fionate, and charitable; and fo inoffenfive, that the bishop, who was his confeffor for ten years, declares, that in all that time he had never committed any fin that required penance or rebuke. In a word, he would have adorned a cloister, -though he difgraced a crown; and was rather refpectable for thofe vices he wanted, than for thofe virtues he poffefied. He founded the colleges of Eaton and Windfor, and King's College in Cambridge, for the reception of those scholars who had begun their ftudies at Eaton. On the morning that fucceeded his death, his body was expofed at St. Paul's church, in order to prevent unfavourable conjectures, and, next day, fent by water to the abbey of Chertfey, where he was interred: but it was afterwards removed, by order of Richard III. to Windfor, and there buried with great funeral folemnity. $74. Character of EDWARD IV. Edward IV. was a prince more fplendid and fhewy, than either prudent or virtuous; brave, though cruel; addicted to pleafure, though capable of activity in great emergencies; and lefs fitted to prevent ills by wife precautions, than to remedy them after they took place, by his vigour and enterprize, Hume. § 76. Another Character of EDWARD IV. When Edward afcended the throne, he was one of the handfomeft men in England, and perhaps in Europe. His noble mien, his free and eafy way, his affable carriage, won the hearts of all at firft fight. Thefe qualities gained him efteem and affection, which flood him in great ftead in feveral circumstances of his life. For fome time he was exceeding liberal: but at length he grew covetous, not fo much from his natural temper, as out of a neceffity to bear the immediate expences which his pleasures ran him into. Though he had a great deal of wit, and a found judgment, he committed, however, feveral overfights. But the crimes Edward is moft juftly charged with, are his cruelty, perjury, and incontinence. The first appears in the great number of princes and lords he put to death, on the fcaffold, after he had taken them in battle. If there ever was reafon to fhew mercy in cafe of rebellion, it was at that fatal time, when it was almost impoffible to ftand neuter, and fo difficult to chufe the jufteft fide between the two houfes that were contending for the crown. As for And yet we do not see that Edward had any regard to that confideration. Edward's incontinence, one may fay, that his whole life was one continued fcene of excess that way; he had abundance of miftreffes, but especially three, of whom he faid, that one was the merrieft, the other the wittieft, and the other the holiest in the world, fince he would not ftir from the church but when he fent for her.-What is moft aftonishing in the life of this prince is his good fortune, which feemed to be prodigious. He was raised to the throne, after the lofs of two battles, one by the Duke his father, the other by the Earl of Warwick, who was devoted to the house of York. The head of the father was fill upon the walls of York, when the fon was proclaimed in London. Edward efcaped, as it were, by miracle, out of his confinement at Middleham. He was reftored to the throne, or at leaft received into London, at his return from Holland, before he had overcome, and whilft his fortune yet depended upon the iffue of a battle which the Earl of Warwick was ready to give him. In a word, he was ever victorious in all the battles wherein he fought in perfon. Edward died the 9th of April, in the 42d'year of his age, after a reign of twenty-two years, and one month. Rapin. $77. EDWARD V. Immediately after the death of the fourth Edward, his fon was proclaimed king of England, by the name of Edward V. though that young prince was but just turned of twelve years of age, never received the crown, nor exercised any function of royalty; fo that the intervai between the death of his father, and the ufurpation of his uncle, the Duke of Gloucefter, afterwards Richard III. was properly an interregnum, during which the the uncle took his measures for wrefting was withered, and one fhoulder higher than the crown from his nephew. 78. Character of RICHARD III. Thofe hiftorians who favour Richard, for even He has met partizan, among later writers, maintain that he was well qualifed for government, had he legally obtained it; and that he committed no crimes but fuch as were neceflary to procure him poffeffion of the crown: but this is a very poor apology, when it is confeffed, that he was ready to commit the most horrid crimes which appeared neceffary for that purpofe; and it is certain that all his courage and capacity, qualities in which he really feems not to have been deficient, would never have made compenfation to the people, for the danger of the precedent, and for the contagious example of vice and murder, exalted upon the throne. This prince was of fmall ftature, hump-backed, and had a very harsh difagreeable vifage; fo that his body was in every particular no lefs deformed than his mind. Hume. $79. Another Character of RICHARD III. Such was the end of Richard III. the moft cruel unrelenting tyrant that ever fat on the throne of England. He feems to have been an utter ftranger to the fofter emotions of the human heart, and entirely deftitute of every focial enjoyment. His ruling paffion was ambition: for the gratification of which he trampled upon every law, both human and divine; but this thirst of dominion was unattended with the leaft work of generofity, or any defire of rendering himself agreeable to his fellow-creatures: it was the ambition of a favage, not of a prince; for he was a folitary king, altogether detached from the rest of mankind, and incapable of that fatisfaction which refults from private friendship and difinterefted fociety. We must acknowledge, however, that after his acceffion to the throne, his adminiftration in general was conducted by the rules of juftice; that he enacted falutary laws, and established wife regulations; and that if his reign had been protracted, he might have proved an excellent king to the English nation. He was dark, filent, and referved, and fo much mafter of diffimulation, that it was almost impoffible to dive into his real fentiments, when he wanted to conceal his defigns. His ftature was small, his afpect cloudy, fevere, and forbidding: one of his arms *Slain at the battle of Bofworth. another, from which circumftance of deformity he acquired the epithet of CrookSmollett. backed. $80. Character of HENRY VII. The reign of Henry VII. was in the main fortunate for his people at home, and honourable abroad. He put an end to the civil wars with which the nation had been fo long harafied; he maintained peace and order to the ftate; he depreffed the former exorbitant power of the nobility; and, together with the friendship of fome foreign princes, he acquired the confideration and regard of all. He loved peace, without fearing war; though agitated with criminal fufpicions of his fervants and minifters, he discovered no timidity, either in the conduct of his affairs, or in the day of battle; and, though often fevere in his punishments, he was commonly lefs actuated by revenge than by the maxims of policy. The fervices which he rendered his people were derived from his views of private intereft, rather than the motives of public fpirit; and where he deviated from felfish regards, it was unknown to himself, and ever from malignant prejudices, or the mean projects of avarice; not from the fallies of paffion, or allurements of pleafure; ftill lefs from the benign motives of friendship and generofity. His capacity was excellent, but fomewhat contracted by the narrowness of his heart; he poffeffed infinuation and address, but never employed thefe talents except fome great point of intereft was to be gained; and while he neglected to conciliate. the affections of his people, he often felt the danger of refting his authority on their fear and reverence alone. He was always extremely attentive to his affairs; but poffeffed not the faculty of feeing far into futurity; and was more expert at promoting a remedy for his mistakes. than judicious in avoiding them. Avarice was on the whole his ruling paffion; and he remained an inftance almoft fingular, of a man placed in a high ftation, and poffeffed of talents for great affairs, in whom that paffion predominated above ambition. Even among private perfons, avarice is nothing buta fpecies of ambition, and is chiefly incit ed by the profpect of that regard,diftinction, and confideration, which attends on riches. Died April 12th, 1509, aged 52, having reigned 23 years. Hume. $81. Another Character of HENRY VII. Henry was tall, ftraight, and well-shaped, though flender; of a grave afpect, and faturnine complexion; auftere in his drefs, and referved in converfation, except when he had a favourite point to carry; and then he would fawn, flatter, and pra&ife all the arts of infinuation. He inherited a natural fund of fagacity, which was improved by tudy and experience; nor was he deficient in perfonal bravery and political courage. He was cool, clofe, cunning, dark, diftruftful, and defigning; and of all the princes who had fat on the English throne, the most fordid, selfish, and ignorant. He pofdeffed, in a peculiar manner, the art of turning all his domeftic troubles, and all his foreign difputes, to his own advantage; ence he acquired the appellation of the English Solomon; and all the powers of the continent courted his alliance, on account of his wealth, wifdom, and uninterrupted profperity. The nobility he excluded entirely from the administration of public affairs, and employed clergymen and lawyers, who, as they had no interest in the nation, and depended entirely upon his favour, were more obfequious to his will, and ready to concur in all his arbitrary measures. At the fame time it must be owned, he was a wife legiflator; chafte, temperate, and affiduous in the exercife of religious duties; decent in his deportment, and exact in the adminiftration of justice, when his private intereft was not concerned; though he frequently ufed religion and juftice as cloaks for perfidy and oppreffion. His foul was continually actuated by two ruling paffions, equally bafe and unkingly, namely, the fear of lofing his crown, and the defire of amafing riches; and these motives influenced his whole conduct. Nevertheless, his apprehenfion and avarice redounded, on the whole, to the advantage of the nation. The first induced him to deprefs the nobility, and abolish the feudal tenures, which rendered them equally formidable to the prince and people; and his avarice prompted him to encourage induftry and trade, because it improved his customs, and enriched his fubjects, whom he could afterwards pillage at difcretion. Smollett. Sz. Character of HENRY VIII. It is difficult to give a juft fummary of this prince's qualities; he was fo different from himself in different parts of his reign, that, as is well remarked by Lord Herbert, his hiftory is his best character and defcription. The abfolute and uncontrouled authority which he maintained at home, and the regard he obtained among foreign nations, are circumftances which entitle him to the appellation of a great prince; while his tyranny and cruelty feem to exclude him from the character of a good one. He poffeffed, indeed, great vigour of mind, which qualified him for exercifing dominion over men; courage, intrepidity, vigilance, inflexibility; and though these qualities lay not always under the guidance of a regular and folid judgment, they were accompanied with good parts, and an extenfive capacity; and every one dreaded a conteft with a man who was never known to yield, or to forgive; and who, in every controverfy, was determined to ruin himfelf, or his antagonist. A catalogue of his vices would comprehend many of the worst qualities incident Violence, cruelty, pro to human nature. fufion, rapacity, injuftice, obftinacy, arrogance, bigotry, prefumption, caprice; but neither was he fubject to all these vices in the most extreme degree, nor was he at intervals altogether devoid of virtues. He was fincere, open, gallant, liberal, and capable at leaft of a temporary friendship and attachment. In this refpect he was unfortunate, that the incidents of his times ferved to difplay his faults in their full light; the treatment he met with from the court of Rome provoked him to violence; the danger of a revolt from his fuperftitious fubjects feemed to require the most extreme feverity. But it must at the fame time be acknowledged, that his fituation tended to throw an additional luftre on what was great and magnanimous in his character. The emulation between the Emperor and the French King rendered his alliance, notwithstanding his impolitic conduct, of great importance to Europe. The extenfive powers of his prerogative, and the fubmiflion, not to fay flavifh difpofition of his parliament, made it more eafy for him to affume and maintain that entire dominion, by which his reign is fo much diftinguished in English history. It may feem a little extraordinary, that notwithstanding his cruelty, his extortion, his violence, his arbitrary adminiftration, this prince not only acquired the regard of his fubjects, but never was the object of tions. As he had it in his power to make either fcale preponderate, each courted his favour with the moft obfequious fubmiffion, and, in trimming the balance, he kept them both in fubjection. In accuftoming them to thefe abject compliances, they degenerated into flaves, and he from their proftitution acquired the most defpotic authority. He became rapacious, arbitrary, froward, fretful, and fo cruel that he seemed to delight in the blood of his fubjects. their hatred; he seems even, in fome degree, to have poffeffed their love and affection. His exterior qualities were advantageous, and fit to captivate the multitude; his magnificence and perfonal bravery, rendered him illuftrious to vulgar eyes; and it may be faid with truth, that the English in that age were fo thoroughly fubdued, that, like eastern flaves, they were inclined to admire even thofe acts of violence and tyranny, which were exercifed over themselves, and at their own expence. He never seemed to betray the leaft fymptoms of tenderness in his difpofition; Died January 28th, 1547, anno ætatis and, as we already obferved, his kindness 57, regni 37. Hume. § 83. Another Character of HENRY VIII. Henry VIII. before he became corpulent, was a prince of a goodly perfonage, and commanding afpect, rather imperious than dignified. He excelled in all the exercifes of youth, and poffeffed a good understanding, which was not much improved by the nature of his education. Inftead of learning that philofophy which opens the mind, and extends the qualities of the heart, he was confined to the ftudy of gloomy and fcholaftic difquifitions, which ferved to cramp his ideas, and pervert the faculty of reafon, qualifying him for the difputant of a cloifter, rather than the lawgiver of a people. In the firft years of his reign, his pride and vanity feemed to domineer over all his other paflions; though from the beginning he was impetuous, headstrong, impatient of contradiction and advice. He was rafh, arrogant, prodigal, vain-glorious, pedantic, and fuperftitious. He delighted in pomp and pageantry, the baubles of a weak mind. His paffions, foothed by adulation, rejected all restraint; and as he was an utter ftranger to the finer feelings of the foul, he gratified them at the expence of justice and humanity, without remorfe or compunction. He wrefted the fupremacy from the bishop of Rome, partly on confcientious motives, and partly from reafons of ftate and conveniency. He fuppreffed the monafteries, in order to fupply his extravagance with their spoils; but he would not have made thofe acquifitions, had they not been productive of advantage to his nobility, and agreeable to the nation in general. He was frequently at war; but the greatest conqueft he obtained was over his own parliament and people.-Religious difputes had divided them into two fac to Cranmer was an inconfiftence in his character. He feemed to live in defiance of cenfure, whether ecclefiaftical or fecular; he died in apprehenfion of futurity; and was buried at Windfor, with idle proceffions and childish pageantry, which in thofe days paffed for real taste and magnificence. Smollett. 84. Character of EDWARD VI. Thus died Edward VI. in the fixteenth year of his age. He was counted the wonder of his time; he was not only learned in the tongues and the liberal fciences, but he knew well the state of his kingdom. He kept a table-book, in which he had written the characters of all the eminent men of the nation: he studied fortification, and understood the mint well. He knew the harbours in all his dominions, with the depth of the water, and way of coming into them. He understood foreign affairs fo well, that the ambafladors who were fent into England, publifhed very extraordinary things of him, in all the courts of Europe. He had great quicknefs of apprehenfion; but being diftruitful of his memory, he took notes of every thing he heard (that was confiderable) in Greek characters, that thofe about him might not understand what he writ, which he afterwards copied out fair in the journal that he kept. His virtues were wonderful: when he was made to believe that his uncle was guilty of confpiring the. death of the other counfellors, he upon that abandoned him. Barnaby Fitz Patrick was his favourite; and when he fent him to travel, he writ oft to him to keep good company, to avoid excefs and luxury; and to improve himself in thofe things that might render him capable of employment at his return. He was afterwards made Lord of Upper Of fory in Ireland, by Queen Elizabeth, and did anfwer the hopes this excellent king had of him. He was very merciful in his nature, which appeared in his unwillingnefs to fign the warrant for burning the maid of Kent. He took great care to have his debts well paid, reckoning that a prince who breaks his faith, and loles his credit, has thrown up that which he can never recover, and made himself liable to perpetual diftruft, and extreme contempt. He took fpecial care of the petitions that were given him by poor and oppreft people. But his great zeal for religion crowned all the reft-it was not an angry heat about it that actuated him, but it was a true tendernefs of confcience, founded on the love of God and his neighbour. Thefe extraordinary qualities, fet off with great fweetnefs and affability, made him univerfally beloved by his people. Burnet. $85. Another Character of EDWARD VI. All the English hiftorians dwell with pleafure on the excellencies of this young prince, whom the flattering promiles of hope, joined to many real virtues, had made an object of the moft tender affections of the public. He poffefied miidne's of difpofition, application to ftudy and bufinefs, a capacity to learn and judge, and an attachment to equity and justice. He feems only to have contracted, from his education, and from the age in which he lived, too much of a narrow prepoffeffion in matters of religion, which rande him incline fomewhat to bigotry and perfecution. But as the bigotry of Proteftants, lefs governed by priefs, lies under more restraints than that of Catholics, the effects of this malignant quality were the lefs to be apprehended, if a longer life had been granted to young Edward. Hume. $86. Another Character of EDWARD VI. Edward is celebrated by hiftorians for the beauty of his perfon, the fweetnefs of his difpofition, and the extent of his knowledge. By that time he had attained his fixteenth year, he underfood the Greek, Latin, French, Italian, and Spanish languages; he was verfed in the sciences of logic, mufic, natural philofophy, and mafter of all theological difputes; infomuch that the famous Cardanus, in his return from Scotland, vifiting the English court, was aftonished at the progrefs he had made in learning; and afterwards extolled him in his works as a prodigy of nature. Notwithstanding thefe encomiums, he seems to have had an ingredient of bigotry in his difpofition, that would have rendered him very troublesome to thofe of tender confciences, who might have happened to differ with him in religious principles; nor can we reconcile either to his boafted humanity or penetration, his confenting to the death of his uncle, who had ferved him faithfully; unless we fuppofe he wanted refolution to withstand the importunities of his minifters, and was deficient in that vigour of mind, which often exists indepen-, dent of learning and culture. Smollett. § 87. Character of MARY. It is not neceffary to employ maný words in drawing the character of this princefs. She poffcffed few qualities either eftimable or amiable, and her person was as little engaging as her behaviour and addrefs. Obitinacy, bigotry, violence, cruelty, malignity, revenge, and tyranny; every circumitance of her character took a tinture from her bad temper and narrow underftanding. And amidst that complication of vices which entered into her compofition, we fhall fcarcely find any virtue but fincerity; a quality which the feems to have maintained throughout her whole life, except in the beginning of her reign, when the neceflity of her affairs obliged her to make tome promifes to the Proteftants, which the certainly never intended to perform. But in thofe cafes a weak bigoted woman, under the government of priests, eafily finds cafuiftry fufficient to juftify to herfelf the violation of an engagement. She appears, as well as her father, to have been fufceptible of fome attachment of friendship; and that without caprice and inconftancy, which were fo remarkable in the conduct of that monarch. To which we may add, that in many circumftances of her life, the gave of refolution and vigour of mind; a quaindications lity which feems to have been inherent in her family. Died Nov. 7, A. D. 1558. Hume. §88. Another Character of MARY. We have already obferved, that the characteristics of Mary were bigotry and revenge: we fhall only add, that the was proud, imperious, froward, avaricious, and wholly delitute of every agreeable qualification. Smollett. $.89. Character of ELIZABETH. Elizabeth had a great deal of wit, and was |