52.  William Chillingworth.  By Clarendon
 53.  Edmund Waller.  By Clarendon
 54.  Thomas Hobbes.  By Clarendon
 55. " " Notes by John Aubrey
 56.  Thomas fuller.  Anonymous
 57.  John Milton.  Notes by John Aubrey
 58. " " Note by Edward Phillips
 59. " " Notes by Jonathan Richardson
 60.  Abraham Cowley.  By himself
 61. " " By Thomas Sprat
 62.  Charles ii.  By Halifax
 63.  Charles ii.  By Burnet
 64.  Charles ii.  By Burnet
 65.  The earl of Clarendon (Edward Hyde, first Earl), By Burnet
 66.  The earl of Lauderdale (John Maitland, second Earl, created
       Duke 1672).  By Clarendon.
 67.  The earl of Lauderdale (John Maitland, second Earl, created
       Duke 1672).  By Burnet
 68.  The earl of shaftesbury (Anthony Ashley Cooper, first Earl). 
       By Burnet
 69.  The earl of shaftesbury (Anthony Ashley Cooper, first Earl). 
       By Dryden
 70.  The duke of Buckingham (George Villiers, second Duke).  By Burnet
 71.  The duke of Buckingham (George Villiers, second Duke).  By Dryden
 72.  The Marquis of Halifax (George Savile, first Marquis).  By Burnet
 73.  Sir Edmund Saunders.  By Roger North
 74.  Two groups of divines:  (1.  Benjamin Whitchcot, Ralph Cudworth, John
     Wilkins, Henry More, John Worthington; 2.  John Tillotson, Edward
     Stillingfleet, Simon Patrick, William Lloyd, Thomas Tenison).  By
     Burnet
 75.  James ii.  By Burnet
 76.  James ii.  By Burnet

THE CHARACTER

The seventeenth century is rich in short studies or characters of its great men.  Its rulers and statesmen, its soldiers and politicians, its lawyers and divines, all who played a prominent part in the public life, have with few notable exceptions been described for us by their contemporaries.  There are earlier characters in English literature; but as a definite and established form of literary composition the character dates from the seventeenth century.  Even Sir Robert Naunton’s Fragmenta Regalia, or Observations on the late Queen Elizabeth her Times and Favourites, a series of studies of the great men of Elizabeth’s court, and the first book of its kind, is an old man’s recollection of his early life, and belongs to the Stuart period in everything but its theme.  Nor at any later period is there the same wealth of material for such a collection as is given in this volume.  The eighteenth century devoted itself rather to biography.  When the facts of a man’s life, his works, and his opinions claimed detailed treatment, the fashion of the short character had passed.