le but what was common
to him with thousands of other men; neither have they recorded any of
those personal circumstances or passages, which only can discover such
qualities of the mind as most distinguish one man from another. These
defects may perhaps appear in the stories of many succeeding kings;
which makes me hope I shall not be altogether blamed for sometimes
disappointing the reader in a point wherein I could wish to be the most
exact.

As to his person, he is described to be of middle stature; his body
strong set and fleshy; his hair black; his eyes large; his countenance
amiable, and very pleasant, especially when he was merry. He was
temperate in meat and drink, and a hater of effeminacy, a vice or folly
much complained of in his time, especially that circumstance of long
artificial hair, which he forbade upon severe penalties. His three
principal virtues were prudence, valour, and eloquence. These were
counterbalanced by three great vices; avarice, cruelty, and lust; of
which the first is proved by the frequency of his taxes; the second by
his treatment of Duke Robert; and the last was notorious. But the proof
of his virtues doth not depend on single instances, manifesting
themselves through the whole course of a long reign, which was hardly
attended by any misfortune that prudence, justice, or valour could
prevent. He came to the crown at a ripe age, when he had passed thirty
years, having learned, in his private life, to struggle with hardships,
whereof he had his share, from the capriciousness and injustice of both
his brothers; and by observing their failures, he had learned to avoid
them in himself, being steady and uniform in his whole conduct, which
were qualities they both seemed chiefly to want. This likewise made him
so very tenacious as he was observed to be in his love and hatred. He
was a strict observer of justice, which he seems never to have violated,
but in that particular case, which political casuists are pleased to
dispense with, where the dispute is about a crown. In that he[25] * * *
* * *

[Footnote 25: Here the sentence breaks off short, and is left
unfinished. [D.S.]]

Consider him as a private man, he was perhaps the most accomplished
person of his age, having a facetious wit, cultivated by learning, and
advanced with a great share of natural eloquence, which was his peculiar
talent: and it was no doubt the sense he had of this last perfection in
himself, that put him so often u