pretended low bow and an evident sneer,-" That is as your Majesty pleases."

When his drinking acquaintance with the Earl of Pembroke first commenced, William, having accepted an invitation to one of the Earl's parties, was subsequently told that Pembroke was quarrelsome over his cups. "I will defy any one to quarrel with me," said William," as long as I can make the bottle go round." The result, however, proved that he was wrong in his conceptions. At night, notwithstanding the wine passed as freely as the King could wish, Pembroke gave sufficient evidence of the truth of the libel by using language personally offensive to the King, and, in the midst of his noisy squabbles, was carried drunk from the apartment, and put to bed. The next morning, abashed and alarmed at his conduct, he hastened to the palace, and falling upon one knee, was proceeding humbly to ask forgiveness, when he was stopped by the King,-" Make no apologies," said William; "I was told you had no fault in the world but one, and I am glad to find it is true, for I dislike people who have no faults." He then took him kindly by the hand; "Don't be uneasy," he added; "such accidents over a bottle are nothing among friends."*

Burnet, as is well known, accuses King William of practising a particular vice in secret, the

VOL. I.

* Dalrymple, vol. i. p. 132,

M

nature of which he omits to state. This is now known to have been dram-drinking; a practice which (added to the fatigues to which the King had for many years been subjected,) had latterly so undermined his constitution, as to reduce him to a most distressing state of debility. So feeble, indeed, had he become towards the close of his career, that it was found necessary to lift him on his horse and yet, when once in his saddle, his appearance is said to have instantly changed, and his eye to have lighted up with all the fire which had distinguished it in former days.

Another charge which Burnet brings against King William is an undue admiration of women. The Countess of Orkney, however, was his only acknowledged mistress; and Burnet admits that he was particularly tenacious of offending against public decency, and (whatever were his private failings) avoided that open and shameless display of profligacy which had sullied the conduct of so many of his predecessors. In his own country, secrecy appears to have been less the object of his solicitude. A Dr. Covell writes to Mr. Skelton, in a letter from Dieren, dated 15th of October, 1685, "I wonder what the devil makes the Prince so cold to you: none but princes and bawds must expect any tolerable usage here."* When in

*Correspondence of the Earls of Clarendon and Rochester, vol. i. p. 165. The Earl of Hardwicke remarks, in one of his

When

Holland, also, we find him highly exasperated with his English chaplain, Dr. Ken, for compelling one of his favourites to fulfil a marriage contract, by uniting himself to a young lady whom he had seduced. Ken, singularly enough, met with very different treatment from Charles the Second, under somewhat similar circumstances. the Court was at Winchester, Ken, then one of the prebendaries, notwithstanding the King's express orders, positively refused to admit Nel Gwyn into his lodgings. Charles, however, was so far from showing any anger on the occasion, that he took Ken into favour, and shortly afterwards conferred on him the bishopric of Bath and Wells.

notes to Bishop Burnet's History,-"I have seen a letter of the Queen's, containing a strong but decent admonition to the King for some irregularity in his conduct. The expressions are so general, that one can neither make out the fact or person alluded to. This was thought improper to be published by Sir J. Dalrymple."-Burnet, History of His Own Time, vol. iv. p. 249, note.

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CHAPTER IX.

William's continued ill-health.-Anecdotes of the celebrated physician, Dr. Radcliffe.-William's want of confidence in his medical attendants.-Re-visits Holland in 1701.-Dislocates his collar-bone by a fall from his horse, while riding in Hampton Court Park.-Is conveyed to Kensington the same evening. His conviction of his approaching dissolution.-A defluxion is discovered in his knee.-He is seized with a violent shivering fit. Assents to the Oath of Adjuration. -His alarming condition. Is visited by his friend and favourite, the Earl of Albemarle.-Extraordinary council of physicians summoned. William expresses his thanks to Dr. Bidloo.-Is waited on by the Archbishop of Canterbury. -Receives the Sacrament, and bids farewell to the Duke of Ormond, and other friends. Inquires of Dr. Bidloo how long he has to live.-Sends for the Earl of Portland. -William's Death on the 8th of March, 1702.-Summary of the leading points in his character.-Extract from a poem on his death. He is interred in a vault beneath Henry the Seventh's Chapel at Westminster.

For a considerable period preceding the death of William, it was evident to all who approached him that the ravages of disease, as well as the fatigues, both mental and bodily, to which he had been subjected almost from his childhood, had made melancholy inroads on his constitution. His voice had become weakened by an asthmatic affection; his legs had swollen to an unusual

size; while the rest of his body was evidently wasting away. When William pointed out these symptoms to the celebrated physician, Dr. Radcliffe, "I would not," said the doctor, "have your Majesty's two legs for your three kingdoms." This unfeeling and irreverent speech was never forgiven by William; and though he continued to make use of Radcliffe's prescriptions till within three days of his death, he could never again be persuaded to bear him in his presence. Dr. Radcliffe, on one occasion, told the King plainly that his years would be few, and he added, that unless he discontinued his drinking parties, they would be still fewer. Radcliffe, from his knowledge of the King's constitution, is said to have predicted to him the very year in which he would die, and William, from his implicit confidence in his physician's abilities, is stated to have been thoroughly convinced that the prophecy would prove correct. According to Radcliffe's biographer, the result proved, at the same time, the accuracy of the King's judgment and of the doctor's calculation.

William, however, generally speaking, appears to have placed but little confidence in his medical attendants; indeed, from the proofs which we possess, not only that the nature of his own disorders was misunderstood by the royal physicians, but that their remedies hastened the end, of both his consort Queen Mary, and of his nephew, the