In the edition of 1668 the life of Cowley runs to twenty-four folio pages. The passage here selected deals directly with his character.
Page 203, ll. 25-7. It is evidently the impression of a stranger at first sight that Aubrey gives in his short note: 'A.C. discoursed very ill and with hesitation' (ed. A. Clark, vol. i, p. 190).
62.
A Character of King Charles the Second: And Political, Moral and
Miscellaneous Thoughts and Reflections. By George Savile, Marquis of
Halifax. London: MDCCL.
Halifax's elaborate and searching account of Charles II was first published in 1750 'from his original Manuscripts, in the Possession of his Grand-daughter Dorothy Countess of Burlington'. It consists of seven parts: I. Of his Religion; II. His Dissimulation; III. His Amours, Mistresses, &c.; IV. His Conduct to his Ministers; V. Of his Wit and Conversation; VI. His Talents, Temper, Habits, &c.; VII. Conclusion. Only the second, fifth, and sixth are given here. The complete text is reprinted in Sir Walter Raleigh's Works of Halifax, 1912, pp. 187-208.
For other characters of Charles, in addition to the two by Burnet which follow, see Evelyn's Diary, February 4, 1685; Dryden's dedication of King Arthur, 1691; 'A Short Character of King Charles the II' by John Sheffield, Earl of Mulgrave, Duke of Buckingham, 'Printed from the Original Copy' in Miscellaneous Works Written by George, late Duke of Buckingham, ed. Tho. Brown, vol. ii, 1705, pp. 153-60, and with Pope's emendations in Works, 1723, vol. ii, pp. 57-65; and James Welwood's Memoirs Of the Most Material Transactions in England, for the Last Hundred Years, Preceding the Revolution, 1700, pp. 148-53.
For Halifax himself, see No. 72.
Page 208, l. 12. An allusion to the Quarrel of the Ancients and
Moderns, which assumed prominence in England with the publication
in 1690 of Sir William Temple's Essay upon the Ancient and Modern
Learning. Compare Burnet, p. 223, l. 11 and note.
PAGE 209, l. 29. Ruelle. Under Louis XIV it was the custom for ladies of fashion to receive morning visitors in their bedrooms; hence ruelle, the passage by the side of a bed, came to mean a ladies' chamber. Compare The Spectator, Nos. 45 and 530.
Page 211, l. 2. Tiendro cuydado, evidently an imperfect recollection of the phrase se tendrá cuydado, 'care will be taken', 'the matter will have attention': compare Cortes de Madrid, 1573, Peticion 96,… 'se tendrá cuidado de proueher en ello lo que conuiniere'.