Patience and Impunity, is an Encouragement to an Affront. The Divine
Wisdom has appointed a Hell as well as a Heaven, to the End that Dread
and Terror on the One Hand, may supply the want of Gratitude, Affection,
and Good Nature on the Other: What is it but the Fear of Punishment that
keeps the World in Order? And what but the Awe we stand in, of Majesty,
and Power, that Supports the Dignity of Government. This Moral runs
through the whole History of our Lives, for ’tis Every Man’s Case from
Top to Bottom. _Princes Themselves_, without _Stings_, are no Better
then _Drones_; and when the Sacred Character is Disarm’d, there’s no
longer any Reverence to be Expected for the Person. When People find it
Dangerous to Offend their Superiors, they’ll take care to Please them:
And there’s as much Difference, upon This Point, between One Governor and
Another (the Resemblance notwithstanding) as there is betwixt an _Eele_
and a _Snake_.