BOOK X. 1701. regret. When the settlement of the crown was extended in England to the house of Hanover, the people were too much exasperated in Scotland for the same measure to be proposed with success; and to secure the protestant succession, an union of the two kingdoms was deemed indispensable. On the succession of the duke of Anjou Sept. 16. to the Spanish monarchy, the hopes of the Jacobites revived at the prospect of a war, which was accelerated, instead of being prevented by the death of James. His spirit, immersed in the most sordid superstition, had sunk under the weight of his misfortunes; and by the most ascetic mortifications among the monks of La Trappe, he seemed desirous to convince the world, that, when despoiled of a crown, he was unworthy to reign. Naturally intrepid, just, open, and indulgent at least in domestic life, his superstition chiefly contributed to render him tyrannical, relentless, pusillanimous, and frequently insincere. He declined a competition for the crown of Poland, and at the peace of Ryswick, would have refused his son as a successor to William, had the latter offered as he expected, to superintend his education, or even to provide for his succession to the throne 58. His last moments were consoled 58 Such expectations, it appears, were entertained by the Jacobites previous to the peace of Ryswick, but were discouraged by James. Macpherson's Orig. Pap. i. 551. But 1 X. 1702. BOOK by the assurance of Louis to acknowledge the prince of Wales, who was proclaimed on his father's death, and received as king by the court of France. An event so grateful to his adherents, which alarmed and incensed the English at the indignity of accepting a monarch from the French, confirmed the grand alliance projected by William, to circumscribe the inordinate power of the house of Bourbon on the acquisition of Spain. But at home the protestant succession was still insecure. In his last message to the house of commons, William earnestly recommended an union of the kingdoms, which, from his approaching dissolution, he had no hopes to accomplish himself. Death and character His constitution, feeble from his untimely birth, of William. and oppressed by the cares of government when repose was necessary, sunk under a complication of disorders; but the immediate cause of his death was a fall from horseback, which his decayed and exhausted frame was unable to sustain. He languished above a fortnight, under an aguish March 8: fever, and expired in the fifty-second year of his age, of an inflammation in his lungs. His person was of the middle size, ill-shaped and ungraceful, except on horseback; his nose was aquiline; but the harsh features of his countenance, which was pale and solemn, were enlightened by the piercing made by William, and that the secret conferences between the earl of Portland and Marshal Boufflers respected the jointure of James's queen. Hist. of Polit. Tran. 442. X. 1702. lustre of an eagle-eye. From the constraint im- BOOK posed upon his early youth, his manners were silent, cold, and so extremely reserved, that he dispensed rewards and refusals with almost equal indifference. Unfavourable impressions were sooner received than effaced from his mind; but his resentment never descended to the meanness of revenge. His habitual reserve and taciturnity encreased with his declining health; but his disposition was not always averse from the enjoyment of social life, nor unsusceptible of the finer feelings of love and friendship. From the disadvantages of a neglected education, he was ignorant of the fine arts, and insensible to their charms; incapable of a steady application to business, or impatient, perhaps, of the minute and official details of public affairs. But his virtues were of a severer and more exalted order. His mind was still intent on some great design, in which the various qualities of a sound and provident judgment were successively exerted; an invention ever fertile in resources; a calm and serene magnanimity in battle and danger; fortitude during adversity; moderation in prosperity; fidelity to his allies; and above all, an invincible attachment to public liberty, to which his ambition was a secondary and subordinate passion. His life was spent in a constant struggle with France, at first to preserve the independence of his country, then the balance, or the independence of Europe; and as he refused the X. 1702. BOOK by the assurance of Louis to acknowledge the prince of Wales, who was proclaimed on his father's death, and received as king by the court of France. An event so grateful to his adherents, which alarmed and incensed the English at the indignity of accepting a monarch from the French, confirmed the grand alliance projected by William, to circumscribe the inordinate power of the house of Bourbon on the acquisition of Spain. But at home the protestant succession was still insecure. In his last message to the house of commons, William earnestly recommended an union of the kingdoms, which, from his approaching dissolution, he had no hopes to accomplish himself. Death and character His constitution, feeble from his untimely birth, of William. and oppressed by the cares of government when repose was necessary, sunk under a complication of disorders; but the immediate cause of his death was a fall from horseback, which his decayed and exhausted frame was unable to sustain. He languished above a fortnight, under an aguish March 8: fever, and expired in the fifty-second year of his age, of an inflammation in his lungs. His person was of the middle size, ill-shaped and ungraceful, except on horseback; his nose was aquiline; but the harsh features of his countenance, which was pale and solemn, were enlightened by the piercing made by William, and that the secret conferences between the earl of Portland and Marshal Boufflers respected the jointure of James's queen. Hist. of Polit. Tran. 442. X. 1702. lustre of an eagle-eye. From the constraint im- BOOK posed upon his early youth, his manners were silent, cold, and so extremely reserved, that he dispensed rewards and refusals with almost equal indifference. Unfavourable impressions were sooner received than effaced from his mind; but his resentment never descended to the meanness of revenge. His habitual reserve and taciturnity encreased with his declining health; but his disposition was not always averse from the enjoyment of social life, nor unsusceptible of the finer feelings of love and friendship. From the disadvantages of a neglected education, he was ignorant of the fine arts, and insensible to their charms; incapable of a steady application to business, or impatient, perhaps, of the minute and official details of public affairs. But his virtues were of a severer and more exalted order. His mind was still intent on some great design, in which the various qualities of a sound and provident judgment were successively exerted; an invention ever fertile in resources; a calm and serene magnanimity in battle and danger; fortitude during adversity; moderation in prosperity; fidelity to his allies; and above all, an invincible attachment to public liberty, to which his ambition was a secondary and subordinate passion. His life was spent in a constant struggle with France, at first to preserve the independence of his country, then the balance, or the independence of Europe; and as he refused the |