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HISTORY 01' ENGLAND,

cnAP. unequal taxation which pressed heavily on the cultivators of

-'— the soil, far exceeded that of any other potentate. His army,

excellently disciplined, and commanded by the greatestgenerals then living, already consisted of more than ahundred and twenty thousand men. Such an array of regulartroops had not been seen in Europe since the downfall of theRoman empire. Of maritime powers France was not thefirst. But, though she had rivals on the sea, she had not yeta superior. Such was her strength during the last forty yearsof the seventeenth century, that no enemy could singly with-stand her, and that two great coalitions, in which half Christen-dom was united against her, failed of success,character The personal qualities of the French King added to thexzv. eW1S respect inspired by the power and importance of his kingdom.No sovereign has ever represented the majesty of a greatstate with more dignity and grace. He was his own primeminister, and performed the duties of that arduous situationwith an ability and an industry which could not be reasonablyexpected from one who had in infancy succeeded to a crown,and who had been surrounded by flatterers before he couldspeak. He had shown, in an eminent degree, two talents in-valuable to a prince, the talent of choosing his servants well,and the talent of appropriating to himself the chief part of thecredit of their acts. In his dealings with foreign powers hehad some generosity, but no justice. To unhappy allies whothrew themselves at his feet, and had no hope but in hiscompassion, he extended his protection with a romantic dis-interestedness, which seemed better suited to a knight errantthan to a statesman. But he broke through the most sacredties of public faith without scruple or shame, whenever theyinterfered with his interest, or with what he called his glory.His perfidy and violence, however, excited less enmity thanthe insolence with which he constantly reminded his neigh-bours of his own greatness and of their littleness. He did