many proprietors a competition of small interests was produced; and those great and formidable confederacies of the aristocratical power, which had so frequently excited the alarms of kings, and subverted the throne in former ages, were prevented by this salutary measure, or at least rendered very difficult to be formed.

The conduct of HENRY VIII. exhibited a perpetual struggle of violent passions. The condemnation of two of his queens, of the gallant and accomplished Lord Surry, and of the facetious and learned Sir Thomas More, must consign him to the hatred of all posterity. A. D. 1509. Rapin, vol. i, p. 794, &c. Carte, vol. iii, p. 1, &c. Hume, vol. iv, p. 35. His passion for the beautiful and unfortunate Ann Boleyn induced him to free his kingdom from the shackles of papal supremacy, and introduce the reformation of religion. This event formed a new and extraordinary epoch in the English history. It repressed the inordinate power of the clergy, abolished the monastic orders, and, by founding religious principłe upon reason and scripture alone, improved the manly seriousness and inherent dignity of the British character. The reformation was highly favourable to civil as well as religious rights, and encouraged that spirit of free inquiry, from which it derived its origin. Men, who had the intrepidity to demolish the fabric of popery, supported as it was by the antiquity of its establishments, the splendour of its ceremonies, and the sacred character of its ministers, were not to be checked in their researches into the imperfections and abuses of government. The seeds therefore of political innovation were deeply sown; and although they were for some time checked in their growth, as all

orders of his subjects bowed with the most abject servility before this impetuous and tyrannical monarch, yet in succeeding times their fruits sprung up in the greatest abundance.

Splendid as the reign of ELIZABETH appears, with respect to her transactions with foreign countries, she inherited the temper of her father: the imperfections of her mind were those for which the Tudor family was remarkable, and she ruled with the most despotic sway. A. D 1558. Uncontrollable in the indulgence of her passions, and by turns the slave of love and hatred, she sentenced her favourite Essex to death, and consigned to a miserable and tedious imprisonment, and finally to the axe of the executioner, a cousin and a sovereign, whose charms excited her envy, and the suspicion of whose conspiracies provoked her revenge. Mary, queen of Scotland, many particulars of whose history are perplexed by contradictory accounts, and involved in obscurity, has been made the object of admiration to succeeding ages, as much, perhaps, on account of her misfortunes, captivity and cruel death, as her incomparable beauty, sweetness of disposition, and excellent understanding*. The nobles feared and venerated Elizabeth; and the members of her house of commons, more obsequious to her demands and caprice than the ancient parliaments of Paris ever were to the dictates of a French mo

* The learned Camden, a contemporary writer, ascribes to her a constant steadiness in religion, a singular piety to God, an invincible greatness of mind, and a wisdom above her sex, besides her personal charms. Carte, as if enamoured of the subject, has drawn her character with a degree of eloquence far superior to his usual style. Vol. iii, p. 619. Appendix, p. 817.

narch, assembled only to learn and obey her will, and to tax their constituents for her support. Her subjects were exempted from the privileges and cares of political power; and, at once dazzled by the splendour of her court, and the success of her arms, the strength of her understanding, the extent of her learning, and the masculine intrepidity of her temper, were blind to her obstinacy, avarice, and cruelty.

JAMES I. was remarkable for the mildness of his disposition, and the attention he always paid to removing the grievances of his subjects*, in which circumstance he afforded an illustrious contrast to his immediate predecessors. In his pacific reign many encroachments were made upon the royal prerogative; or rather all the different orders of his kingdom began to feel their own importance, and were determined to exert their power. A. D. 1602. The flourishing state of commerce raised the merchants to great respectability; and their rapid increase of wealth naturally claimed suitable distinctions and privileges. The members of corporations were active in augmenting their rights; and the king, by an impolitic imitation of his predecessors, added to their number. The citizens of London were not so blinded by the condescension of their royal master in becoming a member of a company of merchants as not to solicit large concessions from the throne. The spirit of fanaticism, discontent, and ambition, prevailed in the house of commons; and all the actions of the king, and his immediate successors, their folly or wis

* "Sir Edward Coke, at a time when he was out of favour and a malecontent, declared, that he never knew any complaint made to the king of any abuse out of parliament but he gave orders immediately to have it reformed." Carte, vol. iv, p. 129.

dom, their virtues or their vices, were equally exposed to complaint and opposition. A. D. 1625. The caprice of his temper, and the unsteadiness of his conduct, appearing at one time resolved upon measures, which at another he retracted; writing one day to his house of commons in a peremptory strain, and soon after sending them letters replete with concession and apology; gave great advantage to the artful supporters of the puritanical party, and encouraged them in the pursuit of their dark machinations against church and state. Carte, vol. iv, p. 128.

Such was the threatening aspect of affairs, when the amiable and accomplished CHARLES assumed the reins of government. Carte, vol. iv, p. 606. It was his peculiar misfortune to ascend the throne at a period, when no experience of his predecessors could be fully conclusive, as to the measures of state most proper to be adopted; and when the constitution of the country was in reality undergoing an alteration, while it appeared to be the same as in preceding times. Those who succeeded him discovered the change, and took the proper means to prevent its unhappy consequences: but the discovery, though afterwards easy to be made, was perhaps at that time placed out of the reach of human sagacity. The good qualities of Charles were more calculated to accelerate than to retard the fury of the storm, which threatened, and soon burst around him. Too scrupulous an adherence to his rights as a king, and his extraordinary zeal for the church of England, contributed to introduce the train of events, which proved so fatal to himself, and so disastrous to his country.

In the early part of his reign, he was induced to exercise with too much severity that undefined prero

gative, over the odious part of which the cautious Elizabeth had drawn a veil, but which her successor James had exerted with ostentatious parade upon trivial occasions. However inquisitorial the constitution of the star chamber and the high commission court was, or however rigid the punishments, which they denounced against state offences; their authority was fully sanctioned by ancient customs. Few if any clamours had been raised against their proceedings during the reigns of former sovereigns. But, unhappily for Charles, the decrees of the star chamber at first excited popular invectives and tumult, and finally provoked a steady and determined opposition. The people called with a peremptory voice for a general redress of grievances. It ought for ever to be remembered, that this call was obeyed, and that the fullest concessions were made on the part of the king previous to the great rebellion. But as suspicions were entertained of the sincerity of his declarations, his sacrifices to the parliament, connected with some rash actions and unguarded expressions, were considered rather as the result of compulsion than of choice. Cromwell, Fairfax, Ireton, and all the popular leaders, therefore, failed not to embrace an opportunity so favourable to their ambition. They fired the minds of their party with their own fanaticism, and plunged the nation into all the horrors of a civil war. The refusal of Charles to resign the appointment of officers in the militia, was a signal for the commencement of hostilities; and the royal sword was finally drawn for the maintenance of what the king deemed a just prerogative, long after the parliament had recourse to arms. The last scene of this tragical period is such as the humane historian must lament to record, and the friend to