MODERN POLICY. 295 



x4.s a caution against changes in government, 

 give me leave to repeat, what was long since 

 told us by an ingenious lord :* That all great 

 mutations are dangerous ; even where what is 

 introduced by that mutation, is such as would 

 have been very profitable upon a primary found- 

 ation : and it is none of the least dangers of 

 change, that all the perils and inconveniences 

 which it brings cannot be foreseen ; and there- 

 fore such as make title to wisdom, will not 

 undergo great dangers, but for great necessities. 



But, further, let me appeal to general expe- 

 rience ; yea, let me ask thee, reader, if thou 

 hast never before heard, or read of a nation, 

 that was once the gaze and envy of its neigh- 

 bours ; and yet being insensible of its happi- 

 ness, or possessed with fond hopes of bettering 

 its condition, has closed with pretended friends 

 and real enemies, and gladly contributed to its 

 own ruin. 



So apt are men to catch at the shadow, 

 though they hazard the substance; we may 

 guess at the moral of the frogs in the fable, who 

 could find no satisfaction in a still prince, and 

 were after forced to abide the severities of a 

 tyrant they prayed for. 



But if there be such distempers in a state, as 

 shall necessarily require amendment, let it be 



* Faulkland. 



u 4 



