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"the other hand, blind to the indifference with which “ he (Shaftesbury,) espoused either Monarchical, Arbitrary, or Republican principles, as best suited his ambition; but could it make him blind to the relent"less cruelty with which he persecuted the Papists in "the affair of the Popish Plot, merely, as it should "seem, because it suited the purposes of the party with "which he was then engaged?—You know that some "of the imputations against him are certainly false; the shutting up the Exchequer, for instance. But the two great blots of sitting on the Regicides, and his conduct in the Popish Plot, can never be wiped off. "The second Dutch war is a bad business, in which he engaged heartily, and in which (notwithstanding all his apologists say,) he would have persevered, if he "had not found the King was cheating him.

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66

Sunday, St. Anne's Hill, (Chertsey, November 20, 1803.

Serjeant Heywood, Harpur Street.)

Your's ever,

"C. J. FOX."

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

B

CONTENTS.

Introductory Observations.-First Period, from Henry VII. to the Year 1588.-Second Period, from 1588 to 1640.-Meeting of Parliament. Redress of Grievances.-Strafford's Attainder.-The commencement of the Civil War.-Treaty from the Isle of Wight.— The King's Execution.-Cromwell's Power;-his Character.-Indifference of the Nation respecting Forms of Government.-The Restoration. Ministry of Clarendon and Southampton.-Cabal.Dutch War. De Witt.-The Prince of Orange.-The Popish Plot. The Habeas Corpus Act.-The Exclusion Bill.-Dissolution of Charles the Second's last Parliament.-His Power ;-his Tyranny in Scotland; in England.-Exorbitant Fines.-Executions.-Forfeitures of Charters. Despotism established. — Despondency of good Men.-Charles's Death.-His Character.-Reflections upon the probable Consequences of his Reign and Death.

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