XIX. Carteret* ;- and that he left his younger children CHAP. without provision. Let these circumstances be remembered. Let us view, on the one hand, the ample means which he rightfully possessed, and, on the other, the debts which he left unpaid, and then, let it be asked, what do we find that countenances the unproved hypothesis of secret corruption? And by this word "unproved" is meant, not that mere absence of legal proof which is notoriously compatible with guilt, but that it was a charge of which no proof could be established by all the malice, wealth, and power of foes as formidable and inveterate as ever arrayed themselves against an individual. Then let us consider the favourable testiof character and conduct, the unimpeached mony disinterestedness of his early career, -the fearlessness, so opposite to the demeanour of guilt, with which, in the zenith of his supposed corruption, he braved unpopularity by assuming the appearance of wealth greater than he really possessed. Let all these circumstances be calmly weighed: and, when the inquiry shall (as I confidently assert) have redounded clearly to the honour of Clarendon, let us rise from it with the reflection, that we should discreditably renounce one of the most valuable advantages of our remote position, if, in estimating the characters of the great men of other times, who, because great, were envied and traduced, we lightly gave credence to the * Vol. III. p. 486. 535. et seq. CHAP. unsubstantiated assertions of their contemporary enemies. XIX. Such is the view of Lord Clarendon's character which recorded circumstances seem to warrant. They exhibit a character little diversified by those dark shades and brilliant traits which startle by the dazzling contrast, and charm in antithetical description. They show us one whose virtues, talents, and misfortunes, raise admiration mixed with pity, but never warm us to enthusiasm,—one not like the unjust steward, "wise in his gener"ation," gilding great crimes with great successes, yet not of that unbending virtue which merits the honours of political martyrdom virtuous enough to have been the victim of a corrupt age, and yet not virtuous enough to claim unqualified veneration now. It is a character which neither attracts the imaginative admirer of eccentric greatness, nor fully satisfies the calm inquirer who searches solely for the good and useful. Yet to those who comprehensively and impartially view at once the person and the time, he will appear as one whose faults were few, compared with his merits, and measured by his temptations; whose services must be estimated not only by the good which he effected, but by the evils which he repelled; irascible, but not vindictive; firm in his friendships, without being implacable in his enmities; pious, but not fanatical; strict in morals, but not morose; of an industry almost unexampled, and endowed with an intellect, which, if it rose not XIX. to that eminence of originality and power which CHAP. is the attribute of those few great minds which shine forth as beacons to the world beneath them, yet in activity, energy, versatility, and acuteness, has very rarely found an equal, and, perhaps, has never been surpassed. CHAPTER XX. VIEW OF LORD CLARENDON'S WRITINGS. REBELLION. - HISTORY OF THE LIFE AND CONTINUATION. -RELIGION AND CONTEMPLATIONS AND REFLECTIONS ON THE ESSAYS. ANSWER ΤΟ CRESSY. -SURVEY OF STATE PAPERS AND LETTERS.-GENERAL CHARACTER OF HIS WRITINGS. THE LEVIATHAN. XX. the Rebel lion. CHAP. THE circumstances under which "The History "of the Rebellion" was written, and the assistHistory of ance which its author received, have already been described. It remains only that I should now offer a few remarks upon the character of this celebrated work. Few works have been more exposed to severe attacks, in consequence of undue praise. While a powerful party were eager to claim implicit deference to its authority, and to hold it up as the most faithful history of the civil wars, what wonder if others as clamorously decried it, and denied even such merits as it unquestionably possessed! We shall, perhaps, be aided, in an attempt to estimate the work aright, if we look at the declarations and professions of its author, respecting its nature, scope, and objects, and see how far it might be inferred from thence that an impartial history would be given to the world. He informed Lord Witherington that his object in writing was, "that posterity may see by "what fatal degrees that wickedness hath grown prosperous, which," he hopes, "is now at its 66 66 66 66 height."* He wrote to Charles I., saying, "I CHAP. flatter myself with an opinion, that I am doing your Majesty some service in this excellent island, whilst I am preparing the story of your sufferings, that posterity may tremble at the reading of what the present age blushes not "to execute."+ In the introductory part of the ninth book of "The History of the Rebellion," before relating the events of the year 1645, he says, "Wherefore, as I first undertook this difficult work with "his" (the King's) "approbation, and by his encouragement, and for his vindication, so I en"tered upon this part of it principally that the "world may see (at least if there be ever a fit "season for such a communication, which is not "likely to be in the present age,) how difficult "it was for a prince, so unworthily reduced to "those straits his Majesty was in, to find ministers "and instruments equal to the great work that "was to be done; and how unlikely it was for "him to have better success under their conduct, "whom it was then very proper for him to trust "with it."+ He informed Nicholas, soon after the commencement of his labours, that he was writing a full description, out of which "enough may be "chosen to make a perfect story, and the original XX. |