avoid contempt at least, it is all over with his power, whether it be his subjects or allies, who entertain the sentiment, if the former, farewel good order and subordination; if the latter, he will be continually vexed and harassed, (like an officer in a regiment, who will not fight in support of his honour,) till at last he loses the crown, which becomes the prey of the first who chuses to attack him, and he falls without exciting a single sentiment of regret either in friend or foe. One infallible cause of contempt is, as our author observes, the neglect to take up arms on the attack of an ally, and remaining neutral between two powers at war; as he will be, in fact, despised by both, and is sure to become the prey of the conqueror, as Flaminius observed to the Achaians, whom Antiochus persuaded to remain neuter: Nihil majis alienum rebus vestris est, sine gratiâ sine dignitate præmium victoris eritis. As both powers suspect his friendship[1], and both despise
- ↑ He that is not with us is against us.
