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2,8 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

c h a r. of political operations. As he scarcely everLxvi. thought twice on any one subject, every ap-1674. pearance os advantage was apt to seduce him ;and when he found his way obstructed byunlooked-for difficulties , he readily turned asideinto the first path , where he expected more togratify the natural indolence of his disposition.To this versatility or pliancy of genius, he him-self was inclined to trust; and he thought, that,after trying an experiment for enlarging his au-thority, and altering the national religion, hecould easily, if it failed, return into the ordinarychannel of government. But the suspicions ofthe people, though they burst not forth at once,were by this attempt rendered altogether in-curable ; and the more they reflected on thecircumstances, attending it, the more resentmentand jealousy were they apt to entertain. Theyobserved, that the king never had any favorite;that he was never governed by his ministers ,scarcely even by his mistresses ; and that hehimself was the chief spring of all public counsels.Whatever appearance, therefore, of a changemight be assumed , they still suspected , that thesame project was secretly in agitation ; and theydeemed no precaution too great to secure themagainst the pernicious consequences of such mea-sures.

The king, sensible of this jealousy, was in-clined thenceforth not to trust his people, ofwhom he had even before entertained a greatdiffidence; and though obliged to make z