340
NOTES AND QUERIES.
[9 th S. II. OCT. 22,
land numbered Hqbbes. Miss Foxcroft uses it once
at second hand with regard to Savile, with a note
in which she says that it probably means " sceptical."
This conjecture is happy enough. When, however,
the rise of Halifax into favour with Charles II. is
attributed to his "lively and libertine conversa-
tion," libertine means ireethinking. Defending
himself from the charge of being a libertine (see
Li vet, ' Lexique de la Langue de Moliere'),
Moliere writes, " C'est etre libertin que d'avoir
de bons yeux" ('Tart.,' I. vi.). On this subject
Burnet caustically says that he knew Savile in a
fit of sickness " very much touched with a sense of
religion He seemed full of good purposes; but
they went off with his sickness." An apter illus- tration of the well-known lines beginning " When the devil was sick " is not to be hoped. His variable- ness, on which also, and naturally, Burnet insists, was a part of his philosophical system. In what is, in fact, an apology for him, Macaulay, who grew enthusiastic in his support, says, " Those intel- lectual peculiarities which make his writings valu- able frequently impeded him in the contests of active life. For he always saw passing events, not in the point of view in which they commonly appear to one who bears a part in them, but in the point of view in which, after the lapse of many years, they appear to the philosophic historian ('History, i. 116, ed. 18&4). It is no less true that, while greedy of social distinctions and advantages, and grasping them eagerly, he affected to treat them with indifference. Of his son, Lord Eland, who shared a fair measure of his father's ability, it was said,
Eland, whose pen as nimbly glides As his good father changes sides. As a writer Savile is entitled to rank as a classic. He is, however, a classic whom few read. No one ever inserted him in the list of the best hundred or thousand books. His writings are none the less readable, witty, thoughtful, and delightful. Bacon's apothegms alone take rank with his, while, books such as ' The Character of a Trimmer,' ' The Character of Charles II.,' and the 'Advice to a Daughter ' will always be a delight to the cultivated reader. Many of his views were far in advance of his age, and nis sayings those especially on the importance to us of command of the sea may even now be studied with advantage. Were we attempt- ing an estimate of Savile, we could quote such passages in abundance. For this we have no space. We cannot even do justice to Miss Fox- croft's book, since every part of it challenges dis- cussion. We can, however, at least speak of it as a careful, philosophical, and important work, which students of history will feel bound to take into account. An admirably comprehensive index adds greatly to the value of a book which we warmly commend to our readers.
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