After all this, when some rough Strokes of the Pencil have made several
Parts of the Picture look a little hard, it is a Justice that would be due
to every Man, much more to a Prince, to make same Amends, and to reconcile
Men as much as may be to it by the last finishing.
He had as good a Claim to a kind Interpretation as most Men. First as a
_Prince_: living and dead, generous and well-bred Men will be gentle to
them; next as an _unfortunate Prince_ in the beginning of his Time, and a
_gentle_ one in the rest.
A Prince neither sharpened by his Misfortunes whilst Abroad, nor by his
Power when restored, is such a shining Character, that it is a Reproach
not to be so dazzled with it, as not to be able to see a Fault in its full
Light. It would be a Scandal in this Case to have an exact Memory. And if
all who are akin to his Vices, should mourn for him, never Prince would be
better attended to his Grave. He is under the Protection of common
Frailty, that must engage Men for their own sakes not to be too severe,
where they themselves have so much to answer.
What therefore an angry Philosopher would call _Lewdness_, let frailer Men
call a Warmth and Sweetness of the Blood, that would not be confined in
the communicating itself; an over-flowing of Good-nature, of which he had
such a Stream, that it would not be restrained within the Banks of a
crabbed and unsociable Virtue.
If he had sometimes less _Firmness_ than might have been wished; let the
kindest Reason be given, and if that should be wanting, the best Excuse. I
would assign the Cause of it to be his loving at any rate to be _easy_,
and his deserving the more to be indulged in it, by his desiring that
every body else should be so.
If he sometimes let a _Servant fall_, let it be examined whether he did
not _weigh_ so much upon his Master, as to give him a fair Excuse. That
_Yieldingness_, whatever Foundations it might lay to the Disadvantage of
Posterity, was a Specifick to preserve us in Peace for his own Time. If he
loved too much to lie upon his own Down-bed of Ease, his Subjects had the
Pleasure, during his Reign, of lolling and stretching upon theirs. As a
Sword is sooner broken upon a Feather-bed than upon a Table, so his
Pliantness broke the blow of a present Mischief much better than a more
immediate Resistance would perhaps have done.
Ruin saw this, and therefore removed him first to make way for further
Overturnings.
If _he dissembled_; let us remember, first, that he was a King, and that
Dissimulation is a Jewel of the Crown; next, that it is very hard for a
Man not to do sometimes too much of that, which he concludeth necessary
for him to practice. Men should consider, that as there would be no false
Dice, is there were no true ones, so if Dissembling is grown universal, it
ceaseth to be soul play, having an implied Allowance by the general
Practice. He that was so often forced to dissemble in his own Defence,
might the better have the privilege sometimes to be the Aggressor, and to
deal with Men at their own Weapon.
Subjects are apt to be as arbitrary in their _Censure_, as the most
assuming Kings can be in their Power. If there might be matter for
Objections, there is not less reason for Excuses; The Defects laid to his
Charge, are such as may claim Indulgence from Mankind.
Should no body throw a Stone at his Faults but those who are free from
them, there would be but a slender Shower.
What private Man will throw Stones at him because he _loved_? Or what
Prince, because he _dissembled_?
If he either _trusted_, or _forgave_ his _Enemies_, or in some Cases
_neglected_ his _Friends_, more than could in Strictness be allowed; let
not those Errors be so arraigned as take away the Privilege that seemeth
to be due to Princely Frailties. If Princes are under the Misfortune of
being accused to govern ill, their Subjects have the less right to fall
hard upon them, since they generally so little deserve to be governed
well.
The truth is, the Calling of a King, with all its glittering, hath such an
unreasonable weight upon it, that they may rather expect to be lamented,
than to be envied; for being set upon a Pinacle, where they are exposed to
Censure, if they do not do more to answer Mens Expectations, than
corrupted Nature will allow.
It is but Justice therefore to this Prince, to give all due Softenings to
the less shining Parts of his Life; to offer Flowers and Leaves to hide,
instead of using Aggravations to expose them.
Let his Royal Allies than lie soft upon him, and cover him from harsh and
unkind Censures; which though they should not be unjust, can never clear
themselves from being indecent.