But it is not from the laughers alone that the philosophy of
history is to be learnt. And he who approaches this subject should
carefully guard against the influence of that potent ridicule which has
already misled so many excellent writers.
. . . . . . . .
Those who roused the people to resistance, who directed their measures
through a long series of eventful years, who formed out of the most
unpromising materials, the finest army that Europe has ever seen, who
trampled down King, Church, and Aristocracy, who, in the short intervals
of domestic sedition and rebellion, made the name of England terrible to
every nation on the face of the earth, were no vulgar fanatics.
Most of their absurdities were mere external badges, like the signs of
freemasonry, or the dress of the friars. We regret that these badges
were not more attractive. We regret that a body to whose courage and
talents mankind has owed inestimable obligations had not the lofty
elegance which distinguished some of the adherents of Charles the First,
or the easy good-breeding for which the court of Charles the Second
was celebrated.
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