WILLIAM AND MAEY.

9

calamities had been greater than even those of theBlessed Mar-tyr from whom he sprang. The father had been slain by avowedand mortal foes: the ruin of the son had been the work of hisown children. Surely the punishment, even if deserved, shouldhave been inflicted by other hands. And was it altogether de-served? Had not the unhappy man been rather weak and rashthan wicked? Had he not some of the qualities of an excellentprince? His abilities were certainly not of a high order: huthe was diligent: he was thrifty: he had fought bravely: he hadbeen his own minister for maritime affairs, and had, in thatcapacity, acquitted himself respectably: he had, till his spiri-tual guides obtained a fatal ascendency over his mind, been re-garded as a man of strict justice; and, to the last, when hewas not misled by them, he generally spoke truth and dealtfairly. With so many virtues he might, if he had been a Pro-testant, nay, if he had been a moderate Roman Catholic, havehad a prosperous and glorious reign. Perhaps it might not betoo late for him to retrieve his errors. It was difficult to believethat he could be so dull and perverse as not to have profited bythe terrible discipline which he had recently undergone; and,if that discipline had produced the effects which might reason-ably be expected from it, England might still enjoy, under herlegitimate ruler, a larger measure of happiness and tranquillitythan she could expect from the administration of the best andablest usurper.

We should do great injustice to those who held this lan-guage, if we supposed that they had, as a body, ceased toregard Popery and despotism with abhorrence. Some zealotsmight indeed be found who could not bear the thought ofimposing conditions on their King, and who w r ere ready torecall him without the smallest assurance that the Declarationof Indulgence should not he instantly republished, that theHigh Commission should not he instantly revived, that Petre