1 9 8 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN,

c«ap. It happens unluckily for those, who maintainlxxi. an original contract between the magistrate and16S9. people, that great revolutions of government,and new settlements of civil constitutions, are com-monly conducted with such violence , tumult ,and disorder, that the public voice can scarcelyever be heard ; and the opinions of the citizensare at that time less attended to than even in thecommon course of administration. The presenttransactions in England, it must be confessed , area singular exception to this observation. Thenew elections had been carried on with greattranquillity and freedom : The prince had orderedthe troops to depart from all the towns, wherethe voters assembled : A tumultuary petition tothe two houses having been promoted, he tookcare, though the petition was calculated for hisadvantage , effectually to suppress it: He enteredinto no intrigues , either with the electors orthe members : He kept himself in a totalsilence, as if he had been nowise concerned inthese transactions: And so far from forming cabalswith the leaders of parties , he disdained even tobestow caresses on those, whose assistance mightbe useful to him. This conduct was highly me-ritorious, and discovered great moderation andmagnanimity ; even though the prince unfor-tunately, through the whole course of his life,and on every occasion, was noted for an addressso cold, dry, and distant, that it was very diffi-cult for him, on account of any interest, to softenor familiarize it.