therefore with Cato, as fome writers affect to do; it is certain, that if Cato's virtue feems more fplendid in theory, Cicero's will be found fuperior in practice; the one was romantic, the other rational; the one drawn from the refinements of the fchools, the other from nature and focial life; the one always unfuccefsful, often hurtful; the other always beneficial, often falutary to the republic. : To conclude; Cicero's death, though violent, cannot be called untimely but was the proper end of fuch a life, which must have been rendered lefs glorious, if it had owed its prefervation to Antony. It was therefore what he not only expected, but in the circumftances to which he was reduced, what he feems even to have wifhed. For he, who had before been timid in dangers and defponding in diftrefs, yet from the time of Cæfar's death, roufed by the defperate state of the republic, affamed the fortitude of a hero: difcarded all fear; defpised all danger; and when he could not free his country from a tyranny, provoked the tyrants to take that life, which he no longer cared to preserve. Thus, like a great actor on the stage, he referved himself as it were, for the last act; and after he had played his part with dignity, refolved to finish it with glory. Middleton's Cicero. § 39. The Character of MARTIN LUTHER. While appearances of danger daily increafed, and the tempeft which had been fo long a-gathering was ready to break forth in all its violence against the proteftant church, Luther was faved by a feafonable death from feeling or beholding its deftructive rage. Having gone, though in a declining ftate of health, and during a rigorous feafon, to his native city of Eifleben, in order to compofe, by his authority, a diffenfion among the counts of Manffield, he was feized with a violent inflammation in his ftomach, which in a few days put an end to his life, in the fixtythird year of his age.-As he was raifed up by Providence to be the author of one of the greatest and most interesting revolutions recorded in hiftory, there is not any perfon, perhaps, whofe character has been drawn with fuch oppofite colours. In his own age, one party, ftruck with horror and inflamed with rage, when they faw with what a daring hand he overturned every thing which they held to be facred, or valued as beneficial, imputed to him not only all the defects and vices of a man, but the qualities of a dæmon. The other, warmed with admiration and gratitude, which they thought he merited, as the restorer of light and liberty to the Chriftian church, afcribed to him perfections above the condition of humanity, and viewed all his actions with a veneration bordering on that which should be paid only to those who are guided by the immediate infpiration of Heaven. It is his own conduct, not the undiftinguishing cenfure, nor the exaggerated praife of his contemporaries, which ought to regulate the opinions of the prefent age concerning him. Zeal for what he regarded as truth, undaunted intrepidity to maintain it, abilities both natural and acquired to defend it, and unwearied industry to propagate it, are virtues which fhine fo confpicuously in every part of his behaviour, that even his enemies must allow him to have poffeffed them in an eminent degree. To thefe may be added, with equal juftice, fuch purity, and even aufterity of manners, as becaine one who affumed the character of a reformer; fuch fanctity of life as fuited the doctrine which he delivered; and such perfect difintereftedness, as affords no flight prefumption of his fincerity. Superior to all felfth confiderations, a stranger to the elegancies of life, and defpifing its pleafures, he left the honours and emoluments of the church to his difciples; remaining fatisfied himself in his original state of profeffor in the univerfity, and paftor to the town of Wittemberg, with the moderate appointments annexed to thefe offices. His extraordinary qualities were alloyed with no inconfiderable mixture of human frailty, and human paffions. Thefe, however, were of fuch a nature, that they cannot be imputed to malevolence or corruption of heart, but feem to have taken their rife from the fame fource with many of his virtues. His mind, forcible and vehement in all its operations, roufed by great objects, or agitated by violent paffions, broke out, on many occafions, with an impetuofity which aftonishes men of feebler fpirits, or fuch as are placed in a more tranquil fituation. By carrying fome praifeworthy difpofitions to excefs, he bordered fometimes on what was culpable, and was often betrayed into actions which expofed him to cenfure. His confidence that his own opinions were well founded, approached to arrogance; his courage in afferting them, to rafhnefs; his firmness in adhering to them, to obftinacy; and his zeal in con Sf 4 futing futing his adverfaries, to rage and fcurrility. Accuftomed himself to confider every thing as fubordinate to truth, he expected the fame deference for it from other men; and, without making any allowances for their timidity or prejudices, he poured forth, against thefe who difappointed him in this particular, a torrent of invective mingled with contempt. Regardlefs of diftinction of rank or character, when his doctrines were attacked, he chaftifed all his adverfaries, indifcriminately, with the fame rough hand; neither the royal dignity of Henry VIII. nor the eminent learning and ability of Erafmus, feree ed them from the fame abufe with which he treated Tetzel or Eccius. any But these indecencies of which Luther was guilty, muft not be imputed wholly to the violence of his temper. They ought to be charged in part on the manners of the age. Among a rude people, unacquainted with thofe maxims, which, by putting continual reftraint on the pafiions of individuals, have polished fociety, and rendered it agreeable, difputes of every kind were managed with heat, and ftrong emotions were uttered in their natural language, without referve or delicacy. At the fame time, the works of learned men were all compofed in Latin; and they were not only authorised, by the example of eminent writers in that language, to ufe their antagonists with the moft illiberal fcurrility; but, in a dead tongue, indecencies of every kind appear lefs fhocking than in a lefs fhocking than in a living language, whofe idioms and phrafes feem grofs, because they are familiar. dangers which he braved and furmounted. Towards the clofe of Luther's life, though without a perceptible declention of his zeal or abilities, the infirmities of his temper increated upon him, fo that he daily grew more peevith, more irafcible, and more impatient of contradiction. Having lived to be witnefs of his own amazing fuccefs; to fee a great part of Europe embrace his doctrines; and to fhake the foundation of the Papal throne, before which the mightieft monarchs had trembled, he difcovered, on fome occafions, fymptoms of vanity and felf-applaufe. He must have been indeed more than man, if, upon contemplating all that he actually accomplished, he had never felt any fentiment of this kind rifing in his breaft. Some time before his death he felt his ftrength declining, his conftitution being worn out by a prodigious multiplicity of bufinefs, added to the labour of difcharging his minifterial function with unremitting diligence, to the fatigue of constant study, befides the compofition of works as voluminous as if he had enjoyed uninterrupted leifure and retirement. His natural intrepidity did not forfake him at the approach of death: his last converfation with his friends was concerning the happiness referved for good men in a future world, of which he fpoke with the fervour and delight natural to one who expected and withed to enter foon upon the enjoyment of it. The account of his death filled the Roman Catholic party with exceffive as well as indecent joy, and damped the fpirits of all his followers; neither party fufficiently confidering that his doctrines were now fo firmly rooted, as to be in a condition to flourish, independent of the hand which first had planted them. His funeral was celebrated by order of the Elector of Saxony, with extraordinary pomp. He left feveral children by his wife, Catharine Bore, who furvived him: towards the end of the last century, there were in Saxony fome of his descendants in decent and honourable stations. In paffing judgment upon the characters of men, we ought to try them by the principles and maxims of their own age, not by thofe of another. For although virtue and vice are at all times the fame, manners and cuftoms vary continually. Some parts of Luther's behaviour, which to us appear molt culpable, gave no difguft to his contemporaries. It was even by fome of thofe qualities which we are now apt to blame, that he was fitted for accomplishing the great work which he undertook. To roufe mankind, when funk in ignorance or fuperftition, and to encounter the rage § 40. Character of ALFRED, King of of bigotry, armed with power, required the utmoft vehemence of zeal, and a temper daring to excefs. A gentle call would neither have reached, nor have excited those to whom it was addreffed. A fpirit, more amiable, but lefs vigorous than Luther's, would have fhrunk back from the England. Robertfon. The merit of this prince, both in private and public life, may with advantage be fet in oppofition to that of any monarch or citizen which the annals of any age or any nation can prefent to us. He feems, indeed, to be the complete model of that perfect perfect character, which, under the denomination of a fage or wife man, the philofophers have been fond of delineating, rather as a fiction of their imagination, than in hopes of ever seeing it reduced to practice fo happily were all his virtues tempered together, fo juftly were they blended, and fo powerfully did each prevent the other from exceeding its proper bounds. He knew how to conciliate the moft enterprifing fpirit with the cooleft moderation; the most obftinate perfeverance with the easiest flexibility; the most fevere justice with the greatest lenity; the greatest vigour in command with the greatest affability of deportment; the highest capacity and inclination for fcience, with the most fhining talents for action. His civil and his military virtues are almoft equally the objects of our admiration, excepting only, that the former, being more rare among princes, as well as more ufeful, feem chiefly to challenge our applaufe. Nature alfo, as if defirous that fo bright a production of her fkill should be fet in the fairest light, had bestowed on him all bodily accomplishments, vigour of limbs, dignity of fhape and air, and a pleasant, engaging, and open countenance. Fortune alone, by throwing him into that barbarous age, deprived him of hiftorians worthy to tranfmit his fame to pofterity; and we wish to fee him delineated in more lively colours, and with more particular ftrokes, that we may at least perceive fome of thofe fmall fpecks and blemishes, from which, as a man, it is impoffible he could be entirely exempted. Hume. thing that could contribute to the fecurity of his kingdom. He was author of that inestimable privilege, peculiar to the fubjects of this nation, which confifts in their being tried by their peers; for he first inftituted juries, or at leaft improved upon an old inftitution, by fpecifying the number and qualifications of jurymen, and extending their power to trials of property as well as criminal indictments; but no regulation redounded more to his honour and the advantage of his kingdom, than the measures he took to prevent rapine, murder, and other outrages, which had fo long been committed with impunity. His attention ftooped even to the meanest circumftances of his people's conveniency. He introduced the art of brick-making, and built his own houses of those materials; which being much more durable and fecure from accidents than timber, his example was followed by his fubjects in general. He was, doubtlefs, an object of moft perfect esteem and admiration; for, exclufive of the qualities which diftinguished him as a warrior and legiflator, his perfonal character was amiable in every respect. Died 897, aged 52. Smollett. § 41. Another Character of ALFRED. Alfred, that he might be the better able to extend his charity and munificence, regulated his finances with the moft perfect œconomy, and divided his revenues into a certain number of parts, which he appropriated to the different expences of the ftate, and the exercife of his own private liberality and devotion; nor was he a lefs economist in the diftribution of his time, which he divided into three equal portions, allotting one to fleep, meals, and exercife; and devoting the other two to writing, reading, bufinefs, and prayer. That this divifion might not be encroached upon inadvertently, he measured them by tapers of an equal fize, which he kept continually burning before the fhrines of relics. Alfred feemed to be a genius felf-taught, which contrived and comprehended every § 42. Character of WILLIAM the Conqueror. Few princes have been more fortunate than this great monarch, or were better. entitled to profperity and grandeur for the abilities and vigour of mind which he difplayed in all his conduct. His fpirit was bold and enterprifing, yet guided by prudence. His ambition, which was exorbitant, and lay little under the restraints of justice, and ftill lefs under those of humanity, ever fubmitted to the dictates of reafon and found policy. Born in an age when the minds of men were intractable and unacquainted with fubmiffion, he was yet able to direct them to his purpofes; and, partly from the afcendant of his vehement difpofition, partly from art and diffimulation, to establish an unlimited monarchy. Though not infenfible to generofity, he was hardened against compaflion, and feemed equally oftentatious and ambitious of eclat in his clemency and his feverity. The maxims of his adminiftration were fevere; but might have been ufeful, had they been folely employed in preferving order in an established government: they were ill calculated for foftening the rigours which under the most gentle management sre infeparable from conquest. His attempt against England Was was the laft enterprize of the kind, which, during the course of foven hundred years, had fully fucceeded in Europe; and the greatnefs of his genius broke through thofe limits, which frit the feudal inflitution, then the refined policy of princes, have fixed on the feveral ftates of Chriftendom. Though he rendered himself infinitely odious to his English fubjects, he tranfmitted his power to his pofterity, and the throne is full filled by his defcendants; a proof that the foundation which he laid was firm and folid, and that among all his violences, while he feemed only to gra. tify the prefent paffion, he had ftill an eye towards futurity. Died Sept. 9, 1087, aged 63*. Hume. § 43. Another Character of WILLIAM the Conqueror. From the tranfactions of William's reign, he appears to have been a prince of great courage, capacity, and ambition; politic, cruel, vindictive, and rapacious; ftern and haughty in his deportment, referved and jealous in his difpofition. He was fond of glory; and, though parfimonious in his household, delighted much in oftentation. Though fudden and impetuous in his enterprizes, he was cool, deliberate, and indefatigable, in times of danger and difficulty. His afpect was nobly fevere and imperious, his ftature tall and portly; his conititution robuft, and the compofition of his bones and mufcles ftrong: there was hardly a man of that age, who could bend his bow, or handle his arms. Smollett. and at the head of armies, he joined to all the capacity that genius could give, all the knowledge and fill that experience could teach, and was a perfect master of the military art, as it was practifed in the times wherein he lived. His conftitution enabled him to endure any hardships, and very few were equal to him in perfonal strength, which was an excellence of more importance than it is now, from the manner of ighting then in ufe. It is faid of him, that none except himself could bend his bow. His courage was heroic, and he poffeffed it not only in the field, but (which is more uncommon) in the cabinet, attempting great things with means that to other men appeared totally unequal to fuch undertakings, and fteadily profecuting what he had boldly refolved; being never disturbed or difheartened by difficulties, in the courfe of his enterprizes; but having that noble vigour of mind, which, instead of bending to oppofition, rifes against it, and feems to have a power of controlling and commanding Fortune herself. Nor was he lefs fuperior to pleasure than to fear: no luxury foftened him, no riot difordered, no sloth relaxed. It helped not a little to maintain the high respect his fubjects had for him, that the majesty of his character was never let down by any incontinence or indecent excefs. His temperance and his chastity were conftant guards, that fecured his mind from all weaknefs, fupported its dignity, and kept it always as it were on the throne. Through his whole life he had no partner of his bed but his queen; a most extraordinary virtue in one who had lived, even § 44. Another Character of WILLIAM from his earliest youth, amidst all the licence the Conqueror. The character of this prince has feidem been fet in its true light; fome eminent writers having been dazzled fo much by the more fhining parts of it, that they have hardly feen his faults; while others, out of a strong deteftation of tyranny, have been unwilling to allow him the praise he deferves. He may with justice be ranked among the greatest generals any age has produced. There was united in him activity, vigilance, intrepidity, caution, great force of judgment, and never-failing prefence of mind. He was ftrict in his difcipline, and kept his foldiers in perfect obedience; yet preferved their affection. Having been from his very childhood continually in war, * Şapollett fays, 61, of camps, the allurements of a court, and he kept his oaths to his people as well as the feductions of fovereign power! Had he did his marriage vow, he would have been the beft of kings; but he indulged other paflions of a worfe nature, and infinitely more detrimental to the public than thofe he reftrained. A luft of power, which no regard to justice could limit, the most avarice, poffeffed his foul. It is true, inunrelenting cruelty, and the most insatiable deed, that among many acts of extreme inhumanity, fome thining inftances of great clemency may be produced, that were either effects of his policy, which taught him this method of acquiring friends, or of his magnanimity, which made him flight a weak and fubdued enemy, fuch as was Edgar Atheling, in whom he found neither pirit nor talents able to contend with him for for the crown. But where he had no advantage nor pride in forgiving, his nature difcovered itself to be utterly void of all tenfe of compaffion; and fome barbarities which he committed exceeded the bounds that even tyrants and conquerors prefcribe to themselves. Moft of our ancient hiftorians give him the character of a very religious prince; but his religion was after the fashion of thofe times, belief without examination, and devotion without piety. It was a religion that prompted him to endow monafteries, and at the fame time allowed him to pillage kingdoms; that threw him on his knees before a relic or cross, but fuffered him unreftrained to trample upon the liberties and rights of mankind. As to his wifdom in government, of which fome modern writers have spoken very highly, he was indeed fo far wife that, through a long unquiet reign, he knew how to fupport oppreffion by terror, and employ the properett means for the carrying on a very iniquitous and violent administration. But that which alone deferves the name of wisdom in the character of a king, the maintaining of authority by the exercise of thofe virtues which make the happiness of his people, was what, with all his abilities, he does not appear to have poffeffed. Nor did he excel in thofe foothing and popular arts, which fometimes change the complexion of a tyranny, and give it a fallacious appearance of freedom. His government was harsh and defpotic, violating even the principles of that constitution which he himself had eftablished. Yet fo far he performed the duty of a fovereign, that he took care to maintain a good police in his realm; curbing licentiouinefs with a strong hand, which, in the tumultuous ftate of his government, was a great and difficult work. How well he performed it we may learn even from the teftimony of a contemporary Saxon hiftorian, who fays, that during his reign. a man might have travelled in perfect fecurity all over the kingdom with his bofom full of gold, nor durft any kill another in revenge of the greatest offences, nor offer violence to the chastity of a woman, But it was a poor compenfation, that the highways were fafe, when the courts of justice were dens of thieves, and when almost every man in authority, or in office, ufed his power to opprefs and pillage the people. The king himfelf did not only tolerate, but encourage, fupport, and even fhare thefe extortions. Though the great nefs of the ancient landed eftate of the crown, and the feudal profits to which he legally was entitled, rendered him one of the richest monarchs in Europe, he was not content with all that opulence, but by authorizing the fheriffs, who collected his revenues in the feveral counties, to practife the moft grievous vexations and abuses, for the railing of them higher, by a perpetual auction of the crown lands, fo that none of his tenants could be fecure of poffeffion, if any other would come and offer more; by various iniquities in the court of exchequer, which was entirely Norman; by forfeitures wrongfully taken; and, laftly, by arbitrary and illegal taxations, he drew into his treasury much too great a proportion of the wealth of his kingdom. It must however be owned, that if his avarice was infatiably and unjustly rapacious, it was not meanly parfimonious, nor of that fordid kind which brings on a prince dishonour and contempt. He fupported the dignity of his crown with a decent magnificence; and though he never was lavish, he fometimes was liberal, more efpecially to his foldiers and to the church. But looking on money as a neceffary means of maintaining and increafing power, he defired to accumulate as much as he could, rather, perhaps, from an ambitious than a covetous nature; at leaft his avarice was fubfervient to his ambition, and he laid up wealth in his coffers, as he did arms in his magazines, to be drawn out, when any proper occafion required it, for the defence and enlargement of his dominions. Upon the whole, he had many great qualities, but few virtues; and if thofe actions that mot particularly distinguish the man or the king are impartially confidered, we fhall find that in his character there is much to admire, but still more to abhor. Lyttelton. § 45. The Character of WILLIAM RUFUS. |