abdicated king to the sea side, and kept constant correspondence with him, till the day of his death. He always professed a sort of passion for the queen at St. Germain's; and his letters were to her, in the style of what the French call double entendre. In a mixture of love and respect, he used frequently to send her from hence, little presents of those things which are agreeable to ladies, for which he always asked king William's leave, as if without her privity; because, if she had known that circumstance, it was to be supposed she would not accept them. Physiognomists would hardly discover, by consulting the aspect of this lord, that his predominant passions were love and play; that he could sometimes scratch out a song in praise of his mistress, with a pencil and card; or that he has tears at command, like a woman, to be used either in an intrigue of gallantry, or politicks. His alliance with the Marlborough family, and his passion for the duchess, were the cords which dragged him into a party, whose principles he naturally disliked, and whose leaders he personally hated, as they did him. He became a thorough convert, by a perfect trifle; taking fire at a nickname[1] delivered by Dr. Sacheverell, with great indiscretion, from the pulpit, which he applied to himself: and this is one among many instances given by his enemies, that magnanimity is none of his virtues.
The earl of Sunderland is another branch of that alliance. It seems to have been this gentleman's fortune, to have learned his divinity, from his uncle, and his politicks, from his tutor[2]. It may be thought a blemish in his character, that he has much
- ↑ Volpone.
- ↑ Dr. Trimnel, afterwards bishop of Winton.
