Selected quad for the lemma: city_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A80828
|
Critical remarks upon the adventures of Telemachus son of Ulysses· Translated from the French.
|
|
1700
(1700)
|
Wing C6960A; ESTC R224553
|
20,327
|
48
|
the preservation of Liberty Good Pleasure full Power and Soveraign Authority depended upon all these Heads and when Abuses were to be reform'd or Money was to be rais'd to supply the Publick Necessities the Royal Majesty was expos'd to Affront or Refusall Our Prudent Father of his Country has pluck'd up all these Mischiefs by the Roots as a prudent Head of a Family ought to do he has made himself Master of the whole By that means his Kingdom is like a House well regulated where the Father disposing of the whole Estate retains every body in Order in Subjection and in their Duty Do we see any discontented Prince under Lewis the Great betake himself to Arms to do himself Justice Do we see Governors draw whole Provinces after 'em contrary to the Interest of the Sovereign Do we behold Seditious Libels presented in an Assembly by the People's Deputies Do we hear of any sharp and Stinging Remonstrances from a Parliament So far from it that the Ambition of Princes is calm'd the Governors are submissive the Parliaments set open their Registers the People have no more to do but to open their Purses absolute Power spreads its Influences every where and every body libes in peace under his own Fig-tree This Sir is that which among the Heroes is call'd seeking the Temporal good of the People You Dutchmen with your shadow of Liberty have no mind to agree to this You look upon all us as Slaves and Beggars 'T is true our People are not so fat as yours nor our Country Peasants so rich But if Murders and insurrections should happen among you is it not true that you would wish to be in our places Besides you are not to imagine that our Prince heaps up abundance and draws it to himself to make a benefit of it but to be a good Steward and a just Dispenser of it Do you not see that he labours still under the same Necessities that his Edicts observe their Course and that tho' he be actually at peace he is constrain'd to augment the Taxes What does he do say you with those prodigious Numbers of Millions that go every Year into his Coffers He generously divides a Part to those who have the Honour to serve him and principally to those notable Head-pieces that manage the Finances He maintains sormidable Armies that make him the Arbiter of the Laws and the Terror of his Neighbours He enlarges his Palaces and makes Embellishments there that surpass even wonder it self He reforms Nature by levelling Hills and digging new Rivers Has he not need of Immense Summs for those incomparable Beauties who had Charms sufficient to engage his Heart and oft refresh'd him wearied with the Toils of Government How many Cities purchas'd How many Spies maintain'd abroad I say nothing of his famous Trafficking at Constantinople which if it were not the most famous of all was yet the most beneficial to France There is no need for me to inform ye at this time how our great King has sought and still seeks the Spiritual Welfare of his Subjects you that are an Obstinate Heretick know it too well but the hardness of your Heart will not permit you to reap the Benefit of it and this Pious Monarch stays but till the day of Judgment to reproach you with it Mentor would have a King be just ours is so He has made Restitution in earnest and restor'd to every one the best part of what belong'd to him Just do you say to his People Yes juster then to his Enemies The same is Lewis the Grand If we understand by Justice that which is rendred in Tribunals never Prince was so exactly careful in his Administration He has turned out and turn'd in all Officers of all sorts and sifted their Employments He has created new ones in Superior and Inferior Jurisdictions and if the Judges are the Eyes of a Prince as some will have it it may be said without Flattery that Lewis the XIV is the most quick-sighted among Monarchs If we mean Justice that a King ought to render himself to his Subjects 't is that which our Prince never fail'd of The French love Money and when they have it can never live at quiet they love Honour and feed ' emselves with it What has our Prince done He has taken away their Money and given 'em Quiet and Honour in Exchange Is not the one better then the other The French love their Trade but as a good Catholick People they love their Religion better The King has spoil'd Trade but he has exterminated Hugnenotism have the People any reason to complain You shall hear a French Peasant that can hardly pay his Taxes chatting after his Rustical Manner over a Pint of Wine of the King's Conquests and Victories and then is he in his Kingdom I hold an even Wager he would not change his Condition with one of the Burgo-Masters Had you seen in the time of the War our Beggars dancing about a Bonfire you would agree with me that Poverty becomes a French Man and that it is but Justice to reduce him to that Condition But lastly one convining Proof of the King 's great Justice is that the People never complain You who so regularly read the Gazette have you ever observ'd that the People cry out for Bread or that they murmur'd at the scarcity of Money or pasted up Pasquils injurious to the Court 'T is true the Gazetters and News Papers mention some such thing sometimes but as we are not oblig'd to keep Faith with Hugnenots so there is as little reason to credit ' em Mentor declaims against unjust War Is there any such The Right of War is authoriz'd by the Possession of all Ages Alexander is not quoted in History for a Robber nor the Romans for Usurpers were it so the Pulpits would not ring so often as they do with their Names and the Preachers would have a care how they suly'd their Sacred Eloquence by extolling every Day thd Noble Actions of those famous Conquerors The King made use of this Right as another would have done His Majesty has extended his Frontiers he has conquer'd Cities and Provinces and acting with more sincerity then those ancient Lords of the World who took all and restor'd nothing the King has restor'd more then he took and has kept nothing but what he could not restore But who told these Interpreters of Telemachus that our King ever undertook an unjust war Let 'em consult all the Declarations of War that have been publish'd since the King's Marriage I am sure they will not find one that does not contain a great deal of Reason That concerning bad Satisfaction which one of our illustrious Deserters explain'd among you with his usual Delicacy is may be the weakest of all But they who penetrate the Reasons of that bad Satisfaction agree that the Complaint was not altogether ill grounded You see then that Telemachus is not more happy in his Mysterious Part then in his Designs and his Stile But to give something to the Publick I suppose with them that Mentor's Politicks are the Reverse of the Government and that 't is that which has caus'd the disgrace of the A. Bishop of Cambray Do you not believe with my self that Mentor's King is a Fantastic King and that if Princes would reign according to the Memoirs of that old Dr. Minerva must have descended to the Earth to overturn the World If a King should observe all those divine Precepts he would become a Victim to his People and his Condition would be worse then that of a private Person I wish all Nations one of Mentor's Prince but where will you find him Mentor would have a King without Infirmities and Passions Is this possible King 's being Masters and always Flesh and Blood 't is impossible but that they should be subject to notorious Vices An ambitious King ruines his People by War A voluptuous Prince can give no good Example A covetous King will suck the Blood of his Subjects A Heart of Iron will never be mov'd to Compassion A proud and despotick Prince will domineer over all Mankind A Prince prejudicated with a false Zeal will persecute to death and so of other Defects 'T is for the People to lay down their Necks and bear the Burden These Sir are the General Remarks which I have made in Reading your Telemachus You will hence conclude that there is no great Matter in the Piece or that I am but a Novice in these Matters However I shall comfort my self with a full Perswasion that I have said nothing but what is true and with the delight which I shall take in having obey'd your Orders If you think fit burn this little Epistle and take a special Care that no Refugee may see it Those Gentlemen never love the Apologists of our Court and as I have a great Esteem for their Perseverance I should be very much troubled to incur their Displeasure Farewel Sir you know I am yours ad Aras Focos The rest by the Porter Paris c. FINIS