364 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

chap. counter-part to the other: But still discerningj-xviii. judges could perceive, both in the spirit of theJ679. parties and in the genius of the prince , a materialdifference ; by means of which Charles wasenabled at last, though with the imminent perilof liberty, to preserve the peace os the nation.

The cry against popery was loud ; but it pro-ceeded less from religious than from party-zeal,in those who propagated , and even in those whoadopted it. The spirit of enthusiasm had occa-sioned so much mischief, and had been so suc-cessfully exploded , that it was not possible, byany artifice , again to revive and support it.Cant had been ridiculed ; hypocrisy detected;the pretensions to a more thorough reformation,and to greater purity, had become suspicious;and instead of denominating themselves the godlyparty, the appellation affected at the beginningof the civil wars , the present patriots were con-tent with calling themselves the good and thehonest party 1 : A sure prognostic, that their mea-sures were not to be so furious, nor their pre-tensions so exorbitant.

The king too , though not endowed with theintegrity and strict principles of his father, washappy in a more amiable manner, and more po-pular address. Far from being distant, stately,or reserved , he had not a grain of pride or vanityin his whole composition 1 ; but was the most

1 Temple, vol. i. p. ;

4 Temple, vol. i. p. 449.