Whenever men spontaneously risk their lives and fortunes in the support of
a particular cause, they are wont to set a high value on their services,
and generally assume the right of expressing their opinions, and of
interfering with their advice. Hence it happened that the dissensions and
animosities in the court and army of the unfortunate monarch were scarcely
less violent or less dangerous than those which divided the parliamentary
leaders. All thought themselves entitled to offices and honours from the
gratitude of the sovereign; no appointment could be made which did not
deceive the expectations, and excite the murmurs, of numerous competitors;
and complaints were everywhere heard, cabals were formed, and the wisest
plans were frequently controlled and defeated, by men who thought
themselves neglected or aggrieved. When Charles, as one obvious remedy,
removed the lord Wilmot from the command of the cavalry, and the lord Percy
from that of the ordnance, he found that he had only aggravated the
evil; and the dissatisfaction of the army was further increased by the
substitution of his nephew Prince Rupert, whose severe and imperious temper
had earned him the general hatred, in the place of Ruthen, who, on account
of his infirmities, had been advised to retire.
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