31 sses into ssels and ætorship ty of the th him in difference he ancient honour to and ever one might vernment uder their PINE, ILL ly, that the arta should predictio s besides the d in the cas other state agree tha OF PROFANE HISTORY. from riches and luxury. [g] In short, from the moment that any one grows passionately fond of magnificence, grand equipages, fine furniture, plenty and elegance in eating and drinking, it is a natural and necessary consequence, that he will set no bounds to his love of money, which buys all these things, and without which they cannot be procured. [h] Sallust owns, after a great many reflections upon the causes of the grandeur and power of the ancient Romans, who often defeated numerous armies with a small body of troops, and, with a very moderate revenue, supported long wars against very wealthy kings, without losing courage in the least from any adversity; Sallust, I say, owns that Rome was indebted for this grandeur and power to a small number only of illustrious citizens, whose excellent merit and solid virtue had rendered poverty victorious over riches, and a small body of soldiers superior to innumerable armies. But, adds he, from the time the citizens suffered themselves to be corrupted by luxury and idleness, Rome, like a woman past child-bearing, has ceased to produce great men; and though it still subsisted some time after, it was only in consequence, and by means of its ancient grandeur, which continued to support the republic, notwithstanding the weakness and vices of its governors. It is worth while to compare those happy times of the republic, when poverty was generally had in honour, with the latter ages, when pomp, luxury, and magnificence reigned, in conjunction with a mean and sordid avarice. What great men were those consuls and dictators, who were taken from the plough? What noble sentiments, what inagnanimity in the two Scipios, in Fabius, and in Paulus Æmilius? Did these ancient Romans set any value upon money? When [i] Pyrrhus endeavoured to corrupt the senate by pre [g] Delectant magnifici appa**ratus, yitæque cultus cum elegantiâ &copiâ ; quibus rebus effectum est, De Offic. lib. i. n. 25. [b] Sallust. in Bello Catilin, led it a city ready to be sold to the highest bidder, d which only wanted a purchaser... So long as this noble disinterestedness lasted, those o had the command of the troops, and the governent of the provinces, instead of seeking to enrich emselves with the spoils of the allies or conquered ople, looked upon themselves as their fathers and ardians. [7] It was then the principle of the Roan people to conquer less by force of arms than befits, and to prefer the gaining of friends before the aking of slaves. Neither the marches of their troops, r the encampment of their armies, nor their winter arters, nor the residence of the generals in any city, re any expence to the inhabitants. It was this conct that acquired the Roman empire so much honour d esteem. The senate then, says Tully, was the rege and asylum of kings, people, and nations. Our gistrates and generals then placed their chief glory defending the provinces. and supporting their als with inviolable justice and fidelity. [m] Thus we re the protectors rather than the masters of the orld. Let us hear the same Tully, and he will tell us how ch things were altered in his time. [n] All the proaces, says he, groan, all free people are in desolation, kingdoms loudly complain of the violences and xations they suffer from us. In the large extent of untries, which are terniinated by the ocean, there now no place so remote, whither the avarice and ustice of our generals and magistrates have not petrated. It is now no longer possible to sustain, I say Sallust in Bello Jugurth. Ibid. m] Itaque illud patrocinium or terat nominari. De Offic. lib. ii. L us to all foreign nations. There is no temple which they have held sacred, no city which they have respected, no private house has been barred or inaccessible to their avarice. This was the state of the republic in late times; and if we enquire into the first cause and origin of all these disorders, we shall find, what I cannot repeat too often, that they were the insatiable love of riches and luxury.. IMMODERATE AMBITION, A BOUNDLESS DESIRE OF RULE, ATTENDED WITH FACTIONS, SEDITIONS, MURDERS, AND THE ENTIRE SUBVERSION OF LIBERTY. [p] Tully, after Plato, lays down two essential rules to be observed by persons employed in government. The first is to have no other view than the public good, without the least regard to their own private interest; the second, to extend their cares equally to the whole body of the state, without favouring one part more than another. For, adds he, a governor is a kind of guardian, and under that character must consider the interest of the person committed to his care, and not his own. And he who should take care of one part of the citizens only, and neglect the rest, would introduce discord and sedition, than which nothing can be more pernicious to states. These may properly be said to be the fundamental laws of every wise and well ordered government, and it was the exact observation of these rules, that formed the character of the good citizens and great men of the republic, as it was upon this plan, and these principles, the republic was first formed and established. fol Pro Lege Manil. n. 65. [] Offic. lib. i. n. 85. [9] When the authority of annual magistrates was substituted in the place of regal power, which was become unsupportable, the senate was considered as the per petual and public council of the state, to be in a manner the soul and head of the republic, the guardian and defender of the laws, the protector of the liberty and privileges of the people; and all the citizens were admitted into this illustrious body, without any other distinction than that of virtue and merit. The magi strates gloried in respecting the authority of the se nate, and were looked, upon as the ministers of tha august council, and the different orders of the state contributed their peculiar lustre to exalt the glory o the highest and most noble assembly. It was this con cert and union in promoting the public good, which so long preserved a good understanding in the repub lic, which gave success to all the wars they undertook and spread the glory and terror of the Roman nam throughout the world. An opposite conduct pro duced the quite contrary effect. [2] Before the destruction of Carthage, the dispute among the citizens for power and authority were no carried to any excess of violence. The fear of foreig powers was a restraint, which kept them within the bounds of moderation, and inspired a respect for the laws. [s] Till then the Romans had not ventured t shed the blood of their citizens, and the highest exces of their civil dissensions was carried no farther than t quit the city, and retire to the top of some neighbour ing mountain. When Rome saw herself delivere from all apprehensions of foreign enemies, licentious 'ness and pride, the usual consequences of prosperity soon disturbed the union and concord which had til then prevailed. The nobility and people, the on under a pretext of supporting their dignity, and th other their liberty, sought each of them separately t enlarge their authority, and engross all power to them [9] Cic. Orat. pro Sext. n. 137. externa noverant bella, ultimaqu [r] Sallust. in Bello Jugurth. [] Nondum erant tam fortes ad sanguinem civilem, nec præter rabies secessio ab suis habebatu Liv. lib. vii. n. 40. * selves lic torn by their divisions, and given up as a prey to the ambition of her citizens, was always in a state of subjection to the most powerful. [u] It must not be asked which of the heads of these parties had most right and justice on their side; all were alike unjust, and all usurpers of a power which did not belong to them. He who was the strongest, and remained the conqueror, was always sure to be applauded. [r] We learn from hence, that nothing is more capable of extinguishing justice and the laws, than the passion for power and dominion over others; a passion the more dangerous, as it is covered over with the appearance of virtue and glory, and for that reason generally draws in such as suppose themselves distinguished from the rest of mankind, by more noble sentiments and a superior greatness of mind. We shall now see these fatal dispositions disclose themselves by little and little, increase as it were by decrees with time, and at last end in the entire subversion of liberty. THE GRACCHI. Tiberius and Caius Gracchus, descended by their mother from the famous Scipio Africanus, supported the honour of their birth by an extraordinary merit, [t] Per illa tempora, quicunque rempublicam agitavere, honestis no-, minibus, alii sicuti jura populi defenderent, pars quo senatus auctori tas maxuma foret, bonum publicum simulantes, pro suâ quisque potentiâ certabant. Sallust. in Bello Catilin. [u] Boni & mali cives appellati, non ob merita in rempublicam, omnibus pariter corruptis; sed uti quis que locupletissimus & iniuriâ vali dior, quia præsentia defendebat, pro bono ducebatur. Sallust. in Frag. [x] Maximè adducuntur plerique ut eos justitiæ capiat oblivio, cùm in imperiorum, honorum, gloriæ cupiditatem inciderunt... Est autem in hoc genere molestum, quòd in maximis animis splendidissimisque ingeniis, plerumque existunt honoris, imperii, potentiæ, gloriæ cupidates. Offic. lib. i. n. 26. |