Historical Lucubrations.

HISTORICAL LUCUBRATIONS .

No . I . —THE MERRY MONARCH . I WAS looking over the " memoirs" of the Count de Grammont , as they are called , the other day , ancl it struck me that a short paper "thereanent " might be acceptable ancl seasonable for Bro . Kenning ' s excellent magazine , which I hope will secure ere long all the support that it deserves from our Orderfor which Bro . Kenning caters so industriously and effectively and

, liberally , in so many ways ! And I am induced to do so because , every now ancl then , I see notices and remarks about that special epoch of our national history which , it appears to me , are hastily assumed , and based on no right estimate of the facts as they reall y are . The memoirs of Grammont , or rather the work of Anthony Hamilton , give us the lightest ancl the gayest , and I am inclined to think the truest , picture of

the Court of the "Merry Monarch" which exists ! Ancl when we master his lively passages , ancl realise the scene so minutely painted in before our eyes , we have no difficulty , it appears to me , in discovering why Charles II ., despite obvious faults , errors , ancl shortcomings , lived and died in the genuine affection of the English people . He was , as we all know , the eldest of the three sons of Charles I ., by Henrietta Maria , daughter of Henry IV . of France , ancl whose unfortunate Roman Catholic zeal as a mother succeeded in perverting him , as well as his brother the Duke of York and his youngest sister , to the Roman

Catholic Church , as she had promised the Pope before her marriage . ( See Mrs . Everett Green ' s interesting work . ) The Duke of Gloucester , who died young of the small-pox , a prince of many graces , virtues , and gifts , was the only one of the sons of Charles I . who remained faithful to that reli gion for which his father died . The Princess of Orange , the oldest daughter of Charles I ., also was unperverted . Here we find the secret of all King Charles the Second ' s mistakes and errorsthe "suppressio veri" and the "

sug-, gestio falsi" as to the religion in which he lived ancl died , but which may be far more truly charged on the quasi-paganism of an unscrupulous Communion than on him . If any one wishes to realise what his death-bed was , —sad , most sad , —let him read Barillon ' s letter to Louis XIV ., giving an account of it , in Dalrynrple ' s valuable work , and where , curiously enough , despite ingenious cavilsit is distinctly said that King Charles did mention ( I venture to

, think to his credit , after all , ) " poor Nelly . " But notwithstanding this mournful light which is now let in upon dark passages and obscure intrigues in the reign of Charles II ., such were his many natural gifts and graces , despite a somewhat saturnine cast of countenance and his dark face and complexion , that he was sincerely mourned b y the English people , ancl , as he wittily said to James , " No one will kill me to make you king . "

Fond of athletic exercises—the best walker of his time—and who has left behind him the remarkable statement that the " English climate was the best he knew , because you can be more out in it than any other , " he was probably taught by adversity—and none had encountered greater hardships or humiliation—to be a most genial companion , a gay ancl pleasant " citizen of the world . " That he was capable of business , Pepys tells us ; that he was himself most courteous and affableancl of accessEvelassures us that he was

, easy , yn ; tolerant of rebuke , Ken ' s history reminds us ; that he was anxious to make proper appointments in Church ancl State , Johnson clearly points out . His was , no doubt , a character of curious contrasts and strange caprices ; but seeing it now , when the authentic light of history is full upon it , I think we discern alike its good ancl bad points , its baser alloy and yet its redeeming