more fitted to rule in a regular established government, than either to give way to the encroachments of a popular affembly, or finally to fubdue their pretenfions. He wanted fupplenefs and dexterity fufficient for the first measure; he was not endowed with vigour requifite for the fecond. Had he been born an abfolute prince, his humanity and good fenfe had rendered his reign happy, and his memory precious. Had the limitations on the prerogative been in his time quite fixed and certain, his integrity had made him regard as facred the boundaries of the conftitution. Unhappily his fate threw him into a period, when the precedents of many former reigns favoured ftrongly of arbitrary power, and the genius of the people ran violently towards liberty. And if his political prudence was not fufficient to extricate him from fo perilous a fituation, he may be excufed; fince, even after the event, when it is commonly eafy to correct all errors, one is at a lofs to determine what conduct in his circumftances would have maintained the authority of the crown, and preferved the peace of the nation. Expofed without revenue, without arms, to the affault of furious, implacable, and bigoted factions; it was never permitted him, but with the moft fatal confequences, to commit the smallest mistake; a condition too rigorous to be imposed on the greatest human capacity. Some hiftorians have rafhly queftioned the good faith of this prince: but, for this reproach, the moft malignant fcrutiny of his conduct, which in every circumftance is now thoroughly known, affords not any reasonable foundation. On the contrary, if we confider the extreme difficulties to which he was fo frequently reduced, and compare the fincerity of his profeffions and declarations, we shall avow, that probity and honour ought juftly to be numbered among his most fhining qualities. In every treaty, thofe conceffions which he thought in confcience he could not maintain, he never would by any motive or perfuafion be in duced to make. And though fome violations of the petition of right may be imputed to him; thofe are more to be afcribed to the neceffity of his fituation, and to the lofty ideas of royal prerogative which he had imbibed, than to any failure of the integrity of his principles. This prince was of a comely prefence; of a fweet and melancholy afpect; his face was regular, handfome, and well complexioned; his body ftrong, healthy, and justly proportioned; and being of middle ftature, he was capable of enduring the greatest fatigues. He excelled in horfemanship and other exercifes; and he poffeffed all the exterior, as well as many of the effential qualities, which form an accomplished prince. Hume. § 98. Another Character of CHARLES I. In the character of Charles, as reprefented by his panegyrifts, we find the qualities of temperance, chastity, regularity, piety, equity, humanity, dignity, condefcenfion, and equanimity; fome have gone so far as to allow him integrity, and many writers, who condemn his political principles, give him the title of a moral man. In the comparison of this representation with Charles's conduct, accurately and juftly described, it is difcernible that vices of the worft tepdency, when shaded by a plaufible and for mal carriage, when concordant to the interefts of a faction, and the prejudices of the vulgar, affume the appearances of, and are intpofed on the credulous world as, virtues of the firft rank. Paffion for power was Charles's predominant vice; idolatry to his regal prerogatives, his governing principle. The interefts of the crown, legitimated every measure, and fanctified in his eye the wideft deviation from moral rule. Neither gratitude, clemency, humanity, equity, nor generofity, have place in the fair part of Charles's character; of the virtues of temperance, fortitude, and perfonal bravery, he was undeniably poffeffed. His manners partook of diffipation, and his converfation of the indecency of a court. His chastity has been called in question, by an author of the higheft repute; and were it allowed, it was tainted by an excess of uxorioufnefs, which gave it the properties and the confequences of vice. The want of integrity is manifeft in every part of his conduct; which, whether the corruption of his judgment or heart, loft him fair opportunities of reinftatement in the throne, and was the vice for which above all others he paid the tribute of his life. His intellectual powers were naturally good, and fo improved by a continual exercise, that, though in the beginning of his reign he fpoke with difficulty and he fitation, towards the close of his life he difcovered in his writings purity of language and dignity of Style; ftyle; in his debates elocution, and quicknefs of perception. The high opinion he entertained of regal dignity, occafioned him to obferve a statelinefs and imperioufnefs in his manner; which, to the rational and intelligent, was unamiable and offenfive; by the weak and formal it was mistaken for dignity. In the exercife of horsemanship he excelled; had a good tafte, and even fkill, in feveral of the polite arts; but though a proficient in fome branches of literature, was no encourager of useful learning, and only patronized adepts in jargon of the divine right, and utility of kings and bifhops. His understanding in this point was fo depraved by the prejudices of his education, the flattery of priests, and the affections of his heart, that he would never endure converfation which tended to inculcate the principles of equal right in men; and notwithstanding that the partiIcularity of his fituation enforced his attention to doctrines of this kind, he went out of the world with the fame fond prejudices with which he had been foftered in his nursery, and cajoled in the zenith of his power. Charles was of a middle ftature, his body ftrong, healthy, and justly proportioned; and his afpect melancholy, yet not unpleafing. His furviving iffue, were three fons and three daughters. He was executed in the 49th year of his age, and buried, by the appointment of the parliament, at Windfor, decently, yet without pomp. Macaulay. $99. Character of OLIVER CROM WELL *. Oliver Cromwell was of a robuft make and conftitution, his afpect manly though clownish. His education extended no far. ther than a fuperficial knowledge of the Latin tongue, but he inherited great talents from nature; though they were fuch as he could not have exerted to advantage at any juncture than that of a civil war, inflamed by religious contefts. His character was formed from an amazing conjuncture of enthufiafm, hypocrify, and ambition. He was poffeffed of courage and refolution, that overlooked all dangers, and faw no difficulties. He dived into the characters of mankind with wonderful faga From Noble's Memoirs of the Protectoral boule of Cromwell. city, whilft he concealed his own purposes, under the impenetrable fhield of diffimulation. He reconciled the moft atrocious crimes. to the moft rigid notions of religious obligations. From the fevereft exercife of devotion, he relaxed into the most ridiculous and idle buffoonry: yet he preferved the dignity and distance of his character, in the midt of the coarfelt familiarity. He was cruel and tyrannic from policy; just and temperate from inclination; perplexed and defpicable in his difcourfe; clear and confummate in his defigns; ridiculous in his reveries; refpectable in his conduct; in a word, the strangest compound of villainy and virtue, bafenefs and magnanimity, abfurdity and good fenfe, that we find on record in the annals of mankind *. Noble. $ 100. Character of CHARLES II. If we furvey the character of Charles the Second in the different lights which it will admit of, it will appear very various, and give rife to different and even oppofite fentiments. When confidered as a companion, he appears the most amiable and engaging of men; and indeed, in this view, his deportment must be allowed altogether unexceptionable. His love of raillery was fo tempered with good-breeding, that it was never offenfive. His propensity to fatire was fo checked with difcretion, that his friends never dreaded their becoming the object of it. His wit, to ufe the expreflion of one who knew him well, and who was himself an exquifite judge †, could not be faid fo much to be very refined or elevated, qualities apt to beget jealoufy and apprehenfion in company, as to be a plain, gaining, well-bred, recommending kind of wit. And though perhaps he talked more than ftrict rules of behaviour might permit, men were so pleased with the affable communi debt; though the parliament had left him in the treafury above five hundred thousand pounds, and in ftores to the value of feven hundred thousand pounds. * Cromwel! died more than five millions in Richard, the fon of Cromwell, was proclaimed protector in his room; but Richard, being of a very different difpofition to his father, refigned his authority the 22d of April 1659; and foon after figned his abdication in form, and retired to live feveral years after his refignation, at first on the Continent, and afterwards upon his paternal fortune at home. Marquis of Halifax. U u cative cative deportment of the monarch, that they always went away contented both with him and with themfelves. This indeed is the most fhining part of the king's character, and he feems to have been fenfible of it; for he was fond of dropping the formalities of state, and of relapting every moment into the companion. In the duties of private life, his conduct, though not free from exception, was in the main laudable. He was an eafy generous lover, a civil obliging husband, a friendly brother, an indulgent father, and a goodnatured mafter. The voluntary friendfhips, however, which this prince contracted, nay, even his fenfe of gratitude, were feeble; and he never attached himself to any of his minifters or courtiers with a very fincere affection. Ile believed them to have no other motive for ferving him but felf-intereft, and he was ftill ready, in his turn, to facrifice them to prefent cafe and convenience. With a detail on his private character we must fet bounds to our panegyric on Charles. The other parts of his conduct may admit of fome apology, but can deferve fmall applaufe. He was indeed fo much fitted for private life, preferably to public, that he even poffeffed order, frugality, œconomy in the former; was profufe, thoughtlefs, negligent in the latter. When we confider him as a fovereign, his character, though not altogether void of virtues, was in the main dangerous to his people, and difhonourable to himfelf. Negligent of the interefls of the nation, carelefs of its glory, averfe to its religion, jealous of its liberty, lavish of its treafure, and fparing only of its blood; he expofed it by his meafures (though he appeared ever but in fport) to the danger of a fu rious civil war, and even to the ruin and ignominy of a foreign conteft. Yet may all thefe enormities, if fairly and candidly examined, be imputed, in a great meafure, to the indolence of his temper: a fault, which, however unfortunate in a monarch, it is impoffible for us to regard with great feverity. It has been remarked of this king, that he never faid a foolish thing, nor ever did a wife one: a cenfure, which, though too far carried, feems to have fome foundation in his character and deportment. Died Feb. 6, 1685, aged 54. Hume. § 101. Another Character of CHARLES II. Charles II. was in his perfon tall and fwarthy, and his countenance marked with ftrong, harth lineaments. His penetration was keen, his judgment clear, his underftanding extenfive, his converfation lively and entertaining, and he poffeffed the talent of wit and ridicule. He was eafy of accefs, polite, and affable; had he been limited to a private ftation, he would have paffed for the most agreeable and beft-natured man of the age in which he lived. His greatest enemies allow him to have been a civil husband, an obliging lover, an affectionate father, and an indulgent mafter; even as a prince, he manifefted an averfion to cruelty and injuftice. Yet thefe good qualities were more than over balanced by his weakness and defects. He was a fcoffer at religion, and a libertine in his morals; careless, indolent, profufe, abandoned to effeminate pleafure, incapable of any noble enterprize, a ftranger to any manly friendship and gratitude, deaf to the voice of honour, blind to the allurements of glory, and in a word, wholly deftitute of every active virtue. Being himself unprincipled, he believed mankind were false, perfidious, and interested; and therefore practifed diflimulation for his own conve nience. He was ftrongly attached to the French manners, government, and monarch; he was diffatisfied with his own li mited prerogative. The majority of his own fubjects he defpifed or hated, as hypocrites, fanatics, and republicans, who had perfecuted his father and himself, and fought the deftruction of the monarchy. In thefe fentiments, he could not be fuppofed to purfue the intereft of the nation; on the contrary, he feemed to think that his own fafety was incompatible with the honour and advantage of his people. Smollett. § 102. Another Chara&er of CHARLES II. Thus lived and died king Charles the Second. He was the greatest inftance in hiftory of the various revolutions of which any one man feemed capable. He was bred up the first twelve years of his life, with the fplendour that became the heir of fo great a crown. After that, he paffed through eighteen years in great inequalities, unhappy in the war, in the lofs of his father, and of the crown of England.-While he was abroad at Paris, Colen, or Bruffels, he never feemed to lay any thing to heart. He purfued all his diverions, and irregular pleafures, in a free career; and feemed to be as ferene under the lofs of a crown, as the the greatest philofopher could have been. Nor did he willingly hearken to any of thofe projects, with which, he complained often, his chancellor perfecuted him. That in which he seemed most concerned was, to find money for fupporting his expence. And it was often faid, that if Cromwell would have compounded the matter, and have given him a good round penfion, he might have been induced to refign his title to him. During his exile, he delivered himfelf fo entirely to his pleatures, that he became incapable of application. He spent little of his time in reading and study; and yet lefs in thinking. And in the state his affairs were then in, he accustomed himfelf to fay to every person, and upon all occafions, that which he thought would please moft: fo that words or promifes went very easily from him. And he had fo ill an opinion of mankind, that he thought the great art of living and governing was, to manage all things, and all perfons, with a depth of craft and diffimulation. He defired to become abfolute, and to overturn both our religion and laws; yet he would neither run the rifque, nor give himself the trouble, which fo great a defign required. He had an appearance of gentleness in his outward deportment; but he feemed to have no bowels nor tenderness in his nature; and in the end of his life he became cruel. Burnet. § 103. Another Character of CHARLES II. The character of Charles the Second, like the tranfactions of his reign, has affumed various appearances, in proportion to the paflions and prejudices of different writers. To affirm that he was a great and good king, would be as unjuft as to alledge that he was deftitute of all virtue, and a bloody and inhuman tyrant. The indolence of his difpofition, and the diflipation occafioned by his pleafures, as they were at firft the fource of his misfortunes, became afterwards the fafety of the nation. Had he joined the ambition of power, and the perfeverance and attention of his brother, to his own infinuating and engaging addrefs, he might have fecured his reputation with writers, by enflaving them with the nation. In his perfon he was tall and well made. His complexion was dark, the lines of his face ftrong and harsh, when fingly traced: but when his features were comprehended in one view, they appeared dignified and even pleafing. In the motions of his perfon he was eafy, graceful, and firm. His conftitution was ftreng, and communicated an active vigour to all his limbs. Though a lover of ease of mind, he was fond of bodily exercife. He rofe early, he walked much, he mixed with the meaneft of his fubjects, and joined in their converfation, without diminishing his own dignity, or railing their prefumption. He was ac quainted with many perfons in the lower ftations of life. He captivated them with (prightly terms of humour, and with a kind of good-natured wit, which rendered them pleafed with themfelves. His guards only attended him on public occafions. He took the air frequently in company with a fingle friend; and though crowds followed him, it was more from a wish to attract his notice, than from an idle curiofity. evident defigns against his life were daily exhibited before the courts of jullice, he changed not his manner of appearing in public. It was foon after the Rye-house plot was difcovered, he is faid to have been fevere on his brother's character, when he exhibited a ftriking feature of his own. The duke returning from hunting with his guards, found the king one day in Hyde Park. He expreffed his furprize how his majefty could venture his perfon alone at 'James," (replied fuch a perilous time. the king,)" take you care of yourteif, and "I am fafe. No man in England will kill "ME, to make you king.' When When he was oppofed with moft violence in parliament, he continued the most popular man in the kingdom. His goodbreeding as a gentleman, overcame the opinion conceived of his faults as a king. His affability, his eafy addrefs, his attention to the very prejudices of his people, rendered him independent of all the arts of his enemies to inflame the vulgar. He is faid with reafon to have died opportunely for his country. Had his life extended to the number of years which the ftrength of his conftitution feemed to promife, the nation would have loft all memory of their liberties. Had his fate placed Charles the Second in these latter times; when influence fupplies the place of obvious power; when the crown has ceafed to be diftreffed through the channel of its neceffities; when the reprefentatives of the people, in granting fupplies for the public fervice, provide for themfelves; his want of ambition would have precluded the jealousy, and his po U u z pular § 104. Character of JAMES II. In many respects it must be owned, that he was a virtuous man, as well as a good monarch. He was frugal of the public money; he encouraged commerce with great attention; he applied himfelf to naval affairs with fuccefs; he fupported the fleet as the glory and protection of England. He was also zealous for the honour of his country; he was capable of fupporting its interefts with a degree of dignity in the fcale of Europe. In his private life he was almoft irreproachable; he was an indulgent parent, a tender hufband, a generous and steady friend; in his deportment he was affable, though ftately; he bestowed favours with peculiar grace; he prevented folicitation by the fuddennefs of his difpofal of places; though fcarce any prince was ever fo generally deferted, few ever had fo many private friends; thofe who injured him most were the firft to implore his forgivenefs, and even after they had raised another prince to the throne, they refpected his perfon, and were anxious for his fafety. To thefe virtues he added a fteadiness of counfels, a perfeverance in his plans, and courage in his enterprizes. He was honourable and fair in all his dealings; he was unjust to men in their principles, but never with regard to their property. Though few monarchs ever offended a people more, he yielded to none in his love of his fubjects; he even affirmed, that he quitted England to prevent the horrors of a civil war, as much as from fear of a reftraint upon his perfon from the prince of Orange. His great virtue was a ftrict adherence to facts and truth in all he wrote and faid, though fome parts of his conduct had rendered his fincerity in his political profeffion fufpected by his enemies. Abdicated his throne 1689. Macpherfon. $105. Another Character of JAMES II. The enemies of James did not fail to make the most of the advantages they had gained by their fubtle manoeuvres; fome faid, that the king's flight was the effect of a difturbed confcience, labouring under the load of fecret guilt; and thofe whofe cenfures were more moderate, afferted, that his incurable bigotry had led him even to facrifice his crown to the interefts of his priests; and that he chofe rather to depend on the precarious fupport of a French force to fubdue the refractory fpirit of his people, than to abide the iffue of events which threatened fuch legal limitations as should effectually prevent any further abuse of power. The whole tenor of the king's past conduct undoubtedly gave a countenance to infinuations which were in themselves fufficiently plaufible to answer all the purpofes for which they were induftriously circulated; but when the following circumftances are taken into confideration, namely, that timidity is natural to the human mind, when oppreffed with an uninterrupted feries of misfortunes; that the king's life was put entirely into the hands of a rival, whofe ambitious views were altogether incompatible even with the shadow of regal power in his perfon; that the means taken to increafe the apprehenfions which reflections of this nature muft neceffarily occafion, were of the moft mortifying kind; it muft be acknowledged, that if the principles of heroic virtue might have produced conduct in fome exalted individuals, yet that the generality of mankind would, in James's fituation, have fought fhelter in the profeffed generosity of a trufted friend, from perfonal infult, perfonal danger, and from all the harrafling fufpenfe under which the mind of this imprudent and unfortunate monarch had long laboured. The oppofition of James's religious principles to thofe of his fubjects, his unpopular connections with the court of France; but, above all, the permanent establishment of a rival family on the throne of England, has formed in his favour fuch an union of prejudice and intereft, as to destroy in the minds of pofterity, all that fympathy which, on fimilar occafions, and in fimilar misfortunes, has fo wonderfully operated in favour of other princes; and whilft we pay the tribute of unavailing tears over the memory of Charles the Firft; whilft, with the Church of England, we venerate him as a martyr to the power and office of prelates; whilft we fee, with regret, that he was ftripped of his dignity and life at the very time when the chattening hand of affliction had, in a great meature, corrected the errors of a faulty education; the irrefiftible power of truth muft oblige us to confefs, that the adherence to religious principle, which coft the father his life, deprived the fon of his dominions; that the enormous |