Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Essays On Subjects Connected With History And Classical Learning.
full approbation , and almost unsolicited , into his policy and designs That want of liberality to foreign nations , that antipathy to France ' which unfortunatel y had been too long prevalent , too Iono- cherished and supported , then flourished in full vigour ; and impelled them to engage the enemy , more from their native animosity , than the jealousy with which the projects of Louis deserve d to be watched . Let examine with attention
_ us now ,- and a rigid impartiality ^ such ' objections to Ins character as seem to have any weight , or to need uistification . The massacre of Glencoe—the- treaty of partition—liis conduct to the Scotch trading company—his opposition to the measures of parliament , and his infringement of domestic obligations i . hese are formidable objections ; and in one of them , we fearwe cannotconsistentlwith truth to
, y , pretend acquit him of some share of criminality . The horrid massacre of Glencoe will leave a spot upon the character of William , which all the waters of the ocean will be unable to wash out . —The si gning the warrant of execution may not onty be accounted for , but excused and justified . Bat his allowing the perpetrators and accomplices of that wanto and deliberate but
n - chery to escape with impunity;—his want of justice , his want of feeling , in not enquiring into the transaction , —^ inconsistent with every other of the actions of his life . Motives of policy might , indeed cool or stifle his vengeance ; but phlegmatic and little irritable in temper as he was , the suspicions of his subjects demanded some proot of his disapprobation honest
. Every man , every feeling pa-. mot , is shocked at the enormity ; and while we erect a monument Co those many virtues , in which he has been excelled perhaps by none , and equalled but b y few , let us drop a tear over the one solitary crime ' W i 4 i ,- ' -,- ° . arly evinces > th ; it he was subject to the weakness and the failings of humanity .
His grant to the trading company of Scotland , being calculated for the encouragement of industry and commerce , cannot be considered as improper . The construction of his enemies , however , was but too greedily and generally received—that it proceeded from an over-fond attachment and regard to his native land : —a construction which the common feelings of nature would inform us redounded less to ' the th of the than to the
sgrace patriot , honour of the man But rh ? t amor patria , that local partiality we have before mentioned that envy of their neighbours , and jealousy of successful industry , which then disgraced our countrymen , will account for the illiberal disposition or the nation towards the company , which William had been so eager to patronize , and . the consequent impossibility of his redressing their The onl
grievances . y objection to his character , on this charge arises from his not supporting the privileges he had bestowed alid not preventing those dreadful evils which ensued from the repeal of Ins grant . Violently opposed by the commons , unaided by ministerial corruption , or the influence of places and pensions and dependent on a refractory parliament for supplies , a limited monarch could » ot , without danger , have yielded to the impulses of benevolence or
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Essays On Subjects Connected With History And Classical Learning.
full approbation , and almost unsolicited , into his policy and designs That want of liberality to foreign nations , that antipathy to France ' which unfortunatel y had been too long prevalent , too Iono- cherished and supported , then flourished in full vigour ; and impelled them to engage the enemy , more from their native animosity , than the jealousy with which the projects of Louis deserve d to be watched . Let examine with attention
_ us now ,- and a rigid impartiality ^ such ' objections to Ins character as seem to have any weight , or to need uistification . The massacre of Glencoe—the- treaty of partition—liis conduct to the Scotch trading company—his opposition to the measures of parliament , and his infringement of domestic obligations i . hese are formidable objections ; and in one of them , we fearwe cannotconsistentlwith truth to
, y , pretend acquit him of some share of criminality . The horrid massacre of Glencoe will leave a spot upon the character of William , which all the waters of the ocean will be unable to wash out . —The si gning the warrant of execution may not onty be accounted for , but excused and justified . Bat his allowing the perpetrators and accomplices of that wanto and deliberate but
n - chery to escape with impunity;—his want of justice , his want of feeling , in not enquiring into the transaction , —^ inconsistent with every other of the actions of his life . Motives of policy might , indeed cool or stifle his vengeance ; but phlegmatic and little irritable in temper as he was , the suspicions of his subjects demanded some proot of his disapprobation honest
. Every man , every feeling pa-. mot , is shocked at the enormity ; and while we erect a monument Co those many virtues , in which he has been excelled perhaps by none , and equalled but b y few , let us drop a tear over the one solitary crime ' W i 4 i ,- ' -,- ° . arly evinces > th ; it he was subject to the weakness and the failings of humanity .
His grant to the trading company of Scotland , being calculated for the encouragement of industry and commerce , cannot be considered as improper . The construction of his enemies , however , was but too greedily and generally received—that it proceeded from an over-fond attachment and regard to his native land : —a construction which the common feelings of nature would inform us redounded less to ' the th of the than to the
sgrace patriot , honour of the man But rh ? t amor patria , that local partiality we have before mentioned that envy of their neighbours , and jealousy of successful industry , which then disgraced our countrymen , will account for the illiberal disposition or the nation towards the company , which William had been so eager to patronize , and . the consequent impossibility of his redressing their The onl
grievances . y objection to his character , on this charge arises from his not supporting the privileges he had bestowed alid not preventing those dreadful evils which ensued from the repeal of Ins grant . Violently opposed by the commons , unaided by ministerial corruption , or the influence of places and pensions and dependent on a refractory parliament for supplies , a limited monarch could » ot , without danger , have yielded to the impulses of benevolence or