ium which
the king's enemies first threw out to make him contemptible; while his
apologists imagined that, in perpetuating this accusation, they had
discovered, in a weakness which has at least something amiable, some
palliation for his own political misconduct. The factious, too, by this
aspersion, promoted the alarm they spread in the nation, of the king's
inclination to popery; yet, on the contrary, Charles was then making a
determined stand, and at length triumphed over a Catholic faction, which
was ruling his queen; and this at the risk and menace of a war with
France. Yet this firmness too has been denied him, even by his apologist
Hume: that historian, on his preconceived system, imagined that every
action of Charles originated in the Duke of Buckingham, and that the
duke pursued his personal quarrel with Richelieu, and taking advantage
of these domestic quarrels, had persuaded Charles to dismiss the French
attendants of the queen.[201]

There are, fortunately, two letters from Charles the First to
Buckingham, preserved in the State-papers of Lord Hardwicke, which set
this point at rest: these decisively prove that the whole matter
originated with the king himself, and that Buckingham had tried every
effort to persuade him to the contrary; for the king complains that he
had been too long overcome by his persuasions, but that he was now
"resolved it must be done, and that shortly!"[202]

It is remarkable, that the character of a queen, who is imagined to have
performed so active a part in our history, scarcely ever appears in it;
when abroad, and when she returned to England, in the midst of a winter
storm, bringing all the aid she could to her unfortunate consort, those
who witnessed this appearance of energy imagined that her character was
equally powerful in the cabinet. Yet Henrietta, after all, was nothing
more than a volatile woman; one who had never studied, never reflected,
and whom nature had formed to be charming and haughty, but whose
vivacity could not retain even a state-secret for an hour, and whose
talents were quite opposite to those of deep political intrigue.

Henrietta viewed even the characters of great men with all the
sensations of a woman. Describing the Earl of Strafford to a
confidential friend, and having observed that he was a great man, she
dwelt with far more interest on his person: "Though not handsome," said
she, "he was agreeable enough, and he had the finest hands of any man in