The uxuriousness of
the amiable King towards his fascinating Princess (who to all her sex's
charms united all their foibles), exceeded justifiable attachment to an
engaging and faithful partner. He gave her credit for qualities she did
not possess; and the malice of the Parliamentary leaders against her, on
account of her religion, increased his eagerness to support and defend
her; nor could his most attached friends counteract her fatal influence.
Her fidelity and wishes to serve him were indeed unquestioned; but in
some characters, a forbearance from interfering in our affairs is the
truest test of friendship.
The strange circumstance of noblemen, who had even borne arms against
the King, boasting that they possessed the Queen's confidence, suggested
a fear that further accommodations with individual traitors were on the
tapis, and that Oxford would no longer remain a sacred asylum to a
persecuted court, where unblemished loyalty was sure of safety and
esteem; but a sanctuary to which terrified iniquity might retreat, and,
grasping the horns of the altar, defy justice.
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