And thus indeed you shall
attain to Virgil's character which he gives to an-
cient Italy:
Terra potens armis atque ubere glebae.
Neither is that state (which, for any thing I know,
is almost peculiar to England, and hardly to be
found anywhere else, except it be perhaps in
Poland) to be passed over; I mean the state of free
servants, and attendants upon noblemen and
gentlemen; which are no ways inferior unto the
yeomanry for arms. And therefore out of all ques-
tions, the splendor and magnificence, and great
retinues and hospitality, of noblemen and gentle-
men, received into custom, doth much conduce
unto martial greatness. Whereas, contrariwise, the
close and reserved living of noblemen and gentle-
men, causeth a penury of military forces.
By all means it is to be procured, that the trunk
of Nebuchadnezzar's tree of monarchy, be great
enough to bear the branches and the boughs; that
is, that the natural subjects of the crown or state,
bear a sufficient proportion to the stranger sub-
jects, that they govern.Therefore all states that are
liberal of naturalization towards strangers, are fit
for empire.
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