onsort of distinct Sounds is to
be observed; which if it be alter'd, or not tunable, skilful Hearers
cannot bear or endure: And this Consort of very different Tones, is,
through as just Proportion of the Notes, rendred Concord, and very
agreeable: Even so a Commonwealth, judiciously proportioned, and
composed of the _first_, the _middlemost_, and the _lowest_ of the
_States_, (just as in the Sounds) through the Consent of People very
unlike to each other, becomes agreeable: And what Musicians in Singing
call _Harmony_, that in a Commonwealth is _Concord_; the very best and
strongest Bond of Safety for a Government, which can never fail of being
accompanied with _Justice_." Our Ancestors therefore following this
Method, of a just Mixture of all the three Kinds, in the constituting
their Commonwealth, most wisely ordained, that every Year on the
_Calends_ of _May_, a Publick _Council_ of the whole Nation should be
held: at which _Council_ the great Affairs of the Republick shou'd be
transacted by the common Consent and Advice of all the _Estates_. The
Wisdom and Advantage of which Institution, appears chiefly in these
three things: First, That in the Multitude of prudent Counsellors, the
Weight and Excellency of Counsel shews it self more apparently, as
_Solomon_ and other Wise Men have said. Secondly, _Because it is an
essential part of liberty, that the same persons, at whose cost and
peril any thing is done, shou'd have it done likewise by their authority
and advice: for_ ('tis a common Saying) _what concerns all, ought to be
approved by all_. Lastly, That such Ministers of State as have great
Power with the Prince, and are in high Employments, may be kept within
the Bounds of their Duty, thro' the Awe they stand in of this _great
Council_, in which all the Demands and Grievances of the Subject are
freely laid open.--"For such Kingdoms as are ruled by the arbitrary Will
and Pleasure of _one Prince_, may most justly (as _Aristotle_ in his
third Book of Politicks observes) be reckon'd Governments of Sheep; and
brute Beasts, without Wit or judgment; not of Freemen, who are endued
with Understanding, and the Light of Reason." The Case is thus--That
even as Sheep are not guided or tended by one of their own Kind, nor
Boys govern'd by one of themselves, but by something of more Excellency;
even so a Multitude of Men ought not to be ruled and govern'd by one
single Person, who perhaps understands and sees less than several othe