above all law; and to which a religious judge ought to have a special
regard. Thus all consent to that maxim of Crassus, that a prince cannot
have treasure enough, since he must maintain his armies out of it: that
a king, even though he would, can do nothing unjustly; that all property
is in him, not excepting the very persons of his subjects: and that no
man has any other property, but that which the king out of his goodness
thinks fit to leave him. And they think it is the prince's interest,
that there be as little of this left as may be, as if it were his
advantage that his people should have neither riches nor liberty; since
these things make them less easy and less willing to submit to a cruel
and unjust government; whereas necessity and poverty blunts them, makes
them patient, beats them down, and breaks that height of spirit, that
might otherwise dispose them to rebel. Now what if after all these
propositions were made, I should rise up and assert, that such councils
were both unbecoming a king, and mischievous to him: and that not only
his honour but his safety consisted more in his people's wealth, than in
his own; if I should show that they choose a king for their own sake,
and not for his; that by his care and endeavours they may be both easy
and safe; and that therefore a prince ought to take more care of his
people's happiness than of his own, as a shepherd is to take more care
of his flock than of himself. It is also certain, that they are much
mistaken that think the poverty of a nation is a means of the public
safety. Who quarrel more than beggars? Who does more earnestly long for
a change, than he that is uneasy in his present circumstances? And who
run to create confusions with so desperate a boldness, as those who have
nothing to lose, hope to gain by them? If a king should fall under such
contempt or envy, that he could not keep his subjects in their duty, but
by oppression and ill usage, and by rendering them poor and miserable,
it were certainly better for him to quit his kingdom, than to retain it
by such methods, as makes him while he keeps the name of authority, lose