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gratitude, refpect, or regard of her; but also with contempt, to the amazement of standers

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by

memoirs,

Vol. II.

P. 19.

"o'clock in the afternoon; I perceived from the fatis"faction which he expreffed at the new orders which "I had given, that it was indifpenfably neceffary to vanquish my repugnance: nevertheless, it publickly gained me as much honour as if I had perfifted in "it throughout, becaufe none were ignorant I had "complied only through abfolute neceffity." (a) I(a) Sully's make no apology for the length of this quotation; readers of taste will be glad to find it here, and will not, fail of remarking on the unaccountable ingratitude and weaknefs of James. His obligations to Elizabeth were great; fhe had fupplied him conftantly with money when in Scotland, and though fhe had a power, with confent of parliament, fhe gave not away the crown of England from him; on her death-bed the declared him her heir, and in confequence thereof he took peaceable poffeffion of the throne. Ought he not then to have retained a respect for her memory, and treated her name with honour? fhould he not have owned his obligations, and celebrated her fame? fhould he have forbid his fubjects mourning for the lofs of fo excellent a princess, or refufed compliments of condolance from foreigners on the account of it? What! fhould the memory of fuch a princess be obliterated in a few months, even in her own court, and the glory of all her great actions be forgotten? Muft her humbling Spain, her fupporting the Proteftant intereft abroad, and establishing it at home; her attention to the national intereft and honour, and raising the English crown to be the envy and admiration of Europe; must thefe be unfpoken, uncelebrated? fuch was the intention of James. But pofterity more grateful, more just than that court, has mentioned her name with honour, and founded forth the glories of her reign. To refemble her has been thought honourable to princes, and her government has been fet forth as a model for their imitation.-So that

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by (EE). He was exceffively addicted to

eafe

envy, ignorance, fpite, revenge and malice, with their united force, avail little against the reputations founded on great and beneficent actions; and the true hero, the patriot prince, may defpife their efforts, and reft fecure that in the annals of after-ages, their characters shall fhine with the greatest luftre, and their actions be celebrated as they deferve. A noble motive this to generous minds to pursue the public good with earnestnefs! and a motive, which, if well confidered, will caufe them to be unwearied, and perfevering in the purfuit.

(EE) He spoke with contempt of her.] Sully giving an account of his first audience at court, tells us, that after James had spoken feveral things to him, "the "late queen (Elizabeth) was mentioned, but without (a) Sully, "one word in her praife." (a) In another converfation Vol. II. p. he had with the king, he obferves," that an opportu "nity presenting for the king to fpeak of the late queen "of England, he did it, and to my great regret, adds "he, with fome fort of contempt. He even went fo "far as to fay, that, in Scotland, long before the death "of that princess, he had directed her whole council, "and governed all her minifters, by whom he had been (b) Id. p.89. better served and obeyed than her." (b) I doubt not compare this Sully fmiled inwardly at the vanity of James, and faid in note heartily detefted his bafeness with regard to the memory (H). of Elizabeth; for no one better knew her worth than this ambassador, no one set a greater value on it. With what indignation then may we fuppofe him filled, when he heard her name thus treated by her fucceffor? and what a defpicable opinion muft he entertain of him? but he fuppreffed his fentiments on this head, and fet himself to pleafe him, of whom 'tis plain from his memorials, he had but a poor opinion. I fhall only add here, that the highest merit cannot escape the tongues of the ignorant and malicious, though, for the most part, it is unhurt by them.

with what is

eafe and pleasure (FF), and indulged himfelf in drinking, even fo far as to render

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himself

a

P. 92.

(b) Ofborn, P. 479.

(FF) He was exceffively given to eafe and pleasure.] Sully relates, that " James quitted the company to go "to bed, where he ufually paffed part of the afternoon, "fometimes the whole of it (a).”. And his (a) Sully, thoughts were intent on eafe and pleasure, fays Of Vol. II. "born (b)." This would have been far enough from virtue in a private man, but in a prince it must be looked on as a vice. For the love of ease and pleasure enervates the mind, and tends to render it incapable of what is great. And there are but few princes who have indulged this difpofition, that have made any greater figure in history than the prince of whom we are difcourting. Alexander, Cæfar, and Henry IV. of France, loved pleasure as well as any men; but then they had nothing indolent in their temper, and had fo much ambition, that they could not poffibly abstain from striving to render their names glorious. But James not only loved pleasure, but eafe, and therefore was incapable of being more fignificant in life, than are the generality of eaftern princes, immured in feraglios, and ftrangers to every thing but what their viziers or eunuchs please to inform them of, for their entertainment or amufement. So that princes of this indolent difpofition neglect the affairs of government, and are ruled by miniiters and favourites, and the people are left to be fleeced and oppreffed, to fupply the calls of luxury and pleasure. Unhappy princes! unhappy people! the former deftitute of true worth, the latter groaning under vile bondage.How much then does it concern thofe who are advanced to dominion, to exert themselves, and employ their time and talents in examining the ftate of thofe under them, and promoting their welfare? how much does it behove them to be diligent in business, fkilful in affairs, and attentive to the reprefentations and complaints of their fubjects? By thefe means alone can they antwer the end of their advancement, obtain reputation, pro

F

cure

(a) Weldon, P. 166,

himself sometimes contemptible (GG). And

from

cure fuccefs, and have the love and affection of those over whom they bear rule. To which let me add, that indolent princes are very infecure; they become victims frequently to the ambition of their own fervants, and fall, though not unpitied, yet quite unlamented. For the people have fenfe enough to know, that a life devoted to ease and pleasure, is of no importance to them, and therefore, with indifference, fee it deftroyed, though by those who ought to have defended it.

(GG) Indulged himfelf in drinking, &c.] Weldon obferves, that "James was not intemperate in his drink

ing;" but he adds, " however in his old age, and "Buckingham's jovial fuppers, when he had any turn "to do with him, made him fometimes overtaken, "which he would the very next day remember, and

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repent with tears: it is true, he drank very often, "which was rather out of a cuftom than any delight, "and his drinks were of that kind for ftrength, as "frontiniack, canary, high-country wine, tent wine, "and Scotifh ale, that had he not had a very strong brain,

might have daily been overtaken, although he fel"dom drank at any one time above four spoonfuls,

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many times not above one or two (a)."-This is very modeft in Weldon. But other authors go a little farther, and make James fhew himfelf beneath a man by his intemperance. "The king was exceffively ad

dicted to hunting and drinking (fays Coke) not ordi"nary French and Spanish wines, but ftrong Greek "wines; and though he would divide his hunting from "drinking these wines, yet he would compound his "hunting with drinking these wines, and to that pur"pose he was attended with a special officer, who was "as much as could be always at hand, to fill the king's cup in his hunting, when he called for it. I have "heard my father fay, that being hunting with the

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from his known love of masculine beauty, his exceffive favour to fuch as were poffeffed

"king, after the king had drank of the wine, he also "drank of it, and though he was young and of an "healthful conftitution, it fo difordered his head, that

it fpoiled his pleafure, and difordered him for three days after. Whether it was from drinking these "wines, or from fome other cause, the king became fo lazy and unwieldy, that he was truft on horse"back, and as he was fet, fo would he ride, without

Vol. II,

otherwife poifing himself on his faddle; nay, when his-hat was fet on his head, he would not take the "pains to alter it, but it fat as it was upon him (b).” (¿) Coke's I doubt not but this account is true, Sully taking no- detection, Vol. I. p.42i tice, that "James's custom was never to mix water "with his wine (c)." And therefore, though Sir Edward () Sully, Peyton be a partial writer, and prejudiced much against P. 90, the Stuart race, yet I believe the following story from him will not be deemed improbable. "When the king (d) Peyton's of Denmark [brother-in-law to James] was first of divine cata "all in England, both kings were fo drunk at Theo- ftrophe of the kingly "bald's, as our king was carried in the arms of the family of the

Lond. 1731,

Weldon,

and inaccu

courtiers, when one cheated another of the bed- houfe of "chamber, for getting a grant from king James, for Stuarts, p. "that he would give him the beft jewel in England for 30. 8vo. a jewel of a hundred pound he promised him; and Thefe quofo put king James in his arms, and carried him to tations from "his lodging, and defrauded the bed-chamber man, Coke, and who had much ado to get the king into his bed. Peyton, are "And Denmark was fo difguifed, as he would have very oddly lain with the countess of Nottingham, making horns rately exin derifion at her husband, the high admiral of Eng- preffed; but "land (d)." I said just now, this ftory, I believed, the reader would not be thought improbable; and I doubt not the reader by the following letter of the countess of Nottingham to the Danish ambaffador, will readily affent to it, feeing it confirms fo chief a part of it as the rude in order to behaviour of the Danish king to that lady. 'Tis wrote please, F 2

with

muft take them as they

are, and not expect them

to be altered

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