air," said Peter, "I do not mean that you
should be a slave to any king, but only that you should assist them, and
be useful to them."--"The change of the word," said he, "does not alter
the matter."--"But term it as you will," replied Peter, "I do not see
any other way in which you can be so useful, both in private to your
friends, and to the public, and by which you can make your own condition
happier."--"Happier!" answered Raphael, "is that to be compassed in a
way so abhorrent to my genius? Now I live as I will, to which I believe
few courtiers can pretend. And there are so many that court the favour
of great men, that there will be no great loss if they are not troubled
either with me or with others of my temper." Upon this, said I, "I
perceive, Raphael, that you neither desire wealth nor greatness; and
indeed I value and admire such a man much more than I do any of the
great men in the world. Yet I think you would do what would well become
so generous and philosophical a soul as yours is, if you would apply
your time and thoughts to public affairs, even though you may happen to
find it a little uneasy to yourself: and this you can never do with so
much advantage, as by being taken into the counsel of some great prince,
and putting him on noble and worthy actions, which I know you would do
if you were in such a post; for the springs both of good and evil flow
from the prince, over a whole nation, as from a lasting fountain. So
much learning as you have, even without practice in affairs, or so great
a practice as you have had, without any other learning, would render you
a very fit counsellor to any king whatsoever."--"You are doubly
mistaken," said he, "Mr. More, both in your opinion of me, and in the
judgment you make of things: for as I have not that capacity that you
fancy I have; so, if I had it, the public would not be one jot the
better, when I had sacrificed my quiet to it. For most princes apply
themselves more to affairs of war than to the useful arts of peace; and
in these I neither have any knowledge, nor do I much desire it: they are
generally more set on acquiring new kingdoms, right or wrong, than on
governing well those they possess. And among the ministers of princes,
there are none that are not so wise as to need no assistance, or at
least that do not think themselves so wise, that they imagine they need
none; and if they court any, it is only those for whom the prince has
much personal favour, whom