acquire. Belial, one of the infernal fpirits, is indeed made a Unitarian; Yet how God's unity, which well we know Baffles my weak conjecture: Let that pafs! The general language of the poem, with respect to the perfon of Chrift, is Trinitarian. In his death, he is the victim bearing The accumulated load of punishment The fum of vengeance, that amazing whole Which each particular fin had piled in store.' In the agony in the garden, Was that angry cup, full mix'd and red With every life-destroying extract, drawn From man's corruption fince, were there infus'd, Mix'd by the hand of Death and drugg'd in hell.' The dreadful doctrine of eternal punishment is described in all its horrors: At farthest end Of that Obfcure a pillary cloud arose Of tulph'rous fmoke, that from hell's crater team'd; Blue flashing fires burft forth, that sparkling blaz'd Of the fad crew beneath: Thence might be heard The murd'rer's yelling fcream, and the loud cry These Thefe wretched beings are vifited by Chrift, and they draw from him a figh of natural pity: but foon his human fympathy gives place To judgment better weighed, and riper thoughts Such rigorous juftice, triumphing over mifery, cannot be eafily reconciled with rational ideas of the Supreme Being, nor with the mild and gentle character of Christ :-but whatever may be thought of the doctrine itfelf, it muft, we think, be admitted, that fuch fubjects are ill adapted to poetry. We cannot better exprefs our ideas on this head, than in the words of Dr. Johnfon, in his Life of Milton: "Of the ideas fuggefted by thefe awful fcenes, from fome we recede with reverence, except when stated hours require their affociation; and from others we fhrink with horror, or admit them only as falutary inflictions, as counterpoifes to our interefts and paffions. Such images rather obftruct the career of fancy than incite it. "Pleafure and terrour are indeed the genuine fources of poetry but poetical pleasure must be fuch as human imagination can at least conceive, and poetical terrour fuch as human ftrength and fortitude may combat. The good and evil of eternity are too ponderous for the wings of wit; the mind finks under them in paffive helpleffhefs, content with calm belief and humble adoration." ART. II. E. The Secret Hiftory of the Court and Reign of Charles the Second, by a Member of his Privy Council. To which are added Introductory Sketches of the preceding Period from the Acceffion of James I. With Notes, and a Supplement, con.inuing the Narrative in a fummary Manner to the Revolution: by the Editor. 8vo. 2 Vols. pp. about 480 in each. 135. Boards. Bew. 1792. ΤΗ HE fecret hiftory of any court might put virtue and honefty to the blush; what then were we to expect in an expofure of the fecrets of a court diftinguithed by open profligacy? This is profefled to be the work of one of King Charles's rivy council: but, it is natural to afk, who was this privy counfellor? No fatisfaction is given as to this point, though the time of publication is fo remote from the time of writing, that his name might be produced without any fcruple, as a fanction to the performance. Thus we want a fecret niftory of the work offered to us, which, in its prefent form, is no authority. On perufal, however, we became carelets as to the name of the author; for anecdotes of an interefting kind are B 4 not not to be expected from a party concerned, who was tender in treating of his master's character,-whose conduct he often endeavours to palliate, -and who thought that he went great lengths in admitting some facts that are now well authenticated, and freely difcuffed. If the original writer prefixed the above title to his work, there might be no impropriety in it at that time: but if, as it is very probable, the terms fecret history are the coinage of the present day*, the * If, after all, it should be found that the original writer was, in fact, the late Dr. Shebbeare, the difcovery will ferve to fhew how vague have been the conjectures that we have formed on this head. That the very egregious Doctor really was the author, is a conclufion that may, not unreasonably, be drawn from the ADVERTISEMENT which is placed after the preliminary difcourfe to this work, entitled Sketches of the Conftitutional Hiftory of England, from the acceffion of the Stewart family till the Restoration.' The following is a tranfcript of the Advertisement: As any reader, who will take the trouble of comparing the first part of the following work with the Continuation of the earl of Clarendon's Life, printed at Oxford, must be ftruck with the exact fameness of fome paffages, and the great fimilarity of others, it may be proper to explain the caufe of fo remarkable a circumstance. Some Letters to the People of England, published about forty years ago by the late doctor Shebbeare, feemed to breathe fuch a fpirit of liberty, and afforded fo many proofs of wit, genius, and political information, as recommended him to the efteem of Mr. Pitt, afterwards earl of Chatham. Shebbeare's name was at first concealed, for very obvious reafons; and Mr. Pitt did not contradict an infinuation thrown out in the houfe of commons of his being the author of thofe letters himself, in order to divert from Shebbeare the ftorm of minifterial vengeance. He gave the doctor a farther proof of his friend fhip and confidence by putting into his hands the manufcript of the following work, to prepare it for publication. But Shebbeare was in his heart a Tory; and having had another manufcript nearly on the fame fubject, and more agreeable to his own fentiments, given him a little time after, he refolved to print the latter, and to prevent, if poffible, the appearance of the former. The favourite manufcript had been long preferved in the old earl of Dorfet's family, and was fuppofed to be written by the earl of Clarendon. It contained remarks on feveral occurrences during the earl's adminiftration from the year 1660 till his difgrace in 1667. But Shebbeare, finding it in many parts very defective, made bold, before he returned the other work to Mr. Pitt, to felect from it whatever he thought would eafily coalefce with his Tory performance; and filled up other chafms by the efforts of his own ingenuity. It was advertised with the earl of Clarendon's name, and being unexpectedly claimed by one of his defcendants, the doctor chofe rather to give up the eventual profits of the fale, than to discover his own the contents will not fupport the character; and, though the editor, in his introduction, defcribes the narrative as breaking. off toward the close of Charles the Second's reign;' the truth is, that it breaks off in 1669, though Charles lived till 1685; fo that it includes only the firft nine years of twenty-five, reckoning from his reftoration. The title, indeed, led us to expect a disclosure of anecdotes hitherto unknown, and that we were to be introduced to fo familiar a monarch in his private parties but the narrative is chiefly political, and relating to tranfactions now well known. As a fpecimen of the work, we fhall give fome part of the author's account of the negociations for the king's marriage with the Infanta of Portugal; in which he thus describes her reception in England, and her ill treatment by her husband: Before I make any remarks on the queen's reception, and the new intrigues it gave rife to at court, it may be proper to take fome notice of a few remarkable circumstances attending the voyage and embaffy of the earl of Sandwich, who had been fent to bring her to England. His orders were first to go to Tangier, which, according to the treaty, was to be delivered to him before he went to Lifbon; and delivered to him it was, though by an accident that might have caufed it to be put into other hands. There was never the leaft doubt but that the queen regent did refolve religiously to perform all the conditions on the part of Portugal: and fhe was ftill at the head of the government. But the king growing towards his majority, and of a nature not likely to comply long with his mother's advice, own artifice. The Oxford editors took Shebbeare's copy; and without any other proof of its genuineness than his filence, they printed it as a Continuation of the earl of Clarendon's Life. Hence the famenefs and fimilarity of many paffages in two productions fo very different in every other refpect. The nature of the additions made to the original manuscript by the prefent editor has been explained in the Introduction. He allo ventured to retrench a few redundancies of expreffion in the work itself, and to correct the phrafeology, where he found it obfcure, or obfolete; but never from any affectation of modern refinement. An architect, in repairing an old family manfion, may be allowed to remove the cumbrous ornaments, and to introduce fome alterations for the purpofe of real utility and convenience, provided he does not wantonly deface the marks of its antiquity, or destroy through faftidioufnefs its venerable appearance.' The earl had alfo orders to go to Tunis and Algiers to intimidate the corfairs, by whom the Mediterranean trade was at this time greatly annoyed; but he found them fo well prepared for refiftance, and fo little inclined to listen to moderate proposals, that he thought it beft to profecute his voyage, without making any other attempt to reduce them to reafon, than fetting fire to a few of their piratical cruizers.' factions factions began likewife to grow in that court. The delivery of Tangier, and into the hands of heretics, was much murmured at, as likely to increase the prejudices of the pope who already fhewed a strong partility to Spain; and though the queen had lately fent a governor to Tangier, upon whofe devotion to her will the thought The cou'd depend, yet it is certain he went thither with a contrary refolution. Very few days before the arrival of the earl of Sandwich at Tangier, the new governor had marched out with all the horfe and above half the foot forces of the garrifon into the country, and had fallen into an ambush of the moors, who cut off the whole party. By this ftroke the governor and fuch a number of the chief officers and toldiers being killed, the garrifon was left fo weak, that if the moors had purfued their advantage, they must have taken it with little difficulty. The earl of Sandwich coming at this critical moment, the town was delivered into his hands. Having left there a confiderable body of English forces, feut for that purpose, and configned the command to the earl of Peterborough, whom the king had appointed to be governor thereof, the admiral purfued his voyage with the remainder of the Portuguefe garrifon, who, upon their return home, had like to be stoned to death by the populace. The earl's arrival in Portugal happened likewife at a very lucky conjuncture. The Spanish army, which had been lately re-inforced, was upon its march to besiege a fea port, which lay fo near Lisbon, as to enable the enemy, if they should become mafters of it, very much to infeft the whole Portuguefe trade. Upon the report of the English fleet's approach, the Spaniards gave over that defign and retired. But the alarm excited by their march had one unfavourable effect it had made the Portuguefe government employ most of the money, which they faid had been laid up for the infanta's portion, in raising forces upon fuch an emergency. The queen-regent made the best apology the could for a ftep to which he had been driven by the ftreights and poverty of the kingdom; and propofed immediately to put on board to the amount of one half of the portion in jewels, fugar, and other commodities; with a pofitive promile of paying the other half in a year. The earl was very much perplext, but as matters had been carried fo far, he thought it beft to acquiefce; and the infanta and her retinue having embarked, he fet fail from Lisbon on the fifteenth of April, and arrived fafe at Portfmouth on the fourteenth of May. Here the infanta refted for a few days, to recover from the indifpofition contracted during fo long a voyage at fea; and being then waited upon by the king, and the marriage being folemnized *, their majeflies came together to Hamp ton The following circumftances, though paffed over by the writer of the Secret Hiftory, may appear worthy of notice. The infanta remained on board till the twentieth of May, partly through indifpofition, but chiefly from an obfervance of etiquette, which made her wait for the king's coming in perfon to receive her. He was detained in town to hurry the proceedings of parliament, and to 3 thank |