their Trust. Another Reason which induced me to
believe the Choice such, was, that the _English_, (of which Nation I
own'd my self) were any one rich enough to bribe the Majority of a
Province, and are too wise a People to entrust their Liberty to such a
Person; for it's natural to believe, whoever would buy their Votes,
would sell his own: But, that the Majority of a Province was to be
brib'd, or that a free People would, on any account, risque their
Liberty, by giving their Representatives a Power to enslave 'em, either
by making the Prince absolute, and furnishing him with Standing Armies,
to maintain a despotick Power or else by selling them to Foreigners,
could never enter into the Thoughts of a reasonable Creature.

_Has_, said he, (who smiled all the while I held this Discourse) _your
Nation any near Neighbours?_ I answer'd, That, by the means of our
Shipping, we might be said near Neighbours to every Nation; but that our
Island was separated but Seven Leagues from the Continent, inhabited by
a warlike and powerful People. _Have you any Commerce with the Nations
on the Continent?_ We are, said I, the greatest Dealers in _Europe_.
_Have you any Religion among you?_ We have, in the main, I replied, but
one, tho' it is branch'd out into a great many Sects, differing only in
some trifling Ceremonies, in Essentials we all agree.

Religion, _answer'd my Lord_, is absolutely necessary in a
well-govern'd State; but do your great Men make any Profession of
Religion? or, to ask a more proper Question, do they do more than
profess it?

My Lord, said I, our great Men are the brightest Examples of Piety.
Their Veracity is such, that they would not for an Empire falsify
their Word once given. Their Justice won't suffer a Creditor to go from
their Gate unsatisfied: Their Chastity makes them look on Adultery and
Furnication the most abominable Crimes; and even the naming of them
will make their Bloods run cold. They exhaust their Revenues in Acts
of Charity, and every great Man among us is a Husband and Father to
the Widow and Orphan. They esteem themselves Stewards to the Poor, and
that in a future State they are accountable for every Doit lavish'd in
Equipage or superfluous Dishes. Their Tables are not nicely, but
plentifully served, and always open to the honest Needy. At Court, as
I have learn'd, there is neither Envy nor Detraction, no one undermines
another, nor intercepts the Prince's Bounty or Favour by slandro