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Principles terminate in a precipice.
He was walking, his hands behind him, along the shores of the Lake of
Geneva. A fine way of getting on!
In London they sometimes spoke of the exile. He was accused before the
tribunal of public opinion. They pleaded for and against him. The cause
having been heard, he was acquitted on the ground of stupidity.
Many zealous friends of the former republic had given their adherence to
the Stuarts. For this they deserve praise. They naturally calumniated
him a little. The obstinate are repulsive to the compliant. Men of
sense, in favour and good places at Court, weary of his disagreeable
attitude, took pleasure in saying, "If he has not rallied to the
throne, it is because he has not been sufficiently paid," etc. "He
wanted the chancellorship which the king has given to Hyde." One of his
old friends went so far as to whisper, "He told me so himself." Remote
as was the solitude of Linnæus Clancharlie, something of this talk
would reach him through the outlaws he met, such as old regicides like
Andrew Broughton, who lived at Lausanne. Clancharlie confined himself to
an imperceptible shrug of the shoulders, a sign of profound
deterioration. On one occasion he added to the shrug these few words,
murmured in a low voice, "I pity those who believe such things."
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