Let. 8.

and State of E U r o p s,

297

corruption and a standing army to be so. Yourgood sense, my lord, your virtue, and your loveof your country, will always détermine you tooppose such vile schemes, and to contribute youru t m ost towards the cure of both these kinds ofrage; the rage of warring, without any propor-tionable interest of our own, for the ambition ofothers; and the rage of negociating, on everyoccasion, at any rate, without a fufíicient call toit, and without any part of that deciding influencewhich we ought to hâve. Our nation inhabits anistand and is one of the principal nations ofEurope ; but to maintain this rank, we inulìtake the advantages of this situation, which hâvebeen neglected by us for almost hais a century :we must always remember, that we are n ot partof the continent, but we must ne ver forget thatwe are neighbours to it. I will contlude, byapplying a ru le, that Horace gives for the con-duct of an epic or dramatic poem, to the partGréât ^Britain ought to take in the a flairs of thecontinent, if you allow me to transform Britanniainto a maie divinity, as the verse requires,

Nec Deus intérsit, nisi dignus vindice nodusIncident.

If these réfactions are just, and I fhould not hâveoffered them to your lordíhip had they notappeared both just and important to my b estunderstanding, you will think that I hâve notspent your time unprositably in making them,