Note 217 — Chapter VI

Works, p. 277. The charity which "believeth all things and hopeth all things," or the credulity which persuades itself of the truth of the things which it wishes to believe, is manifest in Sir Thomas Urquhart's estimate of the character of Charles II. Less charitable or more impartial critics are probably inclined to the opinion that the existence in that sovereign of a number of the above-mentioned virtues was as mythical as that of a good many of his "hundred and ten predecessors." So far as "comeliness" is concerned, Charles II. at a later period had a much humbler view of the matter than Sir Thomas here expresses. For he complained that when they wished to represent a villain on the stage they made up a figure somewhat like himself. See Cibber's Apology, p. 111.