網頁圖片
PDF
ePub 版

poffeffed against that Prince, could not invent any thing that could reflect more upon his Character, than falfly reporting that he was, according to his own Order, ferved at Table by Naked Ladies. "Tis very true, (and this gave Birth to that Calumny) that he was waited upon, that fame Night, by the most prudent and brightest Ladies of his Court; every one of them reprefenting, and difcharging the Duty of the greatest Officers of the Crown and tho' they were drefs'd no other way than Women commonly are, only Magnificently, and at the King's Expence, yet they reprefented the High-Steward, the great Cup-bearer, the Carvers, and all the moft confiderable Officers, whofe duty it was to wait at Table on a day of Ceremony; and for a greater Evidence of the Innocency of that Recreation, a great many Courtiers, efpecially fuch whofe Office it was in a more particular manner to attend the King's Perfon, were freely admitted in; and a guilty Confcience dreads nothing more than Witneffes. Pliny fays, that most Men are awed by their Reputation, tho' few by their Confcience. Multi Famam Confcientiam Dauci verentur. Ep. 2c. l. 3. Yet we ought not to be fo fevere, as to make no Allowances for the Pleasure of the Sovereign, efpecially if there be nothing whereby Virtue may be shock'd; fince he ftudies, by an almoft continual Application to publick Affairs, how to procure the Happiness of his Subjects. Could any one find Fault with fuch innocent Diverfion, if he confider'd the Answer which Zeno, that great Philofopher, made to one who was wondering how a Man of fo fevere an Humour as he was, could be fo Merry at Table: Lay, fays he, fuch an Herb, calling it by its Name, to Joke in a fweet Liquor, and it fhall lose its Bitter. nefs. The Swifs fill obferve that laudabe Custom

[ocr errors]

of

[ocr errors]

of their Predeceffors; to meet now and then together, at a publick Entertainment, not to Eat and Drink with Excefs as fome have imagined, but only to keep up their eftablifhed Union, and Friendship, and indeed all their Difcourfe is about their daily Affairs. The Young Ones' fing the noble Exploits of their Ancestors, and the Magiftrates, who fit at the Upper-end of the Table, in Imitation of the Lacedæmonians, to prevent all Sorts of Irregularities, recite to one another the most remarkable and memorable Actions, that have happen'd fince their Youth. It is not to be fuppofed, that any of us are Strangers to the ftately Solemnity of William the Conqueror, who kept an OpenHouse three or four Times a Year for all the Peers of the Realm, both Spiritual and Temporal, and even for foreign Ambaffadors, and all this was to fatisfy his Jovial Humour, which did not suffer him, during thofe Festivals, to refuse Pardon to any Criminals who defir'd it, and far from allow. ing of any ungenerous or detracting Difcourfes; for Invidia dies feftos non agit, he on the Contrary made Prefents, and granted Favours to all thofe who required them, as long as thofe Rejoicings lafted.

But before we difmifs this fhort Differtation, we'll take a View of what happen'd at Marseilles, after the Revolt and Surrender of the Inhabitants of that City. Berenger, Count of Provence, having been publickly treated by the Citizens, the whole Difcourfe, during the Entertainment, was about the Feats of Arms, and the noble Exploits atchiev'd at the Siege: Before the Repaft was over, as he remember'd, fome certain Soldiers who had appear'd upon the Walls, and in a Sally fome thing more bold and couragious than the Reft, he had the Curiofity to fee them, that he

K 2

might

[ocr errors]

might give them Commendations, for having behaved themselves fo valiantly. One of the chief Officers was dispatch'd to call them in, who foon after introduced Twenty young Ladies, Drefs'd like Amazons, who were the fame that in Soldiers Habits, had fo well Defended their City: Each of them had in her Hand a Basket of Flowers, and after they had faluted him, with as much Refpec as Modefty, they began to Sing, in the Dialect of Provence, the great and noble Actions that had preceded and follow'd the Count's Victory.

CHAP.

42 92 92 92 52 52 92 92 92 00 02 92 5

CHAPTER IX.

That good Morals, and a generous Temper, are both highly requifite in a Sovereign Prince.

TH

HE Trees, having often remark'd, that the Birds acknowledg'd the Eagle for their King, and that the Beasts paid their Refpe&s to the Lion, grown quite weary of living without Government, refolv'd to chufe one among themselves, who might have an abfolute Power over all the Reft. A general Council was call'd, the Candidates were heard, the Question debated, and every one fet forth his beft Qualities to recommend himself to that eminent Station. The Oak alledg'd his long Life, his pleafant and refreshing Shade, and that he had nourish'd with his Fruits the first Parents of Mankind: The Laurel faid, that he was a Protection against Thunder, and that he had Crown'd the Roman Emperors, and those who rode in Triumph into the Capitol: The Pomgranate Tree valued himself upon two confiderable Accounts; firft, that his Kernels fo well rang'd, were the Emblem of Union, and Agreement, and that he fhould very well know how to maintain Peace and Quietnefs among hisSubjects: In the Second Place, that Nature herself feem'd to have defign'd him for Empire, by originally dignifying him with a Crown. The Olive Tree faid, that he was the Symbol of Peace, and that he had been confecrated to the Goddess Minerva: As for my Part, faid the Vine, I lengthen Men's Life. They were all very well Qualify'd they thought, and it was like to be a very hard Election, when fome Member at the Board,

Board, ftood, and moved for the Orange Tree, who immediately carry'd it, and though he had not spoke one Word for himself, yet fome of them extolled the perpetual Greenness of his Leaves, others the incomparable Odour of his Flowers; but all admired his Fruit, which was ready to be gather'd in every Seafon. Thus confidering that Liberality, and the Odour of a Good Life, were the most requifite Qualities in a Prince, they look'd upon the Orange Tree to be the most worthy of the Crown.

[blocks in formation]

We gather from hence, that Monarchy is the molt perfect of Governments. That no One will forget himself, when his own Intereft is concern'd. That a Prince' without Honour, is like a Body without a Soul. That a fweet Temper is no lefs to be defir'd in a Prince, than a high Birth, and a noble Extraction. That to live in Peace and Tranquillity, is a neceffary Ingredient to a happy Life.

If Royalty, like a great many other Pofts, were to be conferr'd, according to the People's Perfections and Merit, there would be enough to make a fhow of their Sagacity, Courage, and Generofity. But as thofe Qualities would be of little Value, unlefs they were accompany'd with the Practice of Liberality, and a pious Life, it is very probable, that thofe, who should be endow'd with thefe two laft, would have Preference, before the Wife and Couragious; becaufe a Good Life, and Liberality, feem eminently to contain all other good Qualifi cations.

As a Sovereign ought to have nothing more at Heart, than to be Belov'd and Refpected by his Subjects, because they are thereby gently brought

το

« 上一頁繼續 »