to embrace Shadows than retain Substances I have endeavoured to distinguish Both unmask our Republican Daemon shew no less his horrid Claws than his Cloven-feet I should now make some excuse that this Answer comes so late into the World but I have a sufficient Witness that I had never seen the Book call'd Plato Redivivus before I received it at Paris about May last from My Lord Preston His Majesties Envoy Extraordinary in the French Court To his Lordship I owe the first motion and encouragement of answering it you the advantage if any be and satisfaction of the Answer Next I must inform you that I meddle little with the Law-part which is now and then to be met withal in Our Author not only because it hath been sufficiently answer'd already but besides if there be any breach of the Law or Government by any Person whatsoever the Courts of Justice are open which are the proper places for Law matters and when Plato shall think fit to shew himself and legally accuse both himself and such other of the Kings Subjects who may have been deceived by him will receive a more full ample satisfaction than I durst pretend to give them The historical and rational part I endeavour to answer as plainly as my judgment and little time would permit which I have done also by way of Dialogue that I might in all things comply with Our Authors method as far as is reasonable Many impertinencies I have passed by to avoid tediousness Those faults in this Discourse which shall not be found malicious I hope the Reader will excuse small mistakes may be easily rectified And as to the whole if the Reader shall please to examine it as impartially as it is writ sincerely I persuade my self that he will find nothing misbecoming an Honest Man and a Loyal Subject Farewell PLATO'S Daemon OR The State-Physician unmaskt BEING A Discourse in Answer to a Book call'd Plato Redivivus The Argument An English Gentleman lately return'd from France and Italy where he had spent several years is invited by a very considerable Merchant and his near Kinsman to his Country House where discoursing of many things with great liberty the Merchant accidentally opens a Book call'd Plato Redivivus which the Traveller had brought down with him into the Country This becomes a new subject of Discourse and both deliver their opinions concerning it with great freedom as follows First Discourse Merchant GOod morrow Cousin What up and ready too so early How do you like our Old English Country Air Traveller Very well Sir and indeed the pleasantness of this situation with those many delights which appear round about it are sufficient to raise any Man from his Bed especially one who hath been so long a stranger to the happinesses of a Country retirement and who loves them so much as I do Mer. I rather feared that notwithstanding our best endeavours here your time would pass tediously away for having seen all France and Italy which they call the Garden of Europe I apprehended that the best part of England would have appeared no better to you then an uncultivated Desert Trav. No nor yet shall Lumbardy nor Capua which is the Garden of Italy be ever preferr'd by me before our own blest happy soil Mer. I am glad to find you so good an Englishman the rather because we may now hope to keep you henceforward in a place which it seems you like so well Trav. Believe me Tutto il mondo è paâ—se All Countries are in this alike that they have their conveniences and inconveniences their particular delights and their particular wants And when we shall have made a just estimate of all the Kingdoms in Europe I know none which for pleasure and profit ought to be preferr'd justly before our own Mer. Sir I was always satisfied with my own Countrey and the little encouragement you give me to exchange it for any other confirms me now so much in my Opinion that I am resolv'd never to cross the Seas except some greater Business than I can foresee should necessitate me Trav. I have now spent somewhat more than Eight years as you know Cousin out of England The first time I went abroad I only learnt my Exercises and made those Tours of France and Italy which generally other Gentlemen use to do I could then have told you who was the best Dancing Master of Paris where liv'd the most fashionable Taylor the airiest Perriwig-maker and such like In Italy where the best Wines and what Curiosities were particular to every City But having almost lost the bon goust as they say or rellish for those youthful pleasures since I went last abroad I have made other remarks and grown more sullen possibly than I ought to be can tell you now of the pride and libertinage of the French Noblesse the impertinence coquetry and debauchery of the Gentry the misery of the Commonalty the extream poverty of most and slavery of all In Italy the restraint of their Wives and Women the jealousie of Husbands and their general vindicative humour At Venice the insupportable insolence of their Nobili Venetiani and triumphant Vice At Genoua the scandalous Mechanick Traffick and notorious Avarice oâ— their Grandees insomuch that they starve even a Jew in his own Trade Their frequent assassinations pride and ill manners The dull Bigotry of Florence and hard impositions upon Subjects The formalities of Rome the lost Vertue and Courage and natural Cowardize and Poltronery of the degenerated Romans the insolence of the Commonalty del regna as they call it or Kingdom of Naples the Robberies of their Banditti the great Titles and small Estates of the Nobility the hereditary risses or quarrels of the Piedmontesi and those of Monferat and from their ill administration of Justice their eternal Processes And to conclude add to this the arbitrary Government exercis'd generally all over Italy and the heavy impositions upon their Subjects greater than they ought to bear Now Cousin with all I have said compare the extream happiness of the English Nation The Riches of the Commonalty insomuch that some have thought it to be the greatest part of our disease The vast trade and prosperous condition of our Merchants The Hospitality Wealth and Modesty of our Gentry The high quality and true worth of our Nobility their uncorrupted Loyalty to their Prince and unaffected kindness for the People But above all let us reflect seriously upon the most happy security and liberty of our Persons and Estates which all strangers are forc't both to admire and envy Our freedom and exemption from all manner of Taxes and Impositions but such as we our selves shall consent to And not to be too tedious upon a subject which is so large let us truly consider and at the same time bless God Almighty for our just Laws and impartial execution of them for the admirable equal Constitution of our Government where the Prince hath so great
or subject to any other mans right or authority so as that they may be made void according to the will or pleasure or decrees of any other mortal man Potestas summa illa dicitur cujus actus alterius juri non substunt ita ut alterius humanae voluntatis arbitrio irriti reddi possunt De jure B. P. p. 47. But with submission to so great authorities These do not reach the definition of an absolute Monarch in a good sense as it ever ought to be taken For though they have given their Prince exemption from all Laws and power enough to command yet they have not excluded Tyranny which indeed is oftentimes mistaken for absolute power I confess it seems hard to destroy the Tyrant and yet preserve the absolute Monarch However I shall presume to give such a definition as may do both which I refer to the impartial judgment of those who shall consider it An absolute Monarch then is he who having receiv'd a just authority executes the Laws of God and Nature without controul By receiving a just authority I exclude one principal mark of a Tyrant which is intrusion or usurpation In the next place I oblige the absolute Monarch to execute the Laws of God and Nature and nothing contrary to them By this also Government is freed from Tyranny in the use or exercise of authority For he who governs according to the Laws of God and Nature I speak of a Natural Monarch or a Monarch in the state of Nature does no unjust thing and is by consequence no Tyrant And lastly as I have secur'd the absolute Prince from Tyranny so I have plac'd him above all conditional limited Governments by these words without controul For he who commands or governs as far as the Laws of God and Nature permit hath certainly as ample and as absolute a Jurisdiction as any mortal man can justly possess This is so large a power that he who acts beyond it that is contrary to it is deservedly esteem'd a Tyrant and in such case the people are not oblig'd to obey And the reason is because the Prince having never receiv'd an authority to command that which is unjust that is to say contrary to the Laws of God and Nature the people are acquitted from their obediences as to that particular command All that we have now to do is but to apply this definition to the Hebrew Kings and from thence we shall be able to judge of their absolute power And first it is certain that they receiv'd their right of power from God himself and no other which continued by Succession especially after David unto the Babylonish captivity I have not time at present to inlarge upon this point and answer those frivolous objections which some men have brought against it You will find this done more fully in another place and confirm'd by the authority of Josephus Grotius and the History of the Bible I know some have pretended that David received his authority from the people and would prove it by a passage in 1 Chron. 11. where it is said that the Elders anointed David King over Israel But we must observe that David was Anointed first by Samuel and that by the express command of God himself and next this second Anointing by the people signified nothing more than to exclude by this publick act the pretensions of Isbosheth eldest Son to Saul Who without the special reveal'd will of God would have succeeded his father And this was ever practised where there was any interruption or dispute in the Succession So Solomon was anointed because of the difference between him and Adonijah otherwise that Ceremony was not absolutely necessary and was many times totally neglected Besides in the case of David it is plain that he received no right of power from the people but from God and that by their own confession both before and after their anointing And the Lord thy God said unto thee thou shalt feed my people Israel and thou shalt be ruler over my people Israel And again They anointed David King over Israel according to the word of the Lord by Samuel 1 Chron. 11. 2 3. Hence Grotius observes that David gave God thanks for that God had subjected his people unto him David Deo gratias agit quod populum suum sibi subjecerit Taking it therefore for granted that David received no right of power from the people by consequence he depended upon none but God as all the most Soveraign Princes do and this is one great mark of an absolute Monarch In the next place he executed the laws of God and nature without controul I never heard any question made of this except in the case of judgment concerning a Tribe the High Priest and a Prophet Which judgments Grotius supposed were taken from the Hebrew Kings Aliqua judicia arbitror regibus adempta But I rather think under favour that they were more properly Principibus concessa which makes a considerable difference For I find no mention of any time or power who could take those judgments from the King On the contrary we read of several Kings erecting Courts of Judicature and making Judges both in Gods cause and in the Kings And these three points being of the highest consequence the judgment of them might most probably be granted by the King to the determination of the highest Court of Justice In the first of Chron. chap. 26. v. 5. We find David making Rulers over the Reubenites the Gadites and the half Tribe of Manasseh for every matter pertaining to God and the affairs of the King but more particularly in the second of Chron. chap. 19. Jehoshaphat does the same thing but in terms more plain And he set Judges in the Land through all the fenced Cities of Judah City by City And said to the Judges take heed what you do c. Moreover in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set of the Levites and of the Priests and of the Chief of the Fathers of Israel for the judgments of the Lord and for controversies when they return'd to Jerusalem And behold Amariel the Chief Priest is over you in all matters of the Lord and Zedekiah the son of Ishmael the Ruler of the house of Judah for all the Kings matters Indeed I should think that this is plain enough to prove that their Kings had in them the Supreme right of administring justice through their territories and made their Subordinate officers who wholly depended upon them and I am the more confirm'd in this opinion because I find both the High Priests and Prophets too judged condemned and pardoned even against the judgment of the Sanhedrim by the Kings single authority So Solomon banished the High Priest Abiathar Solomon Abiatharem Pontiâ—icem in exilium misit says Josephus lib. 8. so Jehoiakim slew the Prophet Vriah And they sent forth Vriah out of Aegypt and brought him unto Jehoiakim the King who slew him with the Sword Jer. 26. 23. The same did Joash
so necessary to be effected that it was morally impossible to succeed in the former until the latter was actually executed It being then most certain that our Authors intention was to establish a Common wealth I shall now give you my reasons why we ought not upon any terms to admit of it And first I shall not insist much upon those vulgar inconveniences which are visible to all men As for example the inevitable consequences of most bloudy wars For can any rational man believe that all the Royal family should be so insensible of their right and honour as never to push for three Kingdoms which would so justly belong to them or could they be supposed to leave England under their popular usurpation what reason hath Scotland to truckle under the Domination of the English Commonalty What pretence hath the English Subject supposing they were to share in the English Government over the Kingdom of Scotland All the world knows that that Kingdom belongs so particularly to our King that the late Rebells themselves did not scruple to call him King of the Scots Why should Ireland also become a Province to an English Parliament Or should both Kingdoms be willing to shake off the Government of their Natural Lawful and antient Monarchy why should they not set up a Democracy or an Aristocracy or what else they pleas'd amongst themselves Is there never a Statesman in the three Kingdoms but Plato Redivivus Can none teach them to Rebel but he No rules to maintain an usurpt Authority but what we find among his extravagancies I am confident you do not believe it Shall these people notoriously known to have hated one another whilst formerly they were under different Governours become the strictest friends when they shall return unto those circumstances under which they were the greatest enemies Will the French King take no advantage having so good a pretext of our Divisions Or should we unite against him under our popular Governours was it ever known that a Confederate army was able to defend themselves long against an Army of equal strength commanded by one sole absolute Monarch Can we foresee any thing but most desperate wars and can wars be supported but by most heavy taxes Were not our Thimbles and Bodkins converted in the late times into Swords and Mortar pieces and by a prodigious transmutation never before heard of were not our Gold and Ear-rings turn'd into a brazen Idol These consequences Cousin and dismal effects of a Commonwealth besides many other are so obvious that I shall not spend any more time to mind you of them Supposing then that none of those former horrid inconveniences might happen I must mind you by the way that one reason why our Author and the Associators desire a Commonwealth proceeds from the fear of a certain Arbitrary power which they pretend the King would introduce as may be seen pag. 161. 208 and in several other places Now Though nothing be more extravagant than such a groundless imagination our Author having assured us that his Majesty never did one act of Arbitrary power since his happy restoration And moreover pag. 176. That our laws against Arbitrary power are abundantly sufficient Yet that we may no more dispute this point I must produce Plato's own authority against himself in these words That the King fears his power will be so lessened by degrees that at length it will not be able to keep the Crown upon his head pag. 208. Nay farther in pag. 214. he shews us That it is impossible he should ever become an Arbitrary King For his present power as little as it is is yet greater than the condition of property can admit and in a word from his beloved Aphorism and the whole course of his Libel he endeavours to prove that Dominion being founded on the property and the property being in the people the King can have no manner of hopes upon earth of becoming absolute nor introducing an Arbitrary Government but by some Army of Angels from Heaven who must procure him an Authority which he cares not for The next and main reason why our Author would set up a Democracy at least as far as I can collect from the whole scope of his discourse is because the State inclines to popularity Now Sir for this last time I must make use of our Author 's own reasons against his own positions and do affirm that for this very reason were there no other all sober men and true Politicians ought to oppose with their utmost endeavours a Popular Government I will not recount to you the many mischiefs desolations and destructions which a popular power hath brought along with it whereever it goâ—â—he better of the antient Established Government of the place Somewhat hath been already said to this purpose in our discourse and much more may be read in the Histories of most parts of the world to which I refer you and shall only mind you of some inevitable consequences which will follow such an innovation amongst our selves And first if it be true that the King hath no power to make himself absolute then we have no cause to apprehend an Arbitrary power in him and by consequence no reason to change But if the inclination of the people be such that they will take advantage of the King's want of power and introduce their own Government what moderation may we expect from men towards those who are to become their Subjects who shaking off all sense of Justice Law Religion and temper dare usurp the Soveraign authority over their natural Governour Where shall we appeal for mercy when having cut the throat of the most merciful King in Europe we expose our own to our ambitious and unmerciful Tyrants Where shall we expect compassion towards our selves when we shall become Parricides and Regicides to our father and our King Where shall we seek after Eqâ—ity when the House of Lords the supreme Court of Equity are most unjustly turn'd out of doors and what end of our miseries can we ever hope for when our Tyrants by our villanous Authors constitution have not only got all the Wealth and Militia into their hands but have perpetuated their usurpation by annual Parliaments never to end Who being Judges of their own priviledges p. 254. may regulate elections as they shall think fit p. 249. Sit Adjourn Prorogue and Dissolve as they alone shall judge expedient What more barbarous villany was ever propos'd and publish'd under a lawful and peaceable Government besides our own upon earth But suppose our poor Country thus enslav'd and our antient Kingdom turn'd into a Common-wealth what can our new masters do for us more than is already done Can our libâ—rties be greater as to our persons and estates It is impossible to suppose it Will our properties be more secur'd all the Laws that ever were upon earth under any Government cannot make them more inviolable Nothing then can remain but liberty in Religion which we call of
Jure proprietatis or In patrimonio imperantis that is properly or in Property or in chief or how else you please to render these Words in English Which Grotius in the same Chapter explains by a Jus regendi non aliunde pendens A Right of Government not depending upon any other humane Authority whatsoever Mer. But Sir since you have founded Empire upon a Supreme Right of Government or Power over Men how comes it to pass that we find a Right of Power and Priviledges and Government too so founded in the Possession of several Lands that the Possession of those Lands alone gives a Man several Rights and Prerogatives For example amongst us 't is said That whosoever hath the Right and Possession of the Barony of Burgaveny besides some others becomes thereby a Baron of England and enjoys those Priviledges which belong to it In France I have heard say That nothing is more common than for Men to receive their Titles according to their Lands whether Count Baron Marquess and so forth Is it not plain then That the Right of Command or Power which is Empire may be founded upon Property according to our Author's Interpretation that is the Possession of Lands Trav. I agree to what you have urg'd that is to say That several Priviledges and Right of Power are annexed to several Lordships or Terres Nobles that they have thereby haute basse Justice and their Jurisdiction extends to Life and Death Nay more in several parts of Italy and particularly in Lombardy there are several Imperial Feuds which Grotius seems to call Regna Feudalia which have almost as great Prerogatives as some other Kingdoms have They make Laws raise Taxes and mint Money as other greater Kingdoms do And yet all this makes little for our Author's Aphorism as by him interpreted Mer. The Reason if you please Trav. Because all those little Lordships or Principalities whether they were instituted at first by the Goths and Vandals or Lombards or granted afterwards by several later Emperours and Kings or both as is most probable yet they did and still do at this day depend upon a Superiour Power and pay Homage and Fealty for those Priviledges which they enjoy which is much different from Empire or a Sovereign Right of Power And yet even in this Case this subordinate Power is so far from being founded upon the Possession of all the Land belonging to the Feud which is our Author's Proposition that very often their Liberties depend only upon the old Walls of a ruinated Castie and a very inconsiderable Number of Acres which represent the whole Feud or Mannor the rest of the Land having been sold away and become the Property of others some small Rent only or Acknowledgment being reserv'd And after this manner the Supreme Power may as well tye Priviledges to a Post and grant the Possessor of that Post such Royalties as the Proprietor of such a Castle or Land Which is very far from proving that the Possession of Lands doth thereby originally create a Sovereign Right of Power Mer. Cousin I have heard and read too I think that the Sea hath formerly eaten up a considerable part of your ancient Patrimony and from thence it may be you are no Friend to Lands But for my part I will stand up for Land as long as I can and must therefore ask you Why those Rents or Acknowledgments were reserv'd if not to testifie that they came originally from the Lord and that thereby he still keeps up a kind of Sovereign Right to the Lands themselves knowing well enough that his Power according to our Author is founded upon them Trav. This yet signifies nothing for although the Reservation of these Rents or Services do preserve the Memory of the Benefactor and continue the Respect due from the Tenant yet this is personal only and hath no Relation to the publick Right of Power or Government For when this Rent was not reserv'd yet whosoever lives within the Jurisdiction of such a Fewd or Mannor is always subject to him who enjoys the Lordship So in England Services and Quit-Rents have been generally receiv'd and paid untill the late King and his present Majesty were pleas'd to dispose of them But to believe that this hath lessened his Sovereign Right of Government is a Fancy that sure cannot enter into the Head of any sober Man But let us put a plain Case Suppose the Kingdom of England were at any time obtain'd by absolute Conquest as I conceive it was more than once and that such Conquest gives the Conquerour a Sovereign Right not only to our real and personal Estates which we find to have been wholly in the hands of some of our Kings but also over our Liberties and Lives as may be fully seen in Grotius de Jur. B. P. Now Sir supposing a People in this Condition and having nothing of their own submit themselves and all they have to the Mercy of the Conquerour as the Carthaginians did to the Romans you will grant I imagine that this Conquerour is an Emperour to all Intents having an absolute Right of Power over the People and their Land also Mer. Yes certainly as long as he keeps himself and People in that Condition there cannot want any thing to make him an absolute Monarch Trav. But we will farther suppose That our Conquerour being of a more noble and more humane Temper than it may be our Author would have been orders diligent Inquisition to be made into the Value of his conquer'd Lands Which being done and enter'd into a Register such as we call Doomsday Book the Conquerour divides most of these Lands between the Conquerours and the Conquered some he returns to their former Owners upon certain Conditions or Services others he changeth To his Noblemen and Favourites he grants great Titles and Priviledges to the Gentry less and to the vulgar or common sort some small Possessions which with a little Labour and Diligence will enable them to live easily and peaceably the rest of their days All these become an Inheritance to themselves and their Heirs according to their several Tenures which the Conquerours have generally created and which we call Property These Sir being thus established and the Lands of the Kingdom setled after this manner the Conquerour or King himself reserves it may be a small part which we call Crown Lands and in Consideration of his Right of Conquest and those Benefits which he hath bestowed upon his People in granting them their Liberties Lives and Lands he continueth to himself the Power of making and abolishing Laws according as he shall think most fit and proper for the Peace Honour and Safety of his Government He creates Magistrates for the due Execution of these Laws who in his stead and by his Authority have a Power to judge between his Subjects and in some Cases between his Subjects and himself or his Attorney Besides these he retains the sole Power of making Peace and War of
so that power which the Roman people pretended to under the Seditious Gracchi and others was the true cause which made the Commonwealth no longer governable under that form Haec ipsa in perniciem redibant misera Respublica in exitium suum merces erat Flor. l. 3. c. 13. But lest all should come to ruine and the conquering Romans be at last overcome by their own victorious arms the arbitrary government of the Roman Emperours was introduc'd as the only remedy for the truly distempered State Non aliud discordantis patriae remedium fuisse quam ut ab uno regeretur Tacit. Ann. 1. But how the Gracchi endeavour'd to prevent this power in the people who stood up so violently for them is a riddle which can be salv'd this only way That in truth though they set on foot the popular pretence of Liberty and Property yet honour and Empire was the true game which they themselves hunted Seditionum omnium causâ—s saith Florus Tribunitia potestas excitavit quae specie quidem Plebis tuendae cujus in auxilium comparata est re autâ—m Dominationem sibi acquirens studium populi ac favorem Agrariis frumentariis Judiciariis legibus aucupabatur Mer. Sir I am apt to believe that our Author means by which in the last place The ruin of the people's Liberty which the Gracchi endeavour'd to prevent Trav. Indeed the sence is somewhat mended but the English is stark nought however we 'l consider it according to your construction the story then is this Tib. Gracchus an ambitious Gentleman and discontented with the Senate for what reason I care not struck in with the people and became their Tribune The first great thing which he undertook in outward appearance for the good of the people but truly for the advancement of his own private designs and Empire which he affected was the establishment of the Agrarian law and restitution of the lands among the people Mer. Pray what was the Agrarian law and land which the people so much desired might be restored Had they any injustice done them or were they forceably taken from them Trav. No sure Sir If there were any injustice in the case it lay in the restoration but you shall be Judge your self When the Romans under the Infancy of their Government had conquer'd any of their neighbours they usually took away some of their lands which were disposed of partly for the support of the State or publick revenue and the other part was distributed among the indigent Citizens and Soldiers especially the Lame Ancient and decrepit and such as had deserved well who were thence called Emeriti or Veterani milites now these Lands remained to them and their heirs upon the payment of some small acknowledgment or performance of some certain Services which were in the Nature of Tenures But in process of time when the Roman Empire and with it luxury encreas'd the common people following the example of their Governours liv'd in great ease and plenty To support which many sold their lands either to the richer Noblemen or to their fellow Citizens as they could find a Chapman Vnde enim Pop. Romanus Agros Cibarios flagitat nisi per samâ—m quam Luxus fecerat hinc ergo Gracchana seditio Flor. l. 3. cap. 12. Mer. Was there no difference between the Lands given to the Citizens and those which were thus bestowed upon the Soldiers Trav. Yes those granted to the Citizens were of the more ancient Institution and called Clientela's which some good Authors believe to have been the original of all Tenures Those given to the Soldiers were called Praeda militaria or stipendiaria and were such lands as had been taken from some conquered Provinces as hath been before declared Those which bordered upon the Skirts of the Enemies Countries were generally granted unto some of their principal Captains and Commanders which became an Inheritance to themselves and posterity upon presumption and Condition that they should and would defend their Prince and Country with the greater courage and fidelity since in effect they secured at the same time their own Estates Hence it is supposed that those Inheritances which we now call Feuds had in process of time their first Institution though the word Feodâ—m was unknown to the ancient Romans And it is further conjectured That from the differences between those Clientela's and these Praeda militaria sprang our ancient Tenures and their several diversities as grand Serjeanty Knights Service Soccage c. Now these Praeda militaria were not in their Original Institution alienable so as the Clientela's were whence as hath been said the Citizens or Clientes took the liberty to sell these lands as their occasions required which lands so sold became as in good reason they ought the inheritance of the purchasers and so descended from father to son for several generations till at last it came into the fancy of Tib. Gracchus to have these lands restor'd again to the people And that he might kill two birds with one stone that is impoverish the Senate or Government which being an Aristocracy he hated and enrich the people whom he seemingly protected he order d that the purchasers or those in whose families these lands were found should be re-imburst out of the publick revenue You may guess what a disturbance this must needs make among the Senators and Noblemen whom it chiefly concern'd and what inconveniences would inevitably happen upon a redistribution of those lands which had been so long consolidated with their own Mer. Nothing methinks could be more unreasonable and unjust Trav. No matter Sir for as I have seen two doors of a room so artificially contriv'd that the shutting of one hath at the same motion open'd the other so generally wheresoever Ambition enters Justice immediately avoids the place and indeed Haud bene conveniunt Gracchus therefore eagerly pursuing Dominion Vt qui die Comitiorum prorogari sibi vellet Imperium puts forward this Agrarian Law with great vehemency Which when his Collegue and another Tribune of the people M. Octavius oppos'd without whose consent nothing could be concluded nor law pass'd most contrary to all Justice and Law too Gracchus by force and violence a thing before unheard of turns him out of his Office Having thus gain'd his point and ready to finish what he had so prosperously begun Scipio Nasica with the most worthy of the Citizens and Nobility cuts him off and for a mark of ignominy flings his carkass into the river Now as the same Laws were promoted by his brother Caius with this difference that he extended his insolence farther deferring the Judgment of cases which had been ever particular to the Senate to the people and introducing the antiquated Licinian Law by which no Citizen was to possess above 500. acres of land within the Domicilium Imperii so the same fate attended him and that even with the consent of the people for whose sake he seem'd to have pursu'd this