But death was the slightest punishment inflicted by those rebels. All the tortures which wanton cruelty could devise, all the lingering pains of body, the anguish of mind, the agonies of despair, could not satiate revenge excited without injury, and cruelty derived from no cause. To enter into particulars would shock the least delicate humanity. Such enormities, though attested by undoubted evidence, appear almost incredible. Depraved nature, even perverted religion, encouraged by the utmost licence, reach not to such a pitch of ferocity; unless the pity inherent in human breasts be destroyed by that contagion of example, which transports men beyond all the usual motives of conduct and behaviour. History of England, chap. lv.

III.

The character of this prince,' as that of most men, if not of all men, was mixed; but his virtues predominated extremely above his vices, or, more properly speaking, his imperfections: For scarce any of his faults rose to that pitch as to merit the appellation of vices. To consider him in the most favourable light, it may be affirmed that his dignity was free from pride, his humanity from weakness, his bravery from rashness, his temperance from austerity, his frugality from avarice; all these virtues, in him, maintained their proper bounds, and merited unreserved praise. To speak the most harshly of him, we may affirm, that many of his good qualities were attended with some latent frailty, which, though seemingly inconsiderable, was able, when seconded by the extreme malevolence of his fortune, to disappoint them of all their influence. His beneficent disposition was clouded by a manner not very gracious; his virtue was tinctured with superstition; his good sense was disfigured by a deference to persons of a capacity inferior to his own; and

1 Charles I.

his moderate temper exempted him not from hasty and precipitate resolutions. He deserves the epithet of a good, rather than of a great man; and was more fitted to rule in a regular established government, than either to give way to the encroachments of a popular assembly, or finally to subdue their pretensions. He wanted suppleness and dexterity

sufficient for the first measure: He was not endowed with

the vigour requisite for the second. Had he been born an absolute prince, his humanity and good sense had rendered his reign happy and his memory precious: Had the limitations on prerogative been, in his time, quite fixed and certain, his integrity had made him regard, as sacred, the boundaries of the constitution. Unhappily, his fate threw him into a period, when the precedents of many former reigns savoured strongly of arbitrary power, and the genius of the people ran violently towards liberty. And if his political prudence was not sufficient to extricate him from so perilous a situation, he may be excused; since, even after the event, when it is commonly easy to correct all errors, one is at a loss to determine what conduct, in his circumstances, could have maintained the authority of the crown, and preserved the peace of the nation. Exposed, without revenue, without arms, to the assault of furious, implacable and bigoted factions, it was never permitted him, but with the most fatal consequences, to commit the smallest mistake: a condition too vigorous to be imposed on the greatest human capacity.

This prince was of a comely presence; of a sweet, but melancholy aspect. His face was regular, handsome, and well-complexioned; his body strong, healthy, and justly proportioned; and being of a middle stature, he was capable of enduring the greatest fatigues. He excelled in horsemanship and other exercises; and he possessed all the exterior, as well as many of the essential qualities, which form an accomplished prince.

History of England, chap. lix.

THOMAS GRAY. 1716-1771.

I.

WE took the longest road, which lies through Savoy, on purpose to see a famous monastery, called the Grand Chartreuse, and had no reason to think our time lost. After having travelled seven days very slow, (for we did not change horses, it being impossible for a chaise to go post in these roads,) we arrived at a little village, among the mountains of Savoy, called Echelles; from thence we proceeded on horses, who are used to the way, to the mountain of the Chartreuse ; it is six miles to the top; the road runs winding up it, commonly not six feet broad; on one hand is the rock, with woods of pine-trees hanging overhead; on the other, a monstrous precipice, almost perpendicular, at the bottom of which rolls a torrent, that sometimes tumbling among the fragments of a stone that have fallen from on high, and sometimes precipitating itself down vast descents with a noise like thunder, which is still made greater by the echo from the mountains on each side, concurs to form one of the most solemn, the most romantic, and the most astonishing scenes I ever beheld add to this the strange views made by the craggs and cliffs on the other hand: the cascades that in many places throw themselves from the very summit down into the vale, and the river below; and many other particulars impossible to describe; you will conclude we had no occasion to repent our pains.

:

Letters, iv.

II.

Our journey hither was through the most beautiful part of the finest country in the world; and every spot of it, on some account or other, famous for these 3000 years past. The season has hitherto been just as warm as one would wish

it; no unwholesome airs, or violent heats, yet heard of; the people call it a backward year, and are in pain about their corn, wine, and oil; but we who are neither corn, wine, nor oil, find it very agreeable. Our road was through Velletri, Cisterna, Terracina, Capua, and Aversa, and so to Naples. The minute one leaves his Holiness' dominions, the face of things begins to change from wide uncultivated plains to olive-groves and well-tilled fields of corn, intermixed with ranks of elms, every one of which has its vine twining about it, and hanging in festoons between the rows from one tree to another. The great old fig-trees, the oranges in full bloom, and myrtles in every hedge, make one of the delightfulest scenes you can conceive; besides that the roads are wide, well kept, and full of passengers, a sight I have not beheld this long time. My wonder still increased upon entering the city, which I think for number of people out-does both Paris and London, The streets are one continued market, and thronged with populace so much that a coach can hardly pass. The common sort are a jolly lively kind of animals, more industrious than Italians usually are they work till evening; then they take their lute or guitar (for they all play) and walk about the city, or upon the sea shore with it, to enjoy the fresco. One sees their little brown children jumping about stark naked, and the bigger ones jumping with castanets, while others play on the cymbal to them. Your maps will show you the situation of Naples: it is on the most lovely bay in the world, and one of the calmest seas it hath many other beauties besides those of nature. We have spent two days in visiting the remarkable places in the country round it, such as the bay of Bœiæ, and its remains of antiquity; the lake Avernus and the Solfatara, Charon's Grotto, &c. We have been in the Sibyl's cave and many other strange holes underground (I only name them because you may consult Sandy's Travels); but the strangest hole I ever was in, has been to-day at a place called Portici, where his Sicilian Majesty has a country seat.

About a year ago, as they were digging, they discovered some parts of an ancient building above thirty feet deep in the ground curiosity led them on, and they have been digging ever since; the passage they have made, with all its turnings and windings, is now more than a mile long. As you walk, you see parts of an amphitheatre, many houses adorned with marble columns, and incrusted with the same; the front of a temple, several arched roofs painted in fresco. Some pieces of painting have been taken out from hence, finer than anything of the kind before discovered, and with these the king has adorned his palace; also a number of statues, medals, and gems; and more are dug every day.

Letters, xxii.

WILLIAM ROBERTSON. 1721-1793.

I.

EARLY in the morning, Bourbon, who had determined to distinguish that day either by his death or the success of his enterprise, appeared at the head of his troops, clad in complete armour, above which he wore a vest of white tissue, that he might be more conspicuous both to his friends and to his enemies; and as all depended on one bold impression, he led them instantly to scale the walls. Three distinct bodies, one of Germans, another of Spaniards, and the last of Italians, the three different nations of whom the army was composed, were appointed to this service; a separate attack was assigned to each, and the whole army advanced to support them as occasion should require. A thick mist concealed their approach until they reached almost the brink of the ditch which surrounded the suburbs: having planted their ladders in a moment, each brigade rushed on to the assault with an impetuosity heightened by national emulation. They were received at first with fortitude equal to their own; the