terer and the knave. Let him observe the conduct of his courtiers to others, as well as towards himself: he may be deceived as to their sincerity towards himself; but where others are concerned, his judgment will be cool and impartial.

It is not sufficient to choose good ministers; it is necessary that a sovereign should have the power of attaching them to his person, of inspiring esteem and affection for his character, and zeal for his interests and honour: but this must not be attempted by artifice, by promises, or by king-craft. Machiavel, in a chapter on the question, How far a prince is bound to be of good faith, exposes, with sober irony, the regal

d

The irony of Machiavel is so sober, and so well supported, that careless or perverse readers have mistaken it for earnest, and this misrepresentation or errour has been propagated from generation to generation by those who have read, and still more by those who have not read his "Prince." Machiavel's advice to kings, like Swift's "Advice to Servants," may have done harm to some, and must have excited the indignation of others, who were, so stupid as to understand it literally. Machiavelian policy, as a synonyme for every thing that is treacherous and diabolic, has become a popular expression in the mouths of those who know nothing of Machiavel but the name, or who, upon hearsay evidence and common report, " damn to everlasting fame" one of the most acute and profound authors that ever wrote.

If the letter, said to be Machiavel's, to Zenobius Buondelmontius, in vindication of himself and his writings, be genuine, the matter is put beyond dispute, by the declaration from the author himself, that his Prince was all irony and satire; this declaration is made in terms so formal and positive that the most maliciously incredulous, or the most dull of apprehension must yield assent. On what authority this letter rests, remains however to be determined. There is no name in the third edition of the English translation of Machiavel, published in 1720, in which it first appears: but this anonymous translator assures us, that the letter lurked for eighty years in the cabinets of the curious at Florence,

code of simulation and dissimulation; he appeals to all history, and to the experience of his own times, to prove, that those princes, who have loved peace and never broken their faith, have lost their kingdoms, and have fallen into oblivion; while those, who have talked of peace, and good faith, and religion, but who have disregarded them in all their actions; those, in short, who could play the fox best, have always been most successful. He asserts, that men are so simple in their natures, and such slaves to their present necessities, that whoever wishes to deceive will always find those who are willing to be deceived; but no monarch will ever be able to flatter or deceive men, so as to make them his friends; there are too many interests incorporated against the royal hypocrite. "On peut être plus fin qu'un autre, mais pas plus fin que "tous les autres." Nor can a sovereign attach men by lucrative gratifications or high sounding titles. That he should reward services is just; but he cannot pay for attachment: not all his treasury could purchase esteem or love; not all the commissions, civil and military, at the disposal of the Crown ; not all the ribands, and stars, and garters, that a herald could devise; not all the marquisates and dukedoms within the extent of the royal prerogative, unless they be given as the just reward of merit, can attach to the royal donor those on whom they are conferred.

If any dealer in political intrigue, if any mere courtier

till in the beginning of the pontificate of Urban the Eighth it was carried to Rome, whence it was brought to England by a traveller in the year 1645.

Amelot de la Houssaye observes, that it is very unjust to poor Machiavel to accuse him of having taught princes all that he learnt from their practice.

should ever see this page, he will smile with incredulity and contempt-" Ame de boue et de fange! tu te trompes." "Man "of mud and mire!" as Frederick the Great apostrophised a courtier, who professed a disbelief in virtue, "Man of mud "and mire, you are mistaken." Even in our days, which it is the fashion to depreciate, examples might be cited, which show that kings, and unfortunate kings, can have friends.

To be capable of exciting that enthusiastic devotion, which gives life, security, and vigour to his government, a king must possess a generous elevated soul. He will then raise in the minds of men the feeling, that there is something even in this world far above all mercenary reward.

Of the vast sums which Lewis the Fourteenth bestowed on his courtiers and servants the account is uninteresting and forgotten; but the world still remembers and repeats some of the expressions, by which he enhanced the favour of his gifts, and the value of his rewards. Every body recollects his compliment to one of his generals, upon whom he conferred the dignity of Maréchal de France :-" Sir, if I had known an"other man in my kingdom more deserving of this honour than yourself, I would have conferred it upon him."

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In many of the expressions of Lewis the Fourteenth, there

The public has lately seen an epitaph, written by Lewis the Eighteenth, on the confessor of his unfortunate brother. This was a becoming instance of gratitude due to the fidelity of that man, who attended his king upon the scaffold, and who alone, in defiance of thousands of rebels and atheists, dared to proclaim his loyalty, and to glory in his religion.

was exquisite taste, and refined politeness; but in Henry the Fourth's there was something more, warm feeling, generosity, and greatness of mind. To his history the preceptor of a young prince should for ever recur; for, of all kings, Henry the Fourth of France is the monarch, who possessed the power of attaching mankind in the most eminent degree. He displayed it in the midst of the difficulties and dangers to which he was exposed, before he could seat himself upon the throne. In the midst of the wars of the.League, 66 when his shirts were "all ragged (these are his very words), his doublets out at elbow, his kettle seldom on the fire; when he had not a complete suit of armour, and hardly a horse to carry him to "battle;" when he had nothing but the justice of his cause, and his intrepidity to depend upon, how many men were drawn to his standard, as if marshalled by enchantment!

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"I sometimes thought of leaving him," said Sully, "for "the sake of my fortune and my friends; I sometimes deter"mined to leave him, but I do not know how it was I never. "could; there was something about him, that always drew me “back again, and attached me invincibly to his fate." The enchantment, by which Henry marshalled armies and attached friends invincibly to his fate, was the natural magic of a great mind. Such power over his own destiny, even in the most difficult and perilous circumstances, has a prince of abilities, vigour, and magnanimity', who can excite the enthusiasm and

of Even where Henry was betrayed by warmth of temper into hasty expres-> sions his candour more than repaired his fault. On the eve of a battle on which Henry's fate depended, the Swiss Colonel, Schomberg, came to ask for money. Henry replied, angrily, that it was not like a man of honour to ask for money

affection of his fellow-creatures. In prosperity as in adversity it was the same. No king, no private individual, ever had a more sincere friend than Sully; his gratitude and affection to the memory of his master lasted to the latest hour of his existence, and not only Sully, but all who lived with Henry the Fourth, felt a portion of this enthusiastic attachment. It is said, that one of his adherents actually broke his heart over his grave.

What a contrast there was between Henry the Fourth and Frederick of Prussia! Frederick, great as he was, and endowed with talents of a superior order, never had a friend, except perhaps one individual of the name of Jordan; and this was the only man, to whom the king ever showed attachment, the only man whom he did not irritate and mortify by his cruel persiflage, or still more cruel suspicions.

These are the comparisons in the history of kings, which young princes should be taught to make; and thus by relating to them interesting anecdotes their education may be ad

when he came to take orders for fighting. Repenting afterwards of these hasty words, Henry went to Schomberg when he was drawing out his troops for battle-"Colonel," said he, "perhaps I shall never go from this place-It is "not just that I should deprive a brave gentleman as you are of your honour. "I come then to declare, that I know you to be a gallant officer, and a man incapable of a base action." Having pronounced these words loud enough for all his men to hear, the king embraced the colonel with great affection.-" Oh "sir," replied Schomberg with tears in his eyes, "in restoring me my honour you take away my life; for after this I should be unworthy of your favour, if "I did not sacrifice it to day in your service." Schomberg lost his life in that day's battle.