THALIA.

poaterous, than to fly from the tyranny of an individ­
ual to the intemperate caprice of the vulgar. What­
ever a tyrant undertakes, has the merit of previous
concert and design; but the people are always rash
and ignorant. And how can they be otherwise, who
are uninstructed, and with no internal sense of what
is good and right ? Destitute of judgment, their ac­
tions resemble the violence of a torrent. To me, a
democracy seems to involve the ruin of our country:
let us, therefore, intrust the government to a few in­
dividuals, selected for their talents and their virtues.
Let us constitute a part of these ourselves, and from
the exercise of authority so deposited, we may be jus­
tified in expecting the happiest events."

LXXXII. Darius was the third who delivered his
opinion.- "The sentiments of Megabyzus," he ob­
served, " as they relate to a popular government, are
unquestionably wise and just; but from his opinion
of an oligarchy, I totally dissent. Supposing the
three different forms of government, monarchy, de­
mocracy, and an oligarchy, severally to prevail in the
greatest perfection, I am of opinion that monarchy
has greatly the advantage. Indeed nothing can be
better than the government of an individual eminent
for his virtue. He will not only hare regard to the
general welfare of his subjects, but his resolutions
will be cautiously concealed from the public enemies
of the state. In an oligarchy, the majority who have
the care of the state, though employed in the exercise
of virtue for the public good, will be the objects of
mutual envy and dislike. Every individual will be
anxious to extend his own personal importance, from
which will proceed faction, sedition, and bloodshed.
The sovereign power coming by these means to the
hands of a single person, constitutes the strongest
argument to prove what form of government is best.
Whenever the people possess the supreme authority,
disorders in the state are unavoidable: such disorders,
introduced in a republic, do not separate the bad and
the profligate from each other, they unite them in the
closest bonds of connexion. They who mutually in­
jure the state, mutually support each other; this evil