dignity.—Vile intrigues, unnatural crimes, and every vice that degrades our nature, have been the ſteps to this diſtinguiſhed eminence; yet millions of men have ſupinely allowed the nerveleſs limbs of the poſterity of ſuch rapacious prowlers to reſt quietly on their enſanguined thrones[1].
What but a peſtilential vapour can hover over ſociety when its chief director is only inſtructed in the invention of crimes, or the ſtupid routine of childiſh ceremonies? Will men never be wiſe?—will they never ceaſe to expect corn from tares, and figs from thiſtles?
It is impoſſible for any man, when the moſt favourable circumſtances concur, to acquire ſufficient knowledge and ſtrength of mind to diſcharge the duties of a king, entruſted with uncontrouled power; how then muſt they be violated when his very elevation is an inſuperable bar to the attainment of either wiſdom or virtue; when all the feelings of a man are ſtifled by flattery, and reflection ſhut out by pleaſure! Surely it is madneſs to make the fate of thouſands depend on the caprice of a weak fellow creature, whoſe very ſtation ſinks him neceſſarily below the meaneſt of his ſubjects! But one power ſhould not be thrown down to exalt another—for all power intoxicates weak man; and its abuſe proves, that the more equality there is eſtabliſhed among men, the more virtue and happineſs will reign in ſociety. But this, and any ſimilar max-
- ↑ Could there be a greater inſult offered to the rights of man than the beds of juſtice in France, when an infant was made the organ of the deteſtable Dubois?
