Scipio, and others, and of Sir Walter Paleigh, the Earls of Clarendon and Strafford, here in England. But I look upon it, that God, intending the government of a nation in the several branches and fubordinations of power, hath made the science of governing fufficiently obvious to common capacities; otherwife the world would be left in a defolate condition, if great affairs did always require a great genius, whereof the moft fruitful age will hardly produce above three or four in a nation, among which, princes, who, of all other mortals, are the worst educated, have twenty millions to one against them that they shall not be of the number; and propcionable odds, for the fame réafons, are against every one of noble birth, or great eftates. Accordingly we find, that the dulleft nations, antient and modern, have not wanted good rules of policy, or perfons qualified for adminiftration. But I take the infelicity of fuch extraordinary men to have been caufed by their neglect of common forms, together with the contempt of little helps and little hindrances; which is made by Hobbes the definition of Magnanimity: And this contempt, as it certainly displeases the people in geneVOL. XV.

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ral, fo it giveth offence to all with whom fuch minifters have to deal: For, I never yet knew a minifter, who was not earnestly defirous to have it thought, that the art of government was a moft profound fcience; whereas it requires no more, in reality, than diligence, honefty, and a moderate fhare of plain natural fenfe. And, therefore, men thus qualified may, very reasonably and jufly, think that the bufinefs of the world is best brought about by regularity and forms, wherein themfelves excel. For I have frequently obferved more caufes of difcontent arife from the practice of fome refined ministers, to act in common bufinefs, out of the common road, than from all the ufual topics of displeasure against men in power. It is the fame thing in other fcenes of life, and among all focieties or communities; where, no men are better trufted, or have more fuccefs in bufinefs, than thofe who, with fome honefly and a moderate portion of understanding, are ftrict obfervers of time, place, and method: And, on the contrary, nothing is more apt to expose men to the cenfure and obliquy of their colleagues, and the public, than a contempt, or neglect of thefe circumstances,

however attended with a fuperior genius, and an equal defire of doing good: Which hath made me fometimes fay, to a great perfon of this latter character, that a fmall infufion of the Alderman was neceffary to those who are employed in public affairs, Upon this occafion, I cannot forget a very trifling inftance: That one day obferving the fame person to divide a sheet of paper with a penknife, the sharpness of the inftrument occafioned it's moving fo irregularly and crooked, that he fpoiled the whole fheet; whereupon I advised him to take example by his clerks, who performed that operation much better with a blunt piece of ivory, which, directed by a little ftrength and a steady hand, never failed to go right.

But, to return from this long digreffion: About a fortnight after the Queen's death, I came to my place of refidence, where I was immediately attacked with heat enough by feveral of my acquaintance of both parties ; and foon learned, that what they objected was the general fenfe of the reft. Those of the church-fide made me a thousand reproaches upon the flowness and inactivity of my friends, upon their foolish quarrels with each other, for no vifible caufe, and thereby

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thereby facrificing the interests of the church and kingdom to their private piques. And that they had neglected to cultivate the favour and good-opinion of the court at Hanover. But the weight of these gentlemens displeasure fell upon the Earl of Oxford; that he had acted a trimming part, was never thoroughly in the intereft of the church, but held feparate commerce with the adverse party: That, either from his negligence, procrastinating nature, or some sinister end, he had let flip many opportunities of ftrengthening the church's friends: That he undertook more bufinefs than he was equal to, affected a monopoly of power, and would concert nothing with the rest of the ministers. Many facts were likewife mentioned, which it may not now be very prudent to repeat: I fhall only take notice of one, relating to Ireland, where he kept four bishopricks undifpofed of, though often and most earnestly preffed to have them filled; by which omiffion the churchintereft of that kingdom, in the House of Lords, is in danger of being irrecoverably loft.

Thofe who difcourfed with me after this manner, did, at the fame time, utterly re

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nounce all regard for the Pretender; and mentioned, with pleasure, the glorious opportunity, then in his Majefty's hands, of putting an end to party-diftinctions for the time to come: And the only apprehenfion that feemed to give them any uneasiness was, left the zeal of the party in power might not, perhaps, represent their loyalty with advantage.

On the other fide, the gainers and men in hopes by the Queen's death, talked with great freedom in a very different stile: They all directly afferted, that the whole late ministry were fully determined to bring in the Pretender, although they would fometimes a little demur upon the Earl of Oxford; and, by a more modern amendment, they charged the fame accufation, without any referve, upon the late Queen herself. That, if her Majefty had died but a month later, our ruin would have been inevitable. But in that juncture it happened, (to use their own term, which I could never prevail with them to explain) things were not ripe. That this accufation would, in a fhort time, infallibly be prov ed as clear as the fun at noon-day to all the world: And the confequences naturally following from these positions werę, that

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