on the moſt urgent and preſſing occaſions, the ſprings of the nation might be ſtopped by a ſingle caprice.
LETTER XXIX.
ANCIENT REPUBLICS, AND OPINIONS
OF PHILOSOPHERS.
My dear Sir,
IN ſearching for the principles of government, we may divide them into two kinds: the principles of authority, and the principles of power. The firſt are virtues of the mind and heart, ſuch as wiſdom, prudence, courage, patience, temperance, juſtice, &c.: the ſecond are the goods of fortune, ſuch as riches, extraction, knowledge, and reputation. I rank knowledge among the goods of fortune, becauſe it is the effect of education, ſtudy, and travel, which are either accidents, or uſual effects of riches or birth, and is by no means neceſſarily connected with wiſdom or virtue: but, as it is univerſally admired and reſpected by the people, it is clearly a principle of power. The ſame may be ſaid of reputation, which, abſtracted from all conſideration whether it is merited or not, well or ill founded, is another ſource of power.
Riches will hold the firſt place, in civiliſed ſocieties at leaſt, among the principles of power, and will often prevail not only over all the principles of authority, but over all the advantages of birth, knowledge, and fame. For, as Harrington
