uke of York, so far countenanced the opposition as to
join cordially in the outcry against the Roman Catholics.

The King in this extremity had recourse to Sir William Temple. Of all
the official men of that age Temple had preserved the fairest character.
The Triple Alliance had been his work. He had refused to take any
part in the politics of the Cabal, and had, while that administration
directed affairs, lived in strict privacy. He had quitted his retreat at
the call of Danby, had made peace between England and Holland, and had
borne a chief part in bringing about the marriage of the Lady Mary to
her cousin the Prince of Orange. Thus he had the credit of every one
of the few good things which had been done by the government since the
Restoration. Of the numerous crimes and blunders of the last eighteen
years none could be imputed to him. His private life, though not
austere, was decorous: his manners were popular; and he was not to be
corrupted either by titles or by money. Something, however, was wanting
to the character of this respectable statesman. The temperature of his
patriotism was lukewarm. He prized his ease and his personal dignity
too much, and shrank from responsibility with a pusillanimous fear. Nor
indeed had his habits fitted him to bear a part in the conflicts of our
domestic factions. He had reached his fiftieth year without having sate
in the English Parliament; and his official experience had been almost
entirely acquired at foreign courts. He was justly esteemed one of the
first diplomatists in Europe: but the talents and accomplishments of a
diplomatist are widely different from those which qualify a politician
to lead the House of Commons in agitated times.

The scheme which he proposed showed considerable ingenuity. Though not
a profound philosopher, he had thought more than most busy men of the
world on the general principles of government; and his mind had been
enlarged by historical studies and foreign travel. He seems to have
discerned more clearly than most of his contemporaries one cause of the
difficulties by which the government was beset. The character of the
English polity was gradually changing. The Parliament was slowly, but
constantly, gaining ground on the prerogative. The line between the
legislative and executive powers was in theory as strongly marked as
ever, but in practice was daily becoming fainter and fainter. The theory
of the constitution was that the King might name his