_Reason of State_, in the Simplicity of the Notion, is only the Force of
_Political Wisdom_, Abstracted from the Ordinary Rules and Methods of
_Conscience_ and _Religion_. It Consults only Civil Utility, and never
Matters it, provided the Publick may be the better for’t, though the
Instruments and Managers go to the Devil. ’Tis somewhat with Statesmen
and their Disciples, as it was with the _Patient_ and his _Physician_,
that Advis’d him for his Health’s sake to have the Use of a Woman.
The Good Man Scrupled the Remedy. Well says the Doctor, I Prescribe
to your Body, not to your Soul, which are Two Distinct Provinces; and
when I have done my Duty to the _One_, Let your _Confessor_ look to the
_Other_. It is most certain, that _Reason of State_ is a very _Devillish
Thing_, under a _Specious Name_, and a Cover for all Wickedness. What
are Alliances and Ruptures, but Temporary Expedients? And the Ordinary
Reasons of War and Peace are very little better then Banter and Paradox.
This is the very Truth of the Matter, and may be seen at large in the
History of all the Governments in the World: But it is one of those
Truths yet that is not at all times to be spoken; and ’tis the part of a
Wise Man in these Cases, to _Hear_, _See_, and _Say Nothing_.