Atalantis Major Part 3

He was President of the Royal Council of that Country even while he was very young, an Honour the greatest of the n.o.bility were well pleased to see him adorned with, and made no Scruple to sit below him: His distinguish'd Modesty and Humility in all his publick Appearances, recommends him to the Affections of the whole Country; and tho' the Fortunes of his Family have suffered by the Disasters of the Times, yet he supports a handsome Figure suitable to the Dignity of his Character, Rich without Gaiety, Great without Affectation, Plentiful without Profusion, letting the World see he knows how and when, and to what Pitch to appear that when he pleases to be at Large, he can do it like a wise Man, or Retrench, he can do it like a Prince. It might be said, as a finishing stroke to his Character, he is just the Reverse of _Greeniccio_, for he is Fire without Thunder, Brave without Fury, Great without Pride, Gay without Vanity, Wise without Affectation, knows how to Obey and how to Command; he knows great Things enough to manage them, and is so Master of himself, as not to let them manage him; he knows how to be a Courtier without Ambition, and to Merit Favour rather than to seek it; he scorns to push his Fortunes over the Belly of his Principles, ever Faithful to himself, and by consequence to all that Trust him; he has too great a Value for Merit to envy it even in his Enemy, and too low Thoughts of the Pride and Conceit of Men without Merit, to approve of it even in his Friends.

This n.o.ble Person appears at the Head of the dissenting n.o.bility: Nor does it lessen his Zeal for the Principles of Liberty, or the present Establishment of Religion in his Country; that some of his Ancestors, otherwise n.o.ble, Brave and Great, appear'd on the other side; since the Liberties of his Country are the Center of his Actions, and the Prosperity of all Men the mark he aims at.

It may be a Character to the rest of the dissenting Lords, to say of them in general, That they were such as took a particular Pleasure in being Patrons of Virtue as well as Patrons of Liberty: That they were Men generally speaking distinguish'd for their constant Loyalty to their Prince, but ever with a view to the Fundamental Laws: That they had always Wisdom enough to know their Countries Rights, and Courage enough to defend them; Men of Honour, Men of Prudence, Men of Resolution: In short, They were Men admirably suited to the Character of their Leader; as he on the other hand, thought it his Honour to be at the Head of so ill.u.s.trious a Body of Men, equally valuable for their Virtue, Capacities, Wisdom and Integrity.

It cannot be forgotten; That as these n.o.ble Persons were Zealous for the Liberties of their Country, so truly they were Men that had the greatest Interest in it, having separately considered the best Estates of the whole n.o.bility, of that Country and joined together, were able to Buy twice their Number in the whole a.s.sembly. It is true, that Estate is not any just Addition to the Character of a Person; but it will for ever remain a Truth; And all Nations will shew a regard to it, _viz._ that those may be supposed to be the most proper Persons to be trusted with the Conservation of the Liberties of their Country, who have by their Birth and Inheritance the largest Shares in the Possession of it.

This is ill.u.s.trated by the Practice of that happy Country we live in, where this Story may perhaps be read, and where very lately, a Law has been made, to unquallifie all such to represent their Country in the Legislation and Power of raising Taxes, who are not possessed of such or such a Porportion in the Lands of their Country, as may suppose them Persons made naturally anxious for the Welfare of the whole, in regard to the Preservation of their Property. Unhappy _Atalantis_! Had such a Law pa.s.s'd for the Qualification of those n.o.blemen, who should be elected to the great Royal Council of thy Country; and should the n.o.bility so to be chosen have been limited to but one hundred _Perialo's_ (a Gold Coin in that Country amounting by Estimation to about 2000 _l._ a Year Sterling) of yearly Estate in Lands, how few of the Sixteen now chosen could have shewn themselves in that august Meeting.

On the contrary, several of those now sent up, were not able to put themselves into a Posture to undertake the Journey, till they had sold the Magazines of Corn which they had laid up for the Year's Subsistance of their Families, or mortgaged their small Estates to borrow Money for the Expence.

Nor is it doubted in the least, but when those poor n.o.blemen come to find some of their _Tartarian_ Expectations frustrated, with which it is manifest they were very Big when they went up; they will sorely regret the Misfortune of their Election; since they must be thereby so reduced, as almost to want Subsistance for their Families; and as for the Debts contracted, it is impossible some of them should ever Pay them.

It has been a too unhappy Truth in other Places as well as in _Atalantis Major_, That in such popular Elections, whether of n.o.blemen or others, Men are deluded with the Notion, that to be chosen by their Country to these great Councils of the Nation, must so recommend them, or make them so necessary to the State, to the Government, or the Ministers of State, that they cannot fail to make their Fortunes and raise Estates by their very Appearance: But this is so constantly found to fail, and so many have been almost ruin'd by the Expences they have been at to make a Figure as they call it, and to appear at Court like themselves on such Occasions, that it seems wonderful that Persons of Quality, who know their own Circ.u.mstances, and whose Fortunes, through the Disasters of their Families, may not be equal to their Dignity, should on so vain a Presumption push themselves upon the necessity of compleating their own Ruin, beggering their Families, and leaving their Posterity an Estate in t.i.tles and Coronets, Things without the Support of competent Estates the most despicable in the World.

It might be very useful to our Readers, and perhaps something instructing might be gathered from it, with respect to the Affairs of _Europe_ at this Time, to give some Account here of the Success of these strange Proceedings; what Figure these People made, when they came to Court, how they behav'd themselves when they came into the great Council, how they were made Tools there to the Politicians of those Times, even to act against their Interest, their Country, their own Designs.

In doing this, it would appear, How some of the Sixteen, more particularly known to be in the _Tartarian_ Interest, and who had all along declared themselves for the Person and t.i.tle of the pretending Prince, who, as is noted before, put in a Claim to the Succession of the Throne: How these, I say, went up to the great Council, wheedled by the Subtilties of _Greeniccio_, and his Agents, to believe seriously that they went up directly to declare his t.i.tle; that they should be the Men that should have the Honour to declare his Right in the great Council of the n.o.bility; and that he should for the future own his Restoration, his Glory, and his Crown, to their Loyalty and steddy acting for him. This, they did not doubt, should tend not to their Honour only, but to the raising their decay'd Fortunes, for they were miserably Poor; since he could do no less than confer the greatest Trusts upon Persons who had with so much Fidelity acted for his Glory and Interest.

It would also to the eternal Shame and Disappointment of the _Atalantic Jacobites_, (if I may so call them) necessarily follow, that the History of their Conduct should come in at the same time to be considered, _viz._ How just the contrary to all this, and against the very Nature of the Thing they were obliged, even among the very first of their Transactings in their Publick Station, as Members of the great Council aforesaid, to appear in a Publick Address to the Soveraign of the Country, in which they were brought in recognizing Her just t.i.tle to Reign, (which they in their Hearts abhorr'd) promising to Stand by and Defend that t.i.tle with all their Might, (which they had hoped to see overthrown) engaging to a.s.sist Her to the utmost, against that very pretending Claimant as above, (who they Reverence as their lawful Prince) and to carry on the War with Vigour against the _Tartarian_ Emperor (that very Prince on whose Power they depended for the carrying on their Designs).

Had any _British_-Man of Sense, that understands the Language of the Countenance, but seen the Astonishment, the Chagrin, the Vexation and Anguish of Soul, that appear'd on the Faces of these _Atalantic_ n.o.blemen, at this surprizing Event; how they gnashed their Teeth for Anger, and curst the Hour that ever they were Members of this grand Council; how they Bann'd, (an _Atalantis_ Word used there, for what we call Swearing and d.a.m.ning in our Country;) how they raged at _Greenwiccio_, and the _Lord of the Isles_, who they said had Betray'd them; and how strangely they look'd, upon the solemn Occasion of presenting this Address to their Soveraign: I say, could their Countenances but have been read by any in our Country, they would have taken them for Furies rather than Men, or for Men under some Frenzy, ridden with the Night-Mare, or scared with some Apparition.

It was not less odd, to see the Conduct of _Greeniccio_; for tho' he had not less Mischief in his Heart, yet it was of another Kind; and tho' he had not the same View of the Succession, nor perhaps was directly in the _Tartarian_ Interest, and therefore shew'd no Pity, or Sympathy with the Mortifications of the other, yet he met with Disappointments equally perplexing, and which made him heartily repent the length he had gone; but as it was in his Nature to be rash, it was impossible to prevent his being disappointed almost in every Thing he went about: For it is in _Atalantis Major_ just as it is in other Parts of the World, _viz._ That rash headstrong unthinking Tempers, generally precipitate themselves into innumerable Mischiefs, which Prudence and Patience would evite and prevent; and also, that these furious rash People, as they are hot and impatient under those Mischiefs when they are surprised with them, so they are not always the best able to extricate and deliver themselves.

This will necessarily lead us to a long History of the Disappointments he met with:

1. In his Project of charging and impeaching his General, and the great Testador, or ---- of the Nations Treasure, which he could never, either bring Crime enough to justifie, or Friends enough to joyn in, and make it terrible.

2. How he was disappointed in his ambitious Views of being made General against the _Tartarians_; whereas, he had on the contrary, the Mortification, to see the great Commander continu'd, with an addition of Generallissimo to his t.i.tles of Command; and himself, like what we used to call in _England_, being _Kick'd up Stairs_, sent out of the Way with a Feather in his Cap, and the t.i.tle of General, to carry on a remote Unfortunate, and never-to-be Successful War in _j.a.pan_, and the Lord knows where, among Barbarians and Savages.

This was not all; When upon his embracing this t.i.tle, which his Temper (naturally Ambitious) jumpt at, and eagerly closed with, he began to choose Officers, name Regiments, and draw out Forces to form the Army he was to Command, he found the new Generalissimo had supplanted him there too; for he had not only prevailed with the Queen of the Country, not to draw away any of the old Troops then establish'd for the _Tartarian_ War, of which this _Gew-Gaw-General_ fancied to himself he should form his Army: But the Generalissimo obtain'd, That the best Troops which were remaining in _Atalantis Major_, should be sent over to strengthen the Army against the _Tartars_: So that this new General was likely to go away to _j.a.pan_ without any Army, but such Troops as her _Atalantic_ Majesty and Her Allies had hired from the _Emperor of China_, and such other People; and he had none but Strangers, Barbarians and Mercenaries to Command.

It is true, That his Design of drawing off the Troops from the _Tartarian_ War, to carry on a _Wild-Goose War_ in the remotest Parts of _j.a.pan_, was like the rest of his Schemes, so inconsistent, so destructive to the general Design of the War, and would in all its probable Circ.u.mstances be so dangerous to the true Interest of _Atalantis Major_, That notwithstanding some had persuaded the Government to a _New Scheme_, and that the War was to be pushed on _ESPECIALLY_ in _j.a.pan_ (a Thing which perhaps some encouraged at first, on purpose to draw him in to accept of that Command, which many of inferiour Rank to him had declin'd) yet when they came to look nearer into the Thing, and to see the fatal Prospect of weakning the Forces on the _Tartarian_ side, while the _Emperor of Tartary_ at the same Time was vigilant and forward in encreasing his Preparations, they soon found the Representations of the Generalissimo had such Weight in them, and were founded so much upon their general Good, that they thought fit to alter their Measures.

How _Greeniccio_ was thus disappointed; how he resented it; how to Pacifie him, an Appearance of drawing some Troops together was made; how he was at last sent away with a whole Ship load of fine Promises; as he on the contrary loaded the same Ship back with a full Freight of Schemes, Projects and Rhodomontadoes; how he went; what he did, and what he did not; how _Tinker_ like, he mended the Work of those that went before, and left it for others to mend after him; these are Things I may give you a farther Account of when I return from my next Progress to that glorious Country of _Atalantis Major_.

_FINIS._