THE CHARACTER OF CHARLES II. King of England, etc.   

THE CHARACTER OF CHARLES II. King of England. With a Short ACCOUNT Of his being Poisoned.  
Written by a Person of Honour.  
With an Introduction exhibiting the Different Characters given him by the several different Parties of Roman Catholics, Churchmen, and Dissenters, etc.  
BY ANOTHER HAND.  
London Printed, and are to be Sold by Richard Baldwin, near the Oxford-Arms-Inn in Warwick-lan, 1696.  
Price 6 d.   

THE INTRODUCTION.  
THE following Chacter having been much taken notice of, and many Copies of it handed about, it's hoped that the rendering of it public may be very acceptable. The Prince whose Character it is, was generally beloved by the People; yet his faults both as a King and a Man, were Universally observed, so that it can be no surprise to any one to find him both well and ill spoken of; for his Greatest Enemies will allow that he was endowed with many Princely Virtues; and the Greatest of his Friends must likewise confess that he had his Remarkable Vices. It cannot be denied, but that in both those Respects the different Factions have been guilty of Excess, and have exceeded the Rules of Modesty, both in applauding and condemning him; for every one speaks of him according as they were advantaged or endamaged by him; or according as the Humour or Interest of the Party which they espouse inclines them.  
The roman-catholics, though they cannot deny his many good offices to them, and their Church; yet they accusse him of Cowardice and Dissimulation, as having played fast and loose with them, and were therefore impatient to have his Brother on his Throne.  
The high flown Churchmen did mightily admire him, because he restored them to their ancient Dignities, and made them Lords paramount to all other Parties: so that they would neither see any of his faults when he was Alive, nor will they hear of 'em now he's Dead.  
The Cavaliers were some of them very well pleased, and others of 'em as highly disgusted with his Conduct, according as he answered or disappointed their Expectations: And it was very observable, that his Cousin Prince Rupert the Cavalier-General, with many of those who had fought for his Father, did at last grow dissatisfied with his Administration.  
The Tories adored him for advancing the Prerogative, and giving them the ascendant over the whigs, whom they prosecuted for their Lives, Reputations and Estates.  
The whigs, though many of them had a personal esteem for him, were never contented with his Administration; and Generally entertained this Character of him, That he gave himself up to all sensual Pleasures without Control: And was irreconcilable to any who interrupted his Lusts; that he debauched the Nation more in its Manners than ever any other King did before him; that he squandered away the ancient Revenues of the Crown, which were esteemed sacred; and left such a Debt upon it as was never before heard of. That he prostituted his Majesty, by being a Pensioner to France: And advanced the Power of that Monarch, to the endangering of the Liberties of Europe. That he embroiled his own Subjects in Intestine Feuds; and did so vitiate all public Offices, both Sacred, Civil and Military, with Bribery and Corruption, as it will be hard to reform them. That he was ungrateful to the Nation for their Loyalty, and the incredible Sums which they poured upon him. That he lessened the Reputation and strength of the Kingdom; overturned the Laws, and invaded the Properties of his Subjects.  
The Dissenters again scarcely afford him one good word, but attribute all the Corruption of our Morals to the ill Conduct of his Reign, and his own bad Example. They charge him with advancing the Interest of the Church of Rome, and as having been an open Fautor of Hobbism, Deism and what not. They charge him also with the greatest Perjuries that ever were heard of, as the breach of their solemn League and Covenant, and his Declaration from Breda. They complain of his having weakened the Protestant Interest in the Nation, by setting one party of Protestants to destroy another; and exposing all Piety and Seriousness to Ridicule; they upbraid his Memory with his manifold Whoredoms, which hath so much infected the Youth of the Nation, and is attended by such dismal Consequences. And in short, there's scarcely any Party who speak moderately of him; but do either exceed in his praise or his dispraise; and therefore there's reason to conceive that the following Character of him by a person of Honour, who had the opportunity of knowing him so well, and who is so duly qualified in all Respects to write it, will be very acceptable.  
It is also to be noted that as there is a great difference amongst Men and Parties, as to their Accounts of this Prince's Life, they are at no less variance as to the manner of his Death; in which most are agreed that there was some Fraud, though they differ exceedingly as to the Means and Instruments. Some ascribe it to the Intrigues of France, who as they undid the Father by a Wife, they ruin'd the Son by a Mistress, and therefore allege that Lewis XIV. being weary of feeding him with Pensions, and dreading his Natural Parts, if upon any disgust he should come to unite against France with his Parliaments, he thought it his Interest to take him off, and make way for a Successor, who, as he made open profession of his own Religion, would be more pliable to his Dictates.  
Then as to the method of effecting it, they say it was thus, that the D.— es of P—th who bewitched him with her Amours, and had not only drained the substance of his Body, but likewise the substance of his Purse, either of which being once brought to pass, the Love of a St— et to her Paramour vanishes, so that having a mind to Change Gallants, or seeing no more hopes of former advantages, she gave him such Provocatives as made him act beyond his natural strength, and threw him into these Apoplectic Fits which carried him off.  
There are others who ascribe it to the R. C. Faction, who being angry at his having so frequently deceived them; and impatient till they came to a Trial of Skill for establishing their Religion, while Lewis XIV. was in the height of his Power and Glory, did therefore administer the Fatal Dose, which sent King Charles II. a going, and brought his Brother to the Throne, under whose Auspicious Conduct they made no doubt of restoring the Church of Rome to the full possession of all that she had formerly enjoyed in Britain and Ireland; and to make an amends to his Soul for the Injury they did his Body, they took care to have those about him that should perform the last Offices, in making him an entire Proselyte to the Romish Faith. There are others who say, that all this was a shame, though attested by his Brother, and the other unexceptionable Evidence the Strong-Box; and that all the time which they pretended to spend in taking care of his Soul was really taken up in Cheating the Nation of their Money, by Sealing a Lease of the Customs; that so they might be enjoyed by his Successor after his Death, whereas the Parliament had only settled them upon himself during Life. This is what is thought fit to be said by way of Preface to the Character of a Prince, concerning whose Life, Religion and Death there are so many various sentiments.  
It's true that there are some who would excuse his Brother from having any accession to his death, there's none who have any reason to doubt that if he came to an untimely end, it was by the Hands of the Papists, for the high Church of England-men they had no reason to be weary of his Grovernment, nor ground to expect the like favours from his Brother that they received from him. As to the State whigs or Exclusioners, it was not their Interest neither, for they had no reason to think that ever they should enter into his Brother's rest as the late King himself is said to have expressed it to some of that Party, who attended him upon his Coming to the Throne: Nor were they in a Condition to have favoured Monmouth's Title at the time of King Charles his Death, as appeared by that unfortunate Gentleman's deplorable fate when he put in so boldly for his Father's Crown, so that Malice itself cannot fasten it on the whigs as having cut him off to make way for Monmouth.  
Then for the Protestant Dissenters, they had no Access to his Court nor person and were under the least tentation of any Party to wish for his death, seeing they knew the D. of York to be their Irreconcilable Enemy, and always the greatest promoter of their persecution, except when the Interest of his own Party persuaded him to moderation.  
There's no doubt but this Introduction will be as variously censured as there are Variety of Factions, but seeing every body takes the liberty to think and speak of the two Princes who are the Subject of these few Sheets, according as their Interest and Inclination leads them, it's but reasonable that they should allow others the same privilege with themselves; and if they have better reasons for the Negative than are here laid down for the Affirmative, they have the same liberty of making them known to the World, and thus they are left to the perusal of what follows, which is enough to satisfy them that the Author is no biggot in the matter, seeing he does as willingly publish the Character drawn by others, as that which is drawn by himself.   

A Short Character OF CHARLES II. King of England.  
Setting forth his untimely Death.  
I Have pitched on this Character of King Charles the II. not for his being a King, or my having had the Honour to serve him. The first of these would be too vulgar a consideration, and the other too particular: but I think it a Theme of Great Variety, and whatever is wanting in the Writer, may, I hope, be Recompensed, in the agreeableness of the Subject, which is sometimes enough to recommend a Picture (tho' ill drawn) and to make a face one likes oftener looked on, than the best Peice of Raphael.  
To begin then according to Custom with his Religion, which since his death hath made so much noise in the World, I yet dare confidently affirm it to be only that which is Vulgarly (tho' unjustly) counted none at all, I mean Deism. And this uncommon Opinion he owed more to the Liveliness of his parts, and carelessness of his Temper, than either to reading or much consideration; for his quickness of Apprehension at first View could discern through the several Cheats of Pious pretences, and his natural Laziness confirmed him in an equal mistrust of them all, for fear he should be troubled with Examining which was best.  
If in his early Travels, and late designs, he seemed a little Biased to one sort of Religion; The first is only to be imputed to a certain easiness of Temper, and a Complaisance for that Company he was then forced to keep; and the last was no more than his being tired (which he soon was in any difficulty) with those bold oppositions in Parliament, which made him almost throw himself into the Arms of a Roman Catholic party, so Remarkable of late for their Loyalty, who embraced him gladly, and lulled him asleep with those Enchanting Songs of Sovereignty, which the best and wisest of Princes are often unable to resist.  
And tho engaged himself on that side more fully at a time, when 'tis in vain, and too late to dissemble, we ought less to wonder at it, than to consider, that our very Judgements are apt to grow in time as partial as our affections; And thus by accident only, he became of their Opinion in his weakness, who had so much endeavoured always to contribute to his Power.  
He loved ease and quiet, to which his unnecessary Wars, are so far from being a Contradiction, that they are rather proof of it, since they were made only to comply with those persons, whose disaffections would have proved more uneasy to one of his humour, than all that distant noise of Cannon which he would often listen to, with a great deal of Tranquillity. Besides the great and almost only pleasure of mind, he appears addicted to, was Shipping and Sea affairs, which seemed to be so much his Talon both for knowledge, as well as inclination, that a War of that Kind, was rather an Entertainment, than any Disturbance to his thoughts.  
If he did not go himself at the head of so magnificent a Fleet, 'tis only to be imputed to that eagerness of Military Glory, in his Brother, which under the show of a decent care for preserving the Royal person from danger, engrossed all that sort of honour to himself, with as much jealousy of any others interposing in it, as a King of another Temper would have had of his. 'Tis certain no Prince was ever more fitted by nature for his Country's interest than he was, in all his Maritime Inclinations, which might have proved of sufficient advantage to this Nation, if he had been as careful in depressing all such improvements in France, as of advancing and encouraging our own; but it seems he wanted jealousy in all his inclinations; which leads us to consider him in his Pleasures.  
Where he was rather Abandoned than Luxurious, and like our Female Libertines, apt to be persuaded into Debauches for the satisfaction of others, than to seek with choice where most to please himself; I am of Opinion also, that in his latter times there was as much of Laziness, as of Love, in all those hours he passed among his Mistresses, who after all only served to fill up his Seraglio, while a bewitching kind of pleasure called Sauntring, and talking without any constraint, was the true Sultana Queen he Delighted in.  
He was surely inclined to justice, for nothing else would have retained him so fast to the succession of a Brother against a Son he was so fond of. And the humour of a Party which he so much feared, I am willing also to impute to his Justice, whatever seems in some measure to contradict the general Opinion of his Clemency, as his suffering always the Rigour of the Law, to proceed not only against all Highwaymen, but also several others, in whose Cases the Lawyers, according to their wont custom, had used sometimes a great deal of Hardship and Severity.  
His understanding was quick and lively, in little things, and sometimes would soar high enough in great ones, but unable to keep it up, with any long attention or application; witty in all sorts of Conversation, and telling a story so well, that not out of flattery, (but for the pleasure of hearing it) we used to seem ignorant of what he had repeated to us ten times before, as a good Comedy will bear the being often seen.  
Of a wonderful mixture, losing all his time, and setting his whole heart on the Fair Sex, yet neither Angry with Rivals, nor in the least Nice as to the being beloved, and while he sacrificed all things to his Mistresses, he would use to grudge, and be uneasy at their losing a little of it again at Play, tho' never so necessary for their diversion, nor would he Venture 5 l. at Tennis to those Servants who might obtain as many thousands, either before he came thither, or as soon as he left of.  
Full of Dissimulation, and very adroit at it, yet no man easier to be imposed on, for his great dexterity was in cozening himself, by gaining a little one way, while it cost him ten times as much another, and by Caressing those persons most, who had deluded him the oftenest, and yet the quickest in the world at Spying such a Ridicule in another.  
Easy and good natured to all people in trifles, but in greater affairs severe, and inflexible, in one week's absence, quite forgetting those Servants to whose faces he could hardly deny any thing.  
In the midst of all his Remissness so industrious, and indefatigable on some particular occasions, that no man would either toil longer, or be able to manage it better.  
He was so Liberal as to Ruin his affairs by it, for want in a K. of England turns things just upside down, and Exposes a Prince to his people's mercy, it did yet worse in him, for it forced him also to depend on his great Neighbour of France, who played the Broker with him sufficiently, in all those times of Extremity, yet this profuseness of his did not so much proceed from his over valuing those he favoured, as from his undervaluing any sums of Money, which he did not see tho' he found his Error in this, but I confess a little of the latest.  
He had so natural an Aversion to all formality, that with as much Wit as most men ever had, and as Majestic a Mien, yet he could not on premeditation act the Part of a King for a moment, either at Parliament or Council, either in Words or Gesture, which carried him into the other Entream, more inconvenient of the two, of letting all Distinction and Ceremony fall to the Ground, as useless and foppish.  
His Temper both of Body and Mind was Admirable, which made him an easy generous Lover; A Civil obliging Husband, a Friendly Brother, an Indulgent Father, and a good natured Master. If he had been as Solicitous about improving the faculties of his mind, as he was in the Management of his bodily health, (though alas 'tis proved unable to make his life long) that had not failed to have made it Famous.  
He was an illustrious Exception, to all the Common Rules of Physiognomy, for with a most Satur 〈…〉 in harsh sort of Countenance, he was both of a Merry and Merciful Disposition, and in the last 30. years of his life, as Fortunate as those of his Fathers had been Dismal and tumultuous. If his Death had some appearance of being untimely, it may be Partly imputed to his Extreme, healthy constitution, which made the world as much surprised at his dying before threescore, as if nothing but an ill accident could have Killed him.  
I would not say any thing on so sad a Subject; If I did not think silence itself in such a Case, would signify too much; And therefore as an Impartial Writer, I am obliged to Observe, that I am assured, the most 〈…〉ing and most deserving of all his Physicians did not only believe him, Poisoned, but thought himself so too, nor long after, for having Declared his Opinion a little too boldly.  
FINIS.