In short, and this last reflection which I have made will apply, in a general manner, to the preceding remarks; the opinion of the public, the just complaints of the people, are sometimes a long while in reaching the prince; they ring in the kingdom before he hears the rumour; they wander round the palace, but the whispers do not reach him; vanity, pride, and every vice excludes them; the old courtiers sneer, and the insignificant pursuers of credit or favour amuse themselves by indulging their turn for ridicule. The ministers, who are followed by the clamour, are often importuned by it; and when it reaches their master, find some method to weaken its impression, attributing these commotions to private passions, and giving the name of cabal to a just indignation against vice. Yes, such is the unhappy fate of princes, that the peace of a state is often tottering, before the opinion of the world reaches them, and discovers the truth; a new consideration, very proper to convince us, that the power of opinion can never equal in utility those grand principles of morality, which, by the aid of religion, are fixed, in the hearts of men, to give them laws, without distinction of birth, rank, or dignity. But if, from sovereigns, we carry our views to those who share their confidence, we shall perceive still more the absolute necessity of an active and governing morality. Ministers, without virtue, are more to be feared than sovereigns indifferent to public good; newly come out of the crowd they know better than the monarch the selfish use that they can make of all the passions and vices; and as they are connected with society, as they have a continual relation with the different orders of the state, their corruptions are propagated, and their dangerous influence spreads to a great distance. Attacked, nevertheless, by the public, they become still more mischievous in their means of warding off danger, for despairing of disguise before the attentive eyes of a whole people, they turn their address against the prince; they study, they pry into his weaknesses, and artfully encourage those which may protect or cover the defects of their character; they apply themselves, at the same time, to adorn immorality with every grace which can render it amiable, and they endeavour to make virtue hateful, by delineating it as austere, imperious, unsociable, and almost incompatible with our morals and manners: it is thus that ministers, not restrained by principles, occasion not only the misery of a country whilst their influence lasts, but they poison the source of public felicity, by weakening in the monarch his sentiments of duty, diverting his good dispositions, and discouraging, if I may say so, his natural virtues.