VI. No one had a juster sense of his situation in this respect, nor made a more candid acknowledgment of his profession and occupation, than Antigonus King of Asia. When he was in the zenith of his conquests, a philosopher dedicated a book to him which he had just finished, the subject-matter of which was, an encomium on the virtue of justice. As soon as Antigonus read the title of the book, he smiled, and said, “It is certainly very _à propos_, to dedicate a treatise in commemoration of the virtue of justice to me, who am robbing all the world of every thing I can.” VII. And although, neither Alexander, nor Cæsar, ever made so candid a confession, they manifested sufficiently, that they were stung with the remorse, and affected with the bitings of their own consciences. The first, shewed the influence these feelings had over him, in the instance of the temper and forbearance, with which he suffered the pirate who fell into his hands, to upbraid him with being a greater and more scandalous pirate than himself; for if Alexander had not been conscious that the man spoke truth, the consequence of his boldness would have been very terrible to him. The second displayed it, in his perplexities at the crisis of passing the Rubicon; it being most probable, that intrepid soul was not withheld so much by the contemplation of the dangerous undertaking he was going to engage in, as by the sense of the crime he was about to commit. SECT. II. VIII. In reality, conquering Princes are so totally bad, that they are not even good to themselves. They are bad neighbours, as is notorious; they are bad to their subjects, who in the end are equal sufferers with the others; because by the excessive contributions that are extorted from them, they are drained of their property, and in the obstinate wars in which their Princes engage, are deprived of their lives. It is true they conquer; but ten battles gained cost more men to a nation than two or three lost. If we were to add to this, the loss incurred in consequence of the neglect and decay of arts, manufactures, commerce, and agriculture; at winding up the bottom you will find, that with the exception of a few military men, who have been exceedingly fortunate and successful, or whose services have been liberally rewarded, and also with that of a few others, who have enriched themselves by plunder, or the spoils of their own country; the conquerors are left in as bad a situation as the vanquished.