Page 203, ll. 25-7. It is evidently the impression of a stranger at first sight that Aubrey gives in his short note: 'A.C. discoursed very ill and with hesitation' (ed. A. Clark, vol. i, p. 190).
A Character of King Charles the Second: And Political, Moral and Miscellaneous Thoughts and Reflections. By George Savile, Marquis of Halifax. London: MDCCL.
Halifax's elaborate and searching account of Charles II was first published in 1750 'from his original Manuscripts, in the Possession of his Grand-daughter Dorothy Countess of Burlington'. It consists of seven parts: I. Of his Religion; II. His Dissimulation; III. His Amours, Mistresses, &c.; IV. His Conduct to his Ministers; V. Of his Wit and Conversation; VI. His Talents, Temper, Habits, &c.; VII. Conclusion. Only the second, fifth, and sixth are given here. The complete text is reprinted in Sir Walter Raleigh's _Works of Halifax_, 1912, pp. 187-208.
For other characters of Charles, in addition to the two by Burnet which follow, see Evelyn's _Diary_, February 4, 1685; Dryden's dedication of _King Arthur_, 1691; 'A Short Character of King Charles the II' by John Sheffield, Earl of Mulgrave, Duke of Buckingham, 'Printed from the Original Copy' in _Miscellaneous Works Written by George, late Duke of Buckingham_, ed. Tho. Brown, vol. ii, 1705, pp. 153-60, and with Pope's emendations in _Works_, 1723, vol. ii, pp. 57-65; and James Welwood's _Memoirs Of the Most Material Transactions in England, for the Last Hundred Years, Preceding the Revolution_, 1700, pp. 148-53.
Page 208, l. 12. An allusion to the Quarrel of the Ancients and Moderns, which assumed prominence in England with the publication in 1690 of Sir William Temple's _Essay upon the Ancient and Modern Learning_. Compare Burnet, p. 223, l. 11 and note.
PAGE 209, l. 29. _Ruelle_. Under Louis XIV it was the custom for ladies of fashion to receive morning visitors in their bedrooms; hence _ruelle_, the passage by the side of a bed, came to mean a ladies' chamber. Compare _The Spectator_, Nos. 45 and 530.
Page 211, l. 2. _Tiendro cuydado_, evidently an imperfect recollection of the phrase _se tendrá cuydado_, 'care will be taken', 'the matter will have attention': compare _Cortes de Madrid_, 1573, Peticion 96,... 'se tendrá cuidado de proueher en ello lo que conuiniere'.