eded. That army was besides of an excellent
composition. The soldiers were men of extraordinary piety after their
mode; of the greatest regularity, and even severity of manners; brave in
the field, but modest, quiet, and orderly in their quarters; men who
abhorred the idea of assassinating their officers or any other persons,
and who (they at least who served in this island) were firmly attached
to those generals by whom they were well treated and ably commanded.
Such an army, once gained, might be depended on. I doubt much, if you
could now find a Monk, whether a Monk could find in France such an army.

I certainly agree with you, that in all probability we owe our whole
Constitution to the restoration of the English monarchy. The state of
things from which Monk relieved England was, however, by no means, at
that time, so deplorable, in any sense, as yours is now, and under the
present sway is likely to continue. Cromwell had delivered England from
anarchy. His government, though military and despotic, had been regular
and orderly. Under the iron, and under the yoke, the soil yielded its
produce. After his death the evils of anarchy were rather dreaded than
felt. Every man was yet safe in his house and in his property. But it
must be admitted that Monk freed this nation from great and just
apprehensions both of future anarchy and of probable tyranny in some
form or other. The king whom he gave us was, indeed, the very reverse of
your benignant sovereign, who, in reward for his attempt to bestow
liberty on his subjects, languishes himself in prison. The person given
to us by Monk was a man without any sense of his duty as a prince,
without any regard to the dignity of his crown, without any love to his
people,--dissolute, false, venal, and destitute of any positive good
quality whatsoever, except a pleasant temper, and the manners of a
gentleman. Yet the restoration of our monarchy, even in the person of
such a prince, was everything to us; for without monarchy in England,
most certainly we never can enjoy either peace or liberty. It was under
this conviction that the very first regular step which we took, on the
Revolution of 1688, was to fill the throne with a real king; and even
before it could be done in due form, the chiefs of the nation did not
attempt themselves to exercise authority so much as by _interim_. They
instantly requested the Prince of Orange to take the government on
himself. The throne was not effecti