An Enquiry into an Origin of Honour; and the Usefulness of Christianity in War by Bernard Mandeville
page 80 of 173 (46%)
page 80 of 173 (46%)
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they ever any Ensign of Honour, Power or Authority, which they could
depend upon, unless it had first been granted, or confirm'd and ratify'd, by the See of _Rome_. Hor. I take the _Insignia_, which the Proconsuls and Proprietors had in the different Provinces of the _Roman_ Empire, and which _Pancirolus_ has wrote of so amply, to have been much after the Nature of Coats of Arms. Cleo. Those _Insignia_ belong'd to the Office; and a Governour could only make Use of them, whilst he was in it: But hereditary Coats of arms, that were given to particular Men or Societies, by Way of Reward for Services perform'd, were never known; and Heraldry it Self had no Existence, before the Pope's Supremacy had been acknowledged by the Christian World. And if we consider the fine Opportunities, which the most idle and indolent, the most insignificant and unworthy of the Society, often meet with from this Invention of valuing themselves upon Actions that were perform'd several Ages before they were born, and bespeak a Merit which they know in their Consciences that they are destitute of; if, I say, we consider what I have now mention'd, we shall be forc'd to confess, that, of all Arts and Sciences, Heraldry has been the most effectual to stir up and excite in Men the Passion of Self-liking, on the finallest Foundation; and daily Experience teaches us, that Persons of Education and Politeness can taste no Pleasure in any Thing at Home or Abroad, at Church or the Play-House, where the Gratification of this Passion is entirely excluded. Of all the Shews and Solemnities that are exhibited at _Rome_, the greatest and most expensive, next to a Jubilee, is the Canonization of a Saint. For one that has never seen it, the Pomp is incredible. The Stateliness of the Processions, the Richness of Vestments and sacred Utensils that |
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