Note 118 — CABINET CYCLOPÆDIA. (continued 8)

There is reason to think that the principles to which Ramsay alludes, regarded government. Bent upon destroying the power of the church, then at its height, Voltaire and the philosophers of that day regarded monarchical power with an eye of favour. Fénélon had much more enlightened opinions. "Every wise prince," he said, "ought to desire to be only an executor of the laws, and to have a supreme council to moderate his authority." D'Alembert's remarks on this expression, show how totally he misapprehended its true meaning. Fénélon had conversed with Ramsay and other Englishmen; he knew the uses of a constitution; he was fully aware of the benefit a nation derived, when the legislative power was above the executive.