editions of this piece, 
but they are of very little importance. 

Of the political tracts there are of course many separate 
editions earlier than the Miscellanies. These tracts were 
most of them first circulated in manuscript, and I cannot 
convince myself that any one of them, when it came to 
be printed, was overseen by the author. It may be, as 
Miss Foxcroft suggests, that he corrected the proofs of 
The Anatomy of an Equivalent, but against this it must be 
said that men of quality rarely corrected proofs, and that 
The Character of a Trimmer, a much more important and 
personal document, appeared in print again and again, 
during his lifetime, full of nonsensical mistakes, which 
varied from edition to edition, but did not diminish in 
number. There is no authoritative edition of any of the 
controversial writings. But the variations in the earlier 
editions of the shorter tracts are unimportant, and the 
obvious blunders are comparatively few. 

The only serious textual difficulties are presented by 
The Character of a Trimmer. This piece seems, from the 
first, to have been the plaything of copyists and printers. 
Miss Foxcroft, in her admirable edition, has collated the 
various printed texts, and has compared them in detail 
with four manuscript copies. But the manuscripts are not 
more trustworthy, or less corrupt, than the printed editions, 
so that the result is disappointing. Some of the best 
emendations in her text are suggested by herself ; some 
are borrowed from the manuscripts. I desire to express 
my obligation for the readings which I owe to her edition, 

notably 



xxviii IN TROD UCTION. 

notably ' discountenance ' for * distinct name ' (infra, 
p. 52, 1. 21), and (best of all) ' spire of English Grass ' 
for ' piece of English Glass ' (p. 97, 1. 18). This last 
emendation has restored its highest touch of imagination 
to the finest passage in the tract. I have resisted the 
temptation to suggest important emendations. Once only 
I have yielded to it ; and have read * landlord ' for 
' language ' on p. 84, 1. 20. The reading ' language ' 
would leave to the sentence a possible meaning, but would 
make nonsense of the argument. It is a significant fact 
that this reading, which I take to be an obvious blunder, 
is found in all the editions, and in all the manuscripts. 

Miss Foxcroft has taken a hint from the manuscripts, 
and has restored the inflection -eth, or -th, in the third 
person singular of the present tense. In this I have 
followed her example. There is no doubt that the termina- 
tion in -es, or -s, was substituted by the printers for the 
old-fashioned usage, which was preferred by Halifax in 
his authoritative works, and which is necessary for the 
cadence of his sentences. 

I have followed my printed originals in the matter of 
capitals and italics. I have also preserved the old punctua- 
tion, correcting it only in those few instances where it 
seemed to be wrong judged by its own principles. The 
modern usage in all these matters sacrifices everything to 
naked logic ; and substitutes bare outline for the delicate 
emotional shading of the older fashion. 

WALTER RALEIGH. 
OXFORD, 1912. 



THE WORKS OF 
HALIFAX 



Mifcellanies 

B Y 

The Right Noble LORD, 
The Late Lord Marquefs 

HALIFAX 

VI Z. 

I. Advice to a DAUGHTER. 

II. The Charter of a TRIMMER. 
lll.The Anatomy of an EQUIVALENT. 

IV. A Letter to a DISSENTER. 

V. Cautions for Choice of PARLIA- 
MENT MEN. 

VI. A Rough Draught of a NEW MO- 
DEL at SEA. 

VII. Maxims of STATE, tic. 



LONDON: 

Printed for Ma ft. Gillyflower at the Spread- 
Eagle in Weflminfter-Hali 1700. 



CHARACTER 

O F 

KING C HA RL ES 

THE SECOND: 

AND 

POLITICAL,, MORAL and MISCELLANEOUS 
THOUGHTS and REFLECTIONS. 



MAR QJJ is of HALIFAX. 



LONDON: 

Printed for J. and R. TONSON and S. DRAPER 
in the Strand. M DCC L. 



(I) 

THE 

Lady's New-Year's-Gift : 
OR, 

ADVICE 

TO A 

DAUGHTER 



Dear Daughter, 

I Find, that even our most pleasing Thoughts will be un- 
quiet; they will be in motion ; and the Mind can have no 
rest whilst it is possessed by a darling Passion. You are 
at present the chief Object of my Care, as well as of my Kind- 
ness, which sometimes throweth me into Visions of your being 
happy in the World, that are better suited to my partial Wishes, 
than to my reasonable Hopes for you. At other times, when 
my Fears prevail, I shrink as if I was struck, at the Prospect of 
Danger, to which a young Woman must be exposed. But how 
much the more Lively, so much the more Liable you are to be 
hurt ; as the finest Plants are the soonest nipped by the Frost. 
Whilst you are playing full of Innocence, the spitefull World 
will bite, except you are guarded by your Caution. Want of 
Care therefore, my dear Child, is never to be excused ; since, 
as to this World, it hath the same effect as want of Vertue. 
Such an early sprouting Wit requireth so much the more to 
be sheltred by some Rules, like something strewM on tender 
Flowers to preserve them from being blasted. You must take 
it well to be prun'd by so kind a Hand as that of a Father. 
HALIFAX B There 



Advice to a Daughter. 



There may be some bitterness in meer Obedience : The natural 
Love of Liberty may help to make the Commands of a Parent 
harder to go down : Some inward resistance there will be, 
where Power and not Choice maketh us move. But when a 
Father layeth aside his Authority, and persuadeth only by his 
Kindness, you will never answer it to Good Nature, if it hath 
not weight with you. 

A great part of what is said in the following Discourse may 
be above the present growth of your Understanding ; but that 
becoming every day taller, will in a little time reach up to it, 
so as to make it easie to you. I am willing to begin with you 
before your Mind is quite formed, that being the time in which 
it is most capable of receiving a Colour that will last when it is 
mix'd with it. Few things are well learnt, but by early Pre- 
cepts : Those well inf us'd, make them Natural ; and we are 
never sure of retaining what is valuable, till by a continued 
Habit we have made it a Piece of us. 

Whether my skill can draw the Picture of a fine Woman, 
may be a question : but it can be none, That I have drawn 
that of a kind Father : If you will take an exact Copy, I will 
so far presume upon my workmanship, as to undertake you 
shall not make an ill Figure. Give me so much Credit as to 
try, and I am sure that neither your Wishes nor mine shall be 
disappointed by it. 



RELIGION. 

THe first thing to be considered, is Religion. It must be 
the chief Object of your Thoughts, since it would be 
a vain thing to direct your Behaviour in the World, and forget 
that which you are to have towards him who made it. 

In a strict sense, it is the only thing necessary: you must 
take it into your Mind, and from thence throw it into your 
Heart t where you are to embrace it so close as never to lose the 

Possession 



RELIGION. 



Possession of it. But then it is necessary to distinguish between 
the Reality and the Pretence. 

Religion doth not consist in believing the Legend of the 
Nursery, where Children with their Milk are fed with the Tales 
of Witches, Hobgoblings, Prophecies, and Miracles. We suck 
in so greedily these early Mistakes, that our riper Understanding 
hath much ado to cleanse our Minds from this kind of Trash : 
The Stories are so entertaining, that we do not only believe 
them, but relate them; which makes the discovery of the 
Truth somewhat grievous, when it makes us lose such a Field 
of Impertinence, where we might have diverted our selves, 
besides the throwing some shame upon us for having ever 
received them. This is making the World a Jest, and imputing 
to God Almighty, That the Province he assign eth to the Devil, 
is to play at Blindmans-buff, and shew Tricks with Mankind ; 
and is so far from being Religion, that it is not Sense, and hath 
right only to be call'd that kind of Devotion, of which Ignorance 
is the undoubted Mother, without competition or dispute. 
These Mistakes are therefore to be left off with your Hanging 
sleeves ; and you ought to be as much out of countenance to be 
found with them about you, as to be seen playing with Babies 
at an Age when other things are expected from you. 

The next thing to be observed to you, is, That Religion doth 
as little consist in loud Answers and devout Convulsions at 
Church, or Praying in an extraordinary manner. Some Ladies 
are so extream stirring at Church, that one would swear the 
Worm in their Conscience made them so unquiet. Others will 
have such a Divided Face between a Devout Goggle and an 
Inviting Glance, that the unnatural Mixture maketh even the 
best Looks to be at that time ridiculous. These affected 
Appearances are ever suspected, like very strong Perfumes, 
which are generally thought no very good Symptoms in those 
that make use of them. Let your earnestness therefore be 
reserv'd for your Closet, where you may have God Almighty to 
your self : In Publick be still and calm, neither undecently 
Careless, nor Affected in the other Extream. 

It is not true Devotion, to put on an angry Zeal against those 

B 2 who 



Advice to a Daughter. 



who may be of a differing Persuasion. Partiality to our selves 
makes us often mistake it for a Duty, to fall hard upon others 
in that case; and being push'd on by Self-conceit, we strike 
without mercy, believing that the Wounds we give are Meritorious, 
and that we are fighting God Almighty's Quarrel ; when the 
truth is, we are only setting out our selves. Our Devotion too 
often breaketh out into that Shape which most agreeth with 
our particular Temper. The Cholerick grow into a hardned 
Severity against all who dissent from them ; snatch at all the 
Texts of Scripture that suit with their Complexion ; and because 
God's Wrath was some time kindled, they conclude, That Anger 
is a Divine Vertue ; and are so far from imagining their ill 
natur'd Zeal requireth an Apology, that they value themselves 
upon it, and triumph in it. Others, whose Nature is more 
Credulous than ordinary, admit no Bounds or Measure to it ; 
they grow as proud of extending their Faith, as Princes are of 
enlarging their Dominions ; not considering that our Faith, like 
our Stomach, is capable of being over-charg'd ; and that as the 
last is destroy 'd by taking in more than it can digest, so our 
Reason may be extinguished by oppressing it with the weight of 
too many strange things ; especially if we are forbidden to chew 
what we are commanded to swallow. The Melancholy and the 
Sullen are apt to place a great part of their Religion in dejected 
or ill-humour 'd Looks, putting on an unsociable Face, and 
declaiming against the Innocent Entertainments of Life, with as 
much sharpness as they could bestow upon the greatest Crimes. 
This generally is only a Vizard, there is seldom any thing 
real in it. No other thing is the better for being Sowre ; and 
it would be hard that Religion should be so, which is the best 
of things. In the mean time it may be said with truth, That 
this surly kind of Devotion hath perhaps done little less hurt 
in the World, by frighting, than the most scandalous Examples 
have done by infecting it. 

Having told you, in these few Instances, to which many more 
might be added, what is not true Religion ; it is time to describe 
to you, what is so. The ordinary Definitions of it are no more 
like it, than the common Sign-posts are like the Princes they 

would 



RELIGION. 



would represent. The unskilful Dawbers in all Ages have 
generally laid on such ill Colours, and drawn such harsh Lines, 
that the Beauty of it is not easily to be discerned : They have 
put in all the forbidding Features that can be thought of ; and 
in the first place, have made it an irreconcilable Enemy to 
Nature ; when, in reality, they are not only Friends, but Twins, 
born together at the same time; and it is doing violence to 
them both, to go about to have them separated. Nothing is 
so kind and so inviting as true and unsophisticated Religion : 
Instead of imposing unnecessary Burdens upon our Nature, it 
easeth us of the greater weight of our Passions and Mistakes : 
Instead of subduing us with Riff our, it redeemeth us from the 
Slavery we are in to our selves, who are the most severe 
Masters, whilst we are under the Usurpation of our Appetites 
let loose and not restrain 'd. 

Religion is a chearful thing, so far from being always at 
Cuffs with Good Humour, that it is inseparably united to it. 
Nothing unpleasant belongs to it, though the Spiritual Cooks 
have done their unskilful part to give an ill Relish to it. A wise 
Epicure would be Religious for the sake of Pleasure', Good 
Sense is the Foundation of both ; and he is a Bungler who 
aimeth at true Luxury, but where they are join'd. 

Religion is exalted Reason, refin'd and sifted from the grosser 
parts of it : It dwelleth in the upper Region of the Mind, where 
there are fewest Clouds or Mists to darken or offend it : It is 
both the Foundation and the Crown of all Vertues : It is 
Morality improv'd and rais'd to its height, by being carried 
nearer Heaven, the only place where Perfection resideth. It 
cleanseth the Understanding, and brusheth off the Earth that 
hangeth about our Souls. It doth not want the Hopes and the 
Terrors which are made use of to support it ; neither ought it 
to descend to the borrowing any Argument out of it self, since 
there we may find every thing that should invite us. If we 
were to be hired to Religion, it is able to out-bid the corrupted 
World, with all it can offer to us, being so much the Richer of 
the two, in every thing where Reason is admitted to be a Judge 
of the Value. 

Since 



Advice to a Daughter. 



Since this is so, it is worth your pains to make Religion your 
choice, and not make use of it only as a Refuge. There are 
Ladies, who finding by the too visible decay of their good 
Looks, that they can shine no more by that Light, put on the 
Varnish of an affected Devotion, to keep up some kind of 
Figure in the World. They take Sanctuary in the Church, 
when they are pursued by growing Contempt, which will not 
be stopt, but followeth them to the Altar. Such late penitence 
is only a disguise for the tormenting grief of being no more 
handsome. That is the killing thought which draweth the sighs 
and tears, that appear outwardly to be applied to a better end. 

There are many who have an Aguish Devotion, Hot and 
Cold Fits, long Intermissions, and violent Raptures. This 
unevenness is by all means to be avoided. Let your method 
be a steady course of good Life, that may run like a smooth 
Stream, and be a perpetual Spring to furnish to the continued 
Exercise of Vertue. Your Devotion may be earnest, but it 
must be unconstrained ; and like other Duties, you must make 
it your Pleasure too, or else it will have very little efficacy. By 
this Rule you may best judge of your own Heart. Whilst 
those Duties are Joys, it is an Evidence of their being sincere ; 
but when they are a Penance, it is a sign that your Nature 
maketh some resistance ; and whilst that lasteth, you can never 
be entirely secure of your self. 

If you are often unquiet, and too nearly touch 'd by the cross 
Accidents of Life, your Devotion is not of the right Standard ; 
there is too much Allay in it. That which is right and unmixt, 
taketh away the Sting of every thing that would trouble you : 
It is like a healing Balm, that extinguisheth the sharpness of 
the Bloud ; so this softeneth and dissolveth the Anguish of the 
Mind. A devout Mind hath the Privilege of being free from 
Passions, as some Climates are from all venomous kind of 
Creatures. It will raise you above the little Vexations to which 
others for want of it, will be expos 'd, and bring you to a Temper, 
not of stupid Indifference, but of such a wise Resignation, that 
you may live in the World, so as it may hang about you like 
a loose Garment, and not tied too close to you. 

Take 



H USB A ND. 



Take heed of running into that common Error, of applying 
God's Judgments upon particular Occasions. Our Weights 
and Measures are not competent to make the Distribution 
either of his Mercy or his Justice : He hath thrown a Veil over 
these things, which makes it not only an Impertinence, but a 
kind of Sacrilege, for us to give Sentence in them without his 
Commission. 

As to your particular Faith, keep to the Religion that is 
grown up with you, both as it is the best in it self, and that 
the reason of staying in it upon that Ground is somewhat 
stronger for your Sex, than it will perhaps be allow 'd to be 
for ours; in respect that the Voluminous enquiries into the 
Truth, by Reading, are less expected from you. The Best of 
Books will be direction enough to you not to change ; and 
whilst you are fixM and sufficiently confirm M in your own 
Mind, you will do best to keep vain Doubts and Scruples at 
such a distance that they may give you no disquiet. 

Let me recommend to you a Method of being rightly in- 
form 'd, which can never fail: It is in short this. Get Under- 
standing, and practise Vertue. And if you are so Blessed as to 
have those for your Share, it is not surer that there is a God, than 
it is, that by him all Necessary Truths will be revealed to you. 



HUSB A 

THAT which challengeth the next place in your Thoughts, 
is how to live with a Husband. And though that is so large 
a Word, that few Rules can be fix'd to it which are unchange- 
able, the Methods being as various as the several Tempers of 
Men to which they must be suited; yet I cannot omit some 
General Observations, which, with the help of your own may 
the better direct you in the part of your Life upon which your 
Happiness most dependeth. 

It is one of the Disadvantages belonging to your Sex, that 
young Women are seldom permitted to make their own Choice ; 

their 



8 Advice to a Daughter. 

their Friends Care and Experience are thought safer Guides to 
them, than their own Fancies; and their Modesty often for- 
biddeth them to refuse when their Parents recommend, though 
their inward Consent may not entirely go along with it. In 
this case there remaineth nothing for them to do, but to 
endeavour to make that easie which falleth to their Lot, and 
by a wise use of every thing they may dislike in a Husband, 
turn that by degrees to be very supportable, which, if neglected, 
might in time beget an Aversion. 

You must first lay it down for a Foundation in general, 
That there is Inequality in the Sexes, and that for the better 
Oeconomy of the World, the Men, who were to be the Law- 
givers, had the larger share of Reason bestowM upon them ; 
by which means your Sex is the better prepar'd for the Com- 
pliance that is necessary for the better performance of those 
Duties which seem to be most properly assign 'd to it. This 
looks a little uncourtly at the first appearance ; but upon 
Examination it will be found, that Nature is so far from being 
unjust to you, that she is partial on your side. She hath made 
you such large Amends by other Advantages, for the seeming 
Injustice of the first Distribution, that the Right of Complain- 
ing is come over to our Sex. You have it in your power not only 
to free your selves, but to subdue your Masters, and without 
violence throw both their Natural and Legal Authority at your 
Feet. We are made of differing Tempers, that our Defects 
may the better be mutually supplied : Your Sex wanteth our 
Reason for your Conduct, and our Strength for your Protection : 
Ours wanteth your Gentleness to soften, and to entertain us. 
The first part of our Life is a good deal subjected to you in the 
Nursery, where you Reign without Competition, and by that 
means have the advantage of giving the first Impressions. 
Afterwards you have stronger Influences, which, well manag'd, 
have more force in your behalf, than all our Privileges and 
Jurisdictions can pretend to have against you. You have more 
strength in your Looks, than we have in our Laws, and more 
power by your Tears, than we have by our Arguments. 

It is true, that the Laws of Marriage, run in a harsher stile 

towards 



H USB A ND. 



towards your Sex. Obey is an ungenteel word, and less easie to 
be digested, by making such an unkind distinction in the Words 
of the Contract, and so very unsuitable to the excess of Good 
Manners, which generally goes before it. Besides, the uni- 
versality of the Rule seemeth to be a Grievance, and it 
appeareth reasonable, that there might be an Exemption for 
extraordinary Women, from ordinary Rules, to take away the 
just Exception that lieth against the false measure of general 
Equality. 

It may be alledged by the Counsel retained by your Sex, that 
as there is in all other Laws, an Appeal from the Letter to the 
Equity, in Cases that require it, it is as reasonable, that some 
Court of a larger Jurisdiction might be erected, where some 
Wives might resort and plead specially. And in such instances 
where Nature is so kind, as to raise them above the level of 
their own Sex, they might have Relief, and obtain a Mitigation 
in their own particular, of a Sentence which was given generally 
against Woman kind. The causes of Separation are now so 
very coarse, that few are confident enough to buy their Liberty 
at the price of having their Modesty so exposed. And for dis- 
parity of Minds, which above all other things requireth a 
Remedy, the Laws have made no provision ; so little refined are 
numbers of Men, by whom they are compilM. This and a great 
deal more might be said to give a colour to the Complaint. 

But the Answer to it, in short is, That the Institution of 
Marriage is too sacred to admit a Liberty of objecting to it ; 
That the supposition of yours being the weaker Sex, having 
without all doubt a good Foundation, maketh it reasonable to 
subject it to the Masculine Dominion ; That no Rule can be so 
perfect, as not to admit some Exceptions ; But the Law 
presumeth there would be so few found in this Case, who 
would have a sufficient Right to such a Privilege, that it is safer 
some Injustice should be conniv'd at in a very few Instances, 
than to break into an Establishment, upon which the Order of 
Humane Society doth so much depend. 

You are therefore to make your best of what is settled by 
Law and Custom, and not vainly imagine, that it will be changed 

for 



io Advice to a Daughter. 

for your sake. But that you may not be discouraged, as if you 
lay under the weight of an incurable Grievance, you are to 
know, that by a wise and dexterous Conduct, it will be in your 
power to relieve your self from any thing that looketh like a 
disadvantage in it. For your better direction, I will give a hint 
of the most ordinary Causes of Dissatisfaction between Man 
and Wife, that you may be able by such a Warning to live so 
upon your Guard, that when you shall be married, you may 
know how to cure your Husband's Mistakes, and to prevent 
your own. 

First then, you are to consider, you live in a time which hath 
rendred some kind of Frailties so habitual, that they lay claim 
to large Grains of Allowance. The World in this is somewhat 
unequal, and our Sex seemeth to play the Tyrant in distinguish- 
ing partially for our selves, by making that in the utmost 
degree Criminal in the Woman, which in a Man passeth under 
a much gentler Censure. The Root and the Excuse of this In- 
justice is the Preservation of Families from any Mixture which 
may bring a Blemish to them : And whilst the Point of Honour 
continues to be so plac'd, it seems unavoidable to give your 
Sex, the greater share of the Penalty. But if in this it lieth 
under any Disadvantage, you are more than recompensed, by 
having the Honour of Families in your keeping. The Con- 
sideration so great a Trust must give you, maketh full amends ; 
and this Power the World hath lodged in you, can hardly fail 
to restrain the Severity of an ill Husband, and to improve the 
Kindness and Esteem of a good one. This being so, remember, 
That next to the danger of committing the Fault your self, the 
greatest is that of seeing it in your Husband. Do not seem to 
look or hear that way : If he is a Man of Sense, he will reclaim 
himself ; the Folly of it, is of it self sufficient to cure him : if 
he is not so, he will be provok'd, but not reform'd. To expos- 
tulate in these Cases, looketh like declaring War, and preparing 
Reprisals ; which to a thinking Husband would be a dangerous 
Reflexion. Besides, it is so coarse a Reason which will be 
assigned for a Lady's too great Warmth upon such an occasion, 
that Modesty no less than Prudence ought to restrain her ; since 

such 



HUSBAND. ii 

such an undecent Complaint makes a Wife much more ridiculous, 
than the Injury that provoketh her to it. But it is yet worse, 
and more unskilful, to blaze it in the World, expecting it should 
rise up in Arms to take her part : Whereas she will find, it can 
have no other Effect, than that she will be served up in all 
Companies, as the reigning Jest at that time ; and will continue 
to be the common Entertainment, till she is rescued by some 
newer Folly that cometh upon the Stage, and driveth her away 
from it. The Impertinence of such Methods is so plain, that 
it doth not deserve the pains of being laid open. Be assured, 
that in these Cases your Discretion and Silence will be the most 
prevailing Reproof. An affected Ignorance, which is seldom 
a Vertue, is a great one here : And when your Husband seeth 
how unwilling you are to be uneasie, there is no stronger 
Argument to perswade him not to be unjust to you. Besides, 
it will naturally make him more yielding in other things : And 
whether it be to cover or redeem his Offence, you may have the 
good Effects of it whilst it lasteth, and all that while have the 
most reasonable Ground that can be, of presuming, such a 
Behaviour will at last entirely convert him. There is nothing 
so glorious to a Wife, as a Victory so gain'd : A Man so re- 
claim'd, is for ever after subjected to her Vertue', and her 
bearing for a time, is more than rewarded by a Triumph that 
will continue as long as her Life. 

The next thing I will suppose, is, That your Husband may 
love Wine more than is convenient. It will be granted, That 
though there are Vices of a deeper dye, there are none that 
have greater Deformity than this, when it is not restrained : 
But with all this, the same Custom which is the more to be 
lamented for its being so general, should make it less uneasie to 
every one in particular who is to suffer by the Effects of it : So 
that in the first place, it will be no new thing if you should have 
a Drunkard for your Husband; and there is by too frequent 
Examples evidence enough, that such a thing may happen, and 
yet a Wife may live too without being miserable. Self-love 
dictateth aggravating words to every thing we feel ; Ruine and 
Misery are the Terms we apply to whatever we do not like, 

forgetting 



12 Advice to a Daughter. 

forgetting the Mixture allotted to us by the Condition of Human 
Life, by which it is not intended we should be quite exempt 
from trouble. It is fair, if we can escape such a degree of it 
as would oppress us, and enjoy so much of the pleasant part as 
may lessen the ill taste of such things as are unwelcome to us. 
Every thing hath two Sides, and for our own ease we ought to 
direct our Thoughts to that which may be least liable to excep- 
tion. To fall upon the worst side of a Drunkard, giveth so 
unpleasant a prospect, that it is not possible to dwell upon it. 
Let us pass then to the more favour able part, as far as a Wife 
is concern 'd in it. 

I am tempted to say (if the Irregularity of the Expression 
could in strictness be justified) That a Wife is to thank God 
her Husband hath Faults. Mark the seeming Paradox my 
Dear, for your own Instruction, it being intended no further. 
A Husband without Faults is a dangerous Observer; he hath 
an Eye so piercing, and seeth every thing so plain, that it is 
expos 'd to his full Censure. And though I will not doubt but 
that your Vertue will disappoint the sharpest Enquiries ; yet 
few Women can bear the having all they say or do represented 
in the clear Glass of an Understanding without Faults. Nothing 
softneth the Arrogance of our Nature, like a Mixture of some 
Frailties. It is by them we are best told, that we must not 
strike too hard upon others, because we our selves do so often 
deserve Blows : They pull our Rage by the Sleeve, and whisper 
Gentleness to us in our Censures, even when they are rightly 
applied. The Faults and Passions of Husbands bring them 
down to you, and make them content to live upon less unequal 
Terms, than Faultless Men would be willing to stoop to; so 
haughty is Mankind till humbled by common Weaknesses and 
Defects, which in our corrupted State contribute more towards 
the reconciling us to one another, than all the Precepts of the 
Philosophers and Divines. So that where the Errors of our 
Nature make amends for the Disadvantages of yours it is more 
your part to make use of the Benefit, than to quarrel at the 
Fault. 

Thus in case a Drunken Husband should fall to your share, 

if 



HUSBAND. 13 

if you will be wise and patient, his Wine shall be of your side ; 
it will throw a Veil over your Mistakes, and will set out and 
improve every thing you do, that he is pleased with. Others 
will like him less, and by that means he may perhaps like you 
the more. When after having dined too well, he is received at 
home without a Storm, or so much as a reproaching Look, the 
Wine will naturally work out all in Kindness, which a Wife 
must encourage, let it be wrapped up in never so much Im- 
pertinence. On the other side it would boil up into Rage, if the 
mistaken Wife should treat him roughly, like a certain thing 
called a kind Shrew, than which the World, with all its Plenty, 
cannot shew a more Senseless, ill-bred, forbidding Creature. 
Consider, that where the Man will give such frequent Inter- 
missions of the use of his Reason, the Wife insensibly getteth 
a Right of Governing in the Vacancy, and that raiseth her 
Character and Credit in the Family, to a higher pitch than 
perhaps could be done under a sober Husband, who never put- 
teth himself into an Incapacity of holding the Reins. If these 
are not intire Consolations, at least they are Remedies to some 
Degree. They cannot make Drunkenness a Vertue, nor a 
Husband given to it a Felicity ; but you will do your self 
no ill office in the endeavouring, by these means, to make the 
best of such a Lot, in case it should happen to be yours, and by 
the help of a wise Observation, to make that very supportable, 
which would otherwise be a Load that would oppress you. 

The next Case I will put is that your Husband may be 
Cholerick or Ill-humour 'd. To this it may be said, That 
passionate Men generally make amends at the Foot of the 
Account. Such a Man, if he is angry one day without any 
Sense, will the next day be as kind without any Reason. So 
that by marking how the Wheels of such a Man^s Head are 
used to move, you may easily bring over all his Passion to your 
Party. Instead of being struck down by his Thunder, you 
shall direct it where and upon whom you shall think it best 
applied. Thus are the strongest Poisons turned to the best 
Remedies; but then there must be Art in it, and a skilful 
Hand, else the least bungling maketh it mortal. There is a great 

deal 



14 Advice to a Daughter. 

deal of nice Care requisite to deal with a Man of this Com- 
plexion. Choler proceedeth from Pride, and maketh a Man so 
partial to himself that he swelleth against Contradiction ; and 
thinketh he is lessened if he is opposed. You must in this Case 
take heed of increasing the Storm by an unwary Word, or 
kindling the Fire whilst the Wind is in a Corner which may 
blow it in your Face : You are dextrously to yield every thing 
till he beginneth to cool, and then by slow degrees you may 
rise and gain upon him : Your Gentleness well timed, will, like 
a Charm, dispel his Anger ill placed ; a kind Smile will reclaim, 
when a shrill pettish Answer would provoke him ; rather than 
fail upon such occasions, when other Remedies are too weak, 
a little Flattery may be admitted, which by being necessary, 
will cease to be Criminal. 

If Ill-Humour and Sullenness, and not open and sudden Heat 
is his Disease, there is a way of treating that too, so as to make 
it a Grievance to be endured. In order to it, you are first to 
know, that naturally good Sense hath a mixture of surly in it : 
and there being so much Folly in the World, and for the most 
part so triumphant, it giveth frequent Temptations to raise the 
Spleen of Men who think right. Therefore that which may 
generally be call'd Ill-Humour, is not always a Fault; it be- 
cometh one when either it is wrong applied, or that it is con- 
tinued too long, when it is not so : For this Reason you must 
not too hastily fix an ill name upon that which may perhaps 
not deserve it; and though the Case should be, that your 
Husband might too sowerly resent any thing he disliketh, it 
may so happen, that more Blame shall belong to your Mistake, 
than to his Ill-Humour. If a Husband behaveth himself some- 
times with an Indifference that a Wife may think offensive, she 
is in the wrong to put the worst sence upon it, if by any Means 
it will admit a better. Some Wives will call it Ill-humour if 
their Husbands change their Style from that which they used 
whilst they made their first Addresses to them : Others will 
allow no Intermission or Abatement in the Expressions of 
Kindness to them, not enough distinguishing Times, and forget- 
ting that it is impossible for Men to keep themselves up all 

their 



HUSBAND. 15 

their Lives to the height of some extravagant Moments. A Man 
may at some times be less careful in little things, without any 
cold or disobliging Reason for it; as a Wife may be too ex- 
pecting in smaller matters, without drawing upon her-self the 
inference of being unkind. And if your Husband should be 
really sullen, and have such frequent Fits, as might take away 
the excuse of it, it concerneth you to have an Eye prepared to 
discern the first Appearances of Cloudy Weather, and to watch 
when the Fit goeth off, which seldom lasteth long if it is let 
alone. But whilst the Mind is sore, every thing galleth it, and 
that maketh it necessary to let the Black Humour begin to 
spend it self, before you come in and venture to undertake it. 

If in the Lottery of the World you should draw a Covetous 
Husband, I confess it will not make you proud of your good 
Luck ; yet even such a one may be endured too, though there 
are few Passions more untractable than that of Avarice. You 
must first take care that your Definition of Avarice may not be 
a Mistake. You are to examine every Circumstance of your 
Husband's Fortune, and weigh the Reason of every thing you 
expect from him before you have right to pronounce that sen- 
tence. The Complaint is now so general against all Husbands, 
that it giveth great suspicion of its being often ill-grounded ; it 
is impossible they should all deserve that Censure, and therefore 
it is certain, that it is many times misapplied. He that spareth 
in every thing is an inexcusable Niggard ; he that spareth in 
nothing is as inexcusable a Madman. The mean is, to spare in 
what is least necessary, to lay out more liberally in what is most 
required in our several circumstances. Yet this will not always 
satisfie. There are Wives who are impatient of the Rules of 
Oeconomy, and are apt to call their Husband's Kindness in 
question, if any other measure is put to their expence than that 
of their own Fancy. Be sure to avoid this dangerous Error, 
such a partiality to your Self, which is so offensive to an under- 
standing Man, that he will very ill bear a Wife's giving her self 
such an injurious preference to all the Family, and whatever 
belongeth to it. 

But to admit the worst, and that your Husband is really a 

Close- 



1 6 Advice to a Daughter. 

Close-handed Wretch, you must in this, as in other Cases, en- 
deavour to make it less afflicting to you; and first you must 
observe seasonable hours of speaking. When you offer any- 
thing in opposition to this reigning Humour, a third hand and 
a wise Friend, may often prevail more than you will be allowed 
to do in your own Cause. Sometimes you are dexterously 
to go along with him in things, where you see that the 
niggardly part of his Mind is most predominant, by which you 
will have the better opportunity of perswading him in things 
where he may be more indifferent. Our Passions are very 
unequal, and are apt to be raised or lessened, according as they 
work upon different Objects ; they are not to be stopped or re- 
strained in those things where our Mind is more particularly 
engaged. In other matters they are more tractable, and will 
sometimes give Reason a hearing, and admit a fair Dispute. 
More than that, there are few Men, even in this instance of 
Avarice, so intirely abandoned to it, that at some hours, and 
upon some occasions, will not forget their natures, and for that 
time turn Prodigal. The same Man who will grudge himself 
what is necessary , let his Pride be raised and he shall be profuse ; 
at another time his Anger shall have the same effect ; a fit of 
Vanity, Ambition, and sometimes of Kindness, shall open and 
inlarge his narrow Mind ; a Dose of Wine will work upon this 
tough humor, and for the time dissolve it. Your business 
must be, if this Case happeneth, to watch these critical moments, 
and not let one of them slip without making your advantage of 
it; and a Wife may be said to want skill, if by these means 
she is not able to secure her self in a good measure against the 
Inconveniences this scurvy quality in a Husband might bring 
upon her, except he should be such an incurable Monster, as I 
hope will never fall to your share. 

The last supposition I will make, is, That your Husband 
should be weak and incompetent to make use of the Privileges 
that belong to him. It will be yielded, that such a one leaveth 
room for a great many Objections. But God Almighty seldom 
sendeth a Grievance without a Remedy, or at least such a 
Mitigation as taketh away a great part of the sting, and the 

smart 



HUSBAND. 17 

smart of it. To make such a Misfortune less heavy, you are 
first to bring to your Observation, That a Wife very often 
maketh the better Figure, for her Husband's, making no great 
one : And there seemeth to be little reason, why the same Lady 
that chuseth a Waiting-Woman with worse Looks, may not be 
content with a Husband with less Wit; the Argument being 
equal from the advantage of the Comparison. If you will be 
more ashamed in some Cases, of such a Husband, you will be 
less afraid than you would perhaps be of a wise one. His Un- 
seasonable Weakness may no doubt sometimes grieve you, but 
then set against this, that it giveth you the Dominion, if you 
will make the right use of it. It is next to his being dead, in 
which Case the Wife hath right to Administer ; therefore, be 
sure, if you have such an Idiot, that none, except your self, may 
have the benefit of the forfeiture ; Such a Fool is a dangerous 
Beast, if others have the keeping of him ; and you must be very 
undexterous if when your Husband shall resolve to be an Ass, 
you do not take care he may be your Ass. But you must go 
skilfully about it, and above all things, take heed of distinguish- 
ing in publick, what kind of Husband he is : Your inward 
thoughts must not hinder the outward payment of the considera- 
tion that is due to him : Your slighting him in Company, besides 
that it would, to a discerning By stander, give too great en- 
couragement for the making nearer applications to you, is in 
it self such an undecent way of assuming, that it may provoke 
the tame Creature to break loose, and to shew his Dominion for 
his Credit, which he was content to forget for his Ease. In 
short, the surest and the most approved method will be to do 
like a wise Minister to an easie Prince ; first give him the Orders 
you afterwards receive from him. 

With all this, that which you are to pray for, is a Wise 
Husband, one that by knowing how to be a Master, for that 
very reason will not let you feel the weight of it ; one whose 
Authority is so soften 'd by his Kindness, that it giveth you ease 
without abridging your Liberty ; one that will return so much 
tenderness for your Just Esteem of him, that you will never 
want power, though you will seldom care to use it. Such a 

HALIFAX c Husband 



1 8 Advice to a Daughter. 

Husband is as much above all the other Kinds of them, as 
a rational subjection to a Prince, great in himself, is to be 
preferr'd before the disquiet and uneasiness of Unlimited 
Liberty. 

Before I leave this Head, I must add a little concerning your 
Behaviour to your Husband's Friends, which requireth the most 
refined part of your Understanding to acquit your self well of 
it. You are to study how to live with them with more care than 
you are to apply to any other part of your Life ; especially at first, 
that you may not stumble at the first setting out. The Family 
into which you are grafted will generally be apt to expect, that 
like a Stranger in a Foreign Country, you should conform to 
their Methods, and not bring in a new Model by your own 
Authority. The Friends in such a Case are tempted to rise up 
in Arms as against an unlawful Invasion, so that you are with 
the utmost Caution to avoid the least appearances of any thing 
of this Kind. And that you may with less difficulty afterwards 
give your Directions, be sure at first to receive them from your 
Husband's Friends. Gain them to you by early applying to 
them, and they will be so satisfied, that as nothing is more 
thankful than Pride, when it is complied with, they will strive 
which of them shall most recommend you ; and when they have 
helped you to take Root in your Husband's good Opinion, you 
will have less dependence upon theirs, though you must not 
neglect any reasonable means of preserving it. You are to 
consider, that a Man govern 'd by his Friends, is very easily in- 
flamed by them ; and that one who is not so, will yet for his 
own sake expect to have them consider'd. It is easily improved 
to a point of Honour in a Husband, not to have his Relations 
neglected; and nothing is more dangerous, than to raise an 
Objection, which is grounded upon Pride : It is the most stub- 
born and lasting Passion we are subject to, and where it is the 
first cause of the War, it is very hard to make a secure Peace. 
Your Caution in this is of the last importance to you. 

And that you may the better succeed in it, carry a strict 
Eye upon the Impertinence of your Servants ; take heed that 
their Ill-humour may not engage you to take Exceptions, or 

their 



HUSBAND. 19 

their too much assuming in small matters, raise Consequences 
which may bring you under great Disadvantage. Remember 
that in the case of a Royal Bride, those about her are generally 
so far suspected to bring in a Foreign Interest, that in most 
Countries they are insensibly reduced to a very small number, 
and those of so low a Figure, that it doth not admit the being 
Jealous of them. In little and in the Proportion, this may be 
the Case of every New married Woman, and therefore it may 
be more adviseable for you, to gain the Servants you find 
in a Family, than to tie your self too fast to those you carry 
into it. 

You are not to overlook these small Reflections, because they 
may appear low and inconsiderable ; for it must be said, that as 
the greatest streams are made up of the small drops at the head 
of the Springs from whence they are derived, so the greater 
circumstances of your Life, will be in some degree directed by 
these seeming trifles, which having the advantage of being the 
first acts of it, have a greater effect than singly in their own 
nature they could pretend to. 

I will conclude this Article with my Advice, That you would, 
as much as Nature will give you leave, endeavour to forget the 
great Indulgence you have found at home. After such a gentle 
Discipline as you have been under, every thing you dislike will 
seem the harsher to you. The tenderness we have had for you, 
My Dear, is of another nature, peculiar to kind Parents, and 
differing from that which you will meet with first in any Family 
into which you shall be transplanted; and yet they may be very 
kind too, and afford no justifiable reason to you to complain. 
You must not be frighted with the first Appearances of a 
differing Scene ; for when you are used to it, you may like the 
House you go to, better than that you left; and your Husband's 
Kindness will have so much advantage of ours, that we shall 
yield up all Competition, and as well as we love you, be very 
well contented to Surrender to such a Rival. 



HOUSE, 



2O Advice to a Daughter. 



HOUSE, FAMILY, and CHILDREN. 

YOU must lay before you, My Dear, there are degrees of 
Care to recommend your self to the World in the several 
parts of your Life. In many things, though the doing them well 
may raise your Credit and Esteem, yet the omission of them 
would draw no immediate reproach upon you : In others, where 
your duty is more particularly applyed, the neglect of them is 
amongst those Faults which are not forgiven, and will bring 
you under a Censure, which will be a much heavier thing than 
the trouble you would avoid. Of this kind is the Government 
of your House, Family, and Children, which since it is the 
Province allotted to your Sex, and that the discharging it well, 
will for that reason be expected from you, if you either desert 
it out of Laziness, or manage it ill for want of skill, instead of 
a Help you will be an Incumbrance to the Family where you 
are placed. 

I must tell you, that no respect is lasting, but that which is 
produced by our being in some degree useful to those that pay 
it. Where that faileth, the Homage and the Reverence go 
along with it, and fly to others where something may be ex- 
pected in exchange for them. And upon this principle the 
respects even of the Children and the Servants will not stay 
with one that doth not think them worth their Care, and the 
old House-keeper shall make a better Figure in the Family, than 
the Lady with all her fine Cloaths, if she wilfully relinquishes 
her Title to the Government. Therefore take heed of carrying 
your good Breeding to such a height, as to be good for nothing, 
and to be proud of it. Some think it hath a great Air to be 
above troubling their thoughts with such ordinary things as 
their House and Family ; others dare not admit Cares for fear 
they should hasten Wrinkles ? mistaken Pride maketh some 
think they must keep themselves up, and not descend to these 
Duties, which do not seem enough refined for great Ladies to 
be imployM in ; forgetting all this while, that it is more than 

the 



HUSBAND. 21 

the greatest Princes can do, at once to preserve respect, and to 
neglect their Business. No Age ever erected Altars to insignifi- 
cant Gods ; they had all some quality applied to them to draw 
worship from Mankind', this maketh it the more unreasonable 
for a Lady to expect to be considered, and at the same time 
resolve not to deserve it. Good looks alone will not do ; they 
are not such a lasting Tenure, as to be relied upon ; and if they 
should stay longer than they usually do, it will by no means be 
safe to depend upon them : For when time hath abated the 
violence of the first liking, and that the Napp is a little worn 
off, though still a good degree of kindness may remain, Men 
recover their sight which before might be dazellM, and allow 
themselves to object as well as to admire. 

In such a Case, when a Husband seeth an empty airy thing 
sail up and down the House to no kind of purpose, and look as 
if she came thither only to make a Visit ; when he findeth that 
after her Emptiness hath been extreme busie about some very 
senseless thing, she eats her Breakfast half an hour before 
Dinner, to be at greater liberty to afflict the Company with her 
Discourse; then calleth for her Coach, that she may trouble 
her Acquaintance, who are already cloy'd with her: And having 
some proper Dialogues ready to display her Foolish Eloquence 
at the top of the Stairs, she setteth out like a Ship out of the 
Harbour, laden with trifles and cometh back with them : at 
her return she repeateth to her faithful waiting- Woman, the 
Triumphs of that day's Impertinence ; then wrap'd up in 
Flattery and clean Linen, goeth to Bed so satisfied, that it 
throweth her into pleasant Dreams of her own Felicity. Such 
a one is seldom serious but with her Taylor ; her Children and 
Family may now and then have a random thought, but she 
never taketh aim but at something very Impertinent. I say, 
when a Husband, whose Province is without Doors, and to 
whom the Oeconomy of the House would be in some degree 
Indecent, findeth no Order nor Quiet in his Family, meeteth 
with Complaints of all kinds springing from this Root ; The 
Mistaken Lady, who thinketh to make amends for all this, by 
having a well-chosen Petty- Coat, will at last be convinced of 

her 



22 Advice to a Daughter. 

her Error, and with grief be forced to undergo the Penalties 
that belong to those who are willfully Insignificant. When this 
scurvy hour cometh upon her, she first groweth Angry ; then 
when the time of it is past, would perhaps grow wiser, not 
remembring that we can no more have Wisdom than Grace, 
whenever we think fit to call for it. There are Times and 
Periods fixM for both ; and when they are too long neglected, 
the Punishment is, that they are Irrecoverable, and nothing 
remaineth but an useless Grief for the Folly of having thrown 
them out of our power. You are to think what a mean Figure 
a Woman maketh, when she is so degraded by her own Fault ; 
whereas there is nothing in those Duties which are expected 
from you, that can be a lessening to you, except your want of 
Conduct makes it so. You may love your Children without 
living in the Nursery, and you may have a competent and 
discreet care of them, without letting it break out upon the 
Company, or exposing your self by turning your Discourse that 
way, which is a kind of Laying Children to the Parish, and it 
can hardly be done any where, that those who hear it will be so 
forgiving, as not to think they are overcharged with them. 
A Woman's tenderness to her Children is one of the least 
deceitful Evidences of her Vertue ; but yet the way of express- 
ing it, must be subject to the Rules of good Breeding : And 
though a Woman of Quality ought not to be less kind to them, 
than Mothers of the Meanest Rank are to theirs, yet she may 
distinguish her self in the manner, and avoid the coarse Methods, 
which in Women of a lower size might be more excusable. You 
must begin early to make them love you, that they may obey 
you. This Mixture is no where more necessary than in Chil- 
dren. And I must tell you, that you are not to expect Returns 
of Kindness from yours, if ever you have any, without Grains 
of Allowance ; and yet it is not so much a defect in their good 
Nature, as a shortness of Thought in them. Their first In- 
sufficiency maketh them lean so entirely upon their Parents 
for what is necessary, that the habit of it maketh them continue 
the same Expectations for what is unreasonable ; and as often 
as they are denied, so often they think they are injured : and 

whilst 



HUSBAND. 23 

whilst their Desires are strong, and their Reasons yet in the 
Cradle, their Anger looketh no farther than the thing they long 
for and cannot have ; And to be displeased for their own good, 
is a Maxim they are very slow to understand : So that you may 
conclude, the first Thoughts of your Children will have no small 
Mixture of Mutiny ; which being so natural, you must not be 
angry, except you would increase it. You must deny them as 
seldom as you can, and when there is no avoiding it, you must 
do it gently ; you must flatter away their ill Humour, and take 
the next Opportunity of pleasing them in some other thing, 
before they either ask or look for it : This will strengthen your 
Authority, by making it soft to them ; and confirm their 
Obedience, by making it their Interest. You are to have as 
strict a Guard upon your self amongst your Children, as if you 
were amongst your Enemies. They are apt to make wrong 
Inferences, to take Encouragement from half Words, and mis- 
apply what you may say or do, so as either to lessen their 
Duty, or to extend their Liberty farther than is convenient. 
Let them be more in awe of your Kindness than of your Power. 
And above all, take heed of supporting a Favourite Child in its 
Impertinence, which will give Right to the rest of claiming the 
same Privilege. If you have a divided Number, leave the Boys 
to the Father's more peculiar Care, that you may with the 
greater Justice pretend to a more immediate Jurisdiction over 
those of your own Sex. You are to live so with them, that 
they may never chuse to avoid you, except when they have 
offended; and then let them tremble, that they may distinguish: 
But their Penance must not continue so long as to grow too 
sowre upon their Stomachs, that it may not harden in stead of 
correcting them : The kind and severe Part must have their 
several turns seasonably applied ; but your Indulgence is to have 
the broader mixture, that Love, rather than Fear, may be the 
Root of their Obedience. 

Your Servants are in the next place to be considered ; and 
you must remember not to fall into the mistake of thinking, 
that because they receive Wages, and are so much Inferiour to 
you, therefore they are below your Care to know how to manage 

them. 



24 Advice to a Daughter. 

them. It would be as good Reason for a Master Workman to 
despise the Wheels of his Engines, because they are made of 
Wood. These are the Wheels of your Family ; and let your 
Directions be never so faultless, yet if these Engines stop or 
move wrong, the whole Order of your House is either at a stand, 
or discomposed. Besides, the Inequality which is between you, 
must not make you forget, that Nature maketh no such dis- 
tinction, but that Servants may be looked upon as humble 
Friends, and that Returns of Kindness and good Usage are as 
much due to such of them as deserve it, as their Service is due 
to us when we require it. A foolish haughtiness in the Style 
of speaking, or in the manner of commanding them, is in it self 
very undecent ; besides that it begetteth an Aversion in them, of 
which the least ill Effect to be expected, is, that they will be 
slow and careless in all that is injoyned them : And you will 
find it true by your Experience, that you will be so much the 
more obeyed as you are less Imperious. Be not too hasty in 
giving your Orders, nor too angry when they are not altogether 
observed; much less are you to be loud, and too much dis- 
turbed : An evenness in distinguishing when they do well or ill, 
is that which will make your Family move by a Rule, and with- 
out Noise, and will the better set out your Skill in conducting 
it with Ease and Silence, that it may be like a well disciplined 
Army, which knoweth how to anticipate the Orders that are 
fit to be given them. You are never to neglect the Duty of the 
present Hour, to do another thing, which though it may be 
better in it self, is not to be unseasonably preferred. Allot well 
chosen Hours for the Inspection of your Family, which may 
be so distinguished from the rest of your Time, that the 
necessary Cares may come in their proper Place, without any 
Influence upon your good Humour, or Interruption to other 
things. By these Methods you will put your self in possession 
of being valued by your Servants, and then their Obedience will 
naturally follow. 

I must not forget one of the greatest Articles belonging to 
a Family, which is the Expence. It must not be such, as by 
failing either in the Time or measure of it, may rather draw 

Censure 



H US B A ND. 25 

Censure than gain Applause. If it was well examined, there 
is more Money given to be laughed at, than for any one thing 
in the World, though the Purchasers do not think so. A well- 
stated Rule is like the Line, when that is once passed we are 
under another Pole ; so the first straying from a Rule, is a step 
towards making that which was before a Vertue, to change its 
Nature, and to grow either into a Vice, or at least an Imper- 
tinence. The Art of laying out Money wisely, is not attained 
to without a great deal of thought ; and it is yet more difficult 
in the Case of a Wife, who is accountable to her Husband for 
her mistakes in it. It is not only his Money, his Credit too is 
at Stake, if what lyeth under the Wife's Care is managed, either 
with undecent Thrift, or too loose Profusion. You are there- 
fore to keep the Mean between these two Extremes, and it 
being hardly possible to hold the Balance exactly even, let it 
rather incline towards the Liberal side as more suitable to your 
Quality, and less subject to Reproach. Of the two a little 
Money mispent is sooner recovered, than the Credit which is 
lost by having it unhandsomely saved; and a Wise Husband 
will less forgive a shameful piece of Parcimony, than a little 
Extravagance, if it be not too often repeated. His Mind in 
this must be your chief Direction ; and his Temper, when once 
known, will in great measure justifie your part in the manage- 
ment, if he is pleased with it. 

In your Clothes avoid too much Gaudy; do not value your 
self upon an Imbroidered Gown ; and remember, that a reason- 
able Word, or an obliging Look, will gain you more respect, 
than all your fine Trappings. This is not said to restrain you 
from a decent Compliance with the World, provided you take 
the wiser, and not the foolisher part of your Sex for your 
Pattern. Some distinctions are to be allowed, whilst they are 
well suited to your Quality and Fortune, and in the distribution 
of the Expence, it seemeth to me that a full Attendance, and 
well chosen Ornaments for your House, will make you a better 
Figure, than too much glittering in what you wear, which may 
with more ease be imitated by those that are below you. Yet 
this must not tempt you to starve every thing but your own 

Appartment ; 



26 Advice to a Daughter. 

Appartment ; or in order to more abundance there, give just 
cause to the least Servant you have, to complain of the Want 
of what is necessary. Above all, fix it in your thoughts, as an 
unchangeable Maxim, That nothing is truly fine but what is Jit, 
and that just so much as is proper for your Circumstances of 
their several kinds, is much finer than all you can add to it. 
When you once break through these bounds, you launch into 
a wide Sea of Extravagance. Every thing will become necessary, 
because you have a mind to it ; and you have a mind to it, not 
because it is Jit for you, but because some body else hath if. This 
Lady's Logick setteth Reason upon its Head, by carrying the Rule 
from things to Persons, and appealing from what is right to every 
Fool that is in the wrong. The word necessary is miserably 
applyed, it disordereth Families, and overturneth Governments by 
being so abused. Remember that Children and Fools want every 
thing because they want Wit to distinguish: and therefore there 
is no stronger Evidence of a Crazy Understanding, than the 
making too large a Catalogue of things necessary, when in truth 
there are so very few things that have a right to be placed in it. 
Try every thing first in your Judgment, before you allow it 
a place in your Desire; else your Husband may think it as 
necessary for him to deny, as it is for you to have whatever is 
unreasonable ; and if you shall too often give him that advan- 
tage, the habit of refusing may perhaps reach to things that are 
not unfit for you. 

There are unthinking Ladies, who do not enough consider, 
how little their own Figure agreeth with the^/we things they are 
so proud of. Others when they have them will hardly allow 
them to be visible ; they cannot be seen without Light, and 
that is many times so sawcy and so prying, that like a too 
forward Gallant it is to be forbid the Chamber. Some, when 
you are ushered into their Dark Ruelle, it is with such solemnity, 
that a Man would swear there was something in it, till the 
Unskilful Lady breaketh silence, and beginneth a Chat, which 
discovereth it is a Puppet-play with Magnificent Scenes. Many 
esteem things rather as they are hard to be gotten, than that 
they are worth getting : This looketh as if they had an Interest 

to 



BEHAVIOUR, %c. 27 

to pursue that Maxim, because a great part of their own value 
dependeth upon it. Truth in these Cases would be often un- 
mannerly, and might derogate from the Prerogative, great 
Ladies would assume to them selves, of being distinct Creatures 
from those of their Sex which are inferiour and of less difficult 
access. 

In other things too, your Condition must give the rule to 
you, and therefore it is not a Wife's part to aim at more than 
a bounded Liberality ; the farther extent of that Quality (other- 
wise to be commended) belongeth to the Husband, who hath 
better means for it. Generosity wrong placed becometh a Vice. 
It is no more a Vertue when it groweth into an Inconvenience, 
Vertues must be inlarged or restrained according to differing 
Circumstances. A Princely Mind will undo a private Family : 
Therefore things must be suited, or else they will not deserve 
to be Commended, let them in themselves be never so valuable : 
And the Expectations of the World are best answered when we 
acquit our selves in that manner which seemeth to be prescribed 
to our several Conditions, without usurping upon those Duties, 
which do not so particularly belong to us. 

I will close the consideration of this Article of Expence, with 
this short word. Do not fetter your self with such a Restraint 
in it as may make you Remarkable ; but remember that Vertue 
is the greatest Ornament, and good Sence the best Equipage. 



BEHA riO UR and CON VERSA TION. 



IT is time now to lead you out of your House into the World. 
A Dangerous step ; where your Vertue alone will not secure 
you, except it is attended with a great deal of Prudence. You 
must have both for your Guard, and not stir without them. 
The Enemy is abroad, and you are sure to be taken, if you are 
found stragling. Your Behaviour is therefore to incline strongly 
towards the Reserved part', your Character is to be im- 

moveably 



28 Advice to a Daughter. 

moveably fixed upon that Bottom, not excluding a mixture of 
greater freedom, as far as it may be innocent and well timed. 
The Extravagancies of the Age have made Caution more 
necessary ; and by the same reason that the too great Licence 
of ill Men hath by Consequence in many things restrained the 
Lawful Liberty of those who did not abuse it, the unjustifiable 
Freedoms of some of your Sex have involved the rest in the 
Penalty of being reduced. And though this cannot so alter the 
Nature of things, as to make that Criminal, which in it self is 
Indifferent ; yet if it maketh it dangerous, that alone is sufficient 
to justifie the Restraint. A close behaviour is the fittest to 
receive Vertue for its constant Guest, because there, and there 
only, it can be secure. Proper Reserves are the Outworks, and 
must never be deserted by those who intend to keep the Place ; 
they keep off the possibilities not only of being taken, but of 
being attempted', and if a Woman seeth Danger, tho at never 
so remote a Distance, she is for that time to shorten her Line of 
Liberty. She who will allow her self to go to the utmost Extent 
of every thing that is Lawful, is so very near going farther, that 
those who lie at watch, will begin to count upon her. 

Mankind, from the double temptation of Vanity and Desire, 
is apt to turn everything a Woman doth to the hopeful side', 
and there are few who dare make an impudent Application, 
till they discern something which they are willing to take for an 
Encouragement. It is safer therefore to prevent such For- 
wardness, than to go about to cure it. It gathereth Strength 
by the first allowances, and claimeth a Right from having been 
at any time suffered with Impunity. Therefore nothing is with 
more care to be avoided, than such a kind of Civility as may be 
mistaken for Invitation ; and it will not be enough for you to 
keep your self free from any criminal Engagements ; for if you 
do that which either raiseth Hopes or createth Discourse, there 
is a Spot thrown upon your Good Name ; and those kind of 
Stains are the harder to be taken out, being dropped upon you 
by the Man's Vanity, as well as by the Woman's Malice. 

Most Men are in one sence Platonick Lovers, though they 
are not willing to own that Character. They are so far 

Philosophers, 



BEHA riO UR, $c. 29 

Philosophers, as to allow, that the greatest part of Pleasure lieth 
in the Mind; and in pursuance of that Maxim, there are few 
who do not place the Felicity more in the Opinion of the World, 
of their being prosperous Lovers, than in the Blessing it self, 
how much soever they appear to value it. This being so, you 
must be very cautious not to gratifie these Cameleons at the 
price of bringing a Cloud upon your Reputation, which may be 
deeply wounded, tho your Conscience is unconcerned. 

Your own Sex too will not fail to help the least Appearance 
that giveth a Handle to be ill-turned. The best of them will 
not be displeased to improve their own Value, by laying others 
under a Disadvantage, when there is a fair Occasion given for 
it. It distinguisheth them still the more : their own Credit is 
more exalted, and, like a Picture set off with Shades, shineth 
more when a Lady, either less Innocent, or less Discreet, is set 
near, to make them appear so much the brighter. If these lend 
their Breath to blast such as are so unwary as to give them this 
Advantage, you may be sure there will be a stronger Gale from 
those, who, besides Malice or Emulation, have an Interest too, 
to strike hard upon a Vertuous Woman. It seemeth to them, 
that their Load of Infamy is lessened, by throwing part of it 
upon others : So that they will not only improve it when it 
lieth in their way, but take pains to find out the least mistake 
an Innocent Woman committeth, in Revenge of the Injury she 
doth in leading a Life which is a Reproach to them. With 
these you must be extreme wary, and neither provoke them to 
be angry, nor invite them to be Intimate. 

To the Men you are to have a Behaviour which may secure 
you, without offending them. No ill-bred affected Shyness, 
nor a Roughness, unsuitable to your Sex, and unnecessary to 
your Vertue ; but a way of Living that may prevent all coarse 
Railleries or unmannerly Freedoms ; Looks that forbid without 
Rudeness, and oblige without Invitation, or leaving room for the 
sawcy Inferences Men's Vanity suggesteth to them upon the 
least Encouragements. This is so very nice, that it must 
engage you to have a perpetual Watch upon your Eyes, and to 
remember, that one careless Glance giveth more advantage than 



3O Advice to a Daughter. 

a hundred Words not enough considered ; the Language of the 
Eyes being very much the most significant, and the most observed. 

Your Civility ', which is always to be preserved, must not be 
carried to a Compliance, which may betray you into irrecoverable 
Mistakes. This French ambiguous word Complaisance hath led 
your Sex into more blame, than all other things put together. 
It carrieth them by degrees into a certain thing called a good 
kind of Woman, an easie Idle Creature, that doth neither Good 
nor /// but by chance, hath no Choice, but leaveth that to the 
Company she keepeth. Time, which by degrees addeth to the 
signification of Words, hath made her, according to the Modern 
Stile, little better than one who thinketh it a Rudeness to deny 
when civilly required, either her Service in Person, or her 
friendly Assistance, to those who would have a meeting, or 
want a Confident. She is a certain thing always at hand, an 
easie Companion, who hath ever great Compassion for distressed 
Lovers : She censureth nothing but Rigor, and is never without 
a Plaister for a wounded Reputation, in which chiefly lieth her 
Skill in Chirurgery ; She seldom hath the Propriety of any 
particular Gallant, but liveth upon Brokage, and waiteth for the 
Scraps her Friends are content to leave her. 

There is another Character not quite so Criminal, yet not less 
Ridiculous ; which is that of a good-humoured Woman, one who 
thinketh she must always be in a Laugh, or a broad Smile, 
because Good humour is an obliging Quality; thinketh it less 
ill-manners to talk Impertinently, than to be silent in Company. 
When such a prating Engine rideth Admiral, and carrieth the 
Lantern, in a Circle of Fools, a cheerful Coxcomb coming in for 
a Recruit, the Chattering of Monkeys is a better noise than such 
a Concert of senceless Merriment. If she is applauded in it, she 
is so encouraged, that, like a Ballad singer, who if commended, 
breaketh his Lungs, she letteth her self loose, and overfloweth 
upon the Company. She conceiveth that Mirth is to have no 
intermission, and therefore she will carry it about with her, 
though it be to a Funeral ; and if a Man should put a familiar 
Question, she doth not know very well how to be angry, for 
then she would be no more that pretty thing called a Good 

humoured 



BEHAVIOUR, %c. 31 

humour* d Woman. This necessity of appearing at all times to 
be so infinitely pleased is a grievous mistake; since in a handsom 
Woman that Invitation is unnecessary ; and in one who is not 
so, ridiculous. It is not intended by this, that you should 
forswear Laughing ; but remember, that Fools being always 
painted in that posture, it may fright those who are wise from 
doing it too frequently, and going too near a Copy which is so 
little inviting, and much more from doing it loud, which is an 
unnatural Sound and looketh so much like another Sex, that 
few things are more offensive. That boisterous kind of Jollity 
is as contrary to Wit and Good Manners, as it is to Modesty 
and Vertue. Besides, it is a coarse kind of quality, that 
throweth a Woman into a lower Form, and degradeth her from 
the Rank of those who are more refined. Some Ladies speak 
loud and make a noise to be the more minded, which looketh as 
if they beat their Drums for Volunteers, and if by misfortune 
none come in to them, they may, not without reason, be a good 
deal out of Countenance. 

There is one thing, yet more to be avoided, which is the 
Example of those who intend nothing farther than the Vanity 
of Conquest, and think themselves secure of not having their 
Honour tainted by it. Some are apt to believe their Vertue is 
too Obscure, and not enough known, except it is exposed to a 
broader Light, and set out to its best advantage, by some 
publick Trials. These are dangerous experiments, and generally 
fail, being built upon so weak a foundation, as that of a too 
great Confidence in our selves. It is as safe to play with lire, 
as to dally with Gallantry. Love is a Passion that hath Friends 
in the Garrison, and for that reason must by a Woman be kept 
at such a distance, that she may not be within the danger of 
doing the most usual thing in the World, which is conspiring 
against her Self : Else the humble Gallant, who is only admitted 
as a Trophy, very often becometh the Conquerour ; he putteth 
on the style of victory, and from an Admirer groweth into a 
Master, for so he may be called from the moment he is in 
Possession. The first Resolutions of stopping at good Opinion 
and Esteem, grow weaker by degrees against the Charms of 

Courtship 



32 Advice to a Daughter. 

Courtship skilfully applied. A Lady is apt to think a Man 
speaketh so much reason whilst he is Commending her, that she 
hath much ado to believe him in the wrong when he is making 
Love to her : And when besides the natural Inducements your 
Sex hath to be merciful, she is bribed by well-chosen Flattery, 
the poor Creature is in danger of being caught like a Bird 
listening to the Whilstle of one that hath a Snare for it. 
Conquest is so tempting a thing, that it often maketh Women 
mistake Men's Submissions ; which with all their fair Appear- 
ance, have generally less Respect than Art in them. You are 
to remember, that Men who say extreme fine things, many 
times say them most for their own sakes ; and that the vain 
Gallant is often as well pleased with his own Compliments, as 
he could be with the kindest answer. Where there is not that 
Ostentation you are to suspect there is Design. And as strong 
perfumes are seldom used but where they are necessary to 
smother an unwelcome scent; so Excessive good Words leave 
room to believe they are strewed to cover something, which is to 
gain admittance under a Disguise. You must therefore be upon 
your Guard, and consider, that of the two, Respect is more 
dangerous than Anger. It puts even the best Understandings 
out of their place for the time, till their second thoughts restore 
them ; it stealeth upon us insensibly, throweth down our 
Defences, and maketh it too late to resist, after we have given it 
that advantage. Whereas railing goeth away in sound ; it hath 
so much noise in it, that by giving warning it bespeaketh 
Caution. Respect is a slow and a sure Poison, and like Poison 
swelleth us within our selves. Where it prevaileth too much, it 
groweth to be a kind of Apoplexie in the Mind, turneth it quite 
round, and after it hath once seized the understanding, becometh 
mortal to it. For these reasons, the safest way is to treat it like 
a sly Enemy, and to be perpetually upon the watch against it. 

I will add one Advice to conclude this head, which is that 
you will let every seven years make some alteration in you 
towards the Graver side, and not be like the Girls of Fifty, who 
resolve to be always Young, whatever Time with his Iron Teeth 
hath determined to the contrary. Unnatural things carry a 

Deformity 



FRIENDSHIPS. 33 

Deformity in them never to be Disguised', the Liveliness of 
Youth in a riper Age, looketh like a new patch upon an old 
Gown ; so that a Gay Matron, a cheerful oM Fool may be 
reasonably put into the List of the Tamer kind of Monsters. 
There is a certain Creature calFd a Grave Hobby-Horse, a kind 
of a she Numps, that pretendeth to be pulled to a Play, and 
must needs go to Bartholomew Fair, to look after the young 
Folks, whom she only seemeth to make her care, in reality she 
taketh them for her excuse. Such an old Butterfly is of all 
Creatures the most ridiculous, and the soonest found out. It is 
good to be early in your Caution, to avoid any thing that cometh 
within distance of such despicable Patterns, and not like some 
Ladies, who defer their Conversion, till they have been so long 
in possession of being laughed at, that the World doth not know 
how to change their style, even when they are reclaimed from 
that which gave the first occasion for it. 

The advantages of being reserved are too many to set down, 
I will only say, that it is a Guard to a good Woman, and 
a Disguise to an ill one. It is of so much use to both, that those 
ought to use it as an Artifice, who refuse to practise it as 
a Vertue. 



FRIENDSHIPS. 

I Must in a particular manner recommend to you a strict 
Care in the Choice of your Friendships. Perhaps the best are 
not without their Objections, but however, be sure that yours 
may not stray from the Rules which the wiser part of the 
World hath set to them. The Leagues Offensive and Defensive, 
seldom hold in Politicks, and much less in Friendships. The 
violent Intimacies, when once broken, of which they scarce ever 
fail, make such a Noise ; the Bag of Secrets untied, they fly 
about like Birds let loose from a Cage, and become the Enter- 
tainment of the Town. Besides, these great Dearnesses by 
degrees grow Injurious to the rest of your Acquaintance, and 
HALIFAX D throw 



34 Advice to a Daughter. 

throw them off from you. There is such an Offensive Distinction 
when the Dear Friend cometh into the Room, that it is flinging 
Stones at the Company, who are not apt to forgive it. 

Do not lay out your Friendship too lavishly at first, since it 
will, like other things, be so much the sooner spent ; neither let 
it be of too sudden a growth ; for as the Plants which shoot up 
too fast are not of that continuance, as those which take more 
time for it; so too swift a Progress in pouring out your 
Kindness, is a certain Sign that by the Course of Nature it will 
not be Jong lived. You will be responsible to the World, if you 
pitch upon such Friends as at the time are under the weight 
of any Criminal Objection. In that case you will bring your 
self under the disadvantages of their Character, and must bear 
your part of it. Chusing implieth Approving ; and if you fix 
upon a Lady for your Friend against whom the World shall 
have given Judgment, 'tis not so well natur'd as to believe you 
are altogether averse to her way of living, since it doth not 
discourage you from Admitting her into your Kindness. And 
Resemblance of Inclinations being thought none of the least 
Inducements to Friendship, you will be looked upon at least as a 
Well-wisher if not a Partner with her in her Faults. If you can 
forgive them in another, it may be presumed you will not be 
less gentle to your self ; and therefore you must not take it ill, 
if you are reckoned a Croupiere, and condemned to pay an 
equal Share with such a Friend of the Reputation she hath lost. 

If it happeneth that your Friend sbould fall from the State 
of Innocence after your Kindness was engaged to her, you may 
be slow in your belief in the beginning of the Discovery : But 
as soon as you are convinced by a Rational Evidence, you 
must, without breaking too roughly, make a far and a quick 
Retreat from such a Mistaken Acquaintance : Else by moving 
too slowly from one that is so tainted, the Contagion may 
reach you so far as to give you part of the Scandal, though not 
of the Guilt. This Matter is so nice, that as you must not be 
too hasty to joyn in the Censure upon your Friend when she is 
accused, so you are not on the other side to defend her with 
too much warmth ; for if she should happen to deserve the 

Report 



FRIENDSHIPS. 



35 



Report of Common Fame, besides the Vexation that belongeth 
to such a mistake, you will draw an ill appearance upon your 
self, and it will be thought you pleaded for her not without 
some Consideration of your self. The Anger which must be 
put on to vindicate the Reputation of an injured Friend, may 
incline the Company to suspect you would not be so zealous, if 
there was not a possibility that the Case might be your own. 
For this reason you are not to carry your dearness so far, as 
absolutely to lose your Sight where your Friend is concerned. 
Because Malice is too quick sighted, it doth not follow, that 
Friendship must be blind: There is to be a Mean between 
these two Extremes, else your Excess of Good Nature may 
betray you into a very ridiculous Figure, and by degrees who 
may be preferred to such Offices as you will not be proud of. 
Your Ignorance may lessen the Guilt, but will improve the Jest 
upon you, who shall be kindly sollicitous to procure a Meeting, 
and innocently contribute to the ills you would avoid : Whilest 
the Contriving Lovers, when they are alone, shall make you the 
Subject of their Mirth, and perhaps (with respect to the 
Goddess of Love be it spoken) it is not the worst part of their 
Entertainment, at least it is the most lasting, to laugh at the 
believing Friend, who was so easily deluded. 

Let the good Sence of your Friends be a chief Ingredient in 
your Choice of them ; else let your Reputation be never so clear, 
it may be clouded by their Impertinence. It is like our Houses 
being in the Power of a Drunken or a Careless Neighbour; 
only so much worse, as that there will be no Insurance here to 
make you amends, as there is in the Case of Fire. 

To conclude this Paragraph ; If Formality is to be allowed 
in any Instance, it is to be put on to resist the Invasion of such 
forward Women as shall press themselves into your Friendship, 
where if admitted, they will either be a Snare or an 
Incumbrance. 



CENSURE. 



36 Advice to a Daughter. 



CENSURE. 

I will come next to the Consideration, how you are to 
manage your Censure ; in which both Care and skill will be 
a good deal required. To distinguish is not only natural but 
necessary ; and the Effect of it is, That we cannot avoid giving 
Judgment in our Minds, either to absolve or to condemn as the 
Case requireth. The Difficulty is, to know when and where it 
is fit to proclaim the Sentence. An Aversion to what is 
Criminal, a Contempt of what is ridiculous, are the inseparable 
Companions of Understanding and Vertue ; but the letting them 
go farther than our own Thoughts, hath so much danger in it, 
that though it is neither possible nor fit to suppress them 
intirely, yet it is necessary they should be kept under very great 
Restraints. An unlimited Liberty of this kind is little less than 
sending a Herald and proclaiming War to the World, which is 
an angry Beast when so provoked. The Contest will be 
unequal, though you are never so much in the right ; and if you 
begin against such an Adversary, it will tear you in pieces, 
with this Justification, That it is done in its own defence. 
You must therefore take heed of Laughing, except in Company 
that is very sure. It is throwing Snow-balls against Bullets ; 
and it is the disadvantage of a Woman, that the Malice of the 
World will help the Brutality of those who will throw a 
slovenly Untruth upon her. You are for this Reason to 
suppress your Impatience for Fools ; who besides that they are 
too strong a Party to be unnecessarily provoked, are of all 
others, the most dangerous in this Case. A Blockhead in his 
Rage will return a dull Jest that will lie heavy, though there is 
not a Grain of Wit in it. Others will do it with more Art, and 
you must not think your self secure because your Reputation 
may perhaps be out of the reach of Ill-will', for if it findeth 
that part guarded, it will seek one which is more exposed. It 
flieth, like a corrupt Humour in the Body, to the weakest Part. 
If you have a tender Side, the World will be sure to find it, and to 
put the worst Colour upon all you say or do, give an Aggravation 

to 



C EN S URE. 



to every thing that may lessen you, and a spiteful turn to every 
thing that might recommend you. Anger laieth open those 
Defects which Friendship would not see, and Civility might be 
willing to forget. Malice needeth no such Invitation to en- 
courage it, neither are any Pains more superfluous than those 
we take to be ill spoken of. If Envy, which never dyeth, and 
seldom sleepeth, is content sometimes to be in a Slumber, it is 
very unskilful to make a noise to awake it. 

Besides, your Wit will be misapplied if it is wholly directed 
to discern the Faults of others, when it is so necessary to be 
often used to mend and prevent your own. The sending our 
Thoughts too much abroad, hath the same Effect, as when 
a Family never stayeth at home ; Neglect and Disorder naturally 
followeth; as it must do within our selves, if we do not fre- 
quently turn our Eyes inwards, to see what is amiss with us, 
where it is a sign we have an unwelcome Prospect, when we 
do not care to look upon it, but rather seek our Consolations in 
the Faults of those we converse with. 

Avoid being the first in fixing a hard Censure, let it be con- 
firmed by the general Voice, before you give into it ; Neither 
are you then to give Sentence like a Magistrate, or as if you had 
a special Authority to bestow a good or ill Name at your dis- 
cretion. Do not dwell too long upon a weak Side, touch and 
go away; take pleasure to stay longer where you can commend, 
like Bees that fix only upon those Herbs out of which they may 
extract the Juice of which their Honey is composed. A Vertue 
stuck with Bristles is too rough for this Age; it must be 
adorned with some Flowers, or else it will be unwillingly 
entertained ; so that even where it may be fit to strike, do it 
like a Lady, gently ; and assure your self, that where you care 
to do it, you will wound others more, and hurt your self less, by 
soft Strokes, than by being harsh or violent. 

The Triumph of Wit is to make your good Nature subdue 
your Censure; to be quick in seeing Faults, and slow in exposing 
them. You are to consider, that the invisible thing called a 
Good Name, is made up of the Breath of Numbers that speak 
well of you ; so that if by a disobliging Word you silence the 

meanest, 



38 Adiice to a Daughter. 

meanest, the Gale will be less strong which is to bear up your 
Esteem. And though nothing is so vain as the eager pursuit of 
empty Applause, yet to be well thought of, and to be kindly 
used by the World, is like a Glory about a Womans Head', 
'tis a Perfume she carrieth about with her, and leaveth where- 
ever she goeth; *tis a Charm against Ill-will. Malice may 
empty her Quiver, but cannot wound ; the Dirt will not stick, 
the Jests will not take; Without the consent of the World 
a Scandal doth not go deep ; it is only a slight stroak upon the 
injured Party and returneth with the greater force upon those 
that gave it. 



VANITY and AFFECT A TION. 

IMust with more than ordinary earnestness give you Caution 
against Vanity, it being the Fault to which your Sex seemeth 
to be the most inclined; and since Affectation for the most 
part attendeth it, I do not know how to divide them. I will not 
call them Twins, because more properly Vanity is the Mother, 
and Affectation is the Darling Daughter; Vanity is the Sin, 
and Affectation is the Punishment ; the first may be called the 
Root of Self-Love, the other the Fruit. Vanity is never at its 
full growth till it spreadeth into Affectation, and then it is 
com pleat. 

Not to dwell any longer upon the definition of them, I will 
pass to the means and motives to avoid them. In order to it, 
you are to consider, that the World challengeth the right of 
distributing Esteem and Applause ; so that where any assume 
by their single Authority to be their own Carvers, it groweth 
angry, and never faileth to seek Revenge. And if we may 
measure a Fault by the greatness of the Penalty, there are few 
of a higher size than Vanity, as there is scarce a Punishment 
which can be heavier than that of being laughed at. 

Vanity maketh a Woman tainted with it, so top full of her 
self, that she spilleth it upon the Company. And because her 

own 



VANITY, c$c. 39 

own thoughts are intirely imployed in Self-Contemplation ; she 
endeavoureth, by a cruel Mistake, to confine her Acquaintance 
to the same narrow Circle of that which only concerneth her 
Ladiship, forgetting that she is not of half that Importance to 
the World, that she is to her self, so mistaken she is in her 
Value, by being her own Appraiser. She will fetch such a 
Compass in Discourse to bring in her beloved Self, and rather 
than fail, her fine Petty-Coat, that there can hardly be a better 
Scene than such a Tryal of ridiculous Ingenuity. It is a 
Pleasure to see her Angle for Commendations., and rise so 
dissatisfied with the Ill-bred Company, if they will not bite. 
To observe her throwing her Eyes about to fetch in Prisoners, 
and go about Cruizing like a Privateer, and so out of Counten- 
ance, if she return without Booty, is no ill piece of Comedy. 
She is so eager to draw respect, that she always misseth it, yet 
thinketh it so much her due, that when she faileth she groweth 
waspish, not considering, that it is impossible to commit a Rape 
upon the will ; that it must be fairly gained, and will not be 
taken by Storm', and that in this Case, the Tax ever riseth 
highest by a Benevolence. If the World instead of admiring 
her Imaginary Excellencies, taketh the Liberty to laugh at 
them, she appealeth from it to her self, for whom she giveth 
Sentence, and proclaimeth it in all Companies. On the other 
side, if incouraged by a Civil Word, she is so obliging, that she 
will give thanks for being laughed at in good Language. She 
taketh a Compliment for a Demonstration, and setteth it up as 
an Evidence, even against her Looking-Glass. But the good 
Lady being all this while in a most profound Ignorance of her 
self, forgetteth that Men would not let her talk upon them, and 
throw so many senseless words at their head, if they did not 
intend to put her Person to Fine and Ransom, for her Imper- 
tinence. Good words of any other Lady, are so many Stones 
thrown at her, she can by no means bear them, they make her 
so uneasie, that she cannot keep her Seat, but up she riseth and 
goeth home half burst with Anger and Strait-Lacing. If by 
great chance she saith any thing that hath sence in it, she 
expecteth such an Excessive rate of Commendations, that to her 

thinking 



4O Advice to a Daughter 

thinking the Company ever riseth in her Debt. She looketh 
upon Rules as things made for the common People, and not for 
Persons of her Rank ; and this Opinion sometimes tempteth her 
to Extend her Prerogative to the dispencing with the command- 
ments. If by great Fortune she happeneth, in spite of her 
Vanity, to be honest, she is so troublesome with it, that as far 
as in her lieth, she maketh a scurvy thing of it. Her bragging 
of her Vertue, looketh as if it cost her so much pains to get the 
better of her Self, that the Inferences are very ridiculous. Her 
good Humour is generally applied to the laughing at good Sense. 
It would do one good to see how heartily she despiseth any thing 
that is fit for her to do. The greatest part of her Fancy is laid 
out in chusing her Gown, as her Discretion is chiefly imploy'd 
in not paying for it. She is faithful to the Fashion, to which 
not only her Opinion, but her Senses are wholly resigned : so 
obsequious she is to it, that she would be ready to be reconciled 
even to Vertue with all its Faults, if she had her Dancing 
Master's Word that it was practised at Court. 

To a Woman so composed when Affectation cometh in to 
improve her Character, it is then raised to the highest Per- 
fection. She first setteth up for a Fine thing, and for that 
Reason will distinguish her self, right or wrong, in every thing 
she doth. She would have it thought that she is made of so 
much the finer Clay, and so much more sifted than ordinary, 
that she hath no common Earth about her. To this end she 
must neither move nor speak like other Women, because it 
would be vulgar ; and therefore must have a Language of her 
own, since ordinary English is too coarse for her. The Looking- 
glass in the Morning dictateth to her all the Motions of the 
Day, which by how much the more studied, are so much the 
more mistaken. She cometh into a Room as if her Limbs were 
set on with ill-made Screws, which maketh the Company fear 
the pretty thing should leave some of its artificial Person upon 
the Floor. She doth not like her self as God Almighty made 
her, but will have some of her own Workmanship ; which is so 
far from making her a better thing than a Woman, that it 
turneth her into a worse Creature than a Monkey. She falleth 

out 



V A N I TY, $c. 41 

out with Nature, against which she maketh War without 
admitting a Truce, those Moments excepted in which her 
Gallant may reconcile her to it. When she hath a mind to 
be soft and languishing, there is somthing so unnatural in that 
affected Easiness, that her Frowns could not be by many degrees 
so forbidden. When she would appear unreasonably humble, 
one may see she is so excessively proud, that there is no endur- 
ing it. There is such an impertinent Smile, such a satisfied 
Simper, when she faintly disowneth some fulsom Commendation 
a Man hapneth to bestow upon her against his Conscience, 
that her Thanks for it are more visible under such a thin Dis- 
guise, than they could be if she should print them. If a 
handsomer Woman taketh any liberty of Dressing out of the 
ordinary Rules the mistaken Lady followeth, without distin- 
guishing the unequal Pattern, and maketh her self uglier by an 
example misplaced ; either forgetting the Privilege of good 
Looks in another, or presuming, without sufficient reason, upon 
her own. Her Discourse is a senseless Chime of empty Words, 
a heap of Compliments so equally applied to differing Persons, 
that they are neither valued nor believ'd. Her Eyes keep pace 
with her Tongue, and are therefore always in motion. One may 
discern that they generally incline to the compassionate side, 
and that, notwithstanding her pretence to Vertue, she is gentle 
to distressed Lovers, and Ladies that are merciful. She will 
repeat the tender part of a Play so feelingly, that the Company 
may guess, without Injustice, she was not altogether a dis- 
interessed Spectator. She thinketh that Paint and Sin are 
concealed by railing at them. Upon the latter she is less hard, 
and being divided between the two opposite Prides of her Beauty 
and her Vertue, she is often tempted to give broad Hints that 
some body is dying for her; and of the two she is less un- 
willing to let the World think she may be sometimes prof an' d, 
than that she is never worshipped. 

Very great Beauty may perhaps so dazle for a time, that 
Men may not so clearly see the Deformity of these Affectations ; 
But when the Brightness goeth off, and that the Lover's Eyes 
are by that means set at liberty to see things as they are, he 

will 



42 Advice to a Daughter. 

will naturally return to his Senses, and recover the Mistake 
into which the Lady's good Looks had at first engaged him, 
and being once undeceived, ceaseth to worship that as a 
Goddess, which he seeth is only an artificial Shrine moved by 
Wheels and Springs, to delude him. Such Women please only 
like the first Opening of a Scene, that hath nothing to recom- 
mend it but the being new. They may be compared to Flies, 
that have pretty shining Wings for two or three hot Months, 
but the first cold Weather maketh an end of them ; so the 
latter Season of these fluttering Creatures is dismal : From 
their nearest Friends they receive a very faint Respect ; from 
the rest of the World, the utmost degree of contempt. 

Let this Picture supply the place of any other Rules which 
might be given to prevent your resemblance to it, The Deformity 
of it, well considered, is Instruction enough; from the same 
reason, that the sight of a Drunkard is a better Sermon against 
that Vice, than the best that was ever preach'd upon that 
Subject. 

PRIDE. 

Ai'ter having said this against Vanity, I do not intend to 
apply the same Censure to Pride, well placed, and rightly 
defined. It is an ambiguous Word ; one kind of it is as much 
a Vertue, as the other is a Vice : But we are naturally so apt 
to chuse the worst, that it is become dangerous to commend the 
best side of it. 

A Woman is not to be proud of her fine Gown ; nor when 
she hath less Wit than her Neighbours, to comfort her self that 
she hath more Lace. Some Ladies put so much weight upon 
Ornaments, that if one could see into their Hearts, it would be 
found, that even the Thought of Death is made less heavy to 
them by the contemplation of their being laid out in State, and 
honourably attended to the Grave. One may come a good deal 
short of such an Extream, and yet still be sufficiently Imperti- 
nent, by setting a wrong Value upon things, which ought to be 
used with more indifference. A Lady must not appear sollicitous 
to ingross Respect to her self, but be content with a reasonable 

Distribution, 



PRIDE. 43 

Distribution, and allow it to others, that she may have it 
returned to her. She is not to be troublesomly nice, nor 
distinguish her self by being too delicate, as if ordinary things 
were too coarse for her ; this is an unmannerly and an offensive 
Pride, and where it is practised, deserveth to be mortified, of 
which it seldom faileth. She is not to lean too much upon her 
Quality, much less to despise those who are below it. Some 
make Quality an Idol, and then their Reason must fall down 
and Worship it. They would have the World think, that no 
amends can ever be made for the want of a great Title, or an 
ancient Coat of Arms : They imagine, that with these advan- 
tages they stand upon the higher Ground, which maketh them 
look down upon Merit and Vertue, as things inferiour to them. 
This mistake is not only senseless, but criminal too, in putting 
a greater Price upon that which is a piece of good luck, than 
upon things which are valuable in themselves. Laughing is 
not enough for such a Folly ; it must be severely whipped, as 
it justly deserves. Jt will be confessed, there are frequent 
Temptations given by pert Upstarts to be angry, and by that to 
have our Judgments corrupted in these Cases : But they are to 
be resisted ; and the utmost that is to be allowed, is, when those 
of a new Edition will forget themselves, so as either to brag of 
their weak side, or to endeavour to hide their Meanness by their 
Insolence, to cure them by a little seasonable Raillery, a little 
Sharpness well placed, without dwelling too long upon it. 

These and many other kinds of Pride are to be avoided. 

That which is to be recommended to you, is an Emulation 
to raise your self to a Character, by which you may be dis- 
tinguished ; an Eagerness for precedence in Vertue, and all 
such other things as may gain you a greater share of the good 
opinion of the World. Esteem to Vertue is like a cherishing 
Air to Plants and Flowers, which maketh them blow and 
prosper ; and for that reason it may be allowed to be in some 
degree the Cause as well as the Reward of it. That Pride 
which leadeth to a good End, cannot be a Vice, since it is the 
beginning of a Vertue ; and to be pleased with just Applause, 
is so far from a Fault, that it would be an ill Symptom in a 

Woman, 



44 Advice to a Daughter. 

Woman, who should not place the greatest part of her Satis- 
faction in it. Humility is no doubt a great Vertue; but it 
ceaseth to be so, when it is afraid to scorn an ill thing. Against 
Vice and Folly it is becoming your Sex to be haughty ; but 
you must not carry the Contempt of things to Arrogance towards 
Persons, and it must be done with fitting Distinctions, else it 
may be Inconvenient by being unseasonable. A Pride that 
raiseth a little Anger to be out-done in any thing that is good, 
will have so good an Effect, that it is very hard to allow it to be 
a Fault. 

It is no easie matter to carry even between these differing 
kinds so described ; but remember that it is safer for a Woman 
to be thought too proud, than too familiar. 



DIVERSIONS. 

r I ^HE last thing I shall recommend to you, is a wise and a safe 
A method of using Diversions. To be too eager in the pursuit 
of Pleasure whilst you are Young, is dangerous ; to catch at it 
in riper Years, is grasping a shadow; it will not be held. 
Besides that by being less natural it groweth to be indecent. 
Diversions are the most properly applied to ease and relieve 
those who are Oppressed by being too much imployed. Those 
that are Idle have no need of them, and yet they, above all 
others, give themselves up to them. To unbend our Thoughts, 
when they are too much stretched by our Cares, is not more 
natural than it is necessary, but to turn our whole Life into 
a Holy day, is not only ridiculous, but destroyeth Pleasure 
instead of promoting it. The Mind like the Body is tired by 
being always in one Posture, too serious breaketh, and too 
diverting looseneth it : It is Variety that giveth the Relish ; 
so that Diversions too frequently repeated, grow first to be 
indifferent, and at last tedious. Whilst they are well chosen 
and well timed, they are never to be blamed ; but when they are 
used to an Excess, though very Innocent at first, they often 
grow to be Criminal, and never fail to be Impertinent. 

Some Ladies are bespoken for Merry Meetings, as Bessus 

was 



DIVERSIONS. 45 

was for Duels. They are ingaged in a Circle of Idleness, where 
they turn round for the whole Year, without the Interruption 
of a serious Hour. They know all the Players Names, and are 
Intimately acquainted with all the Booths in Bartholomew-Fair. 
No Soldier is more Obedient to the sound of his Captain's 
Trumpet, than they are to that which summoneth them to a 
Puppet-Play or a Monster. The Spring that bringeth out Flies, 
and Fools, maketh them Inhabitants in Hide-Park ; in the 
Winter they are an Incumbrance to the Play House, and the 
Ballast of the Drawing-Room. The Streets all this while are 
so weary of these daily Faces, that Men's Eyes are over-laid 
with them. The Sight is glutted with fine things, as the 
Stomach with sweet ones ; and when a fair Lady will give too 
much of her self to the World, she groweth luscious, and 
oppresseth instead of pleasing. These Jolly Ladies do so 
continually seek Diversion, that in a little time they grow into 
a Jest, yet are unwilling to remember, that if they were seldomer 
seen they would not be so often laughed at. Besides they make 
themselves Cheap, than which there cannot be an unkinder word 
bestowed upon your Sex. 

To play sometimes, to entertain Company, or to divert your 
self, is not to be disallowed, but to do it so often as to be called 
a Gamester, is to be avoided, next to the things that are most 
Criminal. It hath Consequences of several kinds not to be en- 
dured ; it will ingage you into a habit of Idleness and ill hours, 
draw you into ill mixed Company, make you neglect your 
Civilities abroad, and your Business at home, and impose into 
your Acquaintance such as will do you no Credit. 

To deep Play there will be yet greater Objections. It will 
give Occasion to the World to ask spiteful Questions. How 
you dare venture to lose, and what means you have to pay such 
great summs ? If you pay exactly, it will be enquired from 
whence the Money cometh ? If you owe, and especially to 
a Man, you must be so very Civil to him for his forbearance, 
that it layeth a ground of having it farther improved, if the 
Gentleman is so disposed ; who will be thought no unfair 
Creditor, if where the Estate faileth he seizeth upon the Person. 

Besides 



46 Advice to a Daughter. 

Besides if a Lady could see her own Face upon an ill Game, at 
a deep Stake, she would certainly forswear any thing that 
could put her looks under such a Disadvantage. 

To Dance sometimes will not be imputed to you as a fault ; 
but remember that the end of your Learning it, was, that you 
might the better know how to move gracefully. It is only an 
advantage so far. When it goeth beyond it, one may call it 
excelling in a Mistake, which is no very great Commendation. 
It is better for a Woman never to Dance, because she hath no 
skill in it, than to do it too often, because she doth it well. The 
easiest as well as the safest Method of doing it, is in private 
Companies, amongst particular Friends, and then carelesly, like 
a Diversion, rather than with Solemnity, as if it was a business, 
or had any thing in it to deserve a Month's preparation by 
serious Conference with a Dancing-Master. 

Much more might be said to all these Heads, and many more 
might be added to them. But I must restrain my Thoughts, 
which are full of my Dear Child, and would overflow into a 
Volume, which would not be fit for a New-Years-Gift. I will 
conclude with my warmest Wishes for all that is good to you. 
That you may live so as to be an Ornament to your Family, and 
a Pattern to your Sex. That you may be blessed with a 
Husband that may value, and with Children that may inherit 
your Vertue ; That you may shine in the World by a true Light, 
and silence Envy by deserving to be esteemed ; That Wit and 
Vertue may both conspire to make you a great Figure. When 
they are separated, the first is so empty, and the other so faint, 
that they scarce have right to be commended. May they there- 
fore meet and never part ; let them be your Guardian Angels, 
and be sure never to stray out of the distance of their joint 
protection. May you so raise your Character, that you may 
help to make the next Age a better thing, and leave Posterity 
in your Debt for the advantage it shall receive by your 
Example. 

Let me conjure you, My Dearest, to comply with this kind 
Ambition of a Father, whose Thoughts are so ingaged in your 
behalf, that he reckoneth your Happiness to be the greatest part 
of his own. 

THE 



THE 

CHARACTER 

OF A 

TRIMMER. 

THE 

PREFACE. 

IT must be more than an ordinary provocation that can temp t 
a Man to write in an Age over-run with Scribblers, as Egypt 
was with Flies and Locusts : That worst Vermin of small 
Authors hath given the World such a Surfeit, that instead of 
desiring to Write, a Man would be more inclined to wish, for 
his own ease, that he could not Read ; but there are some things 
which do so raise our passions, that our Reason can make no 
Resistance ; and when Madmen, in two Extreams, shall agree to 
make common sense Treason, and joy n to fix an ill Character 
upon the only Men in the Nation who deserve a good one ; I am 
no longer Master of my better Resolution to let the World alone, 
and must break loose from my more reasonable Thoughts, to 
expose these false Coyners, who would make their Copper Wares 
pass upon us for good Payment. 

Amongst all the Engines of Dissention, there hath been none 
more powerful in all Times, than the fixing Names upon one 
another of Contumely and Reproach, and the reason is plain, 
in respect of the People, who tho' generally they are uncapable 
of making a Syllogism or forming an Argument, yet they can 
pronounce a word ; and that serveth their turn to throw it with 

their 



48 The Preface. 



their dull malice at the Head of those they do not like ; such 
things ever begin in Jest, and end in Blood, and the same word 
which at first maketh the Company merry, groweth in time to a 
Military Signal to cut one anothers Throats. 

These Mistakes are to be lamented, tho' not easily cured, 
being suitable enough to the corrupted Nature of Mankind ; but 
'tis hard, that Men will not only invent ill Names, but they will 
wrest and misinterpret good ones ; so afraid some are even of 
a reconciling sound, that they raise another noise to keep it from 
being heard, lest it should set up and encourage a dangerous sort 
of Men, who prefer Peace and Agreement, before Violence and 
Confusion. 

Were it not for this, why, after we have played the Fool with 
throwing Whig and Tory at one another, as Boys do Snoiv- 
Balls, do we grow angry at a new Name, which by its true 
signification might do as much to put us into our Wits, as the 
other hath done to put us out of them ? 

This innocent word Trimmer signifieth no more than this, 
That if Men are together in a Boat, and one part of the Company 
would weigh it down on one side, another would make it lean as 
much to the contrary ; it happeneth there is a third Opinion of 
those, who conceive it would do as well, if the Boat went even, 
without endangering the Passengers ; now 'tis hard to imagin by 
what Figure in Language, or by what Rule in Sense this cometh 
to be a fault, and it is much more a wonder it should be thought 
a Heresy. 

But so it happeneth, that the poor Trimmer hath now all the 
Powder spent upon him alone, while the Whig is a forgotten, or 
at least a neglected Enemy ; there is no danger now to the State (if 
some Men may be believed) but from the Beast called a Trimmer, 
take heed of him, he is the Instrument that must destroy Church 
and State ; a strange kind of Monster, whose deformity is so 
exposed, that, were it a true Picture that is made of him, it 
would be enough to fright Children, and make Women miscarry 
at the sight of it. 

But it may be worth the examining, whether he is such a Beast 
as he is Painted. I am not of that Opinion, and am so far 

from 



The Preface. 49 

from thinking him an Infidel either in Church or State, that I 
am neither afraid to expose the Articles of his Faith in Relation 
to Government, nor to say that I prefer them before any other 
Political Creed, that either our angry Divines, or our refined 
States-men would impose upon us. 

I have therefore in the following Discourse endeavoured to 
explain the Trimmer's Principles and Opinions, and then leave 
it to all discerning and impartial Judges, whether he can with 
Justice be so Arraigned, and whether those who deliberately per- 
vert a good Name, do not very justly deserve the worst that 
can be put upon themselves. 



THE 



50 
THE 



Trimmer's Opinion 

OF THE 

L AW S 

AND 

GOVERNMENT. 

OUr Trimmer, as he hath a great Veneration for Laws in 
general, so he hath a more particular for our own, he looketh 
upon them as the Chains that tye up our unruly Passions, which 
else, like wild Beasts let loose, would reduce the world into its 
first State of Barbarism and Hostility; the good things we 
in joy, we owe to them ; and all the ill things we are freed from 
is by their Protection. 

God himself thought it not enough to be a Creator, without 
being a Lawgiver, and his goodness had been defective towards 
mankind in making them, if he had not prescribed Rules to 
make them happy too. 

All Laws flow from that of Nature, and where that is not the 
Foundation, they may be legally imposed, but they will be lamely 
obeyed: By this Nature is not meant that which Fools and 
Madmen misquote to justify their Excesses ; it is innocent and 
uncorrupted Nature, that which disposeth Men to chuse Vertue, 
without its being prescribed, and which is so far from inspiring 
ill thoughts into us, that we take pains to suppress the good 
ones it infuseth. 

The Civilized World hath ever paid a willing subjection to 
Laws, even Conquerors have done homage to them ; as the 

Romans, 



The Character of a Trimmer. 5 1 

Romans, who took Patterns of good Laws, even from those they 
had subdued ; and at the same time that they Triumphed over 
an enslaved People, the very Laws of that place did not only 
remain safe, but became Victorious ; their new Masters, instead 
of suppressing them, paid them more respect than they had 
from those who first made them : and by this wise method they 
arrived to such an admirable Constitution of Laws, that to this 
day they Reign by them ; this Excellency of them Triumpheth 
still, and the World payeth now an acknowledgment of their 
obedience to that Mighty Empire, though so many Ages after 
it is dissolved ; and by a later instance, the Kings of France, 
who in practice use their Laws pretty familiarly, yet think their 
Picture is drawn with most advantage upon their Seals, when 
they are placed in the Seat of Justice : and tho* the Hierogly- 
phick is not there of so much use to the People as they would 
wish, yet it sheweth that no Prince is so Great, as not to think 
fit, for his own Credit at least, to give an outward, when he re- 
fuseth a real worship to the Laws. 

They are to mankind that which the Sun is to Plants, whilst 
it cherisheth and preserveth them. Where they have their force 
and are not clouded or supprest, every thing smileth and 
flourisheth ; but where they are darkened, and not suffered to 
shine out, it maketh every thing to wither and decay. 

They secure Men not only against one another, but against 
themselves too ; they are a Sanctuary to which the Crown hath 
occasion to resort as often as the People, so that it is an Interest 
as well as a Duty to preserve them. 

There would be no end of making a Panegyrick of Laws ; let 
it be enough to add, that without Laws the World would be- 
come a Wilderness, and Men little less than Beasts ; but with 
all this, the best things may come to be the worst, if they are 
not in good hands; and if it be true that the wisest Men 
generally make the Laws, it is as true, that the strongest do 
often Interpret them : and as Rivers belong as much to the 
Channel where they run, as to the Spring from whence they 
first rise, so the Laws depend as much upon the Pipes thro' 
which they are to pass, as upon the Fountain from whence 
they flow. 

E3 The 



52 The Character 



The Authority of a King who is Head of the Law, as well as 
the Dignity of Publick Justice, is debased, when the clear stream 
of the Law is puddled and disturbed by Bunglers, or conveyed 
by unclean Instruments to the People. 

Our Trimmer would have them appear in their full lustre, 
and would be grieved to see the day, when, instead of speaking 
with Authority from the Seats of Justice, they should speak out 
of a Grate, with a lamenting voice like Prisoners that desire to 
be rescued. 

He wisheth that the Bench may have a Natural as well as a 
Legal Superiority to the Bar ; he thinketh Mens abilities very 
much misplacM, when the Reason of him that pleadeth is visibly 
too strong for those who Judge and give Sentence. 

When those from the Bar seem to dictate to their Superiours 
upon the Bench, their Furrs will look scurvily about them, and 
the respect of the World will leave the bare Character of a 
Judge, to follow the Essential knowledge of a Lawyer, who may 
be greater in himself, than the other can be with all his Trap- 
pings. 

An uncontested Superiority in any Calling, will have the 
better of any discountenance that Authority can put upon it, 
and therefore if ever such an unnatural Method should be intro- 
duc'd, it is then that Westminster Hall might be said to stand 
upon its Head, and though Justice it self can never be so, yet 
the Administration of it would be rendred Ridiculous. 

A Judge hath such power lodg'd in him, that the King will 
never be thought to have chosen well, where the voice of Man- 
kind hath not before-hand recommended the Man to his Station ; 
when Men are made Judges of what they do not understand, 
the World censureth such a Choice, not out of ill will to the 
Men, but fear to themselves. 

If the King had the sole power of chusing Physicians, Men 
would tremble to see Bunglers preferred, yet the necessity of 
taking Physick from a Doctor, is generally not so great as that 
of receiving Justice from a Judge ; and yet the Inferences will 
be very severe in such cases, for either it will be thought that 
such Men bought what they were not able to deserve, or which 

is 



of a Trimmer. 53 

is as bad, that Obedience shall be look'd upon as a better 
Qualification in a Judge, than Skill or Integrity, when such sacred 
things as the Laws are not only touch 'd, but guided by prophane 
hands ; Men will fear that out of the Tree of the Law, from 
whence we expect Shade and Shelter, such Workmen will make 
Cudgels to beat us with, or rather that they will turn the Canon 
upon our Properties, that were intrusted with them for their 
Defence. 

To see the Laws Mangled, Disguised, Speak quite another 
Language than their own, to see them thrown from the Dignity 
of protecting Mankind, to the disgraceful Office of destroying 
them ; and notwithstanding their Innocence in themselves, to 
be made the worst Instruments that the most refined Villany 
can make use of, will raise Mens Anger above the power of 
laying it down again, and tempt them to follow the Evil 
Examples given them of Judging without Hearing, when so 
provoked by their desire of Revenge. Our Trimmer therefore, 
as he thinketh the Laws are Jewels, so he believeth they are 
nowhere better set, than in the constitution of our English 
Government, if rightly understood, and carefully preserved. 

It would be too great Partiality to say they are perfect or 
liable to no Objection ; such things are not of this world ; but 
if they have more Excellencies and fewer Faults than any other 
we know, it is enough to recommend them to our Esteem. 

The Dispute, which is a greater Beauty, a Monarchy or a 
Common-wealth, hath lasted long between their contending 
Lovers, and they have behavM themselves so like Lovers, (who 
in good Manners must be out of their Wits,) who used such 
Figures to exalt their own Idols on either side, and such angry 
Aggravations, to reproach one another in the Contest, that 
moderate men have in all times smil'd upon this eagerness, 
and thought it differ'd very little from a downright Frenzy : 
we in England, by a happy use of the Controversie, conclude 
them both in the wrong, and reject them from being our 
Pattern, not taking the words in the utmost extent, which is 
Monarchy, a thing that leaveth men no Liberty, and a Common- 
wealth, such a one as alloweth them no Quiet. 

We 



54 The Character 



We think that a wise Mean, between these barbarous 
Extreams, is that which self-Preservation ought to dictate to 
our Wishes ; and we may say we have attained to this Mean 
in a greater measure, than any Nation now in being, or perhaps 
any we have read of, tho never so much Celebrated for the 
Wisdom or Felicity of their Constitutions : We take from one 
the too great power of doing hurt, and yet leave enough to 
govern and protect us ; we take from the other, the Confusion, 
the Parity, the Animosities, and the License, and yet reserve 
a due care of such a Liberty, as may consist with Mens 
Allegiance; but it being hard, if not impossible, to be exactly 
even, our Government hath much the stronger Biass towards 
Monarchy, which by the general Consent and Practise of 
Mankind, seemeth to have the Advantage in dispute against a 
Common-wealth ; The Rules of a Common-wealth are too hard 
for the Bulk of Mankind to come up to ; that Form of Govern- 
ment requireth such a spirit to carry it on, as doth not dwell in 
great Numbers, but is restrained to so very few, especially in 
this Age, that let the Methods appear never so reasonable in 
Paper, they must fail in Practice, which will ever be suited 
more to Mens Nature as it is, than as it should be. 

Monarchy is HkM by the People, for the Bells and the Tinsel, 
the outward Pomp and Gilding, and there must be milk for 
Babes, since the greatest part of Mankind are, and ever will be 
included in that List ; and it is approved by wise and thinking 
Men, (all Circumstances and Objections impartially considered) 
that it hath so great an advantage above all other Forms, when 
the Administration of that Power falleth in good hands, that 
all other Governments look out of Countenance, when they are 
set in Competition with it. Lycurgus might have sav'd himself 
the trouble of making Laws, if either he had been Immortal, 
or that he could have secur'd to Posterity, a succeeding Race of 
Princes like himself ; his own Example was a better Law, than 
he could with all his skill tell how to make ; such a Prince is a 
Living Law, that dictateth to his Subjects, whose thoughts in 
that case never rise above their Obedience, the Confidence they 
have in the Vertue and Knowledge of the master, preventing 

the 



of a Trimmer. 55 

the Scruples and Apprehensions to which Men are naturally 
inclined, in relation to those that govern them ; such a 
Magistrate is the Life and Soul of Justice, whereas the Law 
is but a Body and a dead one too, without his Influence to give 
it warmth and vigour, and by the irresistible Power of his 
Vertue, he doth so reconcile Dominion and Allegiance, that all 
disputes between them are silenced and subdued, and indeed 
no Monarchy can be Perfect and Absolute without exception, 
but where the Prince is Superior by his Vertue, as well as by his 
Character and his Power; so that to screw out Precedents of 
unlimited Power, is a plain diminution to a Prince that Nature 
hath made Great, and who had better make himself a glorious 
Example to Posterity, than borrow an Authority from Dark 
Records, raised out of the Grave, which besides their Non-usage, 
have always in them matter of Controversie and Debate, and 
it may be affirmed, that the instances are very rare of Princes 
having the worst in the dispute with their People, if they were 
Eminent for Justice in time of Peace, or Conduct in time of 
War, such advantage the Crown giveth to those who adorn it 
by their own Personal Vertues. 

But since for the greater Honour of Good and wise Princes, 
and the better to set off their Character by the Comparison, 
Heaven hath decreed there must be a mixture, and that such 
as are perverse or insufficient, or perhaps both, are at least to 
have their equal turns in the Government of the World, and 
besides, that the Will of Man is so various, and so unbounded 
a thing, and so fatal too when joined with Power misapply^ ; 
it is no wonder if those who are to be governed, are unwilling 
to have so dangerous as well as so uncertain a Standard of 
their Obedience. 

There must be therefore Rules and Laws : for want of which, 
or at least the Observation of them, it was as Capital for a 
Man to say that Nero did not play well upon the Lute, as to 
commit Treason, or Blaspheme the Gods. And even Vespasian 
himself had like to have lost his Life, for sleeping whilst he 
should have attended and admir'd that Emperours Impertinence 
upon the Stage. There is a wantonness in great Power that 

Men 



56 The Character 



Men are generally too apt to be corrupted with, and for that 
Reason, a wise Prince, to prevent the temptation arising from 
common frailty, would choose to Govern by Rules for his own 
Sake, as well as for his Peoples, since it only secureth him from 
Errors, and doth not lessen the real Authority, that a good 
Magistrate would care to be possessed of ; for if the Will of a 
Prince is contrary either to Reason it self, or to the universal 
Opinion of his Subjects, the Law by a kind restraint rescueth 
him from a disease that would undo him ; if his will on the 
other side is reasonable or well directed, that Will immediately 
becometh a Law, and he is arbitrary by an easie and natural 
Consequence, without taking pains, or overturning the World 
for it. 

If Princes consider Laws as things impos'd on them, they 
have the appearance of Fetters of Iron, but to such as would 
make them their choice as well as their practice, they are 
Chains of Gold ; and in that respect are Ornaments, as in 
others they are a defence to them ; and by a Comparison, not 
improper for God's Vicegerents upon Earth, as our Maker 
never Commandeth our obedience to any thing, that as reason- 
able Creatures we ought not to make our own Election, so a 
good and wise Governour, tho' all Laws were abolishM, would 
by the voluntary direction of his own Reason, do without 
restraint the very same things that they would have enjoyned. 

Our Trimmer thinketh that the King and Kingdom ought to 
be one Creature, not to be separated in their Political Capacity ; 
and when either of them undertake to act a part, it is like the 
crawling of Worms after they are cut in pieces, which cannot be 
a lasting motion, the whole Creature not stirring at a time. 
If the Body have a dead Palsie, the Head cannot make it move ; 
and God hath not yet delegated such a healing power to Princes, 
as that they can in a moment say to a Languishing People 
oppressed and in despair, Take up your Beds and walk. 

The Figure of a King, is so comprehensive and exalted a 
thing, that it is a kind of degrading him to lodge that power 
separately in his own Natural Person, which can never be safely 
or naturally great, but where the People are so united to him 

as 



of a Trimmer. 57 

as to be Flesh of his Flesh, and Bone of his Bone ; for when he 
is reduced to the single definition of a man, he sinketh into 
so low a Character, that it is a temptation upon Mens 
Allegiance, and an impairing that veneration which is necessary 
to preserve their Duty to him; whereas a Prince who is so 
joined to his people that they seem to be his Limbs, rather than 
his Subjects, Cloathed with Mercy and Justice rightly applyM 
in their several places, his Throne supported by Love as well as 
by Power, and the warm wishes of his devoted Subjects, like 
never-failing Incense, still ascending towards him, looketh so 
like the best Image we can frame to our selves of God 
Almighty, that men would have much ado not to fall down and 
worship him, and would be much more tempted to the Sin of 
Idolatry, than to that of Disobedience. 

Our Trimmer is of Opinion, that there must be so much 
Dignity inseparably annexed to the Royal Function, as may be 
sufficient to secure it from insolence and contempt ; and there 
must be Condescensions from the Throne, like kind showers 
from Heaven, that the Prince may look so much the more like 
God Almighty's Deputy upon Earth ; for power without love 
hath a terrifying aspect, and the Worship which is paid to 
it is like that which the Indians give out of fear to Wild Beasts 
and Devils : he that feareth God only because there is an Hell, 
must wish there were no God ; and he who feareth the King, 
only because he can punish, must wish there were no King ; so 
that without a principle of Love, there can be no true Allegiance, 
and there must remain perpetual Seeds of Resistance against 
a power that is built upon such an unnatural Foundation, as 
that of fear and terrour. All force is a kind of foul-Play, and 
whosoever aimeth at it himself, doth by implication allow it to 
those he playeth with ; so that there will be ever Matter 
prepared in the minds of People when they are provoked, and 
the Prince, to secure himself must live in the midst of his own 
Subjects, as if he were in a Conquered Country, raise Arms as 
if he were immediately to meet or resist an Invasion, and all 
this while sleep as unquietly from the fear of the Remedies, as 
he did before from that of the Disease ; it being hard for him 

to 



58 The Character 



to forget, that more Princes have been destroyed by their Guards 
than by their People ; and that even at the time when the Rule 
was Quod Principi placuit Lex esto, the Armies and Pratorian 
Bands which were the Instruments of that unruly Power, were 
frequently the means made use of to destroy them who had it. 
There will ever be this difference between God and his Vice- 
gerents, that God is still above the Instruments be useth, and 
out of the danger of receiving hurt from them; but Princes 
can never lodge Power in any hands, which may not at some 
time turn it back upon them ; for tho* it is possible enough for 
a King to have power to satisfy his Ambition ; yet no Kingdom 
hath Money enough to satisfie the avarice of under-Work- 
men, who learn from that Prince who will exact more than 
belongeth to him, to expect from him much more than they 
deserve, and growing angry upon the first disappointment, 
they are the Devils which grow terrible to the Conjurers 
themselves who brought them up, and can't send them down 
again. And besides that there can be no lasting Radical 
Security, but where the Governed are satisfied with the 
Governours, it must be a Dominion very unpleasant to a Prince 
of an elevated Mind, to impose an abject and sordid servility, 
instead of receiving the willing Sacrifice of Duty and Obedience. 
The bravest Princes in all times, who were uncapable of any 
other kind of fear, have fearM to grieve their own People ; such 
a fear is a glory, and in this sense ^tis an infamy not to be 
a Coward : So that the mistaken Heroes who are void of this 
generous kind of fear, need no other aggravation to compleat 
their ill Characters. 

When a Despotick Prince hath bruised all his Subjects with a 
slavish Obedience, all the force he can use cannot subdue his 
own fears ; Enemies of his own Creation, to which he can never 
be reconciled, it being impossible to do injustice and not to fear 
Revenge : there is no cure for this fear, but the not deserving to 
be hurt, and therefore a Prince who doth not allow his thoughts 
to stray beyond the Rules of Justice, hath always the blessing 
of an inward quiet and assurance, as a natural effect of his 
good Meaning to his People, and tho he will not neglect due 

precautions 



of a Trimmer. 59 

precautions to secure himself in all Events, yet he is uncapable 
of entertaining vain and remote suspicions of those, of whom he 
resolveth never to deserve ill. 

It is very hard for a Prince to fear Rebellion, who neither 
doth, nor intendeth to do any thing to provoke it ; therefore too 
great a diligence in the Governours, to raise and improve 
dangers and fears from the People, is no very good Symptom, 
and naturally begetteth an inference that they have thoughts of 
putting their Subjects Allegiance to a Tryal; and therefore not 
without some Reason fear beforehand, that the Irregularities 
they intend, may raise Men to a Resistance. 

Our Trimmer thinketh it no advantage to a Government, to 
endeavour the suppressing all kind of Right which may remain 
in the Body of the People, or to employ small Authors in it, 
whose Officiousness or want of Money may encourage them to 
write, tho* it is not very easie to have Abilities equal to such a 
Subject ; they forget that in their too high strained Arguments 
for the Rights of Princes, they very often plead against humane 
Nature, which will always give a Biass to those Reasons which 
seem of her side; it is the People that Readeth those Books, 
and it is the People that must judge of them ; and therefore no 
Maxims should be laid down for the Right of Government, to 
which there can be any Reasonable Objection ; for the World 
hath an Interest, and for that Reason is more than ordinary 
discerning to find out the weak sides of such Arguments as are 
intended to do them hurt j and it is a diminution to a Government, 
to Promote or Countenance such well affected mistakes which 
are turned upon it with disadvantage whenever they are 
detected and exposed ; and Naturally the too earnest Endeavours 
to take from Men the Right they have, tempt them, by the 
Example, to Claim that which they have not. 

In Power, as in most other things, the way for Princes to 
keep it, is not to grasp more than their Arms can well hold ; 
the nice and unnecessary enquiring into these things, or the 
Licensing some Books, and suppressing some others without 
sufficient Reason to Justifie the doing either, is so far from 
l>eing an Advantage to a Government, that it exposeth it to the 

Censure 



60 The Character 



Censure of being Partial, and to the suspicion of having some 
hidden designs to be carried on by these unusual methods. 

When all is said, there is a Natural Reason of State, an 
undefinable thing, grounded upon the Common Good of 
Mankind, which is immortal, and in all Changes and Revo- 
lutions, still preserveth its Original Right of saving a Nation, 
when the Letter of the Law perhaps would destroy it ; and by 
whatsoever means it moveth, carrieth a Power with it, that 
admitteth of no opposition, being supported by Nature, which 
inspireth an immediate consent at some Critical times into 
every individual Member, to that which visibly tendeth to 
preservation of the whole ; and this being so, a Wise Prince 
instead of Controverting the right of this Reason of State, will 
by all means endeavour it may be of his side, and then he will 
be secure. 

Our Trimmer cannot conceive that the Power of any Prince 
can be lasting, but where 'tis built upon the foundation of his 
own unborrowed vertue, he must not only be the first Mover 
and the Fountain, from whence the great Acts of State 
originally flow, but he must be thought so to his People that 
they may preserve their veneration for him ; he must be jealous 
of his Power, and not impart so much of it to any about him, 
as that he may suffer an Eclipse by it. 

He cannot take too much care to keep himself up, for when 
a Prince is thought to be led by those, with whom he should 
onely advise, and that the Commands he giveth are transmitted 
through him, and are not of his own growth ; the World will 
look upon him as a Bird adorned with Feathers that are not his 
own, or consider him rather as an Engine than a living 
Creature ; besides, 'twould be a Contradiction for a Prince to 
fear a Common- wealth, and at the same time create one himself, 
by delegating such a Power to any Number of Men near him, 
as is inconsistent with the Figure of a Monarch : it is the worst 
kind of Co-ordination the Crown can submit to ; for it is the 
exercise of Power that draweth the respect along with it, and 
when that is parted with, the bare Character of a King is not 
sufficient to keep it up ; but tho' it is a diminution to a Prince, 

to 



of a Trimmer. 61 

to parcel out so liberally his Power amongst his Favourites, it is 
worse to divide with any other Man, and to bring himself in 
Competition with a single Rival ; a Partner in Government is 
so unnatural a thing, that it is a squint-ey'd Allegiance that 
must be paid to such a double bottomed Monarchy. The two 
Czars of Muscovy are an Example that the more civihVd part 
of the World will not be prone to follow. Whatsoever Gloss 
may be put upon this method, by those to whom it may be of 
some use, the Prince will do well to remember, and reflect upon 
the Story of certain Men who had set up a Statue in Honour of 
the Sun, yet in a very little time they turned their backs to the 
Sun, and their Faces to the Statue. 

These Mystical Unions are better plac'd in the other World, 
than they are in this, and we shall have much ado to find, that 
in a Monarchy Gods Vicegerency is delegated to more Heads 
than that which is anointed. 

Princes may lend some of their Light to make another shine, 
but they must still preserve the superiority of being the brighter 
Planet, and when it happeneth that the Reversion is in Mens 
Eyes, there is more care necessary to keep up the Dignity of 
Possessions, that Men may not forget who is King, either out of 
their hopes or fears who shall be. If the Sun should part with all 
his Light to any of the Stars, the Indians would not know where 
to find their God, after he had so deposed himself, and would 
make the Light (where-ever it went) the Object of their Worship. 

All Usurpation is alike upon Soveraignty, it is no matter from 
what hand it cometh, and Crowned Heads are to be the more 
Circumspect, in respect Mens thoughts are naturally apt to 
ramble beyond what is present ; they love to work at a distance, 
and in their greedy Expectations which their minds may be 
fillM with of a new Master, the old one may be left to look 
a little out of Countenance. 

Our Trimmer owneth a Passion for liberty, yet so restrained, 
that it doth not in the least impair or taint his Allegiance ; he 
thinketh it hard for a Soul that doth not love Liberty ever to 
raise it self to another World ; he taketh it to be the foundation 
of all vertue, and the only seasoning that giveth a relish to life, 

and 



62 The Character 



and tho j the laziness of a slavish subjection, hath its Charms for 
the more gross and earthly part of Mankind, yet to men made 
of a better sort of Clay, all that the World can give without 
Liberty hath no taste ; it is true, nothing is sold so cheap by 
unthinking men, but that doth no more lessen the real value of 
it, than a Country Fellows Ignorance doth that of a Diamond, 
in selling it for a Pot of Ale. Liberty is the Mistress of 
Mankind, she hath powerful Charms which do so dazzle us, that 
we find Beauties in her which perhaps are not there, as we do in 
other Mistresses ; yet if she was not a Beauty, the World would 
not run mad for her ; therefore since the reasonable desire of it 
ought not to be restrained, and that even the unreasonable 
desire of it cannot be entirely suppressed, those who would take 
it away from a People possessed of it, are likely to fail in the 
attempting, or be very unquiet in the keeping of it. 

Our Trimmer admireth our blessed Constitution, in which 
Dominion and Liberty are so well reconciled ; it giveth to the 
Prince the glorious Power of commanding Freemen, and to 
the Subject, the satisfaction of seeing the Power so lodged, as 
that their Liberties are secure; it doth not allow the Crown 
such a Ruining Power, as that no grass can grow where e'er it 
treadeth, but a Cherishing and Protecting Power; such a one 
as hath a grim Aspect only to the offending Subjects, but is the 
joy and the Pride of all the good ones ; their own interest being 
so bound up in it, as to engage them to defend and support it ; 
and tho in some instances the King is restrained, yet nothing in 
the Government can move without him : our Laws make a 
distinction between Vassalage and Obedience; between a de- 
vouring Prerogative, and a licentious ungovernable Freedom : 
and as of all the Orders of Building, the Composite is the best, 
so ours by a happy mixture and a wise choice of what is best in 
others, is brought into a Form that is our Felicity who live 
under it, and the envy of our Neighbour that cannot imitate it. 

The Crown hath power sufficient to protect our Liberties. 
The People have so much Liberty as is necessary to make them 
useful to the Crown. 

Our Government is in a just proportion, no Tympany, no un- 
natural 



of a Trimmer. 63 

natural swelling either of Power or Liberty ; and whereas in all 
overgrown Monarchies, Reason, Learning, and Enquiry are 
hangM in Effigy for Mutineers ; here they are encouraged and 
cherished as the surest Friends to a Government establish'd upon 
the Foundation of Law and Justice. When all is done, those 
who look for Perfection in this World, may look as the Jews 
have for their Messias, and therefore our Trimmer is not so un- 
reasonably Partial as to free our Government from all objections ; 
no doubt there have been fatal Instances of its Sickness, and 
more than that, of its Mortality, for sometime, tho j by a 
Miracle, it hath been reviv'd again : but till we have another 
race of Mankind, in all Constitutions that are bounded there 
will ever be some matter of Strife and Contention, and rather 
than want pretensions, Mens Passions and Interests will raise 
them from the most inconsiderable Causes. 

Our Government is like our Climate, there are Winds which are 
sometimes loud and unquiet, and yet with all the Trouble they 
give us, we owe great part of our Health unto them, they clear 
the Air, which else would be like a standing Pool and in stead 
of Refreshment would be a Disease unto us. 

There may be fresh Gales of asserting Liberty, without turn- 
ing into such storms of Hurricane, as that the State should run 
any hazard of being Cast away by them ; these struglings 
which are natural to all mixed Governments, while they are kept 
from growing into Convulsions, do by a mutual agitation from 
the several parts, rather support and strengthen, than weaken 
or maim the Constitution ; and the whole frame, instead of 
being torn or disjointed, cometh to be the better and closer knit 
by being thus exercised ; but what ever faults our Government 
may have, or a discerning Critick may find in it, when he 
looketh upon it alone, let any other be set against it, and then 
it sheweth its Comparative Beauty ; let us look upon the most 
glittering outside of unbounded Authority, and upon a nearer 
enquiry, we shall find nothing but poor and miserable deformity 
within ; let us imagine a Prince living in his Kingdom, as if in 
a great Gaily, his Subjects tugging at the Oar, laden with 
Chains, and reduced to real Rags, that they may gain him 

imaginary 



64 The Character 



imaginary Lawrels ; let us Represent him gazing among his 
Flatterers, and receiving their false Worship, like a Child never 
Contradicted, and therefore always CozenM : or like a Lady 
complemented only to be abused, condemned never to hear Truth, 
and Consequently never to do Justice, wallowing in the soft Bed 
of wanton and unbridled Greatness, not less odious to the 
Instruments themselves, than to the Objects of his Tyranny ; 
blown up into an Ambitious Dropsy, never to be satisfied by the 
Conquest of other People, or by the Oppression of his own ; 
by aiming to be more than a Man, he falleth lower than the 
meanest of 'em, a mistaken Creature, swelled with Panegyricks, 
and flattered out of his Senses, and not only an Incumbrance, 
but a Nuisance to Mankind, a hardened and unrelenting Soul, 
and like some Creatures that grow fat with Poisons, he groweth 
great by other Mens Miseries ; an Ambitious Ape of the Divine 
Greatness, an unruly Gyant that would storm even Heaven it 
self, but that his scaling Ladders are not long enough ; in short, 
a Wild and devouring Creature in rich Trappings, and with all 
his Pride, no more than a Whip in God Almighty's hand, to be 
thrown into the Fire when the World hath been sufficiently 
scourged with it : This Picture laid in right Colours would not 
incite Men to wish for such a Government, but rather to acknow- 
ledge the happiness of our own, under which we enjoy all the 
Privilege Reasonable Men can desire, and avoid all the Miseries 
many others are subject to ; so that our Trimmer would keep 
it with all its faults, and doth as little forgive those who give the 
occasion of breaking it, as he doth those that take it. 

Our Trimmer is a Friend to Parliaments, notwithstanding all 
their faults, and excesses, which of late have given such matter 
of Objection to them ; he thinketh that tho* they may at some 
times be troublesome to Authority, yet they add the greatest 
strength to it under a wise Administration ; he believeth no 
Government is perfect except a kind of Omnipotence reside in 
it, to exercise upon great Occasions : Now this cannot be 
obtained by force alone upon People, let it be never so great, there 
must be their consent too, or else a Nation moveth only by 
being driven, a sluggish and constrained Motion, void of that 

Life 



of a Trimmer. 65 

Life and Vigour which is necessary to produce great things, 
whereas the virtual Consent of the whole being included in their 
Representatives, and the King giving the sanction to the united 
sense of the People, every Act done by such an Authority, 
seemeth to be an effect of their choice as well as a part of their 
Duty; and they do, with an eagerness ofVhich Men are un- 
capable whilst under a force, execute whatsoever is so enjoyned 
as their own Wills, better explained by Parliament, rather than 
from the terrour of incurring the Penalty of the Law for omit- 
ing it, and by means of this Political Omnipotence, what ever 
Sap or Juice there is in a Nation, may be to the last drop 
produced, whilst it riseth naturally from the Root ; whereas all 
power exercis'd without consent, is like the giving Wounds and 
Gashes, and tapping a Tree at unseasonable Times, for the 
present occasion, which in a very little time must needs de- 
stroy it. 

Our Trimmer believeth, that by the advantage of our Situa- 
tion, there can hardly any such sudden Disease come upon us, 
but that the King may have time enough left to consult with 
his Physicians in Parliament ; pretences indeed may be made, 
but a real necessity so pressing, that no delay is to be admitted, 
is hardly to be imagin'd, and it will be neither easie to give an 
instance of any such thing for the time past, or reasonable to 
Presume it will ever happen for the time to come : but if that 
strange thing should fall out, our Trimmer is not so streight- 
lacM, as to let a Nation die, or to be stifled, rather than it 
should be help'd by any but the proper Officers. The Cases 
themselves will bring the Remedies along with them ; and he 
is not afraid to allow that in order to its preservation, there is 
a hidden Power in Government, which would be lost if it was 
denned, a certain Mystery, by virtue of which a Nation may at 
some Critical times be secur'd from Ruine ; but then it must be 
kept as a Mystery ; it is rendred useless when touch 'd by un- 
skilfull hands, and no Government ever had, or deserv'd to 
have that Power, which was so unwary as to anticipate their 
claim to it: Our Trimmer cannot help thinking it had been 
better, if the Triennial Act had been observed ; because 'tis the 
. HALIFAX F Law, 



66 The Character 



Law, and he would not have the Crown, by such an Example, 
teach the Nation to break it; all irregularity is catching, it 
hath a Contagion in it, especially in an Age so much more 
enclin'd to follow ill Patterns than good ones. 

He would have had a Parliament, because 'tis an Essential part 
of the Constitution, even without the Law, it being the only 
Provision in extraordinary Cases, in which there would be other- 
wise no Remedy, and there can be no greater Solecism in 
Government, than a failure of Justice. 

He would have had one, because nothing else can unite and 
heal us, all other Means are meer Shifts and Projects, Houses 
of Cards, to be blown down with the least Breath, and cannot 
resist the Difficulties which are ever presum'd in things of this 
kind; and he would have had one, because it might have 
done the King good, and could not possibly have done him hurt, 
without his consent, which in that Case is not to be supposed, 
and therefore for him to fear it, is so strange and so little to be 
comprehended, that the Reasons can never be presum'd to grow 
in our Soyl, or to thrive in it when Transplanted from any 
other Country ; and no doubt there are such irresistible Argu- 
ments for calling a Parliament, that tho it might be deny'd to 
the unmannerly mutinous Petitions of men, that are malicious 
and disaffected, it will be granted to the soft and obsequious 
Murmurs of his Majesty's best Subjects, and there will be such 
Rhetorick in their silent Grief, that it will at last prevail against 
the Artifices of those, who either out of Guilt or Interest, are 
afraid to throw themselves upon their Country, knowing how 
scurvily they have used it ; that day of Judgment will come, 
tho we know neither the day nor the hour. And our Trimmer 
would live so as to be prepared for it, with full assurance in the 
mean time, that the lamenting Voice of a Nation cannot long 
be resisted, and that a Prince who could so easily forgive his 
People when they had been in the wrong, cannot fail to hear 
them when they are in the right. 



The 



of a Trimmer. 67 

The Trimmer's Opinion concerning the Protestant 
Religion. 

REligion hath such a Superiority above other things, and that 
indispensable Influence upon all Mankind, that it is as neces- 
sary to our Living Happy in this World, as it is to our being 
Sav'd in the next, without it man is an abandon 'd Creature, one 
of the worst Beasts Nature hath produc'd, and fit only for the 
Society of Wolves and Bears ; therefore in all Ages it hath been 
the Foundation of Government : and tho' false Gods have been 
impos'd upon the Credulous part of the World, yet they were 
Gods still in their Opinion, and the Awe and Reverence Men 
had to them and their Oracles, kept them within bounds to- 
wards one another, which the Laws with all their Authority 
could never have effected without the help of Religion ; the 
Laws would not be able to subdue the perverseness of Mens 
Wills, which are Wild Beasts, and require a double Chain 
to keep them down ; for this Reason 'tis said, That it is 
not a sufficient ground to make War upon a Neighbouring 
State, because they are of another Religion, let it be never so 
differing ; yet if they Worship nor Acknowledge no Deity at all, 
they may be Invaded as Publick Enemies of Mankind, because 
they reject the only thing that can bind them to live well with 
one another; the consideration of Religion is so twisted with 
that of Government, that it is never to be separated, and tho the 
Foundations of it ought to be Eternal and Unchangeable, yet 
the Terms and Circumstances of Discipline, are to be suited to 
the several Climates and Constitutions, so that they may keep 
men in a willing Acquiescence unto them, without discomposing 
the World by nice disputes, which can never be of equal moment 
with the publick Peace. 

Our Religion here in England seemeth to be distinguished by 
a peculiar effect of God Almighty's goodness, in permiting it 
to be introduced, or rather restored, by a more regular Method 
than the Circumstances of most other Reformed Churches would 
allow them to do, in relation to the Government; and the 

p 3 Dignity 



68 The Character 



Dignity with which it hath supported it self since, and the great 
Men our Church hath produced, ought to recommend it to the 
esteem of all Protestants at least : Our Trimmer is very partial 
to it, for these Reasons, and many more, and desireth that it 
may preserve its due Jurisdiction and Authority ; so far he is 
from wishing it oppressed by the unreasonable and malicious 
Cavils of those who take pains to raise Objections against it. 

The Questions will then be, how and by what Methods this 
Church shall best support it self (the present Circumstances 
consider 'd) in relation to Dissenters of all sorts : I will first lay 
this for a ground, That as there can be no true Religion with- 
out Charity, so there can be no true humane prudence without 
bearing and condescension : This Principle doth not extend to 
oblige the Church always to yield to those who are disposed to 
Contest with her, the expediency of doing it is to be considered 
and determined according to the occasion, and this leads me to 
lay open the thoughts of our Trimmer, in reference first, to the 
Protestants, and then to the Popish Recusants. 

What hath lately hapned among us, maketh an Apology 
necessary for saying any thing that looketh like favour to- 
wards a sort of Men who have brought themselves under such 
a disadvantage. 

The late Conspiracy hath such broad Symptoms of the dis- 
affection of the whole Party, that upon the first reflections, 
while our thoughts are warm, it would almost perswade us to 
put them out of the protection of our good Nature, and to 
think that the Christian Indulgence which our compassion for 
other Mens Sufferings cannot easily deny, seemeth not only to 
be forfeited by the ill appearances that are against them, but 
even becometh a Crime when it is so misapplied ; yet for all 
this, upon second and cooler thoughts, moderate Men will not 
be so ready to involve a whole Party in the guilt of a few, and 
to admit inferences and Presumptions to be Evidence in a Case, 
where the Sentence must be so heavy, as it ought to be against 
all those who have a fixed resolution against the Government 
established : besides, Men who act by a Principle grounded 
upon Moral Vertue, can never let it be clearly extinguished, by 

the 



of a Trimmer. 69 

the most repeated Provocations ; if a right thing agreeable to 
Nature and good Sense taketh root in the heart of a Man that 
is impartial and unbyass'd, no outward Circumstances can ever 
destroy it ; it is true, the degrees of a Mans Zeal for the Prosecu- 
tion of it may be differing ; the faults of other Men, the con- 
sideration of the publick, and the seasonable Prudence by which 
Wise Men will ever be directed, may give great Allays; they 
may lessen and for a time perhaps suppress the exercise of that, 
which in general Proposition may be reasonable, but still what- 
ever is so will inevitably grow and spring up again, having 
a Foundation in Nature, which is never to be destroyed. 

Our Trimmer therefore endeavoureth to separate the detesta- 
tion of those who had either a hand or a thought in the late 
Plot, from the Principle of Prudential as well as Christian 
Charity towards Mankind, and for that reason would fain use 
the means of reclaiming such of the Dissenters as are not in- 
curable, and even of bearing to a degree those that are, as far as 
may consist with the Publick Interest and Security ; he is far 
from justifying an affected separation from the Communion of 
the Church, and even in those that mean well and are mistaken, 
he looketh upon it as a Disease that hath seized upon their 
Minds, very troublesome as well as dangerous, by the Conse- 
quence it may produce : he doth not go about to excuse their 
making it an indispensable duty, to meet in numbers to say 
their Prayers ; such meetings may prove mischievous to the 
State ; at least the Laws, which are the best Judges, have 
determined that there is danger in them : he hath good nature 
enough to lament that the perversness of a Part should have 
drawn Rigorous Laws upon the whole Body of the Dissenters, 
but when they are once made no private Opinion must stand in 
Opposition to them ; if they are in themselves reasonable, they 
are in that respect to be regarded, even without being enjoyned ; 
if by the Change of Time and Circumstances they should be- 
come less reasonable than when they were first made, even then 
they are to be obeyM too, because they are Laws, till they are 
mended or repealed by the same Authority that Enacted them. 

He hath too much deference to the Constitution of our 

Government, 



7o The Character 



Government, to wish for more Prerogative Declarations in 
favour of scrupulous Men, or to dispence with Penal Laws in 
such manner, or to such an end, that suspecting Men might 
with some reason pretend, that so hated a thing as Persecution 
could never make way for it self with any hopes of Success, 
otherwise than by preparing the deluded World by a false 
prospect of Liberty and Indulgence. The inward Springs and 
Wheels whereby the Engine moved, are now so fully laid open 
and expos'd that it is not supposable that such a baffled Ex- 
periment should ever be tryed again ; the effect it had at the 
time, and the Spirit it raised, will not easily be forgotten, and 
it may be presumed the remembrance of it may secure us from 
any more attempts of that Nature for the future ; we must no 
more break a Law to give Men ease, than we are to Rifle an 
House with a devout intention of giving the plunder to the 
Poor ; in this case, our Compassion would be as ill directed, as 
our Charity in the other. 

In short, the veneration due to the Laws is never to be thrown 
off, let the pretences be never so specious ; yet with all this he 
cannot bring himself to think, that an extraordinary diligence to 
take the uttermost penalty of Laws, upon the poor offending 
Neighbour, is of it self such an all sufficient vertue, that without 
any thing else to recommend Men, it should Entitle them to 
all kind of Preferments and Rewards; he would not detract 
from the merits of those who execute the Laws, yet he cannot 
think such a piece of service as this, can entirely change the 
Man, and either make him a better Divine, or a more knowing 
Magistrate than he was before, especially if it be done with a 
partial and unequal hand in Reverence to greater and more 
dangerous Offenders. 

Our Trimmer would have those mistaken Men ready to throw 
themselves into the arms of the Church, and he would have 
those arms as ready to receive them that shall come to us ; he 
would have no supercilious look to fright those strayed Sheep 
from coming into the Fold again ; no ill-naturM maxims of an 
Eternal suspicion, or a belief that those who have once been in 
the wrong can never be in the right again j but a visible prepara- 
tion 



of a Trimmer. 7 1 

tion of mind to receive with joy all the Proselytes that come 
amongst us, and much greater earnestness to reclaim than 
punish them : It is to be confessed, there is a great deal to 
forgive, a hard task enough for the Charity of a Church so pro- 
voked ; but that must not cut off all hopes of being reconciled, 
yet if there must be some anger left still, let it break out into 
a Christian Revenge, and by being kinder to the Children of 
Disobedience than they deserve, let the injured Church Triumph, 
by throwing shame and confusion of face upon them ; there 
should not always be Storms and Thunder, a clear Sky would 
sometime make the Church look more like Heaven, and would 
do more towards the reclaiming those wanderers, than a per- 
petual terrour, which seemeth to have no intermission ; for there 
is in many, and particularly in English Men, a mistaken 
pleasure, in resisting the dictates of Rigorous Authority ; a 
Stomach that riseth against a hard imposition, nay, in some, 
even a lust in suffering from a wrong point of Honour, 
which doth not want the applause, from the greater part of 
Mankind, who have not learnt to distinguish; constancy will 
be thought a virtue even where it is a mistake ; and the ill 
Judging World will be apt to think that Opinion most right, 
which produceth the greatest number of those who are willing 
to suffer for it ; all this is prevented, and falleth to the ground, 
by using well-timed Indulgence ; and the stubborn Adversary 
who valueth himself upon his Resistance whilst he is oppress'd, 
yieldeth insensibly to kind Methods, when they are apply'd to 
him, and the same Man naturally melteth into Conformity, who 
perhaps would never have been beaten into it. We may be 
taught by the Compassion that attendeth the most Criminal 
Men when they are Condemned, that Faults are much more 
natural things than Punishments, and that even the most 
necessary acts of severity do some kind of violence to our 
Nature, whose Indulgence will not be confined within the 
strait bounds of inexorable Justice; so that this should be an 
Argument for gentleness, besides that it is the likeliest way to 
make these Men ashamed of their Separation, whilst the pressing 
them too hard, tendeth rather to make them proud of it. 

Our 



72 The Character 



Our Trimmer would have the Clergy supported in their 
Lawful Rights, and in all the Power and Dignity that belongeth 
to them, and yet he thinketh that possibly there may be in 
some of them a too great eagerness to extend the Ecclesiastical 
Jurisdiction ; which tho it may be well intended, yet the strain- 
ing of it too high hath an appearance of Ambition that raiseth 
mens Objections to it, and is so far unlike the Apostolick 
Zeal, which was quite otherwise employ'd, that the World 
draweth inferences from it, which do the Church no service. 

He is troubled to see Men of all sides sick of a Calenture 
of a mistaken Devotion, and it seemeth to him that the devout 
Fire of mistaken Charity with which the Primitive Christians 
were inflam'd, is long since extinguished, and instead of it a 
devouring Fire of Anger and Persecution breaketh out in the 
World ; we wrangle now one with another about Religion till 
the Blood cometh, whilst the Ten Commandments have no 
more authority with us, than if they were so many obsolete 
Laws or Proclamations out of date ; he thinketh that a Nation 
will hardly be mended by Principles of Religion, where 
Morality is made a Heresy; and therefore as he believeth 
Devotion misplaced when it gets into a Conventicle, he con- 
cludeth that Loyalty is so too, when lodgM in a Drunken Club ; 
those Vertues deserve a better Seat of Empire, and they are 
degraded, when such Men undertake their defence, as have too 
great need of an Apology themselves. 

Our Trimmer wisheth that some knowledge may go along 
with the Zeal on the right side, and that those who are in 
possession of the Pulpit, would quote at least so often the 
Authority of the Scriptures as they do that of the State ; there are 
many who borrow too often Arguments from the Government, 
to use against their Adversaries, and neglect those that are 
more proper, and would be more powerful ; a Divine groweth 
less, and putteth a diminution on his own Character, when he 
quoteth any Law but that of God Almighty, to get the better 
of those who contest with him ; and as it is a sign of a decay'd 
Constitution, when Nature with good diet cannot expel noxious 
Humours without calling Foreign Drugs to her Assistance ; 

So 



of a Trimmer. 73 

So it looketh like want of health in a Church, when instead of 
depending upon the power of that Truth which it holdeth, and 
the good Examples of them that teach it, to support it self, and 
to suppress Errors, it should have a perpetual recourse to the 
secular Authority, and even upon the slightest occasions. 

Our Trimmer hath his Objections to the too busy diligence, 
and to the overdoing of some of the dissenting Clergy, and he 
doth as little approve of those of our Church, who wear God 
Almighty's Liveries, as some old Warders in the Tower do the 
King's, who do nothing in their place but receive their Wages 
for it ; he thinketh that the Liberty of the late times gave men 
so much Light, and diffused it so universally amongst the 
people, that they are not now to be dealt with, as they might 
have been in Ages of less enquiry ; and therefore tho in some 
well chosen and dearly beloved Auditories, good resolute Non- 
sense back'd with Authority may prevail, yet generally Men 
are become so good Judges of what they hear, that the Clergy 
ought to be very wary how they go about to impose upon their 
Understandings, which are grown less humble than they were 
in former times, when the Men in black had made Learning such 
a sin in the Laity, that for fear of offending, they made a Con- 
science of being able to read ; but now the World is grown 
sawcy, and expecteth Reasons, and good ones too, before they 
give up their own Opinions to other Mens Dictates, tho never 
so Magisterially delivered to them. 

Our Trimmer is far from approving the Hypocrisie, which 
seemeth to be the reigning Vice amongst some of the Dissenting 
Clergy, he thinketh it the most provoking sin Men can be 
guilty of, in Relation to Heaven, and yet (which may seem 
strange) that very sin which shall destroy the Soul of the Man 
who preacheth, may help to save those of the Company that 
hear him, and even those who are cheated by the false Ostenta- 
tion of his strictness of life, may by that Pattern be encouraged 
to the real Practice of those Christian Vertues which he doth 
so deceitfully profess ; so that the detestation of this fault may 
possibly be carryM on too far by our own Orthodox Divines, if 
they think it cannot be enough expressed without bending the 

Stick 



74 The Character 



Stick another way ; a dangerous Method, and a worse Extream 
for Men of that Character, who by going to the outmost line 
of Christian Liberty, will certainly encourage others to go 
beyond it; No Man doth less approve the ill-bred Methods 
of some of the Dissenters, in rebuking Authority, who behave 
themselves as if they thought ill manners necessary to Salvation ; 
yet he cannot but distinguish and desire a Mean between the 
sawcyness of some of the Scotch Apostles, and the undecent 
Courtship of some of the Silken Divines, who, one would think, 
do practice to bow at the Altar, only to learn to make the better 
Legs at Court. 

Our Trimmer approveth the Principles of our Church, that 
Dominion is not founded in Grace, and that our Obedience is 
to be given to a Popish King in other things, at the same time 
that our Compliance with him in his Religion is to be denyM ; 
yet he cannot but think it a very extraordinary thing if a 
Protestant Church should by a voluntary Election, chuse a 
Papist for their Guardian, and receive Directions for support- 
ing their Religion, from one who must believe it a Mortal Sin 
not to endeavour to destroy it ; such a refined piece of Breeding 
would not seem to be very well plac'd in the Clergy, who will 
hardly find Precedents to justify such an extravagant piece of 
Courtship, and which is so unlike the Primitive Methods, 
which ought to be our Pattern ; he hath no such unreasonable 
tenderness for any sorts of Men, as to expect their faults should 
not be impartially laid open as often as they give occasion for 
it ; and yet he cannot but smile to see that the same Man, who 
setteth up all the Sails of his Rhetorick, to fall upon the Dis- 
senters, when Popery is to be handled, he doth it so gingerly, 
that he looketh like an Ass mumbling of Thistles, so afraid he 
is of letting himself loose where he may be in danger of letting 
his Duty get the better of his Discretion. 

Our Trimmer is far from relishing the impertinent wandrings 
of those who pour out long Prayers upon the Congregation, 
and all from their own Stock, which God knoweth, for the most 
part is a barren Soil, which produceth weeds instead of Flowers, 
and by this means they expose Religion it self, rather than 

promote 



of a Trimmer. 75 

promote Mens Devotions : On the other side, there may be 
too great Restraint put upon Men, whom God and Nature 
hath distinguished from their Fellow Labourers, by blessing 
them with a happier Talent, and, by giving them not only good 
Sense, but a powerful Utterance too, hath enabled them to gush 
out upon the attentive Auditory, with a mighty stream of 
Devout and unaffected Eloquence; when a Man so qualified, 
endued with Learning too, and above all, adorn'd with a good 
Life, breaketh out into a warm and well delivered Prayer before 
his Sermon, it hath the appearance of a Divine Rapture ; he 
raiseth and leadeth the Hearts of the Assembly in another 
manner, than the most Compos'd or best Studied Form of set 
Words can ever do ; and the Pray-wees, who serve up all their 
Sermons with the same Garnishing, would look like so many 
Statues, or Men of Straw in the Pulpit, compared with those 
who speak with such a powerful Zeal, that men are tempted 
at the moment to believe Heaven it self hath dictated their 
words to ^em. 

Our Trimmer is not so unreasonably indulgent to the Dis- 
senters, as to excuse the Irregularities of their Complaints, and 
to approve their threatning Stiles, which are so ill-suited to their 
Circumstances as well as to their Duty ; he would have them 
to shew their Grief, and not their Anger to the Government, 
and by such a Submission to Authority, as becometh them, 
if they cannot acquiesce in what is imposed, let them deserve 
a Legislative Remedy to their Sufferings, there being no other 
way to give them perfect redress ; and either to seek it, or 
pretend to give it by any other Method, would not only be 
vain, but Criminal too in those that go about it ; yet with all 
this, there may in the mean time be a prudential Latitude left, 
as to the manner of prosecuting the Laws now in force against 
them : The Government is in some degree answerable for 
such an Administration of them, as may be free from the 
Censure of Impartial Judges ; and in order to that, it would 
be necessary that one of these methods be pursued, either to 
let loose the Laws to their utmost extent, without any Modera- 
tion or Restraint, in which at least the Equality of the Govern- 
ment 



76 The Character 



ment would be without Objection, the Penalties being exacted 
without Remission from the Dissenters of all kinds ; or if that 
will not be done (and indeed there is no Reason it should) there 
is a necessity of some Connivance to the Protestant Dissenters 
to excuse that which in Humanity must be allowed to the 
Papists, even without any leaning towards them, which must 
not be supposed in those who are or shall be in the administra- 
tion of publick Business ; and it will follow that, according to 
our Circumstances, the distribution of such connivance must 
be made in such a manner, that the greatest part of it may fall 
on the Protestant side, or else the Objections will be so strong, 
and the Inferences so clear, that the Friends, as well as the 
Enemies of the Crown, will be sure to take hold of them. 

It will not be sufficient to say that the Papists may be 
connivM at, because they are good Subjects and that the 
Protestant Dissenters must suffer because they are ill ones ; 
these general Maxims will not convince discerning Men, neither 
will any late Instances make them forget what passed at other 
times in the World ; both sides have had their Turns in being 
good and ill Subjects. And therefore 'tis easie to imagine what 
suspicions would arise in the present conjuncture, if such a 
partial Argument as this should be impos'd upon us ; the truth 
is, this Matter speaks so much of it self, that it is not only 
unnecessary, but it may be unmannerly to say any more 
of it. 

Our Trimmer therefore could wish, that since notwithstanding 
the Laws which deny Churches to say Mass in, not only the 
Exercise, but also the Ostentation of Popery is as well or better 
performed in the Chappels of so many Foreign Ministers, where 
the English openly resort in spight of Proclamations and Orders 
of Council, which are grown to be as harmless things to them, 
as the Popes Bulls and Excommunications are to Hereticks 
who are out of his reach; I say he could wish that by a 
seasonable as well as an equal piece of Justice, there might 
be so much consideration had of the Protestant Dissenters, as 
that there might be at some times, and at some places, a Veil 
thrown over an Innocent and retired Conventicle; and that 

such 



of a Trimmer. 77 

such an Indulgence might be practised with less prejudice to 
the Church, or diminution to the Laws, it might be done so as 
to look rather like a kind Omission to enquire more strictly, 
than an allowed Toleration of that which is against the Rule 
established. 

Such a skilful hand as this is very Necessary in our Circum- 
stances, and the Government by making no sort of Men entirely 
desperate, doth not only secure it self from Villainous attempts, 
but lay such a Foundation for healing and uniting Laws, when 
ever a Parliament shall meet, that the Seeds of Differences and 
Animosities between the several contending sides may (Heaven 
consenting) be for ever destroyed. 



The Trimmer's Opinion concerning the Papists. 

TO speak of Popery leadeth me into such a Sea of Matter, that 
it is not easie to forbear launching into it, being invited by 
such a fruitful Theme, and by a variety never to be exhausted ; 
but to confine it to the present Subject, I will only say a short 
word of the Religion it self ; of its influences here at this time ; 
and of our Trimmer's Opinion in Relation to our manner of 
living with them. 

If a Man would speak Maliciously of this Religion, one may 
say it is like those Diseases, where as long as one drop of the 
infection remaineth, there is still danger of having the whole 
Mass of Blood corrupted by it. In Swedeland there was an 
absolute cure, and nothing of Popery heard of, till Queen 
Christina, (whether mov'd by Arguments of this or the other 
World may not be good Manners to enquire) thought fit to 
change her Religion and Country, and to live at Rome, where 
she might find better judges of her Virtues, and less ungentle 
Censures of those Princely Liberties to which she was some- 
times disposed, than she left at Stockholme, where the good 
breeding is as much inferior to that of Rome in general, as the 
Civility of the Religion, the Cardinals having rescued the Church 

from 



78 The Character 



from those Clownish Methods the Fishermen had first intro- 
duc'd, and mended that Pattern so effectually, that a Man of 
that Age, if he should now come into the World, would not 
possibly know it. 

In Denmark the Reformation was entire ; in some States of 
Germany, as well as Geneva, the Cure was universal ; but in 
the rest of the World where the Protestant Religion took place, 
the Popish humour was too tough to be totally expelPd, and so 
it was in England, tho' the Change was made with all the 
advantage imaginable to the Reformation, it being Countenanced 
and introduced by Legal Authority, and by that means, might 
have been perhaps as perfect as in any other Place, if the short 
Reign of Edward the 6th, and the succession of a Popish Queen 
had not given such advantage to that Religion, that it hath 
subsisted ever since under all the hardships that have been put 
upon it ; it hath been a strong Compact Body, and made the 
more so by these Sufferings ; it was not strong enough to pre- 
vail, but it was able, with the help of foreign support, to carry 
on an Interest which gave the Crown trouble, and to make 
a considerable (not to say dangerous) Figure in the Nation ; 
so much as this could not have been done without some hopes, 
nor these hopes kept up without some reasonable grounds : In 
Queen Elizabeth's time, the Spanish Zeal for their Religion, 
and the Revenge for 88, gave warmth to the Papists here, and 
above all the Right of the Queen of Scots to succeed, was while 
she lived sufficient to give them a better prospect of their 
Affairs : In King James's time their hopes were supported by 
the Treaty of the Spanish Match, and his gentleness towards 
them, which they were ready to interpret more in their own 
Favour, than was either reasonable or became them, so little 
tenderness they have, even where it is most due, if the Interest 
of their Religion cometh in competition with it. 

As for the late King, tho he gave the most glorious Evidence 
that ever Man did of his being a Protestant, yet, by the more 
than ordinary Influence the Queen was thought to have over 
him, and it so happening that the greatest part of his Anger 
was directed against the Puritans, there was such an advantage 

to 



of a Trimmer. 79 

to Men dispos'd to suspect, that they were ready to interpret 
it a leaning towards Popery, without which handle it was 
Morally impossible, that the ill-affected part of the Nation 
could ever have seduc'd the rest into a Rebellion. 

That which helpM to confirm many well meaning Men in 
their Misapprehensions of the King, was the long and unusual 
intermission of Parliaments; so that every year that passed 
without one, made up a new Argument to increase their 
Suspicion, and made them presume that the Papists had a 
principal hand in keeping them off; This raised such Heats 
in Mens Minds, to think that Men who were obnoxious to the 
Laws, instead of being punished, should have Credit enough 
to secure themselves, even at the price of destroying the 
Fundamental Constitution, that it broke out into a Flame, 
which before it could be quenched, had almost reduced the 
Nation to Ashes. 

Amongst the miserable Effects of that unnatural War, none 
hath been more fatal to us, than the forcing our Princes to 
breathe in another Air, and to receive the early impressions of 
a Foreign Education ; the Barbarity of the English, towards 
the King and the Royal Family, might very well tempt him 
to think the better of every thing he found abroad, and might 
naturally produce more gentleness, at least, towards a Religion 
by which he was hospitably received, at the same time that he 
was thrown off and Persecuted by the Protestants, (tho* his 
own Subjects, to aggravate the Offence). The Queen Mother, 
(as generally Ladies do with Age) grew most devout and earnest 
in her Religion ; and besides the temporal Rewards of getting 
larger Subsidies from the French Clergy, she had Motives of 
another kind, to perswade her to shew her Zeal ; and since by 
the Roman Dispensatory, a Soul converted to the Church is 
a Soveraign Remedy, and layeth up a mighty stock of merit, 
she was solicitous to secure her self in all Events, and there- 
fore first set upon the Duke of Glocester, who depended so 
much upon her good will, that she might for that reason have 
been induc'd to believe, the Conquest would not be difficult; 
but it so fell out, that he either from his own Constancy, or 

that 



8o The Character 



that he had those near him by whom he was otherways advis'd, 
chose rather to run away from her importunity, than by staying 
to bear the continual weight of it : It is believ'd she had better 
success with another of her Sons, who, if he was not quite 
brought off from our Religion, at least such beginnings were 
made, as made them very easie to be finished; his being of 
a generous and aspiring Nature, and in that respect, less patient 
in the drudgery of Arguing, might probably help to recommend 
a Church to him that exempts the Laity from the vexation 
of enquiring; perhaps he might (tho by mistake) look upon 
that Religion as more favourable to the enlarged Power of 
Kings, a consideration which might have its weight with a 
young Prince in his warm blood, and that was brought up 
in Arms. 

I cannot hinder my self from a small digression, to consider 
with admiration, that the old Lady of Rome, with all her 
wrinkles, should yet have Charms, able to subdue great Princes; 
so far from handsome, and yet so imperious ; so painted, and 
yet so pretending ; after having abus'd, deposM, and murther'd 
so many of her Lovers, she still findeth others glad and proud 
of their new Chains ; a thing so strange to indifferent Judges, 
that those who will allow no other Miracles in the Church of 
Rome, must needs grant that this is one not to be contested ; 
she sitteth in her Shop, and selleth at dear Rates her Rattles 
and her Hobby-Horses, whilst the deluded World still con- 
tinueth to furnish her with Customers. 

But whither am I carried with this Contemplation ? it is 
high time to return to my Text, and to consider the wonderful 
manner of the Kings coming home again, led by the hand of 
Heaven, and called by the Voice of his own People, who 
received him, if possible, with Joys equal to the Blessing of 
Peace and Union which his Restauration brought along with 
it ; by this there was an end put to the hopes some might have 
abroad, of making use of his less happy Circumstances, to 
throw him into Foreign Interests and Opinions, which had 
been wholly inconsistent with our Religion, our Laws, and all 
other things that are dear to us j yet for all this some of those 

Tinctures 



of a Trimmer. 81 

Tinctures and impressions might so far remain as, tho* they 
were very innocent in him, yet they might have ill effects here, 
by softning the Animosity which seemeth necessary to the 
Defender of the Protestant Faith, in opposition to such a 
powerful and irreconcilable an Enemy. 

You may be sure, that among all the sorts of Men who 
applyM themselves to the King at his first coming home, for 
his Protection, the Papists were not the last, nor as they fain 
would have flattered themselves, the least welcome, having 
their past Sufferings, as well as their present Professions to 
recommend them ; and there was something that looked like 
a particular Consideration of them, since it so happened, that 
the Indulgence promised to Dissenters at Breda, was carried on 
in such a manner, that the Papists were to divide with them ; 
and tho* the Parliament, notwithstanding its Resignation to 
the Crown in all things, rejected with scorn and anger a 
Declaration framM for this purpose, yet the Birth and steps 
of it gave such an alarm, that Mens suspicions once raised, 
were not easily laid asleep again. 

To omit other things, the breach of the Tripple League, and 
the Dutch War with its appurtenances, carried Jealousies to 
the highest pitch imaginable, and fed the hopes of one Party 
and the fears of the Other to such a degree, that some Critical 
Revolutions were generally expected, when the ill success of 
that War, and the Sacrifice France thought fit to make of the 
Papists here to their own interest abroad, gave them another 
Check ; and the Act of enjoyning the Test to all in Offices, 
was thought to be no ill Bargain to the Nation, tho* bought 
at the Price of 1200000 pound, and the Money apply'd to 
continue the War against the Dutch, than which nothing could 
be more unpopular or less approved. Notwithstanding these 
discouragements, Popery is a Plant that may be mowed 
down, but the Root will still remain, and in spite of the Laws, 
it will sprout up and grow again ; especially if it should 
happen that there should be Men in Power, who in weeding 
it out of our Garden, will take care to Cherish and keep it 
alive ; and tho* the Law for excluding them from Places of 

HALIFAX Q Trust 



The Character 



Trust was tolerably kept as to their outward Form, yet there 
were many Circumstances, which being improved by the quick- 
sighted Malice of ill affected Men, did help to keep up the 
World in their suspicions, and to blow up Jealousies to such 
a height both in and out of Parliament, that the remembrance 
of them is very unpleasant, and the Example so extravagant, 
that it is to be hop'd nothing in our Age like it will be re- 
attempted ; but to come closer to the Case in question : in this 
Condition we stand with the Papists, what shall now be done, 
according to our Trimmer's Opinion, in order to the better 
Bearing this grievance, since as I have said before, there is no 
hopes of being entirely free from it ; Papists we must have 
among us, and if their Religion keep them from bringing 
honey to the Hive, let the Government try at least by gentle 
means to take away the Sting from them. The first Founda- 
tion to be laid is, that a distinct Consideration is to be had 
of the Popish Clergy, who have such an eternal Interest against 
all accommodation, that it is a hopeless thing to propose any 
thing to them less than all ; their Stomachs have been set for 
it ever since the Reformation, they have pinned themselves to 
a Principal that admits no mean : they believe Protestants 
will be damn'd, and therefore by an extraordinary Effect of 
Christian Charity, they would destroy one half of England that 
the other might be saved ; then for this World, they must be 
in possession for God Almighty, to receive his Rents for him, 
not to accompt till the Day of Judgment, which is a good 
kind of Tenure, and ye cannot well blame the good Men, that 
will stir up the Laity to run any hazard in order to the getting 
them restored. What is it to the Priest, if the deluded Zealot 
undoeth himself in the Attempt ? he singeth Masses as jollily, 
and with as good a Voice at Rome or St. Omers as ever he 
did; is a single Man, and can have no wants but such as 
may be easily supply'd, yet that he may not seem altogether 
insensible, or ungrateful to those that are his Martyrs, he is 
ready to assure their Executors, and if they please, will procure 
a Grant sub Annulo Piscatoris, that the good Man by being 
hanged, hath got a good Bargain, and suv'd the singeing of 

some 



of a Trimmer. 83 

some hundred of years, which he would else have had in 
Purgatory. There's no Cure for this Order of Men, no Ex- 
pedient to be propos'd, so that tho the utmost severity of 
the Laws against them may in some sort be mitigated, yet no 
Treaty can be made with Men who in this Case have left them- 
selves no free Will, but are so muffled by Zeal, tyed by Vows, 
and kept up by such unchangeable Maxims of the Priesthood, 
that they are to be left as desperate Patients, and look'd upon 
as Men that will continue in an Eternal State of Hostility, till 
the Nation is entirely subdued to them. It is then only the 
Lay Papists that are capable of being treated with, and we are 
to examine of what temper they are, and what Arguments are 
the most likely to prevail upon them, and how far 'tis advise- 
able for the Government to be Indulgent to them ; the Lay 
Papists generally keep their Religion, rather because they will 
not break Company with those of their Party, than out of any 
settled Zeal that hath Root in them j most of them do by the 
Mediation of the Priests Marry amongst one another, to keep 
up an Ignorant Position by hearing only one side j others by 
a mistake look upon it as they do upon Escutcheons, the more 
Antient Religion of the two ; and as some Men of a good 
Pedigree will despise meaner Men, tho* never so much superior 
to them by Nature, so these undervalue Reformation as an 
Upstart, and think there is more Honour in supporting an old 
Errour, than in embracing what seemeth to them to be a new 
Truth; the Laws have made them Men of Pleasure, by ex- 
cluding them from Publick Business, and it happeneth well 
they are so, since they will the more easily be perswaded by 
Arguments of Ease and Conveniency to them ; they have not 
put off the Man in general, nor the Englishman in particular, 
those who in the late storm against them went into other 
Countries, tho they had all the Advantage that might recom- 
mend them to a good Reception, yet in a little time they chose 
to steal over again, and live here with hazard, rather than 
abroad with security. There is a Smell in our Native Earth, 
better than all the Perfumes in the East ; there is something 
in a Mother, tho never so Angry, that the Children will more 

G 2 naturally 



84 The Character 



naturally trust Her, than the Studied Civilities of Strangers, 
let them be never so Hospitable ; therefore 'tis not adviseable 
nor agreeing with the Rules of Governing Prudence, to provoke 
Men by hardships to forget that Nature, which else is sure to 
be of our side. 

When these Men by fair Usage are put again into their right 
Senses, they will have quite differing Reflections from those 
which Rigour and Persecution had raised in them : A Lay 
Papist will first consider his Abby-Lands, which notwithstand- 
ing whatever hath or can be alledged, must sink considerably in 
the Value, the moment that Popery prevails ; and it being a 
disputable Matter, whether Zeal might not in a little time get 
the better of the Law in that case, a considering Man will 
admit that as an Argument to perswade him to be content with 
things as they are, rather than run this or any other hazard by 
Change, in which perhaps he may have no other Advantage, 
than that his now humble Confessor may be raisM to a 
Bishoprick, and from thence look down superciliously upon 
his Patron, or which is worse, run to take Possession for God 
Almighty of his Abby, in such a manner as the usurping Land- 
lord (as he will then be called) shall hardly be admitted to be 
so much as a Tenant to his own Lands, lest his Title should 
prejudge that of the Church, which will then be the Landlord ; 
he will think what disadvantage 'tis to be looked upon as a 
separate Creature, depending upon a Foreign Interest and 
Authority, and for that reason, expos'd to the Jealousie and 
Suspicion of his Country-men ; he will reflect what an Incuni- 
brance it is to have his House a Pasture for hungry Priests to 
graze in, which have such a never-failing Influence upon the 
Foolish, which is the greatest part of every Man's Family, that 
a Man's Dominion, even over his own Children, is mangled, 
and divided, if not totally undermin'd by them; then to be 
subject to what Arbitrary Taxes the Popish Convocation shall 
impose upon him for the carrying on the Common Interest of 
that Religion, under Penalty of being mark'd out for half an 
Heretick by the rest of the Party ; to have no share in Business, 
no opportunity of shewing his own Value to the World ; to live 

at 



of a Trimmer. 85 

at the best an useless, and by others to be thought a dangerous 
Member of the Nation where he is born, is a burthen to a 
generous Mind that cannot be taken off by all the Pleasure of a 
lazy unmanly life, or by the nauseous enjoyment of a dull Plenty, 
that produceth no food for the Mind, which will be considered 
in the first place by a Man that hath a Soul ; when he shall 
think, that if his Religion, after his wading through a Sea of 
Blood, come at last to prevail, it would infinitely lessen, if 
not entirely destroy the Glory, Riches, Strength and Liberty 
of his own Country, and what a Sacrifice is this to make to 
Rome, where they are wise enough to wonder there should be 
such Fools in the World, as to venture, struggle, and contend, 
nay even die Martyrs for that which, should it succeed, would 
prove a Judgment instead of a Blessing to them ; he will con- 
clude that the advantages of throwing some of their Children 
back again to God Almighty when they have too many of them, 
are not equal to the Inconveniencies they may either feel or fear, 
by continuing their separation from the Religion established. 

Temporal things will have their weight in the World, and 
tho Zeal may prevail for a time, and get the better in a Skir- 
mish, yet the War endeth generally on the side of Flesh and 
Blood, and will do so till Mankind is another thing than it is at 
present : And therefore a wise Papist in cold Blood, considering 
these and many other Circumstances, which 'twill be worth his 
pains to see if he can unmuffle himself from the Mask of 
Infallibility, will think it reasonable to set his Imprison'd Senses 
at Liberty, and that he hath a right to see with his own Eyes, 
hear with his own Ears, and judge by his own Reason; the 
consequence of which might probably be, that weighing things 
in a right Scale, and seeing them in their true Colours, he 
would distinguish between the merit of suffering for a good 
Cause, and the foolish ostentation of drawing inconveniences 
upon himself ; and therefore will not be unwilling to be convinced 
that our Protestant Creed may make him happy in the other 
World, and the easier in this. A few of such wise Proselytes 
would by their Example draw so many after them, that the 
Party would insensibly melt away, and in a little time, without 

any 



86 The Character 



any angry word, we should come to an Union that all Good 
Men would have Reason to rejoyce at ; but we are not to pre- 
sume upon these Conversions, without preparing Men for them 
by kind and reconciling Arguments ; nothing is so against our 
Nature, as to believe those can be in the right who are too hard 
upon us ; there is a deformity in every thing that doth us hurt, 
it will look scurvily in our Eye while the smart continueth, and 
a Man must have an extraordinary Measure of Grace, to think 
well of a Religion that reduceth him and his Family to Misery ; 
in this respect our Trimmer would consent to the mitigation 
of such Laws as were made (as it is said King Henry VIII. got 
Queen Elizabeth) in a heat against Rome : It may be said that 
even States as well as private Men are subject to Passion ; a just 
indignation of a villainous Attempt produceth at the same time 
such Remedies, as perhaps are not without some mixture of 
Revenge, and therefore tho time cannot Repeal a Law, it may 
by a Natural Effect soften the Execution of it; there is less 
danger to Rouse a Lyon when at Rest, than to awake Laws that 
were intended to have their times of Sleeping, nay more than 
that, in some Cases their Natural periods of Life, dying of them- 
selves without the Solemnity of being revoked any otherwise 
than by the common consent of Mankind, who do cease to 
Execute when the Reasons in great Measure fail that first 
Created and JustifyM the Rigour of such unusual Penalties. 

Our Trimmer is not eager to pick out some places in His- 
tory against this or any other Party ; quite contrary, is very 
sollicitous to find out any thing that may be healing, and tend 
to an Agreement ; but to prescribe the means of this Gentleness 
so as to make it effectual, must come from the only place that 
can furnish Remedies for this Cure, viz. a Parliament ; in the 
mean time, it is to be wished there may be such a mutual calm- 
ness of Mind, as that the Protestants might not be so jealous, 
as still to smell the Match that was to blow up the King and 
both Houses in the Gunpowder Treason, or to start at every 
appearance of Popery, as if it were just taking Possession. On 
the other side, let not the Papists suffer themselves to be led 
by any hopes, tho never so flattering, to a Confidence or Osten- 
tation 



of a Trimmer. 87 

tation which must provoke Men to be less kind to them ; let 
them use Modesty on their sides, and the Protestants Indul- 
gence on theirs ; and by this means there would be an over- 
looking of all Venial Faults, a tacit connivence at all things that 
do not carry Scandal with them, and would amount to a kind 
of Natural Dispensation with the severe Laws, since there would 
be no more Accusers to be found, when the occasions of Anger 
and Animosity are once removM ; let the Papists in the mean 
time remember, that there is a respect due from all lesser 
numbers to greater, a deference to be paid by an Opinion that 
is Exploded, to one that is Established ; such a Thought well 
digested will have an influence upon their Behaviour, and pro- 
duce such a Temper as must win the most eager Adversaries out 
of their ill Humour to them, and give them a Title to all the 
Favour that may be consistent with the Publick Peace and 
Security. 



The Trimmer's Opinion in Relation to things 

abroad. 

THE World is so composed, that it is hard, if not impossible, 
for a Nation not to be a great deal involved in the fate of 
their Neighbours, and tho by the felicity of our Situation, we 
are more Independant than any other People, yet we have in all 
Ages been concerned for our own sakes in the Revolutions 
abroad. There was a time when England was the over 
balancing Power of Christendom, and that either by Inheritance 
or Conquest, the better part of France received Laws from us ; 
after that we being reducM into our own Limits, France and 
Spain became the Rivals for the Universal Monarchy, and our 
third Power, tho in it self less than either of the other, hapned 
to be Superiour to any of them, by that choice we had of throw- 
ing the Scales on that side to which we gave our Friendship. I 
do not know whether this Figure did not make us as great as 
our former Conquest ; to be a perpetual Umpire of two great 

contending 



88 The Character 



contending Powers, who gave us all their Courtship, and offer'd 
all their Incense at our Altar, whilst the Fate of either Prince 
seemed to depend upon the Oracles we delivered ; for the King 
of England to sit on his Throne, a& in the Supream Court of 
Justice, to which the two great Monarchs appeal, pleading their 
Cause, and expecting their Sentence declaring which side was 
in the right, or at least if we pleas'd which side should have the 
better of it, was a piece of Greatness which was peculiar to us, 
and no wonder if we endeavoured to preserve it, as we did for 
a considerable time, it being our Safety, as well as Glory, to 
maintain it ; but by a Fatality upon our Councils, or by the re- 
fin'd Policy of this latter Age, we have thought fit to use 
industry to destroy this mighty Power, which we have so long 
enjoyed ; and that equality between the Two Monarchs, which 
we might for ever have preserved, hath been chiefly broken by 
us, whose Interest it was above all others to maintain it ; when 
one of them, like the overflowing of the Sea, had gained more 
upon the other than our convenience, or indeed our safety, 
would allow, instead of mending the Banks, or making new 
ones, we our selves with our own hands helpt to cut them, to 
invite and make way for a farther Inundation. France and 
Spain have had their several turns in making use of our Mistakes, 
and we have been formerly as deaf to the Instances of the then 
weaker part of the World to help them against the House of 
Austria, as we can now be to the Earnestness of Spain, that we 
would assist them against the Power of France. Gondamar was 
as sawcy, and as powerful too in King James his Court, as any 
French Ambassadour can have been at any time since ; Men 
talked as wrong then on the Spanish side, and made their Court 
by it as well as any can have done since by talking as much for 
the French ; so that from that time, instead of weighing in 
a wise Balance the power of either Crown, it looketh as if we 
had learnt only to weigh the Pensions, and take the heaviest. 

It would be tedious, as well as unwelcome, to recapitulate all 
our wrong steps, so that I will go no farther than the King's 
Restauration, at which time the Balance was on the side of 
France, and that by the means of Cromwell, who for a separate 

Interest 



of a Trimmer. 89 

Interest of his own had sacrificed that of the Nation, by joining 
with the stronger side, to suppress the Power of Spain, which 
he ought to have supported. Such a Method was natural 
enough to an Usurper, and shew'd he was not the Lawful Father 
of the People, by his having so little care of them; and the 
Example coming from that hand, one would think should, for 
that Reason, be less likely to be followed. But to go on, home 
cometh the King, followed with Courtships from all Nations 
abroad, of which some did it not only to make them forget how 
familiarly they had usM him when he was in other Circumstances, 
but to bespeak the Friendship of a Prince, who besides his other 
Greatness, was yet more considerable by being re-established by 
the love of his people. France had an Interest either to dispose 
us to so much good will, or at least to put us into such a Con- 
dition, that we might give no Opposition to their Designs ; and 
Flanders being a perpetual Object in their Eye, a lasting Beauty 
for which they have an incurable passion, and not being kind 
enough to consent to them, they meditated to commit a Rape 
upon her, which they thought would not be easie to do, while 
England and Holland were agreed to rescue her, when-ever they 
should hear her cry out for help to them ; to this end they put 
in practice Seasonable and Artificial Whispers, to widen things 
between us and the States. Amboyna and the Fishery must be 
talkM of here ; the freedom of the Seas, and the preservation of 
Trade must be insinuated there; and there being combustible 
matter on both sides, in a little time it took Fire, which gave 
those that kindled it, sufficient cause to smile and hug them- 
selves, to see us both fall into the Net they had laid for us. And 
it is observable and of good example to us, if we will take it, 
That their Design being to set us together at Cuffs to weaken 
us, they kept themselves Lookers-on till our Victories began to 
break the Balance ; then the King of France, like a wise Prince, 
was resolved to support the beaten side, and would no more let 
the Power of the Sea, than we ought to suffer the Monarchy of 
Europe, to fall into one hand : In pursuance to this, he took 
part with the Dutch, and in a little time made himself Umpire 
of the Peace between us ; some time after, upon pretence of his 

Queen's 



9O The Character 



Queen's Title to part of Flanders, by Right of Devolution, he 
falleth into it with a mighty Force, for which the Spaniard was 
so little prepared, that he made a very swift Progress, and 
had such a Torrent of undisputed Victory, that England and 
Holland., tho the Wounds they had given one another were yet 
green, being struck with the apprehension of so near a danger 
to them, thought it necessary, for their own defence, to make 
up a sudden League, into which Sweden was taken to interpose 
for a Peace between the two Crowns. 

This had so good an effect, that France was stopt in its Career, 
and the Peace of Aix le Chapelle was a little after concluded. 
'Twas a forc'd put; and tho France wisely dissembled their 
inward dissatisfaction, yet from that very moment they resolv'd 
to unty the Triple knot, whatever it cost them ; for his 
Christian Majesty, after his Conquering Meals, ever riseth 
with a stomach, and he likM the Pattern so well, that it gave 
him a longing desire to have the whole Piece. Amongst the 
other means used for the attaining this end, the sending over 
the Dutchess of Orleans, was not the least powerful ; she was 
a very welcome Guest here, and her own Charms and Dexterity 
joined with other Advantages that might help her perswasions, 
gave her such an Ascendant, that she should hardly fail of 
success. One of the Preliminaries of her Treaty, tho a trivial 
thing in it self, yet was considerable in the Consequence, as 
very small circumstances often are in relation to the Government 
of the World. About this time a general Humour, in opposition 
to France, had made us throw off their Fashion, and put on 
Vests, that we might look more like a distinct People, and not 
be under the servility of imitation, which ever payeth a greater 
deference to the Original, than is consistent with the Equality 
all Independent Nations should pretend to; France did not 
like this small beginning of ill Humours, at least of Emulation, 
and wisely considering that it is a natural Introduction first to 
make the World their Apes, that they may be afterwards their 
Slaves, it was thought that one of the Instructions Madam 
brought along with her, was to laugh us out of these Vests ; 
which she performed so effectually, that in a moment, like so 

many 



of a Trimmer. 91 

many Footmen who had quitted their Masters Livery, we all 
took it again, and returned to our old Service ; so that the very 
time of doing it gave a very critical Advantage to France, since 
it lookt like an Evidence of our returning to their Interest, as 
well as to their Fashion, and would give such a distrust of us 
to our new Allies, that it might facilitate the dissolution of the 
knot, which tied them so within their bounds, that they were 
very impatient till they were freed from the restraint. 

But the Lady had a more extended Commission than this and 
without doubt laid the Foundation of a new strict Alliance, 
quite contrary to the other in which we had been so lately 
engaged. And of this there were such early appearances, that 
the World began to look upon us as falling into Apostacy from 
the common Interest. Notwithstanding all this, France did 
not neglect at the same time to give good words to the Dutch, 
and even to feed them with hopes of supporting them against 
us, when on a sudden, that never to be forgotten Declaration of 
War against them cometh out, only to vindicate his own Glory, 
and to revenge the Injuries done to his Brother in England, by 
which he became our Second in this Duel ; so humble can this 
Prince be, when at the same time he doth us more Honour than 
we deserve, he layeth a greater share of the blame upon our 
Shoulders, than did naturally belong to us ; the particulars of 
that War, our part in it while we staid in it, and when we were 
out of breath, our leaving the French to make an end of it, are 
things too well known to make it necessary, and too unwelcome 
in themselves to incite me to repeat them ; only the wisdom of 
France is in this to be observed, That when we had made 
a separate Peace, which left them single to oppose the united 
Force of the Confederates, they were so far from being angry, 
that they would not shew so much as the least coldness, hoping 
to get as much by our Mediation for a Peace, as they would 
have expected from our Assistance in the War, our Circum- 
stances at that time considered ; This seasonable piece of 
Indulgence in not reproaching us, but rather allowing those 
Necessities of State which we gave for our Excuse, was such 
an engaging Method, that it went a great way to keep us still 

in 



92 The Character 



in their Chains, when, to the Eye of the World, we had abso- 
lutely broke loose from them : And by what pass'd afterwards 
at Nimeguen, tho the King's Neutrality gave him the outward 
Figure of a Mediator, it appear'd that his Interposition was 
extremely suspected of Partiality by the Confederates, who upon 
that Ground did both at and before the Conclusion of that 
Treaty, treat his Ministers there with a great deal of neglect. 
In this Peace as well as in that of the Pyreneans and Aix le 
Chapelle, the King of France, at the Moment of making it, had 
the thought of breaking it; for a very little time after he 
broachM his Pretensions upon Alost', which were things that 
if they had been offer'd by a less formidable hand, would have 
been smiled at; but ill Arguments being seconded by good 
Armies, carry such a power with them, that naked sense is 
a very unequal Adversary. It was thought that these airy 
Claims were chiefly rais'd with the prospect of getting Luxen- 
burg for the Equivalent ; and this Opinion was confirmed by the 
blocking it up afterwards, pretending to the Country of Chimay, 
that it might be entirely surrounded by the French Dominions, 
and it was so pressed that it might have fallen in a little time, 
if the King of France had not sent Orders to his Troops to 
retire, and his Christian Generosity which was assign 'd for the 
reason of it, made the World smile, since it is seen how differently 
his devout Zeal worketh in Hungary : that specious Reason 
was in many respects ill-timM, and France it self gave it so 
faintly, that at the very time it look'd out of Countenance; 
the true ground of his Retiring is worth our observation ; for 
at the instance of the Confederates, Offices were done, and 
Memorials given, but all ineffectual till the word Parliament 
was put into them ; that powerful word had such an effect, that 
even at that distance it rais'd the Seige, which may convince us of 
what efficacy the King of England's words are, when he will give 
them their full weight, and threaten with his Parliament ; it is 
then that he appeareth that great Figure we ought to represent 
him in our Minds, the Nation his Body, he the Head, and joined 
with that Harmony, that every word he pronounceth is the 
Word of a Kingdom : Such words, as appeareth by this 

Example, 



of a Trimmer. 93 

Example, are as effectual as Fleets and Armies, because they 
can create them, and without this his words sound abroad like 
a faint Whisper, that is either not heard, or (which is worse) 
not minded. But tho France had made this step of forced 
Compliance, it did not mean to leave off the pursuit of their 
pretensions ; and therefore immediately proposed the Arbitration 
to the King ; but it appeared, that notwithstanding his Merit 
towards the Confederates, in saving Luxenburg, the remem- 
brances of what had passed before, had left such an ill taste in 
their Mouths, that they could not Relish our being put into 
a Condition to dispose of their Interests, and therefore declined 
it by insisting upon a general Treaty, to which France hath 
ever since continued to be averse ; our great earnestness also to 
perswade the Confederates to consent to it, was so unusual, and 
so suspicious a method, that it might naturally make them 
believe, that France spake to them by our Mouth, and for that 
Reason, if there had been no other, might hinder the accepting 
it; and so little care hath been taken to cure this or other 
Jealousies the Confederates may have entertain'd, that quite 
contrary, their Ministers here every day take fresh Alarms, 
from what they observe in small, as well as in greater Circum- 
stances ; and they being apt both to take and improve appre- 
hensions of this kind, draw such Inferences from them, as make 
them entirely despair of us. 

Thus we now stand, far from being Innocent Spectators of 
our Neighbours Ruine, and by a fatal mistake forgetting what 
a Certain Fore-runner it is to our own ; and now it is time our 
Trimmer should tell something of his Opinion, upon this present 
State of things abroad ; he first professeth to have no Biass, 
either for or against France, and that his thoughts are wholly 
directed by the Interest of his own Country ; he alloweth, and 
hath read that Spain used the same Methods, when it was in 
its heighth, as France doth now, and therefore it is not Partiality 
that moveth him, but the just fear which all reasonable Men 
must be possess'd with, of an over-growing Power; Ambition 
is a devouring Beast, when it hath swallowM one Province, 
instead of being cloyed, it hath so much the greater Stomach 

to 



94 The Character 



to another, and being fed, becometh still the more hungry ; so 
that for the Confederates to expect a security from any thing 
but their own united strength, is a most miserable fallacy ; and 
if they cannot resist the Incroachments of France by their Arms, 
it is in vain for them to dream of any other means of preserva- 
tion ; it would have the better grace, besides the saving so much 
Blood and Ruin, to give up all at once ; make a Present of 
themselves, to appease this haughty Monarch, rather than be 
whisperM, flattered, or cozened out of their liberty. Nothing is 
so soft as the first applications of a greater Prince, to engage 
a weaker, but that smiling Countenance is but a Vizard, it is 
not the true Face ; for as soon as their turn is served, the Court- 
ship flies to some other Prince or State, where the same part 
is to be acted over again ; leaveth the old mistaken Friend to 
Neglect and Contempt, and like an insolent Lover to a Cast off 
Mistress, Reproaches her with that Infamy, of which he him- 
self was the Author. Sweden, Bavaria, Palatine, $c. may by 
their Fresh Examples, teach other Princes what they are 
reasonably to expect, and what Snakes are hid under the 
Flowers the Court of France so liberally throweth upon them 
whilst they can be useful. The various Methods and deep 
Intrigues, with the differing Notes in several Countries, do not 
only give suspicion, but assurance that every thing is put in 
Practice, by which universal Monarchy may be obtain'd. Who 
can reconcile the withdrawing of his Troops from Luxenburg, in 
consideration of the War in Hungary, which wasnotthen declared, 
and presently after encouraging the Turk to take Vienna, and 
consequently to destroy the Empire ? Or who can think that 
the Persecution of the Poor Protestants of France, will be 
accepted of God, as an Atonement for hazarding the loss of 
the whole Christian Faith ? Can he be thought in earnest, when 
he seemM to be afraid of the Spaniards, and for that reason 
must have Luxenburg, and that he cannot be safe from Germany, 
unless he is in possession of Strasburgt All Injustice and 
Violence must in it self be grievous, but the aggravations of 
supporting *em by false Arguments, and insulting Reasons, has 
something in it yet more provoking than the Injuries them- 
selves ; 



of a Trimmer. 95 

selves ; and the World hath ground enough to apprehend, from 
such a Method of arguing, that even their Senses are to be 
subdu'd as well as their Liberties. Then the variety of Argu- 
ments used by France in several Countries is very observable : 
In England and Denmark, nothing insisted on but the Greatness 
and Authority of the Crown ; on the other side, the Great Men 
in Poland are commended, who differ in Opinion with the King, 
and they argue like Friends to the Privilege of the Dyet, against 
the separate Power of the Crown : In Sweden they are troubled 
that the King should have changed something there of late, by 
his single Authority, from the antient and settled Authority and 
Constitutions : At Ratisbone, the most Christian Majesty taketh 
the Liberties of all the Electors and free States into his 
Protection, and telleth them the Emperour is a dangerous Man, 
an aspiring Hero, that would infallibly devour them, if he was 
not at hand to resist him on their behalf; but above all in 
Holland, he hath the most obliging tenderness for the Common- 
wealth, and is in such disquiets, lest it should be invaded by the 
Prince of Orange, that they can do no less in gratitude, than 
undo themselves when he bids them, to show how sensible they 
are of his excessive good Nature ; yet in spight of all these 
Contradictions, there are in the World such refin'd States-men, 
as will upon their Credit affirm the following Paradoxes to be 
real truth ; first that France alone is sincere and keepeth its 
Faith, and consequently that it is the only Friend we can rely 
upon ; that the King of France, of all Men living, hath the 
least mind to be a Conqueror; that he is a sleepy, tame 
Creature, void of all Ambition, a poor kind of a Man, that hath 
no farther thoughts than to be quiet ; that he is charm'd by his 
Friendship to us ; that it is impossible he should ever do us hurt, 
and therefore tho Flanders was lost, it would not in the least 
concern us ; that he would fain help the Crown of England to 
be absolute, which would be to take pains to put it into a con- 
dition to oppose him, as it is, and must be our Interest, as 
long as he continueth in such an overbalancing Power and 
Greatness. 

Such a Creed as this, if once received, might prepare our 

belief 



96 The Character 



belief for greater things, and as he that taught Men to eat 
a Dagger, began first with a Pen knife ; so if we can be prevailed 
with to digest the smaller Mistakes, we may at last make our 
stomachs strong enough for that of Transubstantiation. Our 
Trimmer cannot easily be converted out of his senses by these 
State Sophisters, and yet he hath no such peevish Obstinacy as 
to reject all Correspondence with France because we ought to 
be apprehensive of the too great power of it ; he would not have 
the kings Friendship to the Confederates extended to the in- 
volving him in any unreasonable or dangerous Engagements, 
neither would he have him lay aside the consideration of his 
better establishment at home, out of his excessive Zeal to secure 
his Allies abroad ; but sure there might be a Mean between 
these two opposite Extreams, and it may be wished that our 
Friendship with France should at least be so bounded, that it 
may consist with the humour as well as the Interest of England. 
There is no Woman but hath her fears of contracting too near 
an intimacy with a much greater Beauty, because it exposeth 
her too often to a Comparison that is not advantageous to her ; 
and sure it may become a Prince to be as jealous of his Dignity, 
as a Lady can be of her good looks, and to be as much out of 
Countenance, to be thought an humble Companion to so much 
a greater Power. To be always seen in an ill Light, to be so 
darkned by the brightness of a greater Star, is somewhat morti- 
fying ; and when England might ride Admiral at the head of 
the Confederates, to look like the Kitching- Yacht to the Grand 
Louis, is but a scurvy Figure for us to make in the Map of 
Christendom', it would rise upon our Trimmer's stomach, if 
ever (which God forbid) the power of calling and intermitting 
Parliaments here should be transferred to the Crown of France, 
and that all the opportunities of our own settlements at home 
should give way to their Projects abroad, and that our Interests 
should be so far sacrific'd to our Compliance, that all the Omni- 
potence of France can never make us full amends for it. In 
the mean time, he shrinketh at the dismal prospect he can by 
no means drive away from his thoughts, that when France hath 
gathered all the fruit arising from our Mistakes, and that we 

can 



of a Trimmer. 97 

can bear no more with them, they will cut down the Tree and 
throw it into the fire. All this while, some Superfine States- 
Men, to comfort us, would fain perswade the World that this 
or that accident may save us, and for all that is or ought to be 
dear to us, would have us to rely wholly upon Chance, not con- 
sidering that Fortune is Wisdoms Creature, and that God 
Almighty loves to be on the Wisest as well as the Strongest side ; 
therefore this is such a miserable shift, such a shameful Evasion, 
that they would be laught to death for it, if the ruining Con- 
sequence of this Mistake did not more dispose Men to rage, and 
a detestation of it. 

Our Trimmer is far from Idolatry in other things, in one 
thing only he cometh near it, his Country is in some degree his 
Idol ; he doth not Worship the Sun, because 'tis not peculiar to 
us, it rambles about the World, and is less kind to us than 
others ; but for the Earth of England, tho perhaps inferior to 
that of many places abroad, to him there is Divinity in it, and 
he would rather dye, than see a spire of English Grass trampled 
down by a Foreign Trespasser : He thinketh there are a great 
many of his mind, for all plants are apt to taste of the Soyl in which 
they grow, and we that grow here, have a Root that produceth 
in us a Stalk of English Juice, which is not to be changed by 
grafting or foreign infusion ; and I do not know whether any 
thing less will prevail, than the Modern Experiment, by which 
the Blood of one Creature is transmitted into another ; accord- 
ing to which, before the French blood can be let into our 
Bodies, every drop of our own must be drawn out of them. 

Our Trimmer cannot but lament, that by a Sacrifice too great 
for one Nation to make to another, we should be like a rich 
Mine, made useless only for want of being wrought, and that 
the Life and Vigour which should move us against our Enemies 
is miserably apply'd to tear our own Bowels ; that being made 
by our happy situation, not only safer, but if we please greater 
too, than other Countries which far exceed us in extent ; that 
having Courage by Nature, Learning by Industry, and Riches 
by Trade, we should corrupt all these Advantages, so as to make 
them insignificant, and by a fatality which seemeth peculiar to 

HALIFAX H U S , 



98 The Character 



us, misplace our active rage one against another, whilst we are 
turn'd into Statues on that side where lieth our greatest danger; 
to be unconcern' d not only at our Neighbours ruine but our 
own, and let our Island lie like a great Hulk in the Sea, without 
Rudder or Sail, all the Men cast away in her, or as if we were all 
Children in a great Cradle, and rockt asleep to a foreign Tune. 

I say when our Trimmer representeth to his Mind, our 
Roses blasted and discolour'd, whilst the Lilies Triumph and 
grow Insolent upon the Comparison ; when he considereth our 
own once flourishing Lawrel, now withered and dying, and 
nothing left us but a remembrance of a better part in History 
than we shall make in the next Age, which will be no more to 
us than an Escutcheon hung upon our Door when we are dead ; 
when he foreseeth from hence growing Infamy from abroad, 
confusion at home, and all this without the possibility of a Cure, 
in respect of the voluntary fetters good Men put upon 
themselves by their Allegiance; without a good measure of 
preventing Grace, he would be tempted to go out of the World 
like a Roman Philosopher, rather than endure the burthen of 
Life under such a discouraging Prospect. But Mistakes, as all 
other things, have their Periods, and many times the nearest way 
to Cure, is not to oppose them, but stay till they are crusht with 
their own weight: for Nature will not allow any thing to 
continue long that is violent ; violence is a wound, and as a 
wound must be curable in a little time, or else J tis Mortal, but 
a Nation comes near to be Immortal, therefore the wound will 
one time or another be cured, tho perhaps by such rough 
Methods, if too long forborn, as may even make the best 
Remedies we can prepare, to be at the same time a Melancholy 
Contemplation to us ; there is but one thing (God Almighties 
Providence excepted) to support a Man from sinking under 
these afflicting thoughts, and that is the hopes we draw singly 
from the King himself, without the mixture of any other 
consideration. 

Tho the Nation was lavish of their Kindness to him at his first 
coming, yet there remaineth still a stock of Warmth in Mens 
Hearts for him. Besides, the good Influences of his happy 

Planet 



of a Trimmer. 99 

Planet are not yet all spent, and tho the Stars of Men past their 
youth are generally declining, and have less Force, like the Eyes 
of decaying Beauties, yet by a Blessing peculiar to himself, we 
may yet hope to be savM by his Autumnal Fortune ; He hath 
something about him that will draw down a healing Miracle for 
his and our Deliverance ; a Prince which seemeth fitted for such 
an offending Age, in which Mens Crimes have been so general, 
that the not forgiving his People had been the destroying of 
them ; whose Gentleness giveth him a natural Dominion that 
hath no bounds, with such a noble mixture of Greatness and 
Condescention, an engaging Look, that disarmeth Men of their ill 
Humours, and their Resentments ; something in him that 
wanteth a Name, and can be no more defined than it can be 
resisted ; a Gift of Heaven, of its last finishing, where it will be 
peculiarly kind ; the only Prince in the World that dares be 
familiar, or that hath right to triumph over those forms which 
were first invented to give awe to those who could not judge, 
and to hide Defects from those that could ; a Prince that hath 
exhausted himself by his Liberality, and endangered himself by 
his Mercy ; who out-shineth by his own Light and natural 
Virtues all the varnish of studied Acquisitions ; his Faults are 
like Shades to a good Picture, or like Allay to Gold, to make 
it the more useful ; he may have some, but for any Man to see 
them through so many reconciling Virtues, is a Sacrilegious 
piece of ill nature, of which no generous Mind can be guilty ; 
a Prince that deserveth to be lov'd for his own sake, even 
without the help of a Comparison ; our Love, our Duty, and 
our Danger all join to cement our Obedience to him ; in short, 
whatever he can do, it is no more possible for us to be angry 
with him, than with the Bank that secureth us from the raging 
Sea, the kind Shade that hideth us from the scorching Sun, 
the welcome Hand that reacheth us a Reprieve, or with the 
Guardian Angel, that rescueth our Souls from the devouring 
Jaws of wretched Eternity. 



H 2 CON- 



ioo The Character 



CONCLUSION. 

TO Conclude, our Trimmer is so fully satisfy'd of the Truth 
of those Principles by which he is directed in reference to 
the Publick, that he will neither be Bawled, Threatned, Laught, 
nor Drunk out of them ; and instead of being converted by the 
Arguments of his Adversaries to their Opinions, he is very 
much confirmed in his own by them ; he professeth solemnly 
that were it in his Power to chuse, he would rather have his 
Ambition bounded by the Commands of a Great and Wise 
Master, than let it range with a Popular Licence, tho j crown'd 
with success ; yet he cannot commit such a Sin against the 
glorious thing call'd Liberty, nor let his Soul stoop so much 
below it self, as to be content without repining to have his 
Reason wholly subdu'd, or the Privilege of Acting like a sensible 
Creature torn from him by the imperious Dictates of unlimited 
Authority, in what hand soever it happens to be plac'd. What 
is there in this that is so Criminal, as to deserve the Penalty of 
that most singular Apophthegm, A Trimmer is worse than a 
Rebel ? What do angry men ail to rail so against Moderation ; 
doth it not look as if they were going to some very scurvy 
Extreme, that is too strong to be digested by the more 
considering part of Mankind? These Arbitrary Methods, 
besides the injustice of them, are (God be thanked) very 
unskilful too, for they fright the Birds, by talking so loud, 
from coming into the Nets that are laid for them ; and when 
Men agree to rifle a House, they seldom give warning, or blow 
a Trumpet ; but there are some small States-Men, who are so 
full charg'd with their own Expectations, that they cannot 
contain. And kind Heaven by sending such a seasonable Curse 
upon their undertakings, hath made their ignorance an Antidote 
against their Malice ; some of these cannot treat peaceably ; 
yielding will not satisfy them, they will have men by storm ; 
there are others, that must have Plots, to make their Service 
more necessary, and have an Interest to keep them alive, since 

they 



of a Trimmer. 101 

they are to live upon them ; and perswade the King to retrench 
his own Greatness, so as to shrink into the head of a 
Party, which is the betraying him into such an Unprincely 
mistake, and to such a wilful diminution of himself, that they 
are the last Enemies he ought to allow himself to forgive ; such 
Men, if they could, would prevail with the Sun to shine only 
upon them and their Friends, and to leave all the rest of the 
World in the dark ; this is a very unusual Monopoly, and may 
come within the Equity of the Law, which maketh it Treason 
to Imprison the King, when such unfitting bounds are put to his 
Favour, and he confin'd to the narrow limits of a particular set 
of Men, that would inclose him ; these Honest and only Loyal 
Gentlemen, if they may be allowed to bear Witness for 
themselves, make a King their Engine, and degrade him into a 
property at the veiy time that their Flattery would make him 
believe they paid Divine Worship to him ; besides these there is 
a flying Squadron on both sides, that are afraid the World 
should agree, small dabblers in Conjuring, that raise angry 
Apparitions to keep Men from being reconciled, like Wasps that 
fly up and down, buz and sting to keep Men unquiet ; but 
these Insects are commonly short-livM Creatures, and no doubt 
in a little time Mankind will be rid of them ; they were Gyants 
at least who fought once against Heaven, but for such Pigmies 
as these to contend against it, is such a provoking Folly, that 
the insolent Bunglers ought to be laught and hist out of the 
World for it ; they should consider there is a Soul in that great 
body of the People, which may for a time be drowzy and 
unactive, but when the Leviathan is rouz'd, it moveth like an 
angry Creature, and will neither be convinced nor resisted : the 
People can never agree to shew their united Powers, till they 
are extremely tempted and provoked to it, so that to apply 
Cupping-Glasses to a great Beast naturally dispos'd to sleep, 
and to force the Tame thing whether it will or no to be Valiant, 
must be learnt out of some other Book than Machiavil, who 
would never have prescrib'd such a preposterous Method. It is 
to be remembred, that if Princes have Law and Authority on 
their sides, the People on theirs may have Nature, which is a 

formidable 



iO2 The C/taracter 



formidable Adversary; Duty, Justice, Religion, nay, even 
Humane Prudence too, biddeth the People suffer any thing 
rather than resist ; but unconnected Nature, where e're it feels 
the smart will run to the nearest Remedy. Mens Passions in 
this Case are to be considered as well as their Duty, let it be 
never so strongly enforced, for if their Passions are provoked, 
they being as much a part of us as our Limbs, they lead Men 
into a short way of Arguing, that admitteth no distinction, 
and from the foundation of Self-Defence they will draw 
Inferences that will have miserable effects upon the quiet of a 
Government. 

Our Trimmer therefore dreads a general discontent, because 
he thinketh it differeth from a Rebellion, only as a Spotted 
Fever doth from the Plague, the same Species under a lower 
degree of Malignity ; it worketh several ways ; sometimes like 
a slow Poyson that hath its Effects at a great distance from the 
time it was given^ sometimes like dry Flax prepared to catch at 
the first Fire, or like Seed in the ground ready to sprout upon 
the first Shower ; in every shape 'tis fatal, and our Trimmer 
thinketh no pains or precaution can be so great as to prevent it. 

In short he thinketh himself in the right, grounding his 
Opinion upon that Truth, which equally hateth to be under the 
Oppressions of wrangling Sophistry of the one hand, or the 
short dictates of mistaken Authority on the other. 

Our Trimmer adoreth the Goddess Truth, tho* in all Ages she 
hath been scurvily used, as well as those that Worshipped her ; 
'tis of late become such a ruining Virtue, that Mankind seemeth 
to be agreed to commend and avoid it ; yet the want of Practice 
which Repealeth the other Laws, hath no influence upon the 
Law of Truth, because it hath root in Heaven, and an Intrinsick 
value in it self, that can never be impaired ; she sheweth her 
Greatness in this, that her Enemies even when they are 
successful are asham'd to own it ; nothing but powerful Truth 
hath the prerogative of Triumphing, not only after Victories, 
but in spite of them, and to put Conquest her self out of 
Countenance; she may be kept under and supprest, but her 
Dignity still remaineth with her, even when she is in Chains ; 

Falshood 



of a Trimmer. 103 

Falshood with all her Impudence hath not enough to speak ill 
of her before her Face, such Majesty she carrieth about 
her, that her most prosperous Enemies are fain to whisper their 
Treason ; all the Power upon Earth can never extinguish her ; 
she hath hVd in all Ages; and let the Mistaken Zeal of 
prevailing Authority christen any opposition to it with what 
Name they please, she maketh it not only an ugly and 
unmannerly, but a dangerous thing to persist ; she hath lived 
very retired indeed, nay sometime so buried, that only some few 
of the discerning part of Mankind could have a Glimpse of her ; 
with all that she hath Eternity in her, she knoweth not how to 
die, and from the darkest Clouds that shade and cover her, she 
breaketh from time to time with Triumph for her Friends, and 
Terrour to her Enemies. 

Our Trimmer therefore inspired by this Divine Virtue, 
thinketh fit to conclude with these Assertions, That our 
Climate is a Trimmer, between that part of the World where 
men are Roasted, and the other where they are Frozen j That 
our Church is a Trimmer between the Phrenzy of Platonick 
Visions, and the Lethargick Ignorance of Popish Dreams ; That 
our Laws are Trimmers, between the Excess of unbounded 
Power, and the Extravagance of Liberty not enough restrained ; 
That true Virtue hath ever been thought a Trimmer, and to 
have its dwelling in the middle between the two Extreams ; That 
even God Almighty himself is divided between his two great 
Attributes, his Mercy and his Justice. 

In such Company, our Trimmer is not ashamed of his Name, 
and willingly leaveth to the bold Champions of either Extream, 
the Honour of contending with no less Adversaries, than 
Nature, Religion, Liberty, Prudence, Humanity and Common 
Sense. 

THE 



104 
THE 

ANATOMY 

OF AN 

EQUIVALENT. 

I. f I A HE World hath of late years never been without some 
JL extraordinary Word to furnish the Coffee-Houses 
and fill the Pamphlets. Sometimes it is a new one invented, 
and sometimes an old one revived. They are usually fitted to 
some present purpose, with intentions as differing as the 
various designs several parties may have, either to delude the 
People, or to expose their Adversaries : They are not of long 
continuance, but after they have passed a little while, and that 
they are grown nauseous by being so often repeated, they give 
place to something that is newer. Thus after Whig, Tory, and 
Trimmer have had their time, now they are dead and forgotten, 
being supplanted by the word (Equivalent, which reigneth in 
their stead. 

The Birth of it is in short this : After many repeated Essayes 
to dispose Men to the Repeal of Oaths and Tests, made for the 
security of the Protestant Religion, the general aversion to 
comply in it was found to be so great, that it was thought 
adviseable to try another manner of attempting it, and to see 
whether by putting the same thing into another Mould, and 
sof tning an harsh Proposition by a plausible Term, they might 
not have better success. 

To this end, instead of an absolute quitting of these Laws, 
without any Condition ; which was the first Proposal ; now it 
is put into gentler Language, and runneth thus ; If you will 
take away the Oaths and Tests, you shall have as good a thing 
for them. This put into the fashionable Word, is now called 
an Equivalent. 

II. So 



The Anatomy of an Equivalent. 105 

II. So much to the Word it self. I will now endeavour in 
short to examine and explain, in order to the having it fully 
understood, 

First, What is the nature of a true Equivalent ; and 
In the next place, What things are not to be admitted under 
that denomination. 

I shall treat these as general Propositions, and though I 
cannot undertake how far they may be convincing, I may safely 
do it that they are impartial ; of which there can be no greater 
evidence than that I make neither Inference nor Application, 
but leave that part entirely to the Reader, according as his own 
Thoughts shall direct and dispose him. 

III. I will first take notice, that this Word, by the application 
which hath been made of it in some modern instances lieth 
under some Disadvantage, not to say some Scandal. It is 
transmitted hither from France ; and if as in most other things 
that we take from them, we carry them beyond the Pattern, it 
should prove so in this, we should get into a more partial stile 
than the principles of English Justice will I hope ever allow us 
to be guilty of. 

The French King's Equivalents in Flanders are very extra- 
ordinary Bargains ; his manner of proposing and obtaining 
them is very differing from the usual methods of equal dealing. 
In a later instance, Denmark, by the encouragement as well as 
by the example of France, hath propos'd things to the Duke of 
Holstein, which are called Equivalents, but that they are so, the 
World is not yet sufficiently convinced, and probably the Parties 
concerned do not think them to be so, and consequently do not 
appear to be at all disposed to accept them. Princes enjoyn 
and prescribe such things when they have Strength and Power 
to supply the want of Arguments ; and according to practice in 
these Cases, the weaker are never thought to have an ill Bargain, 
if they have any thing left them. So that the first Qualification 
of an Equivalent, must be, that the Appraisers be indifferent, 
else it is only a Sound, there can be nothing real in it : For, 
where the same party that proposeth a Bargain, claimeth a 
Right to set the Value ; or which is worse, hath power too to 

make 



106 The Anatomy of an Equivalent. 

make it good, the other may be forced to submit to the 
Conditions, but he can by no means ever be perswaded to treat 
upon them. 

IV. The next thing to be considered is, that to make an 
Equivalent in reality an equal thing in the Proposer, it must be 
a better thing than that which is required by him ; just as good 
is subject to the hazard of not being quite so good : It is not 
easie to have such an even hand as to make the Value exactly 
equal ; besides, according to the Maxim in Law, Melior conditio 
possidentis, the Offer is not fair, except the thing offered is 
better in value than the thing demanded. There must be 
allowance for removing what is fixed, and there must be 
something that may be a justification for changing. The value 
of things very often dependeth more upon other circumstances, 
than upon what is meerly intrinsick to them; therefore the 
calculation must be made upon that foot, perhaps in most cases; 
and particularly the want which one of the parties may have of 
the thing he requireth, maketh it more valuable to him than it is 
in it self. If the party proposing doth not want the thing he 
would have in Exchange, his requiring it is Impertinent : If he 
doth, his want of it must go into the appraisement, and by 
consequence every Proposer of an Equivalent must offer a 
better thing, or else he must not take it unkindly to be refused, 
except the other party hath an equal want of the same thing, 
which is very improbable, since naturally he that wanteth most 
will speak first. 

V. Another thing necessary to the making a fair Bargain is, 
that let the parties who treat be never so unequal in themselves, 
yet as to the particular thing proposed, there must be an exact 
equality, as far as it relateth to the full Liberty of taking or 
refusing, concurring or objecting, without any consequence of 
Revenge, or so much as Dissatisfaction ; for it is impossible to 
treat where it is an Affront to differ ; in that case there is no 
mean between the two extreams, either an open Quarrel or an 
intire Submission ; the way of Bargaining must be equal, else 
the Bargain it self cannot be so : For example, the Proposer is 
not only to use equal terms as to the matter, but fair ones in 

the 



The Anatomy of an Equivalent. 107 

the manner too. There must be no intimations of Anger in 
case of refusal, much less any open Threatning. Such a Stile 
is so ill suited to the usual way of Treating, that it looketh more 
like a Breach of the Peace, than the making a Bargain. It 
would be yet more improper and less agreeing with the nature 
of an Equivalent, if whilst two Men are chaffering about the 
Price, one of them should actually take the thing in question 
at his own rate, and afterwards desire to have his possession 
confirmed by a formal Agreement ; such a proceeding would 
not only destroy that particular contract, but make it impossible 
to have any other with the party that could be guilty of such 
a practice. 

VI. Violence preceding destroyeth all Contract, and even 
tho the party that offereth it should have a right to the thing he 
so taketh, yet it is to be obtained by legal means, else it may be 
forfeited by his irregularity in the pursuit of it : The Law is 
such an Enemy to Violence, and so little to be reconciled to it, 
that in the Case of a Rape, the Punishment is not taken off 
though the party injured afterwards consenteth. The Justice 
of the Law hath its eye upon the first act, and the Maxim of 
Volenti non fit injuria, doth not in this case help the Offender, 
it being a plea subsequent to the Crime, which maketh it to 
be rejected as a thing wrong dated and out of time. 

In taking away Goods or Money it is the same thing. The 
party robbed, by giving them afterwards to the taker, doth not 
exempt him from the Punishment of the Violence : Quite 
contrary, the Man from whom they were taken is punishable, 
if he doth not prosecute. If the case should be, that a Man 
thus taking away a thing without price, claimeth a right to take 
it, then whether it is well or ill founded is not the Question ; 
but sure, the party from whom it is so taken, whilst he is 
treating to Sell or Exchange it, can never make a Bargain with 
so arbitrary a Chapman, there being no room left after that to 
talk of the Value. 

VII. To make an equal Bargain there must be a liberty 
of differing, not only in every thing that is really essential, but 
in every thing that is thought so by either party, and most 

especially 



io8 The Anatomy of an Equivalent. 

especially by him who is in possession of the thing demanded : 
His Opinion must be a Rule to him, and even his Mistake in 
the Value, though it may not convince the Man he hath to deal 
with, yet he will be justified for not accepting what is offered, 
till that Mistake is fairly rectified and over-ruled. 

When a Security is desired to be changed, that side which 
desireth it must not pretend to impose upon the other, so as to 
dictate to them, and tell them without debate, that they are safe 
in what is proposed, since of that the Counsel on the other side 
must certainly be the most competent Judges. The hand it 
cometh from is a great Circumstance, either to invite or dis- 
courage in all matters of Contract ; the Qualifications of the 
Party offering must sute with the Proposition it self, else let it 
be never so fair, there is ground for Suspicion. 

VIII. When Men are of a temper, that they think they have 
wrong done them, if they have not always the better side of 
a Bargain : If they happen to be such as by experience have 
been found to have an ill Memory for their Word: If the 
Character they bear, doth not recommend their Justice, where- 
ever their Interest is concern'd : In these cases, thinking Men 
will avoid dealing, not only to prevent surprize, but to cut off 
the occasions of difficulty or dispute. 

It is yet more discouraging, when there are, either a precedent 
Practice, or standing Maxims of gross Partiality, in assuming 
a privilege of exemption from the usual methods of equal dealing. 

To illustrate this by an Instance. Suppose that in any case, 
the Church of Rome should have an Interest to promote a Bar- 
gain ; let her way of dealing be a little examined, which will 
direct those with whom she treateth, how far they are to rely 
upon what she proposeth to them. We may begin with the 
Quality in the World the least consisting with equal dealing, 
viz. An incurable Partiality to herself; which, that it may 
arrive to its full perfection, is crowned with Infallibility. At 
the first setting out, she maketh her self uncapable of dealing 
upon terms of Equality, by the Power she claimeth of binding 
and loosing, which hath been so often applyed to Treaties, as 
well as to Sins. 

If 



The Anatomy of an Equivalent. 109 

If the definition of Justice is to deal equally, she cannot be 
guilty of it without betraying her Prerogative, and according to 
her Principles, she giveth up the Superiority derived to her by 
Apostolical Succession, if she degradeth her self so as to be judged 
by the Rules of common Right, especially if the Bargain should 
be with Hereticks, who in her Opinion have forfeited the claim 
they might otherwise have had to it. 

IX. Besides, her Taste hath been so spoiled by unreasonable 
Bargains, that she can never bring down her Palate to any 
thing that is fair or equal. She hath not only judged it an 
Equivalent, but a great Bargain for the other side, to give them 
Absolutions and Indulgence for the real Payment of great Sums, 
for which she hath drawn Bills to have them repayed with 
Interest in Purgatory. 

This Spiritual Bank hath carried on such a Trade upon these 
advantageous Terms, that it can never submit to the small 
Profits an ordinary Bargain would produce. 

The several Popes have in exchange for the Peter-Pence, and 
all their other Rents and Fines out of England, sent sancti- 
fied Roses, Reliques, and other such Wonder-working Trifles. 
And by virtue of their Character of Holy Fathers, have used > 
Princes like Children, by sending them such Rattles to 1 
play with, which they made them buy at extravagant ( 
Rates ; besides which, they were to be thankful too, in to the J 
bargain. 

A Chip of the Cross, a piece of St. Laurence's Grid-iron, 
a Hair of St. Peter, have been thought Equivalents, for much 
more substantial things. The Popes being Masters of the Jewel- 
House, have set the Rates upon them, and they have passed ; 
though the whole Shop would not take up the value of a Bodkin 
in Lombard street upon the credit of them. 

They are unconscionable Purchasers, for they get all the 
Money from the living by praying for them when they are dead. 
And it is observable, that the Northern part of Christendom, 
which best understandeth Trade, were the first that refused to ~ 
make any more Bargains with them ; so that it looketh as if the 
chief quarrel to the Hereticks was not as they were ill Christians, 

but 



no The Anatomy of an Equivalent. 

but as they were unkind Merchants, in so discourteously reject- 
ing the Commodities of the growth of Rome. 

To conclude this Head, There is no bartering with Infallibility, 
it being so much above Equality, that it cannot bear the Indig- 
nity of a true Equivalent. 

'X. In all Bargains there is a necessity of looking back, and 
reflecting how far a present proposal is reconcilable with 
a former practice ; For Example, if at any time a thing is 
offered, quite differing from the Arguments used by the Pro- 
poser, and inconsistent with the Maxims held out by him at 
other times. Or in a Publick case, if the same men who promote 
and press a thing with the utmost violence, do in a little time 
after with a* much violence press the contrary, and profess 
a detestation of the very thing, for which they had before 
imployed all their Interest and Authority. Or if in the case of 
a Law already made, there should be a privilege claimed to 
exempt those from the obligation of observing it, who yet should 
afterwards desire and press to have a new Law made in exchange 
for the old one, by which they would not be bound ; and that 
they should propose a security by a thing of the very same 
nature as that which they did not allow to be any before. These 
Incoherences must naturally have the effect of raising suspicion, 
or rather they are a certain proof, that in such circumstances it 
is irrational for men to expect an effectual Equivalent. 

XL If whatsoever is more than ordinary is suspicious, every 
thing that is unnatural is more so ; It is not only unnecessary 
but unnatural too to perswade with violence what it is folly to 
refuse ; to push men with eagerness into a good bargain for 
themselves, is a stile very much unsuitable to the nature of the 
thing. But it goeth further and is yet more absurd, to grow 
angry with men for not receiving a proposal that is for their 
advantage ; Men ought to be content with the Generosity of 
offering good bargains, and should give their compassion to 
those who do not understand them : but by carrying their good 
nature so far as to be CholericJc in such a case, they would 
follow the example of the Church of Rome, where the definition 
of Charity is very extraordinary. In her Language, the Writ 

de 



The Anatomy of an Equivalent. j 1 1 

de Hceretico Comburendo is a Love letter, and burning men for 
differing with them in Opinion, howsoever miscalled Cruelty, is 
as they understand it, the perfection of flaming Charity. 

When Anger in these cases lasteth long, it is most probable 
that it is for our own sakes ; Good nature for others is one of \ 
those Diseases that is cured by time, and especially where it is' 
offered and rejected; but for our selves it never faileth, and 
cannot be extinguished but with our life. It is fair if men can 
believe that their friends love them next to themselves, to love 
them better is too much ; the Expression is so unnatural that it 
is cloying, and men must have no sense, who in this case have 
no suspicion. 

XII. Another Circumstance necessary to a fair bargain is, 
That there must be openness and freedom allowed, as the effect 
of that Equality which is the foundation of Contracting. There 
must be full liberty of objecting, and making doubts and scruples : 
If they are such as can be answered, the party convinced is so 
much the more confirmed and incouraged to deal, instead of 
being hindred by them ; but if instead of an answer to satisfy, 
there is nothing but anger for a reply, it is impossible not to 
conclude that there is never a good one to give ; so that the 
objection remaining without being fully confuted, there is an 
absolute bar put to any further Treaty. 

There can be no dealing where one side assumeth a privilege to 
impose, so as to make an offer and not bear the examination of - 
it, this is giving judgment not making a bargain. Where it is 
called unmannerly to object, or criminal to refuse, the surest 
way is for men to stay where they are, rather than treat upon 
such disadvantage. 

If it should happen to be in any Country where the governing 
power should allow men Liberty of Conscience in the choice of 
their Religion, it would be strange to deny them liberty of speech 
in making a bargain. Such a contradiction would be so dis- 
couraging, that they must be unreasonably sanguine, who in 
that case can entertain the hopes of a fair Equivalent. 

XIII. An equal Bargain must not be a Mystery nor a Secret, 
The purchaser or proposer is to tell directly and plainly, what 

it 



H2 The Anatomy of an Equivalent. 

it is he intendeth to give in Exchange for that which he requireth. 
It must be viewed and considered by the other party, that he 
may judge of the value ; for without knowing what it is, he 
cannot determine whether he shall take or leave it. An asser- 
tion in general, that it shall be a* good or a better thing, is not 
in this a sufficient excuse for the mistake of dealing upon such 
uncertain terms. In all things that are dark and not enough 
explained, suspicion naturally followeth : A secret generally im- 
plieth a defect or a deceit', and if a. false light is an objection, 
no light at all is yet a greater. To pretend to give a better thing, 
and to refuse to shew it, is very near saying it is not so good 
a one ; at least so it will be taken in common construction. 
A Mystery is yet a more discouraging thing to a Protestant ; 
especially if the Proposition should come from a Papist; it 
being one of his great Objections to that Church, that there are 
so many of them Invisible and Impossible, which are so violently 
thrust upon their understandings, that they are overlaid with 
them. They think that rational creatures are to be convinced 
only by reason, and that reason must be visible and freely 
exposed; else they will think themselves used with contempt 
instead of equality, and will never allow such a suspected secrecy 
to be a fit preface to a real Equivalent. 

XIV. In matters of Contract not only the present value, but 
the contingences and consequences, as far as they can be fairly 
^ supposed, are to be considered. For Example, if there should 
be a possibility : , that one of the Parties maybe ruined by accept- 
ing, and the other only disappointed by his refusing ; the conse- 
quences are so extreamly unequal, that it is not imaginable, 
a man should take that for an Equivalent, which hath such 
& fatal possibility at the heels of it. 

If it should happen in a publick case, that such a proposal 
should come from the minor part of an Assembly or Nation, to 
y the greater ; It is very just, that the hazard of such a possi- 
bility should more or less likely fall upon the lesser part, rather 
than upon the greater; for whose sake and advantage things 
are and must be calculated in all publick Constitutions. Sup- 
pose in any mixed Government, the chief Magistrate should 

propose 



The Anatomy of an Equivalent. 113 

propose upon a condition, in the Senate, Diet, or other Supreme 
Assembly, either to Enact or Abrogate one or more Laws, 
by which a possibility might be let in of destroying their Religion y 
and Property, which in other language signifieth no less than 
Soul and Body ; where could be the Equivalent in the case, not 
only for the real loss, but even for the fear of losing them ? Men 
can fall no lower than to lose all, and if losing all destroyeth 
them, the venturing all must fright them. 

In an instance when Men are secure, that how far soever they 
may be over-run by Violence, yet they can never be undone by 
Law, except they give their assistance to make it possible, 
though it should neither be likely nor intended, still the conse- 
quence which may happen is too big for any present thing to 
make amends for it. Whilst the word Po#0lt)l0 remaineth, it 
must forbid the bargain. Where-ever it falleth out therefore, 
that in an Example of a publick nature, the Changing, Enacting, 
or Repealing a Law, may naturally tend to the misplacing the 
Legislative power in the hands of those who have a separate 
interest from the body of a People, there can be no treating, till 
it is demonstrably made out, that such a consequence shall be 
absolutely impossible ; for if that shall be denied by those who 
make the proposal, if it is because they cannot do it, the motion 
at first was very unfair. If they can and will not, it would be 
yet less reasonable to expect that such partial dealers would 
ever give an Equivalent fit to be accepted. 

XV. It is necessary in all dealing to be assured in the first 
place, that the party proposing is in a condition to make good xl 
his Offer; that he is neither under any former Obligations 
or pretended Claims, which may render him uncapable of per- 
forming it ; else he is so far in the condition of a Minor, that 
whatever he disposeth by sale or exchange may be afterwards 
resumed, and the Contract becometh void, being originally 
defective, for want of a sufficient legal power in him that 
made it. 

In the case of a strict Settlement, where the party is only 
Tenant for life, there is no possibility of treating with one 
under such fetters ; no purchase or exchange of Lands or any 

i thing 



H4 The Anatomy of an Equivalent. 

thing else can be good, where there is such an incapacity of 
making out a Title ; the interest vested in him being so limited, 
that he can do little more than pronounce the words of a Con- 
* tract, he can by no means perform the effect of it. 

In more publick instances, the impossibility is yet more 
express ; as suppose in any Kingdom, where the people have so 
much liberty left them, as that they may make Contracts with 
the Crown, there should be some peculiar rights claimed to be 
so fixed to the Royal Function, that no King for the time being 
could have power to part with them, being so fundamentally 
tied to the Office, that they can never be separated. Such 
Rights can upon no occasion be received in exchange for any 
thing the Crown may desire from the People : That can never 
be taken in payment, which cannot lawfully be given, so that 
if they should part with that which is required upon those terms, 
it must be a gift, it cannot be a bargain. 

There is not in the whole Dictionary a more untractable word 
than Inherent, and less to be reconciled to the word Equivalent. 

The party that will Contract in spight of such a Claim, is 
content to take what is impossible to grant, and if he complaineth 
of his Disappointment, he neither can have Remedy, nor de- 
serveth it. 

If a Right so claimed hapneth to be of so comprehensive a 
nature, as that by a clear inference it may extend to every thing 
else, as well as to the particular matter in question, as often as 
the Supream Magistrate shall be so disposed, there can in that 
case be no treating with a Prerogative that swalloweth all the 
Right the People can pretend to ; and if they have no right to 
any thing of which they are possessed, it is a Jest and not 
a Bargain, to observe any Formality in parting with it. 

A Claim may be so stated, that by the power and advantage 
of interpreting, it shall have such a murthering eye, that if it 
looketh upon a Law, like a Basilisk, it shall strike it dead : 
Where is the possibility of Treating, where such a Right is 
assumed ? Nay, let it be supposed, that such a Claim is not well 
founded in Law, and that upon a free disquisition it could not 
be made out ; yet even in this case, none that are well advised 

will 



The Anatomy of an Equivalent. 115 

will conclude a Bargain, till it is fully stated and cleared, or 
indeed, so much as engage in a treaty, till by way of preliminary 
all possibility shall be removed of any trouble or dispute. 

XVI. There is a collateral circumstance in making a Con- 
tract, which yet deserveth to be considered, as much as any 
thing that belongeth to it ; and that is the character and figure 
of the parties contracting ; if they treat only by themselves, and 
if by others, the Qualifications of the Instruments they employ. 

The Proposer especially, must not be so low as to want credit, 
nor so raised as to carry him above the reach of ordinary deal- 
ing. In the first, There is scandal, in the other danger. There 
is no Rule without some Exception, but generally speaking the 
means should be suited to the end, and since all Men who treat, 
pretend an equal bargain, it is desirable that there may be 
equality in the persons as well as in the thing. 

The manner of doing things hath such an influence upon the 
matter, that Men may guess at the end by the instruments that 
are used to obtain it, who are a very good direction how far to 
rely upon or suspect the sincerity of that which is proposed. 
An Absurdity in the way of carrying on a Treaty, in any one 
Circumstance, if it is very gross, is enough to perswade a 
thinking Man to break off, and take warning from such an ill 
appearance. Some things are so glaring that it is impossible 
not to see, and consequently not to suspect them ; as suppose in 
a private case, there should be a Treaty of Marriage between 
two Honourable Families, and the proposing side should think 
fit to send a Woman that had been Carted, to perswade the 
young Lady to an approbation and consent ; the unfitness of the 
Messenger must naturally dispose the other party to distrust the 
Message, and to resist the temptation of the best Match that 
could be offered, when conveyed by that hand, and ushered in 
by such a discouraging preliminary. 

In a publick instance the suspicion arising from unfit 
Mediators, still groweth more reasonable in proportion, as the 
consequence is much greater of being deceived. If a Jew should 
be employed to sollicite all sorts of Christians to unite and 
agree ; the contrariety of his profession, would not allow Men 

i2 to 



u6 The Anatomy of an Equivalent. 

to stay till they heard his Arguments, they would conclude from 
his Religion, that either the Man himself was mad, or that he 
thought those to be so, whom he had the Impudence to endeavour 
to perswade. 

Or suppose an Adamite should be very sollicitous and active, 
in all places, and with all sorts of Persons, to settle the Church 
of England in particular, and a fair Liberty of Conscience for 
all Dissenters ; though nothing in the World has more to be 
said for it than Naked Truth, yet if such a Man should run up 
and down without Cloaths, let his Arguments be never so good, 
or his Commission never so Authentick, his figure would be 
such a contradiction to his business, that how serious soever that 
might be in it self, his interposition would make a Jest of it. 

Though it should not go so far as this, yet if Men have 
contrarieties in their way of living not to be reconciled ; as if 
they should pretend infinite zeal for liberty, and at that time be 
in great favour and imployed by those who will not endure it. 

If they are affectedly singular, and conform to the generality 
of the World in no one thing, but in playing the knave. 

If demonstration is a familiar word with them, most 
especially where the thing is impossible. 

If they quote Authority to supply their want of sense, and 
justifie the value of their Arguments, not by reason, but by 
their being paid for them, (in which, by the way, those who 
pay them have probably a very melancholy Equivalent.) If 
they brandish a Prince's Word like a Sword in a Crowd, to 
make way for their own impertinence ; and in dispute, as 
Criminals formerly fled to the Statue of the Prince for 
Sanctuary ; if they should now, when baffled, creep under the 
protection of a Kings Name, where out of respect they are no 
farther to be pursued. 

In these cases, Though the propositions should be really 
good, they will be corrupted by passing through such Conduits, 
and it would be a sufficient Mistake to enter into a Treaty ; 
but it would be little less than Madness from such hands to 
expect an Equivalent. 

XVII. Having touched upon these particulars as necessary in 

order 



The Anatomy of an Equivalent. 117 

order to the stating the nature of an equal Bargain, and the 
Circumstances belonging to it, let it now be examined in two 
or three instances, what things are not to be admitted by way 
of Contract, to pass under the Name of an Equivalent. 

First, Though it will be allowed, that in the general corruption 
of mankind, which will not admit Justice alone to be a sufficient 
tie to make good a Contract, that a Punishment added for the 
breach of it, is a fitting or rather a necessary Circumstance ; 
yet it does not follow, that in all cases, a great Penalty upon 
the party offending is an absolute and an entire Security. It 
must be considered in every particular case, how far the 
Circumstances may rationally lead a Man to rely more or less 
upon it. 

In a private instance, the Penalty inflicted upon the breach 
of Contract must be first, such a one as the party injured can 
enforce, and Secondly, such a one as he will enforce, when it is 
in his power. 

If the Offending party is in a capacity of hindring the other 
from bringing the Vengeance of the Law upon him ; if he hath 
strength or privilege sufficient to over rule the Letter of the 
Contract ; in that case, a Penalty is but a Word, there is no 
consequence belonging to it. Secondly, The forfeiture or 
punishment must be such as the Man aggrieved will take ; for 
Example, if upon a Bargain, one of the Parties shall stipulate 
to subject himself, in case of his failure, to have his Ears cut, 
or his Nose slit by the other, with security given, that he shall 
not be prosecuted for executing this part of the Agreement ; 
the Penalty is no doubt heavy enough to discourage a Man 
from breaking his Contract ; but on the other side it is of such 
a kind, that the other how much soever he may be provoked, 
will not in cold Blood care to inflict it. Such an extravagant 
Clause would seem to be made only for shew and sound, and no 
Man would think himself safer by a thing which one way or 
other is sure to prove ineffectual. 

In a publick Case, Suppose in a Government so constituted 
that a Law may be made in the nature of a Bargain, it is in 
it self no more than a dead letter, the life is given to it by the 

execution 



n8 The Anatomy of an Equivalent. 

execution of what it containeth; so that let it in it self be 
never so perfect, it dependeth upon those who are intrusted 
with seeing it observed. 

If it is in any Country, where the chief Magistrate chuseth 
the Judges, and the Judges interpret the Laws ; a Penalty in 
any one particular Law can have no effect but what is pre- 
carious. It may have a loud voice to threaten, but it has not 
an hand to give a blow ; for as long as the Governing Power 
is in possession of this Prerogative, let who will chuse the 
Meat, if they chuse the Cooks, it is they that will give the tast 
to it. So that it is clear that the rigour of a Penalty will not in 
all cases fix a Bargain, neither is it Universally a true Position, 
that the increase of punishment for the breach of a new Law, 
is an Equivalent for the consent to part with an old one. 

XVIII. In most Bargains there is a reference to the time to 
come, which is therefore to be considered as well as that which 
cometh within the compass of the present valuation. 

Where the party Contr acting ,}\a.t}\ not a full power to dispose 
what belongeth to him or them in Reversion, who shall succeed 
after him in his Right ; he cannot make any part of what is so 
limited to be the condition of the Contract. Further, he cannot 
enjoyn the Heir or Successor to forbear the exercise of any 
Right that is inherent to him, as he is a Man : neither can he 
restrain him without his own consent, from doing any act 
which in it self is lawful, and liable to no objection. For 
Example, A Father cannot stipulate with any other Man, that 
in Consideration of such a thing done, or to be done, his Son 
shall never Marry ; because Marriage is an Institution 
Established by the Laws of God, and Man, and therefore no 
body can be so restrained by any power from doing such an act, 
when he thinketh fit, being warranted by an Authority that is 
not to be controuled. 

XIX. Now as there are Rights inherent in Mens persons in 
their single capacities, there are Rights as much fixed to the 
Body Politick, which is a Creature that never dieth. For 
instance, There can be no Government without a Supreme 
Power; that Power is not always in the same hands, it is in 

different 



The Anatomy of an Equivalent. 119 

different shapes and dresses, but still where-ever it is lodged, it 
must be unlimited : It hath a jurisdiction over every thing else, 
but it cannot have it above it self. Supreme Power can no 
more be limited than Infinity can be measured', because it 
ceaseth to be the thing ; its very being is dissolved, when any 
bounds can be put to it. 

Where this Supreme Power is mixed, or divided, the shape 
only differeth, the Argument is still the same. 

The present State of Venice cannot restrain those who 
succeed them in the same power, from having an entire and 
unlimited Sovereignty; they may indeed make present Laws 
which shall retrench their present Power, if they are so disposed, 
and those Laws if not repealed by the same authority that 
enacted them, are to be observed by the succeeding Senate till 
they think fit to Abrogate them, and no longer ; for if the 
Supreme Power shall still reside in the Senate, perhaps com- 
posed of other Men, or of other minds (which will be sufficient) 
the necessary consequence is, that one Senate must have as 
much right to alter such a Law, as another could have to 
make it. 

XX. Suppose the Supreme Power in any State should make 
a Law, to enjoyn all subsequent Law-makers to take an Oath 
never to alter it, it would produce these following Absurdities. 

First, All Supreme Power being instituted to promote the 
safety and benefit, and to prevent the prejudice and danger 
which may fall upon those who live under the protection of it ; 
the consequence of such an Oath would be, that all Men who 
are so trusted, shall take God to witness, that such a Law once 
made, being judged at the time to be advantageous for the 
publick, though afterwards by the vicissitude of times, or the 
variety of accidents or interests, it should plainly appear to them 
to be destructive, they will suffer it to have its course, and will 
never repeal it. 

Secondly, If there could in any Nation be found a set of Men, 
who having a part in the Supreme legislative Power, should as 
much as in them lieth, betray their Country by such a criminal 
engagement, so directly opposite to the nature of their Power, 

and 



12O The Anatomy of an Equivalent. 

and to the Trust reposed in them ; If these Men have their 
power only for life, when they are dead such an Oath can 
operate no farther ; and tho that would be too long a Lease 
for the life of such a Monster as an Oath so composed, yet it 
must then certainly give up the Ghost. It could bind none 
but the first makers of it, another generation would never be 
tied up by it. 

Thirdly, In those Countries where the Supreme Assemblies 
are not constant standing Courts, but called together upon 
occasions, and Composed of such as the People chuse for that 
time only, with a Trust and Character that remaineth no longer 
with them than till that Assembly is regularly dissolved; such 
an Oath taken by the Members of a Senate, Diet, or other 
Assembly so chosen, can have very little effect, because at the 
next meeting there may be quite another set of Men who will be 
under no Obligation of that kind. The eternity intended to 
that Law by those that made it, will be cut off by new Men 
who shall succeed them in their power, if they have a differing 
Taste, or another Interest. 

XXI. To put it yet farther, Suppose a Clause in such a 
Law, that it shall be criminal in the last degree for any Man 
chosen in a subsequent Assembly, to propose the repealing of 
it; and since nothing can be Enacted which is not first 
proposed, by this means it seemeth as if a Law might be 
Created which should never die. But let this be Examined. 

First, such a clause would be so destructive to the being of 
such a Constitution, as that it would be as reasonable to say, 
that a King had right to give or sell his Kingdom to a. foreign 
Prince, as that any number of Men who are entrusted with the 
Supreme Power, or any part of it, should have a right to impose 
such Shackles upon the Liberty of those who are to succeed 
them in the same Trust. The ground of that Trust is, that 
every Man who is chosen into such an Assembly, is to do all 
that in him lieth for the good of those who chose him : The 
English of such a Clause would be, that he is not to do his 
best for those that chose him, because though he should be 
convinced that it might be very fatal to continue that Law, 

and 



The Anatomy of an Equivalent. 121 

and therefore very necessary to repeal it, yet he must not 
repeal it, because it is made a Crime, and attended with a 
Penalty. 

But secondly, to shew the emptiness as well as injustice of 
such a Clause, it is clear, that although such an Invasion of 
Right should be imposed, it will never be obeyed : There will 
only be Deformity in the Monster, it will neither sting nor bite. 
Such Law-givers would only have the honour of attempting 
a contradiction which can never have any success ; for as such a 
Law in it self would be a Madness, so the Penalty would be 
a Jest ; which may be thus made out. 

XXII. A Law that carrieth in it self Reason enough to 
support it, is so far from wanting the protection of such a 
Clause, or from needing to take such an extraordinary receipt 
for long Life, that the admitting it must certainly be the likeliest 
and the shortest way to destroy it; such a Clause in a Law 
must imply an opinion that the greatest part of mankind is 
against it, since it is impossible such an exorbitance should be 
done for its own sake ; the end of it must be to force Men by a 
Penalty, to that which they could not be perswaded to, whilst 
their Reason is left at liberty. This Position being granted, 
which I think can hardly be denied, put the case that a Law 
should be made with this imaginary Clause of Immortality, 
after which another Assembly is chosen, and if the majority of 
the Electors shall be against this Law, the greater part of the 
Elected must be so too, if the choice is fair and regular ; which 
must be presumed, since the supposition of the contrary is not 
to come within this Argument. When these Men shall meet, 
the Majority will be visible beforehand of those who are against 
such a Law, so that there will be no hazard to any single Man 
in proposing the Repeal of it, when he cannot be punished but 
by the Majority, and he hath such a kind of assurance as cometh 
near a Demonstration, that the greater Number will be of his 
mind, and consequently, that for their own sakes they will 
secure him from any danger. 

For these Reasons, where-ever in order to the making a 
Bargain, a Proposition is advanced to make a new Law, which is 

to 



122 The Anatomy of an Equivalent. 

to tye up those who neither can nor will be bound by it, it may 
be a good Jest, but it will never be a good Equivalent. 

XXIII. In the last place, let it be examined how far a 
Promise ought to be taken for a Security in a Bargain. 

There is great Variety of Methods for the Security of those 
that deal, according to their Dispositions and Interests-, some 
are binding, others inducing circumstances, and are to be so 
distinguished. 

First, Ready Payment is without exception, so of that there 
can be no dispute ; in default of that, the good Opinion Men 
may have of one another is a great ingredient to supply the want 
of immediate Performances. Where the Trust is grounded 
upon Inclination only, the Generosity is not always return' d ; 
but where it springeth from a long Experience it is a better 
foundation, and yet that is not always secure. In ordinary 
dealing, one Promise may be an Equivalent to another, but it is 
not so for a thing actually granted or conveyed ; especially if 
the thing required in exchange for it, is of great value, either 
in it self or in its consequences. A bare Promise as a single 
Security in such a case is not an equal proposal ; if it is offered 
by way of addition, it generally giveth cause to doubt the 
Title is crazy, where so slender a thing is brought in to be 
a supplement. 

XXIV. The Earnest of making good a Promise, must be 
such a behaviour preceding, as may encourage the party to whom 
it is made to depend upon it : Where instead of that, there hath 
been want of Kindness, and which is worse an Invasion of Right, 
a Promise hath no perswading force ; and till the Objection to 
such a Proceeding is forgotten, (which can only be the work of 
time) and the Skin is a little grown over the tender part, the 
Wound must not be touched. There must be some Intermission 
at least to abate the smart of unkind usage, or else a Promise in 
the Eye of the party injured is so far from strengthening a 
Security, that it raiseth more doubts, and giveth more justifiable 
cause to suspect it. 

A Word is not like a Bone, that being broken and well set 
again, is said to be sometimes stronger in that very part : It is 

far 



The Anatomy of an Equivalent. 123 

far from being so in a Word given and not made good. Every 
single Act either weakeneth or improveth our Credit with other 
Men ; and as an habit of being just to our Word will confirm, 
so an habit of too freely dispensing with it must necessarily 
destroy it. A Promise hath its effect to perswade a Man to 
lay some weight upon it, where the Promiser hath not only the 
power, but may reasonably be supposed to have the will of 
performing it; and further, that there be no visible interest 
of the party promising to excuse himself from it, or to evade it. 
All Obligations are comparative, and where they seem to be 
opposite, or between the greater and the lesser, which of them 
ought to have precedence in all respects every man is apt to be 
his own Judge. 

XXV. If it should fall out that the Promiser with full intent 
at the time to perform, might by the interposition of new 
Arguments, or differing Advice think himself obliged to turn 
the matter of Conscience on the other side, and should look 
upon it to be much a greater fault to keep his word than to 
break it ; such a Belief will untye the strictest Promise that can 
be made, and though the Party thus absolving himself should 
do it without the mixture or temptation of private interest, 
being moved to it meerly by his Conscience, as then informed ; 
yet how far soever that might diminish the Fault in him, it 
would in no degree lessen the inconveniences to the party who is 
disappointed, by the breach of an engagement upon which he 
relyed. 

XXVI. A Promise is to be understood in the plain and 
natural sense of the words, and to be sure not in his who made 
it, if it was given as part of a Bargain. That would be like 
giving a Man power to raise the value of his Money in the 
payment of his Debt, by which, tho he paid but half or less, he 
might pretend according to the letter to have made good the 
Contract. 

The power of interpreting a Promise intirely taketh away 
the virtue of it. A Merchant who should once assume that 
privilege, would save himself the trouble of making any more 
Bargains. 

It 



124 The Anatomy of an Equivalent. 

It is still worse if this Jurisdiction over a Man's Promise, 
should be lodg'd in hands that have Power to support such an 
extraordinary Claim ; and if in other Cases, forbearing to deal 
upon those terms is advisable, in this it becometh absolutely 
necessary. 

XXVII. There must in all respects be a full liberty to claim 
a Promise, to make it reasonable to take it in any part of 
payment ; else it would be like agreeing for a Rent, and at the 
same time making it criminal to demand it. 

A superiority of Dignity or Power in the party promising 
maketh it a more tender thing for the other party to treat upon 
that security. The first maketh it a nice thing to claim, the 
latter maketh it a difficult thing to obtain. 

In some cases, a Promise is in the nature of a Covenant, and 
then between equal parties the breach of it will bear a Suit; 
but where the greatness of the Promiser is very much raised 
above the level of equality, there is no Forfeiture to be taken. 
It is so far from the party grieved his being able to sue or 
recover Damages, that he will not be allowed to explain or 
expostulate, and instead of his being relieved against the breach 
of Promise, he will run the hazard of being punished for 
breach of Good Manners. Such a difficulty is putting all or 
part of the Payment in the Fire, where Men must burn their 
Fingers before they can come at it. 

That cannot properly be called good payment, which the party 
to whom it is due may not receive with ease and safety. It 
was a Kings Brother of England who refused to lend the Pope 
money, for this reason, That he would never take the Bond of 
one, upon whom he could not distrain. 

The Argument is still stronger against the Validity of a 
Promise, when the Contract is made between a Prince and 
a Subject. The very offering a Kings Word in Mortgage is 
rather a threatning in case of refusal, than an inducing Argu- 
ment to accept it; it is unfair at first, and by that giveth 
greater cause to be cautious, especially if a thing of that value 
and dignity as a Kings Word ought to be, should be put into 
the hands of State-Brokers to strike up a Bargain with it. 

XXVIII. 



The Anatomy of an Equivalent. 125 

XXVIII. When God Almighty maketh Covenants with 
Mankind, His Promise is a sufficient Security, notwithstanding 
his Superiority and his Power-, because first, he can neither 
err nor do injustice. It is the only Exception to his Omni- 
potence, that by the Perfection of his being he is incapacitated 
to do wrong. Secondly, at the instant of his Promise, by the 
extent of his Foresight, which cannot fail, there is no room left 
for the possibility of any thing to intervene, which might change 
his mind. Lastly, he is above the receiving either Benefit or 
Inconvenience, and therefore can have no Interest or Temptation 
to vary from his Word, when once he hath granted it. 

Now though Princes are God's Vicegerents, yet their Com- 
mission not being so large, as that these Qualifications are 
devolved to them, it is quite another case, and since the offering 
a Security implyeth it to be examined by the party to whom it 
is proposed, it must not be taken ill that Objections are made 
to it, even though the Prince himself should be the immediate 
Proposer. 

Let a familiar Case be put ; Suppose a Prince, tempted by 
a Passion too strong for him to resist, should descend so as to 
promise Marriage to one of his Subjects, and as Men are 
naturally in great haste upon such occasions, should press to 
take possession before the necessary Forms could be complyed 
with ; would the poor Ladies Scruples be called criminal for 
not taking the Security of the Royal Word ? Or would her 
Allegiance be tainted by her resisting the sacred Person of her 
Sovereign, because he was impatient of delay ? Court esie in this 
case might perswade her to accept it, if she was so disposed, 
but sure the just exercise of Power can never claim it. 

XXIX. There is one Case where it is more particularly 
a Duty to use very great caution in accepting the security of 
a Promise, and that is, when Men are authorized and trusted 
by others to act for them. This putteth them under much 
greater restraints, than those who are at liberty to treat for 
themselves. It is lawful, though it is not prudent for any man 
to make an ill Bargain for himself, but it is neither the one 
nor the other, where the party contracting treateth on behalf of 

another, 



126 The Anatomy of an Equivalent. 

another, by whom he is intrusted. Men who will unwarily 
accept an ill security, if it is for themselves, forfeit their own 
discretion, and undergo the Penalty, but they are not responsible 
to any body else. They lie under the Mortification and the loss 
of committing the error, by which though they may expose 
their Judgment to some censure, yet their Morality suffers no 
reproach by it. 

But those who are deputed by others to treat for them, upon 
terms of best advantage, though the Confidence placed in them 
should prevent the putting any limits to their Power in their 
Commission, yet the Condition implied if not expressed, is that 
the Persons so Trusted shall neither make an ill Bargain, nor 
accept a slight Security. 

The Obligation is yet more binding when the Trust is of 
a Publick Nature. The aggravation of disappointing a Body 
of Men that rely upon them, carrieth the Fault as high as it 
can go, and perhaps no Crime of any kind can outdo such 
a deliberate breach of Trust, or would more justly make Men 
forfeit the protection of humane Society. 

XXX. I will add one thing more upon this Head, which is, 
that it is not always a true Proposition, that *tis safe to rely 
upon a Promise if, at the time of making it, it is the Interest 
of the Promiser to make it good. This, though many times it 
is a good Inducement, yet it hath these Exceptions to it. First, 
if the Proposer hath at other times gone plainly against his 
visible Interest, the Argument will turn the other way, and his 
former Mistakes are so many Warnings to others, not to come 
within the danger of any more : let the Inducements to those 
Mistakes be never so great and generous, that does not alter the 
Nature, they are Mistakes still. 

Interest is an uncertain thing, It goeth and cometh, and 
varieth according to times and circumstances; as good build 
upon a Quicksand, as upon a presumption that Interest shall 
not alter. Where are the Men so distinguished from the rest 
of Mankind, that it is impossible for them to mistake their 
Interest ? Who are they that have such an exemption from 
humane Frailty, as that it can never happen to them not to see 

their 



The Anatomy of an Equivalent. 127 

their Interest for want of Understanding, or not to leap over it 
by excess of Zeal. 

Above all, Princes are the most liable to Mistake ; not out of 
any defect in their Nature, which might put them under such 
an unfortunate distinction ; quite contrary, the blood they derive 
from wise and great Ancestors, doth rather distinguish them on 
the better side ; besides that their great Character and Office of 
Governing giveth a noble Exercise to their Reason, which can very 
hardly fail to raise and improve it. But there is one Circum- 
stance annexed to their Glorious Calling, which in this respect 
is sufficient to outweigh all those Advantages ; it is that Man- 
kind, divided in most things else, agree in this, to conspire in 
their endeavors to deceive and mislead them ; which maketh it 
above the power of humane understanding, to be so exactly 
guarded as never to admit a surprise, and the highest applause 
that could ever yet be given to the greatest Men that ever wore 
a Crown, is that they were no oftner deceived. 

Thus I have ventured to lay down my thoughts of the Nature 
of a Bargain, and the due Circumstances belonging to an Equi- 
valent, and will now conclude with this short word. " Where 
" Distrusting may be the cause of provoking Jftnff0C,and Trusting 
" may be the cause of bringing l&Ul'n, the Choice is too easie to 
" need the being Explained" 



128 

, jSfeKc A 

LETTER 

TO A 

DISSENTER, , 

Upon Occasion of His Majesties 
late Gracious Declaration of In- 
dulgence. 

SIR, 

SINCE Addresses are in fashion, give me leave to make 
one to you. This is neither the Effect of Fear, Interest, 
or Resentment ; therefore you may be sure it is sincere : 
and for that reason it may expect to be kindly received. Whether 
it will have power enough to Convince, dependeth upon the 
Reasons, of which you are to judge ; and upon your Preparation 
of Mind, to be perswaded by Truth, whenever it appeareth to 
you. It ought not to be the less welcome, for coming from a 
friendly Hand, one whose kindness to you is not lessened by 
difference of Opinion, and who will not let his Thoughts for the 
Publick be so tied or confined to this or that Sub-division of 
Protestants, as to stifle the Charity, which, besides all other 
Arguments, is at this time become necessary to preserve us. 

I am neither surprized nor provoked, to see that in the 
Condition you were put into by the Laws, and the ill Circum- 
stances you lay under by having the Exclusion and Rebellion 
laid to your Charge, you were desirous to make your selves less 
uneasy and obnoxious to Authority. Men who are sore, run 
to the nearest Remedy with too much hast to consider all the 

consequences : 



A Letter to a Dissenter. 129 

consequences : Grains of allowance are to be given, where 
Nature giveth such strong Influences. When to Men under 
Sufferings it offereth Ease, the present Pain will hardly allow 
time to examine the Remedies ; and the strongest Reason can 
hardly gain a fair Audience from our Mind, whilst so possessed, 
till the Smart is a little allayed. 

I do not know whether the Warmth that naturally belongeth 
to new Friendships, may not make it a harder Task for me to 
perswade you. It is like telling Lovers, in the beginning of 
their Joys, that they will in a little time have an end. Such an 
unwelcome Stile doth not easily find Credit : but I will suppose 
you are not so far gone in your new Passion, but that you will 
Hear still ; and therefore I am under the less Discouragement, 
when I offer to your Consideration two things. The First is, 
The Cause you have to suspect your new Friends. The Second, 
The Duty incumbent upon you, in Christianity and Prudence, 
not to hazard the Publick Safety, neither by desire of Ease, nor 
of Revenge. 

To the First: Consider that notwithstanding the smooth 
Language which is now put on to engage you, these new Friends 
did not make you their Choice, but their Refuge : They have ever 
made their first Courtships to the Church of England, and when 
they were rejected there, they made their Application to you in 
the second place. The Instances of this might be given in all 
times. I do not repeat them, because whatsoever is unnecessary, 
must be tedious, the truth of this Assertion being so plain, as 
not to admit a Dispute. You cannot therefore reasonably 
flatter your selves, that there is any Inclination to you. They 
never pretended to allow you any Quarter, but to usher in 
Liberty for themselves under that shelter. I refer you to 
Mr. Coleman's Letters, and to the Journals of Parliament, where 
you may be convinced, if you can be so mistaken as to doubt ; 
nay, at this very hour, they can hardly forbear, in the height of 
their Courtship, to let fall hard Words of you. So little is 
Nature to be restrained ; it will start out sometimes, disdaining 
to submit to the Usurpation of Art and Interest. 

This Alliance, between Liberty and Infallibility, is bringing 

K together 



130 A Letter to a Dissenter. 

together the Two most contrary things that are in the World. 
The Church of Rome doth not only dislike the allowing Liberty, 
but by its Principles it cannot do it. Wine is not more ex- 
pressly forbid to the Mahometans, than giving Hereticks Liberty 
to the Papists: They are no more able to make good their 
Vows to you, than Men married before, and their Wife alive, 
can confirm their Contract with another. The continuance 
of their kindness, would be a habit of Sin, of which they are to 
repent, and their Absolution is to be had upon no other terms, 
than their promise to destroy you. You are therefore to be 
hugged now, only that you may be the better squeezed at another 
time. There must be something extraordinary, when the 
Church of Rome setteth up Bills, and offereth Plaisters, for 
tender Consciences : By all that hath hitherto appeared, her 
skill in Chirurgery lieth chiefly in a quick Hand to cut off 
Limbs ; but she is the worst at healing, of any that ever pre- 
tended to it. 

To come so quick from another Extream, is such an un- 
natural Motion, that you ought to be upon your Guard ; the 
other day you were Sons of Belial : Now, you are Angels of 
Light. This is a violent change, and it will be fit for you to 
pause upon it, before you believe it : If your Features are not 
altered, neither is their Opinion of you, what ever may be pre- 
tended. Do you believe less than you did, that there is Idolatry 
in the Church of Rome ? Sure you do not. See then, how they 
treat both in Words and Writing, those who entertain that 
Opinion. Conclude from hence, how inconsistent their Favour 
is with this single Article, except they give you a Dispensation 
for this too, and by a Non Obstante, secure you that they will 
not think the worse of you. 

Think a little how dangerous it is to build upon a Foundation 
of Paradoxes. Popery now is the only Friend to Liberty ; and 
the known Enemy to Persecution : The Men of Taunton and 
Tiverton, are above all other Eminent for Loyalty. The 
Quakers from being declared by the Papists not to be Christians, 
are now made Favourites, and taken into their particular Pro- 
tection ; they are on a sudden grown the most accomplished 

Men 



A Letter to a Dissenter. 131 

Men of the Kingdom in good Breeding, and give Thanks with 
the best Grace, in double refined Language. So that I should not 
wonder, though a Man of that Perswasion, in spite of his Hat, 
should be Master of the Ceremonies. Not to say harsher words, 
these are such very new things, that it is impossible not to 
suspend our Belief, till by a little more Experience we may 
be inform'd whether they are Realities or Apparitions : We 
have been under shameful mistakes if these Opinions are true ; 
but for the present, we are apt to be incredulous, except we 
could be convinced, that the Priests words in this case too, are 
able to make such a sudden and effectual change, and that 
their Power is not limited to the Sacrament, but that it ex- 
tendeth to alter the nature of all other things, as often as they 
are so disposed. 

Let me now speak of the Instruments of your Friendship, 
and then leave you to judge, whether they do not afford matter 
of Suspition. No sharpness is to be mingled where Healing only 
is intended ; so nothing will be said to expose particular men, 
how strong soever the Temptation may be, or how clear the 
Proofs to make it out. A word or two in general, for your 
better caution, shall suffice : Suppose then, for Argument's 
sake, that the Mediators of this new Alliance, should be such 
as have been formerly imployed in Treaties of the same kind, 
and there detected to have Acted by Order, and to have been 
ImpowerM to give Encouragements and Rewards. Would not 
this be an Argument to suspect them ? 

If they should plainly be under Engagements to one side, 
their Arguments to the other ought to be received accordingly ; 
their fair Pretences are to be looked upon as part of their 
Commission, which may not improbably give them a Dispen- 
sation in the case of Truth, when it may bring a prejudice upon 
the Service of those by whom they are imployed. 

If there should be men who having formerly had Means and 
Authority to perswade by Secular Arguments, have in pursuance 
of that Power, sprinkled Money amongst the Dissenting Mini- 
sters ; and if those very men should now have the same Authority, 
practice the same Methods, and Disburse, where they cannot 

K 2 otherwise 



132 A Letter to a Dissenter. 

otherwise perswade : It seemeth to me to be rather an Evidence 
than a Presumption of the Deceit. 

If there should be Ministers amongst you, who by having 
fallen under Temptations of this kind, are in some sort engaged 
to continue their Frailty, by the awe they are in lest it should be 
exposed ; the Perswasions of these unfortunate Men must sure 
have the less force, and their Arguments, though never so 
specious, are to be suspected, when they come from Men who 
have mortgaged themselves to severe Creditors, that expect 
a rigorous Observation of the Contract, let it be never so 
unwarrantable. 

If these, or any others, should at this time Preach up Anger 
and Vengeance against the Church of England ; may it not 
without Injustice be suspected, that a thing so plainly out of 
Season, springeth rather from Corruption than Mistake; and 
that those who act this Cholerick part, do not believe themselves, 
but only pursue higher Directions, and endeavour to make good 
that part of their Contract which obligeth them, upon a For- 
feiture, to make use of their inflaming Eloquence ? They might 
apprehend their Wages would be retrenched if they should be 
Moderate : And therefore whilst Violence is their Interest, those 
who have not the same Arguments, have no reason to follow 
such a partial Example. 

If there should be Men, who by the load of their Crimes 
against the Government, have been bowed down to comply with 
it against their Conscience; who by incurring the want of 
a Pardon, have drawn upon themselves a necessity of an entire 
Resignation ; suck men are to be lamented, but not to be 
believed. Nay, they themselves, when they have discharged 
their Unwelcome Task, will be inwardly glad that their forced 
Endeavours do not succeed, and are pleased when men resist their 
Insinuations ; which are far from being Voluntary or Sincere, 
but are squeezed out of them by the weight of their being so 
Obnoxious. 

If in the heighth of this great dearness by comparing things, 
it should happen, that at this instant, there is much a surer 
Friendship with those who are so far from allowing Liberty, 

that 



A Letter to a Dissenter. 133 

that they allow no Living to a Protestant under them, let the 
Scene lie in what part of the World it will, the Argument will 
come home, and sure it will afford sufficient ground to suspect. 
Apparent Contradictions must strike us; neither Nature nor 
Reason can digest them : Self-Flattery, and the desire to 
Deceive our selves to gratifie present Appetite, with all their 
Power, which is Great, cannot get the better of such broad Con- 
viction as some things carry along with them. Will you call 
these vain and empty Suspitions ? have you been at all times 
so void of Fears and Jealousies as to justifie your being so un- 
reasonably Valiant in having none upon this occasion ? Such an 
extraordinary Courage at this unseasonable time, to say no 
more, is too dangerous a Virtue to be commended. 

If then for these and a thousand other Reasons, there is cause 
to suspect, sure your new Friends are not to dictate to you, or 
advise you ; for instance, The Addresses that fly abroad every 
Week, and Murther us with Another to the same ; the first 
Draughts are made by those who are not very proper to be 
Secretaries to the Protestant Religion : and it is your part only 
to Write them out fairer again. Strange ! that you who have 
been formerly so much against Set Forms, should now be con- 
tent the Priests should Indite for you. The nature of Thanks 
is an unavoidable consequence of being pleased or obliged ; they 
grow in the Heart, and from thence shew themselves either in 
Looks, Speech, Writing, or Action : No man was ever Thankful 
because he was bid to be so, but because he had, or thought he 
had some Reason for it. If then there is cause in this Case to pay 
such extravagant Acknowledgments, they will flow naturally, 
without taking such pains to procure them ; and it is unkindly 
done to Tire all the Post-Horses with carrying Circular Letters 
to solicite that which would be done without any trouble 
or constraint : If it is really in it self such a Favour, what 
needeth so much pressing men to be thankful, and with such 
eager circumstances, that where Perswasions cannot delude, 
Threatnings are employed to fright them into a Compliance. 
Thanks must be voluntary, not only unconstrained, but un- 
solicited, else they are either Trifles or Snares; they either 

signifie 



134 A Letter to a Dissenter. 

signifie nothing, or a great deal more than is intended by those 
that give them. If an Inference should be made, That whosoever 
thanketh the King for his Declaration, is by that ingaged to 
Justifie it in point of Law ; it is a greater Stride than, I presume, 
all those care to make who are perswaded to Address : If it 
shall be supposed, that all the Thankers will be Repealers of the 
TEST, whenever a Parliament sball meet, such an Expectation 
is better prevented before, than disappointed afterwards; and 
the surest way to avoid the lying under such a Scandal, is not 
to do any thing that may give a colour to the Mistake : These 
bespoken Thanks are little less improper than Love Letters that 
were solicited by the Lady to whom they are to be directed : so, 
that besides the little ground there is to give them, the manner 
of getting them doth extreamly lessen their Value. It might be 
wished that you would have suppressed your impatience, and 
have been content for the sake of Religion, to enjoy it within 
your selves without the Liberty of a publick Exercise, till a 
Parliament had allowed it; but since that could not be, and 
that the Artifices of some amongst you have made use of the 
Well-meant Zeal of the generality to draw them into this Mis- 
take, I am so far from blaming you with that sharpness which, 
perhaps, the Matter in strictness would bear, that I am ready 
to err on the side of the more gentle construction. 

There is a great difference between enjoying quietly the 
Advantages of an Act irregularly done by others, and the going 
about to support it against the Laws in being : the Law is so 
Sacred, that no Trespass against it is to be defended; yet 
Frailties may in some measure be excused, when they cannot be 
justified. The Desire of enjoying a Liberty from which Men 
have been so long restrained, may be a Temptation that their 
Reason is not at all times able to resist. If in such a case, 
some Objections are leapt over, indifferent Men will be more 
inclined to lament the Occasion, than to fall too hard upon 
the Fault, whilst it is covered with the Apology of a good 
Intention ; but where, to rescue your selves from the Severity 
of one Law, you give a Blow to all the Laws, by which your 
Religion and Liberty are to be protected, and instead of silently 

receiving 



A Letter to a Dissenter. 135 

receiving the Benefit of this Indulgence, you set up for Advo- 
cates to support it, you become voluntary Aggressors, and look 
like Counsel retained by the Prerogative against your old 
Friend Magna Charta, who hath done nothing to deserve her 
falling thus under your Displeasure. 

If the Case then should be, that the Price expected from you 
for this Liberty, is giving up your Right in the Laws, sure you 
will think twice, before you go any further in such a losing 
Bargain. After giving Thanks for the Breach of one Law, you 
lose the Right of Complaining of the Breach of all the rest ; you 
will not very well know how to defend your selves when you 
are pressed ; and having given up the Question when it was 
for your Advantage, you cannot re-call it when it shall be to 
your Prejudice. If you will set up at one time a Power to help 
you, which at another time, by parity of Reason, shall be made 
use of to destroy you, you will neither be pitied, nor relieved 
against a Mischief you draw upon your selves, by being so un- 
reasonably thankful. It is like calling in Auxiliaries to help, 
who are strong enough to subdue you : In such a case your 
Complaints will come too late to be heard, and your Sufferings 
will raise Mirth instead of Compassion. 

If you think, for your Excuse, to expound your Thanks so 
as to restrain them to this particular Case, others, for their 
Ends, will extend them further: And in these differing 
Interpretations, that which is back'd by Authority will be the 
most likely to prevail ; especially when by the Advantage you 
have given them, they have in truth the better of the Argument, 
and that the Inferences from your own Concessions are very 
strong and express against you. This is so far from being a 
groundless Supposition, that there was a late Instance of it, the 
last Session of Parliament, in the House of Lords, where the 
first Thanks, though things of course, were interpreted to be the 
Approbation of the Kings whole Speech, and a Restraint from 
the further Examination of any part of it, though never so 
much disliked ; and it was with difficulty obtained, not to be 
excluded from the liberty of objecting to this mighty Prerogative 
of Dispensing, meerly by this innocent and usual piece of 

good 



136 A Letter to a Dissenter. 

good Manners, by which no such thing could possibly be 
intended. 

This sheweth, that some Bounds are to be put to your good 
Breeding, and that the Constitution of England is too valuable 
a thing to be ventured upon a Compliment. Now that you 
have for some time enjoyed the Benefit of the End, it is time 
for you to look into the Danger of the Means : The same 
Reason that made you desirous to get Liberty, must make you 
sollicitous to preserve it; so that the next Thought will 
naturally be, not to engage your self beyond Retreat, and to 
agree so far with the Principles of all Religion, as not to rely 
upon a Death-Bed Repentance. 

There are certain Periods of Time, which being once past, 
make all Cautions ineffectual, and all Remedies desperate. 
Our Understandings are apt to be hurried on by the first Heats, 
which, if not restrained in time, do not give us leave to look 
back, till it is too late. Consider this in the Case of your 
Anger against the Church of England, and take warning by 
their Mistake in the same kind, when after the late 'King' s 
Restauration, they preserved so long the bitter Taste of your 
rough Usage to them in other times, that it made them forget 
their Interest, and sacrifice it to their Revenge. 

Either you will blame this Proceeding in them, and for that 
reason not follow it, or if you allow it, you have no reason to 
be offended with them; so that you must either dismiss your 
Anger, or lose your Excuse ; except you should argue more 
partially than will be supposed of Men of your Morality and 
Understanding. 

If you had now to do with those rigid Prelates, who made 
it a matter of Conscience to give you the least Indulgence, but 
kept you at an uncharitable Distance, and even to your most 
reasonable Scruples continued stiff and inexorable, the Ar- 
gument might be fairer on your side; but sinc& the common 
Danger hath so laid open that Mistake, that all the former 
Haughtiness towards you is for ever extinguished, and that it hath 
turned the Spirit of Persecution into a Spirit of Peace, Charity, 
and Condescension ; shall this happy Change only affect the 

Church 



A Letter to a Dissenter, 137 

Church of England ? And are you so in love with Separation, 
as not to be movM by this Example ? It ought to be followed, 
were there no other Reason than that it is Vertue ; but when 
besides that, it is become necessary to your Preservation, it is 
impossible to fail the having its Effect upon you. 

If it should be said, that the Church of England is never 
humble but when she is out of power, and therefore loseth the 
Right of being believed when she pretendeth to it : The Answer 
is, First) it would be an uncharitable Objection, and very much 
mistimed ; an unseasonable Triumph, not only ungenerous, but 
unsafe : So that in these respects it cannot be urged, without 
Scandal, even though it could be said with Truth. Secondly, 
This is not so in Fact, and the Argument must fall, being 
built upon a false Foundation ; for whatever may be told you 
at this very Hour, and in the Heat and Glare of your present 
Sunshine, the Church of England can in a Moment bring Clouds 
again, and turn the Royal Thunder upon your Heads, blow you 
off the Stage with a Breath, if she would give but a Smile or 
a kind Word ; the least Glimpse of her Compliance would 
throw you back into the State of Suffering, and draw upon you 
all the Arrears of Severity, which have accrued during the 
time of this Kindness to you, and yet the Church of England, 
with all her Faults, will not allow her self to be rescued by such 
unjustifiable means, but chuseth to bear the Weight of Power, 
rather than lie under the Burthen of being criminal 

It cannot be said, that she is unprovoked ; Books and Letters 
come out every Day, to call for Answers, yet she will not be 
stirred. From the supposed Authors, and the Stile, one would 
swear they were Undertakers, and had made a Contract to fall 
out with the Church of England. There are Lashes in every 
Address, Challenges to draw the Pen in every Pamphlet: In 
short, the fairest Occasions in the World given to quarrel ; but 
she wisely distinguished between the Body of Dissenters, whom 
she will suppose to act as they do with no ill Intent; and 
these small Skirmishers, pickt and sent out to picqueer, and to 
begin a Fray amongst the Protestants, for the Entertainment 
as well as the Advantage of the Church of Rome. 

This 



138 A Letter to a Dissenter. 

This Conduct is so good, that it will be scandalous not to 
applaud it. It is not equal Dealing to blame our Adversaries 
for doing ill, and not commend them when they do well. 

To hate them because they persecuted, and not to be 
reconciled to them when they are ready to suffer, rather than 
receive all the Advantages that can be gained by a Criminal 
Complyance, is a Principle no sort of Christians can own, since 
it would give an Objection to them never to be answered. 

Think a little who they were that promoted your former 
Persecutions, and then consider how it will look to be angry 
with the Instruments, and at the same time to make a League 
with the Authors of your Sufferings. 

Have you enough considered what will be expected from you ? 
Are you ready to stand in every Borough by Vertue of a Conge 
d'eslire, and instead of Election, be satisfied if you are 
Returned ? 

Will you in Parliament Justine the Dispensing Power, with 
all its Consequences, and Repeal the Test, by which you will 
make way for the Repeal of all the Laws, that were made 
to preserve your Religion, and to Enact others that shall 
destroy it ? 

Are you disposed to change the Liberty of Debate into the 
Merit of Obedience; and to be made Instruments to repeal 
or enact Laws, when the Roman Consistory are Lords of the 
Articles ? 

Are you so linked with your new Friends, as to reject any 
Indulgence a Parliament shall offer you, if it shall not be so 
comprehensive as to include the Papists in it ? 

Consider, that the implyed Conditions of your new Treaty are 
no less, than, that you are to do every thing you are desired, 
without examining, and that for this pretended Liberty of 
Conscience, your real Freedom is to be sacrificed : Your former 
Faults hang like Chains still about you, you are let loose only 
upon Bayl; the first Act of Non-compliance, sendeth you to 
Jayl again. 

You may see that the Papists themselves do not relie upon 
the Legality of this Power, which you are to justifie, since the 

being 



A Letter to a Dissenter. 139 

being so very earnest to get it established by a Law, and the 
doing such very hard things in order, as they think, to obtain it, 
is a clear Evidence, that they do not think that the single Power 
of the Crown is in this Case a good Foundation ; especially 
when this is done under a Prince, so very tender of all the 
Rights of Sovereignty, that he would think it a Diminution to 
his Prerogative, where he conceiveth it strong enough to go 
alone, to call in the Legislative help to strengthen and support it. 

You have formerly blamed the Church of England, and not 
without reason, for going so far as they did in their Compliance ; 
and yet as soon as they stopped, you see they are not only 
deserted, but prosecuted: Conclude then from this Example, 
that you must either break off your Friendship, or resolve to 
have no Bounds in it. If they do not succeed in their Design, 
they will leave you first ; if they do, you must either leave 
them, when it will be too late for your Safety, or else after the 
queaziness of starting at a Surplice, you must be forced to 
swallow Transubstantiation, 

Remember that the other day those of the Church of England 
were Trimmers for enduring you, and now by a sudden Turn, 
you are become the Favourites ; do not deceive your selves, it is 
not the nature of lasting Plants thus to shoot up in a Night ; 
you may look gay and green for a little time, but you want a 
Root to give you a Continuance. It is not so long since, as 
to be forgotten, that the Maxim was, // is impossible for a 
Dissenter not to be a REBEL. Consider at this time in France, 
even the new Converts are so far from being imployed, that 
they are disarmed ; their sudden Change maketh them still to 
be distrusted, notwithstanding that they are reconciled ; What 
are you to expect then from your dear Friends, to whom, 
when ever they shall think fit to throw you off again, you have 
in other times given such Arguments for their excuse ? 

Besides all this, you Act very unskilfully against your visible 
Interest, if you throw away the Advantages, of which you can 
hardly fail in the next probable Revolution. Things tend 
naturally to what you would have, if you would let them alone, 
and not by an unseasonable Activity lose the Influences of 

your 



140 A Letter to a Dissenter. 

your good Star, which promiseth you every thing that is 
prosperous. 

The Church of England convinced of its Error in being severe 
to you ; the Parliament, when-ever it meeteth, sure to be gentle 
to you ; the next Heir bred in the Country which you have so 
often quoted for a Pattern of Indulgence ; a general Agreement 
of all thinking Men, that we must no more cut our selves off 
from the Protestants abroad, but rather inlarge the Foundations 
upon which we are to build our Defences against the Common 
Enemy ; so that in truth, all things seem to conspire to give 
you Ease and Satisfaction, if by too much haste to anticipate 
your good Fortune, you do not destroy it. 

The Protestants have but one Article of Humane Strength, to 
oppose the Power which is now against them, and that is, not 
to lose the advantage of their Numbers, by being so unwary as 
to let themselves be divided. 

We all agree in our Duty to our Prince ; our Objections to 
his Belief do not hinder us from seeing his Vertues ; and our 
not complying with his Religion, hath no effect upon our 
Allegiance; we are not to be laughed out of our Passive- 
Obedience, and the Doctrine of Non-Resistance ; though even 
those who perhaps owe the best part of their Security to that 
Principle, are apt to make a Jest of it. 

So that if we give no advantage by the fatal Mistake of 
misapplying our Anger, by the natural course of things, this 
Danger will pass away like a shower of Hail ; fair weather will 
succeed, as lowering as the Sky now looketh, and all this by plain 
and easie Receipt ; Let us be still) quiet,, and undivided, firm at 
the same time to our Religion, our Loyalty, and our Laws ; and 
so long as we continue this method, it is next to impossible, that 
the odds of 200 to one should lose the Bett ; except the Church 
of Rome, which hath been so long barren of Miracles, should 
now in her declining Age, be brought to Bed of One that would 
out-do the best she can brag of in her Legend. 

To conclude, the short Question will be, Whether you will 
join with those who must in the end run the same Fate with 
you ? If Protestants of all sorts, in their Behaviour to one 

another, 



A Letter to a Dissenter. 141 

another, have been to blame, they are upon the more equal 
terms, and for that very reason it is fitter for them now to be 
reconciled. Our Dis-union is not only a Reproach, but a 
Danger to us ; those who believe in modern Miracles, have 
more Right, or at least more Excuse, to neglect all Secular 
Cautions ; but for us, it is as justifiable to have no Religion, as 
wilfully to throw away the Humane Means of preserving it 
I am, 

Dear Sir, 
Your most Affectionate humble Servant, 



T. W. 



Some 



142 



Some Cautions offered to the Conside- 
ration of those who are to chuse 
Members to serve for the Ensuing 
Parliament. 

I Will make no other Introduction, than that it is hoped 
the Counties and Boroughs will remember in general, 
That besides other Consequences, they will have the 
Credit of a good Choice, or the Scandal that belongeth to an 
ill one. 

The Creators will be thought like their Creatures; and 
therefore an ill Choice will either be a disparagement of their 
Understanding, or their Morals. 

There cannot be a fuller Approbation of a thing, than the 
Chusing of it; so that the fault of the Members chosen, if 
known before-hand, will be judged to be of the growth of that 
County or Borough, after such a solemn Approbation of them. 

In short, those who send up their Representatives to West- 
minster, should take care they may be such as will do them 
Right, and their Countrey Honour. 

Now to the particulars. 

I. A very extraordinary earnestness to be chosen, is no very 
good Symptom : A desire to serve the Nation in Parliament, is 
an English Man's Ambition, always to be Encouraged, and 
never to be disapproved. 

A Man may not only be willing to stand, but he may declare 
that willingness to his Friends, that they may assist him, and by 
all the means becoming a modest and prudent Man, he may 
endeavour to succeed, and prevent the being disappointed in it. 

But there is a wide difference between this and the raising a 
kind of petty War in the County or Corporation ; entring the 
Lists rather for a Combat than an Election ; throwing Fire-balls 

to 



Cautions for Choice of Members in Parliament. 143 

to put Men into heat,and omitting to spread no Reports, whether 
true or false, which may give an advantage by laying a Blemish 
upon a Competitor. 

These Methods will ever be suspicious ; it will never be 
thought a Natural thing for Men to take such extravagant pains 
for the meer sake of doing good to others. 

To be content to suffer something for a good end, is that 
which many would do without any great repugnance : but 
where a Man can honestly propose nothing to himself, except 
Troubles, Charge, and Loss, by absence from his own Affairs, 
to be so violent in the pursuit of so ill a Bargain, is not at all 
suited to the languishing Virtue of Mankind so corrupted. 

Such a self-denying Zeal in such a self-seeking Age, is so 
little to be imagined, that it may without injury be suspected. 

Therefore when these blustring Pretenders come upon the 
Stage, their natural Temper and other Circumstances ought 
to be very well considered, before Men trust them with the 
disposal of their Money, or their Liberty. 

And I am apt to believe, there could hardly be found one 
single Man whose other Qualifications would over-balance the 
Objections that lie against such importunate Suitors. 

II. Recommending Letters ought to have no effect upon 
Elections. 

In this I must distinguish ; for tho in strictness perhaps there 
should be no Exception ; yet in compliance with long practice, 
and out of an Indulgence that is necessary in a time when 
Mankind is too much loosened from severe Rules to be kept 
close up to them, Letters sent only from Equal Men, doing 
Good Men right by giving Evidence in their behalf, offering 
them as fitly qualified, when they really are so, and freeing them 
from unjust Aspersions, may be still allowed. 

The Letters I mean, are from Men of Power, where it may 
be beneficial to comply, and inconvenient to oppose. 

Choice must not only be free from Force, but from Influence, 
which is a degree of Force : There must be no difficulty, no 
apprehension that a Refusal will be ill taken, or resented. 

The Freeholders must be Freemen too ; they are to have no 

Shackles 



144 Cautions for Choice of 

Shackles upon their Votes in an Election : and the Men who 
stand, should carry their own Letters of Recommendation about 
them, which are their good Character and Behaviour in the 
World, without borrowing Evidence, especially when it cometh 
from suspected hands. 

Those who make use of these Epistles, ought to have no 
more advantage from them, than the Muscovites have from the 
Letters put into their hands, when they are buried, to recommend 
them to St. Nicholas. 

The first should as little get admittance for Men into the Par- 
liament, as these Letters can introduce the Bearers into Heaven. 

The Scandal of such Letters lieth first in the arrogant 
imposing of those that write them, and next in the wretched 
Meanness of those that need them. 

Men must be fallen very low in their Credit, who upon such 
an occasion have a recourse to Power to support it : Their 
Enemies could not give stronger Evidence of their not being fit 
for that which they pretend to. And if the Electors judge 
otherwise, they will be pretty sure in a little time to see their 
Mistake, and to repent it. 

III. Non-Attendance in former Parliaments ought to be a 
Bar against the Choice of Men who have been guilty of it. 

It is one of the worst kinds of Non-Residence, and the least to 
be excused : It is very hard that Men should despise a Duty, 
which perhaps is the only ground of the respect that is paid to 
them. 

It is such a piece of Sawciness for any one to press for the 
Honour of serving in Parliament, and then to be careless in 
Attending it, that in a House where there were so many 
Officers, the Penalty had not been improper to have CashierM 
them for not appearing at the General Muster. 

If men forbear to come out of Laziness, let them be gratified 
by taking their ease at Home without Interruption ; If out of 
small Cunning to avoid Difficulties, and to escape from the 
Inconvenience of Voting in Critical Cases, let them enjoy that 
despicable pitch of Wisdom, and never pretend to make a Figure 
where the Publick is to be served. 

If 



Members in Parliament. 145 

If it would not be thought advisable to trust a Man 
immediately after he hath been drawn out of a Gaol, it may be 
as reasonable to look upon one who for his Non-attendance in 
the House hath been sent for in Custody, as a kind of Bankrupt, 
which putteth him upon unequal terms with those who have 
been assiduous in the discharge of their Duty. 

They who thought fit in one Session to neglect the Publick 
Business, may be justly suspected, by their standing, in the 
next to intend their own. 

Besides these more deliberate Offenders, there are some who 
do not Attend even when they are in the House ; absent in their 
Thoughts for want of Comprehending the Business that is doing, 
and therefore diverted from it by any thing that is Trivial. 

Such Men are Nusances to a serious Assembly; and when 
they are Numerous, it amounteth almost to a Dissolution ; it 
being scarce possible for good sence to be heard, whilst a noise 
is made by the buzzing of these Horse flies. 

The Roman Censors who degraded a Senator for yawning 
whilst there was a Debate, would have much more abundant 
matter here upon which they might exercise their Jurisdiction. 

To conclude this Head, There are so few that ever mended 
in these Cases, that after the first Experiment it is not at all 
reasonable to take them upon a new Tryal. 

IV. Men who are unquiet and busy in their Natures, are to 
give more than ordinary proofs of their Integrity, before the 
Electing them into a Publick Trust can be justified. As a hot 
Summer breedeth greater swarms of Flies, so an active time 
breedeth a greater number of these shining Gentlemen. 

It is pretty sure, That men who cannot allow themselves to 
be at rest, will let no body else be at quiet. Such a perpetual 
Activity is apt by degrees to be applied to the pursuit of their 
private interest. And their thoughts being in a continual 
motion, they have not time to dwell long enough upon any thing 
to entertain a scruple. 

So that they are generally at full liberty to do what is most 
convenient for them, without being fettered by any Restraints. 

Nay further j Whenever it hapneth that there is an Impunity 

HALIFAX L IOC 



146 Cautions for Choice of 

for Cheating, these nimble Gentlemen are apt to think it a 
disparagement to their Understandings not to go into it. 

I doubt it is not a wrong to the present Age, to say, that a 
Knave is a less unpopular Calling than it hath been in former 
times. And to say truth, it would be ingratitude in some Men 
to turn Honest, when they owe all they have to their Knaverj r . 

The People are in this respect unhappy ; they are too many 
to do their own business; their numbers, which make their 
strength, are at the same time the cause of their weakness ; they 
are too unweildy to move ; and for this Reason nothing can ever 
redeem them from this incurable Impotency : So that they must 
have Solicitors to pursue and look after their Interests ; who are 
too often disposed to dispense with the Fidelity they owe to those 
tli at trust them; especially if the Government will pay their 
Bills without Abatement. 

It is better these Gentlemen's dexterity should be employed 
any where than in Parliament, where the ill consequence of 
their being Members is too much diffused, and not restrained to 
the County or Borough who shall be so unwary as to Chuse 
them. 

V. Great Drinkers are less fit to Serve in Parliament than is 
apprehended. 

Men's Virtue, as well as their Understanding, is apt to be 
tainted by it. 

The appearance of it is Sociable and well-natur'd, but it is by 
no means to be rely'd upon. 

Nothing is more frail than a Man too far engaged in wet 
Popularity. 

The habit of it maketh Men careless of their business, and 
that naturally leadeth them into Circumstances that make them 
liable to Temptation. 

It is seldom seen, That any Principles have such a root, as that 
they can be proof against the continual droppings of a Bottle. 

As to the Faculties of the Mind, there is not less Objection ; 
the vapours of Wine may sometimes throw out sparks of Wit, 
but they are like scattered pieces of Ore, there is no Vein to 
work upon. 

Such 



Members in Parliament. 147 

Such Wit, even the best of it, is like paying great Fines ; in 
which case there must of necessity be an abatement of the 
constant Rent. 

Nothing sure is a greater Enemy to the Brain, than too much 
moisture; it can the least of any thing bear the being con- 
tinually steeped : And it may be said, that Thought may be 
resembled to some Creatures which can live only in a dry 
Country. 

Yet so arrogant are some men, as to think they are so much 
Masters of Business, as that they can play with it; they 
imagine they can drown their Reason once a day, and that it 
shall not be the worse for it ; forgetting, that by too often 
diving the Understanding at last groweth too weak to rise up 
again. 

I will suppose this fault was less frequent when Solon made 
it one of his Laws, That it was Lawful to Kill a Magistrate if 
he was found Drunk. Such a Liberty taken in this Age, either 
in the Parliament or out of it, would do terrible Execution. 

I cannot but mention a Petition in the year 1647, from the 
County of Devon, to the House of Commons, against the undue 
Election of Burgesses who are strong in Wine and weak in 
Wisdom. 

The cause of such Petitions is to be prevented by Chusing 
such as shall not give handle for them. 

VI. Wanting-Men give such cause of suspicion where ever 
they deal, that surely the Chusers will be upon their guard, 
as often as such dangerous pretenders make their application 
to them. 

Let the behaviour of such Men be never so plausible and 
untainted, yet they who are to pitch upon those they are to 
trust with all they have, may be excused, if they do not only 
consider what they are but what they may be. 

As we Pray our selves we may not be led into Temptation, 
we ought not by any means to thrust others into it ; even 
though our own Interest was not concerned ; And sure when it is, 
the Argument hath not less force. 

If a Man hath a small Estate, and a numerous Family; 

L 2 where 



148 Cautions for Choice of 

where it happeneth that a Man hath as many Children as he 
hath Tenants, It is not a Recommending Circumstance for his 
Election. 

When it cometh to be the Question with such a Man, 
Whether he shall be Just to the Publick, or Cruel to his 
Family ? It is very possible the decision may be on the side 
of Corrupted Nature. 

It is a Compliment to this Age, which it doth not deserve, 
to suppose Men are so tyM up to Morality, as that they cannot 
be pinched out of it : especially now when it is called Starving 
not to be Embroidered, or served in Plate. 

The Men Chosen to serve their Country, should not be 
loaden with Suits that may tempt them to assume Privileges ; 
much less under such Necessities as may more immediately 
prepare them for Corruption. 

Men who need a Parliament for their own particular Interest, 
have more reason to offer their Service than others have to 
accept of it. And though I do not doubt, but there may be 
some whose Virtue would triumph over their Wants, let them 
be never so pressing ; yet to expose the Publick to the hazard 
of being deceived, is that which can never be justified by those 
that Chuse. And tho it must be allow 'd possible for a wanting- 
Man to be honest, yet it is impossible for a Man to be wise 
that will depend upon it. 

VII. There is a sort of Men that have a Tinsel-wit, which 
make them shine among those who cannot judge. 

Club and Coffee-house Gentlemen, Petty Merchants of small 
Conceits, who have an Empty habit of prating without meaning ; 
They always aim at Wit and generally make false Fire. 

Their business is less to learn, than to set themselves out ; 
which makes them chuse to be with such as can only be 
Witnesses of their small Ingenuity, rather than with such as 
might improve it. 

There is a subordinate Wit, as much inferior to a Wit of busi- 
ness, as a Fidler at a Wake is to the lofty Sound of an Organ. 

Men of this Size are in no degree suited to the business of 
redressing Grievances, and making Laws. 

There 



Members in Parliament. 149 

There is a Parliament Wit to be distinguish' d from all other 
kinds ; those who have it, do not stuff their heads only with 
Cavils and Objections. 

They have a deliberate and an observing Wit, a Head turned 
to Publick things ; Men who place a greater pleasure in mending 
a Fault than in finding it out. 

Their Understanding directeth them to object in the right 
place, and not like those who go by no other Rule, than to 
conclude, That must be the best Counsel which was not taken. 

These Whole-sale Judges shew such a gross and peevish 
Ignorance that it appeareth so openly in all they say or do, 
That they give loud warning to all considering Men, not to 
chuse them. 

VIII. The dislike of slight Airy Men must not go so far, as 
to recommend heaviness in opposition to it, especially where 
men are convicted of it by Experience in former Sessions. 

As a lively Coxcomb will seldom fail to lay in his claim for 
Wit ; so a Blockhead is apt to pretend, That his heaviness is 
a proof of his Judgment. 

Some have an universal Lethargy spread upon their Under- 
standing without exception ; others have an Insufficiency quoad 
hoc, as in some Cases men have quoad hanc; These last can 
never so turn their thoughts to publick Business, as to give the 
attention that is necessary to Comprehend it. 

There are those who have such a thick Shell upon their 
Brains, that their Ignorance is impenetrable, and maketh such 
a stout resistance against Common Sense, that it will never be 
subdued by it : True Heart of Oak Ignorance that will never 
yield, let Reason beat never so hard upon it ; and though their 
kind Neighbours have at several Elections sent them up to 
School again, they have still return'd the same incurable Dunces. 

There is a false Gravity that is a very ill symptom ; and it 
may be said, That as Rivers, which run very slowly, have always 
the most Mud at the bottom ; so a solid stiffness in the constant 
course of a man^s Life, is a sign of a thick bed of Mud at the 
bottom of his Brain. 

A dull man is so near a dead Man, that he is hardly to be 

ranked 



150 Cautions for Choice of 

ranked in the List of the Living ; and as he is not to be buried 
whilst he is half alive, so he is as Little to be imployM whilst he 
is half dead. 

Parliaments are now grown to be quite other things than they 
\vere formerly. 

In Ancient Times they were little more than Great Assizes ; 
A Roll of Grievances; Magna Charta confirmed; Privileges 
of Holy Church preserved ; so many Sacks of Wool given ; and 
away. 

Now there are Traps and Gins laid for the well-meaning 
Country-Gentleman ; he is to grapple with the Cunning of Men 
in Town, which is not a little improved by being rewarded and 
encouraged. 

So that men whose good Intentions are not seconded and 
supported by some degree of Ability, are as much the more 
dangerous, as they are less criminal than Cunning Knaves. 
Their honest Mistakes, for want of distinguishing, either give 
a Countenance to, or at least lessen the Scandal of the injurious 
things that are done to the Publick : and with leave ask'd for so 
odd an expression, Their Innocent Guilt is as mischievous to 
the Laws and Liberties, as the most deliberate Malice of those 
that would destroy them. 

IX. There is an Abuse which daily increaseth, of sending 
such to Parliament, as are scarce old enough to be sent to the 
University. 

I would not in this restrain the Definition of these Boys to 
the Age of Twenty One: If my Opinion might take place, 
I should wish that none might be chosen into the House of 
Commons under Thirty ; and to make some Equality, I should 
from the same Motives think it convenient, That no Lord should 
have a Vote in Judicature under that Age. 

But to leave this Digression ; I cannot see why the Chusers 
should not at least make it a Rule among themselves, Not to 
send any Man to Represent them under the Age of Twenty five, 
which is the time of Majority in most other places of the world. 

Surely it is not that we are Earlier plants than our Neighbours. 

Such supposition could neither be justifi'd by our Climate, 

nor 



Members in Parliament. 151 

nor by the degree of Latitude in which we are placed ; I must 
therefore attribute it to the haste our Ancestors had (and not 
without reason) to free themselves from the Severity of Ward- 
ships. 

But whether this, or any thing else, was the cause of our 
earlier stepping into Man's Estate ; so it is now, that according 
to our Laws, Twenty one is the Age of Discretion ; and the 
Young Man is then vested with a Legal, how defective soever 
he may be in his Natural Understanding. 

With all this, there ought to be a difference made between 
coming out of Pupilage, and leaping into Legislatorship. 

It is perhaps inconvenient enough that a man should be so 
soon let loose to destroy his own Estate; but it is yet worse, 
that he should then have a Power of giving away other men's. 

The Law must make General Rules, to which there always 
will be some Objections. 

If there were Tryers appointed to judge when Leading-Strings 
should be left off, many would wear them a very great while, 
and some perhaps with their Gray Hairs ; there being no small 
number of Old Boys in all times and especially in this. 

It is necessary therefore to make Exceptions to this General 
Rule, where the Case so much requireth it, as it doth in the 
matter in question. 

The ground of sending these Minors to Parliament ought not 
to recommend the Continuance of it to those who are Lovers of 
Liberty ; since it was by the Authority and Influence of Great 
Men, that their Stripling Sons were first receiv'd by the humble 
depending Boroughs, or the complying Counties. 

They called it, as many do still, the best School for Young 
Men. Now Experience hath shewM us, that it is like a School 
only in this respect, That these Youngsters when they are 
admitted, deserve to be whippM in it. 

If the House of Commons is a School, it must be for Men of 
riper Age ; these are too young to learn there, and being elevated 
by a mistaken smattering in small Politicks, they grow too 
supercilious to learn any where else ; so that instead of improving 
young promising Plants, they are destroyed by being misplaced. 

If 



152 Cautions for Choice of 

If then they do themselves hurt by it, it is surer yet that they 
do the House no good by coming into it. 

They were not Green Geese that are said to have sav*d the 
Capitol ; they were certainly of full Age, or else their Cackling 
could not have been heard, so as to give warning. 

Indeed it look'd of late, when the Fashion was to have long 
continued Parliaments, as if we might plant a Boy in the House 
with a Prospect that he might continue there till he had Gray 
Hairs : And that the same Sapling might have such a Root, as 
that he might grow up to be Timber without being removed. 

If these Young Men had skill enough to pitch upon somebody 
in the House, to whom they might resign their Opinion, and 
upon whose Judgment they might lean without Reserve, there 
might be less Objection. 

But to speak Truth, they know as little how to chuse, as 
those did who Elected them ; so that there is no other Expedient 
left, than the letting them alone. 

One may say, generally speaking, That a young Man being 
too soon qualifi'd for the serious Business of Parliaments, would 
really be no good Symptom. 

It is a sign of too much Phlegm, and too little Fire in the 
beginning of Age, if Men have not a little more heat than is 
convenient ; for as they grow older they will run a hazard of not 
having so much as is necessary. 

The Truth is, The vigour of Youth is soften' d and misapply^, 
when it is not spent either in War or close Studies ; all other 
Courses have an idle Mixture that cometh to nothing, and 
maketh them like Trees, which for want of Pruning run up 
to Wood, and seldom or never bear any Fruit. 

To conclude this Head, it must be ownM, That there is no 
Age of our Life which doth not carry Arguments along with it 
to humble us : and therefore it would be well for the Business 
of the World, if young Men would stay longer before they 
went into it, and old Men not so long before they went out 
of it. 

X. Next to these may be ranked a sort of superfine Gentle- 
men, Carpet-Knights, Men whose Heads may be said to be 

only 



Members in Parliament. 153 

only Appurtenances to their Perukes, which intirely ingress all 
their Care and Application. 

Their Understanding is so strictly appropriated to their Dress, 
that no part of it is upon pain of their utmost Displeasure to be 
diverted to any other use. 

It is not by this intended to recommend an affected Clown, 
or to make it a necessary Qualification for a Member of Parlia- 
ment, that he must renounce clean Linen or good Manners ; 
but surely a too earnest Application to make every thing sit 
Right about them, striketh too deep into their small stock of 
Thoughts to allow it Furniture for any thing else. 

To do Right to these fine-spun Gentlemen, Business is too 
coarse a thing for them, which maketh it an unreasonable 
Hardship upon them to oppress them with it; so that in 
tenderness to them, no less than out of care to the Publick, 
it is best to leave them to their Taylors with whom they will 
live in much better Correspondence, when the Danger is 
prevented of their falling out about Privileges. 

XI. Men of Injustice and Violence, in their private Dealings, 
are not to be trusted by the People with a Commission to treat 
for them in Parliament. 

In the 4th of Edw. 3. the King Commandeth in his Writs 
not to chuse any Knights who had been Guilty of Crime, or 
Maintenance. 

These warm Men seldom fail to run into Maintenance, taken 
in a larger Extent. 

It is an unnatural Sound to come from a Man that is arbitrary 
in his Neighbourhood, to talk of Laws and Liberties at West- 
minster; he is not a proper Vehicle for such Words, which 
ought never to be prophaned. 

An habitual Breaker of the Laws, to be made one of the 
Law-makers, is as if the Benches in Westminster-hall should be 
filled with Men out of Newgate. 

Those who are of this Temper cannot change their Nature 
out of respect to their Countrey. 

Quite contrary, they will less scruple to do Wrong to a 
Nation where no Body taketh it to himself, than to par- 
ticular 



154 Cautions for Choice of 

ticular Men to whose Resentments they are more immediately 
exposed. 

In short they lie under such strong Objections, that the over- 
balance of better Men cannot altogether purify an Assembly 
where these unclean Beasts are admitted. 

XII. Excessive Spenders and unreasonable Savers are to be 
Excluded, being both greedy from differing Causes. 

They are both of them Diseases of Infection, and for that 
Reason are not to be admitted into Publick Assemblies. 

A prodigal Man must be greedy, because he thinketh he can 
never spend enough. 

The Wretch must be so, because he will never think he can 
hoard enough. 

The World first admireth Men's Wisdom for getting Money, 
and then raileth at them if they do not throw it away ; so that 
the Prodigal Man is only the less unpopular Extreme ; he is every 
jot as well prepared as the Miser to fall out with his Morals, 
when once a good Temptation is offered him to lay them aside. 

On the other side, some Rich Men are as eager to overtake 
those that are Richer, as a Running horse is to get to the Race- 
post before the other that contendeth with him. 

Men often desire to heap, rather because others have more, 
than that they know what to do with that which they covet with 
so much Impatience. 

So that it is plain, the Fancy hath as great a share in this 
imaginary Pleasure of Gathering as it hath in Love, Ambition, 
or any other Passion. 

It is pretty sure, that as no Man was ever the Richer for 
having a good Estate, if he did not look after it ; so neither will 
he be the Honester if he hath never so much. 

Want of care will always create want of Money ; so that 
whether a Man is a begger because he never had any Money, or 
because he can never keep any, it is all one to those who are to 
trust him. 

Upon this head of Prodigality, it may be no unreasonable 
Caution to be afraid of those who in former Service have been 
extravagantly Liberal of the Publick Money. 

Trusting 



Members in Parliament. 155 

Trusting is so hazardous a thing, that it should never be done 
but where it is necessary ; so that when Trustees are found 
upon Tryal to be very Lavish, even without examining into the 
Causes of it, (which are generally very suspicious) it is a 
reasonable part of preventing Wit to change Hands, or else the 
Chusers will pay the Penalty that belongeth to good Nature so 
misplaced, and the Consequences will be attended with the 
Aggravation of their not being made Wiser by such a severe 
and costly warning. 

XIII. It would be of very great use to take a general 
Resolution throughout the Kingdom, That none should be 
chosen for a County but such as have either in Possession, or 
Reversion, a considerable Estate in it ; nor for a Burrough, 
except he be Resiant, or that he hath some Estate in the County, 
in present or Expectancy. 

There have been Eminent Men of Law who were of opinion, 
That in the Case of a Burgess of a Town not Resiant, the 
Court is to give Judgment according to the Statute, notwith- 
standing Custom to the contrary. 

But not to insist now upon that, the prudential part is 
Argument enough to set up a Rule to abrogate an ill Custom. 

There is not, perhaps, a greater Cause of the Corruption of 
Parliaments, than by adopting Members, who may be said to 
have no title by their Births. 

The Juries are by the Law to be Ex vicineto; And shall 
there be less care that the Representatives of the People be so 
too? 

Sure the Interest of the County is best placed in the hands 
of such as have some share in it. 

The Outliers are not so easily kept within the pale of the 
Laws. 

They are often chosen without being known, which is more 
like chusing Valentines, than Members of Parliament. The 
Motive of their standing is more justly to be supposed, that 
they may redress their own Grievances which they know, than 
those of the Countrey, to which they are strangers. 

They are chosen at London to serve in Cornwall, &c. and 

are 



156 Cautions for Choice of 

are often Parties, before they come to be Representatives : One 
would think the Reproach it is for a County not to have Men 
within their own Circle to serve them in Parliament, should be 
Argument enough to reject these Trespassers, without urging 
the ill Consequences in other Respects of their being admitted. 

XIV. As in some Cases it is advisable to give a total 
exclusion to Men not fitly qualified ; so in others it is more 
proper to lay down a general Rule of Caution, with allowance 
of some Exceptions, where Men have given such proofs of 
themselves, as create a Right for them to be distinguished. 

Of this nature is that which I shall say concerning Lawyers, 
who, by the same Reason that they may be useful, may be also 
very dangerous. 

The Negligence, and want of Application in Gentlemen, hath 
made them to be thought more necessary than naturally they 
are in Parliament. 

They have not only ingrossed the Chair of the Speaker, but 
that of a Committee is hardly thought to be well filled, except it 
be by a Man of the Robe. 

This maketh it worthy of the more serious reflection of all 
Gentlemen, that it may be an Argument to them to qualify them- 
selves in Parliamentary Learning, in such a manner, as that 
they may rely upon their own Abilities, in order to the serving 
their Countrey. 

But to come to the point in question ; It is not without 
Precedent, that Practising-Lawyers have been excluded from 
serving in Parliament ; and, without following those Patterns 
strictly, I cannot but think it reasonable, that whilst a 
Parliament sitteth, no Member of Parliament should plead at 
any Bar. 

The Reason of it is in many respects strong in it self, and is 
grown much stronger by the long sitting of Parliaments of late ; 
but I will not dwell upon this : The matter now in question 
being concerning Lawyers being Elected, which I conceive 
should be done with so much circumspection, that probably it 
would not often happen. 

If Lawyers have great Practice, that ought to take them up ; 

if 



Members in Parliament. 157 

if not, it is no great sign of their Ability ; and at the same 
time giveth a suspicion, that they may be more liable to be 
tempted. 

If it should be so in Fact, That no King ever wanted Judges 
to soften the stiffness of the Laws that were made, so as to 
make them suit better with the Reason of State, and the 
Convenience of the Government ; it is no Injury now to suppose 
it possible for Lawyers in the House of Commons, so to behave 
themselves in the making of New Laws, as the better to make 
way for the having their Robes lined with Fur. 

They are Men used to argue on both sides of a Question ; 
And if ordinary Fees can inspire them with very good Reasons 
in a very ill Cause, that Faculty exercised in Parliaments, where 
it may be better encouraged, may prove very inconvenient to 
those that chuse them. 

And therefore, without arraigning a Profession, that it would 
be scandalous for a man not to honour ; one may, by a Sus- 
picion which is the more excusable when it is in the behalf 
of the People, imagine that the habit of taking Money for their 
Opinion, may create in some such a forgetfulness to distinguish, 
that they may take it for their Vote. 

They are generally Men who by a laborious study hope to be 
advanced : They have it in their Eye as a Reward for the Toil 
they undergo. 

This maketh them generally very slow, and ill disposed (let 
the Occasion never so much require it) to wrestle with that Soil 
where Preferment groweth. 

Now if the Supposition be in its self not unreasonable, and 
that it should happen to be strengthened and confirmed by 
Experience, it will be very unnecessary to say any more upon 
this Article, but leave it to the Electors to consider of it. 

XV. I cannot forbear to put in a Caveat against Men ty'd to 
a Party. 

There must in every body be a Leaning to that sort of Men 
who profess some Principles, more than to others who go upon 
a different Foundation ; but when a man is drowned in a Party, 
plunged in it beyond his depth, he runneth a great hazard of 

being 



158 Cautions for Choice of 

being upon ill terms with good Sense, or Morality, if not with 
both of them. 

Such a man can hardly be called a Free-Agent, and for that 
reason is very unfit to be trusted with the Peoples Liberty, after 
he hath given up his own. 

It is said, That in some part of the Indies they do so affect 
little Feet, that they keep them squeezed while they are 
Children, so that they stay at that small size after they are 
grown Men. 

One may say something like this of Men lock'd up in a Party ; 
They put their Thoughts into such a Narrow Mould, that 
they can never be enlarged nor released from their first 
Confinements. 

Men in a Party have Liberty only for their Motto ; in 
reality they are greater Slaves than any body else would care to 
make them. 

A Party, even in times of Peace, (tho against the Original 
Contract, and the Bill of Rights) sets up and continues the 
exercise of Martial Law : Once inrolled, the Man that quitteth, 
if they had their will, would be hanged for a Deserter. 

They communicate Anger to one another by Contagion : And 
it may be said, that if too much Light dazzleth the Eyesight, 
too much Heat doth not less weaken the Judgment. 

Heat reigneth in the Fancy ; and Reason, which is a colder 
Faculty of the Brain, taketh more time to be heard, than the 
other will allow. 

The Heat of a Party is like the Burning of a Fever ; and not 
a Natural Warmth, evenly distributed to give Life and Vigor. 

There was a time indeed when Anger shewM a good sign of 
Honesty ; but that Evidence is very much weakned by Instances 
we have seen since the Days of Yore : And the Publick spirited 
Choler hath been thrown off within time of Memory, and lost 
almost all its Credit with some People, since they found what 
Governments thought fit to make their so doing a step to their 
preferment. 

A strong blustring Wind seldom continues long in one 
Corner. 

Some 



Members in Parliament. 159 

Some men knock loud only to be let in ; the Bustle they make 
is animated by their private Interest. The outward Blaze only 
is for Religion and Liberty : The true lasting Fire, like that of 
the Vestals which never went out, is an eagerness to get some- 
what for themselves. 

A House of Commons composed of such Men, would be more 
properly so many Merchants incorporated in a Regular Com- 
pany, to make their particular Adventures, than Men sent from 
the People to serve and represent them. 

There are some Splenetick Gentlemen who confine their 
favourable Opinion within so narrow a compass, that they will 
not allow it to any man that was not hanged in the late Reigns. 

Now by that rule one might expect they should rescue 
themselves from the disadvantage of being now alive ; and by 
abdicating a World so little worthy of them, get a great Name 
to themselves, with the general satisfaction of all those they 
would leave behind them. 

Amongst the many other ill consequences of a stated Party, 
it is none of the least, that it tempteth low and insignificant 
men to come upon the Stage, to expose themselves, and to spoil 
Business. 

It turneth a Cypher into a Figure, such an one as it is : A 
man in a Party is able to make a noise, let it be never so empty 
a sound. 

A weak man is easily blown out of his small senses, by being 
mustered into a Party ; he is flatter* d till he liketh himself so 
well, that he taketh it extremely ill if he hath not an 
Employment. 

Nothing is more in fashion, than for men to desire good 
Places, and I doubt nothing is less so than to deserve them. 

From Nobody to somebody is such a violent stride, that 
Nature, which hath the Negative Voice, will not give its Royal 
Assent to it : So that when insufficient Men aim at being in 
business, the worst of their Enemies might out of malice to 
them pray for their Preferment. 

There could be no end, if one did not stop till this Theme 
had no more matter to furnish. I will only say, Nothing is 

more 



160 Cautions for Choice of 

more evident, than that the Good of the Nation hath been 
sacrificed to the Animosities of the several Contending Parties ; 
and without entring into the dispute which of them are more or 
less in the right, it is pretty sure, that whilst these Opposite 
Sets of Angry Men are playing at Foot-ball, they will break all 
the Windows, and do more hurt than their pretended Zeal for 
the Nation will ever make amends for. 

In short, a man so engaged is retained before the people take 
him for their Council ; he hath such a Reserve for his Party, 
that it is not adviseable for those who would chuse him, to depend 
upon his Professions ; all Parties assuming such a Dispensing 
Power, that by their Sovereign Authority they cancel and dissolve 
any Act or Promise that they do not afterwards approve. 

These things considered, those who will chuse such men 
deserve whatever followeth. 

XVI. Pretenders to Exorbitant Merit in the late Revolution, 
are not without Objections against them, when they stand to 
serve in Parliament. It would not only be a low, but a Criminal 
kind of Envy, to deny a distinguishing Justice to Men who 
have been instrumental and active, when the Service of their 
Countrey required it. But there ought to be Moderation in 
men's Claims, or else it is out of the Power of our poor Island 
to satisfy them. It is true, Service of all kinds is grown much 
dearer, like Labourer's Wages, which formerly occasioned 
several Statutes to regulate them. 

But now the men who only carried Mortar to the Building, 
when it is finished, think they are ill dealt with if they are not 
made Master- Workmen. 

They presently cry out, The Original Contract is broken, if 
their Merit is not rewarded, at their own Rate too. 

Some will think there never ought to be an end of their 
Rewards ; when indifferent Judges would perhaps be puzzled to 
find out the beginning of their Merit. 

They bring in such large Bills, that they must be ex- 
amin'd : Some bounds must be put to men's Pretensions ; 
else the Nation, which is to pay the Reckoning, will every way 
think it a scurvy thing to be undone, whether it be by being 

over-run 



Members in Parliament. 161 

over-run by our Enemies, or by the being exhausted by our 
Friends. 

There ought therefore to be deductions where they are 
reasonable, the better to Justine the paying what remaineth. 

For example, if any of these passionate Lovers of the 
Protestant Religion should not think fit, in their manner of 
Living, to give the least evidence of their Morality, their claims 
upon that Head might sure be struck off without any Injustice 
to them. 

If there are any who set down great Sums as a Reward due 
to their Zeal for rescuing Property from the Jaws of Arbitrary 
Power ; their pretensions may fairly be rejected, if now they 
are so far from shewing a care and tenderness of the Laws, that 
they look rather like Counsel retained on the other side. 

It is no less strange, than I doubt it is true, that some Men 
should be so in Love with their dear Mistress, Old England, 
with all her Wrinkles, as out of an Heroick Passion to Swim 
over to rescue her from being Ravished ; and when they have 
done the Feat, the first thing after Enjoyment is, that they 
go about to Strangle her. 

For the sake of true Love, it is not fit that such ungenteel 
Gallants should be too much encourag'd j and their Arrogance 
for having done well at first, will have no right to be excused, 
if their so doing ill at last doth not make them a little more 
modest. 

True Merit, like a River, the deeper it is the less noise it 
maketh. 

These loud proclaimers of their own Deserts, are not only to 
be suspected for their truth, but the Electors are to consider 
that such meritorious Men lay an assessment upon those that 
Chuse them. 

The Publick Taxes are already heavy enough without the 
addition of these private Reckonings. It is therefore the safer 
way not to employ Men, who will expect more for their Wages, 
than the mistaken Borough that sendeth them up to Parliament 
could be sold for. 

XVII. With all due regard to the noblest of Callings; 
HALIFAX M Military 



1 62 Cautions for Choice of 

Military Officers are out of their true Element when they are 
misplaced in a House of Commons. 

Things in this World ought to be well suited. There are 
some Appearances so unnatural, that men are convinced by 
them without any other Argument. 

The very Habit in some Cases, recommendeth or giveth 
Offence. 

If the Judges upon the Bench should, instead of their Furrs, 
which signifie Gravity, and bespeak Respect, be Cloathed like 
the Jockeys at New-Market, or wear Jack-Boots and Steenkirks ; 
they would not in reality have less Law, but Mankind would 
be so struck with this unusual Object, that it would be a great 
while before they could think it possible to receive Justice 
from Men so Accouter*d. 

It is to some degree the same thing hi this Case ; such 
Martial Habits, Blue-Coats, Red -Stockings, Sf-c. make them 
look very unlike Grave Senators. One would almost swear 
they were Creatures apart, and of a differing Species from the 
rest of the Body. 

In former times, when only the Resiant Shopkeeper was to 
Represent his Corporation (which by the way is the Law still 
at this day) the Military Looks of one of these Sons of Mars, 
would have stared the Quaking Member down again to his 
Burrough. 

Now the number of them is so encreased, that the Peaceable 
part of the House may lawfully swear they are in fear of their 
Lives, from such an Awful Appearance of Men of War. 

It maketh the Room look like a Guard-house by such an 
ill-suited mixture. But this is only the out-side, the bark of the 
Argument; the root goeth yet deeper against Chusing such 
Men, whose Talents ought to be otherwise applied. 

Their Two Capacities are so inconsistent, that Mens under- 
taking to serve both the Cures, will be the cause in a little time, 
that we shall neither have Men of War, nor Men of Business, 
good in their several kinds. 

An Officer is to give up his Liberty to obey Orders ; and it is 
necessarily incident to his Calling that he should do so. 

A 



Members in Parliament. 163 

A Member of Parliament is originally to be tender of his own 
Liberty, that other Men may the better trust him with theirs. 

An Officer is to enable himself by his Courage, improved by 
Skill and Experience, to support the Laws (if Invaded) when 
they are made ; but he is not supposed to be at leisure enough 
to understand how they should be made. 

A Member of Parliament is to fill his thoughts with what 
may best conduce to the Civil Administration ; which is enough 
to take up the whole Man, let him be never so much raised 
above the ordinary Level. 

These two opposite Qualifications, being placed in one Man, 
make him such an ambiguous divided Creature, that he doth 
not know how to move. 

It is best to keep Men within their proper Sphere ; few Men 
have Understanding enough exactly to fill even one narrow Circle, 
fewer are able to fill two ; especially when they are both of so 
great compass, and that they are so contrary in their own 
Natures. 

The Wages he hath as a Member, and those he receiveth as 
an Officer, are paid for Services that are very differing; and 
in the doubt which of them should be preferrably performed, 
it is likely the greater Salary may direct him, without the 
further inducements of complying most, where he may expect 
most advantage by it. 

In short, if his dependance is not very great, it will make 
him a scurvy Officer ; if it is great, it will make him a scurvier 
Member. 

XVIII. Men under the scandal of being thought private 
Pensioners, are too fair a mark to escape being consider^, in 
reference to the point in Question. 

In case of plain Evidence, it is not to be suppos'd possible, 
that Men convicted of such a Crime should ever again be 
Elected. 

The difficulty is in determining what is to be done in case 
of suspicion. 

There are suspicions so well grounded, that they may pretend 
to have the force of proofs, provided the penalty goeth only 

\i2 to 



164 Cautions for Choice of 

to the forbearing to Trust, but not extending it so far as to 
Punish. 

There must be some things plain and express to justify the 
latter, but Circumstances may be sufficient for the former : As 
where Men have had such sudden Cures of their ill Humours, 
and opposition to the Court, that it is out of the way of 
ordinary methods of recovery from such Distempers, which have 
a much slower progress ; it must naturally be imputed to some 
Specifick that maketh such a quick alteration of the whole Mass 
of Blood. 

Where Men have raised their way of Living, without any 
visible means to support them in it, a suspicion is justified, 
even by the Example of the Law, which in cases of this kind, 
though of an inferior nature, doth upon this foundation not 
only raise Inferences, but inflict Punishments. 

Where Men are immoral, and scandalous in their Lives, and 
dispense familiarly with the Rules by which the World is 
Governed, for the better preserving the bonds of human Society ; 
it must be a confidence very ill placed, to conclude it impossible 
for such Men to yield to a Temptation well offer'd and pursuM ; 
when, the truth is, the habit of such Sons vivants, which is the 
fashionable word, maketh a suspicion so likely, that it is very 
hard not to believe it to be true. 

If there should be nothing but the general Report, even that 
is not to be neglected. 

Common Fame is the only Lyar that deserveth to have some 
Respect still reserved to it; tho she telleth many an Untruth, 
she often hitteth right, and most especially when she speaketh 
ill of men. 

Her Credit hath sometimes been carried too far, when it hath 
gone to the divesting men of any thing of which they were 
possess' d, without more express evidence to justify such a 
proceeding. 

If there was a doubt whether there ever was any Corruption 
of this kind it would alter the Question ; but sure that will not 
bear the being controverted. 

We are told, That Charles the Fifth sent over into England 

1200000 



Members in Parliament. 165 

1200000 Crowns to be distributed amongst the Leading Men, 
to encourage them to carry on Elections. 

Here was the Protestant Religion to be bought out for a 
valuable Consideration according to Law, though not according 
to Gospel, which exalteth it above any Price that can be set 
upon it. 

Now, except we had reason to believe that the Vertue of 
the World is improved since that time, we can as little doubt 
that such Temptations may be offered, as that they may be 
received. 

It will be owned, that there is to be a great tenderness in 
Suspecting ; but it must be allowed at the same time, that there 
ought not to be less in Trusting, where the People are so much 
concerned; especially, when the Penalty upon the Party sus- 
pected goeth no further than a Suspension of that Confidence, 
which it is necessary to have in those who are to represent the 
Nation in Parliament. 

XIX. I cannot omit the giving a Caution against admitting 
Men to be chosen, who have Places of any value. 

There needeth the less to be said upon this Article, the truth 
of the Proposition being supported by such plain Arguments. 

Sure no Man hath such a plentiful spring of Thought, as that 
all that floweth from it is too much to be applied to the Business 
of Parliament. 

It is not less sure, that a Member of Parliament, of all others, 
ought not to be exempted from the Rule, That no Man should 
serve two Masters. 

It doth so split a Man's Thoughts, that no Man can know 
how to make a fitting Distribution of them to two such differing 
Capacities. 

It exposeth Men to be suspected, and tempted, more than is 
convenient for the Publick Service, or for the mutual good 
Opinion of one another which there ought to be in such an 
Assembly. 

It either giveth a real dependance upon the Government, 
which is inconsistent with the necessity there is, that a Member 
of Parliament should be disengaged; or at least it hath the 

appearance 



1 66 Cautions for Choice of 

appearance of it, which maketh them not look like Freemen, 
though they should have virtue enough to be so. 

More Reasons would lessen the Weight of this last, which is, 
That a Bill to this effect, commonly called the Self Denying Bill, 
pass'd even this last House of Commons. 

A greater Demonstration of the irresistible strength of Truth 
cannot possibly be given ; so that a Copy of that Bill in every 
County or Burrough, would hardly fail of discouraging such 
Pretenders from Standing, or at least it would prevent their 
Success if their own Modesty should not restrain them from 
attempting it. 

XX. If Distinctions may be made upon particular Men, or 
Remarks fixM upon their Votes in Parliament, they must be 
allowed in relation to those Gentlemen, who for Reasons best 
known to themselves thought fit to be against the Triennial Bill. 

The Liberty of Opinion is the thing in the World that ought 
least to be controlled, and especially in Parliament. 

But as that is an undoubted Assertion, it is not less so, That 
when Men Sin against their own Light, give a Vote against 
their own Thought, they must not plead Privilege of Parliament 
against the being arraigned for it by others, after they are Con- 
victed of it by themselves. 

There cannot be a Man, who in his Definition of a House of 
Commons, will state it to be an Assembly, that for the better 
redressing of Grievances the People feel, and for the better 
furnishing such Supplies as they can bear, is to continue, if the 
King so pleaseth, for his whole Reign. 

This could be as little intended, as to throw all into one 
Hand, and to renounce the Claim to any Liberty, but so much 
as the Sovereign Authority would allow. 

It destroyeth the end of Parliaments, it maketh use of the 
Letter of the Law to extinguish the Life of it. 

It is, in truth, some kind of Disparagement to so plain a thing, 
that so much has been said and written upon it ; and one may 
say, It is such an Affront to these Gentlemens Understandings 
to censure this Vote only as a Mistake, that, as the Age goeth, 
it is less Discredit to them to call it by its right Name ; and if 

that 



Members in Parliament. 167 

that is rightly understood by those who are to chuse them, 
I suppose they will let them exercise their Liberty of Conscience 
at home, and not make Men their Trustees, who in this Solemn 
Instance have such an unwillingness to surrender. 

It must be own^d, That this Bill hath met with very hard 
Fortune, and yet that doth not in the least diminish the value 
of it. 

It had in it such a Root of Life, that it might be said, It was 
not Dead but Sleeped ; and we see that the last Session, it was 
revived and animated by the Royal Assent, when once fully 
informed of the Consequence, as well as of the Justice of it. 

In the mean time, after having told my Opinion, Who ought 
not to be Chosen : 

If I should be askM, Who ought to be, my Answer must be, 
Chuse Englishmen ; and when I have said that, to deal honestly, 
I will not undertake that they are easy to be found. 



1 68 



Rough Draught 

OF A 

NEW MODEL 

AT 

SEA, 1694. 

I Will make no other Introduction to the following Discourse, 
than that as the Importance of our being strong at Sea, 
was ever very great, so in our present Circumstances it is 
grown to be much greater ; because, as formerly our Force of 
Shipping contributed greatly to our Trade and Safety, so now 
it is become indispensibly necessary to our very Being. 

It may be said now to England, Martha, Martha, thou art 
busy about many things, but one thing is necessary. To the 
Question, What shall we do to be saved in this World ? there 
is no other Answer but this, Look to your Moate. 

The first Article of an English-mans Political Creed must be, 
That he believeth in the Sea, fyc. without that there needeth no 
General Council to pronounce him incapable of Salvation here. 

We are in an Island, confined to it by God Almighty, not as 
a Penalty but a Grace, and one of the greatest that can be given 
to Mankind. Happy Confinement, that hath made us Free, 
Rich, and Quiet ; a fair Portion in this World, and very well 
worth the preserving ; a Figure that ever hath been envied, and 
could never be imitated by our Neighbours. Our Situation hath 

made 



A Rough Draught of a New Model at Sea, 1 694. 1 69 

made Greatness abroad by Land Conquests unnatural things to 
us. It is true, we have made Excursions, and glorious ones too, 
which make our Names great in History, but they did not last. 

Admit the English to be Giants in Courage, yet they must 
not hope to succeed in making War against Heaven, which 
seemeth to have enjoyned them to acquiesce in being happy 
within their own Circle. It is no Paradox to say, that England 
hath its Root in the Sea, and a deep one too, from whence it 
sendeth its Branches into both the Indies. We may say further 
in our present Case, That if Allegiance is due to Protection, ours 
to the Sea is due from that Rule, since by that, and by that 
alone, we are to be protected ; and if we have of late suffered 
Usurpation of other Methods, contrary to the Homage we owe 
to that which must preserve us, it is time now to restore 
the Sea to its right ; and as there is no Repentance effectual 
without Amendment, so there is not a moment to be lost in 
the going about it. 

It is not pretended to launch into such a Voluminous Treatise, 
as to set down every thing to which so comprehensive a Subject 
might lead me ; for as the Sea hath little less variety in it than 
the Land ; so the Naval Force of England extendeth it self into 
a great many Branches, each of which are important enough to 
require a Discourse apart, and peculiarly applied to it : But 
there must be preference to some Considerations above others, 
when the weight of them is so visibly Superior that it cannot 
be contested. It is there, first, that the Foundations are to be 
laid of our Naval Oeconomy ; amongst these, there is one 
Article which in its own Nature must be allowed to be the 
Corner-stone of the Building : the Choice of Officers, with the 
Discipline and Encouragement belonging to them. Upon this 
Head only, I shall then take the liberty to venture my Opinion 
into the World, with a real Submission to those, who may offer 
any thing better for the advantage of the Publick. 

The first Question then will be, Out of what sort of Men the 
Officers of the Fleet are to be chosen ; and this immediately 
leadeth us to the present Controversy between the Gentlemen 
and the Tarpaulins. 

The 



170 A Rough Draught 

The usual Objections on both sides are too general to be relied 
upon. Partiality and Common Prejudices direct most Mens 
Opinions, without entring into the particular Reasons which 
ought to be the ground of it. There is so much ease in ac- 
quiescing in Generals, that the Ignorance of those who cannot 
distinguish, and the Largeness of those who will not, maketh 
Men very apt to decline the trouble of stricter Enquiries, which 
they think too great a price for being in the right, let it be never 
so valuable. 

This maketh them judge in the Lump, and either let their 
Opinions swim along with the Stream of the World, or give 
them up wholly to be directed by Success. The effect of this 
is, that they change their Minds upon every present uneasiness, 
wanting a steady Foundation upon which their Judgment should 
be formed. This is a pearching upon the Twigs of things, and 
not going to the Root. But sure the Matter in question de- 
serveth to be examined in another manner, since so much 
dependeth upon it. 

To state the thing impartially, it must be owned that it 
seemeth to lye fairest for the Tarpaulin : It giveth an Impression 
that must have so much weight as to make a Man's Opinion 
lean very much on that side, it carrieth so much Authority with 
it, it seemeth to be so unquestionable, that those are fittest to 
Command at Sea, who have not only made it their Calling, but 
their Element ; that there must naturally be a prejudice to any 
thing then can be said against it. There must therefore be 
some Reason extraordinary to support the Argument on the 
other side, or else the Gentlemen could never enter the Lists 
against such a violent Objection, which seemeth not to be resisted. 
I will introduce my Argument with an Assertion, which as I 
take to be true almost in all Cases, so it is necessary to be 
explained and inforced in this. The Assertion is, that there is 
hardly a single Proposition to be made, which is not deceitful, 
and the tying our Reason too close to it, may in many Cases be 
destructive. Circumstances must come in, and are to be made 
a part of the Matter of which we are to judge ; positive Decisions 
are always dangerous, more especially in Politicks. A Man, 

who 



of a New Model at Sea, 1 694. 171 

who will be Master of an Argument, must do like a skilful 
General, who sendeth Scouts on all sides, to see whether there 
may not be an Enemy. So he must look round to see what 
Objections can be made, and not go on in a streight Line, 
which is the ready way to lead him into a mistake. 

Before then, that we conclude what sort of Men are fittest to 
Command at Sea, a Principle is to be laid down, that there is 
a differing Consideration to be had of such a Subject-matter, as 
is in it self distinct and independent, and of such an one as being 
a Limb of a Body, or a Wheel of a Frame, there is a necessity 
of suiting it to the rest, and preserving the Harmony of the 
whole. A Man must not in that Case restrain himself to the 
separate Consideration of that single Part, but must take care 
it may fall in and agree with the Shape of the whole Creature, 
of which it is a Member. According to this Proposition, which 
I take to be indisputable, it will not I hope appear an Affecta- 
tion, or an extravagant Fit of unseasonable Politicks, if, before 
I enter into the particular State of the present Question, I say 
something of the Government of England, and make that the 
Ground-work of what sort of Men are most proper to be made 
use of to Command at Sea. 

The Forms of Government to which England must be sub- 
jected, are either Absolute Monarchy, a Commonwealth, or 
a Mixt Monarchy, as it is now ; with those natural Alterations 
that the Exigency of Affairs may from time to time suggest. 
As to Absolute Monarchy, I will not allow my self to be trans- 
ported into such Invectives, as are generally made against it; 
neither am I ready to enter into the aggravating Stile of calling 
every thing Slavery, that restraineth Men in any part of their 
Freedom : One may discern in this, as in most other things, 
the good and bad of it. We see by too near an Instance, what 
France doth by it ; it doth not only struggle with the rest of 
Christendom, but is in a fair way of giving Law to it. 

This is owing in great Measure to a Despotick and Undivided 
Power ; the uncontroulable Authority of the Directive Councils 
maketh every thing move without Disorder or Opposition, which 
must give an advantage, that is plain enough of it self, without 

being 



172 A Rough Draught 

being proved by the melancbolly Experience we have of it at 
this time. 

I see and admire this ; yet I consider at the same time, that 
all things of this kind are comparative : That as on one side, 
without Government Men cannot enjoy what belongeth to them 
in particular, nor can a Nation be secure, or preserve it self in 
general : So on the other side, the end of Government being, 
that Mankind should live in some competent State of Freedom, 
it is very unnatural to have the End destroyed by the Means that 
\vere originally made use of to attain it. In this respect some- 
thing is to be ventured, rather than submit to such a precarious 
State of Life, as would make it a Burthen to a reasonable 
Creature ; and therefore, after I have owned the Advantages in 
some kind of an unlimited Government ; yet, while they are 
attended with so many other discouraging Circumstances, I 
cannot think but that they may be bought too dear ; and if it 
should be so, that it is not possible for a State to be Great and 
Glorious, unless the Subjects are wretchedly Miserable, I am not 
ashamed to own my low-spirited frailty, in preferring such 
a Model of Government, as may agree with the reasonable 
Enjoyment of a Free People, before such a one by which 
Empire is to be extended at such an unnatural Price. Besides 
whatever Mens Opinions may be one way or another in the 
general Question, there is an Argument in our Case that 
shutteth the Door to any Answer to it : viz. We cannot sub- 
sist under a Despotick Power, our very Being would be destroyed 
by it ; for we are to consider, we are a very little Spot in the 
Map of the World, and make a great Figure only by Trade, 
which is the Creature of Liberty ; one destroyed, the other 
falleth to the Ground by a natural Consequence that will not 
admit a dispute. If we would be measured by our Acres, we 
are poor inconsiderable People; we are exalted above our 
natural Bounds, by our good Laws, and our excellent Constitu- 
tion. By this we are not only happy at Home, but considerable 
Abroad. Our Situation, our Humour, our Trade, do all concur 
to strengthen this Argument. So that all other Reasons must 

give 



of a New Model at Sea, 1694. 



give place to such a one as maketh it out^ that there is no Mean 
between a Free Nation and No Nation. 

We are no more a People, nor England can no longer keep 
its Name, from the moment that our Liberties are extinguished ; 
the Vital Strength that should support us being withdrawn, we 
should then be no more than the Carcass of a Nation, with no 
other Security than that of Contempt ; and to subsist upon no 
other Tenure, than that we should be below the giving Tempta- 
tion to our stronger Neighbours to devour us. In my Judgment, 
therefore, there is such a short Decision to be made upon this 
Subject, that in Relation to England, an Absolute Monarchy is 
as unreasonable a thing to be wished, as I hope it will be im- 
possible to be obtained. 

It must be considered in the next place, whether England 
is likely to be turn'd into a Commonwealth. It is hard at any 
time to determine what will be the Shape of the next Revolution, 
much more at this time would it be inexcusably Arrogant to 
undertake it. Who can foresee whether it will be from without, 
or from within, or from both ? Whether with or without the 
Concurrence of the People ? Whether regularly produced, or 
violently imposed ? I shall not therefore Magisterially declare 
it impossible that a Commonwealth should be settled here ; but 
I may give my humble Opinion, that according to all appearances, 
it is very improbable. 

I will first lay it down for a Principle, That it is not a sound 
way of arguing, to say, That if it can be made out, that the 
Form of a Commonwealth will best suit with the Interest of the 
Nation, it must for that reason of necessity prevail. 

I will not deny but that Interest will not lie, is a right Maxim, 
where ever it is sure to be understood ; else one had as good 
affirm, That no Man in particular, nor Mankind in general, can 
ever be mistaken. A Nation is a great while before they can 
see, and generally they must feel first before their Sight is quite 
cleared. This maketh it so long before they can see their 
Interest, that for the most part it is too late for them to pursue 
it: If Men must be supposed always to follow their true 
Interest, it must be meant of a New Manufactory of Mankind 

by 



174 -^ Rough Draught 

by God Almighty ; there must be some new Clay, the old Stuff 
never yet made any such infallible Creature. 

This being premised, it is to be inquired, Whether instead of 
inclination, or a leaning towards a Commonwealth, there is not 
in England a general dislike to it ; if this be so, as I take it to be, 
by a very great disparity in Numbers, it will be in vain to 
dispute the Reason, whilst Humour is against it ; allowing the 
weight that is due to the Argument which may be alledged for 
it, yet, if the Herd is against it, the going about to convince 
them would have no other effect than to shew that nothing can 
be more impertinent than good Reasons, when they are misplaced 
or ill-timed. 

I must observe, That there must be some previous Dispositions 
in all great Changes to facilitate and to make way for them : 
I think it not at all absurd to affirm, That such Resolutions are 
seldom made at all, except by the general Preparations of Mens 
Minds they are half made before it is plainly visible that Men 
go about them. 

Though it seemeth to me that this Argument alone maketh 
all others unnecessary, yet I must take notice that besides what 
hath been said upon this Subject, there are certain Preliminaries 
to the first building a Commonwealth, some Materials absolutely 
necessary for the carrying on such a Fabrick, which at present 
are wanting amongst us, I mean Virtue, Morality, Diligence, 
or at least Hypocrisy. Now this Age is so plain dealing, as 
not to dissemble so far as to an outward Pretence of Qualities 
which seem at present so Unfashionable, and under so much 
Discountenance. 

From hence we may draw a plain and natural Inference, That 
a Commonwealth is not fit for us, because we are not fit for 
a Commonwealth. 

This being granted, the Supposition of this Form of Govern- 
ment of England, with all its Consequences as to the present 
Question, must be excluded, and Absolute Monarchy having 
been so too by the Reasons at once alledged, it will without 
further Examination fall to a Mixt Government, as we now are. 
I will not say, that there is never to be any Alteration; the 

Constitution 



of a New Model at Sea, 1694. 



Constitution of the several Parts that concur to make up the 
Frame of the present Government may be altered in many 
things, in some for the better, and in others, perhaps for the 
worse, according as Circumstances shall arise to induce a Change, 
and as Passion and Interest shall have more or less Influence 
upon the Publick Councils; but still, if it remaineth in the 
whole so far a mixt Monarchy, that there shall be a restraint 
upon the Prince as to the Exercise of a Despotick Power, it is 
enough to make it a Groundwork for the present Question. It 
appeareth then that a bounded Monarchy is that kind of Govern- 
ment which will most probably prevail and continue in England ; 
from whence it must follow (as hath been hinted before) that 
eveiy considerable Part ought to be so composed, as the better 
to conduce to the preserving the Harmony of the whole Con- 
stitution. The Navy is of so great Importance, that it would 
be disparaged by calling it less than the Life and Soul of 
Government. 

Therefore to apply the Argument to the Subject we are upon ; 
in case the Officers be all Tarpaulins, it would be in reality too 
great a tendency to a Commonwealth-, such a part of the 
Constitution being Democratically disposed may be suspected 
to endeavour to bring it into that Shape; and where the 
influence must be so strong, the Supposition will be the more 
justifiable. In short, if the Maritime Force, which is the only 
thing that can defend us, should be wholly directed by the lower 
sort of Men, with an intire Exclusion of the Nobility and 
Gentry, it will not be easy to answer the Arguments supported 
by so great a probability, that such a Scheme would not only 
lean toward a Democracy, but directly lead us into it. 

Let us now examine the contrary Proposition, viz. that all 
Officers should be Gentlemen. 

Here the Objection lieth so fair, of its introducing an Arbi- 
trary Government, that it is as little to be answered in that respect, 
as the former is in the other. Gentlemen in a general Definition, 
will be suspected to lie more than other Men under the Tempta- 
tions of being made Instruments of unlimited Power; their 
Relations, their Way of Living, their Tast of the Entertainments 

of 



176 A Rough Draught 

of the Court, inspire an Ambition that generally draweth their 
Inclinations toward it, besides the gratifying of their Interests. 
Men of Quality are often taken with the Ornaments of Govern- 
ment, the Splendor dazleth them so, as that their Judgments 
are surprized by it ; and there will be always some that have so 
little remorse for invading other Mens Liberties, that it maketh 
them less solicitous to preserve their own. 

These things throw them naturally into such a dependance 
as might give a dangerous Biass ; if they alone were in Command 
at Sea, it would make that great Wheel turn by an irregular 
Motion, and instead of being the chief means of preserving the 
whole Frame, might come to be the chief Instruments to dis- 
compose and dissolve it. 

The two former exclusive Propositions being necessarily to 
be excluded in this Question, there remaineth no other Ex- 
pedient, neither can any other Conclusion be drawn from the 
Argument as it hath been stated, than that there must be 
a mixture in the Navy of Gentlemen and Tarpaulins, as there 
is in the Constitution of the Government, of Power and Liberty. 
This Mixture is not to be so rigorously defined, as to set down 
the exact Proportion there is to be of each ; the greater or lesser 
Number must be directed by Circumstances, of which the 
Government is to Judge, and which make it improper to set 
such Bounds, as that upon no occasion it shall on either side be 
lessened or enlarged. It is possible the Men of Wapping may 
think they are injured, by giving them any Partners in the 
Dominion of the Sea ; they may take it unkindly to be jostled 
in their own Element by Men of such a different Education, 
that they may be said to be of another Species ; they will be 
apt to think it an Usurpation upon them, and notwithstanding 
the Instances that are against them, and which give a kind of 
Prescription on the other side, they will not easily acquiesce in 
what they conceive to be a hardship to them. 

But I shall in a good measure reconcile my self to them by 
what follows; viz. The Gentlemen shall not be capable of 
bearing Office at Sea, except they be Tarpaulins too ; that is to 
say, except they are so trained up by a continued habit of living 

at 



of a New Model at Sea, 1694. 177 

at Sea, that they may have a Right to be admitted free Denizens 
of Wapping. Upon this dependeth the whole Matter ; and in- 
deed here lieth the difficulty, because the Gentlemen brought up 
under the Connivance of a looser Discipline, and of an easier 
admittance, will take it heavily to be reduced within the Fetters 
of such a New Model', and I conclude, they will be so extreamly 
averse to that which they call an unreasonable Yoke upon them, 
that their Original Consent is never to be expected. But if it 
appeareth to be convenient, and which is more, that it is 
necessary for the Preservation of the whole, that it should be 
so ; the Government must be calPd in Aid to suppress these 
first Boilings of Discontent ; the Rules must be imposed with 
such Authority, and the Execution of them must be so well 
supported, that by degrees their Impatience will be subdued, 
and they will concur in an Establishment to which they will 
every day be more reconciled. 

They will find it will take away the Objections which are 
now thrown upon them, of setting up for Masters without 
having ever been Apprentices ; or at least, without having served 
out their Time. 

Mankind naturally swelleth against Favour and Partiality; 
their belief of their own Merit maketh Men object them to 
a prosperous Competitor, even when there is no pretence for it ; 
but when there is the least handle offered, to be sure it will be 
taken. So, in this Case, when a Gentleman is preferred at Sea, 
the Tarpaulin is very apt to impute it to Friend or Favour: 
But if that Gentleman hath before his Preferment passed through 
all the Steps which lead to it, so that he smelleth as much of 
Pitch and Tar, as those that were Swadled in Sail-Cloath ; his 
having an Escutcheon will be so far from doing him harm, that 
it will set him upon the advantage Ground : It will draw a real 
Respect to his Quality when so supported, arid give him an 
Influence and Authority infinitely superior to that which the 
meer Sea-man can ever pretend to. 

When a Gentleman hath learned how to Obey, he will grow 
very much fitter to Command ; his own Memory will advise him 
not to inflict too rigorous Punishments. He will better resist 

HALIFAX N the 



178 A Rough Draught 

the Temptations of Authority (which are great) when he re- 
flecteth how much he hath at other times wished it might be 
gently exercised, when he was liable to the Rigour of it. 

When the undistinguished Discipline of a Ship hath tamed 
the young Mastership, which is apt to arise from a Gentleman's 
Birth and Education, he then groweth Proud in the right place, 
and valueth himself first upon knowing his Duty, and then 
upon doing it. 

In plain English, Men of Quality in their several Degrees 
must either restore themselves to a better Opinion, both for 
Morality and Diligence, or else Quality it self will be in danger 
of being extinguished. 

The Original Gentleman is almost lost in strictness ; when 
Posterity doth not still further adorn by their Virtue the 
Escutcheon their Ancestors first got for them by their Merit, 
they deserve the Penalty of being deprived of it. 

To expect that Quality alone should waft Men up into Places 
and Imployments, is as unreasonable, as to think that a Ship, 
because it is Carved and Gilded, should be fit to go to Sea with- 
out Sails or Tackling. But when a Gentleman maketh no other 
use of his Quality, than to incite him the more to his Duty, it 
will give such a true and settled Superiority, as must destroy 
all Competition from those that are below him. 

It is time now to go to the Probationary Qualifications of an 
Officer at Sea : And I have some to offer, which I have digested 
in my Thoughts, I hope impartially, that they may not be 
Speculative Notions, but things easy and practicable, if the 
directing Powers will give due Countenance and Incouragement 
to the Execution of them : But whilst I am going about to set 
them down, though this little Essay was made to no other End, 
than to introduce them, I am upon better Recollection, induced 
to put a restraint upon my self, and rather retract the Promise 
I made at the beginning, than by advising the particular 
Methods by which I conceive the good End that is aimed at 
may be obtained, to incur the Imputation of the thing of the 
World of which I would least be guilty, which is of anticipating, 
by my private Opinion, the Judgment of the Parliament, or 

seeming 



of a New Model at Sea, 1694. 179 

seeming out of my slender Stock of Reason to dictate to the 
Supream Wisdom of the Nation. They will, no doubt, consider 
the present Establishments for Discipline at Sea, which are 
many of them very good, and if well executed, might go a great 
way in the present Question. But I will not say they are so 
perfect, but that others may be added to make them more 
effectual, and that some more Supplemental Expedients may be 
necessary to compleat what is yet defective : And whenever the 
Parliament shall think fit to take this Matter into their Con- 
sideration, I am sure they will not want for their Direction the 
Auxiliary Reasons of any Man without Doors, much less of 
one, whose Thoughts are so intirely and unaffectedly resigned 
to whatever they shall determine in this^ or any thing else 
relating to the Publick. 



MAXIMS 

N 2 



i8o 



MAXIMS 

: ' OF ':;"..'; 

S T A T E. 



T 



i. r | "A HAT a Prince who falleth out with Laws, breaketh 

with his best Friends. 

2. That the exalting his own Authority above his 
Laws, is like letting in his Enemy to surprize his Guards : The 
Laws are the only Guards he can be sure will never run away 
from him. 

3. A Prince that will say he can do no Good, except he may 
do every thing; teacheth the People to say, They are Slaves, if 
they must not do whatever they have a mind to. 

4. That Power and Liberty are like Heat and Moisture ; 
where they are well mixt, every thing prospers ; where they are 
single, they are destructive. 

5. That Arbitrary Power is like most other things that are 
very hard, they are also very apt to break. 

6. That the profit of Places should be measured as they are 
more or less conducing to the Publick Service ; and if Business 
is more necessary than Splendor, the Instrument of it ought in 
Proportion to be better paid ; that the contrary Method is as 
impertinent, as it would be to let the Carving of a Ship cost 
more than all the rest of it. 

7. That where the least useful part of the People have the 

most 



Maxims of State. 181 

most Credit with the Prince, Men will conclude, That the way 
to get every thing, is to be good for nothing. 

8. That an extravagant Gift to one Man, raiseth the Market 
to every body else ; so that in consequence, the unlimited 
Bounty of an unthinking Prince maketh him a Beggar, let him 
have never so much Money. 

9. That if ordinary Beggars are whip'd, the daily Beggars in 
fine Cloaths (out of a proportionable Respect to their Quality) 
ought to be hanged. 

10. That Pride is as loud a Beggar as Want, and a great 
deal more Sawcy. 

11. That a Prince, who will give more to Importunity than 
Merit, had as good set out a Proclamation to all his Loving 
Subjects, forbidding them to do well, upon the penalty of being 
undone by it. 

12. That a wise Prince will not oblige his Courtiers, who are 
Birds of Prey, so as to disoblige his People, who are Beasts of 
Burthen. 

13. That it is safer for a Prince to Judge of Men by what 
they do to one another, than what they do to him. 

14. That it is a gross Mistake to think, That a Knave be- 
tween Man and Man, can be honest to a King, whom, of all 
other, Men generally make the least Scruple to deceive. 

15. That a Prince who can ever trust the Man that hath once 
deceived him, loseth the Right of being Faithfully dealt with by 
any other Person. 

1 6. That it is not possible for a Prince to find out such an 
Honest Knave, as will let no body else Cheat him. 

17. That if a Prince doth not shew an Aversion to Knaves, 
there will be an Inference that will be very Natural, let it be 
never so Unmannerly. 

18. That a Prince who followeth his own Opinion too soon, 
is in danger of repenting it too late. 

19. That it is less dangerous for a Prince to mind too much 
what the People say, than too little. 

20. That a Prince is to take care that the greater part of the 
People may not be angry at the same time j for though the 

first 



1 82 Maxims of State. 

first beginning of their /// Humour should be against one 
another, yet if not stopt, it will naturally end in Anger against 
him. 

21. That if Princes would Reflect how much they are in the 
Power of their Ministers, they would be more circumspect in 
the Choice of them. 

22. That a wise Prince will support good Servants against 
Mens Anger, and not support ill ones against their Complaint. 

23. That Parties in a State generally, like Freebooters, hang 
out False Colours; the pretence is the Publick Good; the real 
Business is, to catch Prizes ; like the Tartars, where-ever they 
succeed, instead of Improving their Victory, they presently fall 
upon the Baggage. 

24. That a Prince may play so long between Two Parties, 
that they may in time join together, and be in earnest with him. 

25. That there is more Dignity in open Violence, than in the 
unskilful Cunning of a Prince, who goeth about to Impose upon 
the People. 

26. That the People will ever suspect the Remedies for the 
Diseases of the State, where they are wholly excluded from 
seeing how they are prepared. 

27. That changing Hands without changing Measures, is as 
if a Drunkard in a Dropsey should change his Doctors, and not 
his Dyet. 

28. That a Prince is to watch that his Reason may not be so 
subdued by his Nature, as not to be so much a Man of Peace, 
as to be a jest in an Army ; nor so much a Man of War, as to 
be out of his Element in his Council. 

29. That a Man who cannot mind his own Business, is not 
to be trusted with the King's. 

30. That Quality alone should only serve to make a shew in 
the Embroidered Part of the Government ; but that Ignorance, 
though never so well born, should never be admitted to spoil the 
Publick Business. 

31. That he who thinks his Place below him, will certainly 
be below his Place. 

32. That when a Princes Example ceaseth to have the force 

of 



Maxims of State. 183 

of a Law, it is a sure sign that his Power is wasting, and that 
there is but little distance between Men's neglecting to Imitate, 
and their refusing to Obey. 

33. That a People may let a King fall, yet still remain a 
People ; but if a im0r let his People slip from him^ he is no 
longer King. 



184 



<_ADFER TISEMEN T. 



O/wctf the Death of the Ingenious 
Translator of these Essays, an im- 
perfect Transcript of the following Letter 
was intended for the Press, but having 
the good fortune to meet with a more 
correct Copy, I thought my self under 
a necessity of Publishing it with this Third 
Edition, not only to do Justice to his 
Memory, but to the Great Person he Chose 
for his Patron. 

M. G. 



Letter sent by his Lordship to Charles 
Cotton, Esq. ; upon his New Translation 
and Dedication of MontaigneV Essays. 



SIR. 

I have too long delayed my Thanks to you for giving me such 
an obh'ging Evidence of your Remembrance : That alone 
would have been a welcome Present, but when joined with 
the Book in the World I am the best entertained with, it raiseth 
a strong desire in me to be better known, where I am sure to be 
so much pleased. I have till now thought Wit could not be 
Translated, and do still retain so much of that Opinion, that 
I believe it impossible, except by one whose Genius cometh up 
to that of the Author. You have so kept the Original Strength 
of his Thought, that it almost tempts a Man to believe the 
Transmigration of Souls, and that his, being us'd to Hills, is 
come into the Moore-Lands to Reward us here in England, for 
doing him more Right than his Country will afford him. He 
hath by your means mended his First Edition : To transplant 
and make him Ours, is not only a Valuable Acquisition to us, 
but a Just Censure of the Critical Impertinence of those French 
Scribblers who have taken pains to make little Cavils and 
Exceptions, to lessen the Reputation of this great Man, whom 
Nature hath made too big to Confine himself to the Exactness 
of a Studied Stile. He let his Mind have its full Flight, and 
sheweth by a generous kind of Negligence that he did not Write 
for Praise, but to give to the World a true Picture of himself 
and of Mankind. He scorned affected Periods, or to please the 
mistaken Reader with an empty Chime of Words. He hath no 
Affectation to set himself out, and dependeth wholly upon the 

Natural 



1 86 

Natural Force of what is his own, and the Excellent Application 
of what he borroweth. 

You see, Sir, I have kindness enough for Monsieur de Mon- 
taigne to be your Rival, but no Body can pretend to be in equal 
Competition with you : I do willingly yield, which is no small 
matter for a Man to do to a more prosperous Lover ; and if you 
will repay this piece of Justice with another, pray believe, that 
he who can Translate such an Author without doing him wrong, 
must not only make me Glad but Proud of being his 

Very humble Servant, 



Hallifax. 



i8 7 
A 

CHARACTER 

OF 

KING CHARLES II 



I. Of his RELIGION. 

A Character differeth from a Picture only in this, every Part 
of it must be like, but it is not necessary that every 
Feature should be comprehended in it as in a Picture, only 
some of the most remarkable. 

This Prince at his first entrance into the World had Adversity 
for his Introducer, which is generally thought to be no ill one, 
but in his case it proved so, and laid the foundation of most of 
those Misfortunes or Errors, that were the causes of the great 
Objections made to him. 

The first Effect it had was in relation to his Religion. 

The ill-bred familiarity of the Scotch Divines had given him 
a distaste of that part of the Protestant Religion. He was left 
then to the little Remnant of the Church of England in the 
Fauxbourg St. Germain ; which made such a kind of figure, as 
might easily be turned in such a manner as to make him lose 
his veneration for it. In a refined Country, where Religion 
appeared in Pomp and Splendor, the outward appearance of 
such unfashionable Men was made an Argument against their 
Religion ; and a young Prince not averse to rallery, was the 
more susceptible of a contempt for it. 

The Company he kept, the Men in his Pleasures, and the 
Arguments of State that he should not appear too much a 
Protestant, whilst he expected Assistance from a Popish Prince ; 
all these, together with a habit encouraged by an Application 

to 



i88 A Character of 

to his Pleasures, did so loosen and untie him from his first 
Impressions, that I take it for granted, after the first Year or 
two, he was no more a Protestant. If you ask me what he was, 
my answer must be, that he was of the Religion of a young 
Prince in his warm Blood, whose Enquiries were more applied 
to find Arguments against believing, than to lay any settled 
Foundations for acknowledging Providence, Mysteries, <-c. A 
General Creed, and no very long one, may be presumed to be 
the utmost Religion of one, whose Age and Inclination could 
not well spare any Thoughts that did not tend to his 
Pleasures. 

In this kind of Indifference or Unthinkingness, which is too 
natural in the beginnings of Life to be heavily censured, I will 
suppose he might pass some considerable part of his Youth. I 
must presume too that no Occasions were lost, during that Time, 
to insinuate every thing to bend him towards Popery. Great Art 
without intermission, against Youth and Easiness, which are 
seldom upon their guard, must have its Effect. A Man is to be 
admired if he resisteth, and therefore cannot reasonably be 
blamed if he yieldeth to them. When the critical Minute was, 
Pll not undertake to determine ; but certainly the inward Con- 
viction doth generally precede the outward Declarations : At 
what distances, dependeth upon Mens several Complexions and 
Circumstances ; no stated Period can be fixed. 

It will be said that he had not Religion enough to have 
Conviction'., that is a vulgar Error. Conviction indeed is not 
a proper word but where a Man is convinced by Reason ; but 
in the common acceptation, it is applied to those who cannot 
tell why they are so : If Men can be at least as positive in 
a Mistake as when they are in the right ; they may be as clearly 
convinced when they do not know why, as when they do. 

I must presume that no Man of the King's Age, and his 
Methods of Life, could possibly give a good reason for chang- 
ing the Religion in which he was born, let it be what it will. 
But our Passions are much oftener convinced than our Reason. 
He had but little Reading, and that tending to his Pleasures 
more than to his Instruction. In the Library of a young Prince, 

the 



King CHARLES II. 189 

the solemn Folios are not much rumpled, Books of a lighter 
Digestion have the Dog's Ears. 

Some pretend to be very precise in the time of his Recon- 
ciling; The Cardinal de Retz, $c. I will not enter into it 
minutely, but whenever it was, it is observable that the Govern- 
ment of France did not think it adviseable to discover it openly ; 
upon which such obvious Reflections may be made, that I 
will not mention them. 

Such a Secret can never be put into a place which is so 
closely stopt, that there shall be no Chinks. Whispers went 
about, particular Men had Intimations : Cromwell had his 
Advertisements in other things, and this was as well worth his 
paying for. There was enough said of it to startle a great 
many, though not universally diffused ; So much, that if the 
Government here, had not crumbled of itself, his Right alone, 
with that and other clogs upon it, would hardly have thrown it 
down. I conclude that when he came into England he was as 
certainly a Roman Catholick, as that he was a Man of Pleasure ; 
both very consistent by visible Experience. 

It is impertinent to give Reasons for Mens changing their 
Religion. None can give them but themselves, as every Man 
has quite a different way of arguing : A thing which may very 
well be accounted for. They are differing kinds of Wit, to be 
quick to find a Faulty and to be capable to find out a Truth : 
There must be industry in the last; the first requires only 
a lively heat, that catcheth hold of the weak side of any thing, but 
to choose the strong one is another Talent. The reason why Men 
of Wit are often the laziest in their Enquiries is, that their 
heat carrieth their Thoughts so fast, that they are apt to be 
tired, and they faint in the drudgery of a continued Application. 
Have not Men of great Wit in all times permitted their Under- 
standings to give way to their first Impressions ? It taketh off 
from the Diminution when a Man doth not mind a thing; 
and the King had then other Business : The inferior part of the 
Man was then in Possession, and the Faculties of the Brain, as 
to serious and painful Enquiries, were laid asleep at least, tho j 
not extinguished. Careless Men are most subject to Superstition. 

Those 



190 A Character of 

Those who do not study Reason enough to make it their Guide, 
have more Unevenness : As they have Neglects, so they have 
Starts and Frights ; Dreams will serve the turn ; Omens and 
Sicknesses have violent and sudden Effects upon them. Nor 
is the strength of an Argument so effectual from its intrinsick 
Force, as by its being well suited to the Temper of the Party. 

The genteel part of the Catholick Religion might tempt a 
Prince that had more of the fine Gentleman than his governing 
Capacity required : and the exercise of Indulgence to Sinners 
being more frequent in it, than of inflicting Penance, might be 
some recommendation. Mistresses of that Faith are stronger 
Specificks in this case, than any that are in Physick. 

The Roman Catholicks complained of his Breach of Promise 
to them very early. 1 There were broad peepings out, Glimpses 
so often repeated, that to discerning Eyes it was flaring : In 
the very first Year there were such Suspicions as produced 
melancholy shakings of the Head, which were very significant. 
His unwillingness to marry a Protestant was remarkable, though 
both the Catholick and the Christian Crown would have 
adopted her. Very early in his Youth, when any German 
Princess was proposed, he put off the discourse with Rallery. 
A thousand little Circumstances were a kind of accumulative 
Evidence, which in these Cases may be admitted. 

Men that were earnest Protestants were under the sharpness 
of his Displeasure, expressed by Rallery, as well as by other 
ways. Men near him have made Discoveries from sudden 
breakings out in Discourse, fyc. which shewed there was a Root. 
It was not the least skilful part of his concealing himself, to 
make the World think he leaned towards an Indifference in 
Religion. 

He had Sicknesses before his Death, in which he did not 
trouble any Protestant Divines ; those who saw him upon his 
Death-bed, saw a great deal. 

As to his writing those 2 Papers, he might do it. Though 

neither 

1 Upon the Words of his Declaration. 

* Two Papers in Defence of the Roman Catholick Religion, found in this 
King's strong Box, in his own hand, and published by King Jama II. 
afterwards. 



King CHARLES II. 191 

neither his Temper nor Education made him very fit to be an 
Author, yet in this case, (a known Topick so very often re- 
peated) he might write it all himself, and yet not one word of 
it his own. That Church's Argument doth so agree with Men 
unwilling to take pains, the Temptation of putting an End to 
all the trouble of enquiring is so great, that it must be very 
strong reason that can resist : The King had only his meer 
natural Faculties, without any Acquisitions to improve them ; 
so that it is no wonder, if an Argument which gave such Ease 
and Relief to his Mind, made such an Impression, that with 
thinking often of it, (as Men are apt to do of every thing they 
like) he might, by the Effect chiefly of his Memory, put 
together a few Lines with his own Hand, without any help at 
the time; in which there was nothing extraordinary, but that 
one so little inclined to write at all, should prevail with himself 
to do it with the Solemnity of a Casuist. 



II. His DISSIMULATION. 

ONE great Objection made to him was the concealing him- 
self, and disguising his Thoughts. In this there ought 
a Latitude to be given ; it is a Defect not to have it at all, and 
a Fault to have it too much. Human Nature will not allow the 
Mean : like all other things, as soon as ever Men get to do 
them well, they cannot easily hold from doing them too much. 
J Tis the case even in the least things, as singing, fyc. 

In France, he was to dissemble Injuries and Neglects, from 
one reason ; in England he was to dissemble too, though for 
other Causes ; A King upon the Throne hath as great Tempta- 
tions (though of another kind) to dissemble, as a King in Exile. 
The King of France might have his Times of Dissembling as 
much with him, as he could have to do it with the King of 
France : So he was in a School. 

No King can be so little inclined to dissemble but he must 
needs learn it from his Subjects, who every Day give him such 

Lessons 



192 A Character of 

Lessons of it. Dissimulation is like most other Qualities, it 
hath two Sides ; it is necessary, and yet it is dangerous too. 
To have none at all layeth a Man open to Contempt, to have 
too much exposeth him to Suspicion, which is only the less 
dishonourable Inconvenience. If a Man doth not take very 
great Precautions, he is never so much shewed as when he 
endeavoureth to hide himself. One Man cannot take more 
pains to hide himself, than another will do to see into him, 
especially in the Case of Kings. 

It is none of the exalted Faculties of the Mind, since there 
are Chamber-Maids will do it better than any Prince in 
Christendom. Men given to dissembling are like Rooks at play, 
they will cheat for Shillings, they are so used to it. The vulgar 
Definition of Dissembling is downright Lying ; that kind of it 
which is less ill-bred cometh pretty near it. Only Princes and 
Persons of Honour must have gentler Words given to their 
Faults, than the nature of them may in themselves deserve. 

Princes dissemble with too many not to have it discovered ; 
no wonder then that He carried it so far that it was discovered. 
Men compared Notes, and got Evidence ; so that those whose 
Morality would give them leave, took it for an Excuse for 
serving him ill. Those who knew his Face, fixed their Eyes 
there ; and thought it of more Importance to see, than to hear 
what he said. His Face was as little a Blab as most Mens, yet 
though it could not be called a prattling Face, it would some- 
times tell Tales to a good Observer. When he thought fit to 
be angry, he had a very peevish Memory; there was hardly 
a Blot that escaped him. At the same time that this shewed 
the Strength of his Dissimulation, it gave warning too ; it fitted 
his present Purpose, but it made a Discovery that put Men more 
upon their Guard against him. Only Self-flattery furnisheth 
perpetual Arguments to trust again : The comfortable Opinion 
Men have of themselves keepeth up Human Society, which 
would be more than half destroyed without it. 



III. His 



King CHARLES II. 193 



III. His AMOURS, MISTRESSES, fyc. 

IT may be said that his Inclinations to Love were the Effects 
of Health, and a good Constitution, with as little mixture of 
the Seraphick part as ever Man had : And though from that 
Foundation Men often raise their Passions ; I am apt to think 
his stayed as much as any Man's ever did in the lower Region. 
This made him like easy Mistresses : They were generally re- 
signed to him while he was abroad, with an implied Bargain. 
Heroick refined Lovers place a good deal of their Pleasure in the 
Difficulty, both for the vanity of Conquest, and as a better 
earnest of their Kindness. 

After he was restored, Mistresses were recommended to him ; 
which is no small matter in a Court, and not unworthy the 
Thoughts even of a Party. A Mistress either dexterous in her- 
self, or well-instructed by those that are so, may be very useful 
to her Friends, not only in the immediate Hours of her Ministry, 
but by her Influences and Insinuations at other times. It was 
resolved generally by others, whom he should have in his Arms, 
as well as whom he should have in his Councils. Of a Man 
who was so capable of choosing, he chose as seldom as any Man 
that ever lived. 

He had more properly, at least in the beginning of his Time, 
a good Stomach to his Mistresses, than any great Passion for 
them. His taking them from others was never learnt in a 
Romance ; and indeed fitter for a Philosopher than a Knight- 
Errant. His Patience for their Frailties shewed him no exact 
Lover. It is a Heresy according to a true Lover's Creed, 
ever to forgive an Infidelity, or the Appearance of it. Love of 
Ease will not do it, where the Heart is much engaged ; but 
where mere Nature is the Motive, it is possible for a Man to 
think righter than the common opinion, and to argue, that 
a Rival taketh away nothing but the Heart, and leaveth all 
the rest. 

In his latter Times he had no Love, but insensible Engage- 

o ments 






194 4. Character of 

ments tljat made it harder than most might apprehend to untie 
them. The Politicks might have their part ; a Secret, a Com- 
mission, a Confidence in critical Things, though it doth not 
give a Lease for a precise term of Years, yet there may be Diffi- 
culties in dismissing them ; there may be no Love all the while ; 
perhaps the contrary. 

He was said to be as little constant as they were thought to 
be. Though he had no Love, he must have some Appetite, or 
else he could not keep them for meer ease, or for the Love of 
sauntring ; Mistresses are frequently apt to be uneasy ; they 
are in all Respects craving Creatures ; so that though the taste 
of those Joys might be flattened, yet a Man who loved Pleasure 
so as to be very unwilling to part with it, might (with the 
Assistance of his Fancy, which doth not grow old so fast) 
reserve some supplemental Entertainments, that might make 
their personal Service be still of use to him. The Definition of 
Pleasure, is what pleaseth, and if that which grave Men may call 
a corrupted Fancy, shall adminster any Remedies for putting 
off mourning for the loss of Youth, who shall blame it ? 

The young Men seldom apply their censure to these Matters ; 
and the elder have an Interest to be gentle towards a Mistake, 
that seemeth to make some kind of amends for their Decays. 

He had Wit enough to suspect, and he had Wit enough too 
not to care : The Ladies got a great deal more than would have 
been allowed to be an equal bargain in Chancery, for what they 
did for it ; but neither the manner, nor the measure of Pleasure 
is to be judged by others. 

Little Inducements at first grew into strong Reasons by de- 
grees. Men who do not consider Circumstances, but judge at 
a distance, by a general way of arguing, conclude if a Mistress 
in some Cases is not immediately turned off, it must needs be 
that the Gallant is incurably subjected. This will by no means 
hold in private Men, much less in Princes, who are under 
more Entanglements, from which they cannot so easily loosen 
themselves. 

His Mistresses were as different in their Humours, as they 
were in their Looks. They gave Matter of very different Reflec- 
tions. 



King CHARLES II. 195 

tions. The last l especially was quite out of the Definition of 
an ordinary Mistress ; the Causes and the Manner of her being 
first introduced were very different. A very peculiar Distinction 
was spoken of, some extraordinary Solemnities that might 
dignify, though not sanctify her Function. Her Chamber was 
the true Cabinet Council. The King did always by his Councils, 
as he did sometimes by his Meals ; he sat down out of form 
with the Queen, but he supped below Stairs. To have the 
Secrets of a King, who happens to have too many, is to 
have a King in Chains : He must not only, not part with 
her, but he must in his own Defence dissemble his dislike : 
The less kindness he hath, the more he must shew: There 
is great difference between being muffled, and being tied: 
He was the first, not the last. If he had quarelled at some 
times, besides other Advantages, this Mistress had a powerful 
Second (one may suppose a kind of a Guarantee] ; this to a 
Man that loved his Ease, though his Age had not helped, was 
sufficient. 

The thing called Sauntering, is a stronger Temptation to 
Princes than it is to others. The being galled with Impor- 
tunities, pursued from one Room to another with asking Faces ; 
the dismal Sound of unreasonable Complaints, and ill-grounded 
Pretences ; the Deformity of Fraud ill-disguised ; all these 
would make any Man run away from them ; and -I used to 
think it was the Motive for making him walk so fast. So 
it was more properly taking Sanctuary. To get into a Room, 
where all Business was to stay at the Door, excepting such 
as he was disposed to admit, might be very acceptable to 
a younger Man than he was, and less given to his Ease. He 
slumbered after Dinner, had the noise of the Company to divert 
him, without their Solicitations to importune him. In these 
Hours where he was more unguarded, no doubt the cunning 
Men of the Court took their times to make their Observations, 
and there is as little doubt but he made his upon them too : 
Where men had Chinks he would see through them as soon as 

any 

1 The Dutchess of Portsmouth. 
o2 



196 A Character of 

any Man about him. There was much more real Business 
done there in his Politick, than there was in his personal 
Capacity, Stans pede in uno ; and there was the French part 
of the Government, which was not the least. 

In short, without endeavouring to find more Arguments, he 
was used to it. Men do not care to put off a Habit, nor do 
often succeed when they go about it. His was not an unthink- 
ingness ; he did not perhaps think so much of his Subjects as 
they might wish ; but he was far from being wanting to think 
of himself. 



IV. His CONDUCT to his MINISTERS. 

HE lived with his Ministers as he did with his Mistresses ; 
he used them, but he was not in love with them. He 
shewed his Judgment in this, that he cannot properly be said 
ever to have had a Favourite, though some might look so at 
a distance. The present use he might have of them, made him 
throw Favours upon them, which might lead the lookers on 
into that mistake ; but he tied himself no more to them, than 
they did to him, which implied a sufficient Liberty on either 
side. 

Perhaps he made dear Purchases : If he seldom gave pro- 
fusely, but where he expected some unreasonable thing, great 
Rewards were material Evidences against those who received 
them. 

He was free of access to them, which was a very gaining 
Quality. He had at least as good a Memory for the Faults of 
his Ministers as for their Services ; and whenever they fell, the 
whole Inventory came out ; there was not a slip omitted. 

That some of his Ministers seemed to have a Superiority, did 
not spring from his Resignation to them, but to his Ease. He 
chose rather to be eclipsed than to be troubled. 

His Brother was a Minister, and he had his Jealousies of 
him. At the same time that he raised him, he was not dis- 
pleased 



King CHARLES II. 197 

pleased to have him lessened. The cunning Observers found 
this out, and at the same time that he reigned in the Cabinet, 
he was very familiarly used at the private Supper. 

A Minister turned off is like a Lady's Waiting- Woman, that 
knoweth all her Washes, and hath a shrewd guess at her Stray- 
ings : So there is danger in turning them off, as well as in 
keeping them. 

He had back Stairs to convey Informations to him, as well 
as for other Uses ; and though such Informations are some- 
times dangerous, (especially to a Prince that will not take the 
pains necessary to digest them) yet in the main, that humour of 
hearing every body against any body, kept those about him in 
more awe, than they would have been without it. I do not 
believe that ever he trusted any Man, or any set of Men so 
entirely, as not to have some Secrets, in which they had no 
share: As this might make him less well served, so in some 
degree it might make him the less imposed upon. 

You may reckon under this Article his Female Ministry ; for 
though he had Ministers of the Council, Ministers of the 
Cabinet, and Ministers of the Ruelle ; the Ruelle was often the 
last Appeal. Those who were not well there, were used because 
they were necessary at the time, not because they were liked ; 
so that their Tenure was a little uncertain. His Ministers were 
to administer Business to him as Doctors do Physick, wrap it 
up in something to make it less unpleasant ; some skilful 
Digressions were so far from being Impertinent, that they 
could not many times fix him to a fair Audience without them. 
His aversion to Formality made him dislike a serious Discourse, 
if very long, except it was mixed with something to entertain 
him. Some even of the graver sort too, used to carry this very 
far, and rather than fail, use the coarsest kind of youthful talk. 

In general, he was upon pretty even Terms with his Ministers, 
and could as easily bear their being hanged as some of them 
could his being abused. 



V. Of 



198 A Character of 



V. Of his WIT and CONVERSATION. 

HIS Wit consisted chiefly in the Quickness of his Appre- 
hension. His Apprehension made him find Faults, and 
that led him to short Sayings upon them, not always equal, but 
often very good. 

By his being abroad, he contracted a Habit of conversing 
familiarly, which added to his natural Genius, made him very 
apt to talk ; perhaps more than a very nice judgment would 
approve. 

He was apter to make broad Allusions upon any thing that 
gave the least occasion, than was altogether suitable with the 
very Good-breeding he shewed in most other things. The 
Company he kept whilst abroad, had so used him to that sort 
of Dialect, that he was so far from thinking it a Fault or an 
Indecency, that he made it a matter of Rallery upon those 
who could not prevail upon themselves to join in it. As a 
Man who hath a good Stomach loveth generally to talk of 
Meat, so in the vigour of his Age, he began that style, which 
by degrees grew so natural to him, that after he ceased to 
do it out of Pleasure, he continued to do it out of Custom. 
The Hypocrisy of the former Times inclined Men to think 
they could not shew too great an Aversion to it, and that 
helped to encourage this unbounded liberty of Talking, with- 
out the Restraints of Decency which were before observed. In 
his more familiar Conversations with the Ladies, even they must 
be passive, if they would not enter into it. How far Sounds as 
well as Objects may have their Effects to raise Inclination, 
might be an Argument to him to use that Style ; or whether 
using Liberty at its full stretch, was not the general Induce- 
ment without any particular Motives to it. 

The manner of that time of telling Stories, had drawn him 
into it ; being commended at first for the Faculty of telling 
a Tale well, he might insensibly be betrayed to exercise it too 
often. Stories are dangerous in this, that the best expose 
a Man most, by being oftenest repeated. It might pass for an 

Evidence 



King CHARLES II. 199 

Evidence for the Moderns against the Ancients, that it is now 
wholly left off by all that have any pretence to be distinguished 
by their good Sense. 

He had the Improvements of Wine, &c. which made him 
pleasant and easy in Company ; where he bore his part, and was 
acceptable even to those who had no other Design than to be 
merry with him. 

The Thing called Wit, a Prince may taste, but it is dangerous 
for him to take too much of it ; it hath Allurements which by 
refining his Thoughts, take off from their dignity, in applying 
them less to the governing part. There is a Charm in Wit, 
which a Prince must resist : and that to him was no easy matter ; 
it was contesting with Nature upon Terms of Disadvantage. 

His Wit was not so ill-natured as to put Men out of 
countenance. In the case of a King especially, it is more 
allowable to speak sharply of them, than to them. 

His Wit was not acquired by Reading ; that which he had 
above his original Stock by Nature, was from Company, in 
which he was very capable to observe. He could not so 
properly be said to have a Wit very much raised, as a plain, 
gaining, well-bred, recommending kind of Wit. 

But of all Men that ever liked those who had Wit, he could 
the best endure those who had none. This leaneth more towards 
a Satire than a Compliment, in this respect, that he could not 
only suffer Impertinence, but at sometimes seemed to be 
pleased with it. 

He encouraged some to talk a good deal more with him, than 
one would have expected from a Man of so good a Taste : He 
should rather have order'd his Attorney-General to prosecute 
them for a Misdemeanour, in using Common-sense so scurviiy 
in his Presence. However, if this was a Fault, it is arrogant 
for any of his Subjects to object to it, since it would look like 
defying such a piece of Indulgence. He must in some degree 
loosen the Strength of his Wit, by his Condescension to talk 
with Men so very unequal to him. Wit must be used to some 
Equality, which may give it Exercise, or else it is apt either 
to languish^ or to grow a little vulgar, by reigning amongst Men 

of 



2oo A Character of 

of a lower Size, where there is no Awe to keep a Man upon 
his guard. 

It fell out rather by Accident than Choice, that his Mistresses 
were such as did not care that Wit of the best kind should 
have the Precedence in their Apartments. Sharp and strong 
Wit will not always be so held in by Good-manners, as not to be 
a little troublesome in a Ruelle. But wherever Impertinence 
hath Wit enough left to be thankful for being well used, it 
will not only be admitted, but kindly received ; such Charms 
every thing hath that setteth us off by Comparison. 

His Affability was a Part, and perhaps not the least, of his 
Wit. 

It is a Quality that must not always spring from the Heart; 
Mens Pride, as well as their Weakness, maketh them ready to 
be deceived by it : They are more ready to believe it a Homage 
paid to their Merit, than a Bait thrown out to deceive them. 
Princes have a particular Advantage. 

There was at first as much of Art as Nature in his Affability, 
but by Habit it became Natural. It is an Error of the better 
hand, but the Universality taketh away a good deal of the Force 
of it. A Man that hath had a kind Look seconded with 
engaging Words, whilst he is chewing the Pleasure, if another 
in his Sight should be received just as kindly, that Equality 
would presently alter the Relish : The Pride of Mankind will 
have Distinction ; till at last it cometh to Smile for Smile, 
meaning nothing of either Side ; without any kind of Effect ; 
mere Drawing-room Compliments ; the Bow alone would be 
better without them. He was under some Disadvantages of 
this kind, that grew still in proportion as it came by Time to be 
more known that there was less Signification in those Things 
than at first was thought. 

The Familiarity of his Wit must needs have the Effect of 
lessening the Distance fit to be kept to him. The Freedom 
used to him whilst abroad, was retained by those who used it 
longer than either they ought to have kept it, or he have suffered 
it, and others by their Example learned to use the same. A 
King of Spain that will say nothing but Tiendro cuydado, will, 

to 



King CHARLES II. 201 

to the generality, preserve more Respect ; an Engine that will 
speak but sometimes, at the same time that it will draw the 
Raillery of the Few who judge well, it will create Respect in 
the ill-judging Generality. Formality is sufficiently revenged 
upon the World for being so unreasonably laughed at ; it is 
destroyed it is true, but it hath the spiteful Satisfaction of seeing 
every thing destroyed with it. 

His fine Gentlemanship did him no Good, encouraged in it 
by being too much applauded. 

His Wit was better suited to his Condition before he was 
restored than afterwards. The Wit of a Gentleman, and that 
of a crowned Head, ought to be different things. As there is 
a Crown Law, there is a Crown Wit too. To use it with 
Reserve is very good, and very rare. There is a Dignity in 
doing things seldom, even without any other Circumstance. 
Where Wit will run continually, the Spring is apt to fail ; so 
that it groweth vulgar, and the more it is practised, the more 
it is debased. 

He was so good at finding out other Mens weak Sides, that 
it made him less intent to cure his own : That generally 
happeneth. It may be called a treacherous Talent, for it 
betray eth a Man to forget to judge himself, by being so eager 
to censure others : This doth so misguide Men the first Part of 
their Lives, that the Habit of it is not easily recovered, when 
the greater Ripeness of their Judgment inclineth them to look 
more into themselves than into other Men. 

Men love to see themselves in the false Looking-glass of other 
Mens Failings. It maketh a Man think well of himself at the 
time, and by sending his Thoughts abroad to get Food for 
Laughing, they are less at leisure to see Faults at home. Men 
choose rather to make the War in another Country, than to 
keep all well at home. 



VI. His 



2O2 A Character of 



VI. His TALENTS, TEMPER, HABITS, &c. 

HE had a Mechanical Head, which appeared in his 
Inclination to Shipping and Fortification, $c. This 
would make one conclude, that his Thoughts would naturally 
have been more fixed to Business, if his Pleasures had not 
drawn them away from it. 

He had a very good Memory, though he would not always 
make equal good Use of it. So that if he had accustomed 
himself to direct his Faculties to his Business, I see no Reason 
why he might not have been a good deal Master of it. His 
Chain of Memory was longer than his Chain of Thought ; the 
first could bear any Burden, the other was tired by being 
carried on too long ; it was fit to ride a Heat, but it had not 
Wind enough for a long Course. 

A very great Memory often f orgetteth how much Time is lost 
by repeating things of no Use. It was one Reason of his 
talking so much ; since a great Memory will always have 
something to say, and will be discharging itself, whether in or 
out of Season, if a good Judgment doth not go along with it, 
to make it stop and turn. One might say of his Memory, that 
it was a Beaute Journaliere ; Sometimes he would make shrewd 
Applications, <*c. at others he would bring things out of it, 
that never deserved to be laid in it. 

He grew by Age into a pretty exact Distribution of his 
Hours, both for his Business, Pleasures, and the Exercise for 
his Health, of which he took as much care as could possibly 
consist with some Liberties he was resolved to indulge in 
himself. He walked by his Watch, and when he pulled it out 
to look upon it, skilful Men would make haste with what they 
had to say to him. 

He was often retained in his personal against his politick 
Capacity. He would speak upon those Occasions most dex- 
terously against himself; Charles Stuart would be bribed 
against the King ; and in the Distinction, he leaned more to his 
natural Self, than his Character would allow. He would not 

suffer 



King CHARLES II. 203 

suffer himself to be so much fettered by his Character as was 
convenient ; he was still starting out of it, the Power of Nature 
was too strong for the Dignity of his Calling, which generally 
yielded as often as there was a contest. 

It was not the best use he made of his Back-stairs to admit 
Men to bribe him against himself, to procure a Defalcation, 
help a lame Accountant to get off, or side with the Farmers 
against the Improvement of the Revenue. The King was made 
the Instrument to defraud the Crown, which is somewhat 
extraordinary. 

That which might tempt him to it probably was, his finding 
that those about him so often took Money upon those Occasions ; 
so that he thought he might do well at least to be a Partner. 
He did not take the Money to hoard it ; there were those at 
Court who watched those Times, as the Spaniards do for the 
coming in of the Plate Fleet. The Beggars of both Sexes 
helped to empty his Cabinet, and to leave room in them for a 
new lading upon the next Occasion. These Negotiators played 
double with him too, when it was for their purpose so to do. 
He knew it, and went on still ; so he gained his present end, 
at the time, he was less solicitous to enquire into the Con- 
sequences. 

He could not properly be said to be either covetous or liberal ; 
his desire to get was not with an Intention to be rich; and 
his spending was rather an Easiness in letting Money go, than 
any premeditated Thought for the Distribution of it. He 
would do as much to throw off the burden of a present Im- 
portunity, as he would to relieve a want. 

When once the Aversion to bear Uneasiness taketh place in 
a Man's Mind, it doth so check all the Passions, that they are 
dampt into a kind of Indifference; they grow faint and 
languishing, and come to be subordinate to that fundamental 
Maxim, of not purchasing any thing at the price of a Difficulty. 
This made that he had as little Eagerness to oblige, as he had 
to hurt Men ; the Motive of his giving Bounties was rather to 
make Men less uneasy to him, than more easy to themselves ; 
and yet no ill-nature all this while. He would slide from an 

asking 



204 A Character of 

asking Face, and could guess very well. It was throwing a 
Man off from his Shoulders, that leaned upon them with his 
whole weight; so that the Party was not gladder to receive, 
than he was to give. It was a kind of implied bargain ; 
though Men seldom kept it, being so apt to forget the 
advantage they had received, that they would presume the King 
would as little remember the good he had done them, so as to 
make it an Argument against their next Request. 

This Principle of making the love of Ease exercise an entire 
Sovereignty in his Thoughts, would have been less censured in 
a private Man, than might be in a Prince. The Consequence 
of it to the Publick changeth the Nature of that Quality, or else 
a Philosopher in his private Capacity might say a great deal 
to justify it. The truth is, a King is to be such a distinct 
Creature from a Man, that their Thoughts are to be put in 
quite a differing Shape, and it is such a disquieting task to 
reconcile them, that Princes might rather expect to be lamented 
than to be envied, for being in a Station that exposeth them, if 
they do not do more to answer Mens Expectations than human 
Nature will allow. 

That Men have the less Ease for their loving it so much, is so 
far from a wonder, that it is a natural Consequence, especially in 
the case of a Prince. Ease is seldom got without some pains, 
but it is yet seldomer kept without them. He thought giving 
would make Men more easy to him, whereas he might have 
known it would certainly make them more troublesome. 

When Men receive Benefits from Princes, they attribute less 
to his Generosity than to their own Deserts ; so that in their 
own Opinion, their Merit cannot be bounded ; by that mistaken 
Rule, it can as little be satisfied. They would take it for a 
diminution to have it circumscribed. Merit hath a Thirst upon 
it that can never be quenched by golden Showers. It is not 
only still ready, but greedy to receive more. This King 
Charles found in as many Instances as any Prince that ever 
reigned, because the Easiness of Access introducing the good 
Success of their first Request, they were the more encouraged 
to repeat those Importunities, which had been more effectually 

stopt 



King CHARLES II. 205 

stopt in the Beginning by a short and resolute Denial. But his 
Nature did not dispose him to that Method, it directed him 
rather to put off the troublesome Minute for the time, and that 
being his Inclination, he did not care to struggle with it. 

I am of an Opinion, in which I am every Day more confirmed 
by Observation, that Gratitude is one of those things that 
cannot be bought. It must be born with Men, or else all the 
Obligations in the World will not create it. An outward Shew 
may be made to satisfy Decency, and to prevent Reproach; 
but a real Sense of a kind thing is a Gift of Nature, and never 
was, nor can be acquired. 

The Love of Ease is an Opiate, it is pleasing for the time, 
quieteth the Spirits, but it hath its Effects that seldom fail to 
be most fatal. The immoderate Love of Ease maketh a Man's 
Mind pay a passive Obedience to any thing that happeneth : It 
reduceth the Thoughts from having Desire to be content. 

It must be allowed he had a little Over-balance on the well- 
natured Side, not Vigour enough to be earnest to do a kind 
Thing, much less to do a harsh one ; but if a hard thing was 
done to another Man, he did not eat his Supper the worse for 
it. It was rather a Deadness than Severity of Nature, whether 
it proceeded from a Dissipation of Spirits, or by the Habit of 
Living in which he was engaged. 

If a King should be born with more Tenderness than might 
suit with his Office, he would in time be hardned. The Faults 
of his Subjects make Severity so necessary, that by the frequent 
Occasions given to use it, it comes to be habitual, and by 
degrees the Resistance that Nature made at first groweth fainter, 
till at last it is in a manner quite extinguished. 

In short, this Prince might more properly be said to have 
Gifts than Virtues, as Affability, Easiness of Living, Inclinations 
to give, and to forgive : Qualities that flowed from his Nature 
rather than from his Virtue. 

He had not more Application to any thing than the Preserva- 
tion of his Health ; it had an intire Preference to any thing else 
in his Thoughts, and he might be said without Aggravation to 
study that with as little Intermission as any Man in the World. 

He 



206 A Character of 

He understood it very well, only in this he failed, that he thought 
! t was more reconcilable with his Pleasures, than it really was. 
It is natural to have such a Mind to reconcile these, that 'tis 
the easier for any Man that goeth about it, to be guilty of that 
Mistake. 

This made him overdo in point of Nourishment, the better to 
furnish to those Entertainments ; and then he thought by great 
Exercise to make Amends, and to prevent the ill Effects 
of his Blood being too much raised. The Success he had in 
this Method, whilst he had Youth and Vigour to support him 
in it, encouraged him to continue it longer than Nature allowed. 
Age stealeth so insensibly upon us, that we do not think of 
suiting our way of Reasoning to the several Stages of Life ; so 
insensibly that not being able to pitch upon any precise Time, 
when we cease to be young, we either flatter ourselves that we 
always continue to be so, or at least forget how much we are 
mistaken in it. 



VII. CONCLUSION. 

AFTER all this, when some rough Strokes of the Pencil 
have made several Parts of the Picture look a little hard, 
it is a Justice that would be due to every Man, much more to 
a Prince, to make some Amends, and to reconcile Men as much 
as may be to it by the last finishing. 

He had as good a Claim to a kind Interpretation as most 
Men. First as a Prince : living and dead, generous and well- 
bred Men will be gentle to them ; next as an unfortunate Prince 
in the beginning of his Time, and a gentle one in the rest. 

A Prince neither sharpened by his Misfortunes whilst Abroad, 
nor by his Power when restored, is such a shining Character, 
that it is a Reproach not to be so dazzled with it, as not to be able 
to see a Fault in its full Light. It would be a Scandal in this 
Case to have an exact Memory. And if all who are akin to his 
Vices, should mourn for him, never Prince would be better 
attended to his Grave. He is under the Protection of common 

Frailty, 



King CHARLES II. 207 

Frailty, that must engage Men for their own sakes not to be too 
severe, where they themselves have so much to answer. 

What therefore an angry Philosopher would call Lewdness, let 
frailer Men call a Warmth and Sweetness of the Blood, that 
would not be confined in the communicating itself; an over- 
flowing of Good-nature, of which he had such a Stream, that it 
would not be restrained within the Banks of a crabbed and 
unsociable Virtue. 

If he had sometimes less Firmness than might have been 
wished ; let the kindest Reason be given, and if that should be 
wanting, the best Excuse. I would assign the Cause of it to 
be his loving at any rate to be easy, and his deserving the 
more to be indulged in it, by his desiring that every body else 
should be so. 

If he sometimes let a Servant fall, let it be examined whether 
he did not weigh so much upon his Master, as to give him a fail- 
Excuse. That Yieldingness, whatever Foundations it might lay 
to the Disadvantage of Posterity, was a Specifick to preserve us 
in Peace for his own Time. If he loved too much to lie upon 
his own Down-bed of Ease, his Subjects had the Pleasure, 
during his Reign, of lolling and stretching upon theirs. As 
a Sword is sooner broken upon a Feather-bed than upon a 
Table, so his Pliantness broke the blow of a present Mischief 
much better than a more immediate Resistance would perhaps 
have done. 

Ruin saw this, and therefore removed him first to make way 
for further Overturnings. 

If he dissembled ; let us remember, first, that he was a King, 
and that Dissimulation is a Jewel of the Crown ; next, that it 
is very hard for a Man not to do sometimes too much of that, 
which he concludeth necessary for him to practice. Men should 
consider, that as there would be no false Dice, if there were 
no true ones, so if Dissembling is grown universal, it ceaseth 
to be foul play, having an implied Allowance by the general 
Practice. He that was so often forced to dissemble in his own 
Defence, might the better have the privilege sometimes to be 
the Aggressor, and to deal with Men at their own Weapon. 

Subjects 



208 A Cliaracter of King CHARLES II. 

Subjects are apt to be as arbitrary in their Censure, as the 
most assuming Kings can be in their Power. If there might 
be matter for Objections, there is not less reason for Excuses ; 
The Defects laid to his Charge, are such as may claim Indulgence 
from Mankind. 

Should no body throw a Stone at his Faults but those who 
are free from them, there would be but a slender Shower. 

What private Man will throw Stones at him because he 
loved ? Or what Prince, because he dissembled ? 

If he either trusted, or forgave his Enemies, or in some Cases 
neglected his Friends, more than could in Strictness be allowed ; 
let not those Errors be so arraigned as take away the Privi- 
lege that seemeth to be due to Princely Frailties. If Princes 
are under the Misfortune of being accused to govern ill, their 
Subjects have the less right to fall hard upon them, since they 
generally so little deserve to be governed well. 

The truth is, the Calling of a King, with all its glittering, hath 
such an unreasonable weight upon it, that they may rather expect 
to be lamented, than to be envied for being set upon a Pinacle, 
where they are exposed to Censure, if they do not do more to 
answer Mens Expectations, than corrupted Nature will allow. 

It is but Justice therefore to this Prince, to give all due 
Softenings to the less shining Parts of his Life ; to offer Flowers 
and Leaves to hide, instead of using Aggravations to expose 
them. 

Let his Royal Ashes then lie soft upon him, and cover him 
from harsh and unkind Censures ; which though they should 
not be unjust, can never clear themselves from being indecent. 



POLITICAL 



209 

POLITICAL THOUGHTS 

AND 

REFLECTIONS. 

Of Fundamentals. 

EVERY Party, when they find a Maxim for their turn, they 
presently call it a Fundamental, they think they nail it 
with a Peg of Iron, whereas in truth they only tie it with a wisp 
of Straw. 

The word soundeth so well that the Impropriety of it hath 
been the less observed. But as weighty as the word appeareth, 
no Feather hath been more blown about in the World than this 
word, Fundamental. 

It is one of those Mistakes that at sometimes may be of use, 
but it is a Mistake still. 

Fundamental is used as Men use their Friends ; commend 
them when they have need of them, and when they fall out, find 
a hundred Objections to them. 

Fundamental is a Pedestal that Men set every thing upon that 
they would not have broken. It is a Nail every body would 
use to fix that which is good for them : for all Men would 
have that Principle to be immoveable, that serves their use at 
the time. 

Every thing that is created is Mortal, ergo all Fundamentals 
of human Creation will die. 

A true Fundamental must be like the Foundation of a House ; 
if it is undermined the whole House falleth. 

The Fundamentals in Divinity have been changed iii several 
Ages of the World. 

They have made no difficulty in the several Councils, to 
destroy and excommunicate Men for asserting Things that at 
other Times were called Fundamentals. 

HALIFAX P Philosophy, 



2io Political Thoughts and Reflections. 

Philosophy, Astronomy, $c. have changed their Fundamentals 
as the Men of Art no doubt called them at the time. Motion 
of the Earth, $c. 

Even in Morality one may more properly say, There should 
be Fundamentals allowed, than that there are any which in 
Strictness can be maintained. 

However this is the least uncertain Foundation : Fundamental 
is less improperly applied here than any where else. 

Wise and good Men will in all Ages stick to some Funda- 
mentals, look upon them as sacred, and preserve an inviolable 
Respect for them ; but Mankind in general make Morality 
a more malleable thing than it ought to be. 

There is then no certain Fundamental but in Nature, and yet 
there are Objections too. It is a Fundamental in Nature that 
the Son should not kill the Father, and yet the Senate of Venice 
gave a Reward to a Son who brought in his Father's Head, 
according to a Proclamation. 

Salus Populi is an unwritten Law, yet that doth not hinder 
but that it is sometimes very visible ; and as often as it is so, 
it supersedeth all other Laws which are subordinate Things 
compared. 

The great Punishments upon Self-murder, are Arguments 
that it was rather a tempting Sin to be discouraged than an 
unnatural Act. 

It is a Fundamental that where a Man intendeth no hurt he 
should receive none, yet Manslaughter, fyc. are Cases of 
Mercy. 

That a Boy tinder Ten shall not suffer Death, yet where 
Malitia supplet cetatem, otherwise. 

That there were Witches much shaken of late. 
' That the King is not to be deceived in his Grant The 
practical Fundamental the contrary. 

That what is given to God cannot be alienated. Yet in 
practice it is, by Treaties, <-c. and even by the Church itself, 
when they get a better bargain by it. 

I can make no other Definition of a true Fundamental than 
this : viz. That whatever a Man hath a desire to do or to hinder, 

if 



Political Thoughts and Reflections. 2 1 r 

if he hath uncontested and irresistable Power to effect it, that 
he will certainly do it. 

If he thinketh he hath that Power, though he hath it not, he 
will certainly go about it. 

Some would define a Fundamental to be the settling the Laws 
of Nature and common Equity in such a sort as that they may 
be well administered : even in this case there can be nothing 
fixed, but it must vary for the Good of the whole. 

A Constitution cannot make itself ; some body made it, not 
at once but at several times. It is alterable ; and by that 
draweth nearer Perfection ; and without suiting itself to differing 
Times and Circumstances, it could not live. Its Life is pro- 
longed by changing seasonably the several Parts of it at several 
times. 

The Reverence that is given to a Fundamental, in a general 
unintelligible Notion, would be much better applyed to that 
Supremacy or Power which is set up in every Nation in differing 
Shapes, that altereth the Constitution as often as the Good of 
the People requireth it. 

Neither King nor People would now like just the original 
Constitution, without any varyings. 

If Kings are only answerable to God, that doth not secure 
them even in this World ; since if God upon the Appeal thinketh 
fit not to stay, he maketh the People his Instruments. 

I am perswaded that where ever any single Man had Power 
to do himself right upon a deceitful Trustee, he would do it. 
That Thought well digested would go a great way towards the 
discouraging Invasions upon Rights, fyc. 

I lay down then as a Fundamental, 1st, that in every Consti- 
tution there is some Power which neither will nor ought to be 
bounded. 

2. That the King's Prerogative should be as plain a thing as 
the People's Obedience. 

3. That a Power which may by parity of Reason destroy the 
whole Laws, can never be reserved by the Laws. 

4. That in all limited Governments it must give the Governor 
Power to hurt, but it can never be so interpreted as to give him 

p 2 Power 



212 Political Thoughts and Reflections. 

Power to destroy, for then in effect it would cease to be a 
limited Government. 

5. That Severity be rare and great ; for as Tacitus sayeth of 
Nero, f Frequent Punishments made the People call even his 
Justice Cruelty.' 

6. That it is necessary to make the Instruments of Power 
easy ; for Power is hard enough to be digested by those under 
it at the best. 

7. That the People are never so perfectly backed, but that 
they will kick and fling if not stroked at seasonable times. 

8. That a Prince must think if he loseth his People he can 
never regain them. 

It is both wise and safe to think so. 

9. That Kings assuming Prerogative teach the People to do 
so too. 

10. That Prerogative is a Trust. 

11. That they are not the King's Laws, nor the Parliament's 
Laws, but the Laws of England, in which after they have passed 
by the Legislative Power, the People have the Property, and the 
King the Executive part. 

12. That no Abilities should qualify a noted Knave to be em- 
ployed in Business. A Knave can by none of his Dexterities 
make amends for the Scandal he bringeth upon the Crown. 

13. That those who will not be bound by the Laws, rely upon 
Crimes : a third way was never found in the World to secure 
any Government. 

14. That a Seaman be a Seaman ; a Cabinet-Counsellor a 
Man of Business ; an Officer, an Officer. 

15. In corrupted Governments the Place is given for the sake 
of the Man ; in good ones the Man is chosen for the sake of the 
Place. 

16. That Crowds at Court are made up of such as would 
deceive : The real Worshippers are few. 

17. That Salus Populi is the greatest of all Fundamentals, 
yet not altogether an immoveable one. It is a Fundamental for 
a Ship to ride at Anchor when it is in Port, but if a Storm 
cometh the Cable must be cut. 

18. 



Political Thoughts and Reflections. 213 

1 8. Property is not a fundamental Right in one Sense, 
because in the beginning of the World there was none, 
so that Property itself was an Innovation introduced by 
Laws. 

Property is only secured by trusting it in the best Hands, and 
those are generally chosen who are least likely to deceive ; but 
if they should, they have a legal Authority to abuse as well as 
use the Power with which they are trusted, and there is no 
Fundamental can stand in their way, or be allowed as an Excep- 
tion to the Authority that was vested in them. 

19. Magna Charta would fain be made to pass for a Funda- 
mental ; and Sir Edward Coke would have it, that the Grand 
Charter was for the most part declaratory of the principal 
Grounds of the fundamental Laws of England. 

If that referreth to the Common Law, it must be made out 
that every thing in Magna Charta is always and at all times 
necessary in itself to be kept, or else the denying a subsequent 
Parliament the Right of repealing any Law doth by consequence 
deny the preceding Parliament the Right of making it. But 
they are fain to say it was only a declarative Law, which is very 
hard to be proved. Yet suppose it, you must either make the 
Common Law so stated a thing that all Men know it before-hand, 
or else universally acquiesce in it whenever it is alledged, from 
the Affinity it hath to the Law of Nature. Now I would fain 
know whether the Common Law is capable of being denned, 
and whether it doth not hover in the Clouds like the Prerogative, 
and bolteth out like Lightening to be made use of for some 
particular Occasion ? If so, the Government of the World is 
left to a thing that cannot be denned ; and if it cannot be de- 
fined, you know not what it is ; so that the supream Appeal is, 
we know not what. We submit to God Almighty though he 
is incomprehensible, and yet He hath set down His Methods ; 
but for this World, there can be no Government without a 
stated Rule, and a Supream Power not to be controled neither 
by the Dead nor the Living. 

The Laws under the Protection of the King govern in the 
ordinary Administration ; the extraordinary Power is in Acts 

of 



214 Political Thoughts and Reflections. 

of Parliament, from whence there can be no Appeal but to the 
same Power at another time. 

To say a Power is Supream, and not Arbitrary, is not Sense. 
It is acknowledg'd Supream, and therefore, $c. 

If the Common Law is Supream, then those are so who judge 
what is the Common Law ; and if none but the Parliament can 
judge so, there is an end of the Controversy; there is no 
Fundamental:, for the Parliament may judge as they please, 
that is, they have the Authority, but they may judge against 
Right, their Power is good, though their Act is ill ; no good 
Man will outwardly resist the one, or inwardly approve the 
other. 

There is then no other Fundamental, but that every Supream 
Power must be Arbitrary. 

Fundamental is a Word used by the Laity, as the Word 
Sacred is by the Clergy, to fix every thing to themselves they 
have a mind to keep, that nobody else may touch it. 



Of PRINCES. 

A PRINCE who will not undergo the Difficulty of Under- 
standing, must undergo the Danger of Trusting. 

A wise Prince may gain such an Influence, that his Counte- 
nance would be the last Appeal. Where it is not so in some 
degree, his Authority is precarious. 

A Prince must keep up the Power of his Countenance, which 
is not the least of his Prerogatives. 

The Conscience, as well as the Prerogative of a King, must be 
restrained or loosened as is best for his People. 

It may without Scandal be made of stretching Leather, but it 
must be drawn by a steady Hand. 

A King that lets Intercession prevail, will not be long wor- 
shipped. 

A Prince used to War getteth a military Logick that is not 
very well suited to the Civil Administration. 

If 



Political Thoughts and Reflections. 215 

If he maketh War successfully, he groweth into a Demi-God ; 
if without Success, the World throweth him as much below 
Humanity as they had before set him above it. 

A Hero must be sometimes allowed to make bold Strokes, 
without being fettered by strict Reason. 

He is to have some generous Irregularities in his Reasoning, 
or else he will not be a good Thing of his Kind. 



PRINCES (their Rewards of Servants). 

WHEN a Prince giveth any Man a very extravagant Re- 
ward, it looketh as if it was rather for an ill thing than 
a good one. 

Both the Giver and Receiver are out of countenance where 
they are ill suited, and ill applyed. 

Serving Princes will make Men proud at first, and humble 
at last. 

Resolving to serve well, and at the same time resolving to 
please, is generally resolving to do what is not to be done. 

A Man that will serve well must often rule the Master so hard 
that it will hurt him. 

It is thought an unsociable Quality in a Court to do ones 
Duty better than other Men. 

Nothing is less forgiven than setting Patterns Men have no 
mind to follow. 

Men are so unwilling to displease a Prince, that it is as 
dangerous to inform him right, as to serve him wrong. 

Where Men get by pleasing, and lose by serving, the choice 
is so easy that no body can miss it. 



PRINCES, their Secrets. 

MEN are so proud of Princes Secrets, that they will not see 
the danger of them. 

W T hen a Prince trusteth a Man with a dangerous Secret, he 
would not be sorry to hear the Bell toll for him. 

Love 



216 Political Thoughts and Reflections. 



Love of the Subjects to a PRINCE. 

THE Heart of the Subjects yieldeth but a lean Crop where 
it is not cultivated by a wise Prince. 

The Good-will of the Governed will be starved, if it is not 
fed by the good Conduct of the Governors. 



Suffering for PRINCES. 

' I ^HOSE who merit because they suffered, are so very angry 
J- with those that made them suffer, that though their 
Services may deserve Employment, their Temper rendereth 
them unfit for it. 



Of MINISTERS. 

THE World dealeth with Ministers of State as they do 
with ill Fidlers, ready to kick them down Stairs for 
playing ill, though few of the Fault-finders understand their 
Musick enough to be good Judges. 

A Minister who undertaketh to make his Master very great, 
if he faileth, is ruin'd for his folly ; if he succeedeth, he is 
feared for his Skill. 

A good Statesman may sometimes mistake as much by being 
too humble as by being too proud : He must take upon him 
in order to do his Duty, and not in order to the setting 
himself out. 

A Minister is not to plead the King's Command for such 
things as he may in justice be supposed to have directed. 

It is dangerous to serve where the Master hath the Privilege 
not to be blamed. 

It is hard for a Prince to esteem the Parts of a Minister 
without either envying or fearing them ; and less dangerous 

for 



Political Thoughts and Reflections. 217 

for a Minister to shew all the Weakness than all the Strength 
of his Understanding. 

There are so many things necessary to make up a good 
Minister, that no wonder there are so few of them in the 
World. 

There is hardly a rasher thing, than for a Man to venture 
to be a good Minister. 

A Minister of State must have a Spirit of liberal Oeconomy, 
not a restrained Frugality. 

He must enlarge his Family-Soul, and suit it to the bigger 
Compass of a Kingdom. 

A Prince should be asked, why he will do a thing, but not 
why he hath done it. 

If the Boys were to choose a School-master, it should be one 
that would not whip them ; the same thing if the Courtiers 
were to choose a Minister. 

They would have a great many Play-days, no Rods, and 
leave to rob Orchards. The Parallel will hold. 



Wicked MINISTERS. 



A Cunning Minister will engage his Master to begin with 
* * a small wrong Step, which will insensibly engage him 
in a great one. 

A Man that hath the Patience to go by Steps, may deceive 
one much wiser than himself. 

State-business is a cruel Trade; Good-nature is a Bungler 
in it. 



Instruments of STATE-MINISTERS. 

MEN in Business are in as much danger from those 
that work under them, as from those that work against 
them. When 



2i8 Political Thoughts and Reflections. 

When the Instruments bend under the Weight of their Busi- 
ness, it is like a weak-legged Horse that brings his Rider down 
with him. 

As when they are too weak they let a Man fall, so when they 
are too strong they throw him off. 

If Men of Business did not forget how apt their Tools are to 
break or fail, they would shut up Shop. 

They must use things called Men under them, who will spoil 
the best Scheme that can be drawn by Human Understanding. 

Tools that are blunt cannot cut at all, and those that are 
sharp are apt to cut in the wrong place. 

Great difference between a good Tool and a good Workman. 

When the Tools will be Workmen they cut their own Fingers, 
and every body's else. 



Of the PEOPLE. 

t I ^HERE is more Strength in Union than in Number ; wit- 
JL ness the People that in all Ages have been scurvily used, 
because they could so seldom agree to do themselves Right. 

The more the weaker, may be as good a Proverb as, The 
more the merrier. 

A People can no more stand without Government than a 
Child can go without Leading-Strings : as old and as big as 
a Nation is, it can't go by itself, and must be led. The 
Numbers that make its Strength, are at the same time the 
Cause of its Weakness and Incapacity of Acting. 

Men have so discovered themselves to one another, that Union 
is become a mere Word, in reality impracticable. 

They trust, or suspect, not upon Reason but ill-grounded 
Fame ; they would be at ease, saved, protected, fyc. and give 
nothing for it. 

The lower Sort of Men must be indulged the Consolation of 
finding fault with those above them ; without that, they would 
be so melancholy, that it would be dangerous, considering their 
Numbers. 

They 



Political Thoughts and Reflections. 219 

They are too many to be told of their Mistakes, and for that 
Reason they are never to be cured of them. 

The Body of the People are generally either so dead that 
they cannot move, or so mad that they cannot be reclaimed : 
to be neither all in a Flame, nor quite cold, requireth more 
Reason than great Numbers can ever attain. 

The People can seldom agree to move together against a 
Government, but they can to sit still and let it be undone. 

Those that will be Martyrs for the People, must expect to be 
repayed only by their Vanity, or their Virtue. 

A Man that will head the Mob is like a Bull let loose, tyed 
about with Squibs and Crackers. 

He must be half mad that goeth about it, yet at some times 
shall be too hard for all the wise Men in a Kingdom : For 
though good Sense speaketh against Madness, yet it is out of 
Countenance whenever it meets it. 

It would be a greater Reproach to the People that their 
Favour is short-hVd, if their Malice was not so too. 

The Thoughts of the People have no regular Motion, they 
come out by Starts. 

There is an accumulative Cruelty in a number of Men, 
though none in particular are ill-natured. 

The angry Buzz of a Multitude is one of the bloodiest Noises 
in the World. 



Of GOVERNMENT. 

AJ exact Administration, and good choice of proper 
Instruments doth insensibly make the Government in 
a manner absolute without assuming it. 

The best Definition of the best Government is, that it hath 
no Inconveniences but such as are supportable ; but Incon- 
veniences there must be. 

The Interest of the Governors and the Governed is in reality 
the same, but by Mistakes on both Sides it is generally very 

differing. 



22O Political Thoughts and Reflections. 

differing. He who is a Courtier by Trade, and the Country 
Gentleman who will be popular, right or wrong, help to keep 
up this unreasonable Distinction. 

There are as many apt to be angry at being well, as at being 
ill governed. For most Men to be well governed must be 
scurvily used. 

As Mankind is made, the keeping it in order is an ill-natured 
Office. 

It is like a great Galley where the Officers must be whipping 
with little Intermission, if they will do their Duty. 

It is in a disorderly Government as in a River, the lightest 
Things swim at the top. 

A Nation is best to be judged by the Government it is under 
at the time. Mankind is moulded to good or ill, according as 
the Power over it is well or ill directed. A Nation is a Mass of 
Dough, it is the Government that kneadeth it into Form. 

Where Learning and Trade flourish in a Nation, they pro- 
duce so much Knowledge, and That so much Equality among 
Men, that the Greatness of Dependencies is lost, but the Nation 
in general will be the better for it : For if the Government be 
wise, it is the more easily governed ; if not, the bad Govern- 
ment is the more easily overturned, by Mens being more united 
against it than when they depended upon great Men ; who 
might sooner be gained over and weakend by being divided. 

There is more reason for allowing Luxury in a Military 
Government than in another ; the perpetual Exercise of War 
not only excuseth but recommendeth the Entertainments in 
the Winter. In another it groweth into a Habit of uninter- 
rupted Expences and idle Follies, and the Consequences of 
them to a Nation become irrecoverable. 



CLERGY. 

IF the Clergy did not live like temporal Men, all the Power 
of Princes could not bring them under the temporal 
Jurisdiction. 

They 



Political Thoughts and Reflections. 221 

They who may be said to be of God Almighty's Houshold, 
should shew by their Lives that he hath a well disciplined 
Family. 

The Clergy in this Sense, of Divine Institution ; that God 
hath made Mankind so weak that it must be deceived. 



RELIGION. 

IT is a strange thing that the way to save Mens Souls 
should be such a cunning Trade, as to require a skilful 
Master. 

The time spent in praying to God, might be better employed 
in deserving well from him. 

Men think praying the easier Task of the two, and therefore 
choose it. 

The People would not believe in God at all, if they were not 
permitted to believe wrong in him. 

The several Sorts of Religion in the World are little more 
than so many spiritual Monopolies. 

If their Interests could be reconciled, their Opinions would 
be so too. 

Men pretend to serve God Almighty who doth not need it, 
but make use of him because they need him. 

Factions are like Pirates that set out false Colours ; when 
they come near a Booty Religion is put under Deck. 

Most Mens Anger about Religion is as if two Men should 
quarrel for a Lady they neither of them care for. 



Of PREROGATIVE, POWER and LIBERTY. 

A Prerogative that tendeth to the Dissolution of all Laws 
must be void in itself, felo de se ; for a Prerogative 
is a Law. The reason of any Law is, that no Man's Will 
should be a Law. 

The 



222 Political Thoughts and Reflections. 

The King is the Life of the Law, and cannot have a Pre- 
rogative that is mortal to it. 

The Law is to have a Soul in it, or it is a dead thing. The 
King is by his Sovereign Power to add Warmth and Vigour to 
the meaning of the Law. We are by no means to imagine 
there is such an Antipathy between them, that the Prerogative, 
like a Basilisk, is to kill the Law, whenever it looks upon it. 

The Prince hath very rarely use of his Prerogative, but hath 
constantly a great Advantage by the Laws. 

They attribute to the Pope indeed, that all the Laws of the 
Church are in his Breast ; but then he hath the Holy Ghost for 
his learned Counsel, fyc. 

The People's Obedience must be plain, and without Evasions. 
The Prince's Prerogative should be so too. 

King Charles the First made this Answer to the Petition of 
Right, (to the Observation whereof he held himself obliged in 
Conscience, as well as of his Prerogative.) ' That the People's 

* Liberties strengthen the King's Prerogative, and the King's 

* Prerogative is to defend the People's Liberties.' 

That Prince's Declarations allow the Original of Government 
to come from the People. Prerogative never yet pretended to 
repealing. 

The first ground of Prerogative was to enable the Prince to 
do good, not to do every thing. 

If the ground of a King's desire of Power be his assurance of 
himself that he will do no hurt by it ; is it not an Argument for 
Subjects to desire to keep that which they will never abuse ? 

It must not be such a Prerogative as giveth the Government 
the Rickets ; all the Nourishment to go to the upper part, and 
the lower starved. 

As a Prince is in danger who calleth a stronger than himself 
to his Assistance ; so when Prerogative useth Necessity for an 
Argument, it calleth in a stronger thing than itself. The same 
Reason may overturn it. Necessity too is so plain a thing, 
that every body sees it, so that the Magistrate hath no great privi- 
lege in being the Judge of it. Necessity therefore is a dangerous 
Argument for Princes, since (wherever it is real) it constitutes 

every 



Political Thoughts and Reflections. 223 

every Man a Magistrate, and gives as great a Power of dis- 
pensing to every private Man, as a Prince can claim. 

It is not so proper to say that Prerogative justifieth Force, 
as that Force supporteth Prerogative. They have not been such 
constant Friends but that they have had terrible Fallings out. 

All Powers are of God ; and between Permission and Appoint- 
ment, well considered, there is no real difference. 

In a limited Monarchy, Prerogative and Liberty are as 
jealous of one another as any two neighbouring States can be 
of their respective Incroachments. 

They ought not to part for small Bickerings, and must bear 
little Jealousies without breaking for them. 

Power is so apt to be insolent, and Liberty to be saucy, that 
they are very seldom upon good Terms. 

They are both so quarrelsome that they will not easily enter 
into a fair Treaty. For indeed it is hard to bring them 
together; they ever quarrel at a distance. 

Power and Liberty are respectively managed in the World 
in a manner not suitable to their Value and Dignity. 

They are both so abused that it justifieth the Satires that are 
generally made upon them. And 

They are so in Possession of being misapplied, that instead of 
censuring their being abused, it is more reasonable to wonder 
whenever they are not so. 

They are perpetually wrestling, and have had their Turns 
when they have been thrown, to have their Bones broken by it. 

If they were not both apt to be out of Breath, there would be 
no living. 

If Prerogative will urge Reason to support it, it must bear 
Reason when it resisteth it. 

It is a Diminution instead of a Glory, to be above treating 
upon equal Terms with Reason. 

If the People were designed to be the sole Property of the 
supream Magistrate, sure God would have made them of 
a differing and subordinate Species; as he hath the Beasts, 
that by the Inferiority of their Nature they might the better 
submit to the Dominion of Mankind. 

If 



224 Political Thoughts and Reflections. 

If none were to have Liberty but those who understand what 
it is, there would not be many freed Men in the World. 

When the People contend for their Liberty, they seldom get 
any thing by their Victory but new Masters. 

Liberty can neither be got, nor kept, but by so much Care, 
that Mankind generally are unwilling to give the Price for it. 
And therefore, in the Contest between Ease and Liberty, the 
first hath generally prevailed. 

Of LAWS. 

E.WS are generally not understood by three Sorts of 
Persons, viz. by those that make them, by those that 
execute them, and by those that suffer, if they break them. 

Men seldom understand any Laws but those they/<?e/. 

Precepts, like Fomentations, must be rubbed into us; and 
with a rough Hand too. 

If the Laws could speak for themselves, they would complain 
of the Lawyers in the first Place. 

There is more Learning now required to explain a Law made, 
than went to the making it. 

The Law hath so many Contradictions, and Varyings from 
itself, that the Law may not improperly be called a Law- 
breaker. 

It is become too changeable a thing to be defined : it is made 
little less a Mystery than the Gospel. 

The Clergy and the Lawyers, like the Free-Masons, may be 
supposed to take an Oath not to tell the Secret. 

The Men of Law have a Biass to their calling in the 
Interpretations they make of the Law. 

Of PARLIAMENTS. 

THE Parliaments are so altered from their original Constitu- 
tion, that between the Court and the Country, the House, 
instead of being united, is like Troops of a contrary Party facing 
one another, and watching their Advantage. 

Even the well-meaning Men who have good Sense too, have 

their 



Political Thoughts and Reflections. 225 

their Difficulties in an Assembly; what they offer honestly 
for a good End, will be skilfully improved for an ill one. 

It is strange that a gross Mistake should live a Minute in an 
Assembly ; one would expect that it should be immediately 
stifled by their discerning Faculties. But Practice convinceth 
that a Mistake is no where better entertained. 

In Parliaments, Men wrangle in behalf of Liberty, that do 
as little care for it, as they deserve it. 

Where the People in Parliament give a good deal of Money 
in exchange for any thing from the Crown, a wise Prince can 
hardly have an ill bargain. The present Gift begetteth more ; 
it is a Politick kind of Generation ; and whenever a Parliament 
does not bring forth, it is the Unskilfulness of the Government, 
that is the cause of the Miscarriage. 

Parliaments would bind and limit one another, and enact 
that such and such things shall not be made Precedents. 
There is not a word of Sense in this Language, which yet is 
to be understood the Sense of the Nation, and is printed as 
solemnly as if it was Sense. 



Of PARTIES. 

THE best Party is but a kind of a Conspiracy against the 
rest of the Nation. They put every body else out of 
their Protection. Like the Jews to the Gentiles, all others 
are the Offscowrings of the World. 

Men value themselves upon their Principles, so as to neglect 
Practice, Abilities, Industry, <-c. 

Party cutteth off one half of the World from the other, so 
that the mutual Improvement of Mens Understanding by 
conversing, fyc. is lost, and Men are half undone, when they 
lose the advantage of knowing what their Enemies think of 
them. 

It is like Faith without Works ; They take it for a Dispensa- 

Q tion 



226 Political Thoughts and Reflections. 

tion from all other Duties, which is the worst kind of dispensing 
Power. 

It groweth to be the Master Thought ; the Eagerness against 
one another at home, being a nearer Object, extinguisheth that 
which we ought to have against our foreign Enemies ; and few 
Mens Understandings can get above overvaluing the Danger 
that is nearest, in comparison of that more remote. 

It turneth all Thought into talking instead of doing. Men 
get a habit of being unuseful to the Publick by turning in 
a Circle of Wrangling and Railing, which they cannot get 
out of: And it may be remarked, that a speculative Coxcomb 
is not only unuseful, but mischievous : A practical Coxcomb 
under discipline may be made use of. 

It maketh a Man thrust his Understanding into a Corner, 
and confine it till by degrees he destroys it. 

Party is generally an Effect of Wantonness, Peace, and 
Plenty, which beget Humour, Pride, <-c. and that is called 
Zeal and publick Spirit. 

They forget insensibly that there is any body in the World 
but themselves, by keeping no other Company; so they 
miscalculate cruelly. And thus Parties mistake their Strength 
by the same reason that private Men overvalue themselves; 
for we by finding fault with others, build up a partial Esteem 
of ourselves upon the Foundation of their Mistakes : So Men 
in Parties find faults with those in the Administration, not 
without reason, but forget that they would be exposed to 
the same Objections, and perhaps greater, if it was their 
Adversary's turn to have the fault-finding part. 

There are Men who shine in a Faction, and make a Figure 
by Opposition, who would stand in a worse light, if they had 
the Preferments they struggle for. 

It looketh so like Courage (but nothing that is like is the 
same) to go to the Extream, that Men are carried away with 
it, and blown up out of their Senses by the wind of popular 
Applause. 

That which looketh bold is a great Object that the People 
can discern ; But that which is wise is not so easily seen : It is 

one 



Political Thoughts and Reflections. 227 

one part of it that it is not seen, but at the End of a Design. 
Those who are disposed to be wise too late, are apt to be 
valiant too early. 

Most Men enter into a Party rashly, and retreat from it as 
shamefully. As they encourage one another at first, so they 
betray one another at last : And because every Qualification is 
capable of being corrupted by the Excess, they fall upon the 
extream, to fix mutual Reproaches upon one another. 

Party is little less than an Inquisition, where Men are under 
such a Discipline in carrying on the common Cause, as leaves 
no Liberty of private Opinion. 

It is hard to produce an Instance where a Party did ever 
succeed against a Government, except they had a good handle 
given them. 

No original Party ever prevailed in a turn ; it brought up 
something else, but the first Projectors were thrown off. 

If there are two Parties, a Man ought to adhere to that which 
he disliketh least, though in the whole he doth not approve it : 
For whilst he doth not list himself in one or the other Party, 
he is looked upon as such a Straggler, that he is fallen upon by 
both. Therefore a Man under such a Misfortune of Singularity, 
is neither to provoke the World, nor disquiet himself, by taking 
any particular Station. 

It becometh him to live in the Shade, and keep his Mistakes 
from giving Offence ; but if they are his Opinions, he cannot 
put them off as he doth his Cloaths. Happy those who are 
convinced so as to be of the general Opinions. 

Ignorance maketh most Men go into a Party, and Shame 
keepeth them from getting out of it. 

More Men hurt others they do not know why than for any 
reason. 

If there was any Party entirely composed of honest Men, it 
would certainly prevail; but both the honest Men and the 
Knaves resolve to turn one another off when the Business is 
done. 

They by turns defame all England, so nobody can be employed 
that hath not been branded : There are few Things so criminal 
as a Place. 

Q2 Of 



228 Political Thoughts and Reflections. 

Of COURTS. 

' I ^HE Court may be said to be a Company of well-bred 
JL fashionable Beggars. 

At Court, if a Man hath too much Pride to be a Creature, 
he had better stay at home: A Man who will rise at Court 
must begin, by creeping upon All-four : A Place at Court, like 
a Place in Heaven, is to be got by being much upon one's 
Knees. 

There are hardly two Creatures of a more differing Species 
than the same Man, when he is pretending to a Place, and 
when he is in Possession of it. 

Mens Industry is spent in receiving the Rents of a Place, 
there is little left for discharging the Duty of it. 

Some Places have such a corrupting Influence upon the Man, 
that it is a supernatural thing to resist it. 

Some Places lye so fair to entertain Corruption, that it 
looketh like renouncing a due Perquisite, not to go into it. 

If a getting Fool would keep out of Business, he would grow 
richer in a Court than a Man of Sense. 

One would wonder that in a Court where there is so little 
Kindness, there should be so much whispering. 

Men must brag of kind Letters from Court, at the same 
time that they do not believe one Word of them. 

Men at Court think so much of their own Cunning, that they 
forget other Mens. 

After a Revolution, You see the same Men in the Drawing- 
room, and within a Week the same Flatterers. 



Of PUNISHMENT. 

WHEREVER a Government knows when to show the Rod, 
it will not often be put to use it. But between the want 
of Skill, and the want of Honesty, Faults generally either 
escape Punishment, or are mended to no Purpose. 

Men 



Political Thoughts and Reflections. 229 

Men are not hanged for stealing Horses, but that Horses may 
not be stolen. 

Wherever a Knave is not punished, an honest Man is 
laughed at. 

A Cheat to the Publick is thought infamous, and yet to accuse 
him is not thought an honourable part. What a Paradox ! *Tis 
an ill Method, to make the Aggravation of the Crime a Security 
against the Punishment ; so that the Danger is not to rob, but 
not to rob enough. 

Treason must not be inlayed Work of several Pieces, it must 
be an entire Piece of itself. Accumulative in that case is 
a murdering Word, that carrieth Injustice, and no Sense in it. 

An Inference, though never so rational, should go no farther 
than to justify a Suspicion, not so far as to inflict a Punishment. 
Nothing is so apt to break with Stretching, as an Inference ; and 
nothing so ridiculous, as to see how Fools will abuse one. 



MORAL 



230 

MORAL THOUGHTS. 

AND 

REFLECTIONS. 



Of the WORLD. 

IT is from the Shortness of Thought, that Men imagine there 
is any great Variety in the World. 

Time hath thrown a Vail upon the Faults of former Ages, or 
else we should see the same Deformities we condemn in the 
present Times. 

When a Man looketh upon the Rules that are made, he will 
think there can be no Faults in the World ; and when he looketh 
upon the Faults, there are so many he will be tempted to think 
there are no Rules. 

They are not to be reconciled, otherwise than by concluding 
that which is called Frailty is the incurable Nature of Mankind. 

A Man that understandeth the World must be weary of it ; 
and a Man who doth not, for that Reason ought not to be 
pleased with it. 

The Uncertainty of what is to come, is such a dark Cloud, that 
neither Reason nor Religion can quite break through it ; and 
the Condition of Mankind is to be weary of what we do know, 
and afraid of what we do not. 

The World is beholden to generous Mistakes for the greatest 
Part of the Good that is done in it. 

Our Vices and Virtues couple with one another, and get 
Children that resemble both their Parents. 

If a Man can hardly inquire into a Thing he undervalueth, 
how can a Man of good Sense take pains to understand the 
World ? 

To understand the World, and to like it, are two things not 
easily to be reconciled. 

That 



Moral Thoughts and Reflections. 231 

That which is called an Able Man is a great Over-valuer of 
the World, and all that belongeth to it. 

All that can be said of him is, that he maketh the best of the 
General Mistake. 

It is the Fools and the Knaves that make the Wheels of the 
World turn. They are the World; those few who have Sense 
or Honesty sneak up and down single, but never go in Herds. 

To be too much troubled is a worse way of over-valuing the 
World than the being too much pleased. 

A Man that steps aside from the World, and hath leisure to 
observe it without Interest or Design, thinks all Mankind as 
mad as they think him, for not agreeing with them in their 
Mistakes. 



Of AMBITION. 

serious Folly of wise Men in over-valuing the World, 
A is as contemptible as any thing they think fit to censure. 

The first Mistake belonging to Business is the going into it. 

Men make it such a Point of Honour to be fit for Business, 
that they forget to examine whether Business is fit for a Man 
of Sense. 

There is Reason to think the most celebrated Philosophers 
would have been Bunglers at Business ; but the Reason is be- 
cause they despised it. 

It is not a Reproach but a Compliment to Learning, to say, 
that Great Scholars are less fit for Business ; since the truth is, 
Business is so much a lower thing than Learning, that a Man 
used to the last cannot easily bring his Stomach down to the 
first. 

The Government of the World is a great thing; but it is 
a very coarse one too, compared with the Fineness of Speculative 
Knowledge. 

The Dependance of a great Man upon a greater, is a Sub- 
jection that lower Men cannot easily comprehend. 

Ambition 



232 Moral Thoughts and Reflection*. 

Ambition hath no Mean, it is either upon all four or upon 
Tiptoes. 

Nothing can be humbler than Ambition, when it is so 
disposed. 

Popularity is a Crime from the Moment it is sought ; it is 
only a Virtue where Men have it whether they will or no. 

It is generally an Appeal to the People from the Sentence 
given by Men of Sense against them. 

It is stepping very low to get very high. 

Men by Habit make irregular Stretches of Power, without 
discerning the Consequence and Extent of them. 

Eagerness is apt to overlook Consequences, it is loth to be 
stopt in its Career ; for when Men are in great haste, they see 
only in a straight Line. 



Of CUNNING and KNAVERY. 

/RUNNING is so apt to grow into Knavery, that an honest 
\^4 Man will avoid the Temptation of it. But Men in this 
Age are half bribed by the Ambition of circumventing, with- 
out any other encouragements. So proud of the Character 
of being able Men, that they do not care to have their Dexterity 
confined. 

In this Age, when it is said of a Man, He knows how to live, 
it may be implyM he is not very honest. 

An honest Man must lose so many Occasions of Getting, that 
the World will hardly allow him the Character of an Able one. 

There is however more Wit requisite to be an honest Man, 
than there is to be a Knave. 

The most necessary thing in the World, and yet the least 
usual, is to reflect that those we deal with, may know how to be 
as arrant Knaves as ourselves. 

The Eagerness of a Knave maketh him often as catchable, as 
Ignorance maketh a Fool. 

No Man is so much a Fool as not to have Wit enough some- 
times 



Moral Thoughts and Reflections. 233 

times to be a Knave ; nor any so cunning a Knave, as not to 
have the Weakness sometimes to play the Fool. 

The Mixture of Fool and Knave, maketh up the parti-coloured 
Creatures that make all the Bustle in the World. 

There is not so pleasant a Quarry, as a Knave taken in a Net 
of his own making. 

A Knave leaneth sometimes so hard upon his Impudence, that 
it breaketh and lets him fall. 

Knavery is in such perpetual Motion, that it hath not always 
Leisure to look to its own Steps ; 'tis like sliding upon Scates, 
no Motion so smooth or swift, but none gives so terrible a Fall. 

A Knave loveth Self so heartily, that he is apt to over- 
strain it : by never thinking he can get enough, he gets so much 
less. His Thought is like Wine that fretteth with too much 
fermenting. 

The Knaves in eveiy Government are a kind of Corporation ; 
and though they fall out with one another, like all Beasts of 
Prey, yet upon occasion they unite to support the common 
Cause. 

It cannot be said to be such a Corporation as the Bank of 
England, but they are a numerous and formidable Body, scarce 
to be resisted ; but the Point is, they can never rely upon one 
another. 

Knaves go chainM to one another like Slaves in the Gallies, 
and cannot easily untie themselves from their Company. Their 
Promises and Honour indeed do not hinder them, but other 
intangling Circumstances keep 'em from breaking loose. 

If Knaves had not foolish Memories, they would never trust 
one another so often as they do. 

Present Interest, like present Love, maketh all other Friend- 
ship look cold to it, but it faileth in the holding. 

When one Knave betrayeth another, the one is not to be 
blamed, nor the other to be pitied. 

When they complain of one another as if they were honest 
Men, they ought to be laughM at as if they were Fools. 

There are some Cunning-men who yet can scarce be called 
Rational Creatures; yet they are often more successful than 

Men 



234 Moral Thoughts and Reflections. 

Men of Sense, because those they have to deal with are upon 
a looser Guard ; and their Simplicity maketh their Knavery 
unsuspected. 

There is no such thing as a venial Sin against Morality, no 
such thing as a small Knavery : He that carries a small Crime 
easily, will carry it on when it grows to be an Ox. But the 
little Knaves are the greater of the two, because they have less 
the Excuse of Temptation. 

Knavery is so humble, and Merit so proud, that the latter is 
thrown down because it cannot stoop. 



Of FOLLY and FOOLS. 

'"pHERE are five Orders of Fools, as of Building: i. The 

-L Blockhead, a. Coxcomb, 3. Vain Blockhead, 4. Grave 
Coxcomb, and 5. The Half-witted Fellow ; this last is of the 
Composite Order. 

The Follies of grave Men have the Precedence of all others, 
a ridiculous Dignity, that gives them a Right to be laughed at 
in the first place. 

As the masculine Wit is the strongest, so the masculine 
Impertinence is the greatest. 

The Consequence of a Half- Wit is a Half-Will, there is not 
Strength enough in the Thought to carry it to the End. 

A Fool is naturally recommended to our Kindness by setting 
us off by the Comparison. Men are grateful to Fools for giving 
them the Pleasure of contemning them. 

But Folly hath a long Tail that is not seen at first : for every 
single Folly hath a Root, out of which more are ready to sprout ; 
and a Fool hath so unlimited a Power of mistaking, that a Man 
of Sense can never comprehend to what degree it may extend. 

There are some Fools so low, that they are preferred when 
they are laught at. Their being named putteth them in the 
List of Men, which is more than belongeth to them. 

One 



Moral Thoughts and Reflections. 235 

One should no more laugh at a contemptible Fool, than at 
a dead Fly. 

The Dissimulation of a Fool should come within the Statute 
of Stabbing. It giveth no Warning. 

A Fool will be rude from the Moment he is allowed to be 
familiar ; he can make no other use of Freedom than to be 
unmannerly. 

Weak Men are apt to be cruel, because they stick at nothing 
that may repair the ill Effect of their Mistakes. 

Folly is often more cruel in the Consequence, than Malice can 
be in the Intent. 

Many a Man is murthered by the well-meant Mistakes of his 
unthinking Friends. 

A weak Friend, if he will be kind, ought to go no farther 
than Wishes ; if he proffereth either to say, or to do, it is 
dangerous. 

A Man had as good go to Bed to a Razor, as to be intimate 
with a foolish Friend. 

Mistaken Kindness is little less dangerous than premeditated 
Malice. 

A Man hath not the Relief of being angry at the Blows 
of a mistaken Friend. 

A busy Fool is fitter to be shut up than a downright 
Madman. 

A Man that hath only Wit enough not to do Hurt, com- 
mitteth a Sin if he aimeth at doing Good. 

His passive Understanding must not pretend to be active. 

It is a Sin against Nature for such a Man to be meddling. 

It is hard to find a Blockhead so wise as to be upon the De- 
fensive ; he will be sallying, and then he is sure to be ill used. 

If a dull Fool can make a Vow and keep it, never to speak 
his own Sense, or do his own Business, he may pass a great 
while for a rational Creature. 

A Blockhead is as ridiculous when he talketh, as a Goose is 
when it flieth. 

The grating a Gridiron is not a worse Noise, than the jingling 
of Words is to a Man of Sense. 

It 



236 Moral Thoughts and Reflections. 

It is Ill-manners to silence a Fool, and Cruelty to let him 
go on. 

Most Men make little other use of their Speech than to give 
evidence against their own Understanding. 

A great Talker may be a Man of Sense, but he cannot be one, 
who will venture to rely upon him. 

There is so much Danger in Talking, that a Man strictly wise 
can hardly be called a sociable Creature. 

The great Expence of Words is laid out in setting ourselves 
out, or deceiving others ; to convince them requireth but a few. 

Many Words are always either suspicious or ridiculous. 

A Fool hath no Dialogue within himself, the first Thought 
carrieth him without the Reply of a second. 

A Fool will admire or like nothing that he understands, 
a Man of Sense nothing but what he understands. 

Wise Men gain, and poor Men live, by the Superfluities of 
Fools. 

Till Follies become ruinous, the World is better with than it 
would be without them. 

A Fool is angry that he is the Food of a Knave, forgetting 
that it is the End of his Creation. 



Of HOPE. 

HOPE is a kind Cheat ; in the Minute of our Disappoint- 
ment we are angry, but upon the whole matter there is 
no Pleasure without it. 

It is so much a pleasanter thing than Truth to the greatest 
Part of the World, that it hath all their Kindness, the other only 
hath their Respect. 

Hope is generally a wrong Guide, though it is very good 
Company by the way. It brusheth through Hedge and Ditch 
till it cometh to a great Leap, and there it is apt to fall and 
break its Bones. 

It 



Moral Thoughts and Reflections. 237 

It would be well if Hopes carried Men only to the top of the 
Hill, without throwing them afterwards down the Precipice. 

The Hopes of a Fool are blind Guides, those of a Man of 
Sense doubt often of their Way. 

Men should do with their Hopes as they do with tame Fowl, 
cut their Wings that they may not fly over the Wall. 

A hoping Fool hath such terrible Falls, that his Brains are 
turned, though not cured by them. 

The Hopes of a Fool are Bullets he throws into the Air, that 
fall down again and break his Skull. 

There can be no entire Disappointment to a wise Man, be- 
cause he maketh it a Cause of succeeding another time. A Fool 
is so unreasonably raised by his Hopes, that he is half dead by 
a Disappointment : his mistaken Fancy draweth him so high, 
that when he falleth, he is sure to break his Bones. 



Of ANGER. 

ANGER is a better Sign of the Heart than of the Head ; it 
jLJL is a breaking out of the Disease of Honesty. Just Anger 
may be as dangerous as it could be if there was no Provocation 
to it ; for a Knave is not so nice a Casuist but that he will ruin, 
if he can, any Man that blameth him. 

Where Ill-nature is not predominant, Anger will be short- 
breathed, it cannot hold out a long Course. Hatred can be 
tired and cloyed as well as Love : for our Spirits, like our 
Limbs, are tired with being long in one Posture. 

There is a Dignity in Good-sense that is offended and defaced 
by Anger. 

Anger is never without an Argument, but seldom with a 
good one. 

Anger raiseth Invention but it overheateth the Oven. 

Anger, like Drink, raiseth a great deal of unmannerly Wit. 

True Wit must come by Drops ; Anger throweth it out in 
a Stream, and then it is not likely to be of the best kind. 

Ill Language punisheth Anger by drawing a Contempt upon it. 

Of 



238 Moral Thoughts and Reflections. 



Of APOLOGIES 

IT is a dangerous Task to answer Objections, because they 
are helped by the Malice of Mankind. 

A bold Accusation doth at first draw such a general Attention, 
that it gets the World on its side. 

To a Man who hath a mind to find a Fault, an Excuse gene- 
rally giveth farther hold. 

Explaining is generally half confessing. 

Innocence hath a very short Style. 

When a Jealousy of any kind is once raised, it is as often 
provoked as cured by any Arguments, let them be never so 
reasonable. 

When Laziness letteth things alone, it is a Disease; but 
when Skill doth it, it is a Vertue. 

Malice may help a Fool to aggravate, but there must be Skill 
to know how to extenuate. 

To lessen an Object that at the first Sight giveth Offence, 
requireth a dexterous Hand : There must be Strength as well 
as Skill to take off the Weight of the first Impression. 

When a Man is very unfortunate, it looketh like a saucy thing 
in him to justify himself. 

A Man must stoop sometimes to his ill Star, but he must 
never lie down to it. 

The Vindications Men make of themselves to Posterity would 
hardly be supported by Good-Sense, if they were not of some 
Advantage to their own Families. 

The defending an ill Thing is more criminal than the doing 
it, because it wanteth the Excuse of its not being premeditated. 

An Advocate for Injustice is like a Bawd that is worse than 
her Client who committeth the Sin. 

There is hardly any Man so strict as not to vary a little from 
Truth when he is to make an Excuse. 

Not telling all the Truth is hiding it, and that is comforting 
or abetting a Lye. 

A long Vindication is seldom a skilful one. 

Long doth at least imply Doubtful in such a Case. 

A 



Moral Thoughts and Reflections. 239 

A Fool should avoid the making an Excuse, as much as the 
committing a Fault ; for a Fool's Excuse is always a second 
Fault : and whenever he will undertake either to hide or mend 
a thing, he proclaimeth and spoileth it. 



Of MALICE and ENVY. 

MALICE is a greater Magnifying-Glass than Kind- 
ness. 

Malice is of a low Stature, but it hath very long Arms. It 
often reacheth into the next World, Death itself is not a 
Bar to it. 

Malice, like Lust, when it is at the Height, doth not know 
Shame. 

If it did not sometimes cut itself with its own Edge, it would 
destroy the World. 

Malice can mistake by being keen as well as by being dull. 

When Malice groweth critical, it loseth its Credit. 

It must go under the Disguise of Plainness, or else it is 
exposed. 

Anger may have some Excuse for being blind, but Malice 
none : for Malice hath time to look before it. 

When Malice is overgrown, it cometh to be the highest degree 
of Impertinence. For that reason, it must not be fed and 
pampered, which is apt to make it play the fool. But where it 
is wise and steady, there is no Precaution, that can be quite 
Proof against it. 

Ill-will is seldom cured on a sudden, it must go off by degrees, 
by insensible Transpiration. 

Malice may be sometimes out of Breath, Envy never. A Man 
may make Peace with Hatred, but never with Envy. 

No Passion is better heard by our will, than that of Envy : 
No Passion is admitted to have Audience with less Exception. 

Envy taketh the Shape of Flattery, and that maketh Men 
hug it so close, that they cannot part with it. 

The 



240 Moral Thoughts and Reflections. 

The sure way to be commended is to get into a Condition of 
being pitied. For Envy will not give its leave to commend 
a Man, till he is miserable. 

A Man is undone, when Envy will not vouchsafe to look 
upon him. 

Yet after all, Envy doth Virtue as much good as hurt, by 
provoking it to appear. Nay, it forcibly draweth out, and 
inviteth Virtue, by giving it a Mind to be revenged of it. 



Of VANITY. 

World is nothing but Vanity cut out into several 
J- Shapes. 

Men often mistake themselves, but they never forget them- 
selves. 

A Man must not so entirely fall out with Vanity, as not to 
take its Assistance in the doing great Things. 

Vanity is like some Men who are very useful, if they are 
kept under ; and else not to be endured. 

A little Vanity may be allowed in a Man's Train, but it must 
not sit down at Table with him. 

Without some Share of it, Mens Talents would be buried like 
Ore in a Mine un wrought. 

Men would be less eager to gain Knowledge, if they did not 
hope to set themselves out by it. 

It sheweth the Narrowness of our Nature, that a Man that 
intendeth any one thing extreamly, hath not Thought enough 
left for any thing else. 

Our Pride maketh us over-value our Stock of Thought, so as 
to trade much beyond what it is able to make good. 

Many aspire to learn what they can never comprehend, as 
others pretend to teach what they themselves do not know. 

The Vanity of teaching often tempteth a Man to forget he 
is a Blockhead. 

Self-conceit driveth away the suspecting how scurvily others 
think of us. 

Vanity 



Moral Thoughts and Reflections. 241 

Vanity cannot be a Friend to Truth, because it is restrained 
by it ; and Vanity is so impatiently desirous of shewing itself, 
that it cannot bear the being crossed. 

There is a Degree of Vanity that recommendeth ; if it goeth 
further, it exposeth. 

So much as to stir the Blood to do commendable Things, but 
not so much as to possess the Brain, and turn it round. 

There are as many that are blown up by the Wind of Vanity, 
as are carried away by the Stream of Interest. 

Every body hath not Wit enough to Act out of Interest, but 
every body hath little enough to do it out of Vanity. 

Some Mens Heads are as easily blown away as their Hats. 

If the commending others well, did not recommend ourselves, 
there would be few Panegyricks. 

Mens Vanity will often dispose them to be commended into 
very troublesome Employments. 

The desiring to be remembered when we are dead, is to so 
little purpose, that it is fit Men should, as they generally are, 
be disappointed in it. Nevertheless, the desire of leaving a good 
Name behind us is so honourable to ourselves, and so useful to 
the World, that good Sense must not be heard against it. 

Heraldry is one of those foolish Things that may yet be too 
much despised. 

The Contempt of Scutcheons is as much a Disease in this 
Age, as the over-valuing them was in former Times. 

There is a good Use to be made of the most contemptible 
Things, and an ill one of those that are the most valuable. 



Of MONEY. 

IF Men considered how many Things there are that Riches 
cannot buy, they would not be so fond of them. 
The Things to be bought with Money, are such as least 
deserve the giving a Price for them. 

Wit and Money are so apt to be abused, that Men generally 
make a shift to be the worse for them. 

R Money 



242 Moral Thoughts and Reflections. 

Money in a Fool's Hand exposeth him worse than a pyed 
Coat. 

Money hath too great a Preference given to it by States, as 
well as by particular Men. 

Men are more the Sinews of War than Money. 

The third part of an Army must be destroyed, before a good 
one can be made out of it. 

They who are of opinion that Money will do every thing, may 
very well be suspected to do every thing for Money. 

False LEARNING. 

A Little Learning misleadeth, and a great deal often stupi- 
fieth the Understanding. 

Great Reading without applying it, is like Corn heaped that 
is not stirred, it groweth musty. 

A learned Coxcomb dyeth his Mistakes in so much a deeper 
Colour : A wrong kind of Learning serveth only to embroider 
his Errors. 

A Man that hath read without Judgment, is like a Gun 
charged with Goose-shot, let loose upon the Company. 

He is only well furnished with Materials to expose himself, 
and to mortify those he liveth with. 

The reading of the greatest Scholars, if put into a Limbeck, 
might be distilled into a small quantity of Essence. 

The Reading of most Men, is like a Wardrobe of old Cloaths 
that are seldom used. 

Weak Men are the worse for the good Sense they read in 
Books, because it furnisheth them only with more Matter to 
mistake. 

Of COMPANY. 

MEN that cannot entertain themselves want somebody, 
though they care for nobody. 

An impertinent Fellow is never in the right, but in his being 
weary of himself. 

By 



Moral Thoughts and Reflections. 243 

By that time Men are fit for Company, they see the Objec- 
tions to it. 

The Company of a Fool is dangerous as well as tedious. 

It is flattering some Men to endure them. 

Present Punishment attendeth the Fault. 

A following Wit will be welcome in most Companies ; A 
leading one lieth too heavy for Envy to bear. 

Out-doing is so near reproaching, that it will generally be 
thought very ill Company. 

Any thing that shineth doth in some measure tarnish every 
thing that standeth next to it. 

Keeping much Company generally endeth in playing the Fool 
or the Knave with them. 



Of FRIENDSHIP. 

FRIENDSHIP cometh oftener by Chance than by Choice, 
which maketh it generally so uncertain. 

It is a Mistake to say a Friend can be bought. 

A Man may buy a good Turn, but he cannot buy the Heart 
that doth it. 

Friendship cannot live with Ceremony, nor without Civility. 

There must be a nice Diet observed to keep Friendship from 
falling sick ; nay, there is more Skill necessary to keep a Friend, 
than there is to reclaim an Enemy. 

Those Friends who are above Interest are seldom above 
Jealousy. 

It is a Misfortune for a Man not to have a Friend in the 
World, but for that reason he shall have no Enemy. 

In the Commerce of the World, Men struggle little less with 
their Friends, than they do with their Enemies. 

Esteem ought to be the ground of Kindness, and yet there are 
no Friends that seldomer meet. 

Kindness is apt to be as afraid of Esteem, as that is to be 
ashamed of Kindness. 

Our Kindness is greatest to those that will do what we would 
have them, in which our Esteem cannot always go along. 

R 2 Miscel- 



244 



Miscellaneous Thoughts 

AND 

REFLECTIONS. 



Of Advice *~f* HE Rule of doing as we would be done by, is never less 
redion*' observed than it is in telling others their Faults. But Men 

intend more to shew others that they are free from the Fault, 
than to dissuade them from committing it. 

They are so pleased with the prudent Shape of an Adviser, 
that it raiseth the value they have of themselves, whilst they are 
about it. 

Certainly, to give Advice to a Friend, either asked or unasked, 
is so far from a Fault, that it is a Duty ; but if a Man love to 
give Advice, it is a sure sign that he himself wanteth it. 

A Man whilst he is advising putteth his Understanding upon 
Tiptoes, and is unwilling to bring it down again. 

A weak Man had rather be thought to know, than know, and 
that maketh him so impatient to be told of a Mistake. 

He who will not be the better for other Mens Faults, hath no 
cure left for his own. 

But he that can probe himself to cure his own Faults, will 
seldom need either the Surgery of his Friends or of his 
Enemies. 

Of Al- IN a corrupted Age the putting the World in order would 
teration*. breed Confusion. 

A rooted Disease must be stroaked away, rather than kicked 
away. 

As soon as Men have Understanding enough to find a Fault, 
they have enough to see the danger of mending it. 

Desiring to have any thing mended, is venturing to have it 
spoiled : To know when to let Things alone, is a high pitch of 

good 



Miscellaneous Thoughts and Reflections. 245 

good Sense. But a Fool hath an Eagerness, like a Monkey in 
a Glass Shop, to break every thing in the handling. 

Curing and Mending are generally meer Words of Art not to 
be relied upon. They are set out in Bills, but the Mountebanks 
only get by them. 

GREAT Bashfulness is oftener an Effect of Pride than of Bashful- 
Modesty. 

Modesty is oftner mistaken than any other Virtue. 

WISE Venturing is the most commendable Part of human Boldne**. 
Prudence. 

It is the upper Story of Prudence, whereas perpetual Caution 
is a kind of under-ground Wisdom that doth not care to see 
the Light. 

It is best for great Men to shoot over, and for lesser Men to 
shoot short. 

MEN who borrow their Opinions can never repay their Debts. Borrow- 

They are Beggars by Nature, and can therefore never get er * f i n ~ 
~. i . . , ntons. 

a otock to grow rich upon. 

A Man who hath not a distinguishing Head, is safest by not 
minding what any body sayeth. 

He had better trust to his own Opinion, than spoil another 
Man's for want of apprehending it. 

IT is some kind of Scandal not to bear with the Faults of an Candour. 
honest Man. 

It is not loving Honesty enough to allow it distinguishing 
Privileges. 

There are some decent Faults which may pretend to be in the 
lower Rank of Virtues ; and surely where Honour or Gratitude 
are the Motives, Censure must be a good deal silenced. 

MEN must be saved in this World by their Want of Of Can- 
-P, . , tion and 

* aitn - Sutpteian. 

A Man that getteth Care into his Thoughts, cannot properly 

be said to trade without a Stock. 

Care and right Thought will produce Crops all the Year with- 
out staying for the Seasons. 

A Man is to go about his own Business as if he had not 
a Friend in the World to help him in it. 

He 



246 Miscellaneous Thoughts 

He that relieth upon himself will be oppressed by others with 
Offers of their Service. 

All are apt to shrink from those that lean upon them. 

If Men would think how often their own Words are thrown 
at their Heads, they would less often let them go out of their 
Mouths. 

Mens Words are Bullets that their Enemies take up and make 
use of against them. 

A Man watches himself best when others watch him too. 

It is as necessary for us to suppress our Reason when it 
offendeth, as our Mistakes when they expose us. 

In an unreasonable Age, a Man's Reason let loose would 
undo him. 

A wise Man will do with his Reason as a Miser doth with his 
Money, hoard it, but be very sparing in the Expence of it. 

A Man that should call every thing by its right Name, would 
hardly pass the Streets without being knocked down as a common 
Enemy. 

A Man cannot be more in the Wrong than to own without 
Distinction the being in the Right. 

When a Man is very kind or very angry, there is no sure 
Guard but Silence upon that Subject. 

A Man's Understanding is easily shoved out of its Place by 
warm Thoughts of any kind. 

We are not so much Masters of our Heat as to have enough 
to warm our Thoughts, and not so much as to set them on fire. 

A great Enemy is a great Object that inviteth Precaution, 
which maketh him less dangerous than a mean one. 

An old Man concludeth from his knowing Mankind, that 
they know him too, and that maketh him very wary. 

On the other hand, it must be allowed, that a Man's being 
deceived by Knaves hath often this ill Effect, that it maketh 
him too jealous of honest Men. 

The Mind, like the Body, is subject to be hurt by every thing 
it taketh for a Remedy. 

There are some such very great Foreseers, that they grow 
into the Vanity of pretending to see where nothing is to be seen. 

He 



and Reflections. 247 



He that will see at too great a distance, will sometimes mis- 
take a Bush for a Horse : The Prospect of a wise Man will 
be bounded. 

A Man may so overdo it in looking too far before him, that 
he may stumble the more for it. 

And, to conclude, He that leaveth nothing to Chance will do 
few things ill, but he will do very few things. 

Suspicion is rather a Virtue than a Fault, as long as it doth 
like a Dog that watcheth, and doth not bite. 

A wise Man, in trusting another, must not rely upon his 
Promise against his Nature. 

Early Suspicion is often an Injury, and late Suspicion is 
always a Folly. 

A wise Man will keep his Suspicions muzzled, but he will 
keep them awake. 

There can no Rules be given to Suspicion, no more than to 
Love. 

Suspicion taketh Root, and beareth Fruit, from the moment 
it is planted. 

Suspicion seldom wanteth Food to keep it up in Health and 
Vigour. It feedeth upon every thing it seeth, and is not curious 
in its Diet. 

Suspicion doth not grow up to an Injury till it breaketh out. 

When our Suspicion of another Man is once discovered by 
him, there ought to be an end of all further Commerce. 

He that is never suspected, is either very much esteemed, or 
very much despised. 

A Man's Interest is not a sufficient Ground to suspect him, 
if his Nature doth not concur in it. 

A weak Man hath less Suspicion than a wise one, but when 
he hath it, he is less easily cured. 

The Remedies as often increase the Disease, as they do allay 
it ; and a Fool valueth himself upon suspecting at a venture. 

MANY Men swallow the being cheated, but no Man could Cheat* 
ever endure to chew it. 

Few Men would be deceived, if their Conceit of themselves 
did not help the Skill of those that go about it. 

COMPLAINING 



248 



Miscellaneous Thoughts 



Content. 



Converts. 



Desire*. 



Complaint. COMPLAINING is a Contempt upon ones self : 

It is an ill Sign both of a Man's Head and of his Heart. 

A Man throweth himself down whilst he complaineth ; and 
when a Man throweth himself down, no body careth to take 
him up again. 

CONTENT layeth Pleasure, nay Virtue, in a Slumber, with 
few and faint Intermissions. 

It is to the Mind, like Moss to a Tree, it bindeth it up so as 
to stop its Growth. 

THE Impudence of a Bawd is Modesty, compared with that 
of a Convert. 

A Convert hath so much to do to gain Credit, that a Man is 
to think well before he changeth. 

MEN generally state their Wants by their Fancy, and not by 
their Reason. 

The poor young Children are whipt and beaten by the old 
ones, who are much more inexcusably impertinent. 

Not having things, is a more proper Expression for a Man of 
Sense than his wanting them. 

Where Sense is wanting, every thing is wanting. 

A Man of Sense can hardly want, but for his Friends and 
Children that have none. 

Most Men let their Wishes run away with them. 

They have no mind to stop them in their Career, the Motion 
is so pleasing. 

To desire what belongeth to another Man is Misprision of 
Robbery. 

Men are commanded not to covet, because when they do they 
are very apt to take. 

A DIFFICULTY raiseth the Spirits of a great Man, he 
hath a mind to wrestle with it, and give it a Fall. 

A Man's Mind must be very low, if the Difficulty doth not 
make a part of his Pleasure. 

The Pride of Compassing may more than compare with the 
Pleasure of Enjoying. 

NOTHING so ridiculous as a false Philosopher, and nothing 
so rare as a true one. 

Men 



Difficulty. 



Distent 
Ming. 



and Reflections. 249 



Men take more pains to hide than to mend themselves. 

MENS Pride, as well as their Weakness, disposeth them to 
rely upon Dreams, from their thinking themselves of such 
Importance as to have Warning of what is to befal them. 

The Enquiry into a Dream is another Dream. 

IT is a piece of Arrogance to dare to be drunk, because a Man Drunken- 
sheweth himself without a Vail. 

THE best way to suppose what may come, is to remember Expe- 
what is past. rience - 

The best Qualification of a Prophet is to have a good 
Memory. 

Experience maketh more Prophets than Revelation. 

The Knowledge that is got without Pains, is kept without 
Pleasure. 

The Struggling for Knowledge hath a Pleasure in it like that 
of Wrestling with a fine Woman. 

EXTREMITY is always ill, that which is good cannot live Extremes. 
a Moment with it. 

Any body that is Fool enough will be safe in the World, and 
any body that can be Knave enough will be rich in it. 

The generality of the World falleth into an insufficient Mean 
that exposeth them more than an Extreme on either Side. 

THOUGH Memory and Invention are not upon good Terms, Faculties 
yet when the first is loaded, the other is stifled. 

The Memory hath Claws by which it holdeth fast; but it 
hath no Wings, like the Invention, to enable it to fly. 

Some Mens Memory is like a Box, where a Man should 
mingle his Jewels with his old Shoes. 

There ought to be a great Difference between the Memory 
and the Stomach ; the last is to admit every thing, the former 
should have the Faculty of Rejecting. 

It is a nice Mean between letting the Thought languish for 
want of Exercise, and tiring it by giving it too much. 

A Man may dwell so long upon a Thought, that it may take 
him Prisoner. 

The hardest thing in the World is to give the Thoughts due 
Liberty, and yet retain them in due Discipline. 

They 



250 Miscellaneous Thoughts 

They are Libertines that are apt to abuse Freedom, and do 
not well know how to bear Restraint. 

A Man that excels in any one thing has a kind of arbitrary 
Power over all that hear him upon that Subject, and no Man's 
Life is too short to know any one thing perfectly. 

The modern Wit is rather to set Men out, than to make them 
of any Use. 

Some Men have acted Courage who had it not ; but no Man 
can act Wit, if Nature doth not teach him his Part. True Wit 
is always revenged upon any false Pretender that meddleth 
with it. 

Wit is the only thing that Men are willing to think they can 
ever have enough of. 

There is a happy Pitch of Ignorance that a Man of Sense 
might pray for. 

A Man that hath true Wit will have Honour too, not only to 
adorn, but to support it. 

Famliet. THE building up a Family is a Manufacture very little above 
the building a House of Cards. 

Time and Accidents are sure to furnish a Blast to blow it 
down. 

No House wanteth new Tiling so often as a Family wants 
Repairing. 

The Desire of having Children is as much the Effect of 
Vanity as of Good-nature. 

We think our Children a Part of ourselves, though as they 
grow up they might very well undeceive us. 

Men love their Children, not because they are promising 
Plants, but because they are theirs. 

They cannot discredit the Plant, without disparaging the Soil 
out of which it came. 

Pride in this, as in many other things, is often mistaken for 
Love. 

As Children make a Man poor in one Sense, so in another 
they inforce Care, and that begetteth Riches. 

Love is presently out of Breath when it is to go up Hill, from 
the Children to the Parents. 

'TIS 



and Reflections. 251 



'TIS good to have Men in Awe, but dangerous to have them Fear. 
afraid of us. 

The Mean is so nice, that the hitting upon it is oftner the 
Effect of Chance than of Skill. 

A Degree of Fear sharpeneth, the Excess of it stupifieth. 

It is as scandalous not to fear at some times, as it can be to 
be afraid at others. 

FOLLY begets Want, and Want Flattery ; so that Flattery, Flattery. 
with all its Wit, is the Grandchild of Folly. 

Were it not for Bunglers in the manner of doing it, hardly 
any Man would ever find out he was laughed at. 

And yet, generally speaking, a Trowel is a more effectual 
Instrument than a Pencil for Flattery. 

Men generally do so love the Taste of Flattery, their Stomach 
can never be overcharged with it. 

There is a Right Reverend Flattery that hath the Precedence 
of all other Kinds of it. 

This Mitred Flattery is of all others the most exalted. It 
ever groweth in proportion, and keepeth pace with Power. 
There is a noble Stroke of it in the Articles sent to Princess 
Mary from Henry VIII. ' Such is his Majesty's Gracious and 
'Divine Nature shewing Mercy to such as repentantly cry and 
( call for the same/ 

FORGETTING is oftner an Aggravation than an Excuse. Forgetful- 

The Memory will seldom be unmannerly but where it is ness ~ 
unkind. 

THERE needeth little Care to polish the Understanding ; Good- 
if true Means were used to strengthen it, it will polish itself. manners. 

Good-manners is such a Part of Good-sense, that they cannot 
be divided ; but that which a Fool calleth Good-breeding is the 
most unmannerly thing in the World. 

Right Good-manners require so much Sense, that there is 
hardly any such thing in the World. 

GOOD-NATURE is rather acted than practised in the Good- 
World. nature ' 
Good-nature to others is an inseparable Part of Justice. 
GOOD-WILL, like Grace, floweth where it listeth. Goodwill. 

Men 



252 



Miscellaneous Thoughts 



Men mean so very well to themselves, that they forget to 
mean well to any body else. 
Heat. GOOD-SENSE will allow of some intermitting Fevers, but 

then the Fit must be short. 

Honesty. HE that can be quite indifferent when he seeth another Man 
injured, hath a lukewarm Honesty that a wise Man will not 
depend upon. 

He that is not concerned when he seeth an ill thing done to 
another, will not be very eager to do a good one himself. 
Hypocrisy. THERE is so much Wit necessary to make a skilful 
Hypocrite, that the Faculty is fallen amongst Bunglers, who 
make it ridiculous. 

Injuries. AN Injury may more properly be said to be postponed, than 
to be forgiven. 

The Memory of it is never so subdued, but that it hath 
always Life in it. 

The Memory of an Enemy admitteth no decay but Age. 

Could we know what Men are most apt to remember, we 
might know what they are most apt to do. 

It is a general Fault that we dislike Men only for the 
Injuries they do to us, and not for those they do to Mankind. 
Yet it will be hard to give a good Reason why a Man who hath 
done a deliberate Injury to one, will not do it to another. 

The Memory and the Conscience never did, nor never will 
agree about forgiving Injuries. 

Nature is Second to the Memory, and Religion to the 
Conscience. 

When the Seconds fight, the latter is generally disarmed. 
Integrity. A MAN in a corrupted Age must make a Secret of his 
Integrity, or else he will be looked upon as a common 
Enemy. 

He must engage his Friends not to speak of it ; for he setteth 
himself for a Mark to be ill used. 

Juxtice. AS far as keeping distance is a sign of Respect, Mankind 
hath a great deal for Justice. 

They make up in Ceremony what they want in Good-will 
to it. 

Where 



and Reflections. 253 



Where the Generality are Offenders, Justice cometh to be 
Cruelty. 

TO Love, and to be in Love with any thing, are Things as To Love, 
differing, as good Sense and Impertinence. a e 



When we once go beyond bare liking, we are in danger afferent. 
parting with Good-Sense ; and it is not easy for Good-Sense to 
get so far as liking. 

WHEN by habit a Man cometh to have a bargaining Soul, Lucre. 
its Wings are cut, so that it can never soar. 

It bindeth Reason an Apprentice to Gain, and instead of 
a Director, maketh it a Drudge. 

THE being kind to a Lyar, is abetting a Treason against Lying. 
Mankind. 

A Man is to inform the first Magistrate, that he may be 
clap'd up. 

Lies are embroidered with Promises and Excuses. 

A known Lyar should be outlawed in a well ordered Govern- 
ment. 

A Man that renounceth Truth, runneth away from his trial 
in the World. 

The use of Talking is almost lost in the World by the habit 
of Lying. 

A Man that doth not tell all the Truth, ought to be hanged 
for a Clipper. 

Half the Truth is often as arrant a Lye, as can be made. 

It is the more dexterous, but not the less criminal kind of 
Lying. 

NAMES to Men of Sense are no more than Fig-leaves; to the Names. 
generality they are thick Coverings that hide the Nature of 
Things from them. 

Fools turn Good-Sense upon its Head, they take Names for 
Things, and Things only for Names. 

IT is a general Mistake to think the Men we like are good Partia- 
for every thing, and those we do not, good for nothing. y ' 

A MAN who is Master of Patience, is Master of everything else. Patience. 

He that can tell how to bear in the right Place, is Master of 
every body he dealeth with. 

POSITIVE 



254 Miscellaneous Thoughts 

Positive- POSITIVE is the Perfection of Coxcomb, he is then come 

to his full Growth. 

Prospe- IT sheweth Mens Nature, that when they are pampered in 
any kind, they are very apt to play jadish Tricks. 

One of the Tricks of any Creature that is wanton, is to kick 
what is next them. 

Quiet. EVERY thing that doth us good is so apt to do us hurt too, 

that it is a strong Argument for Men to be quiet. 
If Men would think more, they would act less. 
The greatest Part of the Business of the World, is the Effect 
of not thinking. 

Reason MOST Men put their Reason out to Service to their Will. 
The Master and the Man are perpetually falling out. 
A third Man will hazard a beating, if he goes about to part 
them. 

Nothing hath an uglier Look to us than Reason, when it is 
not of our side. 

We quarrel so often with it, that it maketh us afraid to come 
near it. 

A Man that doth not use his Reason, is a tame Beast; 
a Man that abuses it, is a wild one. 

Reputa- IT is a self- flattering Contradiction, that wise Men despise 
the Opiriion'of Fools, and yet are proud of having their Esteem. 
Self-love. SELF-LOVE rightly denned, is far from being a Fault. 

A Man that loveth himself right, will do every thing else 
right. 

Shame. A MAN who doth not think he is punished when he is 

blamed, is too much hardened to be ever reformed. 

The Court of Shame hath of late lost much of its Jurisdic- 
tion. It ought by right both to judge in the first Instance, and 
to exclude all Appeals from it. 

Shame is a Disease of the last Age, this seemeth to be cured 
of it. 

Singula- SINGULARITY may be good Sense at home, but it must 
y ' not go much abroad. 

It is a Commendation to be that which a crowd of mistaken 
Fools call Singular. 

There 



and Reflections. 255 



There can hardly be a severer thing said to a Man in this 
Age, than that he is like the rest of the World. 

SLANDER would not stick, if it had not always something Slander. 
to lay hold of. 

A Man who can allow himself the Liberty to slander, hath 
the World too much at his Mercy. 

But the Man that despiseth Slander deserveth it. 

SPEAKERS in Publick should take more Pains to hold in Speakers 
their Invention than to raise it. in Publick. 

Invention is apt to make such Sallies, that it cannot secure 
its Retreat. 

He that will not make a Blot, will be pretty sure in his time 
to give a Stroke. 

A patient Hearer is a sure Speaker. 

Men are angry when others do not hear them, yet they have 
more Reason to be afraid when they do. 

MISPENDING a Man's time is a kind of self-homicide, it is Time the 
i . T . . v p loss of it. 

making Life to be of no use. 

TRUTH is not only stifled by Ignorance, but concealed out Truth. 
of Caution or Interest ; so if it had not a Root of Immortality, 
it must have been long since extinguished. 

THE most useful Part of Wisdom is for a Man to give Wisdom. 
a good guess, what others think of him. 

It is a dangerous thing to guess partially, and a melancholy 
thing to guess right. 

Nothing would more contribute to make a Man wise, than to 
have always an Enemy in his view. 

A wise Man may have more Enemies than a weak one, but he 
will not so much feel the weight of them. Indeed the being 
wise doth either make Men our Friends, or discourage them 
from being our Enemies. 

Wisdom is only a comparative Quality, it will not bear 
a single Definition. 

A MAN hath too little Heat, or Wit, or Courage, if he hath 
not sometimes more than he should. 

Just enough of a good thing is always too little. 

Long Life giveth more Marks to shoot at, and therefore old 

Men 



256 Miscellaneous Thoughts and Reflections. 

Men are less well thought of, than those who have not been so 
long upon the Stage. 

Other Mens Memories retain the ill, whilst the good Things 
done by an old Man, easily slip out of them. 

Old Men have in some degree their Reprisals upon younger, 
by making nicer Observations upon them, by virtue of their 
Experience. 



FINIS. 



Oxford : Horace Hart, Printer to the University