Page:Armatafragment00ersk.djvu/54

 ¬fell to the ground in one ruin together; but as a river swoln and impetuous amidst the tempest, bursting beyond its banks and leaving no trace of its ancient channel, often returns to it, having only fructified the country it overflowed, so the Armatians soon came back again to the vener- able but improved constitution of their fathers; they did spontaneous homage to their exiled monarch, and afterwards to his infatuated suc- cessor, till seeing no security in the mild and generous experiment of Restoration, they were driven at last to seek their safety through a re- volution, but such a one as perhaps will to the end of time continue to be unexampled — accom- plished without blood — cutting off only the can- kered branches, but preserving all the others to hold their places in the ancient tree of their liberties: and as the broad leaf and consummate flower still preserve the distinct characters of the roots that nourish them, so the Armatians, even when principalities and powers were at their feet, never sought to depart from their original cast. ¬" The ¬