next, or very near, the king's closet; but told withal, that the king was busy at his devotions, and that till he had done they must be contented to stay. Being thus left alone (by contrivance, no doubt), and hearing a sound of groaning piety, such was the curiosity of Mr. Case, that he would needs go and lay his ear to the closet door. But, Heavens! how was the good old man ravished to hear the pious ejaculations that fell from the king's lips!-Lord-since thou art pleased to restore me to the throne of my ancestors, grant me a heart constant in the exercise and protection of thy true protestant religion.-Never may I seek the oppression of those who, out of tenderness of their consciences, are not free to conform to outward and indif ferent ceremonies.-With a great deal more of the same canta." This account is far enough from being improbable: for, on good authority, we are assured, "that when he received the London ministers, which went to him at the Hague, he had these memorable and rare expressions: That he would make it his business to bring virtue and sobriety into fashion and repute in England; and though there were a profane drinking party, which would be esteemed his best and only friends, he would make the more haste into England, to let such men know, that he was their worst enemy, for they were the devil's party, and none of his. These were his words; and, which is the true honour of them, they were free; not drawn from him, or suggested to him."-These, and facts like these, will establish the character of Charles for dissimulation; and class him, in this respect, with many of his most zealous opponents. Lord Halifax attempts to Secret History of the Reigns of Charles II. and James II. 12mo. P. 20. 1690. Kennet's Register, p. 460. be relied on.He is accused, perhaps not without foundation, of ingratitude* to apologize for him, however, on this head. "If he dissembled," says he, "let us remember, first, that he was a king; and that dissimulation is a jewel of the crown: next, that it is very hard for a man hot to do sometimes too much of that, which he concludeth necessary for him to practise. Men should consider, that as there would be no false dice, if there were no true ones; so if dissembling is grown universal, it ceaseth to be foul play, having an implied allowance by the general practice. He that was so often forced to dissemble in his own defence, might the better have the priviledge sometimes to be the aggressor, and to deal with men at their own weapon" What force there is in this, the reader will determine. 4 He has been accused of ingratitude.] This was the charge against him soon after his restoration, by parties, and private persons." They who had suffered much in their fortunes, and, by frequent imprisonments, and sequestrations, and compositions, expected large recompences and reparations in honours, which they could not support, or offices which they could not discharge, or lands and money which the king had not to give; as all dispassioned men knew the conditions which the king was obliged to perform, and that the act of indemnity discharged all those forfeitures which could have been applied to their benefit; and therefore they who had been, without comparison, the greatest sufferers in their fortunes, and in all respects had merited most, never made any inconve a Character of K. Charles II. p. 56. Compare a passage from the Anti-Machiavel, quoted in the Life of Charles I. p. 83. VOL. V. wards those from whom he had received very great obligations in his necessities; nient suits to the king, but modestly left the memory and consideration of all they had done, or undergone, to his majesty's own gracious reflexions. They were observed to be most importunate, who had deserved least, and were least capable to perform any notable service; and none had more esteem of themselves, and believed preferment to be more due to them, than a sort of men who had most loudly began the king's health in taverns; especially if, for any disorders which had accompanied it, they had suffered imprisonment, without any other pretence of merit, or running any other hazard ".". -These are the words of Clarendon : words of severity, but perhaps justice, to many of his party; though they come with a very ill grace from a man who received twenty thousand pounds, from the king's bounty, soon after his arrival in England": who had never suffered imprisonment, or run hazard in the field, for the royal cause; and who, moreover, had procured of the king the manor of Cornbury, in Oxfordshire, forfeited by the attainder of Sir John Danvers, one of the late king's judges. We are not to wonder then that the cavaliers complained highly of their being neglected, as Burnet assures us they did: or that, upon Clarendon's beating down the value they set on their services, an implacable hatred took place in the breasts of many of them against him. For to be neglected, and contemned at the same time, by persons we have wished to serve, and for whom we have suffered, is hardly to be borne by men of virtue; much less * Clarendon's Continuation, vol. II. p. 35. Athenæ, vol. II. c. 534. Id. p. 60. Wood's See Burnet, vol. L p. 165. A and even towards the memory of his father, by those unacquainted with it.- -If his lordship, as was given out, advised the king to gain his enemies, since he was sure of his friends by their principles; we cannot be at a loss to account for their ill will. -To go on. Burnet observes of his majesty, that " he had been obliged to so many, who had been faithful to him, and careful of him, that he seemed afterwards to resolve to make an equal return to them all: and finding it not easy to reward them all as they deserved, he forgot them all alike. Most princes seem to have this pretty deep in them; and to think, that they ought never to remember past services, but that their acceptance of them is a full reward. He, of all in our age, exerted this piece of prerogative in the amplest manner: for he never seemed to charge his memory, or trouble his thoughts, with the sense of any of the services that had been done him"."-It ap pears also, from the satires of the times, that ingratitude was imputed to Charles. "His father's foes he does reward, Preserving those that cut off's head: Never was any king endu'd With so much grace and gratitude." ROCHESTER. "To see them who suffer'd for father and son, And helped to bring the latter to's throne, And yet, for all this, can nothing deserve. The king looks not on them, preferment's deny'd 'em ; a Burnet, vol. I. p. 611. MARVEL. he was wanting in that respect, which his This was the language of the times. Nor did it want truth for its foundation. Lord Clarendon, as we have seen, endeavours to excuse and justify his master; but how very poorly, is about to appear. I will not here take notice of Charles's treatment of the body of the presbyterians, to whom he, in a good measure, owed his crown: but will confine myself to the cases of a few persons, one of whom only was of that persuasion. The marquis of Argyle was executed, as it is well known, soon after Charles had taken possession of the three kingdoms. He had been looked on as an enemy by the former king; he certainly was so to his designs; and it was alledged, "that he had hindered the Scots from inviting his majesty, and, as long as possible, kept him from being received by them :" but, at the same time, it is confessed," that when there was no remedy, and that he was actually landed, no man paid him so much reverence and outward respect, and gave so good an example to all others, with what veneration their king ought to be treated, as the marquis of Argyle did; and in a very short time made himself agreeable and acceptable to him. And though he never consented to any one thing of moment which the king asked of him, and even in those seasons in which he was used with the most rudeness by the clergy, and with some barbarity by his son the lord Lorne, whom he had made captain of his majesty's guard, to guard him from his friends, and from all who he desired should have access to him; the marquis still had that address, that he perswaded him all was for the best. When the other faction prevailed, in which there were likewise crafty managers, and that his counsels were commonly rejected, he carried himself so, that they who |